Thoughts on Ecumenicism and Bumper Stickers.


I was riding down the street the other day and I noticed a bumper sticker reading "One nation many faiths".It is a true statement.The grocery store I go tofeatures an employee's vehicle with all sorts of stickers. Two in particular stood out for me. One of the stickers features a crescent moon, a Star of David, a pentagram and various other symbols along with the Cross.. This person I am sure believes they are tolerant and open to other things and of course practices random kindness.

Except for one thingthat is obvious.She believes that if men got pregnant abortion would be a sacrament. Well I am a man and I have never endorsed murder of the unborn. I would not endorse it if I could become pregnant. Let me return to the prior issue of religious unity . It is true we are a nation of many faiths, as a matter of fact, so is almost every other country with a few exceptions. Each of these religiously tolerant countries allows their citzens to worship freely. As a Christian it is my desire to spread the Gospel of the Lord as often as possible. But since I am compelled by love and the Gospel I must speak the truth! These faiths are not allequally valid and cannot be in agreement. They are not equally valid because Jesus is the way the truth and the life and there can be no agreement when we do not believe in the same things or doctrinally agree with one another.I must also say that even the demons believe in God and they shudder and they have no problem with interfaith and ecunemical movements that distort the Gospel some even reject the Gospel. It is the rejection of the Gospel that damns one to hell.

Our love for Christ and others is what propels us to confess Christ and his Gospel. We have this zeal to tell those whoare not enthusiastic about Jesus or who are enthusiastic for Mohammed , Charles T.Russel, Joeseph Smith and a host of other heresies we should not and cannot have fellowship with that are in fellowship with Satan and the demons.

What is shameful is that many of these people who claim to love life and approve of slaughtering the innocent ;but we must be tolerant of abbhorent lifestyles and false beliefs or we are biggoted. These same people who claim they are so tolerant also want tobutcher life in the womb and kill the old and infirm. Is this humane?They also feel that the death penalty is murder. Tell that to the surviving family of Charles Manson's murders.It is the right of the state to administer execution of murderers accordinding to the epistle of Romans. These so called "intellectual humanitarians in the election year of 2,000 were on MTV trumpeting Al Gore's campaign that thank the Lord, failed. One particular rock star who has children said he was voting for Gore because of his support of a woman's right to choose(infanticide). I wonder how he would feel knowing the joys of his children as he knows them now if he would want them aborted? Probably not!

This view is not prevalent in Liberal circles alone. It is even prevalent in the so called Christian Church some synods allow funding for abortions,homosexuality,cohabitation, and every other sin. This Gospel reductionism and outright disacknowledgement is sending souls throught the wide door. The best thing that those of us who hold to Christ can do is to hold to the Word and Sacrament and Cling to Christ.

Some People Think the Works of God are Evil.

My pastor reiterated something beautiful about God in Bible last Sunday. He reminded us that God allows evils and disaster Such as Katrina to happen, to bring his people to repentance, to discipline them, and allow Christians to do good works. Let us not forget that these good works were prepared in advance for his people to do.

The human idea contrived from the sinful nature believes that when we are not gratified or free of pain in life's tempest that life's disasters do no good for anyone. We all try to avoid the disasters in life and often they do discipline us and sometimes they are punishment for our actions and are not enjoyable . Underlying all of this however, is God's great and rich mercy. A mercy that is prevalent though we deserve His punishment. A mercy through Christ alone.

The next question to answer is the one that says God is not gracious or merciful because he allows evil to happen to good people. Is anyone inherently good?By what standard is goodness judged? Generally not by Christ's standard.

Christ's standard is that only God is good alone. That seprates everyone from goodness on their own merits. The truth is you can be a nice person and not be a good person. For those of us who claim to be "Do Gooders", we must be honest with ourselves. We have done much evil in our lives by what we have said or done and again God is rich in mercy and overflowing with love and forgiveness for the repentant. Despite what some may think God wants all to have a repentant and desires to have mercy on all.

In many ways we can say this mercy is in action whether it be in New Orleans where much good is being done by many churches and average people with generous hearts. These workers have gone into the field and given others hope when none seemed possible. The good thing is there is probably much more being done than is known. The works of God are great in circumstances whether we understand them or not.However, with the good that eventually results which is sometimes over time, his work is not evil.just remember back to a time 2,000 years ago at a cross on Calvary.

The Apathy of Judges and their opposition to the God who gave them their Power.


While some of us still cherish the Doctrine of Two Kingdoms there are others who blur the distinction.

I live in San Diego, CA. and for the past 10 years or so there has been a debate over the Soledad Mountain Cross War Memorial and whether it violates the establishment clause of the Constitution. This issue has been in and out of court. One side is represented by a disgruntled athiest and the other by families of fallen heroes,the Christian community, and other citizens of San Diego with varying religious backgrounds.Who would have thought two Jewish men would have been on the forefront of this charge to keep the Cross where it is.There are even some athiests who show no aversion to the cross and think it should remain even if it is for historical value. I do not find it bad to pray and hope that maybe these people who are not Christians and support the Cross will be driven to discover the Gospel. This is a topic for later discussion.

In July we believed this situation to finally be solved.The residents of the city were preparing to vote to keep the Cross as it is and where it is as a U.S. Government war memorial.However, as they always do, a judge decided that the residents of San Diego needed a 65% approval for the Cross to remain. Thanks be to our Lord we had 76% and it looked as if the Cross would remain at the Soledad War Memorial and not be moved to the Presbyterian church Downhill or to some other non public location away from public view.

Much to the displeasure of many, the same Judge has now decided that our vote is unconstitutional and now has made it possible dependent on future proceedings that the Cross could yet be removed.This is amazing because this same judge set the rule of majority vote in motion and now because she has been defeated has hardened in her position again.I admit I did not expect them to go away and never return.This is even in opposition to the Supreme Court.

What bothers me is where did the integrity of our justice system go. Our Founding Fathers mention our Creator(God) in the Constitution and many of them were religious men. These Judges seem to forget that they would have no power if it were not given to them by God.I als o do not understand how the Ten Commandments can be thought of as merely religious symbols and therefore cannot be displayed. The last time I looked I thought stealing was against the law. We would not what Law is if we had not been told by the Scriptures and it is valid for believer and unbeliever alike. It is shame that the stewards of the Law do not have any regard as they once did for God who made it. The presence of the Cross is no more an endorsement of religion than one on a tombstone.Which is exactly what a memorial is for the military heroes buried there.