How Liberal Churches Are Like The Federal Government

Today I was considering the course our nation has gone… from being among the richest nation in the world to being basically owned by the Chinese.  Today I was also considering the course of various churches in our community.  They have gone from being Bible based with eternity and godliness being their focus…  to shallow speaking shells whose children are fleeing from them….

And I asked "why?"

Because both entities have made the same mistake. Both thought they were smarter than God and ignored His precepts.  Both have gone down a road that had an “unknown price”  to pay for it.  Both are now finding out the price for their choices.  Such is the way of sin…..

Consider…

"For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order : if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either."   II Thessalonians 3:10

Noah, the Movie

Well.... We went to see “Noah”, the movie...

You can read the truth about Noah in Genesis 6-9.

The producers of the movie chose blasphemy over scripture. Noah is depicted as a demented fellow who can't figure out what God wants from him. He looks like (and his family considers him) to be a madman.

Genesis 6 “13 Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. 14 "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood ; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 "This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 "You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top ; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 "Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven ; everything that is on the earth shall perish.”

Note that his instructions from God were specific and to the point. This torn fellow that cannot figure out what to do is a slander both on a godly man and the God who created him.

In the movie, rather than his sons taking wives on the ark... Shem gets a wife, Noah abandons Ham's prospective wife to be trampled (alienating Ham) and Shem’s wife has twin girls on the ark. This appears to allow for the other two sons to have wives and re-populate the earth (??) Noah, however, thinks his mandate is to murder his granddaughters to cause all of mankind to cease.

The Bible account is VERY, VERY different.

Genesis 6:18 "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark -you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.”

In the movie, Tubal Cain stows away on the ark for the duration with Ham’s help and tries to murder Noah while on the ark.  The fact of the flood and a few of the names are about all the story line has in common with scripture.

You expect Hollywood to ad-lib on a lot of gaps in dialogue etc. This time they chose to turn one of God's all-time favorite righteous people into little more than a madman. When God was speaking to Ezekiel He chose three men as the ultimate examples of righteousness… Noah was one of them. To make Noah into some sort of a murder- crazed psycho is blasphemy.

“even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord GOD, "they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness." Ezekiel 14:20

They took what were very clear instructions given to Noah and had him groping around trying to figure it all out on his own. Note Genesis 6:22 “Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.”

They avoided using the word “God” and instead used the word “Creator” and demonstrated a very aggressive agnostic and environmentalist agenda. The movie clearly presents the fact that God destroyed the world because of man… but it seems to be because of physical, environmental pollution. However in scripture, God said it was because of sin.

It was just very, very bad. A Bible believing Christian is going to be angry when he leaves. Far from simply using poetic license… they made a deliberate attempt to undermine what the text actually reveals. They also purposely smeared the integrity of a godly, righteous man.

The only good thing that I can see coming from this movie is providing a Christian the opportunity to correct the slander leveled against one the most treasured stories of scripture.

Hi I am glad you stopped by our blog. These articles are from an emailing that we did several years ago.   Today most of our work is on facebook

You can follow my personal page on Facebook by clicking on this link    ...  

  Jerry Blount 

You can follow the postings on the congregation's page by clicking on this link....   

Las Vegas church of Christ 

If you wish to worship with us....

Las Vegas church of Christ

709 Dora Celeste

Las Vegas, NM 87701

Our meeting times are

10am Sunday morning for Bible study.

11am Sunday morning for the worship service.

6pm Wednesday evening for Midweek Bible study.

If you wish to contact me...

yakipreacher@gmail.com

Be well 

Jerry Blount

The Family Needs Grandma

“The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers: not given to much wine, teachers of good things: That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." (Titus 2:3-5)

In this passage, Paul identified the role of Grandma as a key stabilizing factor for a successful home.
This is the last line of defense as mapped out by Paul… Grandma! Today this is compounded by the fact that now, in many cases, Grandma hasn’t known marital success or a “settled life” either. I was born in 1955 and graduated in 1973. I was the product of a happy home, as were both my parents.

The hoary head (gray head) is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.  Proverbs 16:31

 Previous to my generation, divorce was unheard of. When I married, my Grandma started in lecturing me, “In our family, we marry for life!” She was right… She died with the man she had loved all her life. My mother, her daughter, died with the man… (my father) whom she had loved all her life. My father loved my mother till the day she died. With my generation, that presumption has collapsed. There are fewer and fewer of us left.

Note from the following chart that I was not alone. This situation of crumbling marriages and fragmented families has been in a state of decline though out my lifetime.

Christians, Lies, and Forwarding Emails

“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak , they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”  Matthew 12:36

Have you noticed that “most” of the email forwards turn out to not be true? Is “most” too strong a word?   I have become concerned over the last few years that many of the friends that I call “brother” will lose their salvation over the lies they carelessly forward on the internet.

Otherwise godly, conscientious people seem to feel no responsibility in passing on very damaging things about “this or that.”  For example how many Christians who don’t like our president will pass on every smear that comes their way… “hoping” it is true?

Consider this… A liar makes you into a liar when you blindly hit the forward button.

Then someone considers you trustworthy and thinks that you wouldn’t lie… So they hit their forward button and you  have made them a liar. This time it is because they trusted you!  Then someone trusts them and so on.

An Open Letter to the Boy Scouts of America

From an ex- eagle scout.

To whom it may concern:
I had to think a while before I wrote this letter. As I have gotten older, I have learned not to act rashly. I have now thought through what I must do, but do not wish to do.

I became an eagle scout in the 1970s. My mom hung the picture of our area wide “Eagle court of honor” in her hallway with pride until the day she died. When my sons came of age I encouraged them to becomes scouts. One of them also made it all the way to the coveted rank of eagle.

I had looked forward to my grandsons following the same course… and the privilege of sharing Scouting with them.

One of my fondest memories with my sons was at Philmont scout camp. We camped on the top of a mountain. The next morning we literally walked in the clouds as they rolled along the ground. Together we “touched the sky.”

I and my two sons swore the following oath as a prerequisite to our becoming scouts…(Each in our own generation)

Boy Scout Oath or PromiseOn my honor, I will do my bestTo do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;To help other people at all times;To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Let’s see, the final point… the punch line of the oath that we swore, and you still post today has young men swearing to be… “MORALLY STRAIGHT!” How do you define “straight?” Even the homosexuals define “straight” the same way I do. Let’s see they use the words “gay” and “straight.”

You still post this oath… Did I miss something?

One Christian’s thoughts on Chik-fil-a, Sodom & Gomorrah, and The Culture War Currently Underway in the USA.

Over the last month we have seen in dramatic terms how intolerant evil is of good.  One man spoke of his faith in the Bible as the Word of God, and the traditional God given definition of marriage.  There were immediate calls for boycotts etc. against the entire company because of one man’s faith in God.
Here is his initial statement, the "Chick fil a Anti Gay Statement":

“I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say ‘we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage’ and I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.”

Have you noticed how “intolerant” and vicious the “tolerance” movement is?  Have you noticed the vicious attacks that Christians regularly endure simply because they are Christians?  The fact is that the war between light and darkness has been going on since the Garden of Eden.

We have been an incredibly “blessed” nation as we have purposely submitted ourselves as a people to the God of heaven.  “In God we trust” has actually been the underpinnings of our society.

So… how does a “blessed” people become a “cursed” people?  Clearly if we embrace same sex marriage as we have already embraced infanticide we are one step further down the path to Sodom.

Sometimes we overlook the obvious.  This process of “blessed” to “cursed” has occurred many times in the history of the world. Israel was a “blessed” nation that became “cursed” multiple times.

Sodom was a “blessed” community as well. Consider Lot’s assessment…

From Conception to Birth in the Womb, Visualized

Today’s offering is going to be very unique in our mailings.  I am simply going to give you a link to a secular video artist’s presentation of the growth of the human body. 

I have no idea of the man’s religious beliefs or his stand on abortion. He presents an incredible animation based on cat scans etc. No gross stuff, only the beauty of God’s creative work inside the womb...

Sin: Shooting at the Wrong Target

Have you noticed that almost everyone has something that they focus on in their life?  If we do not pursue something… depression sets in.   Have you also noticed that some will spend their lives pursuing a goal that ultimately isn’t worth having once they achieve it?

God offers you a better way of life.  The Bible helps us to direct our lives in such as way as to gain what is worth pursuing and avoid what should be left alone.

In the New Testament the normal word for sin is harmatia (it’s verb form is harmartano).  It means literally “to miss the mark.” It is a archer’s term. Here is the problem… if you shoot at the wrong bulls eye, you just may hit it.

On the other hand, you can aim at things that are worthwhile… i.e. You can aim high but still fall short of what you are aiming for. Hitting the wrong mark or missing the right mark pretty much have the same effect.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” ( Romans 3: 23)

Here is the nature of what the Bible calls sin… We shoot at what we should not have or do not pursue what we should have.  James explains this situation to us graphically…

Do You Wish to be Blessed by God?

Have you noticed the dilemma of figuring out how to have a relationship with God?  The Bible has many things to say along these lines.  Often times people just get lost in the shuffle.  Occasionally in scripture a prophet just stops and gives you a principled summary.  Would you like a principled summary about “How to live with God” absent all the technical discussions? Would you like to find a passage of scripture that just unlocks the point in clear terms that anyone can understand?

The first Psalm is one such passage.  It is obviously an Old Testament passage rather than a New Testament one but here the two testaments agree.  The author is not trying to tell you how to establish a relationship with God, that subject is dealt with elsewhere.  (See Jesus' comments in Mark 15:15-16 for example) The Psalmist is simply describing how to have an ongoing relationship with our Creator. Today we would say that once you become a Christian (a Jew in OT times) then this is how to live.

Let’s allow him to lead us through the principles of a blessed life before our God.
 

Psalm 1: 1.  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Have you noticed that oftentimes the first step in accomplishing good is to avoid evil?  Paul describes how that all of us (Paul included) were born good.  We do not always stay that way.

Where Did Church Buildings Come From?

In recent years I have continued to run into folks that have believed it was somehow more spiritual to worship God at home alone, or in small groups etc. Each time it seems the persons are coming from a different direction but to the same conclusion that the practice of gathering together in a public building as a congregation of God’s people was somehow inferior to a private, or hidden worship.

They are generally pursuing intimacy and fear losing it.

By way of contrast I have also continued to run into folks that believe that the building was “nothing” and therefore you can do anything with said building that you wish. They have thereby wrapped Jesus’ name around everything from country music shows to strip dancing. Yes… here in Wichita a group recently tried to mingle the worship of God with a strip club!

Locally we are trying to raise enough for a down payment and to find financing to buy our first building… so we have been discussing every aspect of this question for the last year.

Here is some of the rationale often given to dismiss church buildings;

• Organized religion is corrupt. (No one can deny that some, if not most, of it is!)
• Constantine founded modern Christianity in the 300’s AD. (Not true…)
• Church buildings were not used until after Constantine’s edict of Milan in 313AD. (this is a blatant misrepresentation of history!)
• In the first century the church was composed of “house churches.” (Some were in homes… only some… not all or even most.)
• If a local church owns a building, then its work ends up centering on the building rather than saving souls etc. (This can and often does happen. This argument is like saying ‘since some marriages fall apart we should do away with marriage.’ Simply put, it is clearly an over-reaction.)

Merry Christmas, Merry X-Mas, Christian Confusion & The Whole Nine Yards

Well, this year is a lot like most years.  Some are desperately trying to “put Christ back in Christmas”.  Some are trying to kick Christ out of everything to do with our civilization.  Some are so mixed up they don’t know which way to jump.

Sometimes I must confess I am the latter. Here’s my dilemma...  As a Christian, I am absolutely compelled to stand up for my Lord and Christianity in general.  However, what most people consider to be “Christianity” is not truly Christianity.  Ironically, those wishing to attack Christianity, often end up attacking Catholicism or some other denominational variant instead.
  
With Christmas in mind, let’s pick one example of confusion: The nativity scenes. . .

In recent years, there has been a full court press against the public display of nativity scenes.  Those attacks are intended to drive Christianity from the public spectrum.  Ironically anyone who has a respect for the Bible, is going to be loathe to defend the nativity scenes (regardless of the motives of those attacking them!). These same Christians (myself included) may aggressively wish to defend the fact that Christianity played a huge role in developing our culture, and it’s eventual success. 


Why can’t I defend the nativity scenes?   Let me count the ways. . .
1)  Angels over the manger. The angels appeared to the shepherds in the field.  Luke 2:8ff. The angels spoke to the shepherds.  Then, “When the angels had gone away from them into heaven,”  (Luke 2:15)  the shepherds went to the manger and saw it all. Were the angels around all this? You bet. Do I have a right to place them at the manger when the Word of God doesn’t say they were there?

2)  The three wise men.  How many wise men? The bible doesn’t say.  Many of the oldest traditions hold that there were 12.  (not three). It is thought that tradition has eventually settled on three wise men because of the three gifts.

Will Your Kids Go To Heaven?

Do you want to have a successful Christian home?

"You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16)

Do you want your kids to go to heaven?
Do you want your family/marriage/home to be solid?
If you answered yes….. The next question in front of you is:
“Should you choose a liberal or conservative church?” 

Which path gives you the best hope of building a strong family that will lead to your children choosing to be Christians? Today it is common for kids to be raised in a church only to hit teenage years and turn away from the “faith of their fathers!”  Many do not realize that it doesn’t have to be that way… and it is not that way among us.

Our families stay together and our kids become Christians.… Want to know more?

Can a Christian Join AARP and Thereby Pay for the Homosexual Agenda?

"Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;" (Ephesians 5: 11)

Today’s mailing is going to be a little different subject matter than normal.  Many of our subscribers from outside the USA won’t be interested in this particular E-mailing.  The principle of joining organizations may be of interest, but AARP is more of a "USA question" about Bible application… sorry.

I keep getting questions about whether a Christian can join AARP with their very liberal social agenda.  Many Christians have been infuriated by their ultra-liberal lobbying efforts on social issues but believe that they simply “must” join because of the insurance programs, travel discounts, etc.

The American Family Association has started recommending to followers to cancel their memberships.  Here is a link to one such story.  

What Denomination Are You?

“If {anyone suffers} as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.” (I Peter 4:16)

We are simply Christians: no more, no less. That’s what Jesus wants us to be.  Wouldn’t you agree?  Have you noticed that churches seem to have a hard time deciding to be content to be just churches? Christians need to be content to be Christians and churches need to be content to be churches.  What does the Bible actually teach us?

Most are unaware that the modern series of divisions that we call denominationalism is actually addressed (in principle) by the Bible.  “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”  (I Corinthians 1:10)

What You May Not Know About Christmas

Today’s article (see below) will allow a bit of a father’s pride to show through.  It was written by my daughter.  She had done her own research with the intention of drawing her own conclusions and explaining why she believed what she believed to her friends.  She then sent it to me to edit and criticize… I asked for permission to send it out on my “Jottings”

Christians that study scripture will rapidly find themselves in a dilemma.  What can we participate in and defend?  For example, only a light reading of scripture reveals that the nativity scenes pass on a sorely mistaken view of what actually happened the night our Lord was born. As the ACLU attacks their placement in public places with a view to attacking Christianity… Our dilemma is, how do we defend Christianity without defending what is not really Christianity?

There is a certain joy that comes with watching your children come of age and establish families of their own.  That joy runs even deeper as you watch them choose Christian spouses and then establish Christian families.

Yours in Christ,
Jerry Blount

-----------------------------------------------------

What You May Not Know About Christmas...

What does the Bible say?

I don’t celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday- the reason being that the Bible doesn’t tell me to. Under the Old Law, God was very specific about the holy days He wanted observed. He told what event was to be remembered, what should be taught, how and when to observe the celebration. Today… we aren’t under the Old Law anymore (refer to Hebrews 8-10), and God radically changed the way worship occurs in the New Testament. The only way we are commanded to remember Christ with a ceremony today is the Lord's Supper which we observe every Sunday. (1 Cor 11:23-26, Ac 20:7). The New Testament church did not celebrate the birth of Christ in any special way. If Jesus wanted us to celebrate His birthday, He would have told us to celebrate it, when and how to celebrate it. God has given us all instruction about life and godliness in the scriptures (2 Peter 1:3, 2 Timothy 3:16-17). It’s not my place to add in any religious holidays or observances that God didn’t command (Rev. 22:18).
 
 
When was Jesus born?

         No one knows the date Jesus was born! Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2 describe Christ’s birth. December 25th, or any Roman or Hebrew equivalent is not mentioned! What we do know is that the shepherds were abiding in the fields, watching over their sheep at night (Luke 2:8), which wouldn’t be the case in December. “It's a well-known fact that December falls in the middle of the rainy season in Palestine, and the sheep were kept in the fold at that time of the year.”3 (Refer to Ezra 10:9-13, Song of Solomon 2:11, which show winter as the rainy season and shepherds could not be out on the cold, open fields at night with their sheep.)

Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience

Today in lieu of my writings I am sending the declaration pasted below.  As you can see, several religious leaders of our country are now calling for civil disobedience as our government has begun trying to silence churches.  The writers included Orthodox, Catholic, and various evangelical groups.  In my estimation this is rather unprecedented.  Apparently 150+ people were involved in it. It was at 180,000 people by Sunday.  Today, it has grown to over 230,000.  It is very long… but it is very well done. You’ll be glad you read it.

You’ll read below of the government trying to force churches to participate in homosexual marriages, abortions etc. Their normal weapon is the IRS.  I personally believe that all churches would be better off if they weren’t tax exempt.  It just muddies up the picture when a church is beholden to the government for anything!

As you will see below, the government is now trying to use that exemption as a weapon to cow the churches into silence.   John the Baptist lost his head crying out against Herod’s adultery.  If we lose our tax exemptions over crying out on behalf of the unborn, the weak and the elderly…. So be it!

Yours in Christ,
Jerry Blount

----------------------------

Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience
Drafted October 20, 2009
Released November 20, 2009

Preamble
Christians are heirs of a 2,000 year tradition of proclaiming God’s word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny, and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed and suffering.
 

So You're a Christian... What Does That Mean?

“And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Acts 11:26

Today we live in a world where almost anything seems to be defined as Christian or in the name of Christ.  Most in our society still identify themselves as Christian… yet most also don’t worship God with any regularity.
Most politicians claim to be Christians… That being said, why are we are not the least bit surprised when one of them lies or has an extra marital fling? How can this be? 

The Bible uses the term in only 3 places: Acts 11:26, 26:28, and I Peter 4:16.  At it’s simplest level, it means a follower of Christ. 

What does it mean when you call yourself a Christian, a follower of Christ?

The Precious Death of a Christian

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.  

O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, 

and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. 

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, 

and will call upon the name of the Lord." (Psalm 116:15-17) 

After my last “jotting,”  I received word that a Christian lady that I had only once met was dying.  Last month the father of a dear friend, and a dear friend, who was the wife of a dear friend, (all Christians) had passed away.  Yet another friend sent me the linked video of a gospel preacher’s saying farewell to his congregation 5 days before his cancerous death… after preaching there for 40 years.  You can click here to listen to his last sermon.   

There is a beauty to knowing you have done the best you could with all integrity and now it is time to receive your reward.  Not because you are famous, but because your Lord knows you… and you know Him.  You are not just one of the endless hordes… you matter; God knows and cares for you.

We use euphemisms to try to soften every aspect of death.  On the contrary, our Lord teaches us to embrace it.  We cannot control death, that is why we fear it so.  We can cause it, but we cannot avoid it.  He has promised that we need not fear.

Come With Us

Come with us and we will do you good for the Lord has promised! A Christian’s offer from 1700 BC? (Numbers 10:28-36)

Since we started a new congregation back in October… we have been going about the countryside and making this kind of an offer to various folks all around us.

“Come with us and help us start a new congregation. We offer you a once in a life time opportunity to step out of the shadows and do something, be someone special!”

Or perhaps, “You can go on doing what you have always done and when your life is done… you will have done what everyone else has… But you could choose to come out and do something special! You could help to place the name of Christ where it has never been!”

We have worded this offer in various ways but it has come down to a special opportunity to start a new work where you are important rather than just being a nameless number in a multitude.

If you worship God among hundreds or even thousands… what will your impact be? Where can you do the most good? Where will your children learn the greatest lessons on their need to take up the yoke of the Lord Jesus? Even your children have a chance to be on the front lines for Jesus!

We make this offer to you… Jesus knows you but we’d like to! 

Jesus will always do you good… Now we’d like to! 

Today’s article is based on very similar ancient offer given by Moses to his father in-law Hobab (a.k.a. Jethro) and some of Hobab’s extended family. It is the kind of offer that a Christian or a church should regularly give today. We’ll look at this virtually unknown offer… made long ago to a family outside of Judaism.

The Christian, The Bible, and the Practice of Abortion

I am certain virtually everyone has heard of the murder of Dr Tiller here in Wichita.  This one strikes close to home for us.  Our new congregation meets right around the corner from his infamous abortion clinic.
What a thing for a community to be known for!  We are the abortion capital of the world.  People literally come here from all over because you can get away with things here that you just cannot do elsewhere.  Dr. Tiller would do things that no man of conscience could do.

 Here is a link to an undercover video made of him bragging about his procedures and complaining about the born alive protection act.  You’ll have to sign in and confirm you are over 18 if you wish to watch it because of a couple of his photos he shows at the beginning of the video.  Dr. Tiller was giving a speech while being honored by the National Education Association as a hero.  After said speech he was interviewed by some that he perceived as friends and appears not to realize he is on tape.  He speaks rather freely of his monstrous trade. There are a couple of rather important quotes in that video:

“Let’s say you have 15 or 16 and you had one slip out with a heartbeat, that is not a viable fetus, but that is born alive or has a heart beat. Then you have to take that non-viable fetus and rush it to the hospital against the woman’s wishes.” 
“If the baby is born alive it is sloppy medicine and it shouldn’t be done.”
““I have done (them) up to the day before delivery.”