Tyranny and Murder by Presidential Decree

In America, we’ve lost the right to be born, the right to practice our faith without government dictate or penalty, the right to proclaim moral sanity in the public square, and now the right to due process of law against a president who thinks he literally can pull the trigger and execute fellow citizens at his whim.

Who's Next?

Who’s Next?

In a bizarre “legal memo”, President Obama has asserted that he can target and assassinate Americans – at will – simply on his belief that they are subversives.

The memo’s specific focus is Americans who President Obama has unilaterally concluded are affiliated with al-Qaida (not that this makes it right), but its rationale and justification can now be applied to anyone else who he likewise concludes is a non-combatant subversive.

America was once a great nation, ruled by law under a Constitution that was consciously written to embody a Judeo-Christian worldview.

The bedrock of our constitutional republic – rooted in Biblical principles articulated by men like James Madison and his mentor John Witherspoon – was the liberty to pursue virtue by imposing checks and balances against the evil of unrestrained government power.

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I Confess: I Ate at Chick-fil-A

I Confess: I Ate at Chick-fil-A

It hasn’t taken long for the Christian postmodernists among us to start accusing their brothers and sisters in the Lord of bigotry, intolerance and hate simply for eating yesterday at Chick-fil-A.

In the last 24 hours, I’ve seen several blogs and related Facebook comments along those lines.

My Favorite Chick-fil-A Meal

Really? Bigotry, intolerance and hate? I saw no evidence of that yesterday.

Have some become so trapped in their postmodern sensibilities that it now is wrong to stand up in a civil, respectful manner against those who want to use the power of government to silence a man of faith – and block his businesses?

And his “sin”?

Simply this: Affirming his personal support of marriage as God has ordained it in His written Word, while nonetheless being open and embracing of all who patronize his establishments regardless of their sexual orientation or differing views.

Let’s get a grip, folks.

Have some Christians become so preempted by the spirit of this age that virtue – and the support of virtue – is now a vice?

Even if there were a few on the fringe (which I certainly didn’t see), we must avoid the trap of those who always seem driven to disingenuously malign other Christians based on the crazy few. We can’t let them define us, even though they will always be vocal in trying to do so.

Are some Christians so trapped in the Jesus of their own creation that they are now compelled to promote the public embrace and state sanction of what God says is wrong?

Can’t they understand that many of us routinely, lovingly embrace those trapped in the bondage of homosexuality – as an affirmation our shared, God-given humanity – while still affirming unambiguous moral standards which God has given us in Scripture for our cultural and personal well being?

Are the postmodernists among us so twisted in their perception of the Gospel, or so removed from the actual reality of ministering tangible hope to hurting people, that they think it is hate to lovingly and respectfully affirm truth and the power of repentance?

Or must we all now sacrifice external moral standards on the altar of their postmodern sensibilities, and acquiesce to those who want to use the power of the state to enforce those sensibilities?

So long as we continue to act with integrity, civility and respect, I think not.

After all, there’s more than one way to speak truth to power. I just never imagined that eating a chicken sandwich would be one of them.

Government Run Amuck

Government Run Amuck

S&P downgraded the United States last night.

I hope and pray that this will serve as a wake-up call for the Church to realize that Biblical precepts can’t be mocked if any nation wants to survive. If God’s people don’t begin to understand, articulate and follow those precepts, then there is no hope.

One of those precepts is that God has ordained certain roles and responsibilities for civil government, and Scripture has lots to say about how individuals, families, the Church, the State and voluntary associations are to function.

However, there is not a single verse or example in all of Scripture which lends any credence to the view that God has given civil government the right or responsibility to re-distribute wealth or provide for our individual health or income. See The Growing Idolatry of Civil Government.

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The Storm

The Storm

There is something in the prophetic personality that loves the thunder, the lightning and the storm.

I get a kick out of standing outside and watching the dark, billowing clouds roll in. We feel God’s majesty in turmoil, and know that He often uproots before He establishes.

I think we feel His mercy more deeply, but also differently. Because our personalities are especially attuned to His power and redemptive judgment, we more fully appreciate His grace.

That’s why we embrace the oppressed and battle tyrants, while relishing the storm.

~ Jim

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Fashionable Scorn

Fashionable Scorn

The following is an op-ed I wrote and the Baltimore Sun published on December 3, 1986. I was in my late twenties at that time and leading the main pro-life, pro-family organization in Maryland, which I started six years earlier and had over 15,000 active members with offices next to the General Assembly in Annapolis. I like to say I’m now a refugee from Maryland living the good life in Virginia. I no longer describe myself as “fundamentalist”, at least regarding my attitudes, even though I strongly adhere to the essentials of the faith.

I’m re-publishing the op-ed because it’s interesting to see how much has changed, yet how much remains the same!

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