Capitalism vs. Socialism

I have been in conservative Christian circles for years...it is almost a universal given...that capitalism is biblical whereas socialism is...well...its what the liberals believe and hold on to.

The problem with this type of thinking...like any ideal or philosophy is that it looks good on paper...while you ignore the fact that sinners are involved in both systems.

Conservatives easily see the errors of socialism...but do they see the errors of capitalism?

I have heard many conservative Christians complain about the evils of "big government"...aka..."socialistic governments"...taking our hard earned dollars and giving them to the low life undeservings of our society.

Oh...if we could only get back to the good old days...when we were more capitalistic...when the government kept its ugly hands off of our hard earned money.

But how has the government grown to its ugly size...why is its hands in our pockets?

I heard one Christian philosopher try to explain this problem. He said that God has given the responsibility to feed the poor, cloth the naked, heal the sick, visit the prisoner, look after the widow and orphan into the hands of His people...

...but what happens when God's people become greedy for money...greedy for their own comfort and luxury...and negligent to the needs of others.

Well, if Christians won't voluntarily give of their time, energies and monies to minister in these areas...then God will raise up another arm of His authority and power to look after it...the civil government is also an arm that extends God's authority.

If Christians will not give liberally to extend Christ's mercies into the world then God will raise up another instrument to execute this task...

...but now instead of God's people voluntarily giving generously to help others...they have their money taken from them...via taxes...to pay for hospitals, the poor, single moms and their children...etc.

But wait...there is an answer...capitalism has an answer to keep the big governments hands off of our money...

Is the answer to discern that our present state is a judgment from God...and that we need to repent of our greedy ways...and give more of our time, energy and time to helping the needy and undeserving in our land?

No! Don't be silly.

The answer is in tax loop holes.

You see...you can have a business and make tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars a year...but...you can make it seem like you only make a minimal amount.

This way the government can't get at "your" money. This way it actually makes it seem like you are one of the needy [even though you aren't] and then you can get free government hand outs. Now, you can become like one of the people you have complained about in the past...you know...the dude on welfare who really is able to get a job...but wants a hand out...so chooses to make it seem like he can't work to get a free hand out...ouch...hurts doesn't it.

Capitalism teaches you how you can keep the governments hands off of your hard earned money...but have you really come up with an answer to how we can feed the poor, heal the sick, clothe the naked...etc?

Or have you just found a way to hold on to your money...for your own selfish ends...the very reason why we have a big government to begin with...

The Debt [part 2]

You would think that the pardoned man would have left the king's presence a different man...wouldn't you?

He had just be forgiven a debt [due to neglect and criminal dishonesty] that he could have never repaid...a debt that would have forever plagued, not only his life, but his families.

But now the weight was gone...the king had paid the debt...he was free...

...and what was the first thing he did, after he finished dancing and singing in the streets?

We are told that he went out and "found"...actually looked for...a fellow servant who owed him money...someone who owed him a debt.

Here is the test...did the servant really understand his kings love and grace and mercy?

Was he looking for his fellow servant to tell him that he too was pardoned...that full forgiveness was being given to him?

NO!

He grabbed his fellow servant and began to pound him, choke him...and demanded payment!

The fellow servant pleaded for mercy...pleaded for time to be able to pay back the debt [note, that the debt was an substantial amount, 100 denarii was worth around three and a half months wages...that is a considerable ouch...even though it was nothing in comparison to the 10,000 talents.

No mercy was shown.

Other servants of the kingdom saw this horrible ordeal and went and told the king...it was Israels equivalent to "America's Most Wanted"

The King was outraged and had the first servant brought back in to His presence...this time mercy is no where to be found.

The servant is again judged by his own merciless standard...and is giving a life sentence for his debt...

The moral of the lesson? When you truly receive God's pardon and God's mercy, you will begin to give pardon and mercy.

There are many people who enter covenant with God, profess to trust Jesus, are baptized, are members of the church...and they never really believe the covenant that they entered.

They don't really believe that God pardoned them graciously...freely...they are like the servant in the story...who in the back of his head thought that real pardon had to be earned...it had to be worked off by the one who owed it.

So these people live outward religious lives...they go through the Christian motions...but they are rigid people who are bitter, hold grudges...and show no mercy to those who really hurt them and sin against them.

On the day of Judgment, if these people do not repent of their unbelief and bitterness, they will not receive the pardon that God's covenant offers...because that pardon comes through faith...and they show by their lack of a changed life that faith is absent from their lives.

The Debt [part 1]

Yesterday, I preached a message on forgiveness...out of Matthew chapter 18.

Jesus tells a story in order to teach Peter and us...what God's forgiveness looks like...and what our forgiveness should look like...in response to God's.

Peter, like us, thought himself pretty good, fairly upright, and holding his own in the area of being merciful.

He asks Jesus...how often should I forgive my brother when he sins against me...7 times?

Peter pitches this question to Jesus...and Jesus cranks it out of the ball park...a homerun...with His reply.

Not seven times Peter...seventy times seven...or in other words...your forgiveness isn't nearly as great as you would like to think.

Then Jesus tells a story...a parable.

Remember, a parable is an earthly story that is packed full of heavenly truth...it teaches us about God, God's kingdom, how God works in and through His kingdom...and it teaches us about us...how we fit should live and act in God's kingdom.

Jesus' story begins with a king who decides it is time to have accounts settled in his kingdom. As the highest authority he has his servants summoned and then brought to him to settle up.

The servants don't come on their own inner stirrings...they are brought to the King!

A man is brought to him owing him 10,000 talents. This would be a sum of money so large that it would take the average worker 170,000 years to pay it back...this guy is in over his head.

It is very likely this servant was a provincial governor, a high official who collected taxes for the king. Because of neglect and dishonestly, he spent and wasted all the kings money.

And now it was time to pay the Piper...the King wants what is due Him!

We must remember that this guy is caught off guard...this isn't a time that he has scheduled...this is a meeting that the King has ordered. This guy very likely deceived himself into thinking that what ever money he hasn't collected yet...or what ever money he has illegally spent [because its not his, its the kings] he will have the time to make up for it.

This guy gets caught in the same trap that many credit card holders do. Spend a little here, spend a little there, keep no records...then at the end of the month, the statement comes in and HEART ATTACK...

Once the King discovers that His servant has squandered the wealth that was put under his care...He commands that the servant and all that is under his authority be sold and some type of payment be made to the King.

The servant has nothing to bargain with...but with empty pockets...throws himself onto the ground and pleads for mercy before the King. But he doesn't plead for full pardon. He begs for immediate judgment to be withheld so that he can try...by his own works...to pay off this infinite debt.

The King responds in amazing grace...total and free pardon. He releases the servant from custody...and He releases him...with His debt fully paid...fully paid at the King's expense mind you.

In this first part of our story Jesus is showing us God's salvation.

Because of our sin...we don't want to come into God's presense...we love the darkness, we love our sin. But God in His mercy calls us to Himself, He draws us to Himself with invisible cords of loving-kindness.

God, by His Spirit, shows us the weight of our sin. We commit sins daily, here and there and every where...and conveniently forget them...but God keeps good books. When we see the crushing weight of our sin we fall down upon before the Lord and beg for mercy...but we still want control of our life, we don't want God to be in control.

So we ask for enough mercy to keep us from immediate punishment...so that we can begin to earn our ultimate freedom. We are so simple we don't understand the debt is infinite and we can never pay it back by our feeble religious efforts.

God in His mercy full pardons us, brings us into covenant with him, we are baptized, which is a sign of our forgiveness and our cleansing from sin through the shed blood of Jesus.

God declares that our sin is paid for...that we are fully pardoned...and how should we respond?

Cont'

Words Have No Meaning...

We live in a post modern age. We live in a time where we are taught that words are what you make them to be.

Students in the Universities are being told that words are like containers...they are empty until you fill them up. Now, you may decide to fill your container with apple juice, iced tea, or any other number of tasty drinks...but in the end the container just holds the goods...you decide what goes in.

So when you read or hear something...its up to you to give those words meaning...you may interpret the words one way...and someone else may decide to fill up the words [interpret] with something different. We are told that this is all good!

Skeptics of Christianity bring this type of thinking into their critiques of the Bible.

"Thats just your interpretation" I have heard times without number.

We are told that we really can't know what the Bible says...because words are so unreliable to transmit real meaning.

Is this really the case? To find out if something is really legit...try and see if it is consistent with itself.

A teacher tells his/her class that words are unreliable transmitters of truth, knowledge and meaning...but does this teacher really believe this...duh!

If they did, why would they be telling you this knowledge via the use of words?

If words have no meaning and you and I can make words say anything I want...then you and I could never really know the truth that words have no meaning and that you and I can make them say anything we want.

When the teacher says this tripe...he/she isn't assuming the class has just interpreted her words in 100 different ways...ending up with a recipe for a banana split in one students head, and a sequel for Moby Dick in another students thinking...

The teacher chose words that had certain meaning to them, and projected those words to listening ears to lead them in the direction he/she wanted to lead them.

Words have absolute meaning. The Bible teaches us God's truths via words...and these words are what God means in them...and not anything we want them to be.

If a student ever wants to see if the teacher really believes all this nonsense about making words say what you want...then the next time you get a "D" or an "F" on your test...just cross it out and say you interpreted that symbol to be an A+...you will soon see that your teacher does NOT believe his/her own theories...in the real world.

Is Your Marriage Really Over...really?

I do not want to under estimate the pain and suffering that can enter a couples lives when there is constant fighting and arguing in their marriage.

At times it can seem like the black pit is so deep that you can't even see a hint of sunlight anymore.

It is because of this immense suffering that many people begin to think about "throwing in the towel".

Sure they swore an oath before God, for NOT just the better times...but also the worse...till DEATH alone parts them.

Hey! But when they said those words the sun was shining, the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming...and a breeze, with the scent of a multitude of fresh flowers was gently blowing.

And now things are black and clouded, the birds are gone, the hurricane winds are howling...and the air...stinks.

In dark times, our thinking is often clouded...we look at our options and usually see only two.

1. Remain in this marriage, holding true to my oath before God and the other witnesses at the ceremony...and be totally miserable.

or

2. Break my oath, get out...and get happy again.

Unfortunately we live in a day and age where the people who want to choose option two...have many "friends" encouraging them to "get out".


There is option three. Your options aren't only stay and be miserable or get out and be happy.

Stats on divorce are frightening indeed. 50% of first marriages end in divorce...and then it gets worse...into the mid to high 60% for second marriages.

In other words...getting out isn't going to be your guarantee to happiness.

What is option 3? Stay in the marriage and work it out!

Work it out?! But we don't love each other any more!

One of our problems, in North American culture, is that we have fallen for the lie that "love" is primarily a feeling...and its NOT!

Love primarily is a commitment! When I love my wife, I am commited to do her good, all the days of her life.

We have mistaken the byproduct of love to be love itself.

When I love someone I want to be with them, say encouraging things to them, give gifts to them, serve them, touch them...do good to them.

When these things happen...I am investing in the person I love...the more I invest, the more valuable the person is to me...and the "feelings" of love are everywhere!

But often, in relationships...all this investing happens...at the beginning...and then one or both parties begins to take the other for granted...begins to live for self and self interests...stops investing in the other person...and guess what happens?

The feelings of love go away...because the actions of love have ceased.

A failing marriage can be renewed, feelings of love can be restored...it takes investment...it takes work.

If you are struggling with your marriage...rent the movie [BlockBusters] called "Fire Proof"...and get the book called "The Love Dare"...it may help breathe some life into your marriage.

Don't quit...invest...commit...thats what love does.

Are You F*#&ing Brainwashed??

Sorry for the hint of ugly language...honestly I have a reason...

Years ago...while I still lived in Red Deer...I was holding a chapel service for the guys in jail.

While I was preaching a message...one of the guys...pipes up and shouts out...

"Man, are you F*#&ing brainwashed!"

I stopped for a moment to address this new topic. I told the guy that I was willing to admit that I was brainwashed...but was he?

He had the funniest look on his face when I confronted him with this new idea?

He only thought that so called "religious" people could be brainwashed...

As I began to put him on the "hot seat", asking him questions of why he believed certain things about how he viewed reality...it became immediately apparent that his beliefs did not arise out of careful, non-biased, philosophical study...

...many of the things he assumed and believed were things that he was taught throughout his life...things he never questioned...never challenged...his brain had been washed quite nicely.

I told him that I had been raised in a different religion then the one I was preaching from the pulpit. The religion I was raised in left me in the position of a little god...life was only random chance...I was a byproduct of billions of mutations, I was the highest link on the food chain.

I went to a religious school [public] where they taught their theories as if they were undisputed facts...this religious school had its beliefs on the universe's origin [big bang], where man came from [macro evolution], who man is [highest authority in the universe], where man is ultimately going [eat dirt].

This religious school taught its own form of ethics[there are no absolute truths...except for the truth that there are no absolute truths...lol], and religious practices [be politically correct and tolerant...to all those who hold the status quo].

I told this man that I used to hold to my beliefs...just because that's the way it was. But then I was challenged to question my old ways...and look at God's ways...

By God's grace I was washed of my brainwash. Many people think that to follow Jesus you have to park your brain in the parking lot. Jesus created you with a brain...He wants you to use it. But He didn't create your brain as the highest authority in the universe. God is the highest authority [thats what it means to be God]...for us to truly understand the world we live in...we must submit our reasoning powers to God and His word.