Displaying items by tag: religion

A minister's wife came up to me after seeing my due diligence in seeking out the Scriptures and said, "You're so heavenly-minded that you're no earthly good.”-Bradlee Dean  

When I was first saved from my sins (Matthew 1:21) back in 1998, I remember how much the Lord had broken me down to nothing, and I mean nothing.  A man of God once said that until a man becomes nothing, God will create nothing out of him (Isaiah 66:2; Psalm 34:18, 51:17).   The Lord has definitely taken the time to show me this truth by showing me what I am not, by showing me who He is (Malachi 3:6).

During this breaking process, I also remember feeding on the Word day and night (John 6:35).  For me, it was like King David when he said:

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” -Psalm 42:1-2

I'm also reminded in Matthew 5:6 where Jesus said: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

This is where I am after 21 years of working out my own salvation with fear and trembling and in studying to shew myself approved unto God (Philippians 2:12; 2 Timothy 2:15).

I did not want to have anything to do with the old man.

“That ye put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” -Ephesians 4:22-24

This is what being born again means and looks like (John 3:3-5).

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;” -Titus 3:5

We are new creatures in Christ.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” -2 Corinthians 5:17 

I had new desires and my affections were set on Christ (Colossians 3:1).  I wanted His will; and how was I to do that if I did not know His Word (John 7:17)?

Now, in the beginning process of growing in grace (2 Peter 3:18) and being rooted and built up in Him (Colossians 2:7), this minister's wife tells me that if I was so heavenly-minded that I would never be any earthly good.  I almost fell out of my chair.  The first thing that came to my mind was that if I am not heavenly-minded, how is it that His will can be done on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10)?

How was I supposed to give the answers to the world that they so desperately needed if I didn’t have them to give? (Matthew 10:8; 2 Timothy 2:6-7)

Furthermore, “our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

Our conversation is to becometh the Gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27).

For anyone one to say, I care not for whom it may be, that if we are so heavenly-minded that we are no earthly good, it is one of the most backward, as well as, unscriptural things to say (Galatians 1:3-12).

The fact of the matter is if you are not heavenly-minded, you will be no earthly good!

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, the will of God.” -Romans 12:2

After all friends,

“You can’t go on heavenly missions without heavenly fire." -D. L. Moody

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Bradlee Dean is a guest contributor to GCN news. His views and opinions are his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of the Genesis Communication Network. Bradlee's radio program, The Sons of Liberty, broadcasts live M - Sat here at GCN. This is an edited version of an op-ed originally published by Sons of Liberty Media at www.sonsoflibertyradio.com. Reprinted with permission. 

"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." - John Stuart Mill

Quite often, you will find with live feeds on social media memes or posts of Americans declaring their professed love for their freedoms by honoring the fallen soldiers (Or Christ) with their lips (Matthew 15:8).

You will also notice other posts on the same feeds magnifying the crimes of the corrupt that they tolerate both in the Church and in government (Jeremiah 17:19). These are crimes that the soldiers in the natural and Christ in the spiritual have fought against by magnifying the law that exposes sin and these tyrants (Isaiah 42:21; Psalm 40:8; John 3:16; Hebrews 8:10; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:2).  

Additionally, when looking further into the person’s profile page, you will find more often than not, that to which their hearts are really attached (Matthew 6:21) and what it is that they really love the most. You will find their page filled up and down with their favorite sports teams, etc.

One guy's profile will help serve the point: On one half of his meme is a picture of wounded soldiers where it states that “These guys get paid less than $35,000 a year and risk their lives."  On the other side, it states, “So these guys (kneeling football players) can get paid $11 million a year and protest our national anthem…because they feel oppressed.”

So what I did, in turn, was post a meme of a filled stadium of football fans, the headstones of our fallen at Arlington cemetery and the front of a state capital with no one to be found in protest.

Hold that thought.

America’s new god is “Sports.” 

So, one must ask the question, how much do you Americans truly love their blood bought freedoms (Revelation 1:5)? Are Americans out protesting corruption within the American Church for which Christ died (1 Timothy 4:1, 5:20)?

In the natural (1 Corinthians 2:14), are these those who love their blood-bought freedoms protesting corruption in their government? Hardly, which only shows a lack of love (1 John 3:18).

Last week, my family and I were out on the road again “seeking and saving that which is lost” (Luke 19:10) in the beautiful state of Pennsylvania.

While going through the state, we stopped by a local restaurant and sat down to get some lunch. As you know, restaurants today are filling up wall space with television sets to keep patrons in their booths as long as possible while entertaining guests in hopes that they will continue to spend more on eating and drinking at their establishments, all the while ignoring one's family (1 John 2:15).

One of my children said to me, “Dad, look at all those people in that stadium (average seating per stadium 69,444 seats x 32 teams) watching a football game (Jeremiah 11:13).” 

This is every Sunday, all across the country.

I said back to him, “It merely shows you where their hearts are (Exodus 20:4).” To prove the point I must ask why do we have babies being illegally murdered in the womb (Proverbs 6:17)?

Why do we have sodomites illegally targeting America’s children through forced, sexually immoral indoctrination in public schools (Luke 17:2)?

Why do we have transgender felons targeting pre-kindergarten children in American libraries (Deuteronomy 22:15)?

Why do we have foreigners being allured by representatives and Churches into America who mean to conquer us (Deuteronomy 28:43)?

Why do we tolerate a government that runs counter to its purpose while they attempt to strip us of the right to bear arms (2nd Amendment)?

Why do we have a government that is attacking our freedom of speech (1st Amendment)?

Why do we have Churches filled with hirelings who refuse to preach out against and stand in protest concerning the issues above? After all, Churches are to be the barracks in which the soldiers are raised up (Ephesians 6:12).

Yet, we see today that they have become mere buildings where congregants are taught to stand down against the evils of the day which they are commanded to preach out against (Deuteronomy 4:6; Matthew 16:15-20). 

These pastors are fearful cowards, who are not appointed nor ordained by the Living God (Revelation 21:8) and their congregants are taught to follow in close pursuit.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” -2 Timothy 1:7

I say that it is a good thing our forefathers in the faith (Hebrews 11) didn’t think and act in such a deceived and impotent fashion (James 2:14-26).

"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." -Accredited to President Abraham Lincoln

The Forerunners of the American Revolution: The Black Robed Regiment - Part 2

Apparently, according to the new translation of the heresies of change (Proverbs 24:21) and that among the American hirelings (John 10:12), who are the greatest advocates of the crimes above, the crosses that adorn their buildings have no relevance in today’s society (Philippians 3:18).

According to George Barna, the reasons that the Church in America refuses to address the issues above to their congregants is because they are afraid it would affect attendance and offerings (Proverbs 29:25).

Why do Americans, of which 86% profess to be Christians (1 John 2:4), say that they love their country, but go no further than to tolerate, by their inaction and idolatry, corrupt politicians, lawlessness, the indoctrination of their own children and more.

Americans are dishonoring and trampling under foot that which our veterans and the Christ died (Hebrews 10:28-30) fighting against (1 John 3:8) and are allowing tyranny to flourish in their own country through their complacency. Is this how you honor the fallen-sacrifice? Absolutely not! Is this love? Absolutely not! But one thing that we know for sure, this is where the people's hearts are which explains the state of America today.

The Awful Price of Freedom and Redemption

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Bradlee Dean is a guest contributor to GCN news. His views and opinions are his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of the Genesis Communication Network. Bradlee's radio program, The Sons of Liberty, broadcasts live M - Sat here at GCN. This is an edited version of an op-ed originally published by Sons of Liberty Media at www.sonsoflibertyradio.com. Reprinted with permission. 

Man has created plenty of inherently evil things: weapons of war like guns and bombs, addictive drugs like nicotine, opioids, and crack cocaine, but none are more evil or responsible for more death than the creation of God.

Religion was the law before the law. It was a means to control populations of peasants and slaves through fear and pain. Egyptian emperors propagandized their godliness so slaves would die building the pyramids that would serve as their final resting places and lasting reminders of their godliness. People worshiped gods and goddesses and continue to do so out of fear or to relieve pain inflicted upon them by authoritarians or unfair economic systems and circumstances.

More wars have been started and more people killed in the name of god than for any other reason. Reconquista, or the Iberian Religious Wars between Christians and Muslims for the Iberian Peninsula, killed an estimated 7 million over 721 years. The Christian Crusades—nine of them—sanctioned by the Latin Church to acquire the Holy Land from Muslims, are estimated to have killed 1.7 million people. The French Wars of Religion between Roman Catholics and Huguenots are estimated to be responsible for the deaths of 3 million people. That’s 11.7 million deaths. The Jewish-Roman Wars push the total over 12 million. The German-led genocides of the Jews and Christian Poles killed another 12 million at least.

The Bible has been and continues to be used to justify slavery and white supremacy, demonize bisexuality, and deny climate science. “The Immaculate Conception” is still used to justify the violation of living, breathing women’s rights—even raped women—in favor of unborn babies. And Pope Benedict XVI actually said the use of condoms could worsen the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, with Catholic Churches telling African children not to use condoms, contributing to the spread of the epidemic.

Organized religion is also responsible for thousands of sexual crimes against children throughout the world. The Illinois Attorney General found that more than 500 priests accused of sexual abuse have not been publicly identified by Catholic Church. In Boston, more than 130 people have alleged former priest John J. Geoghan fondled or raped them over the course of three decades through a half-dozen Greater Boston parishes. From 2001 to 2010, the Holy See, the central governing body of the Catholic Church, considered sex abuse allegations involving about 3,000 priests dating back fifty years.

Religion has certainly saved plenty, but its track record of evil is well-documented. Religion’s rap sheet is long, which should make you skeptical of its intentions, regardless of whether it’s saved someone you know. Personal experience means very little when considering thousands of years of documented history.

When Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died suddenly on Feb. 13, 2016, it sparked a standoff between Democrats and Republicans that rivaled that of the OK Corral. Senate Republicans refused to confirm a replacement on the grounds that President Barack Obama was a lame duck president and that the new president should choose a successor. Obama famously responded by saying, “Presidents do not stop working in the final year of their term; neither should a senator,” and nominated Merrick Garland a month after Scalia passed.

Garland is a moderate by general consensus, but it wasn’t enough to convince Republicans to make the judiciary work on behalf of Americans. You can find how an empty seat has affected cases since by following this link. Basically, there were two ties that adversely affected working immigrants and unions.

Here we are over a year later with the Republicans getting exactly what they wanted: Neil Gorsuch, a consensus conservative judge, breaking the tie on a church-state case.

The separation of church and state is long-standing, federal law. Tax dollars are not spent in support of religions, but the federal government won’t stop you from raising money as a church – going as far as to make churches exempt from paying income taxes. A church can even donate money to super PACs that aren’t supporting a specific candidate, but no one is really enforcing this, with the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission calling their organization “more than dysfunctional” and saying the likelihood that the laws being enforced is “slim.” Donald Trump would like to make churches the new super PACs, according to The Atlantic. That opportunity has arrived in the form of the church-state case Trinity Lutheran v. Comer.

Trinity Lutheran is a church-run preschool that applied for a state grant to fund a playground upgrade for safety reasons. They want to put that forgiving material made out of old tires in the playground so kids don’t end up with brain injuries, etc. It’s a perfectly reasonable thing to do. You can see what they currently have in the playground just by visiting the website, and it’s pretty terrible. But the state in which Trinity Lutheran operates, Missouri, has a state constitution clause that forbids tax dollars from going to churches, which is also perfectly reasonable. The latest decision upheld Missouri’s state constitution. The church must raise its own money to upgrade the playground. They are a private school after all, and if they actually took advantage of all this media attention, they’d probably be funded for the entire year already.

The case could be thrown out entirely because the Supreme Court put off scheduling the case because of the empty seat, and since, Missouri’s Democratic attorney general lost an election and was replaced with a Republican, who announced he will change the state’s policy and allow churches to receive grant money from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Then there’s no case, right? Attorney Irv Gonzalez of the Know Your Rights talk show thinks so.

“If they change the policy then I think they should not hear the case … If he changes the law today, then there’s really no issue,” he said.

Not so fast. That change to the state’s policy wouldn’t be permanent. It would be subject to change every time there’s a new attorney general. If the Supreme Court rules, though, it would become permanent nationwide. You see why these nine judges are so important and why having just eight is a real problem? Just look back at the FEC’s six chair people and how ineffective that has been. Those people can’t even talk to each other.

So, here we are at a crossroads, with a ninth and final traveller determining which path America takes for the foreseeable future. Does the consensus conservative Gorsuch side with state’s rights or religion? Everything points to religion. Furthermore, the hundred or so federal judges Donald Trump has or will appoint and another 70 that will likely retire during Trump’s first term will make sure more church-state cases are heard by the conservative Supreme Court. Gonzalez doesn’t foresee sweeping changes to church-state precedent, though. Unless, of course, 84-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg passes away in the next four years.

Americans need to realize that Republicans didn’t just hijack the Supreme Court, but they hijacked nearly 200 more courts at other levels throughout the country. President Obama made 54 federal nominations to the 112 empty seats that Senate Republicans refused to confirm. Winning the White House was imperative for the power play to work, but Trump slapped the puck through the Democrats’ five hole – Hillary Clinton – with perhaps an assist or two from the Russians, who say they’re going to the Olympics regardless of what NHL owners declare. With a Republican-led executive, legislative and judiciary branches, what’s next?

Churches will be allowed to donate directly to political officials, whom, of course, will be members of the religious right. Freedom of religion will infringe upon free elections, and religions and corporations will battle together to elect politicians who put more money in the pockets of priests and CEOs. Everyday Americans will continue to suffer, but it won’t seem like it as long as they have their precious devices, television and internet access. Whether their use of those devices is monitored and sold to advertisers matters little to them. Fewer and fewer people will vote, because why waste an hour every two years when both candidates are working against you? Believe it or not, your vote means more now than ever. Use it.

Editor's Note: An update follows.

Donald Trump went to work filling those open seats on Monday, May 8.

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