Know Your Bible


VOL. 14                                                                                                                         July 24, 2016                                                                                                                            NO. 19

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THE WAR AGAINST GOD!


Have you ever wondered why there is such an effort to remove God from public consciousness? I see billboards along the interstate saying things like “God is an imaginary friend,” or “In the beginning man created God,” and “There is no God, don’t believe everything you hear.”


Those most militant in this often equate believing in God with believing in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. If this is the case, then why haven’t we seen billboards proclaiming “The tooth fairy is an imaginary friend”? There is no concerted effort to keep the Tooth Fairy out of schools? There is a reason you know!


Millions of people need money but there is no one who puts a tooth beneath his pillow expecting the Tooth Fairy to replace it with needed money. Yet, millions of people who believe in God pray diligently believing that God hears and answers prayers (1 John 3:22).

Hospitals are filled with the sick and dying but nobody asks Santa to heal their loved ones. However, countless sick petition God to intervene and providentially provide healing. But suppose people actually put a tooth under the pillow expecting an answer from the Tooth Fairy. Or suppose people really wrote Santa asking for healing—would any try to make such unconstitutional? It is doubtful anyone would respond with little more than a “ho hum—how silly can people be?”


An article in the New York Times lamented just how out of touch America is with the rest of the industrialized world. The article pointed out that all the other industrialized countries were secular rather than religious, and America (in their view) remains religious. Do you really think the writer just wants us to get in step with the rest of the world?


The apostle John closed his first letter with this profound admonition: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 Jn 5:21). What these “anti-God” zealots are pushing is idolatry. They seek to replace God with the State. They wish to have all our “prayers” answered by the “gods” we have elected to federal and state offices.


This nation was established upon biblical principles—none can with honesty deny this. The Declaration of Independence asserts this link when it says: All men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Do you know why the Liberty Bell (located in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA) is called the liberty bell? Because it has engraved on it Leviticus 25:10, “proclaim liberty throughout all the land.”


For centuries Americans have acknowledged that our liberties come from God not man. God, not government gives us our freedoms. Because the Creator of the world is the source of our freedom, no state, no human being, no government may take it away. If the State were the source of liberty, then obviously the State could take it away. So, there is a push underway to remove God and replace Him with the State. Then the State (Idol) can dispense rights or withhold rights.


While there is a war being waged against God, there seems to be an acceptance of Islam. If there are efforts to remove the God of the Bible (Whom they call the Judeo-Christian God), why isn’t there the same effort to remove Allah (the god of Islam)? It is because Allah is not regarded as the source of liberty, but as the object of submission (“Islam” means “submission”). On the other hand, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor 3:17).


In 1962 the war against God gained momentum. The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for schools to allow a non-denominational prayer to be said. Something as humble as “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country.” The purpose of the ruling was to impose secularism upon this country. Skirmishes and battles have continued and frankly the secularists are winning. Now, a valedictorian cannot thank God for his/her success. Efforts are underway to remove “under God” from our Pledge of Allegiance. Professional sports teams are told to stop having the song “God Bless America” sung before games.


God is replaced by the government, the Lord by the President, the Bible by the edicts from the Supreme Court. Generations of Americans are more afraid of the government (political correctness—not speaking out against homosexuality, hate speech you know) than God. Christians also seem to fear government more than God (“I can’t mention God, Christ or church at work, I might get fired”). Obedience to state has replaced submission to God. Where are the bold among us who stand up and say “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29)?


Peter warned: “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage” (2 Pet 2:19). Without God in the heart and consciousness of this land, we will become slaves of corruption; unimaginable corruption.


Without God there is no good and evil. Who is to say that murdering the unborn, or the aged is evil? Flash mobs, knockout games and random acts of violence will become more pronounced.


To God we are always important, but without God, there is no objective meaning to life. If you cease being important to society (old, infirmed, disabled, etc.) then the state can give you “end of life” care (translated euthanasia).


Without God, the human being has no free will. That is, we become like robots programed by our genes or our environment. Homosexuality becomes a genetic predisposition rather than a choice. The murderer is not to be held accountable because he became that way because he was abused and unloved by his mother.


Without God, there are no inalienable human rights. Nothing can be granted by “our Creator” if a Creator does not exist. Rights are then granted and removed by the capricious whim of the government under which we are forced to live. Think NAZI Germany! In their 25-point Party Program, published in 1920, NAZI party members publicly declared their intention to segregate Jews from Aryan society and to abrogate Jews’ political, legal, and civil rights. They were stripped of all rights to own property, operate businesses and were expected to pay restitution to the aggrieved. The result? More than 6,000,000 murdered in the holocaust.


For sure, as David proclaimed before his encounter with the giant Goliath, “the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Sam 17:47). But we must, like David, seek out five smooth stones and go to the front lines. Stand in our place, take up the sword of the Spirit, and do not fear what man might do. We must have the commitment of another great warrior who said: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh 24:15).


—J. R. Bronger


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