blog post on profanity

In my blog surfing yesterday, I came across a blog called "This Godly Fight", and on there the author has a really good post on the subject of profanity, and just how ungodly it is. By reading it, I found out that some words that I hear quite often, even among God's people, are euphemisms for using God's name in vain! This is really an eye opener. Check it out here.

Oh, and be sure you read the comments!

A Narration on a Portion of Utopia

The Question:

Comment on the following portion of the "Religions of the Utopians" chapter. Do you believe truth in religion will by its own power come to light eventually? Or is the second description below the more likely one?

"Furthermore though there be one religion which alone is true, and all other vain and superstitious, yet did he well foresee (so that the matter were handled with reason, and sober modesty) that the truth of its own power would at the last issue out and come to light. But if contention and debate in that behalf should continually be used, as the worst men be most obstinate and stubborn, and in their evil opinion most constant; he perceived that then the best and holiest religion would be trodden underfoot and destroyed by most vain superstitions, even as good corn is by thorns and weeds overgrown and choked. Therefore all this matter he left undiscussed, and gave to every man free liberty and choice to believe what he would."

The Answer:

I believe that truth, left alone, will not come to light by itself. Although if christians are really following the truth, they will be going about teaching other people, as in the latter description. So, truth cannot be left alone, and still be truth. Now, you may say that if there are no christians left in all the world, then by what I have just said truth is no longer truth, and there is no more truth left. I believe that the Word of God is a seed, and that anyone that does exactly what that Word tells them to do will be christians. And, I believe that there always has and always will be children of God. (See Daniel 2:44 and Mark 9:1. The kingdom spoken of in Daniel is the Church! This Church shall never be destroyed!)
In the second description, it mentions "contentions and debate." In reality, we ought to be the exact opposite. Instead of beating people over the head for being wrong in their religion, God commands us to "speak the Truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15).
At the end of this selection, it says, "(he) gave to every man free liberty and choice to believe what he would." This is the right thing to do, because God has made each of us free moral agents, which means we can make our own choices. (Like Balaam in Numbers 22:12. God had told him not to go with those men, but later on in verse 34, we read that he had gone with them. God told him not to go, but He did not make him a puppet to do just what He said. Balaam went, whether God wanted him to or not.) God cannot make us believe the truth, and man can't either. Thus, there will be those who do not believe the truth for what it is. However, we as christians must try to convince, with love, those that are astray.

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

This is my Essay for Bible Search, 2006. I know I could have done better, but in one hour, this is what I came up with. And it got third place with a 92%.

The Spiritual Degeneration of Israel

The Book of Judges tells of the decline in godliness that the nation of Israel experienced before the kings were established. Back in the book of Joshua, everything had been going well; they had been destroying the people of Canaan as God had said. So what happened, so that by chapter 21 things had gotten so evil? Study with me, as we look at chapter two of the book of Judges, and see what they did, or didn’t do, which ultimately led to their downfall.

First, let’s look at verse ten of chapter two. “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord, nor the work which He had done for Israel.” These people did not know the Lord. Oh, I’m sure they knew “of” Him, but they didn’t really know Him. For example, I can say I know the President, but I really haven’t ever met him, talked with him, and gotten to know him. This is what their situation was like.

So, whose fault was it that they didn’t know? Well, it was partially their fault, but mostly it was the fault of the previous generation. It was up to them to teach their children, and that was not done. Now, it could have been that they did teach them, and they just didn’t listen, but it seems to me that this would be less likely.

Today, we can learn from this just how important it is to teach our children, as soon as possible about God and His Word, not just by our words, but by our example, too. It is also the work of the church to teach, but first and foremost, it must begin in the home.

Now let’s look at verses 11 through 15. Here is described the cycle of Judges. First they sin. Then the Lord sells them into the hands of their enemies. Then they cry out to the Lord for deliverance. The Lord raises up a judge to deliver them. Then they sin, and the list starts over. On and on this went for years and years. And it says that with every generation it got worse!

In Palm 1:1-2 we read, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” By the verses in Judges two, we see that they were doing the exact opposite of this man. And since the man in Psalms was blessed, so the Israelites were not blessed.

One of their big problems can be seen in Judges 3:6. “And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods.” By intermarrying with the people of Canaan, and thus serving their gods, they fell away. We can see from this example how important it is to marry those that are christians.

Next, let’s read verses 16-19. In these verses we see that the people of Israel chose to without the longsuffering of God. He freely offered to love them and protect them, if they would only obey Him. Instead they chose to take their own path. But then, if they got themselves in trouble, the figured they could just cry out to God, and He would deliver them. Well, we see later in chapter 10 that God tells them to cry out to the gods they have chosen. Mockingly He says that surly they will deliver them.

From this we can learn how important it is for us to realize the many blessings He has given us. We must never take them for granted.

Last, let’s look at verses 20-23. The Lord is going to leave those nations which are left, in order to test Israel. Later in chapter three, we see, particularly in verse six, that they failed this test. Folly shattered their future.

We must be careful that we do not fall into the mistakes the Israelites did, lest we too shatter both our future, and that of our children.