LXXXIII. Father of Lies

"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."-Jesus, from the Gospel of John 8:44

We live in a world that would rather believe in lies than believe in the truth.  We do so because if we live the lie then we don't have to change who we are.  Because if we have to change who we are then that means we have made mistakes and there is something wrong with us or we are doing the wrong thing or have the wrong ideas.  And no one wants to admit that.  We are satisfied living in darkness.  We feel we know better than God.  We feel gray areas are fine.  This is why Jesus said some are of the devil.  The world throws away righteousness and takes on evil masquerading as good.  Paul says that satan masquerades as an angel of light.   Many times the world calls good evil and evil good.  They do not know the difference anymore.  Listen to these lies that the accuser has given to us and that we believe:

He turns love into lust.

He turns a baby into a fetus.

He turns a bad day into depression.

He turns depression into suicide.

He turns pain into doubt.

He turns doubt into atheism.

He turns a bad habit into an addiction.

He turns a disagreement into hate.

He turns pornography into freedom of speech.

He turns a condition into an excuse.

He turns knowledge into rationalization.

He turns self-awareness into pride.

He turns humanitarianism into liberalism.

He turns your past into the present.

He turns discipline into abuse.

He turns fossils into evolutionary fact.

He turns civil rights into racism.

He turns community leaders into politicians.

He turns "being good" into being "good enough".

He turns absolute truths into opinions.

He turns "truth in love" into judgementalism.

He turns women into objects.

He turns children into punching bags.

He turns fathers into one-night stands.

He turns a marriage into a definition.

He turns tolerance into apathy.

He turns moral standards into a joke.

He turns a family into a village.

He turns faith into a religion.

He turns the Word of God into an outdated relic.

He turns worship into an argument.

And worst of all he turns Christians into lazy, lukewarm, twice-a-year-pew-sitting hypocrites who listen to these lies.

Funny, though, because a couple of verses before the scripture above tells us how to get out of this mess.  "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”- Jesus, from the Gospel of John 8:32.  But unfortunately, no one wants to live in the truth.

LXXXII. Eat Mor Chikin'

No, this is not an advertisement for Chick Fil-A.  It is not an endorsement for it nor is it a condemnation of it. It is not a call for a buy-in or a boycott.  It is simply getting some facts in to maybe to clarify some things about the whole situation.  There will certainly be people who disagree with this posting as well as many who will support it.  Neither should be offended nor feel like they are being uplifted and justified.  But let's look at what has been done.  The picture below has some truths to it but many misleadings as well.

The truth of this picture is that many who claim to be Christian would fall into this category. These people do not do all they need to be doing such as going out to the needy, giving to charity, praying at hospitals, evangelizing to the world, all of which Jesus DID say to do.

The lies (misleadings is a better word) about this picture is that all of these people who are against same-sex marriages are not all Christian.  There are some non-Christians even non-religious people who have these feelings as well.  On the other hand even some Christians say that the things that were said by Chick Fil-A president Daniel Cathy were wrong.  So what did Mr. Cathy say?  Here is the line that is posted the most:

"I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,' and I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is about,"

First and foremost he said this in a Christian magazine.  One should have expected him to mention God and his views.  Secondly, he never said he was against the people who practice homosexuality.  He is anti same-sex marriage, "guilty as charged".  But that is his opinion.  He is entitled to it.  He did not cause any harm to human beings.  He did not discriminate on a business level.  He did not refuse to serve, hire, talk to, or let die any individual.  He just believes in a traditional marriage.  Yes, he gives money to organizations who fight against gay-marriage, but that is his prerogative.  Just like those who practice homosexuality can support organizations like PRIDE, LGBTSTQ, GLAAD and any other ones that maybe out there that want the legalization of same-sex marriages.  And no one should complain about that.  Cathy's main idea was that man thinks he knows better than God and is trying to step in and change what God had instituted.  It's not about chicken.  It's not about hate (of people), non-acceptance.  It's about a person's view on a certain subject they disagree with, non-tolerance.  The picture below though does show non-acceptance and non-tolerance.

But back to the first picture.  Christians do need to support food banks, homeless, and hospitals more.  But in defense of some of the ones in these pictures, they probably already do.  True Christians give to charities either up front or through their churches.  They just don't make a scene about it.  They support causes they feel are important but they do not physically and/or verbally emphasize it.  Jesus said to evangelize the world too, but when we evangelize then we are still considered spreading hate.  You can't have it both ways.  Either you do all of what Jesus said or nothing. He surely wouldn't have done this: drive-in bully  but maybe Christians are the only ones who are allowed to be judged.