There does come a time when force, even physical force, is appropriate. The Christian is not to take the law into his own hands and become a law unto himself. But when all avenues to flight and protest have closed, force in the defensive posture is appropriate. This was the situation of the American Revolution. The colonists used force in defending themselves. Great Britain, because of its policy toward the colonies, was seen as a foreign power invading America. The colonists defended their homeland. As such, the American Revolution was a conservative counter-revolution. The colonists saw the British as the revolutionaries trying to overthrow the legitimate colonial governments.

A true Christian in Hitler’s Germany and in the occupied countries should have defied the false and counterfeit state and hidden his Jewish neighbors from German SS troops. The government had abrogated its authority, and it had no right to make any demands.- F A Schaeffer, “A Christian Manifesto”

Please read most thoughtfully what I am going to say in the next sentence: If there is no final place for civil disobedience, then the government has been made autonomous, and as such, it has been put in the place of the Living God. If there is no final place for civil disobedience, then the government has been put in the place of the Living God, because then you are to obey it even when it tells you in its own way at that time to worship Caesar. And that point is exactly where the early Christians performed their acts of civil disobedience even when it cost them their lives.- F A Schaeffer, “A Christian Manifesto” 1981

… as we stand for religious freedom today, we need to realize that this must include a general religious freedom from the control of the state for all religion. It will not mean just freedom for those who are Christians. It is then up to Christians to show that Christianity is the Truth of total reality in the open marketplace of freedom.- F A Schaeffer, “A Christian Manifesto” 1981

… we must make definite that we are in no way talking about any kind of a theocracy. Let me say that with great emphasis. Witherspoon, Jefferson, the American Founders had no idea of a theocracy. That is made plain by the First Amendment, and we must continually emphasize the fact that we are not talking about some kind, or any kind, of a theocracy. In the Old Testament there was a theocracy commanded by God. In the New Testament, with the church being made up of Jews and Gentiles, and spreading over all the known world from India to Spain in one generation, the church was its own entity. There is no New Testament basis for a linking of church and state until Christ, the King returns. The whole “Constantine mentality” from the fourth century up to our day was a mistake. Constantine, as the Roman Emperor, in 313 ended the persecution of Christians. Unfortunately, the support he gave to the church led by 381 to the enforcing of Christianity, by Theodosius I, as the official state religion. Making Christianity the official state religion opened the way for confusion up till our own day. There have been times of very good government when this interrelationship of church and state has been present. But through the centuries it has caused great confusion between loyalty to the state and loyalty to Christ, between patriotism and being a Christian. We must not confuse the Kingdom of God with our country. To say it another way: “We should not wrap Christianity in our national flag.” None of this, however, changes the fact that the United States was founded upon a Christian consensus, nor that we today should bring Judeo-Christian principles into play in regard to government. But that is very different from a theocracy in name or in fact.- F A Schaeffer, “A Christian Manifesto” 1981

What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.—John Ruskin

A word to the wise isn't necessary...it's the stupid ones that need the advice. ~Bill Cosby

Repentance is not a merely intellectual change of mind or mere grief, still less doing penance, but a radical transformation of the entire person, a fundamental turnaround involving mind and action and including overtones of grief, which result in (spiritual) fruit. - D.A. Carson

Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person— His purpose is to make a person exactly like Himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. - Chambers

If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant,

if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of those who are intolerant,then, the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance,the right not to tolerate the intolerant- Karl Popper

If cigarette packs are required to have pictures of diseased lungs, college brochures should be required to have pictures of graduates working at Starbucks." - (attributed to Daniel Lin, posted to Facebook by Jim Davidson): quoted at "Higher Education Fraud"

http://www.two--four.net/weblog.php?id=P5170

... Christopher Columbus went from hero (founder of

the New World) to villain (insensitive colonialist) in one

generation. Thomas Jefferson went from "celebrated

idealist" to racist slaveholder." Yet, ironically, a new

kind of rigidity emerged to replace the old. In the

interest of focusing on the history of those long ignored,

textbook publishers became subject to the enormous

pressures of special interest groups and political

oversight aimed at keeping the American story even-

handed and politically correct.

" 'By the 1990s there had to be a certain percentage

of each race or minority group in the books, either

in the text or illustrations,' says Tim Paulsen, a

Manhattan textbook editor. 'By the same token, religion

and God all but disappeared - despite the fact that

religious beliefs were a key to colonialist exploits

as well as the founding fathers' rebellion.' [...]

"... [N]ew kinds of errors began to stalk the industry.

Columbia University historian Jack Garraty discoved the

problem when he noticed that Henry Hudson was missing

from a revised edition of one of his popular history texts

(first published in 1982). 'They had a Spanish explorer

named Esteban Gomez as the first European to sail on the

river that was named after Hudson,' recalls Garraty, who

at the time had never heard of Gomez. 'But there is no

evidence that Gomez had ever sailed on the Hudson,'

Garraty laughs. 'And he wasn't even Spanish. He was

Portugese.'

" ... 'They wanted to sell the book in Texas and

California,' explains Garraty of the decision to

alter his work, 'so they needed Hispanic people

in the book. They put a lot of stuff in there that

I never heard of.' ...

" 'We have to realize that children see themselves in

history,' explains Stephanie Hirsh ... general editor

of "Texas, the United States and the World." ... 'The

more they see themselves in the story, the more they

connect. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the real

story to be inclusive.' - _In Search of America_ by Peter Jennings &

Todd Brewster [2002], ch. 1 "God's Country"

[Of grade school textbooks (time frame 1980-1995):]

A day without sunshine is like, night.

99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism.

Typical of the badinage between Churchill and his private secretary is the exchange when Churchill asks Colville, immediately before Colville's departure for RAF service in 1941, his age. On being told, Churchill pointed out that, at 26, Napoleon was commanding the armies of Italy. Colville replied that the Younger Pitt was Prime Minister at the age of 24.- Wikipedia on Jock Colville

William Wilberforce: (Ioan Gruffudd)

Billy, no one of our age has ever taken power.

William Pitt: (Benedict Cumberbatch)

Which is why we're too young to realize that certain things are impossible. So we will do them anyway. -Dialogue from the film _Amazing Grace_ [2006], written by Steven Knight

In my sterile search for success, I have sometimes chosen to be effective rather than committed. I have chosen to be successful rather than merely being faithful. Sometimes my calendar is full, but my heart is empty. The Lord tries to fill my cup, but I poke a hole in it. Perforated trust. Am I afraid to trust Him completely? Am I afraid to love others without knowing whether or not I’ll be loved in return? I still don’t understand His kind of love—a love which expects nothing. I tend to calculate and define. Evaluate and measure. Make sure that everything is equal. I am an accountant rather than a disciple. It’s hard to give with a closed fist, or receive with a calculator in your hand. My feelings go up and down more than the Dow Jones charts. As Ian Thomas says, "God doesn’t ask us to be sensational—He simple asks us to be a miracle." A miracle is something that cannot be explained apart from Jesus Christ. He wants to borrow our humanity to communicate His truths to the world. He doesn’t give us His strength, He is our strength. - Tim Hansel

From the outside looking in, many people make the mistake of assuming Christianity is only a religion—a neo-pagan set of mystical traditions and rituals. This assumption is false from the founding members of the Christian faith to the theological leaders of today. Christianity has always been a complete worldview. Paul argued with Greek and Roman philosophers. Aquinas showed us how the Christian system of philosophy compares to that of Aristotle. When John Calvin wrote his Institutes of the Christian Religion in the sixteenth century AD, he wasn't knitting mythological yarns of fairies and nymphs; he was laying out a system of thought and practice—a worldview based on God's revelation from start to finish. Even many Christians view their faith as a collection of little truths—little nuggets to live by. This is not the Christianity of history nor the Bible. Christianity has always been presented as an all-encompassing system of life having cognitive, mystical, and behavioral aspects.- Matthew Griffin, MAY 14TH, 2008, Web Design Worldview

Men often do despise afflictions. They think the troubles that come on them are nothing. They refuse to see God's hand in them. They are well able to look after themselves in their troubles. So they do not seek the comfort and strengthening of the Holy Spirit. - John Owen, Communion with God

“Sometimes the soul wonders whether it is a child of God or not, because so much of the old nature remains. So the soul brings out all the evidences to prove its claims to be a true child of God. Satan, in the meantime, opposes with all his might. Sin and law add their opposition also. Many flaws are found in his evidences. The truth of them is all questioned and the soul is left in doubt as to whether he is a child of God or not. Then the Comforter comes and by a word of promise, or in some other way, overwhelms the heart with a sure persuasion, putting down all objections, showing that his plea is good and that he is indeed a child of God. And therefore the Holy Spirit is to ‘witness with our spirits that we are children of God.- John Owen Communion with God [pg. 183]

The Holy Spirit does His work sovereignly. The Holy Spirit distributes to everyone as He wills. So the believer may at one time be full of joy and, at another, full of distress. Every promise at one time brings great joy when trouble are great and heavy; yet at another time, when only suffering a little, he finds no joy in the promises, however much he seeks for it. The reason is simple. The Holy Spirit distributes as He wills. So there are no rules or course of procedure given to us to follow in order to get peace and joy in promises. In this way, faith learns to wait on the sovereign will and pleasure of the Holy Spirit.- John Owen- Communion with God

The Comforter actually never leaves the believing soul with no comfort at all. A man may be in the dark, under a cloud, refusing comfort and actually finding none and feeling none. But the Spirit is the source of all comfort and in due time his comfort will be felt. God promises that He will heal sinners and restore comfort to them (Isa. 57:18).-John Owe)-Communion with God

I expect to pass through this life but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not deter or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. ~~William Penn

Learn in confession to be honest with God. Do not

give fair names to foul sins; call them what you

will, they will smell no sweeter. -Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

_Morning And Evening_ ; "April 7, Evening"

Mark then, Christian, Jesus does not suffer so as to exclude your suffering. He bears a cross, not that you may escape it, but that you may endure it. Christ exempts you from sin, but not from sorrow. Remember that, and expect to suffer. -Spurgeon

The man who discovers that he can find no way out

may go into the pigsty and let every passion have

its way; but when a man has been gripped by purity

and has seen God if only for one minute, he may try

and live in a pigsty but he will find he cannot.

There is something that produces misery and longing

even while he lets loose his passion. -Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

_Shade Of His Hand_ [1924]

Now there is no way of managing our souls in troubles and afflictions so that God is glorified and we ourselves spiritually strengthened but by the comforts of the Holy Spirit. All that Christ promised His disciples when He told them of the great troubles and persecutions they would have in the world is the Comforter. So Paul says, 'We glory in tribulations' (Rom. 5:3). But how can we do this? By the Holy Spirit pouring out the love of God in our hearts. So the believers are said receive the Word with affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 1:6). They are to 'take joyfully the spoiling of their goods.' All these we are enabled to do the glory of God by the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.- John Owen, Communion with God

1. We see Thee, Lord of glory,

Descending from above,

And learn the wondrous story

Of God come down in love.

2. Thus cradled in a manger,

We see Thee, Jesus, there,

A houseless, homeless Stranger,

Our sorrows all to share.

3. O strange yet fit beginning

Of all that life of woe,

In which Thy grace was winning

Poor man his God to know!

4. O love, all thought surpassing!

That Thou shouldst with us be,

Nor yet in triumph passing,

But human infancy!

5. We gaze upon Thy weakness -

The manger and the cross;

We love Thee for Thy meekness

Through suff'ring, pain and loss.

6. We see the Godhead glory

Shine through that human veil,

And, willing, hear the story

Of love that's come to heal.

J. N. Darby

The awareness of sin used to be our shadow. Christians hated sin,

feared it, fled from it, grieved over it. [...] But now the shadow has

faded. Nowadays, the accusation you have sinned is often said with a

grin and a tone that signals an inside joke. At one time, this

accusation still had the power to jolt people. Catholics lined up to

confess their sins; Protestant preachers rose up to confess our sins.

And they did it regularly. Their view was that confessing our sin is

like taking out the garbage: once is not enough. As a child growing up

in the fifties among Western Michigan Calvinists, I think I heard as

many sermons about sin as I did about grace. The assumption in those

days seemed to be that you could not understand either without

understanding both. [...]

In today's group confessionals it is harder to tell. The newer

language of Zion fudges: "Let us confess our problem with human

relational adjustment dynamics, and especially our feebleness in

networking." Or, "I'd just like to share that we just need to target

holiness as a growth area." Where sin is concerned, people mumble now.

[...]

The word sin[...]now finds its home mostly on dessert menus. "Peanut

Butter Binge" and "Chocolate Decadence" are sinful; lying is not. The

measure for sin is caloric. - Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Not The Way It's Supposed To Be: A Breviary Of Sin, 1995

He that falls into sin is a man; that grieves at it may be a saint;

that boasteth of it is a devil. - Thomas Fuller