Author: admin

The new host has finally gotten permission to complete the domain name transfer.

I will be spending the next few days updating and fixing up the site to work again.

Note #1:  IE9 beta and wordpress do not play well together.

Before I begin, I exhort you to apply Acts 17:11.  Don’t believe me just because I say it.  Go find out if what I am saying is true.

The title for today’s writing comes from a statement I heard just this last week that has been on my mind quite a bit.  The circumstances of life had brought this person to a position that that they, as we all do from time to time, railed against them.  She was referencing the old proverb that “everything happens for a reason”.  It is a quote that has many origins.  Marilyn Monroe had said it when she said

“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”

In some ways, her quote is surprisingly insightful.

It is often a phrase tossed out there with half sincerity when things go wrong in another’s life in order to console them.  It is my contention that this phrase that has been too simplified and the lack of biblical literacy in our modern world keeps us from understanding what I think is the real origin of this proverb.

“You are not to take in vain the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will not leave the one who takes in vain his name unpunished.”

This is Exodus 20:7.  It is one of the well-known Ten Commandments brought down from the mountain by Moses.  Like me, many of you have grown up being taught that it is an admonition against swearing.  While that is a good idea and covered elsewhere in the Bible, I have since learned that this command holds a much deeper meaning. We are called to be ambassadors of Christ.  We are to act in such a way as to be a light to the world[i] (Matthew 5:14-16).

PREFACE 

 I am going to begin with an important admonition.  Be like the Bereans spoken of in Acts 17:11.  Look up these things I say for yourself and come to your own conclusions. 

Introduction 

 The book of Leviticus contains a list of blessings that God promises to bestow upon Israel if they follow His commands.  It also contains a list of consequences if they do not follow His commands.  Israel was set aside by God to serve as an example through which the rest of the world can know Him. As such, with few exceptions, what applies to Israel, also applies to every other nation in the world. 

The United States began with a Christian background.  Its laws formed on a Christian basis. While the constitution does keep religion and state governance separate, the country did follow Christian ideals for a time.  Even so, the country is still subject to God’s desires.  The rules that apply to Israel and thus the blessings and consequences, apply to the United States as well; with the exception of those that apply to being a chosen nation.