Jesus, a socialist?

I, personally, am so tired of people saying that Jesus Himself was a socialist. The truth is that if Jesus had wanted to enact change through the government, He would have done so when He was here on earth. I also think that for others, who are not Christians, to say that Jesus promoted hatred of certain groups of people is simply not true. We are all sinners; it's just that some of us have chosen to ask forgiveness of our sin. This does not give us as Christians the right to demean someone else because of their sin. Remember, but for the grace of God, there goes I. This is so true. We are called to live above reproach. Jesus took the ten commandments a step further for His followers to follow. The reason I say this is because we must take back our "image" if you will from the government and from the media. In all actuality, I don't know if this can be done, but we must not let government officials or media personalities tell us what or who Jesus was, we must discover this truth through our Bibles and through our church. The church needs to step up and lead and not sugar-coat everything. Challenge Christians to truly live out the things that Christ tells us to do and the way the Bible tells us to live. We have let the government take over areas that were to be for the church and we have sat by and let it happen. In fact, in my opinion, many churches no longer feel the need to help the less fortunate and instead show them to some government agency to receive help. We have allowed the government and the media to tell us that because we don't believe a certain way, we are not compassionate. If we follow Jesus' lead, this is an absolute lie straight from the pits of hell and yet our churches are silent. We cannot expect the government to be compassionate and yet this is the view that is being put out there. Let's win this and make this argument our own.

I also want to vent about one more thing. I am tired of the actors in hollywood telling us about their opinions on politics and how we should live our life when they are all living Jerry Springer lifestyles, with the exception being that they have money. I am saying this with all sincerity and not being sarcastic; these people really need Jesus. He IS the answer, not government.

What king do you want?

So, I've known about what I wanted to write in my blog for a few days, but life happened and I am just now getting around to actually writing it. I was interested to see what the Bible said during the time that Israel demanded a king. I didn't want to read into it without reading the Word, but after reading in 1 Samuel, it just solidified what I was thinking. I am looking around our society and seeing that people are no longer looking for saving grace to come from Jesus, but instead what this to come from our government. We have gotten so used to politicians not fulfilling their promises that it doesn't even shock us anymore. However, with the last campaign and namely with the person who is now our president, people not only expect him to deliver everything he promised but also refused to hear what he was saying. People still have blinders on but I believe they are slowly beginning to come off. It is President Obama's words that we need to listen to and then follow that up with watching his actions. For me, the best example of this is the fact that he says he is a Christian and has even talked about his conversion. I don't know if he is a Christian or not because that is between him and God, just the same as ultimately, I don't know if my best friend is truly a Christian. All I have to go on is the words said and the action taken; I cannot see a person's heart like God can. Anyway, he professes to be a Christian and yet how many times has he attended church. I know that some people believe that you don't have to attend church to be a Christian, but I believe you have a desire to worship Christ in a corporate setting with other believers. When I am away from my church, I miss the fellowship and the worship.

Anyway, back to the king thing. In 1 Samuel when the people demand a king, God tells Samuel that the people are not rejecting Samuel but they are rejecting God as their king. I have never seen so much hope and saving expected from one person (apart from Christ) or from one entitity (the government.) I believe we have taken a turn in our country where people believe that government (or Pres. Obama) can save them. The sad thing is that our President plays into this. He knows that people are looking to him as a messiah figure and yet he plays it off. Again, as a Christian, I personally would be quick to point out I am not in any way like the Messiah, but maybe that is just me. Government cannot save you. President Barack Obama cannot save you. The only person that can save you is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our country would do well to remember that.

Theresa P.