Tag Archives: Church and State

Bride On Fire

Church Culture, Living the Word, Politics, , , , ,

The strangely fluid and beautiful creature leaps and bounds in bright colorful array engulfing the structure that is the object of its appetite.  A crowd gathers, for a moment stunned by the apparent freedom of this gaily frolicking entity.  Then, as if shaking off a kind of stupor, someone screams to be saved.

In answer to the plea, a courageous number of that fantastic fraternity formed to fight this very devil, soon arrive and begin their bold work. The flames are doused and the remaining folks gathered at the scene, staring at the remnants of the edifice as it smolders amid the ashes, observe as the next skilled team arrives and begins the important work of inspection that will ultimately, hopefully, determine the origin of the monster.

The Church is on my mind, and having lived more than a half century now, it is my estimation that the road to perdition begins with one’s elevated view of oneself.

In  America, no more than 2% of our total population is gay, and approximately .8% of the 2% are involved in a same sex relationship, and fewer still are legally married.  Clearly, we have a much greater problem with other sexual sins in this country, such as fornication and adultery.  Of course, even the criminal sexual sins of child molestation and rape occur more frequently among us than does the sin of practicing homosexuality.

The sanctity of marriage is intended to be built upon a foundation of sexual purity which applies to all people.  The foundation has been under attack since humanity began.  Most of the twentieth century saw the institution of marriage, an institution necessarily established by God for our protection and to increase our joy, being questioned and demeaned by American society in general.  Yes, even we, the organized church felt it necessary to debate many issues surrounding the sanctity of marriage and family long before beginning to argue its very definition.  I submit to you that we, as a church, failed to properly defend marriage against those relatively minor attacks, thus we now stand perilously close to losing the war.

However, while It may be too late for us, as a nation, to raise the stakes- it is never too late for us to up the ante as the church.  Jesus did.

Jesus said, “Let’s begin with understanding lust as a sexual activity sinfully equal to adultery.  Let’s begin by demanding of ourselves a clean heart.” 

If we, the American population of the church, begin cleaning at the level that Our LORD mandated we may be able to effect the kind of change in our nation that is seen as nothing short of miraculous. 

Copyright 2015, L.L. Shelton

The Separation of Church and State, Part 2

Politics, , ,

While listening to Ken Ham, of Answers in Genesis, give his lecture entitled “Why Won’t They Listen?”; I was reminded of Proverb 16:26- The laborer’s appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on. In this case, Ken Ham is hungering and thirsting for righteousness, not only for his own personal righteousness, but for that of many. Do we hunger and thirst for righteousness in a corporate sense? Do we long to free the oppressed? Do we pine for justice for the people?

Since we know from Scripture that authority is a good thing, and we understand that it is the abuse of authority that is a bad thing; we Christ-lovers should seek to fill positions of leadership on this earth, and to propel one another into positions of authority in every arena of this life, with the idea of Christianity dominating this world- though we will not fully succeed until that day. Then, we must surround our fellows in leadership with every form of encouragement!

The system of government presently in place in America, courtesy of our nation’s founding fathers, allows for our involvement in and use of authority. Since we know that we are in possession of The Truth and Real Love, we must certainly and joyfully participate in the governing of both church and state, as well as in the leadership of the arts, the sciences, and all of education; seeking His dominion over all things and using these systems, to the best of our abilities, in the hope of accomplishing truth and justice for all.

We Christians must do our best to participate in the world while not participating in sin, dominate where ever possible, and use the system to accomplish the greater good. This is our privilege.

©2010, L.L. Shelton

The Separation of Church and State, Part 1

Politics, ,

Do we want our state to run our church? Do we want our church to govern our state? I submit to you that without the guaranteed separation of the two, either is possible.

I once thought that a church directed society would be good, but what is church? Is church a building, or a series of edifices, where people worship Christ? Is church an organized gathering of people who profess to believe in the existence of Christ? Is church a group of human beings who believe that Christ Jesus is the Son of The One True God and knowingly submit to His Lordship- to The Living Word of God? Is church a place where, or a group of people who, have something to do with Christ?

The separation of church and state is actually meant to imply the separation of religion and state, and is meant to impede any religion (including those of Secular Humanism and Atheism) from taking over the state, as well as to aid in the prohibition of the state taking over any religion.

The separation of church and state is reportedly first mentioned in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to a group of Baptists concerned over their religious liberty. History assures us that at the time of Mr. Jefferson’s use of the phrase, Christianity was the only religion openly practiced in this country.

Interestingly, the religion of Christianity is unique in that it was never meant to be another religion separate from the core of a man, but rather ‘The Way of the Followers of Christ Jesus, The Lord of All’: It is meant to be a way of life actually lived. The directions for the way of the followers of Christ are of course contained in The Holy Bible.

I am especially concerned, today, that we, the True Church- The Followers of Christ Jesus, The Lord of All- will be made to submit to the governance of the state should we fail to recognize the importance of our binary state of being. Now, this is not a matter of urgency if the true Christians are permeating the institutions of man, as well as the institutions of God, but if we have failed to maintain our influence through leadership in these institutions, then we must take joy in the establishment of the first amendment to the great constitution of The United States of America, in that we know it protects our right to assemble together and to live out God’s Truth openly and without fear.

Oh, that we might be a country, in which the influence of the True Church is felt in every area- no, not simply felt, but acknowledged as the greater persuasion!

At this present moment, it appears that we have lost much of our influence in the institution of the state, and we must seek to regain it through active participation in our government – local, state, and federal levels. I am so grateful for those followers of The Way of Christ Jesus, The Lord of All, continuing to stay involved in the political arena, as I am for those working in the institution of our military- pledging to protect, to defend, and to honor this great and imperfect nation.

©2010, L.L. Shelton