Destruction of the World Corporate Structure

Injustice reigns in the earth. Capitalism is corrupt, only granting freedom to the wealthy, while the poor get ground in the dust. The 200 wealthiest people in the world, all heads of corporations, control 40% of the world’s wealth, while the poorest 20% of the world live on 1% of the world’s wealth. The 40 wealthiest Western nations have 85% of the world’s wealth.
Perhaps such disparity in the world today wouldn’t be so bad if the governments and corporations of the world were concerned with justice in the world and providing equity for the poor. Instead, the wealthy of the world use their economic power as the whip on the backs of the oppressed.
The developing countries of the world are required to pay a huge amount of interest on loans, and so unable to pay back the loans, and thus their people starve. On the other hand, the United States has a trillion-dollar debt that they can refuse to pay, if they want. The corporations of the West use Chinese labor to do the menial tasks that the workers of the West find demeaning or that don’t pay enough. Then the Chinese oppress their people, telling them where to work, how to worship, where to live and how many children to have. The world corporations are creating oppression as well in Vietnam, Mexico, Haiti, Bangladesh, Singapore, and multitudes of other developing nations. And all this, while not discouraging them to cease the oppression of ethnic, religious and political minorities.
The governments of the West, especially the United States, are controlled by the corporations, who gain benefits in how much taxes they pay, what tariffs are to be imposed on imports and which developing nations are to be given benefits and which governments are to be destroyed by the U.S. military. And even the nations that receive benefits, they receive it with a price tag that requires them to act in the benefit of the West. Colonization may be dead, but the North American and European nations are controlling the world economically through the UN, the WTO and through their diplomatic carrots and sticks.
In the twenty-first century, economic power is absolute power. And absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The poor are crying out in opposition to the world corporate structure. Protests are happening all over the world. The world press is decrying the controls of the West- although the American press never acknowledges a peep of the worldwide outcry.
What will happen? Will the poor rise up and overthrow their oppressors? Will there be unification among the workers who will overcome the wealth and power of the corporations? Will a great class war happen that will change the economic structure of the world and set all people free economically? Will there be real change in humanity that will provide justice for everyone?
Give me a break.
Let’s look at this historically. Those who were truly poor have never been successful in rising up against their oppressors. From the rise of the Lombards in the 1400s to the Peasants’ War in the early 1500s to the Rebellion of John Brown in the mid 1800s to the ethnic cleansing in Rwanda in the late 1900s, when the truly poor violently rise up against their oppressors, it only ends in tragedy and in the oppressors having an example of why they need to oppress.
Violence and resistance can create an economic change, such as the French Revolution, the Labor Parties, the Communist Revolutions of Russia and China. But the economic benefits are limited to a particular class of people, usually the middle class. Thus, the poor are not assisted at all, but only those who had enough power to enact change themselves.
This is not real change. It is just trading one set of oppressors for another. And this is a summary of the history of the world, for the last 10,000 years.
There is, however, another way for real change to occur. There is a way for the world corporate system to be destroyed and to be replaced by justice. But it requires much more than most people are willing to give. It does not require power, but humility. Not control, but persecution and death.
We need to recognize that the only force that will change things in the world for good is God. God alone has the power and authority to change the world permanently. God alone has the compassion and desire to help the poor, the lowest of the low (Check it out in the Bible- Exodus 22:21-27). God alone, of all the powers that have ever existed, has dedicated himself to helping those who are truly in need (Psalm 146:3-9). And he has promised that any governmental, corporate or religious power that oppressed the poor, he will destroy (Psalm 82:1-8; Revelation 18:1-24).
However, God requires the poor to do one most important thing- to cry out to him for help. The poor must recognize his authority over them and then cry out to him (Exodus 22:23; II Chronicles 7:14; Psalm 18:6-17; Psalm 34:17; Psalm 107). They must turn from the evil things they do- from oppressing their neighbor and do good to all, and then God will listen to them (Micah 3:4; Hosea 8:2-3; Ezekiel 18:27). And those who are poor must ask God persistently for God’s deliverance from oppression and he will give it (Luke 18:2-8). Such humility is required from God to gain freedom from oppression (Luke 18:10-14).
And this way of life needs to be given to others who are poor. Many need to be shown and taught this way of life in order for the oppression of the world corporate structure to be destroyed. If a single person cries out against an oppressor, then that one will be delivered from the one oppressor. If a multitude of poor, all around the world, cry out against the world corporate structure, then the whole world will be changed. This means that we need a multitude of people dedicated to God and to cry out to him for justice to change the world.
But even the humility and the training of others is not enough. We need to prove the oppression. We need to show that oppression really is occurring- for no power overthrows another without proof. This means that we need to put ourselves in the front lines of oppression. We need to show God and the world that the world corporate structure is willing to sacrifice and kill others, but not itself.
How do we do this? Through non-violent, public outcry against oppression. Through standing in front of the violent and haters of the poor, and telling them to stop or they will be destroyed by God. Through praying for God’s justice in their presence.
And then letting them oppress us.
When they want to arrest us, we let them. When they want to punish us, we let them. When they want to hit us, we let them and we do not hit back. Instead, we make a public spectacle of their oppression. We give them an opportunity to show how evil they really are.
And they will be destroyed. By God. By someone God appoints. But the world will change.
Some say, How can you know this? This has never happened before! It can never succeed! Wrong. It has succeeded. And the poor have been released by this very method. Martin Luther King Jr. used this method against those oppressing the black communities, even allowing himself to be martyred. Gandhi used this method, systematically destroying the power of the British. The Anabaptists of the Sixteenth Century used this method- thousands dying for the Truth- and changed the face of Christianity. The Waldensians used this method, and caused there to be a resurgence of concern for the poor, including the powerful Franciscan movement. And all of these successful movements were sourced from one person- Jesus.
Jesus himself came to assist the poor. He brought them freedom and stood against the oppressive authorities that used their power for injustice. But rather than begin a violent revolution, he suffered and was executed as a rebel. And it was because of this that a movement sprang up among the poor that changed the ethical outlook of the world- Christianity. And through Jesus the Jewish government was destroyed and the Roman government was changed forever. And while Christianity has been used for many evils throughout the centuries, the teaching and life of Jesus has been used as an example of the most positive world changers that has existed.
Jesus’ method of world change is just as outlined above-
Do no evil, but do good to the needy according to God’s love (Mark 1:15; Matthew 7:12);
Cry out to God for justice (Luke 18:1-8);
Declare to the oppressors the judgment they will face from God (Matthew 10:7, 28)
Allow them to oppress you to display their evil (Matthew 5:38-48)
Teach the poor the message of freedom from oppression through the way of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20)
And justice will prevail through the power of God! (Matthew 10:24-27)
The world system will be changed! but only through the way of Jesus.

Few Be The Lovers

What do we desire as Christians? We want the salvation of God, everything that God promised to give us and more. We want the blessing of Christ—healing, joy, satisfaction, eternal life, love of God, forgiveness. What fantastic things await for us! And we also seek the blessing of the flesh—family, acceptance, respect, riches, guilt-free pleasure. This is what we are promised by the church. And, frankly, it is what Jesus offers us as well. That is why we want to be Christians, why we seek God and go to church. To gain what the world may promise us, but will never give us without being damned.
We want cost-free, guilt-free, strings-free salvation. Jesus paid it all, so we have no charge, right? Of course, Jesus did die for our sins. He paid the ultimate price for us. But he never promised us a free ride. Jesus promises us the great life of God, but it is not without cost
We cannot have forgiveness without painful separation from our sin. (Luke 24:47)
We cannot have eternal life without suffering. (Luke 9:23-24;Acts 14:22)
We cannot have a peaceful family without hating our earthly family and friends. (Matthew 12:48-50; Luke 14:26)
We cannot have the pleasure of God without rejecting the pleasures of earth. (Luke 6:21, 25; Mark 8:36)
We cannot have the respect of heaven without experiencing rejection from our loves. (Matthew 10:34-38)
We cannot have acceptance by God unless we give up who we see ourselves to be. (Luke 14:26-27)
We cannot gain healing unless we first experience suffering and humiliation. (Luke 4:18; Matthew 15:21-28)
We cannot gain true satisfaction until we are sickened by the world we live in. (Mark 8:36)
We cannot gain great riches from God until we first experience poverty. (Matthew 13:44-46; Luke 6:20)
We cannot truly gain joy until we live with the utmost sorrow. (Matthew 5:4)
These seem paradoxical—how can one only gain peace and joy through it’s opposite? Yet it is no mystery, but based on four basic principles of life:
We learn what we need only by suffering want
If we didn’t suffer, we wouldn’t know we needed anything. If we never hungered, why would we eat? If we never desired companionship, why would we deal with conflict? Even so, if we never were sick, we would not seek healing. If we were never depressed, we would never seek joy. If we were never stressed or anxious, we would never seek peace. If we were never oppressed, then we wouldn’t seek release. If we didn’t die, we wouldn’t need resurrection.
We do not ask for a gift unless we feel its loss
If we give a child a toy they never wanted, they would throw it aside after a short time of playing with it. They don’t appreciate the cost of something, until they experience the loss. But if a child had and loved a toy and then lost it, then the child will cry until the toy is found again. Even so with salvation. If we have lost forgiveness and security and satisfaction, then we too will cry until we get it. And those who cry to God are those who receive.
We obtain God’s pity only by being pitiful
The rich and powerful, even the most compassionate, look only at the innocent who are helpless. The powerful and famous, the well-to-do and those who have everything "under control" do not stir the hearts of those who have it in their power to offer charity. Even so, God looks for the just who are weak and oppressed—the mourning and desperate—they are the ones whom God redeems and lifts up high. It is a matter of justice—those who suffer deserve joy, while those who already have joy gain nothing from God.
We prove faith through endurance
No one knows whether our faith be true or not unless it be tested. Everyone’s faith is strong in abundance and blessing—it can only be proven by testing and suffering. The one whose love endures through hardship—that is the one whose love is true.
So why do we seek only blessing? Jesus sought the curse in order to obtain the blessing. If the blessing only comes from difficulty and suffering, why do we seek only earthly joy and peace? It is because we do not seek the real Jesus. We have created a fantasy Jesus, a Jesus of our own imagining who promises us everything in this world and the next.
The truth is, many want the promises, but few want to gain the promises through the conditions Jesus offered. Many love the blessings, but few love the cross. The true followers of Jesus are those who take up the cross and follow him. The true lovers of Jesus are ready to follow him anywhere, wherever he leads. But few be the lovers of the cross. We need to love the real Jesus, not the Jesus of our fantasy.
If we are to gain salvation, we are to work hard and love that which Jesus told us to love:
Benefiting others (Luke 10:25-37)
Prayer (Luke 11:1-13)
Commitment to God through Jesus (John 14:21)
Giving to the poor (Luke 12:33)
Rejecting the world’s ways of salvation (Matthew 6:1)
Boldly proclaiming Jesus’ words and life (Matthew 10:32)
And we need to endure in all these acts of love and faithfulness through the crap the world gives us for faithfully seeking God. (Mark 13:13)
Who do we really love? Do we love the real Jesus, looking down on us, ready to endure with us if we are ready to pay the cost (Luke 14:28-30)? Or are we content with only a fantasy Jesus, an image of the true, who will give us what we want without having to endure anything? Let us not love the wealth of this age, the pleasures of the world, the satisfactions of our flesh. Let us be lovers of the cross.
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel will save it. For what is the profit, if one gains the whole world but loses his soul?
Be a lover of the cross.

A Message To the Churches of the West

Hear the word of the Lord to the churches:
My idolatrous children! After diligently studying my word, you still pursue other gods! I have pleaded with you, commanded you, clung to your feet like a forsaken woman yet still you would not come back to me! Oh, faithless generation! You weep and wail during your lip service to me, but your true worship gets handed to your gods, your false images.
How I have longed to pour righteousness upon you, to adorn you with purity and love. I have wanted to exalt your humility and strengthen your weakness. But you refused. You turned to me and said, "I love you, I love you O God." And then immediately you turned back and groveled before the sewage you live in. I wish you would be true! True to me or true to them. To me you say the right words, but they hold your life.
You say to me, "Who are these gods? We have not seen them, nor have we worshipped any but You. You, O Lord, are our Father. We serve no other but You." I do not know which is worse, the false praise you give me or the self-deception you cover yourself with like a shroud. Do you not see? Do you not understand? Can I even call you children? For you hold my word so lightly.
On Friday you send your children to school to be taught by the ungodly. They are being raised to hate me and my ways, but you have no time to reconcile that. Instead, you must rush off to your work in which you maneuver petty positions, strive to be recognized and inflate your ego. Should you reach a blessed state of lowliness, you writhe and squirm and manipulate until your self-interest has been achieved. You work and strive to please the ungodly, not actually loving them with words that bring them face to face with me, but patting them like a fierce wolf who might turn on you and steal your reward.
And what is your reward? Friday night, you receive your reward for leaving me behind for a third of your day, five days a week— money. Oh, it seems so little to you, yet with it you move mountains. You think of it as sustenance, yet it is the good, the evil, the power, the glory, the whole of your life. It is the medium of choice. I have told you to live an exchange of love, but your love can only be defined in an account book (and how poor your love is even there!).
You take your medium of livelihood and run immediately to the Industry of Perpetual Greed and give them your hard-earned coin. They call it yours, so it says on their screens, but as they hold it in their coffers, they fondle and manipulate it, causing it to bear children. With those children this Industry rules the world, giving or denying permission to build or plant or live or die all over the world. And the profit from their duties they use to glorify themselves, allowing them to live in palaces dedicated to greed. These and those who live like them are your heroes, your imitatables.
When you arrive home you have a feast. Such a feast is no dishonor, but to feast every night? You pay servants to cook up a meal to your taste and you bask in your comfort, unless that night you deem it necessary to badger the servants with your petty complaints. You have achieved your society's goal-- you are king of your domain, completely in control: strong, powerful and unhappy.
After your feast you click on one of the many manifestations of a lust-machine. Such machines have as their only purpose to incite you to obtain. They have at their disposal such words and pictures to assist you to determine that you have not enough. After one hour, you cry "this!" After two, you cry "that!" After three you demand, "more and more!" The lust in your heart is exercised and becomes increasingly larger and larger-- nothing will stop you now. You must have and you will.
Saturday you rise with a gleam in your eye, ready to gather that which is not yours. You climb into your vehicle that allows you to obtain huge amounts of comforts and possessions at unbelievable speed. You dart around the city, avoiding the needy as much as possible, gathering the more and more and more you have lusted. More toys, more comforts, more and more delicious food, more knowledge, more man-made joys, and more trinkets. You are comforted. Your lust to spend has been sated in an orgasmic buying orgy and you yourself are bigger. You have grown larger, absorbing more into your kingdom.
On Sunday you walk in, obese and bloated, with your whole kingdom behind you, with you, in your mind. You sit down on the padded pew and sing half-heartedly: "Lord, I love you. You are the center of my life." You thank me for all I have given you and ask for blessings on your boated, swelling kingdom.
Don't you understand my anger? Do you know my reason for wrath? You unfaithful whore! I have called you to Me yet who do you serve? You serve Greed, you serve Comfort, you serve Ego, you serve Lust. Your petty needs and comforts are destroying the world! You serve yourselves so readily and yet claim to follow the way of love and sacrifice!
Yes, I have given you much. So much, you cannot comprehend. Yet you abuse my gifts. I give to all, some more, some less. To the ungodly I give much and I expect them to abuse it. But to you— my children! How can you act as a heathen!
I gave you children to teach my ways through word and deed.
I gave you trials that you may rejoice in your lowliness.
I gave you people to draw them to me.
I gave you money above your sustenance to provide for the needy around the world.
I gave you feasts to provide for the hungry and the lonely.
I gave you time to serve me through love, attention and sacrifice for the poor.
I gave you a vehicle to rush the hurting to the hospital, the suffering to those who will help.
I gave you a mind to consider how to love.
I gave you a heart to be renewed to me.
I gave you my word to listen to and obey.
I gave you a Sunday to gather together, to encourage each other to love and good deeds.
I gave you all this and so much, much more. How long will you be ungrateful? How long will you refuse my righteousness? Oh, I long to give you the full blessings of my love. I need you to step out and plead me for my love. As I pour out my love to you, so you will be filled with love, longing to love others as I have loved you. You will desire to be below all, so as to serve them better. You will pray for me to do great works for them that my name would be sanctified. You will have compassion that knows no limits, peace that endures loss and joy that grows in suffering.
Pray to me. Ask me for this gift of my love. Ask not in passing, nor in public, nor lightly. Rather in your closet, in your heart, in your soul of souls, plead and beg, cajole and rail, continue on and on. And I will hear. And I will respond. I will put justice in your heart. I will fill you with my Spirit. And you will see a transformation as you have never seen before. You will be a new creature— not just in word, but in every deed. You will be my son.

Political Involvement-- Like Jesus!

The followers of Jesus follow Jesus as their political ruler (i.e., Lord), and the Kingdom of God as their nation. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t involved in the nations we are born in and live in. We are deeply concerned about them, and we recognize that our current welfare is tied to the welfare of the nation we live in. We want peace in our nation, and we want everyone around us to have well-being. This means that we are involved politically. Some of us, by our convictions in following Jesus, do not get involved in partisan politics, or even vote. This doesn’t mean, however, that we are passive. Rather, because we follow the way of Jesus, and that way is the way of political involvement.
Jesus was very involved in politics. He was so involved that the political rulers of his nation—the Sanhedrin of the Jewish nation—determined that he had to be killed. But Jesus never voted, nor did he gather up people to depose the existing rulers. Nor did he participate in making himself well-liked so that he would be declared ruler, nor did he gather an army together to take over the land he called his own. Yet he was very involved—he called himself the King and spoke of his kingdom deposing the evil rulers. In the same way Jesus was politically involved, so his followers are—to this very day.
Political Context: The Unheard Underdogs
Before we discuss the ways Jesus was (and we should be) politically involved, we need to understand the context of Jesus and of Jesus’ followers in the political world. Jesus came from a backwater of Israel, where no one of political significance hailed from. He proposed an unpopular, idealistic platform. He also gathered around him as his party a group of ne’er-do-wells, whom no one with any clout paid attention to. Jesus spoke for those who would never be listened to, and proposed changes that would bring the lowest of people to rule over the highest. Finally, his political strategy for victory was to be persecuted, and so win the favor of only one person—God himself. Although this political context was extremely unorthodox, it worked for him.
Over the centuries the true followers of Jesus obeyed the same context and followed the same political strategy. They were unknowns, representing the weak and helpless, with only God on their side. They had idealistic platforms—the same as Jesus’, actually—and remained unpopular to the majority of people. Nevertheless, they were significant enough to be persecuted by political leaders and to be hated. And in this way, they created political change. Some of the communities who enacted this strategy are known today—the Waldensians, the Franciscans, the Anabaptists, the American Civil Rights Movement. Their strategy was direct and effective—without voting, partisan politics or military might.
How can it be done?
How can such a strategy succeed? How can the unheard of nobodies, even with a charismatic leader, make political change? They follow the method of Jesus’ political involvement, as follows:
Kingdom teaching
Jesus began his ministry with this statement: "The kingdom of God is near—repent and believe in this message" (Mark 1:15) In saying this, Jesus was proclaiming to all current rulers and authorities, "A new nation is about ready to invade. The current rulers have been declared inadequate, and a new rule will start." This upset the rulers, but it also gave hope to the people that the oppression they were suffering under was about to end. And Jesus was offering this new, just, rule to anyone who repented from their injustice and believed in him. Even so, political change is right at the door—for whoever depends on God to believe in Jesus and to do righteousness.
Call to Personal Transformation
Jesus enacted his political change, not by creating a huge social movement, but by dealing with people one by one, calling them to a moral transformation by the power of God. Jesus called people to freedom and well-being, not by the salvations of the world—economics, authority or human laws—but salvation by the power of God (Zechariah 4:6). Jesus said that those who followed him would not only have lives pleasing to God, but also pleasing to themselves—they would have righteousness, peace and joy, all handed to them by God (John 16:20; Romans 14:17). Thus, those who follow Jesus could all truly say, "I am better off than before I followed Jesus."
Speaking against injustice
Jesus made it clear that the rulers of his age were oppressors of the needy, and opponents to those who do good. He pointed out again and again how their laws did nothing but support their personal interests, and cause difficulties for the poor and lowly (Matthew 22-23). This speech did little by itself—the rulers did not listen to Jesus and change their ways, rather it entrenched them in doing their evil. But it displayed them before the people and before God as evildoers, unwilling to change before the word of God.
Prayer
Most people think of prayer as a religious act, but it is actually the most powerful political weapon that exists. God is the king of the universe, and the Bible says every ruler gains authority or loses authority on his say-so (Daniel 5:21). God is very involved in human politics, and those who can have God listen to them have the greatest political power on earth—greater than any vote, or army. Through prayer, rulers can be set aside, nations can be thwarted and political powers can be overthrown—all by the power of God.
Righteous suffering
The difficult question is: who does God listen to? Does he listen to presidents and prime ministers, or popes and cardinals? Not at all—rather he listens to the lowly who obey his commands. Those who are truly submitted to God and who chose to depend on him, although they have other options available to them—they are the ones God listens to (Matthew 11:25; I Corinthians 1:26-31). Those whom God listens to especially are those who suffer for the sake of following him—he will make changes more readily for them than anyone (Luke 6:22-23; Revelation 6:9-11). And so Jesus—and his true followers—will accept the way of suffering and death in order to make the world a better place for the lowly in God.
Healing and Exorcism
Again, most people understand healings and exorcisms by the power of God to be in the realm of religious power. However, in the ancient world, those who had power over spirits were seen to be politically powerful. For this reason, Jesus’ enemies tried to discredit him (Matthew 12:22-24). You see if Jesus had authority in the spirit realm, that meant that he deserved authority in the earthly realm and would gain it, eventually. Even so, today, as the followers of Jesus heal the physically and mentally ill by the authority of Jesus, it shows that Jesus has greater power than doctors and psychiatrists, and that the whole basis of the health care system is shown to be wrong. That is a powerful political statement—and one that is demonstrated, not just spoken about.
Community example
Finally, Jesus established a community as an alternative nation. Jesus created communities of the lowly, with leaders who seek humility instead of power, with a law of love displayed to all, with people doing good to their enemies instead of perpetuating hatred and everyone giving to the needy in their midst (Acts 2:42-47). He did this for two reasons—first of all, it would show the nations of the world how much better a society ruled by Jesus is than by the powers of the world. But also, he established the communities to take over leadership of the world when his kingdom arrived. When the power of God takes over the world, the lowly people of Jesus, living in peace and benefit to everyone, will take over leadership, while the corrupt rulers of the world are thrown out, forever. (Matthew 5:3-10; Luke 6:24-26)
Use Your Political Clout—
Be Like Jesus!

The Entertainment Revolution

What is the entertainment revolution? (A Brief History)
Entertainment has always existed. Humanity was created for various kinds of pleasure, and when pleasure was difficult to find, or when there was nothing to do, they created diversions to keep them occupied. Most of humanity in the ancient past didn’t need such diversions—life was exciting enough. There was a long day of trying to survive, and collapsing into sleep was enough for the day-to-day existence. For the common people there was storytelling, there was sex, there was wine (usually quite weak) and the occasional festival or wedding. Games were invented for children and adults, usually simple requiring little or no supplies—some string, a stick or just a friend. Board games, novels and music were almost exclusively reserved for the wealthy. What professional entertainment that was not patronized by the wealthy almost always included gambling and prostitution with it.

The entertainment revolution began at the turn of the twentieth century when three inventions revolutionized the world: the motion picture, the phonograph and the radio. Suddenly storytelling was taken to a whole new level, with visual signals more realistic and powerful than any book with pictures, and with sounds that made the drama all the more real. Quality and popular music was suddenly available to the populace—not just passed from town to town in a slow evolution by travelers, but available to everyone, every place where a radio could be heard. And over time even the poor could save up money to purchase copies of their favorite album—even if they had to go to a friend’s house to listen to lit.

By the same time the entertainment revolution was in full swing, advertising responded with a revolution of its own. The entertainment had to be paid for, and since the radio signals were free, businesses found that they could peddle their products between stories, or in the midst of them. The more entertaining the ad the more people would pay attention to it, and so they would have the most entertaining performers proclaim the benefits of their product. Entertainment and advertising were wedded, never again to be completely separated.

In the late 40’s, as disposable income became more prevalent after the war, television boomed, and soon it became commonplace for children to be raised on stories that they hear and see in their own living rooms. By the late 60’s movies had to become bigger and more edgy to draw people away from their televisions. Popular music in the 60’s also was pushing the edge of what could be called music, and diversifying greatly. In the 70’s movies made a break with conventional morality, glorifying sex and violence in a way never before seen, and yet remaining popular. Novels also became more popular during this time, mostly because of the way that publishers began to focus on longer versions of pulp fiction.

In the 80’s another revolution occurred—video games and personal computers became available to masses of people, especially to teens with disposable income. The computers were originally thought to be business machines, but when it was found that you could play games with more intense competition than with the family at home, then the computer became an entertainment icon. In the 90’s internet capability was opened up, which allowed role-playing games to be played by hundreds—even thousands— at the same time in vast virtual realities. Instead of just watching fights, shootings and flirtings, on television or movies, we can participate in them with no danger to our physical bodies.

In a mere hundred years we have become a culture of entertainment—where our entertainment choices display who we are more clearly than what we do, mostly because what we do relates more to our entertainment than does our work or our relationships. Entertainment has become so blended with our lives, that it is no longer a pastime—our entertainment of choice has become so complex and detailed that any aspect of it—from a music groups called the Beatles that only existed for nine years, to the six movies called Star Wars—could completely consume a person’s life, and it often does. The revolution has come so quickly, and has so much for us to see and experience, that we have only been able to evaluate it on a basic level—do I like this one or not, do I think that this one is immoral or not. We have very rarely been able to evaluate what the entertainment as a whole is doing to our lives and whether we want it to happen. Following is a brief critique of the entertainment revolution, from a Christian standpoint, in the hopes that we can better determine what we want in our lives.

The Entertainment revolution makes us feel as if our desires are met, but they are not
The ER began and is fueled by meeting people’s desires—pleasure, significance, peace. If what we see or hear does not meet our felt desires, it is exchanged for something else. However, it only has the semblance of meeting our desires. Just like someone who has eaten a magical meal, they can enjoy all the flavors and feelings, but in the end they feel hungry. Even so, the ER does not meet our real desires—and yet we still look to it, because its promise has not yet been fulfilled.

a. The entertainment revolution encourages us to spend our lives in pleasure
Pleasure in and of itself is not wrong. God created us to feel pleasure—it is, in fact, one of the major desires of humanity that God created is with. Those who do not experience pleasure in normal way are called clinically depressed, and they experience lack of energy and a generally negative viewpoint on life. Jesus encouraged his people to experience pleasure, and promised that the coming kingdom of God is one in which pleasure would be experienced.

It is necessary to rest and give us an opportunity to experience pleasure at times. But we also need to balance pleasure with other aspects of our lives. Entertainment teaches us that we deserve pleasure, and that everything in our lives should be conformed to the granting of pleasure. Commercials show us that practical tasks from putting on deoderent to mopping a floor should be a pleasure. And none of our food, we are taught, should be mundane. We should be able to take pleasure in everyone and everything—and if we do not have pleasure, it is not our fault but the fault of what we have. If we don’t have pleasure, then we should exchange the things around us with something new—a new car, a new home, a new toothpaste, a new spouse, a new job.

The fact of the matter is that we do not gain pleasure over time, if we look to the ER to give us pleasure. They can only give us pleasure by granting us new varieties of pleasure. And eventually, we feel we have seen everything, done everything and heard everything, and we haven’t even left our couch. The ER fundamentally leads to perpetual boredom.

God, on the other hand, teaches us contentment and endurance. We should have contentment, for the situation we are in was given to us by God for our own sakes. And we should endure through difficulties, for although they are not pleasant, they make us people who are able to stand up to adventures, to exciting travels. The person who does not endure is the one always wanting to say the safe thing, because they do not want to face difficulties. The one willing to endure through difficulties will eventually gain the greatest adventure in the world—the kingdom of God, where they will never be bored.

b. The Entertainment revolution gives a false sense of significance
The mediums of the ER often have us focus on a hero who goes through many adventures and learns important things about him or herself and the world surrounding. We see and hear things through the eyes of that hero, and we have the sense of learning through that one’s experience. The reality is, however, that we have learned nothing. The hero gained the medal, or the love or the justice that was sought after, but we, who identified with that one, have gained nothing. We leave our hero with a feeling of significance—but also of emptiness. Fundamentally, we wish we were like that hero, but we are not. We wish we could be brave and wise and compassionate and good-looking—but because we are not, we feel inadequate.

Jesus also is a hero in much the same way. We can read about him in the Gospels and we see that he does marvelous works for God, and says wise things, and is a moral example, and struggles through difficulties, even through death, and yet God allows him to come up on top. We look at him and we say, "I wish I could be like him…" But the difference between Jesus and the ER is that he really can make you like himself. He can help you to be really significant. Not just an actor on a screen, or a singer in a band—not just empty fame—but significant in reality. For those who follow Jesus, he promises to send the Holy Spirit. And those who have the Holy Spirit will do works just like Jesus—and even greater than Jesus. (John 16) Jesus isn’t just in the department of looking good, it is his task to make others like himself. (Matthew 10)

c. The Entertainment revolution gives a false feeling of rest
The ER promises to give you rest. After a long day at work, the television (or CD player or movie theatre) looks good. There is nothing to do, just turn it on and it will entertain you and give you rest. It will please you, it will make you cry, it will make the final hours of the day interesting.

After hours doing nothing but basking in the light of a screen, you should feel rested. But, often, you do not. You can finish a time being served by the ER, but you are not rested, you want more. So perhaps you will stay up later with the ER to gain more rest. But the longer you remain in the ER, the less rest you actually have.

The ER encourages us to be passive, but God has not built us to be rested just by being passive. So many people feel that the Bible teaches that the "day of rest" is a day of doing nothing. But Isaiah 58 teaches that the day of rest is a day of setting aside one’s own pleasure, and seeking the pleasure of God. Jesus used the day of rest to do activity for the poor and needy. Rest is not passivity, it is actively doing something different than pursuing your normal actions. But the ER can never teach that.

d. The Entertainment revolution is a substitute for real communication
If someone wants to get in touch with the world, they will typically turn on the radio, or the TV or read the newspaper. They want to connect with the real world outside their window, and so they find out what the president is doing or saying or what disaster happened in the last 24 hours or what scandal is going on. And in this way, a person feels like they have connected with society.

However, what is a person’s real society? Who makes up one’s community? Is it found in Washington D.C., or in the disaster on the other side of the world or the scandal in local politics? Rather, community found in one’s family, one’s neighbors, ones friends, ones co-workers—with the people that one actually sees and talks to. Perhaps community could be built over the internet, but even then, it is missing a vital component—non-verbal communication. Misunderstandings happen more often on the internet because we cannot see facial expressions or develop true trust for others ("Is she really a girl?").

Our need to connect with society cannot be accomplished through the ER. We can hear what the president says about the latest crisis, but he won’t give us advice about our garden. The folks on TV aren’t really interested in our lives.

And now, instead of spending time showing our concern or care for others—showing our love—we have shown that we are interested instead in the ER, not people. Jesus taught us that it is our responsibility to love our neighbor. But because we have spent so much time with the ER instead of our real, physical neighbor, we don’t know how to respond to his need. In fact, anyone who comes in contact with us is a challenge, a difficulty. Almost as if dealing with human beings—even those who live in our house—is like living with an alien. They don’t say the right things, they aren’t polite like they should be, they don’t use the right language.

But if we are to love people, as Jesus says, we are to deal with their quirks, and eccentricities. Even when they are not entertaining. Even when they are irritating. And we are to respond to them with gentleness and with patience. How can that be done? Well it takes the Holy Spirit. And a lot of practice… which the ER takes us away from.

Virtual Values of the Entertainment Revolution
The Entertainment Revolution (ER) has grown over a century. It is a revolution allowing everyone to have access to music, video and computer entertainment, anytime, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It began in the United States and Europe and has since expanded to every place on the globe. It is a form of an American Utopia—paradise through virtual reality. However, a virtual reality encourages one to live out virtual values.

As Neil Postman once observed, "The medium is the message." With every medium comes its own values that it communicates. Books carry with it messages of the print media, for example, the necessity of clear verbal communication. Art communicates messages of visual media—to be able to see what one cannot see in reality, for example. Even so, the Entertainment Revolution has its own values that it teaches, just because of the media it uses. Not all of the values are bad—visual observation, for example. But there are some values that the ER teaches that do not support Christian values and ideals of community love. Below are a few:

The Entertainment Revolution teaches impatience with real life
In the media of the ER, the greatest sin is boredom. Everything must be interesting, and if it is not interesting, then it is not valuable to the media of ER. To be valuable, something need not be good, nor does it need to be beautiful—but if it is boring, then it is worthless. And since the ER has been invading so many areas of life—education, job training, raising children and so many others as well—then it sets as the lowest common denominator the one value—it must be interesting. Mathematics is practical, but for ER it is worthless unless it is interesting. Philosophy is important, but for ER it cannot be discussed unless it is interesting.

Even so, we and our children are learning this ever important value. We aren’t interested in learning something that is important for us, unless it is interesting. Our lives may be many things, but it must be interesting. And if it is not interesting, that’s fine—we could always watch a movie. Vocarious interest will replace real interest, if necessary. But if we are bored with our job, bored with our spouse, bored with our children, bored with our life, then we need to find a way to make it more interesting. Maybe a new job, some pornography, some new hobbies or a new babysitter for some more freedom—maybe that will make life more interesting.

Another area we are learning from our ER is about speed. In ER, interest is increased and it is done immediately. It moves quickly from one interesting item to another, as if one was at a jewelers’ on a conveyer belt. The pace of images on television has sped up to such a degree that often we can’t keep up with all that we see. But there is so much of interest that it doesn’t matter if we miss something. But the pace is set high on all the media of ER—movies, radio, CD’s. And, of course, computers. If our computers are not fast enough then the answer is clear—we need a new computer. And if our internet service isn’t fast enough, then that needs to change as well. And for many, DSL is a necessity.

But what is the necessity, really? Speed. Things need to be faster. It isn’t just the ER anymore. We need to find something interesting and we need to find it now. Never mind that most worthwhile things require time, practice and patience. If it isn’t interesting now, then it isn’t worthwhile enough to us. We need to hurry and be interested.

And so this means that we have become a culture of impatience. We are frustrated if we have to wait a few minutes, if our phone has poor reception for a minute, if our children take too long to get ready, if the electrician takes a half hour when she said it would only be twenty minutes, if there is traffic on the freeway, if we are following a bus on the way home. We are impatient with life. And yet, in Scripture, slowness is a virtue. At least being slothful toward anger. And angry is the very thing we are in a hurry to be, it seems. We certainly flare up with irritation every time someone or something makes us wait. Especially if we are bored.

The Entertainment Revolution teaches Passivity
Computers are interactive, and they often encourage one to provide at least a minimal amount of input. DVDs are beginning to allow those who watch them to mold and change what they see. But the far majority of the ER media has a "silver plate" mentality. The extent of choice is "which station?" Once that choice is made, all the rest is given to one, as if one is the wealthy king, waiting for the servant to peel the grapes and to drop it into the mouth.
We begin to get used to servants, and though human ones are garish in our society (not to mention expensive), so we will be satisfied with electronic ones. Perhaps a microwave dinner does require a small amount of work, but it is a service as opposed to making oneself and one’s family a full meal.

Life is more and more feeling like "too much work". It is not that we are lazy—oh no. But we are mentally tired, and just not used to going out of our way and it is just easier to… well, perhaps we are a bit lazy. And we would really like to exercise and we know that we would feel better if we did, but it just seems so difficult… and so on and so on.

We are just becoming more used to being passive. And we don’t really see why we should work more. After all, we work at work, and so why should we do it at home? Of course, if that is our attitude, it is no wonder that obesity is becoming the number one preventable cause of death.

The Entertainment Revolution increases desire for acquisition
In the 80’s the Cosby Show was the number one rated sitcom in America. Many were impressed at how a black family could be shown as so "normal". Of course, for most of America, "trailer trash" shows like Rosanne or the Simpsons were better indicators of their living standard and the upper middle class Cosby Show just had folks drooling for the life that they wished were theirs. This is common in television and movies or any of the visual media of the ER. Show people wealth they don’t have and drop hints that communicate, "this is normal; this is how you ought to live; this is how most people live—why don’t you?"

If it is true in television shows and movies, it is certainly true in advertising. Advertising has almost perfected the art of causing covetousness. In a matter of weeks, a product that was unheard of and was totally unnecessary is now in hot demand and everyone wonders how they lived without it. And half of those products will be unnecessary again in another month.
How many Americans know the tenth commandment? How many would be surprised to find that greed is counted in the Bible as a sin of equal depth as sexual immorality? If we live in a culture of entertainment, we just as strongly live in a culture of covetousness and acquisition. And it will send us to hell just as quickly as homosexuality and drunkenness.

The Entertainment Revolution encourages moral nihilism
We all know that television, movies and radio have gotten morally worse over the years. It is a cliché—"I just can’t believe what they allow on television." Or the movies. Or the radio. Or the internet. Everyone agrees—it has certainly gotten worse. And most people, it seems, are appalled. If that is the case, then who are the ones who are tuning in? The ones who just want to see or hear just how bad it is?

Probably not. The ones who are listening or watching the "apalling" behavior or words probably have other cliches to quote—"It’s not that bad"; "It’s not like it’s real." "It’s only television." These are the modern dualists, the anti-gnostics who believe that as long as it is in the mind, but not the body, then it is all right. The mind and the body are completely separated, and never let it be said that what enters one’s mind would ever find its way out into words or action.
Well, that is what Jesus said. That what was in one’s mind would eventually work its way out. Perhaps, he said, the evil will come out in only a small way—a mere look, a quiet insult. But it will come out in action. And that action will be evil—perhaps not as evil as the action seen on the screen, but still evil.

It is a moral spiral that begins with the evil that we see or hear about in the ER. We hear the interested deny the reality of the entertainment. Then we hear that some form of evil "isn’t all that bad." And next we hear the protest, "But I only did this."

Our actions are based on thoughts. Our minds can bear evil, as long as we recognize it as pure evil. Evil acts are described in the Bible, yet clearly described as evil. It is when evil is used as a point of interest or entertainment that moral decay begins. The thought comes in, "I’d like to do something like that" and it develops into a temptation. Not to do what was on the screen—of course not that. But perhaps a few steps away from it. Not killing, but getting even. Not an adulterous affair, but lusting. Not a street fight, but a good blow in the stomach… Jesus says it is not the size of the action that matters, but the action itself that indicates the evil desire. And indication of the evil desire is what destroys us. It is only worse if we can excuse the action in some way, for then we have no problem to do it again.

We need to remember that morality begins in the mind. And what we place in our mind is what determines our thoughts. Our thoughts, especially what lingers, is the basis of our actions. And our actions determine who we are. Are we good people, or evil people? If we our good, our thoughts will be good and so display good actions. If we are evil, our thoughts will be evil and so display evil actions. If we desire to be good, then, why practice evil thoughts? For we are what we think…

The Entertainment Revolution is cultural streamlining
There is much talk about diversity today. It is an important word—cultural and racial diversity is significant in our society today, and the ER wants to play its part in the current vogue in political correctness. Of course, ER was involved in a certain amount of diversity before it was politically correct—glimses of the 60’s Star Trek and the 70’s Mod Squad show us that. Since then, the ER has taught us about some cultural aspects of American Indians, Hispanics, Chinese, Japanese and much, much more. Also other kinds of diversity—the blind, deaf, developmentally disabled, homosexual, Hindu and Muslim have all gotten their spotlight in the ER.

If only the world were so narrow. Although the ER has purposed to expand in diversity, it has strict limitations. Unless there is a special station, English is still a limitation. CBS wouldn’t be caught dead with an entire show in Spanish, even if it could be shown them that the ratings would be decent. And what about Australian aboriginees? Or Bangladeshi peasants? Some speech has been given about the Kurds in Iraq—why not give them some prime time?
Of course, it isn’t practical, nor is it cost effective. It is a difficulty inherent in the system. Diversity is fine, as long as it is limited to a narrow degree. Broad diversity is impossible. Limited diversity is difficult, but managable. And the main rule in the ER is: only rock the boat if it can be shown to be popular.

"What then shall we do?"
The Entertainment Revolution (ER) has become all-pervasive over the last century. It is hard not to make a comment about some aspect of the ER—television, movies, radio, video games or computers— in the course of a normal conversation with a friend. Not that we try hard not to, at least its something to talk about. And really, with all of the difficulties stated above included, is it really so bad to watch a movie every once in a while? To have a favorite TV show? To have the radio on as background noise? Not in and of itself. But there are cautions:

Jesus warns us that a life of pleasure keeps us away from God’s kingdom
Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Luke 6:22-25

The real question is—what should be consuming our lives? Before the entertainment revolution, people were offered a choice—should we choose work, or family or education or God or what? Now that choice is made for us before we are old enough to control ourselves—we will have entertainment. And that becomes the center of our existence. If we have work, we must have entertainment. If we have family, we must have entertainment. If we have God, we must have entertainment.

Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" Mark 8:34-36

But Jesus does not call us to follow him in a context of entertainment. Rather, he calls us to follow him in a context of self-denial, of taking up the cross. To follow Jesus, we will have to give up lifestyles of entertainment to have lifestyles of self-sacrifice. Jesus even says that the comforts and pleasures and concerns of the world will be something that would cause us to fall away from the truth of his teaching. These are the some who have heard the word, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. Luke 8:14

But realize this, that in the last days …men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, …lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power—Avoid such men as these. II Timothy 3:1-2, 4-5 Have we become the very people the word of God has told us to avoid? Have we surrendered ourselves to pleasure, when we should have surrendered ourselves to God? Are we more interested in our entertainment than in our faith and devotion to God?

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all your provision will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

The reality of Jesus, the reality of the kingdom of God is to not be distracted by entertainment, but to have our whole focus be on God and on his kingdom. This does not mean that pleasures will not be included in the kingdom of God—they certainly will! God wants us to have joy and pleasure. But if the life in Christ is characterized by self denial and love of others and taking up the cross, it means that a life focused on the pleasures and comforts of entertainment will not allow one to enter the kingdom of God.

We need to Constantly evaluate our media and the content of what we are ingesting
If a stranger on the street handed you a hamburger, and said, "Here, eat this" would you do so without some careful evaluation? Probably not—after all, you need to determine if it should be put in your body. Even so, strangers are handing you things every day, every hour and asking you to intellectually ingest it. At least if you are going to accept it in your mind, evaluate it as you are doing so. Constantly ask yourself—"What am I doing? Is there something more worthwhile I should be doing? What am I ingesting? What is the moral content of what I am ingesting? Since God is participating with me, what is he telling me about this?" If you watch television with your family, make it a habit to make snide comments of disbelief or disgust when something unrealistic is said or shown (Yes, this will begin as an irritating habit, but it will result in an evening of fun group participation!).

Also you need to evaluate how your habits of ingesting the ER effect your life. How does it effect your relationships (if you don’t have any relationships, perhaps it is time to adjust your ER time)? How does it effect your activity level? How does it effect your energy? In what do you find pleasure? How easily are you bored? Ask yourself as many questions as you can about your participation in the ER. And be brutally honest with yourself—don’t allow yourself to deny the elephant in your living room (the giant screen there might be a clue).

Live your life, don’t let it be lived for you
The only way to find life is to live it. The ER does not provide life—it provides diversion. It is a detour away from the path of life, and while the occasional detour may not be bad, no one wants to live for a detour. But many may ask, "if I don’t focus on the ER, what will I do?" Believe it or not, life holds many options other than participating in the ER.

What to do if there is nothing else to do:
Volunteer at a soup kitchen
Go to a church service
Talk to folks in your neighborhood
Visit folks in a nursing home—talk to them, offer to read something
Read a non-fiction book
Make a craft and give it to someone
Ask someone to tell you a story
Clean up after someone else
Read the Bible
Play a game with friends or family
Take a walk
Pray
Call a friend on the phone
Write a letter
Make a list of what you are grateful about
Knit or sew

The secrets to living life—first of all, participate, be active. Don’t just sit, do something yourself. Secondly, be active with other people. People are exciting and stimulating. Just because they can be irritating, don’t discount them. Thirdly, be active with people in love. Do an act of service or kindness for another. Last, be active with people in love for God. Don’t do it just for yourself. Don’t even just do it for others. Do it for God’s sake, in God’s way. That way, you will gain greater rewards than any TV game show could offer.

The only real substitute
There is a real life to be lived. It is strange, but it is an adventure. You never know where you will go or what you will do. You will never get bored. Yes, sometimes it is uncomfortable, but it is constantly worthwhile and you know that you are significant if you do it. Perhaps it is a radical notion for you. It is obeying God through Jesus.

Complete and total devotion to God involves following Jesus and doing what he says. You will give away a number of your possessions to the poor, and you will talk to people about things you never thought you’d say.

If you listen to the Holy Spirit and do whatever he says, then you never know what you will come up against. Perhaps you will gain rest and peace one day, and perhaps you will be speaking to a large crowd of people who don’t speak English, telling them about Jesus. Sound strange? Well, all I’m trying to say is that anything can happen. You just don’t know. And that’s part of the excitement.

And then there is serving God. Doing the activities that God wants you to do, for the sake of other people, that is the real life. There is true adventure there—for nothing is more interesting and potentially irritating than dealing with people, especially if they know you are there to help them.

And the most provocative of all is being persecuted. People will reject you and hate your for the sake of Jesus. If you haven’t been rejected straight to your face, you haven’t lived! There is nothing that will make you feel more alive. Because the one who is fully devoted to obedience is never bored.

The Christian writers before the Renaissance knew this. They would tell magnificent stories of these people who were sold out for God—and these stories were the popular novels for a thousand years! St Francis was the Superman of the 13th century—there were many versions of him, and there was always a new story about him, but each was fresh and exciting because he was a fool for Christ, a madman for God—who knew what he would do next for Jesus? Perhaps he would talk to a wolf, perhaps he would pray for forty days and nights, perhaps he would strip off all of his clothes, perhaps he would sing a song in front of a bishop—who knew? But this was interesting, this was real entertainment.

And those who were tired of just reading about Francis and the rest of the saints could decide to become one of them. After all, the stories were super, but any mortal could do the acts of Francis and the saints—they were only human, except for the ones who were purely legendary. But it was possible. And then one could live a life of adventure themselves. They wouldn’t have to live it through someone else. They wouldn’t have to just watch someone live. They wouldn’t just have to hear about someone’s experiences. They would have experiences themselves. And perhaps they could be the next one to tell their story.

Jesus' Moral Ideology

In the United States today, there is much dispute between "Conservative" and "Liberal" politics and with them are equal Christian positions—both politically and religiously. Both positions are based on Biblical theologies, and so both sides pull out Bible verses that place their positions in the best light. However, these Biblical theologies aren’t the heart of the conservative or liberal dualism that is at the heart of the divide within the country, within denominations or within churches. Both the conservative and liberal positions are based on a moral stance that are so based in one’s cultural understanding that it is difficult to separate the truth out and understand another’s position. And these positions have developed in such antagonism, that they have anathematized the other position, growing away from each other as time goes on.

What both moral positions, and the theologies they are based on, have missed is that they are each only one part of a whole. Both sides are a simplification of the complex Christian moral message, as taught by Jesus. Christianity is a religious moral system, based on the life and teaching of Jesus, empowered by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Neither position is a full representation of Jesus’ moral ideal, but each is a bastard born of a union of the New Testament and modern American ideals. Both positions have been created by lopping off parts of Jesus’ body of teaching, idealizing a part and trashing the rest as "unworthy" of God.

Below are the five principles of morality that Jesus held to. Admittedly, the moral position of Jesus is not complete without the worldview and eschatology of Jesus, which is not included below. But this list is sufficient to indicate that Jesus’ moral position is only inadequately represented by the liberal or conservative moral positions. I hope this will move us toward a completely Jesus-based moral position, which could be called truly Christian.

Purity
"Evil thoughts, sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness—All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man." Mark 7:21-23

The one moral principle found in all the Bible—both Old and New Testaments, no matter which book you choose—is that God will judge everyone based on what they do. People’s actions can be neutral, but there are certain actions that if one does them, it negates their ability to enter into God’s presence. Among the actions that Jesus says negates one’s ability to approach God or have God listen to one’s prayer are: worship of false gods, dishonoring authority, oppression of the weak (such as abortion), sexual immorality (including sex outside of marriage and homosexuality), stealing, acts of hatred and others.

This principle is central to the conservative moral position, and it is at the heart of what they call "family values". However, we must also recognize that Jesus’ answer to one breaking this very firm moral position is not punishment or ostrization, but is repentance. Jesus commanded people to regret their sin, admit it openly to God and to do all they could to change the action, and God would forgive them and welcome them back. Repentance from sin is the center of Jesus’ teaching.

"Unless you repent, you will all perish." Luke 13:5

Love
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 19:19
"Love your enemy" Luke 6:27

In response to those who would like to take moral purity laws and use them for punishment, Jesus upheld an overall principle of love as the context of morality. Jesus definition of "love" is "to act for the benefit of the another, no matter what they have done." Jesus’ most radical statement is to apply this moral principle of beneficence to everyone, without exclusion. Thus, if one is acting in a manner to harm another, or acting in an impure way, or even acting against one’s culture or one’s personal family or life, the need to act in accordance of the benefit of all still applies.

This principle is central to the liberal moral position, and with it they see a necessity to weaken the principle of purity. They want to say that if an action does not harm another, then it is not evil. However, Jesus did not pit these two principles in opposition to each other, but sees them as being complimentary. Purity communicates the moral line over which one may not cross, or else one is excluded from a relationship with God. However, a loving human may cross the line that God might not be willing to. For Jesus, this means that representatives of God might go to the impure and draw them back to God, gently coaxing them to repent, and so be restored to God. Love is not in opposition to purity, but it is the principle in which impurity can be overcome.

"The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10

Faith
"The greatest law is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength." Matthew 27:37-38

The basis of all morality in Scripture is not the conscience of man, but the justice, authority and mercy of God. God is the ultimate authority, so his law is the first command above all human law. God is ultimately just, so his morality is right for everyone, in all societies. God is the most merciful, so his principles are for the benefit of all people, especially the lowly. In order to take advantage of God’s morality, one must be more devoted to God than to oneself, than any earthly authority, or than anything that might give you benefit apart from God.

The political positions of the liberals and conservatives forget the basis of faith in their moral position, and instead adopt a position of public pluralism. Even the religious moralists of these positions, however, forget that God is the one and only basis of authority. Many of them think that each person’s heart completely contains God’s will, forgetting that people are rebellious and forgetful. And others think that a greater morality than what God expresses can be gained. However, this only leads to judgmentalism and inconsistent moralities. According to Jesus, we find truth in God and we limit our morals to what God says through Jesus, bringing nothing else to it.

"You have neglected God’s command by upholding human commands." Mark 7:8

Sacrifice
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." Mark 8:34

To be devoted to God’s morality is not just for times when it is convenient or when society is in agreement with it. Jesus recognized that his moral principles would be rejected by every society that exists in the world. And there is no one that would make it easy to live according to these principles. Thus, living according to Jesus life and teachings is a challenge that is very difficult to achieve. Thus, endurance through difficulties is an essential part of His morality.

An aspect of this challenge is forgotten by the liberal and conservative moral viewpoints. In those moralities, one must maintain ones’ own well being in order to be moral. However, in Jesus, one’s personal well-being must be set aside in order to live according to His moral principles. To do God’s will, one must set aside one’s own and society’s desires. To love others, one must sacrifice one’s own interests and even life. The ultimate act of Christian morality is that of martyrdom for the benefit of others.

"The greatest love is to lay down one’s life for his friends." John 15:13

Spirit
"The Father will send you the Holy Spirit who will teach you all things and bring to remembrance all that I have taught you." John 14:26

God’s command is not limited to the basic principles one finds in the New Testament, however. God has more to say to every person devoted to Him through Jesus. These more individualistic commands are granted through the Holy Spirit, the mystical presence of God in everyone committed to Jesus as Lord.

Christian morality is not complete without the Holy Spirit, for not only does He guide the Christian to do what is right, but he also empowers the Devoted to do even the most difficult task in obedience to God. God understands the weaknesses of human resolve and human limitation, and so offers the Spirit as the ability to act beyond one’s humanity into a fullness of God’s strength and purity and love.

The moral positions of conservatism and liberalism have little use for the mystical power of God through the Spirit, unless it has been transformed into a naturalistic process. Jesus would allow no such limitation to the power of God, commanding exorcisms, healings, meals, speaking unknown languages and unnatural boldness, only accomplished through the Spirit, not flesh.

"The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Mark 14:38

Jesus is neither conservative nor liberal, but greater than either.
Follow Him, not his bastard offspring.

Christian Liberal Moral Ideology

There are a multitude of ways to understand Christianity. Each denomination has a distinctive sense of their focus, and every congregation has a different way of presenting their understanding of the basic truths of Christianity. In the United States, there are two foundational ways to understand the truth of Christianity, which, for convenience’s sake we will call "Conservative" and "Liberal". The liberal understanding of Christianity has recently been called "the new Christian paradigm", but it is at least one hundred years old, has its roots in the enlightenment of the eighteenth century and has it’s own set of traditions and theologies. Some of the basic features of the "new paradigm" are described below.

Denying supernaturalism
The liberal point of view is not that miracles don’t happen, but that miracles occur in the context of everyday, "historic" reality. This means that God is working, but he is working within the confines of material existence. For all practical purposes, the spirit world does not intersect with material reality, except in subtle, mostly unseen ways. They deny the reality of overt supernatural acts such as a six-day creation, fire from heaven and the physical resurrection of bodies.

Jesus as moral example
Jesus is seen in the liberal worldview primarily as a teacher and example of the exemplary way of life. God desires us to live a life of unconditional love and care for others, and Jesus displayed that love in the midst of a culture of rules and separation. Jesus died in a conflict with that culture, and his resurrection—which was spiritual, not physical—was God’s way of showing the superiority of that moral way of life.

Relationships as core responsibility
The central moral concept of liberal philosophy is the nurturance of relationships. To build and establish relationships, we need to display unconditional love, which is seen as full and joyful acceptance of all—no matter how one subverts the traditional moral paradigm— and assistance to those who are weak or marginal in society. Salvation is seen as receiving God’s grace to live according to this way of love, as Jesus himself displayed. To be saved is to live out the principle, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Sin as systemic
The liberal worldview acknowledges the Bible’s point of view of sin as personal acts in rebellion to God. However, the sins that need to be taken most seriously are those acts that support a system of oppression, in opposition to an ethic of unconditional love. They see the system of the world to be supporting a minority—whites, males, wealthy—while the rest are automatically placed in a secondary role, forced to submit to the oppressive paradigm. Sin, then, is supporting that system of oppression and acting in apathy to those in need. The serious sins are not those of adultery, homosexuality and rebellion, but oppression and its extreme form, violence. Submission to the dominant authority system is a sin, though less serious, for it supports the systemic sin.

Response to sin
Given this point of view of sin, personal sin is usually responded to with acceptance. If a sin is seen as just being in opposition to the primary paradigm, then there is joyful, full acceptance without a call to change. If one sins in a way in opposition to unconditional love, they are encouraged to repent and change, while still being accepted. However, every worldview has lines of acceptance and non-acceptance. Those who are not accepted are those who refuse to refrain from tearing the nurturing community down. Thus, prison is reserved for rapists and child molesters. And the liberal church has no place for those who reject the needy because they are "sinners" or "irresponsible."

Love as Basis of Truth
The truth of the liberal paradigm is not strictly seen in the Bible as a whole. They recognize that the Old Testament does not teach this paradigm, and neither does Paul. However, they understand Jesus as teaching the basis of this paradigm, and the church is growing over time to accept this paradigm. The Bible is not the basis of morality, but unconditional love, which they see is the love of God. The Bible is not full of historic truth, but of deep metaphors that helps one understand God’s love. The Bible is simply a bridge leading from an older moral paradigm toward a new, perfect paradigm of God’s love. The locus of truth is God’s community of love, led by God’s spirit of love. This community may at times be in denial of the old paradigms, such as it was in the Jerusalem council in Acts 15, but the main focus is the display of God’s spirit, not any traditional standards of morality.

Continuity and Discontinuity with Society
They see themselves as being a part of society through tolerance. They hold as a central moral statement the acceptance and care for all people, no matter what religion they believe in or what their personal habits are. However, they also see themselves as subversive and as challenging the dominant authority system. Thus, in practical actions, the liberal church accepts homosexuals who act with unconditional love, for while they might act in opposition to standard morality, they have received God’s grace of love. They often accept abortion as a possible moral decision because a relationship has not been developed with a fetus, thus there is no moral obligation. And they typically support progressive politics which assists those who are marginalized by society.

An Anabaptist Critique of Liberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity focuses much on what has been missing from traditional Christianity. Like Jesus and Paul, they focus on the needs of the marginalized of society, and they accept those who are traditionally seen as "sinners" (Luke 15; Matthew 8:11-12) They also recognize that Jesus spoke of himself as a moral example, which is something much of the church has ignored in their focus on Jesus as the savior from sins and the Son of God (John 13:13-17).
However, there is much that the liberal approach to Christianity has missed in their understanding of Jesus. Liberal Christians deny the very worldview that Jesus held. Jesus did not just practice God’s love, but he practiced God’s love with God’s supernatural power, seeing the spirit world as a real force in everyday life (Mark 1:16-2:10). The NT as a whole recognizes Jesus’ resurrection as physical and historic—and, in fact, were it not, then it could not be called "resurrection" at all, but simply "death" for a spiritual life after death is what all ancient cultures understood as what death was. Resurrection meant the renewal of the body—anything else would have been called something else.

Liberal Christians also neglect that Jesus held to God’s standard of righteousness, which was not restricted to sins against unconditional love. Jesus spoke against sexual immorality, idolatry and those who did not believe in him—sins of which could be participated in while still being nurturing (Mark 7:20-23; John 58). Jesus said that the context of righteousness is love of others, but that was not the whole of God’s standard—we first and foremost must love God for who he is and obey him even though it may not seem like the kind of "love" we understand. Jesus welcomed sinners of his time, but he called them to repent, not just to be welcomed (Luke 5:32)

God’s love is unconditional, but the unconditional form of his love is limited, as well. God loves everyone by providing even those who hate him with their basic needs. However, his true blessings—his kingdom, his Spirit, his salvation from suffering—is not given to everyone, but only those who prove to be faithful to him, not only in love, but in the purity of heart and action that can only come through Jesus (Matthew 7:6, 17-27; John 15:5). Thus, followers of Jesus sympathize for those who do not believe in Jesus, but we cannot fully accept them as part of the community of God, even as others who sin against God without repentance (Romans 10:9; Matthew 18:15-17). Jesus affirms love, but also recognizes that his gospel causes deep relational ties to be severed dramatically (Luke 14:26-27)

Ultimately, liberal Christians, while drawing their ideals from the gospel, only accept half of it. They do not believe what Jesus believed or hold to what Jesus stood for. In the end, liberal Christianity is not a representation of Jesus, but just another form of the Enlightenment, denying both the Scriptures and the power of God. They want the morality of Jesus, but neglect the righteousness Jesus actually espoused.

Men will be... holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these. II Timothy 3:5

The Conservative Moral Ideology

There are a multitude of ways to understand Christianity. Each denomination has a distinctive sense of their focus, and every congregation has a different way of presenting their understanding of the basic truths of Christianity. In the United States, there are two foundational ways to understand the truth of Christianity, which, for convenience’s sake we will call "Conservative" and "Liberal". The conservative approach to Christianity has been called "evangelical" and also "fundamentalist". Although "evangelical" Christianity has existed since the early 1500s, the fundamentalist form of American evangelicalism has existed only since the beginning of the 20th century—although its roots do run deeper to the early reformation.

God as Creator
In the conservative Christian worldview, all things come from God, the spiritual entity that rightly rules all creation. There is a spiritual world that is greater than this one, and the principles of which determine our success in this world. God is the maker of all things, which he did in six 24-hour days at the beginning of creation.

Jesus as God
The conservative Christian boldly proclaims Jesus as God, by which he means a human who is equal with God in every way, including his essence. Jesus showed his authority over all things on earth, including the spirit world and nature, which indicated that he was the true maker of all these things. Many doubted Jesus proclamation of his true nature, and they eventually killed him. But the Father—the primary personage of God, along with Jesus and the Holy Spirit—rose Jesus from the dead, thus displaying Jesus’ true identity—God himself. One who wishes to receive God’s salvation—life in heaven—must believe that Jesus is God, attempt to live in the standards of God and be responsible to God’s church.

Jesus’ death as once-for-all sacrifice
Conservative Christians hold Jesus’ death to be the most significant event in all of history. They hold that God held all people under the judgment of death because of their sin, but Jesus provided a blood sacrifice through his death, which allowed God to offer forgiveness for sin instead of death. Anyone who believes in Jesus, then, is forgiven of all of their sins, no matter what they did.

Inerrant Bible
According to conservative Christians, the Old and New Testaments, sixty-six books, are the Bible. Although the Bible was written by human authors, God’s spirit directed every word in the Bible, and thus every single word is true. They understand the Bible to be interpreted literally, which means that everything in it must be understood as it would be understood by those who read it first, with allegorical sections interpreted as allegory and historical sections being taken as plain facts. The Bible expresses not only spiritual, moral and historic truth, but scientific truth as well.

The Moral Order
In the conservative worldview, it is held that God established an authoritative order. God established parents to rule over their families, governments to rule over their citizens, bosses to rule over their employees and God to rule over all. Some conservatives hold that men are also an authority over women. Bosses, parents and government leaders, therefore, are representatives of God to those under them. . This does not mean that human authorities cannot make mistakes, but the proper response to any authority over us is to submit and obey the authority. The authorities, on the other hand, are to offer proper moral guidance, punish those who disobey the proper authorities, and to provide the basic needs for those under their authority.

Family as Building Blocks of Society
Conservative Christians hold strongly to a conservative view of the family. This includes the authority of the husband over the family in the God-established moral order as well as the establishment and independence of the nuclear family. For this reason, they oppose homosexuality, abortion and secular education as things that break down the God-established order of the family.

Independence as maturity
In the conservative morality, the goal of the authority is to have every person under them be independent productive members of society. This requires the authority to provide training and punishment for each individual, until each of them are responsible in their own right. Responsibility, in this context, means that they are proper authorities over their own families, providing for them and needing no assistance from authorities to maintain their appropriate lifestyle; and that they are obedient to the requirements of their authorities without needing to be punished to correct them.

Sin as disobedience
For conservatives, sin has to do with one’s relation to the proper authority. Authorities establish law, which is an absolute standard and enforced by their authority. One sins if they disobey the authority above them, even if what the authority demands is unreasonable. Should one sin, the proper response of the sinner’s authority is to punish them, to train both them and everyone else under that authority that sin is unacceptable and will be punished.

Church as Upholder of Standard
The church, then, is the place where these conservative beliefs and morality are held as the standard and they constantly remind the people of God of these truths. This does not mean that the church in some way isn’t subversive. The conservatives hold that the world is constantly being led further and further into sin and subversive values. The church, in this case, is a beacon of light in the midst of darkness. One of the greatest purposes of the church, then, is to defend the people of God against the many forces attacking them—cults, secular humanism, communism, Islam and other religions.

An Anabaptist Critique of Conservative Christianity
The conservative evangelicals have much in their favor as a worldview. They uphold the Bible as the very highest standard, and Jesus as the very highest authority. They recognize that God’s standard may be different from the world’s in many ways and may not make sense to humans. They recognize that sin is very serious, and needs to be dealt with seriously.
However, for all of their proclamation of the Bible as God’s inerrant word, they typically have neglected what the Bible actually says quite seriously. Although they confess Jesus as their Lord, they will frequently disagree with Jesus and his teachings in the New Testament and maintain their own standards of morality instead. Jesus did not punish sin, although in the most extreme cases he did recommend separation from the church (John 8:1-11; Matthew 18:15-17). Rather Jesus showed mercy to the sinner and called them to repentance (John 12:47; Luke 5:32). Jesus recognized that authority came from God, but he also harshly criticized conservative authorities for not adhering to God’s standard and claimed that they should not be followed (Matthew 23:1-23).

Jesus actually came to earth to subvert the authorities of the world through the cross, and the "proper authorities" of this world are still acting in rebellion to Jesus’ way of the cross (Colossians 2:15; Acts 3:12-19; I Corinthians 2:6-8, 14). Jesus did not present submission as a way to uphold the authorities of this world, but as a way to subvert them and to establish God’s kingdom as the true authority over this world. In many ways, conservative Christianity is still holding to medieval feudal standards, and they see the church as being a part of this world. But the Bible says that God’s people are not of this world, but belong to a different nation, to live by a different standard, as established by Jesus, and to not just support the system as it stands (I Peter 2:4-12; Galatians 5:19-23).

Jesus death, while a sacrifice for our sins, is not limited to that. The cross isn’t something that happened a long time ago, and we can rely just on Jesus’ work. We are to continually be living out Jesus’ cross, and we are to be the people of the cross—the work of the cross is something the church continues to this very day (Colossians 1:14; John 12:24-26; Mark 8:34-38). It is through this work that we do with Jesus as our example that we gain the kingdom of God (Romans 8:16-17; Acts 14:22).

Ultimately, conservative Christianity, just like their theological forefathers, Luther and Calvin, is simply not biblical enough. For all their upholding of Jesus as the great authority, they do not give him enough authority as the One True Teacher, and we are servants of each other (Matthew 23:8-11). If one is truly going to enter God’s kingdom, we must be more righteous than the conservative evangelicals (Matthew 5:20; 23:22-23).

Jesus is not just God, but our Lord and example.

The Diseased Garden

A prophecy given to Steve Kimes in 1996, in Portland, Oregon:

A Rose Garden
The Lord showed me a rose garden. There were thousands of branches, and tens of thousands of flowers. But most of the flowers were brown, many of them had bugs or were diseased. The Lord told me, "This is the church of the West today. While it seems to be flourishing, the reality is that most of it is diseased. While it has the semblance of being alive, it is dying." Then the Lord showed me the same garden, some time later. Every single branch had been pruned. Out of the tens of thousands of flowers there were only a few buds left. "This is how today’s church will look if it continues on as it is presently. I shall have to prune the church, and very little of it will be left. Only if the church gets rid of the diseases that are plaguing it will it again flourish."

A Ruined Wood
The Lord showed me a garden full of trees. Once the trees were green and flourishing—then a winter storm took hold of it and crushed it. The ice bowed many of the trees down, and they crashed under the weight. "Again," said the Lord, "this is my church. It will be like a forest, crushed to the ground, unless they release themselves of the weight that is destroying it."

The First Disease: Upward Mobility
What is destroying the church? I asked. The Lord, the God of the Kingdom said, "Three diseases. The first is upward mobility. My Son taught that to be great, one had to accept the lowest position. But all the leaders in the church think that they need to raise themselves higher and higher in order to be great. They want to be like politicians, like the leaders of the Gentiles. So very, very few wish to be like Jesus—to sacrifice themselves totally for the sake of the kingdom of God. They teach, ‘Give yourselves over to God, but not too much—keep something for your own self-preservation.’ That is not the way of my Son. My Son taught, ‘The one who loses his life shall save it to eternal life.’ They want power and glory—but my Son said that those who would come after him would take up the cross of shame and rejection. They do not want the way of Jesus—they want the way of the world.

The Second Disease: Greed
"The second disease is desire for wealth. My Son showed that to have the resources to build the Kingdom is to depend on the Father. But the philosophy of the church is, ‘Let us gather the resources of the world and we will use it for God.’ The Christians of the world are looking to use their money and possessions for themselves first, and perhaps they will give some to their wealthy church. But my Son taught that those who looked to gain the wealth of this age will prove to be those who do not endure to the end. The Christians of this world work their jobs in order to gain money as the source of their livelihood. Yet the Christ taught that one cannot do slave-service to both God and money. They do not want the resources of God—they want the resources of the world.

The Third Disease: Apathy Toward the Needy
"The third disease is apathy to the poor. My Son taught to sell your possessions and give to the poor. But the church thinks nothing of building a three million dollar auditorium, while not even praying for the homeless or the immigrant or the refugee—let alone offering a few some space in the heated auditorium during winter. The church has words of judgement for the poor—‘Why don’t they get a job? Why don’t they do something productive? We want proof that we aren’t being taken advantage of!’ My Son said that the one without sin could be free to cast the first stone. You may speak of the poor ‘misusing’ the few dollars you cast aside to them, once you have recognized that you have misused the thousands I have given you on your own greed. Surrender your wealth to the needy, and judge not. But the church does not want to welcome the people of faith—they want the approval of the world."

The Cure: Repent!
The message to the church is simple: repent. The Lord of the Church says to the Christians of the United States: "Repent of your upward mobility and seek to be downwardly mobile. Take on the lowest positions and use all your resources to do service for the humble. Repent of your greed. Be rid of your possessions and stop seeking for more money. Depend instead on my resources which are greater than you can imagine—or drain. Repent of your apathy. Have compassion for the needy—whoever and wherever they may be—and use your time and resources to give the needy some help. Repent of your adultery! I am jealous and I lust after my own—yet you are seeking the world!

Destruction of the Church
"Should this message of repentance not be heeded, then the church as it currently exists will be destroyed. The leadership will be no more, and it will have to begin again. I have disciplined my church before—causing the destruction of thousands—and I will do it again, if I have to, only millions will be effected. Heed my warning and you shall endure."

This warning was sent in 1996 to James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Dr. Dobson’s letter-readers misunderstood it and then passed on a two-line summary of what they did understand to Dr. Dobson. According to the prophecy, Focus on the Family will itself be destroyed, and James Dobson will be discredited, unless they repent in these areas. It would do them well to pay attention to the word of Jesus.

Is The United States A Christian Nation?

"The Majority of people in the United States are Christian"

In a recent national poll, as many as 90% of the people in the United States consider themselves Christian in some way. A Christian viewpoint certainly dominates the U.S. culture. In broad outlines, most people in the U.S. believe in one God who created the universe and that Jesus died for our sins. Almost everyone has good things to say about Jesus in the U.S., even those who do not claim to be Christians. People desire to be forgiven for their sins and they think that Jesus is ready to help them.

However, most people in the U.S. do not understand what Jesus demands to follow him, let alone follow it. To be a "Christian" may be a good thing, but it is mostly a social title today, having nothing to do with Jesus’ death or teaching. Even the majority of people who go to churches have a false understanding about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Most people will agree that Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life: no one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). But they do not agree with or even understand the following:
If anyone is to enter the kingdom of God, they must obey the teaching of Jesus. (Matthew 7:21-27)

If anyone is to follow Jesus, they must deny themselves and take up their cross. (Mark 8:35)

If anyone wants to gain their life, they must lose it. (Mark 8:36)

Whoever wants Jesus to accept them before the Father, they must accept Jesus before men. (Mark 8:38)

No one can follow Jesus unless they renounce their possessions. (Luke 14:33)
Those who will gain the kingdom of God must be poor, mourning and persecuted. (Luke 6:20-24)

Whoever will be raised from the dead must humble themselves. (Luke 14:11)

These are the demands of faith, and the people of the United States, especially the "Christians", are usually looking for ways to avoid this faith of Jesus, not embrace it.

"The Laws of the United States are based on the Bible"

Some say that the foundation of the law of the United States is based on a British system of law, which is based on the Bible, especially the Ten Commandments. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are based on "Christian" principles. Thus many people think that the laws of the U.S. are fundamentally Christian.

However, the laws of the United States have been drawn up and applied without reference to the teachings of Jesus, which is the basis of the laws of the kingdom of God. Seven of the Ten Commandments are not enforced by the laws of the United States. The makers of the laws of the U.S. are not concerned with the Bible, but with making the society well-running on their own principles, not on the principles of God.

Here are a few examples of where the law of God and of the United States are in opposition:

The law of God insists that idolatry is unacceptable. (Exodus 20:4; II Corinthians 6:16-17)
The law of the United States says that everyone has a right to worship whoever they want.
The law of God insists that those who take God’s name in vain will be punished. (Exodus 20:7; Matthew 12:31)
The law of the United States insists on freedom of speech, without punishment.
The law of God forbids covetousness and greed. (Exodus 20:17; Ephesians 5:3)
The law of the United States encourages corporations that thrive on greed.
The law of God says to teach one’s children about loving God. (Deuteronomy 6:7; Ephesians 6:4)
The law of the United States forbids the public teaching about God.
The law of God teaches to love everyone, even if they harmed you. (Matthew 5:43-44)
The law of the United States insist that the police and the military must harm others, and even encourage them to kill, if the threat seems bad enough.

The laws of the United States are, in many ways, opposed to Scripture, not in agreement with it.
"The United States is a Christian Nation"

The early colonists of the United States were all Christians, many persecuted for their faith. North America has been the site of many major revivals, which caused many towns to turn completely to the Lord. The majority of the leaders of the United States have been Christian, and have written statements that could be called devotional. So many say that the United States is a Christian nation, or that it should be.

However, the United States cannot today be called a Christian nation—nor can any nation on the earth. There is already a Christian nation, called the kingdom of God and Jesus is the king. There can be no other nation with any other system of government with anyone else as leader that could call itself "of Jesus" or "Christian". The kingdom of God already has its people all throughout the world. And though the kingdom does not now have a land that it can call its own, it is very much a living, vibrant nation.

On top of this, the United States is opposed to the kingdom of God in many areas. Following are many areas that the United States and the kingdom of God are diametrically opposed:

The kingdom of God is a distinctly religious kingdom, devoted exclusively to God.

The United States separates any religious practice or belief from the government.

The kingdom of God is a nation in which every member and citizen is devoted exclusively to God through Jesus Christ. (Romans 10:9)

The United States insists that every citizen can worship whatever God they want, or none at all, and hold to any teacher they want. To insist otherwise, it claims, is unethical.

The kingdom of God is a country ruled by an appointed benevolent dictator: Jesus Christ (Romans 1:4)

The United States firmly believes that only a republic where the leader is voted in by the people is a proper government.

The kingdom of God has all of its laws and ethics come from God himself, and all policies are allowed to be determined by local bodies, as long as they do not judge apart from God’s law. (James 2:8-10)

The United States judges according to the laws passed by their legislative body, with no regard to God’s will.

The kingdom of God is empowered by the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)

The United States is empowered by economic and military strength—namely, the flesh.
The kingdom of God has values such as faith, love, endurance through persecution, following the teaching of Jesus that are requirements to remain in it. (Acts 14:22)

The United States does not promote love, generosity to the poor, devotion to God, faith in Jesus, humility, sound teaching or other values that would cause one to enter the kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom of God insists that one’s security comes from God alone, who sends angels to fight for it. (Matthew 26:52-53)

The United States firmly insists on having the strongest, most superior armed force in the world to promote its own security and its ideals.

The kingdom of God insists that greed must not be found among God’s people. (Ephesians 5:3)
The United States promotes greed, self-gratification and spending beyond one’s need as the backbone of its economy.

The kingdom of God teaches that to hate or destroy one’s enemy is to be unlike God and unworthy to be in God’s kingdom. The kingdom of God claims that God’s way is to do good to one’s enemy and pray for that one. (Luke 6:27-36)

The United States promotes the destruction of their enemies, killing even innocents in the pursuit of their goals of revenge, security and economic stability.

The kingdom of God grants salvation to those who have faith, obedience and love in Jesus Christ. (Galatians 5:5-6)

The United States grants its salvation to those who qualify and have filled out the proper paperwork—whether rich or needy, deserving or swindlers.

The United States, like all other nations, is not any kind of a Christian nation. It is a secular state, based on the principles of the world. It is completely opposed to God’s ways of running his nation.