Bad Is Good/Good Is Bad

[dave c]

HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #129f Re-Written 26OCT08 http://groups.msn.com/AHealingShelter/welcome.msnw

Gatekeepers—Part Five: Bad Is Good/Good Is Bad

by rev dave c

Galatians 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit (NIV). I am convinced that most children have an intuitive sense of what is right and what is wrong. Kids don’t have to be taught that lying, stealing, hurting people emotionally and physically, and inappropriate touching are bad; or that truth, generosity, kindness, and affection are good (He 10:16). Children do, however, look to their parents and other adults for both overt and subtle training that can either overcome “natural” aversions to bad conduct, or that encourages conduct toward the good. This is not to say that “people are born good”—it is to say that God immediately starts the work to save us from a fallen nature by instilling within us a conscience that, if allowed, will begin to draw us to Him.

For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them) (Ro 2:13-15; NIV). Here in the closing years of the first decade of the 21st Century it is despicable that we, as avowed Christians, display little more (if any) Godly righteousness than the people of the World. The Bride of Jesus Christ experiences just as many divorces as secular society. The Body of Jesus Christ either openly supports the murder of our children by tens of millions, or endorses it through silence. The Church of Jesus Christ is increasingly embracing the new tolerance lie that sexual perversion is sanctioned by the Constitution and protected by the judge’s gavel as we welcome publicly unrepentant membership to the pew and to the pulpit.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight (Is 5:20&21; NIV). Why not say--as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say--"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved (Ro 3:8; NIV). Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good (Ro 12:9; NIV). Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil (Ro 14:16; NIV). The forces of darkness in our nation tell us that traditional marriage is meaningless and that “gay marriages” are right, just, and moral; that homosexuality is to be celebrated and taught to our children; and that women who have killed their babies should proudly wear t-shirts proclaiming, “I Had An Abortion.” In Isaiah 5:20 God tells us plainly, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness...and in Matthew 18:7 Jesus proclaims, "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! (NIV). Divorce, homosexuality, and abortion are evil, and woe to us as the Church when we call them good—or when we allow others to call them good without challenge.

First Corinthians 10:1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. 6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did--and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did--and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! (NIV).

When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Ps 11:3; NIV). The laws of man come and go in constant flux of what is desirable and what is acceptable for a given society and culture within a given era, but the laws of God are eternal and immutable. We stand aghast that our nation could have ever condoned slavery, or denied a woman’s right to vote—yet we quietly allow our babies to be slaughtered and we permit a few arrogant Federal Judges and Congressmen to deny our entire nation the due process of law and legislation. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death (2Co 7:10; NIV). Today is the day of sorrow for the Church and it is time for us to repent for our silence, rise up as one voice, and declare that the laws of God alone are good and that we will no longer endorse the philosophies, the practices and the agendas of a people actively seeking to live in a world grown increasingly dark.

[beckrl]

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight (Is 5:20&21; NIV). Why not say--as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say--"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved (Ro 3:8; NIV). Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good (Ro 12:9; NIV). Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil (Ro 14:16; NIV). The forces of darkness in our nation tell us that traditional marriage is meaningless and that “gay marriages” are right, just, and moral; that homosexuality is to be celebrated and taught to our children; and that women who have killed their babies should proudly wear t-shirts proclaiming, “I Had An Abortion.” In Isaiah 5:20 God tells us plainly, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness...and in Matthew 18:7 Jesus proclaims, "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! (NIV). Divorce, homosexuality, and abortion are evil, and woe to us as the Church when we call them good—or when we allow others to call them good without challenge.

AMEN,AMEN Brother