How Good is Good Enough?

Recently at one of my Bible studies, one of the people brought up the question of someone living a good life without putting faith in Jesus entering Heaven. Unfortunately in this day of Oprahanity, it is not an uncommon question. After all, shouldn't all "good" people go to Heaven no matter what they believe?

This is typical of man's pride and self image. Whenever someone is asked if they consider themselves to be a good person, the answer is almost always "yes". This is because we will compare ourselves to someone we consider to be an evil person in order to see ourselves in the best light possible. After all, who doesn't look good next to the murderer or thief you just read about in this morning's paper?

Perseverence

Galatians 6:7-10 (NIV)

"⁷Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ⁹Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

Have you ever been mocked or belittled for your beliefs? Often times people feel free to mock our faith or point out things we have done in the past as proof that we are not in the family of God. This may come from people we have known our whole life or even from family. Remember the ones who will do the most mocking are the ones who are having the light shone on them the brightest.

Keep up the witness, saints. Keep sowing to please the Holy Spirit. Persevere and we will reap a harvest beyond our wildest dreams. Imagine the feeling you will have when one day you meet the person you reached out to with kind words, or the person you left a Bible tract with in Heaven.

NH fails to protect unborn

Last week, the NH legislature failed to pass a fetal protection bill. The bill was introduced as the result of a motor vehicle accident where a drunk driver ran a red light at 100 mph, slammed into a taxi killing the passenger. The driver of the taxi was 7 months pregnant and the baby was delivered by emergency c-section. The lived for two weeks before eventually succumbing to his injuries. The driver of the car was convicted on two counts of vehicular homicide. The second count was overturned by the NH Supreme Court because there was no applicable law that would allow for the conviction. The court opened the door for the legislature to define what the law should look like and the legislature drew up a bill and brought it to a vote. It went down 219-122.

We have reached a point in our state where we can't even protect a child where they should be the safest. It is no wonder God is lifting His hand of protection from our country.

Proclaiming truth in a postmodern world

Truth is not subjective. The great thing about truth is that is either true or it isn't. If my version of the truth and yours differ, than there are three options; my version is correct, your version is correct, or both versions are wrong. The one impossibility is that both versions are true. Unfortunately, we have been treated to a steady diet of teachers telling us that your truth may work for you, however that truth may not work for someone else and both are valid.

This type of thinking is prevalent especially when talking about spirituality and belief systems. There are several versions of the "all roads lead to Heaven" type of teaching being circulated and there is a large mass of people looking to have their ears filled with what they want to hear. Spirituality has been relegated to the realm of objectiveness where truth doesn't matter as long as you have sincere faith in your beliefs. Therein lies the problem.

The Dumbing Down of America's Churches

I ran across this newsweek article and after some head shaking, I broken heartedly have to agree with the author. Although I am not a Catholic (I am a non denominational Christian), I have seen this trend throughout evangelical churches as well. We have opted for the feel-good social justice approach while ignoring the root principles of Christianity. Namely that our job here on earth is to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel, call people to repentance, and put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Obama's pragmatic approach to divisive policy (his notion that we should acknowledge the good faith underlying opposing viewpoints) and his social-justice agenda reflect the views of American Catholic laity much more closely than those vocal bishops and pro-life activists. When Obama meets the pope tomorrow, they'll politely disagree about reproductive freedoms and homosexuality, but Catholics back home won't care, because they know Obama's on their side. In fact, Obama's agenda is closer to their views than even the pope's.