Randy Green's Blog, page 387

The Chicken or the Egg? – Part 1

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! Romans: Volume 9 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.

He will cry to Me, “You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.” I also shall make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth [Psalm 89:26-27].

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? We’ve all heard that trick question before, most of us in the first grade! If we are your everyday run-of-the-mill worldling, then we find ourselves in a quandary. Hmm. That’s a tough question to answer. How do we get a chicken without it being hatched from an egg? And how do we get an egg without a chicken to lay it?

Then along comes those pesky Christians. They have the answers to everything! Well, the Bible does anyway, and they believe the Bible. According to Genesis 1, the chicken came first. God created everything full-grown to reproduce after its kind.

That is why evolution and uniformitarianism cannot determine the age of the material universe. Fossil fuels were created by God fully developed. They didn’t take millions of years to form under uniform conditions. Diamonds were created by God fully formed. Tons of pressure over humongous periods of time weren’t required to produce those gems.

Man too was created fully developed. There was no procreation, conception, nine months of carrying child, and then a teeny tiny baby came out, followed by two decades of growing into manhood. Not on your life! Man was a fully mature being the day the Lord God created him.

In our Bible verses today we have another instance of the “which came first” trick question. It’s sort of like the joke, “In an emergency call 9-1-1.” To which comes the question, “What’s the number?” Duh! If you have to ask, you probably need instruction on how to use the telephone, maybe a copy of “Telephones for Dummies” or something like that.

Today’s verses make reference to the “firstborn”. This is a Biblical concept having to do with the inheritance. It should be rather obvious—like what’s the number for 9-1-1—but the “firstborn” is the person who is born first in a family. More correctly, the “firstborn” is the male child who is born first in a family.

In the Bible as well as among many other cultures, the firstborn son received the leadership of the family after dad was deceased. He also received the double portion, which entitled him to twice as much of the family wealth. The concept of the “firstborn” served in the place of a will. The inheritance was always divided into equal parts for each son, except for the firstborn who received two parts.

This procedure vis-à-vis the inheritance was standard practice in Scripture from the beginning of time. In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain was the firstborn and Abel his younger brother. When the Lord accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s, Cain’s nose was bent out of shape. He was the firstborn, you see. How dare God favor his twerp punk bro over him!

The Law of Moses made the law of the firstborn a part of the legal code for the Israelites, while they inhabited the Promised Land. The inheritance procedure of the natural firstborn was thereby perpetuated throughout history.

We will vet the Biblical concept of the spiritual firstborn in our next study. For now spend some time alone with the Lord Jesus. He beckons us into His presence.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86

The Town Crier – Part 4

NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; lovingkindness and truth go before You [Psalm 89:14].

Contemporary America is under the spell of middle class affluent morality, and it parades itself in the churches as Biblical righteousness. Beware the leaven of the spoiled rich kids, dear people.

A judge’s role is not to be “loving”. He is there to be “righteous”. He is there to enforce the law. God didn’t just overlook man’s sins and send him away scot-free because God is such a swell guy. God the Father gave His one and only Son as a sin offering on man’s behalf. The Son died man’s death that we might live His life. Man’s sins were not overlooked. Their penalty, death, was paid by God Himself.

That is the essence of “grace”, dear friends. It flows from God’s love, not from anything stemming from man. Jesus is the way, the TRUTH, and the life (cf., John 14:6). The Law came through Moses, but grace and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ.

Hence the parallelism in Psalm 89:14. God’s rule is righteous. That is its foundation. So God paid the penalty for man’s sins Himself, thereby maintaining His righteous rule. Sin was not overlooked: it was judged and the sinner executed. Man’s sins were placed on Jesus on the cross, making Jesus to be sin on our behalf.

After maintaining His righteous rule by condemning sin in the flesh, God now holds out His hand to man and offers us peace with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. This comes by grace through faith. It spells God’s “lovingkindness and truth”. The Law is the foundation of God’s rule, but grace goes before Him. Grace, you see, is the town crier.

The legal proceedings have been completed. The meeting is adjourned. The King has arrived at His decision: the soul that sins will die. Every head drops and every mouth is shut. No one can lift the head to look into the face of the King of kings and Lord of lords. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not even one. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.

But then the town crier goes before Him, goes ahead of the Law and announces the remainder of the King’s ruling. The town crier announces,

Though all of us have gone astray like sheep and turned to our own way, nonetheless the King has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. All that is required of us is to turn back to Jesus and repent of our sins, acknowledge them to Him, and ask Him for His forgiveness.

I think I like this town crier. He is a preacher of extraordinary ability. He is a prophet to proclaim glad tidings of good cheer. He is the lovely feet on the mountaintop to bring good news, to publish glad tidings, to proclaim peace, to declare, “Our God reigns!”

Do you know the grace of God? Have you received His offer of peace through His Son, Jesus Christ? Go to Him now and receive Him. Kiss the Son, lest He smite you in the way.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86

The Town Crier – Part 3

NEWS FLASH!!! Matthew: Volume 7 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; lovingkindness and truth go before You [Psalm 89:14].

In the prior study we itemized the parallel ideas of the two lines, and we observed that the first line depicts the Covenant of Law, while the second line portrays the Covenant of Grace. Here is how we delineated the lines:

A. righteousness and justice

B. are the foundation of Your throne

A. lovingkindness and truth

B. go before You

We descanted on the parallelism of the first line. God’s throne is symbolic of His rule. The foundation of God’s rule is “righteousness and justice”. The two go together like hand in glove, or better yet like fruit on the tree. It is inconceivable that God could be anything but righteous, is it not? Righteousness and His very character are indivisible.

The legal code of the Israelites while they inhabited the Promised Land was the Law of Moses. God legislated it as the Law for the Israelites in the Promised Land. He noted that obedience to His Law equaled “righteousness”. Justice resulted when the Law was obeyed. The Law was the tree, and it represented righteousness. Obedience to the Law typified the fruit of the tree, the justice which occurred when the Law was obeyed.

Now let’s delve into the second line of the Bible verse. This line portrays the Covenant of Grace. The Law is noted for its “righteousness and justice”. Grace is epitomized by “lovingkindness and truth”. The two are bound together indivisibly in the Person of God, yet they are anything but the same. This is why the Bible verse presents “antonymous parallelism” and not “synonymous parallelism”.

On the one hand God loves us and doesn’t want to sentence us to death for our sins. Yet the wages of sin is death, and so He must put sinners to death as the penalty for their sins. Anything short of this would be tantamount to unrighteousness. Can it even be envisioned, God being unrighteous? Egads, man!

Imagine a local judge in the courtroom. A person is tried and convicted of premeditated murder. His sentencing is underway. The judge looks at him sternly and tells him off for being a lowlife killer. But then the judge’s face changes to a look of leniency, a look of pity and spineless morality. He tells the convicted murderer,

Though you are most definitely guilty of first-degree murder and deserve to die, still I can’t bring myself to have you executed. So go your way and behave yourself. I am releasing you under your own recognizance.

I can smell impeachment proceedings. I can also smell the avenger of blood going to work post haste. That scenario doesn’t depict a “loving” judge. It depicts a spineless wonder, a pusillanimous pansy. Contemporary America is under the spell of middle class affluent morality, dear friends, and it parades itself in the churches as Biblical righteousness. Beware!

Let us ponder this warning in the presence of the dear Lord Jesus. We will conclude this study on the morrow.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86

The Town Crier – Part 2

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! Romans: Volume 9 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; lovingkindness and truth go before You [Psalm 89:14].

The town crier of old has become a relic of the past. Internet and evening news have forced him into retirement. But his functions still remain, though now they are done by other avenues for spreading the news. The town crier was the newsman of his day, you see.

The Book of Psalms is composed of Hebrew poetry. Biblical Hebrew poetry does not function in the same way as contemporary poetry does. Today we rhyme words at the end of lines and consider that to be the essence of poetry. In Scripture the Hebrews rhymed ideas between lines as their form of poetry.

When the ideas presented rhymes of similar thoughts, we call it “synonymous parallelism”. The thoughts parallel each other with basically the same idea. They are synonyms of sorts. Should the ideas express opposite thoughts, then we refer to it as “antonymous parallelism”. The thoughts parallel each other as contrasting ideas.

Psalm 89:14 is an example of Hebrew poetry. We have two lines which parallel each other. Whether they express similar or opposing ideas is a little more difficult to determine.

The first line of our verse is a reference to the Covenant of Law. The second line introduces the Covenant of Grace. Both Law and grace come from the Lord, so in that sense they are not opposed to each other. However, the two concepts do contrast different aspects of God, and Psalm 89:14 portrays this truth. Hence our Bible verse is an example of “antonymous parallelism”.

Both aspects are true of God at all times. He is both righteous and loving simultaneously. He requires that justice tempered with mercy exist together. God loves us, you see, but at the same time He is righteous and cannot allow the guilty to go unpunished for their crimes against His righteous rule.

Let’s itemize the parallel ideas of the two lines:

A. righteousness and justice

B. are the foundation of Your throne

A. lovingkindness and truth

B. go before You

The “A” and “B” before each phrase identifies which ones are parallel. “Righteousness and justice” come from society’s legal code. It is right to obey the rules of civilization. Each person is governed by the same rules. This is government by law. It is “justice”.

The Law of Moses was the legal code of the Israelites while they inhabited the Promised Land in Old Testament times. The Lord identified obedience to the Law as being righteous. When society functioned in that manner, justice prevailed and the Lord was pleased. Blessings followed this arrangement.

Contrariwise, when the Law was skirted and its authority rejected, then unrighteousness existed and justice was nonexistent. Rather than blessings, the Lord rained down curses on the people and the land under that scenario.

The Law, you see, served as the “foundation” of God’s throne, of His Kingship, of His rule over Old Testament Israel. Without obedience to the Law, the reign of God wasn’t visible in Old Testament times. The Law was “the foundation of God’s throne”.

We will assay the parallelism of the second line in our next study. For now let’s mull over the parallelism of the first line and learn from the foundation of Law.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86

The Town Crier – Part 1

NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; lovingkindness and truth go before You [Psalm 89:14].

The town was in a state of waiting and uneasiness. Folks hustled hither and yon to get the latest scoop on events of import to their community, as well as to share their gossip and opinions about the whole affair. You could cut the suspense in the atmosphere with a knife.

Inside the halls of government important decisions were being decided. The populace was divided over the issues and the results were bound to please some while alienating others to the extreme. No one wanted what could potentially transpire to actually occur, once the decisions were announced.

Outside in the streets it was getting dark. The town authorities had worked overtime trying to resolve what might ignite a powder keg of political upheaval. Law enforcement was put on the alert, and every officer was called into duty. The atmosphere was electric.

Suddenly a voice rang out through the night air, echoing like a ricocheting bullet down the streets and alleys of the town. It was the town crier, bedecked in his official garb of robe and breeches and boots, a tricorne hat on his head customary of colonial times. In his hand was a bell, and he was ringing it energetically.

“Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye!” were his opening words. Every person stopped dead in his tracks. All tongues ceased to wag and every mouth was stopped. No one wanted to miss out on the official town announcement. The outcome of the governmental business conducted behind closed doors was about to be revealed.

The entire populace of the town hung on the town crier’s every word. Their fate was about to be revealed. Would the old country be imported to the new, or would the new country remain new? Whatever decision was made, serious and severe repercussions were certain to follow.

Such was the scene back in the day, when the town criers played such a vital role in political affairs. Truth be told, in extreme cases it was not a good thing to be the town crier. He was only the messenger, yes, but messengers have been known to pay the price for the decisions of their superiors. The adage “Don’t shoot the messenger!” comes to mind.

In our Bible verse today a town crier is making the rounds of the town streets. The governmental decisions of the King of kings and Lord of lords are announced by him. He too is bedecked in official garb, and it is most exquisite.

Why don’t you come along with me, and we will go and hear what announcements he has to make. I am sure the announcements will be quite relevant to our day-to-day existence. Indeed they will determine the course not only of our earthly existence, but also of our eternal state.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s prepare our hearts and minds to receive the announcements from our Lord. We will then go forth to hear them on the morrow.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86

Spank the Baby! – Part 4

NEWS FLASH!!! Matthew: Volume 7 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.

When He killed them, then they sought Him, and returned and searched diligently for God; and they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer [Psalm 78:34-35].

If my son misbehaved and was taken to the woodshed for a deeper understanding, his sister didn’t need to learn the same lesson in the woodshed. She chose to learn vicariously from her brother’s chastisement. It hurts considerably less!

This is the concept depicted by the Psalmist, regarding Father God’s parenting mannerisms with His kids, the Israelites. The Israelites more often than not were incorrigible rebels. They thrived on holding public demonstrations in the city square against the injustices of the Lord’s rule. They followed it up with building barricades and storming the Bastille.

The Word of God commanded they obey His Law. When they did so He blessed them. When they didn’t He chastised them. After He chastised them the survivors repented, snapped to attention, and made it a point to be on their best behavior. Again the Lord blessed them.

Blessings are infinitely more dangerous than curses, dear friends. Blessings tend to promote indifference and lassitude in those who are blessed, you see, resulting in feckless folks who are of no earthly good to the Lord’s family. When they were blessed, the Israelites grew fat heads and resented it whenever the blessings weren’t increasingly abundant.

Accordingly they rebelled again and suffered the Lord’s chastisement some more. The survivors again repented and put their best foot forward, and the Lord restored them and blessed them again. It was a vicious circle. I tell you, blessings are infinitely more dangerous than curses.

I know a young man who has yet to learn this lesson. Truth be told, I could probably count on one hand how many young men today have learned this lesson, and still have enough fingers left over to count the pennies in a nickel!

Like a sponge this young man sucks up the Lord’s blessings. He takes them all in, enjoys himself as he pampers his lusts, and believes they are his right. He is entitled to easy living, you see. The considerable gifts given him by the Spirit are his, not the Lord’s. He uses them to feather his own nest, not build the Body of Christ.

Should he persist in this foolish course of action, I am waiting to see how long it will be before the Lord inflicts severe chastisement on him. I know the Lord loves him too much to allow him to squander his talents on his own lusts. It will not end in a pretty sight at the Bema of Christ, His judgment seat for His kids where rewards are given for service to Him.

If we won’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. This young man has been gifted for the ministry. His gifts are not meant to be used to have a grand old time performing secular jobs for the young man’s ego and financial success.

If he would only learn from the history recorded in Psalm 78, it would spare him grievous vexation at the Bema. Indeed, the vexation will most certainly commence long before eternity. Woe is this young man, if he won’t learn from Israel’s history. He knows better!

May we know better, O Lord. Amen.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86

Spank the Baby! – Part 3

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! Romans: Volume 9 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.

When He killed them, then they sought Him, and returned and searched diligently for God; and they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer [Psalm 78:34-35].

When a parent punishes his child for disobedience, it is meant as chastisement, not judgment and condemnation. It is meant to teach the child that what he has done is a no-no, and that he needs to desist doing it and ask for forgiveness. This is how families function.

It is quite otherwise with folks not a part of the same family. I never took the time to chastise the neighbors’ kids. It wasn’t my responsibility or my place. If things had become too difficult with any of the neighbors, it would have resulted in strife, not chastisement. It might even have led to a court case, but a spanking would never be on the agenda for differences between the neighbors and myself.

So it was (and is) with differences between the Lord and the peoples of the world. As God He is in charge of every person and every nation. He is like the government, not like everyone’s good friend. All persons must obey or else. As the Lord he is in covenantal relationship with His people. This is personal, like a spiritual family.

As the governmental authority God judges all men and sentences them to their just desserts. As the head of the family the Lord rears His kids to function righteously in His family, and He chastises us when we don’t.

Notice how the Psalmist portrays the Lord’s chastisement of the Israelites: “He killed them”! Huh? That doesn’t compute. God does that with the people of the world, the devil’s kids. He is supposed to chastise His own kids, not kill them. That sounds like a judge sentencing a criminal to death row, not a father disciplining his kids. What gives?

And a right fine query it is too. I’ll tell you what I find more curious than that. What follows is inexplicable. What did the Israelites do when the Lord killed them? We would think to read that they died. Right? Well, we don’t! We read,

Then they sought Him, and returned and searched diligently for God.

Strange doings for folks who have just been killed, wouldn’t you agree?

This curiosity affords us the context for understanding what is being taught, dear friends. It’s not just poetic license, as if to say the Lord didn’t really kill them. He indeed did literally kill them. Those He killed didn’t “seek Him”. The dead didn’t “return and search diligently for God”. But the survivors got the hint when they saw Father God kill the rebels, and they changed their ways pronto! They were the ones who returned and sought Him.

So the context has to do with the entire family of God, not merely with individual rebels in the family. Some of the kids rebelled and were used as examples of how not to behave in the family. Others saw the consequences of the wrong behaviors and learned better than to imitate the rebels. That is what the Lord did vis-à-vis the Israelites, as depicted by the Psalmist.

We will delve a little deeper into this concept in our next study. Now let’s spend some quiet time with Jesus.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86

Spank the Baby! – Part 2

NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.

When He killed them, then they sought Him, and returned and searched diligently for God; and they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer [Psalm 78:34-35].

The USA today is a dying culture. What was once a society permeated with the Bible’s influence is now an outright antichrist society. Abortion, homosexuality, promiscuity, divorce—all are denounced by the Word of God, specifically and undeniably denounced. Yet they are not only universally entrenched in our land from Atlantic to Pacific, but they are practices considered taboo for discussion, much less for serious criticism.

Egads! Anyone daring to preach the Bible on these issues must be promoters of hate crimes! That is where we have come today as a society. This is utterly anti-Bible and antichrist. The teenage rebels of yesteryear have become the political leaders of today, and they’ve incorporated their teenage rebellion into the warp and woof of our society, you see.

The specifics for trying to meaningfully relate to teenage rebels, during the years they are still teenagers or nearly so, varies with the individual. What works, at least somewhat, with one person flops with the next.

Experience and experimentation are needed by parents. Part of that experience is to learn the rote responses their own teenage rebel spouts, all the while he is insisting on his uniqueness as a person, mind you. As parents we should recognize this truth.

Indeed, we would be benefited immeasurably to recognize that our loving heavenly Father goes through the same things with His kids. Our Bible verses for today portray an extreme case of teenage rebellion by the Lord’s kids. The Lord’s response to those rebels was itself extreme, but it came only after prolonged refusal on the part of the rebels to recognize spiritual reality and adapt accordingly.

When a parent inflicts penalties for disobeying the family rules, it is known as chastisement. Spare the rod and spoil the child. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Those are a couple of examples from Proverbs which come to mind.

The fact that the Lord inflicted penalties on the Israelites was proof positive that He was their Father and they His children. The fact that the penalties were so severe demonstrated that they were inveterate rebels who had spurned His chastisement on numerous prior occasions.

When my son didn’t obey the family rules, I warned him about it. If he continued to disobey, I spanked him. Should he have persisted in disobedience after that—which he never did—I would have spanked him harder. The more the rebellion, the worse the chastisement.

But he was still my son regardless. I would never have executed him! I wouldn’t even have disowned him. I’d do whatever I could to bring him to repentance and restore his fellowship with me and the family.

Let’s pause and reflect on this overnight. Allow the Holy Spirit to pour His truth over our hearts and minds, as we sit with Jesus a while.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86

Spank the Baby! – Part 1

NEWS FLASH!!! Matthew: Volume 7 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.

When He killed them, then they sought Him, and returned and searched diligently for God; and they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer [Psalm 78:34-35].

As a father who raised two kids into adulthood, I have a little bit of perspective on teenage rebellion. Oh, by the way, I also have my own personal experience, which unfortunately is substantial.

It is pretty much mandatory during the post WWII era that teenagers know it all. They needn’t bother to waste time learning first. Learning first was the way of the old fogeys. Out with the old. In with the new. That’s the slogan of “modern” generations. What the “new” consists of no one seems to know. The definition depends on whom you ask. But why quibble over trifles, huh?

Responses coming from teenage rebels are automatic. They needn’t give thought to their words. Simply memorize a handful of comments and play one back automatically at every instruction directed their way. Something like this:

“Clean your room, son.”

“You’re always trying to boss me around, dad. How can I grow up if you don’t let me make my own decisions?”

Sound familiar? How they are supposed to make intelligent decisions without first being intelligent, well, that doesn’t deserve their consideration. How to be intelligent without first studying and also gaining experience? Ah, another old fogey concept to youth today.

I remember the lyrics of a song written and performed by the Doors. For any of you who are familiar with this group, you know they aren’t the kind of dudes you want babysitting the kids! Part of the song expressed a teenage rebel’s demands on the world. Listen:

We want the world, and we want it…NOW!

Tell the teenage rebel that there is no such thing as a “free lunch”, and he shrugs the shoulders and wonders what planet you live on. After all, he reasons, he’s had free lunches all his life, so he knows what you’re saying is a lie. His parents pamper him without limit, so he gets the best of everything without limit and without trying.

Even the liberal politicians give free handouts to every person who will put his hand out. It’s gotten so bad in politics that, in order to get elected, the conservative politicians so-called mimic this behavior. It matters not anymore which party is in power. Both are taking us to the same place, only the liberals are getting there a little faster. Dear friends, we don’t want to get there at all. I promise!

There are no absolute right answers for dealing with this mess today. The mess has grown over too long a period of time and gone way beyond redemption. Only a temporary reprieve can occur, a Josiah type of reform if you would, and that is the best case scenario. We are a dying culture and the last gasp is frighteningly nearer than we imagine.

We must pause and refresh ourselves in the presence of the Lord Jesus now. Tomorrow we will continue this study.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86

A Great Country or What? – Part 4

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! Romans: Volume 9 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.

The wicked strut about on every side, when vileness is exalted among the sons of men [Psalm 12:8].

The Lord God created man and woman in His own image. This made them moral creatures. They were able to make distinctions between right and wrong, even as the Lord God does.

Trouble was, until this innate ability was exercised it couldn’t grow and become strong and vibrant. So the Lord, being the perfect Father that He is, provided for the man and woman to get the moral exercise they needed. He planted two trees in the midst of the garden, the tree of life (aka the “life tree”) and the “kogae tree”.

The Lord then gave the man definitive instructions about all the trees. Man was to eat fruit to sustain himself. The fruit from every tree in the entire garden was at his disposal—all, that is, except for the fruit of the “kogae tree”. The fruit from that tree the man was forbidden to eat. The day man disobeyed and ate of its fruit would be the day man died.

The test, you see, was very simple. Eat all the fruit your little old heart desires, Adam. And eat all varieties of fruit from every tree too. Only keep your cotton-pickin’ hands off the fruit of the “kogae tree”.

The test was obedience, you see. Adam should eat fruit from the “life tree” and live because He obeyed the Word of God. Adam should not eat fruit from the “kogae tree” and die because he disobeyed the Word of God. A simple moral choice ‘twas.

Adam the moral creature had to discern between right and wrong. Would he submit to His God, thereby demonstrating that he recognized His God as the source of all righteousness? Or would he doubt His God and insist on being the determiner of right and wrong himself?

We all know what happened, don’t we? We see what happened with Adam and Eve every day in ourselves and in our kids. We are Adam and Eve! We look at the “life tree” every day, feast our eyes on its scrumptious fruit, take in its luscious foliage, feel our mouths water from the tantalizing allurement it evokes in us…and then turn to the “kogae tree”, pick its fruit, and eat like there’s no tomorrow!

Violence pervades our society because we live in it. It’s not the fault of the president, or the pastor, or the boss, or the wife, or the family dog. It’s my fault. It’s your fault. It’s the fault of the sin which rules us because we won’t submit to the Word of God. We will be in control! God won’t tell us what to do!

So how’s that going for us? Is this a great country, or what? Where else can you go and watch folks create problem after problem, then sit back, scratch their heads and pick their noses, and complain about the problems? Welcome to America, land of the free and home of the brave…free to create problems and brave enough to blame everyone else for them!

We can vote for anyone we want for president, but the evil fruit will continue to grow, so long as we continue to fertilize the evil tree and water it daily. I have a great idea. What say we cease our daily visits to the “kogae tree” and train ourselves to go to the “life tree” instead?

That sounds like a plan. Let’s go there now.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86