A few weeks ago I was reading “the atheist with whom I sometimes agree” Allahpundit over at hotair.com. I think it was a post about some liberal Christian who thinks that government is the solution to all of our problems.  Allah stated that he thought that the Christian faith was more in line with the liberal politics of our day.  This is unfortunately a fundamental misunderstanding of what Christianity is all about and it is the mistake that liberal politicians like President Obama make.  It is the same mistake that advocates of the liberal social gospel make in the foundation of the theology.  They interpret the care that Jesus mandated for others as a function of the government.  This is the last thing that Jesus meant when he spoke of feeding the poor and looking after the oppressed.  While I have not studied the theology in depth it seems to come down to a passage in Matthew 25 which reads.

34.Then  shall the King  say  unto them on  his  right hand,  Come  , ye blessed  of my  Father,  inherit  the kingdom  prepared  for you  from  the foundation  of the world:

 35.For  I was an hungred  , and  ye gave  me  meat  : I was thirsty  , and  ye gave  me  drink  : I was  a stranger,  and  ye took  me  in  :

36.Naked,  and  ye clothed  me:  I was sick  , and  ye visited  me:  I was  in  prison,  and  ye came  unto  me.

37.Then  shall the righteous  answer  him,  saying  , Lord,  when  saw we  thee  an hungred  , and  fed  thee? or  thirsty  , and  gave thee drink?

38.When  saw we  thee  a stranger,  and  took thee in  ? or  naked,  and  clothed  thee?

39.Or  when  saw we  thee  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  came  unto  thee?

40.And  the King  shall answer  and say  unto them,  Verily  I say  unto you,  Inasmuch  as  ye have done  it unto one  of the least  of these  my  brethren,  ye have done  it unto me.

41.Then  shall he say  also  unto them on  the left hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye cursed  , into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for the devil  and  his  angels:

42.For  I was an hungred  , and  ye gave  me  no  meat  : I was thirsty  , and  ye gave  me  no  drink  :

43.I was  a stranger,  and  ye took  me  not  in  : naked,  and  ye clothed  me  not:  sick,  and  in  prison,  and  ye visited  me  not.

44.Then  shall they  also  answer  him,  saying  , Lord,  when  saw we  thee  an hungred  , or  athirst  , or  a stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did  not  minister  unto thee?

45.Then  shall he answer  them,  saying  , Verily  I say  unto you,  Inasmuch  as  ye did  it not  to one  of the least  of these,  ye did  it not  to me.

This appears to be the main crux of the social theology that I have been exposed too over the years and many social gospel practitioners have quoted this as the basis as well.  But if you examine the text it clearly is directed at me as an individual and not at an entire government.  Indeed Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world and His aim was not to start a political movement whether it is a left wing or right wing.  His aim was to save men from their sins and in turn would lead them to individual works such as the ones he calls for in Matthew 25.

So he calls us to be kind of personal liberals but not collective/government liberals.   What do I mean by this, well in the passage above and any where else you read Jesus advocating for the oppressed he keeps saying YOU. He does not say we or you guys or for that matter Uncle Sam. He says YOU.  There are no implications that he wanted the Roman government to give meat to the hungry or drink to the thirsty, he said YOU.  He was interested in the personal redemption of the people he was surrounded by and not the structure of the government and its institutions. He is still interested in our personal redemption today and not if Medicaid will last until 2050.

When we allow the social gospel and its application to politics, to rule the day we lead others to think that the solution can be found in the structure of the government.  If all we needed was another social program to save us we indeed would have made it to the Promised Land by now and we would have no need of a savior.  The overabundant list of failed government social programs should prove to us that this approach fails to solve the root causes.  It treats the symptoms but is not the cure, and the symptoms keep coming back.

Now there is an institution that is called not explicitly but implicitly to get at the root cause of our social ills and that is the Church.  It is because the Church is uniquely endowed with the answers to what ails society, in a word sin.  It is neither lack of funding nor lack of education that causes poverty, crime and wars; it is the sin of man.  The church has the solution and the solution is Jesus Christ himself.  Now don’t get this twisted we as Christians understand that the Church is not the building or the governing structure of the institution but is the collection of individuals who are called into new life in Christ. We are called to individually and through our community of faith to feed the hungry and cloth the naked.  Indeed this is not a coerced call to help our fellow man but should be borne out of our commitment to Christ because after all faith without works is dead.

So what about where we stand as far as the government is concerned should we abandon it. No we should strive toward a government in which it is possible to let the Church thrive in its roll of pointing the way to Christ. We point the way to Christ often times by meeting the needs of and caring for the oppressed as the Church.  The church now has to compete with governments that ask nothing be done to get at the root causes of our social ills. It is human nature to go the easy route.  Jesus, through the Church ask us to put away our sin receive forgiveness and walk after him.   We should also strive for the government which does not violate God’s law.  If the government begins to advocate for sin, then it is our duty to call our government into account for this violation.

What happened when various law makers tried to reign in the mess that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was making in the subprime mortgage market. See for yourself.

Planned Parenthood Agreed to Accept Race-Motivated Donations

(CNSNews.com) – According to telephone conversations taped by a student pro-life publication, The Advocate, at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Planned Parenthood locations in Ohio and Idaho agreed to accept money targeted at minorities even when racist intentions were expressed.

Nothing to say here except to say please wake up. This has been going on for a long time and it is up to us to stop it.

Muhammad’s agent in discussions with Panthers

Looking to get help for receiver Steve Smith, the Carolina Panthers could bring back an old favorite.

He was good for us when he was here and he became a good citizen so why not bring the man back. He is going to be 35 by the start of the season but the man is one of the best blocking WR I have seen no offense Hines Ward. Man the other twos we have had over the last few years have just not given our one much help. Dropped passes, which is now the nock on Muhammad, has been a huge problem so we will see what the man might be able to do.  I think its a good move if they can come to terms if only for what a vet can teach the newbies.

I started the Belly Off! plan from menshealth.com five weeks ago. Here are some guys who are doing the plan and what they have accomplished. My story is that I have not lost much since the first day, five pounds, but I can tell that the old jeans fit better and some a little loose.  I have had a struggle with eating sweets at the wrong time but I feel much better than I did five weeks ago. It is most likely in my head but that has got to count for something. I think and therefore I am.

Toshiba Portege R500-S5003

Toshiba’s SSD version of the Portege R500 may be the best ultraportable laptop available right now, and it packs in much of what the MacBook Air lacks while weighing nearly half as much.Cnet Review

Toshiba is the first to put up a competitive product against the Apple that got a lot of press in the last few months.  All of these products look like they might be geared toward some people who don’t need much processing power.  Most of the  applications I know of other than word processing would take these things down within a matter of weeks. Just my opinion.

Peripheral Vision

Peripheral vision enables us to be aware of our surroundings while remaining focused on our destination. What we see from “the corner of our eye” can be useful, unless it distracts us from our goal.During the weeks leading to Easter, as we think about the cross, we may be struck by our Lord’s purposeful approach to the city where He knew crucifixion and resurrection awaited Him. “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). From that moment on, Jesus’ eyes were on the cross.  . .  Full Article