Words from the Father

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

I’ve always wondered what that phrase meant. I understood it in part but God gave me an opportunity to learn more fully what it means. As an outlet for writing, I’ve started publishing on Hubpages.com. From time to time I’ve visited the forums, a place where other ‘hubbers’ could discuss topics. One such topic was “Christianity Questions”. This, of course, drew my attention. Most of the posts there were from people who were decidedly unchristian. The same is true of another post, “Did You Really Think Human Beings Evolve from Primates?” In fact, most of these people were downright nasty. One person called the Bible a book of fantasy. That was the least harsh of the comments.

            One of the posters I engaged said that he was willing to discuss my point of view logically if I would reason with him with facts. I attempted to do so. He response was most illogical. It did not question my logic or my response. Instead, he proceeded to insult me and my faith. My response to him was that he seemed to have more insults than sense and that he needed to research before he argues. Again, in an attempt to appeal to his rational side, I tried to address some of his comments. Knowing he would come back with another argument, I decided that I would cease responding to him.

            As I was lying in bed, I tried to think of how I would end my correspondence with him. The only thought that came to me was “I don’t know why you don’t believe in the Bible because you are in there.” Then I would quote Romans 1:22, “Professing to be wise, they became fools….” Then the Lord spoke to me. He said you cannot teach someone who will not listen. Then came the verse, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

            Jesus often said this after He taught something difficult to grasp. The first time was when He told them that John the Baptist was the Elijah that was prophesied (Matthew 11:15). The next time was after the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:9). The third time was after Jesus taught about Hell and Heaven (Matthew 13:43). The final time it is used in the Gospels is when Jesus taught about being salt and the value of worthless salt (Luke 14:35). A similar phrase appears in Revelation where John writes, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

            What does this phrase mean? As one who preaches that Jesus always spoke spiritually, I don’t see how I missed the fact that it was not physical ears that Jesus was referring to, but spiritual ears. He who has spiritual ears (understanding), understand.  It means let him (or her) who has a teachable spirit receive what is being taught. Let him who is willing to accept it, receive the Word. There are some people who, because they have a closed mind, will not believe some things regardless of the evidence that is produced. Jesus taught us this. This is why He did not spend time arguing with the Pharisees. He knew that no matter what He said or what proof they saw, they would not be convinced. They didn’t believe what they already had and what they already knew. The same was true of the rich man’s brothers. If they would not believe God, why would they believe someone who supposedly rose from the dead? Jesus said to some it was given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven and too others it was not (Matthew 13:11, Luke 8:10).

            What does it mean to have ears to hear? Jesus again gives us the answer in Matthew 13:14b-15

‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
¹⁵ For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’

Having ears to hear means that one will understand with their heart, turn and follow God in response.

            So what did I learn from this encounter? Proverbs 26:4 says “Do not answer the foolish arguments of fools or you will become as foolish as they are (NLT).” In other words, we should attempt to rebuke and correct, but when you see your answers falling on deaf ears, cease and move on. They do not have ears to hear so you are just wasting your breath and/or time.

Is America Finished as a World Leader?

Is her dominance as a world power over? Has she jumped the shark, so to speak? Has the sleeping giant lost her teeth?  Some might argue that America is on her last legs. Saddled with a multi-trillion dollar deficit and rapidly losing the ability to pay her bills, America is slowly sinking. She appears to be heading the way of Egypt, the Holy Roman Empire, and Great Britain. Once they were the most powerful nations in the world and now they are all but shadows of what they used to be. Is America the Next Great Used-to-be?

            There are a number of reasons I ask this question. But before I get to them, I want to first say that I am a proud American. I am glad that God saw fit to place me in this great country, despite her faults. But history has shown us time and time again that nations rise and nations fall. Just as there are no exceptions to death (Rapture aside), America will have no exception to her demise. The question becomes when will it be and will it be during our lifetime?

            The first thing I want to discuss is America’s mounting debt and her ability not to pay it. As I wrote in my book, For Such a Time as This: The Darkness Cometh, people should live within their means. This means that we are not to spend more than we bring in. If we do, we are in debt, and thus at the mercy of the debtor. America has constantly spent more than she brought in. She is now at the mercy of her debtors who could call her loans at any time. There are those who speculate that it won’t be long before the dollar is no longer the world’s currency. If that happens, our prices will skyrocket. Gas will be $6/gal. I don’t even want to speculate on food.

            Our justice system is overtaxed. The jails are overcrowded. Some jurisdictions are giving slaps on the wrists or even releasing those who have committed small crimes and misdemeanors and those who have good behavior. The courts are so overcrowded; it takes over a year before a case goes to trial. Casey Anthony was tried for a crime that was committed in 2008—so much for a speedy trial. Two men were executed in Arkansas for crimes that were committed in 1997, 24 years after their conviction.

            Why are the courts overcrowded? That’s for another post but I will say that part of it has to do with the decay or our society’s morals. As a society, we protect the whale and abort babies. Profanity is widespread on television. Words we couldn’t utter in our parents’ presence is broadcast loudly every night on broadcast television. Sex is too. Nearly every sitcom is sex-oriented in nature. Sex is promoted through billboards, television advertisements, magazines, and a host of other sources. Pornographic internet sites are easy to access regardless of age restrictions.

            Our education system was at one time the rival of the world. Now, it is on the brink of collapse. Years ago, I had a friend from Arabia who told me that they learn in high school the things we learn in college. Texas’ education system I know is messed up because their teachers teach not to necessarily broaden the minds of its students but help their students pass the TAKS test, the Texas Standardized Test. Because of budget cuts, school programs such as band, drama, and sports are being cut and teachers are being laid off. This will cause overcrowded classrooms and teacher stress, resulting in problems in teacher retention and recruitment. As if the teachers don’t already have enough problems with classroom discipline.

            Our government is leaderless and aimless. I believe in supporting our president, regardless as what political party he (or she) belongs to, as I wrote this in my book, For Such a Time as This, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t criticize the work he (or she) is doing. When Obama was elected president, he announced that change had come to America. Either I don’t see the change, the change has not come, or his version of change was different from mine because things seem to have gone from bad to worse. To his credit, Obama is not solely responsible the multi-trillion dollar debt this nation has, but what has he done to lower it? What has he done to limit big government? What happened to his line-by-line audit of the U.S. budget? He military people are resigning/retiring, presumably because they don’t agree with the way he is running this ‘war on terror.’ There appears not to be a cohesive strategy. I’m still looking for the green jobs that were promised. Apparently, he hasn’t even started on this issue because he has not blamed the Republicans for blocking their creation.

Republicans are not without excuse. When Bush was in office, things were not much better. We were fighting two wars (one of which no one wanted). Our military was poorly equipped. No exit strategy was planned. According to Obama, there was no way to win the peace. Under both Bush and Obama, our commerce is suffering. Due poor leadership and the recession, businesses are closing, people are losing their jobs and their homes, and we are importing more than we are exporting.

The problem with our political system is that the democrats are trying to get some of the wealth the Republicans have and the Republicans are trying to hold on to it. I do not subscribe to this ‘redistribution of wealth’ that Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity talk about but I do believe that those with wealth should pay their fair share of taxes. Let’s be honest, we all know that people hide money in tax shelters so they don’t have to pay taxes on them. If for no other reason, why are they called ‘tax shelters’?

I also do not subscribe to entitlement programs. I believe them to be another form of enslavement. As I heard Matt Hagee say Sunday, the more help the government gives, the more control their take. Those who can work should work. Those who can’t, perhaps should get some sort of assistance. Instead, our government is giving millions of dollars to able-bodied people who choose not to work, who choose not to be productive, then they wonder why they’re broke. They reward sinful living by paying money to women who bear multiple children out of wedlock. The fact that they do so is bad enough, but that they charge the government for doing it is unthinkable. I think the government should require a license for any unwed person to have a child. They should be able to tell the government how they are going to support this child. In lieu of the license, they agree not to request welfare for the child. If they have a child without a license and request welfare, they should be put in jail and the child put up for adoption. 

I know this sounds harsh, but until people are forced to become responsible for themselves, they never will do it. The only other option, end all welfare programs, except in certain circumstances. Either low-income children will start looking like the children of Ethiopia or the parents will be forced to find another way to support them (or face jail). Otherwise, the parent should lose custody. I recognize that exceptions need to be made but this should be the rule overall. Those who do should not be required to take care of those who don’t (not can’t).

            With a nation with so many flaws, can we really call ourselves a world leader? Just because we have a large military with big weapons, should we be called a world power? Those in a leadership position should lead by example.  The only example we seem to be leading by is what not to do.

            America can be a great nation once again. We need leaders who will stand up and do the right thing.. We need someone with vision and the ability to get things done, regardless of party affiliation. We need people who will not accept the status quo but give voice to the things they are concerned about. This is what I do. I let the president, the mayor, everyone knows when things should be improved or when I think they could do a better job. A nation is only as strong as its people. Right now, I don’t know if the government is leading the people or the other way around.

Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven?

Why can’t people, especially “good” people go to Heaven without accepting Jesus? The best answer to this question is found in the bible.  We need to first debunk the myth that there is such a thing as a “good” person.  Jesus said, “No one is good but One, that is, God (Matthew 19:17).”

The second question that arises is whether or not one can enter into heaven without accepting Jesus.  Jesus, Himself, proclaimed in John 14 that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one can come to the Father but by Him. Why is He the only Way? What about Confucius? What about Buddha? What about Muhammad? What about myself? Can’t I be my own way?

     God cannot allow sin to be in His presence. Therefore, in order for us to be able to enter into Heaven, the presence and the penalty of sin must be dealt with. The presence of sin in our lives is dealt with by the Holy Spirit when He enters into us and begins the work of transformation. He convicts us of sin and deters us from sinning. The penalty for sinning is handled by Jesus.

If unrepentant people were allowed into Heaven, it would cease to be Heaven; it would be a revamp of earth—polluted both with sinful people and by people. Jeremiah said that the heart is desperately wicked…who can know it? In other words, the heart knows no bounds when it comes to dreaming up evil things. Unrepentant people would bring these evil machinations into heaven—stealing, robbing, being disrespectful, and being disobedient to God. There would be none of the peace and tranquility and righteousness that God promised. There would be no respecting and worshiping of the Father that He expects. (After all, if people don’t want to go to church now, image how they’d feel in heaven.)

To be comfortable in heaven, one needs to be transformed. They need have a heart change—a change of nature. With a transformed nature, we would not do the things that God finds offensive.  Now, I pose the question: Is Jesus the only Way to heaven and if so, why?

God told man that the soul that sinned would surely die. He allowed men to substitute animals and to temporarily offer up their blood as a sacrifice for sin. But the blood of animals really didn’t do anything. It was merely a picture of the sacrifice that was to be offered—God’s Son, Jesus.

            Jesus came to earth by the process of natural birth through the Virgin Mary. He lived a life without sin. He was crucified on a Roman cross for crimes he did not commit to atone for sins He did not commit. He became our sin bearer and our substitute. He died the death we could not die. He paid the price we could not pay. As the old saying goes, “We owed a debt [to God] we could not pay and He [Jesus] paid a debt He did not owe.” Paul said it like this: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

            Jesus said that He was the only way because He provided the only sacrifice that was acceptable to God. God made His Son to be our sin bearer so that we, in turn, may bear His righteousness. God proved that He accepted the death of Christ by tearing the veil of the temple from the top to the bottom and by raising Jesus from the dead three days later.

            Why is Jesus the only Way? He is the only way because God said He was the only Way. If God is the offended or aggrieved party, He is the only One who can say what it takes to atone for the offense. The problem with people nowadays is that they tell God what He has to accept in order to affect reconciliation. This is, in effect, what we are saying when we say to Him that Jesus is not the only way, just one way; but there are other ways—good works, baptism, sacraments, self-sacrifice, etc.

            So the answers to the questions are simple. Is Jesus the only Way? Yes. Why? It is because God said so.

Is Healthcare A Right Or A Privilege?

I’m sure this question has been asked and answered before but I wanted to add my view. I had to analyze this issue myself a few years ago when I was helping someone with a graduate paper on the subject. Some will argue that healthcare is a right, but I think it is a privilege, and I’ll tell you why.

            The government is not responsible for people; they are responsible for themselves. Government’s role is that of an overseer. Ever since the days of welfare, Social Security, and other entitlement programs, we have come to believe that the government owes us something. The purpose of government is to oversee the welfare and the safety of its citizens. Its responsibility of ensuring the welfare goes as far as making housing, food, and healthcare available but not as far as actually providing it. When the government becomes responsible for that, it has ceased being an overseer and has become a caretaker. Just as its role in ensuring the safety of its people means providing a military and police force but it doesn’t go as far as providing personal security for each and every citizen. The people bear some responsibility for providing for their own safety. In reality, if the government were to provide adequately all the services necessary for the welfare and security of its citizens, it would have to collect nearly half the citizenry’s income in tax revenue to offset the cost.

            I believe that to ensure the public well-being, the government should provide free health screenings and immunizations to all citizens, but anything beyond this should be the patient’s responsibility borne by the patient (the only exceptions being the young and the elderly). Such screenings and/or immunizations should be for measles, chicken pox, mumps, influenza, and the like because, if undiscovered or untreated, these could lead to epidemics much like the black plague of the 18^th century.

            Government should also be responsible for making sure that healthcare is affordable for the general population. One reason why people are clamoring for government intervention in healthcare is because they cannot afford to pay for it themselves. Whereas, once upon a time operations cost less than $1,000, now they can be as much as $80, 000, depending upon the procedure. There was a time in my grandmother’s life that it cost $25 to deliver a child, now it is well over $9,000 (WebMD.com).

            If healthcare is unaffordable, no one is going to go see a doctor. They will stay at home and try home remedies. Some will die from diseases that likely would have been preventable, if caught in time. Diseases would spread through segregated, and likely undocumented, citizens. Unimmunized children will take diseases to school and spread them to the population. This may be the reason for the recent outbreak of TB in Atlanta in 2010.

            So, to answer the question, is healthcare a right or a privilege? I believe that healthcare is a privilege. Though the government should provide basic healthcare, the reason for this is public welfare not individual welfare. Those who think that healthcare is a right should look at the nations that have national healthcare programs. From what I can tell, nationalized or socialized healthcare provides only marginalized health benefits and drives up the nation’s debt. Also with nationalized healthcare, will the patient choose the provider or the government? Who chooses what procedures are to be covered? Who decides how long or how much hospital time or physical therapy time will be approved? Who decides what is medically-necessary? Will there be death panels? What about patient’s bill of rights or will there be any? Everything free is not necessarily good.

            What is the solution? That goes beyond the purpose of this paper but if I were to hazard a guess, I favor the idea of providing basic healthcare screenings and immunization and leave the rest to the individuals. I don’t think subsidized insurance plans will work. Privatizing the system won’t work unless there is regulatory oversight to leash the greed of the insurance companies. Of course, such actions will lead to another headache—bureaucracy and bribes. Let’s not even discuss government-ran healthcare programs.

            We simply need to get back to a system where people are responsible for themselves and don’t depend on the government to provide for their every need. Government does need to help ensure their people can afford healthcare benefits by 1) making them affordable, 2) providing decent paying jobs so there is income to pay for these benefits, and 3) keep the costs of other things down, like gasoline, that causes the prices of nearly everything else to go up and eat up any available income.

            Here is a site I found while researching this. I thought it was quite interesting.