Eighteen years have come and gone, and many have already forgotten what happened on September 11, 2001. But I won’t forget.
Not only will I not forget, I will choose to remember.
I will remember…
- that freedom isn’t free, and there are those who want to steal it.
- that Christ came “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound;” therefore America is never more “Christ-like” than when its people shed their blood for the freedom of others, whether they love us, or not.
- that it wasn’t secularists, militarists, or a bunch of Baptist preachers who crashed four aircraft on that day, killing thousands.
- the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople – they weren’t converted to Islam through peaceful conversion.
- who is considered the “Great Satan” and what countries are truly religiously intolerant.
- the heroes who went back into those buildings to rescue anyone they could.
- the heroes who fought back and said, “Let’s roll!”
- the heroes who go into harm’s way for freedom every day.
- that America was founded by men who knew God; who recognized the hand of Providence; and who knew when to bow a knee and call to God for deliverance.
- that we (and all freedom-loving people) are in a life-and-death struggle between opposing worldviews – a war. Losing can’t be an option.
I will also choose to remember, and not forget, that America, no matter its current faults and flaws, is made up of a people, who, when push comes to shove, will take the fight for freedom anywhere in the world. We will also defend it. That’s who we are.
God Bless America!
The Recovering Legalist 
it is hard to hear this but in the past God raised up wicked nations to punish Israel for sins. One example of this is their trip to Babylon. They wept when they remembered Zion.
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Charging interest and using money to oppress others puts a fire in the belly of God. presently in America and the world to a great degree interest again is creating wealth for some without them working while the working are being hammered down. The Poor are treated with contempt and there is partiality on every level of Gov’t toward citizens and a separation in the between laity and clergy such that the spirit is only for the clergy the better than group, seen in the Pentecost of the Old testament where Gods spirit fell on the Sanhedrin and not on the rest of the people. This changed when God did Pentecost and gave the spirit to all of us by covenant. The attempt to go back to a cast system, started way back with Clement after John the Apostle Died.
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This effort to create us and them is Sin. God using a wicked bunch of people to take down the towers and by proxy few years later help take down the economy is Judgment not blessing, not an accident but Judgment.
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The lesson is not welcome. But sorry it is the way it is, we have repeated history and went the wrong way. When you understand why Israel was kicked out of the promised land and why God told them that they should have learned because they were in slavery but they didn’t then these things will stop happening. Why because the hearts of the people will change and God will see to it. What I get a kick out of is that the world is talking about negative interest rates but do not even understand the sin of interest in the first place or the sin of contempt for another because of position of authority. They missed Philippians 2 and James 2 and Acts 2 and Romans 2 and likely most of the 2’s
I should have added Jeremiah 34.
You know, my friend, I appreciate your comment, but I’m not clear how you determine that interest in and of itself is a sin. If it’s abused, then yes. If it’s collected as an act of greed with no regard for the poor, then yes. If done in rebellion to a specific command of God, then yes. But in all cases? I’m not sure Scripture bears that out. You can correct me if I’m wrong.
I know this is such a radical thing. I don’t know how to say it without sounding like I am from Crazy town. Like Isaiah he is a man with unclean lips living among a people meaning we are the frogs in the warming water and we do not see it. what it is we are in.
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Deuteronomy 15, Jeremiah 34. This curse is not removed from America. Jeremiah 20-23 and the soft changes called for were not heeded so that Jeremiah 34 was pronounced. Its time that people stop trying to get rich using interest which is gain from another without you doing the work. This is seen by those renting to others and at the end, the house is the Landlords and they did no work for the money. This principle is wrong. some gather wealth while others give theirs up. Its a systemic issue, and the world is cursed because of this Institutionalized Slavery. Just cause you can take advantage of someone does not mean you should or can without God holding you to account.
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What this would mean is a whole re-write on how mortgages are given. A cost for the work to set them up and some sort of object , a house, to be the object of that lean. And with no interest one would ask then what are you paying for and why couldn’t someone borrow huge amounts. Of course the thing is, why does one deserve to hold more goods while only paying a payment for those goods. Really when it comes to a house we only pay for the time we use it and the value of it before and after is taken into consideration and the difference. So, some times if we do the math we didn’t pay to live in the house. That should raise alarms.
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We have a propensity to look away from truth when we get win fall. we say start the car, drive away before we are seen for doing something wrong. Understanding we can take advantage of people is the first step of understanding what Love is, and what the gospel Actually has in its covenant. Because we are frogs. It might be hard to see what we have done and what those who set all this up have done.
And I should say Sorry, as well for those who lost their lives. Many did not know the reason for their judgment and were stand ins for a nation. In fact when I wrote these things I felt a sickness in my stomach, And I asked God about it. And I do not have a clearness about it. Other than those who wrote such things in the past also felt what they wrote was bitter, they ate the scroll and it tasted sweet but when it hit the stomach it was sour. I feel that. And now get it. So easy to say but not so easy to digest and take in as a judgment against me and my culture.
I don’t know about interest. After all, it was only to their brethren that God’s people couldn’t charge interest, and you can’t equate America with God’s people. But I do know that one of the sins for which the Canaanites were destroyed was child sacrifice. The holocaust of unborn children in the West means we are ripe for judgement. Having said that, God will judge the Muslim world too for its violence. I can’t sum up better than Jesus in Luke 13: “repent, or likewise perish”.
You saw a principle about Abortion in the texts and how God hated it. Yes.
Interest to brothers or not is on its face mechanized slavery. usury. Its hard for us to rap our heads around a system not using this. Pensions. Wow. Now the whole system would have to be re-written. The Whole Idea of Landlord undone. What I am pointing out is so radical no one will jump into the water to test the water. Its just that far out. But it is a principle of God, not to use others. Yet, we do it every day. Seniors count on it. their assets grow, faster and slower and none of it about their work,
Its such funny joke though that around the world people in Power are pulling leavers and Poof they change the value of what you have. We end up being subject to the very theft we exact. So a cord of wood is no longer a chord of wood. One day it might turn into two chords and the next be a half a chord. This is not actually Normal. Its part of the whole sin.
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I hate sounding this crazy, but it is what it is. And the towers coming down in my judgment are the judgment of God done by evil people.
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Whats very interesting about these dynamics is that at the time the USA was holding assets of Iran. Billions hostage. And while I get it. they use these bully tactics against those they disagree with. And maybe they do have point about the wrong done. But, I just wonder if God says No to the taking advantage of the ability to exact control of someone else’s money.
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We do it to each other and strong arm people. God doesn’t like it. Even if they did wrong. I think we need permission from God to do something like that. Grabbing someone by the throat and shoving ones fist down it, as nation may not have Gods blessing. That was a bunny trail but hopefully got to the point that we do things without considering we are actually acting against people, because we feel justified to do so. That bent is so strong it deludes us as to what we are doing.
To be fair, the American Dream seems to be built upon the worship of Mammon.
That is what is said but not said when they hit the towers. They didn’t hit mcDonalds. Now I don’t think their IQ was that high to understand the intent of God but they may have seen the greed and their Poverty and by proxy picked the two towers as the symbol of Mammon, the god of Money. the devil of covetousness,
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And yes the Sin of Abortion grieves God and in and of itself is a judgment against oneself leaving them childless. Gods gift of a child is like receiving kingdom filled with Gold and they cut their own legacy off in the very act. . Not that I think the punishment is enough but its sort of built in, a sort of stupidity not seen by those harming themselves by harming others.
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Sort of like a Husband mouthing off to Wife before he leaves for work. He doesn’t get that she will leave and not be home when he gets home. She will be out shopping or doing some other thing so he is left with no one to blame except for himself. We literally urinate in the same bowl and have to drink it ourselves. We think we are doing it to another but we live in the same bowl.
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Jesus says, what you do to the least of these you did it to me. And People do not see how that will come around to bite them. Jesus is the one who is seated on the throne. No one comes to the father but by me. People need to ask. How is this now going to work out for me.
I’m interested in how you might reconcile Jesus’ parable, as recorded in Mark 25:27 and Luke 19:23, with your argument.
First there is no such thing as Mark 25. Unless your bible keeps on going past Mark 16. And I know they added to Mark 16, but I was not aware of that level of extension. LoL.
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Second, the Luke 19 had nothing to do with usury any more than the gospel is about a farmers field and rocks. There were no rocks harmed in the making of this movie.
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Usury has been a practice since people had goods and they used money to exact trade. BUT, Moses and the bunch were given rules to avoid abuse not to encourage abuse of others. This is where the Koran and the Bible Separate.
While the Koran suggests some deserve it so have at using them, the bible says to call for repentance and forgiveness and not to judge another. It makes it hard for prophet to cleanly speak truth without associating a bigotry against another like Jonah had for others. Its problem Preachers have when they become Jaded when others question them and their motives or due diligence. All of a sudden we create enemies and hold grudges and distance ourselves from others. Instead the model is one of speaking the truth in Love. Contrite not to harm but to bring reconciliation.
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Read in the light of what Jesus was saying he is saying, be faithful with what God has given you and don’t be lazy or hold contempt for those who gave you something to work with. Instead get over yourself and do the work you are expected to do, leaving the trappings of blame and partiality behind and be faithful to your calling. Produce fruit. It has nothing to do with interest at all. But you know that.
Yes, you are right about Mark, but now that I am not on my phone and actually at a computer in my study, I will try to “get over myself” and do the work expected of me – or at least what might be necessary to appease your obvious disdain of me.
In both Matthew (NOT Mark) 25:27 and Luke 19:23 Jesus uses the word τόκος (usury, or interest). Both Matthew and Luke (the historian) also use τραπεζίτης as the word translated “bank” or “money changers.” In both of these passages the meaning of the parable is the same, and it has far more to do with using what God has given you than “rocks.” So, unless the Savior Himself offhandedly encouraged the breaking of the law (sin) by making a positive reference to a prohibited practice in order to teach a lesson, I would think it is safe to say that there is more to the subject of “interest.”
The main point that you are trying to make is that earning interest on any kind of loan is sinful and condemned, not just for the Jews, but for all. The problem that I have with your overall assertion is that wherever the verses speak of this, the heart of the message is not to take advantage of or make gain off the backs of the poor or your brother in need, NOT a blanket condemnation of making profit. Besides the words of Jesus in Matthew and Luke, read what Exodus 22:25 says: “IF thou lend money to any of my people THAT IS POOR BY THEE, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury”[emphasis added by me]. The context is that of taking advantage of one who is poor, weak, etc. In nearly every other passage that deals with the subject, the context is the same.
I do not believe that God’s judgement on America – or any nation outside of Israel – will be because we lent money and gained interest. There is nothing wrong with investing capital with the expectation of gain, for that is a contract into which two entities willfully enter for mutual benefit. It is only when “the love of money” replaces our love for God, when we worship “mammon” instead of Manna from Heaven, honest business becomes tools of oppression, our brothers are taken advantage of, the poor suffer, and the meaning of the “usury” passages have proper application.
Now, because this is my blog, I will say what’s on my mind at this point. The next time you insult me by insinuating I am “lazy” or “hold contempt” for people…essentially “doing the work of the Lord negligently”… I will no longer respond to your comments.
Amen. I ,too, will remember.:)
Actually I did not call you lazy, it was a general statement that the royal we not be the sorts of people that…. etc.etc.
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And don’t be thin skinned, Nothing said in those comments are directed to you. BUT, you suggesting this is your blog and you will kick me aside, Is your own issue, not my issue. If Christ had that attitude toward me, I would be dead. And that is also the royal Me or We. If we do not extend mercy or grace undeserved we will not receive any. I guy I know says that.
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But back to the issue of interest. Because we are men of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, meaning, we are frog in water getting hotter and Hotter, we do not see the error of interest.
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Fundamentally it is wrong. Like Polygamy and slavery in the bible there are rules but it does not mean it is right. Just like what Jesus said, about divorce. Moses permitted it, but its not how it was or should be. Its done because of the hardness of the heart. And then people push those over in the way and get a divorce not considering what Jesus said. Yep Yep, Jesus, yah Yah,, now give me the divorce. Tone deaf to his point.
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Consider this. I am no Idiot suggesting some stupid theory becuase I am a Christian Moron parsing out scriptures like some sort of Name it and claim it crowd or some this is your day for a miracle bunch just send in your 24.95.
I am actually serious not some wack job poster. Trying to argue or pick fights using the scriptures as a hammer. I am very serious and not clumsy with the scripture. Nor with the spirit who is convicting me to speak about a subject no one has ears for.
And Please don’t blame me. I didn’t want to be Jonah. I am not that fond of fish.
Now that it’s a new day, let me do a little housekeeping and move on to another subject.
First, if I misinterpreted your comment, then I apologize. However, it was really difficult to interpret the last paragraph of your comment that began with “Read in the light of…” as anything other than personal. Is my skin thin? Not normally. Maybe yesterday, especially considering all that was going on in my little slice of the world. But it was just when I read “get over yourself and do the work you are expected to do, leaving the trappings of blame and partiality behind and be faithful to your calling” that I took offense. Whether you meant it or not, that struck at my character. I can live with vulgar name-calling nonsense to a degree, but when a brother in Christ accuses me of being all about my self and unfaithful to my calling, that makes me bristle. If that’s not the way you meant it, then, again, I apologize.
Second, (I’d address you by name, but I don’t know it), I’ve never thought of you as an “idiot” or “some wack job poster,” for you are obviously well-read and prolific, if nothing else (no one else comes close to the volume of words per comment). I would say, though, that some of the first comments you left on this blog were a little hard to follow, probably because of the seemingly disconnected way in which you jumped from thought to thought. Your last comments, particularly in this thread, have been easier to read. I just figured the previous ones were reflective of your style and probably a mind that moves quickly from one thing to the next.
Third, I appreciate your passion for wanting to get it right with this particular issue (usury). Without a doubt, you make a very strong case against it (charging interest). I’m sure there are many Muslims who would be happy to have you argue their case, for, as you know, they deal with banks that offer interest-free loans (and it’s one reason that so many Muslim businesses are able to expand so quickly). However, I will still have to disagree on the extent to which this affects God’s judgment on America. It may have an effect, but you and I may have to disagree on how much; I choose to believe there are other issues which are incurring his wrath.
I appreciate your comments. I appreciate that you take the time to read my posts. I don’t know about the whole Jonah thing, and I like fish, but I don’t like it enough to want to live inside one for three days.
I guess what I am getting at is the nature of Capitalism, and this saying, Well, if You lost in this deal, you should have protected yourself, You should have prepared more. This puts the blame on those who lost and no responsibility on those who took advantage. Its sort of Like a Old lady being robbed. Why didn’t she have security.
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What I am saying is there is predatory nature, which might be born out of a self preservation but we as Christians must not use things to harm others.
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I use the word Piss because its in the bible and because it gets elitist people to bristle reminding me people miss the forest for the trees .
So, I say to Married couples how is it that you don’t see your berating of your spouse as harming yourself. You piss in their cornflakes in the morning not knowing you eat from the same bowl. We make issues out of one thing but then do not see how they are actually actions against ourselves. That night you come home and the spouse is no where to be found. Why? its your bowl, you explain why its sour.
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So in this society, Capitalism sounds good for Me elbows and all, but it has a fundamental flaw. Fairness and Love. Interest is that. And when it fluctuates and markets surge, we want to cash in, Yah US. but then when we sell, Oh, look at what happened to them. This is wrong.
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Its no different than Pissing on the toilet seat and walking away. Not my problem.
I am saying God is judging not for what people see as a problem but for what is a problem. How We the People use these things on the back of others, I don’t think America has understood slavery. And now they themselves are slaves to the lender. None of this is about you personally but corrupt system teaching corruption.
Since I have some radical things to say, Maybe you will be able to hear them.
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Why is it that we target Iran. Why not rather be wronged.
Why do we seek Revenge for the events of the 9/11 when Jesus says forgive your enemies.
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Why do we hold other peoples money as so called strong arm diplomacy.
Isn’t this all based on wrong morals. Morals Jesus taught us to reject.
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I am not saying we accept wrong from others as if it is right. Nor am I saying we shouldn’t be at war in Iraq or somewhere where we can fight evil. What I am saying is. we do not need to oppress, even if oppressed ourselves.
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At one point we used to mow down Poppy fields, but then they stopped. They didn’t stop to be moral. but to run an angle to funnel money etc. Instead of just doing right, we do what will profit us.
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I am Canadian. The USA for example buys our Oil at a discount. Its not fair but to a point we have no choice. our past gov’ts didn’t build pipe lines to the coasts or even to the rest of our country to ship our own oil. But still. fairness in pricing is fairness.
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Its sins like this and many others. And we are no different doing it to ourselves across the provinces. We simply need to stop harming one another for our own gain.
Praying we all remember, and that it never happens again.