Our Attachments Tell The State Of Our Heart

Like a lot of Jews at that time, James and John thought that Jesus was going to establish a kingdom in Jerusalem. There was the expectation shared by most that he would declare himself as a king and the people would have the Jewish kingdom they had long sought and hoped for. James and John therefore decided to meet Jesus and get first dibs on the political appointments in the soon to be established kingdom.They wanted to be the people that would seat on his left and right hand side signifying that they were his most trusted advisers.

Jesus was at pains to explain to them that his kingdom was not of this world. At his resurrection, he set up the kingdom he had been talking about and invited us to take up positions in the kingdom. Our positions in the kingdom are not determined by an appointment or by how much we do. Our positions are determined by the depth of the relationship we have with the king of the kingdom. Being a member of the kingdom is voluntary. However, once we declare allegiance to the king and bow the knees to him we have to live according to the rules of the kingdom. But the great thing about the kingdom is that there's something called grace that offers us forgiveness for our mistakes.

I believe that when we say we are Christians, our first allegiance is to the kingdom that we say we belong to. However there is a tendency we have to try to force other people who do not belong to the kingdom into living by our terms. However, people do not get converted into a new way of thinking or living by force. If you had asked me last year whether legislating was the best way to get people to change I would have said yes but I changed my mind after a conversation with my brother. While it is right to speak out when unrighteous and man made laws are being drawn up, we really have no right to try and force a form of fake godliness down other people's throats. That's why I worry when like James and John Christians seem to think that one political party or the other embodies our vision of Christ's kingdom.

Following Christ is a choice we decided to make and no law we make in this world can legislate righteousness. Christianity is a choice and there can't be a worldly version. Also righteousness is a state of the heart. It cannot be forced. While we should seek to make the world a better place we shouldn't be too attached to the things in this world. When we get more attached to Christ, we grow more like him as we grow in love, grace, truth, peace and joy. When we grow more attached to the things of this world we grow more like the world. We grow angrier, we are less graceful and grow more entrenched in the things we do. We get more entrenched in our position and we are less filled with the love of Christ. And we are more likely to try and force people to our own way of thinking. And we are less like Christ. The things we are attached to tell us who we are. And what we are. Our focus should be on Christ and him alone.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

Abortion: Murder, the American Way

As the election in America approaches, I have been struck by the genuine hostility between the two major camps in the election, especially the seeming hostility between the two major players. I have also been struck by how much lies are being peddled by the liberal wing in American politics over the issue of abortion.

I have come to understand that the issue of abortion is arguably the single most divisive issue in this election and the liberals are using all kinds of scare tactics to get women voters on their side. Like George Bush’s “War on Terror”, anyone who speaks out against abortion is automatically labelled a misogynist and someone who is waging a “War on Women”. I understand that writing about the issue of abortion might not be too popular but I believe the truth needs to be told.

Abortion: What it is not.

Supporters of a woman’s right to control the reproductive process and the right to determine when she gets pregnant or whether she even gets pregnant or not will tell you that abortion is a form of contraception. This is a lie.

Dictionary.com defines the word contraception as the “deliberate prevention of conception by any of various drugs, techniques or devices.” The etymology of the word contraception tells you that the word itself is made up of two words, “contra” and “conception”. The word contra in the sense in which it is used means “against” while conception in defined as the “act of conceiving”. So in the full sense of the word, contraception, or a contraceptive, is used to stop conception. It is against conception. I’m sure that even the most fanatical supporters of abortion will agree that abortion does not stop conception. The most prominent fact about abortion is the fact that it takes life after the life has been conceived. It is quite clear that abortion is not a method of contraception.

If abortion is then not a method of contraception, what is it?

That is a question we shall seek to answer in subsequent posts.