Are we essentially good or are we born evil?

Paul wrote to the Ephesians saying we “are all by nature children of wrath.” This could only mean that we are born into sin and are sinners by our very nature. God did not create man to be sinful but man fell into sin as a result of a poor decision made possible by his free moral agency. The same passage of Scripture (Eph. 2) declares we are all “children of disobedience.” The Psalmist declares in Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”

Humanity was infected with sin after the fall. Sin became an actual property of being human. Therefore, all who are human are also sinful. To be human is to be sinful. All people, until and unless they repent of their sins will remain sinful forever. Rom 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

This basic teaching of the scriptures is clearly contrary to modern day teachings regarding the nature of man. In the mid 1700’s, Jean-Jacques Rousseau declared that “man is essentially good”, a “noble savage" when in the "state of nature" (the state of all the other animals, and the condition man was in before the creation of civilization and society), and that “good people are made unhappy and corrupted by their experiences in society.” Rousseau taught that an “artificial and corrupt” society ruined the natural goodness of man.

Certainly Satan’s greatest tool of deception in dealing with man is to convince him that he (Satan) does not exist. Would it not also be beneficial to the Evil One to successfully convince man that sin also does not exist? The next logical step is to conclude that if Satan does not exist, and sin does not exist, there is certainly no need for a Savior, therefore, God does not exist.

Though most of the modern world would embrace Rousseau’s premise with gusto, they would cringe at hearing that Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Charles Manson were all essentially good. If something in their environment caused them to do evil, why is it that others who grew up having been effected by the same culture, turned out to be very good, even preachers of the gospel of Christ?

I have a four year old son. From infancy he has at times shown a very uncooperative spirit. No one taught him to kick his feet on the floor when he got angry. His mother asked him to read up his room the other day. He came out saying the deed was done. She checked on his work and discovered that he had been deceptive. “Who taught him to lie?” she asked. I gave her the simple, scriptural answer, “He was born a liar as we all are.” Some sin is learned, but there is a basic, original sinful nature that we don’t have to learn, we are born with it.

My son asked me in early one morning, “what happened to the stars, where are they.” Later that night I took him outside and he saw silhouetted against a black sky all the magnificent diamonds of God. The black background makes the stars visible to him.

Why does God allow us the disadvantage of being born in sin? He allows it because we chose it. Also, the black, dark image of sin makes the holiness of God visible to us. And most of all he wants us to see his holiness.

Time to step up to the plate.....

Time for Obama to step up to the plate



The time to govern has now come. President Obama has some very major decisions to make. General Stanley McChrystal has requested thousands more U.S. troops to stave off a rejuvenated Taliban in Afghanistan. If Obama chooses to fulfill the request he is committing to the war. If he ignores the request he will risk losing the contest and facing severe criticism from Republican challengers in 1012.

President Obama does not have an unlimited amount of time to decide what to do about Iran. Last week he threatened to "negotiate". Of course, he realizes that negotiations can go on for months and even years and this plays toward Iran's need for more time to develop nuclear weapons.

As Obama is trying to decide whether to continue the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan and risk yet another conflict in Iran he must also be considering the overall costs of war. Iraq alone has cost 4,000 Americans lives, 30,000 wounded and over a $1,000,000,000,000.

If Obama commits to Afghanistan he actually contradicts his own anti-American sentiment. He will be telling the world that America can do what the Russians, the British and Alexander the Great all failed to do: conquer the "graveyard of empires", Afghanistan. He also risks alienating his dovish liberal base.

The cost of the war could be prohibitive. We spent $50,000 per year to support every soldier that fought during WWII. It is costing us $750,000 per year to support each individual soldier in Afghanistan. We've already invested eight years with not a lot to show for it. I wouldn't think that the money issue would affect Obama's decision. Our economy is bankrupt but Obama is spending money at unprecedented rates.

If Obama commits to Afghanistan I think it would be necessary to redefine the mission. We originally went there to capture Osama bin Laden. After eight years its pretty obvious we'll never find him in the mountainous terrain, or he has already died of kidney failure or he has moved across the border to hide in Pakistan with al Qaida.

Obama's domestic policies have not proven to be smashing successes. Is not the healthcare reform bill dead in the water? As Obama begins wading into the waters of foreign policy don't expect him to walk on water. He's beginning to look like Samson with a butch haircut.

Dear God, Please Forgive Me For Complaining

Controversial Anti-Obama Billboards

Freedom of Expression or too Inflammatory



These billboards were spotted in Missouri and the Orlando, Florida area. This is certainly an expression of Americans first amendment ‘freedom of speech’ rights. We may not question anyone’s freedom to express their opinions but can we not questions whether this choice of expression is really more inflammatory than it is helpful??

We're Not Home Yet

We’re Not Home Yet

I don't know if the place being prepared for me is a mansion or a humble abode. I don't know if there will be carpet or hardwood floors? Will my home be snuggled cozy under the shade of beautiful Redwoods or White Oaks or will it be opened up to the light of His glory?

I don't think there will be any doors in heaven. Doors are to keep people out but in heaven all are welcome, everywhere, all the time. No stranger will ever come to your door for there will be no strangers in heaven. We will live in the land of promise, a land of plenty. There will be no dirt on the floor. There will be no weeds in the garden. Heaven is ready for those who are called the "sons and daughters of God." It is prepared.

I remember my first years away from home. I traveled 500 miles away to attend a Christian boarding school. I packed all my things away in a small dormitory room and was immediately overcome with the nausea of homesickness. That first semester seemed to drag on forever. But finally, we were released for Christmas break and I threw my things in my '67 Chevy Impala and headed homeward through a snow storm that couldn't slow me.

Hours and hours later I turned off Interstate '79 onto Cochranton road and lumbered up through some of the most beautiful farm country in all of northwestern Pennsylvania. When I drove through a cluster of three or four farms in a community called Abbottville I knew I was getting close. Cornfields full of tall stalks waved their dried tassels at me. I turned into a bend in the road that led me towards Wilson's Chutes and I felt the excitement rising as I crossed French Creek and the wheels of my old car spun beneath me as I climbed one more snowy hill.

Route 322 takes me right o the door of my home. The sun had nearly set and the evening shadows were overtaking the snowy pastures. As I pulled into the driveway, a light shone on the front porch. I got out of my car and trudged through the snow toward the front door. My mother's face filled the window. She bound to the door and enveloped me with a great hug. The house was warm. I smelled cookies baking in the kitchen. My father stood to greet me, "Welcome home, son." It was so good to be home.

I don't know about you but as a wayfaring stranger in this land of wandering pilgrims, sometimes, I just want to go home. Jesus has prepared a place. He is waiting patiently for our arrival. The light is on.

Capitalism Did Nothing For Me

This man's name is Michael Moore. He has made more than $50 million producing anti-American films and films that criticize our economic system of capitalism. Only in America, the country he hates, and only within a capitalist system, the type he criticizes, could he have been so successful. How could he make such a statement..."Capitalism Did Nothing for Me"?
Isa 44:18 "They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; [and] their hearts, that they cannot understand."

He Doesn't Have a Clue

He doesn’t have a clue…
It was embarrassing to hear President Obama chatter before the United Nations on September 24th regarding his fantasy about a world without nuclear weapons. It’s as if we have an adolescent in the White House. "We must never stop until we see the day when nuclear arms have been banished from the face of the earth," President Obama said. It reminds me of a bumper sticker that says, “Guns don’t kill people, people do.” It’s not the nuclear weapons that kill people, it’s the rogue governments with despotic rulers who kill people. Let’s replace fantasy with reality: if they are set on killing, they won’t need a nuclear weapon to do it.

Even more disturbing was Obama teleprompting us to believe that great progress was being made toward that end while hiding the fact that he was aware that Iran had a second, secret nuclear development site since being briefed before his inauguration. Iran has flouted five U.N. resolutions in the last five years and North Korea has been ignoring the U.N. since 1993.

It was time to get tough. “Iran has been put on notice.” said a president who was now putting on his masculine, alpha male persona. I am guessing that being ‘put on notice’ meant more sanctions leveled at them from the U.N. What a joke the U.N. is; sanctioning one of its members for threatening to completely annihilate another of its members. Iran heard Obama loud and clear. Several days later they conducted an ‘in your face’ test of two ballistic missiles that could carry a nuclear warhead 1200 miles. Israel is 1070 miles from Iran. Iran knows they are immune to serious sanctions because Russia and China are two Security Council members that will protect them.

Obama wagged his finger in the face of Iran and suggested more negotiations. Do you think Ronald Reagan is spinning in his grave? Obama’s reaction to Iran’s nose thumbing was to rush off to Copenhagen to beg for the 2016 Olympics.

President Sarkozy of France is one of the first international leaders to get it. "….what have these proposals for dialogue produced for the international community? Nothing but more enriched uranium and more centrifuges. And last but not least, it has resulted in a statement by Iranian leaders calling for wiping off the map a member (Israel) of the United Nations.”

How much of our liberty and sovereignty will Obama sacrifice in order to avoid conflict at all costs? The French aren’t exactly known for demonstrating a rock ‘em, sock ‘em machismo when it comes to a good fight. The U.S. has bailed them out more times than we like to remember. And who can forget the anger Americans had when we renamed our French fries Freedom fries because the French would not ally with us in the Persian Gulf. You just know there is something seriously out of whack when the President of France sounds tougher than the President of America.

Sarkozy believes Obama is very naïve and egotistical. He is fearful that the leader of the entire western world just doesn’t seem to have a clue. President Sarkozy, you’re not alone!!