November 15th 2015
Is Mob-Rule The New Way To Get Grace?
James 3:9-10 (NIV)
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
More and more we see violent actions being used to get a form of justice for those who are rioting and performing acts of violence. This is certainly not a new method of how to get attention to your plight, but it seems to be escalating in this country more and more. It is frightening to think that innocent individuals can be harmed or even killed in these acts of mob-rule that are happening on college campuses, and in the streets of many cities. People are being fired or forced to resign from high positions because schools or police departments are caving into the requests of these large mobs!
In the selected verses, James wrote about how men can praise God, and then in the next breath, they can curse other members of mankind. Watching some recent protests it is questionable how those participating are showing signs of hatred and cries of being treated unjustly by the signs they carry, and the wording on the shirts they are wearing. It makes you wonder if the situations they are protesting are valid or contrived. Often such protests result in setting other people’s property on fire, and/or in looting or stealing stuff that belongs to people who are their physical neighbors!
Jesus once told a parable about a violent action perpetrated on an individual, and how those passing this heinous act responded. Jesus was attempting to get those hearing this story to describe who of those seeing the injured man responded like a neighbor? Two of the three people who saw the injured man, just passed by without offering to help the injured man. However, the third man saw the injured man and stopped to help him. Jesus then asked, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:36-37)
Much of this unrest and dissention can be attributed to the belief of the masses that human beings are actually just a higher form of animal. Many people no longer believe that mankind was started by a special creation in which God/Jesus created mankind in His image and likeness, and thus, we are not just another kind of evolved animal. Jesus did not believe in evolution as the way mankind came into being! For He said, "Haven’t you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’, (Matthew 19:4) If mankind was created as male and female from the beginning, then there is no evolution involved in mankind being here on the earth!
If we really believe in God and Jesus, then we also should believe that all of mankind is made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore, they demand our respect, and are in fact our neighbors too! What a different world this would be if all of mankind believed like this and lived by such a code. However, this is not true and thus we must deal with forms of discrimination, which causes unrest and erupts into violent actions. There is no immediate response that can correct these discriminatory beliefs, which pushes the envelope and results in violent responses.
For those still reading this, who do believe in the God of the Bible, and in Jesus Christ His Son, please also believe in prayers being answered. For mankind to resolve these problems is not obvious to occur, and is likely to continue to get worse. The only miracles still possible in this world will occur in answer to the prayers of believers of Jesus Christ. Jesus emphasized this when He walked this earth as a man/God. Jesus said, Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11:24) You must believe that God really exist and then, pray as though you really believe it will happen.
Do you really believe what the Bible says about all of us getting along with each other? Do you really know what the Bible says about anything? Have you ever read the Bible cover-to-cover? Do you spend time every day reading the Bible? Jesus obviously read the Bible of His day, and of course, the Spirit also supplied Him knowledge of what the Scripture says. If Jesus read the Bible do you think, just maybe, you should read it too? In one of Jesus’ early appearances to His disciples when He came back from the dead, He explained the Bible to two of them. He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)
Jesus has given a command to all of His disciples to preach the gospel to other people. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. (Mark 13:10-11) The gospel must first be preached to all nations! Most of us cannot preach to all of the nations, but can you, do you, preach the gospel at all?
How can you follow a directive that the Apostles abided by and Peter preached? When they were told to no longer preach about Jesus Peter responded with a quip about who they must obey. Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! (Acts 5:29) Are you sure who it is that you are depending on for directions in your life?
Please do not stop reading the Verse of the Week, because of this confusing commentary. It is difficult to write about any form of discrimination without stepping on someone's toes! Remember people may look different on the outside but within they are all carrying the image and likeness of God! Praise God for sending His Son so that we all, though sinners, can be saved only through His grace!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
James 3:9-10 (NIV)
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
More and more we see violent actions being used to get a form of justice for those who are rioting and performing acts of violence. This is certainly not a new method of how to get attention to your plight, but it seems to be escalating in this country more and more. It is frightening to think that innocent individuals can be harmed or even killed in these acts of mob-rule that are happening on college campuses, and in the streets of many cities. People are being fired or forced to resign from high positions because schools or police departments are caving into the requests of these large mobs!
In the selected verses, James wrote about how men can praise God, and then in the next breath, they can curse other members of mankind. Watching some recent protests it is questionable how those participating are showing signs of hatred and cries of being treated unjustly by the signs they carry, and the wording on the shirts they are wearing. It makes you wonder if the situations they are protesting are valid or contrived. Often such protests result in setting other people’s property on fire, and/or in looting or stealing stuff that belongs to people who are their physical neighbors!
Jesus once told a parable about a violent action perpetrated on an individual, and how those passing this heinous act responded. Jesus was attempting to get those hearing this story to describe who of those seeing the injured man responded like a neighbor? Two of the three people who saw the injured man, just passed by without offering to help the injured man. However, the third man saw the injured man and stopped to help him. Jesus then asked, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:36-37)
Much of this unrest and dissention can be attributed to the belief of the masses that human beings are actually just a higher form of animal. Many people no longer believe that mankind was started by a special creation in which God/Jesus created mankind in His image and likeness, and thus, we are not just another kind of evolved animal. Jesus did not believe in evolution as the way mankind came into being! For He said, "Haven’t you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’, (Matthew 19:4) If mankind was created as male and female from the beginning, then there is no evolution involved in mankind being here on the earth!
If we really believe in God and Jesus, then we also should believe that all of mankind is made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore, they demand our respect, and are in fact our neighbors too! What a different world this would be if all of mankind believed like this and lived by such a code. However, this is not true and thus we must deal with forms of discrimination, which causes unrest and erupts into violent actions. There is no immediate response that can correct these discriminatory beliefs, which pushes the envelope and results in violent responses.
For those still reading this, who do believe in the God of the Bible, and in Jesus Christ His Son, please also believe in prayers being answered. For mankind to resolve these problems is not obvious to occur, and is likely to continue to get worse. The only miracles still possible in this world will occur in answer to the prayers of believers of Jesus Christ. Jesus emphasized this when He walked this earth as a man/God. Jesus said, Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11:24) You must believe that God really exist and then, pray as though you really believe it will happen.
Do you really believe what the Bible says about all of us getting along with each other? Do you really know what the Bible says about anything? Have you ever read the Bible cover-to-cover? Do you spend time every day reading the Bible? Jesus obviously read the Bible of His day, and of course, the Spirit also supplied Him knowledge of what the Scripture says. If Jesus read the Bible do you think, just maybe, you should read it too? In one of Jesus’ early appearances to His disciples when He came back from the dead, He explained the Bible to two of them. He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)
Jesus has given a command to all of His disciples to preach the gospel to other people. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. (Mark 13:10-11) The gospel must first be preached to all nations! Most of us cannot preach to all of the nations, but can you, do you, preach the gospel at all?
How can you follow a directive that the Apostles abided by and Peter preached? When they were told to no longer preach about Jesus Peter responded with a quip about who they must obey. Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! (Acts 5:29) Are you sure who it is that you are depending on for directions in your life?
Please do not stop reading the Verse of the Week, because of this confusing commentary. It is difficult to write about any form of discrimination without stepping on someone's toes! Remember people may look different on the outside but within they are all carrying the image and likeness of God! Praise God for sending His Son so that we all, though sinners, can be saved only through His grace!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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