Statement of Intent
(1434 total words in this text)
(2833 Reads) 
As much as I love obscure references, and favor subtlety over most things - a quote from Pontius Pilate, though thought provoking, just didn't cut it anymore.
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"What is Truth"?
As little as I put the gloves on, and prefer the gloves off, I figured I may as well skip pretenses.
I write from a Christian perspective. I write from the perspective of a child of God. Not a perfect one - "For there is none righteous, no, not one" - but one who DOES strive to become more and more like Him. I write to point out error, to contradict untruths, to defend my faith, and my Lord.
Does that make me untolerant? You betcha. Call me intolerant - cause I'll agree. I cannot tolerate what God cannot tolerate.
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Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Now, I'll qualify the preceding statement - "toleration" is limited to actions, not people. If you say you cannot "tolerate' someONE, you're actually wrong. You either tolerate, or do not tolerate, their actions. The person is necessarily excluded, because the person is something entirely different.
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tol·er·ate
1. To allow without prohibiting or opposing; permit.
2. To recognize and respect (the rights, beliefs, or practices of others).
I cannot, and will not allow ideals, practices, or actions contrary to those in the Bible to pass without opposition anywhere I frequent. Obviously, I can't tell people "don't curse" in a sandbox-type arena, and I can't tell people not to do something that is "allowed" somewhere - but I can oppose it by either advancing the opposite ideal, or advancing an alternative course that does not involve something directly contrary to the beliefs I'm required to defend and be a proponent of. I can also make it my personal mission to make it absolutely obvious that I'm a Christian, and that my actions will reflect it, regardless of the arena. That's our role, as Christians, is to be salt (re: my recent entry) and light, in a world becoming darker and darker. We're the ones who put a light upon practices, actions, and ideas that should be illuminated for the darkness they are.
"Here I stand, I can do no other", said Martin Luther - well, I agree with him. A Christian without Christian principles, without the willingness to stand up and say "that's wrong" is no Christian at all, but merely an imitation of an imitation.
A Christian willing to compromise the precepts laid out in the Bible to keep from "making waves", or to be "tolerant", or to avoid persecution is worse than useless. He's the salt that lost it's saltiness, and was used to pave roads with - to be walked over.
A Christian who compromises his OWN moral code, and does what he knows is wrong is a full-armed slap in God's face. I've been there, and so has every single Christian, at one point, or another. The question is, then:
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What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
I'll answer the same as Paul did, to his own question:
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May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
We all screw up, we all slip, we all fall, and we all come up battered and bruised, afterwards. But, do we falter in our Pilgrim's Progress, or do we dust ourselves off, tend to our wounds (which almost always are self-inflicted), and continue on?
There's only one choice. We are here for one purpose, and one purpose alone - to give glory to God. We can only do that if we "press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." We can't do that by "letting things lie" - we're called to be set apart, or, holy . This means that in all things, with every person we come in contact with, our difference should be plainly, and absolutely evident. "We are His workmanship, created for good works in Christ". Now, that doesn't mean all of us are called to "shout it from the housetops" - but some of us are. I'm relatively sure I happen to be one of them.
So don't get upset if I seem a bit overt with other people, fellow believers. Instead, rejoice that His word is going out. If you think I'm going about things the wrong way - take me aside, privately, and show me, according to God's word, that I'm wrong. I don't mind being told i'm wrong. But, keep in mind the following, before you do.
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Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. - 2 Ii. 4:2
Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.
Titus. 2:15
Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News. God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people. I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you, saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. - Jude 1:3-4
Now, don't get me wrong - it's not our place to trash people, or put them down, or tell them how terrible they are. it's our place to simultaneously condemn sin as what it is, and to both be proponents of our Lord, and defenders of His precepts.
Some have the gift for this, some do not. It's the responsibility of all, but some do it by service, some by witness (living a godly life), some by teaching, some by encouragement, and others by preaching and apologetics (root word apologia - make a defense).
But anyway, that's just my "mission statement' for you.
Yeah, this is a different "me" than some of you have seen before. Well, that's something I'm upset about. And something I intend to change, with Gods help.
If you're a Christian, I'm your brother, and hopefully I'm an encouragement, or a goad toward a closer relationship with Him, at very least.
If you're not a Christian - I hope what I say gets under your skin, and I hope the recognition that absolute TRUTH exists, is more than an existential concept, brings you closer to the knowledge of the God I serve.
Joshua is my namesake. So I'll leave you with this.
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"If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." - Joshua 24:15
Those "gods" could be self, pleasure, money, a literal "other god", paganism, mysticism, atheism (you DO know that's a religion too, right?), humanism, or a host of others. I'll stand against them all, and be the "voice crying in the wilderness".
Some of you still have no idea what I'm talking about
Hence, the "motto" change. Some of you will never have a clue in the world where I'm coming from, until the day you die. I'll just be another "right wing nutjob jesus freak".
I hope there's not many, because I'll tell you, that's not a good place to end up. It's hot - and I'm from Arizona - I can tell you about hot.
Some of you will be angry at me - and frequently. Some people do NOT like to hear truth. When it's absolute truth.
That's fine. I can take the heat. Just remember - it's not about YOU - it's about what you DO.
~Finis~
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