If you don’t find some way to actually contribute to the economy, you can always be a TSA agent. As a TSA agent, you will help destroy the economy and waste your life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhD-AvD3-OE
All posts by Samuel Adams
Wisdom From Bojidar
Referring to a Facebook conversation where someone said their pastor was saying public school is just as good for Christians as homeschooling, Bojidar said:
My rule of thumb is this: If he pulls the “pastor” card, Biblically, he is under greater judgment, and therefore the standards of logic and Biblical faithfulness are stricter for him. He can and MUST be judged harsher than those who are not pastors, and therefore dealt with mercilessly in a discussion where he shows unreasonableness and makes heretical statements. I have zero compassion for pastors who use their position to earn themselves a higher ground in a discussion.
Pastors in this country have been a little too comfortable for far too long, because the ordinary church members have not applied Luke 12:48 [But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating.Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.] to them.
No wonder we don’t have lesser magistrates protecting us in the civil realm. We have neglected applying the same principles in the church. We need men who will step in the breach and make interposition between the congregations and their evil, tyrannical, heretical, or incompetent pastors and elders. Before we lead the way in the church in raising lesser magistrates, we won’t have them in the civil government.
More Bad Cops? I’m Shocked!
So two out of how many cops have shown themselves to be bad cops in Soap Lake, Washington. Really, it’s two out of two, which means 100% of SLPD officers failed the test. Would Soap Lake like to trot their other officers out for a test? I doubt it.
Just Another Wicked Abortionist
Selling human body parts to the highest bidder over lunch.
Deborah Nucatola Is Pure Evil
It’s hard to imagine a more evil person has existed. She is someone who murdered 8 people the day before, and harvested their organs for medical experimentation, and calmly discusses it over lunch.
This woman needs to be brought to justice.
I Found Another Bad Apple
People keep saying that bad cops are a fraction of a percent of police. But, I certainly have no trouble finding power-tripping cops. There are hundreds of examples of them on Youtube. I’ve been the victim of cops who are so incompetent that they’re not even familiar with the first amendment (or maybe they were just trying to bully me), threatening to arrest me while I was doing perfectly legal evangelism on a public street.
I realize bad encounters with cops are more likely to be uploaded and written about, while hundreds or thousands of non-confrontational encounters go unnoticed by the internet. Most people don’t know their rights. They do what the cops ask and thank the cop for their ticket, even though there was no victim in their crime. Most such traffic laws are unjust and arbitrary, and the cop is just generating revenue for the city. That is a dirty cop, and an un-Constitutional encounter, but it won’t end up on Youtube.
However, what is the standard for a good cop? What percentage of the time can a cop shred the Constitution and still be considered a good cop? Is it 1 in 1000? 1 in 100? 1 in 10? I mean 90% observance of the constitution would be an A in school, right? Does anyone really think that a cop doesn’t try to flout the Constitution in at least 1% of encounters? Any cop who intentionally ignores the Constitution ever in their entire career, once, is a bad cop in my book.
They swore to uphold the Constitution. To ignore the Constitution once is to break their oath. Cops make mistakes, and are often woefully ignorant of the law, but I’m not even talking about that. I’m only talking about intentionally trying to bully someone and ignoring their rights.
But when you think about it, it’s their job to get people to give up their rights. It is perfectly legal for them to lie or play tricks on people in order to get them to give up their rights. They try to get people talking without an attorney (i.e. give up their right to an attorney), or consent to a search of their car or house without a warrant (i.e. give up their 4th Amendment right). Their job is to get information to present to the judge and jury that will result in a conviction.
Does anyone really believe that by my standard, most cops are good cops? If my standard is wrong, what is the standard?
What about the biblical standard? God doesn’t care about the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence, or the Colorado Revised Statutes. He only cares about His law. He is God after all.
By God’s standard, there are no good cops. Abortionists rest easy at night knowing there are no good cops. Cops don’t make laws, they just enforce the laws. That is the problem, and that’s what makes them all bad. They check their conscience at the door and go out to enforce the unjust laws of a pagan nation by force–with a deadly weapon on their hip and favored status under the law.
When the Nazis were put on trial for their evil acts, their excuse was that they were just following orders. If your job requires you to obey evil orders, or doesn’t allow you to act righteously, you should QUIT YOUR JOB. You belong to an evil profession, and by remaining in it you are being evil.
Here’s a video of one of those “rare” bad apples. Quite the power trip she’s on. She thinks she can kick people off the sidewalk, as if it belongs to her. And sad to say it’s no surprise she doesn’t know the laws on recording, even though she’s a law enforcement officer.
Eric Garner Was Murdered
I said it at the time. Eric Garner was murdered. Maybe not by man’s law, but by God’s law he was murdered.
Now, Eric Garner’s family has settled for a payment of $5.9M. If it wasn’t murder, and there was no chance a jury would find in favor of the family, I could see them settling for $100,000 or $200,000, or maybe even $500,000, just to avoid all the lawyer’s fees. But almost $6M is a lot to pay for people who aren’t guilty of murder.
Intro to Theonomy Part 2
Here’s the 2nd flyer on theonomy I wrote to pass out at my church.
God’s Law on Taxation and the Implications
I said in my last handout that there were some astonishing implications to theonomy. While picking a topic for this handout I debated between something controversial, or talking about something most of us would agree on. I thought talking about how God’s law would drastically lower taxes and end socialism is something most of us would love to learn more about. It will give us more ammo to fire at Obama after all. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I realized how pervasive socialism is in this country and how we’ve all received our government benefits and no one has room to point fingers. But I’ll start with the good news.
Good News
At one point, Israel rejected God as king and asked for a human king. The Lord painted a bleak picture of how their king would treat them.
1 Samuel 8:15 and 17, speaking of the new king says, “He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants…He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.”
God said that the king is going to enslave the Israelites by, among other things, implementing a 10% income tax. The good news is that the Bible teaches that there ought to be no such thing as civil taxation, and if there are income taxes, they must be lower than 10%.
It is estimated that 50% of Americans’ income goes to the slew of taxes we pay. So, I guess there’s some bad news in the good news. We are all slaves to the US government, and all that “land of the free” talk is just talk by God’s standard. Living in a nation that has rejected His law means we aren’t really free. Neither are we free by the standard of the founding fathers, as this nation was much closer to a theonomic society in their time than today. They seceded for much less than we put up with.
What about property taxes? In Colorado, if you don’t pay your property taxes, after about four years, armed men will remove you from your property kicking and screaming. If that is the law, who really owns your home? In reality, there is no such thing as home ownership in America. We only rent government land.
The Bible has more good news on property taxes. Here’s what Joel McDurmon says about property tax in his book, Restoring American One County at a Time,
A property tax is not only problematic, but is not permitted in Scripture, and should in fact be considered unbiblical. Only God has absolute ownership of property; He delegated this to individuals, and gave us a commandment against property theft in all forms (Ex. 20:15; Lev. 19:11, 13; Deut. 19:14; 27:17). God did not give the civil State any claim of ownership in individuals’ land. It has none, and for it to claim such a right is to defy God. And what is a property tax except a claim of partial ownership in the land?
I won’t go into all the other taxes we pay, but rest assured by the standard of God’s law, they are all theft. But I am in no way advocating not paying these taxes. The slaves face very real consequences for not paying taxes. One of my main jobs in life is to take care of my family—not to take a principled stand from a jail cell.
Bad News
It’s easy to criticize new programs based on socialism, such as Obamacare. It’s not as easy to criticize old programs such as Social Security, Medicare or public school. If we aren’t personally benefitting from such programs, we know someone who is, and we don’t want to offend our friends and family.
Christians in the past didn’t take a bold stand against these programs when they were implemented. Social Security started in the Great Depression to help retirees. The first generation of recipients received government checks without having contributed a penny into the program. They accepted stolen money. The rest of us had money stolen from us and transferred to others under threat of incarceration.
Some argue that they’ve paid into it their whole life, and now they’re getting their money back. The truth is that we are forced to pay whether we like it or not. The money we pay in our working years is distributed to others. The money we will receive is not money we paid in, but is money that will be taken from our children and grandchildren. And it’s also a terrible return, unless you live to a very old age. This system is a Ponzi scheme and is illegal for us slaves (as it ought to be) but isn’t illegal for Uncle Sam.
Helping the poor and elderly is something we are commanded to do as Christians. But it is always voluntary, that is, not enforced by the state. Nowhere does Christ outline a system where the government taxes us and gives money to the poor. That is government usurping the role of the church. We would have more money and opportunities to help the needy if the government wasn’t taxing us to death.
Public school started in the 1800s, and it is blatantly socialist. It is mostly financed by property taxes, or by the feds sending money back to the school district (with strings attached). Under threat of having our property stolen, we all pay our taxes, whether we have kids in school or not, and it is given to others. But God also explains how we should educate our children, and it certainly doesn’t involve money taken by threat of force and redistribution.
Is It a Sin to Accept Government Benefits?
It is my conviction that it is wrong for me to receive funds that are taken by “legalized” government theft. (I.e. legal under man’s law, not God’s law.) That being said, I have no choice but to drive on roads built with stolen money and drink milk produced on farms that receive a government subsidies. I don’t see any way out of this for the time being. But where I have a choice, I can’t accept government money.
One of the reasons that 1 Samuel 8:15-17 teaches that a 10% income tax was slavery is because it was the king setting himself up as a rival to God. A tenth of their income was to go to the temple—not the state. If they followed God’s law, there were provisions to take care of people, and there was no need for civil taxation. All of the socialistic programs we have exist because we have rejected God’s law and His way of doing things.
More Bad News
What about the sweet little old ladies at the courthouse collecting taxes? What about the pencil-neck IRS agent? They’re working in an anti-Christ system. Are they sinning? If the taxes we must pay in this country are theft by God’s standard, then, they are sinning in working for these agencies. The receptionist at the Church of Satan isn’t going to stand before God and say, “I was just trying to earn a living.”
But, there are Christians who work in those places who haven’t thought about these things, and they are sinning out of ignorance. (We all sin out of ignorance, and I am the chief of sinners). But they work in a system that is built on a rejection of God’s law—a false religion serving a false god. What should we do about them? I think we have to start speaking up, resisting and calling people to quit their jobs in this false system.
What Should We Do Now?
If God’s law is the perfect law, then we need to start living by it. Here are a few things we can do:
- Spend less than you make, so that you can:
A. Save money and retire without Social Security and Medicare.
B. Have money to help your family and the needy. - Vote against tax increases, scrutinize local budgets and encourage officials to cut spending and taxes.
- Stop accepting government funds and benefits such as public school.
- If you work for a company or government agency that is inconsistent with God’s law, start devising an exit strategy.
I realize these aren’t easy things to do, and they involve sacrifice. But, how can we begrudge a fellow citizen an Obamacare health insurance plan purchased with government assistance if we’re receiving government money for something else? A lot of Christians are cool with theonomy in theory, but this is where the rubber meets the road, and may actually cost us money.
If American Christians keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll only get more of what we’ve gotten—cultural defeat. This isn’t what God has meant for us. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church (Matt 16:18). Gates are a defensive position, and this means the church is supposed to be on offense—smashing the defenses of hell—saving souls and taking back our culture by the power of the Holy Spirit and the gospel.
Intro to Theonomy
I want to introduce my church to theonomy, so I wrote up a little article and passed out a few to several families. I haven’t got much feedback yet, but my pastor likes it. I printed it up as a little booklet on one page. Feel free to use this for your church. I love theonomy.
God’s Perfect Law
In our morally mixed up world, we need to know: What is right and wrong? What is truth and justice?
Ideas about truth abound. Many atheists—who of course adamantly reject God and His moral absolutes—love to speak of good and evil. They may offer a pragmatic definition of what is good, such as, “We ought to cause as little harm as possible.”
This statement reflects Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself.” But for an atheist, wanting to cause as little harm as possible is merely a personal opinion—a belief adopted in blind faith. It is likely an atheist won’t be able to explain why he or she believes that. And if he or she has no Creator or basis for that belief, it is just as valid for another person to describe goodness this way: “We ought to cause as much harm as possible.”
World religions have unique takes on morality and justice, too. For example, there are Muslim governments that believe that cutting off a thief’s hand is a just punishment for stealing.
Most of us would say that is too harsh. But do we as Christians have anything to offer on this question besides—like the atheist—our personal opinion?
An opinion cannot be the basis for truth and justice. I believe chocolate ice cream is the best flavor, but that can be overruled by anyone whose taste buds disagree.
How, then, should we approach this topic? How do we know, for example, that adultery is evil?
Some good reasons for rejecting adultery as acceptable—such as the fact that it breaks up marriages and hurts families—certainly exist. Ultimately, though, the only reason adultery is wrong is because the Bible commands, “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14).
God alone determines right and wrong, good and evil. He is the only one who can establish moral absolutes. God, whose law reflects His character, loves fidelity in marriage; therefore, adultery is wrong. This is true for everyone, everywhere, past, present and future.
The law, which is detailed for us in God’s Word, provides the foundation for our individual morals—and for understanding how society should respond to good and evil.
There are some 613 laws in the Old Testament. Many of us think of the moral laws—such as but not limited to the Ten Commandments—which form the basis for biblical morality that we follow today. We think about the ceremonial laws, fulfilled by Christ’s work on the cross. (We obey the ceremonial laws by trusting Christ for our salvation.)
A final area of the law that often gets little consideration: civil law. Some Christians dismiss the civil law as irrelevant for today. But what if this portion of the law ought to be followed by all societies around the world? The implications of this notion are many—and they are perhaps shocking.
The belief that the biblical civil law is still valid today is called theonomy, which means, “God’s law.” The only alternative is autonomy (self law)—a rejection of God’s law. Theonomy is a new name for an old concept that most Christians have believed throughout history, but which has been slowly forgotten since the founding of the United States.
For example, the biblical penalty for stealing is that the thief pays restitution plus a penalty. In most cases, the thief should repay double the value of the item he stole (Exodus 22:3-4) to the victim—not the state. This punishment is God-instituted and just. Any other punishment for stealing is not just.
Theonomists can say that Muslims cutting off a thief’s hand is too harsh and unjust, and offer a valid, biblical reason—not just their opinion. They can explain to non-Christians that God has a standard for justice, good and evil, found in His Word.
Some Christians may argue that theonomy isn’t relevant because it is based only on the Old Testament. Does the New Testament have anything to say about whether the civil law is just? Hebrews 2:2 says the punishments are just. In 1 Timothy 1:8-11, Paul says the law is good if it is used lawfully. We must read the law to see how to use the law. He also says in that passage that the law conforms to the gospel.
Other believers brush theonomy aside because they believe today’s world governments are free to make up their own laws (at least as far as establishing punishments for crimes). Since the Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), they say, the penalty for a crime such as stealing can be anything, up to and including death. But that doesn’t work. One of the available punishments for crimes in Old-Testament law was flogging. Judges couldn’t order more than 40 lashes (Deut. 25:1-3). While committing some crimes did lead to the death penalty, God put an upper limit on the punishment for certain crimes. His justice isn’t anything up to and including the death penalty.
On the other hand, some believers concede that the Old Testament correctly advises us of the proper punishment for stealing, but additional portions of the civil law aren’t valid or just. Other than their opinions, these individuals seem to have little basis for accepting some parts and rejecting others. Whether they intend to or not, they are setting themselves up as judge and jury over God’s law—an unwise position.
In fact, these Christians start to sound eerily similar to atheists as they mock God’s law: “Are you telling me that we should stone disobedient children, homosexuals, and adulterers? That’s ridiculous!” They may even grossly misrepresent the content of God’s law (see http://tinyurl.com/p2latv8 and http://tinyurl.com/opo5wfy). What standard are they using to claim it to be ridiculous? It is a mere opinion.
The truth is in God’s Word: “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul” (Ps. 19:7).
Christians ought to admit freely that God’s law is perfectly just. The only option is to use some arbitrary standard (again, a mere opinion) to judge and reject His law. You can’t use the only absolute standard (God’s law) of justice, good, and evil to reject God’s law.
Why does theonomy matter? Should it concern you? With the current state of our society—complete with varied religious beliefs and shifting moral values—could it ever even be implemented in our lifetime?
Theonomy is important today for several reasons:
• Christians must seek the truth; what we believe affects how we live. If we believe something that is true, it will improve our lives and the lives of those around us.
• The law we obey shows who our God is. If we strictly obey the law of Washington, D.C., we are effectively claiming the U.S. government to be our god. Christians must obey God’s law and resist unjust laws.
• Even if theonomy takes generations to come to fruition, it has to start somewhere. If we use the rapture as an excuse to not work to improve society through the power of the gospel, we are misapplying that doctrine.
• Change can happen. Implementing biblical law will most likely occur by persuading individuals and implementing changes on the local level. We don’t have to convince millions of people. We just have to convince a majority at the local level and we can better resist unjust laws. And, unlike Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity, we don’t have to use statistics and worldly wisdom to sway people. We will use God’s Word.
There are a lot of implications to theonomy. Some are exciting, and some are astonishing.
Many Christians consider themselves politically conservative. While biblical civil laws are largely in line with conservative beliefs, some things might surprise us. God’s law would make us so free that it would seem foreign. But if there is no biblical reason to reject a law, there is no valid reason. God’s way is best; anything else is idolatry.
Imagine a society with perfect laws. It would be free and prosperous. There would be no IRS. Property taxes and vehicle registration fees would be considered thievery. You could start and run a business without having to jump through a million ridiculous government hoops. The law would be written so that people could understand it and could carry it around in a single book. It would correspond to human nature, so that what is considered criminal would be agreed upon by society, as if it were written on our hearts. Other societies would envy the wisdom they see in our law, desire it for themselves, and praise God for what they see (Deut. 4:6-8).
If God’s law was just in Old Testament times, there is nothing that has changed that would make it unjust. If it is just, then it is obligatory to all world governments today.
“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18).
Obviously this is only a bare introduction to the topic. I can recommend some books and websites:
• Restoring America One County at a Time by Joel McDurmon
• Theonomy in Christian Ethics by Greg Bahnsen
• AmericanVision.org
• BojidarMarinov.com
I look forward to discussing this and growing in knowledge of God’s Word and application of it.
Abolish Abortion and the Police!
On my previous post, I quoted Bojidar saying that police always lie. Here’s a good example. Were they lying about the public property and trying to bully her or are they just incompetent? I truly don’t know, but the higher ranking guy clearly knew.
I’ve had debates about evangelism tactics with cops like this before, and what I was doing was much more tame. Why would they think the evangelist cares about what they think?