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What The Bible Says - Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

By Evangelist Russell Kiddman

This video is a sermon preached from 1 Corinthians 7:17-23. The topic of the message is spiritual liberty. The premise is that we must use the freedom God has ...

This message from Romans 8:1-2 deals with the freedom that belongs to the Christian. For more resources visit http://www.puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

 

BR Lakin - Two White Horses from the Liberty Channel "Pulpit Classic" Series.

BR Lakin - Two White Horses from the Liberty Channel "Pulpit Classic" Series.

With little fanfare, the U.S. Senate in June confirmed the 125th federal court nominee of President Trump, continuing a brisk pace that is dramatically reshaping the judiciary into a more conservative bent.

A new report prepared for the British government says Christianity is “by far the most widely persecuted religion” and recommends the government become the worldwide leader in promoting religious liberty.

With little fanfare, the U.S. Senate in June confirmed the 125th federal court nominee of President Trump, continuing a brisk pace that is dramatically reshaping the judiciary into a more conservative bent.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, United Flight 93 took off from Newark's Liberty International Airport bound for San Francisco. There were forty-four people on board, all of whom would lose their lives that day. Four terrorists took over the plane with the intention of flying it to the Washington DC area and crashing it into one of our government buildings or memorials. They very probably would have succeeded, except for the bravery of the passengers and crew onboard that day.Recently, while preaching in a Faith Promise Missions Conference, the Pastor took the missionary families and me to visit the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. My mind and heart were deeply impressed by the selfless, courageous actions taken by those who were on board and lost their lives that day while attempting to take back control of the airplane from the terrorists. The heartbreaking messages of love from wives, mothers, and husbands to their families were testament to their concern for their loved ones, while they themselves were in absolute jeopardy. The memorial is a wonderful aid that causes us to remember their bravery and devotion.As I stood at the spot looking over the site of the crash (pictured above), God brought three simple thoughts to mind.1. We Do Not Know What Tomorrow HoldsBoast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.—Proverbs 27:1I know that is an elementary statement; but I fear it is a truth we often know, but too often fail to appropriate into our decision-making and lifestyles as believers. We are not guaranteed a tomorrow. We are not to live in abject fear that we may die at any moment, but we are to live with a healthy reverence that at any moment we could leave this life, or Jesus could return. What life-altering truths those statements are! God is not only to be in our planning, He is to have authority over our planning; and His glory is to be the object in every decision and direction for our lives.2. There Are Times and Events That Are Bigger than Our Convenience and Our ComfortWe live in a self-oriented and self-interested world. Just peruse social media for the proof of that statement. Many believers operate with the sense that God exists for the purpose of making their lives good. But we must be reminded that we, in truth, exist to bring God glory! There are times when life delivers us circumstances that are more than difficult: they can appear to be tragic.Certainly, the loss of life in this horrific act of terrorism was senseless and a terrible source of suffering for the families of those lost and for our nation. However, in that loss, the people on that plane revealed to us that human beings can respond to a crisis with a strength and ability that can only be explained by the grace of God. They set aside their own feelings and the sense of their own loss to serve a greater good, stopping that plane from being used as an instrument of war against their nation. Who knows how many other lives were saved because of their selflessness that day in giving their lives for a cause bigger than their own survival?The songwriter penned these words in America the Beautiful: “O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife. Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life!” We need to be believers who love our God more than our own lives, and serve His cause more than our own.3. God Will Mark Our Service and SacrificeI am thankful for the Flight 93 Memorial and the way it serves to remind us of those who lost their lives on that terrible day. But in truth, most believers who serve the Lord selflessly for His glory will not have an earthly memorial built in honor of their devotion. God does note their service, however, and He will reward the faithful servant! What a day it will be, when the selfless servant of God hears, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”May God help us strive to be Flight 93 believers: Making God the priority of our plans, making His glory the object of our living, and leaving the reward for our service to Him.

If there is any group of people who should believe in the dignity of every human because they are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), it is Christians. Indeed, Bible-believing Christians believe that regardless of any physical, national, or social differences, all people are created equal at birth and should be treated with dignity and respect (Romans 10:12). Furthermore, within the church body, we believe that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. We all come to Christ the same way—through Jesus—and there is no difference in any Christian's worth to God or inclusion in the church body (Galatians 3:28).These are the ideas the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights….”But these are not the same ideas behind the Equality Act currently working its way through the United States Congress.� Seeking to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equality Act makes two serious� errors:It makes sexual orientation and gender identity protected classes. The Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” in public accommodations. But the Equality Act changes the meaning of “sex” from its basic biological meaning of male or female and specifically defines it to include:(A) a sex stereotype;(B) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition;� (C) sexual orientation or gender identity; and(D) sex characteristics, including intersex traits.� It eliminates use of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. The RFRA provides protection to religious exercise (already protected under the US Constitution).� The Equality Act passed in the US House of Representatives by a 236-173 vote. On May 20, 2019, it was received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, where it remains at the time of this writing.� Why should Christians be concerned?� 1. It categorizes basic Bible beliefs as discriminatory.� Bible-believing Christians have always taught that� God created mankind in His image and in only two possible genders—male and female, which are the core of who we are on a created level (Genesis 1:27). � God created marriage as a union between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24).God created sexual intimacy as a beautiful part of marriage but forbids any sexual acts outside of marriage (Hebrews 13:4) and specifically forbids homosexual acts (Romans 1:26–27).These are convictions that Bible-believing people have held for thousands of years. They are not recently-made up to discriminate against any person or group of people.� But the Equality Act sees any real conviction on these in a way that might impact a person's conscience or a church or religious group as categorically discriminatory.� This could impact churches, Christian colleges, or other Christian organizations' hiring processes. It could force Christian adoption agencies to place babies in homes with same-sex couples. And this is just the beginning of the far-reaching ramifications when the government takes it upon itself to define basic religious beliefs as bigoted and intolerant.2. It endangers children and removes parental protection for minors.� The bill specifically states: “an individual shall not be denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity.'' One of the reasons we as a society have gender-segregated restrooms is to provide protection and privacy for women and girls. This bill removes that protection allowing a man who identifies as a woman to enter a women's restroom, locker room, dressing room, or any other shared facility. “Shared facilities” could even include domestic violence shelters.� Even more egregious, because of the broad-sweeping definitions in this bill, it could also limit parental protection for children who are confused regarding their gender identity, literally requiring doctors to give them life-altering medical treatments without their parents' consent. An article by the Heritage Foundation gave specific incidents where this is already happening in states that have imposed a similar law. This simply must not be allowed to pass at a federal level.� 3. It suppresses religious liberty.Religious liberty is one of the great gifts of the American Constitution. When that Constitution becomes radically redefined to enforce the subjective identification of a person onto the objective reality of others (such as a man who identifies as a woman into a woman's restroom), objective personal freedom is left unprotected. When the government takes it upon itself to define basic Bible beliefs as discriminatory, religious liberty is thrown under the bus.� James Dobson called the Equality Act “a thinly veiled attempt to finish off religious liberty in America once and for all, which ought to be plainly obvious based upon a cursory reading of the First Amendment.” In the same article, he further explained, “This decision demonstrates a frightening willingness by those on the left to advance a radical social agenda at a time when our nation already faces so many other divisive challenges. Simply put, by creating a protected class of citizens out of the LGBT community, this bill places Christians who believe in traditional marriage at grave legal and civil jeopardy.”So while Christians have always believed that every person should be treated with equal dignity as image bearers of God, they should stand in opposition to this misguided bill. The Equality Act does not protect people from discrimination; it suppresses religious liberty, endangers children, and discriminates against basic Bible beliefs.� I would encourage you to pray that this bill is defeated and to also call your US Senators to ask them to vote against this bill.