Passion as Persuasion

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31)

What we are thinking about reveals the truth of what and who we believe. If we argue to justify ourselves and our ideology rather than to exalt God’s sovereign omnipotence, shame on us and our passions. Passion can lead to segregation, hatred, and murder when the object of passion is anyone or anything other than God (1 John 3:15). “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) Is our treasure earning interest today, dependent upon the political and economic systems of this world? Are we more passionate about our rights than we are about God’s Word and the prayer Jesus prayed for unity in John 17:21-26? Are we more passionate about our possessions and prosperity than we are about who and what Jesus represents to mankind (Hebrews 1:3)? Help us to make You the center of our lives, Almighty God. Help us to make You our passion in Jesus’ name. Amen.

“Passion persuades.” ~ Anita Roddick (1942-2007) English entrepreneur and activist founder of The Body Shop

© 2013 Brian L Hunter

Prayer Request

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3 ESV)

I have alienated some ministries by posting what I have written about politics being a divisive (Contrary to the spirit of John 17:21) topic to be preaching in this already politically and racially tense time. Especially considering America's brief history which is full of hatred, social inequality, and institutional injustice by design, I would personally avoid such topics and seek to concentrate more upon the infallible Word of God and the unity therein commanded much more so than espousing my opinions of other people while standing behind the sacred desk. Please forgive me, Almighty God, for the discord I have sown and the relationships I may have strained. Lord, please help me to keep my mind stayed on You instead of so much attention to politics, the opinions of people, and the other things of this world in Jesus’ holy name. Like John Lennon said, “all we are saying is give peace a chance.” We all must follow our own inspired convictions of just what promoting peace entails. I already know that I am an unconventional lunatic and therefore I have taken great pains to explicate this caveat.

Please pray for me that God's peace and wisdom will prevail in all of the relationships adversely affected by the impertinence of what I have published on my personal Facebook page. Please let forgiveness be found in Your church, Almighty God. In Jesus’ precious name I pray, loving and hoping in all things 1 Corinthians 13:7-8). Amen and amen.

© 2009 Brian L Hunter

www.anointedwritenow.com

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More Exaltation of God Above Politics

Considering that family members no more than two generations removed were enslaved, raped, and treated like cattle under the first fifteen presidents of the United States of America, countless African Americans yet trusted God's Word rather than openly disrespect the office of the US presidency. My prayer is that some people would keep this in mind before failing to bridle their tongues and offending people who differ no matter what the differences may be (James 1:26). Jesus prayed that His beloved be one as Father and Son are one (John 17:21). The secret ballot policy in America respects this prayer whereas openly sharing my political views from every mountaintop, especially from the pulpit, runs counter to God's will. May the grace of our Lord be with you all, regardless of political affiliation, now and always in Jesus' name.

Disclaimer: Brian Hunter has not posted such maniacal ideas anywhere except on his very own blogs and social media pages (See Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and hence they are neither meant to be accepted doctrine, verified by any other human being within or without organized religion, agreed with by friends, or rubber-stamped by any person living or dead. 

© 2009 Brian L Hunter

www.anointedwritenow.com

#WritingHelps

More On Preaching Politics

 “For while I was with you I resolved to know nothing except Jesus the Messiah, and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2 ISV)

Preaching politics from the pulpit reveals faithlessness and fear which, sowing unto the flesh (Galatians 6:8), shall continue to reap division and not the unity for which Jesus prayed in John 17. How is God glorified when the ignorance, prejudice, and fear concerning any social ill or political displeasure is preached instead of His love, omnipotence, and sovereignty? Satan comes as an angel of light to preach such things (2 Corinthians 11:14). God’s grace has not ceased to be sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). When in chains and awaiting execution, Paul did not preach the need for political activism, civil disobedience, or different government to Timothy. Spiritual bigotry is no closer to exhibiting God’s righteousness now than it was during that recent era when, in America, we raped, whipped, and sold slaves on Sunday morning before heading to the local church for service. It would be easier to mix oil and water successfully than to mix faith and fear. The combining of lies with truth, however, has been Satan's modus operandi since the fall of mankind. Leaders of the first century visible church, following the lead of the apostles and also suffering vicious persecution under Nero throughout the Roman Empire, did not preach anti-establishment, political messages. No. They preached Christ crucified and the gospel spread exponentially, miraculously, and without the type of division that political preaching absolutely guarantees. Preaching politics from the pulpit is not completely unlike abusive fathers molesting their daughters since home and church should be the safest gathering places on earth. Let us, therefore, preach Jesus (and Him crucified, 1 Corinthians 2:2) rather than the wisdom of men, the gospel of peace rather than self-righteous condemnation of others, and the love of God rather than hypocrisy, bigotry, and hate. www.ministryofwritinghelps.com

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

There is a difference of opinion inherent in politics. All Tweets aside, America’s founding fathers had the foresight to mandate that voters be able to cast their vote in private to protect the secrecy of the ballot. Preaching politics from the pulpit is not unlike eating meat which has been sacrificed unto idols (1 Corinthians 10:29). William Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar 3/2, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” Please allow me now to write this; friends whose hearts and attitudes threaten to separate us from the way, the truth, and the life need to be expeditiously separated from our lives by the two-edged sword of God’s holy Word, who was and is and is to come. What does it profit a man to gain a flesh-driven political utopia and yet forfeit his soul in the process (Matthew 16:26)?

© 2013 Brian L Hunter

Should Politics Be Preached?

“Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)

When we use the pulpit to share our political views we engage in activity demonstrated nowhere in the Pastoral Epistles. Does the love of God constrain us (2 Corinthians 5:14)? Or, is division and schism in the body of Christ our aim? Diluting the message of the gospel with partisan political views is something the spirit of Antichrist anoints otherwise good servants of a sovereign and omnipotent God to feel justified in doing. Yet, political vitriol is not born of love and can never be delivered without sarcasm. Partial obedience still adds up to disobedience. Hatred, no matter how subtle and cleverly disguised, is neither motivated nor condoned by God (1 John 4:8). www.anointedwritenow.com

Any reader of the Book of Genesis knows that sin did not originate with a political party. Nor did sin originate in this country only after slavery and Jim Crow laws were rescinded by the effectual working of God’s grace through the instrumentality of the Constitution of these United States of America. Keeping in mind that all have sinned (Romans 3:23), should those redeemed by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), acting fearful rather than faithful, illustrate any perceived threat of evil as being somehow too great, too dangerous, and too insurmountable for the omniscient wisdom of a sovereign and omnipotent God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to guide us safely and victoriously through?  Do we mistakenly think ourselves Christ-like when we rally a mob and use speech to incite violent attitudes toward any particular group or party because their worldview may oppose our own? Our own ignorance, prejudice, and fear aside, is such divisive discourse really our testimony of who Jesus Christ is?

Jim Jones preached a political, anti-establishment gospel quite effectively for the enemy’s cause. The apostle Paul warned against preaching what he called another gospel in Galatians 1:7-9 and 2 Corinthians 11:4. I would urge us to avoid that flavor of Kool-Aid in favor of the whole counsel of God’s Word, including the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Romans. Politics preached from behind any sacred desk is divisive. Rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) does not lead prayerful disciples who are filled with the Holy Spirit to engage in behavior completely contrary to the prayer Jesus prayed in John 17:11-23. God’s protection of His beloved is likewise inextricably bound together with this prayer. I would rather be divided by truth than united in doctrinal error. As an individual, I can be accused of many things by many people. However, the arguments I propose for the purposes of ecclesiastical review, spiritual contemplation, and debate are, indisputably, scripturally well anchored. Therefore, fearing God and His righteous judgment of hypocrisy and idle words (Matthew 12:36-37) infinitely more than any political candidate, special interest group, or government, I admonish all of us who profess Christ as Lord to become more diligent to make sure neither our confession nor our particular brand or form of religiosity (2 Timothy 3:5) has been trusted in vain (Matthew 7:22). “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) There is one name, Jesus Christ, not one political party, not one world view, not one government, not one school of thought, but one name whereby we, preachers, smokers, drinkers, pro-abortionists, anti-abortionists, homosexuals, Republicans, and Democrats alike, must be saved. 

My personal feelings are irrelevant when I step behind any pulpit and become responsible for preaching God’s Word. I will not lean to my own imperfect understanding when it comes to God’s sovereignty, His mercy, and His grace. The question most prevalent in my mind is why He loves me, a poor sinner, as much as He obviously does. If I happen to become angry with you, your political party, or your attitude, I pray that I can be angry and yet not sin in, by, and through my anger (Ephesians 4:26). My own heart and the beam in my own eye (Luke 6:42) should concern me much more than the actions of any president, god, or government. Is God in control or is He not? In whom do I really place my trust (Psalm 27:1, Psalm 56:11, Psalm 118:6, and Hebrews 13:6)? God has not called anyone to preach fear. How does preaching divisiveness edify us (Ephesians 4:29)?

Genuine disciples of Jesus Christ do not particularly care what the media reports today. Unlike Oprah Winfrey, our faith is not in mankind. Our hope is built on something infinitely more reliable than politics. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

© 2013 Brian L Hunter

Obama Hatred 101

The first sixteen presidents of the United States approved the practice of slave owners raping and impregnating their female servants at will and for sport. That was America’s idea of human rights. The U.S. went on record as ending slavery with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. During the one hundred year period of government spanning from President Abraham Lincoln to President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1865 to 1965, white-supremacist ideology fueled Jim Crow segregation laws and the legal murder of Blacks in America. Churches in America were quite content with the profitable benefits of slave labor as well as the social advantages of discrimination and segregation. Now, in the year 2013, there is a less-than-subtle white-supremacist prosperity gospel being preached that would have us believe that by one man named Barack Obama, sin has suddenly entered into the world. Such pseudo-spiritual hypocrisy and bigotry from the fake Pentecostal spirit of Antichrist makes me sick to my stomach. ~ Anonymous

 


© 2013 Brian L Hunter

Break Me

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn your statutes.” (Psalm 119:71)

Graciously break my legs as you see fit, Great Shepherd of the Sheep (Hebrews 13:20). By the time my leg has healed, I, your precious lamb, the lamb you loved enough to sacrifice your only begotten Son, will have learned to stay nearer my God to Thee. Hallelujah! Do not allow me to lean to my own understanding, oh Lord (Proverbs 3:5). Perfect my trust in You today. Convict me when I rebel against Your instruction if indeed Your Spirit is within me. Help me to more diligently examine myself to determine daily if I remain in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). It is so easy to follow my own way. My own way does not bother me like the inerrant two-edged, cutting truth of  Your holy Word. I am comfortable left to my own wisdom. Therefore, provoke me to holiness by discomfiting this flesh which prefers the stable sameness of self-centered stagnation. Upset this flesh and move me toward the light, Your light (Matthew 5:14-16, John 8:12), Almighty God. Hallelujah!


© 2012 Brian L Hunter

Our American Stuff

“So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Government can work to protect our stuff. However, what we possess, our rights, our homes, our cars, our jobs, and the like, are temporal. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) Irrational fear reveals deeper issues such as unbelief, as though God is not sovereign, faithful, or able to deliver on His exceeding great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:4). Shame on us if we nullify faith in God - no matter who, what, where, or when government succeeds or fails. We seem to be more concerned about eating whole foods in the natural than we are about believing in the whole truth, the whole way, and the whole life (John 16:6). Let faith reveal our hearts, not hatred and bigotry. All of my hope is in things eternal. Lord, let not my faith fail me in this hour. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray, realizing that I need Thee every hour. Amen.


 © 2012 Brian L Hunter

Another's Well Being?

“His secret, inner heart will become known, and so he will bow down to the ground and worship God, declaring, "God is truly among you!" (1 Corinthians 14:25)

When our genuine concern for another’s well being is no greater than the concern a virus has for us when we have by it been infected, then the egocentrism of humanism becomes clearly evident. If our agenda runs contrary to the Word of God and His love then our thinking will breed mischief. Oh, we will smile while we wield the weapons of our discontent. Nonetheless, by no fault of our own thanks to Adam, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45). A human being, like any other creature, will become extremely defensive seeking to kick, scratch, and claw his or her way out of the perceived corner of endless potential threats. Unfortunately, misperception developed as a survival mechanism over the course of enduring the hideous abuses indicative of mans total depravity can cause the wounded to then become the violator.

© 2012 Brian L Hunter

Pawns

“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.” (Hebrews 5:12)

We must refuse to be offended, manipulated, or baited into a fight with any pawn of the enemy just now and we must also not be coerced into silence simply because our accusers ha

ve found strength in any common consensus. We mustn’t mind at all being branded as hateful for merely speaking the truth of God’s Word when we have not spoken on our own authority. To be offended by the Word of God is a good thing if it brings about a change of direction. Conviction is evidence that the Holy Spirit is present and actively working on one’s heart. Hallelujah! We should be happy then to be hated for such a cause, that the will of the Lord be accomplished in the life of even one of us who would have continued on stagnant in immaturity and nursing wounds and offenses of which we refuse to let go.

© 2012 Brian L Hunter