Fear of Man Destroyed by Trust in God

Fear of Man Destroyed by Trust in God

Posted on September 19, 2019 by Mike Ratliff

by Mike Ratliff

25 The fear of man brings a snare,
But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted. Proverbs 29:25 (NASB) 

Our enemy is pretty smart. He has been around long enough that he believes he knows us. He knows that lost people are enslaved to him via their sin nature. He knows that the little flock, our Lord’s sheep, may be new creations via the washing of regeneration, but they still have their flesh and a deep, overwhelming need to be fulfilled. Their salvation has changed them so they now have the ability to be fulfilled in God the more they take on Christ’s character. Our enemy, on the other hand, does all he can to neutralize those sheep by attacking them in innumerable ways so that they walk according their flesh instead of according to the Spirit.

Satan has always wanted to be God. He caused a war in Heaven by attempting to usurp God’s throne for himself. Ever since, he has been hard at work attempting to fool people into believing that he is God or at least driving a wedge between people and the Living God by enticing them to be gods unto themselves through their self-will.

Ten Commandments Tuesday - Do Not Misuse God’s Name

I've been to a lot of bible studies but not one of them actually covered the 10 Commandments. Sure I've read them, I know that there's a difference between what we Protestants, the Catholics, and the Jews count as the ten, but nothing deeper than that. There's a difference between reading and analyzing the text and this week we analyze #3, and we now discover that there's one commandment that states clearly that breaking the commandment will not be forgiven. We also know that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not forgivable - but isn't blasphemy of the Holy Spirit also Commandment #3? They are if you understand the Trinity. Listen to Dennis' explanation of Commandment #3 and tell me what you think

 Is there such a thing as "the worst sin" -- one sin that is worse than all others? Well, there is.  I am well aware that some people differ. They maintain that we can't declare any sin worse than any other. "To God, a sin is a sin," is how it's often expressed. In this view, a person who steals a stapler from the office is committing as grievous a sin in God's eyes as a murderer. But most people intuitively, as well as biblically, understand that some sins are clearly worse than others. We are confident that God has at least as much common sense as we do. The God of Judaism and Christianity does not equate stealing an office item with murder.

Ten Commandments Tuesday - No Other Gods

Oh yes, false Gods are out there. They may not have a huge monument like our old nemesis Ba'al pictured here, then again maybe they do. Look at the temples of higher learning. To many a degree in their chosen field is their God. Most college classes need little more that Jesus used to teach: a hill side. Seriously: why should the alumni spend a gazillion dollars on these temples of learning when many classes are little more than Perfessir Dankhippi droning on and on about their own political idealism and the student is left to teach themselves at the library on the subject of... Battery Weaving? Preternatural Etiquette? It doesn't matter, most term papers don't decide which course they're destined for until page five, as long as the student loan is obtained so the great God University.edu is worshiped. 

Let's discuss the Second Commandment according to the oldest, that is the Jewish, enumeration of the Ten Commandments. In Christian tradition it is the First Commandment. The most common translation begins:  "You shall have no other gods before me."  The commandment then goes on to prohibit both making idols and worshiping idols.

My New Coin

The La Fayette Escadrille was a French fighter squadron defending that besieged country in 1916. It was an experimental unit, made up of French commanders, French airplanes, French ground support, and American pilots. A wealthy American lieutenant had coins made for his fellow pilots, each coin contained the squadron's symbol. One pilot was shot down on the east side of the western front and was captured and relieved of all identification by the Germans except for that one coin. He escaped in the night and made it back to the Allied side of No Man's Land and was captured by the French as a spy, until they saw his coin and realized he was un pilote Américain.

This started an Air Force tradition of carrying a "challenge coin" where if you arrive at a (generally unofficial) Air Force function someone could challenge you for your coin. If you couldn't produce your coin the drink is on you, but if you could provide your coin, the drink is on them. Needless to say, carrying your "Challenge Coin" is an Air Force tradition, and it has spread to all other branches of the armed forces, and other groups where people gather to do things as a group such as police forces, fire departments, and biker gangs. And churches mentored by retired military folks too.

I have coins from different units and different functions. My collection contains a USAF coin, a 5th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) coin, an 80th Fighter Squadron (Juvats!!!) coin, several 429th Electronic Combat Squadron coins, one for Operation Southern Watch and one for Operation Provide Comfort. I would like one for the 81st TFS Wild Weasels (I was a weasel feeder before weasels were cool (again)) and a Buff Stuffer coin to add to my collection, but looking through the coin rack at Buckley AFB I found this one. 

WWUTT Wednesday - He will wipe away every tear from their eyes

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4)

On November 5th at 11:25 AM a madman walked up to a small church and opened fire on people outside and on the building itself. The terrified people inside breathed a sigh of relief when the shooting stopped, but that was just the opening salvo. The madman then entered the church building and the slaughter began in earnest. I won't recap what happened inside the Sutherland Springs TX First Baptist Church, but let me say that their congregation is about the same size as the congregation in my own tiny family of loving Bereans. The thought of the possibility of watching half of my church family being executed has hit me harder than I had imagined.

Or is it the thought that I, a physically broken weak worthless wretched sinner, may survive while many of the beautiful saints that I love so much die around me, be the thought that turns my stomach?

But this didn't happen in my little corner of Colorado, home of the Mentally Disturbed Mass Shooters, it happened in Texas, another land I wouldn't mind calling home. Our church hasn't had an official discussion on concealed carry for our "sheep dogs" but we probably will. I can't speak for the other veterans on the board, Pastor Semper Paratus and Deacon Semper Fi, but as for myself (Deacon Visum Altum?), I laid down my arms upon reentry into the civilian world. I even gave up hunting and (most) fireworks. The smell of burning cordite has lost its allure and the only venison on my table is supplied by my son-in-law. I will do anything it takes to protect my flock, anything but deadly force.

My #1 defensive weapon? Prayer. Yes, many liberals are having a field day making fun of us, our prayers, and our faith in God. I won't repost any of their remarks here, many are so foul and hate filled I was shocked at their heartlessness. But that's ok, we will pray for them. They mostly need to understand the core of Christian prayer:

Thy will be done...

WWUTT Wednesday - Does God Cause Hurricanes?

You have to admit that there's been a whole lot of interesting things happening this year. I say 'interesting' instead of 'horrible' because I feel like I'm standing on the sidelines of a game or a stage play that I know how the ending will turn out, as all Christians should.

Houston, Barbuda, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, St. Martin, Naples, Jacksonville, these areas and more were battered by weather systems as hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose, and Maria danced across the Atlantic and slammed in to the Caribbean and mainland United States.

Where do hurricanes come from? Humanists will want you to believe that every time you start your car you're contributing to the next category 5 hurricane, but then if humanists are so sure that CO2 emissions are the cause of hurricanes, why don't they demand more power plants be built based on reactors? Thorium reactors are very safe and they are not based on 1960's technology so the humanists don't have anything to worry about there, and unlike wind power, they don't slaughter bats and birds wholesale. The problem is that hurricanes don't come from your exhaust pipe, they come from God.

Why Doesn't God Prevent Evil?

Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Village early on Monday morning killing more than 50 people, and injuring more than 500 people. The question on any people's minds and on the tongues of many scoffers is:

If God is love, why did he let this happen?

The Bible describes God as holy (Isaiah 6:3), righteous (Psalm 7:11), just (Deuteronomy 32:4), and sovereign (Daniel 4:17-25), so how could He have allowed this to have happened? God clearly despises evil and wants to rid the universe of evil, so how could a madman pack 10 or so rifles into a Las Vegas hotel room and open fire on a crowd 32 floors below him? Does God not care that His people are suffering at the hands of madmen, terrorists, political anarchists. and ruthless dictators? Why does God allow evil? And knowing that these questions are coming from all sides, are we as Christians ready to answer them?

Happy Earth Day

On this Earth Day, rather than worshiping an inanimate rock that doesn't know or doesn't care about you, let us praise and worship God, who gave us the earth because He loves us

Tuesday is Election Day

He's in charge, you're voting for His subordinates

Last word on voting in this blog (for this election cycle). Tomorrow is election day, and we will be going to the voting booths to elect a new president, new senators, congressmen, governors, judges, mayors, etc. There is going to be a lot of ballot issues and referendums to vote on also. Here in Colorado there's several constitutional measures on the ballot, and for the life of me, I've never seen a state that is so bent on turning their constitution into a doodle pad full of random ideas.

The only advice I personally can give is "Don't vote stupid" (Notice that I did not say "Don't vote for stupid) I think Mike Rowe of "Dirty Jobs" fame said it best:

I can’t personally encourage everyone in the country to run out and vote. I wouldn’t do it, even if I thought it would benefit my personal choice. Because the truth is, the country doesn’t need voters who have to be cajoled, enticed, or persuaded to cast a ballot. We need voters who wish to participate in the process.

Mike asks his readers to educate yourself before you vote, get to know the candidates, the issues, and the entire process, from the constitution to the local ordinances to the history of the electoral process. We as Christians on the other hand need to know a bit more -  we need to know what God says and wants. Here's a few verses that struck me as helpful:

WWUTT Wednesday - God's Gift To All Of Us

Today is my birthday, and a very bittersweet one it is. Not because I have many many more behind me than I do ahead of me, but because of what is going on at work. 

Due to corporate restructuring many of my friends lost their jobs today. some of these men and women I have been working with since the turn of the century, we moved from one company to another "together" as mergers and bankruptcies occurred. Very few people in the world do what we do, so as we move around in the industry we may not know a person when they show up at our office, but it's guaranteed that we are friends with many of their friends.

 The cuts were sudden and drastic, my small group lost 30% of our people. I found out that my friends were gone only by the way their existance was wiped out of my computer. I was in a pretty bad mood, until WWUTT reminded me of God's love

Sound Familiar?

"Where theistic religion grows weak, that is where religion related to God grows weak, justice will weaken.

Crimes, then, are defined as antisocial activity which, in turn, then is merely what the majority says it is.

Then punishments seem to be the result of the majority's ganging up on the minority.

This, in turn, seems inconsistent with democratic feelings.

The result is a decline in uniform application of penalties for crime, resultant miscarriages of justice, trampling on the rights of law-abiding people, together with an increase in what ought to be called crime."

- Civil Government: A Biblical View by Robert D. Culver, Page 78

Who is Your Governor?

Last week I wrote that government is instituted by God and I wrote about a Christian's responsibility to be subject to the governing authorities. So who are those authorities? Who is in charge?

If you go to one of those websites they will tell you that Satan is in charge. By "one of those websites" I mean the web sites that proclaim the end of the world by Divine Retribution is nigh because of one thing or another - not making the Sabbath holy by allowing alcohol to be sold on Sunday (which is not the Sabbath), not codifying the First commandment into law, that monuments like the Lincoln Memorial and Mt. Rushmore are "graven images" - pretty much anything bible flavored that the author believes could make this country "great again" If you have never stumbled across one of those websites, count yourself blessed

The good news is that their reasoning is all wrong, enacting these things would accomplish nothing. The bad news is that they are right, Satan is in charge of the world governments. 

8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”(Matthew 4:8-9)

In Luke the devil's offer was a bit different 

6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” (Luke 4:6-7) 

WWUTT Wednesday - The Hand That Wields The Sword

Martin Luther wrote that "the hand that wields the sword and strangles is … no longer man's hand but God's." Executioners, he believed, are "very useful and even merciful," since they stop villains and deter crime. 

Dr. Albert Mohler, the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said "I believe that Christians should hope, pray and strive for a society in which the death penalty, rightly and rarely applied, would make moral sense. This would be a society in which there is every protection for the rights of the accused, and every assurance that the social status of the murderer will not determine the sentence for the crime,"

On the other hand Jay Sekulow, who heads the conservative Christian advocacy group the American Center for Law and Justice said "the taking of life is not the way to handle even the most significant of crimes." and "Who amongst anyone is not above redemption? I think we have to be careful in executing final judgment. The one thing my faith teaches me — I don't get to play God. I think you are short-cutting the whole process of redemption…I don't want to be the person that stops that process from taking place."

So who is right? God is:

The Biblical View of Government

but God has chosen the foolish things of  the world  to shame
 the wise, and God  has chosen the weak things of the world
to shame the things which are strong, (1 Corinthians 1:27)

I'm not crazy about our choices in the 2016 election. One candidate has allowed a terrorist attack on sovereign US soil where a US ambassador was tortured, raped, and murdered, she refused to allow the military to rescue the victims, then she lied about the cause of the attack to the victims family and the American people. She sold access to her office for personal gain, she endangered the safety of this country by leaving highly classified documents unsecured, she then destroyed the subpoenaed evidence to hide her guilt. She enables rapists, abuses her subordinates, insults rape victims, military members and Secret Service agents assigned to protect her, and her chief aide has familial connections with the Muslim Brotherhood. 

The other candidate says mean things.

So what do we do? What do we as Christians do when faced with a political dilemma such as this? I know there's going to be a lot of people upset come November especially when you look at all the people who actually ran for president and realize that the best people in the race are actually in the running for VP. But now we are down to Trump and Hillary. Looking at both candidates we can see the truth in Calvin's commentary on Romans: "a wicked prince is the Lord’s scourge to punish the sins of the people" It's quite obvious that we are about to be scourged, so what do we do?

We do what God tells us to do:

The Pastrix and Their Supporters - are they Godly?

Pastrix Nadia Bolz-Weber of the
ELCA here in Denver

A Pastrix is a woman acting as a pastor. If you go to New Wineskins Dictionary and look up Pastrix you'll see the word defined as this:

まずは、何を持って行くかを決めなければいけませんが 家具や家電など、現在使っているものは自宅に置

Now I can't fault a Pastrix for her enthusiasm, but I can fault them for their web skills. (In case you're wondering the links go to a Chinese website that instructs young men on how to move out of their parents' basements)

I've had readers (and at least one male pastor) tell me that there's nothing wrong with women preaching, and I've invited them to explain their reasoning and I ended up with this. 

So after prayerful consideration I have come forward to state my case for women in the church. This is not an article about men vs women, nor is it an article about God vs women, it's an article about biblical interpretation and submitting one self to God's will. There is a great many positions for women in the church, Elder is not one of them, and a Pastor is an Elder.

One of the bible verses that those who defend women in the Pastorage rally around is Galatians 3:28 which states "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." See? they cry - "There's no difference between men and women!" This is a perfect example of willfully taking a verse out of context. Here it is in context:

23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:23-29)

This passage has nothing to do with the roles of men and women, it have everything to do with salvation through Jesus Christ. This is a soteriological statement: it speaks to the doctrine of salvation. The teaching is that all believers, without regard to social distinctions, have equal access to God through Christ, and, consequently, are to be unified in the Body of Christ. It is a misuse of Scripture to produce ecclesiastical patterns from soteriological passages!

Genesis 9:13

Loveland CO

I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign
of a covenant between Me and the earth.

What Did Our Founding Fathers Really Think About God?

You see numerous quotes from atheists whose hatred of God (the God in whom they claim not to believe) drive them  to fits of historical heresy whenever they find a quote from a Founding Father that espouses the joy in serving God. They find a quote and take it out of context to proclaim that the founding fathers were 'deists'

On this Independence Day lets declare independence from these self centered zealots bent on domination and find out what our founding fathers really said

George Washington
1st U.S. President

"While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian."

--The Writings of Washington, pp. 342-343.

John Adams
2nd U.S. President and Signer of the Declaration of Independence

"Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God ... What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be."

--Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, Vol. III, p. 9.

In the Begining אֱלֹהִים Created the Heaven and the Earth.

What is in a name? If your name is David, it's a Hebrew word that means "beloved". If it's George, that's a Greek word that means "farmer". I know a David or two that's not beloved, and I've only met one farmer named George. Right now the #1 name for baby boys in the United States is Noah (which means "comfort") and for girls the #1 is Emma (which means "universal") While an infant can be comforting, a 2 year old is much less so, and "universal" is a difficult reputation to live up to.

Biblically speaking, a person's name means "Everything" The Hebrew word for name is שֵׁם "Shem" which can also mean designation, reputation, fame, glory, memorial, and monument just to name a few meanings. God has numerous names and each name describes an attribute of His majesty. 

When confronted by a situation, any situation, call on God's name. His name is a strong, protective tower that the righteous run into and find safety (Proverbs 18:10), His name is holy and awesome (Psalm 111:9). God has many names and no matter what situation we face at least one of God's names reveal a characteristic we need to cling to.

The first name of God we see in the bible is אֱלֹהִים  which is pronounced Elohim. We see it right at the very beginning of the book

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

What Part Of "A Just God" Don't You Understand?

Do you know Dan Trabue? Dan has several blogs where he writes about literature and art and his church and critters and plants and Dan Trabue. Dan is interested in Arts, Culture, Children, Civil Rights, Humanitarian Relief, Education, Environment, Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation, and Social Services. He's every involved at his home church whose core beliefs emphasize being peacemakers and being welcoming and affirming.

But for all that going for him Dan appears to be a sad, lonely man and needs our pity as well as our prayers. One of his ways of alleviating his loneliness is being an internet troll. He sincerely likes to troll Watchbloggers, harassing them with attacks, abusive language, and his own creative twists on scripture. This is very odd behavior for someone who is active in a church whose core beliefs emphasize being peacemakers and being welcoming and affirming. Several Christian bloggers have had run-ins with Dan, in fact Alec Satin at While it’s yet day has collected a few 'Dan Stories' to share. I too have had a Dan-attack very recently.

A Tale of Two Trees

8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:8-9)

At our BSF bible study meeting last night part of the discussion was taken up by the Two Trees. I had been aware of the two trees, but I never have seen the whole story put together, nor have I heard the whole story ever mentioned. Needless to say I was fascinated when I did see it when it was included with the BSF study material and my inner Berean took over.

After creating everything, including Adam, God planted a garden, and that's the term used - planted - from the Hebrew nata` which means "planted" in English. It means that God physically planted the garden. He caused every tree that is pleasing to look at and every tree that produces good fruit to grow up out of the ground, and in the garden grew the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.