What Is The Point Of Spreading The Gospel?
It is one of the conundrums of the Christian faith. We are suppose to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul is clear about this.
Romans 10:14-15 New American Standard Bible
14How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Himwhom they have not heard? And how are they to hear withouta preacher?15But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those whobring good news of good things!”
Nevertheless, Jesus says no one can come to Him unless the Father makes it possible.
John 6:44 New American Standard Bible
44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day
When…
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Citizen Tom 
Sweet post, Tom!
I’m such mom, so my heart breaks for the hard times I see coming and I worry about
young people, but then I remember I come from hard times myself. Some of the best people are born in those times, it can build our character, it can teach us to rely on the Lord, it can make us strong in Him and compassionate towards others. We are not our circumstances and favorable circumstances don’t necessarily produce favorable results.
Actually, interesting anecdote in the beginning. You would do good sharing more of yourself like that.
@Doug
I am glad you enjoyed it, but I don’t intend to make myself the topic.
There are occasions when we should talk about ourselves, but I blog about politics and religion. Therefore, I have little reason to make myself the topic. Why not? Because politics is about how we peacefully resolve our differences, we must discuss the principles upon which our nation is founded. Because Christianity is about our relationship with God, we must make Him the central topic.
Didn’t mean to suggest that you personally should become any sort of a topic… but when trying to convey thoughts, concepts, explanation, opinion, etc. sharing a personal thought and/or personal life example can help to establish the broader point being made, a social credibility perhaps in establishing an “I’ve been there” or an “I can bare direct witness”. It gives whatever message you are trying to deliver as having a measure of depth and personal authenticity.
To your… “Because politics is about how we peacefully resolve our differences….” , well, seems a bit odd in that all I get from the “new” ReTrumplicans is that they are tired of compromise of any sort, having been betrayed so often in the past. So much for resolving our differences any time soon.
Seems to me part of “selling” Christianity is conveying how having faith in Christ works for you. You teaching the “theory” of Christ or the life application of faith in Him? Your existence and how you have existed and evolved your faith is, in fact, making the Almighty the central topic. Not saying how you should do anything.. just conveying my own perception is all.
@Doug
Trump Republicans won’t compromise? Do you have an example?
Do we sell Christianity? Some Christians look at it that way, but we just inform people about Jesus. God changes their hearts.
Consider verse 15 here in context.
The last Senate, this Senate, pick a bill. McConnell himself said his role is to stop Biden from doing anything.
@Doug
You brought up the topic. You made the accusation. You pick the bill.
The following is from NEWSWEEK…
“During a television interview, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that 395 bills sitting in the Senate are not going to be passed.
On Fox News Friday, anchor Bret Baier asked McConnell if Democrats’ statements about those bills were true and whether they could move forward. McConnell confirmed that it was the case, but also said that proposed legislation would be rejected.
“It is true,” the senator said. “They’ve been on full left-wing parade over there, trotting out all of their left-wing solutions that are going to be issues in the fall campaign. They’re right. We’re not going to pass those.”
Then you have H.R. 1.. and Biden’s Jobs Plan… Biden prefers a non-partisan agreement and not exercising budget reconciliation yet McConnell is just dragging his feet simply because he has no intent on compromising anything. Senate GOP.. er, ReTrumplicans, are going to exercise that idiot filibuster to stop anything they can.
Here are summaries of what is in Joe Biden’s $2.3 Trillion American Jobs Plan.
=> https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/
=> https://www.investopedia.com/what-s-in-joe-biden-s-usd2-trillion-american-jobs-plan-5120273
The first reference is partisan, of course. The second is a bit more objective.
Here are some objections to this plan.
1. Look at Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution (https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript#toc-section-8-). The Constitution gives the Federal Government a role in building postal roads. That might justify modernizing airports, but the rest of that bill? No. Most of it has nothing whatsoever to do with infrastructure, much less what the Federal Government should be doing.
2. The private sector creates jobs. The government feeds off the private sector. When the government creates an environment that facilitates and protects commerce, the relationship is symbiotic. When the government starts monopolizing functions better performed by private markets, it becomes a leech. The Biden Administration, for the sake of power, wishes to make government into a leech.
3. There is no way pay for all this crap. There is such a thing as a Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lawofdiminishingmarginalreturn.asp). Taxes are subject to this law. That is basically what the Laffer Curve is all about (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/laffercurve.asp). Note that the criticism of the Laffer Curve depends upon the notion that our object should be to maximize the revenue to the government, whereas any sensible free people would desire to maximize revenue into the pocket of the People, not government bureaucrats.
4. Most government spending should take place at the state and local level. When the Federal Government spends recklessly, that spending results in inflation. State and local governments, however, have to balance their budgets, or they go bankrupt. Therefore, state and local governments have to exercise some spending discipline. Because we have not restrained the Federal Government, it spends like crazy, twice or more what state and local governments spend. That’s lunacy.
What about HR1? I doubt you any idea what is in that piece of crap. You have probably just listened to partisan, dishonest news media. It is should be called the Corrupt Politicians Act. While you still have the right, please scan the damn bill.
=> https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1
=> https://www.heritage.org/election-integrity/report/the-facts-about-hr-1-the-the-people-act-2021
Also, take the time to read the Constitution. The Constitution obviously intends for states to run election. The following is from Article I, Section 4.
HR 1 is a wholesale takeover, not merely an alteration, and its main accomplishment is to weaken election security.
You want to discuss the ISSUE.. then here is the synopsis of the American Jobs Plan. You don’t have to meander about echoing broad stroked Conservative blogs.
Now.. this does not mean I am 100% for this thing… but I am entirely open to the sides debating the attributes of each of these elements. But I am certainly NOT subscribing to the ReTrumpican ida that “if it’s Liberal and it’s Biden it must be bad for America”.
Here are the toplines of what’s in the American Jobs Plan as reported by VOX.
The $621 billion in infrastructure spending is the largest chunk of Biden’s plan, aiming to modernize 20,000 miles of highways, roads, and main streets, fix the 10 most economically significant bridges in the country, and repair 10,000 smaller bridges. Biden’s plan calls for $85 billion to modernize public transit and $80 billion to be put toward Amtrak for repairs and improving train corridors.
Invests $174 billion in the electric vehicle market, building out a network of 500,000 EV chargers on roads by 2030. The plan also calls for the electrification of 20 percent of the school bus fleet, and using federal procurement to electrify the entire federal fleet, including the US Postal Service. It also talks about giving consumers point of sale rebates and tax incentives to buy American-made electric vehicles, incorporating a plan from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Eliminates all lead pipes and service lines in drinking water systems, and puts $56 billion in grants and flexible loans to states, tribes, and territories to upgrade drinking, wastewater, and stormwater systems.
Invests $100 billion to build out the nation’s high-speed broadband infrastructure to 100 percent coverage, including in remote and rural areas. Biden’s plan also commits to working with Congress to reduce the price of broadband, but doesn’t specify exactly how.
Invests $213 billion to build and retrofit over 2 million homes and commercial buildings, including community colleges, aging schools, child care facilities, veterans’ hospitals, and federal buildings. Biden’s plan calls for 1 million affordable housing units to be produced or retrofitted, and over 500,000 homes for low- and middle-income homebuyers to be built or rehabilitated. The plan also calls for the elimination of exclusionary zoning.
Puts $16 billion toward plugging old oil and gas wells, abandoned coal and uranium mines, as well as funding environmental resiliency jobs including restoring forests, wetlands, and watersheds. The plan calls for $10 billion to create a Civilian Climate Corps to conserve public lands and waters, one of Biden’s campaign promises. Conservation advocates argued that environmental restoration and resilience jobs like these can put people to work even more quickly than clean energy jobs. “Some of the earliest job wins you’re going to see are going to be in the restoration space,” Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, told Vox. “They don’t require materials or construction, new fabrication of different goods and materials. The only thing that’s needed is money.”
Invests $100 billion to modernize the nation’s electrical grid, and extend and expand the production and investment tax credits to accelerate clean energy jobs and projects in wind, solar, and other forms of renewable energy.
The bill also includes some ideas that might stretch the traditional definition of infrastructure:
Bolsters unions by calling on Congress to pass the pro-union Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Biden’s plan similarly asks Congress to tie federal investments in clean energy and infrastructure to prevailing wage laws, and requires that investments in transportation meet existing transit labor protections.
Bans “exclusionary zoning” and harmful land-use policies, including minimum lot sizes, mandatory parking requirements, and prohibitions on multifamily housing.
Expands long-term care under Medicaid, increasing access to home and community-based services and giving more people the chance to receive care at home. The Biden administration’s plan aims to increase the quality of care-giving jobs and offer home health workers more chances to unionize and increase their wages.
As part of a plan to target workforce development in underserved communities, Biden’s plan would put $5 billion over eight years to support evidence-based community violence prevention programs, and invest in job training for formerly incarcerated individuals.
So while your last “buddy” occupying the White House was busy trying to make America White Again.. at least Biden is trying to fix the economy to make America better for the future. I’m not so much a “Biden guy”.. but I am certainly, as you well know, not a Trump lemming.
@Doug
They had to call it a jobs plan because the lie about it being an infrastructure plan didn’t work.
Whatever Biden is doing, there is no indication our economy will benefit. So, it is not a jobs plan.
You are just repeating how the administration says the money will be spent. You have not justified any spending. You have not explained why spending, assuming government needs to do that spending, needs to be done at the Federal level. At the Federal level, because Congress doesn’t have to balance its budget, there is a greater tendency to waste money.
Electric vehicles provide a perfect example. Where is the benefit? If they were such a great idea, no government subsidies would be needed, but greedy people and ignorant so-called environmentalists have bought some votes in Congress.
You also mentioned bolstering unions. Why should we want the Federal Government to do that? So, they can donate money to Democrats? Don’t think that is a good idea.
When government takes sides with big companies, big unions, or big anything, that doesn’t serve the interests of the people at large. Unions are just another special interest. That entire bill is just a reward for a hodgepodge of special interests.
Ahh.. so then I had it pegged earlier. It IS all about “If they want it then it must be bad.” It isn’t all about the issues at all. It’s all about “what they want is not what we want”.. details don’t matter. It’s all about “they want it just to enhance their power and continue their misdeeds”.
No need to waste time on issues anymore.
@Doug
So you are declaring victory and running for cover. I wondered how long that would take. Spending the money can be fun, but providing moral justification for spending other people’s money is unpleasant work.
No.. the discussion is about specific programs and initiatives that are (alleged, if you wish) to help the country… and whether all or any of those things justify the expense. You want to discuss the overall moral Constitutional relevancy of spending public money at all.. seems the Founding Fathers already debated that and the people of the day ratified the process for doing just that. So what’s the problem?
@Doug
I have already explained.