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Parable of the Trees
Judges 9:8-15
Here is the first parable
in the Bible, and it is about
1.
The apostasy of an unthankful people.
God had given Gideon a
great victory w/ just 300 men, trumpets and torches and clay pitchers.
You'd think
Judges 8:33
33
And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the
children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made
Baalberith their god.
The latter is a god of
fertility--they were worshipping sex.
Like we do in
Judges 8:34
34
And the children of
What a sad verse.
And it is as much about
God literally GAVE
And how do we thank God?
By kicking Him out of virtually all public forums.
ill.--5 years after
establishing the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1647 the Puritans started the
first public school system in
·
One qualified
teacher for every 50 households.
·
One school in
every town of more than 100 families.
·
The Bible
must be used as the center of the curriculum.
That was the first public
school system supported by tax dollars in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_School_Laws
88 of the first 100
colleges organized in
The first building ever
erected on the campus of the
We have a Godly Christian
heritage and I could go on and on with story after story, but the main point
is that we see that we have reacted just like
No wonder the apostasy
permeates our government...because it permeates virtually every mainline
denomination today!
Example:
The Re-imagining God conference of 1993.
In Minneapolis-St. Paul
2,200 people from 49 states, representing most mainline denominations got
together. 1/3rd of the
attendees were clergy.
[remember, we're talking
about apostasy, like when
Here's how Christianity
Today reported it,
"The central task of
conference participants was to re imagine God.
There was little room for the triune God of Christianity.
One pastor drew whoops and applause when she noted that 'we have done
nothing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.'
Another scoffed at the idea of Christ's atonement saying, 'I don't
think we need folks hanging on crosses and blood dripping and weird stuff
like that.' 'We just need to
listen to the god within us.'"
The deity of the
conference was 'Sophia'. She is
the suppressed part of the Biblical tradition and the female face of the
human psyche. They prayed to
her, naming her as our maker, creator god, mother, and guide.
They talked about how
Sophia is god in all of us, deep in our hearts.
The Christianity Today article then said, "Whether they realized it
or not, the conference participants were worshiping themselves."
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1994/november14/4td38a.html
These people may have been
on the fringe of their denominations, but it points out very clearly the
major doctrinal apostasy going on in
Judges 8:33 is about
The goal of modern
religion is to feel good about yourself.
We've moved from convictions to opinions.
It was once said, "
To whom much is given,
much is required. No nation has
been given a Godly start like
When will we wake up?
The liberal left is eating away at our Christian heritage one bite at
a time, while we just keep our head down at the table, allowing it to go on
on our watch.
We've been brainwashed
into thinking there really is a separation of church and state.
And we allow them to silence us and push us into a corner.
I'm proud that many of us
are today speaking up.
ill.--a valedictorian a
few years ago was told he couldn't mention God in his speech, so he got up
and began to sneeze, over and again, after each of which the whole student
body would say, "God bless you!"
That's what we need, for the people to rise up and take
The late Jack Kemp said,
"When gradeschoolers are encouraged to learn and read about condoms but
forbidden to read the 10 Commandments on the wall something is vitally wrong
with education in
4 effects of apostasy on American culture:
·
Has
normalized that which is abnormal.
Sex before marriage used to be subnormal, but today it is normal.
Look at entertainment, and look at people in your life.
It is so rare to find someone who does it God's way.
·
Has
desensitized us to that which should shock us.
We've forgotten how to blush.
Nothing embarrasses us anymore.
Show me humor that isn't filthy.
Show me advertising that you can show your kids.
Show me a news report that doesn't lead your kids to questions you
aren't ready to talk about with them yet.
Madonna kisses Britney and so Janet Jackson has to expose herself
during the Superbowl, and somebody else has to do something more
outrageous...no wonder America is falling...our society emulates this crowd,
and not only is no longer shocked by it, but thirsty for more!
We're desensitized. We
allow profanity in our houses thru TV and music, and many Christians speak
it...they don't even realize it many times!
·
Has
legitimized that would should be illegitimate.
Homosexuality has gone from being a sin to being a sickness to being
socially accepted. And if you
don't agree you just don't get it.
·
Has
stigmatized anything good and Godly.
If we don't agree with the secular progressive movement today, a
stigma is placed upon us. Just
try recommending monogamy in marriage or virginity in young people and
you'll be laughed to scorn. And
when I preach the truth I'm immediately tagged as part of the radical
religious right, and I have the hate mail to prove it.
By the way, I wear their label proudly.
And I'm glad to post this on the internet.
Love me or hate me, you just can't ignore me!
Isaiah said woe unto them who call good evil and evil good.
This world is changing but our God doesn't change, nor does His Word
change, and nor should we!
Historically, God has
given
1.
The Apostasy of an unthankful people.
2.
The Arrogance of an ungodly leader.
Chapter 9:1-4 tells us
about Abimelech. To sum it up,
he says, "Should we have many leaders or just one?"
He is nominating himself, knowing they will go along with it.
He takes power from the people and places it all on himself.
Sound familiar?
a. He bought his brethren.
v. 4 says he bought the
election, and used money to buy his constituency.
b. He built upon blood.
v. 5
Today it is the blood of innocent babies.
Without stuttering or
stammering I say again tonite that the moment you hear a politician state
that he stands for a woman's right to choose you ought to automatically
cross them off your list! It is
the central issue of our day...and the one I expect
c. He basked in blasphemy.
v. 6
That pillar was the place where God made His covenant with
Abraham...a holy place!
Abimelech is trying to have it both ways, and has his inauguration at a holy
site, making a farce of the God he rejected in practice.
Aren't you tired of seeing our leaders who stand for such moral
decadence walking out of their photo op churches holding their Bibles?
They say they are Christians but their life says otherwise.
It makes me want to vomit!
I'm proud of the Catholic church which in some cases is taking a
stand and saying, hey, we're gonna throw you out if you don't stop what you
are doing!
1.
The Apostasy of an unthankful people.
2.
The Arrogance of an ungodly leader.
3.
The Apathy of an uncommitted people.
Here's the parable of the
trees in a nutshell: Each of
the trees said "No, I don't want to lead, let someone else."
So the people turned to the bramble bush for leadership and the bush
agreed, and said, "You can rest under my shade."
The irony? It has no
shade!
So when all the other
trees forsook the call of duty, the people settled for what they got.
Edmund Burke, "All that is
necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
The theme of Judges is
that God would rather forgive than judge.
But for that to happen Christians will need to rise up from their
apathy, and their prayers be heard, their voices be heard, and their votes
be heard.
It's still possible to
save
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