Posts Tagged ‘Belief’

Hola!

I am having a bit of a problem producing my media, which includes posting here on this blog. Two problems actually. Problem one is my lack of time due to my gig as E-commerce Director at Certified Golf. Problem two is a bit more insidious. I want to stop producing media more skewed to the secular world, while not making preachy and non inclusive, non entertaining content.

My role models in this are Theodore Beale, C.S. Lewis, and J, R. Tolkien. Beale’s books, both as Vox Day and his given name, are fearless, fun, and can be entertaining to those of faith or those not of the Faith. I first read his work while away from the Faith myself.

Lewis and Tolkien produced allegorical works that are also enjoyed by the Faithful and Faithless alike.

Read the rest of this entry »

I voted Pic by Enrico Fuente–

I was just browsing the article site, Helium, looking for new marketplace calls for writers. Well, I got sidetracked by one of their debates. Which one? The one titled, “Should One’s Faith Influence a citizen’s Vote?”

Well, first off, let me say the voting at the time I visited was 60% to 40% in favor of voting by faith. That is a bit close for my taste, but still a majority.

It is important to understand that the question does not mean govern by faith, but whether voters should cast votes by faith. I also believe that a leader should govern by his beliefs as well, but that was not the debate offered here.

As a Christian, always let your decisions be led by your faith. Every move you make should be guided by your relationship with God. Yes, we all fall short as we are imperfect sinners, but we should keep striving to make better choices with the word of God as our guide.

Some of the adversarial articles just baffled me. If your belief system is animal rights, do you not vote for animal rights politicians and laws? If athiest, do you not vote for candidates that fit your world view? If you are a card carrying feminist or “Greenie”, do you not vote for feminist or environmentally friendly ideas?

Well, a lot of the writers against voting by faith, all 121 of them, seem to think that voting your beliefs is a bad thing as it may mean using God’s wisdom.

How Crazy is that?

Very crazy. On a secular level, how can you trust someone that will vote against their core beliefs? Would any of the above voter examples vote against their causes and candidates? Not very likely. If they did, would you not question their intentions?

But that is what they expect of Christians.

Here are a few examples from the articles:

When did this country stop being of, by and for the people? Separation of church and state is one of the founding principles of this country. Yet living up to this idea has been one of the most difficult things to accomplish because the waters are continuously muddied by those who use religion to control the minds and behaviors of the masses. Religious faith has devolved to nothing more than blatant mind control because religious leaders have allowed God to be put on the shelf for their own personal gain. Christians have been at the helm of this nation since its beginning. Jesus taught love, peace and forgiveness, yet very little of these attributes are evident in the politics of religion.-Vernelle Nelson

The idea of faith, unfounded, unreliable and superstitious, influencing global geopolitics is such an awful thought it turns my stomach.

Those who decide who to vote for based on notions on faith and/or religion are surely allowing personal reflections on life to stand in the way of important issues; quite often, religious believers demonstrate to the world just how blind and narrow-minded their belief systems can lead them to be.-Harry Lacey

Faith should definitely not be the reasoning behind a vote, no matter on what issue. The reasoning behind this is pretty simple. Not everyone has the same religion, and if everyone began to vote based on their religions, a split would most definitely be created in public life between the different groups.-Danny Mendel

Notice that some are not even arguing the point in question

A lot of the articles are arguing the separation of church and state issue, which does not even exist in the Constitution. The argument of separation of church and state comes from letters by Thomas Jefferson, not governing documents. But that is another issue all together.

The last example above shows the fear, and dare I say, vitriol aimed at those of the Christian faith. This, in my humble opinion, comes from fear. People that believe in nothing, or worse yet, believe everything is relative, and thus there is no concrete right or wrong, are set trembling when faced with people of true belief. I know I was when my faith was at it’s weakest.

You have an obligation, to God

Being a Christian is a hard walk at times. When it is at it’s hardest is when our faith is tested. But that is when we should totally surrender to our Lord for guidance and strength.

As good Christians, our every thought and action should be to celebrate the Lord, and to strengthen our relationship. To walk into a voting booth, which is a very important action, and to not vote in guidance by your Faith is a sin. Plain and simple.

In politics, the silliest thing is when a candidate proclaims faith and love of the Lord, but then goes against Christian principals in their political choices. Turning their back on the Lord and their faith to be re-elected or to gain more power.

Let me tell you this, that power is finite. The power of God is forever.

We, as voters, are a lot more shielded than politicians. We do not have to tell people how we vote. But let me say this, to vote in line with your Christian Principles, but tell others another story to ease your worldly relationships, is being in sin as well. It is a denial of faith.

In Matthew 26: 31-35, Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him three times the evening of his arrest. Then, in Matthew 26: 69-75, this comes to pass. Peter did not want to deny the Lord, but being of the flesh, he had a moment of weakness. We all do this, we can’t help it, we are of the flesh as well. As such, we are imperfect sinners. The goal is to trust in the Lord, and learn to grow in spirit and strength through him. The goal is to get better and stronger everyday.

Take it to heart that we trouble non-believers

Yes, pride is a sin as well, but I can’t imagine that the Lord would deny us just a little bit to be proud that our faith shakes up those without. It scares them that we can find the strength to refuse temptation while they drown in it. I baffles them that they go from feel good fix to fix, but are empty when the fix wears off, while we shun such temporary pleasures and never come off our high of spirit.

Pray to the Lord for strength and guidance when you feel weak. Definately pray before voting, then vote with your belief, not against it. Never deny the Lord. Our reward will be his eternal love and grace.

Hey, that is a pretty big win, is it not?

Argh,

Eban

Thumbnail credit to Lili Vieira de Carvalho

There are many themes that will cross over from essay to essay here at Jesus Pirates, as you will soon find out. The reason is, certain points are very important, and do deserve repeating. I, although the captain of this pirate ship, am just a fellow believer. I am not a biblical scholar, or a preacher, and I am most definitely an imperfect sinner. So, by all means, join in the conversations and let your voice, as a believer, and a crew member of the Jesus Pirates, be heard.

Notice how I said conversations. I used that term as I want to point out the difference between conversations and arguing. Not amongst ourselves, but with the rest of the world, the secular, the atheists, and other faiths. I firmly believe we should not delve into arguments over matters of faith with those outside of our faith.

Why?

Because we do not have a leg to stand on, not one. That is why it is called faith, and we are believers. If we had solid fact to back up our beliefs, faith would then be fact. Also, if provable, the faith would then be useless and powerless.

When we argue, instead of conversing and sticking to our faith, we often bring our belief into disregard, and drive the curious away. Those that are curious, but do not yet believe are easily scared off when they see the venom that is often launched in the direction of believers.

Plus, arguing is a cowards way. Not about all things mind you. Political and social arguments can be not only good for discourse, but fun as well. We, as humans, inherently love a good challenge. Also, I am not talking about issues that affect the social discourse that are influenced by our faith, such as charity, abortion, and so on.

No, the thing I am saying we should never argue is the Faith itself. Let me give you an example.

The Atheist Brings Believers to Their Knees (figuratively)

Recently on Twitter, I witnessed one person make several Christians look very bad. This person is an atheist, and in general, not a bad guy at all. But he is firm in his non-belief. So firm in fact, he is actually a believer, just in not believing.

Well, some christian blog rubbed him the wrong way, so he arrogantly challenged Christians on Twitter to show him proof that Jesus existed. Any proof, such as a credible eye witness. Several Christians took the bait, and were completely trounced.

Why? We have nothing, nada, zip. We only have Faith, that is it. We can’t argue these points.

The Christians immediately started quoting bible texts. This was the downfall. Our greatest resource, the book we try to live by, is all a matter of Faith. Our whole belief is based on Faith, that is what is so beautiful about it. The Bible has zero meaning to someone outside of the Christian faith. As a matter of fact, if Christianity was verifiable, it would cease to be so powerful. It is our faith that makes it so.

But in the real world, the secular world that relies on proof, we have nothing in these types of arguments. Unfortunately, thousands of people witnessed this argument, some of whom may have been close to opening their hearts to Jesus, others who may have been having some doubts about the faith, these people may have run for cover and might have been scared off for good. The Christians that took the bait–and bait it was–were beaten badly in this game.

This particular atheist had an agenda, and he won. Arguments like this are seldom started by believers, but are almost always finished by the secular, with the Christians looking silly, and mighty backwoods in comparison.

So, How Do We Win?

Just how do we fight back in these situations?  That is a very good question, and the answer may not be what type-A Christians want to hear. We don’t. That is how we fight back, by not fighting. We instead show the power of our faith by not being drawn in. We show them, the non-believers, the power of the peace we have, the peace bestowed upon us by  the Lord.

1. Don’t take the bait in the first place. Just don’t, ever.

2. If drawn into a situation where someone not of the faith corners you into an argument of belief, say this:

I can’t prove the Bible is true or correct. As history books have written, I can’t even prove beyond doubt that Jesus really walked the earth. As for miracles, even as I believe, and maybe even witnessed one in my time, I can’t offer you one shred of evidence. You have me. But that is the power of my Faith, as I still believe in the word of God with all my heart and soul, and I have witnessed the power, peace, love, and community that comes with it. That is not to say that I don’t have free will, or that there are not disagreements within the faith over things like science and exact meanings of verse, but all of us in Faith share the belief that Jesus was our savior, and was sent by his father to die for our sins.  So you can have your win, enjoy it, for my belief is strong enough, and the joy that it brings is so great, I feel like a winner every day. So, can I buy you a soda or something?

There you have it, the offer of the soda, or other peace offering, optional, of course. That is what faith is about. We can’t argue belief, but we are not meant to either. We are meant to believe, and show our strength in that belief, and thus show others and lead them to belief as well.

Had some of the curious, or those with doubts in the faith, witnessed that kind of a show of strength in the word, we may today have some new brothers and sisters in faith with us today. Instead, we have some that were scared away, or worse yet, now joining the chorus against belief so they will not be labeled as out of touch as we are.

It matters not how loud, often, or hard you say something, it matters how strong you believe.

Our personal witness to the lord is something we can only share with other believers, or those ready to become believers. Don’t try to change the minds of those not ready, or openly hostile. Just show your strength, that shakes them to the bones!

Arghghg!

Eban