11 posts tagged “faith”

I don't mention it often becuase I desire my blog to be a benefit to all comers, but my purpose for this blog is to communicate my best advice to my nieces and nephews.  This essay is more a love letter to them, but still can be a benefit to all comers.  So do read it even if it seems to be of a personal nature.  One of my nephews has recently been found to have a problem with stealing.  I had a conversation with his mother who is concerned about the consequences he is facing.  She has been acting to bail him out of this trouble and I disapprove.  She has paid to get his truck out of the impound yard and it sounds like she is counseling him to wait till the police have a case to prosecute and for him not to volunteer any information that could lead to a conviction.  This is an addictive behavior.  The addiction stems from a dependence on the chemicals the body produces in artificially creating high stress circumstances.  He has been taking ever greater risks to stimulate the production of adrenaline and various other chemicals the body produces to equip the mind and muscles to handle danger.

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So, let me be clear to my nephew first.  I don't have any children of my own.  You and your siblings and cousins are the closest I get to having children.  This means my progeny investment is in you guys.  I love you guys more than words can express.  What I have to say here is not legalism, nor is it cold, nor is it hatred.  It may be hard but I say this to you because I know this is the best course for you to take for your long term best self interest.  Your remorse right now doesn't mean spit.  You want to prove remorse to me or a judge or anybody else besides your mom, you will make everything right.  "EVERYTHING!!"  You will confess what you've done to each and every one of those you've done it to and you will apologize, and you will pay them for the damage and loss you've caused, with interest.  This is the minimum you can do for redemption in the eyes of men.  Now listen to me very carefully.  Running off and joining the military is not going to fix you.  You need more than a little discipline.  Your problem is not your environment.  Your problem is you and wherever you go, there you are.  The one thing joining the military will get you is a 10 year sentence in Leavenworth when this behavior surfaces again.  What can change you is you.  You have to decide to turn yourself in each and every time this urge takes control.  There is more payoff for you than those items you like to have.  You get a high out of the risk and so you have to look at other ways you can get that high and fend them off with every bit as much determination as is required to keep from stealing.  When you make the cost of this behavior more expensive than the payoff, then you'll get control over it, but not until then.  If you won't or can't make this too expensive, then society will.  They will lock you away for long segments of your life and that kind of record will ruin all your prospects.

Now to all of you; you are broken.  Not one of you has managed to live one week without doing somebody some kind of harm.  Whether its unjustly costing somebody self esteem, causing somebody to do extra work, or causing someone to be considered less valuable by their friends and neighbors, anything that causes any form of harm.  That is our human condition.  That doesn't mean you are bad people, this is our sin nature.  This is the proof that we all need a Savior.  God gave you two natures.  One is flesh with all its appetites and desires, the other is spirit with all its appetites and desires.  The fleshly nature is no different from all the animals.  An animal will do whatever pleases its flesh.  If its hungry and food is out, it doesn't consider the hunger of others or whose food that might be, it eats.  If it wants sex and a partner is willing and often even if the partner isn't willing, it will have sex without considering the offspring, without any other thought.  If it knows an action to cause it pain or fear it will avoid that action, but otherwise does as it pleases.  You have a spirit which desires more than a single moment of gratification.  Your spirit concerns itself with the will of our Creator, with the consequences to others of our actions, with the eternal goals for life and love.  You know greater pain can be caused by hurting your spirit than can be caused by hurting your flesh.  That's why its so hard to give our hearts to another person.  That's why its such a risk to love and to be open and vulnerable.  When someone is careless with our hearts, that pain is much worse than being cut or having a bone broken.  This is how we cause God pain.  We are unfaithful to Him.  Our whole experience in relationships is riddled with pain until we begin relating to God.  He alone is faithful.  This is a critical point.  Faith and faithfulness are very closely related concepts.  One is belief and the other is action.  You cannot be faithful without this knowledge of God because whatever is not from faith is sin, or is unfaithful.  It is likened to the mariage relationship.  If one spouse goes out with a person other than their spouse, we know this as being unfaithful or faithless.  Likewise, when you act without concern for, or in opposition to God's will, you are acting without faith.  It is action based in unbelief.

All our lives, we are fed messages through advertising and peer groups that strengthen the will of the flesh or our animal natures.  From the time we can focus our eyes on the TV screen, advertisers focus their messages on your interests.  Toys and dolls and McNuggets while we are children, cars and gadgets and food, and alcohol and sex when we become adults.  What kind of campaign is comparable to meet your spiritual appetites?  There are perversions which are directed toward your spiritual appetites like romance movies and books and some video games but what really seeks to meet your spiritual needs?  You have to be responsible to yourself for strengthening and feeding the will of your spirit.  You have to feed your spirit more than you allow the world to feed the will of your flesh.  I am not now talking about food, but information.  Advertisements are nothing more than information which feed your faith in finding pleasure and fulfillment in things or services that please the flesh.  Some of it is good information simply appealing to your natural appetites and some of it is bad information promising more than they will deliver, but still appealing to your natural appetites for their own profit.  Those who deliver what they promise are honorable businesses though they will appeal to your appetites to encourage over endulgence.  That is the free market.  You have to be responsible for you.  You have to be intelligent enough to make wise choices.  You have to consider the consequences of over endulgence and choose to refrain from eating the whole 30 ounce steak or the whole quart of icecream.  Its not healthy to eat that way and its not any better to act that way with any product or service offered for sale or even as a promotional gift.  If thinking of your spirit is not motivation enough, then think of your Creator and your family.  You honor God by your obedience to His will, by being a good example to others, and you demonstrate right behavior to your friends, neighbors, spouse and children.  Your behavior is a bigger influence on those around you than you can imagine.

The only source I know which is capable of meeting your spiritual needs, strengthening your spirit's will is the faith community.  Our family has chosen Christianity, others choose Judaism, Islam, Confuscious, and Buddhism.  You can look to other essays I've written to learn why we've chosen Christianity, but for now I'm concentrating on the more general need for faith.  It is the faith community which provides standards outside ourselves through the scriptures, standards higher than our society requires, standards which meet all the requirements which add strength to our spirit for behavioral self control.  Make your church your extended family.  Don't just go in there once a week and warm a pew and sleep through a sermon, but get involved in the church's stated mission.  Become a person the rest of the church can call on and depend on to meet goals and offer services to both the church community and as an outreach to the rest of our society.  Those are acts of kindness which are great for your character, but most important of all is that you get into the scriptures and learn God's will and put it into action.  Apply the lessons it provides to your daily life.  You will soon learn that you can't do it without the help of God to guide you and strengthen you to this purpose.  Only then can you begin the process of healing your broken nature.  It starts with these words.  "I am a sinner and I need a Savior.  God, forgive me and help me be the person You want me to be."  Its not good enough to say it once and move on.  Every day starts with that concept.  Every moment is a decision to do right by God and man or to please yourself. 

Your family is there for you through thick and thin.  We love you and you have to love each other even when one screws up as bad as Kleptomaniac has.  You are all you have in this world.  You never give up on each other and you certainly never give up on yourselves.  You support one another and you meet each other's needs.  You have to be strong enough to offer this kind of tough love when its called for, but otherwise be kind and cordial to one another.  You'll never know until the moment arrives when you will have to call on them to stick with you through the thinness of your own life.  In the words of Dr. Laura Schlessinger; "Now go do the right thing."

As I sit here on this anniversary of the resurrection of our Savior, I'm contemplating how the world got into this condition.  In nearly 2000 years since Jesus paid the price for our sin before a just God, we are still reaping the consequences of our choices to rebel against authority and the ultimate authority is the Holy God.  How can this be?  If we are no longer condemned by God and God is an unconditionally loving God, then why are we still and ever more rebelling against Him?  The answers are not all that difficult.  First, an entire army of anti-God actors are working to distort His image in the eyes of men.  One third of the host of heaven rebelled against God and were thrown down and are now acting in any way they can to hurt God.  Since they can't reach God to hurt Him directly, they are attacking those God loves with deceit and corruption using God's promise to man of a free will to cause men to rebel against Him.  Second, men have lusts and appetites which are set against their own will.  In this way, we are tested whether we will serve Him through adversity.  You know, there is no trial of the spirit and character if all our appetites and desires are in total agreement with Him.  Third, we have terrible witnesses proclaiming God disapproves of good things.  There is no greater witness against God than to have those who claim to follow Him walk around miserable, condemning all things joyous.  God does not want His people to be miserable.  Who would want to join a group who live in misery by choice?  Fourth, we are given a concerted message by rebellious persons who've decided to feed their appetites, that God (if He exists) is to blame for all the evil we know.  This is patently untrue and here's why:

One of the most common defenses people use to justify their behavior is; "God made me this way."  God made me gay, God made me with a big appetite for sex, God made me moody, God made me forgetful, God made me fat, God made me an alcoholic, et al ad nauseum.  In this way, we take the responsibility for our behavior off our own shoulders and place it on God.  People, this is blaspheming against the character of God.  This is slander and defaming His good name.  You are attributing to God your own faults to justify your actions in wrong.  Yes, you were given appetites, but some are good, some are bad.  Generally, all are good in only certain circumstances and bad in other circumstances.  All appetites can be over endulged.  We've been given a set of standards to know them as right from wrong and our conscience bears witness, which is wrong and which is right.  If God made you that way, be it violent, gay, envious, etc., then why do anything to change?  Afterall, you would be going against God's will since He made you that way, He must want you to be evil.  This is what I mean when I say people don't think through their positions.  God would not be just in rejecting people's rebellion if they didn't have a choice in how they behave.

One extreme of this mindset is found in the deaf community.  Deaf parents of deaf children often argue that God made their children that way and therefor should not have the Cochlear implant to enable them to hear.  (No, I did not make that up) Really?  and if they were born with a disfiguring cleft palate, should they be prevented from getting reconstructive surgery because God made them that way?  If this is going against God's will, why did Jesus heal the blind, deaf, and the lame?  Was He going against His Father's will?  It does not take a great deal of thought to shatter these ridiculous arguments. 

Nucleus 3G with EasyFit
Another extreme example is in the violent and the amoral.  So the students who killed all those people at Columbine or Stanley 'Tookie' Williams who tortured and killed an entire family and the many examples like them aren't responsible for killing and torturing because God made them with a propensity toward violence.  Therefor the death penalty is murder and abuse of the mentally ill.  NO!!!  People must be judged by their behavior.  Stop trying to judge the heart.  That's not your responsibility, that's God's responsibility because God can know the heart while we cannot.  People are responsible to overcome their propensity toward sin, violence, sexual aggression, envy, laziness, etc.,  We are born with sinful natures and must fight those natures.  If the excuse "God made me this way" is justification for any behavior, then it is justification for all behavior.  To those who might claim there is no god, by what standard do you set political and societal moores and our responsiblity to deal with those who ignore or specifically set out to destroy them?  Is a person's nature an excuse for their violence or their theivery or any other social crime so that we should not judge and enact social vengeance on them?  Is there nature a reason to redefine our standards of behavior to accomodate their appetites and perversions?

That's another thing.  Punitive action is in its essence a form of vengeance, not a form of mental health care.  Mental health care is a separate issue.  As a society we want to provide access to mental health care before crimes are committed, ideally but before or after, we do want to provide access to all forms of health care.  Mental health does have behavioral benefits and can preclude criminal behavior, but this is a relatively new science and is riddled with political agenda promoting advocates who use the authority of their positions to fight against the societal responsibility of fighting vengeful 'feelings based' reactions to criminal behavior.  What justice to the family and loved ones of a murder victim or the maimed victim of a murder attempt or a torturer or a rapist, or a pedaphile if there is no punitive action, only mental health treatment?  This is why our justice system is failing our society.  This is why people take the law into their own hands and go exact the price they 'feel' is appropriate.  This reliance on feelings is why we need laws and the justice system populated by people not directly victimized by the perpetrators.  There must be cool heads to mete out justice lest fuedal wars become common again.  Each 'feeling motivated' reaction is an escalation of criminal behaviors instead of a jury and judge who will consider the crimes and a fair response to them.  Cold blooded murder deserves a reciprocal reaction to end the life of the murderer.  Accidental death, deserves a recipricol recompense to the family, but not the death penalty.  When anti-death penalty advocates invade and take over the justice system, justice is destroyed.

Getting back to God's will; you may ask, "Bob, what about dwarfism and deformities?  Are these not God's will?"

My answer as I understand God is, "No."  Now, I have no problem with people coming to an acceptance of their condition as from God, but do you imagine that God wants one child to suffer with disabilities.  If you assume God grants one super abilities and another disabilities, what god do you know?  I believe abilities and disabilities are a direct result of the lifestyle choices our forebears made in their own lives or in the environment they lived in which is also suffering from our sin.  So, again this is a result of our sin nature rather than God's purpose.  I had the good fortune to be born with all my physical attributes in good proportion, and in the wealthiest nation on the face of the earth, but I was also born to abusive parents who neither understand nor command wealth.  I, like most of us have tended to focus on the bad hand I've been dealt, but when I sit down and count out my blessings, they far outweigh the difficulties.  While I was focused on the difficulties, I felt justified in foisting my evil desires on the rest of society.  When I went to church and was helped along in learning how to count my blessings, I began to focus on the benefits I've known and now find no excuse for doing evil.  In fact, I can use the experiences with the difficulties in life to motivate me to fighting the evil tendencies.  I know the cost of others' sin foisted on my life and can thus relate what my sin can cost those around me.  I can also use these experiences to identify with those who struggle against their tendencies toward sin and I can minister to them ways to overcome these tendencies.  I can lay out a logical motivation for right behavior, thanks in part to this knowledge of the sin nature.  God does not get the blame for putting me with parents of a broken nature because all parents are human and falable sinners, and He certainly does not deserve the blame for my broken nature, but He does get the credit for leading me out of my own broken nature and teaching me to use the knowledge of that nature to help others know Him the way I know Him.  I am not suggesting I am perfect at all.  I am suggesting that I am walking out of brokenness, step by step and I recognize I have far, far to go.

You can't legitimately blame God for sending the terrorists to you.  You can't blame God for sending the pornographers to you or the gangs, or the fiancial meltdown, or the incredible debt on the national economy.  These are choices the representatives we elected are making.  If we have the will, we can overcome the terrorists, gangs, financial difficulties, debt, drugs, and all the rest, but it takes discipline, it takes the guidance of a strict set of standards and the best example of these is found in the New Testament of the Bible.  Not because they are in the Bible either, but because they make the most sense if you are willing to think them through.  There are plenty of reasons to believe these standards were set by a miraculous God, but now that we have them, we can reason them out and come to the same conclusions.  The final solution to all our problems is; stop blaming God and start listening to His direction.

You may now be thinking, "But Bob, what about natural disasters?  That's evil, yet that must be God's domain." 

If this is an excuse for behaving as you choose, it is evidence that you first choose to behave as you want then make or search for excuses and evidence that either there is no God or the God that would do these things is no god of yours.  Going back to a quote I've used on earlier posts, "Contempt before investigation cannot help but prevent knowledge." William Paley 1780  So let us open our minds and consider things from another perspective.  As men, we see events as they relate to us personally.  Whatever we feel is bad is evil to us.  Now using our imaginations to shed that perspective and take on one of a Designer and One involved in every intimate detail of our lives, suppose you were the God with all knowledge and an observer of every minute detail of the unfolding events of a plan laid out before you initiated the first step.  You are one who can see and has already experienced the end result of this work.  How would you reach your children?  How would you work to convince the greatest number of them that they should believe in you though they've never personally met you and know practically nothing about you except what your enemies have told them?  Would an occasional devastating storm or famine help focus people's attention on your existence?  War is the choice of men, so don't lay that on God, but drought and flood and earthquake or meteors.  These are the domain of God.  Thousands may die, even hundreds of thousands, but how many billions of people spend eternity in exile from the only Source of life (hell) due to their ignorant rebellion if these things never happen?  If all our lives were pleasant and devoid of suffering, how many would consider God at all?  Even with all these things, look at all the voices who proclaim there is no god.  In the face of miracles, in the face of all the evidence, even the evidence of God visiting us in the form of the Christ, yet men deny Him.  The stories in the Bible are just fables.  The meteors and all are just nature.  The miracles are just the imagination of people.  The witnesses of God's hand in their lives are just the realm of self delusion.  Mass witnesses to great miracles are group hipnotism.  Any excuse will do, if you don't want to believe in a God who will one day judge us all according to our behavior and according to the abilities we have and according to what we did with the evidence He has provided.

I wouldn't have expected this message from a Kennedy, but I'm sure glad to have heard it.  

Here we are on this rock, floating around the cosmos trying desperately to kill one another before 'they' kill us.  In the meantime, our little rock is being circled by another rock which if knocked out of its orbit could destroy us.  Our system is constantly being bombarded with other rocks.  As we circle our personal fireball which in turn circles the hub of our personal galaxy, that Hubble image I was looking at showed literally millions of galaxies floating around in a chaotic fashion.  The commentary on that video said their collisions are fairly frequent.  What happens when galaxies collide?  They are destroyed, they birth new galaxies, the peel off their opponents solar systems, or they are scattered as galaxial debris shooting off in all directions.

Going back to my discussion with the liberal being worried about meteors striking the earth, he has reason to be

I believe we won't have to.  God promised to come and get us.  I realize that sounds illogical on its face, but if you would actually examine the evidence, there is far more there for God's existence and His care for us, than there is from the secularists who prefer not to believe in God, but will believe the disproved theory of evolution.  The case has been made that we have a religious need.  If you choose not to worship God, you don't avoid faith, you just place your faith in other illogical beliefs.  A secularist rather fight second hand smoke, carbon emissions, or even rocks from space than Maoism, communism, Nazism or radical Islam.  Which is the more immediate danger?  Which is the more immediate need?  Will we destroy ourselves with nuclear arms or will we destroy ourselves with second hand smoke?  Will we be destroyed by a space rock or a colliding galaxy or will we be destroyed by world domination by radical Islam?  What can we do about pollution and space rocks if we are all once again living in a stone age?

If you believe in God, Merry Christmas.  If you believe in humanism, merry capitalmas.  If you believe in Darwinism, I'm sorry, but please, feel free to celebrate our holidays.  We're happy to share our joy with you. If you've joined the church of the Global Climate change, I'm sorry, we are human, which means we consume and leave a carbon footprint.  You're free to join the celebration if you want, but I'm sure all that consumerism just puts you in a spin with concern for our planet.

If you are not familiar with the story of Kevin Kammerdiener and his trek into the Army and Afghanistan and back you are missing an important one.  Kevin was injured by a suicide attack on his convoy and his single mom (Leslie Kamm) had started this blog prior to his deployment.  I have linked this to the beginning page as the whole thing should be read in chronological order starting 24th February 2008.  So you'll have to read from the bottom up to get it in the appropriate chronological order.  It is a journal detailing everything from attending his Airborne jump class and graduation to receiving the news of his injuries through present day struggles and progress in recovery.  This is an important story being lived by thousands of our brave men and women and their families and rarely told via the major media outlets.  Please take the time to familiarize yourself with this very uncommon journal of very common stories of our military volunteers' and their families' sacrifices for our freedom and security.  It is a journey you will not want to miss.

For those with shorter attention spans, this video relates visually the modus operendi of the survivor mentality.  When the worst thing you can imagine has happened and there is nothing left but the consequences, you can either give in and let your life pass before your eyes, or you can take whatever options left available to you and do with them what you can.  You might be amazed at how well you come out of it.  In other words, sitting their like a victim and letting the inevitable happen ensures your victimhood.  Fight it!  Fight it to the bitter end and write your own destiny for as long as you possibly can.  You can always deal with the victimhood after the opportunity to fight is passed.

Wafa Sultan is a psychologist.  An Arab born and raised woman who has rejected Allah and has come into the knowledge of his prophet's murderous ways.  Its all well and good that you come to know the truth about people in your life, but it is known as backbiting and gossip to go discussing those faults with anyone other than the person with whom you have found fault.

Dr. Sultan goes on al-Jezeera TV and makes her case with the religious authorities of the land.  Her criticism is against their religion, their government, and their proponents.  I have transcribed the entire video for your perusal.  

Quote:  When I examined the Koran, the hadiths, and the Islamic books under my microscope, I came to the absolute conviction that it is impossible - impossible! - for any human being to read the biography of Muhammad and believe in it, and yet emerge a psychologically and mentally healthy person.  Do you remember the way that (the prophet Muhammad) killed 'Asmaa bint Marwan?  His followers tore her body apart limb from limb, while she was breastfeeding her child.  When they returned to him shouting "Allah Akbar," he said; "No two goats would lock horns over her."  As you know, goats lock horns over the most inconsequential thing.  For Muhammad, however, the killing of a woman while breastfeeding was too trivial an incident for goats "to lock horns over."  Is this a prophet of God?  It makes me very sad that al-Jazeera TV allows an insane and terroristic creature like al-Qaradhawi to use it as a medium for the spreading of his poisons, his terroristic fatwas, and his babbling.  The words he used against me incited many young Muslims who have been brainwashed and blindfolded and who have programmed to hate, to rain curses and threats upon me, right after the show in which he discussed my appearance on al-Jazeera TV.  When Islam considers women to be deficient in reason, and I refute this assertion - in that case Islam attacks me, and I am merely attacking back.  When Islam calls to kill whoever does not believe in it and I refute this, in that case Islam attacks me, and I am merely attacking back.    I do not attack Islam, I criticize it, but unfortunately, we the victims of Islamic upbringing, view any criticism as an attack.  I always focus on the language - the language of Islam.  The language of Islam is a negative, dead language, replete with violence, anger, hatred and racism.    Man is the product of language, the outcome of the negative and positive language to which he is exposed in his lifetime.  If his life is dominated by negative language, he will emerge as a negative, reckless, and non-productive person, who rejects everything.  On the other hand, if positive language dominates his life, he will emerge as a positive, happy, and productive person.  This is why the negative language of Islam has failed.  It has failed to produce people with a spontanious and positive outlook.  It has produced negative people.  If we take a look at Islamic societies, we see what that negative man did.  I do not view Islam as a religion - according to my notion of religion.  Islam is a political doctrine, which imposes itself by force.  Any doctrine whatsoever that calls to kill those who do not believe in it is not a religion.  It is a totalitarian doctrine that imposes itself by force.  When I read, for example, the verse:  "The adulterer and the adulteress - flog each of them with a hundred stripes, and do not let compassion for them move you."  I do not discern any spirituality in this verse.  When a certain faith manages to strip its believers of their last grain of compassion, it strips them of their spirituality as well.  Jesus Christ is the symbol of peace.  He did not carry a sword, chop off heads, or accuse anyone of heresy.  The problem in Islam is that if we were to act similarly to the Christians of the Middle ages, and were to model our lives after the life, actions, and words of Muhammad, we would find ourselves in an even bigger mess than the one we are in, and we would end up with Osama bin Laden and his ilk.  Read about the life of Muhammad.  What do you find there?  Nothing but his raids and his wives, in addition to his hadiths, some of which make you shudder.  I shudder when I hear the hadith:  "A woman's paradise is under her husband's foot."  The Islamic teachings have become dreadful in the skulls of the Muslims.  I see no alternative but to open up these skulls, and to clean the life-threatening cancerous cells in these brains.  When the Syrian people swarmed the Danish embassy and burned it down, it burned my heart too.  Why?  The Syrian people is dying of hunger.  The Syrians, despite their (ancient) civilization, chase after their daily bread.  Why don't they swarm the palace of their president, who has 40 billion dollars in European bank accounts, and burn down the palace, along with its occupant?  They swarmed the Danish embassy giving the West the wrong image of the moral and civilized Syrian people.  Therefore, I describe their conduct as barbaric and backward.  The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a religious conflict.  I support the Palestinian cause.  I support the Palestinian children.  I lose sleep over the suffering of Palestinian women.  I cannot even step on an ant, so how could I possibly be against them?  This is inconceivable.  This is a political conflict, and they should ask their leaders about what they have done to resolve this problem.  But the problem is rooted in religion.  A week or two ago, I read a short story in an Islamic book, according to which Muhammad was walking with some of his followers when they heard a commotion.  They asked him:  "What is this, Messenger of Allah?"  He said:  "These are the Jews being tormented in the grave."   Regardless of the conflicts Muhammad had with the Jews back then, this statement indicates that the graves of their ancestors were in Saudi Arabia, correct?  -Yes.  They are people of this region as is evident from the Islamic books and the Koran itself.  The problem with the Muslims is that they do not distinguish between their prophet and their own noses.  When you criticize Muhammad, his actions, and his life, it is as if you chopped off their noses. 

Dr. Sultan is risking her life to speak the truth to the very people she is criticizing.  So it should be with you, if you are an honorable person, that you would take your criticism to the person you have complaint against.  If you they will not listen, the Bible says that you should then bring a brother, that is to say somebody you both trust and respect.  If they still will not listen, then you are to take the matter to the elders in your church and hopefully your pastor will come with you to speak your complaint.  In a secular format, this advice still applies.  You find somebody you can both respect and have them come with you to speak to this person and if they still will not listen, then who do you go to?  The police?  Maybe you can go on TV?  Again, there is real value in having a religious group with whom you can appeal your case.

David Barton is a historian.  Historians tend to be conservative because historians observe actions and consequence in history.  That's why the older you get the more likely you are to become conservative.  In your lifetime you begin to see a correlation between your own actions and their consequences.  It isn't too difficult to relate that correlation to bigger issues and so you begin to compare events, actions, and consequences on the national, state and local levels.  So, let's look at what a historian has to say about American politics in the most recent elections and see if we can't apply a little wisdom to this election cycle.

I tried to add some helpful commentary.  These videos stand on their own.  Anything I would have added could only have taken away from their impact.  Do watch these, because they demonstrate the country's need for your participation in the process of electing our leaders.  They demonstrate the need for your influence on the leaders of this country.  They demonstrate the need for your influence in the press.  They demonstrate the need for your participation in public discourse.  They demonstrate the damage our natural tendency to withdraw from the crazies has had in the invasion of our media, our government, and our courts.

FAITH

Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary defines faith as; 1. Confidence in or dependence on a person or thing trustworthy.  2. Belief without need of certain proof.  3. Belief in God or religious writings.  4. A system of religious belief.  5. Allegiance. Contrast --bad faith  Deceit; dishonesty.  –in faith, Indeed; truly.  –in good faith with honorable intentions.  –to break faith 1. To betray one's principals or beliefs.  2. To break a promise.  –to keep faith 1. To adhere to one's principals or beliefs.  2. To keep a promise.  –interj. Indeed.  [< L fidere to trust]

The New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance says

4102. pistis; from 3982; faith, faithfulness: ---faith (238), faithfulness (3), pledge (m)(1), proof (1).

3982 peitho is described as a primary word, verb; to persuade, to have confidence:-assure(1), confident(3), convinced(7), followed(m)(2), have confidence(2), having confidence(2), listen(m)(1), obey(3), obeying(1), put confidence in(2), put trust in(1), relied(1), seeking favor(1), sure(2), took advice(1), trust in(2), trusted in(1), trusting in(1), trusts in(1), urging(1), win over(1), won over(2).

Faithful 1. True or trustworthy in the performance of duty, the fulfillment of promises, etc.; loyal.  2. True in detail or accurate in description:  a faithful copy.     

--the faithful 1. The followers of a religious faith.  2. The loyal members of any group.  –faithfully,   ---faithfulness.

Faith, according to its use in the English language in one form, could be described as a very practical application of trust.  So faith is getting information, evaluating the information and deeming it true, then applying that information and acting in belief as though a proven fact.  The less proof we require to believe, the more we are said to act on faith.  The term, "blind faith" is used of absolute trust in unproven, untested information.  A second form is supernatural faith.  It is this faith that is employed by anyone who comes to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  I'll describe this form as trust in information that has been divinely revealed.  The more we know of the Bible, the more we know it to be trustworthy as the faithful word of God and this demonstrates the practical aspect of faith.  Much of it is proven faithful as we read and daily see the practical aspect of God's instruction.  Even so, veteran theologians and pastors are often heard saying, "I don't know how many times I've read that verse, but until now I'd never seen it in that light."  That scripture has been revealed.  That individual's spiritual eyes were opened to a spiritual truth and they gained spiritual understanding.

In the Greek, believe "pisteuo" 4100 (a contraction of noun and verb) is used to convey, "firmly persuaded upon hearing, a firm conviction producing a full acknowledgement of God's revelation or truth. 2 Thess 2:11-12" So at salvation we hear and are persuaded so completely as to commit the rest of our lives to Jesus.  Obviously, this is only possible through the divine intervention of an all-powerful God because previous to this event we literally cannot perceive either our need for salvation or God's willingness or ability to accept and save us.  2 Corinthians 4:2-5 

Luke 22:32, "but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail;" Acts 6:7b "and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith."  16:5 "So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily."

Romans 1:5 "through Whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name's sake,"  4:20 "Yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waiver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,"  12:3  "For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgement, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith."  Vs. 6  "And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly;  if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;"  14:1  "Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions."

1Corinthians 12:9  Supernatural  faith is spoken of as a Spiritual gift. 

While "pistis" is translated into "faith" 238 times in the New American Standard Bible, it is interesting to note that it was translated once as "pledge," once as "proof," and 3 times as "faithfulness."  Lets look at where these occur and how. We'll take them in the order they came.

At 1 Timothy 5:11-12, Paul is speaking to a young pastor of honoring a widow who is, what Paul calls "a widow indeed."  He says, "But refuse to put younger widows on the list, (list of widows indeed) for when they feel sensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married, thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their previous pledge (pistis)."  Sounds as though they were pledging themselves to Christ as some kind of Nuns.  Paul was concerned that these young widows would disregard faith, that is to say their commitment to Christ. 

James 2:19 demonstrates the need to do more than believe, but to commit.  We work (study and meditate) to be grounded in the Word and as we stand firm in the conviction of our belief in the resurrected Christ, our faith is made solid.  Galatians 5:1-6, Philippians 2:12. The works of faith are perfected by our simply believing and acting in that belief.  These works are known as fruit.  Fruit of the Spirit are a result of living a Spirit filled life.  Works that are not as a joy unto the LORD or which are designed to impress people are not fruit of the Spirit.  To abide in Christ and have Him abide in me is to be empowered and to be faithful to live by His will (direction).  John 15:5-8

"Pistis" the same word, is used to communicate the idea of the gift of God as spoken in Ephesians 2:8,9 by the same speaker, Paul.  It becomes clear then,  responsibility on the part of the Christian is required to walk (live or act according) by faith or commitment to Christ.  This is a two-way relationship just like dating and marriage.  He has committed Himself to us and expects us to commit ourselves to Him.  Note:  He is perfect and commits Himself perfectly.  We are of a fallen, imperfect nature and our commitment is flawed with our nature.  He has provided for this in 1John 1:9.  But your faith is linked together with a joy as evidenced with Christ in Hebrews 12:2.  He suffered, looking past the torture to the joy of the kingdom completed with all the saints.  This is what we look to also.  Philippians 1:25 Paul links them together again for us, being concerned for their, "progress and joy in the faith."

Luke uses the same word describing the provision of God to empower us to victory and this is the reason for every Christian's accountability to God for faith.  Acts 17:30-31, "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man who He has appointed, having furnished proof "pistis" to all men by raising Him from the dead."

We are also called to prove, (be proof) witness through our testimony the worthiness of God for our trust.  Revelation 12:10,11  "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.  And they (the saints) overcame him (Satan) because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death."  This all the proof we can be.

All the proof we'll ever have or need is given to us at the point of salvation when we accept that Christ was crucified and died for our sins and believe He rose from the dead.  This is the reason God will not increase our faith.  If you have faith enough for salvation, you have faith enough to raise someone from the dead, to move mountains, curse a fig tree, command a mulberry tree to be uprooted and to plant itself in the sea, or to cast out demons.

An example of this is found with Jesus teaching something especially difficult to abide by and the apostles respond with, Luke 17:5, "And the Apostles said, 'Lord increase our faith.'"  In the very next verse, Luke 17:6 Jesus answered them, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, (one of the smallest of seeds) you can say to this mulberry tree 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea.' and it would obey you." Let me say it again!  The reason God will not increase faith is because all the proof is in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!  Hebrews 6:4-6  Faith is given by this proof.

One block to the flow of power is in lack of forgiveness.  Jesus ties these together in Mark 11:22-26.  All lack of forgiveness must to be eradicated.  The person we are most likely to hold unforgiveness for is ourselves.  1John 3:21  "If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God."  Without assurance, confidence we have no power to stand firm in our faith.  Remember Paul's concern for the Philippians, "progress and joy in the faith."  2Thessalonians 1:11  "To this end also we pray for you always that our God may count you worthy of your calling and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power;"  To what end?  It was to glorify God.

Free will is still at work.  Everywhere through the gospels, Jesus chides the apostles for the smallness of their faith.  I have to take this as smallness of faithfulness or commitment more than belief and trust.  The word "pistis" is translated both ways.

Galations 5:22,23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness  (pistis), gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  This is the third way that Greek word translated.  And it refers to keeping our word and commitment to its completion and not just once, but as general practice.  This verse is speaking of the nature of our character.

Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law:  justice and mercy and faithfulness, (pistis); but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others."

Romans 3:3  If some did not believe, their unbelief did not nullify the faithfulness (pistis)of God, did it?"  God does not need to trust or believe us, He has known from the foundation of time.  Yet, the same word is used here in order to convey His commitment to us.

The only place in the New American Standard Bible New Testament I could find faith being increased, was not through prayer or directly by God.  2 Thessalonians 1:3 "We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith (dedication to following Christ) in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure."  Faith (their commitment) had increased, or perhaps better translated, "firmed up" with personal experience of God's faithfulness. 

       -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. Faith is a gift of God but it is important to keep in mind that it is described partly as commitment and always implies action based on belief and commitment.

.There is physical evidence for the resurrection in the events recorded in history, but the enemy has blinded men everywhere to these.  Men deny Jesus because of their love of sin.  Jesus was seen by more than 500 men at one time after He rose from the dead.  So dramatic and effective were these appearances that time itself is measured on His existence by those who know Him.  The effect He has on those who know Him is so dramatic that their testimonies affect unbelievers and make them believers as the Father draws them.  Revelation 12:11  When they believe, He enters their hearts and they experience the personal relationship with Him and change.  2 Corinthians 3:18  And so the family of Christians grows.

In John17:17,18 Jesus is praying for all the disciples throughout all generations, "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."  In order for us to know the truth, we have to read (hear) the truth from the Source, His love letter to us.  A.K.A. the Bible. The truth is then applied to our lives.    This is shown at 2Timothy 3:16.  "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness."  We must have the Spirit of God for discernment of spirits and discernment of the Word.  1 John 2:27  "And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him."  In 1 Samuel 14:6-23 The king's young son and his younger armor bearer moved into the enemy camp and within about a hundred feet, slaughtered twenty soldiers of the garrison.  The Jews looked and saw the multitude of Philistines moving around and running from something in the camp.  While this is going on, the Jews have  time enough to take a census of their ranks to find out who was missing.  When they find out its Jonathon, the king takes time to talk with the priest before joining the battle in the Philistines' camp.  The words Jonathon uses to start all this were, "Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few."

As we begin to move in the ministry of faith, our commitment becomes more solid with every new experience of God's faithfulness.  Practice what you know to be God's will for righteousness in God's will.  Learn all you can of the will of God, and commit yourself to doing what you know is God's will and watch God move in power at your request.  This is not a righteousness for salvation.  That was accomplished at the cross.  But for power to glorify God as He moves with miracles, righteousness is a necessity.  James 5:16  "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."  Galations 3:11b  "THE RIGHTEOUS MAN LIVES BY FAITH."  Romans 14:23b  "Whatever is not from faith is sin."  Sin is defined as "missing the mark."   And the mark, in this case, is the will of God.

The men who followed Jesus on earth received faith from God to believe in Jesus as the Christ long before they received power from Him to do the great works that we know them for today. Stephan, the first martyr and Peter speaking boldly before thousands.  Paul and Sylas rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer for the Name.  All of them laying hands on and seeing miracles occur and going everywhere witnessing of the love and saving grace of God to birth new churches.

While Jesus was with them they were beginning to move in the works of faith, yet imperfectly.  Mathew 17:16  "And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him."  In verse 20 He chides them yet again.  "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you."  Then He adds, "But this kind of demon does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

            A man of faith is a faithful and loyal man.  I like the example in the definition of faithful, "a faithful copy."  A faithful copy of Christ in love and commitment, knowing that what is set before us, in this life as well as the next, is truer than this physical existence.   The belief, the conviction of this grows more assured as I commit my life to His purposes and experience His faithfulness to do exactly what He said He'd do.  Romans 12:1  "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." 

I must risk rejection for His sake.  He who testifies of Me before men, I will testify of to My Father, and he who denies me before men, I will deny before the Father.******  To be a man of faith means I speak the truth He tells me to speak to whom He tells me to speak at the time He tells me to speak.  I stand up for righteousness even if no other man stands with me.  I willingly look a fool to obey His command to lay hands on and pray for healing and release or to publicly worship Him.  If I am to be a man of faith, I must willingly pour my life out for Him as He did for me.  This is what it means to "Take up your cross and follow Me."  Matthew 10:38  ------------------------He said we could expect to be rejected and hated because we represent Him and He was rejected and hated.****  Paul and Sylas rejoiced at the fact they were counted worthy to suffer for Him*****  In all works of faith and every thought we are to filter our hearts through the love (agapeo) of Christ and men.  Our motivation must be for the good pleasure of God for power from on high. 

1 Corinthians 13 demonstrates the uselessness of faith without love.  We can be in total agreement with God and see the great miracles by our own hand and still not have salvation for ourselves.  God will accomplish His will through willing servants, but let us watch the motivation of our hearts for the full reward to come at His returning.  If I seek any reward for these works in the present life I forsake the reward in heaven.  Even if all I seek is to be noticed by men.  Matthew 6:1

            Some of the strongest warnings in the Bible are in regard to our faith!  It concerns me deeply for the American church overall, when I read verses like, Hebrews 3:12-19, 5:9-6:12.  Especially verses 6:4-6  "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened, (the unveiling of spiritual eyes 2Cor3:14) and have tasted of the heavenly gift (experienced salvation) and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, (The Baptism in the Spirit) and have tasted the good Word of God (recognize its validity) and the powers of the age to come, (the working of miracles) and then have fallen away, (rejected the truth) it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame."

We may be unable to determine what's in a person's heart, but the evidence of attendance is obvious.  It has been estimated that 70% of church members simply dropout of attendance in America.  Whether they are falling away from the faith is between God and them, but we are each responsible to encourage one another in the faith.  Dropping out of attendance is a definite sign of a struggle in their faith.

Do they lose their trust in God because some immature Christian hurt them or the pastor failed to recognize their works?  More likely they lose their devotion to Christ long before such incidents.  Indeed, in some cases their may never have been the devotion to Christ.  This is the work of ministry that is least desired and most needed within church today.  The faithful man is to correct and challenge, in the care and knowledge of Agapeo love, every wayward sheep.  Search out the will of God through prayer and study before approaching them, but do not fail to go after them.  Galations 6:1  "Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted."  This is one of the finest examples of spiritual faithfulness going.  James 5:19,20  My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins."

2Timothy 2:13  "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself."  When we fail to do what we know we should, we are able to confess that as sin, repent and try again.  1John 1:9  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Concerning confession, I recommend confessing to a brother in Christ as it says in James 5:16  "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another that you may be healed.  The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."

My personal definition of faith is now boiled down and rendered into the old, old nine-word adage:

"God said it, I believe it, that settles it."

Except that I would add, "so I'll walk it."

***Let us see if God is willing.***  Does God want me to get married?  Does God want me to reach these bikers with the gospel?  Does God want me to work in the prison?  Does God want me to speak against homosexuality publicly?  Does God want me to reach the men's group with my testimony?  Does God want me on the mission field?  Does God want me to offer to pray for healing for this quadriplegic?  Does God want me to speak to this pastor about his Christian walk?

.This rebellion is passive aggressive.  It would be like saying to yourself, "I don't want to do that job, I'll just act like I didn't know it needed to be done and busy myself with this 'more important job' and let someone else do it."

.  To apply teaching without contemplation or meditation can get you very spiritually damaged.  I might read where God had Abraham sacrifice his son and decide to do what God called Abraham to and would very quickly find myself condemned by God and society, and rightly so.

. Gal 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

. .  We can even place faith without any information at all.  We can also replace our faith, "Whereas I once thought I could get to heaven by cleaning up my act and convincing God I am good enough for His kingdom, I now believe I can't.  I now rely on the provision of God in the finished work of Jesus Christ to get me into the kingdom of heaven."  I have removed my faith in my ability to save me and placed it in the ability of Jesus to save me.  Just as I have placed my faith in Christ, I can change my mind and remove my faith in Christ and go back to trusting my own ability.  This would mean I am a fool, but I could do it.  This is what is meant when the Bible says some fell away from the faith.  It can also mean I no longer concern myself with the kingdom of God.  Let me make it very clear here, you cannot be taken out of God's covering or redemption, but free will is still yours.  You are free to choose any other way, right or wrong.  As a Christian, I am convinced there is no other right way.  One question still remains, "Can I fall away and get resaved or am I doomed after turning away from the faith?"  My personal experience stares me in the face, else I would believe once fallen, lost forever.  We all have doubts, we all get discouraged but I walked away from the faith for 20 years and acted grotesquely.  Yet the Lord never gave up calling me and drawing me back into fellowship with Him.  I could have been doomed eternally according to the scriptures, but here I am. I'm now baptized in the Holy Spirit and more grateful than ever for His mercy and grace. I wasn't re-reborn but I was certainly resaved because I had gone back to my self destructive nature leading to death.

.

Hebrews 12:2 "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 

. So, you say, "All I can do is ask God for more faith.  If I read the Bible and listen to the pastor teach, I've done all I can to get more faith, the rest is all on God.  If He chooses to give me more, great.  If not, there's nothing I can do about it."  Yes, we should read the Bible but, just reading or hearing the pastor and not practicing what I receive or even meditating over it (evaluating how to apply it to my life) is not profitable for faith.  ^^^^^^  In fact, these might serve only to inoculate us against faith!

. James tells us to anoint with oil, pray and see what God does.  James 5:13-15

. When we are saved,  we pray, "Jesus, I believe You died for me on the cross and that You rose from the dead.  John 3:16  I agree with You that I am a sinner.  Romans 3:23  Forgive my sin, come into my heart and make me the kind of person You want me to be. 1John 1:9  I renounce sin and commit myself to following You."  Romans 6:17

. We can place faith in worthy information and individuals or in unworthy information or individuals.   I'd always understood faith to be, "able to depend on or trust in God."  While this much is true, it really is an incomplete picture of the provision of power God has given every Christian. I see now that I've done myself a great disservice by not looking into it more fully and much sooner. 

. I've been a believer for about fifteen years and only about 5 years ago looked into the depths of what it means to have faith and to be a man of faith.  As a young Christian I wanted greater faith, more faith, better faith and sought faith through prayer and reading the Word.  I understood faith to be an essential part of Christianity.  I had asked older believers what faith is and how to get it and was quoted Hebrews 11:1  "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Ephesians 2:8,9 "For your salvation is from Jesus Christ through faith, and that not of yourselves that you may not boast." 

Romans 10:17  "So faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ."  

These are accurate quotes, but don't they leave you with an ethereal sense of other worldliness?  Kind of like grasping smoke or eating cotton candy.  No matter how big a chunk you pull from the cone you can't fill your mouth.  As soon as it touches your tongue it just melts away.  So it was with my confidence.  I could sit in church and worship and pray with knowledge and get the holy goose bumps and all my confidence would melt at the door on the way out into the world.

You mean, God You want me to witness?"  You want me to be ready to lay hands on anyone willing at any time?  Like that unsaved woman's injured puppy and pray for healing so she could know You as a loving God.  But, w-ww-What if it doesn't work?  What if I pray and it doesn't happen?  I'd look like a fool, a religious fanatic and God, You'd look like a powerless, or even nonexistent God."

You know how we have to protect God, right?

            What I didn't understand, was that faith like love is not a feeling.  With love we make a choice to care, then feelings follow.  Similarly, faith is a choice, but confidence type feelings come only with experience.  Every time I come to circumstances greater than my experiences, my feelings are fear and nervousness.  Even so, I have the option to act according to the Word of God or what my understanding and reason indicate, or what my flesh is screaming.  "RU-U-U-UN"

. I'll caution you here to check your motives.  As a young believer, my desire for faith really was and more often than I'd like to admit, still is about having the respect and acceptance among people.  Possibly, in my immaturity and sinful nature, I value their approval even more than the approval of God.  My faith is enough for salvation but I limit God, by being such a spiritual toddler, a danger to myself and others. Faith won't be complete without complete obedience.  This doesn't mean He can't or won't use me or you to do great things, otherwise He'd be doing everything without using anyone.  Hey, if He can use an ass, then He can use me.  Numbers 22:28  Even so, He won't set me up to fail.  In fact He is working all things together for the good of those who love ********Him. 

If He'd used me as an instrument to work great miracles then, my pride might easily have poisoned my heart against Him the next time an opportunity to see a miracle arose and God chose in His sovereignty not to use me at that time. Or, if the miracle occurred and I allowed the glory to fall on me, I may have insisted it is for any believer to move in miracles at anytime.  I could stumble another young believer.  Suffice it to say, "everyone who is not God has room for improvement."  There is no greater faith than to believe Christ is the Son of God, paid for our sins on Calvary and rose from the dead.  However, our faith commitment will always need work.

A while back I wrote an article on Obama's faith sell to the Christian community and in it referred to another article I wrote about his candidacy.  In that one, I stated that I suspected he could be a Muslim plant.  Today, another ACT member sent me some article links that give more reason to suspect he could be just that.  Nothing strong and certainly not concrete, just more reason to suspect.

http://web.israelinsider.com/views/12917.htm

http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/12745.htm

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/5354

The conversations on recent articles have turned to the exclusivity of Jesus as the only way to God.  You can track back to the conversations here and here.  I am brought back to the event of my own conversion to dependency upon Christ from dependency on my own self will and wisdom.  Some years ago, I wrote a poem relating my relationship with God before and after.  It is my hope that the poem communicates to those who believe that Christ is one of many ways to God, something of why my personal experience is more than some wise instructions written in an ancient text.  My relationship with God is present, personal, and constant.  My relationship is no more metaphorical than was Paul's of Silas, the 12th apostle of Christ who met Him on the road to Damascus. 

The Turnaround

Peace I want, for peace I'm searching
hard to find in this world, but well worth reaching
Peace long lost if indeed I've ever known her
Peace moves not, 'tis I who is lost and losing
Not easily reached nor easily sought
too many years wasted because I thought
'twas to be found without, while 'twas within
My own self doubt, my justifying sin

I knew, I knew and seriously didn't want to,
the truth I'd been rejecting, "God is present!"
He's designed a blessing, it was my dissent
that brought me curses, the rules are for ME,
not for Him, and I couldn't see
through closed eyes, His continued plea
fell on covered ears until my pain
and endless tears convinced me my disdain
was foolishly placed against my God.
I turned my face and finally called,
"You're right, You were right all along."

JudgeRight

Christians aren't perfect.  We are sinners just like unbelievers.  The only difference is in the fact that we have accepted Christ's sacrifice to be justified before the Father and in the fact that we turned from our self will.  We have all this programming inducted into our lifestyle by parents, by friends, society, etc., and by our own desires for pleasure and security.  We have determined to read and meditate on the Bible and to employ its instruction.  In doing so, we intend to subject ourselves to the will of God, to put His will above our own.  This is not a simple thing.  For most, lack of self discipline is an early and major hurdle.  Its easy for a while, but as the new experience of absence of guilt wears off, the old habits begin to roll back in like a tide having rolled away rolls back again.  Each bad habit has to be defeated and replaced with good habits as we discover the ill they portray in the Bible's revelation.

It is in this sense, when we say we are traveling the same road as the unbeliever, but we are going in the opposite direction.  We mean we are moving toward God while the rest are moving away from Him.  Again, the Christian is not perfect.  He can still choose to move away from God and prefer to make his own choices according to his desires rather than adhere to the instruction he knows and understands the Bible gives.  Without getting into theological debates over whether this means he has rejected Christ, we recognize that the Christian walk is difficult and any person who has had to break even one habit knows, you can sway back and forth and still wind up defeating the habit.  The point I'm making here is that Christians sin.  That doesn't make him a hypocrite.  It does mean he is working out his salvation.  In the same sense, the unbeliever is not perfectly evil, disdaining the Creator.  He may be wavering between acceptance and rejection of God's will.

Since we are not perfect and still sin, we absolutely cannot depend on our works to make our way to God.  Heaven's reward by any other means than through the sacrificial payment made by Jesus Christ is named as thievery by Christ.  This grace (reward by Christ's sacrifice) is unique to Christianity.  In every other form of religion, works are counted as the only avenue to God and/or reward.  Now, this is where I have to get theological.  Why aren't good works good enough?  This verse in the letter Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus explains just one reason why works are not sufficient to get you into heaven.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves [it is] the gift of God Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
However, this verse gives the most basic reason.  God has supplied the means and to reject this sacrifice is to reject the most valuable gift God could offer.
He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 
Luke 11:23