'I exhort therefore, that, first of all,
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks,
be made for all men;
For kings, and for all that are in authority;
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life
in all godliness and honesty.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Who will have all men to be saved,
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.'
(1Ti 2:1-4)
Hello @dwight92070,
They are just people; and as we know from Scripture, 'all have sinned and come short of the glory of God', no matter how well meaning. I don't believe anyone enters public service without good intentions, but corruption can take hold insidiously and defile so easily, even the best of men. There but for the grace of God go all of us. Let him that is without sin cast the first stone.
It is not without good cause that we are told to pray for those in authority over us.
There is no topic that does not relate to God. After all, He created all things, including governmental authorities. Romans 13:1-7, which is inextricably intertwined with politics. Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him." Mat. 28:18 Any leader who does not acknowledge that he has NO authority, unless Jesus has given it to him, or loaned it to him - is NOT a true God-given authority. Are we to submit to such leaders? Yes, UNLESS he tells us to sin. If he attempts to "lord it over" our lives and direct our lives, that is a sin. We cannot submit to that.All of us Just ignore politics and stop linking it to anything of God.
'Wherefore by their fruitsThat's pretty naive, to think that every potential politician has good intentions. When people see others enter politics for a salary of $176,000 a year - this is what representatives make and then after 10 years or less, they are worth millions, you know many are there to get their "cut of the pie", not to mention power and notoriety. Even the starting salary is 2 1/2 times what I was making when I retired 2 years ago. Nancy Pelosi has 40 years in as a representative and she's worth $340,000,000.
At $176,000 a year, it would take her 1932 years to earn that much! And she is just one example. Obama and wife are worth $70,000,000. He earned $400,000 a year for 8 years as President. At $400,000 a year, that would 175 years to earn that much. Bill and Hillary Clinton are worth $240,000,000. Obviously, there is MUCH ROBBERY and criminal activity going on.
These are not "stones", they are simply facts. To point out criminal activity and identify criminals as such is not "throwing stones". If that were true, then Elon Musk is guilty and I am too. Is a police officer "casting stones" when he arrests someone for robbing a bank? No, he is simply identifying the crime and the person who committed it.
I fully believe the scriptures you quote, but if we all had your attitude (by misinterpreting those verses), nobody would be held accountable for the theft of trillions of dollars.
Remember, not only did Jesus say, "Judge not lest you be judged." (In other words, be prepared to be judged in the same way that you judge others.) I judge a large percentage of Democrat leaders as criminals, and a fair amount of Democrat non-leaders. Am I prepared to be judged the same way? Yes, because I have not lied, stolen, cheated and deceived to get money or power. I didn't say I was without sin - I am not, but as I am made aware of my sin, I confess it and receive His forgiveness. But Jesus also said: "Judge with righteous judgment." He commands us to judge righteously, that is not hypocritically, being guilty of the same sin.
We are to pray for leaders and judging them is not a sin. King David judged his enemies all the time - he even prayed that their sin would return back on their own heads. And he was a man after God's own heart. Moses and the Israelites rejoiced when they saw God actually kill their enemies! They even created worship songs about God doing just that!
"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil." And it's also the beginning of wisdom. That doesn't mean we hate people, but we hate the evil acts they engage in, and we rejoice when and if God STOPS them and brings them to justice. Do we pray for their souls? Of course we do. But we cannot ignore their evil actions.
I would rejoice to see justice given to all those in the government who stole tax payer money. Have you noticed ANY Democrat admit what they have done, and asking his fellow Americans to forgive him? Not ONE! They won't even talk about their crimes. Instead they condemn Elon who is simply pointing out their crimes. They're too arrogant to humble themselves, repent, and in some way, make restitution.
You don't think the billions of dollars of extremely wasteful and illegal expenditures proves guilt? Two million dollars for sex change operations in Guatemala, 20 million dollars for Sesame Street performances in Iraq, 101 million dollars for 29 DEI contracts at the Dept. of Education, 520 million dollars for a consultant to do ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investments in Africa, 25 million dollars to promote bio-diversity conservation in Lisset (sp?) livelihoods by developing socially responsible behavior in Colombia, 40 millions dollars to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants, 42 million dollars for social and behavior changes in Uganda, 70 million dollars for research of evidence-based solutions for developing challenges, 10 million dollars for Mozambique for medical male circumcision, 2.3 million dollars for strengthening independent voices in Cambodia, 14 million dollars for improving public procurement in Serbia, 486 million dollars to the consortium for election and political process strengthening, including 22 million dollars for inclusion and inclusive participant process in Moldolva, 21 million dollars for voter turnout in India, 29 million dollars to strengthen the political landscape in Bangladesh, 21 million dollars for fiscal federalism and 19 million dollars in addition to the 21 million for bio-diversity conversion in Nepal, 1.5 million dollars for voter confidence in Liberia, 14 million dollars for social cohesion in Mali, 2.5 million dollars for inclusive democracies in South Africa, 47 million dollars for improving learning outcomes in Asia, 100 million dollars for condoms for Hamas. And all of that is just ONE agency, USAID. But the list goes on and on.'Wherefore by their fruits
ye shall know them.'
(Mat 7:20)
Hello @dwight92070,
No naivety I can assure you: but I prefer to give the benefit of the doubt; and believe that every man should be considered innocent until proven guilty - Democrat or Republican.
' ... In the mouth of two or three witnesses
shall every word be established.'
(2Cor 13:1b/Matt. 18:16)
Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris
Gaza did not get 50 million dollars worth of condoms. Andhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/04/no-biden-didnt-take-fema-relief-money-use-migrants-trump-did/ And I dont think Musk has any business in our records. They could appoint a Republican oversight committee---he is only around because he had money. Dude has no business. Trump is spending money like crazy, and Musk is firing people.. The country is mean and getting meaner.So while the people of North Carolina and several other states were suffering from Hurricane Helene, USAID was sending 50 million dollars worth of condoms to Gaza and 20 million dollars worth of Trans comic books to Guatamala. What outlandish hypocrisy!! Biden told us that FEMA was out of money!!! What a cruel and evil lie! These are the evil kind of people the Democrats have become - yes and some "Republicans".
Gaza did not get 50 million dollars worth of condoms. Andhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/04/no-biden-didnt-take-fema-relief-money-use-migrants-trump-did/ And I dont think Musk has any business in our records. They could appoint a Republican oversight committee---he is only around because he had money. Dude has no business. Trump is spending money like crazy, and Musk is firing people.. The country is mean and getting meaner.
Dwight - All the thousands of unelected employees of USAID - it's okay for them to see our records, right? That is, on the relatively few days that they actually came to work - which was almost never - and yet they still got paid for staying home and doing nothing. Or the "smart" ones got another job and still got paid from USAID. Yeah, now there is a group of people we can trust - uh huh. Crooks, just like Biden.
Dwight - Musk is only around because he has money?
Dwight - Trump is spending money like crazy? Really, tell me what has he spent money on, since you know? Biden has spent more than any other President. His absolutely LOVED to print money - that way, his supply was endless!Dwight - At least he's not around to steal money like the rest of the Democrats.
You should try reading the Bible. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1God did not create this earth... sorry but He created Eden, a most
perfect lovely home for His sons and daughters...and not upon this earth...
and not this dystopian ugly place , a fallen situation because of adam,
where people are ill and evil esau elites harm souls.. of course He has final judgment...
but all this before us will End... and very soon. it's ugly beyond belief. Submitting
to rulers? more like 'rendering to insane caesar' from our prison cells
inside this dungeon prison.
just not 'this' current heavens and earth...You should try reading the Bible. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
Eden was on the earth. Genesis 2:8
Peter commanded us to obey rulers who punish evil-doers and praise those who do good. 1 Peter 2:13
You should not speak against what the Bible teaches.