Bible Scriptures on Friendship

Trumpet Call for the Armies of God to Assemble

Abortion
SLIC
(Stop Legal Infanticide by Christmas)
To call abortion "legal" you have to ignore the 2004 federal law which meets the conditions of Roe's "collapse" clause, just as much as the proposed "Life at Conception Act". Lawmakers ALREADY have a legal green light to criminalize abortion as if Roe had never crawled its way up from Hell!
Immigration
There is a win-win solution for every immigration problem. "Numerical limitations" are the problem.
Divorce
To this day "no fault" divorce law does NOT automatically grant a divorce if either spouse asks, but requires EVIDENCE that the "legitimate objects of matrimony" really have "broken down" to the extent that "there is no reasonable likelihood of their reconciliation". Aren't children "legitimate objects of matrimony"? What if there is evidence that divorce wouldn't be in the "best interests of the children"?
Sodomy
A behavior which shortens lives way more than smoking ought not be encouraged by law, much less modeled by a lawmaker!
Education
Bureaucrats farthest from children get paid the most, to tell teachers how to teach. They impose certification requirements with little correlation to actual teaching capacity, and dictate to elected school boards what positions to hire. Their meddling is a formula for failure: Iowa's 10 largest districts are 100% failures by federal standards.
Child Abuse
Child are torn from allegedly abusive parents based not on evidence "beyond reasonable doubt", but on "preponderance of the evidence". That means if 51% of me says you are guilty, and 49% thinks you are a loving parent, you are guilty, and I take your children. If we make bureaucrats wait to tear children from their homes until they are sure, children won't be torn from loving parents, homes will be safer, the DHS will have more resources to go after real abusers, and taxes will go down, which will attract employers who will create more jobs.
Mob Media
The censorship of Truth by secular news reporters and courts is nothing compared with Christian self-censorship! But maybe a few examples of what God-rejecting reporters do to Truth will help Christians see the need for their own reports.
Bible Study
This isn't about whether I understand God's Word better than others. This is about whether we, as Americans, have the right to discern, reasoning together, wisdom greater than human wisdom: because that is what America needs, especially now!
Sudan
Southern Sudanese are independent of Khartoum. But its constitution is full of lavish, empty promises and empty of restraint on presidential power.
Leach 2010
(Dave Leach for IA Senate)
An out-of-the-closet Christian lost to an out-of-the-closet sodomite. But out of my defeat, I would like to offer you a strategy for your victory.
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     (Continued from top center article) The documentary above, "1620: When Freedom Was Reborn", shows how the Pilgrims planted these verses in their lives and up came the freedoms we take for granted today, spreading across America and eventually across much of the world. The world's economy exploded along with Freedom. The result is what we generally call Western Civilization.
     But on the personal level, human interaction exploded. Neighbors became partners. Servants became employees. Every dimension of friendship flowered. In America today, people walk together, talk together, play together, pray together, work together, serve together, march together, fight together more freely than anyone had for a thousand years before.
     All of this flowered because a few Christians took seriously a few friendship Bible Scriptures. Therefore it should not seem a great surprise that what most threatens America today is what also threatens the quality of our fellowship with our famlies, friends, neighbors, fellow church members, and citizens: abandoning these same friendship Bible Scriptures.
What if people would
   talk in love
when they can't yet
   agree?
What if listening to
   evidence
charmed as much
   as TV?
What if spouses and
   families did this?
Even neighbors
   and friends?
Even churches? And
   politicians?
Atheists and
   Christians?

What if we were slow to
   dismiss another
as beyond the reach of
   good sense?
What if what we stood for
   inspired us to practice
persuasive
   eloquence?
What if proof that
   strong words are true
were a valid
   defense
against the charge that some
   thin skinned jerk
chose to take
   offense?

What if Christians and
   Americans would
reason more and
   shout less?
What if the Bible weren't
   censored while
our land asks God
   to bless?!
What if everyone had free speech to
   state the highest principles they know?
And still look forward to cooperating
   where they agree?
   Patiently?

images/Partnership Machine

"Mixing Politics and Religion the way our Founding Fathers did" - because politics without religion thinks immorality in office doesn't matter, and religion without politics is silent about the government-supported sins destroying America. Saving America, and saving her churches, can't be done separately. Never has happened.

Friendship Bible Scriptures describe discussion forums in neighborhoods and churches where we can decide together what to do about matters that matter, producing true friends and a safe, free nation.

Bible passages on friendship first of all clarify real friendship. Ie. Pro 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Lev 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
Second they make this frankness the substance of church fellowship. Ie. Heb 10:24-25 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another... More Scriptures. (Continued at lower left) Life like a Movie
"A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it [destruction] shall not come nigh [near] thee." Psalm 91:7

      You watch movies where one person chases a thousand. Your heart follows the hero to the battle. Your adrenalin flows with his, sharing his excitement though not his danger. You expect his One hundred Christians with the Candle of God CAN chase 10,000 pagans out of the darkness. (For the Scriptures and statistics, see the top right article, starting slide #48.) But there hasn't been much chasing, because chasing information is censored on church property. victory over "impossible" odds, even when he clearly doesn't know Jesus, without Whom many things are impossible.
     But when the movie is over and you look out over the evils of America today, and even though you know Jesus alongside Whom nothing is impossible, you ask "What can one person do?" Millions chant it with you, and do nothing with you, Why has Satan invaded American public policy so thoroughly, so successfully, which in turn has invaded many churches and the lives of many church members? Duh, could it be because of censorship in church of Christian communication about driving Satan out of public policy? while evil grows, causing you and your fellow millions to lose your faith, demanding, "How could a God of Love allow so much evil in the world? God either doesn't have enough love to stop it, or enough power, or doesn't exist!" So you watch another movie.
     Did you know God has a similar complaint about you? He questions whether Christians exist, with enough love to stop evil, trusting in His power.      Isaiah 59:16 "It disgusted him even more to learn that no one would do a thing about it. So with his own powerful arm, he won victories for truth." (CEV)       God doesn't like it when no man cares enough about the evil He cares about, to keep Him company on the battlefield.       Here is the same verse in two more translations:       "He did not see anyone speak up for the people. He was shocked to see that no one stood up for them. So with his own power he saved them. His desire to do what is right gave him strength." (ERV)       "He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm brought him victory, and his righteous acts upheld him." (ISV)       Here is some context for the verse:       Isaiah 59:1 "The LORD hasn't lost his powerful strength; he can still hear and answer prayers. 2 Your sins are the roadblock between you and your God. That's why he doesn't answer your prayers or let you see his face. ...9 No one has come to defend us or to bring about justice. We hoped for a day of sunshine, but all we found was a dark, gloomy night....11 ...We hope for justice and victory, but they escape us. ...13 We have rebelled and refused to follow you. 14 Injustice is everywhere; justice seems far away. Truth is chased out of court; honesty is shoved aside. 15 ...When the LORD noticed that justice had disappeared, he became very displeased. 16 It disgusted him even more to learn that no one would do a thing about it. So with his own powerful arm, he won victories for truth....18 Now the LORD will get furious and do to his enemies, both near and far, what they did to his people."       Job 1 illustrates God's willingness to allow freedom even to the most wicked, up to the limit of where He can turn it into a Romans 8:28 blessing for the innocent. (Job's victory through trial delivered him from his "great fear" that if he were tested he would lose his faith. Job 3:25, 1:5, 11, 35:10, Revelation 21:8.)
     But part of God's management of evil is to give you the opportunity for adventure, love, and Matthew 25:14-30 growth. This passage shows that Heaven is no retirement home; God wants people in it who are ready to roll up their sleeves and accomplish great things.Your response to God's opportunity determines whether you will experience life on earth more like the Promised Land, or more like Egypt.
     Which is true? What you believe while watching a movie, or what you say when the movie is over and someone shows you an opportunity for adventure and meaning in real life? Churches support missionaries overseas. Is there no evil in the United States meriting church support of missionaries to address it? How many would-be missionaries are told by their pastors, 'Not only will we not support you, but instead of you preaching to politicians and activists what God says about their issues, you would be better off attending more church services where you can listen to me preach to the choir'? Do you want adventure, or are you content watching others having it? You watch fictional characters have it on the most expensive screens your creditors will allow, while you accuse We 'activists' yearn for the 'Fellowship' God offers. The fellowship of decay-stopping Salt. The fellowship of searchlights on darkness. The fellowship of victory over evil. The fellowship of turning the world right side up, Acts 17:6. fellow Christians who are having it of being "fanatics" and "religious extremists".
     Do you demand that your "loving God" take over your responsibility to stop the growth of evil, so you don't have to grow? If that's what you think, never read Matthew 25:14-46. It is nothing but bad news. The first part warns what will happen if you don't grow, and the second part warns what will happen if you don't help.
     Some of your movie heroes have magical powers which you do not. But they don't have your Partner, Whose Power is infinite. Other movie heroes succeed by very ordinary abilities, and you find them believable. Many movies are documentaries: they really happened. Yet you say no such thing can happen for you. Which your lack of faith makes true. You have to have enough faith to at least try, which is the size of a mustard seed. (Mat 13:31, 17:20)
     Movie characters face danger, but the cost is always less than doing nothing. Although your adrenalin flows when you watch them, you don't worry excessively, knowing that "all things work out for good, for those that star in movies." Yet you doubt Romans 8:28, and think you will suffer less pain if you don't work in God's Harvest.
     You "believe in" the Bible, but do you believe its stories of heroes who knocked down mountains of evil with no more talent than you have? Do you believe its invitation to be like them, its instructions how, and its warnings that if you do nothing for those suffering around you, trusting God's promises to make it possible, their suffering may become yours?
     Psalm 18:34 He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.      Proverbs 3:13 "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding....16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. 19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens."      Proverbs 24:11 "Deliver them that are led away to death, and redeem them that are appointed to be slain; spare not thy help. 12 But if thou shouldest say, I know not this man; know that the Lord knows the hearts of all; and he that formed breath for all, he knows all things, who renders to every man according to his works." (Brenton translation)      Proverbs 3:27 "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. 28 Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee."      Ezekiel 3:18 "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand."      Ezekiel 9:1 "After that, I heard the LORD shout, 'Come to Jerusalem, you men chosen to destroy the city. And bring your weapons!' 2 I saw six men come through the north gate of the temple, each one holding a deadly weapon. A seventh man dressed in a linen robe was with them, and he was carrying things to write with. The men went into the temple and stood by the bronze altar. 3 The brightness of God's glory then left its place above the statues of the winged creatures inside the temple and moved to the entrance. The LORD said to the man in the linen robe, 4 'Walk through the city of Jerusalem and mark the forehead of the men that sigh and that cry about the disgusting things that are being done here.' 5 He turned to the other six men and said, 'Follow him and put to death everyone who doesn't have a mark on their forehead. Show no mercy or pity! Kill men and women, parents and children. Begin here at my temple and be sure not to harm those who are marked.' The men immediately killed the leaders who were standing there." (KJV and CEV)      Mark 11:23 "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." (Jesus doesn't say it will always be instantly. Mountains illustrate not what we particuarly want to move, but what obstacles God enables us to overcome. Many Christian saints have overcome obstacles that huge, but often the project filled their whole lives.) James 5:17 "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months."      Did you think the "faith" which the Gospel requires for salvation is only enough "faith" to intellectually believe that a handful of facts are true, but not enough to take the heroic Why isn't it obvious that a nation is blessed when Christians obey God's rules for fellowship, and cursed when Christians forget them? For some of God's forgotten rules, see the top right article. actions which those truths require?
     America's freedom is the opportunity to face down a mountain of evil with minimal physical danger compared with the danger in other lands and in other eras. But there are other costs to being a hero.      You will need to study the Bible a lot more seriously if you want to target evil without hurting the good around which evil entwines itself, and as which evil disguises itself. You will also need to study with others who have studied the same evil you want to take down.      You will lose many shallow friendships, and gain a few deep ones.      You will lose your obsession with matters and pleasures that don't matter, which interfere with your new war against evils that do matter.      You and your truths will be misquoted and slandered by lovers of the evils which your truths attack.      You will be accused of neglecting your family if your focus with them shifts from acquiring luxuries to sharing adventure.      Even the very people you set free from evil will find as much fault with the new opportunities you create for them as the people of Israel found with the Promised Land into which Moses tried in vain to lead his generation.      The most heartbreaking thing the people whom you show the way out of their "Egypt" will tell you will be "What can one person do?" followed by their expressed doubt that God exists because there is so much evil in the world, as they flip back on their TV.
     I am looking for a church. I miss church. I have been involved in church many decades as a music leader.
     But time is too short to waste.
     John 12:35 ...Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you...
     The darkness of this culture desperately needs light. Our land is about to collapse without it. Where can I find a church willing to shine into this darkness?
     John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
     How I would love help shining the Light of the Scriptures which define the darkness of this culture! But until I find such a church, I need to stay at home and shine what light I can through the internet. The need is too desperate. Time too precious, to allow this mountain to stand, while battle rages outside the bushel.

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beginning Jan 1, 2013

Pastors:

Pastors sometimes complain that the Gospel is treated like a spectator sport. The coach takes his team to the stadium, where the coach goes out on the field and plays against the devil's team while his own team sits in the bleachers and watches. Do you wish your congregation were more involved with the Gospel?

What do you think it would be like if the team had the freedom, the invitation, the welcome mat, the Scriptural mandate, to come out onto the field and play alongside the coach?
     Not just to clean the toilets, drive the bus, sing the songs, or teach the kids, but to preach the Gospel, based on serious Bible study, alongside you in and outside the church?
     How would you feel if your team became so strong that they became your theological peers in many respects, teaching you as much about Scripture as you taught them? Would you like it if at every service you met with a group of people nearly as well trained as seminary graduates? Would you like more of that kind of conversation, or do you get enough of that when you go to an annual conference for your denomination? Would you like to see your congregation that experienced in reasoning with people who disagree, so you could turn them loose on the city and watch them win over sinners, turning the world right side up, Acts 17:6? Or even be that much better equipped to get along with their own spouses, or children? 
     Imagine a congregation of minds turned loose to freely share what God has shown them about daily life or current events, through their Bible reading, in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 14:24. (Not limited to pre-approved topics.) If your team is allowed that much exercise, they might shed some spiritual pounds, and develop some spiritual muscle tone. They might have a reason to become serious Bible students, if issues they cared about depended on their ability to reason from Scripture. 
     Do you ever wish, as you search for a sermon topic, that you had a clearer window into exactly what your congregation needs to hear? You would have a much clearer window, wouldn't you, if you could listen to your congregation talk with each other before God, about what they think, and feel, and believe, and what they've been studying in the Bible, not limited to pre-approved subjects?
     Put yourself in their shoes. You want them to love Bible reading as much as you do. But isn't  the opportunity to share what you have learned a big motivator for you? How would you feel, with all your Bible training, in a church where you couldn't do any teaching because all the classes already have teachers, who pre-select  the subjects to be substantially addressed, which do not include the subjects you have studied?

Bible Answers

"The mission of the church doesn't include politics." Presentation. Biblical evidence that God calls us to Worship Him with not only discussion of government-promoted sin, but with a "multitude of counselors" on every Biblical topic - and not only within a church, but between the churches of each city, across denominational lines. (PDF)

"Voting isn't spiritual. Jesus didn't vote. Voting intelligently is fanaticism." (Web page) Oh? Half of America's Christians vote Democrat, doing several things to this nation which God warns will send souls to Hell. The other half demands Mark of the Beast national tracking technology (ever-evolving Real ID Act aka E-Verify) as fast as possible to keep "the stranger" unwelcome, which Matthew 25:41, 46 warns is a ticket to Hell! Have we no Mark 10:16 duty to wise up? PDF)

"Jesus never got
involved in politics"
Oh? Half the Gospels were Jesus' sermons to Palestine's political rulers. (PDF) (Web page)

"Politics is not part of The Gospel"
Uh, most of our Examples of Faith, in Hebrews 11, changed their governments. (PDF) (Web page)

"We need to get people to receive Jesus into their hearts. Then they will know what to do." Indeed? Then why do we need pastors for saved people? It is difficult to vote to promote sin, and yet remain free of it, and abhor its tentacles snaking through community, Church, and family. Likewise, church consideration of what God says to do about what God calls sin, will not just shine light outside the church but will help immunize members against sin. Taking a stand against sin greatly strengthens one's resolve to resist it.

For the details of this sign which I am preparing to post outside my retail store, The Family Music Center, at 4110 SW 9th, Des Moines, Iowa 50315, see www.Saltshaker.US/BibleStudies/GodsViews.pdf. My explanation begins with a little story about a couple of previous similarly "offensive" signs posted by two churches, and what the city did to them.
     Americans are told "never talk about Politics or Religion" if they don't want to spoil lukewarm friendships that limit passion to frivolity, but God offers Fellowship. (See Bible studies in right column, and the documentary, upper left.)
     Christians are told to never organize against government-promoted sins exposed in their sermons on church property where "Bible" is spoken freely, (which has been "controversial" since 1954), so they have to work with strangers with unfamiliar theologies who have not been moved by the same sermons.
     Let's study God's standards of right and wrong, as applied to issues before our community - to stand against corruption (sin) and for justice (righteousness) - within first, and then without.
     Matthew 7:5 ... first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 1 Corinthians 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
     2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Click here for a PDF of Saltshaker Operation (How to handle Philosophical, Theological, and Logistical challenges), Saltshaker History (Brief History of the Fall of Freedom of Religious Expression in America), and a Bible Study on "Salt", as well as the Mission statement above. (15 pages)

"Christians have no business in politics."
When politicians get involved in sin, the Gospel cries out to “get involved in politics”.

"Politics is dirty. Christians should separate from it."
The way to avoid soiling by"dirty politics" is not by calling it "too dirty to clean", but by cleaning it! Matthew 9:10-13.

(The following are not yet posted; I'll post them when I get a Round Tuit or if someone tells me they would actually like to read one of them.)

"The Bible says not to
offend church members"

"We are to PRAY for our leaders, not LOBBY them"

"The Bible says to go along with whatever our government says up until it says not to preach the Gospel"

"The Bible says 'come out from among politics, and be ye separate from them'"

"If laymen try to do something in their community about the same sins that their pastor just preached about, that will OFFEND church members"

"'Pastors and teachers' (Eph 4:11) needn't hear from the gift of 'governments' (1 Cor 12:28) to know how to preach and teach relevant to where Satan is most directly attacking the flock."

Order the complete book: "The Gift of 'Governments'" (1 Cor 12:28)

There is no Biblical precedent for using endorsements as a condition before Christians will listen to one another. Doctrinal statements are not a condition for joining the discussion here, because they aren't a condition for joining the discussion in 1 Cor 14:25-26. (More)

Trumpet Call for the Armies of God to Assemble

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Last Updated (of the Saltshaker introduction on this page):
March 1, 2013 AD