Thoughts on the Destruction of Statues

Those who destroy statues of sinners forget that they are sinners themselves.
Destroying the statues won't change history or hurt the people depicted.
Those people are either going to be judged by God, or they are forgiven sinners who are with the Lord (if they were believers).

The hate inside those who destroy (or those who want to overthrow the country due to the imperfect history it has) will more likely destroy the destructive angry people themselves.
It won't change their own prejudices or the prejudices of others.
Only God can tranform hearts and behavior and prejudices.

I believe some would be surprised to know that there will be people in Heaven who were sinners just like some of those depicted by the statues.  

There will be those who had slaves or supported it like Philemon, Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitefield, etc.

There will be those who had multiple wives like David and Jacob/Israel, etc.. 

I'm not excusing sinful behaviors or practices, but it is a good reminder to think about that those things were in those God used greatly when they were on earth. 

In this day of canceling and writing people off quickly, we should be thankful that God doesn't treat His children that way when we sin in thought, action, word, or deed.

He even shows mercy and love to enemies by providing the sun and rain and food while they are on earth.

He is much more patient with us than we are with others.

The statues mean little and should not be worshipped, but they are a reminder of history ...both good and bad.

Not only is it wrong to destroy what doesn't belong to you, it also ignores that even out of the mixture of good and bad in history there are traces of God's handiwork to be found.

You can petition for things like statues to be moved to museums if you want.  

That doesn't bother me.

You will never be able to create a perfect country untainted by sin by destroying historical pieces or making demands to defund the police or completely change the government or justice system.

The Christian realizes that Christ will return, and His Kingdom will be better than anything previously known since the fall of man.

Anything that people come up with today will fail either immediately or eventually.

It will be tainted by sin.

The reason why is that sin infiltrates even the best of governments.

Even if the United (or not so United) States is allowed to destroy itself as a judgment of God, I know that my hope is in the Lord.

It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man.
Psalm 118:8 NASB

John MacArthur on the Riots ➕ Free Expository Preaching Lectures

"Who's to Blame for the Riots? "

On Sunday, John MacArthur gave a message which outlined the restraints that God has given for people and society.
If you missed it, you can listen HERE.  I was watching it with family (live-streaming) Sunday afternoon, and I later saw comments by others about it online.  I recommend checking it out.

John MacArthur talked with Larry Elder about the message above:

Part 2: John responds to questioning from Larry Elder.

Free Lessons on Expository Preaching

The Master's Seminary has free lectures online which should be helpful for qualified men to learn the fundamentals of preaching.
You can find them HERE.

Should Respect for Governmental Authority Be Ignored in Times Like These?

The short answer is "No."

I watched some of the "news" this morning.

The media continues to undermine Presidential authority and the respect that should be shown to authority (as Scripture teaches).

I also notice that they have all but abandoned concern for the health of people.
You don't see them complaining very much about the mass gatherings or the risk of COVID-19...only maybe a brief mention.

Breaking the law is not peaceful.  

Yes, that means that people breaking curfew are not doing God's will (Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2:13-17).

If they are asked to disperse and refuse, law enforcement is perfectly justified in dispersing them.
Meanwhile, people's businesses have been damaged or ruined, people injured, and even murdered...in the name of protest. 

People have damaged monuments and police vehicles (which is something that costs the taxpayers money).

Can people not see the hypocrisy of those showing hate and doing damage to people and property? 

The police are recruited from the same sinful human race as everyone else, and those who protest them are not any less prone to sin. 

There are those in law enforcement who do their best every day.  

The main thing that is systemic is sin's presence in all of humankind.

The Bible teaches me to obey authorities.  It doesn't even say "just the ones who are nice."

It teaches us to love our neighbors.  It teaches love and prayer even for enemies.

America has the blessing of allowing people to address things in a lawful and peaceful way.

So, those who see bad things that they want to address can do it without breaking the laws or disrespecting authority.

Many countries do not have nearly as much freedom as we have.

The most common injustice in America that causes death is against babies in the womb.

Sadly, that has been made legal.

Some people seem to think they can be anarchists when they see something wrong, but this shouldn't be the case with Christians.

Have you ever hated or been angry with someone?

Matthew 5:21-22 shows that in God's sight anger can be as bad as murder.

Even righteous anger can quickly turn into unrighteous anger.

Have you ever lusted?

That is as bad as adultery in God's eyes.

God's justice always will prevail, but the whole human race is sinful regardless of color or ethnicity.

There is none righteous.

We are born a sinful race.  All of us.

We need forgiveness and mercy, and the only way to have that is through faith in Christ ... to have His perfect righteousness credited to our account.  He died to satisfy God's just wrath against the sins of all who put their trust in Him, and He rose again (Romans 4:25).

Please watch this ➨What is the Gospel message?