First Baptist Church in Fernwood, NY » Christians

Swearing

Pastor Scott Griese — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:07:42 +0000

1 Corinthians 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Growing up, I rarely ever heard a female swear. I would hear fellow classmates swear and I can remember a particularly foul-mouthed boy that was a grade ahead of me in elementary school, but it was very rare to hear a girl swear.

I wish that was true today.

When I am at the store, in fact, I think I hear more women curse than I hear men curse. Worse yet, I am hearing them using four letter words in earshot of their children! What happened?

Television is a part of the problem. I can remember back in the Seventies when a certain curse word was allowed to be used. “All in the Family” was one of the first shows to use that word and it opened the floodgates. There was some protesting done back then, but it did no good. Now the language on TV has gotten worse with the great expanse of cable channels. In our household now we do not have our TV hooked up to anything but a DVD player and a VCR. Not only because of the language on TV, but also the suggestive shows and advertisements.

People today are not thinking about what they are saying. They use the word “hell” like it means nothing. They use the word in their greetings and use it in descriptive terms — and never once thinking about what Hell truly is: a place of eternal torment and everlasting destruction.

Sadly, there are “churches” out there that have “pastors” that now use curse words in their messages that they preach to their congregations! That is horrible! A Christian is not to resemble the world, a true believer in Jesus Christ should be different from the world.

People are constantly taking the Lord’s name in vain. They declare “Oh my G–” and “Thank G–” but they are not really calling out to Him. It is just a meaningless expression and they do not realize that they are taking God’s name in vain. The name of Jesus Christ should not be used as a curse word either! People have no regard for their Creator.

Two Brian McLaren quotes

Pastor Scott Griese — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 02:01:43 +0000

The Christian faith, I am proposing, should become (in the name of Jesus Christ) a welcome friend to other religions of the world, not a threat”
–Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy McLaren, p.254

The Apostle Paul wrote:

2Corinthians 6:14-18 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (15) And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? (16) And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (17) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. (18) And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Brian McLaren wrote:

This is how I feel when I’m offered a choice between the roads of exclusivism (only confessing Christians go to heaven), universalism (everyone goes to heaven), and inclusivism (Christians go to heaven, plus at least some others). Each road takes you somewhere, to a place with some advantages and disadvantages, but none of them is the road of my missional calling: blessed in this life to be a blessing to everyone on earth.”
–Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy McLaren, p. 113

The Apostle John wrote:

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Paul wrote:

Romans 15:5-6 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: (6) That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ declared:

Matthew 7:12-14 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. (13) Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: (14) Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

We need to bless others in that our conversation (life) should glorify God. However, blessing others does them no good, if they do not come to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Feeding others (which is a good thing to do) takes care of their temporary problem, but when you give them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that takes care of their eternal life!

Jesus Christ also said:

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

America Bless God

Pastor Scott Griese — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:48:57 +0000

The United States of America is a nation that was founded God’s ideals and commandments. For many, many years, America was the shining light to the world for Christianity. In 1 Samuel 2:30, God declared, “… them that honor me I will honor.” America honored God. America blessed God and God blessed America. Our forefathers may not have all been saved Christians, but they understood something about God and that His ways are the right ways.

“The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?” – BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

“The reason that Christianity is the best friend of Government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart.” – PRESIDENT THOMAS JEFFERSON

“The Bible is the Rock on which this Republic rests.” – PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSON

“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” – PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON (on September 17th, 1796)

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said in 1824: No free government now exists in the world, unless where Christianity is acknowledged, and is the religion of the country.

An 1853 House Judiciary Committee conducted a one-year long inquiry when a group petitioned the government to remove Christianity from our government institutions. On March 27, 1854, that Committee brought the following conclusion:

“Had the people, during the revolution, a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that revolution would have been strangled in its cradle… At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and its amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, but not any one sect… In this age, there is no substitute for Christianity… That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.”

Two months later, The House Committee added these words to their previous ones: “The great, vital and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and the divine truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Now can you picture the leaders of our government today making those same types of statements? Can you picture Nancy Pelosi or President Obama saying these same words? Four times in his speech in Cairo, Egypt, President Obama referred to the Koran as being “holy.” Would a true believer in Jesus Christ (as President Obama claims) make that kind of statement about a book that denies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? No! People work very hard to draw comparisons between Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln. Listen to what Abraham Lincoln said about the Bible:

“I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior (Jesus) of the world is communicated to us through this book.” – PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN

The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is fond of quoting from the Old Testament when she is speaking about environmental concerns. She has quoted the same verse at least six times since 2005. In April 2009 Nancy Pelosi said: “The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, ‘To minister to the needs of God’s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.’” I do not know what book she is quoting from, but it is not the Bible.

America needs to get back to God and we need to do it today! This country needs to get back to blessing God and not expecting God to bless us! Why should He bless the United States when the United States refuses to have anything to do with Him? America needs to fall on its collective knees and cry out to God and repent!