When you are given a choice, you think you have acted freely. ~Penn (of Penn & Teller)
Think about this as it refers to America. We seem to have many choices here, and we pride ourselves on being a free country. Are we free, though? Do we have a choice to pay taxes or not? Do we have a choice of how the government spends our taxes? Some people think we can vote for what we want, but in a cou...ntry where majority rules, how free, really, is the individual to order his/her life her way?
Don't come back at me with arguments like, "Well serial killers want to be free to do what they want, too, but for the good of society, they can't be," or "the invasive pat downs and x-rays at security checkpoints are for our protection." It doesn't protect anyone (from terrorists or serial killers) for someone's grandma to be forced to remove her diaper, or for some 6-year old to have his privates groped. You are not even worth talking to if you think those things have anything to do with protection, or if you equate the average freedom-loving American with serial killers.
So let's look at some of the choices we have:
1. Pay your vehicle license tax -or- have your personal property impounded
2. Use the money of the land -or- don't buy or sell
3. Pay your property tax -or- have your house taken from you and auctioned off
4. Pay your income tax -or- go to jail
5. Obey the speed limits -or- risk a ticket (which imposes another tax)
6. Buy car insurance -or- risk a ticket and impoundment of your property again
7. Get a driver's licence -or- risk vehicle impoundment -or- don't drive
8. Eat food poisoned with high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils and/or MSG -or- grow what you can yourself and eat that -but- don't grow it in your front yard and don't try to sell it -or- face criminal penalties including jail and fines.
9. After high school graduate from college -or- face having a lower economic status for the rest of your life
I could go on with our choices here in America, the land of the "free." To be quite honest, I do feel like I have acted freely when I obey the speed limit and paid my bills on time. So I think what Penn states above is true. When we are given a choice, we feel as though we have acted freely, even when the choice is between something you might prefer and something punitive, like all of the above choices.
When the choice is made to avoid punitive damages, however, it is not a free choice. Ask yourself this: why should anyone be able to punish you with a tax or impoundment of your personal property when your actions or use of your own property have nor produced any victim, or even the hint of a victim?
I received a ticket on my work site one time for doing 35 in a 25 zone, and when he finished writing me the ticket, the officer said, "We just want everyone to be safe." Because I don't want hassle I didn't point out to him that no one was hurt or even close to getting hurt by my 35 mph "mad dash" around work. If someone had been out in the street in the crosswalk, or going to cross, I would have slowed down and/or stopped, and everyone would still have been safe. The point was that it WAS safe, even though I was speeding. No victim, no crime. But I still got a ticket because there are rules.
Rules = not free.
Review the places in your life where you are without rules. In your relationship with your spouse? In you relationship with your kids? When you are out hunting? Fishing? How about when taking a nap or sleeping at night--aren't there even rules then for how long you can sleep and when you have to wake up and how much of the bed and blanket you can use? You've got choices all the time, but are you ever really free?
Now let's look at another "choice" we have. Accept Jesus Christ or get a one-way ticket to hell.
Of course it isn't as simple as accepting--you have to repent, ask for forgiveness, accept the sacrifice He made for you, and then BE ACCEPTED in return by HIM. The latter part does not seem to be guaranteed in scripture.
But looking at the simplified choice, it isn't much of a choice, is it? Hell is a pretty serious punitive damage. People are angry at God for this and deal with it in various ways, by pretending God doesn't exist, usually, and adhering instead to one of the many religions that isn't so hard to deal with. Let's look at this, though. Jesus or hell.
Jesus or hell.
Jesus or hell.
Jesus or hell.
Don't be afraid of it. Jesus or hell. Forget everything else for a minute and make a choice: Jesus or hell? We'll get back to that later.
Was it a free choice? Are you free if you have something as terrible as hell looming over your choice?
The answer is NO. Hell is even worse, by far, than all of the punitive damages our society imposes for making the "wrong" choice. It can be established that America is not a free country, despite its assertions to the contrary. I defy you to find one country or society that is free. You won't. None of them are free. You aren't even free, in most cases, when you sleep!
And now we see that you aren't even free according to the Creator of Everything, the Creator of the world, the Ruler of the Universe, God Himself. You aren't free. You are free to choose to live or perish, but He has the final say over which it is no matter what you "choose."
Connect the dots. This is not a free world, this is a SLAVE WORLD. The only thing certain about this planet is that you will serve a master. Some people don't care--they like the slavery even, because if you have enough money or little enough money, it "feels" free. The most remarkable thing about this condition of slavery is that it is possible to choose which master. What slave ever got to choose his master? None! Except us, the sons and daughters of Christ the King. And scriptures say if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)
But the freedom doesn't come here, in this earthly life, on this slave planet, in the flesh. Freedom is in the life to come if you choose the correct master and He chooses you back. That is the hope we are certain of. None of us know what it is like, being truly free in Christ, except possibly a few saints throughout history, and possibly people with memories of Heaven. It will be such a delightful surprise to finally know what freedom is!
So getting back to the choice--Jesus or hell. Put aside all of your intellectual arguments, atheistic viewpoints, etc., and choose. Chances are, if you aren't a psychopath, you chose Jesus. Who would ever choose hell?
So if you know you would choose Jesus if it came down to the two choices, and you realize that indeed this IS a slave planet, and the only thing possible for the slaves living on it is SERVITUDE, hadn't you better figure out this whole Jesus thing and make your final choice? Look, forgive God already for whatever you are angry with him about. He doesn't need forgiving, but you will figure that out as you grow in Him. For now, just stop being angry. Everything that happened to you in your life that you are mad about happened to a SLAVE on a SLAVE PLANET. You are mad because you didn't think you were a slave and you didn't think it should happen to you. Since you reached the age of accountability, though, you have most likely not been serving the King. You have served yourself or others or the flesh or the enemy directly, but the simple truth is that if you aren't serving Jesus, you are serving His enemy. There are only two choices. If you are serving the enemy or if your parents were before you became an adult, and you got hurt--well that's what happens!
But don't think serving Christ means you will be unscathed. Terrible things happen to believers, too. 11 of Jesus' 12 disciples were crucified, and they were His best friends! A slave doesn't have a choice about what happens to him/her. That's the nature of slavery. There is no place you can run to, and no rebellion you can make that will get you out of being a slave on a slave planet, so you might look at the choices like this:
1. Live a slave's life in the flesh fraught with pain and misery, with a few happy moments thrown in, then die and be raised imperishable and and live with Christ in Heaven forever.
2. Live a slave's life in the flesh fraught with pain and misery, with a few happy moments thrown in, then die and be cast into the pit of hell for all eternity because Jesus never knew you.
Choice is not freedom. ~Penn
Choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15 (paraphrased)
You aren't free. So choose.
Think about this as it refers to America. We seem to have many choices here, and we pride ourselves on being a free country. Are we free, though? Do we have a choice to pay taxes or not? Do we have a choice of how the government spends our taxes? Some people think we can vote for what we want, but in a cou...ntry where majority rules, how free, really, is the individual to order his/her life her way?
Don't come back at me with arguments like, "Well serial killers want to be free to do what they want, too, but for the good of society, they can't be," or "the invasive pat downs and x-rays at security checkpoints are for our protection." It doesn't protect anyone (from terrorists or serial killers) for someone's grandma to be forced to remove her diaper, or for some 6-year old to have his privates groped. You are not even worth talking to if you think those things have anything to do with protection, or if you equate the average freedom-loving American with serial killers.
So let's look at some of the choices we have:
1. Pay your vehicle license tax -or- have your personal property impounded
2. Use the money of the land -or- don't buy or sell
3. Pay your property tax -or- have your house taken from you and auctioned off
4. Pay your income tax -or- go to jail
5. Obey the speed limits -or- risk a ticket (which imposes another tax)
6. Buy car insurance -or- risk a ticket and impoundment of your property again
7. Get a driver's licence -or- risk vehicle impoundment -or- don't drive
8. Eat food poisoned with high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils and/or MSG -or- grow what you can yourself and eat that -but- don't grow it in your front yard and don't try to sell it -or- face criminal penalties including jail and fines.
9. After high school graduate from college -or- face having a lower economic status for the rest of your life
I could go on with our choices here in America, the land of the "free." To be quite honest, I do feel like I have acted freely when I obey the speed limit and paid my bills on time. So I think what Penn states above is true. When we are given a choice, we feel as though we have acted freely, even when the choice is between something you might prefer and something punitive, like all of the above choices.
When the choice is made to avoid punitive damages, however, it is not a free choice. Ask yourself this: why should anyone be able to punish you with a tax or impoundment of your personal property when your actions or use of your own property have nor produced any victim, or even the hint of a victim?
I received a ticket on my work site one time for doing 35 in a 25 zone, and when he finished writing me the ticket, the officer said, "We just want everyone to be safe." Because I don't want hassle I didn't point out to him that no one was hurt or even close to getting hurt by my 35 mph "mad dash" around work. If someone had been out in the street in the crosswalk, or going to cross, I would have slowed down and/or stopped, and everyone would still have been safe. The point was that it WAS safe, even though I was speeding. No victim, no crime. But I still got a ticket because there are rules.
Rules = not free.
Review the places in your life where you are without rules. In your relationship with your spouse? In you relationship with your kids? When you are out hunting? Fishing? How about when taking a nap or sleeping at night--aren't there even rules then for how long you can sleep and when you have to wake up and how much of the bed and blanket you can use? You've got choices all the time, but are you ever really free?
Now let's look at another "choice" we have. Accept Jesus Christ or get a one-way ticket to hell.
Of course it isn't as simple as accepting--you have to repent, ask for forgiveness, accept the sacrifice He made for you, and then BE ACCEPTED in return by HIM. The latter part does not seem to be guaranteed in scripture.
But looking at the simplified choice, it isn't much of a choice, is it? Hell is a pretty serious punitive damage. People are angry at God for this and deal with it in various ways, by pretending God doesn't exist, usually, and adhering instead to one of the many religions that isn't so hard to deal with. Let's look at this, though. Jesus or hell.
Jesus or hell.
Jesus or hell.
Jesus or hell.
Don't be afraid of it. Jesus or hell. Forget everything else for a minute and make a choice: Jesus or hell? We'll get back to that later.
Was it a free choice? Are you free if you have something as terrible as hell looming over your choice?
The answer is NO. Hell is even worse, by far, than all of the punitive damages our society imposes for making the "wrong" choice. It can be established that America is not a free country, despite its assertions to the contrary. I defy you to find one country or society that is free. You won't. None of them are free. You aren't even free, in most cases, when you sleep!
And now we see that you aren't even free according to the Creator of Everything, the Creator of the world, the Ruler of the Universe, God Himself. You aren't free. You are free to choose to live or perish, but He has the final say over which it is no matter what you "choose."
Connect the dots. This is not a free world, this is a SLAVE WORLD. The only thing certain about this planet is that you will serve a master. Some people don't care--they like the slavery even, because if you have enough money or little enough money, it "feels" free. The most remarkable thing about this condition of slavery is that it is possible to choose which master. What slave ever got to choose his master? None! Except us, the sons and daughters of Christ the King. And scriptures say if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)
But the freedom doesn't come here, in this earthly life, on this slave planet, in the flesh. Freedom is in the life to come if you choose the correct master and He chooses you back. That is the hope we are certain of. None of us know what it is like, being truly free in Christ, except possibly a few saints throughout history, and possibly people with memories of Heaven. It will be such a delightful surprise to finally know what freedom is!
So getting back to the choice--Jesus or hell. Put aside all of your intellectual arguments, atheistic viewpoints, etc., and choose. Chances are, if you aren't a psychopath, you chose Jesus. Who would ever choose hell?
So if you know you would choose Jesus if it came down to the two choices, and you realize that indeed this IS a slave planet, and the only thing possible for the slaves living on it is SERVITUDE, hadn't you better figure out this whole Jesus thing and make your final choice? Look, forgive God already for whatever you are angry with him about. He doesn't need forgiving, but you will figure that out as you grow in Him. For now, just stop being angry. Everything that happened to you in your life that you are mad about happened to a SLAVE on a SLAVE PLANET. You are mad because you didn't think you were a slave and you didn't think it should happen to you. Since you reached the age of accountability, though, you have most likely not been serving the King. You have served yourself or others or the flesh or the enemy directly, but the simple truth is that if you aren't serving Jesus, you are serving His enemy. There are only two choices. If you are serving the enemy or if your parents were before you became an adult, and you got hurt--well that's what happens!
But don't think serving Christ means you will be unscathed. Terrible things happen to believers, too. 11 of Jesus' 12 disciples were crucified, and they were His best friends! A slave doesn't have a choice about what happens to him/her. That's the nature of slavery. There is no place you can run to, and no rebellion you can make that will get you out of being a slave on a slave planet, so you might look at the choices like this:
1. Live a slave's life in the flesh fraught with pain and misery, with a few happy moments thrown in, then die and be raised imperishable and and live with Christ in Heaven forever.
2. Live a slave's life in the flesh fraught with pain and misery, with a few happy moments thrown in, then die and be cast into the pit of hell for all eternity because Jesus never knew you.
Choice is not freedom. ~Penn
Choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15 (paraphrased)
You aren't free. So choose.
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