In a very real way the Apostle Paul was a nationalist. His beloved Israel had rejected its Messiah....but his love for his people in his ethnicity never waned as evident from the statements that he made. But to the Jewish leaders he was guilty of treason? They looked at him with hatred in as much as saying...."we are patriots.....and you are a traitor."
Patriotism to us in 2019 revolves around President Trump for he is seen as the ultimate patriot....and even the champion of patriots....so consequentially....those of us who oppose Donald Trump's nomination for a second term....are not considered patriots....and possibly even traitors.
Paul knew that the ethnic and religious nationalism of the Jews in the Old Testament....scripturally....revolved around the Messiah on whom they waited. So he knew that he wasn't turning against his own people as he proclaimed Christ. No....he would rather die and be cut off from Christ then would his beloved people be lost for eternity. Paul knew that true nationalism even for the Old Testament Jew was in Jesus Christ.
So it with us in America. We Christians know who brought our nation into being....and for what purposes....and no other purposes such as MAGA....and we know who has sustained us even as we strayed. We recognize the voice of He who has been warning us through His faithful servants....and how He will now judge us....and has been judging us....just as He judged Israel and Judah.
I have to literally limit the amount of time that I think about what America once was....for it can overwhelm me with grief to see what we have become. Most of you cannot see that the America of old is gone....that MAGA is only a Hollywood reproduction of something that once was....but some of us see it very clearly. Just as Paul warned his beloved Jewish people that they had missed God's prophetic words about their Messiah....Billy Graham and many others had warned us that we also missed God's prophetic words about coming judgment and His Second Coming. Paul's message was not heeded....save for some....nor was Billy Graham's....save for some. The patriots rejected Paul....and the patriots today want no part of that which does not further their political cause.
God's people today are both Jew and Gentile.....male and female....slave and free....and of any and every ethnicity or nationality that exists. We in America can neither claim our inheritance in heaven....as some do....because we claim to be a people of liberty and freedom....nor can we claim inheritance in heaven....as others do....because they think themselves fair and tolerant and compassionate....for both sides think themselves righteous because of the good works that they perceive themselves to do....freedom or tolerance. Paul addressed both errors.....and was beaten down by the Jewish patriots....and slandered by some in the church who said that they had a better way than the cross.
Patriotism to us in 2019 revolves around President Trump for he is seen as the ultimate patriot....and even the champion of patriots....so consequentially....those of us who oppose Donald Trump's nomination for a second term....are not considered patriots....and possibly even traitors.
Paul knew that the ethnic and religious nationalism of the Jews in the Old Testament....scripturally....revolved around the Messiah on whom they waited. So he knew that he wasn't turning against his own people as he proclaimed Christ. No....he would rather die and be cut off from Christ then would his beloved people be lost for eternity. Paul knew that true nationalism even for the Old Testament Jew was in Jesus Christ.
So it with us in America. We Christians know who brought our nation into being....and for what purposes....and no other purposes such as MAGA....and we know who has sustained us even as we strayed. We recognize the voice of He who has been warning us through His faithful servants....and how He will now judge us....and has been judging us....just as He judged Israel and Judah.
I have to literally limit the amount of time that I think about what America once was....for it can overwhelm me with grief to see what we have become. Most of you cannot see that the America of old is gone....that MAGA is only a Hollywood reproduction of something that once was....but some of us see it very clearly. Just as Paul warned his beloved Jewish people that they had missed God's prophetic words about their Messiah....Billy Graham and many others had warned us that we also missed God's prophetic words about coming judgment and His Second Coming. Paul's message was not heeded....save for some....nor was Billy Graham's....save for some. The patriots rejected Paul....and the patriots today want no part of that which does not further their political cause.
God's people today are both Jew and Gentile.....male and female....slave and free....and of any and every ethnicity or nationality that exists. We in America can neither claim our inheritance in heaven....as some do....because we claim to be a people of liberty and freedom....nor can we claim inheritance in heaven....as others do....because they think themselves fair and tolerant and compassionate....for both sides think themselves righteous because of the good works that they perceive themselves to do....freedom or tolerance. Paul addressed both errors.....and was beaten down by the Jewish patriots....and slandered by some in the church who said that they had a better way than the cross.
