Occupy Wall Street And Christianity Are A Match?

I'm sitting here in my hotel room, 800 miles from home and my loved ones, fending off sleep since I woke up at 3:15 this morning for the red-eye out of Paducah. So, what is a guy to do? Well, this guy decided to check out the broo-ha over the Occupy Wall Street movement going on across the U.S.
I've heard about this “movement” for a couple of weeks now, but admittedly haven't paid it much attention. Downtime away from home seems to allow for things done that I normally do not do, like search for information on “movements” of a worldly nature. “Why?” You may ask. Because I wanted to make an informed decision on my thoughts of what this is all about.

After looking at a few websites, even those that say they are “part” of the movement, I still don't know a lot about what these folks are trying to accomplish. Well, that is not exactly true, as they seem to be “for” being against a lot of things with “corporate greed” as a main focus. The first web-page I encountered was a demonstration that happened to have a video embedded within the page, so I indulged and watched it. I soon discovered what a “People's Microphone” is and also quickly discovered that the majority (99%) of those that I saw in the video and in several photos appeared to be modern hippies. I also saw that the “majority” in their open voting at the location liked to silence anyone that was outside of their “99%” mentality.

Let me explain the “99%” mentality. It is simply their assumption that 1% of America's richest run everything, while the other 99% have to deal with the repercussions. Alright, sounds good on the surface, but what about the meat of what this movement stands for. What exactly are the people involved in this trying to accomplish/ what are they against? Let me take a deep breath and list a few things for you:
Raise taxes on the rich
Raise taxes on corporations
End “corporate welfare”
Support of trade unions
“Protection” of Social Security/ Medicare in their current forms
Audit or elimination of the Federal Reserve
Affordable health care
Ending all wars
Elimination of student loan repayment
Peace (?)
And a unlimited number of other “issues”

Now, while I do agree with some of those demands, I do not agree with their thinking behind them. It appears to me, and many others, that this movement is made up of liberal freeloaders that want the government to be a socialized mess taking care of them indefinitely. Really? The way I see it is that the majority of those that I saw on the news sites, videos and pictures are of the younger age bracket that has been raised with entitlements ingrained into them. This is nothing new, but we are now seeing how the past several decades of government welfare has molded upcoming generations. I would say that it is no stretch to say that the majority of those involved are part of the 50% of Americans that pay 0 in income taxes and actually receive back more than they have paid in, thanks to our faulty tax codes (that is another issue).

One ironic side of this whole debacle is endorsements by the likes of Kanye West, Michael Moore, Roseanne Barr, Susan Surandon and Russel Simmons. All of these are multi-millionaires, by the way, with Simmons owning a debit card company that is one of the major industries behind “corporate greed”. Hmm.

So, what does this have to do with me? Why am I writing about this on this Christian blog? Because it seems that a group called “The Protest Chaplains” has jumped into the fray, claiming to be Christians and thereby saying that they represent the Body of Christ. With this I take offense and if you are a Christian so should you. I invite you to check out their website and to read their “What We've Learned So Far” list. This list is actually a set of guidelines for people to participate as “chaplains”, but as acting as chaplains they are to totally set aside their Christian faith and stand opposed to Jesus Christ and the Bible. Among these guidelines are; Interfaith “spirituality”, learn from the Occupy Wall Street movement instead of the movement learning from Christianity, Don't defend your religion because it is not your job to, practice nonviolent communication and active listening, do not proselytize (evangelize because it is obnoxious and detrimental to the movement), be a resource (do, do, do, work, work, work), encourage YOGA, meditation, Muslim prayers and let what happens happen and the ever popular “uncreate division”.

Whew, that sounds an awful lot like Christianity, huh? Not! It is the exact polar opposite and stands contrary to everything in scripture. So, yeah! I am offended because this group of “chaplains” that claim faith in Christ, trying to pass themselves off as members of His Body, want Christians to endorse other religions, learn from a worldly movement and totally ignore the great commission and shun evangelizing these lost and perverted members of society. Why must groups like this bring Christ into this ungodly movement centered in worldliness? Why try to say that Jesus would want us to accept what is going on?

What I see with these misguided people, is that they do not understand Christianity and do not truly know Jesus Christ. They have a very distorted view of the Word of God and sadly have fallen into an ecumenical mindset that believes all roads lead to God. Why take principles of scripture and try to relate them to this mammon driven movement? Why take the “golden calf” of Wall Street and use it to say that Jesus has compassion on these people that are actually guilty of idolatry as well, saying how much they deserve the money over Wall Street and Corporate America. Just “spread the wealth” instead of it going to the companies that are making the money. I can't stand the entitlement/ victim mentality that seems to have attached itself to all those involved in this movement.

I am not part of what they call the 99%. I am not part of the 1% that they say runs the U.S. I am a middle class American that works hard, pays my taxes, pays my bills, loves Jesus and wants everyone else to come to a saving faith in Christ. That all flows from my relationship with Jesus and I will not compromise any of that because of any movement. Scripture paints it clear that if you deny Christ that He will deny you. If you compromise the Gospel, enter into interfaith communion and think Christians can learn from a misguided movement of liberals then you are very far gone and need to seriously examine your faith. I will say, without a doubt, that if you are following the guidelines of the “Protest Chaplains” you are not a true Christian. If you disagree show me scripture that supports the things I quoted from their website. If you can I will give a humble apology and write a retraction. I am 100% certain you can not find anything, in context to support the things they stand for/ against. But I am always willing to be proven wrong.

FYI – Saying that I am a left-wing, conservative, Fox News watching, Rush Limbaugh listening Pharisee is not proving anything except you are childish.

The Battle With Porn - It Is An Emergency

Pornography has probably been one of the most besetting sins of the past few decades. Why is that? Is it the proliferation of websites? Porn Shops throughout cities? Text messages containing provocative photos? Sure, those are gateways to filling the desire for illicit images, but they are not the real problem. The real problem, as with any other sin, is a heart issue and must be dealt with firmly and immediately.

While thousand people will have a thousand different "reasons" for indulging in porn, the root cause is still the same, selfishness. Selfishness is the root of all sin. From the Serpents first temptations of "Don't you want to be like God?" to the modern cry of "I'm a strong enough Christian to watch this movie or listen to this CD without it affecting me", it is still all the same - our desire above God's desire.

My dear brother in Christ, Whitt Madden, over at Be The Domino has a program starting this month that deals directly with the sin of pornography. This 40 day "awakening" is completely confidential and open to males and females just by signing up.

Starting October 17th, Be the Domino ministries will be launching a 40 day “awakening” called Emergency. These 40 days will be a time of deep personal reflection and prayer focused on Honesty, Integrity, and True Character.

There is an ugly truth about an addiction to pornography that no one wants to talk about. The effect it has on men is crippling them spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Let’s be honest about this guys. Sexual purity in our world today is a struggle. It’s a topic that no one wants to discuss, because we want to pretend that this problem doesn’t exist. But we all deal with it. Some of us deal with it to a greater extent than others, but as guys, we all deal with this. Our youth are dealing with it, I have talked to several who are struggling right now. I deal with it. I want to be completely honest about a topic nobody wants to touch.

Each day will be focused at getting to the root of this sexual sin that has plagued the lives of so many men. This will be an online study, each day the material will be posted. At the end of each day’s posted will be an anonymous comment box. We understand the importance of confidentiality, and how sensitive this subject matter is. We encourage you to use this feedback box, because God can use your honesty to help someone else. This site offers complete confidentiality.

Each day will focus on Scripture. Studies can be helpful, and accountability can help keep you honest, but the only true freedom comes from Christ. Emergency is Christ centered because any real change requires repentance. Repentance can only come from conviction, and that comes from the power of the Holy Spirit.

We will provide you with all of the materials that you need. Our prayer is that God will use this as a tool to draw you closer to Him, and that He will set you free from the bondage of sexual sin.

Please look into this and begin to slay the sin of sexual impurity in your life - NOW!