Have You Heard? ~ Two Minutes With The Bible

Have you heard?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Berean Bible Society

“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward” (Eph. 3:2).

Could it be that those to whom Paul addressed his Ephesian letter had not yet heard that God had committed to him “the dispensation of grace”?

Next to the death and resurrection of Christ, the conversion of Paul and his commission to proclaim “the gospel of the grace of God” was the greatest event in history . The apostles at Jerusalem had recognized the importance of Paul’s part in the divine program. They themselves had at first been sent by Christ into “all the world,” yet in Gal. 2:9 we find James, Peter and John publicly shaking hands with Paul in a solemn agreement that he should henceforth be the apostle to the nations.

Could it be that some twelve years later, when he wrote the Ephesian letter, there were any who professed the name of Christ who had not heard of Paul’s special place in the program of God as the apostle of grace? Little wonder his words “if ye have heard” carry with them a touch of reproach.

It is possible, of course, that there were some among them, but recently brought into the Church, who had not heard, but what seems utterly incredible is that there should be even one believer at this late date who has not heard that after Christ and His kingdom had been rejected and the world was ripe for prophesied judgment to fall, God intervened, saving Saul, His chief enemy on earth, and sending him forth with “the good news of the grace of God.”

This good news is based, of course, upon the fact that since Christ was the spotless Lamb of God, His death is accepted by God as full satisfaction for the sinner. Thus Paul, by divine inspiration, declares that believers are “justified freely by His [God's] grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).

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To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

Facebook Billionaire Pays No Taxes And Gets Refund

From Chicks On The Right:

Have you seen a lot of sites/pages shrieking over the past couple of days about Facebook not having to pay taxes and in fact getting a tax REFUND even though they profited over a billion dollars? Why be mad at Facebook? They are taking advantage, as they have every right to, of ridiculous tax incentives that our Representatives and Senators enacted. Blame the tax system. Blame the tax code. Shriek at Congress and the Senate. Demand tax reform. And then ask yourself, "Why isn't Obama calling out Facebook like he does the oil companies, who he's railed against for doing the same thing?"

The refund is $429 million dollars. And I have to agree with what COTR said. But why, oh why, won't our so-called 'President' or Senate say something about the corrupt tax system involving one of their rich boy friends.

Hmmm.

I think I just answered my own question.

Our country needs tax reform badly. It's so unfair how taxes are handled now. Flat tax is the only logical answer.

[More about the story here and a fluff piece here.]

OMG! Obama Drinks Water!

Just think, according to the left mouthpiece Lame Stream Media if this picture had been in circulation before the election he never would have been re-elected. This would have ruined his political career.

Disgrace I tell you, disgrace!

Let's Talk About The Evil Rich

What can you buy for $1.4 billion a year? You can buy the most luxurious and costly self proclaimed royal presidency in history.
Taxpayers spent $1.4 billion dollars on everything from staffing, housing, flying and entertaining President Obama and his family last year, according to the author of a new book on taxpayer-funded presidential perks.

In comparison, British taxpayers spent just $57.8 million on the royal family.

Author Robert Keith Gray writes in Presidential Perks Gone Royal that Obama isn’t the only president to have taken advantage of the expensive trappings of his office. But the amount of money spent on the first family, he argues, has risen tremendously under the Obama administration and needs to be reined in.

Gray told The Daily Caller that the $1.4 billion spent on the Obama family last year is the total cost of the presidency, factoring the cost of the biggest staff in history at the highest wages ever, a 50 percent increase in the numbers of appointed czars and an Air Force One running with the frequency of a scheduled air line.

Perspective: $1.4 billion is equal to spending seven times Mitt Romney's entire net-worth every year. If Romney had to pay for Barack and Michelle's lifestyle this year, he would have been bankrupt by the third week in February.

Now, can we please get back to talking about the evil, freeloading rich, who didn’t build anything?

Blog Break

One Can Only Hope ...
I know I currently have over 80 followers but, after some investigation, it seems that only have about one or two actual active readers. Looks like a lot of people have "retired" from blogging. If anyone is listening, I am taking a short break from the blog unless something really interesting happens.

Later alligator ... maybe ...

Nullification Of Unconstitutional Laws Encouraged By States

That Painful Feeling We All Share Is Real

I found this article in our local paper this morning and had to share. The writer expresses My Thoughts Exactly. My Thoughts noted thusly: [ ].

Nullification Encouraged

The Augusta Chronicle
Published: Waycross Journal-Herald, Monday, January 28, 2013

You may have heard the word "nullification" bandied about recently. It's basically a fancy word for ignoring a law.

Juries sometimes do it, if they think enforcement of a law will result in an injustice. [Actually, that's encouraged.] Merriam-Webster defines nullification as "the action of a state impeding or attempting to prevent the operation and enforcement within its territory of a law of the United States."

And now, increasing numbers of sheriffs and others across the country are publicly saying they will engage in nullification if faced by federal gun or health care laws they find unconstitutional. Ignoring laws is rarely a good thing. We'd say never – but we're reminded of Rosa Parks' and other civil rights icons' peaceful defiance of the immoral laws and customs of segregation.

An increasing number of folks are no less convinced that Washington is trampling on other civil rights. [Yah, think?!]

Sheriffs in Idaho, Oregon and Texas have announced their intent not to go along with expected gun control laws. Other officials have said they won't enforce the health care law. A state representative in Tennessee wants to make it a crime to enforce gun or ammunition bans in that state. And several hundred gathered at the South Carolina capitol recently for a "Nullify Obamacare" rally. They were promised efforts by several state officials to block "federal encroachment."

There's a proud tradition of states' rights in South Carolina – exemplified not that long ago by the light bulb. When federal law began phasing out production of the incandescent light bulb, South Carolina lawmakers passed "The Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act" to allow for its production and sale within the state, which Washington can't prevent.

But nullification has rarely seen this much favor since the Civil War, and may only gain steam if Washington continues down the path of trying to run [i.e. micro-manage] everyone's lives.

Washington may have no one but itself to blame for the rise of the nullification movement – particularly the Obama administration, which has set the standard for ignoring the law.

It was this administration, after all, that decided not to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act. Even though the "Dream Act" can't pass Congress, Mr. Obama "enacted" it via executive order – announcing that his administration would not deport illegal aliens who came here as minors. There is no such exception in the law.

His administration also announced that marijuana crimes would not be a "priority" – again, picking and choosing which laws to enforce.

When it appeared the defense industry might have to issue layoff notices to workers because of impending "sequestration" cuts just before the November election, the Obama administration encouraged contractors to ignore the law that seemed to require the notices. [Two can play at that game, Mr. "President".]

The Obama administration also tried to block enforcement of state anti-voter-fraud laws last year.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate has failed to pass a budget as required by law the past four years – and the Obama administration has announced it won't have a federal budget ready by the statutory deadline.

We don't endorse the ignoring of laws. But if there's a growing sentiment of defiance toward enforcement of federal laws in the land, Washington can't exactly throw stones.

It has perfected the art.

Amen to that!

And isn't it great To remember Who is really in control, and that; "the Word of the Lord endures forever." (1 Peter 1:25)

Abortion Murders More People Than Guns

The American Thinker has an excellent article by Peter Heck, "An Honest And Horrifying Admission"

One of the main reasons I have been telling people in speeches, in writing, and on my radio program that I truly believe we are living in the midst of the generation that will end abortion in America is embodied in Williams' piece. The anti-life left can no longer hide behind some murky confusion of what's happening in the womb. They can no longer candy-coat what they condone. They can no longer pretend there is some great mystery to when human life begins.

I concur! Life begins at conception. Period. End of statement. Even for those who don't believe in our blessed Lord and God have to acknowledge that abortion is the murder of another human being.

I say we ban the REAL threat to human life: politicians who don't believe in the sanctity of human life and abortion clinics.

Sounds like a plan?