The state is atheist. Following the lead of Nebuchadnezzar, there are statues of the "Dear Leaders" of the state which loom 75 feet tall in the capital. At the feet of those statues worshipers with bowed heads place flowers and say the names of the two
Dear Leaders in reverential and hushed tones. The government brings all visiting foreign dignitaries to these graven images for photos to show the people the reverence foreign nations have for their "Dear (dead) Leaders."
By law, each North Korean home must hang portraits of the Dear Leaders on its walls and they must keep those pictures spotless, dust-free. There are reports that, so pervasive is the state brainwashing, that Koreans have died protecting the portraits from fire.
THE BIG DAY
The big day in North Korea is Chuseok, an ancient festival of ancestor worship. On that day there are special feasts and mass travel by crammed buses, trains, and bicycles to visit the graves of family fore bearers. It is a massive movement of people traveling to worship. It is a genuine and spontaneous picnic all across North Korea, unplanned and uncontrolled by the state.
WAIT!
How's that again? Worship? Unplanned? Uncontrolled? Thousands and thousands of people worshiping someone other than the Dear Leaders? How can that be?
The reason: such an annual worship observance by multiplied thousands is of no threat to the state.
THREE GRANDMOTHERS
But, as is the case in such atheistic states, when the government learns that three grandmothers are meeting to observing the Lord's Supper, officials will break down the doors, beat, arrest, try, and sentence them to prison, mental wards, concentration camps, or execution.
And the $64,000 question is, why? Multiplied thousands of worshipers aren't dangerous to the totalitarian government, but three grandmothers are?
AUSTRALIA
There is a television program in Australia called Q and A in which four people engage in a moderated discussion in response to questions from the audience. One question had to do with dangerous ideas.
Q&A
in which four figures engage in a moderated discussion responding to
audience questions - See more at:
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2013/11/dangerous-ideas.php#sthash.Anu5iHfK.dpuf
Q&A
in which four figures engage in a moderated discussion responding to
audience questions - See more at:
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2013/11/dangerous-ideas.php#sthash.Anu5iHfK.dpuf
Q&A
in which four figures engage in a moderated discussion responding to
audience questions - See more at:
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2013/11/dangerous-ideas.php#sthash.Anu5iHfK.dpuf
Q&A
in which four figures engage in a moderated discussion responding to
audience questions - See more at:
http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2013/11/dangerous-ideas.php#sthash.Anu5iHfK.dpuf
On Monday November 4, 2013, in front of the largest studio audience in the history of the show, Lisa Malouf asked the assembled panel: "Which so-called dangerous idea do you each think
would have the greatest potential to change the world for the better if
it was implemented?"THE STUNNING ANSWER
On the panel were Germaine Greer, Hanna Rosin, Dan Savage, and Peter Hitchens. Greer answered, "Freedom," another answered, "Abortion should be mandatory," and the third answered, "Population control."
Then it was Peter Hitchens' turn: “The most dangerous idea in human history and philosophy remains the belief that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and rose from the dead and that is the most dangerous idea you will ever encounter.”
This took everyone aback and the moderator asked, "Why dangerous, you can't just leave it [your answer] there."
Hitchens continues, "Because it alters the whole of human behavior and all our responsibilities. It turns the universe from a meaningless chaos into a designed place in which there is justice and there is hope and, therefore, we all have a duty to discover the nature of that justice and work towards that hope. It alters us all. If we reject it, it alters us all as well. It is incredibly dangerous. It's why so many people turn against it.”
THE THREE WITH A BOOK IN THEIR HANDS
And so we come back to "Granny's Gotta Go." A state based on atheism and the worship of the idols of men will not tolerate three grandmothers reading their Bibles and observing the Lord's Supper. By their observance of the Lord's Supper, those three grandmothers are not giving their ultimate loyalty to the government and to the deification of its leaders. They are like the three Hebrews standing with spines ramrod straight before the image of Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonian government had commanded, "Knee!" They said, "No!"
The three grandmothers are judging the state by the Bible and this makes them dangerous to the government which will not permit any higher authority to lord over it. It and it alone will decide what is right and what is wrong and whatever it decides will change tomorrow and as often as the ruler changes his socks. As in all such dictatorships, the path to their Utopia is a sea of blood, Christian blood.
The ultimate loyalty of the grandmothers is to the kingdom of God, which is not of this world. They judge that the government's promises of a Utopia with the elimination of poverty and want are made in vain because the Book tells them, "The poor you will always have with you." They know that there can be no Utopia in a fallen world.
Therefor, the officials must break down doors, arrest, beat, incarcerate, and execute the grandmothers. If the grandmothers continue to exist, they know that someone is out there, judging the state, and the state finds that intolerable because it is dangerous to their created Leviathan.
AND YOU?
Did you ever think of the gospel that way--that it's a dangerous idea? Did you ever think that when believers meet and declare, explain, or discuss the gospel, they're talking about the most dangerous idea in the world?
What shall we say to these things?
Handle with care. Then turn it loose. The gospel is dangerous.
___________________________________________________
Dr. Mike Halsey is the chancellor of Grace Biblical Seminary, a Bible teacher at the Hangar Bible Fellowship, and the author of Truthspeak, available on Amazon.com. A copy of his book, Microbes in the Bloodstream of the Church, is also available as an E-book on Amazon.com. If you would like to a receive a copy of his weekly Bible studies and other articles of biblical teaching and application, you can do so by writing sue.bove@gmail.com and requesting, "The Hangar Bible Fellowship Journal."
Comments may be addressed to michaeldhalsey@bellsouth.net.
If you would like to contribute to his ministry according to the principle of II Corinthians 9:7, you may do so by making your check out to Hangar Bible Fellowship and mailing it to 65 Teal Ct., Locust Grove, GA 30248. All donations are tax deductible.
Come visit the Hangar some Sunday at 10 AM at the above address. You'll be glad you did.
Other recommended grace-oriented websites are:
notbyworks.org
literaltruth.org
gracebiblicalseminary.org
duluthbible.org
clarityministries.org
Also:
Biblical Ministries, Inc.
C/O Dr. Richard Grubbs
P. O. Box 64582
Lubbock, TX 79464-4582
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