fire burns… everything

Fire is powerful imagery. It’s the spiritual element. It burns away everything that is false and perishable. It leaves what’s real and imperishable behind.

Those folks demonstating, occupying, whatever…ought to protest at the schools they went to for giving them such a lousy education.

Capitalism is the best system, by far, devised by man.

This utopian streak fostered by the left is a very dangerous thing. Just ask the hundreds of millions murdered by big governments in the name “of the people”.

It sure would make the Bible much thinner if we remove all the utopian admonitions.

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You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry;
– Exodus 22:21-23

If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate.
– Exodus 22:25-27

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God. You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord. You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord. You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
– Leviticus 19:9-18

The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants. Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land. If anyone of your kin falls into difficulty and sells a piece of property, then the next of kin shall come and redeem what the relative has sold. If the person has no one to redeem it, but then prospers and finds sufficient means to do so, the years since its sale shall be computed and the difference shall be refunded to the person to whom it was sold, and the property shall be returned. But if there is not sufficient means to recover it, what was sold shall remain with the purchaser until the year of jubilee; in the jubilee it shall be released, and the property shall be returned. If anyone sells a dwelling house in a walled city, it may be redeemed until a year has elapsed since its sale; the right of redemption shall be one year. If it is not redeemed before a full year has elapsed, a house that is in a walled city shall pass in perpetuity to the purchaser, throughout the generations; it shall not be released in the jubilee. But houses in villages that have no walls around them shall be classed as open country; they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the jubilee. As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites shall forever have the right of redemption of the houses in the cities belonging to them. Such property as may be redeemed from the Levites—houses sold in a city belonging to them—shall be released in the jubilee; because the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the people of Israel. But the open land around their cities may not be sold; for that is their possession for all time. If any of your kin fall into difficulty and become dependent on you, you shall support them; they shall live with you as though resident aliens. Do not take interest in advance or otherwise make a profit from them, but fear your God; let them live with you. You shall not lend them your money at interest taken in advance, or provide them food at a profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God.
– Leviticus 25:23-38

They have distributed freely,
they have given to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever;
their horn is exalted in honor.
– Psalm 112:9

He raises the poor from the dust,
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
– Psalm 113:7-8

I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy,
and executes justice for the poor.
– Psalm 140:12

Wash yourselves;
make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.
– Isaiah 1:16-17

Thus says the Lord:
Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom,
do not let the mighty boast in their might,
do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth;
but let those who boast boast in this,
that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord;
I act with steadfast love, justice,
and righteousness in the earth,
for in these things I delight, says the Lord.
– Jeremiah 9:23-24

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.
– ACTS 2:42-47a

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”). He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
– ACTS 4:32-37

Christ knows who and what we are.

If we could muster up the necessary righteousness on our own He would never had to come down here.

We look at who we are honestly and see a world that is FULL of sinners and pride soaked.

Utopianism is nothing new. History is strewn with the hundreds of millions of bodies of those (utopians leaders – Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, et al) that had a better idea.

Capitlaism is the worst system.

Except for ALL the others.

I didn’t know there was any other kind!

There are rules and there are rules. When the government starts ordering banks to lend money to poor people to buy homes, then things realy get screwed up.

amazonfeet – that is the gist of the Bible: It is God calling us forward and beyond tribal justice through radical legalism to the Kingdom of God – a here-and-now community of unrestrained love and unconditional grace, justice as restoration and compassion as the norm. This is the Good News. It is counter-cultural. It was worse than being in opposition to the empire, it ignored the empire. The Good News is not so much oppositional as it is non-participatory. Because of the growing success of this message, Jesus was killed. On Easter morning, the Disciples (starting with the women) had an epiphany – they got it. It was an experience so powerful that it transformed them. It was as if Jesus had been resurrected; as if the curtain covering the Holy of Holies had been ripped in two and God was visible and available and accessible to all; as if the very ground on which they had always stood – quaked.

Doug-

Steve- seeing as the banks were bailed out by ordinary joe anyway, I think it’s the very least they can do to support those joes who are particularly vulnerable.

Call it restorative justice.

Sas