What's In A Name
Recently, a Dutch Roman Catholic Bishop said we should just refer to God as "Allah" so we all can get along. He was referring to all the "bickering" going on around here on Earth between the "Religion of Peace" and all her neighbors who may worship other gods. I know, he was just trying to be politically correct and ecumenical all at the same time. However, what would the Apostle Peter say to such a pitiful recommendation?
8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! 9If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11He is " 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. 12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:8-12
Does it matter what we call God by? Do words mean things or is it all just "relative"? I have to say that it does matter. You just can't "do" whatever you want. Sorry, doesn't work that way. There are procedures and protocols to follow with everything in life and someones name, especially the Creator, is not something to be trivialized.
I mean really, if you knew the actor Tom Hanks would you call him up on the phone and say "Hey Shicklegruber! How are doing?" No! You call him Tom which only HE recognizes as referring to his person. This business about doing whatever you damn well please is moronic. Frankly, it drives me nuts! Its not about you, its about God. End of story.
If you were going into a country do you just fabricate your own passport? No! You obtain a passport from the country of origin and present it to them when you enter their dominion. Anything else is unacceptable! And if its forged then you better believe there will be hell to pay. So it is with God. I assure you, when you stand before him in the Supreme Court of Heaven you had better know his name!
1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4"Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'
5"But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' 10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.
13"Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
14"For many are invited, but few are chosen." Matt 22:1-14
So, if Jesus Christ himself recognizes that some people will do whatever they please regardless of procedure or protocol then this story is indeed God's answer to them who want to call him "Allah". The "wedding clothes" are the garments GIVEN BY GOD to them that believe. You will note the man tried to get into the party without those same clothes. No doubt he fabricated his own "wedding clothes" from his own good works. It was probably a "tie-dye" T-shirt of some sort. And no doubt he probably referred to God as "Allah". Sorry! End of story. God doesn't tolerate interlopers. Nor does he tolerate anyone who thinks they can do whatever they damn well please especially when it involves the Almighty.
Now, go and sin no more.
8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! 9If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11He is " 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. 12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:8-12
Does it matter what we call God by? Do words mean things or is it all just "relative"? I have to say that it does matter. You just can't "do" whatever you want. Sorry, doesn't work that way. There are procedures and protocols to follow with everything in life and someones name, especially the Creator, is not something to be trivialized.
I mean really, if you knew the actor Tom Hanks would you call him up on the phone and say "Hey Shicklegruber! How are doing?" No! You call him Tom which only HE recognizes as referring to his person. This business about doing whatever you damn well please is moronic. Frankly, it drives me nuts! Its not about you, its about God. End of story.
If you were going into a country do you just fabricate your own passport? No! You obtain a passport from the country of origin and present it to them when you enter their dominion. Anything else is unacceptable! And if its forged then you better believe there will be hell to pay. So it is with God. I assure you, when you stand before him in the Supreme Court of Heaven you had better know his name!
1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4"Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'
5"But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' 10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.
13"Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
14"For many are invited, but few are chosen." Matt 22:1-14
So, if Jesus Christ himself recognizes that some people will do whatever they please regardless of procedure or protocol then this story is indeed God's answer to them who want to call him "Allah". The "wedding clothes" are the garments GIVEN BY GOD to them that believe. You will note the man tried to get into the party without those same clothes. No doubt he fabricated his own "wedding clothes" from his own good works. It was probably a "tie-dye" T-shirt of some sort. And no doubt he probably referred to God as "Allah". Sorry! End of story. God doesn't tolerate interlopers. Nor does he tolerate anyone who thinks they can do whatever they damn well please especially when it involves the Almighty.
Now, go and sin no more.
posted by Bruce R. McConnell | 2:15 AM
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