Exloring Life Eternal

SOMETHING TO REPENT

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Psalm 51:1-2

The Christian teaching tells people to REPENT (turn from their sins and go back to God) and promises to them forgiveness when they repent. So you see the Christian teaching cannot say ANYTHING to the people who think they have no sins! God cannot talk to the people who think that they do not need forgiveness!

It is AFTER you understand
1) that there is real EVIL in the world, SIN, and
2) that there is a Great God Who has ALL power, and
3) that YOU have broken God¹s LAWS, and
4) YOU are now WRONG in the eyes of God
(YOU have sinned!) --
Do you understand this about YOURSELF?
ONLY NOW, when you understand all this, can GOD talk to you!
Look inside yourself. Do you see a sinful person who needs HELP?
If you do, then you are ready to hear the Christian teaching, but NOT BEFORE!

Lord Jesus, help me to recognize my sins and to ask forgiveness.

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(No, I did not receive this email from C.S. Lewis. & No, I do not agree with all that C.S. Lewis wrote or believed. However, this basic intro is a basic core about why I believe in Jesus: He never sinned. I have. He came to save me & He shall! The sender of the email abbreviated some words.)

Recently there has been a controversy @ UND regarding the balance of Academic Freedom & Catholic Character. Basically, the University was realizing a need to respond more biblically to very perverse performances & presentations on the campus under semi-sponsorship. Actually, having worked in the Hesburgh Library, I could have told you that changes were needed. When a university which professes to be Christian of some sort regularly invites & subscribes to materials which actively promote sexual perversion, there is a problem. There is likewise a problem when that university encourages "reform" in worship being led by those practicing sin condemned as "abomination" in the Bible. So I am glad that some steps are being taken in a right direction.

Below is my letter.

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"The position I am inviting you to consider, then, is that an event which has the implicit or explicit sponsorship of the university as a whole, one of its units, or a university recognized organization, and which either is or appears to be in name or content clearly and egregiously contrary to or inconsistent with the fundamental values of a Catholic university, should not be allowed at Notre Dame. "

First, I should clearly state that I am not a Roman Catholic who has pledged allegiance to Pope John Paul II or his successor.

Second, I believe that your position is a definite step in the right direction. Actually, it was because such a position was not firmly held & enforced (for lack of a better word) that I chose to terminate my studies after receiving a Masters degree there. I deeply believe that there were many others who were in the theology department M.A. program at the time who agreed with that.

Third, my prayer is that the Lord Jesus will continue to use you & give you wisdom & direction. Having studied the Bible, service to the poor, and the History of spirituality at UND, I can say with a clear conscience that the mission of the university is best served when the Lordship of Jesus is kept central. This is why the first universities were formed (to equip people to carry out the work & ministry of Jesus) & all universities which truly flourish & are more than brick & mortar maintain a deep understanding that freedom is really only enjoyed when joined to the Truth.

May God give wisdom & courage to you & all in leadership at the university as you fix your eyes on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1-2) In these days when many are wandering from the faith, obedience to our King requires much courage. Do not waver or be fainthearted.

In Hope,
Merton J. Hershberger, A.K.A.
M.A. Theology
(Biblical Studies - Ancient Languages) 1999

Freedom of speech has its limits (ie: yelling fire in a croweded theater) even in this country

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L.

What you said is quite right & quite wise.

Sadly, there are many theaters, religiously attended, where mention of fire is only found in works of fiction or theoretical discussions. At times, it requires a deaf dog to bark at the smell of smoke & burning flesh to wake up the sleepers in the crowd. Again, this is a free country, but such behavior unacceptible despite ... and so the embers smolder ... awaiting the day when sulfur burns. I recently read a sign indicating that it is also illegal to clean onself or to be unhygenic in one place. I was confused, but that is almost the exact wording. In another place, it was a crime to view pornogrophy on public computers & an offender was prosecuted vigorously. But outside the doors of that institution, by the entrance stood a statue that mocked all standards of decency.

Personally, I would rather see lots of water hitting the coastlines while cries for help swamp our windows & the poor pull at our pockets than to pretend that molten sulferic compounds are not toxic to the human soul & merely needing appropriate technology & education for indefinite safe handling.

Repents unlocks the riddle & few can close their ears to barking, even dogs.

If anyone wishes to read a poem I wrote & distributed a few years ago while in the Crescent City, please email me. Some poems are available @
http://poeticpreacher.openweblog.com/

As one who has received mercy,

Mert