This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.

It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.

In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts, and not by agenda-driven accusations and pronouncements.

We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.

Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure your opinion addresses the issue only, and does not confront or denigrate the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.

In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.

Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here: 
https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/

On this day and every day –

God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up

Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.

“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Moral & Religious

Government is not the answer to all of our problems. There is no government capable of restraining immoral, ungodly, and selfish people.

John Adams, the second President of the United States, said, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Did you catch that? “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.” That is the reason the United States and many other countries in the world are in such terrible shape. Our world is becoming increasingly godless. While the vast majority of people in the world believe in the existence of God, an increasing majority live their lives as if God does not exist.

While the same principles apply to other nations, for the rest of this article, we will be discussing the United States specifically.

Government is not the answer. There is no perfect government because every government is filled with imperfect people. And while The United States has (or had) the best government in the history of the world, it is failing due to precisely what John Adams declared. Our government is wholly inadequate to govern immoral, ungodly, and selfish people.

None of the political parties seem to understand this. None of them embrace the Christian worldview on just how wretchedly sinful humanity is without Christ (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 1:18-32; 3:10-23). Is there a more apt description of modern society than Genesis 6:5? “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.”

The Democratic solution is to add new regulations. The Republican solution is to tweak the existing regulations. The Libertarian solution is to get rid of virtually all regulations. None of those methodologies are truly solutions to anything. The problem is sin. It does not matter how many laws we create. Evil and greedy people will find ways around the laws or find lawyers [and corrupt juries, corrupt judges, corrupt local and federal officials and corrupt law enforcement] to rescue them after they break the laws. Creating laws, tweaking laws, or removing laws will never solve the problem of sin. We are all infected with sin and inherently greedy (Matthew 6:19-24; Luke 12:15; Ephesians 5:5; 1 Timothy 6:9-10; Hebrews 13:5). Government cannot cure it. Only Jesus Christ can deliver us from it.

We don’t need a government to tell us that murder is wrong, that stealing is wrong, or that lying is wrong. These things are wrong because God has written His Law on our hearts and from His Word. Sure, governmental punishment can be a deterrent, but ultimately we strive to avoid sin because we love God and want to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him. That is the only biblically-valid deterrent to sin—not fines or prison sentences, but a desire to please God. That is what our society is lacking. And that explains why our country is floundering.

Not all of the early Americans or even all of the founding fathers were Christians. But at least they had a biblically-informed view of the world and a Christian sense of morality. The Constitution is arguably the best piece of governmental legislation in the history of the world. But it is inadequate in a country that is increasingly filled with people who desire only evil all the time.

True change is only possible through Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). The only reform that will truly impact our society is the reformation of people becoming new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) and having our minds transformed (Romans 12:1-2).

Governing a godless, selfish, and greedy people is like trying to restrain the wind or grasp oil in your hand (Proverbs 27:16). Or, as John Adams so aptly put it, it is like trying to restrain a whale with a net. Due to 200+ years of US history, the nets have become significantly more complex since John Adams’ day, but due to the ever-increasing wickedness (Romans 6:19) of our society, the whale has become exponentially larger and more dangerous. Without repentance from sin and faith in Christ, it is looking increasingly like the only solution is a harpoon.
https://www.gotquestions.blog/government-is-not-the-answer.html