Or what Jesus meant in the Disciple's Prayer was the evil one. In my experience growing up in Christ, I am starting to be more aware of evil (evil intent masquerading as good) and evil ones or wicked ones. Hebrews 5 says that a mature believer has learned to discern good and evil and only he is ready for the meat of the Word. Don't ask God to eliminate all the evil in the world, because He'd have to eliminate you, too--only God is good! Jesus said, "You, being evil, know how to give good gifts...." The Bible exhorts us to put away the pointing of the finger because when you do that three are pointing back at you.
Let's get down to earth, so to speak: all religion is evil, not just Islam--Christianity is not a religion, but a faith relationship getting to know God and is a religion of salvation and "saviorhood." This may sound like a cliché to some but nevertheless, it must be stressed: religion is man's attempt to gain the approbation of God and to find Him, while Christianity is God reaching down to man and saving him--He found us like a good shepherd looking for a lost sheep. We never would've found Him had he not first sought us, says Blaise Pascal.
There is a controversial verse in 1 Peter 2:17 that talks about honoring the "king" or in some translations "emperor" and if an American were writing the Bible he'd say the President and one could apply it to whatever sovereign one's country had, whether prime minister or what have you. It is hypercriticism to say that Peter was referring to King Herod and not to Nero--believe you me he was not writing from some ivory tower!
There does come a point when it is our duty to do civil disobedience and even participate in an assassination plot like Dietrich Bonhoeffer did against Hitler and was imprisoned. But no Christian in his right mind would have agreed with Hitler had he known what he was up to and of his involvement in the occult and pagan religion and his hatred of Jews turned into the "final solution" of en masse extermination in concentration camps by inhumane means even.
To call a president evil that claims to be a Christian and is supported by many Christians is labeling (we shouldn't label our brethren) them evil too, and this is a kind of snap judgment, or to say it more delicately, criticism of another brother--"for who are you to judge your brother, for to his own master he stands or falls." Don't be too timorous to assert that you "dissent, disagree, and protest" like Luther maintained in his desperation and persecution on our behalf during the onset of the Reformation. Dare to be a Daniel and stand alone. Remember he was Prime Minister to a pagan king. Even if your whole church decides that a leader for whom they should be praying (1 Tim. 2-1-2) agrees that he is evil and there are still other churches that disagree it simply shows that that church is a mutual admiration society. God is nonpartisan and we can't put Him in a box and label Him by our standards! (Christ is supposed to be the unifying force according to Eph. 4:3) and we shouldn't tolerate only one party line, worldview, or viewpoint.
Controversy is good--only worldly controversy is bad because we need to know the truth and not inhibit open debate. Jesus was known as a "controversialist" and ruffled some feathers and upset the applecart too of the religious establishment in their own territory and turf. In my church, we have members of both political persuasions and the pastor cannot take a strict party-line stand because this is a battleground state of extremists or partisan purists on both sides. We have Michelle Bachmann and Al Franken--are two opposites, and our state is polarized. Even families can become alienated like it happened in the Civil War or the War Between the States as some call it. Sometimes our enemies are even members of our own house according to Jesus and Micah 7:6. Don't just blindly follow the leader and think like the majority because the majority is rarely right. I like the motto: "Question authority, but don't ever question mother!" Soli Deo Gloria!
Let's get down to earth, so to speak: all religion is evil, not just Islam--Christianity is not a religion, but a faith relationship getting to know God and is a religion of salvation and "saviorhood." This may sound like a cliché to some but nevertheless, it must be stressed: religion is man's attempt to gain the approbation of God and to find Him, while Christianity is God reaching down to man and saving him--He found us like a good shepherd looking for a lost sheep. We never would've found Him had he not first sought us, says Blaise Pascal.
There is a controversial verse in 1 Peter 2:17 that talks about honoring the "king" or in some translations "emperor" and if an American were writing the Bible he'd say the President and one could apply it to whatever sovereign one's country had, whether prime minister or what have you. It is hypercriticism to say that Peter was referring to King Herod and not to Nero--believe you me he was not writing from some ivory tower!
There does come a point when it is our duty to do civil disobedience and even participate in an assassination plot like Dietrich Bonhoeffer did against Hitler and was imprisoned. But no Christian in his right mind would have agreed with Hitler had he known what he was up to and of his involvement in the occult and pagan religion and his hatred of Jews turned into the "final solution" of en masse extermination in concentration camps by inhumane means even.
To call a president evil that claims to be a Christian and is supported by many Christians is labeling (we shouldn't label our brethren) them evil too, and this is a kind of snap judgment, or to say it more delicately, criticism of another brother--"for who are you to judge your brother, for to his own master he stands or falls." Don't be too timorous to assert that you "dissent, disagree, and protest" like Luther maintained in his desperation and persecution on our behalf during the onset of the Reformation. Dare to be a Daniel and stand alone. Remember he was Prime Minister to a pagan king. Even if your whole church decides that a leader for whom they should be praying (1 Tim. 2-1-2) agrees that he is evil and there are still other churches that disagree it simply shows that that church is a mutual admiration society. God is nonpartisan and we can't put Him in a box and label Him by our standards! (Christ is supposed to be the unifying force according to Eph. 4:3) and we shouldn't tolerate only one party line, worldview, or viewpoint.
Controversy is good--only worldly controversy is bad because we need to know the truth and not inhibit open debate. Jesus was known as a "controversialist" and ruffled some feathers and upset the applecart too of the religious establishment in their own territory and turf. In my church, we have members of both political persuasions and the pastor cannot take a strict party-line stand because this is a battleground state of extremists or partisan purists on both sides. We have Michelle Bachmann and Al Franken--are two opposites, and our state is polarized. Even families can become alienated like it happened in the Civil War or the War Between the States as some call it. Sometimes our enemies are even members of our own house according to Jesus and Micah 7:6. Don't just blindly follow the leader and think like the majority because the majority is rarely right. I like the motto: "Question authority, but don't ever question mother!" Soli Deo Gloria!