">>1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.<<"

BD, I suspect this might have been one of those things slipped in by the Church at a later point to reinforce their god-given right to rule :)

That said, if it were not, its an interesting point taken in the context of Revelations (where's Gibo when you need him). If you indeed think that you need to follow the Romans quote above, then arguably you must also submit yourself to the final dictator, and take the mark of the beast, thereby damning yourself for eternity (supposedly).

Somehow, I feel that the earlier interpretation I made might be the more correct one :)

Foxy one...

If Jesus was to cast a vote today He would very definitely vote for a government that had moral standards of equality, responsibility, and care for the weak.

I have no argument with that mate... what I DO however argue with is the idea of 'weak' being attributed to people who do illegal or immoral things.. thats where I have a problem.

"Country Shoppers" in my view are immoral. If you HAVE safety and security... in country A....how can you expect people to be sympathetic when you deliberately abandon that safety and security simply to get a better economic opportunity in country B which is 3 countries further away ?

So.. such situations must be determined on a case by case and circumstantial basis. It's common sense. If our system is too weak..then amoral people will without doubt seek to exploit it.
Again...common sense.

I don't care who is in power.. they should follow 'common sense' :)

There are the genuinely weak...and the falsely weak seeking personal advantage. Governments must determine which is which.

Freedee..

glad you listened to that :) Actually.. it's simply a man exulting in the Glory of God..in Christ. He is searching for words to express his feeling... it's not a theological treatise its an outpouring of emotion. For me.. when I consider that it is said of Jesus

John 1:3

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness.....

Well..I then look at that wasp and spider and my heart is filled with praise for the one who made it all.

Considering that the world of hornets/wasps and spidy's is a pretty rough one... (winner take all..surivival of the fittest) it is further gratifying that in conjunction with the 'creation' through the Lord Jesus, we also have 'light'... unfortunately, as John says:

....but the darkness has not understood it. (Which is the continuation of the above verse.)

It is that lack of understanding, ignoring of, or even outright rejection which is the source of our human problems.

Foxy is both right and wrong in my view.. in saying

"....that all people can live as God's children" I would qualify by adding "meaning those who have repented and embraced Christ as Savior and Lord"

You see.. just yesterday we heard of a Christian school in Pakistan, invaded by Jihadists, All the children were gathered into a hall by the staff as the Jihadi's entered the school grounds, the doors were shut.

The Jihadists came with Ak47s, Grenades, and a Beslan intent. They could not easily open the door of the hall, and eventually went away, (for reasons unknown) were confronted by government troops..and blew themselves up. The Children testified to hearing 'beautiful singing' while the Jihadists were at the door... (of angels? :)

It ain't all roses and brudderly luv out there

Hilarious to hear that Jesus would endorse the Greens. Of course you are joking! Just look at how many took an oath on the Word of God after being elected last time and you will get your answer on who to vote for.

James 5:12

"But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment."

So if the greens don't take an oath on god then they appear to be on the money.

R0bert

"Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. " So BD, God obviously made the islamics and jihadists too, and we should celebrate their existence?? God has also made it possible for us to achieve genetic manipulation, so obviously we should rejoice at that as well?? God has made nuclear weapons possible, so I guess that means a cause for rejoicing too?? I could go on.