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Babylonian Bullies Part One We Will Not Bow Crime and Punishment Three young men, government employees, stood waiting to be sentenced. It came as no surprise when they learned that they were to be executed immediately. Their crime? Refusing to adopt the values of the land where they lived in exile. Backstory Before we dig deeper into this story, let me give you a little historical context. Around 600 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, a powerful Babylonian king, conquered Jerusalem, burned it, and destroyed the temple that Solomon had built. He then exiled the Israelites to Babylon, where they lived for 70 years. Some of the Jews were placed in positions of responsibility over the affairs of Babylon. Three of them, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, are the   heroes of this story. Limited Options So, we left off with our three heroes being sentenced to death. Let's rewind the tape a little and start from the beginning. King Nebuchadnezzar had a 90-foot gold statue erected and the people of Babylon w
Whose Side Are You On? A braham Lincoln once said, "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on my side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."    Similar to the days of  Lincoln , we live in a sharply divided nation. We are under constant pressure to choose a side in regard to every imaginable issue and even in regard to some things we could never have imagined would become the subject of controversy. In the face of this pressure, some believers choose to reshape their spiritual beliefs to conform with their political views.    They go through a process of dismissing or reinterpreting any portion of scripture which conflicts with the platform of the political party they identify with. There are also people who do not necessarily believe or understand    the Bible, but try to support their views with scripture which has been taken out of context. This is a serious violation of a cardinal principle of theology and will likely lead to a mistaken