You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September, 2008.
Corruption? That’s a heart problem.
Pork-barrel politics? Another heart problem.
Inability to vote yes or no, only present? Yup, a heart problem.
Name-calling? Heart problem.
Stagnation and indecision? Heart problem.
Greed? Heart problem.
Now is the time for Christians to band together in one body to pray like we’ve never prayed before. It is way past time for us to pray for our President, our Presidential candidates, our congressmen, our senators, their aides and assistants, the President’s cabinet, leaders on Wall Street, leaders on Main Street, and each other. This fiasco has gone way beyond who will get elected this November and is directly tied to the state of our leaders’ hearts. If we could see them the way God sees them, what would their hearts look like?
God sees our motives, our intentions, our inner thoughts. He sees when we are putting ourselves above those we should be serving. What do the hearts of our leaders look like to him? Are they made of stone? Are they pumping darkness with every beat, planning out ways to get rich off each other and their country? Are they so intoxicated with power that they lose the perspective of who they serve?
But let us not be depressed or downhearted. God has seen everything the devil can do to human hearts, and he has used extraordinary means to accomplish his purposes. Throughout history, he has used unlikely people in highly unusual ways and has performed miracles and wonders when his people turn to him humbly and seek his face.
Here are just a few examples:
From Joshua 5:
When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart and were paralyzed with fear because of them.
Lord, please dry up the river of greed that flows not just from our leaders’ hearts, but from our hearts as well. Give us dry ground and safety so we can cross this difficult time.
From 1 Samuel 13:
“How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
Samuel then left Gilgal and went on his way, but the rest of the troops went with Saul to meet the army. They went up from Gilgal to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. When Saul counted the men who were still with him, he found only 600 were left!
Lord, you have already appointed the coming leaders of this nation, and I pray that your will be done and that the leaders you have chosen will seek your heart just as David did. I pray that you will rally the hearts of our nation so we will once again be ONE nation under God and that there will not be 600 left on this side or 600 left on that side. I pray we will all turn and seek your heart.
From 2 Samuel 15:
When people tried to bow before him, Absalom wouldn’t let them. Instead, he took them by the hand and kissed them. Absalom did this with everyone who came to the king for judgment, and so he stole the hearts of all the people of Israel.
Father, I pray that like Absalom, the leaders you have chosen for our nation will have servant hearts and will lead by serving. I pray that they will “steal the hearts” of all Americans — that the leaders you have appointed will refuse to let the common man bow to them but will instead wash the feet of the ones they have been elected to serve. I pray they will not be filled with greed and power and the love of money, but that instead you will turn their hearts towards the satisfaction that comes from service and a job done to the best of their abilities.
From 1 Kings 14
Give your husband, Jeroboam, this message from the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I promoted you from the ranks of the common people and made you ruler over my people Israel…But you have not been like my servant David, who obeyed my commands and followed me with all his heart and always did whatever I wanted. You have done more evil than all who lived before you. And since you have turned your back on me, I will bring disaster on your dynasty will raise up a king over Israel who will destroy the family of Jeroboam. This will happen today, even now!
Lord, I don’t ask that you destroy anyone’s family, but I do ask that you destroy the spirit of evil that lurks. Indeed, you have already won! I pray that today, even now, you will restore your favor to us by finding those who do seek your face. Elevate them to places of leadership, and guard their hearts from the corruption that winds its way through our nation’s capital.
From 2 Kings 23:
The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the Lord’s presence. He pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant…. Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.
You’ve told us that there will never be another king like Josiah. Father, I ask you to bring our nation a leader who would be at least somewhat like Josiah! I plead with you, Lord, to bring us leaders who turn to you with all their hearts and souls and strengths.
2 Chronicles 30:
At the same time, God’s hand was on the people in the land of Judah, giving them all one heart to obey the orders of the king and his officials, who were following the word of the Lord.
Lord, I ask you for a mighty revival to sweep through our nation. Stir us up, Lord…stir us up to obedience and servant hearts. Curb the crime that riddles our dark alleys and schools. Place your hand in the United States, Lord, and give us all one heart to obey the leaders you have appointed who we, in faith, believe will be following your word.
2 Chronicles 36:
In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom:
“This is what King Cyrus of Persia says:
“The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Any of you who are the Lord’s people may go there for this task. And may the Lord your God be with you!”
Oh, Lord, that you would stir the hearts of all our leaders and also of us who fall under their realms. Stir our hearts to do your will, just as you stirred the heart of King Cyrus, who rebuilt the Temple. Please be with us, God, so that we can work our faith out together.
Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.
Lord, I ask that you will guide President Bush’s heart like a stream of water. I specifically pray for Senator McCain and Senator Obama and for their campaign staffs. I pray you will guide their hearts “wherever” you please.
Jesus tells us we don’t have enough faith. It’s time to rise up and put on our faith shoes and our faith shields and our faith shirts, faith pants, faith purses, and faith belts. Let’s put some faith on, so we can accomplish much!
From Matthew 17:
“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. ”
Nothing. Would. Be. Impossible. Notice the word nothing? It means nothing! Do you know how tiny a mustard seed is? I do, because we tried to grow a plant this spring (didn’t work). It was so small that even my little size-3-ring-fingers could barely grasp them to plant. It must have been incredibly difficult to plant a crop of mustard plants back in Jesus’ day. The people he was speaking to knew exactly how much faith they needed to have — a smidgen. Just a little bit.
I will leave you with this encouraging word from James 5:
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
Since we are praying AND we have faith, this mountain of trouble in our country is getting ready to move. The hearts of our leaders are softening, opening up to the call of the Lord. Can you feel those mountains trembling under God’s mighty hand? Pray with me, people! Rise up, get your faith clothes on, and PRAY.
When I was a little girl riding the school bus, my friends and I would close our eyes and point our faces towards the warm sun. As we did so, we described the tiny bursts of color that streaked across the darkness. Sometimes I would “see” white flashes; other times I would “see” splashes of red and pink and green. If we then pressed the palms of our hands gently on our eyes, we’d “see” an even wider variety of designs and colors.
Even with my eyes closed, I was not blinded; my brain perceived pressure and light even through closed lids. I wonder…does someone who is born without sight perceive the same flashes of light and color? Can they describe the colors or the shapes, having not seen anything before? If a blind person’s optic nerve is missing or is somehow not operational and has been so his entire life — what does he see in the darkness behind closed lids?
In the news today is a story about an eight-year-old girl who had an underdeveloped optic nerve which rendered her unable to see anything beyond light and dark. She underwent experimental stem cell treatment and now, after four treatments, she is beginning to see.
Such miracles in the past only happened by the touch of the Master’s hand or through the hands of those to whom he gave power (still does!). In one case, a man who had been born blind (the Bible doesn’t say if he was able to see light and dark, as the little girl in the story was able to see) was standing along the way where Jesus was walking. As they walked by, the disciples asked Jesus why the man was blind. In that day, people believed that disabilities were directly the result of sin, either of the parents or of the person. Jesus said,
“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.
And then Jesus did a very remarkable and decidedly unsanitary thing. He leaned down and spit on the ground. Then he stirred up his spit and the dirt to make a little clay-like mud and smeared the mud over the man’s eyes. I think it is important to know what word was used here…it was not just mud or dirt. The Greek word here is pelos, and it is the word for clay — the kind of clay that potters use.
Before we move on to what happened next, let’s go back, way back, to the beginning, when God created man. In Genesis 2 we see God playing in the dirt for the first time. But His was no ordinary mud pie! He stirred up that dust and formed Adam, a living, breathing, seeing person…
Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.
That’s not the only reference we have in Scripture to clay. Actually, we learn in Isaiah that God is himself the Potter, and we are the clay.
What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their evil deeds in the dark!
“The Lord can’t see us,” they say.
“He doesn’t know what’s going on!”
How foolish can you be?
He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!
Should the created thing say of the one who made it,
“He didn’t make me”?
Does a jar ever say,
“The potter who made me is stupid”?
So now Jesus, the Son of God, who formed man out of mud, who is referred to as the Potter in Isaiah — we see God once more, this time in the form of Christ, bending down and making clay. Can you see it?
I’ve tried my hand at sculpting with clay, and if there’s one thing I can say about it, it’s that I’m never satisfied with the finished product. I can always see something else that needs to be tweaked. So in that vein, we hear Jesus say that the man was born blind not because of any sin…but so the power of God could be seen in him.
The power that turned dust into man, that molds us like clay, bent down, made some more clay, and tweaked that blind man’s eyes. To our scientific viewpoint, it may be that the miracle was in the content of his saliva. Surly the creator of the world has exactly what it takes to make the imperfect perfect. Some might even say that Christ’s saliva contained…you guessed it…stem cells — the basis of human cells, at least as far as we know it.
Jesus told the man to go wash off the mud, and as the man did so, he was suddenly able to see. This happened on the Sabbath.
Going from darkness to light like that — what must that have been like? The wide-eyed wonder of a baby, drinking in all the faces and sights, must have rushed in like a freight train in that man’s brain.
Was there a celebration after this miracle? Did the Pharisee GrapeVine News report on this event with awe and wonder? Nope. Afraid not. This miracle of restoring sight to the blind threw a big monkey wrench in the Pharisee’s worldview.
You see, they didn’t know what to make of Jesus. They had their little comfortable world where they were the know-it-alls as far as religion went. They knew all the laws and obeyed them even to the point of denying food to a poor person if it meant they had to lift a finger on the Sabbath. They even made more laws. They looked at the world through their know-it-all glasses, but Jesus did not fit in their picture. Yes, he somehow made it look like he did a miracle, but surely it couldn’t have come from God because it happened on the Sabbath, and everybody knows that no one is permitted to work on the Sabbath!
They just couldn’t get over it. They questioned the blind man not once, not twice, but three times — and they questioned his parents as well because they thought it impossible that a man outside their realm had the power to do such an amazing thing.
Here’s a snippet of their exchange, from John 9:
So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this,[b] because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”
“I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”
“But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?”
“Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”
Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”
“Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.”
34 “You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.
Hmm. Even after his testimony, they refused to “see.” Jesus knew this about them, and he used the example to talk about what could be called spiritual blindness. Though they had been blessed with sight, were respected members of society, and were people to whom others went for answers, they did not possess the kind of sight Jesus was looking for. He was looking for people who would see him for who he was…and he found that in a man whose only occupation was that of a beggar…the lowest of the low, according to the Pharisees. Remember, it was common thought in those days that the blindness was a punishment for sin. So it was easy to look down on that blind beggar — his parents must have sinned big-time for that to happen, they thought.
Jesus sought out the blind-man-who-now-can-see, and he asked him about the Pharisees’ interrogation.
When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?[c]” The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”
“You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”
“Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.
Then Jesus told him,[d] “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see[e] that they are blind.”Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”
“If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.
The Pharisees thought they knew it all. They thought they understood and “saw” spiritual truths. But they were wrong. They did not see. What jumps out at me here is that Jesus came not just to restore sight to the blind…but to show those — like me — who think they can see how truly blind they really are without him.
There is so much about my Lord that I don’t know! So much of the Scripture just rolls right over my head and onto the floor. I am just a piece of clay that hasn’t even been through the kiln…and like that pottery, I am blind unless and until my Potter gives me sight. Rather than feeling sad at that, I rejoice because it means there is so much more to learn! And Jesus speaks a special word to those of us who realize that we are blind. I’ll quote it again here:
If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied.
Those beautiful bright bursts of lights I saw with my eyes closed on the school bus years ago were only a foretaste of the glory I will see one day when I see the Lord. Until then, I humbly walk depending on him to lead me on, as surely and as trustingly as I would if I were blind and he was my guide.
With the economic crisis looming, I have sometimes stopped to wonder what it would be like to live through another Great Depression. I remember my teachers in school assuring us that our economic gurus would never allow something like that to happen ever again — yet here we are, watching our representatives and senators working night and day through an emergency session to try to prevent a collapse of not just Wall Street, but also of Main Street.
It is tempting to allow fear to take over, obsessing over the “what-ifs.” God knew these kinds of things would happen, and he’s already given us very sound financial advice. 1 Timothy 6 has a couple of gems for us to examine:
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
And another gem:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
Many of us are “rich in this present world.” We live in houses or apartments, we drive cars, we have enough food to eat. But we also put our hope in wealth, don’t we? I’m just as guilty of this as the next person. I assume that my husband will bring home a paycheck and that our bank balance has enough for us to pay for our food.
It is time to actively put my hope in God, who is the source of that paycheck and who richly provides us with everything we need. Why should we panic? If the market falls, God will provide.
I have friends who recently went from a 2-income household to a 1-income household so the mom could stay home with the children. She likes to say that they are FROG-ging it. That’s Fully Relying On God for everything.
If nothing else, this awareness of the fragility of our economic structure has made me look more closely at my own spending habits and at God’s guidelines. I’ve found two great websites that I am exploring, looking for ways to change my own way of thinking. Perhaps they will be helpful to you, as well:
Dave Ramsey is all about getting out from under debt. Here he outlines why our market is in crisis mode and what could be done to fix it.
I also came across a blog about ten financial Biblical principles that I’m slowly reading, trying to digest. I think my next several blogs will be in this realm as I seek God’s will for my life. And I thank Him for examining my heart in this way. I don’t want to be the kind of person who runs after more and more stuff. I want to be content!
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”[a] So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
Hebrews 13:5-6
For the first time in my short life, someone has pointedly made fun of my faith. That’s a pretty sad state of affairs, considering that I have been a Christian for the past twenty five years.
Writing this blog has been the first public foray I have delved into as far as sharing my faith. I’ve talked to my students about my faith (in a private school) and to my family, but I’ve never been one to strike up a conversation with the sweet man who bags my groceries. I tend to shy away from confrontations because they make me uncomfortable to the point of anxiety attacks.
I even remember the first one. I was sitting at my grandmother’s table debating God with my uncle. He disagreed with the Bible, and as a young, faith-filled child, I was sure that if he would just read, he would believe! I don’t even remember what the topic was, but I do remember having to get up and leave the table because my legs started shaking in anxiety.
Fast forward a few years to today. I’ve been writing this blog for almost a year now, off and on, as time and inspiration allows. I set out to write this blog in hopes of encouraging friends in the blogosphere in their Christian walks. Often my wanderings turn political, and of course, when you mix religion and politics, sometimes you get sparks! Lately a commenter’s comments have been blazing. It started when I wrote a blog about how Senator Obama voted against the Born Alive act four times in the Illinios legislature and then really ramped up when I posted a YouTube video from a soldier who had been wounded in Iraq. The commenter was angry and attacked the Christianity of me and anyone who would support a war, any war.
After deleting some of his comments, I thought perhaps God would rather I try to reason with him. So I continued to respond to his comments in hopes that he would listen. This person has recently written,
If Jesus were here, do you think he would have an opinion about the war? I do. And I think he would speak out against it. He WOULD be involved. And I think you would dismiss him.
And in another comment, he wrote
I’m not going to judge your faith. You have lots of it. But faith is like a fairy tale island in the setting sun. Proof is something altogether different.”
And around and round we go…an unbeliever who can’t understand why I would post a video from a soldier who lost a leg in Iraq. I seriously considered his question about Jesus and wrote a lengthy response in Birth Pains. But my response only seemed to make him angrier and more frustrated, which eventually led to his telling me that my faith is like a fairy tale island in the setting sun. He did not understand that I only need to look to God’s Word to find all the proof that I need! That is the nature of faith.
In Matthew 7, Jesus is teaching a crowd of people on a mountainside. He shares many teachings with them and with us, but I’ll focus today on the first part of this section of the Sermon on the Mount:
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others.[a] The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.[b]
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye[c] when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend,[d] ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
“Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy.[e] Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.
The specks I’ve been examining lately have been those found in Senator Obama’s record. The record is factual and is what it is. I can clearly see those specks (as well as those in the record of Senator McCain), and I believe it is our duty as voters to carefully weigh the records of those who will serve us in public office. It’s part of what we do as Americans.
This commenter took the comments I made about Obama’s record and turned it into an attack on my Christianity and on the Christianity of those of us conservatives who believe the government should not be in the business of hand-outs. He claims that anyone who supports any war (even the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, WWI, WWII) can’t claim with believability that they are Christians because Jesus told us to love one another. It appears to me that he is criticizing me without examining the specks in his own eye.
I have prayed and considered over this…my family might even say I have agonized over this. Was I the one with the speck in the eye? As I was researching this question, the last statement from Jesus jumped off the page.
I’ve written before about being careful not to be judgmental. Aren’t we supposed to spread the gospel and tell others about Jesus? Aren’t we supposed to enthusiastically embrace those who oppose us? I think what Jesus is saying here is that there are some out there, who he refers to as pigs, who will trample the pearls (in this case the Word of God) and then turn and attack.
That is exactly the reaction I have received. I was perplexed at the condition of my own heart during this process — why did it make me so anxious? Why did those comments get under my skin and offend me to the extent that I actually considered deleting this entire blog?
And that’s when it hit me. I was so offended not so much that I was being attacked, but that the pearls were being trampled. The wisdom I found in the scriptures were not even acknowledged by this person.
Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in Matthew 5:
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Granted, I am not being persecuted. No one is telling me that I will go to jail for publishing this blog (as some in other countries are being told). But shutting down this blog would be like lighting my lamp and then putting it under a bowl. And that would be exactly what the enemy would very much like me to do.
So I won’t.
Writing is a talent the Lord gave me, and to shutter it up would be like the man who buried his talent in the ground because he was afraid he would lose it. When Jesus sent out the twelve, he gave them this instruction:
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
The Greek word for “shake off” is ektinassō, and it brings to mind the image of someone shaking off dust that sticks to a carpet. It was used to describe a symbolic gesture someone made that expressed extreme contempt for another and refused to have any further dealings with him.
Jesus knew that we would encounter wolves, and he has given us to tools to both embrace them and reject them as necessary. Later in the same passage he encourages us to take heart if we are arrested (or, we might say, attacked):
But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Jesus finishes his instructions to the twelve by telling them not to be afraid of those who will oppose them. Isn’t that what I was feeling? Anxiety is a form of fear. Fear of what? Of what that person will think of me, an unknown blogger out in cyberspace? I read these words from Christ and took heart:
So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny[d]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
” ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her motherinlaw—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[e]“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.
-from Matthew 10
This blog is my rooftop, and I will continue to shout out in the spirit of truth, shaking off the dust that rises whenever necessary.
There is so much to pray about that I don’t even know where to start. Our country’s leaders. The people sorting through rubbish and trying to pick up their lives after Hurricane Ike. My brother-in-law’s brain tumor. Safety for my husband as he comes back home from a long week away at work. The economic turmoil everywhere I look. The teachers in Dallas who will be losing their jobs due to last year’s 64 million dollar budget shortfall. Problems in the marriages of some dear friends. And the unmentionable requests that my Father in heaven already knows about.
At times like these, when I feel pressed and crushed under the weight — these are the times that I get lost in the Lord, usually through music.
This song is for you, Mom. And it’s for Dan. And it’s for everyone who needs some assurance that God is in control. He will not falter. He will not desert us.
Thank you, Third Day, for blessing us with your rendition of this favorite old hymn:
Main Street is rumbling. The people are up in arms. They are perplexed and angry. What has happened to our nation’s economy? Why is the so-called Republican government gearing up to bail out failed corporations to the tune of over 700 Billion dollars?
A little-known book in the Old Testament, Habakkuk, contains a revelation that seems eerily similar to the debacle going on in the back rooms of Wall Street:
“Look at the proud!
They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked.
But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.[b]
Wealth[c] is treacherous,
and the arrogant are never at rest.
They open their mouths as wide as the grave,[d]
and like death, they are never satisfied.
In their greed they have gathered up many nations
and swallowed many peoples.“But soon their captives will taunt them.
They will mock them, saying,
‘What sorrow awaits you thieves!
Now you will get what you deserve!
You’ve become rich by extortion,
but how much longer can this go on?’
Suddenly, your debtors will take action.
They will turn on you and take all you have,
while you stand trembling and helpless.
Because you have plundered many nations;
now all the survivors will plunder you.
You committed murder throughout the countryside
and filled the towns with violence.“What sorrow awaits you who build big houses
with money gained dishonestly!
You believe your wealth will buy security,
putting your family’s nest beyond the reach of danger.
But by the murders you committed,
you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives.
The very stones in the walls cry out against you,
and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint.
As far as I know, none of the CEOs of these failed financial giants have committed murder, but they have, by reckless abandon and greedy gambling with money that wasn’t even theirs to gamble — they have murdered mom and pop’s life savings…they have gambled away someone else’s dreams.
There is no way executives of companies who seek a buy-out, a mulligan, a do-over, should get any bonus payment, period. If my husband does not meet his goals at his company, he does not get his bonus. If the company were to fail, he would not get a bonus. Why should it be any different for them?
I don’t pretend to be an economic genius. In fact, there’s a reason my husband pays the bills. Numbers are not my forte. But I am smart enough to know that if you have more money going out than you have going in; if you lend money to people who have shaky credit histories; if you then build your business on shaky mortgages that snap in two like timber when hard times hit; if your debt to income ratio is 40 to 1 — you are living in a fantasy world.
Governor Mike Huckabee sent out a message today to his conservative PAC supporters. He is not only disappointed in the Republican government…he is disgusted. In part, this is what he had to say:
Frankly, I’m disappointed and disgusted with my own Republican party as I watch them attempt to strong-arm a bailout of some of America’s biggest corporations by asking the taxpayers to suck up the staggering results of the hubris, greed, and arrogance of those who sought to make a quick buck by throwing the dice. They lost, but want the rest of us to cover their bets so they won’t be effected in their lavish lifestyles as they figure out how to spend their tens of millions and in some cases, hundreds of millions in bonuses and compensation which was their reward for not only sinking their companies, but basically doing the same to the entire American economy.
The idea of a government bailout in which we’d entrust $700 billion to one man without Congressional oversight or accountability is absurd. My party or not, that is insanity and I believe unconstitutional.
Wall Street has become Las Vegas east, but at least in Vegas, people KNOW they are gambling and they don’t expect the government to cover their losses at the tables. In Wall Street, they do. And the American taxpayer burdens the responsibility.
If Congress wants to do something, here are some suggestions:
1. Eliminate ALL capital gains taxes and taxes on savings and dividends right now. Free up the capital and encourage investment. This is the kind of economic stimulus the Fair Tax would bring and if Congress is going to lose money, let them lose it with lower taxes, not with public dollar bailouts of private market mistakes.
2. Repeal Sarbanes/Oxley. It has failed. It was supposed to prevent this. It didn’t. Kill it.
3. Demand that the executives who steered their ships into the ground be forced to pay back the losses of their companies.
Attempts by Democrats and Republicans to blame each other is nonsense. They are both guilty and ought to own up and admit it. They all lived off big campaign contributions and the swill of the lobbyists who strong armed them into permission to steal. Enough of blame. Fix it!
This would be a start. If we don’t hold these guys responsible, we are all finished.
Governor Huckabee, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Just a little love note to my Father in heaven on this beautiful, starry night…
Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?”
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.
You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:6-8
How about that Palin? Though you won’t see it on CNN’s website, she drew a crowd of 60,000 to a small retirement community north of Orlando this weekend. That’s a six with four zeros behind it. Didn’t Obama draw 85,000 when he accepted the nomination in front of a pseudo-Greek temple? Read the article here.
We have a close friend who is an Obama supporter. He has met Obama a few times and supports him mainly because he is different. He is most definitely not “more of the same” we have seen in Washington over the last fifty years or so. I just personally don’t agree with him on many subjects. But I do appreciate that he is a new player in the ballpark.
Anyway, our friend doesn’t like Biden because he’s “old guard.” But he doesn’t like Palin, either. She’s “wacked-out,” according to our friend. I fear that he has that view of her because of how fiendishly the media has tried to discredit her at every turn.
(did I mention how sick I am of lies in politics?)
In particular, this friend had read somewhere out there in the never-wrong cyberspace that Palin is against the use of contraceptives. This is a false rumor, just like the internet rumor that Obama is a Muslim-in-Christian-clothing. In fact, Palin said in a gubernatorial debate that she does support educating kids about condoms alongside abstinence-only education. An article in the Anchorage Daily News outlined her views and those of her opponents on social issues from abortion to marijuana to gay marriage. She is clearly pro-life but is also pro-contraceptive; she doesn’t think marijuana should be legalized, and she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.
One of the biggest plus signs for me about Palin is her willingness to confront corruption and her record of service. She has a servant heart — it is evident in her speeches and in her interviews. It is clear who she works for — you and me — not special interests. I recently read her biography and came away from it doubly impressed at what change one person can make simply by taking a stand.
Sarah Palin was chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission in 2003 and was in charge of ethics. When it came to her attention that the Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner, Randy Ruedrich, who was also chairman of the Republican Party in Alaska, worked on party business during his work time for the state, she called him on it. It also came to her attention that he was using powerpoint promotional slides to try to convince locals to go along with a gas firm’s plan to drill gas wells — the slides he was using came directly from the firm that he was supposed to be regulating. As a state employee charged with regulating the gas industry, he instead was using their own propaganda in an effort to get them more business.
Palin tried to report him, but because of the party politics, her complaints went ignored. Palin placed such a high value on being accountable to the public that she could not let this corruption stand under her watch. So she did the unthinkable: she resigned her paid position, and then she filed a formal complaint against Ruedrich for his questionable activities on state time. As a result of her formal public complaint, Reudrich resigned and paid a $12,000 fine.
This did not bode well for Palin as far as party politics go. Because she went against party leadership, Palin’s name was MUD to the good-old-boys in the Republican Party network. When she launched her campaign for governor, the talk radio hosts went wild, and so did the people. The Republican Party establishment was so furious with Palin that when she won the Republican nomination for governor, they did not provide Palin campaign signs. Palin’s signs were hand-made.
These petty tactics did not put this bulldog in lipstick off, however. And she did not pander to voters. She did not tell voters on one side of the state one thing and then say something else in a different venue (as Obama did earlier in the campaign when speaking about the bitter middle class that clings to guns and religion). When she met with a fisherman’s trade group and heard their viewpoint, she flat out told them that she disagreed with them. She said she knew that telling them so might make them vote for the other guy, but she had to be honest. She said she disagreed with them, but she promised she would listen to them. The next day, this trade group called up the campaign office and asked for a huge Palin sign to display because they believed her promise — at least she would be the one who would listen.
I admire Palin’s tenacity in going after the corrupt people who were in power. There is so much corruption in Washington at the moment…lawmakers are in kahoots not with the voters who put them in power, but with special interest groups who wine them and dine them and give them off the record gifts. Taxpayer money is being misused and misapplied and thrown away right and left.
Although Obama seeks to change Washington, I’m not sure he has what it takes to really clean that house. I haven’t seen him challenge corruption head-on. I’ve not seen him — as I’ve seen Palin and McCain — buck the party line and the party leadership in order to stand up for honesty, integrity, and for their beliefs.
For those of you who are sick of Bush, I submit to you that McCain and Palin are not cookie cutter Republicans. The Republican party itself is changing and is embracing issues that it has strayed from in recent years but which it held fast to when it was originally started to nominate Abraham Lincoln: freedom, concern for the less fortunate, ethics, and truth.
With all the news stories about failed celebrity marriages, CEOs running away will millions and millions while stockholders are left holding an empty bag, people defaulting on home loans to such a huge extent that our entire economy is teetering on the brink of another depression, world leaders resigning amid charges of corruption…it is nice to fall back into the Word of God, away from the blaring headlines, back to the throne of grace:
Psalm 94
1 O LORD, the God who avenges,
O God who avenges, shine forth.2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
pay back to the proud what they deserve.3 How long will the wicked, O LORD,
how long will the wicked be jubilant?4 They pour out arrogant words;
all the evildoers are full of boasting.5 They crush your people, O LORD;
they oppress your inheritance.6 They slay the widow and the alien;
they murder the fatherless.7 They say, “The LORD does not see;
the God of Jacob pays no heed.”8 Take heed, you senseless ones among the people;
you fools, when will you become wise?9 Does he who implanted the ear not hear?
Does he who formed the eye not see?10 Does he who disciplines nations not punish?
Does he who teaches man lack knowledge?11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man;
he knows that they are futile.12 Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD,
the man you teach from your law;13 you grant him relief from days of trouble,
till a pit is dug for the wicked.14 For the LORD will not reject his people;
he will never forsake his inheritance.15 Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?17 Unless the LORD had given me help,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your love, O LORD, supported me.19 When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought joy to my soul.20 Can a corrupt throne be allied with you—
one that brings on misery by its decrees?21 They band together against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.22 But the LORD has become my fortress,
and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.23 He will repay them for their sins
and destroy them for their wickedness;
the LORD our God will destroy them.
Sixty thousand supporters braving 95 degree sweltering heat to hear a 25 minute speech by Palin is nothing. As more and more people hear the true message of her leadership and her stand for truthful, ethical government, I hope they’ll be storming the polls in her support.
There is no doubt that our nation’s economics are in a huge mess. In an effort to prevent another Great Depression, our government wants to use up to $700Billion (or more) of taxpayer money to buy up “bad” mortagages and debt.
An article describing the fiasco in today’s Dallas Morning News summed it up this way:
The action amounts to a massive bailout of banks and other investors that lowered their standards to make loans to borrowers who wouldn’t ordinarily qualify for a home loan.
Congress has the administration’s brief, 3-page proposal and is apparently gearing up to add many strings to this bail-out. Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, agreed that the federal government must do this bail-out but not without helping the families directly.
We cannot deal with this unless this bail-out helps families stay in their homes,”
she said. Where do we draw the line? Yes, the big firms made bad decisions when they agreed to these home loans to people who were high-risk for not paying them back. But who signed the paper? Who agreed to make monthly payments?
Once again, personal responsibility gets thrown out the window without even a mention by the media. I know there are extenuating circumstances out there. I know people have lost their jobs. Some of them are sick and can no longer work. But the bottom line is on the bottom line — they signed a legal contract obligating them. I do not think it would be fair to completely wipe out their debt while millions of us are, in some cases painfully, making our own monthly mortgage payments.
If the Congress attaches some kind of provision to this financial package that will prohibit anyone from losing their home for nonpayment of their mortgage….what’s the incentive for the rest of us to pay our mortgages (beyond the obvious that we are honest and will obey the law). There may be some kick-back from Bubba who decides that if they don’t have to pay, he doesn’t have to pay, either. And then where would we be?
I am NOT advocating kicking people out of their homes. I just hope our Congress will be very careful here about making sure that those who signed on the dotted line actually have some form of responsibility for their actions.
I have a bone to pick with both Senator McCain and Senator Obama. Stop pointing the finger at each other! I don’t want to hear about what you think your opponent thinks! Stop using sound bites and throwing petty accusations at each other that are at best exaggerations and at worst just plain lies. Let’s have some common decency. I hope the debates will show us that we actually have two men to choose from and not a couple of two-year-olds fighting over words. Both candidates are accusing the other of helping to contribute to this financial mess. What both candidates should say is that YES, we are both guilty as charged. McCain has always been in favor of deregulation (as were many Democrats, including Bill Clinton who signed the bill into law in 2000), but now he says that they went too far and that regulation and oversight are needed. Obama has always been in favor of Big Government regulating everything, and now he is using this fiasco to scare people about McCain by spreading outright lies:
John McCain said he wants to do for health care what Washington did for bankers.”
John McCain doesn’t want to deregulate health care, Obama! He wants to give everyday people more choice in which health plans they choose. Cut it out, boys! Now, let’s roll up our sleeves and fix this mess together, because the financial market doesn’t care about party politics.
Some of my readers have recently condemned me as a Christian for posting the YouTube video entitled Dear Mr. Obama. These are people who believe that the Iraq war was a huge mistake and want our troops pulled home now. They support Obama because he did not support the war. They challenged me to think about what Jesus would have done if he was here in this time, in this place.
What would Jesus do?
First of all, the Lord chose the exact time and place for Jesus to be revealed. He came at a time when the Jews were under oppression. They were essentially slaves to the Roman empire. Many Jews believed that the Messiah would be a military leader who would overthrow the Roman government and restore the Jewish nation.
This was also a time when people followed the letter of the law but did not follow it with their hearts. Jesus rebuked them and bucked the conventions when he healed (worked) on the Sabbath and allowed the disciples to glean grain on the Sabbath. He was showing by example that the heart of the matter is what concerns the Lord.
The famous Sermon on the Mount is where I looked today to discern what perhaps Jesus would do in these times…but I find it important to note that Jesus IS here in these times. His spirit lives in each of us who cling to Him in faith. He is here in these times, and the things he taught the crowds back then still apply to today.
The central question these people are asking is: would Jesus have invaded Iraq? I think the simple answer is that Jesus would not have allowed himself to be in place as a world ruler who makes earthly decisions such as the appropriateness of war. Why? He had ample opportunity to lead an uprising among the Jews. There were people willing to lay their lives on the line, willing to crown him King of the Jews. He could have called down fire from heaven to strike the enemies who opposed him. He could have grabbed the reins of control (Satan even offered it to him…offered him the world during the 40 days of temptation)…but he did not. He could have turned the Roman thugs who were flogging him mercilessly into pillars of salt, but he did not. As spikes were being driven into his hands and his feet, he could have summoned a host of angels to come to his defense, but he did not. The reason he did not is because his eyes were on a spiritual realm that we cannot see but which exists nonetheless. If he had assumed control, then God’s plan to allow Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins would have been foiled. Jesus knew God’s plan in advance. He warned his disciples what was about to happen. He agonized over the pain he was about to experience, but he walked that path anyway. Why? Because it was God’s will that he do so.
Jesus’ decision to put himself under God’s authority, to refuse the people’s will of him as their king instead of God’s will of him as their savior, can’t be compared to President Bush’s decision to send our soldiers to Iraq. President Bush is in charge of a nation and should be compared to other national rulers — to compare him or any other earthly ruler to the Lord and to expect them to be perfect, as the Lord is perfect, is unfair.
The intelligence that Bush and his advisers had at the time must have been quite credible. I don’t believe that President Bush sat in the Oval Office with Dick Cheney and schemed ways to overtake other nations and make them American colonies. I wasn’t there at that intelligence briefing. Our nation had been attacked by terrorists, and Bush decided to go on the offense when Saddam refused to play by the rules. Even Democrats supported the path initially. We know for a fact that he did have WMD because he used them on his own people.
Compare Bush to Roman rulers of old. Did he send the army into Mexico and turn it into an American colony, forcing the American constitution on Mexican citizens and making them slaves? Do American soldiers patrol the streets of France, demanding that French citizens carry their heavy equipment loads for them? That’s what the Romans required of the Jews.
And that brings us to the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is teaching a large crowd of people. He sat at the top of a mountain and began amazing the people with his words. It is very important to note that Jesus started off the meat of his sermon by making sure people understood that his words and God’s words as given to Moses and the prophets were not separate entities.
Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.
Matthew 5:17-18
So we see that Jesus came to accomplish, in the flesh, the purpose of God’s law. In other words, he came to show us all how it’s done, by the Master himself.
I think it is very important to recognize the venue. Is he speaking to the lawmakers of Rome? Is he speaking in the courts? In the temple? No. He is on a hillside, talking personally with people who came to listen, teaching those who wanted to learn. He is not trying to draft legislation. Instead, he’s trying to spark life into the hearts of those who listen.
The hard-hearted Jews were misusing the law in order to take the law into their own hands. They were taking revenge on those who wronged them instead of relying on the courts — provided for in God’s law — to settle the differences. It’s similar to the way gangs dispense “justice” on the streets of America today. If a member is killed by a rival gang, then the members go after the rival gang and kill one of theirs. The problem is, the “Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” law was never intended for individual people to do to get revenge. It was intended as a guideline for judges, sitting in a court of law, to follow. In Deuteronomy 19, we see this “eye for an eye” concept in its entirety:
If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
In context, the eye for eye concept was a specific guideline for a specific type of crime: malicious false testimony. In Jesus’ day, as in today, Jews were using this scripture as justification for all sorts of crimes against each other. Jesus set them, and us, straight, when, while sitting on a mountainside before a huge crowd of people, he said :
You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[g] But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”
Matthew 5:38-42
I submit that this teaching from Jesus applies to each person individually. He was not speaking to the judges or the lawmakers. He was speaking then, and now, to the hard-hearted people who found themselves oppressed. He was speaking to people who were indignant because they were forced to carry a soldier’s burdens for one mile when so ordered. Rather than rising up and demanding that they had a “right” to walk through their own city without having to stop and carry a foreign soldier’s backpack…Jesus told them to go ahead and walk TWO miles. It’s where we get the saying, “go the extra mile.” Today we use that phrase when we want someone to put forth extra effort, and that’s exactly what Jesus was getting at: in personal disputes, Jesus wants us to go the extra mile, do the extra thing. I suspect that doing so helps change the hearts of all those involved.
Those who condemn our military presence in Iraq often quote from the above verse. But nowhere in that verse or in its original context are the writers speaking about the Nation of Israel or of any nation. The context is for individuals, not for nations. The Israelites themselves do not apply the original verse to their nation — in fact, God commanded them to take possession of lands and had them “utterly destroy” the inhabitants and all their possessions.
However, if we did apply the “extra mile” rule to our nation’s policies, how could we do so with the situation as it stands today in Iraq? Is it by retreating? By leaving a mess? Is it by vilifying our military and making our President out to be a murderer? Absolutely not! We can demand that our military NOT leave until they have built and re-built and made that country’s infrastructure better than it was before we arrived. We can make sure that every effort is taken to protect the lives of innocents, to expose corruption, to support the new Iraqi government. For those enemies of ours who say we only invaded because we wanted the land for ourselves…the proof will be in the pudding. Watch how this plays out. How many Vietnam lands have USA zipcodes? Are our American forces making Iraqi people copy our constitution and pay taxes to our government? If we did that, then we would be guilty of colonization. Rather, our mantra has been standing up for freedom.
Much has been written and said about our President…many people in this country hate him. In a bookstore in Austin, I saw a sticker that had a caricature of Bush wearing a Pope’s hat. The text said, “What would Jesus bomb?”
To say that image disturbed me would be an understatement. I don’t agree with everything President Bush has done, but neither do I hate him. He is a leader who has been faced with unprecedented evil. He’s made the calls that he believes are right. But he is not Jesus, and Jesus would not bomb anybody. To say otherwise only demonstrates a lack of understanding. Jesus came to deal with our hearts.
Rather than sling around hateful words and pointing fingers, Republicans and Democrats need to pray for each other:
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[h] and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies[i] and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:43-47
That’s a tough act to follow, but I believe that if we did so, God would honor us and would heal our nation. The rift running through partisan politics extends all the way down to our hearts. What would Jesus say about the Iraq War? He has already told us:
As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”
“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”
Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
“You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Birth pains. That’s what he said then as recorded in Mark 13, and it still applies today. He told us to stand firm — the Greek word for that is hypomeno, and it does not mean to retreat or pull back or be a doormat. It means to endure, to not flee or run away, to bravely and calmly bear.
Jesus, who was neither Democrat nor Republican but who came to set all the people free from their bondage to sin, is, in his words, “surely with you always, to the end of the age.” What would Jesus say? Open your Bible and find out.
