This is a difficult BLOG to write because it is the
precursor of radical behavioral modification on my part, and, not that I am so
egotistical as to believe the readership of this missive has the kind of
audience that we writers secretly hope it does but deep in the corner of our hearts
where reality hides except to occasionally douse us with that sickeningly
annoying dose of truth, know it doesn’t.
And to make matters worse, the aforementioned demon of reality, who doubles as a nosy, impertinent
grammar Nazi informs me that the opening sortie is in actuality yet another of my trademark run
on sentences, which indeed, it was. After first reminding the rude little parasitical
urchin of his unwelcome intrusion, I did reward the brat with a half-hearted “well
done, you. Now return to the level of hell from whence you originated”.
As Batman once told his nemesis, Two-Face, deliciously
portrayed by the talented Tommy Lee Jones (SIDEBAR: I liked Batman so much
better before he was even more of a psychopath than the villains he
chased) “You’re of two minds about everything”, I find myself facing the same dilemma.
I find myself at a crossroad where I must decide which 'me' will ‘win’, and more
importantly, do so without decimating that which is good in the 'me' who loses. Bear with me, I’m going to talk to myself for
a while because no one else understands my struggle with the minutiae quite
as well as I do, and that makes me the expert in the field. That, plus the fact
that I’ve known me longer than you have and, well, you see where I’m headed? So
as I wade through a few feet of a river in Egypt, I’ll try and explain the what
and maybe, if possible the where and why of it all.
My disillusion began with a win that was in many ways a loss.
The year was 2000. George Herbert Walker Bush defeated Albert Gore for the
office of President of Florida. The
Booby Prize was the other 49 states. It was a win in that the socialist minded
democrat who couldn’t keep his fly zipped and his wife who wielded far too much
power for an unelected occupant taking up space in the Oval Office were gone.
Did you know Bill Clinton had an IQ of over 180? Einstein strata!
The win that was ultimately a loss was George Herbert Walker
Bush. A decent man. A man loyal in
fidelity to his wife. Not the brightest candle in the box, but a far more
reasonable alternative to either the guy who both invented the internet and discovered climate
change or the Viet Nam protestor from Massachusetts.
My downhill plunge began during these years because I found
that I had to discover a way to remain faithful to the two greatest driving forces
in my life:
1. My Faith: I am a Christ Follower. This is NOT a
religion, although during all of the years of my life as a Christ-follower leading
up to and including those of the Bush presidency, I attended some flavor of
Baptist church, which by definition, is a religion. However, I repeat for the
record: I am a Christ-follower. This is NOT a religion.
2.
My Patriotism and loyalty to my country
Finding a happy medium for these two things that satisfies both without compromising either has become more and more difficult over
the years, and in particular in the years since I started school. That really
marks the time when America began her down-slide into the abyss of godless humanism and religious tolerance which is, in reality such a mishmash of religions that the Judeo-Christian foundation of our nation was but a fading memory. The last six-twelve
years have been the worst.
I began writing BLOGS in 2002 when I returned from a brief
time in Europe. I had begun to see my nation through the eyes of a European. I began
over time to wonder if my newly elected President wasn’t really just trying to
prove something to his Daddy. I began to
ask why it seemed that everyone on planet earth with the exception of my
president and one or two of his cabinet understood that what was happening in
the Middle East was a religious civil war that was 6,000 years old and we had
no business interfering in it other than to support our ally, Israel.
Then 2008 came, and came with a vengeance, but I fell back
on the comforting shoulder of my faith, and the words of the author of my
faith. You see, as a Christ follower, I believe every word of the Bible as it
was given to the authors of the individual books as they penned the original
manuscripts, is inspired by God. The
Apostle Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, the aged Apostle affirms to his
young protégé that he be assured that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…”.
The Greek phrase translated ‘given by inspiration of God’ is ‘theopneustos’, and literally
means God breathed. This ‘God breathed’ sense
of inspiration only applies to those original manuscripts, or autographs, as textual scholars refer to them, and not to
subsequent translations. There is no
such thing as a God breathed translation. That said, God has kept his Word
intact and pure through thousands of years.
So, facing the enigma of loyalty to faith and loyalty to ‘king
and country’ without compromising either, I took refuge after the election of a marxist-socialist, practicing
Muslim who went on record proclaiming that “America is no longer a Judeo-Christian Nation”. He took the lie further and proclaimed that America – MY America
is “one of the largest Muslim nations in the world”.
I sought peace in the Word of God, and found it in the Book
of Daniel, chapter 2, verse 20:
“And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings
and He raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who
have understanding.”
And I said to myself and anyone who would listen, “See! This didn’t catch God by surprise! Barack
Hussein Obama is President for the same reason Nebuchadnezzar was King –
because it pleased God to put him there for His divine purpose!”
That was my fallback verse for five years, and it was
enough. But the ten months of the sixth year of his disassembling of America, have tested my faith unlike any
time in my life! I’ve watch the atrocities performed by this man while a nation
of religionists stood back wringing their hands as his minions cheered him on.
Until,just a few weeks ago, in a Bible Study one night, our pastor teacher shared this passage of
scripture with us:
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For
there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are
appointed by God. Therefore whoever rests resists the authority resists the
ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For
rulers are not a terror to good works, but the evil do you want to be on afraid
of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he
is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does
not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, and avenger to execute
wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only
because of wrath but also for conscience sake. For because of this you also pay
taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render
therefore to all their do: taxes to whom taxes are due, costumes to whom
customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” Romans 13:1-7
So what did I get for my meddling questions? The firm
reaffirmation, this time from the very Apostle who told me that ALL Scripture
is God breathed, not just from an old testament dude who made friends with the
hungry lions into whose den he was haphazardly tossed to be surprise catch of
the day.
So you’re asking – at least I hope you are – where are you going
with this, Dave?
If you’re one of my Facebook followers – or the other one –
I’m not going to be spending as much FB time discussing Politics as I have been. My views haven’t changed, but my sense of
what’s important has. I’ve already filled in my vote by mail ballot for
November’s election. I vote in every
election, and so should you, especially if you are a Christ follower. And stop paying so much attention to those
sensationalistic FAKE conservative news URL’s.
They’re just advertising mines and data mines looking to get your info
so they can flood your inbox with junk, most of which is not verifiable anywhere
on mother earth.
It really doesn’t make a lot of difference who the next
POTUS is. Why? Because whoever it is, if God didn’t either put them in office
or let them be put in office, they wouldn’t be there. I remember a song written specifically for
the chorale at my college. It’s as true
today as it was 40 years ago when they recorded it. JESUS IS STILL THE ANSWER,
and my friend, that applies to politics now more than ever.
Do you really want to see change in America? The answer is
as simple as this. God once told
Solomon, on the night before the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, “If my people,
who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and
turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin, and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
The promise of God to Solomon was conditional. It boils down to this: keep the temple pure,
I will bless the land. There are a lot of
individual conditions in that promise, but that’s the gist of it.
Now fast forward to 25 October, 2014, America’s spiraling
downward, we live under grace not law, and besides – there isn’t a Temple…or is
there. Hear the words of Paul again one more time:
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy
Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1
Corinthians 6:19
Same principle. The blessing on the land is in direct
proportion to the purity of the temple. Thr only difference, child of God, is that WE who are Christ Followers ARE the Temple! You want to see Revival come to America? You want to see REAL change in Washington DC? It’s up to
us, brothers and sisters in Christ. God has given us a promise with a purpose:
1.
Call on His Name
2.
Humble ourselves before Him
3.
Pray
4.
Seek His Face
5.
Turn from our wicked ways (REPENT)
AND GOD WILL
1.
Hear from Heaven
2.
Forgive us
3.
Heal our Land
The first step is ours.
It’s time to clean the temples, America.
Will you join me?
