The Choice Before Us

In my last post I queried as to what might be the next step that we as Christians should take in regard to the demise of our nation. Two or three things have come to my attention since then and I'd like to begin with this portion of John Winthrop's stirring sermon "A Model of Charity." Winthrop wrote and preached this sermon to his congregation in 1630 as they sailed across the Atlantic from England to the shores of Massachusetts. It's as relevant to us today as it was to those brave souls almost 400 years ago. We would do well to heed the admonition and the warning that Winthrop gives to us in these words:

"The end is to improve our lives to do more service to the Lord the comfort and increase of the body of Christ whereof we are members that our selves and posterity may be the better preserved from the common corruptions of this evil world to serve the Lord and work out our salvation under the power and purity of His holy ordinances.

Now the only way to accomplish this end and to provide for our posterity is to follow the counsel of Micah, "to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humble with our God." For this end we must be knit together in this work as one man, we must entertain each other in brotherly affection, we must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities, we must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience and liberality, we must delight in each another, make others conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor, and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our community as members of the same body. So shall we keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

The Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as His own people and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of his wisdom power goodness and truth than formerly we have been acquainted with. We shall find that the God of Israel is among us - when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when he shall make us a praise and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations: The Lord make it like that of New England. For we must consider that we shall be as a "City upon a Hill."

The eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work, we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-work through the world; we shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God and all professors for God's sake; we shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going.

"Beloved there is now set before us life, and good, death and evil in that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His ordinance, and His laws, and the articles of our covenant with Him that we may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God may bless us in the land whither we go to possess it. But if our hearts shall turn away so that we will not obey, but shall be seduced and worship other gods, our pleasures, and profits, and serve them; it is propounded unto us this day, we shall surely perish out of the good land whither we pass over this vast sea to possess it."

Therefore let us choose life that we, and our seed may live; by obeying His voice, and cleaving to Him, for He is our life, and our prosperity."

What to do?

These are perplexing times. Sometimes I just have to turn off the TV and radio and not listen to any more news! It's all bad, bad, and worse; and just when I think I've heard it all, I hear more! At the suggestion of friend and author, David Zanotti of The American Policy Roundtable, John and I went on a one week TV and radio fast - just to be quiet our minds and think more about what God has to say about all these things. Basically, it boils down to "He is Lord of lords and King of kings." Thank God!

Keeping that in mind, I was seeking the Lord today on behalf of our nation, primarily with the concern I had about the Federal Government casting its lot against certain states. Everyone - unless they live in a cave - knows that Arizona, after exhausting all efforts to have the federal government protect the border, passed a law saying that, basically, "the law is legal." We have since seen the legal and semantic storm of fury that the government has wrought upon that state. Then there's Louisiana and another example of the government not protecting national borders, this time from the devastation of oil. The state could have protected itself, foreign aid was ready to assist, but the federal government blocked them and then didn't do anything until long after it needed doing. Then there's Texas. Because Texas said "no" to government subsidies that it didn't need, the government has singled that state out to make an example of it by withdrawing further aid. (Maybe other states should follow that example.)

Then there's a long, long list of legislative actions that have taken place against the will of the people - nationalized healthcare, who-knows-how-many bailouts, the recent overturning of Proposition 8 in California, ad nauseum. There is a ground swell of uproar and protest at the violence done to the Constitution, but the Administration and Congress continue to stop their ears; and when they do respond it's to tell us how stupid we are.

Then today I see that 12 states have decided to ignore the law that requires them to send absentee ballots to overseas military personnel in time for them to be returned and counted towards an election, and that the Department of Justice has decided to ignore their defiance of the law. Not only does this disenfranchise those who are laying their lives on the line in the service of this nation, it's also interesting to note that those 12 states had supported Pres. Obama in the 2008 election. (Do we see selective law here?) The Department of Justice also turned a blind eye when white voters were intimidated by New Black Panther Party members, and yet the Administration is working tooth and nail to obtain voting privileges for illegal immigrants.

It's enough to make your head spin and spin and spin.

As I ponder these things, embattled states and embattled citizens, I can't help but wonder where does this lead? As a Christian my first preference for effecting cultural change is through the long, but sure process of reformation rather than the abrupt, knee-jerk process of revolution. Reformation has a live-able, workable plan for change. Revolution just has change, and I think we've had our fill of that. I still believe that this country yet has time for the processes of reformation to take hold of right principles, and to take our country back to its Constitutional foundation. But that time is very, very short. Like maybe the 2 1/2 months left until the November elections.

I detest the thought of revolution. "But, God," I prayed, "You always work reformationally!" Then it occurred to me, not always. The history of our nation reminds us that after the colonists tried and tried to continue to function under the established covenants between themselves and the Crown, they finally came to the unwanted decision to cut themselves off from a ruler who had forsaken those laws, and hence a covenantal lawsuit was drawn up by the colonists against King George and England. We know that lawsuit as the Declaration of Independence.

I pray that we don't come to that this time around. I pray that the Church would repent of her sin and return to God that He might heal our land. I pray that God would raise up righteous leadership that desires to serve rather than be served. I pray that He shows us mercy! In the meantime what do we do, what can we do, as all these things play out? This is what we do, regardless of what happens, we will "...do justice, ... love kindness...and walk humbly with [our] God."

A Face of the Times

If you are reading this, I can reasonably assume that you are beyond Jr. High/Middle School age, and if that's the case I can also reasonably assume that you've been taught at least some modicum of history involving America's Great Depression of the 1930's. Besides reading or listening to how dire those times were, you would also have seen photos of those times - of the men, women, and children who suffered want and woes. Those were hard times.

These are hard times, too. It may not look as bad now as it did then, but we are not so much an agrarian society as we were then, and the false facade provided by credit cards have masked the dire difficulties that many people live in today. This morning on the radio, embedded in the newscast, was a foreclosure statistic for our area. Currently, as many as 1 home out of 125 are in foreclosure. That's a lot of homes. That's a lot of families.

It has been 17 months since John lost his job. In all that time we've not had income enough to cover our living expenses, but we did have sizable savings tucked away and things are beginning to look up in the employment department. So, we've been able to keep our home, have lived carefully, and have watched the hand of God help us again and again.

Yesterday, I was at the gas station filling my tank with my weekly allotment of gas when a man approached me. Now this gas station is very public and very popular since it has the lowest prices in our area, so I wasn't afraid of him since so many people were there. This man came up carefully and reluctantly, and said, "We're from Grassland. We lost our home in the flood. Things haven't worked out and we're trying to make it down to Shelbyville to live with my in-laws." He paused. Now I've seen a lot of pan-handlers in my lifetime, but there was a kind of pain in this man's voice and eyes that I'd not seen before - at least not in real life. But, then I remembered those Depression-era photos of broken men and women and realized that this was what was standing before me.

"I don't do this kind of thing, but I have to now. We have about 40 miles to go and our tank is empty. Do you have a couple of dollars to spare? I thought maybe I could borrow a little here and there." His voice was choked and tears were brimming in his eyes. If he was a fake, he deserved an Oscar. But the pain in that man's face was as obvious as the hard tan and worn clothes that he wore. His wife sat in their small car parked at the curb looking straight ahead.

I told him that I understood what it was like to be in the middle of a hard time, that we'd lost our income, that God had provided for us, and of course I had a couple of dollars to share with him. He dropped his head in humiliation and expressed his thanks with profuse apology. As I went to check my wallet, I discovered that all I had was a $10 and a $20 which had to last another 3 days. Remembering God's faithfulness to me, without hesitation I took the $10 and told him that I didn't have a couple of dollars but could give him $10. He almost looked frantic at that point and after stumbling for words said, "I'm not any sort of predator or anything, but if you'd like to give your address to my wife we will pay you back." He was pleading as he sought to distinguish himself from the average bum. Again I told him that God had provided, that I had enough to share, and someday he could help someone else out who was down on their luck. He took my hand and shook it, saying thanks only with tearful eyes. As I left, he and his wife were putting some gas in their tank.

I don't tell you this to brag on what I did. To the contrary, I look back and wish I'd given him the $20. My heart breaks for this family, and for all the families that find themselves in these kinds of straits. Time are hard. God is faithful.

Flying Quickly Away

Prior to last fall's election we watched the news one night which announced the passage of the first Bail-Out bill.  Besides being shocked and awed by the unbelievably tremendous amount of dollars involved, we were even more shocked by the fact that the Government Camel had firmly and solidly thrust its head into the tent of the private sector, of your life and mine.  As we listened to the news reports that evening, I told John that we were witness to the beginning of a coup - a coup on the rights, freedoms, and liberty of the American people - and since then, with each passing day, our liberties continue to fly out the door as the Government Camel crowds further and further into the tent.  

The latest move of the camel goes even beyond nationalization of the banking industry.  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has now "asked Congress...to give the White House unprecedented powers to seize large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds..."  Unprecedented powers to seize.  That phrase should send chills down your spine.  Our Constitutional rights, our freedoms and liberties are flying away.  

Furthermore, the New York Times reports that Obama's Administration is calling "for increased oversight of executive pay at all banks, Wall Street firms and possibly other companies as part of a plan to overhaul financial regulation..."  Obama's all-out war on wealth continues to ramp up steam, but the American people must realize that this attack is not on "Them", it's on "Us."  Any government regulation on the private business sector is regulation on the private citizen and his ability to conduct his business and his life.  Our Constitutional rights, our freedoms and liberties are flying away.

So what to do about the Government Camel taking over our tent?  I can send all the tea bags to Washington I want (and I will); I can mail red envelope after red envelope (and I have); I can email my Representatives and the White House (and I do): but if true, principled, conservative leadership does not arise, the America we grew up in - the Land of the Free - will not be the America our children and grandchildren will grow up in, for our rights, freedoms, and liberties will have flown.

Why Should We Be Surprised?

Why is everyone reacting with shock and surprise when Bail-Out Recipient AIG execs were paid over $165 million in bonuses?  AIG's mismanagement was rewarded, so what other lesson would they learn?  Screw up - get bailed out - screw up again.  It's just business as usual.  If any corporation or individual has been foolish with their assets, they should experience the consequences (fail), learn the lessons, and proceed again in a wiser fashion.  Quit bailing out the losers!  But when you do, don't be surprised at what they do next.

One thing that concerns me greatly, though, is that there is talk in Congress  to tax the AIG exec's bonuses - even as much as 100%.  As much as I think AIG's actions have been deplorable, setting the precedence of taxing bonuses at 100% is dangerous.  It opens up a whole Pandora's box of new taxes on honest people.

Campaign of Hope?

President Barak Hussein Obama's bid for the Presidency included campaign slogans of "Hope", "Change", and "Yes, we can!"  Well, we've got change, alright; but it's not what many people assumed it would be, which shows that you can't take simple rhetoric simply.  So, we have "Change", but what happened to "Hope" and "Yes, we can?"  There's been nothing but gloom and doom and "you can't do anything about it, the government has to" in every speech I've heard Obama give.  

Today President Obama gave another speech - this one to a graduating Police Academy class in Ohio.  We all know that graduation speeches are intended to inspire and uplift the graduates as they prepare to go and do what they've been prepared to go do.  This particular class, however, heard nothing like that at all.  They heard, "I don't need to tell this graduation class that your job might be next.." and the President continued his continuing campaign oration.

Mr. President, that's not how leaders lead.  Leaders inspire, encourage, cheer, and motivate. More importantly leaders serve, listen, and pay attention to the needs of those they're leading. That last sentiment can be echoed to the entire Congress as well.  We need Leaders, not just political campaigners with false premises and false promises.