Election Reflection

     I was talking to my son about the election and we were both admittedly surprised by the results.  We were surprised that given the current economic climate that we would reelect a person who had been at the helm for the last four years.  It is amazing the difference we place on our nation and say our athletic teams.  If our favorite sports team resided over such a dismal record for the last four years we would be putting the coach out to pasture.  The same would probably be true of a business leader that lost as much money.  But when it comes to politics and politicians we seem to have a different perspective on things. 

     So how do we make sense of what happened?  My Republican friends are scratching their heads and wondering where went wrong.  They wonder how we got in such a situation.  To answer these questions I think we can look at a few smaller races to find the ultimate answer.  Two states: Washington and Colorado voted to legalize marijuana.  Of course they believe this is the answer to the fiscal problems as they can finally begin to reap the benefits from the taxes.  It kind of makes me wonder what they have been smoking.  But that is another discussion.  The second example can be seen in the fact that Wisconsin voted the very first openly homosexual senator into office.  Finally, voters in Maine and Maryland approved gay marriage throughout their states.

     These simple results are a microcosm of a greater problem in society today.  We are seeing an ongoing shift in American society.  America is continuing to shift way from traditional Judeo-Christian values to a more secular society.  Or in the words of some, we are turning to liberalism, which is nothing more than a way to satisfy our sinful desires.  If a person wants to be sexually active, we will give out free birth control and if that does not work we will provide abortion on demand.  If a person wants to engage in homosexual activity, that is okay as we will change the laws so that we can accommodate your behavior.  If a person does not really want to work, then we will create a system that encourages your laziness.  We will give you welfare, food stamps, housing, healthcare and even a cell phone.  Liberalism, or secularism, or humanism or whatever we want to call it has the same motive which is to satisfy our natural desires.

      And the problem is that if you attack such ideas, then you are considered mean spirited, legalistic and short on compassion.  But nevertheless, this is the type of society that we have created because we have simply turned away from the things that made us great.  Yet what such individuals do not understand is that instead of setting them free to live life as they please, they actually find themselves enslaved to a group that will keep them dependent upon them, just so they can stay in power.

     When a society starts appealing to the sinful desires of individuals it is almost impossible to bring them back to a different way of thinking.  I hate to say it, but things may have to get worse, before they will ever get better.  There may need to be a massive collapse of society before they will return to those principles and values that made us strong in the past. 

     But there is precedence for it happening and it is found in an ancient story told in the pages of the New Testament.  Jesus tells about a son who got tired of living under the demands and commands of his Father and asked that his father give him his inheritance so that he could live the way he wanted to live his life.  This young son left the protection and instruction of his father and squandered all of his new found wealth until he was basically living and eating in the pig slop.  Not a pretty picture I am sure.  It was at that time, when he realized that he had it so much better living in a relationship with his father that he decided to return to him.  And of course the story goes on to tell us that the Father welcomed him with open arms. 

     Is there hope for a brighter tomorrow?  Yes, but only if we will come to our senses and return to our father as individuals and as a nation.  It is my hope and prayer that we have not given up on God.  He is still the answer to all our questions and the solution to all our problems.  May God bring us to our knees so that we can see Him. 

Guidelines for voting

    I thought in today's post I would try to provide you some insights into how you should vote in the upcoming election.  I realize there is a presidential election that will determine the future of our country for the next 4 years and possibly the next 8.  However the decisions made next Tuesday will probably impact our country much longer than the service of our president.  There are also elections for representatives and senators and any number of local and state level positions as well.

     I will not pretend to know every candidate or even every issue and I definitely will not tell you for whom you should vote.  However, I do want to provide you some guidelines that I think will serve you well in the upcoming election.  In the gospel of Mark we are told an interesting event in the life of Jesus.  From this story I think we can gain some important insights that will help us make a well informed decision. 

     Mark 12:13 states, "Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words."  I think it is pretty instructive how Jesus was able to unite polar opposites.  They may not have united for the right reasons, but at least he got them to agree to something.  But that is not what I want to talk about.  Look at what the rest of the passage states: "they came to him and said 'teacher, we know you are a man of integrity.  You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth." 

     It is from this verse that we gain some practical guidelines that will help us when we vote.  First we are to be people of integrity.  The dictionary describes integrity as adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty."  Jesus had it and even his opponents recognized this truth.  So when you go to vote make sure that you are a person of integrity.

     The second truth is that you should not be swayed by men or by the party they represent.  You should not care if a person is a republican or a democrat.  In the words of Martin Luther King, "you should not judge a man by the color of his skin, but  by the character of his heart."  People will disappoint you and frustrate you, but you are to maintain a clear conscience and not allow public opinion or even political affliations to determine your vote.  

     The third truth really sums it up and places your vote squarely upon you as the voter.  You are to vote the way of God in accordance with the truth.  In other words you are not voting for a republican or a democrat, but you are voting for God.  Yes you read that right!  Your vote belongs to God.  You are not reponsible for the actions of the candidates, but you are responsible for your actions.  As you go to the polls you are to be sure that the values you promote are the values that come from God.  Jesus always taught the truth of God and he lived according to those same values.  We are to do no less than the same.  Jesus did not back down when people challenged him as they do here in this Mark passage, but he stayed true to the truth.

     How did the story turn out?  They tried to nail Jesus on the tax issue when they said "Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?  Should we pay or shouldn't we?"  Jesus ultimately told them "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."  God owns your vote, so you are to vote for Him.  I know it goes against what society says and believes, but then we don't belong to them, we belong to Christ.  We were bought with a price therefore we are to honor him with our lives and that includes making sure that we vote how he would have us vote.

    So there you have it.  My two cents on this election cycle.  I know that no matter what happens, God is still King and He still sits on His throne.  What I find amazing is that He still wants to work through flawed individuals like you and me.  So don't blame God if the election does not turn out to your liking.  We are responsible for our vote and my vote is for God. 

     Who are you voting for this presidential election?  As for me and my house we will vote for God and with God everytime.  Now go get out the vote!

Where does the finger point?

     I think this picture pretty much sums up the debate last night, "He's the liar.  No!  He's the liar!  He can't be believed!  No, he can't be believed!  Liar, liar pants on fire!" 

However, I think it ultimately is indicative of a greater truth.  The truth is that none of us really want to accept blame for our actions.  We want to point fingers at everyone and everything.  It is someone else's fault for what has happened to me.  If my marriage goes bad, I can blame my spouse.  If I can't pay my bills it is because everyone else is taking advantage of me.  If I can't find a good job, it is because I received a bad education.  If I make a bad grade on an exam it is because the teacher did not present the material correctly.  If I am living in poverty, it is because everyone is against me getting ahead in life.  And the list goes on and on.  You know exactly what I am talking about.

I want you to know that what we see taking place in the world today is an exact replica of Genesis 3.  After Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, God gave them a chance to come clean.  Listen to the dialogue.  I will let God's Word do the talking.

Genesis 3:11 God speaks to Adam: "Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"  (Seems to be pretty direct)  Verse 12 "The man said, 'The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.'"  (He blamed the woman but ultimately he blamed God) 

Now look at verse 13: "The the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?'"  (Again a pretty direct question. God did not ask "What caused this to happen, but what you have done?")   Verse 14 states "the woman said, 'the serpent deceived me, and I ate.'"

Both Adam and Eve pointed their fingers at the other and ultimately at God because he created both the woman and the serpent.  All God wanted them to do is confess "I did it!  I broke your one commandment!  No one is to blame but me."  But instead they started a chain reaction that continues to this day.  And unfortunately our society has bought into it hook line and sinker.

Yet God is still giving us a chance to receive forgiveness if we will just point the finger at ourselves and accept responsibility for our sins.  1 John 1:8 - 9 states "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 

Look at your situation and stop the finger pointing.  If you must point a finger, point it at yourself and then go to the only one who can provide the relief that you so desperately need.  I am not pointing my finger at anyone, but I am pointing you to the one who can truly forgive.  Think about it and let me know what you think.

Where are the men?

I was reading an article the other day that talked about a Christian book store that was closing.  Maybe we have become so used to things closing in this day and age that the closing of a Christian book store does not merit our attention.  But there was some remarkable data that came from this store that has greater implications for us.

The book store released some information about the demographics of their customers.  80% of the sales at the book store were to women.  Another 10% of the sales were to churches in general.  The other 10% were classified as other.  So what do these demographics reveal?  They reveal that at the most only 10% of the sales were allocated to men.

I personally was alarmed by this study.  It caused me to wonder where are the men that are buying Christian books?  I know there will be some that will say the men are buying their books online where they can save money.  But I doubt very seriously if men shop on line to say money on a book.  Perhaps the men are buying ebooks and downloading them to their Kendal or their Ipad?  You can choose to believe that if you want, but I know a lot of men and it is not happening.

What are men doing?  They are watching sports, playing sports or doing other manly things, so to speak.  They don't have time to involve themselves in other pursuits.  They work hard and play harder.  Any spare time they have cannot be wasted on such things as books, especially spiritual books.

However, perhaps the indication that men are not interested in spiritual things might reveal a greater problem in our world.  For too long we men have left spiritual things to our wives.  Church has become a place for women and children.  When someone looks for leaders in the church it automatically falls on the women, because the men are no where to be found.  Don't believe me?  Ask the following questions.

Take a look at the typical church on Sunday Morning. 

What do you see?  How many men are involved in teaching, especially teaching children? 

How many men are involved in leadership positions in the church?

Now look at Sunday evening if your church still has an evening worship.

How many men are present?

How many men are involved in children's ministry or youth ministry?

Now think of ministry in general.

How many men are stepping up to the plate to lead in ministry?

What are the men doing to provide a godly example to others?

My point is not to condemn men, but to bring things to a reality that so few of us men want to face.  We are to be the spiritual leaders of our families and that leadership does not stop at the church.  We are to be the leaders in the church. 

Where are the godly men?  I think it is a question we as men need to answer.

On a side note:  Praise be to God for the women who have stepped up to fill the void.  Your children will rise up and call you blessed and you will be greatly praised.  Without you where would the witness of the church be?  

Men will you wise up and rise up? 

More than A Meal

     I have been preaching the last several weeks on Moving Beyond the Walls.  The idea of this series of sermons is to help our church family be more than a church that gathers, but to be the church that scatters.  We are trying to make a significant difference in the communities where God has placed us and I am not talking about the geographical location of our facilities. 

    We are looking for ways to interact with our communities in big ways and small ways.  We want to interact with planned events and unplanned events.  But mainly we want to see the body of Christ impacting lives on a normal basis.  We want service to others to be a part of our DNA.  Recently one of our members and a new Christian was touched by the plight of someone in her community.  I thought I would let her share it in her words.  It is entitled "More than A meal." 

It was Friday evening, August 3rd.  I had just picked up the kids from helping my mom at her garage sale.  I hadn’t been to the grocery store for a while so I really didn’t have anything to make for dinner.  I decided to pick up some Popeye’s chicken.  Daniel & Jadyn rode with me and we were just a couple blocks away from the house when we noticed a man at the side of the road holding a sign.  Jadyn asked what the sign said but as I drove past all I could read was “homeless”.  We kept driving & that man was all I could think about.   I wondered what was on the rest of his sign.  Did he want work, or money, or food?  I knew I had no cash on me to give to him.  I kept thinking that I should get him a meal.  

We got to Popeye’s and ordered our food.  As we waited I told Daniel that I was thinking about buying the man some food.  He agreed.  I remember saying to him “What if he isn’t there?” and Daniel said “But what if he is!”  I knew he was right.   I was scared & I didn’t know what I was going to say to the man but I knew I should try.  And if he wasn’t there when we got there, then it just wasn’t meant to be.  So, I ordered the man a meal.  I figured that he could use it even if food wasn’t what he was asking for on his sign.  We got our food & headed to the car.  

The drive to the place where we saw the man wasn’t far.  He was still there with his bike, backpack and sign.  The sign that I could now see read “HOMELESS.  Need money.  Please help!” I pulled into a parking lot near where the man was standing.  I told the kids to stay in the car and wait for me.  Daniel asked me what I was going to say & I told him I had no idea.  I picked up the meal & headed in the man’s direction.  His back was to me & he hadn’t noticed that I was approaching.  I called out “Sir!” and continued walking toward him.  He turned around and put his sign down.  The first thing I noticed about him was his amazing blue eyes.  They were so peaceful and gentle and such a beautiful shade of blue.  He wore a teal t-shirt which made his eyes stand out even more.  I told him that I passed him as I was on my way to get dinner for my family and that I couldn’t read all of his sign but thought he could maybe use a meal.  He reached out for my hand.  I set his dinner down and gave him a hug.  He said “God bless you” and I said “God bless you too!”  My eyes swelled with tears as I turned and headed for the car. 

That opportunity couldn’t have happened at a better time.  I had a “bad” couple of weeks – lots of little things were getting me down.  I had just come off of one of the most stressful work weeks I’ve ever had which included our National Sales Meeting and several customer events.  I had forgotten to make an appointment for Jake’s school physical and I got the dates wrong for schedule pickup at the high school.  I had to rearrange my work schedule so that I could get both of those taken care of.  I was financially stressed - I just had to buy four tires for the car; I had to pay to have a tree removed before I got fined by the city; school fees needed to be paid; and on top of that, our microwave broke.  I was frustrated and stressed. 

And then I saw the man at the side of the road.  I was very quickly reminded how blessed I am to have a home and a warm meal whenever I want it.   All of those things that I was stressing about didn’t matter. Giving that man a meal was such an amazing and humbling experience! It was more than a meal - it was just the reality check I needed!          

   Do you need a reality check today?  Why not serve someone and tell them that God loves them.  Have a great day as you reach out to someone with the love of Jesus.  Then I hope  you will share your story as well.     

Go with the Flow

Highway driving can be an adventure especially in Illinois where everything is under construction, but nothing is being constructed.  I recently took a rode trip with my 19 year old son Jameson and we traveled through several states on our way to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  I discovered that drivers are pretty much the same no matter where they are or what state they are from.

As we made our way down the various highways, we tried to pay close attention to the traffic laws.  I assume that traffic signs are put up on the road as a law and not as a suggestion.  But anyway we were constantly having to change speeds as the speed limits were always changing especially in the construction zones.

We would be traveling 70 and then all of a sudden a sign would tell us to prepare to slow to 55 as we were entering a construction zone.  I would start the gradual process of slowing from 70 to 55 only to have motorists zoom by me on their way to wherever they were going.  Some would drive on my tailgate and others would swerve by me and give me evil looks and some would give gestures and I am not talking about waving.

I thought to myself, "I thought we were supposed to slow down after all that is what the sign said."  But no one seemed to care what the sign said even if it was in a construction zone.  I guess everyone was in a hurry to get where they were going.  I found myself saying outloud to no one in particular "I hope you get a ticket."  Of course everyone knows that will never happen because the police officer is waiting on me to speed up so that he can give me the ticket.

So here I was trying to be obedient, while getting mocked, criticized and even threatened by all those around me.  What was I to do?  I did exactly what every one else did.  I sped up thinking that there was no way they could give me a ticket when everyone else was doing the same thing.

Do you think that driving imitates life?  How many times do you see someone doing something that you know is wrong, the Bible says it is wrong, your conscience says it is wrong, and even  your Momma says it is wrong, but yet you find yourself doing it anyway?  Why do we do it?  We don't want to be criticized. We do not want to be mocked or laughed at.  And we certainly do not want to be threatened.  So we go with the flow. 

Am I alone or are there others that go with the flow as well.  I mean after all if everyone else is doing it it can't be wrong can it?

Weeds in Your life

     As many of you know, Illinois is suffering through an intense drought.  We have had very little rain in the past two months.  The Fox River is at the lowest it has been for 30 years.  Farmers, who may not even believe in God are asking churches to pray for rain.  If rain does not come they may lose their entire crop.  This could be devastating during this current economic climate.

     You would think that if there was very little rain that weeds would not grow.  But that is far from the truth, in fact the only that seems to grow in this environment is the weeds.  I had to mow my yard today because of the weeds.  The little rain showers we had the past couple of days did little to the dry parched grass, but the weeds soaked it up.

     As I thought about the weeds and how they are able to survive and thrive when nothing else can reminded of sin in a person's life.  Stay with me on this for a second.  The grass is like our Christian life.  It needs to be constantly watered and cared for to grow.  We need to study God's Word, fellowship with other believers and be involved in ministry on a constant basis or we will dry up and the our Christian life will be hidden.  No wonder the Bible says that we need to be like a tree planted by the waters, because without the water we will dry up.

     Weeds on the other hand are like sin in our life.  They do not need any thing to help them grow.  All you have to do is cease growing as a Christian and the sin will become more and more prevalent in your life.  I know this is true in my own life.  Sometimes I get so busy in doing work for the Lord, I forget to spend time with the Lord.  I need to daily nourish my spirit so that I can grow and thrive in a weed infested life.  I have a lot of weeds and the less time I spend with God the more the weeds begin to show.

     I don't like weeds in my yard, but I might not get rid of them now because they at least they serve as a reminder to me of the weeds in my own life.  How about you?  Are the weeds shining through because of a drought in your life?  Why not feed your soul.  Study God's Word and worship Him and be revived.  Remember that Jesus said he is the vine, we are the branches and if we don't stay connected to him we cannot do anything.  Get connected and stay fresh!!