How God’s people should view the upcoming transformation of America

The time is short and the days are getting darker and darker. The rapid fire speed by which the entire landscape of this country is being changed is breathtaking. This is what the people of this once great nation wanted and chose to put in place via the elections three weeks ago, so the people must live with what and who they willingly chose to govern them.

God never intended Israel to have a king, but the people clamored about and demanding they be allowed to have a king the same way other nations had one. They took to the streets and protested and murmured and grumbled to the point God relented and gave them what they wanted. Not only did He give them a king, He gave them the biggest, strongest and most handsome king He could find in all Israel.

When the people laid their eyes on their new king, they fell down in humble adoration for this awesome specimen of humanity. They knew in their hearts that anyone so mighty and good looking had to be the best king in all the earth. Unfortunately it did not turn out the way the people envisioned.

No matter how good Saul looked on the outside, it did nothing to change the reality of who he was on the inside. Despite being the epitome of a “man’s man”, Saul was inwardly a weak coward who was incapable of doing the will of the Lord and caved in to the demands of others at the expense of being faithful to God’s calling. Saul, when confronted by the prophet Samuel, could not and would not accept responsibility for disobeying the Word of the Lord Samuel had given him. In the 1 Samuel 15 record, it is painfully obvious that Saul had only Saul’s interests in his mind.

The people of the United States started speaking their mind about what they wanted, governmentally, back in 2006. By the election three weeks ago, the will of the people was unmistakable and undeniable. The people of this country are sick and tired of trying to care for themselves and demanded a government who would provide for them financially, physically and spiritually. The will of the people manifested in the election results was clearly one of MORE government and LESS personal freedom.

The relentless and crushing financial blows which the American people have undergone in 2008 are terrifying to many and have brought down many a strong citizen. Great people of wealth and power have lost tons of money as their portfolios have dwindled to nothing. The general feeling of despair rising over the nation, especially in September and October sealed the fate of the November election.

The people now have what they wanted. The have a very liberal President and an even more liberal Congress to quickly pass all necessary legislation in the first 100 days after the inauguration to forever change the United States of America. I think most Americans will be stunned to see how quickly not only economic stimulus packages, but numerous controversial measures speed through Congress and end up on President Obama’s desk.

Whatever transpires, good or bad, it must be clearly understood that the voice of the people was strongly in favor of change, so if things radically change, the people have no right of complain. They complained loudly that they were tired of the previous eight years and wanted an entirely different party and philosophy in Washington. They have gotten what they wanted, and more.

As the elements of fascism and Marxism race through Congress and are signed into law, the country will undergo an extreme makeover in 2009. As the country emerges from the financial recession/depression of 2008 and the first half of 2009, it will look to President Obama for direction and inspiration. He will most gladly accommodate everyone.

As things improve after the flurry of measures passed into law, the impetus will be there for continued attempts to push through long standing liberal causes, including the biggest prize of all—nationalized health care. By the time debate starts in earnest on this issue, the American population will be so “Obamized” that the man will probably have approval ratings in the 80% range and free reign to propose and impose anything he wants.

Just as in due time the people recognized Saul to be the fraud he turned out to be, so in due time Americans will wake up to see and understand who they elected to be President, Senator and Representative on November 4^th. By the time they see the error or their ways, it will be too late and the changes demanded previously will have been permanently enacted and set as law. Then the people will want another “savior” to save them from the one they elected.

May we all simply carry out the dictates of 1st Timothy and pray for those in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty. Ours role as Christians is not to change government but to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ who is able to change hearts. Though we may be minimized for now, our time will come again soon to shine as the beacon of light to those lost in the fog of fascism and Marxism they longed for so much. Pray for patience and endurance God’s elect.

Avoiding the hypocrisy of the scribes and the Pharisees

In the second century B.C., the Seleucid kings who ruled Palestine decided to form local governments similar to what was found in Greek cities. They set up councils who administered the city’s affairs, made civil and religious laws and were to be subject to the supreme authority of the king. These local councils were known as “sanhedrins”.

In Jerusalem, the council became known as The Sanhedrin due to its vast influence. The Romans were extremely tolerant of the local religious beliefs and practices of the people they conquered. They did not seek to change these beliefs nor did they desire to intrude into their religious practices. They wanted their subjected peoples to have a limited amount of freedom to rule themselves locally. The Sanhedrin was entrusted by the Romans with the administration of Jerusalem, but was subject to the Roman procurator or governor for Judea.

The Sanhedrin was composed of 71 men including its leader, the High Priest. These 71 men were divided into three groups. First were the “Chief Priests” of the Sadducees. These were usually very influential men of the priestly class. They were aristocrats in that they felt “entitled” to their positions of rank and privilege due to their nobility. They were the “upper class elites” of their time.

The second group making up The Sanhedrin was the “Ancients” which were non-priestly Sadducees of the “upper class elites”. These men were every bit as influential as the chief priests, but represented the laity.

Sadducees were a socially liberal but doctrinally conservative faction. They strove to preserve the original and true moral heritage of Judaism found in the Torah (The Law of Moses). They refused to accept any additional oral regulations based on tradition. They believed tradition was the distortion of the Torah. Both the “Chief Priests” and the “Ancients” were Sadducees.

The third group making up the Sanhedrin was the “Scribes” which were “active” laymen who were predominantly Pharisees. Scribes were doctors of the Law as opposed to the Sadducees who were of the wealthy elite class. The priesthood became identified with the Sadducees and the Scribes with the Pharisees. Because the scribes were doctors of The Law, they became known as lawyers.

Scribes were highly educated in the Law and could in theory be a priest, layman, Pharisee or Sadducee. In Jesus’ time, almost all the Scribes were laymen as opposed to priests and were of the Pharisee persuasion as opposed to that of the Sadducees. To become a Scribe, the education started as a child learning at the feet of a master. The course of study usually was not completed until the student was around forty years old. Scribes were usually very poor due to their extensive time studying. They had to work at another trade in order to earn a living.

The Scribes were the professional intellectuals of the day. They knew The Law of Moses inside and out. But they were also so well educated that they began writing commentaries on the Law which took precedence over the Law itself. There were several thousand of these commentaries which provided rules for the Sabbath, tithing, and worship. By the time of Jesus, the Scribes had strayed so far from the Law with their personal interpretations, what was taught was nothing more than tradition many times.

Where “Chief Priests”, “Ancients” and “Scribes” addressed who these people were; “Sadducee” and “Pharisee” defined what they believed. The Pharisees were a group that had become bitter toward the ruling classes (Sadducees). The Pharisees held themselves aloof from the common people, thinking of themselves as superior and more pure. They also kept aloof from all that was secular, irreligious or impure. The Pharisees believed the Torah or “written law” was only part of what was to be believed. They believed there was also an extensive “oral law” built upon customs and traditions which had been passed along through the generations and carried equal weight to the “written law”. The scribes and Pharisees worked together and developed the Talmud, which is a collection of maxims written or orally handed down through the centuries.

By Jesus’ time, the Scribes had written that their words carried greater weight than the words of the Torah. Once they established this, any law could be drawn up and sanctioned as “The Law”. Generally speaking, most scribes were Pharisees and most Pharisees were scribes. There were good and bad Pharisees just as there are good and bad Christians. Jesus himself was on good terms with many Pharisees like Simon, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. But it was also the Pharisees more than any other group who despised Jesus and sought constantly to destroy him.

Unlike the Sadducees where the only recorded confrontation between them and Jesus dealt with the subject of the resurrection; there was constant friction between the Pharisees and Jesus. Nowhere is that tension better shown than in Matthew 23.

Jesus told the multitude and his disciples that because the Pharisees and Scribes “sit in Moses seat” (as expounders of the law), they were to obey what they told them to do upon the authority of Moses, but not to imitate their conduct. He said this because the scribes and the Pharisees did not practice what they preached.

“Do as I say but not as I do” has been applied to many people, but the original guilty parties were the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus told the people that because the scribes and Pharisees did not practice what they preached, their words were to be obeyed but their actions were to be dismissed. He then goes on to explain how everything done by these people was done to be “seen of men.”

The Phylacteries were small boxes containing slips of parchment on which were written some divine precept. The scribes and Pharisees made these small boxes bigger and more conspicuous so everyone could see how pious they were. They did the same type of thing with the blue fringes on their garments. They loved the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues. On the street, they loved to have men call them Rabbi, or “my master” (a title of great respect given a teacher).

All these things were done for “show”. They were all superficial and hypocritical. Jesus then tells the people in verses 8 through 12 the proper way things are to be done. From the NIV:

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.

And do not call anyone on earth ‘father’ for you have one Father, and He is in heaven.

Nor are you to be called ‘teacher’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.

The greatest among you will be your servant.

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

What Jesus told the people was the total opposite of everything the scribes and Pharisees practiced. He said no one is to be called “Rabbi” because Jesus is the only Master. We saw earlier that the scribes and Pharisees loved to be called “Rabbi” in public. Jesus said not to call anyone on earth “father” because our Father is in heaven. Calling someone “father” in Jesus’ time was another title given to a teacher, implying that “fatherly” wisdom and authority should command submission and obedience, which the scribes and Pharisees demanded.

Jesus said no one is to called “teacher”, or “master”, for there is only one Master, and it is Christ. Masters were leaders and guides who exercised authority over others. The scribes and Pharisees loved to “lord it over” the common people and demanded that they call them “teacher” or “master” as a sign of total submission.

As he taught in other places, Jesus tells the people again that whoever is the greatest or is the leader, MUST be the servant. Whoever seeks to exalt himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Religious leaders who demand the common people bow down before them and serve them are not representatives of Jesus Christ. It was at the “last supper” that Jesus got down on the floor and washed his disciple’s feet as a sign of humility.

The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ time were basically nothing but arrogant intellectuals who reflected a “holier than thou” persona and demanded the common man be under their subjection. They told others what to do, but did the opposite. They made a show of all that is “religious” to portray themselves as holy and pious. They were experts at pomp and pageantry and wherever they went they demanded the best seats and to be called “master”. These religious leaders were the antithesis of what Jesus Christ was in his earthly ministry. That is why Jesus, in his last public teaching to the Jewish people, blasted the scribes and Pharisees’ hypocrisy and sin with the 7 “woes” of Matthew 23.

Next time we will look at these 7 “woes” and see how they not only pertained to the religious leaders of Jesus’ time, but to religious leaders of any time. Leaders have a responsibility to those they lead, and it is not to “lord it over” them, lie to them or demand tithes and adoration from them. Leaders who do these things are the modern day “scribes” and “Pharisees” who need to repent in the same way those of Jesus’ time should have, but didn’t.

There is nothing good in pride except its elimination in our lives

What started as a difference of opinion soon escalated into a war of words and once alcohol as introduced; became a dangerous crisis moments away from disaster. This scenario was played out in a previous life over and over again between someone I was “married to” and me. There never was a clear winner to the argument, for the other party refused to ever once consider she was wrong. This type of attitude defines pride.

Pride refuses to lose an argument. Pride insists on always being right on everything, first in everything and better in all things. There is no room for compromise when pride enters a situation. That is why Proverbs has many things to say about pride, the proud look and other associated terms. Certainly the entire subject could be wrapped up in the verse which states; “pride comes before a fall”.

National pride, ethnic pride, sexual orientation pride and numerous other things people take pride in has succeeded in driving a wedge into relationships internationally, nationally, locally and even within families. Countless divorces have resulted from spouses of different ethnic backgrounds being unable and unwilling to set aside their pride and find a compromise.

My extremely intelligent niece decided many years ago to marry a citizen of Jordan who was legally in this country through some technicality of the immigration laws. They proceeded to have 5 children, and about the time the last child headed off to school, the husband packed up the three boys and headed to some obscure little country in the Middle East. There, he is untouchable by any authorities and will raise his three sons. My niece stayed in this country to file for divorce and retain custody of the two girls he did not want.

These kinds of extreme situations are rare, but anytime you mix different nationalities, ethnic origin, religions and cultures; there is a high risk of irreconcilable differences arising. Ultimately one of the flashpoints came down to the husband’s insistence to move the family to an Arab country away from all Christian influence. The wife refused—the husband left with the sons—and the story is over, except for picking up the ugly pieces.

Another niece of mine is on her third marriage already and she is not even 40 years old. Her domineering personality does not make things easy, but her latest failed marriage what an interracial one that by the time it ended, had become totally about race (from his point of view). Again, an obstacle that would demand humility and communication to overcome was allowed to bring defeat due to pride.

Every married couple where one is Protestant and the other Catholic have to overcome their differences or watch them destroy their marriage. Every couple where one is Jewish and the other is Christian must do the same. It is available to not have these divisions cause conflict, but it takes communication, humility and the destruction of pride.

Families are notorious for having issues with pride. In-laws can be very tricky at times if they refuse to take a new spouse into the fold due to pride. Again, the issues can be resolved whether they deal with religion, race or nationality; but it takes the willingness to communicate, the willingness to compromise and the willingness to drop an atomic bomb on pride.

Nothing destroys relationships faster than pride. Nothing destroys the ability for people to “get along” faster than pride. Nothing promotes battles, wars and hatred more than pride. Pride is not a good word and is not a virtue to be longingly sought after by Christians. To the contrary, pride is something that must be consciously sought out and destroyed before it rears its ugly head and bares its vicious teeth. Pride is ugly, foul and altogether disgusting. May we all seek to drive it out of our minds, thoughts, heart and lives. It serves NO GOOD and only causes divisions, contentions and permanent damage.

When will the next Kristallnacht be and who will be the victims?

The night of November 10^th marked the 70^th anniversary of an event known as “Kristallnacht” or the night of broken glass. It was on this night in 1938 that 92 Jews were murdered and between 25,000-30,000 were arrested and deported to concentration camps by the Nazis in Germany and German controlled lands.

On this one night, more than 200 synagogues were destroyed and countless homes of Jewish families were ransacked and rummaged through. This night was the unofficial start of what became the Holocaust.

Who are we to complain about the state of affairs in this country or any country in the world today? Who are we to dare utter a word of dismay about the conditions we must work under or the state of our bank accounts or the people we must work with? Who among us has had to endure a time such as those who came before us endured in Europe 70 years ago?

We all spend so much of our time complaining that we have totally forgotten how weak we all have become. We are pampered in the lap of luxury and are fed as kings. We know nothing of the suffering endured by our ancestors as they labored night and day to eke out a living during times when no one prospered. All we know is what we have enjoyed the past 50 or so years. We know nothing of the hardships suffered by our grandparents and those who came before them.

We have all been spoiled rotten by the affluence of Western society. We have grown fat in our laziness as we have lived as royalty would have lived a mere century ago. Every desire has been met and our lives have take on such ease that the idea of hard work is foreign to most people. We of the Western world have grown to be the most pampered and spoiled and selfish people in the history of this earth.

Who of us has ever had to endure what the Jews in Germany endured 70 years ago? Who of us has had loved ones grabbed from our arms and hauled on to trains to be killed only because of their race and religion? Who among us has had endure the rioting crowds intent on our destruction and whose burning desire is nothing but hatred?

Those in India, China, Iraq, Burma and dozens of other places around the world know what it was like 70 years ago in Germany, for they are going through the same thing now. The true Christians who are forced to live in seclusion and who have lost family, friends and jobs because of their faith; they are the ones who know what those who endured “Kristallnacht” went through.

Churches were invaded and services disrupted this past weekend in various places in California and Utah by those violently expressing their hatred for the vote on Proposition 8 in California last week. Even Catholic churches were ransacked and threats made against men of the cloth for their stand on the issue. Is this the beginning or is this the end of what is to come?

Those who choose to live godly in Christ Jesus are going to suffer persecution for the Bible says they will. If you are not willing to endure hardships as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, then remove yourself from the frontlines pronto. The day is coming shortly when spiritually, what took place 70 years ago in Germany is going to happen in the United States of America and Great Britain and elsewhere in the Western world.

The day may not come when physically we face a night such as happened 70 years ago, but spiritually that night is fast approaching. We are living in the twilight of a golden era when God and His Word reigned in men and women’s hearts instead of make believe characters invented by computer geniuses and lived out on the big screen by entertainers who are bigger than God in most people’s minds.

Speaking on behalf of my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ; let me warn and advise anyone and everyone that the days are dark and getting darker. Those who are living in shame are rejoicing as the darkness is cloaking their wickedness. Those who are afraid of facing God and His truth are scurrying around like rats, enjoying the darkness which hides their evil ways.

But, the darker the night, the brighter the light will shine. Those of us totally committed to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are under obligation to turn the light up to full wattage. The brighter the beam, the greater the chance those searching for the way home will find it.

It is high time to set our light on the nearest hill and let it shine. It is high time to awake and cast off the stupor which has settled on this land as an oppressive blanket for the past week. The days and hours of feeling sorry for ourselves must end and end now. We do not know what the night will bring, whether howling winds of cold or lanterns filled with the hatred of those bent on our destruction. Either way, we must be ready and waiting and awake lest we be taken captive and led as sheep to the slaughter.

Awake oh Christian brother and sister. Awake to righteousness and let your light shine. Awake and arise and put on the whole armor of God. Unleash the sword of the spirit and speak the truth in love. Above all, STAND, my brethren. Stand be counted as those the Lord can trust to never let Him down.

My mom’s story of pain, addiction and death; An ethical look at narcotic use among the elderly

My mom dealt with pain for the last 30 years of her long life. How she managed to live to be a few days shy of 88 years old is a mystery known only to her. From the time she quit working (officially) in the mid 1970’s until her last breath in 2006, she not only knew pain as an intimate enemy but she also knew the good, bad and ugly of pain medications of all types and strengths.

I officially became her caregiver around the year 2000. I made the six hour trip to take her to doctor’s appointments, ordered her various pills and tried to find things to make her life more comfortable and maintain her ability to live by herself. She lived in a retirement community but there were no services available.

Her official diagnosis was “osteo-arthritis” along with various back problems and worst of all; burning feet. Although she was only marginally diabetic, she had worse burning feet than most people battling the disease daily. I would sit with her in doctor’s offices as she tried in vain to get them to understand the biggest obstacle to her well being was not the arthritis pain, but the burning feet. No one seemed to understand how such a thing could ruin someone’s life.

Whether my mom lived in constant pain I do not know. I know her pain (all sources of it) would spike and then level off and sometimes spike more and other times recede. When she was “only” in her late 70’s, all she was given for her various pains was non narcotic pain relievers such as Darvoset, Lortab and similar types of drugs. When she asked for stronger doses or different types of drugs she was denied for fear she would become an addict.

Somewhere around the year 2000, at the age of 82, her primary care doctor finally started her on an ever increasing dosage of Oxycontin. For awhile this really helped, but she was constantly having to up the dosage to gain relief. Other drugs were added to help with some of the other pains. Nothing worked for the burning feet.

In the year 2002 a nurse visited her who was a pain specialist in hospice care. She introduced her to a liquid fast acting form variation of Oxycontin for her burning feet. This did wonders for a season, but over time she started taking the liquid more and more often with less and less results. By the time I had to move her to live with us so I could be her full-time caregiver in 2004 she was on maximum doses of Oxycontin and the liquid. She was in more pain than ever.

Soon after arriving here, I took her to a pain specialist who totally revamped her drugs and took her off the Oxycontin and replaced it with Fentanyl, which is about the strongest narcotic in use. Specifically, she was put on a Duragesic patch which gave her a continual dose of this drug 24 hours a day and given Fentanyl suckers which gave very fast relief. She continued taking her liquid along with various other prescription strength pain medicines.

My mom was getting old but she had NO underlying diseases or lethal physical conditions. She had high blood pressure but it was controlled with medication. She had only one problem and that was PAIN and the effects of the medication she took for it. I watched her condition deteriorate rapidly in late 2005 and by February of 2006 she was in the hospital for a blood infection. My early April she had passed away.

Sometime in 2004 she was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension which was supposedly due to sleep apnea. She could not wear the CPAP mask and the sleep doctor told her she would be dead within a couple of years; she died less than two years later. Was her “premature” death (and it was due to her overall physical condition) caused by sleep apnea or was it the result of massive doses of high powered narcotics which depressed the respiratory system?

She began sleeping with oxygen back around 2002 and slowly became 100% oxygen dependent by 2004. Her rapid oxygenation problems arose at the precise time her pain medication protocol changed radically. From the time she first started using Oxycontin at high doses along with the liquid, she began having greater and greater need for oxygen. She was at constant level 4 by the time she rapidly went downhill in early 2006.

I am not writing this as any type of condemnation for the drugs she used or the doctors who prescribed them. I only write this as a warning for anyone falling into an addiction to any number of commonly prescribed pain medications. Once addicted, even to a “lower level” drug such as Darvoset, the road quickly leads to far more dangerous drugs which have the ability to cut short a person’s life in a matter of a few years.

I watched my mom live with her pain until she was graciously put on mega doses of pain medication when in hospice care. All of the mega doses of the strongest pain medications available could not beat her pain. They dulled it and made it somewhat manageable, but all the pain medication in her massive drug cabinet could not cool her burning feet or allow her more than a few hours of freedom from her wicked nemesis she fought daily her whole life.

That which must always be weighed when considering long term use of pain medication is profit. Are the drugs involved worth the risk of side effects and/or addiction? That is the paramount question that must be raised. In my mom’s case, I believe the drugs were justified for without them I think she would have literally gone mentally insane trying to deal with the relentless pain. Did the drugs cut short her life? Of course they did. Was it worth it? Of course it was, for they did manage to allow her to actually enjoy some of her final few years of this life.

Only a Fool believes there is NO GOD

In attempting to argue the existence or non-existence of God; the argument ends before it starts for without FAITH, there is no way to prove God really is there. That which defines belief in God is the faith that He exists and that He is who He says He is. Without faith, it is impossible to believe God is anything but a figment of people’s over-active imagination.

An infidel is someone who does not believe in one of the world’s great religions or holds no religious belief. An atheist is someone who does not believe IN God. An agnostic is someone who believes it is impossible to know whether God even exists. Whereas an atheist does not personally believe in a god, an agnostic believes God cannot be proven to exist.

Psalm 14:1 and 53:1 both state that the fool says in his heart “there is no God”. In today’s culture, the word “fool” is more or less describing someone who is unintelligent or lacks good sense. In the Bible, the word for fool denotes a wicked person, an evil character, “shamelessly immoral,” equivalent to “a son of Belial”, rather than a merely “foolish” person.

“The fool will no more be called noble, nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.

For the fool speaks folly, and his heart is busy with iniquity, to practice ungodliness, to utter error concerning the Lord , to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, and to deprive the thirsty of drink.”

Isaiah 32:5, 6 English Standard Version

As you can see, a “fool” in the Bible is not simply someone who does not use their mind in a logical or intellectual manner. But, in our society that is precisely what people who do not believe in God are looked as—foolish. A person who still believes in Santa Claus when they are 40 years old is a fool by today’s definition. A person who does not believe in God is a wicked person, an evil character and one who is shamelessly immoral according to the Bible.

Anyone who boldly and without shame takes great pride in their belief there is no God, is not equivalent to some silly comic. From God’s point of view, that person is evil and equivalent to a “son of Belial”. Boldly stating one’s belief that God does not exist or can be proven to exist is not merely expressing one’s thoughts in a free society. These types of words are “fighting words” from Almighty God’s point of view. Only a fool would dare start a war with God over His very existence.

Of course God looks on the heart of a person to determine if their professed unbelief in Him is due to ignorance, wrong teaching or rejection of the truth. His patience and mercy reign in His forbearance towards those who do not believe in Him because no one has ever shown God to them. God even has great tolerance toward those who through wrong teaching have had God misrepresented to them. But, when a person knows God and willfully rejects Him as God; that is when the person becomes a fool in the Biblical sense of the word.

God is not one to be cast asunder in the trash heap of theories, right next to UFOs and Big Foots. Almighty God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. Man in turn is to worship, praise and serve his Creator as what He is—his creator and GOD.

The artist creates the most magnificent masterpiece ever made. When done, the creation looks at the creator and either manifests the utmost of appreciation and humbly thanks the creator for what he did or denies the creator even exists and promotes his own greatness as having been done by and through himself. In one case the creation is honest and blessed; in the other, it is dishonest and corrupt.

We live in an age where fools abound and the creation outright rejects the notion it is to be subject to its creator. We live in a time when skeptics have raised doubts regarding God’s very existence and those who fight against God do everything in their power to influence others to share in their folly. Truly, in this age of “enlightenment”, blinded fools tout their ignorance by denying God’s sovereignty and promoting their own.

By faith we believe in our God whether we can “prove” His existence to the skeptical fool or not. By faith we bow down before our God and submit to His authority as our creator. By faith we accept our God’s Word as His will do what He asks of us with joy and thanksgiving. By faith we have peace which passes all understanding as we know in our hearts that our God is with us and in us and is indeed closer to us than our very breath.

Fools demand proof that God exists. I am here to offer that proof, for I am alive and blessed. That alone proves conclusively that not only does God exist, but that He loves me. I pray we never enter that barren wasteland where only fools dare tread. But, I pray, we live daily with the full awareness and understanding that God is alive and through His grace has given to us His very breath of life.

Praying God’s plan shines through this election fiasco

One of the oldest running arguments in among Christians deals with the topic of predestination. Those on both sides of the aisle have passionate feelings about the subject. The first great split after the Reformation was over this subject and it continues to be a huge splinter causing division, confusion and pain within the Body of Christ.

The only reason I bring this up is in relation to the election tomorrow. There are many Christians who believe that whoever wins the Presidential and Congressional elections was “preordained” by God to do so. These Christians believe that everything which happens does so strictly as part of God’s predetermined plan. Thus, there is nothing man can do to alter the outcome.

I have always had major problems with the “predestination” theology and I still do. Starting with Lucifer and continuing through Adam and Eve, God has given His created beings the freedom to choose whether to obey and serve Him or not. God did not make Adam a mindless robot who automatically carried out every order given to him. To the contrary, God allowed Adam the freedom to obey or disobey. However tragic the outcome of Adam’s disobedience; at least God did not renege on his decision to allow Adam freedom of choice.

Throughout the Old Testament, there are many examples of men and women exercising their freedom of will by both obeying and disobeying God’s will. The point is, they made the decision and it was not forced upon them.

The idea of free elections being the way to select governing leaders is foreign in the Bible. There is no way to equate the proper Christian response to this entire political mess we are in to anything in Biblical history. The only election in the Bible was to replace Judas. Kings did not run for their office nor did Caesars, Pharaohs or other despots. These people either “elected themselves” or ascended to power via heredity.

The concept of people campaigning for political office and being elected by the vote of the people is such a recent phenomena there is no way to determine how a Christian should feel about the subject. It has been drummed into us since we first attended school that voting is a “God given right and responsibility” and as good citizens we need to exercise it. Congregations are urged to vote from the pulpit and huge blocks of Christians many times determine the outcome of elections due to their numbers.

Herein is the problem. Four years ago the evangelical Christians of this country more or less cast enough votes to re-elect George W. Bush as President. Without the overwhelming turnout on election day by millions of Evangelicals, there is no way Bush would have won the election. At the time, there was great rejoicing among Christians for they had proven they could greatly affect the outcome of an election. Logic dictates that the prevailing belief was that Mr. Bush was a good Christian and deserved the vote of other Christians.

In the times since the 2004 election President Bush has fallen to the point of being toxic to the majority of Americans and “anathema” to most of the Christians who helped elect him. The question then becomes one of whether Christians really should be so actively involved in politics that their votes determine the outcome of an election.

Given the choice between Sen. Kerry vs. Sen. Obama, the vast majority of Evangelicals would choose Kerry. As liberal as he is, Sen. Obama makes him look like a conservative. Yet, four years ago Evangelicals painted Sen. Kerry as the “antichrist”. Isn’t it interesting to note that if he had won the election four years ago, it would be some Republican messiah sweeping up the devotion of voters in this country and not a Democrat.

Neither the Democratic nor the Republican party has a corner on the “God” market. Politicians of both parties are many times corrupt and so ego driven that they will do literally anything to get elected. Lying, stealing committing fraud and offering bribes are only the tip of the political iceberg. Those entrusted with determining “dirty tricks” in order to smear the opponent as a fluke or evil person are among the highest paid officials in both parties.

The “will of the people” will supposedly be expressed in the voting booths across this land tomorrow. Somehow we have been led to believe that our “free” elections are as pure as the wind driven snow. Most of us know better. Elections are bought and paid for by candidates and parties with deep pockets and who craft efficient fund raising organizations which can bring in hundreds of millions of dollars for their candidates.

Most of us know that registration irregularities have rendered this election coming up a fraud before it is even held. Most of us know that crimes have been committed and reputations tarnished forever by disgusting tactics employed by both candidate’s camps in the name of “get out to vote” drives and negative advertising.

The point is, this election was “rigged” years ago at retaliation for supposed injustices committed generations ago. Whether this country can endure the sharp policy changes that will soon be imposed on it is yet to be determined. I suppose from a “predestined” point of view, it really doesn’t matter for whatever will be will be and is destined to be. From a personal point of view, I hope this right, even if it goes against my long held theology.