Rebellion, Protest and the Divine Right of Kings

Living in DC, most all the local buzz is about politics.  It’s a little strange for me, because I was never really that interested in politics.  I tended to ignore it most of the time.  This was my philosophy: God controls politics anyway(Romans 13:1-7), so why worry about it?

Some protesters got arrested a couple days ago in the hallway outside Nancy Pelosi’s office.  They had been tearing pages from the new health care bill, throwing crumpled pieces through the doorway while shouting things like “You’re going to Hell!”  Embarrassing things like that serve to strengthen my philosophy to just stay out of it.

But still, I pray.  The Bible says to pray, so that’s what I do.  I pray in public places, and I pray in the closet.  I’m really not certain how effective the public prayer is.  After all, Jesus discouraged it.  It can seem like a protest, and I don’t want to be a rebel(1 Sam. 15:23).

What I do know is that God uses our leaders for His purposes.  Here is a prayer I spoke silently in front of the Supreme Court the other day: “Lord, just as you used your servant Nebuchadnezzar to judge the Daughter of Zion, use these nine Supreme Court justices to judge the Daughter of Washington with all righteousness.”

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”—1 Timothy 2:1-2

Freedom or Security?

And the debate goes on.  Due to my newly discovered interest in a certain news website, I’ve been getting a little more insight into the political scene lately.  Seems to me that conservatives don’t trust the government.  They’re really scared that their perceived “freedoms” are being taken away.  On the other side, liberals seem to not trust the people and the current economic system.  They believe that more regulations and programs will protect us from our crazy selves, bring more security.  And who can blame them?  Just about anyone can tell that people are crazy, and both the government and the populous are made up of none other than people.  I love every one of them.

Where do I stand in this grand debate?  Honestly, I could care less.  All the freedom I’ll ever need, I’ve found in Jesus Christ.  I couldn’t be any more secure than I am right now, in the loving arms of God.  People can debate this issue as much as they want, but I’m sure they’ll never reach any real answer.  Who we need is Jesus.  That’s about it.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”–Colossians 2:8

Oil and the End Times?!?

Okay, so I was watching TBN today, and John Hagee was doing his show about Revelation and the end times.  I think the point of the whole thing was that we should war against Iran, Russia and other Islamic nations for oil so they won’t have enough money to destroy Israel.  To get to that point, he stated a few dozen big assumptions about the meaning of different passages in Revelation, then said stuff about how all the Christians will get raptured before this stuff even happens.

It was seriously the strangest sermon thing I’ve ever seen.  It was actually kind of dumb.  He was just trying to justify violence with the Bible.  I think he said something at the end like “Because of this situation, now we should pray even more for America, for our freedom.”  One thing you missed Pastor Hagee; we have our freedom in Christ, not America.  I wonder if it’s because of guys like this that people hate Christians…

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”–Galatians 5:1

God Is Real

I think we forget that sometimes.  Just look around you.  Look at yourself.  There are so many people who claim to “believe in God” or to “be a Christian,” but where is the evidence?  To me, it looks like so many are living for themselves.  There may even be a deep religious tradition they hold onto, but they’re still living for themselves.

I visited an after-school children’s program yesterday, right in the middle of a poor community.  There were signs for Barack Obama all over the place, claiming “Change.”  This man, Obama, has given people hope for a better life.  Also yesterday, I was hanging around some conservative evangelical Christians.  They’re all about McCain and Palin.  Because he supports banning abortion and gay marriage, they’ve put their hopes in him.  McCain has given them hope for a righteous America.

This may be a shock to some of you: Obama can’t save America.  Here’s another one: McCain can’t fix America.  Yeah, shocking, right?  There is only one man who can do those things, and His name is Jesus Christ.  He is real, and the Church is His body.  Wake up, stand up, and put your faith in the Lord of the Universe.  Serve Him.  He is alive.  He’s coming back soon.  Let us who believe start acting like it.

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”–Luke 21:34-36

The Politics of Marriage

Many of you know that Florida is voting on a marriage amendment in less than a month.  It seeks to define marriage as a union only between one man and one woman.  I think it’s a good thing, to keep our current definition of marriage.  I think it’s worked pretty well.  I don’t have anything against homosexuals, but gay marriage is a fairly new idea(at least, trying to have the government acknowledge it).  From a Biblical perspective, of course, homosexuality is a sin, and I think that the closer a country’s laws are to the Bible, the better.  After all, the Bible is straight from God.  What could be better?

Here’s the problem, though.  Christians don’t even follow the Bible in regards to marriage.  Just look at the divorce rate.  Last I heard, it’s around 60% in the American church.  So, that’s just sad.  How do we expect anyone to respect the idea of God-ordained marriage if we can’t even model it ourselves?  What ever happened to “wives, respect your husbands” and “husbands, love your wives”?(Eph. 5:33)  What happened to “don’t divorce, except for marital unfaithfulness”?(Matt. 5:32)  Obviously, I’ve never been married, and I have no idea what those real situations look like.  But there seems to be a whole heck of a lot of “situations” these days.

What’s wrong with us?  Have we lost our faith in God’s provision?  Do we think we know better than God?  Are we really that selfish?  Just a head’s up, guys: life sucks sometimes.  There will be money problems.  There will be emotional strain.  Nobody’s perfect, especially your husband or wife.  The truth is, you took a vow before God and man to stay together.  If you didn’t want to be married, you should have taken Jesus’ advice not to take oaths and stayed single your whole life.

Here’s my advice, brothers and sisters: before you go out and vote on the marriage amendment, passing your own judgement on others, look at yourselves first.  Are you the best husband or wife that you can be?  If your marriage isn’t perfect, that’s okay.  That’s what God is for; you shouldn’t be depending on yourself(or your spouse) anyway.  Seek God and Godly council.  Trust God.

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”–Matthew 6:31-33