Silence, Hello, and Praise Jar

What would my blog be without sharing with you our annual Praise Jar morning? But, more on that in a minute . . .

It has been awhile since I last posted. From the start I've never wanted to post just to post or to keep the blog's name at the front of search engines, etc. If God isn't leading and blessing what I do I don't want a part of it. Over this last few weeks, besides being more busy than I can remember in a long time, I've been doing a lot of reflecting—especially after the election. I awoke the morning after with knots in my stomach not just at the idea of four more years of pro-abortion and anti-Biblical values leadership, but even more at what I believe the elections across the nation (Presidential, Congressional, initiatives and ballot measures, etc.) reveal about the true makeup and direction of our nation. I have had, in the last few weeks, to "practice what I preach" and take my thoughts captive to Christ, constrain my fears to His love and presence with me, and ask myself what difference my faith makes in how I see things. Especially hard for me has been wondering what my children and, if God tarries and grants it, my grandchildren, will face as a national political climate in relationship to their ability to homeschool, to teach what God says is right and wrong, to live a life not micro-regulated, etc. I was also struck, powerfully, with the reality that I'd known in my head, but hadn't felt so strongly in my heart until that Wednesday morning, that I am now, truly, in the minority. Up to that time I think I'd held out some hope I might be wrong, but the elections removed any and all doubt about that and it hit me hard.

Shortly before the election a survey was released revealing that for the first time ever America ceased to be a Protestant majority. Christians can sugar coat it all they want (saying its because we are now non-denominational, evangelical, etc.) but the reality is that we are, truly, far from a nation in which the majority are Jesus following, Bible believing Christians. The elections confirmed it. With no more unknowns we, with eyes wide opened, heavily supported the most anti-Christian values platform I can ever remember. But, I do see some good news for Christians, though, in this—but it is only seen as such through eternal lenses.


What I mean by this is this: Jesus said that the gate and way is narrow and few will pass through it. We should be suspicious of any majority professing to be His follower. It's not Biblical. What this new climate in the nation is providing is a freedom for those who truly aren't followers of Jesus to admit it instead of putting forth a facade of being Christian while inside having rejected it. What this means for us is that the mission field becomes crystallized and much clearer. The coworker or acquaintance who might, a few years ago, have said with mock indignation, "Of course I'm a Christian. I'm an American," will now feel a much greater freedom to declare their true hearts. For us that means we have much greater clarity in who we should evangelize, and that is not a bad thing.

All that said, this has been a time for processing and taking captive for me. I must remind myself that I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God, and Jesus is my Lord, and that He loves me and will never leave me or my children, no matter what course the nation takes. We have so much to be thankful for and, as I taught on Sunday, from the beginning God has made a mark of His people to be their thankfulness to Him. He is good, all the time.

Praise Jar
Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving in our home because tomorrow, for the first time, we are heading into town to deliver meals for a ministry that both serves meals to people and delivers them to shut-ins. So, this morning we continued a tradition we began in 2003 of opening our Praise Jar in which we have put recorded praises in our life (evidences of God's hand) from the previous Thanksgiving onward. We light the fire, make hot drinks, and pass the jar around taking turns pulling one out and reading it. It is so refreshing and wonderful to be reminded of all these things that, at the time, you thought you'd never forget . . . but too often do. To read a year's worth of praises in the course of a day or two is very powerful and if you've not ever done it I suggest it to you. For us it is a large old pickle jar to which I fastened a wooden lid and cross I made (you can see it in one of the pictures), but it could be anything you choose. The vehicle and format is not important, but remembering His goodness and passing it on is. You can, as is tradition here on this blog, share the morning with us through pictures. Thanks for sharing in our life and may you have an amazing, God-centered Thanksgiving, whenever you celebrate it!

God is On the Move

These are exciting times as a Christian who believes in the Bible and in bringing our life into consistency with our professed world view. These are times when, I believe, God is challenging American and much of the chaff will be separated from the wheat as were are, finally, being forced to evaluate our faith at a much deeper level than simply our stand on gay marriage or abortion. I will explain why I am so excited in a moment, but first I want to give a few caveats to nip in the bud some rebuttals. This is a longer post, but I would really value your thoughts and feedback.

Caveats

First: If you haven't read "Electability" (my January 19 post) you might want to. In it I lay out why I think that word is a subtle way of watering down our faith, causing us to pick a candidate who might not match our faith well over one who does. In it I talked about Rick Santorum (hardly on the radar screen at the time in many people's minds), and about how the Bible is full of examples of times when what was "wise" to the world was not honored by God, but rather God tested the heart of His people to see if they would choose faith over "conventional" wisdom (the same worldly system of wisdom, by the way, that tells you that your relatives down the line were monkeys and fish). Reading that post will help you understand me better, and where I am coming from, in this post.

Second: I recognize there are significant issues with Catholicism that Protestants and Evangelicals have. I disagree with Catholics on many issues of the faith. But, that said, I also know many individual Catholics who I am far more convinced are born again Christians than many professing non-Catholic "Christians" I have met who might be quick to point out Catholic faults. I am just glad none of us need perfect theology to be saved, because if we did none of us would be.

Third: No candidate is perfect. None of us are. I doubt any of us would want someone demanding perfection from our entire life, or someone going back and scrutinizing everything we have said, done, written, etc. over the last 20 years and then us having to defend it in 10 second sound bites. Whether you are voting for Santorum or not, I believe what I am about to say will be thought provoking and of value to you.

With That Said, God is On the Move . . .

I can't tell you how exciting it has been for Mary Ann and I to watch the news at night in the last week or two and see the discussions that Rick's Santorum's vetting is causing. Combine that with Tebowmania and now Linsanity and I can't remember a season when I have heard discussions of faith—specifically Christian faith!—so often in the media. (Even after 9/11 I remember God being talked about a lot as comfort and a place to turn, but never this extent of discussion about larger issues of world view.)

What is so exciting to me is that I am hearing things talked about now that I can not ever remember being addressed on such a scale. It seems so often that Christians are relegated (often self relegated) to abortion and gay marriage and a few specific button issues in election cycles. This shallow focus allows Christians to accept or reject individual issues without having to be confronted with a call to consistency in their faith across the board. But Santorum's vetting and the close examination of his statements now and in the past are confronting professing Christians on a much higher level, and I am shouting out, "At last!" Our faith and world view provides the framework and reason for our individual stands—and our individual stands without the full expression of our faith and world view make us be simply seen as angry, judgmental people. But, if our world view (the gospel, the love of God, the reality of sin, the hope of faith, the reality of spiritual warfare and evil, etc.) is shared in fulness and in full context it will, I believe draw many to it—or at least help them understand us better, and help Christians identify inconsistencies between their profession of belief and their lives and choices and priorities and thoughts.

Like him or not, I can't remember a major candidate in recent times who has made it this far seeming to be so across the board in consistency with his world view and his policies as Santorum is. You can't listen to him and not see that this man has a world view and he sticks to it and brings all his other views into consistency with it. If you have read my blog for any length of time you know that this is a major cry of mine—it is ignorant and shallow to expect to separate a candidate from their world view and faith as, if that world view and faith is truly held, it should impact all they are and do.

And, the world view being discussed, is one that should excite Christians beyond measure! Finally, in the major media, we are hearing discussions about Satan, and good and evil, and spiritual warfare, and Satan's attacks on America—and we are being given a much bigger picture of why life is sacred, why people are precious, why religious liberty is so important, why we must support Israel and see some things in the world as truly evil, why the earth is for people's use and stewardship (but not above or equal to people), etc. We are seeing convenient Christianity challenged (meaning people can't just throw out that they are a Christian to get elected, but their lives are being examined for consistency). We are seeing the Protestant denominations called out on their collapse to the world. (Criticize Catholics for what you will, but at least they have stood strong on many of the issues many Protestant denominations have completely caved in on.) When we have CNN printing some things like the following, it should excite us!

"This is not a political war at all, this is not a culture war at all, this is a spiritual war," Santorum said . . . "And the father of lies has his sights on what you think the father of lies, Satan, would have his sights on.  A good, decent, powerful, influential country, the United States of America."

Santorum said Satan was first, and most successfully, attacked academia. Once academia fell to pride and its own truths, he said, the Protestant Church fell next in the United States. "We look at the shape of mainline Protestantism in this country, and it is in shambles, it is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it," he said.

Again, like Santorum or not, we finally are seeing the core issues addressed and I believe it will (or should) force individual Christians to decide where they stand. No longer can we simply reject an issue (choose economy over abortion as a priority, for example). The Santorum debate is forcing us to choose a world view and to see how many of our individual choices may be inconsistent with the world view we claim to believe in. It is forcing us to decide what we believe about the Bible. It is forcing us to look deep and decide, who are we going to serve? Our heart we will have to have been confronted. And, maybe, God, who values our heart and faith over external circumstances, is simply checking the heart of His children and beginning to force issues that will force Christians to decide who they are going to follow—Him, or the world. And, by having opposing world views so prominently displayed and contrasted, we may not be able, any more, to walk with one foot on each side of the fence. And that would be exciting to me, to see God's children finally have to choose!

"Electability"

I hear a lot about "electability" today in the Republican primary race. It seems a lot of people are talking about voting for a candidate who doesn't best match their values, priorities, etc. because they think that candidate can best beat President Obama. I have some real mixed emotions about that whole issue.

I understand in the pure, "world's" sense, the logic of thinking that way and not "throwing away" a vote . . . but where does God come in to it all? What does it say about Christians who think that way? To the world they are logical and using common sense, but I wonder what God says about it. Some may say they are using the brain God gave them to make their decision and be practical . . . but I wonder.

Where is the God of the impossible in all this thinking? Where is faith? Where is a belief in a God who can, in days, upturn entire nations and regions in revival? What does it say when we vote for a candidate who marginally and questionably supports our values, instead of one who unashamedly has supported them and lived them through decades of visibility in the public sector?

Might it even be possible that God is watching and testing His people. After all, it is His people who He says must turn from their ways and call out to Him for Him to hear and heal their land. What if it is maybe like a time the Holy Spirit nudges you to do something illogical or irrational in the world's eyes (help someone, give someone money or the benefit of the doubt, etc.) and you get "burned". The world shakes its head and says, "Maybe you won't be so naive next time" . . . when maybe God is saying, "You were faithful, now trust Me."

I think that often there is something much bigger at work than what our limited understanding can fathom. At the heart of God is the issue of the faithfulness, and faith, of His people. When I read through the Bible I find example after example of God's anger at His people compromising with the world, though what they did seemed "logical" and "common sense" to those around. Take some time and start to think about different events in history you are aware of that mirror what I am saying.

How about Saul keeping back some of the enemy's goods because of the people, and not doing what God said. It cost him a kingdom. Think about Abraham and Sarah "helping" God out with Hagar—it cost our world a lot of turmoil. Think about Peter caving to the pressure from the Jews. It cost him a public tongue lashing from Paul. Think about the people of Israel wanting a king. It cost them the chance to have God be their king. We could fill hundreds of lines with more examples of people doing what was "logical" and "wise" in the world's system of thought and it grieving or angering God's heart.

On the flip side, what about Abraham offering up his son through whom the promise was to be fulfilled? It earned Him God's tremendous favor. What about Gideon leading an army of 300 against over 100,000 enemy? It was a great victory for God's people. What about the woman "wasting" a perfume worth a year's wages on Jesus' feet, to the complaints of the disciples? She will be remembered for eternity for it. What about a young virgin agreeing to carry a baby from God at tremendous cost to her in this world? It earned her a privilege beyond measure. What about a man building an ark for decades of his life when those around him probably mocked him? It saved him, his family, and all mankind.

I am a little leery of the word "electability" being thrown around more than the word "God" and "faith" and the concept of honoring God first and trusting Him with the results. I don't know who we will end up seeing in the Presidential race opposing President Obama, but I know that I, for one, at this time and based on what I currently know, am going to vote for Rick Santorum. He appears to be a strong Christian candidate who, by all accounts that I have read, embodies (and doesn't just tout) the values of our faith, who seems humble yet uncompromising, who has a wife who has chosen to stay home and raise and school her family at the sake of her career, and who seems to understand foreign policy through a Christian world view and lens. I'll just trust the results to God, and know He is always at work. I just know, for me, that I can't let the world's "wisdom" be a stronger pull to me than my faith. From there it is a short road to caving on most of the issues facing us in this culture. I would rather honor God and "lose" in the world's eyes, than "win" in the world's eyes and compromise my faith. My God is very, very big and I can trust Him with the results. May He just see my heart pure and my trust and love for Him being the driving force in my life. I am not saying anything about other Christians who don't vote for him, that is between them and God, I am just saying that for me I want to let my faith have more power than human wisdom. There may be other reasons to vote for a candidate than electability, and God may show someone them, but I want to be sure that, in my heart, I never compromise who I feel best represents the values and faith I believe are most important to God.

Need I Say More . . .

It wasn't until I was a cadet at West Point and had to memorize more than the first stanza of the Star Spangled Banner that I found additional stanzas to it I was not aware of because they are rarely sung. After becoming a Christian the fourth and closing stanza of it came back to me strongly. Then, in homeschool yesterday, Mary Ann shared with the girls from a book of the history of hymns the story of My Country, 'Tis of Thee. I was blessed, listening to her, by the fourth and closing stanza of that as well.

With all the caving in of people about the origins of our nation and the heritage we have in God . . . and with the elections dominating the news right now and people deciding if the economy or values are their top issue and whether or not it is important to have a true Christian President, I thought I'd share the fourth stanza of each song with you in case its been awhile since you might have heard them. (The words and dates are copied from online sources. Please feel free to let me know if there are any mistakes in them.)

May this nation return to the reason it is great—our faith and trust in, and obedience to, the God of the Bible. May the winds of revival blow, not in an emotional frenzy that lasts but a short time, but in a turning of hearts back to Him. May those who claim His name and who claim they are His children start to make choices and vote and use their time and resources consistently with what they claim they believe. May those who don't know Him be awakened to their lost condition apart from Him and to His glorious love and grace for them. God bless you all, and thanks for sharing in my life. —Erick

Star Spangled Banner, fourth stanza, 1814
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust;"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

My Country, 'Tis of Thee, fourth stanza, 1831
Our fathers' God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.

Need I Say More?

World View and Politics . . .

(Note: I mention the phrase “world view” multiple times in this post. By this I mean the belief of a person about what this world is made up of in both the seen and unseen realms. For example, a true Christian world view would include one all powerful, loving God who is active in the world; the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible as His revealed Word to man; the reality of sin in man and man’s need of a Savior which is found only in Christ and His death; the fact that to follow Christ is to allow Him to live in you; and the inherent reality of Satan who runs rampant over this world driving the evil in it. A secular world view, on the other hand, might hold some beliefs like there isn’t a God, or if there is He is inactive in the world; that man is inherently good and capable of getting better and better; etc.)

I read the other day of the debate around some candidate for political office in the U.S. being called to defend a paper he wrote 20 years ago that expressed some strong religious views that affected his views on some social issues. I remember the last presidential election where debate raged about the legitimacy and "correctness" of exploring a candidate’s faith views. I have some thoughts about it all . . .

While, in America, we are a free country and I believe that people of different religious (or even non-religious) views should be allowed to run for office, I believe that it is naive to try and separate them from their world view. It is one thing to say that there shouldn’t be a religious test for office (I agree), and it is another thing to say that a person’s religion shouldn’t affect their decisions in office (I disagree, and think that it is impossible).

I do not believe that it is legitimately possible to separate a true believer in something from that belief—nor do I think that we should. The world view of a candidate (if it is truly held and not just declared or claimed for political expediency) will define their life and their role in that office in a dramatic way. Think about the office of President, for example:

A President’s world view will affect their attitude on good and evil, and the inherent nature and tendency of man. This will dramatically affect their dealing with other nations, their expectancy from other people, their trust, how they see and deal with terrorism and nations that support terrorism, etc.

A President’s world view will define how they see and understand the situation in the Middle East, as well as their stand on Israel. A President’s world view will dramatically affect where they seek their wisdom from. A President’s world view will define their own moral code—affecting how they operate—and it will affect their stand on social issues. A President’s world view will define their expectancy and outlook on the future. A President's world view will define their priorities. A President's world view will define if they see a spiritual component to situations. (And, I believe, because of my world view, that a true Christian President will give our nation a spiritual cover at the highest level whereas a non-Christian, or only professing Christian, President won't.)

It is one thing to disagree with a candidate’s world view and not vote for them (that is a precious right in our country), but it is simplistic and, I believe, ignorant (not meant derogatorily) to think that a person can sincerely hold a world view and not have it affect who they will be in office (hence, knowing their world view becomes important). How can, for example, someone who truly holds a Christian world view that includes at its highest place an almighty Creator who in love died for them set aside that Creator’s heart (regardless of the opinions of man) and support something that is reprehensible to that Creator? Likewise, how can someone who holds a world view that there is no Creator (or only an inactive one) come up with a true moral, absolute standard that is steadfast if they don’t recognize that there is an absolute in the world? How, in fact, do they come up with any litmus test for testing what is truly right or wrong and not just someone's opinion at the time?

Ultimately, someone with a true Christian world view holds that there is an absolute standard of right and wrong and that it derives from God—and someone who rejects God comes up, somehow, with their own standard of right and wrong which is, logically, no more valid than someone else who has an entirely different standard of right and wrong (because, by their very own belief, there is no higher standard or place to use as a base or foundation or yard stick). Moral relativism is basically a “what is right for you is right for you, and what is right for me is right for me attitude” and it’s logical extremes are so dangerous and deadly that a philosophy professor at West Point once told me that he would do all he could to get me kicked out of the academy if he truly thought I was the moral relativist I thought I was. The ultimate end of that philosophy is chaos and the reality that there is no "right" or "fair" way to say someone is wrong who says that for them some things we would call horrible and unthinkable are right!

So, I believe that a candidate’s world view is absolutely critical to know, and I don't think I would vote for a candidate whose world view I didn’t know or agree with. Candidates, during an election, can give their opinions on every issue on the table at the time, but it is only in their world view that we will be able to predict how they will decide on issues that come up later. If they are true to their world view it will define them. If they are not true to their world view, I don’t know that I can trust or believe or have confidence in them, or that I want them in office or leading my country.

None of this is to say that a candidate should, when in office, try and force others to follow his/her religion (in fact he should protect their freedom), but when deciding on issues and policies, and in dealing with other people and nations, he or she must, by necessity, have a world view that they draw on to understand situations, make their decisions, and define their values. Knowing their world view as a candidate should help us predict how they will be in office when a decision has to be made and they have to make it. Then, knowing that, we can decide who will best represent us, and what we believe and stand for, and we can vote for them.