So check this out: http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=3166. Tomorrow is election day and we have such an opportunity to bring CHANGE to the US and to the world. If you have some time before you vote, please read this article and really pray about what our voting priorities should be, and how to vote in a way that reflects those priorities and brings about the change we desperately need.
Also, this is a really short but really good article that speaks to the current economic crisis and how we, as Christians, can view this whole situation. Or how we SHOULD view this whole situation: http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=2705.
Throughout the Bible we see those with much turning away from God and the life He intended them to live. And we see God humbling His people, even using economic and social crises to humble them and turn them back to Him. Maybe God is going to use this whole economic crisis to wake up the American Church. Maybe it will remind us where our confidence should lie, and maybe it will remind us of the life God desires us to live and the way He desires us to use the blessings He has given us. Maybe this whole crisis will help change America and the Church for the better. And at this time, with the elections coming up and the chance to actually make our voice be heard and help bring about that change, I pray we step up and DO IT.
“Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord – that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” –Psalm 83:18
Monday, November 3, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
the election....
So it’s getting closer and closer to the elections, yet I am no closer to knowing who I want to be my next president. In thinking about the whole situation, I’ve realized there are a few root issues that need to be thought about that just aren’t addressed enough. As a Christian and an American, I am in a hard spot right now. My American culture and even some of my churches stereotype me and tell me I have to care about abortion and gay marriage more than any other issue and vote for the candidate that will do the “right” thing on those issues (aka the Republican). But as I look deeper into it and into what it means to truly live for Christ, the “right” thing is really not what my culture, both secular and Christian, is telling me I should do. Rather than call myself a Christian – the definition of which is something I’m not even sure I want to be associated with anymore – I’d rather call myself a disciple of Christ. And as a disciple my principle question in every situation, whether political or not, should be: what will bring the most glory to God and further His Kingdom?
I am an American and I love my country. I recognize what a privilege it is to live here and I believe I am truly blessed. But I am a follower of Christ FIRST before an American citizen, so my first aim should be the furthering of His Kingdom rather than the furthering of the American Kingdom. So when I sit down and think about who to vote for, I am not thinking about who will make America the most rich and prosperous and who will make me the most comfortable and enable me to buy the biggest house, etc. I am thinking about who will do the most to further the Kingdom of God and us to accomplish the purposes He has called us to. Or, in the case of this year’s election, the question we may need to ask is who will bring the least harm to the Kingdom? It may be a “Christian” candidate, it may not.
And going along with these questions, we need to ask ourselves as disciples of Christ what we believe the overall role of government should be. This will also help determine who we vote for. If the Church really did its job, really did what the Bible calls us to do and lived the way Christ exemplified, we would not need the social programs and welfare programs we currently have and the foreign aide the government currently gives. Realistically though, the Church isn’t doing everything it can – it isn’t taking care of all the homeless, the oppressed, the widowed, etc (Is. 1:17) It is doing a lot, but it is not doing all it could. And the American church today especially isn’t doing all it could with the blessings God has given us. We simply can’t use the excuse that we’re doing a lot already – as Christians we are daily supposed to be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). We should daily be seeking to grow and change, and the overall Body of Christ should reflect this. The American Church needs to grow and change – we can’t be stuck in the American culture. We look way too similar to American society- we are supposed to look different. We are supposed to stand out. If we are no longer standing out and living in a truly Biblical way in our country, then maybe it’s time to change more, to be different more.
Since the Church is not doing everything it can then, the responsibility falls on the government. So should we be voting for the Democratic candidate, who wants to take more money from the wealthy and distribute it more evenly, putting it in more programs that will help the poor and needy? Is that the government’s role? Or do we vote for the Republican candidate, who will let citizens keep more control over their personal finances and decide what to do with it? As disciples, do we want to have more control over our finances and trust ourselves and our fellow believers with it, hoping that we’ll do with it what God has called us to? Do we deal with the problem from the inside out? Or should we just let the government have more control and address these issues, since we are just not doing it right now?
Either way, there NEEDS to be a heart change in the American Church. If we were living and giving like we are called to, then I would say definitely vote for the candidate that will give us more control over our personal lives and finances and let us reach out to the world the way we decide. But I honestly don’t know if we will be good stewards of what God has given us. I pray someday we will have a Church that does not need the government to help us with our work. I pray someday the government strives to model itself after the Church and the way we live and govern ourselves because it is so successful at dealing with the world’s issues. And I believe we can get to that point, because Christ left us with the perfect example of how to govern wisely and respond peaceably to conflict and command with authority but not violence, etc. But right now the Church is not at a place where the government is going to look to us as an example.
When I say Church, I am not speaking about individual churches, because clearly there are MANY wonderful churches all over the US that are truly doing the work of God. When I say Church I am talking about the Body of Christ overall, so I am generalizing. Right now I am definitely generalizing about the Church in America, and generally speaking, I don’t believe the Church in America is reflective of the way Christ desired the Church to look. I pray that a change starts to happen from the inside out, that our hearts are changed to see how Christ desires us to live with the blessings He’s given us. And I pray that we truly start to live that way, so that some day soon we have a government that will work alongside us but not do our work for us and a candidate that we feel will actually move us toward doing the work of the Kingdom, and not two that both seem to be moving us away from that work.
But for now, vote for the candidate that will best help us bring about that change in the Church that we so desperately need and that will best help us further the Kingdom of God.
I am an American and I love my country. I recognize what a privilege it is to live here and I believe I am truly blessed. But I am a follower of Christ FIRST before an American citizen, so my first aim should be the furthering of His Kingdom rather than the furthering of the American Kingdom. So when I sit down and think about who to vote for, I am not thinking about who will make America the most rich and prosperous and who will make me the most comfortable and enable me to buy the biggest house, etc. I am thinking about who will do the most to further the Kingdom of God and us to accomplish the purposes He has called us to. Or, in the case of this year’s election, the question we may need to ask is who will bring the least harm to the Kingdom? It may be a “Christian” candidate, it may not.
And going along with these questions, we need to ask ourselves as disciples of Christ what we believe the overall role of government should be. This will also help determine who we vote for. If the Church really did its job, really did what the Bible calls us to do and lived the way Christ exemplified, we would not need the social programs and welfare programs we currently have and the foreign aide the government currently gives. Realistically though, the Church isn’t doing everything it can – it isn’t taking care of all the homeless, the oppressed, the widowed, etc (Is. 1:17) It is doing a lot, but it is not doing all it could. And the American church today especially isn’t doing all it could with the blessings God has given us. We simply can’t use the excuse that we’re doing a lot already – as Christians we are daily supposed to be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). We should daily be seeking to grow and change, and the overall Body of Christ should reflect this. The American Church needs to grow and change – we can’t be stuck in the American culture. We look way too similar to American society- we are supposed to look different. We are supposed to stand out. If we are no longer standing out and living in a truly Biblical way in our country, then maybe it’s time to change more, to be different more.
Since the Church is not doing everything it can then, the responsibility falls on the government. So should we be voting for the Democratic candidate, who wants to take more money from the wealthy and distribute it more evenly, putting it in more programs that will help the poor and needy? Is that the government’s role? Or do we vote for the Republican candidate, who will let citizens keep more control over their personal finances and decide what to do with it? As disciples, do we want to have more control over our finances and trust ourselves and our fellow believers with it, hoping that we’ll do with it what God has called us to? Do we deal with the problem from the inside out? Or should we just let the government have more control and address these issues, since we are just not doing it right now?
Either way, there NEEDS to be a heart change in the American Church. If we were living and giving like we are called to, then I would say definitely vote for the candidate that will give us more control over our personal lives and finances and let us reach out to the world the way we decide. But I honestly don’t know if we will be good stewards of what God has given us. I pray someday we will have a Church that does not need the government to help us with our work. I pray someday the government strives to model itself after the Church and the way we live and govern ourselves because it is so successful at dealing with the world’s issues. And I believe we can get to that point, because Christ left us with the perfect example of how to govern wisely and respond peaceably to conflict and command with authority but not violence, etc. But right now the Church is not at a place where the government is going to look to us as an example.
When I say Church, I am not speaking about individual churches, because clearly there are MANY wonderful churches all over the US that are truly doing the work of God. When I say Church I am talking about the Body of Christ overall, so I am generalizing. Right now I am definitely generalizing about the Church in America, and generally speaking, I don’t believe the Church in America is reflective of the way Christ desired the Church to look. I pray that a change starts to happen from the inside out, that our hearts are changed to see how Christ desires us to live with the blessings He’s given us. And I pray that we truly start to live that way, so that some day soon we have a government that will work alongside us but not do our work for us and a candidate that we feel will actually move us toward doing the work of the Kingdom, and not two that both seem to be moving us away from that work.
But for now, vote for the candidate that will best help us bring about that change in the Church that we so desperately need and that will best help us further the Kingdom of God.
Monday, September 1, 2008
prosperity gospel
This is a clip of John Piper responding to the false doctrine of the prosperity gospel. He shows so clearly how preaching prosperity in the Lord's name is a lie and not the at all the Truth of Christ....it is in fact the opposite of the true Gospel. it is this prosperity gospel that is blinding so many people and turning our american christianity away from true Christianity. Getting rid of this false gospel, this message that tells us God wants us to be rich and content and have all the material things we want, ridding our society of this gospel will help bring about the change we so badly need. The change that will help us live the lives God intended us to live: lives that feed the hungry and clothe the naked and rescue the oppressed. Lives that CARE. Lives that LOVE. We were never created to be content when the world was the way we wanted. We were created to be content when the world was the way God wanted. And clearly it is not there yet. So let's stop believing this false gospel and move toward His world.
http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/03/piper-on-prosperity-gospel.html#93
http://theologica.blogspot
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Advise Everyone... Endorse No One (by Shane Claiborne)
As we pass the half-way point of our Jesus for President tour, we remember Jesus' admonition that we be "as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves." There is a lot of momentum around our little campaign of political misfits - from some of the mainstream media and from the dozen cities where we've had thousands of folks come together to plot goodness. And with the momentum comes temptation.
We've been courted by candidates who want an endorsement... or who at least would like us to be "advisers." At first I thought advising a candidate was a subtle euphemism for endorsing them, but I have come to think that there is an important distinction to make between "endorsing" and "advising." I want to be an adviser to every politico that asks, and an endorser of no one but Jesus. Chris and I just joked that he could become an official advisor for Obama, and I'd take McCain just to make sure folks know that we are not partisan. We do take seriously the opportunity to dialogue with political candidates, or anyone else for that matter, especially as many people seem to be rethinking politics as usual. As for the presidential candidates, we're not sure how our counsel will go over, since it may begin with advising those seeking office to melt down the weapons of our arsenal and transform them into things that bring life to the suffering masses of this planet--"beating swords into plows" as the prophets say. But we'll see if anyone takes us up on the offer.
Chris and I end the 2-hour JFP presentation with these words:
We will not be endorsing any candidates. Rather, we will invite them to endorse the political manifesto of our Commander-in-Chief and to join the peculiar upside-down Kingdom that blesses the poor and the peacemakers...
Our central allegience is to God's Kingdom, and we invite everything else in the world to align itself with the norms of that upside-down Kingdom. That is what we endorse, and we stand behind everything and everyone that moves us closer to that - the coming of God's Kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven." And we get in the way of everything that contradicts and works against God's Kingdom - interrupting injustice with grace.
In post-Religious Right America, we want to learn from the mistakes of the generation before us (so we don't repeat them) - one of which was telling Christians who to vote for. Rather than spoon-feeding people answers, we hope to stir up the right questions - and trust that the Spirit will lead us as we "work out our salvation with fear and trembling." One of the places the religious right went wrong was telling people what to do rather than inviting them to think for themselves, with the help of the Spirit of God (in fact, it even seems a real lack of faith to to coerce or convince people to do exactly what we want them to... as if the Spirit is not at work in them). That's where Jesus shines - he stirs up questions and tells stories that unveil truth, rather than drafting a careful declaration or endorsement that's going to solve everything wrong in the world.
Folks come out of our JFP shows with all kinds of ideas churning. Some have shared that they are inspired to start an adoption agency to try and decrease the number of abortions. U.S. soldiers have said they are becoming conscientious objectors or are seeking discharge. Some folks have said they are going to organize for one of the candidates, and others have said they are going to write in "Jesus" on Nov. 4. To all of it we say, "Yes!" Thank God the Spirit is at work, and is renewing minds and imaginations in the Church, so that we might follow the command of Romans: "Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Reporters often ask folks leaving our presentations funny questions like: "Young evangelicals are the swing vote in this election... has this evening affected how you are going to vote in November?" I heard one person say beautifully, "That's the wrong question... the real question is how can we become the change we want to see in the world TODAY and not just hope that every four years we can elect politicians to change the world for us." May it be so. May we continue to become the change we want to see in the Church and in the world. Enough donkeys and elephants - Long live the Lamb.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
the Year
the Year
This has been a year where I have been broken and stripped. I’ve been made weak so He can be made strong. And I think I’m finally getting to that place, where He is becoming greater and I am becoming less. I am truly desiring His voice more than my own. But it took a year of hurt and heartache to begin to get to this point, and through it God has shown me so much. And now because of all that I’m here, able to write about the AMAZING GRACE and LOVE of Christ because I have truly experienced it. I’m not writing as one who knows about it in her head, but one who’s believed it in her heart, one who’s been picked up by it when she’s never thought she’s be able to get up, one who’s clung to His grace when she lost everything else, one who’s heart has ached so much that only a Divine justice could overthrow the conquering hurt.
I’ve realized that its not about ME. Despite what I’ve thought for so long, my life is really just not about me. We go through pain not because we’ve done something horribly wrong or God wants to teach us some huge lesson about our lives – it is just for HIS purposes. Whatever they may be. And He s worthy of that. He’s finally getting me to the place where I am broken enough that my perspective is actually starting to change and I am seeing the word outside myself. And there is a big world outside myself. He is real. And He desires all people to know His love, all people to see His glory. So His hand will work all things for that purpose. And that might even mean pain sometimes. I feel like my eyes are being opened to this whole world that I didn’t even know existed, this world that is not about me and what I can do to affect the world and how the world is going to affect me, but simply about God’s great purpose for this earth and the small way in which He may be able to use my life to show that purpose. And I’m realizing that maybe to show His great purpose, his great LOVE to this world, I might have to go through pain so God can be glorified through it. He redeems all things, even the horrible messy things I do, and instead of God bringing something wonderful for me at the end of every situation in my life, maybe His purpose is to simply redeem me back to Him. Simply to show how His love is greater than any evil, any sin, any pain. To show that He redeems even the worst of sinners.
He redeems me. That is the whole purpose. Not some great life lesson or wonderful treat for me for making it through. There’s no amazing twist that helps me understand why certain things happen and certain things must be lived through. Just the promise that He redeems. That His love brings me back. And through this redemptive story being seen yet again in this fallen world, maybe just one more soul in this despairing world will see this Love that never fails, this love that only brings us closer to Him when we fall, and maybe this soul will surrender its pain as well and give glory to the Father. This is His purpose. This is the way of things. And after everything, it’s all I need to know.
Because when He spins me around to see from His perspective, I finally have PEACE.
Dissatisfaction
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to post something on here – life has been crazy. This past year has been a time where God has humbled me and broken me and finally gotten me to a point where I will listen to Him and not my own voice. My eyes have been opened to so much because now I’m actually listening. I’m still in the process of sorting it all out and processing everything He’s been changing in me and showing me, but here’s a little bit of it. It’s mostly just a thought process, things God’s been making clear to me that I’m processing through writing, so forgive me if it’s jumbled and confused. But here it is, a little bit of the change that God has been working in my heart:
So, two main thoughts to consider –
I have been wrong. Wow. Huge to think about.
And: What needs to happen?
Elaborating a little bit:
I just don’t this is the way the world is supposed to be. I think maybe it’s time to consider that we might be wrong, and it might be time to try to figure out what needs to happen.
God desires something so much better for us all. But we, His people, His church, are not pursuing that Way. Not really. I don’t think most of us are purposefully not pursuing it. We’ve just been so influenced. By our culture, by those around us….we’ve gotten off track.
But if we want the world to change and for things to be different then we have to LIVE DIFFERENTLY. God has called us to be a people set apart. We can have all the missionaries we want doing all the wonderful things they’re doing, and we can have Christians in government making good laws, but until the Gospel is truly lived out then not a whole lot is really going to change. The way things are right now, our Christian culture as a whole, is WRONG. It seems to me that the way we are living in
Nowhere in the Word does it indicate that once one comes to know the Lord, one should sit and be content with life. On the contrary, throughout the Old and New Testaments, we see God commanding His followers to “bless the nations,” to “go out and baptize all people,” to “feed and clothe and bring justice to the poor and needy.” We are created to bring God into the world, not to just be content with God in ourselves. There is a huge second half of the Gospel that the majority of Christianity today has left out: after personal salvation comes the good works that true faith produces. Out of salvation comes service to God, comes a life dedicated to His purpose and will. NOT a life that reflects the very culture our faith should deliver us out of, not a faith that perpetuates the culture that leads to the pain and destruction of so many. There is a quote that’s been sticking out to me a lot lately: “If you’re content, then you’re not paying attention.” If we are content as Christians in our world today, then I would say we do not truly know the Gospel. Christ says if we do not help the least of these, then we do not help Him (Matt. 25:31-46).
"Through the Justice Revival we want to help redefine what it means to be a Christian disciple so that thousands of Christians will understand that they can't be good followers of Jesus without also committing to Jesus' agenda, which includes feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, giving care to the sick, and visiting the prisoner" (Matt. 25:35-36).
-Rich Nathan
Our Christian culture today tells us, rather it is preached to us, that it is fine to know Jesus in our hearts and know prosperity with our lives. But the Gospel tells us if even one of our brothers or sisters is in need and we do nothing, then we don’t know Him.
For our world to be changed, we need to be changed. Unless there is a significant shift in our Christian culture and the Church begins to truly live out the Gospel of Christ, our world will not be changed. I can go into government and try to make all the laws I want to help people, but unless the hearts of the people are into keeping these laws, then they will not make much of a difference.
My heart is breaking looking around me – God has given us the ability to SPEAK. We are the blessed and disgustingly small percentage of people in the world that have the FREEDOM and the MONEY and the MEANS to speak and act. We can speak for those who can’t speak for themselves. Why do we keep silent? God’s heart must be breaking. We have the great honor of speaking of His great GLORY and SALVATION, yet we are SILENT. He has chosen US to be His hands and feet, US to bring His GLORY to all people. Yet we hide His glory behind our comfort. People are dying without ever knowing the love of Christ while we worry about if we can get the dress we want to wear for Easter. Our Christian culture must reflect the politics of Jesus, not the politics of
“It is useless to dream of reforming the socioeconomic structure...as long as there is not a correspondingly deep change in our inner selves.”
- Dom Helder Camara
Brazilian Catholic archbishop
“Christ died so that we might live. Now we are to die so that Christ might live.”
-Shane Claiborne, Jesus for President
So how do we actually bring about this change that needs to happen? Ultimately, WE need to be changed first. We need to die. That is what we are called to. Not call ourselves Christians and then live the lives we think God would want us to live in this day and age. We are called to completely die so that Christ might completely live the life He wants to live through us. We need to be convicted. We need to be filled with Christ's vision for this world and His kingdom. Until our core is broken and we begin to see only what Christ sees and truly have His vision for this world, then our actions aren’t going to change much. People telling you to do something will only push you to do so much. Our hearts need to be convinced. We need to be convicted. We need to see with Christ's perspective instead of our own. And that won’t happen until we realize that the right way may not be the way we see through our eyes and DIE to that way, to that vision. Then HIS Way will finally be the Vision we see and the Way we seek to bring into the world. Then when we’re changed, we can spread the change. Think, talk, question. Start acting. Start living differently. See what the Bible says about how we as the Church should live, then lets start doing it. Lets not be a part of this culture and this world. Lets actually live like Christ: lets love the hungry and the sick and the oppressed as if they were Jesus standing on our streetcorner, lets not care about trying to dress and talk like everyone else, let our hearts actually break for those who try so hard to find satisfaction in the things of this world and not stay silent around them any longer, let us desire to see people know the love of Christ more than our favorite football team win the game or political party win the election…
Please join me in praying. Pray for us to be humbled enough that we might begin to hear other voices beside our own. Praying for conviction and for His definition of the Truth, for our death and His life. Pray for us to truly LIVE, to live like Christ and live in Christ.
“He must become greater; I must become less.”
-John 3:30
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
-2 Cor. 5:17
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Justice
this vision
American mind
now we are known as the American blind
our form of justice is freedom –
for us
Why don’t we cry?
content in our ignorance
our mothers and daughters are fine
what about her life?
opposing popular belief is:
TRUTH
JUSTICE,
in its righteous form, does not exist today
their daughters die
while we applaud progress in our lives
Who are we?
JUSTICE – contorted to fit our minds
WE LIE
TRUTH is objective
CHANGE is imperative
if we call ourselves people –
i t ’ s t i m e
to care for all of mankind
JUSTICE
Yearns
to wake tonight
American mind
now we are known as the American blind
our form of justice is freedom –
for us
Why don’t we cry?
content in our ignorance
our mothers and daughters are fine
what about her life?
opposing popular belief is:
TRUTH
JUSTICE,
in its righteous form, does not exist today
their daughters die
while we applaud progress in our lives
Who are we?
JUSTICE – contorted to fit our minds
WE LIE
TRUTH is objective
CHANGE is imperative
if we call ourselves people –
i t ’ s t i m e
to care for all of mankind
JUSTICE
Yearns
to wake tonight
Sunday, January 6, 2008
There Must Be a Change
Something needs to change. That is clear. There is so much that is simply just not right in this world. I’m not stupid – I know that as long as this world exists there will always be evil and pain and wrong. But I also believe in the existence of GOOD. I believe that as people become aware of these evils and the good that can exist in the world with even just a little bit of effort from us, they will choose to pursue this good.
Right now I hear a lot of complaining from people, including myself, about the presidential candidates. There is not one that I completely agree with and can throw my support behind, and I know there are a lot of other people that feel the same way. I am convinced that the lack of good candidates is because there is a lack of people desiring the GOOD speaking out. Before we have a president that is going to truly represent our interests and bring change to the obvious injustice and wrong in this country and world, there need to be people that demand this change. There need to be people that demand a MOVEMENT.
If we don’t speak, who will? This country will continue to decline and the wrong will rule. I am not talking about a certain party or a certain person or a certain denomination being right. I am not speaking on behalf of a certain political party or ideology. I am speaking on behalf of Truth. This country has been so successful in its 300 years of existence because it is founded on fundamental principles that all human beings believe in. Principles that people crave, that people need, to survive. Freedom, justice, liberty – the Framers understood that the key to a country’s survival was not a particular leader or location or amount of wealth, but these principles that our human nature craves and thirsts for. No matter your belief system or fundamental values, everyone desires freedom, justice, and liberty on a basic, carnal level. We were born with a hole in us that only these things can fill. The farther our country moves from these principles, the more our country will flounder, the more people will suffer, and the farther we will be from the nation the Founders believed in and gave their lives for.
I am not writing to say that we need religion in government, that we are a godless nation and we need to Bible-thump and force religion on everyone. Also necessary for our country to survive is a separation of church and state. But church and God are not one and the same. We need God in this country. The Founders knew that, and along with the separation clause they included the Establishment clause – they wanted God to be a part of America, to be protected in America, because they knew God was essential to the survival and the success of our country. And God is essential because at His core, God IS freedom, justice, liberty, equality, peace…..God is all the things we desire most, we crave most. When we push God away, we push these principles away. Separate religion from our government, from our policy decisions, from foreign affairs. Separate the religious institution from the governmental institution. Don’t separate God from this country. Religion brings problems, not God. What bad can come from keeping Him in this world? He is essential. We have justice peace, freedom….all in its purest form. Why do Communist governments always ultimately fail? Because it is a godless government. A government without God is a government without freedom, without liberty, without equality. This is who God is. If the government does not allow freedom to worship God, they probably don’t allow freedom to do much else.
Our government needs to be reminded of what it was created to be. It was created to protect the right of God to be in this country, to in essence protect our right to be FREE. Today we are so far from the original vision. Looking at the candidates for my possible future president, I don’t see one that encapsulates the leader our country needs: one that pursues peace, stands for freedom, works for the abolition of injustice. But why would there be this type of leader if the people don’t demand it? In a democracy, the people decide who lead them. Now the people need to step up and demand what is GOOD. We need to forge something new, not a Republican or a Democrat but something different, something that pursues what is RIGHT without having to fit a certain mold to get anything done. God needs to be allowed in this country. Because everything that is RIGHT is from God. Lets not be Republican or conservative or liberal or whatever, but something new, something that pursues only what is truly GOOD. Not religion or a Christian government. But God. Because with God comes all that we stand for as a country, all that we inherently desire as human beings. With God comes nothing but the GOOD: freedom, justice, peace…..there must be a movement. This needs to be what our country is about again, because it is not what we are all about now. But for our country to be about it, the people need to be about it. So let’s start a movement toward it. There MUST be a change.
Right now I hear a lot of complaining from people, including myself, about the presidential candidates. There is not one that I completely agree with and can throw my support behind, and I know there are a lot of other people that feel the same way. I am convinced that the lack of good candidates is because there is a lack of people desiring the GOOD speaking out. Before we have a president that is going to truly represent our interests and bring change to the obvious injustice and wrong in this country and world, there need to be people that demand this change. There need to be people that demand a MOVEMENT.
If we don’t speak, who will? This country will continue to decline and the wrong will rule. I am not talking about a certain party or a certain person or a certain denomination being right. I am not speaking on behalf of a certain political party or ideology. I am speaking on behalf of Truth. This country has been so successful in its 300 years of existence because it is founded on fundamental principles that all human beings believe in. Principles that people crave, that people need, to survive. Freedom, justice, liberty – the Framers understood that the key to a country’s survival was not a particular leader or location or amount of wealth, but these principles that our human nature craves and thirsts for. No matter your belief system or fundamental values, everyone desires freedom, justice, and liberty on a basic, carnal level. We were born with a hole in us that only these things can fill. The farther our country moves from these principles, the more our country will flounder, the more people will suffer, and the farther we will be from the nation the Founders believed in and gave their lives for.
I am not writing to say that we need religion in government, that we are a godless nation and we need to Bible-thump and force religion on everyone. Also necessary for our country to survive is a separation of church and state. But church and God are not one and the same. We need God in this country. The Founders knew that, and along with the separation clause they included the Establishment clause – they wanted God to be a part of America, to be protected in America, because they knew God was essential to the survival and the success of our country. And God is essential because at His core, God IS freedom, justice, liberty, equality, peace…..God is all the things we desire most, we crave most. When we push God away, we push these principles away. Separate religion from our government, from our policy decisions, from foreign affairs. Separate the religious institution from the governmental institution. Don’t separate God from this country. Religion brings problems, not God. What bad can come from keeping Him in this world? He is essential. We have justice peace, freedom….all in its purest form. Why do Communist governments always ultimately fail? Because it is a godless government. A government without God is a government without freedom, without liberty, without equality. This is who God is. If the government does not allow freedom to worship God, they probably don’t allow freedom to do much else.
Our government needs to be reminded of what it was created to be. It was created to protect the right of God to be in this country, to in essence protect our right to be FREE. Today we are so far from the original vision. Looking at the candidates for my possible future president, I don’t see one that encapsulates the leader our country needs: one that pursues peace, stands for freedom, works for the abolition of injustice. But why would there be this type of leader if the people don’t demand it? In a democracy, the people decide who lead them. Now the people need to step up and demand what is GOOD. We need to forge something new, not a Republican or a Democrat but something different, something that pursues what is RIGHT without having to fit a certain mold to get anything done. God needs to be allowed in this country. Because everything that is RIGHT is from God. Lets not be Republican or conservative or liberal or whatever, but something new, something that pursues only what is truly GOOD. Not religion or a Christian government. But God. Because with God comes all that we stand for as a country, all that we inherently desire as human beings. With God comes nothing but the GOOD: freedom, justice, peace…..there must be a movement. This needs to be what our country is about again, because it is not what we are all about now. But for our country to be about it, the people need to be about it. So let’s start a movement toward it. There MUST be a change.
Grace
Our minds can’t comprehend it. They really can’t. If they could, everyone would believe in Christ, no doubt about it. But we can’t. Our lowly human minds can’t comprehend the GREATNESS of God. He lowered himself to our level by coming to earth and becoming like us as Christ, but in His very nature is still too GREAT for us to comprehend, to understand and believe by relying on or own knowledge. And this is why we need GRACE.
I am living this lesson. I never before understood fully the concept of grace, and I am convinced I never will until I see God face to face. But I understand it a little better than I did before and I write about it now because it is a concept that will save all of us much grief if we understand it sooner rather than later. Although I am fully aware that everyone needs to experience it on their own to get to this point – it can not simply be understood by words – it is too amazing a realization NOT to write about. I AM NOTHING.
Once you realize this, it is like a weight is lifted off your shoulders. An invisible burden is gone and a wave of understand replaces it. I have been brought to my knees these past couple months like I never have before, crying out to God, questioning His purpose and His love for me like I never thought I would. I have been trying to figure out why God would let this thing happen to me, what I did wrong and what I can do now to make it right and please Him and be the person I have created in my mind that I am sure He wants me to be. I am creating reasons why this happened and solutions to the problems and things I can do and say. And then as I was sitting here on my knees, thinking so hard I could feel the thoughts pushing on my brain and pouring out of me, reviewing the same details as before and thinking the same thoughts, God put a new thought in my head:
I don’t believe in His love. It hurts me to think that and I can’t believe it but it’s true. I have relied on me, on my ideas and my thought and my concepts of love and the identity I have created for myself in Christ. I am so affected by this situation in my life right now because I have gotten to the place where I am finding my identity more in being a Christian than in Christ. And when that identity I have created is questioned, I fall. Because I was not leaning on Christ. I was leaning on my thoughts, on my ideas of who He is and who I am in Him. I did not truly understand or believe that He just loves me. He loves me. I am nothing and I can’t do it anymore and I need help. And He gives it to me. I’m beginning to understand what true love is now. I really am not good enough to please God, I keep messing up, but it’s ok. Christ loves me anyway and He does it all for me.
I can’t comprehend it. This love that causes Him to have such grace, grace that brings Him to die for me and forgive me again and again. He wants us to know this love and trust it. Trust that He loves me despite myself and it is that love that does everything. It is that love that gives me grace and makes me who I am. I don’t need to do anything or redo anything or fix anything. I just need to believe that He loves me this much. Because if I believe this, then I’ll believe that it’s not about my ideas or my plan or what I can do or say. I am loved by Christ and I am the woman he wants me to be and will do what he wants me to do, and what others say or do and what experiences I go through can not take that away. If I truly believe in Christ’s love, I will trust that. His grace covers me and I am His child no matter what happens. I just need to believe that he loves me that much.
And this is why I am so broken right now. It has taken a time like this, the lowest time in my life, to feel like I am really beginning to understand God’s grace, for the first time. I needed to learn that I can’t do it. That it is not about me and my vision and who I think I am and what I should say and do. I needed to learn that I am who I am because of Christ. Because God so loved me that he gave me indescribable grace played out in the form of a man giving His life for a world that does not even understand His purpose. And I am the queen of that world of doubt. Christ loved us so much he died to save a world of sinners, sinners who don’t even recognize their need for a Savior, of whom I am the worst.
Tonight my despairing, wondering heart turned to a heart of praise, because I saw God’s purpose. God had to push me to my knees to lift me closer to Him. It is only the beginning, but for the first time I am realizing I can’t have the control, I can’t rely on myself to be the person I want to be in Christ. I have to believe in His grace. I have to realize that I need Him. I have to believe in His love. Not know it in my head but really believe it and feel it. And it sets me FREE. I understand now what it is to feel FREE. I am who I am because of His grace, not because of anything I have done or can do now. All I have to do is believe in this love. Not understand it, because this is a love that “surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:18). But BELIEVE. It is so hard to give up that faith in myself and place it on Someone else. And the miracle is He won’t hurt me. He loves me despite myself.
I am living this lesson. I never before understood fully the concept of grace, and I am convinced I never will until I see God face to face. But I understand it a little better than I did before and I write about it now because it is a concept that will save all of us much grief if we understand it sooner rather than later. Although I am fully aware that everyone needs to experience it on their own to get to this point – it can not simply be understood by words – it is too amazing a realization NOT to write about. I AM NOTHING.
Once you realize this, it is like a weight is lifted off your shoulders. An invisible burden is gone and a wave of understand replaces it. I have been brought to my knees these past couple months like I never have before, crying out to God, questioning His purpose and His love for me like I never thought I would. I have been trying to figure out why God would let this thing happen to me, what I did wrong and what I can do now to make it right and please Him and be the person I have created in my mind that I am sure He wants me to be. I am creating reasons why this happened and solutions to the problems and things I can do and say. And then as I was sitting here on my knees, thinking so hard I could feel the thoughts pushing on my brain and pouring out of me, reviewing the same details as before and thinking the same thoughts, God put a new thought in my head:
I don’t believe in His love. It hurts me to think that and I can’t believe it but it’s true. I have relied on me, on my ideas and my thought and my concepts of love and the identity I have created for myself in Christ. I am so affected by this situation in my life right now because I have gotten to the place where I am finding my identity more in being a Christian than in Christ. And when that identity I have created is questioned, I fall. Because I was not leaning on Christ. I was leaning on my thoughts, on my ideas of who He is and who I am in Him. I did not truly understand or believe that He just loves me. He loves me. I am nothing and I can’t do it anymore and I need help. And He gives it to me. I’m beginning to understand what true love is now. I really am not good enough to please God, I keep messing up, but it’s ok. Christ loves me anyway and He does it all for me.
I can’t comprehend it. This love that causes Him to have such grace, grace that brings Him to die for me and forgive me again and again. He wants us to know this love and trust it. Trust that He loves me despite myself and it is that love that does everything. It is that love that gives me grace and makes me who I am. I don’t need to do anything or redo anything or fix anything. I just need to believe that He loves me this much. Because if I believe this, then I’ll believe that it’s not about my ideas or my plan or what I can do or say. I am loved by Christ and I am the woman he wants me to be and will do what he wants me to do, and what others say or do and what experiences I go through can not take that away. If I truly believe in Christ’s love, I will trust that. His grace covers me and I am His child no matter what happens. I just need to believe that he loves me that much.
And this is why I am so broken right now. It has taken a time like this, the lowest time in my life, to feel like I am really beginning to understand God’s grace, for the first time. I needed to learn that I can’t do it. That it is not about me and my vision and who I think I am and what I should say and do. I needed to learn that I am who I am because of Christ. Because God so loved me that he gave me indescribable grace played out in the form of a man giving His life for a world that does not even understand His purpose. And I am the queen of that world of doubt. Christ loved us so much he died to save a world of sinners, sinners who don’t even recognize their need for a Savior, of whom I am the worst.
Tonight my despairing, wondering heart turned to a heart of praise, because I saw God’s purpose. God had to push me to my knees to lift me closer to Him. It is only the beginning, but for the first time I am realizing I can’t have the control, I can’t rely on myself to be the person I want to be in Christ. I have to believe in His grace. I have to realize that I need Him. I have to believe in His love. Not know it in my head but really believe it and feel it. And it sets me FREE. I understand now what it is to feel FREE. I am who I am because of His grace, not because of anything I have done or can do now. All I have to do is believe in this love. Not understand it, because this is a love that “surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:18). But BELIEVE. It is so hard to give up that faith in myself and place it on Someone else. And the miracle is He won’t hurt me. He loves me despite myself.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
TRUTH
There is a time in everyone’s life where they are hit with the realization that they are made for more. There is a bigger purpose. No matter how fleeting or in what form, people understand that there is MORE. There is an ultimate TRUTH in this universe that goes deeper than ourselves. Maybe something in you burns when you hear of an innocent girl abused or millions of people killed because of the color of their skin or a father abusing his children. Something in you shouts. It’s like you can feel your soul.
That’s because there is more to us than just this. We inherently desire more than the here and now, than the parties or the money or the relationship. We are DEEP. Deep cries out to deep. And you will feel that. A part of you will cry out against injustice, against pain, against evil. A part of you will always demand freedom and liberty and love. That is what we were created for. There is a greater purpose to this world and whether we acknowledge it or not, we feel it. Our human nature is all about control, and this world is the way it is because we try to control it but in the process we destroy it. Instead we need to be the people we were created to be. We need to acknowledge the TRUTH inside of us and let God bring us back to our original form, to the GOOD. I have so often struggled with the question: how do I actually make the world better? How do I actually stop the suffering and make a difference in this horrible place? The answer is actually just to strive to be who the little part of us wants to be. The part of us that cries out, that thinks, My God, there has to be more to life than this. I have to be meant for more than this. We were created to be someone greater, and we will never feel completely right until we acknowledge that disquieting voice in us and allow it to grow. You will worship something and try to fill your life with someone, some hobby, or some random thing until you realize that what you are feeling is a desire to be the person God created you to be.
If we all listened to the Deep crying out in us and called back to it, things would be different. We would be on the way to becoming who we were meant to be. The world would be a more natural place. We would be pursuing justice, peace, and equality. Hate and pain and injustice would fade as we listened to the cry of our hearts and became the people we were created to be. The world would be more RIGHT. This world will never be perfect because we are an imperfect people. But individually we can change things. What would it look like if we lived the lives we are meant to live? We will never be satisfied until we are walking in the way God created us to walk. Simple things of this world can’t satisfy something indescribable inside us not of this world. God is love, peace, justice, freedom. That is WHO HE IS. He is not religion, church buildings, laws. And God created us to be like Him, to carry out His purposes. He created us to live lives that do His work, that bring love, peace, justice, and freedom to this world. That is why we know these things to be good and we desire them. If we actually acknowledged this about ourselves and strived to become this person, we would therefore strive for love, peace, justice, freedom. Individually pursuing these things, we join together to make a whole. Whole nations of people pursuing this equals a world better than this one. If we continue to ignore this voice inside of us, this TRUTH, than we ignore the solution. We ignore what we actually can do.
In Christ, God shows us the life He created us to live. Not a religion to follow but a LIFE. True life. A life dedicated to more, to deep things we feel that lets us know there is a greater purpose to being alive. We can become like Christ. We can know a life better than one we can ever try to create for ourselves. Nothing will still our hearts except for becoming this person in Christ. Because in this person we find who we truly are. And who we are is living God’s purpose, bringing good and truth into the world. God is love and justice and freedom. This is what he made us to pursue. This means just by being who we truly are we are making a difference. If we would only listen to the cry in us and let it change us, we would change the world. Why are we not listening?
That’s because there is more to us than just this. We inherently desire more than the here and now, than the parties or the money or the relationship. We are DEEP. Deep cries out to deep. And you will feel that. A part of you will cry out against injustice, against pain, against evil. A part of you will always demand freedom and liberty and love. That is what we were created for. There is a greater purpose to this world and whether we acknowledge it or not, we feel it. Our human nature is all about control, and this world is the way it is because we try to control it but in the process we destroy it. Instead we need to be the people we were created to be. We need to acknowledge the TRUTH inside of us and let God bring us back to our original form, to the GOOD. I have so often struggled with the question: how do I actually make the world better? How do I actually stop the suffering and make a difference in this horrible place? The answer is actually just to strive to be who the little part of us wants to be. The part of us that cries out, that thinks, My God, there has to be more to life than this. I have to be meant for more than this. We were created to be someone greater, and we will never feel completely right until we acknowledge that disquieting voice in us and allow it to grow. You will worship something and try to fill your life with someone, some hobby, or some random thing until you realize that what you are feeling is a desire to be the person God created you to be.
If we all listened to the Deep crying out in us and called back to it, things would be different. We would be on the way to becoming who we were meant to be. The world would be a more natural place. We would be pursuing justice, peace, and equality. Hate and pain and injustice would fade as we listened to the cry of our hearts and became the people we were created to be. The world would be more RIGHT. This world will never be perfect because we are an imperfect people. But individually we can change things. What would it look like if we lived the lives we are meant to live? We will never be satisfied until we are walking in the way God created us to walk. Simple things of this world can’t satisfy something indescribable inside us not of this world. God is love, peace, justice, freedom. That is WHO HE IS. He is not religion, church buildings, laws. And God created us to be like Him, to carry out His purposes. He created us to live lives that do His work, that bring love, peace, justice, and freedom to this world. That is why we know these things to be good and we desire them. If we actually acknowledged this about ourselves and strived to become this person, we would therefore strive for love, peace, justice, freedom. Individually pursuing these things, we join together to make a whole. Whole nations of people pursuing this equals a world better than this one. If we continue to ignore this voice inside of us, this TRUTH, than we ignore the solution. We ignore what we actually can do.
In Christ, God shows us the life He created us to live. Not a religion to follow but a LIFE. True life. A life dedicated to more, to deep things we feel that lets us know there is a greater purpose to being alive. We can become like Christ. We can know a life better than one we can ever try to create for ourselves. Nothing will still our hearts except for becoming this person in Christ. Because in this person we find who we truly are. And who we are is living God’s purpose, bringing good and truth into the world. God is love and justice and freedom. This is what he made us to pursue. This means just by being who we truly are we are making a difference. If we would only listen to the cry in us and let it change us, we would change the world. Why are we not listening?
Control
As humans it is our nature to control. We want to control our lives and plan and do what we think is best. But to truly live the lives we were created to live, we have to do the opposite of control. We have to surrender. If you have control you don’t have to have any faith. And can you know Christ without faith? Therefore by trying to control, you are not truly trusting and having faith in Christ. And I’ve realized: this is me. I want to do this and say that and be this certain person. Even if I have good intentions, it is nothing in God’s eyes. I am nothing. Christ is everything. He is greater than I can even imagine yet I dare to think that my plan could be better than his. That my way will be more pleasing to God’s than His. He can not even look at me unless Christ is covering me. Yet I do not rely on this grace - I continue to rely on my own strength simply because I want control. And this is why He breaks us. We have to be broken of this control and this pride in our human nature and stripped bare and brought to our knees to realize that our works are nothing. That nothing good comes from us. That it is by the grace of God we are saved and it is by His grace we stand and live. We fall over and over and hurt others and hurt ourselves and make a mess of the world when we try to control, when we live by our own plan. We are nothing except in Christ. Our purpose is being recreated in Him to do the will God has for us. I am on my face right now, stripped down to nothing. Everything I have, even my identity in being a Christian, is stripped away, because I was using all of it. It was all me, my control, my purpose twisting God and what He has given me to fulfill my plan and my vision. But all that brought me was pain and failure and not what I had in mind. No matter how good the intentions, if Christ is not in control, not the center, then you fall. It hurts, but God loves us so He strips us of anything we have to rely on but Him. The cross is heavy but it is the only thing we need to cling to. Only when God is the center, when He has control is life RIGHT. We need to be stripped of our purposes, of our control, so He can make us the people He created us to be. It goes against our human nature, but we need to give up. Then will we truly LIVE.
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