Pray for Dads, and the people who need them

Last week I watched the movie, Courageous, with people from my small group, and we were all impressed. Although it was a clarion call for dads to step up and be Godly fathers, it also makes us aware that good dads are in short supply.

Over the years I have been involved in children's ministry, and we always had a few kids with absent fathers. Although I know I was probably a good role model for those kids, I really don't think I gave enough of myself to them. They needed me more than a couple of hours per week on Sunday.

Of course, I was still raising my own kids. Isn't that more important? Am I really the dead-beat dad's child's keeper? Well, now my kids are raised, they need me a little bit less (maybe). And as I walk my dog around the block every day I have to pass a house with a bunch of kids, a mom, and a revolving cast of men. It looks complicated, and like a lot of work. I am praying about this.

Anyway, we all see these situations and just walk by. Is this what we are called to do? By all means, get your own house in order. But then what? Let us pray for these broken families that are leaving wounded children behind. We all know some.

The state of our souls

A few weeks ago, when the President gave the State of the Union address I did not watch it. I follow the news pretty closely and did not anticipate learning anything new. And, I must confess, I thought it would only make me mad.

I really struggle with my attitude toward our national leaders, and our local leaders. The Bible tells us, "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

So, when my wife and I were in our car, listening to the local Christian radio station, I was quite arrested by the radio announcer praying for our country and its leaders, with all sincerity. In spite of my dissatisfaction with our local and national state of governing affairs, I was struck with the idea of how much worse things might be without those who are praying. Who knows what evils are being held back by the relative few who are carrying this burden of prayer?

According to Paul's letter to Timothy, the goal of those prayers is, "that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." Our godliness and dignity are particularly tested because we, as citizens of a democratic republic, share the burden of governing through our own Constitutionally protected participation. After all, Ephesus and Palestine were not "red states" that voted for Caesar. You couldn't harbor ill will toward your neighbor for voting for a particular bloody dictator.

For this reason, we are not just praying for our leaders here in America. We are also praying for our neighbors, who we want to be saved. We must keep our own souls from becoming soiled with a bad attitude toward people with offensive bumper stickers. On the bright side, at least our fellow citizens are wearing labels that may help us to pray for them while they are in traffic!

Let us be able to report that it is well with our souls, regardless of what is going on around us. It makes us able and likely to pray in our nation's time of need.

Praying and speaking out

In this past week, an organization that raises money to fight breast cancer was publicly ridiculed for withdrawing funding from Planned Parenthood, and called "bullies" for doing so. In other words, they were bullied into putting that money back.

Right on the heels of this story, it came out that Catholic hospitals will be forced to offer abortions as part of their employees' health care coverage. The Catholic Church, however, is digging in and promising to fight this to the end.

Let us pray for out Catholic brothers and sisters, that they will remain steadfast. And let us also consider doing what we can do to help in a tangible way. We should also speak out against this government hostility to our values and against the lives of the innocent.

If any of you are ambivalent about this issue, please take the time to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you clarify the difference between right and wrong, good and evil.

If you think that someone should help pay for abortions for "poor" women as a part of "contraception" or "family planning," ask yourself a question. Would you give money in an offering taken up to pay for Sister Lulabell's abortion?

As horrible a thought as that is, keep in mind that when the government decides to do these things, it does so without your permission. Nobody is "asking" you to do this. But the politicians who run this grisly machine will be asking for your vote in November.

Law and Grace

This past Tuesday was election day for our city commissioners, and it was another depressing low turnout. The newspaper touted it as the third highest turnout since 2004, but when you consider how bad it usually is, this is nothing to brag about. Out of 71,961 registered voters in the City of Gainesville, only 12,172 bothered to vote for a city commissioner in the At-large race. Another 947 voted in the Republican Primary and/or the District 1 race but opted out of voting for an At-large candidate.

In spite of my disappointment in my fellow citizens, people do have the right to opt out and let a small minority choose for them. It may be wrong, or it may be ignorance, but God makes us free to make bad choices. We will have to answer to Him for them someday, but for now we have the Grace to make that call.

What if we weren't free to do that? What if not voting were a punishable crime? Then your obedience would be under the law. There would be no virtue in it.

What about any other act that we deem to be a good and moral thing to do? What about charity? Many Christians practice tithing, although most don't. There is no penalty under the law for not tithing. Should the church be given the power to tax? If it were, it would no longer be the church. It would be a man-made kingdom that was masquerading as the Kingdom of God.

This is what I thought about when I heard the President say that it was his faith in Jesus that compelled him to want to raise taxes on the rich. I shuddered. It was not only that I thought it was a bastardization of Biblical principles that made me cringe. It was the lack of Christians calling him out on it. Yes, there were comparisons like, "George Bush caught grief for letting his faith guide him in matters of state." But that is mere hypocrisy. What the President is declaring is heresy.

God does not force us to be moral. But He does define morality. The President is trying to do both when he defines morality as taking even more of a few people's money to spend it on a giant, onerous, bankrupt bureaucracy, he forces them to do so, AND tells us that Jesus says so.

In many of our workplaces, we are not allowed to talk about Jesus. But if you are the President and you are trying to get re-elected, you can use His Name like a club. There is truly no hope in our system of government apart from prayer.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

Greed and envy

Before I begin, I just want to thank Countryside Baptist and Oak Park Baptist for covering this city with 24 hour prayer.

My recent labor of love is reading St. Augustine's "City of God," which was written after the sack of Rome by the Visigoths. I am still under the 200 page mark. The early part is Augustine's defense of the church against the charge that Rome was sacked as a punishment for leaving pagan idolatry.

Perhaps 100 years from now, this time will be remembered as the sack of America: spiraling debt, public and private, leading to economic collapse. At this time, some of us have sense enough to know it is coming. Wherever we end up, our current leaders are arguing over who is to blame for it. No one wants to accept responsibility for the possible collapse of civilization.

This is an excellent time to repent. The vast majority of Americans are to blame for what has happened. Rampant borrowing and demand for more and more goods and services at less cost came while we were less and less inclined to invest in prosperity by teaching and disciplining the young. The next generation will be less prepared to repair our country than we are willing to do it.

Instead of being angry because someone else has more than we do, or hoping that simply making more money will fix things, it is time to look within and accept that we are all a part of the lust for things that has caused our dissatisfaction and despair.

It is time for us to find our joy in God, because before long, it may be all we have.

Participating in Politics

Back in the days of Samuel the prophet, the people of God asked for a king. They wanted to be like all the nations. Samuel brought this before the Lord, and He said,

“Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. ⁸ As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ⁹ Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”1 Samuel 8:7-9

The people of Israel had the Law of Moses and a form of self government before they had kings. God was their only king, and that made them unique. But they wanted a man like themselves to be their king. And God gave them what they wanted. But it came with a warning:

“This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. ¹² Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle^[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” 1Samuel 8:11-18

In America, we have had a system of self-government and a Constitution. More and more, Americans are discarding the Constitution and demanding a strong executive who will go around the Congress, the representatives of the people.

If Christians do not participate in our form of self-government, they will lose it. That seems to be Ok with many believers who think it's beneath them. It is unworthy of their attention. It is worldly and unspiritual. It is nasty and unpleasant.

It is not going to get any better if we stay out of it. If we decide that it is just too risky, we are like that servant who buried what God gave him instead of using it. He played it safe and did nothing. But it wasn't safe. He answered to his Lord for it and lost everything.

We have a city election coming up, followed  by local and national elections this year. You are needed to weigh in. Choose sides. Volunteer. Ignore this at your peril.

Conflict of interest

I was reading an article yesterday about the upcoming playoff game between the Broncos and Patriots and in the comments section, someone said that although he was a Patriots fan, he was pulling for Tim Tebow. Another commenter told him that if that was how he felt, he was no Patriot fan.

Even though football is a silly and inconsequential thing compared to others, we care about it. I think it's because of what the teams and player represent that is important. Even if we don't realize it, I think that we admire and support someone's values on the field, whether it's work ethic, intelligence, faith, or even amazing luck. And I believe we also attach negative values to players and teams because of their reputations and actions both on and of the field.

But now place yourself on the field. You are in the world, but if you are Christ's, you are not of it. Why should you care about anything?  Consider Abraham:

Hebrews 11:8By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

He was in the land of promise, but lived like he was an alien. He was looking for a divine place, made by God. So, why did he bother going anywhere? Because he was obeying God. He didn't know where he was going, but he went. He was like Noah, building a giant boat in the desert, doing something transcendent, but doing it in the world for everyone to see.

The reason we do anything in this world is because God said so. Whether it works or not, or whether we win or not. We just do it. That is why we pray, and why we make an impact on the world. Because God said so.