So, in honor of Turkey Day (more formally known as Thanksgiving), I thought I'd take a moment out to make a list of just some of the many things I am thankful for.
It's so easy to get wrapped up in a negative, victim attitude and think that the whole world is on our shoulders. I know I have to work really hard at avoiding that mindset. And what makes it so ironic is that those of us in the United States--even at our "worst"--live life better than probably 95% of the world's population. Who are we to complain? Anyway, this is something that helps me remember just how very much God has blessed me. I hope it helps you, too.
1. A gorgeous, loving wife and an adorable son who love me far more than I deserve.
2. A new son or daughter just 6 months away!
3. A beautiful, comfortable, spacious home in a great neighborhood and location.
4. A great looking, functional, and well-running minivan in the garage.
5. Good, healthy food on the table at all times.
6. An extended family that loves me.
7. Friends to share life, laughter, and love with.
8. A good paying, steady job...as well as several other income-producing projects that Becki and I are able to work together at "on the side".
9. I'm breathing and in relatively good health.
10. Plenty of good books to read.
11. The knowledge that, even when things are tight, it will all be OK because HE says it will!
12. Being a Florida Gators fan!!
13. Knowing that there is so much more "out there" for me to explore, enjoy, investigate, and become.
14. Living in, despite all of its issues, the greatest country in the world.
15. Cool, crisp fall nights.
16. A Savior who loves the unlovable me.
I'm sure I'll think of many more....and I'll come back and add them later....but, for now, here's just a short list to greet you all this Thanksgiving morning. Have a blessed one!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
election day musings...(long!)
I cast my vote this morning. Glad that's over with. I am looking forward to not having to watch any more political infomercials, having my mailbox stuffed with ads, or receiving unsolicited calls from candidates, at least for 3 years or so.
One note from the polls: I don't get why so many people went to vote early. I've read reports of people standing in line for "early voting" for up to 6 or 8 hours. This morning, we were in and out in 10 minutes. And I don't ever recall, in all my years of voting, waiting more than just a few minutes on Election Day. So, yeah...I don't get it. Of course, maybe one of the reasons there were no lines today--a lot of folks voted early? Still...
Anyway, here are a few points I'd like to make from today, as well as the last few months:
1. My number one issue for today was taxes and the economy. Yeah, I know. As a Christian, I'm supposed to put "abortion" and "gay marriage" in this slot. I'll cover those two topics in a moment--one is still important to me, the other, not so much anymore--but for now let me just say that I really worked hard at aligning myself with a candidate who I felt spoke for what I believed in here (and it wasn't Obama...or McCain). If you've read my blog at all in the past year, you know that I've become a huge believer in Fair Tax, and I remain convinced not only of it's merits but also of the opinion that a complete overhaul of our tax system is the ONLY thing that will save our economy. We HAVE to stop spending frivolously and start being accountable for taxpayers' money. I not only want to know how my money gets into the hands of our government, but, more importantly, what happens to it when it's there. If we can get our financial house in order (a pipe dream, maybe, I know), we can solve so many of our problems. But, in my opinion, it has to start with a fair, balanced, simple tax system that will actually increase revenue combined with a spending cooldown until our budget is balanced.
2. OK, let's talk about the social issues for a moment. To many of you, when I wrote the paragraph above, I was automatically labeled "pro-choice", simply becase the abortion debate wasn't at the front of my mind when I went to the voting booth today. And therein lies the problem. Growing up as an Evangelical Christian, I was taught that this issue trumped anything else on the ballot. Period. In fact, I remember in my early days of voting basing my entire decisions simply on whether the particular candidate was "pro-life" or not. If I wasn't sure, my church would help me out with a handy dandy "voters' guide" that I could even take with me into the booth, just to make sure I didn't screw anything up. Don't get me wrong here--I definitely see the great, great merit in this issue, and understand for some people this is literally the deciding one. I could probably write several paragraphs on this subject alone, but I'll summarize my point by saying that I truly believe the manner in which we--Christians and/or "pro-lifers"--address this important issue is simply all wrong. We should be reaching out to the women who have to make choices like this and, instead of demonizing and vilifying them from behind judicial lines, help them with the practical issues that they'll have to go through--such as, for example, how to successfully carry their baby to term and, once here, place it in a loving home. (There's a great story about this on Greg Boyd's site, as well as some other thoughts I readily agree with; check it out here.) In addition, we need to create commonality with those "pro-choicers" who, believe it or not, are almost overwhelmingly AGAINST more abortions in general. As pointed out in a fantastic commentary here, judicially we are no closer to solving the abortion problem than we were 20 years ago. And to circle back around to my number one issue from above, it seems that a stunning 75% of all abortions in this country are carried out because of poverty. How great would it be to both reinvent our fledgling monetary policies while at the same time completely eliminating the major reason for abortion?
For the record here, as long as there is a vote, and as much as possible, I will always vote "pro-life". I do believe that abortion is murder, and unborn babies need to be protected. But I also believe that our approach to this issue is a completely flawed one that needs social action and justice, especially from the Evangelical Christian church--and quickly.
As for homosexual marriage, I have to admit I've softened on this quite a bit. Yes, I do believe homosexual behavior is a sin according to God's Word (just as much as lying, cheating, and adultery), but, again, we risk alienating the very people we are trying to reach with Christ's message when we use a broad brush to try and legislate our values on those who simply are not ready to accept them. As a more practical--and, I believe, effective--approach, I wonder what would happen if we befriended these same people and lived a dynamic, different life as Christ asked us to--one that would have them practically begging to know what The Difference is? Instead, again, we use the wrong approach when we try to legislate morality (in both of these issues, as well as a host of others) from behind judicial lines. I'm also struck by the irony that the very entity that is driving this edict--again, the Evangelical Christian church--has a divorce rate higher than that of the society around it. Who are we to judge when we are unable to live the life of commitment that God-ordained marriage demands?
Again, I do have the opinion that marriage should be one man and one woman in a committed, lifelong, God-centered union. But I also realize there are those that don't think that way. For me to attempt to shove my belief--which is not at all judicially or politically created, but God-centered--on someone else, especially without appealing to their heart, is simply wrong. This is a moral issue, and I simply believe, in a free country, we are unable to legislate morality.
3. As you can tell, I'm undergoing a bit of a revolution when it comes to my faith and my politics. I was never really that much into politics in the first place, but recently, with the historic election this year, I've attempted to get a bit more into it (as evidenced here and here). The last few weeks and months I've been really reading some radical stuff that goes completely against the grain, so to speak. It started when I read Jim Wallis' "God's Politics" a few months ago. I enjoyed it for the most part, and Jim made some good points but, frankly, I felt he was advocating leaning too far to the left (read: "Democrat") in an effort to seem "radical". For instance, the whole "legislating morality" issue? That applies to things like poverty, as well (something Wallis believes should be addressed through our government, which I don't completely disagree with). You can't tell me what to do with my money, even if it's for a noble cause. This, by the way, is something that makes me distrustful of Obama's platform--the "redistribution of wealth" from those of who, apparently, by the government's decree, don't need it. Anyway, although I do believe Wallis has some neat ideas for how our Christian faith should interact with our political involvement, I do have to say that I do disagree with him on many issues.
Bring on Greg Boyd, of Christus Victor Ministries. I don't even remember how I stumbled onto his site, but I did, and I have to say it's been really eye-opening for me. I'll let you draw your own conclusions by exploring his thoughts here, but I'll also try to summarize what I've learned from him. Probably all you need to know is summed up in the title of his book, "The Myth of a Christian Nation". I realize that's offensive to some of you, and I don't mean to be offensive, but Greg makes a point that I've felt to the core of my being for a long time now. When did we, as Christians, start equating being a United States citizen with being a citizen of the Kingdom of God? When did we start placing our nationality above our "kingdomality"? And where did we get the crazy idea that our forefathers crafted our nation to be solely a Christian one? I frankly have not seen it and I don't get it. After all, weren't they fleeing from religious persecution--from, ironically, a state-mandated religious monarchy? Sure, our nation's ideals and values are based on Judeo-Christian ethics...but that's not the same thing. Is it?
Boyd makes the distinction, both in his book and through the sermons that he preached that inspired it (you can listen to them by going here, starting with the 4/18/2004 archive), between the kingdom of this world (maintained by government) and the Kingdom of God. He suggests that the two are necessarily isolated and, often, diametrically opposed. He points out that serving our Heavenly King is our top priority and we are to serve Him even when--especially when?--it's opposed to our political leanings.
What does this mean? It means we should stop trusting in our government so much. Indeed, he makes the assertion that all governmental systems should be viewed with a healthy suspicion, as well as the knowledge that, while some good can always come from anything God created, looking to place our hopes and trust and faith and future on those very systems--no matter how "good" we may think they are--will always leave us wanting for more.
Greg cements what I've been feeling for a very long time now...that Christians as a whole are too wrapped up in the political process to make an impact for Christ in the world around us. Instead of changing those around us with "Calvary Love" as he calls us, we look to our government to enact legislation in order to "make" that change happen. Instead of serving others simply because Christ asked us to, we look to our elected officials to come up with the capital and resources, so we won't get our hands dirty. Instead of putting our arms around those who feel unloved and despised and simply loving them because they are a child of God, we stand behind a voting booth every four years to "vote our conscience" and, in so doing, make bastards out of the very people God sent His Son to die for.
I've long believed that God is disgusted with His "church" here in the United States. We've traded a Kingdom mindset for political processes, forgetting that, rather than legislating our morality and having our way, He's empowered us and commanded us to love one another. Christ has called us to be His hands and feet, and we should be determined to do that with no political affiliation, with no regard for party politics, with no expectations of our government and the kingdom of this world coming to the rescue. If Christians want to change the world, it begins with each one of us. Not our elected officials.
In the meantime, of course, by all means, pray for our great nation and its leaders. But do so with the understanding that God has His Hand on His Church. NOT any nation, no matter how "good". May He be glorified....
One note from the polls: I don't get why so many people went to vote early. I've read reports of people standing in line for "early voting" for up to 6 or 8 hours. This morning, we were in and out in 10 minutes. And I don't ever recall, in all my years of voting, waiting more than just a few minutes on Election Day. So, yeah...I don't get it. Of course, maybe one of the reasons there were no lines today--a lot of folks voted early? Still...
Anyway, here are a few points I'd like to make from today, as well as the last few months:
1. My number one issue for today was taxes and the economy. Yeah, I know. As a Christian, I'm supposed to put "abortion" and "gay marriage" in this slot. I'll cover those two topics in a moment--one is still important to me, the other, not so much anymore--but for now let me just say that I really worked hard at aligning myself with a candidate who I felt spoke for what I believed in here (and it wasn't Obama...or McCain). If you've read my blog at all in the past year, you know that I've become a huge believer in Fair Tax, and I remain convinced not only of it's merits but also of the opinion that a complete overhaul of our tax system is the ONLY thing that will save our economy. We HAVE to stop spending frivolously and start being accountable for taxpayers' money. I not only want to know how my money gets into the hands of our government, but, more importantly, what happens to it when it's there. If we can get our financial house in order (a pipe dream, maybe, I know), we can solve so many of our problems. But, in my opinion, it has to start with a fair, balanced, simple tax system that will actually increase revenue combined with a spending cooldown until our budget is balanced.
2. OK, let's talk about the social issues for a moment. To many of you, when I wrote the paragraph above, I was automatically labeled "pro-choice", simply becase the abortion debate wasn't at the front of my mind when I went to the voting booth today. And therein lies the problem. Growing up as an Evangelical Christian, I was taught that this issue trumped anything else on the ballot. Period. In fact, I remember in my early days of voting basing my entire decisions simply on whether the particular candidate was "pro-life" or not. If I wasn't sure, my church would help me out with a handy dandy "voters' guide" that I could even take with me into the booth, just to make sure I didn't screw anything up. Don't get me wrong here--I definitely see the great, great merit in this issue, and understand for some people this is literally the deciding one. I could probably write several paragraphs on this subject alone, but I'll summarize my point by saying that I truly believe the manner in which we--Christians and/or "pro-lifers"--address this important issue is simply all wrong. We should be reaching out to the women who have to make choices like this and, instead of demonizing and vilifying them from behind judicial lines, help them with the practical issues that they'll have to go through--such as, for example, how to successfully carry their baby to term and, once here, place it in a loving home. (There's a great story about this on Greg Boyd's site, as well as some other thoughts I readily agree with; check it out here.) In addition, we need to create commonality with those "pro-choicers" who, believe it or not, are almost overwhelmingly AGAINST more abortions in general. As pointed out in a fantastic commentary here, judicially we are no closer to solving the abortion problem than we were 20 years ago. And to circle back around to my number one issue from above, it seems that a stunning 75% of all abortions in this country are carried out because of poverty. How great would it be to both reinvent our fledgling monetary policies while at the same time completely eliminating the major reason for abortion?
For the record here, as long as there is a vote, and as much as possible, I will always vote "pro-life". I do believe that abortion is murder, and unborn babies need to be protected. But I also believe that our approach to this issue is a completely flawed one that needs social action and justice, especially from the Evangelical Christian church--and quickly.
As for homosexual marriage, I have to admit I've softened on this quite a bit. Yes, I do believe homosexual behavior is a sin according to God's Word (just as much as lying, cheating, and adultery), but, again, we risk alienating the very people we are trying to reach with Christ's message when we use a broad brush to try and legislate our values on those who simply are not ready to accept them. As a more practical--and, I believe, effective--approach, I wonder what would happen if we befriended these same people and lived a dynamic, different life as Christ asked us to--one that would have them practically begging to know what The Difference is? Instead, again, we use the wrong approach when we try to legislate morality (in both of these issues, as well as a host of others) from behind judicial lines. I'm also struck by the irony that the very entity that is driving this edict--again, the Evangelical Christian church--has a divorce rate higher than that of the society around it. Who are we to judge when we are unable to live the life of commitment that God-ordained marriage demands?
Again, I do have the opinion that marriage should be one man and one woman in a committed, lifelong, God-centered union. But I also realize there are those that don't think that way. For me to attempt to shove my belief--which is not at all judicially or politically created, but God-centered--on someone else, especially without appealing to their heart, is simply wrong. This is a moral issue, and I simply believe, in a free country, we are unable to legislate morality.
3. As you can tell, I'm undergoing a bit of a revolution when it comes to my faith and my politics. I was never really that much into politics in the first place, but recently, with the historic election this year, I've attempted to get a bit more into it (as evidenced here and here). The last few weeks and months I've been really reading some radical stuff that goes completely against the grain, so to speak. It started when I read Jim Wallis' "God's Politics" a few months ago. I enjoyed it for the most part, and Jim made some good points but, frankly, I felt he was advocating leaning too far to the left (read: "Democrat") in an effort to seem "radical". For instance, the whole "legislating morality" issue? That applies to things like poverty, as well (something Wallis believes should be addressed through our government, which I don't completely disagree with). You can't tell me what to do with my money, even if it's for a noble cause. This, by the way, is something that makes me distrustful of Obama's platform--the "redistribution of wealth" from those of who, apparently, by the government's decree, don't need it. Anyway, although I do believe Wallis has some neat ideas for how our Christian faith should interact with our political involvement, I do have to say that I do disagree with him on many issues.
Bring on Greg Boyd, of Christus Victor Ministries. I don't even remember how I stumbled onto his site, but I did, and I have to say it's been really eye-opening for me. I'll let you draw your own conclusions by exploring his thoughts here, but I'll also try to summarize what I've learned from him. Probably all you need to know is summed up in the title of his book, "The Myth of a Christian Nation". I realize that's offensive to some of you, and I don't mean to be offensive, but Greg makes a point that I've felt to the core of my being for a long time now. When did we, as Christians, start equating being a United States citizen with being a citizen of the Kingdom of God? When did we start placing our nationality above our "kingdomality"? And where did we get the crazy idea that our forefathers crafted our nation to be solely a Christian one? I frankly have not seen it and I don't get it. After all, weren't they fleeing from religious persecution--from, ironically, a state-mandated religious monarchy? Sure, our nation's ideals and values are based on Judeo-Christian ethics...but that's not the same thing. Is it?
Boyd makes the distinction, both in his book and through the sermons that he preached that inspired it (you can listen to them by going here, starting with the 4/18/2004 archive), between the kingdom of this world (maintained by government) and the Kingdom of God. He suggests that the two are necessarily isolated and, often, diametrically opposed. He points out that serving our Heavenly King is our top priority and we are to serve Him even when--especially when?--it's opposed to our political leanings.
What does this mean? It means we should stop trusting in our government so much. Indeed, he makes the assertion that all governmental systems should be viewed with a healthy suspicion, as well as the knowledge that, while some good can always come from anything God created, looking to place our hopes and trust and faith and future on those very systems--no matter how "good" we may think they are--will always leave us wanting for more.
Greg cements what I've been feeling for a very long time now...that Christians as a whole are too wrapped up in the political process to make an impact for Christ in the world around us. Instead of changing those around us with "Calvary Love" as he calls us, we look to our government to enact legislation in order to "make" that change happen. Instead of serving others simply because Christ asked us to, we look to our elected officials to come up with the capital and resources, so we won't get our hands dirty. Instead of putting our arms around those who feel unloved and despised and simply loving them because they are a child of God, we stand behind a voting booth every four years to "vote our conscience" and, in so doing, make bastards out of the very people God sent His Son to die for.
I've long believed that God is disgusted with His "church" here in the United States. We've traded a Kingdom mindset for political processes, forgetting that, rather than legislating our morality and having our way, He's empowered us and commanded us to love one another. Christ has called us to be His hands and feet, and we should be determined to do that with no political affiliation, with no regard for party politics, with no expectations of our government and the kingdom of this world coming to the rescue. If Christians want to change the world, it begins with each one of us. Not our elected officials.
In the meantime, of course, by all means, pray for our great nation and its leaders. But do so with the understanding that God has His Hand on His Church. NOT any nation, no matter how "good". May He be glorified....
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