Ancient Truth | Modern Sound

Maybe you are like me and the election didn’t go the way you hoped, so you are wearing black this week and writing a new pledge of allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the divided states of America
and to the republic that I don’t understand
one Obamanation
under God’s judgment
with licentiousness and lack of judgment by all

Yeah, I know, a little over the top.  I was watching the election coverage until I went to bed, and I thought of this pledge parody as I was falling asleep.  I thought, “Should I get up and write this down? … Nah!  I don’t care if I remember it or not.”  Nonetheless, I remembered it in the morning and posted it on my FaceBook account.  Isn’t that thrilling.

Maybe you are not like me at all, and instead you are riding on a wave of optimism and hope that springs from Barack Obama bringing a fresh start to our nation.  You are hoping for change to believe in!  Maybe you are one of America’s 51% who cast a very happy vote for this (previously) unknown senator from Illinois.  If you are, then you are probably very hopeful for the kind of change that he will inspire in our great country.  (and you probably didn’t make it reading further than my pledge.)

I can’t imagine the mess we would have woken up to on Wednesday if McCain had won.  People would have been violently angry, and I think the morale of the nation would have been at a new all time low.  I think there would have been massive public despair and disillusionment.

On the other hand, there seems to be a bounce in the step of many people right now, people are feeling hopeful and optimistic.   Happiness and joy are contagious, and whether we want to admit it or not, many of us who are disappointed in the outcome of the election are feeling the ripple of euphoria from the “other side.”  Things actually seem pretty bright.

This doesn’t mean that my grave concerns have gone away.  The grave concerns are front and center, but the problem is that McCain didn’t really answer those concerns much better than Obama.

Some Concerns:

1. I am troubled that Obama is so rabidly pro-abortion, but McCain is not much more of a defender of the unborn when it comes right down to it. Both of them support funding Planned Parenthood.  ‘Nuff said.

2. I am troubled that Obama wants to raise taxes on the people who already pay the most taxes, and “spread the wealth around.”  The government does not need to be in the business of playing Robin Hood.  On the other hand, McCain had the crazy idea to buy the bad mortgages and he supported the financial bailout package, and that’s not much better.  I would love to have a president who understands economics better than I do, someone who knows what a budget is, and knows how to stay within it.  We were not going to get that either way the election went.

3.  I am troubled that Obama is perceived to be a pacifist.  I don’t want the Commander and Chief of the United States Military to be perceived as a pacifist.  I want him to be perceived as a crazy mean dog that you better not mess with, or he will bite your face off.  I sleep better at night with a well trained pitbull in the yard than a cute little Yorkie.  On this issue, McCain wins hands down.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE:
But, there are many good things about Obama winning the election.  The optimistic sense of hope is actually a beautiful thing, and not something that I have seen much of in my lifetime.  It feels like our black brothers and sisters are standing a little taller, and I hope that translates into a better sense of citizenship and responsibility.  Whether we want to admit it or not, this is a global culture, and the world is excited to see Obama win the election.  This could translate into a more favorable world opinion, and that would be helpful in many ways.  We need to be thankful for the good things, and accept the leader that God has given us.  We must learn how to honor Obama and we must pray for him to be a good and wise leader.

 Please join me in this prayer today.

In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with all our heart and with all our mind, let us pray:

LORD, have mercy on us and grant us peace, fill us with Your loving-kindness and thankfulness for the salvation of our souls and our lives.  We ask for the peace in this world, for healing in our nation and for the unity of all peoples.

For our President-Elect, Barack Obama, for the leaders of the nations, and for all in authority, we pray to the LORD.  We humbly ask that You would give them wisdom and direction.  We ask that you would turn their hearts toward the protection of the weak and the helpless.  We ask that You would allow them to see the wisdom of Your will and Your Law, and that they would be given a heart to understand it.  We ask that you would actively restrain the evil that they are allowed to do by Your mighty and powerful hand.

We thank You, Almighty God, for Your grace and abundant blessings to this nation.  May we be good citizens and faithful stewards of all You have entrusted us with.

AMEN

Those who read this blog know (I hope) that I suffer from a deep and debilitating addiction.  Constantly I battle against this force of nature which, if I am honest, has controlled me as long as I can remember.   My addiction has a name, it is Karen, she is my wife.  But not just a wife, a tr-athlete, my tri-athlete.   At the weekend Karen and a friend competed in a triathlon and Karen made a big progress in all of her times.  I am immensely proud of her and deeply jealous.  She does what I want to do. 

After doing great things as a tri-athlete at the weekend Karen took time off from swimming, running, and biking, to condemn my “Obama tendencies”.  I think that she means that I appear to waver from the true blue Republican line.  Perhaps.  But I contend that where you are on the political spectrum kind of depends on your point of reference.  As far as I am concerned the sun rises and sets with Karen, but compared with the mileage eating swim dog that is my wife, Attila the Hun was a tree hugging leftie.   

What I really think is kind of summed up in this article from newspaper here in the UK.  If we vote in Obama we are taking a groundbreaking risk but, given the circumstances, maybe it’s worth it.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/10/28/do2806.xml

And what about those circumstances.  Own any shares?  Even if you think you don’t you probably do.  Know what a “hedge fund” is?  I don’t, and I never gave my money to one.  But my guess is that you, like me, have some dollars tucked away in a hedge fund that is in the process of being partially or completely liquidated.  If you have money in a mutual fund probably some of your money was in “investment vehicles” that had about the same chance of success of you being dealt blackjack at a card table.  Kiss goodbye to those dollars.  You are probably wondering what is happening in the world in this financial crisis, who isn’t?  Let me give you my unifying theory of why we all need to think A LOT about what is happening around us.  (more…)

One day Adam was in the Garden having a pretty good day. It was before the Fall, so every day was a pretty good day. God walked up to him and said, “I made something for you.”

Adam turned to look at God, he was always glad to see Him. “What is it?”

“It’s a little nic-nak, I think it’s pretty cool, it’s a symbol of my love for you.” God said this as He handed the fragile figurine to Adam.

“Wow, It’s beautiful. It’s also very heavy. Thanks.” Adam was holding it in his hands and examining the marvelous detail.

Then God said, “Just don’t drop it. If you drop it, it will break.”

Well, Adam couldn’t wait to show it to Eve, so as soon as God went on His way, Adam ran over to the flower garden where Eve was busy arranging a bunch of Phalaenopsis orchids into a mathematical pun (she was always a very clever florist).

“Look at this amazing thing that God gave me!” Adam was still running when he said this. Eve looked up from her work and was stunned by the aching beauty of the miniature symbol of God’s love that Adam held in his hands.

Well, you can probably guess where this story is going. There is something about a snake, maybe a lie or two, a couple of bad choices, and CRASH! The gift that God gave to Adam was dropped and broken. It shattered into a thousand pieces and spread all over the ground in every direction. The tiny pieces were sharp and jagged, they couldn’t take a single step without cutting their feet. The shards were ugly and seemed to change the way the whole garden looked. It was the first bad day.

Later that day God comes and sees the mess they have made. He sighs. Then He grabs a stone tablet and carves a long list of instructions of how to put it back together. If they gathered all the pieces, and if they had the right kind of glue, and if they followed the instructions perfectly, then … well … actually it looks pretty hopeless. God knows they can’t find all the broken bits, and He knows they won’t be able to fix it. He gives them the instructions anyway. That way they can at least know what it once looked like.

See, there was one rule: don’t drop it. But, once it was dropped, then there became a thousand rules. One for each broken piece. That piece over there, that one is “honor your mother and father” … that one over there is “do not murder” … another says “God hates divorce.” Each of the rules point back to the time before it was broken, when it was complete. Each of the rules shows what the broken pieces mean, where they really belong. It explains why there are broken shards of love all over the garden.

But, they can’t put it back together. And they cut themselves on the pieces when they try. It’s a pretty bad place to be. Their relationship with God is broken and they really don’t have much of a desire to read the instructions and hurt their hands trying to pick up all the razor sharp shards. Even if they did find all the pieces, there is no glue that can hold it together, and the cracks would still look terrible. It’s hopeless.

But, don’t worry, God didn’t leave them hanging. He gave them a new symbol of His love. He became Jesus. A living incarnate symbol of God’s love for them. He forgave them for breaking His love, and He replaced it with Love Himself. He made everything new again.

Then He gave them some gloves and a bottle of glue, because the place was still a mess.