"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just." -- Thomas Jefferson

Who's Fault is It?

Decisions have been made, and along with much of the same pattern of past elections, blame goes back and forth as to how this could happen. Along with it comes the racial slurs and off color jokes. We have a new President-elect. I really don't care about their color, I care about their character-- their skin color has nothing to do with that. I am more sadden that our country has morally decayed to the point where wrong seems right. That speaks more of the lack of influence the Body of Christ has had on the society. I have said it before, I will say it again-- we have failed to be "salt and light."

The testimony of Scripture clearly shows that when evil leaders come to power it has more to say about God's judgment and cleansing of His people. As long as we continue to live in the mind set of "Heaven on earth" rather than "thy kingdom come," we will fail to be effective as a people of God. As long as we fail to do that which God has told us to do, and as long as the body of Christ looks exactly like those who are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the result will be God's judgment.

Thus begins the spiral. I told Jill this morning, now more than ever, we must not waver to instill in our children the knowledge of God's word and the perseverance of the saints. Their generation will see persecution, of this I am confident. I am, however, encouraged to know that God is still sovereign and in control, regardless of my comfort level. It is times like this we should be very familiar with the writings of Daniel and Ezekiel. In particular, how God's people should behave under evil leadership.

Regardless of who is in the White House, God is on the throne. So, if our nation goes to hell in a hand basket, whose fault is it? It's my fault.

This Little Light of Mine...

This weekend, we went shopping in Arlington with our exchange student. I prefer to avoid malls on the weekend as I tend to be a introvert and avoid large crowds. This weekend was no different, and yet for some reason, I had my discernment turned way up. When I am in large gatherings, I like to watch people. I look at the way folks are dressed, what they do in groups, what they do by themselves, the language they use, etc. I was just overcome with the lost-ness and emptiness I saw in their eyes. It has been said by someone that the eyes are the window to the soul. I guess I saw this this weekend. My heart was broken over the despair that I saw.

It reminded me of when Christ had the same experience in Matthew 9:35-36. "Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd."

At the same time, I felt overwhelmed by the vastness of the need. I mean, what can I do? Sometimes we just need to be reminded that there are masses of folks that are just trying to survive wandering in darkness. We are the light of the world. Even the smallest light can make a difference. Let your light shine!

Tunnel Vision

Melody is learning to ride her bike. Recently, she participated in a bike-a-thon fund raiser. Periodically, she would avoid a near collusion because she would busy herself looking back at me instead of watching where she was going.

I don't know about you, but I don't do so well trying to go in one direction while I am looking elsewhere. It seems when we take our eyes off of where they should be, we get into trouble. There are a number of passages in scripture that speak to this issue. Here are a few: 2 Corinthians 4:18, Hebrews 12:2, Matthew 14:29-31.

When we lose sight of where we are going, we can stumble, sink or be destroyed. I read this passage this morning, "Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil. " (Proverbs 4:25-27)

Thank you Lord for Your Word helping me to stay focused.

Yokes on Us

It has been too long since I have posted. The busyness of life has pretty much dominated mine, hence the 6 weeks lag in postings.

A member of our church owns a local bed and breakfast. The other day I was taking an informal tour with Polly (our exchange student). As we moved from room to room, we were talking about the antiques therein and American history. Each room has it's own unique theme: garden, safari, angels, and Texas. While in the Texas room, she noticed a single yoke on the floor of the bathroom thinking perhaps it was a pair of six shooters (don't you have a pair of revolvers in your bath-- this is Texas after all). I then began to explain that it was, in fact, a yoke. A yoke of course is a farm implement that fits over the shoulders of a beast of burden used to pull a plow or cart.

It immediately reminded me of Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus is talking to the crowd and saying, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

In this passage, Christ is talking to a crowd of folks including teachers of the law. He had just rebuked those present that had rejected Him. They rejected Him because He had come in a manner of kingship different than they had expected. At this point, Christ turns to those who were willing to repent and follow Him, and He utters these words. It is kind of a strange phrase, and for a long time, I used to think that He was talking about sinful people that are burdened down with life in general.

However, history and context says otherwise. When ancient teachers would gather pupils to themselves, their system of teaching the pupils would undergo was called a “yoke.” In context, Christ is contrasting that following His teaching was not going to be burdensome like the teaching of the Talmud. Of course, keep in mind He is not saying that it would be easy, because He later said in the upper room that in this life His followers would have trouble (cf. John 16:33).

Nevertheless, today, I find myself asking have we created our own Talmuds? Have we once again placed yokes of burdens on those under our spiritual care? I think, so often, we spend so much time trying to get people to “DO” that we fail to teach them to “BE.” In truth, when we learn to “be,” the “doing” takes care of itself. Perhaps, this is a big reason why so many are skeptical of the church today. Christ’s warning to the Pharisee’s in Matthew 23 is very sobering.

Are you burdened today? Has anyone placed a yoke upon you? Have you placed one on yourself? On others? Be free!