The Judge

The other night, Janice and I got in to bed after putting the kids to sleep and I decided to open up the Bible and read out loud to her. I asked her if there was anything in particular she wanted me to read, she said, "No, I'll probably fall asleep anyways." So, I thought for a moment and David popped in my head. So, I opened up to 1 Samuel and started reading. I think it was about the 6th or 7th chapter. I dont remember. I tried to look it up just now but my Blackberry is acting up and wouldn't let me. Well anyways, where I started reading, the Israelites were being harrased by the Philistines and things looked hopeless. (My Blackberry started working again, it's Chapter 7) Samuel (one of the judges of Israel) gathered all the people of Israel together and told them that if they would reject their false idols and return to the Lord and worship Him again that he would save them from the Philistines. So all Israel did just that and fasted and prayed. They REPENTED of their sin as well. They admitted they were wrong and worshipped God. When the Philistines heard that Israel had gathered together they decided to attack them. Israel heard about their plan and were afraid. They asked Samuel to pray for them continually. Samuel then sacrificed a lamb and prayed for them as the Philistines attacked. The Bible says in verse 10, "Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel."

Pretty cool stuff. Quite dramatic. Quite relevant. Janice and I talked about that for a few minutes; how it paralleled our nation in many ways; but I continued on to chapter 8. In the very next chapter after an amazing act of God in chapter 7, the people of Israel cry out to Samuel that they want a King to rule over them like all the other nations. Samuel was furious and talked to God about it. God told him to go ahead and appoint them a king even though they are rebelling against God by wanting a king. He told Samuel to make sure they knew what dangers were inherent with a king. He would enslave them and impose his own desires upon them. Samuel told the people all that God had said and yet still wanted a king. So Samuel anointed Saul as the first king over Israel.

What does this have to do with anything you might ask. Well, let me tell you. Fast forward a couple thousand years to the time that Jesus came along. The Jews were looking for a King once again. All the prophets foretold of a ruler that would come, the Messiah. He would come and save Israel. The Jews were being mistreated once again and wanted a political leader to come and overthrow the evil Roman empire. They were looking for their Messiah to come as a warrior and take the throne of Israel and rule forever. They were looking for a king and, once again, God sent them a judge. All the prophets of the past, Samuel, Samson and countless other unnamed Judges were sent with the instructions of God. The people of Israel rejected God and desired a king. Once again, God sent a judge in Jesus and the people missed him because of their desire to be like all the nations around them.

We need judges to be sent to our nation. To instruct us in the ways of God once again. Maybe they are already around. Maybe we have rejected them and looked in the wrong direction. Maybe we are being swept up in the crowd of what everyone else is doing and we have missed the judges. Maybe we're too caught up with politics to see the spiritual judges around us.

New Breed of Leader?

In the previous post, my good friend and accomplice called for a "New breed of Leader" in Washington. Now, I understand what he meant by it, but I disagree. The "new Breed" is what we have in power now, and as far as I can see, does not really know how to lead. How many kids now-a-days do you hear saying things like "I want to be just like Bill Clinton/George Bush/insert name of president here." You don't. It seems the character of our presidents is not important anymore. A leader is someone that people look up to, emulate in their actions. One who leads by example. Who looks out for the good of those he or she has been placed in charge of. Have our presidents exuded any sort of character that one would envy? Can our children look to our "leader" and say that is how they want to be? I would say that it is a big, "no". Ever since FDR was president, the role of Commander in Chief has been filled, not by solid leaders, but by idealists who have no personal integrity in and of themselves. They have been elected not by their quality of leadership but by emotion. They have been candidates that have promised the world (almost literally) and disappointed us each time. We are an emotionally charged nation right now. Like a hormonal teenager, confused and unsure about the future, we swing from one extreme to the next looking for the answer. Continuing to search for our place in this world.

So what exactly is happening to our nation? We are so far from where we originally started, can we ever recover? Is this just a phase?

We began as a country grounded on solid principles and rooted in Judeo-Christian beliefs. Our government was formed and shaped through blood, tears, failures and successes. All of it was covered in prayer and the belief that God was in control. Personal faith combined with action made our country what it became. We have not always done things right, but, as a nation, we have always relied on grace to help us through. We have always pushed through our difficulties and came out the other side wiser and stronger. Will we get through this? It's hard to say. Our country seems to be crumbling in upon itself these days. All of our supposed "too big to fail" businesses and programs are doing just that... failing... miserably. Starting immediately after the Great Depression when FDR began implementing all of his "stimulus" packages, our country began acting like a foolish teen with his first credit card. And it looks like our current president is not only going to follow along in his footsteps but looks like he is applying for 3 more cards as we speak.
Enough with the doom and gloom, I believe we will get through this stronger and wiser. Our country really is going through a hormonal time and will wise up sooner or later and take some responsibility. We need a real leader. We need an elected president who was placed there due to his wisdom, personal character and above all, integrity. We need a Thomas Jefferson or John Adams. Heck, even a Millard Philmore would be great!

President Obama

I must say, I expected to wake up yesterday morning in a “funk”, if you know what I mean. I expected to be somewhat angered over the outcome of this election. After all, the winner was an all-but-professed Marxist, even to the point of quoting some of Karl Marx’s words nearly verbatim (Joe the Plumber extracted that out of him, remember the “spread the wealth” comment?) and also his voting record clearly indicated that he was in favor of abortion (excuse me, I mean a “woman’s right to chose”). He wanted to increase the taxes on small businesses which would alienate those Americans who had worked hard all of their lives to get where they were (the same spirit that has built this country in to what it is) and take that money, in order to give it to those who had not done anything to deserve it. I’m all for giving money to the poor, in fact I do, but that is much different than being forced to give my money to the poor. Joe Biden, Obama’s running mate, has confessed that they would like to decrease our military by up to 25%. Obama is on record as saying that he wants to bankrupt the coal industry (an industry that comprises nearly 40% of our electricity in the United States). Also, he wants to form a citizen’s army (not sure what that means, but I can only think of Hitler’s SA). All in all, I was due for an angry day.
Something interesting happened this morning though. I woke up after a good night’s sleep around 8:30am (that’s sleeping in for me). Janice (my wife) was still asleep next to me, which may not seem unusual, but we have a 1yr-old son who LOVES to wake mommy and daddy up around 6:30. He was still sleeping. As soon as I rolled over to snuggle up a little closer to my wife (don’t worry, I was just going to snuggle) she woke up and said “good morning”. Just then my son’s tiny, little voice came floating in to our room. He was in his crib, just talking to himself: telling stories about his Mama and Dada and making up a whole bunch of new words. This made Janice and I smile. We all got up and went downstairs together. My wife (who is 9 months pregnant) made some breakfast for Gideon and I, and then went to sit down at the dining room table. No mention of the election was spoken of in our conversation. Then, my wife said, “you know I think we need to pray for Obama. There’s been so many negative things spoken about him, and especially now that he is elected, we really need to support him and pray he makes the right decisions.” Wow. I love my wife so much; she is so compassionate. She is also, so completely right. I have been so negative and demeaning in my words towards him. I did not vote for him, but we Americans elected him. Therefore I need to do all that is necessary to help our new president as he makes decisions on a daily basis. Yes, I disagree on many issues (most, in fact) but that does not change the fact that he loves his country and will do what he sees as the correct thing for this nation.
As I drove to work, I noticed a curious thing. I felt proud of this country. I thought about our very first elections, which were monumentally significant in that it was the first time in the history of this world that a leader of a country willingly stepped down in favor of another. Never before had a country had such a change in leadership without the shedding of blood. Yet George Washington, our first Commander and Chief, with shouts of praise to him calling for him to become king of this country, ignored their pleas and willingly shed his power so that another man could ascend to his position. Let the world marvel at such a thing. His humble act has set the course for all future presidents (except for one, but we won’t get in to that now) that is seen even up to the present with George W. Bush congratulating Barak Obama on taking over his position.
We need to support Barak Obama as our new president, pray for him and do what we can to help him in his new position. If we disagree with something he wants to enact, it is our duty to let him know. He is the voice of the American people to the rest of the world now and, as such, we need to let him know what we believe in. Do not slander him, do not ridicule him; Criticize all you want and let your voice be heard, but please, please, PLEASE do not bad mouth him. I trust he will do his best to do what’s right.
Romans 13:1-2 comforts and warns me, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” This is a grave warning. The only time it is OK to rebel is if that authority is forcing us to do things that go against the things of God. Our declaration of Independence says just that very thing. “…That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” The Declaration states that God himself has bestowed us with “certain, unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” At the moment, we still have incredible liberties. We have the liberty to serve and love our God, to convene with those of like-mind and speak freely of our beliefs. What incredible freedom we have! Our freedom is taken for granted here. Remember what an incredible nation we live in right now. God has blessed us indeed and I pray that the Lord will lead Barak Obama in the right direction as we also seek after God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.