================================================================

Wednesday, August 03, 2016

Outsmarting God

I know my own imperfect heart well enough to know that there have been times, when I have sinned against the Lord and have been expecting discipline from Him, that I try to manipulate that discipline (put a book in the seat of my pants, talk Him into taking fewer swats, color a picture for Him to put on the fridge before He finds out what I did).  --  As if I can outsmart God when He has determined to do what needs done.  My pastor points out that such an approach -- trying to "manage" God's judgment -- is likely what many conservatives are attempting to accomplish through their voting ....

"Whether we get Trump or Hillary, one thing is certain.  We deserve worse than that.  We have to take up our problem with God, because He is the one visiting this plague of an election on us.  And He is doing so for reasons that are righteous, holy and just.  We deserve the rulers we have gotten, are getting, and are going to get.  Wicked people get wicked options in their elections.  The problem is not the RNC, or the DNC, or whoever else we might want to blame.  We have met the enemy, as Pogo said, and he is us.

"If the hand of the Lord is upon us, the way out is repentance.  We cannot manage our way out.  We cannot do a little voting triage.  We cannot game the system.  What is happening is the judgment of God. And if God is judging a stiff-necked people, as He manifestly is, it is no solution to suggest that we try to dodge the flaming hailstones.  The way out is repentance.  And I don’t primarily mean repentance at the polling booth.  Right repentance will eventually show up at the polls, but I am talking about the country turning back to Jesus Christ through a great reformation and revival.  If you want anything else, you are desiring salvation without a Savior." - Douglas Wilson

(https://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/dodging-flaming-hailstones.html)

Tuesday, August 02, 2016

More Than a Feeling

I've been impressed at how quickly a good country song can take me, in just 4 minutes, from tapping my toe to crying.  I've also stood in the edge of the ocean and, in about the same amount of time, felt the waves take sand from under my feet and bury them without any effort on my part.

Emotions are sand.  And what did Christ tell us about the house built on sand (Matthew 7:26-27)?  Too many in our culture build their worship experiences and their marriage relationships on emotions.

This World Is Not My Home; I'm Just a-Shirking Through

When some mess in our nation or in the Christian church is motivating a discussion with opposing views, I will occasionally observe someone saying, "At the end of the day, this earth is not our final destination and these worldly matters are distracting us from our relationship with God."

If a personal relationship with God is all that matters, then why are we still here? Once that relationship has been established, why not just go immediately to be with Him?

Apparently, the One with Whom we are in relationship wants to see growth in that relationship via a life on this earth. Apparently, He wants us to honor Him by how we live here on this planet, by how we seek His face, by how we heed His Word, by how we engage with our neighbors, and by how we love those neighbors through our votes (or abstentions) in regard to policies (and politicians) that will certainly affect those neighbors.