Articles and Devotionals – Page 121

Comparing Political Platforms (4) Right to Privacy

August 2, 2016 No Comments

Today’s installment is evidence that “Truth is stranger than fiction” (Mark Twain). It’s about the Right to Privacy contained in the Fourth Amendment. Try to read the following party platforms without shaking your head, especially you tech people who know your cyber-stuff and your cyber-hack-celebs.

DNC

Democrats will protect our industry, infrastructure, and government from cyberattacks. We will strengthen our cybersecurity, seek to establish global norms in cyberspace, and impose consequences on those who violate the rules. We will do this while protecting the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. We will also ensure a coherent strategy across federal agencies by building on the Obama Administration’s Cybersecurity National Action Plan, especially the empowerment of a federal Chief Information Security Officer, the modernization of federal information technology, and upgrades to government-wide cybersecurity. Democrats reject the false choice between privacy interests and keeping Americans safe. ( p.44 )

Democrats will make government simpler and more user-friendly. The federal government too often operates with websites designed from another era that are too complicated, too hard to use, and rarely designed for mobile phones or tablets. We will build on the creation of the United States Digital Service (USDS) and give it the resources it needs to transform and digitize the top 25 federal government programs that directly serve citizens. We will eliminate internal barriers to government modernization. And we will use technology to improve outcomes and government accountability by embracing prioritized goal setting and performance tracking for the federal government. (p. 26)

Libertarians advocate individual privacy and government transparency. We are committed to ending government’s practice of spying on everyone. We support the rights recognized by the Fourth Amendment to be secure in our persons, homes, property, and communications. Protection from unreasonable search and seizure should include records held by third parties, such as email, medical, and library records.

RNC

Affirming the Fourth Amendment “right of the people to be secure in their houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,” we call for strict limitations on the use of aerial surveillance on U.S. soil, with the exception of patrolling our national borders for illegal entry and activity. We oppose any attempts by government to require surveillance devices in our daily lives, including tracking devices in motor vehicles. (p 13) The requirement for all banks around the world to provide detailed information to the IRS about American account holders outside the United States has resulted in banks refusing service to them. Thus, FATCA [Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, March 2010] not only allows “unreasonable search and seizures” but also threatens the ability of overseas Americans to lead normal lives. We call for its repeal and for a change to residency-based taxation for U.S. citizens overseas. (p.13)

There is nothing in the Bible about electronic record-keeping and cybersecurity, but it does have a great deal to say about things being done in secret and brought into the light (what we might call transparency). Here are but a few:

Ephesians 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient…12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
John 3:20 “For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
2 Timothy 3:13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

The bottom line from God’s perspective is that light is good and truth is good. But doing evil, hiding in the shadows, and establishing a legal curtain for the sole yet conjoined twin purposes of deception and denial are bad.

Therefore, transparency is good for God-loving people, even with a right to privacy. Jesus said, “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.” (John 18:20)

There’s nothing to hide as “private” if a person speaks and lives by the truth.

Transparency is mentioned in the DNC-Democrat Platform five (5) times. Here is the breakdown: Campaign Finance (by executive order-p.25,)/Taxation (2x ); Policing (1x ); Charter Schools (1x ); and Anti-corruption worldwide (1x).

Transparency is mentioned in the RNC-Republican Platform nine (9) times. Here is the breakdown: Trade (2x), Federal Reserve (1x); Workforce (1x); Education unfunded mandates/College costs (2x), Governmental/Healthcare (2x), United Nations management (1x).

Folks, elections have serious consequences. Outside of personalities we may like or dislike, or even hate, there are real issues at stake. Character must be transparent. It’s time to demand it.

Sure, our elected officials have the same right to privacy as the rest of us, but that’s only in their compartmentalized personal life. That, we do not have a right to know. It’s different for the person who has been serving in government at whatever level. Why? Because what they do in the course of serving the public in a government office, paid for by you and me, needs transparency. We need to know what’s behind the curtain that they don’t want us, their employer, to see.

Friends don’t let friends remain ignorant, get their news from comedians or Twitter, or vote based solely upon superficial things like pairs of letters: M/F, D/R or FB.

* * *

This series contains:

An overview of each party’s platform http://seminarygal.com/comparing-political-platforms-part-1/
Part 2 Overarching principles of individual vs. state and rights of self-determination
And Part 3, on Freedoms of Speech, Religion, and Expression

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God Bless America (Patriotic Hymn Series)

August 1, 2016 No Comments

Today, I conclude our patriotic “hymn” series brought about because someone viewed my patriotism as a character flaw. I thought it would be fitting to end with one that has been dear to the hearts of Democrats, Republicans, and apolitical people alike. It’s not in any of my hymnals, even more contemporary ones, though it is far more God-honoring than our national anthem which shows up in about half of them. Perhaps you guessed that I’m talking about God Bless America.

God Bless America was written by Irving Berlin in 1939.

I’d like to write a great peace song,” Berlin said, “but it’s hard to do, because you have trouble dramatizing peace.”

It was also hard because Berlin had lived through one world war and he was seeing the rise of Nazi Germany through the lens of an American immigrant, a Russian Jew.

Patriotic songs were a dime a dozen at the time and it was surprising that Berlin, already so accomplished in the music industry, would go to his trunk where he’d tucked away God Bless America that he’d written 2 decades prior. He reworked the original verse “Stand beside her and guide her to the right with a light from above” because different political significance had been given to the word “right” and changed it to the iconic “Through the night with a light from above” which recalls imagery of God leading the Israelites by a pillar of fire at night.

Exodus 13:21 By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

The song became popularized and a de facto national anthem after its first airing in an Armistice Day celebration (1939) when Kate Smith included the song in her program. The rest is history. It shows up at conventions and baseball games despite the clear appeal to God.

Enjoy this version sung by French Canadian Celine Dion in one of the loveliest renditions you will ever hear. She’s welcome to call my home her home any day of the week, especially after this Tribute to Heroes from September 11^th.

God bless America

While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,

let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free.

Let us all be grateful for a land so fair, as we

raise our voices in a solemn prayer.

God Bless America, land that I love.

Stand beside her and guide her

Through the night with a light from above.

From the mountains, to the prairies,

To the oceans white with foam.

God Bless America, my home sweet home.

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Comparing Political Platforms (3) Freedoms of Speech and Religion

July 31, 2016 No Comments

Why care about Political Party Platforms, especially when it comes to freedoms of speech and religion? For the Christian looking at politics, a platform is–to a voter–what a Statement of Faith is to a church seeker. It outlines what the organization believes enough to commit to print. While the pastor, staff, and parishioners don’t always live up to it, the core beliefs are the standard against which we measure the church’s faithfulness. Likewise, the political parties state in writing their beliefs. Will they live up to it? Probably not. In an imperfect world, both Statements of Faith and Party Platforms guide us and therefore are certainly worth reading before we assume that what leaders promise, say, and do actually reflect the beliefs that have been written. It’s a yardstick. Know the platforms and judge the tree by its fruit.

Let’s continue our look at the Political Party Platforms, a series which began with the Preambles of the DNC, Libertarian Party (LP), and RNC. We continued in Part 2 with Overarching Principles of State vs. Individual Rights.

Today, we’ll look at Freedoms of Speech and Religion, Religious Expression, and Internet Communication.

There are distinct differences in the platforms on these issues. Please note that I am endeavoring to best summarize ideas without splicing and cherry-picking to convey anything other than their party’s intent, in their own words.

After the chart, I will discuss the principles involved from a Christian worldview, acknowledging right up front that the Internet wasn’t around at the time the Bible was written and Jesus never used it, despite what Abraham Lincoln may have said about the Internet (as the meme goes).

Freedom of Speech, of Religious Expression, and Communication

DNC	While freedom of expression is a fundamental constitutional principle, we must condemn hate speech that creates a fertile climate for violence. (p.18 ) We support a progressive vision of religious freedom that respects pluralism and rejects the misuse of religion to discriminate (p.19). Democrats… oppose any effort by Republicans to roll back the historic net neutrality rules that the Federal Communications Commission enacted last year. (p.9) We will stand up to Beijing on unfair trade practices, currency manipulation, censorship of the internet, piracy, and cyberattacks. (p.49)
LP	We support full freedom of expression and oppose government censorship, regulation or control of communications media and technology. We favor the freedom to engage in or abstain from any religious activities that do not violate the rights of others. We oppose government actions which either aid or attack any religion.
RNC	The Bill of Rights lists religious liberty, with its rights of conscience, as the first freedom to be protected… Thomas Jefferson declared that “No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority.” Ongoing attempts to compel individuals, businesses, and institutions of faith to transgress their beliefs are part of a misguided effort to undermine religion and drive it from the public square. We value the right of America’s religious leaders to preach, and Americans to speak freely, according to their faith. Republicans believe the federal government, specifically the IRS, is constitutionally prohibited from policing or censoring speech based on religious convictions or beliefs, and therefore we urge the repeal of the Johnson Amendment. (p.11) A Republican administration will champion an open and free internet based on principles of free expression and universal values and will pursue policies to empower citizens and U.S. companies operating in authoritarian countries to circumvent internet firewalls and gain accurate news and information online. (p.54)

Why were freedoms of free speech and religious expression important to our founders and where do those show up in the Bible?

First let’s acknowledge that the First Amendment has 5 basic, intertwined liberties.

Each one worthless without the others.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The founders based their view in the important context of not having full freedom in these areas as colonies under the authority of the King of England.

Secondly, they had better Bible knowledge than many of us do today.

And third, the Christian worldview was not under assault then in the same way it is now.

The founders would have known:

Freedom of speech comes with an obligation to show mercy to others. We will all be judged someday by our words and actions. James 2:12 “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!”

The words we use are external, but can clearly reflect what is inside of a person, both Christian and not. Jesus said, Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

A Christian’s words should be edifying and our actions godly. (1 Peter 2:1-17) Outside of the Bible-believing world, words are different but are every bit as protected by our Constitution. Even words of which the Christian disapproves may be freely spoken and offered in protest. Freedom to speak, act, and worship were important contextually because–to the earliest pilgrims–freedom represented why they came to America in the first place.

Unfortunately, apart from defamation, the lie is nearly as protected a form of speech as is the truth. Lies have been a part of human condition since the serpent first deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden. And freedom–to eat of any, but not to eat of the tree of life–was a command from the Almighty to Adam. This God-given freedom of will became twisted by the serpent and all the liars after it. False prophets, destructive heresies, and shameful narratives have existed with consequences since that time (2 Peter 2:1-21 summarized in verse 21 “It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.”)

To the Christian, God says our freedom must be limited by our moral conscience. 1 Corinthians 6:12 “Everything is permissible for me”– but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”– but I will not be mastered by anything.”

So what exactly is the concern over things like a government condemning “hate speech”?

As Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black once stated,

The Framers of the Constitution knew that free speech is the friend of change and revolution. But they also knew that it is always the deadliest enemy of tyranny.”

While I applaud the DNC’s desire to rid the country of “hate speech,” I thoroughly reject anyone defining what that is by stripping anyone’s freedom to say it. For example, to the Christian 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

Some of those scriptures are like this one: Leviticus 18:22 ‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.” Will this faithful preaching be tomorrow’s “hate speech”? Who says so? Who defines “hate speech”?

Or how about this one? Romans 1: 18 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness…24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator– who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.”

What about calling out “Allahu Akbar” or a Muslim Adhan (Islamic words broadcasting a morning call to prayer) referring to Muhammad as the messenger? Will that be no more or less hateful to the DNC than a nativity scene at Christmas, a military chaplain’s service to Christ, or singing Silent Night in the school holiday (i.e. Christmas) pageant?

What is the DNC’s “misuse” of religion and who determines that?

Is it when Christians–to honor their own free worship of God—cannot in good conscience be part of something they believe God finds offensive? Maybe a Supreme Court authorized gay wedding and the photographer or florist respectfully declining that business and suggesting an alternative for the prospective couple? Is that adhering to their faith or misusing it?

To Christians and indeed all Americans, these freedoms of speech and religion are pivotal to every other freedom we have. Take one away and they all fall.

Make no mistake, the words in these political platforms mean specific things to the people writing them. They are passionate about it; they want to see it legislated (or protected), and enforced. As a Christian, are these freedoms of speech and religion important to you? Which Statement of Faith best represents your Christian view? And when the time comes for you to use these freedoms of speech and religion, will they still be here to protect you? Or are they here today and gone tomorrow?

*** * ***

Comparing Political Party Platforms (platforms are source linked in the first article) is a series which began with the Preambles of the DNC, Libertarian Party (LP), and RNC. We continued in Part 2 with Overarching Principles of State vs. Individual Rights.

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The Star-Spangled Banner

July 30, 2016 No Comments

Why is The Star-Spangled Banner even in our hymnals, you might ask?

The Star-Spangled Banner isn’t present in all or even most hymnals. My collection is about half and half. The group which contain this patriotic song consider it a hymn. The ones that don’t apparently consider it a secular song.

Before we’re quick to judge The Star-Spangled Banner as a song exalting a war-time footing that has no place in the Christian world, there’s something you should know. There is a second verse in the hymnals we never sing. Most people don’t even know there’s a second verse at all. I don’t think I’d go too far out on a limb suggesting that no school teaches the second verse since it speaks directly of God and also no one sings it before the Super Bowl, even as one of the myriad ways of trying to do a creative rendition.

Wait, but there’s more.

There are actually four stanzas, only two of which show up in our hymnals and one of which we sing. The halves and the half nots. The four stanzas are recorded here and below. There’s a reason why we overlook the four stanzas.

Francis Scott Key, the author of the lyrics to The Star-Spangled Banner is reported to have been a devout Episcopalian, a competent lawyer, and a slave owner. He was a supporter of the Democratic President (and slave owner) Andrew Jackson and used his position as Jackson’s Attorney General (1833-1841) to suppress the abolitionists (whose cause he would eventually come to join, assisting with the freeing of American slaves.) Verse three’s reference to “the hireling and slave” are considered evidence of the British practice of hiring freed slaves to fight against their former masters in the War of 1812.

All I can say is that war, overall, is an ugly business. On many different levels.

I can understand why a manly warrior-type of song presents a strong national protective image as contrasted with America the Beautiful and its lovely imagery. I can see why a song which is immensely difficult to sing but sounds virile (with all the bombs and smoke and that Energizer-keep-on-fighting theme) might cultivate an aura of steadfastness and victory. Think of it as the anthem equivalent of the “man movie” with car crashes, explosions, and a good guy hero to explain its popularity. And okay, the Bible has lots of wars in it. I got that, but is The Star-Spangled Banner really fit for a hymnal?

There’s no getting around it for me: Key’s poem Defence of Fort M’Henry serving as the lyrics to The Star-Spangled Banner makes me wonder why it’s in any of our hymnals. The idea that one out of four isn’t bad doesn’t cut it for me.

Unlike the accusation made against me by the social media troll, I am not a blind patriot. I’m Christian first. Any patriotism and affiliation with any political party is a distant second, and a very distant third. Therefore, I will sing The Star-Spangled Banner because it is presently our national anthem (with the acknowledgment that what presents as victory to the world and victory in Christ are two different things). I wouldn’t recommend it for praising God in church. Key’s other hymns, Before the Lord We Bow and Lord, With Glowing Heart I’d Praise Thee are far lesser known, are included in none of my hymnals, which is ironic because they are far more Christian.

For the sake of continuity in our patriotic “hymn” series, enjoy this version of The Star-Spangled Banner from the 2009 Super Bowl performed by Jennifer Hudson.

O! say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

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Comparing Political Platforms (2) Overarching Principles

July 29, 2016 No Comments

For the sake of simplicity and ease of discussion, I will be using the Libertarian Party platform (LP) to find the overarching principles. At 7 pages, it was more concise and easier to use for Comparing Political Platforms that I began outlining in our last edition. The added detail in both the DNC-Democrat, and RNC-Republican platforms is helpful for explaining supported policies and programs, but makes isolation of topics more difficult.

What follows are the first 3 overarching principles as outlined by each political party separated by a short biblical discourse to compare the Christian worldview as taught by the Bible. Using this and your own Bible knowledge and discernment, reason together with God and decide for yourselves which platform more closely aligns with God’s Word.

On Individual versus State:

DNC	Democrats believe that we should not be contracting, outsourcing, or privatizing work that is inherently governmental in nature, including postal services, school services, and state and local government services. (p 26)…Democrats support progress toward more accountable governance and universal rights. (p 47)
LP	We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual.
RNC	We believe our constitutional system — limited government, separation of powers, federalism, and the rights of the people — must be preserved uncompromised for future generations (p. i)…. We believe that people are the ultimate resource — and that the people, not the government, are the best stewards of our country’s God-given natural resources (p. i)

First, Christians and non-Christians alike must recognize that according to the Bible, the world and the Church are not the same thing. For that reason, Jesus says in Matthew 22:18b “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?” 21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them,

Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

Therefore God makes it plain that principles applying to the Church can translate over to government, but never would God suggest that the government replaces the Church. Indeed the opposite is true. God’s rule is above elected rule and if all people were doing things right by God, frankly, we wouldn’t need an earthly king.

1 Samuel 8:6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”

In the Church and to the Church, God’s Word says,

Galatians 6: 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load… 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

We carry our own as individuals. We test our own actions. We carry each other’s burdens as Christians and as His Church. Why? As a means of doing good, but not as a mandate by the government to the world because our law is Christ. And in the last day, Romans 2: 6 God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” Importantly, that “each” means everyone, not just Christians. Government has a role of law and order, but it’s individual actions that have consequences that form the basis for individual judgment.

On Personal Liberty

DNC

We believe in protecting civil liberties and guaranteeing civil rights and voting rights, women’s rights and workers’ rights, LGBT rights, and rights for people with disabilities. (p.2)… But in 2016, the stakes can be measured… in the number of Americans who would lose access to health care and see their rights ripped away (p.3)…. Democrats believe so-called “right to work” laws are wrong… We oppose legislation and lawsuits that would strike down laws protecting the rights of teachers and other public employees (p.4)

Individuals should be free to make choices for themselves and must accept responsibility for the consequences of the choices they make.

Our support of an individual’s right to make choices in life does not mean that we necessarily approve or disapprove of those choices. No individual, group, or government may initiate force against any other individual, group, or government.

RNC

That God bestows certain inalienable rights on every individual, thus producing human equality; that government exists first and foremost to protect those inalienable rights; that man-made law must be consistent with God-given, natural rights; and that if God-given, natural, inalienable rights come in conflict with government, court, or human-granted rights, God-given, natural, inalienable rights always prevail;… In a free society, the primary role of government is to protect the God-given, inalienable rights of its citizens. (p.9)

The Bible is explicitly clear that every human is made in the Image of God. From the human DNA egg/ embryo to the man or woman we love who is enduring the fog of dementia, their humanity has not ceased. Because it is not our ability to communicate, or our skin color, gender, age, or religion, but the principles surrounding God’s Image that make us human. God’s Word says, Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

For this reason, the rights defined as inalienable because they are God-given can be distinguished from rights granted by any government. Whatever rights we think we have always need to be compared against that standard. Even as He was being sentenced to Crucifixion under the law, the Bible records in John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

What made Judas’ actions a greater sin? Pilate had God-given authority, but Judas used his God-given liberty under man-made rules in order to betray Christ–obeying men rather than God and using freedom as license. But personal liberty used for good is seen in Acts 4:19 Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God…5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered and said, “We must obey God rather than men.

On Self-Determination

DNC

We need an economy that prioritizes long-term investment over short-term profit-seeking, rewards the common interest over self-interest, and promotes innovation and entrepreneurship. (p.1) Democrats support progress toward more accountable governance and universal rights… we will continue to bolster groups and individuals who fight for fundamental human rights, democracy, and rule of law. We will support strong legislatures, independent judiciaries, free press, vibrant civil society, honest police forces, religious freedom, and equality for women and minorities. We will bolster the development of civil society and representative institutions…(p.47)

Individuals own their bodies and have rights over them that other individuals, groups, and governments may not violate. Individuals have the freedom and responsibility to decide what they knowingly and voluntarily consume, and what risks they accept to their own health, finances, safety, or life.

RNC

Federalism is a cornerstone of our constitutional system. Every violation of state sovereignty by federal officials is not merely a transgression of one unit of government against another; it is an assault on the liberties of individual Americans. Hence the promise of the Tenth Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

The Constitution gives the federal government very few powers, and they are specifically enumerated; the states and the people retain authority over all unenumerated powers. (p.15-16)

Self-determination for the Christian is for us to use our own bodies–each of us–to live holy and independent lives, but also to realize we live in a community and our lifestyles of brotherly love speak volumes about the God whom Christians worship and serve. As it says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 It is God’s will that you [plural] should be sanctified: that you [plural] should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that [singular] each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. 9 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

The force of the law is to establish principles and boundaries… of social evil to be avoided… since humanity is notoriously bad at policing itself.

Before the flood, how were we doing?

Genesis 6:5 “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Not good.

God’s solution was to give Ten Commandments. God already understood this about the law, but we would someday come to know is true: that an external set of laws would prove insufficient. Galatians 3:19 “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.” So He sent Jesus in the fullness of time as He prophesied through Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

Even with the possibility of forgiveness, we aren’t too good at obeying godly principles. 2 Timothy 4: 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

For God-fearers, God’s solution was easy: Jeremiah 31:33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

But to a godless culture, it is increasingly complicated. We have a government that does not know, honor, or fear God. What legislator or political party, therefore, will be content with simple laws placed in the minds and written on the hearts of Christians? Face facts: we’re an increasingly pagan society that has no conscience. So, they pile law upon law, rule upon rule and constraint upon constraint. There’s just one little problem: human laws are not a substitute for a conscience that lives and breathes in the fear of God. If a conscience can’t obey 1 law, what makes us think it will obey 1001?

If you want to pinpoint our cultural problem it’s this: We don’t fear God.

We fear each other.

Therefore, a million laws continually nibble around the edges of religion and freedom. Laws increase in number all the while being reduced in honor, becoming a mere means of control and power.

But a conscience is a matter of faith, and to each, it controls the self from the inside out.

Laws, piled in stacks of paper reaching the ends of the galaxy, will still be external and unable to control any who prefer to sin.

Our problem is not too few laws, but too little conscience.

Romans 3:12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

* * *

This series also includes Comparing Political Platforms-Part 1.

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Before An Election by Former Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall

July 27, 2016 No Comments

As part of my patriotic hymn series, especially in light of the hotly argued and very divided election before us, consider these words Before an Election by Reverend Peter Marshall, who twice served as Senate Chaplain (1947-1949).

Before an Election appears as hymn #689 in Hymns for the Family of God.

Lord Jesus, we ask Thee to guide the people of this nation as they exercise their dearly bought privilege of franchise. May it neither be ignored unthinkingly nor undertaken lightly. As citizens all over this land go to the ballot boxes, give them a sense of high privilege and joyous responsibility.

Help those who are about to be elected to public office to come to understand the real source of their mandate–a mandate given by no party machine, received at no polling booth, but given by God; a mandate to represent God and the truth at the heart of the nation; a mandate to do good in the name of Him under whom this country was established.

We ask Thee to lead our country in the paths where Thou wouldst have her walk, to do the tasks which Thou hast laid before her. So may we together seek happiness for all our citizens in the name of Him who created us all equal in His sight, and therefore brothers. Amen.

Marshall spoke many words of wisdom and witticisms during his tenure as a preacher and chaplain. America needed a preacher like Marshall and the world needed him even more. You see, his ministry began in 1931, less than 5 years after his setting foot on Ellis Island as a 25 year old Scottish immigrant with 2 weeks worth of money to his name. While he began by digging ditches in New Jersey, God was preparing him to deal with the United States and its place in the world. Marshall’s ministry at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C and in the Senate was steadfast through WWII and lasted until 1949 when the Korean War was about to begin.

America–indeed the whole world–was in turmoil.

To a nation reeling from war after war, Marshall’s consistent words of Christian affirmation captured the attention and hearts of a Senate which had commonly ignored such invocations and prayers before Marshall arrived.

His style was confrontational and convicting even while endearing his audience to him through a visible and audible sincerity of passion and non-ecclesiastical manner. He was among the most familiar preachers in America at that time and his sudden death from a heart attack at the age of 46 claimed him at the peak of his career and popularity.

According to Electric Scotland,

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Dr. Marshall preached to the midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. At the last minute, he felt led to change his prepared sermon. Within the hour, the Class of 1942 learned of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. The sermon he preached was “Go Down, Death.” This was the first of Dr. Marshall’s dramatic, powerful, and prophetic sermons during World War II that his son, Peter John, published after the September 11th attacks in “The Wartime Sermons of Dr. Peter Marshall”.

Among his most notable and pithy quotes are:

“Give to us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for—because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything.”– in a prayer offered at the opening of the Senate session, dated April 18, 1947

“The world has enough women who know how to be smart. It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right than socially correct.”–from a sermon entitled Keepers of the Springs preached in the 1930s

“Teach us what freedom is. May we all learn the lesson that it is not the right to do as we please, but the opportunity to do what is right. Above all, may we discover that wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”–Opening of the Senate day, April 24, 1947.

before an election peter marshall

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America the Beautiful

July 26, 2016 No Comments

The next patriotic hymn I’d like to share is America the Beautiful, lyrics by Katharine Lee Bates. Bates was born as one of four children of Congregational minister, William Bates, and his wife Cornelia Frances Lee (an educator). Katherine’s father died when she was a child, but her mother instilled in her the value of education. She graduated from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, among the first institutions to provide education for women. It is there that she would receive her education, progress to teach English, and eventually rise to become the head of the English Department.

Katherine Lee Bates is best known for her poem, America the Beautiful which was first published in an issue of The Congregationalist in 1895. Among her many poems about her travels and teaching at different locations, America the Beautiful recounts her visit to Colorado’s Pike’s Peak and the breathtaking view of majestic beauty she wanted to capture in words.

Over the next decade or two, she worked to perfect the poem and it was set to a few different melodies. In 1926, a contest was held to create new music for the poem, but the hymn Materna by Samuel A. Ward had already secured the mantle of official tune which is still used today.

For a short period of time after Bates’ death, an effort was made to have this hymn as the national anthem of the United States, but the Star-Spangled Banner prevailed.

Yet, this hymn has the heart of the American people, recognizing God’s creative hand of blessing.

It stands apart as a tribute to what is beautiful in America–both the natural and the spiritual: the skies, the prairies, the mountains, the goodness, the brotherhood, the shining seas, the pilgrims, the freedom, the wilderness, the submission to God for mending our national flaws, the soul of a nation under self-control with fullness of liberty, the heroes, the sacrifice, the nobleness, the trust in God, the patriot dream of a place that is beyond this world to which America–as its free and best Constitutional self–truly points. Or at least, it did…

Enjoy this version by The Hillsdale College Choir while reading through Bates’ poem (original in this link, as it is typically recorded in our hymnals, below). This video brought me to tears, why exactly I can’t explain, only that it captured somehow my love for this country, my gratitude to God for it, and my desire to honor my God by appreciating all the beauty He sees and He gives from the farthest reaches of nature to the inner space of the Christian soul.

O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

America the Beautiful O beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern impassion’d stress A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine ev’ry flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine Till all success be nobleness, And ev’ry gain divine!

O Beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam, Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

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The Social Obligations of a Christian

July 23, 2016 No Comments

While preparing for the next installment of patriotic hymns, I came across the social obligations of a Christian. Oh, I consulted a variety of hymnals, most of which I’ve picked up at second-hand stores. No one seems to want them anymore but me and a thrift store is about the only place one can find a historic type of hymnal locally.

In America, many people used to own a hymnal. But that was a time long ago, it seems.

One of the hymnals I have came courtesy of the Rosenberg family if I enjoy the inscription correctly. It’s called Hymns for the Family of God by Paragon Associates Inc. (Nashville, TN) dating back to 1976. The Gaithers were on the editorial board. Stuff like this intrigues me.

Anyway, hymn #691 isn’t a hymn at all. It’s a short patriotic note by the Reverend Billy Graham. The Social Obligations of a Christian looks like this (right) and I transcribed it into a design of my own (below).

In a day when many Christians are conflicted about how to engage with our culture, particularly in an election year, to me it was a gentle and welcome reminder that my obligations to God don’t end as I leave the narthex and exit the church building to the world outside. Our obligations are to each other, too.

We are to be in the world, but not of it.

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My Country ‘Tis of Thee

July 22, 2016 No Comments

Someone on social media recently attacked my character and passed judgment upon (1) my skin color and that of my friends, (2) my desire to point to the full Gospel and the full truth instead of to superficial things like feelings and cafeteria truth where you can take only what you want, (3) my inability to be omnipresent and omnipotent, doing all things for all people, and wait for it …(4) my patriotism since I had posted photos of flags for the 4th of July and Memorial Day. (Good grief, some people. Quick to judge and apparently, slow to view the level foot of the Cross.)

my country tis of thee I decided to respond, not to the individual, but here…by rolling out patriotic hymns from our historic Christian hymnals.

Many of our hymnals contain what are called patriotic hymns, and in the United States, these hymns express gratitude to God for freedom, for the sacrifice others have done laying their lives down for their country, and for the beauty of this land we call America. All of these things–liberty, personal sacrifice, and appreciation of this amazing creation–are biblical ideas and honor God to whom they ultimately point.

America used to be better at pointing to God and to the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. These days, it seems a generation’s lens only records the worst and produces selfies.

For many decades our churches had hymnals in our pews, but there has been a change. Pews of the common man as a faith community are gradually being removed in favor of individual chairs with no written record of praise to hold in our hands while we sing, with one voice, our gratitude and praise to God. I’m not sure that’s such a good thing. Rubbing shoulders with our fellow man gives us connection as the Body of Christ. Sadly, the audible word is soon forgotten–in one ear and out the other–but the written word has an enduring legacy, a lasting quality, and a depth of meaning that says it was worth putting into print.

My Country ‘Tis of Thee was first titled America by its author and Baptist minister Samuel Francis Smith. It is known both for its words and its tune which is the same as God Save the Queen (the British National Anthem). Yet, even with that poke at the original Brexit (the colonies declaring ourselves to be the independent United States of America), the Gospel shines clearly in the lyrics even if the name of Jesus isn’t mentioned.

To a Baptist minister who wrote it and to the Bible-believing and Word-studying Christian who sings it generations later, we cannot help but remember

that God delivers out of the slavery and oppression of this world and delivers us into glorious liberty that was perfected in Him. (John 8:36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.)
the stones will have their silence break if we fail to praise Him. He is that worthy. (Luke 19:36 As Jesus went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” 41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace– but now it is hidden from your eyes.)
that freedom is a holy thing to be honored because the One who purchased it for us by His blood is holy and deserves our allegiance (1 Peter 1:15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”)
and our protection in America is only by His might since He is our Great God and King, the only God no matter what this melting pot of syncretism might argue. (Psalm 95:3 For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.)

Enjoy this version of America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee) in a mix with He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands performed by the lovely and talented Yolanda Adams –a good reminder that the United States is but one country that God loves. Patriotism for America doesn’t mean God loves the rest of the world less.

My country ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died!
Land of the Pilgrim’s pride!
From every mountain side,
Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love.
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture fills
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom’s song.
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our father’s God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!

Articles and Devotionals, Devotionals

God’s Answer to Chaos: Himself!

July 16, 2016 No Comments

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking at our world in chaos.

At our world of politics in America,
of terror on a global scale,
of a growing racial divide,
of increasing violence,
of dire illnesses
of weather extremes
of the disappearance of the rule of law,
of the chaos ensuing and enveloping every institution
in which the Truth of God has been subordinated beneath legalese
and in which God’s righteous command and rightful authority are being smothered beneath manmade convenience, mob rule, and arrogant control.

It’s easy to find yourself asking,

What in the name of Sam Hill is going on?

God has an answer to this chaos and many Americans won’t like it a bit. God’s answer is Himself.

Just as it was in the beginning when God’s answer to the formless chaos of the waters was His Spirit hovering over it…and His Word declaring order into it…. “Let there be light!”…a time is coming when He will return into this world and the present chaos being sown by mankind. We will…(yes, all of us: black, white, every race and ethnicity, male and female, all religions and mutations of unbelief)…we will all be answerable…finally… to Justice that we will not truly know this side of heaven. A justice some claim to want now that they have no idea what they’re asking. It’s not a slogan or some sign to carry around. It’s nothing that superficial.

For some, being answerable will be a sigh of relief, a final rest, and an eternal Hallelujah.

For others, it will be both a terrible and … a terrifying … Day of Judgment upon the evil they are and the evil they do.

That’s what the Bible teaches. The One and True Judge will enter into our world one more time…Who came first as the Word, then as the Son of God, Son of Man, and our One True Savior, again as His Holy Spirit. Yes, He will enter a final time as another move of His Ultimate Authority. The last days are upon us and have been since the time of Christ. His return is closer now than yesterday. The fig tree is in full leaf (Matthew 24) and all we have to do is look for His coming.

2 Peter 3:3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

I know plenty of people who have bought lock, stock, and barrel into the error of lawless men and women. I see them on the news and read about them in the papers. They’re quick to share opinions and slow to see what God says about it all. I don’t want to be one of them. I don’t want you to be either.

God’s Answer to Chaos is Himself. And He will not be mocked.

God's Answer to Chaos

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