Presidential Wisdom – A Poem

Great presidents of these United States
Washington and Lincoln we honor on this day
May their words of wisdom
Bless and keep us on our way

Of all the dispositions and habits
which lead to political prosperity,
religion and morality are indispensable support.¹

May we never forget that
It is impossible to rightly
govern the world
without God and the Bible.¹
In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say,
it is the best gift God has given to man.
All the good the Savior gave to the world
was communicated through this book.²

As we face violence and economic crisis
remind us, O Lord, that at its core,
It is the eternal struggle between these
two principles—right and wrong—throughout the world.
They are the two principles that have stood
face to face from the beginning of time;
and will ever continue to struggle.²
Let us raise a standard to which
the wise and honest can repair;
the rest is in the hands of God.¹

Help us, O Lord, to not forget what history
and the wisdom of experience teach.
Let us with caution indulge the supposition
that morality can be maintained without religion.
Reason and experience both forbid us
to expect that national morality can prevail
in exclusion of religious principle.¹

Teach us, O Lord, to emulate our forefathers and say,
I have been driven many times upon my knees
by the overwhelming conviction that I had
nowhere else to go.
My own wisdom and that of all about me
seemed insufficient for that day.²

This “found” poem is based on quotes from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as indicated by the footnotes to italicized words as follows:

¹George Washington
²Abraham Lincoln

Some Days – A Poem

Some days I want to believe
the Gospel is a myth
and this is all there is

But only some days

Some days I want to believe
it doesn’t matter whether
my loved ones know Christ

But only some days

Some days I want to believe
to eat, drink, and be merry
is all that matters in life

But only some days

Some days I want to believe
truth is relative, not absolute
and all paths lead to God

But only some days
and not today

I shared this today for dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night.

What I Believe Doesn’t Matter

Anyone who reads my blog knows what I believe about God and salvation. You really only need to read my Apostles’ Creed page to get a nutshell version. But what I believe doesn’t really matter because it doesn’t change what is true.

God did not create the earth and all life on it because I believe that He did. By the same token, life did not spontaneously begin without the help of God because atheists believe that it did.

There are certain truths in this life that are determined solely by what I believe or what someone else believes. For example, I believe that I do not like mushrooms. In fact, I hate them. They taste like dirt and the smell of them cooking makes me nauseous. Other people love mushrooms; some of these people have tried to convince me that they are good, and I don’t argue with the truth that they like them, but their belief that mushrooms are good does not change the fact that I hate them.

Opinions about favorite colors, whether movies are good or bad, whether it is better to live in the country or the city, and a host of other things are dependent on what each person believes. The truth of a particular opinion is subjective.

There are other truths, however, that are not determined by what I or someone else believe. These truths are objective in nature. Truths that fall into this category include:

• Whether there is a God.
• Whether life was created by a God or spontaneously occurred billions of years ago.
• Whether, if God exists, He is loving and compassionate, vengeful and hateful, or indifferent and disconnected from His creation.
• Whether human beings cease to exist when they die or enter into the realm of heaven or hell.

What I believe about any of these things doesn’t change the truth, but it can change me. What you believe doesn’t change the truth, but it can change you.

The Blessing of Generosity

Today is the first day of the Advent season. This is the season leading up to Christmas when we look forward to the coming of the Christ child into the world.

This year my church put together an Advent devotional and I was asked to contribute two entries. I previously shared on of my contributions, and I decided for the start of Advent to share the other. The scripture readings this devotional article is based on were chosen by our pastor. I encourage you to click on the links to read them before reading my thoughts on how they are connected.

Scripture References: Amos 6:1-8; II Cor. 8:1-15

Devotion

The prophet Amos warned those who had plenty but failed to care for those in need. Though they enjoyed the lap of luxury, they would “be among the first to go into exile” because of their complacency.

By contrast, Paul writes of the Macedonian church that lived in extreme poverty and yet exhibited a generosity towards others that was beyond their own ability to give. He then urges the Corinthian church (and each of us), “as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”

It is easy when we are blessed with material possessions to spend all our time enjoying them and forget about those in extreme need. Perhaps the reason the Macedonians were so generous is because they never forgot what it was like to be in physical need and had compassion on those in similar circumstances. As a result they were blessed with spiritual wealth and the grace of our Lord.

God is honored by our desire to give and to help those in need; He is honored even more by the fulfillment of that desire. He does not expect us to give beyond our ability, but to give out of the grace we have known in Christ. The spiritual wealth we gain through a closer walk with Jesus and sharing with others is better than all the gold and jewels in all the earth.

Thought to ponder/challenge

We must guard ourselves that we not allow wealth and material possessions to be our comfort, forgetting those in poverty. We must remember to always give out of the grace we have been freely given.

Prayer

Our gracious Lord Jesus, help us to not grow complacent because of the wealth you have blessed us with, but well up within us a desire to be generous and share your material and spiritual gifts with those in need.

A Voice for the Voiceless

One of my favorite verses in the New Testament is James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” In Biblical times, orphans and widows were the voiceless victims of society. Unless someone spoke up for them and looked after them, they had no recourse for their helpless plight.

God has always been concerned about the voiceless and needy. “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” Deuteronomy 10:18 (NIV). He calls His people to do the same.

There have long been those who would take advantage of the voiceless, who seek to crush the orphan and the widow. The Psalmist reminds us of what such people do:

They slay the widow and the foreigner;
they murder the fatherless.
They say, “The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob takes no notice.”
Psalm 94:6-7 (NIV).

In our society today there are many who defend the cause of the widow and the orphan. Our laws protect these citizens who historically have been voiceless. Our churches have risen up to provide food and clothing to those in need. We have a long way to go to reach the point when the cause of all has been defended, but we have as a people heeded this call of our God and do our best.

Still, there is another voiceless segment of our society that does not enjoy the protection of our laws. There are even some groups within the church who do not defend their cause. They need someone to be their voice, to defend their right to live.

Today’s voiceless are the unborn who have no legal right to life. Even though an unborn child has her own heartbeat, her own internal organs, and can even have a different blood type than her mother, she has not been given the legal right to live if her mother decides to have an abortion before she is born.

I understand the right of a pregnant mother to choose. As I mentioned in a recent post, I used to be strongly pro-choice. I also understand that there are circumstances when the rights of a pregnant woman to not have to carry the child of her rapist to term or to not have to carry a child to term when her health is at risk might outweigh the right of the unborn child to life. The decision of whether to have an abortion is not an easy one, and it shouldn’t be. It is a balancing of the rights of two individuals who are connected by a bond the human mind cannot fully understand.

What bothers me about the pro-choice stance is that it claims that there is only one person with rights to be considered. I agree that a pregnant woman has and should have rights, but those who are zealously pro-choice cannot pretend that they have not made a moral decision that her rights are greater than that of her unborn child. Her child is not just a lump of tissue, like a cancerous tumor, that should have no rights and can simply be discarded without consequence.

Each unborn child is a voiceless human being. God has called us to defend their cause. If we are going to make a choice, let’s be honest about what that choice is.

Note: I wasn’t going to write this post. My post about abortion last week was going to be my first and last. I’d said my peace and thought I was done. But then I kept seeing cartoon posts on Facebook suggesting that if Mitt Romney were elected we would be setting back the rights of women by 50 years because of his pro-life beliefs. I was particularly surprised because a number of these posts were by friends who are Christians. I couldn’t seem to set aside my frustration that anyone would reduce this difficult topic to a one-liner cartoon. It is an issue that deserves more.

What If Eye for an Eye?

The other day I was listening to Creed in my car and one of my favorite songs came on. The song is called What If? It asks the very important question about what happens if we take vengeance on those who hurt us. The chorus says:

What if you did?
What if you lied?
What if I avenge?
What if eye for an eye?

I thought of what is going on in the news in the Middle East and Northern Africa in response to an anti-Islamic movie that was recently released. It is a perfect example of the end result of eye-for-an-eye mentality.

I have not seen the movie, or even the trailer, and I have no intention of doing so. I am not interested in watching a movie that purposely insults or degrades other humans or their religious beliefs. But I fail to understand how the violent protests that have erupted are a reasonable response to a movie. As insulting as this movie might be, it hasn’t hurt anyone. What if someone made this movie and perhaps even lied about Islam? What if those lied about avenge that injury? The result is violence and death.

This is certainly an extreme example of eye-for-an-eye mentality, and is not indicative of the mentality of all Muslims at all.

But unfortunately we see this mentality on a smaller scale in our everyday lives. When we are hurt we want those who hurt us to pay; we want vengeance.

Many people think eye for an eye is Biblical, and there is certainly some of this mentality exhibited among people in the Old Testament. But God does not call us to such an attitude. In Romans 12, the Apostle Paul reminds us to trust God for justice:

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ”But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:17-21 (NASB).

My favorite part of the song What if? is the bridge at the end that says:

I know that I can’t
hold the hate inside my mind
‘Cause what consumes your thoughts
controls your life

If we cling to hatred and our “right” not to be insulted by others, then hatred will control our lives. I prefer to cling to God’s love and let that love control my life.

One last thing, a warning of sorts: If you don’t like hard rock you might not want to listen to this song. It’s pretty rockin’!

I Am a Rebel – A Poem

A couple of weeks ago the Saturday poetics prompt at dVerse Poets Pub was to write about rebellion. I missed the window for writing and posting that poem in response to the prompt, but still the rebel in me had something to say and that little voice would not go away. So for Open Link Night today I wrote my rebellious poem and am offering it up in the pub today.

But first a quick note about the use of the word “tolerate” in the third stanza. Before you start lambasting me in the comments for not wanting to be tolerant of other religious beliefs, please read this article in which I address the three levels of tolerance. It is the third level of absolute tolerance that I am referring to in this poem.

I Am a Rebel

What was once rebellion
has now become the norm

Liberal thoughts
we are expected
to emulate

Religious beliefs
we are expected
to tolerate

Behavioral norms
we are expected
to celebrate

Even if we disagree
If we raise our voice
calling to be heard
we are rebels

I am a rebel

Like any good rebel
I refuse to emulate
I refuse to tolerate
I refuse to celebrate
What I do not believe to be true

Have You Seen the Light?

Yesterday was Round Up Sunday at my church. We weren’t roundin’ up doggies, we were roundin’ up volunteers for the various ministries in the church. In keeping with the country western theme, many in the congregation were dressed in their western attire and we sang some great old-time songs.

One of my favorites that we sang was I Saw the Light by Hank Williams Sr. This song reminds me of when I was a kid because Hank Williams was always one of my dad’s favorites, along with Tennessee Ernie Ford, Ernest Tubb, and Johnny Cash, and we heard them all a lot growing up.

Although it was great to sing this song as a church yesterday, I couldn’t help but hear the original Hank Williams version in my head. I found this awesome “video” of it on YouTube and decided I wanted to share it with you all for Music Monday.

As a bonus, I found this Hank Williams Sr. version of I’ll Fly Away, which was our closing song for our Round Up Sunday service. The first time I heard this song was at my husband’s Grandma Ruth’s memorial service, and I have loved it ever since.

Jesus: Boss or Friend?

I was listening to Sanctus Real in my car the other day and the song ‘Til I Got to Know You came on. As I listened I pondered the different ways in which people view their relationship with Jesus—and I’m thinking here of just those people who call themselves Christians and do have a relationship with Him.

Some people have a relationship with Jesus that is like that of a boss and an employee. They see Jesus—the boss—as the person who tells them what they have to do to earn their pay. Some are really good employees and do exactly as they are told, maybe even go above and beyond what is required. Others do the bare minimum to get by and not lose their job and the boss/employee relationship.

But think about your own relationship with your boss. Do you really want to spend time with the boss? Do you socialize with the boss outside of work? Do you share with the boss your deepest concerns and greatest desires? Most people don’t (though I know there are exceptions).

Other people have a relationship with Jesus that is that of a close friend. They see Jesus—their dear friend—as someone they want to spend time with. The do nice things for Him not because they must to maintain the friendship, but because they want to. They tell Jesus their deepest concerns and greatest desires just as they would their closest earthly friend.

Think about your relationship with your best friend. When you have a problems, isn’t your best friend the person you turn to for advice? When you experience a great victory, isn’t your best friend the first person you want to share it with?

Sometimes, if you are very fortunate, you might have a boss who after a time becomes a friend. If you have a boss who is trustworthy and loving, who truly cares for your welfare, a closer relationship may develop and a friendship be born.

So how is your relationship with Jesus? Are you treating Him as your boss or your friend? If in your heart and mind He is still just your boss, I urge you to discover how truly trustworthy and loving He is. He cares deeply for your welfare and desires to be your friend. Ponder these words that Jesus spoke to His disciples who had made the transition from being His servants to being His dearest friends:

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other. John 15:13-17 (NIV).

When you actually get to know Jesus, which requires spending time in His Word and in prayer, then you will understand that He wants to be your friend. He wants to be the best friend you have ever had.

Jesus Is All My Righteousness

I seem to have had a bit of writer’s block lately, which is why I haven’t posted as much as usual in the past few weeks. I think it is because I’ve had a lot on my mind and have been very busy at work and at home.

This morning I was listening to Jars of Clay Redemption Songs on my way to work and I decided I wanted to share one of my favorite songs from that album. It’s called Nothing but the Blood of Jesus and has the Blind Boys of Alabama as back-up singers.

I love this song because it reminds me of how thankful I am that the blood of Jesus has washed away my sin and that in Him is all my righteousness (which is good, because I don’t have much of my own). I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do. And don’t fret, God will give me inspiration to write again soon. He’s kind of awesome like that.