No Mosque at Ground Zero

A must see video . . .

An Unpopular Opinion

I’m going to go out on a limb and express an unpopular opinion here. Invariably, ever since healthcare reform passed on Sunday, the comments have began flying. The vitriol and hatred is brimming over, the sarcasm has overflowed and conservatives everywhere are flushing red with anger. Conservative Christians are reeling right now, attempting to regroup and get their Tea Parties swinging in full force again. I’m sure that some believe the church has done far too little, in the wake of Sunday’s vote, to effect political change. Hmmm.

Let me be clear about two things before I say what I have to say. First, I am not in favor of the healthcare reform bill that has passed. Indeed, I believe that because of this, the next decade is going to see the United States undergo a fundamental transformation. Even if we vote in an entirely new Congress, the damage has been done. Once entitlements are disbursed, it is impossible to recall them. Second, I believe in participating in the political process. Voting, protesting, boycotting, they are all acceptable forms of political action which have their time and place for use. Christians, especially, should participate in the political process. It is a gift from God that we have the liberty to participate, so to not participate is equivalent to refusing that gift.

Now here comes the part where I’m going to go duck and hide after saying it. The Church is not a political force. If history has taught us anything, the Church cannot and should not be used to bring about political change. Look at the history of the Roman Catholic Church. When it became political, corruption ensued. From the moment Constantine crowned Christianity as the official state religion of Rome, everything began going downhill. The numerous stories in history of corrupt Popes, corrupt Bishops, inquisitions, forced conversions – all because the Church took the role of political force. This is the cornerstone reason that our founders wanted to keep the Church out of the political process. While not all of our founders were necessarily Christians, all of them agreed that the Church had no business in politics. No good has ever come about from the Church becoming political. Individual Christians should vote, and exercise their political liberties, but the Body of Christ, the Church should only be concerned about worshiping God and discipling the nations. If the Church goes beyond those two roles, she has exceeded her Biblical mandate and trodden outside of God’s purposes for her.

Romans 13:1 says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” As believers, we are constantly at a crisis of belief when it comes to politics. If we believe that God has instituted our authorities – our Governors, Representatives, Senators, Justices, and Presidents – then logic follows that the laws they pass are also ordained by God to exist. Therefore we must ask, what is God’s purpose for allowing certain laws to be passed? What is God’s purpose for allowing healthcare reform to pass? Let’s ask a much more controversial question. What is God’s purpose in allowing protections for abortion to persist for the last 37 years? Even when there was a Republican majority, with a Republican President, abortion protections were not overturned. What shall we say to this? Is God unjust because he allows abortion to persist? I don’t understand everything about God’s wisdom in this. I just know that everything he does, everything that he allows has purpose that ultimately accomplishes his will. Here’s a huge for instance: God ordained that betrayal and murder be used to ensure that salvation was purchased for mankind. Jesus was betrayed by one of his close friends and was murdered on the cross by the authorities of the day. Yes, God has allowed bad things to happen in the past to accomplish his purposes. Why would today be any different?

You might ask, what is the difference between individual Christians being political and the Church being political? Isn’t the Church made up of individual Christians? Yes it is. However, there is a difference between me going to a voting booth or going to a protest on my own as an individual Christian and the Church consuming its time and resources on political action. I would rather spend a couple of hours on Sunday morning singing praises, studying the Scriptures and praying for salvation to come to the lost than praying against healthcare reform. What has more eternal value? What most clearly fulfills the purpose of the Church? It ain’t political action!!

It is important that individual Christians vote. It is important that individual Christians protest. We must vote for people who will usher in a righteous rule. We must vote for people who will strive to end abortion and unjust legislation that punishes hard work and rewards laziness. But the Church? Leave the Church out of it. We have enough to do with trying to save the world. There is no time to become political. You want righteous government? Let the Church work to bring salvation to the people instead of trying to effect political change. It’s a classic cart before the horse situation. If the people are righteous, then our government will follow as our elected officials will also be righteous, not vice versa.

Do My Ears Deceive Me?

I had to listen to this a few times to really soak in the absurdity, the horror, and the eschatological undercurrent in what this guy says. I still am in disbelief at what I’ve heard. This reporter from Newsweek (Evan Thomas) says that President Obama is “sort of god.” Scary, yet not totally unexpected.

If I Were Calling the Shots

I don’t often get political in this place, but the current political climate has had me thinking quite a bit lately. What would I do if I were in charge? I don’t actually desire the job for one moment, but if it were thrown at me here’s what I’d do:

• Plan on only serving for four years. Two terms for a guy like me wouldn’t even be in the picture.
• Flat tax. Everyone pays an equal percentage of around 17-19%. That’s way less than what I’m paying now, but the surprising thing is that if this were in place and we did away with deductions and loopholes, we’d have way more revenue. The current tax code is in the neighborhood of 60,000 pages. Mine would be one page that reads, “Every citizen of working age who makes more than $5000.00 per year will pay 18% of their total earnings to the federal government. There shall be no loopholes, no deductions no exceptions, and no amendments made to this tax code ever.”
• Let companies that deserve to die just die. The only companies that are worth saving is our auto industry. Let the rest of them flounder. The auto industry keeps our military going by making the armored cars and tanks and such. We can’t afford to lose them.
• No more pork. I will absolutely refuse to sign bills with pork and I will publicly name the people who put pork onto bills.
• There would be energy independence. I would pull all of the federal governments research dollars to go toward making sure we are energy independent in 15 years. And no one gets their research money back until it is accomplished. Alternative energy must be taken seriously and given a real moon shot.

That’s all I can think of right now. I’m sure I could think of more. Disagree? Let me know.

[UPDATE 4.22.2009] My friend, Mike Lauer, who is an accountant has corrected my tax policy. Apparently the way I would set things up means that I would actually pay more taxes than I do now. Again, a demonstration of how complicated this problem really is. So in my administration, Mike would be in my cabinet to keep me straight on taxes.

Prayers for President Barak Obama

It is all but official that Senator Barak Obama has captured the status of President-elect of the United States of America. He will be our country’s first black President, and will no doubt make a mark on our history. Politics aside. I feel good from one perspective. Our country has risen above it’s racist history. Electing a black man to the Presidency may not solve all the existing racial ills we still endure, but it does prove that we have overcome many of our obstacles.

What do we do now? Already, I’ve began teaching my oldest daughter, Phoebe, that even though I don’t agree with everything President Obama will do, she will never hear me speak ill of him. All Christians should take this opportunity to offer focused prayers of salvation for our President. He claims to be a Christian, but what President hasn’t? I’m not saying he’s lying, but how could those prayers possibly harm him?

Secondly, we need to immediately begin praying for his safety and that any and all plots to bring harm to him or his family will be revealed before they can be carried out. We know that already an assassination plot in Tennessee was uncovered. Being the first black President surely won’t come without a few nut jobs who want to kill you.

And finally pray that God will invest wisdom in him. Barak Obama is going to need wisdom that comes from on high; the heavenly wisdom which only God bestows. Pray that he will seek that wisdom. We are still a highly divided nation. Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, liberals, vague and weird third parties; we are far from being united on many issues. President Obama will need Godly wisdom to succeed.

I did not vote for Barak Obama. I do not agree with many of the things he wants to accomplish. But he will be the President. As those who voted for McCain, we should outshine those who voted for Al Gore in 2000 and for John Kerry in 2004. Let our humility mark us as Christians. Don’t do as they did and disown the man who God has empowered. You don’t have to agree with him. But for the sake of the name of Christ and His glory among the nations, do not abandon him. He will be my President. And I will pray for him.

Chew On This . . .

I want to offer these few thoughts to you for your consumption. Chew on them, then let me know if you think I’m off my rocker or if I’m on to something. The following items are matters of public fact:

• N.A.F.T.A., signed into law by President Clinton in December of 1993. By creating a free trade block between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, U.S. companies have favored sending their factories into Mexico for two reasons:
  1. Cheaper work force/lower wages
  2. Since there is free trade, there are no tariffs involved in having their manufactured goods shipped back over the border for sale in the U.S.

  Therfore, Mexico’s economic base has been strengthened and the U.S. has been weakened, effectively redistributing the wealth.

• The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America was founded in 2005 between President Bush, President Fox (Mexico), and Prime Minister, Paul Martin (Canada) with the stated purpose of providing greater cooperation on security and economic issues.
• President Bush, despite being the Governor of Texas, has displayed a dismal willingness to deal with issues of illegal immigration from Mexico. Neither has he paid any attention to the border with Canada, which remains the longest unguarded border between two countries in the world. One would think that after 9/11 securing these borders would be a top priority.
• The economic collapse which we are seeing in progress is partly the result of a gradual weakening of federal oversight over the markets. Our presidents and lawmakers over the past 20 years have slowly removed most oversight of the market through deregulation. While in theory this sounds like a good idea – to let the market handle the market – that strategy does not take into account corporate greed. So we’ve all been spending money we don’t have, and guess what the fix is….. infusing money into the economy that is . . . get this . . . borrowed!

I’m not normally a big conspiracy person. But the convergence of these things in my mind leads only to one destination: the formation of a North American Union of sorts – like the European Union. I know this idea has been around for a while, so I’m not saying anything new. My analysis of the national landscape has just brought me to the same conclusion. What does it mean? It means a lot of things, but most immediately for you and I it means that our currency will be replaced by a common currency, which in all likelihood will be called the amero. The effects of that replacement will be painful. Overnight your dollars will lose all of their value. And no one will be offering to give you ameros to replace them. You’ll be starting from zero, unless you have invested a good portion of your money in precious metals and/or foreign currencies like the British pound. Eventually we would emerge from the crisis, but we would be a completely changed people.

There are other repercussions from such a transition. For instance, all three of our countries would immediately lose much of their sovereignty since we would be liable to a common government. The redistribution of wealth would be massive, with Mexico having the most to gain from this transition.

Now does this bother me? Yes and no. It makes me angry, but it does not cause me to worry. My faith is not shaken by the whims of men and their governments so I don’t worry. I do get angry though because our elected officials have betrayed our trust and there really isn’t a quick and easy way to fix it. Changing a government without a revolution would take years. But maybe that’s what we’re in for and honestly, maybe it’s what we deserve. A New Revolution.

Am I off base?

Saddleback Civil Forum Aftermath

After watching the Saddleback Civil Forum with Senators Obama and McCain, here are my impressions, first about Senator Obama.

Senator Barak Obama

I’m not going to give you a play by play because I didn’t take those kind of notes. What I was more interested in during this forum was getting a feel for the candidates’ personalities, their ability to think on their feet, etc. This particular forum was perfect for Senator Obama. It was relaxed, informal and very conversational in its style. Obama’s obvious comfort in this forum was evident with his jesting with Pastor Rick. He was very much at ease. He was very thoughtful in his answers. Obviously, I disagree with him on many things, but here is what I found interesting this evening. With the exception of the issues of taxes, abortion and stem cell research, most of his answers were articulated in such a way that he has left himself open to interpretation. His answers reflected that he was trying to analyze each point of view and formulate a consensus answer. You may wonder what is wrong with a consensus answer. It’s very Post-Modern in that it really has no backbone because instead of coming up with a solution to a problem that has substance and has strong support, you get a weak solution made up from bits and pieces of everyone’s opinion, with no strong support from any one group. Post-Modern thinking attempts to form consensus from many points of view. It sounds wonderful, but what you really end up getting is a chameleon-like ethical approach. Every situation must be evaluated based upon present attitudes, not upon long standing principle.

Strong Points

• Articulated his faith strongly (except where he said he “hoped” he would be forgiven). He demonstrated an understanding of redemption through Jesus Christ.
• He was very confident and sure of himself in his answers. I didn’t notice any backtracking or slips in his answers.
• He expressed a belief in the existence of evil and that it needs to be dealt with. Too his detriment, however, he wasn’t quick to say it must be confronted.

Senator John McCain

Senator McCain’s personality made itself evident quickly. He’s much more hawkish than Senator Obama, likely because of the clearly defined convictions he gained from being held hostage in Vietnam. McCain from the get-go appeared to be more assured in his answers than Obama. I don’t think that means Obama doesn’t know what he thinks, but rather that McCain has many years of experience in leadership which Obama lacks. Therefore some of his answers were very rapid fire, almost knee jerk reaction, because experience has taught him over the years the clear answers to these issues. No need to debate them, or prolong the answer, when the answer is very clear. I call McCain hawkish, though not in a militaristic way, but just generally aggressive on the issues which are dear to him. Obama did not demonstrate to me a clear passion for his issues. While I would never characterize Obama as uncaring or disconnected, his passion is not clearly demonstrative. I would say the only thing that took me by surprise with McCain was his explanation of his faith. I felt that Obama’s answer was much clearer in defining what his faith is and what it means to him. McCain instead gave an answer – which by the way was moving to me – that instead demonstrated a moment where his faith was very much in action. Both gave good answers, but they took different approaches to answering.

Strong Points

• His answer about faith was very moving. While it wasn’t a clear definition, it probably left little doubt in people’s minds about his beliefs.
• McCain’s quick answers to many of the questions will be assuring to many people. Like when asked about when life begins, his answer was one word, “Conception.” Those sorts of answers are comforting for people because there’s no wrangling with semantics, and there’s no room for misunderstanding.
• McCain seems to have a good grasp on our nations fiscal condition. We simply spend too much money. We do not need more taxes, but rather we need less spending. This always plays well to fiscal conservatives, but it also plays well to people who simply don’t want to see their taxes go up.

Pastor Rick, I think, did a good job as moderator, and I’d be happy to see this become an election year tradition at Saddleback. It really is as fair a forum as you can hope for. You will be able to view the forum at the Saddleback Civil Forum Website in the coming days or weeks by clicking “View Past Forums” in the site’s menu.

Rick Warren Hosting a Presidential Discussion

Tomorrow night Rick Warren is going to be hosting a presidential discussion at Saddleback. It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a debate. Rather what will happen is Pastor Rick is going to have a set of questions that each candidate will have opportunity to answer, uninterrupted, and apparently neither candidate will hear their opponent’s answers. McCain and Obama will both receive approximately 50 minutes. I’m actually intrigued by this whole event. To my knowledge, this is a first in presidential elections, and a first for an evangelical church. What I would advise you to do is not just listen to their answers, but listen to the types of questions which Pastor Rick asks. For this event, I am just as interested to see what Rick Warren has to say, as I am about the two candidates. Rick Warren is viewed now on a national level, maybe a world level. His leadership as an evangelical will send waves through the evangelical world (actually he already has) in the wake of this event. We should watch all three of them with a cautious eye.

For more information on the event, you can visit the website for the event. The forum will be broadcast on CNN, Fox News. The broadcast begins at 6:00 PM Mountain Time.