Israel: Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

Jews. Arabs. Israel. Palestine. What should a Christian living in America think or do about this mess in the Middle East? The current state of Israel has existed since 1948 amidst a sea of enemies, surrounding on all sides by Muslims who are committed to their destruction. But what should we think? Whose side should we be on? Should we just stay out of the whole situation?

We could spend a long time on this, but I will keep to a couple points to consider:

Isaiah 40:1-2 "Comfort, O comfort My people," says your God. Speak kindly to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." (NASB) -The thought here is that comfort will come for Israel, in the form of the Savior, Jesus Christ. And as members of His church here in this world, representing Him to the nations, our call is to reach out to a world in need with His comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." (NASB) -As Christians we are the only ones in the world who can offer any true comfort beyond the temporal. Why should we direct this comfort toward Israel, specifically? Other than the implied command of Isaiah 40:1, I will close with 2 more verses:

Genesis 12:3 "And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you [Abram, Father of the nation of Israel] all the families of the earth will be blessed." (NASB)

Romans 15:26-27 "For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things." (NASB)

In closing, we have to remember that while Israel today is largely secular, they are still God's chosen people. God in his infinite grace has also chosen us (Christians) to follow Him; Gentiles share in the spiritual blessing once given to Israel through the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and we can give materially to help them as well. Here is one ministry, Exodus Limited, that our church works with in Israel.

Of Presidents and Paperwork

President Obama has been in office since January 20, when he was sworn in. Today being August 25, he has been in office for 217 days, or about 7 months. In that time we have seen a Stimulus Bill (1100 pages), Cap and Trade (1200 pages) and Health Care Reform (1000 pages). Notwithstanding the billions of dollars being spent in these programs, who has the time to write all this out? Where are all of these coming from?

3300 pages means that we have 15 pages of proposed legislation from this administration per day in office (assuming no vacations or weekends were taken off). Per business day in office, it jumps up to 22 pages/day. Pick your favorite author - who would be able to churn out the equivalent of 2 Bibles worth of text in 7 months?

This gives me pause. Where is all this truly coming from?

Thoughts on "Inglourious Basterds"

Being a war movie fan, I have been hoping for another good World War 2 film for a while, now.

This is not it.

I called this entry "Thoughts" on the movie, not a review, because I have not seen the movie. Critics are loving this latest Tarantino film - Rotten Tomatoes currently has it at 89% fresh - and yet what is the point?

Ultimately, the tale here is vengeance. Reflecting on this, and the worldview behind it, I realize that vengeance is all they have. Existing as Hollywood does, in a universe devoid of Absolute Truth, there can be no higher purpose for anything. And that includes the graphic violence of this film. What of heroism? Are we lauding common men called upon to do their best in uncommon circumstances? I think of Tom Hanks' character in Saving Private Ryan, a school teacher called to war, doing his duty to the best of his ability.

I don't see any of that from having read about, and watched multiple previews for, Inglourious Basterds. What I see is that our soldiers (Jewish-Americans, led by Brad Pitt) are 'heroes' because they won by being more brutal and dishonorable in their behavior than the Nazis were. The end here is justified by all the gory means; we won, so our cause was just.

I am saddened, because there are amazing tales to tell from the greatest conflict of the 20th century. There are plenty of men whose behavior in those trying times can call us to virtue, to honor, to be our best. Making Hitler seem a buffoon, and our soldiers bloodthirsty monsters, all for sake of entertainment... it is not right.

I would encourage you to skip this movie. Great war movies abound; We Were Soldiers, Saving Private Ryan, To End All Wars, Gettysburg, Glory, Sergeant York.

Remember that what is seen cannot be unseen.

Grace in All Things, Even Politics

2 Timothy 2:24-26: "The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." (NASB)

Some of you out there avoid confrontation like the plague. Some of you are more like I am now; a challenge to your principles is a gauntlet thrown down. The eyes narrow, the jaw clenches, and a heat rises inside as you warm to the fight. In our modern, "civilized" age, verbal sparring rarely leads to physical conflict... but the damage of hasty words can far exceed the temporal damage of even a well-aimed punch.

Our call as Christians is clear. We must be ready to answer, but gently. We must correct those who oppose us, but kindly. We must remember the tremendous grace that we have been show by the Sovereign Lord of the universe, and give the smallest part of that grace to those with whom we speak. Note that we are called upon to teach, and to correct; these are not optional for us. Declining to open our mouths because we are afraid shows a lack of faith, and obedience. But when we do speak, we need to remember that we were once deceived, also, and held captive to the Adversary's will.

So how does this all tie in to politics? We have discussed how people use the word "politics" and they really mean worldview. The issues confronting our nation today are nothing less than the ancient battle between Good and Evil, between Truth and Lie, being played out in our culture and our government. We may use the word politics to describe these conversations, but the principles involved run much deeper, to the core of who we are and what we believe. Be ready to teach with gentleness and kindness, and let the Spirit do His work upon the hearts of men.

230 MPG!

GM recently announced the EPA estimates for the Chevy Volt, their new hybrid coming out for the 2010 model year:

230 MPG!

Compare this to the best selling hybrid out there right now, the Toyota Prius, which gets a downright-pathetic 48 MPG. Of course, the 2010 Prius has an MSRP of $25,800, and it's being built without money from the government (which they get from taxpayers).

But... a couple of questions come up. For one, GM is now Government Motors, who rushed it through bankruptcy without shedding the biggest problems the automaker is dealing with. They reduced debt but still have union contracts to contend with, and now the union has a big stake in owning the company, as well. And the government, last I checked, also runs the EPA. Is there perhaps a conflict of interest in the government giving its own car the highest estimated MPG ever? And this just happens to be the car that this Administration wants you to buy, instead a huge, gas-guzzling SUV. Hm...

The Volt also has a cost to build of around $40,000. Will the much higher cost than other hybrids cancel out the gas savings, even if the gas mileage is that good?

And the final irony is that Volt buyers will be eligible for a tax credit of $7500. So, your money was taken to save a company and retain a strong union presence in its workforce. The car, now built by the government-run GM, costs a lot more to build than its competitors who are not government run. And to offset the higher cost, the government will give you some money back to try to entice you to buy their car.

Can't wait for GM health care!

World War 2 in One Picture

I have loved this picture since I first saw floating around the web. You can make a very strong historical argument that ultimate victory for the Allies in WW2 began with the unflinching resolve of one man: Winston Churchill. As Prime Minister of Great Britian during the greatest conflict in human history, he would not quit. He would not give in.

Scissors beat paper.

Health Care and... Philosophy?

In an earlier post I discussed how "political" discussions are rarely truly political anymore, but instead are often a question of worldview. A good discussion on health care reform in America really needs to begin with the philosophy behind the health care. When we say "affordable health care for everyone" or that "no one should be denied coverage," what do we really mean?

As Christians we need to start these conversations at the beginning. Any good dialogue on health care needs to include a talk about the philosophy of those in charge of the decision-making process. Our government (Republican and Democrat alike) has bought the theory of Darwinian Evolution as fact; even President Bush, in an interview just before leaving office, scoffed at the notion of the Bible as literal Truth. Having accepted Evolution, Deism (belief in an uninvolved, irrelevant God) gave way to widespread Scientific Materialism (belief that this physical, material world is all there is, and it exists as the result of random processes over billions of years) and Postmodernism (Truth does not exist, and all philosophies are equally worthy or worthless).

But accepting this theory has significant consequences for us, the governed, as we will soon find out under President Obama's proposed health care plan. Consider the points of this philosophy:

There is no God, no Creator.
There is nothing beyond death - we cease to exist; no Heaven, no Hell.
There is no ultimate purpose or meaning to life, we are free to do whatever we'd like.
There is no absolute, objective basis for morality or ethics - whatever we choose to do, it must be considered as "natural" because the natural world is all that exists.

What would a society look like, operating according to this worldview? There being no God, I would not expect any mention of Him from our government, and government schools would not teach anything about Him to children.
There being no Heaven and no Hell, we would have to do our best to have a great time before we die, so our entire focus should be devoted to our happiness. I would consider myself entitled to the best life has to offer; I only get one trip through this buffet line, so why should I care about anyone else's experience?
With no higher purpose beyond my own happiness, I would do what I want to do. Sex? Drugs? Stealing? Adultery? What good is virtue that won't add one moment to my existence, since my existence is only guaranteed in the here and now?
Since nothing absolute exists (note the irony), I have no basis for telling anyone that anything is wrong. Might then makes right, be that 50% + 1 vote or a dictatorship. Those in charge are free to make the rules, because they are not accountable to any standard other than ones they create and agree to. And if they don't like the standards they create, why not make more?

Bringing the question back to health care:

Even if abortion kills a human being, why does that matter? That baby would have stopped me from having my best life now. If we know the baby is going to have a birth defect, why not kill it and be done, instead of spending a lot of money keeping an unproductive citizen alive? Why would we continue medical treatment for the elderly, or the terminall ill? These have nothing left to offer the rest of us. They are just sucking up resources that could be better spent helping younger people with a higher "quality of life." And who gets to draw the line in the sand, and decide who lives and who dies?

This is the terrifying road that the worldview of our government is leading us down. If there is nothing beyond the material world, there is no accountability for a government other than to its citizens. And they can be bribed, intimidated or coerced into accepting almost anything - human history is clear on this.

Our Founding Fathers wanted a limited government, with the bare minimum of centralized power possible to have the country function. The Bill of Rights itself protects the average citizen from the intrusions of government into civil life. They were wise to do this, for they recognized the tendencies of government since the beginning of time. Philosophy does matter, and not just to old men on university campuses. We are all about to get an enormous lesson in why it truly matters, and that lesson may just be the very literal death of some of us.

The White House Wants YOU!

Or at least, they want to know about you. Are you daring to exercise your right to free speech, and have you been criticizing the health care bill proposed by President Obama?

How dare you, sir! The White House wants your fellow citizens to report you to them, so they'll be able to take care of the "misinformation" you are spreading. Does this sound too 1984 for you?

Check out this link to the White House's official blog:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

We have discussed many of the problems with government run health care right here on this blog. Feel free to call the White House, I'm right here and I'm not hiding. First they called me a domestic terrorist for being pro-life and for actually reading the Constitution. Now they want to stop me from telling the truth about the health care bill.

I encouraged you to read the bill for yourself, and make up your own mind! (<- dangerous misinformation)

I pointed out in the past that the government has a less-than-stellar record of running businesses successfully! (<- dangerous misinformation)

You probably thought it was extreme to compare modern day America to 1930s Germany. Now do you begin to see it? But I'm sure they mean no harm, they probably just want to re-educate me...