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Election Day Conundrum

I am writing this on the Friday night before the 2016 presidential election here in the United States.  Sweet Wife and the kids are gone shopping, I’m in for the evening and I’m sitting here wrestling with my thoughts on this election.  My main thought, which is also my main question, is “should I vote in this election?”

I am completely torn over this.

On the one hand, I know for sure I could not vote for one candidate.   If you’ve read this blog over the last few weeks, you know which candidate that is.  There’s just no way I could cast a vote for someone so inept and corrupt.  The sad part is that this decision is made before even considering that candidate’s political views.  When those are considered, it’s absolute.  There’s no way — no possible way — that I could vote for this person.

And then there’s the candidate for the party I have usually supported.  (I say “usually” because this party has become the lesser of two evils instead of a party of conviction, integrity and action.)  The candidate of this party is known to be crass and obscene.  And while I don’t believe all of the sexual assault allegations against this person — these last minute tales are so believable aren’t they? — I do believe what the real history of this person tells us.

So therein lies the conundrum.

I can vote against the party that is leading our once great country right into the ditch.  I can take my stand and let my vote say “no more.”

If I do this, though, I’ll casting my vote for someone I really don’t like or respect.

The third option is that I can just skip voting.

During this election cycle, I’ve heard over and over, “It doesn’t matter who you vote for, just vote.”  This makes for a catchy phrase if you’re in Civics class, but it doesn’t make good politics.  If you’re going to vote for the opponent, I highly recommend that you don’t vote.  In fact, I recommend that all of the other party’s voters skip voting.

Along these same lines, I think my vote is worthy of better candidates.  I am not happy with either choice and I think my vote is special and shouldn’t be wasted on such riff raff.  I want to vote for someone who doesn’t make me want to hold my nose.

So if I make it until today, I don’t know what I will do.  I keep waiting for the gag to be over and for the real candidates to emerge, but I think we’re running out of time for that.

When God Doesn’t Listen, part 2

Yesterday, we took a look at Psalm 66:18,

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.  (Psalm 66:18 ESV)

The implication here is pretty easy to see.  Our attitude about sin makes a great deal of difference in our relationship with God.  If we embrace sin, then there is the expectation that God will not listen to our request.

Again, as mentioned yesterday, God hears every prayer ever uttered.  The logic for understanding this is simple.  God is everywhere and He knows everything.  Accordingly, there is not a thing said or a thing done that God doesn’t know about.  But God is not obligated to answer every prayer.  He isn’t like a genie found in a bottle that’s obligated to grant three wishes.

Also as discussed yesterday, even if we pray as “Christians,” He isn’t obligated to answer prayers uttered while we are cherishing inequity.  Perhaps our behavior can be described as “ungratefulness and arrogant” (as it was yesterday), but there is a reason these actions impair our prayer life:  we are in rebellion against God.

God doesn’t change.  He is immutable.  James 1:17 reminds us of this when it is noted that there is “no variation or shadow due to change” related to God.  He isn’t going to change His character in order to overlook our sin.  And even though He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sins, He still hates sin.  It is against His nature.

So when we sin, we turn our backs on Him.  We revolt.  We turn away from His face.  Accordingly, even if we are followers of Jesus Christ, our relationship with God is changed.  He doesn’t change, but the relationship does.  And when we are in this state of open rebellions against Him, He isn’t obligated to listen to or respond to our prayers.

As Christians, we should think about how our interaction with sin affects our prayer life.  Our culture is changing and many of these changes are for the worse.  As the shift is made toward approval of same-sex marriages, for example, many Christians have embraced this change in order to avoid being labeled or shunned by the culture.  But the effect on our relationship with God can be far more damaging.  As we embrace and cherish sinful behavior, our relationship with God is damaged.

Same-sex marriage isn’t the only sinful area we have embraced.  There are many others and many that affect me.  I need to check myself to see where I have embraced sin and I need to fight to get away from it.

It’s not likely that we’ll hear this argument when the culture wars are fought.  We will not hear that we shouldn’t sin because our prayer life may be hampered.  But it’s the truth.

3 Disney World Observations

A few thoughts after a couple of days in Disney World…

  1. People need to up their game related to tattoos. These babies need a lot more thought if you’re going to wear these gems for a lifetime.
  2. We’ve gone crazy with these automated strollers. It really does seem like we’re on the set of Wall-E. 
  3. People are amazing patient. There are thousands of people here. It’s also very hot. There are also lines. How this magic combination doesn’t result in daily brawls is impressive. 

Sunday Wisdom: Proverbs 1:33

“but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” – Proverbs 1:33

The quote here from Proverbs 1  is spoken by “Wisdom.”  Beginning in verse 1:22, Wisdom begins to cry out in the streets and tries to help whoever will listen. The climax of this soliloquy, though, comes at verse 1:33. Here, three things are promised to whomever will listen to this voice:

  • “…will dwell secure…”
  • “…will be at ease…”
  • “…without dread of disaster.”

Who in their right mind would not want these things?  I think everyone dowes. Ever since the fall of man, since we’ve had to deal with sin, we have all longed for security, ease and life without disaster.

And since we still live in a sinful world — we know bad things are happening all around us — how can this promise be true?

To know the answer to this, we first need to understand what wisdom really is. Though personified as a woman here in Proverbs 1, true wisdom means to have a Biblical view of life and to have a real relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Let me put it another way: the wisest thing you could ever do is to respond to Jesus’ call to you.

If we understand this and know Jesus Christ, then we understand what verse 1:33 is saying. We know that if we are in Jesus Christ, then we will dwell secure, live at ease and avoid disaster. This isn’t because bad things won’t happen, it’s because our eternity is secure in Jesus.

And for this we can worship Him today!

Amen and amen.

Blog Update

So far, the plan to post something every day in 2016 continues right along. And as the year has progressed, we’ve seen the following schedule emerge:

  • Sunday Worship – a brief Bible devotion to help prepare for a time of worship;
  • Monday Colossians – a weekly Bible study post from the book of Colossians;
  • Wednesday Project – a weekly update on a home improvement project;
  • Thursday Hebrews – a weekly Bible study post from the book of Hebrews;
  • Friday Picture – a brief post about a photograph; and
  • Saturday Music – a weekly post about a song I like.

As you can tell, there’s a theme for every day except Tuesday, which has turned into “free day” – a day to write on any subject.

Going forward, I am hoping to keep the same schedule with possibly one or two changes. I am contemplating a new “Technology Tuesday” series, with subject matter that should be fairly obvious, and I’m thinking about moving “free day” to Wednesday. In fact, I guess this could be considered the first of that kind.

Anyway, thanks for reading and we’ll see how this goes.

Why “Amen?”

This comes from John Piper and I know you’ll find it amazing like I did:

If you’ve ever wondered why Christians say Amen at the end of our prayers and where that custom comes from, here’s the answer. Amen is a word taken straight over into Greek from Hebrew without any translation, just like it has come into English and most other languages without any translation.

In Hebrew, it was a very strong affirmation (see Numbers 5:22; Nehemiah 5:13; 8:6) — a formal, solemn, earnest “I agree,” or “I affirm what you just said,” or “This is true.” Most simply, “Amen” means a very earnest Yes in the context of addressing God.

Now notice the connection between the two halves of verse 20. The first half says, “All the promises of God find their Yes in him.” The second half says, “That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”
When you realize that “Amen” and “Yes” mean the same thing, here’s what the verse says: In Jesus Christ, God says his Yes to us through his promises; and in Christ we say our Yes to God through prayer.
From Future Grace, page 104

Monday Colossians: Chapter 1, Verses 20, 23-24

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, – Colossians 1:20, 23-24 (ESV)
Verse 24 is one that makes you question this fellow Paul.
After so eloquently writing about Jesus earlier in the chapter, he has the nerve, in verse 24, to tell us that he – Paul – is somehow shoring up what is lacking in the work of Jesus Christ. Something lacking in the work of Jesus? Are you kidding me?  Just previously, in verse 20, Paul has written that the work of Jesus has been enough to “reconcile to himself all things.” So what’s up here?
Well, it’s not what we think at first glance.
Jesus came to us, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life and became our atoning sacrifice. He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become righteous. And after He left us and returned to heaven, He sent His Helper, the Holy Spirit. He also left us with a command – to go and spread the gospel and to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
As we carry out this work, as we are obedient to Jesus, we minister on His behalf. We are doing “His” work. It’s not that He can’t do it or won’t do it, it is the work prescribed for us. And if we won’t do it, He will use someone else to accomplish His purposes. In this sense, we continue the work of Christ. Yes, His work on the cross is finished – the debt for our sins has been paid, but the work of taking this message to people hasn’t been completed. This particular type of work is “lacking” in the sense that it isn’t finished. In this sense, via being obedient to God, we are completing what is lacking, or completing what hasn’t been fulfilled  yet.
This passage can make Paul sound sort of arrogant. But the real message is that he is trying to be obedient to the ministry given to him by Jesus. There is still work to be done. Laborers for the harvest are still needed. Paul was available. We should be too.

Monday Colossians: Chapter 1, Verse 23

if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. – Colossians 1:23 (ESV)

 Verse 1:23 is given by the Apostle Paul right after saying this in verse 22: “he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.” At first glance, we may read these verses and think that verse 23 is somehow reducing, or making conditional, the promise given in verse 22. But that isn’t the case and I’ll try to explain that here. 

Verse 22 is saying the work has been done (“he has reconciled in his body of flesh by his death”) so that we can be presented to God (“in order to present you holy and blameless abs above reproach before him”). We also have the promise in Scripture that our salvation is secure and that we can never be snatched away from God. 

Verse 23 is saying we have that promise of eternal security, “if indeed you continue in the faith.” This refers us to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints which essentially says that those who endure to the end will be saved and we’ll know who is saved because those folks will persevere to the end. 

So how does one make sure they “continue in the faith?” Verse 23 tells us that as well. To continue in the faith, we should be “stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.” Here, I don’t think “stable and steadfast” means never having a bad day or swinging from a good mood to a bad one. It means that we have one Anchor, Jesus Christ. If we are switching between “anchors,” putting our eternal faith and hope in various things that aren’t Jesus Christ, we have a problem. But if Jesus is our Anchor, our “stable and steadfast” hope, our eternity is secure. 

Paul was a minister of this gospel and worked so that this message might be “proclaimed in all creation under heaven.” This message, this hope, is still the same today and still true today. Let us continue in it.