Sadness For My Country

I have been reading the blogs on Change.gov in regard to healthcare. In the conversation, the idea that somehow this is a "right", that this is all important and what will save our country, makes me sad. Our country needs missionaries! Our country needs the Lord Jesus Christ, not a Universal Healthcare System! The heart of our country is deceptively wicked and going to hell, but they are looking for a free government handout to fix their perceived woes.
Jesus said it best when he said that the sick need a doctor. Our country is sick, morally so, and in need of a Great Physician.
Pray for healing. Pray for our America and the "right" that it was founded on. The right to worship in freedom and in truth. Our dear country needs a Savior, not a Universal Healthcare System!

Sacrifice? Give me a break!

Oswald Chambers kept me from being a Jonah the other day. God asked us to stay and continue to help with the Greer kids even after Kevin returns from the Ukraine. In my heart, as we were talking to them on Skype, I knew the answer was yes, but of course we prayed first, because it is the 'spiritual' thing to do. The following morning, all three of my devotionals screamed: You will say "yes". Mr. Chambers spoke loudly in 'My Utmost for His Highest', "How can we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! Our salvation is from hell and perdition, and then we talk about making sacrifices." Okay, Lord, I hear you. This is not a sacrifice.

Then I read in 'A Pillar By Day' this statement, "When we choose to take up the cross and say, "It's not about the what's easiest for me. It's about what's best for the most people I can possible reach and help. I'm going to go and do this, it's the way of the cross." (Jon Corson) Again, nailed between the eyes and the heart...I say "Yes Lord, I hear You."

Then, as if this was not enough, (Peter do you love me, feed my sheep!) I read Philippians 3: 7-11, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider the passing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Father, I hear you. There is no sacrifice in doing this, it is just what your Son would have done with joy in His heart and a smile on His lips. This is not the way of the cross, this is a walk in the park with the Lord.

I am so guilty of thinking that I am doing such a sacrificial work for the Lord when I step up and "do" for the Lord, but am I bleeding? I am not a martyr! Am I giving up my very life blood for another? Do I have scars in my hands to prove this sacrifice? We American Christians think we give up, 'sacrifice' so much....PLEASE! Name one thing that falls in the category of "The fellowship of sharing in His sufferings" that occurs in our lives in the United States. Quickly, the Jeopardy theme song is playing....name one sacrifice that we have made that is the way of the Cross. Times up. Nothing. Right?

I hope that this has speared your heart straight through, as it did mine. We look around and see what we are missing, the bad economy and the lack of vanity items we may be forced to give up, the time we lose by being a 'servant for God', in the nursery, babysitting, helping our neighbors, the list can go on, and yet the is no blood, sweat or tears. Tragic that we are soft, pampered and ill prepared for the fire that previous Saints have suffered through and even those in the persecuted church around the world today endure, they have shared in the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, I will not be a Jonah. Whales are beautiful on the outside only. I will go to Nineveh and not take a side trip inside this beast because I choose not to obey when I am called to serve.
How about you? Feeling sacrificial?

voting made possible by a long wait in line

An hour and a half ticked by as I watched the people around me stirring in their seats, talking with the stranger next to them, all waiting for the same event. I have never had the privilege of waiting so long to cast my ballot. It was exciting to see the amount of people who were voting today. There was a sense of urgency and perhaps pride in the crowded waiting room. The lack of apathy should be cause for celebration, and yet I feel doomed to the inevitable. As I looked around the room, I was the minority in almost every sense of the word. It was America in waiting, as far as the melting pot image goes, that we have grown to know and appreciate. All walks of life were represented. I saw several gays, many Latinos, two old couples who just arrived off the bus from Woodstock, a woman sporting her donkey covered democrat t-shirt stating: Sex and Voting....you fill in the blank. and the Afro-American (to be pc) were out in force. I am sure there were some conservatives in the mix, but if looks could kill, the conservative vote was in the line of fire.

I had a blog discussion with a young man this past week regarding Obama and his extreme stance on abortion. Abortion has been on the back burner this campaign season, because the saviour effect, the economy and biased media has controlled the discussion. But abortion should continue to be a key talking point for Conservatives and somewhere along the way, it was stashed in the baggage hold of the election train. The young man didn't want to really discuss the abortion issue, he was taking offense to the comparison of abortion and slavery. He thought it was in poor taste because of the color of the Democratic Candidates skin. This comparison has been strongly made in past forums and long before Obama ever came on the scene. The young man encouraged me not to vote for a candidate based on one issue. I agree, but turned the table on him as his argument fails in view of the fact that most of the people I saw voting today were voting because of the one issue: Change "A black man for president". They haven't really read what the Obama plan means for them. They probably haven't been on the official website and looked into what he believes for education, war, energy, health care. I have read the fine print and would not vote for him even if he was my favorite shade of green. His philosophy of life is not the Christian World View that I hold and that I love and cherish.

So is there hope for those of us who cling to a Biblical World view? Can conservatives still win in this election? Only if the grassroots conservatives make up their mind to not lay down and play beat already can we save this country from a dangerous left turn.
Vote. Wait in line and vote. It matters more than ever. Make history and know that no matter what happens, you have earned the right to complain.