October 26, 2024

 Vote for Jesus

At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.”

– Matthew 24:10-11

Don’t you care about unborn babies? What about our values? We’re not voting for the man but rather for the Bible.

Seriously?

Those are some of the comments made by people I know to defend their votes for Donald Trump. They don’t like the man but they’ve convinced themselves that he’s the best one to stand up for Biblical values.

I care about unborn babies. I care about their mothers. And I care about the babies who are already born. That’s why I am so opposed to Trump.

I want a country where girls, and women, can live their lives without fear of derogatory comments and prejudice against their sex and looks.

I want a country where boys understand that talking about another man’s private parts – publicly, no less – has no place in any conversation.

I want a country where leaders are condemned for lies and bullying, for threats against anyone who criticizes them and for applauding violence and labeling it a “love fest.”

Those are the Biblical values I support. I can’t simply turn a blind eye to a man held up as an idol. I can’t ignore arrogance and comments praising Hitler and Putin.

Will Kamala Harris be a good president? I hope so. She seems to care about people and that’s something Jesus would do.

We are called to care for orphans and widows, for the poor and the foreigner. That’s Biblical. That popular comment “God helps those who help themselves” isn’t in the Bible. Instead, time and time again we are told to love people and help them, sacrificing our time and money if necessary.

We don’t want to hear that.

Please stand up for Jesus. Cast your vote against a manipulative liar who only cares for himself.

May 25, 2018

Show Me Your Values

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

– 1 Timothy 4:1-2

It’s election time in my conservative state. Let’s get out the vote! And let’s be sure to vote for a Christian with conservative values who will defend our rights. That’s what they all say.

I know little about any of the candidates besides what appears publicly through their advertisements and the media. I guess I’ve become a bit of a cynic. Don’t tell me how deep your faith is. Show me. In this season of my life, I’ve learned that those who preach the loudest usually are the ones most apt to take advantage of someone. I know it’s a generalization but it’s just something I’ve witnessed again and again.

When a candidate tells me he’s qualified for office because he’s a conservative Christian, I don’t shout “hallelujah!” and race to the polls. I don’t believe Jesus was a conservative or a liberal. I doubt He would side with the Republicans or the Democrats. I think Jesus would tell us that sometimes both sides get it right and sometimes both sides get it wrong.

What I see are a bunch of power-hungry individuals who are out for their own good and the good of their bank accounts. Some may actually believe they can be the change. But backroom deals are truth. To get anything done, you’ve got to work together. You can’t do that when you think you’re always right.

One conservative Christian loudly proclaims his faith and his Republican status. He also believes – truly – that blacks won’t be in heaven. He wears his racism as proudly as he does his “faith.”

Another Christian conservative demands that everyone get a job, keep their word, and do for others. I want to say, “You first,” but I don’t. I tell myself not to judge but it’s difficult to hold my tongue in the face of such blatant hypocrisy.

Then we’ve got the other side. We’ve always got the other side. The liberal Democrats who think everyone should be guaranteed a wage and who don’t fully comprehend that every good thing requires a payment.

We’ve got Democrats who blame everyone but the perpetrator and demand change before we actually enforce the laws already on the books. Where is accountability?

The truth is our country is in crisis because two different sides can’t come together and work toward a reasonable solution to the problems we face. We’re too busy being “right” to actually understand that sometimes we’re wrong.

Some of the strongest people of faith I know, people who actually live as Jesus would to the best of their ability, are liberal Democrats. And some of the biggest hypocrites I know, self-serving people who say one thing publicly while living something else privately, are conservative Republicans. The opposite is true as well.

We’re all just people when it comes down to it. We all need a large dose of Jesus and a whole lot less of ourselves. Don’t tell me who you are, show me. I don’t need a lecture on values. I need to see what your values really are by how you live your life.

March 7, 2016

Surround Yourself With Godly People

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. -- Colossians 2:8

A sweet friend offers this advice: If you’re wearing a white t-shirt and you keep brushing up against a dirty t-shirt, pretty soon your white t-shirt is going to be dirty too.

She tells this as a warning to those who think they can hang out with anyone they choose without the other person’s bad habits influencing them negatively. Of course it will. It’s the slippery slope downward to sin.

Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. We all sin. All of us. But it helps when we surround ourselves with people who are trying to do right instead of surrounding ourselves with people who will entice us to do wrong.

It’s like when you go on a diet. Do you want to hang out with people who will try to convince you to eat cake and ice cream or do you want to be around people who will support and encourage you?

I have been blessed with some wonderful friends. I know the ones who will always tell me the truth. Always. Especially when it’s not what I want to hear. I trust them because their words come from love and the values that we share.

I also have people in my life that I really like. But I keep them at a distance. Why? Because they are quick to make excuses for doing the wrong thing. Cheat on your taxes? Sure, everyone does it. Take extra time off work without reporting it? Why not? They don’t know or care. Take a long look at someone who isn’t your spouse? Who does it hurt?

Do you understand the difference? Surround yourself with people you admire, people who will hold you accountable and people who expect you to hold them accountable. Don’t let yourself be deceived by the sweet talking lies of others.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Don’t Value What Doesn’t Matter

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. -- Acts 4:32

It’s that time of year again. It’s that time when the finance committee at church starts talking about money, about tithing, about trusting God. Have you tuned out yet? That’s what most people do.

We trust God. We do. We trust Jesus with our salvation. We trust Him to answer our prayers. We plead with Him for healing and blessings. But we don’t tend to trust Him with our finances. That’s off limits. We prefer to keep that to ourselves and decide how we’ll spend it. Or not.

There are few issues as volatile as money or possessions. We don’t want to share. Ask any small child. They’re happy to share -- when they’re done playing with it and when they’re good and ready to share. Not before. Don’t even think about taking it before then.

We adults are no better. We value our possessions and our bank accounts. Some of us are generous, but on our terms and in our timing. We don’t want anyone standing up there and telling us what a blessing it is to give more to the church, to charity, to someone we’re not sure deserves it.

There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. -- Acts 4:34-35

We tend to think of ourselves as superior to others. The more money and possessions we have, the better we feel about ourselves. Do money and possessions make us better people? No. In fact, sometimes just the opposite is true.

We look down on those who have less and that’s just plain wrong. Max Lucado once spoke of a friend in another country. The man works harder, perhaps, Lucado noted, harder than he works. Yet his family lives in a small hut with a dirt floor. It wasn’t about working hard. Or being smart. Or making wise choices. It was about circumstances and a life sometimes determined by where you live more than anything else.

Our hearts grow hard when we think of handouts to the poor. We are conditioned to believe that those in need aren’t worthy to receive our help. We blame them for their circumstances, and sometimes we are right. But God gave us another chance so why do we refuse others the same opportunity?

It all comes back to holding on to that money and those possessions. None of that matters, not in the scope of eternity. I wonder sometimes about those who think it does. It must be exhausting trying to hold on to something that you’re destined to lose sooner or later anyway.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Live Like Jesus

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." -- Luke 4:18-19

One of the reasons the religious leaders had so much trouble accepting Jesus as the Messiah is because He didn't arrive as they'd expected. He wasn't dressed in purple robes and wearing a gold crown on His head. Instead, He was born in a stable and raised by a carpenter and his wife. Jesus wasn't what they were looking for.

When He began preaching, He really upset them. He wasn't proclaiming the rights and virtues of the religious leaders and powerful rulers. Instead, Jesus came for you and me. He came for the poor and weary, for the sick and the outcast. Jesus came for those who were blind, whether that blindness was merely eyesight or an inability to see God as He really is and not what some manmade rules claimed He was and is.

In other words, Jesus was very unpopular with those who had and became a ray of hope for those who had none. Of course, before the end, many of those who chanted His name and called out to Him for healing would abandon Him. But for a while there, they raised Him up and grabbed on to His message like the lifeline they needed.

We've just finished a bruising political race, with lies and misspoken words on all sides. I think everyone was more than ready to see it end. Now we go forth with, in many cases, new leaders proclaiming to do things differently. But will they? Words are easily spoken in the heat of a campaign victory. The reality of politics and decision making isn't.

The conservatives claim to be a party of strong moral values. I wonder if they're speaking of their own or of those Jesus gave us through His example. Will they speak for the poor and downtrodden? Will they reach out to those who have no hope and provide for the widows and orphans? Or will they raise up new policies and benefits for those who have much already?

It's easy to talk about what we'll do when power comes our way. It's not so easy to truly live as though Jesus were guiding your every step. Let's hope the values they talked about in their campaign are the same values Jesus laid out during His short time on earth as a Man.