Love Covers

Since several of my friends have asked me, I'm going to tackle the current hot button issue in America. No one has ever accused me of being a "hater" because anyone who knows me understands that I love people regardless of who they are. I have always treated all people the same- with respect and love. We should all do that. Jesus commanded us to love, and was pretty emphatic that hatred and disrespect are unacceptable, no matter whether the people are gay, Muslim, Buddhist, pink, purple, or orange. A judgmental attitude does not bring people closer to God, it actually pushes them away. If we push them away, their eternal souls are in jeopardy and it will be our fault for being jerks.
BUT- there is another issue: God's heart. His Word tells us that the gay lifestyle is not what He planned for humanity. We have it because people have hardened their hearts and minds against the Lord. He didn't make a "mistake" when He created people of one gender or another. Everyone has a God-given purpose, a place in His heart. I feel for people who have been hurt by their parents or become confused by society. They simply do not know how much they are loved by the Creator of the Universe. That's our fault for removing the Presence of God from our society. So can we fix it? Not without a move of the Holy Spirit- which is the only way a leopard can change its spots.
Many years ago, one of my co-workers decided to change his gender. It completely freaked out our colleagues, who suddenly became hostile. They Bible-thumped him continually- which only ingrained his hostility. They did it out of FEAR, by the way. Had they operated in love instead of fear, who knows what could have happened?
I did not do that, and I advised my employees to keep their mouths shut and not be disrespectful. They didn't have to condone his action, but they were told to keep their judgments to themselves. In my spirit I felt nothing but terror for him because he basically told God that He made a mistake. So in spite of the fact that he didn't care for me as a person, I treated him with respect and love. When he left our department, "she" gave me a rose in a vase and told me thank you. She also sent me messages that told me his/her heart had been crushed by the animosity of people she had worked with for many years. She put a small plaque on my desk that said "Dear God, there is nothing that happens today that You and I can't handle." While his/her life had been turned upside down by the decision, I could feel the pain in her heart from the turmoil. Caring means feeling the pain of others, and being gentle in the way we handle it. Yes, we can talk about the Word of God, but the WAY we do it, needs to be directly from God, not our personal attitudes.
When we all as Christians begin to operate in love, when we seek the Face of God in every instance, we can change the world one person at a time. No, I do NOT believe that same sex marriage should be the law of the land. I believe that's a mistake in the overall scheme of things. But love covers. It softens hardened hearts. It breeds friendship and hope. And it changes lives.

Courage

"The time to guard against corruption and tyranny is before they have gotten ahold of us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the fold than to trust to drawing his teeth and talons after he shall have entered." Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826.
I believe the wolves have already created their "pack" and are attempting to destroy the flock. Thomas Jefferson was no dummy, and neither were most of our "founding fathers." They didn't always get along, but they were able to unite against the King of England and fight to be free. They all had a sense of duty to the people of their fledgling nation. That duty is sadly missing today. Not only is the duty missing, so is the honesty and integrity they so strongly portrayed by their actions. And take note, Mr. O, they were by and large Christian in character and practice.
The King of England tried to stamp out liberty and dictate every portion of the lives of the people.Their taxes were out of sight expensive for the day, and there were no representatives to stand up for their ivelihood. (The infamous "Boston Tea Party.") They came to the shores of America to be free to worship, to be free of governmental interference. They knew they would have to fight to win those rights. And fight they did. Jefferson once noted that "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."
An ancestor of mine, Captain Alexander Harper, (brother to Colonel John Harper of Harper's Ferry fame), ended up in an Indian camp as a prisoner during the Revolutionary War. For 3 years he endured difficulties we cannot imagine. Until one day, he was given the chance to go through a gauntlet. A gauntlet allowed the Indians to hit him with tomahawks, rocks, and any other thing until he bled profusely from every portion of his body. He survived.And by his very survival, he won his freedom. He exhibited courage, the will to fight in spite of his circumstances. He could have given up, but he did not.And the Natives honored his courage with freedom.
We must elect men and women of solid character. We must stop electing fools and wolves whose only purpose is to greedily seek power and control over us. We must gather the courage to stand against the assaults on our freedoms by people who do not value the Constitution nor the men who wrote it. It is not an irrelevant document, and neither is the Bible. "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time." (Also Thomas Jefferson). It takes true courage to stand against the tide of media scrutiny, against the sarcastic and evil comments of legislators who seem to enjoy talking into microphones without wisdom, against the loud and obnoxious screeching of people who know nothing of what they are talking about. It is those demonic powers we must defeat with courage and fortitude.

Conservatives? What Conservatives?

At this writing, a vote was taken in the House of Representatives on a "continuing resolution." If conservatives had voted against it, Obamacare would have been essentially defunded. They didn't. They passed it. Only 16 representatives voted against the resolution,and Idaho's rep was not among them. (Which gives me a headache). Apparently we have forgotten that every vote has repercussions like the ripples on water. Obamacare has repercussions across the board, all because no one bothered to read the entire bill before passage. And now we are stuck with it. My pocket book will suffer, as will yours, you just don't realize it yet. Obamacare contains more than "healthcare" -- it has several sections that affect the lives of every American on every level of their lives.
So let me explain what a "conservative" should be- not what the media says. A Conservative should be someone who values America and our personal liberty above reliance on the government or interference by the government. They should be strong advocates of the entire Constitution and Bill of Rights. They should be individually responsible for their actions, not desire free handouts from either the government or private concerns. Responsibility should be at the core of their belief structure.
They should be strongly in favor of the right to keep and bear arms, understanding that any legislation that tries to regulate "illegal firearms" will result in removal of firearms from those who obey the law, not criminals. The original intent of this right was to prevent tyranny of the government. Criminals do not obey laws, but for some reason our leadership seems to think they'll just cave in and do it. Not.
A Conservative should be fiscally responsible, and not a free spender of the taxpayer's money.
A Conservative should be aware of the Christian roots of America, and understand that freedom to exercise religious beliefs is part of our foundation. The demand that we remove all religious things (especially Christian ones) from our life is a twisted and unconscionable attack on freedom.
A Conservative should be wise enough to see the truth about the issues, and compassionate enough to see the needs of the people. Black, White, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, whoever, they should see the hearts, not cave in to the principle of entitlement. They should see protection of America as the first rule of government. They should be able to ferret out lies by our enemies, and lies by our own leadership. Rather than be powerless against such lies, they should have the guts to stand up and be the David's against the Goliaths. So where are the conservatives?