A Fine and Pleasant Misery

Patrick McManus is a North Idaho author with a twisted sense of humor. His title, "A Fine and Pleasant Misery" seems to reflect just how I feel this morning when I think about America. It's miserable, but I love her. When I reflect on all the fireworks displays from the New Year celebrations (including the neighbors who drive me nuts with all the noise), it's bittersweet to my heart. America is the best country in the world, and in spite of the intents of people to destroy her she has previously weathered them with grace. The attempts by groups to re-write history, the constant barrage of anti-prayer, anti-Christian,anti-everything that matters, the politically correct garbage spewed by different groups...all of these things seek to destroy the foundations of liberty. Jealousy is what drives their penchant to destroy us. We must find a way to stand against these things in a spirit of love and reconcilation, even if it costs us our lives. When the members of Congress fail to stand up for their heart values, it becomes a disease that rapidly kills the strength of the people. When groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution can't stand for the truth of their own heritage, they don't deserve to be called Daughters of the American Revolution.We should stand for our values with love and purity of heart, but we should not be wishy washy in our beliefs. "Weakness" is not where we are supposed to stand... "meekness" is God's command. There is a significant difference between those two words. I hope that in 2013 the American people will find their guts. Gun control, taxes, the constant imposition of the government on our lives, all chip away at our freedom and our future. America is wonderful. Let's save her!

The Wreaking of Havoc

I think we should ban autmobiles and go back to horses.Very few people statistically are ever run over with horses. But, cars, that's another story. Ask any insurance company, those cars are flat deadly and wreak havoc all over the world. Sometimes there are 10-20 car pile-ups on major freeways. We should ban them, just sayin.' Just post a person with a pooper scooper everytime you leave the house and we're good. Or a diaper for the horse, although that might get messy after the first turn around the city. And while we're at it, let's get rid of knives. Knives are nasty creatures, I use them all the time and cut my fingers regularly. Sometimes I bleed on the food and have to throw it out. Have to use copious amounts of band-aids to fix my fingers. Shameful. I think getting rid of them altogether is good. After all most of us now have food processors or those jam-the-tomato-on-the-cutters-doo-dahs and we can probably cope. Just because Grandpa Hoozits knows how to make a knife doesn't mean anything, right? And what about drugs, you've tried banning those, yeah not so effective. Or poisons? People keep making them.Huh. Must be something we can do. But let's be serious about gun control for a minute: even in Europe where guns are rigidly controlled, they have had massacres like ours: Dunblane, Ireland; Kingsmill, Ireland; Norway, etc. So what do we do to prevent these atrocities? How do we save the lives of our precious children amidst a world filled with people bent on destruction, driven by evil? Their hearts are evil, not the implements they choose. The gun didn't wreak gavoc on the earth, but their hearts surely can and do. We must live in truth and understanding, with a healthy dose of forgiveness.Without the seeds of forgiveness, we become cold hearted, self-centered people. The hearts of men are desperately wicked. If we do not want to fall into that category ourselves, we have to be a vigilant and prayerful people. We could not have saved those blessed children in Newtown, CT.because of the personal actions of a messed up kid. But we can be aware of our own hearts and keep them fully centered in Christ. It's never easy to do that; it's nearly always difficult. But as the world grows colder, thanks to the kind of evil we saw in Connecticut, we must stay warm with the love and forgiveness, the fruits of the Holy Spirit. And it will require every ounce of strength, every modicum of God's power in our hearts to stay in that place. As the Allstate Insurance advertisement claims, we need to be protected from "mayhem." Or the wreaking of havoc.

What do the "righteous" do?

First let me define "righteous"- it's a legal term that means right standing. The ONLY way we get there is by acceptance of Jesus as our Savior. That's it. We don't get there by works, although works are an important part of following the Lord. Sometimes Christians get that backwards.We can't work our way to the Lord, no matter how "good" we are on the surface. But we should follow Him daily by doing the things He asks us to do. Enough said on that. So what do people who love Christ do when every sign around them shows things swirling down the toilet of sin and destruction? They trust. They refuse to bow their knee to what's happening. I read a short piece from a brother in Christ this morning, and by and large it was true. We must pray in the gap for our land and our people because things are quickly spiraling out of control. We must stand firm in our principles. We must not buckle under the pressure to believe what the world believes about things. But he left out one key piece of the puzzle: trust (faith). When Daniel's three friends were faced with being thrown in a furnace hotter that the human body could survive, they looked the king in the eye and with humility told him flat that it didn't matter whether God saved them or not, they would not bow their knee to his image. The king became enraged and pitched them into the fire.We know the rest of the story: a fourth Man "like the Son of God" appeared in the flames and walked around in the furnace with them. They didn't even so much as have the smell of smoke on their clothing. What we need to see in that is a) God doesn't remove us from the fire, He stands beside us in it, and b) trusting God when everything around us is dark and evil is essential. We are only in the beginnings of fire right now. Because we chose to elect a President that does not operate in our values, that fire is going to burn ever hotter. We cannot and should not sit on our comfortable couch and watch Desperate Housewives. We must pray, repent, and hope. God can and will do as He chooses. But unless we use our faith muscles we will get soft and worthless. Our Lord loves those who trust Him and those who believe in His love in their lives.

Controversial me

My earthly dad had a very black and white personality. No such thing as lukewarm in his world- either you loved him or hated him and vice versa. It appears I have the same effect on people. Good for me. Must be doing something right. A friend from Twitter called me "auspicious" this morning. What a compliment. The word means "favorable" or "prosperous." While some days I don't feel so prosperous, I know that I am blessed beyond a lot of folks. So my babbling this afternoon will be about that. 1. I am blessed because a man on death row says he trusts me not to condemn him further. Say what you will, that is a huge compliment. And amazing, considering where the guy has come from in his life. That statement recently almost brought tears to my eyes. 2. I am blessed because I believe in the redemption of the lost. Redemption, by the way is not perfection, it is "adoption" or "purchased." If we were all perfect we'd be walking on water all the time. I've run into many people who demand perfection and therefore can't see redemption standing in front of them. (Snarl) 3. I am blessed because I have friends and relatives who love me. And I am blessed to love them back.There's not enough of that in the world- true friendship that lasts through time. I am fond of telling my friends that when I get a friend, I intend to keep them forever. If God can do it for me, I can do it for them... and Him. No matter what we encounter in our lives, the ability to love is everything. America's love has grown cold. People are living in fear, anger, and bitterness. Because of it, our nation is polarized into opposing forces that cannot meet without compromising the values of the people. Instead of rational thought we have judgments and opinions that are running amok throughout the nation.So I will hold fast my blessings listed above. Who knows how someone will try to steal them.

Who Gets Who

While many conservative Christians are wringing their hands and wallowing in defeat (the woe-is-me syndrome), there are a couple of very bright sides to the coin. A dear friend reminded me of them as doom and gloom tried to settle over a prayer meeting the other day. She said, "The Republicans still have control of the House." And I mentioned that we had 30 gubernatorial seats. While it means that gridlock is the way of the political scene right now, it also means that there is still some sort of balance in spite of the left-wing coup. There is still hope for America. They can try to remove God from all areas of America life, but HE is alive, real, and cannot be removed from anyplace. They can run but they can't hide. Everyone loves to see apocalypse on the horizon. The left hopes for Conservative doom, and the right prays for the judgment of Liberals. As Mark Twain once said, "All Democrats are insane, but not one of them knows it. None but the Republicans. All the Republicans are insane, but only the Democrats can perceive it. The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane." It's much like little children who face each other and yell "You're gonna get it" at each other. I have seen God move recently in the lives of people that everyone else gave up on. I have felt His compassion and watched His Grace take over when it all seemed lost. There is no greater hope for us all that in the One True Living God. He lives in three persons- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And He cannot be killed. Not by Harry Reid, not by Eric Holder, not by Mr. Obama. Terrorists can't snuff Him out. He is the one constant in America that has been with us from the very beginning. Yes, there is judgment, but there is also mercy. And boy, as individuals do we need mercy now more than ever! And no, there were no Muslims in the Revolution or the Civil War. No one screamed allah ahkbar as they jumped out of the bushes to fight the British Army. Our forefathers were both secular and Christian in faith, and they are the reason we live as free men and women today. This government is working hard to destroy all that we are, but they are forgetting that The God of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Deborah, Paul, Peter, John, Mary, James, etc.... is alive and well. So in the "Who Gets Who" debate, let's remember that God hasn't taken a vacation. Let us stand in faith like free men and women and keep our hand-wringing in check. We've got much work to do!

Failure to move forward

Well, the votes are in and the people have voiced their inability to change anything. Basically they voted to sit in their read ends and complain. Our nation fairly screamed that they like whining and refuse to get out of debt,or move past strife and division. The House is still Republican, the Senate is still Democrat, and the White House is still over spending. Our local Sheriff race has left the same ol' group in charge and failed to move forward into a new era. VERY sad. Gridlock is in our future, not forward momentum. Watch for an economic crisis of historic proportions. Watch for the coldness of society to become a titanic iceberg. Maybe it IS time to buy more toilet paper. As my dear friend put it this morning: "America is still the greatest nation in the world." At least it used to be- what we will behold in the next 4 years could dampen that enthusiasm. I love the America I grew up in. I love the flag that flies over a proud and stable nation. I love the military that strives to keep me safe. I love the freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, the ability to choose how to live my life. Those things may change in the next few years, so prepare yourselves. Keep your eyes focused on the One True Living God and let Him guide you all through this difficult time. He's the only stable help we have.

Go vote!

If I hear one more person tell me they aren't voting next Tuesday because they "don't like the choices" I'm going to flip out and shove them onto a cargo ship to Albania. They don't like the choices then go somewhere that never gets choices at all! Seriously. One of the greatest gifts that God has given America is the privilege-- and responsibility -- to vote. Remember that first election in Iraq? The one where the people all ran around with purple fingers and were proud of it? America wake up! The fate of our nation is in the hands of the voting public- and if that block of folks stays home and grouses about everything, they are going to hand the nation over to people who don't care about it. ( I think they did that...) God wants people who are doers of the Word, not couch potatoes who gripe. I hear Christians complain about a Mormon candidate- and my answer is so what? This is the very thing that sank us all in the last election: murmuring and backstabbing, complaining and whining. They didn't like John McCain and look what happened: instead of a moderate we got a screaming liberal. Brilliant, people. Way to go. God will one day demand of us an account of our actions. He will want to know why we stayed home and refused to vote when millions of other people on the planet are not allowed that privilege. It must mean that we are not a grateful people, and we don't value that which God has given us. Personally, I don't want to be on that end of the conversation, do you?