There was a time not too long ago when I did not believe in very much, especially not God.  I believed in myself and that was about it.  The belief I am talking about I simply define as the ability to trust, and rely on someone or something. 

I did not know it then, but have come to realize now, that we all are missing something.  There is a place in our “heart” that is empty, until we fill it.  That place is meant to be filled with God.  He is what we are all missing until we get on board with Him.

If we do not fill it with Him then we all find something else to replace Him or we just feel empty.  I have been there and you may have also.  The problem is that the things we fill it with are not everlasting.  They will eventually lose the ability to satisfy. 

When I joined the army I found something bigger than myself to fill that place to a degree.  It’s called patriotism.  I gained a sense of pride for and love of the nation I live in.   Emotions seemed to well up in me when the flag was raised, when the anthem was sung, and when patriots were honored. 

Just a few months after I first got saved and joined my church, on Memorial Day weekend, my pastor called up all the veterans in my church and recognized them honorably for the service they had performed.  It was the first time anyone had ever given me an honorable mention, I believe, in my life.  As I have noted before, I was a loner and as such, just didn’t “belong” or “join” in very much.

But that felt good.  The sense of being a part of something bigger than myself gave me one of the first glimpses of how good it was to “belong”.  And I mistakenly grabbed hold of that patriotism again.  I was newly saved but God had not yet filled the empty places in my heart to the limits.  I squeezed a little bit of that old sense of pride in this nation into the recesses, the nooks and crannies where God was not, yet.

But, as anyone who is actively seeking to grow in relationship with God can attest, He will fill and overfill that place I am talking about.  He will squeeze out all of the empty things we try to fill ourselves with, if we let Him.  And when we do let Him, we will be better for it.      

Thinking of all that I just said, I have come to realize that America is not a “Christian nation”, though at one time it may have been close.  A nation cannot be a Christian.  Only people can.  A Christian is simply a member of the family and the army of God.  A nation cannot be a family member.  A nation is simply a place.  And I do believe we should aspire to be a nation of Christians.  A nation of true Christians, as I have been saying, truly could change the world. 

Some think that just because we are not all Christians then we must allow this country to be the change agent.  That somehow a nation, that has no soul, no morality in itself, can affect change.  The people are the soul of the nation.  And that should show us quickly that this is not a Christian nation because it has been quite a while since the people of this nation were mostly Christians.   

America is not a “shining city on a hill”.   We are a free nation and one of the very best examples of freedom in the world.  We should let our light of freedom be a shining example for the entire world.  But never think that this alone makes us good.  The very freedom we enjoy has also led to the very godlessness that we see on display. 

America is not the “greatest blessing God gave mankind”, though it is a great nation, even somewhat worthy, of our conditional adoration.   But we must remember the greatest blessing God gave man was His Son.  And the greatest benefit of that is that we have become citizens of a new nation, a better nation. 

Patriotic sentiment has its place but we mustn’t let it expand beyond its acceptable borders. We mustn’t let a belief that changing laws, changing elected officials, and changing what political party is in control, is actually going to change people.  Only Jesus changes people. 

We are citizens of both a country and a Kingdom.  Born into the USA but reborn into the Kingdom of God.  And that rebirth is the better of the two.  We must be careful not to confuse the one for the other.

America is not.  It is not going to make you happy.  It is not going to give you peace.  It is not helping you prepare for eternity.  It is not going to get your child, your grandchild, saved. 

America is not. 

Love you all

There was once a group of people that were led by a loving, just ruler.  He had their best interests at heart and He provided for them in all ways.  Materially, physically and spiritually.  He was stern at times but always quick to dispense mercy and grace. 

But the people were not happy.  Their ruler was not like the rulers that surrounded them in other kingdoms.  Their ruler was never seen and chose to give out His instruction through other men and sometimes directly to individuals.  And His main goal for His people was to spread the knowledge of who He was, all of His love, mercy, grace, provision and instruction, to all people. 

This ruler was the perfect ruler but He was not good enough.  The people He tried to lead wanted something else.  They wanted a king that was a man from among themselves.  This ruler, who by now you know was God, warned them that it would not work out the way they wanted.  But He gave them what they wanted.  He gave them Saul.

From that very first earthly king, things never went the way they should have.  There were a couple of good kings to the Israelites, but none of them ever came close to keeping them in proper relationship with God.   

This post is my response to the questions I put forth on Tuesday.  And for all who responded I seriously thank you and value your input.  I am not being pretentious in saying what I am about to say.  These are new thoughts for me, after spending lots of time in prayer over these issues of voting and the choices laid out before us. 

We are ambassadors of our own King if we have chosen to be a part of the Kingdom of God.  We are supposed to serve Him and His Kingdom.  But instead we seem to think it is the Government of the United States job to uphold our ways and laws.  We seem to think that it is actually the reverse of the way it is.  That this country and its rulers are the ambassadors.  Jesus told us that we are of another Kingdom.  And He told us, while we are here to give to this kingdom what belongs to it but to give to our Kingdom what belongs to Him. 

As Shelly said, even the rulers we think are the right ones turn out to be something other than what we perceived. 

We happen to be in a country where we have been given the “right” to vote.  This “right” has been given by the Constitution, not God.  There is simply no justification that I can find for anyone saying that we are obliged to vote.  God allows it but would not require it. 

And this is the most important part of this post.  If we are going to exercise our “right” to vote, then we better vote for that person that lines up mostly with the heart of God.  If we do not, then we will be held accountable for that vote. 

But as for the question I proposed, I do not believe a person of another faith, even if that person might not make it to eternity with us, cannot have a heart closer to God than someone who declares themselves Christian.  And surely they might be better able to run this country.  

And if you haven’t seen what I am implying yet, I am not sure we should even be concerned with voting.  And know that I expect to get some flak from this.

We have a King.  And instead of listening to Him and doing as He says we waste, yes waste, our time in all the intricacies of the political process. 

Just answer this.  Have you spent as much time talking about Jesus as you have talking about McCain or Obama?  Have you spent as much time reading the bible as you have reading the reports on either of the candidates?  Have you spent as much time seeking Truth as you have the latest sound bite or lie about any politician?

When God calls someone to do something, He knows they can get it done.  Not necessarily that they will.  There is no way in the corrupt system we have now in the US of A, that a politician can be Holy and be an effective leader of this nation at the same time.    Therefore I do not believe God is trying to put any of them in the position.  And He really does not have to. 

God anointed Saul as king.  He anointed David as king.  Then He anointed Jesus as King.  We do not need another. 

I wish these facts were not so.  I wish we could vote the right candidate in and all of the terrible things going on in this nation, which grieve and anger our Lord, would be made right.  But even more, I wish that we would try to start doing what He wants us to do.  Then we could change this nation.  It is never going to be up to the elected officials to bring about the Godly change we need.  It is going to be up to us. 

2Ch 7:14  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

The people of God must do these things.  Not the House, or the Senate, or the Judiciary, or the President, but only the people of God.  We want to blame everybody but ourselves.  And like when God called all the people to clean themselves up and come up the mountain to meet Him, we want someone, maybe another Moses, to do it for us. 

God help us and have mercy on those we have failed to reach.

I love you all so very much

We don’t need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone

For anyone who does not know, these are some of the lyrics from Another Brick in The Wall, Part 2, from The Wall by Pink Floyd.  Pink Floyd is my favorite band of all time.  I haven’t really listened to them since I came into the Kingdom but I still can’t deny that I think this. 

Roger Waters wrote this song as an attack against a specific type of learning. The lyrics rebuke those teachers who use “thought control” and “dark sarcasm” to mold the school children into mindless drones of society. While there seems to be no specific allusion to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, there are certainly parallels between Huxley’s vision of future “education” and the rote learning of Pink’s (Waters fictional character) teachers. Huxley’s novel presents children learning largely through hypnopedia, a process of repeating fundamental lessons to each child as he or she sleeps. Although the specific lessons depend upon the child’s social status, there are certain governing “truths” that are taught which all must abide by.

The outcome is a loss of individuality and the molding of each child into identical cells in the body of society. Though the educational system Waters is speaking out against is not as subliminal as Huxley’s vision, the effects are the same, producing social clones who know the definition of an acre yet who cannot produce an original, imaginative thought throughout the majority of their lives. This is a song about reclaiming stifled individuality; it’s a criticism regarding the types of teachers and systems that ridicule an imaginative child for writing poetry, as in Pink’s case.

So what does all of this have to do with what I am talking about in this thesis on spiritual warfare and how we are to be combat ready?

In this post, I wrote that I believe our adversary uses Academics and the pursuit of knowledge as a weapon against us.  One way that I believe the enemy has corrupted theological education and knowledge is by the division of doctrinal thought to a degree that keeps us from being willing to hear another side, leading to the current state of disunity in the body of Christ concerning a lot of doctrinal issues. 

I read a lot and I read all sides.  I am not afraid to read viewpoints from Pentecostals, Catholics, evangelicals, fundamentalists, Calvinists, Armenians, atheists and even devil worshippers.  I feel a need to know what other believers believe and what non believers are doing.  Without this knowledge, how can I possibly be prepared for an assault?  Can I even recognize an assault?

Shouldn’t all knowledge and the pursuit of it lead to a better understanding of God?  Instead, in most of what I read, I do not necessarily see a pursuit as much as a presentation of what I should believe.  Those who hold to a deterministic view of God’s sovereignty will quickly declare the open theist a heretic.  A lot of tongue talking Pentecostals will not give a cessationists book a second glance.  And just let someone declare misgivings or misunderstanding concerning the trinity. 

We are never going to agree on everything but shouldn’t we be teachable and open?  Shouldn’t we be able to listen with an open heart and mind and be willing to accept that maybe, just maybe, we might be wrong? 

On another site I was in a discussion about free will when someone commented that God’s purposes cannot be thwarted.  (Job 42:2) She meant it in the sense that whatever happens does so because God wants or causes it to happen. When I questioned her about evil, of course she went back to that statement taken from Job and that is where she made her stand.  I realized I was wasting my time after having that one verse thrown, like some kind of grenade, at me numerous times. It may sound harsh but I do not think she has an open mind and will probably never think on her own.  She has been “taught” a certain doctrine and is okay staying right there.  It brings her comfort but I doubt that someone who just lost a loved one from a long drawn out terminal illness, or a child to a disease, or a spouse cut down in a gangland shooting, would find her “grenade” any comfort at all.

The schools and seminary’s seem to be divided along denominational lines and it seems that almost all of those that go to reformed schools stay reformed, fundamentalists stay fundamental, and so on.  Which in any other type of learning would probably be okay. 

But if there is one Holy Spirit who is supposed to guide us into all truth and we all have that Spirit in us, then why are there so many different schools of thought, and why do we have to attach labels to everything?  If we all do not agree, then someone is wrong.  We must be willing to admit that it might just be me and hear someone else out.  And what about those educated, distinguished, esteemed teachers of the truth, (that never seem to bend or give.)?  They need to realize that in the training of the body of Christ there is no room for “thought control” and “dark sarcasm”.  We do not need any more mindless drones in the Kingdom of God.  We need thinkers.  People willing to possibly go outside the normal theological stances and see what exactly we have wrong. 

And we are wrong.  There is just too much evidence of it.  Not only the division of the body but there is the lack of empowerment and influence to even maintain current levels of Kingdom population.    

A final thought on all this takes us back to what I said in the post linked above.  In the Word of God  there are some warnings about knowledge and the pursuit of it.  (Luk 11:52, 1 Cor 8:1, 1 Cor 13:2)  If knowledge is not shared, if it brings about pride, or if it is presented with no love, it is not of God or of any good to Him.  God wants us to seek knowledge and wisdom.  But it is Godly knowledge not worldly that is to be sought.  Any other becomes a deadly weapon to be exploited by the enemy. 

Some of our most intelligent, intellectual theologians have reached a place where they are no longer teachable.  And in their arrogance they do a lot of harm to the body of Christ thru division and debate.  They have become prideful and unloving in their exposition of truth.  The more some learn about God the less they look like Him. 

Our Father asks us to “Come now, let us reason together… Isa 1:18.  I believe this reasoning with God and with each other is a necessary component of our combat readiness training.

Education and knowledge contribute to wisdom, but they are not wisdom.  You won’t get that from seminary.

So I can’t say “We don’t need no education” but I can definitely say “We don’t need no thought control”.

Love you all

Joh 11:35  Jesus wept.

These are two words that have had a tremendous impact on me.  For the Son of God himself, to weep over something, over anything, has provided me with a lot of direction in my quest to know who He is.  To weep implies concern.  It implies compassion.  It implies true love. 

I never used to cry.  I just didn’t care enough about anyone else.  But I find myself tearing up now over some of the most unusual things.  Even though I am sometimes embarrassed and even wish this part of my growing compassion and love didn’t have to be, I am still thankful for this growth.  The ability to care for someone other than yourself hurts though.  If you don’t ever find yourself hurting for another, including even strangers, you might not be where Jesus wants you to be. 

I have been trying to figure out what exactly made Jesus weep at this point in the narrative for a while now.  I am pretty sure He weeps over quite a few of the things we do or fail to do.  But what happened in this story about Lazarus that had such an impact on Him that the Holy Spirit impressed it upon John to write this down in his gospel.

To find out why Jesus wept at this time we must look at the whole story behind it.  It started in John 11:1 when we find out that Lazarus is ill and Martha and Mary send for Jesus.  When He finds out He immediately lets everyone know that this illness will not lead to death but is to glorify God and Himself.  He waits a couple of days and then sets out to where His friends live.  The disciples are concerned and He lets them know that Lazarus has died so now it is time to go.  Why now?

Joh 11:14-15 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Note the words that Jesus spoke.  Especially note the part that says, for your sake…so that you may believe.  They start out and the disciples still don’t get it, stating they might as well go and die also. 

Martha meets them and says she knows thing could have been different if Jesus had been there.  He tells her that Lazarus will rise (Joh 11:23) and she says she knows this.  He would rise in the resurrection.  Jesus lets her know that He is the resurrection and the life (Joh 11:25-26) and asks her, “Do you believe this?”

Martha says she does and goes and gets Mary.  When Mary comes to Jesus with others He sees that they are all weeping and then she tells Him basically the same thing that Martha had.  Then look at the next verse.

Joh 11:33  When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

He was greatly troubled and then he asked about the tomb and that is when He wept.  Some who saw Him thought that He must have greatly loved Lazarus and some basically thought that He should have been there to save His friend.  Then we come to the real reason Jesus wept in the following verse.

Joh 11:40  Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

Jesus had began by telling the disciples that this was all for Gods glory.  Did they believe and rejoice?  Then He told Martha that her brother would be resurrected.  Did she run and proclaim the good news to her sister and the others?  Then when Mary and the others came, still weeping, He realized the truth of the whole matter.  They did not believe. 

They thought they knew Him.  They thought their confession of Him was complete.  They thought they believed Him.  But their hearts said otherwise.  He wept because even after all that He had shown them, they still did not believe and receive Him for who He was. 

Another time, in Luke 19:41, He wept over Jerusalem.  Again He was weeping because of their unbelief.  The very people He had come to save did not believe Him and receive Him.

In the state of unbelief, we all make Jesus weep.  He does not just weep when the lost reject Him.  Jesus weeps when we do not accept what He says.  When we do not understand that His way is the only way.  When we do not believe He will do as He said He would do. 

If we could come to a place where we truly believe, radically believe, everything He has said, we might just start something real.  Something that would have eternity changing impact. 

No matter what, the fact that He did and probably does, weep for us all, should tell us that He truly does love us.

Jesus wept.  Do you care?  Do you believe? 

Love you all