“But I am an American. I am a Christian. I have a duty to God and Country.”

This is the statement that started the conversation for last Tuesday.  I did not give much background information, just posited a statement that was made on another site.  I also said that it bothered me but not how or why.  Then I gave all of you the opportunity to respond and you gave some excellent thoughts about the whole issue of duty.

Duty, as stated by one of the commentator’s, has a definition that anyone can look up in the dictionary.  I did it and most do.  When we do this we see that out of all the listings it boils down to basically two different things can be meant by the word.

It can mean a duty is something that you have to do or should do because of your job or some role that has been assigned to you.  While in the army of this nation it was my duty to fight because of the job I took and the role I was given, not to mention the oath that I took.  But it is also the duty of the janitor to sweep and mop floors.  It is his duty, in this sense of the word, because it is his job.  We tend to reserve the word duty, in this definition, for people that are a little higher profile than the janitor, but we shouldn’t.

Now the second sense, or definition of the word, is that duty is something we ought to do.  Morally, legally, or spiritually I really ought or owe something to someone.

Read the last statement again and maybe you can “foreknow” or “foresee” what bothered me about the statement.

If duty, as the statement is implying, is something I owe, then it has to be to someone or some group of someone’s.  In my view, the statement we started with has a couple of things wrong with it.  First the implication is there that being an American and being a Christian are somehow equal and can be true.  Before some of you get mad at me, I know we are Americans.  But only in the sense that we live on a certain piece of dirt not in a sense of true identity.  As people, Americans are not anything special.  I am a Christian because the One who made that certain piece of dirt, and even made us out of some of it,   chose to adopt me into His family thereby guaranteeing my eternal citizenship in the Kingdom of God. (Christianity)  And we are special people.

As one of you stated “my allegiance is also to the Lamb” and therefore cannot be to the USA.  This is a recent change in me, by the way.  I can live here, work here, raise a family here, and even fight to protect what I have here, but it is still so very temporary.  And I do not owe anything to America.

“Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.”

This was a moving statement, provoking a sense of duty, possibly at a time when it was needed.  But it is still a load of hogwash.  (What is hogwash?)  I believe you get what I mean.

A nation, especially this supposedly great nation, is supposed to be set up to serve and represent the people in it.  Do I need to capitalize people here?  This would be a time when I could go along with the sense of owing a nation, if it was meant to owe a group of people.  But the United States is not a servant of the people anymore and according to JFK we shouldn’t even expect it to be.  This nation stopped being about people a long time ago and instead is a machine grinding out one new group of self interested parties after another.

I owe it nothing.  This country never made me, it never cared for me, and it never saved me.  This country is an it.  It is a place to live.  It is a piece of dirt.  I am paying monthly for my little piece of dirt so what else do I owe.  The ones I am buying my dirt from bought it from someone before them, who bought it from someone before them,… who stole it from someone before them, who took it from someone before them,… who parked themselves on it and claimed it as their own before them, while the One who truly owns it all just has to be laughing at our ideas about possessions.

I do not believe we owe or have a duty, as implied in the statement starting all of this, to any nation.  I am conservative in most of my values but getting more liberal in my affections every day.  I believe this is what becoming Christ like is all about.  I owe nothing to any entity but do owe all to God and also to you.

So many conservatives lashed out at every compassionate attempt at a solution to the illegal immigrant issue.  (Which has been waylaid again)  There have always been objections, and I think rightly, to any plan that lets someone come and be a citizen here if they are not willing to learn the language and forsake their allegiance to the country they are leaving.  But Christian Americans are hypocritical in this sense.  We just don’t want to forsake our allegiance to America for the Kingdom.

That seems to be because some of us have mistakenly believed America is the Kingdom of God here on earth.  But we have fellow citizens all over the world.  Some are even being blown up by American Christians right now.  America never was a Christian nation and it never will be, unless God annexes it into the New Jerusalem.  It was a nation founded on Judeo Christian values and that is that.  Freedom of religion was a guaranteed right, from the start, no matter how many of the founders were Christians themselves.  They seemed to understand what we sometimes don’t and that is, that this Kingdom we are supposed to be a part of is not a Kingdom advanced by the sword, but instead experiences growth only through loving service to PEOPLE themselves, not to a nation or any piece of dirt.

I am an American by definition based on where I live, but I am a child of the King, a citizen of The Kingdom of God, and an Ambassador for Christ and His Kingdom while he leaves me here on this piece of dirt called America.

To answer my own questions; I don’t like the statement and believe it to be false as stated, I have a duty to the God that saved me and He really only expects that as a loving duty and not coerced, and I don’t owe this nation a thing.  It owes me the protection and service that it was set up for and even that I have to pay for.  So that even proves that in one sense of the word, America has a duty to me.  It is its job.

Love you all

Tags: allegiance, America, Christian Americans, Christians, Compassion, Conservative, God, god and country, Jerusalem, Kingdom, Liberal, Love, Self, Servant, USA, Work

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 

Tags: Belief, Believe, Compassion, Eternity, Grief, Heaven, Jesus Christ, Love, Trust, Unbelief

Tomorrow is the first of four special days that the General Overseer of my denomination has called to be set aside as special days of concerted prayer.  Starting at midnight and going till midnight there should not be a minute of any hour when there are no prayers being poured out to God on behalf of ourselves, our families, our churches, and our nation and world.  It should be an awesome time of communion with our Father.  I intend to pray as much as I can.  I have actually determined in my heart and mind that I will pray more tomorrow than I ever have. 

What is prayer to you? 

I could go on quite a bit on this but that is not the focus for now.  So for now, I will keep this simple.  I believe prayer to be, at the simplest level, communication with God.  A discussion with our Lord.  A talk with our Father. 

I actually heard an evangelist say once that this is not what prayer is.  He said prayer was asking and receiving from God.  I have to disagree with this.  If this was all prayer is, then how in the world are we supposed to pray without ceasing?  I want and need a lot of things but, I can’t even begin to come up with enough to continuously, never cease, to ask from God.  And if prayer is also receiving and we look to James 5:16 to see that righteous men’s prayers accomplish much, then why aren’t some receiving a whole lot?

Tuesday, in my first attempt to stimulate discussion, I posted and posited a scenario and some questions in hope of provoking thought on prayer, its effectiveness, and to ask if it was truly enough, in a given situation. 

I thank the three, only three, that responded with their comments.  They were good, loving responses to the situation I put forth.  But they didn’t get to the place I wanted to get to. 

I am one of the first ones that will say we have to love, and love, and love some more.  But I also believe, no, I know, that that love will look different depending on the person, the situation, and the circumstances. 

In that post, I asked the following questions.  What do you do?  How do you pray?  What do you ask for?  And do you think it would be effective?

The answers I got were great answers, and loving answers in a way, but the whole post was really designed to let me ask this question.

When is it time to stop letting people off the hook, so to speak, and tell them in no uncertain terms, that your praying for them in their current state, is probably a waste of time? 

Whew!  I got it out.  You will never know how hard it was for me to write that question. 

When I asked; what do you do; I knew that the vast majority say to simply pray.  Don’t confront, that has been done.  Don’t instruct, they already know.  Don’t judge, they need compassion. 

When I asked; how do you pray; I knew the vast majority of the faithful would say to pray for his salvation, his healing or comfort, and for God to be glorified.  I didn’t think anyone would pray for strength and instruction on how to disassemble the lies and deception our adversary had woven in this man’s life.

When I asked; what do you ask for; I knew the requests would mainly be in how to show love to the man, how to show compassion and how to love him.  I somehow knew that no one would ask God how to tell the guy that he is on his own if He doesn’t do a little more himself, like joining in the battle for his soul, than just relying on other warriors. 

Finally, when I asked if the prayers sent up would be effective; I somehow knew that most thought they would be.  I would have been very surprised if James 5:16 had not been brought up.  It was, by two out of the three commentators.  I even used it above.  It is a powerful verse but, we all have to admit that sometimes, no matter how fervent, no matter how much faith we have, what we ask for does not come about.  Sometimes people are not saved, sometimes people are not healed, and sometimes God is not glorified in a given situation. 

Jas 5:13-16  Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Who is James talking to?  He is talking to the brethren; those who walk in service to our King.  The man in my scenario was not described to be one of the brethren.  Just going to church does not mean you are fighting on the side of the Kingdom.  But you say, I am the one that is righteous and asked to do the praying.  Look at the part I emboldened.  It is the first part of James 5:16.  It is the part that no one bothers to memorize.  In my scenario the man never said he wanted to confess, or get forgiveness.  I purposefully implied that he only wanted healed.  Most of the people in church who don’t have nothing to do with you, the true prayer warriors, will quickly turn to you when they really, selfishly, need something.  But does that mean God will do what we ask?  Because of our service, and our faith?

It is time that we did a little bit more.  Prayer is our most effective weapon in the spiritual warfare we are involved in.  But we have to get it out of our head that it is to simply ask and receive.  In my scenario it is actually more about discussing the battle plan with our King. How do we let this man know that He can be healed, and forgiven, if he will only turn from his iniquity? 

 Isa 59:2  but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

The man in my scenario, and many of those out there that ask for prayer, have caused God to hide His face from them because of their iniquity.  Some of my own children are in this group.  Do I stop praying for them?  No.  But do I let them know that that is probably not enough?  That they have a part to play in their own salvation?  Every chance I get. 

What is wrong with letting those that are on the wide path to destruction know that they bear the responsibilty for their choice?  As the people in the culture we live in accelerate ever faster towards their doom, isn’t it time we joined in the fight, to ram into them if need be, to knock them off the path to destruction? 

Sometimes, love hurts.

Love you all

Tags: Boldness, Christianity, Christians, Compassion, Faith, God, Healing, Iniquity, Judgment, Love, Prayer, Responsibility, Self, Selfishness, Servant Hood, Service, Sin, Spiritual Warfare, Weapons