I wanted to reflect a little bit here, after all, I am part of this culture also and apparently blogs have assumed a place in the national conversation today. I previously described how I went back and forth on the issue of the Christian and Politics. I fully acknowledge that the Christian faith in the lives of believers should be the essence of our being. God causes nations to rise and fall. There are dangers in tying our faith too closely to America. By too closely I mean a number of things: We can easily believe that America is a Christian nation where it is not and never has been. Since 1776 it has been a nation with a God-fearing populace, many of whom are Christian, and has been greatly used in the proclamation of the gospel. We can be blind to our failures, which have at times been great. The love that our faith should be built on can be diminished, even disappear, while we defend this nation that we "love." We can fail to remember scriptural admonitions addressed to Israel that it was folly to rely on, not only "their" military might, but military might in general.
Many Christians look to our defense of Israel as being "God's people" (America) and their duty to defend "God's people" (Israel.) Both are incorrect presuppositions. There is a strong inclination to want to back away from politics and many have done so and are vocal in this opinion. I cannot say that they may not eventually prove to be closer to the truth. Ultimately, I chose the other path. It seemed to me that other's decisions to avoid this area may have been influenced by the extreme difficulties that come with trying to influence our government's policies in this tumultuous era. There are times when you want to quit.
There are times when you see yourself compromising compassion, so instead of facing this difficult problem, some eliminate it. I listen to these Christians, who I love and many of whom have been the conduit for blessings to me, but they tend to have few, if any answers in helping a nation, greatly in decline. It is a violent life in much of America and our culture is a prime contributor to this, yet they disdain efforts to change the culture. They think it sufficient to just avoid it which is like a fish trying to avoid the water. They do not want to be associated with professing Christians and Christians that have indeed turned Christianity into a nationalistic passion.
It is a challenge to stand on some issues with a Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or a Glenn Beck. There is little that ties us to them other than we are Americans defending our nation against devastatingly godless philosophies. Even if God should have mercy on this nation and we revert to a former condition, that condition was far from what we should be remotely satisfied with. We live in this world but it is simply a pilgrimage. We face temptation from every side. Our faculties cannot protect us as we must rely totally on God's protective hand on us through this, even as our attempts to change societies bring additional temptations. I hope to write more and participate more, should the Lord even will it, but I realize that these are temporal issues, but temporal issues that affect Christians and non-Christians alike. I think that it would be hard to defend, for example, sitting back and watching generations of our children, who in the past learned to read through the McGuffey Reader, now educated in a culture that treats God as a myth.
Many Christians look to our defense of Israel as being "God's people" (America) and their duty to defend "God's people" (Israel.) Both are incorrect presuppositions. There is a strong inclination to want to back away from politics and many have done so and are vocal in this opinion. I cannot say that they may not eventually prove to be closer to the truth. Ultimately, I chose the other path. It seemed to me that other's decisions to avoid this area may have been influenced by the extreme difficulties that come with trying to influence our government's policies in this tumultuous era. There are times when you want to quit.
There are times when you see yourself compromising compassion, so instead of facing this difficult problem, some eliminate it. I listen to these Christians, who I love and many of whom have been the conduit for blessings to me, but they tend to have few, if any answers in helping a nation, greatly in decline. It is a violent life in much of America and our culture is a prime contributor to this, yet they disdain efforts to change the culture. They think it sufficient to just avoid it which is like a fish trying to avoid the water. They do not want to be associated with professing Christians and Christians that have indeed turned Christianity into a nationalistic passion.
It is a challenge to stand on some issues with a Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or a Glenn Beck. There is little that ties us to them other than we are Americans defending our nation against devastatingly godless philosophies. Even if God should have mercy on this nation and we revert to a former condition, that condition was far from what we should be remotely satisfied with. We live in this world but it is simply a pilgrimage. We face temptation from every side. Our faculties cannot protect us as we must rely totally on God's protective hand on us through this, even as our attempts to change societies bring additional temptations. I hope to write more and participate more, should the Lord even will it, but I realize that these are temporal issues, but temporal issues that affect Christians and non-Christians alike. I think that it would be hard to defend, for example, sitting back and watching generations of our children, who in the past learned to read through the McGuffey Reader, now educated in a culture that treats God as a myth.
