Drunken Mystic

For those of you who know me well, you realize that while what I believe comes across fairly well, my writing style (and sometimes speaking style) is one of confidence and clear lines.  That is, in part, my personality, but another part of that, quite honestly, is a result of speaking by conviction.

We discussed this a little this past Sunday at house church … God doesn’t let me write or teach on something and then not be an example of that very principle in some way.  I’m not legalistic nor perfect, so there will be exceptions or deviations based on the situation.  But I am mostly compelled by conviction to live a certain way, and that comes across when I teach or write.  I sometimes wish I were more cool … you know like those modern stream of consciousness dudes that write books and sell quite a few of them … then I realize I am who I am and not to be so petty when it comes to these things.  Life is way more about being than doing, and so whatever I do is a result of who God has made me, for the most part.

And I realize that my writing style, being so confident, doesn’t really foster discussion or comments.  But I do appreciate them, even the ones that challenge and disagree with me.  In the past, I would have used it as an opportunity to just argue, but that seems like a waste of time most days … maybe just ’cause I’m getting old.  But not I appreciate the comments as another’s perspective, and God has, for the most part, made them who they are, as well, and I should at least listen and try to hear His voice in the midst of what they’re saying, even when they disagree, and usually I do hear His voice in there somewhere.

So most people don’t read the comments on my blogs, either … but Steve wrote a great on on a previous post and asked a good question.  Here it is:

How do you avoid being self righteous, while proclaiming a desparately needed truth to blind people?

Before I give some insight, let me first say that self righteousness is a trap for those seeking to be righteous.  Hopefully that’s not too new of a concept for us.  Sometimes what began as a genuine search for holiness is turned into something very prideful and self-serving.  Of course, we need to seek after righteousness in all its forms, not just the passe liberal causes or conservative rants, but a righeousness of Christ that challenges both political spectrums and convicts the world as a whole.

Ah, but then you can easily begin to compare and get into pride and envy and all kinds of things that take away from love.

All that to say, this is a great question.

So I will begin by saying that we must remember to look at every person involved in a sin as a creation of God, loved by Him more than we can imagine.  We may see evil and sin, and God sees that, too, but He also sees His ability to redeem … and that end is more beautiful than we can really know until we all get there and see it with reborn eyes.  We must see the issue as a people who were ourselves redeemed from sin, obligated to grace and mercy.  This does not negate the truth, but affects how we view even those we know are steeped in sin.

For abortion specifically, we love and fight for the oppressed, the unborn, but to realize that opposing abortion is also being compassionate on behalf of the mother and father of that child.  So we are also fighting for the woman, both before and after the act of killing the little miracle inside of herself.

I believe it is incredibly oppressive to the soul of a person, a woman specifically, to tell her that it is her “right” to take the life of another human being.  Abortion sears the conscience, creates physical problems, and gives the woman emotional baggage, sometimes for the rest of her life.

I also believe that our country is setting itself up for wrath and judgment by God for so systematically taking part in such a thing.  I know the whole earth will be judged one day, but am I to wish more to be heaped up against our leaders and others than they will already have to deal with on that Day?  Seems compassionate to me to minimize it as much as possible.

So that’s where we begin, seeking to redeem all involved, not just the ending of abortion, but redemption for everyone in the situation: mother, child, and government that deems it legal and acceptable.

Also, the Church really needs to do a better job adopting unwanted children.  I know I don’t talk about it as much.  But one day, when I adopt a child (something Becca and I talk about A LOT), you can better believe I will speak out for adoption on an epic scale.

The financial mismanagement of the American “church” (the organized religion part of it, at least) is quite tragic.  I know much is given by certain churches and groups, and I commend them, but there are still way too many resources dedicated to great sound systems and computer animation that could easily be cut back and eliminated for things like this: paying the cost for godly parents to adopt children.

This is getting personal, but how many Christian married couples wait years now before they have kids?  Becca and I did.  And you know what?  We could have, and maybe should have, looked into adoption even before Micah was born.  I’ve said many times before that the greatest gift we could have given Micah was a big brother.  We could have easily done that.  We could have come up with the money, spent less on other stuff, taken less of an interest in our own lives … that really didn’t matter much because we are not better or worse off for such self seeking today.  That is a serious statement, but true.

Another thing about adoption.  Do you know who is kicking the Church’s butt on adopting kids?  Gay people.  They are adopting like crazy.  And what is funny, is many (or most) gay couples probably vote liberal Democrat and support a “woman’s right to choose”.  But they will adopt a kid in a heartbeat.  I know some great gay people and couples that will probably do a great job as parents, but I hope you see my point.  I’m not trying to put down the gay and lesbian community but to challenge the Church to stop “finding yourself” in marriage and start adopting kids.

So that’s my answer.  Have a redemptive compassion on everyone, even the woman after she’s killed that baby, because God knows she needs redemptive compassion in that place, and will need healing and restoration only God can provide.  Pray for our leaders, that God would turn their hearts so that they will not heap up such abomination in their own name.  Then show what you really believe by DOING something.  In this case, adopt a kid.  If you’re single, give money to a godly couple you trust to adopt one. Be vocally supportive for using the money taken up by your local fellowship to do these types of things, not get better carpeting.

These are the things our house church community discusses and challenges one another with as we feel such conviction on this particular issue (among others).

Hope that answered the question … any comments?

Peace.

I’ve dealt with allergies my whole life.  My dad made me cut the grass every couple weeks as a kid even though I would snot all over the house for the rest of the day.  Yes, I tried the masks.  Didn’t help.  Couldn’t breathe then, either.

When I was younger, we lived in Montgomery, Alabama.  Both sets of grandparents lived in northern West Virginia.  On the way up to see them in the summer, we would stop at historical sights.  Once we stopped and walked around a Civil War battlefield in Virginia (I don’t remember which one).

As we stepped through the long grass that came to my waist, my eyes got more and more puffy and I couldn’t breathe.  I had a severe allergic reaction.  My mom raced me back to the car and put ice from a cooler on my face.

Allergies really do amaze me.  I mean, they are foreign substances, but they are designed to give life to other organisms.  The fact that our bodies reject them so violently is interesting.

Food allergies are even more interesting.  Sometimes people are allergic to foods that are perfectly healthy and even possess necessary vitamins.  Being allergic to chemicals and crap we put in our food is one thing, but being allergic to the natural substance meant for our body to digest is another.

I’m woefully ignorant about the science behind allergies, especially as someone who suffers from them.  There may be perfectly reasonable scientific explanations for these phenomena.  Theologically, I guess we could use the unilateral “the world is under the curse” excuse and sound spiritual, which is true in a sense.

But my rambling is getting to a point, here.

What does it say about a whole culture, or group of people, that rejects life?  Of course this could be the life of Christ, but every worldly culture rejects Him in their own way.  The only Christ-like culture is the Church, and that is a different discussion altogether.

I’m speaking ofa culture that, in principle and in action, systematically rejects the inherent value of the unborn.  Just as allergies reject some natural supbstances meant to give us life, murdering over a million babies a year, in our country alone, shows a heart of such depravity as to have no conscience at all.

The unmitigated fight to ensure a woman’s right to kill another human being at any time, anywhere, at any cost undermines any other stand for compassion.

I will agree that there are, and have been, unjust wars.  Racism still exists.  Poverty on a global scale needs to be addressed, at the very least by those who consider themselves followers of Christ.  Capitalism can turn into greed.  Torturing terrorists is questionable, at best.

But killing the unborn is worse than all of it.  Not just that it happens, but legalizing, funding and justifying it.

I know several Christians who have a serious problem with the War in Iraq.  I understand their position.  But the amount of US casulties in that war equals how many unborn we kill IN A DAY.  I don’t know the actual numbers of Iraqi innocent civilians killed through the war, but would it equal the number of unborn we kill in a week?  A month, surely.  And the war in Iraq has gone on for five or six years.

Maybe it’s not about pure numbers for you.  But any way you look at in, philosophically, spiritually, whatever, abortion is more widespread and more deeply disturbing.  God will, or maybe has, judge our country for three major sins: our treatment of the Native Americans, slavery and racism, and abortion.  Not that the US has been completely righteous in every other sense, but these are the biggies. 

So call me an extremist or what have you.  Relatively, it’s probably true.  If it is normal to blow off abortion as a minimal issue or to have apathy about it where you don’t speak up, then I will gladly be extreme and weird.  And you’ll just have to forgive me for not voting for or supporting a whole political party dedicated to not only sustaining legalized murder but spreading it and ending any and all barriers to it.

Peace.

I don’t mean America.

Oh, we will continue to call it America, but in reality, this land will not be the same land in another decade.

This isn’t necessarily tragic, as our country is vastly changed from decades past.  Some of these changes are good (more equality of races, genders, more tolerance for certain things) while some are plain shameful (like killing 4,000+ babies a day … legally).

The changes over the next decade, however, will come even more quickly.  With a Democratic/neo-communist president and close to a 60 seat majority in the Senate and a Democratic party dedicated to instituting European socialism (which, ironically, has failed in many ways) and a mainstream media applauding every step, the snowball will pick up steam (that is a bad mixed metaphor, by the way … but you get what I mean).

The banks and the auto industry are on the verge of being nationalized, socialized healthcare will be pushed this upcoming session, and there are more inane and senseless rules piling up by the day.  Ah, socialism. 

Unless another 9/11 happens in the next few years (which I do NOT hope for), Obama will get re-elected.  His image is Clinton-esque and flawlessly packaged by every media outlet except Fox News (and they get accused of being “hateful” for not going along with the whole plan).  And with more and more immigrants coming from socialistic nations (Korea, India, etc.), these neo-communist ideas are very attractive.

(Don’t go into the logic that these groups have had to immigrate to our country because the opportunities aren’t there in their own socialistic countries … it will just frustrate you … unfortunately, these immigrant groups still hold onto their socialistic ideas, even in the face of abject failure, as they are personal testimonies of.)

I’ve made no secret that I feel neo-communism is the wrong direction to go in.  That’s not the point of this post, however.  My point is that I’ve livied in a country where all that a neo-communist could desire already exists.

Not only did I survive, it wasn’t that bad.

It’s true.  I lived, got sick, got well, had a baby, paid my taxes, drove on the roads, ate food, wore clothes, worshipped with the Body.  You know.  Lived pretty well.

Another country might have been a different story.  Maybe.  Living in that country, I can also tell you the problems that innately come with neo-communism.  You don’t, in reality, fix anything.  You just trade one set of problems for another, and in my opinion, even bigger ones.

But to express fear of the direction of our country is just silly.  Again, disagreement based on facts is good and healthy in a republic, but to use gloom and doom to sell your position is quite extreme. 

Conservatives and liberals both do it.  Obama is taking full advantage of what he calls “the biggest financial crisis in our history” to force his neo-communist agenda on the rest of the country.  His “stimulus” bill isn’t stimulating anything; it is designed to completely reshape the economy of our country into European socialism.

But even if he succeeds, I’ve lived in that country and it ain’t so bad.  Some things were ridiculously stupid; other aspects were really well-done and thought out.

I’ll take health care as an example.  I never had a major problem with the health care in Korea.  And the problems I did have were more cultural differences than connected to the idea of socialized health care.  I found Korean health care to be affordable and accesible, and in some ways more technologically advanced than American health care.

But just as every block or so you’ll have a little store in Korea, like a shoe store or a little market or an internet cafe, you will also have a little abortion clinic.  That’s right, little convenient places to kill babies all over town.

You mean a successfully socialized health care system didn’t diminish the killing of babies?  Nope.  Sorry.  Just as big a problem as ever, if not more.

I’ve seen the successes of these ideals, and I’ve seen the failures.  (Well, to me they are failures; to modern Democrats, the ultimate convenience of killing a baby anytime you want is a success, too.)

But I survived.  And ministered and preached and grew in the Lord and watched others grow in the Lord and met good people and dealt with jerks.  Not saying one system is more conducive than another, only that God was still God and I was still able to follow him with all my heart.

So don’t be afraid of living in that country.  Disagree with the stupidity of it, vote your conscience and all that, but don’t do it out of fear.

Peace.