We, the Christian People of the United States of America...

I am trying to put together in my mind what I see as a weakness in the American Christian's view of our government, and our expectations that we have in it. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what we expect, but I have something of a list, and I think it's fairly accurate if too short. It isn't to criticize American Christians; it is only to point out what I think could cause us to dive headlong into despair if we are to depend on a "righteous" government and not on Christ. We should always put our trust entirely on Christ, and not on our government. Humanity cannot govern perfectly, because we are not perfect, and because the power inherent in government appeals to the pride of man. Psalm 118:9, "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes," and Psalm 146:3, "Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation," are verses that together express that very same thought.
The following are ways that I see that because we have never known anything different, American Christians may be more part of the American culture than of the sheer biblical Christian culture that I hope and suspect is more prevalent worldwide:

1. We tend to assume that we are by our very American citizenship, because we are born here, entitled to freedom of religion (freedom to assemble for worship or Bible study, and acceptance of the fact that we are Christians), freedom of expression (regarding proselytizing, wearing expressions of faith on clothing, Christian radio stations, certain subjects in sermons, etc.), and that we would expect the government to promote family unity and allow us a choice in how our children are educated, such as homeschooling or private school as alternatives to public school. These expectations are because we have enjoyed them in the past; we have been raised with most of these freedoms. It is hard for us to imagine life here without them.
2. We tend to assume that our government should embrace and reflect our beliefs as belonging to the entire population, with the Ten Commandments in our courtrooms and parks, and with Christmas decor and Christmas carols in public places and with Christian beliefs reflected in our public schools, from prayer to Christmas break to Bible classes. The fact that God is Lord of all doesn’t mean that He will be acknowledged as such by earthly governments, or that our own government will continue to do so even though it has to various extents done so in the past.
3. We tend to assume that our government should legislate faithfulness to God by banning at least the extreme expressions of sin and rebellion: abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, and the more accepted but no more acceptable other sins as well. These behaviors are becoming more and more sanctioned by our government as time goes on, and aren't likely to be reversed any time soon.
4. We tend to assume that it is our right to live physically comfortable and financially prosperous lives when in fact there is nothing of our faith or our lives that should cause us to expect such comfort. Most Christians throughout the world do not experience nearly the comfort that we Americans do. And there is nothing we Americans have done to deserve any more comfortable lives than anyone else, especially so many Christians in the most difficult circumstances elsewhere in the world. So many Christians not only live less comfortably but are persecuted while their government ignores or even originates the persecution.

It may be arguable that our government should honor some of these things, but it is unrealistic that we should be able to expect any government to actually do what it ought to. No Bible verse said that earthly, human government is a good thing, that governments wouldn’t be prone to being corrupt and doing evil. It was never assured that we could live in happy freedom under human government. In fact, it is clearly an accommodation of humanity’s demands that Israel ever got away with demanding an end to the theocracy that characterized the first part of their existence. There are various ways that American Christians might assume that our life of faith ought to be acknowledged, supported, and defended, but Jesus never taught that we should expect it. We are to pray for those in authority over us; remember 1 Timothy 2:1-4 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone--for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
I have a hard time imagining what it would be like to see a president come to know Christ while in office--but who says it couldn't happen? Wouldn't that be fantastic! Lets keep our presidents, present and future, in prayer and hope that we might witness such a change in times to come. Meanwhile, let us be content with (and thankful for) what God gives us, and pray, and watch for His provision and His goodness, His lovingkindness and grace, like no government on earth can ever provide.

We are Free Indeed!

Today I was pondering who in the Bible I would most like to be, if I were able. First I thought of Anna, who lived in the temple and beheld Jesus. (And that, I think, is the one I'd want to be.) But then, for a moment, I thought, "No. I'd want to be Jesus, because He was without sin." But then, I thought, "But then He who knew no sin became sin for us..." and I didn't think that would be so desirable! (Except that He was worthy to be victorious over our sin.) That brought another thought that I knew, and yet saw in a new light to my own amazement: I always thought of Jesus as unique in being sinless, and yet because He took the penalty for all the sins of those who trust in Him, we are seen by God as sinless even though we are frail and in the flesh. So Jesus is sinless, and we too qualify as sinless! What a phenomenal gift! But it also directed me toward another thought, in regard to a memory of mine. We are free from the penalty of our sin, and so...
I thought of back when I was part of a church ministry. We'd have monthly leaders' meetings, and discuss how things had gone for us. One of the leaders started off with his report at one of these meetings with how he just had been overcome by his sin over the last while and so he was burdened with it, troubled by it. The rest followed suit; to my amazement anyone who had anything that they would report continued in that same vein. I am not bragging, I was worried that I might be missing something about self-examination, in that I being the last to speak admitted that I didn't feel that same trouble and burden. I never did really conclude how sure I was about my position until today. Was I neglectful in self-examination? Was I not recognizing myself as the sinner I no doubt am?
Today, though, it hit me why we don't need to carry this guilt, and why I didn't feel the burden. We are free from the burden of our sins, thanks to the promises of Scripture in 1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we are burdened by our sins, we are to take it to Jesus, who calls out to us, in Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
For that matter, if we are troubled by a temptation to sin, there is also 1 Corinthians 10:13, which Navigators ministry calls the "Assurance of Victory," and I can remember it because a woman I knew had put it to song: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man, and God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." When a temptation hits you in the face, you are not sinning unless you entertain that temptation and submit to it. The best thing to do is pray to God for help. He promises to give wisdom to all who ask: James 1:5-6: "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind." When we pray, if we pray within God's will, then of course He will answer us, and isn't it in His will that we obey Him? So He will help us, and teach us, and give us other courses of action, and protection, and deliverance. Then we will end up wiser and stronger for having resisted with God's help. And free! Boy, of all people, we believers are free! Indeed!
So we have victory. We have the ability to avoid sin, and therefore have victory, but even if we fail in that, Jesus Christ has bought us the victory by taking the penalty Himself and shedding His own blood that we might be unburdened by our sin, and seen as sinless in the eyes of God, and therefore acceptable into heaven. Hallelujah! Is He not wonderful? But of course, we knew that!

Living in the Here and Now

Our pastor, who is on sabbatical, e-mails his flock occasionally with pictures and writings that would work well as a blog post, if he had a blog. It's an article relating a recent pondering, and the latest one was about living in the here and now, and not always so focused on preparing for the next thing that you don't fully realize and appreciate the beauty of life at this moment. It's kind of what a sabbatical is all about--refocusing, getting out of the hurry and the entanglements that come with everyday worklife.
I think we've all experienced events where we were so distracted by something in the past--some comment, maybe an insult or an embarrassment, a regret, a sorrow, an envy, a strife; or something about the future--a worry, any uncertainty--that we completely missed some treasure of the present. I remember a long period of time when I was so bitter at my mother-in-law that I remember more my own spitefulness than what she did to provoke it! I remember muttering to myself, arguing with Gary, and complaining to co-workers more than I remember any of the joys of that time (and it turned out she had Alzheimers'; besides, she wasn't a believer, so in two ways she wasn't fully capable of doing the optimum at any time)--those days are time lost to me, but I've learned from it how evil and undesirable bitterness is. We mutter and complain and rehearse our next clever retort as we weed the garden, and completely miss the warmth of the sun, the singing of the birds, and the budding of the flowers that all surround us; or our child says something priceless, or does a little dance or somersault in front of us, and though our eyes point in the right direction, we may as well be blind and deaf to it.
When you think about it, living in anything but the present takes many forms! When we're thinking about the future or the past, how can we focus on the moment we are experiencing, the here and now? Worry, bitterness, sorrow are all negative, damaging time stealers; so is taking pride in past successes. The Bible is replete with commands about these things. If we obey Jesus' advice, we free ourselves from the entanglements of worry and enable ourselves to serve Him like we can't if we're sinning by not entrusting our lives to Him. Paul relinquished those things from the past that he used to glory in (Phil. 3:4-11) and therefore was free to press on toward the upward call of Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:7-17).
All the world understands this concept, how wrapped up we are in other times that we miss the present pleasures and don't really live most of what time is given to us--yet it is impossible to get a perfect grasp on it, because it is time, and there is no one who can hold it. I looked up some quotes for you and myself; I tried to narrow them down, but I liked a lot of them. I wish I could claim that I found them in the actual sources (some of which I don't even recognize), the places where they were written, but...I didn't have the time. Ha! Some are wise and profound, and some are funny.

Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils. ~Louis Hector Berlioz

Let not the sands of time get in your lunch. ~Author Unknown

The past is a good place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. ~Author Unknown

Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow. ~Denis Waitely

There are whole years for which I hope I'll never be cross-examined, for I could not give an alibi. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

Time is the most undefinable yet paradoxical of things; the past is gone, the future is not come, and the present becomes the past even while we attempt to define it, and, like the flash of lightning, at once exists and expires. ~Charles Caleb Colton

Time is what we want most, but... what we use worst. ~Willaim Penn

It strikes! one, two,Three, four, five, six. Enough, enough, dear watch, Thy pulse hath beat enough. Now sleep and rest; Would thou could'st make the time to do so too; I'll wind thee up no more. ~Ben Jonson

Time is what prevents everything from happening at once. ~John Archibald Wheeler

Sometimes I feel that life is passing me by, not slowly either, but with ropes of steam and spark-spattered wheels and a hoarse roar of power or terror. It's passing, yet I'm the one who's doing all the moving. ~Martin Amis, Money

But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day. ~Benjamin Disraeli

Old Time, that greatest and longest established spinner of all!.... his factory is a secret place, his work is noiseless, and his hands are mutes. ~Charles Dickens

Time, the cradle of hope.... Wisdom walks before it, opportunity with it, and repentance behind it: he that has made it his friend will have little to fear from his enemies, but he that has made it his enemy will have little to hope from his friends. ~Charles Caleb Colton

There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time. ~Napoleon I, Maxims, 1815

How long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on. ~Zall's Second Law

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. ~Carl Sandberg

What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know. ~Saint Augustine

Watches are so named as a reminder - if you don't watch carefully what you do with your time, it will slip away from you. ~Drew Sirtors

Methinks I see the wanton hours flee, And as they pass, turn back and laugh at me.~George Villiers

Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time which every day produces, and which most men throw away. ~Charles Caleb Colton

The Past is the textbook of tyrants; the Future the Bible of the Free. Those who are solely governed by the Past stand like Lot's wife, crystallized in the act of looking backward, and forever incapable of looking before. ~Herman Melville, White Jacket

No yesterdays are ever wasted for those who give themselves to today. ~Brendan Francis

People are always asking about the good old days. I say, why don't you say the good now days? ~Robert M. Young

We can easily manage if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed to it. But the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday's burden over again today, and then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it. ~John Newton

If you have one eye on yesterday, and one eye on tomorrow, you're going to be cockeyed today. ~Author Unknown

Forever is composed of nows. ~Emily Dickinson

Could we see when and where we are to meet again, we would be more tender when we bid our friends goodbye. ~Marie Louise De La Ramee

Trust no future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead past bury its dead! Act, - act in the living Present Heart within and God o'erhead. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Psalm of Life

Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do. ~Jean de la Bruyere

Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness. ~James Thurber

We crucify ourselves between two thieves: regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow. ~Fulton Oursler

Chasing the past, I stumbled into the future. ~T.A. Sachs

When I am anxious it is because I am living in the future. When I am depressed it is because I am living in the past. ~Author Unknown

The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness. ~Abraham Maslow

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today. ~Dale Carnegie

I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor. ~D.H. Lawrence

Life's a journey, not a destination. ~Aerosmith

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. ~Abraham Lincoln

There's a positive side to looking back as well as looking ahead. The only way we can redeem any of our part in the past is when we apologize and ask forgiveness for mistakes we have made, and to learn not to repeat them. We are told to remember the great things not that we have done, but that God has done (Deut. 8:10-20) to prepare ourselves for tomorrow. There's a balance, there's a focus. When we trouble ourselves anything other than the here and now in the negative, we're borrowing trouble from another time that doesn't truly exist for us. When we remember God's goodness and prepare and plan for proper stewardship of the future, we are improving our use of either the present or the future. That is a reasonable focus. I think we all could benefit from a mental sabbatical, from shedding the habits of getting caught in the negatives of another time, when that becomes a problem. Remember the freedom that comes with just existing in the present, and return to an unhindered enjoyment of it. What we have at this very moment is God's gift to every one of us, the only thing we can really put to use.
I got the quotes from http://www.quotegarden.com/live-now.html.

The American Christian Homeschooler and a Sense of Entitlement

Recently I blogged about how all cultures have their good and bad aspects. It was hardly an excellent piece; it was only a set of observations, rather rambly. I was thinking them up as I was writing; they hadn't consumed me and caused me to ponder long and research anything. So I was surprised when that article, of the many that I have written, became linked to a homeschooling website. My article only very briefly stated that one of the things that I don't like about other cultures is the control some exercise over parenting, that homeschooling for example is illegal in many places, but legal in every state here.
The determining factor that caused someone to link my blog entry to their website seems to be that very statement about the legality of homeschooling here. So I explored various links on their blog. The latest buzz on their blog is about the California issue where homeschooling is now under threat by their state judicial system. I had read a little about it, and at first thought it would blow over quickly. Now I am wondering whether it will be more of a lasting impact not only in California, but possibly throughout the whole country.
With the elections coming into swing, and the candidates from which we have to choose, my doubts about the future of homeschooling have been increasing. I am thankful for the many years that we have been allowed to do so; it has been a privilege, a wonderful window of opportunity for our family and a saving grace for many children across the country. Not only that, but I believe that it has been a boost for the less-than-ideal national resource of the intellect of our youth as a whole, and for the foundation of faith in Christian families across the country. For all I know, freedom to homeschool could still continue for many years, but I would be surprised if it won't be under strong attack.
The issue that struck me most vividly at the website that linked me was the abundant passionate commentary following an article they linked, these comments mostly by homeschoolers and also by a few who opposed them. My thought in reading them wasn't primarily about homeschooling at all, but about the sense of entitlement we develop by living in a country that provides far more than the average amount of freedoms. We seem to think that we are entitled to these freedoms--and a person could argue that we are entitled to them, by virtue of living in a country based on freedom, but the freedom to homeschool has been a recent arrival following the establishment of government schools. This entitlement, though, or any true freedom on earth, ought to be viewed as a temporary and unnatural blessing from our benevolent God, rather than from government. The Jews at the time of Christ were under oppression by the Romans, and the history of humanity has hardly been characterized by entitlement and freedom. I view freedom far more as a blessing that God chooses to bestow on a people for whatever sovereign purpose He might deem fit for that time; nevertheless, it is generally rare and fleeting that He might choose to provide such freedoms as we have had in the United States for these hundreds of years. What country on earth has enjoyed such freedom for such a long time as ours has, and such abundance and blessing? God has been good to us, but He is not required to continue in the same way.
What I found stunning were the indignant attitudes that were exhibited in these comments, many by people who professed faith, following the article I read! It troubled me to read the comments of those who would passionately defend the right to homeschool as an entitlement. A person could assume that many homeschoolers would be some of the most passionate people of faith, but many, though they refer to their faith, fail to exhibit Christ in their comments. So many instead exhibited their own wants, demands and fears driving them, with a combative and critical spirit, bragging about their own accomplishments. They ignored the fact that not too many years ago, homeschooling was illegal in every state. I realize our country was established for the sake of freedom, but it also is a country where even the freedom it stands for has in many ways been imperfectly realized; consider slavery and how long that lasted! We live in a country that was established in the name of freedom, but such a country is established on a very delicate principle. President John Adams stated such:

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the governing of any other."
October 11, 1798 in President John Adams' address to the military, from America's God and Country, Encyclopedia of Quotations, by William J. Federer, pp. 10-11.

We have reached a point in our culture where we have to question the reality of whether the Constitution is truly adequate to govern our present society. Is it? Or will our freedoms disintegrate and by necessity be replaced by stronger cords of government, where freedom is hardly the aim, in order to govern a people who for the most part will not govern themselves? The removal of faith from public education, from the media, from government, from the public square removed the underpinnings that secure our freedoms. It is really more awesome that we have had the freedom to homeschool than it is shocking that this freedom should be under attack.
I look back to Daniel, and how in Babylon they did all they could to adapt him to their culture, to intimidate him from exercising faith...and still he was faithful. We need to pray that our children can and will be found faithful even if they should be forced into a Babylon-type culture. No biblical account promises and guarantees that we will have earthly freedoms, or that the culture will accommodate our faith, or that the government will allow us to parent as we see fit. The same Bible we read has applied to families under every type of government and every flag in the world. The only thing that no government can really force us to relinquish is our faith, our ability to petition the God of heaven to help us in our time of need. Maybe it is His will that our children be tested as Daniel was! Perhaps we should be glad of it, that our children be tested, that they would have to decide where they stand. Maybe staying comfortable at home in a sheltered environment will make them complacent. God is sovereign and ultimately wise, and we must entrust our children entirely to His care. He knows what is best for our good and for His glory. Don't get me wrong. I hope that we will retain the freedom to homeschool, but if not, we need to trust the God of heaven who controls governing authorities, and in any case, we need to pray for our children and those authorities.