Words of Truth

There were two accidents on Interstate 80 this weekend.  On Sunday a missionary couple and their three children were driving through Nebraska headed to Colorado for training before going to Japan, when a distracted semi truck driver slammed into their minivan killing them almost instantly. Another driver also died.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa, Illinois on Monday there was another accident involving three semis and a car.  Two people in the car died as did someone from one of the semi trucks.

A friend of mine was driving on the same road in Illinois, and stated that the accident happened just behind him and his wife in their car.  Someone commented and seemed to indicate that their safety was proof that God was watching over them.   I too am very glad that God protected them, but it made me think.

Do we only think God is “watching over us” when good things happen to us?  Was God not watching over the missionary couple in Nebraska?   I submit that He was.  God loves that family, and He loves my friend as well. The outcomes of their respective travels this weekend are in no way an indication of the level of God’s care for or attention to their well-being.

I’m going to say something, and you may want to write it down.  Get a pencil.  I’ll wait.

Here it is:   The amount of God’s love for you cannot be determined by the good or bad things that happen in your life.

For us Christians, God loves us and has a perfect plan for us.  This plan does not always go the way WE think it should.  Sometimes that plan includes fire, flood, storm, death, sickness, tragedy, and sorrow.  No matter if we are rich or poor, sick or healthy, happy or sad, God is still in charge, and His will is still the best possible place for us to be, even if it doesn’t seem best to us.

Paul says in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”   He doesn’t say “Rejoice in the Lord when things are going your way” or “Rejoice in the Lord when you agree with God’s choices.”  It says “always.”   Remember that today.

I turned on the TV to see the GOP convention being broadcast on most channels. I read how the GOP establishment crushed the grassroots attempt to change the rules for 2020. And I see all the Trump Cultists cheering and celebrating their candidate’s victory over the conservatives.  Trump, the candidate lauded by many as the “outsider” who would work against the establishment, is now unabashedly PART of the establishment, and is suppressing all dissent, just like he accused the GOP of doing to him for the past several months.  Trump was never an outsider. He has always been an insider, it’s just that before he was the power behind the throne (money and influence) and now he’s the front man.

And watching the show in Cleveland, even though I’m not a Republican anymore, I’m angry. I’m angry at those Republicans who have continued the failed tactic of electing the most liberal candidate on the roster. They did it in 1996, 2000, 2008, and 2012, and now they’ve done it in 2016.

I heard someone on the radio this morning talking about how the #NeverTrump movement is all but dead now since Trump is going to get the nomination. They only display their ignorance, in that the point behind “NeverTrump” is not “Never nominate Trump” but is instead “Never vote for Trump.” He’s an immoral, ungodly, narcissitic blowhard, and he’s not qualified to be President, no matter how much worse Hillary Clinton is. And I’m not even sure she is.

They’re both horribly unqualified, but every Presidential election they do this: let’s pick the two worst possible choices and then tell people they MUST choose between the two. Would you like a turd burrito or a crap sandwich? Those are your only choices.

I for one will sit this one out. I will not be a part of the destruction of the country that I have loved all my life. May God have mercy on us.

I have heard the voices of my conservative Christian friends, telling me that I should vote for Trump so Hillary doesn’t win. I would like to respond one last time to let these, my brothers and sisters, know why I am not voting for Donald Trump.

I shared a picture on Facebook yesterday that sums up my entire argument against voting for Trump. Basically it says that Jesus never told us that when faced with two evil choices, we should take the one that is less evil, because it’s a waste to do the right thing if nobody else is doing it.

I guess what I’m saying is that I understand my friends’ point about the numbers, and if I don’t vote for Trump this increases Hillary’s chances of winning because it means one less vote for the only person who can probably beat her. But what I’m trying to say, is that I don’t believe that voting for Trump is the right thing to do, and is only marginally less wrong than voting for Hillary. And so I will follow my conscience and, I believe, the Holy Spirit, in voting for neither of them. I am not answerable to God for the votes of the other three hundred and twenty million people in this country, I am only answerable for my choices. I think each one of us has to do what we believe God wants us to do in this situation.

Finally, no matter who is President next year, we should keep our focus on the fact that we are Christians first and Americans second.  I love my country, but I love my God more.  I get shivers when I hear the Star Spangled Banner, but if the American flag comes to represent tyranny and oppression, I will no longer pledge allegiance to it. While it is true that I am an American citizen,  just as Paul was a citizen of Rome, we are both citizens of Heaven, and as such I would like to follow his example  of putting my responsibility to God before my responsibility to my country. As Peter said in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.”

And so, no matter who wins in November, two facts will remain:
1. God is still in charge of the universe. The United States of America is not my God, and if this great experiment fails, it will not shake my faith in God.
2. I am here on Earth not to bring about a glorious age of holiness and justice, but to witness to others about what Christ has done for me and what he can do for them.

That is my duty and responsibility as an ambassador of Christ. I echo the words of Martin Luther, who said “I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.”

I watched with sadness as the news unfolded yesterday from Orlando.  I was working night shift, so I was getting the text alerts from CNN in real time.  My first thought was “just another random shooting” because that’s what it seemed like at first.  People get shot every day by other people, and as sad as this is, it has become commonplace.  But as the news continued to update, I realized this was something different.

If you have been living in a cave for the past 32 hours, here’s the short version:  a Muslim man affiliated with ISIS went into a gay nightclub in Orlando and shot 102 people (we’re still fuzzy on the total number, it may change).  He was then shot by police.  49 of his victims have died so far.

I feel like I need to make some observations here.  First of all, it is a tragedy whenever one human kills another human.  I know that sometimes we get numb to all the killings that happen, and sometimes we have to kill humans who are intent on killing other humans (such as when the police killed the shooter in Orlando, or when we go to war [usually]).  Life is precious.  Each person only gets one.  That’s why I fight for the right of the unborn to live (because I believe they are human and they are alive). That’s why I think this news is so sad.

I feel like I need to say something here that should be obvious but is not, evidently.   Christians do not hate gay people.   I mean, yes, some individual Christians say stupid things or do stupid things or are just wrong. that’s because all Christians share one thing with all Muslims:  we’re all human, and we’re therefore fallible.  But by and large, on the whole, MOST of us don’t want to run out and kill people because they disagree with us.  I do not hate gay people.  I am perfectly willing to live among gay people and allow them the same rights and respect they allow me.  I am perfectly willing to live among Muslims also, under the same condition.  However, it boggles my mind that liberals are attacking Christians for “hating gays” when WE aren’t the ones killing gay people all over the world.

Those on the left in the US that say conservative Christians hate gay people because we don’t want to bake them a cake are just wrong.  We don’t want to be forced to express implicit approval of their lifestyle choice.  I don’t want to make this post about the fight between conservatives and liberals, but I felt I should point out the difference:

not baking a cake = disagreement.
killing you = hatred.

I think it’s horrible that this Muslim American killed a bunch of Americans.  Their sexual orientation has absolutely nothing to do with the tragedy of the situation, even though it may have factored in the shooter’s motive. It is not somehow “less-tragic” that they died because they were gay, and if you believe I think that way, you’re just wrong.  I think it’s horrible that Muslims all over the world are killing people (including gay people).  And it irritates me that some people (including the President) somehow refuse to understand that a majority of Muslims are in favor of killing gay people.

Here’s a fact that you can carve into stone, cross-stitch into a pillow,  or whatever craft thing is your deal:  A majority of Muslims want to kill people who disagree with them.

I know, not all Muslims feel this way, but a majority do.  It boggles my mind that liberals are attacking Christians for “hating gays” when WE aren’t the ones throwing gay people off buildings, stoning them to death, and hanging them because of their sexual preference. That is Sharia law, which is accepted by Muslims all over the world.

Christians do not hate gay people. We love them.  It’s because we love them that we speak out and try to tell them the truth found in the Bible.  Sometimes we do it wrong.  The Bible says we are to “speak the truth in love” and sometimes we neglect the last two words.

Why do we love gay people? Why do we love Muslims?  Because first of all, God loves them. Christ died for them.  And if we don’t show them, lovingly, that God wants them to turn from their sin and trust in Him, then they will die in their sins and go to hell.  And we don’t want that.  I’m not saying everybody that died yesterday went to hell, because I just don’t know.  Perhaps some of them WERE trusting in Christ. I don’t know.  But generally speaking, people trusting in Christ are not found at a gay bar at 2am on a Saturday night.

Imagine your brother is a heroin addict.  You know he’s making bad choices, and you know the danger he is in.  You try to help him see a better way, but ultimately the choice belongs to him.  That is exactly how I feel about gay people and Muslims: they need Christ.

The tragedy yesterday was not just that these people died, it was the fact that their window of opportunity for trusting in Christ was closed forever.