The State Of The Union

I think it goes without saying that there are some changes taking place in our nation currently. And many of them are not looked upon with favor by many. Sky rocketing unemployment rates/job loss; a government that has largely lost the trust of the people they're there to serve; children having to deal with things that they shouldn't have to deal with; the family unit being torn apart... etc. You get the point.

I grew up in the public school system. In the public schools, they have a certain curriculum that isn't favorable to the gospel. Now granted, I may have grown up in a highly conservative around. I just picked up a book the other day in the store called "Brave New Schools" by Berit Kjos. I just started it, but it addresses soo many vital ideas that are being presented in school and even in society.

I graduated 3 years ago from FIRE School Of Ministry. They're mandate that they feel the Lord has put on their hearts is to be a training center for the Jesus Revolution. Check them out at www.fire-school.org. I also still attend the church there and service in various outlets. The president of the school, Dr. Brown, has authored several books, two of which I want to mention here because they made a profound effect on me and I want to present them to you, the reader. One is called "Revolution: The Call to Holy War" and the other one is called "Revolution In The Church." Now, I want to mention right away then when we say 'revolution', we are NOT talking about a violent over throw of anything. But we are talking about doing what we can do to make a change in society. Through evangelism, discipleship, prayer, bible study and other things of the like.

One of the biggest things that I personally see that needs to change is the hearts and minds of the believers and disciples of Jesus. I've grown up all my life in the church. Mainly, the non-denominational denomination/charismatic. I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. One of the biggest things that I have seen is the fact that we need to get our acts together. So often, it seems like church is treated more like a gigantic social club. Now, i'm NOT against fellowshiping with other believers and encouraging one another. But what kind of impact are we having on society? Are we known in heaven and feared in hell? (These are questions I often ask myself). Now, if you've been a friend of mine of Facebook here for any amount of time, you know that I put up all sorts of political stories. It's one thing to sit around and post things about how bad things are, but we have to take it one step further and provide viable solutions to the problems.

Now obviously, our first and most powerful solution is the Good News of Jesus Christ. It's one thing to preach it, it's another thing to live it and walk it out. Let us show the world that we mean business and show them the Love and Truth of Jesus Christ, thus making a truly lasting impact on the lives around us.

Some Reflections on Current Happenings

In writing this, I want to be careful about what I say and how I say it. I'm grateful that I live in a country where we are to have freedom of speech and soo many other wonderful freedoms. Those are in the documents written by the Founding Fathers and they're essentially at the core of what makes America a great nation. But lately, it seems that some of these freedoms are coming under fire. According to some recent articles coming down the pike from our government. It seems that some of my activities and beliefs might be labeled as a 'right wing extremist' or a 'domestic terrorist". Life could get interesting, considering I'm not a supporter of tyranny, I've never once attended any sort of anti-government rallies (I actually have a lot of interest in government, you can ask a lot of my friends about that.)

But I also realize how important it is to pray for our nations leaders. I'm not a supporter of our current nations leaders (I don't support genocide or the homosexual or 'alternative' lifestyle to name a few), but I don't vehemently hate these folks either. I don't support living a lifestyle contrary to the Bible. But I'm not going to force someone into living how I live.

I say all this because I get emails all the time about how ungodly beliefs are continually being forced upon me. I continually get emails about how when I go to the store, money that I'm paying for goods and services is automatically being given to people who do things that I don't agree with. Meaning that un-Godly lifestyles are being ENCOURAGED financially by businesses and governments that I have to use. President Obama has recently lifted a ban on federal funding for overseas abortion. Great, now the money that I would be making is going towards supporting something that I whole heartedly disagree with.

Sometimes, I get into discussions with folks about the issues. And sometimes, it doesn't go too far. Often times, people don't want to talk about it because the picture is just too painful. Could previous generations could've done more to prevent it? Perhaps... In any case, it seems that it is now up to my generation to fix the mistakes.

In any case, I guess you could say that I'm just a little peeved right now at things that are happening. Big Brother is supposed to be representing me, but more and more it seems that he just doesn't care. He's got the power to change things and they're changing things alright... just not how I want them to be changed.

Saddleback Civil Forums

Recently, i received an email from the AFA about the Saddleback Civil Forums. I was watching a few of the videos of Obama, listening to him give the typical 'political' answers (in other words, to me, he didn't answer the questions).

I found this forum really interesting... at least the parts I saw of it. I may not like some of Rick Warren's stuff, but this is one thing I'm cool with (not that that means a lot...). But some folks had a problem that it was in a church. It was in a building that houses a church. Get over it ACLU and all those others who cry over stuff like that.

And obviously, I disagreed w/ most of the stuff Obama said (although, he again never really answered the questions, so i guess I can't really say i agreed or disagreed. I thought he was all about change...? I wish that would mean more than politicians would come out and give us an answer. Right or wrong. But I guess that means turning some people off and losing votes..) i didn't really listen to much of what McCain said.

But one other thing I noted: I'm ready for we as the Body of Christ to arise and instead of being a laughingstock, tackle these issues and quit whimpering in the corner. I'm honestly tired of this stuff being handled with laws passed, but rather lets get to the hearts of people and show them Jesus. Let's show them the love of God and point them in the direction of ALL TRUTH. This means more than just having nice meetings, but rather us being a threat to satan and his kingdom.

So, I don't know about you, but i'm most certainly planning on voting. I think this election year will really prove a couple different things. I think it will wake a lot of folks up to the fact of that its not just up to one man whom we call the president to solve all our problems, but its up to us to pray and seek God and cry out for mercy and pray for our leaders. It's up to us to live out the Word of God and turn to God and forsaking unrighteousness and then the Lord will heal our land. I believe in praying for our leaders and I want to encourage probably all 2 or 3 of you who read this to do your part.