I want everyone who reads this to understand something right up front: I am not being snarky or sarcastic. I know it can be hard to tell in blogs and emails whether or not someone means what they say. I want to assure everyone, I do mean this, I am not being facetious. I really would like my Christian friends to consider the following.
On October 22nd, Governor Sarah Palin said "God will do the right thing on election day." Indeed:
“And it also strengthens my faith because I know at the end of the day putting this in God’s hands, the right thing for America will be done, at the end of the day on Nov. 4.”
In response the renowned and popular minister James Dobson, with whom Governor Palin was speaking, said that he and his wife were praying for the right outcome as well. I am sure millions of faithful conservatives prayed all year, right up to the election, that God would do the "right thing" on election day. That's a lot of prayers going to God. Yet, at 8PM Pacific Time (when the West Coast polls closed) on the 4th of November, every major news network declared Barack Obama to be the President-Elect.
I honestly, honestly want my conservative friends to consider something. Perhaps, just perhaps, this is the outcome God wanted.
I know President-Elect Barack Obama does not seem to have the exact Christian values espoused by a lot of more Conservative Christians, in particular regard to salvation exclusivity. Would this however be the first time God made someone who was not orthodox in their beliefs to do His work?
Pharaoh gave the Israelites sanctuary during famine at the behest of Joseph. He was obviously not a follower of the God of Abraham. God chose a man raised as an Egyptian to lead His people back to Canaan after successive Pharoahs enslaved the Hebrews. Nebuchadnezzar assisted Daniel and in some stories is the first human to proclaim the Christ. The Roman Empire's roads, language, and technology carried Christianity to the world when it should have been nothing more than a minor sectarian disagreement in the First Century. Saul was a man who actively persecuted the nascent church until he was quite literally knocked off his ass. Jerome, a monk who couldn't keep his hands off the Nuns, gave the Church the Latin translation of the Bible, which would be the Word of God until Vatican II. Thomas Jefferson, a man whose "Christian beliefs" were FAR more unorthodox* than Barack Obama's, rolled the Word of God secularly into our nation's birth with the phrase:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
So why do we have to think that everyone who does God's work agrees with a specific orthodoxy? Isn't God far more able and capable than to be stymied by a presidential campaign? Isn't He perfectly capable of having someone be part of the plan, regardless of specifics?
So, I ask only for a moment's consideration, and perhaps a prayer tonight to ask the Lord His opinion: Governor Palin said God would do the right thing on the 4th. Maybe, just maybe she was absolutely correct.
So that's it, I am done with politics here for a while. Next post will probably be about how much I am starting to dislike the new Star Trek movie, while I am keeping a close eye on the new President since it's We the People's job as his employer. Hopefully this President remembers that far more than the outgoing administration.
*If you don't believe me about how unorthodox Jefferson was, check out his Bible Translation with a miracle-free Jesus...
2 comments:
Dan: "I honestly, honestly want my conservative friends to consider something. Perhaps, just perhaps, this is the outcome God wanted."
Deb: Oh, I definitely agree this was the outcome God wanted, because I sincerely believe God is always true to His own word, BUT that doesn't necessarily translate that the final result of this outcome is what WE want for America. God corrects people, even his chosen ones, when they stray from his commandments. Our nation is long overdue for discipline. Obama's election was 'we the people' going outside and breaking a switch off the tree for our own punishment - just like Granny used to have us do. It took me a long time to realize that the skinny, innoculous looking ones stung the most!
Dan: "I know President-Elect Barack Obama does not seem to have the exact Christian values espoused by a lot of more Conservative Christians, in particular regard to salvation exclusivity"
Deb: Sounds like you are carefully parsing your words. What do you mean by 'exact Christian values' ~ Believing that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation? That's not just a beliefof 'conservative' Christians. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.(John 14:6)I personally do not believe that anyone who promotes 'many paths' to salvation, in direct opposition to Jesus' word,to be a Christian in any sense of the word.
Dan: "Would this however be the first time God made someone who was not orthodox in their beliefs to do His work?"
Deb: No, and this would not be the first time a nation was blinded to a charismatic leader who offered them change and brought them disaster instead.
Dan: "... Thomas Jefferson, a man whose "Christian beliefs" were FAR more unorthodox* than Barack Obama's, rolled the Word of God secularly into our nation's birth with the phrase:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Deb: I disagree with you about your statement that Jefferson was FAR more unorthodox than Obama in his views and beliefs. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT OBAMA'S BELIEFS ARE! He has lied and denied. However, considering the fact that Obama sat in a Black Liberation, Anti-white, America-Hating Church for over 20 years, I can pretty much state with certainty that Obama is much more unorthodox.
Dan: "... Isn't He perfectly capable of having someone be part of the plan, regardless of specifics?"
Deb: "The Plan". Oh yes, God is an AWESOME God, and we are going to find out all about His plan, but we, the people, may be in for a few surprises if we haven't read Daniel and Revelation..
Dan: "... Maybe, just maybe she was absolutely correct."
Deb: His plan is to come again. His goal of salvation is for a restored world expressing God's original ideal and centered on perfected man and woman. It is for this purpose that God sent the messiah. He came to stand before God as the true individual and to establish a true family--a family that embodies and expresses God's love. On this foundation the Messiah is to build an ideal nation and world, thus fulfilling the originally intended Kingdom of Heaven of earth. In order to do that, He will have to purge evil, what John F. Kennedy called the "common enemies of man -- tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself." Obama can't accomplish that, only Jesus' 2nd coming can, and he will overthrow the false one in doing so.
Dan: "Hopefully this President remembers that far more than the outgoing administration."
Deb: Don't hold your breath!
My response will be my next post... I'm in for a penny and a pound!
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