Thursday, May 27, 2010

Above or Below the Law

The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules. Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue. Daniel 4:26-27


King Nebuchadnezzar learned a lesson few rulers and politicians are blessed with learning. The lesson that God is real and that He does indeed rule over all kings. Our prosperity may seem to be due to our industrious nature, our commitment to hard work, and even our ingenuity and innate goodness. In fact, while these are good traits to possess, it is the Lord that gives us prosperity. In the United States, we elect our rulers from among our citizens. They serve at the pleasure of the people and are subject to the Constitution and its subordinate laws. It has become common place that our leaders feel that they are above the law and that few, if any are answerable to anyone, let alone God or the people. Take the current situation with Rep. Joe Sestak's (D-Pa.), the congressman has made the allegation that he was offered the office of the Secretary of the Navy in exchange for his dropping his run for the senate. The white house, as white houses before them, is throwing up walls and is unwilling to share what it did and who was involved. News outlets are starting to call this Obama’s Watergate and I am sure gate will be attached to this thing sooner later as always seems to happen. What is sad is that this already sounds familiar. The Former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, knows all too well how the wheeling and dealing of a senate seat can effect ones career, but I seem to remember the white house denying any involvement in that affair as well. My point is not that the truth will come out at some point. I believe that anyone can be redeemed, including our politicians. If we are willing to humble ourselves and acknowledge the Lord, if we are willing to renounce our sins, God can and will redeem and heal us. The question remains, will we choose Him and His ways, will we openly defy the true and living God of creation?

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. Daniel 4:34

Friday, May 21, 2010

The Not-So Itsy Bitsy Spider

It is time for a lite hearted post. Last night after some blogging and other such stuff, I decided to go to bed. At 1am, I am a little groggy and the eyesight plays tricks at that time of night when you've got some milage on you (I, of course, have). I was trying to be quiet, because my lovely wife was sleeping soundly (as we all should be at 1am). As I entered our bedroom, I thought I saw movement. I realized that a rather large spider was crawling along the bedspread at the foot of the bed. This spider was larger than a silver dollar with thin legs and a large center. I watched as it made its way to the edge and hid under the show pillow on my side. I hoped I could find it again as I picked up a book and prepared to pounce. As I moved the pillow, the spider made run across the bedspread and headed toward the head of the bed. Remember, my wife, my beautiful and sleeping wife? Well, she was still asleep and oblivious to arachnid making a beeline for her very open mouth. With much haste and concern, I stopped the progress of my new nemisis, swatting it with a smaller pillow, knocking it to the floor and splatting it with the book.
Hope you don't mind the absence of political and religious writing.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Imperialism of Illegal Immigration

I read an Eric Griego today that I found most confusing. Mr. Griego compares the Arizona immigration law to the struggles of African Americans, Jewish Americans and the plight of black South Africans during apartheid. Not only is this grossly inaccurate, it doesn’t even track.
I can agree that our nation has been guilty of sinful behavior and I would never try to defend the evils of myself or my forefathers, however, the point of spotlighting these tragic events and policies is only to associate our negative reactions and opinions with the current issue.
It is plain that the reason the state senator opposes any action against illegal border crossings has little to do with racial discrimination. Senator Griego, President Obama and President Calderon do not respect the sovereign borders of the United States. Mr. Calderon has been a guest in our country this week and took it upon himself to chastise us as “discriminatory”.
Our president, ashamed as usual, refused to defend our sovereignty and instead responded that he did not have the 60 votes in the Senate to correct the matter.
It is apparent that the spirit of anti-christ is at work in our world and looking to devour the world’s most visible Christian nation. This is not the first time that forces have been at work to destroy nations. The 1930’s saw the rise of three powers intent on world domination. Germany, Italy and Japan did not recognize the borders of sovereign nations and gave seemingly valid reasons for claiming those lands as theirs. Today, this same imperialism allows the citizens of one nation to cross into another nation with impunity.
It is now racism to question a person’s citizenship. For whatever reason, America is not allowed to stand up for its national rights. Even though the in 2005, upheld the right of local, state and federal law enforcement to verify without cause the citizenship status of any individual. We have every right to verify the status of anyone at anytime and just as it is with terrorism, certain ethnicities have a greater proclivity to certain behavior.
That is not racism, it is just true. I believe those claiming civil rights violations are just looking to capture the spot light or looking for some other personal or professional gain. Until, the drug wars started spilling over the border, it was easy to overlook this issue. Now, it is time to deal with the problem head on. We cannot allow the pc police to keep us from doing what is good and right.
I urge everyone who claims to be Christian to humble themselves and pray that the Lord will give us wisdom and the love of Christ to deal with this issue in a Godly manner. Pray for our leader, even if you disagree with them, lift them up in prayer. Let us deal honestly with our problem and not give away our sovereignty.

Muehler v. Mena, 544 U.S. 93. 2005 United States Supreme Court
[1]An officer's authority to detain incident to a search is categorical; it does not depend on the “quantum of proof justifying detention or the extent of the intrusion to be imposed by the seizure.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Government Worship

Two articles I read recently have reminded me of a growing problem. Government taking the place of God. I can understand the allure. When times are tough we must turn to someone, somewhere. Food, housing, and other needs must be met. It seems good that our government should stand in the gap and provide these things and more. The reality, however, is that government can not and should not be our provider. The Lord provides (it is His name) what we need if we are willing to obey Him. Just as we are not to seek the services of a fortune teller to divine our future, God requires that we seek Him for our needs. He provides our daily bread. We have grown accustom to government acting as God. We return to the state for our needs and wonder why it is not well with our society. Then we are also suprised when our president acts as if he is above and unaccountable to the people or the press. It is time to humble ourselves and pray the Lord will bless us as we trust Him fully. This is not a popular stand to take, but it time to take it.