I'm going to ask for you to pray for Mary and myself this week. I am studying for finals which I will be taking on Wednesday in my Greek class. It is always an interesting time when studying for test, especially finals. This is another dream come true. Learning Greek has been a dream since my days at Criswell College. For the last two semesters I have gone through the grueling task of learning this language and have many doubts about how much I learned. But now I have the tools and knowledge to reinforce that learning through practice and plan on using it quiet a bit. The reason I'm asking for you to pray for Mary is because she has to endure the onslaught of stupidity which comes from me during this time. Also be aware that we attempting to get my pastor, Brother Wayne Wible's sermons on you tube. I'll link it when it's available. Hopefully there will be a lot of them.
God Bless,
Steven
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
I Am The Resurrection And The Life
Today is special because at Easter time a year ago I posted my first real blog. Of course it was in regards to the celebration of the risen Lord. Today with that keeping I am going to discuss the resurrection in light of the Greek word which is used in John 11:25. This is a paper I just handed in to my Greek professor. It's not technical so please read it with ease. For the sake of copy write laws I must let you know that the English Standard Version was used regarding English Bible translation. I did remove the actual Greek text, but in the report I used the Aland Greek New Testament. God bless each of you, I hope you will enjoy and be bless by what is said.
Steven
Steven
ἀνάστασις I AM THE RESURRECTION
Introduction
In their book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart start by discussing an argument which is common to them. It is an argument about Bible interpretation verses just reading and doing what the Bible says. Fee and Stuart readily agree with the line of reasoning regarding doing what is read. However, they conclude, this also brings with it a whole new set of issues if interpretation is not involved. One of which is the inability of the reader of modern English Bibles to understand what is meant by certain words or statement.[1]
The same concern can be made regarding the statement from the Lord Jesus Christ in John 11:25b, “…I am the resurrection and the life.” In the English what is said is not as apparent as it is in the Greek. It is the Greek word ἀνάστασις which is of interest; it is this word which is rendered resurrection.[2] ἀνάστασις is a noun. Nouns in Greek mean the same as they do in English, person, place or thing.[3] However it is also in the nominative case meaning it is designating or naming something or someone.[4] As will be seen in this discussion this word unpacks something which cannot be observed immediately in the English. This is not to say that it cannot be understood, but it is difficult to see up front. A simple reading of the English translations will not bring this out.
Anyone who is reading the book of John will arrive at chapter 11 having seen several things which have already occurred. John has declared the divinity of Jesus Christ immediately in chapter 1:1-18. This is an important establishment especially for chapter 11. In chapter 1:19-28 John the Baptist is introduced, in verses 29-34 Jesus is baptized and once again his deity is affirmed (v. 32) while in the remaining passage Jesus chooses his disciples (vv. 35-51). Chapter 2 has Jesus performing his first miracle (vv. 1-12), another confirmation of his deity and He cleanses the temple (vv. 13-25). Chapter 3 has the discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus, in chapter 4 he talks to the woman of Samaria and heals the official’s son. In chapter 5 he heals the man at the pool on the Sabbath, equates himself with God (v. 17), and has his second dialogue with the Jewish authorities. Jesus in chapter 6 feeds the five thousand, walks on water, and in verse 22 makes the first of seven “I AM” declarations, “I am the bread of life…” (v. 35). [6] Jesus dialogue turns to disagreement with the Jewish officials in chapter 7, resulting in the people being divided. In chapter 8 Jesus is set up and deals with the adulterous woman. He also makes his second “I AM” declaration, “I am the light of the world…” (v. 12), which leads to the third “I AM” declaration, where he just simply states that “…before Abraham was, I am.” (v. 58). This almost leads to him being stoned. Chapter 9 has the Lord healing the blind man. In chapter 10 he makes his fourth and fifth “I AM” declaration, “…I am the door of the sheep.” (v. 7) and “I am the good Shepherd…” (v. 11).
In chapter 11 both sorrow and befuddlement occur. Sorrow because the Lord has received the news that his closet friend Lazarus is on his death bed (vv. 1-4). The befuddlement comes in verse 6 where it states, “So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” “Why?!” might be the question most people would ask and was possibly in the minds of both Mary and Martha when Jesus finally arrives. After all the healings, all the miracles, all the declarations of deity, all the dialogue, discussions and disagreements regarding his person, why didn’t he go to help his best friend.
Martha is the first out to greet the Lord when he arrived, while Mary stayed behind to console her loss (v. 20). The exchange between Martha and Jesus is the center of the moment. In verse 23 Jesus states to her, “… ‘Your bother will rise again (Ἀναστήσεται).’” Martha evidently attempting to show faith says, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection (ἀναστήσεται ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει) on the last day.” It is in verse 25 where Jesus makes his sixth “I AM” declaration, “…I am the resurrection (ἀνάστασις) and the life…” When he makes this statement he is saying for more than he has at any other point during his earthly ministry, and saying something greater than he does with any of the other “I AM” declarations. J. H. Bernard states in his commentary this stresses that the Lord Jesus Christ is not only the “… ‘quickener’ of the dead…” but he himself really is the resurrection.[7] He is the embodiment of the title which is being given. Bernard brings out the fact that while the other “I AM” declarations are “…similitudes by which Jesus describes Himself…which marks the style of Deity…” this “…differs from the other pronouncements in this respect, that it is not a similitude.” (Italicize belongs to Bernard)[8] William Hendriksen also affirms this thought by stating, “Jesus is the resurrection and the life; the resurrection and the life, that is Jesus….Jesus is the resurrection and the life in person…” (Italicize belongs to Hendriksen)[9] Gary Burge in, The NIV Application Commentary, John, shows the importance of this statement. While Mary may have handled the resurrection as a future event, Jesus wanted her to know that it was not just an event but a person and that person was standing there in front of her.[10] At the moment of her deepest grief a future occasion could not consul her but the very Resurrection and Life himself could.
As Easter approaches, many Christians and non-Christians will make their way to church, even though those numbers are falling every year. It has become a time for Easter egg hunts and family gatherings. If they do go to church they do so out of obligation, a time of reflection on what Jesus has done for everyone through his suffering of the cross and his bodily resurrection. And it has become a time for dressing up in the spring clothing and styles. It has become a Martha, a simple statement of thought or reverence. What is lacking? Why are the numbers falling on Easter services? Why are churches losing thousands every year to the organized cults and the cultic activity of self based religions? Why is it that Christians seem to be so less effective in society and seem almost powerless in regards to self control? Why? Could it be that Christianity has fallen into the Martha syndrome, the resurrection is viewed as an event? The resurrection is something which Jesus did, something which happened to him, and something which will happen to all believers one day. Maybe what Christians need to do is stop just reading the Bible and doing it. Maybe what is needed is a deeper understanding that the Lord which is being served has not only been raised from the dead and will one day raise all believers from the dead, but is the very Resurrection and Life himself. Living in light of his presence will change lives and affect those who need the Savior.
[1] Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to read the Bible for All Its Worth. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1993, 13-27.
[3] William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003, 25.
[4] H. E. Dana and Julius R. Mantey. A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament. Toronto, Ontario: The Macmillian Company, 1955, 68-69.
[5] William Mounce, The Analytical Lexicon To The Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993, 72.
[6] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker. New Testament Commentary, John. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, Reprint 2007, 149.
[7] J. H. Bernard, The Internatinal Critical Commentary: John, Volume II. Edinburgh, NY: T&T Clark, 386.
[8] Ibid, 387
[9] Hendriksen, 150
[10] Gary Burge, The NIV Application Commentary: John. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2000, 316.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
A Little Fun-Men and Women
Normally I'm pretty serious about what I put out here, but a friend of mine handed something to me which I thought I would share and have some fun with. It is the difference between a man and woman.
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't want.
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
a man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
A successful man is one who make more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little.
To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
Married men live longer than single men, but married men are a lot more willing to die.
Any married man should forget his mistakes--there is no use in two people remembering the same thing.
Men wake up as good-looking as when they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.
A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
There are two times when a man doesn't understand a woman-Before marriage and after marriage.
Hope you have fun with this, will get back with you soon.
Steven
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't want.
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
a man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
A successful man is one who make more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little.
To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
Married men live longer than single men, but married men are a lot more willing to die.
Any married man should forget his mistakes--there is no use in two people remembering the same thing.
Men wake up as good-looking as when they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.
A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
There are two times when a man doesn't understand a woman-Before marriage and after marriage.
Hope you have fun with this, will get back with you soon.
Steven
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Good Hand Of God Through Active Faith
Devotion 9
(Ezra 3:1-7)
On February 5th, 2009 President Barak Obama gave the President’s Speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. In that speech he gave us a huge peek into his religious background, which also answers for some other things regarding his actions in the last several days, including the issue of abortion. I insist if you have not read it yet, that you read my blog from January 22, 2008 regarding this matter. Either way Mr. Obama’s call was for us to live out our faith. But for me his call is more of the echoing silence of nothingness which I continue to hear from those who make a claim but do not possess the call of God to salvation in Jesus. Regardless his call was understood by me and I can receive some of the truth which is in it, even though I still question the reality under which President Obama appears to live. I will return to this illustration and actually quote parts of this speech in a later devotion because I believe a latter passage will actually reveal some good and bad things regarding the speech.
In the above passage from Ezra 3:1-7 we see the Jewish people beginning to live out their faith. Cyrus the king of Persia has made the call for the people to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple (1:1-2). They have gone through the process of doing so (1:5-11), organized themselves (2) and in the seventh month have arrived at Jerusalem. The first thing I want to note is that Scripture never tells us exactly when Cyrus made the call, only that it was in the first year of his reign. But verse 1 of Ezra 3 is very clear as to when the Jewish exiles did arrive in Jerusalem. Now the point I am about to make is a point that will be made time and time again throughout these devotions in Ezra-Nehemiah. It is something that Scripture declares over and over. It is something which those who walk with God experience every day. Here it is…are you ready? God does not work on our time table.
Okay I just heard all the air get sucked out of the room you’re in. That’s right, let me repeat it again, God does not work on our time table. Why? Well, for several reasons. One is that we often rush like the fools into things which are not good or healthy for us. Second, we are only looking at things from our point of view and never really see the whole picture in the grand scheme of things. Third, even if we could see things from every possible vantage point we are far too selfish to be willing to sacrifice our own well-being for the sake of others. Forth, even if we were willing to sacrifice our own well-being it is often for the sake of prideful arrogance. Our nature of sin takes over at moments of choice and we would never be able to accept a time frame like that given by God in every situation without being overwhelmed by our godless attitude.
Learning to live within the time frame of God means to learn to live by faith. God can move like lightning in any situation, but God chooses to move like molasses most of the time so that we will either come to faith in Christ or that our faith would mature. In Luke 8:40-56 we are told the story of Jarius an official of the synagogue (v. 41) who had a daughter who was dying (v. 42). Jarius chooses to seek Jesus out, finds Him, and begs for Jesus to come to his house in order for his daughter to be healed (v. 42). In the process the crowd presses on the Lord and a woman who was ill herself is healed by just touching the helm of His cloak (vv. 42-44). Jesus stops and takes the time to find out who it was who reached out in faith and was healed (v. 45). Evidently the crowd was so big and the Jarius’ situation so desperate Peter asked basically, how could you know? (v. 45). The idea is given that Peter is attempting to push things along. The woman reveals herself, a conversation occurs and they continue their journey (vv. 46-48). Yet while the conversation is still going on very mournful news comes to Jarius, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.” (v. 49). Jarius must have looked at Jesus in downtrodden horror. He just witnessed the miracle of healing, but now there was no hope of such a miracle. How could this be? You see Jarius could have looked at Jesus and asked, “Why didn’t you move a little faster?” or “How come you had to stop and help that pathetic woman?” He could have accused the Lord by saying, “I knew it! You don’t like people of organized religion, therefore you let my daughter die.” No Jarius didn’t do that. When Jesus saw his pain He states, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.” (v. 50). Jarius then takes the Lord and His disciples to the house. Those who are at the house make fun of Jesus and His willingness to work a miracle, at which our Lord drives them out of the house. Then he raises the daughter from the dead.
So why did Jesus take His time with one situation and in the other do something immediate? If Cyrus made a call to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, why did it take seven months to return? Why isn’t God working sooner or faster in your life or in my life?
It is at those moments when we can hear our Lord say, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe…” (Luke 8:50). God does not work on our schedule. Rather He works to His glory. Things happen to benefit the proclamation of the gospel, not for our welfare. So as time passes, and circumstances which seem overbearing appear to take over, whether financial, marital, family life, carrier, home, work, friendships or church, we must respond in a way called faith. We will never be able to go anywhere in life if we don’t trust God first and foremost.
God Bless,
Steven
Friday, January 30, 2009
WHAT’S MISSING?
DEVOTIONAL 8
EZRA 1:5-2:70
EZRA 1:5-2:70
5 Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. 6 All those about them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; 8 and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. 9 Now this was their number: 30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 duplicates; 10 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind and 1,000 other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Back in the 1980’s there was a character that would show up on television shows, the back of cereal boxes, and books. This character’s name was Waldo and the idea was to find him. Often Waldo was hidden in plain sight where no one could find him right off the bat. Even though Waldo was often taller and dressed differently the person would have to spend a few minutes to find him and at times he was drawn in several different places.
Sometimes theology is like looking for Waldo. There are times when some important things are said when nothing is said at all. You know, like that look you use to get from your mom or dad when you would get in trouble. As we take our final look at this passage in this series we can see that there is something missing. Look at what is discussed in verse 6. It talks about the, “…articles of silver, with gold...” In verses 9 and 10 tells what those articles were and how many there were, “…30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 duplicates; 10 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind and 1,000 other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400…” But yet something of very strong importance is missing. Something which a Jew would have looked for and would have immediately noticed missing. That item of interest for this minister and for the Jews was the Ark of the Covenant. While studying this passage I noticed this and consulted about ten different, scholarly commentaries, no one even touched on this issue. Why? Because we would not think to look for it, we automatically assume that it is not there so we don’t look for it in the list. Personally I believe Shesbazzar did look for it. Now nobody knows what happen to the Ark of the Covenant. The Babylonians could have melted it down for the gold or it could have been left behind and later stolen. It could have been destroyed in one of the many raids on Jerusalem. The one thing I am confident of is that it is not in a church in Ethiopia.
Having noted all of this someone may ask the question, “What’s so significant about the absence of the Ark?” Well I’m glad you asked, because it marks the beginning of something new. Later in Ezra chapter 5 we will meet two prophets by the name of Haggai and Zechariah. Both prophets will give us more insight, but the idea is that the Old Covenant has passed. The Ark would have represented the Old Covenant. The people had foolishly placed their confidence in the Ark itself and not in what the Ark represented, a living relationship with God (1st Samuel 4:4-5:1). By doing this it often led to all kinds of disasters which cost Israel her existence as a nation of prominence. I also believe that the Ark was worshiped during the time when Manasseh, the son of king Hezekiah, placed idols in the temple mixing the worship of Yahweh with that of other gods (2 Chronicles 33). Regardless, the absence of the Ark meant that God was going to work in a new and beautiful way. The Ark of the Covenant represented the Law, theocracy, and often merciless ways of handling things ( read the book of Hebrews). It also represented something better and yet to come. So now the Jews find themselves without an independent nation, without the Ark of the Covenant, and without a king. What did they have left? A few items to go into the temple. Oh, yea at this moment, what temple. A promise from a pagan king to help rebuild, I wonder how many times they had heard that story. Technically they didn’t even have each other because they were scattered to the four corners of the earth. So what did they have? They had the promise of God and their faith.
What promises did they have from God? Well, Isaiah 53 comes to mind, the song of the suffering Servant. It is the promise of Messiah. God promised them a Messiah who would bare our grief and whom God Himself would strike (verse 4). He would “…be pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” (verse 5). Why would Messiah have to suffer? Because, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.” (verse 6). This passage is one of the richest passages in all of Scripture and held the greatest promise of them all to not only the Jewish people, but to the whole world.
Now they are left without an Ark which meant that a New Covenant was in the works. Now they are forced to look to God for their salvation and not their heritage, the Temple, the Ark, or anything else. It’s the same way with us. The covenant which God makes now is not with a nation, but with individuals. It no longer comes through a set of laws and regulations but from a relationship with Jesus Christ. No longer to we sacrifice bulls and rams for our sins, but rely on the grace (unmerited favor in a demerited situation) of God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. No longer do we yearly give thanks to God, but daily because of His bodily resurrection. You see the missing Ark was a signal of things which were to change. Even though it would be another four to five hundred years before Messiah would arrive, the Ark would no longer symbolize the covenant. No now the covenant is symbolized by a blood stained cross and comes through a relationship with the person who hung on that cross and three days later rose from the dead. All anyone needs to do is repent (turn from your sins) and believe by placing your total trust in Christ.
If you would like further information on knowing Jesus as your Savior please e-mail me at Bedevotedministry@att.net.
Lord bless,
Steven
Thursday, January 22, 2009
THE YEAR 36; THE NUMBER 50,000,000
Congratulations! If you voted for Barack Obama you have just helped end 3,000 lives a day. If you are a Christian and voted for Barack Obama you are in sin. If you are not a Christian, regardless if you voted for Barack Obama or not, your in danger of eternal judgment.
Sounds kind of harsh doesn’t it. Well let’s start with the open truth of why I am opening up like this. Today (1/22/09) President Barack Obama moved this nation one step closer to the judgment of God. What he did today is an irreconcilable situation politically and morally. At this point all we can do is pray for our President, and as always continue to respect him as a person and the President. But I will not stand by and stay silent about what he did today. Today our President signed an executive order allowing our tax payer monies to be used for overseas abortions (www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/01/21/obama-lift-ban-funding-groups-providing-abortions-overseas/ ).
As many can tell I did not vote for President Obama, but at first I was willing to watch to see what he would do. It didn’t take long. While I had reservations at first, I knew it would only take a matter of time before something of a moral issue would arise. Like Bill Clinton in 1993, who opened the way for our tax payer dollars to be used in this manner (www.politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/19/sources-obama-may-use-executive-order-reverse-abortion-policy/ ). When I see things like this I have to ask, “Change? What change?” All I see are the same old liberal, socialistic tactics which have been used by socialistic Democrats in the past. Whatever happened to the strong, staunch conservative Democrats who use to stand for something, rather than fall for anything?
The President says he is against the blood shed of war, but he is for the bloodshed of millions of unborn babies. If you will read one of my earlier blogs (September 28, 2008) you will see that then Senator Obama who was running for President stated to Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church, that the abortion issue was, “above my pay grade”. He remarked it depended on whether the issue was approached from a theological or scientific view. In his inauguration speech he stated, “We will restore science to its rightful place…” (www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4877395 ). I know he is talking about the threat of global warming, which still has a lot of work regarding the theory, I believe President Obama is ignoring the science in regards to abortion.
I have not been this angry about this kind of immoral arrogance and lack of back bone in years. We as Americans cared more for our pocket book than we did the moral climate of our nation. Somehow the Christian population believes government can handle the issue of the economy better than God. Yet we ignored the issue of innocent life and abortion during the campaign. With Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state (www.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/clinton_confirmation ) you can be assured that this issue will not be ignored, but pushed onto smaller, poorer nations as an answer. China has had a one child policy for years, which has been exercised through forced abortions. As a result today they are having a population decrease problem because there are not enough females. Most of the babies who were aborted (with the help of U.S. tax payer dollars) were female (www.geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/onechild.htm ; www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html ). What do you think is going to happen if you get too many men and too much testosterone in one area for too long? If you ask me abortion doesn’t seem like too much of an answer. I know you clowns out there who think that it saved the population from starvation. The truth is that it was the Communist control which led to the starvation, not the population. If they would have allowed free enterprise and free trade then some of the starvation issues could have been eliminated. So the science of history proves President Obama wrong.
What about the science of neonatal-pregnancy? Well, since the 1980’s that area has grown and it has proven that what is going on in the womb is in fact a human being (www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3798/is_/ai_n24394963 ). Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union address on February 6, 1985 said, “…all the evidence so far comes down on the side of the unborn child being a living human being.” Again, our present President has ignored science.
So we are back to square one, “What should we do?” Well outside of a complete impeachment (which will not happen) we are stuck in this situation. The first thing which can be done is pray. God can change hearts and we need to pray that President Obama’s heart will be changed. Second, write you congressman and the President. Protest the action in e-mail, with phone calls and in letters. Key thought here is: “Be civil”. Third, start looking for a strong conservative to run in your district or for Senate in your state, if one does not already exist. Send a message that we do not want this kind of policy. Fourth, start looking for a strong conservative to run against President Obama in 2012. I believe someone else can win if we work the field. Last, pray! We just simply need to pray. Pray for the Presidents protection, for his policies and for his spiritual condition. Pray for revival of evangelism among Christians. Laws will not change this issue, only Jesus Christ ruling and reigning in the hearts of men will. Christians need to repent of their moral failure to stand up for truth and start being a voice of conscience for those who have no voice, whether they are unborn, poor, disabled, or elderly.
God Bless,
Steven
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
MY THOUGHTS ON THE 2009 INAGURATION
We now have a new president by the name of Barack Obama. He is a man who has come from a very mixed background; a father who left him (something I feel he still struggles with), raised by a single mother along with his two committed grandparents. He is a man who was shaped by the dream of Martin Luther King and is now the embodiment of that dream. He is a man of extreme intelligence, great ambition, and thoughtful analysis. He was raised in Hawaii, taught in private school, educated at Harvard. He has been a man committed to the value of helping others by being engaged in community organizations which helped those who appear to have no help. He was an Illinois state senator and later ran for the Senate of that state only to run for President of the United States two years later and win. There are many good qualities which President Obama appears to hold, one of which I believe is his faithfulness to his wife and the role model he continues to be to his children. In many ways he is a true role model of family life for the African-American community. Perseverance is another quality I believe he shows. During the campaign against both Clinton and McCain perseverance showed up more than once as the campaign became a grueling task of swaps that were made back and forth. I believe that President Barack Obama is a person of moral character. He has done or said nothing which says otherwise.
However, having said that I believe that historically we are in the greatest danger we have ever been in during our two hundred plus years as a nation. I believe we are in more danger than we may have been during the Civil War. Why? Not because of President Barack Obama, but because of our own selfish ambitions. We have allowed desperation to become our key word. Our forefathers believed in independence and hard work. Today we live in an overwhelming society of “give me’s.” We constantly want more for less without giving anything. President Obama is not only the embodiment of Martin Luther King’s dream, but is also the embodiment of the great American tragedy.
President Barack Obama is more like Franklin Roosevelt than Abraham Lincoln. Franklin Roosevelt came to power as president during the turbulent times of the Great Depression. He was charismatic, thought provoking and was ushered in by a public who was tired of prohibition and high taxes. Basically the people wanted the roaring twenties to return and the ability to toast the night away without worrying about law enforcement ruining the party. The problem was that a repeal of the 18th Amendment or Prohibition did not ease the suffering nor did it bring back prosperity. Neither did the New Deal which ambitiously placed the Federal Government as an employer. In 1933 when he became president the unemployment rate was 23% but in 1937 it fell to 14.5% which sounds good. But in 1938 it raised to 19% only to continue climbing to the eve of the December 7th, 1941 the Pearl Harbor attack. In fact the New Deal was so intrusive that in 1947 it interfered with the private sector being able to start up the creation of new jobs causing the nation to go through a sever recession which almost plunged it back into the Great Depression. This new form of socialism brought with it a hefty price tag as well. Federal taxation on people went from 25% in 1930 under President Hoover (who raised taxes on the people in 1930 as the Depression deepened) to 79% in 1946 under both Roosevelt and Truman. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123215398370892313.html?mod=googlenews_wsj )
Under President George W. Bush we have enjoyed to pretty strong economics, while not as strong as the late 1990’s under President Bill Clinton. Either way the economy was strong and it was constant. However I believe that President George W. Bush and his staff started taking us down a road that President Obama will continue. It was a path toward greater socialism through the financial bailouts of our banking system in the fall of 2008. President Barak Obama will not call his intrusive policies the New Deal, but it could be called a “New Day.” At least that is the constant rant that he quotes. I believe that President Obama will be a one term president much like Jimmy Carter. There have already been signs of tension in the Democratic leadership which threatens unity. (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/08/key-senate-democrats-blast-obama-tax-proposals/ ) Our new President has made a huge amount of promises which he may not be able to fulfill, as do most presidents. However, this President ran on style not substance. I go back to one of my pre-election blogs where I stated that those who were ushering our President into office were acting more like 3rd grade playground kids than logical, thought provoking adults. I’m still looking around wondering if we are in 1982 again and if I’m still in high school where the prettiest girl gets voted in as class president, not the smartest.
I worry about his moral convictions regarding abortion and the homosexual movement. He is very post modern in his approach which, at times, makes me a little uncomfortable. It appears that he is gaining a stronger view of many of the military and intelligence issues, even thought I still worry about those issues as well.
So what do we do in this situation? Simple! Pray! Pray for our new President, for his health, safety, salvation, and understanding of the issues. Pray for his family that he and they will continue to enjoy the grace of our Lord while being our leader. Pray that God will turn his and our Vice-President’s heart in the right direction. Pray that we as Evangelicals will be a light to our President, always speaking the truth in love. Even then pray for each other, that we will stand on our convictions from Scripture first and foremost. Pray that we will be willing to oppose the President when necessary, but never neglect to treat him with respect as a person and as our President. Who knows maybe God will use him in a way that we could never imagine.
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