This is a note from a friend posted to me of her friend, pastor Scott. She wanted to know my comment, and not taht I am anything, but deception is great in our time, so I thought this deserved attention so people will begin to know what they have got themselves into by electing Barrack Obama.
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Last year I had the privilege of attending Sojourners Call to Renewal in Washington D.C. Along with amazing thinkers like Jim Wallis, Brian Mclaren, Shane Claiborne, Lynne Hybels, Freddie Haynes, Joel Hunter (who is pro-life and recently gave the Democratic National Convention opening prayer) - I was able to also see the three main Democratic contenders at that time; John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.
(By the way, I ran into and got to speak to Freddie Haynes this week as I was coming out of Whole Foods in Dallas...he is an awesome guy and was nearly chosen to be the next president of the NAACP, but alas he is a disciple of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's brand of black liberation theology and they couldn't stand up to the controversy.)
Anyway, I wonder if you might watch a clip of what I recorded that night from Obama (facebook readers will have to follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQTaaro_Vog -be prepared to turn up the volume -
Last year I had the privilege of attending Sojourners Call to Renewal in Washington D.C. Along with amazing thinkers like Jim Wallis, Brian Mclaren, Shane Claiborne, Lynne Hybels, Freddie Haynes, Joel Hunter (who is pro-life and recently gave the Democratic National Convention opening prayer) - I was able to also see the three main Democratic contenders at that time; John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.
(By the way, I ran into and got to speak to Freddie Haynes this week as I was coming out of Whole Foods in Dallas...he is an awesome guy and was nearly chosen to be the next president of the NAACP, but alas he is a disciple of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's brand of black liberation theology and they couldn't stand up to the controversy.)
Anyway, I wonder if you might watch a clip of what I recorded that night from Obama (facebook readers will have to follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQTaaro_Vog -be prepared to turn up the volume -
What Obama is describing is a Christian view of "the common good". It really is a Biblical idea that turns Cain's question to God around:
"Am I my brother's keeper?"
And, of course, the answer is, "yes".
It also strikes at the very center of the central commandment, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
It is unfortunate that we as Christians often base our political philosophy more on Darwinism than we do on the words of Jesus. It is as if we have taken an extreme notion of "self reliance" and personal responsibility from the pages of On the Origin of the Species; preferring laissez-faire capitalism and survival of the fittest over "whatsoever you do unto the least of these, you do also to me."
The Common Good understands that when an individual in our society suffers, we all suffer. The homeless Vietnam veteran I encounter at the intersection near my apartment...is my problem. The single mother of the little girl that sits beside my son in kindergarten - who is unable to miss work for fear of being fired when her daughter is sick should stay home...is my problem. The 500 Dallas teachers who were just laid off. The families I know who are trying to live on minimum wage... These are my problems.
These "personal problems" affect us all.
We ask, "Am I my brother's keeper?" and God says, "Yes."
Often some of my friends will say, "Yes, but it isn't the governments job to __fill in the blank___".
Often, advances in what the "government" provides are demonized as "socialism". But I wonder, who do we think that the "government" is? In this representative Democracy aren't we the government? Isn't this supposed to be a government of the people, for the people, and by the people? If it is we who pay the taxes, we who elect our representatives who pass the laws, and we who are the true "deciders" - then aren't we really saying, "Yes, but it isn't MY job to __fill in the blank___."
Reminds me of another guy who was full of excuses..."Really, God, I mean, am I my brother's keeper???"
Yes, Cain, yes you are.
The next time your kid goes to a public school, you accept an educational grant or subsidised college loan, you collect unemployment benefits, you work 40 hours a week instead of 80, you drive on a public road, go to the mailbox and check the mail, ride in an airplane that doesn't collide into another one, drink water that didn't come from a well, eat out and don't get sick, enjoy the protection of the US military, visit a state park...be thankful that there are a lot of people who believe in the common good.
Now, of course I am not advocating that we sell everything we have and give it to the poor! That would be crazy! But I wonder if we might start taking some steps in the right direction by at least acknowledging that our neighbors problems affect us all...and then on a very local and personal level we do something about it.
The person with the broken down car that you pass in traffic is your neighbor - and his problem is your problem.
The family living with no health insurance - that's not just their problem.
Ahhhh - has Satan convinced you of the myth of scarcity? Do you really believe that there isn't enough to go around? There is - if each of us only takes what we need...but that's another post.
My Response -
Yeah, the emergent church is behind Obama and Rick Warren, and is part of the great Apostasy. Not only does lighthousetrails watching this stuff, so does www.sliceoflaodicea.org, www.christianresearchnetwork.com, www.carm.org, there's lots of them that see the dangers! We've got to be on our toes!
In his paragraph about govt responsibiliities, and personal (Christian responsibilities ~ which ins some cases, b/c of red tape, the Church can't perform it's Biblical mandates, i.e., caring for the orphans and widows, at least, not wtihout going through govt. "training," or conditioning!) he criticizes those who "demonize" socialism, while socialism doesn't believe in personal property. It does not allow people to prosper form their own work and excellence, but takes the reward, or "wealth," and gives it to those who will not work. The Bible says, if a man does not work, he should not eat! Care and helping those in trouble is to be of a free, generous heart, and not through a government collectivized network of paid employees who are not able or equipped to give the compassion and loving care to each individual that the Bible demands.
This great democratic country was birthed out of the Protestant Reformation, before it, nothing like the U.S.A. had been known on earth. As our nation abandons the great, godly heritage from whence it came, we our losing our freedoms, and having enemies increase against us. God has removed His blessing from our nation.
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1 comment:
Pastor Chris,
Socialism is a cancer to any society.
As we see from the history of the USSR and Germany. Any time you have the govt. parading through every aspect of life, defining what life is begins to deteriorate into an obscure notion. The problems that our country faces are no different for us. We as a nation must wake up and start educating ourselves about the path this country is taking. By and large the majority don't care about the effect our decisions will have on the future of the nation, they only care for the here and now. "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die". We have, by all intents, lost the capacity to critically think and take ideas to their logical end.
As concerning the christian mandates, I totally agree that they should be done, even so far as not going through the govt. "training - conditioning". Ministry is suppose to "hurt". It takes blood, sweat, tears and love to do ministry, even at our own expense. Ministry that's subsidized doesn't, imo, qualify as a biblical ministry, just a humanist endeavor.
When we look at the biblical example of just Acts ch. 2 & 4 we see the disciples selling all that they had for their brethren who lacked. These liberal guys take that context and expand that to the global scale and misrepresent the idea that we as Christians are failing our mandate. I instead say that we are failing in our "local context" of caring for those of the body first and then those "on the outside".
I don't want to get into a tangent, but this idea that we as a people need big beautiful brick buildings and nicely trimmed lawns to attract those outside our congregations (I mean to worship God) is ludicrous. We spend all this money and all the while the coffers continue to fill, hardly a cent, in comparison to our accoutrements, is given to those that lack in the congregation. This is just one tragedy that is occurring in the thing we call, church.
I believe it begins with the preaching or better, the lack thereof. Most of what American Evangelical preaching has become is nothing more than a toxic soup of psycho-sociological babble. There is hardly any true teaching of Who we truly serve. If we don't know God for who he truly is, we can never truly devote our lives like we should to Him. With that follows our condition as sinful man, and the real reason that Christ died for the sins of the ungodly. Finally, how we live our lives in due honor and respectful worship of Christ's sacrifice for us. Out of that knowledge naturally follows the inclination of our regenerated heart to truly "love our neighbor" as ourselves.
In regard to the comment, "It also strikes at the very center of the central commandment, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The First or "central" commandment is to "love God with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind. (our entire being), this is where the crux of the issue lies! Even though we say we believe in God (92% of Americans) our actions as a nation do not show it, and I believe it is because Jesus Christ is not truly being preached in this country and it's affecting every aspect of our existence as a nation that was founded on Judeo-Christian values and principles. Only when Christ is preached may we see the effects that the Reformation era saw.
Thanks for the post! Keep sounding the trumpet!
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