Monday, November 17, 2008

MY TAKE ON AMERICA AND HER PRESIDENT-ELECT

I have read much of late about how America needs to repent over the abortions that are taking place and the movement toward legitimizing homosexuality and if she doesn't God will judge her and may be doing that now through the economic and political difficulties presently being faced by all Americans. But if America were to repent of doing those kinds of things she would be blessed because God blesses a nation that is righteous.

I certainly respect all believers and others who have a passion for protecting the unborn. I abhor abortion as do many of you I'm confident. I reject homosexuality as a legitimate action as I do adultery and fornication. I also abhor racial and gender hatred that is often seen in America. I also believe certain other things are true were one to think biblical.

One....No nation will be blessed because of righteous acts or judged for unrighteous acts in the present day since all acts outside of Christ are as filthy rags.... [Unrighteous]...and... judgment on that unrighteousness has been taken by Him on the Cross. THAT IS OUR MESSAGE. Blessings flow from having a relationship with the One who did that Cross work on our behalf. For God to bless a nation BECAUSE of righteous deeds would violate what He says about the need of the work of the Cross.

There are natural consequences of good actions for any nation [or bad actions] but that is reaping what is sown. That is the normal process of natural/common law which, partially at least, reflects the nature of God. There is also a common grace He has for the unrighteous. But to define any good deeds as RIGHTEOUS, as I said, and to think of God blessing BECAUSE of performing those deeds is beyond the scripture.

Two....If that Cross event and what was accomplished there is rejected then there has been appointed a day in eternity for judgment and the One has been announced who will do the work of judging all men in that day as He alone can know their heart. [Acts 17:31] So our message is that judgment has ALREADY come [the Cross] and will come in eternity if that Cross message is rejected.

America, Russia, Korea, China, [any nation] will not find favor with God by actions good or bad. It is the gospel message alone that announces from where His Grace and Mercy flow and a revival in the hearts of God's people to share that message is needed, and is, in my opinion, the only TRUE hope of any person on this earth today.

Three....Because I am an American citizen AND I am a believer in that message referenced above, I will work to get civil laws passed that would reflect the sacredness of life and protect the innocent which is what God has established governments to do. [1 Peter 2:12-14] I will work to make as law the natural order of things that make for life as God created it to be in areas like family life, among other areas, for the general well being of the citizens of our nation. Such laws would make for a safe, [punishment of evildoers and protection of the innocent] sane, and free society politically. It would be for the good of the people and the best possible life in a lost and unregenerate world from my perspective. Those are my political goals as a citizen and a believer.

I will also pray for our leaders whomever they might be and I join you, I'm sure, in longing for their hearts to be opened to the Christ of the gospel who WOULD enable a sacredness of life to reign in their minds and hearts as they govern. I know I will also work for the election of those TO govern who share the values by which I live.

Four.... But I will NOT allow my message to become less than the gospel no matter the importance of the wrongs that need to be righted done by nations and their rulers. I will work as a citizen, who is a christian, for fair and just laws with the purpose of making our nation a safe and just place, as I said, for every person, race, gender, and the unborn and elderly. But I will not lose my focus on the fact that our only real hope is in God's ability to change hearts through His Son.

Finally.. This is a difficult balance for me to achieve and a narrow line for me to walk but walk it I must. There is only one holy nation today and only one blessed people today and that is the holy blessed body of believers worldwide [The Church/Body/Bride] many of whom find themselves in difficult national circumstances that demand heartfelt action as a citizen, if there is the freedom to do so. But that action MUST be done without losing the message of hope for all people including leaders. My message must NEVER become an American righteousness instead of Kingdom righteousness. Nor should christians in other nations have a nationalistic message either. What a mess we would create.

May God grant revival to His people, salvation to the lost, and courage to those of us who know Him, that we may love the lost and work against their actions when necessary politically yet all the while presenting them with the Grace of the Cross that has captured us and set us free to love them as we would never be able to do otherwise.

I WILL pray for the President-Elect and I will continue to pray for all elected leaders as well. I will then work, as a citizen, to replace those, by vote, that I believe would not advance what I hold to as the best way of natural life for all American people, even the unborn. But I will not close the door on bringing to them the message that is THEIR only hope by demonstrating a spirit of hatred BECAUSE of their sinful [By my standards as a christian] actions and beliefs. As I said...this is difficult to walk... but our Lord did. He did it in a culture that reflected ALL the biases, hatred, violence, and general disregard for life one can ever imagine. He led the way in personally reflecting the sacredness and value of people regardless of national origin, gender or race, all without losing His focus on the message. Are His servants called on for anything less?



Paul Burleson

Friday, November 07, 2008

TWO SIDES TO EVERY PERSON'S STORY

I couldn't resist reprinting a portion and linking to the entire article by Michael Gerson, Washington Post group writer, on a side of our present President that some may tend to forget.


By Michael GersonFriday, November 7, 2008


Election Day 2008 must have been filled with rueful paradoxes for the sitting president. Iraq -- the issue that dominated George W. Bush's presidency for 5 1/2 bitter, controversial years -- is on the verge of a miraculous peace. And yet this accomplishment did little to revive Bush's political standing -- or to prevent his party from relegating him to a silent role.

The achievement is historic. In 2006, Iraq had descended into a sectarian killing spree that seemed likely to stop only when the supply of victims was exhausted. Showing Truman-like stubbornness, Bush pushed to escalate a war that most Americans -- and some at the Pentagon -- had already mentally abandoned.

The result? A Sunni tribal revolt against their al-Qaeda oppressors, an effective campaign against Shiite militias in Baghdad and Basra, and the flight of jihadists from Iraq to less deadly battlefields. In a more stable atmosphere, Iraq's politicians have made dramatic political progress. Iraqi military and police forces have grown in size and effectiveness and now fully control 13 of Iraq's 18 provinces. And in the month before Election Day, American combat deaths matched the lowest monthly total of the entire war.

For years, critics of the Iraq war asked the mocking question: "What would victory look like?" If progress continues, it might look something like what we've seen.

But Air Force One -- normally seen swooping into battleground states for rallies during presidential elections -- was mainly parked during this campaign. President Bush appeared with John McCain in public a total of three times -- and appeared in McCain's rhetoric as a foil far more often than that.

This seems to be Bush's current fate: Even success brings no praise. And the reasons probably concern Iraq. The absence of stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in the aftermath of the war was a massive blow. The early conduct of the Iraq occupation was terribly ineffective. Hopes that the war had turned a corner -- repeatedly raised by Iraqis voting with purple fingers and approving a constitution -- were dashed too many times, until many Americans became unwilling to believe anymore.
Initial failures in Iraq acted like a solar eclipse, blocking the light on every other achievement. But those achievements, with the eclipse finally passing, are considerable by the measure of any presidency. Because of the passage of Medicare Part D, nearly 10 million low-income seniors are receiving prescription drugs at little or no cost. No Child Left Behind education reform has helped raise the average reading scores of fourth-graders to their highest level in 15 years and narrowed the achievement gap between white and African American children. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has helped provide treatment for more than 1.7 million people and compassionate care for at least 2.7 million orphans and vulnerable children. And the decision to pursue the surge in Iraq will be studied as a model of presidential leadership.

These achievements, it is true, have limited constituencies to praise them. Many conservatives view Medicare, education reform and foreign assistance as heresies. Many liberals refuse to concede Bush's humanity, much less his achievements.

But that humanity is precisely what I will remember. I have seen President Bush show more loyalty than he has been given, more generosity than he has received. I have seen his buoyancy under the weight of malice and his forgiveness of faithless friends. Again and again, I have seen the natural tug of his pride swiftly overcome by a deeper decency -- a decency that is privately engaging and publicly consequential.

Before the Group of Eight summit in 2005, the White House senior staff overwhelmingly opposed a new initiative to fight malaria in Africa for reasons of cost and ideology -- a measure designed to save hundreds of thousands of lives, mainly of children under 5. In the crucial policy meeting, one person supported it: the president of the United States, shutting off debate with a moral certitude that others have criticized. I saw how this moral framework led him to an immediate identification with the dying African child, the Chinese dissident....."

See the rest of the article here...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/04/AR2008110403818_pf.html

As the title of this post says...there are two sides to every story.

Paul B.