Post Election Mandate and Action Points

I wanted to say pretty much the same thing as follows, but why reinvent the wheel when Thabiti Anyabwile, Pastor the the First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, says it so well?

I urge you to read, and heed:

I remember as a middle-schooler watching the film, “The Day After.” It was, at the time (the height of the Cold War), a rather alarming film about the prospect of nuclear war. We watched with rapt attention as mushroom clouds, frantic citizens, traffic jams, blinding light, and nuclear fallout destroyed “life as we knew it.”

It strikes me that many Christians have been watching this election like middle-schoolers fearfully paralyzed at their first look at nuclear realities. Our fear of nuclear destruction was warranted. The Christian anxiety about this election is not.

So it’s the day after the election, and your candidate didn’t win. Aside from the natural nauseating post-game let-down feeling, what are you to think and feel? Here are a few quick thoughts:

1. Remember that President Barack Obama is not just the first African-American president, he is also the 45th white President. There will no doubt be many associations made between his skin color, assumptions about his race, and a host of successes or failures during his presidency. But let us Christians avoid such errors. Let us avoid saddling this one man with the responsibility of representing a “race” of people, or saddling the people with this one man’s failures or achievements. Let us be good theologians and attribute all that President Obama is to either his fallen nature or to the work of grace in his life. We may all celebrate in his achievement, and we may all recognize in him things fundamental to human nature—not to “race.” His presidency is as much a testament to the progress of all Americans as it is a proud moment for African Americans.

2. Keep working on the issues you care most passionately about. There is no reason to think that President Barack Obama can overthrow the will and work of God in the world. So what if he is the most pro-choice/pro-abortion candidate in history? Isn’t God still the most pro-life God in all creation? The man in the presidency has changed; our Lord has not. So we keep laboring in the cause of justice knowing that the Sovereign Lord is just as likely (maybe more likely!) for His glory to do with a President Obama—who so clearly opposes his will in many areas—greater things on the abortion front than He might do with a professing Christian president. God may yet bring to Himself more glory in prevailing on the abortion issue by making the most sizeable and godward progress during the administration of one who is so decidedly against His will! That would be just like Him: raise the opposition to demonstrate more His glory. Put your hope in the living God!

3. Pray for those in authority over you. No really; pray for him. Consider that when Paul instructs the church to pray for those in authority he then directly connects such prayer with the ability of the church to “live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Tim. 2:1-2). One wonders how much of the peace- and godliness- and holiness-destroying circumstances in our country stem from the absence of prayer for those in authority. Our prayer meetings are empty. Our pastoral and personal prayers are self-centered. We barely feel the urging emphasis of Paul when he assigns “first of all” importance to “requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving” on behalf of our leaders. Can there be any wonder that our leaders so often serve themselves and not the people? And can any man stand against the will and power of God when the Lord’s people really pray for them? No they cannot. Really; they cannot. Pray for President Obama with the full assurance of faith.

So, it’s the day after the election. Things have changed, in some obvious and more subtle ways. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

God’s election of you, if you’re a Christian, has not changed. His purpose to conform you to Christ has not changed. You really have won all that matters for eternity. That’s not to downplay the importance of some issues discussed in this election.

But really, if McCain had won, how would your day today be in reality any different than your day yesterday? The laws today would be the same laws yesterday.

Your work would still be before you. You haven’t lost any ground yet.

Perhaps you’ve been given greater incentive to pray, reminded of what matters eternally, and in those things shone a more fruitful path forward. The Lord omnipotent reigns. Rejoice in full assurance!

Forgiveness Fact

“Do you ever think that your sins are too bad, and that forgiveness for those sins requires you to get your act together first? If so, you don’t fear God. You are minimizing his forgiveness. You are acting as though his forgiveness is ordinary, just like that of any person or make-believe god. In contrast, the fear of the Lord leads us to believe that when God makes promises too good to be true, they are indeed true.”
- Ed Welch, Running Scared (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2007), 195.

Observations on November 4

As I continue to prepare, pray, and ponder for the message I will preach tonight at the First Baptist Church of Troy, Ks (as part of a week of "special meetings"), I also ponder a wide range of things as my emotions and attention is stretched:

1) Today is my daughter's 14th birthday. Such a blessing. We adopted her at birth (her birthmom was a 14-year-old girl we met at a camp). How I pray for her to stay close to Jesus, to pursue purity, and to walk with Him all her life.

2) Jane's Dad is in ICU in a Florida hospital. He had lung surgery a couple weeks ago, and Sunday developed blood clots; thus far the doctors have not been able to get rid of the clots.

3) We are supposed to load up the truck on November 12th and actually move!

4) Oh, yeah, there is an election today!

As you can imagine, me being in Kansas and Jane and the two younger children being in NY, and her Dad in Florida, and the "scheduled" events make this a very difficult time. I believe the lives of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of unborn babies will be saved or lost as a direct result of this election.

But "our God reigns." We are to "cast all our cares on Him" because "He cares for us."

We are to "trust in the Lord with all our heart, not lean on our own understanding, in all our ways acknowledge Him, and He will make our path straight."

And, yes, we are to "Rejoice in the Lord always", and in a rare form of repetition, Paul says "and (in case you didn't get it the first time) again I say rejoice!"

Be happy? Nope. Rejoice.

Easy? Nope.

But following Christ is NOT "easy." Sorrow, tribulation, and trials are not obliterated when one comes to salvation...in fact they are increased.

But through it all I am to "rejoice."

And I can, because

1) I know Jesus loves my daughter so much more than I ever can

2) Jane's Dad (also named "Jack") knows Christ, and, like all of us, his "times are in God's hands).

3) God knows how the move will take place.

4) Again, "our God reigns." Perhaps America gets what she deserves; perhaps what is foreseen (by us) is not what He has planned; and even Obama's heart and mind is not beyond the reach of the Lord of the universe.

Better Than Good!

Drove from Bath, NY to Hannibal, Mo yesterday...then had a hard time falling asleep.

So dove into the Word for a little while, got to thinking about one of my favorite verses:

Psalm 119.165 Great peace have those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.

Wondered about other references to "great"...didn't do an exhaustive study, but did find these quickly:

Nehemiah 12.43 "...God had made them rejoice with great joy.

Eph 2.4 "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us..."

Daniel 9.18 "...For we do not present our pleas before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy"

James 5.16 "...The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

And here is my for-now favorite:

Jude 24 "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy."

Now, the way Jude 24 reads, I wonder if the "great joy" is ours or His?

Whatever You Are Going Thru - Jesus is Stronger!

Wow! That's basically all I can say about this song, presented by Hillsong, and referred to in a post by James MacDonald:

Jesus Plus Anything is Less

Simple truth; simply put:

On The Road, Again

Early summer Jane and I talked about an invitation I had to speak for a week in a church in Troy, Ks. The pastor, Jerry, and I went to Bible school together and have remained close. We decided that I should accept the assignment, and laughed that we’d probably be moving right around that time…

Thursday morning I begin the drive to the Midwest to, first, help with Midland Ministries’ Bible quizzing on Saturday, and on Sunday morning begin the week in the church.

And, yeah, we could be loading the truck while I am gone! Or, perhaps more likely, that will transpire as soon as I return to New York, probably November 11.

Everything is still a bit in limbo as we don’t have final word from Saint Joseph nor an “etched in stone” closing date here.

So I drive off to preach, and Jane, Janelle, and Jacob stay in New York. On Wednesday Joel will fly from Chicago to Buffalo to help with the move.

So I use the blog to simply invite you to pray with us for safety for all the traveling, for power in ministering the Word, and for all the details of this move to…finally…be revealed to us. We are already and still thanking the Lord for working it all out…just waiting to see how He does it!

What is Humility?

Andrew Murray has a great quote, "Humility is not the same as low self-esteem, and it is not the opposite of confidence. In fact, the truly humble person walks with absolute confidence, knowing that we are simply vessels through whom God wants to accomplish His work."

Yancey on Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is the only way to break the cycle of blame--and pain--in a
relationship...It does not settle all questions of blame and justice and
fairness...But it does allow relationships to start over. In that way,
said Solzhenitsyn, we differ from all animals. It is not our capacity to
think that makes us different, but our capacity to repent, and to forgive."

Philip Yancey

Can You Define the Gospel in 60 Seconds (or so)?

Here's a great definition of that which is "of first importance" worthy of contemplation, meditation, and, perhaps, memorization:

“The first order of business is to know the gospel . . .

The gospel or good news of Jesus Christ is that God the Father, who is holy and righteous in all his ways, is angry with sinners and will punish sin. Man, who disobeys the rule of God, is alienated from the love of God and is in danger of an eternal and agonizing condemnation at the hands of God. But God, who is also rich in mercy, because of his great love, sent his eternal Son born by the Virgin Mary, to die as a ransom and a substitute for the sins of rebellious people. And now, through the perfect obedience of the Son of God and his willing death on the cross as a payment for our sins, all who repent and believe in Jesus Christ, following him as Savior and Lord, will be saved from the wrath of God to come, be declared just in his sight, have eternal life, and receive the Spirit of God as a foretaste of the glories of heaven with God himself.”

- Thabiti Anyabwile, What Is a Healthy Church Member? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), 40-41