President-elect Trump!

When the Donald stood in Trump Tower and announced a run for the Presidency, many of us thought it was just a stunt.  Could the reality TV star be serious?  He was. After the ugliest campaign in my memory, he sat down with President Obama yesterday to start the process of the transfer of authority in these United States. A year ago, who would have thought it probable, much less possible? I have some deep concern about the kind of policies that will find support under President Trump.  But, he will be my President and, as a Christian guided by the Scripture, I know that it is my responsibility to offer up sincere prayer for him; indeed for all those who are entrusted with authority.

Read this passage with a heart of faith and submission to the Spirit, won’ t you? “Pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God’s mercy upon them, and give thanks. Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior.” (1 Timothy 2, NLT) 

Let us renew our commitment to obey God's call to pray for our leaders. The important work that we are told to do making this a just society begins with bended knees and broken hearts!  We cannot speak the transforming Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with any real conviction or effect until we have received a supernatural empowering.  The party in power has changed but our commission to feed the hungry, to care for the dying, to visit the imprisoned, to become the defenders of the oppressed, to offer love to the outcasts and hope those who are enslaved by their sins is unchanged.

Christians are citizens of Heaven and our first allegiance is to Christ. However that does not exempt us from being good citizens of these United States.  The Spirit tells us that "Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong.  So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience. Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do." (Romans 13:1-6, NLT)  It is not hard to understand the plain meaning of this passage.  God is able to use very flawed people to accomplish His purposes. So, we pray!

We are foolish if we substitute our own ‘wisdom’ for His eternal truth. Before we decide that those words were just ‘for another time’ we need to recall that when the Spirit told disciples of Jesus to submit to authority and that those who ruled were “God’s servants” it was a time of pagan emperors and intense persecution of Christians!  Imagine the faith it required of them to pray for the very people who were trying to destroy them.  Pray for our President, asking God to use this flawed man. Pray for those who will work alongside of him. 

And renew your hope in this amazing promise that is as true today as it was on Monday before this election.  Hear the word from the Word.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV)

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Father in Heaven, I thank you for Your reign!
Today, I pray for our leaders, particularly for President-elect Trump.
Grace him with virtues of Wisdom, Justice, Courage, Humility, Faith, Hope, and Love
as he prepares to assume the Presidency.

The challenges presented to him in our world are many.
Work deeply in his heart and mind and draw him

to a new understanding of Who You are.

Spirit of God, call your Church to a new understanding of her place in this world,
a place of bold commitment to Truth, to service, and prayer!

May we interact with our government,
even when those who govern in ways that are hostile to Your ways,
with grace and gentleness.
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in us.
All of this, I ask in His holy Name, Amen.

The religion of politics

Wednesday morning, America woke up to discover that our electoral system has given us a President who says he will change the direction of the country – a prospect that horrifies and delights our divided population in equal measure. My soul was ripped to the core yesterday as I read post after post on social media that emerged from some of the darkest places of humanity. I waded through an ugly swamp – seeing both notes of bitterness and triumphalism.  In sorrow, I asked myself, “what kind of people have we become?” It is as if politics has become the new religion.  The expressions of devotion and the statements of dread reflect a kind of absolutism once reserved for convictions about the nature of God Himself!

My dear Christian friend, let me urge us all to reflect and realize that politics are a sorry substitute for the Gospel of Christ and the power of the Spirit for the salvation of the world. Russell Moore wrote that “the most important lesson we should learn is that the church must stand against the way politics has become a religion, and religion has become politics.”  Christians need to be more than Republican or Democrat or Green or Libertarian!  We are first and foremost, of Christ and in Christ. It is to our shame that we let our convictions about health care, the role of government in welfare, human rights, and issues about gender divide those of us who are called to be children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. It has been said in my presence more than once, “He could not possibly be a Christian. Look at who he supports.”  Come now, friend. Is that really true?  Does support for the temporal agenda of some political party actually disqualify a person from knowing and loving Jesus Christ? Since when did how a person views climate change or gender rights become the litmus test for being ‘in Christ?’

When we elevate the political process and misplace our hope in the power of legislation to save and transform the world we have given ourselves to a false god and we have been seduced by an empty hope! The old cliché reminds us that we “cannot legislate morality.”  That is not say that we have no interest in public policy and how it shapes the world in which we live.  Christians, just like everyone else, have ideals that they would like to see written into law.  (And, just like everyone else, they will think differently about many things.)

In truth, our highest and most holy calling is not to write better laws but rather to bring salvation to the nations through the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ!  We transform our world by changing human hearts and minds not by trying to control behavior.  But, there is no way we (the Christian church) will be the place HOPE that we are to be IF we are as divided as the culture in which we live and as religiously devoted to the relatively petty processes of politics.

Moore declares that our privilege is to “maintain a prophetic clarity that is willing to call to repentance everything that is unjust and anti-Christ, whether that is the abortion culture, the divorce culture, or the racism/nativism culture. We can be the people who tell the truth, whether it helps or hurts our so-called ‘allies’ or our so-called ‘enemies.’”  A prophet speaks on God’s behalf with holy authority born of her intimate relationship with God. I will pointedly ask – when you make those ripping statements on Facebook, when you hurl hateful comments at the ‘other’ side, when you seethe with rage about some defeat of legislation or exult with something akin to religious ecstasy over the election of a President – is that the result of time before the Throne of Heaven and a profound experience of the Holy, or is it an expression of the preferences of Self?

Many Christians are like Esau of old, selling their souls for a pot of soup! I made that mistake a long time ago when I was enthralled with the siren song of the Moral Majority of the 1980’s.  It is not one I will make again.  Right or Left in our convictions, we cannot afford to become so closely aligned with one party’s agenda that we lose our ability to represent the One who is the Hope of the World.  I am a Christian first, an American second, and my political affiliation comes in a distant third. How about you?  Are you my brother or my sister in His family? 

The word from the Word is a reminder of our true identity. I am His, He is mine.  In Christ, “You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.  “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.”  (1 Peter 2:9-11)

Father God,  preserve us in this time of change.

Call us into Your holy Presence.  
As we kneel humbly and gain the assurance of

The salvation and Your love shown us in Christ Jesus,

Help us to rise to love others to wholeness.

Forgive us for making our politics into a religion,

For giving devotion and fervor rightly reserved for You

To lesser things.

Make Your Church beautiful, a place of clear vision,

A people of hope, full of amazing, courageous, and bold love.

Jesus shine brightly in us and through us. Amen

Moving in the right direction

The Rasmussen poll yesterday found that only 31% of Americans headed to vote today think that America is headed in the right direction. 2 out of 3 of us think that our nation is off track, in need of some kind of correction. In my circle of friends, the diversity of opinion about that ‘new’ direction is truly amazing, often completely in contradiction. That is why we are such a divided country. Today we are blessed with the privilege of our election process, choosing people for offices from local townships to the Presidency. What will our national will be in choosing the direction of these United States of America? In the next 24 hours that will become clear.  I pray that my small part will be thoughtful, with a clear recognition of my highest calling to represent the Kingdom of heaven.

Are you moving in the right direction spiritually?

That question is so much more important that your political convictions.  As life changes all around us we cannot simply stand still. If we are not growing, we are losing ground, drawn away from the purpose of the Lord. The Christian life must include being intentional about devotion, about confronting temptation, about making the things of the Lord our daily priority choice. Until the day that Jesus returns as King or invites us into His Presence at death –  our high calling is the pursuit of God.  We cannot make the mistake of thinking that today’s spiritual victory will sustain us tomorrow.  God’s people do not ‘retire’ from their commitment when they reach some moment in time. The process is ongoing.

So, I’ll ask you to consider this question again – are you moving in the right direction spiritually? 
Are you gaining new victories, sharpening your skill in using the gift of the Spirit invested in you, growing in grace and beauty in Jesus?

Paul reminds us that we are on a life-long adventure.  He says "Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it." (Philippians 3:13-16, The Message)

Take the wisdom of those words to heart.
First, don’t think you know it all. The race is in progress, so look ahead to the finish line.
Second, pray for clear vision. A hundred distractions will try to divert us from the call of God, many of them not intrinsically evil, but if we make secondary things into primary ones, we will find ourselves far off course.  Third, stick with it. Be a finisher, with your hope shaped by the promise of heaven’s reward.

Here is a word from the Word. May God keep us moving in the right direction. 
"And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest.  … That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. …  You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. … God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it." (Hebrews 3:1, 7-8, 13; 4:1, NLT)

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Fill All My Vision

Fill all my vision Savior divine

'Til with Thy glory my Spirit shall shine

Fill all my vision that all may see

Thy holy image reflected in me

Fill all my vision Savior I pray

Let me see only Jesus today

Though thro' the valley Thou leadest me

Give me Thy glory and beauty to see

Fill all my vision

Every desire keep for Thy glory

My soul inspire with Thy perfection

Thy holy love flooding my pathway

With light from above

Avis Marguerite Burgeson Christiansen | Homer A. Hammontree

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