Fear not

” For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind ” (2 Timothy 1:7 NJKV)

With all the waves of uncertainty pounding against my mind, the what if’s of life.  I turned to my source of comfort–God’s word–The Bible.  I began my reading last night in 1 Timothy as I was reviewing the pastoral letters given the decision I and my congregation is making this Sunday.  Seven chapters and seven verses later, The Lord GOD stopped my eyes on this verse.  May it encourage you as it did me.

The Religion of Politics

the Audacity of Hope

It seems that best thing I can think of to use this blog for is to talk Religion and Politics.  I suppose it is because those two subjects are now taboo to speak about with others in our tolerant American civilization.  So this forum provides me (and many others) that opportunity to think out loud about Religion and Politics, and in this season of campaigns when the two mix I can not help but place my two cents into the debate.

Summary

Senator Obama is a community organizer.  Governor Palin is just that a governor.  Now that those two undisputed facts are out there.  The connection comes from another blogger that seems to like to compare Senator Obama to Jesus, who they claim to also be a community organizer and Governor Palin to Pontius Pilate.  Not only do the comparisons fail miserably, but it shows utter contempt [audacity] for the Bible and by proxy those that hold the bible as sacred and God’s message to man.  It also displays complete ignorance of what the Bible says.

Obama: The Organizer

It is a long reach for a man to list being a community organizer as one of his premier qualifications for running for President of the United States.  I am reminded that when I was first looking for jobs after graduating from college how important it seemed for me to list all the “projects” I worked on in the academic word in my resume.  What it showed employers was that I had no experience just a few theories about how things might be done.  It is not that much of a stretch for me to assume that Obama is the same.  He has very little experience with leadership, so he has to fall back to this nebulos job title of “community organizer”.

What does that mean?  Someone that gets a group of people together into a unit for some purpose.  Examples: Samuel Adams was a community organizer for American Independence.  Abraham Lincoln was a community organizer against slavery. Martin Luther King, jr was a comunity organizer for civial rights.  However, not all community organizers made positive change.  Other Examples:  Adolf Hitler was a community organizer for the Nazis.  Lenin was a community organizer for the communists.  Osama Bin Ladin is a community organizer for terrorists.  These examples are men and sometimes women that want to inject a change whether positive or negative in the way things are by organizing a group to help them move society away from something they see as wrong into something better.  Obama sees a lot of things wrong with American Society and wants to make them better, and in the past has worked to change the wrongs he saw in American Society.  He is a community organizer.  So if you want someone to organize and change America society into Obama’s vision then he is your man for President.  That is where I get lost in supporting Obama.  His vision of American Society is not my vision.  His vision is government aid for everyone that has problems.  His vision includes infanticide.  His vision includes surrender.  A vision of America I do not buy into.

Jesus as a community organizer

Was Jesus a community organizer? In the modern sense of the word a community organizer shouts from the roof tops about a great inequality within society and gathers followers to right the wrong.  A grass roots movement of people that demand that the powerful listen to them and change the system to make it fair.  A community organizer now seems to be someone that demands others to stand up and fix a problem for a single group.

Did Jesus ever march on city hall and demand the man in charge to change the system? No.  Jesus moved through the countryside and down the streets personally engaging and helping.  He did organize a small group of men to also do the same.  Yet he never marched down to the Sanhedrin (the ruling council of the Jews) or to the Roman governor and demand they help the people.  Jesus did the helping Himself.  He did not march around demanding others to fix the problem.  He was the physician that fixed the lives.  He did not organize a group to demand justice.  He lived justly and advocated all men live justly.  He did not rebel against the government.  He meekly submitted to them, even until his death.

Let me ask, would Obama die for what he believes in? Has he ever been tested in a life and death situation?  No.  What about McCain?  McCain was tortured and came within an inch of his life for what he believes in: that the freedom of America was worth his life?  Who do you want making that decision of life and death?  A man willing to die for his country or a man that has never faced that reality.

Governor Palin vs. Governor Pilate

There can be no argument Sarah Palin was elected Governor for the state of Alaska.  Pontius Pilate was appointed the Roman General in charge of Judea.  He was never elected.  He was an occupying foreign leader placed in charge to subdue the Jewish people into bondage under Roman rule.  He was given complete control over the lives everyone within the Roman providence, a proxy for Caesar.  Governor Palin was elected by a majority of the free citizens of Alaska as their chief public servant to a single branch of government.  These few facts clearly separate the two and paints them as opposites.

Misuse of Bible

When I heard the now infamous comparision.  Obama is a community organizer. Jesus was a community organizer.  Sarah Palin is a governor. Pontius Pilate was a governor.  I finally understood what the Audacity of Hope that Senator Obama has been talking about meant.  It is about taking something that gives some hope [the bible with its message of God to man] and is revered by a group you despise and turning it upside down.  In this case a “progessive” blog reached into the bible and pulled the superhero-Jesus and one of the villains-Pontius Pilate.  In essence turning the bible into a comic book and replacing Jesus with his/her personal superhero-Obama and then cleverly trying to find a villian within the story to compare his/her villian to.  Superficial. Ignorant. Are just two words that come to mind.  Obama is the audacity [effrontery or insolence] of hope [the American dream of life, liberty and the persuit of happiness].

Leadership??

It has been nearly 60 days since I last wrote anything.  My last words were an interruption of my review of my elements of faith.  The interruption was to briefly comment about the Presidential race.  I have been debating within my own mind what to use my web log (blog) for.

1. Should I continue to compare and contrast my new found faith in Biblical Christianity to my old faith of Mormonism?
2. Expound and concentrate on writing all my notes for teaching a bible Sunday school class, to teach the world through this blog the bible?
3. Just whatever?

Well I decided on number 3.  The first idea has been done.  It is very difficult to compare two faiths that both use a similar religious vocabulary but with very different definitions.  And I am now over ten years removed from my past beliefs that were taught to me as a child and teenager.  The second idea did not fly either.  I soon realized that my gift of teaching is to be used to build the up church (not the world).  In short, the Holy Spirit is not directing me to write my personal bible commentary to be unofficially published to the world.  That left only number 3, which brings me to today’s topic: Leadership??

There are several points of leadership within my life that have been the focus of much of my energy.

1. My nomination to become an elder for my local church body.
2. The continuing search for a teaching pastor at my local church body.
3. How best to lead my family.
4. Who to elect as President and other representatives.
5. My supervisors and bosses at work.

Elder Nomination

One of the reasons I was exploring my elements of faith was to see if What I believed matched with the congregation I have been attending.  There is no difference in my personal beliefs and that of the congregation I attend on the major issues of Christianity.  I do not know the positions on minor issues so I can not say if they differ from my own.  To be brief, one can do a quick internet search of baptist statement of faith or christian statement of faith.  And from that statement of faith, my personal beliefs can be found in the carefully chosen words of those statements.  In summary, I am an evangelical (Biblical) Christian in my beliefs.

When evaluating myself to continue in the nomination, I considered that given my personality of ordering priorities within my life that I was at place where I could not serve as an elder.  The main point being that for me the priorities should be God, Family, Self, other stuff.  That being said, I would consider my responsibilities as an elder as the highest priority because it would be my service to God which comes first.  Next would be my family,and last myself and then other stuff.  This of course, as God, as been teaching me is not the correct way to see it.  I need to see that my responsibility although it may sound selfish is to: (1) continue in letting God transform me into that new creation which is the image (likeness) of Christ–self. (2) respond to that transformation in becoming the Husband and Father that God wants to make me–Family. (3) respond to that transforming work in becoming the ambassador of Christ to the world whether it be in helping to shepherd a local body or whatever.

It has taken me nearly a month of struggle to reach that conclusion, which I would have never made that small step without the nomination.  But I have still decided against moving forward with the nomination.  I have been trying to use that energy and time to build up my relationships with my wife and children.  There as been more closeness and understanding, but still needs more work.  One side note: It is most interesting to note, that the people I spoke with before I made the decision seemed to mostly be counseling me to wait on becoming and elder.  And most of the people I have spoken with after I made the decision seem to have wanted me to continue down the path and become an elder.  Well maybe next time the nominating process comes around the transforming work that God is doing with me will have me in that place where God can use me according to His perfect will.

Pastor Search

Our local church body is going on 20 Months without a teaching pastor.  But the seeking process has moved to another stage.  The stage of inviting an actually candidate to come and meet the entire congregation.  I have reviewed all the materials available to me about the candidate and his family and am anticipating personally meeting them.  One gift that God has given me with my change in faith from the religion driven Mormon faith to my new relational faith with God is discernment–recognition of truth over fantasy, deception, and lies.  I have been praying that God would clearly speak to me if this candidate is the right fit for our congregation (I have little doubt about his God-gifted ability to serve as a pastor, but is he the right pastor for us?) Only God knows, and I am relying on Him in the end.  I don’t know if that is the correct way to judge what God is saying by using personal experience, but it seems to me that if what I have studied about the man and the “vibe” that he gives off are compatible then It is authentic.  The “vibe” may feel good but the rest of the story might not fit, or the other way around.  That to me would be evidence against him.  There has to be a component of personal experience, but it must be hedged in by the boundaries established from God’s words–of which I consider the Bible to be the authoritative source.

Family

This is the most rewarding and the most difficult leadership (shepherding) I do.  No matter how well the previous day may have gone.  Today is a new day.  I find myself once again falling into my old trappings of either being too authoritative or too passive.  I can never seem to find the right balance between the two.  Right now I am definitely leaning way over to the passive and am getting to the end of that pendulum swing and have started back the other way.  My hope is that when the pendulum stops swinging back and forth, that I am in the balance of being the Authoritative Father my children need but also having an affection (love) that is easily seem by my children.  Only by God’s grace and His continuing transformation of me will that be possible.  I can easily speak about my relationship toward my children.  The relationship I have with my lovely wife, is hard to talk about; it is great and wonderful, but really is one that I keep close to my heart and don’t want to share with the world.

President?

Having spent much more time than I should have listening and watching the various candidates spout their philosophies of government, I have yet to reach a conclusion other than–I am definitely not going to vote for Obama to be president.  The only thing that I have in common with him, is that we are both Human beings and that is about it.  As for other candidates, I was considering rebelling and voting for the Constitution party like I did in 2006, but have not completely decided upon it.  Primarily because McCain has thrown me for a loop by selecting Governor Palin as his running mate.  I don’t know enough about her to make a judgment yet.  And the truth maybe to hard to find–either she is a great champion for reforming corrupt systems or she is the greatest hypocrite of all time.  It just depends on who you listen to.  It is more likely that she falls somewhere in the middle, the real question is which way does she lean.  My personal reaction to her speech is to believe that she is more a champion for reform (assume the best in people, unless give clear and convincing evidence otherwise).  But I am reminded that she is not running for President and McCain is.  Could I support his maverick ways?  That is the real question.  The issues surrounding Governor Palin are secondary.  I have yet to answer it.

Work

I am still adjusting to my new position.  Some days, I think everything is going great and I am getting a lot of work finished and the projects I am working on are making great advancements toward completion.  Then other days, I have no clue where to begin.  So the learning continues.  Mostly, I think everything is going well (not perfect), but well.

Conclusion

These are just a few of my random thoughts (partially organized into a single topic) to give anyone that finds this a little more insight into my life.  I do struggle with the most fundamental question of leadership that anyone faces, that original decision-Who am I going to let be in charge of my life…Me or God.  The fallen angel of ages past and even my fallen nature have chosen to be in command, but that new life God has given me knows that God is the Sovereign of the Universe and He is in command (whether I admit it or not) and I need to let Him reign and rule over my life.  God that can do a much better job of leading my life, than I could ever do–I need to seek His will and submit to it, and from time to time, I need to stop myself [wrong thinking again, let God's strength flow through me to stop me] from being a backseat driver or reaching for the reigns that guide my life [again wrong thinking, admit I am powerless to stop myself and let God do it] That is a difficult thing to do [completely surrender to my need for Him in everything]–one that I still struggle with.