This made me sad and angry, I need input
I usually don't react to news stories like this. I usually let them slide off of my consciousness and get my mind back onto worthwhile things (Philippians 4:8).
This one caught me off guard and really struck a nerve in me.
Here’s the link, and I’ll post the story here.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061110/us_nm/life_pledge_dc
Students at Calif. College ban Pledge of Allegiance
Thu Nov 9, 8:42 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Student leaders at a California college have touched off a furor by banning the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings, saying they see no reason to publicly swear loyalty to God and the U.S. government.
The move by Orange Coast College student trustees, the latest clash over patriotism and religion in American schools, has infuriated some of their classmates -- prompting one young woman to loudly recite the pledge in front of the board on Wednesday night in defiance of the rule.
"America is the one thing I'm passionate about and I can't let them take that away from me," 18-year-old political science major Christine Zoldos told Reuters.
"The fact that they have enough power to ban one of the most valued traditions in America is just horrible," Zoldos said, adding she would attend every board meeting to salute the flag.
The move was lead by three recently elected student trustees, who ran for office wearing revolutionary-style berets and said they do not believe in publicly swearing an oath to the American flag and government at their school. One student trustee voted against the measure, which does not apply to other student groups or campus meetings.
The ban follows a 2002 ruling by a federal appeals court in San Francisco that said forcing school children to recite the pledge was unconstitutional because of the phrase "under God." The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the ruling on procedural grounds but left the door open for another challenge.
"That ('under God') part is sort of offensive to me," student trustee Jason Bell, who proposed the ban, told Reuters. "I am an atheist and a socialist, and if you know your history, you know that 'under God' was inserted during the McCarthy era and was directly designed to destroy my ideology."
Bell said the ban largely came about because the trustees didn't want to publicly vow loyalty to the American government before their meetings. "Loyalty ought to be something the government earns through performance, not through reciting a pledge," he said.
Martha Parham, a spokeswoman for the Coast Community College District, said her office had no standing on the student board and took no position on the flag salute ban.
"If their personal belief is that they don't want to say the Pledge of Allegiance, the district certainly isn't going to dictate what they do," she said.
More than 28,000 students attend the community college, located in conservative Orange County, California, south of Los Angeles.
Here is my response to Jason Bell (via email):
Jason,
I understand that you don’t feel that you should pledge allegiance to the US Flag. From your quote on Yahoo News, you said:
"Loyalty ought to be something the government earns through performance, not through reciting a pledge,"
The government is the people of this country. WE are the government. We are the people of the United States. You are quoted saying something like, “if you know your history”, which implies that you do “know your history”.
If that were true, then you would know that the United States of America isn’t a continent or a government building or a group of laws.
It is an ideal; it is a group of people with different minds and different perspectives but with a common ground: the fact that we are the collective people of the United States, and that, for better or worse, we are together.
That is a pledge-worthy ideal.
And to say that the “government” hasn’t earned your pledge is to dishonor the millions of men and women who have died protecting you and your freedoms.
The fact that we aren’t the Fourth Reich right now is because of our ancestor’s toil and pain.
Your loyalty was bought with blood.
To deny that doesn’t reflect your enlightened view. It doesn’t show your grasp of freedom of speech.
It shows that you hold no love in your heart for the people of this land, and that you have no honor for the personal sacrifice that has been made for you and your family for the last 200 odd years.
Shame on you, sir. Shame on you.
This country has cradled you.
Shame on you.
Dale
What do you think?
This one caught me off guard and really struck a nerve in me.
Here’s the link, and I’ll post the story here.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061110/us_nm/life_pledge_dc
Students at Calif. College ban Pledge of Allegiance
Thu Nov 9, 8:42 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Student leaders at a California college have touched off a furor by banning the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings, saying they see no reason to publicly swear loyalty to God and the U.S. government.
The move by Orange Coast College student trustees, the latest clash over patriotism and religion in American schools, has infuriated some of their classmates -- prompting one young woman to loudly recite the pledge in front of the board on Wednesday night in defiance of the rule.
"America is the one thing I'm passionate about and I can't let them take that away from me," 18-year-old political science major Christine Zoldos told Reuters.
"The fact that they have enough power to ban one of the most valued traditions in America is just horrible," Zoldos said, adding she would attend every board meeting to salute the flag.
The move was lead by three recently elected student trustees, who ran for office wearing revolutionary-style berets and said they do not believe in publicly swearing an oath to the American flag and government at their school. One student trustee voted against the measure, which does not apply to other student groups or campus meetings.
The ban follows a 2002 ruling by a federal appeals court in San Francisco that said forcing school children to recite the pledge was unconstitutional because of the phrase "under God." The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the ruling on procedural grounds but left the door open for another challenge.
"That ('under God') part is sort of offensive to me," student trustee Jason Bell, who proposed the ban, told Reuters. "I am an atheist and a socialist, and if you know your history, you know that 'under God' was inserted during the McCarthy era and was directly designed to destroy my ideology."
Bell said the ban largely came about because the trustees didn't want to publicly vow loyalty to the American government before their meetings. "Loyalty ought to be something the government earns through performance, not through reciting a pledge," he said.
Martha Parham, a spokeswoman for the Coast Community College District, said her office had no standing on the student board and took no position on the flag salute ban.
"If their personal belief is that they don't want to say the Pledge of Allegiance, the district certainly isn't going to dictate what they do," she said.
More than 28,000 students attend the community college, located in conservative Orange County, California, south of Los Angeles.
Here is my response to Jason Bell (via email):
Jason,
I understand that you don’t feel that you should pledge allegiance to the US Flag. From your quote on Yahoo News, you said:
"Loyalty ought to be something the government earns through performance, not through reciting a pledge,"
The government is the people of this country. WE are the government. We are the people of the United States. You are quoted saying something like, “if you know your history”, which implies that you do “know your history”.
If that were true, then you would know that the United States of America isn’t a continent or a government building or a group of laws.
It is an ideal; it is a group of people with different minds and different perspectives but with a common ground: the fact that we are the collective people of the United States, and that, for better or worse, we are together.
That is a pledge-worthy ideal.
And to say that the “government” hasn’t earned your pledge is to dishonor the millions of men and women who have died protecting you and your freedoms.
The fact that we aren’t the Fourth Reich right now is because of our ancestor’s toil and pain.
Your loyalty was bought with blood.
To deny that doesn’t reflect your enlightened view. It doesn’t show your grasp of freedom of speech.
It shows that you hold no love in your heart for the people of this land, and that you have no honor for the personal sacrifice that has been made for you and your family for the last 200 odd years.
Shame on you, sir. Shame on you.
This country has cradled you.
Shame on you.
Dale
What do you think?
posted by Wealthedge at 10:17 PM
10 Comments:
I know I don't know you very well Dale, so I hope I don't offend you too much.While i understand your frustration and anger towards the situtation as i was reading your email that all i heard was anger. Where is the love of christ in your email? i believe that in all thing we do Christ should be our main concern. In what ways did your email let that kid know that God's heart breaks for him? God wants to love him and have mercy on him just like he showed mercy to you. God is about forgiveness not condemnation. he wants to reconcile the broken hearted back to him. We should be apart of this healing processes in people's lives not fueling thier unrighteouss acts against God.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mel,
I don't know you that well, either, but you’re my sister and I love you and your perspective. Please don't take this personally. This one’s long.
I guess my first response is "Did you read the title of the post?" It says I'm angry. I was filled with it. I was as angry about them renouncing the pledge as I would be if someone tries to poke at me about Jesus. So I guess I am not surprised you saw the anger in the post, because it was in the title.
I love this country. I honor the sacrifice that was made to forge her.
When some feckless moron tries to assert his "rights" in a manner that actually attacks the foundation of the very freedom that is provided to him, then that really fires my ignition.
You might take umbrage with the tone and diction I chose. I can appreciate that.
But, see, I’m from the camp of calling a spade a spade.
You choose your actions and you live with the consequences. If you want to be called an atheist and a socialist, then you get to live with the backlash.
You say you don’t see love in the post. You say that all you saw is anger.
My question is, “What would the loving thing be in this situation?”
Would patting him on the head and saying, “Jesus loves you,” help? Would turning our heads and locking ourselves in our ivory towers aid in his correction? Would saying, “Hey, man, it’s OK. I love you and all. Say whatever you’d like, it’s cool. Jesus loves you, bro.” Would inaction and trepidation and putting flowers in the ends of gun barrels really turn his mind?
Someone needs to grab that little brat by the hair and drag him behind the outhouse for a good old-fashioned butt-whooping, then make him serve meals for a month at the veteran’s hospital for even THINKING of disloyalty to this great nation.
We’ve become too lackadaisical. We’ve become soft. We don’t need Dr. Spock, we need Sergeant Rock.
Yes, he is a little brat. Yes, he is a moron. Sorry, but if you are a tiny-brained little 21 year old college student who professes to be an atheist and a socialist, and you renounce the pledge of allegiance, then you’ve earned those titles.
Just like if you kill someone, you are a murderer.
It’s not opinion. It’s not perspective. And I’m not angry that he doesn’t take my view, and that he doesn’t agree with me. I’m angry that he dishonors the idea of America, of which I am a small part. America is my family. America is my people. To have someone dishonor that affects us all.
THAT’S what torques my jaws. Not the fact that we don’t agree on politics or religion or truth.
What torques my jaws is the fact that he’s using freedoms that were bought and paid for in blood to undermine the very foundation of the freedom. That’s like saying, “Hey, it’s OK, I don’t have to believe in Jesus, but I get the benefit of heaven anyway.”
That’s not something light. That’s not a difference of opinion. That’s not, “Hey, we can agree to disagree.”
No we can’t. Those are fighting words.
Kind of like when the kids were giving Elisha a bad time for being bald and he cursed them and God brought out some bears to have lunch. (2 Kings 2:23)
It’s wasn’t the bald joke, it was the fact that being bald was a sign of respect for the prophet, and when they mocked him they mocked the very foundation of his authority and right to his claim as the mouth of God.
Now, I’m not suggesting we redo the Crusades. But I’m also not suggesting we sit around and scratch our heads and wonder why everything sucks so bad because we have to love everyone, and that means not stepping on toes, right? That means you get to have your opinion even though you’re a teeny weeny little 21 year old social science major that got an A on your last term paper so now you get to talk to the Associated Press, right?
WRONG.
You asked how my email would reconcile him to God, and how he would see how God’s heart breaks for him.
If we keep mealy mouthing impotent love, if we keep allowing action without consequences, if we keep allowing ideals without merit to take equal platform with the Truth, then we are headed for disaster.
That’s not love -- that’s cowardice. Sometimes a stand has to be made. Sometimes a line has to be drawn. Sometimes there has to be furled brows and clenched fists and gritted teeth and a whisper of “Not on my watch.”
The opposite has been happening in our world for the past several years.
That’s why we have a 4% Bible-believing generation coming down the pike, according to Ron Luce.
For this punk to see that God’s heart breaks for him, he has to first see how badly he has the Truth botched up.
If his ego is so bloated that he would rail against what I say in my email, then he’s too far gone for me to help him. It’s going to have to take someone with more power, more intelligence, more skill.
Jesus shouted at the Pharisees. He turned over the tables in the temple. He shouted to God about how idiotic His disciples were.
Jesus had passion. He wasn’t taking it laying it down. He wasn’t patting people on the head and saying, “I love you.”
He was saying, “I’m the way, the truth, and the life. You don’t like it, tough. Get on board or see you later. Get right or get left. Sure, I love you. I made you. If you don’t love Me, then there’s the door.”
You don’t get to deny Him and be accepted anyway.
Just like you don’t get to renounce the pledge of allegiance without getting some ticked off Americans on your tail.
There are consequences for your actions. If you don’t correct yourself, then you are toast.
In order to “heal” people, they need to be shown the errors of their ways.
Jesus didn’t let ego stop Him. Jesus didn’t let ideology stop Him. Jesus didn’t let opinion stop Him.
He said it like it was. And they crucified Him for it.
It’s time for us to stop with the “I respect your opinion, but” stuff.
This is the truth. Not the truth “as I see it.” The TRUTH.
It doesn’t matter what you THINK about the truth, it’s still the truth.
Could it have been said in a better way? Probably.
Am I exaggerating to make a point? Yeah, probably.
Am I right? I think so.
You say that God has shown me mercy, and that He wants to show mercy to this boy.
He does. I agree. I’ve accepted God’s mercy and made Him King of my life.
It will never happen for this boy without him dropping the pretense, getting outside of his own head and taking a close look at the truth.
Justice has teeth. Just like the Word of God has teeth.
They will bite him, unless he looks to God for help.
Dale
Maybe we have a different view of Love. But my love isn't all sweet and innocent. its intense and deep. Love is why christ died for us. Christ walked in such intense love that it brought about repentence at his meer sight. Love so powerful that anything that came against it would crumble. that's my idea of love.
the only times we read about christ having righteous anger is towards reglious people not the broken. this kid is broken. he doesn't need a beating or forced mercy lessons. he needs someone to love him the way christ would love him. and thats us. does that mean that you shouldn't have written your email or re-worded it? i don't know. i know for me, i didn't read any love in your email. i read about a kid that has his passions mixed up and probaly some serious other issues, but hate mail is not how to help him see his actions. we grow and learn through love.
I urge you to see this kid the way christ sees him. how would have christ responded to him? what would he have said or done? and does that match up to how you treated him?
i know that sounds lame and used to be a braclet or whatever, but there is truth in living our lives by that.
I want to live like christ and be like him. that means doing things the way he does things. do i mess this up? all the time and probally will continue.
I do love you dale, and i love that we can have this conversation.
Mel,
I also enjoy the fact that we can have these talks too. It’s always nice to flesh out how we feel in a forum like this, with different perspectives. Just know that these posts are in love and are a part of a voice that I feel the Spirit is calling me to use.
You need to step outside of yourself and listen. You need to look at the Bible again. Get rid of the sanitized, Sunday-school, Swedish Jesus images, and take a good look at it.
It isn’t pretty. It isn’t nice. It isn’t clean.
It’s dirty. It’s messy. It’s spit and mud on a blind man’s eyes. It’s washing feet with hair. It’s crucifixion.
There is no sugar and spice and everything nice.
Again you say that you don’t see love in my post. Because I am passionate and because I am frank doesn’t make my response loveless. Don’t mistake fervor for hate.
I don’t know; maybe it’s because I have kids -- little people who are starting to flex their mental muscles. Maybe it’s because I see that there are some things in this world that aren’t negotiable, that aren’t salved by a nice ‘love’ band-aid. Maybe it’s because we’ve retreated for so long that I’m sick of escape and it’s time to pick up a sword and protect the lentil field. (2 Samuel 23:11)
If someone goes to the trouble of wearing revolutionary style red berets and uses a political forum to undermine something as honorific as the Pledge of Allegiance, then a can of WHHUUUPPPSSSSHHHH needs to be opened and we need to line them up and give them their medicine.
“Boy, this is going to hurt you worse than it hurts me.”
Let me put it this way: if one of my kids tries to pull something like that, no force on planet Earth could stop the thunder.
THAT’S love. That’s not anger, that’s not evil, that’s not wrong.
It’s LOVE. It may not be pretty, and it may not make you want to cuddle up and sigh, but it’s love. It’s love strong enough to risk hard feelings in order to train someone properly.
Love of this country while you live here is not negotiable. Just like trying to get into heaven: if you don’t love Jesus, then beat it.
Same here in the USA.
If you don’t love it and the life it allows, then you get to go away. Forcefully if necessary.
Now I know you aren’t taking exception to those ideas, but to the tone and to the lack of warm fuzzy feelings in my email.
I understand that. And I make room for the fact that I may be exaggerating to make a point.
But the underlying concept is sound. The nucleus of the idea is correct.
You say that “Jesus walked in such intense love that it brought about repentance at his mere (sic) sight.”
That would mean that everyone who looked at Jesus repented. That’s not true.
People have choices. They have egos. They have small minds and no peripheral vision and can’t see the forest for the trees.
They can think that they are products of their environment and that the reason they act a certain way is “because they were raised that way.”
Or they can get out of their own way and seek out the truth. Without ego. Without pre-conceived notions.
Jesus didn’t let things like opinion cause him to stumble.
If you didn’t love God, then you got smacked down.
If you didn’t bear fruit, you got cursed and you withered. (Mark 11)
People that sought Jesus out were the people who Jesus blessed. People that believed and were touched and were faithful.
Zacchaeus, the bleeding lady, the blind, the lame, the lepers. Even the faith of OTHER people brought Christ’s blessing (Mark 2).
But never did he just say, “Ah, well. I love you. Go ahead and continue doing what you’re doing. It’s OK. C’est la vie.” (He couldn’t really say that, because French was about 700 years away .. )
He got dirty and loud and pointed and ruffled. He said it like it is. He was ready to box. “C’mon, you want a piece of Me? Try this! BANG! Miracle. BANG! Miracle. BANG! Miracle. How do you like Me now???” That’s why people wanted to stone him, but he wouldn’t allow it. (John 10:39)
You say that Christ only had strong words for the religious of His time.
I would agree with that, given that we define “religious” as people with minds closed to the truth, people that used spirituality not as a love for God or a striving for righteousness, but as a way to control people, to fleece the poor, to further their own agendas.
Now does that sound like the person who renounces the Pledge with a red beret and a Darwin sticker on his car, or am I off a little on that?
Jesus absolutely would love him, no question about it.
But he would definitely turn over his table and smack the beret off of his head.
No doubt in my mind.
Listen, Jesus was bad to the bone. He was a carpenter. They didn’t have power tools. He didn’t look like Ted Neely from Jesus Christ Superstar.
He probably looked more like Evander Holyfield.
Ripped out of his mind and on a mission.
People that needed his help, he was there. Teaching, loving, nurturing.
People that didn’t want Him, didn’t respect and acknowledge Him?
He knocked the dust off His sandals and went on His way (which is what He told us to do, too.)
You say that the kid is “broken.”
I would agree. You would agree. But we don’t count.
The only people to whom it matters whether or not he agrees that he’s broken? Himself and God.
Jesus isn’t going to force Himself on anyone.
Only that kid can acknowledge his brokenness and repent.
And if we stand around and say nothing about his ideas, retort to his actions with a friendly, “Hiya! Baby, Jesus loves you ..” then he will never know the truth.
He will never know the error of his ways.
And it’s not like we are talking about something that is up for debate. We aren’t talking about a woman’s right to choose, or ethics, or sexual preference.
This is the fundamental honor for the sacrifice made for this country.
People can debate all day long about whether Jesus rose from the dead, or whether the Council of Nicaea cooked the books, or whether the Apocrypha should be part of the New Testament.
We believe the testimony of the apostles. We have faith. That’s the idea behind faith: it could be wrong, but we believe that it’s not.
This is one of the most hotly debated topics in history.
The Pledge isn’t. This is as not-debatable as 2+2=4. It takes no faith to honor our fallen heroes. We have pictures. We have first hand stories. We have bullet wounds.
People died in service to this country. Their deaths should be honored.
One way we do that is through the Pledge of Allegiance.
Now, reciting the Pledge isn’t going to get you to heaven. But it is going to open your heart to something higher than yourself, and that’s the first step toward God.
Read 1 Corinthians 13. Read about love. It’s active. It says things like “rejoices with the truth” and “perseveres.”
There is nothing passive about love. Nothing that allows injustice to exist without the least little parting shot.
You say the boy needs someone to love him the way Christ loved him.
You mean like the fig tree? Or the money changers in the temple (those WEREN’T Pharisees)? Like Paul, who was struck blind because he was a knucklehead?
What would your solution be? How best to raise this boy’s thinking?
I guess I don’t know what kind of love you are proposing.
Should we be passive? Should we go to church and worship God and do nothing for him, feeling better about ourselves and the situation because we brought it to God?
Maybe God brought it to us. And we did nothing.
Should I have written him and said, “Bro, God loves you and so do I. I don’t agree with what you did, but God gave you your brain, so I guess it’s OK. Peace be with you and let them eat cake ..”?
Would lashing him to the plow teach him something, more than us just jumping around, supplicating ourselves and keeping quiet lest someone thinking we aren’t loving – holding our hands together under our chins and batting our eyelashes to the sky?
When is it time to shout “ENOUGH!”?
Maybe our God-given skills and talents were precisely what that boy needed, and we were too busy walking on eggshells that we didn’t notice.
Maybe he doesn’t need nurture. Maybe he doesn’t need “we’re all stinking filthy rags, come be stinky with us.”
Maybe he needs boot camp. Maybe bad things need to happen to him so that he wakes up to what’s real (like Jonah, Lot’s wife, Paul, Moses, David, Miriam, Samson, etc ad nauseum.)
God had to take away what I thought was more important than Him for me to come out of my own pea-brain. It wasn’t pretty. It isn’t warm and fuzzy. It was ugly and nerve wracking and painful and dirty.
And necessary.
Maybe that’s how Christ sees him. Maybe that’s how He wants him dealt with.
You ask how does my email stack up to how Jesus would treat him?
There wasn’t much patience in my email, I’ll give you that. It was stern, but not unkind.
Everything else stacks up to 1 Corinthians 13. (For the record, those who know me know that I am not easily angered -- to get me there you need launch codes in breakable plastic containers and two keys turned simultaneously on opposites sides on a huge vault door.)
Jesus struck Paul blind. I’m sure that was lovely for Paul. An outsider might have called that “hate mail.”
But through that ordeal, Paul realized the error of his ways. And followed the Holy Spirit in writing most of the New Testament.
The conviction of the Spirit comes in many forms.
Like a strongly worded email from a stranger about something that’s so fundamental to this country that you have to stop and consider: was I wrong?
What else am I wrong about?
The line has to be drawn.
If it’s right, it’s right. No reason to fear it. No reason to doubt.
Grab a sword and defend a bean field. Make a stand. Shout the truth. Don’t worry about what people might think. Don’t worry if you are stepping on toes. Don’t worry if your passion is misconstrued. Don’t worry if people won’t like it and it doesn’t feel good.
If it’s the truth, then if they retort, they aren’t attacking you.
They are attacking the truth.
And the truth shall set you free.
Dale
WOW! This is quite a stream we're on!
So... my 2 cents... Dale's e-mail was stern, exhorting, but in no way threatening. If I scold my child in a similar manner (stern)does that mean that I don't love that child? Never let it be answered YES!!
Jesus said in Matthew 10: 34-36...
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace but A SWORD. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter -in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies will be the members of his own household."
... or even fellow citizens in the same country.
The SWORD is the WORD and JESUS is THE WORD! His proposition demands an ANSWER. Because Jesus, THE sword and THE word is "living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (HEB 4:12)
That separation is between your SPIRIT and your FLESH... and when one does not have the Holy Spirit present than there is a MAJOR CONFLICT happening. I believe this bring us to a crutial point in HOW THE TRUTH is served but also recieved.
I know this is not a battle between Mel's way VS. Dale's way so the real TEST will be in knowing whether or not Dale's e-mail strikes a chord, causes the guy to take a 2nd look at his views, opens a door for an e-mail relationship between him and Dale... Some of these answers may never be revealed to us, and others may be unfolding by the momentas the Spirit unveils a TRUTH about these events.
Was there love in the e-mail? I believe the answer is YES. Is there a missing element in all this? Sure! PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER! for this man, for God to drawn him in, for this situation to open doors; doors that lead to one place... to the One.
peace out!
Rich,
Very well said .. that's exactly right .. the missing element was prayer ..
It was a reaction and not a prayerful meditation ..
Next time I'll know to let God guide the words instead of using the ones rattling around in my brain ..
Good points about the sword .. very insightful ..
Thanks for the comment .. you ROCK ..
Dale
I understand your idea of love a lot better now.
Do i still think you email was wrong? yeah. do i think you are wrong for writing it? no.
I do pray that your email struck something inside that kid. maybe that is what he needed. maybe not. only christ will tell.
I guess we'll have to ask Jesus during our million year long "debriefing" in heaven .. :)
I guess it really boils down to how we perceive our faith.
Some Christians like to run to God for everything. They put every last little thing as God’s feet.
1. God, I can’t cross the street.
2. God, I can’t pass this test.
3. God, I can’t pay this bill.
4. God, my stomach hurts.
God gives us gifts and talents. He made us to be resilient and powerful. We have Jesus in us. The Creator of the Universe is in our corner.
So, sometimes God’s response is:
1. Walk across the street, numbskull.
2. Study more.
3. Get a job or learn how to make more money. You see some of the rich idiots out there? It’s not that hard.
4. Take a Tums and get back to work and studying.
We keep whining and complaining like the Israelites in the desert. “But at least in Egypt we didn’t have to talk to rocks to get water! Wahh!”
And when bad things happen, it’s always the devil’s fault.
Nah, sometimes it’s OUR fault.
Sometimes we spend so much time praying and “seeking” God’s heart that Jonathon has to take the only sword and an armor bearer and whoop some Philistine butt.
So, I’m still not real sure what you would have done. You say my email was wrong, but really didn’t give a good example of what would have been right.
Other than “just be like Jesus.” Which, from what I can gather, means walking around singing Kumbaya and making sure everyone likes you.
You’re right. That’s lame. That’s a bracelet. That’s the diluted greeting card plastic Christmas synthetic “NBC Presents -- Jesus: Full Throttle” Christianity.
True followers were not dainty. They were in your face. If you didn’t like it, tough.
People don’t get killed for singing songs and making flower wreaths.
People aren’t beheaded and crucified and boiled and skinned for being nice.
It was nasty.
Basically, it was, “Listen, folks. These Pharisees right here? Yeah, you see them? They are just interested in your money. They are going straight to hell, and they are taking you all with them. And if you don’t like it, and they don’t like it, then don’t let the gate hit you on the way out.”
THAT was love.
So, maybe I need to hear what you would have said. Something with power. Something with teeth. Something that would make an impact.
But would still be comfortable and polite.
I can’t imagine that. Seems like diametric opposites to me.
But I could be wrong. Let’s see.
Dale
Dang...I don't get on the blogs for a while and I miss a post like this!
Amen to you, my brother Dale! You gotta know how I feel about God and country and those who don't appreciate what they have. I'll just leave it there 'cause you said it best already.
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