Prayer Breakfast President

At a recent Easter prayer breakfast, President Obama, leaving his teleprompter for a moment, said that he, “gets concerned about Christians who are less than loving in their expressions.”  Perhaps it is those rampaging Presbyterians, those marauding Methodists, or some bomb-building Baptists whose lack of love has garnered the theologian-in-chief’s condemnation.   No Mr. President, Christ’s willing sacrifice on the cross means His followers don’t have to fly an airplane into a skyscraper, strap a bomb to their body, or behead an “unbeliever” to be with God for all of eternity.   

It cannot be said too loudly or too often:  Jesus Christ is the hope of nations and the antidote to all that ails us.  He is the answer, not the problem.  When Thomas (the doubter) asked Jesus how they could know the right way to go, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.   If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”  Jesus plainly declares He is the only way man can know God. 

Jesus is also the long awaited Messiah the followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob longed for.  After John the Baptist was thrown in prison he wanted to be reassured Jesus was the Messiah.   Jesus told His followers, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”  Thereby fulfilling what Isaiah said about the coming Messiah.

In talking to the woman at the well, Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.”  Most Bible believing Christians have a great love for the Jewish people and their state.  Paul explains a symbiotic relationship between the believing Gentile and Israel that can benefit both, “…salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.  But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!”
 
Most Gentiles that know the Jewish carpenter as Savior realize they have been grafted into His faith.  Although believers may be Gentiles by birth, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and David become their spiritual patriarchs and heroes as much as they are to the tribes of Israel.  Christians are enriched by the Judean ethic, and Israel is blessed by the Christians who recognize their spiritual heritage.    

President Obama’s demonstrated disdain for Israel, and his embracing of the Iranians, places America in a precarious position and puts Israel in peril.  Not only has he snubbed the only unwavering ally we have in the Middle East, but he also alienates our nation from God.  President Obama would be wise to heed Patrick Henry and President Netanyahu, both of whom are true leaders.  Patrick “Give me liberty or give me death” Henry said this about our nation, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of

worship here."  

Paul told the Romans, ^“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”  Jesus explained this gospel (good news) one night to a Jewish teacher named Nicodemus.  Jesus told him, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”  

The next verse is the most famous of all – John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Now that is a “loving expression” that the Islamic State, our fifty states, and the world need to hear. 

My prayer for the President: rather than bashing Christians, be one.

Green Grass, Cake, and the EBT Card

When trying to persuade an individual or entity to the merits of an argument, I often vacillate between whether to present the strongest reasons first or last.  It seems logical to finishing strong – the most compelling point being the final thing in the audience’s mind.  Gradually persuading them, then closing the deal – “setting the hook“ so to speak.  

Conversely, the Army writing style calls for the “BLUF” – bottom line up front.   Get right to the point – the foremost reason first.  When engaging targets, you start with the closest – the most immediate threat and your highest probability of a kill.  

What about a list where all of the items are essential?  The Army had what they called a METL – mission essential task list – those tasks that a unit must master in order to be mission ready.  No need to prioritize – you had to master all of them to be deemed proficient.   

Consider the Ten Commandments.  The last one says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”   Is the final one the most important?    

Jesus was confronted by an expert in the law (a constitutional scholar perchance?) who, hoping to stump him, asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus boiled it down to two.  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.   And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I don’t think it’s happenstance that the final commandment is all about our neighbor.  How would one show love to his neighbor?  That tenth commandment says it’s by our not doing something – specifically, not coveting what is rightfully his.  That’s the way we do right by our neighbor.  The apostle Paul told the Corinthians, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy...”    Quite simply, you cannot covet or envy what your neighbor has.  Even if it’s newer, better, or more attractive.

The benefit to the individual who obeys that commandment is self-evident.  Solomon wisely said, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”  Paul said, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”  Presumably, if you’re  not coveting your neighbor’s stuff, you’ll find more satisfaction in what you do have. 

When I was stationed in Korea, I always enjoyed sharing American idioms with my Korean soldiers.  One in particular was, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”  We even went outside to see that it’s actually true -- no matter which side of the fence you’re on.  After our hands-on experience, SGT Kim knowingly smiled and said, “We have one like that too.  We say your piece of cake is bigger than my piece.”  Anyone who has two or more kids knows the truth of that one. 

The benefit to oneself by not coveting is obvious.  But how does it benefit my neighbor by not envying or coveting “his wife, or his ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor”?  Frankly, it’s an act of love to not desire what’s his.  It will change your attitude towards him.  You’ll be able to be able to rejoice with him.  Arguably, it’s an act of hatred to covet his stuff.

America’s president is playing a very, very dangerous game.  His “fairness” and “income-inequality” talk is fueling covetousness.  Envy may motivate, but it also makes monsters.  Waging class warfare is like playing with fire.  Demonizing the more successful is simply sowing seeds of discontent.  It’s shortsighted and sinful.

As Ben Franklin said, “I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.”  

The belief that the solution is government handouts to the able-bodied may be a good way to buy votes, but it in actuality is robbing people of

the dignity that only honest work provides.  Handouts are also a perverse disincentive for those who’d otherwise want to improve their lot in life.   

EBT cards may buy votes, but they’ll never buy love.