I'm A Christian And A Democrat: Here is My Story.

Okay this is weired. In a blog entitled "Just my thoughts," I am posting the thoughts of another. But after reading it I was compelled to do so. I can not tell you HOW MANY people I have met equated being a Democrat with being morally loose or liberal as being sinful. To their credit I give the G.O.P. props for shaping the argument. They grabbed the cross and bible so effectively it would appear that if you are not registered in their party you were go-ing to hell on a rocket

So I would like to share a blog with you because I am proud to be both Christian... and a Democrat.

 I’m a Christian and a Democrat: My Story

By Morgan on February 14, 2012

When I started my job at an Italian ice store a year and a half ago, I told one of my new coworkers that I wanted to major in political science when I went to college next year. He asked me if I was a Democrat or a Republican. When I eagerly answered Democrat, he was visibly surprised. I asked him what in our five minutes of small talk led him to label me as a Republican. His answer: “You’re wearing a cross.”

Yes, I am a Christian. And yes, I am a Democrat. Despite what some individuals might have you believe, there is nothing odd about being both. The values instilled in me after years of Sunday school and sermons don’t put me in contention with the Democratic Party. In fact, they lead me right to the Democratic Party.

I believe the Earth is God’s gift to us, so it’s our responsibility to develop renewable energy resources to protect and preserve it. I believe God created humans in his image, so every person deserves to be treated equally, with dignity and respect. I believe that it is a Christian duty to help the poor and needy, and we should do that in every way possible—through charities, houses of worship, and the government. And President Obama has acted to support every one of these beliefs—protecting the environment, ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and fighting for an America that has enough jobs for everyone and gives them the opportunity to develop the skills to land those jobs.

I know my arguments should never be based solely in faith, because not everyone shares my beliefs. I should be free to bow my head and pray for guidance on my history midterm, but my classmates should never be required to join me. I support open and honest dialogue that transcends religions and cultures.

Democratic people of faith deserve to have their voices heard in this upcoming election—voices that praise God, Yahweh, Allah, Bahá, and others. President Obama is a committed Christian, and he respects the dignity of all our beliefs. He hears ours voices and values what we have to say. I’ll be standing by him this election. Will you join me?

Thanks for reading this and remember--this day, is the first day of the rest of your life.

Can Newt Gingrich Stand Winning? Can You?

If you know me, you know something to be true. I am incredibly political. I have always been that way. Even in my youth. So this season is always exciting as I watch the various candidates vie for the most powerful position in all the land. I know there are a lot of debates and every aspect of their lives are called into question, but if you are running for President one could argue that it makes sense.

With that being said I am immensely impressed with ALL of the candidates who are running and who have run. Yeah you have to have a huge ego to even say “I am qualified to be President,” but think about it a little deeper. When you turn in the application for the job you know three things to be true.

·         There will be something embarrassing from your past that will be in the papers and on TV.

·         You will have to spend at least 6 to 8 years of your life preparing to and running for the office.

·         You will have to be very fortunate.

So with that being said, I watched the Republican Debate a few nights ago and in watching it I paid particular attention to Newt Gingrich. He has been an interesting figure for many years and it’s amazing how he looks as we examine him up close and personal. Yes, he was the Speaker of the House—but we don't elect a person for such a position so you can argue that the only people who REALLY knew him were in his congressional district. So as we see him up close, he reminds me of a character we don't talk a lot about in the bible by the name of Gomer. Now if you know your bible you are scratching your head with the thought of such juxtaposition but I promise you I will land the plane safely.

Speaker Gingrich is fond of speaking of his grandiose ideas and he is hoping to ride a wave of anger from people fed up with the status quo into the White House. One can say he is hoping to ride the Newt-mentum all the way to 1900 Pennsylvania Ave. But then something happened between the South Carolina Primary and America’s first step toward establishing Moonlandia as its 51^st state. He became the leader of the race and on Thursday night he proved once again he is better fighting for than controlling the lead when he is ahead.

To use a boxing analogy during the debate, Mr. Gingrich looked like the fighter who looks great the first round until he is cold cocked—and he gets that deer in the headlights look. Speaker Gingrich looked that way most of the night. So why is that? How can a person be so good when they are losing, yet look so bad when they are winning? (Hold on to that thought as we will revisit it momentarily.)

I heard Speaker Gingrich referred to as “The Angry Teddy Bear.” I giggle when I think of the analogy because whenever my son walks in the room and sees his face he laughs. When I ask him why he says it’s the haircut. “Looks like he has a little school boy haircut,” he says. And if you dropped in from out of space (Okay insert your Gingrich joke here) and saw a picture of the Speaker you would view him as a kind warm and friendly type of guy. And that's the guy they seem to want America to see. But every time America gets closer to him—he says something to push her away and his poll numbers fall.

When you look at his life and how his two previous marriages ended there is a parallel between his failed marriages, his run for the presidency and Gomer. (Yes I will connect the dots.)

Based on press reports, biographers and the “limited” information we have, Mr. Gingrich pursued both of his previous wives and left them when life may not have been going their way. There is no way they could have wanted or needed him more than the day he walked out of their lives. He also seems to focus intently on being the Republican Nominee—until he starts leading the polls. And then he starts making outrageous comments like "People like me are what stand between us and Auschwitz." You know? Something so bazaar you want to ask, “What was that again?” In hopes that you heard incorrectly.

So what is it in the character of the “Angry Teddy Bear,” that will not allow him to lead the race, to be loved by the Republican Party or to stay married? I am of the opinion that the same thing that causes him to not be embraced by the voters once he is leading the race is the same thing that causes him not to be embraced by the G.O.P. And the same thing that causes him to not be able to be embrace by the Republican Party in part led to the end of his marriages. The inability to be loved. Now before I connect the dots allow me to pull out my Word.

In the bible 760 years before Jesus was born there was a man named Jeroboam II. Don't get caught up on the name. Jerry-BO’ham. See it was not that hard. So this guy, Jeroboam II was on the throne of the northern kingdom of Israel, and his military exploits had extended Israel’s borders farther than they had been since the days of Solomon’s glorious kingdom. Let’s just say he had a thing for war. Now in keeping with our comparison to the political landscape of today you might compare him to George W. Bush. The son of a king—but was not really equipped to wear the crown.

Well; money from subject nations were pouring into the treasury at the capital city of Samaria, and the people of Israel were enjoying a period of unprecedented prosperity. Sounds like the United States post “W” right?

Just as in the current day, with prosperity came waste as well as moral and spiritual degeneration. Secularism and materialism captured the hearts of the people and sin ran rampant. The list reads like twentieth-century America: swearing, lying, killing, stealing, adultery, drunkenness, perversion, perjury, deceit, and oppression, to name but a few. You know when people say times have never been this crazy? They just need to read the bible. But the thing that grieved the heart of God more than anything else was the sin of idolatry. The golden calves set up by Jeroboam I had opened the floodgates to every evil expression of Canaanite idolatry, including drunkenness, religious prostitution and human sacrifice.

As we know, God had a special relationship with the Children of Israel and He viewed her worship of others Gods as spiritual adultery. How would you feel if you watched your wife with another man—over and over again? I rest my case. The Old Testament speaks frequently of Israel whoring after or playing the harlot with other gods. Well God had told Israel from the beginning that this is where he would definitely draw the line. “You shall have no other gods before Me” was the first of his ten great commandments. Pretty cut and dried right? But she (Israel) persistently ignored His command, and by the days of Jeroboam II (W) the situation was intolerable. God was about to speak decisively and He chose first a prophet named Amos. The former herdsman of Tekoa, giving God’s warning of imminent judgment, but the nation paid little attention. So God spoke again, trying to do whatever he could to get the message to His beloved that his love was true. This time he tried to do it through the prophet Hosea whose name meant “Jehovah is salvation.” And this is where Newton Leroy Gingrich comes in.

The very first thing God ever said to Hosea tells us about his relationship with Israel. “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.” Not very subtle right? When you read this passage it’s clear that God is commanding this prophet to marry a woman who looked the part yet had absolutely no morals. A woman who’d lost so much even when she was winning she’d find a way to lose. A woman who was the embodiment of Israel. A woman who obviously cannot handle being loved. A woman ironically enough like our Newt Gingrich because the more Hosea (The Republican Party) loves her—the more she pushes him away.

Just like some in the G.O.P’s early infatuation with Mr. Speaker, the early days of their marriage between Hosea and Gomer were beautiful. There love was in full bloom. I'm sure part of the reason was because Gomer was on her best behavior possibly shocked that such a man was in love with her. (Are you seeing obvious correlation?) So because they were in love God blessed them with a son (primary win) and I am sure Hosea must have felt as if he was on top of the world. He and the G.O.P. were convinced that his marriage would be better than ever with this little one to brighten their union.

But it was after the birth of the child named Jezreel that Hosea seems to have noticed a change in Gomer. She became restless and unhappy, like a bird trapped in a cage. Being a prophet he continued doing what he was called to do. His message was simple. “Return unto the Lord!” and he preached it over and over again. But Gomer seemed less and less interested in doing what he was called to do. Gomer (and Newt) had her own agenda. And she began to find other interests to occupy herself, and spent more and more time destroying the thing she once valued so much.

So when you look at it from a distance you can see that the Speaker may have a hard time being loved. But question? Can you? Can you really stand being loved? A love without limits? Can you accept the love Israel walked away from? Can you accept being love by one willing to put your life before His own? Remember the previous question? How would you feel if you watched your wife with another man? If you have not given Christ your heart; that is how he feels every time he looks at you.

Yes it’s easy to look at the foible of Newt and the Children of Israel when they display self-destructive behaviors but are you any different?

Oh yeah, make this day—the first day of the rest of your life.

By Timmothy B. McCann

Can You Stand To Be Blessed?

This morning I was running. Believe it or not I am training to run a mini marathon (please pray for me) so I’m trying to run a little each day. Well, being a technophile I run on the treadmill watching my iPad and discovered that The Passion of Christ was on YouTube. So I thought, “Whoa, why not watch The Passion, and get my work out in.” So as I was watching the first thing I noticed was the fact that Jesus was anti—a lot of what we see in today’s church. One of those things in my opinion would be some ministries approach to prosperity. I mean think about it. The word itself is a wonderful word. It’s a word on par with healthy. Wise. Dignity. But somehow the latter day church (not The Church of The Latter Day Saints per si but the church of today) has given an evil and one can say even a bitter taste to a wonderful word.

One of the reasons why is because there is a cavernous error in prosperity ministry. We have been so attuned to judging peoples success by their homes, their cars and the clothes they wear we tend to transfer that to the body of Christ. After all if you have two neighbors, one wearing the best of the best and living in a McMansion and the other living in a trailer than which one would be thought by most people to be the most successful? Regrettably you cannot judge Gods children by earthly standards. I mean when you think about it, Pimps, Hedge Funds Thieves and Murderers have nice houses. But unless they repent they will go straight to hell.

But can I tell you one of the hidden problems with the prosperity ministry of today? There is also an arrogance attached to it that is like a hidden cancer and lies dormant for years and is only found at times when it is too late. Sometimes we can go higher in terms of this worlds standards and get haughty. Think about it; if we really excel and if everything we want in our lives succeeds beyond our wildest imagination, would we really know how to handle it?

What we don't realize is if you achieved success in a phenomenal way you will receive test in a phenomenal way. Let’s say you have three people in your life that really dislike you now. If you were to win the lottery tomorrow that number would increase tenfold. Can you handle success? Could this be why God does not bless some of us? Could this be why the litmus test of our Christianity may not be measured just in the size of our car?

Paul wrote to the Philippi church, 2:5-11, that God will bless us when we are little in our own eyes but as soon as we start smelling ourselves we will mess round and lose the kingdom. Some people will start out serving God with humility and as SOON as God bless them they trip. Can we stand… to be blessed?

We must understand that often God sees something in our hearts that will allow him to dole out blessings upon us. But we kill it if we show him by our actions that we cannot stand to be blessed.

There is no way David should have been, nor deserved to be promoted to king. Yeah he killed a lion and that was on his resume. He killed a bear and that was on his resume. He killed a giant everyone feared in front of his boys and that was on his resume. In fact in many people eyes he was not even the most qualified in his own family. He was still smaller than many of the other kings. Heck he was even smaller than his own brothers. He did not even know who to bow to; knew nothing about protocol. He did not come from a royal blood line. At the end of the day he was still a little Sheppard boy. A child at heart. So why did God look past all the other more qualified applicants? A little difference that made a big difference to God. David knew how to take his praise and adoration to a higher level. While they were out sword fighting and learning other tongues and being educated, David was up in the mountain singing songs, praying prayers, dancing around trees and giving God all the glory.

What caused one out of every three angels to fall out of heaven? What caused Lucifer to be sent to Hell? The most beautiful angel in heaven, dammed to eternal damnation. So beautiful he was referred to as “The son of the morning,” to fall from heaven? Something called hubris.

What is hubris? It’s defined as excessive pride or excessive arrogance. Having a little pride in who you are is actually a good thing. But it’s when it becomes “hubris” that it can lead to our demise. See Lucifer was not satisfied to be over the worship and praise team. See we have goals and we are pushed towards those goals and dreams by our ambition. But hubris comes in when even the achievement of the goal is not enough. When they feel unfulfilled although they have achieved what they set out to achieve. Some men can set their sights on a beautiful woman who would typically not give him the time of the day. Some people can set their sights on a position at they know they don't deserve and then get it. Some success or prosperity can become a drug and it can cut any throat, step on anyone’s head and become an obstacle between the person and their relationship with God.

They will justify it like the former NBA star Latrell Sprewell did in 2000 when he was offered a three million dollar contract to play a kids game. His infamous retort was,  “I got to feed my kid!, I can’t live on 3,000,000 a year.” Well as fate would have it, in 2008 he filed bankruptcy. Hubris occurs when people can never reach a level of satiate.

Lucifer was over praise and worship IN HEAVEN of all places and that was not enough for him. He set his sights on Gods job. “I will set my sights on the most high. I will exalt myself above the most high God. I will ascend into the heavens.” Be careful with your I’s. There are two things that can get you in trouble. Your eyes and your I’s. Keep your eyes’ and your I’s on God and you will begin to be all you can be in the Kingdom of God. But start looking at yourself and saying what “you” can do and you are on the road toward hubris, and that's the subtle hidden danger of the prosperity ministry.

“They don't know who I am?”

“I will do this my way!”

“I don't ever get the recognition I deserve.”

Want to know your place in the Kingdom of God—start by simply knowing your place. Why? There is a man or a woman on I-75 holding up a sign for food that God will clean up and put in your position if you don't remember it’s never about you but it’s always about Him. There is a person in a soup kitchen who can out sing you, out think you, and if you are not taking care of your wife or husband they can out wife or husband you and they will take your position if you don't humble yourself. The bible says it very clearly—“Set your affections on things above, not on things of this earth.” And yes the things of this earth would also include a focus on prosperity.   

Even Christ said, “Father glorify me with the glory I had with you.” Not the things here on earth, but the things above. And when he says this does he go to heaven? Not hardly. He went alright. Up on a cross to die.

Have you ever wondered why you go on a fast, and you are walking in your anointing and then the devil hits you in the face with a 2x4 of troubles when you are  getting close to God? It’s because we have to understand, in order to receive the blessings of God, before we go up, we must come down. But when this happens… when you feel yourself going down, when you feel that cross on your back, when you  feel the nails in your hands and feet, get ready because you are about to go up to a higher level. One higher than you have ever experienced. But to do so focus on God—not on prosperity and you will display to God that you deserve—opps not deserve but you are in fact ready to be blessed.

And believe it I got all of that—while running on a treadmill watching a movie.

Oh yeah, remember today--this day, is the first day of the rest of your life.