The scripture is filled with examples of genuine masculinity;
you could mine David’s story for probably a year by itself.
And we have to get the masculinity of Jesus back.
Not the pale-faced altar boy, but the man that made a weapon and cleared the temple,
who boldly cast out demons and calmed the raging sea.
John Eldredge
(Blue Herron and sandpiper / Santa Rosa Beach, Fl / Julie Cook / 2016)
I often feel as if I am that lone voice, crying in the wilderness.
As I climb ever higher on this bully pulpit of mine.
I want to shout…
“HEY FELLOW CHRISTIANS….”
CAN YOU HEAR ME???
Or maybe I should clarify…
“HEY FELLOW AMERICAN CHRISTIANS…”
Sigh….
We have all been complicit and silent far too long..
As we look at the current state of this country…
It makes one just want to scream…
Have we all just simply lost our minds???
From the election madness
to racial division…
From immigration run amuck
to a rapid escalation in crime…
From our inner cities doubling as war zones
to our obsession with anything but our current mess…
think the whole Brad and Angelina crap….
From non citizens having more rights than citizens
to those who think only one color of life matters
I mean come on…
It is time for the average, decent Christian citizen to say NO MORE!!!!!
And why do I say Christian???
Because Christians know better.
Dosen’t mean they / we always do what they / we know is the right thing to do,
but deep down, they / we know better….
Who cares if John Lewis sits on the floor of the House in protest…
He can sit all day long.
Who cares if Colin Kaepernick sits, or raises his fist or kneels
during the National anthem…
He can be defiant and rude and disrespectful all day long…
All of those actions are easy…
But they don’t do anything except sew more discord, more alienation, more resentment
and more division…
The harder thing is to get up off the floor and up off the playing field by going into
those communities, those inner cities…
and actually talk face to face with those young black Americans…
who are angry…
and to those who continually commit crimes,
telling them that violence cannot continue begetting violence.
Because that is all that is happening.
And might it be added that no black life is any less nor anymore important
than any other color of life…
As those hard conversations have to happen “at home” before they can be carried forward.
Who cares if Hillary is a woman…
I am a woman…
and there are those who say that’s enough reason fro me to vote for her.
That is no reason.
Who cares if Madonna or Katy Perry take their clothes off publicly
as some sort of reason to get the vote for Hillary—
at last check, nakedness was never a reason to vote.
Hillary lies and that’s that.
Michele Obama can laud over her and sing her praises all day long
but Hillary has lied, continues to lie as she has allowed people to
be brutally tortured and murdered under her watch…
All the while as she continues claiming “no recollection” over email servers.
And why is all of that so quickly forgotten by both you and I?
Hillary supports abortion.
At last check, abortion and Christianity were at odds.
Lying and Christianity are at odds.
Murder and Christianity are at odds.
We should be sick of hearing “it’s my body, my choice”
At last check God gave me / you our bodies and said they were to be treated as a temple…
with respect and dignity…not willy nilly, however we felt…
Sleeping around, being irresponsible, putting wants and desires before sense and practicality
comes with repercussions…but we don’t like repercussions, or responsibility….
So we’ll be selfish in that regard and claim it’s our choice….
Who recalls God’s commandments coming with options?
Donald Trump is brash and arrogant, yet hasn’t spent life being groomed politically.
so when he shoots off at the mouth, well, he’s not use to having handlers prep him…
But he’s no prize either….
Conceit and arrogance, and cut throat business has never been in agreement with God’s word.
All of which has us in a mess!
I read somewhere this morning that someone was asked who they were going to vote for
and their response was very sobering….
“God.”
“I’m going to vote for God.”
“I’m going to write in His name…because He hasn’t lied and won’t lie”
“He actually loves America and all of her people and has been with us since the very beginning..
and His word is never ending….”
Made perfect sense.
Yet all of the Civil Liberty folks out there cringe at that notion.
All the atheists cringe at that notion
All the satanists cringe at that notion.
All the liberal folks cringe at that notion.
Because God’s word is pretty much the last and final word and we are living in a world that
doen’t want to buy into any other words but our own…
The BBC ran the following story today about one of the survivors in the deadly July attack on the Rouen priest by the two Islamic jihadists.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37505350
It’s just one more reminder, in a very visceral fashion, that we, who call ourselves Christians,
are perhaps not doing enough in this world of ours…that we have not, are not,
and for some reason, will not take a stand for God and our Christian faith…
It is time for us who claim Jesus Christ as our Savior to go forward…
forward to where most dare not tread.
Yet most folks now stand in fear….
fear of insulting others, as in fear of being not correct enough,
in fear of rocking the boat, as in fear of being ostracized
in fear of alienating ourselves, as in fear of being cut off.
in fear of drawing attention, as in fear of drawing the ire of the Muslim world.
as the fears continue on and on….
Be not afraid
Boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ…
Time is of the essence.
The wicked flee though no one pursues,
but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
Proverbs 28:1
Amen! Great post, thank you.
Thank you bunches ๐
IB, I wanted to let you know that I’ve loved your last couple of posts–
I’ve commented but I probably have been lost in the muddle of spam..
So I had to go back in my annals of comments hoping of touching base…
the last post about the caregiver—well, it hit me in my core…and
I really thank you…it’s a hard and lonely walk at times…and I’ve been drawing lately..
so thank you for the life line!!!!
that should read dragging and drowning!!!
I sure wish you would stop beating around the bush and tell us what you really think. O my, my tongue just poked through my cheek.
I’ve never been good at mincing my words ๐
“The harder thing is to get up off the floor and up off the playing field by going into
those communities, those inner citiesโฆ
and actually talk face to face with those young black Americansโฆ
who are angryโฆ
and to those who continually commit crimes,
telling them that violence cannot continue begetting violence.”
Clap
Clap
Clap
It’s pretty easy to sit in our ivory towers and point fingers
I think a post has just been hatched. Thanks, Julie. Not sure when, but soon
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
I hope you are feeling grand today—and still loving the world ๐
Loving the world, not so much ๐ Extremely thankful ๐
Well good, because I was worried you were loving just a little too much —hahaha ๐
๐๐๐
You have my vote, Julie . The problem definitely lies within every American. We’ve all been told to be tolerant of any and
Every kind of behavior to the
Point of complacency and apathy – a nation of sheep being led by a wolf. I also hate my thumbs.
๐๐ป๐๐ปI am not a fan of my thumbs or my phone ๐
Yes, people hear you and more than you think. A stone thrown in any pond will continue its reverabations until it reaches the out edges. So what if you throw your stone and someone is moved by it and they thrown their stone in another pond and on and on it goes spreading slow but surely to greater numbers of people. So don’t silence your voice! Paul wasn’t heard by great numbers in the beginning but that didn’t deter him from being the greatest evangelist the world has ever known.
Have I not told you the story of the starfish? If not, look it up on the internet and you’ll find it. ๐ โค
Love that quote from John Eldredge. I have read a couple of his books and they are very challenging. I need to continue to be challenged. And the Christians on this side of the pond are not very different Julie.
This morning we went to a commissioning service for 33 young people (including two from our church and our nephew) who are joining BMS Action Teams for a year to serve God in various places, several of them potentially dangerous (Zimbabwe being one). Once again the young put the old to shame.
That they do, and the way this old body is acting and feeling…they are truly the more able bodies ๐