Sunday, June 27, 2010

Praying for the President

Recent weeks have been tough for America overall. At present, we are faced with an oil spill filling the beautiful gulf coast environment with billions of gallons of sludge. A top military general has been replaced to provide leadership for the war effort in Afghanistan. Sales of new homes plummeted following the recent expiring of the new home buyer tax credit. The only sizable area of job growth has been due to temporary government employees working for the U.S. Census Bureau - all of whom will lose those jobs in a matter of weeks. Political leaders continue to be scrutinized for possible ethics violations. And the list goes on...

Say what you will about President Obama, but if there is one job on the planet I do not wish to have (besides a FIFA World Cup referee) it is his. When Mr. Obama was elected, I vowed that I would pray for him regularly - and I am thankful to say that I am meeting that goal. Even though I disagree with many of this administration's policies, I truly desire for our President to make decisions that are good for America. I want his little girls to be protected and raised well. I pray for his safety against those who would be so sick as to try to do him physical harm. And I pray for God to help me to disagree with grace (which I sometimes fall short of).

One thing we have to keep in mind no matter which party or person is in power - is that God is in charge of His universe. It may not always feel that way when we consider the suffering of this world. But sin is real, and it leads to misery. The good news is that there is a Savior from sin - and this Savior is not a President, or a celebrity, or a billionaire or an athlete. He is Jesus - and He said that His kingdom is not of this world. And He said that His followers are aliens and strangers on this planet who are here as His ambassadors. So I will keep praying for this President...and the next one and the next one...unless there is no next one.

Jesus said "Behold, I am coming quickly and my reward is with me." The early disciples understood this, and while they were definitely engaged in their human citizenship, they saw it as secondary to their heavenly one. So, I plan to remain engaged in the affairs of this planet - but I pray I will never lose sight of the reason I am here. Although I love and give deep thanks for America, I am not primarily an American. Or a voter. Or even a pastor in a formal role as such. I am first and foremost a bearer of grace and truth as I allow Jesus to live His supernatural life through me. What about you? What keeps you anchored to Reality in the midst of the falsehood that surrounds us? Will you pray for the President with me? I hope so. But even more importantly, I want to pray with the Apostle John "Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus..." What say you...?

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Can Truth and Tolerance Coexist?

What is truth? In John 18, Pilate asked Jesus that exact question. The answer may be one of the most consequential conclusions we ever come to. In an increasingly relativistic culture like ours, objective truth is a concept that fewer and fewer people seem to believe in. To suggest that one particular idea or belief system is true to the exclusion of any other is seen by many as arrogant at best - and dangerous at worst.

Yet, Jesus told Pilate that "everyone on the side of truth listens to me." Jesus also made exclusive claims about Himself being the only way by which a person could find God (John 14:6). According to Jesus, objective truth does exist and is found in Him. In today's smorgas-board approach to life and spirituality, it seems that the highest of virtues is not truth, or even love - but "tolerance".

Tolerance is actually a great word and a very biblical concept, when properly understood. The traditional understanding of tolerance meant respecting the fact that everyone has equal rights to believe what they want to believe according to their own conscience. Christians support this kind of tolerance as consistent with the volitional and rational capabilities God has given to humanity.

But in recent times, tolerance has been radically re-defined. No longer is the concept focused on equal rights to individual beliefs - but instead, today's "tolerance" seeks to force everyone to affirm that all views are equally right. So is this a wise philosophy to embrace? Is it true that all belief systems are equally valid and that truth is merely whatever the individual happens to decide is in fact true? Or is there an objective, higher and absolute realm of truth which applies to all people, from all cultures, for all of time?

Beginning this Sunday at Valley Church, we will be launching a brand-new 3-part series called "True(ish)". We will be investigating the answer to these and other questions which are crucial to the process of critical thinking, sound decision-making and ultimately discovering whether the claims of Jesus and the Scriptures are trustworthy. What do YOU think about this issue of absolute truth? Does it exist? If so, is it possible to find and understand? Feel free to chime in here with your thoughts - and also please join us this Sunday at Valley Church (9am and 11am - 5063 Maple Rd. Vacaville, CA. 95687, www.valleychurch.com). Blessings to you...