I'm feeling violated...

All right, I've told several people I was going to do this post, so here it is - I know I don't usually do politics on here, but as I'll explain, this is not just politics.  This is real.

We all know that our government passed socialized healthcare a few days ago.  I don't know whether or not you are/were an Obama supporter, but whatever party you side with, I don't know of anyone who is happy in the least with what just went on.  There is no possible way that our Congressmen and women and Senators could not have known that over sixty-five percent of Americans did not want this bill to be passed into law - but they passed it anyway.  They looked at their constituents and said, "We don't care what you think, and we're just going to do whatever the heck we want."  That makes me angry, and I don't know what you think, but I thought these guys were supposed to be working for us, not the other way around.

Socialized healthcare - socialized anything - is not American.  A free country is not entrenched in a system against their will - that kind of thing is what happened (and is happening) in countries like Russia and China.  With this system, too many people will be forced to do too many things that they don't want to do - including paying stiff penalties if they don't comply with the healthcare system.  It is scary that our country is beginning to show alarming and blatant signs of turning into a socialized superpower.

My cousin's husband is a Cuban-American - his parents came over from Cuba to escape from the dictatorial government there that oppressed countless people.  He recognizes the threat to freedom that is in this healthcare bill because his parents saw the same thing in Cuba.  They, along with millions of immigrants who come from oppressive nations like Cuba, understand more than we do about this threat - they realize that we are only a few steps away from becoming like the countries they left.  Too often do we take our freedom for granted - we have become less vigilant, complacent in our routines, and in that we have failed to see what is taking place right under our noses. 

I know that, as a Christian, I don't need to worry about my personal future.  God's got it - but that doesn't mean in the slightest that He wants us to sit back and let our government bully us around.  We need to make ourselves heard and let them know that we will not stand for this.  We will not allow them to use bribery and backroom deals to pass a bill that we don't want - is bribery something that should be allowed in a democracy?  And by the president of the United States?

I am tired of this, and I think a whole lot of normal, everyday folks are tired of it, too.  They are waking up - they are seeing what's happened while they weren't looking - and they are ready to fight back.  They are ready to scare their leaders into listening to them - not with weapons, but with words - and soon there will be so many of us that they can't help but listen to us.

Watch Glenn Beck's show from Friday and get a more in-depth view of what I'm talking about.  This man is on top of it.

Debate on predestination - in reply to Seth

On the Underground forum, we've been having a debate about a few theological things, one of them being predestination.  A fellow writer from the forum, Seth, just posted on his blog about what he thinks about predestination (click the link above to read it).  Instead of clog up his comments section, I thought I'd just reply here.

I'm going to say right out that I do not belive in predestination (the belief that God chose beforehand only some people to be saved and not others, and that you cannot turn to God unless he "lets" you.  Please someone, if you have an objection to this definition, say so!  :D ).

Seth quoted a couple verses from the KJV that supposedly support predestination.  (As a side note, King James himself was quite involved in the process of overseeing the translation work - he made sure that the new Bible supported the Divine Right of Kings and other theological traditions and wording.  In addition, King James was an Anglican, who believed in predestination.)  Those verses do not have to support election as Seth or myself have defined it simply because they use the word "predestination".  I will just touch on one of them before I go any further.

"In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."  Ephesians 1:5-6  NIV (The "in love" at the beginning is the end of verse 4.)

All right.  The word "predestined" simply means that we, as humans, were made to be adopted as sons.  That's what we were made for, that's our purpose.  But if we live like it isn't, we are rejecting our "destiny".(And note the phrasing "in love he predestined us" and in "accordance with his pleasure" - that means that God wants us to be his children and knows that we will be the happiest when we are his children!)  Now obviously, not all of us are going to be adopted as God's children.  According to those who believe in election, that is because of God.  He has not chosen to save them.  But take a look at this verse - I Timothy 2:3-7 (NIV):

"This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants ALL men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for ALL men—the testimony given in its proper time.  And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles." (emphasis mine)

Wait a sec - if God wants all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth - and if Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all - that must mean literally what it says.  He wants ALL to be saved.  And right at the end there, he adds "I am telling the truth, I am not lying" - and that he is an apostle and "a teacher of the true faith".

If God wants all to be saved (and that is not the only place it says that!), then why would he choose only some and not others?  That is the question that no one has yet answered for me.  And why would such a loving God withhold from a human the chance to be saved from hell when he has done so to others (and when it is not based on the person's actions)?

In my opinion, the doctrine of election practically erases the Gospel message.  By claiming that each person's destiny is prearranged, Jesus' call to turn from the old way and accept him is useless.  A person who is not chosen will, of course, never do so; a person who is chosen will be "converted" by the power of God sometime during their life anyway.  So either you go to heaven, or you go to hell - it's prearranged, and basically, nothing you do on earth matters.  Nowhere in the Bible does it say that nothing in this life matters.  There is a cry from every page, from the very heart of God, to turn to him and throw away our old life.

Of course God knows what we will choose in the end.  But he does not make us choose it.  We have to choose - that's the bottom line.  True love does not make anyone do anything.  I believe that God IS love.

"Everyone's asleep!" and the perfect father

Okay, so before I do my *real* post I have to share with you guys something my little sister Gabrielle (age 4) said this evening....


She had just taken off her princess dress-up outfit and then claimed that she didn't want to put her real clothes back on.  We were in the schoolroom in front of the big picture window.

 Me:  Gabrielle, you better put your clothes on, or all the neighbors are going to see you without NOTHIN' on!  *in mock horror*


Gabrielle:  No they won't!  They're all asleep!  (points to the houses)


Me:  No....they're not...(it's about 5:30)


Gabrielle:  Yeah!  See, the houses are PITCH BLACK!


Me:  But that doesn't mean they're asleep.


Gabrielle:  Oh yeah...maybe they're playing hide-and-seek in the dark.  After dinner.  *some thought*  If they already had dinner.


I thought that was hilarious.


ANYWAY.....


My real post is a little something I was thinking on the other day...I'm sure most of you have heard of the American boy, Sean, who was kidnapped by his mother and taken to Brazil.  His father battled the Brazilian legal system for five years to get his son back, and finally did on Christmas Eve 2009.  If you haven't heard the story, take a couple minutes to look at the website, Bring Sean Home.  We watched a documentary about the whole thing the other day.  Besides feeling all warm and fuzzy at the end, I was touched by several things in the story.


The father, David Goldman, had a sad story.  His wife took his son to Brazil on what he thought was a vacation with his wife's Brazilian family, but after his wife got there she called him several times and hysterically demanded a divorce and full custody of their son, Sean.  Of course, he refused, and said in the interview that he had no idea why his wife wanted a divorce.  That alone is tragic enough.


An international treaty demands that abducted children be returned to their country of birth/citizenship within six weeks, but Brazil paid no heed to the treaty, and only after five long years of battling, agony, pain, and worrying for his son did David get Sean back.  During that time, David's wife had remarried and died after birthing a daughter, but her family refused to give Sean up, and even, the documentary said, told the boy derogatory things about his father to try and turn Sean against his own dad.


All the while, David was dedicated to one thing: getting Sean back, no matter the cost, no matter the time, no matter the drain on his physical well-being.  If you had seen his face when he talked about his mission you would know what I am talking about.  It was a mission that he was determined to complete.  David was tormented by the thoughts of the emotional trauma Sean must be going through and the lies his Brazilian family might be telling Sean about him.  All he wanted was his little boy home safe, even if it took years.  He was a dedicated father who loved his little boy with all that he had in him.


 Now...that led me to realize - this is a human father we're talking about here!  I was somewhat taken aback with the thought that God, our heavenly Father, loves us even more than David Goldman loves Sean.  He is the Perfect Father - all he wants is to have his lost children home safe...no matter the cost, no matter the time.  And he will do ANYTHING, whatever it takes, to get us back.  Even when people try to smear him and convince his children he doesn't care about them and he's a harsh and judgmental ruler...nothing they can say will deter him from his one goal.


Can you imagine how Sean's father would feel if he was forbidden from ever seeing Sean again?  Telling his son he loved him?  Can you imagine how the Perfect Father feels when a child of his rejects him or never comes home, never finds out how much he is loved?  EVERY TIME a person dies without never knowing his Father, it hurts him the same way.  Because he cares for every one of us, more than we will ever know.


He longs to hold us in his arms and tell us he loves us.  And whether we know it or not, there's an aching place inside us that wants to run to him.