Voter Fraud or Freedom’s Expansion

As I write this over 35 Congressman are petitioning the Attorney General of the United States to investigate ACORN for systemic voter fraud.  Republicans charge the organization with intentional illegal voter fraud and trying to steal an election.  Democrats do not defend the exposed and obvious fraud, but do defend the effort to increase voter registration and participation.

I think they are both right.  Fraud is wrong and should be punished.  We are (or pretend to be) a nation of laws.  Greater voter participation is essential for democracy to work.  So how did we get to this point?

I am beginning to understand more and more every day there are legitimately two Americas.  IF not in reality, then certainly in concept.  Socialism vs. Capitalism.   Rights vs. Opportunities.    Main St. vs. Wall St.     Rich vs. Poor    Red State vs. Blue State.    Modernism vs. Postmodernism

I can easily understand how one side views ACORN as a fraudulent evil.  The other side as a crusader for the downtrodden.  I can see that because I have come to understand how these two Americas approach abortion.  One side passionately defends the rights of the unborn.  The other side passionately defends the right of the woman to choose.  These are not bipolar opposite issues.  It is not black versus white.  It is Orange vs. Monkey.  On the one hand the unborn should be protected.  If someone other than the mother injures the unborn the state prosecutes.  On the other hand we do not want the government to make private decisions for us.  Do we want to become China and have the government decide if we can have children and how many?  What we cannot decide in America is does Orange trump Monkey or visa versa?

How did we get here?  I believe the answer is as simple and as complex as saying we lost our moral focus.  There is no longer a consensus in America on what to base moral decisions.  In the past there was a greater consensus that the Word of God would direct our laws and decisions.  That consensus is gone.  Without consensus we cannot come together and find agreement.  Oranges believe Monkeys are immoral.  Monkeys feel the same about Oranges.  But how do we resolve this important debate?

Voter fraud may not be wrong if more people vote for me.  After all, my leadership is essential to the country.  Voter fraud may be wrong if more people vote for him.  After all, my leadership is essential to the country.  Without a moral compass that we can all agree to, how can we come together?

When I grew up and there were disagreements in the family, the final word, the authority was my father.  Why?  Because he was bigger, stronger, wiser or more determined?  NO.  He was head of the family.  That was a given.  When we decide once again God is the head of our nation, sovereign over us, then we will allow His Word to settle our disagreements.  Daniel 4-6 reminds us how God humbles great nations who forget this sovereignty.  Is today’s financial crisis just such a humbling moment?  When the stock market collapses and fortunes are lost, will He regain our attention.  I don’t know.  But if this doesn’t work, what will He do next?  I for one am listening now.  Are you?  Are we?

Frustration

Last night (Thursday, Oct. 2) I was watching the Chicago Cubs lose again to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round of the NLCS.  I have been a Cub fan for 52 years.  In my lifetime they have never won a World Series.  They have never even gone to the World Series in my lifetime.  At the end of each season, we end a loser.

This year was going to be different.  (After all, it has been 100 years since we last won a World Series.)  New and improved pitching staff…a superstar from Japan…Rooke of the Year candidate behind the plate…everyone healthy for the playoff run.  We might still win.  But last night I was so frustrated I had to turn the Cubs off and go for a walk with my youngest son and my dog Kryp.  ( I know…odd name for a dog….another day’s blog maybe). 

Taking a walk enabled me to regain perspective.  Why am I so upset?  Its a game!  If I cannot enjoy it, why get involved?  Is anyone in my family seriously ill?  Have I lost my job?   Can I enjoy this time in the cool of the evening with son and my dog?  Can I enjoy the stars?  The conversation?  Can I put such trivial matters as a professional baseball game back into perspective?  Yes, with God’s help I did.

Last night gave me opportunity to evaluate other realities in my life.  Have I lost perspective and begun to major in minors?  Do I fail to see the blessings that fill my life because I am focused on some trivial problem?  Maybe the Cubs losing last night was a blessing for me.  God was helping me regain perspective.  The walk ended with a much calmer and more grateful me.

Frustrated?  Lost Perspective?  Need time with God, family, friends to put perspective back together again?  Want to borrow Kryp?  What is stopping you from grabbing someone and going for that walk?  Do it now.  Life is too short and too wonderful to miss a moment frustrated with the unimportant.

If we lose this series…again!  If you hear ranting and raving coming from my house…grab a leash…take me by the hand….and let’s go.  I need you.  Maybe you need me.  We both need God…He will walk alongside us both.  

Truth vs. Fact

They were scientific facts:  the world is flat and the sun revolves around the earth.  Those who challenged these facts were considered ignorant, misguided, and even religious heretics.  Today we no longer accept those statements as scientific fact.  They have been proven wrong.  Facts change.  The principles they support also change.  Without stability how can we build our lives on such information?

Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World.  Is that a fact?  Can it be proven by some scientific experiment?  Is it verifiable?  Someday – Yes.  Today?

Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World.  This is Truth.  Truth is not proven or verified by some experiment.  Truth is believed.  Faith is not by definition something that can be verified or proven.  Is is a matter of trust, a matter of the heart and not the head.  Truth is revealed and not discerned.

Jesus said, “the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)  Facts, reason, verified data, proven theories will not set us free from that which holds us in bondage.  They will not set us free from sin, temptation, or death.  The testimony of Jesus made it clear:  only the truth will set us free.   

The jailer in Philippi asked Paul, what must I do to be saved?”  Paul answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:30-31).  Belief in the Truth is essential for salvation.  Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” (John 14:6)  Jesus is Truth.  He is not fact.  He is not proven.  He is not verified or verifiable.  He is Truth.  He is trusted.  He is believed.

Facts are important to life.  But they are not greater than Truth.  There was a day when our society understood the priority of Truth over fact.  Has science trumped religion?  Has the classroom or the lab overwhelmed the sanctuary?  Has the textbook replaced the Bible?  Each of us must answer that question for our individual lives.  That answer does not change the reality that only the Truth will set us free.    While we pursue knowledge and information, let us pursue Truth with a greater zeal.  The former shape life here and now.  The latter leads to eternal life.