Happy Happy

Need I say more?

God Moves In a Mysterious Way
by William Cowper

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace,
Behind a frowning povidence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

Cupboards, Keys, and Evil Witch-Queens in Full Audio

I found a great new way to enjoy a good book. Just finished 100 Cupboards by ND Wilson (known by some as the strange son of that heretic Doug Wilson). Great book. It's riveting, full of plot twists, action, character, and an evil witch queen. It is definitely the type of book you would pick up and not put back down until you can finish it. But I couldn't do that. You see, I was reading it aloud to my lovely wife. I could only read so much before my voice would begin to go. Two chapters was about my limit. I couldn't read on silently, because my dinner was on the line, and I tend to be ticklish. So I would read a section and put it down. Then I would spend the rest of the next day dying to know what happened. One night I stopped reading, and couldn't sleep because of all the little things going bump in the night (...so the book has a slight suspense to it, we're all human). It was great. I highly recommend this approach to reading a good book. Especially the wife to read it to. That part's great.

Pragmatism Concerns

I came down rather hard on Ron Paul in my last post. Does that mean I'm going to vote for Huckabee? Absolutely not. The only reason to vote for people like Huckabee, or any major candidate, is that they are the best people with the most likely chance to succeed. That's called pragmatism, and it doesn't work. We all want to save our country, so, using pragmatism, knowing we won't get 'our guy' in, we vote for guys like Bush. Sure, he won't come down on killing babies and innocent Iraqis, but he won't hook us up with the UN right away. Peroutka didn't have a chance, and we didn't want another scandal, so we all voted Republican. We'll fix the government bit by bit, and that way fix the country bit by bit. But God doesn't work that way.

We have all bought into the social religion of political America. No, we may not get food stamps, but we want the government to hand us our redemption. We want Uncle Sam and Big Brother to fill the voids in our souls. But it won't happen. Instead, we will all vote for who we vote for, and then, after we die, we will be called to answer for those decisions. Did we support men who killed innocent children, women, husbands? No, we can't be held responsible for their actions, but we are responsible for wanting them as our leaders, for whatever reason. We must vote, not for the best who is most likely to succeed, but for the man who shows signs of walking the most humbly and circumspectly before the Lord God, his Creator.

Our God saves through mysterious ways. Through death we are saved to life. Through water we are called into the Church. Through bread and wine we are made one with our Savior. Through repentance nations are saved. Our Lord has the power to sway a vote, so vote with a clean conscience, and trust Him to give justice and mercy where He sees fit. We will not be saved through politics, or any one political rule, but by every Christian person bowing the knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the here and now over this, His world. Every family walking before Him, in humility. Every Church casting off the weight of the secularism that ties it down. But, since we cannot repent of another man's sins, we must start where can, at home.

Primary Concerns

Today is the the last day of the year. It is also the first first big day in the primary presidential elections. The Iowa Caucus. Of course there's a big hullabulloo about Obama and Clinton and Edwards. But around here we're all interested in Huckabee and Paul. Especially Paul. Not the apostle. Ron. There's never been a candidate like him. He knows all about why and how this country was founded, and where it should be going. He has the right answers to all the political questions. He's not corrupt. The list goes on. Of course supporters can justify his verbal slip-up that intimated the proposed canonization of the Constitution. But so what? What does it matter if this man gets in to office? Is he really the 'Hope for America"? I say not. Why? Because there is only one hope for America, there is only one Hope, period.

Why is there such a movement in the conservative Christian world for Ron Paul. It can only be because we hope to see this world turned over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. But can that happen through politics or politicians, Christian or no? Can Ron Paul, through his pietism, recover the strong Christian heritage of our country? Can he bring down the ratings HBO gets on its raunchy shows? Can he stop teen pregnancies and abortions? AIDs? No, there is only One who can do that, just as there is only one way to the Father, Jesus Christ.

Our nation must repent of it rampant sin. It must acknowledge the present judgement of God. We must take personal responsibility for our sins. Fathers must turn their hearts to their Children. The church must repent of its bold-faced secularism. Politics must be reclaimed for Christ, but only as a result of a nation reclaimed for Christ. Ron Paul is not the hope of America. Until he realizes that he could be the worst candidate up for the presidential office right now.