Give the man his due!

Give the man his due! (Jan. 25, 2009)

This past week has seen the North American public filled with two emotions:

1) Ecstasy at the inauguration of Barak Obama as President of the United States.

2) Vilification of outgoing President George W. Bush.

It seems easy to condemn President Bush, to laugh at his mangling of the English language, and to bemoan his prosecution of the war in Iraq.

While we are jumping on the bandwagon to jeer and say good riddance to the outgoing leader, we should pause to think of things we will soon miss, as the new administration settles in.

The election was fought on the issue of “change”. We will have change indeed.

We need to remember how Bush was not afraid to invoke biblical principles and to state his own Christianity. He limited abortions and the destructive practice of Embryonic Stem Cell research; he correctly understood that most of the progress in this area is with non-controversial and non-destructive Adult Stem Cell research.

Finally, like it or not, he has helped keep our continent free from direct terrorist attach for the last seven years. It is easy to forget that terrorism was thrust on the Bush administration and this was destined to define his entire tenure in office.

Yes he made mistakes, but I am sure you will hear a lot less support for Christian principles from the oval office over the next 4 years. We should always be thankful when a Christian in leadership stand up for his beliefs.

What are we thinking?

We have just finished a great week at HCS featuring two module courses on Evangelism (by Dr. Gerry Michalski) and Missions (by Dr. Ken Birch). Both courses dealt with similar principles (sharing our beliefs with others), which are generally applied in different geographical areas (local vs international).

I sat in on some stimulating discussion in the Evangelism course. The topic at hand was how do we as Christians come across to others. It seems we are often judgmental, unloving, holier-than-thou, arrogant etc.? Should we be shocked by some of the negative responses we receive? Consider the following:

• Gandhi once said that he loved Christ, just not Christians.
• A guest speaker at our college once repeated several times “I like the church, I just hate church people”; and
• I have a book on my shelf by Dan Kimball entitled “They like Jesus but not the church”.

Can it be that we are being so separate from the world that we are irrelevant in it? How will we share the gospel if we alienate everyone. Indeed we need to engage our friends and acquaintances love, compassion and acceptance without annoying them or turning them off.

Instead of being judgmental and even persecutory, we need to be loving, understanding and accepting. Then maybe someone will listen to us!

What is your dream for 2009?

What is your dream for 2009? (Jan. 08, 2009)

In my last blog I described the joy that the shepherds and magi experienced over the birth of Jesus Christ. The nativity narrative of Matthew (chapters 1 and 2) describes the visitation of angels through 5 dreams over a period of a few years:

1 - Assurance. Joseph was assured that Mary was pregnant through the Holy Spirit, and would give birth to Jesus (which means “the Lord saves”).
2 - Warning. After the magi visited the baby Jesus, they were warned to avoid King Herod during their return home.
3 - Warning. Joseph was warned to move to Egypt in order to avoid Herod’s killing spree of all the baby boys in Bethlehem.
4 – Encouragement. Following the death of King Herod, Joseph was encouraged to return home to Israel.
5 - Warning and Encouragement. Finally, Joseph was warned to avoid Jerusalem (where Herod’s son had taken power) and he was encouraged to return to Galilee.

After experiencing many obstacles and escaping to Egypt, a final dream encouraged Joseph and his family to start anew in their home town of Nazareth. This set the stage for the growth, training and ministry of Jesus; and the development of a movement that would change the world forever.

Did you have obstacles in 2008? Do you have a dream for 2009? I’m sure you had some struggles and challenges last year. As you start a new year, let your “return from Egypt” and obedience to God set the stage for a new era of effectiveness and ministry in 2009.

If we listen to God’s warnings and encouragement, we will position ourselves to overcome obstacles and make a difference for God in this world. God bless in 2009!