Dear Faithful Readers,
It has been months since my last post to this Bristol Epistle. So many times, I have resolved to draft new posts, only to have been caught up in the often-tumultuous events of the day and distracted away from posting. I turned 80 since my last post, and when I type I miss one out of every six keystrokes. But I do the best I can with what I have. My example is Shamgar, the Old Testament Judge who saved Israel by killing 600 Philistines with an ox goad. He did not ask God for more resources; he just did the best he could with what he had. For that feat he merited but a single verse in the Bible. Judges 3:31. I wish I had known more about him.
I was on a walk yesterday when I listened to a message from James 5: 7-12 on a podcast from Auburn Community Church. I am always blessed by their messages. Lately, I am feeling horribly disconnected from the evangelical Christian community in my own country. I want to distance myself from their often-shrill pronouncements about the issues that are dividing our population into increasingly hostile camps. Their seemingly unconditional allegiance to a man who daily pours false claims like gasoline on the political fires he has intentionally fanned, their conflation of Christian faith and patriotism (Christian nationalism), their embrace of unrestricted access to military style weapons as a bulwark against perceived government threats, their elevation of one’s position on abortion to a litmus test of who is a true Christian, and in the process, their complete destruction of the power of their witness to a hurting world.
Jesus never told His followers to save the culture in which they lived. He never called them to secure political power and then use it to force others to live in accordance with His teachings. He never advocated violence as a legitimate means to achieve Kingdom objectives. His main message was love God and love our fellow occupants of this fallen world in which we live. How do we manage to love those who hate us or threaten us? Only by drawing upon His power through His Holy Spirit. There is no other way.
I bristle (no pun intended) when people assert that we are a Christian nation founded by followers of Jesus. It is simply not the case. Most of the founding fathers were Deists, and Jefferson excised from his Bible all references to Jesus as God and all miracles He performed. What the founders shared was a kind of reverence for the writings of the classical Greek and Roman moral philosophers. They understood the pursuit of happiness as a quest for being good, not feeling good. It meant the pursuit of lifelong virtue, not short-term pleasure. Virtues like temperance, moderation, industry and integrity. I commend my readers to Jeffrey Rosen’s new book, The Pursuit of Happiness.
We live in a great country, despite all its flaws. I served my country almost 30 years before finally ceding control over my life to Jesus, after which I was sent to the former Soviet Union and learned what it was like to be fully dependent upon God’s provision. It was hard for an old Colonel and a seasoned lawyer to give up control. It almost seemed irresponsible. But in the Kingdom of God, it is essential if one is seeking to advance that Kingdom and be a blessing to others.
Back to the walking and waiting message. I have learned why Jesus taught His followers to pray “give us our daily bread.” He wants us to live each day in His power for His glory, fully surrendering our personal will to His own Will. So my wife and I walk, each day, fully surrendered and joyfully dependent upon His power and provision. And we wait. Not primarily for earthly goals of being healed from our infirmities, or for our dear friends to be healed, nor for more mundane requests like success in our volunteer activities—but rather what James said in the reference quoted above: for Christ’s promised return. We know we will meet Him face to face, either when we die or when He returns while we are still here on this earth. We are taught to be patient and to persevere, with joy and thanksgiving.
I hate to sound so “preachy.” Those who knew me way back when I was still at the controls of my life, in the Air Force and at the Department of Justice, will know that I did many things of which I am not proud, to say the least. Like the Apostle Paul, I was and still am the worst of sinners. Romans 7:18-24. I have absolutely no basis for holding myself up as a model of Godly living. All I can say is that I have learned a lot over eight decades. Many hard lessons. But I must speak out against today’s church in these United States of America. It is simply not an organism that Jesus would recognize as a New Testament Church. That is nothing short of a tragedy. The church has driven people away from Jesus, as it has lost its power. By seizing worldly power through the political process, it has forfeited its true and ultimate spiritual power. Who is the 21st century prophet who will call out the leaders of today’s church? Who would really listen?
For my children and grandchildren, and all who read these words, do not fall prey to those who teach love but live hateful and divisive lives. Judge by how they live, not what they preach. I believe my faith compels me to seek out daily opportunities to bless others who are hurting and in need of a loving touch. Matthew 35: 21-46. The New Testament litmus test for being a true follower of Christ is not opposing all abortions but rather in ministering to others in need, as if each one were Jesus. That would certainly include refugees, prisoners, those sick in hospitals, and women struggling with problem pregnancies. All who turn away from helping those in need who cross their daily paths are the spiritual descendants of the priest and the Levite who passed by the badly beaten robbery victim on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). Those false teachers in the church are the descendants of the first century Pharisees, for whom Jesus had the harshest words of woe and condemnation.
I am praying that God will not abandon my country. Our symptoms are like other cultures He abandoned in the Old Testament. Our people are overfed and pampered. They have individual rights but little sense of personal responsibility. We were born in violence, and we are one of the most violent countries on the face of the earth, with more guns than people. We complain about the economy but our restaurants are full each day and night. Greed is rampant. For some, there is never enough money or pleasure. We have always been a racist country, and the church has been out front maintaining white separation. It was only when our courts made racial segregation illegal that leaders of the church switched gears and adopted preventing abortion as its main political rallying point. Hitler got his inspiration for Arian supremacy from US exponents of eugenics and white supremacy. Henry Ford was one of the leading exponents of that garbage. A photo of Henry Ford was prominently displayed in Hitler’s office.
I realize we have come a long way to achieving a “more perfect union,” but our Constitution was intentionally designed to enable wealthy white males to maintain control over the levers of power and do so even in the face of a majority of people who have opposing views. Those levers of power have been expanded through amendments to voting rights, but still the same dynamic holds sway: a minority of the voting public can maintain political power through the electoral college, and that failing, but taking to the streets with their AR-15s and turning January 6th into a full-scale civil insurrection. My only question is whether our military leaders will keep their oath to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
How in the world does a man like Donald Trump qualify to run to be President of the United States? How did the leaders of the political party I once supported allow him to seize control? Are they so afraid that his people will violently attack them, like Hitler’s brown shirts? Are our people so dumb as to give him the keys to the White House, just to roll the dice and see if we can do better with someone who has no respect for our military, our laws or his sacred oath? I am not naïve. I appreciate that all politics involves stretching the truth and economic self-interest. But when almost a third of our population is living in a false reality, and virtue as the Founders knew it is in short supply, then perhaps we have indeed come to the end of the line, as both Plato and De Tocqueville predicted.
I refuse to worry or pull my hair out over all this, as I know that God is still in control and anything that happens will either be caused by Him or permitted by Him. God may well have left us to our own devices, as He did several times with the people of Israel. I pray not. I urge all who read this to vote and encourage others to vote. More importantly, I urge church leaders to humble themselves and repent, and speak truth to power.
I will continue to walk in faith, with a daily serving of God’s grace and power and direction, and even if I die tonight or tomorrow, I know I will be with Jesus, face to face, still in His service and reunited with loved ones who have gone before. That's all for now.
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