Our President's State of the Union Address

I wanted to give my response to President Trump's State of the Union address with Godly words and wisdom. But, instead, I will give you Dr. Jim Denison's words that pack-the-punch that I wanted to provide. Thank you for allowing me to step back for Dr. Denison to tell us how we should react as Christians:

Yesterday (Monday) was unusually chaotic even for American politics. Democratic Party officials announced partial results from the Iowa caucuses at 5 p.m. EST showing Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders in the lead. Their statement came nearly a full day after the results were delayed due to reporting issues. Four hours later, President Trump began his State of the Union address. He became only the second president to do so while under impeachment. The atmosphere in the room was unusually tense and partisan.

The president handed copies of his speech to Vice President Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She extended her hand, but he turned away without shaking it. She then introduced him, but not with the customary, “Members of Congress, I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States.” Instead, she said simply, “Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.”

During the speech, the president honored a Tuskegee Airman and his grandson who intends to become an astronaut. He welcomed home a soldier who reunited with his family for the first time in months. The speech recounted remarkable economic good news and called on Congress to make progress on a variety of fronts. Then, at the conclusion of the speech, the Speaker of the House stood, took her copy of the address, and tore it in two. She said later that she destroyed the speech “because it was the courteous thing to do considering the alternatives.” She added that she was “trying to find one page with truth on it” but “couldn’t.”

My purpose in responding today is emphatically not to advance a partisan agenda. I would offer the same response to last night’s divisiveness if the president were a Democrat and the House Speaker a Republican. In such a bitterly divided culture, my purpose today is to consider biblical ways to deal with disagreements as a nation and as individuals.

~ One: Honor the position if not the person
First, we must honor the position even if we disagree with the person. Peter instructed us: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good” (1 Peter 2:13–14). Paul agreed: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1). Note that the emperor to whom they referred was Nero, one of the most despotic tyrants in Roman history.

In light of God’s word, it was wrong for Republican Congressman Joe Wilson to cry out “You lie!” when President Obama was delivering a joint address to Congress in 2009. (The congressman soon apologized, and the president accepted his apology.) It was also wrong for Speaker Pelosi to rip up President Trump’s speech. Congressman Wilson and Speaker Pelosi obviously disagreed with the presidents whose speeches they protested. But Scripture teaches us to honor the position, even if we disagree with the person.

~ Two: Initiate reconciliation
Second, God’s word calls us to go to those with whom we disagree. Jesus was clear: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone” (Matthew 18:15). Conversely, our Lord also taught us: “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23–24).

Whether someone sins against us or we sin against them, we are to go to them. We are not permitted to speak about them before we speak to them. When we discuss public figures, we must avoid slander (Psalm 101:5; James 4:11) and gossip (Proverbs 20:19; 1 Timothy 5:13), only saying about them what we would say to them. These commitments break the cycle of retribution and initiate the process of healing. If the person will not respond to our initiative, we will know that we have done what we can.

Three: Love our enemies in prayer
Our third principle may be the hardest: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44–45). “Love” translates agape, the unconditional commitment to put the other person first. We demonstrate this commitment when we pray for “those who persecute you”—the Greek syntax is translated literally, “for them as they are persecuting you.”

You know that you love your enemies when you pray for God’s best for them regardless of how they treat you. Such forgiveness obeys God’s word and will (Mark 11:25) and models his grace to a graceless culture.

Imagine a culture living by biblical forgiveness. Discussion of the divisiveness on display during last night’s State of the Union is likely to continue for days. In response, let’s model Christian behavior for a post-Christian culture. Let’s choose to honor the position of those with whom we disagree. Let’s refuse to slander them, speaking to them rather than about them. And let’s pray for God’s best for them as we share the forgiveness we have received.

Imagine the difference in our country if everyone followed these biblical principles. Now let’s model the behavior we ask others to exhibit. With whom will you begin today?

Being Careful but NOT Judgmental

I want to be very careful with my words today because I cringe with the thought that I could sound judgmental. I don't get into politics much, though I am adamant in my position which I think is obvious for Who I follow -- our Abundant Life Provider (John 10:10). Maybe I'm naiive because I assume that those I chum with at church, events and various organizations follow my set of values, principles and God's ways according to His Word. But, shock and awe -- not everyone sees my way of thinking! How can it be? 😉

Such was the case when a friend expressed that she is pro-choice and anti most everything else I stand for. I could have been knocked over with a gentle breeze. I was numb, couldn't even respond and just walked away. A week later I heard that my walk-away meant that I was mad. I quickly asked for forgiveness for the impression I left. At first I thought I'd provide a list of reasons for my position, but then I thought "What would Jesus do?" And, immediately the Fruit of the Spirit -- the qualities that I want "fruitful" in my life, came to mind. So, I expressed my appreciation and love and that "our politics and persuasions" don't make a difference in that love. Between you and me, I'm praying that God will draw her to Himself and clarity comes to her.

Here's what I know. I know we shouldn't judge others, lest we be judged (Matthew 7:1-3). But, I figure it's quite alright to inspect the fruit in my own life and be my own "fruit inspector". I can judge me. Matthew 7:20 says "Therefore, by their fruit you will recognize them." WOW! That’s how we’re recognized as devoted followers of Christ, or not. By our "fruit". So as fruit inspectors, first, we need to pass the test on the fruit we, ourselves, are bearing. It will be obvious, not by judging, but by inspecting where people are at by the fruit they bear also.

It is "fruit bearing" season. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23) I'm checking out the "freshness" of my fruit even as I type this blog. As we experience the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, those beautiful attributes and characteristics of the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit will thrive and flourish in our lives. As believers, we know Holy Spirit is in us so we already have the good soil, fertilizer, nutrients and everything else we need to be good FRUIT bearers.

With all the craziness of politics and a world of unrest and pain, we can still find beautifully, mixed-in times of thanksgiving and gratitude. It's the perfect time to settle down to be drawn into a place of intimacy with God and inspect the good or bad fruit we may be bearing. Perhaps, a self-fruit-introspection is what will make us true "Fruit of the Spirit" fruit bearers that cause others to desire that fruit in their own lives, too. Lord, let it be!

Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All

I've witnessed so much peace and goodwill over the last several days since the passing of our 41st President, George H.W. Bush. Many accolades and gracious editorials, social media posts and televised stories of this very praiseworthy American statesman were seen and heard almost non-stop. His funeral, yesterday, was beautiful and inspiring even though the tension on that first row of presidents and first ladies was sure obvious. It took the passing of a peace-filled former president for them to be together. But, bipartisanship has been sensed from all sides, except for the “slanted” commentators who used their segments to talk about the “stark contrast” of his presidency to our current president with disparaging remarks. What a shame! My two cents worth here: Every president elected to the highest office of this land, deserves to be respected and honored for the price they pay to lead and protect our country, regardless of their leadership style! Okay, enough of my rant! Back to peace and goodwill!

The words, “Peace, goodwill toward men”, keeps echoing in my heart. No doubt, peace and goodwill have often been missing this year. They’ve gotten lost somewhere in the hate-filled mobs, politics, Hollywood, news media, and even our relationships with each other. Oh, but there's good news!

I segue to another story and another scene. The weary shepherds keeping watch over their flock of sheep. The shock and awe of angels declaring the good news. The star and the manger. The Baby and the hope.

God could have chosen a lot to say that night. He could have dealt with politics (which had their troubles then too). He could have lauded verbose words to proclaim the need for morality and civility. He could have taken a tone like a ruler-tapping teacher and told us all to get our act together. But instead, He blessed us. He spoke words of encouragement and hope.

What if the whole world did the same this Christmas? What if in this season we all put down our opinions and picked up grace? What if we shut our mouths and opened our doors; pulled back our judgments and reached out our hands? What if our angry words were buried and we brought out the welcome mat for kindness and mercy?

Sometimes we forget that Someone already came to save the world. That job has been taken. That box has been checked and the task has been marked complete. It is not on our shoulders. And this is what Jesus told us will continue that mission: “A new commandment I give to you, love one another” (John 13:34).

Peace on earth, goodwill toward men! It’s the good news of the first Christmas. It’s what we need so much more than the doomsday speakers out there. So much more than another television tirade. More than fists and voices raised. And this good news hasn’t changed. I suggest that it's time to spread the GOOD NEWS of “peace on earth, goodwill toward men”! We need to turn up the volume of our peace-filled voices and turn up the amps of our “lights”! Let’s make this Christmas all about love. Which is really just another way of saying let’s make it all about Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Living Our Christianity Out-Loud -- "One Another Living"

Yesterday on FB, I saw this first photo of two family members with opposing opinions about who our next Texas Senator should be. The caption read: "This Longhorn fan prefers Ted Cruz. This Aggie fan prefers Beto. We may not agree on political candidates, but we definitely agree that relationships matter more than politics. Our families play games together, break bread together, drink wine together, float rivers together, and love a great party with other friends and neighbors. We treat each other with respect, disagree agreeably (and often with humor), and try, although not always successfully, to show our kids how responsible adults who don’t agree on everything should act. Be civil. Have conversations with people who don’t think like you. If everyone thought the same it would be boring anyway. And love your neighbor.”

I loved those sentiments enough to pass the message on. Remember the battle cry of the Three Musketeers? "All for one and one for all"! That sounds like a lofty goal, especially in light of the many different, opposing groups of people. If ever Christians needed to become "All for One and One for All", it's today. What does that mean? It means that our lives should become so "Light" bearing, that it is completely obvious who the Christians are. People need to see Christians who manifest the character of Christ, speaking the truth in love with courage and compassion. The more bitter others are, the more persuasive OUR witness will be. Right now is a great opportunity for Christianity. If we actually lived our faith and actually lived Christianity it would be extremely attractive to people. It differentiates Christianity from all that’s going on in the world.

In Galatians 5:14, Paul wrote, "For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” I think what Paul is talking about is the kind of love of neighbor that the Musketeers had for each another. We can learn from their unity and loyalty. As followers of Jesus Christ, not only do we strive to serve, protect, and love God, but we are also called to serve, protect and love each other.

Today, I'm thinking of ways that we can join our hands and hearts together to be a part of something greater than "my four and no more" -- greater than "What's in it for me?" What if we began to pray and humble ourselves to become God's servants who live a life of ONE ANOTHER LIVING? "What can I do for you? What can I do for the cause? What can I do for the team? What can I do for others that helps them to win?" Let’s live our faith. Let’s let people know we are Christians – not by screaming it out off the rooftops. If we know anything about this culture, they’re screaming at Christians “Don’t tell me. Show me." Let’s live our Christianity and teach others how to do the same!”

Happy Days Are Here Again

My first mistake yesterday morning was to scroll through some of my newsfeeds and saw “renewed hostility and determination” between the donkeys and the elephants to win their political wars. I thought, "What sad days!" But that attitude changed: "Wait just a minute! I am a child of God and I know God is still in charge of it all! Suddenly, the words “Happy Days” flashed through my mind. I knew God was helping me “renew my mind”.

I remembered the lyrics of an old song: “Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again, so, let's sing a song of cheer again, happy days are here again!” I traced down the song's origin and found that it was written in tribute to the Armistice of November 11, 1918, which was the agreement that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War 1.

Then that wonderful “Oh Happy Day” song, rang in my ears – a song that many artists recorded, and the movie “Sister Act”, made it popular again. It was even a crowd pleaser when our Masters IV Quartette belted it out.

In these times, it almost seems that those songs and endeavors for peace, love, and happiness are impossible. But, "nothing is impossible" with God. What’s going on in politics and our world doesn’t define our happiness. Those thoughts pale in contrast to those of us who rise to the 30,000 feet view that our Father has when He looks at us and this world. I found a “happy days” scripture for us in Psalm 144:15 “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!” Because of the resurrection of Christ and the good news that we will live in peace and harmony forever with Him, should cause God’s people to be the happiest people on the face of the earth!

It is sad that there are a lot of unhappy, discouraged, miserable, and hopeless people in this world. But that should never describe God’s people. There is truly nothing to be discouraged about in this life if He is part of it! But that’s the key, Jesus has to have the lead role, the starring part and be our main focus!

Yes, things happen, problems come and go, as they always do, but there is nothing, in any of our lives that can’t be overcome with the Lord’s help. He is an overcoming, death-defying, grace giving, problem-solving, all forgiving, amazingly awesome good God! As Christians, we of all people should be happy about our lot in life. We should be ecstatic! We have been forgiven of all the sins, we have ever done or will do, only by the precious grace of Jesus that God sent to us oh so long ago.

It makes you wonder, why in the world aren’t more people able to get their hearts wrapped around this life-giving, life-changing message that Jesus has given to whosoever will believe? It was a message, that was so important for God to get to us, that He was willing to sacrifice and give up His one and only Son, so we could have it! I’m telling you today if you know, and I mean truly know the Son of God, you have a reason to be singing continuously, "Oh Happy Day....when Jesus washed my sins away!"

All for One -- One for All: "One Another Living"

Maybe we should take the battle cry of the Three Musketeers and make it our motto. "All for one and one for all"! That sounds like a lofty goal, especially in the light of how many different, opposing groups of people love or hate each other. So much bitterness and contentious words and remarks are heard daily --and not just in politics and talk shows, but in our schools, churches, homes and neighborhoods.

If ever Christians needed to become "All for One and One for All", it's today. What does that mean? It means that our lives should become so "light" bearing, that it is completely obvious who the Christians are. People need to see Christians who manifest the character of Christ, speaking the truth in love with courage and compassion. I love Rick Warren's statement "God teaches us to love by putting some unlovely people around us. It takes no character to love people who are lovely and loving to you." The more bitter others are, the more persuasive OUR witness will be.

No pun intended, but LOVE trumps everything! It trumps gender and ethnic diversity. It trumps cultural differences. It trumps religious preferences. It even trumps political affiliations. We’ve gotten so consumed with being right that we’ve forgotten about being IN LOVE. That’s right! We are supposed to be in love with each other. God's love.....Christ’s love trumps all! ALL!

Back to "All for One -- One for All". In Galatians 5:14, Paul wrote, "For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” I think what Paul is talking about here is the kind of love of neighbor that the Musketeers had for each another. We can learn from their unity and loyalty. As followers of Jesus Christ, not only do we strive to serve, protect, and love God, but we are ALSO called to serve, protect and love each other.

Today, I'm thinking of ways that we can join our hands and hearts together to be a part of something greater than "my four and no more" -- greater than "What's in it for me?" What if we began to pray and humble ourselves to become God's servants who live a life of ONE ANOTHER LIVING? "What can I do for you? What can i do for the cause? What can I do for the team? What can I do for others that helps them to win?"

We're ALL on the same team -- we're God's kids, and we represent our Father Who WILL WIN, and win BIG TIME. Everyone will know us by being on the LIGHT side by our love for one another. All for ONE -- ONE for all.