Taking a Stand

 Recently, my husband and I attended a conference which focused on reigniting citizens' to participate in their nation's welfare and future.  I will not go into the list of speakers at this time but each contributed a variation on a theme of freedom. 

Some of the speakers were pastors.  The link above is not the speech he gave but if you go to YouTube and look up Pastor Lawrence White, you can listen to his speech "The Soul of America".  The story he tells of taking his sons to Germany is included in that and he also shared some elements of this speech as well. 

I found this riveting as well as convicting.  There was a time in my life that I was so apathetic to the workings and history of this nation.  Then, I finally woke up and cared.  Satan did not like that as that awakening led to my spiritual awakening.  He  hated that!

 His passion is to lie and those messages are in whispers and also by airhorn.  The airhorns came first.  I tried to share and the ugliness roared back.  I was kind of surprised by it because I was new to this new way of  seeing the world.  I had spent most of my life lulled by lies told to me and it was exciting, in a way, to share truth with others.  Yet, the ones who I tried to share the newfound truth with were not at all interested.  In fact, the ones who did not resist loudly yawned instead.  Yawning?  Yes.  A big giant straining yawn.  I tried to push a little bit and I poked as well.  They just rolled over and went to sleep.  We have the yellers and the yawners!

After reading the books about William Wilberforce and Dietrich Bonhoefer by Eric Metaxas, I felt validated.  They faced the same reactions.  The "problem" for me was that I was not a politician nor a theologian of great reputation and education.  I can tell you for some people, it is super easy to put down a housewife and to look down on her diploma in medical transcription.  Mind you, I am an extremely successful person but it is not the world's definition of success that makes me rich and secure in title. 

This conference convicted me of complacency and some apathy that had crept back into my life.  Maybe it was not so much apathy as it was resignation.  It is not the same inaction I faced with the yellers and the yawners.  They embraced their ignorance with zeal (maybe that is what caused them to be too lethargic to care).  I have watched some politicians play their games and pretend.  It is quite disconcerting. This quote from Pastor White's speech resonated with me.  "American politics consist largely of candidates without ideas, hiring consultants without convictions, to stage campaigns without content … resulting in elections without voters.”  Again though, Wilberforce and Bonhoeffer squared off with their own pretenders of their days.  The opposition they faced did not squelch their fervor.  


As far as Christianity is concerned, we ought not to have timid politicians, timid pastors nor timid citizens.  There was never any timidity with Christ!!!
William Wilberforce was told by John Wesley in a letter (andhow he must be spinning in his grave now!):

"Unless God has raised you up...you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils, but if God be for you, who can be against you?  Oh, be not weary of well-doing."

President Gerald Ford is, "We have an election in which candidates without ideas, hire consultants without convictions, to carry out campaigns without content."  - See more at: http://www.worldviewweekend.com/worldview-times/article.php?articleid=4151#sthash.A5LsbHQw.dpuf

That is the key.  God is the one who is for us so who can be against us? 

I am patriotic and love my country BUT  I am relieved that my citizenship is in Heaven.  Until God decides the moment of taking us home, I  am going to serve Him and resist evil.  One of many ways of implementation may be in the form of voting or some activity (which could be political) of some kind.  I do not want to be one of those Christians that turned away from the slave ship Zong nor Kristal Nacht.  

"I must confess equally boldly that my own solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend, not so much on her navies and armies, nor on the wisdom of her rulers, nor on the spirit of her people, as on the persuasion that she still contains many who love and obey the Gospel of Christ. I believe that their prayers may yet prevail. —William Wilberforce"