More political thoughts. Or, probably more accurately, a barely edited spew of political train of thought. Well, political which then morphs into a sermon, maybe. So, if you’re not Christian, you may not be interested in this whole post. But, anyway, here it is. You can sort out whether your interested or I’m a kook.

I really hope that the brains behind the Republican party are thinking about these things. But, frankly, I doubt it, since I think they are more concerned with power than values. I find myself hoping for the death of the GOP so that the issues are forced. Anyway, more random thoughts:

The thought that captured my mind yesterday was just how much messianism pervaded the election on both sides. I’m going to focus on the Republicans, though, specifically my fellow “social conservatives.” I know I was buying into messianic thought during the primaries. My own “not McCain” sort of thinking has its roots in this. I was viewing Mr. Huckabee as the solution to the abortion problem. (Don’t debate abortion here, please. That’s not my point. Well, I guess if you want to, feel free to. Just keep in mind that it isn’t what I’m talking about here so I won’t respond unless what you say is particularly provocative.) While it’s true that we have a unique opportunity to directly choose our chief executive in the US and therefore need to use this ability well, in a manner which reflects our values, this sort of messianic thinking is dangerous and wrong from two perspectives which I claim to hold.

First, the simple case. My primary perspective is that of a Christian. Well, from that perspective, messianism belongs only the Messiah – Jesus Christ (which, of course, is redundant). Viewing political leaders in any sort of messianic light is, quite simply, idolatry. (I’m not going to bother mincing words here.) I’m not saying that all of my Christian brothers and sisters were being idolatrous during this election cycle, but I do challenge everyone to examine themselves. Where we have been guilty of idolatry we need to confess it and move on, taking a more sane approach to our interactions with this democratic republic in which we live. (I call everybody to this.)

Second, the less simple case. This is where we can learn something from our libertarian conservative friends, and where think conservatives have, in general, lost touch with their values. If I recall correctly, it was Jefferson who said, “The government which governs best is the government which governs least.” From this, we conservatives draw the principle that the government is not the source of solutions. Instead, it is the people who solve problems if the government stays out of the way. So, why is the election of someone who is decidedly from a different political perspective an issue? Granted, it will make it harder to keep the government out of the way, but why were we looking to the government to solve our problems? I understand the issue of the appointment of judges, and I am thankful for the changes that have taken place in SCOTUS over the last eight years. However, I’m suggesting that there is a better, less ephemeral, solution.

The problems that face this country (abortion, poverty, education, and energy reliance, to name a few) are all based in greed. The real solution to greed is not legislation, and this is where my first perspective, that of a Christian, is going to come back in. We can patch over these problems and constrain sin through the law. We do this with things that I think everyone can agree on – murder, theft, assault, battery, rape. I would contend that the other problems are really no different. The real issue with abortion is that of the value of people – if an unborn child is a person, then that child must be protected. (This is something on which I disagree with 75% of the state of Colorado according to our most recent election.) If a person is created in the image of God, then we must intervene in cases of poverty (read your New Testament, Christians, if you don’t agree). It is through education that the mind of a human is developed, and is therefore a moral issue. The real problem with dependence on foreign sources for energy is not so much interdependence around the globe, but that it forces the US, as a democratic republic, to compromise its principles to continue the flow of energy.

The problem is this – we as a society agree with the legislation of moral issues. Yes, we do. Refer again to murder, theft, assault, battery, rape. However, we don’t collectively see the other issues as moral ones. One “side” sees a subset of them as moral issues while the other “side” sees a different subset of them as moral issues. (In reality, individuals see a different subset than either “side” does.) So, why does that difference exist? Why is that we see some things as moral issues but others as issues of “choice” or “natural consequences” or completely amoral issues (like energy dependence) that only require pragmatic solutions?

I’d contend that the problem is the heart. And there is only one lasting solution to issues of the heart, and that is Jesus.

Application? Christians, step up. Stop waiting on government and elections to solve problems. Get involved. Pray, speak out about abortion, fight poverty, HELP WITH YOUR OWN HANDS. But, here’s the thing. We’re not trying to take away anything, but that’s how it is perceived. So, we must demonstrate that we have a loving relationship with our Creator and that we are trying to bring people into that relationship. That is what we’re concerned about, right? Not just avoiding judgement because of the murder of 50M babies? Not just avoiding judgement because the US might not continue to protect Israel? What are our motives? Are they fulfilling the Great Commission or maintaining our lifestyle?

Anyway, it’s time for lunch. Discuss!

I really need to get to work.

I slept in a bit late today. It felt good. Thankfully I worked an extra hour earlier this week.

Today consists of catching up on work after missing the last couple days. Then this weekend and cram for and then take the take-home Greek midterm. After that, maybe watch a little Star Trek. I’ve been ecstatic since Steve told me about Fancast/Hulu. All the classic Trek you can stomach. And I can stomach a lot.

Well, I got my paper written. It turned out alright. I wish I had the time to keep working on it. The cool thing about Bible study is that one is never really done.

I’m trying to sort out reactions to the McCain defeat. Specifically I’m referring to a subgroup of the people that are so disappointed. The thing that seems bizarre to me is how many of those people that are disappointed now that he lost the election are the same ones who were disappointed when he won the nomination. I just find it curious how far people moved over five(? seven? I don’t remember when the Republican nomination was sown up) months from rejection of the man to nigh-depression and panic when he didn’t win.

As I think about it, I think it’s probably a good thing that McCain lost. Not because I want Obama to be president; I think he’s wrong on lots of things. But, I think McCain is also wrong on a lot of things, just less wrong than Obama. To start with, there’s the $700B financial bailout. I’m trying hard not to fall into laissez-faire ideology here, but I really fail to see why it was so urgent. Yes, a bunch of bank-type businesses were going to fail, but that’s what is supposed to happen when those types of risks are taken. Bad risk == failed business. Also, has anyone else noticed the proliferation of banks? Doesn’t it seem like there are many more than are necessary? It seems to me like it is an industry that is ready for a consolidation. Anyway, my point is that both McCain and Obama were wrong about this, and this is a trend with McCain. (Don’t all of you who were McCain haters this time around remember wishing he had got the nomination back in 2000?) In general, he is a moderate, and comes up with a lot of ideas that agree more with the Democrats than with the Republicans. And, since it looks like the Senate won’t be filibuster proof, the Democrats won’t be able to go too far into the leftist weeds, forcing them to rule from the center. So, I don’t know how materially different a McCain or Obama administration would be. Given that, it may as well be a Democrat who gets the credit for Democratic ideas.

There’s also the historic nature of Obama’s presidency. I’m hoping that through this we can accelerate the healing of the racial divide in the US. I wish I could find the article, which I found rather ironic, because I don’t remember who made the statement. It was either someone from Europe or Saudi Arabia. Anyway, the comment was made that the US is “hopelessly racist.” How many European leaders have not been white? I honestly don’t know, but I’m pretty sure the number is somewhere between very low and zero. The question is irrelevant in Saudi Arabia, which is a closed Islamic monarchy.

Finally, while I as a “social conservative” saw the value of Palin, her choice never really thrilled me. Given her comments that did make it into the public during the campaign (Alaska’s proximity to Russia == experience in foreign affairs, not being able to give any of the several versions of the “Bush doctrine”), I don’t have a hard time believing that she couldn’t name the countries in NAFTA, even if the idea that she didn’t know that Africa is a continent is a bit far-fetched and unbelievable.

Anyway, those are my random, very undeveloped, political thoughts. I’m trying to keep them to myself, but just couldn’t help myself. Feel free to excoriate me for them – I’m a big boy.

So, the election is finally over. Yesterday I was finding that my biggest hope was that there would be no questions about the results, particularly in the presidential race. That is certainly the case. The result is basically what I expected two years ago. It was going to be almost impossible for a Republican to win (and McCain? guh!), and I figured Clinton would be dragging along too much baggage to get the Democratic nomination. With the rest of the Democratic candidates being non-starters (seriously, Biden has tried running for the last 20 years, did he honestly think he’d win this time? and Edwards? If he couldn’t get past John “Herman Munster” Kerry, how could he get past Obama the consummate campaigner?), that really only left the messianic Obama.

Have you seen “Brewster’s Millions”? One of the things Brewster does is run a “none of the above” campaign. I’m trying to refine an idea that could give that option to the voters. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference in this presidential election, but in a lot of our more local races, I know many people would have used it. If nothing else, it would be a means for demonstrating to those who do win that they are fooling themselves if they think their victory is any sort of mandate.

Anyway, I have a paper to write.

Tuesday the fourth was election day. I was at the polls by ~7:15 am and home at ~7:45 am. A quite pleasant experience.

After that it was work, followed by date night. We enjoyed some free ice cream at the local Ben and Jerry’s and watched the greatest political thriller of all time, “Canadian Bacon”. I had not before realized that it was written, directed, and produced by Michael Moore.

Then it was to bed early so I could get up and work on my paper.

Monday the third of November consisted of work and four hours reading ballot initiatives. Nothing exciting, just great fatigue from reading so many examples of bad ideas of what should go into a state constitution. Things like the expansion of gambling and tax plans. I’m not talking about what type of taxes are allowed, I’m talking about, “we’ll raise this tax X% and spread that money around with A% going to Y and B% going to Z.” In a constitution? Crazy.

Well, I fought through falling asleep while reading long enough to get the literary context done for that Colossians 3:5-17 paper. I found it to be enlightening. I had not before seen the general theme of Colossians (that Christ is life), but had instead seen it mostly as a bunch of disconnected thoughts. I gladly stand corrected. I need to get the other 70 pages of commentary read so I can write more of the paper.

My back has been doing a bit better today, too. I knew I was doing the right thing when I told that symptom checker that I had to run as part of the annual benefits enrollment that my back pain was in the class that it was improving so I should wait for a couple days before calling a health care professional.

Anyone want to diagram that sentence? I know what it means.

Oops. I see I shifted my weight the wrong way and now my back is hurting again. Time to stand up for a while.

My younger sister, ‘becca, pointed on her blog that November is NAtional BLOg POsting MOnth. So, I’m going to do my best to conform.

Woke up today to a headache. My back is hurting a bit more than yesterday, but still better than it was earlier this week. My guess is that all of the standing yesterday aggravated it. Speaking of yesterday, I finally finished my big coat for the pirate costume. It worked pretty well. Well, to say “finished” is an overstatement. I’d still like to go back and put in pockets, actual button holes, etc., BUT it was quite wearable last night. Before I do more work on the big coat, I should wrap up the waist coat. It still needs button holes and buttons. If I can get that done, then there’ll be time to work on some really interesting projects for next year.

I need to get to work on my Biblical Analysis Paper on Colossians 3:5-17. It’s mostly a list of does and don’ts which I’ve always thought was pretty straightforward, so it’ll be interesting to see what comes up as I’m forced to scratch below the surface.

Later.

Denver Seminary accepted me as a Master of Divinity, No Concentration, student today, August 25, 2008. The semester started today. Tomorrow I need to get in touch with the registrar. I hope to register for three classes for the semester: the first semester of Greek, the basic Bible interpretation class, and the introduction to ministry in multicultural contexts. They are on Wednesday and Thursday nights. They will get me started on what would be a three year program if I was able to go full time, but will take an unknown amount of time (less than or equal to ten years ) since I’m going to continue working at HP at least part time. It may not come across as I write this, but I’m extremely excited.

In some ways, this is the culmination of thirteen years of God working on my heart. In other ways, it is the beginning of fulfilling destiny. In yet other ways, it doesn’t matter, since the only thing that is important is relationship with the holy, infinite, awesome, God who loves us so much that He gave His Son to reconcile us to Himself so He could lavish His love on, in and through us. In the last six months, this call has finally grown to the point where my choice is either to pursue it or deny God’s voice, so I am pursuing it.

Below is the text of the essay that I included in the application material. It explains where I’ve come from and why I’m doing this, but more than that, I believe it is a story about God – what He’s done, what He’s doing, and the hope and vision for what He’s going to do in the future. In the end, this isn’t about me and Laure at all, it’s all about Him.

Anyway, I’m posting this because I want everyone that I know to know what I’m doing so they can question it, test it, and pray. Those of you who are brothers and sisters in Christ, please pray for Laure and I as this adventure begins that we would continue to keep God central in our lives (everything revolves around Him), that our relationship with each other would be in such close orbit around God that it would blossom and be the beautiful picture of Christ and His Church that He wants it to be, that I would honor God by being faithful at work and school, and that we would let God work through the gifts and talents that He has put in us. Sorry for the patchwork quotation, but as Paul says in Romans 11:29, 33-36, “…the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. … Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

Here’s the essay. Enjoy!

My story, like most, begins with my parents. They met at a Nazarene congregation, and my mother took me and my sisters to the same church every week until I was 7. I said my VBS prayer when I was less than 5. When we left the Nazarene congregation, we went to a Bible church where I stayed until I went to college. I learned a lot about God and about myself during that time. My older sister’s baptism made me think about my own commitment, and eventually I knew that I had not really given Jesus my heart and life. While doing Bible study and scripture memorization for a scholarship program for summer camp when I was sixteen, God kept calling me, telling me that I had to deal with my soul and spirit by submitting to Him. As part of the program I had to memorize, “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:25-26 NASB) As I read that, I realized that my choice was to have the world, or to have Jesus, and His identification with me depended on my identification with Him. So, I accepted Christ as Lord and Savior in my parent’s basement in June or July of 1993. The evidences of the veracity of this conversion were that a lot of pride went away, that I became kinder and more considerate, and that my desires changed from being satisfied knowing about God to wanting to know Him and serve Him out of love for Him. Baptism wasn’t emphasized in the church I was in, but I felt God’s call for obedience and to follow Jesus’ example, so I was eventually baptized at Community Bible Church in Cedar Lake, IN in April of 1995.
While I was still in high school, I encouraged our youth leader to start a new meeting that would be an in-depth Bible study. That eventually grew into a youth leadership team. I helped with the teaching of the youth group from the end of my junior year of high school through the time I went to college in fall of 1995. During that time I learned the difference between when I was trying to teach and when I allowed God to teach through me. That time period also serves as the primary experience from which I draw an assessment of my spiritual gifts. From the results of a survey taken when I was in college, the dominant gifts are teaching, helps, and knowledge; the subordinate gifts are service, pastor, and wisdom. These match up with my heart’s desire to take Scripture and expose it to people in such a way that they are drawn into worship of the awesome, infinite, powerful God who loves us, to disciple people into the likeness of Christ, and to help people deal with the confusion of life in our broken world. Recently I was reading 1 Timothy, and was struck by verse 1:5 – “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Love of God is the goal, and we are to be “faithfully administering God’s grace” (1 Peter 4:10 NIV) to develop the pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. This verse in 1 Timothy is exactly my heart.
When I graduated high school, I knew that I had two options. One was to do what I had been planning to do for a while – to become a professional computer programmer. Of course, what I wanted to do was video game programming; everyone goes into programming to work on video games. So, I had made plans to attend Purdue University to study Computer Engineering. The other option was to be trained and equipped for teaching and pastoring. I felt the call to do that, but I didn’t accept it. The fear of man was still a big motivator, so I had a desire to satisfy the expectations of those around me. A desire for financial security, the ability to control the “big picture”, the comfort of relying on my own natural abilities, and the ability to determine where I would live were all also present, and since the illusion of that security and control is easier to maintain in a technical career, I chose that path.
Except for when I have dulled my senses through entertainment, companionship, and other worldly means, there has not been a day that has gone by in the last thirteen years where that call hasn’t come up in my mind. I have denied it, avoided it, and avoided God because of it, but it has always been there. He has always been there, patiently waiting for me to listen to His heart and take up the call.
God was trying to get a hold of me in my early college career, trying to get me to see that my heart was not in it. He was also very patient with me, letting me kick against the goads as long as I wanted to. The lack of a heart interest can be seen in my transcripts, especially the first two years of my undergraduate education, which are “colorful.” Eventually, though, I did graduate with a BS in Computer Science and was hired by Hewlett-Packard, my employer since January 2001.
Since then, God has blessed me with success and favor at work, a beautiful wife, and a wonderful church. My wife and I started working with the high schoolers at our church in early 2005, moved to helping the college group in fall of 2005, and have recently been connecting with the new batch of high schoolers that have been coming in. We have mostly taken on the role of “being there” – befriending students and being available to help when we can. I have also been leading the technology aspect of our weekly meeting for college students and 20-somethings.
In the last year I have been drawing closer to God. The last six months, especially, have been moving quickly. In February we received prayer wherein I was told to spend time with Father, getting to know Him and His heart better, and to buckle my seatbelt because things would happen quickly when I did so. They did, and my eyes have been opened to the vanity of my career, my continuing education (I have been working on an MS in Computer Science), and my own plans. Our first few days in July were spent at a software engineering conference near San Francisco, where I presented a small research project I had done in class. The presentation went well, but I’ve described the overall experience as “wonderfully miserable.” God used that time to make it clear to me just how much I was not built to be in that worldly value system. A couple weeks after that, my wife and I were going for a walk. I asked if she wanted to know what I want to do. Of course she said, “yes,” so I told her that I wanted to leave the MS in CS behind, start working part time, and go to Bible school. Since we both feel that we are not yet done at our local church, we looked at the options in Colorado, and Denver Seminary with its self-contained Master of Divinity program seems like a good match. Since that conversation, things have been accelerating and building like an avalanche, but we are guided by faith in God to take care of us as we place ourselves in His hands.

Here’s one for all of my geek peeps:

YouTube: “I Will Derive”