A Counter-Cultural View of Government!

    David Lloyd George challenges our personal view of politics and politicians with these words: "A politician is a person with whose politics you don’t agree. If you agree with him, he is a statesman." Americans are living in an era when the political atmosphere is, to say the least, highly-charged. The word battles and political wrangling and verbal spin aimed at swaying the public’s opinion never ends. Talking heads and news-people on TV and radio vehemently assure us when we listen to them we are in a "no-spin zone" and that they stand for "the most trusted name in news." But depending on who you listen to, the Republicans or the Democrats are either the cause of all our current problems or the cure for them! Former Republican President George Bush gave voice to the sentiment all political candidates seek to stir into the political pot during campaigns – "My opponent has a problem. He won’t get elected unless things get worse, and things won’t get worse unless he gets elected." Many politicians have not helped public opinion about politicians and government. Political promises made and not kept, and so many moral failures and scandals on the part of individual politicians (from those in the White House to the State House to local Court Houses) that many people have just tuned out and turned off from politicians and the political process itself. As with the police and preachers, some people reach the unfair and illogical conclusion that one or two bad apples in a barrel mean the whole bunch is a rotten, stinking mess and ought to be thrown out! Tennessee’s Republican nominee for governor in the upcoming November (2018) election, Bill Lee, won his campaign for the Republican nomination saying he was best qualified for political office because he was not a politician!

There can be no denying it. Political cynicism and skepticism is at a high level. Some of the criticism in some cases is no doubt deserved. But Christians must be careful! In the words of the New Testament writer Jude, many people today "reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries" and "speak evil of whatever they do not know" (Jude 8, 10). God is not pleased when children of the Prince of peace become war-like in their attitude and language, let alone their actions. Political passion runs higher with some than others. Whatever your political preference (or if you don’t have one), the Holy Spirit speaks some very counter-cultural words about how to relate to government. It is almost certain you won’t hear these words on CNN or FOX news or from the myriad of "conservative" or "liberal" talk show hosts that saturate America. Here they are – "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves" (Romans 13:1-2). The people who first read those words didn’t get to vote on who ruled. The guy in their White House was not a Democrat or Republican. Yet they were taught to submit to governing authority. Unless man’s law asks us to disobey God’s law, we are obliged to be subject. "Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?" (Galatians 4:16)

     Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

What Does Christ Think of You?

Mark 4:35-41 records an awesome miracle (as if any Bible miracle is not awesome!). After being aroused from sleep by terrified disciples in a storm-tossed boat on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus speaks the words, "Peace, be still." Mark records the amazing result in simple but striking words: "And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm" (4:39). Jesus didn’t just track the storm with a weather app on his smart phone or seek shelter from it, or watch the weather channel to see what Jim Cantore was saying about it! Instead, He spoke to it and commanded it to cease – and it did! Mark 4:41 records the astonished reaction of His disiples: "And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!’ " This mind-bending incident was one of many that compelled the apostles to struggle with the issue of Jesus’ true identity and character. While a debate about who Jesus really is goes on in every generation, His own claim to be more than a mere human being cannot be denied. As Bierdewolf said, "Anyone who can read a New Testament and not see that Christ claims to be more than a man can look all over the sky at high noon on a cloudless day and not see the sun." (Burton Coffman on Matthew).

"What do you think of Christ?" In Matthew 22:42 Jesus Himself asks that question? Let’s hear from those who encountered and heard Him up close and personal, both friends and foes:
* Pilate: "Having examined Him ... I have found no fault in this Man" (Luke 23:14).
* Judas: "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood" (Matthew 27:4). * Thief on the cross beside Jesus: "this Man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:41b). * Roman centurion at the cross: "Truly this Man was the Son of God" (Mark 15:39).
* Roman centurion at the cross: "Truly this Man was the Son of God" (Mark 15:39).
* John the Baptist: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
* Simon Peter: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mark 15:39).
* the apostle Thomas: "My Lord and My God" (John 20:28).
* the apostle Paul: "The king of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Timothy 6:15).
* angels in Heaven: "a Savior who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).
* four living creatures 24 elders, and host in heaven: "worthy is the Lamb" (Revelation 5:12).
* the Father in Heaven: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17).
* temple officers in Jerusalem: "No man every spoke like this Man" (John 7:46).
Jesus Christ is unique and amazing. "What do you think of Christ?" is a question everyone has to face, although what we think of Him does not effect the manner of Man He is. The most critical question is, "What does Christ think of you?"

    By: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

The Hope That Helps Us Cope!

  

"When may we hope to go free?" That’s the question the sensitive scientist Cornelius asks his semian captors in the movie "Beneath the Planet of the Apes." In the movie, apes have gained ascendancy and have enslaved humans. Cornelius is told by his ape-jailor, "You may hope anytime you wish." Hope, as it turns out, is a very powerful help in life, even in situations that seem completely hopeless. This summer (2018) millions of people around the world held onto hope as an international team of military and medical experts worked feverishly to save 12 young members of a Thailand soccer team and their coach from a flooded cave in Thailand. The weeks- long ordeal ended with the rescue of the team and coach, at the cost of the life of one brave rescuer who drowned. Before they were discovered and until they were safely out, hope was the power that sustained everybody involved. Dale Archer, M.D. reminds us hope can help us cope. He writes: "The power of hope defines the psychological victim and psychological survivor. If I could find a way to package and dispense hope, I would have a pill more powerful than any antidepressant on the market. Hope is the only thing between man and the abyss. As long as a patient, individual or victim has hope, they can recover from anything. However if they lose hope, unless you can help them get it back, all is lost." Those words are an excerpt from an article by Archer at psychologytoday.com entitled, "The Power of Hope." Archer is writing about something modern mental health experts have verified repeatedly – hope can help us cope, even when we can’t completely escape our caves!

The New Testament heaps up heavenly hope! 1 Peter 1:3-4 refers to a "living hope" that belongs to Christians based on the fact that Jesus Christ came out of His grave. Romans 15:4, in reference to the Old Testament, declares, "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Again in Romans 15:14 the apostle Paul wishes for the Christians at first century Rome (and wherever you live in the 21^st century!), "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." At 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul directs Christians not to sorrow and grieve as others who "have no hope," but to ground their hope in the historical fact that Jesus "died and rose again" (a past event) and that He is coming again to raise those who sleep (that is, die) in Jesus to "always be with the Lord." Listen – this is a hope that helps us cope with anything life throws at us! This hope is always available – whether you are young or old, black or white, male or female, rich or poor! It is available whether a Democrat or a Republican is in the White House. In Ephesians 4:4 the apostle Paul describes Christian hope as the "one hope of your calling." The hope that helps us cope is not that you will have your best life now, but that at the end of this life you will reach "the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel" (Colossians 1:5). Come what may, heavenly hope can help you cope. Hang onto that hope. 

By: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN