Do we really believe God is sovereign?

Let me say at the outset that this post is going to step on some toes, including my own, and while it is not my intention to upset or offend, I do hope you give it some thought.

I don't know about many of you but a lot of what has been happening nationally and politically has caused me to do a lot of thinking, especially about where my allegiances truly lie and if I truly believe that God is sovereign. I know how that sounds and I do not mean I doubt God's sovereignty for I don't, but more along the lines of whether I act and live as if God is sovereign.

This first began on election night when I reading friend's reactions on facebook about the election results. As you would expect my friends on the political left were ecstatic while my friends on the right were distraught and angry. A small disclaimer-politically I align more with the right. I understood both sides and their reactions but I found myself with a third perspective-God's.

While my political personality was upset and felt that a bad decision had been made, that the country was headed in the wrong direction, my spiritual personality realized that God had ordained this direction for the country. Like it or not, agree with it or not, at this point in time. God has ordained the current government. We can debate as to the reason (reaping what we have sown since the 60's, repercussion of ignoring him and pushing him out of the public square, or punishment for legalizing abortion just being a few), but the Bible teaches us that God is in control and has ordained the current government.

Whether it is "render unto Caesar what is Casear's" or "submit to authority", we are called as Christians to submit to the authority of those in charge over us. That God has ordained that for the present time the government we live under. And as part of that, we are to obey the laws whether we agree with them or not. That we are to submit to the authority of those leaders, that we are to pray for those leaders, again whether we agree with them or not. We are only given permission to rebel or disobey IF those leaders and laws require us to violate God and God's laws and commands. Otherwise we are to submit and obey.

I have heard many of my friends say they are going the route of "civil disobedience" towards laws that they disagree with or feel violates their long cherished freedoms. This is especially noticeable amongst many in regards to the current efforts in Gun control. Again, I completely understand how they feel and find myself agreeing with them in principle. BUT, we must remember that as Christians we have a higher authority in God and he has commanded us to submit and obey as long as we are not required to violate God's commandments.

This has certainly convicted me as of late, because as I mentioned in the Split Personality Part 1 post, I have the Cultural/American personality that cherished freedom and wants to rebel at anything that treads on that, but I also have the spiritual personality that requires me to submit and obey. The more I pray and submit to God's sovereignty, I find myself more in conflict between the personalities. It is a continual battle between the two and I am nowhere near as faithful as I should be.

It all comes down to a personal choice-Do we really believe God is sovereign or not? If we answer Yes, then we are called (and MUST) submit to the authority of those he has ordained to be in charge regardless of if we agree with them or not. If we answer NO, then we must realize that we are not truly following Jesus as we should. See.. I told you toes would be stepped on.

I realize you are now sitting there getting mad at me. Trust me, I am mad at myself for the conviction this brings to myself. But if we truly call ourselves Christians and are truly trying to follow Jesus then it is something we must ask ourselves and consider.

Split Personality Part 1

I want to discuss or work out for myself (and hopefully for you as
well) what following Jesus really means.

I struggle constantly with what I call a Christian Split Personality:
Two competing impulses or voices that draw into a constant tug of war.

On one side I have the personal or cultural identity that has been
informed by the tried and true American ethos of rugged individualism
and self determination. This voice tells me to go for what I want and
fight for what I want, to not let anyone get in my way or stop me. It
also leads me into the political realm and all that that entails.

On the other side I have a spiritual identity that is informed by the
Bible, prayer, and Jesus' commands and teachings. This voice tells me
to follow him and then goes on to tell me that that entails hardship,
suffering, and ridicule. That to truly follow him I must put
everything I hold dear (myself, family, wants, desires, etc.) aside
and view them as secondary or even tertiary in importance. Here is
where the struggle and the split occurs.

I honestly, truly, and deeply love and believe in Jesus and all his
teachings. I want to follow them and him as well as serve him with ALL
of me. I have this desire and knowledge in my heart, however, where
the problem comes in, is in my head.

In my head the loudest voice is the American, Individual voice. Every
time I commit to follow Jesus from my core, the other voice kicks in
and I inevitably end up holding back and maintaining my original
course.

I have recently been reading the book "Radical" by David Platt, as
well as his other book "Follow Me" and both of these have been
instrumental in creating this post. They have really hit me hard and
convicted me as to where I usually fall short.


I am not sure if anyone else has this same problem but I would love to hear about it if so. Otherwise until then, you will just have to listen to my soul searching and pondering. 

God Bless.

The Greatest Valentine

I had a different post ready to go for today but seeing as how today is Valentine's Day, I feel this is a more appropriate post.

Before we all get caught up in the hype of today with all the cards, candy, and flowers, I hope we just take a moment to remember and give thanks for the greatest Valentine ever given anyone.

John 3:16- For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

I have forgotten where I got this so please forgive me for not listing the source...

For God-The Greatest Being

So-The Greatest Degree

Loved-The Greatest Affection

The World-The Greatest Object of Love

That He Gave-The Greatest Act

His Only-The Greatest Treasure

Son-The Greatest Gift

That Whoever-The Greatest Company

Believes-The Greatest Trust

In Him-The Greatest Object of Faith

Should Not Perish-The Greatest Deliverance

But Have-The Greatest Assurance

Eternal-The Greatest Promise

Life-The Greatest Blessing

Barrabas as scapegoat

This post will not make much sense to anyone who is not a church attender or studied the bible but you are welcome to read and comment (if you so choose) all the same.. just a disclaimer.

 This thought came to me while reading over the past week or so.. I claim no theological truth in it just an interesting thought. To lend some meat to the post I must explain a little first... my nighttime (bedtime actually) reading currently is Tosca Lee's wonderful new book called "Iscariot", it is a new fictional take on the life of Judas Iscariot who you will recall was the one who betrayed Jesus. She spent years doing tons of deep research on Judas and the time period he lived in. I highly recommend this book. Anyway, she mentioned a Jewish zealot or insurrectionist group that called themselves the "Bar Abbas" or "Sons of the Father". That is going to sound more important soon, just stick with me. Next I was doing bible study a few days ago and my daily reading that day was the trials of Jesus prior to his crucifixion and specifically when Pilate let the people choose what prisoner he would release to them. They chose Barabbas, who was in prison for revolt against Rome. So here is where the earlier note about the "Bar Abbas" will come in. Barabbas in Hebrew means "Son (Bar) of the Father (Abba) and Greek tradition holds that his first name was Jesus which was a common name in the 1st century. So in other words he was called Jesus Son of the Father.

 Now lets briefly flash back to when God was leading the Hebrews out of Egypt and was instituting the laws and sacrificial system. On the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur, which is the Holiest Day of the Jewish Calendar, the people were to bring 2 lambs to the High Priest. There were to cast lots and one was to be prayed over and then sent out the camp to the wilderness as the "Scapegoat", while the other was to be killed to cover the people's sins.

 So now' back to period of Jesus... here you find TWO (2) "lambs, both Jesus "Son of the Father. One, Jesus Barabbas, and second, Jesus Christ.... again both "Sons of the Father". One was freed (Barabbas) serving as the scapegoat and the second (Jesus Christ) was killed to pay the penalty for our sins. I had never put these facts together until just recently and have never heard it taught or mentioned before. However, I have recently talked to some who have heard it before so there goes my new theological insight..lol.

 Again, I claim to no theological validity or truth... just found it meaningful and interesting. If it bothers you or makes you uncomfortable please by all means disregard it, but I hope you find it as interesting and new as I did.