It's been a long time, and I'm sorry and left you. God is really working on me about being more committed to this project. I'm going to do my absolute best to try and post every Thursday. PLEASE feel free to email and encourage me. I need that sometime.
Anyone who knows me knows that I've been watching the political race really closely. I've fallen in love with being a political pundit. And as tired of and disinterested in the race as I have become, I must say that my mouth has been hanging open with all the pastor problems that both Barack Obama and John McCain has been having. I mean in one political season four men of God, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Pastor John Hagee, Pastor Rod Parsley, and Father Michael Phleger, have had their names dragged through the mud and their reputations sullied all because the media and extremist bloggers from both sides of the aisle decided it would bring a little excitement.
Politically, everyone knows where I stand. I'm on the left side of the aisle, but I'm not afraid to move right on an issue or two or for the right candidate (no pun intended). I'm not so partisan that I hate those staring back at me. It's just my life experience and my personal beliefs have pushed me to the left of the aisle. I will stand strong for the left and fight with them, at least most of the time. But one thing I will not do is stand with the left and watch the beat up preachers on the other side of the aisle. And anyone on the right who decides to beat up on preachers staring at them from the other side should seriously chill out to.
Call me old school, but I believe in respecting the man of God, whether I agree with him or not. I mean who am I to speak badly of a man that God thought highly enough to have minister His Word. I know what's next: "Every preacha' ain't no man of God!!!" True, but I won't waste my time trying to judge who is and who isn't a man of God based on my personal standards, and I would suggest you didn't either. I mean I can look at you and tell you what you're not doing right by my standards, but God has never cared about man's standards when choosing His men. I mean Abraham was the father of Judaism and Christianity, but he was also a liar who often told Kings his wife was his sister (Genesis 12:10-20, their names are Abram and Sarai here, and Genesis 20:1-18). And while Sarah was technically his sister (she was his father's other wife's daughter), Abraham lied (by omission) and almost brought curses upon these kings because he did not want the rulers of to kill him for his wife. Yet God used Him and decided to birth His kingdom through him (Matthew 1).
Moses wasn't much better. Yes, Moses freed the Israelites from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 12), and he even wrote down the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20), but Moses also let his anger get the best of him, and as a result, he killed a man (Exodus 2:11-12). Yet, God still used him to lead His people into their Promised Land.
My personal story of God using someone who's jacked up is David. David became the king of Israel. He was chosen to rule the very people God had chosen as His own. And in the midst of this, David manage to spy on a Bathsheba while she was bathing, seduce her, and get her pregnant…did I mention that she was married. As if that wasn't enough, David then brought her husband, Uriah, home from the battle he was fighting FOR DAVID'S KINGDOM in hopes that Uriah would sleep with her and think she was pregnant with his child, not David's. But when Uriah chose to be loyal to the his brethren who were still fighting and sleep on the king's steps instead of going home to enjoy his wife, David order Uriah to the frontline of the battle, where he know he would surely be killed (2 Samuel 11:1-27). That sounds like some Bush/Cheney conspiracy stuff, doesn't? (Sorry, I had to put that in there). While God was displeased with David's behavior, He still used David. In fact, God even called David "a man after My Own heart" (Acts 13:22).
I know, I know, many of you a flabbergasted. Who knew that God's men had such tattered pasts, or should I say tattered paths to God. By our standards, none of them would have been fit to minister, yet God chose all of them, despite their mess. And we are still here trying to take down men of God who we think don't deserve to minister.
I really want to break everything down to you biblical and show you how what each one of these ministers said could actually be Biblical whether you like it or not. But it 3:50 in the morning, and your probably bored of reading the previous 900 words that I have written (who knew I had this much to say when I started peaking away). I'll sum it up like this. God's prophets have always had a difficult time. Most of the time they weren't politically correct, and that often got them in trouble. We see the prophet Elijah and King Ahab bump heads (1 King 17:1-18:45). We see John the Baptist killed by King Herod because of John's prophecy (Mark 6:14-29). And we see what happen to Jesus when the church and politics really mixed (Luke 23:1-56).
Why do we give men of God such a hard time? Because we don't appreciate them. Jesus said it himself in Matthew 13:57:
And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor."
We are offended by what the prophets of God have to say, and therefore take offense at them, and usually bash them from that point forward.
As tempted as I sometime am to talk about God's men, I'm often stopped by His word. 1 Chronicles 16:22 cleary states "Touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm," and if you turn to 2 Kings 2:23-25, you will see what happens when you bring harm, even with your words, to God's men. A group of kids were calling Elisha the prophet of God "bald head." Elisha turned around, cursed them in the name of the LORD, and two bears came out the woods and ate the kids. I don't know about you, but I'm not trying to mess with anyone who has a hotline to Heaven like that…youknowwhatimean???
Yes, God is a merciful God. Yes, He forgives us daily, but He also punishes those who don't seek His forgiveness. So stay off Rev. Wright, Pastor Hagee, Pastor Parsley, and Father Phleger. Don't drag them into these political fireworks. Or the bears may just jump out and eat.
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