Category Archives: America

We’re Easy Targets

Old Accusations

If I have heard it once, I have heard it a thousand times: “Christians are hateful, dangerous, bigoted, right-wing warmongers who are responsible for all the wars and violence in the world.” At least that’s the long version.

Sure, there are the occasional fruitcakes and fringe kooks that give ordinary Christians a bad name, such as the Westboro Baptists. But for the most part, Christians believe what they believe without harming others. We try to convince others that what we believe is true, but what is wrong with that? Aren’t atheists trying to do the same thing?

In general, Christians are the most harmless bunch of people you will ever meet. That is why it is fun for certain people to attack, make fun of, and offend them. Case in point: NBC and Saturday Night Live.

“Djesus Uncrossed”

A fake movie trailer aired this week on SNL. It pictured Jesus running around with guns blazing, killing people, and even chopping their heads off. One line in the parody had the announcer saying, “I never knew how much Jesus used the N-word.”

Now, do you think it ever crossed anyone’s mind that a true follower of Jesus Christ might get offended? Get real! Of course it did, but nobody at NBC cared. What are Christians going to do, boycott? Ooooo! Scary!

What happened to painting Christians out to be so dangerous, at least in America? Maybe, just maybe, the really dangerous people aren’t Christians.

Do Another Parody

I think that the people at NBC and SNL are a bunch of cowards. If they are not just singling out Christianity, and if Christians are dangerous, yet they still air something as vile as “Djesus Uncrossed,” why not do a parody with Mohammed?

I think Todd Starnes at Fox News put it very well when he said…

“It’s open season on those who profess personal faith in Jesus Christ and pattern their lives by biblical morality,” he said. “Evangelical Christians are treated with contempt and targeted for ridicule.”

We’ve seen the networks and national news publications denigrate the Christian faith with great flair — from the “Good Christian B****es” of ABC to Newsweek’s Christmas essay about the “The Myths of Jesus.”

I find it interesting that the networks always mock and ridicule Christianity – but they give other religions a pass.

Why aren’t the writers at SNL churning out weekly skits about Islam – or the Prophet Mohammed? Where’s the mock movie trailer for “Jihad Undetonated?” Where’s the television show called “Good Muslim B****es?” Or the magazine essay about “The Myths of Mohammed?”

I suspect we all know the answer to why.

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” – John 15:18-19 NLT

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/02/19/nbc-declares-war-on-christians/#ixzz2LN2Upjqu

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Filed under America, Christian Unity, Culture Wars, current events, World View

Gun Control Legalism

Gun Control

It has been in the news a lot, recently. It is the idea that all guns (handguns, rifles, assault rifles, shotguns, plastic toys, etc.) are bad, bad, bad. Some western countries have all but eliminated them from public possession, while others are arguing over what laws to enact next.

The Lexington Minute Man

The Lexington Minute Man

Personally, coming from a man who lives in the southern United States and would have fought for the Confederacy if alive in the 19th century, I believe “gun control” is being able to hit one’s target. The last thing I will vote for is the removal of weapons from the common citizen. In my opinion, the 2nd Amendment was written by men whose belief was that an armed citizenry was one of the best defenses against tyranny.

Where I grew up, back in the day, the only people that ever got shot were idiots who forgot to check their weapons before crossing a barbed wire fence. Sure, there was the occasional feud, but S.W.A.T. and the F.B.I. were never needed. There were NO home invasions, NO car-jackings, and NO armed robberies in my community, either. Why? Everyone was armed – and everyone knew it.

No one in my community ever locked their doors. There was no real need. Even criminals had enough sense to know that they’d need some serious firepower or the element of surprise to avoid getting killed. For crying out loud, my dad used to drive around with a loaded 12 gauge shotgun on a rack in the window of his Ford truck, while under the seat was a loaded .357 magnum. Rarely was a policeman seen, but none were needed, for the most part.

Gun Laws

Now, out of the brains of postmodern liberals, comes the idea that taking all the guns away from law-abiding people will make us safer. They think that a law will affect the actions of bad guys. Sadly, the only ones that will be safer are the criminals.

Why do I link gun control laws to legalism? It is because gun control laws are put in place by people who forget crime is a heart issue, not a weapon issue. They think that another law will make everything better because, of course, everyone obeys the law.

Some people say, “Give me a list of do’s and don’t’s and everything will be OK.” They are more than willing to give up their freedom for a perception of safety. But what they don’t want to understand is that a sinner will still sin, and a murderer will still murder, regardless of the law or the weapon in hand. And when it comes to weapons, the dark-hearted won’t be deterred by a law they don’t choose to obey. The law keepers are too easy of a target.

My suggestion: Let the self-governing citizens with the law written on their hearts keep their weapons.  The law-breakers who respect no law will be forced to consider the consequences of their actions.

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Filed under America, Countries, current events, legalism, politics, voting

Just the Sound of BB’s

I thought I had said enough about the horrors of abortion in yesterday’s post, but then I found this on Facebook (thanks to Joel Garner).

The attached video is not graphic, but should be terribly disturbing. It is not gross and disgusting, only sobering.

Please listen to the sound of BB’s in a tin can.

I agree with the author of this video – God help us!

Here is another video you should watch. It is of an abortion survivor. Very powerful.

But you know what, I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that there is hope for those who have had abortions. Watch and listen to my friends (who I used to play bass guitar with), Adam and Kathy Glover. This was from a few years ago. We were at their home when this aired, and you should have seen the emails that flooded Kathy’s computer.

Kathy had abortions, but God has brought healing. Now they devote most of their time reaching out to those who struggle with the guilt of past and hidden sin.

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Filed under Abortion, America, current events, Relationships and Family, Uncategorized, voting

Time to Tour the Camp

WARNING:

The following post contains GRAPHIC language and material and is NOT suitable for all ages.

Buchenwald

In April of 1945 the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald was liberated. Just outside the camp were German civilians who refused to believe the atrocities they were told of actually happened. Therefore, something had to be done.

On April 15 allied soldier brought the residents of the surrounding community inside the camp for a tour. It took actually seeing the corpses of dead Jews, stacked like wood, for them to believe what they had heard. The average response was, “We didn’t know.”

Buchenwald01As we look back on those horrendous days, we find it hard to believe that the citizens of Buchenwald could actually go about their daily lives and never know anything about what went on inside those death camps. Yet, 40 years ago today, a virtual death camp was erected into law, the results being the slaughter over 50 million human lives, and people still deny the horror.

I believe it is time to tour the camp.

The Womb

On Sunday the 20th I stood and proclaimed without compromise that I think abortion on demand is immoral and nothing short brutal murder. I publicly took that stand because of my belief that human life begins at conception, and that human life, especially the innocent in the womb, is precious.

Now, on the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, I want to state my conviction here. I know some of you will disagree, maybe even in anger. I know some of you will stop reading this blog. But I cannot remain silent about such a controversial subject all for the purpose of maintaining subscribers. People have to know how horrible the act of abortion really is.

I believe that, as with the citizens of Buchenwald, if more people were exposed to what actually goes on with the most common type of abortion, minds and hearts would change. The truth is so disturbing and sickening that I refrained from reading in my church what I am about to reveal to you, now.

The following lengthy quote describes how to perform a Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) abortion (82.3% of all abortions in 2009). Keep in mind less that 2% of abortions are done in the cases of rape, or for the need to save the life of the mother. The rest of the 1.5 million abortions performed in America are done other reasons – some of which are said to be in the baby’s best interest.

The surgical portion of a D&E abortion begins with the insertion of the speculum. “Late in the second trimester,” the NAF notes, “a weighted speculum accommodates larger fetal parts and allows more angulation of the forceps.”60 Throughout the procedure, “strong and steady traction” on the cervix must be maintained with a tenaculum.61 This allows forceps to be inserted through the dilated cervix for the dismemberment and removal of the human fetus. Ring forceps require a minimal cervical dilation of 10-12 mm, but are not sufficient for gestations beyond 17 to 18 weeks, when longer and weightier forceps must be used. The NAF reports that “Bierer forceps are the weightiest and largest-jawed [with] fenestrated and sharply serrated jaws (to) provide the most traction.”62 The NAF recommends that ultrasound guidance be used “in cases that require a considerable degree of force to remove fetal parts.”63 This helps ensure that the abortionist does not accidentally grasp and tear the myometrium (uterine wall) while grasping and tearing apart the fetus.

The National Abortion Federation instructions for a D&E abortion are as follows:

Once the forceps has passed through the internal os, open the jaws as widely as possible to encircle the fetal tissue and avoid pushing fetal parts deeper into the fundus… After 16 weeks’ gestation, fetal skeletal development is such that the surgeon can manually sense the presence of fetal parts within the closed jaws… After grasping a fetal part, withdraw the forceps while gently rotating it. This maneuver brings the fetus into the lower uterine segment before the grasped fetal part is separated (if necessary) and removed from the cervix… If a fetal extremity is brought through the cervix without separation, advance the forceps beyond the extremity to grasp part of the fetal trunk. Bringing the fetal trunk into the lower segment markedly reduces the number of instrument passes into the fundus… During the procedure, try to identify and keep track of fetal parts as they are removed. A “pouch’ or surgical pan at the edge of the gable to catch fetal parts can assist this process.64

Warren Hern, who the NAF credits as being an “American innovator”65 in D&E technique, offers the following instruction:

It is better to use smaller forceps and take smaller amounts of tissue each time than to deliver fetal parts intact while traumatizing the cervix… At 16 to 17 weeks, fetal tissue is much more easily identifiable with the forceps and in some ways is easier to grasp and remove than in earlier gestations. The [skull] is about the size of a Ping-Pong ball and usually can be grasped readily with the Bierer. Collapsing it gives a definite sensation… At 18-19 menstrual weeks… fetal parts are significantly larger and more difficult to morcellate (tear into pieces)… [Abortion after the] 20-week gestation… can be a significantly more difficult procedure accompanied by unnerving hemorrhage. Forceps use must be sure and relatively rapid. There is frequently not much time for exploring the nuances of different tissue sensations. Grasping and collapsing the [skull is] often difficult. Stripping the [skull] of soft tissue is sometimes the first step in successful delivery of this part, followed by dislocation of parietal bones. In this case, care must be taken in removal because ossification is occurring and the edges are sharp… Regardless of the amount of dilatation, delivery of the [skull] and pelvis is sometimes difficult… The advantage obtained by having a softened cervix could become a disaster if a laceration develops at the level of the internal os as the result of too much force… The procedure changes significantly at 21 weeks because the fetal tissues become much more cohesive and difficult to dismember. This problem is accentuated by the fact that the fetal pelvis may be as much as 5 cm in width… [The skull] can be collapsed. Other structures, such as the pelvis, present more difficulty… A long curved Mayo scissors may be necessary to decapitate and dismember the fetus, since it may be impossible to apply forceps or to do so while avoiding the thinned-out cervix.”66

After the abortion takes place, fetal parts must be examined “to verify complete evacuation.”67 A foot of the aborted fetus is often measured to “estimate gestational age after abortion.”68 Postoperative observation lasts for an hour or more so that the patient can be observed for “bleeding or pain that may signal uterineatony, retained tissue, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, or uterine perforation.”69

Source:  http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/

For too long the media has avoided the reality of what goes on when a baby is aborted. If more people would read the above description they would refuse to allow this to go on. The argument, “Well, it’s just a lump of tissue,” would become absurd.

Please, before anyone starts screaming about the mother’s choice, do you think she would choose abortion if she could actually understand what goes on? If it is so horrible of a procedure, then why not tell her, unless of course we want her to stay in the dark, like the citizens of Buchenwald? Do we not care for the “health” of the mother?

Scars

It has taken many years for Germany to recover from what she did to the Jews and many others in those concentration camps. I can’t imagine the nightmares that came after witnessing the results of Hitler’s “final solution.”

But for women who have an abortion, there are also scars. I know this has been a long post, and one I am sure will result in the deletion of some hateful and vulgar comments, but I would like to leave you with one more quote…

Dr. Julius Fogel, an obstetrician-gynecologist and psychiatrist who performed more than 20,000 abortions during his career, perhaps explained best the psychological situation confronting many women after an abortion. He states, “There is no question about the emotional grief and mourning following an abortion. It shows up in various forms. I’ve had patients who had abortions a year or two ago … but it still bothers them.… There is no question in my mind that we are disturbing a life process.… Often the trauma may sink into the unconscious and never surface in the woman’s lifetime.… [But] a psychological price is paid. I can’t say exactly what. It may be alienation, it may be a pushing away from human warmth, perhaps a hardening of the maternal instinct. Something happens on the deeper levels of a woman’s consciousness when she destroys a pregnancy. I know that as a psychiatrist” (McCarthy, 1989).[1]

God, please have mercy on this nation. Many “do not know what they do.” Open their eyes. Help them to see. Change their hearts. Heal the wounded.


[1] Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology & Counseling, ed. David G. Benner and Peter C. Hill, 2nd ed., Baker reference library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 886.

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Filed under America, Culture Wars, current events, politics, Uncategorized, World View

Father of the Year?

The News

Bill ClintonIf you have not seen the news, on January 9th former president Bill Clinton was named “father of the year” by The National Father’s Day Committee. My first response was, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Well, at least that is what I think I said. It’s all a blur too me, now. Sadly, I may have even used the Lord’s name in vain.

Yes, the former president of the United States of America, the man who made the term “Lewinsky” famous, was named “father of the year” in expectation of the upcoming Father of the Year Awards banquet to be held June 11, 2013.

Me haveth some questions…

Question One

Who in the world is The National Father’s Day Committee?

Have you ever seen those cheap, plastic trophies that say, “World’s Greatest Dad“? They are handed out by loving children all over the civilized world (at least the parts that have Wal-Marts and Dollar Stores). I never knew there was an actual “Council” who determined who was the actual father of the year.

But believe it or not, The National Father’s Day Council was created in 1931 “to achieve universal observance of then little known holiday – Father’s Day.” Then, starting in 1942, the National Father’s Day Committee began conferring honors upon “contemporary life style leaders of our society,”the first being Douglas MacArthur.

Other top dads of the year have been Pat Boone (1960), Tom Brokaw (1978), Mario Andretti (1997), and Randy Jackson (2008).

Question Two

What in the name of all that’s holy caused these people to pick Bill Clinton?

This is the real question. What caused a group of presumably intelligent people to come to the conclusion that the best example of fatherhood this country had to offer was a compulsive womanizer? May I suggest two words? Blue dress! Two more words: Jennifer Flowers!

After doing a little reading, I finally found out what led the National Father’s Day Committee to select Bill Clinton as “father of the year.” Tell me if you think they are worthy of a plastic trophy.

Really? Are they serious? These are reasons to call someone the national “father of the year”? Whatever happened to stuff like faithfulness? Even the Huffington Post (liberal as the day is long) thought this was a joke!

A Better Choice

I don’t know about you, but I think they could have made a far better choice for “father of the year” than ol’ “Slick Willy.” As a matter of fact, any man who can check off the majority of the following list deserves a bigger plastic trophy than Clinton ever will.

  • father-of-the-year-trophyNever cheats on his wife, even in Vegas.
  • Plays with his children, even when he is tired.
  • Holds down a real job, even two, in order to keep a roof over his family’s head.
  • Gives to others without having a reporter take pictures.
  • Hugs his wife in public – because he actually wants to.
  • Treats all women with respect and would rather die than abuse one.
  • Knows his family is more important than his career.

Forget the U.N., foreign countries, foundations, and presidential libraries. A real father is defined by commitment, consistency, faithfulness, compassion, strength, leadership, and sacrifice.

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” – Ephesians 5:25

“Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.” – Colossians 3:19

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” – 1 Peter 3:7 NIV

And then there’s this guy. He had his daughter pose half-naked to sell a car on Ebay. At least Bill taught Chelsea to keep her clothes on in public. Good grief!

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Filed under America, current events, Defending Traditional Marriage, Life Lessons, politics, Uncategorized

Year-End Wisdom from the School Bus

Life Lessons

If you are new to my blog, besides trying to pastor a church, parent children, and perturb a wife, I drive a school bus. It’s what I do to help pay the bills and increase my presence in the community.

photo (41)A while back I wrote a series of posts called “Life Lessons from the School Bus.” I haven’t done any in a while, however. So, since school is now out for Christmas vacation, I thought it would be a good time to catch up.

Below are three, short examples of truth gleaned from inside the “yellow box” on wheels. If you like these, you should go read some of my older posts. You won’t be disappointed.

“Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.” – Proverbs 3:13-15 NKJV

The Roundabout

Europe came to Chattanooga a few years ago in the form of roundabouts. They are only in a few places, but people are getting used to them, especially the NASCAR fans – they love driving in circles.

Anyway, last week I came to a roundabout in my bus. About a quarter of the way through, a girl in a little car came from the street to my right and pulled directly in front of me, causing me to slam on my brakes. “Oops!” was the look that came across her face. “Idiot!” must have been the look on mine.

Life Lesson? Are school buses invisible? No, and neither are many of the tragedies that run over people every day. People get so distracted with life that they never see the things approaching which could take life from them.

Losing Marbles

There’s this one little girl on my bus that cries over the least little things, like when she doesn’t get her way. One time she was crying about how everybody hated her. Then, just as she was stepping off the bus, another little boy looked back at her and said, “Nobody hates you, [name]; we just don’t like you.”

Well, that afternoon, when the elementary kids were getting on the bus to go home, this little girl got on first and sat on the front row. “Would you like a marble, Mr. Baker?” she asked. “No,” I said, “I have plenty.” “What kind do you have?” she asked. “The round kind,” I replied.

Then, as every child getting on the bus walked past her she would say, “Would you like a marble? You can have it for keeps. Everyone! Get your free marble, if you want one!

I asked, “What are you doing? Why are you giving away your marbles?” She said, “Because I am going to make them like me.

Life Lesson? Believe it or not, many adults do the same thing. They treat others poorly, then try to buy their friendship with shiny trinkets. Sadly, when all is said and done, the marbles just end up on the floor when the “friends” leave.

Puke Breeds Puke

It’s the last thing a bus driver wants to deal with, but puke happens.

Recently a driver in our area suffered a puking “perfect storm.” One child on his bus got sick and orally relieved himself, which started a chain reaction. I’ll never forget the driver’s words over the two-way radio, “It’s everywhere…all over…the bus is covered.”

You see, there is an irrefutable law on school buses: puke runs downhill (or down isles). So, when one kid started throwing up, six or seven others followed his example, leaving the bus to be washed out with a water hose.

Life lesson? Watch your mouth – and what you spew out of it. The way you talk will influence others. Bad attitudes breed more bad attitudes, and what you end up with is a nasty mess.

 Want to be a school bus driver? Doesn’t pay a lot, but the lessons learned are worth a fortune!

 

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Filed under America, Christian Maturity, General Observations, Uncategorized, wisdom

A Night at Rock City

What does this video have to do with a recovering legalist? You will actually see me dancing! Really!

If you have never been to Rock City, then you need to go. But if you have never been to Rock City at night when it has been lit up for Christmas, then you are missing a treat.

This week Katie sang with her home school chorus at Rock City, so we went to watch and listen. However, one can only listen to so much Christmas music when there are elves begging to be talked to.

Rock City is on Lookout Mountain, which is in Chattanooga. However, Rock City is actually on the Georgia part of Lookout Mountain, just for your information.

And for the record, I never found my missing glove.

See Rock City

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Filed under America, Christmas, Homeschool, places, Relationships and Family

A Christmas Wish

Lists

Christmas wish lists can be really amusing. Recently a mother of a needy family gave me a list of requested items for her children. I was told that the children would be happy with anything. Really? Would her children be happy with chalk, a box of Crayons, a wooden train, and a slinky? What about a stick?

Today’s children are more spoiled today than ever before. Not only do they want the newest toys and gadgets, but the toys and gadgets they want are more advanced than anything Captain Kirk used.

Wishes

And then there are the wishes that people make around Christmas time. Some people wish for world peace. Others wish for Michael Jackson to return from the dead to do a benefit concert for world hunger.

Teenage girls have the most annoying wish lists. They usually involve a prepubescent rock star who thinks he’s tough taking them on an exotic date to an awards show at Nickelodeon. If not that, then it’s sparkly vampires carrying them off into a never-ending twilight. Gag me with a spoon.

My Wish

So what’s my wish? My wish is that things would just go back to the way they were when this picture was taken.

Other than for the goofy safety glasses, I looked pretty cool!

Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s I worked for a company that serviced nuclear facilities. My job involved flying on commercial aircraft all over the country. And whenever I flew on a new or different airliner, I asked to take a picture of the cockpit.

Here, the pilot actually told me to sit in his seat and wear his hat while he took the picture. What’s even more incredible is that while I was sitting there the engines were still running. He told me to put my hand on the throttles while the engines were still running!

Can you even imagine this happening today? Not hardly. That’s why I wish we could go back to an earlier, more trusting day and age; long before 9/11 and the jerks that ruined everything.

My Hope

Well, even though things may never be the same again, there will come a day when peace will fill the land. There will come a day when men’s swords are beaten into plows. But that day will only come when the Prince of Peace assumes the throne.

When He came before, He came as a humble baby.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6

 The next time He comes, things will be a little different.

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:” – Luke 1:32

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” – Matthew 16:26-27

 What a Christmas that would be!

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Thanking and the Thankee

I’m Thankful For…

So many people will be celebrating today (Thanksgiving) by starting off sentences with the words, “I’m thankful for…” Traditionalists will say it before carving a turkey. Vegans will say it before carving a large piece of vegetable protein disguised as something they secretly wish they could eat. Children will even say it just to please their grandparents and to be assured an extra scoop of Cool Whip on their pumpkin pie.

But one thing’s for sure, being thankful implies the influence of an outside source and suggests things could have been different, despite a person’s will. And even though it might sound crazy, being thankful suggests there is someone to be thankful to.

Thankful to Whom?

Maybe you have never stopped to think about it, but being thankful for anything is pretty ridiculous when there is no one to be thankful to. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary* defines “thanks” as  a “plural noun…an expression of gratitude…another way of saying THANK YOU.” So, who is the “YOU” that you are thankful to?

According to many of the stories I have heard, especially in public schools, the original celebrants of Thanksgiving were thankful only to the Indians (Native Americans). According to many accounts, the Pilgrims were so happy that the Indians provided them with food and land that a party was necessary. So, in other words, the first “thanks” of Thanksgiving was given to Squanto and the Wampanoag people.

That’s not totally correct.

Thankful to God

Like those who celebrated in 1623, I am thankful to God. Unlike the common history lessons, the Pilgrims recognized the true Source of blessing.

“Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience.

‎ Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.”

‎—William Bradford, Ye Governor of Ye Colony

If I am going to be thankful, I am going to be thankful to the “great Father…who has granted us freedom to worship [Him] according to the dictates of our own conscience.” As a pastor, I will lead my congregants in praise to the “Almighty God for all His blessings.

What am I thankful for?

I am most thankful for those things which I could not have had if it were not for the grace of God. Among those things are mercy and forgiveness; a family; a peace that passes all understanding; joy unspeakable and full of glory; and even a love for my enemies.

I am also thankful for and to those who serve this great nation, putting their lives at risk for my (and others’) freedom.

I am thankful for and to those who enforce the laws and keep the peace here at home, and for those who brave dangers to rescue us from harm.

“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” – Psalm 107:1

And ultimately, I am thankful for all the blessings which I do not deserve, including all of you who read this blog, even those who do not believe a word of what I am saying.

One More Thing

One more thing…being that I have some Cherokee blood in me, I understand that Thanksgiving may not be a Native American’s favorite holiday, but the principle of thanksgiving remains. When we give thanks, whom do we give thanks to?

“All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.” – Psalm 86:9 

“O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.” – Psalm 117:1 

“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;” – Revelation 7:9 

One day, when all is said and done, we will all stand before God and give thanks, for He is the God of us all, despite what we have done to each other.

*Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).

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Filed under America, Christian Living, Culture Wars, Faith, God, Thanksgiving, worship

Reverse-Racism and Legalism

Have You Heard?

Unless you live under a rock or play video games all day while your mom does your laundry and pays your bills, you are probably aware that there was an election held in the United States. And unless you are so “spiritual” that you could care less who leads the nation in which you live, you are probably aware that Barack Obama was elected to a second term.

That being said, I thought I would share with you what happened on Wednesday morning, the day after the election.

Elementary Conclusions

If you do not already know, I drive a school bus in the mornings and afternoons to supplement my income as a bi-vocational pastor. The students I transport range in age from 5 to 18.

On Wednesday morning, after transporting the older students to school, I stopped to pick up my first elementary students. At 7:41 a.m. the first three, two girls and one boy, got on the bus

As happened earlier in the morning with the middle and high school students, chants of “Obama won! Obama won!” rang out and echoed within the aluminum walls of my bus. It was like both young and old went to the same victory rally. Then, a sweet, little girl (I won’t mention her name) came up behind me as I was driving and excitedly asked,

“Did you know Obama won?”

“Yes, I know.”

“Who did you vote for, Mr. Baker?”

“I voted for Mr. Romney.”

“Ewwww! Boooooo! Why did you vote for Romney?”

“Why do you think I voted for Mitt Romney?” I asked.

“Because he was too white, that’s why.”

How insulting! She thought (assumed) that I voted for Romney because he looked like me.  Why would she think that? Whatever she believed is what she was taught at home. Whatever she thought of me was based on what she was told about all white people. What was I supposed to say?

I spoke the truth. “[Little girl],” I said, “that was a very racist statement.”

Alive and Well

Sadly, after all the progress that has been made in this great nation, racism is still alive and well, but not in the form people want to admit. Reverse-racism is just as much racism as any other kind, but few recognize it, and fewer condemn it.

Wednesday morning I was essentially labeled a bigot because I voted for a candidate that was the same race as me. If that was true, then what does it say about those of a different color who voted for the candidate that looked like them? Are they bigots, too?

Believe it or not, legalism and this story have a lot in common. Legalism assumes the thoughts and intentions of another based on outward appearances and man-made teachings. Reverse-racism, at least in my case, assumed my intentions because of my skin color. Now, what was it that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said?

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.…[1]

Legalism ignores the “content of one’s character” as long as outward appearances don’t match a pre-determined template for holiness, while reverse-racism disqualifies legitimate concern and silences those who would speak out.

Both legalism and reverse-racism tend to cause people to act out of fear, rather than conviction. Both steal a person’s God-given freedom to think.

Both are wrong.


[1] William J. Federer, Great Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Quotations Influencing Early and Modern World History Referenced According to Their Sources in Literature, Memoirs, Letters, Governmental Documents, Speeches, Charters, Court Decisions and Constitutions (St. Louis, MO: AmeriSearch, 2001).

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