He Touched Me - My Pilgrimage of Prayer

Greetings All,

     After sending out my "thought"  last week from John Powell's book, "He Touched Me - My Pilgrimage of Prayer,"  and receiving the positive response I got back as a result, I thought I would send out one more from the same book.  This selection has to do with honest "self-disclosure" with God in our times of prayer.  I have found what he says to be true to my own experience and have recommended it to others. Therefore, I also commend it to you.  Enjoy. 

     "I hear Jesus say, "Without me you can do nothing. You can bear no fruit. I am the Vine and you are the branches. Cut off from me you are dead."  I hear St. John say that only he who knows God can know the meaning of love.  I hear St. Paul describe love as the highest and greatest gift of the Spirit.  Wherever I have found love I have felt the presence of God; God at work in the minds and hearts and muscles of people.

     My experience of God has been working this transformation in me, too. Oh, I am still a very selfish person. God is not finished with me yet. Others may not think of me as a very effective lover, but they do not know the before and after; they cannot read the motives of the heart. The process of divinization, in which God makes us more and more into his image and likeness, is a slow and gradual process.  I am still a pilgrim.  But I have been touched and I am partially transformed. This is the basis of my hope. The God who has touched me in the past will act again and again in my life. Over and over again I will feel his finger and find him.

     Where has all this led me? Where has God, through all this, been leading me? I now understand and approach prayer as communication in a relationship of love, a speaking and listening in truth and in trust. Speaking to God honestly is the beginning of prayer.  It locates a person before God.  I believe that the primary "giving" of love is the giving of one's self through self-disclosure. Without such self-disclosure there is not real giving, for it is only in that moment when we are willing to put our true selves on the line, to be taken for better or for worse, to be accepted or rejected, that true interpersonal encounter begins.  We do not begin to offer ourselves to others until we offer ourselves in this way, for love demands presence, not presents. All my "gifts" (presents) are a mere motion until I have given my true self (presence) in honest self-revelation.

     As in all interpersonal relationships, so in the relationship with God. I do not put myself into his hands or confront his freedom of choice to accept or reject me, to love or loathe me, until I have told him who I really am. Only then can I ask him: Will you have me?  Will you let me be yours? Will you be mine? Martin Luther's first law of success in prayer was: "Don't lie to God!"  In speaking to God in the dialogue of prayer, we must reveal our true and naked selves. We must tell him the truth of our thoughts, desires, and feelings, whatever they may be.  They may not be what I would like them to be, but they are not right or wrong, true or false. They are me.

     I am sure that this has benefited me in many other ways, but certainly it has enabled to speak more honestly to my God. It has freed me from the lie of those prefabricated pious cliches that are death to true conversational prayer.  I have told him where I really live -- in belief and unbelief. I have told him of my weariness in answering his call.  Of the emotional resentment I feel at being a public utility, a servant to be used and taken for granted. I have ventilated all my neurotic, throbbing emotions... I have been like Job of the Old Testament, cursing the day he made me, and like the prophet Jeremiah, accusing God of making not a prophet, but a fool of me. I have been a King David singing of his mercy and forgiveness, which I have always needed along the way of my pilgrimage.

     There is something so healing about "letting it all out" with God. The psychiatrist Karl Jung defined neurosis in terms of an inner cleavage, a war within, the existence of fraction-hood or inward division. With Paul we all know that there is, "another law warring in my members."  The real problem is confronted when we come to the question of our willingness to accept ourselves in this human condition of weakness. Will we be comfortable as a fraction, a creature of ambiguity whose evil is always mixed somehow with good and whose good is always somehow tainted with evil?

     I am sure that my comfort in this human condition depends for me on whether God will accept me this way or not.  I am worth only what I am worth in his eyes.  All the rest is charade. So, I have to put myself on the line the way I am. Charades with God is wasted time. I have to place myself in the posture of trusting his greatness and understanding. This is the essential beginning of prayer."

     Self-disclosure with God requires two things:

     1st) It requires the assurance we will not be rejected for what we share. That is, we need to be assured of the Gospel doctrine of justification; that our acceptance is secured through another on our behalf. That God accepts us fully for Jesus sake, through faith in Him.  Or to put it in theological terms, we must believe the message of the Gospel -- that our justification is not dependent upon our sanctification or performance, but just the opposite!  If we do not believe this, then complete honesty with God and others is nearly impossible.

     2nd) To be searingly honest with God I must believe the biblical declaration that the God  who loves and accepts me in Jesus is all-knowing (Psalm 139:1-4). We must believe that there is nothing hidden from Him, not even the secret things we alone know about ourselves (Ecclesiastes 12:14).  If we think we can hide something from God, we will.  It's not until we know He knows all that we are, that we are  freed to share what we truly feel and struggle with - that mishmash of conflicting desires and compulsions Paul speaks of in Romans 7.  In fact, believing that God knows all, even the secret things, makes anything but complete openness and honesty and transparency and truthfulness with God seem so utterly childish and foolish -- like the child who naively thinks he's not fully exposed to the sight of others simply because he covers his own eyes with his hands! 

     God's omniscience actually beckons me to be completely truthful with him, because it assures me he already knows everything I'm thinking, feeling, and even repressing.  It helps me realize that in prayer he simply wants to hear me tell him what he already knows about me!  It's part of healing that neurotic cleavage and fraction-hood and bringing me (and you) to wholeness. And Powell is right, it does open the door to become the true beginning of real prayer.  Then honest communication replaces the pious cliches we often use to mask the truth of who we are and experience God loving even the darkest parts of us.

In the Bonds of the Transforming Truth of the Gospel,  Pastor Jeff

Few Bearers of His Cross

Greetings Friends,

     Today's "thought" comes to you from the Christian devotional classic, "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a' Kempis (1380-1471).  His name means "Thomas of (or from) Kempen" - a small town in eastern Germany, just a few miles from the border of Holland. His God-given gifts which come through to us in his writing consist in his wisdom, keen insight into human nature, and ability to say a lot in very few words (a gift I missed out on)!

     In terms of personal transformation he taught: "The acknowledgment of our weakness is the first step in repairing our loss."   In terms of spiritual leadership he stressed: The loftier the building, the deeper the foundation must be laid."  In terms of the self he said as we all can: Who has a harder fight than he who is striving to overcome himself."  And in terms of Jesus words in John 14:7 he assured us: "Without the Way, there is no going, Without the Truth, there is no knowing, Without the Life, there is no living."   This selection is entitled"Few Bearers of His Cross."  Enjoy.

     "Jesus now has many lovers of the heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His Cross. He has many who desire consolation, but few who desire tribulation. He finds many companions at His table, but few of His abstinence. All desire to rejoice with Him, but few are willing to endure anything for Him, or with Him.

     Many follow Jesus unto the breaking of bread, but few unto the drinking of the cup of His sufferings. Many reverence His miracles, but few follow the shame or disgrace of His Cross. Many love Jesus so long as no adversities befall them.  Many praise and bless Him so long as they receive consolations from Him.  But if Jesus hide (the sense of His presence) and leave them but a little while, they turn to complaining or into much dejection of mind.

     But they who love Jesus for the sake of Jesus, and not for some special comfort they can receive from Him, bless Him in all tribulations and anguish of heart as well as in the state of highest comfort.  Even if He was never willing to give them comfort, they would, even then, praise Him and wish to be always giving thanks. 

     O how powerful is the pure love of Jesus, which is mixed with no self-interest or self-love!  Are not all those to be called mercenary who are ever seeking consolations? Do they not show themselves to be rather lovers of themselves than of Christ, who are always and only thinking of their own profit and advantage?  Where shall one be found who is willing to serve God for nothing?" 

     Now, here, I do need to confess I am one who enjoys and cherishes the comforts and consolations of Jesus when they come.  I believe we all do.  Even Mr. A'Kempis did, as he confessed elsewhere.  That's not really his point. His point is that if that's all we seek; if we only seek, love, praise, and thank Jesus when we are receiving those things, and we cease doing so, or walk away in bitter anger and disillusionment when the opposite comes (whether it be for a short or extended time) we must question what we are seeking, who we are loving, why we are praising, and why difficulties would make us stop giving Him thanks.

     If we love Jesus only when the blessings are flowing, and not when the struggles come; if we cherish and adore Him only for what He gives, and not for the sake of who He is (the Lamb worthy of all glory and honor and power - Revelation 4:6-5:14) we must truly question if it's Jesus that we love.  If a child only "loves" his father when his father was giving him gifts, and is indifferent or does nothing but complain when he withholds those gifts, what would it say about the object of that child's "love"? 

     You see, a pure love for Jesus mixed with "NO self-interest or self-love"  may be an ideal that we can never fully achieve so long as the principle of sin still clings to us in this life. Yet, that ideal can be placed before us, and should be placed before us (as a'Kempis does here), to serve as a means of grace which helps us move away from the all too common tendency to love so conditionally the Lord who loves His children so unconditionally. Only you can know the reaction a'Kempis' words caused inside you, but I must confess they lead me to say, "Sorry Lord, please change my heart." 

Thankful for His Grace, Pastor Jeff

Dear Christian Man, Why Are You So Lonely?

Greetings All!

     This week's "thought" comes to you from Nick DeCola & Ross McCall, and was taken from their blog site "Cru."   It's about men needing male friendship -- what is necessary for that to happen, and what prevents that from happening. And you don't have to be a man to benefit from what is said here!   You may be a wife, brother, sister, child, or teenager soon to be heading into manhood. Or you may have a son, husband or friend who looks down, or feels lonely, and needs male friendships to help him grow,  become more connected, and find more joy and purpose through meaningful relationships with other godly or Christian men. If so, this article is worth a read.  Enjoy.

Dear Christian Man, Why Are You So Lonely?

     Enter the search terms “loneliness” and “men” into Google and notice many options it gives you. Millions. Major media outlets including the Boston Globe, New York Times and Huffington Post have all published studies on the phenomenon of male loneliness and its potential to become a health crisis…  So, what is coming between Christian men and the sense of brotherhood they long for?

Vulnerability scares men more than skydiving.

     Men are the masters of saying a lot without giving much away.  Many men want great friendships without any risk factor. Sharing an area of struggle or telling someone that you want to get to know them better feels risky. It is risky.  People can misunderstand us, judge us or otherwise disappoint us. If we’re honest, we’ve all known some form of rejection in our lives and we’d prefer to avoid that in our future. But the ability to be our authentic selves, our good, bad and ugly selves, is impossible without vulnerability.  Too many men’s events are full of talk about how we can be warriors for God while ignoring the realities of men who are losing their battles. Our common enemy loves to see an isolated Christian, and many are hiding in the corners of our gatherings or choosing not to come.  If this is you, you’re not alone. If you’re unsure who you can be real with, ask God to point you in the right direction.

Men don’t see each other in 3D.

     If you only see friends once a week for a Bible study, are you doing life together or checking boxes? Information alone doesn’t change our beliefs or lead to transformation. Biblical truth experienced through meaningful relationship is a recipe for life change.  Snake hunting in the Everglades. Eleven hours binge-watching HBO’s “Band of Brothers” in camouflage clothing. Monday night football. Coffee and acoustic music… Do something together with no obvious spiritual value. Having fun is a spiritual activity because it lowers the defenses we often put up in small group settings and allows people to see another side of us.  Far too often we paddle in shallow honesty while craving the deeper waters of transparency and vulnerability.

     Accountability is a popular term among Christian men. If we say it enough times each week we must be doing something right – right?  The danger is that we fall into the trap of attending a weekly men’s group and confessing the same thing without committing to whatever it takes to change. It’s not authentic because it lacks the courage to look at what’s driving our behavior…  Are you willing to let others ask you questions you don’t want to answer?  Are you willing to ask someone those questions?  You might have to put your superficial friendship on the line to reach for something better, but if nothing changes, nothing changes.

Men search in vain for the “right” small group.

     Men’s groups and events abound. We often look for the perfect group based on our stage in life and our first impressions of other people in the group. But this presents two problems. We won’t feel safe with people until we’ve been through something with them. And once the perfect group includes someone as imperfect as you, it’s days are numbered. Deeper friendships take more time than we’re used to giving anything these days. They also involve working through conflict, which we try to avoid at all costs.

Men have lost the art of living for others. 

     The paralytic in Mark 2 could never have had an audience with Jesus without his four friends tearing a hole in the roof and lowering him down.  They went the extra mile.  Do you ever feel paralyzed in your life as a Christian man?  Do you know others who fit that description?  What lengths will you go to for each other?  It might be taking calls in the middle of the night, or offering to have your friend live with you while they work through something. It might be something much simpler. What’s certain is that you’ll need to do more than “like” your friend’s Facebook posts, but so will they. This pursuit of deeper relationships is how you really want to live because it’s how you were designed to live.

Men cannot become their truest selves alone.

     Many of us have had mixed experiences with male role models growing up, but if we choose to avoid pursuing male friendships we stand no chance of healing old hurts. Those open wounds will wait patiently for the chance to hit you with a sucker punch.

     At one point in my early 20's a former girlfriend nicknamed me "Desperado" after the man spoken of in the song by that name. You know, the one "out mending fences for so long" who needed to "let somebody love [him]."  I assume it was because I wouldn't let anyone get too close to me.  Of course, the rugged, independent, individualist male image isn't as prevalent in society as it used to be (John Wayne and the Marlboro Man are known to very few today), but a degree of the image still lingers in the background of the male psyche to urge men to go it alone or think they really don't need deep male friendships.

     I was once one of those men. But I've gone through enough to realize it's not healthy, nor was it ever God's intended purpose that men isolate themselves and try to go it alone. In fact, that can be as bad as friendships with men who are bad influences. It can often get us into trouble and leave us with much pent-up stuff brewing inside.  Jesus established deep relationships with the inner three (Peter, James, and John) and very solid relationships with the other nine.  And though they had their moments of disagreement and relational friction, other than Judas they were there for each other and had each other's back. Even when Jesus sent the disciples out it was never alone -- but "two by two."  We would do well to heed His method and example!

In the Bonds of Christian Fellowship, Pastor Jeff 

20 Quotes on Prayer

Greetings All, 

     This weeks "thought" consists of 20 different quotes regarding prayer.  I set them before you because next to reading your Bible, there is surely nothing that could do you more spiritual good than prayer. They are not set before you to see which you consider better, but to encourage you to pray!  Those who first discipled me encouraged me to set aside a focused time to pray at the start of the day and again at the close of the day, with continual spontaneous prayer being offered throughout the day.  And in many ways I found that easy, being converted in the days before smart phones and computers were the rage, and social media filled all of our "empty time" with constant updates, likes, pictures, posts and sometimes needless time-wasting distractions.

     Some of that is good and helpful, but much is very trivial and infringes on time that could be spent in much more meaningful, transforming and beneficial activities. In fact, for many, the vital experience with God in prayer (be it morning, evening or in between) has taken a back seat to social media sites. Many of us now wake in the morning, or end the day, by running to our devices -- be it the smart phone or the computer. Thus, if I could do anything (even in the life of one person) to change that, and encourage you to spend that time in invaluable fellowship with God in prayer, it would be worth all the time of gathering these quotes from well-known pray-ers.

     If there is any habit of the heart that believers need to rekindle, it's prayer. Try it for a day.  Choose fellowship in prayer with your greatest Friend, over scrolling through endless the posts of other friends.  For as F. B. Meyers once rightly stated: “The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”   May some of these insights help sway you to offer more time with God in prayer. Enjoy.

20 Thoughts on Prayer

"Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays."   Soren Kierkegaard

"Prayer makes a man godly, and puts within him the mind of Christ, the mind of humility, of self-surrender, of service, of compassion, and of prayer.  If we really pray, we will become more like God, or else we will quit praying."    E.M. Bounds

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"  Corrie ten Boom

"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."   Martin Luther

“Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work.”  Oswald Chambers

"Rather than set aside daily time for prayer, I pray constantly and spontaneously about everything I encounter on a daily basis. When someone shares something with me, I'll often simply say, 'Let's pray about this right now.'"  Thomas Kinkade

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day."  Abraham Lincoln

"To get nations back on their feet, we must first get down on our knees."  Billy Graham

“Time spent in prayer is never wasted.”   Francis Fenelon

“Fervent prayers produce phenomenal results.”   Woodrow Kroll

“Prayer delights God’s ear; it melts His heart; and opens His hand. God cannot deny a praying soul.”  Thomas Watson

 “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”   Jesus the Christ 

“Prayer is the nearest approach to God and the highest enjoyment of Him that we are capable of in this life.”   William Law

“The right way to pray is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of a Father.”   Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The best and sweetest flowers of paradise God gives to His people when they are upon their knees. Prayer is the gate of heaven.”   Thomas Brooks

“O, let the place of secret prayer become to me the most beloved spot on earth.”   Andrew Murray

“When the devil sees a man or woman who really believes in prayer, who knows how to pray, and who really does pray, and, above all, when he sees a whole church on its face before God in prayer, he trembles as much as he ever did, for he knows that his day in that church or community is at an end.”   R. A. Torrey

“When I pray, “coincidences” happen, and when I don’t, they don’t.”   William Temple

“There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him.”  William Law

“The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”   F. B. Meyer

     The blessing of prayer in one's life is hard to calculate.  Yet I believe that some day God will reveal the blessings we forfeited, and the life-transforming benefits we turned away, by the times we ignored it; and  in the opposite sense, show us the wonderful things we would never have experienced had it not been for the prayers that we, or others, prayed on our behalf.

In the Bonds of the Gospel, Pastor Jeff

Solitude is the furnace of transformation

Greetings All,

     Today's "thought" is about the need for times of solitude in our lives. In our busy society, where our schedules tend to dictate nearly every moment, it becomes difficult to carve out times for solitude. Yet (and I do know I speak as an introvert) they are necessary for our spiritual formation.
     I once worked in a wilderness program up in Northern Canada dealing with inner city Chicago teens. It was rugged. One of the exercises was to drop the teens off on a small deserted Island in the middle of a huge lake, for three days, with very minimal supplies. They would need to build their own shelter, find their own food, etc.  I would check in on the boys daily (morning and evening). After they had gone the entire three days, I returned by canoe to pick up each teen. Most did well, but one boy in particular simply could not bear the three days of silence, alone time, and the complete lack of the things he normally used to distract himself from himself and the thoughts that would run through his head. What the author calls, the "confusing ideas, disturbing images, wild fantasies, and weird associations that jump about in one's mind like monkeys in banana tree," when we enter into solitude.  Normally he was able to block them out with music, activities, conversations, and such, but not this time.

     This thought comes to you from a book I have looked back to often since purchasing it in seminary way back in 1982.  It's called, "The Way of the Heart" by Henri Nouwen.  In a society that places very little value on the traditions of Christian contemplation, Christ-focused meditation, or purposefully prolonged times of prayerful solitude, his words act as a good counter-balance.  He shares some of the benefits of such disciplines, so I won't.  Yet I must say that when I have set aside such times, I have benefited greatly from them.  One seven day long stint in the Dominican Republic (combined with fasting) helped guide me into my future calling, and another seven day stint (with the support of my very gracious wife Nancy who realized my need to get away and be with God) saved me from leaving the pastorate back in 1992.  Enjoy.

The Furnace of Transformation

     "Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self. Jesus himself entered into this furnace in the wilderness. There he was tempted with the three compulsions of the world: to be relevant (“turn stones into loaves”), to be spectacular (“throw yourself down”), and to be powerful (” I will give you all these kingdoms”). There he affirmed God as the only source of his identity (“You must worship the Lord your God and serve him alone”). Solitude is the place of the great struggle and the great encounter – the struggle against the compulsions of the false self, and the encounter with the loving God who offers himself as the substance of the new self.

     This might sound rather forbidding. It might even evoke images of medieval ascetical pursuits from which Luther and Calvin have happily saved us. But once we have given these fantasies their due and let them wander off, we will see that we are dealing here with that holy place where ministry and spirituality embrace each other. It is the place called solitude... We say to each other that we need some solitude in our lives. What we really are thinking of, however, is a time and a place for ourselves in which we are not bothered by other people, can think our own thoughts, express our own complaints, and do our own thing, whatever it may be. For us, solitude most often means privacy… In short, we think of solitude as a place where we gather new strength to continue the ongoing competition in life… [Yet] solitude is not a private therapeutic place. Rather, it is the place of conversion, the place where the old self dies and the new self is born, the place where the emergence of the new man and the new woman occurs…

     In solitude I get rid of my scaffolding. I have no friends to talk with, no telephone calls to make, no meetings to attend, no music to entertain, no books to distract, just me – naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken – nothing. It is this nothingness that I have to face in my solitude, a nothingness so dreadful that everything in me wants to run to my friends, my work, and my distractions, so that I can forget my nothingness and make myself believe that I am worth something. But that is not all. As soon as I decide to stay in my solitude, confusing ideas, disturbing images, wild fantasies, and weird associations jump about in my mind like monkeys in banana tree. Anger and greed begin to show their ugly faces. I give long and hostile speeches to my enemies and dream lustful dreams in which I am wealthy, influential, and very attractive – or poor, ugly, and in need of immediate consolation. Thus, I try again to run from the dark abyss of my nothingness and restore my false self in all its vainglory.

     [Yet] the task is to persevere in my solitude, to stay in my cell until all my seductive visitors get tired of pounding on my door and leave me alone… The struggle is real because the danger is real. It is the danger of living the whole of our life as one long defense against the reality of our condition, one restless effort to convince ourselves of our virtuousness. Yet Jesus “did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). That is the struggle. It is the struggle to die to the false self. But this struggle is far, far beyond our own strength. Anyone who wants to fight his demons with his own weapons is a fool. The wisdom of the desert fathers is that the confrontation with our own frightening nothingness forces us to surrender ourselves totally and unconditionally to the Lord Jesus Christ. Alone, we cannot face “the mystery of iniquity” with impunity. Only Christ can overcome the powers of evil. Only in and through him can we survive the trials of our solitude… Only in the context of the great encounter with Jesus Christ himself can a real authentic struggle take place…

     We enter into solitude first of all to meet our Lord and to be with him and him alone. Our primary task in solitude, therefore, is not to pay undue attention to the many faces which assail us, but to keep the eyes of our mind and heart on him who is our divine Savior. Only in the context of grace can we face our sin; only in the place of healing do we dare to show our wounds; only with a single-minded attention to Christ can we give up our clinging fears and face our own true nature. As we come to realize that it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us, that he is our true self, we can slowly let our compulsions melt away and begin to experience the freedom of the children of God."

     As with all things we read, merely being brought to think of the things spoken of is not enough. One benefits most by putting such suggestions into practice. As with the Word of God, it is the doers who receive the greatest benefit. I can believe with all my heart that exercise is good for the body, but if I don't get out and actually do it, it benefits me little.  Will you do a half day?  A day?  A few days? No phone, no Facebook, not Twitter, no texts, no movies, no magazines... just you and God alone in a forced time of solitude. There are few I've spoken with who have done it, who have not testified to the benefit of the time spent having to confront their compulsions, needs, insecurities, brokenness, and nothingness. For in confronting their own insignificance, they (like myself) have found it reinforces their dependence upon God and can bring us face to face with Jesus.

     With prayers that you will seriously consider this lost Christian discipline and schedule forced times of solitude,  Pastor Jeff

What Jonathan Edwards Can Teach Us About Politics - Part 2

Greetings All,

As promised last week, this week's thought contains Jonathan's Edwards last three thoughts on the Christian's involvement in political things.
     Once again, it is taken from the article by Gerald R. McDermott entitled, "What Jonathan Edwards Can Teach Us About Politics."
     Hopefully you have been introduced to Jonathan Edwards (as he was one of the godliest and greatest thinkers to pass through the American scene).   Some of his writings are hard to follow (as those who have read, "The Nature of True Virtue," or "The Freedom of the Will" can testify).  Yet they are well-worth the time if you want some intellectually and spiritually challenging reading for your summer vacation!  With that being said, here are the last three of Edwards' six points on "public theology."   (To refresh your memory of the first three see last week's post at - www.thoughtfortheweek-jeff.blogspot.com )  Enjoy!

     "4.) Christians should remember that politics is relatively unimportant in the long run.  The key moments of history, Edwards taught, are not important elections or decisive wars, but spiritual awakenings. Therefore, the most important thing Christians can do for the good of their country is to pray for revival. Spiritual transformation brings more positive change to the world than political or social revolution.  From God's perspective, "one true Christian, however humble his birth and low his standing; however poor or ignorant or unknown (is more valuable than) many great men of the world, kings and princes, men of great power and policy... that are honored and make a great figure... [but] are wicked men and reprobates." God delights to "choose the foolish things of the world to confound the mighty... and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are" ((I Corinthians 1:27-28). For this reason Edwards did not hesitate to use a four-year-old girl's piety to recommend revival in a public treatise published in an era when children's and women's testimonies were widely considered unreliable. 

     5.) Christians should beware of national pride (or patriotism).  Edwards commended patriotism as a natural and loving response to the needs of one's nation. But, in words reminiscent of Samuel Johnson's remark that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, Edwards warned that patriotism often serves self-interest.  It is particularly susceptible to self-deception, he argued, because its loyalties extend to a large number of people, making such loyalties appear altruistic. Look at the Romans, he suggested; they considered love for country to be the highest of all virtues, yet they employed their patriotism "for the destruction [subjugation] of the rest of mankind."  Edwards would be very wary of contemporary calls to regard America as a Christian nation needing to return to its lost Christian roots. No nation has ever been Christian, he insisted. There has never been a country where the majority of citizens were born-again or even regular church goers [Edwards even testifies that at the height of the revival only 25% of Nothhampton were true believers, with about the same colony-wide].  Most citizens of so-called Christian countries are not regenerate, and even the regenerate have an abundance of sin. No people has ever been righteous, least of all the colonial New England to which he preached. Edwards condemned eighteenth-century New England for it's religious hypocrisy, social strife, lack of compassion for the poor, and exploitation of the Native Americans.

     Edwards would also be critical of those who assume that America's future must be bright because God has favored her with so many blessings. This Northhampton (Massachusetts) prophet acknowledged that New England had been the recipient of unprecedented blessings, both spiritual and political. But, in a move missed by nearly all Edwards scholars, he said that such blessings could be a sign of impending judgment.  It is a familiar pattern in [biblical] history, he observed, for God to pour out spiritual revival just before He unleashes terrible judgement. Revival came to the Jews in Jesus' time, just 40 years before Jerusalem was brutally destroyed. God dealt similarly with Israel's ten lost tribes, the churches of North Africa and the Middle East after the rise of Islam, and the Protestant churches in France after the Reformation. Therefore, Edwards warned that it is foolish for a people to think its religious and political freedoms will guarantee a happy future. If a society is morally and spiritually corrupt, it will collapse despite having wonderful freedoms. Edwards repeated this warning to colonial New England during the French and Indians Wars.

     6.) Christians should care for the poor. Edwards was sharply critical of those churchgoers who, "pretend a great love to men's souls [but] are not compassionate and charitable towards their bodies."  When Boston's liberal preachers Charles Chauncey and Jonathan Mayhew were preaching that the poor were undeserving and their poverty was their own fault, Edwards told his congregation they should not be content until poverty was eliminated from their community.  It was not unusual for Puritan preachers to teach charity to the poor.  But Edwards was unusually fearless when confronting those he considered negligent. When Northhampton built a new church building that placed the poor in the worst seats, Edwards boldly declared that those with the best seats may have no seats at all in heaven.  He charged those who gave only their [unwanted things, or their worthless things to] the poor with lying to God, like Ananias and Sapphira, who God struck dead for their dishonesty (Acts 5:1-11).  In the 1740's Edwards established a deacon's fund specially for the poor and regularly called on wealthier Christians to make "frequent and liberal (generous)" contributions.

     Edwards taught that charity to the poor is at the heart of biblical theology.  Preaching from Matthew 25, he said that God is present in the poor, whom he constitutes as the "receivers."  Since we cannot express our love to God by doing anything to profit him, God wants us to do something profitable for our poor neighbors, whom he delegated with the task of receiving Christian love...  Edwards supported a state welfare program.  Since all human beings, even true Christians are naturally selfish, he contended, private -- even church -- charity is unreliable.  Hence, government shows it's "wisdom" when it administers a welfare program to assist the deserving poor.  Those who are poor because of laziness, or prodigality, however, do not merit such assistance.  Biographer Samuel Hopkins, who lived in Edwards home for six months, said Edwards himself was a stellar example of giving to the poor but usually gave secretly. One time, for example, Edwards heard of a family in another town that had fallen upon poverty because the father had become sick. Edwards, who rarely had enough to make ends meet, made arrangements to have the man receive a bundle of money without knowing from whom it came. On his deathbed, Edwards (who was well-known and well-respected) ordered that his own funeral be conducted "without pomp and cost." Any money that might have been spent for that purpose was instead to be given to the poor and needy."

     This gives you an idea of what one of the most God-centered and Christian thinkers in American history thought of a Christians attitude and involvement in politics and social issues. I trust that as this election year proceeds, you might consider his thoughts, since they come from a zealous evangelist, ardent revivalist, biblical thinker and godly husband and father.
     After all, as being "in the world but not of the world," the Christian is not really able to avoid "politics" completely.  Believers are simply asked to think, act, and hold to truly Christian ideals as they live out their faith within the realities of an imperfect society run by imperfect people like him or herself.
     In fact, in keeping with Edwards, what matters most are not the ideas, platforms, or policies held by any particular political party, for each one is terribly flawed and cannot escape being corrupted by the lure of money and the desire for power. Contrary to the persuasion of some, our country will never truly be "fixed" so long as it is run by sinners (be they sinners who are Democrat or Republican, or whatever other party one affiliates with)!  A host of individual citizens, committed to that which honors and reflects the nature of our just and merciful God, will do more to bring about healthy changes in society than any party's agenda or platform.  That's how I see it anyway, and I think Edwards would agree.

In His Service, Pastor Jeff