This week, John Kasich, a self-identified pro-life governor of Ohio, vetoed a “Heartbeat Bill” which would ostensibly abolish abortion after detection of the baby’s heartbeat in the womb (as early as 6 weeks); and instead signed a 20-week abortion ban. The reasoning Kasich offered was the “Heartbeat” bill was clearly unconstitutional and the state would have to spend untold amounts of money in defending it while the 20 week ban was more feasible in “sustaining the sanctity of human life”. Tell that to the 19 week old baby in the womb…but I digress from my point.
Cultural Reformation
Camping On Quicksand
The 2016 election is mercifully over. It is now President-elect Donald Trump. I extend genuine congratulations to both the President-elect and all his passionate voters. As I have consistently said, God is sovereign and as mysterious as sovereignty and man’s liberty can be on occasion, I accept the fact that the Lord will perform His Will according to Romans 8:28, in the life of His people. Whether it be judgment or blessing, His Will be done. Like most of you, there is no disappointment watching the amoral and criminal Clinton machine sent to the political junkyard. And while I am still highly skeptical that Trump will be that “Cyrus, Jehu, Samson, or David”, it costs me nothing to be optimistic and pray that the Lord will indeed direct Mr. Trump’s heart as a river and turn it as He (the Lord) pleases (Proverbs 21:1).
I Can No Longer Hold My Nose…or the Fort
If you have been around church circles for any length of time you may have heard the phrase, “hold the fort”. The original use of the phrase “hold the fort” was a military order wired by General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1864 to General John M. Corse at Allatoona during the Civil War. Records show that the actual words had been “Hold out, relief is coming”, but “fort” is what caught on and was further popularized when it was made the refrain of a gospel song by Philip Paul Bliss. It was the connection to this gospel song that in all likelihood made it a common phrase in church life. It basically means that if the commander of a fort decided for any reason to depart, he would have to leave some of his men to the charge of a reliable officer to hold the fort against any possible attack of the enemy while he was away. Of course, by all means, hold the fort. No officer or army worth it’s commission should willingly give up ground to the enemy.
Is the Platform Running for President?
“I am not voting for the person, I am voting for the platform”.
This has become the new justification for supporting the GOP candidate in the upcoming election. I will admit, at first glance, it appears to be a compelling reason to hand the reigns of the presidency to a GOP candidate especially when the candidate cannot qualify under the simple and easily reached requirements of Exodus 18:21. I will also stipulate that the GOP platform may indeed be one of the strongest worded platforms written in recent memory that is incredibly sympathetic to a Christian Worldview. The GOP should be commended for that. The question which arises at this point however is…
“Is the platform enough of an incentive to elect Donald Trump?”
Let’s explore that…
The Slippery Slope of Suspending Scripture
I will instantly stipulate that there is probably no Christian alive (or dead for that matter) that hasn’t at some moment played fast and loose with the Scriptures with regards to its interpretation and application. We know that we all “see through a glass darkly” and tend to venerate our “private interpretations” as THE interpretation. Most of the time and for most honest students of the Word, this is done unconsciously. We are not willfully twisting the Word. We may be unskilled or immature in rightly dividing the Word, but we are honestly wrestling with its contents. Unless you are a fully deceived cult leader my hope would be that for the vast majority of Christians a humility would exist that could say, “I had never thought of that before”, or, “I have never seen that in Scripture just like that”. I will be the first to confess that in my 38 years of following Jesus and my 32 years of preaching the Gospel, I have stood up on several occasions and changed my views based on the Scripture. What I believed those early years preaching are not exactly in line with what I uphold in these later years. And let me be crystal clear on this point…my “morphing” has happened because of the Scripture, the Holy Spirit’s enlightening, and the discipling of other ministers who helped me connect many dots. I suspect my journey is not unlike many other sincere Christians.