God, Government, and the Gospel

My pastor, Will Tuboren of Calvary Baptist Church, preached on this subject today in light of the upcoming election on Tuesday. I take notes every week, but I felt the need to share the message in this way this week because I think it challenges us all (including me!) to rethink our attitude and to get rid of any fear that we may have about Tuesday's perceived outcome.

Will gave us four specific challenges that I will share with you, the heart of the message comes from Romans 13:1-7. I encourage you to read it along with all of the other references posted.

Challenge #1:

Remember to keep things in perspective!
-Our hope is in Jesus Christ
-Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20-21)

Challenge #2:

Remember that God is Sovereign above all things!
-All governing authorities, both good and bad, are ordained by God. (Romans 13:1)
-Examples:
I Kings 12- wicked king
John 19- Just before the crucifixion Pilot tells Jesus that he (Pilot) has the power to crucify Him. Jesus tells Pilot that the only reason Pilot has this authority is because God allowed him to have it.
Romans 9:16-18- Pharaoh is in place because God ordained it to be that the Jews could leave and go into the Promised Land

Challenge #3:

Remember that we must submit to governing authorities, unless our submission leads to sin (what God has called us to do as followers of Jesus Christ).
-Romans 13:2-5: Paul says that to fail to submit to governing authorities is failure to submit to God and it will result in punishment from both the government and God.

Example: Our government says we have to pay taxes (no matter how high!) and we must do so in accordance with the law and with God's Word. (Romans 13:6-7 and Mark 12)

However, there is cause for civil disobedience! Examples of this from the scriptures:

-Daniel 6: Daniel couldn't submit to a law that said he couldn't pray. The consequence? Daniel was thrown in to the lion's den, but the Lord delivered him.

-Daniel 3: Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego wouldn't worship and idol. They were thrown into a fiery furnace and the Lord delivered them.

-Acts 4: Peter & John were punished for telling people about Jesus. They were released and told they were not allowed to witness anymore but they did it anyway because they knew that they were ambassadors for Jesus Christ and for heaven.

Considering Civil Disobedience?

-Consider the grievousness of the action that is sanctioned by the law
-Consider the extent of the unjust law's effect.
-Consider how the civil disobedience gives a witness of the gospel.

THE WAY WE SUBMIT TO GOVERNING AUTHORITIES SPEAKS OF THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY! (wow! those words really spoke to me!)

Challenge #4: God's values must become our values!

-We must consider what each candidate says about the value of LIFE, MARRIAGE & FAMILY, and the POOR and OPPRESSED.


Prayer:

What do we need to pray for? Join Will, my church, the community of Winston-Salem, and the nation in prayer for:

-God's will to be done
-God to be glorified in all things
-and for the glorious Gospel to go forward


Final Thoughts...

"Some of us are going to be jubilant over the outcome of the election, others bitterly disappointed. But remember, regardless of who wins, the City of God endures."
--Chuck Colson, from the article, "A Sacred Duty: Why Christians Must Vote"

Random Thoughts

I'm sitting at my desk fully aware that I have real work to do, but I've been a procrastinator my entire life... so here I am blogging instead. Up until now I've been posting about significant things (well, significant to me) but today I thought that I just give you a glimpse in to my very random mind. Here we go...

The "Amazing" Race: (The Ultimate Reality TV...)

I can't wait for the election to be over! I don't know about you, but I am so sick of campaign ads that it's not even a pleasure to watch TV. Before I left for work yesterday morning the Today Show had a teaser as to what was coming up in their next half hour. One of the things they mentioned was "Why you can't get through a commercial break without seeing at least one campaign ad." It's a sad day when the media has to explain this to the general public.

I am in no way trying to come off as unpatriotic; I love this country and I am constantly telling my students that they need to remember how blessed we are that we live here. And yes, I still believe that. It's just been an extremely long race and I think our country is ready for the struggle for power to come to an end.

While I'm on the topic of campaigns let me get this off of my chest. Vote! Vote, vote, vote, vote, vote. And if you don't... Don't complain! OK, I feel better. :)

For voter registration information, visit the following link:

http://www.eac.gov/voter/Register%20to%20Vote

Cloth Diapers:

I know, you're asking yourself, "What the heck is she blogging about cloth diapers for?!?" (And, no, I'm not trying to imply anything either...) For some reason the topic of cloth diapers has come up several times in the past few weeks and I have to say that the idea of using them on my future children does not thrill me. We live in a nation, dare I say world, of convenience and it seems to me that disposable diapers are truly one of those great conveniences! I know that using cloth diapers will lessen our environmental fingerprint, but there are other ways that I do my best to recycle, reuse, reduce. However, I did read that you can go from newborn to potty trained for $300 with cloth diapers or $3,000 with disposable diapers. Now, this figure of $300 seems a bit low to me. If my figuring is correct, assuming that a diaper is changed anywhere from 7-10 times per day, and also assuming that the mommy doesn't live in the laundry room, wouldn't it be a wise idea to at least have 15 diapers on hand? Even with that, wouldn't you constantly be washing diapers? Since this topic keeps coming up within my circle of friends, I looked on line and found that the average price for a decent cloth diaper is $17.

$17 x 15= $255, and that's just for one size diaper. Factor in the different sizes, extra washing (water and electricity), detergent, and precious time and that cost goes even higher. Am I wrong?

(I have no idea who this baby is!)

That being said, I just learned that two of my friends, both with newborns, are using cloth diapers. I am truly interested in learning about their experiences! I won't say that I 100% against trying this when God blesses Adam and I with a child, but it's going to take a lot of convincing that it's worth it. :)

Thanksgiving:

I know it's still two months away, but I am excited to say that we will be hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year. My Mom, Dad, Brother Michael & family, and my in-laws will be joining us. I'm pretty excited that family will be traveling to us for a change! I'm also excited that my brother and his family will finally get to see our house! (Now I just need to get Christopher down here...) Speaking of our house, here are a few pictures that I took a while back but never posted:

Dining Room- I painted it Woodlawn Colonial Gray this summer

Kitchen-Painted it green, but can't remember the name of the color off the top of my head. My dad put up the awesome "tin" back splash for us on my parents last visit.

Our new kitchen table. Up until now we still had my table from college. It took us a while to find one that we both liked, complimented the space, and came at a reasonable price. We love it!

Family Room: I painted this room and the hallway by our garage Toasted Almond. I also hung the ceiling fan (all by myself, thank you very much!) early in the summer. I just recently hung new curtains on the windows in this room and the windows next to our kitchen table, but I don't have a picture to share of those yet.

Downstairs Powder room: This is the first room that I painted soon after we first moved in to the house almost a year and a half ago. I recently added the shelves above the toilet and I also found a curtain that matched all the colors of this bathroom perfectly.

A close up of the shelves

I stenciled this around the same time that I painted the bathroom

OK, so the pictures aren't exactly random thoughts, but I DID randomly add them. :)

That's all for now!