The Function of Forgiveness

     I sometimes find it difficult to live a forgiving lifestyle. Every time I set my heart to forgiveness, something comes along to remind me of how hurt I am, how unfairly I've been treated, or of a wrong I've suffered. Then, I find myself having to forgive all over again. I wonder sometimes, do I even know what forgiveness is all about?
     Forgiveness is not about making things right. Not really, because damage has been done, loss has been suffered, and feelings have actually been deeply disturbed. Forgiveness is more about one's attitude - not only toward an offender, but also toward the offense.
     The Bible stresses the importance of love many times over. But love, in the Biblical sense, is not a sentimental, emotional attachment to a person. Of course, love, at least what we consider to be love, can include that. But the idea of love in the Bible is more accurately understood by the word charity. Charity, of course, is the translation of the Greek word agape' in the King James Version of 1 Corinthians 13.
    However, across time, words take on different connotations. Thus, charity has come to be considered as little more than a handout or benevolence to the poor - Salvation Army, thrift stores, food banks, etc. Indeed, these are charities, and in many ways they are a significant part of charity. But charity is far more than just giving to the poor.
     Charity is a grace, and empowering choice that embodies God's character. Charity is the ability to extend compassion, kindness, and consideration for others to others. Thus, charity is the catalyst that makes forgiveness possible. Without the ability to be gracious, it is impossible to extend grace, and grace lies at the core of Christian experience and expression.
       In times when we are personally affronted, being gracious can be difficult. The old nature wants to rise to the surface and inflict retribution. We want to "get even." But paybacks tend to backfire. They usually escalate an already painful circumstance into an unbearable continuum. No one is made better and no one gets better.
      So, what is forgiveness?

Forgiveness is the act of setting aside
the determination to exact personal retribution
in the face of a real or perceived violation of one's self.

(Byler's Defs: 101)

In other words, it is refusing to violate your own personal grace just because you have been wronged.
      Jesus offered the prototype example of this grace as He hung on the cross. "Father, forgive them." That was His prayer. "They know not what they do" was His reality. He knew what was in their hearts.
     Our problem is that we usually have no idea what is in another person's heart, but we assume that we do. All too often that judgment is made because of something in our own hearts, something that is off center or out of balance. Get that right and forgiveness becomes far less difficult.
     Forgiveness does not let the offender "off the hook." If a crime has been committed, justice must be served. But, if the offense is social, justice seems far less interested. Nevertheless, time "wounds all heels." The truth inevitably comes to the surface. If you try to exact a bit of personal retribution, the only heel that gets wounded is you.
     Christian character is strengthened by embracing compassion and exhibiting grace. Grace allowed you to come to salvation. Grace sustains you when you fall short of your calling in Christ. Grace empowers you to rise above your old nature and walk in the victory of the cross. And grace gives you the motivation to serve others in love.
      Forgiveness, then, is one of the most significant acts you can experience, for when you forgive, you are most like Christ. When you fail to forgive, you are far removed from the very grace that has been extended to you.
      The function of forgiveness is not about who you forgive. It is that you do forgive. Forgiveness cleanses you from the animosity and bitterness which linger in the aftermath of a wounded heart. Forgiveness prepares you to face another day with the joy of the Lord as your strength. Forgiveness causes others to see the character of Christ in your life and make room for His grace to manifest in others. And forgiveness frees the offender from your wrath. It exposes that person to God's determination for his or her future and removes you from the temptation to "play God."

Election is Coming

     The current campaign to determine who will ultimately compete for the White House is some of the most divisive, yet captivating political theater I have ever witnessed. Every candidate is forced to communicate why he or she is better suited, better prepared, and offers greater hope for this nation than every other candidate. In reality, one actually wonders if anyone can.
     The thing that concerns me is this. It is one thing to have the kind of qualifications necessary to win a presidential campaign and become president. It is quite a different thing to actually be the president. Big talk and smooth words do not define a president. Profound leadership, wise and effective decision making, and a willingness to place the country's needs in front of one's personal agendas top the list.
     Every candidate, in both parties, is forced to bloviate about his or her personal accomplishments and qualifications. Some are much better at doing that than others. Two out of the current crowd will do that. But will that translate into an effective, nation enriching presidency? The question hovers, unanswered, tantalizing, and hopefully it will meet with a profoundly positive answer. He or she will. 
     Presidents should not blow their own horn all that much. Their talk should be backed up by action, by accomplishment, but uniting the country, the politicians, and our allies in a way that strengthens and builds the nation. That is not happening now.
      The first election I can recall was between Dwight Eisenhower and Adali Stevenson. The Republican mantra was "I Like Ike." The Dems wore a lapel pin in the shape of a shoe sole, with a hole in it ... this, because Stevenson had appeared on stage, and when he crossed his legs, there was a gaping hole worn in the bottom of his shoe. Strange the things that one remembers. I was in the sixth or seventh grade at the time.
      I recall every election since - Kennedy-Nixon-62, Johnson-Goldwater-'64, Nixon-Humphrey-'68, Nixon-McGovern-'72, Carter-Ford-'76, Reagan-Carter-'80, Reagan-Mondale-'84, Bush-Dukakis-'88, Clinton-Bush-'92, Clinton-Dole-'96, Bush-Gore-'00, Bush-Kerry-'04, Obama-McCain-'08, and Obama-Romney-'12. The first one in which I was qualified to vote was 1964. I was twenty years old and had been married for less than one year.
      How did I vote? I voted as a citizen, as a Christian, as a husband, and in 1968 as a father. I voted according to my conscience, to my inherent sense of patriotism, and with the confidence that God is in control, whether my candidate won or lost.
     In my estimation, the election of 2016 may be the most important one so far, but perhaps not. John Kennedy stared down Nikita Kruschev over the Cuban missile crisis. I was in the U.S. Navy at the time.
     Ronald Reagan presided during the demise of the Soviet Union. He, as the leader of the United States, stood toe to toe to the Communist regime and the world took a collective sigh of relief. Today, very few truly communist dictatorships exist, though they have been replaced by something much more malicious, religious fanaticism.
     The next president inherits a country more deeply divided than at anytime since the Civil War. Our nation is in economic chaos, with a national debt approaching $19 Trillion ... a number so huge it is impossible to comprehend. He or she will also have to face some of the most brutal terrorism, the most sadistic philosophies, and the most weakened morality in our collective memory. We are grappling with the most devastating racial clashes since the Haight-Asbury riots some thirty years ago. Crime is escalating in our inner cities, not declining. And Christianity has become the target of politically correct bigotry that demeans and darkens the motivation of the very people who decry Christians as bigots.
     What does all this mean for the next president? It means that the next President of the United States will have to have almost super-human intelligence, and an incredibly perceptive sense of who to bring into the administration to make things happen.
      As I write this little blog, I am driven again to prayer ... prayer for our nation, prayer for our current leadership, prayer for the choice we will make collectively in the coming weeks, months, and ultimately in November of 2016. Not only am I driven to prayer, the entire corpus of the Christian community should be driven to prayer... not that one political party, philosophy, or ideology would gain supremacy over the other, or over the nation. We must pray that our nation once again find its moorings in the good Word of God - the Bible. That the moral, intellectual, and reasonable approach on which we were established - governed by Biblical principle embraced by people who revere God and honor the faith of us all.
    
      

My 9/11 post ...

September 11, 2001 is one of those days—days you must replay in your mind over and over to grasp the enormity of what took place. Life as we know it changed. The attack on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon shocked us into a temporary sense of national unity and identity. Many felt it was the beginning of a new patriotism, a new sense of national determination and honor. People gasped, people cried, people raged and cursed the darkness. Then, people went to Church in large numbers, and we hoped there might be a national revival, a transforming wave of spiritual reformation that would project us forward into a place of restored moral, ethical, and relational progress.
Such has not proven to be true. We are more divided, less determined, more self-centered individually, and utterly vulnerable as a nation. I am not terrified, I am torn. The nation I love and served as a military man is dying. We are wallowing in our own moral deterioration, our political malaise, our headlong rush into financial collapse, and our complacency at the blatant hostility toward our Christian faith. I say we, because we must own this, both nationally and personally.
Adultery is both tolerated and celebrated, openly available through published media as an “acceptable” side-line to an uninteresting marriage. Nudity is celebrated in cable productions, pornographic websites, as well as sleazy theaters, book shops, and magazine stands. The use of drugs is commended and in many places legalized, while the ever increasing social and economic costs skyrocket across the nation. Vulgarity in speech and dress is common place, often spouted as comedy … humorous, but in the most telling sense, not funny.
Rebellion has become a lifestyle for many, children and young adults alike. Parents who do effectively guide and direct their children are no longer the norm. Rather, they are the exception. Families are in crisis—overextended, overworked, under-related, and sold out to pleasure and entertainment. Little wonder that the nuclear family has become something of an anomaly.
Sexual permissiveness and perversion have become "protected rights," leaving an entire generation of children and youth in confusion regarding their own identity. The wholesale capitulation to sexual freedom rather than abstinence is producing a rapidly growing populace of semi-parented, or unparented children. Broken homes and divided households add another layer of challenge. Most of these are trying to repair something that was utterly ruined, but the challenge often creates as much confusion as solution. In many cases, children are being raised by grand-parents, simply because their own natural parents are too immature, too disconnected, and too self-serving to be parents.
Violence against policemen has escalated and in some quarters is applauded. Racism and reverse racism are in open conflict—oftentimes, the latter being more violent and virulent than the former. Rioting breaks out in the streets, anarchy advancing under the shroud of peaceful protest. Amazingly, the victims of such rioting have been the people closest to the rioters. In some of our cities, police are instructed to refrain from enforcing the law. Where they do enforce the law, they are constantly placed under microscopes of public opinion. Vivid and obvious instances of police impropriety in a few cases have made it far more difficult for hundreds of thousands of police to do their jobs. Yet, the hue and cry of the protesting mob is against, not for those who defend and protect.
The continuously rising flood of immigrants, legal and illegal, leaves gaping holes in our national infrastructure ... holes through which even the least intelligent radical terrorists could pass. As a nation open to those who would come and share the potential of America, it is a travesty that we have become such a hated entity in the world. Yet, we sail merrily along, inviting disaster at every turn. We turn away from our most significant ally—Israel, and embrace the nation that hates us most—Iran. We refuse to fight against the spreading cancer of Radical Islam, or even to call it by its real character—Islamic terrorism. Then we scratch our heads in wonder as to why they hate us, since we are such lovable people.
Every religious order, idea, perspective, and philosophy finds room for expression in our nation. Yet, Christians are castigated for being intolerant ... amazingly, in the most intolerable and intolerant terminology and actions. How can a person condemn intolerance intolerantly? Yet, that is how it’s done. Is it not ironic that Christians are being "instructed" on love by people who do so in the most unloving terms, with the least loving attitudes? These same people are trying to define love, yet they have only the basest understanding of love, not based on God’s defining characteristics, but on human perspective. However, defining love unlovingly does not actually define love.
Religious convictions are being usurped by governmental edicts and judicial legislation. “We the people” no longer have the capacity to determine “what we the people” deem to be in our own best interests. A small body of supremely powerful individuals have taken it upon themselves to make those decisions for us. Oligarchy rule by another name is a politburo rule, more Eastern European (Russian) than American. Yet, the court has taken that position.
Under the guise of "freedom of speech" it is permissible to say almost anything … except from the pulpits of Christian America. Rap musicians spout violence, hatred, misogyny, and the vilest of words with impunity. Repulsive comedians take to the stages and airwaves, generating gales of laughter at the most disgusting ideas and vile commentary. They mock our leaders, our faith, our races, our careers … in jest (barbed with venom) they disrespect every good and decent thing, just to get a laugh. And we follow their lead, laughing merrily along the way, picking up their language and making it the language of our own communications, scarcely stopping to realize that our speech has become polluted with wicked words.
Radical Imams foment violence and hatred in Mosques and on street corners. Anarchy and rebellion cry out against civility and reason. Racially supercharged political groups take up arms and spew out their own brand of intimidation. New Age gurus bewitch people with spiritualistic psycho-babble. Progressives demean anyone who disagrees with their liberal points of view, and conservatives return the favor in spades. Nothing is sacred. Nothing is holy. Nothing is "off-limits" in this post 9/11 America. Our tolerance of the intolerable has made us insensitive to the inevitable. The result is chaos under a widening cloud of calamity.
Unless we experience a genuine turnaround, politically, morally, spiritually, and financially, we are headed for a national implosion. Gruesome prophecy? Not really. Just honest observation and concern. The question is this. Can something be done? The biblical answer is yes! It has been stated again and again. It has been preached and prophesied, sung and shouted. It has been published in books, on banners, on signs, and billboards. But has it been taken seriously?
The God-solution is this: “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14)
Today, thousands of Christians are praying in agreement with this instruction. There is hope! There is a future, but it is in the hands of the Lord God, not in the hands of the politicians, the jurists, the entertainers, or those who foment violence, rebellion, and hatred. It is in the hands of the Lord God. Thousands more need to join the prayer ranks. Everyone who prays needs daily to own the sins of America, to repent for the sins of OUR nation, and to cry out to heaven for forgiveness and healing.
Daniel—the young captive in Babylon—prayed in the face of all opposition. He was a righteous man with a righteous heart, a man who despised sin and refrained from it. Yet, he took on himself the responsibility of repentance. Daniel 9:5-15 is the record of his prayer for Israel—his nation. “We have sinned,” he said. The catastrophe of captivity belongs to us. He did not disengage himself from his national identity and his faith. WE HAVE SINNED is what he repeated … four times within that prayer.
We need to own the sins of America before God, just as Daniel did those of his nation. If MY people … God said. We are His, and our nation is His, regardless of those who think otherwise.
I encourage you, mighty prayer warrior … take up the gauntlet against the enemy. Take on the sin of the nation as though it were your own, because it is. This is no my nation alone … it is your nation … it is our nation! Repent … repent for others … repent for yourself … repent for our nation, and allow God to do what only He can do.
In agreement with those who will pray,
Dr. Phil

SCOTUS MISSES THE MARK

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It was with extreme disappointment, but not much surprise that I heard the news of the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) regarding same sex marriage. I was shocked and dismayed, however, to see the nation's presidential residence bathed in the colors of the LBGT movement. I have heard the president repeatedly state that he is the president of all the people of the United States. So, how do 2 - 3% of the entire population shape the argument and define the agenda for the other 97+% of the people in this nation? The answer is not necessarily a simple one, and assuredly, there is not a single answer. What is obvious, however, is the overwhelming sense of complacency and the deep misunderstanding of what tolerance actually means There is also a frustrating lack of moral integrity gripping our nation, a shortcoming that has enormous consequences.
Our founding fathers, who were mostly deists, but generally Christian in their perspective, may well be turning over in their graves - not because the decision was rendered, but that the decision even reached the point of being brought before the court. In this decision, SCOTUS took a giant swipe at the Constitution, overriding the rightfully legislated processes of many states. Actually, SCOTUS enacted Federal Legislation from the bench, without Congress, without referendum, and without precedent in National Law. Amazing!
But the greater tragedy is to be found within the Church. The level of confusion among those who claim to be Christians, people who have complete access to the Holy Scriptures, is simply astounding. For more than a century and a half, the integrity of the Bible has been being challenged by liberal theologians. It has been parsed and piece-mealed, its message shredded by opinions of men, rather than the counsel of God. The distinct and undeniable prohibition against sexual misconduct of every sort is either wholly misunderstood or conscientiously ignored. Every form of sexual misconduct is condemned in Scripture. Adultery, fornication, sex with children, with animals, and with close relatives (cousins, uncles, aunts, etc.) are all specifically addressed. So is homosexuality, beastiality, and necromancy.
The LGBT community, a group that is marginalized and ostracized by the greater community, defends their sexual departure from Scripture with claims of genetic determination. Thus, they have shaped their agenda as social, not moral. However, it is a moral issue, far more than merely a social one.There is no science to back up genetic disposition to homosexuality, only psychological hypothesis. Same sex attraction undoubtedly occurs, but that is not evidence of genetics. Moreover, the miniscule proportion of those who are "trans-gender" individuals, regardless of surgical and chemical transformation, does not and cannot change DNA. That these individuals command so much attention from the general public is attributable more to the oddity of their condition than to its normalcy.
LGBT behavior, regardless of the claims of its participants, is driven by personal choice. These individuals choose to pursue these lifestyles. Many, perhaps most, believe they could make no other choice without enduring lasting personal emotional pain. I cannot intelligently address such convictions. I sincerely believe that to be more convenient than irresistible, the personal defense for choices which have been made.
As an American, a military veteran, and a patriot, I defend the right of people to make such choices. But that does not assume I agree with them. I believe those choices to be ill-advised and in direct contradiction to Holy Writ. But many Christians violate the tenants of their faith, as do many Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and followers of other religions. To assume LGBT behavior to be more wicked than other forms of sexual departure from Scripture is indefensible. But that does not make such behavior right, or perhaps a bit more right than other such activities.
Murder is wrong. Stealing is wrong, Adultery is wrong. Just as slavery, pornography, drunkenness, and a vast array of other moral violations are wrong. Weighing one against the other does not make it right, even if it seems to be more right.
As a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, my faith draws me to a love of God's children, uniquely created in His image. That love is informed by a kind of love of which only God is capable. But just the same way I would not and cannot give myself to embracing the sin in my own life as acceptable to Him, I understand that He accepts me, even better than I do myself. And He is able to extend His grace, His mercy, and His redemption beyond my ability to understand. He does not, however, require me to accept, embrace, or tolerate violations of His will and Word as being acceptable behaviors, acceptable practices, or those which should be advanced within a moral, God-seeking, and God-fearing community, not for myself and not for others.
The line is difficult to draw, not because I cannot draw it, but because those who oppose it want to define it incorrectly. I am not a "homophobe," a gay basher or hater, or anything of the sort. I am simply a man who is determined to walk as closely to God as I can, to confess my sins early rather than late, to repent and turn from them, and to receive His forgiveness. For those who walk in the wickedness of murder, child exploitation, adultery, stealing, and the vast array of other sins, there is forgiveness. But, there is also a requirement of transformation, a requirement to stop sinning and live righteously. This is also true for those who are within the LGBT world. If they truly want to experience the fulness of God's favor, they will, of necessity, be forced to deal with biblical morality. Either that, or they will not experience the fulness of their Christian possibilities - even though they may be believers.
I do not suggest that these individuals should be banned from the Church. Rather, I believe the Church to be the redemptive community which can offer grace and the transforming love that people in moral failure need. We all need God's grace, His mercy, and His love. Raising walls of separation that constrain or prevent the flow of such grace seems wholly unChristian. Just as does tearing down moral imperatives that have been clearly and concisely laid out in Scripture. The balance must be found in embracing the spiritual transformation which comes when the Holy Spirit has free reign in every heart. Until then, upholding the moral standards of Scripture and living lives of Godly love continues to be a somewhat precarious balancing act for many.
On either side of this issue are good people with honest convictions. Most assuredly, we will not all agree. But there is sufficient grace in God to cover what I personally may not be able to realize. God's love is far too vast to be stymied by the limitations of my perceptions, or anyone else's, for that matter. Yet, there is this - the Holy Bible - the definitive, uncompromising, and inspired Word of God. Leave that behind and any choices people make easily become acceptable to other people. Hold fast to that Word, however, and the choices are governed by a much higher standard, the moral boundaries God has laid down. We may fall short of perfect obedience, or even of Godly love. That does not give us license to overturn the moral imperatives of our faith or change the reality of God's Word.

Opinion from the in-between:
    There is so much tension in the political air, so much acrimony between the Dems and Repubs - between libs and cons ... and the backlash is a foreign policy that cannot be comprehended - by anyone. The President posits that he has everything under control, but the wheels are coming off the wagon even as he speaks. And domestically he seems to be giving away the whole farm, not just the tomatoes.
     Those who oppose his policies suggest solutions that hold little promise of being much better, just different. And we who sit in the cross-fire are left to take sides while the world continues to burn and the debt continues to rise. Holy Dilemma, Batman!
     How can we follow anybody when there is such callous disregard for true leadership on both sides of the aisle. Everybody's right. Everybody's wrong. Nobody's wrong ... Actually, nobody seems to be right.
    Protesting public servants refusing to attend and listen to a speech by an allied Prime Minister - shameful. Presidential snubs of Israel's interests - shameful. Bypassing the Executive Branch of Government to make a point - Is Boehner ramping up for a run at the White House. If so, he's not on the Radar. Probably not, since there is no chance he could win and #3 is better than #None.
    As a moderately liberal conservatively moderate American, I need some relief. My costs are up, my income is down, my government is chaotic, and my expectations are not all that positive.
     Thank God I have a hope anchored in my faith. That may not be sufficient for a lot of people, but it is for me. I am not an in-between kind of Christian. I am an all in, walk with God, live a righteous life, confess my faults and receive forgiveness and cleansing, gladly give my tithes, love the brethren, worshiping, rejoicing, telling the world about God's love, child of the King. I do not consider that my peculiar brand of Christianity is superior to someone else's, except for me. It is superior for me. Otherwise, I would trade it in for something better. It has been a sustaining force in my life for more 64 years, through good times and bad, in the face of ugly sin and when my righteousness became too self-gratifying and created spiritual pride. Thus, I found myself in sin again and had to retrace the journey through recognition, confession, repentance, and forgiveness. I love my Christian faith.
     Currently I live in a world where prejudice, self-interests, and uninformed opinions seem to have the loudest voices. Of course, I live in a small world - one where the religious, political, and economic perspective is heavily biased. I suppose we all do, even though some of us live in much more heavily populated areas. It seems that those who have differing opinions stand at a distance from each other and loudly try to override other voices. Embarrassing when reality forces a change of position.
     As for me, I have decided that the pencil is mightier than the pen. Instead of eating my words, I can back up, erase the things that change in my perspective, and go on with my life's story. Being a writer has its rewards.
     
One last thing on the political front:
     I have considerable concern about the situation in Ukraine, in no small part because I have dear friends in and from that part of the world. But more because of the long term implications this conflict poses.
     While we focus the majority of our attention on terrorist tyrants in the middle east, the Russian juggernaut is gathering momentum. The growing infringement into Ukrainian territory is but a prelude to the shadow of the Bear being cast across the entire eastern European theater once again. No one but the politically blind should miss the signs of a repeat performance.
     As long as Russia makes overtures of alliance with Iran, continues to press its advance into Ukraine, and soon into other countries ... nothing will be stable. The world is ratcheting up toward another World War, one that will make the last one seem more like a skirmish than a conflagration. We need a stronger kind of diplomacy - and iron fist in a velvet glove, perhaps, but a fist that is not afraid to bruise its knuckles.
     
Final thought:
     The real test for the United States will be discovered in the next administration - Democrat or Republican, the test will not be partcular which it is. We already know how this administration has adapted to a world in conflict, and so far "it ain't workin' so good." If the next one does not unravel some of the tangled mess we have today, the one that follows that may not have the opportunity to do so.
     Every nation that has grown to empire status has eventually fallen to self-destructive influences. The United States is not immune. God has always allowed His people to endure the hardships and deprivation that exists within their particular cultures and societies. People sometimes forget that we are in the world but not of the world. Being in the world means we must endure what the world endures while we await the opportunity to move beyond this world into God's place of ultimate preparation.

     Keep the faith, love the brotherhood, honor the king (president) ...