Is The Pendulum Really A Large Hammer - Or A Wrecking Ball?

We are seeing history in the making. Throughout history, there is an ebb and flow, a swinging pendulum at times. Well, it sure seems to be swinging back towards the conservative in some ways. President-Elect Trump, and I really enjoy saying that, is not the final answer to anything. But his election is important, and very revealing. Keep your eyes open!

The Democrats have held the presidency in the U.S. for twelve of the last sixteen years. Look at the “fundamentally changed” country of America we now live in. Sure, there is lots of wealth, but there are exponentially growing troubles as well. Both of the presidential candidates tried to make it clear that they would work “for the people” to solve the problems we face. Really? Who created the problems, what are they, and how would Kamala especially work to solve them? 

Our country and the world are very much at war right now. It is a war for not only resources, but more importantly for the minds and hearts and lives of people. If the U.S. is ever to be a great country again, it will take a unification in the realm of ideas – ideology. A “tug-of-war” is doomed if both sides are quite evenly matched. This is due largely to a social-cultural divide, very much related to the faith-world of the followers of Christ Jesus, whether you are a believer and follower or not. There is more to it than this, but this is perhaps the main issue. 

There was a sermon I heard long ago called "The Issues Are Not The Issue." The title itself says quite a bit. Many of the issues that come up in the ongoing social-cultural war are there because people have removed themselves from the love of God. I have to say it. We have lost respect for the God who made us, and therefore have lost respect for ourselves and one another. The Bible teaches us about the history of God and people, but moreover reveals the heart and intentions and directions God put into play in His creation. 

What are the problems you see in the country? Or in your own family? Or just in yourself? If you try to take care of each main issue, quite often new problems are created. This is especially obvious in government.

I promise that I do not have any final answers to each of the problems. But I do believe that I know THE ANSWER to all of the problems!

The answers are largely found in the teachings of Jesus and His immediate followers - disciples - who recorded it in the New Testament. There is no record of Jesus writing anything down, to the best of my knowledge. My inclination is that He didn't need to. It is said that Jesus Himself was “the Word of God” made flesh. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” You can read this for yourself in the little book of John, chapter 1, in the New Testament. 

Politics and government are certainly not the answer! The corporate media are not the answer. More money is not the answer. All of these are merely tools through which THE ANSWER works and expresses itself. All of these would work fine if governed by the love of God worked out in the lives of people. 

The hateful and hurtful reactions that come when God's love and commandments are brought up are quite predictable. People want God and His commandments out of their lives, away from government, out of the schools - because they are in rebellion to how God wants them to live. It's as simple as that. 

Let us pray for our leaders. Let us pray for those who rise up against us, sometimes even in our own families. Let us pray for our enemies. And let's love one another. Love can only grow where love is allowed and welcomed. 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:7-11