Timshel

The single biggest issue with the two-party system is on display once again. Instead of holding elected leaders accountable to operating within the bounds of the constitution, those with deeply held party allegiances view every action up against equivalent actions of the opposing party. When President Obama bypassed congress to accomplish his agenda, his supporters praised him and his critics were enraged. Now President Trump has done the same and the exact same reactions are on display, but flipped. Where is the voice of those who judge both as unacceptable? It seems as though we only hear of the necessity of obedience to the bounds set forth in the constitution when they are violated by the "opposing party." As long as we keep listening to those who view political developments through the lens of the partisan divide, we remain distracted from honestly assessing how we would view the same decisions if they were made by those on the other side of the isle. This country need...

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." From our earliest days we are introduced to "The Golden Rule" as a simple way to find the right way to act in any situation. Since we only want the best, or at least what is fair, done to us, we can quite easily determine how to treat others if we imagine that roles were reversed. While this has served as a simple ethical guide for children (and adults, see Matthew 7v12), in practice we tend to disregard this approach as impractical. We see it as a good way to get little Tommy to share his toys, but when approached by the homeless requesting a few bucks, the simplicity of "How would I want to be treated in this situation?" is replaced with thoughts of "What will he spend this money on? Am I encouraging and enabling poor behavior by giving to him? Did Jesus really mean 'Give to everyone who asks of you'?". This morning I'm writing from a place of conviction, as I've waffled...

Long term commitment to any one cause requires constant reminder as to why you began and whether the cause is still worth the time and energy it requires. I realized recently that many of my friends and family probably aren't close enough to me to have heard my reasoning for why this cause has such a pull on me. Without knowing the "why," the "what" can be confusing and even concerning at times. I am fully aware that some of the things I say are provocative. I am fully aware that many of those who know me have developed a negative perception of me based on my beliefs and passion. But I am okay with this. This doesn't concern me because I have a deeply seeded "why" - a "why" that today I feel the burden to share - because I feel that I'm not being fair to those who disagree and those who are concerned that I've been overtaken by liberalism. I should have done this long before now - and for that, I apologize. My story is deeply co...

My wife recently bought me a new Bible as a birthday gift. As I typically do with a new Bible, I've started reading through from start to finish once again. It's not taken but a few days for the Lord to spark my heart with questions, thoughts, and inquisition. This morning I was reading about Abraham being visited by God just before He went down to Sodom. The thing about reading a new translation from what you're used to is that certain phrases jump out at you in ways you aren't expecting. When God decides to let Abraham in on His plans, He says, "The cries of the victims in Sodom and Gomorrah are deafening" and later, "The outcries of the victims to God are deafening" (18v20; 19v13). Previous times that I've read this I've always read it that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is what led God to destroy it. While this isn't untrue, it wasn't the vileness of rampant sin that got God's attention; it was the cry of the victims. The m...

Since 2012 the United States has become a safe-haven for a narrow group of young people who migrated here either alone or following their older relatives. Multiple presidents, congressmen/congresswomen, and civilians have agreed for many decades that lack of proper legislation has created a system in which the Federal government seeks to remove from our neighborhoods individuals who contribute deeply to the very fabric of who we are as a people. President Reagan, President George H.W. Bush, and President Obama have all seen this failure of congress to fix the issue and have passed executive orders to defer deportation orders for limited groups of people. The present often overshadows and therefore garnishes all attention from the past, keeping us from seeing our reality in the greater context of history. Recent narrative has proclaimed that the spirit of America demands adherence to the law as the primary pillar of our Republic. Although observance of the law is vital to any successf...

Two days ago I was laying in bed, about to fall asleep, when I heard a noise. We have one of the loudest refrigerators in the world, so this happens pretty often - nothing to think twice about. But then my one year old Miniature Dachshund jumped up and started freaking out. This was more rare. Not the barking - she does that fairly often - - but when she is asleep, it takes quite a lot to get her up. So then I'm faced with the decision of whether I ignore the noise, attributing it to some "normal" house noise, or do I get up out of the comfortable bed and do a perimeter check. The obvious next stop on the mind journey is, "what happens if I find someone out there?". I'm pretty confident that most thieves would flee when confronted - but still, if my house is vandalized, things stolen, damage done - that becomes a headache of tasks to accomplish very quickly. (And yes, this whole mind-conversation is happening while still laying in bed). So after I either...

Those who follow me on social media, and/or read the things I write, could easily get the impression that the most important thing to me is helping the immigrant community. I daily read, write, comment, share, talk about the injustice that is rampant in our country and how we can (need to) fix it. While this is true and deeply touches my heart - it is important to step back and realize that this isn't the only important thing. My desire to see those displaced from their homeland treated in a just way, with love and compassion, stems from my personal faith. I don't think that you have to have this faith to see the value in a just world - and many of the people whom I've met through my activism abhor the idea of love motivated by faith - but for me, it was seeing the heart of God for the vulnerable that pricked my heart and moved me into action. All through college I had a desire to help people. I was learning how to engage people from cultures different than my own and ...

In an age with more access to information at the very tips of our fingers (literally) than any other time in the history of humanity - it is baffling how often we still get it wrong. Society has lost the art of fact checking, peer reviews, and perhaps most importantly - correctly inferring meaning from data. This dilemma isn't limited to the backwoods high-school drop outs. We see this on every side of the isle and in every socio-economic breakdown across the country. Once a scientific people, we have drifted into the land of relativity - where perception and sound bites are infinitely more valuable than truth and reality. But I digress. Yesterday I jumped into my '05 Ford Ranger and squeaked (yes, squeaked - it's time for new ball joints) down the road to a local diner to join about 65 other constituents for a town hall with US Congressman Tom Rice. Overall, the event was very encouraging - almost everyone in attendance was vocally supportive of DREAMers and they deman...

Once upon a time the family was the backbone of American culture. Thinking back to the era of "Leave it to Beaver" and "The Andy Griffith Show" - we remember that the place of the family unit is a traditional aspect of what it means to be "American". For generations, young people look forward to the day they say their vows before their families, get their first mortgage, and have children. This elicits pictures of 4th of July barbecues, family reunions at the lake, and even the occasional sharing of tears around a casket. We were created to experience a myriad of emotions and events alongside a select group of people we call family. In many ways, the fairly new culture of this country capitalized on strength and resolve generated by these connections - establishing a society weaved intimately with the thread of family relationships. When my great-grandfather came through Ellis Island in 1901 from Sicily, the process was quite simple - as it was for every...

On 9 January, President Trump gathered a coalition of bipartisan congresspeople together to discuss the necessity of passing immigration reform – primarily regarding DACA, secondarily regarding “comprehensive reform”. The table was full; each participant coming with their own ideas and desires regarding both how to handle DACA, and how they define “Comprehensive Immigration Reform.” For 55 minutes the only clear conclusion agreed on by everyone in the room was that we need to protect DACA recipients from loosing protected status and that we need a strong border. That was it. No additional comment, no additional details – pure, cut and dry consensus. Yet what do we see not even 24 hours after that meeting? The president’s party is speaking as though DACA is a request from the Democrats, and in order to give them what they want he will have to get border security (including a wall), Visa lottery removal, “chain migration” removal, and merit-based immigration implementation. No longe...

In John Calvin's "Institutes," he says the following, Now it is very clear what our duty is: Thus, if the Lord has committed to us the protection of our life, our duty is to protect it; if he offers helps to us, to use them; if he forewarns us of dangers, not to plunge headlong; if he makes remedies available, not to neglect them. But no danger will hurt us, say they, unless it is fatal, and in this case it is beyond remedies. But what if the dangers are not fatal, because the Lord has provided you with remedies for repulsing and overcoming them? (John Calvin, Institutes , 1:216 (1.17.4). But what is the duty the Lord has committed to us? For the believer, the answer to this question should guide how we organize our lives, expend our resources, and fill our prayers. For each of us this question can be answered in two ways: one being the generic answer that is the same for all of us, the other being the specific calling given by the Lord to the individual. I will focus ...

Christianity in the United States between the 70s and 90s was a time focused on evangelism. The big push was to get as many people as possible to hear the gospel; the underlying belief being that our role is to speak it, and then it is up to the Holy Spirit alone to determine the response of the hearers. For years the church in America was sacrificially dedicating time, money and potential embarrassment for the purpose of getting as many people to hear as possible. And what happened? It worked. We began to see pews fill up, budgets increase, and the Sunday experience revamp to become a more comfortable space for non-Christians. But what else happened? In hindsight we see a church that was heavily reliant on the work of the pastor, extremely personal in their relationship with God, and largely "anti" in their approach to most things (by this I mean they were known for what they didn't do: smoke, drink, curse). Essentially we had a body that spoke against what was wrong ...

Laws are being crafted right now which will, if passed, demand the removal of children who have only known the United States as their home - forcing them to be relocated. Kids who are legally your neighbor today, will very soon be pulled out of their homes and placed on flights and buses to countries of which they have never consciously known. These children are currently legally here per actions of former President Obama which has not yet been rescinded. Today, they are allowed to be here. Tomorrow - they may not be. These kids are, in a very real way, some of the most vulnerable of our society. The Christian community must speak up now in order to craft a future where we won't be forced to break the law of the land in order to be obedient to the command of Christ to love our neighbor, specifically the lost, poor, broken and oppressed. There is still time, though it may be limited, to advocate for our legislators to speak out on behalf of these children. If we are unsucces...

It blows my mind when Christians both refuse to travel to the nations with the message of the gospel - AND - do everything in their power to keep those very same people from literally moving to their neighborhoods. I imagine the Father's heart breaking when, as His children in the USA fiscally and theologically grow to the point where we are thoroughly capable of bringing the Kingdom of God to the end of the earth - yet we are trending downwards. I can only imagine what He thinks as most of us don't even consider the potential of being used to take the goodness of his Kingdom to those living in darkness. We easily sing His praises on Sunday mornings, yet quickly reject any thought that He may be calling us to more, outside of our county or country lines. Then, perhaps in a desperate attempt to reach the lost with His love, he begins creating opportunities for those very same people to get on planes and boats and arrive at our shores - this land that we so quickly claim to h...

Today I finished "Letters and Papers from Prison" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. For those who aren't familiar with Bonhoeffer, he was a Lutheran Theologian and pastor in Germany before and during Hitler's rule. He was arrested for his public opposition to the regime and eventually executed on April 9, 1945. This book is a compilation of his writings while imprisoned. I would definitely suggest this read to anyone who is interested - perhaps, it would be best as a follow up to "The Cost of Discipleship," "Ethics," and "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" by Eric Metaxas. I realize that yesterdays post could be read as quite harsh and perhaps difficult to read. I hope that today's brings encouragement, yet also furthers you along your path of obedience to where the Father is calling you. ***** Being in a season of transition (physically, occupationally, spiritually), I've been more acutely aware of common struggles that are ...

"I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs, or of goats." Isaiah 1v11b "Cease to do evil, learn to do good;  seek justice, correct oppression;  bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." -Isaiah 1v17 I've been writing a lot recently about our culture, specifically Christian culture, and how we are doing. At times these thoughts have crept into "real-life" conversations and have often lead to arguments - as I fear some people take these questions as accusations rather than conversation and invitation to help identify issues and mold our lives to better reflect the Kingdom of God. I'm hoping that this is a better platform to flesh out these thoughts and ideas - as well as to hopefully get insight from others.  This morning I read Isaiah 1-5 and the two verses above stood out to me. I love Isaiah, partly because of his writing style - and partly because of the heart and message within each chapter. He ...

This morning I am asking myself the question of where the line is drawn between vocal assent to an idea and a life that portrays true conviction of that idea. I've realized that much of life is held in conversation. Sometimes this "conversation" is had between an individual and Youtube or a book - other times it is had between two individuals. This is how ideas spread, convictions are developed - and theoretically, how change begins. Today however, I am not convinced that this truly impacts the live of the individual and, more broadly, history. I think back to people like Martin Luther King Jr. and question whether he ever asked these questions. Did he question whether it was okay for him to limit his pursuit of justice to the pulpit and pen? Or was he, from the beginning, yolked to the unquestionable understanding that action was the only logical next step to his ideas? And it's not just MLKJ - it's really anyone whose name we remember. In a way, I believe th...