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Compassionate Conservative?

Posted in government, Love, Money, Prayer, The Body, The Father, The Righteous on October 9, 2012|

9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ Zechariah 7:9-10 NIV

Compassionate conservatism is a political philosophy that stresses using traditionally conservative techniques and concepts in order to improve the general welfare of society (Wikipedia Encyclopedia).  It is a term that President George W. Bush identified with when he ran for office in 2000.  The idea was that conservatives were motivated by compassion.  This is what President George Bush said about himself.  Many republicans at that time were talking about the importance of compassionate conservatism.  However, I wonder where that compassion has gone.

I have been astounded by the rhetoric of anger, fear, and hatred that I have heard from those claiming to be conservative or republican in speaking about the direction this country is going and the current administration.  The Republican Party seems to have been hijacked by a small group of right wing individuals who promote hate and fear.   They have made the republicans look like the main thing that matters to them is money.  They are tired of paying for programs that benefit the less fortunate or cringe at the idea that somehow their wealth will be redistributed to the poor or minorities who are viewed as being lazy or dependent upon government handouts.

The Republican Party has stood against abortion and stood for traditional marriage which is what entices many Christians to the party.  We even use terms as the Christian Right who have been vocal critiques of the liberal policies that make abortion legal and desire to allow gays to marry.  Despite the Republicans’ stance on these issues the recent rhetoric for the past four years has given me great pause and I ask where is the compassion?

How is it that policies that have favored the poor, immigrants or minorities are the very policies that are driving our nation to the brink of destruction?  Why is it that when the first black President is elected there were those who questioned his birth right, and called him names including Hitler, a Marxist or whatever negative term that would bring about fear and loathing?  But I don’t expect that much from those that are motivated by money or are more concerned about their balance sheets and profit margins.  I do expect more from Christians.  Where is the love and compassion?

As much as the current administration has been criticized by the Christian right for their policies concerning abortion and marriage they have remained silent about those in the republican party spouting fear, hate and anger.  Some have even fed the rhetoric by repeating what they hear.  Things like our country is headed for destruction and God will judge us if we support the current administration or Democratic Party.  They have not criticized those within the party that are spouting all this negativity.  Where is the hope?  Why all the doom and gloom?  Compassion has been thrown out the window.

I have been truly baffled by all of this.  I have prayed for understanding but I keep going back to love and compassion.  Jesus said that the world would know His disciples by the love that they have for one another.  Instead fear has been the driving factor in this election season by the Republicans who claim that God on their platform unlike the Democrats who tried to remove God from their platform.  I guess we should at least give the Democrats credit for being honest instead of purporting to be followers of God but not displaying the characteristics of God.

Let’s leave politics to the politicians and corporations that support them.  The church is to be about the business of God.  If the government is not going to provide justice, compassion and mercy to the people it is the church’s responsibility.

We can’t just support making abortion illegal without offering a solution for women and those babies born to parents that can’t care for them or do not want to care for them.  We need to provide them with a safe place where they will find compassion and mercy, not judgment and hate.  If we do not want the government providing the poor or minorities with programs that benefit their education, finding work, health benefits, etc. then the church has to step up.

When these right wing conservatives are crying foul and speaking doom and gloom; the church needs to step up and provide hope and love to a lost and hurting people.  We should not be standing behind them rooting them on in hopes that their rhetoric will encourage people not to support the current administration or Democratic Party.  How often have we demonized the current administration and those that are part of the Democratic Party?  Since when did they become our enemy?

The direction of our nation is not dependent upon those who do not know God.  They are doing what they know to do.  We can’t expect them to walk in righteousness.  However, the direction of the nation is dependent upon the righteous.  If the nation is headed toward moral decay or destruction then we have to look to ourselves and judge ourselves before God.  Are we fulfilling the great commission that Jesus gave us?

If we would show the mercy and compassion toward others that God has shown to us then we will find favor and compassion with whatever party or person that occupies the white house.  The bible is full of examples of godly men and women that found favor with kings and governments that lived contrary to them.

We should be celebrating everything that is right in this country and provide light and hope in those dark places.  Fear, hate, and anger should never be part of our vocabulary or conversation because it was never with Jesus.  Our hearts should long for the salvation of every lost soul and compassion and mercy toward all.  We can hate sin but not the sinner.  We should be building up and not tearing down.

I hope one day Republicans will return to the idea of compassionate conservatism.  Remember the bible teaches us that if we seek first the Kingdom that all these things will be added to us.  If we give to the poor we will not have to worry about our riches.  What we do for others God will do for us.  The church knows this message and it is time we begin to teach it to the nation.  The lust and love of money is the root of all evil but love, compassion and mercy is the very DNA of our living God.

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Trust Gold or Trust God?

Posted in Money on November 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »

24 “If I have put my trust in gold
   or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
   the fortune my hands had gained,
26 if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
   or the moon moving in splendor,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed
   and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,
28 then these also would be sins to be judged,
   for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.  Job 31:24-28 NIV

Often times we find security in things other than God.  For instance, we may look at our job as our source of income and financial security.  We can’t imagine what we would do without our jobs or money.  This nightmare is becoming a reality for many people today.  So many people are looking for security in other places instead of God.  When the stock market was booming many were putting all their retirement money into stocks in hopes they would be a millionaire by the time they retired.  But the stock market crashed, and many lost all their retirement, some even lost their homes and other assets.

We can’t overlook that God is our provider, and put our faith and trust in Him.  We can’t always trust in our jobs to keep us employed or others to take care of us.  We can’t trust in temporal things but we are to trust in eternal things.  We must trust Him, and put Him first in our lives.  To put everything else above God is unfaithfulness on our part.  We should not hold our wealth or the splendor of life over God.  God is jealous and He will not compete with anything or anyone.

And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. Matthew 22:37-38

 

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Trust God for Provision

Posted in Money, The Father on June 17, 2011| 1 Comment »

24 “If I have put my trust in gold
   or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
   the fortune my hands had gained,
26 if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
   or the moon moving in splendor,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed
   and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,
28 then these also would be sins to be judged,
   for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.  Job 31:24-28 NIV

Often times we find security in things other than God.  For instance, we may look at our job as our source of income and financial security.  We can’t imagine what we would do without our jobs or money.  Today is evidence that many people are looking for security in other places.  When the stock market was booming everyone was saying to put your money in stocks so that when you retire you will be a millionaire. but the stock market crashed.  Many lost tens of thousands of dollars in retirement and investment funds.

We can’t overlook that God is our provider, and put our faith and trust in Him.  We can’t always trust in our jobs to keep us employed or others to take care of us.  We can’t trust in temporal things but we are to trust in eternal things.  We must trust God, and put God first in our lives.  To put anything else above God is unfaithfulness on our part.  We should not hold our wealth or the splendor of life over God.  God is jealous and He will not compete with anything or anyone.

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No Slaves in Heaven

Posted in Heaven, Knowing God, Money, The Father, The Word on May 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. Proverbs 22:7

The average person has some type of financial debt that they owe to a bank, financial institution, company, school, hospital, IRS or person(s).  Many of us owe money on our homes, cars, education, etc.  These lenders have the power to repossess our property, foreclose on our homes, or impose massive financial penalties for late payments and our inability to pay.  In essence we are slaves to these lenders. 

For years our family has been trying to pay down our debts.  We have consulted financial advisors, read books on money management, cut expenses, and worked out a budget.  Yet still we live paycheck to paycheck like most people trying to make ends meet.  In this time when gas and food prices are increasing the looming debts that we owe overshadow our finances.  We have spent years paying our mortgage but when we look at our principle loan amount not much of it has been paid, most of the money goes toward the interest.  I do praise God for the provision but honestly the burden of debt has gotten to be too much.  It seems to only bring stress, worry and doubts about the future.  So I did the only thing I could do and I cried out to God.

I told God we have not robbed Him.  We pay our tithes and offerings.  We have listened to man’s wisdom and strategy.  We have done our best to be good stewards with the money God has entrusted us with, but still we are bound to these lenders where most of our money goes toward paying off debts.

Is God willing to cancel our debts?  I pondered this question as I struggled on how to pray.  I know that God has paid our sin debt through the blood of Jesus.  Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection sin and death no longer have power over us.  What about our financial debts?  Is it our responsibility to get ourselves out of debt since we got ourselves in debt in the first place?  These questions caused me to doubt God’s willingness to get us out of this burdensome situation.  Then I heard God ask “Are there slaves in heaven?”

I thought about it.  There are no slaves in heaven.  Then I remembered Jesus teaching His disciples to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  It is not the will of God that we be slaves on earth.  He does not want us to be enslaved by lenders.  So what do we do?  We pray that God’s will be done, and we surrender to God’s will for our finances.  We trust God for wisdom and direction in getting ourselves out of these situations.  It may require some tough decisions and a lot of discipline.  With God all things are possible.

So if you are in debt and feel enslaved by your lenders then know that is not the will of God.  There are no slaves in heaven.  You do not have to wait until you get to heaven to be free.  For whom the Son sets free is free indeed.  Be encouraged and believe that God can and will free us from any situation we find ourselves in.   We shouldn’t have to work for money, money should work for us.

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Lovers of Money are Never Satisfied

Posted in Money on August 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.  Ecclesiastes 5:10

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:10

If one lusts after money, then one is never satisfied with money.  When a person loves money above all things they will do whatever it takes to get money which leads to all kinds of evil.

In the U.S. everyone has been affected by the greed of Wall Street.  Many companies doctored their books to make it look like they were more profitable than they seemed and lied to investors about their worth.  Mortgage brokers popped up everywhere and gave out mortgage loans to anyone that wanted one and deceived people into taking on debts they could not afford.  Now we are reaping the financial disaster of such greed by just a few.

God never intended for us to be controlled by money.  He knows our hearts can be enticed away from Him by money.  The bible gives great wisdom and insight about handling money.  It is easy for money to become an idol and God to come last.  It is just not the rich who lust after money but many people who do not have money lust after it.  They work and work to make money.  They hold onto their money never giving or seeking to serve God.  People have left the church because of money issues and in turn have suffered many griefs.

There are some basic principles in the bible about handling money, and if we put God above all things and steward money the way God tells us then we will prosper and we will have more than enough.  We will not wander from the faith but instead we will help spread the Kingdom of God in the earth.

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God and Money

Posted in Money on July 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matthew 6:24 NIV

Whoever or whatever we serve, becomes a master over us.  If you serve money it becomes master over you and you are subject to its laws and principles.  For example, if you have debt the one that you owe a debt to has power over you.  Even the bible says debtors are slaves to lenders.

In man’s economy debt is good and most people who are wealthy are in debt.  There are multibillion dollar businesses that make money just from people that are in debt to them.  Many of us end up in debt because we buy things we cannot afford.  Also, for many years we were told we needed credit (which is a debt history) to buy things like cars and houses.  When we buy a house we spend more on interest than we do on the actual price of the house.  We believe the lie of money and debt.  When we no longer have the money to pay the debt then the lender comes and takes our property and we suffer as a result.  So we have become slave to the master of money.

God never intended for us to serve money.  God wants us to serve Him.  By serving God, money can’t rule us because God is over us.  We have the promises of God that He will supply all of our needs and we do not need to be concerned about money.  Actually, God’s design is that money serves us and that we are never a slave to money.  That is why many principles in the bible concerning money are contrary to man’s economics.  Just like the example above man says “debt is necessary” but God says debt makes you a slave to the lender.

So which master would you prefer to serve – God or Money?

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Sowing and Reaping

Posted in Money, Sowing and Reaping on July 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

 7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.  Galatians 6:7

There are some principles in the Kingdom of God that also rule in the earth and affect everyone.  Sowing and reaping is one of those principles.  Whether or not you believe in God, everyone will reap what they sow.  Another principle in sowing and reaping is that we always reap more than we sow.  For example, if you plant one seed from an apple, you will get an apple tree with hundreds of apples containing five seeds.  These same principles apply to money.

We know that wherever we put our money we will get some sort of return.  That is why many people invest in the stock market, bonds, gold, money market accounts, etc.  What we try and figure out is the best place to invest our money, or sow. 

What we sow is as important as where we sow, because where we sow determines what we will reap.  In man’s economy if you invest in a high risk stock you may get a high return, but your risk in losing everything is much higher.  So not only do you risk losing the investment you made but also any gains that you have made in that investment.  If you invest in a low risk traditional long term investment your return may be small but you will reap something in the long term and reap more than you sowed in the beginning.

As Christians we are given a choice to sow into the earth or sow into the Kingdom of God.  This also pertains to our money.  There are certain principles of money that govern the earth and certain ones that govern the Kingdom.  The question is which has a better return on our investment?

Anything created by man is temporary, and everything pertaining to the Kingdom of God is eternal.  If we sow into things created by man we will reap temporary things.  If we sow into the Kingdom we will reap eternal things.

Many of us know the principles of money pertaining to the economy.  Unfortunately, many do not know the principles of money pertaining to the Kingdom of God.  Many of the principles in the Kingdom contradict the principles in economics created by man. 

Remember this that the principle of sowing and reaping are the same on earth and in the Kingdom – YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

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What Recession?

Posted in Money on July 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »

22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
         And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.  Proverbs 13:22

 8He who increases his wealth by interest and usury
         Gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor.  Proverbs 28:8

In economics we understand a recession to be a period of economic decline in the gross domestic product for a period of two quarters or six months.  Since 2008, the United States has been in a recession.  This year there was talk of the economy recovering but there is concern that the economy will begin to retract again.  However, there is a second definition of recession and that is a “return of ownership to a former possessor” (Dictionary.com Unabridged).

The economic recession that we are currently in has been mainly rooted in those who inflated their corporate books, and bought and sold inflated stock.  As a result many who invested in these companies or stock lost millions and millions of dollars.  A lot of the problems the economy is facing are based on greed and deception by those who wanted to get rich.  In the process many innocent people lost their jobs, pensions and livelihood.  As Wall Street and Corporate America try to get back on top in this recession, there is another recession going on according to God.  It is a return of the wealth going back to the righteous.

In Proverbs, we see that the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous and those who increase their wealth by interest and usury are actually gathering wealth for those who are gracious to the poor.  We should begin to expect a return of wealth to the righteous.

The principles of money established by man differ from the biblical principles of money in the Kingdom of God.  Things in the earth are temporary and that which is in the Kingdom of God is eternal.  As Christians we should follow the principles of money as outlined in the bible.  By following these principles we can experience the return of wealth as stated in the above scriptures.

In this next series we will be looking at what the bible says about money and how we are to govern money.  Money should never govern us.

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