What's RIGHT with America?

 

“The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor, and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.” John F. Kennedy 

  When was the last time you heard a news report or commentary on what’s right about America? Maybe on the 4^th of July or some other national holiday, you might hear or see posts about what people love and appreciate about America but it’s not the normal fare. Both left and right-wing media increase ratings by highlighting what’s wrong with America. Even Christian organizations use crisis and impending doom to raise funds. 

  Please understand, that America has its share of problems but what country would you rather live in? If America is so bad, why is it that so many from other countries seek to immigrate here? In fact, over three times as many people immigrate to the U.S. than the next most popular country which is Germany. Both Canada and Australiahave have half of even Germany's numbers who seek to immigrate there. In spite of the benefits of socialism and Marxism that are sometimes spouted as improvements over our system, very few actually immigrate to socialist or Marxist nations. 

  God’s people are to be grateful and He wants us to be thankful for the many blessings He’s given us (James 1:17) in America. That’s not to say that there aren’t problems that need to be addressed, yet our spiritual health and witness is affixed to our grateful outlook for His blessings. This is why most of us need to limit our media intake and even social media. It’s often mental junk food that directs our minds toward anger, anxiety or depression. If you narrowly focus on the news, economics, morality, and politics in general, then you’ll overlook the many blessings that God has given us in America. Let me share just a few of the many blessings we have as Americans. 

  We have freedom of religion. Around the world eight believers are martyred every day and 182 Churches are ravaged each week. More than 360 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution for their faith. Many Christians worship in secret in fear of arrest. Very few have Bibles. 

  Slavery was a horrible cancer in America and Britain. If it had not been the freedom of religion, it might still be legal today. Slavery is driven by a love for money and profitability. Horribly there were Christians who worshipped money more than God and neglected that God had created every person as Imago Dei, (made in the image of God). But the Quakers got it and even before the Constitution was ratified protested against slavery and wanted it abolished as part of the Constitution. British statesman, William Wilberforce, fought to end slavery until his death. There’s a connection that in the many countries where slavery is still legal or “illegal” yet allowed, none have religious freedom. Because of religious freedom, philanthropic organizations like Goodwill, YMCA, the Salvation Army, and countless hospitals were started by religious individuals. 

  We have economic freedom and opportunity. Why do so many immigrate to America? Because it’s the land of opportunity. You can have any job that you want. You have the right to own property, including your own home and car. You can own your own business. One has the freedom to produce, trade, and consume goods and services acquired without the use of force, fraud, or theft. While we unfortunately have increasing governmental oversight, entrepreneurs still thrive and are successful.  

  The Sugar Bowl Bakery founder Andrew Ly fled Vietnam after the U.S. pulled out in 1975. After living in a Malaysian refugee camp, Ly arrived in the U.S. with just a dollar to his name in 1979. In 1984, Ly and his four brothers pooled their savings and opened the Sugar Bowl Bakery, which went on to be a $400 million dollar business. Iranian-born Ahmad Meradji, the CEO of Booklogix moved to America from Iran at 21. After working as a busboy and doing other menial jobs, he climbed the corporate ladder and in 2006 started his own self-publishing service, Booklogix, which today is worth $4.5 million. America is the land of opportunity.

  We have a justice system that protects the rights of individuals. While our justice system has problems, it surpasses that of much of the world. One can’t be arrested without cause. Most Americans in an emergency will still dial 911 and be confident that law enforcement or emergency personnel will come to their aid. We have laws against unlawful detention and discrimination and the right to a speedy trial with a jury of your peers. There is to be impartiality amongst judicial officers. Discrimination against women and the violation of fundamental human rights is illegal. 

   We have a representative form of government. Though all of the political advertising can be irritating, we have free and open elections. We have an open government that shares information, empowers citizens with tools to hold the Government accountable, and fosters and encourages the participation of its citizens in the deliberation of public policy. If a law or situation is unjust, we have the right to assemble and protest. Unlike in many countries, peaceful protesters are not arrested, beaten or shot. 

  We live in the land of plenty. While there is a supply chain shortage and some items are either difficult to obtain or more limited or more costly than in the past, the shelves of our grocery stores are still filled. Not only that there are multiple grocery stores to choose from, not to mention fruit and vegetable stands and farmers’ markets in nearly every community. We have so much that there are thrift stores and discount stores that sell second-hand goods of items that others have discarded.

  Compared to much of the world even those in poverty are “wealthy.” The word poverty suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter, yet only a small number of the 35 million persons classified as “poor” by the Census Bureau fit that description. Most of America’s poor live in material conditions that would be judged well-off compared to much of the world. 46% of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by those classified as poor is a three bedroom house with one and a half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio. 76% have air conditioning. As a group, America’s poor are far from being chronically undernourished. Even our poor are not as poor as much of the world.

  Does America have problems? Yes. Yet, we have countless blessings given to us by God and we need to thank Him for His goodness to us! 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Immigration and Heavenly Citizenship

“Prejudice is a learned trait.

You’re not born prejudiced; you’re taught it.”   

Charles Swindoll  

  Gustave Le Bon was one of the first scholars to write about crowds as group entities separate from the individual people within them. His 1895 book, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, shaped academic discussions for half a century and encouraged 20^th century fascist dictators, including Hitler and Mussolini, to treat crowds as emotional organisms — something to be manipulated and controlled. Take, for example, the effect fear has on a crowd. A panicked crowd can lose all semblance of rationality, charging madly and trampling anyone who can’t keep up.

  Politicians and those in the media are often master manipulators. Rather than using logical, reasoned arguments – they abuse emotional arguments, investing large sums researching trigger points to manipulate the populace.

  Yet, too often we in the Church are manipulated by those in this world system, forgetting that we’re first citizens of another world and Kingdom.

  One of the most highly charged subjects in America are ethnic differences and immigration. Personally, I think many in places of power want to do little other than keep the problem emotionalized. Problem-solving is not in their best interest. The media increases their ratings and politicians can rally their base by throwing them “red meat” rather reasonable solutions.  

  God’s Word has much to say about immigrants and “strangers.” Though written to the nation of Israel, “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:33-34), the principles apply to us, the Church. As “strangers” in this world, we’ve been shown great mercy and grace. It’s imperative then that as God’s people, we also show great mercy and grace. But many Christians mime the talking points of a secular world when it comes to immigrants. We devolve into nationalism when our focus should be evangelism. Our first commitment must be the Great Commission.

  Is it right to have political opinions? Yes, but they must always be subordinate to Kingdom mandates. For example, people will nearly go ballistic about being asked to press a certain number if you speak English but another number, if you speak Spanish. They’ll pontificate that if you come to America, you should learn to speak English. But is it really a big deal? As a Christian, should I be more concerned that someone from another culture and country knows the language of the gospel than how to speak English? Shouldn’t that be my primary concern?

  Two books of the Bible focus on immigrants: Ruth and Philemon. Jesus’ most popular parable portrays a despised foreigner as a hero showing mercy when nationals (and religious leaders failed), the Good Samaritan.

  Ruth has many of the traits that enrage many Americans. She’s from an enemy country, one that attacked Israel in the past. She’s very poor, so poor that the Law had welfare provisions for those in her situation that cost profit to citizens. No doubt she had an accent and dressed differently. Yet, the book of Ruth is not only a great love story, it flows with grace, mercy and redemption. God’s hand was on Ruth’s life, so much so that she’s in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 1:5).

  In Paul’s letter to his friend, Philemon, he writes of a runaway slave, Onesimus. As a runaway slave, Roman law justifies the death penalty. Yet, how does Paul respond?

  Paul bases his logic on love rather than authority — both his and that of Roman law. He steps in as the advocate on behalf of the criminal who’s now become a brother in Christ. He requests that Philemon receive the runaway as a brother, and even as if he were Paul himself. Hospitality is no small issue in the Roman world. Paul personally accepts any debt, moral or economic, and asks Philemon to charge it to Paul’s account. Finally, Paul expects Philemon to do even more than Paul has asked.

  What would happen to the gospel, to our mission, if rather than reacting as Americans first, we responded to immigrants as we see patterned for us in Ruth and Philemon, as Christ-followers? Foundational to our mission is the command of our Lord to “make disciples of all nations.” The arrival of immigrants into our neighborhoods have brought the nations to our doorsteps. This movement of people is not an accident. The God who made all people also “determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live…so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him” (Acts 17:26-27). While economic and sociological reasons drive people groups to migrate, God sovereignly superintends the movement of people so that they might come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and follow Him as disciples. This is why it’s so important for believers to combat the strain of anti-immigrant attitudes that pervade American society.

  Christ-followers cannot see foreign neighbors as an intrusion to our way of life, but as God’s sovereign opportunity for Christ to be expressed in this world. The immigrant who arrives may be a brother or sister to be added to our fellowship, or a lost soul in need of the gospel. We must first be Kingdom motivated not nationalistic. We are heavenly citizens and King Jesus’ values must be our mandate! This world is not our home! 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

The Blessing of the Pope vs. Trump

“The only thing of our very own which we contribute to our salvation is the sin which makes it necessary.” William Temple

  I can’t think of many things I am truly thankful for in the current adversarial political arena, but I was truly thankful for the Pope Francis’ recent suggestion that Donald Trump is not Christian. The Pope said, “a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.” I was very thankful he said it. I probably should have sent him a “thank you” note. Yet, what I’m thankful for is probably not what you are thinking. As soon as I heard the story, I thought “what a great opportunity to clearly explain the Gospel!”

  In all honesty, I don’t have a solution for the immigration issue. While I believe a country must protect its borders and has a right to protect its sovereignty, at the same time, the United States has had an open door policy for immigrants since its conception. It’s why our Statue of Liberty has this poem inscribed on it:

“Give me your tired, your poor, 

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

 

  Our long term national care for the disenfranchised and suffering goes back to our Judeo-Christian history and heritage. It’s because of our “Christian” heritage that immigrants desire to come here. There’s not a long list of people trying to immigrate to China or Cuba.

  The Bible has much to say about immigrants in our midst. For example, “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:21). It does not though give us a clear policy or even suggestions of how to legislate about immigration. Personally, I feel, while many have come here illegally, unless they’re criminals and not desiring to become citizens and/or better themselves, it’s cruel to send them back. It’s also unacceptable to tear apart families. Yet, it seems to me both parties use suffering people groups as a political football to incite emotion to gain mileage with their constituency. If they were primarily concerned about what’s best for America and immigrants, a reasonable solution could be worked out…please don’t hold your breath.

  Yet, my real point is that the Pope suggested someone was NOT Christian because of something they DO. That’s not what the Bible teaches or the Gospel says. It does point up the polarization of two completely different religious or worldviews. Essentially, there are only two religions or belief systems…and they’re quite simple – DO and DONE.

  In his comments, the Pope is suggesting one must DO something to be a Christian. Yet, the Bible clearly says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). What does one do for a gift? Nothing. For once you must “DO” something to obtain that gift, it ceases to be a one. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” God’s grace is absolutely free. Once you DO something or work for it, it ceases to be grace. More than that, you can’t DO anything – nothing, zilch, nada “not a result of works.”

  Building a wall, not building a wall, being moral, going to church, giving lots of money, being nice – none of it has anything to do with being a Christian. Doing something, doing anything will no more make you a Christian, than climbing over a wall will make you a citizen.

  God gave His only Son, Jesus, to die on the Cross to pay our huge debt for our sins. It’s a free gift. It’s all DONE. The only thing that remains is to accept it. In fact, to think one can DO something to somehow pay God back for the gift of the life of His precious Son is an insult to the Father. As George Whitfield said, “What! Get to heaven on your own strength? Why, you might as well try to climb to the moon on a rope of sand!”  

  The Bible also teaches I don’t know who is a Christian, neither do you and neither does the Pope. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Only God knows who is truly a Christian. While if someone is a Christian, there should be indicators or what Scripture calls fruit (Matthew 7:16), only God knows who has truly accepted His free gift of salvation and is truly a Christian.

  One cannot DO anything to become a Christian, other than accept God’s free gift of salvation because Jesus has DONE it all. One can also not DO anything to keep their salvation. The Bible calls salvation “eternal life.”

  How long is eternal? How then can someone lose what is eternal? As Romans 8:35, 38-39 says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Wow! You can’t DO anything to earn it and you can’t DO anything to lose it! It’s all DONE.

  That’s because when Jesus died on the Cross for our sins, the sin debt as huge and as unfathomable as that huge debt is, it’s still a finite amount. Yet, when the Son of God died, His sacrifice was an infinite death – every sin, past (all the way back to Adam,) present and future (all the way to infinity and beyond) was paid for. It’s all DONE.

  Is Donald Trump a Christian? I don’t know. I do know that according to the Bible, it has nothing to do with what he will DO or not DO. If he is a Christian, it’s only because of what Jesus has DONE and that Donald Trump has accepted God’s free gift of salvation. Jesus death has DONE it all. No sin is too great. Even the most heinous sin is paid for, even my sin…and I’m truly the worst sinner I know. It’s DONE. Have you accepted God’s free gift of salvation? Is it a DONE deal for you?

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