"It is not only the freedom of the oppressed that is at stake ... but also the liberation of the oppressor."
- Allan Boesak,South African minister

Preach it Preacha'!!

"The one consistency of the saint is not to a principle, but to the Divine life. It is the Divine life which continually makes more and more discoveries about the Divine mind. It is easier to be a fanatic than a faithful soul, because there is something amazingly humbling, particularly to our religious conceit, in being loyal to God." Oswald Chambers

I'm getting older too...

There have been a handful of moments in my life in which I felt "this is what I what I exist to do." 

The first of which was during the summer of 2006, my first week as a camp counselor.  There was only one other week of Camp I'd ever experienced that was as bad as this one--and the first one I wasn't the counselor, meaning I just was a witness to the slaughter.  ;0)

All of my 13-16 yr old girls were "saved," or so they thought ;0)  I remember our room, that it was stifling hot that week and we all wet paper towels to sleep with just to get a little relief...I had two girls who blatantly told me what I was going to do as their counselor all week long--I tried to control the situation the best I knew how, but it was only my first week and I used to be a big softy--I distinctly remember laying on my bed during nap time, writing to the Lord...pouring out all of my anguish and inadequacy....I remember finally having enough, trying to speak through my tears to my boss about two girls who needed to go home right before the last campfire....walking them to the office while they just screamed and verbally assaulted me...and if that wasn't enough action to make me quit, then at 2AM the next morning, I was awoken by one of the girls who had a dream/visions of the devil attacking her. Her nickname was Queena, hilariously enough.  She was "the tough girl."  I had to convince her to get out of bed, she was terrified and covered in sweat---we got out into the lounge and she was borderline hyperventilating.  She said she felt pain, she felt him hurting her, and saw him, etc, etc.  I vividly remember holding her face with both of my hands, and staring into her desperate eyes, and just assuring her of God's truth--of why she didn't have to fear--of His presence, of His power--any scripture verse I could think of dealing with fighting fear...just pouring truth into her.   And I remember thinking at some point--this is exactly what God created me for.  There have been so many people I've encountered in which I've just wanted to grab their face and pour all the truth I know into them, but it wasn't appropriate (if that makes sense).  I think I treasure that moment with Queena so much because I was able to do that which, at the core of who I am--is exactly what I desire to make my life about.  Grabbing the face of an individual crushed by the lies of Satan, and assuring them of hope, truth, someone who loves them.  That's a significant part as to why I love Camp so much.  To be able to love God through who you are fully, without feeling the need for reservation because in that community is recognition of dependence on one another, dependence on God for everything---everyone is lacking, but that's what makes us great...we find hope in/through each other.  

And now a word from our sponsors...

I love John Tesh's radio program. Here's a little snippet....

Top 5 Germiest Things
Ranked according to which were found to be most contaminated:
Movie theatre seats which have more germs than public bathroom surfaces.
Gym equipment
Park benches
Bank countertops
The number 1 germiest thing: The rails and armrests on public buses
But here's something you may not have realized your desk at work is loaded with germs! The typical desk harbors 400 times more germs than the average toilet seat! And a cold virus can survive for 72 hours on your computer keyboard, telephone, or the handle on the office microwave.

Foul!!

Somewhere in the middle of sorting through...

1. I don't find it remarkable, courageous, hopeful, inspiring, etc. that "so many" people registered to vote, turned out to vote this election. I haven't fact checked yet, but my Dad told me that more people turned out for the 2004 election. The only increase was in how many African Americans voted. Even so, we were still around the 60% mark in terms of turn out. I'm going to ask the Lord someday what those other 40% were up to.
Anyway, back to my first sentence...given what we know about humanity and the realities of our nature, it just doesn't make sense that we would become remarkably "better", for one thing. For another thing, the words "remarkable..courageous..hopeful...inspring" suggest people having to overcome some difficulty to make a choice. From where I'm sitting, there is nothing difficult in voting for Obama except the whole killing innocent babies...expanding our government's reach where it wasn't intended to be..etc. Those are difficult because they are wrong. There's nothing difficult in voting for the man more likely to put more green bills in your pocket, the man more likely to understand your situation..(if you are brushing the other things under the rug). It's not brave to vote for someone who will give you material relief while advocating for murder for convienence sake. Wouldn't it seem to be more hopeful that people would choose "right-because it's right" over "wrong- because it benefits me?" Choosing universal health care isn't courageous. It puts responsibility on someone else, so the rest of us don't have to take care of those people in the way they should be taken care of--by the church, not the government. It's the Gospel of Acts...not the Gospel of the Senate Chamber. I'm not hating on Obama--but I've heard people being called brave for voting for him too many times. I've never heard anyone called brave for voting for McCain.
2. The whole "it's so great that Obama inspired all the young people to get out and vote.." be real. If you are under 25, your brain is underdeveloped. If you are a male and 25, it might still be underdeveloped ;0) Why would we celebrate a mass migration of people who have (on average)1. little context for these decisions 2. little knowledge of the context that exists 3. are significantly more likely to vote based on emotion/convienence/what they heard from the media 4. whose brain is not yet developed to reason to the extent that it could. I'm 22--I admit that I am lacking things that would be of help in these situations, and that will mostly come with time/experience--that's not an excuse, but I know my peers. I'm not celebrating their mass migration for one candidate. If you are a fair-weather voter, you need to change.
3. (Extension of 1) These people who so courageously came to the polls in mass hoards--where were they before? This is the first time some people have had the opportunity to get what they want...of course they are going to flock. This was my first year of opportunity to get free Starbucks for voting: I flocked. Should they have flocked when it wouldn't have been so benefical? Absolutely. That would've been admirable, b/c it's hard to do the right thing when it doesn't feel nice.
I guess I just don't understand what it means that I should be proud of counties, cities, states that went to Obama. Enlightenment in this area would be appreciated. I know this blog has a tone. I just don't know what to do with these things except make them look pretty with sarcasm.

Good Ol Oswald

"Our hope is not found in our own ability to love well, but in God's unchanging love for us." Oswald Chambers

Where to start...

It turns out I made a false claim in my first blog, regarding voting for either candidate. In the end, I voted McCain. There are a lot of thoughts and feelings I can't exactly place or describe, now that all is said and done. Mostly, I think I have too many thoughts about too many things...hence the joyous existence of this blog.
I guess my first response last night, and even tonight is outrage. Let me clarify, I feel outraged that despite my several intentional initiatives to get to the bottom of the hogwash in this campaign-I still got duped in the end. I was pointed towards an article that outlined Obama's extremely pro-abortion intentions. It's one thing to let it remain legal, it's another to promise to federally fund it and advocate that fetus' surviving abortion should be killed because their fate was already decided...with a side of repealing partial-birth ban. Part of me is taken aback by the high skill level of his rhetoric and remarkable ability to spin everything he says to the degree that so many millions vote for him without even realizing what they are really voting for---and I'm not even talking things he's hiding, I'm talking things he's said he'd do all along that the media convienently "left out" of the picture. Don't get me wrong, I've never trusted the media when it comes to Democrats/Liberals especially--but they've taken it to a whole new level. I have no doubt that I could've done better at researching, that my passion regarding abortion is lacking, but I also feel like the effort is lacking hope, at this point in my life. I'm sure I'll 'get back on the horse,' but I'm definately going to take a time-out to develop my strategy more.
My second response was anger at myself and, later, ignorant Christians. It's such a struggle for me to simply "fight against abortion." I see what a spectacle the issue has been made with little headway in the actual solution department, I see Christians ignorant of issues outside of abortion...making abortion the only issue and pointing fingers at Christians who don't choose their political candidate based solely on abortion---and somewhere along the way of me fighting against those things, I forgot to actually fight against abortion. There are very, very few things in the world that have done more damage than ignorant Christians. That's a broad statement, that could probably be made broader and argued to death--but right now I just want to bitch about our idiocy. The great thing about politics is that it's all for one, and one for all. Meaning, we're all in this together--in guilt or in joy. There's no "them" or "us"--the bottom line is that we've all got our hand in the cookie jar.
Am I concerned that the Lord isn't in control or able to provide good things for his children these next four years? No. I am heartbroken at the reality of where we are as a people. I am sorry for him. I'm sorry that I've contributed to this, and that we are so fallen.
It'll be interesting to see how the next four years go. I feel like I have no leg to stand on, and that my best bet would be to put my head between my legs and tell my butt "I might have to kiss you goodbye soon." In the meantime, I'm making it my priority to find helpful sources of information for us and to encourage you to pray for wisdom. For starters, I found a book entitled "The 15 biggest lies in Politics" by Major Garrett and Timothy Penny--highly recommend it, very enlightening.
In other news, I really enjoyed my first went-to-the-polls voting experience---I went at 5:55 AM and was one of at least 40---and it was double that by the time I left at 6:25.

Another thought by Shane..

I know most of you will probably vote before I post this, not that I'm posting it to change your vote...but I think it has changed mine.

"One way to look at voting is that it is damage control -– not so much voting for something as it is voting against something worse. We must do everything we can to reduce the destruction done by the principalities and powers, and voting may be one way to do that. Being an agent of God’s kingdom, transformation means calling out the best that the state can do, and not expecting it to be our savior." Shane Claiborne