Stewardship

I love the outdoors. When weather permits open water I fish like a madman. While I engage in this pastime I contemplate God, and His multitude of blessings on us in the world He created. Though our planet groans under the curse of sin, it is beautiful still. As the fall turns to early winter and the cover of leaves is shed, they expose the human shame of thoughtlesness. I am always shocked to see the vast amount of litter we heap upon Gods` creation, as if it were a matt on which to wipe our feet.
I am reminded of the late 1960`s commercial where a Native American sheds a tear over the soiling of this land and think, he must be an arid husk by now. I try to turn my gaze to a part of the riverbank, woods, or shoreline where I may not see beer cans or soda bottles, cigarette butts, plastic wrappers, discarded CD`s, or snarled fishing line. I have yet to find such a place on any public land, and I walk over alot of it in the nine or so months a year The Lord provides me to fish His waters.
Disconcerted, I look out over the gently rippling water to sooth the sadness. Not suprisingly the sharp corner of twisted metal pipe catches my eye just below the surface, partialy wrapped in a torn plastic shopping bag swaying in the current. Shiny bits of broken glass lie in the sand at my feet, intermingled with parts of a broken plastic bobber. On the surface of the pond, the heel of a foam rubber sandal floats, through a thin film a oil from an ill maintained outboard.
As far as I have been able to figure God gave us the title of stewards over His Earth, an awesome responsibility to be sure, but a simple one. Yet my face burns with shame before the Lord at our inept handling of this concept, that we can season after season so disdain and disrespect the Father who with His own hands, built for us so marvelous a place to dwell.

Sufficiency in Scripture

In recent weeks I have begun to notice a vast difference in what people have to say about Scripture, and what Scripture actually says to people. While it is understandable, from a Biblical perspective that the unsaved can not truly understand The Word of God, I find myself agonizing over the various assumptions of professing Christians. Bear in mind I am a fairly new believer, that God has not overburdened me with intelligence, and I sometimes find it hard to imagine why He would bother to save a soul as unworthy as my own, at the expense of His Sons` life.
It may well be that like a child in love for the first time, I am simply too inexpierienced in The Word to see the problems with it that so many of my brothers and sisters seem to find.
Charismatics seem to need to add something to Salvation in Jesus Christ, to validate it. Health and wealth proponents appear to see Gods` Word as a prospectus for long painless life on earth and increased income for its` own sake. And so many leaders of so many churches seem to feel the Scriptures need to be muted or rounded off on the edges, as to better fit into the man shaped hole culture creates for them.
I read my Bible most every evening, and pray every morning. I make two Bible studies a week and attend two services, taking notes on the points of the sermons. Because of this humble attempt at immersion in The Word, I feel I have at least a basic understanding of what God has given to us in His Book.
Quite possibly, I am just plain naive. Or I`m just to simple in my approach to the Bible. I feel what I find in The Word satisfies my soul without the need to segment, add or subtract anything. Maybe one day years from now I will find the need to curb my thoughts and opinions on the Bible God has given us, as not to offend or consternate those around me. Or to enrage those who do not want to believe in absolutes. Yet I can`t help thinking that if this ever becomes the case, I will be able to remember the simple comfort I find in The Scriptures today, and sufficiency in which they fulfill every need of my soul.

Reaping what was sown

The Republican party was thoroughly trounced. As a Repub of course I am not happy with this, but it is not unexpected. Or unwarranted. The party is supposed to stand for moral and ethical value, small government spending and smart, well handled public service. If only some of the party members representing us had been told this, we would still hold the House and ( maybe) the Senate.
Reality is we don`t. I support our troops and the war in Iraq as necessary, but deplore the way it was sold to us, and the lack of direction taken from the generals in field. They are professionals, and their advice should have been heeded. As for Katrina, we are shamed before the nation as a party, I don`t know what happened there, and neither it seems does the Federal Government, as there is still much work to be done. Ethics and morals? there is no limit to the deception here. I don`t think there has ever been a group quite like this, Foly, Haggerty, Allen, Abramoff and friends, just to name some. Elected officials or not these men were supposed to be representing a higher standard. Yet with no concern for family, friends or party they crawled through the mud of homosexual sin, racism, fraud and deception when they thought no one was looking. Well God was looking, and as the unrepentant cannot escape the judgement of the Creator, elected officials have not escaped the judgement of the public.
I pray that we will take a long look at ourselves, we are a nation heading into dangerous times and we desperately need integrity and accountability in our leaders, policies and our souls. Facing us are the monsters of Political Correctness, gay marriage, legal infanticide, and terrorism. War against the traditional family values this country was founded on, and even against Christmas itself. Christmas! Without a trustworthy party to stand up for those who desire a culture of life and positive ethical and moral values, we may live to see our nation fall into the abyss of moral relativism. If we are not overrun with illegal aliens, or steamrolled by radical Muslim terrorists first.
Will the Democrats be able to pull our country together? I honestly hope so, but with a liberal value system guiding them, and no solid plan on foreign policy, The future is not looking much better in their hands.
We took a beating this midterm election because we deserved it, from every rotten politician that misrepresented the party values, to every single Christian that failed to vote.
As a conservative Christian, I place my Trust and faith in God and our savior Jesus Christ. As He is in charge, this is by His design and therefore is what is best for us, even if it is a hard lump to take at the moment. I will respect the position of those duly elected, though I may disagree with what they stand for. And, I will pray those coming to power will know and love the Lord, and that they will govern according to His will and now sow seeds of righteousness, that in the future, we will not reep the grapes of wrath.