I accepted Jesus into my heart when I was three years old. I remember it vividly. My Aunt Char sat with me in my room and I went down and told my mom that Jesus was in my heart and asked if He was in hers. And then, at fifteen, I gave my heart to Jesus. I decided that I would live my life for Him - to the best of my ability. Now, with that said, I have messed up. I have taken detours and tried to slam the door on God so many times in the last 12 years but He always was there. As Christians, we are not perfect and that's why we need God. We strive to be like God in our thoughts and actions, but we fall short - constantly, and need his forgiveness and mercy consistently.
I am now a wife and a mother to 3 almost 4 children. I have never considered myself to be political or a fanatic. I love my husband, my children and I love my Lord - all of which seems pretty normal to me. Yet recently, it seems that everything in which I stand for is coming under attack from being a stay at home mom to believing that marriage is between a man and a woman, from believing that abortion is wrong and equates to murder to the fact that our founders created this nation on the principle that God was in everything INCLUDING government and government was in as little as possible - especially in matters that pertained to God. I feel I have been normal for too long now - I feel it is time for my voice to be heard.
About ten years ago I heard a story about a pilot who was flying a plane about the distance from Seattle to Spokane. They encountered some horrible turbulence and instructed the crew to take their seats and stop all service of drinks and food. Over the loud speaker he announced, "Due to turbulence and shortness of time, we cannot provide service as usual." I feel that we, more than any recent time in history, are on the same metaphorical plane ride.
I went to church yesterday where the pastor preached about the "real Jesus." He preached on how Jesus is Christ AND Lord. Jesus isn't just the Jesus who let the little children come to him, but He is also the Lord who will be our judge on Judgment day. He said you can't have all Christ and no Lord - that's not an option. You can't have all Lord and no Christ - that's not an option. You either take the whole thing or you don't have the real thing. And that leads me to my point of this rant...
If we call ourselves "Christians" then that means we should as well consider ourselves as "Christ followers" since that is the meaning of Christian. Every choice we make should come from the inner core of who we are as Christ followers. Our choices in how we handle our relationships to the choices we make politically. Our choices in how we raise our children to our choices in when we use our voice to make a difference.
I don't understand how one can call themselves a Christian and then vote completely out of their pocket book. What about the principles in which we claim to live by? For change? Let me address change. Our country changed dramatically when prayer was taken out of schools because only 3 percent of the voting population voted to remove it and 97 percent of the voting population was silent. Let's look at the last 50 plus years of change. How's that working for you? Change is not always a good thing. Sometimes, change can be horribly crippling. I just don't know how well we will fare as "Christians" when we vote for "change" that is outspokenly opposed to who God is and what God stands for.
I am not a domestic terrorist threat because I believe that abortion has meant the mass murder of millions and millions of innocent lives. I am not a security threat because I go to a peaceful demonstration to say that I don't think Government should be this completely out of control. I am not a hate monger because I believe that the institution of marriage is something sacred between a man and a woman. And I am not closed minded because I don't believe or stand for everything and anything that is immoral and against Who and what I believe in. I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus my Christ AND Lord.
Please consider this - Jesus died for us so that we might live. Jesus was tortured because He loved us. Jesus took the ultimate stand and did not cower so that we could be forgiven of our horrible and quite frankly offensive sins. And yet, so often, we as Christians can't even muster up the courage to say, "No, I don't think its right..." Remember who created you. Remember in whom you have grace. Remember who will give you real change, and change you can ACTUALLY believe in. Don't stand idly by while everything as Christ followers we should believe in is undermined and threatened.