The Trump-Nation

This post for me has been forthcoming for many days now.  For those of you who know me I was and still am a constitutionalist.  Please, don’t confuse that with republican, I never have been and unless the tides change never will be a republican.  I am a conservative constitutionalist.  I believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  I believe in small government who is voted by and leads by the majority vote.  I am also tired of these “moderate republican” boobs that the Republican Party keeps bringing as the conservative choice.   I also believe our right to vote is God given and I take it very seriously, and by very seriously I mean I believe I will have to account before my maker why I cast my vote for whom ever I choose.  Which brings us to Donald Trump…

The bible tells us “Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.” Deut. 1:3. I’m not fully sure that any of these fit Trump.  We have to be careful where we cast our vote.  This argument that we “have” to vote for Trump is asinine and far from biblical on the premise that we have to because it’s him or Hilary.  When you walk into that voting booth and place your vote you are endorsing everything that Trump stands for, the very fibers of your vote are highlighting his good and bad qualities.  His list of good qualities is short, as a matter of a fact the only thing me and Trumpsters have in common is that he would be better than Hilary, and I only think that because I think she would be a disaster of a resident, I mean president in the whitehouse.  This devotion to Trump is alsmost cult like because the devotion to him is misplaced.  I truly believe that people at first liked the idea of Trump more than they liked the man, even I liked the idea of him to begin with and like most I didn’t even think he’d make it this far because his very existence in politics is a joke.  I like the idea of owning a brand new Chevy truck I just don’t like the idea of the cost, I like the idea of eating hot dogs every day 3 times a day I just don’t like the physical cost, just like I liked the idea of a gutsy loud mouth I just don’t like the idea of what it’s going to do to this country.  People have forgotten Gods ultimate power in the overall scheme of things, they think we’ll I can’t vote for anyone but Trump because I can’t let Hilary win.  That’s not what God told you to do, He said choose wise, understanding, and experienced men. So when you cast that vote this is what you’re endorsing and claiming you represent:

1. A Liar:  There are many instances of this that I could cite.  The most appalling to me was his claims to be a republican.  For my entire life and then some (30+ years) Trump has been a flaming liberal.  Donald Trump is the epitome of hypocritical because in the last election he supported Obummer and now all of a sudden he’s “against” what Obama stands for…but wait is he really?  Check that because almost everything to date that he claimed to be or claimed he would do he has changed.  The one that burns my blood the most is the Syrian Refugee crisis.  At first he said doors closed no exceptions….now he’s saying a strict vetting process.  Maybe they will use the same vetting process as they did in Ft. Hood.  
2. Liberal Policies:  currently at the “Trump-Tower” men who associate as a woman can enter a female bathroom, trumps tax strategy is a joke, his foreign policy is self built, he isn’t going to stand behind traditional marriage, trump is in support of the Satanist group planned parenthood (which means he is in the closet but agrees with abortion).  Trump by definition is still a closet liberal claiming to be a republican…might I remind you of Mitt Romney who was basically a shell of Trump.
3. Anti-Women:  Throughout the years trump has proven time and time again that he is against women.  His words have proved it and now his actions are supporting it.  There is hardly a greater war to wage against women than the transgender “rights” to use the bathroom of their choice. Yes I know he retracted his statement that anyone should be able to use the bathroom they choose, but even after his retraction transgenders can still use whatever bathroom they choose in his building.  Women who work for trump make less money to equal male counterparts,  Trump is a synonym for Anti-Women.
4. Irresponsible:  Trump has filed bankruptcy multiple times and now…what does he plan to do?  Bankrupt America on a world level….this is his plan to get us out of the debt we are in, and since it’s never been done before its theoretical at best what the end outcome would be.  He mouths off about stuff he doesn’t understand, he makes claims he can’t meet, he is a walking contradiction to his own ideas.

This is a general list..but the key points.

Trump rarely brings up preserving the constitution, and when he does it seems forced.  If you choose trump you’re yoking yourself to him and his decisions.  It mean, in other words, you endorse his lies, his liberal policies, the fact that he’s anti-women, and his irresponsibility.  How can you ever expect God to bless this country, when we as Christians vote against Gods very directives?   God didn’t call us to fix the problem, he called us to be part of his solution.  We are supposed to vote for the Chrisrian and then if God wants trump/Hilary he will put them there, but since we voted like we were supposed to God will bless this nation.

My best friend is a Trump supporter.  I understand why and I can respect his decision because it isn’t really on the premise that he has to or Hilary will win.  Think long and hard about who you vote for…you will have to take account for it one day, if you’ve prayed about it and feel led to vote Trump because Hilary is the alternative…you’re not following what God tells you to.

Diversity Among Us…

In a world full of video games, technology, one thousand reasons not to, here we are enjoying the beautiful gift that God gave us.  These are our friends…most of them at least.  These are the friends you know you can count on in the good times like these, and if bad times arose I know I could count on them to help pull us through.  The fact that we are standing here in this photo is proof enough.  I thank God every day for the friends he has placed in my life, the people he has put in my path that I can yoke to.  Good, godly friends.  Don’t get me wrong there is diversity among us, but these are the kind of people you want to call your friends.

Today was homecoming at church and after a good meal we all decided to go have fun, and so after an hour of driving and a 20 min hike to the top we ended up having an afternoon of fun throwing frisbee, laughing, some jogged, others sat but all in all its days like this I’m glad we all took a few minutes to record via photo but most importantly etched into the memory bank for all time.

I have been studying lately about who to yoke yourself to.  It is a very big concern of mine because it’s something we have to be careful about.  The bible is explicit in telling us to not be yoked with nonbelievers.  Luckily all of our friends are Christian and each of us not just me and Kendra try to have days or evenings like this where we fellowship with each other.

Brittany (left) and Kendra (Right)

Why should we be careful, you could argue that Jesus hang out with sinners.  For me I need this fellowship, it keeps me grounded, it keeps my focus towards God, and I think it’s influential in having a godly walk.  We all need that.  It’s clear in the church today that many Christians have let the world creep into their life, being yoked with other Christians you can keep each other in check.  Heath said tonight that it’s nice to be able to go out and hang out with fellow believers and friends because we all keep the world out of our time together.  There really isn’t a better discription to this group of friends.  We don’t drink, we don’t cuss, we are just down to earth Christians.  

(left to right) Sabrina, Anastasia, Brittany, Kendra

I really wanted this post to be some what deeper in nature about yoking your self with someone, but in writing it its occurred to me that it’s pretty cut and dry.  We had a great day, a great time, good fellowship, and overall a day where we literally and figuratively put the world to the side.

Heath and Sawyer

The Birtchfield Family

Brittany, Zade, Sawyer

Heath (Right) and Jason (Left)

Heath (Right) and Me (Left)

Kendra ❤️

The Whole Gang

Me and Kendra

Worn Out

All Done

And so, I am blessed with a group of diverse friends.  We view somethings differently, but these are my brothers and sisters….

Playing The Part

Today I spent most of it watching about the tragedy of the “could be” terrorist attack on the plane just outside of Egypt.  It saddens me and ,y heart goes out to the famlies of the victims.  It also angers me to an extent because not only where there men and women but three young children.  This world is the epitome of evil.  As I write this countless women and children are being raped.  People have taken their eyes off God, which is why it’s more important now than ever that we as Christians keep our eyes and hearts set above.

Jesus is coming back soon.  I think it’s fairly evident in what the bible says about the end of times vs what’s happening around the world that the end is near, judgement is coming. It comes with out question really, are you ready?  I don’t mean are you saved, although if you’re not now would be the best time to accept God into your life.  I recently planted a garden and the little vegetables are coming up, I can’t wait for a fresh tomatoe and cheese sandwich.  Others in my family are looking forward to the squash, corn, okra, cucumbers….I have reaped a decent garden and I expect its yield will be enough to feed my family for a little while at least.  What I have reaped I expect to sow.  

It isn’t any different in literal life.  America is blatantly mocking God.  In Galatians it tells us God will NOT be mocked.  People claim to be Christian and live like the world.  In fact they live like the world Sunday-Saturday and for 1 hour on Sunday morning decide to put on this mask and act like they’re Christian. They’re playing the part.   I’m not saying I don’t sin, I fail God all the time, but it’s not bout our failures….it’s about knowing you’re wrong and trying to live better.  People put this mask on to play their part and the only people they’re fooling are themselves number one and number two the people around them at church.  Mocking God, has become the norm in almost every facet of America.  Our musicians sing about God and prayer in one sentence, then divorce and drinking in the other.  Our tv shows have taken God out all together and replaced him with homosexuality.  Our president will bow to Allah and rebukes the notion of a Christian prayer.  I believe judgement is coming on America.  Americans have spent so much time taking God out of everything, even church, and I believe a time is coming where God says “You wanted me out of your schools, so I left, you wanted me out of your music so I left, you wanted me out of your White House so I left…and now you want me out of your church….”.  People might disagree and say no we don’t want God out of the church we need a revival.  Then why is your life reflecting that you don’t want a revival.  All of these churches are having revivals, so where is the revival?  I believe soon, God is going to lift his hand of protection off America and what’s coming…we’ve had coming.   What we have reaped, we are about to sow.  

You can keep,playing the part or you can get out there and start planting seeds….harvest time is just around the corner.

Who Am I?

In today’s times our churches are plagued with men who lack the backbone to be, to their fullest potential, who God calls them to be.  All to often, we doubt our ability to rise to the calling.  What we do not realize is we aren’t just doubting ourselves, we’re doubting the very fiber of Gods ability to transform us into true men of God.  So we ask, “Who Am I?”.  Who we are isn’t as complicated as why we are, and although the bible is laced with examples of how a man should be there is an underlying likeness to most of the greates in the bible.  The Nazarite.

The Nazarite vow to be exact is found in Number 6.  By all of the greates I primarily mean Samson, John the Baptist, Paul, and yes…Jesus.  One truth about the Nazarite vow is that either you were born into it (Samson, Jesus, John the Baptist) or God called you into it (Paul).  I personally feel like it’s VERY important in the question “Who Am I?”.  Why it’s important is very simple you are chosen, that’s who you are…a chosen child and man of God, not to single out the ladies because this applies to you also.  You are chosen to a higher calling in life, we are all called to be preachers, not all are called to be pastors though…not to confuse that.  I believe the Nazarite vow is crucial in describing Who I Am and what I am called to be.  I also believe there are three key factors to being a modern Nazarite and being a modern Christian.

1. Act Different:  in our churches, homes, and personal lives today this is a point of conflict.  Verse 3 says “He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried. 4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from their kernels even to the husk.”  Different.  It’s fairly debatable about drinking beer or alcohol in general, for the record I think it’s wrong.  And although I think that is part of what we can get from this, I believe it’s a small portion.  Different.  But different how?  I believe these verses are speaking to the very fiber of our daily life.  What are you putting into your soul?  Are you partying, listening to music that doesn’t please God?  Are you drinking, having premarital sex, adultey, lust.  Do you watch tv shows you know are wrong?  What are you bringing into your life?  Think about the positive difference it would make for you to listen to Christian music, watch Godly shows.  Think about the Child’s song “be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little ears what you hear….be careful where you go…because just like casting crowns wrote in their song…it’s a slow fade.  No, you’re not an alcoholic from day one, no you’re not cheating on your spouse at the first smile…everything ungodly that you let into your life is opening a door that leads to a road of destruction.  Different.  You should have a filter in your life, if you watch enough movies with cussing eventually you’re going to cuss, listen to enough sad beer drinking songs you’re going to drink, enough shows with unwed sex you’re going to have sex.  Different.  You are called as a Christian to hold yourself to a higher standard, so what are you waiting for.
2. Look Different:  this set of verses basically says he shall not let a razor pass over his head for all the days of his seperation.  Although I’d like to have an excuse for growing my beard and hair, I actually do not.  Imagine that you were walking in the spirit to such an extent that someone could look at you and see a difference.  We should look different.  Someone’s perception of a Christian through us should be different than that of the world.  If we look like the world, act like the world, talk like the world…how is that being a Christian.  More so how is that being a church?  There’s a local church here with literally a Starbucks in the church, their services look like a rock concert, the preacher looks like he’s on his way to vacation, and although I’ve never fully heard the preaching I can only imagine what it’s like.  At another church they have known and admitted homosexual “Christians” as members and who believe they’re saved.  Church, people, we are on the road to destruction because we look like the world.  Different.  
3. Socially Different: The last verse is a hard one.  It basically says all the days of his seperation he will not come in contact with the dead.  We have to separate ourselves from not only the things of the world but also the people.  The bible warns us about yoking ourselves to the unbeliever.  Do I think this means we can’t talk and witness with the unbeliever?  No.  But the key to all three of these is setting yourself apart from the world.  We can not be “a part” of this world but be part of something that tell us to be apart from this world.

For me, I’m tired of just being good enough.  I don’t want to get to heaven and God say “well you did the bare minimum”.

How Watered Down Are You?

When was the last time you pulled an audit on your self?  When was the last time you pulled an audit on your church? Home? Family?  I asked myself this just a few minutes ago when driving home from Kendra’s house.  Then I asked myself, how watered down are you?  Watered down Christianity is like an epidemic plaguing our churches and the biggest conundrum and deceit, satan is the producer.  I’ll repeate that because later it will be important, Satan is the producer.

We as Christians stopped holding ourselves to a higher standard.  We are the text book definition of carnal, we sin then pray for forgiveness, sin then pray for forgiveness, then sin again.  We literally play Russian Roulette with Satan the only problem is the chamber is full so every time we pull the trigger we are killing our testimony not to mention nailing Christ to the cross over and over.  When did we lay down our shield and stop protecting ourselves from the world?  When did worldy pleasure out weigh our spiritual gain?  It started when we allowed Satan a foothold into places he never should have been.

If you go back 100 years and look at the church do you think it’s mirrored in the church today?  Of course not.  But why not?  The is a fast food generation,  people want instant gratification.  Churches fail to wait on God, so they go out and do what they think is best.  They add these new things in to “Attract” new members.  But what kind of new things?  New music, new lighting systems, new attractions, new preachers, new screens, new new new new.  But what was wrong with the old?  “Well, people just don’t like the red back hymnal, they like the light shows, the big screens, the new age preachers.”   It’s because it appeals to the senses, but senses are worldy.  I used to walk into this local church I loved it, it smelled old, the pews were ugly, the songs were old…we didn’t have the new…in fact even the carpet was old.  I remember when I was a kid sitting under the preaching of a man who God brought fire through.  Preaching that would scare a kid but make him feel blessed all at the same time.  Preaching that 20+ years later rang true in my ears and seeds from so long ago God brought to harvest.  This same church fell apart when Satan came through the doors, this same church scrambled to bring back true worship, and by true I don’t mean the make you skin tingle and goosebumps come up on your arms.  Worship, I mean you feeling it deep in your soul making you realize you’re nothing but by the wonderful grace of God I’m saved kind of worship.  To this day, I’m unsure about this church and many others.  Did God tell you to, or did you decide to add in the things of the world.

We bring this stuff in and we water it down.  Our preachers have to look cool so they don’t wear their Sunday best, might I add losing all reference to the pulpit.  We have massive bands to preform for the audience, light shows to get you in the mood, and coffee bars to help make it a little more like home.  But for what?  New members?  I’d rather have a congregation of 10 solid believers that a mega church of lukewarm watered down Christians.  What would our forefathers say?  It wouldn’t matter our church would call them legalistic for thinking women should dress in modesty, men should be leaders, children should obey their parents, and preachers should preach the truth.

This is our modern church.  This is what’s become of our heritage, passed down from generation to generation.  God, to many has become a vending machine, churches a social gathering, and who produced it?  None other than Satan himself.  These entertainment centers we call church are little more than feel good Satan domes where everyone is saved but no one wants to address their sinful ways.  The kicker is what’s coming next.

Next, God is going to pull back.  Next, God is going to say, you didn’t want it my way so you have it your way.  Next, the Holy Spirit stops manifesting in the church.  But the bad thing is, fast food entitled Christians won’t even know the difference because it’s been so long since they let God do what God does, they won’t even know he’s gone.  Call me legalistic, call me old fashion, tell me I’m wrong that your churches aren’t production facilities.  But I want a church where God is the reason for every season, a church that is more than a social gathering, a church where the Holy Spirit is there every Sunday.  And I want to be a lion among the sheep.  I want to be a man of courage, a leader, a friend, a co worker, a husband after Gods own heart.  I want God to say step and then I move.  But most of all I want to be on fire, not like warm and watered down.

The Interracial Misreckoning

When you involve yourself in Christian conversation with nonchristians eventually you’re bound to stumble upon the debate of interracial marriage.  This is more common between the older generation and that younger generation.  The past few weeks for me and my fiancé have been rough because we’ve faced many challenges and trials revolving around interracial marriage.  No, before the thought creeps in we are not an interracial couple but we have several friends and family that are.  Of course I could debate with you why we are all interracially or at least interethnically involved but that debate is for another blog.

What sparked this study for me was a situation my fiancé ran into but she brought to my attention.  She was instructed that interracial relationships were against Gods perfect will.  Which, I know, sounds racist to say the least.  I like to have solid biblical grounding to support what I knew couldn’t be biblically correct, and this person quoted 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Be he not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath the righteousness with the unrighteousness? And what communion hath the light with the dark?”  Obviously this person was making an assumed reference to the last part of the verse and I could go into detail but I think it’s fairly safe to leave it at: light equals saved persons vs dark meaning unsaved.  This alone doesn’t prove or disprove this persons statement though, if anything it leaves it open ended.

So I was talking to my dad and he said didn’t Moses marry and Ethopian?  I didn’t have a clue.  So I checked.  My search took me back to the little chapter in the Old Testament Numbers 12.  This chapter tells us that Moses married a Cushite.  Cush being in southern or south of Ethopia and the inhabitants known for their exceptionally dark skin, which is supported in Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots”.  What this chapter also tells us is that Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses for marrying an Ethiopian, followed by God punishing her for speaking against Moses, with leprosy.

Which raises 2 final points.  First, racism and racial discourse has been going on for many many years, and it’s ludicrous to assume that it’s against Gods perfect will for interracial relationships to exist.  Let alone verses supporting that skin isn’t a factor for God in general, and verses supporting being married to believers (those verses never mentioning skin color). Second, if we wish to end discourse things like race have to stop being a factor…for all races.

And so, I end with a quote in fact my favorite quote of all time

“We are not enemies, but friends.  We must not be enemies.  Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection, the mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature” -Lincoln 1861