The "Dirty Little" Secret Service

By now you have read the accounts of the scandal involving Secret Service Agents and prostitutes in Columbia.  The Agency embarrassed by the incident has released new sets of rules and guidelines for its agents.  Included in these rules are strict prohibitions against excessive drinking, entertaining foreigners in their hotel rooms and cavorting in disreputable establishments.  This type of behavior will no longer be tolerated by the agency so much so that they are going to send chaperons on some of the trips to make sure each agent follows the rules.

Wait a minute.  Are you telling me that the men who are charged with protecting the President of the United States, the leader of the free world, need chaperons?   I was in High School when an attempt was made to assassinate  President Ronald Reagan.  I remember watching seeing the news reports of Agent Tim McCarthy who did his duty by taking a bullet meant for the president.  I remember seeing another agent Jerry Parr push President Reagan into a car and then hearing that he was alert enough to see the President coughing up blood that was a little too dark and then telling the driver to change direction and get to the hospital, not the White House, saving Reagan’s life.  These men did not need chaperons, they were honorable men who did their duty.

Chaperons are for children who do not know any better.  Chaperons are for immature young men, who need eyes peering over them to keep then from doing something dumb, immoral and wrong.  Chaperons are an external guide for those who lack a well developed internal conscience.  In short, we stop needing chaperons when we are mature.

That Secret Service Agents, men who supposed to be loyal, honorable, committed to duty need a chaperons and need to be told not to participate in unwise and immoral behavior while on duty speaks volumes about the character of our nation.  If men, who while on duty are charged with protecting the life of the President cannot be trusted, who can we trust.   Don't get me wrong, there are many honorable hard working men in America, but this has to be a wake up call as to where we are headed as a nation.  Think about it.

North Carolina and the Marriage Ammendment

I live in the state of North Carolina.  On May 08 there is on the ballot a constitutional amendment that says "marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State."  As primary election day gets closer there are more and more television advertising on the air for and against the amendment, all trying to sway voters.

I wrote a blog several months ago entitled, Gay Marriage and the Sovereignty of God I have posted around 75 articles and that one has been read more than any others.  My premise in that article is that the only way people who are for gay marriage will change their minds is for God to change their hearts.  I still believe that today, but at the same time I am for the marriage amendment.  I am for the amendment not because it will change people's minds but because laws in our nation are a reflection of what our nation desires to be.  

Laws are a reflection of the moral character of a nation.  Tax laws, civic laws, criminal laws all are a reflection of what we value and hold true as a people.  For thousands of years, outside of any biblical morality, nations have said that for the good of a nation, marriage is to be defined as between a man and a woman and should be a protected institution.  The amendment seeks to ensure this definition and to protect it from an unelected minority of judges who would seek to enforce their will upon the people.

I know the argument by defining marriage between a man and a woman that would keep homosexuals from getting married.  After all we are in America everyone should be free to marry who they want.  That is not true.  Everyone in America is free to get married if their union fits the definition of marriage and falls under the laws of the land.  I can have a relationship with whoever I want, but I am not free to marry whoever I want.  I cannot marry my sister (not saying I want to) and I can't get married to another woman while maintaining my marital relationship with my present wife (again not saying I want to).  I am free but my freedom has limits.

The other argument I hear most often is that homosexual marriage will not affect my marriage.  That is true in one sense.  Yes my relationship will still be intact and the definition by which we define marriage will remain the same, but the definition in  the society in which I live will have changed.  The relationship that I have will not change but the definition of that relationship will have changed.  Definitions do matter.  If my definition of a mile is different from yours, If I give you directions you will end up in the wrong place.  If we change the definition of marriage, the institution will ultimately change.  Think about it.

Chuck Colson: Just a Man

This week one of my heroes of the faith, Chuck Colson went home to be with the Lord.  Shortly after surrendering to the call to ministry, I read Chuck Colson's book, The Body.  I was so enriched I quickly followed up with Loving God and Kingdoms in Conflict Reading his books led me to listen and read his Breakpoint Commentaries.  I always found that Colson's work, deepened my faith and help me seriously live out a Christian worldview.  Later, I read and led small groups to study his seminal work on Christian worldview, How Now Shall We Live.  His writings led me to read other authors including Francis Schaeffer, C.S. Lewis, Os Guiness and more. 

It is safe to say that Colson helped to shape my faith and ministry even though I never met him.  I was privileged to hear him speak at several conferences but I never had the opportunity to tell him how much I appreciated his ministry.  He was definitely a portrait of grace as he used his public shame to the glory of God in establishing Prison Fellowship.  Countless numbers of inmates have come to Christ through his ministry.

Yet with all his accomplishments and all that God did through him to advance the kingdom of God, Chuck Colson was still a man.  He was fallible and made mistakes.  I believe one of those mistakes (although many will disagree with me) was Evangelicals and Catholics Together E.C.T.  Colson's heart was in the right place in wanting to see unity in the body of Christ, but his desire seemed to gloss over the truth of the gospel.  E.C.T seemed to say that the evangelical and catholic understanding of the gospel were the same.

Despite what I believe was a mistake, it still does not diminish what Chuck Colson has meant to Christianity.  In fact his fallibility reminds us of a central truth that the church needs to remember. There was only one infallible teacher, The Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the only one who needs to be put on a pedestal.  Any time a Christian puts a pastor, teacher, Christian leader on a pedestal, that Christian is lifting up the wrong person.  It is Christ working through fallible human beings that needs to be lifted up.  When we lift up men, we tempt them to sin and we allow them to fall further when they disappoint us.  Every Christian leader will make mistakes, they will disappoint us.  We continue to learn from them, because God uses sinful people to bring about his purposes so that He might be glorified.  Think about it.

The Face of Evil

You may remember last year in Norway, Anders Breivik murdered 77 people including 69 young people at a youth camp.  This week he got his day in court.  Breivik justified his crime by saying that he was fighting against the multiculturalism and open immigration that his country had embraced.  As he read from a 13 page document that he had written while in custody, he claimed he was a freedom fighter, fighting for the racial purity of his nation.

One reporter, Trygve Sorvaag, tweeted from the courtroom, “for many people, it was surprising to hear how soft, almost nasal, his voice was.  He didn't appear dangerous in any way.  It was very hard to see that this softly spoken man is actually the person who murdered 77 people."

 Why is it that we all have a mental picture of evil as being a raving lunatic?  Why is it difficult to envision evil as  soft spoken almost gentle in nature?  When we think of evil, it is easy to picture the ravings of Adolph Hitler or the glee of Osama Bin Laden on 911.  We want to paint evil as something completely separate and different from us.  So it is surprising to us to hear evil as sounding, well, normal. 

The truth of the matter is that what Anders did was sin, and sin resides in each of our hearts.   That does not mean that we will all commit mass murder, we all live in God’s common grace which includes internal restraints like our conscience and external restraints like laws which keep us from being as sinful as we could be.  Yet the seed of evil resides in our hearts.  We won’t commit murder, but we don’t have to take a life to break the spirit of that law.  Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”  Matthew 5:21-22 (ESV) 

Evil is not different from us, sin resides in our hearts.  There is only one hope for us.  Paul says in Romans 7:24-25, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  Think about it.   

Why Should We Pray

One of the most powerful stories of a man praying for his family is the story of Isaac and his wife Rebecca.  Genesis 25:19-26 records that Isaac prayed for his wife Rebecca because she was barren.  Moses is careful to tell us in this account that Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca and at the end of the account, he tells us that Isaac was 60 years old when the babies were born.  In that society, couples did not wait years to have children.  In addition, God had promised Abraham (Isaac's father) would be the father of a great nation, and Isaac would be heir to that promise.  This means that Isaac knew that he needed a son through whom this promise would pass.  I take it from a straight reading of this passage that Isaac could have prayed for up to 20 years for his wife to have a baby.

This leads us to a question. Why did Isaac pray?  If God had already promised that he would be the heir through whom a great nation came, he knew that God had already promised him a child.  So why should he pray?  Put another way, if God is sovereign and in control of all things, why then should we pray?  If God has already promised to provide all our needs through his riches in glory, why should we pray and ask God to provide our needs.  What was the purpose of Isaac's prayer?

The answer to this question lets us know the purpose of prayer.  We pray not to change God but to change us.  As we pray we are demonstrating our dependence upon God and we are training ourselves to live in that dependence.  As we pray, we are changed.  We become more dependent upon God, we learn to trust him more and we learn to love God more.  We pray because God has called us into a relationship with Him and we grow as we grow closer to our heavenly father.  Many are the plans of men but the Lord's purpose will stand (Proverbs 19:21).  God is at work in this world, He is bringing about His purposes.  We pray not to change Him so that our purposes become His, we pray so that we change so that His purposes become ours.  Think about it.

After Easter Letdown

For the Christian, Easter Week can and often is a spiritual high.  From celebrating communion, to focusing in on the cross, through rejoicing in the resurrection, we often have a mountain top experience with the Lord.  Add onto those observances, many churches have special musicals or dramas that move the spirit.  Often times what happens is there is a Monday morning letdown because we come back to the normal routine of the daily grind.   All that was generated as we celebrate Easter quickly dissipates as we face another week.

I recognize that we cannot stay on the mountaintop.  Jesus would not even let his disciples stay there.  So what is the answer to the Monday morning blahs that are sure to come.  A story from Easter account can help us.  Luke 24 records the story of Jesus meeting two disciples on the road to Emmaus.  As they were experiencing the post-crucifixion blahs (for they did not know that Jesus had been raised), Jesus appeared to them and the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.  As He talked with them about their discouragement, Jesus opened up the Scriptures from the law and prophets to show them that the Christ had to be crucified and on the third day rise again.  When Jesus finally revealed Himself to them, He left and they said to one another, “did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32 ESV)

Here lies our answer to the post Easter Blahs, a dose of the Word of God.  For when we read the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit helps us understand the meaning so that our hearts can burn within us.  We cannot live on the mountain tops, so as we walk the plains of life we need to read daily from the word of God.  We may not experience a tremendous spiritual high, but our hearts will be warmed.  Think about it.   

What about Saturday

Growing up as a baptist believer, I never gave much thought to Easter Saturday or Holy Saturday as liturgical churches call it.  I knew the emphasis of Good Friday, that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. And I know why we celebrate Easter Sunday, the day that Jesus rose from the dead.  But I never gave much thought to Saturday.

In fact, I have often wondered, why Jesus did not rise from the dead on Saturday, instead of Sunday.  I know the prophecies, but God could have had the prophets speak that on next day or second day, He rose again.  Again, I know that three days ensured that everyone knew that Jesus was in fact dead, but having endured the beatings, the torture, and a spear driven through his side, I am not sure people would have questioned it.  (Yet as I write that statement, I know that people have questioned whether Jesus was really dead or not.)  My point though stands if people did not believe he really died and rose again on the third day, the second would not have made much of a difference.

So again, I ask why Saturday?  I think there is a very important lesson that we can learn about Saturday.  God is still in control of our Saturdays, just as much as He is on our Fridays and Sundays.  Let me explain.  We all have Sundays.  Sunday is the day that God manifests Himself in great ways.  On Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead.  We all have mountaintop experiences (Sundays) when God moves in tremendous ways.  We know His presence with us and it is wonderful.

We also have our Fridays, days of suffering, days of doubt, days of hurt and pain.  Yes, on Fridays, we may even question God's love and presence with us.  But we know He is there.  As C.S. Lewis said, Pain and suffering is God's megaphone.  In the deepest of valleys, when everything else is gone, I know and have felt God's presence. 

Saturday is the in between day.  It is not a mountaintop and it is not a valley. We spend most of our lives on Saturdays.  There are no great manifestation of his presence and there are no great trials.   But even there, God is in control and He is a part of our life.  On Saturday, God is quiet but He is still there.  On Saturday, we may not see Him move, but He is still there.  On Saturday it may seem like He is silent, but He is still speaking.  He speaks on Saturday in a still small voice.  Our job is to listen for Him.  We seek Him on the mountain, and we most definitely seek Him in the valley.  But we also need to learn to seek Him on the plateaus and in the meadow, and on the plains.  He is there, and He is in control.  It is Saturday, are you listening.  Think about it.

What makes Good Friday good

Riding to school this week, my daughters asked the question, why do they call this Friday good?  Now they knew the answer for just a second after they asked, one responded because Jesus died on the cross for us. That is true, that is what makes it good.  But looking at the events that day on the surface still makes it difficult to understand why we call it good.

Crucifixion is one of the most painful, horrific deaths that anyone could face.  It was so bad that it was illegal to crucify a Roman Citizen.  It was a means of death reserved for slaves and for those who rebelled against Rome.  As I said, it is a cruel form of execution.  It is an agonizing and slow death.  Death typically results from shock, exposure and ultimately asphyxiation.  Hanging from a cross constricts the diaphragm, now allowing the person to breathe.  The one way to take a breath is to release the pressure on your arms by pushing up against the nails that have been driven into the feet.  This would require continuous work that could go on for days, until exhaustion overtook the victim or mercifully the legs were broken and the person suffocated.

The criminal would have a certificate of his crime placed over him.  The criminal was indebted to society and everyone must know the crime the person was paying for with his death.  Jesus' crime, Pilate wrote, "The King of The Jews."  He was an innocent man according to Pilate, but was condemned to die for being an insurrectionist who dared to call himself a king.

An innocent man died a monstrous death, why is that good?  It is good because another certificate was placed on the cross.  A certificate placed there by God the father.  For you see, on the cross a divine transaction took place.  The one who was innocent of any crime against the state was also innocent of any sin against God.  Yet in that time between the 6th and 9th hour, a darkness covered the earth as God wrote the certificate of the crime, the sins of humanity.  In those dark moments, the full weight of all the crimes of all humanity was placed upon Jesus.  Every murder committed by hand or by words, every stolen merchandise or look of lust, every vile act or thought, every hidden crime or those exposed to the world were placed upon Jesus as if He was guilty of them all. 

In those moments the punishment for those crimes was placed upon Jesus.  That punishment was not the nails of iron that pierced his hands and feet.  It was not the crown of thorns that tore his brow.  It was not the agony of struggling for breath.  His punishment was the piercing, tearing, suffocating wrath of God placed upon His only begotten son.  As a lamb led to the slaughter, he was silent.  He did not cry out because of the whip, or the thorns or the nails, He cried out in agony because of the wrath, saying My God, why have you forsaken me.

And so Jesus died not because of shock, or exposure, or even asphyxiation.  He died because he gave up his life.  The debt had been paid.  He said, It is finished, paid in full.  Then he gave up his spirit to the father.  No one took his life, he gave it, and He died.  But on the third day, He rose again.

So on the surface.  Good Friday looks bad.  On the surface, Good Friday is the day the evil triumphed.  On the surface, Good Friday is a day of defeat.  But in reality Good Friday is the day that good triumphed over evil., it is the day of victory.  It is good.  Think about it.