"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ." (Colossians 2:8)
May our thoughts be in Christ as we clammor for answers to things which seem to not make good sense in our country today. And may we be "unified", lest the enemy befall us. These are my thoughts, and surely many, many other patriots, as we struggle to gain our bearings for where we're going as a nation, and how we get there. That's the problem. The idea of where we're going is more fragmented today than ever.
In order to maintain this union ....sacrifice will be required. It is a "marriage" of citizens. That reminds me of a little boy who asked his dad one evening, "Daddy, how much does it cost to get married? "I don't know, son," he said. "I'm still paying for it." As with the unity of marriage between a man and a woman ...we do not count the cost of citizenry very well .....not as citizens of the United States of America, or of Christ' Kingdom.
With recent news that at least 19 states have petitioned for succession from the United States of America .....my heart is broken. Has it come to this? I feel like a child, sitting in wait, wondering if his parents will dissolve their marriage or find purpose, reason, to remain ....a union.
I fear we have all but dismissed what it means to live simply, to live humbly, to live sacrificially. We want to start out, on our own, living as we grew up, often neglecting to see our parent's sacrifices before what we knew. My generation wanted to live in a house resembling the one we grew up in; not realizing the drafty, pieced-together house our own parents started out in.
It is time we counted the cost of citizenry ....of this nation, and heirs to Christ' Kingdom.
"Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have." (Philippians 1:27-30)
Our Pleas.....Be First-Ratev27a... Hold on to what has been valuedBe Firmv27b.... Snuff out our differences with our like goalsBe Fearlessv28 ....It's like a poker-face without the bluff.Be For His Sakev29 .....It has been granted to you to do so. "Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
Can our idea for a nation be ideal forever? Not without revisiting and re-establishing the very principles upon which we were founded. John Adams said this....."Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." – John Adams (1814)
Democracy - rule by the people
Republic - rule by elected officials
Representative Democracy - elect representatives to study and vote on the issues for them.
Direct Democracy - the people vote directly on every issue; a bit unwieldy for anything much larger than, say, a small town
Mobocracy - the majority makes laws and governs by passion, prejudice, or impulse, without restraint or regard to consequences). Mobocracy involves the government ruling and making laws for the "greater good" of all people, they may abolish personal rights in doing so.
"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:1-8)
We should listen to Paul. For our nation's sake, for souls' sake.
Be Like-minded - If there is an inkling of Christ-likeness in people .....then we must first, be willing, then be ready to do whatever it takes to become like-minded.
Be Love - without Christ-like love ....sin and selfishness will overcome.
Be Humble - put other's needs before our own.
Be Lowly - This doesn't fit with our conceited culture today. We're programmed to he the best.
Be Dead - ....to ourselves. Re-imaged in Christ' likeness.
