Get your head around this...

A Moment Of Clarity...
Lately, I have been seeing a lot on the news concerning our right to practice religious freedom. Looking back, I guess I have heard that such rights have been threatened for most of my life.

Small battles.
Some have been won.
Some have been lost.

But now it comes down to the removal of "Christ" from Christmas.
There is talk of striking "In God We Trust" from our money.
"One nation, under God..." is threatened by removal from our patriotic pledge of allegiance.

Secularists are foaming at the mouth.
Christians are boiling with anger and fear.
Post-Moderns could care less.
Traditionalists seek clarity from the forefathers.
We all fit somewhere into the equation.

Open your mind for one spilt second.
"In God We Trust" emblazoned on our money means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to me... or you either, most likely. Especially when you consider that the love of money is the root of ALL EVIL.

ALL EVIL?

Wow. That's pretty serious, wouldn't you say?

We place some bullshot statement about trusting God onto the face of the VERY THING that we actually trust MORE THAN GOD.

So, as far as I'm concerned, strike it from our cash. Seriously. Get it off there! Having it on there is doing us more harm than good anyway. It lulls us into believing that we actually DO trust God. I mean honestly. It's as absurd as printing "In pornography I am disgusted" onto the front of every porno magazine and then spending your entire life collecting porno magazines. It's Okay! These porno magazines say "In porno I'm disgusted." Clearly, I don't enjoy them. Can't you read?

It's like printing "I rely upon Jesus for answers" onto a box of tarot cards and then carrying them everywhere you go. Scrambling day in and day out to get MORE tarot cards. Hoping your boss gives you a tarot card raise at the end of the year. Going to school to learn about how to better handle your tarot cards.

PUKE.

Why we do it?
I submit that the ONLY WAY we can feel good about stockpiling our cash and ultimately, TRUSTING IN OUR CA$H, is by printing some lie about NOT trusting in our cash across the face of our cash.

We cleverly hand our mistress a T-shirt that reads "I love my wife" and ask her to wear it. We read that shirt, as it dangles from the bedpost of a cheap motel room, taking some beguiled comfort in the lie, while having intercourse with the very woman that makes the T-shirt a fraud.

In God we trust is a lie for most everyone. Yes, even Christians.

In money we trust.
Who you we kidding?

My Suggestion.
Either remove "In God We Trust" from our money or change the phrase slightly. "This God We Trust" seems much more intellectually honest anyway.

As for Christmas...
Don't even get me started!

The more I travel the world, the more I am aware that Americans only know one thing... the pleasure of STUFF.

Seriously, even on missionary trips, the groups I have traveled with ALWAYS default to bringing stuff with them. The hope is that, if the time and place are right, one will be able to give that stuff to a poor person. Seems reasonable, doesn't it? I can't tell you how many times I've seen this happen.

Now I'm not saying that giving stuff is WRONG. It just amazes me that that's ALL AMERICANS KNOW HOW TO DO!!!

If an American cannot give MONEY or POSSESSIONS... then they don't feel as though they can give anything. Even right now, you're probably wondering what else there is!

Rest assured, there is more... MUCH MORE that you can give. I won't tell you what it is. If you're listening to the voice of and/or examining the life of Christ, then you'll stumble across it sooner or later.

Culturally speaking, Christmas is all about stuff.

Even I can't shake it. The "stuff" is the period at the end of the sentence. It's the moment we're all waiting for.

So, once again, yank the word "Christ" from Christmas. On a cultural scale, the holiday isn't about Him anymore anyway. We're lying if we think it is.

How can I say all of this?
A moment of clarity, I guess that's my excuse.

We're all up in arms about protecting our religious freedoms. Why?
Does that strike anyone else as being rather silly?

After all, who the Son sets free is free indeed. Who gives a mighty rip what our constitution says? Who cares how many schools ban prayer? What difference does it make whether the ten commandments are allowed on public display?

THE BOTTOM LINE.
You are free to serve Christ. It doesn't matter WHERE you live. Oh sure, there may be a price to pay, and that price might be your life. But what worthwhile thing DOESN'T have its price? Besides, didn't you ultimately give your life away to Christ anyway?

Wasn't THAT the price of salvation?

Worth fighting for?
That's the best excuse Christians can make when it comes to trying to protect our religious freedoms.
It's a cause worth fighting for.

The problem is, for all of the "fighting" we are willing to do, we are equally and oppositely UNWILLING to love. If Christians acted like Christ for a change (now THERE'S a novel thought), we would be too busy serving and loving others to fight for the right to carry Bibles or read the ten commandments in school or protect the definition of the word "marriage."

If presented with the opportunity, then say what Christ would have you say concerning all of the "issues." Until then, quit formulating YOUR "protect-the-things-I'm-comfortable-with-even-though-
they-have-nothing-to-do-with-my-eternal-salvation-but-only-my-
personal-comfort" AGENDA. Instead, follow Christ's agenda. LOVE OTHERS. BE A SERVANT.

Sheep and Goats
On one level, I think the BEST THING that could happen to us in America would be religious persecution.
Once and for all, the hypocrites would shut the hell up and the true believers would emerge (and probably be killed).

In fact, in that sense, I can easily believe that the loss of religious freedom (which seems to be happening on a daily basis) is most likely God-breathed.

Why do we hate it so? Because we're all a bunch of liars, that's why. Making things tough would only serve to reveal our true selves. We would be exposed for who we really are. The walls of our motel room would collapse and the world would see that we DON'T love our "wife." Instead, we have been gleefully mounting our mistress. Oopsy Daisy! BUSTED!

Don't kid yourself.
The lies we paint on our money, the pledges we make in our classrooms, the "birthday" we celebrate in December... these things are merely distracting us and keeping us from what we all know deep down in our hearts...

that we are not servants to others
that Christ is not our master
that we love ourselves more than our neighbors
that we are running the show
that NO ONE is the boss of me.

My Prayer
God, please show mercy and save us from our selves.
Break our legs if you must.
Enslave us if that is all that will make us honest once again.
Forgive us.
We have sinned.