A MODERATE COMMITMENT TO JESUS, TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND THE AMERICAN WAY?

When I put together a post, I try bring together the ideas of different people. Where did the ideas for this post come from?

Item #1:

English: Bill Bolling of Virginia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is a link to the first hour (yesterday) of The Don Kroah Show: 2013-05-21_DKS_Hour_01. About one-third of the way through the show, Kroah interviewed Lt. Gov Bill Bolling. In this interview Bolling offered up his expert opinion on a convention he had not bothered to attend. Why? Bolling wanted to give his “moderate” assessment of the GOP convention in Richmond, VA. That convention selected Ken Cuccinelli as the GOP’s candidate for Governor, and Bolling was not happy with that choice.

Here are some of Bolling’s complaints and some straight-forward rebuttals.

• Complaint: A convention limits participation.  Rebuttal: Anyone who is willing to take the time can participate in a political convention. As matter of fact, we used a national convention to get our Constitution written and statewide conventions to approve it. What political pros like Bolling don’t like about conventions has to do with money. Winning the nomination at a convention is not about money or advertising; it is about getting people to believe you. When a convention is used to nominate a candidate, if a candidate cannot get people to show up and support him, he cannot win.
• Complaint: E. W. Jackson, the GOP nominee for Lt. Gov. has said some extreme things.  Rebuttal: Bolling never offered a specific example of what Jackson has said that is so extreme. What might make Jackson an extremist? He believes what the Bible says is true? He thinks politicians should actually abide by their oath to the Constitution? Wouldn’t it be nice if Bolling took the trouble to explain?      Dare he?
• Complaint: Conventions are run by ideologues.  Rebuttal: What exactly characterizes an “ideologue”? As it happens, the term “ideologue” is a meaningless insult. What Bolling apparently doesn’t like about conventions is that the people attending are dead serious about what they believe.  Because Bolling is a moderate, he apparently finds that offensive.

Item # 2: 

You, Being Evil… at Thinking in Christ
In this post Russ White explains the human condition. Even the first apostles of Jesus were evil men, and Jesus told them that to their faces.

These men, surely, were good. Among all the men on the face of the Earth, no matter what time, or what place, we should be able to look at these men and say, “you are a good person.”

Before we get too far, though, let’s look at what Jesus actually said to these very same men.

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! -Matthew 7:9-11

“You, being evil…”

After they abandoned their Lord to suffer crucifixion, the apostles understood. We are only the children of God.  At best we are only newly reborn; we are not the adult children of God.

To become perfect, we need Jesus to teach us how to be good.

Item # 3:

Where have moderate politicians gotten us?

Consider what is in the news.

• The IRS has admitted harassing Conservative political organizations. In this story, Rep. Gowdy: Lerner “Waived Her Fifth Amendment Right” By Giving Statement, we have a video that shows the person who managed this effort refusing to testify.  For more details, check out IRS tea-party bloodbath continues in Congress, as evidence emerges that IRS’s  own internal probe ended in May 2012, six months before election, but was hidden  from legislators.
• Our leadership abandoned our people to terrorists in Benghazi, Libya. Therefore we have this article. Speaker Boehner: Call a bipartisan Benghazi Select Committee.
• The Justice Department is abusing the news media: AP wiretap assaults core values.

In fact, there have been so many scandals in recent years we cannot keep track of them. And why? We have let moderates lead us. Instead of being earnestly committed to our beliefs, we have been only moderately committed, and that kind of commitment is no commitment at all. Therefore, whenever our leaders find Jesus, Truth, Justice, and the American Way inconvenient, they now practice moderation and do whatever feels good.