Nero and the Resurrection:

There can be no doubt that we live in the greatest empire of the modern age. Technologically we are ahead of nearly every country, we are wealthy beyond belief, we have creature comforts like no other nation in the world, yet something is amiss. There is something that just doesn't jive. As we have seen in the last week, one of the most peaceful countries in Europe, was bombed by Muslim terrorists. In addition to this, our top two conservative candidates have entered into a twitter war over who has the hottest wife, a democratic nominee who is a walking security violation with a chronic lying problem and a whole generation of millennials that believe they deserve everything for free and that entering into a conversation with our enemies will pacify them. We are modern Rome.

Think about it. We have a corrupt senate and congress that serves itself and not the people, a judiciary system that no longer seeks the truth, only what they can prove and is motivated politically instead of by justice, and a president who is a would-be emperor who seeks nothing but to satisfy his own un-slaked thirst for power, glory and entertainment. Our president is a madman who lives in a dream world of peace and harmony between all men. Sadly this is not our world. This is not the reality the rest of creation lives in. We live in a fallen world of disharmony and pain. Suffering and death. We live in an age of terror, where wicked men seek to do us bodily harm and corrupt our souls for their false god of Islam. While all this is going on in the world, our president and those like him would have us believe that evil is small and harmless, that Islam is peaceful and loving, that plurality is the path to peace. He posits (along with those like him) a social utopia where those who work carry along those who do not out of a false sense of fairness. A utopia where those who contribute to society and make it prosperous will feed and clothe the lazy and provide them with material pleasures as a reward for their apathy and self serving attitudes. Our president is Nero, fiddling away while Rome burns. He is dancing the tango while allied countries in true distress from terrorism mourn. He goes to baseball games with our enemies when he should be in a war room planning the defeat of those who are devoted to the very core of their being to destroy us. The glory of Rome is no more.

And yet, in the midst of this, we are here, on this day that many in the world celebrate the Resurrection. It is a day that we look back and remember that there is hope. We look back and see the death of death in the death of Christ. A man who was fully man, and so much more... Fully God.  To our sensibilities, it seems almost incomprehensible to think about. How can one man defeat death? How can the pain and suffering of this world be alleviated by a man who suffered a humiliating, embarrassing (it was a shame to be executed on a cross in ancient Rome), and most painful execution? The truth is, if he was simply a man, it would be rather unremarkable.Nothing special, just another criminal of the state being executed for crimes against the state. Yet there was something remarkable about Jesus of Nazareth, this humble carpenter from a backwater country that nobody really cared about. He had an unusual father who set a plan into motion before we existed. A plan where pain and suffering and death would be eliminated. Where death would die to the man who was slain for us. And he could accomplish it because he was not just a man, he was also God. This is a day that we look back and see that all that is wrong in this world is coming to an end. Our bent, twisted existence is being made straight, and it was the beginning of the end for evil and those who would do harm to others. It began the process whereby all things are made new. Is it no wonder that when Mary Magdalene saw that the stone had been rolled away her first thought was that someone had come and stolen the body of Christ? It took the two men there to ask her why she sought the living among the dead and Christ simply saying her name to open her eyes to what had happened. Our Nero will continue fiddling, and our Rome is destined to perish. It is the way of men. Nothing we build lasts forever. it is prone to corruption, but we have an incorruptible Lord who stands risen above all things and has promised that though nations shall rise and nations shall fall, we can take heart, knowing that death is defeated, pain and suffering are but for a moment, and then peace. Joy.

The Sunday Morning Constitutional:That's the Fact, Jack!

Sitting here this morning on my throne (the chair on the back porch where I write all my commentaries), I have been thinking of the news, the politics and how people seem to be reacting to what is amounting to what might be considered one of the most exciting election campaigns in decades. I have not seen people this excited, angry, distressed and involved in years. It is not hard to guess why. Our nation is in a state of distress. Religious persecution seems to be at an all time high (try being a Christian in an openly/increasingly secular-hedonistic society), Racial tensions are arguably worse now than they were in the 60's, our president seems to be dismantling and emasculating our military, our democratic hopefuls have announced that they have no intention of deporting *ANY* illegals, terrorism is not on the decline, but on the rise (both internationally and domestically, with a boldness that should shock even the most hard core liberal), and our economy is no better than it was 8 years ago. Add to that the circus that the GOP has turned into and the overt socialism of the left where the party line seems to be "don't work, that's ok... we'll just take from those who do and give it to you".

Is it any wonder people seem to be losing hope? Hope in the system, hope in those running, hope in just about everyone around them? The truth is, all these things will let you down. Why? Because we as men are flawed creatures. This means that inherently, our system is flawed, parties are flawed, the people running are flawed... We live in a fallen, flawed world and people and the things they put in place let us down. It is the nature of it. It will be this way until Christ returns and makes all things new.

So what does that leave us with? Can we work with something that is flawed? There is an idea out there of something called "sufficiency". It is the idea that while something is not complete, comprehensive, all encompassing, it is sufficient for what we need. I believe our constitution is sufficient. It is not perfect. This is seen in the fact that there have been amendments to the constitution over the years, but that does not mean it is irrelevant or useless, outdated or antiquated. It certainly is not infallible or innerant, but it is sufficient. What has served us in the past can continue to serve us equally today. Our founding fathers took great care (much greater care than we have today) to craft this document in a way that benefits all men. We cannot redefine the very foundations of what our country was founded on and hope that we will even remotely resemble the nation we were founded as. A nation where men can worship without infringing on the rights of others, a nation where free ideas and thought and marketplace breeds healthy competition and causes us to prosper, a nation that is strong and stands ready to protect us and our allies, because we understand truth, justice and liberty. An nation that truly is of the people, by the people and for the people. Isn't that something we can work with? Isn't that sufficient?

But if all these are flawed, where can we turn? Well, for me, I like the words of Paul to Timothy:

2Ti 3:16-17  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,  (17)  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Now there is a complete, sufficient book that won't steer you wrong. It will give you something to hope in when our government and those around you are failing. When life seems to be falling apart and our crazy world seems to be growing just a little more insane every day. Just something to think about.