Can’t We Work Together?

Posted by Larry Miller on August 26, 2010 under How | 2 Comments to Read

I have a friend who was kind of negative on most things that did not originate with him. Some thought it gave him a little prickly personality at times. He believed his “gift” was to see what was wrong with most anything, and then tell people about it. A few years ago, he came to the conclusion that this “gift” really was not a gift at all, but simple negativism. We all mellow with age and experience and his revelation helped, not only my friend, but me as well… since I had (and at times still have) that “gift”.

Why do I bring this up at this time? Our country is facing the most dangerous days it has since we pushed the British occupiers from our shores or the darkest days of World War II. We need to focus on the objective of gutting this current congress and taking away the compliant and foolish congress that has given Barack Hussein Obama just about every thing he has desired. This current congress is composed of both Republicans and Democrats who have lost their love of country and replaced it with love of government and power.

The thing that bothers me most is the way we eat our own. I am one who is most comfortable working with people that share ALL my values. Many times we freedom loving people who believe in principles over personal loyalty, tend to be fairly narrow in circle of trusted associates. I often see this after primaries that can get brutal at times because we have several candidates and their followers who each believe they have the only correct answers. Fortunately we have seen a good number of tea party victories where established, machine backed candidates have met defeat at the hands of an angry electorate.

This is not a call for big tent, anything goes support for anyone that has the proper party label. It is a call to keep in mind the goal of knocking Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid out of their leadership positions. While it may not be possible to take Pelosi out at the ballot box, given the nature of her district and their disinclination to elect anyone with common sense, but depriving her of her majority would still be quite satisfying and effective. This should be motivation enough for most all of us.

And there is the Restoring Honor event coming up in Washington this weekend, that, if we all get the idea, could be the beginning of the turn around for our country. We could see several hundred thousand patriots descending the mall by the Lincoln Memorial. Glenn Beck is doing something we all need. He is calling us to step back from the battles for a moment and take a look at where we are as a country. And we see a nation lacking in vision, lacking in hope and lacking in honor. We have fallen to a point where many believe that honor having no cash value… is irrelevant.

While many of his fans love the man and believe he walks on water, I’m not ready to go quite that far. However there are naysayers who complain he is just a greedy businessman, a publicity hound, a clown, and worst of all, a Mormon. He is at least guilty of the last.

Now we have the choice – those of us who do not accept the distinctive teachings of his church – of either using it as a reason to put him down and discount his contribution or to set aside our theological disagreements and appreciate his contributions. What he is telling his audience is that the only way our country can stay the beacon on a hill is to turn back to God. He rightly explains the fallacies of liberation theology. He exposes the lie of Barack Obama’s “collective salvation”, but he doesn’t stop there. He has, on more than one occasion told us that salvation is only obtained individually by faith in Jesus Christ.

Some will say, yes, but he is still a Mormon, and I can’t say exactly what he means by those words. However, I Corinthians 12:3 says “Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” The point is that just because I attend a solid Southern Baptist church, go to Sunday School even and, at times, pray with the pastor before the services, it does not guarantee that I have the saving relationship with the Father. It is not my membership in a religious body that insures my eternal future. Paul called all his righteous “filthy rags”. Collective salvation is the figment of the imagination of those seeking to deny individual responsibility and gain control by directing the collective. Likewise, when it is time for Glenn Beck to meet his maker, he will not be asked what church he attended, but did he have the required faith in Jesus Christ. I doubt that I shall be consulted about his fate, and most likely none of my readers will either.

All he is doing is calling us back to the faith of the founding fathers, to restore honor to our county in a way that only comes by belief in values that go beyond our own parochial interests, to recognize the divine providence that created this, the greatest and most free nation on earth, and to understand that a right relation with the Father only comes through a personal relation with the Son.

Instead of watching cynically from a distance, can’t we agree with the message and join in the effort to accomplish these goals? There was a scene from Robert Duvall’s movie The Apostle where he approaches a retired black preacher about using his old church for services. The old man looked at him and told him that he didn’t know if he was on the level or not, but if God was in his plans, he didn’t want to be left out. Even if you think the man is a clown, who cries at the drop of a hat for effect, I would ask, who else is proclaiming this message? If God is in any way involved in this effort, wouldn’t you want to be part of it. Even if you can’t be there, joining with your fellow Americans, as we seek restore our country, please pray for this to be a start to the badly needed national revival.