Good People and Politicians

Good people don't make good politicians is a common comment made by many in some manner or other. I don't care to dispute the statement, but I would like to say that good people do make good mayors, governors, congressmen and presidents. Why? Because they consider the real issues, the right responses and the actual needs. In our time we have almost no, if any, true statesmen and orators that are truly public servants. The majority in government are politicians; they vote the party line, they vote what will push their ratings up, they vote what will help them be re-elected.

I know there are good men and women in elected and appointed offices. Yet, it does seem as though the "politicians" get a lot more attention.

We need more Davids - men after God's own heart; Daniels - we will not lower our standard nor change our convictions; Shadrachs, Meshachs and Abednegos - we will not bow to other gods; Esters - if I die I die; and Mordecias - he sought the welfare of his people. We need public servants, commited to God, dedicated to serve the nation according to God's mandate, not man's. There are no perfect people, but they are people with clean hands (actions), pure hearts (attitudes) and renewed minds (thoughts and philosophies), men and women of God.

More on Truth and Mercy

Job 33:29 - 30 Moffett's
Now God does all this over and again, twice, thrice, for men,
to bring them back from death into the sunshine of life.

Job 33:13-19 indicates some ways God speaks to us: dreams (vs 15), clearly in the ear with warnings (vs 16), and sometimes through discipline (vs 19). The purpose? To show us his mercy. He speaks the truth to give us the chance to abandon our deadly decisions and return to "the sunshine of life." Thank you LORD.

LORD, help me remember that you are always speaking. Help me hear your voice and respond to you (vs14).

A Deep Yearning III

Why are you cast down, O my soul
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him
my salvation and my God.

Here is a clear response to depression and turmoil. Put your hope in God.

I like how the Lenguage Actual, a Spanish translation, says it:

There is no reason for me to be unsettled!
There is no reason for me to be worried!
I will put my trust in God my Savour!
I will praise only Him!

If the way is dry and the presence is not there, there is no reason to get upset. Trust in God. Praise Him. He is our hope and our salvation.

As the deer pants for water, so my soul longs for you!

Psalm 42:5, 11, 43:5 ESV

God's Glory Prevented

Ricardo shared Sunday AM and concluded with the following main point that I have expanded.

Question: What prevents the glory of God in our lives?

1. impurities - the God is merciful and He will forgive spirit
We must pursue holiness in our lives - 1 Peter 1:15-16

• This is not to say that God isn't merciful and doesn't forgive.
• It is to say that his mercy and forgiveness do not give us license to sin.

2. mediocrity - the more or less spirit
We must pursue excellence in all we do - Eph 6:6; Joshua 1:7-9

3. self imposed limits - the I can't do it spirit
We must hope in the future and believe we can do all things through Christ Jesus - Jer 29:11; Phil 4:13

4. unbelief - the if God wills it spirit
We must believe and take action by faith based on the Word of God - Rom 4:18; Heb 11:1

A Deep Yearning II

Time magazine has published an interesting article about Mother Teresa. David Van Biema writes a review of her "autobiography", Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (Doubleday). The book's compiler and editor, Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, uses Mother Teresa's "private writings", letters to her confessors and superiors, to produce the book that will be released on September 4, 2007.

The Internet article is quite long, but interesting; it will provide plenty material for some good, thought provoking conversations and it should inspire some deep, personal reflections.

Adventure or Inconvenience? Frustration or Fascination?

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton

This quote from Chesterton reminds us that so much of fun in life has to do with perspective and mindset. For one that like things to always go right as planned, it really puts a kink in the hose. Now I've got to rethink those moments when changes have to be made, risks have to be taken and inconveniences have to be looked at from a different view point. As Jim Rohn has mentioned, I have to ask myself: is life frustrating or fascinating ?

Yes, things do work out well when we keep our hand in His and our eyes on Him.

Romans 8:28

A Deep Yearning

As the deer pants for flowing streams
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?


I long for you O God, your light, your truth, your love; the refreshing river that flows from above and passes within to satisfy the thirst and longing desire for more of you.


Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves have gone over me,
By day the LORD commands his steadfast love
And at night his song is with me a prayer to the God of my life.

Yes, deep within calls to deep without, O God, let your water flow, let the Spirit grow, the well, the river, that sweet and satisfying water. Cover me with your faithful love.

The song of the night is, "I need you more that anything. I need YOU , O LORD. You are my life, my reason to live."

The song wells up within me. "More of you, less of me. I want more and more of you, O my LORD."

Psalm 41:1-2; 7-8 ESV

Absolutely!

"2 is not equal to 3, not even for large values of 2." Grabel's Law

"There ARE NO absolutes."

Reflecting on the two previous statements does remind me that there are absolutes. Thankfully we have a standard for our absolutes, the Bible. It is our absolute standard for faith and practice. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Absolutely!

My Biggest Problem and the Solution

"I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man I've met." Dwight L. Moody

Now I can agree with that! It seems that Paul did too when he lamented his own personal struggles in Romans 7.

The good thing is that there is victory through Christ Jesus and therefore there is no condemnation for those that live connected to him.

Romans 7:24-25; 8:1-2

IMPOSSIBLE?

"I have learned to use the word 'impossible' with the greatest caution." Wernher von Braun

Obviously von Braun is referring to man's achievements but we know that there is a greater "possible" in our lives, it is our faith in God. We can be confident that our faith in God removes all impossibilities and He is pleased.

We must be careful with what we call impossible, because all things are possible for God. All things are possible for those who believe.

Hebrews 6:4; Matthew 17:20; 19:26; Luke 1:37; Mark 9:23

Age and Maturity

"I think age is a very high price to pay for maturity." Tom Stoppard

To be mature one doesn't have to be "old", and being "old" doesn't guarantee maturity. Our maturity is directly related to our efforts to live according to the "golden rule" and implementation of the fruit of the spirit in our lives. The more we dedicate ourselves to living God's way the more mature we will be and surely some young people may be much maturer that some of the older ones among them.

Galatians 5:22-23

Fears

"You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you." Eric Hoffer

This was copied from the Google feed on my gmail account. I'll have to spend some time thinking about this and how it applies to life and spiritual conflict.

Creation Declares the Glory of God

Taste and See that the LORD is good!

A good taste with my eyes of one of the beaches we visited while in Puerto Rico, Flamenco Beach on Culebra Island, is for me an expression of how GOOD God is.
We were actually on Culebra Island only a couple hours and at Flamenco Beach just a few minutes, but the white sand and the crystal clear water was indescribably beautiful. I can only say, a view of this beach shows the beauty and glory of God. We had problems getting there and after the effort, expense and time invested, we were on the beach only 45 minutes, but it was worth it all as we enjoyed the pure, refreshing colors and the beautiful birds.

Returning to the main island, we gazed at and admired another small island. It's not the large green area; it's the small green on top of the white sliver to the right.
God is good! Taste and see; enjoy the beauty of His creation.

Yes, the heavens do declare His glory!

Psalm 19:1; 34:8

Good Bye Puerto Rico

Tomorrow morning at 3:30 am we leave for the airport. We've had a marvelous time and are ready to get back in the saddle. I'm truly thankful for such a fine wife. Thank you Father for Bev. MyLadyMyLove

Sunday in Puerto Rico

Cheree's graduation and celebration was yesterday with a day at the beach/pool and then supper and giving out of the certificates at the base. It was a very, very nice day with Cheree and time we were able to spend with Yarley and Lyssette, the directors of YWAM Puerto Rico.

Today we attended church with Cheree at Casa de Refugio Emanuel. The service was very nice and we were glad to see how good of a choice Cheree had made for her home church while here in Puerto Rico.

Well, the rest of the day is lunch, drive around Palmas del Mar and rest and relax at the condo. Tomorrow we'll be going for a ferry ride to se Culebra Island and Tuesday we'll go and see Old San Juan... the original founding site in Puerto Rico.

We feel like kids again as we enjoy our "luna de miel" for our 25th anniversary. We sure are having fun!!!

Day 3 in Puerto Rico

Enjoying life, resting, celebrating our 25th anniversary, sight-seeing... going to the beach today and then celebrating Cheree's graduation. It's been fun and exciting getting lost and taking time to see a couple sights and... we're looking forward to seeing a few more things before we leave next Wednesday.

The picture is of the water falls, Mina Falls, we visited on Friday.

Off to have fun!!!

A Thought

"The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish." Robert Jackson

En Puerto Rico

Well, we have arrived and we are getting ready to go see our 25th anniversary honeymoon house. We're looking forward to Cheree's graduation on Saturday and special times together here on the "Enchanted Island."

God is good.

On the Way to Puerto Rico

Bev and I are getting ready attend Cheree's graduation from the YWAM course "Preparation for Youth and Children Ministers" and to celebrate our 25 wedding anniversary, actually the date was May 22. We'll spend 5 days in Puerto Rico, some days just being together and other days with Cheree to celebrate her successful completion of the 2 YWAM courses.

Check out a new blog I'm posting with ideas from the 55 second radio reflections I do in Spanish. I am translating them and posting Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each week is a sequence of thoughts, each day is a separate idea. The all stand alone, yet they work together to present the best one can a complete thought in less than 3 min... it's fun.

A Look in the Mirror - http://earlrutledgemirror.blogspot.com/

The same meditations are in Spanish at Mirándote al Espejo - http://mirandotealespejo.blogspot.com/

We'll see you there!

Truth and Mercy

Bev shared at church yesterday morning. Here are some of the ideas.

Psalm 25:10 All the ways of the LORD are mercy and truth. - Here we see that God and His ways are always truthful and mercy.

Mich 6:8 What does the LORD require? to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly before the LORD. - Here we see what God requires of us; justice, mercy and humility.

• do justice - action
• love mercy - something precious
• walk humbly - lifestyle

When we reject truth, we prevent His mercy from reaching us, our defense is removed.

Revelation of the truth, of how poorly we are doing, is so we can humble ourselves, repent and receive mercy. WE have the examples of Rehoboam and the prices of Israel in 2 Chronicles 12:5-7 who humbled themselves and saw God's mercy in their lives. We must also consider the Bad, bad king Manasseh that repented and sought God and received mercy during the last years of his life, 2 Chronicles 33:10-13. These kings responded to the truth revealed by God by humbling themselves and repenting. Because of their humility they received the mercy of God instead of the justice they deserved.

King Asa in 2 Chronicles 16:7-10 is the other example. He began trusting in man instead of God and the prophet came by to give him God's message. Asa rejected the truth and received justice instead of mercy.

Fortunately, God is slow to wrath and quick to show mercy, but still the best defense against having to live the complete justice we deserve is to be humble and acknowledge truth revealed in our lives.

Then we must take the application to our own lives and dealings with others. How do we generally deal with truth and offense in our own lives. Well, they did offend us, that is the truth and justice must be served. That is so common a response in our lives. One of the primary elements of mercy is forgiveness. Let us forgive and love those around us who have offended us as Jesus loved us. Romans 5:8 tells us that while we were still living in rebellion against God, He loved us and gave His life for US.

Yes, James 2:13 is true. Mercy triumphs over justice. Let us walk in the ways of the Lord. Acknowledge truth, walk in love and show mercy one towards another.

I Want to Finish Well

Reading 2 Chronicles these recent weeks I've observed the ups and downs of the kings of Judah. So many started well and end poorly.

Solomon - had various encounters with God, built the marvelous temple, experienced his manifest presence and then was lead away and worshipped foreign gods..

Asa - started off very well but in the end he trusted in man and persecuted the Lord's prophet.

And on and on. What a warning! So many of the kings started well, but finished poorly bowing to the god of pride and trust in man.

Today I read the account of Manasseh. I was surprised... How could it be that having seeing that story so many times I never remembered that after being such a bad, bad, bad king, he repented and"commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel" [2 Chron 33:16].

I want to finish well.

Galatians reminds me that I'm not above any of the faults I see or have seen in others. Gal. 6:1b, "Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted" and 6:3 "if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself," serve as strong reminders that I have feet of clay and a very good ability to deceive myself into thinking that all is well.

Lord, I want to finish well. I want Paul's words to be my words, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" [2 Timothy 4:7]. I'll keep another idea from Paul on my lips to help me stay faithful. Phil. 3:13b-14, "I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

I want to finish well.