A (World)View of "Camelot"

Ted Kennedy died of brain cancer this past Tuesday, leaving behind a tainted legacy. He was the liberals' champion and the conservatives' arch-enemy. But this post is not about his works or where his soul might be resting right now (if it is resting at all). There is something he said at a dinner, more than 20 years ago, that has shed a spotlight on a current issue. The following is an excerpt from Yahoo's biographical article on him.

When a Moral Majority fundraising appeal somehow arrived at his office one day in the early 1980s, word leaked to the public, and the conservative group issued an invitation for him to come to Liberty Baptist College if he was ever in the neighborhood.

Pleased to accept, was the word from Kennedy.

"So I told Jerry (Falwell) and he almost turned white as a sheet," said Cal Thomas, then an aide to the conservative leader.

Dinner at the Falwell home was described as friendly.

Dessert was a political sermon on tolerance, delivered by the liberal from Massachusetts.

"I believe there surely is such a thing as truth, but who among us can claim a monopoly?" Kennedy said from the podium that night. "There are those who do, and their own words testify to their intolerance."

"Tolerance" has a become a buzzword and a banner, used by the secular left, to push an agenda of relativistic morality (or none at all) and gain acceptance of practices and beliefs that have historically been frowned upon by the populace-at-large. Drug use, sexual promiscuity and deviancy, abortion, and entertainment being some of the most obvious examples.

How ironic that Kennedy confessed a belief in (absolute) truth, but in the same breath denied the possibility that anyone could know it. By accusing such people of intolerance, he himself demonstrates a similar intolerance toward those very same folks.

In general, many vocal non-Christians accuse Christians of being intolerant, just because we espouse to the immutable truths found in the Word of God. But God Himself is the very image of tolerance. Anyone who's read the Bible cover-to-cover knows how infinitely patient and forgiving God is. Just look in the Books of Judges and 1 and 2 Kings, how often the Israelites rebelled against Him, and yet He always heard their pleas of repentance. Jesus patiently tolerated not only the doubts and nearsightedness of His own disciples, as well as the humiliation of imprisonment, torture, and the cross. How many sinners does He even today allow to live to a ripe old age?

On the other hand, God told the Israelites, as they were about to enter Canaan, to mercilessly and utterly wipe out the nations around them. He warned them that if they failed to do so, their heathen neighbors would be a stumblingblock to them and lead them astray. Naturally, God's chosen people disobeyed, and we all know the results. Likewise, I think Christians as a whole have been too tolerant of society's moral slipping and sliding, to the point where we have not only become the extremist minority, but we and our children are being assaulted every day by the filth that runs through our streets, like open sewers (paraphrasing from a Carman song).

Is there a way back? Some, looking at Revelation, say that things will just keep getting worse and worse, until He finally makes His triumphant return. But I say, even if the Titanic's sinking, we should not just sit there playing fiddle, but get as many as we can to the liferafts.

So don't let the atheists shoot you down with accusations of intolerance, hatred, and judgmentality, for they are guilty of the very same thing they accuse you of. Invite them to remove the beam out of their own eyes, before they start looking for slivers in yours.

As you can see, I don't tolerate people who call me intolerant. ;)

Jesus, Our King

While leaving a comment on GGM's blog, I was reminded of something I received from the Lord, a couple years ago. I had it posted on our original website, so instead of typing it all over again, I'm presenting it here, with some edits. Enjoy!

Since before He created man, God has desired to be our king. But in the waning years of Samuel, Israel's last judge, the people demanded that he appoint them an earthly king. They saw how nations around them were governed, and so they wanted the same for themselves. They wanted to be more like other nations! (Does this sound familiar?)

This greatly displeased God. Not only did He want them to set themselves apart from their neighboring idolators, but He Himself wanted to be their King. He warned them, through Samuel, that in desiring a man for king, they were rejecting God, and that their new king would lead them to suffering, ruin, and disaster. But the people did not listen.

Even though it was God who chose Saul for their king, from that day forward, the nation of Israel was essentially divided. No longer did the people have One Leader, but two. There were those who continued to trust in God, to whom it probably did not matter who wore the earthly crown; and there were those who rebelled against the Lord and chose to put their trust in their new king, and him alone.

The Bible chronicles the ups and downs that the nation of Israel went through, under their various rulers. There were some kings that truly loved God, but most of them turned their backs to Him, inviting God's wrath and a nearly uninterrupted string of invasions by Israel's enemies.

But God never gave up on His people. He had promised them that an heir would arise, from the lineage of King David (Israel's 2nd king, and arguably their greatest, though not without flaws), who would establish an eternal Kingdom and rule over it forever. Now clearly, that would be impossible for a mere man to do, since men are mortal. But God had a different plan. A perfect plan.

He eventually sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be our King. Born of a virgin, Jesus was at the same time, fully God and fully man, of the lineage of King David. Because of His unique nature, Jesus re-unified God's people under a single King. The two kingdoms became one, because Jesus is heir to both!

Jesus, the Son of God and the heir to the throne of David, came to re-unite God with His own people. Through Jesus, God brought the long rebellious line of kings back under Himself and re-established Himself as the One and Only King of His people. All we have to do is individually accept Jesus as our personal Lord, Savior, and King.

Two thousand years later, we live in a country that was unquestionably founded on God's Word. Most of our nation's founders were devout believers, who relied heavily on God's principles, in creating the government and laws of our land. But as God blessed us with bounty, success, and power, people relied less and less on Him, and more and more on themselves and their elected leaders. Morality became subject to the fad du jour. Acts and beliefs that were once reprehensible (by God and man) are now condoned and even encouraged. Our justice system now relies more on the letter of the Constitution than the intent of its designers. We're even looking at other countries, to assist in court rulings! We are barrelling headlong down a slippery slope of no return!

The only way back is to return to the Lord, individually and as a nation. We each need to repent of our sins and surrender our will to Jesus Christ, Our Savior and King. We need to rely on the unwavering truth of God's Word: the Bible. Only then will He again bless our nation and defeat our enemies, both outside and within.