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Faith, Bible and Politics

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , on May 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

When I lived in D.C., the pastor of my neighborhood Methodist church was the coolest sister who ever stepped into a pulpit.  On one Sunday morning, she said that she saw a rainbow flag on a bumper sticker and on the other side of the bumper was another sticker that read “Father, protect us from your followers.”

Look, we live in a nation that is a tapestry woven from many different fibers.  While I might have personal opinions on certain matters, I think that law-abiding citizens have the right to be wrong and that reasonable people should stand to protect said rights.  If earthly actions would send people to blazes after this life is over, it is fine because there is “plenty room in hell.”  However, I have recently read a new Bible that was given to me 28 years ago (I know, I know) and I better understand that people with faith knowledge are required to share with others. 

Politics and faith blend when you consider 1 Peter 2:13-14 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, as for the praise of them that do well.   Also, Romans 13:1 reads Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.  For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

To me, the part regarding “Bishop” is funny because our congressman’s name is Bishop, which means overseer.  Rep. Bishop knows the Bible as does his last opponent, a pastor and elected official.  Actually, the opponent displayed considerable restraint from twisting biblical bishop from say Titus 1:7-9 into his campaign.  I assume that it took serious energy to keep his supporters from heading down that path.  To me, Rep. Bishop seems to fit the qualifications of Bishops found in 1 Timothy 3:1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop then, he desireth a good work.  When Rep. Bishop decides to exit public service and really get paid in the private sector, the speeches praising him will no doubt include references to 2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.  

In 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Paul wrote “I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks, be made for all men.  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

So, I will be praying for Obama, Romney, Bishop, Saxby, Isakson and the rest. Finally, for my homies in D.C., I am listing the 20 or so parts of the Bible that I find most useful so far.  Peace. 

Devotional List:

1. Psalm 23

23 The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell[a] in the house of the Lord
Forever.

 

2. Matthew 5: 1-14

The Beatitudes

5 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

 

3. Matthew 6: 9-13 Lord’s Prayer

9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.[c]

 

4. Psalms 37: 1-4

37 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

 

5. Psalm 27: 1-4, 14

 An Exuberant Declaration of Faith

A Psalm of David.

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

4 One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.

14 Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!

 

6. Psalms 51:10 Clean Spirit

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

 

7. Mark 8:36-37  Soul

36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

 

8. Proverbs 17:22  Broken Spirit

22 A merry heart does good, like medicine,[a]
But a broken spirit dries the bones.

 

9. Proverbs 3:5-8 Guidance for the Young

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct[a] your paths.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
8 It will be health to your flesh,[b]
And strength[c] to your bones.

10. Exodus 20:12 Ten Commandment of Parents

 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

 

11. Proverbs 6:16-19  Wicked Man

16 These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

 

12. Proverbs 13:20  Wise Men

20 He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed.

 

13. Proverbs 16:7-8  Peace and Little

7 When a man’s ways please the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

8 Better is a little with righteousness,
Than vast revenues without justice.

 

14. Proverbs 21:23 Tongue

23 Whoever guards his mouth and tongue
Keeps his soul from troubles.

 

15. Proverbs 23:9 Fool

9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

 

16. Proverbs 24:17-20  Enemy

17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
18 Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him,
And He turn away His wrath from him.
19 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the wicked;
20 For there will be no prospect for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

 

17. Proverbs 29:18 Vision

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

 

18. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Everything Has Its Time

3 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

2 A time to be born,
    And a time to die;
A time to plant,
    And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
    And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
    And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
    And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
    And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
    And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
    And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain,
    And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
    And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear,
    And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
    And a time to speak;
8 A time to love,
    And a time to hate;
A time of war,
    And a time of peace.

 

19. John 14:1-6 The Way, the Truth, and the Life

14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions;[a] if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

 

20. Romans 8:28, 31

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

 

21. Philippians 4:13

 13 I can do all things through Christ[b] who strengthens me.

 

22. John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

 

23. Ecclesiastes 12: 1, 13-14

12 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw near when you say,
“I have no pleasure in them”:

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.

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Don’t call Me Tonight about Politics: Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, Survivor

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , on May 14, 2009| 6 Comments »

To Whom It May Concern: don’t call me tonight while my shows are on T.V. and I shouldn’t need to tell you that.  Jim Croce should come back from the dead long enough to do a remix with Justin Timberlake that say, “you don’t spit into the wind, you don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, don’t call dude during primetime on Thursday night and never during Jeopardy.”   That’s hot; they could mix in “Our Loves is in Jeopardy, baby.”

When I was a kid and T.V. had nine channels, Dean Martin’s show was the thing because he was Rat Pack cool and had those “Goldn-ggers.”  Yes, I thought his sidekick sweethearts were called that rather than they real name “Dean Martin’s Golddiggers” and my older brother (the world biggest a–) would laugh before telling me my error years later.  “When get big, I am going to get me some Goldn-ggers.”  And my mother said, “When you get big, you should hope you can afford some Golddiggers.”  To this day, I can’t afford any but they don’t know that.  Modern-day Golddiggers are slipping and I am generally around the Essence Magazine reading, Get-her-own-cheddar women anyway. 

It’s funny how folks in my community connect all the characters an actor has played together.  Today, I will be watching Ugly Betty with smoking hot Vanessa Williams and America Ferrera, who I admire for standing up for Hillary last year.  I will tape Survivor, which includes Taj from the singing group SWV—she was the tallest one.  When former NFL running back Eddie George came to see her on the show last week, he made a brother proud.  George married her when she was one of the most desired women in Black America but she has put on some pounds while he is still cut. 

A weak-minded dude would have traded her in for a Golddigger by now but he is still in love with her and over the last few months, I can see why; she is still lovely.  If she doesn’t win, that is okay because the skinny Jewish guy is more than worthy and why do Black people always cheer for the Black person.  I stopped that some time ago—okay it was last week during the Amazing Race when the sisters who balled at Louisville were eliminated because one of the them stopped at a portable toilet just before reaching the checked-in point—and she was wearing an Asian robe.  That wouldn’t have been Taj from Survivor; old girl would have just let it go since a million dollars was on the table.   I am telling you that the problem with school system is that America is not building kids like we were built—suck it up and go.  As much as 25% of the next generation is weak; like Taj singing “Weak” with SWV back in the day.

I will be taping CSI with my man Larry (correction) Lawrence Fishburne.  He was the guitar player who said, “No, Miss. Sofia” on the Color Purple just before Oprah’s character got in that situation with White folks.  That was nothing compare to the beat down Jennifer Hudson took in The Secret Life of Bees, a movie from a book written by a Sylvester Georgia native I must proudly say.  I first saw Fishburne in “Cornbread, Earl, and Me” after the local theater was integrated.  We still sat in the balcony because we wanted to be with folks who looked like us and not folks under court-order to watch a movie with us.  And, the American President is Black today.

Obama did not change the nation; he is just the next step in a long journey for all Americans.  I am also proud of the sister Shonda Rhimes who created and produced the biggest prize for Thursday night since the Cosby Show and Magnum P.I.  Grey’s Anatomy is brilliant T.V. because the traumas have drama and the cast is a collection of compelling characters.  The strength of the Chief is similar to President Palmer on 24—the first Black president.  Izzy Stephens will likely die tonight and that thing is going to put a lump in my throat like Dr. Mark Greene dying in Hawaii on E.R.

 Please don’t let Kate die on Lost because I wanted to see those freckles during the final season in 2010.  Did that White guy and his Black wife move into the jungle alone; that must be love.  They set a good example for old school folks like me but what about the Latina and White lady doctors’ love affair back on Grey’s Anatomy.

Okay, the conservative movement is right (get it right) on some level: Hollywood has a diversity and tolerance agenda.  But, many south Georgians want their kids to be “like-minded” or them.  I will admit to being a hypocrite because two dudes dating I don’t see but those cute lady doctors falling in love is kind of hot.  The question comes up when my friends and I are solving the world problems at a cookout and sipping box wine (Cart-a-nay): would you prefer your female college age cousin being with a good woman or a bad man. 

 I had better leave that thing alone because too much leftwing T.V. is turning me into tolerant southerner.  Is that an oxymoron?  Two things that should not happen: don’t call me tonight when my shows are on T.V. and don’t ever invite me to two dudes wedding.  Those cats can be happy but I don’t want to see it.    

Recently, I wrote a blog post about gay marriage and I did not go into details about the Black community being so very conservative and the GOP having no idea.  The other contributors of this blog were blowing up my phones during the last 30 minutes of the two hour season finale of Lost—they were planning their weekends at the GOP State Convention.  When you Republicans want to know what is the matter, don’t listen to each other; listen to moderates like me.     

 Please don’t let Kate die on Lost because I wanted to see those freckles during the final season in 2010.  Did that White guy and his Black wife move into the jungle alone; that must be love.  They set a good example for old school folks like me but what about the Latina and White lady doctors’ love affair back on Grey’s Anatomy.

 

Okay, the conservative movement is right (get it right) on some level: Hollywood has a diversity and tolerance agenda.  But, many south Georgians want their kids to be “like-minded” or them.  I will admit to being a hypocrite because two dudes dating I don’t see but those cute lady doctors falling in love is kind of hot.  The question comes up when my friends and I are solving the world problems at a cookout and sipping box wine (Cart-a-nay): would you prefer your female college age cousin being with a good woman or a bad man. 

 

I had better leave that thing alone because too much leftwing T.V. is turning me into tolerant southerner.  Is that an oxymoron?  Two things that should not happen: don’t call me tonight when my shows are on T.V. and don’t ever invite me to two dudes wedding.  Those cats can be happy but I don’t want to see it.   

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West Wing: Gay Marriage, the Bible and the President

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , on May 13, 2009| 7 Comments »

I really enjoyed and grew from watching the NBC’s The West Wing.  Many people these days decide whether to respect a president or actually say that someone is not “their president.”  Barrack Hussein Obama is my president; John Sidney McCain III might have been my president and George Walker Bush was my president.                                           

 

This clip from the West Wing framed the debate well; while you might not have voted for a president, once the man or woman is sworn into office, that person is the president and deserves the respect I have given every president who served during my life. 

 

The West Wing president walk into a room in the White House knowing that a far-right media personality would be there and of course the lady decide to slight him by remaining seated—she got “told” big time.

 

That is democracy in action—a beautiful thing and I would graciously thank the citizens for taking the time to share their point of view with their member of congress.  

One Sunday, the pastor at the Methodist Church I attended in southwest D.C. said in her sermon that she saw a bumper sticker which read, “Father, protect us from your followers.”  Interesting.

 I can’t say I am for gay marriage but I will say there should be a legal way to select who answers questions during medical emergency.  I listened to both sides of the debate but hey I was not a congressman—just a conduit for information to and from the elected officials.   I tell you one thing: they should make all marriages hard to get into because Britney Spears get married before breakfast and it being over before lunch is plain wrong.  Folks don’t respect vows and oath anymore.  I respect marriage and parenthood so much that I have never done either—plus my dollars have always been short.   

I won’t get deeply into the gay marriage debate but this clip offers interesting background into reconciling our beliefs in the Bible and Christianity with the functional reality that constitutionally this nation has no official religion.   Sometimes it saddens me to think about all the ugly names people called me when I was the judiciary staffer in three congressional offices and of course the calls would be heaviest on Monday after the recommendations came from the Sunday pulpits.  That is democracy in action—a beautiful thing and I would graciously thank the citizens for taking the time to share their point of view with their member of congress.

 

One Sunday, the pastor at the Methodist Church I attended in southwest D.C. said in her sermon that she saw a bumper sticker which read, “Father, protect us from your followers.”  Interesting.

 

I can’t say I am for gay marriage but I will say there should be a legal way to select who answers questions during medical emergency.  I listened to both sides of the debate but hey I was not a congressman—just a conduit for information to and from the elected officials.   I tell you one thing: they should make all marriages hard to get into because Britney Spears get married before breakfast and it being over before lunch is plain wrong.  Folks don’t respect vows and oath anymore.  I respect marriage and parenthood so much that I have never done either—plus my dollars have always been short.  

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