Hiding behind Political Views

So...it's been awhile. A long while.

Since the last time I wrote:
1) America elected it's first African American president.
2) I am literally weeks away from my graduation from Penn State.
3) God is still on the throne....or as Pastor Harry from State College Assembly says, "God is good, the devil is bad, and I know whose side I'm on!"

Now that that's out of the way...on to the important thing I need to get off my chest. So I call myself trying to be more educated; I've been trying to read different blogs to get different perspectives about things that are happening, especially perspectives from the Christian side of things. And after reading some of these, I can truly understand why in America, conservative Evangelicals come off as sooo judgmental. Now, I do not declare myself a conservative or liberal; I can give or take a few things from both sides. And I wouldn't necessarily consider myself an evangelical Christian...I grew up in a Baptist church my whole life yet I attend an Assemblies of God congregation in State College. So, I have absolutely nothing against evangelicals. What I do have a problem with, however (and this may just be a personal qualm), is the way some conservative evangelicals are so adamantly Republican that they cannot step back from it and see what's wrong with the party. I am a registered Democrat but you will never hear me say that there's nothing wrong with the Democrat Party or even assert that. I was reading a blog by my pastor in State College and I always love to read the comments to his posts because the people who comment are mostly white, conservative evangelicals. I find it interesting how a couple of them can find no good in President Obama but is willing to defend President Bush (43). I find it funny how they are willing to defend President Bush (43)'s salvation and adamantly claim that President Obama is not a Christian. Now, I am not defending President Obama's pro-choice stance; I do not support that. But claiming that W. was a Christian and then defending his actions because he was a "babe in Christ" is not right. It is equally not right to just outright say that President Obama is not saved. None of the people commenting know neither W. or Obama personally so commenting on the status of their salvation is, to me, prematurely judging. I think that the most important point to realize is that neither of these men base their decisions solely on their relationships with Christ (if they have one), which still leaves the "Christian" America in potential danger.

Another problem I have is people hiding behind political and religious views to mask true prejudices. I am not convinced that every white, conservative evangelical dislikes Obama because he is a liberal democrat. Some of them dislike him because he is black. Truth is truth. I am never one to assume that it's always the case but I am not naive as well. Covert racism is one of the biggest dividers in the Church of Jesus Christ (not of Latter Day Saints) today. Sunday morning is STILL the most segregated hour in America. And we have the conservative evangelicals whining about how Obama "gets away with murder" with the media. Pleasssseeee someone give me a break! I want them to be able to tell me that had this not been their beloved John McCain that we would be having this same conversation. I have hardly heard people call into question his relationship with the Lord and I don't believe that if he had gotten into the White House that things would be much different than they are now.

So my question is: If we do feel like Obama does not have a relationship with the Lord, how do we plan to bring him in right relationship? I know one thing: these scathing reviews from so called Evangelical Christians will not do it. Are we indeed isolating the people we're called to love and win for Christ? I don't think there's anything wrong with political commentary but some of it just borderlines hateful speech. But then again, these are the same people who listen to the man who hopes Obama fails (Rush Limbaugh--though he himself is not necessarily a Christian, he has a HUGE evangelical backing.)

I did not agree with W. on everything (though he had my support on more than a few things...more than I can say Obama has with conservatives), I never hoped that he failed. But then again, maybe that's the Christ in me.

If you want to show me what it means to be a Christian, show me that love that Christ was known for. This includes doing what the Bible instructs: praying for our leaders and giving them, at the least, our respect.

One more for THE PEOPLE,
Ash B.

Somebody'S Watching You

Somebody'S Watching You
by Sly and the Family Stone

pretty pretty pretty as a picture
witty witty witty as you can be
blind cause your eyes see only glitter
closed to the things that make you free

ever stop to think about a downfall
happens at the end of every line
just when you think you’ve pulled a fast one
happens to the foolish all the time

somebody’s watching you (4’xs)

games are to played with toys etcetera
love is to be made when you’re for real
ups and downs are caused by life in general
some are yours no matter how you feel

shady as a lady in a mustache
feelings camouflaged by groans and grins
secrets have a special way about them
moving to and fro among your friends

somebody’s watching you (4’xs)

live it up today if you want to
live it down tomorrow afternoon
sunday school don’t make you cool forever
neither does the silver of your spoon
the nicer the nice the higher the price
this is what you pay for what you need
the higher the price the nicer the nice
jealous people like to see you bleed

somebody’s watching you (4x’s and fades out)

STAND!

I don't care what anyone says.....Sly and the Family Stone spoke TRUTH.

STAND!
By: Sly and the Family Stone

Stand
In the end you'll still be you
One that's done all the things you set out to do
Stand
There's a cross for you to bear
Things to go through if you're going anywhere
Stand
For the things you know are right
It's the truth that the truth makes them so uptight
Stand
All the things you want are real
You have you to complete and there is no deal
Stand. stand, stand Stand. stand, stand
Stand
You've been sitting much too long
There's a permanent crease in your right and wrong
Stand
There's a midget standing tall
And the giant beside him about to fall
Stand.
stand, stand Stand. stand, stand
Stand
They will try to make you crawl
And they know what you're saying makes sense and all
Stand
Don't you know that you are free
Well at least in your mind if you want to be
Everybody Stand, stand, stand

Doing my best to continue to stand.

A. B.

DADDY'S GIRL

I am a Daddy's Girl....I mean, a Daddy's girl to my heart! I love that man listed on my birth certificate as my father. We're extremely close. We talk everyday...several times aday and I doubt seriously that I'd get tired of talking to good ol' GB. He's stamped me....anyone can look at me and see that He's clearly my father. Ther older I get, the mote I appreciate his wisdome, intelligence, humor, and LOVE (among other things). I love him because he takes care of me and truly has my best interest at heart. This is the way God designed for it to be. And plenty of people have probably heard me express the sentiment that if anything ever happened to my Daddy, life would be hard to live. He's just that important to me.

And now I parallel that to God the Father. I SHOULD love Him to my heart and tell everyone my adoring sentiments towards Him. But sometimes my selfishness blocks me from loving Him as I should. He's close to me but my heart is far from Him. My lips (words) are closer to Him but I'm living for the day when my heart surpasses my words in my relationship with Him. We should talk everyday but I might skip a day...or seven. He, too, has stamped me...it's just that I can choose whether or not to display His stamp. People should be able to look at me and tell that I am His but....it doesn't quite happen that way all the time. The more mature I get, I SHOULD appreciate His WISDOM, OMNIPOTENCE, OMNIPRESENCE, LOVE, etc. but the problem is that I'm more comfortable being at a standstill in the maturation process. And without Him, there'd be no life, PERIOD. So even though, naturally, I'm a daddy's girl, I'm striving to be a Daddy's girl. I'm striving to be more like The Father (God) everday. Just as with my natural daddy, I'm striving to make Him proud. I'm striving to move beyond "father" because that doesn't denote relationship. "Daddy" screams relationship. And because that's what HE desires more than anything, it draws me to desire it for myself. I just want to be a DADDY'S GIRL.

For the people.
Ash B.

Faithful is Our God!

So...we took Brandon down to Hampton this weekend because he's in this 5 week Pre-College Prep Program. He's settled in and having a good time, thank the Lord. It's not that he wouldn't it's just hard to explain how we were feeling.

Brandon is like everyone's baby. He's the child that everyone expects to stay in high school for the rest of his life. Not saying that he's a bad student or anything to that extent but you just never expect him to grow up, and not this fast. I must confess, i was extremely worried about B going to college. He's not the most responsible and tends to forget things. I'm guessing that's typical 18 year old boy behavior. My mother was getting extremely frustrated with Hampton because of the lack of clarity and therefore the abundance of confusion. We even thought about checking out one of the branch campuses of Penn State for him. Well, Friday rolled in and we had to take him down. We got down there, checked him in, and went to find his dorm. Great. Smooth sailing. His dorm isn't the best but that's not what this entry is about so I'll spare the gory details. We went to a mandatory meeting, went out to dinner, etc. He stayed with us the first night. Saturday was pretty similar but I really don't feel like bustin' out all those details. SO on to Sunday. Brandon's dorm director is a man named Elder Raymond Cullen. When Mommy and I first met him on that Friday night, we were waiting for Brandon to come downstairs so we talked to him for a few minutes. He was a nice guy. Brandon went to church with him on Sunday under strict instructions from my father. After church, he comes over to talk to me and my parents. Wow! Let me tell you how God hooked this thing up! God set my brother up with someone who has a kindred spirit with my family and is reminiscent of my father. God knew that would be something Brandon would need. Elder Cullen spoke highly of the way Brandon spoke about us, telling us it was definitely not the norm. He also spoke highly of how my parents raised us. He looked at me and said that God had something big in store for both Brandon and I BUT this came with a Word of warning. He told us that testing time is coming and specifically for Brandon, that God was going to do a precision incision. He said that Brandon would bleed but in the end, he would thank God for the blood (in both senses). He told us to get ready and not to blame everything on the devil. When Jesus went into the wilderness, He was led by the Spirit into a time of testing. The same thing goes for us. God will sometimes lead us into a time of testing and allow us to be in wilderness situations. That thing blessed my soul! And he was really able to just pour into my father as the man of our house and as a pastor. He was such a blessing and a God-send. So my family was able leave there reassured that God was completely in control and that he knows exactly what he was doing. God is indeed faithful!



Instances like this always call me from fact to truth and cause me to realize God's truth over man's facts anyday. I thank God that He remains in control, no matter what things look like. And i thank Him even more than He chooses to show us that He's still in control

Rebel Is Me

Standard...
no one knows the meaning of that word anymore
and while we walk around singing riffs off Tye's cd
and trying to impress whoever we see,
fashionably,
we fail to realize that many of us
are cat-walking straight to hell.
We live anyway, we give anything
we refuse to live the standard
and adjust ours to meet HIS.
So I'm saying this now...Rebel is Me.
I refuse to live life without a cause,
satisfying my flesh with faulty solutions,
apathetic to the Savior and my daily crucifixion of Him through my life.
I refuse to give my body to any man before God has sanctioned it,
to allow someone to be that deep into me,
that we both deeply drag our souls through the mire of sin.
I refuse to let my words bring shame to His name.
I acknowledge that He created me so intelligently
that I can express myself better than throwing expletives around.
I refuse to pollute my body
because really, who wants used goods?
And after all the abuse, what good could it do?
I refuse
to let anyone bully me into believing that I'm too radical or hype
none of them saved my life
with a promise of a hope and a future bright.
A rebel saved me,
his cause gave me a cause
and now I'm a rebel
because I not only shun the norms, I live above them.
Want to know what a rebel is, watch Him.
Want to learn how to be a rebel, learn with me.
And though I'm not what I shall be,
I claim rebel is me
because He's constantly perfecting that thing in me.
Til He comes back and my cause is won,
my hands are weary, and my body worn
but my heart will be perfect and my spirit incorruptible.
The feeling on that day--insurmountable.

"I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because He exposed Himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels." --Isaiah 53:12 (NLT)

For the People.
Ash B.

Trailblazer

May He be glorified.

Trailblazer

"Make straight the path of the Lord,"
he cried.
It was a voice from the wilderness,
a man of tenderness
yet labeled rough by the circumstances around him.
To realize
through his eyes
that he was blazing the trail for the PRIZE
from the heavenly skies,
he did it with pride.
And there's no way that you could convince me otherwise
that John the Baptist's occupation is where
God is calling me to be.
You see
God has been beckoning us to be
oxymoronic purposely
to be in the world not of it
to stand out in this generation not above it
to be accountable not standing and asking "Whodunit?"
to shine like stars and be tasty like salt
to disregard the sin and surrender to Him our faults
to be cunning as a snake and humble as a dove
showing this world what it means to love Love
showing this world that Love loves on them
and not just sit in a church and learn your favorite hymn.
Hymns don't win souls and neither do church members
He's calling for, He's looking for
someone DIFFERENT
creating impact,
not dodging contact,
but facing the facts,
and accepting the truth.
In a day and time when everyone cries unique
everything looks the same to me, the prospect is bleak.
Unique is opening up your mouth
to cast away the cynic's doubts,
but even more than that
Unique is opening up your life
to let the Savior's light blaze bright.
The commitment is life or death,
get your heart ready and make sure your mind is set
because being a trailblazer is more than signing up for a committee
being a trailblazer is giving your life
for THE CAUSE.

2008 A. Burton

Lord, make me a TRAILBLAZER for your Kingdom on Earth so that I might get to Your Kingdom in Heaven. For the people.

Philia Love,
Ash B.