I know this will anger some folks, but my goal is not to create any ill-will or frustration. Christians seem to mix politics and patriotism with God's Kingdom. That mixture can be dangerous. I want to preface these next statements by stating that I am pro-America, Pro-Jesus, and I constantly have our troops (family and friends especially) in my prayers. I am grateful for a nation that allows me to freely worship God, freely write about God, and freely critique, without judicial consequence, higher powers. I am grateful.
We have a massive problem in our country. We have an estimated 11.2 million undocumented and unauthorized persons in this nation. That means a lot of things. It means they are as stereotypes state: taking our jobs, distorting our culture, increasing crime, getting government hand-outs.
I 100% agree with my conservative friends; the government should not be taking care of these immigrants. The government should not be in the business of watching after our orphans. The government should not be running food shelves and giving out food stamps.
I agree with you. That is not fair.
The government should not be doing this, because we should; The Church should. My tax dollars should not be going towards this, but my personal money and assets, however, should. We as the church have a huge responsibility. We are to care for a lot of people. We are to care for prisoners, strangers, sick, thirsty, hungry, naked (Psalms 146:7-9, Matthew 25), enemies (proverbs 25:21), orphans and widows (James 1:27, Zechariah 7:10), foreigners (Deuteronomy 10:18), voiceless and oppressed (Proverbs 31:8-9), the list could go on.
So it beckons the response, why are many (obviously a broad stroke) christians so anti-anything to do with immigration. How do they balance America and God's Kingdom? Whose calling comes first? Again, I feel it is necessary to state that I am pro-America, and 100% grateful to be a part of this great nation. I just sometimes question where my true allegiance lies.
Three points that seem bizarre to me:
1) I often hear people say that the immigrants are taking our jobs. What jobs are they taking? Either way they are paying taxes, with no refund. It was estimated that the government makes roughly 11.2 BILLION dollars off illegal immigrants (Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy) in 2011. That estimate jumps up to $13 Billion in 2013 (Estimated by Social Security Administration) to payroll taxes and $3 billion to medicare (Harvard University study). Amos 5:10-15 is rather convicting at this moment. But it is bizarre to me that we are up in arms about immigrants taking our jobs here in America, yet we aren't fully up in arms that american companies are leaving to go to countries were labor is much cheaper.... Aren't those corporations who are persons taking our jobs too? So should the stereotype read "immigrants and corporations are taking our jobs" from now on? Obviously I am jesting, but someone challenged me with that thought, and I see their point.
2) We are seeing numbers surge of over 57,000, and climbing, undocumented (illegal) child immigrants. all of whom are unaccompanied. No parents. Orphaned. 30,000+ have been released to sponsors. President Obama is seeking $3.7 billion (Office of Refugee Resettlement) which will go to the entity responsible for them, the Department of Health and Human Services, who care for them after they are released from the custody of Customs and Border Protection. These individuals often enter our country, illegally, and are surprisingly under educated if educated at all.
3) Sex trafficking of minors and adults is ridiculous. It is estimated 14,500-17,500 (US State Department) are trafficked into the United States, which includes the recruitment, expliotation, smuggling, coercion and rape of children. These illegal immigrants are promised a better life and then transported into the US to be raped by americans. Even worse, many of these trafficked victims were held for ransom while they extorted their families in their native countries. The sickening part, this is just a drop in the bucket. This exploitation of trafficked persons (sex, slave, servitude, etc...) is increasing all around our world with an estimated 29.8 MILLION PERSONS being enslaved, trafficked and exploited. How did we let the wicked get such a tight grip?
Can you imagine if we all let go of the trivial fights like trying to reinstate a nickname and logo at a college or background checks on guns or defending Phil Robertson? Can you imagine if we used the $84 million dollars the Evangelical and Mormon churched raised together in 2008 to defeat proposition 8 in California for aftercare facilities for trafficked minors in the sex trade? Or creating a program to educate, cloth, house, and feed the children who are unaccompanied illegal minors? What if we all refocused our finances and energy towards building a future for our youth to be the generation that cares more about the ministry of reconciliation that we are called to in Corinthians?
So if I take verses like Psalm 82:3-4 "Vindicate the weak and the fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked" as truth, then I must live differently if I am to believe what it says in revelations 21:1-8 will one day happen.
The writers of Psalms and Proverbs seem to be good at reminding me the truth about how God responds to the oppressors (including me as I so often stay neutral):
Psalms 72:4: May he vindicate the afflicted people, save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.
Proverbs 22:22-23: Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause, and rob of life those who rob them.
Proverbs 17:5: He who mocks the poor taunts the Maker; He who rejoices in calamity will not go unpunished.
All of this means nothing if I don't have a faith in Christ. This isn't a moral calling, this is Christ calling the rescued to be rescuers. This is Christ calling Americans to use our influence, freedom, personal finances, and faith to rescue the destitute. This is what a relationship with Christ looks like. It is out of the pews, out of the small groups, out of the youth and children programs. My faith in God requires of me more than a moral aptitude test, it calls me into the darkness, it calls me into a deeper understanding. It calls me.
So the question still remains, what are we as Christians to do? First decide where you stand, and then get involved.
Three ways to get involved:
1) Immigration reform. I do know this. I stand for Immigration Reform. God's Kingdom does not know earthly borders. I am in the process of educating myself, learning what this means, learning how it could work. A healthy and efficient path to citizenship is what is best for our nation and our nations immigrants.
2) Organizations like World Relief, KIVA (small micro-finance business), World Vision, International Justice Mission, As Our Own, Tubmen, Merrick community services, Global Fingerprints, are just a small sample of organizations fighting to care for our immigrants, our trafficked, our widows, our orphans, our unemployed, our oppressed, and our future generations. Support and promote them as much as you support and promote Gluten Free Diets, Nike Apparel, Apple Products, Samsung Galaxys, TV shows, and any of your favorite restaurants.
3) I ask myself this all the time. Am I willing to open up my home? Am I willing to sell everything I have and give to the poor as the Lord asks of the rich young ruler in Matthew? Am I willing to allow Jesus to interrupt my life?
Again, this was not to say that anyone who has a differing opinion is right or wrong. This is where I am at, I am still learning, I am still growing. I value differing opinions stated in a healthy way. I also enjoy conversation. If you are looking for ways to get involved, I will surely help. Lets grab coffee.
Much Love,
Casey
Monday, July 28, 2014
Monday, June 16, 2014
Anger is exhausting
It is the most simple phrase, but yet one that seems to have drastic implications. "Anger is exhausting" serves both as a warning and reminder.
It is amazing how dangerous anger can be. Anger makes us all irrational. It makes us ignore the ones we love, it hides our beauty, it removes our focus, and it challenges our passions. Anger, which is truly the greatest hinderance to life, takes us off course. It is the perfect excuse to blame others for our life's direction. It is the perfect excuse to stop doing what you are good at. It is the perfect excuse to hate and divide. The problem is, this excuse gets you nowhere.
Anger splits us up. Why is that? Because anger leads us to hate. What is tragic is how hate robs us of loving someone. Anger makes us not even understand the other side or the totality of the circumstances.
I can't tell you how many times in my life I wish I followed this warning. I have been so angry at so many people, that I have often lost focus and constantly have no energy. Angry at friends, at family, at co-workers, at people who I don't even know. The weight of that anger is exhausting.
The problem is, life is far better without this weight. Anger is a burden. Anger is useless. Worst of all, anger is exhausting. Anger just exposes our deepest insecurities. It makes us fight for the notion that we are "right" and they are "wrong," and everyone should know. That facade eats at us. It breaks us down.
Anger beats you down.
I don't have much to say besides Anger just is not worth it. Sadly I find myself in that camp, and then I need to remind myself, it is not worth it. It is not worth it to get angry over politics. It is not worth it to get angry over theology. It is not worth it to get angry over the words someone said about me. It is not worth it to get angry over
I don't often tell people to be selfish, but be selfish when it comes to your anger. What I mean is, anger is not taking care of yourself, it is making you exhausted by expelling energy that you could use for other desires. Can you imagine how much energy and focus you could have if you just let things go.
This is a philosophy that I find in Philomena. Remarkable movie by the way. To just simplify it, there are two characters on a journey to find one of the other characters sons. The is also looking for the character. What happens is it is discovered that the nuns at the orphanage took and adopted the son out, and burning the trails so that no connection could be made. When it was discovered that a connection could have been made, but they hide all options, and the nuns gave the child up for adoption without the permission of the mother of the son, instead of being spiteful, like the other character was, she forgave, and I quote "I forgive you because I don't want to remain angry." The character on the journey with the mother was upset and could not believe how she could "simply" just forgive, and the mother replies "it is not easy." But she realized that she would NEVER heal if she did not discover a path without anger.
It reminds me of something I have heard my mother say, a very wise woman, "You must be so tired being angry all the time."
Being angry is a natural reaction, but what good does it do? It weighs you down, it makes you exhausted. I understand it is not ideal, but I am just sick of being exhausted. It is not worth it.
It just is not worth it. I am demanding my energy be spent elsewhere.
On a side note, I am not talking about righteous anger, that is different. An anger that causes us to fix something. That is a good type of anger. For example, being angry about the fact that innocent children are being sold for sex, and having that anger cause you to do something about it, that is powerful. But being angry because Barack Obama is president and your friend voted for him, that is not healthy. Or being angry that someone in your church has a different view on Homosexuality then you, is not healthy. Or being angry that someone has consistently wronged you, is not healthy. Or being angry that someone differs from your views on a lot of topics with viable arguments, is not healthy.
It is amazing how dangerous anger can be. Anger makes us all irrational. It makes us ignore the ones we love, it hides our beauty, it removes our focus, and it challenges our passions. Anger, which is truly the greatest hinderance to life, takes us off course. It is the perfect excuse to blame others for our life's direction. It is the perfect excuse to stop doing what you are good at. It is the perfect excuse to hate and divide. The problem is, this excuse gets you nowhere.
Anger splits us up. Why is that? Because anger leads us to hate. What is tragic is how hate robs us of loving someone. Anger makes us not even understand the other side or the totality of the circumstances.
I can't tell you how many times in my life I wish I followed this warning. I have been so angry at so many people, that I have often lost focus and constantly have no energy. Angry at friends, at family, at co-workers, at people who I don't even know. The weight of that anger is exhausting.
The problem is, life is far better without this weight. Anger is a burden. Anger is useless. Worst of all, anger is exhausting. Anger just exposes our deepest insecurities. It makes us fight for the notion that we are "right" and they are "wrong," and everyone should know. That facade eats at us. It breaks us down.
Anger beats you down.
I don't have much to say besides Anger just is not worth it. Sadly I find myself in that camp, and then I need to remind myself, it is not worth it. It is not worth it to get angry over politics. It is not worth it to get angry over theology. It is not worth it to get angry over the words someone said about me. It is not worth it to get angry over
I don't often tell people to be selfish, but be selfish when it comes to your anger. What I mean is, anger is not taking care of yourself, it is making you exhausted by expelling energy that you could use for other desires. Can you imagine how much energy and focus you could have if you just let things go.
This is a philosophy that I find in Philomena. Remarkable movie by the way. To just simplify it, there are two characters on a journey to find one of the other characters sons. The is also looking for the character. What happens is it is discovered that the nuns at the orphanage took and adopted the son out, and burning the trails so that no connection could be made. When it was discovered that a connection could have been made, but they hide all options, and the nuns gave the child up for adoption without the permission of the mother of the son, instead of being spiteful, like the other character was, she forgave, and I quote "I forgive you because I don't want to remain angry." The character on the journey with the mother was upset and could not believe how she could "simply" just forgive, and the mother replies "it is not easy." But she realized that she would NEVER heal if she did not discover a path without anger.
It reminds me of something I have heard my mother say, a very wise woman, "You must be so tired being angry all the time."
Being angry is a natural reaction, but what good does it do? It weighs you down, it makes you exhausted. I understand it is not ideal, but I am just sick of being exhausted. It is not worth it.
It just is not worth it. I am demanding my energy be spent elsewhere.
On a side note, I am not talking about righteous anger, that is different. An anger that causes us to fix something. That is a good type of anger. For example, being angry about the fact that innocent children are being sold for sex, and having that anger cause you to do something about it, that is powerful. But being angry because Barack Obama is president and your friend voted for him, that is not healthy. Or being angry that someone in your church has a different view on Homosexuality then you, is not healthy. Or being angry that someone has consistently wronged you, is not healthy. Or being angry that someone differs from your views on a lot of topics with viable arguments, is not healthy.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
You.
I have chosen not to write for a long time. Many reasons, one was learning to tame my tongue. I am often a sharp and harsh critic. Many close to me can attest to that.
I have chosen today to not write a piece on the current events in the modern evangelical world, which will soon be out of the news and away from the public spotlight. I instead am going to write one item. One item that is one my heart, especially recently. Here is the quick backstory (as vague as I possibly can put it for their sake):
I have a close friend who was talking with me about a decision they were about to make. This friend, had talked to me about this issue in great depth, many times before. The conversation was interesting, partially because we were talking about a variety of items before this issue we were exploring. The issue came up, was carefully crafted in a way to display the presenter in a positive light.
Now, many of us have been in this situation. Someone is talking to us, admits what they are experiencing or doing or thinking about, and we immediately present to them our stance.
In this case, that is exactly what happened. I presented to them my stance, but before I got to the great heights of my infinite knowledge, wisdom and clearly years of experience, I was stopped, or interrupted (no worries, not rudely). My friend kindly said, "I know your stance on my choices, but what is your view of me? How do you view me now?"
I couldn't tell you how fast it clicked inside of me. My "infinite" knowledge, wisdom and years of "experience" which gave me obvious authority to speak on any subject, was immediately thrown away (it is odd how quickly you can be humbled, even if I wasn't humble). I knew, right then, I had a choice.
I could share my stance on the topic, or I could share my stance on them. I realized, this friend did not need a lecture, a tweet or post, on where I essentially fall. My friend needed to know where I stood with them.
I wish it had clicked years early when a good friend at the time told me something about his life, and instead of being supportive and loving, I instantly told him, I don't agree with your choice, and that I hope they get over this soon because they are wrong. Instead of choosing to process through what it means, reminding him that God loves him far greater than I could, or even just being their for him, I lectured him. Sadly this was before the world of social media, so my only connection was phone or AIM. It did not click to me then, that he just wanted someone to just be present and a processor, or more importantly, just someone who loved him, because years later, he gave up contacting any of us, and has nearly no support.
I am reminded of Jesus with the prostitute in Luke 7. I was not acting like Jesus, keep that in mind (nor rarely have), but in this story, one piece I remember clearly. Jesus could have chewed out the prostitute for crying at His feet. Jesus could have given her a lecture on why what she was doing was wrong. Jesus could have written a decree that stated that all prostitutes aren't allowed to live as long as they are prostitutes. Instead, Jesus (who actually lectures the Pharisee) calmly reminder her that she is already forgiven.
I wish this was just one time Jesus did this. Not the case. Jesus did this countless times; lepers, beggers, hemorrhaging woman, blind man, woman at the well.
Or take the parable of the lost sheep. One sheep out of one hundred strays, the shepherd goes after that sheep. Finds the sheep, brings the sheep back. In this parable, the shepherd didn't lecture the sheep on why straying is wrong, the sheep knew how lonely it was out there and why straying was not wise. The shepherd cares more about the sheep than the stance on why the sheep left.
A powerful set of verses are in Romans 8, that contends that NOTHING can separate us from God's LOVE. NOTHING (Done, Doing, or Will Do).
I am challenging myself everyday to show my stance on people. To show them my love.
I am applying this today, with the current events. I am not concerned about the stance on World Vision or Phil Robertson or Barack Obama or Climate Change. I am concerned about the person. I am concerned about the children in World Vision who are no longer sponsored because of a stance, children are the ones who lose. I am concerned about the people who aren't sponsoring them anymore because of their stance. I will attest to the fact that I do not care about the stance on the issue. I care about the fact that our world is in dire need of love, hope, justice and not a lecture from me. This starts by changing our philosophy to start with our stance on humans. We see this by caring about them; feeding them, clothing them, visiting them, educating them, fighting their oppressors, providing them with clean water, housing them.
So the question I ask myself is "What is my stance on people?" because I guarantee they know my stance on issues.
DON'T end up like me, declaring my stance on issues all the while ignoring people in those situations. Don't rob them of love, like I have on so many occasions. Healing those relationships are very difficult. I can only pray that to have that trust with them.
AS a side note, if you are no longer sponsoring World Vision, please let me know, especially if you are sponsoring a child. I will take over your sponsorship, or find someone who will. No ill will.
I have chosen today to not write a piece on the current events in the modern evangelical world, which will soon be out of the news and away from the public spotlight. I instead am going to write one item. One item that is one my heart, especially recently. Here is the quick backstory (as vague as I possibly can put it for their sake):
I have a close friend who was talking with me about a decision they were about to make. This friend, had talked to me about this issue in great depth, many times before. The conversation was interesting, partially because we were talking about a variety of items before this issue we were exploring. The issue came up, was carefully crafted in a way to display the presenter in a positive light.
Now, many of us have been in this situation. Someone is talking to us, admits what they are experiencing or doing or thinking about, and we immediately present to them our stance.
In this case, that is exactly what happened. I presented to them my stance, but before I got to the great heights of my infinite knowledge, wisdom and clearly years of experience, I was stopped, or interrupted (no worries, not rudely). My friend kindly said, "I know your stance on my choices, but what is your view of me? How do you view me now?"
I couldn't tell you how fast it clicked inside of me. My "infinite" knowledge, wisdom and years of "experience" which gave me obvious authority to speak on any subject, was immediately thrown away (it is odd how quickly you can be humbled, even if I wasn't humble). I knew, right then, I had a choice.
I could share my stance on the topic, or I could share my stance on them. I realized, this friend did not need a lecture, a tweet or post, on where I essentially fall. My friend needed to know where I stood with them.
I wish it had clicked years early when a good friend at the time told me something about his life, and instead of being supportive and loving, I instantly told him, I don't agree with your choice, and that I hope they get over this soon because they are wrong. Instead of choosing to process through what it means, reminding him that God loves him far greater than I could, or even just being their for him, I lectured him. Sadly this was before the world of social media, so my only connection was phone or AIM. It did not click to me then, that he just wanted someone to just be present and a processor, or more importantly, just someone who loved him, because years later, he gave up contacting any of us, and has nearly no support.
I am reminded of Jesus with the prostitute in Luke 7. I was not acting like Jesus, keep that in mind (nor rarely have), but in this story, one piece I remember clearly. Jesus could have chewed out the prostitute for crying at His feet. Jesus could have given her a lecture on why what she was doing was wrong. Jesus could have written a decree that stated that all prostitutes aren't allowed to live as long as they are prostitutes. Instead, Jesus (who actually lectures the Pharisee) calmly reminder her that she is already forgiven.
I wish this was just one time Jesus did this. Not the case. Jesus did this countless times; lepers, beggers, hemorrhaging woman, blind man, woman at the well.
Or take the parable of the lost sheep. One sheep out of one hundred strays, the shepherd goes after that sheep. Finds the sheep, brings the sheep back. In this parable, the shepherd didn't lecture the sheep on why straying is wrong, the sheep knew how lonely it was out there and why straying was not wise. The shepherd cares more about the sheep than the stance on why the sheep left.
A powerful set of verses are in Romans 8, that contends that NOTHING can separate us from God's LOVE. NOTHING (Done, Doing, or Will Do).
I am challenging myself everyday to show my stance on people. To show them my love.
I am applying this today, with the current events. I am not concerned about the stance on World Vision or Phil Robertson or Barack Obama or Climate Change. I am concerned about the person. I am concerned about the children in World Vision who are no longer sponsored because of a stance, children are the ones who lose. I am concerned about the people who aren't sponsoring them anymore because of their stance. I will attest to the fact that I do not care about the stance on the issue. I care about the fact that our world is in dire need of love, hope, justice and not a lecture from me. This starts by changing our philosophy to start with our stance on humans. We see this by caring about them; feeding them, clothing them, visiting them, educating them, fighting their oppressors, providing them with clean water, housing them.
So the question I ask myself is "What is my stance on people?" because I guarantee they know my stance on issues.
DON'T end up like me, declaring my stance on issues all the while ignoring people in those situations. Don't rob them of love, like I have on so many occasions. Healing those relationships are very difficult. I can only pray that to have that trust with them.
AS a side note, if you are no longer sponsoring World Vision, please let me know, especially if you are sponsoring a child. I will take over your sponsorship, or find someone who will. No ill will.
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