Part Five of A Call to Christian Patriotism

One of my Democratic friends put up Cher's photo and quote on Facebook. I do not think this posting is helping her Democratic cause a bit. I wanted to comment: Oh my! You are not civil manner at all Cher.  Also, Cher, I do not capitalize HIM for anyone but my LORD. But I just copied the photo.

From Pinterest

Above is another ridiculous anti-Romney ad. Campaigning has gone to the dogs! Now the conservatives have some awful postings also. Here are two more I found on Pinterest from Polittake.org and Right Wing Art.

And maybe there is truth in the above tacky posting.

So we continued to see the campaigning put up these vitriolic uncivil ads and sentiments. Many times I have NOT wanted to be involved in politics at all, but this year the stakes are high and as a senior citizen, these ten posts are what I CAN do in 2012.

We are going through a study book in this series and continuing to reflect on Scripture. This week the first Scripture noted in Howard A. Eyrich’s A Call to Christian Patriotism is Deuteronomy 4:1-6, 10, 23, 24. Eyrich lists principles that meant that God would bless Israel. Principle five is that

Idolatry of any kind does not lead to freedom but bondage. . . . if we turn to “idolatry” in some “ism,’ rejecting what God has given to us, and trash these founding documents, we will find ourselves in a morass of confusion, heading for destruction (p. 62).

Eyrich reviews the purpose of the law in Scripture from Psalm 19, 119 and Galatians 3:24. The law restrains us from sin (Psalm 119:11). Eyrich makes this comparison:

We need Scriptures to guide us in faithful Christian living. We need the Constitution and Bill of Rights to guide us in being faithful Americans (p. 65).

Leaders need helpers as Eyrich illustrates with a discussion from Exodus 17 of Moses needing Aaron and Hur. Then he writes:

We need to pray for God’s providential intervention to bring to the presidency a statesman of moral character. We need to pray for men and women to arise in Congress who will be the Aaron and the Hur that are necessary to pass reconstructive legislation (p. 68).

Romans 13:1-6 calls us to a godly submission to government. Eyrich notes that one of our founding fathers of America, Ben Franklin, believed that God was necessary when our new country was being formed.

Ben Franklin is cited for saying that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probably that an empire can rise without his aid? (p. 71)

Eyrich's 25th of 52 sessions uses 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 and 7:20
-24 which reads in part: Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. . . . Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. . . . You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called.

We need to be grateful for our country. In contrast to one of the Obama graphics above, Eyrich cites the famous words of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in his inaugural address:

Ask, not, what your country can do for you.

Ask what you can do for your country.

Picking up on this great quote Eyrich writes:

We should not ask, "What can God do for me?" He has already done all that we need. Rather, we should be asking, "What can I do for God to express my appreciation for his great work in my life?" The Christian Patriot best serves his country when he serves God by living a godly life in every arena of life, including the exercise of civic responsibilities to participate in self-governing (p. 74).

Here is a prayer from 93-year-old Billy Graham that was sent by a friend to my e-mail:  Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable... We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from sin and set us free. Amen!

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we once again can be called "One nation under God!"

The Gospel Coalition has listed 40 Days with the Southern Baptists that you can participate in before the election. Let the 40 days begin.

To be continued October 1, LORD willing. 

Part Four of A Call to Christian Patriotism

We say the movie "Last Ounce of Courage" Saturday night. There were very moving scenes in it and it packs a punch for freedom in our country. Go to see it if you can. See trailer.

Lots of news this week of the anniversary of 9/11 eleven years ago. Ambassdor Stevens and three other State Department employees were killed in Libya; this was followed by protests in other counties, and the suggestion is that a YouTube video that slams the Prophet Muhammad is at the source of the attacks. Tim Brown reflects that Christians respond with truth to a film whereas Muslims respond with violence to a film at the Freedom Outpost. Suppose terrorists killed the producers of "Last Ounce of Courage"? Would we excuse them because of their emotions? I think not. Sure, the movies are different. Charles Krauthammer criticizes the state department here. This election may finally deal with foreign affairs, not just jobs and the economy.

And, this article calls for Obama to take a stand for Israel.


In our book in these ten Monday blogs, A Call to Christian Patriotism, published a year ago, but relevant today, Howard A. Eyrich again discusses more Scripture to shape the Christian patriot.

• Deuteronomy 29:1-9. Moses was used as a leader. George Washington was used as a leader and the most amazing Constitution and Bill of Rights came into being--DEMOCRACY. The author writes:

If we desire our children and our grandchildren to enjoy the gift of this Constitution, we must engage with this Continental Army [of George Washington]. The war was won to secure this document and the freedoms it secured. But we are faced with increasingly strong guerrilla operations that would trash it. We must take our responsibility for leadership and engage in the process of self-governing. (p. 47)

We can vote wisely and we can pray as Mark Driscol writes here:

Yes, we should be informed citizens who take our privilege of voting seriously. Our involvement with the political process is what makes the form of government in the United States work. But God has something much more in mind for us when it comes to our political involvement. . . .

God, through Paul [I Timothy 2:1-2], didn’t specify what leaders we are to pray for and not pray for. He didn’t say we should only pray for one particular political party. He simply said, pray “for kings and all who are in high positions.

• Matthew 27 and Revelation 19, 20. "The carnage of war is strewn across the face of history," writes Eyrich (p. 49). [Yet American's] "Christian underpinnings forged a nation in which the rule of law pushed back the forces of evil with more vigor than ever before. The Ten Commandments became the symbol of our existence. . . . Christian Patriots cannot relinquish the fight to push back evil (49, 50)."

• 2 Timothy 3:1-4. Eyrich lists earmarks of a politician he wants to see and contrasts these with the description of politicians who are covetous, boastful, proud, unthankful, disobedient, unholy, traitors, high-minded and lovers of self and pleasure. He also points to little help from media.

• Deuteronomy 29 and I Peter 5:6. The author gives five suggestions. 1) Live according to what is right in God's eyes. 2) Pray for repentance as Daniel did. 3) Seek out and elect those who will bring reform. 4) Speak out as I am trying to do here. 5) Use our influence to call Americans back to our roots.

• Isaiah 5:18-23. "We have replaced our Judeo-Christian value system with a postmodern system. This has led to both confusion and conflict, and the slow eroding of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution" (p. 58), write Dr. Eyrich. He points out that our leaders are angry and we have changed religious freedom into tolerance.

That film we saw last weekend, "Last Ounce of Courage," illustrates this attempt at political correctness that negates our religious freedom, a principal upon which our country was founded. This soldier appreciates our freedoms and his country. Like the son in the movie, he is willing to die for that freedom. 

Soldier Has American Soil He Is Tending Overseas





Part Three of A Call to Christian Patriotism

The Democrats took references to God  out of the convention. See here.  Then it was scripted to vote Him back in. Oh my! Gene Veith wrote about this in this blog post.

Dr. Eyrich reminds us in his book,  A Call to Christian Patriotism, of  some more reflective Scripture that I am listing here in Part Three just as I have listed his Scripture in the previous two posts.

•  Job 40:1-42:6 Our help comes from God who says everything under heaven in Mine. (41:11). The Republican and Democratic Conventions are His!
• We need to be training the next generation according to Deuteronomy 6:1-14. Eyrich gives nine steps from this passage.

1) Lay a theological foundation by teaching our children the character of God.

2) Build a relationship with God.

3) Practice biblical meditation.

4) Conduct formal instruction.

5) Practice casual application.

6) Practice intentional appreciation for God and the Bible.

7) Use the Bible and do God's work.

8) Display the reality of God through art.

9) Guard you heart.

• I am not sure one can separate church and state. Christianity Today has an article asking is there anything wrong with voting for a Mormon for President here. Fox put up a video supporting that our current President has Muslin leanings here if it hasn't been pulled yet, and one of my friends wrote on Facebook that Obama is not a Muslin. I do not think that the issue is where a candidate goes to church, but who can lead our country in the way we feel it should go.

Eyrich cites Numbers 21:1-18 and discusses the flag and the sanctuary. I think that a flag is controversial in some Reformed congregations because this symbol is interpreted as an idol. Yet when the Israelites complained in Numbers 21, God sent snakes to teach them a lesson. The people confessed their sin of complaining and a symbol of a bronze serpent was used after that. Anyone who was bitten by a snake, could be healed by looking at that bronze snake. To me there are more important issues, like not complaining, rather than whether a church has the idol of flags in the church. Christianity Today has an article on having a flag in the sanctuary--here.

• Eyrich writes: The American flag is the symbol of God's blessing on this nation. It reminds us that God gave us this country at the cost of much shed blood. It reminds us of how our forefathers struggled and sought God's intervention as they hammered out the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It reminds us that the preaching of the Word of God touched innumerable lives with the Gospel and the Christian world view. The Christian flag is also a symbol. It, too, is a manmade symbol, but nonetheless a spiritual symbol. It reminds us that we are Christians first. It reminds us that our relationship to Christ demands both our loyal submission and our obligation to impact our world with the message of the Gospel. It reminds us to worship. And it reminds us that every good and perfect gift comes from God--including our national existence and our freedom. (pp. 37, 38)

• The desire for peace is part of the Christian patriot's calling; we need leaders who will pursue peace in our world. The author highlights John 14 to develop the peace of hope (vv. 1-3), the peace of faith (vv. 10-15), the peace of promise (vv. 16-26) and the peace of knowledge (vv. 27-31).
• Eyrich does not shy away from discussing taxes as he brings up 1 Samuel 8:10-17.

The war cry "Raise my taxes!" is the preemptive strike of union leadership who convinced their members that it is better to raise taxes to temporarily sustain a failed system than to cut social service budgets to correct the failing system and preserve a state. . . . Study history and learn from the mistakes of others, or you will repeat history. It seems to me that the history of Israel teaches that if we exchange freedom under God with its accompanying personal responsibility for the assurance of government to provide cradle-to-grave care, we sacrifice freedom to gain servitude (p. 43). . . . In our democratic republic, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are to us what the God-given law was to Israel in a theocratic kingdom. To dismantle these historical documents either by neglect or by activist courts is to replace them with a "king" that will rule for the benefit of power. Our very existence, as America is dependent on two things. The first is the proclamation of the Gospel, which seeds our population with God fearing citizens. The second is the guarding and enforcement of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as they were given in their historical context (p. 44) .

In this current election, there are conditions beyond the faith of the candidates and maybe even beyond whether God is mentioned in the convention platform in a very cursory way. The very history and unique character of these United States of American are what is at stake.

To be continued next Monday.

Part Two of A Call to Christian Patriotism



Hopefully many of your saw the 2016 movie and records show that many have indeed seen this documentary. 

For this second Monday in this series which follows part one of Howard Al Eyrich's book, we look at prayer for our nation. I must admit that often my prayer is for people I know and my problems in this life. But spiritual warfare needs prayer and prayer helps us realize God's sovereignty in our world and nation. Howard Eryich continues with carefully selected Scripture:

• Romans 6-9. These chapters really chronicle our standing in Christ and put the law and sin in perspective. Eyrich writes:

As Patriots who are Christians, our hope rests in that finished work of Jesus to effect the redemption of our souls. As Christians who are Patriots we rest our national welfare in the hands of God through our Constitution and Bill of Rights. . . . If we, like ancient Israel, neglect our responsibilities, we will suffer eventual demise at our own hands as a result of our own neglect (p. 17).

• 2 Chronicles 7:14 reads  If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
• John 18:28-38. Here Christ tells Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world. Pilate asks what is truth? and tells the Jews that he find no fault in Christ.
• Haggai 2:10-23 is used to emphasize that our worldview makes a difference and of course this is true in voting. But it is the LORD who will overthrow the throne of kingdoms (vs. 22).
• Micah 2:1-13 and Amos 8:4-6. Eyrich comments,

We cannot but see the similarities to the Wall Street debacle of recent years, culminating in the housing and mortgage crash (p. 28).

I watched with interest the Republican National Convention last week. Some Christians have their own strategies on the election and they are considering voting for a third candidate. I think that we are not voting for either Romney or Obama as a pastor, but as a leader and that fact needs to be taken into consideration. Voting for a third candidate will just divide the vote. The two-party system is really what we have IMHO.

Another site put it succinctly:

The real choice come November is whether you want a socialistic government and country or the free America of our past? If you want America to become like the old Soviet Union and Cuba, then cast your vote for Obama/Biden as this is socialism. If you want to save America and restore it to its former greatness and free enterprise system, then vote for Romney/Ryan for this is Americanism.

It is indeed time for prayer and seeking God's face. Eyrich pens this prayer on p. 29:

Almighty God, giver of the Ten Commandments, enable us by your Holy Spirit to be keepers of the law. Help us to have the courage to proclaim your law. Convict us of our responsibility to protect all men but especially the poor. Grant us the ability to be merciful, kind and gentle. But, also, give us the strength to punish the wicked when they break the law. Help us to value the freedom you have granted us. Amen!