As our nation's 43rd President prepares to leave office this day, I would like to write him the following note of thanks. I doubt he will ever read it, but I'd like to write it, just the same.
Dear President Bush,
From the time you took office eight years ago, your administration has faced one battle after another. Did you ever really have a "honeymoon period" as President? The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, pretty much set your agenda for two full terms: protect America whatever the cost. That is, essentially, your primary responsibility as our Commander-in-Chief. With that in mind, I would like to thank you for several things:
Thank you for sticking by your convictions. Whether it had to do with the war on terror, pro-life legislation, or other issues, you didn't waver under pressure. That's not to say that I agreed with every decision you made, but I respected you for being a man of principle and letting the principle - not public opinion - determine your course of action.
Thank you for being a devoted husband. To see a President who has eyes for one woman only - his wife - sets a good moral example for America. On a side note, I also appreciate the manner in which Mrs. Bush respected and supported you as her husband. From everything I've seen, Mrs. Bush has been a wonderful complement to you in every way. God bless you both.
Thank you for being a man of integrity. Not only did you stick by your convictions when it came to making decisions, but you also preserved your character and reputation by avoiding scandal. You seem to have maintained a high level of personal morality throughout your time in office. Yet many a president's tenure has been tarnished by moral impropriety, questionable conduct, and unethical behavior. Thank you for preserving the dignity of the Office of the President of the United States and for setting a good moral example for the American people.
Thank you for not taking yourself too seriously. Though you were dead-earnest about matters pertaining to our nation's security and well-being, combatting terrorism, cracking down on corporate scandals, defending the life of the unborn, and the like, you had no problem enjoying a good laugh ... at yourself. That was always a breath of fresh air and made you very likable, at least to me. I think it reflected a spirit of humility and, in an odd sort of way, upheld your dignity. You showed people that the hills to die on weren't about you, but about the higher ideals which you were called to defend as an authority appointed by God for our good as a nation. By laughing at the little things, you endeared yourself to me and my family.
Much more could be said and really should be said by someone much more qualified than I to write such a note of gratitude to such a deserving man. But I write as a common man to a man of uncommon valor, for whom I will always be grateful. May our gracious and sovereign God continue to bless you and your dear family in your post-presidential years.
With heartfelt respect and appreciation,
Matt Fletcher
Great post, I completely agree.
ReplyDelete-Stephen
Great post, I completely agree.
ReplyDelete-Stephen
As a leader, President Bush was put into a lonely place. The buck stopped with him. Especially related to matters of security, he had information that the rest of us did not, and took action that, with the Lord's blessing, has kept us safe for several years. As a leader, Bush took responsibility for making these decisions, and did not pawn them off on others. How quickly our society sometimes judges our leaders, without having anywhere near the same level of information or vantage point that the President had.
ReplyDeletePresident Bush knows Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and that is where he'll receive his greatest reward.
I appreciate hearing words of commendation to a man deserving of it. So many are so quick to judge, to ridicule and even despise this man who has honorably lead our country through very difficult times.
ReplyDeleteOn a similar note, we should also be careful to respect and honor Obama for the position God has placed him in and uphold him, his family and his administration in prayer, rather than judge, ridicule and despise him! God uses all situations and circumstances to carry out his perfect will.
Thank you, Lauren, not only for your positive feedback on the note to President Bush, but also for the needed reminder to pray for our new President. Yesterday, I came across a wonderful prayer for our new President at Dr. Albert Mohler's blog. It is very biblical and meaningful. You can check it out at http://www.albertmohler.com/blog.php.
ReplyDeleteI unequivocally concur, Matt!
ReplyDeleteYesterdays proceedings were magnificent to behold.
Yet, through it all, there were quiet, lonesome tears compassionately falling from the eyes of my heart for our former commander-in-chief. This was spurred on by the myriad of angry people congregating anxiously around the cafeteria TV to watch the grand happening unfold. Any time George Bush was mentioned or shown it was met with great hostility and unkindness. They were ripping and tearing into this man like a pack of ravenous wolves during a famine all the while exalting Obama to idol status and making it "ALL ABOUT HIM".
Through all of this, the Holy Spirit started working on my heart, showing me the areas of my life where I have been unloving and unkind, exalted something or someone else above God or selfishly forget that its "NOT ABOUT ME". My eyes need to be on Christ, the author and perfecter of my faith. Not on any man or man made thing.
The truth is, there's never been a savior in Washington and Obama isn't a Savior either. We have one Lord of Lords, one King of Kings and one Alpha and Omega who appoints and guides all things by the power of his hand. What people need to know is that the only hope for this dying world is Jesus Christ, not a new earthly administration.
However, I agree with Lauren completely. We need to be uplifting, honoring and praying without cessation for our government officials. God has sovereignly appointed all of them and foreordained yesterdays inauguration before the foundations of the world to ultimately bring himself Glory!
I agree. Whether Bush or Obama, it gets lonely up at the top. And given the ebb and flow of public opinion, you'll always have someone cheering you and someone wanting your head on a platter.
ReplyDeleteI just hope Christians will continue to pray for Bush, Obama, and everyone else in leadership. I hope they will use their words to build up and not tear down, and remember that we are Christ's image/love bearers at this time on earth - may we do so sacrificially, quick to listen and slow to speak...
Thank you Pastor Matt for your message about this great man of God. I know we must not honor man above God but praise God for His work through men and I thank the Lord for His work accomplished through our past president. There is so much President George Bush has done that many will never know. He enabled many men and women who were and are incarcerated come to know Christ through his promotion of faith-based prison ministries. I believe he has had a stronger stand for Pro-Life than any president before him. His signing the ban on Partial Birth Abortion made him a hero in my sight. For decades Pro-life activists have been trying to get this horrible procedure outlawed but only during President Bush's Administration was this able to come about, much through his efforts to see it happen. His stand against terrorists and his stand for freedom were superb. People criticize President Bush because according to the media he initiated the war on Iraq with no proof of weapons of mass destruction. The President acted bravely and confidently on the information he had which I believe was very accurate. I am in the defense business and I will tell you there are many dangers out there and the enemy is very crafty. One only has to visit Israel and see school outings with parents carrying weapons to protect their children to imagine what it could have been like here in America without the strong stand against terrorists that this previous Presidential Administration has had. I am thankful to be an American and a veteran of the Vietnam War. There are members of our congregation who are fighting the War in Iraq right now and I thank the Lord for them and difference they are making in the lives of so many. President Lincoln was not a very popular president in his day, yet today he is regarded as one of the two best presidents we have ever had. I believe the future will look back on President George W. Bush as one of the three greatest presidents we have ever had. During this next presidential term I pray I can have a heart like Daniel who was loyal, respectful, and faithful to even such a horrific man as Nebuchadnezzar. God is in control and our trust is in Him.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, great comments. We are to pray for Barack Obama (1 Tim. 2:1-2), respect and honor him (Rom. 13:7; 1 Pet. 2:17), and be subject to him (Rom. 13:1,5; 1 Pet. 2:13-14); however, as Christians is that a complete response? Eric did a flawless job reminding us of our ultimate allegiance to God. As Christians we must be prepared to reject all that is ungodly and false, never compromising God's standards of righteousness. The Lord has promised to establish "the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him" (Malachi 3:18). Therefore, where our new President opposes or undermines biblical moral standards in our society, fails to uphold justice for the unborn, undermines religious liberties or condones an ethos that is hostile to the Gospel, we will pray for God's purposes to triumph over our President's plans and policies. It is sobering to think that there was a time when almost every soul in America acknowledged the 10 Commandments as the cornerstone of ethics and morality. That Americans universally disapproved of homosexuality, adultery, and divorce. We believed sexual promiscuity was absolutely wrong (even on TV). We regarded obscene language as inappropiate (now pastors use it), and abortion was unthinkable. Now all these things are protected as rights.
ReplyDeleteWhen Bill Clinton was caught up in the Monica Lewinski scandal his approval rating went up. Why? Because people like their leaders to be just like them. Well, the people have spoken once again. So what's the solution? We all know, the Gospel. America's moral decline is a spiritual problem, not a political one. The church MUST get back to preaching the unadulterated Word of God. America can survive a bad president, she cannot survive the continued compromise in her pulpits. The solution to America's greatest need is NOT in our elections, but in next Sunday's sermon.
Even though Barack Obama is now our President, it is highly unlikely we will find ourselves under a more hostile or volatile political regime than Nero's Rome, which is where Paul ministered. Under those circumstances, Paul did exactaly what we all know needs to be done, he preached the Gospel in every possible venue; and the church flourished.
The advancement of Christ's kingdom has never depended on democracy or even basic civil rights. As a matter of fact, history teaches the church has flourished, grown large and strong under times of persecution; something I believe we are going to understand very well.
I heard it said once, "If you want to know the moral fiber of a people, give them privileges, not responsibilities." America has been given great privilege and the results are in. We have spent so much time defending our liberties, being seeker friendly, and fighting to watch the Super Bowl on our big screens in church, that we have neglected the Gospel; consequently, the influence of the Gospel has been lost. It is time the church woke up to that fact and also buckle up, because the ride is about to get very bumpy.
In "Blessings out of Buffetings, Studies in Second Corinthians" by Alan Redpath, Redpath asked this question more than 40 years ago, "What kind of people are we?" He continues with, "I say most earnestly that the future of mankind is in grave peril unless there is to be a revival...in the last several years Satan has had a wonderful millennium in so-called Christian lands. People have forgotten their spiritual obligations in their enjoyment of material luxury, and they think that they can do anything they please as long as they set aside their quiet time. They can play any program for young people, or play the fool in any way, as long as they gather around the Word at the end of it. Oh, if ever the devil has done something to the church, he has done it today! The mark of a child of God (apart, of course, from his attendance at church and membership in Christian organizations) is completely eliminated in our daily living. I say, therefore, that there is a desperate need at this moment for a revival of the kind of Christian faith that brought Luther and others like him to be the men they were."
ReplyDeleteRedpath goes on to speak of when the Communists entered into China as angels of light, eventually leading to Christian persecution to those who did not pledge allegiance to the regime. He says, "There are deadly forces at work in this world, if they do not attack because they fear retaliation by force, they try to do it by corruption from within." How? "(By) squeezing the vitals out of our Christian living."
America has drifted dangerously far from her founding principles toward a more imperial and uncertain future. It is written nowhere that the American empire goes on forever. However, there is a power that defeats all enemies, it is the love of Christ. I finish with Redpath, "Is there a power, something that has you in its grip, something that will push you through without any possible alternative? It is the love of Christ! That is the quality the church of Jesus Christ needs now, for survival, in this hour of human history. The one thing that is going to cripple a nation beyond hope of recovery is the failure of Christians to be constrained by the love of Christ."
Are you that kind of person?
There is a question that I hear whispered occasionally but never spoken aloud. It is written about in obscure blogs but never mentioned in mainstream media. The question is, "Is America dead?" Not dying, not in trouble, not re-grouping, but DEAD.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it would depend on your view of it. Is it not true, that America has abandonded all vestige of the Christian faith? There is certainly an active war against any public display of Christian sentiment. It appears we have become a second rate economic power. We have our majority of people more than willing to believe in whatever political mythology is prevalent in the media. For example, the election of Barack Obama. The election of Obama is no racial milestone. The people who hated him last week because the color of his skin hate him this week. An election does not truly change the hearts of people.
America has completely given itself over to the hedonistic lifestyle, anyone who watches ANY tv instantly sees the saturation of sexual overtone and innuendo. To say religion in America is badly fragmented is an understatement, our legal system is pathetic, school systems are a mockery, and the family unit has been destroyed. And finally, our election has just proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that we elect our leaders based more on swagger than accomplishment.
Is America dead? Wrong question. Has America been abandoned? That is the right question. John MacArthur answers that question in his message, "When God Abandons a Nation." John says, "God has abandoned America to the effects of its sinful choices. Oh, this isn't the first nation that it's happen to, this is the story of history...All the nations of history go their own way. So like the nations of old, like the nations past, we are following the same cycle of having the truth, rejecting the truth, and being abandoned by God."
If this is true, the country we live in will become what Egypt became in the OT for the Israelites of Jacob and Joseph, a nation of bondage, torment, and death. I highly recommend reading John's sermon.
www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/80-314. It does end with a word of hope...for some.
Yesterday afternoon I was studying about the conversion of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16. I referenced an old book I have by William Ward Ayer titled, "Seven Saved Sinners" wherein one of the "seven" he writes about is the jailer. I imagine many are not familiar with Dr. Ayer's writings; he lived from 1892-1985. He served many pastorates, including in the famed Calvary Baptist Church of New York City (1936-1950). He said he accepted that call in New York with "fear and trembling" determined to declare "the whole counsel of God." He preached with fervor and dynamic power, and soon became a very "controversial" figure, condemning sin in high places and low, but showing fervent love for sinners. His sermons were summarized each Monday morning in The New York Times and the Herald Tribune. Imagine that! In 1947, a radio station, determined to find out who was New York City's "most influential citizen," named Dr. Ayer 3rd only preceded by the Cardinal Spellman and Eleanor Roosevelt. Names like John D. Rockefeller and others were farther down the list. During his 14-year ministry at Calvary Baptist, the membership increased four-fold, hundreds of young people were saved and went into full-time faithful Christian service, and the indebtedness of the church was reduced by a million dollars, saving it from foreclosure. It faithfully stands today.
ReplyDeleteBack to my book, Dr. Ayer wrote, "True Christianity is a trouble-making religion. Though it brings peace to the individual heart, it certainly does bring trouble into the world whenever it interferes with sin or gain, which it is likely to do. The hue and cry is ofttimes raised that we should keep religion out of politics, or politics out of religion, but, in the main, this is an impossibility, because both deal with men and morals, and function in the same areas, and when politics is corrupt and religion is true there is bound to be a collision."
When I picked up my morning paper at the store this morning, the weekend Patriot Ledger, I instantly saw the front page headline, "Hate on the rise," Obama's rise to the presidency unleashes a new level of violence in race crimes." Black churches have been burned, black teens beaten with bats, murders in Brockton, etc. How can this be? Hasn't anyone seen the cover of the People magazine I saw on the way out of the store? A beautiful picture of President Obama and the First Lady dancing above the headline, "A New Day."
Christians this is our fault and our responsibility. We have been given truth. Are we being influential as Dr. Ayer? Are we being controversial like Dr. Ayer? Are we condeming sin and loving sinners like Dr. Ayer? Julia Ward Howe wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic after becoming deeply anguished as she noted the growing angry mood of the nation and its frenzied preparations for the tragic Civil War between the northern and southern states. Soon after the writing of this powerful hymn, the entire nation was united in singing, "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." United except for those who hate, those who hated then, and those who hate now. The third stanza of that marvelous hymn goes, "He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never sound retreat, He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat, O be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant my feet! Our God is marching on.
"...when politics is corrupt and religion is true there is bound to be a collision." Are you bracing for impact? His Truth is marching on...
In the new issue of "Modern Reformation" magazine there is an article titled, "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" This quote was interesting and thought-provoking to me, "American evangelicals are increasingly aware that we are living in a post-Christian culture. Our brothers and sisters in Europe have known for some time now that this is their lot, as churches are turned into mosques or civic centers; but now it is our turn. In vain will we spend our energies on last-ditch efforts to "take America back," struggling to hang onto some last vestiges of a Judeo-Christian morality even while biblical doctrine, worship, and practice increasingly vanish from our churches. It is time to accept the fact that our neighbors are not "unchurched," but pagans, even though many were raised in at least nominal Christian backgrounds...those who are (truly) united to Jesus Christ through faith in the gospel are knit together more intimately than any generation, consumer niche, ethnic group, gender, or other demographic generated by this present age. The age that endures, after the American empire has come and gone like the rest, sets our coordinates as pilgrims in this fading age."
ReplyDeleteErwin W. Lutzer in "Hitler's Cross" said, Today in America the expression is still commonly heard "He's a fine Christian and a good citizen." Often throughout the history of the church those two accolades could not stand together. We, like the church in Germany, may yet have to decide between the two." So does anybody really know what time it is? One thing is for sure, the clock's ticking.
~Amen and Amen....
ReplyDeleteHowever I have one Inquery for the Purpose of clarification.
Rob said "Christians this is our fault and our responsibility".
What out of your post do you consider the "Christians" fault per se?
Sin.
ReplyDelete"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to ALL men, because ALL sinned."
-Romans 5:12
I was not speaking of any particular sin, but the inherent propensity to sin that we all have present in our nature from conception (Psalm 51:5). Because all humanity existed in the loins of Adam, and have through procreation inherited his fallenness and depravity, it can be said that ALL sinned in him and ALL share the responsibility of that sin.
In his work "Looking Unto Jesus," J.C. Ryle, speaking of how far we fall short compared to Christ said this, "We may well be humbled and ashamed when we think how unlike the best of us are, to our great Example, and what poor, blurred copies of His character we show to mankind. Like careless children at school, we are content to copy those around us, with all their faults, and do not look constantly at the only faultless copy, the One perfect Man, in whom even Satan could find "nothing." (John 14:30). But one thing, at any rate, we must all admit. If Christians, during the last eighteen centuries, had been more like Christ, the Church would certainly have been far more beautiful and would probably have done far more good to the world."
ReplyDelete