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For The Liberal Democrats
by Doug
Perry (Download
as PDF for distribution)
Up until a few
months ago, I was as "Right" as you can get.
Conservative, Christian, White, Business Owner, Weekly
Standard-subscribing, Fox News-watching, Sean Hannity-reading,
full-on Republican - even got a Rush Limbaugh 24/7 subscription.
Somewhere in a closet around here I might even have a gun that my
Dad gave me when I was a kid.
Well, I'm still
white and Christian and own a business, but none that other stuff
matters to me anymore. My wife just sold a bunch of my
Hannity/OReilly/Coulter/Limbaugh books on Ebay. You see, God's
been doing something in my heart the last couple of years. And
it's not the God that they talk about at some of the big
mega-churches. THAT God is a sissy who needs money for a shiny
new gym or nothing can get done. THAT God wants everybody to be
warm and fuzzy and entertained so they'll keep giving their
money. That's not MY God.
I found myself
arguing with people on discussion boards online and watching
interactions between Christians and non-Christians. Sometimes I
find that, in their observations of America, the most wild-eyed
anarchists were making more sense than some of the Christians!
We've been on a
strange journey. Our business has grown like crazy because
we've ignored everything we learned in business school and just tried
to treat people like we think the Bible instructs us. Turns out
if you're nice to people, you tell them the truth and you sell a
quality product, they really like it. Who knew?
As we've grown
we've carefully chosen to sell from many small, family-owned American
companies who are "Green" in their manufacturing; we avoid
products from any country where we can't be completely sure about the
labor conditions; we've taken care of our employees and won two
Family-Friendly workplace awards and been named one of the top 25
small businesses in Kansas City; 50% of our staff are work-from-home
moms and dads and grandmas; and we've grown more than 5000% in five
years and no sign of slowing down. Earlier this year we started
a retail division to sell over 1,000 Fair Trade products from all
over the world with all profits returning to target countries through
micro-enterprise lending, training and education projects.
We've helped create and sustain jobs for hundreds of the poorest of
the poor (because "charity" is "welfare" and thus
a dead end). We take our Biblical responsibility for widows and
orphans seriously, so we support lots of projects for women in
poverty, in abuse or recovery situations and we support a variety of
job training programs for teenagers in orphanages (so they don't end
up on the street) and fund-raising programs for special needs
orphans. Personally, we're in the midst of an adoption of a 3
year old girl with special needs from China and hoping to go in the
Spring and pick her up. We support reforestation programs in
the rainforests and organic farming methods with our gourmet food and
Fair Trade departments. All that to say, none of it was my plan
or for my glory. We just dedicated ourselves to do as God
directed, not what the "business" world told us to do.
You can imagine
that I don't fit in anymore with some of the old crowd I used to
listen to - neither the media, the businessmen or the big
churches. But I do fit in with Jesus. He wasn't a Liberal
- he was urging the Jewish people back to their first love, to the
way it should have been and reminded them of God's promises to
them. He argued against the Religious Right (Pharisees) that
were so caught up in their legalism and "showy" religion
that they couldn't see the core anymore. He argued against the
Far Left (Saducees) that were so absorbed with esoteric arguments
about the nature of man, resurrection, utopia and the world that they
had no practical application or impact on the needs around them.
Jesus wasn't political. Jesus was Jesus.
He had the biggest
heart for the most impoverished and rejected. He healed the
sick, cared for the down-trodden, earned no salary, had no home, fed
the hungry, mentored his disciples, corrected error, and even forgave
those who tortured and killed him. More than anything else he
was the perfect living role model of everything he said. He
lived out his commitment to service. He washed the disciples
feet, he provided for their needs, he gave his life as an offering
for the sins of the world. That kind of honesty and integrity
is sorely lacking today. People know it when they see it and
they know instinctively when it's missing. Whether or not you
believe Jesus was the son of God, it seems like he was the kind of
leader that you ought to study if you share some of those values
mentioned above. No political or military leader is the basis
of the modern calendar and has his principles as the basis for the
founding documents of democracy. Why was Jesus so different?
His kind of pure
honesty and absolute integrity is missing in America. It's
missing in business, in government - and it's missing in the Church,
the very place where it should be most evident. So I don't care
about politics anymore. God is in control and it's God that
endorses or removes those in office. We're instructed to pray
for those in leadership of our nations and to just worry about
ourselves and to be like Christ.
I'm convinced (as
are many others) that something big is coming. That a renewal
and repentance in the church is going to change the way the whole
world thinks of God and Jesus. Unfortunately there are two such
movements happening concurrently and it's going to be really, REALLY
important to carefully figure out which is true and which is
false. The Bible predicts some really scaring things in the
"Last Days," many of which are coming true and lead us to
believe the time is short. The day is coming when there will
arise a One World Government headed by one man who will promise peace
and unity, and he'll be supported by a One World Church and single
religious leader who will show great miracles and wonders to sway the
world. Both the renewal of the church and the rise of these
false leaders were predicted thousands of years ago in the Bible
(Daniel, Ezekiel, Revelations and others). And not just vague
references, but with amazing specificity. We're not setting
dates or anything, but it sure makes sense to be watchful and to be
careful that we don't play into the hands of the wrong side.
Open up your mind to the possibility that the whole world might be
cycling toward some giant cataclysmic conclusion. Not so far
fetched really, the environmentalists and population scientists and
lots of others have been saying it for awhile. The Bible
predicts it. Read this - www.FulfilledProphecy.com .
There is a danger
in Liberalism to believe that we could create a Utopia on Earth if we
could just finally perfect the right political system.
Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Imperialism - it's all just an attempt
to bring lots of people (or ALL of them) under the domination of a
select few (or one). The Anarchists are closer to the
truth. Human systems and organizations are inherently dangerous
- the bigger they get, the more dangerous. Nothing could be as
dangerous as a One World Government supported by a One World Church -
especially a church that lied about the nature of man and removed all
moral restrictions on behavior. If such a thing is coming, you
need to understand that no matter what it says about peace, it's
ultimate goal is domination and devastation. It’s possible
you’re longing for it and even think it’s a good idea, but
I’m telling you, it is pure evil.
A global Christian
church running things is not what we have in mind at all.
That's not what God is calling us to say and strive for. Just
the opposite. We're already too enmeshed in culture.
There is GREAT danger in using the Christian people to control
government. We're not any more pure than anyone else.
We're just as capable of corruption, fraud, selfishness, and even
persecution of those who disagree with us, as anyone else.
The Christian
churches and their members are calling down judgement on themselves
when they are pious on Sunday and do whatever they want the rest of
the week. If it's true that it's possible to receive the
ultimate gift of salvation and be adopted by God to a birthright to
sit next to Jesus in heaven, then shouldn't that be something that
causes such a massive response in gratitude that a person is changed
and is urged powerfully to live as Jesus did? Isn't that the
best way to honor the gift? But that's not what we're
seeing. It's not what you're seeing, either. So it's no
surprise you think we're all a bunch of hypocrites. We have
been. But ... I hope ... some will listen and repent and be different.
Stay tuned.
Something big is on the way. Tune your ears to TRUTH and when
you hear it, pay attention. It's more rare than you would think.
Copyright Doug
Perry 2004. Use freely
- but without charge and without changes.
Link to:
www.FellowshipOfTheMartyrs.com
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