election

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People Are Tougher Than God

In some ways people are tougher than God. The Canadian election campaign has  recently highlighted that fact for me.

people

To a lot of people, God is tough. They view Him as the all-seeing kill joy, just waiting to pounce on someone who does wrong. 

Some people equate God with punishment – a punishment that is swift and harsh.

However, a careful look at the Bible will see a rather different God – one who is patient … so patient that the reader can get a little impatient with God’s patience with people.

As for punishment, rather than being punitive, the Bible shows that most of God’s punishment is for the purpose of correction and restoration. 

I was reading in the news today about all the candidates that have had to pull out of the election campaign, or were asked to step down by their party leaders because of comments they made through social media. 

The interesting thing is that most of these offences happened years ago. In some cases, the comments were made decades ago.

It seems, however, that a comment made – no matter what decade it was made in – still truly represents a person. 

Even when people apologize for comments made in their past, there is still a cloud of mistrust that hangs over them. There remains a question mark in the minds of the voters regarding whether this person can be trusted now, or ever again.

There is not a person alive, or a person who has ever lived, who has not said something in their past that they would regret if it were made known years and years later. 

There is not one person who has ever lived who has not said something, only to find out later through new information that they were wrong, or to be convicted later about some attitude they once held but no longer do. 

But in this political campaign, watch out because you will pay dearly for those comments if they get out. It will not be a quiet matter either; it will be made public for millions to know. You will face shame, and there is a good chance you will lose your ability to serve publicly.

The reason for all this? Two things, or the lack of them: forgiving and forgetting.

Especially because of social media, forgetting won’t happen. 

But people also have a hard time forgetting. Our minds are like high-end computers that can spit out data on demand, no matter how long that data has been stored there.

Then there is the forgiving.

We all want to be forgiven but we don’t like to forgive. We like to hang on to our hurts and hold others accountable for what they say and do. 

People are just like what they think God is like. They are hard, shaming, guilt-producing, angry, condemning, self-righteous and self-appointed gods.

… You only have to watch the commercials that are aired on television from now to the end of the election to see that this is true.

Here’s the thing: It’s awesome that God is not at all like that. Why? Two things: forgiving and forgetting. God is a forgiving God who willingly and lovingly forgives those who want to be forgiven. He is the God of the second chance … and third and fourth, for that matter. And God is forgetting. Rather than remembering what He has forgiven, in case He wanted to use it against us, God chooses to forget. It can never come back to haunt us.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you been guilty of not forgiving and forgetting? Leave your comments and questions below.

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The Election Is Finally Here!

We’ve finally come to the end – not the end of the world … though there are some who think this might be the end of the world.

electionWe’ve just come to the end of the election.

I think it might be time for the US to consider their election process. This has been a particularly brutal one.

This election has taken a turn from elections in the past. For the general public, especially us in Canada, it’s like we’ve gone from watching “The West Wing” to watching “Jersey Shore”.

Every night on the news, Mike “the situation” Trump is saying something crazy and Snooki Clinton carries on like she’s not part of the side show.

This has not reflected well on the US; the rest of the world will now cringe no matter who gets in.

The thing is, after the election, when the ballots are destroyed, life will get back to normal, and the president will be presidential.

Well, except on national late night talk shows. They will just continue to have a field day with the president for his or her full term.

Maybe a new approach should be considered for the next election. I know this would break tradition, and tradition is important, but when things get out of hand you really need to do something drastic.

Recently on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Dana Carvey (a comedian) said how everyone is feeling: “I have anxiety – the whole nation has anxiety – we’ve just got to get to Tuesday!”

Changing the process might be a way to avert the carnage that takes place along the way. It’s too long a process.

You could cut it in half and it would still be too long, but it would be a start.

I think there is too much time, time to create, twist, and spin a person’s life into a target that just keeps getting bigger until it explodes.

The greatest example of this are the commercials that are being aired during the last week leading up to the big day.

These commercials vomit out the gory propaganda against the other candidate. They are leaving nothing to the imagination.

Cutting the length of the campaign might help, but cutting down how much money is spent on the election would also make a difference.

The amount of money spent on the election is insane.

According to the Washington Post, the Clinton campaign has raised 1.3 billion dollars and the Trump campaign has raised 795 million dollars.

That’s over 2 billion dollars raised and they’ve spent between 93 and 96 percent of it.

Time and money feed this process and it seems that it is all directed at crucifying the character of the competitor.

But I would contend you don’t need time and money to reveal character; people can tell character very quickly without the spin of the media.

Just let the candidates talk and answer questions without shaping and twisting the content. Once the people see and hear the candidates, true character will be observed.

It would save a lot of time and money.

Here’s the thing: When it comes to character, I will side with a carpenter’s son, who lived a sinless life and stayed when things got messy for him. I will side with that man who died on a cross not for himself but for me and everyone else. I will side with that man who rose from the grave and said, “Will you put your trust in me?” That’s the character of Jesus Christ and I will place myself in his camp. What about you?

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you determine character? Leave your comments below.

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Is It Really Time For A Change?

Apparently it’s time for a change in our country. That’s the mantra floating through the air in Canada this last month.

Time for Change clock

I hear it in every commercial for the Liberals and NDP. It’s either time for a change or it’s time for real change. Even the media have been telling us the voters want change.

I’ve heard people say the Conservatives have been in power too long so it’s time for a change. The government is not doing enough for some people; certainly they want a change – a new government who won’t do enough for a different group.

Sure, this election seems like it’s all about change, but is change really what the election should be about?

When I go to McDonald’s and order a Big Mac instead of a Quarter Pounder, I might say that I feel like a change. I might not even have a reason for the change; I just want something different.

But that’s called a craving; I don’t need a reason for a craving.

It’s fine for hamburgers, but is it good for an election? Let’s face it, the parties who want change, who want us to vote for a change, just want us to pick them.

For the opposition, change is good because it gets them what they want. They may try to disguise it to look like they really want what’s best for the country, but the bottom line is they just want to replace the government with themselves.

If they can get us to believe we want a change, a hankering for a new party to lead the country, that works in their favour.

But hey, it’s not like we’re all pregnant with whimsical cravings for pickles and ice cream or a minority Liberal government with an NDP opposition on top.

Choosing a government means we have to think of what’s best for the country as a whole. That also means it won’t be the best for every segment of the country. Some groups will not get what they want.

The bottom line is the government has to do what’s best for the country at large.

That’s why I question the Liberals wanting to run a 10 billion dollar deficit. Sure, the arts will get more money, as will other groups, but someone’s got to pay for it. It won’t be the richest 1% either, because they have lots of ways to reduce their income.

It will be the middle class … it’s always the middle class.

The NDP think they can spend their way to a balanced budget. They will take care of the environment, pay for daycare, fix our medical system, and give you what’s behind curtain number three (hint: the car is never behind curtain #3).

So that’s why some parties want us to believe it’s time for change. Because if we thought about what they really want to do, we wouldn’t want to change.

There isn’t a perfect party, and there is no government that will make everyone happy. But if we focus on what’s best for the whole, a stable and secure country is what we all really need.

Here’s the thing: Every day we’re tempted to do what’s wrong over what’s right, and choose bad over good. When we give in to our whims and our desires, we’ll give in to the temptation to sin. We won’t consider the consequences, or the pain it might cause, just anticipate an immediate gratification. If we think through about the temptation instead of reacting to it, we will choose not to sin more often.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How are you going to think through your decision this election? Leave your comment below.