Take Care Our Spirits Are Not Sharpened

Frankly, friends, we are slammed this week with ministry paperwork, sermon preparations, last minute travel readiness and meeting the level of commitment that this church deserves from us during the revival. We have no complaints. This is what we signed up for. We love this, even the busyness of it all.

If you throw in a little bus work Wednesday and preparing the BoggsMobile for the well below freezing temperatures the weather guessers are predicting tonight and tomorrow night, I have not had time to contemplate, much less write any profundity down.

I did run across something of interest Tuesday morning after I had already published Tuesday's post about elections. I sent it by text to a few of my friends that morning.

I was looking for a certain quote from John Wesley for a sermon I am writing for the Minister's Conference in Nigeria. I found the quote I was looking for, but it was not as I had remembered it. It did not fit my point at all. That happens to me at times. However, there was a quote from John Wesley a little further down the page and it completely wiped me out.

It was from John Wesley's Journal and it was dated October 6, 1774. Here it is.

I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them

1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy

2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against, and

3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.

Wow! That is powerful, insightful and knocks our heads together in 2018 as much as it probably did in 1774. Wow again!

People love to talk about politics, elections, issues and candidates. That is OK. I enjoy the exchange of ideas. I have firm opinions about economic systems, taxes, social issues and a bunch of other things. There are oodles of people who absolutely disagree with almost everything I believe.

That is fine. Let us talk about it. Unfortunately, most people can not discuss these things without degenerating into calling each other nasty names and assigning each other corrupt motives and questioning their sanity.

A man talking with me recently went on and on about people voting opposite of him, finally making the serious statement that he did not think anyone that voted that way was saved or could go to Heaven.

It was not the first time I have heard that from people, but it might be the first time some one had expressed those thoughts and then ask my opinion. I knew he wanted me to applaud his wisdom, but I could not.

I said with a smile, "Fortunately, people are not going to hell just because you said they are, brother." I left him spitting and sputtering. (Speechless is not always a bad thing) The conversation was over. 

The incredible thing is, I probably agree with 90% of this man's opinions, but I could not, would not join him in sending people to hell for disagreeing. Now, I may be going with them, in his opinion.

I believe John Wesley was on to something when he said to speak no evil of the person they voted against and to take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.

Would people listen to John Wesley today? Would they like it? Probably not, but I imagine they did not like it much in 1774 either.

He was right and is still right.

Thank you for stopping in today.

Davy

Vintage View Vednesday Iron Post 2008

Thank you for all of the positive comments from yesterday's post concerning "The Truth About Elections." I appreciate the feedback.

Here we are this week happily ensconced at Iron Post Holiness Church near Locust Grove, Oklahoma. We are having wonderful services this week and it is getting better every night. I should have some pictures of revival on Friday.

Today is a Vintage View Vednesday and it is from Iron Post Holiness Church in September 2008. We had preached here before this time, but I believe this was our first revival at Iron Post.

I love going back through the vast archives looking for these vintage pictures. They sure bring back a bunch of great memories. I hope you enjoy them

Thank you for tuning in today.

Davy

The Truth About Elections November 6, 2018

If you have not already done so, make sure you take time to vote today. Even though I have felt kind of ambivalent about the last few elections I still make sure we vote. Voting in free and fair elections is as American as apple pie and apple pie is always good. 

Although we are not physically close to home in Ohio and can not go to the polls, we have sent our absentee ballots in.

I wrote the following the day after the presidential election in 2008 and I first posted it here in 2012. Lots of folks responded in a positive way and I appreciated the response very much. It is as true now as it was then. We need to remember that God is in control no matter which party controls the House, the Senate or the White House.

I have adapted this to fit more closely with our election today in 2018. I hope you enjoy.

The Truth About Elections

Truth #1. God established that we should have government.

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Romans 13:1 

There can be no doubt that God’s plan for humanity included that we should have government. The Bible is plain on this subject.

Truth #2. According to the Bible, we have certain rights and responsibilities to that government.

We are to be submissive to our government to the full extent that our relationship with Christ will allow. I Peter 2:13-14 and Titus 3:1 are two examples.

We should pray for our government and I believe we should participate in our government. We should participate in the national conversation and make our voice known by voting.

Truth #3. Elections do not always go our way.

The first election that I was fully aware of was 1976. I was terribly disappointed in the outcome. After that election, I became accustomed to elections going “my” way. 1992 hit me hard! I remember exactly where we were when we heard the results of the 92 election.

There have been lots of times since then that "my guy" lost and I was disappointed again even though most of the time I was not even very enthused about "my guy."

I am not happy with the path that many of our presidents and other politicians have led us down at all. We are not in a good place morally, ethically and many other ways. But...

Truth #4. We need to make sure that we keep the enemy in proper perspective.

There are spiritual forces at work. There is a real devil with a real agenda against all that is good and right. There are men in our world system that will do their dead level best to fulfill all of satan’s will. But man is not our enemy!

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) II Corinthians 10:3-4

President Trump is not my hero and he is not my enemy. Many millions of people love him and make excuses for every questionable thing he says and every head-scratching thing he does. In their eyes, he can do no wrong. 

Many millions of people hate President Trump and blame him for things he could never find the time to do. In their eyes, he can do absolutely nothing right or positive.

Friends, President Trump is not our hero and he is not the enemy.

President Obama was never my hero and was never my enemy. His policies were liberal. His tendencies were socialist. His loyalties were questionable. His intentions were debatable. He governed in a way that seemed to me haughty, aloof, arrogant and proud. 

However, even IF all of this is and much worse is true, President Obama was never the enemy. Please get this.

We are not fighting flesh and blood! The enemy is not a person. The enemy is the devil! We must keep that in perspective.

The politicians that we elect today are not the enemy, nor are they our savior. We did not elect a savior, we have one of those, we elected men and women to run our government. That is what we do every election.

Truth #5. God has a divine plan. 

We must remember that. God has a divine plan. You do not know what that plan is. I do not know what that plan is. The president, your congressman, your senator, not even your mother knows what that plan is. 

It amazes me how many people are very sure every election that they are on the inside of God's plan. Most are not. God tends to keep those things to himself and that is evident in the deafening silence when man's plan, declared as God's plan, goes haywire. It will happen again, just give it some time.

Elections are a very good example of how uninformed we are concerning God's inside plan for this world. The media goes into shock. The world goes into shock. Hollyweird goes into shock. The church goes into shock. The preachers that prophesied the outcome go into shock. 

But God is not in shock. God has never been surprised by the outcome of an election. He has never had to wait for the news organizations to "call" a race. God has a divine plan.

Truth #6. God’s plan will prevail. 

You can not sidetrack God’s plan. The president can not sidetrack God’s plan. A "bad" election can not sidetrack God’s plan. A thousand "bad" elections can not sidetrack God’s plan. God does not need a "good" election to salvage His plan. God will prevail, my friend. God will prevail.

What is the truth about elections? The truth is they matter to us. They matter deeply and I think they should. But elections do not affect God. God will not be voted in or out today. God is still on the throne. God is still working His will in our lives. God still has the whole world in His hands, including you and me, our President and a whole new crop of politicians.

You can rest in that, friend. God has got this under control.

Thank you for reading. I hope this calms you somewhat.

Davy Boggs