thirty biblical reasons to vote democratic in 2020: #27 Peace & Harmony

September 27, 2020September 6, 2021 / Apple Hill Cottage / 1 Comment

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. — Romans 12:16-18 (NIV)

Peace. Understanding. Fellowship. Unity. Compassion. Accord. Sympathy. Order. All synonyms. All have their own verses…

Peace — Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. James 3:18
Understanding — Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
Fellowship — If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 1 John 1:6
Unity — How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. Psalm 133:1
Compassion — Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
Accord and Sympathy — So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:4-6
Order — Let all things be done decently and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:40

The opposite of harmony is division, and the president is a master at it. Former National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster was interviewed on 60 Minutes tonight, and whatever you think of him or his policies, he said something that was striking: While we are bickering, arguing, and divided, the rest of the world has gone on: China in its quest for superiority and Russia in its quest for weakening us. And we have isolated ourselves and forgotten what a democracy should look like.

General Jim Mattis, former Secretary of Defense, kept silence on his firing for some time, but just lately he wrote an OpEd for the Atlantic: “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”

Several days ago the President was asked if he would depart peacefully if he lost the election. He refused to say that he would.

This is a promotion of chaos.

This is out of order.

We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship. For a president to suggest something other than a peaceful transition of power is, in the words of Senator Mitt Romney, “unthinkable and unacceptable.”

Let us applaud former Trump supporters who are speaking out about the division, and let us pray for some of those synonyms for harmony to rain down on our country.

thirty biblical reasons to vote democratic in 2020: #26 Lack of excellence

September 26, 2020September 25, 2020 / Apple Hill Cottage / 5 Comments

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. — Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

I saved this verse from Philippians because it is one of my favorites. When I worked at a private k-12 school as the librarian, I had this poster on my bulletin board for years.

Finally a student helper in the library told me I should really change that bulletin board… But what I loved about that poster is that it took the bored Whatever to a noble and pure and lovely level. Just listen to all those adjectives! True, right, admirable, praiseworthy, excellent….

Yes, those are the things we should be thinking about. I have to confess: it’s been difficult to keep my mind on those things this past year. Because each day there is something that comes from the White House that is Un-excellent, ignoble, or just plain false. There is no excellence from the top, and the lack of excellence has trickled down throughout society. Correction: It’s been more than a trickle; it’s been a tidal wave…

I could write forever on this lack of excellence, but I will instead refer the reader to something important that happened two days ago. 489 Generals, National Security officials, Military personnel, and Ambassadors signed an Open Letter to America endorsing Joe Biden for President. Part of the letter reads, “The current President has demonstrated he is not equal to the enormous responsibilities of his office; he cannot rise to meet challenges large or small. Thanks to his disdainful attitude and his failures, our allies no longer trust or respect us, and our enemies no longer fear us.”

Here is the link to read the letter for yourselves. Please check it out: “An Open Letter to America”

We need a leader in the White House who will take responsibility for their actions. Not like the infamous quote of DJT: “No. No. I don’t take responsibility at all….” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cs_1iYWIhI

thirty biblical reasons to vote democratic in 2020: #25 Boasting

September 25, 2020October 9, 2020 / Apple Hill Cottage / Leave a comment

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. — Romans 12:3 (NIV)

Have you ever spent time with someone who is constantly boasting and bragging about themselves? It’s distasteful, wearying, and obnoxious.

image from SquareQuotes.church

According to himself, the president has done an incredible job handling Corona Virus (gives himself an A+); he has done an incredible job on the stock market; he’s done an incredible job of building the wall; he’s been incredible at calling up heads of states and having perfect phone calls; it’s been incredible what he’s done for the black community and the Hispanic community, and the military (don’t forget the military!); his administration “has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country” (direct quote from his speech before the U.N. in 2018); he is the only one standing between the American Dream and total anarchy (even he said that was an egotistical statement); and he is very good at predicting what will happen… (Most of these statements were taken from one very rambling speech at the Council for National Policy Meeting on August 21, 2020 in Arlington Virginia. You can read it here…)

“People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular,” Trump wrote in The Art of the Deal. “I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration, and a very effective form of promotion.” Jill Colvin wrote “The Art of the Boast: Trump’s a Master in October of 2019, and found more than 1200 mentions of the words biggest, best, and smartest in his Twitter feed.

This way of looking at exaggeration and “truthful hyperbole” might be fine if one is a Celebrity Apprentice Reality TV star, but it looks less well on the President of the United States.

And that’s not an exaggeration…