Why So Much Hate in Washington D.C.?

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The Service for President George H. W. Bush was filled with Great messages for all of America! Such an awesome Memorial Service!!!

Loved these quotes by former Senator Alan Simpson yesterday at President George H. W. Bush’s Memorial Service, the Senator said he and his buddy H. W. were guided by these two things: ..”Hatred corrodes the container it’s carried in” and “humor is the universal solvent against the abrasive elements of life.

“They ought to learn this around this joint,” said Simpson, speaking from the nation’s capital shortly after the funeral ended.

“There will never be any class of people in our country that can replace the old western cowman for common sense, shrewdness, humor and fine citizenship.” – Will Rogers, 12 December 1934

I posted this in July of 2015….

So much of what we say and do comes from our emotions. The way to victory over your emotions is to consider yourself crucified. Because this is an ongoing act of your will, the indwelling Christ helps keep the door of the Holy Spirit open and the door of the flesh closed. As you put your old self to death, the Spirit of God gives you new, victorious life. When you do this, you are filled with the Holy Spirit. You are able to live in the Spirit. God takes control of your mind, will, emotions, and therefore, your soul and body.

Sometimes you may beleive that your emotions are so strong that you cannot master them. You may feel that when they sweep over you like a giant tide, you have no choice but to drift along with them. However, you are not helpless in learning to control your emotions. The Holy Spirit can help you when you are tempted to give in to your emotions.

In his book, “MasterLife” Avery T. Willis Jr. maps out a course of action that can help you master your emotions. We will be going into detail on this Sunday at 11am at the Reserve Baptist Church.

Here is Avery’s ACTION Plan:

A cknowledge the emotion

C onsider why you have it

T hank God that He will help you master it

I dentify the Biblical response to it

O bey the Holy Spirit’s leading

N urture the appropriate fruit of the Spirit

As I grow in my relationship with my Lord Jesus Christ, this may sound to simple to some, but it is the truth, I find it is all about God, not me, I am to die, the way to victory in life is to consider our flesh crucified. I find more and more that I do not say or do anything without first being prompted by the Holy Spirit. I am not perfect by far, but I strive toward God.

I find most problems that we face in this world are based on emotions. Whether it is marriages, friendships, families, abortion, sex, drugs, finances, workplace problems, Church problems, business problems, etc……emotional based.

How we react determines the outcome.

All this hate in America here in late 2018 makes me think of the song years ago by Johnny Cash..”Ragged Old Flag”….

Our Nations capitol is plum full of HATE! Its overflowing and has become part of the present day Americana society, young and old. Where are the role models of love and peace in Jesus?

I am very concerned about the heart of America.

Billy Graham Tribune Content Agency

Why are people so filled with hate?

Jul 18, 2018

From the writings of the Rev. Billy GrahamQ: Why are people so filled with hate? It seems they are not just angry, they are filled with rage. It seems such behavior is escalating faster by the day. There seems to be more poverty, racial conflict and physical and mental illnesses than I can remember in my younger years. It is even scary to go to church these days for fear that there will be a madman who will storm through the doors in violence. Is the world getting worse? — D.O.

A: To many observers this certainly seems to be the case. Wars have raged around the world from the beginning of time. But part of this could be due to a 24-hour news cycle, something that hit in the last part of the 20th century with cable news and the internet. People are forever hearing about bad news. But the Bible says that in the final days before Jesus returns to this earth there will be “terrible times.” Jesus declared that we will hear of wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6). More than any other time in history more Christians are martyred for their faith.

Our world is filled with conflict, turmoil and insecurity. Jesus said the basic problem is in our hearts — and the reason is because we are alienated from our Creator. Instead of giving God His rightful place at the center of our lives, we have substituted the gods of this world that claim to satisfy mankind’s longings. But only Christ can change our hearts.

Does this mean that we can never make any progress against the massive problems that assail society — poverty, war, injustice, famine, sickness, disease? No, of course not; God wants us to fight evil wherever it is found. But our greatest need is for repentance and spiritual renewal.

========

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

(c)2018 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

“A twentieth-century founding father”
December 6, 2018  |  READ TIME: 5 minutes
“George Herbert Walker Bush was America’s last great soldier-statesman, a twentieth-century founding father. He governed with virtues that most closely resemble those of Washington and of Adams, of TR and of FDR, of Truman and of Eisenhower, of men who believed in causes larger than themselves.”With these words, biographer Jon Meacham eulogized President George H. W. Bush at yesterday’s state funeral in Washington, DC. The service at the National Cathedral was one of the most moving I have witnessed.

Several speakers referred to the late Barbara Bush, the president’s amazing wife of seventy-three years, and to their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia at the age of three. I was especially touched when President George W. Bush ended his wonderful eulogy in tears as he said, “Dad is hugging Robin and holding Mom’s hand again.”

I was reminded of a cartoon published after Mr. Bush died. It pictures a World War II fighter plane now landed in heaven. Next to it are the president and Barbara wearing her trademark pearls, holding hands with little Robin. His wife says, “We waited for you.”

“Why was I spared?”

The great theologian and spiritual writer Henri Nouwen noted: “We have to prepare ourselves for our death with the same care and attention as our parents prepared themselves for our births.” George H. W. Bush was prepared for his death long before it came.

His son noted in his eulogy that Mr. Bush nearly died twice–once from a staph infection when he was a teenager and once when he was shot down in the Pacific in World War II. George W. Bush then said, “For dad’s part, I think those brushes with death made him cherish the gift of life. And he vowed to live every day to the fullest.”

According to Meacham, Mr. Bush thought nearly every day about his brush with death during the war and asked himself, “Why me? Why was I spared?” Meacham offered this answer: “The workings of providence are mysterious, but this much is clear: that George Herbert Walker Bush, who survived that fiery fall into the waters of the Pacific three quarters of a century ago, made our lives and the lives of nations freer, better, warmer, and nobler.

“That was his mission. That was his heartbeat. And if we listen closely enough, we can hear that heartbeat even now. For it’s the heartbeat of a lion, a lion who not only led us, but who loved us. That’s why him. That’s why he was spared.”

Why you? Why me?

Now let’s turn President Bush’s question to ourselves: Why you? Why me?

In A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson describes the improbable circumstances that led to your birth:

“Every one of your forebears on both sides has been attractive enough to find a mate, healthy enough to reproduce, and sufficiently blessed by fate and circumstances to live long enough to do so. Not one of your pertinent ancestors was squashed, devoured, starved, stranded, stuck fast, untimely wounded, or otherwise deflected from its life’s quest of delivering a tiny charge of genetic material to the right partner at the right moment in order to perpetuate the only possible sequence of hereditary combinations that could result–eventually, astoundingly, and all too briefly–in you.”

You may be able to recall times in your life where God seemed to intervene miraculously. In addition, the Lord has likely spared each of us in ways we will not know until we are in heaven. My point is that each of us has as much reason to ask why we are alive as did George H. W. Bush.

His question is especially relevant for Christians since our place in heaven is already assured. Just as a father longs to be with his children, so our Father longs to be with us. Scripture testifies, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15).

Every day we spend on earth is another day we are not with our Father in heaven. Each day must therefore have a purpose so significant that our Father is willing to leave us here to fulfill it.

Asking why we are here is an essential step to answering the question.

“What ignites your heart?”

Do you know your life purpose?

Max Lucado offers a helpful suggestion: “Want to know God’s will for your life? Then answer this question: ‘What ignites your heart?’” He adds: “The fire of your heart is the light of your path.” Frederick Buechner says it this way: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

The best way to prepare for eternity is to live each day for eternal purposes. It is to value people over possessions, the spiritual over the material, and the glory of God over the glory of man. It is to use your influence to change your culture for the Kingdom.

Let’s start where we are with those we know.

Five years ago, George H. W. Bush learned that the two-year-old son of a Secret Service agent assigned to his detail had leukemia. The boy had lost his hair, so members of the detail planned to shave their heads to show their support. Mr. Bush shaved his head as well. The agents who witnessed his kindness said they will never forget it.

A friend who “takes us by the hand”

Would you say our culture needs more George H. W. Bushes? More women and men who love God with all their heart and their neighbor as themselves? More people who are willing to use their influence to serve their Lord and their fellow man with sacrificial integrity and humility?

Henri Nouwen assures us that when we are prepared for eternity, “Death is not the enemy who puts an end to everything but the friend who takes us by the hand and leads us into the Kingdom of eternal love.”

George Herbert Walker Bush found death to be such a friend.

Will you?

Presidential funeral train will be first in nearly 50 years
ABC News

George H.W. Bush’s presidential funeral train will be first in nearly 50 years Read the full story

 

Shared from Apple News

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Jim Denison, Ph.D., speaks and writes on cultural and contemporary issues. He is a trusted author and subject matter expert in areas where faith and current events intersect. His Daily Article provides leading insight for discerning today’s news from a biblical perspective.
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