TRUSTING IN HORSES

"TRUSTING in HORSES"
-by Coach Dave Daubenmire.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember
the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

Sometimes when I sit down to pen a commentary I wish I didn’t
have to. I don’t know why the Lord has laid this yoke upon me, but
I try to be faithful to the gift and the calling that He has put upon
my life. They are irrevocable you know, the gifts and callings of
God, so I might as well embrace the work He has left on my desk.

I can’t explain it but sometimes I feel like I have on a different set
of glasses. Not rose-colored mind you, but more like binoculars
that help me see things that are farther down the road. I can’t explain
it, but I know it to be true.

I have always been amazed by guys who can “fix things”,
mechanically that is. I can spend all morning trying to figure out
how to get my riding lawn-mower operational and then my brother-
in-law pulls up, takes one look at the engine, and diagnosis the
problem. It is his gift, and I sure wish I had it.

But my gift is a little different. Although I have never been to
seminary, or spent time at the feet of great theologians, the Lord
has gifted me with the ability to “connect the dots” in regards to
the application of Biblical principles as they relate to cultural issues.
I think it makes some folks mad, especially the “credentialed
pulpiteers.” I know how they feel. I have experienced the same thing
with my brother-in-law. I’m the guy with all of the degrees yet I can’t
figure out that the spark plug needs cleaned before the engine will
start.

Education without application is like tires without air. One without
the other leaves one feeling a bit flat.

(I’m still not sure I am making myself clear.) Solomon put it this
way.“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with
all thy getting get understanding.” Wisdom is the application of
knowledge. “Understanding” is the offspring of the union of
application and knowledge.

I remember praying a few years ago “Lord, help me see and
understand things that others don’t see and understand.” I’ll let you
be the judge of whether or not He answered that prayer.

The solutions to the problems facing America are so clear to me.
The cause/effect of our cultural collapse is so easy to diagnose. Like
my brother-in-law has often said to me while working on a piece of
my equipment, “Everything is connected together. All you have to
figure out is where the chain is broken. If it isn’t working there has
to be a reason. Just follow the trail.” Sorry to be simplistic, but that
is how I feel about America. Everything is connected…but we refuse
to follow the trail.

So follow along with me as we lift up the hood, check out the spark
plugs, and see if we can figure out how to get this baby running. It
is my opinion that we are trying to replace the wrong parts. Pardon
the corny phraseology, but we are putting the chariot before the
horse.

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember
the name of the LORD our God.”

America’s problems are spiritual, they are not mechanical. We can
not get out of this problem merely by changing the horses (parts).

We have tried that cure before. Substituting Republicans for
Democrats, or liberals for conservatives may change the direction
the chariots are pulled but it gets us no closer to the finish line.
Political parties and politicians are merely the horses that pull the
chariot. Changing them has brought us nothing more than a false
sense of hope. Every election we change a few of the horses, hope
that things will straighten out, and then lament the fact that the
stallions we put into office end up being nothing more than the same
old nag.

Trusting in horses has not worked.

Although the word chariot conjures up thoughts of a carriage in which
someone rides, a chariot was actually a weapon of war as
demonstrated in this video of Charleton Heston in Ben Hur. In our
American constitutional republic the constitution has become the
chariot, the weapon of choice, for those who want to over-throw this
nation. Many patriotic-Americans have labeled themselves
“constitutionalists”, and are trusting in that great founding-document
to win the war against an ever-expanding, all-powerful government.
“If only they would follow the Constitution…”

Although their intentions are good, the reality is that chariot
(constitution) is prisoner to the horses and the direction that they
choose to pull it. No matter how much we love to point out “original
intent,” “separation of powers,” and “government of the people…” the
chariot gets pulled in directions that it was never intended to go. The
Constitution in which we trust is the very weapon that the horses
uses to over-throw the will of the people. Extra-constitutional edicts
such at “the separation between the church and state,” the
“penumbras” of the constitution, and “equal protection” clauses have
run the chariot over those whom it was created to protect.

As long as horses are pulling the chariots there is no hope, and no
sense of generational permanence in that document upon which our
nation was founded. Allowing its clearly spelled-out principles to be
changed at the whim of the latest I-know-better-than-you judge has
caused this foundation stone to be crushed into sand. We all know
what happens when one builds upon sinking sand…

Trusting in chariots has led us into a swamp. The Constitution is not
a stand-alone document. James Madison, the “Father of the
Constitution” said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and
religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any
other.”

George Washington said “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation
without God and the Bible.”

Some men trust in chariots…..

Recently I have been asked to speak at several “Tea-Parties” around
these parts. Word has spread very quickly about the zeal, passion,
and clarity with which I articulate The American View of our national
dilemma. The hearts of men and women are moved as I paint the
picture of the consequences of our national rejection of Jesus. But
my impassioned plea for “remembering the Lord” has tugged on the
bridle of the horses who are not “Christians.”

Some of my recent “invitations” to speak have included a request to
“tone down a bit” the “religious part” because some of the “coalition”
does not hold my same “religious” views. You see, it is easy to
change the horses, or fight with the chariot, than it is to harness the
rebellious heart of individual men and women.

Needless to say, I told them what they can do with the horse they
rode in on…

The god-haters have told us that our Constitution is a “living,
breathing document” designed to change with the times. That
attitude is the same one that gave us “living breathing” marriages
and mortgage contracts. The US Constitution was a contract
between a people and their Creator from whom the rights of the
people had been endowed. A contract is only as good as the people
who sign it.

Funny isn’t it, our once solid American dollar is in a free fall because
the gold that once under girded it has been removed. Remove the
firm foundation and a building is destined for collapse. For over two
centuries the ordinances of God were the pillars upon which this
nation stood. Remove those supports and the Constitution is not
worth the paper it was written on.

"To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil
freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now
enjoys. . . Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown,
our present republican forms of government, and all blessings which
flow from them, must fall with them." Jedidiah Morse

I know what my brother-in-law would say… “Better firm up that
foundation.” Nothing short of a spiritual transformation can save
this nation.

Some men trust in horses, some men trust in chariots….

We need to remember the name of the Lord. Does any national
leader have the courage to say so?

© 2009 Dave Daubenmire - All Rights Reserved

SOURCE - http://www.newswithviews.com/Daubenmire/dave172.htm

Poverty

Poverty

What does it mean to be without? I wanted to buy a few things before I left home. Funny, now I can’t even remember what they were or what I wanted them for. They seem pretty insignificant now. We went from the U.S. straight into Bujumbura, Burundi to Uvira, DR Congo. Each move was a huge transition in our world’s economy. Anyone could see the difference right away from one place to the other without even stepping out of the car: the roads, the houses, street signs or lack of, markets, schools, vehicles, dress, etc. Could it get worse?

Unfortunately, yes. Sunday we took the long drive, but short distance from Uvira to the village of Makobola to go to the church that meets at the home of the blind twin sisters. We had the luxury of being in a four-wheel drive Land Rover to drive the dirt and rock, one lane road out there. All the way there were many people walking the four hours to reach the village to buy things at the market to haul them all the way back to Uvira to sell them. Yes, many carrying them on their heads or balancing them in huge bundles back and front on their bicycles. I couldn’t help but wonder if one pair of tires would even make it for the long trip back and forth with all of the rocks on the road. Even many of the women had small children walking alongside of them as they strolled along in the mid-day heat.

When we finally reached the village, there alongside the road were many mud houses with thatched or tin roofs, some with doors, many without. We were led into a tiny, dark room and there on a blanket sat women—women who had obviously been waiting for us for a long time. The two sisters sat quietly side by side with other women closely gathered around them. This room and one other is their home and where they meet for church every Sunday. Remy, a church planter, came to this village, shared the gospel with the sisters and they received Christ. They have shared with others and now there are nine of them who meet at their home. None can read or write, but Remy or Stephen come often to teach and share with them. They were so humble and so sweet as they led our time together with some songs they had learned, with smiles on their faces as they sang about Jesus. Remy shared some Scriptures with all of us and then we discussed them. When we were sitting there, I believe God gave me the Scripture “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” These women had NOTHING, but they had more peace, more joy, more hope than any women I’ve ever seen. Roger prayed over them and it was pretty awesome, but gotta tell you, I’m thinking those girls should have been praying for us!

As we left these women, we went to meet with the chief of this village. He was working hard in an outside kiln with a few other men making bricks for houses. He led us into his small home. With sweat pouring off his face, embarrassed, he apologized for his small house and said he had been working hard to make more bricks to rebuild all the houses that had been destroyed in the war—the war when the rebels had killed over 700 of his people. The pain was etched on his face as he spoke and I thought he would start to cry—or I would. The war happened eleven years ago and the pain and misery and destruction is as obvious today as if it happened this morning. Over six million—that’s million—people have died in DR Congo since 1996. It’s inconceivable. It’s unimaginable.

I thought I wanted, even needed something before I left home to come here. Today, I can’t begin to imagine what it would have been.


Roger Thoman