Stushie’s Stuff

2008 is going to be the year that party chiefs got it all wrong. Hillary is trying to finagle her way back into the Democratic nomination using Machiavellian politics. She’s trying to split the party as well as the nation using tested and tried methods of scandal, injustice, and schism which will put the Clintons way up there with the Borgias of old. She’s using the political machine against a popular movement. She’s doomed to fail.

John McCain is going to use the same tactics. He’s going to highlight his experience against Obama’s. He’s going to use the same old entitlement speeches that Hillary tried to employ. The GOP will use the swift boats of anti-patriotism accusations against Obama that have proven unsuccessful. He’s going to use the old party political machine methods against a popular movement. McCain is going to lose.

You see folks, what we have here is something that doesn’t happen very often in elections, but it has the potential of creating a tsunami against anyone who opposes it. People want change. People want their politicians to change. People want their politics to change.

I saw this happening in Britain when Tony Blair was elected Prime Minister. People wanted change so badly that they stampeded their way to the ballot boxes and the Labor Party won by a landslide. Nothing could stop the popular movement. Nothing could stand in its wake. Nothing could compete against the people being motivated.

If the Democrat party nominates Hillary Clinton as their candidate, then the Democrats will be in the wilderness for a whole generation of at least 15 – 25 years. A young, zealous generation of voters will have their hopes dashed and their dreams burned. They won’t ever forgive the Democrats for damaging their hero.

The Republicans are also facing a tidal wave. John McCain cannot even raise enough people to buy tickets for a dinner in Texas. The people in the know already believe he is a loser, and that’s just amongst the Republicans. You can’t beat a popular movement, not even if you pull out a prisoner of war as your nominee. What happened in Louisiana and Mississippi a couple of weeks ago is not a blip – it’s the first wave of a tsunami.

I could be wrong in all of this, but it feels so much like Blair’s landslide victory in Britain all those years ago. I know America is a different nation, but this is a popular movement and no matter how experienced, sophisticated, and well oiled the political machine may be, it just cannot win.

So, for what it’s worth, here’s my prediction. Obama gains the Whitehouse in ’08 and the Democrats increase their seats in the House and Senate substantially. The old notion of checks and balances no longer prevails.

Of course, this all depends on what the Democrats do about Hillary on Saturday. If they screw that one up, all bets are off.

Some people say that the Gospels are just mere stories. Peter, however, declared that they were eye witness accounts of what truly took place in Christ’s lifetime. Our challenge today is this: do we accept Peter’s testimony?

Podcast version here

I love making up stories, especially for the children of our church on Sunday mornings. I guess I started telling stories for my brothers late at night when we were kids. Three of us shared the same bedroom and each of us had to deal with my mother’s insanity in different ways. At night time, sleep never came easy for any of us, so I would tell stories to my younger brothers and eventually they would sleep peacefully. I can’t really remember what any of those stories were about – it all took place about forty years ago – but those storytelling skills have stayed with me, which is why I enjoy giving the kids sermon during worship.

Some people believe that the Gospels are just made up, and have become stories that people must accept or they will experience the Church’s wrath. Eckhart Tolle in his book, “A New Earth” makes such a complaint. He writes about the Bible being a collection of stories with morals within them that are imposed upon the readers or hearers. What he is trying to do is to undermine the value of the Bible and diminish the faith of Christians.

2 Peter 1:16    We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Peter, in his second letter, faced similar opposition, which is why he reminds his readers that the events he relates about Jesus were not just stories, but eye witness accounts of what actually happened. Peter insists that he was there when Christ was transfigured. It is not a magical story, which is meant to charm the listener; it is an actual reporting of what truly happened.

Tolle may wish that the Gospels were mere stories so that he can pursue his own misguided philosophy. Peter, however, was willing to die for what he knew to be true, so for me, his testimony has more authenticity than anything Tolle can make up.

The question for all of us today is this: are the Gospels mere morality tales to help us through life, or are they God’s truth to lead us to eternal life?

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, Your life is so different from all others and Your messages are meant to challenge our lives and change our ways. Some voices in the world would have us believe that Your teaching, Your existence, and Your purposes are just mere myths. Help us to hold fast to Your ways and keep us from falling into the temptations of unbelief. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.