Stand Up – The Arrow Preacher

It Can’t Be All Bad

Recently I was reading the news. It’s a chore now that I don’t enjoy doing, but I want to stay at least somewhat informed of big issues or happenings around the world. As I was skimming through the headlines, I quickly remembered why I don’t enjoy reading the news, IT’S ALL BAD! I searched for a while only to find a few ‘throw away’ posts but nothing really of anything extraordinary. Here’s the thing about news though, the things that are most popular is what you’ll find. Nothing sells better like bad news, or something sexy.

I was looking at new ways to light my Hogwarts Lego castle and I moved the internal lights to the front to light up more of the exterior of the castle. When I did this I realized I could see areas of the castle I hadn’t seen at night before. It got me thinking about the news and what we see, or rather what we choose to see. Things can only stay in the dark if we don’t shine light on them. The shadows that haunt this country, or even those that haunt us as individuals can only remain shadows if there’s not enough light to force the shadow away. If there’s a dark spot we should be able to turn the light on and force that darkness to retreat. Of course the excessive bad news is the work of a sin-ridden world. We know that the sin will continue to grow, and it’ll continue to spread like a wildfire cancer upon this earth. The sin will grow and become more visible as long as Christians don’t take control of how things are run. Christians have allowed our own homes to fall to the deepest depravities and we do nothing. Men leave their responsibilities as women are having children more and more out of wedlock. We see child crime on the rise, and as the jails are overflowing with criminal activity we can only blame ourselves. I know it all seems very bleak and cold, but there is hope, Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 5:10“10 But [a]may the God of all grace, who called [b]us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, [c]perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”

Don’t fear the darkness; simply turn on the light and watch as the shadows scatter in fear. We know how the story ends, and we must live our lives according to Christ. Titus 2:7“in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility,” No matter how dark the world gets we are commanded not to conform to it, but to be a good representative, an ambassador of Christ. We know where we are going when we die, but those who are still lost in this world still need to be unplugged from the system. It’s our job to educate, to guide, to lead by example. If we can’t do that we have no business calling ourselves Christians. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard not because I say so, but because Jesus Christ said so. How long will we allow our own homes to crumble to ruin over and over again? How long will we allow the neighborhoods to crumble all around us? How long will we allow the poverty in this great nation to grow and have more and more people struggling to make ends meat? We must stand up and do better. We must evangelize harder, preach louder, and not allow the world to stifle our voices any longer. Don’t let the darkness snuff out our candle of light and hope. Light is stronger then dark, and we must remind the world we won’t be pushed around or bullied any longer.

Stand Up For Something

What does our flag mean to you? Men and women have fought and died for it for over two hundred years. It’s flown over countless countries and even on the moon. It represents the best of what his country is and how we’ve persevered through all manner of hardships. This country has endured war and poverty, racial divide and unprovoked attack that left thousands grieving. The struggles we’ve faced and overcome we’ve done it together. We trust in our nation to pull through the toughest of times, and we know that when the going gets tough we band together to achieve any goal because we stronger together.

Now in this country as the flag flies people from all over protest the national anthem because of personal reasons. The sad part is, although we aren’t perfect, and we have a long way to go, are we really do bold as to say so disrespectfully that we sit or kneel to try and prove a point? What do the leaders show the rest of the country when they choose to divide instead of illicit togetherness? The powerful are who the average look to and when so much hate and discourse is thrown around the rest of us are forced to watch and see this every single day. When the flag goes by I’ve seen old Veterans barely able to walk and in wheel chairs muster the strength to stand not because they have to, but as a sign of respect for those who’ve fought and have been buried under the Stars and Stripes. Racial divide, police brutality, political disagreement has nothing to do with the representation of our flag and nation. Our constitution, our bill of rights, and all the people who’ve served, died, and fought to protect those liberties, and the attempt to give those basic human rights to others is what the anthem stands for. If you cannot in good conscious stand for what this country stands for then why are you still here? There are plenty of other countries out there and if you won’t stand and recite the pledge, hold honors to the colors, then really its not your micro protests, it’s this nation you’re disrespecting. If you hate it so much look at what this nation has given to you. Success, wealth, fame, and so much more, yet instead of using that wealth and fame to raise awareness, blatant disrespect and a lack of loyalty are the rallying cry. How irresponsible to teach the young people of today that honoring and respecting the great nation you live in is such a major disrespect. Once upon a time to call yourself an American was said with pride. Now people do nothing but gripe and complain. I hate to break it to most people but I’ve lived a great many places in this world and even with our faults our rights and privileges are still second to none.

I’ve buried friends under the flag, and I’ve seen the way other nations talk about us, and I’ve seen the hell of war fighting for a people that largely hated us from the start. The fact is using Iraq as an example, I watch the first election take place in Ar- Ramadi as women could vote for the first times in their life. We have grown as a country, and we stand for those who cannot stand for themselves. When God gives us power He expects for us to use that power to glorify Him. Now however we can’t even publicly say His name in a growing number of institutions. We were founded on the beliefs that God was sovereign and Gods grace allowed for us to have what many did not. Now God is used as a simple platitude of old and for many no longer holds any societal importance. Walk in the shadows long enough and God will either watch as we destroy ourselves, watch as someone else does it, or like Sodom and Gamora before us we shall watch as the flag burns and the nation crumbles around us. You can still show respect for this country even when you disagree with a few things. Disrespecting the entire notion of this country on national television, or in public view is a horribly way to get your point across, because honestly, if you loose the respect of your followers, or people you’re supposed to be a roll model too, what good are we if we can’t find a constructive way to express ourselves.

We must learn to hold ourselves as a higher standard. Its not just here in this country we must worry about what others think, we are now being viewed world wide, and we must remain a united front. Our enemies are constantly planning, working to destroy us, and here we are trying to destroy our own selves. To the outside world, we look like a country of ignorant fools, obsessed with the sound of our own voice, and our problems seem so petty to them, and yet, we argue and one day, that divided nature will be a problem, one I hope we can fix before it’s too late. So in closing if you’re going to stand for something, stand for something, and make it count. If you are going to protest something do it in a respectful way. If you’re going to disagree with someone enough of the screaming, enough of the rioting, the looting, talk it over, sit down and have a dialog about it. Enough of the want and destruction that has plagued our nation for too long now. As I’ve stated in the past, put a little love in your heart!