1945 BIRTHER- ME?

Before we end the week I want to simply quote a few verses from Isaiah 26.

‘Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee’

‘Trust ye in the Lord forever- for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength’

‘When thy judgments are in the earth- the inhabitants of the world will learn justice’.

I stumbled upon this chapter the other day- I did not realize how many verses I have memorized over the years- ones that I would quote and stuff- not realizing they were lumped together in this chapter.

Over the years I have had times [years] where I would read thru the bible every year.

Or maybe read the New Testament thru many times- and the Old Testament a little slower.

These past few years I have slowed down a bit- still reading every week- but less ‘volume’ and more meditation.

I’ll read a chapter- then stay on it for a few days- and then see more stuff each time.

I try and listen for ‘daily bread’ type of a thing.

In the Lord’s prayer [Our father] he said we should pray for ‘our daily bread’ and in a way that speaks about what God wants to tell us each day.

Sort of like the story of Manna in the time of Moses.

The people of God were in the wilderness for 40 years- and God fed them bread every morning.

It was called ‘angels food’ it was this little wafer type thing that was on the ground each day.

God told them only take enough for you and your family- if you take too much- and store it up overnight- it will spoil.

But on the 6^th day they could take enough for 2 days- because they were not supposed to gather it on the Sabbath.

So God in a way has daily manna for us- if we try and overload the system- by eating too much- then it will spoil.

Its funny- over the years I have seen/gone thru stages where you get involved with movements- good people- who for whatever reason get into some type of teaching.

Maybe they will emphasize some new thing- and for years they will go down that road.

Maybe it’s not a bad road per se’- but these things were not supposed to be ‘roads’ at all.

That is- as believers we should establish our hearts in grace and the reality of God.

The reality of the Cross and death of Christ for us.

And then as we learn and grow- sure- we will learn lots of stuff- but when you get into fads- well it’s like the verse in the book of Hebrews.

‘It is a good thing that you are established in grace- not with meats [ side doctrines] for it is not profitable for those who are occupied therein’ [my paraphrase].

Okay- a few things.

The other day at the mission I had to intervene- sort of like a Ref.

2 of the guys were getting into it- over all things- politics and religion!

Now- these guys happened to be sober- but you have a few guys who start drinking early- and by the time I get there- well let’s say they are feeling pretty good.

So- I could think of no better environment to discuss politics and religion- can you?

Somehow one of my buddies- who is very smart- got a hold of ‘birthirism’ somewhere along the line.

I first heard him talk about it a few months back- and was kinda surprised.

He is not a ‘right winger’ at all- he attends a classically more liberal church [Methodist] and we often discuss the Sunday school teaching from the previous week.

He has the notes from church- and they are always taking a more liberal side- and I have told him that the Methodists are a great church- and they do an excellent job at social justice [like the Catholics].

So- it was a surprise for my friend to have launched into birthirism [the belief that Obama is not a U.S. citizen].

By the way- those who believe this are not total nuts- if I have time I’ll share a few facts- things that have caused people to question- yet I have never swallowed the Trump view.

So- my buddy starts into his talk.

‘Obama was sworn in on the Koran- even if he was born in Hawaii- that’s not part of the continental U.S.- so he still is not legitimate’.

A few more things like this- that coming from this particular friend- surprised me.

Now- this day we were sitting with my other friend Don.

Don is the gardener at the mission- the pics I posted on Facebook- with the garden- that’s Don.

Don is quite the intellectual- for real.

It never ceases to amaze me when I run into the smartest guys that are homeless.

Don has a well rounded education- knows all types of subjects- sort of a renaissance man if you will.

So- for Don to have heard my other friend launch into his thing- well- he could not believe that my friend was saying this.

Don- rightfully- corrected my buddy in no uncertain terms.

My buddy went on about Obama being a non citizen.

Then they appealed to me- to be honest I did not want to get into it.

But I did.

I had to side with Don- and correct my other friend because he was so misinformed.

Obviously Hawaii is part of the U.S. - even though Alaska and Hawaii are not part of the land mass that makes up the lower 48.

Yet they are states- and they count as being born in the U.S.

But I had to throw out some cover for my misinformed friend.

He looks up to me as sort of a teacher- and when someone sees you that way- it’s hard for them to be corrected by someone they look up to.

So- I did tell Don that I have read/watched so many news things over the past 4 years- that there were things that gave some people real reason to doubt the president’s place of birth.

Now- be careful here- I want you to hear carefully.

Because what I think has happened- is the president did things in the past- like we all have done [skewing the facts to gain a benefit].

He possibly presented himself- at various times- as being from Kenya- or as sharing the Muslim faith.

What- are you nuts?

Not 100% [maybe half?]

Okay- here’s the cover for my buddy.

As people started looking into the birth certificate thing- there were some indications that the president might have said he was from Kenya- maybe to sort of play into the role of ‘this new and up and coming author- with such an interesting background’.

Or maybe at times- in applying for school- you  might say you’re a foreign born person- because you get an edge if the school has a quota type thing [thus the Trump challenge to show his college records].

Why do I think this might have happened?

When you wade thru all the accusations- there were a few things that did come up that quite frankly looked strange.

One of the more questionable things was the actual promotion of one of Obama’s books- the book publisher actually introduced Obama- the author- as a ‘Kenyan born’ person.

Now- when this came out- the president- and the publisher- both admitted that this was not a fake.

They simply said it was a typo.

Huh?

They both admitted that the intro for the book said Obama was Kenyan- but it was a typo.

Look- a typo is hitting a wrong key on the keyboard [unless this type writer had Kenya as one of the keys?]

And what are the chances that this typo just happened to name Kenya as his birthplace?

I mean that’s a bit  much to swallow to be honest.

So John- he’s a Kenyan!

/

Now- here's where I give the pres the benefit of the doubt- but why I say he too has given the birthers a reason to question him.

There are a few people that said/think that Obama used this ‘I was born in Kenya’ thing to simply help promote himself.

He has spoken about his own identity struggle in the past.

Growing up he had the name of his step dad [Sotero].

As he got older- being raised by a single mom- he eventually learned more about his real dad- from Kenya- and he did try to identify more with his father’s heritage.

So- maybe did he start saying ‘I’m Kenyan’

Sure.

Was this so bad?

No.

But is this possible?

  Yes.

The more believable explanation for a book publisher to say you’re from Kenya- would be that Obama might have presented himself as such.

Others have said that he did say this to them as well.

And some think he might have used this on his college application.

This is very possible- and to be honest- for a book publisher to accidently pick Kenya- as a typo- that’s a bit much.

So- I gave cover to my birther friend- by leaving him room- that is to say there are people who question it- Obama’s place of birth- and they are not all nuts.

But- I also sided with Don- that at the end of the day- I think this issue is settled.

It’s hard to have friends on both sides of these things.

Because when you take one side- the other feels alienated.

I think it’s also wrong to assume that those who did not support Obama are all birthers.

I supported Romney simply on the basis of experience.

Those who want a real honest critique of the president should read Bob Woodward’s latest book.

He tells the story- the true story- of how many of the president’s closest inside fiends felt he was so far out of his league- after he got in- that others had to actually run the show- for quite some time.

Yes- these are actual reports from friends of Obama.

I remember hearing his main financial guy [I forget the name right now- Lawrence Lindsey?]

He said at one point ‘if we were not running this show- no one would be in charge’.

Yes- there are some real- honest critiques that have come out- and they did indeed feel like the president was way out of his league for this job.

And these were not birthers.

So- at the end of the day- some supported one side because they had real questions.

Others supported Obama because they too had honest positions.

But we also need to correct those in our midst who have wrong views- things that they picked up along the way.

If we want good discourse- it must be informed.

And yes- at times both sides have missed this mark.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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