This has been fairly long in the making. I took a fairly long hiatus here for a number of reasons; primarily to gain my bearings after being involved in the spring elections. Therefore after this primary election seems to be a good time to end my hiatus. I promise you that I have no shortage of topics.
I began this blog as Walworth County was debating a mask mandate.
Remember mask mandates? I hope you do.
I could not believe that our government was attempting to be so intrusive as to mandate masks. My feeling was this was not only an attack on our American Freedom. This was an attack on my Christian values. The fear, manifesting in control from all levels of government.
And to this day, there is no evidence worth a damn that shows masks did anything at all positive.
Masks are coming back someday. That is important to remember.
Shortly after the mask mandates, Whitewater’s City Council embraced the Marxists with Black Lives Matter. Two years later, they deny it, but I have the receipts.
Discerning Whitewater – City Council’s Embrace of the Marxists of Black Lives Matter
Did we lose a fantastic police chief because he would not enforce the mask mandates and embrace the radical left? I guess that is left for you to decide. Good luck getting any info out of the city, they are pretty tight lipped about it.
I have taken on a number of topics within the city, and has it been a crazy couple years. (That was rhetorical 🙂 .)
- Mask Mandates
- City and School Lockdowns
- Embracing the Violence of the Radical Left
- Some pretty wild elections
- The disaster with Trippe and Cravath Lakes
- Throw in State and National Politics (which I rarely will dive into)
I have lived in Whitewater since late 2011, but prior to COVID I pretty much kept to myself. I went thru a divorce, so I focused on raising my kids and my challenging job (that I love).
When the lockdowns hit, I became vocal thru this blog. I also got involved politically. If I have met you, chances are we met in the last two years…. and I have seriously met probably between two and three hundred people. It has been very good.
I have struggled managing my Faith and my involvement politically. Christians are all over the spectrum on the level of involvement Christians should have in politics. With Christ being Lord Of My Life, I have had to figure out how to respond with the love and Grace that I desire to present.
Acknowledging Christ also means acknowledging there is an enemy. There is a passage in Paul’s book of Ephesians (6:12):
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
This is a pretty wild passage. I believe this. Every battle in our lives is spiritual.
One particular enemy attack is pride. When disagreements (online or other) get out of hand, it is up to the Christians to represent Christ…. to act out of love and Grace with patience and kindness and self control. The fruits of such behavior is the expansion of the Kingdom.
IMHO, this reflects directly on politics.
So very easy to follow the paths of this dark world. If you advocate for the identity confusion of the woke today, you will be given awards and worldly praise. If you pervert the holiness of our children’s lives with lies like “choice”, the world will say you are brave. If you promote drug use and gluttony and drunkenness to escape the temporary pain of life, you will get support from the sheep.
If you promote healthy values, steeped in Truth and Love, you quickly become an enemy of the world.
Politics is the earthly manifestation of this dark world imho. Our Forefathers had inspiration that had to be divine when they placed such a high priority on free speech.
In politics, an honest conversation is rare. Intentions are hidden with nearly-perfected (lies) talking points … such as “giving a woman her choice when she wants to start a family.” Gossip and lies and all kinds of false witness are so common that they are almost ignored.
I believe Christians are meant to be leaders in all aspects of our lives, including politics. We live in a democratic republic. We choose our leaders and we need to take that responsibility seriously. God chose Moses to lead the people out of Egypt. Christ led his disciples. In turn, his disciples led others and so forth.
Stepping forth as a Christian and as a political leader leads to horrific attacks. These attacks are real… whether it be the FBI storming Trump’s mansion, or the FBI interfering in Williams Bay School Board election, or some mentally-ill man obsessing over a female African American Assembly Candidate.
My opinion… not stepping up is directly tied to apostasy. Calling Conservatives and Progressives “the same” is relativism.
And always act out of Love. Give people so much Grace that they ask why. And that Grace always must be rooted in Truth. Jesus was perfect Love and Grace. He worked with people where they were, and sometimes people needed to be called out.
I heard a pastor say, “error on the side of Grace” a few weeks ago, and I say there is no such thing. Maybe “error on the side of kindness” but Christ recognized the love some people needed was in the form of loving correction. We need this now more than ever.
The sad truth is that some people will never see or practice or experience Grace. Christ saw this and he mourned it. “Forgive them as they know not what they do….” I mourn this too. There truly is a peace that surpasses understanding and you can have it.
Finally, my take on being a Christ follower and being a leader in politics:
- Christians are called to be leaders in everything. This includes politics. We are a democratic republic. We elect our leaders and theoretically they work for us.
- Some Christians are specifically called to be community leaders and such. Their first duty is to further The Kingdom.
- Our Founding Fathers had imho Divine Inspiration to keep us as free as long as we have been free. Free Speech, Right to Bear Arms, Religious Freedom…
- We live in a broken world. All nations and all people are responsible for sin.
- We are to “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” and we are to honor our government and officials. (Daniel is truly the example of this). Romans 13 is a great read for this.
- We are NOT to commit sin in the name of our leaders or our governments (again, Daniel is a great example of this).
- Attacks come when you go to take a chunk out of the powers of this dark world. The fights are vicious, *but that does not mean we do not engage.*
- Staying close to Christ with worship, prayer, scripture, fellowship will keep a Christ follower on the correct path … away from fear and evil and corruption and anger.
- Turn off your tv. It is a slow but potent dopamine drip and just not healthy.
- Trust God.
- Surrender to God what you cannot influence.
- Work as a servant to God and our fellow man for the things you can influence (I changed from control – as the Father is in control of everything, as a servant there are things for which we have influence).
So… let me know your thoughts. Am I crazy?
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Peace OUT,
-mike
Discerning Whitewater 