A "Few" Thoughts on the Subject

My husband and I were enjoying a leisurly evening last Sunday night, relaxing and watching television when our program was interrupted with news that Osama Bin Laden was dead.

Two things happened immediately. My heart and mind were reminded of that fateful day, almost ten years ago, when I was getting ready for work and news splashed across my television about the planes flying into the Twin Towers. I thought about the families of those victims in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. For them, I was glad. I was proud of our country. I was proud of our Presidents, both past and present. I was proud to be an American. I saw Twitter and Facebook explode with joyous exclamation of victory and celebration. And then something else happened.

Slowly, one by one. Comments started being made about the ungodliness of rejoicing in the death of the wicked (a portion of Ezekiel 18:23 was repeated over and over again). Christians starting faulting other Christians for their joy and I got angry, very angry.

I thought my anger was the response of my natural self and a bi-product of the emotion of the event and that it would pass. But the next day, as more and more of these "entries" started to pop up and believers started jumping on the proverbial bandwagon it continued to grow. Questions about the United States right to carry out such an action were posed. And the word "hypocrite" was being hurled at Believers who didn't "mourn over this lost soul".

We know that it is the Lord's will that none should perish, but that all would come to repentence and faith (2 Peter 3:9) and as followers of Christ this should be our loftiest goal. But there is nothing unbiblical about rejoicing in the victory of good over evil. I was stunned at the number of people saying how we should "Love our enemies". Indeed we should! We are commanded to. That's easy to do when your enemy is dead. I wonder how many of my brothers and sisters, who are so quick to call "hypocrite" were loving Bin Laden when he was alive. Love is an action, isn't it? Love isn't something you feel, but something you do. How many believers were combing the caves of Tora Bora searching for Bin Laden to minister to him while he was in hiding. How many Evangelism Explosion groups were pounding the pavement in Pakistan to lead him to salvation? How many Christians in the United States were on their knees daily over the past 10 years praying that Osama Bin Laden would come to faith in Christ Jesus? I don't know the exact number, but I'm certain, if anything, it was small. That's how you love your enemy. You don't wait until he is dead and then condemn others for having a smile on their face as a result. We need to be mindful of casting out the title of hypocrite. In my experience, it's those who choose to use it first that are the guiltiest of all.

Another thing that occurred to me was that, in all the discussion, there was no mention of the sovereignty of God. As if the United States acted outside of His will. Are we that naive, or dare I say arrogant, to believe that our country had any power to do this apart from God? Regardless of whether one thinks our country is honoring God, we must remember that God is in control. He sets up kings and deposes them (Daniel 2:21)He has determined the length of each of our lives. We will not live one day more or one day less than He, the Creator, has set. This included Osama Bin Laden. We have to consider the "possibility" (I say that tongue in cheek) that the omnipotent God, in his sovereignty, knew the depths of Osama Bin Laden's heart and the reality that while Christ indeed died for him, he would never accept that truth and turn from his wicked ways. (Don't bombard me with arguments for or against Calvinism at this point. Regardless of your own personal school of thought, not one person comes to Christ to the Father's surprise). Is it really so difficult to see that if God's purpose for Osama Bin Laden was to come to salvation through Christ and spend his remaining days leading lost, Islamic militant boys to the Lord that he would still be alive today? If that day was not his last day on this earth, no highly trained group of US Navy Seals, no predator drone, no nuclear device could have taken him out.

I agree that while the average American danced in the streets celebrating victory and revenge, that our hearts should have been aware of this poor man's fate and stirred by it. But we can still celebrate. We SHOULD still celebrate. Americans tend to have a very ego-centric world view. We are a super power. We are a force to be reckoned with. We can face any challenge and come through stronger. We are right and you are wrong. It is arrogance and I personally believe we will see in days and years to come exactly how weak and vulnerable we are. (But that's a post for another time) I am proud of my country. I love being an American and I thank God every day that I was blessed to be born here and have the life that I do, but Osama Bin Laden's death was not our victory. Yes, the United States was used as a tool and I am grateful to our leadership and commend our stellar military and intelligence community for their amazing work! But this battle is not ours to win.

In all the discussion of the "proper Christian response" to Osama Bin Laden's death, I've not heard one mention of the fact that he was first and foremost an enemy of the Jews. He hated Americans. Why? Because of our alliance with and involement with Israel. He despised us because of our presence in the Middle East and defense of a nation he was bent on destroying. He was an enemy of the Jews and of their God. America plays a supporting role in a battle that was waged in Genesis and the world has been fighting ever since. Those of us who are so quick to point the finger over the celebration of this man's death need to remember that this battle is the Lord's and he will come to the defense of his chosen people. We have been witness to this. The Sovereign God, the Creator of the Universe, who Was and Is and Is to Come intervened on behalf of his people and reigned victorious. For that we should take to the streets in celebration. Our God reigns!

Birthday Trouble

In my last post, I mentioned something of a conundrum that I am in the midst of over the birthday of our youngest son, Isaiah.  Now, I realize that he is only going to be two years old and most likely doesn't give a rip what kind of birthday he has.  However, seeing as I am running out of time to make these decisions exclusively, I intend on making the most of them.

I decided on Sofia's birthday theme when I happened upon an adorable castle cake in a magazine I was thumbing through.  Much to my surprise, it looked "doable".  So, I went with it.  I purchased her party decorations from  Birthday Direct and decided to order Isaiah's party goods as well to save on shipping (seeing as their birthday's are little more than a month apart).  I spent quite a bit of time pouring over birthday themes and decorations- everything from Mickey Mouse to fire trucks and landed on monkeys.  Before making my decision, however, I had to figure out what kind of a cake I could make to go with our theme.  (Have I mentioned my OCD?)  After running a random search for "monkey cakes", I came across this masterpiece.  I fell in love and we were moving along full steam ahead.

However, in the last three weeks or so, Isaiah has absolutely fallen in love with Elmo, whom he lovingly refers to as "La La".  It took me a while to figure out why until this dawned on me one day as Zay freaked out about seeing La La on his diaper.  Elmo's Song 

How stinkin' cute is that?  But now, this obsessed little boy (no, I don't know where he gets that from) goes ballistic whenever he sees Elmo.

Therein lies the basis of my enigma.  Do I do what I feel is the selfish mom thing and go with the monkeys or do I bag the monkeys and start over fresh with a La La party.   Have I mentioned I already have an Elmo cake pan from Daniel's second birthday party?   Perhaps it's not the selfish mom thing.  Could it be it's the practical mom thing?  Anyone?  Anyone?