Christianity is a freedom movement led by Christ and its full privilege yet we must fight for: what lesson Christians gain from Obama’s nomination
As an Ethiopian neighboring to Kenya, Obama’s father birth place, watching yesterday’s acceptance speech of Senator Barack Obama as a major Party Nominee for presidency for a super power nation was moving. Though the event and the process it took to reach this point by itself should be covered well, let me share you the insight I gained by linking the American civil right movement that resulted this historic nomination with the freedom movement that gave us a chance to be nominee for eternal life and in turn royal children of the Most High.
The tears, joy, and pride by Americans as Obama accepted the nomination reminded me what our Hero, who led the freedom movement that liberated us from the captivity of devil, said. Jesus said, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15: 7) I was emotionally connected both into what was going on in the stadium and virtually in heaven to picture what heaven feels when a man or a woman accepts Jesus Christ to be a royal son and daughter of God’s sovereign and everlasting Kingdom. When we repent and accept Jesus as our savior, we accepted the invitation to be nominee to be Ambassadors of Christ on earth and children of God to live in Heaven forever.
Friends, I pray for myself and you so that we may sense the joy, pride, and dancing the heavenly beings experience when a person accepts Jesus. I pray that we remain grateful for the offer God gave us through His Son on the day we accepted the nomination and the joy it induced in heaven. Most importantly, I pray that we may embrace the responsibility that nomination entails and the need all of us must continue to fight till the promises of the movement reaches others.
The impression didn’t stop there. Though I am not a history student, it has great value in my personal and spiritual life. I feel reading my own country history whenever I read a piece of America’s history. The formation of modern US and its ideals and values instilled by the great Americans- the Founding Fathers- greatly impresses me. This is a nation formed by Pilgrims who came to this land in search of freedom of worship. America remains one of the most diversified countries that welcome immigrants from the rest of the world. The US is the first in line in investing on the expansion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Though America is decorated with these and more colorful attributes, it has experienced ups and downs in her journey thus far. One of the down histories was the era of slavery. Millions from all walks of life, race, and social status fought for the case of liberation movement and corrected the fault. The movement demanded the blood, sweat, and life of men and women who stood for justice. It took also an official and unprecedented apology from Congress on July 30, 2008 to black Americans for the institution of slavery, and the subsequent Jim Crow laws that for years discriminated against blacks as second-class citizens in American society. That is America’s greatness, not because there are no wrongs but the spirit of humility and courage to face and correct them by paying whatever it takes.
The champion of the Union and one of the greatest leaders the world ever has- President Abraham Lincoln- issued Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 but its full implementation was not possible until the end of the civil war. Even after all ground works were done and slaves were finally free to live their own life, it was widely reported that there were many slaves who never knew about Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation act. Likewise, even if the declaration by God in Genesis 3:15 (he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel) demanded the submission of the devil to Christ and let free God’s people, it took the incarnation of Christ and paying the ultimate price so that the declaration remained effective. Surprisingly, even if Jesus came, paid the price, and declared that man kind is free from the bondage of the devil, still there are billions who never heard or believed that finally they are really free.
If we ignore that particular incident where slaves were not aware of the declaration, the struggle for social justice had been continuing and its peak was during the civil right movement. One of the leaders of that movement, Dr Martin Luther King Jr., had a dream where he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Almost after less than half of a century, the daughter of Dr King appeared during the nomination event and said that Senator Barack Obama was judged by the content of his character and his vision to America than his color to be the nominee of a major political party. However, the fruition of this dream took lots of fights, compromises, and sacrifices.
Yesterday was, for sure, a great day that will remain remembered. This is a history the contemporary Americans and the future generations will be proud of. But does that offer an excuse to anyone to settle as if justice is made and no more fight? Obama himself has been saying that there are many progresses in the area of justice issue but it still demands further struggle and the involvement of all stakeholders from across all races, gender, and age to perfect the union that Abraham fought for. The journey for justice, not only in America but in the rest of the world, continues and it takes the involvement of many stakeholders to inherit a better world for the next generation. I like Obama’s quotation, “It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.”
We don’t expect a perfect world, before dooms day, but each generation should contribute its share so that past generations vision and dreams to see a more just and fair world come true. We don’t just seat and wait for it. We fight for it and nurture it with more insight and inherit it to the next generation. We cast our share and bring the change that was envisioned by our forefathers while meeting the contemporary challenges. What we do individually at small scale, one day will add up with others effort and in its own time will be harvested by our descendants. That was what the civil right movement showed us yesterday. Let’s saw a seed of joy, tear, and happiness for the next generation. As a higher call, let’s fight to bring the vision God had where man kind is responsible to manage and govern the universe by being a trustworthy and compassionate stewards. We should fight to rescue the world from poverty, environmental degradation, terrorism, war, and other crisis and let’s God once again see down over here and say it is very good: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1: 31)
The struggle to nominate people into God’s Kingdom and as Christ’s Ambassadors has been the result of sacrifices, bloods, tears of our forefathers and mothers in Christian faith. Let’s work hard for more nominations of Ambassadors by continuing to fight until the world enjoy the price Christ and His disciples throughout history paid. He declared the return of the Kingdom of God into our hand. He trained followers to carryout the long journey of freedom from the devil, and He fought for our redemption by shedding His blood. His Liberty Proclamation took His life before we enjoyed it. He saw a seed of salivation for us and joy for heaven, and finished His part. However, the struggle for man kind to get freedom from the influence of the devil and enter into the Kingdom to live in peace and prosperity takes the involvement of all of us.
This is our turn. Let’s not settle, individually, at the nomination state for God’s Great Kingdom royal citizenship. Let’s not, collectively, settle until all humanity hear about the proclamation, let’s fight for its efficacy, and let’s portray our share till God’s vision and His Son sacrifices come to its fullness. As we went back to remember Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and millions of freedom fighters when we saw Barack Obama standing in that awesome stadium, let’s think about the sacrifices and prices paid by those who proceeded us and let’s crave to give joy to heaven as we continue to bring new nominees to God’s Kingdom.
The tears, joy, and pride by Americans as Obama accepted the nomination reminded me what our Hero, who led the freedom movement that liberated us from the captivity of devil, said. Jesus said, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15: 7) I was emotionally connected both into what was going on in the stadium and virtually in heaven to picture what heaven feels when a man or a woman accepts Jesus Christ to be a royal son and daughter of God’s sovereign and everlasting Kingdom. When we repent and accept Jesus as our savior, we accepted the invitation to be nominee to be Ambassadors of Christ on earth and children of God to live in Heaven forever.
Friends, I pray for myself and you so that we may sense the joy, pride, and dancing the heavenly beings experience when a person accepts Jesus. I pray that we remain grateful for the offer God gave us through His Son on the day we accepted the nomination and the joy it induced in heaven. Most importantly, I pray that we may embrace the responsibility that nomination entails and the need all of us must continue to fight till the promises of the movement reaches others.
The impression didn’t stop there. Though I am not a history student, it has great value in my personal and spiritual life. I feel reading my own country history whenever I read a piece of America’s history. The formation of modern US and its ideals and values instilled by the great Americans- the Founding Fathers- greatly impresses me. This is a nation formed by Pilgrims who came to this land in search of freedom of worship. America remains one of the most diversified countries that welcome immigrants from the rest of the world. The US is the first in line in investing on the expansion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Though America is decorated with these and more colorful attributes, it has experienced ups and downs in her journey thus far. One of the down histories was the era of slavery. Millions from all walks of life, race, and social status fought for the case of liberation movement and corrected the fault. The movement demanded the blood, sweat, and life of men and women who stood for justice. It took also an official and unprecedented apology from Congress on July 30, 2008 to black Americans for the institution of slavery, and the subsequent Jim Crow laws that for years discriminated against blacks as second-class citizens in American society. That is America’s greatness, not because there are no wrongs but the spirit of humility and courage to face and correct them by paying whatever it takes.
The champion of the Union and one of the greatest leaders the world ever has- President Abraham Lincoln- issued Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 but its full implementation was not possible until the end of the civil war. Even after all ground works were done and slaves were finally free to live their own life, it was widely reported that there were many slaves who never knew about Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation act. Likewise, even if the declaration by God in Genesis 3:15 (he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel) demanded the submission of the devil to Christ and let free God’s people, it took the incarnation of Christ and paying the ultimate price so that the declaration remained effective. Surprisingly, even if Jesus came, paid the price, and declared that man kind is free from the bondage of the devil, still there are billions who never heard or believed that finally they are really free.
If we ignore that particular incident where slaves were not aware of the declaration, the struggle for social justice had been continuing and its peak was during the civil right movement. One of the leaders of that movement, Dr Martin Luther King Jr., had a dream where he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Almost after less than half of a century, the daughter of Dr King appeared during the nomination event and said that Senator Barack Obama was judged by the content of his character and his vision to America than his color to be the nominee of a major political party. However, the fruition of this dream took lots of fights, compromises, and sacrifices.
Yesterday was, for sure, a great day that will remain remembered. This is a history the contemporary Americans and the future generations will be proud of. But does that offer an excuse to anyone to settle as if justice is made and no more fight? Obama himself has been saying that there are many progresses in the area of justice issue but it still demands further struggle and the involvement of all stakeholders from across all races, gender, and age to perfect the union that Abraham fought for. The journey for justice, not only in America but in the rest of the world, continues and it takes the involvement of many stakeholders to inherit a better world for the next generation. I like Obama’s quotation, “It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.”
We don’t expect a perfect world, before dooms day, but each generation should contribute its share so that past generations vision and dreams to see a more just and fair world come true. We don’t just seat and wait for it. We fight for it and nurture it with more insight and inherit it to the next generation. We cast our share and bring the change that was envisioned by our forefathers while meeting the contemporary challenges. What we do individually at small scale, one day will add up with others effort and in its own time will be harvested by our descendants. That was what the civil right movement showed us yesterday. Let’s saw a seed of joy, tear, and happiness for the next generation. As a higher call, let’s fight to bring the vision God had where man kind is responsible to manage and govern the universe by being a trustworthy and compassionate stewards. We should fight to rescue the world from poverty, environmental degradation, terrorism, war, and other crisis and let’s God once again see down over here and say it is very good: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1: 31)
The struggle to nominate people into God’s Kingdom and as Christ’s Ambassadors has been the result of sacrifices, bloods, tears of our forefathers and mothers in Christian faith. Let’s work hard for more nominations of Ambassadors by continuing to fight until the world enjoy the price Christ and His disciples throughout history paid. He declared the return of the Kingdom of God into our hand. He trained followers to carryout the long journey of freedom from the devil, and He fought for our redemption by shedding His blood. His Liberty Proclamation took His life before we enjoyed it. He saw a seed of salivation for us and joy for heaven, and finished His part. However, the struggle for man kind to get freedom from the influence of the devil and enter into the Kingdom to live in peace and prosperity takes the involvement of all of us.
This is our turn. Let’s not settle, individually, at the nomination state for God’s Great Kingdom royal citizenship. Let’s not, collectively, settle until all humanity hear about the proclamation, let’s fight for its efficacy, and let’s portray our share till God’s vision and His Son sacrifices come to its fullness. As we went back to remember Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and millions of freedom fighters when we saw Barack Obama standing in that awesome stadium, let’s think about the sacrifices and prices paid by those who proceeded us and let’s crave to give joy to heaven as we continue to bring new nominees to God’s Kingdom.
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