Confession

Throughout my life, I have heard that confession is good for the soul. I do believe that to be true. Inasmuch as repentance demands the acknowledgement of our sin then confession must be an integral part of the process. To understand sin we then must allow God to work His wonder in our life and be aware of His will. Unlike those who most generally make the allegation found in the first sentence, my belief is that the order should be God, self and then others. That is, share your knowledge of the infraction with God and ask his forgiveness. Be sure you clearly understand the error yourself. Lastly, but yet extremely important, share your remorse with any offended parties and take remedial action.

Now that the ground rules have been laid, I feel free to confess. Prior to the launching of Zion Beckons, I was and partially continue to be, an internet political junkie. Part of my morning ritual was an addictive rite of bringing up my "first tier blogs" folder and clicking through my favorites in order: a thoughtful grin from Day by Day, news overview from Drudge, the earthquake report, Neil Boortz, more grins from "bussorah", on to Instapundit and on, and on, and on. Suddenly, it’s 10:30 am and I'm still in my bathrobe listening to the constant click of the mouse. "But," says I, "I can’t do anything productive until I check the Center Place message board."

My father maintained that if you will spend one hour a day in intense study, every day, without fail, on a narrow subject, you will, after a year or so become an expert of some renown. He was right so long as you restricted yourself to a fairly narrow topic. On one occasion, he chose to study mung beans (you know, bean sprouts on salads.) He ended up in correspondence with agronomists from major universities, seeking information about this miraculous bean which is one of the greatest protein sources in the vegetable world.

The rub comes when your interest lies in broad topics like politics or faith. In both cases, there are too many players to gain comprehensive knowledge of the subject in one lone hour per day. The next logical step is to then separate fact from opinion. However, here, in both cases, one man’s opinion is another man’s basis for a cult. Yes, there are cults in politics too. Check out moveon.org, dailykos, or maybe anybody swept up in the fervor of global warming.

The result of my dedicated addiction to the affairs of the world and particularly the US government has left me with an enhanced awareness of activities both wonderful and sometimes unconscionable. In the foregoing sentence, substitute the word church for "world" and hierarchy for "US government." Any observation of both bodies, when considered in parallel, leads to a common identity. Since I consider the US Constitution to be inspired by God, I deem it akin to scripture. Not exactly the same, but certainly a fundamental basis with a Holy source. In both cases, the gulf between the aims of men and dictates of the canon widen daily. Individual interests supplant the noble goals provided from God-given sources and provide confusion for the electorate (members.) Failure to give heed to both the Bible and the Constitution has resulted in demeaning the goals of God and seriously infringing upon the God-given liberty to the people. In both cases, the solution lies in selecting conscientious men to exercise the responsibilities of both documents for the people without regard to their own personal, self-centered agenda.


Government has an important role in both political affairs and the issues facing our church. In both cases, we need a central governing authority to serve the people. To conduct business on an international stage, to provide for the common defense, and regulate those matters which have a legitimate national interest is constitutionally the proper role of our government in Washington, D.C. The strength of our founding document is its genius in assigning the proper role of that body of law both at the state and national level. The church also requires a central authority to serve the members with statistical data, inter-church relations, and activity which exceeds the capacity of individual branches to provide. To have either institution fail in their responsibilities is to not properly serve the electorate or the members. The key phrase here is "properly serve."

In both cases, I believe this has been sublimated by men who seek self-aggrandizement and power. If the responsibilities of leadership were clearly understood, it is my belief that few men would seek high positions. Among the best examples of longevity and extended power-seeking in the federal government are Kennedy D-Mass. and Stevens R-AK. Their key to success has been in "bringing home the bacon" to their respective states in exchange for continuing tenure. Neither has a history of demonstrable concern for the nation as a whole. At the least, their motives are transparent; they make little effort to conceal their interests.

Since money, per se, doesn’t seem to be the objective of those who seek leadership in our church we must ask, what does drive them? Getting everyone on the same page in our church would seem an impossible task. The simile of herding cats comes to mind. In a group the size of ours, the very idea of "power" is ludicrous. We don’t give out embroidered beanies, capes, long flowing robes or spiffy little aprons, so high liturgical fashion can’t be the answer. It’s possible that someone has hinted that the higher you go here on earth, the closer you get to God in the afterlife. Admission to that group (celestial glory?) is highly restricted but not impossible. The problem is getting a seat front row, center. At the least, this argument brings an afterlife component to the discussion. It is also entirely possible that some otherwise unstated factor has been introduced in that endless round of unrecorded, closed, and secret meetings, which drives them to achieve.

Maybe the parallel to national governance ends here. Just once, I would like to hear someone from on high explain exactly what God has in mind for the "organization de jour.” There is among the hierarchy today a cottage industry in forming new groups with new names. What part of "God is no respecter of persons" is not well understood? On a scale of one to ten, is humility closer to ten, or two? While we are doing the math, I forgave those who drove the church to apostasy the obligatory 7 X 70. And again, and again. But is there not some point where a measure of repentance must be shown to garner that level of forgiveness? Is this manifest in the dust-up over The Name? Or, is that just another part of the "plan."

Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps the parallel does extend to the here and now. We have people in government who further demonstrate our weakness by capitulating to those who wish us dead. They would shackle the most powerful military force on the face of the earth and go to great lengths to appease those who hate us. They oppose liberty with every opportunity. Among our church leadership we have those who refuse to recognize the serious doctrinal differences which have emerged over the last three decades between the Restoration and the C of C. They seek counsel and "reconciliation" with those who work actively to thwart the plans of God. They are willing to appease the adversary at every turn, stressing peace and love and urging us to kiss and make up. I guess what they don’t understand is that we willingly can love everyone, do them no harm, but still maintain our integrity. They need a refresher course in loving the sinner but hating the sin. I for one don’t need to be lectured to by apostates.

This is the fifty-third post on this board in under two months. With that milestone in place, the twenty one hundred of you who have checked in may rest assured that the wheel will continue to turn. Please forgive me if my political addiction intrudes on my most important subject matter, Jesus Christ. Pray that He will continue to supply the inspiration for many, many, more.

In His abundant love,

Cecil Moon