The series of a study being conducted and written by the Breakthrough is a word study on "Hope." Two things that are striking on this day are that it is Inauguration Day for President Obama and it is Martin Luther King Day. To merge "The Audacity of Hope," with the "content of our character," is striking when you fuse it together with the Biblical, Systematic and Evangelical Theology where real hope resides. The cornerstone verse is "So I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you a hope and a future," Jeremiah 29:11. Imagine the President of the United States starting off his second Inaugural Address with a word from God! Why not?
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“We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still.”
“My fellow Americans,” Mr. Obama said, “we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.”
Politics aside
He has nothing to loose politically. What would they do-impeach him? They only do that to people they catch lying as history proves, Nixon and Clinton. Stating Biblical Truth would not be an impeachable offense! And for a good man who ran on hope and a future, a change and a refreshing approach, why not? If we were to judge President Obama as a man, based on the "content of his character" he would be found worthy and above average. In terms of his leadership and compromising values that he believes in, the character meter is suspect. Integrity means integrating your belief system and doing the right thing - no matter who or who isn't watching.
What is hope?
The audacity of hope is "The joy of expectation." The apostle Paul writes: "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all, who hopes for what they already have?" That is a hard concept to embrace in a land of instant mashed potatoes, microwave gourmet meals! Instant text! Hard to find hope in what we already have! Paul writes to the Romans in Chapter 8 with the hope that we today would get this concept. In Denver, it is difficult to get people to pray, because they want to see instant results. Even though they can ask God for any good thing, it's hard because God is not on a New York minute schedule! In the next four years people have an opportunity to begin to study hope, realize and work for peace, prepare to love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and one another as we would like to be loved. That is where true joy can materialize. Our confusion with true hope is that culture tends to hope in the surface things and not the relational things. The other side of the 'plan that God has for us, the plan to give us hope and a future,' is if we begin to call on His name, correct our vision, challenge one another to follow Christ and to be compelled and willing to change.
For more on the digital study on "The Advent of Hope" please e-mail ancientpathsdenver@juno.com.
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