Why I Blog about the Constitution

For three days I’ve been talking about interpreting the Constitution, but my goal in writing these posts had little to do with the Constitution. I wanted to dig into a messy subject, clear away some misconceptions, and draw out an important point. Please bear with me for a few more paragraphs while I get to the heart of the matter.

Four days ago I was accused of being a bad American because I didn’t agree with a man who had strong feelings about what is wrong with America and who is to blame. He chose to divide Americans into three groups: those who were destroying our American heritage, those who were trying to protect it, and those who would stand by and do nothing (“people like you,” he said to me accusingly). I tried to respond civilly and rationally to his arguments, and I came home and did some research on his claims, but even if he turned out to be right that “natural born citizen” in the US Constitution originally meant a person born in the US to two US citizens, I couldn’t agree with him that our nation was in terrible peril because it had elected a President who had one parent who was not a US citizen.

As I watch the news, check in on social media, and talk to my friends, I can see that many people are passionate about this nation and looking for someone to blame for its problems. That includes many Christians. I hope as a writer and a teacher I can help my fellow Christians to step back, analyze the facts, think about what they believe, and then act like they really believe it – even in the sensitive area of politics and national heritage.

In my book, One Nation Under God, originally published in 2005, I set out to show the importance of separating our allegiance to our nation and our allegiance to God – and always remembering which was more important. In the next month or two, I will be rewriting that book to add current events and better explain some of the important points. Right now – before the revised book is published – you can download the entire original manuscript from my website free of charge!

In another book, Standing Firm, I show the importance of trusting God with every part of our life and seeing what is happening in our world, and in our nation, through God’s Word. I’ve just finished rewriting that book, and it will be available from Amazon.com next month.

The third book I would like to write is The End: And Why it Matters. This book will look at the big picture of God’s plan for his creation and what part we as Christians should play in that plan. I hope to have that book out next year. After all, it's only when we know where we're going that we can find a way to get there.

There is a lot of fear and uncertainty among Christians in American today as we see our culture changing and our beliefs being marginalized and ridiculed. We can look for people to blame; we can fight to bring back the good old days; or we can trust God and continue to shine his light in a dark world.

Please come back and read more next week. Right now, I’ve got to get back to writing those books!