This is something that’s been on my heart a lot lately. What makes a person a good Christian? I’m not asking what makes a person a Christian – I’m asking what makes someone who is already a Christian good at what they do? I’d argue that it’s the actions they take on a daily basis. Of course our actions don’t save us- it’s clear in the Bible that we are saved by grace- but after we are saved… what then? Isn’t it our actions that set us apart?

Here’s what I’m getting at; If we are not doing everything in our power to share God’s love with the world, we’re not doing enough. Yes, I’m talking to you. And I’m talking to the person standing next to you. And I’m talking to myself. What did you do this morning? What about on your way to work? What were your lunch plans? What did you do this evening? Big plans for the holiday weekend? Now stop and think about how every routine task we do in life could be radically changed if we took the attitude of serving God in EVERYTHING we do. Your morning commute has meaning because you drive to serve God. Lunchtime has a whole new purpose because each conversation could be the one where you share Christ with your coworker. Saturday mornings are not just for sleeping in because there is work to be done all around your city – people are in need all around you.

Specifically with Fellowship of San Marcos, I want people to get off their butts and come to the work days at our new building. We don’t have the money to hire a construction company to come renovate it for us, so we have to do the work ourselves. Is it dirty, sweaty, hard labor? Yes! But does it have a greater purpose? YES! We’re not just up there putting up walls and painting so it will look nice and we can congratulate ourselves on the work we did. We are creating a place were people can come and learn about God. If we don’t care enough about our own church to invest our time and resources in it, why are we even doing this? And that brings me back to my point. Whether you slept in this morning or got up to come help work at the building doesn’t determine if you’re a good or a bad Christian- but it might be a symptom. Search your heart and see why you’re not involved somewhere.

There’s an old saying that there are three types of people in the world – sheep, wolves, and the sheep dog who watches over them. Which one are you?

No one wants to admit they might be the sheep, but there’s no shame in aknowledging what you are- I’d rather be a sheep than a wolf any day. Sheep really get the best end of the deal. They get to relax and enjoy life. They have no worries outside of their own lives and families. Really there is nothing wrong with being a sheep. But unfortunately sheep can’t take care of themselves. They do fine when following the normal routine of life- wake up, eat, go to work, come home, repeat – but what happens when a wolf shows up? When you’re enjoying life and a wolf comes looking to kill, what will you do? Wolves eat sheep. It’s a fact of life. Their purpose is to destroy everything a sheep is. Oh, you might say wolves aren’t really that bad. They aren’t trying to destroy the sheep, they just need to eat. That’s fine when it’s the sheep next to you being devoured, but what happens when the wolf turns on you? By then it’s too late. Please don’t be ashamed of being a sheep. I’m not trying to criticize you for who you are and how you live your life. But if you are a sheep, please realize that sooner or later a wolf will come looking for you, and when it does you’ll be glad to have a sheep dog standing watch.

The sheep dog does not discriminate between those he is protecting. Whether it’s you, your neighbor, or a sheep across the world, he stands guard all the same. When a wolf raises his head and bares his teeth, the sheep dog fights back. He fights to protect the sheep. He fights will all his might and he will kill the wolf if necessary. Killing is never pretty, but as long as there are wolves who seek to destroy, there is a need for someone to stand up and fight back. This is why I fight. I fight for you. I fight for your freedom. I fight for everyone who is in danger. I am willing to lay down my life to protect yours, and if you are unwilling to stand up and fight beside me, that’s okay – not all of us are sheep dogs. All I ask is that you give me the freedom to do my job. Don’t despise me for what I do, I do it for you.

A Peace Too Costly
http://patdollard.com/2007/05/a-peace-too-costly/

“You have been given the choice between war and dishonor. You have chosen dishonor, and you will have war!”
-Winston Churchill to the English Parliament, 1938

After the English Parliament’s 1938 appeasement in Czechoslovakia, Churchill saw the danger of choosing peace, when honor and common sense called for battle. History, of course, would confirm his point: Refusing to fight an honorable battle may afford a temporary peace, but in the long run, it’s a peace too costly. Delaying a necessary battle may well result in devastating, full scale war. And as always, dishonor looks like an easier choice.

Tyrants never co-exist peacefully. By their nature, they demand increased territory, fewer limitations, more captives.

Men of Honor, fighting mad, enlisted, and committed, no longer surrender territory that belongs to them.

Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister of Britain on 28th May, 1937. Over the next two years Chamberlain’s Conservative government became associated with the foreign policy that later became known as appeasement.

Chamberlain believed that Germany had been badly treated by the Allies after it was defeated in the First World War. He therefore thought that the German government had genuine grievances and that these needed to be addressed. He also thought that by agreeing to some of the demands being made by Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy, he could avoid a European war.

Anthony Eden, Chamberlain’s foreign secretary, did not agree with the policy of appeasement and resigned in February, 1938. Eden was replaced by Lord Halifax who fully supported this policy. Halifax had already developed a good relationship with the German government. After his first visit to Nazi Germany he told his friend, Henry (Chips) Channon: “He (Halifax) told me he liked all the Nazi leaders, even Goebbels, and he was much impressed, interested and amused by the visit. He thinks the regime absolutely fantastic.”

In November, 1937, Neville Chamberlain sent Lord Halifax to meet Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Goering in Germany. In his diary, Lord Halifax records how he told Hitler: “Although there was much in the Nazi system that profoundly offended British opinion, I was not blind to what he (Hitler) had done for Germany, and to the achievement from his point of view of keeping Communism out of his country.” This was a reference to the fact that Hitler had banned the Communist Party (KPD) in Germany and placed its leaders in Concentration Camps.

In February, 1938, Adolf Hitler invited Kurt von Schuschnigg, the Austrian Chancellor, to meet him at Berchtesgarden. Hitler demanded concessions for the Austrian Nazi Party. Schuschnigg refused and after resigning was replaced by Arthur Seyss-Inquart, the leader of the Austrian Nazi Party. On 13th March, Seyss-Inquart invited the German Army to occupy Austria and proclaimed union with Germany.

The union of Germany and Austria (Anschluss) had been specifically forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. Some members of the House of Commons, including Anthony Eden and Winston Churchill, now called on Neville Chamberlain to take action against Adolf Hitler and his Nazi government.

Hugh Christie an MI6 agent working based in Berlin, met with Hermann Goering on 3rd February 1937. He immediately reported his conversation with Goering and included information that Germany intended to take control of Austria and Czechoslovakia. He also told Christie that Germany mainly wanted “a free hand in Eastern Europe.”

In March 1938 Hugh Christie told the British government that Adolf Hitler would be ousted by the military if Britain joined forces with Czechoslovakia against Germany. Christie warned that the “crucial question is ‘How soon will the next step against Czechoslovakia be tried?’ … The probability is that the delay will not exceed two or three months at most, unless France and England provide the deterrent, for which cooler heads in Germany are praying.”

International tension increased when Adolf Hitler began demanding that the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia should be under the control of the German government. In an attempt to to solve the crisis, the heads of the governments of Germany, Britain, France and Italy met in Munich in September, 1938.

On 29th September, 1938, Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Edouard Daladier and Benito Mussolini signed the Munich Agreement which transferred to Germany the Sudetenland, a fortified frontier region that contained a large German-speaking population. When Eduard Benes, Czechoslovakia’s head of state, who had not been invited to Munich, protested at this decision, Chamberlain told him that Britain would be unwilling to go to war over the issue of the Sudetenland.

The Munich Agreement was popular with most people in Britain because it appeared to have prevented a war with Germany. However, some politicians, including Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden, attacked the agreement. These critics pointed out that no only had the British government behaved dishonorably, but it had lost the support of Czech Army, one of the best in Europe.

One staunch critic of appeasement was the journalist Vernon Bartlett. He was approached by Richard Acland to stand as an anti-Chamberlain candidate at a by-election in Bridgwater. Bartlett agreed and in November, 1938, surprisingly won the previously safe Tory seat. Henry (Chips) Channon , a junior member of the government wrote in his diary: “This is the worst blow the Government has had since 1935?.

In March, 1939, the German Army seized the rest of Czechoslovakia. In taking this action Adolf Hitler had broken the Munich Agreement. The British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, now realized that Hitler could not be trusted and his appeasement policy now came to an end.
Posted by Pat Dollard