During our mad rush to make the publishing deadline when I worked at the Cherokeean Herald, my managing editor and I were lamenting the Texas Legislature's refusal to continue to fund the Texas State Railroad. Under a new Republican-controlled House and Senate, the legislature was leading the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to cut expenses, even if it meant shutting down some of the top attractions in Texas.
The Texas State Railroad was on the chopping block because it operated at a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. What was unscrupulous about the whole situation was that while the railroad brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars annually just by providing rolling stock for movies, that movie revenue was not credited to the railroad. So, when the annual financial reports came out, the train showed the expense of providing engines and rail cars for the movies, but wasn't allowed to show the income received. That income went straight to the TPWD in Austin.
Surely, I lamented, that the state could continue to fund this park, given the movie revenue and the fact that the transportation department operates some of the best rest areas in the nation. That's when my boss (a life-long Democrat) looked at me and said, "Leland, you are beginning to sound like a Democrat."
I must confess, I had to rethink my position. At the end of the day, however, I came to the same conclusion. The state railroad had to be funded.
Sometimes we can say things that make perfectly good sense to us, but shock us when we find out that our statements are in agreement with our enemies. Now Democrats aren't my enemies (my boss and I were good friends), but I do oppose their platform. Politics aside, when we get into eternity, state parks funding, tax rates, foreign debt and national defense will be forgotten. What won't be forgotten will be the judgment we receive for our actions. For this reason, we must be very careful that we are fighting on the right side of Spiritual warfare.
Satan is the master-deceiver. Confusion is one of his best weapons, and often he uses it to turn the brethren against each other. Often times, Christians who both serve the Lord, who agree on 99% of things, wind up at each other's throats for the 1% of things they disagree upon. Fellowship is broken, fingers are pointed, accusations are made, and cautions to avoid Brother SoAndSo are issued. These things ought not to be true.
1 John 2:11 says "But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."
To hate means to detest. Do you detest your fellow Christians? Are the fundamentalists too stuck in the mud? Are the contemporary worshippers destroying worship? Is the ABA a liberal organization? Or a traditional pharisaical one? If you can not stand other Christians, it's not because you have surpassed them in spirituality. It is because you are blinded and walking in darkness.
Be not deceived. Detesting your brothers and sisters in Christ is indicative of a relationship with God that has grown distant. It is indicative of one who is stumbling around in darkness and not following Christ. Worse yet, satan can use that confusion and darkness to use you as a tool to wreak havoc on the Lord's church. Even worse still, when you spout those anti-Christian opinions, you sound just like satan.
In Zechariah 3, we see Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with satan at his right hand to resist him. Heaven help us if we find ourselves right there next to satan.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the state decided to transfer control of the Texas State Railroad to American Heritage Railways, the same company that operates the Silverton-Durango Railroad in Colorado.
