The Ephraimites forgot, though they were delivered
Protected from arrows, covered when they shivered
Backsliders, rebels, their faith withered
Okay then, wrath
Wrath like frogs in your bed, rivers of blood, locusts overhead
Terrifying wrath, hail stoning cattle dead
He discliplined those he led
And still does
To remind them
To rewind them
To incline them
To help them remember what he has done
Parted seas, broken rocks with flowing water, manna rained
He created everything, and when it broke he remained, sustained
And even while his name was profaned
A second river of blood pooled at the cross
Which made him remember our sins no more
 

This world is not home. There are many parts of it which feel like one, though. The waves of southern California, the mountains of Colorado, an encouraging word from a friend.

This world is not hell, either. The Enemy does not claim every hill, mines and snipers everywhere. Hell is being without God, and this world is unequivocally not without him.

He is here.

But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. (Luke 6:27-28)

I hang in a pretty conservative crowd. Okay, let's be real—I can count the liberals I know on one hand. I met one at the pool the other day and I have a good friend who is a closet liberal, but other than that I know few of them. I'm guessing that's because I live in the belt buckle of the Bible Belt, go to a conservative church, and I hunt and fish and look like a boilerplate Republican, boots and guns and all.

Politics are not my thing, so I try to avoid conversations with highly political people. For starters, hyper political people are hard to listen to. They are so convinced of their moral high ground that they cannot hear an opposing viewpoint. Also, they tend to know a bunch of facts which they rattle off like bullets from a machine gun.

Bill Maher and Donald Trump are about as polarizing as it gets. If you love one, you likely hate the other. Each occupies a controversial position on one pole of the political spectrum, and their enemies line up to attack them.