While We Sit In Silence!

Normally this is not a place where I share the writings of others. However, when something I believe is worth understanding comes across my desk it an imperative to share and not just an optional thought.

As with any prodigal, a parent must be alert to all the influences upon that life so that prayer and necessary action can be applied. Please excuse me this once. The Republic is at stake. 

Look back at the 1940s and learn from history. The following is quoted:

"Germany was not classified as a "melting pot" like America during WW2....very few Germans didn't think they were the master race...they got rid of the Jews and all that was left was the residue. History says...that we as a mighty nation will have our down-fall by being rotten from the inside out...etc then the vultures will move in, like they have now...

'[This is] a German's View on Islam - worth reading. This is by far the best explanation of the Muslim terrorist situation I have ever read. His references to past history are accurate and clear. Not long, easy to understand, and well worth the read. The author of this [piece] is said to be Dr Emanuel Tanya, a well-known and well-respected psychiatrist.'

A German's View on Islam 

                       A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

                       'Very few people were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.'

                       We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.

                       The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.

                       The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent majority,' is cowed and extraneous.

                       Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.. China 's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people..

                       The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.

                       And who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?

                       History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:

                       Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.

                       Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

                       Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts--the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

                       Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just ignores the threat without sharing it, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and pass this on [share this blog] and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world-wide, read this and think about it, and pass it on - before it's too late.

                       Now Islamic prayers are said to be introduced into Toronto public Schools while the Lord's Prayer was removed (due to being so offensive?)

                       The Islamic way may be peaceful for the time being in our country until the fanatics move in.

                       And we are silent.

 Christian living depends on

Christain learning....you
gotta read [God's] BOOK!"

Respect The Sanctity Of...

Though I do not agree with the current U.S. administration's political and social values, I do highly respect the sanctity of their life and their right to speak their views. I have served in the military and would serve again to protect those rights.

I pray for the protection of our national leaders in this political season. I pray that they will express their views and be transparent in their campaigns. I pray that the people of this great nation will be drawn back to godly values and God's redeeming love (Psm 16, especially vv 4-6). Only then will we once again see a representative government that honors and respects God. The government, after all is nothing but a reflection of who we are as a people. 

This "hope and change" will not come, however, because of an election. It can only come by a change of heart in the people of this nation (within all parties). Only this kind of change can put our nation in line with the divine will and purposes of God. What say you?

Sign up here to pray 40 days leading up to our nation's elections. Receive a daily email for 40 days.

Has God Sent A Famine Of His Word?

There is a dearth of the word of God in our time. How long shall we be satisfied with no word from God? Let godly men speak into your life. Would you take ten minutes here to let God speak a word to your heart? 

Behold the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. - Amos 8:11

O, Lord GOD, would that Your people would hear from You again.

A Call To Anguish

This seven minute excerpt from a David Wilkerson message should tear at your soul for the need of revival in the church and awakening in America. Will you pray for our prodigal nation? Will you pray for this beloved prodigal child who is blind to the her sin. Will you pray for the the stained heart of His beloved church?

Restoring Spiritual Passion - Roger Hollar

IF THE CHURCH SHALL IMPACT SOCIETY

A saying has been circulating of late that says something like, "People in our society really like our Jesus. They just don't much like Christians." What is wrong with how Christians (the Church) go about trying to make a meaningful impact on society? Or, as a friend recently remarked, "How do Christians 'contend' without being 'contentious?'"

I was reading recently from Devotional Classics by Richard Foster. In that book he highlights various believers who have impacted our world. William Temple (1881-1944) is one of those individuals. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942-1944. He was a "tireless church reformer and leader of Christian social movements." This is what Temple says needs to happen if the church expects to make an impact on society. 

IF THE CHURCH EXPECTS TO IMPACT SOCIETY SHE MUST… 

•      Possess some understanding of the needs she wants to address and then offer practical ideas to bring the “existing order” closer to her “Christian Principles.”

•      Stand in a Christ-like tension between reform and status-quo. She must continue to influence and permeate both sides (the influencers and the complacent).

•      Keep God and not self at the center of the solutions so that His love and compassion is clearly seen.

•      Use “Christian Principles” to guide her solutions to reform, to supply clear principles upon which to build  a better world.

•      Be obedient to God’s laws. All thinking starts with God and moves from the temporal to the eternal.

•      Understand that the true value (dignity) of man is in the eye of “The Beloved” beholder. All of our lives should be ordered with this dignity in view.

• Reflect the glory of the lord – This is her destiny. Her social life (the lives of believers) should be ordered with that destiny in view.

     This is sound advice for those who desire to contend for the faith without being contentious; for those who expect to impact our culture. Think about it.

HOW DOES THIS IMPACT YOUR THOUGHTS? 

Uncertain Times Call For A Certain Hope

These are uncertain times. I have been thinking for several weeks about what is happening in our country right now. Politics are getting meaner and more sleazy by the year. Our government has become something strange, something distasteful to us. More intrusive. More demanding. Nothing like we have known in the past.

The world stage is fragile. Civil unrest is rampant in parts of the world with dictators raping and killing their people. Financial markets seem ready to implode. Most of us feel totally at a loss to do anything about it. It seems that a fog has moved in and clouded our sense of well-being and security. There seems to be a spirit of confusion and instability. We (at least I) feel like something foreboding is on the horizon. You'd think that people, especially Christians, would turn to the help of God, as in times past. But I think the post-Christian culture we live in veils this help.

Even the church seems to have lost it's purpose and it's way in the midst of a "politically correct" culture. There is no shortage of programs. Many of them are good. There is good-faith effort to want to help Christians in their growth and walk with God. But the "man in the pew" (if he/she is even present) seems largely unaffected. He or she can sort of "take it or leave it." Concern for a lost and shaken world is thin and the most powerful tool available to us, prayer, is the last thing on anyone's mind...not sure it really works anyway. We do that in which we truly believe.

THEN THE SENSELESS SHOOTINGS IN AURORA, COLORADO BREAKS POWERFULLY IN ON THIS LETHARGIC LANDSCAPE...and we ask WHY?

I mentioned these things to a pastor recently. He told me to read 2 Chronicles 15. I did. There was no voice, no message of hope in the land of Israel. Israel was without a "teaching priest" and the result was was "turmoil" and confusion. Sounds a lot like our nation, our world today.

King Asa did the only thing that could be done. He called for a sacred assembly of the people for prayer. That is what we need today. God has to be broken-hearted over the state of a once God-honoring nation. The church needs revival and the nation, the world, needs an awakening of overwhelming proportions. UNCERTAIN TIMES CALL FOR A CERTAIN HOPE.

There is HOPE in God. He has the answer to the dilemmas of our day. The Church must get on it's knees before God and plead for revival. That starts with me. I need to be on my knees in repentance.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS POST?   CHECK BELOW.

If Jesus Is Coming Soon, Why Pray For Revival and For Spiritual Awakening?

When considering the subject of revival and spiritual awakening in the twenty-first century, this question, as the title suggests, is often asked. I have certainly given thought to it myself. Why would we pray when we know that according to Scripture things in the world will get worse and worse just before Jesus returns to this earth? What is the motivation or inspiration for any such revival prayer activity?

In his book, Revival, Richard Owens Roberts answers this question under the heading of “General Hindrances To Revival.” He lists three hindrances. I commend a reading of this book to you. I will quote here only a portion of the first of the three hindrances, “The hindrance of erroneous interpretation” (the other hindrances being Prayerlessness and Faithlessness):

Have you heard someone say, ‘These are the last days. No revival of religion can ever again be hoped for. We can only expect things to grow worse and worse’? Obviously, such a viewpoint can have a devastating effect on revival interest…

We must not let our observations on the condition of society and the degeneration of the hearts of men block our earnest seeking of God’s face. God is as able to send revival now or at any time during the history of His Church. While on the surface, things do seem to be getting worse and worse, a balanced perspective on history clearly suggests that the Bible is absolutely right in declaring men of all times and in all places are ‘deceitful and desperately wicked.’ There have been times in the past when it looked as if the world could not survive another generation, and yet it did. This may well be the last generation, but then again, our great-great-grandchildren may be the ones to see Christ’s coming in the air. Since the possibility exists that this may not be the last generation, we should, with ever-increasing fervency, seek a mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God in revival blessing for the sake of both our own and future generations, and for the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Roberts goes on:

To hinder revival by arbitrarily announcing that it cannot come because of the late hour of history in which we live is to abandon our role as faithful servants of Jesus Christ and to pose as God. If God chooses to revive us again, who has sufficient authority to say He cannot? Time after time, in the dark seasons of the past, God has stepped into the stream of history and sent revival. Why shouldn’t we expect Him to do it again?

Compiler’s Summary

It is clear to me that it is a matter of even greater urgency that we fervently

pray for revival and spiritual awakening in these “last days.”

We could be praying for the last great revival,

the last great awakening the world may ever know

Could it be that hundreds of thousands of people might be swept

into the Kingdom of God in one final great move of God and then

comes the end of history, as we know it, followed by the return of Christ?

If we believe prayer works, why wouldn’t we watch and pray?

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Is America Undergoing Judgement And Is The Church Complicit In That Judgment?

(June 2012 Edit)

America is not a nation like Israel; a nation founded as a Theocracy. However, America is a nation founded on Judeo-Christian values. To the degree America adheres to those values she is a Christian nation. She is a free nation because she was founded upon the values and principles of freedom and “inalienable rights.” This is true even though America embraces “pluralism.” She embraces the individual’s right to freely choose any particular or no belief at all.

America was founded upon and has received great Light, visa vie the Holy Scriptures. That Light has brought about great freedom and liberty. So long as that Light burns brightly those freedoms and liberties remain. But when that Light grows dim, darkness will fall on freedom and liberty. How is the Light sustained? It is sustained first by the Reflectors of the Light, by those who are the followers of Jehovah God and who revere God’s Holy Word. Second, it is sustained by the Respecters of the Light, be they followers of God or not. They respect the Judeo-Christian values and principles of God’s Word upon which America, our Republic, was founded. This may be seen in the following statement by  William Henry Harrison, U.S. President (1841-1841) in his Inaugural Address (March 4, 1841):

“I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow-citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty, and a just sense of religious responsibility are essentially connected with all true and lasting happiness; and to that good Being who has blessed us by the gifts of civil and religious freedom, who watched over and prospered the labors of our fathers and has hitherto preserved to us institutions far exceeding in excellence those of any other people, let us unity in fervently commending every interest of our beloved country in all future time.”

The Reflectors and the Respecters of God form an alliance affecting America’s freedom and liberty. They both enjoy a great privilege and a great responsibility. They work and survive in a culture of liberty by honoring the Judeo-Christian values and principles that undergird America. They are inseparable in many ways. But the survival of America as a free nation depends upon their mutual dependence upon the God of freedom and “inalienable rights.”

Is America undergoing judgment? Yes, America is undergoing judgment. What does that mean? Richard Owen Roberts, foremost authority on revival in our world explains how God uses judgment. In his little booklet, The Solemn Assembly, he writes, “While some judgments are immediate and final, resulting in deaths among the wicked; others are gracious and remedial, resulting in brokenness, prayer, repentance and extraordinary seeking of God’s face.” I believe America’s judgment at this point in time is “remedial” in nature. There is still time for America to act, to truly repent of her neglect of God and turn to Him NOW, before a “final” judgment comes, before she goes past the point of no return. But America and God are waiting on the Church.

Is the church (Reflectors of the Light) complicit in the judgment on America? Yes. The church is complicit because she alone is responsible for keeping the Light of the Gospel brightly shining. If the Light grows dim it can only be because the church has lost or is losing her influence and status as a reflection of the Light.

Henry Blackaby stated in the Cedars Bible Conference of 2010, “The healing of America is waiting on God’s people. The forgiveness of God’s people [for willful sin and disobedience] will determine the healing of America.” He said of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, “This was a warning to God’s people [the church].” He said the same of hurricane Katrina and the economic disasters of 2008-2010. I would submit that the fires, drought, floods, civil unrest, increase in terrorism worldwide and the murder of innocent people and police officers since then should also be viewed as a wake up call to the Church. These disasters coincide with Roberts’ statements above about “remedial judgment.” Blackaby said that God’s people must do some things: Humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and TURN from THEIR WICKED WAYS. “If you are NOT seeing the manifest presence of God in your life then there ARE wicked ways [in your life for which you must repent]." Roberts states that “remedial judgment” opens the door for brokenness, prayer, repentance and the seeking of God’s face on the part of God people.

Today we find ourselves living in a “post-Christian” culture. Why? Because both the Reflectors of God and the Respecters of God have succumb to the peril of privilege. They have fallen asleep at the wheel. They have taken for granted liberty and “inalienable rights.” When that happens freedom and individual pursuit of happiness is forfeited.

What has gone wrong? With great privilege comes great responsibility. Neither a Reflector nor a Respecter of God is assured the mutual protection and favor of God when they no longer reflect and no longer respect God. When reflecting and respecting turns inward it becomes apathy, complacency and neglect. The nation, the Republic, is in trouble. Reflectors no longer propagate the Light. Respecters no longer revere the Light. Less Light turns to less toleration. Soon the Reflectors and the Respecters of God find themselves marginalized, on the outside looking in. The Light is slowly snuffed out by shadows and darkness, the creeping enemy of the Light. The result is the loss of freedom, liberty and “inalienable rights.”

Not much has changed in 2,000 years. Consider the writings of Athanasius (297-373 A.D.) These words could easily be said about our generation today.

“But men, foolish as they are, thought little of the grace they had received, and turned away from God. They defiled their own soul so completely that they not only lost their apprehension of God, but invented for themselves other gods of various kinds. They fashioned idols for themselves in place of the truth and reverenced things that are not, rather than God Who is, as St. Paul says, ‘worshipping the creature rather than the Creator.’

Moreover, and much worse, they transferred the honor, which is due to God to material objects such as wood and stone, and also to man. Indeed, so impious were they that they worshipped evil spirits as gods in satisfaction of their lusts. They sacrificed brute beasts and immolated men, as the just due of these deities, thereby bringing themselves more and more under their insane control. Magic arts also were taught among them, oracles in sundry places led men astray, and the cause of everything in human life was traced to the stars, as though nothing existed but that which could be seen. In a word, impiety and lawlessness were everywhere, and neither God nr His Word was known.¹

Reflectors become weaker and fewer. Respecters become weaker and fewer. A new group emerges. They are the Renouncers. 

Renouncers show zero tolerance for Judeo-Christian values. They wish for and work for the removal of any mention of God. They use only language that is “politically correct.” They would see the Reflectors and Respecters completely silenced. While those who reflect the Light and those who respect the Light continue in their apathy and neglect the Renouncers wage a full scale rejection of the Light, tolerance, and mutual dependence upon God. We are in a battle for the soul of America. The church must awaken from her slumber. John Hagee said, “America’s future is in the hands of God’s children.” God is waiting for Christians in America to answer His wake-up call and PRAY.

I close with the thought-provoking words of Richard Owen Roberts: “That there has been a very great increase of immorality and decrease of true biblical spirituality in America in recent years is a fact beyond controversy…Is it because the devil is more powerful…? No. It is because God has judged America with the remedial judgment of the withdrawal of certain manifestations of his gracious presence and mercy.” Roberts sounds an alarm to the church, “As soon as it becomes evident that immorality is on the increase and spirituality is on the decline the biblically sound and spiritually lively Church will not foolishly blame the world but will immediately recognize its own COMPLICITY. The Church must first repent, for the righteous judgment was not against the world but against the church (Pe 4:17-19). Therefore, in times of spiritual declension and moral decadence, the great duty of every Christian is both to discover those sins which have caused the judgment and to put them away…”

Wake up Church and humbly seek God's face for the sake of the Kingdom and for the sake of this great nation.

¹ Foster, Richard J. Devotional Classics. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 1989. Athanasius was important in early church history as he helped to steer the Church away from the heresy of Arianism – belief that Jesus was merely a human being. He wrote extensively on the incarnation and how God took on human form. He took part in the first council of Nicea (325 A.D.). The portion Foster quotes above is taken from his primary work, On The Incarnation.

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FATHERLESS NATION: NO HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

America has been called a fatherless nation [Note from www.wordpress.com]. President Barack Obama was a fatherless child. With an absence of godly fathers in the homes of America is it any wonder that she has drifted so far off the path? It's not a Happy Father's Day today in America.


FATHER GOD, WE WEEP FOR THE RESULTS OF FATHERLESSNESS. WE PRAY FOR THIS FATHERLESS NATION, THIS FATHERLESS GENERATION. MAY FATHERLESS CHILDREN COME TO KNOW YOUR LOVING TOUCH, YOUR LOVING CARE, AND YOUR LOVING ENCOURAGEMENT. 
MAY THE CHURCHES IN THIS GREAT NATION RETURN TO THE FATHER'S KIND WELCOME AND GIVE EVIDENCE THAT THERE IS HOPE.

• 43% of US children live without their father [US Department of Census]

• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.

• 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.

• 85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average.  (Center for Disease Control)

• 80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes –14 times the average.  (Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26)

• 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average.  (National Principals Association Report)

• 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average.

• 70% of youths in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average.  (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Sept. 1988)

• 85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average.  (Fulton Co. Georgia, Texas Dept. of Correction)

• 70% of juveniles in state operated institutions have no father. [US Department of Justice, Special Report, Sept. 1988]

• 85% of youths in prisons grew up in a fatherless home. [Fulton County Georgia jail populations, Texas Department of Corrections, 1992]

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MAKE LEVEL HER PATH, MAKE FIRM HER WAY

America has made many choices in her recent history which has put her on a path of judgement. We know that the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord. That is to say that the righteous have the ability to walk a straight path, to choose to stay out of the ditches. So if America has lost her moral, ethical, and spiritual way (and she has), then she must get back on the level firm path (Pro 4:25,26). To be sure there will be road hazards due to weather, other's wreckage, or natural disaster, but she must keep a course of righteousness. She must choose to stay out of the ditches. She must turn back onto the level firm path.
FATHER, MAKE HER PATH LEVEL AND MAKE HER WAY FIRM. I PRAY THAT HER CHOICES WOULD BE NARROWED LEADING HER CLOSER TO A RENEWED, REVIVED, RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. I PRAY FOR REVIVAL IN THE CHURCHES OF AMERICA WHO OUGHT TO BE LIVING OUT ALL THAT IS RIGHTEOUS AND GOOD. IN JESUS NAME I PRAY - AMEN!

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Keep "First Love" The First Love

We have left "First Love" when spending time with that Love is no longer a priority; when we presume its presence and grace; when we no longer talk about that Love with others; when other things occupy spaces in our heart, mind and conversation that was once reserved for that Love. (Rev 2:4)

Spiritual Passion - Level Ground

 - 

Brian Doerksen - Level Ground
Where Spiritual Passion begins

PRAYING WITH A PURE HEART FOR KEY LEADERS

Scripture Reading: Plea for personal purity from (Read Psm 50:15-23):

“UNHOLY ALLIANCES”

Apathy toward a lost world; stubbornness;

self-righteousness (holier than thou);

disbelieving heart; pride;

unhealthy sexual appetites;

judgmental attitude; seditious and

factious spirit; complacent;

moody; irritable; fearful; angry,

un-forgiveness; jealousy;

impatience; sarcastic

Time for Personal Prayer & Confession using Psm 51 (below)
Come before God in personal contrition & brokenness

Psalm 51 Points To Repentance
V  3 I recognize my shameful deeds
V  6 I desire honesty from the heart
V  7 I ask for purity and cleansing
V  8 I ask for my joy back
V10 I ask, “Create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit in me.”
V11 I ask neither to be banished from His presence nor that the Holy Spirit be taken from me.”
V14 I ask for forgiveness
V17 I recognize that it is only a sacrifice of a broken repentant heart that God wants

Scripture Reading: Plea for the return of God’s people—Isaiah 1:1-6,10-15, 16-20
Corporate prayer for your church, your cities and your nation
             Focus: To know Christ and/or be strengthened in faith; recognize inadequacies of the flesh; seek
             the will of God not man

Your Pastor
President Barack Obama
Speaker Of The House John Boehner
US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Cabinet: Sec of Housing—Shaun Donavan
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito

CONDITIONS OF PREVAILING PRAYER

(from the autobiography of George Mueller)

Dependence—Absolute trust in the merits of Christ as our grounds for blessing and our oneness with Him.
Separation—Abandonment of all know sin.
Belief—Faith in the complete veracity of God’s character. He is and is the “rewarder” of those who diligently seek Him.
Motive—Ask according to His will; for our good and His glory.
Perseverance—Patient waiting on Him.
Where the conditions are not met God’s answer would both dishonor His character and damage the suppliant (petitioner).

(RESPOND TO WHAT GOD SAYS TO YOU TODAY - SEE BOTTOM OF POST)

TAKE AWAY – PERSONAL REFLECTION

(Contemplate God’s Word to you)

What was the most significant thought you received from this session?

Why do you think God implanted this upon your heart?

What do you think God wants you to do as result of what you have heard?

Is there anything that might keep you from receiving/doing/obeying what you heard?

Ask His help in achieving what He spoke to you.

Thank God for what you have heard; remember and apply it to your life.

...AND GOD WAS TROUBLED TOO

In all their troubles [affliction, suffering, pain], 

he was troubled [afflicted, suffered], too.

He didn't send someone else to help them. 

He did it himself, in person.

Out of his own love and pity 

he redeemed them.

He rescued them and carried them along 

for a long, long time.

(Isaiah 63:9 The Message BIBLE)

Tragedy in Tucson brings us as a nation to the brink of human emotion. It begs the question, "Does God feel our hurt and suffering?" Oh, yes He does. Isaiah 63:9 tells us that God is capable of feeling what we feel. He was afflicted by that which afflicted Israel. God is troubled, afflicted when we are troubled and afflicted.

Not only did He feel the suffering of Israel He came personally to assist them. He will come personally to our aid as a nation in our time of tragedy and trouble. He will come personally to those families in Tucson who have suffered the unspeakable. He will come Himself to minister to those who are suffering due to a senseless shooting that has scarred the national landscape.


God, out of His own love and compassion will redeem those who suffer. He Himself will rescue them and carry them along for a very long time. He will still be there long after the public focus has shifted to other things. He will be there ministering to the pain and sense of loss. 

Pray for all those families in Tucson whose lives will bear the scars of the unspeakable tragedy in Tucson. Pray that they will truly know and sense the presence and comfort of God.

WILL AMERICA BE GREAT AGAIN?

Why has America been called a “great nation?” Is she great? What made her great? Will she continue to be great?

I believe God’s word can help us answer these questions. Stop here and read Deuteronomy 4:1-10 (See Bible Gateway link). Look especially at what God told the nation of Israel about her greatness in verses 6-8.

Hear what God says about a nation’s greatness. I’ll paraphrase it: Pay attention to My law and do it (vv1,5)…My law is your wisdom in the sight of others who will declare, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people (v6). I conclude from this that any nation or individual can achieve greatness (exceptional status) by a careful reading and application of God’s law. Our Founding Fathers understood this. They founded our nation on the substance of this reality. Others too have observed and declared that America is a great nation.

One such observer of America’s greatness was Alexis de Tocqueville who, in the 1930s, wrote the classic book, Democracy In America. He called America “exceptional” and was the first to use this term regarding our nation. This was based upon his observation of the American ideology of liberty, equality, individualism, populism, and laissez-faire. These concepts of freedom and the greatness that stems from them can be traced to God’s word, His law and His commandments. The framers of the new Republic’s constitution understood this. The foundation of the Republic rests squarely on these principles. That is why America has been called “great.” Is America perfect? No. But she is great.

“God of my forefathers, I cry unto Thee. Thou has been the refuge of good and wise men in every generation…this Christian way whereon I walk is no untried or uncharted road, but a road beaten hard by the footsteps of saints, apostles, prophets, and martyrs [This author would add also, Founding Fathers]…I praise Thee that Thou has caused me to be born in an age and in a land which have known His name, and that I am not called upon to face any temptation or trial which He did not first endure…Forbid it, Holy Lord , that I should fail to profit by these great memories of the ages that are gone by…” (A Diary of Private Prayer, John Baillie, pg 25). Baillie died in 1960 before the world began its shift to a post-Christian culture.

What has made America great (exceptional) is that from the beginning she has held forth a respect for God and His word (See blogs entitled Is America Under Judgment And Is the Church Complicit In That Judgment? [Nov 2010] and Useless Religion? [Oct 2010]). Here is the real question: Will America continue to be great?

Since the 1960s there has been an all out frontal attack in America on God’s word, His commandments. There has been an attack on the public reading or display of His word, His commandments; on prayers offered to Him publicly; on the words "In God We Trust" from American coinage and "under God" in our nation's pledge of allegiance. There has been a move in our nation (the world) to marginalize the Christian world-view and belief in God’s word, His commandments (See my blog entitled Turning Back To God [Sep 2010]).

In an article entitled An Exceptional Debate (National Review magazine, March 8, 2010), authors Lowery and Ponnuru state, “it is blindness to ignore that American exceptionalism has home grown enemies – people who misunderstood the sources of American greatness or think them outdated. If they succeed, we will be less free, less innovative, less rich, less self-governing, and less secure. We will be less American.” What does that mean? It means to continue down a road that marginalizes God’s word is a recipe for failing greatness.

But read again Deuteronomy 4:9,10. “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grand children.” The Lord goes on to say in this passage, “Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.”

Our hope for “greatness” as a nation can continue if we “take heed” of God’s word, and “diligently” keep ourselves immersed in God’s word so that we may not “forget” all that God has done for us as a nation, and lose all remembrance of the things God has taught us as a nation. “Greatness” as a nation can continue into the future if we will “teach” God’s word to our children and grandchildren. If we do not, future generations will have no knowledge or understanding of a once “great” (exceptional) nation. (See my blog entitled Loosing a Generation [May 2010]).

Bible teacher, Sim Kay Tee makes this comment, “The nation of Israel was a priviledged people as the only nation that had been given God’s law. If they obeyed these laws, God promised that He would distinguish Israel as a great and wise nation.” (Our Daily Bread, December 29, 2010). I submit that America has also been a priviledged nation. It is the only nation I know of that was founded upon the good laws of God by men who greatly revered God and His word.

We need, as a nation, a revival of interest in and a hunger for God’s word. The Church of God needs a revival, a hunger for God’s word. In 2012, I am praying for a revival of reverence for and obedience to God’s word. Join me in praying, for the sake of our nation, our churches and our families that God’s word would once again run mightily throughout our nation and the Western world (Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20). That others would once again declare, “Surely this great nation, America, and the Church of God is a wise and understanding people.” I believe God is able.

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