This past Wednesday everyone held their breath awaiting the Supreme Court decision on the Health Care bill that has been dubbed, "Obamacare." There was a thought among conservatives that the court would strike down part or all of this law. The part most egregious to many was the so-called "mandate" for all Americans to buy health insurance. When the ruling came out there was a sigh of relief for some - and a sense of wide-eyed horror for others. I was among those horrified by the outcome because it forever fundamentally changes the relationship between the government and the citizens of the United States. It was only later, after I had turned to the Lord and sought Him in the midst of my anger and disgust that God showed me something in myself that I found even more disgusting.
Early in the week I was asked by some of the precious people I pastor what my reaction was to this ruling. Again, as stated above, my early reaction was anger and disgust. I was angry and disgusted that the Supreme Court basically allowed the existing administration to lie to the American people to get something passed - and then let the truth of the law come out only when interpreted by the courts. We were told repeatedly during the debate, however limited it was, that this was NOT A TAX! Over and over again this was asserted because, this bill would have gone down in flaming defeat if it was offered as the massive, regressive tax that it was later upheld as being. So we were told this was a "commerce" issue. As a commerce issue this was declared unconstitutional - but as a tax, it was upheld. Therefore one of the things that happened last Wednesday was that one branch of government could pass a law based on their version of the truth - while another could uphold it denying the first truth - and then making up another. Now, the fact that our government lies to us is not shocking. The fact that they have lied on this scale for the creation of a first time right to tax us for all we are worth - a little more shocking. One can only imagine the founders spinning in their graves at the way in which we are being taxed once again without representation - or at least truthful representation. After I worked my way through my initial anger and disgust, I was leveled one day while praying with a couple of brothers for revival in our churches and awakening in our land. What floored me was a verse that I believe the Holy Spirit brought to my mind. Here is the verse: "You are the salt of the earth ; but if the salt has become tasteless , how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything , except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men . (Matthew 5:13 , NASB) As I meditated on this verse, God reminded me that throughout the entire health-care debate we continued to kill 4,000 babies a day through abortion. Nothing was mentioned, even by Christian conservatives, about this issue. Nothing was mentioned about heterosexual immorality in our nation which is rampant. No one made an issue of the flood of pornography that continues unabated on our airwaves and through the internet. (Actually the legal system did make a move in this area. It removed the fines imposed for the intentional wardrobe malfunction that happened during a Superbowl broadcast. Oh, and by the way, our highest court also made it easier to use foul language during prime time television - as if God recognizes times when it is OK to use perverse language - only prohibiting it from 6-9 weeknights!) Nothing was being said about gay marriage - which we were promised would NEVER happen only years ago by our elected liars - oh, sorry - that's supposed to be elected officials (same difference in most cases). We once again bought the lie that it is, "the economy stupid" that is the issue. Let me say in the strongest way I can, "It is not the economy - it is our lack of morals" that is the problem. Let me say even stronger, "It is a tasteless, unsalty church that is the worst of our problems in America." The church has been losing its saltiness since the 1950's - when it became vogue to have an affair outside of marriage - the church did not respond by falling on her knees and crying for revival and repentance. In the 1960's we were introduced to "free love" - which is nothing more than fornication dressed up in groovy clothes - the church did not respond by falling on her knees and begging for restoration and revival. The 1970's and 80's were the me-generations - with live being lived for self and self alone. The immorality increased - and pornography began to explode with the advent of videotape - the church mulled over church growth strategies and spoke of dealing with the un-churched, rather than the ungodly. The 90's gave rise to a growing homosexual movement that became more and more radical. This was inevitable to anyone who has read Romans chapter 1. The rejection of God through heterosexual immorality inevitably leads to rampant homosexuality. Because the church was not cleaning her own house, rocked by one sexual scandal after another, she had little voice in society. One might call that a serious loss of saltiness. In the 2000's and now in the 2010's all these problems are converging as atheists are rising, God is openly mocked, and more and more oppressive laws are being passed limiting the freedom of the church. I don't know if you see it yet - but the Supreme Court ruling should not have been such a shock to us. Neither should further rulings that allow us to be trodden under foot by men. The church has not been what she should be for generations now. The result of this is that freedom has been - and will continue to go away in our land. God is not pleased over the rampant innocent blood that is being shed - the rampant sexual immorality that is being advanced - and the rampant blasphemy and mocking of His name. He is also not pleased that the church is just kind of "treading water" in the midst of this. The church is more concerned with their creature comforts and comfortable living being taken away than they are with any moral decline that is happening in our land. How do I know this? I know it because we have yet to hit our knees in pray that inconveniences us on a daily basis. My prediction is that November 5th, 2012 will make little if any difference in the moral trajectory of our nation. In all that is being argued leading up to this election - almost none of it even concerns the moral failings of our nation evidenced by heterosexual immorality, homosexuality, and abortion. They will barely even be blips on the political radar. The only difference that will happen in the Fall is that we will determine how fast we go down the toilet as a nation. Since none of the real causes are being addressed - I have little hope that they will be after the heat of the election is over. What should we do in light of the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare? Honestly . . . if we do not come to the point where we fall to our knees in repentance and brokenness over sin - nothing we do politically will really matter in the end. The church should repent - over this decision - as well as any other that comes after it. Our problems do not ultimately rest on the greatly undermined Republic in which we live. They rest on the character and godliness of the people voting those who represent it into office. Our hope lies in the mercy of God moving in our hearts to drop us to our knees. Saints of God - we have only one chance - and that is that we see a coast to coast movement of broken-hearted, sin-confessing, God-honoring prayer. Our one chance is that the church will turn from sin and turn to God - then turn to intercessory prayer. Our one hope is that there will be a heaven-sent, world-shaking revival that will so stop sin in its tracks that we will once again see the church making inroads to sin - not the other way around. Oh to see hundreds of thousands - even millions coming to Christ, throwing off their sin and embracing Jesus with all their hearts. Oh to see churches overflowing their parking lots for prayer meetings - and for meetings where seekers hear the gospel of Jesus Christ preached without apology. This is our hope - this and this alone. Bottom line - this ruling by the Supreme Court only shows me that the church continues in her faltering slouch toward saltlessness. It comes as no surprise that God is removing all protection so that the oppression of an ever-expanding government will continue to tread her underfoot. I am not shocked that a president who is acting more and more like a dictator is rising. It would not shock me if we even saw a takeover and martial law declared so that the November elections don't even happen. We are being stepped on, saints of God, and it is actually a biblical thing we are experiencing. The only way to stop the trampling is to repent, return, and fall to our knees in prayer. We have never needed the admonition of 2 Chronicles 7:14 more than we do in the shadows of this most recent decision. "If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways , then I will hear from heaven , will forgive their sin and will heal their land ." (2 Chronicles 7:14 )
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Events surrounding our military actions in Libya are being viewed with a collective yawn in many parts of our country. Yet what has happened and the way that it was done send shivers down the spines of those who realize that protections that our constitution are supposed to give us - and the way that it is not being followed. Yet for me, the danger here has been a long time coming - and has very little to do with our constitution.
A brief word of explanation is in order. Recent events in Libya have drawn the attention of our government. It is no shock to anyone conversant with history to know that the president of Libya is an insane thug who rules by the unjust use of power, torture, and intimidation of his people. It is just that recent events have drawn our attention to the mental unstability of Khadafi. Those events involved his people rising up and challenging his authority. As things quickly turned toxic in his nation he began to do greater and greater injustices to his people - and eventually he began using his air-force to bomb his enemies into submission. At that point the UN decided to jump into the fray - being urged by Europe to do something. What is not truthfully being reported to us is that Europe gets a large amount of their oil and gasoline from Libya - but for now we will leave that hot potatoe alone. To make a long story significantly shorter - the UN authorized a no-fly zone to be put into place. Sound military strategy and theory mandated that in doing this Libya's air defense capability be destroyed - as well as aspects of their air-force as well. This steamed ahead - and resulted in our country using its military to strike with its air-force to start the operation. Here is where things get sticky consitutionally. What the constitution requires for us to act militarily is a declaration of war. This is to be done by the Congress - who then turns the operations of the war itself over to the presidency - who then prosecutes the war toward victory. Over the past couple of decades this whole aspect of our constitutional process has gotten foggy to say the least. More and more we have chosen to have Congress approve military action short of a declaration of war. But, even in these situations, we at least followed aspects of the Constitution having Congress involved in the decision making process. But, this time, under our current administration, this process was completely ignored - and the president authorized an action on his own. He did so on his own authority - and apart from any true submission to the ruling documents of our country. Again, as I said at the beginning of this article, outside of a few statements, our country has used the ends (a crazy dictator killing his own people) to justify the means (our president ignoring the law and acting on his own). But this action - along with countless others bode very ominous things for our country. Let me explain. Jesus made a very interesting and ominous comment in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, that if the salt has lost its savor - it is good for nothing any longer, except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men." Throughout the history of the world this has happened again and agian as nations that began with Christian principles and ways, turned from them. In each and every situation what happened was that a godless ruler arose and pretty much crushed the church as a dictatorship developed in that country. Now some reading this may not be putting two and two together, so let me make this far more plain to you. We currently do not have any political party that is willing to truly put moral issues at the forefront of its platform. Some might protest saying that the Republicans have a platform opposing abortion. This is true, but I do not think anyone is under the delusion that they truly have acted to DO something about it. In addition to this I have watched with a broken heart as this country (and both parties) have done nothing about the growing homosexual agenda. Homosexual marriage is gaining ground every year - as our elected officials have done little more than posture for votes about the issue. In the TRUE picture of our nation it is NOT the economy stupid - it is our morals - and our penchant to ignore and overlook the call of Scripture to be a godly nation that matters. Some decry the foolish decisions being made in the highest levels of our government. They wonder why decisions are being promoted that in effect are weakening and destroying our nation. Yet, none of these things are all that strange to me any longer. They are not strange because I am watching the evangelical movement in the United States leave God. They have decided that the moral issues of our day are global warming, social justice, and painting Israel as an evil state that is hurting the Palestinians. They do this while we continue to exterminate 4000 babies a day - and call what God considers an abomination - not so bad. The "Ominous" truth that I see on our horizon is that of Matthew chapter 5:13 where Jesus says, "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. We've lost our saltiness and have become as tasteless as the world around us. We no longer speak with any biblical relevence to our society - because we are fear speaking the things said in the Bible. Therefore we will continue to watch our governing officials make no sense whatsoever. They will continue to weaken our nation. They will continue to ignore the Constitution and rule on their own authority. In fact, one day, unless we repent and return to God with all our hearts, I believe we will watch as our Constitutional Republic goes down in flames and is replaced by a dictatorship or an Oligarchy of the few. In that day - in light of how unpopular true biblical Christianity is becoming, we will then watch the systematic persecution of the church in America. I know that to some this may sound borderline crazy - but the more I study the Scriptures - the more I see it rising on the horizon of our own historical context. How can we stop this from happening? First of all, I am not sure we can - nor am I convinced that God may not be engineering such a thing in His providence. The issue is if it is too late for us to truly "turn our nation around." But the real question here is not whether we can salvage our nation - but whether we are going to salvage our testimony in the midst of it. That is the real question to answer here. The church needs to repent - you and I need to repent. We need to return to Biblical Christianity - that puts the gospel and the glory and honor of God first and foremost in our lives. That would be a start. Then we need to turn from our sin and boldly preach and live the gospel of Jesus Christ. This may actually speed up the persecution in our nation. If we begin boldly proclaiming the gospel - people may become very offended with it. But that is not really the issue is it. THE issue for us is whether we are going to hold fast to the truth - preach it - live it - and if necessary - die for it. When the church begins living this way - it will return to its true roots. And those roots are not set in the protection of any one nation or people - but are firmly set in working for a kingdom that is not of this world. |
What is the Prophecy/News Update?At Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro, we believe that history is moving toward fulfilling God's plans and purposes. In an effort to help us be prepared for His appearing - and also to chronicle news items you just won't see in the national media - this page is devoted to sharing those items and their possible significance to Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend.
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