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There is a favorite passage that Christians love to quote when they begin thinking about revival. It is very well known, but I will quote it again .
". . . and 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 There it is. It is a call to prayer for those who need for their sin to be forgiven and their land to be healed. This was spoken to Solomon after he had dedicated the Temple that was built in Jerusalem . This temple was to be the place where God would put His name and where He was to be sought. That promise was spoken to Solomon and the nation of Israel. The temple that stood there no longer stands. The true temple today is the one where God dwells in His people. It would probably be more accurate to say we are each part of that temple, but the real temple is the corporate people of God called His church. The reason I go through all this is because I want to establish that the church (not the building but the people) are the temple where God is to be sought in our day. Some biblical purists will say this does not apply to us because it was a promise just for Israel. I usually am a biblical purist, and would agree that originally it was meant for God's covenant with Israel. But I also believe that God put things before us in principles - ways that we are to see and seek God. This would be one of those principles I believe that God would honor. Here is the principle in a nutshell. Principle: God offers to "His people who are called by His name," a call to prayer that involves humbling ourselves, praying, seeking God's face, and turning away from wicked ways. If we answer that call in truth and sincerity God will hear us, forgive us, and bring His healing to the land in which these people live. Therefore, there is an opportunity for us to hear God's call to humility, prayer, seeking His face, and repentance from wicked ways. I won't do it in this article, but there are plenty of passages in the New Testament that support such a principle. What stopped me in my tracks though, was the context of this call in 2 Chronicles 7. What shocked me was that in light of our current situation, we only had to go back 7 words to get an idea of what we should be doing today. Let me quote those 7 words for you. ". . . if I send pestilence among My people . . . " (2 Chronicles 7:13) Pestilence is defined as a sickness that spreads quickly among the people. The sickness or disease causes many to die in a short period of time. We call this event in our day a pandemic. Think about those 7 words! "If I send pestilence among My people," IS THE CONTEXT FOR A CALL FOR HUMBLING OURSELVES, PRAYING, SEEKING GOD'S FACE, AND TURNING FROM OUR WICKED WAYS! If there was ever a time to call for extraordinary prayer, it is now. If there was ever a time to not just have a day of prayer, but an extended season of prayer, it is now. Most of us have the time - we've got nothing but time. God has allowed pestilence to come among us. What He allows in His providence always has a purpose. I believe that the purpose behind the current COVID19 pandemic is to send out a clarion call to His people who are called by His name. That call is to turn off your televisions - step away from your phones and tablets, your computers and gaming devices - and do the following. HUMBLE OURSELVES - we've thought we could live without God and make it with very little time devoted to Him, and very little attention given to what He declares as righteousness. We thought we really didn't need God "that much." We were wrong. We need to humble ourselves and admit this to Him. PRAY - It is time to seek the Lord while He may be found. This pestilence is a call to pray. Will we heed it? Cry out to God for those who are sick - for our leaders - for the church - for your family and friends - for yourself. God answers prayer. When He does He often intervenes in ways that blow our minds. Are we looking to the next presidential, governor's, or mayoral briefing for our salvation? I'm appreciative for their hard work - but this is a situation where we desperately need God. We need to pray! SEEK GOD'S FACE - This is the biblical way of saying to seek God's favor. Our nation has turned away from God. We need to seek God - know Him - know His Word - know His ways - know His salvation . We need more than anything else - to see God's favor return to each of us individually and to His church corporately. Hopefully such a turn will have the affect of bringing about revival among His people - and spiritual awakening among the lost. Let's be honest, we no longer have God's favor upon the church or upon our nation. Oh how we need to seek His face for His favor to return. TURN FROM OUR WICKED WAYS - We have sinned. We don't even call what God calls sin as sin any longer. We accept that there will be heterosexual and homosexual immorality in our land. We don't cry out for the complete end of abortion , having decided that there are some levels of killing babies in the womb we will find acceptable. We don't care for the poor, the downtrodden, the afflicted, the alien, and the stranger. Our services are no longer about offering God praise and worship. Our songs are about us, our problems, our needs, and about how much God makes of us. He is supposed to be the focus of our worship and praise. His Word is to be central in our preaching. His gospel is to be boldly proclaimed from our lips. Our lives are to be given in selflessness to one another and to the lost for His sake and His glory. Oh, how we need to turn from wickedness, repent, and begin living life for His glory and honor once again. This needs to be our response in this hour. This should be what the church should be doing in these days of the plague of COVID19. We would know this if we just would go back 7 words and read the passage again. May God have mercy upon the world. May God have mercy on the United States of America. May God have mercy on His church. May God have mercy on us. May God have mercy on me, a sinner. Let us pray.
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 Well folks, it’s over. According to a well-known televangelist on TV - he, as a prophet of God, commanded that the COVID19 virus was healed and that its authority in America was over. According to him - that night - at his pronouncement and demand - the COVID19 virus was cast out of the USA. (Kenneth Copeland Ministries - telecast on March 29, 2020)
Why am I writing about such a things? Because it is dangerous and false doctrine like this that will cause great shame and reproach to come upon the church in these difficult days. Unfortunately, there will be those who will hear this, who will “name it and claim it” for themselves, and who will then take no precautions in the future. We’ve already seen what this kind of stuff can do in Arkansas. Now it has a greater likeliness of happening elsewhere among those who hold to such terrible doctrine as this. Am I saying that God cannot heal the COVID19 virus and eradicate it from the entire United States? He can. Do I believe that this false prophet’s declaration did it? Nope. The reality is that false prophecy uttered by a false prophet has not come true - because today there continues to be new cases found, and people will die of it by tomorrow. That means that this individual is a false prophet. No one should listen to him or fear or follow anything he says. He needs to repent and stop teaching and following a false doctrine that says he can make pronouncements using Jesus’ name - and they have to come to pass. The truly sad thing about this false doctrine is that when people don’t experience healing - and when, as it did, the coronavirus continues to spread in our nation - this false prophet will say it is only because those who get sick and die did not have enough faith. So, in the end, the problem is not with the prophet - it is with the terrible person who did not believe enough. Let’s take a look at Scripture for a few moments. God spoke of those He would send as prophets to Israel. But in the process God revealed that some might say, “How will we know?” Look at the passage below: "You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' 22 "When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. Deut. 18:21-22 God’s answer was very simple. When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if what he says does not come true - the Lord has not spoken. It is that simple. Now, if the pronouncement made - or honestly, the demand that was shouted - does not come to pass, then the ones making it are not prophets and the Lord has not spoken through them. The mark for a true prophets of God is 100% accuracy in his or her prophecies. There is no room for fudging on this. There was a false teaching out at a supposed school of prophets that we learn how to prophesy. If we get a few wrong, we will learn from it and prophesy better next time. Sadly, that does not square with God’s Word. Note what is said happened when both Samuel and Agabus prophesied below. Thus Samuel grew and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fail. 20 All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. 1 Samuel 3:19-20 As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: 'In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'" Acts 21:10-11 There we see an Old Testament and a New Testament prophet. Both had their prophecies come to pass. Agabus even prophesied of a famine that would come - and it came. Here is the danger in such false doctrine as that which happened on March 29th of this year. People who follow these two men will ignore any wisdom in going out into the world and taking precautions against catching this virus. As a result some will most likely contract it - and sadly some may even die as a result. The shame and disgrace and ill will that will come upon Christians for this will be great. We are already seeing where those in the media are mocking things like this - and who lump all Christian’s together. They say we are dangerous - and should be treated accordingly. Saints, please be wise when it comes to televangelists and supposed prophets who claim to speak for God. If their pronouncements do not come true - they are charlatans who are deceived at least, and dangerous at worst. God does want us to pray in faith - but the faith we have is in His Word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ. Our faith is not in what we decide to shout in demands of God. Our faith is in coming humbly before Him - even boldly to the throne of grace to find help in our time of need. It is interesting that we don’t find one instance in the New Testament of any apostle or believer commanding God to do something. Our place is not to put our DEMANDS before Him - shouting things like this: "In the name of Jesus, standing in the office of the profit of God, I execute judgment on you COVID-19...I call you gone...No more...And the United States of America is healed and well again...It's dead. At exactly 12 noon on the 29th day of March. It's over. It's over." These are the demands of a false prophet - not the humble requests of a servant of God. Just remember saints, the next day, and today the 31st COVID19 isn’t gone - it isn’t no more. It is NOT over. If anything, these two false prophets are making declarations contrary to God’s will. Consider these words of Scripture. "If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God, 59 then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.” Deut. 28:58-59 "If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, if there is locust or grasshopper, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, 29 whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own pain, and spreading his hands toward this house, 30 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men, 31 that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers. 2 Chronicles 6:28-31 By biblical terminology what we are experiencing is a plague. It is honestly nothing like the Beubonic plague or the Great Plague of the Spanish Flue of 1918. Nevertheless it is a plague that has come upon the world - and upon the United States. Honestly, if you want to look at a biblical response to this, it would be that we should do the following:
So, we’ve seen 3,580 since February 29th, when the first man died of Coronavirus in the state of Washington. The numbers we have reflect deaths in 30 days due to COVID19. Since February 29th, a rough estimate of the abortions in the United States has been around 2300 per day (that is a low number because it does not take into account abortions induced by medicines - that number would be more like 3000 per day). That would mean that since COVID19 began taking lives in the United States, we’ve taken the lives of 69,000 babies in the womb. We’ve seen 65,420 more deaths by abortion than by COVID19 since it started. Worldwide, the abortion rate is conservatively said to be 125,000 per day (Other reliable estimates say it is as high as 170,000 per day - but we will go with the Guttmacher Institute’s numbers). That means that while COVID19 has resulted in roughly 41,660 deaths since the first reported death in Wuhan, China on January 9th, abortion in that time (82 days) has resulted in 10,250,000 babies being aborted. So, we’ve seen 10,208,340 more deaths due to abortion than COVID19. Why did I go through all that morbid math above? It is because our nation and our world is deep red in the death of the unborn. 10,208,340 more dead from it than even from the dreaded COVID19. Please stay with me because there is a reason I went through all this. Our false prophets (remember them) made a declaration that COVID19 was over on the evening of March 29th. It was a false prophecy. But do you think for one moment that God is willing to cut us free from this plague, or any other plague, when during the same amount of time we’ve killed 65,000 more babies in the United States, and over 10,000,000 more worldwide? I am neither a prophet or a son of a prophet. But I am a student of the Scriptures. Oh, and by the way, I am writing this to speak to the biblically orthodox, conservative Christians in America, not those who do not know Christ. Brothers and sisters in Christ - we are in God’s crosshairs. It is not time to embrace false doctrines or false teachers who would dare proclaim COVID19 over and done - while the blood of 69,000 babies in the U.S. still remains. We’re responsible for 60 million plus babies aborted since 1973. Do you really think that we are not under God’s discipline for this - if not His judgment? Now is the time for serious, deeply repentant, broken-hearted prayer in our nation. We don’t need false prophets to declare false prophecies to ease our burden in this time. We need a greater burden. We need for prayer to begin to grow at a rate far more exponential than what we are seeing with COVID19. We’ve now had 2 weeks with more time on our hands than usual. Unfortunately, too many have decided that the purpose for this time is to binge-watch old TV shows and movies. I have to honestly say I’ve watched too much on TV - and spent too little time crying out to God for my own heart, as well as the hearts of those in God’s church. If there was ever a time for prayer meetings to be flooded with the concerned (albeit through platforms like Zoom instead of in person) who are praying for a reviving among God’s people and awakening in our nation it is now. If there was ever a time to cry out to God that deaths due to abortion would cease, it is now! My prayer is that we would not listen to false prophets, but that God would raise up true ones to speak to His people. Prophets who would write down our sin with an iron stylus and call us to repent and return to God. Those who prophesy only good things, according to God’s Word - will have plenty who flock to them. They will find in the end that they will be disappointed because of the lies they believed. But may God grant us true prophets who will remind us of the following. "If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 14 and 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 7:13-14 (emphasis mine) Think about it. We quote this verse over and over again and yet, are unwilling to go back 7 words and see that the context for this kind of prayer is NOW. And what is said seven words earlier? God says, ". . . if I send pestilence among My people". That is an astounding thing to read, isn't it? My hope then is now that we have read it - we would respond. Let us pray. (Photo used by permission, CDC via Unsplash - cdc-L0jLHqF7Q94-unsplash.jpg)  Another open massacre of people in a public place has happened. Actually within a very short amount of time two of them happened. This was followed by the usual sad tale of the events being painted for political advantage. Since I am not a part of this type of public debacle, I’ve grown numb to it.
But there is a response I am a part of in our culture. I am a part of those who say that my thoughts and prayers are with those who suffered the horror of losing loved ones - or with those who face waking up tomorrow and deciding whether to go to Walmart or not. My thoughts and prayers are with those who now face fear, very real fear now that their relatively peaceful community has been shattered by senseless violence and insanity. What is difficult is to hear too many say that offering thoughts and prayers is useless, or even worse, counterproductive. As a Christian leader such words are like a slap in the face. But today, as I spent time reading God’s Word, I was struck not by godless liberals - but by God Himself. It was quite a shock when this happened, yet it did. If you will indulge me for a few minutes, I’d like to share what happened. Deuteronomy 31 was the chapter where I was reading, and these were the words that struck my heart with great force. "Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, 'Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?' "But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.” Deuteronomy 31:17-18 This section is where God speaks to Moses about how God’s people will turn from Him after Moses dies. It is in this context where God says the above statement. There were two things that caught my attention immediately. First was that when they depart from God and no longer obey Him - His anger will be kindled. When God hides His face from them - there will be “many evils and troubles” that will come upon them. Before I continue though, I want to make a very important distinction. This was not written to the ungodly or unbelievers. This was written to those who were supposedly believers. They had left God. They no longer obeyed Him or gave Him honor. The result was that God hid Himself from them. They no longer knew His presence and favor and protection as a society. The result was that evils and troubles came upon them - many of them. These kind of things were said to consume them. I could not help but think of our current situation and all those that have gone before it. But why would God allow these things to happen? Then I read the rest of the passage. Secondly, I saw the reason God allowed this. It was to get the attention of His people so that they would recognize something very important. Here is the quote. “Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?” Again I am not writing to the ungodly saying this. It is not the ungodly who will recognize this. They could not care less about the presence of God. But Christians . . . the faithful and the believers should recognize this. Do we realize that God is not among us, at least not in power sufficient to see our culture changed. For generations the culture has been changing the church when it should be the other way around. All of this was like a slap in the face. And so I believe the Lord began to ask me the very pointed question. “Are you truly thinking and praying about what is happening?” I had to stop reacting to my pride being injured (for you will see there was not that much to be proud of) and begin to ask that same question. Am I thinking about what is happening in my nation? Do I recognize the lack of God’s presence and blessing in the United States of America? Have I grasped what a horror it is that heritage of godly men and women of the past has NOT been handed down to this generation? Have I thought about the lack of God’s protective hand over our nation, over our schools, our homes, our cities? Have I thought about the fact that we are a divided nation? Have I considered that probably the only time when our nation was more divided was before the Civil War? How much thinking have I put into where we are? Honestly, I’ve not thought about it in God’s presence much. I’ve spend time listening to others trying to sway me one way or the other. I’ve even had times where I was caught up in anger and frustration about it. But as for genuine time spent being concerned for the things of God and the lack of His presence in my life and in the life of the church, there has not been much time at all spent. Maybe those criticizing us have a point? Then came a question as to my prayers. Outside of throwing a few brief prayers about those hurting and struggling with losing family and friends - I have not prayed all that much. I’ve prayed, but have I really prayed? Let me explain that statement for a moment. It is one thing to pray once for those who have lost loved ones in these events. But have I prayed about the cause? How long and how often have I been disturbed about the fact that God is not among us? Now I know that there will be some who will come back with a theologically correct statement that He is always with us. But let me ask even them. Do we truly know God’s favor in this nation? Can we honestly say that His favor rests on the United States? When was the last time our nation was truly rocked by a national revival? When was the last move of God upon our nation that resulted in righteousness being restored in our land? When was it that the churches were filled with broken, repenting saints getting right with God and each other? When was it that we watched what I just said result in a wave of effective evangelism blow across our nation like a breath of fresh air? If I were completely honest with you I would have to say that I have not known of one in my lifetime. So what am I doing about it. I am among those who think that the political leaders of our land cannot answer what is happening today. They are part of the problem and too many are more concerned with their re-election that they are with re-viving our national conscience and character. Only God can turn our nation around. In light of that “so-called belief” of mine, am I praying? I say that I am. “Let them know that they are in my thoughts and prayers.” Are they? Am I praying with a brokenness and repentant heart because the Lord is no longer with us in the United States? Am I crying out to Him for revival and His return in power upon His church? Are we doing this? Are we crying out to God for revival and His return to the church? Are we crying out for God to do such a work that our “national character” is affected? Then where are all the prayer meetings happening in our nation right now? Where are the gathering of God’s people to repent and return to Him - calling upon Him to revive us again so that we will rejoice in Him? Here is my conclusion after truly thinking and praying about this. I know many in the religious community will not like this conclusion. I think we honestly deserve the derision of the ungodly in our nation. But I do not think we need to respond by being offended and by lashing out with our own view of how they are not helping things either. Here is what I truly believe we should do. I think we should passionately give ourselves to thoughts and prayers concerning these things. Whether or not they know it or would even admit it, thoughts and prayers are very powerful. They exhibit their greatest power when they are followed by action and a renewed commitment to spending the gospel to our nation. They are truly a powerhouse when thoughts and prayers yield a church filled with those who are rich in good works, rich in gospel proclamation, and rich in the power of God to truly change hearts. May God have mercy on me (and us) for not truly thinking and praying for our nation. AND - may He return to us - return in power because we think as He thinks - pray and He leads - and live as He dictates. That, my precious fellow saints, is what we truly need in this hour.  Even as I write this - I blush at the thought of such a bold statement. But I do not make it because I think “I” have that word. What I want to do for the next couple of weeks is to make a clear exposition of God’s Word. The message was for the time of Israel - well over 2500 years ago - during the time of political names like Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. That was when Micah spoke, yet his words ring down through the ages to the time of the 21st century. We would be wise to heed the message given by this prophet - because it has striking parallels to today. Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever - it would also be wise to remember that He judges all the nations in the end - not just those of 8th century B.C.
JEHOVAH GOD IS COMING . . . This was the beginning of Micah’s message. It was not a reference to the coming of Jesus Christ in the end times. It was a call to see God coming upon that generation. God’s coming was a disturbing thing to see. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. Valleys will be split like wax before a fire like water poured down from the steep mountains As He came to Sinai in His glory and power - He is coming again to us. But “why” is He coming? That is what Micah answered here in this first chapter. God is coming because of the rebellion of His people - for their sin. What was their sin? God says is was because of Samaria and the high place of Judah. What may shock us is that these were places of worship. Samaria was the center of the false religion of Israel that was set up by a former king who made up his own religion for the people to follow. Jerusalem was referred to as “the high place of Judah.” Yes the temple was there - the very one God said to build. But - Judah had turned the worship of the true and living God into a farce - a fraud. It had become “their religion” rather than what God intended. God told them He was going to make these places a ruin. All of it was going to be burned and the idols of their own making - would be smashed. The money - all the money collected by these religious organizations - were called “harlot’s earnings.” They had prostituted God - especially His worship and what He desired to do among and in the people. In the end - it all was going to be gone. MICAH IS WEEPING . . . Micah wept as he saw the vision of this. The Word of the Lord was clear. This all was coming down - and would be destroyed. The people of Israel and Judah may have rejoiced in their false religion - but God was grieved by it. Micah grieved too - as he knew it was coming to an end - a very bad one. He spoke of how it was going to be taken - the gate would fall - the people would be taken into captivity - and destruction was coming. All this . . . because of their sin. They had used God for their own ends - and in the end - God was going to have none of it. Micah called their wounds, “incurable.” The sin had reached all the way to Jerusalem - it was affecting the whole nation - both Israel and Judah. He didn’t want it told to their enemies. He warned them they would become weak waiting for the good to come. Things were going downward - and they would continue to do so. God was bringing calamity to them. But before we give up completely we should understand something very clearly. God was doing this because He loved them. They were not the nations - they were His people - and they were a part of His covenant. When they rebelled - God promised He would bring discipline on them. It would be stern and was designed to turn them from their evil to seek God again. It is something we should remember - that there is actually hope. But that hope is for those who repent and turn from evil. That hope is for those who return to their God - to worship Him in truth as He is revealed in Scripture. Their self-made religion would have to go. The extent of the judgment was often based on the extent of their rebellion and stubbornness. WHAT ABOUT US? Is America any better than Israel and Judah of the 8th century BC? Unfortunately we are not. The religion of our day has steadily moved away from the God of the Scriptures. We’ve taken God and have given Him a supposed upgrade (downgrade is the truth). Today we are blind to what is happening in the world. We are blind to the financial meltdown that IS coming. We blew through the 15 and 20 trillion dollar debt barriers like they were nothing. We think we will continue in prosperity and plenty - while our debt is shaking the financial pillars which were already cracked and faltering. We continue in gross sin - both sexual sin and religious sin. We now call acceptable what God calls immorality - we are hardly concerned at the continued murder of the innocents, as well as the injustice to the innocent - and we continue in a religious hypocrisy that justifies hating those who oppose what we “believe” and stand for - being far too politically minded and far less concerned at the powerlessness of the church. Indeed God is coming - not in the second coming of Christ. That day is also fast approaching. But the coming of God to America sounds like the coming promised to Israel and Judah in Micah’s day. It is a fearful thing - what is coming. He comes to judge the earth (something He is praised for in the Psalms - but often escapes our worship-lite songs where the word “I” is used far more than His great name). Whether we grasp it or not - mountains melt like wax - valleys split - rocks tremble - and the oceans are troubled at the sound of His arrival. It will not be a judgment upon “them” - but rather a judgment upon “us.” It is meant to discipline and call us to Him anew. It is meant to purify His sons and daughters. It will call us away from selfishness and self-centered religion - and call us to the centrality of the gospel - making it known to a generation that desperately needs to hear it. They need to hear it - but won’t until they first SEE it in our lives. RESPONSE? What should be our response? It should be as Micah’s response. We should weep over what is coming - and what has come before leading up to it. Our hearts should be broken over the “nones” who want nothing to do with God because of what they’ve seen from the outside of the church. We should also be broken over the “dones” - who are done with religion, with the Bible, and with God because of what they’ve seen from the inside of the church. We should first fall to our own knees - crying out to God for a return - that our hearts would return to Him. We should also cry for Him to be exalted once gain in our thinking - in our hearts - and in our churches. I need to give you a loving warning if you continue to read this set of posts about Micah. This is going to be a difficult set of articles to read - but I promise that I will do my best to only write what is written in the Scriptures. There will also be precious promises for those who return - of God’s restoration among His people who repent. But I write these things as one who is very aware that such a message as this is not common - nor is it very welcome in our day - in the days of Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump. Honestly though - it is so very needed - even as it was in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.  November 8th is approaching quickly - what to do - what to do!? That is the scenario that most of us face as we watch the time when we will step into a voting booth and express our right and responsibility to be patriots. The problem we also face is how to be both a patriot in the United States and also be a Christian in our conscience. To be perfectly honest with you - I am also in the throes of such a decision. I continue to pray about it - read to become better informed - and maybe - just maybe fret about it a little more than I should (Told you I was going to be honest).
First of all, I need to be candid. I will not under any circumstances vote for the Democrat Party or their standard bearer Hillary Clinton. The Bible teaches us that the life in the womb does have rights. It may not have rights in the eyes of the Democrat party or in the eyes of their presidential candidate - but God’s authority is infinitely higher than theirs - and He says that the precious baby in the womb is His masterpiece. God forbid that I would do anything to strengthen the hands of those who add innocent blood through abortion to the massive amount we’ve already spilt advancing erotic freedom without responsibility. I also cannot vote for this agenda because I am not in agreement with giving the LGBT community a carte blanche to rewrite the first amendment to the Constitution so that religious freedom is stamped out via the revisionist decisions made by the Supreme Court. There are a host of other reasons that would take too long to list here, but suffice it to say that until the agenda in the Democrat party changes - I will be casting no votes for any of their candidates. Now to the much harder part of the coming election. Can I vote for a man like Donald Trump - who if he said and acted toward my wife or daughters in the manner in which he has - I wouldn’t want him to be in charge of anything - other than his own reformation of character? If I can do this - what would I be sacrificing as a believer and as someone who holds to a biblical definition of character? (all the time knowing that I don’t even measure up in some areas myself - thank God for His grace and gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ!) That is where I am having such a difficult time - even today. These are matters that I will have to continue to wrestle with for a few more weeks. Eventually I will go into a booth and vote my conscience - and hopefully support someone who will lead our country, albeit haltingly, in a somewhat better direction that it is currently being led. Each time I consider that - I am no more excited than I was before. If you began reading this hoping I would come up with some magic formula to make this easier - I’m sorry that you will be disappointed. God has begun taking me in another direction - even as I continue in the quandary over how to cast a vote that will in some way honor Him. It has always been a comfort to me to remember God’s sovereignty in this world. That sovereignty can both change the direction of a nation toward righteousness - or allow a nation that turns from Him to descend into ruin. Both are seen clearly in Scripture - especially when it refers to His people. God began putting the question into my heart, “What are we going to be doing on November 9th?” If Trump is elected, and that is a big “if” will all our problems be solved? I am so glad to see so many prayer meetings and special times of prayer being called. It is an encouraging thing to watch God’s people pray. But can I ask if we will be praying after the election? Will we have the same passion to pray - when maybe, and it is a big “maybe” Hillary Clinton may be elected president of the United States? Are our hopes so set on electing one candidate over the other that we are blind to the spiritually desolate condition of the church in the United States of America? Are we so set on protecting our Constitutional rights that we are deaf to God’s call for bus to lay down all our rights for the sake of His gospel and His kingdom? Will we be so depressed that Christians were so divided over - and let’s be honest about this - such a divisive candidate that we don’t see our need to come together over a greater need of loving one another and living to glorify God and advance His gospel - no matter what form or perversion of our government that will exists after this election? Will the upward call of God in Christ Jesus be enough to motivate us to pray as passionately after the election as the political call to win an election over the ungodly agenda of the Democrat party? I hope and pray the answer to such questions is that we will pursue God with greater passion - knowing that no government has ever been able to extinguish the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The early church and the persecuted church have shown us that regardless of those who reign in the realms of men - God still reigns over the hearts of His people. They had no political standing and yet turned the world upside down. They advanced the gospel through their willingness to lay down the lives for Jesus Christ. They advanced the work of God with no favor in the courts - no favor with the emperor - and often with great persecution from others within their society. Yet God prevailed. The one thing God is graciously allowing me to begin to see is that when it comes to His gospel and His plan and purpose - neither Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will prevail over it. God is sovereign - and His eternal purpose WILL PREVAIL. I hope you will forgive me for quoting such a long section of Scripture as I close this article - and engage in a little exegesis as well - but here we go. Paul wrote something we need to grasp - prior to a call for prayer. We might need to see it again - in light of our current circumstances. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Paul makes it clear that our purpose is to “preach the unfathomable riches of Christ” which is the riches made available to us in His gospel. This glorious message has been being presented to our world since it began. It truly began to mean something to us at the Fall - when our sin meant separation from God - and the prospect of eternal punishment for such a foolish rebellion. This message is called the “manifold wisdom of God” which is supposed to be being made known to all “through the church.” This plan and purpose - that the gospel be proclaimed through the church is in accordance with God’s eternal purpose. LET ME PUT THIS IN ALL CAPS - NOT BECAUSE I’M MAD - BUT BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT. GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE IS THAT THE CHURCH LIVE AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE WORLD. According to Paul it is through the relationship we have with Christ Jesus our Lord - that we have boldness and a confident access to God - so that we might carry out this purpose! 13 Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. Paul also states. in one small sentence, the reality of his life as he lives to accomplish God’s eternal purpose of preaching the gospel to the world. He is facing tribulations - troubles - trials - hardships - beatings - all because he chooses to embrace God’s eternal purpose. He tells them, “not to lose heart” at the tribulations he is facing. Instead he says that those tribulation are for your glory! What?! Yes - it is our glory to see that living for and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ will involve tribulations. In fact Jesus Himself told us that we would be treated just like He was if we embraced true discipleship. So where does this lead us? Paul had to preach the gospel in a hostile environment - without political support - facing persecution and difficulty. Yet he spoke of boldness and confidence in the midst of it. HOW!? 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. - Ephesians 3:8-21 Paul knew the true battle was not for a political win over society - but over the manifestation of Christ dwelling in the hearts of His people. He knew the true battle was that we all would be rooted and grounded in love for God and one another. He knew the true battle would be to know the breadth, length, height, and depth of the love for Christ. This is a love for the Father. This is a love for one another. This is a love for the lost. It is even a love for those who hate us, persecute us, and speak evil falsely of us on account of our embrace of Jesus as Lord. And this battle was so that we might be filled up to all the fullness of God Himself - as His Holy Spirit works in and through us to preach the gospel, speaking the truth in love. Paul also promised that this battle was going to be won on our knees as we trusted in the one who as able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or imagine - according to the power with which God will work in us and through us. This battle was to see God glorified in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever! Dearest precious saints of God - on November 9th our calling will be the same as it was prior to the election. It will be to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. It will be to love one another as Christ has loved us. It will be to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth for the glory of God. It will be to see the glory of God shine ever brighter THROUGH His church! So - regardless of whether Trump or Clinton become president - our purpose remains an eternal one. And just as Paul has indicated through the Spirit in Ephesians - HOW MUCH MORE DOES THAT CAUSE CALL US TO PASSIONATE PRAYER! Oh pray, dear saints - pray prior to this election. But please, I beg you, please don’t think all is lost if it does not turn out as you hope and pray. Regardless of who is our president - our Lord still reigns supreme! So, therefore, let us be bold, be loving, be prayerful, and always be abounding with hope that our work in the Lord is NOT in vain! And may that work always be to take the gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere for the glory of God!  I recently read an article on facebook that God used greatly in my life to bring about an awakening of sorts. The article is entitled, “Enjoy your transgender bathrooms. We just lost America.” Below is a link to the article. (I do need to warn you that the author uses one curse word in a description of our elected leaders – so please be aware of this in advance)
http://newbostonpost.com/blogs/enjoy-your-transgender-bathrooms-we-just-lost-america/ The author of this article does a good job and is very eloquent at identifying some of the problems in our nation. There is only one thing I noticed as I finished the article. I didn’t really see a whole lot of answers being offered – except to shut off the TV and the myriad of screens in our homes and enjoy the innocence of the writer’s little child. These are good things – but not enough to honestly see any change in the things that the author was seeing in our nation. In all candor, there honestly will be no real unity in our country until we realize just what we are "unifying" under in the area of our worldview. The division comes because we (and I include myself) are selfish, self-centered, and sinful. That will NOT change until the hearts of men and women are confronted by the Gospel for the purpose of being changed by that same Gospel. Then the gospel will facilitate and empower us to turn from self to God. Then God will change our hearts so that we will live for the glory of God and not the glory of our own self-love. HOW DO WE GET THAT TO HAPPEN!? It begins when I repent of MY sin - MY selfishness - MY self-centered living - MY lack of love for God - MY coldness and indifference to the glory and honor of God and to the fact that I am not living FOR HIM! It continues as I am broken - I return to Him with all my heart and all my soul - and then expend all my strength for His purposes once again. It grows as I then get right with MY wife - MY children - MY brothers and sisters in Christ - MY neighbors - and even with MY enemies (whom I should be loving and praying for - more than protesting against and being infuriated with for their practices, politics, and public ungodliness). This is not so that I can just sit and let society degrade and dissolve - but so that I can be in a position to actually DO something about the plight of our society and world. Real change will begin first and foremost with me being right with God, right with my family, and right with my brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ! The church has not been salt to preserve our world - or light to illumine it of its need of God (and by the way – we are the only real hope of either of those two things happening). The emptiness of our spiritual lives is what is killing our nation. It is not the emptiness of the wicked - but the emptiness that I MYSELF have and am promoting. I am promoting it by not being filled with the Holy Spirit. I am promoting it by lacking an impassioned love for my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. I am promoting it by not loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength – and evidencing that love by being obedience to God. I am promoting it by not having my chief desire to be seeing Him honored and glorified by the proclamation of the gospel that will bring people into a right relationship with Him. This gospel is the ONLY thing that can truly alter people’s hearts and turn them to a pursuit of godliness out of a fear and love for God. Here is what I see - and it lets me know that things may not change very soon (but oh how I hope they do by the working and power of God). I personally pastor a small to medium church. Our prayer meetings - especially the one set on Wednesday night that is most convenient for people to attend - are empty for the most part. There is no great concern being poured out by the saints who should be the most concerned about these things. The other prayer times - most of which are in the mornings at 6 a.m. are for the most part empty as well. That speaks volumes to me - and to God as well. We may be concerned enough to post an article on facebook - or even comment or press LIKE when reading that article - but we are, as of yet, not moved enough by our circumstances to seek out a unity in prayer with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not moved enough yet to cry out to God for His work of revival in our own hearts and in the church (which I truly believe is the only hope for us in our nation). I am not lifting myself up in this - because I've been delinquent in making the choice to go to bed early enough to make the early morning prayer meetings for about 2 weeks now (and for that I am currently ashamed of the coldness and hardness of my heart evidenced by my lack of commitment to pray together with a few brothers). I truly intend to change that immediately and ask for your prayers that my cold, indifferent heart would be revived and changed so that, as a pastor and supposed spiritual leader, I won’t continue to be part of the problem. The state of the church leads me to make the following prediction, which I believe to be in accord with what we see in Scripture. God will continue to allow things to fall apart further and with greater consequence until we are moved by how bad it gets - to finally turn to Him in personal - and then corporate prayer. He said in Matthew 5:13 that if the salt has lost its savor/flavor - it is good for nothing except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. Historically that has meant that the government of the nation in which the church finds itself will become more and more totalitarian and anti-Christian so that persecution will motivate us to turn to Him and seek Him once again. Please forgive me for sounding too adamant about all this. If you will grant me mercy, which I need desperately, I need to be the first one to read what I've written. I need to repent - and lead the way by example once again, and to do so by crying out to God for a personal revival, a revival among the men in our church, and then a revival in the whole church. And maybe, if God is merciful to the extreme, maybe a spiritual awakening in our land. But . . . even if He does not choose to do that in our nation, there should be no lack of revival in my own heart as I return to Him in repentance and a passionate pursuit of knowing, loving, and serving Him with all my heart. I am committed to doing this immediately. For you see – the falling of America is not due to a bathroom issue – a marriage issue – or a “ungodliness among the masses” issue. The fall of America has been due to a spiritually impotent church. The spiritual impotence of the church has been due to cold and hardened hearts among her pastors and leaders. Unless these things are FIRST addressed – there is little hope for our nation. May God have mercy on me - and on the United States of America.  Just musing on the future . . .
I am a pastor - and one who holds ultimate value in the Word of God and the Lordship of Jesus Christ in my life. As such I cannot compromise how I teach God's Word to fit how my culture views what God calls sin. I also cannot adopt how many in the church are altering the message of the Gospel to fit our culture's sexual revolution. (Just a note - that revolution began in the 60's when heterosexual immorality was embraced - not just in the 2000's with the most recent downward step into homosexual marriage and its legalization last summer by the courts). This places me squarely in the sites of those who at one time said all they wanted was tolerance - but who now have made it clear that they will not tolerate God's revelation on these matters. I am writing this now because the day will come when such things cannot be spoken or written without censure, severe fines, and eventually arrest. That is where our culture is going - that is where our nation is going - and that is what I am viewing at present in my mind's eye. I am neither a prophet nor a son of a prophet. But I am a student of history - both secular and biblical. Therefore here is what I see as I muse on the future. We are already living in a day when they will not put up with sound doctrine - but will gather to themselves teachers according to their own lusts. This will grow steadily worse - to the point where sexual immorality (especially "living together" and homosexuality) will rarely be mentioned. It will all be about love and tolerance and acceptance. There will be little mention of sin and how God points out exactly what sin is - and how He responds to it. Judgment will be a dirty word. In many ways the apostate church will be a tool in the hand of the enemy to attack the remnant on these matters. The statement will be something like this. "We need reasonable churches - not ones that dogmatically judge everyone according to 'their interpretation' of what the Bible means." This will be a rallying cry to shut down free speech not only in the public sector - but even within the walls of church itself. There will be a growing list of laws that hem in Biblical believers so that they cannot express their views in public. Those that do will find themselves facing the wrath of a legal system that no longer protects religious freedom when it comes to holding Biblical beliefs dealing with sin. There will be fines, re-education, and for those who continue to resist arrests. Businesses will be forced to conform to a "way of doing business" that is inclusive, except for how they treat biblical believers. Churches will be facing several changes that will soon be coming to us via the courts. There will be challenges to freedom of religion as the state forces itself into situations where the need for "thought conformity" is necessary. This will lead to first the church being told it can only preach within its walls - that internet access can be denied on the basis of hate speech (i.e. saying heterosexual and homosexual sin is wrong, gender is something assigned by God at birth). The air waves will slowly be shut down to churches as well, based on these same things. There will also be challenges to the tax exempt status of churches and gifts to them. Eventually tax exempt status and tax deductions for gifts will be either restricted (to government accepted churches) or done away with all together. The state will hold title to all benevolent giving - which will be based on their accepted guidelines (which will be politically motivated and doled out as reward for conformity to the state agenda). Eventually the psychiatric community will join the state in condemning outright those who hold to sexual immorality being sin. This will be seen as a mental disorder - making the way for some to be institutionalized for their beliefs. Pastor's sermons will become subject to law suits - if they are deemed by the state courts to contain the new definitions of hate speech. This will lead to bankruptcy for some churches - while others will accept court rulings to either fire their pastor or face serious fines and government backlash. Pastors who preach such things will be sent off to prison for "speech violations" or for re-education in some sort of internment camp. Many godly men will be detained, arrested, and will disappear in these situations. The true church will go underground in America. Facing these things - facing the loss of their leader(s) - facing the loss of their facilities - and facing the specter of losing their freedom - many will show their true colors and become apostate. They will either flock to government sanctioned churches - or will leave the things of God altogether. The church will shrink back to a size that matches those who are truly born again. It will seem sad and discouraging - but it will be a much godlier church - given to intercessory prayer - and willing to suffer for Christ any cost. There will be a brokenness that will prevail with the true remnant - and will lead to churches underground who glorify God in all they do. Many will risk gave danger to witness to others of the gospel - but oh what a glorious church it will be! Some may think I've lost my mind saying such things. Others may criticize for this sounding so defeatist. But I would only remind them that what I've described here is what has happened in the communist countries of the Soviet Union (now Russia), China, countries behind the former Iron and Bamboo curtain, and now is happening slowly in Europe and Canada. These countries are further down the road to Socialism than we are presently - but we seem to be gaining steam (Ominously so with the candidacy and success of Bernie Sanders at present). This actually is not any kind of prophecy - it is a history lesson. It is one that is NOT being taught to our children, because we've forgotten what sacrifices were made on our behalf to fight Communism and Socialism. As far as "negativism" or "defeatist" rhetoric - I can only answer that any true rallying cry needs to first swallow a cup full of realism first. I am about to issue a rallying cry - but it is one that will most likely be rejected - as it was throughout history - both biblical and secular. Church awake! These are not days in which we should falter or get lost in the midst of what is going on around us. These are days much like those Paul spoke of when he said this in Romans 13:11-14, "And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." (NASB77) Repent and return to Jesus Christ precious saints. The day is late - very late in our nation. The stakes are enormously high in an hour in which we must prepare our hearts to be "strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might." This should not shock us that the world hates us - because it hated Him and still does. It is a day to remember the height from which we have fallen, repent, and do the first works again. Works of seeking God's face - confession of sin - submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ - humbling ourselves and praying - and seeing our first love restored so that there is nothing - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING more precious to us than the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to remember that our battle is not against flesh and blood so violence is to be repudiated in our cause. We are to return to a white hot love for Jesus - a white hot love for one another in the church. We are to return to holiness, mortification of sin (our own), and a selfless, self-giving, gospel-centered, gospel-proclaiming life lived for the glory of God in all things. Saints - I am in the same place as all of you. Such things shake me and cause me to tremble. May it be that we tremble in fear of God and not in fear of man. May it be that our trembling and fear bring us back to Him - back to seeking, loving, and knowing Him as the greatest of all things in our lives. I dearly love all of you and only hope to be found, along with you, faithful to Him in this hour. May God have mercy on the church in the United States. - PJ - |
 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 
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