This article originally appeared in the Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro Newsletter. It is being reprinted here for our friends on the church website.
Greetings in the name of our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ! May God bless you and prepare you for whatever it takes to maintain your testimony for Christ in our nation. I imagine that the opening for this week's article may seem a little stark. What could we be facing in the United States - the bastion of religious freedom - that would illicit an opening where we speak of persecution - and even laying down our lives for Christ? Unfortunately an incident has happened that is at the least - very disconcerting. That incident is what took place as an approved training event for the Pennsylvania Army Reserves. I've included in this week's article information from a WND article that reported on this event. "Soldiers in the U.S. military have been told in a training briefing that evangelical Christians are the No. 1 extremist threat to America – ahead of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, KKK, Nation of Islam, al-Qaida, Hamas and others. “Men and women of faith who have served the Army faithfully for centuries shouldn’t be likened to those who have regularly threatened the peace and security of the United States,” said Col. (Ret.) Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. “It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to allow this type of wrongheaded characterization. It also appears that some military entities are using definitions of ‘hate’ and ‘extreme’ from the lists of anti-Christian political organizations. That violates the apolitical stance appropriate for the military.” The briefing, which was given to an Army reserve unit in Pennsylvania, came from a U.S. Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief titled “Extremism and Extremist Organizations.” The material mentions neo-Nazis, the KKK and other white supremacist organizations. Pictures are shown on various slides of people in Klan attire and Nazi flags. The significance of gang tattoos, and racist acronyms and the significance of numbers were also discussed. While the material on gangs and racist organizations is similar to what one might receive from a local police briefing on gang issues, after teaching on neo-Nazis in the military such as Timothy McVeigh, the material makes an amazing link. A slide titled “Religious Extremism” lists multiple organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida, Hamas, the Nation of Islam, the Ku Klux Klan and the Christian Identity movement as examples of extremist groups. However, the first group on the list is evangelical Christianity. Catholicism and ultra-orthodox Judaism are also on the list of religious extremist organizations." (http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/military-warned-evangelicals-no-1-threat) Though I am saddened by this information that is being spread by our government - I am not shocked by it. I have known for a long time that this day was coming - and will be eclipsed by information even more incidiary and damaging to evangelical Christians. Let me attempt to explain why I am not shocked by this story in the news. The dominant worldview in our nation has not been that of Christian Theism for a long time. The worldview that has dominated our culture has been Humanistic Naturalism. This worldview gained strength through the teaching of evolution over the years. This view denies the existance of God - or so marginalizes Him to the point that He has no credible place in our society. God has not been seen as Creator for some time, and the Word of God is not viewed as credible on matters of science. When humanistic science gained this triumph over the Biblical account of creation, it was only a matter of time until Biblical morality and ethics would have to be jettisoned as well. For a brief period the rise of Humanistic Naturalism tolerated the morals of the Evangelical church - but have always desired to see them discarded. They did not want to see God and His revelation in the Bible as the authority in such matters, preferring instead for the "culture of humans" to make up their own morals - which would shift like the sand as time progressed and morals declined. The way Biblical morals would be overcome was by making them seem extreme rather than mainstream. This begin first in the arts - and then through mediums like televisioni sitcoms, dramas, and news programs. At first Christian morality would simply be mocked and put down. But In time Evangelical Christians would be compared to the most violent of religious movements. That is why Evangelical Christians, who have never been guilty of any terrorist act, are now being compared to al-qaida, the KKK, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas. The goal was to say these things often enough that people would believe it. With their willing accomplices in the media and entertainment - the job is almost finished. One of the final steps would be to have a moral cause by which Evangelical Christians can be divided. This moral cause is now, and will be, homosexual marriage and the normalization of homosexuality as a morally, and biblically valid lifestyle. When this happens (and it is close to being done) those who hold to the biblical worldview will be called extremists, haters, and eventually verbal terrorists (a term or one like it that will refer to a Christian who holds to biblical texts like Romans 1:18-32 as well as others). Laws will be passed to make such speech illegal - arrests will be made (some during church services) and the true church will have to go underground. The United States military and other law enforcement officials will be used to do this job. Those within the military and law enforcement who will not comply - will be removed from their positions. I know that this is difficult to read - but I believe these things will not spell the end of the church. To the contrary, it will be the dawn of revival in the church. It will most likely happen after there has been devastating losses. But God's people will return to Him - and they will be revived to be a voice for the gospel in the midst of a wicked and perverse people. There is one possible alternative to this scenario. That is that God's people will wake up now - fall to their knees in prayer - and God will move in revival now. Whether that will happen or not, I do not know. But one thing I can assure you - the other scenario of which I have written in this article will continue to progress. It has been gaining speed in the past decade - and will begin moving with an even more alarming pace. The time for us to repent and return to God in brokenness and repentance is limited. May God help us to see - to repent - and to return to Him. May His mercies break forth with new passion and power among His people. May God have mercy on the Church in the United States.
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Recently at the Soul Train Awards, Jamie Foxx referred to President Barak Obama as, “Our lord and savior, Barak Obama.” Granted, Foxx is a comedian and an actor, and he was basically responding to the atmosphere of the event as he said earlier, “It’s like church over here, it’s like church.” But, there is a growing body of evidence that many who follow our current president are taking things way too far – even if these things are mentioned in jest or overjoyed hyperbole. Let’s take a look at these things and see how maybe we should be a little concerned at where things are headed with our re-elected president. It would be easy to write this off as just an actor/comedian gone goofy – but unfortunately this is getting to be a trend with the President. A book entitled, “The Gospel According to Apostle Barak” makes a case for likening President Obama to both Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus Christ. Here is a quote from the book written by Florida A&M professor Barbara Thompson. “I learned that Jesus walked the earth to create a more civilized society, Martin (Luther King) walked the earth to create a more justified society, but, Apostle Barack, the name he was called in my dreams, would walk the earth to create a more equalized society, for the middle class and working poor,” she wrote in an excerpt published by The Daily Caller. “Apostle Barack, the next young leader with a new cause, had been taken to the mountaintop and allowed to see over the other side.” Let’s put aside the fact that Jesus did not come to create a more civilized society. He came to be the savior of the world – by dying for sin’s penalty and by shedding His blood to pay that price. Thompson’s statements lift our President to uncomfortable levels – at least in the mind of Biblical-thinking Christians. What is more disturbing is that Thompson purports to write such things under the direct revelation of God – as God has revealed these things to her in dreams. Another depiction of our President that greatly concerns me is now on display as part of an art exhibit at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, Massachusetts. The painting, done by Michael D’Antuono features President Obama with his arms outstretched as if being crucified. One might argue against this interpretation except that he is wearing a crown of thorns as well. The piece is called, “The Truth.” What is fascinating is that the showing of this piece was cancelled four years ago because of the controversy it caused. D’Antuono asserts that the piece is purely meant as a political statement – with no disrespect to people’s religion. What D’Antuono refuses to see is that it is very offensive to Christians – whether Democrat or Republican. I can only wonder why he did not represent the President as a figure of Muhammed? Maybe it is because the reaction to Islamic blasphemy is a little more pronounced than that of Christian blasphemy, which this picture is. These next things may be seen as just overzealous followers or those seeking to make money where they can. Italian artists last month created figurines representing the president and first lady in Nativity scenes. These were highly criticized by those in the Catholic church. Also during the DNC convention vendors sold products that depicted President Obama as God – one specifically of a picture of our president looking over Scripture with the title, “prophecy fulfilled.” Newsweek in its November 10, 2010 issue printed a picture on the front of the magazine of President Obama under the caption, “God of all things.” It showed the president in a position of the cosmic dance of the Hindu diety, Lord Shiva. I guess that means he crosses over multiple religions as God in all of them. Again I see such depictions as news people selling magazines – but I have to ask, was any other president ever depicted this many times as God? It is disturbing – because our president had to pose for this particular picture – so you know he had to know what the cover would say. This is where I get into my deepest concern for him in all this. In Acts 12:22 we read of another leader who began to sound much more like a god than a man in what he said and did. That man was Herod and as he spoke the people cried out in protest, “The voice of a god and not a man!” The way that God dealt with this was to have an angel of the Lord strike Herod because he did not give glory to God. Herod died immediately – found to be eaten by worms. That is how God dealt with a leader who did not give glory to Him and decided he wanted to be god. I am not saying by this that President Obama thinks he is God. He has not said anything like this – nor has he claimed to be God. But somewhat disconcerting to me is the fact that he has also yet to deny such things and inform his followers that he is neither God – nor the Messiah. Some may argue that a president does not have the time to negate every over-eggagerated reference to himself made by his supporters, and in theory I would have to agree. But when these things begin to reach a critical mass as I believe they are now doing – it would be comforting to Christians to hear such a straight forward denial. I don’t need such a denial because I’m confused on such matters. I am under no delusion, nor do I have a “thrill running up my leg” over these matters. Let me put it another way. When Islam was being blasphemed by a ridiculous “YouTube” film our president and all his associates felt the need to vehemently deny and distance themselves from it – and what it portrayed. I have to publicly wonder why they see no such need to assuage the feelings of committed Christians who are deeply offended by these public comments referring to him as our Lord and Savior. I realize that we don’t riot and throw public fits – allegedly burning down embassies and killing ambassadors and former Navy Seals, but I was hoping that this was a plus for those of us committed Christians who see such behavior as reprehensible. It would just be comforting to know that our president sees portrayals of blasphemy against Jesus (especially when it personally involves his own image) as something equally reprehensible. There is one other reason why I would like our president to do this – to publically distance himself from such blasphemous statements. It is because since the election I am trying to pray for him far more regularly. One of my prayers in the midst of this situation is that he will be wise and give glory to God. Speaking as honestly as I can, he needs to do this! God does not take blasphemy lightly, and His mercy on our president in the midst of this should not be taken as either weakness on God’s part – or acquiescence to what is going on currently. God is evidencing His amazing mercies toward our president – just as He does toward me when I sin. I only want to remind our president that there will be a day when both he and I will stand before God to give an account. In that day I can promise him that he will not regret taking the time to publically deny the blasphemies being voiced using his name and personage. When that day comes this will be the scene we both will see, Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15 (NASB) There will be no doubt in either of our minds Who is God and Who is Messiah and the Christ in that moment. Currently I have no doubt Who is God and Who is Messiah right now. Mr. President . . . do you? NOTE: Please pray for our president - that is what we are commanded to do in 1 Timothy 2:1-2! Secession in America . . . What Issues Truly Hinder Unity? by Greg Smith, elder at Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro
Recently, there has been a buzz about states seceding from the Union. Jesus said a house divided against itself cannot stand. Some may wonder what the division really is. It seems to me that the nation is divided at so many levels. A level that is particularly interesting to me is moral compromise at the very heart of our supposed reason for existence as a nation. Certainly, many will see the biggest issue as the economy, the environment, gun rights or foreign policy. Though these are important, I believe one of the greatest issues is hypocrisy to our foundational principles. Whatever people's motives, the situation is similar to the Civil War. The seed of the Civil War was sown by compromising that all men (people) had an inalienable right to liberty. Now we compromise that all people have an inalienable right to life. The former slave, Fredrick Douglas, said, "No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck." Likewise, one cannot devalue the life of an unborn baby without at last finding that one's own life has lost its value. We teach kids that life is an accident and then are surprised when they put no value on it. Or we teach kids there is a God, but set the example that we don't need to seek Him with all our hearts or be all that concerned to believe and obey Him in every way. But, Jesus knows how inconsistent I have been in so many ways. I thank God that He has and does change me from what I would be without Him. But someone may argue that there are always divisions and the acceptance of different opinions makes America great. Certainly there are always divisions in this world, but there are times when divisions are so deep that they will cause some kind of break down. Ignorance is always a charge that can be leveled against anyone, because we are all "guilty" to some degree (otherwise, we'd have to claim to know everything). But, we all have some knowledge. I'm trying to use such knowledge as I have, while depending on God's perfect knowledge, to see what the most important issues and divisions are. I don't think we are seeing just minor divisions, but major ones that are threatening the very foundation of the nation. One example of this would be the way we are becoming increasingly secular (atheistic) in our official government positions. This will ultimately undermine our Declaration of Independence and the inalienable rights that come from the Creator. It was a basically Christian view of God that led to the words in our Declaration of Independence. A fundamentally different view of God (including atheism) challenges everything we stand for including rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. During the Democratic National Conventioin this became a major issue. As I understand it the Democratic party recently voted as to whether they would continue to officially recognize God in their party platform. Accroding to the moderator the vote passed to put God back into their platform. But the reality of that moment was that the voice vote seemed just as loud to remove God from it. Unless something changes, I believe the time is coming where they won't and maybe no political party will. Once again, this strikes at the very heart of everything our national existence is based on. Divisions and differences will always exist. But there is a fundamental difference betweeen my wife and I not agreeing over where we eat supper - and the two of us disagreeing as to whether our marriage was ever legal and is valid. We can eventually agree to disagree about where we eat - but there can be no such agreement on the second issue. It is fundamental to the core of our relationship. Likewise, some political divisions are relatively small, but issues of God or the nature of basic human rights are not small. They are things that will eventually create secessionist sentiments in our country. Division is hopeless without assuming there is a right unity that could be achieved. Why discuss anything without the idea that there is one truth to arrive at? The freedom to have an opinion and voice it is a different thing from considering all opinions as equal or truth. Atheists are welcome in America as persons. But, their personal opinion contradicts everything America is built on just as much as someone who uses freedom of speech to try to abolish the Constitution. Their right to speak is protected, but the idea they express contradicts their own right to speak. They saw on the limb that holds them up and if they succeed both will fall together. Atheists are protected in America as endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights whether they believe that statement or not. They are protected by a principle that they fight against. But, if atheism becomes our official position (as seems to be gradually happening), then America does not need to define itself by the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights or any such thing. America is deeply divided over even how to define itself and whether God is important or not in that self-definition. America is being interpreted as a place where all views are to be accepted as just as valid as the ideas on which the nation was built. If America stands for everything (all opinions) in theory, then it will stand for nothing in practice. Long ago God asked, "Can two walk together unless they are agreed?" It seems to me that we are now divided by definition because we don't see the need for unity on some very deep issues. We can all walk in different directions with different goals, but we can't call that unity or expect that to produce much more than selfishness. People either accept God's definition of Himself, life, & marriage or they follow human redefinitions of those things. To make something clear, my solution is not to force everyone to be a Christian. But as a Christian, I'm just pointing out that the effects of not following Christ will be division. The further away people get from Him, they will either become more divided or will suffer some forced plan of unity (as in Communism, Fascism, Islam and even false expressions of Christianity) where people are forced to comply with the dominant party’s ideas. Where Do We Go From Here? Day 3 - Considering Our Marching Orders . . . and the State of the Church11/14/2012 Where Do We Go From Here? Day 3 – Considering Our Marching Orders . . . and the State of the Church After taking a week to digest some of my early thoughts, I want to come back today to address the Evangelical Christian Community on where we are to go after this election. Today, what I am going to offer is going to seem simple – yet it is something that the Christian community has yet to do. We need to return to our marching orders from Jesus Christ – and have them become of utmost importance to us. We find our marching orders in a couple of places in Scripture. The first I will turn to is found in Matthew 28:18-20. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20, NASB) This is what Jesus told His disciples at the close of Matthew’s gospel. Let’s take a close look at this very familiar passage. First – This order comes from someone who has “all authority in heaven and on earth.” Therefore we can be assured that this command of Christ matters to us – or at least it should. The greater the authority – the more it should matter. Therefore since this statement comes from ALL AUTHORITY – it should matter MORE than anything else we hear. Second – He says to make disciples of all the nations. That involves leading them to Christ first – and then leading them to a worldview that is embraced in Scripture. We are to be teaching men and women to be “learners” of Christ. We also might want to get a better grasp on the breadth of our orders. “All the nations” are our target. We are not be become so focused on the United States that we forget we are to take the gospel everywhere to everyone! Third – We are to do this focusing on several things. We begin by baptizing them – which is a rite of identification. They are to fully identify with the Trinity – God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then we are to teach them to actually obey all that Jesus commanded them. Finally, we are to make sure they know Jesus will be with them all the way to the end – even the end of the age! This means that these orders – remain in effect until it is all over – until Christ returns. At this point I will try to be brief – but considering all that God has been saying to me – something needs to be said. If we approached our call to disciple others with the passion many approached this past election – things would get awesome in the church in a hurry. There would also be a change in the world around us – because when true revival – true evangelism – and true discipleship are practiced – people change radically. When that happens with larger numbers of people – the whole society begins to change as well. The reason I say this is because of something I read recently in a book entitled, “Vertical Church” by James MacDonald. Let me fire away and list the things I read. The State of the Evangelical Church in 2012 • Six thousand churches close their doors every year. • Thirty-five hundred Americans leave the church every day. • Only one pastor in ten retires while still in ministry. • Less than 20 percent of Americans attend church regularly. • Only 15 percent of churches in the United States are growing numerically. • Only 2 percent of growing churches are effectively winning converts to Christ. [From MacDonald, James. Vertical Church: What Every Heart Longs for. What Every Church Can Be. David C Cook.] This is, as MacDonald puts it, epic failure. He goes on to say that in order to keep up with our current population – we would need 10,000 churches a year to be planted in the United States. Last year only about 900 were attempted. Here is the fact of our current situation. We are being overwhelmed by a lost world that could care less about our political opinions. And . . . to be brutally honest . . . we should care far less about their political opinions than we do about the state of their souls! Can we honestly say that the church is making a difference in our nation? Could it be that this past election IS an honest reflection of where our nation is? I’ve always held that we get the government that we deserve – because we get the one we choose. Let me ask some very hard questions to the church. 1. Is it a reflection of our effectiveness that a member of what theologically is defined as a cult (Mormon) was selected for the so-called conservative candidate? 2. Is it possible that the weak moral stances on abortion and homosexuality actually reflect how well we are speaking of and advancing Biblical morality? 3. Is it possible that our relevance to society is greatly diminished because we are reaching so few people with the gospel? 4. Could it be that this past election reflects on our lack of true life-on-life discipleship in the church? 5. Could it be that a focus on political change has blinded us to the fact that politics has NEVER changed a single human heart and made it possible for anyone to stand before God with their sins forgiven? 6. Are we called to establish a “Christian nation” through political means – or could it be that we’ve forgotten that Christ’s kingdom is “not of this world?” Now, having asked these questions – I want to offer some positive things for us to DO as we seriously consider where we go from here. I’ll list them below. 1. Commit to praying every day for revival in the church - and spiritual awakening in our nation. I’ve been doing this since January of this year. It is NOT easy – and God will work us over as we do it (revival always starts with our own heart first – and works out from there). 2. Commit to sharing the gospel with one person at least once a week. This may be difficult since many Christians don’t know how to share their faith. Then your first step may be to go to your pastor/church leaders and beg for them to offer not just teaching, but training for this. Once you have the training, make it a point to share Jesus with someone every week – and eventually get to where you do it just about every day – as a lifestyle! 3. Commit to either being discipled . . . or discipling someone else. I work with college students and youth in this area. It is often disturbing to hear where they were prior to this election. BUT – I had to ask myself a serious question. Was I doing anything to instruct them biblically – and to help them see why choosing leaders who take biblical stands on things like abortion and homosexual marriage is important? If I’m not willing to spend an hour or two a week with them – is anyone else going to either? If we want a younger generation who embrace godly conservatism – how are we going to get there? Political activism is not what they need – they need someone to sit down with them and consistently teach them the Bible – and how to walk with God! 4. Commit to glorifying God in all you do. Carry that attitude into how you view God’s kingdom. Is it expanding by churches being planted and Bible studies being started – or – are we just content with our own personal church being a nice place to go. If we want to see our world changed – we will once again have to embrace a radical, God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, evangelically-militant church that truly believes Jesus Christ is Lord – and that He is the only way of salvation from the wrath of God due to sinners. I cannot guarantee you that this will yield a different result politically in four years. It probably will land you in hot water with some who have become accustomed to your non-confrontational Christianity that is relatively quiet about the Gospel and about their destination if they remain in their sins. Actually, if we embrace these things – we will probably be persecuted – both inside and outside the church. Interesting though, when I read the Gospels and the book of Acts – they were persecuted for these things too? Maybe I ought to think about that as well? This is not supposed to be a recipe for a return to political power. It is meant to be a call for us to return to spiritual relevance and power. It is a call to matter in our lives – regardless of what happens in future elections. Neither the early church nor our forefathers glorified God for the purpose of winning elections and changing the course of a nation. They did these things because God is worthy of glory, honor, praise, and honestly – every single moment of our lives being lived for His will and purposes. It was just a blessing they received that as they did this – a godly nation was born as well. Maybe we should do more than just read the document they left us. Maybe we should emulate their lives and their purpose as well? Where Do We Go From Here? (An 5 day Open Letter to Christians After the Election) Day 2 – God’s Sovereignty It is now November 8, 2012. It is my hope that you have come to terms with the fact that the election is over. One thing that comforts my heart is the knowledge that God is sovereign over the rulers of mankind. Therefore I can turn to Romans 13 and take comfort in what it says. Let’s take a closer look at what this passage says and find out a little more the answer to the question, “Where do we go from here?” Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Romans 13:1-4, NASB Let’s start at verse one and walk through this passage. The first things we see here is that we are to be in subjection to the governing authorities. That means that an overthrow of this current government is out of the question. God allows for governments to be overthrown, but I won’t be participating in that activity. The reason for this is found later in this passage. There is no authority except from God – and those which exist are established by God. There is the comfort of God’s sovereignty over the affairs of mankind. Therefore I can know that our current government under the leadership of President Barak Obama is what God has established for the United States for the next four years. Since we live under a constitutional republic, that means that his power is limited by the Constitution of the United States – and that he, as well as the Congress and the Judiciary, are to adhere to the governing principles of that document. Ours is not a system of absolute power – but of shared power between three branches of government. Where we go from here – is to support our government and to pray for our leaders. That is what God instructs us to do in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 when Paul writes the following under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4. NASB) Note that we embrace a “peaceable life” so that the Gospel may go forth. That is the gist of verse 4. When we look at the remainder of Romans 13:1-4, we need to recognize some things. First of all, we do not need to assume that because God allowed the establishment of President Obama for a second term in office, that God agrees with his policies or his beliefs. God allowed many rulers to come into power for His purposes. But those purposes were never for them to do evil and act contrary to His Word. We need to note that three times God says that government is established “for good,” in Romans 13. - Rulers should make us fear evil behavior – and embrace “the good” - Rulers are to praise those who “do good.” - Rulers are a minister of God for good. Often when people say God is sovereign over our government – they don’t include the context of the Scriptures. God allows governments – but holds them accountable for the good – and this good is defined by the morals put forth in Scripture. That means God allowed this government – but will hold President Obama accountable for every baby aborted by his policies. God will also hold our president (and any other one from either party) accountable for “the good” of the people. Unfortunately for him that means God will hold him accountable for advancing homosexuality, which God calls an abomination. God held the presidents of our nation who oppressed the Indians and treated them unjustly by stealing their land. He holds the presidents who allowed and advanced slavery in our nation accountable for their actions. He holds the presidents in the 50-60’s accountable for the racism they upheld and for how they oppressed the black population of our nation. The men who allowed dogs to attack black protesters in Birmingham, Alabama – and who drove them away with powerful water cannons – they were accountable to God. It might do us well to review Psalm 2 at this point. Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!" He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession. 'You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.' "Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! Psalm 2:1-12 A very brief review of this Psalm is as follows. The kings and rulers, whom God allowed and established, decided to call God’s laws fetters and cords that bound them. All their raging just elicited derisive laughter from God. He reminds all the kings and rulers that God has installed His Son on the throne of the universe. Jesus is given all power to shatter the kingdoms and nations like a rod of iron would shatter earthenware plates. The end of the Psalm involves God telling the kings and judges to be discerning. They need to humble themselves and honor God’s Son – or else they will perish in the way and experience His wrath. The blessed king, ruler, and judge – is the one who takes refuge in God’s Son – Who is the ultimate ruler! Wow, what a difference a Psalm makes! Yes, God has established President Obama over our nation – but He has NOT done so for the purpose of negating the morality that is clearly presented in the Scriptures. If anything, a government is to punish those who do evil. And please remember that evil is defined by the Bible – not by what our culture calls it in the current calendar year. Now let me do my best to sum up what this means for us who wonder where do we go from here. If you remember, the first thing we are to do is to pray for our leaders. My guess is that most of us who are conservative evangelicals did not do that very much over the past 4 years. I will confess that I did it haphazardly – not with any great consistency. That will change over the next four years. My president seriously needs my prayers for wisdom. Any president does. He also needs me to pray for him to repent from his current positions on abortion and homosexuality. They are both very wrong – and will be harmful to him. He will stand before God and give an account for advancing abortion more than any president in history. He will do the same for how he has advanced the homosexual agenda. Not only will these things harm him – they will also harm our nation. My prayers MUST be motivated out of genuine concern and love for him – and genuine concern and love for our nation. THEY SHOULD NOT BE MOTIVATED BY ANGER AND BITTERNESS! If we are not praying – or our prayers are motivated by something so perverse as wanting the Republicans to win – we need to repent. God uses godly, praying people to change people – not governments. If we are not praying – there will be no change in the people of our nation – and if there is no change in the hearts of people via the Gospel – there will be no change in our nation. God has sovereignly allowed this government. He will also sovereignly hold it accountable for the power He has given them. That is something that honestly should terrify us for ANYONE who rises to power over ANY state or nation. Our place is to choose to love our leaders by praying for them. Our prayers for them should not include a political agenda of any party. They should be motivated by love – and should manifest themselves in a cry for the Gospel and a godly life to prosper no matter who is in power. Where do we go from here? We go to our knees to pray for our duly elected leaders. We go to our knees out of love for them and love for our country. We go knowing that God, who allowed them to come to power under His sovereignty – will also sovereignly hold them accountable to punish evil and advance “the good.” We do not seek to bring judgment on them – or allow bitterness to grow in our hearts against them. Listen to Paul! He ministered and lived under one of the most wicked despots of all time, Nero. We don’t hear him say anything about the government – except to give them honor where honor is due (which he always did in every illegal trial he underwent) – and to pray for them – so that the Gospel could advance no matter who is sitting on the throne. Good counsel – good biblical counsel – for those who lived in the first century – as well as the 21st as well. Those who recently heard of the speech the president gave at the United Nations must have been impressed by the ability he has to speak out of both sides of his mouth at once. I am sure that he was seeking to bring peace and calm to a situation that is beginning to get out of control. Yet the utter hypocrisy of stating that we should not slander either the prophet of Islam or desecrate the “image of Jesus Christ,” is really beyond the pale. As we examine the gross hypocrisy of our president’s statement, we should read it first. Here is the statement he made in the United Nations speech on September 25th, 2012. “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied.” (emphasis mine) If President Obama is serious about this statement – and I mean by serious that he will stand up for Christianity as well as Islam – I await his forthcoming denunciation of Andres Serrano’s “Piss Christ” that is going back on display in the very city in which he gave these remarks. I wonder when our President will be coming out with strong statements about the return of this federally funded desecration of Jesus Christ? I also wonder when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be joining him to condemn in the strongest words possible this outrage. I look forward to their joint commercial, at the cost of at least $70,000, so that all of the Christians in the United States can hear their strong rebukes, apologies, and calls for this artwork to be removed from the public view? You see, that IS what happened when the recent anti-Muslim film, “The Innocence of Muslims” caused problems in the Muslim world. Geez, I wonder if the Joint Chiefs of Staff has personally called Serrano yet urging him to withdraw his picture from the Art Gallery in Manhattan? All this was done by our current administration to protest the offense to Muslims worldwide for the presence of “The Innocence of Muslims” on YouTube. Yet in 1989 when it came out, what we found when Cerrano decided to plunge the image of Jesus Christ on the cross into a jar of his own urine – was strong defenses by Democrat officials. They would not allow censorship – or even calls for it to be seriously considered. But that was before hope and change. Certainly NOW that there was someone who knew that people should not desecrate the image of Jesus Christ, we’d finally have a rebuke from our administration? But . . . there were no commercials made – no calls – no outrage – no disgust – just deafening silence. But now we have a President who gets it – right! He described such things as hateful actions! Therefore, according to our president, this was an act of hate paid for with your tax dollars! So, based on this speech, we should be hearing his denunciation of it as hate any moment now. What is truly strange is that we find him oddly silent. He feels that the future cannot belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. He also backs up those words with serious actions. We know from what he has DONE that he is serious about protecting Islam as a religion. But when it comes to Christianity once again we find him strangely mute. But now . . . now that our president is on record about the “hate we see when the image of Christ is desecrated,” things are going to be different. We can hold our breath, knowing that strong denunciations – commercials – apologies – will be coming from him, Secretary of State Clinton, and many others. How dare they! NOW we’ll hear President Obama and his administration really give it to them! My advice to you would be to avoid holding your breath waiting for ANY action or statement to come as a result of this speech . . . unless you are a Muslim. Christians don’t riot and burn things - and kill Ambassadors when they are offended. (Actually the death of our Ambassador to Libya wasn’t due to the film – that was a terrorist attack – or at least a Libyan act of workplace violence.) We don’t act this way as Christians because we are told to rejoice when we are persecuted. We are told to love those who do such things to us. So, if you are a Christian, don’t hold your breath awaiting the strong denunciations that are forthcoming concerning the desecration of Jesus Christ that are currently on display in New York City – unless you want to actually meet Jesus in person. My guess is that you’ll die for lack of oxygen waiting for that kind of consistency on religious matters from this current administration. |
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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