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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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 God makes an interesting statement as He is reproving His people through the prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 6:15 God says that although His people should have been ashamed of their actions and choices, “They did not even know how to blush.” Now for too many in our culture, the whole concept of blushing at certain behaviors is a long-lost memory, but I actually can remember early in my walk with God when He restored to me the ability to blush. Let’s take a brief look at God’s lament – and maybe try ourselves to recover from Him an ability to blush once again.
The reason a nation can no longer blush begins, strangely enough, in the pulpits of the land. It begins when men of God begin to value money and things more than they do truth and intimate fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit. "For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely.” What begins as false motives for men of God quickly degenerates into a false message to the people. They no longer can honestly preach about sin, because they are excusing it in their own lives so they can pursue things rather than pursue God. Thus they preach a message that is saying, “Peace, peace,” when the reality is there is no peace as long as sin is not exposed and dealt with as God desires for it to be. "They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace.” There is a brokenness that is among the people – there always is because of the Fall – and because man is not basically good – but basically sinful and selfish. That message, though, won’t bring the crowds. They need something far more positive – far more engaging to those who choose sin. They need to find a way to “superficially” deal with sin. So, they begin to proclaim that man is at peace with God – even when sin is not dealt with as God demands in His holiness. The problem is – there is no peace when sin is not confronted and repentance is not called for by the messengers of God. And what is the result of such theology, or the lack thereof? No more shame and no more blushing. "Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down," says the LORD. God speaks of the abomination that they have done. What was their abomination? It was that they had left the true and living God – and made a god of their own – one who would justify however they wanted to live. Now before we think too harshly of the Israelites – we may want to note that this is something that has been repeated in the New Testament in Romans chapter 1. God’s wrath is revealed against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Three times in that first chapter we are reminded that they did not know the true God, but exchanged Him for a god of their own making. What was the hallmark of this new false god? No sin! At least no sin according to what is revealed by God in the Bible. Let me define the word “blush” before we continue. To blush is to experience a reddening of the face due to a feeling of shame or a desire for modesty. The reason God says that they did not even know how to blush is because they had come to a point of utterly rejecting the morals or the Word of God. They were doing abominations – but no longer considered them to be that. As a result – they, and the culture in which they lived now considered what God to be an abomination to be normal fare. No reason to blush. No reason to feel any shame. There is a false teaching that says Christians should not feel shame. But I find that hard to understand. If we are talking about undue shame, I agree. But if we are talking about having sinned against God – shame is normal – can I say, even good. It was a good thing after I received Christ that actions I would normally do before, now caused me to feel shame if I did them. It was a wonderful thing that seeing or hearing things suddenly elicited a response of blushing rather than a shrugging of the shoulders. The passage in Jeremiah shares more of the sad results of no longer being able to blush. There is a corresponding response to the Word of God that comes as well. “Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' 17 "And I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen.” God says to them, “Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls.” These “ancient paths” and the “good way” are nothing more than what God’s Word says to do – the way He commands for us to walk. But what is the response? “We will not walk in it.” God responds by saying to listen to the watchmen when they sound the trumpet. This is a reference to when a watchman was set upon the wall of the city. The reason he would sound the trumpet would be to warn of imminent danger. But the response again is that they will not listen. They will not respond to God because they have set themselves to disobey God’s Word. They do not regard it as authoritative – or of any real value to them. What God says is wrong – isn’t wrong to them. What God warns as being dangerous – is not even worthy of their attention. Thus what God calls “blush-worthy” and should cause us to blush in shame or a desire for greater modesty – is ignored. Those who have lost the ability to blush have few moral boundaries if any at all. To blush would involve seeing some moral behaviors – some sexual choices as wrong. To call something wrong in this society is the new reddening statement. But now the redness of face is no longer a response of shame or modesty. It has become the standard response to anyone who would dare to put some kind of moral or sexual restraint in place that limits our freedom to do or to be whatever we want. What is the end of such a culture? What happens when any culture loses its ability to blush? God says what happens in the last verses of this section of Jeremiah 6. "Therefore hear, O nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them. "Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their plans, Because they have not listened to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also.” Disaster is the end of such a society. There is a disaster because they are ignoring a loving God whose restraints are in place because they guard us from destructive behavior. The very fruit of their plans is what they will receive. They refuse to listen to God’s words – the reject His law. All that is left is for that culture to begin self-destructing. Usually it won’t be immediate. Sin is, after all, enjoyable for a season. But in the end – the result is death – spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and yes – even culturally. That was what God was wanting to communicate to His people – not because he wanted to harm them – but because their very choices were harming themselves.  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.  Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Tibni, Omri, and Ahab – a progression of ungodly leadership that grew worse as time passed. Each ungodly leader was described as more ungodly than the last one – with each new one defined as even more ungodly. That was the history that Israel had experienced – and it was destroying the nation – because it was destroying in that nation any kind of heart for God.
I know that this will not be popular – but our nation has had a progression of ungodly leaders. Their ungodliness is seen in a continued turn away from the God of the Bible – to a god of our own making – a controllable god – a god who will approve our works rather than challenge them. The god of America is a god who does not rebuke ungodliness – immorality – sensuality – or sin in general. This god will not speak up for the unborn – but will speak strong words against anyone who threatens our own personal quest for happiness and self-fulfillment at any cost. This god is a mushy god who is all about us – about us getting what we want – this is the selfie-god who is all about us defining ourselves however we want. The leaders of Israel who dominated the 52 years represented by the names that first appeared in this article – were kings who moved away from serving the living God – and who embraced the same god who is ruling our culture today. The gods they served were called Baal, Ashtoreth, Milcom, Molech, and others – but their ways were no different than those of today. They did not call anything immoral – but reveled in a new morality defined only by what brought the most pleasure to the people of the day. They were OK with other gods being in the pantheon of the day – just as long as they were not saying that they had absolute truth. There were even gods who encouraged the sacrifice of the next generation – just as long as the current generation was satisfied and not burdened with the consequences of their choices. Again – it was little different than today – except where they had physical statues and idols that they worshipped – we’ve been able to reduce our gods to electronic signals that are transmitted to us on a screen we store in our back pockets. The end of such a society really is a “no shocker” to anyone who studies history (which by the way that society does not promote unless the history is first approved by those who rewrite it for their own purposes). Destruction is coming – the end of that society is on the horizon and is drawing nearer with each selfish and self-serving choice it makes. The real question is how does anyone turn a society like this from self-implosion into its self-obsessed love of itself? The answer to that I believe is found in the appearance on the scene of a man named Elijah. Who was this man? Where did he come from – and what made him the man for this hour? That is what I believe is answered for us in 1 Kings 17. Let’s look at some of those things together for a few minutes – and hopefully know what to desire – and what to pray for in a prophet for our generation. First, Elijah was a Tishbite from the area of Gilead. This was a mountainous region – but outside of knowing its location had little to do with this man. What we learn from this is that God will raise up a person from wherever He desires. Looking for such a one from some specific location is useless. When it comes to how God raises up prophets we need to say it is all about “heart, heart, heart,” not “location, location, location.” Second, and this is vital, Elijah speaks about Jehovah, the God of Israel being alive. God lives. That is something we need to hear again in our nation – as it was in Israel. The God of the Bible IS God. He is the living God. He is alive. He is still relevant and still working in our day. Elijah knew that because he himself stood before God. Third, Elijah spoke of the God “before Whom I stand.” When all the nation was walking away from God and serving Him, Elijah continued to stand before Him. The word for “stand” here is important. It meant to stand for the purpose of serving another. Elijah stood before God – not in arrogance – but as God’s servant. He stood before Him to hear what God had to say – and then to deliver it. That is what this word meant when used of Jeremiah 23:18, 22. He stood before the Lord to see and hear His Word – and stood in God’s council so that he could hear God’s Word – and announce it to God’s people to, “. . . turn them back from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.” When a person decides that he or she will remain before God, honoring and following Him, while all others depart – that person will hear God’s Word so that it may be declared before the people. Such a word will be an announcement of their sin and a call to repentance and a return to God. Fourth, Elijah was willing to announce that judgment and difficult times were coming. He announced that there was going to be a drought coming upon the land. It may be interesting for us to remember that for the most part this was a season of prosperity in the land. The people had much – and thought that the prosperity would go on forever. But their prosperity was about to end. Why would Elijah have the bravery (or insanity as some might think) to announce that there would be no rain or dew on the land except by his word? Had he lost his mind? No – he had searched the Scriptures and knew that God had spoken such things in the Law – and at the dedication of the Temple of Solomon. What he was declaring also came from the living God before Whom he stood. He was not acting on his own – but was living by the Word of the Lord, which by the way, is our next point. Fifth, Elijah was willing to live by the Word of the Lord. This sounds exciting until you realize that he was immediately sent to a brook of water to be fed by ravens for a portion of the 3 and a half years when there was no rain. When the water dried up from that brook – he was then sent to a gentile widow and her son – for them to provide bread and water for him on a daily basis by faith in a jar that held no more than a day’s rations at any one time. He also had to endure the death of the widow’s son and raise him from the dead by crying out to God to give him back his life. He did NOT go on a book tour – or hold meetings in a big auditorium where he taught people how to be rich and famous like he was. He lived hand to mouth – meaning – daily he lived from God’s hand to his mouth. He lived for the most part alone – or – dependent on sources that would humiliate any proud Israelite. But he knew his provision was not based on his own prowess in the world – but rather by God’s gracious provision. By the way – it was also during this time that he evidently came to understand his coming confrontation with the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. He said as much as he prayed there. This was the kind of person that God used in a day of decline due to over 50 years of ungodly leadership. He needed someone who had remained true to God even while the majority of society had turned from Him. He chose a man who did not live for his own advancement, but who truly desired that God be glorified no matter what the personal cost may be to himself or to his country. God wanted a person who stood before Him as a servant as well as a spokesman. God wanted a person who above all listened to what God had to say in that day – and was unashamed to declare it regardless of what it meant for him. And finally, God desired a man who had no desire to prosper personally from his position before God, but who would lay everything down to serve Him. Do I think there will be another Elijah for the United States of America? Not really – because the only other Elijah I see mentioned in Scripture will have his center of ministry in Jerusalem during the Great Tribulation as revealed in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. But do I long for God to raise up men and women like him in our day to speak to our nation? Absolutely. The time in which we live is a deceptive one. Godlessness is rising and taking center stage. The Word of God is being ignored and even mocked. Leadership no longer acknowledges the ways of God as a way for our nation. Those who hold to the Word will continue to be marginalized and maligned for saying what the Scriptures actually teach in regard to sin, repentance, and returning to God. If we continue in the ways we’ve chosen – the United States will fall. Much like Rome we will continue to fall inwardly until we implode. Then whoever the “rod” is that God will use to punish us – will finish the work – possibly with a single stroke. Will this happen in a week – a month – a year – a decade? I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet – so I have no timetable to offer you. It could be tomorrow morning – and it may be years from now. But our fall is assured as long as we embrace the godless against which God testifies and by which He warns that nations will fall. Ask Israel of old – or Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Rome, England, Germany, or any other nation that embraced the things we do as a nation today. Their history shouts to us every day. Nations have arisen and fallen – and yet God’s plan and purpose have been moving forward regardless of the players on the stage. My hope is that God will grant us prophets who will warn of the coming day of judgment and reaping what we’ve sown. He has been faithful to do so throughout history. It is my hope also that God will have mercy on me – and I will take up His calling upon my life – so that regardless of what part I am to play – I will be faithfully standing before Him to embrace it when He speaks. May He have mercy upon the United States of America and call us to repentance, return, and hopefully revival in the very near future. |
 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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