Thoughts On The State Of Our Country and The World

I have been waiting for the dust to settle after the recent election before making any kind of comment -- although it looks as if the final outcome is still days away. And don't worry ... this is anything but a political post. In fact, what I have to say is this: I think it's about time for Christians to face the fact that the solution(s) to what ails our country doesn't lie in politics. Our troubles are spiritual, not temporal, and until this nation repents for its unrighteousness in all spheres of influence, and changes its soul and spirit, we are only going to continue to degrade the quality of our lives and the heart of this country.

We Christians need to come to terms with the Biblical truth that we cannot serve two masters. We cannot effectively serve both political ideologies and God. We cannot serve earthly goods, property, and riches and still adequately serve God. We cannot promote social causes with the same passion that we advocate for the Kingdom of God -- one or the other is going to suffer. Please understand that I know the motivations and intentions of Christians in these areas is only for the good of us all. But we need to begin thinking about this from God's perspective. That is what true repentance looks like. 

Just as Jesus explained to the Pharisees in Mark 12, it's okay to give to Caesar (or any other authority) what is due them, just be as diligent to give God His due. And if we find ourselves out of balance in making choices as to which will receive our heart, then our culture, our nation, and the world will suffer the consequences. You see, the condition of the human heart is at the center of the state in which we find ourselves. God looks down upon us and sees all the ways that our fleshly hearts have reduced His presence in our daily lives, and sees how that has affected our human condition. And He has seen it happen over and over since the Garden of Eden. How mankind's repetitive history must cause Him pain!

And it is such a recurring and predictable theme. I am reminded of a quote from Marine Combat Veteran and Author, G. Michael Hopf ... "Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And weak men create hard times". That is a cycle that has repeated itself throughout history. It is because at each turn of the cycle, men's hearts either embrace or reject God. 

We see it throughout the Bible in the history of the Israelites and the Jewish people ... The entrance into the Promised Land was fraught with danger and afflictions, yet Joshua rose up as a strong warrior that followed God's leading and the Israelites gained ground in the land God promised them, and they prospered. But weak men ruled after Joshua's death, and there was no one to point Israel to YHWH, and the Enemy was able to divide and conquer the people. Sound familiar? We also see this play out in the kings of Judah, where the good times were a result of kings who chose to be strong in their faith and repudiate the pagan gods that the people had turned to. But it wasn't long before those good times led the people to become lax in following God's statutes and they returned to their wicked ways. And these weak men led to God's judgment and hard times for the Jews until a new king rose up and again battled to tear down the altars and the high places, resulting in God's favor and the good times and prosperity returned. And so the cycle continued.

We need to take a serious step back and ask ourselves if this country is not repeating those times of prosperity followed by days of destructive courses of action. As long as God is removed as the governing spirit of this nation, what can we expect? He is either the central purpose of our efforts and His ways are what we seek first, or we take our eyes off Him because we think we've found a different direction that will make the world a better place. But that keeps us tied to the world and its systems!

As for me, I am truly at the stage in my life when I understand at the deepest levels of my flesh, soul, and spirit that I do not want to live in the systems of this world. I want to live in God's Kingdom systems. I don't want to be affected by the cycles of men who go from strong to weak, depending on their faith and reliance on God. I also totally understand that because we live in a sinful world, and as long as I am in this temporal body, I am going to be at the mercy of mankind's cycles. But I am no longer going to rely on those cycles to define the condition of my life. 

Whatever befalls our nation or the world, I will seek God's wisdom, not men's; God's will, not men's. And if men will align themselves with what God reveals to me, then I can support them as they become the Joshua's and the King Josiah's  and the Disciples of Jesus that we so desperately need today. I will only be too happy to praise them as we come together and see righteousness return to this nation. Until then, I can only pray that God hears the fervent prayers of His remnant and heals our land. 

#stateofthenation #politicsisnottheanswer #returntorighteousness #hardtimes

Romans 12:2     And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].

 

The Writing On The Wall

 

I have no doubt that this blog will not be found favorable among many of my fellow Christians who follow the prophets of hope and divine deliverance from the world's current deterioration. I want to point out that we really do have a lot in common -- our belief in the eternal promises of the One True God; our desire to seek a righteous life before the Lord and to serve His Kingdom; and our hatred of the evil that has infiltrated our culture. But as soon as I speak about what I discern will be judgment against the nations [and cite why we deserve it], then I sense a difference in the understanding of what our future might hold.

It is clear to me that the rise and fall of nations throughout history all have the hand of God upon them. No empire has lasted forever, and certainly not from their own power. And as Christians, we have ample examples in the Bible. In the Old Testament, both Israel and Judah were judged for their apostasy; arrogance; sexual perversion; hypocritical and corrupt priests and prophets; and the dishonest and immoral conduct of the rich and powerful. Injustice ruled the day. But many Christians will say, that was the Old Testament. They will proclaim that God set up a new covenant through His Son, Jesus Christ, and we are His heirs of a new Kingdom on earth. The will further attest that God desires to give us His Grace, Mercy, and Favor to defeat evil and help establish a new Heaven on Earth, with Jesus establishing His throne in our midst. God's anger and wrath is held for those who reject His offer of salvation.

But God's judgment against unrighteous nations continued in the New Testament. Bibleask.org gives a succinct and valid example in the case of Israel, God's favored nation. After the inhabitants of Judah were taken into captivity in Babylon in 586 B.C., the Lord brought the Jews back to their homeland and rebuilt Jerusalem to bring about His plans for saving the world through the Messiah. But after the Jews crucified the Messiah, God finally destroyed the nation of Israel by way of the Romans in 70 A.D.  The people were taken captive and the city razed to the ground. For thousands of years, God had been patient, waiting for His chosen people to fulfill their God-appointed assignment of taking the knowledge of Him to the world. As sad as it is, the truth is that Israel's rejection of God, resulted in His rejection of them until one day in the future when they will recognize Him as the Messiah that God had promised them, and He will restore them to their position as His world leaders.

Soooo, for those Christians who think that we will remain exempt from God's anger and that we will not stand in judgment for our own "apostasy; arrogance; sexual perversion; hypocritical and corrupt priests and prophets; and the dishonest and immoral conduct of our rich and powerful"  -- just as ancient Judah and Israel were -- doesn't know or understand the fullness of the character and attributes of God. Yes, He is "longsuffering", which means patient, forgiving, charitable, tolerant, and understanding. But He is also Holy and righteous. There comes a time when He says, "Enough is enough and I will tolerate no more". We have done everything that the rebellious nations in the Bible have done [and I'm not too sure it isn't more]. There will be a day of accountability. And I believe that prophets who deny that are mistaken. Perhaps they believe that there will be seasons of relenting, and periods of renewal. Or maybe they are describing what it looks like after the return of Jesus when there will be revival and restoration of God's Truth and Sovereignty. But if there is denial of judgment, then I believe they are not rightly representing what Scripture tells us.

I have always found such amazing insight in the Book of Daniel. As I mentioned earlier [and in a blog from April, 2021: The rise and decline of nations throughout history all have the hand of God upon them. Daniel, that great prophet of the Bible, who had favor and compassion from God, proclaimed that "It is He who changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings" (Daniel 2:21). It is evident that God determines the ways in which a nation progresses and develops. If a nation and its leaders stray from the precepts of God's counsel, then history will see them exit the stage according to His will.

The Bible gives us an example of this when Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall at King Belshazzar's feast: God has numbered the days of your kingdom and put an end to it; —you have been weighed on the scales [of righteousness] and found wanting [deficient]. That very night, Belshazzar's kingdom fell to the Medes and Persians. It happened suddenly -- like "a thief in the night". Do you think the nations are found "wanting" today? What about the nations in Venezuela, Brazil and Central America whose governments have created such a surge of poor and desperate people to our borders? What about the nation of Mexico who has surrendered to violent organizations who extort its own people to benefit their trafficking and drug trade? What about our own beloved nation? What does God think of us as the Number One destination of trafficked and enslaved people? Aren't we due His wrath and judgment for failure to acknowledge Him as we continue to idolize wealth, power, sexual perversion and abortion, which is done in the same spirit as ancient child sacrifice? 

Take a look at Daniel 5 and read the story of King Belshazzar of Babylon. As he and his thousands of nobles feasted among Judah's stolen riches, they "praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone". Suddenly a human hand appeared and wrote Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin on the wall. It frightened Belshazzar so much he went weak in the knees. When Daniel prophesied the end of his kingdom (see above paragraph), he not only lost his power, but his life that night. Read that again ... his kingdom was destroyed that very night; taken from him like a "thief in the night". We desperately need to understand that when God says it, it will surely come to pass. 

Believe me, I do not like writing blogs like this. But if we cannot see the handwriting on the wall regarding our current situation, then we have fallen for a powerful delusion to lull us into compliance with the Enemy's plans to dominate the world. We must be bold and declare the Truth, just as Daniel did, even when doing so threatened his life. Silence has been contagious in the American Church. But Courage is the hallmark of a true Disciple of Christ, and it is contagious, too. That theory did not originate with me, but it has been true since the beginning of time, and especially true for those who profess genuine faith in Christ. 

My friends, it is time to recognize the handwriting on the wall, and decide that you will not hide in fear and silence. We were not born for this time to worry about ourselves and what we see happening in the world. It is only important to understand from the level that we can educate others to the hour of our destiny. And the good news is that I know there are pockets of righteous followers of Christ who are in alignment with the Word and walking in Spirit and Truth. They represent the Remnant that God will use to make His final moves on the cosmic chessboard. But the ultimate question we all need to be asking ourselves is this .... when the Judgment is final, and the Lord resides on the earth, "Will He know me"? 

#writingonthewall #Godsjudgment #Godsanger #Godjudgesthenations #thiefinthenight 

Psalm 110:5-7  The Lord is at your right hand; He will shatter kings on the day of His wrath.  He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore He will lift up His head.

"Christian Nationalism": What Does God Say?

The night before He was crucified, Jesus prayed for His followers. In His conversation with the Father, He lamented that the world hated them because they were not of the world anymore than He was. He asked that we be protected from the Evil one, set apart by His Truth. And so, we Christians who seek both His Spirit and Truth, have found that our position in the world is not easily or readily accepted, or understood. The world tries to classify us or categorize us by any number of different and rigid standards; pigeonhole us if you will -- and usually in opposition to whatever the current cultural ideology that is prevalent. And before you know it, the world has determined they know what our beliefs are and proclaims that there is a new Christian "movement".

I feel compelled to comment on the latest extremist label we've all been assigned to, which is "Christian Nationalism". What exactly is that? If you ask 10 different opinion-makers, you will get 10 different answers ... everything from Christianity.com who defines it as "fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ", to the Encyclopedia Britannica's definition of "the Christian whose devotion and loyalty to the nation-state surpasses other individual or group interests", to The Atlantic opinion editor who labeled Christian Nationalists as "religious radicals". In other words, if we are a Christian, love this country, and believe we are better when we follow God's principles, we stand in danger of being labeled extremist. So, not knowing any Believer who identified as a Nationalist, I was curious to see if there was actually an organization for proclaimed Christian Nationalists. Sure enough, there was!

ChristianNationalism.com is the official media outlet of the Christian National Alliance and gives their mission statement as follows: "We believe in the principle of America First and advocate the Three C’s: Christianity, Culture and Capitalism." The ten tenets of their Alliance are founded on various social, political, religious, and cultural beliefs. In fact, the Alliance openly states that a Christian Nationalist "adheres to a political platform that advocates for Christian principles in government and law." This of course naturally leads to the argument of "Separation of Church and State". It also leads to the consistently controversial Romans 13:1-2 minefield ... Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. Naturally, there's a lot of room for disparity and misunderstanding in what exactly a Christian Nationalist is.

I find that whenever there is a new adjective or descriptive phrase that the culture bandies about, there's lots of room for distortion and confusion. I mean, there will be factions within the so-called "movement" that don't even agree on what they stand for, let alone those on the outside that want to throw shade to discredit the movement with their sneering expressions of contempt or disgust. And what do you get? Division, discord, lies, and alienation ... just what Satan delights in!

So how should we Christians approach this ideology? Is it Biblical? Would Jesus approve or support Christian Nationalism? I will be honest and tell you that considering the state of our nation today, I was concerned that the passion with which I've seen Christians pursuing political answers to our national problems would outweigh what I clearly see as spiritual issues. I really had to step back and see what God had to say about nations in His Word. Was nation-building part of His plan? I found a fascinating article on tomorrowsworld.org that made me pause and seriously deliberate these questions in light of our own situation. Let me share what I discovered for your own contemplation ...

First of all, I knew that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God that Jesus brought with Him was all about what a moral and righteous government looked like. I knew He was bringing a new system of lawfulness and fraternity to a world deeply in need of a new way to govern itself. And I fully understood that God knew what He was doing when He chose Abraham to be a part of His world governing plan: I’ll make you a great nation and bless you ... All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you. So, it looks like God is in favor of nations, per se. 

Then God got down to business with building the nation of Israel when He ordained Moses to bring them out of slavery in Egypt. He fully intended them to be the role model for other nations to follow. And this is what He instructed Moses to tell them: I’m teaching you the rules and regulations that God commanded me, so that you may live by them in the land you are entering to take up ownership. Keep them. Practice them. You’ll become wise and understanding. When people hear and see what’s going on, they’ll say, “What a great nation! So wise, so understanding! We’ve never seen anything like it” (Deuteronomy 4:5-6).

After establishing a model of government, what was God's next step in building the nation of Israel? He put them on a solid religious footing with correct religious beliefs [taking them out of the idol worship of their 400 years in Egypt] and establishing foundational values for the new nation. These laws would make them stand out from the other nations of the world, and the laws were free to be used by any other developing nation. God next trained and instructed good Godly leaders for the nation of Israel. As the article points out, "God told Moses to staff his government with "able men, such as [those who] fear God; men of truth, hating covetousness" (Exodus 18:21). God indicated that He would choose the king, that foreigners were not to lead the nation of Israel and that a leader should not use his office to enrich himself (Deuteronomy 17:14–20)." How far have we strayed from that principle?

This advice would lead to God's standards and keys to good government; not today's criteria by which we choose our political leaders: popularity, voter appeal, good television presence, excellence in repartee and skill at fundraising. So we must ask this question: How far have we strayed from God's principles, and where does Christian Nationalism stand on this issue? Are Nationalists concerned with how candidates for national office fare according to God's standards, or the current criteria for office-holders?

The next step in God's process of Nation building was to establish a model for education. God's instructions always emphasized the parents' role in teaching children the fundamental truths and values of God... to grow in wisdom, to gain knowledge of how to serve others, and to develop the mind and character of God. Unless Christian Nationalism endorses a change from the current education system that gives more power to educational leaders than to parents, and unless they propose a return to a Biblical foundation of learning versus modern political philosophies and systems of government, then "America First" will never re-establish our greatness or prosperity. 

So, now we come down to the crux of our dilemma regarding "Christian Nationalism". It clearly means different things to different people. To the writer of The Atlantic op-ed, even Catholic rosary beads have become a symbol of radical Christian Nationalism. He writes, "Just as the AR-15 rifle has become a sacred object for Christian nationalists in general, the rosary has acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional (or ‘rad trad’) Catholics ...
On this extremist fringe, rosary beads have been woven into a conspiratorial politics and absolutist gun culture. These armed radical traditionalists have taken up a spiritual notion that the rosary can be a weapon in the fight against evil and turned it into something dangerously literal." Really?!?! Spiritual warfare through prayer is a spiritual weapon that God authorizes to defeat Satan and his demons. It is hardly comparable to a weapon of metal made by man.

On the other end of the spectrum, to the Christian National Alliance, political power is at the center of their "God and Country" philosophy. They seem to believe that the solutions to our national problems lie in rebuilding our national structure according to strict and rigid religious and government philosophies. But, I always have to ask myself if this is what Jesus preached. Taken too far, we can easily see the Pharisees and how they used religion and political power to limit the freedom of people to see God. I agree that this nation has deteriorated into a dysfunctional system of crime, violence, greed, sexual perversion, lawlessness, and selfish ambition. And yes, we need to return to Biblical principles, but Jesus never taught us that we could build Godly nations through our human efforts. We would always need to be willing to hear from Him, the Father, and Holy Spirit, and act on their instruction.

In fact, He tells us that conditions in the world will grow worse and "nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom", until Jesus, Himself, will have to intervene to prevent us from destroying each other and ourselves. Jesus will restore this earth to the dominion of God and establish God's Kingdom on earth, "as it is in Heaven'. It is Jesus who will take over the government of the earth and appoint qualified saints to positions of authority and leadership in civil and religious roles. It is Jesus and His saints that will institute true nation building and only then will the nations of the world come into alignment with His righteous religion, righteous government, and righteous education.

I don't like attaching labels or movements to Christians. Through right relationship with Him, and acting in our callings and appointments, we should be able to walk in unity to see His holy and righteous government instituted. I honor and revere the Christians in our national history who stood for their beliefs and hopes that this nation would adhere to God's Biblical tenets of nation building. And I would like nothing more than to see Godly men rise to the challenge of making this country fit the role model God outlined for us in the Bible. To be honest, I'm not sure we can achieve it at the rate we're going. Remember, it was God who built the nation of Israel, and they were only as successful as the men who walked in obedience to His plan. BUT THIS I KNOW! There is a day soon to come, when the government of this world will rest on the shoulders of our Lord, and all nations will walk in peace, comfort, and joy. Nations and families will be rebuilt; wars will be no more; and the environment will be restored. The Prince of Peace will reign and the glory and the honor of the Lord will be on full display! That's the future I believe in! 

#ChristianNationalism #BiblicalTruth #GodsPlansForTheNations #ChristianMovements

Isaiah 14:26-27   This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?