The day is far spent and the night falls slowly upon us. Darkness unravels itself and with little notice it has become our friend. The hustle and bustle continues. The useless speech and mindless chatter consume the air. All around us, darkness. But no one is disturbed. It is now past history. Each day relives the previous, and tomorrow is a memory. How long can He wait? How long will He tarry?
The story of Jesus has become a doctrinal fairy tale. Strong verbal convictions find shelter within a lifeless existence of redundant expression. The slightest abnormal behavior seems abnormal. Anything out of the ordinary is wild fanaticism. Count off the days. Count off the months. Count off the years. Is it possible? Can darkness grow darker still? The sweet melodic sirens of this life soothe us and play to our whims. Christ comes to us through history and to His narrative we cling. Lifelessly drifting. Tired but still mounting up each day to ride the temporal hills that lead to tomorrow which leads to today.
Do not stop even for a moment or you might be detained. Feast your eyes upon that which has already died and let your heart beat with the here and now. It is all so predicable and hollow. Words, words, and more words. Like a funeral procession the church picks up the dirt to cast upon another day spent here. Religious marionettes’ dance to the music of the fallen and clap to the symphony of the material. As we were last year, so are we once again in this.
The resurrection tells the story but is systematically forbidden to enter the present. What is left of its power is found in a story but not pulsating in human lives. He is coming. It is the best of times; it is the worst of times. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouths speak. Look, the angels cover their ears. They cannot, they must not hear the worthless rhetoric which proceeds from mouths that use His name. They have seen the Risen Christ; they have heard the thrice holy praise; they have seen his hands. But who here has seen Him? Whose eyes have cast themselves upon His majesty?
This was never what He desired. This is a living fraud which uses His name like a label on a shirt. This denies His power and openly practices that which is against all He was and is and always will be. What should be the incandescence of life everlasting has been extinguished and walks with empty lanterns. Suggesting itself to be life is an observable lie. What should be a vibrating organism filled with Him is now a system, and an organized religious system attached more to days and holidays than to Him.
The light is now success; the bread is now sugar; the incense is the smoke which rises from burning money; the blood is drawn from the veins of our own labor and cleverness.
Is this the Bride that should be preparing herself to meet her Bridegroom? What kind of love is this? And on the very eve of our marriage we are frolicking with another? His sacrifice no longer brings us to grateful tears, and His coming no longer makes us desperate to please Him. But against all this the Spirit still cries out in hopes that someone will hear, anyone. Though the masses may walk their own path, the Spirit still points to a different way. Can you hear His voice? An audible voice, you ask? Oh no, it is much louder than that. And if you hear, and if you follow, there awaits the treasure of His presence.
Who can know it? And to what can that be compared? This is Jesus the Christ, Son of the Morning, and the Creator of all that is. He that soars above all human understanding desires our company. Come and dine He says. Me? Are you sure, Lord? Me? How can I refuse; how can I ignore His invitation? Can I use Him for my salvation and then leave His table to sit at the table of strangers? In that I am a thief, a masquerader, a common brigand.
Oh let me wash His feet. Let me kneel before His throne and feel His glory quench my thirsty soul. Who have I in heaven but You? I need you every hour. Give me the power to seek You every day. Do not forsake me even though I may forsake You. Bring me into Your dwelling place and let me live. Forever, let me live in You. Though I walk through this valley of death I will fear no evil. I must live in You. When I die I live, and when I live I die. Have I come so far just to turn aside? With eternity waiting in the wings how can I feast on the poison of this world? Look all around and see a wasteland of human life. And in this world I find no oasis, no fountain, no life at all.
But we must return to Jesus. Individually and many times alone and without friends. But do not hang your head in despair, this a path filled with His glory. His presence, His Being. There are no wounds He cannot heal; there are no temptations He has not overcome; there are no hearts he cannot mend; there are no lives He cannot strengthen. Oh to be in His presence. To know Him and experience Him. Crazy talk, you say? What is crazy is how we can live every day by just assigning Him some doctrinal task but never seeking Him as our necessary breath.
But He has kept His promise. He will not leave us or forsake us. But He will not force us under His wings. This life draws to a close, and His wings beckon us to come. The night is far spent and the morning is about to break. Wash your robes once again and like Mary sit at His feet. The only life you have is with Him, all the rest is hollow motion. The well is deep. If you are willing to sacrifice yourself on the altar of His majesty, you will find eternal water for your parched souls. Today, if you will hear His voice…
The word “quest” is often defined as a pursuit, or a search, or a seeking. It indicates much more than just a surface scanning for something, in fact it carries with it a seeking for something specific in mind. When someone sets out in a quest he is usually on a journey to find something or to achieve something in particular. And although the English translation does not use the exact word “quest”, these verses describe that very phenomenon.
Phil.3: 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Phil.3: 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
That is in a snapshot the Christian faith and life. Everything else is residual. Our quest must always be Christ, knowing and serving Him. Seeking Christ is not some part time quest. It must be our life’s singular pursuit or it is something other than Christian. You can be moral, you can memorize Scripture, you can witness to people, and you can be an ordained minister, but if knowing Christ is not your quest than you have invented a religious construct which is self sustaining and not sustained by Christ. And if that is truth, then is that what the western church lives upon? Is knowing Christ the unquenchable quest of the evangelical church?
It is not unimaginable to suggest that most evangelical believers do not even know what seeking and knowing Christ is all about, if indeed they even believe it is a spiritual possibility. Doctrines and creeds and church memberships and baptisms have replaced any self denying quest to know Christ and the fellowship of His sufferings and the power of His resurrection. As I have stated before, the sufferings and resurrection of Christ happened many centuries ago. So there must be a spiritual essence that can be sought and experienced in the here and now that is spiritually transmitted from the cross and the resurrection. And do we even believe that anymore? It seems so ethereal and intangible since everything in the church today must be utilitarian, practical, and aimed at earthly results.
There is no longer anything resembling a quest. When believers seek a better job, or a salary increase, or bills paid, or athletic prowess, and when they experience what they desired they praise God, but their quest was those things and God has become a rubber stamp to their own desires. In fact, when believers do not achieve what they desire they often complain and blame it on the government or circumstances or even the devil. Gone is the quest to seek Him and allow Him to use your life rather than shower your life with earthly accoutrements. The quest is now things, not Christ. And things are the monster of self all dressed up.
Let me go a step further. The quest for seeking and knowing Christ has been largely lost to the church. Not only is it not a practice in the church, the concept itself has been all but lost. The western church no longer even understands, much less believes, in a spiritual life that is filled with prayer, fasting, personal worship, and consuming God’s Word as if it really was food and nourishment. If we read God’s Word at all it's to find something that we can use or that temporarily inspires us. But do we read it with a thirst that cannot be quenched until we see and experience a deeper vision of Christ which breaks us and takes us from one glory to another? I know, it sounds so eastern and impractical. But in reality, the eastern mystics have borrowed from the spiritual disciplines of the Scriptures and made them bow down to false idols.
But we should not recoil at truth when cults and false religions stumble upon a measure of truth. That is another deception of the evil one. Forget about who does what and how it is presented or perceived. Press on with reckless abandon and set out on a life long quest to know Christ which is energized each and every day. When was the last time you could not be content with where you are spiritually? When was the last time you felt like you felt when you first came to know Christ? When was the last time you were filled with a holy discontent which brought you to tears and drove you to an elongated time in the prayer closet to do nothing but seek His sacred face? Or have you ever even been overtaken by such an experience? You see, we are walking in the chains of this world. And our ears are inclined to the tinkling of those chains. Can you believe such a thing?? We are in love with our earthly chains and we have called them divine blessings, and unknowingly we have fallen in love with the enemy of our souls. In effect it is a spiritual Stockholm syndrome.
But there still awaits a sacred quest before us. I have no divine insight from God, but I believe the time is soon coming when the entire world will suffer an economic crisis like no other heretofore. And there may be coming a time of great fear because of the economic collapse which affects all the inhabitants of the earth. And when and if that occurs it will become all too painful how many outward believers have no inward spiritual life and just how attached to money and things the church has been. In some ways the things of this world have become the church.
But the quest to know Christ and all that is His person is filled with unspeakable glory and unimaginable majesty. To be offered that which transcends the entire world and all that is in it is an unfathomable grace. But to refuse and ignore it just demonstrates the depth of the apostasy within the western evangelical church. That quest is a labor of love which has a high cost. And just what is the cost? Everything, nothing less. But be advised, the reward is everything as well!
And when we are ushered into His presence either by death or by translation, that quest will be finished. We will know even as we are known. However another quest will just begin. This will be the eternal quest to present our worship and praise before Him and be overwhelmed by the radiance of His glory. That is a quest which will be fulfilled each moment as well as present the prospect of an everlasting journey of love. But, you ask, how can a quest be completed and realized but still have an eternity to fulfill? Oh, my brothers and sisters, the place of His dwelling pulsates with the divine presence so that the miraculous and the incomprehensible are nothing but the norm. Words? Explanations? Please, just accept the unacceptable purely by faith and bow down to Him now as you prepare to be brought to your face by the sheer weight of His eternal glory. Yea, I know…words…so insufficient.
In the end, it is way too difficult a journey to seek Christ with our whole and unvarnished hearts. Millions accept Him as Savior, pack a moral lunch, and head for the evangelical park to enjoy a church picnic which is well attended but useless in God‘s kingdom.
Matt.11: 11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
What violence is this? What was the heart cry of John the Baptist? He must increase and I must decrease. The violence is not directed at others, but we must die. Then and only then can we be free from our greatest enemy of all…ourselves. To what degree self is put to death is the same degree that we can know Him in all His fullness. This quest will cost you your life, but at that funeral you will dance.
The above ad was made by Mike Huckabee to urge believers to vote Biblically for two specific moral issues, traditional marriage and abortion. Now this kind of add excites the evangelical and conservative base and in case you do not know, Huckabee is an ordained Baptist minister. So the ad has all the necessary ingredients to suggest that God is actually communicating His political desires. And to reinforce the gravity of the situation Huckabee draws on the metaphor of fire to suggest that some day in eternity your vote will be placed in the fire and see if it meets the divine requirements. OK, get it?
Let’s first agree that although the Scriptures do not specifically address abortion that the Scripture clearly indicate a pro-life stance. And even though the Old Testament has many men who God loved and used had more than one wife, and although the New Testament deals very sparingly with the sin of homosexuality, we can still draw from the preponderance of Scripture than God does not approve of gay marriage. Let us begin by agreeing with those two issues raised by the add.
But there are several underlying errors in that ad. The overall error is that we as believers have never been called to promote two specific moral issues and in doing so we are contending for the faith. It is a subtle form of idolatry and moral self righteousness. It presents the absolute wrong picture of Christ to a lost world, and it clumsily shoehorns God’s Word into the fallen and hollow system of American politics. And with the metaphor of fire flickering suggests that God is watching intently into each voting booth and stoking his refining fires that await any vote for a candidate that does not give lip service to those two moral issues. That is using and misusing God in a profound way.
But let us expand the Biblical horizon and see what it does not say and see if that gives us some indication of the constricted nature of the add. Does it say God will test any vote by fire that votes against policies that help the poor? Does it say that God will test by fire any vote that allows for legal divorce? How about hatred? How about greed? Do you see what this add does? It has made Christianity into a small subset of moral issues and have lifted two specific moral issues and sensationalized the implications of a vote that goes against the will of God.
But can you see how the church has not only cast their vote in favor of the entire sinful system, but now is fully invested in it to the point of manipulative adds based upon a future narrative of divine testing? And the voices that used to complain loudly and reject the notion of a division between church and state have now welcomed the state into the church.
Brethren, this is not contending for the faith. This is political manipulation at the expense of the souls of men. Contending for the faith is living like Jesus and sharing the everlasting gospel. Our banner must be Jesus not a two set moral platform. Why do sinners now irritate us and cause us to confront them with public adds to believers that make unbelievers think God is political and is just waiting for people to vote against His wishes. This year has seen the depth of ecclesiastical depravity that ignores the gospel and drowns in the arena of secular politics. It has been a shame and indeed a sham.
Seek Jesus alone and ask the Spirit to help you love sinners unconditionally. Remember, the Spirit like Eleazar is searching for a bride for the Son of God. He knows that all men have sinned and walk in soiled garments. But just like you and I, when they are drawn to Christ then they can wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb. If we wish to spend money on adds, let us present the Christ and His offer of eternal life.
There will come a fire which will try our works. But it will not be about votes. Did you love? Did you pray without ceasing? Did you deny yourself? Did you witness to sinners? Did you show grace to your fellow man? Did you read the Scriptures? Did you seek Jesus and His kingdom above all? Those are some of the things which will be tested by fire. Politics? Pure nonsense. away with it all in complete deference to all that is Christ!!
We have a responsibility to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ, and if we believe every soul will spend eternity in one of two places, there is no time to waste in worthless political games.
We have become very proficient at describing Jesus as God in the flesh, the Incarnation. Of course that is an unfathomable mystery which seems more easily described in doctrinal terms than in terms of the Divine Person. And therein lies a great problem and a chasm between moral principles that are clearly Biblical and the person Whom we are called to follow. It seems much of the western church has presented Christ as a moral monarch who seeks to force the culture into espousing certain moral principles and truths.
And in so doing we have created a caricature of the Risen Christ and misled millions concerning Christ and His mission. Instead of following a Redeemer and Lord, we have followed a set of principles and thereby presented them as the gospel, and worse yet presented them as Christ. This is not an overstatement, this is exactly what has happened. We are not willing to allow sinners to act like sinners, vote like sinners, or legislate like sinners so that we can live and share the person of Christ. We must force the lost into our moral mold in lieu of presenting Christ as a Friend of sinners. Our principles have become more important than Christ.
Jesus was know to associate with sinners and was often castigated by the religious crowd for so doing. Think about that for a moment. He who was the Creator was willing to love and reach out to practicing sinners who were not interested in being moral in any sense of the word. (Word) But Jesus did not require them to bend to moral truths before He would break bread with them, and after He ate with them He did not criticize them because they were sinners, or worse yet, socialists! . He saw them as precious souls and He knew that they could never understand moral absolutes before they believed on Him, just as we only know any truth only by Gods grace. And sinners did not come to listen to a moral Pharisee or to be spit upon by someone who they could tell did not care for them. They came in droves to hear words that reached their hearts and drew them to Him.
It is the very height of moral hubris when God reaches down, plucks us from the dunghill, and then we turn around and throw mud on those who need what was just given to us by God’s grace. This gospel commission has nothing to do with creating moral utopias. This is completely about redemption, and we are ministers of reconciliation walking and speaking words that the Spirit can use to draw sinners to the Jesus we serve. One of the institutions upon this earth that is a classic example of an observable collection of imperfections and sin is the visible church. How could the western church attempt to force some moral utopia upon anyone? Is the church suggesting we are the template to be followed?
But we have our principles and moral banners which we can use to parade around and beat people over their lost heads and feel good about ourselves, but that does nothing to exalt the gospel of Jesus Christ. With all our moral beach heads and our political speeches we have only done damage to the redemptive message of Jesus Christ. If morality can be had through information packets, political alliances, and forcing Judeo-Christian ethics on dead men, then the cross was for naught. And if Christ is just a collection of written mores and natural principles, then we need only to worship in letter and not in Spirit.
The church has basically set aside the Risen Christ as a Person, a Redeemer, and a Lord and we have taken tenants and certain moral codes and gilded them with our self righteousness. And void of the grace of God, we have taken certain moral principles and sharpened them to a point and skewered any and all who dare stand in their way. But that is not the spirit of the cross nor the essence of all Jesus lived and taught. And if adherence to certain morals, to say nothing of creeds, are all that is necessary to know God than a host of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews will gain heaven through their own moral will. But Christ is not the Ten Commandments with legs.
But if the church can bow to a short list of moral principles and suggest they are following Christ, then we can go on living unremarkable lives that are completely absorbed into the culture in almost every way and still claim to be championing His cause. Can there be any more shallow and misleading arbiter of the faith? It would be a colossal spiritual injustice for us to subtly infer the inferiority of those around us because they do not profess Christ, but at the same time we embrace, practice, and are immersed in the culture that defies Christ, and yet enjoy a regular castigation of our fellow cultural inmates. This is the shocking zenith of spiritual hubris. Millions give lip service to a Book they do not read nor obey. Millions speak the name of Jesus as a battling ram rather than a redemptive portal. Millions mock sinners while their own minds are playgrounds for all kinds of sin which they audibly confront but mentally engage. Not a very pleasant report, is it?
We have matriculated into little political robots who screech like stuck pigs when any discomfort comes our way. And let something pick our financial pockets and we become almost vicious. Gay people, lost for the most part, are attacked without any love, but adultery and divorce within the church has been assimilated as an expected part of the heterosexual experience. And the New Testament offers only a few verses about sexual preference, but enough to make God’s will clear. But that same New Testament contains scores upon scores of verses about greed, discontent, worry, complaining, prayerlessness, and self righteousness. But these do not make such a good weapon since they seem to always morph into a uncomplimentary mirror. The gay and liberal thing is much more handy.
But we as believers must make a choice. Is Jesus the Suffering Savior, the Risen Christ, and the soon coming King? Or is he just a Moses on steroids? Is He a personal Redeemer for our souls, or is He a divine manual on morals, economics, and etiquette? Are morals and principles a natural outflow to those who know Him, or are they extensions of the original stone tablets only this time with some anthropomorphic attributes? Is He the exclusive door to heaven through His sacrifice on Calvary and the resurrection from a borrowed tomb, or is He at our disposal as a forward observer to seek out the sins of the lost and call in coordinates so we can eradicate our moral enemies? Just who is this Jesus?
It is the sad state in the western evangelical community that Jesus has become little more than a big brother that gives us the courage to speak morality and politics to a fallen world. The early believers preached and lived Christ, and they had such an allegiance to the Lord Jesus that many were sent to their deaths because they were accused of earthly treason against Caesar. No one can accuse the western church of earthly treason, but there is ample evidence of spiritual treason. In the end this is not about nationalism, economics, morality, conservatism, or even traditional marriage. This is all about who Jesus is, has been, and always will be. Does God act today exactly as He did in the Old Testament? And if believe He does than your stone collection is way to small. If He does than natural disasters are at your disposal to assign divine motive against certain members in the community of sin. Go ahead, verbally outline divine wrath upon a nation because you believe God has grown tired of sinners and He now turns away from the gospel message and is engaged with the political forces here on earth.
Go ahead, but if you take the Old Testament in one hand and the New Testament in the other and push them together and make them one you must be willing to receive the implications of that amalgam. You cannot pick and choose and leave some of the more unpleasant and horrific revelations of the Old Covenant and how God dealt with man. And if God dealt with man so sternly and with violence back then, and if this gospel age must drag that into it, then Jesus added the sins of the mind. And if we want to add that to the Old Testament revelation of the Creator, then we all should already be dead and gone.
Please do not be deceived by all these other caricatures of Jesus that seem so prevalent and self serving to major portions of the church. It may seem like a wonderful game of Risk which makes us the caretaker of Jesus ready to be dispensed when we need Him to change the moral, political, and economic climate around us. And most of these movements only use a façade of Jesus and not the Great Redeemer of Eternal Love. Do not succumb to an American Jesus and thereby rejecting the Lord Jesus who knows no earthly nationality or allegiances. This Jesus is the Eternal Word, Holy and August and who had no obligation to rescue a rebellious race who not only fell once, but continued a daily pattern of rebellion and enjoyed every minute of it. And yet here He comes in the likeness of sinful man in order to breach the gap between a Holy God and a sinful race. And there He is, suffering and dying with excruciating pain and with public shame, only to resurrect in victory over sin and death. And He now dispatches His followers to go into all the world and share this unfathomable love story with each and every creature. That is His command, that is His mission, and that is His heart.
In the end it is completely in God’s hands how He eventually punishes this world, but until then…let us remember this:
Heb.1: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
He has purged our sins, and has obtained a more excellent name by inheritance. And by grace through faith, He offers to share that inheritance with us. If you can change the surpassing glory of that Jesus and dilute into a golden calf here on earth, than you have never known Him.
Acts 1: 6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
There they were gathered together before Him. Some had actually seen Him be crucified while others had known the story, But now they listened intently, and once again their attention seemed to have the wrong focus. They were interested in the prophetic schedule as it pertained to the nation of Israel. That nationalistic spirit was still deeply entrenched within their hearts. Christ had died and risen from the dead, and He was standing alive before them, and yet they were still interested in their earthly nation. Oh my, my. Can you see the painful mirror in this portion of Scripture?
They still have failed to see completely Who Christ was and what His mission was. But the Lord was very patient because He knew that without the Spirit His followers would be clueless and powerless to be used in His glorious mission. And so they walked in confusion. Instead of seeking Christ and being consumed with His worldwide mission they still were tethered to their own interests and the parochial nature of their vision. They failed to open their eyes to the expansive landscape of the fields of harvest and how the heart of God was beating for the entire world. But soon the Spirit would come in great power and indwell these followers and in a moment they were changed.
Peter, who shriveled up when questioned by a little girl and openly cursed and denied Christ would march outside and publicly proclaim Christ even though a few weeks ago they had put his Master to death. No longer fearful about his own safety, he preached with great conviction and power. No longer is there a concern over the fate of Israel, now His message was to the whole world.
Acts. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Imagine this, within the hour of the Spirit’s entrance into the hearts and lives of believers they spilled out into the streets consumed with reaching lost sinners. There were thousands of people right there in Jerusalem and they had come from all over the world. But these followers of Christ did not take a survey to see who was conservative and who was liberal. They were not concerned with the state of their sexual lives or if they had any political views. They only knew that the Spirit drove them into the streets and had opened their mouths to speak the wonderful works of God to every ear that could hear. Relevant? In those days it was assumed the message of the cross and the resurrection was always relevant.
What an uncommon witness! No longer embarrassed or frightened; no longer interested in themselves; no longer seeking their own interests; and no longer focused on prophetic charts and the divine fate of the nation called Israel. These men were now witnesses for Jesus the Christ and part of this glorious calling for most of them would include martyrdom. Yes, they would give their lives for Jesus. This beginning of the ministry of God’s Spirit through the church had begun with a prayer meeting. Yes, there were no glossy pamphlets designed to draw people to their attractions. No well written and cleverly crafted statements of faith. No, these men and women were now bondslaves of Jesus and they were dedicated to sharing His message and sharing His life.
What a transformation! Just a few weeks ago they were interested in restoring earthly kingdoms but now they preached a kingdom not made with hands. A nationalistic spirit had been replaced with a heart for the lost regardless of who they were or where they lived or what their ethnicity But do you not think there was rampant sin all around? The temple itself was desecrated with greed and heresy. Poverty was pervasive, and the socio-economic divisions were very deep. The Romans ruled the land and their theory of government was violent totalitarianism, and they thought Caesar was a god. The political leaders, both Roman and Jewish, were profoundly corrupt. Money open and closed doors and had people put to death while pardoning others. The entire culture was completely putrid and consumed with sin and injustice. Democracy? Human rights? Political leverage? None at all.
So here are these Spirit filled believers. Would they come and right the wrongs or begin a new and more conservative movement? Perhaps now the Jewish people would be brought out of Roman bondage. This would be a great day of political power and national pride! Perhaps now a Judeo-Christian ethic could purify the culture. Oh no, you have missed the entire mission. These men and women would not be dissuaded by the ebbs and flows of political power or any earthly nation. Peter himself would say that they were a holy nation and a peculiar people. This was the birth of the kingdom of God come to earth and their King was Jesus and their home was heaven. Their message was singular and not divided among the obvious moral needs of the day.
Redemption was now their lives. Did they not see the sin running rampant all around them? Of course, and when Paul would one day come across the idolatry in Athens would he gather a crowd of anti- idolaters and confront the idol worshipers and throw them out of office? No, the leading of the Spirit was always the same. Preach Christ to the lost. These Greek sinners were humanists and they had even created what is commonly called “democracy” centuries before. They had believed man to be a god and that he could rule himself. But Paul preached Christ to them.
Would Paul see this democratic system and adopt it as his own? Even when Paul addressed our approach to government he insisted we honor the king for the gospel’s sake. The king? How unenlightened. And yet the church would one day embrace democracy as if it came down from heaven and millions would give their allegiance to earthly nations rather than seeing them for what they were. And this kind of compromise goes against everything we know about the Scriptures and how the early church saw themselves, their mission, and their Lord.
The witness of the church has been severely diminished and in some ways compromised to the point of being death rather than life. No longer a light set upon a hill, the church has joined their light unto a kingdom of darkness and thereby extinguished the light that should mark us as different. Instead of Jesus being the unquenchable pursuit and witness, He sits now on a doctrinal backseat. Many “orthodox” preachers bristle at the term “followers” since they believe it presents the wrong message. What?? Being a follower of Jesus is now too liberal? We can embrace evangelical, orthodox, reformed, religious right, and even names like Luther, Calvin, Wesley, and others are welcomed in our labels, but being followers of Jesus is way too liberal and too wild?
What has happened and how deep have we been compromised? What happened to the faith that once drove men into the streets speaking His name and that would drive His followers joyfully to the gallows and the funeral pyres? Listen as believers are marched publicly to their own deaths because of their refusal to deny Jesus. Incline your ears and you may well hear hymns emanating from trembling lips. And in a glorious revelation of the unseen ministry of the Spirit many sinners came to faith in Jesus based largely on the uncommon witness that these martyrs exhibited while they gave their lives for Christ. No one ever came to Christ because he heard believers complaining and murmuring about their uncomfortable circumstance.
This western culture is looking for an uncommon witness that seeks the souls of sinners and not the desires of their flesh. Hundreds of millions of sinners reside right next door to us and most will never hear our personal testimonies to say nothing of an uncommon witness of a remarkable life. What kind of faith have we constructed? Where is our broken submission to Jesus in all things? Why do we seek financial gain instead of the rewards of eternity? When we are so comfortable why do we seek more and more? Why are we surprised by spiritual darkness? Are these not the people to whom we are sent? How can we castigate lost sinners instead of sharing Jesus through our lips and lives? Why is the moral welfare of a fallen nation more important than the spiritual welfare of sinners? How can we even claim to be serving Christ anymore?
We need to seek His face and beg Jesus to once again let the Spirit fall upon us with His power that manifests itself with an uncommon witness.
When was the last time we witnessed to someone in an uncomfortable situation? When have we last handed out a track for Jesus? When have we been driven from a prayer closet out into the crowd among us with a witness for Jesus on our lips? How many cultural layers have we allowed to buffer us from the need of those around us? Have we allowed fear and intimidation to build forts around our hearts and lives? What kind of Christianity presents written documents as evidence of our faith and remains content with our orthodox doctrines? The early disciples spilled out into the streets and hazarded their lives for the sake of Christ while the western church spills out into post-service restaurants and hopes their football team will be victorious that day.
Oh dear Jesus what have we done? Perhaps we should see a common witness before we attempt any uncommon witness. But do not wait until any church repents and wades into deeper spiritual waters. The Spirit is calling individuals and we are responsible for what we allow our ears to hear and how we obey the Spirit’s voice. Even if not one sinner will even listen to you or be affected by your life, just living a surrendered life to Jesus has a glory all its own. What a Savior! Not only are we given the privilege of being co-laborers with Christ, but we are also promised a divine blessing and reward for doing what should be our reasonable service. The wonder of it all is beyond words.
Let us get out of our cultural boats and begin to walk by faith toward Jesus on top of the waters of this world. We have a choice, but let’s face it, compared to the passing pleasures of this world what choice is there? And when we see the surpassing treasure of knowing, serving, living, and being a witness for the One who we never deserved in the first place, there really is no choice. We do not need a spiritual tweaking or another program. We need a complete revolution which if seen as anything but fanaticism will be just another religious diversion. We need a witness that is startling, arresting, remarkable, and uncommon. Do what You need to do in and through us, Jesus.
Somewhere in the heart of man he has always felt a sense of guilt. For thousands of years pagans have made appeasing offerings unto their deities. Where did man get this notion about sin and divine anger and sacrifice? We know that the residual effects of sin and the entire idea of sacrifice has been around since the fall of Adam and even pagans realize this construct and misguidedly create their own deities and sacrifice all kinds of things in order to appease deities of all sorts.
But the narrative of the Scriptures have a core thread that runs through ever nook and cranny of the written revelation. Man has sinned and God is just and there must be a sacrifice. Now for those of us who are believers in Christ it is difficult to understand just how foreign and offensive that is to those outside the faith. It goes beyond foolishness all the way to disdain. Any normally intelligent person would view the system of sacrifice, to say nothing of blood sacrifice, as bizarre, inhumane, and Neanderthal. And to the natural man it is and the Scriptures tell us of such disdain. But the cross was God in the flesh reconciling the world unto Himeslf. God became sin and was found guilty in our place.
But now God has come in the person of the Holy Spirit in order to reach and enlighten darkened hearts. As I said, the natural man does not receive the things of God and he cannot know them on his own. No sinner can know who Jesus is without being enlightened and drawn by the Spirit of God. People will shower Jesus will all kinds of condescending accolades like good teacher, great man, compassionate, a way shower, a deep thinker, and a host of other compliments that reveal a deadly and carnal view of God’s Son. And many others will give lip service to the deity of Christ and even the meaning of the cross but never be born again by the Spirit. It is part of their religion but it has not made them a new creation.
But the cross is an enigma. It is a brutal place of death and yet a glowing place of life. It is both a suffering man and a suffering God. It is both an offering of God as well as the demands of God. To even come to terms with the fact that God came as a man is a deep and unfathomable mystery. But to then watch as that God-man suffers is a multiplicity of paradoxes and disturbing down to the recesses of our understandings. And then to see that same Incarnation die, is not only troubling, but it presents a mental and emotional challenge that must be illuminated by the Spirit or else it would be rendered as impossible and die in our minds.
But there it is, unvarnished, stripped of any misleading frills, and bathed in unspeakable horror. The cross was an altar upon which the Passover Lamb was tortured, skewed, mocked, punched, beaten, and put to death publicly and denied any shred of dignity. The word cross has slowly become a religious talisman that can chase away vampires, help win football games, and generally be a good luck charm. Even in the movies about exorcism the priest holds up a blessed piece of jewelry and holds it up toward the demonic voices and supposedly demons fear it. That is a mockery and only adds to fables and a superstitious view of the cross.
The cross was a spiritually spectacular event and without it we would all still be lost in our sins. It was the turning point in history and the turning point for millions of believers. The suffering that Christ endured on that cross is far too deep and far too spiritually excruciating for humans to ever fully comprehend. We can understand torture and suffering, but what Christ experienced upon that cross is an eternal mystery. The words of our systematic theologies provide some structured truth, but they fall completely short when it comes to mentally, emotionally, and spiritually entering into the Holy of Holies exhibited upon that cross. The modern church preaches very little about the cross, and we have relegated it to Easter services and cameo mentions at the end of a sermon.
But what does it mean when we are commanded to pick up our cross? If the actual event is now over, and if we are not going to be physically nailed and crucified, then what does it mean for us when Jesus exhorts us to pick up our cross and follow Him? We rarely even speak those words much less dwell and meditate upon their meaning. The modern church rarely calls us disciples anymore, and carrying our cross is usually distilled down to mean enduring some of life’s trouble. It is a disgrace what the church has done to the cross. We are much more interested in earthly pursuits and earthly advice and a path to earthly success and contentment. And because the cross now seems so archaic when preached literally, it has been forced into the more practical usages of metaphors, symbols, sentimentality, and a more sanitized version that is more appropriate when spoken of in mixed company. We avoid being seen as ignorant or unsophisticated and the word “blood” has become offensive and unappealing. We have moved on from the “old time religion” and have created a new and more practical religion that can be processed within our present cultural parameters. But since the cross is very difficult to change and recreate, it sees little action in speech and lives.
Many of us are quick to confront heretics who suggest that the cross never happened literally and that the story must be unpacked as spiritual lessons. But what we fail to realize is that although the cross finds a somewhat prominent component in our written theologies and statements of faith, the self denial and sacrifice necessary to incorporate that cross into living vessels has long since disappeared from the evangelical landscape. There is an amazing amount of time and treasure and energy spent on moral and national issues, while the time and labor expended on living within the dictates and spiritual dynamics of the cross is almost nonexistent. A disciple is now defined as a baptized, regular church goer who tithes, is patriotic, and perhaps reads a page out of Our Daily Bread occasionally. How pitiful.
But you may ignore it and you may even redefine it and make it subordinate to your earthly lives, but you can never change it in its reality and spiritual glory. In fact, most of what is believed and practiced today and which uses the word “cross” is not the genuine cross of Calvary. A painless cross is not THE cross. A pleasant cross is not THE cross. A self serving cross is not THE cross. A bloodless cross is not THE cross. Let us pull down all the plastic images of man and let us bow before the blood and gore and wounds that must always define THE cross!
Away with all this false religion that sets itself up as moral police while reducing the power and the glory of God’s redemption through the cross alone. The evil one distracts us from seeing and living the cross and he placates us with hollow political victories. “Pick up your cross and follow me” says our Master. There is so much profound truth and so much profound sacrifice within that command. This goes far beyond allowing a car to cut in line in front of you. This goes way beyond forgiving your neighbor when he parks in front of your house. This even goes beyond enduring when your children rebel and run into trouble. The moment you pick up your cross you must die.
This is not a quick and painless death.
Gal.2: 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal.6: 14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Two statements in one letter by the Apostle Paul. Both refer to the cross as an instrument of death and an instrument of life. But how do we go about being crucified? The event we call the cross will never be duplicated, Christ died once and for all. So how can we die on a cross today? That must mean that the cross was a one time event, however the spirit of that cross lives on through the Holy Spirit. In a glorious mystery, the Holy Spirit of God pours into us the spirit and essence and power of Christ’s cross even today if we are poured out of everything else. We must be empty before we can be filled.
People who say they are filled with the Spirit and yet draw attention to themselves are only filled with themselves. People who suggest they are led of the Spirit but demand their rights are being led of the flesh. People who say that tongues prove they are filled with the Spirit and yet they are boisterous and void of humility are only fooling themselves. To be filled with God’s Spirit is to exhibit a life pattern that is controlled by the example and power of the cross. And those patterns demonstrated by Christ upon the cross go against everything the flesh and the culture believe. To the culture they are weak. To the culture they are mild. To the culture they are losers. But in the Spirit within the kingdom of light they are the power of God.
The cross is the essence of redemption, and anyone who lives in its power will be filled with the spirit of reconciliation and redemption. Those who take political sides no nothing of the cross. Those who seek money and capitalism do not live the cross. Those who embrace violence have not submitted themselves to the complete violence of the cross. And somewhere through the years the church has turned into a place where people who say they have trusted and in believed on Christ meet. That seems to be the only criteria for becoming a church member in good standing.
Have you know church members who gossip? Have you heard church members curse and swear? Have you heard church members complain and murmur? Have you seen church members lavish material goods upon themselves? Have you seen church members bicker and fight? Have you seen infidelity by church members? And yet many of these same church members are not only members in good standing, but some of them are leaders and teachers. This is not the way of the cross. This is not the way that follows Jesus. But because we now compare ourselves with ourselves this is the way that is now accepted.
“I am crucified with Christ” is not just some euphemistic phrase that indicates some past sinner’s prayer or some acquiescence to a doctrinal tenant. That phrase indicates a life that has been so transformed by God’s Spirit that the former person no longer lives and the present life walks, breathes, and lives as did Christ. Think about that. A life which lives as did Christ. Just what would that look like in today’s world? Here’s a hint: It would be so dramatically different than anything deemed as normal within the culture as well as within the present day church that we probably could not receive it in our present state. What I mean is that it would take many months in prayer and fasting and self denial and in a profound consumption of the Word before our hearts and minds could fully comprehend what the Spirit desired to do in and through us.
But so we are left with no choice. Even though the life of the cross is all but lost to the western church, we are still confronted with the glory of its majesty and the commands of its Author. Either we embrace it fully into out lives, or we genuflect to it doctrinally. In essence, either we live unto ourselves, or we die unto Him. One is spiritual death, and the other is life everlasting.
Gal.6: 17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the STIGMA of the Lord Jesus.
18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
And so the dust settles. But instead of repentance and leading sheep out of the wilderness of fallen politics, most religious organizations are doubling down. They will rearm themselves to continue to fight the wrong war. The family unit has become an idol, and abortion, although much less pronounced these days, is a straw man. Like a plumber running to fix each new sprung leak, the church has tucked the gospel safely away in the doctrinal museum while our “time and treasure” are “poured” into temporal issues. And we have become blind to the fact that many of these issues would come into Biblical alignment only through a regeneration process and not the legislation process.
The pungent atmosphere of sadness and even depression leaves no doubt as to where their hearts were invested. And a fallen nation reveals its fallen nature and believers lament, not only the outcome, but openly lament how much of their own resources were wasted. Another example of narcissism and being results oriented. And with “Eternal Father Strong to Save” being played sadly in the background, the church takes a deep breath and heads back to the battle that cannot be won and turns away from the victory that has already been won.
The more layers of nationalism and moralism are uncovered, the more it becomes apparent just how deep are the roots. I have been born again for almost 39 years and I can honestly say I have seen liberalism, I have seen compromise, I have seen higher criticism, I have seen modernism, and I have seen movements like the emergent church and the prosperity message and the Joel Osteens and the Rick Warrens rise to ecclesiastical prominence. But in this last election year I have been taken aback as I have seen not only a revelation of just how invested in nationalism the church was, but I have been astonished as I’ve witnessed just how the church has dug in their heels and become reenergized and fully surrendered to it. The church will parlay this hollow election and double down on the next worthless expression of fallen man attempting to sanitize the culture. And the church will give an account for the obscene amounts of money spent.
Any spiritual awakening will have to be on a one person at a time basis. And when the shepherds have become temporal hirelings, then the sheep are imperiled. But I lift up my eyes because we may not even see another presidential election. And when Jesus Himself begins His last prophetic acts, what benefit will the love of America do for the lost? As believers we must humble ourselves and pray earnestly for the church and all our deceived brethren. I have made a promise to God that I am cutting way down my exposure to the voices of politics both in and out of the church. It does not feed my soul, it does not lead my to the cross, it does not stir up Christ’s redemption inside me, and it only makes cleansing my heart that much more difficult.
I believe this is another step in my own sanctification process. I have always know it was not enough to see nationalism as contrary to Christ, and just refusing to vote cannot be the end all. Jesus must captivate us. He must consume us. He must be our breath, our life. Do these words seems fanatical and ethereal? Have we become so utilitarian that we no longer even believe in a life in the Spirit that actually walks and lives in Jesus? The entire ecclesiastical mess has led millions astray, and it will hold tightly to the constituents it has accumulated. The amount of time and treasure is so great that the church will not, cannot, abandon so great an investment. And so knowing, seeking, and following Jesus must suffer at the hands of carnal dreams and moral pursuits.
Oh it breaks my own heart when I realize how much more I can and should know and even experience Jesus. And just being a spectator watching the worthless activity and hollow rhetoric that emanates from that which purports to follow and represent Jesus is like dying a slow and painful death. The ax head drowns in politics and the search has long since ceased. And if Mitt Romney had been elected, and if many Republicans had won in the senate and house, millions of believers would be rejoicing, falsely believing God had answered prayers and the nation was once again seeking Christ. It is and always has been a fool’s errand which in these later days has become more economic than moral and certainly not spiritual.
What manner of love is this that the Father has bestowed upon us? The Great God has not only prepared a place for us in eternity, but He Himself awaits our entrance into His own dwelling place. And step a little further if you will. We have been made the sons of the Living God and the younger brothers of the Lord Jesus. He is the eternal Son from eternity past through eternity future, but we have been grafted in by God’s amazing grace. It is the miracle of all miracles and we dare not trade it for a mess of earthly pottage.
I Pet.2: 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
I do not belong to any party or any nation. I belong solely to the Lord Jesus. I must be diligent to reveal what God has said about me. Am I peculiar? Do I seek holiness? Does my life show forth His praises or does it show forth earthly issues? We must be completely surrendered, unconditionally surrendered, to Jesus our Lord. And when we are living in that reality it must surely make us that peculiar people the Spirit says we are. It is time to seek and follow Jesus as if we have first seen and known Him. The love of Jesus has grown cold, and we now live unremarkable within the church and the culture. Rejecting nationalism, politics, and war must never be the place where we graze. Jesus must be our pursuit and our life.
This is no trifle or doctrinal tenant. This is a reality which reaches deep inside the love of our God and by faith has produced the fruit of eternal life. This is our life; this is our calling; this is Christ in us the hope of glory. I have not only had enough of earthly pursuits, but I have had enough of following the earthly pursuits of others. It has become to me a redundant drone of worldly allegiances and misguided endeavors. It is all so much dung and it has set itself against the knowledge of Christ. I must reel in what my eyes read and what my ears hear. I have been stubborn, but God has revealed to me that while I see the bondage in others I have in some ways restricted my own spiritual freedom to see the face of Jesus.
I have not prayed for others as I should, and I have communicated with humans more than I have spoken with God. I reject my own shortcomings and ask God to cleanse me from me and set my feet once again upon the Rock. And I desire to know Him in His sufferings and His resurrection. I already know the specifics of the western church compromises, and now the evil one and my own flesh seeks to bind me to that knowledge at the expense of the sacred journey to know Christ in all His fullness. I will still speak what God directs me to, however my heart now turns to seeking Christ with everything I am. I will now be fully aware of providing posts that are overwhelmingly centered on Christ and seeking His heart, and my posts of correction and discernment must be in addition to those posts rather than the preponderance.
My heart grieves today. Not because of anything that has happened, but for my imprisoned brethren. I need to be so much more like Jesus and I am so easily distracted. I need the Spirit to bring me to my own death and there I will be resurrected in Him. But it is so much easier to stay where I am and try and convince myself I am further along than those with whom I once frolicked. I can no longer live that lie, I desire to forsake all and follow Him. I once again stand to me feet and leave the shade of my own resting place and seek the resting place found in His threshingfloor. It is there the Spirit can brand His stigma in my mortal being. Without His stigma I am living unto myself.
That I may decrease and He may increase whatever the cost.
I pray God will do another miraculous work in my life this coming year, and He knows best of all I have proven without controversy I cannot do it in myself. I cannot help but speak those things which I have seen and heard in the Spirit through God’s exalted Word. So in light of that truth, I must see and hear much more. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.
So you believe the election is over and that is the end of it. But so many are wringing their hands, not because babies will still be killed in the womb, but because they fear socialism might take a bite out of their pocketbooks. And many of those people are professing believers in Jesus Christ. They ignored Mitt Romney’s gigantic support for his Mormon faith, and they supported him. And like Jerry Falwell Jr. and Franklin Graham and thousands of other evangelical leaders, they suggested that what Romney believed about Jesus was less important than what he said he believed about marriage. They even placed traditional marriage above abortion this time.
But in an interview with two professors at evangelical seminaries, something very important came out, and it centers around an issue that many of us warned about months ago. The interview is HERE. But here is a portion of that interview:
"Although Mitt Romney lost his presidential bid, Christians should be prepared for higher Mormon visibility and credibility in America, an interfaith witness expert and a seminary professor told Baptist Press, reports "When Mormon missionaries knock on people's doors, they will be seen in a more positive light when people know that [Romney] was once a Mormon missionary," said Tal Davis, executive vice president of MarketFaith Ministries in Tallahassee, Fla., who served with the North American Mission Board for more than 20 years training Christians in interfaith witness. "They will likely gain entrance into homes where they formerly would have been denied." The ascendancy of a Mormon leader to the cusp of the presidency, Davis said, "testifies to the fact that most Americans no longer regard Mormons as out of the cultural mainstream, as was true in the 19th and early 20th centuries."
So you believe you did no harm by your support for Mitt Romney? But can’t you see now the implications of such support? And these are not just national and economic implications, these have to do with men’s eternal souls. And I ask you, what can be greater than that? These professors understand that because Mitt Romney, and Glenn Beck for that matter, have been embraced by mainstream evangelicals, the fear and uncertainty has been removed. And as was said, many Mormon missionaries will now gain entrance into homes where they might have been refused entrance.
So instead of seeking God and holding up the teachings of Scripture, evangelicals submitted themselves to the salvation of a nation and thereby built a bridge which may lead to the damning of men’s souls, if that even matters anymore. This is no game, and this is not sensationalism or melodrama. If we believe in eternity, and if we believe in eternal life and eternal death, then nothing can be more important than living, preaching, and defending our faith. And any and all things that would tarnish or compromise our faith are enemies of Christ. And nationalism has led to idolatry, hedonism, violence, and now a joining hands with cults.
And in a stunning display of a monstrous betrayal to Christ, millions of professing believers openly lent their support to a person who not only denies Christ and teaches that denial, but who has given millions to spreading a doctrine of demons. How could this have happened? This is what happens when you give your allegiance to something other than Christ and His Word. You would never openly reject Him, in fact you may still believe in Him, but because you are double minded you attempted to hold allegiances in two kingdoms. And that is impossible. When you support the spirit of antichrist to be your leader you have committed spiritual adultery. When the children of Israel demanded a king like the heathen, God allowed them to fulfill their lusts and they chose Saul. But that does not accurately reflect what the church has done. It would be more like the children of Israel electing a prophet of Baal as their king. Mitt Romney was no run of the mill Mormon. That would have been horrific in and of itself. But he was a priest in that cult and yet believers chose money over the Word of God. No, I am not suggesting you should have voted for President Obama, but I am saying you should not have voted for either.
But since Mitt Romney was supported by evangelicals across this land, you can be sure the Mormon Church will take full advantage of the situation. The Mormon Church has been inundated with application for full time missionaries ever since Romney became the Republican nominee. And even though he was not elected the evil one has other plans. And the devil is more concerned with capturing men’s souls than he is capturing the White House. In many ways he already has the White House and has occupied it for decades. But this Republican defeat is being turned into a demonic victory. The devil only cares about the economy if he can use it to turn the hearts of men. Think about it: All the devil had to do was make a few economic promises and the church became his lap dog.
But the designs of the evil one are a thousand times more sinister than the job market or certain legislations or even gay marriage. If he can make the gospel more general, and if he can redefine the Person of Jesus Christ, then he can and will damn the souls of sinners who might have rejected the Mormon faith until this year. And millions of evangelicals have joined the devil in his diabolical scheme. In fact, many may eventually become Mormons.
But if you are one of the ones who lent your God given support to a cultist, then you will give an account. This is serious business, a million times more serious than any election year. The world may be headed for an economic collapse. And when it does believers as well as unbelievers will be begging for someone to turn things around. They will want hope and change, or real hope and change, anything and anybody that has a viable plan. It will not matter what that person believes or worships as long as he can provide economic prosperity.
The heart of the church is already tied to money and it will not take much. And if the American economy takes an even greater turn for the worst in the next fours years, the church will be ready and waiting for the next conservative voice to make promises, regardless of his or her religious views. As long as he gives lip service to traditional marriage, and as long as he gives lip service to being pro-life, it will not matter if he believes Jesus was an alien sent from a far away planet. In fact, that is what Mitt Romney believes.
Get ready to face the Christ against whom you joined forces.
READ CAREFULLY: Matt.23: 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that taketh from others, and votest against them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy unwanted children together, even as a job creator gathereth his empoyees, and ye would not! Matt.9: 36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with consternation on them, because they had no industriousness, and were changing the demographics, as workers having no job.
37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The job market truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
38 Pray ye therefore the President of the company, that he will send forth regional managers into the middle class. Jn.4: 34 Jesus saith unto them, My goal is to hire enough cheap labor so I can finish the work and receive a large parachute buyout.
35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh a profit? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the consumers; for they are no longer white but are still ready to reach with our products.
36 And he that closes deals receiveth wages, and gathereth funds in his 401k: that both he that oversees and he that invests may rejoice together.
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The old Indian Chief, a proud Iroquois, put his arm around his young son. As he looked over the landscape, he said, “Son, look how the demographics have changed in our country. It’s different than it used to be, and the culture is becoming much more white. But thankfully, the white man is going to provide for us a place where we can live.”
His son looked up at his father and asked, “Why can’t we stay where we are, Father?”
“Well, the white man now owns it.”
Later the history books would explain to our white children just how brave our ancestors were, and how God so blessed the white man that he was not only able to capture all the land, but how God helped the white man corral the Indians and send them to a piece of land they once roamed. It’s an amazing story. The “trail of tears” was an anomaly and was unfortunate and is not recorded in many history books.
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The old Tribal Chief in the Congo put his arm around his young son. As he looked over the landscape he said, “Son, look how the demographics have changed in our country. It’s different than it used to be, and the culture is becoming much more white. Many of our people have been taken to foreign lands, and now the white man has set up his own living places. But thankfully, the white man allows us to work for him.”
The son looked up at his father and asked, “Dad, will I ever be a chief?”
“No, son, we belong to the white man now.”
Later the history books would remain largely silent about the horror of African colonialism and oppression. But God had so blessed the white man that he was able to extricate gold and jewels from the Dark Continent, and use the black man to get it. It was unfortunate how many black people had to die during these exciting times of adventure and capitalism, but everything comes at a prices.
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The successful American white man sat in church and waited for the service to begin. He put his arm around his young son. As he gazed at the vaulted ceiling and enjoyed the air conditioned ambiance, he said, “Son, look how the demographics have changed in our country. It is much different than it used to be, and the culture is becoming less and less white. I do not even recognize my own country anymore. The moochers and freeloaders are taking over, and what we built in the 1950’s is almost gone. The labor our ancestors sacrificed to take this land from the Indians and make it our own, and the labor our ancestors sacrificed to go and get African slaves to help us build it even greater, is now only a fond memory.”
The son looked up at his father and asked, “Dad, can I have an I-Pad because the screen on my I-Phone is too small?”
“Sure son, why didn’t you tell me before? We’ll go together and get one right after the football game. I can’t wait to see how our new running back does. What’s his name…that black kid from UCLA? Never mind, he’s going to do well for our team.”
The curtain opens and the dad and his family stand to worship Jesus. It is a wonderful and uplifting tradition.
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The church, as it is traditionally called, no longer sees sinners like Jesus sees sinners. Most of the evangelical church in America sees the populace in the same way in which the heathen see people. Companies and politicians and talk show hosts see the human landscape in terms of demographics. They see ethnicity and color. They see who is most productive and therefore has value, and who is not productive and is therefore worthless and even a weight upon the economy. Instead of weeping over their souls the church now expresses anger over their lethargy. Instead of redemption the church joins the voices of condemnation.
This is no longer an anomaly. This is now standard and accepted practice. Oh yes, there are people who abuse the welfare system, and people who refuse to work, and people who steal for a living, and all kinds of lazy people who walk this life and take advantage of the system on many levels. They certainly are out there. The New Testament calls them sinners in need of a Savior. I realize it is hard to love them. I realize they are irritating and grate on our financial nerves. I realize it isn’t fair to the hard working among us. I realize all of that. But I also realize that I am called to follow Jesus, and that should, that must change everything.
Oh I sometimes feel the frustration when I see people like the ones I have mentioned. And when I hear the talk show voices put it in economic perspectives I can feel my flesh begin to rise. Yes, I am like you. Whoever I lend my ears to I open my heart to as well. It isn’t fair that people refuse to work or manipulate the system or take welfare or unemployment when they shouldn’t. Yep, I can easily get frustrated and feel a sense of condemnation begin to rise. As I said, I am like you.
But I cannot enjoy those fallen fruits for long. I wish I could forget what Jesus said. I wish I could forget how the apostles gave their lives for people just like those. I wish I had not read Foxes Book of Martyrs. I just wish I could freely judge and condemn and stand upon a platform of self righteousness and while I sing the praises of my own labor I could point to the lethargy of others and receive applause. I honesty know how good it feels to condemn others and to point out things that essentially are true, and use that as a platform to both castigate others and elevate myself. I really do know how good that can feel. And my flesh is very adept at such things.
But since I have promised to follow Jesus, I just can’t seem to wipe away the things He said and did from my memory. And even more uncomfortable, I just cannot forget what Jesus has done for me even though I was every bit as undeserving as the most shiftless, lazy miscreant among us. I just cannot forget the words of the song To God be the Glory when it says,
O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.
And when I hear the words “vilest offender” I can only think of me. You see, I wish I could give way to me flesh with impunity, but the delights of my flesh are only temporary and even when I think I have enjoyed a fleshly harvest I soon must repent. Yes, to give way to my flesh continues to be a fools errand that sometimes still makes way for a fool. But now I hear believers and even preachers all over say things about people and lost sinners which I could never say, and I wonder how they can enjoy those words. I wonder where they have purchased a license from Jesus to feel that way about the lost. I wonder if all these years I have read the words of Jesus and the narrative of His life and not understood the English language. Perhaps I have understood them much too literally, and perhaps they have always been designed to be a helpful appendage to the inner workings of a fallen culture. Perhaps they are utopian and should never be forced upon His believers.
Yes, the demographics have changed on the outside, but the hearts of men are still the same. White, black, brown, yellow, red, and everything else are just exterior paint but which do not reveal the common ground we all share. We are all sinners and we all need Christ. Once we take our eyes and hearts off that truth, even for a moment, we are doomed to return to the swine trough from which we came. Once we find ourselves seeing and saying things the way any segment of the culture sees and says things, then we have left following Christ. I know, the path is inconvenient and at times very, very hard. The flesh presses us for outlets and our ears and eyes long to see things they way they are on earth and not the way He sees them in the Spirit.
But we have no choice. And I will also reveal something else. Like you, I have sometimes given way to my flesh and have temporarily enjoyed its forbidden fruit. Sometimes I realize what I am doing, and sometimes I have been blind to my sin. But regardless of how much fallen pleasure my flesh has enjoyed in those moments, when the Spirit convicts my heart, and when He illuminates me to my own sin and pride, something glorious begins to happen. Oh it isn’t pleasurable at first, but as the Spirit moves within me I am brought low. I see what I should have seen to begin with. I am ashamed as my fig leaves are removed. I experience deep regret. I am ushered into repentance by His amazing power and there the Spirit performs His miracle working ministry.
I am forgiven and I am cleansed from all unrighteousness. Now it is impossible to convey with words all the feelings that floods one’s souls when you are forgiven and cleansed by your Father and Lord and through the power of the Spirit. Undeserving? You better know it. Had I ever done the same thing before? Oh please. Does God know I may stumble again? He’s God, remember? But the healing balm that runs like hot oil within your being is an experience like none other. And suddenly I open my eyes and see things and people once again as He saw them, primarily from the vantage point of Calvary’s hill.
And when I see that battered, bloodied body, and when I hear that voice that asked forgiveness for His killers, I am undone. Any semblance of self righteousness has been removed. How can I condemn even the most grievous sinners among us when I have come to realize like Paul that I AM the chief of all sinners? Go ahead and present you credentials of self worth. Go ahead and pad your résumé. Go ahead and compare yourself with others. Go ahead, but it will profit you nothing. If you have been made a partaker of the heavenly gift through faith then you have no credentials but His. And your résumé is His. And any praise and any honor you receive must all go to Him. You have now entered a kingdom where there are no demographics. No male, no female, no white, no black, no gay, not straight, only sinners redeemed by His blood, change by His power, but sill completely in need of His grace each and every day.
And if you truly meditate and understand the depth and scope of such truths, you can never condemn and judge with reckless impunity. Yes, you are drowning in the sea of His grace. Do not fight it and do not ask for a life preserver. Just let yourself sink in that sea of grace and die. And the next time you open your eyes a miracle will have occurred. They are no longer your eyes, and your mind is no longer yours. He now lives in and through you and the man who drowned has been left at the bottom of the sea. You are in Him and He is in you. But you will soon notice something quite astonishing. You hear and see and understand and act and speak remarkably different than what is generally accepted in the culture and even in the church. But do some sentry duty. If you once again begin to see and hear and speak the way you used to, then sound the alarm! Run quickly to that same sea of God’s grace, jump in it once again, and drown once more. By advised, you may have to do that daily, and in my experience, I have had to do that more than once on some days.
That term, coined by President Eisenhower, refers generally to the outflow of money, contracts, and other resources that flow from the United States government including all its branches into all things military. It refers to the structure that provides an overwhelmingly favorable source of financial and political support for all things connected to the military. It requires roughly half of the entire budget each and every year. And woven into that large piece of the budget is much waste, many weapons than are unnecessary, unexplainable overruns, and billions, and yes I said billions, of dollars that are legally clandestine and are spent on projects of which there is no open description to say nothing of any oversight. Yes, the military has at its disposal billions upon billions of budgetary dollars that can be spent anyway it wishes without explanation or even public exposure. They are usually labeled with code in the budget.
And let me also reveal to you the offensive underbelly of the military under the guise of war. When you are engaged in a war, and when that term is used, the end justifies the means is a basic tactic for process, action, and discretionary spending. In short, the military can and does do almost anything they want in a war. The boundaries disappear and the most rabid hawks within the military quickly gain a more pronounced voice that can be at least marginalized during times of peace. But make no mistake that even in times of relative peace there still lives an atmosphere of fear, doomsday\rhetoric, and unreasonable suspicion concerning the past, present, and especially the future. The military basically sees threats under every tree and every bush around the world, and the assessments of the military capabilities of enemy nations are usually blown way out of proportion. (I.e. Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.)
This ultimately leads to all sorts of unwarranted fears and unneeded military projects. And the tentacles of this military complex run through many states which enjoy generous military awards which provide many jobs. This kind of relationship has been symbiotic for many years, and in times of war it has no boundaries. The waste and needless redundancy is breathtaking, however it usually remains hidden from the taxpayer’s eyes. It is the leviathan of all leviathans in America.
But I wish to draw your attention to something more sinister, if that is actually possible. But even as I zero in on something specific, let it be known that the entire military industrial complex is fraught with all kinds of questionable ethics, outright theft, and cronyism at its very best. And thousands of lobbyists like predators live and breathe in Washington just to gain some leverage which ultimately will garner funds. It is quite the spectacle and it reveals the worst about a democracy.
During these times of war companies make tens of billions of dollars while individuals make billions. To say that there is an ounce of frugality being practiced is laughable considering the wonton spending on any and all things requested. The payoffs, the underhanded agreements, the hidden money, and the general money changing atmosphere is astonishing. And hundreds of politicians from the President on down profit from war. It is called profiteering and it goes on unabated. Ultimately there will be warehouses full of unneeded items while bank accounts balloon.
There is no sign of frugality and spending knows no limits. This is to say nothing of how the war is prosecuted and the many wasted bombings and vehicle migrations and many other useless adventures. I am only referring to the backdoor profits. And even when certain elected politicians must temporarily resign from certain company posts, after they leave politics there awaits for them a Disneyland of financial opportunity based in no small part on their friendly handouts to certain companies. It is a slick system where one hand washes the other, and since the public’s attention is diverted with fear and a natural and understandable concern for the well being of the soldiers, it almost seems criminal to question anything.
Even if you removed the killing and the violence, the entire system brims with financial mismanagement and avenues wherein money changes hands with no accountability. And even in times of peace there are always well paid companies diligently working on bigger and better weapons in order to convince the already convinced of their dire necessity in this dangerous world. And the award process is also a -playground for financial manipulation and political promises. When there are three companies presenting prototypes for a certain fighter jet, and when they come from three different states, then the politicians from the individual states will support the home team as well as use all kinds of promises to convince their political brethren to support their states offer.
But just a cursory investigation on the dealing with the security firm named Blackwater back then in Iraq would be an eye opener. The entire “war thing” is big business and comes with a plethora of underhanded dealings and agreements. The cover-ups are many and the over runs are legendary. The whole thing stinks and makes a mockery of fairness and equality. Those in power and already positioned financially make handsome profits.
Now all this financial skullduggery occurs while men and women on both sides are being killed and maimed. Could there be anything more unseemly and immoral? And yet the overwhelming majority of people who call themselves evangelicals espouse it almost without question. And when put to the test most would object more to the financial dealings than the killings themselves. The culture has anestitized the church and fed the church their own brand of morality. And most of the church marches in lock step with the culture and the necessity and normalcy of patriotism and nationalism. It almost never occurs to anyone that perhaps we are walking in a semi-conscious state that keeps us from a genuine obedience to the teachings of Jesus.
And the military industrial complex presents an incredible image of just how far we have strayed form the simplicity that is in Christ. To find another cultural expression that is more immoral in practice and in implementation is very difficult if not impossible. And it is all done with taxpayer money. It is profiteering at its finest and since it operates under the guise of necessary protection, and since it uses the bravery of men and women as cover, it operates almost with reckless abandon.
But we have not learned such from Christ. I know, this is just another issue that seems fanatical and way out of the mainstream, and you know what, it is. War is not the way of Jesus. Think and pray about it.
Additional communications to me may be e-mailed to spcrick@msn.com. Any negative e-mails will be deleted without response, however sincere questions will be answered. I seek edification and deeper knowledge of Christ and His truth not a destructive and meaningless religious chatter. May God's Spirit open all of our hearts to Him.
I am an ordained Baptist minister but more importantly I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was saved in 1975 watching Billy Graham on television after having lived a wicked and Christless life. I graduated with a three year degree from Trinity Bible College in Dunedin, Florida. I have three children, two grandsons, and one granddaughter. I not only see the obvious falling away of the present day church, but I humbly acknowledge that we all are in desperate need of a massive revival. I hope this blog ministers to you, and may Jesus Himself receive all the preeminence!
spcrick@msn.com
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