Monday, December 31, 2012

God is Not Asleep!




“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2 (NIV)


The Bible tells us that we do not always know how to pray.  Sometimes our prayers remain unanswered.  Sometimes they are not answered in the way we expected. Most of this is out of our control—God is the one who sees and knows best how to give us what we need.  But we do have control over whether or not we are living a holy life. According to Isaiah 59:1-2, unconfessed sin will keep God from even hearing our prayers.  It’s not God that has the problem, it’s us.  How can we be humble if we are unwilling to confess our sin? How can we seek God’s face if our sin causes Him to hide his face from us?  How can He hear from heaven and heal our land if our sin makes it impossible for him to hear us?



James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Don’t Give Up Hope




“Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ‘I am the LORD, the God of all mankind.  Is anything too hard for me?’” Jeremiah 32:26-27 (NIV)


Do you feel discouraged about the condition of America?  Do you sometimes feel you are the only person that is praying for revival?  Check out this website and be encouraged!  Maybe God will use you to bring revival to your church, your community, your nation!





Thursday, December 27, 2012

A Safe Place to Hide





“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”  Psalm 32:9 (NIV)


There is a lot of talk about safety in recent days.  How do we keep our children safe in school? How do we protect ourselves against violence?  The truth is, there is no safety in this world.  We are in danger everywhere—restaurants, shopping malls, churches—even in the best of neighborhoods.  The idea of being safe is really an illusion.  We think if we can just control our environment, nothing bad will happen.  There’s just one problem—we cannot control evil. Man is not evolving into a sinless creature.  Evil has existed from the time man was first created and it clearly is still with us today. 


The Bible tells us that God is our “hiding place”.  Does this mean we will never encounter evil or suffer at the hands of a madman?  The answer is “No”.  But it does mean that we will be kept in His peace, in every circumstance, knowing that whatever happens in our life has passed through His hands for a purpose. God doesn’t waste anything—He can use even the most tragic circumstances for good. Sometimes this can be impossible to understand, but God reminds us in Isaiah 55:8 that “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”. It all goes back to having that child-like faith. He is a trustworthy Father and we need not fear. We live with the knowledge that life is fragile and can end at any time. For that reason, we make the most of each day God gives us, knowing that when those days are over, we will spend eternity with Him in a place where there are no tears or sorrow.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Peace on Earth





“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you: he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'” 

“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.'”  Luke 2:8-14 (NIV)




Jesus is the only one who can bring peace on earth. 


Merry Christmas and God’s blessings to you all!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

The E-Word




“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.” Luke 6:45 (NIV)




There is an 800 pound elephant in the room, and everyone is pretending like it isn’t there.  It’s a little word—only four letters, but people hate, even refuse, to speak it.  The word is spelled E-V-I-L.  In today’s world, most would like to have it erased from the dictionary.  But it’s there—whether you acknowledge it or not.  The Bible says it’s all about what is in our heart: “For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.” (Mark 7:21-22 NIV)  We all have the capacity for evil—not everyone is controlled by it.  God is the one who can help us with this problem—all of our attempts to change these heart issues ourselves usually fall flat. Only He can change a heart. But most people don’t want His help.  They prefer to think that man, and the world he lives in, can be perfected by the wisdom of man.  I don’t see much progress, do you?

Friday, December 21, 2012

Major Surgery or a Bandaid?




America is desperately sick.  As I listen to the news commentators and their experts discuss how to keep our children safe at school, I feel sad.  The patient is dying and they are trying to figure out just where to apply the bandaid.  All the mental heath professionals, armed security guards, and metal detectors in the world will not keep our children safe, because they only address the symptoms of America’s illness.  No one is talking about the root cause of this terrible violence that threatens to destroy our society.  I think people are too proud to admit that America has a spiritual disease.  What has happened to this once healthy nation?  God and His commandments have been banished from our country—and the Church has stood silently by and watched it happen.  The moral compass of our nation no longer exists.  The family, as God designed it, has been declared irrelevant. Technology has overtaken good, old-fashioned conversation, leaving our relationships shallow and disposable.  There is no common belief that unites us—everyone does what is right in his own eyes.  Where is God? I think he has been trying to get our attention for some time, with little success.  Now--I think He has left the building.  We think we can get along without Him, so that is exactly what He is allowing to happen.  How is that working for us?  Not so well.



“This is what the LORD says: ‘Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD.’”  Jeremiah 17:5 (NLT)

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

A Cry For Help





“How long, O LORD, must I call for help?But you do not listen!‘Violence is everywhere!’ I cry,But you do not come to save.
Must I forever see these evil deeds?Why must I watch all this misery?Wherever I look,I see destruction and violence,I am surrounded by peopleWho love to argue and fight.The law has become paralyzed,And there is no justice in the courts.The wicked far outnumber the righteous,
So that justice has become perverted.
Habakkuk 1:1-4 (NIV)    


















This Plea to God was written by the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk. It describes the condition of God’s chosen people in the 7th century B.C.  Does this sound familiar?  God was well aware of their sin and took strong action to correct it.  Do we really think America can escape God’s judgment without repentance?

Monday, December 17, 2012

Where Is God?




“I trust in the LORD for protection. 

So why do you say to me,

‘Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety! 

The wicked are stringing their bows

and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings. 

They shoot from the shadows

at those whose hearts are right. 

The foundations of law and order have collapsed. 

What can the righteous do?’



But the LORD is in his holy Temple;

The LORD still rules from heaven.

He watches everyone closely,

examining every person on earth.

The LORD examines both the righteous and the wicked.

He hates those who love violence.

He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked.

punishing them with scorching winds.

For the righteous LORD loves justice.

The virtuous will see his face.”



Psalm 11 (NLT)  

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Message to My Family



As I study the Bible, and as I watch events that are happening in the world, I can’t help but come to the conclusion that difficult times lie ahead.  The world that we grew up in no longer exists.  Changes in the way people view marriage and family, the acceptance of abortion, sex and violence in movies, television and the internet, and legalization of drugs are not changes for our good.  I realize that some of you may not agree with that opinion, but I ask you to consider this: What lies ahead for your children or grandchildren?  What values do you hold sacred? What will our world look like in 10 years?  20 years?

God says that there will be an end to the world as we know it, when Jesus returns to judge the earth.  How will we know when that will be and what are the implications for us and our loved ones?  This is what the Bible says, “There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…” (2Timothy 3:1-4)  I think that these things are evident in our world today and will only get worse as the time of Christ’s return approaches. When we see these signs, along with others mentioned in the Bible, we will know that the end is near.  God is a loving and forgiving God, but He is also a God of judgment—there will be serious consequences for those who reject Him, and great suffering lies ahead for those who do not acknowledge Him in those last days.

When you see the ultrasound of your unborn child or grandchild, the beauty of a sunset, the uniqueness of every animal, plant or person, the majestic mountains or the rhythm of the ocean, the sun, moon and millions of stars and galaxies,  can you really question the existence of an amazing, creative, all-powerful God?    

The God who created these things is the author of the Bible.  Maybe you find that hard to believe.  God says it takes a child-like faith to believe in Him—like a child trusts his or her father.  This is one case where our education and intelligence can hinder us rather than help us. But, that doesn’t mean we have to abandon our intellect—many brilliant men and women have set out to prove the Bible false and ended up knowing it was true.  We are human, He is God—what makes us think we can explain everything He is and does? 

My beliefs have absolutely nothing to do with the Mayan calendar and the prediction of the end of the world on December 21, 2012.  The Bible explicitly states that no one but God knows the time of Christ’s return (Matthew 24:36).  If you haven’t read my blog, I hope that you will. I love every one of you and want you to be ready for the difficult times that are coming.  “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Thursday, December 13, 2012

My Confession




“When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.  What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:21-25 (NIV)


God speaks.  He tells me what to write for this blog, and He gives me the words to say.  Some are encouraging, but some are hard.  When I write what God tells me, it is not just for those of you who are reading the blog—it’s for me. He wants to change me, too.  Some of the very things I write about are hard for me to do. As I have been writing about the last days and having a burden for those that don’t know Christ, God has been speaking to me about my family.  Some of my children, their spouses, and my grandchildren do not know Jesus.  I confess to you, as I have to God that, when it comes to my family, I fear man more than I fear Him.  I love them all and want them to know God’s love for them more than anything in this world.  But I hold back, because I fear their rejection.  In my mind, I know that it is God that I should fear—He is the one I should want to please.  But as Paul says, there is another law at work in my body, waging war against the law of my mind.  I know, in my flesh, I can’t change this. But I also know that Jesus, living in me, is able.  Please pray for me, as I pray for you

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Scoffers




“Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.  They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again?  From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”  2 Peter 3:3-4 (NLT)


“But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.  The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think.  No, he is being patient for your sake.  He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.  But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief.  Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.” 2Peter 3:8-10 (NLT)

Sunday, December 9, 2012

The Day of the Lord




“For see, the day of the LORD is coming—the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger.  The land will be made desolate, and all the sinners destroyed with it.  The heavens will be black above them; the stars will give no light.  The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will provide no light.  I the LORD, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin.  I will crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty.” Isaiah 13:9-11 (NLT) 

“Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD!  Why do you long for the day of the LORD?  That day will be darkness, not light.  It will be as though a man fled from a lion, only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.  Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light—pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?”  Amos 5:18-20 NIV)


Have you ever heard someone say, “I just wish Jesus would come back!”  Maybe you’ve said it yourself or at least thought it.  In the book of Amos, God rebukes us for such thoughts or statements.  Although Christ’s return will bring an end to the things we despise about this godless world, what does it mean to those who do not know Jesus? They will be judged and sentenced to an eternity in hell. That day will bring unmatched grief and anguish to an already hurting world. I believe God wants us to stop thinking of ourselves and have compassion on those that face a perilous future.  The evidence that we are in the last days should give us a sense of urgency to reach as many as possible before it is too late.

Friday, December 7, 2012

The Last Days—Part Two




“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree:  As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it (the time of Jesus’ return) is near, right at the door.”  Matthew 24:32-33 (NIV)


Just as the tree shows signs of the approaching season, so there will be signs of Jesus’ return.  In his book, IMPLOSION, Joel Rosenberg lists the following twenty signs that can be found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21:
·        Wars and rumors of wars
·        Uprisings and revolutions and kingdoms being shaken
·        Famines
·        Earthquakes
·        Pestilences and plagues
·        Terrors and growing fears
·        Great signs in the heavens and bloodred moons
·        The roaring of the sea and the waves
·        Persecution of the church
·        Apostasy of the church
·        Betrayal
·        Lawlessness
·        False prophets and false teachers
·        False messiahs
·        Increase in knowledge and travel
·        The State of Israel being reborn and increasingly becoming the epicenter of international attention
·        The gospel being preached to every nation
·        A spiritual awakening in Israel and among the Jewish people
·        A spiritual awakening in Iran
·        An increase in mockery of Bible prophecy


Are there any of these signs that have not occurred?  These signs will not only be evident, but will intensify like birth pains as the time draws near. When the last person on earth has heard the gospel, Jesus will return.  But the time leading up to His return will be a horrifying time of suffering for those who do not believe—many will not survive.  Pray fervently for revival of the church—it’s not programs or outreaches that will change the hearts of unbelievers, it’s repentance in the church.  When God’s people are living according to His Word, His light will shine in this very dark world.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

The Last Days




“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”  Acts 2:17


The “last days” referred to in this verse are the days leading up to the day of the LORD, when Jesus returns to rule over the earth.  On that day, every person who has rejected Christ will be judged.  Those who are not born again will spend eternity in hell.  Although no one knows exactly when that day will be, Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:32-34 that, just as you can predict the coming of summer by observing the fig tree, so you can know that Jesus’ return is close by observing certain signs and the fulfillment of prophecies.  Watch this video and see just one way that God is fulfilling the prophecy that originated in the book of Joel and is referred to by Peter in Acts 2:17.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

The God of the Whole World




“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”


Sometimes we forget that there is a great, big world out there beyond the boundaries of America.  What He is doing in other parts of the world, He can do here.  Watch these videos to see what God is up to in other parts of the world.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=6BMQm_XY6FQ

Thursday, November 29, 2012

A Message From Billy Graham



My Heart Aches for America

By Billy Graham


“Some years ago, my wife, Ruth, was reading the draft of a book I was writing. When she finished a section describing the terrible downward spiral of our nation’s moral standards and the idolatry of worshiping false gods such as technology and sex, she startled me by exclaiming, “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”
She was probably thinking of a passage in Ezekiel where God tells why He brought those cities to ruin. “Now this was the sin of … Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen” (Ezekiel 16:49–50, NIV).
I wonder what Ruth would think of America if she were alive today. In the years since she made that remark, millions of babies have been aborted and our nation seems largely unconcerned. Self-centered indulgence, pride, and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle.
Just a few weeks ago in a prominent city in the South, Christian chaplains who serve the police department were ordered to no longer mention the Name of Jesus in prayer. It was reported that during a recent police-sponsored event, the only person allowed to pray was someone who addressed “the being in the room.” Similar scenarios are now commonplace in towns across America. Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone—except God.
Yet the farther we get from God, the more the world spirals out of control. 
My heart aches for America and its deceived people. The wonderful news is that our Lord is a God of mercy, and He responds to repentance. In Jonah’s day, Nineveh was the lone world superpower—wealthy, unconcerned, and self-centered. When the Prophet Jonah finally traveled to Nineveh and proclaimed God’s warning, people heard and repented.
I believe the same thing can happen once again, this time in our nation.”

source: http://www.billygraham.orgarticlepage.asp?articleid=8813

Monday, November 26, 2012

Sin in the Camp



“Israel has sinned and broken my covenant!  They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me.  And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings…I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.  Joshua 7:11,12 (NIV)


After the battle of Jericho, God told Israel to set apart the things made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron for Him.  One man, Achan, disobeyed and his disobedience brought judgment on Israel.  They were soundly defeated at Ai, a battle they should have easily won, because God was angry with them.

In our churches today, the pews are full of people who are sinning against God.  They may be cheating on their spouse or planning to divorce them.  Maybe they have lied or gossiped about someone and brought dishonor to that person. Perhaps a young couple is living together outside of marriage.  Or It could be one of those “little sins” that we hardly think is worth mentioning.  But, any sin, in God’s eyes, is serious. In 1 Corinthians 5:6 Paul says, Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast…”  In other words, get rid of sin or it will spread through the whole church. Why, then, do we look the other way when we see people, who call themselves Christians, openly sinning with no thought of repentance? God turned His back on the nation of Israel because of one man’s sin.  Do we really think He doesn’t notice? Maybe God has left our church and we don’t even know it!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Safely Saved or Radically Forgiven?



“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.  Do you realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV)


So—what if you examine yourself and find that you are safely saved?  You are saved from hell and going to heaven, and that (and your sporadic church attendance) seems to be the only difference between you and your neighbor who is lost.  You own a Bible, but don’t read it.  You know you should pray, but you’d rather watch TV or spend hours on the computer.  You work hard for your money and all that you own, and you jealously guard it.  Your free time belongs to you and is for your enjoyment. Church is a place where you go to drink coffee, eat donuts, joke with your friends, sleep through the sermon and then go home and take a nap.

Or—are you radically forgiven?  You can’t understand how a holy God could sacrifice His only Son so that you could call Him Father.  You love God’s Word because it is a way to get to know your Father better.  It is living and active in your life—it changes the way your see yourself and the world God created.  When you think about the salvation God has provided for you, you want to share it with others.  Prayer is time spent with your Father, and you want to keep that appointment with God every day, no matter how busy you may be.  You realize that everything you have--your money, your time, and your special gifts, came from God and belong to God.  You want to serve Him out of a thankful heart, and glorify Him in all you do and say.  You are no longer the master—you are the servant.

You see, the gospel message is not just about being saved from hell. It’s about Christ coming to live His life in and through you—your body is now the temple of the Holy Spirit.  You have the power that raised Christ from the dead, living inside you. You are no longer a slave to sin but have victory over it.  It changes you and everything about you!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

The Kinder, Gentler Church



“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”  Matthew 10:34 (NIV)

 
What is being preached in our churches today?  Is it the full counsel of God or do we prefer a kinder, gentler approach to delivering His Word? No one wants to hear that they are miserable sinners who deserve the wrath of God, and only the blood of Jesus can save them. It’s much more pleasant to hear that God loves them and has a plan for their life.  There’s nothing wrong with that message—it’s a good message.  But it’s not the whole story.  There are two sides to every coin.  If people don’t understand what their salvation cost God the Father and His Son, they’re not hearing the whole story. If people hear that all they have to do is ask Jesus into their heart to be saved, how does that prepare them to become His disciples?  One might think that they have no further obligation other than to say a prayer and attend church when it’s convenient. Jesus saves—that’s great! What about our part of the bargain? What about the fact that God's Word says we are not our own, we were bought with a price?  That we are to be holy, for He is holy?  That we are to love Jesus more than anyone or anything—including our family, our possessions, even our life?  Those are hard teachings but Jesus didn’t sugar coat the Truth and neither should we.  I think this is why our churches are so weak today—people are not being told to do the hard things.  In the end, it leaves the church with nothing but baby believers who are not challenged to grow in their faith.  Worse yet, they are being robbed of the promise of abundant life. The abundant life is not about “having it all”. 

“He who loses his life for my sake will find it.” 

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Taking the Church's Temperature



“My house will be called a house of prayer.”  Matthew 21:13. (NIV)


Vance Havner (1901-1986) was a popular revivalist who boldly proclaimed the word of God for seventy-three years.  The following excerpt is from the book When God Breaks Through: Sermons on Revival by Vance Havner.

“I think prayer is the thermometer of a church.  What a church is on Wednesday night is what it is, not what it is on Sunday morning.  You can’t tell much about a church on Sunday morning.  You’ve got the morning glories and all the rest of them.  But it’s Wednesday night when you can find out what a church is like—how many people care enough to come to pray.”

If prayer is the measure of a church’s temperature, I think we are in trouble.  God says He wants His house to be a house of prayer--not preaching, not programs, not fellowship. We are very busy doing things, neglecting that which is most important.  Prayer should be the very heartbeat of our churches—but today, there is barely a pulse. In Revelation, Jesus describes the church at Sardis saying, “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”  They were doing things that gave the appearance of life, but they were really on life-support.  What was His advice to them?  “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.”

God said, “My house will be called a house of prayer.”

Saturday, November 17, 2012

How Does God See the Church Today?



Is It This?

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’  But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.  Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.  So be earnest, and repent.”  Revelation 3:15-18 (NIV)

Or This?

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”  2 Timothy 4:3

Or This?

“These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” Isaiah 29:13

Or This?

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.” Acts 2:42-44 

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Is This How God Sees America?



“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.” 

“Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.  Amen.”

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.  Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.  Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”

“Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.  They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.  They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”  Romans 1: 21-32 (NIV)


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

A Call for Fasting and Prayer



“Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly.  Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the LORD.” 

Joel 1:14 (NIV)


“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven.  We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity.  We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown.  But we have forgotten God.  We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.  Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!  It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”

April 30, 1863
President Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation
For a National Day of Fasting and Prayer

Sunday, November 11, 2012

When God Visited America--Part Two




“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”  Psalm 33:12 (NIV)



In order for something to be revived, it must be dead, or close to it.  Revival is a temporary state—it can only be sustained by a spirit of repentance and a desire to see God’s glory.  Eventually, people are lulled back to sleep.  So it was in the early 1800’s.  The brutality of the Revolutionary War and the energy it took to establish a new country, had taken its toll.  Consumption of alcohol had increased substantially (about 4-5 times what it is today) and moral decay had set in. Hardly a church could be found in the new territories that were being settled.  Many feared that America could not survive. Once again, God came down, as His people began to wake up and cry out to Him.  The Second Great Awakening came in waves, from 1800-1850, and the effects were far-reaching.  Not only were people returning to God in astounding numbers, schools were started (no public education existed), colleges and universities founded, hospitals were built, as well as shelters for the poor, and foreign missionary societies were begun.  Several men were instrumental in waking America from its slumber—Francis Asbury and Charles Finney are well known, but Timothy Dwight’s story caught my attention because it is so applicable to today.  As President of Yale College, he brought waves of revival to that campus, at a time when almost all students mocked Christianity and its values. The revival spread to Dartmouth and Princeton Colleges, as well. The largest revival came 14 years after his death in 1831.  I encourage you to read about these astounding events and the people who cooperated with God to bring them about.  As hopeless as our world seems today, nothing is impossible for God!

Friday, November 9, 2012

When God Visited America



“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.  You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways.” Isaiah 64:4-5 (NIV)


It began in the year 1734.  The Puritan’s longing for a place to establish a society built on Christian ideals had not materialized. By the early 1700’s, drunkenness, immorality, and every vice imaginable had taken over the American colonies. Public officials were corrupt and churches were weak and ineffective. Jonathan Edwards, a powerful preacher who was used mightily by God, notes that two young people in his town died suddenly, causing many to wonder about their eternal destiny.  In addition to this, a young woman, described as one of the greatest “company keepers” in town was dramatically saved.  Her changed life had a profound effect on the community.  Add to these events the fervent prayer of a few faithful pastors and church people and you have a recipe for revival.  God visited America in a series of revivals that transformed our nation.  He used men like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and Charles and John Wesley to carry His message of repentance to the people. During the peak of the Awakening, 1740-1742, between 25,000-50,000 people were converted out of a population of 300,000!  Nothing is too difficult for God!