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How should Christianity impact my life? (Christian Walk - part 2 of 2) Holiness? Woodrow Wilson, our 28th President made some excellent observations. We have forgotten his words. A man had deprived himself of the best in the world who has deprived himself of this, a knowledge of the Bible. When you have read the Bible, you will know it is the Word of God, because you will have found it the key of your own heart, your own happiness and your own duty. I am sorry for the men who do not read the Bible every day. I wonder why they deprive themselves of the strength and the pleasure. What is holiness? I believe it is a relentless pursuit of pleasing God and striving to do His will. We are holy in God’s eye once we have put our faith in Christ. Nevertheless, once we are saved, Holiness is the goal of those "sold out" for Him. We learn to try to please Him in this way. One cannot approach godliness until one strives toward self-control and perseverance. Perseverance requires time. If God is going to give you eternity, doesn’t He deserve your time? It is only borrowed from Him, anyway. We must be strongly grounded in His word and continually pursuing Him. We cannot expect holiness from simply by hearing sermons. Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1753: The worship of God is a duty; the hearing and reading of sermons may be useful; but, if men rest in hearing and praying, as too many do, it is as if a tree should value itself on being watered and putting forth leaves, though it never produce any fruit. 2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Holiness is a strange concept these days. Even as I write this, with headphones on listening to a great choir singing hymns of Glory and Honor to God, I realize how much of the time I neglect to take opportunities to do this and to pray. Once the CD ended, the television in the background was more prominent and a commercial was blaring, noticeable only after the great hymn, The Doxology ended. What a contrast. Psalms 46:10 " Be still , and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." In this day, how can we pursue holiness? We have 3 children. School events, church events (yes, even church), sports and entertainment eat up all the time. Is there room to develop a relationship with out Almighty God? The more appropriate question is – do you love Him enough? Matthew 6: 19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. One of our treasures is time. I know how busy I am. I know that we tend to make time for those things we want to do. If we are dealing with time as a treasure, if we love God, shouldn’t we spend time with Him and doing His will? I honestly believe Satan is enjoying our lack of time, if he isn’t actively trying to keep us so busy that we neglect the most important thing in our lives. At times in my life when prayer makes up such a precious, important aspect, my perspective is clearer and I have more peace and less nervousness. This is echoed in accounts from those being persecuted. Many are imprisoned in horrible conditions and tortured yet they have great peace as time is spent in communion with the LORD. Time with the Lord allows for an appropriate perspective and clear judgement. How many spend more time running and exercising than time in prayer and study? Both are training. One is more important. One lasts for eternity. One postpones death for only a short period of time (if it works). As a missionary once said – `He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to save what he cannot lose’. Judgment I see three forms of judgement from God. The first is that of primarily judging primarily His people when they strayed from His will. Our country was founded on His principles and therefore we consider ourselves His people. Our currency says "In God We Trust". We are held to a higher standard. When He judged the Israelites in the past, they were taken into slavery by other nations and various other troubles befell them. God’s purpose was to end their waywardness and to draw them back to trusting and following Him. The second is like what occurred to Sodom and Gomorrah as God totally destroyed those cities in an instant! Similarly He destroyed the world with the flood and will destroy the world once more with fire. 2 Peter 3:7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. This may be imminent! In those some judgements He utterly destroyed those who were wicked, including the majority of those living at the time. The third is the judgement after death. We will face His Almighty Presence and will not have a defense, aside from Christ. Why do we deserve God’s Judgement? Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you . 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. The first type judgement is the form our country should be wishing for so we can repent and seek Him., it is already falling on us. Divorce is tearing families apart. Our choice to divorce the mate we stood in front of Almighty God and the world and swore we wouldn’t leave until death deserves judgement!! Children have no strong role models today as their fathers and mothers are not together. They are not kept in line at home (as is near impossible with only one parent raising the child, as tough as it is) so how can we expect them to develop appropriately? Children killing at schools. God’s plan was for a husband and wife to commit to each other and their offspring. Consequences fall when we stray from His plan. Who gets an abortion? Those who, even though pregnant, would rather not deal with children. The medical reasoning for the life of the mother is extremely rare and generally not a viable reason. All reasons are selfish, putting your own desires ahead of your son/daughter. Even with rape, the being formed is due love and nourishing although the father may be evil. Is it the child’s fault? Pregnancies secondary to rape are allowed by God and therefore we should not destroy God’s creation. Ethyl Waters, a wonderful lady who died a few years ago, was conceived from a rape. Many more individuals had wonderful lives despite their beginning. Our world would have suffered without her life. Adoption is an option. A holy perfect God cannot ignore murder. His judgement is coming! Christians not standing against such evil in a Christ-like manner will be accountable to God! Abortion is selfishness. Christ tells us to ‘die to self’. After making mistakes, generally due to sin, we do not want to bear the consequences of that sin and therefore, selfishly we abort individuals we do not know and who are dependent on us. We must repent or suffer under God’s judgement. God makes life. We cannot. We give ourselves way too much credit. One act of sex is not equivalent to making life. As a pathologist I have seen many aborted fetuses (generally from spontaneous abortions, we do not do abortion clinic work). Even before 12 weeks these beings are clearly much more than "tissue". A woman has a right to decide about her body up to when it affects another’s life. She has no right to destroy what God is creating. Once again, she is not capable of making a life. We are only capable of some choices when we do allow ourselves procreation. God still is in charge. We are bearers of DNA but cannot produce life. Abortion rights individuals are also often advocating this as a form of birth control to be useful in developing countries where there is starvation and other strife. The idea that if someone is conceived, it is better for them to be aborted than to live a tough life. This too is wrong. That is an elitist, arrogant view that says ‘we know who would have a decent life'. These individuals are selfish. They do not like watching children starving on TV. I don’t either. What is their approach? Get rid of these children so we will not feel guilty living in luxury. What would be the right approach? Give up some of our luxury to allow their decent survival. We have it all wrong. I believe we owe so much to our founding fathers and all those who willingly risked and gave their lives to form and preserve our republic. We owe them much, including our similar commitment to preserve those principles for which they gave their all. George Washington wrote to his troops: The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage of this army, Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission, We have, therefore to resolve to conquer or die. If they were willing to die for unborn millions who they would never see, how can we ‘choose’ to take away those lives these brave soldiers died for? Soldier’s deaths lack meaning when we don’t embrace those values they died for such as caring for the weak. We have cheated those soldiers who, at young ages, died for this country. and yet we have failed miserably to maintain the values they died for. We, even us Christians, have trampled on their graves. Everyone is talking ‘Safe Sex’, which is a misnomer. Why should we be in love with the condom? An article in the Journal AIDS Education and Prevention in 1996 found that of 652 sexually active subjects, 61% reported not having `safer sex’ with their last sexual partner. Low perceived risk of HIV was the most common reason indicated by 62%, the subject "didn’t want to" use a condom in 19%, "couldn’t stop ourselves" in 15%, partner’s influence (15%) and alcohol or drug use in 11%. Thirty-one percent indicated more than one reason for not having ‘safer sex’. An article in the American Journal of Public Health (1997) indicates the rate of condom breakage at last intercourse was 3.4% and the rate of slippage was 1.1%. A Swiss study in Archives of Sexual Behavior (1998) reported in a 6 month period, 92% (108 of 117) of the HIV infected study population reported sexual contacts and 26% had at least one unprotected event. Among the 93 persons using condoms, 25% of the heterosexual and 10% of the homosexual participants reported breakage of the condom. The most exciting truth is if one keeps himself/herself pure till marriage, the condom is not needed! To test condoms, a water-leak test is used. This test identifies holes as small as 10 microns. The FDA has found a leak rate of 0.3%. A sperm is at its widest point (its head) is 3 microns wide. Three heads could theoretically sit side by side in the smallest hole we can detect by the usual method. To make matters worse, a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is 1000 Angstroms in size. This is one thousandth of the size of the smallest hole detected, meaning thousands of HIV virus particles can theoretically easily cross through such a hole. Luckily for us, the virus particles tend to be located within lymphocytes that are approximately 10 microns diameter. Sure, a condom beats no protection but it is still lousy protection from a disease that has been uniformly fatal. If AIDS becomes a disease that is not fatal with appropriate therapy (a point which has yet to be crossed), the medicines used to treat AIDS have horrible side effects. HIV positivity will continue to be a horrible diagnosis. A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (1997) found that since 1985 heterosexual couples in which one of the partners was infected with HIV, 19% of the female partners of HIV-infected men and 2.4% of male partners of HIV-infected women became infected. This study excluded those who may have used IV drugs. There were no seroconversions recently that possibly may be due to ‘safer sex’ but it may be more likely the result of lower titers of viral particles in the treated partners, a lack of incipient Sexually Transmitted Diseases and increased abstinence. The authors found "No transmission occurred among the 25 percent of the couples who did not use condoms consistently at their last follow-up nor among the 47 couples who intermittently practiced unsafe sex during the entire duration of follow-up." Condoms beat nothing else, only if one wants to practice Russian roulette. A pre-AIDS textbook on Public Health (Public Health; Administration and Practice) that was used in some graduate courses a few years ago has some tight, well-founded principles that have been forgotten today. These principles are the foundation for public health policy. Today we have abandoned them for political correctness, putting all of us at increased risk. With HIV, it isn’t just to avoid a disease but it is to avoid an early, unavoidable death or severe illness. Here are some excerpts. In dealing with diseases of human beings, the most practical primary point of attack sometimes takes the form of reducing the communicability of those infected. This may be accomplished by a combination of two control measures: (1) limitation of their movement and (2) treatment of their infection. Limitation of human activity for public health purposes takes the form of isolation of those known to be infected and quarantine of those known or suspected to have been exposed to the risk of infection. Customarily the free movement of known infected individuals is restricted until clinical observation and/or laboratory tests indicate the absence of infectiousness. Quarantine for a disease generally has been extended over a time interval equal to the usual maximum incubation period of the disease… These techniques, although of long historic standing, have never been too popular… …Thus treatment of individuals with communicable diseases is primarily for the protection of contacts and of the community and secondarily for the benefit of the patient. (Speaking of Legislation) It will suffice here to remind the reader of the folly, even in a democracy, of allowing individuals complete freedom of action. In fact, individual freedom, in order truly to exist, must be limited to the right to engage in all activities except those that may be detrimental to the common welfare. An individual infected with a disease transmissible to others must necessarily forfeit some personal freedom for the common good. Those who cry out for their individual rights at the expense of the rest of us shows no love. Love is a servant’s attitude and giving up your own desires to other’s well-being. Therein lies much of the problem. Many who brought in the disease and perpetuate it are exactly the ones who are too self-centered to stop the spread, showing their lack of concern for others. Romans 1: 8 But for those who are self -seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. These same individuals put the blame on others for their own actions, often in direct defiance of Almighty God and his order. These are the individuals who would have been treated as Typhoid Mary was years ago. She was tracked down and quarantined as well as the public health workers could. We have given up the rights of the masses outweighing the rights of a few individuals, thereby allowing for the epidemic numbers infected today. Do we then deserve suffering from the illness as it extends into the general population? The epidemiological elite continue to preach the condom despite its major shortcomings. They assume we cannot and will not practice abstinence, the only way to truly protect yourself. As true as that was until recently, it seems there may be an appropriate increase in abstinence. We need our moral guide, God’s Word. Evidence found in a recent study showed that people do consciously make decisions regarding sex. When just over 60% fail to use a condom, only 15% used the excuse "couldn’t stop ourselves", further estimating approximately 9% of individuals who lack control. Illegitimate births are high, much higher than were twenty few years ago. OUR SAFE SEX MENTALITY IS A HORRIBLE MISTAKE. God tells us to practice abstinence to protect us from these problems. We have proven Him right! We have abandoned our proven principles of public health. Our statistics show this truth. Our Sin deserves, and is receiving judgement as we see the difficulties of our lives and health brought about by this lifestyle. By simply tolerating sin we have allowed the illness to affect the general population. By allowing this, we have heaped judgement on ourselves. We deserve our punishment. God judged the Israelites after they had won a great victory at Jericho. Many Israelite soldiers died when they went up against a small town of Ai. This occurred because ONE individual took some booty from Jericho when God had instructed otherwise. How much more we deserve judgement – considering ourselves a "Christian" nation, leading the world the wrong direction and dismissing Almighty God as the source of our might. The epidemiologists have crumbled to political pressure. We have allowed those infected to continue to infect. The CDC says "Our nation is facing the most critical and devastating epidemic in recent history…HIV/AIDS is the second leading cause of death among adults ages 25-44." With improved therapy the number of cases of AIDS has slowed but the number of cases of HIV continues to climb! An HIV positive woman in Nashville has claimed 50 "one night stands" to "get back at men". Our supposedly enlightened policies are destroying us. Nobody keeps the Sabbath anymore, one of the Ten Commandments. Why should we? Today many churches have lost their zeal for the Lord (not true of many others). We need to repent and return to God’s command. This too was prophesied. 2 Timothy 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them Who among us can say we keep God ahead of pleasure? Depression is also epidemic. Someone said "Misery comes from mirrors, Joy comes from windows". This highlights the idea that if we seek to please others more than our own desires we will find true joy. I believe this to be a subtle, paradoxical truth. We who are trying to increase the pleasure in our lives miss out on this wonderful answer. Let us not forget many are dying of religious persecution throughout the world today. Those murdered simply refused to compromise. Why are "Christians" in America willing to compromise when the persecution is so much less? God doesn’t take His words lightly. If we know we are sinning, we know through His Word that He cares. He wants no one to perish but if we lack faith in salvation by Christ, He will condemn us. Acts 13:38 "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses. 40 Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: 41 "`Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish , for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.'" 1John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God When the going gets tough, those leaning on His Spirit will remain true. Judgement is falling on all lacking the truth. Perspective I honestly was concerned with the last 2 presidential elections. As Christians we cannot separate church and politics where the politics affect the faith. We must pray for our president and others. This is not negotiable. Compromise is not wrong when it comes to picking out what features to purchase for your new car but it is wrong when it pertains to those values God cares enough to write down in the Bible. Much of our government’s legislation does pertain to God’s issues. We are not worthy to be called "Christian" if we treat God’s issues as we do other legislation. God’s desires must come first. Christ showed us how to not back down from political pressure. All He had to do was to say He wasn’t the Christ. He wouldn’t have been crucified. Thousands of other Christians have died simply for saying Christ was LORD. Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? How should we vote? Let us explore the way Christians should vote. Not just politically conservative Christians but anyone who does take up his cross and does not deny God’s word. As Christians we must show faith in God and His word. After all, without this faith there is no reason we should label ourselves as Christians. Let’s illustrate. I was asked to donate to a reelection campaign of a relatively conservative, Republican Senator who has a voting record favorable to medicine (which is my occupation). This Senator has a lukewarm voting record when it comes to issues involving human rights and abortion. (If you have some doubt regarding the issue of abortion as an important issue to God, please check out Dr. Alan Keyes’ web site for the clearest logical reasoning on this subject). The Senator does do ok on some issues. We should chose not to give to this individual. I chose to write him regarding pending votes, almost exclusively voicing my opinion on those items that deal with God’s values. Here is my reasoning. In the last Presidential election the Democratic candidate clearly took the wrong stand on homosexual rights, abortion, favoring China who persecute Christians and other issues. I could not support him. On the Republican side there was an excellent candidate during the primaries but Dole became the nominee. His record is relatively good but he refused to stand tough against the above issues, despite blowing numerous chances, most notable in the debates. But Dole was better than President Clinton! My choice during the primary was Alan Keyes. Other candidates that seemed committed to God’s values were Rep. Dornan and Pat Buchanon, although moral issues did not seem to be most important to them. Unfortunately no Democratic candidate espoused God’s values either. Each of the three were either ignored, ostracized or shut out by the media. It came time for the election. Supposedly the only candidate that had a chance against President Clinton was Dole. Supporting Dole was supporting the Republican agenda these days. The main issue was financial posterity. To the Republican elite, abortion and homosexual rights were and are just other issues to trade votes with others as may be expedient. There is no ‘higher ground’ of God’s issues to put first, ahead of others that may seem to make our lives better. My father’s generation believed that compromise with politicians like Dole will, in a piecemeal fashion, help bring our values to the front. My belief is that has been tried for years and has been proven wrong as we descend into further godlessness. Our country has been aimed in the wrong direction, despite the small step at a time, compromising approach. Don’t we know we would rather have the laws and governmental structure of the past? Gridlock would have been the friend of the taxpayer. Compromise hurts us in many ways but certainly is not tolerable for Christians from God’s issues' standpoint. As I read the scripture I see God as all-powerful and just. He will not compromise and needs and expects no compromise of His values. His Word says enough. If we compromise His values we will be in danger of His judgement (a place we really don’t want to be). We should trust God to bless our decision to be unwilling to compromise His values. So, on a practical basis, how do we do that with a corrupt government? Many of my fellow Christians chose to vote and work for Dole as he was the only candidate who could ‘possibly win’ in the basically two-party system. As I wonder how I can please God with my vote I realized this was much more important than simply an opinion of who may help us be more comfortable. Shouldn’t we put God’s issues first?? What about a vote for Dole? He compromises on these values. The question is: Should we vote for President Clinton? God forbid! Character always counts. If we cannot trust him to sell you a used car, how can we trust him for safe judgement over our nuclear weapons? What other choices did we have? Libertarians steer away from strictly moral issues. There was a fellow named Howard Phillips running on the American Taxpayers Party, a group I really didn’t know much about. Conventional thinking was- he didn’t have a chance, although he was on the ballot in 50 states. Shouldn’t we vote for the lesser of the two evils (Dole had a chance, didn’t he?)? There’s the dilemma. In that setting, I should trust God and vote without compromise and I cast my vote for the best candidate that I could vote for, Howard Phillips. In the worst case scenario, suppose the election results came down to my single vote between Dole and President Clinton? If I did not compromise and voted for Phillips we would have President Clinton for 4 more years which did happen anyway. That is horrible. We will be paying for his decisions for years, if Christ tarries. If Dole lost the election because of my vote and others like me, then possibly the Republicans will finally get the picture that candidates like Dole are barking up the wrong tree with the emphasis on economy, etc. When economic wealth is gone, who will we be as a nation? Our country will be an empty shell without a revival of moral values. At such a time only those who put their trust in God will prosper. Once our economy fails us, violence may well increase as the jobless rate increases and people without God have increasing anger. We should be willingly spreading our wealth to those in need in the name of Christ with aid as we can. We have more possessions than our parents yet we want more and give God less. We have failed God. Even our attitude toward Him is wrong. It should not be ‘what He can do for us’ but ‘how can I serve Him best’? An We do have responsibility to others and to God. We have failed. Atomic weapons in the hands of a terrorist or a ‘rogue nation’ may perform this function bring this country to our knees. For many, death could come without time to think about it. Miles of a city would be vaporized, especially us as fragile people. It may occur "in the blink of an eye". A current backpack atomic weapon (approximately 0.1 KT – as currently fitted in artillery shells) in the hands of a terrorist would level all brick, unreinforced buildings within 0.43 mi. Radioactivity will kill 50% of the people within 5-10 mi. of the blast, not counting those who die from the blast itself. Wood buildings will ignite 0.24-0.34 mi. from the impact. President Clinton has informed us that currently no Soviet or Chinese atomic weapons are pointed at the United States. Not true, as we are now seeing more clearly. What he didn’t say was that it would take 10 seconds to direct them to the predetermined targets and that in 1995 we were within 3 minutes of Mr. Yeltsin calling for an all-out retaliatory attack on the United States. This was because of a weather satellite that had been launched from Norway. In 1965, a B-52 carrying 2 atomic bombs broke up in flight near Greensboro, North Carolina. On one of the bombs 5 out of 6 safety switches failed leaving only one safety switch averting a horrible accident. The Soviets have more than 20,000 nuclear weapons. Their 550 KT ICBM’s will knock down unreinforced brick buildings for 3.5 miles radius. It will cause wood buildings to incinerate for a 6-7 miles radius and the radiation will kill 50% of the people from 75-150 miles away. Our world is much more unstable than any time in the past. More have been killed in wars in this century than in all of the rest of the centuries combined. Peace, peace but there is no peace. Peace keeping FORCES. That is the same as a bully or a gangster, forcing ‘peace’ on their terms. We have to straighten out our souls before we worry about our pocketbooks. If the Republicans see moral values as the important issue, we may be rewarded with a stronger candidate next election. This would be in contradistinction of the "Big tent" approach that failed. If every Christian would make such a stand for God, and vote for the most Godly candidate who supposedly didn’t have a chance, another small party could become big or a straying party may reverse itself. Abraham Lincoln, who stood firm about God’s values, was a Republican when few thought the Republican party had a chance. He surprisingly upset the Whigs and the Democrats, so it is possible that can be repeated and it is a conceivable outcome. Jesse Ventura is another example. As Christians, we are to pray for our elected officials and President Clinton is no exception. We also should pray at times of decisions like the vote. God placed this President Clinton in that office. I believe we will see this as God’s choice to punish us for our turning away from Him. Ezekial 7:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to the land of Israel: The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. 3 The end is now upon you and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. 4 I will not look on you with pity or spare you; I will surely repay you for your conduct and the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 5 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Disaster! An unheard-of disaster is coming. 6 The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. It has come! 7 Doom has come upon you--you who dwell in the land. The time has come, the day is near; there is panic, not joy, upon the mountains. 8 I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. 9 I will not look on you with pity or spare you; I will repay you in accordance with your conduct and the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that it is I the LORD who strikes the blow. 10 "The day is here! It has come! Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed! 11 Violence has grown into a rod to punish wickedness; none of the people will be left, none of that crowd--no wealth, nothing of value. Isaiah 3: 9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom ; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves. It is simple. By voting for the best candidate according to God’s principals I would have uncompromisingly done God’s will, at whatever expense there is to myself and my worldly understanding. I must trust God with the results of such a decision! Lets explore possibilities. John Quincy Adams (the 6th President of the United States) who reentered politics as a Congressman following his Presidency and was known as one adamantly opposed to slavery said "Duty is ours, results are God’s". Winning was not the most important factor. Pleasing God was. He fought 'gag rules' against slavery in Congress when everyone told him he had no chance of winning. He never let up. He eventually won. Even if he had not won, he would have pleased God, and really won. We need that same attitude today. Looking at this simple statement, either way the results turn out, God’s values win!! Those who compromised their values and voted for Dole can see their vote was to further the complacency of the Republican party toward Christian values. Republican leadership believes they already have our votes so they choose to go after other groups’ votes such as homosexual activists, etc. They count on the Christians who certainly don’t want a Clinton-like candidate. Those who believe like I do and voted for Dole made exactly the same mistake of the years of my father’s as we see our country’s self destruction. With a vote for Dole, Christians lost twice. First, he lost. Second, and more importantly, we voted for ‘business as usual and were not counted against both the Republicans and the Democrats, etc. Most importantly, if we choose the most God fearing candidate, we have, despite our possible peril, uncompromisingly chosen God over our own conventional wisdom and can be confident before Him and trust him for blessings, even if they seem unlikely. Christians have never been politically correct. There are thousands of people being martyred in the world who choose to stand with Christ and to die verses being set free. They die simply because they refuse to deny Christ is Lord. We have sold out too cheaply. We won’t stand firm against much less persecution. God knows the truth. It is easy to erroneously consider ourselves as "Christians". Christ said: Mark 8: 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Christ did not mix words. He also said we would be delivered up, persecuted and killed for His name. Martyrs have done just that. Are we willing? This is a small account from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, The Fifth Persecution, Commencing with Severus, A.D. 192. Perpetua, a married lady, of about twenty-two years. Those who suffered with her were, Felicitas, a married lady, big with child at the time of her being apprehended, and Revocatus, catechumen of Carthage, and a slave. The names of the other prisoners, destined to suffer upon this occasion, were Saturninus, Secundulus, and Satur. On the day appointed for their execution, they were led to the amphitheater. Satur, Saturninus, and Revocatus were ordered to run the gauntlet between the hunters, or such as had the care of the wild beasts. The hunters being drawn up in two ranks, they ran between, and were severely lashed as they passed. Felicitas and Perpetua were stripped, in order to be thrown to a mad bull, which made his first attack upon Perpetua, and stunned her; he then darted at Felicitas, and gored her dreadfully; but not killing them, the executioner did that office with a sword. Revocatus and Satur were destroyed by wild beasts; Saturninus was beheaded; and Secundulus died in prison. These executions were in the 205, on the eighth day of March. Speratus and twelve others were likewise beheaded; as was Andocles in France. Asclepiades, bishop of Antioch, suffered many tortures, but his life was spared. Cecilia, a young lady of good family in Rome, was married to a gentleman named Valerian. She converted her husband and brother, who were beheaded; and the maximus, or officer, who led them to execution, becoming their convert, suffered the same fate. The lady was placed naked in a scalding bath, and having continued there a considerable time, her head was struck off with a sword, A.D. 222. Incredibly , there are more martyrs in this century than in any other. Each with tales of similar torture, raping and killing of their family members. Considerable persecution is occurring in China and numerous other countries. As a Christian I must ask myself what I would choose to do if given the choice of a pardon by renouncing Christ as Lord or certain torture and death. Today this decision is being considered by thousands of Christians in oppressive countries. Christ asks for nothing less. American Christians must repent. We have sold out for much less. God have mercy on us. Gao Xiao Duan testified to The House Subcommittee on International Relations and Human Rights June 10, 1998. She headed the Planned Birth Control Office in Yonghe Town since 1984 till this April 1998. She discussed their policies on ABC’s Nightline but despite the outcry, President Clinton and Congress failed to act. In China, women are forced into abortions, even in the 9th month of pregnancy. Newborns are poisoned. Women are thrown in jail until they accept abortion or sterilization. People who have an unauthorized child have their homes torn down, are fired from their jobs or are hit with huge fines. "In the past decade, approximately two million people, mostly Christians, have been killed in Sudan," according to the relief group The Voice of the Martyrs. Since 1991 Islamic law has been implemented and heavily forced on the people. Trains of soldiers raid and loot villages, ripping children away from their parents. Many children are sold into slavery. Some know no other life than being owned by others. Islamic militants cut off women’s breasts so that they are no longer able to feed their infants, who eventually die of starvation. I hold the utmost appreciation to our founding fathers who approached government from the Christian perspective and would not compromise their religious views. God blessed America due to this. Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. According to Christ, the harvest is ripe, waiting for workers to reap (Matthew 9:27). There is some hope with the power of God’s Spirit and revival, such as occurred with the Stand in the Gap Assembly in Washington. We are in a Spiritual battle, not against flesh and blood. I believe the turmoil will be worldwide. Our government is lost, without hope, outside a miracle. Our country had great beginnings. These have become history. Can we possibly return? It is up to you. On March 11, 1792, President George Washington wrote: I am sure that never was a people, who had more reason to acknowledge a Divine interposition in their affairs, than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency, which was so often manifested during our Revolution, or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that God who is alone able to protect them. Abraham Lincoln said: Now, therefore, in compliance with the request and fully concurring in the view of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. Judgment Our country is doing its best to deny God!! We will regret this with no uncertainty. He has warned us. We have literally tons of Bibles that are unread in a nation with great literacy. We ignore Him. We make Him what we want Him to be, a foolish decision. Romans 8: 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. God is withdrawing His blessing. We do not deserve it. We will (and are beginning to) taste His wrath. AIDS and other sexually related diseases, rampant violence, murder and disarray of our schools and our streets. He is giving us notice of the upcoming destruction and we deny it. We erroneously think we can fix it on our own. Matthew 17:17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21 "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. We complain about the government getting bigger and bigger and out of control. We need to blame ourselves for the troubles in our country. We tolerate sin and/or participate in sin. Tolerance is not a biblical attribute. Kindness and love are. We elect compromising candidates. Each of us have a role to stand up without compromise and be counted for God! Our vote and voice is our duty. You decide. God condemns homosexuality and murder. We would rather be friends with China when it is well known they persecute Christians. In March of 1996, police raided a church in Zhaosu County in Xinjiang Province. Members were severely beaten and had boiling water thrown in their faces when they refused to comply with police orders. Who do we serve? God or money? Matthew 6: 24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. We Christians are at fault for allowing a country started so well to descend so low. We must each turn from our wicked ways. Abraham Lincoln, in an 1863 Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day said: …it is the duty of nations as well as of men to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord: And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisement in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people? 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. The Founding Fathers of the United States knew our form of government would be incapable of adequately governing a people who lack the willing restraint imposed by the Bible. Ben Franklin in 1787 said "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters". We, therefore, have given up the very central point of our government by excluding God from as many places as we can. Currently a judge has placed some people "monitors" in a public school in Alabama in order to make sure no one prays. I used to thank God I didn’t live in the Soviet Union but the differences between our two countries have closed. We are not learning from history. We have embraced the mindset of control of the KGB and the Gestapo of Adolph Hitler. Our government is now paying for snitches against the citizens! It is one thing to talk of free speech and it is another to allow it. Christians are fair game. This restraint is reserved almost exclusively toward this faith. Weren’t the Christians the ones who opened the door for kindness and generosity to all mankind? Weren’t we the ones who fought for others’ human rights? Our country has decided that we should honor free trade over human rights. We have sold out. CEO’s and stockholders worship the dollar above what is right. God will deal with us. 1John 2: 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world . If anyone loves the world , the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world --the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world . 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. 18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. Luke 21:10 Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom . 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. Earthquakes are occurring almost daily. We had thousands killed in New Guinea from an earthquake associated tidal wave, a major earthquake in Ecuador that same week and within a couple of weeks, minor earthquakes in California. We face famine on television. Pestilence's could well represent biological terrorism as is being warned about in the press. We quit vaccinating for smallpox and therefore we are quite vulnerable to any unscrupulous group who chooses to expose others to this virus. Anthrax spores scattered in the air can cause tremendous illness and death. HIV, Ebola, E.coli and others certainly qualify as pestilences. We are knocking on the door of the end of time. Are we ready? Who among us can be counted with the Saints? World But…lets look at the whole picture... We can easily get so caught up in the U.S.’s (as well as our personal) problems that we lose sight of the real issue. The real issue is individual repentance. I am convinced our country is too far-gone. The time is now for each person to choose. The line is drawn in the sand. How many will say -as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15) It follows if individuals repent, the nation as a whole will too. Yes, the world is a battleground for Christianity. We are running, not walking, to global control. The war in Kosovo makes this ever more clear. Many of recent Executive Orders and treaties have given up our sovereign rights to the UN who will determine the way we should raise our children and undoubtedly will condemn Christianity for its exclusive nature (only one way…) to salvation. Other actions are boldly jumping toward global control. Well here we are at the end of the 20th century. This is not to be an in-depth study but an overall impression of where we fit into the overall scheme of things. Much of this is personal observation and although I believe the facts support much (if not all) of what I say, I can’t guarantee those things not expressly discussed in the Bible. All we have to do is open our eyes to see prophecy all around us. Back in the 1800’s theologians debated the possibility the Jewish people would literally occupy Jerusalem in the end days. That seemed impossible. World War II and the holocaust allowed their return, miraculously accomplishing what was predicted. Put yourself in the pre-W.W.II time period and reasonable minds see no way that could be a literal occupation! Never before has a dispersed nation returned to their home. God’s hand is working. Atomic warheads are everywhere! The cold war allowed for expansion of our arsenals and now that it is over, Soviet soldiers who have been poorly paid and are actually hungry still have control over some of these weapons. 60 Minutes had a show on this issue. Many of the Soviet’s backpack sized atomic bombs are missing. China has essentially the same technologic blueprints as we do. They have been known to sell weapons to the North Koreans. India and Pakistan both have atomic weapons and are fighting. God’s prophecy indicates that the whole earth would be destroyed and all flesh would be destroyed if not for God’s intervention. We are closer than ever and it could occur quickly in our time. Matthew 24:21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. In an episode of "War and Civilization" on The Learning Channel, Walter Cronkite said that in the past, war was for taking something from someone else or for ideals. Today it is due to hatred of one group to another. In the 20th Century war has claimed >120,000,000 lives. This is more than in all of recorded history combined. He states that the irony is for peace to stand a chance, it requires armies to police it. John Keegan in the same documentary states that war can take one of 2 paths. One is mass warfare and mass destruction. The other is having an international authority to oversee the nations. He further states: "If we are not optimistic, the alternative is bitter pessimism". How can we say that we will fix things? How can we think things are improving? Enough with this ‘optimist verses pessimist’ misconception. Although many who deny the obvious will consider me a pessimist, my contention is that I am the true optimist in that I have Hope in the One God of the Universe who loves me. There is no, zero, none, other with which to be optimistic. God may choose to improve conditions, working through individuals and revival but The Book shows us what will ultimately occur. There will be an Armageddon. Let us postpone it by seeking God’s intervention today. Those who consider themselves optimists and lack involvement by God are basing their belief on foolishness. It is the same as building a castle in the sand. Today we have so much proof with failed social programs, United Nations ‘peace’ and school violence and lack of education. Yes, optimists of that viewpoint, are simply wrong. We are oblivious to our extremely vulnerable place. We are perfectly set up for "great distress". The idea of the "Y2K" computer glitch that seems to have the most effect on the governmental and banking computers could cause all with funds tied to these sources to be in some degree of distress (minor or major). We recently saw what happened when a single satellite went out. We had major communication problems that could be rerouted relatively quick. The Y2K problem has no good backup. It may not, and probably will not be all some have cracked it up to be. God’s judgement will fall on us more than it already has and there will be some "great distress" on our nation, without repentance. Almost everyone has their savings and retirement money in the stock market (especially mutual funds). If we have a major correction in the market or a crash, we will be extremely vulnerable. Once again God’s Word is prophetic. Just 100 years ago no one could imagine all of us could be killed off. Today it is common knowledge that we could easily use our weapons of mass destruction and kill all life many times over. God’s Word is incredible. When we least understand it we should trust it anyway. Revelation 17: 17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth." As we put our soldiers in the UN ranks and have other country’s soldiers training on our soil we see increasing global control. President Clinton would have been tried for treason a few years ago. It isn’t that ‘one world government’ is inherently wrong (probably is) but it is evidence, again, of the final days and prophesies being fulfilled. The world financial market is more important than ever before. I cannot pick up a newspaper or watch CNN that doesn’t have prophecy being fulfilled or approaching fulfillment. This is on the first pages! It cannot be any clearer. For example, (September 27, 1997) the Birmingham News had 3 articles that directly fit. One was that the U.S. was upset with Netanyahu and his plans regarding Israel rebuilding in Palestinian areas. On May 2, 1998 I watched CNN World Report for the first 20 minutes before they hit a topic that did not fit biblical prophecy perfectly. There were numerous May Day riots in various countries with violence and armies called out. The Euro-dollar takes us closer to a one world economy that sets us up for the events in Revelations. Even the commercials were part of prophetic change, including one by Oracle software, a company that makes computer software geared at banking and governmental institutions on a global basis. Again, earthquakes were reported. Matthew 16:1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He replied, "When evening comes, you say, `It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' 3 and in the morning, `Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. Christ saw our lack of insight, he likened us to sheep. We have not changed. We think our world is improving when evidence points the other way. Luke 21: 20 "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Revelations 19: 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. It doesn’t take too much imagination to see the ‘New World Order’ turning on Israel, forcing the establishment of a Palestinian state. These prophecies are probably directly related, as the end of time is imminent. That day another report discussed an earthquake in Italy. Matthew 24:5 For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. Birth pains usually start slow and weak. Before long they are much more frequent and stronger. Earthquakes, etc are occurring more and more often and are more and more intense, indicative of the later stages of pregnancy and therefore, of Christ’s return. 2Peter 3:3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, "Where is this `coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also%2 |
