"Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ...he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!" (2 Cor. 5:17, Amplified Bible)
I first typed, "Therefore is any person in Christ." I changed it, of course, but wonder if our Lord Jesus was "saying" something to me. Maybe it is a "word" to America.
Our text is no longer the message of Christendom. Raising money, getting more bodies into church buildings has become the goal, not the salvation of sinners. And I am not talking about "altar calls." I'm talking about an encounter with Jesus Christ in which, yes, "the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin," but also, "Christ in you," makes me, "a new creation," changes my life philosophy, my life style, my views and actions. If "the sinner's prayer" does not lead to a changed life style, it is not a "new birth" nor an, "unless you are converted and become as little children," prayer. It is simply a religious chant.
Because professing Christians stay away from the polls, because they see the "new birth," not as the beginning of conversion, a conversion which leads to, "If any man is in Christ...he is a new creation," but rather as a badge to get people to respect and accept them, to feel good about raising hands and dancing around in meetings, because of this, we have a President who not only accepts late term murder of the unborn, but also stands before the world scene and gloats in the rejection of the Word of God, gloats in the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, sin described in the Bible in terms unequaled in describing other sins. Congratulations, America. You are completing the circle of state sponsored barbarity.
I once thought that we could make a difference, but now believe we have reached critical mass. I will continue to pray for The United States of America. But the reality of this present age is the same as our Lord Jesus Christ found in Nazareth, "And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief." Likewise, if a nation persists in, "unbelief," God can do nothing. More and more I struggle with what Jesus said to Jeremiah, "'And now, because you have done all these things,' says the Lord, 'and I spoke to you...and I called you, but you did not answer, therefore...I will cast you out of My sight....As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you."
When speaking of the "last days," Jesus said at one point, "by your endurance (steadfastness) you will gain your lives" (NASB). The context of these words of Jesus is a description of the horrid events of the, "end of the age." A friend of mine yesterday said that he thinks what we are seeing in America is a further fulfillment of, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." In the final analysis, you and I can only, "gain []our lives," not the lives of others, by obedience to Jesus Christ. Let's "stick" together.
Father, in Jesus' Name, "For the sake of Your sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world." Amen.
***********************
Maybe I should dip into our savings for David's Tent
I first typed, "Therefore is any person in Christ." I changed it, of course, but wonder if our Lord Jesus was "saying" something to me. Maybe it is a "word" to America.
Our text is no longer the message of Christendom. Raising money, getting more bodies into church buildings has become the goal, not the salvation of sinners. And I am not talking about "altar calls." I'm talking about an encounter with Jesus Christ in which, yes, "the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin," but also, "Christ in you," makes me, "a new creation," changes my life philosophy, my life style, my views and actions. If "the sinner's prayer" does not lead to a changed life style, it is not a "new birth" nor an, "unless you are converted and become as little children," prayer. It is simply a religious chant.
Because professing Christians stay away from the polls, because they see the "new birth," not as the beginning of conversion, a conversion which leads to, "If any man is in Christ...he is a new creation," but rather as a badge to get people to respect and accept them, to feel good about raising hands and dancing around in meetings, because of this, we have a President who not only accepts late term murder of the unborn, but also stands before the world scene and gloats in the rejection of the Word of God, gloats in the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, sin described in the Bible in terms unequaled in describing other sins. Congratulations, America. You are completing the circle of state sponsored barbarity.
I once thought that we could make a difference, but now believe we have reached critical mass. I will continue to pray for The United States of America. But the reality of this present age is the same as our Lord Jesus Christ found in Nazareth, "And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief." Likewise, if a nation persists in, "unbelief," God can do nothing. More and more I struggle with what Jesus said to Jeremiah, "'And now, because you have done all these things,' says the Lord, 'and I spoke to you...and I called you, but you did not answer, therefore...I will cast you out of My sight....As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you."
When speaking of the "last days," Jesus said at one point, "by your endurance (steadfastness) you will gain your lives" (NASB). The context of these words of Jesus is a description of the horrid events of the, "end of the age." A friend of mine yesterday said that he thinks what we are seeing in America is a further fulfillment of, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." In the final analysis, you and I can only, "gain []our lives," not the lives of others, by obedience to Jesus Christ. Let's "stick" together.
Father, in Jesus' Name, "For the sake of Your sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world." Amen.
***********************
Maybe I should dip into our savings for David's Tent
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
