Wednesday, September 30, 2009

A Lesson From the Past

As mentioned yesterday, I believe a storm unlike anything America has ever seen is on the horizon. A change is coming that found its footing and fruition in a new administration and an already very corrupt Congress. It is in the past that I think we can find our for boding future.


Think about it. What in the world is going on? As a nation we have incredible technology and amazing advancements in every field. We have for the most part the best of the best. Even with all of that something is missing. Like a cake without a key ingredient, the taste just isn't right. For the most advanced nation in the world to be approaching implosion should be a cause for question if not alarm. If we suddenly become ill we call the doctor to diagnose the problem. If the check engine light pops on we don't ignore it and assume everything is alright. And yet, while many are concerned about about the direction that our government is heading, I have only heard one person in the national media mention the solution.


At the end of the book of Judges we find the nation of Israel in one of her bleakest and darkest periods. The nation had reached the low point of rejecting God's leadership through a king. They wanted none of it and sought to do it their own way. We read in 21:25 "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." As a result of rejecting God everything was falling apart. Eventually God brought Israel's own enemies in to drag them into captivity so that they would willing come back to Him. Throughout the Old Testament any time God's chosen people cut Him out of their lives trouble ensued.


In the New Testament we see what happened when a group of people rejected God. In Romans chapter one we are told that "although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing them selves to be wise they became fools." Out of this rejection of God came twenty two characteristics of a society that rejects God. You can find these listed in verses 28-31. While this was written a long time ago it certainly sounds like a contemporary description of America.


What has happened? First we took prayer and Bible reading out of our schools, then we made the wholesale murder of our children a legal and acceptable practice. In recent years calls have come from some in our own Congress to remove all of the verses of Scripture from our government buildings. We've outlawed Christmas carols, Nativity scenes, any mention of God and now we are printing money without "In God We Trust."


Is the coming storm anything like what Israel went through? If so we are headed for some major changes. Is it too late to reverse things or is our course set?

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A Nation Adrift

Each morning when I check the latest news updates I remind myself that I can't remember any period of our nation's history that parallels what we are growing through, at least not in my life time. The majority of politicians on all sides continue to operate as if they are the vassals and the rest of us are the serfs. The president is regularly apologizing for America as he busily reshapes "the land of the free and the home of the brave" into a state that would have made Karl Marx proud. Any disagreement with him brings calls of racism that I thought was part of our countries past rather than a topic of revival for the present.

On the world scene America's new status is causing confusion in Poland and glee in Moscow. Holocaust denying dictators are welcomed to the podium of the United Nations while the Prime Minister of Israel faces a hostile crowd of diplomats at the same organization. Iran breaks all the rules developing a nuclear arsenal while Israel is told she can't defend herself. A collapsing global economy, record unemployment and fear about what's next characterizes the world today.

Maybe it's just me but do you get the feeling that something is going on? I don't mean just the antics of a new administration but something more. Something that has been developing for a long time; a plan that has been in the works for decades or even longer. I sense it in the news and I hear it in the checkout line at Wal-Mart. Like a distant storm forming on the horizon, something is coming.

In the book of Ecclesiastes we find the following words in verse 1: "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." An interesting question to ponder is what season and time do we now find ourselves in? The answer might very well help us understand what's going on as well as the severity of the coming storm.

Join me tomorrow for some answers.