And the people chose Obarabbas.....
yes, amen
Excellent!
Thank you so-o much for this. I very much needed to read every inch of it. God bless you Pastor Bill!!
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Did Jesus turn his other cheek to the money changers in the temple? I just retread Chapter 18 of Matthew. I don’t believe Jesus would have taken kindly to the Democrats three times renouncing God at their convention.
Nothing new under the sun. Religious and social trends revolve throughout history. The ascendant political majority at the national level in America are the Greco Romans and are engaged in the same battle for social supremacy that was waged against the observant Jew or Christian of bygone years. And so it continues as one worldview elevates the sensual and materialism as the sole quantification of meaning whilst the opposing camp focuses on the means of restraining and containing the potentially destructive ‘ fire of human initiative’. Alas there are multitudes of people whose only sense of meaning and purpose is obtaining a similar car to their next door neighbour etc etc. Depressing
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding
The kingdom of God is invisible and apolitical. Jesus did not involve himself in Roman politics.
It takes a few election cycles for the church to start to figure that out.
I know you’ll enjoy reading this.
America Mourns, Lady Liberty Mourns. Let this video uplift you, perfect song for this moment. “Because He Lives”. Bill Gaither. Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hveyU2WoPk
All things that happen to us can make us
bitter or better . . . You Choose!
Father Brett BrannenThank you for wonderfully putting this in perspective. It is all so clear now. God is trying us. Toughening us up, so to speak. Pushing us into a stronger faith and closeness with Him.
Bookmark to read again.
Thank you, pastor Bill.
Thank you, Bill, for nailing it again.
I would only add that clearly the word of the Lord today TO HIS PEOPLE (i.e., believers - not Republicans, not conservatives, etc.) is II Chronicals 7:14.
The nation is in the state it is in simply because the church has no testimony to the world, “the salt has lost its savor”, and has embraced the world and its ways while saying that it is proclaiming the gospel.
As many have pointed out, the verse starts with, “IF MY PEOPLE...” It is we Christians who first need to repent, and confess our sins. Instead of pointing our fingers at liberals, Democrats, Marxists - we must look in the mirror.
And repent. “Judgment begins with the house of God...” James
When the church is no longer salt, the world and its ways are unrestrained.....we are reaping what we have sowed.....
God Bless
http://grassrootsactionalert.com/?CID=7&RID=31025852
Four More Years (What It Means)
From the Desk of Steve Elliott, Grassfire Nation
November 7, 2012
Four more years ... of exile. But there is hope. Please read my thoughts on where we go from here. —Steve
Dear Friend,
I’m writing to you to explain why, even after a late and discouraging evening that stretched past 1:00 a.m. on the East Coast, I was back at the office before 8:00 a.m. this morning.
And why the sinking feeling I felt last night has already been replaced with a deep determination.
And why I’m going out to buy equipment for our new office this afternoon.
And why we are going to build, build, build — despite a stunning and, for me, unexpected defeat.
+ + Let’s Be Clear: We Just Got Pummeled
Before I go on, let’s be clear: last night was a defeat, and I didn’t see it coming. I expected a “Tea Party Wave” — perhaps a 300+ electoral-vote victory for Romney. All the signs seemed to be there. The 2010 elections, the failed recall of Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and even the Chick-fil-A Day pointed to a re-shaped political landscape. The polls and crowds made it clear that there was more enthusiasm with Romney.
But that wave never came. The people did not rise up and reject Obama’s statism. Quite the opposite — 15 million fewer people voted, and Romney earned less votes than John McCain did four years ago.
+ + Far Worse Than 2008
Upon reflection, what happened last night was far worse than what happened in 2008. Our first “dance” with Obama was mostly about smoke and mirrors — “hope and change” that was never really defined. For many Americans, Obama 2008 was more an idea, an idealized dream and a collective catharsis from our dark past.
But Obama 2012 was something altogether different because now we know the real Barack Obama. We watched him advance the most radical leftist agenda since at least FDR. We saw him rape and pillage the free market and impose a government takeover of industries. We witnessed him go to foreign nations and apologize for America and then leave our people alone to die in Benghazi.
This time we knew Barack Obama. Yet a majority of American voters said, “More!” The opposition to Obama’s agenda never really showed up at the polls.
We can try to console ourselves by saying it was a close election ... that the leftist media gave Obama the election ... that we couldn’t really expect a Northeastern liberal Republican to be our standard bearer ... that a bizarre hurricane swung the election.
All that may be true.
But it matters little now. And the less time we spend blaming each other or the trickery of the other guys the better.
So here’s why I’m more determined ... why I’m building.
+ + A 2,500-Year-Old Letter Written for Today
I want to share with you a letter that, although 2,500 years old, it could have been written this morning. For us. For faithful patriots who feel like they just discovered they will have to live at least the next four years in exile.
This letter was written to Jewish exiles who had been pushed out of Jerusalem and forced to live under a tyrannical ruler named Nebuchadnezzar.
The exiles wanted one thing: they wanted to be re-established back in Israel. They even had a prophet named Hananiah come to them and tell them that their time of exile would only last two years.
You can read about it in Jeremiah 28.
Hananiah was a false prophet. He died.
And so Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles. You’ve probably heard a part of that letter recited many times. It’s one of the most commonly quoted passages in the entire Bible. Unfortunately, this passage is mostly taken out of its proper context and delivered as a “feel good” word that everything is going to be O.K.
One of my friends was quoting this verse yesterday morning:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Those words sound so good. The future is bright. God has a plan for prosperity, for a real hope and a real future. On the eve of the election, it must have meant a Romney win, the GOP takes the Senate and we start the rollback of the Obama regime, right?
Not exactly.
+ + The Plan Was Exile
Here’s the shocking context of Jeremiah 29 (and I offer to you, the context for November 6, 2012): the plan was exile.
That was the “plan” Jeremiah’s letter was talking about. I encourage you to go read all of Jeremiah 29. Here is the immediate context:
This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you ...”
The plan was 70 years of exile. Keep that in mind the next time someone quotes Jeremiah 29:11 to encourage you that your time of trouble will soon end. Not only was the exile going to last 70 years, the exile WAS the plan!
If you don’t believe me, go back and read the beginning of the letter, from Jeremiah 29:4. Here you’ll see the Lord (through Jeremiah) giving the Jewish exiles specific instructions on how to conduct themselves in exile:
—Build houses and settle down.
—Plan gardens and eat what they produce.
—Marry and have sons and daughters.
—Marry off your sons and daughters so they can have children.
—Increase in number; do not decrease.
Again, remember the context. A false prophet had just come and said the time of exile would only last two years. That prophet died. The truth is, the people will be in exile for 70 years. And the directive is to build families, grow businesses, think trans-generationally and increase.
+ + Seek the Welfare of the Land
It gets better. Because Jeremiah’s letter makes it clear that building and marrying is not enough. People in exile must do something else — they must be a blessing to the land.
“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
So let’s review. First, the plan is exile. Second, build. Third, bless. Simple, clear instructions.
But why was this important? Why a “plan” for exile with specific instructions on how to act in exile?
Historians tell us it was during the Babylonian captivity that the Israelites moved from a Temple/Jerusalem focused society to a synagogue and community focused society. Simply put ...
It was the lessons learned during their time in exile which enabled the Jews to survive 2,500 years in exile. But not just survive — but to thrive and become the most prosperous, most successful and most innovative people group in the history of civilization.
Exile was the plan.
So that’s why, today, I’m going to build. And I’m going to plant. I’m going to bless. And I’m going to pray.
For that is the final piece to the puzzle ...
“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
So let’s get building. Let’s get planting. And let’s get praying. And let’s bless this land. There are lessons to be learned in exile.
Steve Elliott, Grassfire
This came to mind:
Judges 7:1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. 2 And the Lord said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.' 3 Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.' " And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. 4 But the Lord said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' the same shall not go." 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, "Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink." 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. 7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, "By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place."
Swedenborg has this to say:
[...]"Midian" here means those who do not care for truth, because they are merely natural and external; therefore Midian was smitten by those who "lapped the waters in the hand with the tongue like a dog;" these mean such as have an appetite for truths, thus they who from some natural affection seek to know truths, a "dog" signifying appetite and eagerness, "waters" truths, and "lapping them with the tongue" to have an appetite for and eagerly seek. So it was by these that Midian was smitten. Anyone can see that such things would not have been commanded unless they had been significative.
The context here is those who do not care for the truth and are in falsities of doctrine, for example, not loving the neighbor and following the Lord's teachings. To me, this is paring down who will wear the armor of Christ and go up against the evil to bring the New Jerusalem to earth. The truth is the whole Word - not just a few passages Luther liked. Willing to self-examine first before casting stones. Jesus is the way - take up your cross and follow Him. Pattern your ministry after the Lord - THIS is how He comes back!