Of Jehu, Manasseh, and the 2016 Election

I woke up this morning to some new news ...

(Donald Trump had won the presidential election) and to some old news... (another 3,000+ babies were going to be killed today, while in their mothers' wombs). Both the praises and the laments for the former are LOUD, while the laments for the latter can barely be heard.

Much of the evangelical church jumped on the Trump Train, hailing him as perhaps a modern day version of Cyrus (The Persian king appointed by God [Isaiah:28-45:13] to release the Jews from captivity so they could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple [2 Chronicles 36:22 - Ezra 1:8; 5:13 - 6:14]). I suppose there is some expectation that Donald Trump will be the one to release us from the captivity of the liberal/leftist/progressive/fascist elements of society, including an oversized and oppressive federal government.

May I submit that Israel's captivity had been both proclaimed by God (through His prophets), limited by God, and ended at the hand of the man appointed by God even before that man was born. So I wouldn't get too caught up in the Cyrus analogy. Perhaps a better analogy can be found in Jeremiah 8. There Jeremiah refers to the impending desolation of Jerusalem and Judah as if it had already occurred. Their fate would be the result of the people's stubborn rebellion and sin. Jeremiah's prophetic vision caused much sorrow, yet while he spoke doom and judgment, false prophets were predicting peace. The kingdom had arrived at a place described in these words:
     "'Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed,    Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time of their punishment They shall be cast down,' says the Lord."  (Jeremiah 8:12)

"So what does this have to do with Jehu, Manasseh, and Josiah?" you may ask. Jehu was one of the kings of Israel, appointed to be anointed by Elijah (1 Kings 19:16-17) but actually anointed by Elisha (2 Kings 9:1-13). All of Israel's kings did evil in the sight of God, yet among them Jehu was most pleasing to God.
       "And the Lord said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation." ³¹ But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin." (2 Kings 10:30-31)

The main purpose for which God had placed Jehu on the throne was to obliterate the house of Ahab, including bringing wicked Jezebel to her prophesied demise (2 Kings 10:30-37). Perhaps Donald trump's appointed task is to bring judgment upon the Clinton Crime Family. This is just speculation on my part, but the analogy is pretty clear.

Now for Manasseh and Josiah. Here the analogy is stretched a bit regarding the players, but it holds strong as to the over-arching principles. Manasseh was a king in the southern kingdom of Judah. He was extremely wicked...
      "He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, "In Jerusalem I will put My name." ⁵ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger."  (2 Kings 21:4-6)  "Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord." ( 2 Kings 21:16)

Because of the sins of Manasseh and Judah, God said that he would destroy Jerusalem and take the people into captivity. This began with Manasseh himself being taken captive by the Assyrian army, a hook being put in his nose, and being taken prisoner to Babylon. It was there that Manasseh humbled himself greatly before God and sought His favor. God heard his prayers and restored him to Jerusalem where removed all of the idols and places of pagan worship. (2 Chronicles 33:11-17) It is important to note that in spite of God's mercy towards Manasseh, which extended to all of Judah, even to 4 generations (although it proved that even the most vile of sinners can find grace through genuine humility and repentance) did not negate the nation's sin of shedding innocent blood. Thus after the 2 year evil reign of Amon, the righteous 31 year reign of Josiah (which included genuine revival), the 3 month evil reign of Jehoahaz, there began the 11 year evil reign of Jehoiakim. It was during this time that the Babylonian invasion began which would ultimately result in the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews. The Bible's own commentary as to why this calamity fell upon God's chosen people follows:
       "Surely at the commandment of the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, ⁴ and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon." ( 2 Kings 24:3-4)

I am no more concerned with timing than Isaiah was when he prophesied the Babylonian invasion/captivity during the reign of Manasseh. Manasseh ruled Judah for 55 years - longer than any king before or after him. His sins ushered in the beginning of an Assyrian invasion, resulting in Manasseh being taken to Babylon. His repentance brought about a reprieve followed by a reformation, and several years later actual revival. There is no doubt in  my mind that the USA is as guilty of the shedding of innocent blood as was Manasseh and Judah. We have been doing it for over 43 years now, and God will judge that. When and how are up to Him.

It is interesting to note that the USA has been undergoing an invasion of people from a foreign land whose countenance is fierce and whose ideology of world conquest is veiled by a thin veneer of religion. I speak of Islam. Perhaps there will now be a temporary halt to the invasion. Perhaps there will be some reforms. Christians are well-known for dusting off 2 Chronicles 7:14 periodically, but the fruit of repentance remains sorely lacking. The continued genocide with the church's passive permission continues.

I am encouraging evangelicals everywhere, from the prominent TV figures down to the members of small village churches to take up the banner of Personhood. There may never again be a window of opportunity to put this national sin of abortion behind us and legally declare that personhood, and all of its due process protections, begins at the moment of conception. Whether Donald Trump is a modern day Cyrus, or representative of a repentant Manasseh, the duty of the church to be salt and light remains the same. As part of that, the "3.1.10 Initiative" (contacting our 3 congressmen at least 1 time per month to pass a Personhood Bill, and urging at least 10 friends to do the same) will be moving into high gear. I'm confident that Donald Trump will sign into law such a bill. May our efforts going forward outweigh our passivity of the past. In Jesus' Name!

State of the Union

State of the Union 2015

I believe Jesus is looking at the United States of America and weeping. He takes no pleasure in judging an individual or a nation, but judgment does come when grace has been spurned. The Scriptures declare:
"But he who did not know, yet committed things  deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."   (Luke 12:48)

The United States of America has certainly known the way of righteousness; not that she was ever perfect. In days gone by, biblical morality was spoken of freely and expected in both public and private life. Today we have reached the point where that expectation has been replaced by a militant disdain for anything godly. Evil has been labeled good and good has been labeled evil. The Bible says "Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people."  (Proverbs 14:34 ) The state of the union in 2015 is that it is in crisis, on the brink of judgment. Why?

1. For 55 years we have been on an unrelenting mission to purge God from the public square.

      It began with the removal of prayer from our public schools. Not only was this an affront to God but it was a clear violation of the First Amendment provisions. Teachers and children praying in the school house had nothing to do with a religion having been established by congress. The camel now had his nose in the tent and he won't be satisfied until he is the sole occupant of the tent. Prayer and other expressions of faith have come under attack in virtually every area of public life, and in recent years the attacks have spread to private life... like whether a Christian photographer can refuse to photograph a same sex wedding. We need to repent and return to the place where "In God We Trust" is a fact and not just a slogan (which has also been attacked). "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance." ( Psalms 33:12)

2. We suffer from a lack of godly leadership

     Somehow the majority of voting America has bought into the idea that character has nothing to do with performance. There is a failure on the part of the church to declare the fallacy of such a notion and to hold up the truth of God's word.  "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan." ( Proverbs 29:2) So it could be said that we get what we ask for or we don't get what we don't ask for. It is a Christian duty to obey those in authority (Romans 13:1) yet in this country we the people are the ones responsible for placing "those in authority." When the church ceases to be salt and light, this is what happens.

3. We are reducing our military to pre-WWII levels

     Before King Solomon had strayed into taking for himself many wives, including their foreign gods, this was the state of his kingdom.
"For he had dominion over all the region on this side of the River from Tiphsah even to Gaza, namely over all the kings on this side of the River; and he had peace on every side all around him. ²⁵ And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶ Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen."  (1 Kings 4:24-26) Weakness invites war. When you combine moral weakness with military weakness, you have a prescription for disaster. The purging of our military, the poor level of aftercare provided for those who have served, and an eroding of the moral foundation for any just war has been nothing short of a betrayal to our military.

4. Our government is no longer willing to defend our borders

     God made a unilateral covenant with Abraham, promising a land to him and his descendants. It had specific borders (Genesis 15:18-21). Israel never did fully possess the land they were promised, and as ungodliness from the leadership down became the norm, the borders they did defend became smaller and smaller. In the end the once proud nation was reduced to little more than the city state of Jerusalem which was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 B.C. To not defend our borders is to treat as profane the wonderful gift of this land that God has given to a people whose chief aim initially was to please Him. "O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain..." is no longer seen as the place upon which God has shed His grace, but as a place to be exploited and turned over to infidels, as criminals take advantage of our porous borders.

5. We refuse to balance our budget

     Figures don't lie; all the while liars figure. We are told over and over again what our deficit is (currently over 18 trillion dollars), but very few will remind us of the 100 trillion dollars of unfunded liabilities that needs to be added to that. We are told that the deficit has been reduced when in reality that means that the deficit is still increasing, only at a slightly slower rate. Things are labeled as free while somebody always has to pay for them. Inflation is stated at artificially low numbers because essentials such as energy and food have been removed from the calculation. Unemployment is said to be at the lowest point in years, yet the millions who have stopped looking for work are not included in the figures. In the background, the stock market is kept propped up by an Federal Reserve system that prints money at will. The debt can is constantly kicked down the road for the next generation to bear. All the while, two principles are all but forgotten;
    
      ^"The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender."  (Proverbs 22:7)

      ^"And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."  (Deuteronomy 8:18 )

6. We have created and fostered a welfare state

     Government gets bigger and bigger, caught up in the perverted notion that it must play Robin Hood, forcing some to pay double while creating multiple programs where others get a free ride. This has extended WAY beyond the notion that a righteous people will care for the truly needy. True religion involves caring for widows and orphans (James 1:27), and such provisions should always begin at home (1 Timothy 5:8). The entitlement generation in this country now equals the entire population of Spain. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that in the last 42 years we have killed off and equal number of people through the genocide of abortion. Fewer and fewer are being asked to provide for more and more, creating a house of cards which shall surely fall. The idea of dreaming, and pursuing a dream has been crushed for so many by the indoctrination of welfare. This biblical admonition needs to be restored.  "For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat." ( 2 Thessalonians 3:10 )

7. America is rejecting Israel

     The rhetoric of support is still there, but gradually, over the past 25 years we have been distancing ourselves from Israel and their right to live in the land as a national people. We have gone against God's promise of a particular area as an inheritance to Abraham's descendants and have instead tried to force them to give up a large portion of the little they do possess. We have often painted Israel as the bully when all they do is (with great restraint) defend themselves. As we continue to ignore God and His word, we will run headlong into this... "I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."  ( Genesis 12:3)

8. Counterfeit Christianity has exploded in the land

     One prominent leader of the Pro-Life Movement has said, "Abortion will end in America when the church says so, and not one day sooner." So much of the visible church has accepted abortion as a fact of life (!!!) and has either gone silent on the issue or has actually embraced the abomination. Abortion is murder of the most egregious kind - the killing of innocent babies who do not even have a voice. The church needs to be their voice and deliver a mandate to congress to grant personhood status under the 14th Amendment to babies in the womb from the moment of conception - no exceptions.

     Much of the church has strayed from sound doctrine. God is no longer portrayed as a God of justice, and hell is declared to be a myth. The sanctity of marriage has been perverted to include that which God calls abominable. Sin is no longer called sin but an alternate life style or sickness. Repentance is seldom mentioned when presenting the Gospel. Ecumenicalism is growing by leaps and bounds, paving the way towards a one world religion. The church (and that includes me) bears much of the responsibility for the state of our union. We can't blame it all on the folks in Washington DC. Let us remember...  
    "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?" ( 1 Peter 4:17)

A Nation in Disarray

Government Shutdown ... Debt Ceiling ... Sequestration ... Weapons of Mass Destruction ... Syria ... Israel ... Palestine ... Iran ... Afghanistan ... Iraq ... Obamacare ... The LGBT Agenda ... Women's Right to Choose ... Islam ... Terrorism ... Benghazi ... NSA Spying ... 1st Amendment ... 2nd Amendment ... Democrat ... Republican ... Rhino ... Tea Party ... Progressive Liberal ... Conservative (fiscal or moral or both) ... The UN ...

Any one of the above topics (and many) will certainly wind up the pundits of every stripe and color, so I wish to talk for just a minute about a topic that is not all that dear to the hearts of many people. I have chosen to do so on a blog site because I do not have much access to the shakers and movers inside the beltway. I am forever grateful that I do have access to the One who will have the last shake (Hebrews 4:16; 12:26-27).

In any event, this is an open letter to the President of the United States, to every member of his cabinet and staff, and to every senator and congressman. You will spend a lot of time, energy, and money trying to resolve the many problems facing our nation, the above list being just a sample. I can tell you, based not on any personal expertise but on the unchanging Word of God, that all of that effort will be wasted until you first restore righteousness to the foundations of our country. We have lost our moral bearings as a nation, and until those are regained, all of our efforts will be in vain. For it is written:

"Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34 (NKJV)

"If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?" Psalms 11:3 (NKJV)

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance." Psalms 33:12 (NKJV)

Someone might ask, "Even if I agreed with you, where should we start?" I do not believe for a second that God requires a complicated answer to that question. Our own instincts agree with the Word of God that life is sacred, and comes from God. We wrote that into our Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life ..." That certainly agrees with ...

¹³ For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.
¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. Psalms 139:13-16 (NKJV)

We MUST, as a nation, pass laws granting personhood status, under the 14th Amendment, to all humans from the moment of conception. God has given us 40 years to remove the stench of blood-guilt from our land and we have not yet done it. We MUST do so before it is too late; before the problems listed above (and worse) consume us. You, as leaders of this once great nation, have a responsibility to put the ship of state back on the right course.

And we the people have a responsibility to communicate to you our desire that you do so. Therefore, this letter is also to all the people. You can become active participants in something called the 3.1.10 Initiative. Call your 3 congressmen at least 1 time per month and register your strong desire to see Personhood/Life at Conception legislation (H.R. 1091 and S. 583) passed into law just as soon as possible, and urge at least 10 of your friends to do the same.

The amazing thing about getting this message out on the world-wide web is that it can either sit there in cyber-space or it can go viral. Without righteousness being restored to the foundation of our nation, we will continue to be a nation in disarray. It's up to you.

World News Through the Third Lens: The State of Our Union

In the president's state of the union address last Tuesday.........

Why bother to go over that speech, the contents of which, if they become reality, will push the United States of America further into the abyss? There was not one mention of the connection between our moral decline and our fiscal problems. The proposals to "fix" our economy not only miss this connection - they lack one shred of common sense as shared by Dr. Ben Carson at the National Prayer Breakfast. President Obama should have been taking notes rather than looking for a hole to crawl into.

Rather than taking apart the President's agenda, which includes (in this writer's opinion) much that constitutes impeachable offenses, I would rather focus on just one sentence in Senator Marc Rubio's rebuttal speech. "But America is exceptional because we believe that every life, at every stage, is precious, and that everyone everywhere has a God-given right to go as far as their talents and hard work will take them."

Every time I read that, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I think those are symptoms of hysteria, so you can consider this blog as written by an hysterical man on a mission. While I appreciate Senator Rubio's pro-life statement, I can't help but wonder why his name was not listed as a co-sponsor on Senator Wicker's bill: S.91 Life at Conception Act introduced at the beginning of the 112th congress. Why was this bill allowed to languish in committee without, at least, a real battle? Why hasn't a version of S.91 been introduced to the 113th congress by either Sen. Rubio, Sen. Wicker, or either of Tennessee's two "Pro-life" senators, Corker and Alexander? Could it be because of the state of our union is actually disunity?

Through the third lens of Scripture.................

Ephesians 4:1-6 (NKJV)
¹ I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
² with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Our country is most definitely not exceptional because of a belief that every life, at all stages, is precious. If that were so, we would not be a nation that has allowed the legal murder of over 55 million babies in the womb over the past 40 years. I also think that the church of Jesus Christ has lost its exceptionalism by allowing this to happen in our beloved country. How has this happened when the majority of people in this country say they believe in the sanctity of life? I think it is because we are not united in what we mean when we say we are "pro-life."

There is no claim that any of the numbers hereafter are accurate, but I do believe that they are accurate in what they represent.

Of the 200,000,000 or so people in the USA eligible to vote, approximately 150,000,000 of them are registered to vote. Of the registered voters, over 80,000,000 say they are pro-life. Let's just go with the 80MM and break that down further.

Let's say that 50%  (40MM) think that abortion should be banned, but with exceptions (i.e., rape,incest, health of mother, etc.)

Let's say that the other 50% (40MM) think that all abortions should be banned; no exceptions.

Out of either group there have sprung various and sundry pro-life organizations, but they often refuse to work with one another because of disagreement regarding the exceptions.

Out of each group there have sprung many mercy ministries (i.e., Care-net) which focus most of their attention on helping those in crisis pregnancy situations, with very little effort directed at going up-stream to prevent the crisis. As such, they have staff and budget needs to be met.

A considerable portion of the pro-life movement is devoted to keeping people abreast of current events in this arena. As such, they have staff and budget needs to be met.

A very small percentage (probably less than 1%) of the people who say they are pro-life actually take their theology out to the streets. These people operate with next to nothing for a formal budget. Most of the workers are strictly volunteers and any funds collected go directly to alleviate the needs of families who choose life - right at the gates of the abortion mills. Even the seasonal efforts to go to the streets attract a very small percentage of the evangelical church. In the Bible Belt part of Tennessee where I live, only about 15 of the 1000 churches in the area will be participating in 40 Days for Life.

I have kept this numbers game to a minimum because my purpose is not to divide, but to unite. I am willing to accept the fact that many different approaches have been taken by the pro-life community, and that pro-life commitment varies from person to person. I am not suggesting that the various efforts of organizations like Personhood USA, Care-net, Operation Save America, Operation Rescue, Life News, 40 Days for Life, et al should cease. God forbid! What I am suggesting is that everyone who calls him/herself "Pro-Life" should take the minimal steps granted to every citizen of the USA to end abortion in this country. This can be done without having to fund a staff or a budget; it can be done without engaging in endless speeches.

Personhood is the answer............

The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution states, "...nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Because, as a nation, we seem to have lost our ability to recognize that a baby in the womb is a person from the moment of conception, there is a need for congress to act, under section 5 of the 14th Amendment, and extend the protections thereof to each born and preborn human person.

Our duly elected congressmen (senators and representatives) need to know that the will of the people is to define personhood as beginning with the moment of conception. Let's not engage in endless debate regarding exceptions; the need to attack this state by state or restriction by restriction. Let's just tell congress that we believe that human life begins at conception and that equal protection under the law should apply at that point. We demand a law that guarantees this. Once this is the law of the land, and only then, will Sen. Rubio's statement ring true.

Join the 3.1.10 initiative. 3 - the number of congressmen you should contact; 1 - the number of times to contact them per month requesting passage of Life at Conception/Personhood legislation ASAP; 10 - the minimum number of friends you should urge to do the same.

The Spirit, which is Life is calling us to unity.....................