And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. 1 Kings 18:21 (NKJV)
This email may offend some, however, please know that is not my heart’s desire or goal. I can truly say with a clear conscience that I have no malice or animosity in my heart towards anyone receiving this email. I believe this message is one that the Lord has compelled me to write.
Some may call my words political; I believe they transcend politics. Some may say that I have overstepped my boundaries; I believe that it is time for boundaries to be redrawn. Some may say that it is too late; I believe it is timely and for today.
America is in deep trouble. As a nation, as a people, and as the Church we have turned our backs on God and His moral and spiritual precepts. As a result, we may very well be at a final crossroads, a decision point, depending on the course we take. If we choose the wrong path, God’s judgment and wrath will fall upon us and we may end up in the trash bin of history like so many nations before us.
I believe that God has drawn a very clear line in the sand for those who call themselves Christians. In Isaiah God says to His chosen people in Jerusalem and Judah; Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isa 5:20). America, and specifically we the Church, have been and continue to be guilty of this. We honor Him with our lips but not our actions.
We see the murder (shedding of innocent blood) of tens of millions of unborn children and we fail to speak against it or those who protect it and work to advance it. We sit quietly by, look the other way, celebrate, and dismiss multiple verses in God’s Word concerning homosexuality and sexual immorality. We fail to educate ourselves about or respond to multiple daily attacks on our religious freedoms. By our inaction we are guilty of sins of omission.
In 5 days Americas will go to the polls and cast their vote for a multitude of candidates. In this election Christians have a very clear choice; we can vote for those who best support the biblical values that God has ordained, or we can choose another path. As previously mentioned, I believe that God has drawn a very clear line in the sand. Recently He used one of His most faithful servants, Billy Graham, as a messenger to place multiple newspaper ads (http://action.afa.net/uploadedFiles/Resources/grahamad.pdf) across America to encourage Christians to vote His eternal values. Other than coming down to earth again, can God make our choice any clearer? Has He not connected the dots? If America, and particularly we the Church, finds itself on the wrong side of this equation, God may decide to remove His hand of protective from us.
It is time for those of us in the body of Christ (denominational/affiliation leaders, pastors/priest, elders/deacons, and those in the pews) to decide who we will serve. God has given us government to protect the innocent and punish those who do wrong (Ro 13:3-4). He has also given the people of America the freedom to choose their political leaders. The Church must stand up and speak up, it must be the professing Church, and it must do it in a way that honors God by sharing the entirety of His Word in truth and love. Yes, some will be offended even if we speak the truth in love, but the Bible itself is offensive to many as well as the Cross. All across America there are those who find the Cross offensive and are seeking to remove it. Yes, it will take courage to stand as people we care about walk out the church door, as we face the possibility of church splits, financial shortfalls, criticism, intimidation, and persecution from family, friends, neighbors, and civil authorities. Did Jesus ever promise us that following Him and standing for the things of God would be easy? Did He not challenge us to pick up our cross and follow Him daily?
Pastors, please pray and ask the Lord to give you wisdom, discernment, courage, and strength to share Rev. Graham’s ad with everyone in your congregation, to post it in your church, and to encourage everyone to vote for biblical values. America was built upon Judeo-Christian values, the very precepts of God’s Word; will we not stand for these values at this critical time in our nation’s history? Church leaders please pray for your pastor and encourage him/her to stand. Members of the congregation, please talk with, pray with, and pray for your pastor and church leaders asking them to stand. However, if the leadership in your church fails to honor the things God calls good, holy, pure, righteous, and just, then pray and ask if He would have you find another church that will stand for these things, and profess them in a way that honors Him.
One day the Lord will return and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Scripture tells us that we will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. What excuse will we give for not standing against the mass murder of the most innocent in our society, for not standing for God’s plan for marriage and sexual purity, and for not standing for what He calls good and holy? On that day will the Lord say to us, Well done good and faithful servant?
jim
30 “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.” Ezekiel 22:30-31 (NIV)
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor martyred by the Nazi’s for refusing to compromise God’s Word.
“It is not love and it is not friendship if we fail to declare the whole counsel of God. It is better to be hated for telling the truth than to be loved for telling a lie.” Pastor Adrian Rogers
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ”. Martin Luther, 16th Century Reformation Leader
30 “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.” Ezekiel 22:30-31 (NIV)
To him who has ears, and to he who has eyes…..
The wrath of G-d is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who supress the truth by their wickedness. For what can be known about G-d is evident to them, because G-d made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what He has made. As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew G-d they did not accord Him glory as G-d or give Him thanks. Instead the became vain in their reasoning and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools… 1 Romans 18~22
These are the times in which we live, and the message is clear --
WE HAVE BEEN WARNED, and we are being warned the more by a Creator who wishes us well, and would have us return to Him. Yet He will not accept our vain imaginings, nor tollerate our knowing and prideful transgressions; rather, He seeks to refine us, as gold is refined, in the fires of test and tribulation, for our own benefit, and as a testimony to His power and grace. Those who will not accept grace must, therefore, receive judgement; for there is no ‘third path’ as the fools and the proud proclaim to follow, in their willful ignorance.
“Watch, and be sober therefore, for you know not when the Lord shall come.” I believe that the day of the Lord is closer than many would have it be, and I believe we shall all see it.
LT
Why is God spelled G-d. Not being picky, just curious.
Spelling G-d as shown in LT’s post is a sign of reverence.