The Lord and Oklahomans

When you have no refuge,
     The Lord is your refuge
     And Oklahomans open their dorms, churches, hotels, and homes.

When you have no water,
     The Lord is the living water
     And Oklahomans build a mountain of bottled water.

When you have no hope,
     The Lord is your hope
     And Oklahomans bring blankets, hugs, miracles and boundless energy.

When you have no strength,
     The Lord is your strength
     And Oklahomans bring forklifts and strong arms and energy bars and sixteen hour days.

When you have no power,
     The Lord gives you power to become children of God
     And Oklahomans and Texans and Missourians and Arkansans and ask the rest bring utility trucks,
     And generators hum in the rubble throughout the night, dispelling the darkness.

When all is taken away,
     The Lord is your provider
     And Oklahomans break piggy banks and donate their vacations and share their showers, shelter, and southern hospitality.

When you're mad at what has happened,
     Scream and yell and pound God on the chest,
     Because the Lord hears the cry of the brokenhearted and his ears are open to your prayers,
     And Oklahomans who don't know what else to give will have a prayer for you and a shoulder to cry on.

When you've lost your beloved,
     The Lord weeps with those who mourn
     And Oklahoma does too.

    Oklahoma, tornado, Moore, disaster, May 20, 2013

A Parable on Bengazi

From 2 Samuel 11, paraphrased.
At the time when kings go off to war, the king stayed away; he preferred to lead from behind. He sent the army out, only telling the representatives of the people as an afterthought.

The king had no taste for facing war directly; he choose instead to control events from his remote palace. He partook of sport out on the lush green fields. There were opportunities to gather funds for the kingdom in the decadent city.

The mighty men soldiered on, having no respite. One evening, a heavily armed force descended upon the compound where certain warriors were located. They sent a frantic message pleading for help. When it reached the palace, it was rejected; the relief fighters were ordered to stay in their places. When the men of the city came out and fought against the king's men, some of them died.

A full account, in vivid detail, was made available to the king. It was clear that his men had been overpowered and without assistance. Missiles came from high up and struck the valiant fighters, fatally wounding them. His response was to cast blame elsewhere. His most disturbing statement: "Don't let this disturb you; the sword devours one as well as the other." (v. 25)

What astounds me is how very well the text of 2 Samuel 11 fits the details of the Bengazi attack. V. 24 might just as well say, RPG's and mortars from up high descended upon some and killed them, exactly as happened to two of the men. V. 25 almost exactly quotes one of the Democratic Congressmen's callous remarks to the deaths.

Obviously, the biblical story was about David ignoring his duty to lead his army into battle, instead preferring to lead from behind, and then becoming slave to the lusts of his flesh. Obama's lust does not appear to be sexual, but he sure likes to golf and campaign and fund raise and travel, and his actions after the attack were clearly calculated to ensure his reelection.

As for why he guaranteed the deaths of the men in Bengazi, the reasons are not yet known. It fits the biblical story too frighteningly well for me not to think that he wanted these men dead to cover something up like weapons transactions.

My prayer is that the truth will come forth on the lips of many Nathans, and that most importantly, Obama and his leadership team will repent before Almighty God. One thing is for sure- the blood on their hands will remain.

Humiliation

Sounds awful, doesn't it? Our minds instantly go to painful moments in our lives when we were humiliated, if we dare even to recall. Our human pride hates humiliation. We dread being embarrassed by a bully, our boss, our own shameful actions, secret things we have done and regrets that tear at our souls.

Pride is sin. I don't think most of us have ever even admitted this truth to ourselves. It's the opposite of humility. Period.

Black and white.

Personally, I find it difficult to brag about my accomplishments or take compliments. Even in saying "thank you" for a compliment, I am, to be honest, just saying so dismissively. I do, however, love to brag on my wife and kids and declare that I am proud of them. I do love the song "Proud to be an American." Somehow, however, this seems to be a different phenomenon than pride. I sure don't want my wife or kids to become haughty, but I do want them to know how loved and wonderful they are and how important their accomplishments are. I want them to feel blessed for doing right or well or being good people.

As I contemplate and pray about the next steps to take in preparing for the Day of Humiliation and Prayer that I have called for April 30th, I have become focused on the word humiliation. Someone called me today to express their surprise that I had chosen this word. In fact, I did not. President Abraham Lincoln was only the last in a long line of statesmen to call for a day of humiliation. I am only following in their footsteps.

Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Mary said that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Job despised himself and repented in dust and ashes after God humiliated him for four straight chapters.

It's America's turn.

In our pride we have rejected God. The only way to reverse this is to humble ourselves. Humiliate ourselves. Our righteousness is as filthy rags before God. You know, we ought to be ashamed of ourselves for what we have allowed this nation to become. It's far better that we admit that now, repent, and throw ourselves at God's mercy than keep on going, too proud to turn, and face his wrath.

Start humbly praying now. Please redouble your prayer efforts on the 30th of April. If you are able, please join me at the south steps of the Oklahoma State Capitol from 6 to 9pm on the 30th.

Take a Fresh Look at the Resurrection

I hope you're not in a rut about Easter, tired of the old traditions and complacent about the story. If you're like me, chocolate bunnies and Easter egg hunts and eating lamb and ham just kind of miss the mark.

Well, I decided to take a fresh look at the Easter story after I heard someone speak on the radio about the solid proofs from the Bible that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. I don't intend to write about them, though they are fascinating and there are thousands of resources you could turn to if you wanted to study that. I think it's far more important that you take the time yourself to study the biblical accounts of Jesus's death, burial, resurrection, and the interesting things he did in the forty days after that.

So here's what I noticed.

Jesus wasn't the first to rise from the dead. He was the first to rise that week, but when he died many holy people rose from the dead. They waited for him, then walked the streets of the city and appeared to many people.

The Pharisees remembered that Jesus had promised that he would rise from the dead and tried to prevent it, but the disciples didn't believe Jesus.

Jesus had some new and interesting skills, and not just with fishing, cooking, and folding laundry. No, I'm not joking.

Jesus appeared to women first, giving them the greatest legal validity they had ever received. The eyewitness testimony of these women is crucial to the concrete proof of the resurrection.

Not to sound crude, but ghosts and those who might be described as the walking dead or zombies are in the Easter story. Often I think that some of the great myths of all time are perversions of biblical truths because men can't even think of original stories.
Jesus seems very busy and driven in the resurrection accounts. He appears to be focused on demonstrating that he has risen from the dead just as he promised, as well as urging his disciples to wait for supernatural power to do amazing things.

To be sure, the next forty days are a mysterious time. The disciples only saw him a few times. Then, from the Mount of Olives, Jesus promises that he will return in the same way he leaves-as he leaves the ground and takes off up into the sky and beyond! This is the real Superman!

After you read the stories in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, please read 1 Corinthians 15 and contemplate how vitally important the resurrection is to everything about following Jesus.

Angry

What would I say from the deepest part of my soul about the killing of the unborn? It troubles me incomprehensibly that anyone would not want their child, be they the father or mother. Beyond that, I am at a loss for words that anyone could be willing to believe that a baby in the womb is anything other than a living human being. Just because the government says so?

Trying to be dispassionate and rational instead of furious for a moment, I am trying to understand how our nation has allowed abortion for forty years. I comprehend that we cannot stop the occasional serial killer who escapes justice, or the unexpected school shooter, our the Dr. Kevorkians, rare though they may be. Terror attacks cannot always be foreseen, nor can the next mad genius' plot to do something evil.

Abortion started out as something rare, secretive, and desperate. However, as soon as Roe v Wade, the abortion rate quickly skyrocketed to a third of all pregnancies. Within three years. For all the reading and study I have done, I still can't understand. I don't want to. I want it to not be true.

I don't know which is worse. The fact that one in three children is killed by their mother before being born, or the fact that only a tiny minority of people are doing A SINGLE SOLITARY THING about it.

There is no Civil Rights Movement for the unborn. It is a very few people, most of whom feel lonely in their crusade because most of their friends and family do not care at all about this national problem.

There are three registered sex offenders in my neighborhood. I make sure my family knows to avoid these individuals. There is also a known drug dealer whom the police have dealt with on numerous occasions. There are probably numerous illegal aliens in my neighborhood also. There are only three abortion facilities in my state.

One of them is in my neighborhood.

This is not a metaphor; this is a fact. The holocaust is happening three blocks from my children's bedrooms. This utterly disgusts me. You and I are responsible for this. What have you done? I know that I have done pathetically little.

What if nobody cared that Rosa Parks didn't give up that seat in the bus? What if no brave children faced the police dogs and fire hoses of Birmingham? What if Martin Luther King gave his I Have a Dream speech to an empty national park?

I can tell you what; business as usual. Segregated lunch counters right here in Oklahoma. Lynchings. Blacks still unable to rent a hotel room, attend the school of their choice, coach a football team, run for president. Cross burnings and church burnings. Our Declaration of Independence would still be marked "Insufficient Funds."

Men and women, boys and girls died so my children would have the honor of attending school with children of every race. They fought the last of the wars for independence from tyranny on American soil. Thomas Jefferson was right when he said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time by the blood of patriots and tyrants. From the War of Independence to the Civil War to the civil rights movement this has happened time and again.

One by one by one, our little children are being quietly ushered into extermination chambers. They go in; they don't come out. Sixty busloads a day. Every day.

Look around you the next time you are in public.

One out of every four women has made this choice.

Thirty million of them helped elect our president.

One hundred people were missing from my graduating class.

Two hundred fifty laughing children are missing from my children's elementary school.

Eighty people are missing from my church.

My soccer team is six children short.

Sandy Hook happens one hundred forty times a day- in other words, every ten minutes. 9/11 happens every single day.

Let us think about this. We are furious that Islamic terrorists attacked innocent people....

I love our God-given liberties, and our Declaration of Independence and Constitution that protect these rights. I am opposed to the government infringing on my rights to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to keep and bear arms. I am opposed to the government destroying our economy. Yes, it is true that the second amendment protects all the other rights. Who will protect the unalienable right to life? Fifty five million American citizens have been deprived of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, property, speech, religion, the right to bear arms, and all the rest.

What do you think God Almighty thinks of our nation? A balanced budget won't please him if we still use government money to kill babies. Prayer in schools won't please a holy God who knows that we have killed a third of the students. You see, we do not even deserve freedom of religion if we in the churches don't even ASK women not to abort their children.

As you can see, I am very angry about the holocaust of abortion. (Yes, do the math, that is a very appropriate term. ) I could have gone on this rant for a very long time, but God stopped me. I looked back over the previous paragraph and was shocked by what I wrote. I said we don't deserve our freedoms. Yet they are God-given and unalienable. How is this possible?

Grace.

Worship the King!

     Jesus came to us as a helpless baby, and when he grew up he increased in favor with God and men. He walked the countryside, blessing children, preaching uplifting sermons, healing the sick. He called his followers friends. He explained that he had come to lay down his life for us. He welcomes all who will come to him in humility, and his presence is a great comfort to the believer in times of trouble, grief, and sorrow.
Remember, also, that people tried to kill him several times for claiming to be God. Remember his violence in the temple. This same man who is meek and lowly is mighty and holy. Things are not right in this world, and he WILL fix them. I would like to share a few things Jesus said in hopes that you will see him in a different light and give pause to think.
     Remember that John the Baptist introduced Jesus by saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." Jesus himself said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." MT 7:13-14
     In MT 11:20-24, Jesus tells that the day of judgment will be terrible, even worse than it was for Sodom, for the cities of his time because they wouldn't repent at his teaching.
     MT 12:29-42 talks more of judgment for blasphemy and careless words. V.30: "He who is not with me is against me...."
     MT 24;38,9,44 warn us that we will be caught by surprise when Jesus returns, and it won't be a pleasant surprise for everyone.
     When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, escaping their murderous pursuers, they sang, "Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea."
     When Peter and John were persecuted, the believers prayed Psalm 2.
     REV 11:17-18 "We give thanks to you, Lord Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come."
     Look at the parable of the sheep and the goats in Mt 25 this way: the sheep didn't know what they were doing right while the goats didn't know they were doing anything wrong. I sure hope my conscience never breaks down so far I no longer know when I am doing wrong!
     Jesus is asking you a very pointed question. "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division."  LK 12:51   He gets just a bit harsher in 13:5: "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." I don't know about you, but I would rather avoid eternal punishment, fire that is never quenched, and the whole weeping and gnashing of teeth thing. I don't think he was kidding.
     In MT 12:43-45, Jesus describes the spiritual state of Israel. He had come to preach repentance and salvation, and by his power had caused demons to flee. These demons not only fled people, but the land. "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." See, Jesus did the people a favor: while they were powerless to resist the devil, emptied the house of Israel of demons, put it in order and swept it clean, but the people rejected him. The demons came back with a vengeance. Wonder why things are so bad in our own nation? We kicked God out of most of our society, and guess who takes his place?
     Please read LK 20:16 and 21:17.

My prayer is that you will see that Jesus taught many things that we don't hear anymore pertaining to nations, particularly the USA. He came to save sinners, but he also rules over the affairs of men, and this includes nations. After all, in the end he will rule the whole earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Nations rise and fall according to his will. Please continue to follow my blog at http://revelationblog18.blogspot.com/

I have brought some heavy news to your heart. Remember that no matter what happens to the world around you, "we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf." HEB 6:18-19 Right there, seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus, is where I want to stay and where I want to invite others so that they can flee the coming wrath.
     Revelation 22:20 " Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."

Governmental Wisdom from the Bible

I've chosen for this blog post to keep things simple. Much of the greatest wisdom in the realm of human government can be found in the Bible. Our own founding fathers drew much of their guidance from it when they wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Having done some study of the scriptures which deal with government, I will just lay them out before you with the occasional comment. Let the Holy Spirit be your teacher.

First of all, the Bible presents the concept of boundary stones, an important and even sacred ancient tradition whereby stones where placed to mark property lines. They gave physical definition to personal property rights as well as governmental jurisdictions.

DT 19:14 "Do not move your neighbor's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess."

DT 27:17 "Cursed is the man who moves his neighbor's boundary stone." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

Job24:1-3 "Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days? Men move boundary stones, they pasture flocks they have stolen. They drive away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox in pledge...."

PS 16:5,6 "Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."

HOS 5:10 "Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water." (presumably not covering the entire earth again)

Now I move on to some other jewels.

Luke 3:12-14 "Tax collectors also came to be baptized. 'Teacher,' they asked, "what should we do?" "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he [Jesus] told them. Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely-be content with your pay." (in those days, soldiers also served the police function)

Acts 17:26-27 "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set before them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."
From this: racism is a lie, evolution is a lie, all of human history has a purpose, borders and nations and Kingdoms and dynasties are under his control. It all rolls back to the truth of the story of Adam and Eve, the creation, the fall, filling the earth, turning to God of our own free will.

To save space, I refrain from copying the entire thirteenth chapter of the book of Romans. Instead, please read it yourself and see how many fundamental governmental principles are hidden there! Couple that with Acts 5:29 "We must obey God rather than men!" and you have grounds for a revolution!

Now, let's look at a couple of the prophets.
From Isaiah 1:
16 "wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."
21, 23 "See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her-but now murderers!

Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them. Therefore,...."
This sounds more like tomorrow's newspaper than Hebrew words on a scroll over 2,700 years old.

Jeremiah 1:
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
10 "See, today I appoint you over nations and Kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."
One man CAN make a difference! Especially since the individual is sovereign and can rise up over the power of tyranny, as the American revolutionaries did.

Lamentations 3:34-36
"To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, to deny a man his rights before the Most High, to deprive a man of justice-would not the Lord see such things?"

There is no doubt that the American Revolution was inspired by God's word and achieved by his power, but NEVER forget that this same God has the will and the right to tear down any nation that defies him. He is very patient....

I pray you listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Please look at the many verses below from Proverbs.

8:14... Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power. By me kings reign and rulers make laws that are just; by me princes govern, and all nobles who rule on earth.

11:1 The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight.
(read 16:11 also)

16:26 The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on.

17:15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent-the Lord detests them both. (read verse 26 and 18:5 too)

19:9 A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will perish.

19:28 A corrupt witness mocks at justice, and the mourn of the wicked gulps down evil.

20:10 Differing weights and differing measures-the Lord detests them both. [By the way, the Constitution requires that honest weights and measures be established.]

21:15 When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

23:10,11 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.

24:21,22 Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious, for these two will send sudden destruction upon then, and who knows what calamities they can bring?

Read 24:23,24,25 and 25:2-10

25:15 Through patience a ruler can be persuaded and a gentle tongue can break a bone. [I think I need to memorize this; can you think of somewhere to use this verse?]

Read 25:18

Just go ahead and read all of chapters 28 and 29; too much good stuff there to pick and choose!

I hope this has blessed you and that God will teach you many great things as you think on his word.