Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…I meant to write on this topic last week, but I decided to give myself one more week to get these thoughts together. Last week it would have been a pre-Veterans Day message, so this week it will suffice being a post-Veteran’s Day message.
My father was a veteran of WWII, and I am a veteran of the Vietnam era, so that makes Veterans Day – and this topic – very special to me. Since we just celebrated this important holiday, which honors the men and women who have stepped up to keep our country free and safe, I wonder what they would have to say if they could come back and see the current state of their beloved country right now?
- They would see a skyrocketing national debt that just got approval from congress to give the President unimpeded spending privileges through the remainder of his term in office in order to advance his avowed agenda of fundamentally “transforming this America.”
- They would see the decimated state of our military, even while our enemies have become emboldened and more openly hostile, chanting “death to Israel and death to the ‘Great Satan’ – America.”
- They would see an abysmal Veterans Administration whose track record of care for our Veterans is lack-luster at best, while at the same time the incompetent administrators are rewarded with 6 figure bonuses.
- They would see new treaties with countries that have always been our enemies while, at the same time, turning our back on our most trusted alley.
- They would see heightened racial tensions spilling into the streets, and a new breed of society called “the entitled” who believe that because someone has something bigger and better than “theirs”, they, the “entitled”, should be “made to share” what they have.
- They would see a political race that includes presidential candidates which are currently engrossed in such scandals as dereliction of duties while in their previous government office, AND a massive cover-up that includes compromising classified information; and another candidate who is an avowed Socialist.
- And finally they would see the leader of their country look into the face of this generation’s equivalent of the “The Third Reich” – Isis! – and yet refuse to admit this movement is a threat. Even with the slaughter of Christians, and any others who don’t believe their ideology – first throughout the Middle East, but within this past week the world witnessed this abhorrent ideology expressed in Paris as France experienced its own “9-11”. But our leader recently told the world that he believes the greatest threat that we are collectively facing is “global warming?” Hmmmm?
So what would our Veterans from past wars think? Would they ask themselves, “What happened to the America we fought and died for?”
No doubt, books can – and have been, or will be – written on each of the topics listed above, so in my limited blog space, I have no intention of offering anything other than a different perspective from what you will most likely hear in the next Presidential debates, and one you definitely will not hear from your local news media. I want to clearly delineate the face of evil, which results from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the face of the Goodness, which results from the Tree of Life.
We have heard it said over and over again by the most learned people, “We must learn from history because history repeats itself.” Is that true? Well, let me list some examples. The greatest empires and movements of the world all share a common denominator in their collapse. They all became self-sufficient and turned away from the teachings of God and elevated human wisdom above all else.
“And why would they do that?” you might ask. Because the teachings of God are specific and exacting and are contrary to our human nature. Therefore, man’s nature is to create as much “gray area” around God’s Truth as to allow wiggle-room to pursue his own desires. It’s easier to become focused on power, control, self-indulgence, and in most cases, wealth (i.e. false gods), and that thinking has been proven to motivate ugly actions and ugly results.
For instance, in the ancient world the Israeli people, the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire and the Roman Empire all rejected the teachings of God’s appointed Prophets: “Repent! Turn from your sin (take the focus off yourself) and turn to God” The Bible is a treasure trove of the blessings that have come to individuals and nations that yielded to that message, and it also reveals the consequences that have befallen those who refused to listen. That message could not be clearer, or more consistent.
So now I am going to tie this information into the subject line of today’s blog. I know that everyone reading this posting already has his/her opinion of how or why we got here, but fewer have a solution to this quagmire of insanity. So I am going to propose something really radical – knowing full-well that some of you will undoubtedly think this is absolutely infantile. But I believe the answer is as old as Creation itself. And I’m equally convinced that electing someone with an R, or D, or I behind their name is NOT the answer. Why? Because if their agenda – and most are – based on human thinking, history has proven that human wisdom is flawed and limited by our own finite paradigm of thinking, as well as our focus on self-promotion and aggrandizement. There are numerous Scriptural statements to back this up, but I will turn to Apostle Paul’s perspective as stated in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (NIV)
So your perspective on this answer will depend on your own view and acceptance of “Truth”. Are the teachings of Jesus too old and musty and out of date for today’s complicated world? (Remember, before you can form an opinion to that question, you first have to know what Jesus taught? Do you??) Or is today’s world a result of self-indulgent human thinking? (Remember, the world God created was paradise. The first inhabitants wanted for nothing.) But after SIN – defined in Genesis 3:5 as disobedience to God’s directive and putting the focus on themselves and their own human desire to be their own god – entered the world, that spiritual connection with God was broken. Therefore, these ugly “human qualities” immediately entered the world too: fear, doubt, anger, frustration, hatred, envy, jealously, lying, pain, sickness, suffering, death...etc. Do you see any of these qualities in today’s world?
We are told in Ephesians 1:1-13 that God’s plan was in place even before the world was created, and that plan centered on Jesus Christ. God’s plan was always for Jesus to be our Redeemer (Savior), but he gave us from Creation to 2015 years ago to prove we could not overcome the issue of sin through our own volition. Romans 5:6, 8-10 define our pathetic state of existence: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 8 God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.
Jesus’ stated purpose can be found in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; No! I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” And again in John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Finally, in John 8:32: “If you follow my teachings, you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.”
So what did Jesus teach? Notice he was very specific in John 8:32: he spoke of MY teachings…not worldly teachings. In Jesus first sermon, “The Sermon on the Mount”, he spoke of the Beatitudes, which are eight blessings recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, 5-7. This contrasted God’s perspective to human perspective. So Jesus’ teachings reflected God’s nature: love, humility, forgiveness, compassion, empathy, tolerance, kindness and being of service to our fellow man.
Do you think more of these qualities would improve the world we live in today? Hasn’t that been the proclamation to the world from ancient times right up until today… “Repent! (change your mind!) Turn from your sin and turn to God.” If those we choose to lead us reflect and are driven by “human nature” and human truths (FYI, the Bible refers to this same perspective as our “sin nature”), we will experience a preponderance of the qualities listed four paragraphs back. If they reflect the teachings of Jesus, they will reflect the qualities listed one paragraph above. Again, as Apostle Paul stated in Romans 12:2, “do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by changing the way you think”. Modern day psychology also tells us that what we put in our head sets our expectations and our actions follow. So you believe that’s true?
We are told very succinctly in 1John 4:8 and again in 4:16 that “God IS love!” We are also told in John 8:44 that “Satan (the Devil) is a liar… he is the father of lies and deception.” Jesus told his disciples in John 14:9: “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” So where would you look if you want to see the Devil? Would you recognize him if you saw him (her/it)?
It seems clear to me that when we see someone wrapped in lies and deception, that absolutely reflects the nature of the Devil, who’s only purpose is to keep us separated from God. After all, Godly teaching is certainly contrary to pursuance of power, control, wealth and self-aggrandizement. I don’t want to appear totally naive, but wouldn’t just the inclusion of “truth” and “service to your fellow man” be a welcome change from what we hear and see today?
Well, the good news is…we still have the liberty that our Veterans fought and died for that gives us the right to pick and choose. Hopefully this time we have learned from past mistakes and will realize that honor, integrity, a desire to be of service to others, and a love and respect for the fundamental Judeo-Christian principles on which this country was founded and made this country great, are indispensable qualities for changing the current direction of America the Beautiful. My prayer right now is that everyone reading this will take the time to become informed about each candidate running for political office and what they really represent. Otherwise we are vulnerable to being duped again by empty political rhetoric. I believe the future of America depends on our willingness to do this. May God Bless America!
I would like to close with a two quotes from Jonathan Cahn’s, The Harbinger: “If America upholds God’s eternal standards and follows His unchanging ways, then it will be blessed with His favor…His protection…His prosperity….But if America should depart from the ways of God, if it should disregard His eternal standards, then the smiles of heaven, the blessings of God, will be withdrawn-its prosperity, its protection, and its powers would be taken away. He’s giving a warning to the nation: The day America turns away from God will be the day that begins the removing of its blessings.”
“America was founded on prayer. Therefore, the removal of prayer from its public life was a central part of its fall from God. A nation that turns away from prayer will ultimately find itself in desperate need of it.”
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May God Bless Ya…
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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