Monthly Archives: February 2011

February 23, 2011 · 6:50 am

November 4, 2008: The Day America’s Death Warrant Was Signed (Part 6)

Roe versus Wade was first argued before the Supreme Court on December, 13, 1971, before only seven justices. Two justices, William Rehnquist and Lewis Powell, joined the court in January, 1972. Because of this, Roe versus Wade was reargued in front of the full Supreme Court on October 11, 1972.

What else was going on in October, 1972? The Paris Peace Negotiations to end the Vietnam War.

America’s involvement in Vietnam began in the 1950’s under President Dwight Eisenhower’s administration with a few military advisers and some financial aid. The next president, John Kennedy, escalated America’s role by increasing the number of servicemen in Vietnam by twenty fold. In addition, President Kennedy helped plan a coup which resulted in the assassination of the president of South Vietnam.

Then in August, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson pushed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution through a joint session of Congress. This resolution allowed the president to conduct military operations in Southeast Asia without declaring war. From this point on, the little conflict became a major war with hundreds of thousands of Americans involved in it.

Finally, in May, 1968, peace talks began when President Johnson sent a delegation to meet with North Vietnam in Paris. The talks continued with the newly elected president, Richard Nixon, and his chief negotiator, Dr. Henry Kissinger. For three years, the main hang-up for the North Vietnamese was their insistence that America needed to remove President Theiu from power in South Vietnam and replace him with a person more acceptable to the Communist regime in North Vietnam. The U.S. refused to concede this point.

On October 8, 1972, a major breakthrough came in secret negotiations between Dr. Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho. North Vietnam modified their demands. Ten days later, a final draft was drawn up and Dr. Kissinger announced, “Peace is at hand.”

President Theiu of South Vietnam was not even informed about the secret negotiations. When he read the final draft, he was furious and felt that America had sold out his nation to North Vietnam. He refused to accept it, but Nixon and Kissinger twisted Theiu’s arm and made promises of continued support and financial aid to South Vietnam. In the end, President Theiu was forced to accept the peace agreement.

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued its Roe versus Wade decision. This landmark decision overturned almost every federal and state law that restricted abortion in our nation. From this date on, the war against babies began with a vengeance.

On the following day, Dr. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho signed off on the Viet Nam peace treaty, which was almost identical to the final draft agreed to in October, 1972. Then, on January 27, 1973, the leaders of the formal delegations signed the agreement at the Majestic Hotel in Paris.

What were the political outcomes for the three principal architects of the Vietnam War?

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

President Lyndon Johnson fled the presidential office in shame after just one term. He died of a sudden heart attack at his Texas ranch on January 22, 1973, the day that Roe versus Wade was announced by the Supreme Court.

Also, in January, 1973, the five men who broke into the Democratic National Office at the Watergate complex were tried and convicted. The mushrooming Watergate scandal and cover-up eventually drove President Richard Nixon out of office in disgrace on August 9, 1974.

Were these just coincidences? I do not believe so.

President Theiu’s concerns about the secret agreement reached between Dr. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho proved accurate. America exchanged prisoners with the North Vietnamese and withdrew from Southeast Asia. North Vietnam ignored the treaty. And then, America failed to keep its promises to South Vietnam, not even one of them.

The aftermath of America’s lies and broken promises concerning the peace treaty resulted in a bloodbath. Millions were slaughtered in South Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos by the Communists. Hundreds of thousands of others – men, women, children and babies – fled South Viet Nam in crowded boats. A large percentage of these boat people perished at sea. Those that survived the boat trips were met by thieves, killers and rapists when they landed in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.

I sincerely believe that America’s sin which has opened the doors for God’s judgment of abortion to fall upon our nation was our government’s treacherous handling of the Vietnam War, especially in dealing with South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Our broken promises and lies have resulted in the deaths of millions of innocent people whose blood have cried out to a just God.

So, what must we do?

(Continued in Part 6)

Click on following links for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.

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February 21, 2011 · 7:18 am

November 4, 2008: The Day America’s Death Warrant Was Signed (Part 5)

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people are so full of doubts. (Bertrand Russell)

Three distinctive qualities hindered the opposition group to the anti-Vietnam War activists: age, organization and traditional religion.

The Hawks, as the group eventually became known, consisted mainly of people who were more than thirty-five years of age. These citizens remembered how their youthful years were sacrificed by serving in the military during World War I, World War II or the Korean War. Thus, when they looked at the youthful activists, they did not relate well and considered them to be long-haired rebels.

The Hawks also held full-time jobs, providing for their families. Because of this, their free time was limited. The activists, on the other hand, were college-aged kids who lived on or near college campuses and could easily organize protest demonstrations whenever the need arose.

President Richard Nixon recognized the lack of organization for the Hawks in his speech on November 3, 1969. “And so tonight – to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans – I ask for your support.”

Then, there was the matter of traditional religion. The Hawks learned from early on through their parents, schools and churches that God had a special relationship with America. The pledge of allegiance to the flag stated: “…one nation under God…” The songs they sang and were required to memorize the words to, included titles such as My Country Tis of Thee, God Bless America and America the Beautiful

These three qualities helped to lure the Christians, who were Hawks, into what I call the right ditch alongside the balanced Biblical path.

Looking back at history, we see another Christian nation who suffered through many of the same problems – Germany.

Even now, it is hard to believe that Adolf Hitler and the Nazis came to power through presidential appointments and elections. Yet, after winning the election in 1933, Hitler held only 43% of the vote. He was forced to build coalitions in order to govern Germany.

The Nazis understood the importance of calming Christian fears about their ungodly plans to build a Third Reich. Thus, the Nazis used the Bible to undermine Christian values.

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. (Romans 13: 1-2)

The Nazis twisted Romans 13 into a justification for Christians blindly obeying the Nazi government in whatever they did. After all, they said, the Nazis were established by God and resisting the governing authorities was a major sin.

Fevent opposition to the Nazi’s twisted use of Romans 13 by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Niemoller and other pastors did arise, but their voices were silenced as trumped up charges were brought against them and they were imprisoned.

Sadly, nearly one third of the Lutheran pastors jumped on board the Nazi bandwagon and backed their policies. This defection from the truth quelled most believers’ apprehensions about blindly obeying the Nazi government.

Then, as the changes became more and more ungodly, German Christians were swept along in the undertow of their earlier decisions into deeper and deeper waters of blind obedience.

During the Vietnam War, much the same thing happened to a significant percentage of Christians who fell into the right ditch. They held tightly to Romans 13 and voiced slogans such as, “America, love it or leave it.”

By holding so tightly to Romans 13:1-2, American Christians ignored the message of a subsequent verse:

For it [the government] is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. (Romans 13:4)

The government of a nation is scripturally directed to minster good to its people, not evil. Thus, if a nation’s government heads in an ungodly direction, the people are to react like Peter and the apostles did:

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29)

The Vietnam War acted like a sword to divide Christianity and set it up for future defeats… one defeat would eventually cost fifty million lives.

(Continued in Part 6)

Click on following links for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

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February 19, 2011 · 1:54 pm

November 4, 2008: The Day America’s Death Warrant Was Signed (Part 4)

Adjacent to the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., is the Vietnam War Memorial. Its black granite walls are etched with the names of 58,261 servicemen who died in the Vietnam War.  The memorial stands not only as a tribute to the soldiers who paid the ultimate price, but also to the 2.7 million soldiers who served in the war.

But there also should be another black granite memorial erected nearby for the American Body of Christ, with the following words etched on it:

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. (Mark 3: 24-25)

Countless books and studies reveal the problems our nation has suffered because of the political divisions of the Vietnam War, but what about the Body of Christ? How has the Vietnam War affected the American Church?

Let’s look back at that era.

The anti-Vietnam War activists of the 1960′s understood the art of marketing their brand of politics. For them, the quickest way to change America was not via the ballot box, but rather through the media, especially the TV news programs.

Anti-Vietnam War marches and sit-ins were orchestrated with an eye toward the 6 PM national news programs. Catchy slogans, much like advertising jingoes, were shouted by the participants. Some of their favorites:  “Hell no! We won’t go!” and “Make love, not war!” and “Draft beer, not boys!”

The TV networks were more than eager to oblige the anti-Vietnam War activists. After all, TV news programs depend on advertising money and viewer ratings, which all depend on conflicts. Thus, the national TV programs coupled bloody news footage from the Vietnam War with anti-Vietnam War activist events.

The anti-Vietnam War activists also understood America was largely a Christian nation. So, they challenged Christians with an in-your-face marketing strategy. They used cut and paste Bible techniques, choosing certain verses which justified their stances and omitting others which did not.

“Jesus stated, ‘Love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you,’” the anti-Vietnam War activists said. “And what about Jesus’ words that we should not resist evil, but rather, turn the other cheek to our enemies? How can we follow Jesus’ example if we are killing our enemies in a war?”

Since the Reformation, there have been pacifist streams in Christianity. Quakers, Brethren and Anabaptists are a few examples of groups which have offshoots into today’s Amish, Mennonite and Hutterite communities and assemblies. Yet the activists took their antiwar beliefs many steps past the pacifist beliefs of the aforementioned groups. The activists insinuated that God hated all wars. Jesus was against all wars. Thus, all wars were a sin. Period!

A significant percentage of Christians marched lockstep with the anti-Vietnam War activists into what I call the left ditch alongside the balanced Biblical path the American Church should walk on.

Now, there’s little doubt that America’s political and military leaders made a multitude of mistakes handling the Vietnam War.  Also, the American Church did not blow its prophetic trumpets, proclaiming our leaders’ mistakes to the nation.

But at the same time, we individual believers tend to wear blinders when we check out our agendas (political or otherwise) with the Bible, especially when fervent motions are involved. Sadly, this is what I believe happened to the Christians who ended up in the left ditch during the Vietnam War.

The thinking that God hates all wars, Jesus is against all wars and all wars are sin is scripturally wrong from both a New Testament viewpoint and an Old Testament one.

Where did the first war occur?

And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war. (Revelation 12: 7)

If the Lord is totally against war, why didn’t He have a peace conference with Satan? You know, just to clear the air and thereby listen to Satan and his group’s grievances. Maybe a compromise could have been worked out. But no, there was war.

What restrictions did Jesus place on the centurion when the soldier asked for a miracle for his servant?

And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment. (Matthew 8: 13)

Most likely, the centurion had earned his rank in battles. Thus, if war were sin, then Jesus would have said much the same thing He did for the woman caught in adultery and the man lowered down through the roof tiles. He would have first pardoned the soldier’s sin before performing a miracle.

Did John the Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, mention war when he talked with the soldiers?

Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages. (Luke 3:14)

John the Baptist said his words in front of numerous Jews who hated the Roman soldiers. Possibly some of the Jews had lost relatives or friends in battles with the soldiers. Yet, not one word was mentioned about war.

Who leads the armies of heaven?

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True [Jesus], and in righteousness he judges and makes war. (Revelation 19: 11)

How many times did Jesus mention war was a sin?

Never. Zero. Nada. Zilch. To make war a sin, you have to extrapolate meanings out of a few verses and ignore hundreds of others throughout the Bible.

What about the early church?

The first century church with Peter, John, James and Paul made no claims that war was sin. A hundred years later, Augustine came up with his Just War Theory, but even he and the other church fathers did not oppose war in all circumstances.

There is absolutely no scriptural evidence that God hates all wars, Jesus is against all wars and all wars are sin. The Christians in the left ditch staked out an extreme position and were deceived.

So, what about the opposing side?

(Continued in Part 5)

Click on following links for earlier articles: Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3.

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February 16, 2011 · 8:12 am

November 4, 2008: The Day America’s Death Warrant Was Signed (Part 3)

Most people have seen the movie, Titanic, and its fictional love story about a poor boy, Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio), and a rich girl, Rose (Kate Winslet), on an ill-fated ocean voyage. The movie won the 1997 Oscar for Best Picture and its box office sales of over $1.8 billion ranks it as the second most successful movie of all time, behind Avatar.

Hollywood created its own heroes for the movie script, but on April 14, 1912, there undoubtedly were many heroes. One of them was named John Harper.

John Harper, a thirty-nine year old widower and a Baptist preacher, was traveling to Chicago aboard the R.M.S Titanic on its maiden voyage with his six year old daughter, Nana. The Moody Church had scheduled him to preach some evangelistic meetings.

At 11:40 PM, the Titanic hit an iceberg on the starboard side of the ship. As soon as Harper realized the ship was going to sink, he took his daughter to a lifeboat, placed her aboard and said, “Nana, I’ll see you again someday.”

Then, while flares lit up the sky, he marched up and down the decks yelling, “Women, children and unsaved into the lifeboats!”

At 2:20 AM, a rumble arose from deep within the ship as it broke in half. Hundreds of people, including Harper, jumped into the 28 degree (-2 C) water as the Titanic slipped into its watery grave.

As soon as Harper hit the surface, he frantically swam from one person to the next, leading them to Jesus before the people succumbed to the icy waters and hypothermia. He asked one young man who was clinging to a piece of wood, “Are you saved?” The young man answered that he was not.

Harper tried to convince the young man, but he refused to listen. Harper took off his life jacket and threw it at the man. “Here then, you need this more than I do,” said Harper as he swam off to other people.

A few minutes later, Harper returned to the man and successfully led him to Christ. Then, Harper attempted to swim to other people, but the icy waters were too much for him. “Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved,” he shouted before he sank under the waters.

Of the 1528 people that went into the icy waters that night, only six were rescued by lifeboats. One of them was this young man who later recounted how Harper had led him to Christ.

Few of us will be thrust into the same circumstances as John Harper was on that fateful night. But still, we need to open our spiritual eyes and really see where our neighbors, family and friends are spiritually at right now.

Visualize each of them frantically attempting to swim in dark, churning waters with 15 million pounds on his back. Do you think any will survive? Don’t be ridiculous, right? Yet, this is the approximate weight of fifty million aborted babies, which is one of our most hideous national sins. Plus, you then need to add a few pounds for the weight of each person’s own sins.

Now, if you could ask each of the struggling swimmers which weight they would first want removed from their backs, what do you think they would say? Probably something like, “If you help remove the fifteen million pounds, I might listen to you about the other weights. Please help me!”

…strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus…(Hebrews 12: 1-2)

Like John Harper, we need to focus ourselves on what’s needed now. He did not waste time swimming around in the icy waters talking about his Baptist credentials nor the five pillars of Calvinism. He asked one question: “Are you saved?” He acted on what was the most important need at that tragic moment on April 14, 1912, and we must do the same now.

Yes, there are those who are crossing their fingers and praying for a national revival. And if the Lord sends one, hallelujah, thank You Jesus, I will join in. But I’ve listened to these prophecies about a soon-coming revival which will wash our nation clean of sin for the last twenty-five years. It hasn’t arrived as yet. So, do we keep walking down the same path for twenty-five or ten or five more years, hoping for a revival?

Not me! I’m jumping off this path and walking on a new one.

For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24: 37-39)

I believe the most important need at this point in America’s history is for us to intercede, fast and do acts of mercy for our national sins. And that means, we need to open up the wounds of the Vietnam War.

(Continued in Part 4)

Click on following links for earlier articles: Part 1 and Part 2.

[1] The Titanic’s Last Hero: Story About John Harper, Moody Adams, Olive Press (1997).

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February 14, 2011 · 7:11 am

November 4, 2008: The Day America’s Death Warrant Was Signed (Part 2)

If my revelation that America’s death warrant has already been signed by the Judge, then why should we even care about our national sins? After all, the nation will perish no matter what we attempt, right? So why not just give up and move to Australia or Brazil?

In his day, the prophet, Jeremiah, was torn by the same revelations that we American Christians now face. Not only that, his commitment to the Lord was pushed to its limits by the adverse conditions he struggled through. He was not allowed to marry, to attend feasts, to go to the Temple or to proclaim his own prophecies. Cruel beatings, imprisonment and extreme persecution marked the last twenty years of his prophetic ministry to Judah.

But yet, Jeremiah faithfully prophesied over and over again that Jerusalem (the chosen City of God with its holy Temple) and Judah could save itself only by surrendering to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

Let’s place Jeremiah’s prophetic words into a more modern context. What if David Ben-Gurion (Israel’s first prime minister) had traveled to his native Poland and Germany in 1939? What if after talking with the Nazi leaders, he declared, “We Jews can trust Hitler. Don’t worry about being relocated to Auschwitz, Belzec and Treblinka. These camps will be safe havens for us Jews,” what would Polish and German Jews have thought of Ben-Gurion?

Certainly not much, considering Hitler’s many writings on the Jewish problem and his Final Solution comments. And Nebuchadnezzar, like Hitler, was a cruel despot who saw nothing wrong with slaughtering innocent people if it benefitted his empire agenda.

So, you can imagine the horrors the Jews felt when Jeremiah spoke his “Thus says the Lord of Hosts” messages about surrendering to the cruel Babylonian army. They considered his words as acts of treason.

But even after Jeremiah definitely knew the Lord was determined to destroy Jerusalem and Judah, he continued to plead for the Jews to repent. Why? What did it matter? After all, the Lord was going to destroy Jerusalem and Judah anyway, right?

At one time I will suddenly speak concerning a nation or kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it; and if [the people of] that nation concerning which I have spoken turn from their evil, I will relent and reverse My decision concerning the evil that I thought to do to them. (Jeremiah 18: 7-8 AMP)

Jeremiah knew God’s heart. He understood God is first and foremost a Redeemer who loves people and that His deepest desire is for people to turn away from sin and walk in His ways. In addition, Jeremiah most likely studied the words of Joel who prophesied about the day of the Lord, but also declared hope for nations who had received a death warrant notice from God:

Rend your hearts and not your garments and return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness; and He revokes His sentence of evil [when His conditions are met.] Who knows but what He will turn, revoke your sentence [of evil], and leave a blessing behind Him [giving you the means with which to serve Him], even a cereal or meal offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; set apart a fast [a day of restraint and humility]; call a solemn assembly. (Joel 2:13-15 AMP)

So, Jeremiah held onto hope that the people of Judah would repent and return to God with all their hearts. Then, if they met the conditions of genuine repentance, maybe God would revoke the death warrant pronounced against Judah.

But Judah’s heart was hardened. The nation no longer trusted God to be their Savior and only a few people believed the words of Jeremiah. Thus only a few people surrendered to the Babylonians and were saved. The rest were either slaughtered or taken to Babylonia.

What about America? Can our nation possibly repent enough so that the death warrant against America may be removed by God?

Yes, but it would have to be a Nineveh type of extreme repentance whereby the highest leaders down to the least among us would have to repent and humble ourselves before God. You see, our nation has a high level of accountability before God. Our money is stamped with the words: “In God We Trust.” Our pledge to the flag states, “One nation under God.” Our leaders place their hands on Bibles when they are sworn into office.  Plus, America has received countless warnings from men of God about divine judgments, but these men have been rebuked and ignored.

So, America has absolutely no excuse before the throne of God. We are guilty!

Although it is possible America could repent enough to please God, I hold no hope that this will ever happen.  Instead, I believe we Christians need to:

…strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus…(Hebrews 12: 1-2 AMP)

We Christians need to prepare ourselves for the dark days lying ahead so that we can be the Body of Christ reaching out to our neighbors, family and friends.

What do we need to do?

(Continued in Part 3)

Click on following link for earlier article: Part 1.

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February 7, 2011 · 7:29 am

November 4, 2008: The Day America’s Death Warrant Was Signed (Part 1)

We American Christians have come to expect spiritual John Waynes to arrive during our nation’s worst times and rescue us from imminent disasters. This has often happened in times past when men like John Wesley, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham and others have called America away from the spiritual abyss.

So, is there still balm in Gilead for America?

Let’s look back at the events of the 2008 presidential election.

At the Democratic Convention in Denver (August 25 – 28, 2008), the party selected the two most radical pro-abortion candidates in the history of America as its standard bearers: Senator Barack Obama and Senator Joseph Biden. Both were Planned Parenthood poster candidates.

The Republicans countered at their convention in St. Paul, Minnesota (September 1 – 4,2008) with two pro-life candidates in Senator John McCain and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Governor Palin’s refusal to abort her son, Trig, a Down Syndrome baby, focused America’s eyes on the abortion issue.

Soon after the Republican convention, the polling data showed a dead even race between Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin. This was a remarkable comeback for McCain who had lagged behind Obama in the double digit percentage range for weeks.

McCain/Palin finally inched ahead going into the second week of the month.

Then, on September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. The following day, the Federal Reserve authorized a $85 billion bailout loan to AIG. Financial news swirled out of control until the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was enacted, which established the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

With the bad economic news, Obama/Biden surged back into the lead and McCain/Palin wilted on the campaign trail. Obama eventually won in a landslide on election night.

Spike Lee, film director and producer, later declared, “God Himself ordained the financial crisis to happen when it did in order to propel Barack Obama to victory.”

For the last two years, Spike Lee’s words have haunted me. Were Lee’s words accurate?

There’s no doubt in my mind that the Lord could have held back the financial crisis until after the presidential election, but He didn’t. Why not? I wondered. After all, if the financial crisis had not hit, McCain could have been elected president and the Supreme Court’s balance could have been shifted to the right by now with a good chance of Roe versus Wade being overturned sometime in the near future.

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. (Luke 19: 41-44)

In the midst of the hubbub and excitement on that first Palm Sunday, Jesus paused on His journey to Jerusalem at a spot on the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem and the Temple. This was the exact spot where Jews throughout history had mourned and wept over the Temple.

When Jesus stopped and wept at the overlook, the people probably hushed, anticipating a historic speech, but what they heard shocked them. The Prophet, their long awaited King David, prophesied the above words which trumpeted the death of Jerusalem and the Temple.

Why did Jesus prophesy Jerusalem’s and the Temple’s death warrant?

…because you did not recognize the day of your visitation. (Luke 19:44)

The Greek word episkope in verse 44 is translated into our English word visitation. Yet, episkope does not imply a visitor stopping by for a friendly visit. Its true meaning suggests God the Judge would visit a nation, examining the people to determine whether they would be blessed or cursed.

Yes, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but also He is the stumbling stone and a rock of offense whereby people and nations stumble and fall to their doom. (Jesus’ prophesy was fulfilled in 70 AD when a Roman army under General Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and killed over a million Jews.)

It’s now my sincere belief that the 2008 Financial Crisis was a plumb line event the Lord sent to discover how America measured up. So, was America squarely looking up to Him and His ways or tilted off center? What did the plumb line event reveal to the Lord?

Lou Engle stated it best:

In this election, we have bowed our knee to Baal and chosen prosperity over posterity. (See full article here.)

Sad words, but true. Our nation failed the test, and like Jerusalem and the Temple on that first Palm Sunday, America’s death warrant has been signed by the Judge. It’s just a matter of time until the execution is carried out.

Sadly, in retrospect, Spike Lee’s words proved to be accurate.

(Continued in Part 2)


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February 2, 2011 · 2:39 pm

What if Obama Loses in 2012? What Will Conservative Christians Really Gain?

What if Obama Loses the 2012 election? What will conservative Christians really gain?

Actually, conservative Christians will gain very little and lose much.

“What?” you shout, “How can you make such a dumb statement? Don’t you realize Obama is the worse this and that in the history of America? And then, there are his views on healthcare, Israel, the economy, global warming, abortion, world government and energy; what about these issues? Don’t you care?”

Just for the record, you can check how I felt during the 2008 election cycle by looking back at my posts during that time period. For the most part, you will notice I opposed the Obama/Biden ticket because of their pro-abortion stances.  And if you have time, you can also check out my prophetic mistakes and what I learned from them by clicking here and reading all of  #1 and #3.

Okay, so much for full disclosure on my part. So why am I making such a bold statement that conservative Christians will gain very little and lose much if Obama is defeated?

First: To defeat President Obama in 2012 will take a concentrated effort by conservative Christians. This effort will take huge amounts of time; time we do not have. Plus, it will take millions of dollars of donations; money which could be used elsewhere with greater benefits for the Kingdom of God.

Second: To defeat President Obama in 2012 will mean a dirty-dog, down-in-the-trenches, in-your-face battle between the different factions of the Body of Christ which will only add more division to the Body. A division – we Christians can not afford at this time in America. (Here’s the demographics for 2008, which are basically the same as 2004 and probably won’t change much for 2012.)

What will we gain if Obama is defeated? A pat on the back from fellow conservative Christians who agree with us, but little else. You see, the damage to our economy and our nation will already have been done and will take years to reverse. Years – we will not have.

Why am I so pessimistic about our government and nation? America is sliding down a greasy slope into a bloody terrorist war which will occur here on our home-front. A terrorist war which we are not prepared for, cannot stop and one which our government will be of limited help for us.

Our only hope is for a great number of American Christians to be able to live as mature citizens of the Kingdom of God when the heavy terrorists’ attacks strike us, especially here on the West Coast. These mature kingdom citizens will have to help their neighbors and others, during the dismal days awaiting our nation.

But sadly, the following scripture describes most of us American Christians:

...”How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. (Luke 18:24-25)

We Americans are wealthy and do not know much about the kingdom of God or our citizen benefits. At best, we know how to sit in pews and get along with other Christians who think exactly like us.  So how can we possibly change ourselves?

“The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” (Luke 18: 27)

I believe we still have time to change and prepare for the upcoming terrorist strikes, but it will take a total commitment on our parts to learn about the kingdom of God and unlearn most of our present teachings. This undertaking will not have the luxury of wasting time for two years, trying to defeat President Obama.

We need to make up our minds now.

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