Discerning God's Plan for Times Like These

If my grandpa were alive today, he would be asking the question that so many of us should be asking: "What, in God's Name, is happening to the United States of America?" Now my grandpa wasn't all that religious, though he died a believer, but grandpa had an old fashioned virtue that so many of us seem to be lacking today and that simply being "common sense." Granted, our culture and wealth has allotted, for some of us, the privilege of focusing on self, while showing an indifference to the rest of the world around us. And save for those brave men and women who are sacrificing and dying overseas for our right to that self indulgence, much of America seems to be indifferent to the freedoms that we are losing every day, let alone the fact that the hand of "big brother" is encroaching in every area of our private lives.

I wonder how many of us know or even care that a monument is being built in the state of Virginia in memory of Joseph Stalin, a man responsible for the murder of 20 million people during and after WWII.? Did you know that a Muslim mosque is being built only blocks from the site of the former World Trade Center, and what's worse, it is being reported that the radical terrorist organization Hamas, has contributed 130 million dollars to the project?! Let's go from such despicable acts to something more contemporary and amusing. It is about to be illegal to own a pet in the city of San Francisco, because people can be inhumane to animals. Really, what genius thought that up? Also in the City by the Bay, soda drinks are no longer allowed to be sold on the streets, because the government has decided for you that Coke might take 5 years off of your life. The US government is considering suing Mcdonalds over the fat content in it's burgers. Let them try to take my Big Mac! And by the way, as our government is spending like a bunch of drunken sailors, putting us 13 trillion dollars in debt at this moment and more by the time that you read this, it will now take every bit of your pay check through June 15th to pay your taxes, and still they want more.

Well, I could go on from the absurd to the more ridiculous all day long, but I think that you get my point. We as citizens are like the "frog in the kettle" of water; We are about to be boiled alive, and because the heat is increasing ever so gently, we are being lulled into abstract apathy.

In I. Chronicles 12:32, it is said of the "Sons of Issachar," "That they were men who understood the times with knowledge of what Israel should do." The NLT translation reads that they were men who understood the best course Israel should take. As a result, their knowledge and judgment provided needed wisdom to make needed decisions for the nation. Let me make it as simple as I can. For leaders today, it is vitally important that we have a grasp on what is happening in the society around us in order that we can take the best course of action for the church. Knowledge of current events, trends, and needs helps us to understand people's thoughts and attitudes. This in turn gives those in leadership the ability to make wise decisions that God's message might become relevant in people's lives.

I don't know about you, but my heart's cry is, " God send us "Issachar Warriors" who will stand up while there is still time and confront the lethargy that seems to grip so many of us." As I see it from the vantage point of being a believer for over 40 years and having the privilege of seeing America through the eyes of so many in various parts of the world, this is where the church has ceded it's rightful position on the world's platform. First, in the 1950's, it was very fashionable from US pulpits for the clergy to disdain our country and call politics and politicians the epitome of evil, noting that the church should completely separate itself from such worldliness. Well that sort of genius and "spiritual blindness" placed secularists and non religious zealots in charge of our courts and judiciary and has led to the murder of over 40 million babies, prayer outlawed in schools, and the very mention of anything pertaining to our Judeo-Christian heritage expressly forbidden.

Secondly, as Dr. Billy Graham once put it, "There are those who have developed a sort of "spiritual fatalism" that says there really isn't any way to change anything, so why should I try; it's all part of an "end times" scenario." If the early disciples had felt that all was lost in Jerusalem one fateful Good Friday, you and I would be wearing yamikas today and going to the temple instead of church.

Thirdly, there are those who just bury their heads in the sand and say that what ever is going to happen will happen, putting all of the responsibility on Jesus by saying that it is all up to Him. In the long run, that is ultimately the truth we live by, but HE has given us a brain to use. He has filled us with His Spirit that wisdom might be available to us. He has given us healing, words of knowledge, prophetic utterances, and most of all love to war with. We must preach "Jesus" and prepare the people for the times that we are facing and about to face, but we must also call upon God to fill us as leaders with authority from above and not be afraid to speak out at injustice political or otherwise. We cannot just sit around waiting for the ax to fall but "understand the times" with Godly wisdom and draw a line in the sand that says, "I am willing to stand upon the principles espoused by our founding fathers, "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Shortly after WWII, in the basement of a bombed out building in Berlin, one where some poor Jewish souls had lived a life in hiding and fear, were scribbled these words, " They came for the politicians, but no one said anything. Then they came for the teachers, but no one lifted a hand. Then they came for the religious, and they were taken away in the night with not even a complaint. And now no one is left, and they have come for me."

Yes, the world of today is quite different than in Grandpa's day, but one truth remains, "The only way for evil to exist and triumph is for good men to do nothing."

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