The Great Reset in Methodism

 

One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had just gone to bed. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. Suddenly, the LORD called out, "Samuel! Samuel!” 1 Samuel 3:3-4 (NLT)

At times in the history of God's people, due to compromise, God has had to start over again or do a reset, such as in the time of Israel's Judge, Eli. Modern Methodism is going through a great reset.

 

A former student of nine, Greg West, is now the President of the Global Methodist Church in Virginia, USA. Due to my interest in him, I have kept my ear open to the recent happenings in this emerging denomination. Also, I have been trying to learn some of the recent history of Methodism that has led to the establishment of the Global Methodist Church (GMC). I am not a Methodist, and I am hesitant to write about something of which I know very little, but that has never stopped me previously. On the other hand, I may be just the person to speak, not being a Methodist and mired in church politics; I don't think I bring a bias to the discussion. 

Eli permitted sacrilege in the Temple.
How might the time in Eli's day be like what Methodists are experiencing today? Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were scoundrels (1 Samuel 2:22). Eli was not a bad person. He did not like the desecration of the Tabernacle that was happening through his sons (1 Samuel 3:24-25), but he permitted the sacrilege to continue, and he refused to discipline his sons. Eli allowed familial affection to outweigh his concern for the honor and character of God. For years, the United Methodist Church has ignored what the Bible calls sin in its membership and even in its leadership. When you turn a blind eye to sin, you have to normalize it. That is precisely what the UMC did at its last major conference.

In 1 Samuel 3:1, it says that messages from the Lord were rare and visions uncommon. People stop listening and practicing when the Bible is not preached fully. Jeffrey Richman, an Elder in the GMC and podcaster, says there was a forty percent decline in church attendance at some UMC conferences before the disaffiliations started. When you start, as the UMC has, to accept the parts of the Bible that agree with your narrative and ignore or reject the parts that don't, people start to vote with their feet. When church leadership starts to call evil good and good evil, we quench the Holy Spirit, and God becomes quiet.

 

A big tent with a narrow gate
I have listened to the GMC and UMC sides of the discussion. The UMC believes they are being loving and inclusive about homosexuality, gay marriage, and the ordination of gay clergy. I have heard several people from UMC leadership say their Church has a "big tent." They are right in a sense; salvation is open to all, no matter what our sins have been. The imperative here is the past tense, have been. Entrance into the Kingdom of God is always through repentance, a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn in your thinking and lifestyle. Yes, we all have sin, and if we say we don't, we are a liar (1 John 1:10), but that is different from openly practicing what the Bible calls sin. God is inclusive as he loves all mankind, but the entrance to this "big tent" has a narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14). When Jesus performed miracles and fed the people, he had a "big tent" following him. Yet, his tent became much smaller when he started talking about the cost of discipleship; when Jesus dwelt on cross-bearing and their motive for following him, many left (John 6:66).

 

Following Christ often brings division.
I have often said in my discipleship classes that sometimes God makes us choose between motherhood and apple pie and the will of God. Luke 14:26-27 tells us that if our love for God is not greater than our love for mother, father, wife, sisters, or brothers, we are fit to be a disciple of Christ. Methodism has had to grapple with the thorny issue of homosexuality and now transsexualism in the Church. Would Methodism follow orthodox Christianity and the beliefs of the historical Wesleyan tradition, or would they bend to the spirit of the age? We all know what the UMC chose recently. In the Scriptures (Luke 8:20-21), when Jesus' mother and brothers were waiting to see him, he said his true family is those who hear and do the Word of God. Discipleship always involves some cross-bearing. Sometimes, Following Christ will include some form of division, even from those we love.

 

How does God do a reset?
In the case of Israel at the time of Eli, God turned to someone very few would have considered: the young boy Samuel. The historian Josephus thought that Samuel was twelve years old. When God does something new, he often picks people untainted by the world's way of doing things. Age has benefits, such as having more experience, but being old does not mean you are wise. Many spend a lifetime of learning to do things the wrong way. In living by faith, young people have not learned that you can't do it, so go out and do it. Darlene Cunningham, co-founder of Youth With A Mission, with whom I worked for seventeen years, said, "Youth With A Mission (YWAM) would go down in history as the missions organization that has made the most mistakes." By allowing young people to lead, fail, and learn from their failures, YWAM has sent thousands of young leaders into the Body of Christ; Greg West is an example of one of them. Yes, they will embarrass you at times. Greg never did, but the most embarrassing thing for the GMC is for the current leadership to end their ministry with no one to replace them. Your mid-and-upper-level leadership should not all have gray hair.

Again, how did the GMC emerge, like Samuel's rise and Eli's decline? In Samuel, God found a person who would listen to God's words and tell others exactly what that message was. Samuel grew into a man who feared God and not man. It started with Samuel giving Eli the unpleasant message, even though he loved and honored the Prophet. The GMC will arise as God's instrument if it honors the authority of the holy Scriptures above all else, even if it may bring conflict and division.

 

Accountable discipleship
As I have kept my ear to the ground about the founding of the GMC, I have heard a cry to return to the Wesleyan tradition of John and Charles Wesley. John Wesley founded a church where discipleship could actually happen. One genius of his church structure was his small group classes. A place where transparent, accountable discipleship can take place. In YWAM, I worked primarily with some form of discipleship training. Our schools were generally thirty students or smaller, but we divided them into groups of four or five. Jesus had twelve, but he really had three. The change that should follow authentic discipleship happens when people become real or genuine, not what they think they should be, but what they are. This does not happen looking at the back of someone's neck once a week. It is more apt to take place in groups of four or five than thirty. Holiness is another cry I hear from the GMC; it happens when people start to make themselves vulnerable, which happens in groups where they know each other, are praying for each other, and are comfortable together, which a large group does not facilitate.

A small group alone does guarantee authentic discipleship. The genius of YWAM, if there is any, is not its people, as the mission consists of a lot of very ordinary people. Yet one of its distinct characteristics is its emphasis on discipleship. I believe that success comes about because of how their training programs are structured. The lecture phase is always linked to an outreach phase with some avenue to reaching the lost. The learning is not just academic, but purpose driven. When God finds a denomination purposed to complete the Great Commission, he will provide the structures and curriculum as he did for John Wesley. The great need of today's Church is not for more truth but the application of the truth we already have. I often told my students that outreach is where the truth they receive in the classroom phase is applied to their hearts. The critical eighteen inches between head knowledge and heart revelation is bridged in real-life situations. Loren Cunningham would often tell us, go is two-thirds of God. A class without a service outlet is like a carriage without a horse, it's not going anywhere.

 

No need for a UMC 2.0
Another phrase I have heard from many in the GMC is that we do not need a UMC 2.0.  I don't think many in UMC leadership started out thinking that the denomination would evolve in the way that it has. That should be a sobering thought for those setting the guidelines for the GMC. I attended a Nazarene Church for a short time during my missionary training. Something a District Superintendent once said that has stuck with me. He said, and I paraphrase, when your denominational guidelines are so long and detailed, they are unbearable. When you try to dot all the i's and cross all the t's to eliminate any possibility of compromise in innumerable possibilities, you have started substituting God's wisdom with man's. Though not detailed at times, the Bible gives a framework for how you run a church. I view the Bible's framework of a church like the skeletal structure of a body; when the church movement grows, you add details as meat to the bone as needed. Adding details before you know you need them to ensure holiness may foster legalism rather than Biblical morality. In 1 Samuel 14 24-46, King Saul tried to add a guideline for Israel to defeat the Philistines, and it had the opposite effect.

When creating new structures, it is natural to start with the guidelines or structures with which we are familiar. Yet, when God does something new, he often begins with a clean slate or a revised version of the old. God did not try to revise Eli; he removed him. The Gospel and biblical morality never change, but those things' presentation evolve. What works in one season of time may not work in another. Sometimes, God requires that we let go of our sacred cows. I once heard a sermon called The Prisoner of a Positive Past. The thesis was that God had done many great things throughout the history of Israel, but when God wanted to do something new, they could not accept it, not because it was bad, just different. In every new movement or renewal in the Church of Jesus Christ, the old has resisted the new. Hold tightly to the New Testament principles that delineate the 1st century Church and hold lightly to the institution and structures that man has put in place to build that Church. If you do vice-versa, you may end up with a UMC 2.0. God promises are most always conditional. Just as God called out, Samuel, Samuel, God is calling out to the GMC, will you listen and obey?

 

Conclusion
Let me finish now, as I have gone too long already. My daughters always thought I preached the everlasting Gospel. Methodism is in a divine reset. Although, as previously stated, I am not a Methodist, yet we are all on the same team, and when one part of the Body of Christ hurts, we all hurt. And when one part succeeds, we all succeed. I am a big fan of the GMC because righteousness and holiness are being brought back to the Church, which is always good. I am not a prophet, but some of what I have written may have a prophetic ring, but it is meant as food for thought. 1 Corinthians 14:32 NASB says “and the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophets.” One thing I am sure about as I have watched and listened to your short history is that God is doing a new thing. As the Prophet Isaiah said,

 

                       "Do not call to mind the former things,

                       Or consider things of the past.

                       Behold, I am going to do something new,

                       Now it will spring up;

                       Will you not be aware of it?

                       I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,

                       Rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:18-19 NASB

 

Image in Public Domain
Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing and Broken Vessels through Kindle Direct Publishing.

Ken’s Website— https://kenbarnes.us/
Ken blogs at https://kenbarnes.us/blog/
Email- contact@kenbarnes.u

The Original Sin

The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

 (Genesis 3:12 NLT)

Where it all began.

Some narratives often predominate in a nation which contains part of the truth, but not the whole truth.  Racism has been a terrible sin in this nation, but it is not the original sin.

Condoleezza Rice, an African-American, and the Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, once said that the United States was born with a birth defect.  She was referring to racism, as evidenced by slavery.  Our founding fathers were brave men, but not perfect men.  Many of them owned slaves, which was a sin against God and an affront to man. 

Racism was and is wrong, yet, in our national narrative, it appears to be portrayed as the original or least the unpardonable sin. Racial prejudice is the result of the action in the Garden of Eden, which was a rebellion against God. Racism is not a white or black problem; it is a human problem.  The Bible says that if you say you have no sin, you are a liar (1 John 1:8). If we say we have no prejudice, no matter the color of our skin, we are probably deceiving ourselves. 

It appears that it is the one sin for which we can be held accountable for what our great-grandfathers did.  It is very difficult to atone for what you have not done.  Being accused of something you have not perpetrated, can produce guilt, but never true repentance.  It creates resentment and ultimately divides us.  The strategy of the Enemy has always been to divide and conquer.

We live in a great nation, yet an imperfect country. If this nation is as bad as academia is telling us, why do we have to build fences to keep people out?  It is a flawed society because you and I live in it.  Accusing someone else of something I also have in my heart is hypocrisy.  The problem goes deeper than skin tone; it is one of the heart. Racism is part of the problem, but not the problem.  Feeling superior to others is wrong, and likewise, having resentment and ager in response to these feelings, also, is not right. Two wrongs never make a right. All of us were born with a congenital disability called original sin.  We are all the offspring of Adam and Eve, and like them, tend to dwell on other peoples’ sin and ignore our own.  

Am I saying we should ignore racism, no, quite the opposite?  I think we should all check our hearts.

The image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Closet Christians

This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear.  Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again. (Isaiah 45:1 NLT).

In 2018 Israeli organizations minted a coin with a depiction of Donald Trump and King Cyrus on it. The coin was to commemorate President Trump’s strong support of the State of Israel, including moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem. On the contrary, believers in this country have become what you might call a closet Christians for fear of being known as a supporter of our President.

I am not sure a comparison between Donald Trump and King Cyrus has a perfect similarity. Still, it does show clearly that God can use unrighteous figures to accomplish his righteous purposes. This President has done more to support the Judeo-Christian ethic than all of our most recent Presidents put together.  He has shown strong support for Israel, advocated for the right to life, resisted religious persecution, especially against Jews and Christians, and promoted voluntary Bible teaching in our public schools.

While we, as Christians, do sometimes shutter a bit in how he does things, we can find little fault in what he has done.  Many of our recent leaders have voiced support for some of these Biblical stances; this President has initiated policies that promote them.

I believe, deep down, most true believers recognize that what is happening through this Presidency is a result of a divine hand in the affairs of this nation. There are two forces at work in our culture to keep God’s people muted in support of our President. First, the progressive left, through their moral superiority, has propagated a false narrative that if you support Donald Trump, you are morally repugnant. No Christian wants to be known as ethically corrupt. The problem is, they are lying. The Bible says in the last day people will say what is bad is good, and good is bad. Read your Bible, and you will be able to tell who is lying and who isn’t.

Second, the liberal-leaning religious establishment, who believes that God can only use people that look, think, or act similar to them, is being used to silence God’s people. Their self-righteousness leads them to believe that God could never use any man with dirty hands to accomplish his purposes. Their legalistic way of imposing liberal theology on us is often exposed when their clean hands on the outside are shown to be dirty on the inside. “For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard”

(Romans 3:23 NLT).

So, my dear brothers and sisters, let’s stand up and support our President. Some of you may be thinking that with the politically correct culture in which we live that you lack the boldness necessary to do this. I say to you, join the club. The courage of which I speak is not one of temperament, but that which comes from the Spirit of God. The best way to ignite the fire in our hearts is in the place of prayer. If you feel inadequate, declare your need before God. Don’t let your feelings control you. God generally gives us boldness when we need it, not before that. It all starts with us on our knees. John Bunyan once said, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” Let’s trade our Christian closet for another one, our prayer closet.

So, join us on the “Pray for POTUS” Facebook group. Do I hear a chorus of Amen from God’s people?

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

So Help Me God

I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!(Psalms 121:1-2 NLT)

Washington Praying at Valley forge

As we celebrate the birth of our nation again, it might behoove us to dwell on the man most responsible for its formation, George Washington.  Tradition has it that he was responsible for including this phrase in the title of this blog to the oath of office of the President. Whether he did or didn’t, the meaning behind this expression was prominent in his life.

Washington was a Godly man.  It is well documented that after taking the oath of office on the Bible, he would kiss it.  He set a righteous example as he discouraged cursing among his military officers.  God raised this man up and preserved him.  In the French and Indian War, a Native American Chief fighting against Washington was in awe of his invincibility.  After one battle, Washington had four bullets lodged in his coat, and two horses shot out from under him, with hardly a wound.  Though he led from the front rather than the rear as most generals did, they could not kill him.  This Chief convinced that the “Great Spirit” had preserved Washington, prophesized that “he will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn, will hail him as a father of a mighty empire!” 

Sadly, the House of Representatives, recently, removed “So help me God” from their oath of office to avoid what they call a religious test. Our founders believed in freedom of religion, we now have devolved into freedom from religion. Also, Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, where Washington attended while he was President, removed a commemorative plaque because of his ties to slavery.  Washington was not a perfect man just like you and me, but it should not negate all he did for this nation.  Slavery was a blight on the history of this country, yet redemption Is available for the sins of our past.  Some would hold us in bondage for the misdeeds of our ancestors.  I can be sorry for that in which my descendants were involved, but I cannot repent for that of which I have not done.

This country can only be explained by the providence of God.  It is not about our wealth or might, though God has given us both of these things.  It is due to men and women who came to our shores seeking the freedom to worship their Creator as their consciences dictated, and God did not disappoint them.  If we remove from our minds the collective consciousness that this nation was formed by the intervention of a divine hand; using good but imperfect people who are inadequate in themselves and therefore need wisdom from Heaven to continue this experiment in democracy, God help us!

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website:https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

America Bless God

What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance. (Psalms 33:12 NLT)

 

God bless America has become an American refrain.  Politicians voice it, vocalists sing it, ordinary people pray it, yet, a more appropriate arrangement of the words might be, America bless God.

After the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, America was praying.  From the great to small America was seeking God’s protection and blessing.  When the threat subsided, so did the prayers. 

A friend of mine, who we called Cowboy Bob, who is now with the Lord, suggested to us that it should be America bless God, instead of God bless America.  Human nature tends to seek God when we have a need, and forget about him we everything is going well.  It gives God a utilitarian role.  When we need him we are all onboard, yet,

when there are no great upheavals, we relegate God to a secondary role, or forget about him altogether.  It is as if God, the creator, exists just to meet our needs, rather us, the creators, loving and serving him. We have tried to switch roles where man becomes the center of the universe. 

Don’t get me wrong, we desperately need God’s blessing, but the blessing should be sought to honor God and bless others, not just for ourselves.  Having a good family, God’s provision and protection are good things, but they should not be the focus of our faith, but a by-product of putting God first and loving him.  Parts of the church in America have started to preach a man-centered Gospel, which always puts the cart before the horse.  Cowboy Boy, my friend, you were right, it should be, America Bless God! 

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Never Give Up on Your Dream

“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27 NIV)

In 2002 the movie “The Rookie” was made by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was based on the life of Jim Morris, a believer in Christ, and a thirty-five-year-old baseball pitcher who fulfilled a boyhood dream of playing in the major leagues. The story teaches us that what we love to do, is what God has created us to do.

Norris was a great high school athlete, who was signed to a professional baseball contract after graduation. He developed numerous arm and shoulder injuries which made him retire from the game before he ever made it to major leagues. Norris went back to college and got a teaching degree and became a high school baseball coach.  He pitched batting practice to his team and the boys saw he still had a good throwing arm. The players challenged him that if they won the championship that year, their coach would try out for a major league baseball team. They won the championship and he arrived at the tryout with two little kids at his side and one in a stroller. The scouts conducting the tryout thought it was a joke.  He threw twelve ninety-eight miles per hour pitches. The scout called his supervisor and told him about this old guy that can throw at this speed. The supervisor replied, “I don’t care if he is fifty if he can throw ninety-eight miles per hour fastballs, we want him.” He signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization and eventually, through many struggles, made it to the major leagues, fulfilling a life-long dream.

All believers in Christ should have a dream from God, and those who don’t, may not be listening. God has created us with a narrative in our hearts to write on that grand stage called life. Yes, most of our stories may not be as dramatic as Norris’, but they are no less valuable to God. We are called to know God, and to make him known.

I have observed that peoples’ dreams die either before they get started, or just before they are to be fulfilled. In the movie, Norris went to his Father for advice when he was offered a minor league contract. His Father told him that you can do what you like to do, but eventually, you do what you have to do. His Father gave him some practical advice, but with God, reasonable does not always fulfill your dream.  Well-meaning people will rain on your parade. Will you listen to all those voices around you, or to the inner voice that urges you to complete the task that God has placed in your heart?  Those who have finished the vision that God has given them, have always marched to a different drummer than that of the world.

Norris’ dream almost died just before completion. In the film, Norris called his wife and told her that he is coming home. He was tired of the long bus rides, cheap motels, delinquent bills at home. His wife was hesitant and cautioned him as to whether he was making the right decision. At the end of the conversation, she asked him a question. She said, “Do you still love it, Jimmy?” There is a long pause in the conversation where he realized he did, and he stayed with the team. Not long after this phone call, Norris was called up to the big club, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It is always darkest before the dawn, and most discouraging when God is ready to break through concerning your dream.

There are many examples of people in the Bible who could have given up on their dream. What about Abram and Sarai, who were past the age of childbearing? What if they had given up on the promise of bearing a child together from their own loins? We would not have known Abraham and Sarah, the father and mother of a spiritual nation. Or what about the dreamer Joseph. He was betrayed by his brothers, falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and sent to prison, and forgotten by the baker, yet he held on to his dream and preserved his whole family. God gives the dream, and the grace to fulfill it, but he asks you to fight for it.

Eric Little, in the movie “Chariots of Fire,” was encouraged by his sister to give up running. He responded to her by saying, “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.” Has God given you a dream or task that makes you feel his pleasure? Then, it is always too soon to quit.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website:https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

God's Sovereignty through a Clay Vessel

These events happened in the days of King Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. 

King Xerxes

The celebration lasted 180 days—a tremendous display of the opulent wealth of his empire and the pomp and splendor of his majesty.(Esther 1:1,4 NLT).

Xerxes was a proud and somewhat egotistical King, yet God used him to deliver the Jewish people.  I would like to suggest to you that President Donald Trump may be a similar figure.  Some Christians may be a bit surprised in how President Trump does things but are pleased in what he does.  God often uses unlikely people to accomplish his purposes. 

If I may, let me compare our current President with his predecessor, President Obama.  President Obama made a Christian profession and I, in no way question his faith, yet in his policy decisions, he violated several fundamental Christian values.  First, he parted with the understanding that marriage was to be between one man and one woman.  Second, was his view of the State of Israel.  Concerning the former, Obama flip-flopped and supported gay marriage. His support for Israel, at best, can only be described as lukewarm.  Granted, Obama was a little smoother around the edges than Trump, and at times did things with more tact.  The question is, do we want a President that is polite, or right?  Neither, Trump nor Obama would I like to be my pastor, but we did not elect a religious leader, but a political one.  Do we want a President who says the right things and carries his Bible to church, but then makes policy decisions that are anti-biblical?  Or do we want a President that is not always politically correct, but in the end, does the right thing, consistent with a world Christian view?  The choice is fairly obvious to me.

President Trump’s critics are telling Christians that we should be ashamed to support a man of such a checkered past. In answer to these questions, I point you back to the story in the Book of Esther.  Mordecai, a righteous Jew, allows his niece, Esther to be involved in Xerxes’s harem. The King, one by one, took beautiful women to his bed to choose his Queen.  This violated the law of creation of one man with one woman.  Esther was not meant to be read as a moral document. God is not once mentioned, yet his hand in the background accomplishing his purposes through flawed people and even unrighteous practices.  In speaking about this story, the commentator Matthew Henry once wrote, “This shows how God serves his own purposes even by our sins and foolish ways.”  Evangelical Christians’ support for our President should not be misconstrued as an endorsement of his past, or all of his actions today. It’s merely a recognition that God has raised up a political leader to affect changes that were desperately needed in this country.  One change has been bringing a greater balance to our Supreme Court.  Another, the long-awaited move of the US Embassy to Jerusalem in Israel.  This move may be the most significant event towards fulfilling Bible prophecy that we have seen in our generation.  Read the Book, it all happens on Mount Zion.

It is not my purpose to justify sin.  Donald Trump along with the rest of us, barring forgiveness through Jesus Christ, will be held accountable for all our actions.  In spite of this, in a national or global sense, it is difficult to argue that Donald Trump has not been a change agent for things that Christians have been seeking for many years.  We evangelical Christians have had this cookie-cutter mentality concerning who God can use to accomplish his purposes.  We have tried to support people who aligned with our religious preferences and moral constraints in a political world, and it did not work.  Yes, he is a man of the earth, with bigger clay feet than most, yet God has been sovereign enough to use this human wrecking ball to affect his (God’s) purposes on the earth.  I am not much of a prophet and what I am going to say next is not a prophecy, just a suggestion.  As Xerxes is known as the political leader that God used to help save his people from extermination, maybe Donald Trump will be remembered as the secular leader who spurred Israel on to the glorious things God has in store for Jerusalem, God’s holy city. Who knows?   

Images used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

Fight the good fight for what we believe....( I Timothy 6:12 NLT).

Patrick Henry

The famous words of the title, spoken by Patrick Henry in 1775 were the fuse that ignited The Revolutionary War.  Today the church is in a struggle. This conflict is not being fought with bullets and cannons as in Henry's day, but with words and ideas. For Christians today, though the terms of engagement are different, the consequence of defeat in this war is the same, the loss of our liberty.

Of course, the world has good sounding justifications for their schools of thought. In my country, the United States of America, there are many trumpeting the so-called Constitutional cry for the separation of the church and state.  Yes, our Constitution does guard against a state religion, but it was never the intent of our founding fathers to have believers leave their faith at the door when they exit their places of worship.  Those who interpret the Constitution have done so in a way that freedom of religion has become freedom from religion.  The men who penned this document, mostly men of faith, would be dismayed at how the meaning of their words has been distorted. 

When any society starts to say that good is bad and evil is right, it shows its moral fiber is being ripped asunder. Christians have not only the right but the responsibility to resist. Toward the end of Henry’s famous speech, he said, “Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish?  What would they have?  Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?”  I submit to you that when we are told that we can decide what we believe and practice it in the pulpit but not in the marketplace and government, this is a form of tyranny. It makes the church a toothless tiger.

Patrick Henry once said, “I know no way of judging the future but by the past.”  If we refuse to learn from the past, this country may be in peril.  This nation was founded by gallant men of faith on the Judeo-Christian ethic.  John Adams, one of our founding fathers, said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Democracy can only flourish in an environment of faith and virtue.  What is the basis of our faith?  Henry answered that question, “The Bible is worth all the other books which have ever been written.”

Maybe on July 4th, 2018, Christians in this nation need to be echoing the words of that famous gentleman from the State of Virginia, who said, “Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me give me liberty or give me death!” 

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

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