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