TROUBLESOME TIMES ARE HERE

October 28, 2016

     For Christians, our times of sailing with the wind at our backs is over.  Difficult times lie ahead.  While we enjoyed decades of being culturally venerated, then accepted, then tolerated, those days are over.  War has been declared against us, and there is no sense in hiding our heads in the sand or making happy talk about how things aren’t as bad as they seem.  Yes, they are.  And they’re only going to grow worse.  The enemy has spent decades getting us to this point.  The control of the media, the judiciary, the educational system, did not happen overnight.  Nor, did it happen accidentally.  It came about because of the systematic efforts of true believers whose belief system is pretty much the opposite of Christians.  The enemy has now achieved the power and positioning to make life miserable for those who oppose their agenda (us).  Many of them make no bones about how it is time for “payback” to Christians who, rightly or wrongly, they see as having persecuted and held them back.  They are out for revenge.  They want their pound of flesh.  And we better prepare for what’s coming.

     The government is not going to protect us.  Our federal, and many state, governments have made it clear that their agenda is now owned by the moral progressives in this country.  That means that governments will continue to do everything they can to eliminate God and his influence.  They will persecute and prosecute His people at every opportunity.  From federal mandates seeking to enforce “rights” for the sexually deviant, to states prosecuting those who are seen as discriminating on the basis of moral values, to cities seeking to silence churches and preachers who would oppose their leadership’s immoral agenda, government has become our enemy, not our friend.

     All forms of media are actively striving on a daily basis to make our belief system not just unacceptable socially, but viewed as vile and obscene.  It’s not just that we’re increasingly becoming the butt of jokes on nightly television, consistently portrayed as narrow-minded bigots who are determined to make life miserable for everyone else, but we’re being portrayed as harmful, cruel, heartless fanatics who enjoy destroying the lives of others whose values don’t match ours.  A “fair and balanced” view of Christianity is out the window.  Honestly.  Check out Google, Yahoo, MSN and other websites and tell me they are anything other than blatantly, openly, hostilely, anti-Christian.  Watch a few of the “family” shows on cable and then argue that the traditional family is not under full blown attack and the object of absolute ridicule. Understand that as Christians we now wear the black hats.  We’re the villains, the bad guys, the enemy. 

     The courts are now among the most active persecuters of God’s people.  After years of effort on the part of the left, judges with an agenda are the rule, not the exception.  And that agenda is anti-God and anti-Christian.  Increasingly the courts are legislating from the bench against Bible believers.  And if a case comes before the court in which opposing moral values play a role, as in matters sexual, just look at the consistency of the decisions that are being handed down.  They are consistently on the side of the immoral.

     The upcoming presidential election does have huge implications for the future.  And I am going to hold my nose and vote for Donald Trump for president.  But regardless of who is elected, please understand that does not change a system that has become deeply and thoroughly corrupted.  As Christians, we are facing an enemy who now holds the reins of power and will not hesitate to ruthlessly apply that power.  One man, or woman, cannot change a judiciary, an educational system, a media, that is now clearly in the hands of those who would erase our God, our message, us…

     However, now please allow me to share what lets me sleep at night and gives me hope for tomorrow.  While I am arguing strenuously we should not ignore the reality of the challenge we face, as formidable as that is, that does not mean the battle is over.  In fact, I believe in many ways it has only begun.  Let me share a couple of observations I believe are apropos that come from the dark days of Israel.

     In 1 Kings 19, after Elijah’s great victory on Mount Carmel, he is chased into the wilderness by Jezebel.  Exhausted, he is ready to thrown in the towel, to give up.  He believes he is the only one left who is faithful.  What does God tell him?  That there are seven thousand in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal.  The remnant is faithful.  The unsung heroes like Obadiah, who is sheltering and caring for a hundred prophets at great risk to himself (see 1 Kings 18:4), are still there, still faithful.  He is not alone.

     There are still tens of millions of people in this country who believe in God and seek to follow His inspired word.  They have not given up.  They are not going to quit.  I believe we can look forward to a time when people of faith will unite in ways they have never before to take a stand for God and following His will.  There is still, in this country, a powerful force and voice for what is good and what is right.  I do not believe that voice will remain silent. 

     Above all, our God is an awesome God.  He rules and he reigns even as the Ahabs and Jezebels that pollute this earth arrogantly sit on their thrones and disdain Him and persecute His people.  God’s mighty hand guided an arrow to the chink in Ahab’s armor and turned Jezebel into dog food.  When judgment time came it was swift and absolute.  Those who blaspheme and oppose our God have no idea of the calamitous mistake they have made.  As with the arrogant Nebuchadnezzar (see Daniel 4), they will be brought low. 

     As with Elijah, we are called simply to be faithful.  Through thick and thin, victory and defeat, good times and bad, we must be faithful.  God’s victory over the prophets of Baal and Ashtoreth came because Elijah was willing to put himself on that altar.  He risked it all because of His trust in God.  We are called to do exactly the same (Romans 12:1,2). If we, like Elijah, are willing to present ourselves as living sacrifices, we shall see amazing things in the days to come.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9,10).

MARANATHA!!!