Thursday, August 13, 2020

2 Kings 20. The devastating precursor to Daniel's life in the slavery of Babylon!

Where's your faith?  What are you showing the Babylonians in your life and demeanor?
Hezekiah forgot, or neglected or was ashamed to show his faith based treasures to them.  He had been adept at consulting and negotiating with the polytheistic peoples.  Where was the boasting?  "I have 200 dollar shoes and a suit that costs this amount, "is that all?

Daniel and the boys were the tragic fallout from that crisis of faith that overcame Hezekiah.  Gods friends partake in a tangible and earthly consequence.  They won't taste Hell, but they will taste the fruit of their deeds and misdeeds.  What is our boast and what are we known for?  A beautiful bunch of stuff is no comparison to a beautiful faith and relationship with God.  An honest hand in hand walk through the rough places of my life is a lot more to adorn your life than a wonderful wardrobe!   Help Lord!   

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

We trust you Lord!

2 Kings 19:14-34 KJV
[14] And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. [15] And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. [16] Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. [17] Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, [18] And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. [19] Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only. [20] Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. [21] This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. [22] Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. [23] By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel. [24] I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places. [25] Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps. [26] Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. [27] But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. [28] Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. [29] And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. [30] And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. [31] For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. [32] Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. [33] By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. [34] For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

Sunday, August 9, 2020

For Still our Ancient Foe…




doth seek to work us woe



The weapons of our warfare are not carnal { NYT.   WJT.  Wash Post, etc, etc,}

And the enemies of our souls are not people, but principalities and powers in high places...


How then, can we cast down the imaginations that have funded and emancipated the Prinipalities and powers that plague us in this generation?  what a question/  How then, can we free ourselves from an identity of Christendom that deems us a Facist few, instead of a reconciling majority, which is what we are.  


We refuse to be deemed the problem here.   we refuse to be  blamed for the Covid and the BLM movement and the chaos in the streets that the antifundamentalist media have labeled us to be.  


They are happy to place the label of Special Needs upon us when we have been and remain the gel that has kept this republic together for its history.  We have compromised and we have discussed our differences all the way to the barn and now that we are over the Lord’s knee in spanking mode, the naughty are blaming the problem on us.


We are redeemed in our souls and not afraid of God’s judgments upon our nation, because we have asked Him to spare us from full annihilation for the sake of the few praying people.  We know we all deserve Hell and that we have been blessed with so much mercy that this sad moment in history where we are experiencing a plague is just a small token of what our sins deserve.  We haven’t been God-pleasing in our personal lives or in our churches.  We have tried to reconcile when we should have been fighting against the powers of division that sent us to our homes.  No other generation has hidden the remedy from the sick minority.  We have.  Prayer and corporate gatherings are the healing balm that our nation needs at such a time.  


It is not our expectation to escape such a time of accountability.  Trusting in the God of the Sciences is what I choose to believe He created science and data and the people who askew these data points for the fear of the weak is not hidden from his sight or the sight of the church.  Still, we would not be those who are blamed for the death in our nation for the sake of saving face.  We have been blessed with other ways to gather and we have gathered.  And we are praying and we will not be devoured by the attacking foe and the imagination of “White Evangelicals” being the problem.  We are not the problem.  we are the reality of healing in His wings White Evangelicals, Black Evangelicals, Black lives that matter and white lives that matter, White churches orthodox and Black orthodoxy, We are the solution and not the problem. The fear mongering media and divisive tactics of the media in the attempt to justify their presence is the problem.  Cover the reality and not your fear base.  


Bless us Lord! In the name of the Christ who is over it all. Amen