Monday Morning Music Ministry

12-2-24

Once upon a time – no, actually, much more than once; and at many, many times in humankind’s history – preachers were attacked, discomfited, persecuted, arrested, imprisoned, and sometimes put to death for what they preached.

Sometimes it was a different theology, too often the sharing of new Biblical interpretations; encouraging people to read Scripture for themselves. Or – believe it not – to believe that they might pray directly to God, without churches and councils and rules and intermediaries. De-frock them! Stone them! Kill them!

Ideas can be dangerous. And vested religious interests, as in Jesus’s time; or “establishment” denominations in ours, certainly can feel threatened.

Through the centuries there have been many martyrs who were tortured and sometimes put to death for things they believed in, for what they preached.

Today, preachers ought to be arrested for things they don’t preach.

Oh, religious people still give sermons. Churches still are open, and many have full schedules of activities. But pastors and councils and committees involved themselves in different matters on which the Body of Christ used to focus.

• There are church groups for men and women and couples and singles and kids and seniors in churches… but every town and city has civic and public organizations that have social gatherings too. None of those secular clubs reciprocate and share Jesus.
• Churches frequently have men’s breakfasts and pot-luck meals and pie socials and chicken dinners. But why not let the Colonel handle the chicken? Colonel Sanders and Marie Callender and Bob Evans do not reciprocate with Bible studies every week.
• Many churches have excellent appeals and earnest support for overseas missions. I have met many missionaries and volunteers in foreign lands who build schools and hospitals and offer religious instruction to natives: good work. But in many of the churches I speak of, pastors and congregations freeze at the suggestion that people across town need help, too; and that folks in houses across the street from church need to hear the Gospel.

Am I being judgmental? It is frankly my intention. I know we should resist judgmentalism… yet we can be “fruit inspectors”: assessing the evidence of “Fruits of the Spirit” among believers. I have been in churches, and been mightily blessed in churches, where there are cold sermons on Sunday but warm spirituality among congregants in their fellowships.

My blanket statements are blankets, however, that cover a lot. But despite the exceptions, there are disturbing trends in the 21st-century American church.

• A distinguishing characteristic the American church has become a “Welcoming” attitude – that is, practically speaking, and acceptance and no judgment expressed about sinning and sinful lifestyles. In fact, sin and repentance are words scarcely spoken from American pulpits.
• In too many churches, Prosperity is preached as a goal to be desired. Salvation and sanctification are presented almost as by-products of the Prosperity Gospel. What reformers of the past condemned as the “Works Gospel” has been re-labeled “Social Gospel” or aspects of Good Deeds and Charities – “good” in themselves, but with scant or only formal regard for peoples’ souls.
• Liturgy seems to be on the way to extinction; traditional hymns are being abandoned; testimonies of changed lives, and invitations – altar-calls – are increasingly rare. Perhaps you never experienced these expressions, but you would accept that preaching that inspired such devotion have evolved toward the formal and cold… while the transforming nature of Jesus should be hot and exciting.

The American church in the 21^st century is not like the church that was strong and precious in our past. Indeed the Great Revivals, and the strong and influential churches, are what built and sustained this nation. Many believers might not identify with the style or form of worship I have described, and whose passing I lament. But one does not have to be a holy-roller or a jump-the-pew or even a spiritually exuberant type of worshiper to recognize that many of today’s churches are not meeting the needs of contemporary people and their lives.

It is not a coincidence that decline in spirituality, in Christianity, is parallel to the decline in the nation’s health – economy, moral conditions, levels of corruption, crime, addiction, abuse, divorce, illegitimacy. And so forth. Which is the cart and which is the horse? It makes no difference.

What does make a difference is the reality… and the foundational crisis we face. If economics are only statistics, and, say, crime might diminish in a societal pendulum-swing, fine. Maybe so.

But our other problems are deeper, much deeper; and of a spiritual nature.

And a spiritual problem can only be solved with a spiritual response. I pray that your church – even small groups, informal fellowships, whether “Sunday morning experiences” or not – keep the flame of the Gospel burning for you. If not, the kindling is right before you; and you have been entrusted with the Fire of the Holy Ghost.

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Click: Henry Purcell: Funeral Sentence

12-9-24

One of the oldest, dearest, and powerful yet tender prayers of Christianity is called the “Magnificat.” Its title comes from the phrase in Mary’s prayer, recorded in the Gospel According to St Luke, in ancient words “My soul doth magnify the Lord.”

The Bible relates that Mary offered the prayer when she visited her cousin Elizabeth to announce that she was with child. Mary had been “visited” by the Holy Spirit and told she bore the Savior of Humankind; Elizabeth was pregnant with the future John the Baptist.

Various denominations observe the Feast of the Visitation on a gestation-period before Christmas by the calendar, but the celebration is common in the Advent Season as Christmas approaches; and that is what we do here today. Every day of the year, of course – every moment of our lives – it is appropriate to observe and celebrate the Incarnation: the coming of Emmanuel, God-With-Us.

Mary’s prayer, the Magnificant, is also a miraculous summation of the response she had, and we should have, to God’s favor bestowed on His people. It is a masterpiece of Christian humility, even while accepting God’s particularized blessing. In a literary view, it is the perfect balance of the human and the spiritual: in the form of ancient Hebrew poetry there is paralellism – the relation of “my soul” and “my spirit”; “greatness” and “rejoicing”; “the Lord God” and… “my Savior.” Universal truths suggested by phrases contrasting the “proud” and the “humble”; the “mighty” versus those of “low degree”; the “rich” confronted by the “hungry.”

In Western churches, where it still holds a place in the calendar or liturgy (mostly Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican traditions; but in no way restricted to them) the Magnificat is celebrated in evening service. In Orthodox faiths it traditionally is part of morning worship. Scores of writers and poets through the years have contemplated the Magnificat, and scores of composers have set it to reverent music. It is a universal prayer!

In fact, and somewhat predictably, my favorite musical setting all my life has been the Magnificat of Johann Sebastian Bach. His short but amazing composition typically achieves the delivery of the prayer’s layers of meaning and spiritual significance. When the choir, for instance, sings “All generations…” many groups sing the phrase repeatedly, separately and in harmony, a musical cascade – and we behold a musical image of angels and saints of the ages calling Mary’s name “blessed.”

… and not only Mary’s name. Of course the Magnificat is her response to the Annunciation. The angel Gabriel announced that she is “blessed,” not Holy in the sense that Jesus was Holy. She recognized that she was a handmaiden, a humble servant – and that is where we must focus too.

For as Mary carried the Savior in her womb, we can have that same Jesus live in our hearts. Hallelujah!

So with regard to factors of time and space and circumstance, we can tailor this prayer to be our own prayer, too. Magnify the Lord… rejoice in His favor… cherish what He has done for us… and what He has promised!

My soul magnifies the greatness of the Lord God, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for He has looked with favor on His humble servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed, the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name.

He has mercy on those who fear Him in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

He has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up those of low degree, the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of His servant Israel for He has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise He made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.

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Click: Bach’s Magnificat

12-15-24

Chreasters? What’s a Chreaster?

Oh, yeah; it’s a nickname for folks who go to church maybe twice a year, on Christmas and Easter. Maybe like some people my German relatives describe, who go to church three times in their lives – Baptism, wedding, and, um, their funeral.

Well, I am one believes that you can be Saved, and even a good Christian, without belonging to a church. We have Bibles and fellowships and electronic worship on TV, radio, the internet… Maybe we won’t be as joyful or fulfilled or spiritually provoked, but choosing to be a Chreaster is not a ticket to hell. Not necessarily.

If it is a symptom, however, of a casual or formal or non-existent faith… then that sound you hear, or should hear, is alarm bells. And this Chreaster Season is a good time to discuss it. Let’s chat, you or friends-of-friends and me…

Why do you have a faith in name only?

Do you deny food because you once experienced food poisoning? Do you avoid a great friend because he has jerks in his family? Have you not heard that Jesus stands at the door, humbly, and knocks? It is your part to let Him in; He will not invade your life. That would not bring the “change” He desires for you, and you need.

To follow Christ is not a command to follow every one of those who call themselves His followers. To be a Christian has little to do with hundreds of rules and traditions. It is to believe He is the Son of God; that He became incarnate – of human flesh to dwell among us – and that He died to take the punishment for our sins upon Himself; and that He overcame death so that we will too, as believers, and to live with Him for eternity.

Once upon a time in Western Civilization, Christianity was interwoven in the affairs of daily activities; essential to social contacts, the arts, and governance.

Henry Adams described in Mont St-Michel et Chartres how in the “Dark Ages” churches and cathedrals were at the geographical and social, not only spiritual, centers, of towns and cities. Townfolk worked their usual labors, and then worked to build or maintain the houses of worship. Books like The Canterbury Tales, bawdy as it was, revealed foundational concerns of all characters, in the church and its centrality. The book Robinson Crusoe, an adventure story, yet has heavy and constant evidence of the hero’s Christian viewpoints. Even the Deist members of the Framers, to a man, respected Biblical principles and relied on God’s Word as they structured the Republic.

Today there is no such a priori agreement that God is the center of our several universes, so to speak; nor an acknowledgment of Biblical standards as society operates today. And when no standards are agreed upon, there are… no standards to judge right from wrong. That post-Christian America is awash in moral anarchy should surprise no one.

But if the world has been turning against God, that does not require us to follow its corruption or error or suicidal tendencies. God (whoops) forbid!

The “Christmas” part of Chreaster is not the only time to turn things around and ignite or re-ignite your faith. But God and His people and their churches have made it a darn good time to discover or re-discover Him.

If I can share a secret, He has a present waiting for you.

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Click: Mary, Did You Know?

11-25-24

It is altogether fit and proper that we recall the words of a secular American saint if there ever was one, Abraham Lincoln. He responded to an informal tradition, a Day of Thanks, and officially proclaimed the first Thanksgiving Day as a national day of observance.

His words had meaning – and, significantly, give lie to the canard that he was not a man of faith. Year by year, through his presidency, Lincoln increasingly infused conversations, letters, and official documents with references to the God of the Bible, His mercies and His judgments. In the last year of his life his writings and speeches often were like sermons.

From his second Thanksgiving proclamation:

I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may then be, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of Events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased Him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.

If this is formal, or seems obligatory for him to have proclaimed – which it was not – consider his Proclamation appointing a Day of National Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer:

It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord. …

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people.

Yes, a president of the United States wrote such words. More has changed than clichés and phrases we now often exchange. (“Thanks.” “No, thank you.” “No prob.” “You bet.”) In fact, does our understanding of the need to thank God need a reassessment too? Maybe a hit of the Reset button?

Let’s see it this way: Of course we should thank God, in many ways and all the time, for the uncountable blessings He bestows. But are thanks all that we can raise? In a real sense, God’s gift of salvation, sacrificing His Son so that we might be free of sin’s guilt, is God’s Thank You to us.

“God’s Thank You to us?” Can that make sense? Yes, the Bible tells us that God so loved the world… and that, significantly, Christ died for us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). To me, that sounds like God saying “You’re Welcome” before we even say “Thank You”! But it is what He has done.

The mysterious ways of God are always like this. He challenges us, yet He knows us. We have free will, yet He holds the future. We seek Him, yet we can know Him. His yoke is easy, and His burden light. We are in the world, but not of the world. St Augustine was not the first nor the last, but maybe history’s most contemplative believer, to gather these apparent contradictions and see them as evidence, not of a capricious and confusing God, but a God who loves us in myriad ways and always meets us where we are, and where we need Him. (And He keeps us guessing; that is, seeking Him!)

All important, as I say. The larger meanings of Abraham Lincoln’s words… and our hearts’ duties. We should remember Lincoln’s perspective: people should set themselves apart; pray; and give thanks, give thanks, give thanks.

Let the stores close for a day… for the proper reasons. To give thanks in ways that matter. Not for convenience or commercial reasons, but remembering the reverence Abraham Lincoln would have us cherish. Three things should be open in America on Thanksgiving Day: open hearts. open Bibles, and open soup kitchens.

Let us also remember that “holidays” have their word-origins in “holy days.” It is odd that in a land of such abundance we often fail to embrace an attitude of gratitude. And when we comprehend that God has thanked us for being faithful stewards… we should reply with a loving “You’re welcome,” and maybe a heartfelt “No, thank You!”

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The exuberance and joy of counting blessings and giving thanks was expressed in music, too; and never better than by Johann Sebastian Bach. Here is the opening sinfonia from his Cantata number 29:

Click: We Thank You, God, We Thank You!

11-18-24

Lately, every time I log on to the web, I see pop-ups. Well, that’s not lately – the Internet is always one big commercial, dishing up propaganda, spooky algorithms (“How did it know I was thinking about sandals made in Brazil???”), and invasive seductions, with occasional bits of news and useful information. At least there is a pause in political pop-ups, but they will resume soon.

However, two categories of messages glom up my in-box lately, and not to my regret. Past and future, in a manner of speaking. I am inundated with videos about prehistoric architecture, pyramids around the world, and ancient civilizations. Fascinating discoveries and intriguing questions. And the other category on the web… I should say Webb, because we are continuously seeing more galaxies, probing deeper into outer space, and learning more about what we don’t know as humankind. Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope.

We not only “see” farther and more clearly than ever before, but lenses, filters, and spectrometry – and pinpoint transmissions – provide indications of where things are, what they are made of, and, ultimately, myriad things we don’t know.

look up

Being a city boy, I am always awestruck by clear night skies in sparse areas of the world where I have visited and looked up. Not the points of constellations observed by the Ancients and given names because they vaguely resembled objects – a primitive connect-the-dots exercise. No, the thousands of stars that blanket the night sky. But now we begin to know what the first humans who looked Up only guessed at.

There are more than thousands of stars. There are trillions of stars.

There are more than trillions of stars, because those “stars” often are entire galaxies with trillions of their own suns and stars.

There are more than suns and stars, because, as in “our” solar system, there are planets and moons too.

The very tiniest dot of light we now see in Webb’s image-captures might in itself be a distant but gargantuan galaxy with its own trillions of constituent members. “Universes” by themselves, metaphorically speaking. The “heavens.”

Where does the universe stop? Does it have an “end,” a wall? … and then, what is on the other side of that wall? When will it end? Ever? When did it begin? And How?

If your brain is hurting, as mine is, it means not that you have special insight or an enlightened curiosity; it means that you have a pulse. “Primitive” cultures and squads of PhDs alike, and all of us in between, wonder about those generic conundrums – where we are, how we got here, what’s out there, and such. It is why myriad superstitions and belief systems and religions have sprouted. The basic but inchoate wonderment has inspired thinkers and poets and, thank God, now even governments and entrepreneurs to employ technology and reach “out.”

Whether archaeologists and anthropologists explore the past, or scientists and philosophers speculate on the present and future, mistakes have been made. Well-meaning, often; presumptuous, frequently; foolish, occasionally. The latest explanation of the what-when-where-and-how of the universe’s origin is the “Big Bang” theory.

Speaking personally, my brain doesn’t hurt about the Big Bang theory. My face does, from laughing so much about it. Skeptics and presumptuous atheists challenge Bible-believers on the matter that the Bible has the answers to the questions asked above. “Where you there when the universe began?” they challenge. Of course not, is the answer. But my God was, and He has told us all about it.

Back to that Big Bang, we can ask the same questions – what was before the Big Bang? Just where in this “empty universe” did the Bang happen? If it is still happening at its extremities, where can it end; whether its expansion is linear or 360-degree, and (the latest speculation) if it is forever growing and contracting… we are no closer to answering the what-when-where-and-how of it all.

Notice that there is no Who in that set of questions. Humankind – or much of it – in its arrogance and, ultimately, foolishness insists on reaching for and embracing every answer but the God Answer. Oh, it gets close: blathering about the “God Particle” and Intelligent Design, and such. They are deflections; euphemisms.

“All the saints and sages who discussed [Omar the Tentmaker wrote centuries ago] /of the Two Worlds so learnedly are thrust / Like foolish prophets forth; their words to scorn are scattered; / Their mouths are stopped with dust.”

The scoffers go further when they use the recent cascading discoveries of this virtually unfathomable universe to challenge our faith: There must be uncountable other planets with life and life-forms and civilizations out there… if there is a God, why would He place us in a faraway corner of an unimportant universe and galaxy?… When we realize the vastness of space, don’t we realize how insignificant we are???

• Well. We do realize certain things. If there is creation… there must be a Creator.
• Read Genesis. That is the Big Bang, explained in step-by-step fashion.
• Uncountable other explanations of creation (including scientific answers) have been abandoned or discredited or superseded by other theories. Yes… we do note that this current “answer” is nevertheless termed by its proponents a theory.
• The God of the Bible – excuse me, the Creator of the Universe – has been so reliable through every other detail of history, prophecy, and fulfillment, that we can be assured that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof”… but, more, that the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork (Psalm 19:1). And if there were “other” worlds, as with the superstition about reincarnation, the Bible would have told us. Not so.

Who, What, When, Where, and How? God, God, God, God, and God. His Creation pleases Him. But let us ask the other “standard” question – WHY? We – you and I – are His children, the apples of His eye, a purpose of His Creation, we are told.

We look at these images of a crazy-vast universe; of its unending space and its parts; of its wonders and beauty and mysteries… and do we feel insignificant, as scientists and skeptics tell us we should feel?

NO! As grateful believers in the Creator God… we feel anything but insignificant. As His children, we are His creations too! And we are special. We are significant. Let us respond every day in every way as we should. Our “brains may hurt,” but our souls are at peace.

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Click: The Love of God Is Greater Far

11-11-24

There is significance that can be gleaned from punctuation and spelling which, as a Word Person, I am happy to assert as often as I can. It is true of missed dates and common misunderstandings, which have led to bloody wars. This message will be a rambling collection of tangents, forgive me; but little things in life are often consequential. We have the aphorism repeated from ancient days by Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin):

For want of a nail the horseshoe was lost.For want of a shoe the horse was lost.For want of a horse the rider was lost.For want of a rider the message was lost.For want of a message the battle was lost.For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.

November 11 is Veterans Day, and I began these thoughts with notes about grammatical precision because it is important, if we are going to commemorate events and observe holidays, that we remember why we do so.

Veterans Day began as “Armistice Day,” dedicated to those who died in World War I. Strictly speaking, President Woodrow Wilson wanted to hallow the moment when peace was declared, more than honoring the millions who died to secure that peace. It was typical of that self-righteous megalomaniac to build a psychological edifice while – in the opinion of many people at the time – soldiers died on the battlefield while the clock ticked toward Wilson’s “11^th day of the 11^th month, 11^th hour, 11^th minute” irrelevancy.

“Armistice Day” eventually became Veterans Day. Word distinctions: Memorial Day was declared to honor those who died, Veterans Day to honor all who served in wars. And it is not “Veteran’s Day” or “Veterans’ Day,” so we remember all vets. A national holiday pf commemoration – in effect, our day to honor them, not their vacation day.

Do I make too much of these distinctions? Possibly. But I urge us to regard Veterans Day as a day where we all (we who are not military veterans) meditate on what others have done; what our brothers and sisters have sacrificed; and the essence of becoming a veteran. Yes, you can be a veteran of, say, an average golf match… but as we routinely understand the word, Veterans usually have gone through some version of hell. And, often enough, for you and me.

So. I would have us appreciate, in others and in ourselves, what we go though in life ourselves, and should go through as our duty, the choice of work, service, and sacrifice. Such is Christ’s call on us – to reach the world with Gospel, which is not easy. To reach our family and friends too, which might be less easy. To be transformed by that Gospel ourselves; for some of us, that step was, or is, difficult.

God helps us… Jesus is like a buddy in life’s foxholes. And we see how He has helped others: To think, for instance, that He ordained a filthy-minded, adulterous, wealthy man with evil in his heart to preside over a nation… makes us think. Yet God did that… and that man, by God’s grace, eventually did much good, and wrote the Psalms.

Oh, did you think I was talking about Donald Trump or someone else? No, I mean King David. We are all flawed. But we are all veterans too, of some good fight.

The reason I like “Veterans Day” without the apostrophe is that I think we should appreciate, and encourage each other, in that thought: we are all veterans. We have been through a lot, every one of us. Challenges, crises, distress, disaster. Health, finances, relationships. Self-confidence, lack of faith sometimes?

My friend Becky Spencer, active in myriad ministries, is called by those who know her remarkable faith and work, the “Fight Lady.” Are you an “overcomer”? Are you “more than a conqueror”? You can be, and therefore you are a veteran; God sent the Holy Spirit to be your comrade-in-arms. I will repeat a fable I shared here just last week, and which ignited a lot of responses: A man arrives at Heaven’s Gate and is challenged by St Peter to display the scars he acquired during his life on earth. “I have no scars,” the man says. St Peter replies: “Really? There was nothing you ever thought was worth fighting for?”

Believe me, of course I am not urging that we stop honoring military veterans (in fact, we don’t do so enough). And it is a fool’s errand to suggest we establish a holiday to honor ourselves, even if we begin to dedicate ourselves to greater service. Banish that thought.

But if we can begin to ask ourselves what we are veterans of… what we have chosen as our mission(s) in life… what will lead to God telling you in Glory – in reality; not a fable – “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!”… that will be the greatest Veterans Day of all. We are all in this together, this thing called Life, and we need to follow God’s battle plan.

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Click: Will You Look At Me and Say “Well Done”?

11-4-24

As a historian, I sometimes am seduced by the “long view” of events in the life of our nation. Every people, every society, every civilization since the dawn of time has experienced crises. And so has the United States. Natural disasters, sure. Errors, national sins, corruption? We have not been immune. We have muddled through; and frequently we have triumphed.

There are many ways we are different than the myriad civilizations that have preceded us, societies that have risen and fallen. But there is one similarity we cannot escape. America will fall, as those civilizations have fallen. Whether it will be in hazy, distant future; whether it will be a revolution-evolution to a better system we cannot envision, or a slow disintegration from within or by invasions… the wheel of history grinds with determination.

Another path is whether we are in the midst, now, of the passing of the United States, the “extinction of freedom” about which Ronald Reagan warned.

In the days of Noah (Jesus said, recorded in Luke 17:27), they were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when… the flood came and destroyed them all. In other words, we can be in a crisis and not realize it… or its severity.

Because we eat and drink and go to jobs and wake up every morning, we are tempted to think all is normal, that our problems will resolve themselves. However, America is at an unprecedented inflection-point.

• Every dispositive “metric” points to rot and decay – crime statistics; drug use; human trafficking; homelessness; child and spousal abuse; disparity of wealth and poverty.
• Worse, if possible, are the underlying problems that seem insoluble – the decline in religion and faith; the social acceptance of baby-killing; glorification of violence; widespread illiteracy; invasion of millions of the world’s “unknowns” across virtually non-existent borders; the casual disregard of marriage vows and the prevalence of divorce; sex as a commodity.
• Even more insidious are factors that are challenging to discern, manipulated by players difficult to identify – the Dark State increasingly monitors, and controls, our lives; Big Media, Big “Education,” Big Pharma dictate our priorities; our currency is worthless and the economy is a toy in the hands of a few; wars are instigated here and there, and we are like pawns on a giant chessboard whose players are bloodthirsty masters we scarcely know; we being lied to by “journalists,” hypnotized by media, propagandized by pundits.
• … and we are anesthetized by the onetime source of refuge and strength, the mainstream church.

Click: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it any more!”

This time, this election, is different. The choices America makes and the implicit re-dedication that must follow, is consequential. The contest is not really between two individuals. Their unique strengths and weaknesses actually camouflage the larger historical trends are colliding. The election of 2024 is more than Republican vs Democrat; more than conservative vs liberal; more than old vs new.

How can we reverse course? Christian, do not pray that God send revival. It is lazy and irresponsible to pray for revival: that is our job, not God’s! It would not be genuine if we do not, ourselves, one by one, redeem our own lives, our households, our families, our relatives, our neighborhoods, our friends, our towns and cities… our nation. Then: our schools, our media, our churches too.

Some patriots are uncomfortable with Mr Trump as the leader of a moral, as well as a political, Restoration. His opponent Harris is a lightweight Jezebel who quickly will pass from the scene, but the former President, despite his record of accomplishing much for traditional values and Christian concerns, invites skepticism.

But the Bible is replete with flawed figured used by God for His purposes. In fact, Scripture overflows with stories and examples and lessons of people who are not always bright and shiny, yet through whom God has worked His will. And we can add you and me – are we so impure that we cannot let Him use us too? God forbid!

I believe that God can use, and is using, President Trump in many and mighty ways that might help bring this nation back to its standing as a home for the righteous. As we join the fight(s), and before “standing”… we must kneel. And vote. “In God We Trust” – do you believe it? Well, God trusts us, too!

There is an old Irish fable in which a man arrives at Heaven’s Gate and is challenged by St Peter to display the scars he acquired during his life on earth. “I have no scars,” the man says. St Peter replies: “Really? There was nothing you ever thought was worth fighting for?”

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Click: Ray Charles – America The Beautiful (Live in D.C.)