Author: John Page 70 of 166

Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.”

Proverbs 25:11 “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”

A few weeks ago, Representative-elect Dan Crenshaw was mocked on Saturday night live. Specifically, Dan was taunted for his appearance – primarily stemming from the eye-patch he wears as the result of a wartime injury during duty as a Navy SEAL.  Clearly, such jabs are inappropriate and distasteful.

How did hero and soon-to-be-Congressman Crenshaw respond?  He didn’t retaliate.  He didn’t escalate the rhetoric.  He didn’t plan to get even.  He didn’t even vociferously demand an apology.  Instead, he used it as a teachable moment.  He went on Saturday Night Live to make peace with those who attacked him.  He also authored an opinion piece in the Washington post about forgiveness and reconciliation (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-made-amends-with-pete-davidson-on-snl-but-thats-only-the-beginning/2018/11/13/e7314fb0-e77e-11e8-b8dc-66cca409c180_story.html?utm_term=.4406f31371ae).  He even made fun of himself along the way.  He wasn’t weak for doing so, in fact, just the opposite.  He demonstrated a rare strength in an environment that he calls an “outrage culture.”  His soft answer turned away wrath.

You and I live in a culture surrounded by outrage and wrath.  Sometimes it is even directed towards us.  As Congressman Crenshaw reminds us, we “when all else fails, try asking for forgiveness, or granting it.”  Everyone doesn’t “have to fan the flames of outrage.”  In fact, we shouldn’t.  Christ certainly didn’t (https://prayatlunch.us/love-your-enemies/).

PLEASE PRAY THAT THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO OUR OUTRAGE CULTURE IS DIFFERENT AND DISTINCT.  A strong testimony demands that our response be Christlike.  Following an attack, don’t fan the flames of outrage.  Instead, try asking for forgiveness, or granting it.

Matthew 15:8 “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”

There is no more ironic and sad juxtaposition on the American calendar than Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday.  Just hours after Americans finish their prayers of thankfulness and contentment, we wrestle with one another to get our hands on those things we think will bring us happiness as we seek to fill the voids in our lives.  Wiping away the tiredness of our post-dinner coma, we wake up early because we are concerned that we will miss out on the things that will finally satisfy us.  With the taste of turkey dinners still on our taste buds, we look to consume more and more. In one moment we are honoring God with our lips, and the next we are cursing those who cut us off in the parking lot.  In doing so, we reveal that our hearts are far from Him.  American Christians are guilty of the same.

A day of thanksgiving provides us the perfect springboard into the Christmas season as we prepare to celebrate and commemorate the perfect gift – the birth of our Savior. Unfortunately, we negate this opportunity when we rush out the door in the middle of the night, leaving our thankfulness and contentment behind, to find those things that we hope will satisfy us during this season.  All the while, it is thankfulness and contentment to the Lord that are the only things that will actually satisfy.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICANS TO EMBRACE A SPIRIT OF THANKFULNESS AND CONTENTMENT THROUGHOUT THE CHRISTMAS SEASON.  May we draw nigh unto God with not just our mouths, but with our hearts also.

For a related thought from five years ago, please see:  https://prayatlunch.us/contentment/

II Chronicles 6:40 “Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.”

II Chronicles 7:1 “Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.”

Psalm 92:1 “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High”

In the nation’s first year under the Constitution, 1789, President Washington directed a day of prayer and thanksgiving (see:  https://prayatlunch.us/thanksgiving/).  This special observance was encouraged by Congress based on the following resolution from September 25, 1789:

“That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States, to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a Constitution of government for their safety and happiness.”

An argument for the resolution included the following historical model:  “the solemn thanksgivings and rejoicings which took place in the time of Solomon after the building of the temple”

It is indeed a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises to His name.  He is the Most High!

It is also fully legal for those in government to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises to His name.  After all, the resolution above was approved on the exact same day as the Congressional approval of the wording for the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Yes, our founders who crafted the Bill of Rights passionately and publicly gave thanks and praise to our Almighty God.  So must we!

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD PASSIONATELY AND PUBLICLY GIVE THANKS AND PRAISE TO OUR ALMIGHTY GOD!

Judges 17:6 “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

II Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Lieutenant General Harold “Hal” Moore was a decorated and famous member of the United States Army. He was the first member of his West Point class to be promoted to 1-star, 2-star, and 3-star General.  The popular book and movie We Were Soldiers Once … And Young colorfully detailed his role as a Lieutenant Colonel and as the commanding officer of the 1^stBattalion, 7^thCalvary Regiment in the first major battle involving the American military during the Vietnam War.  This week-long battle, starting on November 14^th, 1965, saw innovations in warfare including the first-ever helicopter air assault, but its mixed outcome may have convinced the leadership of North Vietnam that they could ultimately defeat the Americans in a prolonged and bloody conflict.

In We Were Soldiers Once … And Young, Moore offers his overarching thoughts on American history and culture.  He boldly stated: “There were two great tragedies in the twentieth century.  One was the decline of morality in our country. The second was the war in Vietnam. It was an unnecessary war.”  What a telling and thought-provoking comparison on this Veteran’s Day weekend and 53^rdanniversary of the start of that conflict!

Over 58,000 American servicemen died in that “unnecessary war.”  Additionally, over 200,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died and over one million North Vietnamese military members perished.  Finally, over two million civilians died during the conflict.  Yet, according to Moore, the decline of morality in our country is equivalent to all of that.  Even if he is only partly correct in this powerful statement, then Christian Americans must awake and act.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AN IMMEDIATE AND REMARKABLE REVERSAL OF THE MORAL DECLINE OF AMERICA.  May our faithfulness, our prayerfulness, our humility, our repentance and our godly passion reverse the tragedy involved in the moral decline of our nation.

Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish:  but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”

A few weeks ago, I spent a couple of hours in the pilot torture chamber known as the centrifuge – a large spinning machine that simulates the forces of maneuvering flight. After being out of the business of flying fighter aircraft for several years, going through the centrifuge was a prerequisite before hopping back in a high-performance aircraft.

The centrifuge is the tool used by the military to teach and refresh aircrew members on the necessary strain and breathing technique to withstand the high-G environment that draws blood away from your brain and causes it to pool in your lower body.  If you don’t properly execute this technique during heavy maneuvering, you can deprive your brain from necessary oxygen-rich blood causing you to pass out from a condition called G-lock.  If this happens in an airborne aircraft, you will likely perish, crashing before you regain your senses.

There is a precursor to the passed out condition of G-lock – you start to lose your vision.  It starts as a narrowing tunnel vision, and if not corrected, will lead to a complete loss of vision slightly before you go unconscious.  The loss of vision slightly precedes the loss of consciousness unless corrected.  The loss of vision is a sign that you are about to perish and you must recover immediately before it is too late.

In our lives as Christians, we need a vision to guide our lives.  We need vision to steer our families and our churches.  The loss of vision is a sign that we are about to perish – becoming irrelevant and useless to the cause of Christ.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD BE GUIDED BY A GODLY VISION THAT SHAPES AND MOTIVATES OUR WAY. Whenever we recognize an impending loss of vision, we must recover immediately before it is too late.