PLUS

Matthew 7:26 “And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand”

James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

If we don’t act on our faith, then we are letting our country go. It we don’t hear AND do God’s commands, then we are foolish. If we know to do good and doeth it not, then we are sinning.

In spite of a four-month-old Supreme Court decision, we are as responsible as we always have been to put our faith into practice. If we don’t, then we are bound to be swept away by the rushing waters of secularism and godlessness that will overwhelmingly erode any flimsy foundation.

We know to do good. We know that we must act. We know that we must be hearers and doers of God’s word. We know that a prevailing culture that opposes us is not a valid excuse for inaction.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD RESOLUTELY ACT FOR CHRIST IN OUR LAND. We can dismiss our inaction by a variety of euphemistic excuses. Yet, it is still sin!

II Timothy 2:2 “And the things thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

One of the massive dangers corresponding to failing to act on our faith is the failing to replicate our faith. If we stop short of demonstrating our faith through our words and our actions, then others may not become faithful. They certainly wouldn’t be able to teach others who could teach others also. In the matter of a generation, faith would be dead in our land.

The devil and secular culture don’t mind our influence staying confined to the church house. They may even think we comprise a quaint artifact of misguided times past. They don’t mind if a dwindling church audience hears about a hollow faith that isn’t put into practice in the needy mission fields of our communities. They are content to let us gather dust stemming from static practices. They realize that the above inevitably lead to harmless extinction.

We will become extinct if we don’t replicate; we can’t replicate if we don’t act. PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO REPLICATE OURSELVES THROUGH A CHRISTIANITY THAT IS PUT INTO PRACTICE. We must replicate or we will quickly fade towards extinction.

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (by America’s outward weakness and resultant loss of international credibility), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Matthew 7:24 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock”

Psalm 119:60 “I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments”

Dissenting opinions in June’s Obergefell v. Hodges recognize the erosion of religious liberty by the majority decision. Justice Thomas wrote the following:

“The majority appears unmoved by that inevitability. It makes only a weak gesture toward religious liberty in a single paragraph. And even that gesture indicates a misunderstanding of religious liberty in our Nation’s tradition. Religious liberty is about more than just the protection for “religious organizations and persons . . . as they seek to teach the principles that are so ful­filling and so central to their lives and faiths.” Religious liberty is about freedom of action in matters of religion generally, and the scope of that liberty is directly correlated to the civil restraints placed upon religious practice.”

Justice Thomas goes on to say that the majority decision has “potentially ruinous consequences for religious liberty.” Furthermore, Chief Justice Roberts wrote: “the First Amendment guarantees, however, the freedom to ‘exercise’ religion. Ominously, that is not a word the majority uses.” Ominously indeed! Four months removed from this decision we see these warnings sprouting into reality around us. There already have been ruinous consequences for religious liberty.

We are to make haste in keeping God’s commandments and putting them into action. We are to make haste in being hearers AND doers. We are to do so now, before these rights erode away. We are to do so later, regardless of whether these rights remain. We are to do so because our responsibilities to God are unchanged by Supreme Court rulings.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD MAKE HASTE TO ACT ON GOD’S COMMANDMENTS. When we hear and do God’s will we are building our lives on a solid foundation that can withstand the erosive forces of an increasingly godless culture. We must make haste in doing so!

James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

The Bible calls us to act on our faith; the Constitution gives us the right to do so. Our faith is hollow if we don’t; our rights are meaningless if we can’t. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

We are to exercise our faith, and the Constitution gives us the right of free exercise. The devil would be happy for us to be hearers only. Our earthly opponents would be happy for us to limit our rights to teaching and hearing only. Neither wants us to recognize our mandate to put our faith into action. They want us to deceive our own selves into thinking that teaching and hearing are the extent of our rights and our responsibilities. In a feeble nod to religious freedom, Justice Kennedy rendered the following in the majority opinion of June’s Obergefell v. Hodges:

“The First Amendment ensures that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue the family structure they have long revered.”

This isn’t free exercise. This doesn’t protect being a doer, and only protects being a hearer. If this is the limit of our Constitutional rights, then we are being deceived. If this is how we limit ourselves in our Christian responsibilities, then we are deceiving our own selves.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD FREELY EXERCISE OUR FAITH. The Bible doesn’t mandate a simple call to teaching and hearing. Instead, it provides a clear and unmistakable call to action!

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (by the dysfunction within our political parties), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

II Kings 6:17 “And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”

As Captain Eric Brown spent the night at Grove Airfield waiting for the Allied Army to arrive (see previous post), he was worried that his small contingent of seven men would be ambushed during the night by the 2,000 Germans who had surrendered to him during the day. At about 10 pm, Captain Brown heard the rumblings of a loud mob and was sure that they were doomed. As it turned out, the local Danish villagers had heard about their fragile occupation and had come to protect them. Throughout the night, these 250 villagers sat several deep in a large circle surrounding Captain Brown and his men. As it turned out, the courage of a few British occupiers emboldened those who had been previously occupied by the Germans even though they were still vastly outnumbered.

Even when we are alone in occupied territory, we shouldn’t assume that we are truly alone. Maybe our realm of occupation is surrounded by the horses and chariots of God’s protection. Moreover, maybe our small steps of courage will embolden others around us even though we may be vastly outnumbered.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR FRAGILE OCCUPATION WOULD BE EMPOWERED BY GOD WHILE EMBOLDENING OTHERS. We may soon be fighting our battles with others round about us if we stay faithful.