PLUS

James 4:2-3 “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

Evangelist and pastor RA Torrey said the following:

“We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results.”

American Christians need God’s power. We need activity that yields accomplishment. We need services that yield conversions. We need machinery that yields results.

Instead we lack power. We are active without accomplishment. We have services without conversions. We attend to machinery without results.

We are too busy to pray, and wonder why we lack power and accomplishment, conversions and results. We are perplexed, though the formula is simple … pray! Pray regularly and fervently. Ask often for God’s power. Prayer is a far better use of our time than relying on ourselves for meaningful results.

PLEASE MAKE THE WISEST USE OF YOUR TIME BY PRAYING REGULARLY AND FERVENTLY FOR GOD’S POWER. If we are too busy for prayer, then we are too busy for power. Our busyness will self-perpetuate activity and self-prevent accomplishment.

NOTE: Please share the PLUS ministry and the need to pray for our nation and its leaders with others. We must spread the message that the power to change our country comes from stepping aside from life’s busyness to beg for God’s power.

II Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Chief Justice Warren went on to proclaim the following (see the previous post for more context):

“I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people … I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country.”

While America was founded on God’s Word and God’s spirit, and while 60 years ago we were still living in the spirit of the Christian religion, it is difficult to see that foundation or that spirit in our nation today. It is not evident in our courthouses, our statehouses, or our schoolhouses. Though our nation’s rights and our nation’s structures were based on the Bible, we have steadily and at times quickly drifted astray since 1954. In doing so, we have removed ourselves from God’s protection and from the basis of our rights.

We began, as a nation, throughly furnished. We existed through the decades, as a nation, because we were throughly furnished. We endured the difficulties, as a nation, because we were throughly furnished. We thrived, as a nation, because we were throughly furnished. Yet, since 1954 we have found our furnishing in ourselves and this furnishing has been far from thorough. In doing so, our successes, our endurance, and even our existence are at risk. It is time to return to the spirit of the Christian religion, upon which our entire form of government is based.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AN AMERICAN RETURN TO THE THOROUGH FURNISHING OF THE WORD OF GOD. We have gone from a nation that is throughly furnished to one that is marginally furnished, and should all desperately yearn for the former.

II Timothy 2:19 “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

At a prayer breakfast recorded in Time Magazine (February 15, 1954), Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren said the following:

“I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Saviour have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses … Whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia … or to the Charter of New England … or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay … or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut … the same objective is present: a Christian land governed by Christian principles” (see a continuation of his remarks in my next post).

Warren was anything but a strong conservative. Nominated by President Eisenhower, Warren may be best known for being far more liberal of a justice than anyone expected. Yet, he recognized one important fact – our nation’s foundation was undeniably built upon Christ.

Foundations are important, and Chief Justice Warren had no qualms about expounding upon what the American population already knew to be true – we were a Christian land governed by Christian principles. That was the objective of our founders, and they succeeded in building upon a foundation that standeth sure. It wasn’t a nation built upon human geniuses. It was a nation built upon guiding geniuses, the Word and the Spirit of God, that were far superior to anything else. He unabashedly declared that important truth, and as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, saw no problem with doing so.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR NATION TO RETURN TO ITS TRUE FOUNDATION. We are daft to depart from the guiding geniuses of this land.

For related thoughts on foundations, please see the four-post series beginning with:  https://prayatlunch.us/none-other/

Galatians 5:13 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

While officiating a promotion ceremony immediately in front of the Liberty Bell was meaningful (see the prior post), it was the backdrop of Independence Hall that made the location especially poignant. It was at this location that the founders crafted both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. With this location in the background, I led my friend in the following pledge:

“I (full name), having been appointed a Colonel in the United States Air Force, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

This oath of office is similar to those taken by various public servants in our nation, and is meaningful because of its focus. The oath is not to a leader, a military service, or even the Commander-in-Chief. Instead, it is an oath to the Bible-based concepts contained in our founding documents. It is an oath to commit one’s career and even one’s life to these concepts, and to invest one’s liberties to protect and defend them against all enemies – foreign and domestic.

There are plenty of enemies from which we need protecting. We face physical adversaries and moral adversaries, attacking from every direction. We need those who would commit themselves to defeating them. We need those who would rely upon the same source of strength as did our founders. PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD ENGAGE IN PROTECTING OUR FREEDOMS FROM ALL ADVERSARIES. As we do, we must plead the following – So help me God!

Leviticus 25:10 “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.”

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to officiate the promotion ceremony of a friend and colleague to the rank of Colonel. The venue for the ceremony was spectacular – in front of the Liberty Bell and overlooking Independence Hall. It was the perfect location to reflect upon service and sacrifice.

What we now know as the Liberty Bell was commissioned by the legislature of the colony of Pennsylvania. It arrived in Philadelphia in August 1752, destined for the bell tower of the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall). Yet, the bell had an inauspicious start; its rim cracked shortly after arrival. Following its recasting to resolve this problem, the sound was deemed unsatisfactory and it was recast a second time. Only then, a year after its initial arrival, did it make its way to its home above the meeting place of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. These early problems with the bell’s structure foreshadowed its eventual iconic crack originating in the early 19^th Century.

The inscription around the top of the bell comes from Leviticus 25:10 – “PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL THE INHABITANS THEREOF”. The bell, like this nation, reminds us that this proclamation is not possible in our own strength. Like the bell, we have our own structural shortcomings and our tone is at times unsatisfactory. Instead of recasting ourselves, however, we need to cast ourselves at the feet of the source of all liberty. Only then can we proclaim and demonstrate liberty by our words and our actions. Only then can we ring true as a nation that embraces God’s freely offered strength and the blessings contained therein.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR NATION WOULD ONCE AGAIN RING ALOUD WITH THE SOUND OF GOD-GIVEN LIBERTY. We are a nation that, from its foundation, has contained fissures and fractures. Yet, these have not prevented us from proclaiming liberty because we have been held together by the One whose liberty proclamations are unbreakable. To Him, we must hold firm.