PLUS

II Timothy 4:7-8 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Matthew 28:20b “And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Today we celebrate a remarkable human accomplishment – the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

President Kennedy, the new American president, challenged Congress and the nation in May of 1961 to “commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” The next year in Houston, after a trip to NASA facilities in a metropolis that would later be known as Space City, the president addressed a large crowd at Rice University with these words:

“But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon…We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.”

President Kennedy’s speech appealed to human nature and to instinct.  As humans, we are willing to tackle things, in part, because they are hard, and we relish rising to a challenge. We have an innate desire to compete, overcome, and win. Yet, we only succeeded in this important endeavor by working together.

With the goal of landing on the moon, humanity tackled something that was hard, and we rose to the challenge. We competed, we overcame, and we won! We did so in spite of the hard challenges or, maybe, we actually did so by embracing them.

For Christians, living a life of faith in our secular society isn’t easy. Overcoming the evil that surrounds us is a challenge. It is a struggle in such an environment to maintain our testimony and share the reason of our hope. Yet, none of these things should drain our passion nor hinder our resolve.

Jesus’ words and His example should appeal to our human nature and instinct. We are to tackle the things He has given to us to steward. In part because they are hard, we should relish rising to the challenge. We must harness our innate desire to compete, overcome, and win. Yet, we don’t pursue this important endeavor alone. He is with us always!

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO SERVE IN OUR SECULAR SOCIETY WITH A CHRIST-CENTERED DETERMINATION. The daunting challenges ahead of us must be ones we intend to overcome and win for Him.

NOTE: I won’t be posting next weekend, but please keep praying for our nation and our leaders!

I Samuel 8:7 “And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”

I Samuel 8:19-22 “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.”

Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and he people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”

Israel demanded for a king to rule over them, centralizing authority in an overbearing governmental structure. They ignored the warnings from the Lord about their licentiousness and the erosion of their liberties. Though God had spoken to Samuel to warn the people against following such a path, they refused to listen to the Lord. Instead, they wanted to be like everyone else and structure their society accordingly. They clamored to be like all the other nations that encircled the planet, unappreciative of what they had been uniquely given and unaware of the dangers of being left to their own devices. They had recklessly neglected the important truth and powerful reminder that “blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD!”

In American society today, there are plenty of forces who demand to be ruled by a centralized authority from an overbearing governmental structure. We ignore the warnings of the Lord about our licentiousness and the erosion of our liberties. We want to be like everyone else and structure our society accordingly. We clamor to be like all the other nations that encircle the planet, unappreciative of what we have been uniquely given and unaware of the dangers of being left to our own devices. We recklessly neglect the important truth and powerful reminder that “blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD!”

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO HEARKEN UNTO THE VOICE OF THE LORD IN OUR SOCIETY THAT IS CLAMORING TO BE JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. While they may ignore and reject our calls, they are actually rejecting the Lord Himself who continues to offer special blessings to those who acknowledge Him.

Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”

American Historian Gordon S. Wood stated the following powerful truth about the core of our great nation:

“The Revolution is the most important event in our history. It not only created the United States, but it infused into our culture the noblest ideals and highest aspirations, our beliefs in liberty, equality, and the happiness of ordinary people. Since there is no American ethnicity, these ideals and values are the only thing holding us together as a nation.”

Governor John Winthrop led the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the Seventeenth Century. In 1630, he wrote the following:

“For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world.”

Our nation was designed to be a shining city on a hill. It was created to be the model for all of humanity. Yet, it could never hope to survive if it diverged from the Divine.

Our citizenry is gloriously diverse. Yet, the foundational ideals that form our common denominator are expected to be the glue that bonds us together: E pluribus unum – out of many, one. A firm belief in the Creator who formed those ideals, and who has endowed us with those unalienable rights, is always necessary and must never be absent.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO REMIND OUR FELLOW CITIZENS OF OUR BASIS FOR LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. We will become a byword through the world – a cautionary tale – if we continue to diverge from the Divine.

Isaiah 59:10 “We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.”

Job 12:25 “They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.”

Psalm 127:1 “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”

In late June of 1787, the members of the Constitutional Convention were at a dangerous standstill that could have derailed our glorious experiment in liberty before it even started. The main point of contention was between the small and the large states, with the former seeking equal representation in our national legislative body and with the latter seeking population-based representation. Arguments were flying and the deliberative body was stagnating. Then on June 28^th, elder stateman Benjamin Franklin rose to speak. He wisely observed:

“In this situation of this assembly, groping, as it were, in the dark to find political truth and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings?”

He then reminded the Constitutional Convention of this important precedent:

“In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of the danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance.”

He then provided a powerful proposal:

“I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.”

His advice and the powerful practice of prayer helped break an immovable logjam in our progress towards a government under the Constitution.

Today, we are groping in the dark to find political truth, and are incapable of distinguishing it when presented to us.  We have neglected to humbly apply to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings. We have forgotten the powerful precedent of daily prayer for divine protection, which can be graciously answered by our powerful Friend. We foolishly imagine that we no longer need His assistance.

PLEASE BEG FOR OUR NATION TO RETURN TO A CULTURE OF PRAYER TO IMPLORE THE ASSISTANCE OF HEAVEN IN OUR NATIONAL AND PERSONAL DELIBERATIONS. We desperately need His assistance!

Acts 17:5-8 “But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when there heard these things.”

A few weeks ago, my son got stuck on a roller coaster … upside down … for 45 minutes! It was quick a harrowing experience for him and his fellow riders, especially because the theme park failed to communicate with them throughout the entire event. It was confusing and disorienting. Then, the coaster started again without warning as the young people scrambled to make sure that they were fully strapped in. Fortunately, he ended up safely on the ground right side up, finally flipped in the right direction.

The doubters in the Book of Acts bemoaned the activities and the influences of the apostles and early disciples. These agitators had stirred the city into an uproar, troubling the people and the rulers of the city. They angrily stated that the faithful had “turned the world upside down.” They were probably right!

Yet, there is an important element of such a situation to consider. When you are already upside down, turning you upside down again actually returns you to being right side up. It flips things in the right direction.

We live in a world that is already upside down. It is confused and disoriented. Based on its errant orientation, it is time to turn it upside down again. We need Christians to shake things up and flip things in the right direction.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD STRIVE TO TURN OUR SOCIETY UPSIDE DOWN. Turning an upside down world upside down will get us back to where we belong – safely on the ground right side up and flipped in the right direction.