PLUS

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

One of the most amazing things about mankind’s successful landing on the moon is its context.  It didn’t come in the midst of peace or prosperity … just the opposite.  It came during a profound period of turbulence in American history.  As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon, turmoil was the defining characteristic of the American experience. 

In 1969, war raged in southeast Asia.  During that year, over 11,000 Americans died in combat during the Vietnam War. Meanwhile back at home, protests spread across college campuses.  Things seemed dark for our nation.  Yet, the singularly amazing event of Apollo 11 shed a bright light that provided a stark contrast to the prevailing darkness.

Regardless of what we think about our current context, there is something we can do about it.  Even if we think that things seem dark for our nation, our testimonies can shed bright lights to provide a stark contrast to the prevailing darkness.  By letting our light shine before men, those around us can see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.

More importantly, we can share the ultimate source of light to those around us – our Lord and Savior. In Him is life; and that life is the light of men.  That light shineth in darkness.  He sheds a bright and overwhelming light that provides a stark contrast to the prevailing darkness.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO PROVIDE A STARK CONTRAST TO OUR SURROUNDING WORLD.  The world needs the light that shineth in the darkness.

ADMIN NOTE:  I will take a few weeks off from new PLUS posts, and will be back on August 3^rd.  Please continue to pray daily and fervently for our nation.

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.”

I Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”

Romans 12:21 “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

I Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, it is important to linger on this amazing human accomplishment.  The journey to this monumental achievement began in May of 1961 when President Kennedy challenged Congress and the nation 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.”  It was an ambitious and bold move by a new president.

More than a year later, after a trip to NASA facilities in Houston in September 1962, President Kennedy addressed a large crowd at the Rice University football stadium.  In part, this is what he said about the moon landing endeavor:

“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 American instinct.  We are willing to tackle things in part because they are hard, and love rising to the challenge.  There is an innate appeal to compete, and to overcome, and to win. With the landing on the moon, we tackled something that was hard and rose to the challenge.  We competed, overcame, and won!

Living a life of faith in a secular society isn’t easy.  Overcoming evil is a challenge.  It is a struggle to maintain our testimony and share the reason of our hope.  Yet, none of these things should drain our passion or hinder our resolve.

As Christians, we must harness the same nature and instinct that Kennedy appealed to in 1962.  We are to tackle the hard hurdles of this world. We are to rise to the challenges. The barriers are significant, but the stakes are eternal.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A RESOLUTE SPIRIT AMONG AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO SERVE CHRIST IN THIS LAND.  Let us fight the struggles of this challenge 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.

I Timothy 2:1-6 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

A few weeks ago, President Trump appeared at the McClean Bible Church with little notice during a Sunday service and asked for prayer.  Pastor David Platt met that request, and was attacked from both sides. One side proclaimed that the President doesn’t deserve our prayer.  The other side claimed that the pastor’s explanation of his actions was an apology for praying for our President.  The former is not Biblical and the latter is not true.  

Prayer for our leaders is not a political act, it is a practical and a theological act.  It is an act of faith.  It is an act that is good and acceptable in the sight of the Lord. It is an act that can foster our ability to lead quiet and peaceable lives.  It is an act that we do because we love our country and our Lord.  It is an act that we do because we want our nation to succeed and not fail.

We were wrong if we didn’t pray for President Obama.  We are wrong if we don’t pray for President Trump. 

We were wrong if we didn’t pray for the 115^thCongress with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and we are wrong if we don’t pray for the 116^thCongress with a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.

We were wrong if we didn’t pray for a Supreme Court that included Justice Kennedy, and we are wrong if we don’t pray for a Supreme Court that includes Justice Kavanaugh. 

We are wrong if we don’t pray for our leaders at the Federal, State and Local levels, regardless of their political affiliation.  We don’t do so for them, we do so for us.  We do so for the Lord.  We do so because, as Pastor Platt stated, “we need Your wisdom in our country.”  

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO PRAY DAILY AND FERVENTLY FOR OUR LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS. We need His wisdom in our country, and are wrong if we don’t seek it through prayer.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”

Nahum 1:7 “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.”

The fighting on D-Day was only the beginning of the liberation of Europe during World War II. The war raged on until the spring of 1945.  Upon completion of the campaign in Europe, General Marshall wrote a letter to his friend and subordinate General Eisenhower congratulating him on his massive accomplishment for the cause of freedom.  Eisenhower’s response back was powerful and telling:

“Since the day I first went to England, indeed since I first reported to you in the War Department, the strongest weapon that I have always had in my hand was a confident feeling that you trusted my judgment, believed in the objectivity of my approach to any problem and were ready to sustain to the full limit of your resources and your tremendous moral support, anything that we found necessary to undertake to accomplish the defeat of the enemy.  This has had a tremendous effect on my staffs and principal subordinate commanders.  Their conviction that you had basic faith in this headquarters and would invariably resist interference from any outside sources, has done far more to strengthen my personal position throughout the war than is realized by those people who were affected by this circumstance … Our army and people have never been so deeply indebted to any other solider.”

What a powerful lesson on leadership and a power lesson on faith!

We must trust in our all-loving, all-powerful Lord and Savior!  By doing so, we shall be blessed.  We shall be steadied.  We shall be secure.  We shall be courageous.  We shall be known by God.

May we trust in His judgment.  May we believe in His wisdom.  May we embrace His sustaining power.  May we cling to his moral support.  May we accept His strengthening influence.  May we truly understand how deeply indebted we are to Him!

PLEASE PRAY FOR A TRUSTING SPIRIT THAT DEMONSTRATES A FAITH IN OUR ALL-LOVING, ALL-POWERFUL GOD.  He is our strongest weapon!

ADMIN NOTE: The Eisenhower quote was from Partners in Command

John 14:1-2 “Let not your heart be troubled:  ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions:  if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.”

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Chaplain George Barber didn’t just pray and preach for the men as D-Day approached.  He also waded into the bloody surf alongside of them on Omaha Beach on the 6^thof June 1944 as they charged the shoreline against a determined German military defense.  He later stated that “when we hit the shore they let down the ramp and I stood in front and led my men off” as shots were splashing into the water all around them.  As men were hit he urged them to trust in the Lord for salvation, and he quoted John 14 to them in their dying hour.

As they got established on the shore, he dug a trench to set up a proper defensive position.  He said that “I prayed as if everything depended on the Lord, and I dug as if everything depended on me … the Lord and me got that foxhole pretty deep.”  The faithful service of that single chaplain was a source of encouragement, challenge, and blessing to scores of men during the brutal fighting of that day and the many others that filled the calendar until total victory in Europe in 1945.

The faithful service of that single chaplain should be a source of encouragement, challenge, and blessing to us today.  His proclamation of truth through his words and his actions is unmistakable and unshakable. Through faith, we must stand in front and lead the charge for the cause of Christ.  We must urge those around us to trust in the Lord for salvation and remind them of the truths of John 14.  As we serve God, we must pray as if everything depends on the Lord, and work as if everything depends upon us.  If we do these things, then we can be an encouragement, challenge, and blessing to scores of men around us.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A BOLD FAITHFULNESS TO SERVE GOD IN THE FACE OF A DETERMINED ADVERSARY.  Let’s get our foxholes pretty deep.