Bad News

I have written at some length about the dangers of an overexposure to “news.”  Most of what I have had to say on the subject has to do with the problem of bitterness.  Bitterness is a deadly poison and if you are going to spend too much time listening to opinion makers on either side of the political drama in America it will be impossible for you to avoid the poison of bitterness.  

But there is another danger, no less deadly, that lies in wait for the person who spends too much time on current events.  Jesus warned us about things that can grow in our souls like weeds in a farmer’s field.  If the weeds run wild they will choke out the good plants and there will be very little harvest.  Jesus warned us that “the cares of the world … enter in and choke the word,” making it “unfruitful.”  (Mark 4:20 ESV)  

It’s possible for some of us to catch the morning news on TV, listen to talk radio on the way to work and all throughout the work day, and then to watch cable news for several hours in the evening.  I suspect that a surprising number of Christians are doing just that and I’m telling you that we need to stop.  The cares of this world “choke” the word, which means that they also choke off the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, because the Spirit works primarily through the inspired word.  A fifteen minute quiet time is not going to effectively counter eight to twelve hours spent on the “cares of this world.”

If you aren’t making the progress that you would like to be making in the spiritual life, check out the amount of time you are spending on the “news” and start giving more of that time to the Spirit and the word.  Having praise music on in your cubicle at work is a good testimony, and it’s good for your soul as well.

Is There Any Hope For A Spiritual Renewal?

Is there hope for spiritual renewal in America?  A few days ago we looked back to a time when the economic situation was worse than it is today and learned that America successfully weathered that storm.  Is there a time in American history that we can look back to where there was a serious moral decline?  The answer is yes. 

In the time period following the American revolution up to about 1800 America experienced a significant moral and spiritual decline.  Most of the concepts that we would include under the heading of secular humanism arose in France about the time of the American revolution.  When France came to our aid in the Revolutionary War it created a great deal of goodwill toward France and made people very open to French ideas.  The country was soon flooded with atheistic literature and in a very short time a school of American writers rose up and began to support these new ideas.  The most prominent was Thomas Paine, who wrote brilliantly in support of the American revolution before he turned his talents to an anti-Christian crusade.  His book, "Age of Reason" probably sold over a million and a half copies, a simply amazing print run for that day and age.

The "Bible" of secular humanism, the French Encyclopedia, was widely read in America during this period.  Apparently they even had shadowy George Soros type figures financing the decline.  Many of Paine's books and the most damaging French books were either given away or sold at below cost.

While things didn't get as bad as they are now, the decline was serious and it seemed to be gaining momentum.  An observer in Connecticut noted that, "Infidel opinions came in like a flood."  From Kentucky:  "Youth became blasphemers against God.  If a young man of real ability had decided to enter the ministry it would have excited astonishment."  Another observer from Virginia stated that he expected every educated young man he met to either be an agnostic or an atheist.  In about 1795 a student a Yale estimated that there was one believing Christian in each of the freshman  and junior classes, about ten in the senior class, and not one believer in the sophomore class. 

More and more people decided to live together without getting married.  The occupant of the White House, Thomas Jefferson, did not believe in the inspiration of the Bible.  He was a big fan of the French revolution and French ideas.  Jefferson's secretary of war, Henry Dearborn, had this to say about Christian churches.  "So long as these temples stand we cannot hope for good government."

The forces of darkness were very confident.  Paine said, "I have gone through the Bible as a man would go through a wood with and ax and felled trees.  Here they lie and the priests may replant them, but they will never grow."  The French philosopher Voltaire claimed that by the early 1800's the bible would have passed "into the limbo of forgotten literature."

So what happened?  There were still a lot of people alive who remembered the great outpouring of the Spirit of God that took place in the 1740's.  They began to pray.  And starting in 1799, God began to answer.  For the next 35+ years, there was always at least one community somewhere in the United States that was experiencing a revival; an unusual outpouring of the Spirit of God.  Hundreds of thousands of people became converted.  The entire moral landscape of America was transformed.

Pray for revival.  The situation is NOT hopeless.  Pray for revival until revival comes or until the day you die.  And when you get to heaven, if revival hasn't come yet, keep praying.  There is still hope for America, just as there is hope for all the other nations of this world.  Prayer is the key. 

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up."  (Luke 18:1 NIV) 

Is There Any Hope for the Economy?

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up."  (Luke 18:1 NIV)  "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority."  (I Tim. 2:1, 2 NIV)

The United States of America is trillions and trillions of dollars in debt.  Meanwhile nations like Greece and Italy are dealing with unsustainable debt and will probably cause the collapse of the Euro.  Many observers believe that what is happening in Greece and Italy right now is a picture of America's not so distant future.  And if the American financial system totters and falls we will probably take the rest of the planet with us.  It all seems so hopeless.  Is there a way out?

Absolutely!  They key to our survival is the Christian church.  Prayer is our only hope.  Less watching the news and more praying about the news is the key.

Perhaps a little history lesson will help us to understand what is at stake.  By the end of the American revolution the economic situation was much, much worse than it is today.  The government was massively, hopelessly in debt.  They had printed way, way too much money and inflation was raging totally out of control.  Washington despaired of being able to provide for his troops.  It took a wagon load of money to purchase a wagon load of supplies.

And don't be tempted to think that people were wiser, holier, and more prudent then than we are now.  The states weren't willing to pay the federal government what they had promised to pay and the federal government didn't have any way to make them pay up.  What this means is that the people of that time wanted something (national defense) that they weren't willing to pay for.  Does that sound familiar?


As a result Washington's army was months and months behind in paying the troops.  Their diet was inadequate and they frequently went dressed in rags and without shoes.  The troops were in danger of being discharged at the end of the war without any money to pay the expenses of their trip home.  Some of Washington's officers were working on a secret plan to march the army to the capitol to demand justice.  Only the presence of George Washington and the love that his army had for him saved the revolution from turning into some kind of military dictatorship.  The wise men of Europe expected our whole democratic experiment to collapse.  If Las Vegas had existed then all of the smart money would have been betting against the future of the United States.

After a few years of independence enough people realized that the government simply wasn't going to work.  So after a great deal of debate we ended up with a new constitution and a new political leader, our first president, George Washington.  And George Washington and Alexander Hamilton put together a plan that brought us out of national bankruptcy and on to a sound economic footing.  I won't bore you with the details, but I want to emphasize the main point.  The economic situation was worse then than it is now and wise men found a way out.

Let me share a prayer burden with you.  We all need to pray that God would give the people in power the same kind of wisdom He gave to Old Testament leaders like Daniel and Joseph.  We need to stop looking horizontally at the (seemingly) hopeless situation and start looking vertically up to the heavenly solution.  There is hope and that hope is prayer offered to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ.

Why We Can't Get Along

"When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. "  Galatians 5:19-20

This is the definite Bible list of what's wrong with human nature.  This is what sin has done to us.  A lot of what is on the list is about what you would expect:  sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, drunkenness, and wild parties.  That sounds like what you would expect from a Biblical description of sin.  But let's look at the other half of the list:  hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, and envy.

A few years ago a man in California plaintively asked a now famous question:  "Why can't we just get along?"  And this is the reason why.  Sin, by it's very nature, is divisive and quarrelsome.  This is human nature 101.  What can we learn from this?

We can be more understanding of the political process.  Go back two paragraphs and look at that list again the next time you see the battling talking heads on the TV.  There never has been and never will be a time in which the people in politics put the good of the majority above all other values.  There are exceptions, but they simply prove the rule.  If you want leaders who will be noble and enlightened you'll have to wait for the millennium.

We can be a little more thoughtful about the way we do church.  If you are the devil, and you understand that all this stuff is in human nature, you are going to constantly attack local churches by trying to get a small group of people together to get rid of the pastor.  When we get into church disputes are we really being motivated by principles or is a weakness in our nature being manipulated by evil spirits?

We can be really careful in our relationships at work and at home.  If you reread that list you might wonder if anybody could ever stay married to anyone else for a lifetime.  And you should certainly have a clearer understanding of why there is so much gossip and office politics at work.

How should we respond?  We should love everybody and forgive everybody.  We should be "the very soul of kindness."  And we should always keep a careful watch on ourselves.  There is a lot of junk inside of me.  I have to hold tight to Jesus if I am going to walk in love and be willing to forgive those who sin against me.

The Revenge of Osama Bin Ladin

He's dead.  Part of me is glad.  But I dare not hate him.  I dare not hate any of them.  I have been concerned ever since 9/11 about the danger of bitterness to the body of Christ as it relates to Islamic terrorism.  It is possible, in fact likely, that someone will attempt to hurt us as an act of revenge for the killing of Osama Bin Laden.  To the extent to which they succeed they will present a danger to the spiritual health of Christian people that will dwarf any physical damage they are capable of doing.  As we have already established, bitterness and hatred blunt the edge of our most potent spiritual weapon, prayer.  If they manage to pull off another 9/11 the natural response will be for our hearts to be filled with rage and for a fiery desire for revenge to burn in our hearts.

I am not saying that we should not defend ourselves.  I am not saying that killing Bin Laden was wrong.  I am saying that we have to be able to defend ourselves both physically and spiritually.  And the only way we can defend ourselves spiritually is by praying for our enemies.  We have to pray for them until the thought of them no longer raises our blood pressure and fills our hearts with rage.

There was a man named Ted Bundy who became one of the most famous serial killers in American history.  Before He died he professed faith in Christ.  He may in fact be in heaven today.  But I didn't let his professed conversion change my opinion on the necessity for his execution.  Actions have consequences.  Justice must be done.  But all of this can be accomplished without hatred poisoning our hearts.

These are the prayers I am praying for the Muslim world.  I invite you to join in.

• For the destruction of the power of the house of Islam
• For more oil or alternative energy sources to be found so that the financial backing for fundamentalist Islam and terrorism will dry up 
• For Muslims in closed countries, who have no opportunities to hear the gospel, will receive direct communications for God in the forms of dreams and visions that will result in their salvation (I prayed for that for ten years without any results, and since I am told that this has happened 1000's of times)
• For Jesus to build His church in all Muslim nations by bringing Muslims to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through all possible means
• For some of the leading Christian figures of the 21st Century to come from converted Jihadists, just as the Apostle Paul, a former persecutor of the church, became a great Christian leader

Pray for Muslims.  It is part of praying for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  It is also an excellent way to guard your heart.  Somebody may hit back at us.  They may blow up a building and kill some people.  But don't let them poison your heart.  That would be Osama's ultimate revenge.

Satan's plan to win big in 2012, part 2

Once again we eavesdrop as the demonic supervisor meets with the evil spirits in charge of ruining your life.  The topic for the day?  More strategy and tactics as we look forward to the 2012 elections in the United States of America.

"Okay troops, good job with implementing the bitterness tactic.  The poor fools seem completely clueless about the spiritual dangers of being spitting mad at their political opponents.  The Enemy told them to love their human enemies and the vast majority of them have never thought to apply this to their politics.  But there is still more work to be done.  Once you've trained them to be bitter, we have to take the next step.  We have to teach them to live in fear."

"If they're liberals we have to teach them to fear what will happen to them without the nanny state taking care of them during every phase of their lives.  If they are conservatives we have to teach them to be afraid that liberals will destroy the economy and drag the entire world into an economic cataclysm that will make the great depression look like a walk in the park on a sunny day."

"It doesn't matter to us what they fear as long as they are afraid.  It doesn't even matter to us if what they fear is in fact perfectly logical!  They can fear something that is never going to happen or they can live in fear of something that will actually come to pass.  Either way we win."

"Here's the thing.  We've managed to have a strong enough impact on their culture so that all the political commentators they listen to are functionally agnostic.  Some of these commentators  may in fact be followers of the Enemy, but their belief almost never enters into their political commentary.  This means they never mention the concept that the Enemy will be there to help them cope with life no matter what happens."

"Let's examine the first idea for a minute.  The Enemy's book says that 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.'  The last thing we want them to do is to start applying that to the way they think and how they react to life.  Watch out for thoughts like this:  'You know, millions of Christians went through the great depression and with God helping them every step of the way they were probably just as happy while they were poor as they were before they lost their money in the stock market.'  If you catch anyone thinking anything like that don't try and combat the idea directly; that probably won't work.  Instead just encourage them to turn the radio back on or check the internet 'just to see what's new.'  That way they'll get a new dose of fear without any mention of faith to balance it out and they'll soon be back in the fearful frame of mind we want them to live in."

"Try and convince them that if the bottom falls out and they have to experience severe cut backs in their lifestyles that this will be intolerable, that it will be like the end of the world to them.  The fact of the matter is that if they had fewer toys to distract them they might actually start spending more time on things that truly matter like their spiritual lives and their families.  If the bottom does fall out financially that will actually present us with a new set of challenges.  But for now, the fear that SOME HORRIBLE, INTOLERABLE THING is about to happen to them is a great tool that we can use to mess with their spiritual lives."

"Remember, our goal is to change 'The Lord is my shepherd' into 'The Lord may or may not be my shepherd but one thing for certain is sure and that is that I am doomed if I loose my job (or my government insurance) and they repossess my house!'  They can say they are Christians as much as they want just as long as we can keep them reacting to life like a bunch of sheep without a shepherd.  So here's our slogan for phase two:  "Fear is a demon's best friend!"

[So, how about you?  Is the constant exposure to news and politics creating and deepening anxiety?  Not that long ago people had the morning paper and/or a thirty minute news broadcast to keep them up-to-date on current events.  Now, between cable TV, talk radio, and the internet we have 24 hour a day access.  Are you spending to much time listening to people who are raising your blood pressure?  Maybe you need a new 3 X 5 card to attach to the TV or the computer monitor.  "Fear is a demon's best friend."]

Satan's plan to win big in 2012, part 1

It will be 2012 before you know it, and here in American people are already getting involved in the coming elections.  And not just people!  Fallen angels are also planning for their part in the upcoming elections. 

The Lord brought this topic to my attention by bringing a verse to my mind.  "You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way . . . and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered."  (I Peter 3:7 - all quotes from the NASB)

The phrase that the Holy Spirit seemed to be calling to my attention was "so that your prayers will not be hindered."  If a man did not honor his wife as a spiritual equal ("a fellow heir of the grace of life") and live with her in an "understanding" way, his prayers would be "hindered."  Let's continue to follow Peter's argument.  I've underlined the key words that relate to the 2012 election.

"To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.  For, 'THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS, MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT.  HE MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT.  FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.'"  (I Peter 3:8-12)

If I desire life and love and want to see good days, I must keep my tongue from evil.  Specifically I must be kind and humble, blessing those who insult me and seeking peace in my relationships.  If I do this God's ears will be attentive to my prayers.  If I don't, my prayers will be hindered.  I think if you take a few moments to re-read the last three sentences you will agree that this is a really, really big deal.

For my American readers I would suggest that it will be really, really hard to follow this teaching in the midst of the political civil war that is now raging in the United States of America.  You can divide up the American population into three main political groups:  conservatives, liberals, and independents.  The conservatives and the liberals have conflicting visions for the future that are so contradictory that what we are now experiencing is nothing less than a political civil war.  And in the next two years it's going to get really, really ugly.  The 2012 election will be one of the most divisive and bitterly contested elections in American history.  The rhetoric is going to go right through the roof.

This is not a plea that we should all find some way to compromise.  Everyone should make the best arguments they can for the positions that they believe in.  A political civil war is not a bad thing.  I think it's wonderful that we can fight this out without using bullets.  That's what politics is for.  So let's have a really robust debate.  Let's all stand up for what we believe in.  But let's not get carried away so that our prayers are hindered and we have fewer good days and less life and love.

Before we were converted Paul said the we "walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience."  (Eph. 2:2)  When we become Christians we don't automatically escape from all of this.  It requires an understanding of what's at stake and a commitment to live in a different way.  Paul says that we should not "be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  (Romans 12:2)  If we don't take intelligent, spiritual action, we are going to be swept away the strong winds of worldly thinking that are already blowing.

The Bible makes it clear that the powers of darkness are organized.  It's a kingdom.  It's a government.  It probably has a bureaucracy.  Somewhere out there is an evil spirit who takes a special interest in you.  You are on his caseload.  He doesn't spend his whole life perched on your shoulder but he comes to visit from time to time to tempt you and generally mess with your soul.  Let's imagine for a minute that you are that evil spirit and that you are attending a team meeting with the other evil spirits.  Your supervisor evil spirit is about to speak.

"Okay, guys, we have a really big election coming up in 2012.  Our opportunities here are virtually limitless.  Both sides probably think that we are going to be using our powers to help the other side win.  That's really great because, basically, the results of the election are not our primary focus.  As always, our main focus is to weaken the spiritual power of the church.  Every year fewer and fewer people go to church and those who do go to church obey less and less.  Spiritually the country is moving in our direction and more and more things are coming under our control.  And the only thing that can stop us is prayer.  If the Enemy doesn't pour our His spirit to revive and renew the church we are eventually going to get our way in this country no matter who wins this next election.  That is why we have to do everything we can to poison and pollute the souls of believers so that their prayers will not be effective."

"So I want everyone to remember our election slogan for this year.  'It's about the bitterness, stupid!'  Encourage both sides to insult one another.  Do everything you can to encourage anger and hatred.  It doesn't matter if millions of church members get involved and become politically active if their political activity poisons their souls and hinders their prayers.  Just keep the poor fools focused on political outcomes and try to keep them from paying attention to spiritual realities and we will be the real winners of this election, no matter who is in the White House or who is in control of their pathetic little House and Senate."

Let me ask you a soul searching question.  If you are a conservative, when was the last time you prayed for Barak Obama?  If you are a liberal, how often did you pray for George Bush?  Paul said that "first of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority." (1 Timothy 2:1, 2)  Paul wrote these words from a Roman jail.  He was soon to be beheaded by the very Roman emperor he was encouraging people to pray for!

I am telling you the truth!  You can not spend hours and hours of your time reading or listening to political commentators who have bitterness in their hearts and not become like them!  Please understand what I am saying.  It is a good thing to understand what is going on.  If you want to give money, man the phone banks, put up yards signs, or participate in other ways that's perfectly all right.  But understand this very clearly:  the commentary and the campaign materials on both sides will more than likely contain material that will be toxic to your soul.  The only solution is to limit your exposure and the only antidote is to pray.

Every exposure to news and political commentary must be mixed with prayer.  We must pray for our political opponents until the mention of their names or the sight of their faces on the tube no longer raises our blood pressure.

And if the church does not heed this admonition we all know who will really win in 2012.  He doesn't have a birth certificate because he was never born; he was directly created by God.  Back in the good old days he was one of the highest angels and his name was Lucifer, which means "light bearer."  These days we call him Satan, which means "adversary."  In the Four Spiritual Laws Bill Bright wrote that "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life."  The opposite is also true.  "Satan hates you and has plans to mess up your life."  In 2012 I believe he has a plan to limit the effectiveness of the payers of the church.  His troops are marching under a banner that says, "It's about the bitterness, stupid!"  Don't get caught in his trap.  Don't let your prayers be hindered.  Don't let Satan win in 2012!

[Here's a good suggestion.  If this spoke to you, if you needed to hear it, write out the campaign slogan on a 3 X 5 card:  "It's about the bitterness, stupid!"  Put it by the TV, radio, computer monitor, or anywhere else you need to put it to remind you to guard your heart and to pray!  And one more little note.  If I wrote this properly, and you don't have any personal knowledge of my political views, you shouldn't be able to get one single hint by reading it that I am a liberal, a conservative, or an independent.  The truths expressed in this piece transcend politics and apply to Christians of all political leanings.]