Greed and envy

Before I begin, I just want to thank Countryside Baptist and Oak Park Baptist for covering this city with 24 hour prayer.

My recent labor of love is reading St. Augustine's "City of God," which was written after the sack of Rome by the Visigoths. I am still under the 200 page mark. The early part is Augustine's defense of the church against the charge that Rome was sacked as a punishment for leaving pagan idolatry.

Perhaps 100 years from now, this time will be remembered as the sack of America: spiraling debt, public and private, leading to economic collapse. At this time, some of us have sense enough to know it is coming. Wherever we end up, our current leaders are arguing over who is to blame for it. No one wants to accept responsibility for the possible collapse of civilization.

This is an excellent time to repent. The vast majority of Americans are to blame for what has happened. Rampant borrowing and demand for more and more goods and services at less cost came while we were less and less inclined to invest in prosperity by teaching and disciplining the young. The next generation will be less prepared to repair our country than we are willing to do it.

Instead of being angry because someone else has more than we do, or hoping that simply making more money will fix things, it is time to look within and accept that we are all a part of the lust for things that has caused our dissatisfaction and despair.

It is time for us to find our joy in God, because before long, it may be all we have.

Participating in Politics

Back in the days of Samuel the prophet, the people of God asked for a king. They wanted to be like all the nations. Samuel brought this before the Lord, and He said,

“Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. ⁸ As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ⁹ Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”1 Samuel 8:7-9

The people of Israel had the Law of Moses and a form of self government before they had kings. God was their only king, and that made them unique. But they wanted a man like themselves to be their king. And God gave them what they wanted. But it came with a warning:

“This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. ¹² Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle^[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” 1Samuel 8:11-18

In America, we have had a system of self-government and a Constitution. More and more, Americans are discarding the Constitution and demanding a strong executive who will go around the Congress, the representatives of the people.

If Christians do not participate in our form of self-government, they will lose it. That seems to be Ok with many believers who think it's beneath them. It is unworthy of their attention. It is worldly and unspiritual. It is nasty and unpleasant.

It is not going to get any better if we stay out of it. If we decide that it is just too risky, we are like that servant who buried what God gave him instead of using it. He played it safe and did nothing. But it wasn't safe. He answered to his Lord for it and lost everything.

We have a city election coming up, followed  by local and national elections this year. You are needed to weigh in. Choose sides. Volunteer. Ignore this at your peril.

Conflict of interest

I was reading an article yesterday about the upcoming playoff game between the Broncos and Patriots and in the comments section, someone said that although he was a Patriots fan, he was pulling for Tim Tebow. Another commenter told him that if that was how he felt, he was no Patriot fan.

Even though football is a silly and inconsequential thing compared to others, we care about it. I think it's because of what the teams and player represent that is important. Even if we don't realize it, I think that we admire and support someone's values on the field, whether it's work ethic, intelligence, faith, or even amazing luck. And I believe we also attach negative values to players and teams because of their reputations and actions both on and of the field.

But now place yourself on the field. You are in the world, but if you are Christ's, you are not of it. Why should you care about anything?  Consider Abraham:

Hebrews 11:8By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

He was in the land of promise, but lived like he was an alien. He was looking for a divine place, made by God. So, why did he bother going anywhere? Because he was obeying God. He didn't know where he was going, but he went. He was like Noah, building a giant boat in the desert, doing something transcendent, but doing it in the world for everyone to see.

The reason we do anything in this world is because God said so. Whether it works or not, or whether we win or not. We just do it. That is why we pray, and why we make an impact on the world. Because God said so.

"If you serve, I will lift you up!"

Isaiah 58 does not exactly put it that way, but that was my takeaway after this Sunday's sermon from Pastor Arty Hart at the Vineyard. This chapter is almost always used as a reference on fasting, but I believe it is much broader than that.

In my last post, I used a YouTube video of Lance Wallnau describing the 7 Mountain idea that could serve as a template for taking over your city for the Kingdom of God. But God is not interested in feeding our desire to rule when we will not serve.

I don't know about you, but I have been under the rule of men of God who were more interested in their authority being honored than in my well being. It is tyrannical and something to be escaped. I don't believe it converts anyone to Christ.

It takes a real trust in God to put down your ambition for the good of others. And we must make sure we are not deceived by spiritual busyness, like God's people in Isaiah 58. If we are not helping the oppressed, we are just going through the motions.

So, who is the oppressed in America? Is everyone who complains or demands more actually oppressed? Probably, even if it's just a spiritual oppression that leaves them constantly dissatisfied. They need to be set free, and only the power of God can do that. If we have that power, we have something to give.

More about the 7 spheres, or mountains...

First I want to thank Oak Park Baptist for having our city covered with 24 hour prayer! My God richly bless them!

I found another video on YouTube that is much better than mine. I see it receives a lot of negative comments, but that is OK. We need to deal with hard questions and dispel the doubts that they may cause.

For instance, someone brings up that the devil had tempted Jesus with ruling the kingdoms of this world. Well, what he asked Jesus to do in return for that was to WORSHIP HIM. We are certainly not teaching THAT.

Another commenter asks why Jesus and the Apostles didn't teach this, and I would say that they did. I believe that the Bible is being taught to apply it to larger, more complex societies.

What say you?

Competing Utopias

Wow. It's been a whole week since my last post. Some of that time was spent out of town with no internet, but the rest of the time I was just swamped with the holidays. I want to thank everyone who stayed on assignment with Operation Rolling Thunder. Yesterday, it was Servants of Christ covering us with 24 hour prayer. Today, it's Harvest Bible College.

We are seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We are praying against principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places. We are praying for God to intervene in the affairs of human beings to the end that He changes them into His likeness. This is at odds with the world's Tower of Babel. Today, many people are looking to the power of government to change their world and fix their problems. If government just had enough power, we could fix everything!

Today I was reading Acts chapter 7, in which Stephen is giving the people who would soon stone him the Cliff's Notes version of the history of the Jewish people. God had promised them a land from Abram's time, and yet they found themselves in bondage to the Egyptians for 400 years. Nonetheless, God was with them the whole time! They did not yet possess what was promised, but they belonged to Him who promised.

This is why we must pray with patience and never give up. God is with us while we are on the way to our goals. He pursues them with us. We are not alone. And just because it seems that we are surrounded, outnumbered, and oppressed by those who have all the power to make our world as they want it, they do not. Our Kingdom already exists and our King is able to deliver us now, even in the midst of a world system that overwhelms us. But we must cooperate with our deliverer and not compromise with our oppressors.

Download the prayer list now, and start praying with us as we set our hearts toward the Kingdom of our God.