Remember Nineveh!

God, the God of the Bible, hence the one and only God of all, spoke many words of warning to those who were his ancient people. Judgment would come, disaster and devastation would crash the land and the people, death, loss of home and possessions, and relocation and slavery would be there a lot. All this because of their sins turning from and dishonoring their God.

In one of the prophet Ezekiel’s messages from God to the people, God told Ezekiel to tell them to set a watchman. The watchman would blow the warning trumpet, and then the people could react. Here are what two reactions to the warning could do according to Ezekiel 33:5. If a man heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

There are times when a nation cannot be delivered from the tragedy of judgment for sin, but if a person hears the warning signal, and takes personal action, he/she may deliver themselves even though the nation may fall.

Let us imagine a great 20^th-century nation. Modern in thought, forward-looking in technology, blessed with plenty, living in prosperity, in a time of relative peace. Now let us imagine that along with her blessings this nation has empty churches, and full bars. That men and women defile themselves before God with sexual behavior he doesn’t approve of, and that human trafficking is somehow allowed to cross the border. The streets of this nation run with the blood of children, and other innocent bystanders. Pregnant women have their babies ripped from their wombs. Theft and other crimes are rampant, and individual people, and groups, across the nation, hidden in bedrooms, basements, locked offices or other locations have the power to speak out falsehoods or harm without many restraints of honesty or decency on a communication grid that links to millions of others in the nation.

And, let us suppose that all or most people in the land are in some way or other, wittingly, willingly, or not, a part of this whole affair. Not one group, or one profession, or one political party, or one generation, but all or most.

I would suggest that the principal Ezekiel expounded in the old days is still something we need to know about. That nation we are imagining needs a watchman to blow the warning trumpet.

It may be too late for the land itself to reverse the course it has taken, and stave off tragic judgment; it could, perhaps, remember Nineveh!, but it’s probably unlikely. Still, according to Ezekiel’s scripture, it is not too late for the individual to heed the trumpet (warning) and deliver himself and his family.

Consider this the trumpet: turn from your sinful ways and live.

 

 He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great. Psalm 115:13

    Does a people want blessing for everyone in its society? Are they concerned that every one, no matter how influential, or not, they are, has a good life? Does that people want peaceful streets and righteous borders? Does that society want its people to have plenty of food, a good job, prospects for a bright future?

    This Bible verse offers such blessings as, not only a hope, but a reality...IF people fear the LORD. When a people follow God's instructions for life, everybody benefits. When Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7), he could have added that, that knowledge, teaching us to fear God brings blessings to those who receive the knowledge, and through those who have received God's blessings society, as a whole, gets blessed as well

    Does any society in our world want all its people blessed? Fear the LORD! Go to the Bible to learn how to fear God.

 

Let American Evangelicals Echo Warren's Inaugural Prayer

Pray for those in authority, the Christian scriptures tell us, they are the ministers of God. As an evangelical I echo Pastor Rick Warren's prayer for our President Barak Obama and encourage other evangelicals to pray earnestly for our President.

"Give to our new president, Barak Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice-President Biden, the Cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders."

Why are Iraqi Christians Persecuted?

Iraqi Christians make up a mere 2% of the population of that beleaguered land, yet they face serious persecution that forces them from their homes and churches. They've been bombed, and killed, and many are afraid to sleep in their own homes at night for fear of deadly attacks. Many are without jobs and permanent homes.

One would think that Muslims who make up the other 98% of the Iraqi populace would not even take notice of such a small group in their midsts, or that they would treat Christians with a gracious kindness and consideration to try and bring them to conversion to Islam. Instead, they are disturbed to the point of violence that some might believe a different theology. Why?

If they truly believe that their god is merciful, just and good why don't they act mercifully, just, and good towards everyone including Christians in their country? If they truly believe their god is all-powerful why don't they allow him to convert or judge the non-believers without resort to cruel and unjust human violence?

What conclusion should the world draw from Iraqi persecution of Christians?

IN QUEST OF BARAK OBAMA'S FAITH

In reading about Barak Obama’s faith in his own words in his #1 New York Times Bestseller The Audacity of Faith I come away with the following impressions.

1. Barak was nurtured in and by his mother’s lack of formal faith. He describes her life as “devotional” in that she saw the value and beauty of each individual and the world around her, but, as well, she was skeptical, secular and with an attitude toward the various faiths we might call broadly ecumenical.

2. For Senator Obama the Scriptures of the Judeo-Christian faiths are not inspired in the theological sense that traditional Christians believe them to be. Example: “…nor am I willing to accept a reading of the Bible that considers an obscure line in Romans to be more defining of Christianity than the Sermon on the Mount.” (p. 222). He does not see the texts of Scripture as complementing one another by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but rather as differing opinions in opposition to one another requiring the interpreter to choose one and discard the other.

3. Whatever salvation means to the Senator he does not state it in terms of believing in Jesus as personal savior. Of course, I am responding here to the way he describes his faith in this one book, so he may have expanded his view of salvation in another book, on the stump, or in personal conversations with friends.

4. He basically views abortion as a “good thing” and stands opposed to those who, in good faith, cannot bring themselves to accept it even for the supposed good of the mother. He does not speak in terms of expecting the pregnant woman to make sacrifices on behalf of her baby, of bringing a new precious life into the world, or making their child’s life better than their own in spite of the influence of his mother who believed “in the ultimate value of this brief life we’ve each been given” (p. 206, italics mine).

5. Barak accepts his mother’s fundamental faith “in the goodness of people” (p. 205) essentially discounting the Bible’s theological doctrine of the nature of humanity. Here’s how he applies this view to the abortion issue; “I explained my belief that few women made a decision to terminate a pregnancy casually; that any pregnant woman felt the full force of the moral issues involved and wrestled with her conscience when making that heart-wrenching decision;…” (p. 197). Are abortion, war, criminal activity, or global warming, for that matter, just the unintended consequences of the mistaken actions of good people wrestling with their consciences? Will President Obama be able to look into the soul of Valdimir Putin (as “W” says he did) and see that he is a good man despite the Russian incursion into Georgia or her posture towards the nations of Eastern Europe?

6. Barak describes a foundational lack of assurance about matters of faith. In recounting a conversation with one of his daughters he says “I wondered whether I should have told her the truth, that I wasn’t sure what happens when we die, any more than I was sure of where the soul resides or what existed before the Big Bang” (p. 226).

Like most Americans, even those who disagree with some or all of his political, social, and religious ideas, I like Senator Obama. I am delighted that (despite continuing problems in our nation) his nomination for President by a major political party has witnessed to the progress in race relations that America has made since the days of Jim Crow. His book is very well written and entertaining, and I like the family role model that he, Michele, and their children are setting for the families of our nation. I will pray for him, and where possible agree with him and support him, if he is elected President. He will be, as I have felt about all Presidents in my lifetime, my President.

His unorthodox “Christianity” is his choice. For many in the American Baptist Churches in the USA his theological doubts and weaknesses are similar to their own. He is welcome among us and, if he is not officially settled elsewhere, I invite him to become part of the ABC, often described by our leaders as the most diverse group of Baptists in the country.

But, I have to confess, I hope he will come to believe the Bible. I hope He will understand it is God’s Word and not simply the fantastic thinking of religious fanatics wandering in the desert somewhere. I hope he will find assurance of salvation through personal, sincere commitment of his soul to Jesus Christ. And, I hope he will understand that seeking the good of all people in the world requires a commitment to standing for righteousness whether one is President or not.

Oliver B. Greene was a well known radio preacher in the 1950's and '60's. While preparing for Bible teaching on the book of Revelation in the New Testament I ran across this poignant invitation. Let me share it with you.

"It makes no difference what you have heard, what you have read, what preachers have said, nor what seminaries have taught: The Bible is God's Word, and that Word is forever settled in heaven. All hell cannot change it. There IS a hell . . . a hell of fire and brimstone. There is a judgment day, and all will be there. My advice to you, precious friend, is that if you are not as sure you are saved as you are sure you are breathing, then bow on your knees this moment and stay there until you can say, 'Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!' Yes, you can KNOW you are saved! And if you do not know it, you are not saved."
((p.380, Revelation, ©1963 The Gospel Hour, Inc.)

Rev. Greene was straightforward and blunt in that invitation, but what he said is true. If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, He will forgive your sins, give you a new heart, and provide you with a relationship to Him that is eternal life. I hope you will accept his invitation, and mine, and God's to trust in Jesus as your savior and welcome Him into your life.

1 John 5:13

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

More on Tolerance

"As evangelism increases, so does persecution." So states The Voice of the Martyrs magazine for October 2007. So why do Christians all over the world offer the good news (evangel) to others when it seems to continuously lead to persecution? We simply believe that to put one's trust in Christ as savior, literally puts a person into a new relationship with God. We believe that this good news indicates that a person's sins are forgiven and that he/she receives eternal life through believing in Jesus. And, Christians believe that if others wish to reject that good news they are free to do so. So why don't those who differ from us simply allow us to offer our faith to others and leave us alone? I guess they are not as tolerant as they profess, if they profess tolerance.