Pray for America!

Yesterday I heard an interview with Jonathan Cahn on YouTube.  Cahn is a Messianic Rabbi and the author of The Harbinger.  The interview was on Sid Roth’s show It’s Supernatural!  What he shared was that George Washington’s first act as the first President of the United States of America was to pray that America would always follow God, and always enjoy God’s protection.  That prayer was prayed in the site of the nation’s original capital: at the corner of Ground Zero in New York City.

That prayer constituted a covenant relationship between the United States and God.  It is abundantly obvious that God kept His part of the covenant, blessing America above all other nations on earth.

  1. Idolatry – Jeremiah 16:18 – “I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.”  America has made an idol of money.  Actors, musicians, and athletes have also become idols.  Even our pets have become idols (read my blog post A Shocking Statistic).
  2. Immorality – Hosea 4:10-12 – “They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution but not flourish, because they have deserted the Lord to give themselves to prostitution; old wine and new wine take away their understanding.  My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.  A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.”  America has become so immoral that the sex act has become the expected end to a date.  Sex has become as casual as shaking hands.
  3. Broken Covenants & Injustice – Isaiah 24:5 – “The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.”  Marriage is a covenant relationship, but marriage in America has been under a 2-fold attack: 1. couples no longer consider marriage a prerequisite to having sex, living together, or having children together; and 2. the legalization of gay marriage, which defies the Biblical definition of marriage.  (Don’t hate on me for making that statement.  I am all for gays having monogamous civil partnerships and enjoying the same legal rights as married couples.  But don’t call that marriage.)  And on the issue of injustice in America, start with the slaughter of the indigenous American peoples (also known erroneously as Indians) and the demonic institution of slavery, which built wealth based on the sweat and blood of kidnapped Africans.  The injustices continue against people of color in the US in the form of racial bigotry and prejudice, which have become politically incorrect, but have never truly ended.
  4. The Shedding of Innocent Blood – Numbers 35:33-34 – “Do not pollute the land where you are.  Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.  Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.”  Abortion, which was legalized in America 40 years ago, has murdered over 56 Million unborn babies (see the Abortion Clock for the exact current number both in the US and worldwide).  Abortion is akin to the sin of Israel in sacrificing their children by putting them in the fire to Molech.  In her amazing book, He Came to Set the Captives Free, Dr. Rebecca Brown noted that abortion is a blood sacrifice to satan, the god of self.

Beginning with removing prayer and Bible reading from public schools, America has abandoned its covenant with God over the last 50 years.  After the horror of 9/11, David Wilkerson said that God had issued the US a warning that He was lifting the hedge of protection, and he cited Isaiah 9:10, which says: “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place,” (ESV).

Interestingly, Isaiah 9:10 is exactly what the politicians all said in the aftermath of 9/11.  This verse sounds like the good old American indomitable spirit, but for 1 thing: it quotes what Israel said when God lifted the hedge of protection.  Instead of turning back to God and seeking Him, they vowed to rebuild bigger and better than before, using stronger materials.  It is the indomitable spirit—the spirit that refuses to bow to God’s sovereignty.

What came next for Israel was invasion and utter destruction by their enemies.  What comes next for America is something similar or worse.  If we stay on this course, there will only be a small remnant of Americans left, and our country will be left devastated.  Most likely, Americans will be scattered across the globe.

Look at how we have actually set ourselves up for disaster: Our public buildings are almost without exception owned by foreigners.  Farmers are required to buy seed that produces no seed, so farming is no longer sustainable in America.  The economy is no longer based on gold, but now it’s based on paper currency, which is a house of cards waiting to fall.  Iran is very close to having missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the east coast of the US.  And we are on their target list right behind Israel.  We keep talking to them about peace, but they are not interested in peace.  They must start a war against Israel and America so that the 12th Imam, the Mahdi—Islam’s Messiah—can appear.  And that is all that they are interested in doing.

But here’s hope:

  1. If American Christians will humble themselves and pray, God will hear them.  “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land,” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
  2. If American Christians will all vote according to God’s principles—the values this country was founded upon (Bible and prayer allowed once again in public places, no abortion, pro-family and marriage), then God will relent and not send destruction.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASomehow people always spot me as an American!

There are enough Christians to swing politics back onto the right track, but we’ve got to quit voting our wallets and start voting according to Biblical values.

A good example of a truly humble and repentant prayer was prayed by Daniel, of whom no sins or blunders are recorded: “We have sinned and done wrong.  We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from Your commands and laws.  We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land,” (Daniel 9:5-6).

God is good, but His patience is at an end.

A Shocking Statistic

I heard a statistic that is very revealing about American culture:  Americans spend $8 Billion a year on missions.  Operation World says: “US Christians have pioneered and generously supported missions on a massive scale for more than a century.”  But consider this: Americans spend $45.4 Billion a year on their pets.  That’s almost six times more that we spend on the love of animals than we spend on the love of God and people.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 2 Timothy 3:1-5

How much did you spend this past year on missions vs. pets?

Jazzed by That Creative Energy

Thanks to Laurie for the inspiration!

Have you ever noticed that it’s energizing and at the same time relaxing, fun, and fulfilling to create?  Time seems to fly by, and you may have even missed a meal when you’re fully engaged in creating something.  This applies to all creative pursuits:  visual (drawing, painting, sculpture, photographic, textile arts, ceramics, woodworking, etc.), musical, performing arts (acting, dancing, choreography, set design, etc.) graphic (computer-based artwork, design, PowerPoint, Photoshop, etc.), writing (mine), and any combination of the above, the list is truly endless.  I believe this is because when we’re creating we are doing the thing we were made to do.

Consider this:  we were made in the image of God—The Creator!  When we create, we are imitating our Father.  When we create, I believe that we make our Father proud of us.  That’s why it’s so rewarding to create.  What was the first job given to Adam?  Gardening.  Adam was the first landscaping designer.  Next God brought all the animals to Adam so that he could name them.  God could have named the animals, but he gave that task to Adam.

When we got a poodle puppy in 1965, Daddy named him Poodle-a-Go-Go.  Daddy’s pet names were all like that:  funny and clever.  When I was six years old, my parents let me name our cat.  I looked carefully at him and named him Fuzzy.  OK, not a spectacularly imaginative name, but I think I captured the essence of this long-haired tabby cat.  And my parents honored my lame name, calling the cat Fuzzy all the days of his life.

You may say that you’re not very creative or that you have no talent.  I say that you just haven’t found your creative niche yet.  Like me with naming pets when I was six.  Since we’re not God, it takes most of us some time to develop the skills and to perfect our creative talents.  Experiment!  Try different materials, methods, styles.  You’ll find yourself creatively, but you’ve got to be patient with yourself, too.  Above all, you’ve got to honor your creativity by spending time at it.  You can’t expect to improve if you never spend time at it.

Guess who is incapable of creating:  the devil.  That’s why he twists God’s perfect creation into something perverted, because he cannot create.  He (along with the rest of the angels) was not made in God’s image, only we were.  And because he’s jealous of our ability to create, the devil tries to fool us into thinking that creative pursuits are a waste of time, that we should spend our time working at a “real job.”  The devil wants you to believe that you must work hard to get anywhere in this world.  But you want to know the truth?  They say do what you love and the money will come.  I believe that’s true because what humans love to do is create.  God honors that—especially when we use our creative abilities to honor Him.

The truth is that there is plenty of room in God’s Kingdom for creative pursuits.

So you go to town with that creative thing!  Joyfully play (not work) at your creative art.  Make our Father proud!