Category Archives: Theology

I HAVE A SUPERPOWER!!!!

I have a Superpower! Pow!

You do, too.  But all too often, we don’t utilize it to its fullest extent … or at all. You see, this magical, supernatural, miraculous, mysterious force is … prayer.

In the quiet moments of a newborn dawn, before the birds rouse from sleep, before the sun bursts forth in all its glory, when no one else is about, and before the world in all its busyness gears up, I like to sit and open my mind to GOD. No words are needed. It’s enough for me to “feel” HIS presence and bask in HIS love. And I believe it is enough for HIM that I open myself and welcome HIM in. You see, words can’t adequately convey what lies within our hearts, but HE “knows” our inner thoughts.Breath

Psalm 94:11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are a mere breath.

 

 

 

Then there’s the beauty of GOD’s creation. I’ve seen circular rainbows, seas of deepest blue and clear, turquoise-green, raging oceans that calm to sheets of silk, exotic creatures, indescribable Smooth Waterflowers, colors that defy description, storms that touch here but not there. These times require an immediate response, an awed reverence with praise for an Almighty Creator who is an artist extraordinaire.

Psalm 103:22 Bless the LORD, all you works of His, in all places of His dominion; bless the LORD, O my soul!

Sometimes, though, a more structured communication is needed. A time where I can approach the throne of GOD on behalf of others, to ask for solace, strength, comfort, healing, restoration, and peace. It’s where I can confess my own shortcomings and ask for forgiveness, and present my own concerns, worries, hopes, and dreams. Vocalizing such requests cements them in my mind, and puts them into perspective. The process gives me comfort.

HE does this for me. He makes sense out of the craziness of this life.

CloudsJames 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

There are also moments of great need when I can reach out to HIM because my efforts have failed, and the problem remains hopeless and impossible. That’s when I recognize my true Prayerhelplessness and vulnerability. That’s when I cry out with gut-wrenching sorrow, anger, helplessness, grief, despair, resentment, and desperation; with tears and sweat and passion that leave me empty … and ready to be filled with his grace and mercy.

Psalm 6:9 The LORD has heard my supplication. The LORD receives my prayer.

Let’s not forget about those dark moments when you’re wrongfully wronged, and  it feels like the whole world is against you.Dark Times 2

Luke 6:28 … bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

And wisdom for the right words when opportunities arise to share my testimony.Friends

 

1 Kings 3:9 Give your servant, therefore, an understanding mind to govern your people that I may discern between good and evil …

 

The bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17  Pray without ceasing. This means tuning into GOD … when you’re running late … when you avoid a fender-bender … when someone hurts your feelings … when you lose a loved one … when the doctor gives bad news … when someone seeks your counsel … whenever.

 

Love your neighbor as yourself. Really?

Have you seen some of my neighbors?

Worse, the word “neighbor” used in scripture includes anyone and everyone that touches your sphere of existence—neighborhood, workplace, community, grocery store—anybody you come in contact with, and maybe even some you don’t.

Impossible.

What if I’m standing in a check-out line behind a serial killer? Or a pedophile? I mean, we all know what these people look like. Right?

What if I go to enter a building and I’m jostled aside by a young thug in Saggin pantsbutt crack-revealing pants? Someone who roams the streets looking for an opportunity to intimidate? Looking to prove himself to his fellow butt-crackers? I mean, what if he has a gun? Or a knife?

Tattooed thugWhat about the burly dude with ink covering every visible scrap of skin? Or the depraved-looking punk who’s mutilated his face and body with terrible piercings? Or the young woman dressed in skimpy clothes with a cigarette dangling from her lips and a toddler dangling from her hip?

What about the unshaven, overgrown hick in the jacked up truck, with theRedneck truck sleeves torn out of his tee shirt, ball cap on backward, and sucking on a beer can? The customer service rep on the phone who speaks with an accent so thick I can’t understand a word he says? The man on the street corner in a North Face jacket who holds a sign up claiming homeless and hungry?

What about the group of young people who had a few too many–drinks/tokes/pills/sniffs? You know them, they’re noisy, obnoxious, beyond rude, and use profanity like it’s on sale. Or the obese woman in the motorized scooter who will run over you if you don’t get out of her way? Or the overly loud man who always has something to say, inane as it may be? Or the jerk who cuts you off in traffic?

Am I really supposed to love all these losers?

Wow, God. I don’t see how even You could love them. Or for that matter, why you care about me.

A character I created for one of my early (unpublished) books came to mind, one I haven’t thought of in a long time. Raymond Bessemer (totally fictional name) is a bad guy, the antagonist, the one everybody loves to hate, including Raymond himself. And I made him that way.

I knew the things Raymond suffered as a child, the terrible consequences Bad guyforced on him by the actions of others, and the impossible circumstances that led to impossible choices. I knew his innermost thoughts, felt his despair in the darkness, and understood his regrets and remorse. I also knew of the hope he protected from the world, that eternal spark of light that cries from the soul. You see, hope, like a weed, is impossible to completely extinguish.

I wrote Raymond into existence full of hurt, anger, and feelings of helplessness. I let him make his own choices, even when they were bad. And I still cherished him, despite all the reprehensible things he thought and said and did. I still love him. You see, he’s mine.

Writers call the characters we create “our darlings” and “our children.” Even though they represent evil, we hate when others hate them. That’s because we see past their flaws and terrible deeds, we know their innermost thoughts and dreams. In fact, I loved Raymond so much that I created another character who saw past his darkness and showed him a better way. I wrote a better future for him. All he had to do was choose it.

All he had to do was choose it. Wow.

Aren’t we all Raymonds? Just in a bigger theater? Look at me. Look at you. Look at the next person you see. There’s a soul inside each of us, a spirit that hopes and hungers for light, and waits for someone to reach out.

You don’t have to like someone to care about them. You just have to care.LoveIf Jesus could forgive his betrayers, love a thief on the cross, and give His life to save people who despised Him … why is it so difficult for us to follow his example? To at least try?

Turning point, or abyss?

Does history repeat itself?

I don’t care for political posturing. Unfortunately, we’re facing another presidential election where all the in-your-face bluster of the candidates filters down to us everyday people. You see it in our social media posts  — snide comments intended to rile, and passive-aggressive flooding of Pep rally“gentle” opposing views that provoke. I swear, sometimes it’s like a pep rally back in high school. Yells of “Slay the Gladiators!” and “Rip the Raptors!” versus sweet, lying tones of “Tigers Rule!” and “We’re the best!”

A few years back, I conducted a social survey among the members of a local Toastmasters chapter. We were facing a presidential election with an incumbent as one of the candidates. I asked this group of 35 potential voters a series of questions about how they felt on the hot button issues of the time. These twenty-five questions had a numerical value that matched the views and voting records of each candidate. I very carefully laid out the logic behind the methodology in simple terms. There was no confusion. Everyone agreed it was fair.

After we completed the survey, I conducted a straw poll to see who my Votefellow citizens planned to vote for. Imagine the surprise when results showed a 95% leaning toward one candidate, while the straw poll gave a slight vote advantage toward the candidate few had agreed with!

I allowed a few minutes of grumbling and watched as people began to shift uneasily in their chairs. When presented with the results of their individual questionnaires that showed the candidate their values were best aligned with, those 45% out-of-sync voters WERE NOT SWAYED.

“No way, I’m not voting for him!”

“I don’t care what the survey says, I’m voting for—”

“This doesn’t change anything.”

“You’re trying to trick me.”

“It doesn’t matter. I like this guy better.”

“I’ve already made up my mind.”

No trick questions. No magic. Hard, blunt, yes-or-no questions. My one intent with this exercise was to encourage people to register to vote and then get out and cast their ballot. In that regard, I succeeded. But the “You can’t make me change my mind” attitude has troubled me ever since. It smacks of fanaticism based on other than values.

I fear a great divide has split the people of this nation, a chasm that grows wider every year. Which tells me the winds of change are on the rise. Again.

This isn’t a jab at any one political party. The current attitude is rampant on both sides of the political fence. What one sees as morally (or constitutionally or ethically) right, the other sees as wrong, and vice versa. Both sides continue to put forth strong, valid arguments citing why their stance is the correct one – but neither side is willing to budge. (Can we say, The View?)

Back in the 1920s and 1930s, our nation experienced an epic stock market crash followed soon after by what has been termed The Great Depression. In the early 1930s,  ONE-QUARTER of all wage earners were unemployed. Poverty was  huge. The Plains states suffered the worst drought in history which led to 2.5 million people abandoning farms in Dust Bowl 1935the Dust Bowl. These were the years of prohibition and the devastating auto workers strikes. The resulting political war  inflamed the citizens, all looking to blame someone for their ills.

We were a divided, angry, defeated country … and then Pearl Harbor happened—”a day that will live in infamy.” But it pointed the country back to God. Gave us a common purpose. And solidarity. We united around a single cause, one more important to our future than any since the birth of the nation—survival.

Consider these words from George Santayana, esteemed essayist, philosopher, author, and poet:

Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.

Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.

When men and women agree, it is only in their conclusions; their reasons are always different.

Matters of religion should never be matters of controversy. We neither argue with a lover about his taste nor condemn him, if we are just, for knowing so human a passion.

The line between what is known scientifically and what has to be assumed in order to support knowledge is impossible to draw. Memory itself is an internal rumor.

The picture we frame of the past changes continually and grows every day less similar to the original experience which it purports to describe.

My point? The best intentions in the world, the highest empirical evidence, and most persuasive arguments can’t make someone believe if they don’t want to. Heck, most of the time they don’t even listen to us! Of course, we don’t listen to them either.

Funny how all the issues, all the stories, all the problems point back to salvation. As Christians, all our eloquence won’t save a single soul. Only the Holy Spirit can change a person’s heart. What we can do, though, is tell them and tell them. Some turn violent. Some laugh. Some consider, but walk away. But if there is one in a thousand who will heed, we dare not stop.

I pray we as a nation find our way to unity against an increasingly 911dangerous threat to our beliefs and our way of life. I pray it won’t take another, more devastating 911 event to bring us together again. I pray idealists and cynics alike learn to listen. I pray the violent tantrums of the minorities and the passive-aggressiveness of the majorities come to terms with each other. I pray for respect, ethics, and personal responsibility to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of this torn and broken country. I pray for the future of my children and grandchildren.

FINDING PEACE

 

Is there a “peace that passes all understanding?“

I don’t know if I’m normal … or even what normal is. I just know that every morning, from the moment I wake, my head buzzes with thousands of thoughts, ideas, regrets, wishes, hopes, plans, uh-ohs, reworked conversations, edits of everything I read, lists, and prayers. Lots of prayers. You see, I’m a writer. And writers write. All the time. Especially in our mind.

Some days I find this buzz overwhelming. Some days I need an escape, to shut down, and reboot. I need a refuge. My journey has taken years, decades even, but I’ve found that by seeking my refuge first thing upon awakening, that my days go much smoother.

Like many others, I start my mornings with quiet time. Some people fill their quiet time with prayers and Bible study, communing with Jesus, ordering their day and balance. I do all of the above … and then some. But the journey hasn’t been smooth.

PeaceAt first I visualized an idyllic mountain meadow. Picture if you can a narrow path through dark woods. Just when you think you’re lost forever, a light ahead beckons. The trail opens onto a clearing where golden sunlight spills down. You lift your face and feel the warmth as you make your way to the center of the glen. Green grass and knee-high wildflowers abound. You drop to the ground and watch a caravan of puffy clouds sail across the sky. A gentle breeze stirs an earthy mix of verdant soil, sweet blossoms, and clean, rarified air. You’ve found it. Tranquility. Peace. Contentment … and an itch. Something digs into your back. You scratch. Brush away dirt. And remember the overflowing laundry hamper. The dermatology appointment you still need to make. The meal you promised to a sick friend. Your mind is off to the races.

I tried for a long time to make the remote glen idea work but finally gave up. Thinking a more familiar place might work better, I traveled in my mind to the beach—a remote, Caribbean island. Barefoot under the blazing sun, but the sugar-white sand doesn’t burn. (Imagination always trumps reality!) Turquoise water that sparkles with cool promises. Peace - 2Frothy waves lapping at the shore. A sea breeze stirs the air, redolent with the scents of coconut, lush vegetation and the briny smell that only comes from the ocean. A small slice of heaven. And then a crab crawls by. Clumps of dead seaweed wash up on the beach. An alert lifeguard stands from his ten-foot-tall white watchtower to peer out at the expanse. He raises binoculars to his eyes. Blue paste coats his nose. He wears a whistle around his neck. Alert. Diligent. Protective. Because there are riptides. Undertows. Dangerous sea creatures. And predators hiding in the deep. No calm here.

I tried another place. Somewhere remote. Somewhere pure and free from Peace - 3the world. A winter wonderland decked out in a blanket of pristine snow. Cold no germ could survive. But I could—in a warm parka with a hood trimmed in fur. Gloved and booted, I revel in the beauty of an untouched paradise. Until I fell through the snow. Buried. With no sense of direction. And no one to save me.

I’ve stored a whole library of such reveries, all lessons learned over the years until I finally found the real refuge. The only refuge. You see, our world is beautiful—just look around you. But sin afflicted all of mankind, all of the earth, including the animals and vegetation. Just as Esau forfeited his birthright, so too did Adam trade away our heritage in a moment of rebellion. Satan now holds dominion over an earth God bequeathed to man. There is no refuge for us here. Especially not in our minds.

I looked in all the wrong places for the peace that passes understanding only to realize at long last that it doesn’t exist here on earth. Now, I go to Jesus—to His throne room in heaven where His glory spreads a Peace - 4warmth and light so much greater than anything the sun can produce. Where multitudes crowd around Him singing praises. I creep into my niche at the rear of the throng, grateful to just be allowed in. It’s where I feel Him. And then He seeks me out in my little corner, takes my hand, and raises me up. I’m filled with His indescribable and unexplainable peace. Restored. Refreshed. Strengthened. For a little while, all is calm and perfect. When I leave His perfect presence, all I have to do to get through the rest of the day is remember my time with Him, remember His words, and call upon His name.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you  …” ~John 14:27

Has the world reached its Rubicon? That unseen point of no return?

                        “… for their sin has not yet reached its full measure.”     Genesis 15:16

(Prologue from early manuscript, Edge of Eternity, by Elizabeth Noyes)

Each day we hear of atrocities committed against innocents. Journalists present these graphic, horrifying images under the guise of journalism in their search for even more heinous crimes to sensationalize. But the horrors pass. The people become inured, which prompts the newshounds to greater heights. Or depths.

As if man’s capacity for cruelty wasn’t enough, the weather seems to have turned on us as well. Natural Wildfiredisasters wreak havoc across the world. Massive earthquakes. Volcanos. Floods. Hurricanes. Tsunamis. Tornados. Freak storms. Mudslides. Wildfires.

In many places, temperatures soar past century levels. Lake levels plummet. Water supplies dry up. Records highs are recorded only to be surpassed again and again. Droughts give birth to famines that decimate the population. Disease follows. Epidemics rampage. Millions succumb to heat, koalastarvation; illness; and escalating hostilities. In many places, survival has become a raw, basic need.

And in the background, never before seen cosmic events fill the sky.

Tensions between countries are stretched to the breaking point. Strife reigns. Smaller nations withdraw into self-imposed isolation and brace for an unknown future. Armies double and triple in size as the world powers grow uneasy about the military posturing of their foes. The world appears ripe for a global pandemic … or another world war.

Back here in the most favored nation on earth, we go about our abundant lives without a care, but we aren’t immune from the misfortunes of the world. Some of us begin to worry.

Illegal immigrants flood our nation. Terrorists infiltrate our land. Insanity seems to be the order Illegal immigrationof the day as senseless killings become commonplace events. Heinous crimes multiply in our copycat culture. Nothing seems too outrageous or evil. We acclaim monsters while reviling the innocent; applaud narcissism while disparaging true heroes. All the while, the economy falters and the national debt spirals out of control.

Americans have grown soft, complacent, and yes, wicked. We abandoned the Christian foundation established by our forefathers and now, instead of truth and justice, we pursue wealth, fame, and depravity. Respect for life is a luxury only the powerful can afford.

The government grows larger and more inefficient every year, requiring its citizens to feed an insatiable hunger. Its branches pierce deep into personal lives with controls over housing, food, payroll, healthcare, purchasing, taxes, and education. They have supplantedBig Government parental rights over children enrolled in public schools. They prescribe medications to keep the kids controllable, promote sexual promiscuity, require acquiescence to foreign religions, ban all things Christian, and require teaching of a rewritten history that is the antithesis of truth.

Legislative mandates renounce Christianity, labeling much of its doctrine as “hate” speech and punishing anyone who dares express an opposing view.

The American populace has been cowed, coaxed into personal cocoons of isolation for fear of retribution. Exceptions are the rule. Minorities have usurped the power of the people in a classic case of the “tail wagging the dog.”

The United States of America is a country in circular transformation. When oppression and bondage once motivated our ancestors to search for a new home, the taste of freedom gave them the faith and courage to demand freedom. Liberty under a free market always leads to
abundance. Unfortunately, history tells us abundance will inevitably lead to complacency, and complacency to apathy. Apathetic Indifference will succumb to dependency, and we all know what happens when we rely on another for everything. We find ourselves back in bondage.

Lazy or unknowing, the good people of these great United States have embraced the promise of the government to take care of them. We’ve taught a whole generation of our children to look for a handout. The redistribution of money from wealthier citizens – money hard earned What one generation toleratesunder a free market capitalist society – is no longer theirs to spend as they want. Our politicians make blatant, outrageous promises they never intend to keep, but big money carries a lot of weight and special interest groups use their financial clout to elect and keep in office those “career” senators, representatives, and governors they can manipulate.

Track records mean nothing. Promises are everything. The American citizen wants so badly to believe in a higher road again … so they believe. What other choice is there?  And after awhile we stop being disappointed.

Apathy is already here. Dependence is underway. Slavery lurks around the corner. Lessons of the past had not been heeded again. The United States is coming full circle, as all great democracies throughout history have done when they abandon the sovereign God.

And all the while, our enemies sit and wait, slavering like jackals.

No one is worthy, and yet the gift is free to all

Took the “grands” to deliver food to the Southeast Gwinnett Food Co-op earlier this week. Wanted them to see how blessed we are and how they can help others. 7yo Reid took a long SE Gwinnett Coop - 4time studying everything before whispering to Grampy, “This store doesn’t have much to buy.” The kind volunteer working that day squatted down next to my little guy and explained how it wasn’t a store; rather it was a place where people who don’t have enough money to feed their family can get food for them. You should have seen the frown on Reid’s face as he thought about this.

Later in the car, 9yo Cam asked, “How do you know they’re really poor and not just trying to get SE Gwinnett Coop - 3something for free?” We explained how we can’t know, but that it’s not our purpose to know. We are called to fill a need, not determine who is worthy to receive the gift. It struck me then that the good Lord had used a teachable moment to make a point with me — no one is worthy, and yet the gift of Jesus is offered freely to everyone.

The shelves of the Co-op are indeed shamefully bare. I say shamefully because we in the community who have been given so much have ignored the plight of those around us. Does the Bible not teach us to care for others? To give out of our abundance? Not by government mandate, but out of the goodness of our hearts.

I encourage you to consider donating to a Food Co-op in your community. I mean, how easy is it
to pick up an extra package of spaghetti noodles and a jar of pasta when you shop? That alone will feed a family somewhere tonight. What will you and your family eat?

SE Gwinnett Coop - 2For those of you in my area, the Southeast Gwinnett Food Co-op is supported by many local churches where you can donate pantry items, or you can visit the Co-op at 55 Grayson Parkway. It’s not difficult to locate. I found it! For those in my neighborhood, you’re welcome to drop your purchases off with me and I’ll deliver them.

 

The SE Gwinnet Co-op website is http://www.segwinnettcoop.org/. You can find hours of operation, a list of current needs, how to volunteer your time, information about other things they’re doing to help families in need, and even donate online if you prefer.

Check out their Facebook page, too, at https://www.facebook.com/groups/segwinnettcoop.

SE Gwinnett Coop

The Christian Turkey

Remove the Giblets, Wash, Stuff, and Baste, Baste, Baste!

 (Or How to Become a Savory Christian)

Never one to question whether I can do something or not, I’ve always taken the bull by the horns and plunged in. Mostly it works out in my favor, but once upon a time a frozen turkey, with a top secret “surprise” tucked inside, defeated me completely. To this day I’ve never attempted to cook another turkey. Kroger does a fine job. Honey Baked Ham, too.

It strikes me the Thanksgiving turkey tradition is a great deal like the process of becoming a Christian. Let’s start with the basic turkey. The fowl, not the person.

Turkeys are plucked clean and washed, after which they’re packaged, up and shipped off to the local supermarket, ready to be seasoned and cooked.

We bring the turkey home, remove the wrappings, and reveal the bird in all its glory. Or do we see everything? If we look deeper, what might we find? Aha! A hidden treasure. Stuck up inside the dark cavity where many never look are the – giblets! Yuck. What are giblets anyway?

You have two choices at this point: Throw the packet away (or feed them to the dog) or transform them into something delicious. We’ll save that thought for later.

Next, you wash and rinse the turkey – inside and out to get rid of all the remaining yukky stuff that clings to every surface. Then you gently pat it dry. Now it’s ready for the real promise. Remember that wonderful smell of roasting turkey done just right?

You generously sprinkle the turkey with salt and pepper, add the stuffing, and baste with butter– lots of butter. Place the bird in the over for a time determined by its weight and—voila! A Thanksgiving bird that makes your mouth water.

Don’t people arrive in this world much the same way? Bare, needing a bath, swaddled, and ready to be seasoned for a lifetime? Don’t we come ready-made with our own hidden secrets? Sins that would surprise our family and friends? Some of those sins can be  pretty yucky.

But when Christ, who chose from before the beginning of time, picks us up from the supermarket of life and takes us home, he cleans us inside and out, pats us dry, and sprinkles us with His own seasonings—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. He replaces the yucky stuff with His Word and bastes us continuously in His mercy and grace while we cook in life’s oven.

The Christian turkey won’t finish cooking in this life, but we can be ever so aromatic, a savory draw for others who could become like us. A pleasing aroma for Jesus.

Oh yeah, about those giblets…chop fine, add a LOT of seasoning, and cook until tender and quite tasty. So too can our sins can be transformed into something finer – a reflection of God.

The Beginning of the End

“…for their sin has not yet reached its full measure.” 

─ Genesis 15:16

 The United States of America—home of the free, land of the brave, global economic leader, military superpower, land of opportunity—walks a razor’s edge.Having already forsaken many of the Christian tenets on which her forefathers founded this great nation, she abandons all religious constraints without regret. Lady Liberty stares blithely into the future. Her cup of iniquity overflows, spilling faster and faster, unstoppable in the downward spiral toward ruin. Destruction does not come right away, but the course is set. Judgment has been rendered, and a mighty and terrible woe approaches.

For now though, dawn breaks with languorous effort, in red and gold smudges that strain against the purple bonds of night. The colors intensify on the horizon heralding a newborn morning sun that ascends into an endless sky. It is the recurring promise of a new day, a glorious day.

Weather patterns turn erratic. Natural disasters abound. Violent crime disturbs even the most jaded. But we become inured and our outrage eases. Despite all the privilege and plenty granted to Americans, the generations have grown soft. Wickedness finds a foothold as the current populace turns their backs on our heritage.

The American government, already immense,  reaches monstrous proportions. It becomes more inefficient and corrupt with each passing year, requiring the citizens to feed its insatiable hunger for more power. The many branches delve deep into personal lives to control housing, food, payroll, retirement savings, healthcare, and education. Legislative mandates take away parental rights and force Christian organizations to close their doors. The Gospel is considered hate speech, while radical Islam is idealized.

The cowed people withdraw into cocoons of isolation, caring only for their own circumstances, fearful of losing their islands of comfort and ease.

The United States is a country in circular transformation.

America’s founding fathers would be appalled. Our ancestors fought against bondage and oppression. Their faith and courage led them to demand liberty, but freedom commands a price and the cost is always paid in blood. Liberty under a free market advances abundance, which must be judiciously and individually guarded, for overabundance leads to an inevitable complacency, which quickly turns to apathy. Apathy transmutes into dependency and—well, everyone knows where dependency leads. Today, a new form of bondage looms on our horizon.

What one generation tolerates, the next generation condones, and the generation after that embraces. The good people of these great United States have abdicated their right to decide what is best for them and their families. They look instead to the government to provide every need, dictate every move, and manage their lives. Taxes are raised again and again. The country teeters, continually on the brink of recession. The proud nation that once cried, “Give me your tire, your…” is now tired and poor herself.

Politicians make blatant promises they never intend to keep. Track records mean nothing. Truth is ridiculed by a corrupt judicial system and debased by the media. Laws in force since the days of our founding fathers are flagrantly bent or even broken without repercussion. The people of the U.S. grow more jaded with each election. They want so much to hope, to believe in the change promised, so they do. What other choice do they have? After awhile, they stop being disappointed and just…accept. Apathy arrives, dependence approaches, and slavery lurks around the corner.

But the U.S is not the only nation in trouble. Mother Nature is in a fury. She unleashes her wrath over the entire planet. In South America, volcanoes roar to life. Floods in India sweep entire towns away. Trails of devastation follow in the wake of Caribbean hurricanes. Mudslides bury entire villages in Central America. Raging forest fires threaten the American est. Massive snow storms immobilize Russia where people freeze to death in their homes.  Massive earthquakes wrack Asia. Mammoth sea storms plague the European coast, spawning monstrous waves that capsize oceangoing freighters.

The natural disasters are indiscriminate in the carnage they bring, but it is the lack of rain around the world that takes the greatest toll. This year alone, millions of people will die—some from starvation, some from disease that always follows such events. But the highest price will be paid the innocents caught between opposing forces. Weakness draws the hungry wolves. Hostilities always feed off endemic hardship.

The world’s armies double and triple in size because ruling governments grow uneasy about their neighbors’ military posturing. Sabers rattle and armaments proliferate. Terrible weapons, already in the making, are no longer measured in the tons of destruction energy they emit. Instead, they are gauged by their kill radius, by how far the devastation will extend.

Tempers flare between world powers until the smaller nations withdraw into self-imposed isolation, fearing for their very existence. At some point they know a decision will be required, a side chosen. They cannot stand alone indefinitely. The price is too high.

All of these catastrophes and world unrest were described by the prophets thousands of years ago. Many of the signs foretold in the Bible have already come to pass, so we watch and wait for the remaining prophecies to unveil. The United States, once unshakable in her Christian beliefs, has turned its back on God. She rejects His favor and now falters on the threshold of eternity. America is coming full circle, just as all great democracies have done throughout the history.The lessons of the past are not heeded again. The world around us erupts in chaos, ripe for global pandemic, primed for another world war.

We are left with a terrible question to ponder: What is America’s role in the future? More to the point, what will our personal role be in the times to come?

When I consider Your heavens…

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” Psalms 8:3-4
To look beyond yourself is to see amazing wonders everywhere — colors that fire the imagination, textures that beg for description, smells to tantalize the soul, and the complex creations that leave scientists struggling to explain. All hidden in plain sight. How can we not believe in a Creator? How can we not stand in awe of the mighty God who spoke the earth into being?
Then the Lord of the heavens gave man dominion over all living things of the earth. Wow. And how have we fared at that responsibility?
Consider, would a Fortune 500 Company hire someone to perform a job and not explain what needs to be done and how to do it? Wouldn’t they provide instruction? Training? A network of support to help the new employee succeed? Of course they would.  But, what if the new hire refused to accept the instruction or embrace the training? What if he refused to seek help when he couldn’t figure it out himself? Can he expect to succeed?
Christianity is much the same way. God brought us into the world with a purpose for our lives, a job to do. He provided an instruction manual (the Bible) with all the answers and gave us access to a divine 24/7 support line (prayer), one that goes direct to His ear. Perhaps the real question should be …  Who am I that I am not mindful of You?