This morning (8/29/2005) the news networks are trumpeting the impending disaster in the Southeastern US from the storm named Katrina. Whether she will live up to the hype will be known in a few hours. Many are saying that the old city of New Orleans will be changed completely by this 'perfect storm.' Some say our whole nation may be effected, since a large part of our energy resources come to us through Southeastern ports and from the Gulf. Reflecting on this, I asked God, "are you speaking to us in the winds?" Many scoff at that notion; seeing the storms, wars, plagues, problems with the economy, and such things, as nothing more than natural events that come and go in the flow of human history. Humanism has so gripped our minds that even the 'godly' have no ears to hear, no eyes to see, what is the work of God's hand in this world.
While I am not proposing we descend into silly superstitions, I think it is time to seriously consider that the Lord is calling on America to be a people of righteousness, a nation that recognizes Him and His purposes. When disaster fell on God's people, Jeremiah preached to Israel:
But you, God, you have an eye for truth, don’t you?
You hit them hard, but it didn’t faze them.
You disciplined them, but they refused correction.
Hardheaded, harder than rock, they wouldn’t change.
Then I said to myself, “Well, these are just poor people.
They don’t know any better.
They were never taught anything about God.
They never went to prayer meetings.
I’ll find some people from the best families. I’ll talk to them.
They’ll know what’s going on, the way God works. They’ll know the score.”
But they were no better! Rebels all! Off doing their own thing.
The invaders are ready to pounce and kill, like a mountain lion, a wilderness wolf, panthers on the prowl.The streets aren’t safe anymore.
And why?
Because the people’s sins are piled sky-high; their betrayals are past counting. -- Jeremiah 5:3-6 (The Message)
This nation has multiplied her sins! Though there is much to admire in these United States today, there is spiritual decay evident in every part of the land.
Unquestionably we sit at the pinnacle of power in the world today, but are we using that position of influence to make it a better world filled with justice or just to build a bigger empire that feeds our ballooning appetites for more wealth? Corruption spreads like a cancer in our halls of government. From local precincts to the corridors of Congress, there are too many 'leaders' who are more interested in serving a coterie of cronies than the people who are poor and powerless. We are waging a war that many believe, despite the rhetoric justifying it, to be a war that is fought primarily for naked self-interest. If that is true, it invites God's judgment as He gives power to be used as a sacred trust.
Tragically, the culture that America exports around the world is a low and vile one, marked by lewdness and materialism. We produce $billions in pornography and sell it to the far corners of the globe.
The Christian scene in our nation features many churches that are big and rich. But is that power and wealth being used to serve those who are poor, both spiritually and naturally? Are Christians calling for justice, taking the Gospel where it is not yet preached? Sometimes, yes; but too often the answer is no. Instead we create institutions and 'ministries' that feed only our own needs. Many churches are entertainment centers, the message not Word-centered, but pop-psychology re-packaged with 'Bible-speak.'
Let me temper this jeremiad by recognizing that all is not lost! The Gospel is still preached, and there are those who still love God and His ways. If a faith-filled little remnant of people will speak truthfully to the land, will pray to be filled with the Spirit, and will do the works of God; we can see a new wave of holiness break across these United States. I pray it is a true holiness that goes heart-deep. It would be a tragedy if we thought a superficial legalism that focused on external sins alone is what God seeks! He wants our hearts- our passionate love for Himself and for His will. Let us pray, "May your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth- as it is in Heaven."
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Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.
You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.
...Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.
I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.”
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD."
Haggai 1: 5-7; 10-12 (NIV)
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