God Blog

• "When Solomon finished praying, a bolt of lightning out of heaven struck the Whole-Burnt-Offering and sacrifices and the Glory of GOD filled The Temple. The Glory was so dense that the priests couldn't get in—GOD so filled The Temple that there was no room for the priests! When all Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the Glory of GOD fill The Temple, they fell on their knees, bowed their heads, and worshiped, thanking GOD: Yes! God is good! His love never quits! Then the king and all Israel worshiped, offering sacrifices to GOD. King Solomon worshiped by sacrificing 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep at the dedication of The Temple. The priests were all on duty; the choir and orchestra of Levites that David had provided for singing and playing anthems to the praise and love of GOD were all there; across the courtyard the priests blew trumpets. All Israelites were on their feet." 2 Chronicles 7:1-6 MSG

• "For seven days there were people there all the way from the far northeast (the Entrance to Hamath) to the far southwest (the Brook of Egypt)—a huge congregation. They started out celebrating for seven days, and then did it for another seven days, a week for dedicating the Altar and another for the Feast itself—two solid weeks of celebration! On the twenty-third day of the seventh month Solomon dismissed his congregation. They left rejoicing, exuberant over all the good GOD had done for David and Solomon and his people Israel." 2 Chronicles 7:8-10 MSG

The Prayer of Jabez has received much notoriety.  While the prayer was fine for it's day, and the spirit in which the recent book by Bruce Wilkinson was written is admirable, the prayer is not a good fit for our society given our unprecedented quantity and quality of sin. Additionally, the prayer itself is easily corrupted into just another form of Me-ism. No such risk with the Prayer of Ezra. 

While the Prayer of Jabez is relegated to only two verses, the Prayer of Ezra, and it's aftermath, fills two chapters. It also sparks the Bible's best description of a complete Sacred Assembly. It was occasioned by Ezra’s discovery that the people of God had repeatedly broken the commandment not to intermarry with gentiles. And this on the heals of God's great judgment against Israel that saw 1/3 of the church of their day killed by plague or famine, 1/3 killed by the sword and 1/3 scattered to the wind by enemy pursuit. 

As high priest, Ezra, along with his contemporary Nehemiah, were instrumental in rebuilding the ruined walls, city and customs of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel:

• "After all this was done, the leaders came to me and said, "The People of Israel, priests and Levites included, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring people around here with all their vulgar obscenities—Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, Amorites. They have given some of their daughters in marriage to them and have taken some of their daughters for marriage to their sons. The holy seed is now all mixed in with these other peoples. And our leaders have led the way in this betrayal. When I heard all this, I ripped my clothes and my cape; I pulled hair from my head and out of my beard; I slumped to the ground, appalled. Many were in fear and trembling because of what God was saying about the betrayal by the exiles. They gathered around me as I sat there in despair, waiting for the evening sacrifice. At the evening sacrifice I picked myself up from my utter devastation, and in my ripped clothes and cape fell to my knees and stretched out my hands to GOD, my God. And I prayed: 'My dear God, I'm so totally ashamed, I can't bear to face you. O my God—our iniquities are piled up so high that we can't see out; our guilt touches the skies. We've been stuck in a muck of guilt since the time of our ancestors until right now; we and our kings and priests, because of our sins, have been turned over to foreign kings, to killing, to captivity, to looting, and to public shame—just as you see us now. Now for a brief time GOD, our God, has allowed us, this battered band, to get a firm foothold in his holy place so that our God may brighten our eyes and lighten our burdens as we serve out this hard sentence. We were slaves; yet even as slaves, our God didn't abandon us. He has put us in the good graces of the kings of Persia and given us the heart to build The Temple of our God, restore its ruins, and construct a defensive wall in Judah and Jerusalem. And now, our God, after all this what can we say for ourselves? For we have thrown your commands to the wind, the commands you gave us through your servants the prophets. They told us, 'The land you're taking over is a polluted land, polluted with the obscene vulgarities of the people who live there; they've filled it with their moral rot from one end to the other. Whatever you do, don't give your daughters in marriage to their sons nor marry your sons to their daughters. Don't cultivate their good opinion; don't make over them and get them to like you so you can make a lot of money and build up a tidy estate to hand down to your children. And now this, on top of all we've already suffered because of our evil ways and accumulated guilt, even though you, dear God, punished us far less than we deserved and even went ahead and gave us this present escape. Yet here we are, at it again, breaking your commandments by intermarrying with the people who practice all these obscenities! Are you angry to the point of wiping us out completely, without even a few stragglers, with no way out at all? You are the righteous GOD of Israel. We are, right now, a small band of escapees. Look at us, openly standing here, guilty before you. No one can last long like this."' Ezra 9:1-15 The Message - Emphasis QC’s

• "Ezra wept, prostrate in front of The Temple of God. As he prayed and confessed, a huge number of the men, women, and children of Israel gathered around him. All the people were now weeping as if their hearts would break. Shecaniah son of Jehiel of the family of Elam, acting as spokesman, said to Ezra: "We betrayed our God by marrying foreign wives from the people around here. But all is not lost; there is still hope for Israel. Let's make a covenant right now with our God, agreeing to get rid of all these wives and their children, just as my master and those who honor God's commandment are saying. It's what The Revelation says, so let's do it. Now get up, Ezra. Take charge—we're behind you. Don't back down. So Ezra stood up and had the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel solemnly swear to do what Shecaniah proposed. And they did it. Then Ezra left the plaza in front of The Temple of God and went to the home of Jehohanan son of Eliashib where he stayed, still fasting from food and drink, continuing his mourning over the betrayal by the exiles. A notice was then sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem ordering all the exiles to meet in Jerusalem. Anyone who failed to show up in three days, in compliance with the ruling of the leaders and elders, would have all his possessions confiscated and be thrown out of the congregation of the returned exiles. All the men of Judah and Benjamin met in Jerusalem within the three days. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month. They all sat down in the plaza in front of The Temple of God. Because of the business before them, and aggravated by the buckets of rain coming down on them, they were restless, uneasy, and anxious. Ezra the priest stood up and spoke: "You've broken trust. You've married foreign wives. You've piled guilt on Israel. Now make your confession to GOD, the God of your ancestors, and do what he wants you to do: Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives. The whole congregation responded with a shout, "Yes, we'll do it— just the way you said it! They also said, "But look, do you see how many people there are out here? And it's the rainy season; you can't expect us to stand out here soaking wet until this is done—why, it will take days! A lot of us are deeply involved in this transgression. Let our leaders act on behalf of the whole congregation. Have everybody who lives in cities and who has married a foreign wife come at an appointed time, accompanied by the elders and judges of each city. We'll keep at this until the hot anger of our God over this thing is turned away." Ezra 10:1-14 The Message - Emphasis QC’s

• Ezra, having discovered God's people and their leaders had married foreign wives tore his clothing, pulled hair from his head and beard and sat down appalled.

• Ezra begins his prayer by saying he's too ashamed to look up because their sins were higher than the heavens.
• While he continued praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God a crowd gathered and wept bitterly.

• Ezra accepted their offer and fasted three days while a proclamation was sent throughout the kingdom for all the people to gather for a Sacred Assembly.  Any not arriving lost their place in the kingdom.
• Nearly to a person, those who gathered admitted their guilt and pledged to divorce their foreign wives and be forever separated from them and any children produced by disobedient marriages.
• Within an appropriate time the kingdom was purged of this practice that the blessings of God might be restored.

• “The memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. It was the month of Kislev in the twentieth year. At the time I was in the palace complex at Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, had just arrived from Judah with some fellow Jews. I asked them about the conditions among the Jews there who had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem. They told me, “The exile survivors who are left there in the province are in bad shape. Conditions are appalling. The wall of Jerusalem is still rubble; the city gates are still cinders.” When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven. I said, “God, God-of-Heaven, the great and awesome God, loyal to his covenant and faithful to those who love him and obey his commands: Look at me, listen to me. Pay attention to this prayer of your servant that I’m praying day and night in intercession for your servants, the People of Israel, confessing the sins of the People of Israel. And I’m including myself, I and my ancestors, among those who have sinned against you. We’ve treated you like dirt: We haven’t done what you told us, haven’t followed your commands, and haven’t respected the decisions you gave to Moses your servant. All the same, remember the warning you posted to your servant Moses: ‘If you betray me, I’ll scatter you to the four winds, but if you come back to me and do what I tell you, I’ll gather up all these scattered peoples from wherever they ended up and put them back in the place I chose to mark with my Name.’ “Well, there they are—your servants, your people whom you so powerfully and impressively redeemed. O Master, listen to me, listen to your servant’s prayer—and yes, to all your servants who delight in honoring you—and make me successful today so that I get what I want from the king.” I was cupbearer to the king.” Nehemiah 1:1-11 The Message - Emphasis QC’s

• “The local officials had no idea where I’d gone or what I was doing—I hadn’t breathed a word to the Jews, priests, nobles, local officials, or anyone else who would be working on the job. Then I gave them my report: “Face it: we’re in a bad way here. Jerusalem is a wreck; its gates are burned up. Come—let’s build the wall of Jerusalem and not live with this disgrace any longer.” I told them how God was supporting me and how the king was backing me up. They said, “We’re with you. Let’s get started.” They rolled up their sleeves, ready for the good work.” Nehemiah 2:15-18 The Message - Emphasis QC’s

• “So I stationed armed guards at the most vulnerable places of the wall and assigned people by families with their swords, lances, and bows. After looking things over I stood up and spoke to the nobles, officials, and everyone else: “Don’t be afraid of them. Put your minds on the Master, great and awesome, and then fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:13-14 The Message - Emphasis QC’s

• “Nehemiah the governor, along with Ezra the priest and scholar and the Levites who were teaching the people, said to all the people, “This day is holy to God, your God. Don’t weep and carry on.” They said this because all the people were weeping as they heard the words of The Revelation. He continued, “Go home and prepare a feast, holiday food and drink; and share it with those who don’t have anything: This day is holy to God. Don’t feel bad. The joy of God is your strength!” The Levites calmed the people, “Quiet now. This is a holy day. Don’t be upset.” So the people went off to feast, eating and drinking and including the poor in a great celebration. Now they got it; they understood the reading that had been given to them.” Nehemiah 8:9-12 The Message - Emphasis QC’s

• “Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?” One of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove him away from me. Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. So I purified the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties, each to his own task.  I also made provision for contributions of wood at designated times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me with favor, my God.” Nehemiah 19:23-31 New International Version - Emphasis QC’s

Sacred Assembly After Pre Revival Repentance

From time to time there have been, and will continue to be, efforts made to attempt to address our obviously deteriorating spiritual condition. Some will be admirable. Others less so. Many target some form of renewal, revival or even reformation. Almost universally, such attempts fall far short of their goal for several key reasons. These include:

1. Lack of Discernment: The ability to fully recognize the glaring need for individual and corporate repentance, both within and without modern Christianity, is in short supply. Less that one percent of church leaders are able and/or willing to do so. Of these, the vast majority misdiagnose the seriousness of the systemic disease. Sadly, even within this fraction of a percentage, fewer still understand the severity of the treatment required to mitigate the ubiquitous and increasing levels of temptation and deception, worldliness and sin pandemic in society and Churchianity.

2. Faith vs Presumption: Well intentioned or not, it's surprisingly easy to think and/or act prematurely. Assuming salvation, inappropriate worship and claiming Scripture's promises without recognizing, much less adhering to their corresponding conditions, is the new norm. The same holds true for those who seek to rectify unprecedented disbelief and rebellion without fully following the New Testament's steps of brokenness and restoration.

From evangelism to discipleship, from doctrine to practice, from worship to communion, from prayer to miraculous power, Churchianity has so fallen from grace as to need a re-baptism. The original outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost gave birth and empowerment to the 1st century church. This unprecedented move of God began with John the Baptist’s message of extreme repentance preparing the way for Christ. 

Few appreciate what an amazingly significant role John’s accomplishment played in preparing "stubborn and hardheaded” believers for the appearance of their Redeemer. Without a single recorded miracle, John's coming in the spirit of Elijah, accomplished what Elijah’s three accounts of heavenly fire could not. Jews, perhaps even including Pharisees, came to immerse themselves in the waters of the Jordan. The entire region thereby participating in an unprecedented act of repentance. 

Baptism, as instituted by John, exemplified by Jesus and implemented by the apostles was Scripturally unique. While the concept may have arisen from the Jewish ceremonial washings of Mikveh, John's application was certainly next generation. John used baptism to demonstrate his message of extraordinary repentance by requiring Jews to undergo a rite reserved for Gentile converts. Baptism, for example, is listed by the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, along with circumcision and sacrifice, as one of the three requirements for Gentile proselytes to Judaism. By commanding Israel to repent and be baptized, John dramatized his message that God’s people had fallen from their privileged position as "sons of Abraham." 

There is no modern equivalent in Christendom. Even the Pope commanding all Catholics to be re-baptized and re-confirmed, and/or a Billy Graham figure demanding all Born Again Christians get back to the altar and pray through until it took, would fail in comparison. Such proclamations would be as radical as they would be unwelcomed. Yet, not nearly so much as that of the Baptist’s. Jews inherited their faith and had never been baptized into it to begin with. Additionally, males proudly carried in their bodies the mark of sanctification through circumcision. 

Of particular interest is the method John employs for his altar call. The first of only two recorded in the New Testament. Establishing himself as the Baptist, he calls Israel to repentance, yet note the tenor of his accusation and its unusual timing. While his audience obediently responds, John stops them short with a strange question:

• Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Luke 3:7-9 New King James Version
  

• So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."... And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. Luke 3:10-18 New King James Version
  

• "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." Galatians 6:7 NKJV

• "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind." Hosea 8:7 NIV

• "Then he said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once that it is going to rain, and so it does. And when you feel the south wind blowing, you say that it is going to be hot, and so it is. You frauds! You know how to interpret the look of the earth and the sky. Why can’t you interpret the meaning of the times in which you live?” Luke 12:54-46 Phillips

• "Doom to you who call evil good and good evil, Who put darkness in place of light and light in place of darkness, Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20 MSG

• "Empathy: that's something I've been thinking a lot about lately. The ability to walk in someone else's shoes; the recognition that someone else's experience has value, too. Most of us practice this without a second thought. If we see someone suffering or struggling, we don't stand in judgment. We reach out because, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." It is not a hard concept to grasp. It's what we teach our children. And like so many of you, Barack and I have tried our best to instill in our girls a strong moral foundation to carry forward the values that our parents and grandparents poured into us. But right now, kids in this country are seeing what happens when we stop requiring empathy of one another. They're looking around wondering if we've been lying to them this whole time about who we are and what we truly value. They see people shouting in grocery stores, unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe. They see people calling the police on folks minding their own business just because of the color of their skin. They see an entitlement that says only certain people belong here, that greed is good, and winning is everything because as long as you come out on top, it doesn't matter what happens to everyone else. And they see what happens when that lack of empathy is ginned up into outright disdain. They see our leaders labeling fellow citizens enemies of the state while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists. They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages, and pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful protestors for a photo-op."

1. Since when is "empathy" defined as supporting months of BLM's unchecked violent and deadly rampage across the entire country. How is looting and torching the life's work of innocent business owners "the ability to walk in someone else's shoes; the recognition that someone else's experience has value, too."
2. It's certainly true that inflating erroneous police crime statistics, while ignoring years of Black on Black violence and murders within inner cities, occasions "looking around wondering if we've been lying to them this whole time about who we are and what we truly value." Particularly in the Obama's own city of Chicago where within weeks of their speeches there were 18 murders in 24 hours.
3. No one is supporting and BLM is not targeting "torch-bearing white supremacists." Rather just about everyone else.
4. "Peaceful protestors" hardly describe the hundreds, if not thousands, of violent criminals that have largely been free to rampage at will.

• "Joe and Kamala will restore our standing in the world – and as we've learned from this pandemic, that matters. Joe knows the world, and the world knows him. He knows that our true strength comes from setting an example the world wants to follow. A nation that stands with democracy, not dictators. A nation that can inspire and mobilize others to overcome threats like climate change, terrorism, poverty, and disease. But more than anything, what I know about Joe, what I know about Kamala is that they actually care about every American. And that they care deeply about this democracy. They believe that in a democracy, the right to vote is sacred, and we should be making it easier for people to cast their ballots, not harder. They believe that no one – including the president – is above the law, and that no public official – including the president – should use their office to enrich themselves or their supporters.They understand that in this democracy, the Commander-in-Chief does not use the men and women of our military, who are willing to risk everything to protect our nation, as political props to deploy against peaceful protesters on our own soil. They understand that political opponents aren't "un-American" just because they disagree with you; the free press isn't the "enemy" but the way we hold officials accountable; that our ability to work together to solve big problems like a pandemic depend on a fidelity to facts and science and logic and not just making stuff up…. Because that's what at stake right now. Our democracy."

1. "Joe and Kamala know… our true strength comes from setting an example the world wants to follow." Rioting and looting, violence and murder, burning police buildings and defacing public property based on a narrative of lies is hardly an example the world wants or needs.
2. No one has even suggested impinging the rights of "peaceful protesters." A description clearly opposite the agenda of destruction and mayhem demonstrated by Antifa, BLM and many Democrats leaders.
3. The "way we hold we hold officials accountable" is for the liberal media to provide endless forums promoting politicians and community leaders calling evil good and good evil. All the while denouncing voices of sanity and reason.
4. Supporting and promoting months of nationwide anarchy, based on inverting truth and statistics opposes "fidelity to facts and science and logic" and is the very definition of "just making stuff up."

• "This is going to be trouble on a scale beyond what the world has ever seen, or will see again. If these days of trouble were left to run their course, nobody would make it. But on account of God’s chosen people, the trouble will be cut short." Matthew 24:21-22 The Message

• "But be on your guard. Don’t let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap, for it’s going to come on everyone, everywhere, at once. So, whatever you do, don’t go to sleep at the switch. Pray constantly that you will have the strength and wits to make it through everything that’s coming and end up on your feet before the Son of Man." Luke 21:34-36 MSG

• "'I’m going to make a clean sweep of the earth, a thorough housecleaning.'" God’s Decree. 'Men and women and animals, including birds and fish—Anything and everything that causes sin—will go, but especially people.'" Zephaniah 1:2-3 MSG

• "So get yourselves together. Shape up! You’re a nation without a clue about what it wants. Do it before you’re blown away like leaves in a windstorm, Before God’s Judgment-anger sweeps down on you, Before God’s Judgment Day wrath descends with full force. Seek God, all you quietly disciplined people who live by God’s justice. Seek God’s right ways. Seek a quiet and disciplined life. Perhaps you’ll be hidden on the Day of God’s anger." Zephaniah 2:1-3 MSG

• "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith." Hebrews 11:7 NIV

• "You’re hopeless! You build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed. The tombs you build are monuments to your murdering ancestors more than to the murdered prophets. That accounts for God’s Wisdom saying, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, but they’ll kill them and run them off.’ What it means is that every drop of righteous blood ever spilled from the time earth began until now, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was struck down between altar and sanctuary, is on your heads. Yes, it’s on the bill of this generation and this generation will pay." Luke 11:47-51

• " Next Jesus let fly on the cities where he had worked the hardest but whose people had responded the least, shrugging their shoulders and going their own way. “Doom to you, Chorazin! Doom, Bethsaida! If Tyre and Sidon had seen half of the powerful miracles you have seen, they would have been on their knees in a minute. At Judgment Day they’ll get off easy compared to you. And Capernaum! With all your peacock strutting, you are going to end up in the abyss. If the people of Sodom had had your chances, the city would still be around. At Judgment Day they’ll get off easy compared to you.” Matthew 11:20-24 MSG

• "These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else…"  1 Corinthians 10:11-12 MSG

• "Write to Laodicea, to the Angel of the church. God’s Yes, the Faithful and Accurate Witness, the First of God’s creation, says: "I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless. Here’s what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that’s been through the refiner’s fire. Then you’ll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You’ve gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see." Revelation 3:14-18 MSG

• "On this inaugural National Day of Prayer and Return, the First Lady and I join millions of Christians here in the United States and around the world in prayer, as we turn our hearts to our Lord and Savior. Our great Nation was founded by men and women of deep and abiding faith—a faith that has stood the test of time. Four hundred years ago, early American settlers trusted their lives to His providence and braved a voyage to a New World.  From the pilgrims who sought His protection aboard the Mayflower to the countless believers who today bow their heads to ask for His guidance during these unprecedented times, our country continues to turn to the Lord.  Following in our ancestors’ footsteps we continue the “firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence” that provides us enduring strength and reassurance in our times of need. The trials and tribulations the American people have faced over the past several months have been great.  Yet, as we have seen time and again, the resolve of our citizenry—fortified by our faith in God—has guided us through these hardships and helped to unite us as one Nation under God.  As we continue to combat the challenges ahead of us, we must remember the sage words of President George Washington during his first Presidential Address: “propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained.”  As a country and a people, let us renew our commitment to these abiding and timeless principles. Today, I am pleased to join my voice to yours in thanking God for blessing this nation with great power and responsibility.  With reverence, humility, and thanksgiving, we beg for His continued guidance and protection."

• "See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:25-29 NKJV

• "If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discernment, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in Christianity, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it."

• "You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." James 4:4-8 NIV

One may well wonder what place does overt Satanic symbology have in the founding of a Christian nation? Particularly one often heralded by Christian leaders as directly ordained by God as preeminent, as well as prophetic type of Israel? Or as Scripture puts it:

• "Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple?" 1 Corinthians 6:14-15 MSG

• "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, commonly referred to as the Jefferson Bible, is one of two religious works constructed by Thomas Jefferson. The first, The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth, was completed in 1804, but no copies exist today. The second, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, was completed in 1820 by cutting and pasting with a razor and glue numerous sections from the New Testament as extractions of the doctrine of Jesus. Jefferson's condensed composition excludes all miracles by Jesus and most mentions of the supernatural, including sections of the four gospels that contain the Resurrection and most other miracles, and passages that portray Jesus as divine."

• "The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here." Matthew 12:41-42 NIV

• "Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” Matthew 11:20-25 NIV

• "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar." Matthew 23:33-35 NIV

• "Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand." And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar. Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it." As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple. Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!" So they went out and began killing throughout the city. While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, "Alas, Sovereign Lord! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?" He answered me, "The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, 'The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.' So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done." Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, "I have done as you commanded." Ezekiel 9:1-11 NIV

• Here, as in so many Biblical passages, the message of God's judgment primarily concerns the behavior own His people.
• The glory of God will not dwell, even in His own temple, when the righteous become wicked.
• People of God perish when there is sin in the camp.
• Prior to great judgment, God marks those who deeply anguish over the destruction of His people.
• After decades, if not centuries of repeated warnings, God's judgment falls in such a way as to "destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem."

• "The usual biblical word describing the no we say to the world’s lies and the yes we say to God’s truth is repentance. It is always and everywhere the first word in the Christian life. John the Baptist’s preaching was "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 3:2 RSV). Jesus’ first preaching was the same: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17 RSV). Peter concluded his first sermon with "Repent, and be baptized” (Acts 2:38 RSV). In the last book of the Bible the message to the seventh church is “be zealous and repent." (Rev 3:19 RSV).

• "The matter is quite simple. The bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament."

• All true passion is born out of anguish. All true passion for Christ comes out of a baptism of anguish.

• Hear’s what God said, “I’ve heard the words of this people. They have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such a heart in them. That they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always that it might be well with them, and their children forever!”

• “When I (Nehemiah) heard these words (regarding the ruin of Jerusalem) I set down and wept. And morned certain days and fasted. And prayed before the God of heaven.”

• We face a similar situation except ours is many times worse.

• Does it matter to you at all that God’s spiritual Jerusalem, the church, is now married to the world?

• Does it matter about the Jerusalem that’s in our own hearts? The sign of ruin that is slowly draining spiritual power and passion? Blind to lukewarmness. Blind to the mixture that’s creeping in.

• You won’t fight. You won’t labor in prayer anymore. You won’t weep before God anymore. You can sit and watch television and your family go to hell!

• Does it really matter to you that your unsaved loved ones are dying and we’re getting closer and closer to the end?

• Where’s the anguish. Where’s the tears. Where’s the mourning? Where’s the fasting?

• It’s going to take more than preaching. More than a new revelation.

• Please don’t tell me you’re concerned. Don’t tell me you want your unsaved loved ones saved while you’re spending hours before the internet or television. Come on…

• There’s going to be no renewal, no revival, no awakening until we’re willing to let Him once again break us. Folk’s it’s getting late and it’s getting serious.

Oh Say Can You See...
What's become of our Light
While proudly we Hail
America's last Gleaming.
Blood red Stripes
Fifty Stars
Each a million Dead
Just so Far
While we pledge and we Sing
Our Children's Blood
goes on Streaming.
See Abortion's red Glare
Hear lies filling the Air,
"Choice, it's our Right"
to murder Children we Dare.
How long can our Star Spangled Banner
yet Wave
Or' a land become a Sea,
Of the Blood,
Of our Babes...

I suspect any or all of such choices would have proved memorable, meaningful and considered mean spirited at best. Nevertheless, we are called to speak the truth in love. The truth. The whole truth. And nothing but the truth. So help us God.

10. Prophetic advice, particularly Joel 2, mandates God's people repentant and embrace the kind of obedience required when calling the Sacred Assembly. Yet, as shown, Scripture suggests that the term Sacred Assembly should be reserved for those with the authority and/or spiritual power to effect immediate and substantial change. As in the case of Elijah and the queen of Israel's 450 prophet's of Baal. Following Elijah's fiery victory on Mt. Carmel, we are told God had preserved for for Himself "7,000 souls: the knees that haven’t bowed to the god Baal, the mouths that haven’t kissed his image." A fearfully small group, given Israel's population likely numbered in the low millions. And while these blessed men and women clearly pleased God, they seemed to make little or no practical difference in Satan's spiritual offensive devastating God's people and the world in which they lived.

As referenced when comparing Lot and Abraham, the difference between the secret 7,000 and the warrior prophet Elijah is that of a godly man verse a Man of God. Or put another way, a thermometer verse a Thermostat. The former may rightly tell the temperature. At least to some degree. The latter alone effects substantial change. An important distinction. One making the afore mentioned critiques all the more necessary and meaningful.

As previously discussed, Churchianity is ill prepared to discern, much less confront and overcome, past and present challenges. With hundreds of sects and denominations, clearly we've failed to invested the honest effort to Biblically judge between the many Christs the One true. Much less determine to what extent we actually believe, teach and/or obey the genuine gospel.

Unfortunately, modern Christianity is overrun with faulty reasoning. From misinformation and mistakes to heresies and cults. Our modes operandi is based on the Laodicean model of presumption. Billions believe their Biblical understanding is correct, all evidence to the contrary. Millions quickly assume salvation based on response to a traditional alter call (as Cahn issued at The Return). Whole denominations supplant presumption for faith. Frequently to the point of engaging the kind of profanity that has proved deadly in the past:

• During Exodus’ deliverance of God’s people, one of the first and most striking summary executions was that of Aaron the high priest’s own sons Nadab and Abihu for improvising with the worship formula.

• In his joy and zeal in returning the Ark of the Covenant to Israel, the warrior and king, psalmist and prophet David also found treating the sacred too commonly a deadly mistake. Rather than transporting the standard of God’s presence on the shoulders of a single clan of Levites as prescribed, he chose another way. One that ended with Uzzah killed by God as he attempted to keep the Ark from falling.

• The Book of Acts that Jonathan Cahn rightly hopes to emulate records a pair of New Testament believers, Ananias and Sapphire struck dead one after the other for exaggerating the amount of their free will gift to the apostle Peter. This passage is problematic on a variety of levels. First is the instantaneous death blow dealt to Ananias by the Holy Spirit, against Whom Ananias and Sapphira had sinned. Second is the follow up slaying of Sapphire, without any attempt by Peter to mitigate or intervene. Third is the precedent such a New Testament account sets, and it’s possible ramifications for modern Christianity. Wherein millions have held back for more from God than half the proceeds of sold property that was theirs to do with as they willed.

UPDATE: Roe vs. Wade Overturned

To the joy of countless millions, on Friday 6/24/22 the landmark decision Hobbs vs. Jackson by the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe vs. Wade. Thus auspiciously ending 40 years of national tyranny against 60 million pre-born.

Or at lease throwing the decision to allow mothers to continue conspiring with physicians to murder the offspring within their wombs back to America's 50 individual states...

While I now live in North East Texas, years ago I spent nearly 100 Saturdays at Central California clinics warning and imploring up to twenty girls a day to spare their babies. Via public parking constraints, forced to pass near I implored, “If God gives you the gift of a child don’t let anyone harm it.”

Often alone, sometimes there would be nearly a handful of us. On a good day, one or two mothers would listen and change their minds.

On many other occasions none at all.

As in Christ's end time parable of the Sheep and Goats, there I discovered Jesus in His smallest and most innocent form. Totally dependent for “food” and “drink,” “naked” and “in prison” in the very womb of His mother. There I watched as He was repeatedly carried, “Like a lamb to the slaughter,” into a medical clinic. A most solemn and sorrowful scenario with grave spiritual ramifications.

One repeated in Fresno alone over 50,000 times.

In over two years I don’t recall a single member of the clergy or even lay leader joining us. Though I understand the odds may have somewhat improved through the influence of 40 Days For Life.

Only a fraction of fraction of a percent of ordained ministers have served as a director of a leading pro-life organization. Far less still have had the honor and responsibility to act as a leading liaison to over a thousand churches in state wide pro-life political initiatives.

With well over thirty years in strategic Christian service, including more than a decade of pastoral ministry and pro-life activism, the author is privileged to belong to a select fraternity. This and other articles and books represent a culmination of experience. Using such depth perception, this commentary is intended to introduce the true nature of the challenge presented by abortion. Particularly to modern Christianity.

During California’s 2005 Prop. 73 Parent’s Right To Know initiative I produced the pro-life political DVD entitled “Protect Me…Please” to be shown in hundreds, if not thousands of churches, prior to or on election Sunday. Groundbreaking, the 3 minute video featuring post abortive laments of teenage girls, made the front page of both the LA Times and San Francisco Chronicle. Prop. 73 failed by a narrow margin.

During the subsequent Prop. 85 initiative I achieved another milestone. For the first time, four leading Protestant state denominations, the Southern Baptists, Assemblies of God, Calvary Chapel and Foursquare, officially endorsed a political initiative. Again Parent’s Right to Know (PRK) was defeated.

Our third attempt in 2008 with Prop 4. affectionately dubbed “Sarah’s Law” failed as well. More than political, my involvement was spiritually motivated. After having spoken to thousands of Christians across denominational lines, it was clear that far less than 1% of either clergy or laity had the vaguest notion of the scale of abortion’s true threat to either the pre-born or the Church.

As a topical Biblical commentary, Quantum Christianity was designed in recognition of the need to examine and handle truth carefully and honestly. Scriptural and otherwise. The nationalized legalization of clinical abortion, and its apparent overruling, presents a perfect case in point.

A faithful handling of the Old and New Testament requires would be students and adherents to develop spiritual discernment on a variety of subjects crucial to Scriptural Christianity. The lack of which has produced hundreds of differing denominations espousing various Christs and versions of the gospel. Tragically, many of the hopeful insights inherent in Christ's command to "Judge with righteous judgment" continue to go largely unrealized within modern Christianity.

Such is certainly the case when considering the American church's 40 year track record in regards to appropriately responding to abortion. Or more accurately, the lack thereof. Both clinically and contraceptively.

Bear in mind that church attending Christians could have ended abortion in a single day, 365 days a year, for nearly 40 years, by simply sending 1% of our congregations to have family friendly picnics in front of every abortion clinic in America. With thousands peacefully blocking entrances, even should there be numerous arrests, the sheer numbers involved would shut down all abortuaries in a single day. With 99% more authentically pro-life Christians waiting for a chance to join cause.

Yet nothing could be further from the case.

Nor have we seriously addressed the widespread use of abortifacient contraception throughout Christendom. A topic that many, if not most, pro-life organizations know or speak little about. Most often chemical in nature, early term abortions are a result of various forms of birth control and other devices. Abortions of this kind happen before the mother is aware of her pregnancy. The exact numbers are unknown. Some estimates suggest the daily total of these types of abortions may be surprising large. In the U.S. alone perhaps between 834,000 to over 4,000,000 per year (Dr. Bobmir Kuhar, Infant Homicides Through Contraceptives Pg 27.) Lower estimates range around 100,000 to over 1,500,000 annually (Randy Alcorn: Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? How Often Does the Pill Cause Abortions?)

Thus the compelling need to rethink Jesus' directive to "Judge with righteous judgment" should be abundantly evident.

But is it? Throughout the Hobbs vs. Jackson decision by the Supreme Court celebratory posts and podcasts, sermons and ceremonies, is there any awareness of the reality of the seriousness our situation? Or brokenhearted repentance in light of the depth of our failures?

Are any of today's joyful messages cognizant of the Bible's repeated warning that God is not mocked.

• “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap. Galatians 6:7 AMP

• For they sow the wind [in evil] And they reap the whirlwind [in disaster]. Hosea 8:7 AMP

• “If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.” Ephesians 4:28 New Living Translation

• “Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?” James 2:19-20 The Message

1. Halt: “If you are a thief, quit stealing.”

2. About Face: “Instead, use your hands for good hard work…”

3. March: “and then give generously to others in need.”

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