Where Are We?
WHERE ARE WE?
(PANIC, POLITICS WITH PURPOSE AND PRAYER)
By Jeannette Haley
“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” – Matthew 10:28
It’s interesting to watch people and how they respond to bad news and insane mandates that are based on the old tried and tested lies that it’s “science,” or “the law,” or “for your own good,” or “it’s your duty.” Fear and guilt are the most powerful control mechanisms on earth, and every cult leader knows it.
Personal pranks are one thing, but global pranks, or hoaxes, are something else! People suffer and die, economies collapse, personal property and freedoms are lost, and the faith and patience of the saints is severely tested. I’ve never been fond of pranks or pranksters, but this current evil end-days’ series of pranks foisted on an unsuspecting world by Satan, the father of lies, and those whom he controls, has been, and is designed to destroy “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Our economy, social order, way of life, and freedom to gather and worship God is under attack with the goal of destroying America as a nation. Actually, as I write this, more proof has just come in from a Chinese virologist whistleblower that it is biowarfare originating with the CCP military, and with the help of eugenicist Dr. Fauci, and the communist media, they “hoaxed” the whole world. This plot may have been just another plot by the Chinese communists to destroy America so they can rule the world, but it goes even deeper and higher than the communists. The plan to depopulate the entire world until there are only 500,000,000 people left that the “elite,” Satanist, globalists can control has been in the works far longer than most people are aware of.
If you’re reading this and think I’ve “gone around the bend” may I remind you that this fact has not been hidden, nor has it been kept out of plain sight. In fact, it’s literally carved in stone and you can read all about it on the Internet. For example, the Georgia Stones were put into place covertly, and unveiled on March 22, 1980. The plans spelled out on these huge stones are in line with the goals of the Club of Rome and the United Nations such as: Dramatically reducing the population of the world, promoting environmentalism, establishing a world government, and promoting a new spirituality. Sound familiar?
The good news is, no evil plots contrived in heaven, or on earth, or beneath the earth can be unknown to JEHOVAH GOD. Therefore, does this mean that the Church should remain ignorant, indifferent, distanced and in large part, fast asleep? NO! If God wanted His people to be ignorant, uninvolved, and unprepared for such a time as this He would not have forewarned us of these times in His Word. Now that the inhabitants of the world, including Christians, are being pushed, pressured, prodded and prohibited from normal living, working, and worshipping the initial fear that ushered in a global panic is finally turning into anger.
Having said all that, however, there are still a large number of both misinformed, or uninformed people who are either fearful or in a full panic. Living in fear is counterproductive, and giving way to sheer panic destructive. Christians are human, we all are, and when danger or a sudden threat rises up against us, fear is a natural emotional reaction. But, an on-going, ever-present fear of man, fear of the future, fear of Satan, and fear of death does not produce a strong and victorious Christian overcomer. Fear must give way to faith, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” Romans 10:17. It’s way past time to turn off the TV and other media devices, and delve into the Word of God, and then receive it, believe it, and live by it.
I’m sure most of us can relate to how the children of Israel felt when they saw Pharaoh and all the chariots and horsemen of Egypt marching towards them when they had no place to flee. We read in Exodus 14:10 that they were “sore afraid.” Why did God allow them to end up “between a rock and a hard place?” One reason is because God wanted them to learn to depend on Him, and not man. The panic they experienced resulted in just such a response because in that same verse we read, “the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.” We read in verse 18 the second reason God allowed this seemingly impossible situation, He said, “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.”
Oh fearful, fainting heart! In such a time as this, should not the LORD’s people raise their voices and declare, “The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him,” and, “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:2, 11.)
Even though the LORD tells us to not fear what man can do to us, He does not condemn us for those times when fear slams against us. Consider King David who fled for fear of Saul to Achish, the king of Gath (1 Samuel 21:12) and the prophet Elijah, who after a great victory over 450 prophets of Baal fled in fear from Queen Jezebel (1 Kings 19.) Of course, we know that David wrote 75 Psalms that encourage our hearts. Psalm 3, for example, which David wrote when he fled from Absalom, offers powerful words of encouragement for us in these perilous times.
We need to stop, step back and consider just where all this panic that’s gripped the world for over a year came from. There are many contributing avenues to this whole mess, but as children of God we need to pray for God’s perspective, and then view world events through it. In other words, instead of limiting our scope of vision through our own narrow mindset where we point an accusing finger at a particular political person, party, or president, we instead need to ask God to give us a love for the truth, the character to accept that truth, and courage that enables us to pursue that truth regardless of the cost to our pride and pre-conceived ideas. After all, most of what we think and believe, until the mind of Christ is developed in us, is merely based on the conditioning of others and our own faulty opinions. This is why discipleship is so vital! If people do not have the right foundation of Jesus Christ and His Word, and who build instead on the shifting sand of man’s “fake news,” corrupted conclusions, and false prophets they will blindly stumble through life, and fall into destruction in the end. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
Therefore, we have to get past all the “politics” and believe what the Bible tells us concerning who, what, why, how and where so that we can come to an understanding and plainly see, or discern, who is behind global events that eventually filter down to local and personal events, what the goal is, why this is happening, how it is working, and where it is leading to. The question is, where is the church? David Lane of the American Renewal Project wrote this timely description of the church: “The chickens are finally coming home to roost from secularism’s century-long assault on the American culture, where an illusory, make-believe world is presently being propelled by “altered” facts and conclusions. All the while hunkered down behind the four walls of the building with its trifling subculture, minuscule footprint in the culture, and firing blanks, American Christendom has no detectable ability to address America’s dissolution and demise, let alone counteract it.”
He also wrote this timely call to action: “We the people must come together and pray! Every church in America should have a pastor, elder, deacon, or congregant running for local office [school board, city council, county commissioner, etc.] in 2022, 2024, 2026, and thereafter. Jesus’ ekklesia Kingdom assignment from Matthew 16:18 should be the focus of American Christendom, with the standard of measure being such issues as ‘Is our city becoming more like the Kingdom of Heaven?’ Any casual observer of American Christendom will easily recognize the great difference between the modern church and what Jesus said He would build. Over the last century Christian leadership collectively moved from producing and launching leaders into the public square to merely feeding flocks of voiceless followers in its increasingly isolated communities. The Church went from apostolic leadership to pastoral leadership. We have arrived at our kairos, the New Testament Greek word for ‘the appointed time in the purpose of God.’ In his Gleanings in Joshua, Arthur W. Pink says this about it: ‘It would indeed be strange if we apprehended how that on the one hand Canaan was a free gift unto Israel, which they entered by grace alone; and on the other that they had to fight for every inch of it!’”
For your consideration, here is a quick overview from Joshua Bontrager’s online article, “Why Christians Need to be Involved in Politics”: God Created Government (Romans 13:1, 2; 13; Genesis 9); God Requires Government Officials to Administer Justice (Romans 13:4; I Peter 2:14; Genesis 9:6; Proverbs 29:4); God Charges Civil Rulers to Fear Him (2 Samuel 23:3; Exodus 18:21). Proverbs 29:2 affirms, “When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice.” “As God greatly used righteous individuals like Joseph, Daniel, Nehemiah, Esther, and Mordecai in the midst of corrupt civil governments, so too He can use Christians today. Those who fear God are best prepared to be civil rulers.”
The church in America, for the most part, has lost its light, and its saltiness. Jesus warned the church at Ephesus, even after He commended them for their works, labor, patience, shunning of evil, discernment, and perseverance that they had left their first love. He said, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent” Revelation 2:5. So what has replaced the “first love” of the post-modern church in America? In order to answer that, all you have to do is “look, listen and learn;” that is, look at what they do, where they go, how they interact, and, yes, how they dress (is it modest, or sensuous?) Then, listen to what Christians talk about concerning church, what they “get out of it,” and “how good it makes them feel. Is their life becoming more Christ-like, and are they overcomers, or are they still worldly (and sinful) with Jesus merely “tacked on?” In short is their emphasis on Christ or on self?
Jesus said He was building His Church and the “gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18.) 1 Peter 2:5 tells us, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” As a “holy priesthood” that “offers up spiritual sacrifices” that are “acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,” we cannot partake of “other men’s sins” (1 Timothy 5:22b), “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” Ephesians 5:11.
What has this to do with politics in America, and the demise of both the church and our country? It has everything to do with it! I have only referred to a few verses from the Bible, but the truth is, every Word out of the mouth of God is what we are to live by TODAY! It wasn’t just written for people way back in the dusty past, but it is as relevant for us today as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow. That means for the Church of Jesus Christ to prostitute herself by coming into agreement with the lifestyles of homosexuals, or any of the “LGBTQ” perversions is a deadly defilement. Neither has God dismissed the slaughter of the innocents as inconsequential, and something that the Church should remain silent about. (Now, we know that these things are not the “unforgiveable sin” but sin it still is, and a great offense to our holy God, and needs to be genuinely repented of from a broken spirit and a contrite heart. Failure to do so will result in eternal damnation.)
We can claim that we love America and we love the Church, but how much do we love Jesus? Do we love Him enough to BE the Church rather than just play Church? Do you love Him enough to let Him search your heart to see if there is anything that you love more than Him, such as “loving” the pastor because his sermons make you feel good about yourself, or loving the social life of the Church more than fellowshipping and walking with the Lord daily and obeying His commandments? Do you truly worship Him in the “beauty of holiness” or do you worship the worship? Do you hunger and thirst for more of Jesus, or are you a pleasure seeker who has found the same kinds of fun, friends, excitement, entertainment and pleasure in your church as the world offers? If so, here is what God says to you: 1 Kings 18:21, “…How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him….” Isaiah 29:13, “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.” Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” James 1:8; 4:4, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” 1 John 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Revelation 3:15, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot.” Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Jacques Ellul sums up the why Christians need to be involved in patriotism and politics: “The Christian who is involved in the material history of this world is involved in it as representing another order, another master (than the prince of this world), another claim (than that of the natural heart of man). Thus he must plunge into social and political problems in order to have an influence on the world, not in the hope of making it a paradise, but simply in order to make it tolerable — not in order to diminish the opposition between this world and the Kingdom of God, but simply in order to modify the opposition between the disorder of this world and the order of preservation that God wills for it — not in order to “bring in” the Kingdom of God, but in order that the gospel may be proclaimed, that all men may really hear the good news of salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ.” Thus, the duty of the Christian to stand up, speak up, safeguard and secure righteousness, truth, and the Constitution is not only valid, but vital if we are to preserve our God-given rights, and freedoms, to worship God, preach the Gospel and live for God. Indeed, if we obey evil leaders, submit to unconstitutional mandates, and meekly succumb to whatever lies we are told, (whether they be in the church or in government), we are denying the Lord who bought us, while selling our souls to try and save our lives. Jesus asked, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36.
Obviously, if a person is truly a born again, Spirit-filled Christian, who has been reconciled to God, he or she must have a greater purpose for being here than living and working, plotting and conniving to “gain the whole world”. There should be a great distinction between those who love the world and those who love Christ. Can we honestly say that there is much difference between the goals of the world and the goals of the organized church these days? Oswald Chambers, writing on reconciliation with God, wrote, “Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.
“Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “…that I may know Him…” (Philippians 3:10). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me. My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God. Am I measuring my life by this standard or by something less?”
What has this got to do with the state of the world, the church and politics? The answer is, try to imagine what the world would be like if the traditional church had not forsaken her high holy calling to go out into the world, to preach the Gospel and make disciples to the Lord Jesus Christ, and had kept herself from fornication, idolatry, love of money, satanic heresies, ecumenism, pornography, perversions, worldly music, methods and the “modern” mentality? Even Joseph Stalin, a former dictator of the Soviet Union said, “America is like a healthy body and its resistance is three-fold: its patriotism, its morality and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.” John Adams wisely said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” How right they both were!
Wake up Church! We are about to lose our Republic forever. Where are the pastors who have the courage to stand up, and wake up their snoozing congregations to the dangerous satanic forces we face? “The Black Robed Regiment was the name that the British placed on the courageous and patriotic American clergy during the Founding Era (a backhanded reference to the black robes they wore). Significantly, the British blamed the Black Regiment for American Independence, and rightfully so, for modern historians have documented that: There is not a right asserted in the Declaration of Independence which had not been discussed by the New England clergy before 1763.” (From www.nationalblackroberegiment.com ).
The sad truth is many Christians are not going to wake up until it’s too late, for they have been lulled to sleep by man’s theories and conclusions that have no foundation whatsoever in Scripture. One example is the “cheap grace gospel” which guarantees that all a person has to do to be saved and go to heaven when they die is to “accept” Jesus by quoting a “sinner’s prayer.” These undisicpled, Laodicean types will be arguing with God on judgment day, saying, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils; and in thy name done many wonderful works” Matthew 7:22? The second reason most of the Church is still asleep, especially in America, is because they have swallowed the rapture-before-tribulation sleeping pill which has rendered them ineffective, inept, incompetent, and indifferent to the reality of where we really are. God forgive us, God have mercy on us, God help us!
The question is where are we? Where are we now that the people of the world, and the church, have been blindsided with well-planned, panic-causing propaganda on a global scale never before seen? Where are we now that the unspeakable evil of whole governments, political leaders, the high and mighty (and that includes some super wealthy religious leaders) with all their riches, power and control have been, and are, being exposed? Where we are we now that so much of what we have been taught for generations by both the world, and the church, is proving to be untrue? Where are we now that biblical prophecies that we “weren’t supposed to see” are being fulfilled around the world, by the hour?
In such a time as this, Jesus is still telling His children that we ought always to pray, and not to faint. (See Luke 18.) Paul said, “Pray without ceasing” 2 Thessalonians 5:17. Jesus said, “Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” Luke 21:36. I don’t know about where you are right now, but as for me, in my heart of hearts, I’m praying “on my face” before the throne of God for, “My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me” Psalm 63:8. “The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.” 2 Samuel 22:3. “GOD is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea” Psalm 46:1, 2. And, finally, in closing, one of my favorite verses, Psalm 34:7, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” Is this where you are?