There are many reasons to celebrate Christmas and the advent of Christ. One of the best reasons for us is the celebration of how God kept His promises about sending Christ to Earth:

            * God promised Adam and Eve He would be born miraculously to a virgin, (Gen 3:15), and He was.

            *God promised Abraham that Christ would be a descendant of his (Gen 12:2), and He was.

            * God promised Jacob that Christ would come from the line of his son Judah (Gen 49:10), and He did.

            * God promised David that Christ would come from his Line (2 Sa 7:16), and He did.

            * God told Micah that Christ would be born in Bethlehem (Mi 5:2), and He was.

            * God told Daniel when Jesus would begin His ministry 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (Da 9:25), and He did, in 26 AD.

            * God told Isaiah where Christ would begin His ministry, in Galilee (Is 9:1), and He did.

            There are over 300 of specific prophecies recorded about Jesus, His ministry, and His resurrection. All have been fulfilled, giving us confidence that God’s promises to us will also be fulfilled.

            So as we gather to thank God for the greatest Christmas present of all, Jesus Christ, let us also rest secure in the knowledge that God can be trusted to keep all of His promises.       

            That trust is the source of our peace which passes understanding.

            So have a merry, peaceful Christmas.     

                In the first year of the Untied States of America under its new Constitution, 226 years ago on November 26, 1789, the New Nation celebrated its first Thanksgiving.

                President George Washington’s proclamation, with its emphasis on the Constitution and faithfulness to execute its laws, seems especially appropriate this year:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor . . . .

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these United States . . . that we then may all unite unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are now blessed. . . .

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discretely and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord, to promote the knowledge and practice for the true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows best.

So let us follow Washington’s admonition to be thankful and prayerful this Thanksgiving.

                Yesterday American voters sent a shockwave around the world by electing Donald Trump to be President of the United States.

                The election follows the longest and nastiest political campaign in recent U.S. history. Accusations flew as the candidates accused each other of reprehensible acts and, sadly, both were mostly telling the truth. Many voters held their noses and voted for one to stop the other.

Christians faced a further dilemma as they found both candidates lacking in integrity and Christian values. Some felt that Trump was like Persian King Cyrus, an unbeliever who freed the Israelite captives in Babylon. Others could not get comfortable voting for either candidate. However, many leaders urged Christians to look beyond the flawed candidates to their platforms, believing that one party was pro-Christian and the other was anti-Christian. In the end over 80% of Evangelicals voted for the Republican platform and Donald Trump.

Indeed, Trump’s election should produce a lessening of persecution of Christians in the U.S. The promised repeal of Obamacare should end government attempts to force Christians to pay for medical procedures like abortion which are opposed on religious grounds. Similarly, we can hope for some relief from government overreach on issues such as gay marriage. We can also expect that the new administration will suspend efforts to force little girls to shower with sexually confused boys. Finally, Trump has proposed to remove the IRS’s political muzzle from Churches and allow Christian input in the public square.

God has given us a reprieve, but much more needs to be done. All of the issues which have shaken the electorate –economic opportunity, immigration, law and order, public corporation and foreign policy – remain to be resolved in a Christian manner. Our social problems – single motherhood, fatherlessness, violence, immortality, and greed – are all spiritual problems which must be handled by the Church, not the government. We need political reform, but we need a revival much more.

We believe that God is sending us a revival based on the unity of Christians as Jesus prayed in John 17. (See our Blog of 3/30/16 “Blood Moon Revival Gains Momentum”)The Church is being called to come together as a witness for Jesus (See our Blog of 11/2/16 “Transcending Politics”). Let us pray for unity in Christ and a revival which will heal our land.

God has not given up on America, and He is not finished with America. He is just getting started

Next week as we celebrate Yom Kippur, the Hebrew Day of Atonement, we should also remember the miracle of the 1973 Yom Kippur war.

            After their miraculous victory over the Arabs in the 1967 war, Israel had become complacent and confident in its military superiority. Its 1967 enemies, Egypt and Syria, seethed with resentment and desire to avenge their humiliating defeat. Together they developed a plan to attack Israel in the Sinai dessert and the Golan heights using new tactics and new technology. The attack was set to take place on a date which would hit the Israelis when their preparedness was at its lowest point, the Yom Kippur Holy Day.

            The Israelites were taken completely by surprise. Worse, the Egyptians inflicted defeats on Israel tanks and air power using their new Soviet technology while the Syrian tank forces overwhelmed the few scattered Israeli tanks on duty. Israel was days away from a total collapse, but the Egyptians outran their technical protections and the Syrians were stopped by a handful of Israeli tanks. Miraculously the war turned around, resulting in a massive defeat of the Egyptians and Syrians. As a result, Egypt entered into a momentous peace treaty and Israel’s borders remained secure. God had turned disaster into security.

            In the years since the Yom Kippur miracle the hand of God can be seen as He has watched over Israel. The terrorist Palestinian Liberation Organization has been defeated and rendered impotent in the West Bank. Saddam Hussein, who wanted to take Jerusalem, attacked his Kuwaiti bankers instead and he and his threat to Israel have been eliminated. Another anti-semetic terrorist, Gadaffi, has been overthrown in Libya.

            The so-called “Arab Spring” brought instability and new threats to Israel, but God’s protection continues to be manifested. For a while it appeared that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt would wage war on Israel, but the Brotherhood was overthrown and its ally, the Hamas terrorists in Gaza, has been cut off from Egyptian support and defeated by Israel in a 2014 invasion. Syria has fallen into a full scale civil war where Israel’s enemies Iran and Hezbollah are fighting Israel’s other enemies Al Queda and ISIL, and leaving Israel alone for now. Thanks to God, the miraculous peace won in the 1973 Yom Kippur war is still holding.

            This is not to say that Israel is not still threatened.  We believe that Israel is in the middle of a 150 year war which is described in Revelation 9:1-11 (See our Blog of 5/11/16 “The Peace of Jerusalem”). But we also know that God watches over Israel.

 Let us thank God for His continued miraculous intervention on behalf of Israel.

And we pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

            This week on October 1^st the Chinese celebrate their national holiday marking the day Mao Tse-Tung officially established Communist rule in China. As his followers drove Christian Missionaries out of China and persecuted the 1 million Chinese Christians, no one expected Christianity to survive.

            To many Chinese the Church had become associated with the Western powers which had humiliated China over the previous century. The traditional religionists who had seen their deified emperor overthrown in 1912 blamed the Church for their decline, while the Secular Communists painted the Christians as enemies of the state. Many Christians died or were sent to prison as Mao tried to crush Christianity.

            Like the ancient Caesars, however, Mao did not understand that the Kingdom of God was on the inside of Believers, giving them strength to endure under persecution. The removal of the Missionaries did not end Christianity, but simply made the Church into a Chinese enterprise. When its property was confiscated it moved into the homes. And when its Chinese leaders were imprisoned, the Holy Spirit provided new leaders.

            As it had done during the Roman persecution, the Church provided hope in a brutal society and continued to grow. Instead of fading away, the Chinese Church has 115 million Believers today.     

            We thank God that Mao is dead and that the Church is alive. We pray for continued strength in the Chinese Church as it faces intermittent persecution and a new threat of Godless materialism arising from China’s adoption of a capitalist economic system.

 And may we in America learn to be as faithful as God’s Church in China.   

Another week of terrorist attacks at home and abroad reminds us that terrorism continues to be a tactic of choice for Islamic extremists.  

                The terror tactic has a long and tragic history. Military historians tell us that the worst terrorist of all time was Genghis Khan, whose armies destroyed the agricultural hinterlands of their enemies, drove the peasants into the cities, and then destroyed the cities without mercy. Second to the Mongolians were the Romans, who merely destroyed the cities without mercy. Modern examples abound, from the London Blitz to the 9/11 attack.

                As a military tactic, however, terrorism is a double edged sword. More often than not, it backfires on to the terrorists. Thus, the London Blitz steeled British resolve and in the end it was the cities of Germany that were reduced to rubble. Palestinian terrorist intifada attacks brought swift retribution and isolation behind the Israeli wall. The 9/11 perpetrators were tracked down and their Afghan sanctuary was overrun by Americans. It turns out, according to military historians, that terrorism only works for militarily dominant powers like Genghis Khan and Rome. For weaker opponents the terror tactic only leads to destruction.

                Even so, terrorists inflict much suffering from their self destructive path. There is also a spiritual battle, as terrorists hope to paralyze their enemies with fear and goad them into overreacting in order to create more terrorists. This is truly spiritual warfare, and we must use our spiritual weapons to defeat the terror tactic of the ultimate terrorist, Satan.

                We must first learn to pray blessings on our enemies. Not blessings for their violence, but blessings that their eyes be opened and that they will be satisfied with good things and desire to live in peace. Judgment still belongs to God, and it is for Him to avenge, not us. At the same time, God wants our enemies to come into His Kingdom, and we must not let bitterness or unforgiveness set us against God’s purposes. Instead we must deploy the powerful spiritual weapon of love to stay in step with God.

                We must also turn back the spirit of fear which has been sent against us. We know from the famous 91^st Psalm that our protection comes only from God, and that He will be with us in our trouble. Yet we also know that we can overcome the evil one if we do not love this life more than the next (See Rev. 12:11). Let us live fearlessly in faith as God intended, looking forward to the day when we will be called home to Heaven.

                Yes, we mourn for the victims of these cowardly terrorist attacks, and pray that God will comfort them. But we will not quit loving our enemies and living by faith.

                And, just as the terror tactic is a losing strategy for weaker opponents in the natural world, so is the terror tactic futile against the most powerful kingdom on Earth, the Kingdom of God.        

Every so often the Christian lunar calendar and the Rabbinical Jewish calendar get out of Sync. This is such a year, with the Christian Feast of Trumpets happening on September 1 and the Jewish Feast of Trumpets scheduled for October 2.

The calendar confusion status from the first month of the lunar year. For Christians comes when the fall moon at the middle of the month occurs after the Spring Equinox. In 2016 the first fall moon at the middle of the month occurs after that Spring Equinox. In 2016 the first fall moon after the equinox occurred on March 23, three days after the Equinox. This date is the time to celebrate Passover, and the Christians celebrated Easter on the first Sunday afterwards, on March 27.

The Rabbinical Jewish calendar, however, celebrated Passover a lunar month dated, on April 22. The difference between the Christian and Jewish calendars is the result of a decision by the Rabbis to abandon the use of actual lunar observations to determine the beginning of their months. Instead they developed a fixed calendar which will sometimes vary from the actual lunar calendar, as is the case in 2016. These calendar errors will also cause the Jews to celebrate Rosh Hashanah on October 2, Yom Kipper on October 11, and the Feast of Tabernacles on October 16, all one month later.

Christians who want to celebrate the actual day of the Jewish Fall Feasts should celebrate the Feast of Trumpets on September 1. It was celebrated in ancient Israel by the blowing of Trumpets, a sacred assembly, and a special sacrificial offering. The Jewish Rabbis stated that the Trumpet blasts were to bring Israel into remembrance of the Lord, to confound Satan, and to call men to repentance by awakening their slumbering spirits. With its emphasis on repentance and judgment, is a prophetic sign of the trumpet sound at Christ’s Return (See 1 Cor 15:52). Some think that the awakening of the dead at Trumpets is the source of the saying “Wake up O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph 5:14b).

But the feast of Trumpets is more than a prophetic picture for Christians. The Church needs to hear the trumpet call to remember God, confound Satan, and repent, just as the Israelites did. We need to awaken our slumbering spirits as the Israelites did with their trumpet blasts, and remember God and His Kingdom as we come into this critical election season of decision in America.

                Let us pray that the Church will hear the clarion call of the Trumpets and awaken from her slumber, to bring repentance and healing to our land.