On March 10, 1528 Martin Luther published a book which changed the course of history. And not for the better.

            His book, “The Book of Vagabonds and Beggars,” proposed that the State should establish a social welfare system to replace the Church in caring for the poor. Up until that time the Church had made care of the poor a centerpiece of its ministry. Giving to the poor was seen as a sign of Christian virtue and a sign of spiritual vitality in the Church.         

            Luther’s proposal was based on the idea of the State Religion, which had been a fixture of Christian life since the days of the Roman Empire (see our Blog of 2/24/16 “The Sword and the Spirit”) . In his view the Religious State should meet personal needs while the State-Sponsored Church should restrict itself to spiritual activities. This idea took hold throughout Protestant Northern Europe as the State began taxing citizens to pay for relief for the poor. It was the beginning of the modern Welfare state.

            Luther failed to take into account the possibility that the Religious State would quit being religious, pushing the Church out of community life. Beginning with the French Revolution, the State began to see itself as the source of Welfare not just for the poor, but for the whole society. With Godliness marginalized in secular States, the State itself became a substitute for God in the socialist, national socialist, and communist philosophies. Leaders like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Mao gained power by promising to use the godlike power of the State to bring prosperity to the masses. What came instead was poverty and death.

            The ghost of Luther’s bad idea still haunts the world today. The Welfare States of Greece, Italy, and Spain are facing financial collapse, and their European neighbors are not far behind. In countries like Venezuela ruthless leaders destroy their national economies to buy power from the masses. Even the rich United States is marching toward a crisis as its Welfare State becomes unsustainable. No one knows what will happen with these nations become unable to keep their Welfare promises.                  

            What Luther and the modern Welfare States have forgotten is that God will not share His Glory with usurpers. Like the a gods of Egypt humbled in the Exodus, God has shown that the socialist, communist, and Welfare states are not the gods of provision they claim to be. It is not a question of if, but when, failure will occur. The real question remaining is what the Church will do about it.

            We must pray that the Church will rise up to the crisis and the opportunity coming from the collapse of the Welfare State. The crisis will come as people’s needs are no longer met by Government, and social order breaks down. The opportunity comes if the Church follows God’s admonition to care for the poor, revitalizes Church institutions for the poor, and creates a Godly order in the midst of chaos.    

            Let us pray that the people will once again look to God as their source as they one did before Luther’s bad idea led us astray.     

       On February 27^th in 380 AD Roman Emperor Theodosius made Christianity into the official state religion. It was one of the most catastrophic events in Church history.

Up until the time Constantine legalized the Church in 313 AD, the great strength of the Church was the fact that the Kingdom of God resided within the believers. Under Constantine the Church became “respectable” and began to attract the ambitious and worldly who would make a show of outward piety without an inward transformation. After 380 AD, the Church was swamped with unconverted Pagans and the outward rituals replaced the inner power for most Church members. And the Church adopted Pagan holidays and rituals to make the Pagans feel more at home.

            The first to clothe themselves in the new mantle of the State religion were the emperors themselves. The major church Bishops at Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem also caught the power bug. Within less than a century the Jewish Bishop of Jerusalem was gone, the Antioch church was forced out to become the Nestorian Church, and the Egyptian Christians were forced out to become the Coptic Church. The Bishop of Rome was forced to trade Church recognition for military protection in Western Europe in order to remain independent of the Eastern Roman Emperor and the Bishops of Constantinople. In 1054 AD the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox finally split and went their separate ways.

            The marriage between Church and State meant that religious questions would be solved with the sword instead of the Spirit. Early victims of the sword included the Arian Christian Visigoths and the Coptic Christians. Instead of sending missionaries, the State Church sent armies to forcibly convert the heathen and the heretics. When the European Church split between Protestants and Catholics the rulers forced their own views to be followed in their realms and millions of Christians were martyred. Sadly, only in recent history has the concept of religious freedom been accepted in Christian nation.

            As we escape the long dark night of State religion it is good to remember Paul’s advice in the 14^th chapter of Romans to tolerate the faith of our Christian brothers and Peter’s advice from his first letter to treat non-Christians with gentleness and respect. Finally, our Popes, Archbishops, Bishops, Pastors, and Elders have cast aside their swords and are (mostly) trying to follow Christ’s command to love their brothers. The Spirit has triumphed over the sword.

            Let us pray for reconciliation of the Church and focus on expanding the whole Kingdom of God. Pray that the world will know us not by our swords, but by our love and unity in the Spirit.       

China’s state sanctioned Christian churches have come under brutal persecution since the new Chinese leader Xi Jinping took office in 2013.

China’s house churches, which refused to accommodate the government, have frequently been targeted for persecution. However, the state sanctioned churches have generally avoided direct confrontation with the government. They have chosen their battles carefully, have provided social services to the needy, and have tried to operate within the legal structure. Until recently they had good relationships with the government.

Now all of that has changed. The government considers the Church to be s security threat. The local authorities have been told to stop the spread of Christianity, and are showing force by destroying thousands of Christian Church crosses. When the leader of the sanctioned Church, Ga Yuese, protested the persecution in January, he was removed from his position and disappeared into prison.    

The Chinese Church has faced persecution before, growing from 1 million at the Communist takeover in 1949 to 130 million today. You have to go all the way back to the Roman Empire to see such church growth in the face of persecution. The lesson for all of us is that a Church which knows its God and lives out its faith in word and deed will overcome the persecution of its enemies.

 There is also a lesson from the Roman Empire for the enemies of the Church. Nero, the first Emperor to persecute the Church (64 AD), was driven out of power and committed suicide. Domitian, the next persecutor (95 AD), was assassinated. The persecution by Marcus Aurelius (160 AD) was accomplished by a smallpox plague. Persecutors Decius (251 AD) died in battle and Valerian (257 AD) was captured by the Persians. In the last and worst persecution (303 AD), the anniversary of which comes this week, Diocletian abdicated and Maximum II died in battle. Ten years later, 313 AD, Emperor Constantine bowed his knee to the Lord and legalized Christianity.

Given the bad end of the Roman persecutors of Christians it should not surprise us to see the problems which are beginning for Chinese premier Xi Jiuping. Economic growth has stalled, his stock market has suffered a humiliating crash, and unrest is rising. We can only hope that he will see the light, understanding that Christians are the best friends of an honorable ruler, before it is too late.

Pray for the persecuted Christians of China. But also pray for their persecutors, that they, like Saul of Tarsus, with see the light, repent, and be saved.               

It has become fashionable in some circles to deny the Christian foundations of the United States. This week, when we celebrate President’s Day on February 15, would be a good time to listen to the words of our national Fathers and join them in their prayers for America:

Benjamin Franklin: On the Need for Divine Guidance

            “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?

            We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our partial local interests; out projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down on future ages.

            And what is worse, mankind may thereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

            I therefore beg leave to move – that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.” – June 28, 1787 at the Constitutional Convention

George Washington: Prayer for the United States

            “Almighty God, We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy Holy protection; and Thou wilt incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the Field.

            And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation.

            Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Thomas Jefferson: National Prayer for Peace

            “Almighty God, Who has given us good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners.

            Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitude brought hither out of many kindred and tongues.

            Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those who in Thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth.

            In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail, all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”

Abraham Lincoln: National Day of Prayer and Humiliation

            “Whereas, the Senate of the United States devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and Government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation:

            And whereas, it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord:

            And insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subject to punishment and chastisement in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?

            We have been recipient of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.

            But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

            Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

            It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sin and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

            Now, therefore, in compliance with the request and fully concurring in the view of the Senate, I do, by this proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30^th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer.

            And I do hereby request all the people to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping that day holy to the Lord and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

            All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high and answered with blessings no less than the pardon of our national sins and restoration of our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

            In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand to caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. By the President: Abraham Lincoln.”

To which we can only add: Amen.

            In the early Church the date of February 4 was set aside as “Dismal Day”.

            Dismal Day was a somber day set aside to remember the plagues of Egypt during the Exodus. The name “dismal” itself means “Evil days” and was intended to memorialize the woe and suffering of the Egyptians. Rather than celebrate the victory of the Israelites, the purpose of the day was to serve as a reminder of the consequences of disobeying God. Thus, the reflective and introspective mood of the day.

            At the time of the Exodus in 1446 BC Egypt was the most powerful nation on earth. The Israelites, who had come in 1876 BC, had settled in an area of the Eastern Nile Delta known as Goshen. After the death of their champion Joseph in about 1806 BC, the Egyptian Pharaohs became fearful of the Israelites and made them into slaves. One of the Pharaohs had even initiated an infanticide against the Israelite children in about 1526 BC. It was a survivor of this holocaust, a stuttering 80 year old named Moses, whom God chose to confront the most powerful man in the world.

            Of course the Pharaoh refused to submit to God’s command to let his people go, and God sent the famous Ten Plagues of Egypt. Because of their stubbornness, the Egyptians saw their river die, their crops fail, their livestock destroyed, and finally their children die. Then, to top it off, their army was destroyed chasing the Israelites and the entire country of Egypt was later overrun by foreign invaders. Certainly “Evil Days” for the Egyptians.   

            It is unfortunate that the Church no longer sets apart Dismal Day to remember the consequences of rebellion against God. To remember how the most powerful Nation on Earth brought judgment on itself by mistreating God’s people and killing God’s children. To remember how their river died, their agriculture economy shriveled, their children were lost, and their military was humbled. To remember how defiance of God’s commands destroyed the most powerful Nation on Earth. And to seek God because it is beginning to unfold again right before our eyes.  

            For his people, God had set aside the land of Goshen as a place of safety, and they were spared from the seven last plagues sent on Egypt. Today many Intercessors believe that God has set aside Lands of Goshen in America, and that He will make a distinction between those states, cities, and people who follow Him and these who do not. Just compare the economies of places like Texas where God is honored with California where He is not. This is no time to disregard God’s plans and purposes.

            The Nation is in serious trouble as it suffers more and more from its disobedience. The Church needs to humble itself and pray for an Awakening.

            Dismal Day would be a good time to start. 

            Most Christians recognize Nimrod as the builder of the Tower of Babel, but few know the whole story and recognize his influence down through the ages.

            The historical Sumerian Kings list records him as “Enmer Kar”, a name which translates into vowelless Hebrew as “NMR” (Nimrod) with the name “Kar” meaning “The Hunter” (as Nimrod is known in the Bible).  The Sumerians credit him with introducing the worship of the “Queen of Heaven,” a false pagan goddess which has come down the ages as Inana, Asherah, Isis, Venus, and numerous others.  The Tower of Babel was a Ziggurrat, or a magical model of heaven, where the pagan “Gods” from heaven could be contacted.  Josephus tells us that Nimrod rebelled against God because he hated God for judging mankind in Noah’s Flood.   His name “The Hunter” indicates a violent disposition, and many believe that he was a Tyrant who hunted men.

            Nimrod had set himself above the plans and purposes of God.  After the flood God had commanded mankind to fill the Earth, but Nimrod kept them under his thumb in Mesopotamia.  Nimrod went so far as to set himself up as the “Seed of Woman”, the Messiah promised in Gensis 3:15, to cement His political power. 

            But God sent the Tower of Babel judgment, producing a civil war which overthrew Nimrod and scattered humanity over the Earth.  Sadly, however, many ambitious men had learned from Nimrod and took the Nimrod Spirit with them to enslave their fellow men.

            So we see the Nimrod Spirit echoing through the ages in rulers like the Pharaohs of Egypt, the Kings of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler and Mao Tse Tung, to name a few, following Nimrod’s path to power.  The Nimrod Spirit comes upon those who want to rule over other men, establishing tyrannical government and putting themselves above God and His purposes.  The Nimrod Spirit deceives the followers of the Tyrant through a false religion such as paganism, or a false philosophy such as Communism, which legitimizes the power of the Tyrant.  For those who are not deceived, the Hunter rules through fear and terror.

            Even today, the Nimrod Spirit controls most of the nations of the Earth. Nimrod is constantly looking for ways to subvert those nations with shared power or democratic institutions, as in the African tragedies of “one man, one vote, one time” after Colonialism or the subversion of Russia by Putin. Religious tyranny from the Nimrod Spirit can be seen in ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, and in many Islamic nations such as Iran.  Even in the United States individual liberties are being eroded by an increasingly powerful government.  Outside of government the Nimrod Spirit is active in large businesses and social institutions.  The Church is also plagued by the Nimrod Spirit as many pastors and leaders are more intent of building their own kingdoms than in building God’s Kingdom.

            The answer to the Kingdoms of the Nimrod Spirit is to move into the Kingdom of God.  God’s Kingdom comes within the believers, giving them discernment to see through Nimrod’s deceptions and power to overcome the fear weapon of Nimrod.  Christians should be on guard against the Nimrod Spirit in their churches, remembering that Jesus established a standard of Servant Leadership which is diametrically opposed to Nimrod.  Churches are to be run by the mothers and fathers, called Elders in the Bible, who are interested in the outcome of their flock, rather than Nimrod Spirit leadership which is often interested only in the income from the flock.

            Let us begin our prayer warfare against the Nimrod Spirit at home by praying that the Nimrod Spirit will be exposed and driven out of our churches.  Pray for a revival of Servant Leadership and a spirit of Unity between church leaders which will bring them together to advance God’s Kingdom, not their own.

            Beyond the Church it is easy to identify the Nimrod Spirit in action.  Washington, D.C. is full of Nimrods, as are corporations, unions, universities, and the media.  Even Christians have been deceived by false philosophies such as Socialism or the attempt to submerge individual rights into group rights, as in some labor unions, which create group leaders who are often little Nimrods.  We are desperately in need of a Christian Awakening to remove the blinders and drive the Nimrod Spirit out of our government before it is too late.    Only a revival, expanding the Kingdom of God, can save us from the Nimrod Spirit.

            Throughout the world the Nimrod spirit continues its bloody march through history, keeping billions of people in tyranny and the resulting poverty.  In the last few months we have seen bloody results of the Nimrod Spirit operating in France, Syria and Nigeria. As in America, the only answer is the Kingdom of God, which has liberated some two billion of us from the Kingdom of Darkness ruled by Satan, the ultimate Nimrod.   In the end Satan will rally the Nimrods of the Earth to fight against Jesus as He returns to establish the outward Kingdom of God, and then Nimrod Spirit will final be broken.

            Until then, we must use the spiritual weapons of our warfare to keep praying for the expansion of the Kingdom of God and freedom from the Nimrod Spirit.

               On Monday, January 18 the U.S. will celebrate the Martin Luther King holiday, honoring the life of an American hero and a Christian martyr.

               Dr. King grew up in a world where many people believed that the black African people were inferior to the white Europeans. This belief, which was used to support slavery in the U.S. and the colonization of Africa by Europe, directly contradicts Biblical teaching that all humans are from the same family and that God commands us to love our brothers. However, the rise of Secularism and a Darwinistic view of the human race gave a scientific veneer to the myth of racial superiority. To their shame, even some Churches went along with the lie. Modern science has now proven that all humans came from the same mother, as the Bible teaches, and that there is more genetic difference within the races than between them.

               So Thomas Jefferson was right when he said all men are created equal. But making that statement a reality has been a long battle in the U.S. We fought the Civil War to end slavery, and the war brought God’s judgment, as one soldier died for each slave imported into the country and the slaveholding South was devastated. Nevertheless, racial inequality was reborn in the “Jim Crow” system of laws which discriminated against black people in the South. After the Second World War black servicemen who had proven themselves the equal of their white brothers found it more and more difficult to accept their oppression.

            In many countries oppressed minorities had taken up arms, but the U.S. was spared from this fate. Instead, a black Baptist pastor called on his people to use nonviolent Christian principles to bring about change. Dr. King’s Civil Rights crusade eventually bought an end to the Jim Crow laws and led to a broad level of reconciliation between the races. Sadly, he and many others gave their lives to bring about the nonviolent Civil Rights revolution.

            We still have some work to do to reach Dr. King’s goal of a color blind society and full racial reconciliation. But on this day we celebrate a Baptist pastor who used Christian principles and his Christian faith to bring his white and black brothers together.

            Let us pray that Dr. King’s memory will be honored by reconciliation and unity, and that those who would divide and promote hatred, whether white or black, will be exposed and repudiated.