Category: Resource Notes

            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. 

            Last week marks the anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, when Germany declared war on France.

            Before the war, the ten European colonial powers effectively ruled the world. They stood at the pinnacle of an era of incredible technological innovation. Trains, autos, steamships, radio, gasoline, steel, electricity, and many other inventions of the industrial revolution transformed the lives of First World citizens. Trade and prosperity reached record highs and most imagined that the human progress would climb ever upward.

            This week also marks the anniversary of the final stage of the world wars which began in 1914, when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Japan. The short span of 31 years from 1914 to 1945 had seen the overthrow of the European hegemony and the emergence of only two powers, the U.S. and Russia. Third world colonies of the great powers gained independence, and the nation of Israel was reborn. Prosperity finally returned to the First World and those new nations which had avoided the traps of socialism and communism. We have seen great technological advances and now, as in 1914, most imagine that human progress will continue its upward climb.

            The Bible speaks of a time when the world would be ruled by “Ten Kings” (see Rev 17:12). Those ten nations, the European Colonial Powers, were used by God to break up the dominance of pagan religions in the world and create an opening for the Gospel to be preached (See Rev 17:16). From this opening has come the powerful revivals we see in Africa, Asia, and South America today.

            Sadly, the ten nations have not participated in the Christian revival. Instead, most embraced secularism and attacked or marginalized Christianity. Believing themselves to be wise, they left their Christian belief and values behind. The result was a descent into brutality, atrocity, genocide, and destruction. Because they lost their faith, the Ten Kings also lost their place.

            The message for America today is to be on watch lest we lose our way and lose our place. Our faith is the foundation of our place, and without our faith we can fall backwards into depravation as the Ten Kings did.

            Let us pray for Christian awakening and a realization that our foundations must be restored if our nation is to survive.

Last week we were told that the Russians had hacked the Democratic Party’s e-mails.

Everyone was outraged that the Russians would do such a thing. Especially the Democrats, who accused the Russians of interfering in our Democratic election process by exposing how the Democrats had interfered in the democratic election process by sabotaging the Presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders. Focusing rage on the Russians worked well with the slavish media, but the Sanders delegates walked out of the convention anyway.   

Donald Trump jumped in with both feet, landing with a foot in his mouth as he often does. He suggested that the Russians turn over the 33,000 deleted Clinton e-mails which they almost certainly have. The Democrats and their loyal media allies accused him of encouraging Russian hacking, ignoring the fact that the Clintons had destroyed the server in question so it could not now be re-hacked .They also seemed to have suddenly thought that there were vital national secrets hidden in those 33,000 “personal” e-mails.

Then Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor who stole documents and fled to Russia, weighed in by criticizing Wikileaks, which had actually released the e-mails. Wikileaks shot back a tweet saying that his sympathy for the Democratic party won’t get him a pardon from Clinton. We’ll see.

Finally, the author of Clinton Cash, Peter Schweizer, has exposed a Clinton connection to Russia which could explain Putin’s apparent hostility to Clinton. It seems that while she was Secretary of State she gathered a group of Clinton Foundation donors and/or Clinton speech “Clients”, including some Russians, to help Putin establish a high tech center. Putin used the high tech center to access U.S. military technology, building missiles, advanced radar, and military aircraft. Then, when Putin began using his military against Ukraine, the FBI put out warnings about the Russian technology theft, and the Democratic administration imposed economic sanctions.  

It appears that Putin feels betrayed by Clinton and the Democrats. Perhaps that e-mail leak was a warning shot, letting them know that he expects them to come back in line. Maybe he wants his money back. There is also the possibility that Putin is so angry that he will release the other, possibly incriminating, e-mails and sabotage Clinton’s Presidential campaign. Putin may even think that he can work better with Trump.

Many Christians have been praying that hidden secrets will be revealed in the election. And it seems that the Lord has worked through His enemies, as He often does, to begin answering that prayer.

The American people have an important choice to make this November, and it seems that both candidates for President are terribly flawed. We must seek God in prayer for His answer.

We must also be in prayer about a political system where the two most disliked people in America are running for President. It seems that the Christians who make up over 70% of our population had been marginalized. That reason is simple: The Church is divided. As Lou Engle, Christian prayer leader, has said, “A divided Church cannot heal a divided nation.”

Pray that the Church will unite in answer to Christ’s prayer in John 17. Then pray that God will send a revival to heal our land, before it is too late.            

                Today’s heated debate about immigration serve as an ironic reminder of the millions of aborted children whose loss makes immigration a necessity for the U.S.

                Infanticide and abortion have always been with us, and it was not until the 1870’s that the American Medical Association led the fight to outlaw abortion in the U.S. However, abortion advocates fought back, with Planned Parenthood organizers wanting to abort black children for racial reasons and others wanting to abort babies for genetic or racial purity. Finally, with the sexual revolution and rise of Feminism, abortion was forced upon the U.S. by our Supreme Court in 1973. As a result, we’ve lost over 50 million American Babies.

                With the advent of legalized abortion and sexual “Freedom”, the birth rate in the U.S. and the Western World began to fall. As the birthrate in one country after another continued to fall, the birthrate dropped below population replacement rates. As a result, these countries are experiencing declines in population, a phenomenon known as Demographic Collapse. At the same time, the average age of the population is increasing, leaving fewer workers to meet the needs of society.

                Demographic Collapse, in addition to being a spiritual and human tragedy, is an economic disaster. A shrinking population means that economic growth is reversed, causing stagnation and then contraction. Economic contraction means lower tax collections and a reduction in national finances and power. Even worse, the decrease in young workers means that social welfare programs such as government funded retirement and medical benefits become unsustainable. So societies which murder their own children are actually killing their own future.

                The process of Demographic Collapse in the U.S. has moved more slowly for one simple reason: immigration. Immigrants tend to be younger and therefore productive, adding to economic growth and paying into our government welfare systems. Skilled immigrants have helped the U.S. maintain its technological edge, while unskilled immigrants form the backbone of our agriculture, construction, and other industries. As far as America is concerned, increased immigration is the price we must pay to replace the millions of babies we have aborted.

                As Christians we must look at America’s immigration problems from the perspective of the Kingdom of God. After all, the world’s mission fields are coming to our neighborhoods, and we will have the opportunity to love them into the Kingdom. Many Latin American immigrants are already Christian, with strong family values, and we should reach out to them to help them assimilate and strengthen the Kingdom in America.

                Let us never forget God’s command to treat the aliens among us fairly.

And let us pray that God will save America from Demographic Collapse, and ask for His wisdom to solve our immigration problems.                    

                On July 4 we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and call it Independence Day. Actually, our Independence came 7 years later, in 1783. On July 4, 1776 we made a declaration of our basic principles, and so the holiday should really be called Declaration Day.     

                Our Founding Fathers declared first of all that all men were created equal. This powerful statement acknowledges that we are created by God, and that all else comes from Him. It was God who created us equal, with no preference for ancestry, skin color, or other distinction.  They actually echoed the Biblical statement that,  in Christ, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).

                Secondly, they declared that it was God who endowed us with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No one can take our life, because “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” (I John 5:11 b). In the same way, it is the Spirit of the Lord who gives us freedom (2 Cor 3:17b), not to indulge ourselves, but to serve others in love (Gal 6:13). The Lord gives us the choice of which path to follow in pursuit of happiness (Deut 30:19), but he guides us to happiness by showing us that life, prosperity, and honor come from pursuit of righteousness and love (Prov 21:21).

                In the many years since 1776, our nation has struggled to live up to the principles declared by our Founding Fathers. The stain of slavery and racism, denying God’s declaration of equality, has only now begun to disappear from society. Yet, in modern times, many have forgotten that our rights come from God, denying Him and looking to the State as our source of rights and happiness. Even the right to life has been subverted to a false freedom to serve ourselves. We stand in grave danger of losing the rights and freedoms declared so eloquently in 1776.

                Its time to turn things around.

                Let us start with ourselves and join the Founding Fathers in their declaration:

                                * God created us, and everything comes from Him.

                                * God created us equal, to be one in Christ.

                                * God has given us that right to life through Christ.

                                * God has given us freedom in order to serve others.

                                *God has given us the right to pursue genuine happiness through righteousness and                                        love. 

                Let us pray that the Church will recapture the Spirit of Declaration Day and pass it on to a nation desperately in need of real equality, life, liberty, and happiness.