Alas, I do not remember from whom I first learned this truth, "Never doubt in the dark what God taught you in the light." The ups and downs, the lights and darks of life are rhythmic. But, the darks and downs seem to last longer, and seem more intense than the lights and ups!
Do others share my feeling that cheap shots coming out of nowhere are unexpected and undeserved? Diseases, disappointments and defeats accumulate. The stunning blow of one is still dazing and confusing thoughts and challenging faith when another stinging blow rattles the senses.
It is hard to focus on Peter’s assurances to fellow saints.
"We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
"And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 2:16-21)
But, we must! "The word of the prophets made more certain" is as true in the darks and downs as in the brilliant light of a well-reached sermon, the dazzling ups of an altar where one meets face to face, mind to mind, heart to heart and spirit to Spirit with the Living God.
The Word of God is the stabilizing ballast of life. A well-intentioned line in a note can become twisted because of the pressures of the darks and downs the reader is experiencing. Truth can be sucked under in the sea of suspicion and darkness may grab the light of truth and hold it hatefully hostage. But, the truth of God’s Word buried deep into the mind and spirit remembers the truth learned in the light and allows one to maintain his balance when the unanticipated blows come from every direction.
I remember a childhood song. It came to me this morning as I was awakened by a staggering blow to the spiritual solar plexus. It came while a dark reality tried to hijack light. A personal down attempted to destroy every remembrance of the wonderful ups accumulated through the years, when lies harshly judged truth. The "word of the prophets made more certain" came riding on the wings of a long familiar melody.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
Edward Mote penned those words in the 1830's! People passing through darks and downs have been singing them ever since! Sing along friends! The "word of the prophets made more certain" equips us to keep our balance, survive the unexpected and undeserved.
Two previous posts were based on the Apostle Paul’s first letter to Timothy, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (1 Timothy 1:15) The emphasis of the posts is the central truth of the Gospel, Jesus came to save sinners. It is God’s will and purpose to rescue people from death and deliver people to life, and it is His work and power that accomplish the task.
The final installment is simple, rescued people who are born of the Spirit, those who have responded to the Lord’s overture to believe and be saved, worship and praise the Savior. The Apostle Paul noted that he had been the worst of sinners, living evidence that if Jesus could save him, the worst, then He was capable and willing to save all those who were less than the worst. Paul concludes his argument with an appropriate, explosive expression of worship and praise, "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1:17)
Thomas Carlyle has been quoted as saying, "Let others write the nation’s laws, I will write her anthems. "People become what they sing." Paul’s song is a window into which we can peer into an apostle’s soul. He understood that the wealth of Eternity invaded the poverty of time. Sin that separates was dealt a fatal blow as grace overwhelmed the penalties and estrangement resulting from man’s audacity and willfulness. The self-described "worst of sinners" sings out, "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen."
Recently, Pat and I were worshiping with a congregation. The lyrics attached to music were appropriate, faith-building, God glorifying, good poetry set to music. And, then, out of the netherworld of pathetic poetry and boorish banality, an unexpected and unappreciated song with the following line was inserted, "So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss." I don’t know the author, I just cannot bring myself to sing the line while a great song like Paul’s is being ignored.
Jesus came to meet us, dispossessed, defeated, difficult, and full of death. His actions resulted in adoption, acceptance, and life! A childhood song was long ago committed to memory. The Spirit lifts the lyrics and tune into my consciousness with rhythmic regularity. I am so thankful that good poetry captured an essential truth to reinforce faith for a lifetime. It goes like this . . .
All praise to Him Who reigns above
In majesty supreme,
Who gave His Son for man to die,
That He might man redeem!
Refrain
Blessed be the Name! Blessed be the Name!
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
Blessed be the Name! Blessed be the Name!
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
His Name above all names shall stand,
Exalted more and more,
At God the Father’s own right hand,
Where angel hosts adore.
Refrain
Redeemer, Savior, Friend of man
Once ruined by the fall,
Thou hast devised salvation’s plan,
For Thou hast died for all.
Refrain
His Name shall be the Counselor,
The mighty Prince of Peace,
Of all earth’s kingdoms Conqueror,
Whose reign shall never cease.
Refrain
Enough good theology to save a person is in the lyrics! Enough good material for a lifetime of worship! Thank God, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." It is His will and purpose. Saving people is Jesus’ work and power. Those who experience His salvation always worship and praise.
We are revisiting the text from the last two items, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (1 Timothy 1:15) The story of the New York City firefighter and the road markers reinforced the truth that Jesus’ mission is not an afterthought or "Plan B," but, the ONE thing for which Jesu came into the world.
In 1989 Pat and I were leading a church planting team in Fort Lee - Cliffside Park, NJ. Our weekly routine was to spend Friday mornings fasting and praying. Something happened on one of the sunlit autumn Fridays which we will never forget. The target area was difficult terrain physically and spiritually. The communities of Fort Lee and Cliffside Park are perched on the Palisades, cliffs overlooking the Hudson River which separates New Jersey from New York City. Nearly 60,000 people live in 3.5 square miles. High rise apartment buildings, complete with magnetic card activated security doors and gates, and doormen dominated the landscape and made meeting people difficult.
During the prayer meeting embedded in our memory, I looked out the window and viewed the "Greenhouse," a residence for wealthy and influential people, Asian executives representing their firms throughout the Orient, professionals who worked in New York City, scientists, educators, and entrepreneurs. In prayer I lamented the reality that residents protected their privacy and our team was having difficulty making friends, or communicating face to face. An effort to reach children in a local park was met with a threat of arrest. Nothing was working!
During prayer, I sensed the Lord speaking. "Do you really want to reach people in the Greenhouse?" My answer was swift and affirmative! Then the Lord simply urged, "Ask me, and I will give you the Greenhouse as I gave Jericho to Joshua." Of course I was eager for that to happen, but not for the qualifying conditions. Because, I knew that I had to lead a dozen students on a prayer walk around the building for the remainder of the morning – after explaining that I had heard from the Lord! I wrestled within, "What if this doesn’t work?" The students will tell their college dean and that will be the end of internships! They will tell others and I will look like a fool! But, I was convinced that Jesus had spoken and that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Walking and praying was worth the risk of embarrassment. The Spirit had spoken.
What happened is worthy of telling again and again! I’ll share the "Cliff Notes" version. While we walked around the Greenhouse praying, Rita, a young professional lady’s possessions were being moved into the building. Rita was Lebanese. Her family had fled to Paris, France, from Beirut during the wars and she attended a French University. As a student, Rita was led to the Lord by a campus ministry led by missionaries from Texas. Upon graduation, Rita was hired by a French firm who convinced her to take a leadership position in the United States. It was Rita’s furniture being moved into the Greenhouse while we prayed.
Shortly afterward, we met Rita and she became an active member of the newly forming congregation. When we needed a place for worship one Sunday, Rita arranged for the congregation to use the Greenhouse community room situated between the elevators and the swimming pool. I noticed an older couple observing our worship through the glass partition and invited them to join us for the meal that followed. The conversation with our new acquaintances was pleasant and opened the door to a most unexpected event.
The Monday evening following the meeting in the Greenhouse, I was watching a football game on television when our phone rang. It was the couple from the Greenhouse. They had just been informed that the man’s brother, who had been injured in World War Two and had lived in a Veteran’s Hospital in Brooklyn for more than 50 years, had died. They called asking, "Will you lead a funeral service for our relative? We haven’t attended a church for decades."
On the evening of the funeral I arrived at the mortuary situated next door to the Greenhouse. I found the last parking place in the high rise garage and made my way to the front door of the mortuary and was greeted by the funeral director who asked me to start immediately because of the overcrowded conditions. I discovered that my new acquaintances, whom I met the previous Sunday morning, were the longest tenured residents in the Greenhouse and the long-term chairpersons of the "Welcome Wagon." Hundreds of Greenhouse residents attended the funeral. Buddhists, Jews, devotees of Oriental religions, Muslims and Christians estranged from their spiritual roots had converged to that place to hear the Gospel. The prayer meeting that had circled the Greenhouse brought about a miraculous experience akin to Jericho!
One of the interns later served as the Greenhouse doorman for several months and welcomed many to worship service. A midweek Bible study met in Rita’s apartment for more than a year afterward. While it is the will and purpose of God to save sinners, it is also His work and power that saves sinners. In short, God knows how to do His work! It is for us to obey and follow His lead.
Am I the only one who watches the edge of the road reflective markers, especially the ones indicating miles, in tenths? The blue markers on the interstate highway system shine brightly and appear rhythmically, placed at well-measured intervals.
Revisiting the text from yesterday’s item, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (1 Timothy 1:15) Jesus’ mission is not an afterthought or "Plan B." Consider a few of the rhythmically placed markers which were placed by the Spirit to guide all men to salvation. Each promise, each prediction, each experience reinforces the declared will and purpose of a God determined to save people.
In the Garden of Eden, before the first family was evicted, God said to Satan, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (Mile Marker #1 on Salvation Highway, Genesis 3:15) The incarnation, Jesus’ sinless life, Gethsemane, the sham of trials, Calvary, death and burial all led to the "He will crush your head" moment on Resurrection Sunday. The first marker on "Salvation Highway" has glowed brightly throughout almost all of human history.
The prophets drove in stakes of truth, "Salvation Highway" mile markers, at key intervals centuries before Jesus appeared in Bethlehem’s manger. Isaiah, moved along by the Spirit, was so sure of the truth about Jesus that he predicted in the past tense, "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:3-5)
Isaiah added, "The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:9)
Zechariah added a marker which has reflected an intense light on "Salvation Highway" for millennia. "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See. Your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." (Zechariah 9:9) One may ignore the markers, careening carelessly and willfully, but the road is well marked and God has made every provision to provide safe passage.
Joseph, the man who was engaged to be married to Mary and who provided for Jesus in his boyhood, heard in a dream concerning Mary, "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) Elizabeth, Zechariah and others added markers reflecting the light of God’s love on "Salvation Highway."
Jesus was fully aware of His mission. Jesus read from the Prophet Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." (Luke 4:18)
When challenged by the religious establishment about His authority to forgive sins, Jesus drove another reflective marker on "Salvation Highway" with a powerful declaration and display of power. The religious "Began thinking to themselves, ‘Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’
Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.... He said to the paralyzed man, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.
Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today.’" (Luke 5:21-26)
Life may be like a long road, winding through undeveloped wilderness. The perils of the nighttime darkness often include doubts, irrational fears, and anxieties about "worst case scenarios," which almost never materialize. One can count down the miles to go before arrival. People who see the markers and observe their meaning, are people on their way to a specific, Jesus-prepared destination. It is His will and purpose to save! The exit ramp is well marked. All who travel the road observing the markers, staying between the dangerous ditches, arrive safely!
Bob, a friend of mine, uses "StalledVW" as his e-mail name. He claims he is stalled on the information highway. But, I know better, Bob is cruising, making great time, on "Salvation Highway." Bob shared an illustration that fits the travel theme. When Joseph Cardinal Bernadin, of Chicago passed away years ago, his chauffeur eulogized the prelate. He concluded by talking about the times he would be driving the Cardinal home and look in the rear-view mirror to see the Cardinal sound asleep. On occasion he would arrive at the Cardinal’s residence and awaken him with, "Your Eminence, you’re home, you’re home." And, that is how the eulogist ended his message.
Someday the question we have all asked, will be answered in the affirmative, "Are we THERE yet?" Watch the markers!
One of the most compelling paragraphs in Scripture is found in 1 Timothy. The aging Apostle Paul wrote to his protégée,
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen
The importance of the "trustworthy statement that deserves full acceptance" commands attention and understanding.
I was shifting uncomfortably in a dentist’s anteroom while an intern occupied the "honored chair" in the inner sanctum, I thumbed through outdated magazines. (Have you ever wondered how much a doctor’s visit might cost if they bought current magazines?) One publication, Geo, caught my interest. Photos of New York City fire fighters, perspiring in the heat of summer and ice-coated in winter, filled several pages.
The article’s author interviewed a young fire fighter stationed in Fort Apache in the Bronx. The writer’s questions uncovered insights that have served me for more than two decades. The first question was, "Why are you a fire fighter?" He answered, "My grandparents immigrated from Ireland. Grandpa was a fire fighter and my father and his brothers were fire fighters. My siblings and I followed. Fire fighting runs in the family."
The second question was, "Have you ever saved a person’s life?" The tempo of the article picked up as the young man answered! "Yes! I’ll never forget the moment! I was a rookie when a call came to our station. Our rig was the first to arrive at a high rise with smoke streaming from upper story widows. I heard the screams of a woman and young children. Before the rig came to a full stop, I jumped off, grabbed my gear and ran toward the building entrance."
As I read, the pace of my own heart began to pick up speed. The young fire fighter continued, "I rushed up several flights of steps to where smoke filled all but the lowest part of the hallways. I crawled toward the screaming, opened the door to an apartment and was met by a mother and her two small children. I led them down the hallway, down the steps and into the fresh air at ground level."
Then, came the arresting line, "As I leaned against the fire truck, I thought, ‘That’s enough satisfaction for a lifetime.’ But, saving people’s lives sucks you in! I live for the next one!"
I wonder, "What if every child of God took their cue about vocation from their Heavenly Father and older Brother?" Does saving people’s lives "run in the family?" Have we been "sucked into" the joy of rescuing people from eternal fire? Is it possible that we misplace the "trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners?" Is the priority of rescuing people misplaced by other good activities? Saving people in jeopardy is not the only thing fire fighters do, just the most important.
Pat and I were eating dinner with a group of friends recently when I noticed a couple at a nearby table. Neither spoke to the other. The female member of the duo sat and texted endlessly. Similarly, as Pat and I travel, we curiously note the video screens in land yachts passing by. Children aren’t speaking to parents any more than the couple we saw at dinner. In other settings in which we have found ourselves, multiple engines of technology are sending and receiving information, opinions, and foolishness digitally.
The account of power plays between Moses representing the Lord and Pharaoh protecting self interest is like a Wimbledon tennis match. God served an ultimatum, Pharaoh volleyed, Moses returned the Lord’s response. Game, set, match, and the Lord’s people carried Egyptian trophies to the Promised Land. The Lord speaks loudly in Exodus 10:1,2, "Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD.’" Keep telling the stories! Israel’s faith, and ours, is kept alive by telling stories! Good preachers tell good stories. Successful parents tell stories which children never forget.
The story telling stage must be set as intentionally, but not as elaborately, as a Broadway production. Passing on the story is deliberate, not accidental! Moses spoke into the future of all legitimate faith:
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." – Deuteronomy 6:4-9
The message? "Be intentional! Be consistent! Be passionate about the Message of Faith! Build it with care."
The lifelong impact of fatherlessness was the subject of a lengthy, emotionally-draining conversation. I felt deeply and was broken in spirit as I was confronted again with the weight of responsibility for fatherless children and youth.
Consider that when God defined the penalties for sins against society, He declared, "Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless." – Exodus 22:22-24 The, "I will make your children fatherless," could have been, "I will kill you!" but, God is emphasizing the ongoing penalty felt by future generations.
God shows preferential treatment to the fatherless. "He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow." – Deuteronomy 10:18; 14:28-29; And, He makes provision for the fatherless to be included as members of the extended family when care, provision and festive feasts are organized. – Deuteronomy 16, 24. The fatherless are to share in the harvest bounty, not left with faces pressed against household windows from the outside, wishing, longing, never experiencing the joys and plenty within. A special curse is threatened to those who fail to address justice for the fatherless. – Deuteronomy 27
Psalm 68:5 captures the Lord’s nature with precision and may serve as a template for the church to act. "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land." The potential for transforming lives is staggering when one considers "adopting" a fatherless child. A spiritual "Big Brother" image comes into focus. We who follow Jesus need to revisit our Heavenly Father’s design and desire to "set the lonely in families."
It is time to address the deficits of the fatherless. Acknowledge, assess, and act are three verbs. Isaiah speaks God’s oracle:
"When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood;
wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,
learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.
‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD.
‘Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.’" – Isaiah 1:15-18
We are quick to quote, and believe, God’s promise (out of context) to cleanse us from sin, but are unaware that our prayers are unheard if we fail at connecting benevolent behavior to our prayers.
One man in my life modeled his own obedience, his personal response to his understanding of James 1:27, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Earlier this year I preached in the church where our family worshiped when I was a boy. At the end of the service, Ray came to me and said, "Your dad was like a father to me!" Among other things, Ray mentioned, "He taught me how to tie a tie." My father, with my mother’s full cooperation, extended the boundaries of our family to include others.
Serendipity is an expensive sounding word. Any piece of vocabulary with five syllables sounds costly and always seems intriguing. A pleasant surprise or unexpected blessing is serendipitous. Life offers astonishing moments which alter an errant course or changes a faulty outlook.
An entrepreneur John Augustus Sutter, a German born ethnic Swiss immigrant, had established a "fort" in Northern California, a combination of frontier general store, hotel and gathering place for stout-hearted frontiersmen and their families. James Marshall, a New Jersey native who migrated West in the 1840's was hired as a carpenter by Sutter. Marshall was to build a lumber mill to supply needed products for Sutter’s expanding enterprises.
Each morning James Marshall would walk the length of plumes being constructed which would be used to float logs from the hillsides to the mill site. Evening rains frequently washed out the newly dug ditches and Marshall was diligent about maintaining the previous day’s work. One morning Marshall spotted a piece of gleaming metal about the size of a pea. Looking ahead a few feet, he spotted another, and another. Marshall carefully, and secretly, gathered a small mound of the metal and wrapped his find in a bandana. Marshall and Sutter secretly assayed the pea sized ore which proved to be gold. Serendipity! Surprise! Unexpected blessing! The famous gold rush had germinated.
While reading the memoir of a college football fanatic, serendipity happened. The author’s conversations with an aged grandfather are described as, "stories of men reviled and redeemed." The grandfather was the dean of men at a small university in the Texas Panhandle and used his influence to shape young men into God fearing, men who blessed their community. That’s it! Hidden away in a so-so memoire, a serendipitous insight into how one man spent life, redeeming men who were being reviled.
I am surprised with how often God arranges unexpected, undeserved blessing. The God-designed moments come as the Holy Spirit welds the lyrics of a hymn or Gospel song to human spirit. The counsel of a friend interrupts the disastrous course on which one has embarked. An anecdote illustrating a timeless principle surprisingly locks into memory. God’s Word unexpectedly shouts out caution, courage, challenge, and counsel. Without warning, heaven’s wisdom intercepts human folly like a football defensive back appears and snatches away an errant pass.
Ah, serendipitous! Thank God for the wonder of His unexpected, but much needed, blessing.
I was sitting on the platform of a church in Oklahoma on a Sunday in the early 1990's, waiting for the moment when I would be introduced and then preach. During the early part of the service, the white-haired pastor, now deceased, leaned over and startled me with, "Every democracy is destroyed when selfish people vote for personal benefits over the common good." I’ll never forget the moment.
This week my friend Bob Neuman reminded me of that Sunday night in Oklahoma, probably 20 years ago. Bob quoted Alexander Tyler, a Scottish professor at the University of Edinborough. "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury, with the result hat every democracy will finally collapse over loose financial policy, which is always followed by dictatorship."
Bob went on to cite the steps through which democracies progress.
"From bondage to spiritual faith;
"From spiritual faith to great courage;
"From courage to liberty;
"From liberty to abundance;
"From abundance to complacency;
"From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
"From dependence back to bondage."
On a television program I watched recently, a financial professor noted that for the first time in our national history, more than 50% of all Americans are now receiving some sort of monetary benefit. I mentioned this to friends and noted that I too receive Social Security. The uniform response has been, "You worked for that, and have it coming." True, but those who funded the war of revolt against England risked, and in many cases, lost their fortunes. Some lost their lives.
Will our children be able to pay the escalating taxes as we age and drain the national coffers? Am I willing to forfeit my share of the national largess for the sake of my children and grandchildren?
By extension, the price paid by spiritual pioneers who have endowed the church of which I have been a part my entire life cannot be squandered without terrible consequences. My memory reaches back to some rather primitive settings where first and second generation Pentecostals learned to wait on the Lord, denied themselves personal comforts so that the Gospel would be taken to all the world, and modeled holy living.
The contemporary American Pentecostal church now enjoys acceptance and affluence our spiritual parents and grandparents never knew. We will serve our children and grandchildren well if we apply Alexander Tyler’s lessons to national decision making policy and spiritually, vigilantly guarding against the intoxication of abundance, complacency, apathy, dependence and bondage.
