Some Sober Thoughts
Why 50 Days of Decision, and why now? Are we suggesting that we have heard from God that it is now or never for America, and that the final train is just about ready to leave the station before destruction comes? No; we do not claim to know that. But please consider soberly for a moment; do you know when that train is scheduled depart? Do you know when and where the next terrorist attack or natural disaster on our shores will occur? Will you be prepared? Will you be able to recover if you are affected (and you will be affected; at least to some extent)? Will you even survive? Are we getting melodramatic now? We don’t think so.
If we read our bibles, we see that God sometimes warned an individual, or His people, day after day, year after year about things that needed to change. Often for a while, nothing happened. And many therefore decided that probably nothing was going to happen, and went on their merry way. Until one day, which dawned like any other, the plague began, or the famine set in, or the enemy hordes came over the horizon. And they suddenly realized too late that their complacency was about to cost them everything.
But we live in America, you say. We more or less just watch the video footage of these things and get by unscathed. Please consider, however; have you not seen the signs of the times? Is it not obvious that America has at this juncture come under the judgments of God? Consider all the various traumatic events which have filled the news headlines in the last 11 years. America is on a collision course with trouble. More trouble. Big trouble. Apocalyptic trouble? If you smirk at the thought we can only pray that you will get a major reality check before your fragile faux-reality is torn in two like a sheet of paper before your eyes.
We wish, like you might, that we could all return to Mayberry. But that will certainly not occur without Divine intervention. And Divine intervention does not come to a callous, unthankful, selfish, hardhearted individual, church, or nation. What we can expect, rather, is Divine judgment. The question is not if, but when and how.
Do you think we are overreacting? Please pause from your busy life and prayerfully consider the possibility that God really is talking through the various adversities which America has faced of late. One day we will stand alone before our Judge to give an account for our life. Let’s not be like the five foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) when that day arrives. The scriptures make it clear that indifference or hardheartedness in response to the dealings of God in our lives will lead only to sorrow of the worst kind. Do we really think that if we live essentially self-centered lives and do our best to keep God and His requirements at a comfortable distance while we enjoy life, even as professing Christians, that He will give us a free pass at the throne of judgment because we have some special deal worked out with Him? After all, Mom usually gave in if we turned on the charm, right? We’re not just anybody, we’re us! Satan's horrible secret is that he has decieved and darkened the minds billions of otherwise intelligent people with such tragically fatal thinking. And he probably won't be even slightly moved by their eternal torment which will occur as a result.
If we have tasted and swallowed this lie of his, my friends, we are deceived, and meet the biblical definition of a fool (Luke 12:20). We are not trying to catch you off guard with our bluntness when we say that if we do not change with God’s help, our screams will likely be added to the chorus of those who are doomed to spend eternity in torment without God. Jesus and His apostles referred to worms which perpetually eat away at our flesh, darkness so deep you can't even imagine it, and immersion in flames which burn but somehow don't consume us with no relief in the form of physical death to "look forward" to. And if we just barely make it in to heaven, we will suffer great, irrecoverable loss because we wasted the precious gift of our life and talents which were given to us for the supreme purpose of glorifying the One who made us and bought us back from slavery to sin at the cost of His only begotten Son. We imagined that a created thing of this world could satisfy us more than a relationship with our Creator. We were offered an opportunity to rule with Jesus in eternity and we chose rather to play chuch now and be trusted with little or no authority and responsibility in the ages to come. And worst of all, we broke His heart.
Are we exaggerating the gravity of our situation? If you think so, you may be the victim of a half-preached gospel which has come to be accepted as the full one in America where we are sometimes reluctant to make people uncomfortable with the truth. In the end, it is the responsibility of the individual, noone else, to read his or her bible and seek God and follow the admonition to “examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). You may be very sure that nothing will escape the penetrating, fire-filled eyes of God when heaven's books are opened and your name is up. There will be no missing evidence or plea bargains.
Do you want to know a secret? We mean a sad secret; or happy one, depending upon what we do with it. Many Christians who “sing in the choir” so to speak, have only a clue how wide, high, vast, and deep is the love of God who wants us as His own. We believe it is the chief aim of the Deceiver and his hordes to prevent men from discovering this. If they did discover it, they would serve God with reckless abandon, and nothing He could ask would be too much, or even enough! But that will remain for us a theological abstraction unless and until we decide to turn from our selfish ways and seek Him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. We don’t mean climb up to heaven to reach God by our own strength, either (Romans 10:6-11). We are talking about surrender to the One who loves us and longs to love us in the way we have always wanted and needed to be loved! Tribulation in this life? Yes, expect it. But His love, joy, and peace are the ultimate anesthetics!