July 25

JUDGES 8
The pursuit of the glory of God can often be bizarre. The courage Gideon exhibited in doing what God asked is absolutely amazing. He pared his army down to just 300 at God’s command, and led them to defeat an army of 120,000. God used those 300 men to confuse and confound the 120,000, so that Gideon’s enemies killed each other and began to flee. By the time the enemy army was regrouped and had ceased running, there were only 15,000 men left. The 300 were exhausted from chasing the 15,000, yet they continued to pursue. Outnumbered at last 50 to 1, they prevailed! Who should receive glory? Obviously only God could have obtained such a victory. Yes, the men were courageous, but God brought the victory. They should have been wiped out. When God gives me a promise, I should stand in it. Yes it will require courage on my part, but He will display His glory in fulfilling the promise, because it will be His doing.
Finally, I need to be careful to not let the victories go to my head. What is up with Gideon marrying many wives? What is he doing taking all that wealth? Why does he make his own ephod-something only a priest should have? His victories went to his head. He stole the glory of God and it corrupted him. He let his culture and his flesh corrupt him. I/we must be careful. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 24
I never cease to wonder at the raw beauty of the earth around me. Even in this sun burned Oklahoma summer where the drought has turned the rolling hills into a light brown death, there is a certain beauty as I view the prairies streaked with fences, dotted with cattle and hopelessly resisting drought and red cedar invasion. The drought reminds me that there is something wrong with planet earth, but the land still cries out for its Creator. I just returned from a quick visit to the east coast. What a contrast! Its moisture releases a verdant carpet across the land. The ocean roars of the beauty of its Creator. But even in its outlandish beauty, there is something that belies that something has gone wrong with the creation. The Creator is somehow missing in some way. Who can enter into His presence?
The psalmist informs us of who may enter the Creator’s presence, he who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully. Woops, that just eliminated the entire human race. We are imprisoned in a beautiful death capsule. We live in a world that is full of the beauty of the Creator but devoid of His manifest presence. It is almost as if we live in a gated community surrounded by bars designed to keep Him out, and we are slowly dying as only His presence is what make life worth living. Living in a world bursting with His beauty, He is not fully here. It has created a famine for Him. We languish for Him. The gates have sought to keep Him out.
It could lead one to despair if one believed that the gates would sustain His assault upon them. But while our sin would seek to bind the gates to keep out the rightful King, He created the gates to declare His presence. Jesus has come to deal a death blow to death. The Creator has come to once again open the gates for the glory of His presence. He has come to declare the eternal beauty of His name. We call and command the gates to open wide and receive their Master. You see, people are the gates. People who have rebelled and died are being transformed from sin ridden vermin to holy, clean saints! It is all done by the Creator God/Man who died and rose again in our place. As we are cleansed by His blood, we can lift up our heads and receive Him as our conquering King! As He comes, He pours new life upon our drought-sucked lives. He rips out the life impaling thorns and thistles in the remaining verdant areas of our lives. He is, after all, the King of Glory. He is coming down to dwell in our midst. Who may ascend? Those with clean hands. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 50

It is time for a different attitude in the White House. It is time for a different attitude in the Supreme Court. It is time to turn the page and write a new chapter in American history.” –Barak Obama addressing a Planned Parenthood Fund Inc. conference in 2008.

By this time Mr. Obama had aggressively supported and voted to protect live birth abortions in Illinois, his home state. Those babies were known (by the medical communities that induced their abortions) to live anywhere from a few seconds to a full 8 hours after being born. They were left to die as they struggled for air. It comes as no surprise that Obama is not calling for an investigation of Planned Parenthood in light of the recently released undercover videos. What else would one expect of a man who went to the White House with that attitude? He brought his attitude with him.
What else did Obama bring with his attitude? Unquestionably, he has pushed for a redefinition of marriage and applauded the Supreme Court’s recent decision, as if the definition from the Scripture was poor: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh,” Gen 2:24. Then there are Obama’s words, “America is not and never will be at war with Islam.” Well, I am not necessarily for going to war, but there is more to these words than what is on the surface. He is definitely pro-Islam in his world view, which is undeniable. His past and present attachments with Islam are clear. His past involvement in Palestinian organizations is clear. Since one of the clear tenets of organizations like Hezbollah, PLO, Hamas, ISIL, Muslim brotherhood and the state of Iran etc. is the annihilation of the state of Israel, is it any surprise that not only would he enter into a nuclear agreement with Iran, which allows them to develop a nuclear bomb, but also releases billions of dollars of frozen Iranian assets to purchase and develop conventional weapons for the arming of not only Iran but also the other extremist Islamic groups and to promise help to Iran if Israel should seek to pre-empt Iran’s nuclear capability? While I don’t think our nation ever wanted to go to war with Islam, or ever wants to, there is a difference between that and arming the enemies of Israel for Israel’s destruction. Indeed there is a new attitude in the White House.
What does any of that have to do with the glory of God? God permitted the destruction, yes even called for the destruction of Israel because of her trust in her own works and treasures, of her worship of other gods and of her shedding of innocent blood (sacrificing children on pagan altars). As a result He raised up the Babylonians (the hammer of the whole earth) in order to accomplish his purpose in Israel (to wean her from the worship of other gods). I think that there are parallels to be seen between us and Israel and Babylon. The USA is not Israel nor Babylon, yet there are clear principles revealed here that are ominous in light of Israel’s and Babylon’s demise. As the destruction of Israel came because of the reasons outlined above, so also will come the demise of the USA. Additionally there are parallels to be seen in Babylon and her demise. The mystery of the relationship between the sovereignty of God and the free will of man is illustrated in Babylon:

Jeremiah 50:23 How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! I have laid a snare for you;

Babylon was raised up for the purpose of disciplining Israel of her trust in her works, treasures, worship of other gods and shedding of innocent blood. Babylon did the Lord’s work. God ordained it, yet Babylon chose it. However, she went beyond what was necessary. Her destruction of Israel was vicious and overboard. The result? The Lord pronounced that He would make Babylon a desolation. Indeed in 50:39–40:

39“Therefore the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals, And the ostriches shall dwell in it. It shall be inhabited no more forever, Nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah And their neighbors,” says the LORD, “So no one shall reside there, Nor son of man dwell in it.

Eventually, Jeremiah’s prophecy came true. To this day Babylon has been a place where jackals and ostriches dwelt. Saddam Hussein was making plans to restore Babylon and make it a great tourist attraction with hotels and the like, but Operation Iraqi Freedom brought an end to his plans.
So where is the glory of God in this? America (as is every nation) was raised up to display the glory of God. We can fulfill this purpose in two ways. We can become a nation of people that desperately desires the glory of the Lord shine through us in such a way that the world will see Jesus and be drawn to Him, or we can become a nation that fixates our works, our treasures our other gods and falls into shedding innocent blood. I believe our great wealth and natural resources were to have been used for that purpose. It is no accident that the greatest missionary movement of the 19th and 20th centuries found a large part of its source in the church of the USA. Our wealth was meant to be spent on bringing Jesus to the nations. Our wealth was meant to be used for the advancement of the kingdom of God. While we fulfilled it partially, 90% of our wealth (I am talking about people who attend church in USA) was spent on ourselves our own works, our own treasures. Consequently, we have fallen into the path in which ancient Israel walked, we have worshipped other gods and have sacrificed our children upon their idols. Like Israel and Babylon, we have shed much innocent blood.
In Scripture, especially Revelation, Babylon becomes a symbol for trusting in trade, wealth and economic systems rather than the Lord. Trust in these things are antithetical to trust in the Lord. So in Revelation where Jesus is shown to be sovereign Lord over the nations, there is the repeated cry, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city!” We need to remember the Lord’s statement in verse 44:

For who is like Me? Who will arraign Me? And who is that shepherd Who will withstand Me?

A friend of mine likes to say that the Lord gives nations the leaders they deserve. We deserve Mr. Obama. We have trusted in our treasures and spent them on ourselves. We have delighted in free sex, serial monogamy and even open marriage. We have slaughtered 55 million children in abortion chambers since 1973. It is the glory of the Lord to accomplish His sovereign plan and allow us our free will at the same time. We had better be sure that we are siding on the right side. We have had a new attitude in the nation since Mr. Obama took office. It is an attitude that took Israel into the hands of Babylon. It is an attitude that caused the destruction of Israel and Babylon. Unless we repent, our future does not look bright. For who is like our God who is the Judge of all the earth? None can withstand Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ACTS 26
Paul didn’t mince any words with Agrippa. He stuck to the facts. He talked of how he had seen the glory of Christ on the road to Damascus. He spoke of the mission that Jesus had given him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. He closed it with the Scriptural fact that the glory of Christ was that he suffered, died and rose again. This fact of the glory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the light, who brings life to the dark death around us.

I serve a risen Savior. He’s in the world today.
I know that He is living, whatever men may say.
I see His hand of mercy. I hear His voice of cheer.
And just the time I need Him, He’s always near.
He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along the narrow way!
He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart!

Agrippa II said, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian." Why almost? The saddest statement about humans is that the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ can be eloquently and unmistakably laid out before us and we still prefer what we have over Him. We would say with Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost, "Better to rule in hell than serve in heaven."
The resurrection of Jesus Christ was foretold by the Scripture. It is the most attestable single fact of history. The power of the risen Christ continues to change lives today. It is the single most powerful force in cultural change in the world today. Why? Because it is the truth. And the truth sets people free! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john