Is Revival in America Even Possible?

These days it is hard to listen because of all of our distractions. If we have any hope for our nations, our communities, our churches, our marriages, our families or our homes, it has to start in the heart of believers first. We must develop a repentant heart and to learn how to listen to God. To do that, we must first read His Word. To follow His Word. We need to ask God how we can apply what we read to our lives. What does this mean for us today Lord? Ask God to reveal Himself to you, through His Word. What does God want you to do today? Why not ask Him?

As we continue our study today in Judges, it is vital that we need to hear from God, more so than ever before. We live in a world today where everything is instantaneous. We don't have to wait long for anything. But God isn't like that. We have to work at hearing from the Lord. These are the times when so many distractions are pulling at the believer. We need to find some quiet time, to listen and hear from God, away from all distractions.

A nation under God is a nation under a greater judgment.

Judges 2:14-15 ~ "And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of the plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD has sworn oto them. And they were greatly distressed."

"despoiled" means to take away your comforts, your rights, your achievements.
"plunderers" = the infiltrators, the invaders, those not welcome.

Do you think God would be disappointed in America? Think this isn't beginning to happen here in America? Let's look at His story. Those nations whom God had blessed in prosperity in history, Europe for one, then they turned their back on God. It's all in history of the world, if you don't want to use the Bible as your resource.

A nation can be revived if that nation, the people choose to listen.

Judges 2:16-17 ~ "Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD, they did not do so."

The LORD is always faithful to have a voice in a nation that is willing to listen. When there's no prophet in the land, it is a sobering announcement that judgment is near. Is there a strong, unwavering, uncompromising voice for God in our age? A real Biblical voice that kings and presidents hear?

There is something even better tonight, Vladmir Putin, George Bush, Tony Blair and even Obama, all have the same Bible as you do. They can read God's voice. God's Word. God's grace is there for that.

A nation can revived if that nation, the people are determined to follow.

Judges 2:18-19 ~ "And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way."

God has always had a spokesman in America. Moody, Jonathan Edwards whose sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God", is the most powerful sermon that this nation has ever heard. In each generation, there has always been a voice in America, where are we as a nation now? Has America divorced itself from God?

Who is behind Billy Graham? Age is slowly claiming what I believe is the last voice of God in America. Did you know that Billy Graham had access to presidents and kings of nations? He could walk into any nation, he could ask for a meeting and they would open the doors for him without question. Who is in his place now?

No one right now. There is no voice on the horizon. Can you see the cycle?

A nation can be revived if they commit themselves to obey the Lord.

Judges 2:20-23 ~ "Then the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He said, "Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, I also will no longer drive out from them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died., so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them or not." Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out immediately; not did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua."

Do you see any parallels in America? You might say, you don't see it. It hope not. Even when God sent the prophets the nation of Israel didn't see it either. The warnings in the message fell on deaf ears. I see God calling America, just like He called Israel. God's about ready to deal with Israel, one on one. It's why they became a nation on May 14, 1948. Time is about up! There will be no need for America any more. The book of Zechariah says that "ALL nations will turn against Israel." That includes the United States in the last days.

If we can say that God blesses America, then we need to understand that God disciplines those who are disobedient to Him as well. He must discipline America. Billy Graham has said, "If God does not discipline America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah." He will not apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.

As a nation, we can not worship pagan gods. The last couple of years in Washington, we have see things happen that are in complete opposition of God's Word, and yet we expect God's goodness. That is exactly what Israel expected and experienced. But make no mistake about it, just because nothing serious has happened yet, that God condones and approves what is happening in America. It is God's mercy that is allowing us time to turn things around.

So what is the answer?

If we love the Lord, not just those of you that are reading this, passionately cry out to the LORD, really intensely and ask God to spare us, to spare this country. The LORD isn't asking for all non-believers to pray, for Congress to pray or even every American citizen to pray, He is asking believers in Christ to pray, "Oh God, have mercy on America!" I believe He can stop the tide that is rushing in.

I find it very unnerving as a nation, the enemy that is coming to judge us. We don't even believe they are an enemy. We don't even believe we are under attack. Israel's enemy lived right next door to them. Those pagan nations, took them captive. Dont' you see the parody if things continue the way they are?

Our borders are being flooded with pagan gods from all nations, not just from Mexico, but internationally. In this nation, you can go and do business with companies that have pagan gods right in their office. They have food in front of their pagan idol with incense burning and adorned with flowers. You wouldn't dare say what they're doing is ridiculous as a Westerner, you'll hurt their feelings. What you should say is, "Jesus Christ can set you free!"

Don't think you can't say that because it isn't Christian? How would you like to be in bondage to a piece of plastic, porcelain or metal? That little god has to be positioned just right, did you know that?

These things are going on all around us in our communities. We might be able to stop them, but we shouldn't tip toe around them either. They need Jesus! Tell them what Jesus did. They don't need to wonder if they will come back again and again to get their life right, Jesus can set you free! God's Word is THEE Absolute Truth! We either believe the gospel or we don't. If we do, we will love, care and pray for those who remain lost.

America has no promise from God that it will survive in the future. I can not turn to one single verse in the Bible and say, "That's America's verse!" Unlike Israel, America has no promise.

Matthew 16:13-18 ~ "When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

We have a glorious future. It looks bright for us because it is bright for us. Let us listen, obey and follow Jesus. He is our only hope!

How To Destroy America!

All of us are alive today, for such a time as this. Like Israel, that failed to pass along to their children, all the greatness of God, as Americans, we are failing in our endeavor as well. Families in America are growing up never hearing about Jesus, they don't know the great Bible events recorded in Scripture, they don't know who Goliath is, or that Jesus rose from the grave. These are tragedies! Parents hold the key to America's future, to pass along His Story, the story of God, to men and nations. We are dropping the ball on that.

The Christian parent is ordained by God to teach their kids the truth. They're not getting it in the public school systems. Someone is going to teach, instruct, indoctrinate your child something. It should be you! Think about it. Our children spend so much time in school each day. What are they learning? Liberalism, revisionism, certainly not God dealing with the nation of Israel.

Horace Greely, you might remember him, he was the one in school that said, "Go west young man!" But do you know he also said, 'It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading public. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom." When's the last time you heard that in school?

Thomas Jefferson said, "I have always said and will always say, that studious perusal of the Sacred Volume (what he called the Bible) will make us better citizens."

Kids learn the best, are the most impressionable and that moms and dads should teach the children well, so that when they go to public school system, or talking to their friends or watching something on TV, they're not rocked by it. They're able to say, "That's not right." "That's strange?" or ask you as parents, what did that guy mean? We should be able as parents to be able to instruct our children on the things they will encounter in school such as evolution, what the arguments are for it, but also what the Bible has to say. Let them discern from the Word of God, that the Bible is the authority over the doctrines of man or the man-made religions of man. Teach your kids how to discern. It is vitally important!

God did great works among His people. Think about all the children of Israel saw in those 40 years in the desert. It is estimated by some that there were 2.5 to 3 million people. God provided them manna every single day. Is your life blessed? Can you quote at least one Scripture from the Bible? We are accountable for it.

Imagine if you could see into the spiritual realm. What would it look like around certain leaders of nations? In the Middle East? The demonic activity in and around the U.N. building alone? Where global policies are made, especially those concerning Israel? No wonder the Bible says to pray for our leaders. The enemy traffics in places of power. The spiritual powers that be behind them. We need to be very aware that behind national borders and national policies there are spiritual powers at play.

Haggai 2:6-7 ~ "For thus says the LORD of hosts: "Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory," says the LORD of hosts."

Notice the name "Desire of All Nations," it is another name for the Messiah. God IS into nations. A nation under God is a nation that's responsible for what it has and is a people that is held accountable.

Judges 2:10 ~ "When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel."

You have to ask yourself, how did that happen? Didn't anyone share stories about what God had done to their children? An entire generation heard nothing from their parents?

This is how it happened. Israel was blessed and prospered. They got involved in all kinds of stuff and forgot their kids. Ask your own children, where was Abraham Lincoln born? What year was America liberated in the war of independence from Great Britain?

It's easy to let kids grow up without knowing, if we don't tell them. Don't you think if you were a parent back then, you would have at least shared about when the Red Sea parted? Today, we simply say we don't have the time to tell them. We are too busy!

A nation is required to know its history.

Judges 2:11-13 ~ "Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and the followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths."

It is easy to follow other gods. It appealed to what the flesh desired. Boy, we don't see that happening today right? Just like it was 1000's of years ago. It could idols that appeal to violence, sensual, wealth or dominance, as long as it appeals to the things the flesh desires.

Deuteronomy 6:4-12 ~ "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be a frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. So it shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, house full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant - when you have eaten and are full - then beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."

Start with your child. Tell them the wonders of God. That God made the things they see. They'll begin to respect life, not stomp on it. Put God into everything you do.

God says, "I'm going to bless you, but don't forget about me." We should be the ones teaching our children, before they ever get to public school. You don't give up when they go to school and you drop them off. Get involved! You must just say, "They're only coloring!" What are they coloring? What is it a picture of?

Thomas Jefferson, was the first elected President of the Washington, D.C. public school board, while under Jefferson's leadership, he instituted the use of the Bible to be the official text book for reading in all public school classroom. (National Archives.)

"The Bible is a book worth more than all the other books that have ever been printed." ~ Patrick Henry.

Did you know that? Were you taught these things in school? It's pretty hard to control people who know their Bible. That is why Communist countries won't allow the Bible in their country. People begin to learn truth and that they are of value and begin to think for themselves.

A study done by the American Political Science Review (secular group) on political documents of the Founding Era, found that 94% of the documents that went into the Founding Era of public education in America were based on the Bible, and of that, 34% of the contents were direct quotations from the Bible. 88% of students nationwide are were educated in the public school system using the Bible. It should be noted that the Bible was used as a source book for the foundation and blueprint for the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the public educational system and history, until the 1960's.

The parents, the church, and the neighborhood are molding factors in your children's life. I believe that kids learn first and foremost at home from cradle to grave, the greatest lessons are learned by a child being with mom and dad, then in church life of faith and then in the community around them.

You can't leave it up to someone else to teach your children. Look at their text books they're reading. Don't assume anything!!! Be informed. A child's education naturally begins at home.

That is why I believe that there is such a push to change the curriculum in our school systems and to change the traditional views of marriage and family to what society believes is the new normal. Wake up American before it's too late!!! This is how a nation is destroyed, from the inside out.

Are We Living in a Godless Culture?

Social media is a great thing. It allows us to connect almost instantly to anyone, anywhere. We can share stories, swap pictures and videos, and interact with one another even though we are on opposites sides of the world.

But it can also allow you to see the world and just how much has changed since the foundation of this great nation, known as America. It shows you the ugly side of life and how far we have fallen. I can now see looking back historical at how the nation of Israel, God's chosen people fell away and we are doomed to repeat the very same mistake unless we wise up before it happens.

Just this weekend, I had the glorious opportunity to immerse myself in history as we celebrated Good Friday through Resurrection Sunday. It always brings me back to humble beginnings when we can see how much the world was changed through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's the very reason for celebration because all the other religious figures of the world are still in their graves. This is what makes Christianity stand apart and thus perhaps, why the world has been hating Christians ever since it happened.

But you know what I've noticed is that just because you attempt to control people with barbaric acts of violence, create rules to take everything away, Jesus still lives. You could take it all away and our faith would still stand strong.

It was during this weekend, that I came across a Facebook post about the rising persecution of Christians all around the world thanks to folks like ISIS and other religious groups who are trying to strike fear into the hearts of believers of Jesus everywhere. It wasn't something that a lot of the local news or world news programs even reported on. It was a group of African students who were killed because they either confessed they were Christian and believers of Jesus or they weren't. Those who weren't followers of Jesus, were let go by the way.

It was the same for people all around the Middle East, in China, North Korea, anywhere that Jesus is hated, you will find groups rising up to kill Christians. Why?

Are we forcing our beliefs on you?

Is that even possible? We can't force anyone to do anything they don't want to do. Look at the Holocaust as an example of what forcing people to do, gets you. It doesn't.

Are we forcing the truth of the Bible upon people who don't want to read it?

Are we forcing people to bend and yield to our ways over their own desires?

Or is it quite possible, the Christian way of life is simply about loving a God who was willing to die for us because He loved us enough to save us?

No one is forced into anything, in fact that is the very reason God created free will. He didn't want a bunch of people he created, to serve him and love him just because He forced us to.

Nope, is simple, we get our own choice. To chose to believe it all, everything the Bible tells us is true and that Jesus is who He said He was, and lives in Heaven waiting for us to join Him.

The world did have a beginning and one day it will also have an end. That is just the way it is. And when we get to the end, our choices will make eternal decisions for us. It is really that simple. And perhaps that is why people hate God.

Maybe He didn't answer their prayer the way, they wanted.

Maybe those laws, He created, aren't the life they want to live.

Maybe we want what we want, and we don't need any help from God.

God is so loving that He will provide all those choices for you. He doesn't owe us an answer and even if He did, we might not like the answer we get anyway, kinda like our children do when they want something and they don't get it.

Back to my story, this entire Facebook post was literally a wall of shame, mockery, hate, anger, hurt, and sadness. From posting wild pictures of Jesus, to mocking any aspect of people being killed for their faith, was posted in well over 600+ comments by the time I gave up looking at it. While there were a handful of Christians doing all they could to share and support the truth of this post, well over 90% were not having anything to do with it and made their opinions known.

Is this a sign that we are living in a Godless culture?

I believe with all my heart it is. From removing our prayer from school, to removing the 10 Commandments from the government offices, to removing crosses or any religious item that may offend someone, is happening every single day. While we fight to keep our freedoms, it is sad to see what we are letting slip away for the sake of doing what makes others feel good in their own eyes.

Why is it that if any other religious group were to face the type of persecution that Christians are, people would not tolerate it. Why are we making concessions for Islam in this country when we are a nation founded on Godly principles? 

I believe my dear friends and family, that what we are seeing is the hand of God removing His hand of blessing upon our nation, and when that happens, our continued disobedience will leave God no choice but to administer his judgment until we wake up and call upon Him to save us.

But if the Facebook post is any indication of what the majority of the world feels, may God come quickly because things are going to get pretty bad before people wake up any time soon, if they ever do. So when faced with persecution for your faith in Jesus?

Stand boldly with Him for the Bible clearly spells it out for us as believers:

John 15:18-21“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you... If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you... because they do not know Him who sent Me." 

John 16:1-4 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues [today it might be from churches]; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them."

Matthew 5:10-12 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven...."< br />Romans 8:35-39 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ...Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us"

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."