Below is a quick blog I wrote end of year 2015, posted January 2016. I was sensing the oncoming season of polarity in our nation and a line being drawn in the sand spiritually. A season where people would be turning to ones true spiritual DNA, both individually and as a nation.
Now as we approach fall, the sense of polarization and division in our nation has been impossible for any of us to escape. It has been compounded by a brute sense of hostility with an ever deepening racial divide. Even our customary election process has split communities, families and friends and contributed to a heightened state of national dis-ease.
As a Christian, I continue to be impacted by the literal tearing apart of our nation’s values. Those established by our fore-fathers at our country’s inception, which were unashamedly based on scripture with its implied principals. It was out of these beliefs and ideologies our constitution was born. As I witnessed the White House being covered with colors of the rainbow, celebrating the supreme courts decision to re-define marriage, and the abortion total climbing upwards of 60 million since the passing of roe vs. wade it seems the America I held in my minds eye is swiftly vanishing.
Add to this, the most recent displays celebrated in New York. The erection of the Arch of Triumph, (entrance to the Temple of Baal) in Manhattan’s City Hall park and the image of the Hindu god Kali, god of death and destruction lighting up the New York skyline, projected on the empire state building. It is difficult to ignore the glaring symbolism of these acts and their spiritual underbelly. For more info on these events check out the following links: https://stream.org/arch-temple-baal-arrives-new-york-city/ and http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/…/articlesh…/48420733.cms
In ancient Israel, Baal was the primary god of the Canaanites, the demonic entity that vied for the allegiance of the nation and ultimately brought the downfall and utter devastation of Israel. The Baal culture, earmarked by sexual perversion, the sacrifice of infants, lust, greed and corruption, resulted not only in the physical devastation of their temple and country, but the disintegration of their society. Baal worship was the path that brought them to a life of servitude as the ones who survived became slaves and exiles in a land ruled by their enemies. Everything they worked so hard for was possessed by the nations that despised them as they wittingly or not spit in the face of the one true God and lost His blessings and protection.
According to an Israeli news report, the Hebrew Nation Radio made this disturbing connection. “The original arch was built commemorating the Roman victory over Partha. Many of the Parthans were from the remnants of the Ten Tribes of Israel. So the original purpose of this arch was to celebrate victory over the demise of the Northern kingdom, the 10 tribes of the house of Israel, aka Joseph/Ephraim,” wrote Hebrew Nation. “Is that really something that we want to put up in New York?” Apparently it is.
It seems to me glorifying a representation of Baal which brought with it the destruction of a nation highlights a people’s willingness to embrace the values that symbol stands for. Shall we expect the swastika to be proudly displayed next? As we see before our eyes history being re-written in current reports, I am deeply grieved to say it would not shock me.
Repentance is the clarion call and blessed invitation to every form of prosperity known to man, yet it is the dirty word of our age. It is an offense, an insult. Repentance. The bridge that safely carries us over troubled waters and the gift that enables us to realign with our divine purpose. The humbling, empowering, liberating paradigm shift that re-unites us with our creator and washes away the burden of shame and guilt. The turning around of one’s direction. The undeniable heart response of grief and disdain for the sin and failure of our ways and the sheer relief and utter joy of surrender. It is the current that safely carries us to shore and the treasured compass that brings us home.
There are certain physical properties and laws of nature each of us accept and respect. It is foolish to spit in the wind, dangerous to leap from great heights and reckless to board your tiny boat as a hurricane is making its way up the coast. And so it is in the unseen world of the spirit. Most assuredly where there is a design, there is a designer, an architect where one finds architecture. This deeply loving architect of our souls exists in holiness and righteousness. He is filled with tender mercies and is ever patient, calling us close in his love and grace. Yet He too draws a line in the sand.
The gift of repentance He so graciously offers to our nation now, will not always be. History shows us powerful nations who believed they would remain and could not fathom their demise. Sadly few embraced the call to change while the day was young and a bright future still awaited them. As the prophets of old were told, when the hearts of the people grew too hardened, and the deceitfulness of sin too blinding, their wound became incurable. As they continually refused to repent it actually became more difficult to repent.
Repentance. It is not the affront many perceive it to be, but it is the blessed vehicle that moves the very heart of God on our behalf. To mercy, to restoration and blessing. While the Lord calls to our nation through the prophetic voice of his servants, the clarity of his written word, and the still small voice that whispers in each of our hearts, I earnestly pray we have ears to hear. Having had much to repent of myself, I will tell you it’s life changing. Transforming. I have become quick to embrace its call and rush to it. I have learned the wisdom of genuine repentance can never lead me astray but only lead me closer to the heart of God.
Let us together embrace repentance. America, America, God has shed its grace on thee. Now it is time to return to Him.
ORIGINAL BLOG published January 2016:
I have no doubt 2016 will prove to be a pivotal year, a crucial year. A year of diminution to ones primary core. A calling to ones true Spiritual DNA to come home. A call to the heavenly kingdom, for many and for others, a call to darkness.
For those who currently remain the un-redeemed remnant of God, the fish not yet caught in the great end time harvest net, the love relationship of their lives await them. The innermost cleansing of their souls via the precious blood of the lamb. The true liberation of their spirits.
The Greek word Epistrepho most eloquently captures this great sense of motion and turn-around, conveying the substance of repentance. However in Hebrew the word Epsitrepho communicates with exquisite nuance the presence of distress that thrusts us toward this whole-hearted rushing home of the spirit. The ache that leads us to his still waters, the sorrow that brings us to our knees, to discover the miraculous. The mercy hidden beneath the anguish, the beauty covered with ashes. The Oil of Joy for mourning, to discover and to embrace HIM.
As all manner of evil is manifest in ways we have never imagined, the brightness of his Glory is also appearing. Darkness juxtaposed against the light, only to be dispelled. 2016 is the year of turning toward and turning from. Which call will you heed? The line in the sand is drawn.