SelahV Today by hariette petersen

Is the Wrath of God Relevant Anymore?

Is the day of reckoning approaching?  Are you ready?

 

Is the Bride of Christ?  Or is she playing church--pressured by every wind of doctrine and withering from the breath of wolves in her midst?

 

I believe America is going down the path of destruction because Christians have ignored the "wrath" of God. Preachers rarely speak of it or warn of it. From what do we need saving if all sin is tolerated? It seems our tolerance now supersedes God's holiness. 

 

We've whispered the word sin and substituted it with anything and everything to appease the world so it will "like" us better. We're like frightened sheep among the wolves. Have we forgotten we have a Shepherd?

 

Few of us endure like Joseph, dance before the Lord as David, obey like Daniel, or preach like Jeremiah, or fast like Jesus, or sacrifice like the disciples, or pray all night like Peter, or write like Paul or humble ourselves like the tax collector.

 

Politicians tell us our country is in turmoil because we didn't make the right "deals" with the world leaders. Because we don't cater to women and support their choice to slaughter babies in a mother's womb. They say we have violence on city streets because we won't hand over guns. They say we're attacked because we don't bow to other gods (or because we offend others who do), when we dare to speak of our allegiance to Jesus and our desire to follow God's Word.

 

We travel the world over to win the "lost" to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph, but fail to bring the message of "lostness" to the neighbor next door. We're afraid to stand for God and therefore are falling for everything.

 

We go to our denominational meetings and make decisions based on economics rather than faith. We pat ourselves on the back for making resolutions that water down the Biblical commands and weaken the warnings of God.  Is our righteous indignation any better than the filthy rags we once wore before Christ's blood wrapped us in his robe of righteousness if we do not speak out for the unborn, or our own faith?

 

Unless God's people who are called by His name, humble themselves, seek God's face and confess their own prideful wickedness, the Creator of this planet and universe will not heal our lands.  It won't happen.  We can assemble and sing praise choruses till the moon turns to blood and the sun falls from the sky.  It won't happen.  God is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. 

 

Until people change, the church won't change; until churches change the family unit won't change; until the family unit changes, the community won't change. Until the community changes, the country won't change. Until the country changes, the world will remain a cesspool of hate, of evil, of godlessness and immorality. Why would the Lord need to exact His wrath upon us?  He merely has to give us up to our own desires.

 

Americans have given their wealth to worship American Idols.  We've flocked to movie theaters to amuse ourselves and filled the boots of wickedness to press against our own throats and crush our power to make a real difference in society.  We've financed our own adversaries. We've nodded sheepishly at the sin and waved away what some call "prudish" and judgmental opposition to attain the goodies they offer in faux humor.  As we dip our self-indulgent straws into their porridge of entertainment, we've turned ourselves into the slaves of a new Babylon:  Political Correctness. New Age Tolerance. Progressive Acceptance. Liberal Compliance.

 

Soon we'll bow to the New World Order of silence. Speak now, or forever hold your peace.  The Censors are watching, legislating, judging and will soon be imprisoning all who dare stand like the Cathys, the Greens, the bakers in Oregon, the Paul Churches of Boston, or the Sisters of the Poor. The child who writes about Jesus, the Chaplain who preaches Jesus, the officer who writes a Bible verse on his white-board, the churches who display crosses, the communities who seek to keep crosses and nativity scenes in the public square...

 

How long will it be before we are no longer allowed the freedom of expression and religion?  While there is still time...

"Shout aloud!

Don’t hold back!

Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Declare to my people their rebellions,

and to the house of Jacob their sins.

They seek me day after day,

and are eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that practices righteousness

and has not forsaken the justice of their God." Isaiah 58: 1-2 

OH BUT THERE'S MORE:

"You seek pleasure on your fast days. Is this not the fast I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice? Then your ruins will be rebuilt."

 

GOD help us. God forgive us. God give us courage to speak boldly as You would have us speak. Spare us your wrath, Oh, Lord; have mercy upon us-- not for our sake, but for the glorification of your Son.  There is but one Answer for the World today. 

 

"Jesus is the Answer for the world today, above Him is no other; Jesus is the Way."

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When Will Revival Come to America Again?

We're so sick, Lord.

Our country is desperately in need of You.  We are so broken.  We're so far away from You.  We battle battles not worthy of consideration.  We uphold things unworthy of thought, let alone action. We turn our heads at sin and wink at that which appalls You.  We sit silent when we should rise up and shout.  We play with all that's unholy and pretend we're clean... we're protected, after all, by Your blood, Your grace, Your mercy. 

We strain at gnats and swallow camels.  We are like the whitewashed tombs that pretend we care when we do not. We all want front row seats...to be first in line... to be bathed in the blessings of this world and to have our rights upheld in every way--for self-serving gain.  We seek Your favor for a tasteless lifestyle.

We fight for religious freedom to do nothing with it.  Why should You grant us grace to overcome this evil, sinful, immoral culture?  We wallow in sin and expect You to move against the evil policies of this government-- the rulers of darkness.  We water down the gospel of Christ, refuse to get our hands dirty and help the down and out.  We shun the least of Yours and give less of ourselves to those less fortunate, and more of ourselves for our own pleasure, comfort and entertainment.  We're more concerned with our manicures than the widow struggling to pay for insulin.

We shake our heads at those kids with pants hanging down below their knees whose noses, ears, eyebrows and tongues are pierced with studs. We shudder in disgust at scantily clad punk-rock singers and pray our children never look to them as examples even though we bought all their clothes lines when they were rising up as child-stars. We wonder what this world is coming to. Our mirrors could speak volumes if we dared to look.

Yet, we do nothing in and of ourselves.  We complain, we tweet, we argue, we debate.  We point fingers and write essays of angst.  We cannot do this anymore, Lord.  We need You.  We deserve the mess we are in. Our apathy has led us down this path.  Our trust in feckless leaders, our resignation to the status quo. 

Satan's like a prowling lion, traveling this country, invading homes, destroying families, dividing churches.  It is time to clean our houses.  It's time to clear out the trash in our homes, our hearts, and minds.  It's time to refrain from doing business as usual and be unusual in the world. 

We need to resolve to be the best You can make us to be.  To turn away from wickedness, denounce filth and decadence and debauchery. We need to stand with courage and speak of Your holiness, purity and righteousness.

"Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:

‘We played the pipe for you,

and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge,

and you did not cry.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” Luke 7:31-35

Jesus came to show the world what was necessary. John the Baptist to sacrifice his all to preach repentance of sin.  The world shunned him and said he had a demon... was not real... his words demented and full of worthless talk.

Do unbelievers do this with God's prophets today?  With those who are living sacrificially and set apart from the lies of the world. Those who live circumspectfully as Christ has called them to live-- holy, set apart, concerned with things of Christ and not things of this world.  Yes, we tell them to hush.  To be still and not rock the boats of political correctness.  We do not want to hear truth-- they are too offensive. We put them in boxes and tell them to shut up-- quiet down.

THEN Jesus came and showed by example how to live among the world, to show the world that we can live in the world among temptations without succumbing to those temptations.  But when He did, He was ridiculed and rebuked and condemned for reaching out to those gluttons, drunkards and sinners.  They played the pipes their way.  They looked at life their way.  They chose to ignore the warnings of John the Baptist, the message of Christ, the acceptance of God.  Then they simply ignored that which could give them life. Real life. Happiness.  True happiness.  Hope.  Real hope. They crucified Him, instead.

Our generation stands on the precipice of life. Our country is teetering on the edge of destruction.  Our churches are playing pipes and singing dirges.  People are not dancing to our happy tune-- our choruses of joy and peace and grace.

Why not?  perhaps it is our countenance at fault.  Do our actions, attitudes and word belie the emptiness of our own hearts, the selfishness of our spirits, the lack of joy in our Lord? the hypocrisy of our attitudes of lust, discouragement, and whining?

Why aren't people crying when we sing our somber song expressing sadness and sorrow for the lostness of this world?  do we sing without tears? without true brokenness of spirit?  Is it because we are more concerned with what we feel about the sin and evil in this world, than we are the sin within our own hearts? Does the world see the hypocrisy of our faith walk?  where we are willing to compromise with the world and give in to culture pressures in order to gain materially?  where we allow society to dictate our walk with God?  can they see our unconcern-- that we are dancing with the devil, rather than mourning the lost in sin?

"Wisdom is proved right by all her children." Where are the children of Wisdom, Lord?  Lord, bring a revival.  Let it begin in me. 

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Are You "Seeing Things"?

I admit; I see some pretty strange things in any given day, but yesterday, I saw a video(/link) that was flat out weird.  Watching this video gives me cold chills and caterpillar creeps.  The speaker's claims are nothing short of false teaching and psychic babble.  He looks out at people and "sees things"...like a television screen between himself and another.  Kinda like a gypsy looking into a lighted crystal ball.  He encourages the listening audience to begin watching for the things before them...kinda like the "Matrix" red pill, blue pill scene. Hokey pokey dribble.

Nothing flusters me more than a preacher who toys with the hearts and emotions of innocent people who trust his leadership.  I simply cannot grasp the reasoning behind this nonsense.  Mark Driscoll says he doesn't talk much about "it" (his ability to "see things"), because he'd be inundated with folks who'd want to talk to him.  Seems to me if a person didn't want others to know about such an insightful psychic gift, they'd keep it to themselves.  Personally, I think this young preacher-man has been watching too many television shows, reading too many Harry Potter books, and watching too many reruns of The Lord of the Ring trilogy.  Most certainly those within earshot of his babble should test the spirits surrounding him against the Word of God.  I'd trust most saints would come up 66 books shy of any evidence that this man's claims are of God.

Instead of rattling on about visions of disgust that he is seeing, I suggest Mark focus a bit more on proclaiming Jesus and praying for a lost world....(as would we all).

The gift of discernment can be a cumbersome gift.  It must be handled with the utmost humility and caution.  It's not intuition.  It's the ability to tell the difference between good and evil, right and wrong--spiritual darkness.  Discernment helps me when I am in counseling situations--to interpret what is really bothering another who is sharing a struggle.  It helps me cut to the chase and slice through rhetoric.  It's not some mysterious crystal ball view of a person's past, or palm-reading of someone's future.  It listens and observes.  Unlike horoscopes which are written by a bunch of nut-jobs and give generalized predictions of the day, discernment is Holy Spirit-fed knowledge.  The Spirit equips us to help others stay clear of harmful elements in the world.  Oppressive forces.  Unhelpful attitudes, pride, deceit, guile.  Discernment helps me pray more specifically for needs of the saints of God.  As we await the second coming of Christ, we must be ever vigilant to discern the voice of God and reject those who claim to speak for Him with forked tongues and twisted words. selahV 

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD." Jeremiah 23:16