Be Reconciled to God, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: 2nd Corinthians 5:17-21

2nd Cor. 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!

2nd Cor. 5:18  All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

2nd Cor. 5:19  that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

2nd Cor. 5:20  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

2nd Cor. 5:21  God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

          The elders shook their heads as they gathered together, asking one another what they were going to do about their elderly preacher.  He had just preached the same sermon as he preached last Sunday.  One of them was appointed, and he went to see the preacher, gently asking, "Pastor, are you aware you just preached the same sermon twice in a row?"

          To which the preacher replied, "Yes, I am.  And when I see some evidence that you understand it, I'll move on.

          As you read today's sermon, you may get the feeling we have stamped around this ground before, even though the facts and the setting are different this time.  And you would be correct.  For we are talking here about a life and death matter, a matter of eternal life and eternal death, and there is not enough that can be said about it.  I didn't write the rules, but I read them, and I pray you are willing to live them.

          Returning from a recent trip to Great Britain, I brought back a love of local Irish music.  Specifically, a group called Celtic Woman.  They sing what many considered Irish tunes, but actually some of it is Scot and some is Irish.

          The Celts were in Britain long before the Romans arrived, long before there was a division of Scotland and Ireland; just rolling moors and hills and tribes.  They were known for being fierce warriors.  If you saw the movie "Braveheart," those were Celts.  The only thing the movie didn’t show was that the women were as fierce warriors as the men.

          The men were stout, built like fireplugs, muscle from head to toe.  And when they went into battle, they painted their faces blue and charged in stark naked.  So here you are, recruited by your tribal chieftain to make war on the Celts.  You have your sword and shield, and all of you are proceeding down the hill to the battlefield.  When suddenly an army of naked, hairy men, faces painted blue, armed with swords and spears come running across the battlefield and up the hill toward you.  And they are screaming, screaming bloody murder!

          I think that would get my attention.  Some of their enemies simply turned and ran.

          But getting back to the singing group Celtic Woman, I tell you about them because of one song they performed that would not leave my mind.  It has a chorus that goes, “Valpariso, when will the wind blow me back there again.”

          “Valpariso, when will the wind blow me back there again….”

          As I listened to it, I was reminded that many people live their life like that, blown about, here and there, by every passing wind of societal mores and the newest peer pressures, even though Ephesians 4:14 warns us, "... we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming..."  Such people are led about by their desires, their curiosity, their hungers, their emotions.  Just whatever happens to them is fine with them.  No planning, no purpose beyond feeling good right now, and no thought for the future. 

          But it is a truism that those who will not plan will serve those who do.

          I remember a certain summer in Woodlake, Calif., as a youth.  A tall grassy mountain loomed over Woodlake and someone had placed a "W" of white stones high up near the top.  On a beautiful California morning several of us climbed up that grassy incline to sit in the wind among the white stones, drink our Cokes, play tag, King of the Mountain, and sit around with flowers in our hair telling stories.  It was a memorable time of peaceful fun and innocence.

          But there came a time when, as the Bible says, I put away the things and the times of children.  In fact, the whole verse of 1st Cor. 13:11 says, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

          There are many among us now who, although adults, have not put away childish things, who bend life to their own selfish, personal desires, who sell virtue short for satisfaction, and though they find little, continue to pursue their own course to the detriment of themselves and all about them.  They live blinded lives, shielding themselves from the harsh realities of this world with artificial pleasures.

          That might be acceptable if we were once again on that grassy hill in Woodlake, where the sun always shone, where the world was much kinder and innocence abounded.  But we are not.

          I noted earlier the truism that those who will not plan will serve those who do.

          There is a force in the world planning for the death of Christians, of Christianity.  Blunt, but true.  In fact, Christians are dying all around the world even as you read this, have been since this war began a very long time ago.  The time to sit around playing games with flowers in our hair is long past.  We will serve the Living God, or we will serve a dead idol propped up by the forces of Satan.  Where is the love in that?  The love is only in the God we serve, but it is not in the enemies of Christ, who call Jesus a prophet but deny His deity, and are bound and determined to see exterminated those who follow the Christ.

          We who serve the Living God have been born into a stretch of time when the actions of a war begun long ago are beginning to close in on us.  Those who follow the false religion of Islam have been at war with "the people of the book" -- Jews and Christians -- from the beginning of Mohammed's Islam.  It first impacted America following the Mideast Six Day War in 1967, when presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy promised if elected to send 50 fighter jets to Israel, and on June 5, 1968 Palestinian Sirhan Bishara Sirhan executed Kennedy in the middle of his campaign.

          Over the last 35 years, 3,094 persons have been killed in America by Muslims in 66 terror attacks.  That includes the 2,752 murdered, with another 251 wounded, in the attack on the twin towers in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.  35 years; 3,094 killed; 66 terror attacks.  (http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/AmericanAttacks.htm)

          So what is the message here?  Go and kill Muslims?  No.  Absolutely no.  That may be someone else's message, but not mine as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

          The message is get to know the Living God, because this is a war of evil against good.  You have read in Ephesians that in the end this is not our war, but a continuation of a battle begun in the heavenlies long ago.  The men and women of evil are human and their weapons manmade, but Ephesians 6:12 reminds us, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

          And here is the difficult part, they are human beings, with souls.  They are part of the mission Christ gave us.  "He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."  Even those who worship false gods are part of God's creation.  Later, in verse 24, Paul writes to Timothy, "The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them."  But in writing to the Romans, chapter 12, verse 19, Paul tells them, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord."

          As God said to the Jews in Isaiah 43:18-19, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" 

          In 2nd Corinthians, 5:20, we read, ‎"We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."

          Those who follow Jesus Christ, the church that calls itself Christian, the very bride of Christ, must draw near to God, especially in these turbulent times when all over the world Christians are under attack, even here in the United States of America.  God given freedoms are under attack all over the world, the very nature of truth, ethics and morality are under attack.  We must be reconciled to God if we are to carry the gospel message, if we are to be His ambassadors, if we are to survive the onslaught of evil that comes even now.

          Unfortunately, there are those who believe you can replace Judeo-Christian values, standards, guidelines with secular self-centered worship as the new morality, and relativism as the new ethical standard. They are correct. You can. And you see where America stoops with it today.  You see where those who call themselves Christians depart from the gospel message and stumble along, dragging the innocent and the unsuspecting with them.  They may know of the Christ, but they cannot know Him or they would still be with Him.

          As an example, although in Exodus 20:25 we see that at one time God directed His altar not be made with "dressed stones", but with stones never having had a tool on them, yet today those who arrange our meeting places build into them such finery of sculpted stone and stained glass windows as to be very nearly edifices to be worshipped for their manmade beauty.  How far the exalted religionists have led us from what God intended in our worship of Him.  We fashion the Christ in our own modern world image, we downgrade other Christians and other churches so that we and our church appear to be the only true church worshipping Almighty God.  There is such danger in that, and we don't even see it when God decides to leave us in our own self-made confusion.

          There are those who claim that our current collision with the Islamic culture is also self-made, of our own arrogance and interference.  And there is undoubtedly some truth to that.  The only remedy for that is to follow the directions Jesus Christ gave us long before Islam and Christianity met head-on; to love our brother and tell them of the Christ.  If we must defend ourselves from religious extremists in the meantime, Jesus never said we should commit suicide or allow the innocent to be slaughtered.  But in the end, only the gospel of Jesus Christ will change lives, and that will change hearts.

          May God grant us the wisdom and the strength of faith to live up to the claim of 2nd Corinthians 5:20: ‎"We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."   Even as the battle continues between evil and good, even as we strive for more love as more terrible times approach, let us be reconciled to God that we may stand on His ground in His name.

          Amen.

God Might Well Ask, "Where Are My Christians?"

     Randall C. Stufflebeam responds to another's response: "It makes more sense to me to just not participate in the argument."  The argument had to do with a young boy sent home from school because he voiced his opinion to another schoolmate that homosexuality was wrong.

     God might rightly ask, "Where are My Christians?"  Those who believe in Christ, those who serve the Living God belong in the marketplace, their influence should be felt in economics, societal decisions, and in politics.  We cannot abandon the world to the forces of darkness and expect God to reward us for watching our brothers and sisters walk among the lost.

Randall C. Stufflebeam 

“It makes more sense to me to just not participate in the argument.”

Apparently this has been the attitude of the majority of Christians since the early 1960’s. I believe that is EXACTLY why this country has fallen into such moral depravity – Christians have abdicated their role of being a voice in the market place. It’s convenient to hide in churches and private schools. What other explanation could there be if the large majority of people in this country were Christian, how is it possible that a generation of children has been slaughtered in the womb?

What American Christians fail to recognize is that when God judges the nation for the horrific sins it has committed, we Christians will be here as a part of the judgment right along with those who perpetrate the evilness. Surely I don’t need to remind everyone of the many, many times throughout the Old Testament where God used other nations to chastise Israel for their turning away from Him. And surely, I don’t need to make that the righteous along with the unrighteous felt the consequences. Do I really need to bring up the names of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?

I suspect that it won’t be very long into the future that Christians will be forced back to the catacombs. And when that day comes, you’ll indeed get all the suffering that you ask for. In one way, I somewhat long for that day because in that day, there will be no such thing as a nominal Christian.

HOWEVER… That day is NOT today.

While I concur that the call of Christians is to [Love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their strength and with all their mind; and, Love their neighbor as themselves], this posting is not about “judging” anybody, but about the complete and utter violation of our “God Given,” 1st Amendment protection of our Freedom of Religion and the FREE EXERCISE thereof.

Regardless of your position on homosexuality, the fact of the matter is that a young man was punished because he voiced his opinion that as a Christian he felt that homosexuality was wrong.

But alas, if Christians don’t start taking a stand against the incursion of evil that is so prevalent in our world, the catacombs is exactly what we deserve.

I WILL NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT. I WILL NOT HAVE MY FREEDOM OF SPEECH, MY FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF TO BE INFRINGED!

Interestingly, the Apostle Paul demanded that he be treated as a citizen of Rome and accorded the privileges and rights of Roman Citizenship, yet Christians of today suggest that we just ignore the argument of the day.

I, like Paul, demand my (and every other Christian’s) right of American Citizenship be recognized and to stop infringing on our freedom of speech, our freedom of religion, and our freedom to exercise that religion here in America, where the 1st Amendment is supposed to guarantee protection of our God Given Rights.

Regrettably, because Christians as a whole will continue to just hide in the pews and do nothing and just simply ignore the argument, this country will continue in its moral decline.

Lastly, I will say this: “While there are many who are called into spiritual ministry, there are others who are called into the civil arena.” I know that I am where I am called to be doing the things that I am called to do. I will do it to the best of my ability, SO HELP ME GOD!

Satan Will Not Go Away, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture:  Philippians 1:21-30
1:21  For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.
1:22  If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer.
1:23  I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better;
1:24  but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.
1:25  Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith,
1:26  so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.
1:27  Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel,
1:28  and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God's doing.
1:29  For He has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for Him as well--
1:30  since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

          The apostle Paul had a problem.  Actually, he had two problems, and we just don't know how much one problem had to do with another.  In 2nd Cor. 12:7-10, Paul talks about having a "thorn in the flesh," something he chose to deal with by turning it over to Christ so that he could say, "when I am weak, then I am strong."

          His other problem, and perhaps his first problem played into the second one, was that he desired to leave this life, to go home and be with Christ.  And yet, while his desire was is to depart and be with Christ, he knew that it was necessary "to remain in the flesh."

          If you have ever had a really bad day, been terribly embarrassed, or done something wrong and everybody knew about it, then you might have wished that God would just take you, right then.  But God didn't, and you had to suffer through it.

          The alternative might be, if God won't just take us on home, maybe Satan would just go away.  No more temptations, no more sin, no more teacher's dirty looks, no more condemnation.  Perhaps the worst condemnation is from that person who looks back at us from the mirror.  We know what we did.  Satan knows what we did, and he's not going to let us forget it.  We might wish Satan would go away, but until Jesus comes, he won't.  Instead, Satan will come at us from as many different directions, in as many manifestations as he can, wrapping us up in the sin of the moment.  And as we know, sin will take you further, keep you longer, and cost you more than you ever intended.

          All throughout our life we have had to contend with the issue of sin, in one form or another.  But right now, in this lifetime where we find ourselves at this moment, there is an insidious evil that confronts the church of Jesus Christ, the nation, and believers as individuals.  One reason this evil is so dangerous is because we know so little about it, misunderstand it on many levels, and are so easily guilted into supporting the enemies of Jesus Christ.  I'm talking, of course, about Islam.

          Islam is a cult of power and control that claims Abraham but knows none of the mercy, love and worship of Almighty God.  Islam sows confusion because it uses the ancient  Arabic word for "god", Allah, to worship a false god that began as an Arabic moon god in the Baal tradition.  Let there be no mistake, those who worship Islam are the enemy of Christ, the enemy of God  The first, most basic, and most important commandment of God reads: "You shall have no other gods before Me."

          False religions and false gods are not to be supported, tolerated, or lived with.  Christ's commandment to believers in Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:19 is to go into the world and make disciples of all mankind.  Over time, Christians have missed quite a few people, because the followers of Islam have murdered more people each year than all 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition, combined; killed more people every day than the Ku Klux Klan has in the past 50 years; killed more Buddhists in Thailand since America's 9-11 tragedy than the Ku Klux Klan killed in the 100 years between 1865-1965; murdered more people in two hours on September 11, 2001 than were killed in the 36 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland; killed more innocents in those two hours than the number of American criminals executed in the past 65 years. 

          The Muslims who claim theirs is a religion of peace are responsible for the deaths of more than 270,000,000 non-Muslims world-wide.  This includes 120 million Africans through the wholesale slave trade they operated (Woman’s Presbyterian Board of Missions, David Livingstone, p. 62, 1888), 60 million Christians (David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Trends AD 30-AD 2200, William Carey Library, 2001, p. 230, table 4-10, and  Raphael Moore in History of Asia Minor), 80 million Hindus of India (Koenard Elst, Negationism in India, Voice of India, New Delhi, 2002, pg. 34), and 10 million Buddhists (David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Trends AD 30-AD 2200, William Carey Library, 2001, p. 230, table 4-1). 

          That's 270,000,000 people murdered, more than Stalin, Hitler, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, and all of the genocidal socialists of the 20th century.

          Courageous men and women in the uniform of their America have sacrificed, along with their chaplains, battle corpsmen, nurses and surgeons, sacrificed a great deal as part of this society to ensure men and women are equal, black and white are equal, the God-given rights delineated in the U.S. Constitution are still there for everyone.

          And yet, there exists a very real danger that if we who are free, if we do not confront the enemies of our God-given freedoms today, our enslaved grandchildren will not forgive us tomorrow.  And tomorrow is not that far away.

          For example, although both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee "due process" under American law, Sharia law has already been cited as an influence to decisions in several court cases this year.  It is Sharia law that sentences people to such things as stoning of women, cutting off limbs for theft, honor killing of daughters and wives.

          If the people of Christ knew and understood the inspired words of the Living God within their Bibles, the living of their very lives would be a testament to the will of God, negating the forces that would stand against us as Christians.  Romans 8:31 reminds us that if God is for us, no one could ever stand against us.

          Paul wrote in verses 27 and 28, "Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation.  And this is God's doing."

          There has been a great deal of fearful talk last year and this regarding the return of Jesus Christ, that it is closer than we believe, imminent, even.  But for those who believe in Jesus Christ, such concern is meaningless.  Our concern must be for where we are now, by the grace of God, in the world, and for the spiritual future of others.  Our place in the world is threatened by the enemies of God, as is the spiritual future of those with whom Christ has told us to share the gospel.

          In light of this, I am going to end a little differently this time, referring you to a recent speech by a man of Indian extraction, a man who grew up a Muslim, a man late in his years and in a wheelchair, suffering from cancer, Mr. Tarek Fatah.  This may be one of the most important exposures to information you have had lately, since he speaks plainly from a position of knowledge, naming names and sharing from his experiential wisdom.  Here is the link:

http://www.livestream.com/ideacity/video?clipId=flv_fd017d81-dc18-42cc-821a-18b86fdea840

          Let us say with Paul, "For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.  If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me..."  For we are here, and Satan will not go away.

          Amen.

Does Anyone Hear Jeremiah?, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Jeremiah 23:7-14

Jeremiah 23:7  "So then, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’

Jeremiah 23:8  but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

Jeremiah 23:9  Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones tremble.  I am like a drunken man, like a strong man overcome by wine, because of the Lord and his holy words.

Jeremiah 23:10  The land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land lies parched and the pastures in the wilderness are withered.  The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly.

Jeremiah 23:11  “Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness,” declares the Lord. 

Jeremiah 23:12  “Therefore their path will become slippery; they will be banished to darkness and there they will fall.  I will bring disaster on them in the year they are punished,” declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:13  “Among the prophets of Samaria I saw this repulsive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. 

Jeremiah 23:14  And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible:  They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.  They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”

          I read a story about a pastor attending a community luncheon, and I believe the beginning of the story encapsulates this modern world we are in -- a sad mirror of what once was -- this world where we are wondering what has happened that we are in such a sorry state.

          The story begins ... Long after the incident, he would think about what he was wearing, as if that had to do with it; brown slacks and jacket, open collar yellow golf shirt, and brown loafers.

          The lovely redhead had fairly pranced over to him before the luncheon meeting began, saying, "You've lost weight."

          He searched his memory, but couldn't remember her.  But he smiled, said, "Bless you, I wish that were true.  I do need to lose weight."

          She returned his smile, saying, "You come on over to my house sometime, I bet you'll lose some weight."

          He noted the wedding ring she wore, and almost without thinking he responded, "A soul has no weight, and I'm afraid if I came over to your house, that's all I would lose."  Then suddenly in that instant, his skin crawled as he realized perhaps he had misunderstood her.

          But the redheaded lady backed up just a step, and her jaw dropped ever so slight, indicating she understood him perfectly.

          She craned her neck forward just a bit and asked in a conspiratorial voice, "Are you a preacher?"

          "Guilty as charged," he said.

          "Well, hon, you might have said something," she pouted.

          Fingering the silver cross hanging across his chest, he answered, "I thought I did."

          "Oh poo, everybody wears one of those these days," she answered.

          Just at that moment, a man stepped rudely between them and began to ask him a question about the new repair project at the elementary school.

          He tried to concentrate on what the man was saying, watching her move off, but a verse from Jeremiah kept playing through his mind, that he was surrounded by adulterers and evil doers, and none of them would turn from his wickedness." (Jeremiah 23:14)

          That much of the story makes the point of this sermon.

          How often my wife and I have sat watching television as commercial after commercial depicts a parent lying to their children, of one adult lying to another, meant to tell a story and sell a product.  And when my wife points out how harmful that is, to simply expect that everyone does it, I can only respond, "It's the world we live in."

          I could be quite content if I never again heard the excuse, "But everybody's doing it."

          Doing what?  Cheating on their exams?  Doing tattoos that will one day turn to a purple mass defacing the skin God made pristine and alive?  Bits of silver metal jabbed into the skin of their face, their lips, eyebrows, and who knows where?  Is everybody lying to one another, and lying with one another?  Does everyone cheat their brother and sister to make a profit for themselves? 

          Are all pastors preaching a new amalgamation of Christianity and Islam that does not glorify Christ?  Preaching a gospel that will make you rich if you will only "name it and claim it"?  Do we all walk past those in need, those hurting, those without any knowledge of Jesus Christ?  Do we all serve ourselves first?  Is everybody doing it?

          No.

          No, they're not.  However, current events would make you think so, for duplicity and mischief reign at the highest levels.

          At  6 p.m. Central Time, the President of the United States, Barak Hussein Obama, appeared before the Congress of the United States to present to them his "Jobs Bill" speech.  For a week prior there had been bits and pieces leaked from the White House about this speech.  On the one hand he was going to demand bipartisan action from the Republicans, on the other hand, the speech was being ballyhooed too much by those expecting too much.  It was the be-all answer to the nation's economic problems, it was not the answer.

          Finally, it was time.  The Congressional Sergeant-at-Arms announced the President of the United States, and President Obama made his way to the podium amidst a standing ovation and many handshakes and hugs and smiles along the way.  In terms of rhetoric, he went on the offensive immediately, speaking for about 45 minutes, intoning 19 times, according to media reports, "Pass this bill!"  He spoke of spending $450 billion dollars to fix the jobs problem, saying repeatedly, "It will be paid for," without explaining exactly how, except that the Congress was to find tens of billions of dollars to cut in wasted spending.  He spoke of cutting Medicaid and Medicare among current users to preserve it for future users.  He spoke of continuing jobless aid, without saying how it would be funded.  He spoke of tax cuts for small business employers who hire those who have long been out of work.

          And yet, once again ignorance of business practices raises its ugly head in the Oval Office.  Those who have never had to make business decisions, never had to meet a payroll, or deal with the mountain of federal red tape, simply do not understand. Tax cuts are great, but Pres. Obama misunderstands what creates jobs. Small business owners hire people based on increased business. They don't hire to gain a tax cut, and pay employees to sit idle. Taxes and refunds happen in the second quarter of next year, but new employees have to be paid next week.

          In the context of his speech, he said, "What we can’t do – what I won’t do – is let this economic crisis be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades." 

     Great idea, but this is in the context of the speech in which he called for Social Security and Medicare cuts, and only a week after his decision to remove protections against smog, so that his words carry no real weight.  Did he really think no one would remember?  No one would notice?  No one would care...that the President of the United States lied?

          He repeatedly talked consensus, but also repeatedly warned the Congress that it was his way or the highway, that he would hold the Congress responsible if they didn't pass his bill.  That never worked on the playground and it doesn't work in Washington, D.C.  If you want cooperation, you build bi-partisan consensus, and threats don't do that.

          While the context here seems to be economic, it goes far deeper than that.  If my son's bicycle has a flat tire, tightening the handle bars, adjusting the seat, oiling the chain will not positively affect the problem.  The tire remains flat.  I have not addressed the real problem, and neither has Pres. Obama nor the Congress.  We are a people oppressed by economic disaster, but that is merely the surface problem, the most obvious manifestation of a much deeper problem.  We are also oppressed by greed, hunger for power and money, by sexual misconduct, selfishness, lying, and more.

          For 50 years the people of Jeremiah's time ignored the God-given warnings of the weeping prophet.  He complained to God at one point that he was surrounded by adulterers and evil doers, and they would not change.  Finally God removed His arm of protection and they became a conquered people. 

          I don't know about the adulterers -- that's beyond my sphere of knowledge -- but the self-serving evil doers, the liars, the manipulators for personal power, they are as rampant in this age as apparently in Jeremiah's.  Until we once more teach ethics and morals in our homes, in our schools, and in our churches, the God who created us is not likely to recognize our miserable state as glorifying Him in any way.  We are no longer surprised by evil-doing, in fact, we equivocate about it, we offer up excuses for it.  There is no longer a standard of selfless service; what is good, and right, and fair are no longer even expected. 

          We have fouled, and allowed others in power to foul, our bed, and now we lay in it.  Ours is a God-given freedom, no government gave this to us.  We have an inherent right and responsibility of action.  Time to change the sheets and get back to expecting clean living and deference to the good of one another, as Jesus Christ in His Sermon on the Mount teaches us. 

          The prophet Jeremiah is once again weeping, as once again his inspired pronouncements, so fitting to our current time, are ignored, once again.  Who will hear him?  Who will take a stand for the truth kept alive for us down through the ages?  Who will raise the standard that proclaims the victory of good over evil?  Who hears the weeping prophet, weeping for our ignorance, for our poisonous man-is-god treachery, who will hear?  

          The President doesn't hear.

          The Congress doesn't hear.

          Does anyone hear?  Jeremiah's people didn't hear, either.

          Amen.

How Long? How Long?, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Matthew 18:15-20

18:15  If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.
18:16  But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
18:17  If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18:18  Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
18:19  Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.
18:20  For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among them.

          There is a story about a son who worked hard to graduate from a prestigious university, and with honors.  Long before he graduated, he had let his father know that he expected his graduation present to be a favorite red sports car.  He felt he had worked hard, and he had earned it.  His father was wealthy, could afford such a gift, and never rebutted the son's expectations.  But when he graduated, his father was on an overseas trip, and his gift arrived in a box wrapped in a red ribbon.  Inside was a large Bible.  The son's reaction was anger.  A Bible instead of the expected sports car?  He vowed never to speak to his father again and began to make his own way in the world.

          Several successful years later, his father died.  When the son heard the news, he was angry once again.  Angry at himself and angry at his father, both for the absence of the expected gift, and because now he and his father could never restore their relationship.  Frustrated, the son strode into his study, found the Bible his father had sent him, and flung it across the room.  As it landed on the floor, a key fell out; the key to a favored red sports car, later to be found abandoned in his father's garage.

          Of course, it might have helped the situation if the father, being out of the country, had sent word ahead about the key.  Just as with the angry son's situation, our Father has given us a key, and it's in the Word of God, and in many cases, we're not using it.

          But unlike the boy's father, our Father has sent word ahead for us. 

          In Joshua 24:12, God told His people, "I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you -- also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow."  They were congratulating themselves for their prowess, ignoring God's part in their victory.  In a way similar to God sending an army of hornets ahead of the Jewish army to drive out the enemy, He has sent the wisdom and protection of His Word ahead for our benefit, so it would be waiting when we got here.

          1st Corinthians 10:11 reminds us, "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come."  And in Romans 15:4, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

          The church in the world today, the Bride of Christ, is in turmoil because  too many of His chosen vessels are straying into private interpretation that fills the church's treasury but does little to accomplish its mission of bringing the lost to Christ.  Churches today are becoming an entertaining rest home for the saints, rather than a hospital for the spiritually wounded and dying.

          In today's scripture we have Jesus' step by step instructions to believers regarding how to handle those within the congregation who are fomenting personal and institutional error and confusion.  He doesn't say run to the news media, or to higher church authorities or law enforcement, but go to them, talk with them.  And if they ignore you, there are instructions for how to proceed. 

          Now, the interesting thing is this, those instructions work outside the church, as well.  Rather than gossiping -- leaving them lost and perhaps being the reason for their eternal ruin -- or building a consensus of condemnation, rather than ruining lives and reputations, Jesus tells us there is a better way to deal with wrong-doing among ourselves, a better way based in the church's mission to bring people to the salvation of Christ.  And it works outside the church, as well, for its power is in Christ.

          But further, Jesus' instructions for problem solving do not end there.  In verses 18 through 20, we have the key to that red sports car that will speed us out of the very problems facing us today.  The only fly in the ointment is this, we either don't realize the access to power we as believers have, or we don't believe it.

          These verses 18-20 state as follows: "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among them."

          The majority of Bible scholars agree "bind" and "loose" refer to what is allowed and what is forbidden.  We the people, by the grace of God, have a say in what is allowed and what is forbidden.

          Nowhere else in history is there a nation of people with the God-given freedoms and liberties, the inspired sense of compassion for others, and the resources to make a difference like the United States of America.  In every other instance there had to be a "strong man" in control to rule and protect and give meaning to the people's industry.

          In America, the "power" resides in We the People by the grace of Almighty God.  And while we say, in word and deed and engraved on our monuments, that we understand that, we obviously do not.  For if we did, the current state of depravity, political chicanery, homelessness, hunger, joblessness would not exist in America.

          Let me repeat verses 19 and 20 here: "Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among them."

          We find affirmation of this in 1st John 5:14-15, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us -- whatever we ask -- we know that we have what we asked of Him."

          An ancient Jewish saying promised God's presence for even two or three who were gathered to study His law.  Jewish teachers often called God "the Place," that is, "the Omnipresent One"; Immanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ is that presence.

          The principles of these rules from Jesus can be put into effect everywhere, and under all circumstances.  And yet they continue to stand neglected.  In all our actions we need to seek His direction in prayer.  We cannot prize too highly the promises of God.  Wherever and whenever we meet in the name of Christ, we must consider Him as present in our midst, present in every meeting, amidst us in every prayer, with power.

          When will the church worshipping in the name of Jesus Christ -- the church being the people of Christ, not brick and mortar and stained-glass window buildings -- when will the church step up and exercise the power they have through Jesus Christ?  How far down do the people of America have to devolve, how many children damaged, how many lives lost, how badly does the name of Christ have to be smeared, before the church steps up, in His power?  The purpose of the church is to win others for the Lord and His church.  How is this being served today?  How long?

          Amen.