The Falling Fire

by Pastor Ed Evans

            A recent program by the Love Worth Finding ministry of Pastor Adrian Rogers broadcast a sermon titled "Let the Fire Fall."  Adrian Rogers was a three-time President of the Southern Baptist Convention, and passed away Nov. 15 of 2005.  Eight years after his death, his recorded ministry and the truth he taught continues.

            In this sermon, Rogers talks about the time of King Ahab and the prophet Elijah.  In this instance there had been no rain for three-and-a-half years.  The herds upon which they depended were starving.    So Ahab tells his man Obadiah, "You take half of the herds and go that way looking for grass, and I'll take the other half and go this way."

            Sounds like a plan, but very much like what is happening in America today, Ahab was avoiding the obvious.  There was no rain.  And there was no rain because God was punishing the kingdom.  Instead of charging all over looking for available grass, Ahab should have had his people praying for rain, and rain wasn't coming until they obeyed God.

            Just as with the Israelites then, there are those who don't want to hear that their nation is under judgment today, don't want to hear that what they are doing and saying and supporting is making them an enemy of God. 

            "But it feels so right," they will say.  "It's logical," they claim.  "You're not the boss of me," is the childish challenge.

            And yet, the record of God's actions show He is not making His decisions based on our feelings, on our version of logic, or whether or not we accept God as our "boss."

            Very much like the sin-filled situation the Prophet Elijah was facing, the people had not only turned their back on the Living God, but many had begun worshiping the idols Baal and Asherah.  Actually, there are many today who say the religion of Islam may trace back to the loveless, inanimate idol of Baal.  However, worshiping a dead idol is its own reward, but turning your back on the Living God incurs a price all its own.

            All across America concerned citizens are urging fellow citizens and those in power to look for grass, instead of praying for rain, instead of maintaining their faith in Almighty God, instead of obeying God.  What God asks of us is prayer, faith, and obedience.  Turning our back on Him and hoping, miraculously, that a way out of the hedonistic, greedy, immoral fog that America has wandered into is tantamount to expecting Satan to sit on the sidelines while we thumb our nose at God.  Won't happen.

            The title for Adrian Rogers' sermon, "Let the Fire Fall," comes from a defining incident during the foul reign of King Ahab.  Elijah had pointed out that he was only one prophet before God, but that those who worshiped Baal had 450 prophets, and then there were another 400 prophets of the idol Asherah.  So the people were very mixed up, ignoring what they knew of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Hence, God's punishment.

            In 1st Kings 18:21, we see that "Elijah came to all the people, and said, 'How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.' But the people answered him not a word.'"

            Elijah then challenged those of Baal with a contest where a blood sacrifice would be made, on a pile of wood, on an altar of stone, and the fire to consume it would come from the most powerful god.   Elijah poured a large amount of water over his sacrifice and asked God to reveal Himself by consuming the sacrifice. "Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench" (1st Kings 18:38).  And we read in 1st Kings 18:39, "And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God."  Lies, falseness, evil divides us, but what happens at the altar of God brings us together, unites His own.

            At this moment in time, there is no Elijah in America challenging the prophets of all the many false idols to a contest with the Living God.  But there are many ordinary Christians, as well as Pastors, Evangelists, and entire churches urging that Americans enter into prayer, strengthen their faith, and walk in obedience to the Living God.

            And yet, as if mere disobedience, lack of faith and prayer were not sordid enough, the American society is replete with false religions, atheists, anti-theists, agnostics, skeptics, freethinkers, humanists, and pantheists.  And even as I write this, secular humanists are coming up with more titles.  Even now a man from South America claims to be in the bloodline of Jesus Christ and heir to His holiness.  Others claim to have been given special prophecies, special powers, special abilities, and the enemy of God runs rampant with errant claims, fallacious promises, and duplicitous lies.  In this age, as in all others, those not grounded in Christ will believe any spiritual fantasy.  This year formally trained "reformers" are being sent out to churches to convince congregations that the Scriptures allow for homosexual activity.  But they are all still looking for the free grass, seeking miracles out of nowhere, running from repentance, instead of praying for rain; instead of praying, being and seeking to be faithful, and seeking obedience to the Living God.

            It seems our worst behavior shows up in politics and in our government systems.  When a person is elected to a political office they become victims of the three "P's"; power, pay and perks.  And however much they have promised to serve the people, they spend most of their effort in remaining in office to make the most of their power, pay and perks.  The more power, pay and perks they accrue the more willing they are to do anything to keep it, even selling themselves into evil for it.

            Our understood decency, as a nation, has fallen down around our ankles like a pair of dirty pants, embarrassing us in our human filthiness.  And yet all the while we pretend everything is okay.  But here's the strange part, something about us knows everything is not okay, and will not let us rest.  We have a God-shaped hole in our heart that only the Living God can fill.  And all of our worthless efforts to make all of life about us are just that, worthless.  We cannot change anything about yesterday and we can only marginally affect tomorrow until we get there.  And yet we serve a timeless God to whom time is a river, all power is His, and there is nothing about us or anything else that He doesn't know.  So who do we think we are?

            The exciting reality is, however, that whether those who are outside of Jesus Christ decide to obey God or not, the Living God is faithful to answer the prayers of His own, as we are told 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 ... we know that we have what we asked of Him."  

            The fire will fall, just as it did for Elijah; fire in the form of revival in America.  Just as in the dark days of Elijah's Israel, days of apostasy, apathy, and horrible sin, those who are praying, faithful, obedient to God will see Him usher in a time of spiritual revival that will tear loose the roots of greed and excess, selfishness, abortion, avarice, debauchery, and bring men and women to see Godly wisdom, integrity, character, service and love to others. 

            It is time to stop believing the lie that you are a victim, that you are all alone in this life, that you don't need repentance, and know that you are a child of a loving, caring, forgiving God.  Cease looking for the grass you didn't plant, the fortune you didn't work for, and all that is outside of obedience to Almighty God.  Matthew 6:33 advises us, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

            As was the Prophet Elijah's experience, the fire of the Holy Spirit consumes, convicts and converts.  Pray hard because it is coming, and time is short.

Mistakes in the Middle East are only the Beginning

     Pres. Obama is about to step on a land-mine of his own making in our dealings with Egypt.        Worse than his international faux pas, he is utterly destroying the ethics, morality and dignity of the USA.  His second term in office is marked by his obvious and extremist support of the Muslim Brotherhood, pettiness driven by the refusal of freedom-loving people to knuckle under to what his agenda demands, appointment of people to high positions with even less commitment to American ethics and morals than himself, and a total lack of servanthood leadership that has achieved the high water mark in previous American Presidents.
     It appears there is a gulf of great disparity between the American people and this President. They want good, solid, forward-looking leadership.  Barack Hussein Obama wants a kingdom, or perhaps as some see in his Muslim educational background, a Caliphate.
     It should by now be obvious to everyone that these opposing forces are leading to a whimpering collision.  It will not be the violent collision the White House seems to seek which would justify martial law and an opportunity to "remold" and "remake" America.  Instead, through the wisdom of America's forefathers there are safeguards in place to prevent military and political coups.  Nevertheless, a collision comes, and it will be an Pyrrhic victory for America, taking us many years to climb out of the financial and moral abyss.
     So far, statesmanship, personal discipline and an adherence to the United States Constitutional government have kept this wavering ship of state upright.  I must believe that will continue, so long as love of country and love of Almighty God prevails.
     There are those on both side of the issues, aside from political partisanship, who would be quick to "pull a trigger".  No doubt.  But calmer heads and the built-in give-and-take of American justice will, I believe, continue to hold sway among men of conscience, if not men of power.
     Someone has said that all politics is local.  But it goes even deeper than that, for all commitment, both patriotic and religious, is more than local, it is individual.
     The continuation, the salvation, of America for tomorrow's generations lies in that individual commitment to God and to Country.  And its genus lies in the hearts of men.  So long as we, as individual persons, are faithful to our God and to our nation, we cannot be overturned.  The secret lies in our personal, individual relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; in our prayer life, in our sense of faith, and in our obedience.
     Those who will not talk to God don't have a prayer.  Pray hard.  Time is short.

Why Doesn't the Church.....?

by Pastor Ed Evans

In the opinion piece headlined "'Liberal' Kirsten Powers rightfully rips Churches" (http://shoebat.com/2013/09/28/liberal-kirsten-powers-speaks-persecuted-christians/) I must call that a shot and a miss.  The wrong target was addressed because the target addressed does not exist as an entity to be held responsible.  If there are individuals the church's critics believe in error, those individuals should be addressed specifically. 

Walid Shoebat I'm familiar with, but I couldn't tell you Kirsten Powers from Martha Stewart, or Ben Barrack from Ben Affleck.  As for Kermit Gosnell, as many media sources as I access, I know very little about that situation as well.  But then, there have been many incidents of bloody evil right here in this nation that our own news media have very nearly ignored, to the public's ignorance.    The old guest preacher was asked what he was going to speak on, he said "sin."  He was asked what he was going to say about it.  He said, "I'm ag'in it."  That's been God's point of view all along.

I can speak only for the church I attend here in Nashville, Tenn., and to my own posted sermons, and in that respect I am unaware "the church" per se is ignoring the persecution and slaughter of Christians.  Incidentally, there is a Facebook page titled "Voice of the Copts", with 2,887 members which continually details persecutions such as mentioned by Barrack and Powers.  Those 2,887 members, like myself, pick up that news and share it on our own sites, asking for prayer and fasting, sending notes to our legislators, doing what we can.

However, since "the church" is a living organism, Biblically consisting of individual worshipers worldwide, there can be no specific answering for those who hear their own voice over that of the Holy Spirit, nor for those who launch out on personal agendas, ignoring the Word of God.  To blame "the church" for ignoring evil is like blaming the medical profession for late appointments.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that Christ did not tell His church to "Go into all the world and take up arms against evil."  Even the notable Shakespeare seemed to be ambivalent about such action, whether it was better to simply accept such trouble and tough it out or take action.  He penned in Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1: "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the sling and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them?" 

Not that the church has stopped followers of Jesus Christ from taking arms against the enemies of God.  History is replete with such instances.

What has stopped Christians and others from "taking arms" is the current political regime in the White House which has placed known Muslims in sensitive political positions, sent FBI agents to places like Tennessee to lecture communities against their efforts to contain the growth and influence of Islam and Sharia Law within their neighborhoods and schools, neutered laws against arming terrorists so they could provide arms to Syrian rebels who have massacred entire villages of Christians.

Very recently a young pastor's wife who is personally known to me was arrested outside the White House grounds for falling on her knees to pray regarding President Obama's actions, as were two Catholic nuns who knelt with her to pray.  The Christian church worldwide, made up of individual worshipers, is well aware of Christians being martyred, but how they deal with that continuing fact may not be within the understanding of those outside of Christ.

When I was a senior enlisted Marine late in my military career, civilians, those outside the Marine Corps, would often take the opportunity to tell me what they thought the Marine Corps should be doing about this issue or that one.  But my orders, the impetus to my actions, did not come from what they thought.  It's been observed that outside the Marine Corps you cannot explain it, while inside, you don't need to.  The same might be said of the Christian church.  Its detractors and those outside of Christ seem quick to tell the followers of Jesus Christ what they should be doing.  But those who have an active relationship with the Living God are listening to the words of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, our Messiah, something not obvious to others.

When I pastored a church, I forever shook my head at the propensity of some people to assume everything within the church was the Pastor's responsibility.  "Pastor, someone spilled cookie crumbs in the foyer," or "Pastor, someone left the water running in the ladies' room," or "Pastor, there's a window open in the back classroom and the rain is coming in."  My answer was always the same, "Well, take care of it."

I appreciate being well-informed, but I don't have to join in every fight I'm invited to.  The Lord God sets my path and equips me for the encounters He purposes for me as a follower of Jesus Christ.  And those who follow Him most likely know why.

As for Kirsten Powers and Ben Barrack, I would suggest if they have a problem with evil in the world, that they do something about it, something more than point the finger at others to do something about it.  The followers of Jesus Christ have made their position about evil very clear.  They, we, are against it, and our marching orders are not set by critics and the news media.  My advice is to pray hard.  Time is short.