There was only ever one hope!

Dear brothers and sisters,

I want to wear a button that says, "Repent, the end is here!!!!"

I am hardly fit company today after the results of the election.  That my "soul is cast down within me," is an understatement.

Of this, I am forced to repent and seek forgiveness.

I never realized how much hope I had placed in this election.  I am ashamed of how much I had looked to man and away from God.

I do know and I hope you do - that God is still sovereign - He still rules His creation, nothing is out of His control.

I am ashamed of the fear I have (surprise?) of the inevitable loss we will now suffer in terms of our material security.  I am ashamed of the thoughts that run through my mind.  I am ashamed at my lack of faith at God's answer to my payers.

I am ashamed at the thoughts that America, as we know it and love it is done.  I am ashamed of a desire to leave - either the country or civilization.  I am ashamed of my strong desire to drop off the grid and become one of the "invisibles."

I am ashamed of my lack of faith directed at the whole purpose of faith - His glory and honor.

I am haunted by one and only one statement made by Mr. Obama.  "Vote, it's the best revenge."  Though perhaps a slip of the tongue, for me it reveals the very heart of what we will now have to trust God in.   Revenge - the fundamental purpose behind what will not come to pass.

I don't know of anywhere else to go to live.  I don't know how to "get off the grid."  I do not know how to disappear.  Perhaps that's a good thing for I fear it would be an act of faithlessness.

Like many of you, I have been sorely distracted by all the political tension and hope.  My mind has been distracted and my heart wounded by taking my eye and mind off the call of God.

Gun sales and ammunition sales are sky-rocketing.  Self-protection?  From who?  I sense it is not from the "bad-guys" but from the guys who now have the bigger guns.

I have only two consolations.  the first is that my God is sovereign and His will is good.  The second is - well - the prophets, John the Baptist, the Apostles all lived under the cruelest of political powers and yet remained faithful and fruitful.  They stood for God against warped and insidious powers of their day - yet without sin.

We too must stand.  Not primarily for our "liberties," nor our "rights," for, as a nation of laws we are subject to the changing of the laws.

We must stand for Him.  perhaps this is why we find ourselves where we are.  For generations we have have stood for all sorts of social and cultural - even moral "issues," but we have not stood for Him.  I believe that He has been and is disciplining us and calling us back to His purpose for us.

Our fight is against the flesh.  Yes, the world and the devil are involved BUT at the very core of it all is - well - us, our flesh.  It is the flesh that battles against the spirit.  It is the flesh - this body of death - that is our primary enemy.  We must repent - in weeping and even gnashing of teeth at the faithlessness we have shown.

I am "in" the world by His will - certainly not my choice.  We are not to be "of" the world - we are not to fight as it fights - but we have and we must repent.

I am encouraging all of you to examine your hearts.  Look to see what matter most in your life and living.  If God, His glory and His will - your being conformed to the likeness of His Son, is not at the center, repent - please, repent.

I am praying to find brothers and sisters who will join with me in a commitment - a singular commitment -to turn back to the call of God to His prime directive -.

Jesus came to redeem - that is not our job.  Our calling is to call men and women to repentance through the preaching of the Gospel.  We are NOT called to change the world - we never could - we never can.

A subtle persecution has long existed - there is no need for subtlety any more.  There is also no excuse for "stealth" or "compromised" Christianity.  It is time to rebuild the wall between the Body of Christ and the world.  For too long we have allowed them to be dismantled for the sake of acceptance and congeniality.  The wall must rise again.  The distinction between believers, imposters, posers and unbelievers must be made clear.

I am ashamed of my lack of faith and faithfulness.  I never knew its depth until today and now I feel it deeply and painfully.

We must rebuild the wall around God's gate, God's door.  This must begin with each of us.  We must repent of claiming to not be "of" the world and yet craving all it's goodies and making use of all its ways.

The Puritans are our best examples of men and women who forsook the world - perhaps we would do well to follow their lead.

It is now - to what ever responsible degree we can and in God's truth and wisdom - that we must, "Come out from among them,"  Do we have the faith to do that?  Do we trust God enough to seek and follow His path in this?

The world hates Him - the world hates us - what part of that do we not want to understand?

Michael "sheepdog" Sanders
ms@tc2v1.com
336-549-2081

VOTE-VOTE-VOTE TRUST HIM and VOTE

The politician is made of willow; he can side with all parties; his religion is cut according to the fashion of the times; he can bow either to the east or to the west. Zeal for truth is blotted out of the politician's creed.

In short, the politician is like a chameleon, who can change into all colors and be as his company is. He can be either serious or feathery. He can imitate either Cato or Cataline. I grant that Christian prudence is commendable, but the serpent must not devour the dove.  Thomas Watson (2010-04-27). The Duty of Self-Denial (Kindle Locations 156-163).  . Kindle Edition.

Go to the polls and vote – Vote your conscience but examine it first.

I voted – it hurt – but I voted.

Remember that politics is about power – men seek power to fulfill the desires of their hearts.  Power corrupts.  If the heart is already corrupted then corruption is multiplied exponentially 

This is a tough time for believers.  All the political concerns are not germane to our mission ,our duty here.  We are resident aliens – citizens of another Kingdom.  But we have the opportunity to make a statement.

I was recently asked if a believer could make a choice between the lesser of two evils.  My considered response was that if that is the only choice we have, if in not making that choice we fail in our responsibility to others (believers and non-believers) we sin.  Of course I also believe that when it comes to the powers of this world there are no choices except between evils.

Remember though – our God is sovereign – the power and authority of government is on loan from Him.  

Trust Him – cast your vote!

Peter’s Pen 1st Peter 1:2

(1Pe 1:2)  according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

You’ve heard the saying, “He said a mouthful.”  Well, Peter says several mouths-full in this verse.

Peter gives us a box in which we can see something about our lives in Jesus.  Our lives in Christ are:

1     1.  according to the foreknowledge of God the Father

2     2.  in the sanctification of the Spirit

3     3.  or obedience to Jesus Christ

4     4.  or sprinkling with his blood

Look at each point this way:

1     1.  You are His and that is no surprise to God He knew it and if He knew it He brought it to pass.

2     2.  You are His inside and out, over and under and His “seal” of the relationship, the Spirit, is in you an        

             upon you – and that Spirit works in you making you like Him.

3     3.  We couldn’t and wouldn’t obey without 1 and 2.  Now we can and do.  Don’t go all legalistic on me 

            now - !

4     4.  Huh?  This means you are His forever.  His blood has cleansed you and made you His dear child – and 

            this blood will always have its effect. 

I would love to launch into a lot of information about the broad and deep meaning of this passage but I won’t.  What Peter is telling you and I is that we are His – period – not questions on His part and that ought to help us when we question it on our part.  He did it – it is done!

One little – kool beans part.  Notice that Peter tells us 1 and 2 were done for obedience and then he mentions the sprinkling of the blood.  For me that’s a comfort.

When I read “for obedience,” my flesh is very quick to tell me how poorly I obey.  I get this big spreadsheet of all the rebellious and unthinking ways I disobey.  I’m sure Peter knew all about this.  I wonder how often his flesh reminded him of his sins (see Peter in the Gospels). 

So knowing that we would iinstantly default to our weak and struggling obedience Peter with the Spirit’s guidance brings up the blood of Jesus which cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

This knee jerk to our weakness/sin is what I call a “Romans 7 moment.”  Get your Bible and read Romans 7.  Ouch!  But please do not skip verse 25!!!!! 

From there Paul writes:

There is therefore now

no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.(Rom 8:1)

There we are – this are us.  This is YOU!

Brothers and sisters, “in Christ,” no failure is ever final.  No one and nothing can undo what God has done.  Our hope here and our hope for heaven is secured by Him – not by us.

“Walk behind Him leaning forward.  If you fall, fall in His direction.  If you smack the ground, crawl towards Him.” MS

Walk with P & me 09

Walk with P & me  09

Note:  Blog numbers show the order they are written NOT published.  Some may not make it to the post – don’t want to TMI you.

Prayer – is dangerous

I have a previous blog on prayer I may or may not publish but this one I can.

Patti and I prayed together last night. Usually we just pray individually – but last night it just seemed necessary and good.  We each prayed silently and just being on our knees close to one another was a blessing.

As I began to pray my mind started to race with fear and schemes and all that junk.  So I began to pray the model prayer.  I got through “our Father” and then got stuck at “Hallowed be thy name.”  I stayed there the whole time.

I got caught between two ideas.  The first was that we are to bring glory and honor to the “name” of God.  The second was:

For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."  (Rom 2:24)

Now remember – this is my prayer time so if any of this sticks on you – I talking about me.

I accepted that in way I know and ways I have not seen, God’s name is blasphemed by the “Gentiles” (unbelievers) by me.  When I fail to walk the walk or talk the talk – bam!  When I sit and grouse about the culture and launch out on political rants – bam.  When I suggest that non-believers be bound by the same yoke I am – bam!  We I fail to be gracious and loving and faithful to the Way (Acts 24:14) – bam!

Yes, I am very very aware that unbelievers have little if any true understanding of the Way and that their expectations of believes are, to say the least, skewed but that should not hinder me in walking it.

I, like a lot of believers can be distracted by the sins of the culture and the sins in politics but you know – that isn’t my problem.  My problem is the battle between my flesh and the spirit.  It is all too easy to look at the world and demand the world (or our country) live according to my faith and the waste energy and resources trying to make them.

The church needs to separate from the state – the culture.  We are to be light in it not contenders in it.  Our fight – ok, my fight is for my being conformed to His likeness and to encourage the same in other believers. 

I realized – confessed and repented of my propensity to get real interested in that speck in the eye of another – especially culturally and politically – and to ignore the giant Red-wood in my own.  I even realized – confessed and repented of my propensity to get hung up on the mess the “church” has become.  That is a prayer problem – I am my problem.

The day is coming when all creation will know the truth.  Some will say “Amen,” others will say, “Uh oh!” 

The separation of church and state (even church and culture) has become a comfortable institutional thing; an us and them thing.  Well Toto – welcome to Kansas.  It is first and fundamentally a ME and IT thing.

God says, “Michael,”

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.  (1Jn 2:15-17)

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.   (Heb 11:13)

Less than 90 days till the election.  Do we really think we can change God’s timetable by a vote?  Or are we vainly hoping that we will dampen the hate the world has for us by a vote?

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  (Eph 6:12)

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2Co 4:4)

Whomever we elect, they will not “hallow” God’s name.  They won’t bring the Kingdom of God.  they won't slow the persecution, trial or tribulation of believers.  By slow attrition I have consistently lost some of my brightness because I have been distracted from individually and consistently “Hallowing His name.”  The result is that the blasphemy He suffers increases.

I am at a point where I want to declare that I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God, a member of His household and own no allegiance, have not duty and recognize no authority save His.  I live in the USA but I am an alien – a stranger – loyal to a different “country” and a different “King.”

I know I mixed up a lot of I’s and we’s in here and I apologize – that’s the teacher in me.  But this is about me and His work in me.  What those in rebellion towards God do or don’t do is only my concern in as much as it is His.  But I have to question if I can continue to play their game on their court by their rules.  I’m afraid I can’t – I mean really afraid I can’t – but I trust in Him for He is sovereign – nothing in the work of man can hinder His will.  Of course having said that I have to accept the truth:

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.   (Joh 15:19)

Certainly what follows is Paul’s experience but should we expect any less for/of ourselves?

·      For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  

     But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 

     We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 

    For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2Co 4:6-11)