Few Survived the War

 There are times in life when one is so emotionally sobered by the introduction of an extemporaneous thought that he, or she, immediately stops whatever pursuit of knowledge being engaged at the time and is compelled to allow serious reflection to dominate the moment. Such was the case with me while reading a book describing the modern history of Jewish Zionism (Howard Sachar, A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time).

The year is 1939.  For 1800 years the Jewish People have been without a national home. Rome has crushed the second Jewish revolt (135 AD), expelled all Jews from Jerusalem and placed a death sentence upon any Jew who would dare reenter the City. The Jewish people have been without their national home for those 1800 years. Now, Diaspora Jews are slowly returning from nearly two millennia of gentile domicile to the land of Palestine with the hope of the eventual obtaining of statehood under their own authority. The process has been described as the Zionist Movement (ca. 1850 to the present). The process has been brutally slow and tedious. World War One has caused the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and their hold on the land of Palestine has been severed. The League of Nations has turned over (mandated) the land of Palestine (and surrounding territories) to the victorious British government. When the war ended in 1918, the British were in sympathy with the return of exiled Jews to their original, and Biblical, home land.  Now, however, it is 1939 and that sympathy is far more inclined toward the Arabs, than to the Jews.  World War Two is about to explode upon the global community. One can only imagine the mental/emotional state of the Zionist community at that time.

Under the British mandate, the land is to be distributed between the Jews and the Arabs with the thought of giving statehood to each. What territory should be given to the Jews and how much should be given to the Arabs is the question. Much has changed in the subsequent twenty one years since the war's end. Hitler is the guerilla in the Western world's living room now.  He is expansionist in intent, has raised the most advanced military in the World, hates the Jews and has demonstrated that hostility for more than a decade. Mein Kampf has been published and there is no hiding from the content. The immediacy of World War Two is upon the minds of all.  So, what does a mandated British authority due in those circumstances, and at that time? It appears that one does the logical thing, of course, one favors the holder of the oil deposits of the Middle East, i.e., the Arabs.  Unfortunately, that decision mandated against facilitating the Jews at the same time.  The Arabs in the Palestinian area hate the Jews and are convinced that they will eventually exceed the Arabs in population and exercise hegemony over them. Arab subversion of the process will continue even unto this day.

The British publish the White Paper of 1939 with the authority that goes with it - and it is not kind towards the Jews.  Immigration is severely cut and is ordered to cease completely in five years.  If it ever resumes in the future it must be at the approval of the Arabs. Further, it is now illegal for anyone to sell any Palestinian land to the Jews. A "death warrant" has just been issued for the Jews of Europe. This the response of the leaders of the Zionist cause upon the receipt of the document.

The author (Sachar) describes the moment this way:

The Jews were not in a position to draw emotional solace from what they regarded as the justice of their cause.  They viewed the White Paper as a likely death warrant for their people in Europe and conceivably for their hopes in Palestine.  Late in the evening of August 24, 1939, Weizmann bade farewell to the delegates of the Zionist Congress at Geneva.  As a new European conflict threatened, the atmosphere of the final session  was charged with an acute awareness of impending tragedy.  The departures were painful.  Weizmann said, in part: "it is with a heavy heart that I take my leave....If, as I hope, we are spared in life and our work continues, who knows-perhaps a new light will shine upon us from the thick, black gloom....There are some things which cannot fail to come to pass, things without which the world cannot be imagined."  Deep emotion gripped the Congress.  Weizmann embraced his colleagues on the platform.  There were tears in many eyes.  Few of the European delegates survived the war.

 

Obviously, the bold has been added, and yes, this is the sentence that caused me to pause and reflect (weep?). Many knew that the subsequent years would be ominous. Perhaps none would anticipate sixty million dead, and six million of them would be Jews.

 

Perhaps it would be wise for those of us who sympathize with the Zionist movement to pay more attention to the world-events that seem to be current among us.  The Arab mentality that seems to dominate the godless community of the World today is gravitating at no small pace to that prevalent  in 1939. 

 

1939 may be closer than we know.

 

Watch Israel - it's important.

South on Route 90

Just returned from Israel and yes - all that it was supposed to be- and more! Hopefully this will be the first of many posts on the subject.  I will get more personal at a later post to address the wonderful people that I went with, but not wanting to lose some of the thoughts that came with this adventure, I will begin with Route 90.

There are a few thoughts that haunt me in life.  One I have held for about twenty years, or so.  When the Allenby Bridge was opened in 1994 near Jericho allowing traffic to move from Israel across the Jordon River to the land of Jordon itself, I thought that if I were living there, it would be more than satisfying to cross over and stand where Joshua and the armies of Israel actually stood waiting to invade the land. Well, more than satisfying is nice, but haunting is still the operative word.  Let's fast-forward twenty-plus years to day five on the trip. 

We are in the north of Israel looking at the Golan Heights to the left, Lebanon to the right and driving south on route 90. Later on to our left are the mountains of Ammon and Moab with the Jordon River separating us. Soon I hear our guide announce that Jericho is on our right with Mt. Nebo on our left.  Nebo, Ammon and Moab;  Moses conducted warfare in those mountains and mustered his troops for the invasion of Canaan!  He would soon turn the authority over to Joshua for such a task.  We come to the northern tip of the Dead Sea.  A short time later we stop and opportunity to float in the Dead Sea is offered. Several take advantage of such.

While watching the activities, our guide walks up and stands next to me.  We are alone.  Surely, this is a God thing.  Surely there is a least one person on the planet that understands the enormity of the moment besides myself.  We are gazing across the Dead Sea observing Nebo, Ammon and Moab!  I speak: "OK, we just passed Jericho; Nebo is at the top of that mountain range, and down the far slope on the other side dwelt the Ammonites and the Moabites. We are actually observing the area where Joshua led the armies of Israel down this side of the mountain  in order to cross the Jordon River and to surround the city of Jericho with the purpose of destroying that city and conquering all of Canaan on both sides of the Jordon."  "Correct?", I ask.  "Correct", he responds -  Thank you very much. Twenty-some years of frustration have been removed from my shoulders. I drank in the scene.

OK, let's see what it must have been like approximately 3500 years ago.  Route 90 is a dirt path. We are Canaanite dwellers in the walled city of Jericho looking south on dirt path 90. We are in the midst of Canaan with the Philistines on our right. To our immediate left is the Jordon River as it drains in to the Dead Sea.  Across that river is the long mountain range where the Ammonites and the Moabites live, "but there are terrifying reports that a huge army is conquering everybody in sight on the other side of that range and they are headed our way".  In Southern California there are two mountain ranges that dovetail each other; the San Gabriel's and the San Bernardino's. Between those two ranges armies could pour into the valley and conquer.  It looked a little like that to me.  There was a gap observable to the inhabitants of the city where they could observe the armies of the living God pour through as they covered the plain between that range and the river that protected them.  How frightening that scenario must have been!

The peoples have heard, they tremble; Anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; The leaders of Moab, trembling grips them; All the inhabitants  of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them; By the greatness of your arm they are motionless as stone; Until your people pass over, O LORD, Until the people pass over whom You have purchased. You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O LORD, which You have made for Your dwelling, The sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands have established. The LORD shall reign forever and ever.

 

God promised that He would send hornets before them (Exod. 15:14-18).

 

I thought of a typology at that time.  Moses passed the anointing on to Joshua (Yehoshua) to complete the conquest.  He did his job (however imperfectly).  Canaan was filthy and corrupt beyond redemption.  It was that way before, was that way then, has been that way for all of history and is that way to this day.  Never will there not be Canaan in this World. There will soon be a day when the Father will tap the Son (our Joshua - Yeshua Jesus) on the shoulder and free Him for the task of returning to this Canaan and to end it all; a task that He was born for and that He died for.  The typology will be complete.

 

And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.  And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?"

(Rev. 6:14-17)

 

A called-out people remain to be rescued and redeemed. The Canaanites of the world will be properly put in great fear.  Perhaps it would be nice if the redeemed were just a little bit more sobered by the sum of it all.

 



No More Oceans

 Many years ago my wife and I were addressing one of her early illnesses when, upon discussing what we should do to ameliorate that condition, she turned to me and declared this eternal truth:  "You know what? - old age sucks".  We both burst out laughing.

Old age does produce some good fruit, however.  It tends to increase wisdom through the trials and successes of life, and it tends to further increase such wisdom by the accumulation of the rote-data that is obtained when one observes the accumulation of human events over many years.

What My Father Saw

(Era #1)

 

Dad was born in 1904.  He lived in an era that went through a violent cultural transition from one of horse and carriage and musket-loading to one of the tank, the Gatling gun and bomb dropping.  When he was a young lad there were reports that there was some kind of a machine that actually got off the ground and flew.  When one went to be entertained, one went to an auditorium and heard an orchestra with people dancing and preforming on a stage; it was known as vaudeville.

 

There have been many wars in human history, but dad lived through a war that was known as a "world war".  What is that all about?  Well, it was not world-wide in acreage, but it did kill approximately twelve million people and several nations did participate. We Americans eventually crossed an ocean to help defeat Germany in that war. Fortunately, that ocean also separated us and protected us from harm had Germany been strong enough and expansionist-minded enough to send their armies over here.  Dad gained much wisdom through those years; he had seen a semi paradigm shift in human culture. The modern age had begun.

 

What I Have Seen

(Era #2)

 

Like dad, I was a very young lad when the world-community advanced from the age of twelve million killed to the age of sixty million killed.  Like dad, I have seen and experienced much.  The Second World War was as much a continuation of the First World War as it was the generation of a new war.The hatred generated by Germany's defeat in WWI helped generate the reality of Germany's expansionist thrust in WWII, one, that conquered most of Europe and was heading into Russia with much gusto. Holocaust?  What in the world is a holocaust?  Well, it happened, and six million Jews were murdered before the war ended. During that war a very large and expansionist Japan joined, as an ally, to the German war machine.  We had two very formidable enemies to engage.  Fortunately, we had two oceans to help protect us.

 

The age between the wars and leading up to the era know as the information age saw a paradigm shift.  Entertainment advanced from Vaudeville to moving pictures; information from radio to TV; from the typewriter to the computer. Transportation and warfare advanced from the biplane to the missile; from twelve million killed to sixty million killed.  Like my father, I have seen much and have gained in wisdom because of it. The modern age took steroids and eventually transformed into the information age.

 

What We Are About to See

(Era #3)

 

It might be more informative to say "what we are currently seeing"?  My father saw a semi paradigm shift in world culture.  I have seen a full-sized paradigm shift in world culture and am currently seeing the international community doing things that seem to be beyond even the natural realm.  We may be observing at this very moment in world history not merely a paradigm shift in our culture, but may be observing a process that is not merely paradigmatic in nature, but is biblical in nature.  If so -  how sobered in nature should we be (one might ask)?

 

Science is accomplishing knowledge that is almost supernatural in nature.

Western culture is seemingly helpless before world-wide rebellion and militancy.

Hatred and polarized rebellion dominate our culture and politics.

Truth is helpless before a world culture calling "good as evil and evil as good".

Mass murder by the militants-of-the-world is justified by euphemisms.

Mass immigration, planned and proactive, is destroying Western culture.

The Western church is manifestly bifurcating into the called-out, and the apostate.

The information age is capable of generating any godless act possible in a nanosecond.

Belligerents of the world possess nuclear weapons with the abilities to send them worldwide.

Political parties, out of power, commit subversion against their own in order to regain that power.

God is effectively being removed from world society by design.

And on it goes, and it is not subject to our approval, nor our ability to end.

 

We are in the information age, the restrictions to evil and rebellion toward God are being removed and godless man will always do what is his nature to do when evil is available without restraints.

 

In the natural realm - We have no more oceans!

 

However, to those of us who belong to Christ, we have an ocean that is not of the natural realm.  We have an ocean that is eternal in size.  Let all that is depressing above drive us into His bosom.  We are a called-out people and need to start thinking of ourselves that way, lest we find ourselves to be without any ocean and time has run out.

 

 

Let's be wise!

 





 

 

 

 

 

 



 





 

 

Neglected Subject-matter

Thursday (11/16) I attended a Kindred C.C. conference with Phillip De Courcy (pastor) as host and Dr. John MacArthur as guest speaker. To those who are familiar with these two men it will be obvious that much substance was presented.

Dr. MacArthur finished the event with an expression of how the Church - as kingdom of God - should be identified and, then, to emphasize to our Christian community the import of such an identity. Five categories of emphasis were offered-up with the intent of Dr. MacArthur to imply (or to declare) that these were imperatives to the Church and not mere teachings. 

The Church body, being a member of His Kingdom, needs to teach, and even emphasize

these five truths:

 

The Kingdom and the Chosen -

 

He is sovereign over us if we are members of the chosen community.

This reality is not subject to our approval. If we are to be members of His kingdom, then He is our sovereign King who rules over us, and we are to hear and to obey as He sees fit. 

 

The Kingdom and substitution -

 

In His blood we have been bought.  We are His slaves through His blood. If we deny that we are slaves, then we deny that we have been bought and our eternity is fixed, and it will not be nice.

 

The Kingdom and Sanctification.

 

Kingdom members must become fully formed in Him that He might become fully formed in us. We are to be in that process of becoming Christ-like.  Simply put, we are to be internally transformed.

 

The Kingdom and Scripture,

 

The Truth is our foundation.  There is one Book that contains the Truth and that is the Holy Scriptures. This is our one, and only, source of Truth.

 

The Kingdom and the Second Coming of Christ.

 

Dr. MacArthur states it thus: "The end of the story is the reason for the story."

 

 

Some Comments

 

 

First of all you will notice that I have not used any Scriptures with the above.  It is not my intent to convince anyone of the truth of such claims, but, rather, to exhort our leaders to use these imperatives as a teaching and preaching module in our community - and then - to call to the attention of whomever we may have influence over with in that Christian community - that they realize the gravity of such imperatives - and especially "as we see the days approach."

I believe that our evangelical community has done a robust job in the proclamation of the fact that Christ laid His life down - and all that that means - for our salvation. He was our Substitute.  Well done here for number two.  However, I have not often heard of teaching/preaching on our being a called-out community.  I place emphasis here on one being a called-out  believer - number one -  more than on one being a chosen believer. Let's stay away from that mine-field for now.

Sanctification is a word that is often heard in Church.  One usually envisions a white robe with angels singing.  Less often does the concept of set-apartness and being in His presence become subject-matter. This requires an effort that needs to be talked about.  Being in His presence is more than a theological and intellectual  belief.  We are born again; we have the right to enter in to His presence which is real sanctification - but - our flesh is strong.  Vigilant pursuit over a prolonged period of time is required in the denying of that flesh.  Liberty and fruit-bearing awaits such efforts.

The Kingdom as Scripture has been well appreciated in our community.  Dr. MacArthur took the Scriptures to be more than we usually understand, namely, that the Book is the only source of Truth in the World.  I agree. Others can write and speak true things; but only the Book contains The Truth.

Finally, concerning His (soon) coming, I repeat the above quote - "The end of the story is the reason for the story." It's important, is it not?"  The King is coming and we may be less prepared for that event than we think we are.

Finally

 

 

I have obviously extrapolated - by inference - from Dr. MacArthur's five imperatives.  He may disagree with some of my emphatic declarations.  Apologies where that may be the case.  My intent is not to declare truth; the truth is resident within his five points and not in my extrapolations.

 

With all of the above said, wouldn't it be more than productive if we were to exercise such teachings in our local churches.  Considering the World-conditions as they are (and they are in a godless plunge downwards) it seems more than wise to actively pursue such as the above - and to do so with a prolonged effort - in order that His community be better prepared for that day.   

 

 



 



The New Sultan

I recently finished reading a book entitled The New Sultan by Soner Cagaptay (London, I. B. Tauris, 2017). The country involved is Turkey; the new-sultan-wannabe is Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's current president. The book is more than readable.  The author is succinct, plausible in his conclusions and (oh the joy!) does not appear to have an agenda. Here is some background that will aid us in getting oriented to the substance of the book:

At the end of the First World War Germany was defeated along with the subsequent fall of its ally Turkey. Turkey was the center of authority for the centuries-old Ottoman Empire, thus, it's authority and polity was Muslim with it's culture, likewise, being Muslim.  The former polity was terminated by military defeat; the latter cultural makeup remained, and does so to this day. 

In 1923, five years after the termination of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey formerly became a secular state under the presidency of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It has remained so for almost a century.  In that time, Turkey has wavered between its affection for an alliance (both culturally, and politically)  with Europe, and its desire to remain independent.  Turkey is, to this day, a member of NATO, that organization that was generated during the days of the cold-war when Russian expansionism was intimidating Europe, America, and Western civilization in general.  This writer remembers the days when he would observe Turkish Colonels and Generals participating with American troops during Seventh-Army military exercises in Germany.  They were faithful allies. They participated with zeal with American troops during the Korean war.  Their culture, to this day, detests the Russian entity. In short they were, at least, a non-threat to the Western community, and, at best, willing to "jump into the fox-hole" with us when needed.

All of that has changed - and why does it even matter?

 

Turkey will play a critical geopolitical role in the events of the Middle East.  After the attempted coup of July 2016, the spotlight is on Recep Tayyip Erdogan - the powerful leader of the country whose increasingly authoritarian regime has heightened tensions both within and outside the country. Erdogan's crackdown on dissent has been brutal and consistent - hundreds of journalists arrested, academics officially banned from leaving the country, university deans fired and nearly half of the highest-ranking army officers in custody.  As opponents accuse his Justice and Development Party (AKP) of heavy-handedness, Erdogan promises to bring order and stability under a 'strongman'(inside flap).

In short, Erdogan has declared Turkey to be an Islamic state.  The polity of the State has rejoined the culture of the State.  The days of Ataturk are over. The Ottoman Empire is being given new life and Recep Tayyip Erdogan is its Sultan. I find it to be interesting that Erdogan has gained a similar hegemony that accrued to Hitler in the early 1930's, namely, that academia, the court system, the military, the religion, and the information-flow came under his (their) dominance. 

So why does it matter and why should the Christian man or woman even care in this modern world culture where political leaders are ever more exercising lust for power, doing so in a duplicitous manner, and seemingly always able to get away with such behavior?  "They're all doing it." One is surprised whenever world conditions are otherwise.  Well, here is my take on the matter:

There are those in our community who believe that modern-day Turkey will be a participant with Russia and Persia (Iran) in the invasion of Israel as is described in Ezekiel chapters 38-9.  Erdogan has turned his back not only on Israel, but he has likewise done so to Western Europe (spurning EU membership) and also to the United States.  He is currently courting Putin of Russia, yet is at odds with Iran. He has also been an adversary to Syria in their civil war.  Russia and Iran have been very supportive of Assad and thus to Syria.   Will he, or won't he join in?

 

-- so --

 

Let's consider two ways to approach this subject matter and all other matters concerning the close of the age (and if one believes the Ezekiel passage is yet to be, then one understands that such an event will indeed close the age): 

 

First of all, let's determine to read the Word with honesty and integrity of heart and do so without an agenda.  Let's exegete and not eisegete.  We don't have to know every detail of the close of the age.  Godless Man will do what godless men do.  They don't always behave logically. Let's read the Word while observing World events. In respect of Ezekiel's passage "all the planets seem to be lining up."

 

Secondly, let's understand that we may face a severe testing of our faith when world-events approach the finality of all things.  The worst thing that can happen to a man or woman of faith is to be tested under fire and deny the faith.  Now is the time to strengthen ourselves, and those who surround us, in the faith.

 

If you are interested in such matters then read the book.  It will serve you well.

 

 



Winning or Setting the Stage?

These are days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision.

 

I suppose that if one were to extrapolate upon Dr. Albert Mohler's article of March 21, 2017 (The Gathering Storm:  Religious Liberty in the Wake of the Sexual Revolution - March 21, 2017) - wherein he expresses concern that the Christian community is in critical danger of losing religious liberty to the degree that Western civilization may be in danger of losing "the very foundation of human rights and human dignity" - then one might agree with the foundation of this blog by uttering forth from his, or her viscera - "beloved, there seems to be a freight train coming." Another might strongly agree and utter forth the most sincere thought that "These are days that will require courage, conviction and clarity of vision."

 

In my previous post of June 17 (According to Mohler) I alluded to continuing my response to the above thought by reviewing the dark days preceding World War II.  Dr. Mohler considered those days to be a foreshadowing of the conditions that he is warning us about at this current time.  Winston Churchill was his example of a voice in the midst of a fearful Western community saying something like this:  "Wake up everybody; there is a seemingly unbalanced man over there in Germany who has a huge state-of-the-art military and he wants to consume a whole lot of real estate called Europe and he doesn't seem to mind killing people while accomplishing such".

 

Here is how Dr. Mohler more elegantly stated the condition:

 

In the first volume of his history of World War II, Winston Churchill looked back at the  storm clouds that gathered in the 1930s portending war and the loss of human freedom.  Churchill wisely and presciently warned Britain of the tragedy that would ensue if Hitler were not stopped.  His actions were courageous and the world was shaped by his convictional leadership.  We are not facing the same gathering storm, but we are now facing a battle that will determine the destiny of priceless freedoms and the very foundation of human rights and human dignity.

 



So, at the expense of seeming to go out into space somewhere, a question begs to be asked and it is this:  Did Churchill succeed, and, if not, what did he accomplish?  Obviously, it is the thought of this writer that that great bulldog-of-a man did not succeed.  What then, did he accomplish?  To this writer the answer to that last question reveals an enormity of thought that he hopes will somehow resonate to our Christian community  in light of the present world condition,  Do we agree with Dr. Mohler that there is a "gathering storm" before us?  If so, how then should we respond?

 

Let's now review those dark days leading up to WW2.  To do so, it may expedite things to introduce to those having been brought up in the public school system a man by the name of Neville Chamberlain.  This is a vilified man.  By-the-way, he is not so vilified by me.  I believe that he was a sincere man who yearned for peace in a noble, and not selfish, way. He actually attempted as Prime Minister to noticeably increase the size of the British Air Force before the war only to be refused by those in power.  His sin? He appeased Hitler when all of the signs were there indicating that this was a very dark man with a really big stick and he (Hitler) needed some time to prepare for a proactive war that he would soon  start.  He (Chamberlain) was applauded when he returned from meeting with Herr Hitler by an appeasing-like community only later to be vilified by that same community when aggression was forced upon them.  His triumph before his fall was in waving a peace document signed by him and Hitler while he declared out loud a statement that seems to never disappear: "I have met with Herr Hitler and we have both signed this document that I have before you - We have attained peace in our times."

 

Churchill saw   -   Chamberlain did not. 

 

So what turned Churchill from a man little heard to the bulldog that unified a desperate people in a desperate time?  What turned Chamberlain from a hero to one of a despised failure causing him to be removed from office?  To a community not willing to deal with the potential of violence in the subliminal areas of their psyche, an outside force is sometimes (always?) needed that will supersede that subliminal area of comfort and cause a literal perception that leads to action.  Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland,  That invasion, and that invasion only caused Europe to respond. Violence tends to cause mental comfort to transform into intellectual acuity.  It could have been too late to recover.  Dunkirk follows and England and France (and all of Europe) were lost.  Well, history tells us that England was not lost.  Why?  A bulldog that would not quit, a huge giant of an industrial entity protected by a three thousand mile ocean with a people willing to engage, an invasion of an island on Dec. 7, 1941 that energized that magnificent people to action, and a Fuehrer foolish enough to invade the Soviet Union were the reasons that England was not lost.

 

 

So, was Churchill a failure, or a success?  In marshaling the Western European community to prepare to resist Hitler in the mid to late 1930s he failed.  Not his fault, by the way, but the required response, by those who should have responded, was not there.  In his bulldog-like tenacity throughout the war, he was a magnificent achiever. He never gave up and total victory was the result.  Now here is where we may go into space.  Even though Winston Churchill failed to marshal the world for war, he did prepared a remnant community of individuals to take heed in those dark days who would begin to prepare for the days that would soon come and to hit the pavement running, so to speak, when they did come.  Here is a thought for the current Christian community.  Churchill failed to marshal the community for war, but he did prepare that remnant community who did hear, with ears to hear, to respond when war was forced upon England and America.

 

Is the current Church in the Western community in need of a present-day Churchill?  Is there even such a person existent today?  Allow us to make a metaphor out of Neville Chamberlain.  He would be a type of the present-day dormant Church, a church not even aware of such warnings as Dr. Mohler is expressing; namely, that there is a gathering storm out there and its desire is for us and that these are days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision. Allow that the vacuous utterance that we have peace in our times be a metaphor and type of the utterances Paul warned us about when he declared there to be a people who will, at the close of the age, cry out peace and safety (I Thess. 5:1-6).  Utter destruction follows such a people for it is the day of the Lord. There will be no Churchill in that day.  Churchill had Czechoslovakia and Poland to awaken a dormant people.  We will have no one but Christ to be our Churchill, and that will be when human history is truncated and finalized.  As a final metaphor let's allow Christ to be our Churchill to close the age.  In the meantime let us be Churchill-like using the mid 1930s in Europe to foreshadow the time in which we currently live, a time that demands of us who see and hear to not live in darkness that the day not overtake us, to be light bearers, to be sober and alert and be proactive in these days when courage, conviction and clarity of vision will be demanded of us. 

 

In the conduct of the war Churchill was a magnificent bulldog of a man and was magnificently victorious over a vicious enemy.  In the marshalling of a dormant and cowardly world community he was less than victorious, but in setting the stage for warfare and response to invasion he was triumphant.  Let this be our final metaphor that we may return from space:  When the soon close of the age is upon us there will be no three thousand miles to separate the Christian community from whatever awaits.

The dormant-like church will not see such a condition approaching.  It's the mid to late 1930s and Churchill-like men and women like Dr. Mohler are voices crying out in a wilderness-like community.  We need to be vigilant in what Christ has us doing.  We are in the process of setting the stage for whatever awaits us - a process that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision.

 

 

 

 

 

According to Mohler

"These are the days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision.  We are in a fight for the most basic liberties God has given humanity, every single one of us, made in his image."

I recently ran across this article in Dr. Albert Mohler's blog of March 21 of this year. There is certainly no equivocation here.  In the article (The Gathering Storm: Religious Liberty in the Wake of the Sexual Revolution) he goes on to state that those of us who have been made in His image are presently engaged in an existential struggle to maintain a moral set of standards that are progressively being negated in the World community by a strong, dedicated and proactive force. This ominous progression is advancing "with astounding velocity."  He continues:

A revolution in morality now seeks not only to subvert marriage, but also to redefine it, and thus to undermine an essential foundation of human dignity, flourishing, and freedom.  Religious liberty is under direct threat.  During oral arguments in the Obergefell case, the Solicitor General of the United States served notice  before the Supreme Court that the liberties of religious institutions will be an open and unavoidable question.  Already, religious liberty is threatened by a new moral regime that exalts erotic liberty and personal autonomy and openly argues that religious liberties must give way to the new morality, its redefinition of marriage, and its demand for coercive moral, cultural, and legal sovereignty. 

 

These are days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision.  We are in a fight for the most basic liberties God has given humanity, every single one of us, made in his image.  Religious liberty is being redefined as mere freedom of worship, but it will not long survive if it is reduced to a private sphere with no public voice.  The very freedom to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ is at stake, and thus so is the liberty of every American.  Human rights and human dignity are temporary abstractions if they are severed from their reality as gifts of the Creator. The eclipse of Christion truth will lead inevitably to a tragic loss of human dignity.  If we lose religious liberty, all other liberties will be lost, one by one.

 

The bold has been added.  I was thinking of adding bold to other parts of the quote but decided that more than half would have been in bold and thus making the devise almost meaningless.  So let's stick with "These are days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision." I noticed that he did not appeal to some form of Christian activism.  I was actually pleased by such.  It is not that I advocate against Christian activism.  Just the opposite is the case.  Rather, I was pleased that, acting as a learned scholar, he seemed to leave the severity of the subject matter to stand by itself and not be diluted with extraneous thoughts.  "Stop and cogitate" he might have said. "These are days that will require courage, conviction, and clarity of vision".

Dr. Mohler continued on with many thoughts -  naming names, concepts, organization, etc. Leave it to say that I agreed with all that followed.  However, - allow me to deflect a little and expand on a thought that began the article. Immediately following his clarion-like call to courage, conviction, and clarity of vision he alludes to the bulldog-like efforts of the great Winston Churchill in his attempts to awaken a lethargic Western World community to the immanent dangers of the expansionist mentality of Adolph Hitler in the late 1930s.  He saw that if not impeded - Nazi hegemony would prevail over all of Europe (and beyond?).  One would do well to read the article. 

I was going to continue this article with allusions and conclusions concerning the situation surrounding the dark days preceding WW2.  Did Churchill prevail and awaken a comfortable World community, or did the reality of invasion do so?  The subject-matter became substantive enough that I thought it best to continue this line of thought with another post.  Part two to follow.

Let's close with this:  For those of you who are aware of World conditions and are sobered by such a scenario - Do you feel that our Christian community is going to soon become courageous, become convicted by the godless atmosphere that is pursuing the demise of Christianity and its moral and biblical code, and do you believe that a myopic clarity of vision is soon to prevail in the American church?  Do you even think that such a scenario is required?

My appeal is for us to consider the warnings of Dr. Mohler, to stop and cogitate and to consider that courage, conviction, and a clarity of vision may soon be demanded of us.  The World condition may force the matter upon us.