Exloring Life Eternal

Living in Southeast Michigan, one cannot help but hear about the loss of jobs in the "big three" US automotive conglomerates.

It is resulting in plants closing. A Ford plant closed locally recently.

Delphi & others are cutting staff &/or going belly up. At least once a week this sort of thing is in the headlines with an interspersed note or two, maybe once a month, about progress in the auto & transport industry, usually tempered with bad news:
Hybrids are being released ... but the US makers are slower than others.
Rail traffic is up ... with Asian products on board.
A new R&D center is opening ... for a foreign owned company.
Overall use of busses is up ... with a possibility of some lines closing.

Etc., etc., etc.

Today, American Family Association sent out this:
"Ford 'Proves' Commitment To Homosexual Agenda"

What is at the root of this decline??

Here are my convictions as to why the USA is in decline & particularly the automotive industry:

1. A mistaken perspective on prosperity. The American dream is typically measured in property, nowadays, that often includes lots of gadgets & wireless whatnots & electronic thingamajigs. But, Jesus said, "Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."

2. A thoughless approach to life. The American heritage of Thanksgiving has been replaced with "Turkey Day" instead of family gatherings, "Football" instead of faith, & "Complaining & Criticizing" the ways & works of God rather than consecrating ourselves to the Lord Jesus as the path of joy! Ignorance is bliss in this land. But Jesus said, "The Lord is one, and you will love the Lord your God with all your heart & with all your soul & with all your mind & with all your strenght."

3. A self-centered & self-motivated method of success. Auto-motive: moving ones-self. Autonomy (self-law) is the rule. Individualism NEVER works. ECONomy is the law of selfishness & selfcenteredness always results in depression & death. But Jesus said, "Give & it will be given to you: pressed down, shaken together, & running over!"

Over the last 50 years the USA has become increasingly selfish in its approach to giving internationally. The results:
a. increasing defensiveness (military, psychology, & house alarms).
b. more aggression (military, social violence, psychological trauma).
c. lack of saving (in families, in government, in churches).
d. hopelessness (suicides, drug-addictions, weird mentalities).

BUT there are signs of HOPE:

1. Realization that sin is real & that hope is needed.
2. Gospel in various media: books, film, mp3, etc.
3. Rising prayer movements: 24/7, 10/40 Window, community prayer summits, etc.
4. Grace based unity movements that believe the Bible is true & that the resurrection took place.
5. Muslims & various other works based religions are losing members & being exposed by both apologists & the public media.
6. Net # of jobs is actually on the increase, despite the pessimism by which the news media prospers.
7. Martyrs who died are testifying to God's grace.
8. More missionaries are being sent out via Bible-believing groups, not just on short-term trips, but long term trips.

Future needs for the Healing of the Land:

A. The Church (i.e. those who have had the name of the Lord Jesus called on them & who call on His Name, those who believe in one God: Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.) to repent & prefer humility & discomfort to eternal, moral, & social disaster.

B. The Church to continue to stand against sexual immorality & to teach against immodesty & drunkenness & strong drink more clearly. That is, don't flirt with disaster & don't experiment with death.

C. The Church in America to cease identifying primarily "Americans" but to see ourselves as citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom -first- & -foremost- and citizens of the United States of America as a place where we serve, while we are here. In other words, let us not honor the USA more than Christ Jesus in churches. Let us pray for -all- leaders to be wise, both those we like & those we don't. Those who are kind & those who are cruel. Those who are righteous & those who are wicked.

BOTTOM LINE: Let America quit her love affair with the automobile & remember the True Image of God. Stop trading living people for dead things. Most of all, let us remember our First Love: Jesus Christ, for in Him, God has first loved us!!

Q. What is Dr. Dobson's connection to Jack Abramoff?

A. There is no connection. Dr. Dobson has never met Mr. Abramoff and, in fact, has never even spoken to him.

http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0039768.cfm

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There is a popular method of insulting people needlessly: person x is friends with person z. Person z is a bad person. Therefore, do not trust anything that Person x says.

As you can see from the example above: Dr. Dobson denies any association with Mr. Abramoff.

Some folks tried this same method with Jesus:

A. Jesus spent time with people who were sinners. (True - we all are.)
B. Jesus is therefore a sinner. (False.)

The ironic thing is that if we deny that we have any sinful actions ... then we deny that Jesus is willing to have anything to do with us.

Here is a better syllogism.

A. Jesus spends time with sinners who acknowledge their guilt. (True.)
B. We are all sinners & have each gone our own way. (True.)
=> We are made holy by spending time with Jesus in honesty. (True.)

As one who comes from "redneck" territory, though never really a "redneck," I can honestly say that there is actually quite a lot of similarity between radical-tribal Islam & the culture of Rednecks.

1. A high degree of cultural pride:
"We can laugh at ourselves, but don't you mock me!"
2. A deep confusion between nationalism & faith.
"We all know this is God's Country!"
3. Odd marriage customs & arrangements.
"One year my uncle and my cousin met at a family dinner,
the next year they were married."
4. A joy in life that is often forgotten by the more refined.
"Good ole boys have good times."
5. A simple (even simplistic) faith in God.
"God bless ..."
6. Honor as a value.
"Our family has a good name all over this county & the next!"
7. Anger at the "wealthy" who claim to know God but are unwilling to
"git dirty" to express their faith to those in need. "Hypocrit!"
8. Strong family bonds, friendships, and mutual support reaching
beyond more industrialized societies. "We're family."

That said, I have never met a Redneck who was not friendly to Muslims
they knew. That is, when a redneck meets a muslim, they tend to get along spendidly! [Unless matters of faith are mentioned, then ...] Having moved recently from the South to the North in the USA, my wife &
I have observed these differences on the different sides of the Mason-Dixon line:

South:
More suspicious of Asians.
Less fearful of violence.
The Gospel is often socially more embedded.
Dixie (c) cups are used for spitting out tobacco at social gatherings of men.

North:
More tensions between Whites & Blacks.
More willing to trust government power.
The Law is socially more embedded.
Masonic lodges are more common prominent social institutions.

Both:
Muslims & Mexicans are both suspect, though for different reasons.

It seems that a great deal of the current conflict is a result of "stereotypes." In the Bible, the Lord Jesus Himself was not afraid to use "stereotypes" in public when speaking:

Herod = that fox.
Pharisees & lawyers = hypocrites (those under-judgment).
(example: The lawyer who helps people get divorced at work
& helps people get married at church.
- Featured in the Ann Arbor News this past Saturday.)
Sadducees = hopeless (no resurrection).
Jesus also said “Don’t put your pearls before swine.”

Paul called the Cretans, well, cretans! = lazy, brutes, liars, drunk ... about like a modern frat house! (Titus 1:12)

John regarded Rome as “satan” in Revelation. (Which is why I don’t identify deeply with America – today’s imperial power.)

Stereotypes were also spoken of Jesus:

Nazoreans = “what good can come from there” – The hick / red-neck region of Palestine, known to have some revolutionary tendencies. (John 1:46)

Meanwhile the folks in Nazareth figured Jesus had “gotten a big head after all the nice things other folks was sayin’, we best put him back in his place!” Nazareth’s version of a lynching just about followed (see Luke 4).

... I wonder how Abraham felt when he was 100 & finally had the nerve to admit / confess the lie (or 1/2 truth) he had told & had his wife tell that they were not merely 1/2 brother - 1/2 sister, but also husband & wife?

Being “in the world & yet not of it” is the answer to much of the current debate: get beyond how others stereotype you & enter into the realm which God has ordained for you. Walk with Jesus everywhere you go. Talk with Jesus before you ever talk to others.

I think it is the same “Abrahamic” shame over our own sins in the evangelical camp that hinders God from pouring out even greater blessing upon us. Amazingly, humble honesty renders the accuser’s darts useless as we take refuge in our Lord rather than our land.

We have stayed in the camp too long & neglect to put our lives & reputations at risk in order share the good news of returning to righteousness & resting with those who could do serious harm to our own standing: socially, financially, bodily, etc.

A brother spoke of his own variety of Christianity at a denominational meeting I once attended:
"We are like manure:
We do a lot of good if you spread us out,
But we sure raise a stink if you keep us all in a heap."

Stereotypes can thus, have some use, but they can also be VERY dangerous, if you let them govern you:
Example from the BBC:
An Islamic commentator from Pakistan considered the recent burning & destruction of a local franchise of Kentucky Fried Chicken (A USA based company) to be justifed because one (1) publication in Denmark published some months ago 12 cartoons mocking a deceased Arabian poet. For the Pakistani man being interviewed, the firing of the editor of the Danish newspaper & apology by the newspaper was insufficient. He demanded that all "you" [non-muslims or westerners, it was not clear] apologize because "you" are the cause of this.

Honestly, it sounded much like the rantings of religious leaders in Jerusalem who insisted upon the crucifixion of Jesus (Isa Al-Masih) & sought to persecute Saul of Tarsus (the Apostle Paul).

Because it has become so _clear_ that Islam is hostile to all others, it is evident that it will fall. Islam is trying to save itself & defend itself ... & in the process is exposing its divisive nature.

Jesus said that slandering Him as the Son of Man (Fully Human), was forgivable. It is slandering the Holy Spirit which is not forgiveable. May many more find the grace of our Lord in these last days. May God show His mercy to those who rant & rave & riot.

Please pray for me, as I often work where folks are hostile to the Gospel. May the Lord's Honor not diminish in the eyes of those I serve because of my own foolishness.

Born in the North.
Raised in the South.
Traveled to various nations.
Living in the North.

Following the Lord Who was buried in a borrowed tomb, now empty:
Who Is the God of Abraham, whose only land was a grave-plot when he died.

Peace in Christ,
Mert Hershberger
mertaka@everybody.org
www.pray-ap.info