Hosea for Today: Part III of III

Prepare for Harvest Time

 

“Come on, Man! Let’s return to God.

    He hurt us, but He will heal us.

He hit us hard,

    but He’ll put us right again.

In time we’ll feel better.

    By His return He’ll have made us brand-new,

Alive and on our feet,

    fit to face him.

 

We’re ready to study God,

    eager for God-knowledge.

As sure as dawn breaks,

    so sure is His daily arrival.

He comes as the rain,

    as spring rain replenishing the dry ground.”

 

“What am I to do with you, false clerics?

    What do I make of you, ecclesiasts?

Your declarations of love last no longer

    than the morning mist and predawn dew.

That’s why I use prophets to shake you to attention,

    why my words cut you to the quick:

To wake you up to my judgment

    blazing like a laser.

 

I’m after love that lasts, not mere religion.

    I want you to know Me, not show off at prayer meetings.

You broke the covenant—just like Adam!

    You broke faith with Me—ungrateful wretches!

 

“Washington has become Crime City—

    Bribery on the streets, money in the palms.

It used to be robbers who mugged pedestrians.

    Now it’s gangs of poli-ticks

assaulting the righteous on their way to Shechem.

    Nothing is sacred to them.

 

“I see shocking things in this country of liberty:

    Celebrants in a religious whorehouse,

    moreover, clerics in the mud right there with them.

 

“You’re as bad as the worst of them, Judas.

    You’ve been sowing wild oats. Now it’s harvest time.”

Pray. Repent. Seek Me.

Hosea for Today: Part II of III

You Wouldn’t Recognize God If You Saw Him

 “Listen to this, you Oligarchs!

    Attention, citizens of America!

SCOTUS —all ears!

    You’re in charge of justice around here.

But what have you done? Exploited people of faith,

    Turned your back on the unborn,

Destroyed the integrity of free elections.

    I’m going to punish the lot of you.

 

“I know you, America, inside and out.

    Yes, Leftists, I see right through you!

False believers, playing religious long enough.

    All America is thoroughly polluted.

You couldn’t turn to God if you wanted to.

    Your evil life is a bad habit.

Every breath you take is a whore’s breath.

    You wouldn’t recognize God if you saw me.

 

“Bloated by arrogance, big as a house,

    you’re a public disgrace,

The lot of you—Liberals, Leftists, Socialists—

    lurching and weaving down your guilty streets.

When you decide to get your lives together

    and go off looking for Me once again,

You’ll find it’s too late.

    I, God, will be long gone.

 

You’ve played fast and loose with me for too long,

    filling the country with your brainwashed, entitled offspring.

A plague of locusts will

    devastate your violated land.

 

 “Blow the whistle on the stolen elections,

    Play Taps in Congress!

Signal the invasion of Sin City!

    Scare the crap out of your imported Squad!

Your grain fields will be laid waste,

    a lifeless moonscape.

I’m telling it straight, the unvarnished truth,

    to the citizens of America.

 

Congress is full of crooks and thieves,

    cheating the people of their Natural rights,

And I’m angry, good and angry.

    Every cell of your bodies will feel my anger.

 

“Destroyers of citizens’ Rights will lose theirs—

    a taste of their own medicine!

You were so determined

    to do it your own worthless way.

Therefore I’m pus to Leftists,

    dry rot in the house of RINOs.

 

“When the DNC sees it is sick

    and RINOs see their termite dung,

You will be running to China,

    Praying for help to Mahdi of Islam.

But they can’t heal you.

    They can’t cure your oozing sores;

Your rotting heart.

 

“I’m a grizzly charging sold-out politicians,

    A grizzly with cubs charging Soros.

I’ll rip you to pieces—yes, I will!

    No one can stop me now.

I’ll drag you off.

    No one can help you.

 

Then I’ll step far away from America

    Until, perhaps you come to your senses.

When you finally hit rock bottom,

    perchance you’ll come looking for me.

Thus, seek me with your whole heart.”

Hosea for Today: Part I of III

My Charge Against America

We Can Live At Peace With Each Other

I am honored to be serving on staff of Pacific Justice Institute who defends religious freedom, parental rights and other civil liberties without charge.

In this post-Christian world we are being pressured (in some cases, forced) to set aside strongly held biblical morals which have guided life and livelihoods for generations – nay, for ages. We are expected, not just acquiesce to, but fully accept whatever new cultural dictum is put forth. Even to the point of losing our own personal liberties and possessions to judgments from an amoral court system.

If truth be known, standing on one's faith in living out a biblical lifestyle does not always equate to intolerance or hate of another's life choices – as many charge us as doing. Most people of faith I know desire to accept others and learn to make reasonable accommodation for other's beliefs – as this 72-year old Washington businesswoman sought to do for her longtime LGBT customer. One must only listen to her appeal to know her heart when faced with the choice of accepting a light judgement:

"Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about. It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important. Washington’s constitution guarantees us “freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment.” I cannot sell that precious freedom. You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver. That is something I will not do.

I pray that you reconsider your position. I kindly served Rob for nearly a decade and would gladly continue to do so. I truly want the best for my friend. I’ve also employed and served many members of the LGBT community, and I will continue to do so regardless of what happens with this case. You chose to attack my faith and pursue this not simply as a matter of law, but to threaten my very means of working, eating, and having a home. If you are serious about clarifying the law, then I urge you to drop your claims against my home, business, and other assets and pursue the legal claims through the appeal process."

Her plea reminds me of the scripture verse in Romans 12:18 which admonishes: "If it is at all possible, as much as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

Perhaps if we were slow to assume the worse in each other, and took the time to hear each other out before forming baseless opinions or judgments, we would be able to live out that scriptural directive of living at peace with ourselves and each other.

Read the full article here:

Shame on the Silent Christian Leaders Who Refuse to Stand Against Tyranny

Is Public Office a Missional Vocation?

I am deeply moved by the numerous and diverse efforts of Jesus followers at my church to impact our community and the Kingdom. Overseas missions, neighborhood outreach, education, human trafficking, connections to help the homeless, advocating for fostering and adoption . . . it is an awesome example of stewardship - and a retaking of ownership of "social" activity within our world.

I wrote about this effort in several papers while studying at Fuller, and as I did there, I would like to take this discussion one step further, into a broader stewardship role for the church. Dallas Willard makes an excellent point in The Spirit of the Disciplines that “charity and social welfare programs, while good and clearly our duty, cannot even begin to fulfill our responsibility as children of the light to a needy world.” He then calls upon the people of God to “assume the responsibility, under God and by his power, of owning and directing the world’s wealth and goods” (1988:202). He points out that by doing so, with Christ, the church would be able to reduce the causes of poverty. That is a level of stewardship the church has not attempted on such a large scale—and likely will not without realizing that the sacred calling of God is not just within the church, but in all vocations and careers. The church should commission men and women into “farming, industry, law, education, banking, and journalism with the same zeal previously given to evangelism and missionary work” (1988:214).

The outcome of this ownership will lead to being able to speak into the development of policy . . . Once the people of God are involved as stewards in influencing the marketplace for the community’s good, they can have a hand in advising public agencies in serving the truly needy. This culminates in the people of God showing how the church “enters into full participation in the rule of God where they are” (1988:218). That is true stewardship of all that God has made and put under our authority, including social service to those in need. Religious control of social functions, as it has been in the past, can be seen as an authentic Christian response to need. P. Beyer, in Religion and Globalization states that this validates the Christian message (1994:197).

If this be the case, what is keeping us from contributing to the setting of policy in our city? Is not civic service as much a step into missional living as other forms of outreach and involvement? Is the desire to serve a public office not as sacred a vocation? If so, we should commission and support with our time, treasure, and talents those taking that step as well as the missionary.