It's Always Been a Group Thing

Post 350

Before I begin, let me assure the reader that I will get to the part you think you’re looking for: the Election debate issue, so if that’s all you want, you can skip this important stuff and get to that at the end before you cast your last-second vote of frustrated indecision that will save the nation. For those with a deeper quest; we are looking into things far bigger than who the next President will be.
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Preliminaries:
Let me open this Post with the preliminary encouragement found in Jesus’ reaction to his sleeping disciples once the time for preparatory watchful prayer was behind them:

“Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners” Matthew 26:45.

The reason why I want to open this Post with this significant encouragement with cause is because there will be more than plenty of discouraging things to occupy your minds and spirits in the very near future. Now is the time to sleep in rest without guilt. Why? It’s found in the colon: Because the Christ of America has been betrayed and is now in the hands of sinners. In that light, everything has changed in America fundamentally, the cause of Right has been officially revoked and wickedness now reigns as the triumphal authority with power.

…“Therefore the prudent shall keep silent in that time; for it is an evil time” Amos 5:13.

As the caretakers of your Christian nation, you are now out of a job. Take a nap at noon. The exciting part of this to me is that in this concept it is now time to stop criticizing each other for inappropriate building material choices and questionable architectural styles we built into our nation as Christians. Now is the time to stand on the sidewalk as spectators and watch the unchangeable things set into motion play out. The time of speculative correction is behind us. As humanity in general, that period (often called the age of Grace that followed the Law) began at the garden when Jesus was arrested by sinners in authority, but as the Nation where Christ Jesus put his name in that Gentile age, that period began when God and his ways was officially tossed out by sinners in authority. The time for criticisms and corrections and admonitions and facts and appeals to fix the national problem is past. It’s encouraging to note that after things started to go south in a big way and the disciples didn’t know how to react, or what to do, we do not once hear Jesus admonish them of their failure to watch and pray when they should have been watching and praying; This is the time of experiencing the events in whatever state of preparedness we now find ourselves.

Satan sifted both Judas and Peter, and, while Judas was destroyed, having no revealed foundation that couldn’t be screened; Peter was also lacking in preparedness to handle the sifting, and Peter’s worldview was broken by his own confused weakness through not understanding God’s big-picture plan that Jesus had been telling them was coming. But through Peter’s broken state, his emaciated but still-living-faith found new solid ground in Christ’s grace when his own footing of self-reasoning utterly failed. After the trying of his faith through fire had burned away the dross, Peter had a new appreciation and understanding for the Rock on which to rebuild his entire life, obstruction free.
For the Christian; the evil time is not a horror which God is unable to stop; but a God-induced fire of cause for a reason of good. If our foundation is Christ, the success or failure of preparation will determine how we respond in the fire as the unrighteous facade is burned away yet the foundation remains untouched (I Peter 4:1-2). Rather than be afraid; Now is the time to dwell securely in God’s rest while the fire does its work:

…“Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” Hebrews 4:11.

The time of unbelief is now upon us nationally; the labor referenced here as future is now past tense in this case. At this time in our history we need to already be well established in the Lord’s rest in order to be as victorious through the fire as the Lord designed possible. Dragging into the kingdom all covered in soot and scarred from the events will still be successful and reason for rejoicing, but not how the Lord intended us to get there. In spite of what Hollywood promotes in nearly every movie; After the battle has begun in earnest is not the time to pluck up your courage and perform untrained, in a way that only proper training can allow. Hollywood promotes Peter’s brave but unskilled swordplay as commendable valor. Jesus doesn’t. Said in another way; During a shark frenzy is not the time to get a hankering for blood; you’re going to bite a friend by mistake (Galatians 5:15vs.16).

As America’s world now melts down around them, the Christian who has earnestly stayed spiritually alert and in constant communion with God in the time of preparation will not be caught by surprise of the trials, but instead-- having seen them coming, and their purpose-- will find a sweet rest that even he cannot explain in and through the fiery events (Philippians 4:4-7). The genuine Christians who slumbered instead of watching will find the sudden fire deeply alarming and very, very hot, to the point they will experience their very faith being stripped away like paint under a sustained sandblaster. For these, the only focus remaining must be that, in the face of all they see and experience by all the lies and confusion and deception and persecutions that attempt to convince them to the contrary; Jesus the Christ is the only sure Rock, and will keep them, even in spite of themselves, unto that day (II Timothy 1:12). When all is burned away in the heat of the fire of great trials that will try your faith, and your trusted great edifices of empty religion are burned to the ground as proof that God has failed, the foundation of Christ Jesus and whatever structures of true righteousness built upon that foundation, which cannot burn, will reveal who is actually a Christian vs. who put on a good show, in the days of leisure and pre-mature slumbering that built a city of temples as dry as a tinder box. Remember; all ten virgins slumbered, because it was the time to slumber. Their success or failure, though revealed at the last, is found in the wise preparation before the slumber. Wise preparation is that important!

But we have adequately covered all that in past Posts. This is not a stand-alone Post, it follows a long and detailed preparation to arrive here. Let’s leave it behind us and now look ahead. Now is the time to put proof to our claim. Is Christ Jesus really your Lord; the very center of your whole world? Is it his voice you are following or your own? Answering this question by evidence rather than words is the purpose of the fiery trial. Some will come gloriously through the fire as did Shadrach Meshach and Abednego; without so much as the smell of smoke on their clothes (Daniel 3:21-27), while others will be so burned that only the foundation will remain (I Corinthians 3:15). Fortunately for them, the foundation of Christ Jesus is the only required element to enter into God’s kingdom. So while your brother’s house is engulfed in flames and he is shocked to see it burn like a dry Christmas tree whose use is two-weeks past, it is not the time to say; “I told you so”; rather it’s simply an event to experience, and then begin again in greater wisdom with a new focus. The Apostle Peter experienced such a loss… but he is still an Apostle, and what an Apostle! Wipe the tears of sorrow and find a new perspective of rejoicing, because after the fire your foundation is cleared of junk and a new worthy house can be constructed! Do you think that Jesus’ grief, which was so great he was nigh unto death, was for himself alone? He knew full well the fire that was to come upon his own --and he knew they were not as ready as they should have been-- and like as with Lazarus’ death, he knew the agony and loss it would cause before it was over. When Jesus stood over Jerusalem and wept, was it because he was feeling the personal loss; or because of the agony he knew was coming to them, and how many would fall short? Jesus loves his own, good and bad. He grieves for the unnecessary great sorrow that the pre-mature sleeping will experience. But the future, after the fire, is still the future; Now is the time to focus on that. Now is the time to sleep; to shut ones eyes and ears tight and cling to Christ by blocking out the Charles Darwins’ and the Richard Dawkins’ of the world (I Corinthians 1:18+II Thessalonians 2:10). There was a time to respond to their arguments with logic and reason and intelligence and faith, but that time is past, because it has now been established that; “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation.” The Son of man is given into the hands of sinners, and their chosen lifestyle won’t abide his reasoning any longer. Remember; we are speaking of the nation rather than individuals at this point. Individuals can still be turned, but the individual, as in a fast river, is nonetheless carried along in the events of the nation’s direction. The one is tied intimately with the other. Let’s review a Scriptural example for our edification:
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It’s A Group Thing:
(Recommended reading: Joshua 22).

“And when they (the tribes that took possession of the lands on the other side of the Jordan) came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, (they;) the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an alter by Jordan, a great alter to see to. And the children of Israel heard say… And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them” Joshua 22:10-12.

A bit of background is needed before we can just jump into our study in the middle of a complex issue. After the conquering wars that resulted in Israel possessing the land that God had long ago promised Abraham but waited until its inhabitants had maximized their wickedness to justify their destruction, the individual tribes were each given their domains to begin living the dream. As with any good book, God’s story (His-story) seems to love complexity. Two-and-a-half tribes asked for lands on the other side of the Jordan, seemingly outside of the designated boundary of the Promised Land. This land was given them as their inheritance leaving even more room for the remaining tribes on this side. No problem.
But soon after, the tribes on this side heard that those on the other side had built them an altar. Such a thing was strictly prohibited by God and documented in the sacred scriptures for them to follow (Deuteronomy 12:5-7, 27:4-6, Joshua 8:30-31). What were the faithful tribes to do? What business was it of theirs what their brothers were doing in their own lands? Why did the majority believe that they had the right to straighten out the minority? “Let them do what they want on that side of the river, we will stay on ours. If God is unhappy with them, he will judge them.” Right? But for some reason the tribes on this side were not happy with the tribes on that side, so much so that they tooled up to go to war against their brethren. WHY?

“And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying, Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?”… Joshua 22:15-16.

Do you understand; we are talking civil war here. It promised to be a blood bath. We desperately need to understand WHY the righteous children of Israel felt it was their obligation to straighten out their brethren by force if necessary. Let’s let them explain it as they continue their inquisition:

…“Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD…” Joshua 22:17.

Peor, do you remember what happened at Peor? If you don’t, then it’s very relevant message is lost to you. Let’s do a quick recap:

“And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab…. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel” Numbers 25:1-3.

The point of the argument that Israel used in their inquisition, was that in spite of the discriminating punishment commanded by Moses against the evildoers at Peor (Numbers 25:5), God’s wrath on the children of Israel as a congregation was not discriminating, and it was severe:

“And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand” Numbers 25:9 (read to 11).

So let’s let them continue in their argument that justifies their straightening out their brethren:

“…And it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel” Joshua 22:18.

From the Lord’s perspective of his kingdom order; it has always been a group thing. Not a Democracy, where the majority gets to determine the rules; but a Republic, where God makes the rules and the people chose to collectively follow them as a society or pay the price as a society. We have the solid evidence that God works with nations as a single entity, and, in that working, the individual is simply a cell in the body. Christ’s Church is no different, when you sin it affects me (Hebrews 12:15 as one example).

Fortunately the children of Israel had the wherewithal to actually confront their brethren and require an answer for their actions, rather than just wade in swinging the righteous sword to destroy the “obviously wicked” without a trial. The issue we are not here concerned with in what we are learning is that a war was not necessary; It was discovered that their brethren had done nothing wrong. It was a misunderstanding. What we are looking into here, and a reason why this bit was included in Scripture, is the principle of national accountability. God expects us, his people, to maintain our national righteousness; it’s ours to do, or suffer the cost. I think American Christians tend to know this instinctively, which is why they are now so disheartened at the prospective of the cost of negligence now coming due.

“OK fine, but how does this apply in helping me choose the next President for the United States of America?”

I have delayed this Post until now because, like Jesus telling his disciples he was going to be killed, no matter what I say, people don’t hear. They don’t hear because they don’t want to hear that. Christians are frantic to learn how they should vote in this election. They listen to this guy and are temporarily swayed his way, then they listen to that guy and are temporarily swayed the other way. They have their metaphorical hands on their head spinning around frantically begging someone to tell them something substantial that they can cling to regarding how to vote. All they want to know is how to vote. They don’t stop to ask themselves why they are so troubled about the choice; they just want to make the right choice that will magically save the nation from destruction, but they can’t see the answer other than the guy they instinctively know is a bad choice. That’s the wrong focus. But since this is the only focus that people are prepared to be answered, let’s talk about choosing Donald Trump as our next President.
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Choosing A Bad President:
I have heard repeatedly, almost as a mantra, the concept that we need to elect Trump so that we don’t get Hillary. It’s the lesser of two evils idea. Many well-respected conservatives, as well as many respected conservative Christian leaders, are using this concept without actually saying it in so many words. So when did such a godless foundational value creep into Christianity? It’s certainly not a biblical principle.

Look, even Trump doesn’t think Trump is a worthy candidate; he spends all his campaign speeches telling us how bad Hillary is, rather than telling us why he would be the best, or at least a good, choice. So let’s distill this down to the basic elements; Forget the threat of Hillary and her indisputable wickedness for a minute, we are evaluating Mr. Trump as a stand-alone choice for the office. Is Mr. Trump the kind of man that you want to be your President? If there were no causal issues to demand him, do you see him as the right man for the office because he has shown himself to have the kind of character and/or skills that the office requires? I know very few people who will vote for him because they actually have any reason at all OTHER than he is not Hillary.
Alright, let’s go there.
That means by default that he apparently lacks all qualifying elements that would actually make a good President. So let’s talk about what character he does possess: The greatest sin is Pride, and pride is the recipe for sure destruction (Proverbs 16:18). Even Mr. Trump knows that he is a narcissist, but he sees it as part of his charm. I get the impression that he sees himself as Iron man. So are we now electing a Hollywood fantasy based on pride into a real world high office? Is that what rational people do? A description that seems to be often used is that Mr. Trump acts like a spoiled rich brat. How does it not bother anyone that he is using his own money to buy the Presidency? And you praise him for that; you even support him in his quest? How have we suddenly forgotten the age-old phrase; Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely? What kind of thinking is excited that a narcissist is buying the highest seat of the land, and expects that to turn out well? And have we already forgotten that Mr. Obama’s greatest achievement was to turn that seat into a Kingship for the next President? History has shown that Tyrants are usually grown in the chair, they didn’t have the cognizant intention until they experienced the power and its potential. Has Mr. Trump shown the character of self-discipline needed to handle that kind of power? Hardly! And does the whoredom of Peor seem to be applicable to him? How then can we, the nation known to the Pagan world as; the people of the book, expect a different result when we hold that as a lifestyle so common that we see nothing wrong with electing such a man to lead us? It is regularly argued as justification for Trump, that we have had philandering Presidents in the past and we survived it. True, but that’s because America’s people were collectively in a far more righteous state than we find ourselves today. The righteousness of the People carried the unrighteous man. Today, we are a people already joined to Baalpeor ,we can ill afford to carry anyone now. All that’s left is the anger of the LORD to manifest.
“But Mr. Trump has recently accepted Jesus!”
Uh-hu. How conveniently timely. As I remember it, Mr. Obama was a Christian too. How is this NOT a campaign tactic? Where is the evidence of salvation? Common people, are you really that desperate to cling to such a flimsy justification? Give the man four years to show the evidence of a changed life and I will vote for him at the next election.

In a campaign email I just received, Mr. Trump outlines his “Contract with America.” In part:

2-- Enacting trade tariffs to discourage offshoring of American jobs.
Not reducing the business taxes and strangling rules that drove them away in the first place; just punish them for wisely avoiding what the king says they must endure.
3-- Expanding energy production, which will spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment.
This doesn’t reveal enough to be worth contemplating… other than to recognize that with the specific sum he must have a calculated plan. Who pays the trillion? Maybe it’s another Obama stimulus? Maybe it’s that our “energy costs will necessarily skyrocket”? What kind of energy are we talking about, more government subsidized unsustainable foolishness that we got with Obama? But people don’t care about the viability found in the details, this sounds exciting!
5-- Repealing Obamacare and fixing our nation’s health insurance system.
Forget that we never wanted a socialist nationalized health care system in the first place; Trump is offering to replace Obamacare with Trumpcare. I can hardly wait.
6-- Making childcare and eldercare more affordable.
That’s another way of saying more socialized government teats, with promises that they will produce more milk. I thought Trump was supposed to be a Republican, not more of the same Democratic socialism. Apparently even Republicans are now socialists.

OK, enough Trump bashing, I really have no interest to even take this over-trod rout. We all agree that he is not a choice we make happily, but rather out of desperation because of the carefully designed threat pushed in our face. The problem is that with desperation, (called panic), comes a blindness to everything but the targeted presumed relief. Remember, that’s why Obama was elected! “Change.” Nobody cared about asking “to what?” So how did that work out? We conservatives love to chastise the left for their blind approach, but my conservative friends and neighbors, who I used to think were rational, have become frantically blind in their designed induced lather of sure destruction with Hillary. All they can see is the rationale that; “We must vote for Trump because we really don’t want Hillary!” and what they get just doesn’t matter right now. This is exactly how Egypt recently replaced a flawed but working conservative government… for Terrorism! How have we, rational Christian America, so easily fallen prey to the same blindness as a Pagan nation?

“But not voting for Trump is a vote for Hillary!”

Why do you so easily believe such leading propaganda? If the nameless committee that gave us this “choice” of two, had only given us Hillary on a ballot of one; would you vote for her because; “I have to vote for someone”?
Not voting for Trump is a statement that says to the committee; “I reject your proposal.”
Not voting for Hillary is a statement that says to the committee; “I reject your proposal.”
What they do with that information is as out of your hands as is a good candidate option to choose. But honestly, that’s still thinking too myopic.
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A Choice Must Be Made:
When king David blundered he too was faced with all very bad choices:

…“For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in the land? Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me” II Samuel 24:11-13.

What was David’s choice? and more importantly; WHY?

“And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men” II Samuel 24:14-15.

In our current election choice of two, the third option is to declare by vote to the LORD that we do not agree with either of the offered worldviews of how a nation should pay for it’s blunders. (The importance of this stand will be explained later). The third option is to leave the choice in the LORD’s merciful hands. But not to vote, says to the election board; “I do not care to offer my preference; do whatever you want.” So to do this rightly, in our case, means choosing the candidate that is not probable of incurring God’s wrath, even if that choice has no chance of winning the election. If there are no such candidates on the ballot, a vote for Mickey Mouse makes the declaration of rejection quite well. But what do you know about the several other choices on the ballot? Nothing? Why? Because you have been solely focused on making a known bad choice as directed. Why? Because you believe in the leading propaganda rather than in Divine Providence.
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Divine Providence:
Our founders spoke and wrote frequently that they believed in what they called Divine Providence; that is the improbable coming to pass through natural events that “just happened” to result in a favorable outcome; that God works behind the scenes through his creation; that He constantly sustains it anyway, so causing it to work in our favor is no special thing to God, nor outside of what we should be able to expect. Our founders believed that if we look to God in our time of need, He will be pleased to bless us in our efforts.

“… In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding? In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.- Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor. To that kind of providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest. …” -- Benjamin Franklin before the Constitutional Convention July 28, 1787.

Faith, to our Founders, was not an illusion or a fancy; it was the experienced center of life itself. You say that you are a believer, Fine, but you don’t think like a believer, even in the time of need. As Mr. Franklin insightfully stated in the last line above; the reason to cast a dissenting vote is less for our wellbeing than a message to another generation or age. Do we really want to go down in history as a Christian people who willingly put the likes of Mr. Trump into that high office? What does that say about our mindframe? About our faith? About Christianity itself?

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters” -- Benjamin Franklin.

You think you are virtuous, but you cast your vote for Mr. Trump…the virtuous? Have you forgotten the lesson of Peor, or the Godly nation that was willing to go to war to keep their brethren from bringing the wrath of God down upon them all? Your presumed virtue that doesn’t feel your representative must be likewise virtuous is not a well thought out idea.
I tell you now, before it happens, that what you don’t know about Mr. Trump should scare the daylights out of you. I say it again; Donald Trump will do for America what TSA has done for the airport. Think about it.
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“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate” Proverbs 8:13.
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