This is not a new thought.....as I've posted the exact same thing at least twice before....it does not appear that we in America....specifically in the church....and our pulpits....are going to wake up....until we have hit....rock bottom....or until persecution comes with a vengeance. The history of God's people in the Old Testament demonstrates this very clearly. Something has to happen....some judgment....before we would be willing to give up these vain plans of ours....the most unbiblical of which is....make America great again. There have been a couple of times where I thought that we might have hit rock bottom....but each time we proved very resilient in our defiance of listening to God's warnings in His word. We tell everyone to just trust in God....but we ourselves do not trust in His warnings.
Take today for example....April 5, 2025....a Saturday....with the world at the precipice and America a disgrace to its heritage....with that fake confidence from the election already turning into real confusion....there will be two basketball games....and although hell opens its mouth all around us....our minds and the desire of our hearts will be on what teams will get more points in a basketball game. What a mess of pottage we have chosen over the glory of the coming of the King of Kings!
I've posted also on this concept a few times....in the Spring.....with the trees starting to bud green....(I'm looking out at our yard right now....with the light green budding trees and the forsythia and daffodils in yellow bloom)....and a gentle and warm rain pointing to summer....it is only natural not to have any concern or desire for Jesus to come back. Let the Christians in Syria and Russia and the Ukraine and Nigeria and China and Appalachia....let them look to Jesus coming back....we've got plans for the summer!
Does that sound overly harsh to you? This afternoon I broke down and went to see the latest movie from the series....The Chosen. One scene was Jesus and His disciples on the Mount of Olives. It was the Olivet Discourse! Now I told my wife this a few minutes ago....when this scene came on....and after Jesus would tell them that we do not know the day or the hour....that if the screenwriter also put in what Jesus.....emphasized.....next.....that since we do not know the day or the hour...."Take heed....watch and pray....lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.....and what I say to you....I say to all.....Watch!"....(this from 5:35-37 of Mark)....so as I told my wife....if that was in there....and Jesus told this audience that part of the Olivet Discourse....that their pastors never seem to add....that I was going to have to hold myself back from raising my fist and shouting out loud....Yes!" (Folks....I've done this kind of stuff before) So I didn't make that display....but I thanked God that the full passage was in the film.
I still find myself praying fervently every day before the Lord's Day....that God might have mercy upon these men in the pulpits....and thereby have mercy upon us in the pews!
Note: It is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil....or the greed that it can bring with it....not money itself....and likewise it is the potential idolatry...of sport....not sport itself that is the problem....so in this also....."Take Heed....Watch!"
Note: I was in the stands at Pitt Stadium on September 23, 1967 when UCLA beat Pitt 40-8 behind Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban who was taken number 2 in the draft and signed a $200,000 three year contract. The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels signed a $37.75 million four year contract....with a $24.3 million bonus. $200,000 in 1968 was worth about $1.8 million today. It's impossible to calculate where the idolatry began but it is obvious that it was more sport than idolatry in the 60s....and it is more idolatry than sport today.
