What can we do to bring America back to God?

Liberal theology is out of sync with reality, it’s only concerned with social distinction, outward respectability and human merit. Because of this, it has created a value system inconsistent with the voice of the biblical prophets. As a nation, America is consumed with social popularity and acceptance, this why television shows like "America's got talent,” "American idol"  and professional sports are so attractive.

There is a need for confrontation, not for the purpose to infringe upon freedom, but to provoke obedience to God. With an ideology that believes that life should be lived without any interruption,

What can we do to bring America back to God?

What are we to do when the message of the gospel becomes more and more politically inconvenient?

In our nation we have prosperity without wisdom and sexuality without boundaries, these two pursuits have skillfully become the breeding ground for indifference. The Lord doesn't have contempt for America, but tears, so we must ask ourselves,

Are the altars of our churches filled with tears or fears?

Can we imagine a restored sense of perspective like God does?

 

 

The Solution

The prophet must return to truthfulness, whether the hearers are ready for it or not. Not to offend, but to awaken the nation to the authenticity of a Holy God, to alert the consciousness of men and women who must understand that this is God's world and not their own. The Lord's justice doesn't have an appetite for retaliation, His justice has a thirst to make mankind whole.

I believe that God is raising up a prophetic people of unshakable resolve, who won't be tripped up by rejection. The dominant narrative of these up and coming voices are to set captives free and call a nation back to loving God and loving their neighbor.

The windshield of the American dream has been cracked and if it isn't replaced then the crack will only continue to grow. Repentance, fasting, and prayer are the answers to replacing the windshield of our nation.

There are no shortcuts to transformation, no short cuts to heal America's sin and wounds. But, there is a sincere cry from the heart emotionally, politically, and theologically. There is the blood of Jesus, the message of the sermon on the mount, and the passion for social justice from the voices of the Hebrew prophets at our access. As the people of God, when we prioritize what has just been said, power comes back into our witness, love back into our soul, and vision for what the Lord yearns for back into our thoughts.

Sincerely, 

John 

 

Seized by the Presence

Loyalty, honor and kindness are characteristics that come from someone who has been miraculously set free. These individuals have an appreciation for what was done for them. They seem to live in Holy remembrance and deep gratitude, like most, they want to live in peace, enjoying personal rights and liberty. However, we find ourselves in a hostile encounter with a dark opposing force. This attacker wants to foster shame and steal our desire for peace and prosperity. Our archenemy wants us to believe that we don't have a deliverer so that we'll simply give in and resign ourselves to the powers at be.

I've been profoundly touched by the narrative in 1 Samuel Chapter 11:1-11. This compelling story gives us a framework for hope. Wickedness doesn't have rules in fact it seems to initiate a violent hatred towards the people of God. Human rights, human dignity and human worth was being challenged by king Nahash's brutality. In fact, Nahash's name means snake. However, we witness the men of Jabesh (which means dry) making an agreement with this wicked King. There is a spiritual principle that we all must learn here, and that is, when we are spiritually dry we should never make any kind of negotiations with the our adversary.

Decisions made from the place of His presence are what build hope and freedom, decisions from the place of fear only end in humiliation and the loss of vision.

Our opponent wants to bring disgrace upon us and rob us of our sense of destiny, we must trust that the Lord will bring a solution to our dilemma. In this narrative, Nahash agreed to a truce as long as he could have the right eye of everyone and degrade all of Israel. This is a prophetic parable of the deep hatred and emotional assault that the enemy bombards Christian's with, (the loss of dreams and a great uncertainty about their future).

For the people of Jabesh, all they could do was break into tears because no one was there to save them. Since losing their right eye meant the loss of identity, what were they to do? Will someone come to their rescue? After reading these verses I hear the same cry ringing from the people of God in our era. They need deliverance from the negative emotional traffic that robs them of joy and the ability to imagine what God has for their future. Certainly there is a real threat, but I believe God is moving upon His sons and daughters right now.

While self respect gets lost in the sea of guilt, our Lord is raising up men and women throughout the earth to break the spirit of oppression. We find in this powerful drama that King Saul, who although made some foolish choices in his life, actually started off very focused. He hears the weeping of a nation and begins to ask what is wrong. I have no doubt that a generation is also hearing the weeping of the nations of the earth and they too begin to ask why. Asking the right questions touches the heart of God because those kind of questions originate from a heart that has a holy burden for humanity. By being sensitive to the plight of others, the Lord begins to act. He will then release many that will become His instrument of healing and salvation to communities and nations.

 

1 Samuel 11:6 "When Saul heard this, the spirit of God suddenly seized him; in anger".

 

Beloved, not only did Saul hear this, he literally felt their grief, and then suddenly God captured him. Saul isn't just seized by human need, he is seized by a sense of divine justice. Around the globe today people are getting on a cultural bandwagon, completely unsettled about what they don't agree with. You see, God's desire is to send His presence and power upon the people to accomplish His will. Beloved, God feels divine emotion for those who have been threatened and manipulated by the enemy.

 

The question we need to ask ourselves is "have we been seized by the presence of God or are we just upset"? And yes, there are many social ills that need attention, however, unless we have been truly captured by the anointing and not just a cause, our communities and nations won't experience the redemptive power of God. I believe Godly leadership is being raised up to end the humiliation and impart a right perspective. Arguably, we could make the assumption that God is angered by the oppression, so in response to divine anger, the Lord seizes men and women. Beloved, Saul isn't seized by a cause, he is seized by the spirit of God.

Can we imitate a posture of compassion and humility so that the pleas of those who are victims of demonic brutality get answered? Saul did, he rallied a nation, delivered a community, and they never forgot what had been done for them. Because forty years later when king Saul's body had become a Philistine trophy, the men of Jabesh Gilead rescued this King and honored him.

 

Sincerely,

John 

 

Reigning as Kings

Romans 5:17 (NKJV) 

For if by the one man's offense, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

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It seems that we can so easily forget what Christ has purchased for us, so we end up living with a much lower standard than what Jesus has called us to live. To reign as Kings or Queens means much more than monetary success, public recognition, and thousands of likes on Facebook.

To reign as Kings is to not come up short from the image of God. It is finding victory on the inside where our emotions are, to have control over our own spirit, this is what it means to reign in life.

It doesn't mean that we are completely free from crisis, it means we are seated above our own minds. We tap into divine wisdom and we prophesy to the situations that don't represent the beauty of God. You see, God has a goal for us individually and corporately, to make us a prophetic voice to the earth, prophesying liberty from bondage and decay. Creation is yearning for sons and daughters to speak what the Lord is speaking.

When there is repentance, respect, honor and love, our identities flourish and our roles get clearly defined.

When this is properly modeled the Kingdom of God is authentically demonstrated. By prophesying His heart we come into agreement with what God sees, for He sees beauty in the midst of our deformity. The prophet Ezekiel found himself in a valley and wasn't told to pray about the spiritual conditions, he was told by the Lord to prophesy to it. His words transformed the people, will we do the same in our time? Will we prophesy the wonderful grace upon the slain that are on the battlefield of life? For without the wealth of grace there isn't any true wealth in the soul. For the wealth of grace allows us to rule with the knowledge of the Kingdom and not rule as those who haven't been regenerated do. We reign from a place intimacy not just in the place legality.

Life becomes more of a joy because we witness supernatural interventions in our spiritual lives, relationships and financial breakthroughs. We live the way Jesus lived when he lived upon the earth. Reigning over sickness, demonic attacks, and over economic lack. We become yoked to His peace, free from the yoke of anxiety and fear.

The body of believers that reign as Kings repair the wrongs in society and restore human dignity by bringing the knowledge of the truth in every sphere of society.

Living like King's means thinking like King's, speaking like a King, weighing over our words before we say them because they declare who we really are. The words we speak build the kind of Kingdom we choose to live in. Through the gift of righteousness we can rule with same heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,

John 

Correct Convictions

What shapes a leaders belief system is arguably the most valuable necessity. How he or she thinks about God, others, and themselves is formed by what they allow in their hearts. Correct convictions can positively form a people who believe that they will be able to obtain the promises of God. With the right knowledge, leaders will not just form others in their own image, but transform others in God's image. When a leader intentionally sits under the word of God, the authority of what our Lord taught surpasses the leaders own experience. Armed with a sense of responsibility these leaders will not just control but inspire.

To bless is to empower and genuine leaders filled with compassion release communities into their inheritance.

This ability to influence isn't because they have conformed to educational theories or to political ideologies, their influence originates from relationship first with God, and then with their colleagues. The way they look at life and the way they see problems are unique. Instead of fear, they have learned to tap into a well of endurance. This attracts others to them. While some in leadership roles are just digging out some new principles to become more popular,

real leaders are passionately willing to become better servants.

We can't take on the responsibility of Godly leadership without becoming a servant. We all want a place among the powerful and the strong, the Lord put that desire in all of us. To get there we have to serve. Servanthood is the true representation of the leaders nature. By putting ourself aside we amplify who He is. Knowing that the majority of disputes happen because we want to rule rather than care for the body of Christ. Many times we perceive major character flaws in gifted people and begin to downgrade their significance, and instead of looking for ways to empower them, we assassinate their reputation. This doesn't solve the issue it only creates a sense of hopelessness.

However, there are corrective ways to fixing what may seem overwhelming. It's really about living a life of prayer. The heart of a true leader doesn't go to God to obtain judgment, but to obtain forgiveness for the Lord's people. We can clearly see this in Moses's leadership approach.

While we appreciate professionalism in the presentation of sermons and worship, professionalism should never be elevated above loving God and loving one another. In other words, let's take the quality of sound, we all like when something sounds good to our hearing, but is that sound the sound of Heaven? Because when love abounds, the sound of God's heart is clearly heard. A sincere leader understands that godliness needs to be elevated much more than talent. People are rewarded amazingly for their accomplishments and talent, but how many have been rewarded for their godliness?

Any person that is in a place of influence whether you're a parent, a CEO, or a pastor, we need to protect those who are around us, by not reinforcing wounded feelings in relational conflicts with one another, Because this doesn't bring the solution that is needed, it only produces more validity to the irritation. In order to have genuine success, rather than contributing to each other's conflicts, we have to work hard on improving our relationships with one another, all while asking the Lord for the keys of the Kingdom to unlock breakthrough for them.

 

Sincerely, 

John