Today's Prophet

I have spent a lifetime wondering about prophets and prophecy. Everyone wants to know what is going to happen and we all search for answers. An online dictionary provides the following definition of the word prophet:

1. A person who speaks by divine inspiration or as the interpreter through whom the will of a god is expressed.

2. A person gifted with profound moral insight and exceptional powers of expression.

3. A predictor; a soothsayer.

4. The chief spokesperson of a movement or cause.

The Jewish and Christian traditions specifically warn against soothsayers simply because they assume the role of God. Palm readers, horoscopes, Nostradamus, and Ouija boards are examples of how people are entertained and sometimes defrauded by such foolish conceits.

Muhammad and Brigham Young are two examples of spokespersons of a movement. Some of these end tragically like the Heaven's Gate and Jim Jones cults.

The Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible upon which it is based contain numerous writings by prophets. These prophets speak from divine inspiration to provide a message to God's people. In Christianity a prophet is one inspired by God through the Holy Spirit to deliver a message for a specific purpose. God's calling as a prophet is not considered to elevate an individual for their glory, but for the glory of God and to turn people to God. The apostle Paul often speaks of gifts from the Spirit to believers for the purpose of building up the universal church. Among these gifts is the gift of prophecy.

Jesus specifically warns against false prophets, so one asks; how can you identify a false prophet? Here are some reliable tests:

1. A true prophet will not contradict the nature of God. What is the nature of God? This is not an easy answer and requires a lifetime of prayerful study. You may start with 'God is love'.
2. A true prophet will not predict the end of the world on a date certain. Jesus said, "Only the Father knows". The Father has not even shared that information with the Son; therefore why would God reveal that date to some joker who just shows up out of the blue?  
3. A true prophet will provide hope for the future. Even the mournful prophet, Jeremiah, said; "'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord. 'Plans for a future and a hope.'"

Perhaps the most helpful insight on the role of prophecy and prophets was shared by our Executive Pastor. He explains that prophets have two roles: forth telling and fore telling. Forth telling as in "this is how it is and why the present situation is wrong". Fore telling as in "this is the inevitable result of our folly".

Whom would I nominate as a prophet? I can think of two prominent persons who seem gifted with a profound moral insight. Both are good communicators, however it is my belief that Glenn Beck has exceptional powers of expression.

His tag line is 'The Fusion of Entertainment and Enlightenment'. He is constantly calling us to a higher standard of morality. He rejects the current culture of corruption and continually reminds us that we are better people than those who represent us.

Mr. Beck reminds us of our forgotten heritage. It seems that political correctness has obliterated the fact that those who founded our nation on individual rights and liberties felt inspired by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We and our children have only been shown their greed and venality. We have lost sight of their vision of personal liberty, personal responsibility, personal generosity, and personal accountability. We have been activated into communities, told that we are victims, taught to envy, and convinced that only the government can make us whole.

Mr. Beck asserts that only God can make us whole. Only God can save us from exploitation by our own government. We, individually and freely, have the answer; and we, acting on the principles of faith, hope, and charity are the answer.

Like all prophets, Mr. Beck is slandered and vilified by those who are profiting from the status quo. Those who criticize him the loudest are those who have the most to lose when we assert our inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When we put our confidence in the One who created the universe, we will take back the power Jesus gives us thereby eliminating the need for the ones who exploit us.

These critics will actually have to produce something of value. What a concept!

Time magazine has designated Glenn Beck as one of the World's 100 most Influential Persons in 2010.

Congratulations.

Reaping What's Been Sown

The Summer of Love was anything but. The latter half of the sixties was marked by a counter cultural revolution. Love meant that we are all equal (good) and that we shouldn’t own one another (good) and that we are free to do our own thing (not so good) without rules (caution!) or hang-ups (?). Nobody should own anything (I don’t share) and the ideal lifestyle is communal (not interested). Everyone is encouraged to tune in with recreational drugs and hard rock, turn on to uninhibited sexuality, and drop out of participation in society. God is dead, bring down the Man, and don’t trust anybody over thirty.

The resulting anarchy gave us the Watts Riots with African Americans killing African Americans and burning their own neighborhoods. We got the Weather Underground bombing the Pentagon and other government targets. We got the Students for a Democratic Society murdering each other as they tried to establish a socialist uprising. National Guard troops fired upon and killed American citizens at an anti-war protest at Kent State University in Ohio.

President Johnson rammed through the Great Society and paid for it by raiding the Social Security Trust Fund. His Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara invented ‘body counts’ to measure our progress in Vietnam. Celebrity spokespersons like Jane Fonda and left wing socialist politicians like her ex husband, CA assemblyman Tom Hayden, spoke openly against the war to the point of providing comfort to the enemy. They traveled to North Vietnam for propagandistic photo opportunities for the enemy.

The president was shamed into not running for reelection. The mayor of Chicago, Richard Daly, declared there would be no disruptions of the Democrat convention; so the violent Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Students for a Democratic Society rioted.

The white kids from rich, elite families, like Bill Ayers, were able to avoid prison. Poor black kids like Huey Newton went to prison, were killed, or both. Ordinary whites and blacks dived into the American dream. We got married, had children, and lived life as it came.

My favorite bumper sticker from this period: “The World is Dead – God”. The question that has haunted me for the last 40 years has been; what will happen when these people are in charge? Will they mature or will they continue to promote a utopian dream to the detriment of our liberty?

After the election of 2008 it is clear they are still determined to preside over a utopia where they get to be in charge and we get to serve them. The tactics have changed from direct confrontation to a soft confrontation. More specifically, using one's opponent's strength against him and adapting well to changing circumstances.

What is the strength of our society? I would argue it is our sense of morality; our sense of fair play. What is the source of our societal morality? The Judeo-Christian faith and worldview. Other faiths and worldviews are about exploitation (Hindu), self actualization (Buddhism), or submission (Islam). The Judeo-Christian faith is about relationships; relationship with the creator and relationship with each other.

What would happen if you convinced people that there is no creator, only a creation? All creation displays God’s glory; but if you can convince people that there is no God and creation is extremely fragile then you can get them to worship the creation with you as a priest. Thus, the environmental movement is born, Al Gore becomes its high priest, and the government gets to tax you for breathing. After all, we are good moral people who want to do the right thing.

What would happen if you convinced people there is no God? You convince them that the government is the source of all good things. Life is not fair? Demand the government make it fair. Do you envy the wealthy? Demand the government give you your fair share of the economic pie. The government is the source of life and the leaders are God. After all, we are good moral people and redistributing wealth is doing God’s work.

The community organizers, utopians, and activists of the sixties have stopped trying to lead a violent revolution. They are using our strength against us in order to enslave us to them. It is time to revisit the true source of our strength. We need to understand what has made us the greatest nation conceived by humanity and understand what we need to do to become even greater.

We don’t need God bless America. God blesses us every day whether we deserve it or not. No, no, no. AMERICA, BLESS GOD!!

It is the height of arrogance to believe that humans can destroy creation. Only the creator can destroy His creation. Pride goes before the fall and we are setting ourselves up for a big fall if we think we can choose to save or destroy the planet. We are stewards to God’s creation and we bless God when we utilize His creation to strengthen relationships with each other for His glory.

Envy is the fundamental tool to destroy relationships. Job said, “It’s not fair” and God said, “You are not qualified to judge ‘fair’”. Peter said, “What about John?” and Jesus said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” Community organizers divide people into groups and use the government to create envy between them so they can be controlled.

God created all things seen and unseen. God owns it all. God was here before you were born and God is going to be here after you are gone; therefore it all belongs to God. When God decides to redistribute wealth, God will do it. Neither you nor the President is God, therefore using the government to forcibly redistribute wealth is taking the name of God in vain.

Violent revolution always ends with the death and enslavement of millions. Consider the record of Mao Tse Tung, Joseph Stalin, the Khmer Rouge, North Korea, and Fidel Castro. Remember that Robert Mugabe, Benito Mussolini, and of course the poster boy for tyranny; Adolph Hitler were elected by a majority of the citizens in a democratic election. These are just a few examples of tyrants from the twentieth century.

Consider the lives of Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King. They liberated millions from tyranny with few casualties. They did it using the model of the One who frees us all.

The lesson is clear. The revolutionaries of the sixties have morphed into progressives and are using our good moral instincts to trick us into giving them the power to deprive us of our liberty. The sycophants of the legacy media are willingly being used to portray any opposition as racist, violent, or just plain crazy. This is reminiscent of the government and media trying to portray Dr. King and Dr. Mandela as immoral and communist.

The key is to stay focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the United States Constitution it inspired. We need to remember who we are and whose we are as they attempt to enslave us to their utopian vision. This vision is doomed to fail and our children will have to rebuild from our mistakes.

First we must share with our children the faith of our fathers that has brought out the best in us.

Second, we must inspire the hope and confidence in the future that comes only from the true creator of all good things.

Finally, we must be charitable in all things; for that is the true antidote to the pride and envy that is destroying us all.