A GENTLED HEART

We are offered a new solution for the brutality in the Middle East - a job.

Even though we have a shortage of jobs here, the plan is to help ISIS find jobs?

We are being told that poverty and lack of education are the reasons for a brute's heart.  Is that right?  What gentles a heart?

Consider these men:

This man is from a wealthy Nigerian family; his banker father is said to be one of the richest in Africa.  The man grew up in an affluent neighborhood and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.  Later he went to Yemen for more education and became increasingly more "pious",  going to the mosque for dawn prayers and spending hours in his room reading the Quaran.

We know this radical Islamic terrorist to be the underwear bomber, trained by AQAP (Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula), and now jailed.

This man was born in Virginia to Palestinian immigrants from the West Bank, educated at Virginia Tech, and received a medical degree in psychiatry from Walter Reed Medical Center.  In his job counseling soldiers, he carried an inscription on his calling card "soldier of Allah".

We know this radical Islamic terrorist to be the Ft. Hood shooter who killed 13 and wounded 30 others and now is jailed.

This man was born in Memphis to a family of four who were Baptists.  His father was a businessman who ran Blues City Tours.  He graduated from high school and went to TN State University for several semesters before converting to Islam in 2004 in a Memphis mosque.  He stated "I've loved jihad ever since I became a Muslim".  By 2007 he was a deeply religious Muslim who legally changed his name and adopted legalistic practices according to the salafi tradition.  Salafis return to practices that the prophet Mohammed was said to employ...such as growing a beard, rolling up pants legs above the ankle, and chewing a "miswak" (stick for cleaning one's teeth).

We know this radical Islamic terrorist to be Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad (aka Carlos Bledsoe), the man who killed one and wounded another outside the Little Rock military recruiting office, and is now jailed.

This man was born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents (his father was in the States as a Fulbright scholar to do graduate work at universities).  He spent 11 years in Yemen and returned to the U.S. for college, graduating in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University.  He was proven to have contact with many terrorists and terrorist plots (including  9/11, the underwear bomber, the Ft. Hood shooter, the Times Square bomber, and the American convert, John Walker Lynd).  In a video posted to the internet, he called for Muslims around the world to kill Americans without hesitation and overthrow Arab leaders.

We know this radical Islamic terrorist to be Anwar al-Awlaki and he was killed by a drone in 2011.

As these men's lives reveal, the problem with extremism is neither poverty nor education.  In a New York Times ARTICLE about the "madrassah myth", the backgrounds of 75 terrorists behind major attacks against Westerners was studied.  They found that 53% of the terrorists had attended college or received a college degree.  Since only 52% of Americans have been to college, terrorists seem as well-educated as we are.

And poverty?  Could we agree that there are poor people all over the world who do not cut off heads?  Please remember that Osama bin Laden was born into a BILLIONAIRE'S family.

So if the problem is not poverty or education...what is the problem?  The problem is ideology.  You do what you do because you believe what you believe.  And the patience of God is granting a piece of time for all peoples to make up their minds about which "founder" to follow.

The ISIS power surge is nothing new.  Across the timeline, Islam has followed their founder's command for conquest.  They also follow their founder in the belief that half their population (women) can be held in subjugation, and that forgiveness is absent but justice is swift.

A Muslim's faith rests on their own shoulders.  A good Muslim DECLARES (the Shahada "there is no god except God and Muhammad is God's Messenger"), PRAYS (a ritual prayer 5x a day), GIVES (to the poor), FASTS (during Ramadan), and MAKES A PILGRIMAGE (to Mecca at least once in a lifetime).  Their connection to God is based on what they do and "doing" gets heavy.

On the other hand, Jesus said HE DID IT ALL.  The Book says there's nothing good in us that we would choose Him...and none are righteous, not one.  He CAME, He IDENTIFIED with all our frailties, He SUFFERED and DIED so that His blood would cover our sin and purchase accessibility to God, and then He ROSE from the grave to prove His claims.  Has Muhammed proven any of his claims?  Jesus did not kill anyone to make followers.  Can Islam say that?

Our brutal day makes the gospel shine.  While every heart on this planet needs to be gentled, we should be very careful about which "founder" we follow. Jesus said "Come to Me, all who are heavy-laden and I will give rest" and  "Come, follow Me!"

BEASTS

What does the LifeGiver think as He looks down on the lifetakers in the Middle East and Africa?

The rising number of ISIS, Boko Haram, AQAP, Al Shabaab, Al Nusra, and Ansar al Sharia have one thing in common: they are radical Islamists who have global domination on their mind.

Have we forgotten the times when evil rises in history and has had to be put away?  Evil is now rolling in like a flood.

Who could have imagined that modern times would see a return to slavery and the sword?

We read of atrocities that leave us slack-jawed because it seems each day's news is worse than the last.  It's hard not to become numb.

Setting aside for a moment what adults do to adults, how many little boys have been coached to be beasts?  How many second-grade girls have been sold into sexual slavery to men?

Jesus said it would be better for them to have a millstone tied around their necks and be thrown into the sea than to cause one of His little ones to sin.

Judgment Day will be full of surprises for men who set destruction, conjugal heaven, and abject selfishness higher than a loving God.

We shiver to think of what hell will be like, as populated by such wretched men.

Depravity is hard to think on, and it is exhausting to watch pinprick bombing fail to hold back the eradication of a people group 2,000 years old.  Christians and Jews have been in the Middle East since before Islam was invented.

So what is a Christian's role in all this?  What is America's role?

Christians are told to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them.  Do you find it hard to pray for the salvation of these savages?  Then you are feeling exactly what Jonah felt many years ago.

What about our country's role?

Yesterday at his terrorism summit, the President spoke of "grievances". It would seem that if anyone had a grievance, it would be the people who refused to submit to Islam and have been raped, beheaded, tortured, burned, crucified, or cut in half.

But in a bizarre twist, the President spoke of the grievances that MUSLIMS suffer, as though Muslims were victims of hard luck and prejudice...and all they need is some applause, community organizing, and a job to bring them to civilization.

What can we say to that stunning worldview?

With so much suffering and destruction, it is helpful to fall back on our ReferenceBook and remember wise words.

Speaking of how lawless deeds torment the righteous soul, Peter says God reserves the unrighteous (those who indulge their fleshly desires and despise authority) for punishment at the day of judgment.  Here's how The Message translates 2 Peter 2:12...

"THESE PEOPLE ARE NOTHING BUT BRUTE BEASTS, BORN IN THE WILD, PREDATORS ON THE PROWL.  IN THE VERY ACT OF BRINGING DOWN OTHERS WITH THEIR IGNORANT BLASPHEMIES, THEY THEMSELVES WILL BE BROUGHT DOWN, LOSERS IN THE END."  

God will judge those on this bloody path, but sometimes He uses our hands and feet to help the helpless.  Just as they write their judgment, we also write ours.

The day of judgment cannot come too soon for these killers as they WILL undergo the same destruction which they designed for others.  It may come sooner (to save lives) or it may come later,  when they look full into Jesus' face and their final accountability.

LORD, have mercy on the Levant.

EMPATHIZE?

This is the face of our enemy, showing no mercy.

It is grotesque to superimpose on that picture the words we heard last month about how America should employ "smart power" as we fight our enemies.  What was the quote?

"America should use every possible tool and partner to advance peace, leaving no one on the sidelines, showing respect even for one's enemies, trying to understand and insofar as psychologically possible, EMPATHIZE with their perspective and point of view."

Would that have worked well in Paris today?

This radical Islamic terrorist execution squad can be heard on the video shouting the phrase we've come to dread..."Allahu Akbar!".  Every single person on Planet Earth is invited to make God's name famous, but these men make it famous in the most perverse of ways.

Coming out against people armed with pen-and-paper (four of whom are shown right, including the editor and three cartoonists) these killers didn't look like third-world fighters hanging off the back of a small careening pickup.  Instead, the scene looked like something from a Bourne movie as they entered and asked for specific victims by name.

Even though it is hard, look again at that first picture.  It is taken from above, so we can easily imagine the Lord looking down as this scene played out.  Imagine God's eye of omniscience seeing that policeman's family and the agony down the years that one instant will cause.  Multiply that by eleven other victims.  Then think of all the fears that will be generated around the world.  NONE of that is from God, who says "fear not".

Isaiah told us a long time ago that in all our suffering, He also suffers...so in love and mercy, He saw our helplessness and came down to redeem us.  This world was never intended to be the way we have chosen to make it, and one day it will return to God's way in a grand makeover.

Romans says that God has a fixed opposition to sin and His wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness.  Some of that wrath may be expressed now because the latest news is that the killers are connected to a Yemeni terror cell and police may know them by name.  But certainly justice will be fairly carried out when they stand before the Lord in judgment.  The usurpers say they avenged their prophet's name, but God says vengeance belongs to Him.

We see the terrorists' ungodliness (as they display none of God's characteristics of love or kindness or patience or mercy) and the terrorists' unrighteousness (as they break God's laws).

Their day is coming, but in the meantime we pray.  We ask for comfort for the French families and a sharp mind for the French police.

And while we're at it, we should pray for our own leaders that they would clearly understand what America faces.

This deadly worldwide threat certainly has no concept of "empathy".

STANDING GUARD

When you hear "cherubim", you do think of these chubby little baby angels?  I guess Raphael's church fresco paintings have influenced us.

Scripture says the cherubim were armed angels and it would be pretty hard to picture babies with a flaming sword.  Cherubim were especially tasked to protect the holiness of God and the entrance to God.

Consider these two particular places that cherubim were found: Eden's garden gate and the Tabernacle.

GARDEN OF EDEN
After the LORD drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, the cherubim were posted to ensure the guilty pair could not come back in.

By that, God was denying them access to the Tree of Life (the impartation of eternal life).  That was not God being harsh; that was God being compassionate.  He knows the ravages and degradation of sin and He did not want Adam and Eve to live eternally in that state.

THE TABERNACLE
The cherubim were also found in the specific orders God gave to Moses as to how He would have the Tabernacle built.  These guardians were to be woven figuratively into the curtains of the Tabernacle and also cast as golden figures over the Ark of the Covenant.

1.  THE ARK OF THE COVENANT
Solid gold cherubim were to go above the mercy seat, which was the lid on the Ark of the Covenant.  That is where the presence of God was said to come and dwell.

The ark was found in The Most Holy Place and was to be accessed only once a year by the high priest.  On the Day of Atonement, the high priest confessed his personal sins and the sins of Israel before entering.

Once inside, the high priest sprinkled lamb's blood on the lid of the ark.  God then showed mercy (hence the name "mercy seat") as His wrath was appeased for another year.  A rope was tied to his leg so that if he went in without being properly cleansed and the LORD struck him dead, they could drag him out.

2.  TABERNACLE CURTAINS

Thick, three-story curtains surrounded The Holy Place and also divided it from The Holy of Holies.  The curtains were made of tightly twisted linen in royal colors of blue, scarlet, and purple.  Moses was told to include a design of cherubim in the curtains.  Why?

The LORD was teaching them that a holy God cannot be accessed by an unholy people.  They must come to Him in a particular way.  They must approach Him through the blood of a sacrifice. 

Israelites (both men and women) and Gentiles could come into the larger courtyard.  But only the High Priest and the Levites charged with upkeep of the Tabernacle were allowed into The Holy Place.

As they entered and looked up toward the three-story curtain (shown open for the sake of illustration but would have been closed) they saw the cherubim and knew access to God was restricted.  Even the most "religious" Israelite, the high priest who entered beyond the veil, was reminded of separation when he saw the beautiful golden cherubim standing guard.

Why was access to God so hard?  It seemed hard to people because He made only one way.  Today people struggle for the same reason.  They want to think any approach to God is worthy, but that's not what God says.

These curtains represented Jesus' body.  At the instant Jesus died, God the Father shook the earth, turned out the lights, and the veil in the temple tore from top to bottom, opening a way into The Most Holy Place.  Hebrews 10:20 explains that Jesus was the Sacrifice that bought our accessibility into God's presence.

God wants to dwell in our midst and He made a way - a very costly way for Him - to deal with our sin so that we COULD come to Him.

No wonder good works will not gain entry...nor trying to be goody-two-shoes...nor thinking your way to Him through philosophy...nor reaching for him in church attendance.  Those human efforts insult the good work His Son accomplished.

"THERE IS SALVATION IN NO ONE ELSE, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG PEOPLE BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED."  ACTS 4:12

"SO THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE WILL BOW - IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER."  PHILIPPIANS 2:11

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES

It's a sad kettle of fish when Americans don't expect anything but lies from leadership.

Didn't these schemers have a Mama that taught them the truth will out?  How in the world did they expect God to bless something built on a crooked foundation?  You don't do wrong to do right.

Dr. Jonathan Gruber, the MIT economist and senior advisor to Obamacare, went to the White House nine times in his consultant role.  We paid him $400,000.  Other states contracted with him for another million-and-a-half.  Economically, it was a very good year for the professor.

Then he "stepped in it" when his comments from 2013 showed up.  At first, it was only Fox reporting and the mainstream media ignored it.  Gruber made a shallow apology, saying "I spoke off the cuff".  Then more videos came out with him saying more of the same.  What did he say that was so noteworthy?

Bottom line was...Dr. Gruber said they lied on purpose.  He said if Americans had known what Obamacare really did, it wouldn't have passed.  We were too stupid to understand how good it was.

In fact, Obamacare sits atop a hill of doozies which were used to (as Charles Krauthammer has said) "lead the masses to the promised land".   We were told:

"If you like your doc/if you like your plan...you can keep your doc/you can keep your plan."  "The website is ready/the website is secure."  "A family will save $2,500."  "It's NOT a tax!"  "It won't fund abortions."  And, "It's not wealth redistribution."

ALL WERE KNOWN TO BE UNTRUTHS WHEN THEY WERE SPOKEN.

Americans are beginning to figure out the fraud, as evidenced by the midterms which kicked to the curb twenty-eight Senators who voted for O'care.  So we are THAT smart, Dr. Gruberomics.

But thanks anyway for offering us a comic book with pictures so we could understand.  At 160 pages, it must be the longest comic book known to man.

And by the way, we do have a bit of buyers remorse for the slug of cash we paid you, Sir...when you've never held a job in the private sector or run a business.  Your tenured position at MIT is full of theory.

Another thing.  Would someone please tell Ms. Pelosi that no one believes a word she says?  LINK   On the other hand, Jay Carney was forthcoming when he called Dr. Gruber "the architect of the President's Affordable Care Act".

In 2008, if the country voted for TRANSPARENCY (tired of political spin), IMPROVED RACE RELATIONS (tired of rancor) and a desire to HELP THE POOR...

...we sit here in 2014.  We're reeling from the lies and lack of transparency... reeling from Ferguson (where comments by the President and Eric Holder did not help)...and reeling from the reality that it's only the 1% who have prospered under President Obama.

Things haven't exactly panned out. But here's what IS encouraging...

Even in the professor's arrogant and elitist attitude, the truth came out shining.  For all its false promises, Obamacare was exposed to be a fraud.

"Fraud is a form of compulsion.  False choices are not free choices. If you promise someone bountiful goods in exchange for their signature on a contract, and then fail to deliver the goods, they did not make a “free choice” that turned out badly.  You robbed them, as surely as if you stuck a gun in the poor sap’s back and took his wallet.  That is why we empower the government to prosecute fraud. Robbery and fraud do not become acceptable because the perpetrators say they are acting in the best long-term interests of the victims."  Eric Erickson

Prof. Gruber's video began to surface on Monday (the 10th) and this LINK to Megyn Kelly's report is from Tuesday (the 11th).  The mainstream guys waited days to even mention it; CBS picked it up on the 13th and at that time neither ABC or NBC had given it any time.  The University of Pennsylvania (where Gruber spoke) tried to take the video down.  We want a free press who don't circle the wagons.  

Contrary to what Jack Nicholson said in "A Few Good Men"...WE CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH.

RED GOVERNORS

Yeah, I know.  It's a little early.  But do you think a governor might be the next president?

It makes sense.  Governors are tasked to make budgets and keep them (versus just printing more money), and governors understand the impact of policies on their people.  That front-line experience could translate to the larger scale.  It has happened before.  From Jimmy Carter forward, four of our last six presidents were governors.

Americans feel threatened by the economy (jobs), terrorism, and government overreach.

Before the election, there was a strange defeatism that permeated the national mood.  We felt like our children will not have it as good as we've had it.  We feel like the government efforts to help...have hurt.  And we don't feel protected.

We wanted change and hope.

Enter some fresh faces and re-elect winners that defy the stereotype given to Republicans.

These aren't the "old white guys".  They're diverse (but not hyphenated) Americans.  Three  are strong, proven women...and one is in a wheelchair.

Take a look at the Republican governors-elect  and re-elected:

HOMEGROWN
Arkansas voted red for Governor-elect Asa Hutchinson.  We are historically a blue state, but we've had a few red ones (think Mike Huckabee).

Asa and Susan Hutchinson have been married for 41 years and they have four grown kids and five grands.  Asa practiced law for 21 years, and at age 31 was named the youngest United States Attorney in the nation.  Then he began a career of government service which included a term in Congress, Director of the Drug Enforcement Agency, and head of a division of Homeland Security.

TRUE BLUE
Illinois has a reputation for being blue across the board, but this year they elected a red businessman and philanthropist named Bruce Rauner.  Some think Governor-elect Rauner is red in name only, but that is yet to be seen.

Two other strongly blue states also put red governors in charge.  Maryland elected businessman Larry Hogan (head of a commercial real estate brokerage firm).  And in Massachusetts, Charlie Baker (former CEO of a healthcare corporation) can trace his roots to the colonial era.  With a strongly conservative father and liberal mother...it would have been fun to sit around their dinner table.  Governor-elect Baker has already said he is not in favor of providing illegals a driver's license.

WILD WEST
In Texas, Greg Abbott defeated Wendy Davis in an incredibly unkind and untrue campaign.

Texas didn't like it.  Can you tell?

In Arizona, Jan Brewer left the state in the hands of Doug Ducey, a businessman (CEO, Cold Stone Creamery).  He married his college sweetheart Angela, and they have three boys.











RE-ELECTED
Republican governors were re-elected with the exception of one (Pennsylvania).

Red votes went for Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin (with the same 5.7 point margin with which he won the last election).  Gov. Paul LePage won in Maine...and a sliver margin of 1.1 point re-elected Governor Rick Scott in Florida.

Over in Tennessee, Governor Bill Haslam was re-elected by 47 points, winning every county in the state.  

Governor Nathan Deal beat Jimmy Carter's grandson Jason Carter by an 8.0 spread in Georgia and Governor Mary Falin had a 14.8 point margin in Oklahoma.  In Iowa, Governor Terry Branstad takes the prize for re-election to a SIXTH term by 21.8 points.

Alaska, Vermont, and the Virgin Islands are still counting votes, but here are the known results:

The Republican Southern governors are in AZ, NM, TX, OK, AR, LA, MS, TN, NC, SC, AL, GA, and FL.  The Republican Mid-American governors are in NV, ID, UT, WY, ND, SD, NE, KS, ID, WI, IL, MI, IN, and OH.  In the East, there are governors of ME, MA, MD, and NJ.

Perhaps there is a Presidential candidate in one of these 32 governors.

LIGHTBEARERS

Who doesn't want all things to work together for good?  The verse says they do for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Are you one of those?  What is His purpose for you?

Most people wonder about God's demands on them.  They just want to know what it is He wants.  The Old and New Testaments both use exactly the same words to describe what He wants.

Did you think the Old Testament has an expired shelf life?  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  And we remember Jesus said "Don't think I came to abolish the law; I came to fulfill it."

In our Exodus study at BSF, we just have read how God saved Israel out of Egypt and now is about to give them the law on Mt. Sinai.

Here's how God explained His expectations to Israel:

"You yourselves (Israel) have seen what I did to the Egyptians 

and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.

Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,

then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples

for all the earth is Mine;

and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
Exodus 19:4-6

He wants a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  Wanting to know more about what that phrase "kingdom of priests" means, I found this summation from Dr. Matthew S. Harmon, a prof at Grace Theological Seminary.  He melted the phrase down to four "I's".  See if this job description for Israel doesn't match our job description, too.

INCARNATE

As they lived, Israel was to be an example to the people of other nations who would see her holy beliefs and actions - and be impressed enough to want to know personally the same God Israel knew.

INVITE

Israel was to proclaim the truth of God and invite people from other nations to accept Him in faith as shown by confession of belief in Him and acceptance of His covenant.

INTERCEDE

Israel would intercede for the rest of the world by offering acceptable offerings to God (both sacrifices and right behavior) and thus ameliorate the general distance between God and humankind.

INSCRIBE

Israel would preserve the promises of God, preserving His word already spoken and record His word as it was revealed to them...so that once the fullness of time had come, anyone in the whole world could promptly benefit from that great body of divinely revealed truth, that is, the Scriptures.

Priests serve, and Israel was called to be servant lightbearers.  So are we.  In 1Peter 2:9, the exact same message is given to believers.  

"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

We are set-asides...consecrated for God's purposes...a holy nation employing intentional missional living.

We were not saved just for going to heaven.  We were saved to carry His good news to the whole world so they might come out from underneath their heavy burden of guilt...and go to heaven with us.  Doesn't that stand starkly opposite to those who make believers at the tip of the sword?

In Revelation 5:10, it says believer priests will "reign" on the earth.  That's not a "lording it over others" rule, but a continuation of service as we take our cue from Jesus, the Servant Leader who came not to be served, but to serve.