Scripture

Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah.

~Psalm 95:7-8, LSB

Quote

God is for us; He is with us and in the end we win, but in the present moment, we must be humble, live holy lives, cease to complain and be ready to suffer.

~John MacArthur

I am not a John MacArthur fan per se; he can be arrogant, critical and very harsh but when he expounds the scripture, insights fly up like sparks from a fire. John says we are experiencing the judgment of rebellion delineated in Romans one.  He says that America is beyond redemption; that we have crossed the line. I am not saying that he is wrong. The sexual revolution did come out of the closet in the 1970’s and many things have changed and not for the better. The most disturbing thing that is missing is CONVICTION OF SIN. I am afraid we are suffering from a hard heart. Sin no longer bothers people. We are not convicted about sin; we are not repenting of sin and in many cases, we are refusing to call sin a sin. As Adrian Rogers said once, “The only sin today is to call sin a sin.” Folks I am not talking about Washington D.C. and Hollywood, I am talking across the board and that includes our churches. When was the last time you saw conviction in a service. Can you even remember a service where there was weeping, brokenness, confession and genuine contrition? I started preaching in 1969 and I got to experience several services where multiple people repented and the altar was filled with weeping contrite believers seeking personal cleansing and revival. You do not see that any more.

I must be honest, MacArthur’s sermon {Living In A Perverse World, YouTube} disturbs me. As a believer there are some comforting things about the message but am I wrong to be concerned about my grandchildren and the world they are going to have to face? John basically says, “God’s judgment has come, there is nothing anyone can do about it, so stop complaining about the shape the world is in; God is in control and things are going as planned and in the end we win.” I know God is in control and I know we win in the end, but I guess I am impatient: I want to win now! I want REVIVAL. I want a second chance for America. I want my grands and greats to enjoy the same freedoms I have enjoyed. Nineveh was a wicked city, but God was merciful and gave them an additional century. No, I can’t change America; I can’t even change jack, but I am going to keep praying for God to change us. I know, as a nation, you can’t do what we have done and not suffer the consequences and those who have known me for the past 40 years know that I have said all along, abortion and homosexuality would be our undoing. I guess the only place where I disagree with John is on praying for REVIVAL. All reforms are basically the same. They believe God has a blue print written in stone and things are going to get worse and worse until the end. I had one of them tell me some years ago, “Praying and protesting for abortion to stop is like picketing the Talladega school of the blind.” I told him he was wrong. He was comparing apples to oranges: abortion is choice and blindness is an affliction. There is little hope for someone who doesn’t know the difference between the two.

John MacArthur may be right; both circumstance and scripture seem to indicate that he is, but there is that slight chance that America could repent God show mercy. I call it hope and I will keep praying. There is no question that sin has consequences, and that judgment is going to happen.

Extra

Beautiful weather and believe it or not, our garden could use a little rain. Of course, our ditches in the front yard don’t need rain. Have a great day! Thanks for reading the blog.