It is time to stand up, speak up, sit down, and shut up!

It is time to stand up, speak up, sit down, and shut up!

By Lee Hemen

August 16, 2022

When I was younger, I was taught in a speech class to stand up, speak up, sit down, and shut up. It was a simple way to relate that we should know what we were going to speak on before we stood in front of the class to do so. Also, it showed that speech is important, and that freedom should not be taken lightly.

I find it extremely interesting that for decades the left screamed that rascally Republicans would use their power to make America into a police state, and yet we see the exact opposite happening. It is the Socialist left that has used the FBI as a secret police force against anyone who is against the left and its ideologies. From parents to protestors, we find average Americans marked as “enemies” of the state.

Now we find that the left is not ashamed to empower another branch of government under their control to be used as a means to strike fear and abuse the American people, the IRS. Doubling its size and arming them to instill fear into the American citizen is the desire of Democrats.

I remember as a child how my parents feared the IRS because they could come into your home, for any reason they deemed necessary, and confiscate anything they desired, including your furniture, clothes, child’s toys, and the food in your cupboards. We knew of several families who lost their homes and had to fight the IRS in court to try and get them returned only to be financially ruined. Later, after winning, they never got back anywhere near what the IRS took from them. Republicans and freedom loving conservative took the fear of the IRS from the average citizen and now Democrats have armed them again as their shock troops. This should cause great concern for any freedom loving American because the IRS can audit you for any reason and you have to prove beyond their doubt that you have nothing to hide.

Democrats turned a blind eye to the far-left riots of ANTIFA, mobs, crime ridden cities they have had control of for decades and encouraged lockdowns where your family could not even go to a park, restricted your child’s education and reprogrammed them to hate you, America, and love perversion. Now they are going after churches and Christians by vilifying their faith.

No freedom loving American of any political persuasion can sit back and think this is a good thing that is occurring. Freedom of speech is a basic right of the individual to say anything they desire even if you personally do not agree to it or like it. The free exchange of ideas is the only way that the truth can expose a lie. We have seen climate religious fanatics silence anyone who disagrees even when the actual science proves them wrong. We have watched as parents, Christians, and others are silenced by the mob because they do not agree in programming children into thinking they are not the sex they are.

It is time to stand up and vote them out. It is time to speak up loudly. It is time to regain the pulpit of free speech before it is taken away and we are living in silent fear. Perhaps it is time to stand up, speak up, sit down, and shut up or lose our freedoms.

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This article is copyrighted © 2022 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Our National Need

Our National Need
by Pastor Lee Hemen
July 2, 2006

Our Nation’s History

On July 4,1776, there was signed in the City of Philadelphia one of America’s historic documents: the Declaration of Independence. It marked the birth of this nation which, under God, was destined for world leadership.

We often forget that, in declaring independence from an earthly power, our forefathers made a forthright declaration of dependence upon Almighty God. The closing words of this document solemnly declare:

‘With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

The fifty-six courageous men who signed that document understood that this was not just high-sounding rhetoric. They knew that if they succeeded, the best they could expect would be years of hardship in a struggling new nation. If they lost, they would face a hangman’s noose as traitors.

Of the fifty-six, few were long to survive. Five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes, from Rhode Island to Charleston, sacked, looted, occupied by the enemy, or burned. Two Signing of The Declaration of independence lost their sons in the army. One had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six died in the war, from its hardships or from its bullets.

Whatever ideas you have of the men who met that hot summer in Philadelphia, it is important that we remember certain facts about the men who made this pledge: they were not poor men, or wild-eyed pirates. They were men of means; rich men, most of them, who enjoyed much ease and luxury in their personal lives. Not hungry men, but prosperous men, wealthy landowners, substantially secure in their prosperity, and respected in their communities.

But they considered liberty much more important than the security they enjoyed, and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. They fulfilled their pledge. They paid the price. And freedom was won.

Someone has said, “To be born free is a privilege. To die free is an awesome responsibility.”

Yet freedom is never free. It is always purchased at great cost.

Little did John Adams know how significant his words would be when he spoke to his wife, Abigail, on the passing of the Declaration of lndependence, “I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states; yet, through all the gloom I can see rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means.”

John Adams related, “ Posterity—you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.”

Thomas Payne wrote, “That we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything value. Heaven knows how to put a price upon its goods, and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”

“For the support to this declaration, with firm reliance on the protect of the Devine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” – Declaration of Independence.

Our Nation’s Heritage

In the summer of 1787, representatives met in Philadelphia to write the Constitution of the United States. After they had struggled for several weeks and had made little or no progress, eighty-one-year-old Benjamin Franklin rose and addressed the troubled and disagreeing convention that was about to adjourn in confusion.

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor… Have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?

“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this… I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning.”

The very purpose of the very first Pilgrims in 1620 was to establish a government based on the Bible: “To advance the enlargement of Christian religion, tho the glory of Almighty God….” In fact, all the individual colonies reaffirmed the reliance on Christ. Rhode island’s Charter is a good example: “WE submit our persons, lives, and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the Kind of kings and Lord of lords and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of His given us in His Holy Word.”

In his inaugural address to Congress, the first president of our nation, George Washington, stressed God’s role in the birth of this republic: “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts die affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency… We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of heaven cannot be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order
and right, which heaven itself has ordained.”

Continuing through the decades of history, we find in the inaugural addresses of all the Presidents, and in the Constitution of all fifty of our states, without exception, references to the Almighty God of the universe, the Author and Sustainer of our liberty.

Abraham Lincoln stated: “It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

Our nation’s heritage is one of Christianity.

Our Nation’s Hope

In the brief history of our own country since we gained our independence, we can look back upon a tremendous heritage of political freedom founded upon a biblical faith and a biblical understanding of the nature of man. Moreover, we can look back upon the material signs of God’s blessing in a fruitful and bounteous country, with success in almost every enterprise in war and peace.

But within my own lifetime, I have seen the most ferocious assaults on Christian faith and morals; first on the part of the intellectual community, and then on the part of the government. Especially in the last 25 years, the federal government has not even tried to conceal its hostility to religion; now, with many of our churches in disarray, the attack is being prepared against the family as the last bastion opposing the totalitarian state. Militant atheists and socialists have gone very far in imposing their view of life and man on almost every American institution.

And what have we reaped as a nation from our many personal and collective delinquencies? Atheistic schools, rampaging crimes, God-forsaken homes, drugs, abortion, pornography, permissiveness, a sense of cynicism, and spiritual desolation absolutely unprecedented in our country’s history.

The Israelites in their time also opted for the “New Morality.” They were as enthusiastic as many of our contemporary thinkers about situation ethics, for we read, “In those days, there was no king in Israel; but every man did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6).”

It is debatable at just what point the United States began to drift away from its Christian heritage. But I think we reached that point when many Americans turned away from the idea of salvation through Christ to that of salvation through technology or science or material affluence or the welfare state.

When all these turned out to be dead ends, Americans began to seek escape, and the purveyors of drugs and pornography and vicarious violence were there to meet the need. Human nature left to its own devices has always been a wretched failure at explaining the meaning and destiny of life.

I have often meditated upon why God chose the time and place He did for his Son to be born into the world. In the long preparation for the coming of Christ, the world had seen the tremendous achievements of many civilizations. But neither the intellectual brilliance of the Greeks; or the sober
morals of the ancient Romans; nor the technological and organizational genius of the later Romans were enough to still the discontent of human hearts. God chose an obscure outpost of a decadent empire as the birthplace of His Son, and upon all the debris of human pride and presumption there came forth the anointed Savior. From that day to this, there has been only one Light of the World, one Hope of Mankind.

By and large our people look in the wrong direction for their deliverance. As Christians we need to work with missionary zeal to reinstate the rule of Christ in our sadly demoralized country.

I pray every day for a rebirth of the spiritual values that made us a nation in the first place. If the Spirit of God were to rouse 200 million Americans to action, there is no describing the greatness and glory in store for this country, nor the blessings forthcoming to nations now held captive if and when, once again, the United States rededicates itself to the cause of freedom under God’s Law.

Our Nation’s Prayer

First, confess to God the sins that our nation has committed. When Nehemiah learned of the troublesome situation Jerusalem was in, he prayed confessing “…the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes, or the judgments, which thou commanded thy servant Moses” (Nehemiah. 1:6,7).

When you pray for our nation, first ask God to forgive our national sins. Repent for the sexual perversion we have tolerated as legitimate, alternate lifestyles. Repent that the foundation of our families has been destroyed, that we no longer hold the marriage vows sacred as God does. Repent of our sin of the legalized murder of over 30 million unborn babies, created in the image of God. Repent for allowing our children to be indoctrinated with secular humanism in the public schools. Confess to God every stand that our nation has taken contrary to His standards of right living.

Then plead with God to have mercy on our nation, to bring about a national movement of prayer, repentance, and obedience to His laws.

Secondly, Scripture commands us to remember to pray for our leaders.

The vast majority of Christians in America have neglected to exercise their right as God’s children to pray for our nation, its leadership, and our return to His mercy and grace. Far too many churches are more concerned about not offending anyone than they are aout the fate of their nation and its people.

Because of our neglect God has allowed us to be ruled by people who are motivated by selfishness, humanistic thinking, and peer pressure.

There is another group of people who need our prayers. In this hour of crisis, we must intercede/or the men God has raised up to lead His people in the fight against the forces of Satan in this nation. These Christian leaders are vulnerable to constant attack because of the stand they are taking for God. We need to pray that God will put a hedge of protection around them, that they will be able to discern what God wants to say, and that they will have the courage to speak God’s message without
ever faltering or retreating.

Finally, we need to pray for the millions of people in our nation who are trapped by sin. It is easy for us to criticize the sins that are destroying our very foundation; but we must love and pray for those who are slaves to alcohol, drugs, sex, money, and self. So many people are experiencing the empty, painful consequences of their rebellion against God. We as believers in Christ must stand in the gap for our nation and its people who are enslaved to sin.

Are you willing to bend your knees and heart and come to Him in heartfelt prayer for your nation, your State, your community, your neighborhood, and your family? The battle for men’s souls in America’s churches has been reduced to a corporate strategy likened to Wal-Mart. It is no longer seen as a war to be won and a kingdom to be established, rather churches focus on seminar style pablum, hoping to attract the world by being as much like the world as they can be.

God reminds us out of His most sacred Word that “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place (2 Chronicles 7:14-15).”

Are you willing to be the Christian and the American God has called you to be?

Ramblings from Retirement: Do you live an easy chair faith?

Ramblings from Retirement: Do you live an easy chair faith?
By Lee Hemen (Retired Pastor)
November 7, 2020

“Give me liberty, or give me death!” is a quotation attributed to Patrick Henry from a speech he made to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. Henry is credited with having swung the balance in convincing the convention to pass a resolution delivering Virginian troops for the Revolutionary War. Henry knew that freedom often demands our personal sacrifice. However what many American Christians have conveniently forgotten is that our freedom was bought with a price and maintaining it can require a sacrifice from each of us as well.

Jesus related to his disciples that a time would come when a “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household! (Matthew 10:21-25 NIV)” Many Christians throughout the world today know exactly what this means but those of us who live safe and comfortable lives here have no idea what this could actually mean. Here in America we have forgotten that as His servants we are not above our Master Jesus who suffered and died for us.

While I do not believe in conspiracies nor do I put much stock in a lot of what is taught today about “the end times” we as believers would do well to begin to teach that our faith demands personal sacrifice. We have lived lives of peace and safety far too long and have fallen asleep in the comfort of our easy chair faith. The evidence of this is the number of articles I have read lately that have called us to live “peacefully” rather than stand tall and sacrificial in our faith. A weak-willed namby-pamby limp wristed faith is easy but will not win our Nation or our world to Christ.

Perhaps we need to remember an early Christian young man named Stephen who willingly faced an angry mob and witnessed about his faith. The result was that “When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices; they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:54-60 NIV)” Stephen died for his faith; are you willing to do so as well? You had better be. We live in a world that is increasingly antagonistic to Christ and we no longer can live an easy chair faith.

Jesus related “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33 NIV)”
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This article is copyrighted © 2020 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission

Ramblings from Retirement: It Is Time to be united against Terrorism

Ramblings from Retirement: It Is Time to be united against Terrorism

By Lee Hemen

September 9, 2020

Like a lot of you I have watched as many of our largest cities, which have been controlled by Democrats for decades, have been allowed to burn, anarchists riot, and violence run amok. In 2001 I watched as passenger jets were hijacked and flown into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and into a field I was shocked and horrified. What concerns me is that those individuals, who decide to use violence, rioting, and arson as a means to further their political proclivity, are cut from the same fanatic narrow-minded cloth as those who flew jets into buildings.

As cities are destroyed by those who want to overthrow America we have to reflect on the threat this has for all of us just like we did when similar fanatics murdered thousands on 9-11. It is time for all of us as citizens to unite together just as we did during and after 9-11 and stand against these selfish fiends. Today’s ANTIFA and BLM that are controlled by Communists who desire to totally destroy anything American, our heritage, our history, and our National identity are the Jihadists we must stand against.

It sickens me when politicians, sports figures, Hollywood elites, and the liberal media cannot unite with the rest of mainstream America who are untied against this kind of fanaticism. Terrorism is terrorism no matter who is doing it and no matter for what disguised cause they are trying to foist off on the rest of us. The street thugs and terrorists on our streets today are just as evil as those were who hijacked jets on 9-11.

The writer of Proverbs wrote that “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. (Proverbs 2:12-15 NIV)” Paul would write a church that was facing disunity and was fractured: “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. (1 Corinthians 1:10 NIV)”

It is time for Americans to be united today just as we were during 9-11 against any fanaticism that would tear us apart or destroy our Nation.

Baptists and baptism – Matthew 28:16-20

Baptists and baptism – Matthew 28:16-20
By Pastor Lee Hemen
April 29, 2018

Christians should be baptized out of obedience to and love for our Lord Jesus. Water baptism by immersion is the biblical method of baptism because of its symbolic representation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

Water baptism symbolizes the believer’s total trust in and total reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as a commitment to live obediently to him. It also expresses unity with all the saints because we are “fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household” (Ephesians 2:19), that is, with every person in every nation on earth who is a member of the Body of Christ where there “is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Water baptism conveys this and more, but it is not what saves us. Instead, we are “saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9). We are baptized because Jesus commanded it: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Total immersion was practiced for the first 800 years of church history.

Water baptism is for believers. Before we are baptized, we must come to believe that we are sinners in need of salvation. We must also believe that Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins, that he was buried, and that he was resurrected to assure our place in heaven. When we turn to Jesus, asking him to forgive our sins and be our Lord and Savior, we are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our eternal salvation is guaranteed, and we begin to die to ourselves and live for Christ. At that time we are scripturally qualified to be baptized. Infant baptism was not practiced for the first 300 years of church history and some texts by early church fathers regarding the issue deal with heresies. It is not found anywhere in Scripture and the closest we find are three references to “households” being baptized but a household only considered those over a certain age of maturity meaning adults.

Water baptism is a beautiful picture of what our Lord has done for us. As we are completely immersed in the water, we symbolize burial with our Lord; we are baptized into his death on the cross and are no longer slaves to self or sin. When we are raised out of the water, we are symbolically resurrected—raised to new life in Christ forever. Water baptism also illustrates the spiritual cleansing we experience when we are saved; just as water cleanses the flesh, we are cleansed when we trust Christ.

The fact that water baptism is not a prerequisite for salvation is best seen in the example of a saved man who was not baptized in water—the criminal on the cross (Luke 23:39–43). This self-confessed sinner acknowledged Jesus as his Lord while dying on a cross next to Him. The thief asked for salvation and was forgiven of his sins. Although he never experienced water baptism, at that moment he was spiritually baptized into Christ’s death, and he then was raised to eternal life by the power of Christ’s word (Hebrews 1:3).

Why Baptists?

Baptists derive their name from their view of baptism and from the word “baptizō” (bap-tid’-zo) which is a Greek word for dipping cloth.

Sadly, most people today do not have a proper understanding of who Baptists are and where we came from. Baptists are not “Protestants”. We never protested or were part of the Reformation where Luther broke free from the Catholic Church. We came from a group known as the Puritans. Puritans tend to be thought of as old stogies who just wanted to spoil everybody’s fun. However, the modern-day view of the Puritans is far from the truth. They did not wear black with white collars and frown a lot. In fact they wore very colorful clothing and were happy joyous folks. They broke away from the likes of Lutherans and Anglicans.

The Puritans wanted to see real biblical reform come to the Church of England. The Anglican Church was founded by Henry VIII so he could marry whom he wanted. It was basically a “Catholic Light” organization. These early Puritans were led by Bishop Hooker and Thomas Cartwright and they began to call for a “pure” Church. However, the Queen and the Church of England were not willing to put up with these Puritans and thus began to enforce religious conformity by law.

Catholics and Anglicans both believe that only they can impart the grace of God. It is faith in Christ and then the ministering of God’s grace through specific acts within the “church” that saves a person: infant baptism, confirmation, confession, acts of contrition, prayers, marriage and in some cases how you die. Grace is seen as a big bucket you dip into.

This demand of conformity from the political and religious persecution in England produced a group known as the “Separatists”. The principles behind this movement were the freedom of the Church from State rule, pure doctrine rather than a watered-down or compromising doctrine, and overall reform of the Church. The Separatists took the Bible seriously and they were determined to order their lives by its teachings. They separated themselves from the Anglican Church. They believed in believer’s baptism after one placed their faith in Jesus and no longer in infant baptism.

From this group of Separatists came a small group know as General Baptists because they believed in a “general” atonement. General Baptists also had a distinct belief that Christians could face the possibility of “falling from grace”. The two primary founders of the General Baptist movement were John Smyth and Thomas Helwys.

The earliest General Baptist Church was thought to be founded about 1608 by John Smyth (1570-1612) and it was located in Holland. Smyth’s history begins in England where he was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1594. Soon after his ordination, his zeal landed him in prison for refusal to conform to the teachings and practices of the Church of England. Smyth continually battled the Church of England until it became obvious that he could no longer stay in fellowship with this church. Thus, he finally broke totally from them and became a “Separatist”.

From the General Baptists a second group formed known as the Particular Baptists. They came out of the Separatist movement as well. This group emerged in the 1630’s. It was influenced by the great reformer John Calvin and held strongly to a “particular” atonement. The first church was thought to be founded around 1633 or 1638. This small group in 1644 acted together to issue a confession of faith called the First London Confession of Faith. This confession preceded the widely known Westminster Confession of Faith by two years. Present-day Baptist churches can be traced back to these early Baptists. Many of these folks fled to the New World and America for religious freedom. Many of the pilgrims were Separatist and Baptist in theology.

The first Baptist church in America is thought to be the church at Providence founded by Roger Williams in 1639. This church was founded on Particular Baptist doctrine, but in mid-1650 fell away to a more General Baptist position. Even though there was growth for Baptists in the 1600’s in America, it was during the 1700’s that the Baptist churches in America began to gain a widespread voice. In 1700, there were only 24 Baptist churches with 839 members, but in 1790 there were 979 churches with 67,490 members. The Baptist John Leland was influential in having the First Amendment placed within the Constitution that guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition. It forbids Congress from both promoting one religion over others and also restricting an individual’s religious practices.
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This article is copyrighted © 2018 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Rebellion: A path to ruin! – Micah 1:1-9; 2:1-4a

Rebellion: A path to ruin! – Micah 1:1-9; 2:1-4a
By Pastor Lee Hemen
June 16, 2013 AM

Susan was a beautiful, intelligent young woman with a bright future ahead of her. She started spending time with an on-the-edge group from work. Her father tried to warn her of her choices, but she refused to listen, thinking she knew what was best for her life. At a party she should never have attended, Susan made a tragic decision. A young man she wanted to impress gave her a taste of a dangerous drug known as Meth. Her immediate addiction took a devastating toll on every facet of her life. One year later the once beautiful girl was not heading up the corporate ladder but off to prison. Her teeth were rotting, her complexion was ruined, her hair was thin, and she was near starvation. She would have given anything to go back and make different decisions for her life.

Few adults like to be told what to do. Many prefer to reject authority, especially any that limits their freedom. They want to choose what to do and when they will do it. Many among us go even further. They delight in rebelling against God and His law. Each new generation must learn an important lesson the hard way: We cannot find fulfillment by rejecting God’s authority over our lives. God gives us His laws to protect and guide us. He wants us to have an abundant life filled with the joy of knowing Him and serving others. When we rebel against those laws, we suffer the consequences He wants to shield us from in our lives. When we decide to do our own thing, it is rebellion: a path to ruin! Let’s discover how rebellion is a path to ruin…

READ: Micah 1:1-9; 2:1-4a

We learned that if our father asked us to do something, he expected us to respond right away. To ignore his request or to refuse was an act of disobedience. There would be consequences for doing so. The nations of Israel and Judah forgot the Lord and refused to submit to His will. They rejected His laws and pursued sinful worldly pleasures. Like many today, they thought they could rebel against the Lord without paying a price. God sent Micah to warn people that their rebellion would have inevitable consequences and to call them to repent before it was too late. We read about…

I. God’s response to rebellion! (Vv. 1:1-5)

1. The name Micah means, “Who is like Yahweh?” He was a contemporary of Isaiah and prophesied around 735-700 B.C. not much is known about this prophet’s personal life. His hometown of Moresheth-gath (1:14), was 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem. Micah’s prophecy is the word of the Lord. He was not speaking his thoughts but revealing God’s message. Samaria and Jerusalem were the respective capitals of Israel and Judah in Micah’s day. The division of territories and dual thrones occurred following the death of Solomon. Micah spoke about Israel; but like Isaiah, he primarily focused on the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The Bible offers timeless messages for every generation. God is the same and sinful human beings are the same. Advancement has been made in information and technology but no improvement in basic human nature. People still reject the authority of a holy God and rebel against His will and laws. Micah painted a scene depicting the Lord God as a Judge with all the peoples of the earth as jury. The case was being made against Israel and Judah for their failure to obey the Lord. He would act as a witness against the rebellious kingdoms. The Lord declared He would leave His place (the holy of holies or heaven) and come down to trample the heights of the earth. God’s arrival would mean judgment and destruction for the disobedient. The coming of the Lord in anger warned sinners to repent. Sending Micah to warn the people of impending judgment was an act of mercy, giving sinners one more opportunity to repent before it was too late. Mountains and valleys represent the highest and lowest points on earth. Taken together they represent everything in the land. The Lord, however, can melt the mountains and split the valleys. These verbal images display the foolishness of opposing the Lord. “All this is because of Jacob’s transgression, because of the sins of the house of Israel.” It is God’s response to rebellion!

EXAMPLE: The listeners would ask, “What is Jacob’s transgression?” Micah responded, “Is it not Samaria? What is Judah’s high place? Is it not Jerusalem?” The high place was an elevated area where the people worshiped the Lord (2 Chronicles 33:17). In times of apostasy, however, these became sites of idolatry and the worship of false gods and goddesses (1 Kings 11:7). Jerusalem should have been a place where the Lord was worshiped, but had become another high place where idols were served. The leaders of both Samaria and Judah had set ungodly examples of idolatry and disobedience to the law. Do you think this could be true of America today? What are some of the high places our leaders have established? What do some believers worship today? We can be sure that the same God who punished sinful nations in the past will punish sinful nations in the present and future. Any nation that refuses to honor the Lord and His laws will eventually suffer the consequences just as Israel and Judah did. However, it is also true of disobedient believers as well! Those who rebel against the Lord will experience God’s discipline. It can be severe, depending on the depth of the rebellion; but it is always a redemptive act of a loving Father.

The message of Micah for Israel and Judah in the eighth century B.C. is relevant for those of us living in America in the 21st century. The Lord wants us to learn from the mistakes of the past so we will not repeat them and suffer similar consequences. Rebellion is a path to ruin for nations and individuals. Let’s see what Micah tells us about the…

II. Results of rebellion against God! (Vv. 1:6-9)

1. Micah predicted the destruction of Samaria, capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Israel never had a godly king and never experienced a spiritual revival. Israel fell in 722 B.C. when Assyria invaded and left Samaria in a heap of ruins (2 Kings 17:1-5). Micah predicted, “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations.” Idolatry was the chief sin of Israel. God would cause Assyria to do what Israel should have done—smash her carved images and destroy all of her idols. The reference to prostitute has a double meaning. It probably refers to the cultic prostitutes who served at the pagan shrines. Symbolically Israel was a prostitute when its people abandoned God (their true Husband) and went after other gods. Therefore, “All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.” However, the wages of their prostitution would be used by the invading Assyrians, because the money taken by Assyria in its victory would be used to deport and enslave the Israelites! Micah’s response was to “weep and wail” and to “go about barefoot and naked.” He would “howl like a jackal and moan like an owl” in his grief! Her “wound is incurable” refers to the certain judgment of God on Israel. The sin and resulting judgment was certain because Israel would not repent. Israel’s sinful influence affected Judah as well. Judah’s idolatry would bring the nation to the brink of destruction, also by Assyria. The Assyrian armies would march to the gate of Jerusalem and only the repentance and the godly leadership of Hezekiah saved Judah from Assyria (2 Kings 18–19)! It was the result of rebellion against God!

EXAMPLE: The worship of idols in some parts of the world today includes the use of images. However, idolatry in most developed countries like ours is more subtle. We may not carve images to our gods, but whatever is supremely important to a person is an idol. My father used to warn, “Be careful what you wish for, it just might come true!” Relationships, money, fame, education, power, and pleasure continue to be wished for or worshiped by many. These things are not evil or bad in of themselves; however, Christians living in the world are sometimes influenced more by these things rather than their faith in Christ. We must realize God still disciplines His people and the discipline can be severe. We must recognize the power of bad company and maintain obedience with a proper fear or respect for the holiness of God. Otherwise, we too can face the results of our rebellion against God!

The Lord identified idolatry as the primary sin of the nation. The many idols demonstrated a rejection of God’s commandments, and He promised they would be destroyed. In Micah 1:8–2:13, the prophet took on the role of a mourner in anticipation of devastating judgment on the people of Israel and Judah. He called on the sinful inhabitants of various cities to join him in mourning for their sins. Otherwise, they would…

III. Suffer the ruin of rebellion! (Vv. 2:1-4a)

1. Have you ever suffered from another’s evil schemes or plans? Micah described people with hearts and minds focused on evil plans. These people were deliberate in their desire to do harm to others. Micah laments, “Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.” Wow! These folks plotted evil before they slept, and then the first thing they did in the morning was carry it out! These wicked plotters used surprise to overpower their victims. Micah focused on the mind, where all sin originates. The mind conceives and gives birth to sin! James, Jesus’ brother wrote that, “but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death!” (James 1:14-15 NIV) Micah identified greed as the source of many sinful acts in his day. Hasn’t changed much has it? The wicked coveted the fields, houses, and inheritance of others. Some folks loaned others money and then demanded payment when they knew the borrower would have to default. The account of King Ahab lying about Naboth to steal his vineyard (1 Kings 21) is an example of how widespread these abuses became. Micah related, “Therefore, the LORD says: ‘I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.’” God’s judgment would be inescapable and would involve bondage. The neck was the place where yokes were placed, implying restraint. God tells Micah to prophesy that, “In that day men will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: ‘We are utterly ruined; my people’s possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors.’” Pride is the root of arrogant disregard for the rights of others and of rebellious rejection of God’s authority. Those who we once thought of as our friends will deride us in our suffering! God promised an evil time when His people would no longer walk so proudly. Perhaps, America is suffering or will suffer from believer’s being so arrogant and prideful? We can suffer from the ruin of our rebellion!

EXAMPLE: One of the worst punishments I ever received from my father was when he caught me planning to get even with my brother Ed. He told me while it was not right what Ed did, my scheming to get even was worse because I was plotting evil against my own brother. Crime is the work of professional criminals and amateurs who plot evil against innocent victims. Each day robberies, rapes, murders, and destructive acts are testimonies to the plans of the wicked. Some criminals are violent while others use technology to steal identities and defraud businesses and individuals. Terrorists motivated by hatred are constantly looking for ways to destroy their enemies. Greed continues to motivate many today. Unscrupulous schemers spread their lies hoping to deceive and cheat naïve victims. Some major corporations defraud investors with deceptive accounting. It is worse when believers plot against each other or family members steal form one another. The sins of Micah’s day continue to appeal to the covetous hearts of sinful human beings today. However, make no mistake; we will suffer from the ruin of our rebellion!

Conclusion:
Those who fail to heed the warnings of God’s Word discover that opposing Him always leads to physical, emotional, and spiritual ruin. We can proudly oppose the Lord and be humbled or we can submit humbly to Him. We looked at God’s response to rebellion; the results of rebellion against God; and how we can suffer the ruin of rebellion.
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 27 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2013 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Do You Agree With Robert Knight, that Obama has A Low View of Christianity?

Obama Nation’s Low View of Christianity

by Robert Knight

President Obama’s comment to French television on June 1 that the United States is “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world,” plus his Islam-praising speech in Cairo, Egypt on June 4, raise anew questions about his own faith and how he views America.

Questions can also be asked about his math. The CIA Factbook estimates America’s Muslim population at 0.6 percent, or about 1.8 million, which puts it in 58^th place among nations’ total Muslim populations. Even if you take the Islamic Information Center’s high estimate of 8 million, that still puts the U.S. at 29^th out of 60 nations.

In Cairo, Obama quoted from the Koran, used his middle name of Hussein, and indicated that the United States and Muslim nations have the same commitment to tolerance and freedom. To fathom the absurdity, think about the possibility of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution springing from the pens of Islamic scholars Thomas al-Jefferson and James al-Madison.

Over the past three years, Obama has made it his business to insist that “we are no longer a Christian nation.”  He has said it in many places, here and abroad. In 2006, in Washington, D.C., he said, “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation. At least, not just.” He posted the same sentiment on his campaign website.

At the Compassion Forum at Messiah College in Pennsylvania on April 13, 2008, he said, “We are not just a Christian nation. We are a Jewish nation; we are a Buddhist nation; we are a Muslim nation; Hindu nation; and we are a nation of atheists and nonbelievers.”

In Turkey, at a press conference on April 10, he said:  “Although we have a large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values. I think modern Turkey was founded with a similar set of values.”

During the presidential campaign, the media pounced on anyone who inquired into Obama’s Muslim upbringing in Indonesia, his two Muslim fathers or his later 20-year attendance at radical pastor Jeremiah Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Now, his Muslim roots are touted as an asset.

No one can say for sure what Obama actually believes, since only God can know the human heart. So we are left examining his words and actions. 

The media-enforced line for the past three years has been that he is a self-described mainstream Christian, end of story. Even when Obama badly distorted Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount into a clarion call to accept homosexuality, the press yawned. They yawned (or cheered) when he mocked the Bible’s relevance for politics in that 2006 Washington, D.C. speech:

“Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is okay? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith, or should we just stick with the Sermon on the Mount, a passage which is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application. Folks haven’t been reading the Bible.”

More cheers came when he spoke the language of unity while taking a shot at his political opponents during a speech at the United Church of Christ convention in 2007:

“Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked. Part of it’s because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who’ve been all too eager to exploit what divides us.

“We can recognize the truth that’s at the heart of the UCC: that the conversation is not over [God needs an editor]; that our roles are not defined [men in dresses, unite]; that through ancient texts and modern voices, God is still speaking [yes, we’re ripping out pages of the Bible daily to suit our appetites], challenging us to change not just our own lives, but the world around us …hate has no place in the hearts of believers.”

Is it not hateful to suggest that people who disagree with you are full of “hate?” Is it unifying to accuse opponents of inventing fights that they didn’t start? 

More odd things have been happening since Obama’s election that should give pause to even the most cynical observers.

On the Saturday before Obama’s swearing-in, V. Gene Robinson, the openly homosexual Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, gave an invocation at a pre-inaugural event at the Lincoln Memorial. The New York Times interviewed him beforehand:

“Bishop Robinson said he had been rereading inaugural prayers through history and was ‘horrified’ at how ‘specifically and aggressively Christian they were.’ Bishop Robinson said, ‘I am very clear that this will not be a Christian prayer, and I won’t be quoting Scripture or anything like that. The texts that I hold as sacred are not sacred texts for all Americans, and I want all people to feel that this is their prayer.’”

As one of his first judicial appointments, Obama named Indiana federal judge David Hamilton to the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Hamilton, who had ruled that a pastor could not invoke the name of Jesus in an opening prayer for the Indiana legislature, said that, on the other hand, invoking Allah at a public event is fine.

In April, it was reported that Obama appointed Harry Knox, a Catholic-bashing homosexual activist, to the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Knox, who directs the religion program at the largest gay pressure group, the Human Rights Campaign, described Pope Benedict and other Catholic clergy as “discredited leaders” because of their stand for traditional marriage, and called the Knights of Columbus “foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression” because of their  support of California’s Proposition 8 marriage amendment.

On April 14, 2009, the Obama team had Georgetown University cover up the Greek letters IHS, which stand for Jesus, so they would not show up when he spoke in front of them.

On May 7, Obama declined to hold any White House event to mark the National Day of Prayer, a decision hailed by Barry Lynn’s hard left Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

In his eloquent commencement speech at Notre Dame on May 17, Obama sounded a conciliatory note, lamented, sort of, the abortions that he wants taxpayers to fund, and gave more clues that Christianity will move over and shrink before a universalist moral relativism:

“The size and scope of the challenges before us require that we remake [not “reform” or “restore,” but “remake”] our world to renew its promise; that we align our deepest values and commitments to the demands of a new age.

“Your generation must decide how to save God’s creation from a changing climate that threatens to destroy it…..  And we must find a way to reconcile our ever-shrinking world with its ever-growing diversity — diversity of thought, diversity of culture, and diversity of belief.”

If diversity in and of itself is god, where does that leave Jesus Christ – the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, the Alpha and the Omega, the Way, the Truth and the Life, through Whom all things were created?

Well, the Obama Nation might just ask Him to change his name to  … Allah.

Today’s Thoughts, 1 Peter 1:18-23

by Pastor Lee Hemen
April 16, 2008

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:18-23)

America is a wonderful nation. There is nowhere else on the face of the earth whereby you can work hard, believe what you want, say what you want, freely vote for your representative government, and succeed. There truly is not a day that does not go by that I do not sit and thank the Lord for allowing me to be born in the greatest nation on the face of the earth – The United States of America.

Sadly, there are those who think that by simply being born here you are loved by God and therefore have a right to heaven. This is simply not true. The truth and hope of the gospel message is that anyone who is drawn by God, recognizes that fact, and comes to Christ will be saved. No national boundary or political proclivity holds any sway as far as the Lord is concerned. Only your faith and trust in His Son, Jesus.

There are also those who think that by their positions of power or authority, their wealth or intelligence that God smiles on them and they hold a special place in the heart of God. This too is spiritual blind arrogance. No amount of wealth, position of power, or great intellect holds a place for you in heaven. For if these things truly mattered to God, then Jesus did not have to come to earth.

In is “not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed from your empty way of life.” In fact no special inheritance of saying you are part of God’s chosen people holds any specialty for the Lord either, for the “life handed down to you from your forefathers” is nothing to God. Only the “precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect,” that was “chosen before the creation of the world” to be your sacrifice matters to God. It is “Through  him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him” so that “your faith and hope are in God” alone and nothing else!

If you have come to a place in your life where you have openly confessed Jesus Christ as Lord, and you have believed in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. If you have, then “you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God!”

Being a good person, being a well off person, being an American, being an intellectual, being simple-minded, or just being nice does not and will not ever save anyone. You could spend your entire life saving the planet, chanting your mantra, trying to do the right thing and miss the most wonderful free gift of all that cannot be bought or earned.

But if you have received Christ and you know his still quiet voice as he abides in you through the Holy Spirit, then you can rest assured today that no matter where you live, what your ethnicity, status, what you earn, or how intellectual you are – you are free. You are his. You were bought with a price and you are one of his children forever. Isn’t it wonderful?!
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NOTE: This article is copyrighted by Pastor Lee Hemen © 2008 and the property of Pastor Lee Hemen. You are welcome to copy it, email it, or use it but please if you copy it, email it, or use it you must do so in its entirety.