The Divided States of America?

-

 


Scripture: Mark 3:24-27 (NIV)

 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.

Devotion:

          Our precious nation may be on the verge of fracturing. A new poll from the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics shows we are a nation badly divided along partisan lines. For example:

  • ·         Over 80% of Trump and Biden voters say that elected officials of the other party present a clear and present danger to American democracy.
  • ·         More than 70% of voters on both sides of the aisle believe that extreme media voices of the other party should be censored.
  • ·         Over 75% of voters believe that the other party threatens the American way of life,

          I could go on, but you get the point. Americans do not trust those with whom they disagree politically. As the selection from the Gospel of Mark cited above clearly states our situation is a recipe for disaster. Jesus, is in fact, recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke saying very similar words. Those gospel writers apparently were prompted by the Holy Spirit to record these words because they were and are much needed in this world.

          I believe that the Christian Churches of all varieties in America are no better off than society in general with regard to division between members. The church has followed the culture into ways of division instead of leading culture in the way of unity. This is not just a modern church problem. The pages of the Bible are filled with examples of first, the nation Israel, in the Old Testament, and then the church in the New Testament caving in and following the culture instead of following the Lord.

          The only thing that saved the folks in the Bible was repentance and recommitment to following the Lord. We in our day need to do the same thing. We need to pray that God would raise up Godly and bold leaders in the church and the world to lead us in repentance and restoration. We need to stop listening to only those news outlets that confirm what we already believe and instead listen to a broad variety of perspectives. We all know the media has biases we should stop feeding the news media monster of both the left and the right and learn to truly think for ourselves.

          We should no longer follow leaders who sow fear and division among the people. We must each make a personal commitment to love our neighbor regardless of their political or religious background. We must learn again to treat those with whom we disagree with respect and trust. The church must take the lead in healing our fractured society. For far to long we have gone along to get along with our culture. We must stand up to the world in the name of Jesus and declare that we are one in the Lord. We must truly be the family of faith we are called to be by Jesus. Let us pray that it may be so.

          Holy God hear us as we pray. We come before you a broken and divided church. O Lord heal our wounds. Nurse your church back to health. May we become a light in the darkness of this world. Help us show the way that leads to the path of peace and reconciliation. Lord, raise up leaders that truly follow you and seek to heal the divisions among us.  We ask these things in the name of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcoming the Unwelcome

-
  Scripture: Luke 7:36-38 (NIV) 36  When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37  A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38  As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. Devotion:             First of all, some warnings to my readers. This post will exceed the 500 words I try to limit my posts. Second, this post will contain content people may find offensive or otherwise unfit for print. Please understand that my purpose is neither to offend nor upset but to provoke thought and, hopefully, respectful dialog.             We will use Luke chapter seven as an aid to interpreting the events that occurred last Thursday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. On that da
Read more

Father Forgive Them

-
  Scripture: Luke 23:33-34 (ESV) 33  And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34  And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Devotion:             The situation Jesus finds himself in here in today’s scripture is difficult for us to even imagine. A sham trial, no credible accusations of any kind, let alone any deserving of death, and yet here he is. A brilliant Rabbi, a teacher of the people who never led even one person astray from God’s will. This Holy One of God soon to be food for vultures.             This man who had done nothing wrong had no one in all the crowds who would speak up in his defense lest they be next to face the cross. An innocent man hung between two scoundrels. No voice from heaven declaring that this was the man that they were killing was actually the true Son of God. (See Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5, John 12:28) No the heaven
Read more

Transgenderism letter

-
  This is a copy of my letter to my senators, representative, and President Biden. January 15, 2024 Dear President Biden, Senators T. Duckworth, R. Durbin, and Representative D. LaHood             I am writing to you because I am concerned about the situation affecting our children and grandchildren, namely transitioning them from one gender to another. This nation must adjust course concerning these “interventions” because they are dangerous, irreversible, and life-changing. Our country should not be permitting these procedures on minor children under any circumstances. We must also make sure that adults who seek this care are given informed consent as to the risks versus benefits of sex reassignment treatments.             There are many drawbacks to gender-affirming care for minors. Besides the loss of any ability to give or receive sexual pleasure and sterility these treatments cause, there are social and psychological effects that we have no way of identifying because these
Read more