Let's Close the Floodgates!

Let’s Close the Flood Gates!

On Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, PA, a moment occurred that has seared our memory!  It was only by the grace of God and a few millimeters that a life was spared!

And this moment brought back another memory-searing moment. It was on November 22, 1963. But this time a sniper’s bullet did not miss by millimeters.  It found it’s mark, taking the life of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States! 

But for a few millimeters on Saturday meant that the shattering news that rocked the rest of out day would not have been reporting an attempted assassination.

How quick was it for former President Donald Trump to recognize and declare that “…it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening”?  Are we as quick to recognize the same, and to give thanks to God for His sovereign act of mercy?

But let’s take a moment to see how we got to this state of affairs that a young man, hardly more than a youth, was so filled with hate that he was willing to give his own life to achieve the death of someone he hated.

I’ve mentioned before that I have had the privilege to vote in each Presidential election since 1960.  Sometimes the candidate I voted for won and sometimes they didn’t.  But such is our democratic way.  In each of these election periods, there was one essential truth that operated then but now doesn’t. Opposing candidates, opposing political parties and opposing political ideologies were willing to discuss their differences, debate their goals, discuss why they felt that their platform would best serve our country.  They were quite willing to have the outcome settled by the vote of the people.

Not so in this election year.  We have a starkly divided country, having been so divided by “influencers” that can’t be seen or recognized or, perhaps, aren’t even believed to exist!  I’m talking about spiritual forces, dark forces, sworn enemies of God and all that He loves, represents and desires. 

The Bible describes Satan as “the father of lies”. And even though Jesus, through His death on the cross, His resurrection and ascension totally defeated Satan, stripping him of his powers, he was left with one power – the power to deceive! This power he continues to wield most effectively to this day. With this unholy power, he brings tragedy after tragedy. 

Over the past several decades, America has turned it’s back on God, choosing not only to ignore God but also to become His enemy!  Compare the national attitude today with our national attitude we shared up to a few decades ago. What was the position taken then by our culture on such things as abortion, same sex marriage, confusion about God-created gender?  How does that compare with our attitudes and positions so heatedly held today?  

Are we not aware that this same spiritual apostacy is what angered God to the point of bringing His judgement upon Israel?  It is this apostacy that has so effectively not only opened the doors but  also the floodgates!  And with the floodgates standing wide open, what has come flooding in?  Satan and his darkness!  Satan and all his evil, deceiving, destructive “influencers”!   And it is these “influencers” who are deceiving, persuading and inciting the vulnerable who have no knowledge or fear of God. There is no longer the desire to engage in reasonable discussion.  Instead, reason has been replaced with hatred, hatred so dark that it inspired that 20 year old to do what he attempted to do on July 13th.

How long are we, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, willing to sit on the sidelines?  How long will we continue to believe that Christians shouldn’t be “political”?  How long will we continue to believe that we should not step outside our churches to engage.   Our mission is not only to “preach the Gospel” but also to live our lives in full view, living the faith we profess to have!  Let’s take the authority that Jesus gave to His disciples and actually live out our faith?   Let’s close the floodgates!