Let me be honest and transparent with you, dear reader. I hope you would expect nothing less from me.
This morning I posted a picture that, I admitted, was crass. It made light of the perversities of the homosexual lifestyle. A couple of people were kind enough to register their surprise over my post. Because of this, I took the post down. In retrospect, I crossed over the line, and I apologize for offending anyone.
This blog is primarily a Bible study blog, but from time to time I deal with social issues, which are of moral or spiritual concern. The biblical prophets of old did this. John the Baptist lost his head for doing the same.
Now let me say this. I am well beyond frustrated and to the point of righteous anger over those in our society who are aggressively pushing their perverse, anti-biblical and Antichrist agendas upon us. I either want to leave and flee to an island in the South Pacific, or, if I have no option but to stay, I feel compelled to oppose the evil vigorously!
As I mentioned earlier, the purveyors of perversity are using Gestapo-like tactics to marginalize, vilify, destroy, bully, put out of business, defame, imprison and sometimes kill their opponants — namely Bible followers. This is getting to be more than I can take!!!
Let’s be honest. I believe in spiritual warfare and prayer. I do it all the time. But there comes a time when we must exit our prayer closets and take a stand in the streets. The Bible and Christian history is full of people who did this. Every read Foxes Book of Martyrs? You wouldn’t have the Bible in English if people hadn’t done this very thing!
Frankly, I’m not seeing spiritual warfare and prayer winning a lot of victories against the tide of evil presently overtaking the world. It’s not stopping the spread of Islam, Christian persecution worldwide, the spiritual decline of the church and the West, and the spread of sexual perversion, and the destruction of the family and marriage is it? True, if it weren’t for our prayers, things would probably be worse, but that’s not a lot of consolation for those in the middle of the war zone who are losing everything including their lives, families, livlihoods and everything else!
What are we as Bible believers to do? Sit there and take it? Ever read Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Francis Schaeffer? There came a point when they thought that just wringing one’s hands over the spread of evil wasn’t enough. Bonhoeffer lost his life in a concentration camp for being a party to the plot to kill Hitler. Martin Luther King lost is life fighting racism.
So where are the Davids, Daniels, Isaiahs, Jeremiahs, John the Baptists and, yes, Yeshuas of our generation who will take a stand against the modern evil doers as per Psalm 94:16? Does anyone else feel as I do, or am I alone on this? Three such American Christian leaders in our day who have been taking strong spiritual stands come to my mind. They are Billy and Franklin Graham and James Dobson. I salute them!
As far as crassness goes, let’s talk about this briefly. Several of the biblical prophets, at times, were pretty graphic in describing the perverse sins of the evil doers of their generation including spiritual sexual promiscuity. In addition to this, the Bible chronicles some pretty graphic perverse sexual acts. Because it’s Bible, we seem to take it for granted and it therefore loses its shock value. Let’s take of our rose-colored religious glasses for a minute!
Shock is sometimes necessary to wake the spiritually asleep. Yeshua used shock when he turned over the moneychangers tables. In modern terms, that might be like going into a bank and vandalizing it. Isaiah ran through the streets naked urging the backslid Israelites to repent. It that crass and indecent?
Not only that, Yeshua went into churches of his day and began to preach against the leaders of the church. He almost got himself killed for doing this a few times.
I could give many other examples, but you get the point.
It seems that those who take the lid off the garbage can of society and begin to expose the putrid filth inside are the scourge and sometimes the martyrs of their generation, but the heroes of the next generation. Yeshua accused those of his day of this very crime. The fathers killed the prophets of YHVH, while the sons built memorials to those same prophets.
Yes, there’s a proper, Spirit-led way go about addressing the sins of one’s generation, even in a confrontational and a controversial kind of way. But history tells us that only a small minority will ever do this, and that most of the rest will criticize them (sadly) when they do.
This is my hope: May YHVH give us the boldness to stand righteously for him. May YHVH give a few the boldness and know-how to stand up to the Goliaths of our day in the public square. And when he raises up Davids to do that, may we not be those who criticize them for it.
I solicit your thoughts and comments on any of these issues I’ve raised in this post.
Amen! May our stand against the perversion of this age always be rooted in the TRUE radical Truth of our Messiah and His Kingdom. It is the only Truth that can and will dismantle the lies of darkness and truly set them free. Blessings in Yeshua, Nadia
We can never under estimate the power of speaking YHVH’s biblical truth into a situation. When we turn a light on in a dark room, the darkness instantly flees.
YHVH, help us to be bold and to not be ashamed to turn that light on as you direct us when and how to do it. Amein.
If only more people would admit to feeling the same as you, but only a remnant will stay true.
Hopefully as more spiritual leaders who have large platforms and national or international audiences will do just this, it will empower more people to act boldly for YHVH.
I recall the disciples prayer for boldness in Acts 4 to stand against the civil authorities of their day in proclaiming the gospel. YHVH answered their prayer with an outpouring of his Ruach haKodesh. If we have the same heart willingness to proclaim the gospel as they did, and ask for his help as they did, maybe he’ll pour out his Spirit of boldness on us as well.
It seems to just keep getting worse. The good news is that Father will only keep putting up with it for so long. I DO pray over the issues of our time and try to speak gently………I am not very radical……….. thinking that if I was to be that I would turn people completely off before they had a chance to even consider what I say,but perhaps………it is time to speak more boldly and loudly. I wonder if it would make any difference? I think perhaps we may be close to that time when the divisions are being made and that some people are just never going to see anything any different. Thought provoking piece Natan.
Sometimes we have to speak the truth boldly and in love into people’s lives whether they receive it or not. The truth may not turn their hearts to YHVH at that moment, but the seed was planted, down the road, after they go through a few more trials, the ground of their lives for the seed to germinate in may be ready for the truth to take hold.
Also, there comes a time that when people are so hardened against YHVH’s truth that they’ll never receive it. At this time, we may still have to speak that truth simply as a witness against them even if they won’t receive it. The prophets did this as a precursor to YHVH’s judgments against his people for sin. That way, the people can never say YHVH didn’t warn them.
Does God want the leaders to speak out and the congregation to support them? Would that be the Biblical example?
We need to speak truth. Thank you for sharing your heart. My Stomach turns as i continue to hear what perversion continues to pour out, but we as people of Elohim must take a stand. Blessings and shabbat shalom!
Dear Brother, while my soul too is “vexed” as was “Righteous Lot” in Sodom and Gomorrah, at having immorality and especially abominable types crammed down our throats on a daily basis, some scriptures come to mind. As you know we do pray over all the issues at hand regularly and are seeing the mighty hand of our Father working and we take every opportunity to also preach as Abba opens the doors in our everyday lives. The way I read of the prophets of old, they did not go out to preach against the sins of the land in their day because they were fed up with what they saw around them, they were sent by the Word of Elohim usually against their desires and in fear and trembling, to speak The Word of Elohim when he was ready to speak it, specifically.
James 1 especially 19-20 may be something to consider which talks about man’s anger not accomplishing the righteousness of Elohim, also in regard to Prayer in these matters, consider 2 Cor. 10 which includes the reference about the weapons of our warfare not being of the flesh but DIVINELY powerful to the destruction of fortresses. But the first thing I thought of really kicks against my flesh, and that is Rom. 1 which tells us the consequences of unbelief especially in these last days we are living in, and homosexuality is among them will release wickedness and we are not really told to wage a war on it. In the book of Jude we’re also told that lawless people will move among us and we’re only told to be aware of it. I’m not saying that the bible says we should sit on our thumbs or keep our lips sealed but in all things and especially in these evil days and with souls hanging in the balance, we must walk in the SPIRIT at all times and the true fear of Yah which is where we will gain our wisdom as to if and when we are to speak IN ADDITION to praying without ceasing.
Love and blessings, Tammy Schumacher
Good word. Thank you, Tammy!
Natan, I want you to know you are not alone my brother. I stand with you on exposing these perversions that seem to be taken over the world. I don’t believe we are to just stay silent and wait until all HELL breaks loose either. Thanks for sharing Shalom