(This post originally ran in 2012)

A couple of years ago, I was involved in a ministry of intercessory prayer.  As the leader of the group for ten months or so, I found myself privy to much more information about my fellow-church-members than I ever want to be privy to ever again.  There were many things that the Lord taught me during that period, but one of the things that transformed from “head-knowledge” to “heart-knowledge” during that period was the powerful fact that “The truth shall set you free”.

Because I dealt with very sensitive issues, and was in a position of teaching as well, there were sometimes things that had to be confronted, and as is usually the case with confrontation, this required tact, delicacy, not to mention courage.  Satan suddenly got really interested in my life during that period.  Go figure, since it was all about intercessory prayer, with fasting.  He hounded me constantly with potential traps and snares and pitfalls, and I was acutely aware and hyper-vigilant against miss-speaking, inadvertently divulging more than I should in sharing prayer needs, and keeping a moratorium on gossip by a zero-tolerance policy with the rest of the group.  There were several instances of interaction with the church leaders in which I had to take a stand or convey something that might not be received well, and I really fretted about it to the point of serious anxiety, until the Lord sort  of(figuratively) tapped me on the shoulder and said “Is this thing you need to convey true? (Yes) “Then just say it! You can’t go wrong as long as you stick with the truth, and the Word”.  From there on out, all my qualms and second-guessing and agonizing over how to say things, whether to say it or “leave well enough alone”, etc., just vanished.  I spoke the truth boldly, letting the chips fall where they may, on issues where the position of God in Scripture was clear!

In the end, God did some amazing and really big things through that intercessory ministry.  He weeded out some issues in that particular body, helped a family through a very difficult time, and definitely it was a period of real spiritual growth in my life and the lives of others.

As I was watching the video “Hacking Democracy” which I posted earlier today, there was a surprising catharsis that took place for me. Though I am far from niave about the dirty deeds of government, it is not as easy to face just how ignorant and niave I once was, and that I fell for a lot of “stuff” myself for a while, when it came to the candidates.  I can certainly recall the 2000 elections and the long suspense while everyone waited on recounts and heard the words “hanging chad” way more times than we ever cared to.  I remember the “righteous fervor” of the conservative Christians during that election.  I remember all the e-mails circulating that talked about George W. Bush’s faith, how he stopped at the table of a young man during a dinner, and led the boy to Christ right there and then, and all the “There’s a New Sheriff in  Town” mentality, which I enthusiastically and very hopefully embraced.   I remember thinking as we waited for the re-counts and court decisions, that “those crooked Democrats will do anything to win the election even if it means cheating”.  Well, as we all know, Bush “won” and many of us cheered our good fortune that such a “man of action” was in office, especcially when the “terrorists attacked the twin towers on 9-11”.  Yeah, our boys in uniform were going to go over there and kick some Taliban Butt!

At this juncture, I now truly believe that a majority of Americans are not so far apart as we think we are, on what we hold dear.  The monstrous “spin machine” which is “politics and the mainstream media and Hollywood” however, has convinced us otherwise and pitted us against one another, resulting in a nation that is more polarized and divided than just about any time in it’s history other than the Civil War.

I hate to admit this, but even though I have followed politics closely for a good 20 years now, I didn’t begin to really see the light on the corruption in the U.S. government until well into Bush’s second term.  When Obama was elected, many of his votes coming from Christians who claimed to be pro-life and pro-family, even though Obama is not, I was gob-smacked!  Their reasoning; “Oh, this is historical, of course I want to vote for the first black president!”

Let me tell you, there was no one more pleased with the fact that America seemed to have finally moved past our racial differences.  I noticed in my sons’ generation, there seemed to be almost no note whatsoever, taken of skin color.  Lots of mixed-ethnicity couples, just a wonderful lack of prejudice.  And my how that changed when Obama took office!  It saddened me.  And of course the things Obama has done these 4 years saddened me as well.  During these four years, I have gotten wise to the fact that the whole Democrat vs. Republican-Conservative vs. Liberal dynamic is in large part a ploy designed to divide the populace.

I went to the Tea Party March on Washington, and the Prayer Rally, and I saw the numbers who showed up.  At the Tea Party rally I saw the courtesy with which they conducted themselves, even on the interstate coming into town that day, the courtesy on the Metro trains, the jovial and friendly chit-chat between strangers from all over the nation, and the respect for property, cleaning up after themselves, and each other.  By the time we started nearing the beginning of the campaign season again, I also saw that the Tea Party hadn’t taken long to be contaminated and hi-jacked by the same divisive and D.C. game-playing mentality and was soon just an arm of the Republican Party.  That wasn’t what I saw in D.C. In D.C. it was black, white, hispanic, Republican, and Democrat.   It took a mere 2 years for that to disintegrate.

The “Occupy Movement” was similar.  Idealistic young people marching for hope and a future, hijacked by the Marxist-Lenonist former hippies-turned-college- professors.  Many of them still unaware of how they have been used, and the fraud that has been perpetrated on them via their indoctrination.

What I saw at the prayer rally disheartened me even more!  We went to that rally, and took our kids, because what we expected to see were real God-fearing, Bible-believing patriots, on their knees and in tears before the Lord, pleading en-masse for our nation.  Instead I saw Herman Cain mingling and pressing the flesh with people, a non-stop line up of “praise band” music, people milling around in front of the stage with hands raised and eyes closed, “blissing out” like groupies at a Justin Bieber concert, families having picnics, and a few scriptures being read, but curiously, other than a few pre-written “prayers” read from note cards, I didn’t see anything that looked like prayer going on.  No tearful pleading before the Lord.  More of a party atmosphere, really, a “look at us, what we are doing for the cause of God and contry!”  That was when I really knew that this nation was in BIG trouble!  If this huge and clueless crowd represented “the church” the church had clearly forgotten how to pray!

A couple of years prior to that, our family took a guided tour of D.C. with a prominent Christian pro-family group.  We so wanted to give our kids the Christian history of the founding of America.  A leading Christian author was our guide on the tour.  Only a few years later, we find that this author has been less than truthful in his representations of the founding of the nation, in his writings, and what’s more, a couple of years later we also had a “run in” with the leader of this very large “pro-family” organization which we formerly had supported monetarily for years.  It was a real eye-opener.  We watched this Christian institution take on such ecumenical and compromising alliances that we already were beginning to have reservations, but when a conflict arose between them and another ministry, that was the final straw.  The president of this pro-family outfit blatantly pretty much blackmailed a minister who had been working with both ministries, that if he did not renounce all ties with the other ministry, that he was going to drop him from the broadcasting line-up, thereby taking away access to a massive  audience, and thus the minister was forced to choose, and renounced the other ministry.  It was a blatant abuse of power, and we called the president of the pro-family organization on it, in a hand-written letter.  We were surprised by the arrogance and the self-justification in the reply from the president, and were saddened that we could no longer support that ministry in good conscience.

Lines in the sand are being drawn right now.  There is a division between the mega-church, and the tiny independent churches that are remaining true to the old paths.  There are a few lone-voices in government who keep standing on Biblical morals and values though they are in the midst of a cesspool of corruption and immorality.  God has His soldiers in all those arenas.  His remnant, who continue, “having done all, to stand”.   But we are facing increasing harassent, and even persecution.  I believe we will eventually face life and death choices here in America.

Many Christians are anxious, worried about the coming tribulation, believing that they will as Christians remain here to endure it.  If you believe that, then there is something missing of your understanding of both the scriptures, and the character of God.  Perhaps you are not right with God.  Perhaps you have done what you sincerely thought you needed to do, (walked down to an altar, repeated a prayer) in order to be saved.

What if you were misled by mealy-mouthed posers, wolves in sheep’s clothing? The Bible tells us many will discover when they stand before the Lord, that He will say “depart from me, I never knew you”.  People who “called Him Lord, and performed miracles and cast out demons in His name”.

You must believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  You must be born again.  You must ask, and you must believe.  You don’t need to “accept Jesus” you need to realize that you are a rotten sinner, bound for hell, unless you can somehow become acceptable in the sight of God and the only way that happens is when you cry out to Jesus asking for the salvation that He secured for you with his blood, by his voluntary “laying down” of his life, by His death on the cross, and His resurrection 3 days hence.

As to the future of this nation, it remains to be seen.  Though I have not held back in voicing my conviction that a turn-around is unlikely at this juncture, it isn’t over until it’s over, as they say! But one thing is for certain, it is liberating to face the truth.  It takes a lot of energy to maintain denial.  We are where we are, and it is what it is!  And that should be okay, for any Christian who truly understands that we are strangers and aliens here.  Whether I go, or whether I stay,  God’s plan is fine with me.  If I go on to my “blessed hope” and new life in eternity, or whether  there is such an outpouring of repentance and prayer that God pulls us back from this brink, and even through hard times of recovery and re-building, we get a few more years and another chance to be the salt and light we are meant to be in this world, it’s okay with me.  In my case, staying would mean my husband and I get to see our kids grow up , and to enjoy those empty-nest years of re-discovering one another, maybe eventually having grandkids.  But either way, it is all the same to me.

I am very weary of the world the way that it is, though, that is for certain.  As it is, and with further decline, this is not a world I want my kids to have to know.

Truth could set us free.  If we’d only accept it!

There is a freedom that comes with admitting that

• a.) There is a God, and
• b.) I am not Him.

There is a freedom that could come with giving up the ruse that in the beginning, there was nothing, and then nothing blew up and created everything from nothing, and life spontaneously occurred.

There is freedom in coming out of the darkness and into the light.   And freedom in giving up the pretense of being “good” and wise, when we are really wretched and poor and blind.

Satan is the father of deception and lies.  He may have told you that life is worthless, you evolved from monkeys, a fetus is a blob of tissue, and sex with whomever, whenever, and wherever, is your prerogative and is fulfilling.  Well, how is that working out for you?  Seriously, it’s just you and me, here.  I can’t even see you.  What is the TRUTH?

Frankly it takes a lot of faith to believe that “moral relativity” makes one whit of sense.  It takes even more faith to believe that all the beauty and diversity and wonder of this world is all a freak accident of spontaneous combustion.   You’re smarter than that!  You were created in the image of God, your Creator, and whether you believe in hell or not, doesn’t change the fact that there is one and you’re headed there.  Today is the only day you have to think about this and admit to Your Creator that you have been doing it all wrong, this “life’ thing.  It is not too late, right now, to say, “Hey, God of the Universe, I am not sure I believe in you, but if you are there, would you reveal yourself to me?”  Now, don’t go looking for signs and mystical wonders, feelings, tingles, and all that.  He will not conform to your terms and wishes.  He sets the terms.   But He promises that “if thou wilt call upon Me, I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not”.

The world is getting pretty dark.  Isn’t it about time you allowed the light of truth to be turned on? Give up the struggle, exhausted single mom.  Stop trying to “fit in” and please people you don’t even like, depressed teen.  Get off that hopeless treadmill, ambitious executive, and lay down the enormous chip on your shoulder, disillusioned young black man. Get off your pride, successful white “wonder-woman” and feminist.  Your enemy is not  “all men” ‘the white man”, the absentee dad, the boss, or “Tha Man”.

Satan is your very real enemy, and he’s been feeding you a line of bull all your life. Whichever lie suited and served your personal wounds best.  Whether you know it or not, if God is not your God, then Satan is.  Satan IS the God “Pan” who is all things to all people, and “anything you want him to be”.  Through your wounds and vulnerability, through sexuality, through drugs, through some music, movies and lots of television, he has lured you into his trap and you are a prisoner.  That’s why you feel like you’re in one!  See how logical that is.  It’s simple.  Because it’s truth!

Give truth a chance.  Try Jesus!  Try God.  He’s calling you, He’s waiting for you.  He loves you with an everlasting love so enormous that he gave His only begotten son to be beaten, scourged, tortured, and to shed his blood to satisfy your guilt-penalty (the wages of sin is death) so that He did not have to impose that penalty upon you and could still satisfy Justice while still sparing your life.

He is not ignorant of those who have wronged you, nor is He letting anyone “get by with anything”.  He IS going to address every wrong, but on judgment day, that will include your own sin, and I guarantee you, those are the only sins you’ll be worried about when that time comes.  What others did to you will not suffice as an excuse.  The Bible says “it is appointed unto men once to die, and then, judgment.

Think about it!