Reflection on Psalm 2

    I am drawn to the 2nd Psalm as my source for meditation. Often referred to as the Messiah’s Psalm, it was written under a prophetic anointing by David, the Shepherd King. Indeed, it is an appropriate passage in the light of current events.
     But first, consider the story in Acts chapter four. There, we find Peter and John preaching and proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ. They come upon a man who has been lame from birth, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, they heal him. You can well imaging the stir this caused in the crowd of onlookers and those who were listening. There were not televisions then, no technological distractions to captivate people attention. The marketplaces were the most interesting places on the planet, and people flocked to them day after day. 
     Many of the people in the crowd believed the message peter and John were preaching and many were converted to this new faith. However, the religious leaders were not so quick to embrace their teachings. In fact, they were absolutely enraged. So, the temple guards were dispatched to arrest them and bring the to the temple. They were thrown into prison to await trial before the High Priest and the court of Israel - the Sanhedrin.
     The predominant political voices in ancient Israel were divided into two factions - the Pharisees and the Sadducees, but for the ancient Jews politics and religion were closely intermingled. The other political faction was the ruling one - the Romans. To be sure, there was a curious arrangement between the Jews and the Romans, one utterly unlike any of the other provinces under Pax Romana. The Jews maintained their religion, their own court system, their temple, and their leaders. So long as they did not disrupt the Roman occupation, they were allowed to function according to their own purposes.
     However, the antagonism that surrounded the early days of Christianity was intense, and it was continuously escalating. Jesus had been crucified, had risen and ascended, and the Gospel message was having an overwhelming appeal to the people. Persecution of Christians had not yet reached its zenith, but the discontent with this new faith was very evident. This proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus, coupled with the miraculous healing sparked this chapter in Christian history.The apostles were brought before the High Court of Israel.
     One of the fundamental and vocal differences between the Pharisees and the Saducees had to do with the resurrection of the dead. The Saducees refused to believe in a resurrection, the Pharisees actually looked for one. Whatever else Peter and John’s preaching did, it aggravated this most basic theological argument between the two factions.
     That's not completely unlike our world today, not so much a religious dispute, but definitely there is deep political division. Conservatives vs. liberals. Actually, we find basic political and theological disagreements within the ranks of Christianity that are sometimes more heat than light. That being the case, we need to go further in our story.
     Peter and John were forced to stand trial, to be examined by the High priest and the high council of Israel. Their question was simply this: “What power authorizes you to do this?”

     Let me refer to Acts 4 – 

 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed … Salvation is in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

    One has to appreciate the drama of this moment, Saducees and Pharisees in a standoff, religious order disrupted, and the High Court in a quandary. We often criticize the lack of compassion that body of men directed toward these two preachers. But please, do not rush to harshly judge the Jewish rulers.

     True, theirs was often a high level of hypocrisy. But, they were also men who, by reason of their position and authority, were determined to protect their national identity and pride. They could not see what we see today. They could not arrive at their conclusions based on the knowledge we now possess, the Christian heritage we enjoy, or the vast history of the last 2000 plus years. And neither can those men and women who, today, are faced with the responsibilities of government.

     We often criticize and condemn our governmental leaders with a great deal of impunity. Too often we think and speak about them in harsh, hateful, and spiteful terminology. True, many of their decisions go against the grain and violate our basic beliefs.Far too often, they come off as hypocritical and self-serving, and the facts tend to bear this out. But the mandate from Scripture is far different than the rhetoric we often throw out.

     Paul writes –1 Timothy 2:1-5

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

     Our Bill of Rights gives us both the privilege and I believe the responsibility to vocalize our opinions, beliefs, and discontent. However, our Christian faith does not give us the latitude to become slanderous, defamatory, and malicious in our rhetoric. That simply does not embody the nature of the Christ we serve, or acquiesce to the unambiguous language of Scripture.

     This Supreme Council of Israel could not justifiably punish Peter and John for what they had done. Neither could they do anything overt without facing severe repercussions. The multitude of believers had become very, very large. The discontent with the political compromise between the Jews and the Romans had become seriously inflamed. To punish these men would have been a disaster. Yet, they had to do something, they were the rulers of the people.  So, they set forth an order which would be enforceable in the future, a “cease and desist” which would provide grounds for punishment of future confrontations. The apostles were commanded not to teach or even speak in the name of Jesus anymore. Then they were released.

     Back to Scripture –Acts 4

On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

     Notice the colon - there's more, and that is the point of this reflection; where I started at the beginning. Read Peter’s response to that judgement, which he quoted from the Messiah's Psalm. This quote is from the from the New Living Testament. It is a rehearsal of Psalm 2.

Why do the nations rage? Why do the people waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the LORD and against his anointed one. "Let us break their chains," they cry, "and free ourselves from this slavery."

     We are witnessing a kind of repeat performance of that today. The nations are in an uproar. People are plotting against Christianity, against the basic rights guaranteed by our constitution, against our nation and much that we hold dear. Our detractors see us as bound by materialistic, self-serving greed, and shallow religious commitments. They either want to liberate us from our religious superstitions, or destroy our way of life entirely… BUT – and I read on in Scripture … BUT

 ... the One who rules in heaven laughs.The Lord scoffs at them ...Now then, you kings, act wisely!

     Never forget that Scripture identifies Christians as kings and priests unto our God. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. We must act with wisdom, not with sarcasm, spite, and inflammatory rhetoric. We must approach these challenges from a Godly point of view.

Be warned, you rulers of the earth! 

Though we do not rule in government, we have the power of prayer, that great power that serves to influence rulers and chart the course of history. Prayer does not always change the moment we are in. Neither does it always adjust the immediate sequence of circumstances or events. However, prayer influences history. It always influences history. And the future is simply history that has not yet unfolded.

     The familiar strains of 2 Chronicles 7:14 are a promise that must be believed and observed.

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, I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land.

     The psalm concludes:

Serve the LORD with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling. Submit to God's royal Son …

But what joy for all who find protection in Him!

     The confidence and strength of our future lies in our willingness to serve the Lord, to submit to God’s Son, and find our protection in Him. We must be willing to take ownership of our nation’s sins and repent on its behalf; even as Daniel repented for Israel’s sin. He identified himself with and took personal responsibility for addressing the wickedness of His nation, something too few of us have been willing to do. But we must. We must grieve over our nation’s rush to moral decadence. We must cry out to God for mercy. We must never capitulate to the challenges of darkness or the machinations of mere men. We are called by God to walk in the Spirit and to refuse to place our love of life above our fear of death.

     We must trust the God of heaven and earth, the Savior and Redeemer of mankind, to shape history in full response to His Divine purpose and plan. AMEN

The Function of Forgiveness

     I sometimes find it difficult to live a forgiving lifestyle. Every time I set my heart to forgiveness, something comes along to remind me of how hurt I am, how unfairly I've been treated, or of a wrong I've suffered. Then, I find myself having to forgive all over again. I wonder sometimes, do I even know what forgiveness is all about?
     Forgiveness is not about making things right. Not really, because damage has been done, loss has been suffered, and feelings have actually been deeply disturbed. Forgiveness is more about one's attitude - not only toward an offender, but also toward the offense.
     The Bible stresses the importance of love many times over. But love, in the Biblical sense, is not a sentimental, emotional attachment to a person. Of course, love, at least what we consider to be love, can include that. But the idea of love in the Bible is more accurately understood by the word charity. Charity, of course, is the translation of the Greek word agape' in the King James Version of 1 Corinthians 13.
    However, across time, words take on different connotations. Thus, charity has come to be considered as little more than a handout or benevolence to the poor - Salvation Army, thrift stores, food banks, etc. Indeed, these are charities, and in many ways they are a significant part of charity. But charity is far more than just giving to the poor.
     Charity is a grace, and empowering choice that embodies God's character. Charity is the ability to extend compassion, kindness, and consideration for others to others. Thus, charity is the catalyst that makes forgiveness possible. Without the ability to be gracious, it is impossible to extend grace, and grace lies at the core of Christian experience and expression.
       In times when we are personally affronted, being gracious can be difficult. The old nature wants to rise to the surface and inflict retribution. We want to "get even." But paybacks tend to backfire. They usually escalate an already painful circumstance into an unbearable continuum. No one is made better and no one gets better.
      So, what is forgiveness?

Forgiveness is the act of setting aside
the determination to exact personal retribution
in the face of a real or perceived violation of one's self.

(Byler's Defs: 101)

In other words, it is refusing to violate your own personal grace just because you have been wronged.
      Jesus offered the prototype example of this grace as He hung on the cross. "Father, forgive them." That was His prayer. "They know not what they do" was His reality. He knew what was in their hearts.
     Our problem is that we usually have no idea what is in another person's heart, but we assume that we do. All too often that judgment is made because of something in our own hearts, something that is off center or out of balance. Get that right and forgiveness becomes far less difficult.
     Forgiveness does not let the offender "off the hook." If a crime has been committed, justice must be served. But, if the offense is social, justice seems far less interested. Nevertheless, time "wounds all heels." The truth inevitably comes to the surface. If you try to exact a bit of personal retribution, the only heel that gets wounded is you.
     Christian character is strengthened by embracing compassion and exhibiting grace. Grace allowed you to come to salvation. Grace sustains you when you fall short of your calling in Christ. Grace empowers you to rise above your old nature and walk in the victory of the cross. And grace gives you the motivation to serve others in love.
      Forgiveness, then, is one of the most significant acts you can experience, for when you forgive, you are most like Christ. When you fail to forgive, you are far removed from the very grace that has been extended to you.
      The function of forgiveness is not about who you forgive. It is that you do forgive. Forgiveness cleanses you from the animosity and bitterness which linger in the aftermath of a wounded heart. Forgiveness prepares you to face another day with the joy of the Lord as your strength. Forgiveness causes others to see the character of Christ in your life and make room for His grace to manifest in others. And forgiveness frees the offender from your wrath. It exposes that person to God's determination for his or her future and removes you from the temptation to "play God."

Election is Coming

     The current campaign to determine who will ultimately compete for the White House is some of the most divisive, yet captivating political theater I have ever witnessed. Every candidate is forced to communicate why he or she is better suited, better prepared, and offers greater hope for this nation than every other candidate. In reality, one actually wonders if anyone can.
     The thing that concerns me is this. It is one thing to have the kind of qualifications necessary to win a presidential campaign and become president. It is quite a different thing to actually be the president. Big talk and smooth words do not define a president. Profound leadership, wise and effective decision making, and a willingness to place the country's needs in front of one's personal agendas top the list.
     Every candidate, in both parties, is forced to bloviate about his or her personal accomplishments and qualifications. Some are much better at doing that than others. Two out of the current crowd will do that. But will that translate into an effective, nation enriching presidency? The question hovers, unanswered, tantalizing, and hopefully it will meet with a profoundly positive answer. He or she will. 
     Presidents should not blow their own horn all that much. Their talk should be backed up by action, by accomplishment, but uniting the country, the politicians, and our allies in a way that strengthens and builds the nation. That is not happening now.
      The first election I can recall was between Dwight Eisenhower and Adali Stevenson. The Republican mantra was "I Like Ike." The Dems wore a lapel pin in the shape of a shoe sole, with a hole in it ... this, because Stevenson had appeared on stage, and when he crossed his legs, there was a gaping hole worn in the bottom of his shoe. Strange the things that one remembers. I was in the sixth or seventh grade at the time.
      I recall every election since - Kennedy-Nixon-62, Johnson-Goldwater-'64, Nixon-Humphrey-'68, Nixon-McGovern-'72, Carter-Ford-'76, Reagan-Carter-'80, Reagan-Mondale-'84, Bush-Dukakis-'88, Clinton-Bush-'92, Clinton-Dole-'96, Bush-Gore-'00, Bush-Kerry-'04, Obama-McCain-'08, and Obama-Romney-'12. The first one in which I was qualified to vote was 1964. I was twenty years old and had been married for less than one year.
      How did I vote? I voted as a citizen, as a Christian, as a husband, and in 1968 as a father. I voted according to my conscience, to my inherent sense of patriotism, and with the confidence that God is in control, whether my candidate won or lost.
     In my estimation, the election of 2016 may be the most important one so far, but perhaps not. John Kennedy stared down Nikita Kruschev over the Cuban missile crisis. I was in the U.S. Navy at the time.
     Ronald Reagan presided during the demise of the Soviet Union. He, as the leader of the United States, stood toe to toe to the Communist regime and the world took a collective sigh of relief. Today, very few truly communist dictatorships exist, though they have been replaced by something much more malicious, religious fanaticism.
     The next president inherits a country more deeply divided than at anytime since the Civil War. Our nation is in economic chaos, with a national debt approaching $19 Trillion ... a number so huge it is impossible to comprehend. He or she will also have to face some of the most brutal terrorism, the most sadistic philosophies, and the most weakened morality in our collective memory. We are grappling with the most devastating racial clashes since the Haight-Asbury riots some thirty years ago. Crime is escalating in our inner cities, not declining. And Christianity has become the target of politically correct bigotry that demeans and darkens the motivation of the very people who decry Christians as bigots.
     What does all this mean for the next president? It means that the next President of the United States will have to have almost super-human intelligence, and an incredibly perceptive sense of who to bring into the administration to make things happen.
      As I write this little blog, I am driven again to prayer ... prayer for our nation, prayer for our current leadership, prayer for the choice we will make collectively in the coming weeks, months, and ultimately in November of 2016. Not only am I driven to prayer, the entire corpus of the Christian community should be driven to prayer... not that one political party, philosophy, or ideology would gain supremacy over the other, or over the nation. We must pray that our nation once again find its moorings in the good Word of God - the Bible. That the moral, intellectual, and reasonable approach on which we were established - governed by Biblical principle embraced by people who revere God and honor the faith of us all.
    
      

My 9/11 post ...

September 11, 2001 is one of those days—days you must replay in your mind over and over to grasp the enormity of what took place. Life as we know it changed. The attack on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon shocked us into a temporary sense of national unity and identity. Many felt it was the beginning of a new patriotism, a new sense of national determination and honor. People gasped, people cried, people raged and cursed the darkness. Then, people went to Church in large numbers, and we hoped there might be a national revival, a transforming wave of spiritual reformation that would project us forward into a place of restored moral, ethical, and relational progress.
Such has not proven to be true. We are more divided, less determined, more self-centered individually, and utterly vulnerable as a nation. I am not terrified, I am torn. The nation I love and served as a military man is dying. We are wallowing in our own moral deterioration, our political malaise, our headlong rush into financial collapse, and our complacency at the blatant hostility toward our Christian faith. I say we, because we must own this, both nationally and personally.
Adultery is both tolerated and celebrated, openly available through published media as an “acceptable” side-line to an uninteresting marriage. Nudity is celebrated in cable productions, pornographic websites, as well as sleazy theaters, book shops, and magazine stands. The use of drugs is commended and in many places legalized, while the ever increasing social and economic costs skyrocket across the nation. Vulgarity in speech and dress is common place, often spouted as comedy … humorous, but in the most telling sense, not funny.
Rebellion has become a lifestyle for many, children and young adults alike. Parents who do effectively guide and direct their children are no longer the norm. Rather, they are the exception. Families are in crisis—overextended, overworked, under-related, and sold out to pleasure and entertainment. Little wonder that the nuclear family has become something of an anomaly.
Sexual permissiveness and perversion have become "protected rights," leaving an entire generation of children and youth in confusion regarding their own identity. The wholesale capitulation to sexual freedom rather than abstinence is producing a rapidly growing populace of semi-parented, or unparented children. Broken homes and divided households add another layer of challenge. Most of these are trying to repair something that was utterly ruined, but the challenge often creates as much confusion as solution. In many cases, children are being raised by grand-parents, simply because their own natural parents are too immature, too disconnected, and too self-serving to be parents.
Violence against policemen has escalated and in some quarters is applauded. Racism and reverse racism are in open conflict—oftentimes, the latter being more violent and virulent than the former. Rioting breaks out in the streets, anarchy advancing under the shroud of peaceful protest. Amazingly, the victims of such rioting have been the people closest to the rioters. In some of our cities, police are instructed to refrain from enforcing the law. Where they do enforce the law, they are constantly placed under microscopes of public opinion. Vivid and obvious instances of police impropriety in a few cases have made it far more difficult for hundreds of thousands of police to do their jobs. Yet, the hue and cry of the protesting mob is against, not for those who defend and protect.
The continuously rising flood of immigrants, legal and illegal, leaves gaping holes in our national infrastructure ... holes through which even the least intelligent radical terrorists could pass. As a nation open to those who would come and share the potential of America, it is a travesty that we have become such a hated entity in the world. Yet, we sail merrily along, inviting disaster at every turn. We turn away from our most significant ally—Israel, and embrace the nation that hates us most—Iran. We refuse to fight against the spreading cancer of Radical Islam, or even to call it by its real character—Islamic terrorism. Then we scratch our heads in wonder as to why they hate us, since we are such lovable people.
Every religious order, idea, perspective, and philosophy finds room for expression in our nation. Yet, Christians are castigated for being intolerant ... amazingly, in the most intolerable and intolerant terminology and actions. How can a person condemn intolerance intolerantly? Yet, that is how it’s done. Is it not ironic that Christians are being "instructed" on love by people who do so in the most unloving terms, with the least loving attitudes? These same people are trying to define love, yet they have only the basest understanding of love, not based on God’s defining characteristics, but on human perspective. However, defining love unlovingly does not actually define love.
Religious convictions are being usurped by governmental edicts and judicial legislation. “We the people” no longer have the capacity to determine “what we the people” deem to be in our own best interests. A small body of supremely powerful individuals have taken it upon themselves to make those decisions for us. Oligarchy rule by another name is a politburo rule, more Eastern European (Russian) than American. Yet, the court has taken that position.
Under the guise of "freedom of speech" it is permissible to say almost anything … except from the pulpits of Christian America. Rap musicians spout violence, hatred, misogyny, and the vilest of words with impunity. Repulsive comedians take to the stages and airwaves, generating gales of laughter at the most disgusting ideas and vile commentary. They mock our leaders, our faith, our races, our careers … in jest (barbed with venom) they disrespect every good and decent thing, just to get a laugh. And we follow their lead, laughing merrily along the way, picking up their language and making it the language of our own communications, scarcely stopping to realize that our speech has become polluted with wicked words.
Radical Imams foment violence and hatred in Mosques and on street corners. Anarchy and rebellion cry out against civility and reason. Racially supercharged political groups take up arms and spew out their own brand of intimidation. New Age gurus bewitch people with spiritualistic psycho-babble. Progressives demean anyone who disagrees with their liberal points of view, and conservatives return the favor in spades. Nothing is sacred. Nothing is holy. Nothing is "off-limits" in this post 9/11 America. Our tolerance of the intolerable has made us insensitive to the inevitable. The result is chaos under a widening cloud of calamity.
Unless we experience a genuine turnaround, politically, morally, spiritually, and financially, we are headed for a national implosion. Gruesome prophecy? Not really. Just honest observation and concern. The question is this. Can something be done? The biblical answer is yes! It has been stated again and again. It has been preached and prophesied, sung and shouted. It has been published in books, on banners, on signs, and billboards. But has it been taken seriously?
The God-solution is this: “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.” (2 Chron. 7:14)
Today, thousands of Christians are praying in agreement with this instruction. There is hope! There is a future, but it is in the hands of the Lord God, not in the hands of the politicians, the jurists, the entertainers, or those who foment violence, rebellion, and hatred. It is in the hands of the Lord God. Thousands more need to join the prayer ranks. Everyone who prays needs daily to own the sins of America, to repent for the sins of OUR nation, and to cry out to heaven for forgiveness and healing.
Daniel—the young captive in Babylon—prayed in the face of all opposition. He was a righteous man with a righteous heart, a man who despised sin and refrained from it. Yet, he took on himself the responsibility of repentance. Daniel 9:5-15 is the record of his prayer for Israel—his nation. “We have sinned,” he said. The catastrophe of captivity belongs to us. He did not disengage himself from his national identity and his faith. WE HAVE SINNED is what he repeated … four times within that prayer.
We need to own the sins of America before God, just as Daniel did those of his nation. If MY people … God said. We are His, and our nation is His, regardless of those who think otherwise.
I encourage you, mighty prayer warrior … take up the gauntlet against the enemy. Take on the sin of the nation as though it were your own, because it is. This is no my nation alone … it is your nation … it is our nation! Repent … repent for others … repent for yourself … repent for our nation, and allow God to do what only He can do.
In agreement with those who will pray,
Dr. Phil