Thanksgiving Prayer

Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our heritage, we humbly ask that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of your great favor and blessing. May we always be willing to do your will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord and confusion in these days. Save us from pride and arrogance.

Save us from every evil way. Defend our liberties. Fashion us into one grateful and thankful people, even though we have come from many lands.

Fill those with your spirit of wisdom, those in whom we entrust the authority of government. May there be justice and peace at home, and through obedience to your words may we show forth Thy praise to the nations. In this time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness and in the day of peril or suffering may our trust of you, Lord, not waver or fail. You are our only hope.

All we ask through Christ Jesus.   Amen

The Rainbow in the Clouds by John MacDuff

A quoted message from http://www.gracegems.org/: 

"When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds" Genesis 9:14


1. SOVEREIGNTY

"The Lord Reigns." Psalm 93:1

No rainbow of promise in the "dark and cloudy day" shines more radiantly than this. God, my God, the God who gave Jesus, orders all events, and overrules all for my good! "When I," says He, "send clouds over the earth." He has no wish to conceal the hand which shadows for a time earth's brightest prospects. It is He alike who "brings the cloud", who brings us into it, and in mercy leads us through it! His kingdom rules over all. "The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." He puts the burden on, and keeps it on, and at His own time will remove it!

Beware of brooding over second causes. It is the worst form of atheism! When our most fondly cherished gourds are smitten; our fairest flowers lie withered in our bosom; this is the silencer of all reflections– "The Lord prepared the worm!" When the temple of the soul is smitten with lightning, and its pillars rent: "The Lord is in His holy temple!" Accident, chance, fate, destiny, have no place in the Christian's creed. He is no unpiloted vessel left to the mercy of the storm. "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters!"

Veterans Day 2010 – Perilous Days in America

In early October, I realized it had been forty years since I was discharged from the Air Force; a generation ago in Biblical terms. I was 22 years old. Over the years I have learned something: (1) being in the military does not make you a man. It hardens your heart in some ways; softens your hearts in others. Being a man means we have to do things we do not like to do. It’s not a matter of “feeling” it is a matter of leading a principled life.

The second thing it teaches you is that there are two kinds of people the decent and indecent—sinners all. I borrow the names of those two groups from Dr. Victor Frankl, a WWII concentration camp survivor.

Before I went into the service, my social experience was limited to people of Northern European extraction with a sprinkling of Native Americans. In the military I interacted with all groups; among them, I found the decent and the indecent, but sinners all.

I returned from overseas in April 1969. I walked into the San Francisco Airport at 4:45 in the morning to be greeted with cat calls and the occasional rotten fruit being thrown our way. Welcome home American soldier. The war protestors manned the entrance to the terminal 24 hours a day to sling venomous words and the occasional rotten fruit.

Many of the protestors and activists of the 60’s and 70’s have risen to become the ruling elite of our day. Scum does usually rise to the top.

Professor Angelo M. Codevilla, professor emeritus of International relations at Boston University, wrote an article entitled American Ruling Class—and the Perils of Revolution. Many of the bi-partisan ruling class today were subversives of the past and are to this day. They come from both sides of the political isle, Democrat and Republican. The ruling class is the West Coast and East Coast elites and the rest of us are the poor bastards who fight their wars. (Don’t take my word for it, read Professor Codevilla’s well documented article.)

Speaking of our Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Codevilla said in part:

“After all, Republicans had been happy enough to approve of similar things under Republican administrations. Differences between Bushes, Clintons, and Obamas are of degree, not kind. Moreover, 2009-10 establishment Republicans sought only to modify the government's agenda while showing eagerness to join the Democrats in new grand schemes, if only they were allowed to. Sen. Orrin Hatch continued dreaming of being Ted Kennedy, while Lindsey Graham set aside what is true or false about "global warming" for the sake of getting on the right side of history. No prominent Republican challenged the ruling class's continued claim of superior insight, nor its denigration of the American people as irritable children who must learn their place. The Republican Party did not disparage the ruling class, because most of its officials are or would like to be part of it.”

Yes, they see us as irritable children. Take note:

“Today, few speak well of the ruling class. Not only has it burgeoned in size and pretense, but it also has undertaken wars it has not won, presided over a declining economy and mushrooming debt, made life more expensive, raised taxes, and talked down to the American people. Americans' conviction that the ruling class is as hostile as it is incompetent has solidified. The polls tell us that only about a fifth of Americans trust the government to do the right thing. The rest expect that it will do more harm than good and are no longer afraid to say so.”

Are these the seeds of revolution?

"The two classes have less in common culturally, dislike each other more, and embody ways of life more different from one another than did the 19th century's Northerners and Southerners -- nearly all of whom, as Lincoln reminded them, "prayed to the same God." By contrast, while most Americans pray to the God "who created and doth sustain us," our ruling class prays to itself as "saviors of the planet" and improvers of humanity. Our classes' clash is over "whose country" America is, over what way of life will prevail, over who is to defer to whom about what. The gravity of such divisions points us, as it did Lincoln, to Mark's Gospel: "if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand."

If you want to see how they really feel, Codevilla adds:

“Its attitude is key to understanding our bipartisan ruling class. Its first tenet is that "we" are the best and brightest while the rest of Americans are retrograde, racist, and dysfunctional unless properly constrained. How did this replace the Founding generation's paradigm that "all men are created equal"?

In light of all of this, “what did we fight for?” If we think the Republicans or the Democrats are going to save our country from this peril, wake up. Almighty God himself is our only hope.

Pastor Steve Brown says “The world drinks to forget and Christians drink to remember.” I think I’ll get a drink and do a little of both. Remember and forget for these are perilous days in America.

I’ll feed you from a rock…

Psalm 81:11-16 says, "But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. 13 "If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, 14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! 15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. 16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

Our nation is in trouble. In farm country, we live in the midst of record yields and good commodity prices and yet our country is in trouble. This week the Federal Reserve purchased 600 billion dollars of our own debt—no one else wants to buy it any more.

In the 81st Psalm it tells of a nation who rejects or ignores God’s love. Our nation has been and is blessed by God but we, like Israel, “do not listen” or submit to God (v.11).

God has a limit to His patience. In verse 12 God says if this is the way you want it, you’re on your own. God then shows us the way to come back to Him.

1. Listen to God (v. 13). Read His word.

   2.  Follow His way (v.13). Put His word into action.

   3.  What will God do? Subdue their enemies (plural) v. 14.

   4.  Those who hate the Lord will cringe before Him—forever. (Can we see the light of Christ in this present momentary darkness?)

Then God blesses His people because we are His -- (just because we are His.) We can’t earn any favor, can’t impress Him with our works; no, He blesses and restores us just because we are His.

In verse 16 God then promises to feed us the finest wheat and honey. To do this, He doesn’t need to crank up the combines to get some wheat. He doesn’t need to search for a hidden honeycomb. If our God has to, He can bring wheat and honey out of a rock.

Remember this, because of the suffering sacrifice of God’s one and only son Jesus, we can come into God’s presence and the resurrected Christ will restore us to our Heavenly Father.
Our stubborn heart is made new, our ears are unplugged, we listen and we put His word into practice. He will subdue our enemies and feed us from a rock.

If this is true, what are we afraid of? We need to humble ourselves before the Mighty God, confess our sins and come to Jesus and live.