[enoch1122]

Many of you, including me, are wary of and tired of the so called Christian perspective in politics which seems to boil down to nothing more than trying to legislate morality. That is not my aim in throwing my hat into this ring. I am not religious and dislike most if not all religions wherever they be. I am however a spiritual man who believes that there is a true spiritual solution to almost and challenge currently confronting society today. I am here to advocate, if you will those truths in the hope that the coming spiritual reality that will occur on this earth gets at least a voice in many different arenas including politics. Everybody has their own prospective on this subject and everyone should be allowed to express their views and realities including the prospective from the standpoint of the coming Kingdom of God. I am an American citizen but I hold a dual citizenship which includes citizenship in the entity or organization called the Kingdom of God. It is from this "country" that I am an ambassador. Since any amount of political diversity and political solutions do not seem to be solving the problems of this current age I invite you to consider an alternative which has as much or more reality than any other political party, theory or ideology.

In this regard, without simply presenting my views overtly in an attempt to convince anyone of anything I invite your questions and/or comments as to where I am coming from, if you are interested, in something that is beyond the realm of the passing moment but is ultimately permenent. I realize the skepticism that exists out there regarding anything that remotely smacks of religion and I say your skepticism is entirely warranted. But what I have to offer comes from another place which applies equally to the spiritual and the secular. I challenge you to challenge me in this.

My background is that of a small businessman. I am a retired attorney who was in private practice for nearly 20 years, retired now, mostly in the field of litigation i.e. courtroom work of all kinds. I have traveled throughout parts of this world and have seen life from many perspectives from the top to the bottom. I have been actively involved in a fellowship of Christian churches for nearly 40 years and have devoted countless pro-bono (free) hours as a consultant to such churches. I have been a devoted scholar of the word of God not only the Bible but ancient Christian and Jewish writings. I am familiar with most of the current world religions. During the years i have learned to be attentive to what God has to say to this generation upon whom have fallen the time of a gateway into a new and better world.

I feel my message is better presented in responding to specific issues or concerns. Therefore i won't bore you with mere words espousing my position on things in general. In responding to specific questions, concerns and/or curiosities, is a better vehicle to express my reality. I will say this. The Bible says that "the Kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdoms of God". I believe that this is an ultimate reality that needs to be expressed now before its too late. Nothing else has really worked up to this point. Isn't it time to at least consider something completely new and different? If you are interested please respond to this site.I will remind you that I do not offend easily so feel free to be honest.

[enoch1122]

A KINGDOM DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND

From a purely secular point of view few can argue that Jesus Christ, as his sayings are recorded in the Christian/Jewish Bible, was not, at least, a wise man. He is supposed to have said: “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand” (St. Matthew 12:25).

America is, of course, founded on the principle of the freedom of expression of ideas as to how things should be done. The checks and balances are in place to ensure one viewpoint does not dominate all others to the point of monarchy or tyranny. Be that as it may be, America, and other nations as well, remain deeply divided among themselves. This is because of the obvious fact that there are competing factions attempting to exert their own ideas/ideologies over any other competing theories. This constant struggle does little to alleviate or solve problems. What it does is to result in deeper and deeper divides between factions who are convinced they are doing the right thing. Problems, rather than being solved, are compounded as the electorate looks at government and sees only division and no solutions. Thus, losing the support of the people whom they serve, the political machine becomes massively ineffective in solving anything.

Can there ever be any unity in the political system? Or, you ask, is there ever supposed to be? Can there ever be one uniform solution to any problem to which all can ascribe? Or if one solution is agreed upon by all have we then discarded our sacred concept of democracy by eliminating room for competing opinions? Is division and deviousness to be a part of our political system forever?

The truth of the matter is that there are solutions to problems currently facing this world today. One must just know where to look. What about getting everybody together in a room and, with the attitude of actually solving something, and looking for wisdom from an exterior source? There is great problem solving potential in unity. The Bible says that one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight as long as the two are agreed. Look what agreement has produced in the worlds of science of late. No doubt urged on by the mighty profit motive, and not necessarily the good of society, science has come together in teams to solve problems, diseases and the like that have plagued mankind from the beginning of time. Through the power of agreement, working together for a single goal, great advances have made. Why does politics and government lag so far behind in their ability to get anything done? Because the vision for a perfect, or at least livable world, has been lost through personal attempts to assert themselves and their agendas at the expense of everyone else’s personal beliefs.

Have we, as a country, lost our vision? At least the founding Fathers, despite their differences and their humanity, were able to agree to a way to implement their vision. If they had not, we wouldn’t be writing these articles in this forum today. They were actually challenged to create something out of nothing; to create a government that had not been seen before. Their vision of liberty and freedom drove them to unity in order to accomplish the goal.

The Bible says that “Where there is no vision [alternate translations say "revelation"], the people perish” [or are unrestrained,] (Book of Proverbs 29:18). Where is our vision? To where did it disappear? What was the original vision that drove our original legislators to agree on a system of government which was to work for, not against, the welfare of the people? In the harsh realities of today’s world of using government to advance personal or political beliefs, at no cost or expense, noone dreams anymore. The vision has perished in the land; the peoples perish because of it.

We cannot only blame the politicians; we must also blame the ourselves. The accomplishment of establishing this government in its first instance involved some degree of sacrifice. Today the masses moan because the illusion of the “American dream” is being eroded away. The American dream is something different from the vision that founded this country. The American dream says I can have what I want, whenever I want and that my lust for a certain lifestyle overshadows any other consideration. When it becomes painfully apparent that we cannot afford “this” dream, the public becomes disillusioned and looks for whom to blame. The public doesn’t seem to realize that it was they, and their unrealistic demands, that are at the root of the problem in the first place. When our appetites exceed what we can put on our plates we should probably wisely look to the validity of our appetites.

It is obvious that the status quo is never going to really solve our many problems. We must try something different as our founding Fathers did not so long ago. The purpose of this forum category is to explore some of those real answers that our human nature often prevents us from seeing. If you believe there is a God, and according to statistics most people do, maybe we should look to him for some answers. It may involve putting aside, for the moment, our human thinking that says it must and can do for itself in order to survive. However our survival may very well be at issue here. If perhaps in this forum we can actually look for real divine guidance in some of these situations that confront us, maybe solutions exist just beyond our ordinary experience. What if there is a divine being, wiser than us, just waiting to provide us with what we need?

Religion attempts to paint god is such a negative light that most realistic people are repelled by it. But what if God is not religion? What if limiting god into a box of moral do’s and don’ts is not really what God is and is actually a bigger “sin” than the sins we commonly refer to as sins? Let us explore these ideas and maybe even apply them specifically in a few instances. This forum topic invites your comments.

[enoch1122]

A WORD FROM GOD TO OUR COUNTRY

Our Country has just experienced its mid-terms elections. Pundits from every corner of the globe have weighed in with their predictions and prognostications as to the direction the country will take from this point on. Noticeably missing from any of these commentaries is a realistic picture of the condition of this country from the perspective of the One who really matters, that being God. How does God see this country and where does He see it heading in the years ahead? It might be wise for the American people to step back and realistically access this country, and the world for that matter, from the perspective of the Most High.

It is easy to see the “mood” of the country as it votes from a position of desperation. Americans have come to unrealistically expect to live the American dream. When that dream seems to be slipping through their fingers like sand, change seems to be the only tonic that, to them, has any chance of solving the myriads of problems. If allowed on all ballots this year, the choice of “none of the above” would probably have won the election. Really the answer is simpler than it appears at first glance, but being simplistic does not make it easy or even remotely feasible on the human plane.

It does seem as if history repeats itself continually as Empires rise to great heights and fall just as dramatically over history. The reasons for the fall of the great empires of years past is nearly always for the same reasons—over consumption of resources, overextending economically, anger that inevitably leads to rebellion, dreams and expectations unrealized and the overwhelming reality that man, left to his own devices, will ultimately fail.

The best example of a nation that gyrated from feast to famine was the ancient nation of Israel. They are chosen as an example, instead of the Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Barbarians, Romans or any other failed empires, because Israel was a nation founded and directed by God Himself. Israel, as depicted in the Old Testament of the Bible, is our example of a nation with an eternal promise who failed miserably due to their neglect of their creator. America, although it cannot be called an entirely Christian nation, was founded on spiritual principles. America, like ancient Israel, had great promise and has done great things. However, like Israel, they have abandoned those spiritual principles in favor of each man pursuing his/her own dream to the detriment of everyone else. Israel abandoned God at times. Likewise this country has abandoned the only thing that can ever really make things right.

As Israel left the wilderness of the Sinai desert, God (through Moses) warned them of the consequences that would befall them if they did not follow the God, who had brought them that far and was about to give them their dreamland (promised land). In the Book of Deuteronomy Moses gives them the good and the bad news in that order.

He begins: “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you” (Deut. 4:1). He describes Israel, and its potential, in a passage eerily familiar to the promise of the United States: “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? “Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today? “Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons” (v.4:7-9).

Who can argue that America has been blessed from the beginning? The story of America is unlikely, maybe humanly impossible, from the outset. Today the nation is beset with deep divides and disunity which cripples all forward progress. It wasn’t always that way. In the beginning diverse men, with diverse opinions, came together with a vision and managed to reach an agreement on its quest for independence and its new method of constitutional government. Theirs was a vision of an entirely new form of government. That vision burned in their minds to the extent that it displaced individual opinions that would have broken the vision and made its implementation impossible.

The American Revolution was a miracle. Out manned, out gunned, with inferior leadership, the country pulled itself together and prevailed over the supreme power of the day because of the vision that unified all peoples and transcended all other considerations. It was this unity of and obedience to this vision that caused the victory. Throughout its history the United States has prevailed, not due to strength or character, but because of obedience to a vision greater than themselves.

Israel was similarly instructed by Moses. After he reiterated the laws the Israelites must follow in order to keep their land he said: “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known” (Deut. 11:26-28). Moses set a vision before them of a land and government that had not been seen theretofore in the earth. Theologically it was the first monotheistic (one God) government ever conceived to that time. His proposed government, while not advocating a separation of church and state as we understand it today, was a government wherein the creator ruled foremost in all matters spiritual or secular. But it was really the people who governed within the guidelines of the wise Master builder. Who would know better how to govern than the creator?

Unfortunately, throughout its history, Israel continually turned aside from its divine government and pursued its own course, to its ultimate destruction. From a purely secular viewpoint, God’s proposed government could have been a Utopia. There would have been love between peoples. Neighbors would have been treated as yourself. All of your needs would have been met with good crops, good relations, accumulation of wealth in short God’s government would have fulfilled any want or need either spiritually or naturally. But Israel continually turned aside from perfection to the imperfection of its own ways and paid the price.

Scripture describes Israel during one if it’s many periods of apostasy. This description should seem vaguely familiar to Americans today.

“How lonely sits the city That was full of people!
She has become like a widow
Who was once great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
Has become a forced laborer!
She weeps bitterly in the night
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has none to comfort her
Among all her lovers.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies” (Lamentations 1:1-2).



All the issues of the day have reduced the American people to despair. Unable to express themselves through employment or being reduced to having to abandon the homes of their youth America reels like a staggering prizefighter. Jeremiah wrote the Book of Lamentations and he expresses his personal situation as resulting from the condition of Israel at that time. He says:

“I am the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
He has driven me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
Surely against me He has turned His hand Repeatedly all the day” (Lamentations 3:1-3).

Everywhere he turns he sees no hope or comfort.“Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate” (Lam 3:8-11).



America faces unemployment, natural and manmade disasters, threats from other countries and factions, personal crime, wars and unrest, economic woes in general, the country run by those who can afford to buy an election while the people starve. There is disunity on every front including the erosion of basic rights. And the list goes on. As Jeremiah said “even when he cried out for help” no one answered. With each new day looms an unexpected terror greater than the last. To whom do we turn as a nation? Jesus said: “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. “If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand” (Mark 3:24-25). A divided America will never stand the test of time.




Christianity of today would have you turn to attempting to influence legislation to reflect moral values. But not only does this not work, it is the wrong approach in the first place. God is not religion. Neither is He a code of behavior dictated by the human conscience as claiming to know what’s right or wrong. So religion, as it currently exists, fails to stem the tide and alienates otherwise Godly people by its overbearing approach to social issues. Legislating righteousness or morality never has and never will work. As the nation of Israel proved, man is never right. It just makes sense that the only “right” there could be in the world has to come from the creator who knows all things.



Disunity exists in the two most important areas of human endeavor that is religion and government. Thousands of religions cannot agree on even the most basic tenants of who God is and what He wants. The result of that is that the very mention of God as a solution to anything provokes scorn and rejection by mankind. The seat of disunity is in the government. In the name of a cause (or political ideology) the real needs of the people are overlooked as the zeal of the political cause machine rolls on toward even more lack of agreement.



This disunity principle doesn’t exist in business. With the profit motive as a vision business works together to invent new, more efficient products. Breakthroughs in medicine, pharmacology, astronomy and cosmology, space exploration and communications industries, to name just a few, exist and flourish by masses of people working together for one goal. What great advances in government and religion could result using that spirit of unity? The Allies, including America, won the 2nd war as everyone pulled together for one goal. A wise man once said: “without a vision a people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). America has seemed to lose its vision as a spiritual nation as it attempts to force its democratic ideals on everyone else whatever the cost.



In ancient Israel God would actually cause enemies to rise up and conquer the nation when its heart strayed from Him. This is not religion; it is reality. We face an increasing number of enemies today that are becoming more and more a threat to our very existence. What will it take for us to realize that these increasingly sophisticated enemies will not go away until something changes in the heart of America? No matter how harshly God punished His nation Israel, He always held out the olive branch of reconciliation should the nation decide to turn back to Him. When they turned to Him the enemies magically disappeared. Peace was once again in the land and there was joy instead of mourning.



The prophet Jeremiah, through all he and his beloved nation suffered, concluded in the end that:
“Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.
Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me.
This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him” (Lamentations 3:19-24).


There is therefore an answer for America and the world. God, the creator, exists and is very real, despite our beliefs to the contrary. He is not a benign figure way off in the heavens inattentive to our cries. He has a plan. Not just a plan that says that if we are good we will go to heaven and become perfect. Not a plan that says a chosen few will be removed from a tribulation ravaged world, the earth be damned in the process. No He has a plan for now, right here and now, on this earth, for this day. But in order to accept His plan man must somehow learn to put away his conceptions of Christianity and religion has taught mankind about what they think God is. What God is, He is our friend who always stands ready to help, love and comfort. His help, if we are willing to receive it, will be on a scale far beyond any solution put forth by man.



As Israel was promised a land for themselves, flowing with milk and honey. So God offers us a land where we can live and function on a level far beyond even our most vivid imagination. Jesus instructed His people to pray as follows: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). It is God’s vision that the righteousness and spirituality of heaven (the spirit realm where God lives) also become a reality on this earth. He does not intend for this to occur in the distant future but in the here and now—especially now when we literally teeter on the brink of destruction.



Descriptions of this heavenly Kingdom on earth abound in the biblical scriptures. The Book of Revelation says: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle [presence] of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1-4).

To most of you reading this it sounds like just another fairy tale, a myth, a dying grasp by humanity to hold onto something while he has lost control of everything else. I am here to tell you none of this is true. God is very real. He is very loving. He cares about the most intimate details of your life and of those around you. He cares about the terrorists; if you lost your home He cares; He cares about your children and their education; He cares so much that his own heart (we are made like Him) breaks over the sorrow and the disillusion that man has been made to feel. He stands ready to help, not to destroy. He wants everybody to be all right, safe, secure. He cares for you—He loves you every one.

But He is not a God of compromise. His principles are His principles and not one of them will fail in the end. Can’t you see people that He has backed you into a corner, and will continue to do so, so that you will have nowhere else to look except to Him? A better solution is to look to Him now. Hasn’t it become obvious that nothing is working? Do you really think that by replacing political parties that problems will be solved? Are you so naive?

We must look to the only thing that is real and call upon that power to renew this nation. As the prophet Isaiah said in similar circumstances:

“Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence—As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
When You did awesome things which we did not expect,
You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.
For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him” (Isaiah 64:1-4).


And further:
“For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls on Your name,
Who arouses himself to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us
And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities” (Isaiah 64:6-7).



This word is not just for Christians or religious organizations, it is for everyone. Few will heed it but if a few did it would change the course of history. We simply need to find that place within ourselves that recognizes that a power greater than ourselves is pulling the strings. We need to get on his side. We need to drop our differences even if for a focused moment of asking God for His divine help. He will answer. That is His promise. Let us call on Him, on His word. For God’s sake, what have we got to lose? If we don’t do this we will lose everything and that is not necessarily God’s will for us. He is on our side. We are His beloved children, sinners and righteous men alike. He wants us to have life. Don’t treat God like a distant relative. Draw Him near. Give Him a chance.



This is not a message of doom and gloom as many preach as they try and scare people into going to church in the face of a doomsday scenario. ©This is the message of hope. It can happen. It has already happened. God can and will relent from His warning of destruction if we just turn to Him.



In closing we should look to the story of Jonah in the Bible. Jonah was sent by God to warn a wicked city, Nineveh, that He God was going to destroy the city completely. That is what He fully intended to do, just as He had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah long before. At first Jonah didn’t want to go. Who wants to look like a fool telling a great paganistic city that a God they didn’t know was going to destroy their city? But later he changed his mind and went to the city and spoke God’s word to the people there. The result was:

“So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk.
Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.
When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes.
He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water.
“But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.
“Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.”
When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it” (Jonah 3:2-10).


The sins referred to here are not necessarily the kind of sins upon which we devote our main focus. The sin of the United States, and all nations of spirit, is that they have turned their back on God who is the only one with any good answers. God is able to do far beyond our most extreme expectations. We need only call on Him. Seek Him while He can still be found. We’ve tried everything else. What can we lose we haven’t already lost?

©Kenneth B. Alexander

[enoch1122]

I am not religious either. I actually agree with Marx who said that "religion is the opiate of the masses". I am talking about God, not religion. If you strongly do not believe in Him in any form then you are certainly entitled to that view. I don't just believe differently, I know differently.

Tell me why Marxism does not believe in a supreme being? Everything in life seems so futile without it. There is no permanence even in Marxism. Actually I consider pure Marxism (communism) to be a great idea for society. The idea of everyone working for the whole and not seeking for themselves. Unfortunately this could never happen, as it never has, because it is human nature to rise up and take advantage of the rest and for a 2 class system to develop by the smarter, more ambitious accumulating the bulk of the wealth to the disadvantage of the others.

I am saying any governmental system will fail if it is composed of those of the human nature. The Kingdom of God advocates a change of nature where a society would develop that would probably closer to Marxism than democracy. I said closer to, but in reality it would be a theocracy but would play out that all would be for one and one for all as Marxism envisions.

[Potemkin]

You sound like the 'God-builders' in the early Bolshevik Party whom Lenin castigated in Materialism and Empirio-Criticism.

[Jordan9]

I think what Enoch means by "I am not religious" is the rather recent Evangelical meme of "Christianity isn't a religion, it's a relationship." Even though the etymology of the word "religion" comes from the term religare, or, "to bind fast," which is what a relationship is, isn't it?

Enoch, brother, I would encourage you to remember that nationalism is idolatry. By and large, I find myself agreeing for the most part with your conclusions, but the logic and rhetoric that you use to get to them is what troubles me. America is not a new Israel. That's Protestant mumbo-jumbo.

[enoch1122]

The subject of this article is the powerful spiritual reality that occurs when there is a return by humanity to the Lord God our Creator. The reason the word “return” is used is that in Biblical history it denotes a time when a people, who had become apostate, returned anew to the Lord. That event, the “return”, not only placed the people back to the place where they had been before the apostasy but the return itself generated a spiritual power that had not been known before. Likewise, in our day, a return to our creator could put the entire world on a course unequaled at any previous time in world history. No one can argue that world events have become beyond human control and that there needs to be drastic changes in all realms of human endeavor. Neglecting this change or “return” could hasten a destruction of life as we have known it. Returning to the Lord is the one act that can generate this change for the better.

By necessity, this article will follow the course of the ancient nation of Israel as recorded in the Old Testament. Israel’s history was one of continual apostasy and return, eventually resulting in their destruction as a nation. Many other kingdoms and empires rose and fell throughout history, nations and empires that far exceeded any we see today including the Sumerians, Egypt, Greece, Babylon, Persia and the Roman Empire. These civilizations collapsed on their own, never having a real God, other than the gods of nature they followed. Israel, on the other hand, was the first monotheistic nation and thus had to deal with the One True God who they ultimately were unable to please on a consistent basis. But when they did please God they, being one of the smallest nations of the world, achieved success beyond that of their larger neighbor nations.

The Biblical Book of the prophet Hosea illustrates this principle of return. He wrote vividly about the conditions which existed in the Northern tribes of Israel in about 800 B.C. He likens conditions in his homeland to that of a bride forsaking her husband and depicted Israel as an unfaithful lover, much like that of a prostitute. As the relationship with their God diminished so did the conditions in the country.

He writes: “Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, For the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness [truth] or kindness [loyalty] Or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, And everyone who lives in it languishes Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, And also the fish of the sea disappear” (Hosea 4:1-3).

This description could just as easily apply to conditions in our country today. Politics practice mass deception in order to garner votes. Crime is rampant, not only within the crimes of violence but the crimes of greed on Wall St. and by the rich. Animals on land, in the air and in the seas are becoming extinct at a level not previously known, as environmental conditions deteriorate. The lands (people) mourn as they see life pulled from under them. There is no joy only bloodshed, both literally and spiritually. Where is the faithfulness and truth that founded this nation?

Hosea goes on: “Harlotry, wine and new wine take away the [heart of] understanding. My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner’s wand informs them; For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, And they have played the harlot, departing from [under] their God” (Hosea 4:11-12). If there has even been a nation in which idols have replaced God it is the United States. What every man calls his toys are his idols. The car a man drives defines his character not his heart. Where and how he lives becomes his god as he strives to outdo his neighbor. Technology and communication has flooded the world with useless information and man revels in his knowledge of masses of irrelevant facts spread by those who do not know truth. Religion itself leads the masses astray by their adherence to legalistic moral codes they try to force on one another and attempt to incorporate into legislation, legislating morality on a scale as effective as the Catholic Inquisitions of days gone by. Sexual license to do as you please in that area has become the accepted norm of society. Faithfulness is rare and real commitment is unknown.

People today hide their eyes from these realities as civilization descends down the slippery slope to destruction. On the other hand, people who are aware of these conditions become discouraged when they realize there are no human solutions to the problems. Hope flourishes for a moment and fails just as quickly in the face of the reality that the fervent hope was not realized. What real solutions exist for such massive problems as the current national indebtedness, the rise of terrorist nations set on destruction of all who oppose them, the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the hands of the irresponsible and the raging of plagues, famine, natural disasters and unchecked nationalism leading to the ethnic cleansing of entire races of humans.

It becomes readily apparent that there can never be any real solutions to these ills by human action. The same humans who can send man into space, who can accomplish medical miracles, develop drugs for every ill and other acts of so called modernization cannot solve basic problems of providing a successful human social existence. But despite the magnitude of man’s problems there does remain a solution that is capable of turning the tide faster than the proverbial bullet. A returning to the Lord, the Creator, has more power inherent in it than the power of the big bang that created the entire physical universe.

Hosea’s answer for ancient Israel is the same answer available today—the power of returning to the Lord. He says:
“Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him.
“So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth” (Hosea 6:1-3).


It would appear that if anything America has lost its vision, the vision it had at the time of the founding Fathers. At the time, when we declared independence and fought and won an impossible war against the greatest power of the then known world, there was a vision of a form of government never seen in the world. Men of great diversity and difference of opinion came together and managed to agree on how this new nation would conduct its affairs. All differences and divides were put aside for the greater vision. That same vision carried us through other wars, a civil war, and two great world wars and brought us to the place it seemed anything was possible.

Although not necessarily formed as a Christian nation, we were founded on spiritual principles as real as its secular counterparts. As wise man once said “without a vision the people perish” (Proverbs of Solomon 29:18). And for good measure “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. “If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. “If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! (Mark 3:24-26). America today has lost its bearings, its vision, and its internal division has divided the country seemingly irreparably.


Today a new vision is set before us, for all those who choose to accept it. Whether we accept it or not it is coming and to those who see it will experience a complete newness of life on a scale not heretofore known. To those who do not, it could represent unprecedented destruction. The vision has been set to writing and is there for all to see.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true” (Revelation 21:1-5).


Can you imagine a new world where there are no tears, no grief, no mourning, no crying, no pain and no death? Most of us cannot because this world of strife and death is so familiar to us. We think, as Solomon wrote,


“Vanity of vanities,” [literally futility] says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! [futilities of futilities] All is futility.”
What advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the earth remains forever….
That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”?
Already it has existed for ages Which were before us.
There is no remembrance of earlier things;
And also of the later things which will occur,
There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still”
(Ecclesiastes 1:1-11).



However there is the promise of the better world which is more than a promise—it is the coming reality for those who will receive it.


Our current ills began back near the beginning of time when God expelled man from Paradise. However that expulsion was not meant to be permanent.


The great Apostle Paul explained as follows: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly [of its own will], but because of Him [God] who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now” (Romans 8:20-22). In other words creation, earth, plants, animals, the cosmos, was subjected to a state of futility as expressed by Solomon above. However, God placed creation in that state with the hope (let’s call it certainty) that at some point it would be released from this divinely imposed state and returned to His original purpose, perfection.

When God made creation He called everything good, including man (Genesis chapter 1). He was pleased with His work. But within this perfect creation God added one element that He desired above all else. That is He wanted man to chose Him, by His own will, over all else. God made man able to choose to remain in the perfected state or able to choose something else. Man, being man, chose another path to his ultimate detriment. It is in the consequence of that choice that we live today.

However, that choice was not permanent. The freedom to choose did not go away with the subjecting of creation to futility. We still have it today. It is the one quality that separates man from all of creation and is the greatest gift God gave man when he learns to choose correctly.

Yes man can choose freely, whatever he wants. Unfortunately choices involve consequences. Man chose incorrectly in the Garden of den and all of creation suffered from that wrong choice. Today, people can choose whatever they want, can live how they want, can believe or not, can curse or bless, but each choice carries a consequence. The choice with the greater eternal benefit is the subject of this article. Man can choose to return to His creator and, despite all the bad blood that has gone on before, the Creator is there to respond to that choice with the better consequences.

It has always been a choice to return, to turn or not to turn. John the Baptist, who came before Christ to announce his coming, preached that man should “repent” for the Kingdom of God (Christ) was at hand. The Hebrew verb for repent is “sub” which means to “return, to turn, to go/come back”. The Greek verb “metanoeo”, which is the word used in the New Testament as it was written in Greek, means, among other things “a radical, moral turn of the whole person to God” and means more than just changing one’s mind. It means a literal “turning” or “turning away” and actions that correspond to a leaving of the old and embracing the new (for a complete description see Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary, William D. Mounce, Zondervan Press, 2006; page 580-581).

Since John the Baptist knew that Christ was coming with a new law and a new way of living in the coming Kingdom of God, he told the people to repent, that is be prepared to turn from the old and embrace the new. “Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching [proclaiming, heralding] in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand [has come near].”… “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; (Matthew 3:2,8).

Repentance means more than just feeling sorry for yourself and your sin. It is a positive action in response to a provision made available by God to man who was given the power to choose. Man has the ability to choose God or to reject Him. One would do well to recall the words of Moses as he led the nation Israel from the wilderness to the Promised Land. “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today,” (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).

We, who find ourselves in the midst of the curse, have the power to choose the blessing. How do we do this? For one we cease thinking of god as a myth or a distant second cousin and realize He is right here among us willing to reverse the course of humanity and out lives. He is ready to forgive and forget all. He is ready to mete out the blessing which is our heritage. He stands ready to make “all things new”.

Don’t think for a minute that He is unaware of your personal situation. He knows your fears and your shattered dreams. He is aware of the hardships of losing your house, your job, your frustration over government and your feeling of being absolutely alone with nowhere to turn. He is aware of the terrors generated by unhindered evil rendered against those who do not believe as they do, the terrorists. His eyes peer deeper into your heart than you could ever do. As Jesus said: “not one sparrow falls from the sky that He is not aware of”. His understanding is inscrutable; His wisdom without measure. He knows all things. Yet he leaves the door open for us, His people, to choose Him. To return to Him. The power of returning to God exceeds all other power. It is the power to transform and defeat all His enemies. It is a power we can execute if we just ask Him. Our prayer should be “God I return to you, I can’t do this on my own, help me”. And He will, beyond your own expectations.


©Kenneth B. Alexander

[Jeremy]

Sorry I couldn't be bothered to read it all, there's not enough time in the world.

To build on Jordan9's point. Enoch is clearly religious, religion being the reverence of God/a god. If you are not religious, one would have to ask about the validity of your regard for anything to do with God, if you believe He exists. If you believe He does, in the way Christianity suggests, then you would be a fool to not revere Him.

[benpenguin]

Sorry, I only managed to read 60% of it.

Maybe I'm not enlightened enough, but we simply cannot run a country by abstract ancient sculptures. If you have to, you need to legislate.

You can write 2x more on this article simply by the point that "Isreal doesn't listen to god, they got spanked". It completely doesn't help. To me, I see similar phrases in islam / hindu / any other religions, and its just the same. "You don't listen to God xx, you got spanked; You listen, you get candies!".

The only way to attempt what you suggest is when God becomes emperor of the world. Else, anything he "says", if he actually exists at all, will be interpreted differently by different individuals. Riddle talk doesn't help with any real world issue.

[pugsville]

This God this guy describes gives man free will then punishes him if he does not make the right choice. I reject such a negative, life denying god, who simply cannot accept man's independence. Simply put he's a cruel fascists who deserves no respect what so ever.

[septimine]

Sorry, I only managed to read 60% of it.

Maybe I'm not enlightened enough, but we simply cannot run a country by abstract ancient sculptures. If you have to, you need to legislate.

You can write 2x more on this article simply by the point that "Isreal doesn't listen to god, they got spanked". It completely doesn't help. To me, I see similar phrases in islam / hindu / any other religions, and its just the same. "You don't listen to God xx, you got spanked; You listen, you get candies!".

The only way to attempt what you suggest is when God becomes emperor of the world. Else, anything he "says", if he actually exists at all, will be interpreted differently by different individuals. Riddle talk doesn't help with any real world issue.

Well, I personally think that was why he started the apostlic succession. The church has a place in the world, and when it did rule the social sphere was 1000x better. And really, that's what it was set up to be. Besides which any attempt at atheistic or multicultural societies has generally haven't turned out well.