Musing – Are We Praying for a “Great Awakening”?

 

Prayer Musing – Are We Praying for a “Great Awakening”?

Our Pastor is calling for another “Great Awakening”.  We need the Lord to intervene in the ungodly direction of current events.  He thinks we only have 6 months to a year before we will be a socialist country!  I agree!

America has had revivals, movements and “Great Awakenings” in the past.  Revivals and movements are relatively short in effectiveness – one church, a few weeks, etc.   But “Great Awakenings” impact generations and change the nature of a Nation!  Here’s examples you may recognize:

·      “First Great Awakening” in America occurred c.1730–1755 as a result of Prayer.  This led to signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 which founded our nation.  Evangelical Protestant denominations supported theological, social, and rhetorical goals.  Jonathan Edwards lit white-hot flames throughout the colonies with his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."  Meanwhile, George Whitefield swept the white-hot flames through all of New England and the South.  And our Nation was born!

·      Reform Movements occurred in the 1800’s such as temperance, abolition of slavery, women's rights, child labor and prison reform.  But Religious life in America continued to decline.

·      “Second Great Awakening” in c.1855 to early 1900’s resulted in a major transformation of our Nation’s spirituality characterized by new denominations, active missionary work, and the Social Gospel approach to social issues. The YMCA (founded in 1844) played a major role in fostering revivals in the cities in the 1858 Awakening and after. The Awakening produced leadership, such as that of Dwight L. Moody.

The Power of Group Prayer played a big role in the “Second Great Awakening”.  In New York City alone 10,000 people gathered together daily, even left work to pray; happening nation-wide. 

·      Events and Movements since then have had some, but limited, impact on our Spiritual landscape:

o  WWII (1941-1945) stirred people to prayer;

o  The Jesus Movement was started in 1968 in a communal house in Costa Mesa, CA, and quickly spread across the nation, appealing to disaffected college-age youth.  It created a shift in church music styles.  Many denominations lost membership but Baptists, AofG, Charismatics & Pentecostals grew.

o  9/11 Attack! (Sept. 11, 2001) Churches experienced renewed attendance and prayer (for a few weeks!)

What will a Socialist America be like?    Could it happen in less than 6 months or a year? 
Many concerned Christians are relying on Jesus to return, but what if He doesn’t?  
Are we ready for the inevitable living conditions, mandates and persecutions we will have to endure? 

Does America need another “Great Awakening”?      
            What’s needed is Somebody to take charge & give direction.   Isaiah – “Here am I, send me.”
            People ask “What can we do?”   Answer – Start now to Pray in GROUPS!

Points to ponder

Do you personally think a “Great Spiritual Awakening” is really needed?   How important is it?

 Remember last week’s musing –  Are we caught in “Normalcy Bias”?
What is needed to overcome “Normalcy Bias”?   A – Somebody to take charge & give direction.
Are you willing to die in order to help?  

Can you really be a Passive Christian?   or   Can a real Christian remain Passive?

What’s the Church of Jesus Christ most afraid of … Covid?   or   People going to Hell?

Are you/we involved in Group Prayer like those that started the prior “Great Awakenings”?

When will serious Group Prayer begin?    When will the need be recognized!!!

♫ Praying for a great awakening, Jesus will you help us, please, We’re on our knees, we’re on our knees…

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      September 28, 2021
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      http://insightsbyyosef.blogspot.com/

Musing – Are We Suffering from “Normalcy Bias”?

 Prayer Musing – Are We Suffering from “Normalcy Bias”?

What’s going on that we have accepted as “Normal”?  Here are a few things we may not like, but these are happening around us and becoming our “Woke” American way of life:  

Statues & History being deleted; Founding documents declared “harmful”; Divisiveness & Fear; Total Disregard for biblical morality; Christian persecution; Watered down & sold out Christian churches; Promoting a One World Government; Censorship of Free Speech (News media, Education system, Social Networks); Disrespect for lives of babies & elders; Erosion of Liberty (Mandates, Passports, Gun control); Corrupt voting; Court packing; Inflation with taxes & rising debt; Politicized Military; Free stuff buying votes & power; Bought Politicians (So Government run by tech giants, billionaires, shadow figures, but not “of the people”); etc.   

These changes are becoming our way of life, right from the ungodly socialist Marxist playbook.

“Normalcy Bias” refers to a mental state people enter when facing a disaster.  People underestimate both the possibility of a disaster and its effects.  Therefore they fail to adequately prepare for a disaster and assume that if it never has occurred then it never will occur.  People have difficulty reacting to things they have not experienced; so they tend to rely on ambiguities to infer a less serious situation. 

Here’s some Historical examples of “Normalcy Bias”:

·      Vesuvius Volcano erupted, the residents of Pompeii watched for hours without evacuating. 

·      Thousands of people refused to leave New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina approached.

·      Insufficient vests & lifeboats to evacuate passengers on the Titanic & people ignored evacuation orders.

·      Fukushima nuclear plant officials were convinced a reactor meltdown could never occur.

·      Soccer match fire, people watched and ran too late!  Restaurant fire people finished the steak, until too late!

·      70% of 9/11 survivors spoke with others (i.e. phoned home) before leaving. 

·      In a few weeks after September 11, 2001, we returned to daily matters, back to “normal”!
   And Afghanistan’s troubled bailout occurs September 2021, exactly 20 years later. 

·      German Jews - The Nazi genocide of six million Jews is a stark reminder of “normalcy bias.”  After knowing that friends, family, and other Jews were being taken against their will, many still stayed put, refusing to believe something life-threatening was going on.  They didn’t flee their homes and countries when they had the chance.  (I’ve cried at those sites & memorials in Europe.)

What might a Socialist America be like?  Some think it will happen in less than 6 months to a year. 

Many concerned Christians are relying on Jesus to return, but what if He doesn’t?   Are we ready for the inevitable living conditions we may have to endure?   

People ask – “What can I do?”    One answer – “Pray – individually and in groups!”

Points to ponder

Are we caught in a “Normalcy Bias”?  

What’s needed to overcome a “Normalcy Bias”?   Answer –
Somebody to take charge & give direction.      Are we willing to die in order to help?

What’s the Church of Jesus Christ most afraid of … Covid?    or   People going to Hell?

Can we really be  Passive Christians?   or   Can a real Christian remain Passive?

Do we think a “Great Spiritual Awakening” is really needed?   How important is it?

♫  They rush on the city, they run on the wall,  Great is the Army that carries out His Word.
The Lord utters His voice,  before His army, …  Sound the alarm in My Holy Mountain.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, Zion;   Sound the alarm,   Sound the alarm…♫ 

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      September 21 2021
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      http://insightsbyyosef.blogspot.com/

Musing - Are You Paddling or are You Just Sitting in the Boat?

 Hebraic Musing - Are You Paddling or are You Just Sitting in the Boat?

How is our Christian walk, or ride, like white water rafting?  Here’s a good way to put our spiritual life and commitment into perspective.  Tom Robbins’ friend Brenda* shared an experience that had to do with her spiritual life and commitment.  Here’s her recount:

When going white water rafting with husband and 2 boys, the Guide hands out the oars for the demonstration of how we are to row through still water and through the rapids.  When he tried to hand me one I politely said "No thank you!  I'm just along for the ride."  He very patiently told me that I could not just ride.  He explained that I would be okay in the still waters but when we hit the rapids the only sure way to stay in the boat was to dig my oar deep into the water.  He went on...The surest way to get bounced out of the boat in the rapid water is to just be along for the ride!   With my next breath I politely asked for an oar!  I’ve been Happily paddling ever since!”

Are you paddling or are you just sitting in the boat?

I am convinced that God wants people who will paddle; who will dig their oars deep into life and make a difference.  That’s what the story of the Good Samaritan is about.

When the priest and Levite saw the man dying in the middle of the road, they walked around.  They were the types that were “just along for the ride.”  But when the Samaritan saw the man’s needs, he dug his oar deep into the water and made a difference.  This cost the Samaritan effort, money, and most importantly, his time.  But he was the one who did God’s will.   And Jesus concluded  “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:37 

Again, are you paddling or are you just sitting in the boat?  Every day, every morning, God gives us the opportunity to pick up an oar and dig in deep.  I pray we do just that.

Suggested Prayer:  “Dear Gracious Heavenly God, please give me opportunities to serve you by serving others.” 

Don’t get bounced out of the boat.  Pick up an oar and start paddling.

Points to ponder

Are you encountering rough water that is trying to bounce you out of the boat?
Don’t get bounced out of the boat.  Pick up an oar and start paddling.

Being a secret admirer of Jesus costs nothing, but becoming a follower comes with a price.
Don’t get bounced out of the boat.  Pick up an oar and start paddling.

Life is a series of hills and valleys.
How much paddling does it take to get out of the valleys?

Our neighbors can be difficult to get along with;
are we willing to dig in, make the effort and get our hands dirty?

Pray to Jesus with all your heart; but keep rowing toward shore.

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      September 14, 2021
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”  Weekly “Hebraic Musings”   insightsbyyosef.blogspot.com/

*  Inspired by & Excerpted from “Daily Devotional from Tom Robbins” 

Musing – What Was God’s Plan for Man, His Creation?

 Hebraic Musing – What Was God’s Plan for Man, His Creation?

Psalm 1:1-3 describes the Righteous Man.  “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.”  NIV

Then verses 4-6 deal with consequences due the ungodly.  “Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.  For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

The psalmist continues giving good advice in Psalm 2:10-12 and a hint of the Son who is to come.  “Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.  Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.  Blessed are all who take refuge in him….”

In the third Psalm, David, recognizes that the LORD is clearly with him!  “But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.  To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.  Selah   I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.”  Ps.3:3-5

I was listening by audio to Psalms/songs this AM and was struck by the two types of MEN in the opening verses, the Righteous and the ungodly.  David as a righteous man reached out in Psalm 5:1-2. “Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing.  Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.”

Then Psalm 8 wonderfully describes the LORD and His plan to send a Man! 

·      ♫ “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! ♫

·      You have set your glory above the heavens.  

·      From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

·      When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

·      You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 

·      You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

·      ♫ O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” ♫   Psalm 8:1-9

What did the LORD make us to be?  A - Just a little lower than heavenly beings! (Elohim in Hebrew) WOW!

Finally, Psalm 12:1-2 describes the result of mankind’s failure to recognize the LORD.  “Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.  Everyone lies to his neighbor; their flattering lips speak with deception.”  And Psalm 14 describes the folly of the Godless by starting with “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

I had a diverse morning by reading the daily news and then “listening” to Psalms 1 to 22!!!  Try it.

Points to ponder

What has man done with the choices the LORD gave him?

Can you start read Psalm 8 without breaking into song?

Is the unnamed “Man” in Psalm 8 about us?  Or about a Son who is promised to us?

Whose name is Majestic in all the earth?

♫ I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing I will sing.
            With my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations. ♫  Psalm 89:1

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      September 7, 2021
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”  Weekly “Hebraic Musings”   insightsbyyosef.blogspot.com/