An American Reformation...

There is a great speech at the end of the LOTR: Return of the King where Viggo Mortenson delivers a rousing monologue that many of the readers of this blog are familiar with. It goes something like this:

Hold your ground! Hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers, I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight!! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!!!

Aragorn's battle cry reached out from beyond the movie screen into the hearts of the audience. I hope too that this blog will reach into the hearts of its readers.

Just as Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door on that infamous October day in Wittenberg, Germany, I pray that the Lord God of Hosts will so impress on our hearts the need for the reformation of the lives of Christians in America. However, as Luther's Theses divided the church, I pray that the reformation birthed within us would unify our hearts together for the cause of Jesus Christ. That it would go beyond denominational walls and minor doctrinal issues, and it would fuse together our hearts under the banner of the Glory of Christ Jesus.

It could be said that only in America can a person go to church, tithe, sing about the mercy and grace of God, be stirred by a sermon; and then continue on to a restaurant and be absolutely uncouth to their server and not think twice.

That here, in America, Christians find ways around accepting verses like Romans 8:17. That where it costs so little to follow Christ, we find ourselves asking God to lift the burden of suffering off of our backs. And yet, all over the rest of the world where dire persecution reigns, believers are only asking for stronger backs until the day of their glorification with Jesus.

Many times our weekly worship turns out to be nothing more than fulfilling an expected ritual. The same rituals whose concepts of religion are completely opposite of the original intent of Christianity, by replacing the newest praise and worship songs and lights and the best sophistic preaching instead of the disciplined effort of cultivating a relationship with Christ. Of which I am to be condemned first, (if it were in deed right to condemn an heir to the throne of Heaven in such a way).

It is in the only nation established Under God, and conceived in Liberty, that Christians will ignore the open attacks against the Creator of the Universe and the Savior of our Souls because of our careful attention not to impede on anyone's right of free speech. All the while we forfeit our right to stand up and defend the one who purchased us with His blood, in the name of political correctness. Ignoring that the one slandered in the status quo of pop culture is the very one whom destroyed sin and the grave at the price of His own life. And yet, we stand aside and allow the world to curse Him and call Him a fool. May God forgive us of our indifference.

What I propose is the reformation of the hearts of American Christians. May we begin to stand in the promise of the freedom of Christ our Lord. When will we begin to listen to James when he says,

"Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does."

Have we forgotten that Christ has called us to "take up our cross" and follow Him? That it was St. Paul that said that he had crucified himself with Christ, that he disciplined his body and set his mind not on the things that are carnal, but that are spiritual so that he would not gratify the things of his sinful nature? Has the open freedom to worship and discuss, with uninhibited passion (or lack there of) about the glory of God made us forget the time when the Church had to hide for risk of death? Have we forgotten the death of the martyrs who would rather face the sting of mortality than the shame of denying the cross?...

May it not be so!

I say to my brothers and sisters that today is the day for our stand. Now is the time that we begin to live what is preached from the pulpit. Not that we would become masochistic or violent, but that we would live the life that Paul described as, "worthy of the Lord." That it would begin with us, the simple few. That we would begin to "SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS". That we would begin to seek the gift GIVER and not the gifts.

Will today mark the end of our confident boasting of Christ and Him crucified?...

By no means!

I tell you that the day of our sterilization has not come! There may be a day when our children will hide in fear of reproach because of their faith, but it is not this day. My fellow Christians, I would call you into action along side of me. Stand with me now without quiver or reservation. May today be the day that is reckoned as the awakening of the American Christian!

-Jeff

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."