a tale of two cities: a choice

This is the time to mourn. The church must wake up and mourn. I am talking to the church as a whole on earth, not just America, China, Europe, Africa, Asia, Third world or first world. I am calling out to both the traditional evangelical and the Spirit-filled and Bible believing-all who believe the reality and truthfulness of the words of God both Old and New Testament, from Genesis to revelation. This is the time to wake up from narrowness and exclusiveness. Just look at Jesus. The example He set while on earth! Look at the apostles, Peter’s call to the Gentile’s home, Paul’s call to the world of demons (idolatry-infested world), and all the apostles and disciples of the first church who were scattered all over the world before Christianity. No, I am not talking about missionaries going now to the foreign worlds. I am talking about your own home ground your own nation wherever you are if you can read English and this blog. Wake up and stop one thing before you go out and evangelize. Stop your physical mind’s prejudices. Look at Jesus. What He did not do and what He did. Be led by the Holy Spirit as you read.

My spirit urged me to summarize what Jesus did not do:
1. He did not ask a man of other faith to kill anyone (regardless what they believed in or their lifestyle was)in the name of God.
2. He did not condemn anyone except the religious hypocrites who stopped people from coming to Jesus and believing in the Good News Jesus brought to all mankind.
3. Even so, Jesus did not kill or send anyone to kill the hypocrites.
4. He did not condone anyone judging another.
5. He did not agree to using physical force (violence) to resolve injustice within a nation.

A summary of what Jesus did:
1. Jesus came to save sinners and healed the sick.
2. Jesus put forgiveness as number one consideration, even for His enemies.
3. Jesus associated/socialized with sinners.
4. Jesus showed love and compassions.
5. Jesus gave life.

By agreeing with the thieves who came in to steal, kill and destroy lives, the church becomes accomplice to murder. Don’t you ever realize that in the spiritual realm the territorial spirits fight among themselves? Their number one ruler does his own harvest of souls by pitching his subordinates one against another.

You may ask, when the time is so bleak and you need to choose between two imperfect candidates for your national number one, whom should you choose? Didn’t the Bible show you the history of Israel, in the bleakest time when they were besieged by the strongest enemies and their own weakest kings ever? What did God ask prophet Jeremiah do? Jeremiah became the national number one traitor because he gave his countrymen an oracle that they were to choose the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar instead of choosing the Egyptian king Necho II. There was no other option. God told them to choose Nebuchadnezzar. Did Nebuchadnezzar do a good job in finishing off the other enemies of God? He did. On the other hand, Necho II failed in his attempted conquests.

The Israelites refused to listen to the divine oracle and thus suffered defeat and were still taken to Babylon for a season to be cleansed, healed, to recuperate and restore their spiritual strength just as prophesied. These deportations are dated to 597 BC for the first, with others dated at 587/586 BC, and 582/581 BC respectively. After the fall of Babylon to the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 539 BC, exiled Judeans were permitted to return to Jerusalem and Judah of Israel. The temple of Jerusalem and the walls were re-built. Worship of the true God resumed.

This is a record of the history of God. When Christians read God’s history and look at what Jesus did to demonstrate how things in this world are done, we will know what to choose and who to vote for. We shall always align with the plan of God even in the bleakest time in our own history. Look at Jesus and look at the two choices, which do you think is more like Nebuchadnezzar? Who do you think will bring your nation out of its weakling’s position? Who is the strong man? Who will be given the might to defeat the many foes inside and outside? Was Nebuchadnezzar a godly man? Not at the beginning. But in the book of Daniel he finally encountered the reality of the God of Israel, our God. And Nebuchadnezzar turned over a new leaf.

Jesus demonstrated this equally seemingly unusual choice by choosing the chief tax collector, the ungodly rich man Zacchaeus in the land of Israel as his host for a dinner party. The Son of God Himself gave this honor and privilege to a person disliked and even hated by many fellow Jews. In today’s term, a most un-Christian person. What happened after he encountered Jesus? He was transformed and saved. He did lots of good deeds to his fellow countrymen.

Summary: Look at the divine records.