The Diagnosis

"We are in this struggle together.  You have seen  my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it."  Philippians 1:30 

     As I contemplated 9-11 this morning and the war we find ourselves in, I'm almost overwhelmed with the perplexities of it.  It's a very complicated conflict!  This war is not against another nation, although there are nations involved, it's not for the acquisition of land or wealth, although land and wealth are involved and it's not even against an evil empire.  It is simply a war over philosophy, or religion.  It's as if we were all of a sudden fighting the Buddhist, or the Hindus, or the Ku Klux Klan!  It's crazy!
     Now I have to offer a disclaimer right away, so I don't offend anyone.  I know there are Muslims who are not terrorists, who are not out to kill us.  I listen to them on T.V. and have come to admire many of them.  Dr. Jasser is one of the most reasonable, patriots we have in this country today.   It would be like someone looking at the Christian world and equating it all with the KKK, just because they claim Christianity.  For this reason I sympathize with people like Dr. Jasser.  He doesn't want to be identified with the terrorists any more than I want to be lumped in with the KKK  I understand that.  But having offered my disclaimer, I must continue to oppose the thinking of people like the terrorists we are fighting, no matter with whom they align themselves.
     One of the great distractions of this war is that we are now fighting with each other over the semantics of what to call the enemy.  Even the President felt it necessary to offer his disclaimer in his speech last night when he said, "Let's be clear about one thing.  This is not Islam!"  Okay, we get it.  We all know that people can take a body of writing, no matter how "holy" it's believed to be and twist it or select parts of it, to fit their evil desires.  And there are those among us who simply hate Islam.  They, or someone they love, have been offended or hurt by it.  But to be honest there are those among us who hate Christianity for the same reasons.  Evil in the heart of mankind finds a way to hurt and kill no matter what that man calls himself.  But the war we are in is serious.  It is serious because in this case the evil has found a way to concentrate or pool in cells all over the world and it is seeking the destruction of everyone and everything that is not like it.  The word and concept of cancer is a very apt illustration of it.
     So how do we fight cancer in the body?  There are many ways, all which have been effective in different ways and in different bodies.  Some fight it with radiation.  Radiation targets the spot and seeks to kill it at the source.  Some fight it with drug therapy.  Drugs are effective when it has spread to different parts of the body because the drug that seeks to kill it, goes throughout the system.  Some fight it through diet and exercise or a change in their environment that may be causing the cancer.  Some fight it with prayer or the seeking of Divine intervention that will change the source of the evil and defeat it at the heart.  Like I said before, all of these methods have at different times and in different lives been effective.  I'm sure that everyone reading this can point to one of these methods and offer a testimony of how they worked on someone they know.  So knowing this, I don't discount any of them.
     Now, equating this with Islamic Terrorism, shouldn't we be employing the whole package in our fight against it?  I say, send in the Military, (Radiation and Chemotherapy), send in aide workers to parts of the world where the evil is growing, both in or out of our country, (diet and exercise) and send in the missionaries, (prayer and spiritual instruction).
     Because, God has given us the perfect example, cancer and the fight against it, we need to learn from that example, stop fighting with each other over the methods and get on with the war!
This is my, 2 cents!

     Oh and let us not forget the souls who have given their all for the fight.  Today we remember and honor those heroes who have sacrificed to bring this evil to an end.  And in honoring them and watching the ceremonies commemorating 9/11/2002, let's remember that this was the day we received the diagnoses... "You have cancer! You need to take up arms and fight or you're going to die!"   Find your place in the battle and don't walk away from it.

"...for you are fighting the Lord's battles!"  1Samuel 28b

OUR CALL

  "They... of Whom This World Was Not Worthy!" Hebrews 11:38a

"Also, I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man will also confess before the angels of God." Luke 12:8a

     As I sat in the pew of my church Sunday morning, worshiping and adoring the Lord Jesus in song, then listening to my very capable, interesting, entertaining Pastor, preach an instructive, faith edifying sermon, surrounded by warm, welcoming, brothers and sisters in Christ, I was happy and comfortable and I left with the glow of a new bride.  Now I know that this introduction is a run on sentence, for all you "grammar Nazi's" out there, but I had to write it like that because it perfectly expressed where I was at that precise moment. And that's important to the story.  Stick with me, you'll understand later.

     I came home, ate lunch and settled down in my recliner for a Sunday afternoon nap.  Then I decided to check in on Facebook before I went to sleep.  There I came across this article:

NEWS: Iraqi Christian Village: From Sanctuary To Ghost Town in 2 Months!

     I looked at their faces and my heart was touched, so I whispered a prayer for them, reposted the article and went to sleep.

     Then I went back to church last night for a night of singing and fellowship, communion and an ice cream social.  During communion, as I bowed my head and meditated on what the Lord has done for me, these faces edged their way into my mind.  I remembered that father's face, etched deeply with anger and frustration, and that mother's face showing the profound sadness engulfing them.  Then I remembered the kids,... innocent, questioning, insecure.  My heart became extremely heavy and I thought of two scriptures, which I wrote at the beginning of this blog: "Also, I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him The Son of Man, will confess before the angels of God." Luke 12:8  Now in my bible that verse is in Red.  That means the words were spoken by Jesus. It suddenly occurred to me that Jesus knows the name of that family and He's shouting it to the "angels of God"!  He's saying something like this, "These are MY people! Look at them, angels!  They could have stayed in their village and converted to Islam, and lived a few more years on the earth.  Instead they are "...wondering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground." (Hebrews 11:38b) ...for My Name!"  They are "...too good for this world!" (Hebrews 11:38a)

     I prayed for them again.  This time a sincere, heart felt plea for their safety, their rescue and that their faith would not fail.  Then I realized that this is my "call".  As I sit safely, happily in my pew, fellowshipping with my brothers and sister in the faith, I'm here, not just to absorb it all and leave feeling warm and fuzzy.  But I'm here, in this situation, to be a prayer warrior for these Hebrews 11 Christians.  It doesn't matter what their nationality or even their church affiliation might be.  They ARE my brothers and sisters.  Luke 12:8 is their birth certificate and proof of cutizenship in heaven.  My next prayer was for me and my American brothers and sisters.  It was...

     I might add, help us to receive with understanding, "our call"!