THE 42nd GENERATION

Lately, I cannot help but wonder where we are headed as individuals, in our relationships, as a nation, and in the world.  I look around and see and hear things like I have never seen and heard before.  I say, "Who would have thought, when I was a kid, 50 years ago, that things would be as they are today?"   I was a kid then, so what did I know to be able to answer that question?   Not much at the age of 12.  But I am guessing that my parents would be shocked at what I see and hear today. Certain beliefs and opinions of people are very troubling.  The obvious deceptions that occur by many politicians is scary.  Wrong is now right, and right is now wrong.  Laws are misguided and persecutionary (is that a word?), some petty, some outrageously wrong, and there are laws on top of laws on top of laws, outdated and even conflicting.  How can we continue to live this way?  How much worse can it get?  Not 'can' it get, but 'will' it get...

Andrew Murray was a South African writer, teacher, and Christian pastor who lived from 1828 to 1917.   He wrote many excellent books.  I just finished one of his books titled, "The Two Covenants".   In the last chapter, he says some things that make me wonder about our condition as Christians, about my condition as a Christian. I wonder if we are wholeheartedly following Christ , or do we have one foot fully  in the world and one foot fully of the world . I wonder if things are getting so bad in the world, even in the USA, that we, as Christians, will stay in our duality of being in and of the world, rather than fully, wholeheartedly embracing a dead to self life in Christ .  Even to the point of living fully in the supernatural realm and relying not on the physical world.  Even to the point of finding a gold coin in the mouth of a fish to pay our taxes. After reading the following excerpt from Andrew Murray's book, "The Two Covenants", ...

Last night, I had a dream about Barak Obama.  It went like this: President Obama was standing on a platform higher than me.  He was directly above me, very close.  He could reach down to shake hands.  He was at a campaign event.  He was smiling, but his smile looked somewhat artificial, not sincere, forced.  He looked at me and said, "Would you pray for me?"    He paused briefly, looking at me, expecting an answer.  I hesitated very briefly because I could not pray for him to win the election, but I knew the request required a proper response.   I understood his question to mean, "Would you pray for me so that I would win the election?"  I thought to myself, I certainly could not pray that he win the election, but I should pray for him.  After my brief pause, I tried to tell him, but I was interrupted by others talking and he was looking away, "I can pray, 'God's will be done in your life'."  He did not hear me. ...