Philippians 1:12-13 (CSB): “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ.”
Matthew 13:24-26 (NKJV): “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.’”
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“DARK WINTER” AHEAD
THE APPARENT VICTORS of the recent U.S. election for President and Vice President have promised a “very dark winter” is coming.
TWO CONCLUSIONS ARE EVIDENT.
FIRST CONCLUSION: The election results are highly suspect, leading 73 million Americans convinced the tabulation was fixed, and the election was stolen, meaning the “victors” are imposters.
SECOND CONCLUSION: The new administration will use the apparent “health crisis” as a pretext to implement draconian regulations over every area of our lives.
OBSERVATION: Polling shows that 99 percent of white evangelical Christians voted for the “losing” candidate, the incumbent President, not because of the individual’s personal qualities but because his policies were consistent with Christianity’s — and a well-ordered society’s — foundational values.
QUESTION RAISED: How do committed Christians, those who profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, react to the prospect of a rigged election giving sanction to strong foes of Christian values unfettered power to exert their will in response to a “crisis”?
GLOOMY ASSESSMENT
GIVEN THE NATURE of the election’s outcome, credulity is stretched to the breaking point to believe the election was conducted “fair and square.”
CONSIDER:
- The apparent “victor” never campaigned,
- The incumbent President increased his vote total by 10 million over the prior election, with the most votes of any sitting President in U.S. history,
- Massive campaign to ensure one party casts its votes by mail-in ballot, which Democrats, like actor Rob Reiner, said would give them a landslide victory,
- The “victor” could not bring in with him one member of either the House or the Senate, while the apparent loser did,
- Vote counting in several swing states stopped for three hours in the middle of the night while additional “ballots” were trucked in,
- Credible reports were lodged, with supporting affidavits, of
- Malfeasance in counting, with some voters being afforded an opportunity to fix or “cure” errors in their ballots, while others were not,
- Failure to account for different signatures on the ballot and envelope,
- Numerous ballets counted in which the voters only chose a presidential candidate, ignoring down-ballot candidates,
- Votes for the winning candidate run through the vote-tabulating machinery multiple times,
- More people voting in a district than are registered,
- Coding irregularities in the electronic systems used in some districts that reportedly switched votes cast for the losing candidate to be recorded for the victor.
This is the stuff of third-world banana republics. If the voting irregularities are not clearly identified and fixed before the off-year election in 2022, our republic may be irretrievably lost.
Certainly, the era of two-party politics, as we have known it since the Republic’s beginning, will be damaged or even destroyed.
ANTI-CHRISTIAN AGENDA
WHILE THIS GLOOMY assessment of a dark winter coming was based on reaching a total of 10 million American citizens having been diagnosed with Covid, the phrase could serve as watchwords for the draconian specter of intense and overreaching government regulation of nearly every facet of our lives the administration-in-waiting represents.
As such, it is a pretext for the new administration’s real agenda
Headlines tell us that Biden/Harris promise a four-year reign of terror by promoting:
- Abortion-on-demand
- Allowing babies that survived abortion to die naturally
- Rescinding “freedom of conscience” exceptions allowing health care providers to avoid performing abortions
- LGBTQ+ “rights” being ratified into law
- Requiring churches to perform “marriages”
- Requiring court clerks to issue “marriage” certificates
- Requiring vendors to support “marriages”
- Requiring employers and insurers to honor “marriages”
- Roll-back of religious liberty
- Stifling freedom of expression
- Regulation of personal energy use
- Socialized medicine (Medicare-for-all)
- Tipping the election machinery to benefit themselves:
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- Eliminating the Senate filibuster
- Adding 1 or 2 new “states”with assured Democrat Senators
- Giving amnesty to millions of illegal residents, whose amnesty will be a “gift” from the Democrats
- Packing the US Supreme Court to ensure a liberal “progressive” majority
- Opening the borders to increase the flow of illegal immigrants-to-amnesty status
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- Increase in racial tension
- Harassment and punishment of those working for, and those supporting, the former President.
In other words, “everything is on the table,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the Senate’s minority leader, vowed. He said, if his party wins the two Georgia run-off elections on Jan. 5, 2021, Democrats will “change the world.” He later scaled it back to “change America.”
The phrase “never let a crisis go to waste,” used by many but popularized in the United States by left-wing activist Rahm Emmanuel, is the strategy governing the activities of the incoming Biden-Harris Administration.
The slang expression this scenario best fits is this: “You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.”
JESUS IS SOVEREIGN
DESPITE THIS GRUESOME picture, there is no reason for committed Christians to despair, even in the midst of trials and tribulations, because our Lord Jesus is on the throne. He remains sovereign over all.
The Book of Revelation tells us that, in the end, Jesus wins, and his children will be victorious along with Him.
Revelation 15:4 (NKJV): “Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.”
Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi also sounded a note of pure optimism and hope:
Philippians 2:9-11 (NKJV): “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
As antipathy toward conservatives grows, especially those conservatives who are seen to be Christian, there could be a beneficial outcome to the Christian church, which has become too complacent in modern America.
The fissures within denominations over doctrine, and the factions within non-denominational churches, could escalate as Bible-based members separate from the “cultural Christians” among them, just as in the Judgment Day, the wheat will be separated from the weeds. (Matthew 13:24-30)
In some cases, the casual Christians could “wake up” to the challenges; while in other cases, they would melt away to join their unchurched neighbors. In either case, what is left could be a more vibrant, alive church of Christians committed to their faith.
Paul, from a Roman prison, writes:
Philippians 1:14 (ESV): “And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”
The faithful may well find themselves persecuted. What form that might take in the United States is yet to be determined, but, based on recent events, it certainly will entail branding, shaming, doxing, harassing at home or on the street or at restaurants, and even opposition at work.
Paul tells us:
Philippians 1:29 (CSB): “For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.”
We need to stay in prayer (1 These. 5:17) and know that our Savior will be victorious:
Job 19:25 (NET): “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that as the last he will stand upon the earth.”
David Schopp, a member of Community Bible Church in Beaufort, SC, characterized our circumstances this way:
“Right now, we can feel like darkness is closing in all around us. The challenges we are facing just seem to keep coming. The best way for us to do battle and shine our light in the darkness is on our knees.” — David Schopp, 12-10-2020
On our knees. Indeed.
The apostle Paul again:
Philippians 4:7 (CSB): “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
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LoveAndGrace 