Armed Takeover of the USA: What Would You Do?

Recently I came across a December 9, 2013 article entitled Nuremberg Revisited in a blog named Israpundit. A statement in the article has been haunting me:

After the shooting and mass murder of school children and teachers in Sandy Hook, CT, in December of 2012, Obama and his minions began demonizing guns and ammunition, and championed eliminating all guns. Yet the US Federal government and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) purchased 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition for domestic use. The DHS has national, not foreign, authority, yet purchased 450 million rounds of hollow point bullets that are even banned for military use by the Geneva Convention, enough for a seven-year war with Americans, DHS also purchased $400,000 worth of radiation-protection pills, and thousands of bulletproof roadside checkpoint booths.(Emphasis added).

In another Israpundit article on December 6, 2013 I saw where the army could come from that might use these weapons. It states,

"Back in 2010, Obama issued an executive order to expedite immigrant visa requests from Islamic countries. A person from a Muslim country could become a U.S. citizen in as little as ten weeks, with no I.D. and no declaration of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution. … Obama's Immigration Bill and his ensuing amnesty are not mainly about the 13 million or so illegal Latinos in this country but it is the back door entrance for over one hundred million Muslims to be brought to the US by 2018 – and, by some indications, such numbers could be as high as 150 million. Naturally, their presence would imply an intrinsic establishment of sharia law as the law of the American nation. The mainstream media is quietly avoiding to mention that Obama's amnesty plan specifically speeds up the visa process for immigrants from Muslim countries (Sections 2317 & 2318 of the amnesty bill).

What would I do? What if these weapons are used to impose some form of martial law in the USA? Jesus in the Bible tells us, "Love your enemies!" (Luke 6:35). What if Washington DC is locked down because President Obama refuses to step down with the backing of a civilian army? Jesus continued, "Do good to them" (Luke 6:35). How could I love and do good to a massively oppressive force as is being witnessed by 450,000 Christians in Central African Republic? "Lend to them without expecting to be repaid" (Luke 6:35).

What would you do?

Overcoming Self-Condemnation

These days it seems that many Christians are living in a world of inadequacy – inadequacy with themselves because of their own personal failures. As I was writing one of the workbooks in the Proverbs Untangled series, I received the following direction from the Lord regarding this sense of guilt and shame. If that is you, then dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray that you take this word from the Lord seriously.

I think we can all agree that Jesus Christ was the only perfect man to walk this earth. Let's say that His perfection is 100%.

According to Matthew 9:13, did Jesus come for the imperfect or the perfect? If we perceive ourselves as incapable of sinning or making mistakes, where is our need for Jesus? Or more to the point, if we are constantly striving to be that 100% but failing, where is our need for Jesus?

If we are operating at something less that 100%, say 80% perfect, what does Romans 8:1 say about the remaining 20%? It says, "For there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus."

Our sense of inadequacy says that we are focusing on that 20%, dwelling on each time we add another circumstance to that stumbling block. This sense of inadequacy says, "I could do it, I could achieve it, if I was only better at what I do."

Paul, after stating in Romans 7 that he continues to sin despite his efforts to achieve better, continues to that relieving word in Romans 8:1. Paul is stating that his 20% is covered by Christ; he is at 100%. His mistakes and sins do not lead to condemnation, for they have been forgiven and covered by grace.

If we are in Christ Jesus, we are now a finished work. We will continue to do things that we should not do, but to the glory of God, these are forgiven (John 3:17). Yes, we should continue to grow so that our 20% becomes less, but know that grace covers all.

If you are plagued by a sense of inadequacy, please know that you are 100% perfect in the eyes of Christ.

Keep Strong in Your Faith in the Lord as We Enter the Times Ahead

An email I recently received stated at its conclusion, "Keep strong in our faith in the Lord as we enter the times ahead." There seems to be so much truth in that brief statement.

The calendar year, as we know it from January 1 to December 31, is man's calendar, not God's. Man's calendar has a beginning and an end, but God's calendar is one of cycles (winter, spring, summer, fall) with neither a beginning nor an end. Under the old covenant, God gave the Israelites a calendar that began with what is now called Rosh Hashanah. In fact, January 1st is not an official holiday in Israel although many treat it as such.

To those of us that understand the end-times scenario, we see God's cyclical calendar taking a new form as described in the book of Revelations. The beginning, if you want to think of our current age, began at the tomb site in Jerusalem. The end of this age is approaching, and seems to be approaching rapidly.

FEMA, that is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, maintains a public record of severe disasters from 1953 to 2011, identifying 2011 as the highest total over that period. By looking at the list for 2011, it shows hundreds of major disaster, emergency, and fire management assistance declarations: floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, severe winter storms, straight-line winds, wildfires, etc. FEMA ran out of money in 2011, indicating the extent of this year's tragedies.

Outside United States, there were horrific tsunami, earthquake, volcanic and other disasters in 2011, including the event that nearly led to the collapse of four nuclear power plants in Japan. Major flooding in Thailand was just one of the many 'natural' events this year.

Socially, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was to many an unexpected uprising, as was the Arab Spring movement. Both movements hope to overturn the existing status quo governments, and to some extent they are having their degree of success.

Christine Darg, in her excellent book from 2007 entitled Miracles Among Muslims, wrote about large numbers of Islamic believers being converted to Christianity. She describes how dreams and healings are playing an important part in convincing muslim believers that Christ is still alive! This pattern of an end-times harvest has continued through 2011. With all of these events, the world both physically and spiritually is shaking. Will this next year be even more significant? Will the end as described in the book of Revelation take a new form? We certainly seem to be pointed in that direction. I don't know any more than you, but it certainly seems appropriate to follow the advice given by my friend, "Keep strong in our faith in the Lord as we enter the times ahead."