Josiah’s Inspiring Revival: Hope for the Post-Christian Society

The history of spiritual revival in King Josiah’s day is inspiring because it occurred during a time of great idolatry that was, well, probably worse than today. Though God had shown Josiah that judgment was coming to the land, nevertheless, a local spiritual revival occurred among those who were open to it before the final fall of Jerusalem occurred.

The apostle Paul prophesied of a “falling away,” an apostasy in the last days (II Th 2.3) and basically we are living in a post-Christian society. Nevertheless, God can send down a spiritual revival at any time and place and He’s not dependent on any world statistics or base support. I heard a sermon a long time ago by Jon Courson on this theme in II Kings but had renewed interest when I considered how applicable it is for us today. The following seven steps outline the revival that occurred in Josiah’s day:

New Temple in Jerusalem Planned

A new initiative has been established towards the construction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem alongside the existing Muslim Dome of the Rock Mosque. The Jerusalem Post featured the story June 21 describing the plans of the inter-faith coalition, “God's Holy Mountain Vision.” This is eye opening news for those who study Bible prophecy because both the Old Testament and the New Testament describe the rebuilding of the third Jewish Temple.

9/11 Videographer at Ground Zero Goes Public

The 9/11 cover up continues to unravel. In April 2009, John Farmer, the senior counsel to the 9/11 commission, announced his book outlining how the official commission report was a fraud. The same month a report identified an advanced explosive, nano-thermite, at four locations of the site. Now there is a new book out by a videographer of 9/11 who was recently interviewed. If you have been following the 9/11 quest for truth, the following article may be of interest:

The Main Question

There are varied themes and topics on my blog, but to me the main issue and the most important question in life is this: “What’s my relationship to God, or with God?” It doesn’t matter so much if people love you or hate you, if you are rich or poor, if you are famous or unknown. Jesus said the main question He will ask us when we pass on to the next life is this "Do I know You?" (Matthew 7.23) And so the main question isn't whether or not we know about God, but whether we know Him in a personal sense.

Solomon’s Object Lessons

I Kings outlines the rise and fall of the great King Solomon, up through the 11th chapter. As with David, people sometimes question Solomon’s true greatness due to the foolish decisions he made. He was given incredible wisdom, riches and honor, and yet, towards the end of his life it seems he played the fool. Solomon wrote over 1,000 songs, the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, but many of his greatest lessons are simply object lessons learned by observing his life:

1. Wisdom, Riches and honor will never satisfy our souls, only intimacy with God can. Solomon’s father David conquered Israel’s enemies and left, for the most part, a peaceful kingdom to Solomon. By God’s favor, young Solomon became the wisest, richest and most famous ruler of his time, but, apparently, that wasn’t enough for him. He began to collect multitudes of personal horses, wives and gold against God’s previous commands (Deut 17.16-17). Sometimes we think, “If only I had a bit more money, a bigger, nicer home, etc., then I’d have more happiness.” Solomon was the richest man in his time, but once God lost first place in his heart, Solomon became restless. His appetites for wealth and pleasure became insatiable, leaving only a sense of emptiness. His Book Ecclesiastes highlights this theme.

Baptism: Drowning in Grace

Baptism has got to be one of the most meaningful moments in a believer’s life. You say “so long” to the old and though you’re not quite sure exactly what God has in store for you in the future, you know He’s a God of grace and love and that’s enough, and so you take the plunge.

Something astounding happens when a person receives Christ as Savior. Colossians 1.13 says
“For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” (NLT) There’s a spiritual transference from death to life. Jesus called it being “born again” in John 3.3. Baptism is an outward sign of this radical inward work. It can be easy to forget just how radical the transition is, but baptism helps to remind us that it really is a decisive moment. In an instant, our past is forever forgiven and forgotten while His "spirit of adoption" reassures us that we are forever in His hand, protected and loved as His children (Rom 8.12-25). In reality, we’ve experienced the most beautiful kind of death imagineable, a drowning in grace. And we spend the rest of our lives enveloped in the promise and assurance of His grace and love.

The Obamanation of Desolation

Obama has achieved cult status, as one customer's photo at a Borders book display testifies. So what else is new? He's just declared June "Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month." It's kind of a long title, maybe "Abomination Month" would better summarize the main idea. Though about 50% of the world, including Jews, Christians and Muslims have convictions against these views, Obama says he’s "joined efforts with the United Nations" to "decriminalize" these lifestyles "around the world," which means... the new criminals will be any people who express views to the contrary, as already evidenced in Canada and Sweden. Oy, just Oy.