The Gathering Storm

As I write, it is December 21st, the day, according to many ignorant persons, the Mayans had predicted that the world would end. I just heard on the news that, since the 21st has come, and in certain parts of the world, gone, people are wondering if maybe this day just signals the end of an epoch or era, and the beginning of a new one! ( Sounds almost strangely familiar, huh? )

I agree ( I have been saying this all year ); this year ( 2012 ) could well spell the end of the 'world' ( question is; 'what 'world'?' ). In fact, I have more than once gone so far as to predict that very thing. Now, before you condemn me as being a false prophet, or prognosticator; remember that this year has signaled the end of many different things, the most recent probably, and no doubt indelibly etched in the memory of anyone with a heart, is the recent massacre of nearly 30 'innocents' ( mostly children ) in a small town in Connecticut.

While this, and other similar tragedies are just that; tragic, they also reveal the hypocrisy, particularly in the media, that has become rampant, and downright deplorable and abominable in this country. Without going to any great lengths; 'why are they so quick to condemn the murder of 20 children when they say nothing, unless it's in support, of the murder of the 3,000 plus ( statistically ) children who were murdered that same day in their mother's wombs?' ( Now, don't get me wrong; I'm not condemning the doctors any more than the mothers who selfishly conspired to murder their own children! )

This tragedy, conveniently enough, has served to raise the ire of the more ignorant citizens of this nation, against gun violence, and paving the way, no doubt, for further restrictions, if not an outright ban on guns ( which is what 'they' want, if you believe the conspiracy theorists ). And speaking of gun bans; this is not the only freedom that has been threatened, or even quietly ( and insidiously ) come to an end in the past year.

At this moment, the leaders of the country find themselves locked in a struggle to retain ( or regain ) the economic 'stability' of this nation. In the past few decades, if not the last century or so ( and much of this, for the average 'Joe', is hindsight ); much of our freedom, whether individual or corporate, has been slowly and almost silently eking away.

There is a 'storm' gathering, and the only way to either avert it ( this hardly seems possible ) or to make it safely through, is to call upon the Master of Seas and Tempests. The Gospel according to Mark, in chapter 4, verses 35-41, records the instance where Jesus significantly calmed the raging waters of the sea and stilled the gathering storm; He is the only who can still this tempest or guide us safely through it!

Sure; one may point out that we have averted many such 'storms' in this country in the past, and one may have a point there, of sorts, but how long does the respite last? A few decades, maybe? A few years ( at most ), before the problems crop up again and come back to haunt us!

Getting back to the main reason, and there are others, for this gathering storm; 'how long can a nation that has murdered over 55 million children ( and counting ) since 1973 ( and that's JUST since 1973 ) expect the blessings of a just God?' There is no doubt that this nation, to some extent, has enjoyed the blessing of the Almighty, due in large part to the fact that there is a remnant who have remained faithful to the Christian principles on which this nation was founded! It could also be said, that although the leadership of this nation has departed from those principles, there is still a semblance of those principles beating in this country, though you might say that it is long past time to 'get the paddles out'!

Though, as I will freely acknowledge, those tragedies, as the most recent one in Connecticut, are saddening, and most deplorable; they are nothing when compared to the losses this country has sustained over the last 39 years ( since Roe v. Wade ). Again, though this tragedy, and others like it, are deplorable, and much to be condemned, they are merely significant of the sickness that has overcome this nation as a whole. Sadly, especially, this includes many Christians, who, for whatever reason, have become almost fully immersed ( and entrenched ) in 'state-worship'. This sickness is caused by a stubborn self-reliance and a refusal to acknowledge and embrace a saving relationship with their Creator. Sadly, many Christians seem to have fallen into this trap, as well, and embraced the state as their 'worldly' savior, largely because of a misinterpretation of Scripture, along with a growing sense of apathy and laziness!

Can this 'storm' be avoided? Many think that through a re-education of the people of this nation it can, and indeed will be avoided! It will take a complete re-education, not only of the principles that our fore-fathers established, but of our relation to our Creator, and the re-establishment, in the hearts and hands of the people, of the truth and absolute necessity of that relationship. We have seen where simply following our fore-fathers has gotten us, particularly in the past 150 or so years! It would be good no doubt, and helpful, to return wholeheartedly to those principles, but there must be a repentance, a turning again to the One who established those principles in the first place, our Almighty God, Creator and Father!

With a growing apprehension, and yet peace.
Charles Haddon Shank