A Sea of Glass

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

Revelation 21:1

In most of today's theological & political landscape, there is so much of a focus on the individual that The Story seems to have lost all relevance! There is definitely an individual aspect to life & living, but because we have put too much emphasis on individual accomplishment, The Story has, in many cases, been forgotten! If we are ever to get back to where we should be in this nation, we must remember that Story, our part in it, and learn from our past History!

Many Americans, including our exalted leaders, seem to want to 'turn the desert ( Middle-East ) into a sea of glass'! In other words, they think the easiest solution would be to 'bomb the hell out of 'em'! 'Kill 'em all, and let God sort 'em out', is another phrase that might be used here. Though these and like solutions may seem to be wise, at least in the minds of men, they are far from the Wisdom from above!

Much of the problem ( some would say 'the entire problem' ) in both today's theological & political landscapes stems from a false view of eschatology, or what is known as 'End-Times'! The Foreign Policy of the United States ( of America ), especially as regarding the Middle-East, is powered largely by the false belief that the current nation/state of Israel is still The Promised Land of God's Chosen People. This again, is powered by the notion that Jesus has not yet redeemed His People ( Israel ), and thus, we must wrest  The Land from it's native ( Christian or not ) inhabitants, and return it to those who  follow Judaism ( or at least claim to )!

The current president of the good ole U.S. of A. receives too much of the blame for the mess that this nation ( as well as other parts of the world ) finds itself in! The suffering that we are now in the midst of goes much further back than just the last 6 years or so! We can't even blame our problems on George Bush, Franklin D. Roosevelt, or Abraham Lincoln!

The decimation ( I use this term in a metaphorical way ) that many have noted in our political landscape is merely a symptom of our nation's theological desolation! Because the Church has forgotten the significance of Story, She has removed the importance of 'The Corporate Body', and focused instead on 'individualism'. This 'individualism', or focus on individual accomplishment, has leached out into the field of education, which has adversely influenced our very way of life!

Counting the Costs

The economy of this nation has been bankrupt for years, due in large part to the Foreign Policy of the U.S. Inc.! This nation has become, in many respects, morally bankrupt, and the Church, institutionally speaking, anyway, has become metaphorically bankrupt! We are hated by many nations because of our Foreign Policy, and have become a laughing-stock to many others because we, who used to be so lofty & exalted, have fallen so far!

Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
Luke 14:28

Seemingly without consideration of future consequences, the leaders of this nation have committed acts of war that were not absolutely necessary, and for the most part, it has been our nation that has experienced the greatest suffering because of it! 9-11 is only the most recent & blatant example of this, though one could well argue that the recent wars in Iraq & Afghanistan have caused as much or more ( damage ) to our fighting forces & their families! The economic toll these needless wars have exacted on this nation are the least of our troubles!

The costs of the abomination that this nation has become are almost infinite! From the legalization of the murder of infants, to the rampancy & exaltation of the homosexual life-style ( 'death-style' might be a better word for it ), what a stench we must be, as a nation, in the nostrils of a Holy God?!

One might well wonder why He has not turned this country into 'a sea of glass'; then again, maybe He has!

Charles Haddon Shank