Move Over America

America has had a great run.  Until the turn of the 20th century, the Bible was the most commonly used textbook in America. Despite what our current President says, America IS the world's most Christian country.  No other nation on Earth is more recognizably Christian than America.  It wasn't moderate Muslims, violent Buddhist, or messianic Jews on the Mayflower. They were English Christians who wanted to separate (Separatists) from the Church of England. American was built on religious freedom, but the slab was unique to the God of the Bible.  The concentration of Christian values was so great, that after 233 years, American is STILL the most recognized Christian nation in the world.

Despite being 233 years old, America has only been a superpower since WWII. After the war, the British Empire was dissolved, leaving only two superpowers left in the world, America and the Soviet Union.  The Soviet Union lost the "Cold War" to the United States and dissolved itself in 1991.  By 1992, America was the single most powerful nation on the Earth.  America has starred or directed in every major world event, for the last 50 years.  To imagine a scenario where America isn't on the world stage is not only inconceivable, but disturbing. But we wouldn't be the first empire to rise and fall.  In fact, the prophet Daniel doesn't even give America a mention in his revelation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

King Nebuchadnezzar saw a statue with a unique construction. It's head was of fine gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and it's feet were part iron and clay. Daniel then told the King that each part represented four successive world empires that were to come.  Daniel starts by saying that King Nebuchadnezzar's empire was the head of gold.

You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; 38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them  into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. Daniel 2: 37-38

Daniel tells King Nebuchadnezzer, that the head of gold was his kingdom, the Babylonian empire. This empire lasted 70 years as the most powerful kingdom on earth.  In 536 B.C., the Babylonian empire, the "head of gold", came to an end when it fell to the Persians, the "chest and arms of silver".

But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; Daniel 2:39

The Persians fell to Alexander's Greek empire, the "belly and thighs of brass" in 336 B.C.  The Greek empire lasted for over 300 years until it gave way to the Roman Empire, the "legs of iron".

And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others Daniel 2:40

Unlike the previous three, the fourth empire has no conqueror.  Also, the fourth kingdom is depicted TWICE.  It is first shown as being separated with two legs of iron.  Just as Daniel predicted, the Roman Empire had grown so large, it was divided into two, the Western Empire at Rome, and the Eastern Empire at Constantinople.  Two hundred years later, the "brittle" iron empire of Rome collapsed under its own stress.

But Wait.., There's More (in a Billy Mays voice) Daniel isn't done with the fourth kingdom.  Daniel continues with the re-emergence of the same Roman kingdom.  But this time, they've been given an extreme makeover.

Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. Daniel 2:41-43

Unlike the previous kingdoms, the re-emergence of the fourth kingdom BEGINS divided.  The Bible predicts that the fourth kingdom rises again in the form of a ten-nation confederacy.  Daniel had another vision of four great beasts; a lion with eagle's wings, a bear, a winged leopard with four heads and;

a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. Daniel 7:4-7

History identifies these beasts as the same four Kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar's image - Babylonian, Persia, Greek, and the Roman Empire.  Consider the accuracy of Daniels visions.  Daniel's third beast corresponds to the third kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar's image - the leopard with four heads and four wings. The wings symbolize the speed of which Alexander expanded the Greek empire.  In just 13 years he had conquered a majority of the known world.  The four heads symbolize the four divided kingdoms ruled by his four generals after Alexander's death.  The Angel Gabriel revealed this to Daniel in explaining another vision.

Daniel has a vision where he sees a very powerful two-horned ram. Suddenly a goat with a prominent horn came from the west, crossing the earth with great speed (sound familiar).  The goat tramples the ram and becomes very great, but at the height of his power his horn is broken and four horns grow in its place.  Gabriel interprets the dream as follows:

The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king. The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.  Daniel 8:20-22

Let's go back to the fourth kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar's image.  The fourth kingdom refers to the fourth beast in Daniel's vision.  The ten toes of the image represent the ten horns of the beast.  Daniel also gives a clue as to when this new kingdom will be in power.

And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.  Daniel 2:44

These same kings are described in Revelation and will ultimately be destroyed by the FINAL kingdom represented in the image.

You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.  Daniel 2:34-35

And now we come full circle.  Daniel prophesied four great kingdoms before the one that ultimately destroys the renewed and divided Roman empire.  So we come  back to the question.  How can there be a powerful and prominent revised Roman empire with 10 kings if there still exists an American superpower?  I believe we are in the time between the third and fourth kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar's image.  The iron legged kingdom of ancient Rome is history.  However, 1600 years after its fall, the new Roman empire of the EU is ready to take the reigns.  But there is one problem, America still has them.

The EU isn't powerful enough to be in a position to be crushed, but thanks to America's slow descent, it will be soon.  There are only TEN nations that hold full status in both the European Union and the Western European Union, and that doesn't appear to be changing.  There are other states that participate, but there are only 10 kings calling the shots. The following quote suggest they don't need any more.

Following a decision taken on 14 June 2001, the Secretary-General stated during the 1352nd meeting of the Council of Western European Union on 28 June 2001 that, with regard to the period from 1 January 2002, the Member States deemed it unnecessary, in present and foreseeable circumstances, to make any formal change to the statuses of non-full members. source

America has been in the driver's seat for over 50 years.  What puts us in the back?  Are we still in the car?  No one really knows.  For now, I can't think of a more accurate description of the EU than 'partly strong, partly fragile.' It's members share everything but sovereignty.  They have no constitution, no a central government, and no king.  Well, not yet.

Discerning the False

I was always good at taking tests.  Even if I didn't know the subject matter, I could successfully guess my way through most questions.  No matter how tough the question, with a quick process of elimination, I could easily be down to two choices.  It's not always about finding out which choice is right.  Sometimes it's easier to just rule out the ones that are wrong.

My favorite questions are True/False statements.  The single most important rule in analyzing True/False statements is every part of a true statement must be true.  If any one part of the statement is false, the whole statement is false despite many other truths.  You don't always have to know what is true.  If you can recognize any part as being false, you can confidently mark the whole statement as false, and move on.

Often in life, we get inundated with problems that completely overwhelm us physically, mentally, and spiritually.  The reason is that problems by definition force us to make decisions on how will we respond to them.  Most problems don't just go away.  They stand there nagging, whispering, and tapping their foot waiting for you to reveal your strategy on dealing with it.  Like a crying baby needing to be fed, problems want attention, and they want to know what are you going to do about it.

You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked Proverbs 3:25

Problems don't wait until you've had 8 hours of sleep and 2 cups of coffee.  Most of our problems come upon us suddenly.  Suddenly, you lost a job.  Suddenly, you get a letter from your kid's school, your lawyer, or the IRS.  Suddenly, you have problems, and you need sudden solutions.  In the heat of the moment, when the pressure is on, what will you do?  What can you do?  Our immediate response would be to strategize, brainstorm, or grab at anything that looks like an answer.  But like the strategy for True/False statements, If any part of your solution isn't of faith, then the entire solution isn't of faith.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Any imagination, thought, or plan born out of fear, must be immediately arrested and investigated. If God never gave us fear, then anything born of our fear must NOT be from God. We may not know what the answer is, but there is a sure way to know what isn't. We make a lot of mistakes in the heat of the moment. Our survival instincts immediately kick in when our health, security, and peace is threatened. No matter how well we think we know how to fix the situation, most of the time, it does the opposite.

There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. Proverbs 14:12

Sometimes, the most spiritual thing you can do is to circle False, then go to bed.

Be still, and know that I am God! Psalm 46:10


Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5

The Ambassador

As I watched the House of Representatives pass the Health Care Reform Bill, I felt like I had been in a car accident. For a brief second, I couldn't breathe. First came the feeling of shock., then a sense of confusion, followed by grief. My only relief, if you can call it that, was that no one was looking at me. All eyes were up front. I wasn't IN the accident, but I sure felt it. I wasn't behind the wheel. I didn't agree with the route. I didn't even vote for the hired driver. But that offered me no protection from my seat on the bus. The emotions were as real as the damage. I wasn't in the accident, I witnessed it. Had I been involved, I would have had to concern myself with the consequences. Like being immersed in a book or movie, I forgot who I was, or more accurately, whose I was.

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you. Luke 17:20-21

An ambassador is the highest ranking resident representative of a foreign nation. They are messengers sent to live in a foreign nation with the express purpose of communicating the interests and goals of their home country. They are ministers of the highest authority, with full power to represent their head of state. Ambassador's allow national leaders the ability to be in many places at once. If you are speaking to the ambassador of a nation, it is understood you are speaking to it's leader. It is the duty of an ambassador to speak ONLY on behalf of their home country, and not on behalf of the country they reside.

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”  2 Corinthians 5:19-20

As an American, I couldn't help but feel the effects of the initial impact. But I am also an ambassador of Christ, a citizen of the substantial, superior, and spiritual Kingdom of God. The health care bill will have an economic and social affect on all Americans, but I'm not just an American. As an ambassador of Christ, my security is in a head of state that isn't bound by limitation, opinion polls, and economic trends. I am as passionate about politics as the next guy, but the difference is I know who is in control of my destiny. I may live in America, but I understand whom I answer to. Political activism is my responsibility as an American, but it's not my burden. It is one avenue in which I carry out my real job - being a diplomat for Christ. If Jesus didn't worry Himself with the decisions of an inferior government, why should I? The religious leaders of Jesus' day were notorious for asking Him political questions. On one occasion, they wanted to get his take on Caesar's tax increases. Jesus thought that question was so important, He responded with as much emotion had the question been about Parker Brothers' decision to increase the Luxury Tax on the Monopoly board from $75 to $100.

Jesus said, "Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a coin. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Matt. 22:19-21

It is undocumented, but I believe the follow-up question was whether or not he believed Caesar should sign "Climate Change" legislation, but I can't prove it. And just in case you didn't get the insult, God provided an object lesson. On another occasion, Peter was approached by the IRS and asked if Jesus paid taxes. Surprisingly, Jesus didn't respond by opening an account with H&R Block or scrambling to find all of his gas receipts.  Jesus let them know how serious he was about tax season and having to hand out more of Caesar's Monopoly money.

Jesus said, "Go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.” Matt.17:27

Compared the the Kingdom of God, our system of government rivals a board game. God's authority is superior and nothing can float out of the sewers of Washington to change it. Ambassadors may live in their host country, but they are NOT exclusive citizens of it. Ambassadors may have to participate in it's commerce, but they are NOT slaves to it. As long as you are doing the work of an ambassador, you will always have your embassy, your provision, and the power and authority of Christ himself. Jesus is alive and he is busy preparing a new place for us.  When he left, who did He leave in charge of the store?  That would be me.

I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.  John 17:14-18

After the signing of the health care bill, I prayed for the Americans. I then cited diplomatic immunity.