A New Year

The Wake-up Herald

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. Romans 13:11-14

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   Robert McCurry, Editor & Publisher
January 1, 2012
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A New Year

The dawn of a new year is usually a time of hope and ambition, of dreams for the future and thoughts of a better life. But it is a long time since many of us looked forward to the new year with such anxiety, even dread.

Only the naïve, ignorant, stupid or those who just arrived from another planet think or believe ‘All is well in America.’

‘All is not well in America.’ The enemy is not coming, the enemy is here! What many have perceived to be the birth pangs of a Utopian age are now in reality the death rattles of an era surviving on humanly designed life-support mechanisms.

This is not negativism or pessimism. This is realism.

John F. Walvoored, former president of Dallas Theological Seminary, recently expressed the current crisis this way:

The world today faces an international crisis unparalleled in all the history of man. A tremendous revolution is under way in the international scene, in science, in economics, in morals, in theology, and in the religious structure of the church. The world is aflame with the raw passions of men ambitious for power and desperate to be freed from poverty and frustration. An ominous cloud hangs over the hearts of men and nations. The nations are indeed at the crossroads, and impending events cast their shadow on every aspect of human life. The world is moving faster and faster like a colossal machine out of control whose very power and momentum inevitably will plunge it into ultimate disaster.

Apart from the Bible, the world does not have a ray of hope. Our most brilliant leaders have not found an answer. World leaders, whether in Moscow or Washington, are troubled by the great issues which face the world today. President John F. Kennedy before his untimely assassination expressed the viewpoint of western civilization when he said, “I speak today in an hour of national peril, and of national opportunity. Before my term has ended, we shall have to test anew whether a nation organized and governed such as ours can endure. The outcome is by no means certain. The tide of events has been running out, and time has not been our friend.”

The present world crisis is not a result of any one factor, but a concurrence of causes and effects which combine to set the world stage for a conflict which may quickly bring an end to hundreds of years of progress in western civilization and establish new centers of international power. Whatever the future holds, it is going to be dramatically different than the past. In this dark picture only the Scriptures chart a sure course and give us an intelligent explanation of world-wide confusion as it exists today. The present world crisis in the light of the Scriptures reveals the existence of remarkable components in almost every area which may lead to a dramatic climax of world history. The present crises in every area of human life all point to the same conclusion, that disaster awaits the nations of the world.  http://bible.org/seriespage/chapter-i-nations-crisis

“Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.”

America’s current crisis could have been avoided if: 1) pastors had fulfilled their God-ordained purpose and function of being watchman on the wall and sounding the Gospel trumpet warnings of encroaching enemies who infiltrated churches, marriages, families and the culture at large with ‘another Gospel.’ It’s wiser and less costly to build a fence at the top of the precipice than to build a hospital at the bottom of the gorge; 2) Christians had fulfilled their purpose and function to be salt and light and keep themselves free from the world’s immorality.

“Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. . .a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom.” Patrick Henry.

Modern day Evangelical, Fundamental, Protestant and Baptist churches are a hodgepodge of doctrine and practice much like those described in Acts 17: “For all the Athenians and strangers which were there, spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” ‘Some new thing’ - The Greek word signifies some newer thing. New things quickly grew cheap, and they wanted those that were newer still. Their posterity lives on. Even many of those who insist they are ‘contending for the faith’ fall into this trap by doing nothing more than recycling their pet doctrines week after week in their ‘bless me meetings’ where they cloister themselves in a ‘sanctuary’ with no desire or intention to translate their faith into practical application in the real world.

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46-48)

Wake-up, Pastors! Wake-up, Christians!

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The Wake-Up Herald is published by Robert McCurry. The publication is designed to exalt the true God of the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ, and inform, inspire, and challenge its readers regarding biblical truth and real-life issues. The contents are the sole responsibility of Robert McCurry and do not represent or speak for or on behalf of any other person or group. There is no subscription charge. The publication is a ministry of faith dependent on the contributions of its readers. Contributions are not tax-deductible. Send all correspondence to: Robert McCurry,605 Moore Rd, Newnan, GA 30263 or herbap@aol.com Remove? Send reply with “remove” in Subject line