Saturday, May 29, 2004

 

Dear Family:

 

In every generation there are great leaders. Some never assume their place of leadership and those who do face being either praised or criticized. Some receive both.  General Douglas MacArthur was one such leader. While some men praised him for his great leadership others complained that he had deserted them and left them to die in the great death march. See the outline of events http://home.pacbell.net/fbaldie/Outline.html . http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/macarthur.htm .

 

My mother named me, Charles, after the doctor who delivered me, Douglas, after General Douglas MacArthur who was in the news on that day and Thomas after my father of course. While I never knew this General nor do I know what his political or religious views were, I do know that his view of fatherhood and life were profound at least.   

 

"By profession I am a soldier and take great pride in that fact, but I am prouder, infinitely prouder, to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentialities of death; the other embodies creations and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still." --General Douglas MacArthur

 

Each of my sons have the name Douglas in theirs, each are fathers and each have that imbedded quality and desire to be a leader. Leadership has tremendous rewards as well as possible pitfalls. The rewards are to be pursued and the pitfalls must be identified, overcome and/or avoided. 

 

Our society and our world are poised to be launched into the greatest advancements in history or to fall into the deepest pitfalls of mankind. The stage is set to launch a great evangelistic crusade worldwide which would bring freedom and democracy to millions who might never again have the chance to live without the threat of tyranny and oppression.

 

While we in America enjoy a life of freedom to come and go at will, speak as we please, though sometimes in defiance, slanderous, vain and/or profane. We enjoy the freedom to do so.  With this freedom comes a tremendous responsibility to identify, overcome and/or avoid those pitfalls which lurk in the shadows to take away those freedoms we cherish and enjoy. Many of the pitfalls are unavoidable and must be met head-on and defeated or overcome. Too many of these pitfalls cannot be disregarded as nuisances which require little or none of our attention. They require us to stand against them, to defeat them or turn them away.  This weekend we honor the men and women who gave their lives and limbs for this freedom we hold dear.

 

Most did not die to protect my right to deceive, defame or profane the life we hold dear in America. They did not die to pervert the moral, spiritual and civil authority of this land. They died for the principles on which this country was founded civility, morality, freedom and justice implied. They did not die to give less than 1 percent of the population the ability to determine the moral standards for our country. They did not die to give freedom to the enemies of our way of life to be protected by law while seeking to convert our children to their thinking and way of life. This weekend when you consider the price paid by so many soldiers on the battlefields do not fail to consider what they died for.  And then reflect what you see at the ballot box in November.

 

We are at war! The war we fight today is not against the threat of terror it is against the threat of changing ideology. It is a war between good and evil but it is more about the minds of men than the destruction of their bodies and building. This is indeed a holy war it is a war of religious views and religious freedom. One theater is in the world outside the boundaries of the United States while the other is waged in our schools, courts and in the media. It is the battle for our moral, family and religious values. We fight Islamist extremists in Iraq while their ideology, not ours, is permitted in our schools. We have a Christian heritage yet ACLU, GLSEN and LAMDA have more influence in our educational system than does the Christian doctrine. The silent majority had better come out of retirement and get back into the leadership of our children or they will be lost to an ideology foreign to the thoughts and ideas of our ancestors.

 

When I started this study I was reading Isaiah 14. I was utterly amazed at how it somehow read like today's newspaper.

 

Isaiah 14:1-32 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. Then people will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the LORD; they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors. It shall come to pass in the day the LORD gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: "How the oppressor has ceased, the golden city ceased!  The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers; He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he who ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted and no one hinders.    The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, 'Since you were cut down, no woodsman has come up against us.' "Hell from beneath is excited about you, to meet you at your coming; it stirs up the dead for you, all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. They all shall speak and say to you: 'Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments; the maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you.' "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. "Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, Who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?' "All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house; But you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, like the garment of those who are slain, thrust through with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse trodden underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land and slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named. Prepare slaughter for his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, lest they rise up and possess the land, and fill the face of the world with cities." "For I will rise up against them," says the LORD of hosts, "And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, and offspring and posterity," says the LORD. "I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and marshes of muddy water; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," says the LORD of hosts. The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, "Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand: That I will break the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains tread him underfoot. Then his yoke shall be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? "This is the burden which came in the year that King Ahaz died. "Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent's roots will come forth a viper, and its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent. The firstborn of the poor will feed, and the needy will lie down in safety; I will kill your roots with famine, and it will slay your remnant. Wail, O gate! Cry, O city! All you of Philistia are dissolved; for smoke will come from the north, and no one will be alone in his appointed times. "What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD has founded Zion, and the poor of His people shall take refuge in it. (NKJ)

 

Embedded in these verses are the struggles of Israel, the battles in the Arab countries and centralized in Iraq (Babylon), the Gaza strip (Philistia) and Israel (Zion). The most profound is the struggle of the forces of good (God) against the forces of evil (Lucifer/satan). Today our children are witnesses to a struggle to remove God, church and morality from public view and discussion while the struggle of a certain segment of our society seek to not only legalize certain sins and lawlessness but to have them protected under the hate crimes bill before the congress for the second time in less than a year. This comes to the forefront while congress is deadlocked to confirm duly appointed judges due to their conservative Christian beliefs or views. Something has run a-muck. Our leaders are democratically elected to represent the wishes of all their constituents not just the minority or special interest.

 

Revisit with me for a moment these verses concerning the fall of satan. Remember he was God's favorite angel and had tremendous power in the universe before the creation of Adam. He rebelled against God and was put out of heaven to live and reign throughout the universe. Two statements or questions are presented:

 

  12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!

While some translations phrase these as statements, the more correct translation is in the form of questions followed with answers. How are you fallen and how are you cut down to the ground (earth)?

13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'

 He was removed from heaven because he wanted to be God. He rejected God and sought to become the supreme God of the universe. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; He wanted to be God, he wanted to rule the creation of God, he wanted to rule God's people. Does this not ring a familiar bell? Does this not look like the media trying to control world policy through deception and misinformation? Does this not sound like the politicians who would have us believe they are not who they are? But more than that does this not portray a picture of each of us wanting to be the god of our surrounding. Does this not look like I, me and my on the throne of my heart? I'm not talking about aggressive entrepreneurial thought and planning. I'm talking about aggressive entrepreneurial thought and planning absent from consideration of God or others. I'm talking about my desire to lord over those around me, to think for them, to control them, to dominate and intimidate. We are God's created instruments to the world to serve on His behalf not instead of. We are His instruments to use the knowledge and wisdom He has given us to accomplish His purpose and bring glory to Him. It is He who directs our thoughts to envision, invent, develop and discover. 

 

What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD has founded Zion, and the poor of His people shall take refuge in it. (NKJ)

 

And those who are faithful to Him will have the answer to the last question and the answer is "That the LORD has founded Zion, and the poor of His people shall take refuge in it"…  Zion before the time of Christ is used figuratively of Israel as the people of God and the spiritual meaning of Zion is continued in the New Testament, where it is given the Christian meaning of God's spiritual kingdom, the church of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. The word poor is more correctly translated gentle in mind or saintly as is indicated by the Greek word `anav (aw-nawv').  The Greek word `anayv is translated humble, lowly, meek, poor. Zion is then the personal spiritual relationship God has sought to have with His creation since the day that fellowship was broken by Adam when he yielded to the temptation of satan. God wants to be on the throne of our hearts. God wants to have a say in the affairs of our daily lives. All of history has been to lead us to choose to love Him and choose to give Him His rightful place in our heart so we can influence the outcome of world affairs. The war for our hearts and minds will not be won by the General Douglas MacArthurs of the world but by the Tom, Dick and Harry's. It will be won by the individuals who are not sold out to self but are sold out to God.

 

How do you get sold out to God? Get to know Him and His love for you. Get alone with Him to spend time in bible study, prayer and meditation. Invite Him into your everyday in all that you do. Be enthused with life.  Check out that word. Sure, you know what it means, "en- theos" "in God."

 

Love ya

 

Dad