Top of Your Game - Game Over

Monday, September 5, 2022

Now then, you kings, act wisely!  Be warned, you rulers of the earth!  Serve the Lord with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling.  Submit to God’s royal son, or he will become angry, and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities—for his anger flares up in an instant.  But what joy for all who take refuge in him!  Psalm 2:10-12

The despotic president/murderer of many, Saddam Hussein is long gone from the world’s political stage, having been chased from his leadership of Iraq into hiding, and eventually pulled from his hiding hole, tried, convicted, and executed by hanging.  He did not, as the Psalmist cautioned leaders to do, act wisely!  He had no fear of God.  He viewed himself as being in charge…and, for a brief nine years, his murderous regime seemed to be so; the collapse in 2003 once again reminded us all that every created thing is subject to God’s will.  No matter how high the Top of Your Game may be, God has set the Time of Your Game-Over, and there is nothing to top that!

The Psalmist set down for us all the means for a leader to be honorable and end well – to serve the Lord with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling.  Whether you are president of the United States, or the elected dog catcher in the smallest of towns, there is always one to whom you report (besides the electorate or whatever checks and balances are in place), and that is He Who created us, and decides if we live or die.  In an age where personal sovereignty is worshipped, it would be prudent to remember God’s sovereignty is above all.

In a few years those under 20 will hardly recognize the name of Saddam Hussein, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, or any of the other newsmakers of the current time.  That is regrettable, as forgetting the mistakes of the past are surety of repeating them in the future. 

For You Today

Rather than gloat, or wail (over political outcomes, depending on whether or not you voted for those who fail or succeed), it is a better practice to reflect on our part in this process.  Just as it is incumbent on leaders to serve with reverent fear of God, it is the same reverent fear we who put others in office must serve.  We are tempted to opt-out of responsibility quickly in one of many ways:

·       I’m just one person; what could I have done

·       I voted for the other guy

·       His problem – I’ve got enough to worry about

Now, those may all be true to some degree, but one thing remains for the Christian believer:  Did I pray?  Did I honestly, fervently, and consistently lift up the leaders who make governing choices in my name?[1]

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Advice for the Mighty and Now Then, You Kings, Act Wisely!

[1] Images:   Title Image from Video:       What if Sadaam Hussein Was Never Captured (YouTube)                                                         Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

---

[1] From:  Advice for the Mighty, Rocky Road Post from January 5, 2015

180

[1]

Monday, August 10, 2019

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.  He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations that the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.  He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had broken down.  He constructed altars for the images of Baal and set up Asherah poles.  He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped them.  He built pagan altars in the Temple of the Lord, the place where the Lord had said, “My name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” He built these altars for all the powers of the heavens in both courtyards of the Lord’s Temple.  Manasseh also sacrificed his own sons in the fire in the valley of Ben-Hinnom.  He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics.  He did much that was evil in the Lord’s sight, arousing his anger.  Manasseh even took a carved idol he had made and set it up in God’s Temple, the very place where God had told David and his son Solomon:  “My name will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem—the city I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel.  If the Israelites will be careful to obey my commands—all the laws, decrees, and regulations given through Moses—I will not send them into exile from this land that I set aside for your ancestors.”  But Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land.  The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings.  So the Lord sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner.  They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.  

But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought the Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed, the Lord listened to him and was moved by his request. So the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom.  Then Manasseh finally realized that the Lord alone is God!  After this Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, from west of the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley to the Fish Gate, and continuing around the hill of Ophel.  He built the wall very high.  And he stationed his military officers in all of the fortified towns of Judah.  Manasseh also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the Lord’s Temple.  He tore down all the altars he had built on the hill where the Temple stood and all the altars that were in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the city.  Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it.  He also encouraged the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. However, the people still sacrificed at the pagan shrines, though only to the Lord their God.  2 Chronicles 33:1-17

One of the realities of being broken is the inability to see just how broken you are; another is how to fix the brokenness.  Like the New Testament Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, the remedy for King Manasseh’s spiritual brokenness could only come by being knocked to his knees, a prisoner to the truth that he had become so irretrievably broken against his solemn trust to serve the one true living God, there was only one direction left to redemption – 180°!

For You Today

Let’s give the last word today to Paul, who understood that just and righteous solutions for citizens of any era will never come from within the corridors of the capitol; true redemption only comes from above.  Here’s what Paul says to do about brokenness in leadership:

 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.                    1 Timothy 2:1-2

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

Go to VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of  Pixabay.com
                          Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

Bonhoeffer and the Peacock

[1]

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him—for he is proud and arrogant.  He boasts, “By my own powerful arm I have done this.  With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it.  I have broken down the defenses of nations and carried off their treasures.  I have knocked down their kings like a bull.  I have robbed their nests of riches and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs.  No one can even flap a wing against me or utter a peep of protest.”  But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it?  Is the saw greater than the person who saws?  Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it?  Can a wooden cane walk by itself?  Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops, and a flaming fire will consume its glory.  Isaiah 10:12-16(NLT)

Assyria’s world domination was a blip on history’s radar; the king just a footnote.  Sennacherib, king of Assyria had been like a peacock, strutting his accomplishments around like an arrogant gasbag!  That didn’t last long; God brought Sennacherib’s so-called power to nothing; actually, less-than-nothing, as God showed him what real power looked like.

In the mid-20^th century Adolph Hitler tried using Sennacherib’s playbook, but he fared no better than the Assyrian terrorist.  Germany’s self-aggrandizing dictator bragged that his leadership was going to bring Germany to power over the entire universe.  When all was said and done, the would-be ruler of the world committed suicide rather than being captured to face the trials (and probably execution) that were sure to come.  One thing he did NOT escape was standing before God with the blood of millions on his hands.

In the end it was the humility of a preacher named Bonhoeffer that played a pivotal role in bringing down the despot. 

Notwithstanding the tendency of some preachers to abuse or use politics in the pulpit, a preacher’s call from God includes looking-after the people over which politics rule.  When the politics are coming crossways against the Scripture, and leading the people astray, preachers are supposed to speak up.  In the late 1930’s some German pastors were speaking out, congratulating Germany on having Hitler as their Messiah:

"The time is fulfilled for the German people of Hitler. It is because of Hitler that Christ, God the helper and redeemer, has become effective among us. … Hitler is the way of the Spirit and the will of God for the German people to enter the Church of Christ." So spoke German pastor Hermann Gruner. Another pastor put it more succinctly: "Christ has come to us through Adolph Hitler."[2]

History told the story that a madman of no conscience, a sociopath at best, and a schizophrenic psychopath, or perhaps demon-possessed tool of Satan at worst, was not the Messiah.  Neither was Sennacherib.  Nor is any American president who acts with the same absence of moral compass.

Now, please save the cards, letters, emails, tweets and the like; I make no judgment on the policies of the current administration other than my own personal observation and opinion. 

But what I have tried to say is in direct response to those who have said explicitly, or implicitly that we don’t elect a pastor to the White House; we elect a President.  My response is that you cannot separate morality, conscience and ethical behavior from what a leader must be who leads a nation committed to ethical and moral behavior with good conscience.  To do so makes it permissible for the fox to rule the hen house.

I can say emphatically that this preacher is not without sin; I have apologized to God and my fellow humans more times than I care to remember for my trespasses.  We currently have a leader who has stated publicly he feels no such need to apologize…ever. 

Knowing a little about human nature, that makes me tremble.  And here’s why:

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  James 4:6(NLT)

If the leader of this nation will never humble himself before human beings, much less God, how can we expect a different result from that of Sennacherib or Hitler?

For You Today

Join me in praying for our leaders; they can use it, whether they know it or not.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

Go to VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image: Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] Christian History, Issue 32, 1991, Christianity Today