September 28, 2001
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning
of ourconfidence stedfast unto the end. (Heb 3:14)
>< > ><> ><> Auts & Pauline <>< <>< <><
OPEN LETTER TO AMERICANS:
It is especially at times like this that we are driven to our knees.But not by the enemy, the perpetrators of vicious and cowardly acts. Somemight say it's time to get up off our knees and do something. But itmight be far better to continue with "carpet time" until our knees areraw and our nose full of carpet fiber, and wait on directions from the"One with whom we have to do." Avenge not yourselves, but rather giveplace unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay,saith the Lord. (Rom 12:19) All through Biblical history God has always,without exception, acted on behalf of those where there would be aremnant in the land if He were to unleash His wrath. He is no differentnow , He is the same yesterday, today and forever. It could be that Hedoesn't need you or me, but you can be sure that He will make good use ofthose He chooses for whatever action He decides to take. Make no mistake,of this you can be absolutely sure, He is going to do something, andsomething, "BIG TIME"
What happened in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania was not justagainst the United States. Innocent people of many nations were attackedand brutally murdered in this despicable premeditated cowardly act. Oneof the Ten Commandments says, "Thou shalt do no murder" You may know itas "Thou shalt not kill" (Ex 20:13) but in the original it is, "Thoushalt do no murder" God knew that people would kill and be killed byaccident and in wars and He did not count that as murder. But what wehave just encountered is murder, mass murder, which is sin, and sin isalways against God, not against man. God is "Long suffering" towards manbut there comes a time when even He has had enough.
God's hand could very well have been in this merciless act. Does sucha possibility get our attention? It should. God could very well be fed upwith America denying Him, especially after declaring this "One NationUnder God" and now doing everything possible to remove the nation fromunder Him. Look around us, we have removed open prayer, passed lawspreventing the Bible from being read in schools, outlawed publicdemonstrations (such as those around Christmas) that give recognition toHim. We have systematically murdered literally millions of unborn babies,children, some of which might have grown to be the very ones that servedmankind in a wonderful and compassionate way, doctors, statesmen,inventors, mothers, fathers, men and women of courage and renown. Alllegally murdered for convenience sake. Organizations have sprung up thatare a cancer in the side of America, festering and causing great pain tofree loving people. They have taken unscrupulous advantage in searchingout every little loophole in the law they could find to separate Churchand State. Such separation was never intended when this nation wasformed, but these people have taken it upon themselves to reinterpret thevery purpose behind the founding of this nation. They are people thatthrive on making sure that their little agenda is forced upon all therest. They are offended when we openly speak the name of Jesus whilethey offend all others with their approval and participation in theunholy and sinful acts mentioned above.
We realize that these "do gooders" are manipulated by the real enemy,the one that is the enemy of God. The infallible, inerrent word of God,the Holy Bible reveals him as the devil called Satan.
We have magnanimously opened the borders of this nation to all thatare depressed, enslaved, persecuted, downtrodden, victimized, abused, orwho are simply looking for a better life. And they came, and are stillcoming. But many have brought with them their idols and their religionsalong with their false gods. This is not what was originally intended,but we welcomed them just the same. The first Amendment to ourConstitution allows that "Congress shall make no law respecting anestablishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."It was not the intent to invite them here to our Christian Nation so theycould be free to proselytize Christians and convert them to theirreligions. Welcoming them was fine, but not their idols, false gods andheathen religions which do not acknowledge Judaism or Christianity. TheBible definitely and emphatically warns against this practice. 1 Cor 5:6"Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneththe whole lump?" and again, Gal 5:9 "A little leaven leaveneth the wholelump." 1 Cor 5:7 "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be anew lump...".
The meaning of leaven in these passages is sin. In the courts of lawin our land we accuse people of murder, rape, robbery, slander, and ahost of other crimes, but never have we accused anyone of sin, yet thatis exactly what all those acts are. Wouldn't you like to hear just onetime a judge or jury say to a defendant, we find you guilty of the sinof...or we find you innocent of the sin of... that would be failing toseparate Church and State and we can't have that. When are we going tocall it like it is? Murder, treason, robbery, lying, adultery, rape,debauchery and the like are sin, and sin against God. We have some goodmen and women serving in our judicial system, but as far as God isconcerned it has, for the most part, been corrupted. We have winked atthe activities of leaders of this nation who have been guilty ofperforming criminal and immoral acts, cover ups, untruths and the like.What some don't realize is that when one assumes a leadership role,especially an elected leadership role, all privacy is relinquished andthe incumbent becomes the representative of this country twenty fourhours a day seven days a week. Just about everything he (or she) does andsays, except maybe pillow talk with a spouse is and must be open to thepublic. To hide or try to cover up anything, especially if it is sinful,is unworthy of the position and is grounds for removal from theleadership position.
False religions, false gods and idol worship have come upon thisnation as a creeping paralysis. Originally people migrating to thiscountry became citizens and assimilated, united, joined in the cultureand desired to live in peace. But all didn't. Many brought that littleleaven that over time has infected the whole "lump". Slowly we begantolerating, then listening, and eventually joining in the false premisethat freedom meant freedom to do and say as you please, not to do as youshould. America allowed this eroding away of our original precepts, "OneNation Under God" to take place, inch by inch, if you will, andeventually some even became a part of it.
Is God's hand a part of this tragedy? Who really knows? Our Bible hassome things to say about God that many might not like to hear. But notbeing pleased to hear it, does not change it one bit. Here are just a fewquick verses that might make some a little nervous about theirunderstanding of just how powerful and how just He really is and what Hemight do if so inclined: Deut 32:39 See now that I, even I, am He, andthere is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal:neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand; Josh 23:15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come uponyou, which the LORD your God promised you, so shall the LORD bring uponyou all evil things, until He have destroyed you from off this good landwhich the LORD your God hath given you.
Judg 9:23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men ofShechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: (youmean to say that God sent an evil spirit? Yes!) 1 Sam 2:6 The LORDkilleth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave, and bringethup. 1 Sam 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and anevil spirit from the LORD troubled him. (The Lord sent an evil spirit? Hedid!, He controls all things, including evil spirits when He wants too.)Prov 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for Himself: yea, even thewicked for the day of evil. Amos 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in thecity, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, andthe LORD hath not done it? Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom yeshall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast intohell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him. Psalms 111:10 The fear of the LORDis the beginning of wisdom... Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fallinto the hands of the living God.
Some 200 years ago our forefathers, the founders of this nation didexactly that. They intentionally put this nation into the hands of theLiving God, knowing full well what that meant. Meanwhile, over theseyears, this nation has suffered at the hands of those it welcomed ontoits shores. Life style in America once was decent, and respectful, andmuch of it still is, but we are a long way from what we brought to ourGod those 200 or so years ago. God is longsuffering toward mankind, (weare His creation) but He is also much like a father and punishes whenneeded. Only His punishment is not just a spanking or a scolding; likeeverything else He does, He does it in a big way and somebody, lots ofsomebodies, are liable to get really hurt.
So what are we saying? Is God to blame for this tragedy? Certainlynot. But there has to be the possibility that after the way we have beentreating Him lately (a thousand years is the same as one day to Him.)what might we expect? Has He, after 200 years of putting up with ourtrying to take this nation out of His hands, finally decided to look theother way instead of protecting us from tragedy when it is about tostrike.
Given that this could be the case, what should we do? It must beacknowledged that we are now much like the church of Laodicea describedin the third chapter starting with verse fourteen of the book ofRevelation. "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginningof the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold norhot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm,and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have needof nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, andpoor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in thefire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest beclothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anointthine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, Irebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand atthe door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I willcome in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him thatovercometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I alsoovercame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath anear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." By the way,the meaning of the word Laodicea is surprisingly interesting. We get ourword layman from Lao and dicea implies justice or rights. So the wordLao-dicea taken together means, "rights of the people." Sounds familiardoesn't it. Organizations like the ACLU screaming for the rights of thepeople. And God in His word describing a city that looks much likeAmerica today.
What should we do? First continue to pray for this nation like neverbefore and at the same time do everything possible to support andcooperate with those endeavoring to bring those murdering cowards tojustice. And lets act where we can to get some of these unfair andridiculous laws off the books that were thought to give us more andbetter freedom but instead put us under perfidious bondage. The time hascome for the "remnant" to be heard from. God will spare this nation ifthere would be the possibility of a remnant, but the remnant has to meetHis definition of a remnant. Nodding the head, winking the eye, andgiving lip service won't do it. It's time to act. Sharpen your pencils,get on the phone with the leadership, send a flood of E-mail, get theungodly out of leadership positions and replace them with God fearing menand women. Do whatever you can to remove the "leaven" (unrighteousorganizations and individuals) from positions of leadership and influencein this nation. We probably would be better off if we could at leastrender them incapable of further effectually functioning within ourgovernment until they can be replaced.
I just received an E-mail letter from my brother forwarding a letterwritten by retired Air Force Lt. Col Tony Kern former Director ofMilitary History at the Air Force Academy. He states that the U.S. is nottrained nor ready for this kind of war fare and that the campaign will belong and arduous. He sites various military and civil tactics that willprobably be necessary to defeat and hopefully annihilate terrorism. He isprobably right in his assumptions, but he is looking at currentconditions through the eyes of a military historian where there arelittle or no experiences recorded regarding terrorism involving senselessand brutal murder of large numbers of innocent people purely out of hate.Hostages, ransom, release of political prisoners or to reach somedestination has always been reasons up to now. This is something entirelynew and will require new approaches for solutions.
Colonial Kern is probably correct in his assumptions, but there isanother side to this coin that needs to be carefully considered andthat's the reason for this letter. We must realize that believe it or notand like it or not, we are also in a spiritual war and "the weapons ofour warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down ofstrong holds (2 Cor 10:3-4)
We as believers in God almighty and Christ Jesus, the only begottenson of the living God, constitute the largest, and without a doubt, themost awesome and powerful, effective army on this planet.
What can we do who are not in the military or part of the informationgathering arena? We must certainly do all we can to assist thosegovernment agencies, including the military, to identify, locate andbring to justice all who are responsible and in anyway support thesewanton and reckless acts of senseless mass murder.
We can also contribute a great deal by putting on the full armor ofGod. Get serious, I mean really serious, and lift up this nation inprayer as many times during every day as you can. And make this a majorpart of your life style from here on: 2 Chron 7:14 " If my people,which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seekmy face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven,and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
1 Sam 17:47 "And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth notwith sword and spear:
for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give theminto our hands."
2 Chron 20:15" ... Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nordismayed by reason of this
... for the battle is not yours, but God's."
We are "One Nation Under God" and we
will be triumphant.
Thanks Americans for letting an old Air Force B-29 aerial
gunnerveteran with 15 combat missions over Japan come into your home for a fewminutes. Now let
us all unite behind our president and do all we can.
Arthur L. Manning Orlando,
Florida September 28, 2001