Saturday, February 11, 2012

I Am a Man of Unclean Lips, and I Live Among a People of Unclean Lips

As we pray and fast for spiritual breakthrough, don’t forget to pray for our nation. The United States was undeniably founded upon Judeo-Christian principles…yet we have forsaken God as a nation. We desperately need a mighty move of God in America.

Contrary to what many people think, I don’t believe such a spiritual awakening will ever be the result of elections. Who we elect is important—no doubt—and we need to vote our values. But elections don’t so much dictate the pulse of our nation as they reveal it.

Recently our president has attempted to erase the freedom of religious conscience by mandating that religious organizations had to provide “all [federally] approved forms of contraception” (including abortion-causing drugs) to their employees through their insurance coverage, even when such coverage violates their fundamental religious beliefs. Yesterday, he tweaked the mandate by saying that religious organizations could refuse to offer such coverage but the insurance companies would still have the burden to provide the contraception anyway. That sounds like a shell game to me, but…

Along those same lines, treating abortion like a simple surgical procedure and liberalizing the “morning after pill” are signs of the times and should cause believers great distress. Blurring the lines of sexuality is another problem plaguing our nation. The church has largely stuck its head in the sand and remained silent on sexual sins like fornication, adultery, and homosexuality…and we will have a hefty price to pay as a result. While our nation heartily debates redefining marriage to include homosexuals, the case for heterosexual-only marriage has been hollowed out by rampant infidelity and divorce. We need spiritual awakening!

We don’t like to admit it, but our nation’s economy largely runs on greed. I’m all for capitalism; I want you to know that. But c’mon…it doesn’t take a Harvard MBA to see that something is fundamentally wrong with our nation’s economy. It’s broken…just like our nation’s moral compass! And, while I’m here, socialism is not the answer! What’s happening in America in regard to Wall Street are knee-jerk reactions and ideological engineering that strip individuals of their dignity and incentive to reward irresponsible and reckless behavior. We need a spiritual awakening that touches every facet of our society, our economy included!

Oh that we could see a massive groundswell of repentance among God’s people that would lead to spiritual awakening across America that would return us to our spiritual roots! Isaiah’s words are on target this morning: “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips…” (Isaiah 6:5). We must embrace corporate acknowledgement and repentance of sin!

Will you take time today to pray for spiritual awakening in our nation?

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