Wakeup call
Ed Jones, Pastor
God said to Ezekiel, “Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we live?’” (Ezekiel 33:10)
Sin caught up with Israel, and sin is catching up with America. The question, “…how then can we live?” demands an answer.
That answer comes in verse 11, “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back! Turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die O house of Israel?’” God calls Israel to repent from their sin and turn to God.
After touring America in the early 1800s, Alexis de Tocqueville, French diplomat, political scientist and historian was quoted as saying, “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” Well, he may have also been a prophet.
What is so radical about saying the universe was created by an infinite, wise, Supreme Being? As we look around nothing declares evolution. The idea of God is self-evident.
Is it so upsetting to state that truth can be known and that there is a final standard of good, of right and wrong?
Why is it wrong to believe that the family has a biblically ordained order of father, mother and children?
Which of the 10 commandments are supremely offensive?
1. One God?
2. Infinite and Omniscient and no other?
3. Who is the God of creation, Israel and the Bible?
4. Who is honored one day a week?
5. With parents honored by their children?
6. Don’t kill?
7. Don’t lie or slander?
8. Don’t cheat on or abandon your spouse?
9. Don’t steal?
10. Don’t long for someone else’s things?
In these exist the concepts of caring for the poor, hospitality, respect for the elderly, condemning bigotry and racism, hard work, integrity, love and forgiveness.
Society condemns racism, violence, intolerance, pornography and human trafficking. But no one ever offers the cure of repentance for sin because they are words that demand the God of the Bible. America today permits God to exist in the confines of a church, but our lives cannot be neatly put into a box. The ills of our day demand our attention and can only be solved by the One revealed in the Bible.
Ed Jones pastors Fellowship at the Ranch Church at Robson Ranch. This nondenominational church meets at the Robson Clubhouse on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. Visit Fellowship’s website: www.fellowshipattheranchchurch.com for information.