This is a three-part series:
· Dead Lion – Day After Election
· Caged Lion - Rosh
· Righteous Lion - Discipleship in Tough Times
It’s the day after election and I woke up frustrated, on the verge of somewhere between what my pastor calls a Dead Lion and a Caged Lion. I spent the night waking up and checking election results on my phone. I got grumpy. After getting my first cup of coffee, I sat on the couch with my beautiful bride, and we read I Peter 1: 13 – 25 together. Election results faded into the background, and we did not check on the Red Wave that turned into what the HuffPost called, The Red Whimper. I transitioned to a much calmer Righteous Lion. Not perfect, but saved by Faith alone in Christ alone, through Grace alone. For sure, I chuckled, God was not worried about this election.
I Peter 1: 1 – 12 speaks to salvation and sanctification in the framework of God’s sovereignty that is pierced with suffering. From verse 13 to the end of the chapter, Peter flows that into the call to be Holy.
As I thought and prayed on this with my wife, I recalled a quote from David Barton…
“Throughout the history of Christianity, God’s people have been pilgrims in foreign lands. Only in America, from the Mayflower to the War on Terror, have we been Pilgrims and Patriots. We are now moving fast into a time, that is more like the rest of the history of the church, in which people of faith in our nation will become just Pilgrims.”
My analysis is that one Republican in his reelection took on the last two years of fake masks, pandemic fantasies, Court Jester Fauci, and opened up schools, businesses, and churches in his state. That was Ron DeSantis and he won BIG. Most of the rest of the Republican candidates acted like the last two years did not happen.
Another exception in Colorado, Heidi Ganahl, did speak to those things and promised that if elected, she would roll back the baby killing laws Polis signed after the Dems in the Colorado state houses passed them. She lost but had the courage to speak to the monster in the room, Abortion. Heidi is an awesome lady and I really hoped she would be my governor. Denver and Boulder Democrats formed the majority, wanting to keep Polis and death. I think there will be a big price to pay for that.
Backing up to big picture analysis mode, most of the Republicans ran against Biden-flation and Slo-Joe’s failures. Not for a vision of the future. The Democrats in the last month ran on keeping the status quo no matter what that entailed. The Dems were very effective in that messaging, turning the Red Wave into the Red Whimper.
Go back to the Winter of the Great Power World War II Saeculum. A Saeculum is about a century with four seasons - Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. In the start of the Winter of their crises, FDR’s missionary generation and Eisenhower’s Nomad generation lost all their wealth in the world-wide Great Depression. On the wave of hyper-inflation, Nazis (fascist socialists) took power in Germany. For our country, a whole bunch of the Hero GI Joe Generation died fighting the socialist tyranny that followed the Great Depression. Those were the bookends of their Winter of crises. Coming out of World War II victory into the glorious Spring of their Saeculum, the GI Joe Generation and Martin Luther King’s ‘Silent’ Generation took us to the Moon, established Civil Rights for all Americans, and set the foundation for the wealth and power our nation enjoyed until the War on Terror.
My guess is that what comes next for us, with foolishness leading our nation, is that our Winter is already here. Boomer and Gen Xer 401 Ks and retirement investments will be swallowed by Inflation and a sprint into Socialism that will steal our nation’s wealth and power. That will occur because teaching the good behavior of ‘Thou shalt not steal’ in our schools and families mostly did not happen. My guess is that we will continue in our Winter of Crises as our wealth and power dissolves. Our Winter will probably adhere to the pattern of the last four Saeculums in our nation in which Hero generations faced deadly enemies and died in large numbers. In those last four Saeculums, that challenge during their Winters of crises took our nation to awesome Springs in their Saeculums and greatness.
Today, our Winter of crises will break us financially – as the last one did – and could include the price of our Millennial Hero Generation dying in great numbers. They will pay that price, perhaps facing fierce enemies on the horizon, but unlike the last four Saeculums, greatness will not follow. I want to be wrong, but the marginalization of people of faith is such that Faith voices will not aim our people at life. Not sure what comes out of this, but I am not relying on my 401 K and investments to secure my old age with comfort. Inflation and socialism will steal that away. This is why I pray hard for national repentance.
As for the body of Christ in our nation, what does Discipleship look like in this grim picture? It’s important to realize that since the end of World War II, the church has failed to call its disciples to competence. Right now, we are incompetent disciples, and we need to work on that. Hard.
Part two tomorrow looks to the future as I consider the fact that Russia is the only modern Great Power nation mentioned in Old Testament Prophecy (Ezekiel 38 and 39). In other words, don’t dismiss Putin to the realms of stupidity.
Jay Inman – On a glorious Colorado Day smoking a cigar and planning to spend the afternoon working out because the future will not be comfortable. I need to lose 30 pounds.