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We are waking up to an amazing day in America. As a nation, we have chosen a platform that chucks God, endorses and promotes baby killing, redefines marriage as God has ordained it, and embraces a man who is the embodiment of all the above.

It is also amazing that the nation re-elected Obama in this weak economy, something American’s don’t normally do. Usually they choose the other guy when the economy tanks.

In Maine, the heated battle to approve of homosexual marriage at the ballot box has finally won. It has ben a long and bitter battle, with the Legislature first attempting to pass it, but the people mounted a referendum challenge, and were successful. Then the Judicial system attempted to install it, and the people again mounted a ballot referendum and were successful in holding the line for traditional marriage once again. That back and forth ping pong ball has gone on in Maine for many years, with finally, the ballot box winning out this time in favor of the perverse version of marriage. The LA Times reports-

Homosexual marriage legalization passes in two states
“Maryland and Maine appeared poised to become the first states in the nation to back same-sex marriage at the ballot box Tuesday night, and other gay-marriage measures were on the ballot in Minnesota and Washington. The issue had been before voters 32 times and had been rejected every time. But activists say public opinion has shifted since 2008, when California passed a constitutional amendment reserving marriage for heterosexual couples. A 2010 poll showed that, for the first time, more Americans supported gay marriage than opposed it, and in May, President Obama endorsed same-sex marriage. … Just three years ago, the state defeated a same-sex marriage bill at the ballot box. But a lengthy campaign to change voters’ minds has persuaded some Mainers…”

This next part will be kind of long but I want to offer a biblical grounding for a deep understanding of how dire the spiritual situation is. Please, please read…

This is from a bible analysis of homosexuality. It is by Brian Schwertly of Westminster Presbyterian Church of Waupaca County. It is well worth reading the entire piece. Here are some excerpts:

“This is an age of increasing acceptance and approval of homosexuality. Homosexuality is portrayed by many in government, in public education and in our colleges and universities as just one of many normal, legitimate lifestyle choices. Those who oppose the homosexual lifestyle on moral and religious grounds are usually portrayed by the intellectual elite, the media and the entertainment industry as ignorant bigots who are full of hatred, “homophobic,” and so on.

It is true that some people hate homosexuals. Some people even engage in “gay bashing.” But it must be remembered that people who engage in such activities are sinning against God; they are not at all living in accordance with the law of Christ. The true Christian loves the homosexual and shows it by treating him in a lawful manner, according to the law of God (1 Jn. 5:3). Slander, violence, hatred and scorn should never be the attitude of a Christian toward the homosexual; Christians should protect homosexuals from personal attack. Yet, while the Christian should love the homosexual by treating him lawfully, he must also love him by being biblically honest with him. A person’s attitude toward homosexuality must not be shaped by our changing, pagan culture but by God’s inspired, infallible revelation, the Bible. The Bible offers hope to the homosexual because it speaks the truth and proclaims forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.

The Creation Ordinance of Marriage

In order to have a proper understanding of human sexuality one must go back to the beginning of mankind. In the beginning God created one man (Adam) and one woman (Eve). God did not create two men (e.g., Adam and Steve) or two women (e.g., Eve and Yvette). God created Adam first from the dust of ground; He then created Eve from Adam’s rib. Eve was created to be Adam’s wife. The Bible says they were naked, yet they were not ashamed. God’s creation of one man and one woman to be husband and wife is the pattern or paradigm for God-sanctioned, normal, moral, blessed sexual relations. “The marriage union is God-ordained, and its sacred precincts must not be polluted by the intrusion of a third party, of either sex” (F. F. Bruce).

Jesus Christ quoted Genesis 2:24 as clear proof that polygamy (having more than one wife) and divorce (except in the case of adultery) are condemned by God (Mt. 19:5). The Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said that there is only one moral, legitimate outlet for man’s God-given sex drive—marriage (1 Cor. 7:2). Monogamous, heterosexual marriage is the only way to have sex without sin and guilt. “Marriage is honorable among all, and the [marriage] bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4 [all Scriptures NKJV]). Anything contrary to the creation ordinance of marriage between one man and one woman is unacceptable before God and sinful. The Bible condemns all sexual activity outside of monogamous, heterosexual marriage: homosexuality, premarital sex, polygamy, adultery, bestiality and so on. “Let no one deceive you with empty words,” says Paul, “for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 5:6). “

The Law of God

God’s moral law clearly condemns homosexuality of any kind: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination…. If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them” (Lev. 18:22, 20:13). Apologists for homosexuality try to circumvent the clear, unambiguous statements of God’s law with blatant Scripture-twisting and excuse-making arguments.

The New Testament agrees with and confirms the Old Testament’s condemnation of homosexuality. Could any passage of Scripture be more clear in its condemnation of homosexuality than Paul’s statement found in the first chapter of Romans: “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;…who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them” (Rom. 1:24-28, 32)

All that said, how does a nation in New Testament times, without benefit of a prophet proclaiming imminent judgment, know when of if God will judge it? By His word. Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

His Word says what is expected of us, for marriage, for government, for moral behavior, for worship and for the priority of God in our lives. In effect, the written Word delivered via the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and by Jesus is the prophetic voice of old as the prophets used to proclaimed judgment.

The following essay answers the question “When does God Judge a Nation?“

“Every day the headlines get worse and the future bleaker. My immediate thought was: Is God judging America? Ascribing God’s judgment to a person, event, or country can be a precarious endeavor. We live in a fallen world and therefore bad things sometimes happen just because of sinful human nature. However, nothing happens unless God allows it or He causes it to occur. In biblical times a prophet made it clear that God’s judgment was coming. He gave the Canaanites 400 years to repent (they didn’t). He gave the city of Nineveh 40 days to repent (they did). He told Abraham that if He could find just ten righteous men in Sodom and Gomorrah He wouldn’t destroy it (He couldn’t). He used the Babylonian Empire to carry out His judgment against a rebellious Israel who wasn’t obeying His land Sabbath laws (Leviticus 25:1-8; Jeremiah 25:8-9,11,29:10; II Chronicles 36:20-21). This judgment resulted in the destruction of the Jews’ first temple and led to their seventy-year captivity by the Babylonians. Of course the biggest judgment (aside from judging His Son Jesus Christ for our sins) God wrought was when He destroyed the earth with a flood. Are there biblical principles we can use to discern as to when events may be a judgment of God?”

The essay goes on to illustrate in biblical detail why and when God judges nations. Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed for homosexuality and wickedness, laziness and selfishness (Ezekiel 16:49-50; Leviticus 18:22-25).

Nineveh was destroyed for wickedness, though it is not detailed which wickedness. (Jonah 1:1-2)

Canaanites were judged but this principle shows that God allows a period of time for repentance, for warnings,and finally for their wickedness to come full measure. (Genesis 15:13-16). In their case it was 400 years. In Nineveh’s case it was 40 days.

Israel was judged and went into captivity for ignoring God’s laws about giving the land rest. (Jeremiah 25:7-11)

The world was judged when evil was so great upon the earth and man was thinking only evil continually.(Genesis 6:5-7)

“God’s judgment will come when the wickedness of a nation’s behavior (or the world’s behavior in the Flood’s case) and the evilness of its reasoning crosses the line of God’s tolerance.”

The essay concludes with one more principle of when God judges:

Flaunting Sin

I want to mention one last biblical principle concerning the judgment of God. This has to do with flaunted or public sin. There are different attitudes people can have when they sin. Some are ashamed of their sins and try to hide them. Others flaunt their sins before man and God because they have no shame in committing them. All sin is destructive but God looks at the heart (I Samuel 16:7).”

Ananias and Sapphira lied directly to the Holy Spirit, flaunting their sin of greediness. A rebellious attitude of flagrant sin will not be tolerated in individuals nor in nations.

Please understand that where America is now is in a place of severe precipice, her toes even over the edge of the abyss. Making an ordinance of homosexual marriage, rejecting the even moderately moral and ethical man Romney is, making a platform of child sacrifice, never mind the financial sins of laziness, welfare, greediness, and power abuse, our sins have piled up so high we cannot see the top of the pile even with a telescope. God will judge America, as He will judge all nations. The only questions is how close is it.

It is my personal opinion that our judgment is near, that the election was one last chance to refuse immorality and perversity. To reject the God-rejecters and to embrace an agenda that is a bit more Godly than the one American finally embraced. I personally believe Hurricane Sandy was a warning in the face of this nation’s imminent – and very likely her last – decision.

What will this judgment include? One only needs to look at the bible to see the many ways He judges. Will we be attacked like Israel was and carried off in captivity to a stronger military power?

Will we undergo a severe, city-flattening earthquake? (Amos 1:1, Zechariah 14:5).

Will He send drought and famine? Will he send war? Will He do all of the above?

We do not know. But one thing we do know, as sure as His promises of judgment for rebellion against Him are sure, He also will keep His promise as the Great Shepherd and love and care for each of His sheep.

“He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” (Isaiah 40:11)

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them” (Ezekiel 34:11)

If you awoke today depressed and dejected because the news, well, we have a right to be. I am dejected too. But what I am sad for are the vast majority of the people who do not know what they are doing, who are lost, blind sheep stumbling around without a shepherd. They are in the cold and do not know it!

We are hurtling headlong toward the cliff, rushing toward the cesspool so many want to dive into.

I am sad for my nation and expecting judgment any time soon. But I know my home is in heaven, and until the Good Shepherd calls me there I will pray for the lost people of this nation. Ceaselessly. Have hope in Him and His ways. He is holy and pure.

I am Elizabeth Prata, and I approve this message. (Except the part about Romney being President)

US says there’s no time for Obama-Netanyahu meeting
“White House says scheduling, election campaign are reasons for not holding a meeting; announcement follows Netanyahu declaration that those who don’t place “red lines” on Iran, have no right to give Israel a “red light.”“

“For the first time since taking office, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is slated to visit the United States without meeting US President Barack Obama. The lack of a meeting later this month comes in the midst of roiling tensions between Jerusalem and Washington over setting red lines for Iran’s nuclear program. Some have seen the absence of a face-to-face conversation as a further sign of strain in the relationship.”

John McTernan wrote today, “Obama is manifesting his hatred for Israel, forcing Israel to fight Iran alone. All we can do is watch this day by day as the countdown to war is on.”

Zechariah wrote that in the time of the end, Israel would have no friend, and the world would be staggering with hatred against her in trying to remove Jerusalem from her place. (Zechariah 12:2-3). By the end of the end, all the world’s armies will be gathered around Jerusalem and waiting for Jesus to return so they can fight Him. (Rev 16:13).

Israel will have no friends… It was only four short years ago that the US and Israel were tight and it was impossible to believe we would ever go away from Israel. After Obama, we see how fast a 50 year relationship can erode, especially when there is demonic hatred at the root of it.

Reuters wrote that Obama’s refusal to meet with Netanyahu is “an unusual snub.” “In a highly unusual rebuff to a close ally, the White House said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama would not meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a U.S. visit later this month, as tensions escalated over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program.”

Netanyahu – and Ahmadinejad- are coming to the opening of the UN for the 67th General Session this month. The Palestinian Authority’s Abbas is also coming. He is speaking on September 27th in another pitch for the PA to be given a state. The General Session opens on September 18.

I just spent three hours writing this part and was 3/4 done…and it all disappeared. Pardon me while I go cry.

This is very true for me

Updated to add a photo:

Eastern Colorado received some heavy weather yesterday. Lots of flooding and then a prolonged period of hail battered parts of Colorado Springs and environs. The hail was so prolonged, and the size so large, that cars were buried up to their doors in some paces. There was so much it looked like snow! Then the tornadoes hit, and the thunder, and the wind.

This storm reminded me of another freaky hailstorm that happened in April in Texas, and also one in China that killed several people.

Here is the news of the Colorado storm:

Flooding, hail rough up eastern Colorado and south metro area
“A storm system that moved through Colorado yesterday brought hail, heavy winds, and even tornadoes to the Denver area. By far, the most visible damage was caused by inches of hail. It was thick cars could not drive through the streets in some neighborhoods.”

Here’s another photo, from Jim Cantore via twitter: “@JimCantore photo from astonishing colorado springs of hail and rain flooding #sad pic.twitter.com/4CmBLNid”

A reader of this blog commented that though hail is common for CO Springs, hail of that size (ping pong ball) is not common at that elevation.

This morning, snowplows were clearing hail off the Denver streets. Here is a CBS photo gallery of the tornadoes, hail, flooding, lightning and thunderstorms that rolled through last night.

They are saying that the storms were “unusual“, “wicked“, and “crazy.”

“And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel…” (Amos 7:8a).

A plumb line is what surveyors use to ensure the straightness along a vertical plane or a horizontal plane is achieved. It is the baseline standard upon which the work proceeds. The Lord’s plumbline is His statues, and though His mercy is great as we waver, it will not last forever. There is wrath, too, for persisting in wavering from the plumbline. He judges, too, and one of the judgments is hail.

In the rest of the Amos verses, the LORD says he will not pass by His people any more. The end was near, for them at that time. But what of the wicked people all over the world, the ones who rebel against him and refuse His offer of saving grace so they may persist in their depravity now in this time? What of them? What of the church body, filled with doctrinal infection, hypocrites, paganism, and waywardness? Will He tolerate us straying from the plumbline forever? No. Sometimes He sends hail.

“I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.” (Isaiah 28:17)

In other news, speaking of unusual, perplexing, even, there was an earthquake at Mayo Ireland.

Mayo earthquake surprises geologists
“A leading seismologist has said yesterday’s earthquake off the west coast was “unexpected” and poses “very interesting questions for geologists”. The earthquake, which registered a magnitude of four on the Richter scale, was recorded as 60km west of Belmullet, Co Mayo, at a depth of 3km, at 8.58am. It was the largest local seismic event ever recorded, according to Tom Blake of the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) and the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. It was also the second-largest local earthquake on record in either Britain or Ireland, he said – the first being of 5.4 magnitude on July 19th, 1984… However, Mr Blake said that while the earthquake was classified as “moderate”, it was “significant” in that it challenged existing information about seismic activity off the west coast.”

Remember a few weeks ago there was an earthquake at northern Italy? There was millions in damage. But scientifically, that earthquake also perplexed the scientists, because it happened in a place where earthquakes ‘should not’ happen.

This Discovery News article simply states; Why Italy’s Earthquake was weird
–The magnitude 6.0 quake was a thrust quake, yet it occurred at a depth of just 3 miles.
–The quake hit about 470 miles north of the plate boundary.
“A strong and unusually shallow earthquake struck northern Italy over the weekend, fracturing pavement, sending torrents of brick and rubble raining down from buildings, and killing seven people. The powerful shaking was a first for the region in centuries — and fairly surprising to seismologists.”

In essence, the article explains that the Italy quake was a thrust quake- which happens when two plates smash together…but it was nearly 500 miles from the place where two plates smash together! And when two plates smash together, it always happens at greater depths, but this one was shallow, nearly atop the earth’s surface! Can’t you see the scientists (UK: boffins) stroking their beards and pacing the lab? The earth is just not behaving as we expect it to … but that refrain is becoming an old piece of news these days, isn’t it? Scientists are perplexed…things happen that they don’t expect or can explain. …

The Lord said that as a sign of His near return, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”

Is there any doubt that these are part of the signs of His soon wrathful intervention into human life? The lost do not want to hear the truth, that our sinful actions anger a patient but Holy God.

“Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28). [emphasis mine]

Here are a few links to some things you might enjoy.

I’ve always been interested in the combination of form and function. This series of “Ecclesiastical Architecture” from The Christian Pundit explores form and function between theology and architecture. Each essay is just the right length, enough to give meat but not too long or involved. Interesting stuff.

My friend sings here, by JAdams 2007

1. The Buildings
2. The Pulpit
3. The Sacraments
4. The Baptism font/pool
5. The Music
6. The Lighting
7. The Pews

Charles Spurgeon’s thought for the day, June 1: God’s Promise Keeps Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. (Ecclesiastes 11:1)

“We must not expect to see an immediate reward for all the good we do; nor must we always confine our efforts to places and persons which seem likely to yield us a recompense for our labors. The Egyptian casts his seed upon the waters of the Nile, where it might seem a sheer waste of corn. But in due time the flood subsides, the rice or other grain sinks into the fertile mud, and rapidly a harvest is produced. Let us today do good to the unthankful and the evil. Let us teach the careless and the obstinate. Unlikely waters may cover hopeful soil. Nowhere shall our labor be in vain in the Lord.”

“It is ours to cast our bread upon the waters; it remains with God to fulfill the promise “Thou shalt find it.” He will not let His promise fail. His good word which we have spoken shall live, shall be found, shall be found by us, Perhaps not just yet, but some day we shall reap what we have sown. We must exercise our patience, or perhaps the Lord may exercise it. “After many days,” says the Scripture, and in many instances those days run into months and years, and yet the Word stands true. God’s promise will keep; let us mind that we keep the precept and keep it this day.”

Hank Hanegraaff answers the question “How can I show the atheists proof of God’s existence?“, in 3 minutes.

Looking to pretty up your twitter background, blog, or website? Here is Free Christian art. Twitter backgrounds, inspirational art, and stock photos. For free. Did I say it’s free?

At His Channel you can watch video of many Christian pastors and teachers on demand, for free. Some include Hal Lindsey Report, Turning Point with David Jeremiah, Adrian Rogers Love Worth Finding, Grace to You with John MacArthur, and Kay Arthur’s Precepts for Life.

Lots and lots of links to good resources on the topic of Spiritual Abuse from Pure Provender.

It’s summer. Don’t forget sunblock