The Carpenter's Apprentice Archives

Volume 2, Number 10                                                                                                                     October 2001

"Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain." (Psalm 127:1)

Even as the last issue of The Carpenter’s Apprentice was being readied for mailing, the events of September 11, 2001, were unfolding. It was tempting to put things on hold and rush to deal with the horror then. Nevertheless, I felt compelled by the Spirit to wait and allow the significance of that day to surface out of the froth of all the emotion that it aroused.

Those of us who were living when President Kennedy was assassinated still remember the moment we got the news. The same will be true for this (and I’m searching for a word) tragedy. It is a tragedy but it is so much more because it was so unnecessary and so avoidable.

On the morning of September 11^th, I had been busy writing and had heard no news. I called to wish my mother a happy birthday and she replied with sadness in her voice, "It’s not happy." The sadness in her voice was my first hint of the news and as she explained I turned on the television.

Like others who are paying attention to the times in which we live, I was not the least bit shocked. In retrospect, I’m surprised the devastation wasn’t greater. It easily could have been (and may yet be).  The events didn’t surprise me, but I join other watchmen in mourning the senseless destruction and loss of life that is a direct result of the decline in righteousness in our beloved land.

It didn’t take long for messages from a variety of Christian brethren to appear in my mailbox. Few of them called for Christians to examine their lives before God. Most called for a nationalistic, flag waving, God is on our side let’s go get ‘em kind of a response. That saddens me and it is telling.

We murder about 3,000 babies in this country every day. In the thirty days that have passed since the WTC collapse that is 90,000 innocent Americans that have been mercilessly annihilated. Where is the outrage from God’s people?  We blink our eyes at the horror which by the end of December will have taken the lives of over one million children this year alone and we have the audacity to wonder why God would allow evil to come our way. One might expect such wonderings from those who don’t know God, but it is unsettling to this watchman to see Christians struggle to understand the connection between our careless living and the consequences it brings.

Among the bits of wisdom collected and preserved by Solomon is Proverbs 14:34: "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." Just a few verses later we read, "Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die." (Proverbs 15:10)

There are those who challenge the notion that righteousness ever characterized this country. It is certainly easy to point to individual and national failures which seem to support that conclusion, but I respectfully disagree. In spite of the failures of earlier days in our history, there was an acknowledgment of an absolute standard of right and wrong.  Personal failures did not dissuade our founders from recognizing that God’s laws are immutable whether in the physical or spiritual realm. They understood that acting as though the law did not exist did not change reality.

Ideas and actions have consequences and the consequences are directly related to the righteousness of one’s cause. We have heard both sides of the present conflict describe themselves as "just." The only thing that makes a cause just is that it has its source in the law of God.

It is my considered opinion that neither side can make such a claim. It doesn’t matter who tries to stir up a holy war mentality, it is a charade for what is really at its heart: the lust for power and position.  We have become a nation of lawbreakers: some out of ignorance, others in defiance. We have forgotten our law and that is dangerous. For the past four years I have been giving a Constitution test to folks at our local Fair on the Square. This year was the first time anyone scored 100. Most score in the 50 to 60 percent range and the majority of the rest score lower still.

Our ignorance of the law leaves us unable to make wise decisions regarding those who run for office and we end up supporting lawbreakers. We fail to listen to their promises and hold them up to the standard of what is legal. Many even applaud their willingness to break the law because it means more funds for their special interest group,

Our failure has turned our servants into our masters and freedom has been lost. Our founders warned us.

Can we be honest enough with ourselves to see how ridiculous it is for the President to go on national television and sternly assure our enemies that we will not allow their evil to rob us of freedom, and in the next breath inform us that for our own good we will have to consent to more intrusions into our privacy and disruptions to our travel (among other things)?

The crumbling of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center is tragically symbolic of the crumbling of our heritage. Not everyone will be a watchman, but everyone should heed the warning of the watchman. He positions himself on a high tower so that he can see beyond the horizon.  The masses below have an admittedly limited view, but it is foolish beyond description for those on the ground to ignore the watchmen (or worse yet scoff at him) because they can’t see the danger from their vantage point.

There are watchmen with better vantage points than the one I occupy. I choose not to ignore them for to ignore them assures the bondage of our posterity. I love my country but silence is not in order when injustice prevails. I pray that one day soon righteousness will again be revered in our land and that we will be a people God will choose to bless.

The Twin Towers had not yet collapsed when I started hearing the question asked that would fill the airwaves for weeks to come, "Why?" "Why would a good God allow such bad things to happen?"

Isn’t it amazing that a culture can deny God at every turn and the minute something it perceives as bad happens, He’s to blame? It is easy to understand how those who don’t know Christ as Savior could ask such questions, but it is troubling that those who profess Christianity struggle with this issue.

At this given moment there are thousands of asteroids and other space bound bodies in the near vicinity of this planet. The only thing that shields us is the hand of God. Should He lift His hand of protection, the destruction would be massive.

On September 11^th, God lifted His hand of protection from this country and we received what I pray will be a wake up call. I’m hopeful, but I’m not optimistic. We are so accustomed to hitting the snooze button that a month later it appears we have already shifted from anything that would hint of introspection and focused our attention on "the enemy."

We are not asking, "Why?" anymore and it was never the right question to ask in the first place. The appropriate question is always, "Why not?" Is there some reason God should not allow us to be disciplined? I’d really like to know.

Is there something inherently redeemable in us as individuals or as a nation that suggests we should be above calamity? What qualities would those be, pray tell?

If scripture tells us anything, it tells us that what we deserve is eternal death. Anything less should be seen as a measure of grace. It troubles me deeply to see Christian ministers casually dismiss the possibility that the recent events are a matter of God’s judgment or discipline. God is holy and He will not forever abide unrighteousness. That is true in the life of nations and individuals.

To deny the message that God sends us through these events is to ignore the discipline He would use to get our attention. His discipline will continue until he gets our attention. I pray we are wise enough to accept the instruction quickly and repent.  Of course, with pulpits filled by men who leave God out of the picture, it is easy to see why the masses have become complacent. Nevertheless, God will make His voice heard.

God expects us to be patient as Christians because it is consistent with the new nature within us. It is consistent with His nature. To say He has been patient with our culture and with Christians here in particular (especially me) is an understatement of immense magnitude.

That this and other calamities have befallen us in recent history should not be dismissed without serious introspection. But in our hurried culture, we don’t have time for that. We pause for a couple of minutes and the game goes on. That’s the way the victims would want it we’re told.

Well, life does go on, but if we go on unchanged in a positive way we’ve missed the true significance of the moment. What can we learn?

We hear a lot of talk about those "innocent" victims and yet, before God there are no innocent victims, except for those which may have been in utero at the time. In fact, the vast majority of the victims either by their action or inaction have supported the unlawful policies of this country which are undeniably at the root of the hatred which provoked the attack. I don’t mean to be insensitive here, but we must face reality.

Seventy-five percent of those people (if they are typical of Americans in general) didn’t bother to vote in the last election. An even greater percentage didn’t bother to really inform themselves on the issues or involve themselves in communicating with their elected representatives. In short, we have not been vigilant and we are paying the price of apathy.

Will the consequences of that apathy change our behavior as a people? That remains to be seen. The answer might be found in the response to another question, "Have the recent events caused you to be more diligent about your citizenship?" I hope so. Oh, how I hope so; for if those receiving this have not been moved to greater faithfulness, there is almost no reason to believe that the masses of our countrymen will be so moved.

As devastating as the events a month ago were, the greater tragedy would be that we learned nothing from them and remained unchanged. We must change if we are to be a free people.

"United We Stand"

If there is one cry that has gone out since September 11^th, this is it. Yet for all the repetition of the mantra-like chant, I have yet to hear one person articulate what the basis of that unity is or should be. That seems to me to be an important matter to address.

Is our unity simply a sense of nationalism so that it is us against them? That certainly was NOT the idea our founders had in mind when they established the united States of America.  Our founders understood the true values of Godly government as expressed in the founding documents which trace their origin to the principles expressed in the Bible. Today we are told that the attack on America is an attack on our values and freedom and we won’t stand for it.

How quickly we forget that our politically correct leaders have assured us that the only value that has value is the freedom to set your own values (unless of course your values differ from theirs). But, we don’t think about that as we wave our flags and chant "U-S-A." This isn’t the Olympics folks.

Although we have rejected God from the highest levels of our culture down, we now appeal to whatever "god" might be for blessing on our righteous cause. We have been wronged and we invoke the name of an unknown god to squeeze the last drops of blood from the grapes of wrath. "Glory, glory, hallelujah!" How foolish we look.

Never in our history have we been so divided. We are a fragmented society of special interests groups each vying for a larger piece of the government pie that is forcibly extracted from the substance of our families. We don’t mind the re-distribution of wealth as long as our group "wins." Bulletin: we all lose.

We’ve bred race warfare and class warfare of every imaginable sort: rich against the poor, young against old, men against women, etc. Those who think these distinctions have been erased deceive themselves. Yet, we are united???

The only basis for unity is truth. Truth is absolute and unchanging and it is the only foundation for a just society. When I was in elementary school we had a chart that depicted our system of government. The drawing looked something like the Empire State Building.

I’ll never forget the image. The foundation of that superstructure was a block labeled, "A Fundamental Belief in God." (I would love to have a copy of that chart but I haven’t seen one since college in 1971.)  What we once publicly taught was the very foundation of our culture has been removed and today even large numbers of Christians voice their approval. Incredible!

If we are united in anything, it is in our common stand against the rule of Godly law in our government and our individual lives.

If we are going to stand as a people, we must once again be united in the biblical principles of government: self-government, family government, church government, and civil government. The proper role of civil government is to safeguard the other levels from tyranny and usurpation.

To our shame and discomfort, our civil government is the perpetrator of tyranny and usurpation. It is to our shame because it is our sacred duty to correct it. I long for the day when we will, so that we can once more be truly united.

"Some boast in chariots, and some in horses; But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God." (Psalm 20:7)

How I wish this was the attitude of our people today, but it is not. We are full of big talk about how we are going to use our firepower (emaciated as it is) and kick Osama bin Laden’s behind. Our President has boldly declared that we are going to put an end to evil. Can you imagine that!?

What arrogance! We are going to use our "chariots" and "horses" to abolish evil. That is an absurd proclamation but Americans, Christian and non-Christian alike, stand up and cheer. Have we lost all semblance of reason? Do we do all our thinking with our emotions? When will we learn that our strength does not lie in our military prowess, but in our moral purity? It is a costly lesson individually but the price is magnified in a society.

Our first priority as a people should be inward, not retaliatory if we want to recover what has been lost. We must consider our condition and resolve to do what is required of us to do justice before God.

Our hope is entirely in Him. The most powerful forces designed by man evaporate at a nod from God Almighty. They cannot and will not prevail against Him. It is futile to think that we can escape calamity outside the confines of God’s will for us. When an individual or nation abandons Him hope is forfeited.

In spite of appearances, the only path of redemption for our culture or any is in the completed work of Christ. History gives us all the examples we need to prove that the only hope for long term survival is conformity to God’s desire for righteousness, justice, mercy and peace.

That is the message of the gospel which was once at the heart of what motivated those who committed themselves to establishing a just society. They were imperfect, but they understood the principles involved and they did a good job of codifying those principles into our law. How I wish we had been diligent.

We are not to despair, however. The Living Hope they served has not been vanquished from the scene. He lives in our hearts and I pray He will be seen in our lives.

Before the day was over on September 11^th, my email box was beginning to fill with messages from Christians warning that "this is it." Supposedly, we are now on the cusp of what Christ said would happen 2,000 years ago.

Folks who, on any given day, offer a reasonable presentation of the gospel are again repeating the mistake of many who have gone before us. Believe it or not, there have been much darker times than our present situation. Remember The Dark Ages?  Things have been bad before and they’ll be bad again. When Christians respond by proclaiming the end of the world, not only do they look foolish but they also provide non-believers with evidence that all their claims are foolish.

I’m not at all sure what one hopes to gain by attempting to pin-point Christ’s coming. Whether His Parousia was past or is yet future, regardless of the time-line we maintain, irrespective of our view of His kingdom and its nature, the reality is that anyone can find themselves in eternity before their next heartbeat.  That should be more than enough to motivate us to share the grace of our Lord with the world around us. Let us not get caught up in the frenetic wave of those who fill the pockets of modern prophets hoping to get the latest explanation of why their last prophecy failed to be fulfilled.

Let’s be diligent with God’s word and shed the light of Christ. If we do, we will witness His coming today: in the lives of those in need of a Savior.

For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed about what it would have been like to live at some pivotal point in history. There is something compelling about imagining being present during times which shaped the future in remarkable ways.

Such dreaming usually focuses on the positive aspect of events. A more careful analysis of the times usually shows that there were a number of unpleasant components involved in the process which make us have second thoughts about turning the time machine back.

I find that interesting. We tend to forget the negatives of the past and ignore the positives of the present. That has a way of making us unstable in our thoughts and we need to guard against it. It is constantly a challenge for me personally to look reality in the face and respond appropriately.

I’m told from time to time that I am a cynic. I hope that isn’t true. My heart’s desire is to believe the best about situations and circumstances. However, such a belief must be based on fact not fantasy.

It is easy to be upbeat and bubbly when you are oblivious to the nature of the events which go on around you. Christians do not have the liberty to adopt a "que sera, sera" attitude about the world in which they live. We are co-workers with God and we are to be pro-active in our world.

Those of us who have expected events like those of 9-11 have not been upbeat about the reality of the threat. There has been no cause to rejoice or be optimistic. We have labored to arouse others so that the day might have been avoided, but our efforts have been to no avail. It becomes easy to believe that our warnings will continue to be ignored. If that is cynicism, I guess I’m guilty, but my experience tells me it is reality. (0ver)

Having awakened, I have become like the cigarette smoker who quits. Now that I’ve done it, I am anxious for everyone to do the same. Waking up to the realities in which we live is an unsettling experience and we got a heavy dose last month.

Now we are marching down the road to a police state and the abandonment of all that we have treasured. Just four years ago, a liberal acquaintance chided me about my concerns regarding The New World Order. He painted me as a conspiracy theorist nut.

On October 5, 2001, my vindication came though I must say I do not find it satisfying. Perhaps you watched Dan Rather that evening as he spoke of the first strikes against Afghanistan. His words were chilling.

He described the strike as being the first strike of The New World Order. What was previously seen as an indicator of right-wing nuts is in fact the reality of the left. Rather ought to know; he is one of them.

What does all of this have to do with this newsletter? Simply this; at every juncture of history God calls some who take their faith seriously to arise and speak the truth about the events of their time. I am compelled to speak what I believe to be the truth about our day whether anyone else believes me or even listens to me. I’m not here to offend but to warn. It’s my duty before God.

I’d like to believe I’m wrong about where we are going, but we are retracing history and if we don’t change course we are going to repeat it. That is not a pleasant thought for me.

Please join me in prayer to the end that Christians will begin to pay attention and act in a way that will begin to reverse the path we have taken as a country. God will honor our faithfulness. I am convinced of that.

May those who died September 11, 2001, not have died in vain. May history one day record it was the event that aroused Americans from their slumber to reclaim their freedom and end their servitude to those who by law are THEIR servants.

No memorial we could construct would do justice to their memory like returning America to its Godly heritage and restoring the true liberty that is found only when a country honors God.

"Let a general reformation of manners take place - let universal charity, public spirit, and private virtue be inculcated, encouraged, and practiced. United in preparing for a vigorous defence of your country, as if all depended on your own exertions. And when you have done all things, then rely upon the good Providence of Almighty God for success, in full confidence that without His blessings, all our efforts will inevitably fail."

--John Jay - First Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court