Had Enough? James Rankin – Guest Blogger.

Peggy and I are headed to Oklahoma. We made it to Phoenix yesterday! My brother flew out and is driving a big SUV. We’ve got the dogs in there as well as some of our stuff. Today we’ll drive to Albuquerque. There will be no Acceleration Radio tonight! LOL!

Had Enough

by

James Rankin

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. (Daniel 6: 10) 

And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 

(1 Kings 18: 41-45) 

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18: 1-8) 

Had Enough? 

So, it’s come to this at last; the moment everyone said would never come when the ruling on Roe v. Wade came down in 1973. In case you’ve been off the planet (physical or mentally) during the very anniversary week of the Roe decision, the state legislature in New York passed a bill permitting abortion at all stages of pregnancy, up to the moment of birth. This was signed into law amid much fanfare by Governor Andrew Cuomo, who also urged lawmakers to further cement the state law into place by a constitutional amendment permitting abortion practices. 

After 45 years of legalized abortions under Roe (and the loss of numbers the equivalent of entire nations), there is finally something of a reaction among people who think abortion to be wrong, aside from the usual laments of how terrible it all is. A bookstore in Syracuse, NY, upon the bill being signed into law, closed its doors for one day rather than pay state sales takes to “a tyrannical government that murders babies.” The store is open again, collecting sales taxes “under duress;” sadly, this is the only such case we know of in the state of New York where anyone took such a stand. (And I would not be at all surprised if abortion advocates and the general, brown-shirted mob mentality in growing numbers on the political left now target that bookstore and its owners for harassment and other such tactics in an effort to drive it out of business.) People who never spoke up much on this topic before are speaking up now, appalled at the devaluing of human life enshrined in this law. 

Beyond this, however, the usual responses are being deployed against this form of government-approved abominations to the Lord; op-eds on the internet and in newspapers (at least those that even bother nowadays to let opposing voices be heard), calls for marches and, of course, petitions. (Oh, don’t forget posting another “meme” to Facebook – that’ll show ‘em!) And, once we give the appearance of doing our duty and making another sincere (if ineffectual) attempt to rescue those being led away to death (Proverbs 24: 11), we’ll go back to our everyday lives: Enjoying our favorite entertainments, buying stuff that maybe we need and maybe we don’t, getting excited about the upcoming Super Bowl or some other sporting event, and shrugging our shoulders when nothing happens until we raise another brief, half-hearted outcry as the next such action comes along… right on time, like the proverbial trains under Italian fascist dictator Mussolini. 

Or… have you finally had enough? 

Before you answer that question, consider the following: 

•  †Me, too! This law was passed in New York State. How long do you think it will be before other states – notably, California and, surprisingly, Virginia – follow suit? Or that the new radicals in the Democratic Party that are part of the freshman class in Congress begin work to inflict this on the nation as a whole?

•  †Petitions and marches. Honestly, these tactics don’t mean spit anymore. If people ignore the Word of the Lord, how receptive do you think they will be to the voices of thousands upon thousands of their neighbors?

•  †Educating and argument. People make brilliant arguments for the unborn and against the wicked laws that would lead them to the slaughter all the time, only to find that we no longer argue with people, we argue at them. In this era where outrage appears to be the only legitimate response for any situation, debate and argument is no longer judged by the validity of the points made, but by the intensity of the emotional display; in short, whoever throws the best temper-tantrum wins. Evil tends to be stubborn; it does not give up easily and, these days, is usually not the first to “blink.”

•  †Life and health of the mother. The usual reason given by abortion advocates for keeping the practice legal. Yet medical science is making this argument moot, as physicians become increasingly able to preserve the lives of both. Also consider: In the 46 years since Roe, there have been an estimated 60,000,000 abortions performed, a number that is likely a conservative estimate. Do the math; the average works out to a little more than 1.3 million abortions per year. Meanwhile, deaths due to cancer in the U.S. last year were placed at 609,640, while deaths from heart disease were estimated at 630,000. So at least a roughly equal number – perhaps more – have died from abortion in America than from heart disease and cancer combined.

• If any one single disease produced such a mortality rate, people would break the clouds with cries for something to be done about it. It must be acknowledged, once and for all, that the vast majority of abortions in this country are performed for birth control. Add to this the fact that many advocates are now dropping this pretense and openly calling for unrestrained abortion at any time for any reason – the very provisions of the New York law – and you see how flimsy the idea has become. 

 Life and health, part 2. Please note the idea that “health,” both physical and mental, is now stressed in the arguments for the law. Just as people wishing to challenge existing laws to pave the way for something with a more progressive flavor go “judge-shopping” to find one more in keeping with their philosophy, it won’t take long to find a physician willing to stretch medical definitions and on a diagnosis solely to facilitate an abortion. (Recall the gruesome case of Dr. Kermit Gosnell of Philadelphia.)
 Overturn Roe. Too many people think this the “holy grail” of the pro-life movement, that if the 

Supreme Court’s 1973 cop-out were corrected, that the job is done. But this would only mean reversal at the level of the Federal government, and that the hot potato (as it were) would be passed to the states. Where “progressive” governments and philosophies are enshrined, they will simply follow Governor Cuomo’s advice, put amendments for abortion in their state constitutions (likely by any means necessary), while others do the opposite and the nation will become half pro-life, half pro-abortion. And we all know how well the “house divided” thing worked when the national sin was slavery. 

Yet the command remains; rescue those being led away to death. And it is not just the unborn that are dying, it is American culture that once upon a time would have been horrified at the numbers that have been put to death. So, how to do this? 

Those of you who read these pieces on a regular basis know my view that you cannot bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth using human means; at best, it is ineffective and, at worst, can make things even more terrible than they are. Politics won’t cut it, and other human means of persuasion will end only in a second American civil war – which I think is what some in this country actually hope for. We must get to the heart of the matter, which is simply that a culture of “self” that leads, invariably, to death has taken hold in other parts of the world, and has now gained a beachhead of sorts in America. 

Yet, we have a very recent guidepost as an indicator of what to do. In 2015, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Women in the World Summit in Washington, DC that, speaking on abortion rights, “Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will… And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.” As this address was viewed as part of her campaign for President of the United States, believers took her seriously and cried out to God to stop Secretary Clinton and the progressive agenda. And many of them who might not have voted for him in the primary elections (myself included) took a second look at the Republican candidate and shocked the nation by electing Donald Trump to office. 

Our spiritual attention spans, however, have considerably atrophied over the years, and we think that merely electing the “right” person (or at least the one who is more “right” than the other candidate) is sufficient for the task, and we can go back to our own pursuits. Even when we hear with our own ears politicians pushing for a newborn with deformities or illness to be revived just long enough for parents and doctors to decide whether to let the infant die or painlessly but actively euthanize him or her – nothing less than infanticide – as was the case in the proposed law in Virginia, only a few of us speak out about such outrages. Have our consciences been seared by contact with the world to the point where it has become just another body? Do the videos of Planned Parenthood officials ghoulishly discussing the sale of parts of aborted babies over lunch not stir us? Have the staggering numbers of the dead caused us to turn away rather than face the fact that the next step in the evolution of evil waits in the wings for its cue? Are we now modern-day Pharisees, saying, Let Trump handle it; that’s why we elected him, isn’t it? and not raise a finger to help at all? 

That second American Civil War is already upon us, in the minds of the people, where such things always begin. When such an analogy is employed, usually the images that come up in our heads are of physically taking up arms. Those among us who still know our history are flooded with images of the wholesale slaughter between North and South in the first such conflict, and of Mathew Brady’s photos of the fields of the dead in places such as Gettysburg or Antietam. Naturally, those who are not addicted to first-person shooter video games recoil from such prospects. No one in their right mind wants to go out and kill people. But there is a principle in Scripture that what happens in the spirit will eventually present itself in the physical world. If we want to avoid physical warfare, we must engage in spiritual warfare. It is no longer an option, nor the domain of those “called” to such things; we are all members of the Body of Christ, and spiritual warfare is not only our right, but our privilege: 

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues… they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. (Mark 16: 17, 18) 

Far too often (even among believers), prayer is viewed as a “last resort” tactic, when it should be our first action. Recall Nehemiah’s frequent recourse to quick prayers before seeking the king’s favor to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, or James’ declaration that the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (James 5:16b, NKJV) In the first part of that verse James was talking about healing, but Jesus took it much further than that: Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20) 

I am not directing my remarks to the unsaved, or to those who have already imbibed the “kool- aid” (as it were) of the culture of death. I say to my fellow believers, have we had enough? I know how things get in life – how we allow the cares of this world, our jobs, our desires, our amusements and the sins that so easily beset us (if we are not careful) to take the place that should be reserved only for God. And I am just as guilty of this as anyone. But the Lord gave me three words at the end of 2018 that He said it was now time to release: 

When America was divided into two nations once before, it was for the sin of slavery among those states that chose tradition above Me and would not hear the Word of the Lord telling them to repent. And even though the entire nation was judged through terrible bloodshed for not dealing with the sin from its foundation, I chose Washington and not Richmond and ended the thought of secession because I had my purposes for the nation in the future which it could not accomplish as two nations. 

But now a new strain of sin has infested Washington and, though it, my people in America, causing them to be spiritually divided once more. I partly judged America to get her attention, yet gave her a reprieve for My people to do what the work I called them to do. If America does not now hear My servants calling for repentance today, then I will permit secession to rise once again, only this time to provide a refuge for My people when I judge the nation. Regardless of the size of what remains, My people who hear My voice and heed it shall be the ones who will restore the waste places and rebuild the ruins once this sin is purged from the land. 

In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against Me; for then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride and you shall no longer be haughty in My holy mountain. I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. (Zephaniah 3:11, 12) 

“Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon!” “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” says the LORD.” Many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst.” (Zechariah 2: 7, 11) 

My people – brought to this land from many nations – shall be brought into My refuge, provided in many places within this nation, protected by Me when the nation is judged for its sins. America will not fall, but if she does not repent, she will be humbled beyond the remnant that seeks Me. She will be humbled for her people who either serve Me in name only, seeking only what they can get from Me, or have forsaken Me altogether and shake their fists at Me as they serve their idols. Just as I did not permit this with Israel, so I will not permit this with America. I do not change, and My purpose for America has not changed; why will she choose the path of humiliation? Turn and repent! 

The battle is joined, and we must fight – but on our knees. We can either face it head-on and seek the Lord and let Him guide us, or we can be swept up by it and be moved along by things we cannot control. The blood of the unborn and the blood of those born but who have been sacrificed to Moloch in various ways cries out to God; we should not want it to testify against us… 

For the Glory of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ ©2019, Anno Domini, Rankin Family Ministries, Inc.