Will you answer the door?

The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth.  Selah. ~ Psalm 76:5,9

As we celebrate the 250^th birthday of our nation, we would be remiss if we overlooked the Spirit of 1776 that fueled our Independence from the tyranny of King George and birthed our Republic! Psalm 76:5 is the perfect description of what happened to that Spirit in the 250 years since. Tony Evans introduces us to the anti-spirit in Knocking at the Door below.

Knocking at the Door

To Laodicea, Jesus gave one of the most famous invitations in Scripture: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” He was speaking to a church that had shut Him out. He was not inside their fellowship. He was outside, asking to come back in.

Picture the Lord of glory knocking on the very church that bears His name. That is tragedy. A congregation can be filled with people, programs and performances yet leave Christ standing outside.

But His grace is amazing. He does not walk away. He knocks. He waits. He promises, “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him.” That is fellowship. That is intimacy. That is the heart of the Christian life.

An overcomer keeps the door open. When Christ knocks through conviction, they respond. When He calls for fellowship, they invite Him in. The church may forget Him. The world may reject Him. But the overcomer hears His voice and welcomes His presence. Do not leave the Lord outside. Open the door. Let Him in.

Tony Evans

IF we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. ~ Acts 4:9-10

Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost when he spoke the Acts 4:9-10 words above to Annas the high Priest, Caiaphas, and the Jews gathered in Jerusalem to question by what power or name the lame man had been healed. By the starkest contrast imaginable, Tony Evans describes the church of today that has become the impotent man.

Bobbi Anne Cox wrote a wonderful Memorial Day tribute which included the poem “In Flanders Field” where poppies blow between the crosses row by row.  I was struck by this comment from Richard Luthmann: The red poppy matters because memory matters. “In Flanders Fields” threw a torch from the dead to the living, and Moina Michael answered with “We Shall Keep the Faith.” That is the real Memorial Day covenant. We do not merely mourn the fallen. We inherit their duty. We keep faith by defending the country they died for, the Constitution they served under, and the liberty they purchased with blood. America survives only if gratitude becomes vigilance. To every Gold Star family, every veteran carrying the names of friends, and every grave marked by a flag: we remember. God bless the fallen. God bless America.

From the Spirit of ’76 which emanated from fiery church pulpits to strike fear into the dark heart of tyranny, to the present-day anti-spirit church of the impotent man on this very significant Memorial Day, American manhood…especially within our churches, faces the question of the ages: Will you answer the door, pick up the torch, accept your inheritance, and defend our country, Constitution, and liberty they purchased with their blood?  Psalm 76:9 Jesus is waiting…and wanting to make you whole.