Understanding the Times

1 Chronicles 12:32 (NLT)

They understood the times they were living in and knew how to respond.

Did you watch the Joel Rosenberg/Anne Lotz simulcast the evening of September 11th?   I did.   And the message will be forever embedded in my mind.  Truly, Joel and Anne understand the times we are living in and gave great advice as to how we should respond. 

As I evaluate what I see taking place in the world, I believe these 2 forerunners have keen insight into what is going on.  So in case you missed it, I requested a manuscript of Joel's message.  The statistics he shared are appalling.  However, we need to understand the times we are living in - so that we may know how to respond. 

Culturally, did you know:

• 85% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, but only 56% believe that the Bible is accurate without error -  Where do you fall?
• 33% of non-Christians and 32% of Christians get divorced -  (No statistical difference.)
• Since 1973, 53 million abortions have occurred?  That's 53 million babies that are sacrificed -
• Pornography revenues today EXCEED the revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC combined -
• The pornography industry is larger than the revenues of Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, Apple, Netflix and EarthLink - combined-

Economically:

• 42,000 American factories have shut down since 9/11
• 14 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past few years -
• Millions of families have lost their homes -
• Washington is running up the national credit card to jump start our economy - but it's not working!
• The US is in debt over $14 trillion dollars.

Environmentally:

• 9 of the 10 costliest - most expensive hurricanes in American history have happened since 9/11.  The worst was Katrina - which nearly wiped out an American city.
• Hurricane Irene will likely rank in the top 5 and has made 2011 the worst year in American history for natural disasters, with 10 separate catastrophes costing $1 billion or more.
• 2011 - the worst outbreak of tornadoes in nearly a half a century -
• The worst fires in the history of Texas - amidst the worst drought in the history of the state.

None of this is a cosmic accident.  I believe we are at a critical moment in American history and in the history of the world.  I'm sorry if you'd rather read blog posts that serve up cheese cake - but I'm determined not to be the cheese cake girl.   God is leading me to be meat and spinach here.  (Spinach is sometimes yuck - but it's really good for you.)

So if you are serious about spiritual growth...  If you are serious about understanding the times - and want to know how you and your family should respond - hang with me.  Share these posts with the people in your circle.  Subscribe so that you can receive these in your inbox each day.  Comment by clicking on the title 2x's and scrolling down.  (This way, you should be able to comment.)  Don't miss a day.

Question:
Does anybody out there know how to add the "share" button to a blog?  If you do - please contact this limited techie, meat and spinach girl.

On a personal note:  I'm sorry I have not posted this last week.  This past weekend, I had a fairly large conference in Charlotte that took lots of preparation.  I've resolved that if I cannot give God my best in these posts- I will wait until I can.  

I have another conference this weekend at Bay Leaf Baptist in Raleigh.  IF you have any interest in attending, Thursday is the cut-off.  I'd love to see you there!  Contact me immediately so that I can give your RSVP:)

Make it a great day!