History
Every Knee Will Bow
The Second Civil War continues in America.
Here are some facts on which most people agree.
The police brutality murder of George Floyd spawned peaceful protests for justice that were hijacked by anarchists and looters who desire power, not peace. The one-two punch of the Covid-19 lock downs coupled with the Satanic Pentecost has left America fearful, poorer and on edge.
One positive trend has emerged from the chaos.
Kneeling.
I submit that one form will bring revival and hope. The other, revolution and despair. Here’s the most sobering part:
Every knee will bow.
Every Knee Will Bow
I dedicate this blog to the “justice generation” whom I’ve served in Youth With A Mission for forty-six years and at Faith International University.
Bill O’Reilly says that, “True social justice is fairness. The use of power in order to treat everyone equally in the public arena. That means creating all access opportunities. It does not mean overlooking destructive behavior or a guarantee of life success. You have to work for that.”
The current turmoil reminds me of the 60’s and 70’s when long hairs tried to stop the Vietnam War and mainstream drugs and free sex. I joined another group of hippies known as the “Jesus Revolution.” We wanted change too–but with God’s view of justice.
None of us ever gets that perfectly right, but some get closer.
Another group of long hairs (with wigs) lived in the latter part of the 18th century. They pursued social justice by bloodshed, looting, and forcibly toppling the government. Google the French Revolution (1789-1799) and you can read all about it.
It was ugly.
The French social justice mob became the political parents of the Nazis and communists. They made people take a knee and then shot them in the head.
Other 18th century patriots dropped to their knees in America from 1734 to the 1770’s. We call it the “Great Awakening.” Their form of kneeling involved prayer and personal repentance. The movement began with a sermon by Jonathan Edwards in Northampton, Massachusetts in December 1734 which served as a primer on American social justice. It was called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
Don’t be offended by the title. God hates sin more than you hate sex trafficking and racial oppression.
That generation eventually threw a “Tea Party” in Boston Harbor after years of restraint, appeals to justice, and enduring the invasion of an occupying army. They defeated the British in the American Revolution–which became the political fruit of bowing their knees to God.
They said, “We have only one King–Jesus.” That passion and bravery gave birth to the USA–the first nation in history (besides ancient Israel) founded on biblical principles of liberty and justice.
It wasn’t perfect. Slavery had been a normal part of human culture for thousands of years. I know that’s hard to believe today. Slavery originally began when poor people “sold” themselves to others because they couldn’t provide for their families and no government programs existed. They became economic servants or slaves. They had no other choice.
Then, for thousands of years when one tribe conquered another, the victors forced people to serve them. This was the unjust form of slavery that became normal for millenniums. By the time of the Roman Empire, slaves composed 50% of the population.
Eventually the faith of the followers of Jesus changed things. They served the sick during numerous plagues. They became lion food for devilish sport. Over many centuries, their sacrificial love changed the Roman world as nearly half became followers of Christ.
Slavery nearly died out because they lived and taught that “we are one in Christ Jesus.”
Muslim traders revived slavery during the Middle Ages. Corrupt, religious Europe followed suit to keep up economically with Islam. A Renaissance and Reformation brought renewal of human rights, but slavery was still the accepted norm.
Many of our founding fathers owned slaves because that’s all they knew. Our Declaration of Independence thundered the truth of human equality, but it would take the first Civil War to end it in America.
Then, for nearly one hundred years, Americans’ struggled to attain equality in society. It took the courageous actions of Dr. Marin Luther King in the 1960’s to end racial segregation and lay the foundation for “equal justice under law.”
Today, despite the current struggles, America remains the largest inter-racial nation in world history where a poor African American youth named Barack Obama could become president of the nation by popular vote–twice. Couldn’t happen in China, Russia, or a European country.
But we have a long way to go.
Your justice quest in the 21st century must start by understanding that God is the standard of justice. He is perfectly righteous in all his ways (Deuteronomy 32:4).
You can’t out “justice” God.
You must study His Word carefully to understand true right from wrong. Read Genesis through Deuteronomy with a special emphasis on Exodus and Leviticus. One of the greatest expressions of justice is the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Disobeying any of them is unjust and hurts people–from God’s point of view.
The Ten Commandments remain the foundation of Western Civilization–which is why we possess more freedom than other nations. Go to one of the fifty majority-Muslim nations in the world. Will you find liberty for most people? Will you see justice for women? Travel to China, North Korea, or even Venezuela. Will you find human rights a top priority?
No.
Back to America.
We still have a non-level playing field in portions of our country—especially inner cities. That’s due to many reasons including the breakdown of the African American family, 70% of kids born outside marriage (no fault of government) and the poverty it brings. More African Americans fear cops because they commit a higher percentage of crimes (no fault of police).
Police shootings are rare and usually justified. There were nine unarmed blacks shot by police in 2019 (out of 44 million African Americans). Nineteen whites suffered the same fate.
George Floyd’s was unjust—as were at least two of the white killings in 2019.
Yet, the greatest injustice in America in God’s sight is the brutality of abortion–our largest form of murder. Since 1972, we have killed 65 million babies—of which 20 million were African American.
That’s three thousand a day for forty-eight years.
On the day that George Floyd was killed, 3000 kids-in-the-womb were butchered. And every day since.
That’s insanely unjust.
People kill babies for the same reason they enslaved African Americans. Slavery was built on the “choice” (of slave owners) and the lie that African Americans weren’t “fully human.” We say the same today about children in the womb.
We were wrong then and are wrong now. Where’s your protest of the greatest human holocaust in history? (One-to-two billion worldwide.)
Yes, it’s time to kneel. Colin Kaepernick did it for revolution. The Democratic leaders posed for cameras. And many followers of Christ are doing it and bringing salvation to the streets.
In some ways it’s more respectful to kneel than to stand. Others can protest and we can pray. They want revolution. We crave renewal.
This fall when NFL and soccer players go to their knees, I think we should join them. This is a practice run. One day we will all appear before the God of justice and answer for what we’ve thought, said and done. At that awesome moment, God will be just by judging us (justice and judgment are the same word in the Bible).
It’s time to get ready for Judgment Day while seeking “liberty and justice” on earth.
Because one day, every knee will bow. And only the repentant will be forgiven.
(Please join the Call2Fall on Sunday, June 28 to join thousands in kneeling before God for reconciliation and revival.)
An Update on the War for Western Civilization
During Memorial Day Week, I often share the heroic story of my Uncle Dick who was shot down in a bombing raid during World War II. To me, he will always be “The Bravest Boehme” and his story is worth remembering.
My uncle fought for an entire culture–what history calls Western Civilization. That war still rages today.
Here’s an important update on the war for Western Civilization.
Everyone’s Ancestors Were Slaves
As Bernie Sanders becomes the front-runner in the presidential race and the Democratic Party appears to be morphing into the “Socialist Workers Guild,” it might be helpful to examine one of the extreme ideas that has emerged from those precincts.
It’s the notion that today’s American citizens should pay reparations (money) to all those descended from slaves.
I have news for the unthinking: Everyone’s ancestors were once slaves.
So, where do you begin–to be “fair?”
Everybody’s Ancestors Were Slaves
Yesterday Bill O’Reilly shared on his podcast (I recommend you sign up for it at billoreilly.com) that for the first time in his life he needs to vocally resist the ideas of the current Democratic Party because they would be disastrous for America.
Those ideas include open borders, the Green New Deal, socialism, killing babies after birth, climate change hysteria, Medicare for All, forcing LBGTQ norms on society, and a host of other radical measures.
Reparations for slavery is one of their absurdly hurtful proposals.
Megan Henney of Fox Business describes the issue (June 20, 2019):
“As the 2020 race begins to heat up, some of the biggest talking points and policy debates are beginning to come into focus. That includes the discussion of reparations for the descendants of slaves in the U.S., a policy that’s been addressed by several Democratic presidential hopefuls – a marked turn from previous election cycles. Both Hillary Clinton the 2016 Democratic nominee and former President Barack Obama opposed reparations.”
“Although critics argue that reparations are impractical to calculate how to fairly distribute, a new paper published in the Social Science Quarterly estimated it could cost between $5.9 trillion and $14.2 trillion ($150,000-$300,000 to every African-American). The author of the paper calculated that number based on the number of hours all slaves worked in the U.S. from when the country was officially established in 1776.”
Henney quotes some former and current Democratic candidates on reparations:
Cory Booker: “Our country is not truly free from the historically rooted and hideous legacy of slavery. I believe right now, today, we have a historic opportunity to break the silence, to speak to the ugly past and talk constructively about how we will move this nation forward.”
Booker has introduced a bill in the Senate that calls for a “study of reparations.”
Elizabeth Warren is one of the 12 co-sponsors of the Senate bill. She says, “We must confront the dark history of slavery and government-sanctioned discrimination in this country that has had many consequences including undermining the ability of black families to build wealth in America for generations,”
Another co-sponsor is Kamala Harris:
“When you are talking about the years and years and years of trauma that were experienced because of slavery, because of Jim Crow and because of all that we have seen in terms of institutional and legal discrimination and racism, this is very real and it needs to be studied. We need to look at exactly how the response should be played out.”
Julian Castro, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary and San Antonio mayor was one of the first presidential candidates to say he would consider reparations for black people in the U.S.
“I’ve long believed the country should consider reparations because of the atrocity of slavery. I also believe that we’re never going to fully heal as a country from the racial divide until we’ve addressed the tremendous wrong that was done with slavery.”
Bernie Sanders also co-sponsored Booker’s bill but has some concerns.
“I think what we have got to do is pay attention to distressed communities: black communities, Latino communities, and white communities, and as president, I pledge to do that…and I think there are better ways to do that than just writing out a check.”
Only former vice president Joe Biden has not endorsed reparations in the Booker “study” bill.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the following recommendation in the 2020 Democratic presidential platform this summer:
Every non-black in American needs to pay up for slavery.
Could any public policy be more absurd or expensive than that? (Unfortunately, that answer is yes but I digress.)
Have we so lost our common sense in the West that we forget that ALL our ancestors were once slaves to other nations?
- During the Roman Empire, half of its citizens were slaves–for nearly one thousand years. Should we send a bill to Italy?
- China and Mongolia made each other slaves for centuries–and finally built the Great Wall of China over the conflict (in which 2 million slaves died during its construction). Should Ulaanbaatar write Beijing a check?
- European nations took turns being the slaves for centuries. The Vikings made slaves of the Celts. The Visigoths enslaved the Slavs. Come to think of it, my German ancestors were slaves of the Goths for hundreds of years. Should I appeal to Angela Merkel for a reparations check?
- In the 20th century, the USSR enslaved numerous nations and the Imperial Japanese raped and oppressed the Chinese for a decade. Time to make that right with money?
As ugly as slavery is, during the seven thousand years of human history, more people have served as slaves of another culture than enjoyed the blessings of freedom. In some centuries they were the conquerors and in others the conquered.
Who should be paid? How far back should we go? What if you are half-slave? Or one-tenth?
We have been told by the New York Times via the “1619 Project” that America was founded on slavery. That was 400 years or ten generations ago.
Thank God a wiser group has countered their propaganda. The Woodson Center announced recently sponsorship of “1776,” a collection of essays and other material mostly written by black scholars and community and business leaders.
Their goal is to tell “the complete history of America and black Americans from 1776 to present.”
But not ask for money.
Coleman Hughes, an undergraduate student at Columbia University, is one of the contributors to “1776.” He says, ““Today, we are challenging that [1619] false narrative. Any argument that says the institution of slavery is what makes America unique must grapple with the fact that slavery was practiced in almost every society on earth until just a few centuries ago, as well as the fact that most of those societies have done far less to acknowledge and atone for it.”
“To point to America’s worst sins,” Hughes said, “is to point out what is least unique about us.”
And you can’t pay for past sins.
God’s Word says it best:
“‘Doesn’t the child pay for the parent’s sins?’ No! For if the child does what is just and right and keeps my decrees, that child will surely live. The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins.”
“Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die” (Ezekiel 18:19-21).
In a book I co-authored this past summer about the life of Dr. Corinthia Boone, she recalls that her grandparents, who were children of freed slaves (just one generation removed), never demanded “a hand-out, just a hand up.”
Let’s follow their example–through the love of Jesus Christ.
Everyone’s ancestors were slaves.
Let’s leave the past behind–and offer a helping hand to everybody who needs one.