Why do you think the Old Testament is included as the “canon” in modern Bibles? It’s because it’s God’s story. It’s how God created the world and man. Then, it’s the story of how man’s relationship with God grows stronger and more distant at the same time. Until Jesus shows up to turn everything upside down.
It is said that if we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. History teaches us what worked and what didn’t work. Every Christian should read the Old Testament (OT) every year. It’s easy enough with free Bible apps like YouVersion and ThroughTheWord. What’s important is realizing that God loves us humans. Furthermore, He is extremely disappointed in us when we don’t obey His simple commandments.
God gave the people basic rules to follow, yet, they didn’t. Many times in the OT you’ll read, “They did evil in God’s eyes.” Or something to that effect. The biggest, evil they did was adopt the pagan cultures of the societies around them — including idolatry. Gee, that’s exactly what the church did in the 4th century!
God allowed the Persians to invade the land, destroy Jerusalem and the beautiful temple that Solomon built, and took the Hebrews prisoners for 70 years.
Today at my church — First Christian Church of Phoenix — the men were on a retreat and our children’s pastor, Soncire Brown, preached the message. She talks about rebuilding and repairing what’s broken. It’s what we have to do…
Click on the picture below to watch the Facebook Live replay.
Here are the Bible chapters she referred to…
- 2 Kings 22 and 23
- Nehemiah 1 – 6
Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
Isaiah 58:12 NLT
Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
and a restorer of homes.
The Big Idea:
As a follower of Christ, we are called to repair the breech. When we encounter God and learn of Him, we can respond by not only seeing what is broken, but by being empowered by His Spirit to repair it or bring it back to wholeness.
Soncire Brown
Rebuilding a Broken America
How do you respond when you see something broken?
I thought about that. First, depending on what it is, I determine if it’s fixable. Then, how long will it take to fix it? Or what’s it going to cost? Is it worth fixing? Or do I throw it out?
I’ve lived through 6 hurricanes in my lifetime. Hurricane Andrew in Miami was the worst of them. Even now that I live in Arizona, I admire the resiliency of the people in Louisiana who got hit by not one, but two hurricanes within 13 miles of each other, in 2 months. They said, “we’ll rebuild”.
They’re not giving up on their community. They have investments in the area. They don’t want to give it up, or throw it away.
After hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004 in Florida, 2 weeks apart, 2 miles apart, I decided to move to Arizona. I didn’t own an house, nor a business. I put my life in God’s hands, packed my 2 cats in my Kia hatchback and headed west. I trusted God 100%. If America’s freedoms are wiped out, are they fixable?
If we lose America to socialism,
there’s no where else to go!
What Investment do You Have in America?
Our founding fathers invested their lives in forming a unique idea for a country based on biblical morals and values — a Republic — “if you can keep it”. That last part is from a quote from Benjamin Franklin. In these 2 videos, Pastor Jack Hibbs, calls for America to come back to its biblical roots…
What’s in the Bill of Rights?
You’d better find out, because we may lose some of them!
Christians, keep in mind that we are not electing a Pastor-in-Chief. We’re electing the CEO of our country. It is a business. Who better to run it than a businessman?
Here’s the rest of the series I did on How Should Christians Vote… for me, no matter what, the most important thing is the sanctity of life. We cannot keep killing innocent babies because they are inconvenient!
I voted red. Sure, I may not like how President Trump tweets, but like I’ve said before, if we give the country to the far-left socialists, we’re doomed. We have to learn from the examples — history– of the Soviet Union, China, Venezuela and other socialist countries that have failed miserably.
