Glenn Beck & 8-28: Pointing Us the Right Direction
Some friends attended the August 28 rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. spear-headed by talk-show host Glenn Beck. Most estimates pegged the crowd at 250,000 to 300,000 people. That’s an incredible turnout for a hot summer day. My friends came away amazed, excited, and encouraged that God is indeed at work in our nation.
I wasn’t able to be there due to attending a reunion in Montana. But from Big Sky Country I interceded for our nation on 8-28 from a golden wheat field in the morning and joined a prayer group at night in one of the farm houses that dot the landscape.
I believe August 28, 2010 was a special day for re-directing America.
Unfortunately, many members of the main-stream media missed it. The once illustrious New York Times–the paper that famously says it gives you “All The News That’s Fit to Print”–buried the story on page fifteen though Glenn Beck lives and does radio and TV from their fair city. Apparently this type of gathering was not “fitting” to their their secular progressive agenda. To its credit, the Washington Post put the story on its front page, but CNN labeled the rally “Conservative” and highlighted the large number of white people in attendance.
When was the last time you saw an environmental rally called a “Liberal” rally? And last time I checked, the United States was 65% made up of Caucasians–so they usually predominate at all rallies.
Obviously, the “Conservative” and “white” labels were deliberately used to create the impression that the people who attended 8-28 were “out of the mainstream” “fringe” and “extreme.”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The 8-28 Rally was grassroots America awakening to a time of desperate need. It represented the true mainstream American.
I believe that libertarian Mormon Glenn Beck heard a word from God and obeyed him in calling for the 8-28 rally. He’s not Billy Graham, and he’s not the prophet Jeremiah. He’s not even an evangelical Christian. But he’s a concerned citizen with a respected voice that is pointing the way forward to liberty and renewal.
That’s a desperately important message because the current course of America is backwards–toward tyranny, poverty and mediocrity.
Now–after the rally–it’s time for the leaders of the American Church–pastors, teachers, evangelists and prophetic voices–to flesh out that direction for our people and nation and guide us back into the favor and blessing of God.
Here’s where the 8-28 rally pointed and how we must go forward.
HONOR – this was one of the rally’s great themes. Beck used the occasion to greatly thank the American troops who’ve been laying down their lives for freedom, both at home and around the world.
It’s time for the spiritual leaders of this nation to teach and preach the importance of courageously fighting evil during our time.
CHARACTER – The 8-28 rally took place on the same day that Dr. Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the same location–the Lincoln Memorial. Some of Dr. King’s most famous words were prominent at the Beck event–that we should be “judged not by the color of our skin, but by the content of out character.” Glenn Beck exhorted America to “self-regulation”–what used to be called “self government”–which is at the heart of successful societies.
Self-regulated people do not seek entitlements or allow themselves to become slaves to a growing welfare state. They agree with the words of James Madison who said: ” We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments.”
It’s time for our spiritual leaders to equip God’s people to live lives of holiness, self-control, and to speak out against the sins of our day that are destroying our families and our children.
PRAYER – The 8-28 Rally didn’t focus on prayer as Washington For Jesus did in 1980, but prayers to God were uttered, expressing our need to turn to Him. Returning to God begins with prayer as humble intercession is the doorway to friendship with our Creator. God made us to be dependent beings on Him. One of our great sins of our affluent time period is the spirit of independence which brazenly reveals itself in prayerlessness.
It’s time for our spiritual leaders to lead the way back in prayer! We must fast and pray, make prayer a prominent feature in our corporate life, and learn once again that “what a person is on their knees before God, that’s what they are–nothing more.” (Robert Murray McCheyne). A growing prayer revival is the most certain means to national reformation.
REPENTANCE – This vital area was not taught in detail at 8-28, but it was implied by the very gathering itself. Glenn Beck said “We need to return to God.” That’s the basic definition of repentance–a U-turnaway from self-centered living into a God-centered lifestyle that serves and blesses others. Repentance is change from a me-orientation to a God-and-others outlook. It’s having the necessary humility to admit where we’ve gone wrong and to change directions.
It’s time for the spiritual leaders in our churches to call their congregations, cities and towns, to repent before God. We need to learn once again to hate sin and love righteousness. This was the greatness of past American revivals: the pastors of the nation led the people in repentance and faith. It is needed once again.
UNITY – This was one of the crowning achievements of the 8-28 gathering numbering hundreds of thousands in Washington, D.C. . They dropped their petty differences, theologies, races, and issues, and came together in heartfelt unity to call the nation back to God. When times are desperate, you shouldn’t care whether a Mormon, a Quaker, or even dumb donkey calls you to attention. What’s important is agreeing on the truth of the message. I’ve read some people who take issue with Glenn Beck’s Mormonism or possible motivations. I don’t care. His message is from God.
Jerry Falwell got this right during the days of the Moral Majority, which, at the least, retarded the pace of cultural decline in America during the 1980s. Dr. Falwell, a strong fundamentalist, didn’t care who joined the coalition to improve American morality. All hands were needed on deck. When the ships going down, it doesn’t matter who mans the bailing cans. The 8-28 rally ended with hundreds of different leaders uniting in prayer and common commitment.
It’s time for the spiritual leaders of America to call for sacrificial unity among people of good will. United we can stand tall once again. Divided, we will collapse as a nation and civilization.
VALUES OR WORLDVIEW – At the center of the 8-28 rally was the recognition that our nation was built upon Judeo-Christian foundations that are the secret to liberty and prosperity. In fact, the American Revolution was a quantum leap in applying Christian maxims to governing institutions. A decidedly Christian worldview is the genius of the United States of America. That worldview shows great toleration to people of all faiths and those of no faith.
But you can’t have America without Christian beliefs. This is why the people gathered on 8-28. Our current leaders are trying to dismantle the Christian foundations in this nation and replace it with a godless secularism. That is the wrong direction. We must turn back to faith in God and put his principles back to work in all aspects of our culture. America can’t exist without a Christian worldview.
The spiritual leaders of the US must teach the Christian worldview to their people and the nation. We must once again believe that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
Glenn Beck and the 8-28 rally are pointing us the right direction. Honor, character, prayer, repentance, unity and Christian values.
Spiritual leaders of the USA: Rise to your duty and lead us all the way home! May your pulpits once again be aflame with righteousness for the glory of God.
The Ground Zero Mosque and Obama’s Faith
Islam seems to be much in the news these days.
Of course, there is a reason for this. Islam is on the rise in the West and is now coming into close contact with our Judeo-Christian civilization. That never happened during America’s first two hundred years, and it was not on anyone’s radar screen during my childhood either.
However, the 1970s saw a resurgence of Wahhabiism (radical Islam) that has placed Islam on a collision course with other nations and cultures. In the Western World (Europe and America), an epic worldview battle is being raged between three worldviews.
One of them is true faith, another is false faith and the third is no faith. Europe and America’s choice of “faith” will determine their fate in the next generation.
Let’s quickly examine these worldviews in tension.
True faith is trust in Christ, which is the true way to God, life, liberty, and loving relationships. Our founding fathers spoke candidly and clearly about true religion and false religion. Christianity is the truth about God and life.
No faith is secularism–faith in man–that leads to moral anarchy and ultimately Big Government (man as his own Savior). Our founders did not respect the fruits of atheism (i.e. French Revolution).
For fourteen hundred years, the West rightly labeled the Muslim faith as false religion. It is false in that it misrepresents the God of love and forgiveness, denies the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our sins, and creates political theocracies that are often violent and deny basic human (God-given) rights.
This is not to say that there aren’t any decent Muslim folks. There are. But the religion is false. Islam has always been based on violence (Mohammed himself led nineteen bloody raids) and deception (erroneous teachings that produced, among other things, sharia law).
Islam is essentially codified religious tyranny. And for decades, now, it has ambitiously exported that form of control into many nations in the world through terrorism.
That’s why it’s in the news every day. We’re fighting a worldview that brings tyranny.
Both America and Europe are caught in the cross hairs of the battle. Both were once Christian-based civilizations who have drifted into secularism due to spiritual apathy and the nrestrained pursuit of affluence. Europe is more advanced in abandoning its godly foundations, but the United States is not far behind. Because of declining birthrates in Europe and massive Muslim immigration, Islam is gaining the edge over secularism on the Continent, with many predicting that Europe will become Eurabia (Islamicized) by 2050.
That could happen in your lifetime.
We are not much better off in America. Our birthrate–which helps preserve a culture and its beliefs about itself–is 2.11–the bare minimum necessary for cultural continuity. This is due primarily to the high immigration rate of Hispanics. Many Hispanics are Catholic or evangelical, but their cultural worldview goes back to Spain which was under Muslim control for four hundred years. Thus Latin nations have experienced more tyrannical leadership and human injustice than the United States. Worldviews, no matter how subtle, have enormous consequences.
By the way–I didn’t learn the difference between the Latin worldview and the US worldview from white textbooks. I was taught it from Hispanic leaders in Latin America. Many of them want to cast off the past baggage of Islam and come into the freedom that Christ can bring to nations.
Which brings us back to our headline. For a few days now, the news has been loaded with the controversial mosque in New York and more recently, Barack Obama’s faith.
Let’s begin with the mosque. As has been stated by many, including my favorite analysis by Charles Krauthammer, the building of the Cordoba House mosque near Ground Zero was never a legal question. America was founded as a Christian nation where property is viewed as an extension of one’s personal rights. When I combine honest labor with intellectual capital, it often produces “property” that I possess as a God-given right to use and enjoy.
A Muslim developer in Manhattan acquired such property. He has a right to use it in any lawful way. But we have other Christian principles in our American heritage. These include honor, respect, sensitivity, humility, deference, and love for others. These responsibilities or moral principles are just as important if not more important than our rights. In fact, in our Christian-based society, moral responsibilities are more important than personal rights.
The Muslims should respect our Christian sensibilities and move the mosque elsewhere.
Of course, this stand-off is not really about a mosque. There are one hundred mosques in New York. There is already a small mosque near Ground Zero. But the Cordoba House mosque is not planned as a small or insignificant structure. The developers want to erect a thirteen story, 110 million dollar edifice–a monument–that can only symbolize Islam’s desire for triumphant dominion.
It doesn’t belong near the hallowed ground of Lower Manhatten where twenty Wahhabbists cruelly killed 3,000 of our fellow citizens. We must continue to morally fight it.
As for Barack Obama’s faith, the polls have been interesting. The TIME poll reported 24% of Americans thought Obama was a Muslim and 47% said he was a Christian. The Pew poll had it 18% Muslim (up from 11% in March). 34% Christian with 43% saying they didn’t know.
We can help them those who are confused. First of all, for the record, let’s state the facts that are known:
- Barack Obama was born into a divided household where his father was Muslim and his mother was an atheist.
- His second home and father, in Indonesia, was more decidedly Muslim. He attended a Muslim school and his “religion” during the time was listed as Muslim. That was his father’s choice.
- When he became an adult, Barack Obama says that he became a Christian under the spiritual mentorship of Jeremiah Wright, who espouses Afro-centric liberation theology.
Those are the facts. After the polls came out, the White House scrambled to let everyone know that Obama was a Christian. To be fair, we have to accept his word. Only God knows the human heart.
But there is another gauge of a person’s faith: People are known by their deeds, not what they profess to believe. Jesus Himself said “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).
You can call yourself anything you like. However, your life choices speak more clearly than your words. To use African-American parlance you can’t just “talk the talk; you’ve got to walk the walk.”
Barack Obama doesn’t walk like either a Christian or a Muslim. He attends neither mosque or church, be often plays golf on Saturdays and Sundays. He refused involvement in the National Day of Prayer. He doesn’t use a prayer mat five times facing Mecca. He’s pro-homosexual marriage and pro-abortion. He’s a strong proponent of Big Government.
By his actions, Barack Obama’s worldview is obvious: It’s secular–with some Muslim sympathies and a Christian veneer thrown in. In some ways he represents all three of the worldviews in tension.
But in his actions and policies, Barack Obama is a secular man–a statist–a man of no practicing faith.
Let’s pray that he and many other Americans will find and demonstrate true faith during this important season of choosing.
Glenn Beck – a Modern-day Jeremiah?
Who we trust–who we seek out for perspective and advice–says a lot about our values and priorities.
If we’re wise, we’ll trust God as our most important Wonderful Counselor. We will also seek out godly people (another way of hearing from Him)–those with wisdom in various dimensions of life from whom we can learn, benefit, and be encouraged to make good decisions.
In 2006, I’d never heard of Glenn Beck. Over the past couple of years, I’ve listened to him occasionally on the radio and a watched him a few times on television. The more I hear, the more my respect for the man grows–especially in one area that he talks about constantly.
I’m beginning to wonder if he’s a modern-day Jeremiah to America and this generation.
First of all, I admit that I listen to many people to gain understanding. Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth With A Mission, believes that the more humble a person is (and that’s a good trait!), the more you will recognize authorities in your life–in many different categories.
My wife and parents are high on my list. Shirley gives me wise family counsel and compassionate perspective. My parents are prudent financial and “life” counselors. I have board members and leader friends that I go to for business and corporate advice.
There are also other astute voices in the public arena that I pay attention to:
- I like Rush Limbaugh when it comes to understanding liberalism (secularism).
- I respect Michael Medved, Ann Coulter, and Charles Krauthammer for their intellectual clarity on social issues.
- I’m amazed at the constitutional insights of Mark Levin and Jay Sekulow.
- For political hunches, I appreciate the perspectives of Sean Hannity, Dick Morris, and Karl Rove.
- On family issues, I trust James Dobson. On military strategy, I admire both Oliver North and John McCain.
- I have many religious heroes–including numerous YWAM leaders, Rick Warren, Leith Anderson, Franklin Graham, David Yonggi Cho, and David Wong.
- Danny Lehmann and Nancy Wilson are my evangelism heroes. I love the literary brilliance of Max Lucado.
This list could go on and on. There are so many voices that I value in my life and work.
When I started listening to Glenn Beck, I asked myself: “What can I learn from this man?” What wisdom or perspective does he possess that I need to hear and comprehend? After listening carefully for a couple of years now, his role is coming clear.
Glenn Beck, a Mormon, a former alcoholic–a man born and raised in my home state who is now a shooting star on both radio and television–just might be America’s foremost prophetic voice.
He just might be a Jeremiah to this generation. (He’s also an expert on “progressivism.”)
Here’s why. Jeremiah the prophet served during the time of Israel’s greatest testing as a nation. By the time he was born, Israel had grown as a tribe for nearly a thousand years, and a nation for four hundred. They had experienced numerous cycles of national revival and decline.
In Jeremiah’s day, they were facing a terminal judgement situation. If they didn’t turn to God they would lose everything–at least for a time.
Jeremiah pleaded with the nation to return to the Lord. He called them to return to God for forty faithful years (627 B.C. to 586 B.C.). Unfortunately, it’s not recorded once in the book in the Bible that bears his name that the people took the message seriously.
So in 586 B.C., God allowed the Babylonians to carry Judah off into captivity–they experienced a national collapse–and their way of life was lost for centuries. In fact, they never really recovered.
Back to Glenn Beck. Over a year ago, Glenn began to call the American nation back to God.
One day I turned on the radio to listen to his show (the third largest audience in the U.S.). He spoke for twenty straight minutes on Ephesians 6:10-18 (putting on the armor of God). I was stunned. Another day I heard him speak for fifteen minutes on the need of Americans to turn to God. In the coming months, he kept returning to that theme.
Some months ago he announced he was facilitating a gathering in Washington D.C. called 8-28 (August 28). He said there was a need for the nation to come together to get right with God, understand our Christian heritage and founding, and restore respect and honor. Later he announced that he’d rented the Kennedy Center on 8-27 for a leaders night before the main event on August 28.
That sounded awfully familiar. On April 28, 29, 1980, I served as the capital city coordinator of Washington For Jesus (WFJ) which brought 700,000 people to our nation’s capital to fast, pray, and call the nation back to God and its roots. John Gimenez, a Puerto Rican ex-con had received a burden from God to bring the people of faith together in the nation’s capital. A highlight of that day was watching 1.4 million hands stretched out toward the Capitol Building while an African American named Ben Kinchlow prayed for major changes in the United States government and leadership.
Six months later, Ronald Reagan swept into office and multitudes of corrupt incumbents were tossed out. Reagan’s election was viewed as “morning in America” and brought twenty-five years of economic growth and prosperity. According to Arthur Laffer (an economist I trust), the Reagan Revolution gave birth to the greatest period of economic growth and freedom in the history of the world.
Yes, I said that right. Between 1982 and 2007, 20 million US jobs were created and America’s household net worth increased by 32 trillion dollars. That’s Trillion with a T. Prayer, repentance, unity, faith and sound economic principles brought blessing to the nation during that era.
WFJ–a unifying event–was a part of the equation.
God had used an ex-con to bring us together.
Now he’s using an ex-alcoholic Mormon.
Our God is amazing.
In 2010, radio/TV personality Glenn Beck is calling the nation to once again gather in Washington, D.C at the Lincoln Memorial. He says we need to return to God. He believes we need to understand our history (David Barton of Wallbuilders will be teaching this subject on 8-28). He says we must put on the full armor of God, and restore faith, honor, integrity, and respect in American life.
I know of no other person–with anywhere near as large a megaphone–making this call in America today. It’s the right emphasis, at an extremely critical time.
If you live in the Washington D.C., or can travel to the nation’s capital for 8-28, I strongly encourage you to go. In other parts of the nation, between 10am and 1 pm EDT on August 28, 2010, let’s bow our hearts before God and ask for his gracious intervention in our national affairs. We need his forgiveness, favor, and vision to awaken a nation for his glory.
Glenn Beck just might be a modern-day Jeremiah.
What kind of responders will we be to his message?