There is a great speech at the end of the LOTR: Return of the King. In it Viggo Mortenson is fortunate enough to deliver the great monologue that many of the readers of this blog are familiar with. It goes something like this:

Hold your ground! Hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers, I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight!! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!!!

This battle cry reached from the movie screen to the hearts of the audience. I hope too that this blog will reach the hearts of the readers.

Just as Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door on that infamous October day in Wittenberg, Germany, I pray that the Lord God of Hosts will so impress on our hearts the need for the reformation of the lives of Christians in America. However, as Luther's Theses divided the church, I pray that the reformation started in our hearts would unify our hearts together for the cause of Jesus Christ. That it would go beyond denominational walls and doctrinal issues, and it would fuse together our hearts under the banner of the Glory of Christ Jesus, to whom all praise, honor, and glory is due.

It is only in America, where a person can go to church, tithe, sing about the mercy and grace of God, be stirred by a sermon; and then continue on to a restaurant and be absolutely uncouth to their server and not think twice. It is only here in America where it is comfortable to be a Christian. Where it costs nothing to most people to follow Christ. Instead, it is nothing more than fulfilling an expected ritual whose concept of religion is completely opposite of the original intent of Christianity. It is only in the nation established Under God that Christians will ignore the open attacks against the Creator of the Universe and the Savior of our Souls because of our careful attention not to impede on anyone's right of free speech. All the while forfeiting our right to stand up and defend the one who purchased us with His blood. The one who destroyed sin and the grave at the price of His own life. And yet, we stand aside and allow the world to curse Him and call Him a fool. May God forgive us of our indifference.

What I propose is the reformation of the hearts of American Christians. May we begin to stand in the promise of the freedom of Christ our Lord. When will we begin to listen to James when he says, "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does." We have forgotten that Christ has called us to "take up our cross" and follow Him. We have the luxury of meeting in open freedom to worship and discuss, with uninhibited passion or lack there of, of the glory of God. Have we forgotten the time when the Church had to hide for risk of death? Have we forgotten the death of the martyrs who would rather face the sting of mortality than the shame of denying the cross? May it not be so!

I say to my brothers and sisters that today is the day for our stand. Now is the time that we begin to live what is preached from the pulpit. The life that Paul described as, "worthy of the Lord." That it would begin with us, the simple few. That we would begin to "SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS". That we would begin to seek the gift GIVER and not the gifts. Will today mark the end of our slumber of apathy? Or will it instead mark the end of our confident boasting of Christ and Him crucified? By no means! I tell you that the day of our sterilization has not come! There may be a day when our children will hide in fear of reproach because of their faith, but it is not this day. Christians, I call you into action. Stand with me now without quiver.  May today be the day that is reckoned as the awakening of the American Christian!

-Jeff

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."