“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars and on earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves”. Luke 21:25
If one word could be used in summing up this past week in regard to world and national affairs, I think it would be the word unrest. What began in Egypt during the latter part of January has now spread throughout the middle-East causing a shake-up in long-established political regimes and kingdoms. And, while the fire that fueled these events may vary from country to country, I believe what we are seeing with the recent protests taking place across the world and in our own nation in the state of Wisconsin is a generation who is beginning to understand the power they wield as a collective voice unified and strengthened by the power of the internet.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the time for paying the piper in this country has come. Trillions of dollars in debt, Americans have squandered the future of their children in favor of living above and beyond their means. Let the good times roll! – has been the motto of a generation, who expected, no, – demanded – the right to live lives of personal excess and irresponsibility and who used the power of the vote to put in to office those who would provide that for them. Well, the good times are coming to an end. But, it won’t end quietly – oh, no. This generation fat off government programs and free-wheel spending will not go down without a fight. The days of “play today, pay tomorrow” are over and with the handwriting on the wall, just about everyone agrees that something must be done – as long as it doesn’t affect them!
“I believe with the civil unions bill it will play a significant role in our economic recovery I think a lot of people will be coming here to enjoy the atmosphere that’s been established by the passage of the bill,” said Abercrombie. http://www.khon2.com/news/local/story/UPDATE-Abercrombie-will-sign-civil-unions-bill/oBvpHCidbkO8NxX3RBKUKw.cspx
A short-sighted decision ( in my opinion) with far-reaching ramifications which I believe will back-fire before it hardly gets off the ground. An ill-fated, quick-fix solution for grabbing dollars in the easiest way possible at the expense of abandoning millenia of moral and cultural standards (not to mention religious) which have long formed the bedrock of recognized society.
It is incomprehensible to most of us that the type of unrest we are seeing in the middle-East could come to our shores. But, come it will. With prices in gas, food, housing and other commodities skyrocketing as wages and benefits fall, we will with almost certainty see people taking to the streets when the way of life they have become so accustomed to crumbles before their very eyes. And in an increasingly godless society in the absence of moral values, to expect for these kinds of demonstrations to be peaceful is extremely naive. When this happens we can expect two things: civil disorder followed by an authoritarian response from the government and the search for a scape-goat; someone to blame – read that, Jews and Christians.
I came across these verses from Jeremiah 5 this morning and I think they speak well for the times the times that we are living in – both as a comfort and as a warning.
“Hear this you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but, do not see, who have ears but do not hear:
Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but, they cannot cross it.
But, these people have stubborn hearts; they have turned aside and gone away. they do not say to themselves, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest’. Your wrong doings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good.
Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch men. Like cages full of birds, their house are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not plead the cause of the fatherless to win it and they do not defend the rights of the poor. Should I not punish them for this? declares the Lord. Should I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?
A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land; the prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But, what will you do in the end?” Jeremiah 5:21-31.
My people love it this way!!! Wow, shocking and sobering words. Words to be both warned and comforted by. A warning for those who fail to acknowledge the ways of the Lord; a warning for those who are unthankful, ungrateful and who seek their own way apart from him. But, words of comfort to those of us who know him; realizing that like the sand which provides a barrier to the sea which it cannot cross, the turmoil which affects the nations can only proceed so far before the Lord will step in and rescue us.
“You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength, who stilled the roaring waves and the turmoil of the nations” Psalm 65:5-7
Dangerous, frightening and perplexing days are ahead. People won’t understand what is happening. Like birds caught in a snare, they will unwittingly be trapped. Jesus is the only port of safety; the only avenue of escape. I plead with you now, if you have not yet made him your Lord and Savior, please do it today.
And, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper who love thee” Psalm 122:6 Watching and waiting with YOU for the soon return of Jesus! Cindy
Heaven Bound 
Cindy,
You have touched on this subject before but in light of the recent increase in volcanic activity here on the Big Island, I offer the following observation regarding the past, present and future (sorry so long–you may edit if you wish).
The Past
Having been born in Hawaii and lived most of my life here, it saddens me to see the Governor redefine the core values of this state according to the “wisdom of man” and the homosexual agenda. The great irony of this is that the official state motto of Hawaii is: “Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ‘Āina i ka Pono” (Hawaiian for: The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.
Adoption of the Hawaii State Motto
Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono has been a motto of Hawaii for over 160 years. It is generally claimed that it became the motto of the Kingdom of Hawaii when King Kamehameha III spoke the words on July 31, 1843. This was the day that sovereignty was restored to Hawaii by proclamation of Queen Victoria following a five-month-long rogue British occupation.
On May 1, 1959, Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono was adopted as the official motto of the State of Hawaii by Joint Resolution No. 4 of the 30th Territorial Legislature.
It is said that the words that later became the motto of the State of Hawaii were first spoken by Queen Ke’opuolani in 1825 as she was baptized into the Christian faith. However, the Hawaii motto is generally attributed to King Kamehameha III who presided over the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 until his death in 1854. Kamehameha III, educated as a traditional Hawaiian chief and in the ways of Westerners by Protestant missionaries, presided over many important occurrences in the kingdom. He began to modernize the laws that had governed the islands for over a thousand years and he introduced the first Hawaii Constitution in 1840. He also presided over the division of lands between the king and the chiefs in 1848. Prior to this time, all land belonged to the king.
In the 1840’s the French and British were very interested in expanding their empires and were anxious to lay claim to Hawaii. On February 10, 1843, Lord Paulet of the Royal Navy sailed into Honolulu harbor and captured the town. Intense negotiations followed. Rev. Dr. Gerrit Judd, a close friend of the King’s, wrote an appeal to the British government and recruited an American merchant to carry the letter to England. Eventually, Admiral Richard D. Thomas arrived from England with a proclamation from Queen Victoria disapproving Lord’s Paulet’s actions, and on July 31, 1843, the Hawaiian flag was again raised over Hawaii. From the steps of Kawaiaha’o Church, Dr. Judd read the proclamation. King Kamehameha III proclaimed, “Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono.”
The Hawaii motto, Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono, first appeared in a political context on the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Hawaii (1810-1894) that was adopted in May, 1845. In 1894, the Republic of Hawaii was established. The motto was included on the official seal of the Republic, designed by Viggo Jacobsen in 1895. That seal was a modified version of the royal coat of arms of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
In 1900, Hawaii was annexed as a U.S. Territory and as in the earlier transition of government, the motto was included on the Hawaiian Territorial Seal. Today the motto is still included on the State Seal of Hawaii.
The Hawaiian motto is declared in the Preamble and in Article XV, Section 5 of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii and in the Hawaii Revised Statutes.
A Christian Nation
At one time in the past, the kingdom of Hawaii may well have been the most Christian nation on the face of the earth in proportion to its population with some saying that 90% of the Hawaiian population converted to Christianity. This happened in the 1800’s when a spiritual great awakening swept through the islands much of which happened through the ministry of Titus Coan who felt that God had called him and his wife to Hawaii to bring about revival. Coan was the cousin of the Reformed revivalist, Asahel Nettleton and had attended Charles Finney’s revivals in New York. He was clearly influenced and inspired by these men. When the revival peaked in 1837 people often cried all night. One day in June, 1837 he baptized 1,705 and 2,400 took communion. In 1839 and 1840 about 7,400 were received into the church at Hilo and 12,000 were baptized. His church was the largest Protestant church in the world at the time, larger even than Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle.
Coan’s wish was “to die in the field with armour on, with weapons bright.” God gave him his wish, for in the midst of a revival, in 1882, he suffered a stroke and died praising God. He had served the Lord for 47 years in Hilo and had received 13,000 members into his church – the largest number by any pastor in his generation.
Interestingly, Coan was also a keen observer of nature having written extensively of the volcanic activities at the Kilauea crater and Mauna Kea volcano such as the following:
“A pyrometer, sent out by Professor J. D. Dana, was put into my hands to measure the heat of melted lava. I had taken it with me twice to the crater unsuccessfully, the fusion being too deep in the lake to be reached. I had also sent it up by others, with instructions, hoping to get it inserted; but failing, I went up again with my friend, Dr. Lafon. We descended the crater and traveled south about two miles, when a vast mound like a truncated cone rose before us. Not recognizing this elevation, I said to my companion, “This is a new feature in the crater; I have not seen it before. It is about where the lake used to be; but let us pass over it, and we shall probably find the lake on the other side.” With the instrument in hand, we began to ascend the elevation on an angle of about twenty degrees. When halfway up, there came over a splash of burning fusion, which fell near our feet. Our hair was electrified, and we retreated in haste. Going to a little distance, we mounted an extinct cone which overlooked the eminence we had left, when, lo! to our amazement, it was the great South Lake of fire, no longer, as often, one to two hundred feet below us, but risen to a level of about twenty-five feet above the surrounding plain, and contained by a circular dam of cooled lava some three miles in circumference. The scene was awful. Over all that high and extended surface the fiery billows were surging and dashing with infernal seething and mutterings and hissings. The whole surface was in ebullition, and now and then large blisters, many feet in length, viscous films, of the consistency of glutinous matter, would rise in gigantic bubbles created by the lifting gases, and then burst and disappear.
We were struck with amazement; and the question was, Shall we again venture near that awful furnace? We could frequently see the lava flood spilling over the rim like a boiling cauldron, and what if the encircling dam should burst and pour its deluge of fiery ruin over all the surrounding area! But unwilling to fail in our experiment we came down from the cone, and carefully, and with eyes agaze, began to ascend the wall; again and again we were driven back by the splashes of red-hot lava. We persevered, and watching and dodging the spittings, I was at last able to reach so near the top of the dam as to thrust the pyrometer through the thin part of the upper rim, when out burst a gory stream of lava, and we ran down to wait the time for withdrawing the instrument. The shaft of the pyrometer was about four feet long, with a socket into which I had firmly fastened a ten-foot pole. When at last we grasped the pole and pulled, the strength of four strong arms could not dislodge the pyrometer. We pulled and pulled until the pole was wrenched from the socket. The instrument was fast beyond recovery, and with keen regret we left it in the hardened lava.”
The Future
So what to make of all this? Does passage of the civil unions bill presage God’s judgment on Hawaii as indicated by increased volcanic activity? If so, does God also bring mercy in the wake of his judgment in the form of a 2nd Great Awakening? If Titus Coan were living today, I wonder what this spiritual giant and scientific observer would have to say.
[ Aloha Stuart, I really appreciate you taking the time to write such a detailed comment, I wouldn’t think of editing a word! Anyone who lives in the islands understands the importance of history and culture to the people of Hawaii – although many of them, (such as the governor) choose to forget the rich Christian heritage passed on to the people by their own Kapuna – (elders or those who have went before). I saw on the news last night that Kilauea is indeed experiencing increased activity. Should God choose to use Kilauea or any other natural disaster to express his displeasure, we can be assured, I believe that Mr. Coan would view it as not so much an instrument of vengenace but, an instrument of grace, one that God could easily use to once again awaken the people of Hawaii to the truth and grace of Jesus Christ. Blessings brother, from Oahu to the Big Island, C ]
By: stuart on February 20, 2011
at 6:35 am
For years I have taught before it comes to an “anti-christ” figure, it will be evident that the main thief of men’s heart has been mammon. How willful men have become to sacrifice everything on the alter of filthy mammon.
Mt 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Ga 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
By: William E. Males on February 20, 2011
at 4:03 pm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12533291
Thought you would be interested in this cindy as a new quake has just hit New Zealand.
Have you noticed alot of this seems to be taking place in the southern hemisphere as well? More hard times ahead I feel.
By: Liam Heaton on February 22, 2011
at 2:47 am
Live feed from Libya. They are talking about a mass exodos of people of Biblical proportions. We truly are living in the end of times. Warning, these images are not for the weak minded.
http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
By: engineer on February 23, 2011
at 4:26 pm