OSAMA BIN LADEN PRAYERS
Lt. Gordon Klingenschmitt is a Navy chaplain who went on an 18-day hunger strike recently to protest Navy guidelines that encourage "inclusive" prayers at public events. At those events, the Navy wants inclusive, non-denominational prayers. What they really mean when they say inclusive, non-denominational prayers is "no Jesus" prayers. You can pray to your favorite goat if you want to, but please, "no Jesus". They want generic God prayers, prayers at the very lowest common denominator that would allow even Osama Bin Laden to shout amen. After 9-11, who needs prayers that would allow him and those like him to participate.
And oh, by the way, Osama Bin Laden and Christians aren’t praying to the same God. Muslims reject Jesus’ crucifixion. They claim he avoided it at the last moment and someone else was crucified in his place. The Cross of Jesus is the dividing point between Christianity and Islam. This rejection of God as Father, the deity of Jesus and the personhood of the Holy Spirit means that it is wrong to say the god of Muhammad is the Father of Jesus. The Dome of the Rock (site of Solomon’s temple) has etched on the South-East Wall of the mosque:
"Verily Allah and His angels pronounce blessing upon the Prophet. O ye who have pronounced blessings upon Him and give Him the salutation of peace. O, People of the Book (i.e. Jews and Christians) do not go beyond the bounds in your religion and do not say about Allah anything but the truth. So believe only in Allah and of his messenger, but do not say "Three" (Trinity) and it will be better for you. Allah is only one God. Far be it from His glory that he should have a son." (www.templemount.org/allah.html )
The name of Jesus is the most powerful force in the universe and it will be for all eternity. The devil hates that name with a passion because it is the name that crushed him on Calvary and it is the name that is destroying his kingdom more and more every day. The name of Jesus will torment satan for eternity in Hell. That is why he is pulling out all the stops in society in his attempt to silence the name of Jesus.
The name of Jesus has been a flashpoint for the last two thousand years. From the day Jesus died on the cross for the sins of every human being, the name of Jesus has become the dividing line between people. For those who love Him, it stirs unrivaled depths of passionate love and holy awe. For others, it can unleash unsurpassed hated and venomous bile. But if you let the name of Jesus out of your mouth in public prayer - standby! The politically correct tolerance police led by The New York Times, will be on your case in a flash. Isn’t it funny how those who demand tolerance for every sexual aberration that comes down the pike, have zero tolerance for the name of Jesus. It’s easy to discern what is ultimately behind that hatred.
Sometimes our Churches and other Christian gatherings are the places where the most generic God prayers are offered. There is an absence of the use of the name of Jesus. Few notice it because we have become so used to generic God prayers. The name that is above all names tends to be shelved. The beautiful name of Jesus needs to be freely flowing from our lips. Our lives, our speech, our actions need to be all about Jesus.
The Father is all about Jesus. Christianity is His story. We like to say when sharing the Gospel with unbelievers that Jesus has a tremendous plan for your life and that is true. However, it is incomplete and a little misleading. It keeps the focus on me and my life. The real deal is that Jesus is offering us a chance to participate in HIS story. He is on a cosmic mission that ends up with Him being glorified and crowned King of the universe. All things are going to be subjected to Him. Jesus is the most glorious one of all creation. The whole earth will be astonished, shocked and in awe of His beauty. His glory is going to cover the earth!
His name is going to be magnified above all names. It’s all about Jesus - not us! The question to us is, do we want to be saved and take part in His glorification. We die and our life becomes all about Jesus! That’s salvations offer. That’s what Christianity is all about. The terms are a little bit different than I’m going to have this great life.
Our whole mission in life is to make sure our lives are in His unfolding plan and we are glorifying Him to the max by yielding to His Holy Spirit. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity except to love Jesus with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. It’s all about restoring the 1st commandment to 1st place! Anything less is rubbish.
There is a song rising on planet earth. It’s a song to the majesty, renown and fame of Jesus. It’s a song to the indescribable, incomparable, uncontainable beauty of Jesus Christ. It’s only a small distant song now, like Elijah’s small rain cloud on the horizon (1 Ki 18:44). It is rising out of hearts that have been ambushed by the love of Jesus and ruined by His love for anything the world has to offer. It’s rising from hearts that are awestruck and blazing with passion for Jesus, hearts that care about nothing but the praise and fame of the name of Jesus.
Can you hear this song? If you press into Jesus you will. If you deeply desire Jesus you will. If you want Jesus and Jesus alone and more and more of Him, you will hear His song. It’s a melody spawned from heaven, carried by the Holy Spirit and deposited in hungry, thirsty hearts. It’s the song of the Father, full of pure love for His Son Jesus. It’s sung by angels but not with human words. It’s heard by the saints of God through the Spirit of God. It’s liberating, captivating and motivating. It’s a love song, it’s an anthem, it’s a victory song, it’s a war song. It’s an all consuming song! It’s a song that gets deep down into your spirit. It takes your breath away. It’s a song that exalts, magnifies, glorifies, the fame, the renown of the name that will exist through all creation, for all eternity. It’s a song to the creator of creation, to the one who was, who is, and is to come, to the Son of God, JESUS CHRIST!
Matt Redman in the "Unquenchable Worshipper", puts it this way:
"Imagine every language you´ve ever heard. Every accent and dialect. Every beautiful vocal sound. Add to that every harmony and every crowd, every choir, every large gathering. As these voices blend into one in your imagination, they are just the tiniest ripple of what is to come. One day every tribe and tongue will join this song. Multitudes and multitudes of passionate worshippers. Add now the sounds of all creation, every birdsong you ever awoke to, every ocean wave you heard reach shore, every clap of thunder, every whistling of the wind, every wild animal roar, ´Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, and all that is in them singing´ (Rev. 5:13) - blend this sound with those cries of the nations, and the orchestration begins to take shape. Yet it is still a mere whisper. Even in our wildest imaginations we still hear merely in part. Now come the melodies and harmonies of the heavens, 10,000 times 10,000 angels in joyful assembly, and those strange living creatures speaking ceaseless praise."
And to whom is this ceaseless praise offered?
The exalted Son of God - JESUS CHRIST!
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead,
so that primacy may be his in everything. It pleased God to make absolute fullness reside in him and by means of him, to reconcile everything in his person, both on earth and in the heavens, making peace through the blood of his cross.
(Col 1:15-20)
Let’s start lifting up the name of Jesus with vigor and unbridled passion. Let’s tell everybody there is salvation in no other name but in the name of Jesus! Let’s tell everybody we will have no king but Jesus and we especially won’t bow down to "Caesar". Let them throw us in jail and kill us! Let’s shout the name of Jesus from the housetops. Let’s tell all men, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witnesses, black, white, every man, woman and child, that JESUS IS LORD . Not in some aggressive, condemning, obnoxious way, but in a gentle witness by the way we live and in normal everyday sharing as the Holy Spirit leads us. But never, never let us be silent about the name of Jesus. And please, no more Osama Bin Laden prayers.
**** Jesus is Lord ****
