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WEEK THIRTY-ONE: Friday, June 23—Thursday, June 29, 2006

1. REPENTANCE FOR SIN IN THE CHURCH: THE FRUIT OF JEZEBEL (Part One)

   Through Jezebel’s manipulation, intimidation, and control the church of Jesus Christ has:

   1. FAILED TO DISCERN THE TIMES —Church is unaware of the seriousness of the hour; we are fast asleep.
      • Hosea 4:1-6—People perish for lack of knowledge

      • Eph. 5:14-17—Awake thou that sleepest

   2. EMBRACED THE LUST OF THE WORLD/HAS A FORM OF GODLINESS
      • Hosea 4:7-12—A spirit of whoredom is inside the church

      • 2 Tim. 3:1-5—Men are lovers of self, covetous, boasters, proud, unthankful, unholy, high-minded . . .

      • Rom. 1:18, 28-32—Men are haters of God, holding truth in unrighteousness

   3. FAILED TO LOVE GOD WITH HEART, SOUL, STRENGTH AND MIND
      • Luke 10:27—Failed to love God and neighbor

      • Rom. 12:9,10,16; John 13:34,35—Failed to walk in pure love of the Father within the Body of Christ

      • John 14:15,21,23 Failed to demonstrate love through keeping of commandments

   “Father God, as we have read through this teaching, we thank You for searching our own hearts to see if there be any wicked way within us. We ask You to forgive our sins, as You reveal them to us, and to help us to be transformed more and more into Your image—Christ within, the hope of Glory. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

2. REPENTANCE FOR THE SINS OF THE NATION: THE HISPANIC DIVIDE

   This is a difficult subject to label. It has a racist element, but it is much broader than the color division of white and black. Hispanic peoples are of all colors simply because of the nature of Spanish colonialism. It is not quite correct, therefore, to say there is a “white-Hispanic” division in the nation. More accurately, it is a division between those whose ancestors came from Spain, and those whose ancestors came from Great Britain.

   The roots of this divide lie in rivalry between Spain and England over dominance of the New World. In schoolbooks we learn about the English-French rivalry that culminated in the French and Indian War, but there is little said about the much larger and longer contest between England and Spain. After 1783, that contest became one between the United States and Spain, and still later the nations that gained their independence from Spain.

   This history has left a legacy of bitterness between Hispanic peoples and the dominant Anglo-American peoples of the United States. By so easily (or so it seemed) divesting Spain and Mexico of their lands, Anglo-Americans have come to view Mexicans and others of Hispanic heritage as incompetent and comical, and have thus perpetuated a tragic discrimination against peoples made in the image of Almighty God. On the other hand, American wealth, power, and prosperity have become things Hispanic peoples and nations envy and desire. Not seeing any other way to appropriate such wealth for themselves, many have resorted to taking it illegally by entering into this nation without permission, and some have sought to retake the lands lost by Mexico and establish a Hispanic republic. The result of this legacy is clear in the illegal immigrant issue before us today, and in the continued poverty of most Hispanic Americans.

   (Submitted by: Lieutenant Colonel Al McCarn, U.S. Army.)

   “Father God, we ask You to forgive us for our sins towards Hispanic peoples in our land, from the beginning of our time here together. Only You, Holy Father, can erase the grievances of the past, so that we might, indeed, serve You as ONE NATION under God. We ask Your help and Your grace, that we might learn Your ways in building Your kingdom together on earth, as it is in heaven. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”

   [Specific notes regarding key issues in Spanish-American history may be found at the end of this bulletin.]

3. THE BLESSING OF ISRAEL: Body of Messiah

   The Body of Messiah represents the beginning of the redemption of Israel. We prayed into the goals and purposes of God for the Body for unless the Body matures in Messiah how will it ever pray and intercede for the redemption of Israel effectively?

   We prayed into the following scriptures:

   • Eph. 4:13—until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

   • Phil. 2:3-5 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. Do not let each man look upon his own things, but each man also on the things of others. For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

   • Rom. 8:6-7 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can it be.

   • Eph. 6:18—praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. We prayed that the Body of Messiah would become a praying/interceding body in the Land.

   • Eph. 1:17-23 We prayed this prayer for the Body—that it might be given wisdom and vision and purge the believers from preoccupation with the world and indifference to the things of God.

   • Leaders—we prayed for the leadership in the Land that the Lord might bless, encourage, refill with the Holy Spirit, inspire in His Word, purify each one of them and fill their mouths with the fire of His Word.

   (Source: Intercessors for Israel)

SPECIAL ADDENDUM: KEY POINTS IN SPANISH-AMERICAN HISTORY

• English efforts in the 18^th century to weaken Spanish power in Florida by supplying and inciting Indian nations hostile to Spain.

• Andrew Jackson’s invasion of Spanish Florida in 1817 aimed at crushing the power of the Creek and Seminole nations and preventing Florida from becoming a haven for escaped slaves. This action brought on an international crisis that resulted in the U.S. purchase of Florida from Spain in 1819—with the condition that the U.S. renounce any claims on Texas.

• Colonization of Texas by American immigrants. This colonization began in 1823 after Stephen F. Austin made an agreement with the newly-independent government of Mexico. All immigrants were to become Catholic, become Mexican citizens, and leave their slaves behind. Very few of the immigrants ever kept those conditions.

• Texas Revolution, 1835-36. Because of disagreements, misunderstanding, and broken covenants on both sides, Texians (both Hispanic and Anglo-American) rebelled against the government of Mexico and established their own independent republic. The revolution featured three massacres: of Texians by Mexicans at the Alamo and Goliad; and of Mexicans by Texians at San Jacinto. In each case, men were slaughtered by the victorious armies in brutal atrocities after they had surrendered or while they were surrendering. That has left a blood curse that still stains both sides of the Texas-Mexico border.

• Mexican-American War, 1847-48. This war occurred after the U.S. annexed Texas and brought it into the Union as a state. The war resulted in a humiliating defeat for Mexico in which one-third of Mexican territory was ceded to the United States.

• Illegal interventions in Nicaragua, Cuba, and Mexico in the 1850s aimed at bringing those nations, or parts of them, into the Union as slave states. None succeeded, and none had official U.S. sanction.

• Cross-border raids into Mexico throughout the last half of the 19^th century after “renegade” Indian bands, such as those led by Cochise and Geronimo.

• Spanish-American War, 1898. Although the official reason for this war to secure Cuba’s independence, the ulterior motives involved the expansion of U.S. commercial and military power, not only in the Western Hemisphere, but overseas (the U.S. gained the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam from Spain as spoils of war).

• Mexican Punitive Expedition, 1916, led by Gen. John Pershing, as a reprisal for the raid by the revolutionary Pancho Villa into New Mexico. This expedition was accompanied by U.S. occupation of the port of Veracruz to protect American interests during the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20.

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