Berean Journeymen

In the year 626 BC there was a man by the name of Jeremiah who God called to a spokesman for him. This man was a man who loved God and in his relationship with God he began to feel an overwhelming burden for the sins of his nation. He was a man who wept for his nation and for the sins they were committing. As this burden grew in him God spoke to him and told him that before he had been born, God had planned for him to be his spokesman, a spokesman over the nations and kingdoms. “Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant” This man resist this calling from God, saying he was only a child and did not know how to speak. God did not relent, instead he touched his mouth and gave him the words and the voice. He told him to get ready, don’t be afraid, speak as I say, go where I send you. Regardless of what the people say you are to have influence them, and not them over you.

This man was threatened, shackled, attacked, and persecuted for his words. Everyone wanted to kill him. Yet God said he would protect him. God guided him and lead him out of harm’s way. He spoke a message that was the exact opposite of his peers and contemporaries. He was an island, with no allies, or friends, or supporters. Everyone spoke against him, except God. God encouraged him, God stretched him, God Transformed Him. God told him on numerous occasions how tough it would be yet, he also told him “I will take care of you” God told this man “If you speak good words rather than worthless ones, you will be my spokesman” God’s plan for Jeremiah was to influence his nation, to turn them from their evil ways, to lead them to repent and turn back to God.

This past weekend I heard a similar message from a man by the name of Glenn Beck. Many of you may know of him as a political right wing alarmist. Many of you may know him as a Mormon. Many of you may know him as an alcoholic. He can be loud, brash, opinionated, and many times arrogant. Because of these things he would be easy to dismiss as not being a spokesman for God. A spokesman of the truth of the word of God. As I watched him over the past week or so I realized something is different. His messages have changed. His direction, his attitude, his heart all seem to have been transformed. As I listened to his message on Saturday, I realized he is doing something that he did not want to do. He is doing something that God has burdened him with, much like Jeremiah and most of the other prophets. I believe Glenn Beck feels the weight of this burden, because like Jeremiah, God is not relenting, until he is obedient.

In his message this past weekend, Glenn Beck sounded very much like Jeremiah of 600 BC. His message said we must turn back to God, we must place our faith in Jesus Christ. We must love God and love our neighbors. We must turn from our wicked ways. We must pray and model prayer for our kids. We must set priorities right, God, then Family, then Church. He talked about what made our country great, and that was our Judeo-Christian values and foundations.

I saw a man this past weekend that I believe God is transforming. A man that God is using to spread his message. A man burdened so heavily for the sins and direction of a nation that he couldn’t keep quiet about it. A man so burdened that he risked everything to be obedient to God. He risked his life (I’m not sure if you noticed he was wearing a bullet proof vest under his shirt), he risked his career, he risked persecution and threats. He risked alienating himself from his friends, his peers, his supporters. He was obedient and like Jeremiah, he surrendered himself to God, and placed all those things on the altar to him, and chose to do what God asked of him. But, like Jeremiah, I believe God told him “I will take care of you”.

Like Jeremiah he has been attacked. He has been attacked by the media. He’s been attacked by politicians. What concerns me most, is not the world attacking Glenn Beck, because the world will be the world. They don’t know any different. What concerns me most is when the “Church” attacks Glenn Beck because the church should be different than the world. I’ve read several articles this past week by the members and leaders in the church who have attacked him. As the church has attacked him I’ve noticed most of the attacks have attacked his character, his religion, his beliefs, his theology, his motives, and his agenda, very few attacks have even addressed the message he gave. I believe they could not poke holes in his message, because it was from God. It’s the truth. It’s sound.

I’d like to say that I find it ironic that God would use a Mormon, right wing, political alarmist to give a message that the church should have been giving all along. A message that says we must repent and turn back to God. A message I believe that is not only directed at our nation but also at the church. We must “Turn Back” We must “Repent” . I can’t say it’s “Ironic” because we’ve seen it time and time again from God; Moses the adopted son of a Pharaoh, Dave a shepherd boy, Paul a Jew who slaughtered and killed many of the early Christians, Jesus Christ a baby born in a manger. In reading God’s word God using a man like Glenn Beck is exactly in his character. God uses the unlikely, the unwilling, the unequipped, and the extreme. So he can show his power to transform men. So he can perform miracles. So he can show his power to draw a crowd of people. So he can accomplish his will and not ours. So he can receive all the praise and glory and not us.

I cannot vouch for Glenn Beck, but I can vouch for God. God’s word is true and consistent. His power in our lives can transform us individually, and his power in our lives can transform our church, and his power in our lives can transform our nation, but first we must be obedient and surrender to him. We must turn from our wicked ways, and turn back to God.


Tim