War Cry

(by Lorie Codispoti)

Does it feel like things are spiraling out of control? 

Not only are we seeing a rise in personal and family issues, but our world, at large, (wars, natural disasters, health concerns, social, educational, financial, religious, governments, etc.) seems to be on a trajectory of disaster. While most Christians understand that this is all part of the fulfillment of prophesy, we still battle fear, anger, and other emotions, as we witness the avalanche of destruction.

What do we do?

The simple answer is to pray. However, the kind of prayer I’m talking about is anything but simple. It's NOT the … "Lord, I need a parking space.” or “Let this new hair color work.”  or “Please let there be some chocolate left.” kind of praying. Goodness knows, chocolate is important, so those prayers have their place.

The kind of praying I’m talking about is much more intense. It looks like Elijah stretching himself across the body of a dead boy and crying out to the Lord (1Kings17:19-21). It’s the kind of praying that sounds like the “sons of Israel” as they groaned so loud over their bondage that their cries reached the ears of God (Ex.2:23-25). It’s Hannah, willing to be misunderstood for a drunk woman because of the intensity and volume of her desperate pleas. 

This kind of praying postures kings, like Asa, on their faces as they cry out, “Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.” (2Chron.14:11)

Can you hear it?

“Let the horn be sounded in Zion, and a war-cry in my holy mountain; let all the people of the land be troubled: for the day of the Lord is coming.” (Joel2:1)

“Rak Chazak Amats!” (“Be strong and courageous.”) Throughout history, this has been the Hebrew war cry. 

Rak = tender, delicate, soft (A reflection of our humble heart toward God and our gentle spirit toward others.)

Chazak = strength, courage (“Possessing a resolute and growling resolve for the glory of God. A flush of spiritual fervor.” (Erik Ludy))

Amats = strong, alert, brave, bold (“Rushing headlong into the most hazardous and impossible battles without pausing to consider the impossibilities.” (E.L.))

Before he dies, Moses commissioned Joshua and the Israelites to cross over the Jordan and take the Promised Land, “Be strong and of good courage” (Deut.31:6). Then God reminds Joshua to “be strong and courageous” three times in Joshua 1. Understandable when you consider he was facing 31 hostile empires. But, when the God of all creation goes before you and assures you of the victory, your heart beats to the cadence and your voice trumpets the war cry of the King. 

Will you take action?

Jesus invited His disciples to join Him in a Rak Chazak Amats time of prayer, the night before His crucifixion. They heard the cry, but they opted to sleep through the blood sweating battle before the battle. 

May it not be said of us. 

Have you seen the commercial where the athlete says, “Train what’s under the armor”? The first time I heard it I immediately thought of Paul’s description of our spiritual armor.  He sounds an alarm in Ephesians 6, when he tells believers to armor up and prepare to wrestle with principalities that have neither flesh nor blood. And before he describes each piece of our King’s armor, he tells us to “be strong” (Chazak). At the end of his description he reminds us of the importance of bold prayers - prayers that hold nothing back. 

Prayer is the skeleton under the armor. What good is it for us to put on our spiritual armor if we’re not prepared to support it? “Train what’s under the armor” so that when we hear the war cry of our King we are armed and ready to fight the battle.

If we live in the danger zone, why do we prefer to pray it safe?

Only the brave (Amats) will venture into the danger zone, and only the courageous (Chazak) will remain until the task is complete.

Wake up, Church! We are the redeemed. Hostile empires may outnumber us, but the same God who went before Joshua goes before us. The same God that filled the disciples with His Spirit at Pentecost fills us to do the same thing they did - take back what the enemy has stolen.

Rak Chazak Amats!

Reborn There

(by Lorie Codispoti)

Most of us have a birth certificate. It verifies who we are and is needed for things like a passport and a driver’s license. It includes our name, gender, time and date of birth, parent’s information, and birthplace.

However, if you’re doing any kind of genealogical research, they say that birth records are not the place to start. Why? Well, before 1946 it was not the state, but the local church that recorded the births (and deaths) in their communities. And for a variety of reasons, not every birth was registered. According to History.com, “If a child did not live to be baptized, was enslaved or moved from place to place, its birth might not be recorded at all—or its memory might live on only in a family Bible or its mother’s memory.”

Isn’t that sad? A human life. An eternal being. Erased from history because there was never a record of the fact that they were valued and born with a created purpose.

There are important genealogies in both the Old and New Testaments. The average reader may choose to skip over these sections, but they exist for more than simply challenging your pronunciation skills. (Can you say Mahershalalhashbaz?)

The begats are recorded for several important reasons: 1) They help to substantiate the historicity of the Bible. These were real people, and the records verify their existence. 2) They confirm prophecy; specifically, that the Messiah would come from the line of David. (Scripture records 4,000 years of Jesus’ ancestry.) 3) They speak of God’s divine purposes - like the fact that He used both the reputable and those with sketchy reps in Jesus lineage to communicate that everyone is redeemable, and that no human can thwart His plan of redemption for mankind.

“Modern genealogy is primarily reserved for hobbyists. In contrast, genealogies were a deeply integral part of Jewish society at the time of Jesus. Land was inherited based on family lines, and those who could not prove their ancestry in Israel were considered outsiders.” (Erik Lutz)

To think that most Americans cannot trace their lineage beyond their grandparents is lamentable for many reasons. The greatest melting pot in the world and not only have we lost some very interesting characters, but their stories have followed them into the great unknown.

I am thankful for the little I know of my heritage. I had the privilege of knowing all my grandparents, and most of my great-grandparents. I loved hearing their stories, especially the ones connected to another relative. But, it wasn’t until one of my sisters became interested in our ancestry that I learned much more. Thanks to her efforts I can link myself to some interesting people, like Henry VIII, Booker T. Washington, Jesse James, and Bonnie Parker. (I do hope she can unearth a few more good guys, but I want to know about all of them - the good, the bad, and the ugly - because it reveals the hand of God and His transformative work in my life.)

What have we lost as a result of not knowing who came before us? Might Hitler have thought differently if he knew he had both Jewish and African ancestors? Might Barrack Obama and George W. Bush find more common ground if they knew they were distant cousins? Might Meghan Markle be persuaded to return to Europe since her pedigree includes Winston Churchill and William Shakespeare? Who knows!

While many recorded births have regrettably been lost to the abyss of the unknown and are long forgotten, there is a book that records every person born into the Kingdom of God. Throughout the ages, this undeniable, undisputed record has carefully recorded all who have surrendered to the lordship of King Jesus.

Jesus said, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” (Rev.3:5)

Psalm 87 mentions the glories of God’s city to come. Verse six says, “The Lord will record, when He registers the peoples: ‘This one was born there.’”

In our world, searching for a birth certificate may not be the place to start, but in the Kingdom of God, a record of your re-birth is the first thing consulted.

Might your life look different if your name was recorded in His Book? Might your relationships look different if you were found to be related to the King of Kings?

I have two birth certificates. How many do you have?