What the World Needs Now

I was eighteen years old on February 7, 1964, when the Beatles first landed on American soil. Although I had seen a small photo of them in my husband’s copy of Newsweek and had been stunned by their “long” hair, I knew almost nothing about them. I do clearly remember the horror and embarrassment I felt when I saw the photo, however. Although their hair would not be considered long by any fashion standards from that day forward, in 1964 they appeared to me to look like cave men.

However, the “British Invasion” into this country brought much more than long hair. It brought with it a drug culture from which we as a nation have never recovered. I am not really blaming the Beatles; if they had not introduced America’s youth to drugs someone else would have, but when recreational drugs became part of our culture, everything changed.

Unfortunately, both medical doctors and psychiatrists extolled the virtues of marijuana, LSD, and various other mind-altering drugs. Fortunately for me, I always believed that drugs were horribly dangerous and that they would destroy anyone who sampled them even once. Thus, I was spared the consequences of taking drugs that millions of other people my age experienced.

It is interesting to note, however, that in the 1960s drugs were promoted as the way to “find God.” Many respected individuals, including Timothy Leary, constantly told young people that if they would take LSD, they would experience God. Psychiatrists regularly gave it to their patients—it is public knowledge that Cary Grant was regularly given LSD by his psychiatrist. And it is said that two of the Beatles, John Lennon and George Harrison, were introduced to LSD when their dentist gave it to them while they were having dinner with him. In fact, there were no warnings that drug use could be anything other than a mind-expanding experience that would help the user understand himself and his world while experiencing God on a level that a sober person could never know; anyone who refused to even try LSD was considered “square.”

After a few years America’s youth realized that they would not find God in drugs, and they stopped looking for Him there. Many began dabbling in the occult, and quite a number found Satan, but it became common knowledge that God would not reveal Himself to someone who was smoking a joint or tripping on LSD. Unfortunately, that knowledge did not diminish drug usage; it simply altered the users’ goals.

But, something happened to those young people who had been sincerely looking for God; that something was the “Jesus Movement”. Those who had been honestly seeking Him continued to search. They did not want the formality and dry services offered by the denominational churches. They wanted to cry out to God from their innermost beings, and they wanted Him to answer. Their hair was long (really long) and the girls dressed in sandals and long flowing dresses; the boys dressed in sandals  and loose fitting shirts with long flowing sleeves.  Their appearances made their parents cringe, but under all that hair and flowing fabric were hearts that cried out to know God. And God answered that cry.

In the late sixties and early seventies the Jesus Movement exploded. Services were held in which hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of young people gathered to pray and sing and worship. There were some abuses, of course, but the Holy Spirit began to fall, and people who had never known God began to find Him.

Today those people are known as the Baby Boomers. We are the Evangelical Christians who pray for our children and our neighbors and our country, but we are getting old. We must soon pass the torch, but this generation is not prepared to take it. There are, of course, many young people who are genuine Christians, but the fire that came with the Jesus Movement has been all but extinguished. If we are to survive as a Christian nation, we must experience a resurgence of faith that only comes when the Holy Spirit falls.

For the past seventeen years—since 1995—I have been praying for a revival in this nation that will spread across the world. I now pray daily for a revival that will spread like “a raging fire” across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica, and to every island nation. I pray that there will not be one centimeter of earth where the Holy Spirit will not fall and call people to turn to Jesus and be saved. I pray for the Christians who live in countries where they are persecuted for their faith that they will be free to worship Jesus and preach the gospel. I pray that those who are not even seeking Him will find Him. I pray that those who sit in darkness will see a great light and that the name of Jesus will be praised and honored across the globe. I pray that God will send the greatest revival that the world has known to this date. I pray all of these things because I know that no matter what happens politically or economically, unless we turn to Jesus Christ as The Answer to our problems, we are doomed.

Today I ask you to join me in praying for a world-wide revival. Please set aside a time each day when you pray with all your heart. There is no greater purpose that you can have, there is no greater gift that you can give, there is no higher calling that you can receive than to pray that the world will turn to Jesus Christ and be healed of the sin that is destroying billions of lives. For it is only through finding a relationship with Jesus that this generation of young people will be prepared to carry the work forward to the next generation.

Joyce Swann is a nationally-known author and speaker. Her own story of teaching her ten children from the first grade through master’s degrees before their seventeenth birthdays is retold in her book, Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother. Her novel, The Warrior, about how one woman's prayers change the lives of those around her, is available on Kindle and  in paperback. For more information visit her website at Frontier 2000 or like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/frontier2000mediagroup.

We're All Tired

I have voted in every presidential election for the past forty-six years, but I have never been as involved, as concerned, or as exhausted as I am this year. I have written about the importance of this election, not only for this generation but for all generations to come. I have prayed numerous times each day, and I have fasted until I feel drained. Frankly, I am ready for this to be over.

Monday night after the final debate I felt an enormous sense of relief. I wanted to shout, “It’s over!” and forget about the election until I go to vote on November 6. I suspect that a huge number of Americans feel as I do and are ready to put their feet up and relax a little. However, whenever I am tempted to slow down, I remind myself that now is not the time to quit.

I am reminded of a story I heard many years ago about a young woman who wanted to swim the English Channel. She prepared herself in every possible way. She practiced until she was in optimum physical condition. She ate a restricted diet which was designed to prepare her for the ordeal. And when the day came for her to attempt the swim, she covered her body in heavy grease to protect her against the cold water.

Since the shortest distance across the English Channel is 21 miles, she had carefully mapped the route to make certain that she followed it exactly. A boat followed alongside her as she swam so that if she encountered trouble her trainer could rescue her. In addition, he furnished her with liquids to keep her hydrated. At first, everything went well, but after many hours of enduring the hardships of such a swim, even though she had completed twenty miles of the twenty-one mile course, the woman called to her trainer, “I am exhausted. I can’t finish.”

“Yes, you can,” he called back. “You can make it. Don’t stop now!”

“No,” the young woman persisted. “I can’t. If I go on, I’ll drown.”  And against the advice of her trainer, she turned around and swam back to the point where she had started!

We have only thirteen days to go before we cross the finish line. If we stop now, we will, in effect, be turning around and swimming back to our starting point. We are tired, but this is not the time to slow down. We have worked far too hard to stop short of our goal.

As we come into this final stretch, I want to encourage you to continue to do everything you can to make certain that we take our country back, and I want to remind everyone of what Paul says: So take a new grip with your tired hands, stand firm on your shaky legs, and mark out a straight, smooth path for your feet so that those who follow you, though weak and lame, will not fall and hurt themselves, but become strong. (Hebrews 12:12)

Joyce Swann is a nationally-known author and speaker. Her own story of teaching her ten children from the first grade through master’s degrees before their seventeenth birthdays is retold in her book, Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother. Her newest novel, The Chosen, is available on Kindle and  in paperback. For more information visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net  or like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/frontier2000mediagroup.

When Power and Force Collide

When I was twenty years old, I went to work for a large insurance company that was in the process of opening a branch in El Paso, Texas. Our branch dealt only with companies that purchased health insurance for their employees, and our offices were located in a large bank building in the downtown area that housed attorneys, accountants, and other professionals.

One day shortly after I began my job, I ran into a girl in the hall who had been my “best friend” in high school and discovered that she had just been hired to work at the accounting firm in the offices next door. We had both left the El Paso area for a brief time and had lost touch for several years, but we were delighted to find that we were going to be working right next door to one another. We would have an opportunity to see each other every day and have lunch together most days. Our friendship was instantly renewed.

Although Judy was the same age as I, she had already gone through a divorce and had returned to El Paso with her infant son and moved in with her parents. She seemed happy enough, but she was reluctant to talk about her life in California or her ex-husband. Occasionally, she made reference to something that seemed odd, but I thought that I should not ask too many questions. I would just try to be a good friend and set a good example.

Several months after we had been reunited, Judy came into my office at a time when she knew my boss was out and began to talk to me. She asked me whether I had seen the movie Bell, Book and Candle. I told her that I had not. She then asked me whether I knew what it was about. I told her that I thought it was about witchcraft. She then said, “When I was in California, I got involved with all sorts of things just like Bell, Book and Candle, and I can put spells on people. I can put a spell on you.”

 “No you can’t,” I replied. “I’m a Christian. No one can put a spell on a Christian.”

We had an exchange that continued for several minutes with her asserting that she could put a spell on me and me countering that no one can put a spell on me because I am a Christian.

I was not at all upset or frightened and thought the whole thing was ridiculous, but every time I claimed that my relationship with Jesus Christ protected me from any attempt to put a “spell” on me Judy became increasingly agitated.

Finally, she turned on her heel and walked out of my office. She never spoke to me again.

I am writing this blog to remind Christians that we should never allow Satan to scare us, and, in fact, if we stand our ground, we frequently find that we have scared him. We belong to Jesus Christ, and the only power that the devil has over us is the power we choose to give him. The devil uses force, but he has no power. All power belongs to God and to Jesus, and God’s power is unlimited. He created everything there is in heaven and on earth. He has the power to protect us and to help us in every situation. There is nothing that is too hard for God because His power can both destroy and create.

The devil, on the other hand, is very limited. He cannot create anything. He likes to destroy things—especially people’s lives—but he has never created one single thing because force cannot create. Lots of things have force: floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, but they are only able to destroy. Tornadoes have destroyed many towns, but you will never hear of one passing by and creating a town. Pretty much everyone is aware of the devastation that the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius left behind, but no one has ever reported a volcanic eruption that left behind a lush orchard or a field of wildflowers. Each year as hurricane season approaches, the coastal regions begin to prepare for the havoc that will surely result if one reaches land, but no one ever says, “I’m not worried because I think this year the hurricanes will repair all the buildings that need renovation. Some hurricanes in the past have done a lot of damage, but this year the hurricanes are going to bring restoration and prosperity.” No one ever says that because everyone knows that enormous force often destroys, but it never creates. Yes, the earth is filled with destructive forces, but those forces are nothing compared to God’s power.

Many Christians believe that the upcoming presidential election is the most important election of our lifetimes, and I agree. I have prayed, and fasted, and blogged, and written books dealing with the consequences of a second Obama term. I have talked to many people and done everything I can to affect the outcome, but, in the end, this is in God’s hands.

I will do everything that I can think of to ensure a Romney win in November, but I am not going to allow myself to be frightened or discouraged because I know that as long as we have the power of God’s Holy Spirit in us, the devil can never defeat us, and we never need to fear him. God has called us to take a stand against the forces of Satan. I have taken my stand to preserve liberty, and freedom, and one nation under God; take yours. And while you are standing, remember this: Whenever power and force collide, power always wins the fight.

Joyce Swann is a nationally-known author and speaker. Her own story of teaching her ten children from the first grade through master’s degrees before their seventeenth birthdays is retold in her book, Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother. Her newest novel, The Chosen, is available on Kindle and  in paperback. For more information visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net or like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/frontier2000mediagroup.

Brother, Can You Spare a Minute?

The 1930s gave us a decade of the worst depression this country has ever experienced. Most of us are too young to remember The Great Depression, but all of us have heard stories about the joblessness, the homelessness, and the soup lines that defined that period of American history. Middle-class families were suddenly plunged into poverty and were destined to roam the country looking for work.

During the 1930s, the song Brother, Can you Spare a Dime? became an instant hit because it highlighted the plight of the middle-class American who begged on the streets in order to put a little food into his stomach. The newly created class of Hobos hopped off trains and knocked on people’s kitchen doors asking for whatever the housewife could spare. Even then a dime wasn’t much, but for those in need it just might make the difference between starvation and survival.

Eighty years later we find ourselves living in the twenty-first century version of the great depression. Americans are losing their jobs, their homes, and their futures at a rate that far exceeds anything we would have imagined only five years ago. In the 2012 remake, the soup lines are gone and families who have lost their homes and jobs are not begging on the streets; they are barely scraping by on a government issued check, but like their 1930s counterparts, they have little hope for the future.

However, the pleas for money have not disappeared. In the 2012 remake virtually all Americans who have access to a telephone, the Internet, or the U.S. mails are inundated daily with requests for money. We are told that if we can get ten dollars to some organization or another within the next 24 hours, they can stop a certain piece of legislation from being passed, or they can get a particular political candidate elected or defeated, as the case may be. The trick is that the money must be delivered in a specific minimum amount (of course, more is always better, but the minimum will do) and it must be delivered within a specific short period of time.

Today, I join the ranks of those who are asking Americans to give so that our country can be saved. However, I am not asking you to give money to turn this country around. My question is this: Brother, can you spare a minute? If you are willing to donate a minute to save our nation, here is how your minute will be used:

Your minute will be bundled with the minutes of tens of thousands of other Americans who have become a part of the If My People, 2012 call to action that is taking place right now and will continue through the election on November 6. However, please do not send your minute to me—do not even send your minute to Joel Rosenberg, who is one of the organizers of the event. Send your minute directly to God. Here is the way it works:

Many thousands of Americans are setting aside one minute every evening from now through the election to pray for our country as instructed in II Chronicles 7:14, If my people, which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and search for me, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.

The event calls for us to set aside one minute every evening so that we will all be praying at exactly the same time. Those on Eastern Standard Time pray at 9:00 P.M., those on Central Standard Time pray at 8:00 P.M., those on Mountain Standard Time pray at 7:00 P.M., and those on Pacific Standard Time pray at 6:00 P.M.  We are to ask God to forgive our sins both individually and as a country, to ask Him to heal our land, and to ask Him to send revival to our nation. We are also to pray for the upcoming election. This idea is so simple that everyone can take part. Even a child as young as three years old can put his little hands together and ask God to heal our land.

I hope that you and your family will join us in this effort. I believe that it is a great privilege to live in a nation where we can participate in events such as this one, and I am honored to be able to send my minute bundled together with those countless other minutes so that our land can be healed.

Joyce Swann is a nationally-known author and speaker. Her own story of teaching her ten children from the first grade through master’s degrees before their seventeenth birthdays is retold in her book, Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother. Her newest novel, The Chosen, is available on Kindle and  in paperback. For more information visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net or like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/frontier2000mediagroup.

 

Be Careful What You Pray For

Christians know that the Bible tells us to pray for our leaders: Pray…for kings and all others who are in authority over us, or are in places of high responsibility, so that we can live in peace and quietness, spending our time in godly living and thinking much about the Lord. This is good and pleases God our Savior, for He longs for all to be saved… I Timothy 2:2-4.

Clearly, God wants everyone to be saved, and it is always right and good to pray for salvation for everyone. I cringe, however, when I hear Christians pray for God to bless ungodly leaders. When people are being blessed, they almost never change their lives or their actions. Do we really want the ungodly to continue in positions where they rule over us and continue to do those things that dishonor God and bring us suffering?

The United States of America is the most unique country in the history of the world. God has given us a form of government that is superior to any other, and our Constitution guarantees us many rights so that we can live without fear of falling victim to various practices that are common among governments of other countries. Part of the uniqueness of this country is that we were among the first that allowed its ordinary citizens to elect those who govern us. We have never been subject to a king who recognizes no authority other than his own. From the beginning we have elected our leaders. This is a privilege that carries with it great responsibility, but when it is done right, the results are that we are able to live in peace and quietness, spending our time in godly living and thinking much about the lord.

Psalms 125:2-5 says, Just as the mountains surround and protect Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds and protects His people. For the wicked shall not rule the godly, lest the godly be forced to do wrong. O Lord, do good to those who are good, whose hearts are right with the Lord…. And let Israel have quietness and peace.

This sounds harsh to our politically correct ears, but we can learn much about how to pray for our leaders by reading God’s Word. It is true that when the wicked rule the godly, the result is that the godly are treated brutally. Certainly, we have the current examples of Christians being imprisoned in middle-eastern countries solely because they are Christians. They are tortured and, sometimes, executed simply because they refuse to deny Christ. It is not God’s will for His people to be subject to His enemies because in those circumstances the godly are often forced to make the choice of whether to suffer and even die for their faith or to do wrong. 

When praying for our leaders remember these points:

• First, we live in a country where it is both our duty and our privilege to vote. Therefore, even as we pray, we must make a commitment to vote for the best candidates. Sometimes voting for the best candidates is as simple as voting against candidates who have proven themselves to be the wrong choices.
• Second, we must pray that God will remove from office all of those who do not honor Him and govern according to His precepts.
• Third, we must pray that God will give us men and women who will do exactly what he has put them in office to do and that He will give them wisdom and good judgment.
• Fourth, we must pray that our nation will return to God and become the country that He created us to be.
• Fifth, we must pray that we will be able to live in quietness and peace.
• Sixth, we must pray that God will grant quietness and peace to Israel.

We have only a few more days until the election. I hope that all of you will join me in praying daily for our nation and for our leaders so that we can live in peace and quietness, spending our time in godly living and thinking much about the Lord.

Read Joyce's new novel The Chosen free on Kindle October 3rd through October 7th.

Joyce Swann is a nationally-known author and speaker. Her own story of teaching her ten children from the first grade through master’s degrees before their seventeenth birthdays is retold in her book, Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother Her newest novel, The Chosen, is available on Kindle and  will be available in paperback October 1. For more information visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net/ or like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/frontier2000mediagroup