Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Friday, November 9, 2012

"Today is November the 9th—the 74th anniversary of "Kristal Nacht"

In referring to Hitler's Germany, when church leaders and Christians remained deathly silent while Hitler murdered six million Jews, the president of a Christian university—a man of Germen descent—warned the student body as follows:

"Today is November the 9th—the 74th anniversary of "Kristal Nacht," the Night of the Broken Glass. On this day in 1938, Nazi thugs moved through the cities of Germany smashing the windows of German homes and shops, burning the synagogues. Innocent people; men, women and children were beaten and killed simply because they were Jews.

"I was there as a young man ... and I can still hear the sound of the shattering glass. There were many of us who were Christians then but we did nothing. We looked the other way and we did nothing. That was the beginning of the Holocaust because the Jew haters knew then that no one would stop them, no one would stand in their way.

"My friends, it is happening again. It is happening again today in our beautiful America—so richly and abundantly blessed by a gracious God. It is happening today as the innocent are slaughtered in a forty-year Holocaust that has seen over fifty-four million little boys and girls brutally done to death [via legalized abortion]. It is happening again as families are fractured and marriages are broken, while self-obsessed people pursue the immediate gratification of their every desire. It is happening again as militant homosexuals pursue absolute approval, complete acceptance, and preferential legal treatment for their perversion.... It is happening again as the nation's leaders wallow in decadence and deceit, while the people look on in apathetic indifference [and silence]."2

Church pastors, leaders, and Christian friends it is absolutely imperative that today we stand up and be counted—to be watchmen who no longer remain silent—and take a stand against all evil and moral perversity. It is also imperative that we vote only for leaders who are men and women of character and integrity, and who take a positive stand against all evil and moral corruption—including wretched abortion for any reason and especially the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion. Can you even begin to imagine what God thinks of this perversion and that of our moral decay? We are fast moving away from God's protection and, as a nation, will suffer the dire consequences of what happens to nations when men and women forget God. Think of Ancient Israel, for example, when they turned from God, they removed themselves from God's protection and ended up in captivity in Babylon.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, while we need to love all sinners, we are, as today's Scripture reminds us, to take a moral stand and correct and rebuke all evil and moral decay. Let us remember too, that meekness is not weakness and let us not forget the words of Edmund Burke who said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." And in the words of the German pastor, Pastor Martin Niemoller:

    First they came for the Communists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Communist
    Then they came for the Socialists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Socialist
    Then they came for the trade unionists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a trade unionist
    Then they came for the Jews
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Jew
    Then they came for me
    And there was no one left
    to speak out for me.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please open the eyes of my understanding and help me to see the way our country is rapidly moving away from you and your Truth. Deliver me from the sin of silence and give me the courage to stand up and be counted and, in so doing, please use me to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

Note: For helps to stand up and be counted and be an effective witness for Jesus Christ, please join with us as a People Power for Jesus Partner. See http://www.actsweb.org/people_power_invite.php.

1. 2 Timothy 4:1-3 (NIV).
2. http://www.hiswayministries.org/fdsilence.htm. Be sure to read this entire challenging message.

2. To Know God and be sure you're a real
    Christian click on:

3. Donate: To help send Daily Encounter
    without charge to people around the world
    click on:

4. To send today's Daily Encounter to a friend
    click on:

5. To share your faith in a simple, attractive
    way with a friend click on:

6. For today's featured article click on:

7. This week's chuckle as seen "On the Lighter
    Side"  on Weekend Encounter click on:

8. Change Address of your subscription to
    Daily Encounter click on: