Does America play a part in the future kingdom?

billisaacs on September 1, 2008 | Filed Under culture

Been reading a fascinating book called “The Post American World” by Fareed Zakaria on the change in worldview of America and its impact on the future. One of the things we tend to overlook is how global the world has become in the past 20 years. As an example, the major financial markets of the world are no longer in the USA but in London. The rise of economies in Brazil, Kenya, Venzaluela, China and India have transformed the view of how the world trades. Companies which have future plans for growth are looking outside the USA for new markets and its impact on future economic development in this country is unclear. Politically, the USA has become isolated and many leaders are creating alliances which do not include us.

For much of my life, I have wondered how would the Tribulation have such an economic impact on the world, when there is little in the Scripture regarding the USA? Now it is clear that a European/Asian/South American economic base would be ideal for an anti-Christ who wants to control what happens during this period. With our dependance on Middle-Eastern, Central American oil supply, the decline of the dollar, a depressed economy and other factors, one can see how America may play a role in the end times.

Yet, God has used our country for the presentation of the gospel and I’m still inclined to consider how the harvest of souls moving into this country is part of God’s revival plan. As our country becomes more agnostic and hostile to Christianity, one wonders how God intends to use our country for kingdom plans.

Our nationalist pride may prevent us at times from considering how much the world changes from day to day.

Any thoughts?

5 Comments

G. Scott Hager on September 2nd, 2008

Great post and Great thought! If one sits back and looks it is obvious that the US is slowly becoming a 3rd world country. It is hard to believe that in the USA we are rationing rice as well as other items. Great post to make one think!
Scottie Hager

billisaacs on September 2nd, 2008

Scotty,

Good to see you at the GA this year.

How do you think this impacts the local church in terms of our Great Commission responsibilities? Can we reposition ourselves (I love that phrase!) to be a country which is but one of the many God is using to win the world? Is that mindset hard for Americans to accept? Can we follow another country in the work of the harvest, say Kenya?

The Chief Shepherd : Is America Losing in the Global Economy? on September 4th, 2008

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G. Scott Hager on September 19th, 2008

Bill,
I am sorry it has taken so long to comment again. I am actually looking for a copy of this book. I want to read it myself…

With the recent financial events that have happened this week I am even more convinced that God is going to use this country for a last day harvest and not only use this country but I believe that we will see a revival in America. I do not think that we can allow our financial status determin if we spread the Gospel. Jesus said, “Birds have nests, foxes have dens, but the Son of Man has no where to lay His head.” He then continued on His
Luke 4:18-19 mission that He declared He was on. This passage tells us why He was sent. He did not allow circumstances to interfere with His mission.
I am not sure that I follow your questions. I am going to do my best to answer. As Americans we at times have been so egocentric that we have not realized that the rest of the world is leading us per capita in world evangelization. Even in our own great denomination our membership is greater outside of the US than in the US. We have sat on the side lines and went to church instead of getting on the field and being the church. It is easy to give some money and expect someone else to carry the burden of the Great Commission for us instead of Going ourselves. As we have sat our own country has become the 3 largest mission field in the world. We are no longer a missions sending country. We are a missions country. In Culpeppers book, No Church Left Behind, he put pen to the paper over the comments he used at the Engage Conf. He reminds us that the largest Buddist Temple is not in the Far East but in the US, The largest Muslim Training center is not in the Mid-East, its in the US. He goes on and on and that made me realize that we have dropped the ball! At our church, North Walhalla Church of God, we are going to try something different. From now until December we are going to call church off on the last Sunday night of the month. We are going to meet in the parking lot and pray and from there we are going to seperate into teams to go into our community and “Be the Church.” One group will stay on campus to write cards to our county leadership, one group will go to our local fire, EMS and Police Stations to pray for those who are on call that evening, some will go visit our shut-ins, elderly, sick, widows, etc. Some will go visit the homes of those who we visited us in our services that month, some will check on those who are regular attenders who have been out for two weeks or more, some will go door to door and introduce themselves to the people in our community, some will stay at church and pray for those of us who are out. We have to reposition ourselves if we are going to be effective. Sometimes I believe that the church has been to “Busy” to be “Effective.” We are going to try something different. What good is the church doing sitting in 12-15 services a week and not reaching a community? It is time for the American Church to start being the Church.

Does America play a part in the future kingdom? | Chief Shepherd on February 3rd, 2010

[...] Link to Forward Leadership Blog linkscolor = “330099″; highlightscolor = “FF0000″; backgroundcolor = “FFFFFF”; channel = “none”; About Bill:Bishop Bill Isaacs continues to post his thoughts on his Forward Leadership Blog. Bill & I have had a deep friendship for several years. He joined me in my second missions trip to Africa where we ministered to hundreds of people in Uganda and D.R. Congo. Bill currently serves as Administrative Bishop of the Churches of God in Northern Ohio and also on the Council of 18 for the Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee. Share ProphecyDoes America play a part in the future kingdom?What will eternity be like? This entry is part 1 in the series “Prophecy”. Click on the title to read this entire article. Check the “SERIES” item in the right-hand column to read more from this series. Other articles will likely follow periodically. Check back often to read everything.To add your comments, click on the “comments” button in the menu line at the bottom of this article.Series NavigationWhat will eternity be like?»Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.Powered by WP Greet Box WordPress Plugin America, Brazil, Central American, change, China, Christ, Economic, economy, Fareed Zakaria, future, God, India, London, Marketing, News, Post American World, timing, USA, Venezuela, worldview blog comments powered by Disqus var disqus_url = ‘http://chiefshepherd.com/2008/09/america-in-the-future/ ‘; var disqus_container_id = ‘disqus_thread’; var facebookXdReceiverPath = ‘http://chiefshepherd.com/wp-content/plugins/disqus-comment-system/xd_receiver.htm’; var DsqLocal = { ‘trackbacks’: [ ], ‘trackback_url’: ‘http://chiefshepherd.com/2008/09/america-in-the-future/trackback/’ }; RSS feed for this post (comments) Page Visits3» wp.com stats helper Chief Shepherd Chief Shepherd [...]