Will You Pray For Your Nation?

January 21

Imagine a group of scientists in a food laboratory on a dark and stormy night. “Eureka!” one cries out. “I’ve created the superfood that will end disease as we know it!”

All the other food scientists gather around. Such excitement! Soon, the food additive is being blended into everything, from cookies to fast-food burgers, as scientists are certain the superfood will help us all live longer and healthier.

Now, imagine that years later, we discover the superfood is, in fact, a monster food—an additive so toxic that, over time, it wildly increases our risk for everything from heart disease to stroke to cancer to obesity. And—it’s already inside us all!

Sound like a made-for-TBS movie? It's not. It's the story of trans fat, a dangerous, man-made lipid found in margarine and shortening that, for a little while at least, was believed to be healthier than regular fats. We bought the lie until the mid-’90s, when a study in the American Journal of Public Health indicted trans fats for no fewer than 30,000 annual deaths. The worst part: They're still in our food today!

My point: Understanding the nuances of nutrition is hard—so hard that even the scientists are constantly making mistakes. That’s why the best way to lose weight is to ignore trends and fly-by-night advice, and instead focus on healthy eating strategies.

Excerpt from EAT THIS, NOT THAT.



We live in a world that has very definitive ideas about how we should look. Many of us, perhaps most of us, are greatly influenced by the world’s perception of what our appearance should be and endeavor to conform ourselves to the norm. This is not a concept that is new to our day.

The Reuben’s models of old, for example, were plump because to be thin at that time in history was considered to be evidence of poverty. Today’s highest-paid model (estimated earnings--$47 million per year) would have been a Reuben’s reject because she looks emaciated by the standard of beauty of his day.

Were it just our physical appearance that we allow to be influenced by the fashion of the day, our eternal destiny would not be in jeopardy, but unfortunately, we have allowed the same world that dictates how we should look to dictate what we should believe—and we have fallen into its trap in this vital matter.

There was a time when most of the Western world considered itself to be believers in Christ and as such, exploration was done, conquering armies were defeated, and individual freedoms were instituted in His name. No sacrifice was considered to be too great in order to achieve the spreading of the Gospel of the Savior to all men everywhere.

His directive, “Go into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature,” Mark 16:15, was considered to be so important that explorers sailed and armies stood against tyranny and lawmakers designed legislation that would assure the furtherance of the good news of salvation in the “one name given under heaven whereby men might be saved,” Acts 4:12.

How are we doing with that today? Rather than men who will pursue any goal, resist any foe, ordain any new law that promotes the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we find ourselves swallowing any idea, resisting any truth, ordaining any concept that aligns itself against Almighty God and His unchanging truth!

Can any civilization, any culture long endure that pits itself against the will of the Holy One? The answer to that is at our fingertips in the history books that detail the rise and fall of past civilizations.

If we hope to see our way of life endure, we must fall on our knees before the Almighty and pray the prayer of II Chronicles 7:14 with the utmost sincerity of our hearts for its truth speaks a clarion call to our generation.

Last night's state of the union address did not address the abysmal spiritual condition of our country. No alarm was sounded, no petition for prayer was given, no indication was stated that this area is a matter for concern, but, will you pray for your nation?

“If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.”

The alternative is too devastating to consider.