Introduction
Open the gates,
That the righteous nation
which keeps the truth may enter in.
— Isaiah 26:2 (NKJV)
The 2,000 Percent
Nation: God’s Plan for Increasing Your Country’s Fruitfulness is written
from the perspective of a Bible-believing, born-again Christian informed by Whom
I believe to be the Holy Spirit. If you share that perspective, I’m sure you
will be comfortable with the book’s contents and its way of explaining God’s
plan.
During the course of asking
advance readers to comment on the book, I was happily surprised to find that
people who aren’t Bible-believing, born-again Christians were interested in its
contents. I was cautioned that my writing didn’t always feel loving toward such
readers. I repented of that error and went back to correct the fault as best I
know how. I apologize to any unloving content that remains and ask for
forgiveness.
As a Christian, I love everyone
equally. I am concerned about the spiritual condition of those who aren’t
Christians because of what the Bible tells us about the consequences of not
repenting of sins and not following Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As a
result, I seek to be sure everyone has a chance to gain that knowledge so each
person can make an informed decision about Salvation. Only the Holy Spirit can
draw someone to want to accept Salvation. If that occurs for some readers of
this book, I will be delighted. If someone who doesn’t know the Bible’s
messages concerning Salvation learns them from my writing, I will be equally
blessed. In all circumstances, I pray that all readers of this book will feel
my love and concern for them.
The 2,000 Percent Nation: God’s Plan for Increasing Your Country’s
Fruitfulness will change your thinking about what a nation is, its
importance, and what its leaders, citizens, residents, and visitors should seek
to accomplish. My purpose is to show how
the Godly effects of your actions on all nations can be increased by at least
twenty times. The result will be to increase the righteousness of nations,
something encouraged in Isaiah 26:2.
Before expanding on the book’s
purpose and its benefits for readers, let’s first put a spotlight on how God
sees and interacts with nations. You may be surprised by what the Bible has to
say. I certainly was.
While many people think of
themselves and orient many of their views in terms of what their nation’s
Earthly interests are, God doesn’t see nations as being very important. He
wants all His children to focus first on advancing His Kingdom by obeying Him.
To God, a nation is just a large group of His children operating under a human
leader. Unless nations are encouraging His ways, these national entities are
definitely unimportant to God:
Behold, the nations are as
a drop in a bucket,
And are counted as the small dust
on the scales;
Look, He lifts up the isles as a
very little thing.
And Lebanon is not sufficient to
burn,
Nor its beasts sufficient for a
burnt offering.
All nations before Him are
as nothing,
And they are counted by Him less
than nothing and worthless.
(Isaiah 40:15-17, NKJV)
He brings the princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth
useless.
Scarcely shall they be planted,
Scarcely shall they be sown,
Scarcely shall their stock take
root in the earth,
When He will also blow on them,
And they will wither,
And the whirlwind will take them
away like stubble.
(Isaiah 40:23-24, NKJV)
In addition, a nation that is led
by those who are godless or who oppose God can become a fertile field for the
enemy who is in the world to tempt people into rebellion and sin, just the
opposite of what God wants.
Righteousness exalts a nation,
But sin is a reproach to any
people. (Proverbs 14:34, NKJV)
God clearly favors righteous
nations and wants to have more of them. What about nations that don’t share His
interests? Let me remind you of the risks to godless and disobedient nations.
God permanently destroyed some nations (such as Sodom
by fire from heaven and Tyre by sending
invaders), severely punished others (such as when deadly plagues affected Egypt prior to the Israelites leaving), and
killed and removed many disobedient people from still others (such as when
Assyria overran Israel and Babylon conquered Judah).
While many such nations may
suffer from His wrath, God has an unexpected role for a few of them: He
sometimes uses nations that oppose Him as tools for punishing faithlessness.
When righteous nations have been few, He has at times strengthened violent,
godless nations to chasten, destroy, or remove nations that have fallen away
from Him or are in rebellion against Him as He did with the Chaldeans in
violently conquering Judah and being cruel in removing a remnant of Israelites
to Babylon:
“Look among the nations and watch
—
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in
your days
Which you would not
believe, though it were told you.
For indeed I am raising up the
Chaldeans,
A bitter and hasty nation
Which marches through the breadth
of the earth,
To possess dwelling places that
are not theirs.
They are terrible and dreadful;
Their judgment and their dignity
proceed from themselves.”
(Habakkuk 1:5-7, NKJV)
As a result, citizens and
residents of any nation that isn’t making good progress toward increasing the
number of people following Him with clean hearts and dedicated lives should be
concerned about its future, no matter how glorious its past has been or its
present is.
I was reminded of this point
recently while observing someone wearing a shirt proclaiming Jesus as his Lord
and Savior that noted it was illegal to wear the shirt in fifty-three
countries. Such a perspective can, unfortunately, encourage some people to
compare their nations to others in the wrong ways, drawing false comfort if
their nation isn’t as “bad” as some other nation. Beware! Before being
destroyed, that confidence-creating “bad” nation may be used as a scourge to
help cleanse a “good” nation that is self-satisfied, backsliding, and falling
into more sin and rebellion against God.
As God told the Israelites in
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 (NKJV), He will bless the nation that follows Him and
curse one that rebels against Him. Even a nation that’s unconcerned about or
indifferent to receiving His Earthly benefits should desire to avoid His
curses.
Such statements about God’s views
concerning nations may shock you. As you react to the words, recall the anger
that Jesus displayed against the self-satisfied Pharisees who followed their
tradition of righteousness to the letter in hypocritical ways while He met
sincerely repentant sinners, the lame, the discarded, the despised, and the
poor with complete patience and kindness.
Be aware that I write these words
about what the Bible says in love, to encourage you and others to draw closer
to Him and His infinite love … and for the words to rebuke and caution only
those who are convicted by His Holy Spirit as they read these pages. Remember
that God loves you and wants to have a wonderful relationship with you.
Salvation is freely available to all no matter what a person has done. The
price for all sins has already been paid by the death of Jesus Christ.
These words of warning should be
thought of as being like a shout of “Stop!” to the driver of a vehicle who is
about to have an accident. Although it’s unpleasant to receive such a warning,
it’s much better than suffering the consequences of the accident.
Keeping His love in mind, let’s
next consider the eternal dimensions of what God has promised. Disobedient
people who don’t repent their sins and accept and follow Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior will experience eternal punishment after death as the just
consequence of their unredeemed sins. Because God is perfectly holy and just,
He cannot act otherwise.
While remembering the benefits of
avoiding such horrible eternal harm, consider additionally the eternal rewards
that can be received by following Jesus and contributing to a nation that
becomes more fruitful for God: more people spend eternity in heaven with God,
and the saved gain more heavenly rewards for their fruitfulness while on Earth.
What better way could there be
for nations to satisfy their desires to compete with other nations than by
contributing to more people becoming so eternally blessed in heaven? There can
be no losers in such competition.
While remembering God’s promises
in the Bible concerning nations and individuals, please also consider The 2,000 Percent Nation’s sources
before taking its words seriously and acting on them. I believe that in writing
this book I am merely transmitting directions that I received from the Holy
Spirit. I also rely on God’s Word, the Bible, to ground and amplify the
Spirit-led directions I received. In addition, I have prayed for additional
guidance and signs, and I have received many of them. I pray that I have
faithfully relied on these sources so that you will be blessed by what you read
and by what you do in applying your reading to live more righteously in support
of your nation and other nations.
To help you evaluate the book,
let me put it and its sources in context by explaining more about it origins.
In 1995, I heard from Whom I believe to be the Holy Spirit (as described in
Chapter 2 of Adventures of an Optimist
[Mitchell and Company Press, 2007]) to launch the 400 Year Project
(www.fastforward400.com — to demonstrate by September 2015 how the global rate
of improving all aspects of life could be increased by at least twenty times
during 2015 through 2035, accomplishing in just twenty years what would
normally take 400 years). By 2010, I had received additional directions and
instructions for how to create, display, and write about such improvements in
the twelve 400 Year Project books that preceded The 2,000 Percent Nation.
While working on Business Basics (400 Year Project Press,
2012), I anticipated that my book writing for the 400 Year Project would end
with that volume. I was wrong about God’s plans. There were, instead, more
revelations and unexpected writing and implementation tasks ahead for me.
In the early morning of October
6, 2010, I was unexpectedly awakened, and a voice in my mind gave me detailed
directions for how my students should lead spiritual, educational, and economic
revivals in every nation. These directions surprised me. I didn’t expect the
400 Year Project to go beyond performing research, running some tests, and
conducting a few small-scale experiments prior to September 2015. The
directions were transmitted to me in the same way that I was told to begin the
400 Year Project. Consequently, I believe that I was again guided by the Holy
Spirit. I began implementing the new directions later that morning.
On November 27, 2010, I was again
awakened early and given further verbal details for how to accomplish project
implementation tasks that had puzzled me since I had received the October 6,
2010, directions. I was greatly relieved to receive the wisdom in these new
instructions, and I began putting the amplified directions into effect later
that day.
During the predawn hours on
January 6, 2011, I next received detailed instructions from a voice in my mind
for writing a book to be called The 2,000
Percent Nation. The directions made many references to expanding on parts
of what I had written in 2,000 Percent
Living (Salvation Press, 2010) concerning Christians becoming more fruitful
for God and Help Wanted (2,000
Percent Living Press, 2011) describing how to teach Christians to be more
fruitful for Him.
Because I was still in the middle
of finishing Help Wanted and drafting
Business Basics, I was quite
surprised by this new writing assignment and its timing. I didn’t feel that I
could start yet another book without stopping one of the two that I had already
been directed to write by Whom I believe to be God’s Holy Spirit. As a result,
I dutifully made notes about what I had heard concerning The 2,000 Percent Nation and did my best to speed up completing the
two books that were in process. I also began praying for His guidance in
performing these tasks.
In the early morning of January
25, 2011, I received further verbal details for what to write in this book
about how nations and their citizens should measure themselves to know how well
they were following God’s plans. This message emphasized that commonly used
economic measurements for physical outputs, such as gross domestic product
(GDP), were unimportant and should not receive any attention by those looking
to increase a nation’s fruitfulness for God.
Then during the wee hours of the
morning on April 27, 2011, I was provided with still more detailed verbal
directions for what to write in The 2,000
Percent Nation concerning the roles of governments, churches, Christian
nonprofit organizations, foundations, voluntary associations, and individual
Christians in serving God.
Let me emphasize that these
combined instructions contained many more writing directions than I had
received for writing most of the previous 400 Year Project books. Clearly, The 2,000 Percent Nation has some
important role to play in God’s plans, and He wants the book to be just right.
I’m delighted that He has helped me in so many ways and has decided to draw you
to His instructions, as I have done my best to convey them.
On August 16, 2011, my writing of
Business Basics finally reached a point where I could begin
drafting The 2,000 Percent Nation.
Since then, I have strived to be faithful and accurate in sharing with you what
I was directed to write.
Because some people receive false
messages intended to deceive from the enemy who is in the world, you should be
sure to test the book’s contents as you read them through your own Bible
studies and prayers as the Apostle Paul directs in 1 Corinthians 14:29 (“Let
two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.” NKJV).
Let’s look now at how the book is
organized. The 2,000 Percent Nation explains
how to understand and increase national fruitfulness for God from fifteen
perspectives:
1. How God measures a nation’s
fruitfulness
2. What governments should and
should not do
3. What churches should
concentrate on
4. What actions Christian
ministries should emphasize
5. What Christian nonprofit
organizations should accomplish
6. What schools, colleges, and
universities should engage in
7. What voluntary associations
should achieve
8. What purposes foundations
should seek to fulfill
9. What social enterprises should
work on
10. What for-profit companies
should seek to do in serving Godly purposes
11. What activities independent
professionals who work with organizations should make their top priority
12. What professional tutors of
Godly breakthrough methods should teach
13. What a nation’s visitors
should do
14. Practices citizens and
long-term residents can use to contribute more
15. What foundational tasks
individual Christians should perform
In emphasizing these fifteen
perspectives, keep in mind that there are many other perspectives that I have
not addressed. I don’t include any other perspectives because I have only been
directed to write about these fifteen.
You may have been called to add
perspectives to what I have addressed in The
2,000 Percent Nation. If so, please pray to confirm that calling and then
follow whatever the Holy Spirit’s directions are.
May God bless you as you read
this book and draw on it to do His will!
Copyright
© 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 by Donald W. Mitchell.
All rights reserved.
No part of
this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in
any form
or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other
electronic
or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the
publisher,
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews
and
certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Scripture
quotations marked (NKJV)
are taken
from the New King James Version.
Copyright
© 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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