Persecution

Can we possibly pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Orissa state India? They have been under attack for a while now by Hindu extremists. They have had their homes and churches burned. From what I have heard the police are nothing more than by-standers. The Christians under attack have lost everything. I have heard reports that they are now naked and hiding in the woods. This violence threatens to spread through the rest of India.We should also pray for missionaries in that field. Here is a link to an article with more details on this persecution.http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080916/anti-christian-violence-in-orissa-threatens-to-spread.htm
May the grace, peace, and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all those suffering.

Dichotomy

Dichotomy - division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs.
I thought I would just revisit a subject I had touched on in the past. One event in time was at the time the single greatest event and the single greatest tragedy. The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The greatest event because it is our only hope for salvation. Yet at the same time it was the torture, mockery, and slaying of the most perfect innocent life ever. The spotless lamb bearing a punishment we now days wouldn't dream of wishing on our worst enemy. But who was Jesus the enemy of? Darkness. Darkness by it's very nature hates the light. I know this is nothing you haven't heard before, but I feel it is very important that we never loose sight of this dichotomy. As John Piper has preached, " you never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, out grow your need for the gospel". We shouldn't seek God only to flee from Hell, but instead because He poured out His love for us while we were yet sinners by taking the wrath that we deserved!
One other dichotomy I thought I would mention is a fork in the road. There comes a time in every one's life when they reach this fork and must decide. Most decide with out ever knowing they have made a choice. This fork is the choice of taking the narrow path, or the broad way. So many just follow the masses along the broad way. Unfortunately this leads to destruction. But make no mistake, is you take the narrow path life will not be skipping through a field of daisies with a herd of puppies dancing on a rainbow. I think I heard it best described by Adrian Rogers when he said " If you have never met the devil it's because you have been walking the same way, and if you turn around to go the other way you are going to run head long into the devil".

• Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
• Isaiah 53:4-64 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
• Matthew 7:13-14 13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
• 2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

• 2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Providence

Providence is one of those tricky things to accept in a Christian life. The thing we must remember is that God is sovereign over everything. Let's back up and look at providence first. Dictionary.com defines providence as 1. the foreseeing care and guidance of God or nature over the creatures of the earth. Sounds nice enough, but what about when something painful happens to us?
This past week the Tampa Bucs kicker Matt Bryant whose 3-month-old son, Matthew Tryson, died Wednesday. This is a seemingly devastating event, and might cause one to doubt God's existence. That is the tricky part of Providence. The hard part is looking past what we know on this earth. Everything, good or bad, works towards God's perfect plan for every human on this planet.
Does this mean God causes bad things, or even evil actions? No. He allows certain things to happen to lead to His greater good. God is perfect, and completely holy. He can do no evil, even more He can have no evil in His presence. But we are imperfect created beings with a very narrow view of the universe. Everything works toward the greater good, and God see's this as He is infinitely higher than we are.
We can even look all the way back to creation. Some might ask why God created the world and man when He knew they would sin and fall from grace. He indeed knew we would sin and fall. At creation He knew every breath of my life. So why did He go on and create us knowing we would grieve Him? The answer as far as I understand is, to show His mercy and glorify Himself. We fell, He still loved us enough to provide a way out of sin, showing His infinite mercy and grace. Thus all the Glory goes to God.

• Isaiah 55:8-9 8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
• Luke 22:41-46 41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. 46 Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

A Day to Remember

As Americans, September 11th is a day we can never forget. Although it seems many have forgotten in just 7 years. Sure as Christians we are to forgive, but that does not mean forget what happened. We were attacked by radicals that despise our way of life. It is my belief that they want to eliminate every Christian world wide. Let me get to my point in this post.

I saw a sign the other day that said "Pray for Peace". Most people would say YES!, but not me. I say that is praying for a side effect, not the underlying cause and need. I say we should pray for the hearts of those against The Truth, to be softened. For their eyes, ears, minds, and hearts be opened to the truth. Pray for laborers in the harvest field so that when hearts are softened there is someone to deliver the seed.

Here is a website set up to help. You should check this out.

http://www.atfp.org/

That is Adopt a Terrorist for Prayer. This based on scripture.

• Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you

Even if you personally have not been persecuted, you can rest assured that it is only because they have not got to you yet. They believe if you oppose their view, they are commanded by their religion to kill you if you will not convert.

So it is clearly commanded, by our Lord, we need to be praying for these people. Not for peace. Not for prosperity. But pray for those that are condemned to Hell, that they might see the light, soften their hearts and humble themselves before the one true God. That is the only hope for our nation, and this entire world.

• 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 14 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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.

I Walk the Line

Much like Johnny Cash sang, I too walk the line. A different line however. I often feel I am perched on the line between being critical and just discerning.
Yesterday we had a member of the congregation get up and preach. His sermon was titled "Religious but Lost". Amen, that is a problem. But I soon found myself disagreeing with this man. The first point was when he was talking about Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul and gave us most of the New Testament. He was talking about how Saul was too focused on religion to have a relationship. However Saul was a Jew, and a Pharisee. The Pharisee's were legalists. They were consumed with the law, not religion. Even to the point that they said Jesus was breaking the law of the Sabbath by spitting when He healed the blind beggar. But this was a minor disagreement that I can over look. Well there is also the point that Jesus intercedes for us, allowing us to have that relationship with God. But even still, I see his point. My main complaint with the entire sermon was that he devoted a lot of his time to talking about the love of God. Which is fine, but to truly understand the love, you must understand the wrath. For God's love to be real, his wrath must also be real. What are we saved from? God's wrath. God so loved us that he poured out His wrath on His own Son that we might be washed clean. The single greatest act of love, grace, and mercy all in one. With out the wrath, the cross is a pointless act. If God was just going to overlook our trespasses why did Christ have to suffer and die on the cross? It makes no sense. God's wrath is very real. Hell is very real, and it goes on forever. So in my opinion if you are going to preach God's love, you must first preach God's wrath. Jesus Christ was the spotless Lamb of God, yet we know He was punished. Why? Because we are far from spotless. I would venture to say most of us have broken all ten commandments when you look at how Jesus explained them more in depth.

• Isaiah 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

There are ways to evaluate if you are truly saved, or just living the religious life.

1. Are you growing in Holiness?
2. Do you hate the sins you use to love?
3. Do you hate the things God hates, and love the things He loves?

Those are just a few points I have learned from Todd Friel on Way of the Master Radio and Wretched TV. If you are not sure of your salvation, look to the law. Examine yourself under the law. And know the God can only be righteous if He punishes law breakers. Know you are wretched in His sight. The knowledge that you are a sinner damned to an eternity of suffering in Hell should bring you to your knees. Humble yourself before Him, repent, and know that your only hope is in Jesus Christ. Pray in His name, beg forgiveness for all your sins. Devote your life to Him. Know that He died for you, and rose again on the third day and you will be saved. (Note: no mention of "accept". I'm saving that for another post.)

• Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
• Matthew 7:21-25 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

U.S.A Reclaims Gold in Basketball

This morning I got home from church just in time to see the fourth quarter of the gold medal game between U.S. men and Spain. It wasn't a blowout like the last time they met, it was close up until the last couple minutes. The U.S. team was loaded with NBA stars. Almost every big name from the NBA was on this team, but I want to point out one in particular. One that isn't a house hold name to most, at least not in this area. Michael Redd. Why him out of all the stars on this team? Well let me share a quote from Michael Redd.

• “Since I’ve had the Lord Jesus Christ in my life, miraculous things have happened to me. I just thank God every day for Him blessing me and showing me favor when I’m not worthy of any of that. I keep Him first and I’m diligent in keeping Him first.”

I can not find the quote in print, but I heard it on the radio. After one of the teams victories Michael Redd gave all the credit to God. It is quite refreshing to hear this from some one on a team that could easily get swept up in arrogance. All the talent surrounding him, but he still recognizes that it is all only possible by the grace of God.

So mission accomplished. God was glorified, even though the media tries to hide it, and the gold is coming back to the U.S.A. So I say congratulations to Michael Redd, and keep giving the glory where it belongs even when it doesn't get the wide spread attention that it should. And boo's to the media for not putting this quote out there!

http://news.sport.org/2008/08/16/michael-redd-usa-mens-basketball/

• 1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

America's Biggest Problem

If you watch any TV or listen to any radio you are bound to hear a lot of talk about problems in America. So many problems are discussed. Crime of all sorts, political issues, abortion, all sorts of things are out there. Then there is usually some "expert" that comes on to give a solution. We need to reach out, or we need to fund programs to help. Well I am offering up another solution. The one that is always overlooked, or at the very least not mentioned. Addressing all these problems is like a broken arm and just taking aspirin for it. It might dull the pain, but it is not going to fix your arm. The biggest problem we are faced with is the fact that over many years people have waged a war to remove God from any and everything in the public eye. We are now seeing the results of this plastered across the news every day. There is no moral standard with out God. People truly do not know how much they are violating God's law. Man's standard of conduct is far inferior to the perfect standard that is the very nature of God, lived out in the flesh by Jesus Christ. The solution should be quite simple, the great commission. Christians must spread the word. We simply must hold up the mirror that is the Ten Commandments to show people their sinful ways. We must also stand up to defend public displays of our Lord and His Laws. God's chosen land, Israel, went through things like this too. The people were distracted from God and slowly fell into heresy and God allowed them to be overrun by other nations. I'm not going to quote a verse to back that up, it's pretty much the entire book of Judges.
On a related side note. I heard a shocking fact on the radio this week. Since Roe vs. Wade, abortions are closing in on 50 million, this is 38 times more deaths than all America's wars, revolutionary through Iraq. Yet people still have the nerve to protest the war and defend abortion. Shocking.

• Mark 16:15-16 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
• Acts 5:4-11 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”5 Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. 6 And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.7 Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?” She said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. 11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

They were struck down for one lie. Sin is exceedingly sinful, no matter how man views it. The fault in our thinking is we view sin as against man, what makes it so terrible is that we actually sin against the perfectly Holy Lord, our God.

• Acts 28:26-27 26 saying, ‘ Go to this people and say: “ Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you will see, and not perceive; 27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”’

Disturbing Events in Church

I know that sounds completely opposite of what you would expect, but that is exactly what I encountered today. Today our sermon revolved around the doom of false prophets. Which meant our pastor spent most of the time preaching on sin and the reality of Hell, but this is not what was disturbing to me.I actually enjoy that sort of preaching, we must not lose sight of God's wrath, as it is what makes His grace necessary. At our church they hand our a copy of sermon notes with blanks to fill in as you follow along. Well today when the pastor gave the last line of the application and the last blank was filled in I was struck by an almost deafening sounds. The sound of many people, sounded like most, putting away their papers and their Bibles. The sound of shuffling papers, the zippers on Bible covers and the shuffling of people almost drowned out the pastor who was still preaching. This was very disturbing to me. I don't think these are people any worse than the rest of us, but this packing up gives the impression you can not get out of the church fast enough. To me it seems if this is your main concern perhaps you shouldn't have come to church at all. I think the problem might be that people have lost focus. I believe they may have fallen into the trap of after the service asking what did I gain from that? Was that pleasing to Me? When we should be asking was that pleasing to God? Did we honor God the best we could today? I feel this maybe an off shoot of the present American mindset, it's all about me. When we go to church on Sunday morning, we are reporting for a worship service. Not to worship our selves, or the pastor, but we are there to worship and praise our Creator, our Lord, our Saviour, our God. The God of the universe. The one who created all we know, and that we have yet to discover, by simply speaking it into existence. God is everywhere. He sees you packing up early, and worse still He knows your thoughts. There is no excuses, He knows your very intentions before you even thought of them. What could be so important in your life that you are in such a rush to leave the church? Have you forgotten the grace and mercy that was shown to you? What if God had turned His back on you 5 minutes before your reconciliation?Did Jesus Christ not tire of hanging on the cross? Of bearing your sins? What is He had left 5 minutes before "It is finished."? Am I perfect, not by a long shot! But when I am in church I am there to worship God, to praise Him for the mercy and grace shown to me when I was but a sinner, an enemy of God. I may get fidgety for sitting still for so long, but I am sitting, Bible open, attentive until the pastor is finished. If he runs long, great! I welcome the chance to learn from those who have studied The Bible far more than I have. Plus let us not forget what our pastors have risked for us, taking up the calling they have put themselves up to be held to a higher standard at Judgement. So next Sunday let's make sure our focus is in the right place, on God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• 2 Timothy 4:2-4 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

Videos I watch regularly

Since I haven't had many posts lately I thought I would double up and just include a couple of videos I watch on a regular basis. Both for their own reasons. Hope they speak to you all the same way the convict me. Enjoy!

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_zpokAFfos
2. http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ee73e63418003b47d7d5

In the word of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah:

• Isaiah 53:4-6 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
• John 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Once for All!

The Cross Still Stands!

Wow! All I can say is Wow! I just watched a video of John Piper called You Need the Gospel Every Day. You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwn2GLm5MsY
I won't go through all he said, but I'll just tell what impressed me in the video.
In my title here I said the cross still stands, but I don't mean literally. Well in a way it is literal, but not the wood that held our Saviour. The cross is in the past, one time for all, the just for the un just. But the cross still stands. Where is it? It stands in each and every saved soul. We are saved by the sacrifice made upon that cross, the Perfect Spotless Lamb of God endured the Wrath of God the Father for all of us. We have no hope for salvation apart from that cross. And once we are saved, we never out grow our need of the Gospel. So as we go out everyday focusing on The Gospel, and live the Christian life, that old cross stands in us. One event in the past and if we could see it there would be a massive river flowing forward through time from that event. Some one passed it to you, and you became part of the river, and we will pass it on to draw more into the river. Why does this one event stand over all others? Because in it is true power, pure love, and a righteous wrath. The wrath of God is very real, and it is being carried out every day. A lot of non believers say there is no wrath cause God is love. The flaw in that logic is that God is also just. The love , wrath, justice, and righteousness of God were all perfectly exhibited on Calvary's cross. God's wrath is very real, otherwise there would be no reason for the cross. So like John Piper says, preach the Gospel to yourself everyday!

• Romans2:4-11 4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

Are you in the 4%?

I heard a sermon from Greg Laurie where he said he read a study that said only 4 percent of adults can define the great commission, recite John 3:16, and accurately describe The Gospel. I guess these are things I just took for granted. I had no idea, I had assumed everyone that called themselves a Christian would know these things. These numbers were just flat out shocking to me.
Oddly enough, my reaction was to blame my self. No I am not so vain to think it is all my fault, but I am not guiltless. I am not out there making a point to tell some one each and every day. Truthfully I probably fail to verbally tell someone once a month even. I am betting I am not alone in this failure. If I was it would not be only 4%.
I feel quite ashamed of this. I think we all should if we are not out there completing the great commission. We have received the greatest gift possible. We were given 10 laws to live by, and we all failed. Yet God's through His infinite grace sent His only Son to suffer and die to pay for our sins, and He did all this knowing we would sin against him. So while we were yet sinners God gave us the way to receive eternal life in the perfectness of Heaven.

• Romans 5:7-9 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
• John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
• Luke 19:10 "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
• 1 John 3:7-8 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

And finally Jesus' last command before He ascended to Heaven

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Under Pressure by Queen

Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you, no man asked for
Under pressure, that burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets

That is the opening bit of Under Pressure by Queen. Who knew that Queen was speaking truth. We went out to grab some supper tonight and Under Pressure was playing at the restaurant. So that got me to thinking. We are all under pressure everyday. Some more than others. Every one's pressures are different, some finical pressures, some a strained relationship, some even addictions. But there are good things that come from pressure. Take diamonds for instance.

• "Well, believe it or not, diamonds are made of the same substance that the lead in your pencil and coal is made of. It's just that the atoms themselves are arranged in a way that make them tighter than any other substance. The bonds are formed when carbon exists at very high temperatures and under very high pressure. Natural diamonds are made very deep in the Earth about 180 km below the surface where high temperatures and pressure exist naturally. Under the earth’s crust is the mantel, which is made up of molten rock, metals and other materials.The high pressures are produced by the weight of 180 km of rocks pressing down on it. This is how the diamond comes to be."

This can be related to the Christian life. God puts us in struggles, under pressure, to change us. Wouldn't be nice if we could be under this pressure and come out like a diamond. Well I think that is God's intention. Pressure cause us to change and adapt, extreme pressure forces us to realize we must seek God to get us through the days of our lives.

• Psalm 63:1-3 1 O God, You are my God;Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. 2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.
• Hebrews 4:15-16 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
• Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
• 2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

So next time you feel your pressures are to much, think about the diamonds. Take pleasure in your pressure and be the diamond. Seek Him early and often.

• 2 Corinthians 12:20-21 20 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; 21 lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced..

Can you be a _______ Christian?

This was the topic on Truth Talk Live this evening. They were taking calls and debating if you can, for instance, be a liberal Christian. Their debate centered around the presumptive presidential candidates. As I am sure you are well aware Senator Obama claims to be a devoted Christian for over twenty years now, yet his voting record and stance on several issues would lead most of us to doubt this. So the question is, can one be a liberal Christian?
My personal opinion is no. However my opinion stems from my understanding of The Bible.

• John 10:26-2826 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

These verses sum up what it means to be a Christian. Being a Christian means committing your life to following Jesus Christ, and learning to be conformed to His image. So Senator Obama is in essence claiming that Jesus Christ would be in favor of killing a baby that is in the process of birth. Or that He would go against The Bible and say we should allow homosexual marriage.

It seems to me the major flaw that allows these so called liberal Christians to support these obviously non-biblical stances boils down to not believing The Bible is all The Word of God. If you pick and choose what you want to believe from The Bible it is easy to justify these sinful things. Unfortunately for them the entire Bible, from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22, is the inspired word of God.

• Revelation 22:18-19 18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

So in my opinion you can not be a liberal Christian. Now I will clarify this, there are those who have committed their lives to Christ and are still living in sin, but only out of ignorance. As in being in the process of spiritual growth and practicing sin that has not been revealed to them as the sin it is.

• 2 Peter 2:21-23 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

So what do you think? Is there a flaw in my understanding here?

I will go back to Revelation 22 in closing today. Note John's last line before closing, Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Why would he say this? Imagine seeing the terrible vision of the doom coming for the unsaved that he recorded in Revelation. The end of life as we know it, Even so, come Lord Jesus! Are you ready? Do you look forward to His return with great joy and anticipation?

• Revelation 22:20-21 20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Theory of Evolution = Anarchy

Once again I am on a topic I think I have touched on before. I thought we would take a glimpse at the hypocrisy of Darwinian evolutionists. I think we are all familiar the theory of evolution, and one of the major tenets being survival of the fittest. Well this pretty much says those that are strongest get the best means for survival and the weak are left the scraps to get by on.
There are many people out there fighting to get creation removed from schools. This leaves them to teach evolution, which includes survival of the fittest, also known as natural selection. These same schools almost always begin the school year with a review of the rules and regulations. This seems a bit hypocritical to me. If you teach the students the world is ruled by survival of the fittest, then shouldn't the students that can pummel the others get their way first? The stronger students should not have to pay for their lunches, they should just simply take it from the weaker. If they could overcome the teachers and faculty, they should be able to take what they want from them as well. Well that is according to Darwin.
Teaching creation, also known as the truth, leads to a much different culture. The Bible does not teach this is how you deal with others. In addition, by the theory of evolution why would any one care for the elderly or the sick? According to Darwin's theory we should just separate them from the herd and let them die off. There is no reason for anything to create more of it's own species, as this is just more mouths to feed, plus the young are weak and should be left to perish.
So just as most of man's non-biblical ideas, when you follow the logic you end up with problems that common culture most likely would not accept. After all we build large facilities expressly for caring for the in firmed, or the elderly. It is also evident that species to reproduce young, and care for them, to varying extents in various species.

• Genesis 9:6-76 “ Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man. 7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”
• Matthew 5:43-44 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you
• 1 Timothy 5:3-4, 8 Honor widows who are really widows. 4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God. , 8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
• Matthew 5:38-42 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away..
• Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

These are just a few examples of God's word that contradicts the survival of the fittest. The civilization we now know is ruled by a set of laws derived from God's law. So why do they continue to fight to teach this flawed human system? The answer is quite simple. It boils down to guilt. They love their sinful lives and do not want to be reminded in any way of God's perfect standard. They can hide from it all they want now, but some day all will will die and face judgement. No lawyers, no defense at all. No escape.

• Hebrews 9:27-28 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
• 2 Corinthians 5:10-11 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

So there it is, they simply wish to harden their hearts and try to escape the inescapable. Once again we see the perfection that is God's word, The Bible.

In closing I offer this encouragement from the Old Testament:

• Isaiah 1:18-19 18 “ Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “ Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land;

Retraction

That's right, I need to issue a retraction. It turns out I was wrong in my earlier post entitled Backsliders vs. False converts. In that post I said I did not believe in backsliders, well I was wrong. I am a little surprised none of you called me on this one. Well today the truth was thrown at my head like a brick. It was delivered to me by Adrian Rogers. It turns out the same David I spoke of in my previous post was indeed a backslider. This is the same David that is the only man referred to as being after God's heart.

• Acts 13:21-23 21 And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ 23 From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—

You see David had been blessed for so long he began to get too comfortable in this state. He became over confident, and thought to highly of himself. This lead him astray, and eventually into sin with Bathsheba. Making him a backslider.

• 2 Samuel 11:4-5 4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

So there it is. I was wrong. But that is alright, I have seen the truth now. There is a lesson there alone. Much like the song Amazing Grace says "was blind, but now I see". This is how spiritual growth works. When you become a Christian you don't just suddenly have all knowledge of The Bible. When you repent and trust Jesus alone you are transformed, and The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you. As you go on living with The Holy Spirit you learn, and slowly The Spirit will open your eyes to a new way of seeing. In other words as you learn to walk closer with God things are revealed to you in due time. The ultimate goal of this process is sanctification, that being when you die and go to Heaven you are much closer to the image of Christ than when you were first converted.

So in closing here is the rest of the Psalm at the close of my previous post.

• Psalm 63:6-11 6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. 7 Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. 8 My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me. 9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it, Shall go into the lower parts of the earth. 10 They shall fall by the sword; They shall be a portion for jackals. 11 But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways

I am taking a bit of a detour from usual type of topics today. Today I am thinking more in political/economical terms. So why did I use that title for this post? Well exercise tolerance and try to follow my convoluted logic here.
The Interstate Highway System was authorized by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. This was under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, thus the name. The Interstate Highway System is a separate system within the larger National Highway System. The entire system, as of 2004, had a total length of 46,837 miles. How many of us today are very dependent on these highways to get around in our daily lives? Just looking at the traffic reports I would say some where around a lot, approximately there about. So what does this have to do with anything? Well this was what was known as a public works project. That meant it put a lot of people to work making all these roads, and benefited our economy by allowing goods, and people, to flow more freely from state to state. Our current economy relies on these roads very heavily, but why am I bring this up now. How does something in 1956 relate to now? You are probably saying thanks for the history lesson but the roads are already there, we can not build them again. This is true.
I am no economical genius, or even have any education in it at all for that matter. Perhaps you have notice that lately gas has seemingly become more expensive than gold, and you constantly hear on the news about the decreasing value of the American Dollar. The dollar is falling because we are so dependent on foreign markets. We send millions, perhaps even billions, out of the country everyday in gas. I suggest that we are in need of another public works project. Like I stated before I am no expert, but it seems to me we could great use a source of fuel to decrease our dependence on overseas markets. Here is my idea.
The government should start a public works project. This project would involve drilling for oil on U.S. soil, building federal run refineries. Now before you flip out and say I am crazy for suggesting Government gas stations, that is not what I am suggestion. Rather the Fed's build, run, and maintain these oil drills and refineries, then the gas, diesel, and oil produced be used to run government vehicles. Such as city buses, school buses, D.O.T trucks, federal owned cars, police cars, fire trucks, and etc. This would reduce our use of foreign oil greatly. Simple economics says that as demand decreases and supply remains constant, price drops, thereby benefiting the American public. Another effect would be that we would send less tax dollars overseas. This would also give thousands of Americans good paying jobs. Perhaps I just do not see the flaw in my own logic, but to me this sounds like a win win proposition. If any of you reading this see the problem with this idea please comment about it.
As I have departed from my norm above, I think I will again depart in closing and give Paul a break. Instead I offer this section of a Psalm which played a great role in my reconciliation. So instead of the word's The Apostle Paul, here are some words from David ( the only man in The Bible referred to as a man after God's own heart):

• Psalm 63:1-5 1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. 2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. 4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

New Names For Everyone!

Have I gone off the deep end? Have I heard one to many clips of Todd Bentley and fallen to his foolish ways? Not quite. Just bringing another bit of scripture for us to think about. Never read a scripture that says you get a new name? Well I had missed it too.

• Revelation 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”’

So there it is. What is so special about this you might be asking. Well we will be given a new name by the one who knows us most intimately. Some of us might think this is our spouse, our parents, sibling, perhaps even a twin. But in reality is is our Lord. He knows us to our very core.

• Psalm 139:13-16 13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

Before we were ever even born He knew all the steps of our lives, every one's life. None are beyond His knowledge. Someday He will hand us this rock with His name for us. This name will fit us to a tee as He knows everything about us. How great will this be? I don't know about you but I can't begin to imagine the glory.

Now I started off mentioning Todd Bentley once again, this is because I heard more of his shenanigans! He was apparently baptizing people in the name of bam. To make this even worse, their so called pastor justified this . His explanation was so convoluted I can't even remember it all! I do know it used cartoons in the explanation. They are just flat out ridiculous down there.

For a change I will close with a joke like story I heard.

After a baptismal service a woman was home with her young daughter and heard the water running upstairs. She went up to investigate and found the young girl with all her dolls lined up filling the bathtub. The woman stood outside quietly watching. The little girl took the first doll, put in the water and said " I Baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and in the hole you go!" Maybe sometime soon I will attempt to delve into talking about The Holy Ghost.

• Galatians 6:18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

The sweaty blogger!

Man o' man is it ever hot out there today! I am sure glad to be back inside where it is a little cooler. I have been a little slack with my blogging lately, it's really no excuse but I have been very busy with other things. The important part is I am back at it today though. Today I just thought I'd look at back at a passage of scripture that I had overlooked, but it was brought to my attention on the radio recently. I must say it is quite a profound passage and I am not sure how I managed to miss the significance before now. Well before I ramble on, the passage I am referring to is:

• Luke 1:39-45 39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

In case you aren't familiar with this bit here, the babe Elizabeth is caring is John The Baptist. It isn't real clear how much time had lapsed since Gabriel visited Mary and The Holy Spirit came upon her to make her with child, but it reads like it was a short time. So what we have here is Mary carrying a recently conceived Jesus meeting Elizabeth with John The Baptist 6 months into her pregnancy. Even before his birth John was overcome with joy at the presence of our Lord and Saviour. This obviously flies in the face of those who are "pro-choice". See they would like to say a child is not alive until it is born. But according to this passage John was very much alive in his mother's womb. So alive he felt joy by the presence of Jesus Christ. We can even go a little deeper here, Jesus was newly conceived when Mary made this journey, yet John was able to recognize His presence. This is pretty amazing to me. Pro-choicers would have considered Mary a good candidate for abortion, claiming what was in her womb was not yet a life. Yet John knew not only was it a life, but this child was The Life.

• John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
• Luke 3:16 John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

I like to close on a positive note. If you have not noticed I have been using Paul's writings for this. Most of his letters close with a positive up lifting scripture. So here is another:

• 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28 23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.25 Brethren, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Another Song Complaint

I know I already did a post about a praise song from our church service, but I have to address the newest one. This time it is a song called Healing Rain, and being me, I of course have a couple of complaints. Some of the lyrics I do not agree with, but the major problem this time was our Worship and Communications Pastor left out Jesus! Of all the words in a song to omit, how can you skip over the name of our Lord and Saviour in a worship service? The line in question here goes as follows: Tears of joy and tears of shame, Are washed forever in Jesus' name. As I mentioned he skipped the name of Jesus and replaced it with "healing rain". Washed forever in healing rain? To me this was totally unacceptable. I was so shocked I lost my place in the song and quit singing all together. Aside from this mix up I took issue with some of the lyrics as they were actually written.
Here is the chorus to the song:
Healing rain it comes with fire
So let it fall and take us higher
Healing rain I'm not afraid
To be washed in heaven's rain

So where to begin here. Well my objection to the song as a whole is that it implies we are washed by a rain. Last I checked we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ alone. The narrow gate, Redeemer, Bread of Life, and of course our Saviour.

• Hebrews 9:22 22In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
• Isaiah 53:4-6 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows;Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

No mention of any rain there. I hate to sound like I am beating the same old horse, but this is a top tier issue of Christianity. We can disagree on smaller things , like foot washing or something, but not on how we are forgiven. The Bible is very clear on that point.

One last smaller point in this song: Lift your heads let us return, To the mercy seat where time began.

• 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
• Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

The only mention of a mercy seat I could find where in the Old Testament. This was mostly in Exodus in the instructions for constructing the Ark.

I will say this song had one good section. "So lift up your hands they can be held, By someone greater, the Great I Am."

In closing I offer this, the longest sentence in The Bible. Paul got started and he was so in awe of the wonder bestowed upon us he just couldn't seem to stop praising. We could all learn from this.

• Ephesians 1:3-14 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Dreams

This post I am more looking for input than giving it. I had a dream last night where I saw something I have been praying for fulfilled in the dream. It hadn't been on my mind before I went to sleep, yet the dream was very detailed. Even detailed to the point where it was not my first choice, but still what I have been praying about. So my question to you is this: Do you think God still speaks to us through dreams? I know there is no definitive answer, just looking for other opinions. GotQuestions.org doesn't give a clear answer, other than check it with scripture, but this is something more on a personal level. So what are your thoughts?

What can we learn from Samson's weakness?

• Judges 16:5-21 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.” 7 And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” 8 So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. 10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now, please tell me what you may be bound with.” 11 So he said to her, “If they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” 12 Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And men were lying in wait, staying in the room. But he broke them off his arms like a thread. 13 Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be bound with.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom”— 14 So she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled out the batten and the web from the loom. 15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, 17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. 19 Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. 21 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.

So there is the story in case you haven't read it before. What can we learn from his weakness? Well first we must define what is his weakness. Just from reading the text provided the obvious answer would be shaving his head made him weak. But this is not his greatest weakness. Most of us would become suspicious if our wife asked what we could be afflicted with, but not Samson. Then most would have for sure said no more after the first time she said “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” , but not Samson. Three times she asked and three times he gave her a false answer, but yet he continued to stay with her. Until he finally gave up and confessed the truth about his hair. Sure his hair was what ended up robbing him of his great strength, but if you look closely at his life you will see a pattern. His true weakness was Lust. He had such lust that he was blinded to the tricks women were playing on him.

Lust is like a shiny trinket sin, and it is very sneaky.Are you now saying lust is not a sin?

• Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Lust can sneak in on you very easily. I think it is one of the enemy's greatest tools. So why do I bring this up now? Yet another subject I heard on the radio. Abercrombie & Fitch is involved in another controversy. They have been ridiculed in the past for their borderline pornographic ads, and it seems they are back at it. The particular situation I heard today involved a store front ad that anyone walking by their stores can not avoid seeing. Why is it that they would revert to a tactic that caused them a hassle in the past? Well culture would use the old saying "sex sells". In reality it should be Lust sells! Lust is very easy for us to reason out, sort of justify in our own minds. It is always dangling right there in front of us, and some might say "well it's just human nature". In fact they would be right, but not in they way they would think.

• Jeremiah 17:9-10 “ The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.

So it is human nature, all evil is. But we must turn from evil and sins, all sins, and instead turn to Jesus Christ. How can you defend yourself against lust and other sins? Keep your focus on Christ. Like Peter, when he was focused on Jesus he was able to walk on the water as well, but when he became distracted he began to sink.

• Matthew 14:29-30 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

Did Racism Come From Christianity?

• Robert N. Proctor (Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis [1988]) observed: "Prior to Darwin, it was difficult to argue against the Judeo-Christian conception of the unity of man, based on the single creation of Adam and Eve. Darwin 's theory suggested that humans had evolved over hundreds of thousands, even millions of years, and that the races of men had diverged while adapting to the particularities of local conditions. The impact of Darwin's theory was enormous."
• Darwin spoke of the "gorilla" and the "Negro" [sic] as occupying evolutionary positions between the "Baboon" and the "civilized races of man" ("Caucasian"); viz: At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. At the same time, the anthropomorphous apes ... will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the Negro [sic] or Australian and the gorilla.

Obviously the answer to the question is an emphatic No! The Bible teaches man was created in the image of God. No mention of race at all. This is yet another example of what happens when you extend out the ideas of men. This never occurs when you stick to God's Word.

So many people now days refer to Christians as being stupid and narrow minded, yet they subscribe to an unprovable theory that claims other races are inferior to whites. People are quite proud to proclaim they are evolutionists, yet is this not the same as proclaiming you are a racist? This belief naturally digresses to something called eugenics. Which Dictionary.com defines : the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, esp. by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics). To me that sounds just like the Nazi beliefs of Hitler. But much like many other things you give it a fancy name and sell it like it is something great and people start to slowly buy into it. Would anyone be jumping at this if it was marketed as Nazism?

• Sir Francis Galton, founder of the eugenics movement, believed very strongly that intelligence was mainly hereditary. He was also convinced there were profound differences in mental ability between the races. He regarded Negroes as barely human at all.

Is it just me or is there a pattern developing here? Sadly this is resurfacing under yet another name. Now it is genetic engineering. They can test a fetus to see what traits it will have, then if they are undesirable traits the child is aborted. This is eugenics repackaged with a shiny new box and flashing lights.

• Genesis 1:27-28 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
• Isaiah 43:7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.

Quite a difference in the Christian view and the more popular worldly view of today. This will always be the case. Man's ideas when extended will run into a problems, but God's teachings will never lead you into these conundrums.

• Isaiah 55:7-9 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. 8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

We've got it easy!

Here in America we live a pretty good life. Sure our daily struggles may seem unbearable to us at times, but in comparison we have it pretty easy. I heard a replay of an interview with Peter Hammond today and he brought up some interesting points. He talked about how in Africa they use the heat to torture Christians. He pointed out that most Americans don't know what it is to truly thirst. He talked about how after so long you can not speak, and even breathing is a painful task.

• John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”
• John 4:13-15 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."

Well that is a bit of a digression, but it shows the two ends of thirst. It is nice to live in a place surrounded by water. I doubt any of us have ever gone more than 24 hours with out a drink. But we have the eternal spring of living waters in us when we are saved, which is comforting in it's self.

Another man I heard on the radio this week was named Burl Cain. Who is he you might be asking, well he is the current and longest standing warden of Louisiana's Angola State Penitentiary. Angola was known as the bloodiest prison in America. Angola now even has a partnership with New Orleans Baptist Seminary. The prisoners have the opportunity to get a degree in Bible studies. Then they can put in for a transfer to another prison where they act as missionaries. Burl Cain came into this prison and brought with him his faith and the courage to share it. Sometimes sharing your faith seems like a daunting task to accomplish, but we are dealing with ordinary citizens for the most part. Burl Cain was walking into a confined space with hardened criminals. Most of them in for life with no chance of parole. Long story short Angola now has multiple churches on it's campus, the newest seating over 1000, and more than 2000 of the 5000 inmates are now professing Christians. This is just proof positive The Gospel can change any one.

• 1 Timothy 1:14-17 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise,be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Just in case you are reading this and don't know, Timothy is a letter written by The Apostle Paul to his disciple Timothy. Paul was a pharisee , mostly likely the chief persecutor of the early Christians. He was on his way to arrest more Christians when he met the resurrected Jesus Christ on the road and he was radically changed. He devoted the rest of his life to spreading The Gospel. In essence what he is saying in this verse is that if I can be saved any one can. Whenever you think you've got it bad look back at some these men, like the Apostle Paul, Peter Hammond, or Burl Cain, and the courage they displayed in the face of adversity.

A Break for Your Enjoyment!

I may be an oddball but I like watching grilling contests on TV. At these competitions the contestant, who are very serious about their craft, compete in different categories. The typical categories are Ribs, Chicken, and Pork. They have different times to submit each of the various meats. Which are then given a number and delivered to judges in a random fashion. The judges then judge each submission on appearance, tenderness, and of course taste. Well in between the submissions from various contestants the judges have what they call a palette cleanser. This just gets the taste of the last entry out of their mouth before they taste the next one. This post was pretty much a mental palette cleanser. I feel like I've been pretty serious, and a bit negative with the last few so I am offering up this palette cleanser for your enjoyment. Here are some photos from the the national beard and mustache competition.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/145035?GT1=43002
Seems a bit odd to me, but to each his own. Never the less the pictures are amusing to me. I personally have never thought of what sort of art I could portray with my own beard. Maybe I am missing out, but I think I will stick with the ordinary for now.
I feel as though I would be doing a disservice to this blog and God if I did not include some scripture.

• Philippians 2:10-11
• 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I personally think it is much greater to bow in free will now, than when everyone is forced to bow at the judgement seat of Christ. Plus there is the matter of eternal salvation. Those who refuse to bow in life will not escape bowing. Read it closely, it says EVERY knee. It does offer me some comfort to think that even those that mock us, or persecute us, will bow before our God eventually. Like I said before, the difference being we will go on to dwell with Him forever in His Kingdom, they on the other hand will be whisked off to an eternity in the lake of fire. It is a guarantee that if you step out of this life with out Jesus Christ you are doomed.

• Luke 11:1-4 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”

Your Kingdom Come! How great a day that will be! A return to righteousness! I only hope this reaches out to some one who does not look forward to this. It can be yours, no price at all! Just repent and trust! Grace is God's free gift to all!

Will Atheists Like Being Muslim?

I know it seems as though I am beating a dead horse, repeatedly. But it is only because I feel so strongly about this issue, and you aren't going to hear about it in the mainstream media. The media avoids speaking any word that could be taken in a negative light about Islam, but they or the atheists have no problem slamming Christians on a regular basis. So back to the question I posed in the title: Why would I ask such a question? Well you have to understand the mindset of radical Islamists. They believe any non-Muslim is an infidel, and their holy book commands them to make war against the infidels. Islam is the fastest growing religion worldwide. They use many strategies to accomplish their goals. It is not always a take over by violence. They also go out to spread their beliefs much like Christians do in witnessing. Another technique they use is to move into an area with weak religious beliefs, or a lack of religion. They then set up their system and reproduce like humans do. So how does this affect atheists? Well the atheists are constantly fighting to remove Christianity from the public eye. If you have not noticed they are slowly winning. We Christians have fallen into a lull, comfortable to sit back and watch it go on. Most of us just see it happening and think well that is no big deal, or it goes unnoticed because the media doesn't cover these issues. If the atheists continue to win, eventually Christianity will be a small sect in this country that was founded on Christian ideals. Then all you have to do is look at other countries around the world to see that Muslims will move in and become the majority. When Muslims are the majority, then the leaders are Muslims too. Then comes Shariah law. Then the atheists that fought to eradicate the Christians will be forced to convert to Islam or be put to death for denying that faith. Think I am just exaggerating? Look back at my previous post, read the website about Dr. Peter Hammond. This is what he is fighting in Africa. There Christians are persecuted on a regular basis. This could be a glimpse of our future in The United States of America if we Christians do not get active. We have a Presidential Election coming up in November, this is a start to our fight. Our government is set up to be run on the approval of the people. If we remain silent we seal our own fate. Every election is important, not just the Presidential election. We must vote based on our faith. Elect those that stand for Christian values! There is no good reason why we should be passing laws that cater to a tiny section of the population. The vast majority of people in this country claim to be Christians, well it is beyond time for us to act it out in all parts of life. Let the Christian voice be heard! If we all stand up and speak, they can not ignore us all. Look at the book of Judges. How many times was Israel given over to another nation for disobeying God? Each time they were sent a deliverer when they came to their senses and cried out to God for help.

• From www.gotquestions.org/:

• Question: "Does God expect Christians to vote?"
• Answer: Beyond any shadow of a doubt, it is the duty and responsibility of every Christian to vote and to vote for leaders who promote Christian principles. God is most certainly in control, but that does not mean we should do nothing to further His will. We are commanded to pray for our leaders in 1 Timothy 2:1-4. In terms of politics and leadership, there is evidence in Scripture that God has been displeased with our choices of leadership at times (Hosea 8:4). The evidence of sin’s grip on this world is everywhere. So much of the suffering on earth is because of godless leadership (Proverbs 28:12). Scripture gives Christians instructions to obey legitimate authority unless it contradicts the Lord’s commands (Acts 5:27-29, Romans 13:1-7). As born again believers, we ought to strive to choose leaders who will be themselves led by our Creator (1 Samuel 12:13-25). Candidates or proposals that violate the Bible’s commands for life, family, marriage, or faith should never be supported (Proverbs 14:34). Christians should vote as led through prayer and study of both God’s Word and the realities of the choices on the ballot.Christians in many countries in this world are oppressed and persecuted. They suffer under governments they are powerless to change, governments that hate their faith and silence their voices. These believers preach the gospel of Jesus Christ at risk of their own death. Many are killed so that others may benefit from the love of God. U.S. Christians have been blessed with the right to speak about and choose their leaders without fearing for themselves or their families. In the United States, in the 2000 presidential election, about 2 of every 5 of self-professed Christians took that right for granted. But about 1 in 5 self-professed, eligible Christians are not even registered to vote.In our day and age, there are many who want to drive the name and message of Christ completely out of the public eye. Voting is an opportunity to promote, protect, and preserve godly government. Passing up that opportunity means letting those who would denigrate the name of Christ have their way in our lives. The leaders we elect—or do nothing to remove—have great influence on our freedoms. They can choose to protect our right to worship and spread the Gospel, or they can restrict those rights. They can lead our nation towards righteousness or towards moral disaster. Christians in the United States, and Christians in other democratic nations, must stand up and follow our command to fulfill our civic duties (Matthew 22:21).

Frontlines

Frontline sounds like a war term. Well it was intended that way. As you may have gathered from my last few posts here, the Christian faith is under attack. In other parts of the world it looks more like an all out war right in the open. Some nations don't even bother to hide the fact that they are at war with Christians. Back to frontline: I got the title for this post from a man who's life is reminiscent of The Apostle Paul. His name is Dr. Peter Hammond. He started a group known as Frontline Fellowship. Here is a piece from the website about the founder:
The official government of Sudan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs website includes an article that declares that missionary Peter "Hammond should expect to be bombed when he comes to Sudan … he should expect to be shot on sight"!
Dr. Peter Hammond is a missionary who has pioneered evangelistic outreaches in the war zones of Mozambique, Angola and Sudan. Often travelling by off road motorbike, Peter has travelled hundreds of thousands of miles to deliver Bibles to persecuted Christians in Africa and Eastern Europe. In the course of his missionary activities Peter has been ambushed, come under aerial and artillery bombardments, been stabbed, shot at, beaten by mobs, arrested and imprisoned. On some mission trips he has flown far behind enemy lines to the beleaguered Nuba Mountains in Central Sudan with tonnes of Bibles, books and relief aid. He has then walked throughout the war devastated Nuba Mountains showing the Jesus film in Arabic, proclaiming the Gospel, training pastors and evading enemy patrols.
The things this man goes through to spread The Gospel are simply amazing. How many of us have been even stabbed for our faith?I saw an interview with Dr. Peter Hammond on Wretched with Todd Friel were Hammond recounted a story of one of his stays in prison. The cell he was in housed about 50 men, there were no toilet facilities other than a bucket all the men used. One form of torture they used on him was to stick his head in this bucket, but he would not deny his faith. He tells these stories just so matter of factly it is unreal. He is indeed on the Fronltines.
Dr. Hammond has written several books, I am hoping to soon get my hands on one of them, unfortunately the local library has a rather slim Christian section. When I do get a chance to read one I am quite positive I will have some posts from that. In the mean time if you want to read more about this organization check out their website at: www.frontline.org.za
All in all his story shows just how good we currently have it here in America! We must stay active on the political frontline or we may lose our freedoms. Christianity is under attack from all sides. The attacks here are more subtle, but if they continue to win battles to suppress the Christian voice it may come to a time where we experience the same struggles here that Dr. Hammond endures in Africa. Luckily we do have some that stand to fight for our rights in our legal system. I can not say enough good things about the work the ACLJ does for Christians in America and abroad. I urge everyone to support their work at www.ACLJ.org , you don't have to support them financially, although they could use the help, but often they just need signatures on various petitions. The least we can do is to pray for these men on the frontlines fighting the good fight to defend and spread Christianity, such as Dr. Peter Hammond and Jay Sekulow.

• Persecution
• Romans 8:34-36 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:“ For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
• 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
• Keeping Faith
• Psalm 119:2-3 2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart! 3 They also do no iniquity;They walk in His ways.
• Prayer
• James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

More Bad News

Around the world, Christians are being increasingly targeted, and even persecuted, for their religious beliefs. Now, one of the largest organizations in the United Nations is pushing to make a bad situation even worse by promoting anti-Christian bigotry wrapped in the guise of a U.N. resolution called “Combating Defamation of Religions.” We must put an immediate end to this most recent, dangerous attack on faith.
I stand with the American Center for Law and Justice and Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow in grave opposition to the Organization of the Islamic Conference’s resolution entitled “Combating Defamation of Religions.” I recognize this measure as anti-Christian in nature and fully believe it stands in stark contrast to the concept of religious freedom outlined in the International Bill of Human Rights.
- from: https://www.aclj.org/Petition/Default.aspx?sc=3359&ac=1

This is extremely troubling to me. This could have immense ramifications if passed.

The OIC countries all signed the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI) in 1990, which states that all rights are subject to Shariah law, and makes Shariah law the only source of reference for human rights. - Again from : ACLJ.org
Shariah law is not as innocent as it may sound. It does not change. It is the same as it was in the eigth century. It does not give any rights to women, they are regarded as property. I recently heard Islam had revised it's standards to say a female child maybe married off at the age of, any guesses? One. Shariah law also permits the death penalty for any one that is not Muslim. This means if you speak of Jesus, or are found with even verses from The Bible, you could be killed on the spot. The report on ACLJ.org gives examples. It states that those that carry out these murders are never tried, quite the opposite they are treated as heroes by the police. These are very troubling facts to me. If the UN passes this who knows what it could mean for us here in America. You see America is different than a lot of UN members, when we sign something with the UN it becomes U.S. law, topped only by the constitution. One more fact I have learned about Islam, it teaches it is permissible to lie to any non- Muslim. They are only required by their holy law to be truthful with fellow believers. For instance a Muslim could deny being Muslim as long as they are speaking to a non-Muslim. ACLJ.org has a petition to oppose this if you want to take a stand.
Once again this issue begs the question: why is it Christians who are under attack? Christians do the most world wide to help the less fortunate, yet we are despised like no other religion. Islam is obviously launching an attack on international Christians, atheists have been waging war on Christians domestically for decades now. Why is this? It seems the attacks are always aimed at Christians. My personal theory is that Christians carry the seed of The Truth. Jewish people also carry some what the same seed, and are subject to some of the same attacks.Darkness despises the light as it can no longer hide in the shadows.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Philippians 2:10-11 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Romans 14:10-12 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:“ As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Israel to America

Yesterday in our church the sermon was a little different. It was one of the week when our pastor took a break from exegesis. Instead we had only one verse but a powerful message. The sermon was about the current state of our nation. Truthfully it reminded me of a lot of things I have said here.
2 Chronicles 7:14 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 will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
These were God's words to Israel, but they should apply to us today. Our country has many problems that could be solved by following God. But it seems most of this nation claims to be Christian, but lives a secular life. Our pastor also included a few quotes from patriots:
"Let men be good and government can not be bad. Let men be evil and government can not be good." -William Penn
"It is important to keep God fearing people in office." - John Jay, first Supreme Court Justice
"America is great because America is good. If ever America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." - Alexis de Toqueville
Those statements seem like daggers considering the current state of American politics. The answers must come from the public. That is how our country was set up to run. Government for the people, by the people. It worked this way in Biblical times as well. Everyone knows the story of Jonah and the whale, but Jonah brought repentance to Nineveh.
Jonah 3:4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."
Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
That was his sermon to turn the city from it's sinful ways. Pretty much he said In forty days, DOOM! Repent! And they repented. Well all we are missing now is a man fresh from a whale's stomach. Look around you, listen to the media. We need to spread the message: Judgement is coming! Repent and trust!
Hebrews 9:27-28 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.