Note: Toward the end of 2009, we witness the crash and fall of Tiger Woods. One man rises (Jesus Christ) and one of many men fall. Below is a short and insightful article about Tiger Woods. What is in Tiger Woods is also found in every man. In other words, there is a “Tiger” in all of us, but the good news is that there is a “Lion” whom we can turn to for help, support and victory – Jesus Christ, the Lion from the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5). Enjoy!
The Tiger (Woods) in You
Paul Edwards
“The Paul Edwards Program,” WLQV Detroit
December 9, 2009
Prior to this recent series of revelations, there wasn't a man on the planet who in some sense didn't want to be Tiger Woods. Tiger is good looking. He's physically fit. He's a world-class athlete. He has a beautiful wife and two beautiful kids. He's rich beyond anyone's wildest imagination. He had a father who loved him—not just in words, but in action, pouring himself into his son, building a love that survives to this day, in many ways making Tiger the man he became.
Try as we may, there aren't too many men who can lay claim to all of these elements of success at once. Tiger has it all, and it wasn't just handed to him. He came by his success through hard work and discipline. He earned it.
In recent weeks, however, Tiger's personal life has become the stuff of tabloid journalism. While details remain unclear, it appears his beautiful wife may have used one of Tiger's own golf clubs to knock him senseless when she discovered he only had eyes for—at last count—nine other women.
It could have been worse. Tiger could have been an abuser: an abuser of controlled substances or an abuser of his wife. There's no evidence of any of that. He could have been an embezzler. Not satisfied with having it all, he could have stolen even more. He didn't. Like another famous athlete, he could have struggled with jealousy, flew into a rage, and killed his wife. Didn't happen.
Tiger Woods isn't as bad as he could be. But neither is he the role model he appeared to be. He's not a thief or a murderer. He isn't an abuser. Tiger is simply a serial adulterer. He enjoys being in the company of a variety of women. Tiger has just this one quirk, one besetting sin, one shortcoming, yet that quirk was the trip wire over which his entire world has come crashing down.
There isn't a man on the planet who in this sense isn't Tiger Woods. There isn't anything in Tiger that isn't in you. None of us are as bad as we could be, but the propensity for lust, lying, anger, and unfaithfulness are all there—hidden in a heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. There isn't any one of us who is not capable, like Tiger, of saying, "It's only this one time. No harm."
A moral code can keep the tiger in you in check for a time. The fear of getting caught is a restraint that keeps most men within the boundaries of their marriage. I'm sure it was that way for Tiger Woods. We have admired him as a man of disciplined perfection. But that discipline, that self-denial, which was so characteristically on display in Tiger's athletic prowess, failed him with immeasurable consequences in his personal life. When push came to shove, Tiger had a great fall. Discipline, apparently, isn't enough.
Neither is the power of the law and the fear of getting caught enough to restrain the depravity of the human heart, and yet that's all most of us are counting on to keep us on the straight and narrow. No man, no matter how disciplined, has what it takes to keep himself from falling. Every man has an untamed tiger within, waiting to pounce at the first sign of weakness.
The moral of Tiger's tale? If you're looking for perfection, you won't find it within yourself. Discipline and restraint are in themselves never enough to produce perfection, because all that is in us is depravity. Failure is inevitable. But failure is never final.
There is hope for overcoming failure. But it isn't in you. And it obviously isn't in Tiger. It's in a Lion: Jesus Christ—the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, introduced to us in the inspired writings of the Bible, whose birth we celebrate this month. This Lion has prevailed over our untamable propensity for sin and failure. He has triumphed over every enemy poised against us for our personal destruction. He did it by taking on himself the likeness of our weak, vulnerable and sinful flesh in his incarnation in Bethlehem, living a life of perfect obedience to the demands of the law, becoming obedient to the point of death, thus procuring the perfection that all of us long for and which God demands.
Jesus is perfect because we aren't, and because we can't be. And he doesn't keep his perfection for Himself. His perfection is for us, and for our salvation; and for Tiger's. After all, there's nothing in Tiger that's not in you.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Teachable Moments
1But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping – 2 Pet. 2:1-3 NIV
The New Testament writers following in the footsteps of their Master, warned that in the last days false teachers will become prevalent. Such false teachers are religious in their character and are found in the church.
Notice in the above passage verse 1, Peter said that there will be these false teachers “among you.” When they teach in order to recruit and influence others, they do so “secretly.” The content of their message are heresies that are destructive in origin and they end up going so far as denying the Lord who bought them.
Where do these teaches get their messages? Do they have a direct hotline to God? No. Peter says in verse 3 that they are so greedy in their shameful ways that they will go so far as to teach people “stories they have made up.” But God sees what they are doing and their judgment is forthcoming.
Below are a couple of examples I wanted to show you. Each of these true stories would be bad enough if they had been taught by those who are not a part of Christianity. But these are clergymen and churches who because of their abandonment of the bible, have taken upon themselves heresies which are destructive in nature.
Example 1: A Clergyman Teaches His Church that It’s Okay To Steal. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
A clergyman has been criticized as 'highly irresponsible' after advising his congregation to shoplift following his Nativity sermon.
Father Tim Jones, 41, broke off from his traditional annual sermon yesterday to tell his flock that stealing from large chains is sometimes the best option for vulnerable people.
It is far better for people desperate during the recession to shoplift than turn to 'prostitution, mugging or burglary', he said.
The married father-of-two insisted his unusual advice did not break the Bible commandment 'Thou shalt not steal' - because God's love for the poor outweighs his love for the rich.
But the minister's controversial sermon at St Lawrence Church in York has been slammed by police, the British Retail Consortium and a local MP, who all say that no matter what the circumstances, shoplifting is an offence.
Delivering his festive lesson, Father Jones told the congregation: 'My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift. I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither.
'I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.
'I would ask them not to take any more than they need, for any longer than they need.
'I offer the advice with a heavy heart and wish society would recognize that bureaucratic ineptitude and systematic delay has created an invitation and incentive to crime for people struggling to cope.'
You say, “Pastor Rich, this is over the top. Telling people that it is okay to steal from others (the rich) because of hard economic times would certainly constitute heresy."
I most certainly agree. But, let’s use this story as a teachable moment. Don’t we also take the liberty to steal as well when we want to? You say, “What in the world are you talking about?” Read below –
"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.” But you ask, “How do we rob you?” "In tithes and offerings” (Mal. 3:8).
Stealing from the rich because they can afford it maybe also the same mindset that some Christians have when robbing God. “It’s okay to steal from God. He won’t feel a thing.”
So you see, it is incredibly disturbing to imagine a pastor telling his people it is okay to steal from others when you need to. But don’t we also take the liberty when we want or need to do so to rob God of the tithes and offerings that belong to Him?
When I read stories like this that shake me to the core and get me all excited with holy anger, I remember how God captured king David’s attention. After David had committed adultery and had the husband of his mistress killed (2 Sam. 11), he tried to go on with his life as usual. But God loved David too much to simply leave him alone in his state of unconfessed sin. So the Lord sent to David a prophet named Nathan.
The prophet was a wise man. He approached David with this story: 1 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him” (2 Sam. 12:1-4).
When David heard this story he was enraged and said, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity” (vv. 5-6).
You see, it is easy to see the sins of other people, but oh, so much harder to see where it applies to us. Once Nathan understood that David was angry with such an evil act, Nathan nailed him: "You are the man!” (v. 7).
Therefore, when I come across such stories as the one above, I think of David and wonder, “Am I also doing the same thing without realizing it? Why did you have me to read this story, Lord? You got my attention. I am angry with this pastor. Now do I need to look within my own heart and see if there is any correlation?”
Example 2: A church billboard showing the Virgin Mary and Joseph in bed apparently after having disappointing sex has caused outrage among Christians in New Zealand. www.telegraph.co.uk
The large poster depicts a dejected-looking Joseph lying next to Mary, whose eyes are turned heavenwards, under the words: "Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow."
Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the billboard was intended to lampoon the literal interpretation of the Christmas conception story "and that somehow this male God impregnated Mary".
"What we're trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about," he said.
"We actually think God is about the power of love as shown in Jesus, which is something quite different than a literal man up in the sky."
Another church, another pastor, another heresy. This is what happens when pastors and churches abandoned the bible. They think with such small minds. In their thinking, no one can be pregnant apart from having sex. But that’s the whole miracle behind the Christmas story. God did not have sex with Mary. He implanted Jesus into her apart from the physical act of procreation. This is the reason why she is called a “virgin” (Luke 1:27).
But liberals cannot handle the miraculous. The God that they believe in is natural, common, man-centered and certainly not the God of the bible.
Would seeing a billboard like the one described above in front of a church outrage you? I think most Christians would be offended and outrage over something like that.
But is it not also true that our lives are a poster or billboard that tells the world something of what we hold to as truth? It is not uncommon for me to step away from the worship service for a moment to use the restroom before I preach. I walk out front where cars often pass by and where people come walking into church, and see Christians lighting up a cigarette or talking in cliques about things that really could wait until a better time.
You see, a poster like the one described above tells us a lot of what kind of messages are being preached within that church. We don’t have to go in and check it out ourselves, we merely have to look at the poster in front of the church to get an idea.
So it is also with each of us. Our lives are the church’s poster in shopping malls, at home, at work, among our neighbors, on the sport field, and in front of church. People walk or drive by and they see what is written on the poster and conclude, “No need for me to step into that church and mingle with those Christians. Based on the poster, I already know what messages are being preached and what those Christians are like.”
Aren’t you glad God is not finished with us yet? There is still a lot more work God has to do. But it behooves us to do our best to cooperate with the Lord so improvements to our lives and our character will be Christlike.
The next time you read stories that outrage you, ask yourself, “Okay Lord, is there any correlation to me that I need to know?” God won’t lie to you. He loves you too much to let a good teachable moment slip by.
The New Testament writers following in the footsteps of their Master, warned that in the last days false teachers will become prevalent. Such false teachers are religious in their character and are found in the church.
Notice in the above passage verse 1, Peter said that there will be these false teachers “among you.” When they teach in order to recruit and influence others, they do so “secretly.” The content of their message are heresies that are destructive in origin and they end up going so far as denying the Lord who bought them.
Where do these teaches get their messages? Do they have a direct hotline to God? No. Peter says in verse 3 that they are so greedy in their shameful ways that they will go so far as to teach people “stories they have made up.” But God sees what they are doing and their judgment is forthcoming.
Below are a couple of examples I wanted to show you. Each of these true stories would be bad enough if they had been taught by those who are not a part of Christianity. But these are clergymen and churches who because of their abandonment of the bible, have taken upon themselves heresies which are destructive in nature.
Example 1: A Clergyman Teaches His Church that It’s Okay To Steal. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
A clergyman has been criticized as 'highly irresponsible' after advising his congregation to shoplift following his Nativity sermon.
Father Tim Jones, 41, broke off from his traditional annual sermon yesterday to tell his flock that stealing from large chains is sometimes the best option for vulnerable people.
It is far better for people desperate during the recession to shoplift than turn to 'prostitution, mugging or burglary', he said.
The married father-of-two insisted his unusual advice did not break the Bible commandment 'Thou shalt not steal' - because God's love for the poor outweighs his love for the rich.
But the minister's controversial sermon at St Lawrence Church in York has been slammed by police, the British Retail Consortium and a local MP, who all say that no matter what the circumstances, shoplifting is an offence.
Delivering his festive lesson, Father Jones told the congregation: 'My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift. I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither.
'I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.
'I would ask them not to take any more than they need, for any longer than they need.
'I offer the advice with a heavy heart and wish society would recognize that bureaucratic ineptitude and systematic delay has created an invitation and incentive to crime for people struggling to cope.'
You say, “Pastor Rich, this is over the top. Telling people that it is okay to steal from others (the rich) because of hard economic times would certainly constitute heresy."
I most certainly agree. But, let’s use this story as a teachable moment. Don’t we also take the liberty to steal as well when we want to? You say, “What in the world are you talking about?” Read below –
"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.” But you ask, “How do we rob you?” "In tithes and offerings” (Mal. 3:8).
Stealing from the rich because they can afford it maybe also the same mindset that some Christians have when robbing God. “It’s okay to steal from God. He won’t feel a thing.”
So you see, it is incredibly disturbing to imagine a pastor telling his people it is okay to steal from others when you need to. But don’t we also take the liberty when we want or need to do so to rob God of the tithes and offerings that belong to Him?
When I read stories like this that shake me to the core and get me all excited with holy anger, I remember how God captured king David’s attention. After David had committed adultery and had the husband of his mistress killed (2 Sam. 11), he tried to go on with his life as usual. But God loved David too much to simply leave him alone in his state of unconfessed sin. So the Lord sent to David a prophet named Nathan.
The prophet was a wise man. He approached David with this story: 1 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him” (2 Sam. 12:1-4).
When David heard this story he was enraged and said, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity” (vv. 5-6).
You see, it is easy to see the sins of other people, but oh, so much harder to see where it applies to us. Once Nathan understood that David was angry with such an evil act, Nathan nailed him: "You are the man!” (v. 7).
Therefore, when I come across such stories as the one above, I think of David and wonder, “Am I also doing the same thing without realizing it? Why did you have me to read this story, Lord? You got my attention. I am angry with this pastor. Now do I need to look within my own heart and see if there is any correlation?”
Example 2: A church billboard showing the Virgin Mary and Joseph in bed apparently after having disappointing sex has caused outrage among Christians in New Zealand. www.telegraph.co.uk
The large poster depicts a dejected-looking Joseph lying next to Mary, whose eyes are turned heavenwards, under the words: "Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow."
Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the billboard was intended to lampoon the literal interpretation of the Christmas conception story "and that somehow this male God impregnated Mary".
"What we're trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about," he said.
"We actually think God is about the power of love as shown in Jesus, which is something quite different than a literal man up in the sky."
Another church, another pastor, another heresy. This is what happens when pastors and churches abandoned the bible. They think with such small minds. In their thinking, no one can be pregnant apart from having sex. But that’s the whole miracle behind the Christmas story. God did not have sex with Mary. He implanted Jesus into her apart from the physical act of procreation. This is the reason why she is called a “virgin” (Luke 1:27).
But liberals cannot handle the miraculous. The God that they believe in is natural, common, man-centered and certainly not the God of the bible.
Would seeing a billboard like the one described above in front of a church outrage you? I think most Christians would be offended and outrage over something like that.
But is it not also true that our lives are a poster or billboard that tells the world something of what we hold to as truth? It is not uncommon for me to step away from the worship service for a moment to use the restroom before I preach. I walk out front where cars often pass by and where people come walking into church, and see Christians lighting up a cigarette or talking in cliques about things that really could wait until a better time.
You see, a poster like the one described above tells us a lot of what kind of messages are being preached within that church. We don’t have to go in and check it out ourselves, we merely have to look at the poster in front of the church to get an idea.
So it is also with each of us. Our lives are the church’s poster in shopping malls, at home, at work, among our neighbors, on the sport field, and in front of church. People walk or drive by and they see what is written on the poster and conclude, “No need for me to step into that church and mingle with those Christians. Based on the poster, I already know what messages are being preached and what those Christians are like.”
Aren’t you glad God is not finished with us yet? There is still a lot more work God has to do. But it behooves us to do our best to cooperate with the Lord so improvements to our lives and our character will be Christlike.
The next time you read stories that outrage you, ask yourself, “Okay Lord, is there any correlation to me that I need to know?” God won’t lie to you. He loves you too much to let a good teachable moment slip by.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
What Accounts For Celebration?
In today’s day and age, what is considered “good news?” Read the article from the New York Times below.
November 29, 2009
The Safety Net
Food Stamp Use Soars, and Stigma Fades
By JASON DePARLE and ROBERT GEBELOFF
MARTINSVILLE, Ohio — With food stamp use at record highs and climbing every month, a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children.
It has grown so rapidly in places so diverse that it is becoming nearly as ordinary as the groceries it buys. More than 36 million people use inconspicuous plastic cards for staples like milk, bread and cheese, swiping them at counters in blighted cities and in suburbs pocked with foreclosure signs.
Virtually all have incomes near or below the federal poverty line, but their eclectic ranks testify to the range of people struggling with basic needs. They include single mothers and married couples, the newly jobless and the chronically poor, longtime recipients of welfare checks and workers whose reduced hours or slender wages leave pantries bare.
Although the program is growing at a record rate, the federal official who oversees it would like it to grow even faster.
“I think the response of the program has been tremendous,” said Kevin Concannon, an under secretary of agriculture, “but we’re mindful that there are another 15, 16 million who could benefit.”
Comments: What is good news? Welfare has lost its negative stigma. No longer is it a shameful thing to be using “food stamps” or the plastic EBT card. In fact, since this is such good news and since the program is growing, it would be even better if the program grew even faster – to accommodate another 15-16 million people.
Folks, the two worlds (or kingdoms) that people are living in is becoming more contrasted by the day. In the kingdom of darkness, poverty is celebrated. In the kingdom of light, poverty is accepted. The difference? When poverty is celebrated, nothing changes for those who are poor. They are encouraged to remain as they are – dependent, needy and often times helpless. And in order to make them feel better (that is, less stigmatized), they are not encouraged to come out of their poverty, but instead others are force to join them. This is what happens when poverty is celebrated.
Jesus said that the poor will always be around (Matt. 26:11). Therefore, they need to be accepted and assisted. You see, “poor” can be looked at in a relative manner. What defines “poor?” Is it someone who is homeless? Would this then entail that anyone who is not homeless would not be considered poor? Would poor be defined as someone who is not making as much as Bill Gates?
By and large, poor can be defined as someone who is totally dependent on another. If a person is dependent on the government for his or her food, housing, medical, then they are poor. The way out of this kind of life style is to become self-sufficient or to be able to provide for one’s own needs.
The issue behind those who are poor is that they tend not to better themselves when they are given an unlimited supply of hand outs. Why work? Why better myself when all I basically need is handed to me freely?
Our government sees poverty as a celebration. So it wants even more people depended on government. The more dependent people are on government the more it legitimizes big government.
But true celebration should not be based on how many people are on welfare, but just the opposite. The lesser amount of people there are on welfare the more successful the program is.
Those who are on welfare not only lose their desire to work, but they lose something far more important – their self-esteem. God has ordained work as a means to help people provide for their needs and to better themselves. Scores of people benefit by working not simply because they receive a paycheck now and then, but because it stimulates them mentally and morally. People grow as individuals when they live self-sufficiently.
Paul knew how the poor and needy, once they had become conditioned by not working and thus settled in a life of laziness -- how they needed to be motivated. He ordered the following: “If anyone will not work, neither let him eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). Harsh? Not at all. Paul understood two things: First, lazy people become a burden on others. The 36 million people who are on welfare are being taken care of by tax payers. Now the government wants to add another 15 or more on to the list.
But here’s the dirty little secret. The government does not produce money on its own. Whatever the government has it gets from the private sector and its citizens. The more the private sector is burdened and the more the average tax payer is burdened, the lesser will be the amount of money coming into the government to pay for all the various welfare programs, especially when working people become welfare people.
Therefore, in the name of compassion, we are told that as a way to help the poor, we need to supply their needs and enable more people to become like them. This way they will not feel so stigmatized. But in the name of real compassion, we ought to help those who dependent on the government to take steps away from such dependency and become self-sufficient. This way, they can join the ranks of “taxpayers” and help share the load.
You say. “Rich, how do we do this? By utilizing their common needs as a means to motivate them. When a person is hungry, do something. All welfare recipients who have the physical capacity to work should be motivated to work so many hours a week, while being monitored both by either the private or public sector, in order to be given money to be credited to their EBT card.
Example: “How many hours did you work this week?”
“None.”
“Then you receive no credit to your EBT card for this week.”
Example 2: “How many hours did you work this week?”
“Thirty.”
“Can I see your form with the signatures from those who can verify?”
“Here. I did 15 hours of community work. 5 hours of volunteer work at my church helping to feed the homeless. And ten hours of helping to paint the local school. I got the signatures all right here.”
“Excellent. Your EBT card will be credited for the amount of work you put in.”
This is what Paul was talking about. It is no celebration to see a proliferation of poverty in our land. Celebration is when people come out of poverty and become self-sustaining.
More and more we are seeing how these two kingdoms – darkness and light are so much contrasted.
November 29, 2009
The Safety Net
Food Stamp Use Soars, and Stigma Fades
By JASON DePARLE and ROBERT GEBELOFF
MARTINSVILLE, Ohio — With food stamp use at record highs and climbing every month, a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children.
It has grown so rapidly in places so diverse that it is becoming nearly as ordinary as the groceries it buys. More than 36 million people use inconspicuous plastic cards for staples like milk, bread and cheese, swiping them at counters in blighted cities and in suburbs pocked with foreclosure signs.
Virtually all have incomes near or below the federal poverty line, but their eclectic ranks testify to the range of people struggling with basic needs. They include single mothers and married couples, the newly jobless and the chronically poor, longtime recipients of welfare checks and workers whose reduced hours or slender wages leave pantries bare.
Although the program is growing at a record rate, the federal official who oversees it would like it to grow even faster.
“I think the response of the program has been tremendous,” said Kevin Concannon, an under secretary of agriculture, “but we’re mindful that there are another 15, 16 million who could benefit.”
Comments: What is good news? Welfare has lost its negative stigma. No longer is it a shameful thing to be using “food stamps” or the plastic EBT card. In fact, since this is such good news and since the program is growing, it would be even better if the program grew even faster – to accommodate another 15-16 million people.
Folks, the two worlds (or kingdoms) that people are living in is becoming more contrasted by the day. In the kingdom of darkness, poverty is celebrated. In the kingdom of light, poverty is accepted. The difference? When poverty is celebrated, nothing changes for those who are poor. They are encouraged to remain as they are – dependent, needy and often times helpless. And in order to make them feel better (that is, less stigmatized), they are not encouraged to come out of their poverty, but instead others are force to join them. This is what happens when poverty is celebrated.
Jesus said that the poor will always be around (Matt. 26:11). Therefore, they need to be accepted and assisted. You see, “poor” can be looked at in a relative manner. What defines “poor?” Is it someone who is homeless? Would this then entail that anyone who is not homeless would not be considered poor? Would poor be defined as someone who is not making as much as Bill Gates?
By and large, poor can be defined as someone who is totally dependent on another. If a person is dependent on the government for his or her food, housing, medical, then they are poor. The way out of this kind of life style is to become self-sufficient or to be able to provide for one’s own needs.
The issue behind those who are poor is that they tend not to better themselves when they are given an unlimited supply of hand outs. Why work? Why better myself when all I basically need is handed to me freely?
Our government sees poverty as a celebration. So it wants even more people depended on government. The more dependent people are on government the more it legitimizes big government.
But true celebration should not be based on how many people are on welfare, but just the opposite. The lesser amount of people there are on welfare the more successful the program is.
Those who are on welfare not only lose their desire to work, but they lose something far more important – their self-esteem. God has ordained work as a means to help people provide for their needs and to better themselves. Scores of people benefit by working not simply because they receive a paycheck now and then, but because it stimulates them mentally and morally. People grow as individuals when they live self-sufficiently.
Paul knew how the poor and needy, once they had become conditioned by not working and thus settled in a life of laziness -- how they needed to be motivated. He ordered the following: “If anyone will not work, neither let him eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). Harsh? Not at all. Paul understood two things: First, lazy people become a burden on others. The 36 million people who are on welfare are being taken care of by tax payers. Now the government wants to add another 15 or more on to the list.
But here’s the dirty little secret. The government does not produce money on its own. Whatever the government has it gets from the private sector and its citizens. The more the private sector is burdened and the more the average tax payer is burdened, the lesser will be the amount of money coming into the government to pay for all the various welfare programs, especially when working people become welfare people.
Therefore, in the name of compassion, we are told that as a way to help the poor, we need to supply their needs and enable more people to become like them. This way they will not feel so stigmatized. But in the name of real compassion, we ought to help those who dependent on the government to take steps away from such dependency and become self-sufficient. This way, they can join the ranks of “taxpayers” and help share the load.
You say. “Rich, how do we do this? By utilizing their common needs as a means to motivate them. When a person is hungry, do something. All welfare recipients who have the physical capacity to work should be motivated to work so many hours a week, while being monitored both by either the private or public sector, in order to be given money to be credited to their EBT card.
Example: “How many hours did you work this week?”
“None.”
“Then you receive no credit to your EBT card for this week.”
Example 2: “How many hours did you work this week?”
“Thirty.”
“Can I see your form with the signatures from those who can verify?”
“Here. I did 15 hours of community work. 5 hours of volunteer work at my church helping to feed the homeless. And ten hours of helping to paint the local school. I got the signatures all right here.”
“Excellent. Your EBT card will be credited for the amount of work you put in.”
This is what Paul was talking about. It is no celebration to see a proliferation of poverty in our land. Celebration is when people come out of poverty and become self-sustaining.
More and more we are seeing how these two kingdoms – darkness and light are so much contrasted.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
How Does One Keep a Vow of Chastity?
Note: For a lot of Christians, putting sex off until marriage seems so far out of the question. It’s like going on a diet, it takes great will power and the success rate is slim to none. But these are some of the things we hear and think about ourselves. However, there are Christians who have vowed to keep themselves pure until marriage. In this article you will meet a few of them and hopefully become challenged yourself to do the right thing. There is a common theme in each of the letters below. Can you pick it out? Enjoy!
How Does One Keep a Vow of Chastity?
By Sara Goff
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 1 Corinthians 6:18.
Sometimes people save sex for marriage because it affirms a commitment to God and consecrates their relationship. Others might see it as guaranteed protection from STD’s and unplanned pregnancy. I knew all the arguments supporting abstinence, and yet I chose to have sex long before I was ready for marriage–giving up the benefits of waiting and accepting the risks.
Chastity was a part of my Christian faith I dismissed as “dated” and counter to my personal growth in the modern world. Throughout my twenties, I considered it a radical religious practice similar to fasting. When I was told chastity is a sure path to love, I didn’t believe it. A sure way of staying single, I thought. I reached my late twenties and found myself in a two-year relationship, despite feeling marginally loved and never more insecure. “He must love me if we’re having sex,” I told myself, initiating it every chance I got. Living the “glamorous” life in Manhattan, I spent my free time shopping and going to parties, trying desperately to fill the emotional void. I wasn’t happy, and I wasn’t being honest with myself, but it was so easy to let sex cover the lie.
Well, forgiveness for our mistakes is also a part of the Christian faith, and second chances are miracles, my mother always said. In my late twenties, searching for love, I decided to try a vow of chastity. I knew it wouldn't be easy. How do people do this? What convinces them? What keeps them strong? I needed examples. I wanted the right words, magic words, to make saying "no" to sex the easy choice.
I started with my church in Manhattan, asking the Bible Study Class I attended if anyone could talk to me about keeping a vow of chastity. All twenty or so Christians there, ranging in age from their twenties to their eighties, looked down at their Bibles in silence. I had thought that our eager group studying God’s word in the varnished reception room of the church would be a goldmine of testimony. After class, the minister pulled me aside. “Try St. Paul’s Church,” he suggested.
“They’re more strict.”
I asked my New York City friends if they knew of anyone who had “waited” until marriage. They laughed.
I broadened my search. At the online Christian writers’ forum, American Christian Fiction Writers, I posted a plea: How does one keep a vow of chastity?
Within an hour, I had real life stories of chastity from across the country.
* * *
Betsy from Louisiana wrote about her experience with chastity. On a Saturday afternoon in April of 1996, she and her father Theodore, who goes by the nickname "Buddy," went out for dinner at Ralph & Kacoos, one of the fancier spots in their northern Louisiana town. Betsy had been anticipating this day since she was eight and her older sister Jenny had gone on her “daddy date.” Now Betsy was twelve. Her father, a computer technician for the local newspaper, was nervous. Tonight he would ask his “little” girl for a promise that would affect the rest of her life. Betsy knew from her sister what was coming and felt sophisticated and grown up, even though the situation was somewhat awkward.
“Betsy?” he began, taking a small velvet box out of the breast pocket of his sports jacket. She held her breath. “God wants the very best for you in life, and He wants you to give your very best as well. Most of all, He wants you to be safe, and so do I, which is why I’m asking you to promise me you’ll save yourself for marriage.” From the velvet box, he took a gold ring with two joined hearts. “Mommy and I waited for each other, and it means everything to us. We can only teach you what we know is right and what works.”
Buddy gave his daughter the ring, and Betsy carefully slid it on her left ring finger and promised. Junior high came, and then high school, and Betsy dated, though no one seriously. The summer after graduation, however, she fell in love with Brandon, and her pledge to her dad, made years before, faced a serious challenge. “I still wore my gold ring with two hearts,” she explained, “but the feelings I had for Brandon were just as real as my promise to my dad. At times, they overruled everything I ever believed in and wanted for my future.” But she and Brandon decided to wait until marriage, if marriage was in their future, and together they stuck with their decision, neither one of them wanting to let the other down.
Brandon proposed to Betsy in 2004 on a Mississippi River steamboat in New Orleans. They were twenty. Married three years now, they feel their relationship is blessed. “Not that we’re more special than anyone else,” said Betsy. “Some people thought we were too young for marriage. But we proved our willpower and sense of morals waiting to have sex. I know we can get through anything together.”
I asked her how she and Brandon resisted the temptation to have sex, and she told me they avoided situations where it would have been easy to give in to their desires.
“When it got really tough, we prayed together,” she said. “Praying put everything into perspective and gave us strength. Also, I knew I wouldn’t be able to look my dad in the eyes on my wedding day lying about the purity of my white dress.
Whenever I felt confused by temptation, our date came to my mind perfectly clear. Knowing how much I’m loved by God and my parents made all the difference.”
* * *
Meghan, who asked that I change her name, grew up in a destructive home in the Pacific Northwest. Neighborhood boys raped her repeatedly during the year she was five. Going by the statistics, Meghan should have become obsessed with sex at a young age or sought it to heal a low self-esteem during her teens, but she stayed abstinent until she was married. “It’s pretty amazing I did,” she said.
Meghan’s turning point came in junior high. “My mother was going through her third divorce, and my world crashed. I’ll never forget how alone I felt.” Meghan was thinking about taking her own life. A school counselor saw her through that time, and then a friend invited her to Young Life, a non-profit organization rooted in Christianity that reaches out to middle school and high school students worldwide.
“I started going to the weekly meetings,” she explained, “and at the end of each one, I longed to hear the message about Jesus. Every time I heard His name, my heart pounded.”
At the end of her sophomore year in high school, Meghan went to a weekend Young Life camp. “I remember hearing a passage from the Bible and looking up at the stars, crying. I couldn’t believe there was a Father somewhere who would never leave me.”
I asked her if that was the moment she had made her vow of chastity. “Not specifically, not in those words,” she replied. “But it was then that I desired only God’s will for my life. And I’ve never regretted it.”
* * *
Karri was all about being social as a teenager, where the boys were and the action was. The temptation to have sex was a struggle for her.
“Growing up, my parents had me in church every time the doors opened,” she said. “I was a well-behaved little girl and then I turned fourteen. I knew waiting to have sex until marriage was the right thing to do, but I wanted to have fun.”
One afternoon Karri let a boy from her class give her a ride home from school, come into her house, check out her room . . . and they ended up on her bed. “I stopped him before it got to sex, but after he left, I felt ashamed and embarrassed. And what if he had refused to stop? I was lucky.”
In college, one of Karri’s suitemates was waiting to kiss her boyfriend until they were engaged. She became Karri’s mentor in her struggle to “hold out” for true love. “I wanted to be as pure as my friend was,” Karri said, “but I had already given out many kisses.”
Karri could have gotten down on herself for her past and for not being as disciplined and focused as her suitemate. She could’ve given up on chastity altogether. But one thought kept her on track: God sent his son Jesus to forgive me my shortcomings so that I might forgive myself and try harder to be the person I truly want to be.
Karri met her husband in college and was married two years later. They now have a family of three. “I wish a life of no regrets for my children and am preparing them for the fight while they’re young, introducing them to Jesus, the best friend and mentor they could have.”
* * *
In the end, I talked to my mom about keeping a vow of chastity, and to my surprise, she had a story of her own. She had been a “free spirit” back in the 70’s, and a single mom.
It was springtime, and I drove home to hill country, four hours north of New York City, for a visit. The sun was warm, so my mom and I sat out on the patio, drinking our first iced tea of the season.
“Why are you only telling me your story now?” I asked, a bit resentful. “Why not years ago when I needed to hear it?”
She insisted she had told me, when I was young and never listened to her. As irony would have it, I began to understand the meaning of chastity at the same age my mom was when she finally figured it out.
“It was back when your dad and I divorced,” she began, “and you were only five. My friend Annie asked if I wanted to meet a friend of hers, a grad student at the university named Tim. He was living in a tent at Empire Lake, a remote campground around a lake which was owned by the university at the time. Students often went nude there. Annie said he was working on his math dissertation. Of course I was interested.”
She told me how she and Annie drove out to the lake in my mom's Volkswagen Beetle. “Was he nude?” I asked.
“It’s an image that will be with me forever,” she said. “He had long blond hair that fell in ringlets around his shoulders, a full reddish-blond beard and a beautiful smile . . . and yes, he was thin, quite pale, and naked. I wasn’t shocked. It seemed very natural. The next weekend you stayed with your grandma, and Tim and I went to a folk festival called Fox Hollow. It was our first date.”
My mom, who has an animated personality, was even more spirited than usual as she described the “Fabulous!” time they had together, listening to music and learning about folk instruments. “I still have the pennywhistles!” she said, springing from her seat and running into the house to get them.
She returned with the two old tin whistles, but I was more interested in learning what had happened. “Did you spend the night together on your first date?” I asked.
“The festival had campsites, and we were sharing a tent. I longed to feel loved, and felt very attracted to Tim. I let him know that it would be all right.”
Having always been proud of my mom’s independent ways, I now saw a different picture. She was a single mother, vulnerable, searching for affection and healing.
“That’s when I found out he was a Christian,” she said. “He had made a vow of chastity to God. I was a Christian too, but more in theory than practice. It was a revelation to me that he could love God so much, he couldn’t bear to disappoint Him.”
“How did the night end?” I asked, imagining the awkward conversation.
“We had a wonderful time that night, reading Dracula by flashlight.”
After two years of close friendship with Tim, my mom realized how much she treasured the time they spent together. “I wanted to be married to him forever,” she said, “except I couldn’t understand why he would commit to a woman like me. I hadn’t exactly been what people considered a ‘good’ Christian.”
Tim’s absolute faith in God became my mom’s faith, and they’ve been happily married twenty-five years now. Both became fiddlers, still enjoying the folk music scene, and both are active in their church. Mom believes that God sent him to her, and second-chances are indeed miracles. “Keeping a promise, demonstrating discipline and sacrifice, can serve love at any time of life,” she told me. “The only way to know is to trust God and try.”
How Does One Keep a Vow of Chastity?
By Sara Goff
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 1 Corinthians 6:18.
Sometimes people save sex for marriage because it affirms a commitment to God and consecrates their relationship. Others might see it as guaranteed protection from STD’s and unplanned pregnancy. I knew all the arguments supporting abstinence, and yet I chose to have sex long before I was ready for marriage–giving up the benefits of waiting and accepting the risks.
Chastity was a part of my Christian faith I dismissed as “dated” and counter to my personal growth in the modern world. Throughout my twenties, I considered it a radical religious practice similar to fasting. When I was told chastity is a sure path to love, I didn’t believe it. A sure way of staying single, I thought. I reached my late twenties and found myself in a two-year relationship, despite feeling marginally loved and never more insecure. “He must love me if we’re having sex,” I told myself, initiating it every chance I got. Living the “glamorous” life in Manhattan, I spent my free time shopping and going to parties, trying desperately to fill the emotional void. I wasn’t happy, and I wasn’t being honest with myself, but it was so easy to let sex cover the lie.
Well, forgiveness for our mistakes is also a part of the Christian faith, and second chances are miracles, my mother always said. In my late twenties, searching for love, I decided to try a vow of chastity. I knew it wouldn't be easy. How do people do this? What convinces them? What keeps them strong? I needed examples. I wanted the right words, magic words, to make saying "no" to sex the easy choice.
I started with my church in Manhattan, asking the Bible Study Class I attended if anyone could talk to me about keeping a vow of chastity. All twenty or so Christians there, ranging in age from their twenties to their eighties, looked down at their Bibles in silence. I had thought that our eager group studying God’s word in the varnished reception room of the church would be a goldmine of testimony. After class, the minister pulled me aside. “Try St. Paul’s Church,” he suggested.
“They’re more strict.”
I asked my New York City friends if they knew of anyone who had “waited” until marriage. They laughed.
I broadened my search. At the online Christian writers’ forum, American Christian Fiction Writers, I posted a plea: How does one keep a vow of chastity?
Within an hour, I had real life stories of chastity from across the country.
* * *
Betsy from Louisiana wrote about her experience with chastity. On a Saturday afternoon in April of 1996, she and her father Theodore, who goes by the nickname "Buddy," went out for dinner at Ralph & Kacoos, one of the fancier spots in their northern Louisiana town. Betsy had been anticipating this day since she was eight and her older sister Jenny had gone on her “daddy date.” Now Betsy was twelve. Her father, a computer technician for the local newspaper, was nervous. Tonight he would ask his “little” girl for a promise that would affect the rest of her life. Betsy knew from her sister what was coming and felt sophisticated and grown up, even though the situation was somewhat awkward.
“Betsy?” he began, taking a small velvet box out of the breast pocket of his sports jacket. She held her breath. “God wants the very best for you in life, and He wants you to give your very best as well. Most of all, He wants you to be safe, and so do I, which is why I’m asking you to promise me you’ll save yourself for marriage.” From the velvet box, he took a gold ring with two joined hearts. “Mommy and I waited for each other, and it means everything to us. We can only teach you what we know is right and what works.”
Buddy gave his daughter the ring, and Betsy carefully slid it on her left ring finger and promised. Junior high came, and then high school, and Betsy dated, though no one seriously. The summer after graduation, however, she fell in love with Brandon, and her pledge to her dad, made years before, faced a serious challenge. “I still wore my gold ring with two hearts,” she explained, “but the feelings I had for Brandon were just as real as my promise to my dad. At times, they overruled everything I ever believed in and wanted for my future.” But she and Brandon decided to wait until marriage, if marriage was in their future, and together they stuck with their decision, neither one of them wanting to let the other down.
Brandon proposed to Betsy in 2004 on a Mississippi River steamboat in New Orleans. They were twenty. Married three years now, they feel their relationship is blessed. “Not that we’re more special than anyone else,” said Betsy. “Some people thought we were too young for marriage. But we proved our willpower and sense of morals waiting to have sex. I know we can get through anything together.”
I asked her how she and Brandon resisted the temptation to have sex, and she told me they avoided situations where it would have been easy to give in to their desires.
“When it got really tough, we prayed together,” she said. “Praying put everything into perspective and gave us strength. Also, I knew I wouldn’t be able to look my dad in the eyes on my wedding day lying about the purity of my white dress.
Whenever I felt confused by temptation, our date came to my mind perfectly clear. Knowing how much I’m loved by God and my parents made all the difference.”
* * *
Meghan, who asked that I change her name, grew up in a destructive home in the Pacific Northwest. Neighborhood boys raped her repeatedly during the year she was five. Going by the statistics, Meghan should have become obsessed with sex at a young age or sought it to heal a low self-esteem during her teens, but she stayed abstinent until she was married. “It’s pretty amazing I did,” she said.
Meghan’s turning point came in junior high. “My mother was going through her third divorce, and my world crashed. I’ll never forget how alone I felt.” Meghan was thinking about taking her own life. A school counselor saw her through that time, and then a friend invited her to Young Life, a non-profit organization rooted in Christianity that reaches out to middle school and high school students worldwide.
“I started going to the weekly meetings,” she explained, “and at the end of each one, I longed to hear the message about Jesus. Every time I heard His name, my heart pounded.”
At the end of her sophomore year in high school, Meghan went to a weekend Young Life camp. “I remember hearing a passage from the Bible and looking up at the stars, crying. I couldn’t believe there was a Father somewhere who would never leave me.”
I asked her if that was the moment she had made her vow of chastity. “Not specifically, not in those words,” she replied. “But it was then that I desired only God’s will for my life. And I’ve never regretted it.”
* * *
Karri was all about being social as a teenager, where the boys were and the action was. The temptation to have sex was a struggle for her.
“Growing up, my parents had me in church every time the doors opened,” she said. “I was a well-behaved little girl and then I turned fourteen. I knew waiting to have sex until marriage was the right thing to do, but I wanted to have fun.”
One afternoon Karri let a boy from her class give her a ride home from school, come into her house, check out her room . . . and they ended up on her bed. “I stopped him before it got to sex, but after he left, I felt ashamed and embarrassed. And what if he had refused to stop? I was lucky.”
In college, one of Karri’s suitemates was waiting to kiss her boyfriend until they were engaged. She became Karri’s mentor in her struggle to “hold out” for true love. “I wanted to be as pure as my friend was,” Karri said, “but I had already given out many kisses.”
Karri could have gotten down on herself for her past and for not being as disciplined and focused as her suitemate. She could’ve given up on chastity altogether. But one thought kept her on track: God sent his son Jesus to forgive me my shortcomings so that I might forgive myself and try harder to be the person I truly want to be.
Karri met her husband in college and was married two years later. They now have a family of three. “I wish a life of no regrets for my children and am preparing them for the fight while they’re young, introducing them to Jesus, the best friend and mentor they could have.”
* * *
In the end, I talked to my mom about keeping a vow of chastity, and to my surprise, she had a story of her own. She had been a “free spirit” back in the 70’s, and a single mom.
It was springtime, and I drove home to hill country, four hours north of New York City, for a visit. The sun was warm, so my mom and I sat out on the patio, drinking our first iced tea of the season.
“Why are you only telling me your story now?” I asked, a bit resentful. “Why not years ago when I needed to hear it?”
She insisted she had told me, when I was young and never listened to her. As irony would have it, I began to understand the meaning of chastity at the same age my mom was when she finally figured it out.
“It was back when your dad and I divorced,” she began, “and you were only five. My friend Annie asked if I wanted to meet a friend of hers, a grad student at the university named Tim. He was living in a tent at Empire Lake, a remote campground around a lake which was owned by the university at the time. Students often went nude there. Annie said he was working on his math dissertation. Of course I was interested.”
She told me how she and Annie drove out to the lake in my mom's Volkswagen Beetle. “Was he nude?” I asked.
“It’s an image that will be with me forever,” she said. “He had long blond hair that fell in ringlets around his shoulders, a full reddish-blond beard and a beautiful smile . . . and yes, he was thin, quite pale, and naked. I wasn’t shocked. It seemed very natural. The next weekend you stayed with your grandma, and Tim and I went to a folk festival called Fox Hollow. It was our first date.”
My mom, who has an animated personality, was even more spirited than usual as she described the “Fabulous!” time they had together, listening to music and learning about folk instruments. “I still have the pennywhistles!” she said, springing from her seat and running into the house to get them.
She returned with the two old tin whistles, but I was more interested in learning what had happened. “Did you spend the night together on your first date?” I asked.
“The festival had campsites, and we were sharing a tent. I longed to feel loved, and felt very attracted to Tim. I let him know that it would be all right.”
Having always been proud of my mom’s independent ways, I now saw a different picture. She was a single mother, vulnerable, searching for affection and healing.
“That’s when I found out he was a Christian,” she said. “He had made a vow of chastity to God. I was a Christian too, but more in theory than practice. It was a revelation to me that he could love God so much, he couldn’t bear to disappoint Him.”
“How did the night end?” I asked, imagining the awkward conversation.
“We had a wonderful time that night, reading Dracula by flashlight.”
After two years of close friendship with Tim, my mom realized how much she treasured the time they spent together. “I wanted to be married to him forever,” she said, “except I couldn’t understand why he would commit to a woman like me. I hadn’t exactly been what people considered a ‘good’ Christian.”
Tim’s absolute faith in God became my mom’s faith, and they’ve been happily married twenty-five years now. Both became fiddlers, still enjoying the folk music scene, and both are active in their church. Mom believes that God sent him to her, and second-chances are indeed miracles. “Keeping a promise, demonstrating discipline and sacrifice, can serve love at any time of life,” she told me. “The only way to know is to trust God and try.”
Monday, December 7, 2009
Jesus Has AIDS
Note: Here is an article that will get you to “think.” When I came across this article last night about 3:30 AM -- at that time in the morning, it was enough to make me pause long enough to read it. I’m glad I did. The author caused me to think over some of my own personal beliefs concerning the level and degree of identification Jesus has with His people. Go ahead and read this article and see what you think. Enjoy!
Jesus Has AIDS
Russell Moore
Dean of Theology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Jesus has AIDS.
Just reading that in the type in front of you probably has some of you angry. Let me help you see why that is, and, in so doing, why caring for those with AIDS is part of the gospel mandate given to us in the Great Commission.
The statement that Jesus has AIDS startles some of you because you know it not to be true. Jesus, after all, is the exalted son of the living God. He has defeated death in the garden tomb, and defeated it finally. Jesus isn't weak or dying or infected; he's triumphant and resurrected.
Yes.
Yes, but, what we're often likely to miss is that Jesus has identified himself with the suffering of this world, an identification that continues on through his church. Yes, Jesus finishes his suffering at the cross, but he also speaks of himself as being "persecuted" by Saul of Tarsus, as Saul comes after his church in Damascus (Acts 9:4).
Through the Spirit of Christ, we "groan" with him at the suffering of a universe still under the curse (Rom. 8:23,26). This curse manifests itself, as in billions of other ways, in bodies turned against themselves by immune systems gone awry.
That's why the church is to suffer, continually, with Christ as we take his presence into the darkness of a fallen creation. The Apostle Paul says, then, "I rejoice then in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Col. 1:24).
Some of Jesus' church has AIDS. Some of them are languishing in hospitals right down the street from you. Some of them are orphaned by the disease in Africa. All of them are suffering with an intensity few of us can imagine.
Some of you are angered by the statement I typed above because you think somehow it implicates Jesus. After all, AIDS is a shameful disease, one most often spread through sexual promiscuity or illicit drug use.
Yes.
Yes, but those are the very kinds of people Jesus consistently identified himself with as he walked the hillsides of Galilee and the streets of Jerusalem, announcing the kingdom of God. Can one be more sexually promiscuous than the prostitutes Jesus ate with? Can one be more marginalized from society than a woman dripping with blood, blood that would have made anyone who touched her unclean (Luke 8:40-48)? Jesus touched her, and took her uncleanness on himself.
AIDS is scandalous, sure. But not nearly as scandalous as a cross.
At the crucifixion stake, Jesus identifies himself with a sinful world (including the scandal of my sin). He was seen to be cursed by God (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13). This is why it seemed so reasonable to the shouting crowds to curse him as a false Messiah, because only those rejected by God would ever be hanged on a tree. And that's why the apostle Paul had to repeatedly insist that he was not "ashamed" of the cross. At Golgotha, Jesus became sin (though he never knew it himself) by bearing the sins of the world (2 Cor 5:21). Now that's scandalous.
Moreover, some of you are angry because you believe that the statement I typed above is an affront to the dignity of the ruler of the universe. He doesn't have some immune deficiency disease; he's ruling from the right hand of God.
Yes.
Yes, but we cannot see Jesus only in his Head but also in his Body, also in his identification with those he calls "the least of these, my brothers" (Matt. 25:40). Jesus isn't right now hungry, is he? He isn't naked, is he? He isn't thirsty, is he? He isn't in jail, is he? Well, yes, he is…in the nakedness, hunger, thirstiness, and imprisonment of his suffering brothers and sisters around the world.
When we stand in judgment, we'll stand, Jesus tells us, accountable for how we recognized him in the trauma of those who don't seem to bear the glory of Christ at all right now. We see Jesus now, by faith, in the sufferings of the crack baby, the meth addict, the AIDS orphan, the hospitalized prodigal who sees his ruin in the wires running from his veins.
I wonder how many of us will hear the words from our Galilean emperor, "I had AIDS and you weren't afraid to come near me."
And so, if we love Jesus, our churches should be more aware of the cries of the curse, including the curse of AIDS, than the culture around us. Our congregations should welcome the AIDS-infected, and we shouldn't be afraid to hug them as we would hug our Christ. Our congregations should be on the forefront of missions to AIDS-ravaged regions of the world. Our families should be willing to welcome those orphaned by this global scourge.
Through it all, we should be insistent in gospel proclamation. To those whose blood has become their own enemy, we should announce blood they know not of, the blood of One who can cleanse them of all unrighteousness, just as it cleansed us (1 Jn. 1:7); the blood of One who is forever immune to sin and death and hell (Jn. 6:53-56).
Jesus loves the world, and the world has AIDS. Jesus identifies himself with the least of these, and many of them have AIDS. Jesus calls us to recognize him in the depths of suffering, and there's AIDS there too.
Jesus has AIDS.
Jesus Has AIDS
Russell Moore
Dean of Theology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Jesus has AIDS.
Just reading that in the type in front of you probably has some of you angry. Let me help you see why that is, and, in so doing, why caring for those with AIDS is part of the gospel mandate given to us in the Great Commission.
The statement that Jesus has AIDS startles some of you because you know it not to be true. Jesus, after all, is the exalted son of the living God. He has defeated death in the garden tomb, and defeated it finally. Jesus isn't weak or dying or infected; he's triumphant and resurrected.
Yes.
Yes, but, what we're often likely to miss is that Jesus has identified himself with the suffering of this world, an identification that continues on through his church. Yes, Jesus finishes his suffering at the cross, but he also speaks of himself as being "persecuted" by Saul of Tarsus, as Saul comes after his church in Damascus (Acts 9:4).
Through the Spirit of Christ, we "groan" with him at the suffering of a universe still under the curse (Rom. 8:23,26). This curse manifests itself, as in billions of other ways, in bodies turned against themselves by immune systems gone awry.
That's why the church is to suffer, continually, with Christ as we take his presence into the darkness of a fallen creation. The Apostle Paul says, then, "I rejoice then in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Col. 1:24).
Some of Jesus' church has AIDS. Some of them are languishing in hospitals right down the street from you. Some of them are orphaned by the disease in Africa. All of them are suffering with an intensity few of us can imagine.
Some of you are angered by the statement I typed above because you think somehow it implicates Jesus. After all, AIDS is a shameful disease, one most often spread through sexual promiscuity or illicit drug use.
Yes.
Yes, but those are the very kinds of people Jesus consistently identified himself with as he walked the hillsides of Galilee and the streets of Jerusalem, announcing the kingdom of God. Can one be more sexually promiscuous than the prostitutes Jesus ate with? Can one be more marginalized from society than a woman dripping with blood, blood that would have made anyone who touched her unclean (Luke 8:40-48)? Jesus touched her, and took her uncleanness on himself.
AIDS is scandalous, sure. But not nearly as scandalous as a cross.
At the crucifixion stake, Jesus identifies himself with a sinful world (including the scandal of my sin). He was seen to be cursed by God (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13). This is why it seemed so reasonable to the shouting crowds to curse him as a false Messiah, because only those rejected by God would ever be hanged on a tree. And that's why the apostle Paul had to repeatedly insist that he was not "ashamed" of the cross. At Golgotha, Jesus became sin (though he never knew it himself) by bearing the sins of the world (2 Cor 5:21). Now that's scandalous.
Moreover, some of you are angry because you believe that the statement I typed above is an affront to the dignity of the ruler of the universe. He doesn't have some immune deficiency disease; he's ruling from the right hand of God.
Yes.
Yes, but we cannot see Jesus only in his Head but also in his Body, also in his identification with those he calls "the least of these, my brothers" (Matt. 25:40). Jesus isn't right now hungry, is he? He isn't naked, is he? He isn't thirsty, is he? He isn't in jail, is he? Well, yes, he is…in the nakedness, hunger, thirstiness, and imprisonment of his suffering brothers and sisters around the world.
When we stand in judgment, we'll stand, Jesus tells us, accountable for how we recognized him in the trauma of those who don't seem to bear the glory of Christ at all right now. We see Jesus now, by faith, in the sufferings of the crack baby, the meth addict, the AIDS orphan, the hospitalized prodigal who sees his ruin in the wires running from his veins.
I wonder how many of us will hear the words from our Galilean emperor, "I had AIDS and you weren't afraid to come near me."
And so, if we love Jesus, our churches should be more aware of the cries of the curse, including the curse of AIDS, than the culture around us. Our congregations should welcome the AIDS-infected, and we shouldn't be afraid to hug them as we would hug our Christ. Our congregations should be on the forefront of missions to AIDS-ravaged regions of the world. Our families should be willing to welcome those orphaned by this global scourge.
Through it all, we should be insistent in gospel proclamation. To those whose blood has become their own enemy, we should announce blood they know not of, the blood of One who can cleanse them of all unrighteousness, just as it cleansed us (1 Jn. 1:7); the blood of One who is forever immune to sin and death and hell (Jn. 6:53-56).
Jesus loves the world, and the world has AIDS. Jesus identifies himself with the least of these, and many of them have AIDS. Jesus calls us to recognize him in the depths of suffering, and there's AIDS there too.
Jesus has AIDS.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
How to Defend Your Biblical Worldview
Here is a very practical article on defending your worldview especially when it comes under attack. You may not even know what a worldview is. A worldview consists of your personal convictions regarding various issues in life. Your worldview should be biblically based and prayerfully thought through. If you already have a worldview, this article will provide you some steps on how to manage it. Enjoy!
How to Defend Your Biblical Worldview
Whitney Hopler
The following is a report on the practical applications of Rod Parsley's new book, Culturally Incorrect: How Clashing Worldviews Affect Your Future, (Thomas Nelson, 2007).
American culture today is a jumbled mess of clashing worldviews that lead many people astray from biblical truth. Don’t let yourself fall victim to confused thinking that harms your spiritual health. Instead, take a stand for the biblical worldview and help heal our culture in the process.
Here’s how you can defend a biblical worldview in our confused culture:
Learn how to be in the world, but not of it. Don’t just assimilate into the broader culture by living a lifestyle that’s the same or similar to the way unbelievers live. Instead, live out your faith by following biblical principles in all areas of your life so people can clearly see that you, as a Christian, are distinctly different from unbelievers. Ask God to help you identify areas of your life in which you need to be more faithful, and to give you the grace you need to grow in those areas.
Trade comfort for sacrifice and service. Realize that faith isn’t about seeking your own comfort, but about making sacrifices and serving others so you can grow into the person God wants you to become. Ask God to help you stop looking inward with self-absorption and start looking outward with compassion so you can embrace the rigors of discipleship and the joys of selfless service. Recognize that you can powerfully influence unbelievers by loving them in practical ways.
Engage the culture rather than withdrawing from it. Meet the culture in the marketplace of ideas and present the Gospel message in relevant ways instead of isolating yourself in a Christian subculture. Understand that your faith isn’t meant to be private; it’s meant to be lived out in all situations – at work, at home, at school, at parks, at your local stores and restaurants, and wherever else you engage with others. Realize that, even if you’re not in professional ministry, you still have a full-time calling to minister to others by shining the light of faith brightly into other people’s lives. Strive for excellence in all you do.
Be clear about what constitutes a biblical worldview. Make sure you know exactly what you believe as a Christian, and why you believe it. Don’t take your faith for granted or fall victim to the widespread confusion in our culture. Read, study, and meditate on the Bible often. Ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind so you won’t conform to the pattern of the culture’s muddled thinking and will be able to discern God’s wisdom. Figure out how the Bible answers these key questions that help form a worldview: “What is prime reality – the really real?”, “What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?”, “What is a human being?”, “What happens to a person at death?”, “Why is it possible to know anything at all?”, “How do we know what is right and wrong?” and “What is the meaning of human history?”.
Understand other worldviews. Get to know the non-biblical worldviews that are swirling around in our culture. Know that it’s crucial to understand what other people believe in order to ultimately be able to persuade them to consider the truth. Reach out to unbelievers and engage them in meaningful conversations in loving and respectful ways. Don’t think of people who disagree with you as “stupid, crazy, or evil,” but as people made in God’s image who are loved by Him yet lost in confusion. Identify the false assumptions underlying the arguments of those who hold non-biblical worldviews and learn how to challenge those assumptions with respect and grace. Look for worldview clues in the media and learn to think critically about the messages they communicate.
Model Jesus’ compassion. Show hurting people how much Jesus loves them by following His example and helping them. Pray for God to show you specific people He wants you to help in specific ways. Then take action to serve them in Jesus’ name. Help people like family members, friends, and neighbors through one-on-one acts of kindness as God leads you, and do volunteer work through charities, ministries and other groups to bring relief to groups of poor and oppressed people both in your community and around the world. Be generous with financial donations to your church and other organizations that help hurting people. Invite God to use your life as a channel through which He can pour out His love to people in need. Be alert to opportunities to serve, and follow the Holy Spirit’s promptings to give your resources (time, energy, or money) to the opportunities God wants you to pursue.
Take political action. Whenever there’s an election at any level in your area, be sure to vote, knowing that your voice will make a real difference in the future of your nation, state, and local community. Get to know where the various candidates stand on issues, and support the ones who are true to biblical principles. Organize voter registration campaigns. Attend events like party caucuses or precinct meetings. Volunteer your time and energy to champion various causes and work on political campaigns. Contact your elected representatives to express your views on issues you care about. Be prepared to make a strong and clear case for your position on the issues, but make that case with respect, grace, and compassion. Support organizations that are fighting for religious freedom and Christians’ rights in the courts. Support legislation and constitutional amendments (state and federal) that protect the traditional definition of marriage and the integrity of the family. Overcome racial, economic, and other differences to stand in unity with other believers on issues you all champion so you can exert tremendous political influence.
Let awe for God’s creation lead you to engage the world of science. Understand that the common notion that faith and science must be at odds is just plain wrong. Realize that science is actually a natural extension of the Christian faith, because it helps us to appreciate God’s intelligent design and how His creation functions according to immutable principles. Learn about the latest scientific discoveries, and think and pray about the many ethical issues our culture is now facing in fields such as biological technology. Take stands for or against certain practices, such as opposing funding for forms of medical research that require the destruction of human embryos. Support school board candidates who understand the value of informing students about intelligent design rather than just evolution.
Embrace the arts. Recognize that the arts have great value, despite the many artists in the entertainment and media worlds who present messages that are disrespectful or hostile to the Christian faith. Instead of avoiding the arts, embrace movies, music, literature and other forms of art that are inspiring. Support edifying art and artists. Learn to recognize bias in the media and think critically about messages communicated through what you watch, hear, and read. Consider contributing to the arts yourself, acting as salt and light to express God’s truths to people in fresh and creative ways.
Pursue revival. Ask God to give you the courage and wisdom to take a moral inventory of your life and recognize wrong attitudes and behaviors. Then repent of them and rely on God’s strength to help you grow so you can live with integrity before a watching world. Become outwardly focused rather than inwardly focused so you’ll be less prone to self-absorption and more likely to put your faith into action. Pray for revival in America, interceding for government and cultural leaders (like the President, movie stars, and sports figures) who are currently in influential positions.
Become a seed. Be willing to give up your own agenda for the sake of God’s will, letting your selfish desires die so your faith can grow like a seed maturing into a healthy and productive plant. Invite God to do whatever is necessary to fulfill all of His purposes for your life. Pray for the strength and courage you need to contribute to the world in all the ways He wants you to do so.
How to Defend Your Biblical Worldview
Whitney Hopler
The following is a report on the practical applications of Rod Parsley's new book, Culturally Incorrect: How Clashing Worldviews Affect Your Future, (Thomas Nelson, 2007).
American culture today is a jumbled mess of clashing worldviews that lead many people astray from biblical truth. Don’t let yourself fall victim to confused thinking that harms your spiritual health. Instead, take a stand for the biblical worldview and help heal our culture in the process.
Here’s how you can defend a biblical worldview in our confused culture:
Learn how to be in the world, but not of it. Don’t just assimilate into the broader culture by living a lifestyle that’s the same or similar to the way unbelievers live. Instead, live out your faith by following biblical principles in all areas of your life so people can clearly see that you, as a Christian, are distinctly different from unbelievers. Ask God to help you identify areas of your life in which you need to be more faithful, and to give you the grace you need to grow in those areas.
Trade comfort for sacrifice and service. Realize that faith isn’t about seeking your own comfort, but about making sacrifices and serving others so you can grow into the person God wants you to become. Ask God to help you stop looking inward with self-absorption and start looking outward with compassion so you can embrace the rigors of discipleship and the joys of selfless service. Recognize that you can powerfully influence unbelievers by loving them in practical ways.
Engage the culture rather than withdrawing from it. Meet the culture in the marketplace of ideas and present the Gospel message in relevant ways instead of isolating yourself in a Christian subculture. Understand that your faith isn’t meant to be private; it’s meant to be lived out in all situations – at work, at home, at school, at parks, at your local stores and restaurants, and wherever else you engage with others. Realize that, even if you’re not in professional ministry, you still have a full-time calling to minister to others by shining the light of faith brightly into other people’s lives. Strive for excellence in all you do.
Be clear about what constitutes a biblical worldview. Make sure you know exactly what you believe as a Christian, and why you believe it. Don’t take your faith for granted or fall victim to the widespread confusion in our culture. Read, study, and meditate on the Bible often. Ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind so you won’t conform to the pattern of the culture’s muddled thinking and will be able to discern God’s wisdom. Figure out how the Bible answers these key questions that help form a worldview: “What is prime reality – the really real?”, “What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?”, “What is a human being?”, “What happens to a person at death?”, “Why is it possible to know anything at all?”, “How do we know what is right and wrong?” and “What is the meaning of human history?”.
Understand other worldviews. Get to know the non-biblical worldviews that are swirling around in our culture. Know that it’s crucial to understand what other people believe in order to ultimately be able to persuade them to consider the truth. Reach out to unbelievers and engage them in meaningful conversations in loving and respectful ways. Don’t think of people who disagree with you as “stupid, crazy, or evil,” but as people made in God’s image who are loved by Him yet lost in confusion. Identify the false assumptions underlying the arguments of those who hold non-biblical worldviews and learn how to challenge those assumptions with respect and grace. Look for worldview clues in the media and learn to think critically about the messages they communicate.
Model Jesus’ compassion. Show hurting people how much Jesus loves them by following His example and helping them. Pray for God to show you specific people He wants you to help in specific ways. Then take action to serve them in Jesus’ name. Help people like family members, friends, and neighbors through one-on-one acts of kindness as God leads you, and do volunteer work through charities, ministries and other groups to bring relief to groups of poor and oppressed people both in your community and around the world. Be generous with financial donations to your church and other organizations that help hurting people. Invite God to use your life as a channel through which He can pour out His love to people in need. Be alert to opportunities to serve, and follow the Holy Spirit’s promptings to give your resources (time, energy, or money) to the opportunities God wants you to pursue.
Take political action. Whenever there’s an election at any level in your area, be sure to vote, knowing that your voice will make a real difference in the future of your nation, state, and local community. Get to know where the various candidates stand on issues, and support the ones who are true to biblical principles. Organize voter registration campaigns. Attend events like party caucuses or precinct meetings. Volunteer your time and energy to champion various causes and work on political campaigns. Contact your elected representatives to express your views on issues you care about. Be prepared to make a strong and clear case for your position on the issues, but make that case with respect, grace, and compassion. Support organizations that are fighting for religious freedom and Christians’ rights in the courts. Support legislation and constitutional amendments (state and federal) that protect the traditional definition of marriage and the integrity of the family. Overcome racial, economic, and other differences to stand in unity with other believers on issues you all champion so you can exert tremendous political influence.
Let awe for God’s creation lead you to engage the world of science. Understand that the common notion that faith and science must be at odds is just plain wrong. Realize that science is actually a natural extension of the Christian faith, because it helps us to appreciate God’s intelligent design and how His creation functions according to immutable principles. Learn about the latest scientific discoveries, and think and pray about the many ethical issues our culture is now facing in fields such as biological technology. Take stands for or against certain practices, such as opposing funding for forms of medical research that require the destruction of human embryos. Support school board candidates who understand the value of informing students about intelligent design rather than just evolution.
Embrace the arts. Recognize that the arts have great value, despite the many artists in the entertainment and media worlds who present messages that are disrespectful or hostile to the Christian faith. Instead of avoiding the arts, embrace movies, music, literature and other forms of art that are inspiring. Support edifying art and artists. Learn to recognize bias in the media and think critically about messages communicated through what you watch, hear, and read. Consider contributing to the arts yourself, acting as salt and light to express God’s truths to people in fresh and creative ways.
Pursue revival. Ask God to give you the courage and wisdom to take a moral inventory of your life and recognize wrong attitudes and behaviors. Then repent of them and rely on God’s strength to help you grow so you can live with integrity before a watching world. Become outwardly focused rather than inwardly focused so you’ll be less prone to self-absorption and more likely to put your faith into action. Pray for revival in America, interceding for government and cultural leaders (like the President, movie stars, and sports figures) who are currently in influential positions.
Become a seed. Be willing to give up your own agenda for the sake of God’s will, letting your selfish desires die so your faith can grow like a seed maturing into a healthy and productive plant. Invite God to do whatever is necessary to fulfill all of His purposes for your life. Pray for the strength and courage you need to contribute to the world in all the ways He wants you to do so.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
What Cries Out To God?
A Play Depicting Jesus As A Gay Man Performed At A Packed Church In California
Last Days
Posted November 20, 2009 at 8:13 pm
A play depicting Jesus as a gay man was performed in front of a packed church sanctuary in California last weekend. Only a handful of protesters demonstrated outside of The Church of the Foothills in Santa Ana, California during the performance. The play, which is entitled "Corpus Christi", depicts Jesus as a gay man living in the 1950s in Corpus Christi, Texas. This is yet another sign of how close to the last days we actually are.
The "pastor" of The Church of the Foothills, Michael Holland, made the following comments regarding the decision by his church to host the play....
"The Bible does not condemn homosexuality as an orientation, it condemns certain homoerotic acts which had nothing to do with people being in love, like we're doing today."
"Jesus was about love and inclusion and affirming people as children of God, and that's what we're doing tonight."
The Church of the Foothills has hosted same sex marriage rallies in the past and held the very first same sex wedding in the Tustin area back in June.
Just what in the world is going on when the vast majority of Christians are no longer shocked to hear about a play that depicts Jesus as a homosexual? Just what in the world is going on when that play is actually performed inside a packed church?
The truth is that a huge number of churches have completely abandoned the Bible and have instead surrounded themselves with "pastors" and "priests" who will tell them whatever they want to hear.
In 2 Timothy 4:3, the apostle Paul told us that days like these would come.... “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
One passage that made me scratch my head and think, what does this passage mean in Romans 9:29. Regarding Israel, Isaiah said, "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."
It is a complete travesty for anyone to depict Jesus as a gay man. From a theological perspective, this seeks to destroy Jesus’ death on the cross. How so? If Jesus was gay, then He died for His own sins. He did not live the righteous and perfect life that the bible talks about.
While speaking to His critics, Jesus said, “Which one of you convicts Me of sin” (John 8:46)? Peter said of Jesus that He committed no sin, nor any deceit was found in His mouth (1 Pet. 2:22). Paul echoed the same thing by stating, “God made His Son, Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf” (2 Cor. 5:21). The author of the Book of Hebrews writes, that Jesus the High Priest was holy, innocent, undefiled and separated from sinners (Heb. 7:26). And then the one disciple who was closest to Jesus had this to say: “Jesus appeared to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin” (1 John 3:5).
Jesus was not gay and nor did He ever have any homosexual or heterosexual sinful thoughts. If Jesus had just committed one sin, His death on the cross would have been for His own punishment, not anyone else’s. Therefore, what Jesus becomes is nothing more than a moral philosopher – one of many for people to choose from to fit their worldview.
Now having said this, let’s go back to the passage in Romans 9:29. When Paul quoted from Isaiah 1:9, what did Isaiah mean, when he stated, “If God had not left a remnant, we would than be like Sodom and Gomorrah?”
Well go to the first chapter of Isaiah and look with me at the context. Both Judah and Jerusalem were in a state of moral rebellion. As a result, Isaiah was told the write the following:
2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth!
For the LORD has spoken:
"I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows his master,
the donkey his owner's manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand."
4 Ah, sinful nation,
a people loaded with guilt,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the LORD;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
5 Why should you be beaten anymore?
Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
your whole heart afflicted.
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with oil.
7 Your country is desolate,
your cities burned with fire;
your fields are being stripped by foreigners
right before you,
laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
8 The Daughter of Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a field of melons,
like a city under siege.
God says that Israel was a sinful nation that had turned its back on God (v. 4); sin had permeated their head, heart, foot – thus their whole being (vv. 5-6), and left nothing but wounds, welts and open sores. When the people are polluted, so goes the county, cities and fields or lands (v. 7).
When such a moral degeneration takes over a nation, what’s next? JUDGMENT. Therefore, in the very next verse, Isaiah writes, “Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah” (v. 9).
What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? God visited the people of these cities and destroyed them all except for Lot and his family. Isaiah said, “If God did not have His own remnant – a group of people who were really His and sold out to live righteous and holy lives – then everyone would be destroyed and we would all end up like Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Now here’s something else you need to keep in mind. Two things cry out to God. First, the cries of God’s people calling for mercy and deliverance (Exod. 3:7). Remember reading where Israel was in bondage to Egypt and the taskmasters were ruthless in their dealings with them? God said to Moses, “The cry of My people have reached heavens’ door and I am going to use you to bring them deliverance.” And God did.
But watch this – there is a second cry that goes out to God that He will not ignore as well. The cry of sin for justice. Just as God’s people cry out to Him for mercy and deliverance, so sin cries out to God for justice and punishment.
When God confronted Cain about the whereabouts of his brother, Abel, and Cain said, “Who?” God said, “Don’t tell me that. “The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground” (Gen. 4:10). Abel’s blood that his brother Cain and spilled was crying out to God for justice.
Now watch this: When the two angels of God visited Sodom and confirmed what they had already known to be true, they said to Lot, “Get everyone who belongs to you out of there. For we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it” (Gen. 19:12-13).
With Abel, the spilling of his blood cried out to God for justice; with Sodom the spilling of their sins cried out to God for punishment.
So Paul quotes from Isaiah and says, “If God did not have His own people whom He has called out from the world and labeled them as His remnant, we would all be punished and destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah.”
You see folks, Jesus cannot over look sin. That’s why those in the gay movement want to make Jesus out to be gay so in their minds Jesus has to overlook their lifestyle. But Jesus is God – holy, perfect, undefiled from sin – and as a result, He does not overlook the cries of sin that voice publicly for punishment.
Only the remnant will be spared, like Lot and his family was. It saddens my heart that some churches have forgotten this and have embraced the theology of the Left-Wing Gay Church agenda and have abandoned the authority of the bible. They have twisted the scriptures, sadly unto their own destruction (2 Pet. 3:16).
Last Days
Posted November 20, 2009 at 8:13 pm
A play depicting Jesus as a gay man was performed in front of a packed church sanctuary in California last weekend. Only a handful of protesters demonstrated outside of The Church of the Foothills in Santa Ana, California during the performance. The play, which is entitled "Corpus Christi", depicts Jesus as a gay man living in the 1950s in Corpus Christi, Texas. This is yet another sign of how close to the last days we actually are.
The "pastor" of The Church of the Foothills, Michael Holland, made the following comments regarding the decision by his church to host the play....
"The Bible does not condemn homosexuality as an orientation, it condemns certain homoerotic acts which had nothing to do with people being in love, like we're doing today."
"Jesus was about love and inclusion and affirming people as children of God, and that's what we're doing tonight."
The Church of the Foothills has hosted same sex marriage rallies in the past and held the very first same sex wedding in the Tustin area back in June.
Just what in the world is going on when the vast majority of Christians are no longer shocked to hear about a play that depicts Jesus as a homosexual? Just what in the world is going on when that play is actually performed inside a packed church?
The truth is that a huge number of churches have completely abandoned the Bible and have instead surrounded themselves with "pastors" and "priests" who will tell them whatever they want to hear.
In 2 Timothy 4:3, the apostle Paul told us that days like these would come.... “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
One passage that made me scratch my head and think, what does this passage mean in Romans 9:29. Regarding Israel, Isaiah said, "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."
It is a complete travesty for anyone to depict Jesus as a gay man. From a theological perspective, this seeks to destroy Jesus’ death on the cross. How so? If Jesus was gay, then He died for His own sins. He did not live the righteous and perfect life that the bible talks about.
While speaking to His critics, Jesus said, “Which one of you convicts Me of sin” (John 8:46)? Peter said of Jesus that He committed no sin, nor any deceit was found in His mouth (1 Pet. 2:22). Paul echoed the same thing by stating, “God made His Son, Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf” (2 Cor. 5:21). The author of the Book of Hebrews writes, that Jesus the High Priest was holy, innocent, undefiled and separated from sinners (Heb. 7:26). And then the one disciple who was closest to Jesus had this to say: “Jesus appeared to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin” (1 John 3:5).
Jesus was not gay and nor did He ever have any homosexual or heterosexual sinful thoughts. If Jesus had just committed one sin, His death on the cross would have been for His own punishment, not anyone else’s. Therefore, what Jesus becomes is nothing more than a moral philosopher – one of many for people to choose from to fit their worldview.
Now having said this, let’s go back to the passage in Romans 9:29. When Paul quoted from Isaiah 1:9, what did Isaiah mean, when he stated, “If God had not left a remnant, we would than be like Sodom and Gomorrah?”
Well go to the first chapter of Isaiah and look with me at the context. Both Judah and Jerusalem were in a state of moral rebellion. As a result, Isaiah was told the write the following:
2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth!
For the LORD has spoken:
"I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows his master,
the donkey his owner's manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand."
4 Ah, sinful nation,
a people loaded with guilt,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the LORD;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
5 Why should you be beaten anymore?
Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
your whole heart afflicted.
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with oil.
7 Your country is desolate,
your cities burned with fire;
your fields are being stripped by foreigners
right before you,
laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
8 The Daughter of Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a field of melons,
like a city under siege.
God says that Israel was a sinful nation that had turned its back on God (v. 4); sin had permeated their head, heart, foot – thus their whole being (vv. 5-6), and left nothing but wounds, welts and open sores. When the people are polluted, so goes the county, cities and fields or lands (v. 7).
When such a moral degeneration takes over a nation, what’s next? JUDGMENT. Therefore, in the very next verse, Isaiah writes, “Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah” (v. 9).
What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? God visited the people of these cities and destroyed them all except for Lot and his family. Isaiah said, “If God did not have His own remnant – a group of people who were really His and sold out to live righteous and holy lives – then everyone would be destroyed and we would all end up like Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Now here’s something else you need to keep in mind. Two things cry out to God. First, the cries of God’s people calling for mercy and deliverance (Exod. 3:7). Remember reading where Israel was in bondage to Egypt and the taskmasters were ruthless in their dealings with them? God said to Moses, “The cry of My people have reached heavens’ door and I am going to use you to bring them deliverance.” And God did.
But watch this – there is a second cry that goes out to God that He will not ignore as well. The cry of sin for justice. Just as God’s people cry out to Him for mercy and deliverance, so sin cries out to God for justice and punishment.
When God confronted Cain about the whereabouts of his brother, Abel, and Cain said, “Who?” God said, “Don’t tell me that. “The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground” (Gen. 4:10). Abel’s blood that his brother Cain and spilled was crying out to God for justice.
Now watch this: When the two angels of God visited Sodom and confirmed what they had already known to be true, they said to Lot, “Get everyone who belongs to you out of there. For we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it” (Gen. 19:12-13).
With Abel, the spilling of his blood cried out to God for justice; with Sodom the spilling of their sins cried out to God for punishment.
So Paul quotes from Isaiah and says, “If God did not have His own people whom He has called out from the world and labeled them as His remnant, we would all be punished and destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah.”
You see folks, Jesus cannot over look sin. That’s why those in the gay movement want to make Jesus out to be gay so in their minds Jesus has to overlook their lifestyle. But Jesus is God – holy, perfect, undefiled from sin – and as a result, He does not overlook the cries of sin that voice publicly for punishment.
Only the remnant will be spared, like Lot and his family was. It saddens my heart that some churches have forgotten this and have embraced the theology of the Left-Wing Gay Church agenda and have abandoned the authority of the bible. They have twisted the scriptures, sadly unto their own destruction (2 Pet. 3:16).
Friday, December 4, 2009
Pro-Life Efforts Are Far From Over
19Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city – Acts 14:19-20 NIV
It is nothing short of sheer terror when a person is thought to be either dead or simply not alive, and then to find out by some sheer accident that those who pronounced such things were wrong.
I think this is so true with reference to abortion. How in the world people can view a baby in its mother’s womb as “not-yet-alive” is beyond me. Although the baby breathes, feels, eats, has both a heart beat and brain waves and responds to outward stimuli, still that’s not enough for some to create a shred of doubt.
Those in comas are looked upon in a similar way. Just because they apparently cannot communicate, must indicate that they are dead. But read the story below and be surprised – be very surprised!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009 (AP)
Helped by a therapist, Rom Houben's outstretched finger tapped with surprising speed on a computer touchscreen, spelling out how he felt "alone, lonely, frustrated" in the 23 years he was trapped inside a paralyzed body.
After a doctor found he was wrongly diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, and worked out a way for him to communicate, Houben said he now feels reborn.
"And just like with a baby, it happens with a lot of stumbling," the 46-year-old Belgian wrote, tapping out the words in Dutch for Associated Press Television News on Tuesday as an aide guided his hand.
Injured in a car crash in 1983 when he was 20, Houbon was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, though doctors now believe he was conscious the whole time.
An expert using a specialized type of brain scan that was not available in the 1980s says he finally realized Houben was suffering from a form of "locked-in syndrome," in which people are unable to speak or move but can think and reason, and provided him with the equipment to communicate.
Now, assisted by a speech therapist who moved his finger letter-by-letter along a touch-screen keyboard, Houben says years of being unable to move or express himself left him feeling "alone, lonely, frustrated, but also blessed with my family."
"It was especially frustrating when my family needed me," wrote Houben, who says he heard his father died during that time, but was unable to show any emotion. "I could not share in their sorrow. We could not give each other support."
"Just imagine. You hear, see, feel and think but no one can see that. You undergo things. You cannot participate in life," he wrote.
Comments: Imagine being in a coma for twenty-three years? That is so beyond me to comprehend. But then imagine how wrong the experts were who diagnosed you as someone in a vegetative sense and gave up on you? Shouldn’t we err on the side of life when we don’t have all the answers? Who is out there that can really say in absolute certain terms that a baby in its mother womb is not a viable human being? Who is out there that can say that a person in a vegetative state should be considered dead and done? If this story says anything it’s this: The experts don’t have the answers – none of them do.
Paul was dragged out of the city of Lystra believed to be dead by those who were there. Later, he got up and walked away? What a shock!
If there is ever a lesson in the above story it is this: Pro-lifers must never give up on their campaign to save lives of the innocent. It may take a long time (for Houben it took 23 years!), but with godly perseverance, the day will come when the efforts, toils and debates will pay off. Someone will be saved. Someone will be spared. Someone will continue to live because someone out there truly cares.
It is nothing short of sheer terror when a person is thought to be either dead or simply not alive, and then to find out by some sheer accident that those who pronounced such things were wrong.
I think this is so true with reference to abortion. How in the world people can view a baby in its mother’s womb as “not-yet-alive” is beyond me. Although the baby breathes, feels, eats, has both a heart beat and brain waves and responds to outward stimuli, still that’s not enough for some to create a shred of doubt.
Those in comas are looked upon in a similar way. Just because they apparently cannot communicate, must indicate that they are dead. But read the story below and be surprised – be very surprised!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009 (AP)
Helped by a therapist, Rom Houben's outstretched finger tapped with surprising speed on a computer touchscreen, spelling out how he felt "alone, lonely, frustrated" in the 23 years he was trapped inside a paralyzed body.
After a doctor found he was wrongly diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, and worked out a way for him to communicate, Houben said he now feels reborn.
"And just like with a baby, it happens with a lot of stumbling," the 46-year-old Belgian wrote, tapping out the words in Dutch for Associated Press Television News on Tuesday as an aide guided his hand.
Injured in a car crash in 1983 when he was 20, Houbon was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, though doctors now believe he was conscious the whole time.
An expert using a specialized type of brain scan that was not available in the 1980s says he finally realized Houben was suffering from a form of "locked-in syndrome," in which people are unable to speak or move but can think and reason, and provided him with the equipment to communicate.
Now, assisted by a speech therapist who moved his finger letter-by-letter along a touch-screen keyboard, Houben says years of being unable to move or express himself left him feeling "alone, lonely, frustrated, but also blessed with my family."
"It was especially frustrating when my family needed me," wrote Houben, who says he heard his father died during that time, but was unable to show any emotion. "I could not share in their sorrow. We could not give each other support."
"Just imagine. You hear, see, feel and think but no one can see that. You undergo things. You cannot participate in life," he wrote.
Comments: Imagine being in a coma for twenty-three years? That is so beyond me to comprehend. But then imagine how wrong the experts were who diagnosed you as someone in a vegetative sense and gave up on you? Shouldn’t we err on the side of life when we don’t have all the answers? Who is out there that can really say in absolute certain terms that a baby in its mother womb is not a viable human being? Who is out there that can say that a person in a vegetative state should be considered dead and done? If this story says anything it’s this: The experts don’t have the answers – none of them do.
Paul was dragged out of the city of Lystra believed to be dead by those who were there. Later, he got up and walked away? What a shock!
If there is ever a lesson in the above story it is this: Pro-lifers must never give up on their campaign to save lives of the innocent. It may take a long time (for Houben it took 23 years!), but with godly perseverance, the day will come when the efforts, toils and debates will pay off. Someone will be saved. Someone will be spared. Someone will continue to live because someone out there truly cares.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Taking an Unpopular Stand
“…come out from among them and be separate,” says the Lord – 2 Cor. 6:17
A Little Falls, Minn., pastor recently spoke out about his decision to resign after his congregation rejected a motion to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The Rev. Nate Bjorge told the Brainerd Dispatch that First Lutheran Church's vote last month to stay in the ELCA called into question his effectiveness as a pastor.
"I was extremely disheartened," Bjorge told the local newspaper as he recalled the Oct. 11 vote. "I haven't been angry by this whole process. Sad might be a better word."
The congregational vote was prompted by a controversial decision by the ELCA's chief legislative body in August to allow noncelibate gays and lesbians to be ordained. Since then more than a dozen congregations in Minnesota have vowed or already voted to sever ties with the denomination.
Bjorge told the local Dispatch that he has friends who are homosexual and his congregation has always been welcoming to homosexuals. But he said he can't condone homosexual behavior, calling it a destructive lifestyle.
"For me, there was no question," he said. "This issue directly violates the word of God."
With such strongly held beliefs, Bjorge felt he could no longer lead a church that was going to continue as an ELCA congregation.
Bjorge is currently leading a group of people who left First Lutheran to start their own church, Faith Lutheran. He was called by the group to serve as their pastor.
Comments: Hallelujah for this man of God. We don’t get too many good news type examples coming from the news, but when it does comes, it stands out like a sore thumb! (Taken from the Christianpost.com)
When I read this story, I was reminded once again about the absolute importance of leading by principle and personal convictions and not by popularity and the desire to be liked and accepted.
When leaders do not lead by principle, the results are double-minded thinking and instability in all their ways (James 1:8). Much too often we read and hear about how some of our elected leaders move in the direction of which way they sense the wind of popularity is blowing. Sadly, some pastors do this as well. One sad feature of the church in the end times is that it will be “lukewarm” (Rev. 3:15-16a). This is a church that refuses to take a stand because it may be unpopular or not politically correct. What does Jesus think of this kind of church? He said, “I will spit you out of my mouth” (v. 16b).
When a church becomes like this, the best thing to do is separate oneself from it and move on. When a pastor goes the lukewarm route, the best thing is for the church to fire the man and get someone in there who will not be afraid to preach the Word and lead by principle and convictions.
Separation is good and something the best and only option. But separation will require guts. If young leaders do not start to acquire such holy guts now, then when the need to take a stand is called for, it may be too late.
A Little Falls, Minn., pastor recently spoke out about his decision to resign after his congregation rejected a motion to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The Rev. Nate Bjorge told the Brainerd Dispatch that First Lutheran Church's vote last month to stay in the ELCA called into question his effectiveness as a pastor.
"I was extremely disheartened," Bjorge told the local newspaper as he recalled the Oct. 11 vote. "I haven't been angry by this whole process. Sad might be a better word."
The congregational vote was prompted by a controversial decision by the ELCA's chief legislative body in August to allow noncelibate gays and lesbians to be ordained. Since then more than a dozen congregations in Minnesota have vowed or already voted to sever ties with the denomination.
Bjorge told the local Dispatch that he has friends who are homosexual and his congregation has always been welcoming to homosexuals. But he said he can't condone homosexual behavior, calling it a destructive lifestyle.
"For me, there was no question," he said. "This issue directly violates the word of God."
With such strongly held beliefs, Bjorge felt he could no longer lead a church that was going to continue as an ELCA congregation.
Bjorge is currently leading a group of people who left First Lutheran to start their own church, Faith Lutheran. He was called by the group to serve as their pastor.
Comments: Hallelujah for this man of God. We don’t get too many good news type examples coming from the news, but when it does comes, it stands out like a sore thumb! (Taken from the Christianpost.com)
When I read this story, I was reminded once again about the absolute importance of leading by principle and personal convictions and not by popularity and the desire to be liked and accepted.
When leaders do not lead by principle, the results are double-minded thinking and instability in all their ways (James 1:8). Much too often we read and hear about how some of our elected leaders move in the direction of which way they sense the wind of popularity is blowing. Sadly, some pastors do this as well. One sad feature of the church in the end times is that it will be “lukewarm” (Rev. 3:15-16a). This is a church that refuses to take a stand because it may be unpopular or not politically correct. What does Jesus think of this kind of church? He said, “I will spit you out of my mouth” (v. 16b).
When a church becomes like this, the best thing to do is separate oneself from it and move on. When a pastor goes the lukewarm route, the best thing is for the church to fire the man and get someone in there who will not be afraid to preach the Word and lead by principle and convictions.
Separation is good and something the best and only option. But separation will require guts. If young leaders do not start to acquire such holy guts now, then when the need to take a stand is called for, it may be too late.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
It Is All A Hoax!
By now you might have heard of one of the biggest scandals of the decade – Climate Gate!
Controversy has exploded onto the Internet after a major global-warming advocacy center in the UK had its e-mail system hacked and the data published on line. The director of the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit confirmed that the e-mails are genuine — and Australian publication Investigate and the Australian Herald-Sun report that those e-mails expose a conspiracy to hide detrimental information from the public that argues against global warming. Folks, if you are not up to speed on this, then read the article below from the Washington Times. I’ll make some comments afterwards.
Climategate Scandal - Cooking The Books On Global Warming Revealed
http://www.washingtontimes.com
Scientific progress depends on accurate and complete data. It also relies on replication. The past couple of days have uncovered some shocking revelations about the baloney practices that pass as sound science about climate change.
It was announced Thursday afternoon that computer hackers had obtained 160 megabytes of e-mails from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in England. Those e-mails involved communication among many scientific researchers and policy advocates with similar ideological positions all across the world. Those purported authorities were brazenly discussing the destruction and hiding of data that did not support global-warming claims.
Professor Phil Jones, the head of the Climate Research Unit, and professor Michael E. Mann at Pennsylvania State University, who has been an important scientist in the climate debate, have come under particular scrutiny. Among his e-mails, Mr. Jones talked to Mr. Mann about the "trick of adding in the real temps to each series ... to hide the decline in temperature."
Mr. Mann admitted that he was party to this conversation and lamely explained to the New York Times that "scientists often used the word 'trick' to refer to a good way to solve a problem 'and not something secret.' " Though the liberal New York newspaper apparently buys this explanation, we have seen no benign explanation that justifies efforts by researchers to skew data on so-called global-warming "to hide the decline." Given the controversies over the accuracy of Mr. Mann's past research, it is surprising his current explanations are accepted so readily.
There is a lot of damning evidence about these researchers concealing information that counters their bias. In another exchange, Mr. Jones told Mr. Mann: "If they ever hear there is a Freedom of Information Act now in the UK, I think I'll delete the file rather than send to anyone" and, "We also have a data protection act, which I will hide behind." Mr. Jones further urged Mr. Mann to join him in deleting e-mail exchanges about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) controversial assessment report (ARA): "Can you delete any emails you may have had with Keith re [the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report]?"
In another e-mail, Mr. Jones told Mr. Mann, professor Malcolm K. Hughes of the University of Arizona and professor Raymond S. Bradley of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst: "I'm getting hassled by a couple of people to release the CRU station temperature data. Don't any of you three tell anybody that the UK has a Freedom of Information Act!"
At one point, Mr. Jones complained to another academic, "I did get an email from the [Freedom of Information] person here early yesterday to tell me I shouldn't be deleting emails." He also offered up more dubious tricks of his trade, specifically that "IPCC is an international organization, so is above any national FOI. Even if UEA holds anything about IPCC, we are not obliged to pass it on." Another professor at the Climate Research Unit, Tim Osborn, discussed in e-mails how truncating a data series can hide a cooling trend that otherwise would be seen in the results. Mr. Mann sent Mr. Osborn an e-mail saying that the results he was sending shouldn't be shown to others because the data support critics of global warming.
Repeatedly throughout the e-mails that have been made public, proponents of global-warming theories refer to data that has been hidden or destroyed. Only e-mails from Mr. Jones' institution have been made public, and with his obvious approach to deleting sensitive files, it's difficult to determine exactly how much more information has been lost that could be damaging to the global-warming theocracy and its doomsday forecasts.
We don't condone e-mail theft by hackers, though these e-mails were covered by Britain's Freedom of Information Act and should have been released. The content of these e-mails raises extremely serious questions that could end the academic careers of many prominent professors. Academics who have purposely hidden data, destroyed information and doctored their results have committed scientific fraud. We can only hope respected academic institutions such as Pennsylvania State University, the University of Arizona and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst conduct proper investigative inquiries.
Most important, however, these revelations of fudged science should have a cooling effect on global-warming hysteria and the panicked policies that are being pushed forward to address the unproven theory.
Comments: Is anyone surprised? I’m not! I always didn’t give much attention to the so-called global warming hoax. And that’s what this is one BIG HOAX! And now the information to show that is coming to light.
Folks, from a biblical perspective, we are living in a world where there are two parallel kingdoms (Col. 1:13). One is called the “kingdom of darkness.” This kingdom is governed by lies and deceit. The king of this kingdom is Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44). All who are subjects of this kingdom operate within the sphere of lies. Such lies are cloaked in darkness. In other words, in order for lies to be effective, lies must remain cloaked in darkness or secrecy. Once a lie is exposed, the lie loses its power.
The other kingdom is called the “kingdom of light.” This kingdom is ruled by truth and honesty. The king of this kingdom is Jesus Christ, who is the embodiment of truth. He is truth incarnate. The subjects of this kingdom operate in the light. They teach and live by truth openly for all to see. There is nothing to hide. Lies create cover-ups, truth exposes lies and defuses its power to deceive.
Once in a while, these two kingdoms intersect with each other. And this is precisely what has occurred within the last few days. The lies of global environmentalists have intersected with the kingdom of light and as a result, their lies have been exposed.
Now as a result of the exposure, many in the world will see that there is no such thing as man-made global warming. It is all a hoax! It is all lies. The thrust behind all this is simply to create a one world-government. It is a way to punish wealthy nations like the United States, and take its wealth and redistribute it to third-world countries.
This is what Copenhagen is all about on December 9 – just a few days from now. And even though the lies of the CRU (Climate Research Unit) have been exposed, the kingdom of darkness has its spin doctors telling us that the damaging emails are not damaging at all. They reveal merely scientific lingo. This is how scientists merely communicate among one another. Go figure that one!
The CRU has been a major source of data on global temperatures, relied on by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But the e-mails suggest that CRU scientists have been suppressing and misstating data and working to prevent the publication of conflicting views in peer-reviewed science periodicals. Here are some more of those damaging emails:
"I can't see either of these papers being in the next IPCC report. Kevin and I will keep them out somehow -- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!"
"Can you delete any e-mails you may have had with Keith re AR4?"
"I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline."
"The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty we can't."
"I'm getting hassled by a couple of people to release the CRU temperature station data. Don't any of you three tell anybody that the UK has a Freedom of Information Act!"
You get the idea. The most charitable plausible explanation I have seen comes from The Atlantic's Megan McArdle. "The CRU's main computer model may be, to put it bluntly, complete rubbish."
Folks, you know what this means? Let me go a step further. The kingdom of darkness has totally corrupted four main areas of our world:
1. Science. How can we ever trust science again? We even heard recently that women should not get a mammogram until they are at least 50 years old. This has led to a controversy. Science has now been revealed as corrupt by the king of the kingdom of darkness.
2. Academia. How can we trust the so-called “experts?” They lie, they hide the truth from us, they concoct their own data to fit their political agenda, and they tell us not to worry because science is affirmed on the basis of a consensus. Whenever has science been established to be true on the basis of a majority?
3. Government. We know this to be questionable. Government is corrupt because corrupt people are in it. Our government feeds us one crisis after another and we are told to look to the government for the solutions to the crisis. Have you not notice that the so-called crisis of the swine flu has mysteriously vanished? Just a few weeks ago, we were told of a national and global epidemic. Then once it was established that there were not enough flu shots for everyone, which embarrassed the government, and that some of the vaccines had to be recalled because it was making people sick, we did not hear of this crisis anymore. All government is interested in by and large is to grow itself. And as it grows, it wants to make as many people dependent on it as possible.
4. Media. The mainstream media is in the tank with the kingdom of darkness. You can pretty much expect not to receive unbiased objective reporting from the mainstream media. Those in the media have their agenda. I know this for certain and so does anyone else who was paying attention during the last presidential election. It was the corrupt, politically motivated and bias media that played a key role in getting Obama elected. Lots of people who voted for Obama are now saying, “I didn’t know.” This is because, although the information about Obama was out there to show that he was not qualified to be the president, the media played such things down and magnified lesser things such as, “What a great speaker and orator he is.”
So again, I ask this: How can we ever trust science, academia, government and the media especially when all four of these institutions were telling us how awful man is for destroying the planet and unless we change our ways, we have about ten years left on this plant.”
One more thing I would like to add. Liberalism is a lie. It is a system of thinking rooted in lies. Its power source is its ability to lie and to keep lies hidden from the public. I don’t need to dissect the words of Satan and discover what things he says are true as oppose to lies. I am told that he is the father of lies, so therefore, all that he stands for is tied to lies. So it is with liberalism. It is a system of lies. And when you approach it with this in mind, you won’t have to always scratch your head and ask, “Why are they doing this?” “What is their motive?” “Why do they encourage such things?” “How can they live with themselves?”
There are two parallel kingdoms. Those in the kingdom of darkness who see those in the kingdom of light as obstacles and enemies because they are always trying to expose lies and bring such things to surface. And those in the kingdom of light who see those in the kingdom of darkness, not as enemies, but people for whom Jesus loves and died for. They need rescuing from their lies, from their sin and from the evil one who holds them hostage. We too were once in the kingdom of darkness, but God, through Christ delivered us from such a dark domain and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.
When lies are exposed, God is making a bold move to do a lot of delivering and rescuing. We should be very grateful that the doors to the kingdom of light are still wide open.
Controversy has exploded onto the Internet after a major global-warming advocacy center in the UK had its e-mail system hacked and the data published on line. The director of the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit confirmed that the e-mails are genuine — and Australian publication Investigate and the Australian Herald-Sun report that those e-mails expose a conspiracy to hide detrimental information from the public that argues against global warming. Folks, if you are not up to speed on this, then read the article below from the Washington Times. I’ll make some comments afterwards.
Climategate Scandal - Cooking The Books On Global Warming Revealed
http://www.washingtontimes.com
Scientific progress depends on accurate and complete data. It also relies on replication. The past couple of days have uncovered some shocking revelations about the baloney practices that pass as sound science about climate change.
It was announced Thursday afternoon that computer hackers had obtained 160 megabytes of e-mails from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in England. Those e-mails involved communication among many scientific researchers and policy advocates with similar ideological positions all across the world. Those purported authorities were brazenly discussing the destruction and hiding of data that did not support global-warming claims.
Professor Phil Jones, the head of the Climate Research Unit, and professor Michael E. Mann at Pennsylvania State University, who has been an important scientist in the climate debate, have come under particular scrutiny. Among his e-mails, Mr. Jones talked to Mr. Mann about the "trick of adding in the real temps to each series ... to hide the decline in temperature."
Mr. Mann admitted that he was party to this conversation and lamely explained to the New York Times that "scientists often used the word 'trick' to refer to a good way to solve a problem 'and not something secret.' " Though the liberal New York newspaper apparently buys this explanation, we have seen no benign explanation that justifies efforts by researchers to skew data on so-called global-warming "to hide the decline." Given the controversies over the accuracy of Mr. Mann's past research, it is surprising his current explanations are accepted so readily.
There is a lot of damning evidence about these researchers concealing information that counters their bias. In another exchange, Mr. Jones told Mr. Mann: "If they ever hear there is a Freedom of Information Act now in the UK, I think I'll delete the file rather than send to anyone" and, "We also have a data protection act, which I will hide behind." Mr. Jones further urged Mr. Mann to join him in deleting e-mail exchanges about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) controversial assessment report (ARA): "Can you delete any emails you may have had with Keith re [the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report]?"
In another e-mail, Mr. Jones told Mr. Mann, professor Malcolm K. Hughes of the University of Arizona and professor Raymond S. Bradley of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst: "I'm getting hassled by a couple of people to release the CRU station temperature data. Don't any of you three tell anybody that the UK has a Freedom of Information Act!"
At one point, Mr. Jones complained to another academic, "I did get an email from the [Freedom of Information] person here early yesterday to tell me I shouldn't be deleting emails." He also offered up more dubious tricks of his trade, specifically that "IPCC is an international organization, so is above any national FOI. Even if UEA holds anything about IPCC, we are not obliged to pass it on." Another professor at the Climate Research Unit, Tim Osborn, discussed in e-mails how truncating a data series can hide a cooling trend that otherwise would be seen in the results. Mr. Mann sent Mr. Osborn an e-mail saying that the results he was sending shouldn't be shown to others because the data support critics of global warming.
Repeatedly throughout the e-mails that have been made public, proponents of global-warming theories refer to data that has been hidden or destroyed. Only e-mails from Mr. Jones' institution have been made public, and with his obvious approach to deleting sensitive files, it's difficult to determine exactly how much more information has been lost that could be damaging to the global-warming theocracy and its doomsday forecasts.
We don't condone e-mail theft by hackers, though these e-mails were covered by Britain's Freedom of Information Act and should have been released. The content of these e-mails raises extremely serious questions that could end the academic careers of many prominent professors. Academics who have purposely hidden data, destroyed information and doctored their results have committed scientific fraud. We can only hope respected academic institutions such as Pennsylvania State University, the University of Arizona and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst conduct proper investigative inquiries.
Most important, however, these revelations of fudged science should have a cooling effect on global-warming hysteria and the panicked policies that are being pushed forward to address the unproven theory.
Comments: Is anyone surprised? I’m not! I always didn’t give much attention to the so-called global warming hoax. And that’s what this is one BIG HOAX! And now the information to show that is coming to light.
Folks, from a biblical perspective, we are living in a world where there are two parallel kingdoms (Col. 1:13). One is called the “kingdom of darkness.” This kingdom is governed by lies and deceit. The king of this kingdom is Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44). All who are subjects of this kingdom operate within the sphere of lies. Such lies are cloaked in darkness. In other words, in order for lies to be effective, lies must remain cloaked in darkness or secrecy. Once a lie is exposed, the lie loses its power.
The other kingdom is called the “kingdom of light.” This kingdom is ruled by truth and honesty. The king of this kingdom is Jesus Christ, who is the embodiment of truth. He is truth incarnate. The subjects of this kingdom operate in the light. They teach and live by truth openly for all to see. There is nothing to hide. Lies create cover-ups, truth exposes lies and defuses its power to deceive.
Once in a while, these two kingdoms intersect with each other. And this is precisely what has occurred within the last few days. The lies of global environmentalists have intersected with the kingdom of light and as a result, their lies have been exposed.
Now as a result of the exposure, many in the world will see that there is no such thing as man-made global warming. It is all a hoax! It is all lies. The thrust behind all this is simply to create a one world-government. It is a way to punish wealthy nations like the United States, and take its wealth and redistribute it to third-world countries.
This is what Copenhagen is all about on December 9 – just a few days from now. And even though the lies of the CRU (Climate Research Unit) have been exposed, the kingdom of darkness has its spin doctors telling us that the damaging emails are not damaging at all. They reveal merely scientific lingo. This is how scientists merely communicate among one another. Go figure that one!
The CRU has been a major source of data on global temperatures, relied on by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But the e-mails suggest that CRU scientists have been suppressing and misstating data and working to prevent the publication of conflicting views in peer-reviewed science periodicals. Here are some more of those damaging emails:
"I can't see either of these papers being in the next IPCC report. Kevin and I will keep them out somehow -- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!"
"Can you delete any e-mails you may have had with Keith re AR4?"
"I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline."
"The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty we can't."
"I'm getting hassled by a couple of people to release the CRU temperature station data. Don't any of you three tell anybody that the UK has a Freedom of Information Act!"
You get the idea. The most charitable plausible explanation I have seen comes from The Atlantic's Megan McArdle. "The CRU's main computer model may be, to put it bluntly, complete rubbish."
Folks, you know what this means? Let me go a step further. The kingdom of darkness has totally corrupted four main areas of our world:
1. Science. How can we ever trust science again? We even heard recently that women should not get a mammogram until they are at least 50 years old. This has led to a controversy. Science has now been revealed as corrupt by the king of the kingdom of darkness.
2. Academia. How can we trust the so-called “experts?” They lie, they hide the truth from us, they concoct their own data to fit their political agenda, and they tell us not to worry because science is affirmed on the basis of a consensus. Whenever has science been established to be true on the basis of a majority?
3. Government. We know this to be questionable. Government is corrupt because corrupt people are in it. Our government feeds us one crisis after another and we are told to look to the government for the solutions to the crisis. Have you not notice that the so-called crisis of the swine flu has mysteriously vanished? Just a few weeks ago, we were told of a national and global epidemic. Then once it was established that there were not enough flu shots for everyone, which embarrassed the government, and that some of the vaccines had to be recalled because it was making people sick, we did not hear of this crisis anymore. All government is interested in by and large is to grow itself. And as it grows, it wants to make as many people dependent on it as possible.
4. Media. The mainstream media is in the tank with the kingdom of darkness. You can pretty much expect not to receive unbiased objective reporting from the mainstream media. Those in the media have their agenda. I know this for certain and so does anyone else who was paying attention during the last presidential election. It was the corrupt, politically motivated and bias media that played a key role in getting Obama elected. Lots of people who voted for Obama are now saying, “I didn’t know.” This is because, although the information about Obama was out there to show that he was not qualified to be the president, the media played such things down and magnified lesser things such as, “What a great speaker and orator he is.”
So again, I ask this: How can we ever trust science, academia, government and the media especially when all four of these institutions were telling us how awful man is for destroying the planet and unless we change our ways, we have about ten years left on this plant.”
One more thing I would like to add. Liberalism is a lie. It is a system of thinking rooted in lies. Its power source is its ability to lie and to keep lies hidden from the public. I don’t need to dissect the words of Satan and discover what things he says are true as oppose to lies. I am told that he is the father of lies, so therefore, all that he stands for is tied to lies. So it is with liberalism. It is a system of lies. And when you approach it with this in mind, you won’t have to always scratch your head and ask, “Why are they doing this?” “What is their motive?” “Why do they encourage such things?” “How can they live with themselves?”
There are two parallel kingdoms. Those in the kingdom of darkness who see those in the kingdom of light as obstacles and enemies because they are always trying to expose lies and bring such things to surface. And those in the kingdom of light who see those in the kingdom of darkness, not as enemies, but people for whom Jesus loves and died for. They need rescuing from their lies, from their sin and from the evil one who holds them hostage. We too were once in the kingdom of darkness, but God, through Christ delivered us from such a dark domain and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.
When lies are exposed, God is making a bold move to do a lot of delivering and rescuing. We should be very grateful that the doors to the kingdom of light are still wide open.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
“They Did Not Honor Him as God, or Give Thanks”
Note: I have been blessed with my continual reading on the need to be thankful, even when Thanksgiving Day is over with. As we Christians know, thanksgiving ought to be a way of life for us, not an exception to the rule. Below is another fine article from another one of my favorite bloggers – Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. Below you will read how an unthankful heart is often times the root of many sins and it is certainly one clear way of not honoring God. You will like reading this article. Enjoy!
“They Did Not Honor Him as God, or Give Thanks”
Thanksgiving is a deeply theological act, rightly understood. As a matter of fact, thankfulness is a theology in microcosm -- a key to understanding what we really believe about God, ourselves, and the world we experience.
A haunting question is this: How do atheists observe Thanksgiving? I can easily understand that an atheist or agnostic would think of fellow human beings and feel led to express thankfulness and gratitude to all those who, both directly and indirectly, have contributed to their lives. But what about the blessings that cannot be ascribed to human agency? Those are both more numerous and more significant, ranging from the universe we experience to the gift of life itself.
Can one really be thankful without being thankful to someone? It makes no sense to express thankfulness to a purely naturalistic system. The late Stephen Jay Gould, an atheist and one of the foremost paleontologists and evolutionists of his day, described human life as "but a tiny, late-arising twig on life's enormously arborescent bush." Gould was a clear-headed evolutionist who took the theory of evolution to its ultimate conclusion -- human life is merely an accident, though a very happy accident for us. Within that worldview, how does thankfulness work?
The Apostle Paul points to a central insight about thankfulness when he instructs the Christians in Rome about the reality and consequences of unbelief. After making clear that God has revealed himself to all humanity through the created order, Paul asserts that we are all without excuse when it comes to our responsibility to know and worship the Creator.
He wrote:
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. . ." [Romans 1:20-22].
This remarkable passage has at its center an indictment of thanklessness. They did not honor Him as God or give thanks. Paul wants us to understand that the refusal to honor God and give thanks is a raw form of the primal sin. Theologians have long debated the foundational sin -- and answers have ranged from lust to pride. Nevertheless, it would seem that being unthankful, refusing to recognize God as the source of all good things, is very close to the essence of the primal sin. What explains the rebellion of Adam and Eve in the Garden? A lack of proper thankfulness was at the core of their sin. God gave them unspeakable riches and abundance, but forbade them the fruit of one tree. A proper thankfulness would have led our first parents to avoid that fruit at all costs, and to obey the Lord's command. Taken further, this first sin was also a lack of thankfulness in that the decision to eat the forbidden fruit indicated a lack of thankfulness that took the form of an assertion that we creatures -- not the Creator -- know what is best for us and intend the best for us.
They did not honor Him as God or give thanks. Clearly, honoring God as God leads us naturally into thankfulness. To honor Him as God is to honor His limitless love, His benevolence and care, His provision and uncountable gifts. To fail in thankfulness is to fail to honor God -- and this is the biblical description of fallen and sinful humanity. We are a thankless lot.
Sinners saved by the grace and mercy of God know a thankfulness that exceeds any merely human thankfulness. How do we express thankfulness for the provision the Father has made for us in Christ, the riches that are made ours in Him, and the unspeakable gift of the surpassing grace of God? As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift" [2 Corinthians 9:15].
So, observe a wonderful Thanksgiving -- but realize that a proper Christian Thanksgiving is a deeply theological act that requires an active mind as well as a thankful heart. We need to think deeply, widely, carefully, and faithfully about the countless reasons for our thankfulness to God.
It is humbling to see that Paul so explicitly links a lack of thankfulness to sin, foolishness, and idolatry. A lack of proper thankfulness to God is a clear sign of a basic godlessness. Millions of Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving with little consciousness of this truth. Their impulse to express gratitude is a sign of their spiritual need that can be met only in Christ.
By Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
Dr. Mohler serves as the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary-the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world.
“They Did Not Honor Him as God, or Give Thanks”
Thanksgiving is a deeply theological act, rightly understood. As a matter of fact, thankfulness is a theology in microcosm -- a key to understanding what we really believe about God, ourselves, and the world we experience.
A haunting question is this: How do atheists observe Thanksgiving? I can easily understand that an atheist or agnostic would think of fellow human beings and feel led to express thankfulness and gratitude to all those who, both directly and indirectly, have contributed to their lives. But what about the blessings that cannot be ascribed to human agency? Those are both more numerous and more significant, ranging from the universe we experience to the gift of life itself.
Can one really be thankful without being thankful to someone? It makes no sense to express thankfulness to a purely naturalistic system. The late Stephen Jay Gould, an atheist and one of the foremost paleontologists and evolutionists of his day, described human life as "but a tiny, late-arising twig on life's enormously arborescent bush." Gould was a clear-headed evolutionist who took the theory of evolution to its ultimate conclusion -- human life is merely an accident, though a very happy accident for us. Within that worldview, how does thankfulness work?
The Apostle Paul points to a central insight about thankfulness when he instructs the Christians in Rome about the reality and consequences of unbelief. After making clear that God has revealed himself to all humanity through the created order, Paul asserts that we are all without excuse when it comes to our responsibility to know and worship the Creator.
He wrote:
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. . ." [Romans 1:20-22].
This remarkable passage has at its center an indictment of thanklessness. They did not honor Him as God or give thanks. Paul wants us to understand that the refusal to honor God and give thanks is a raw form of the primal sin. Theologians have long debated the foundational sin -- and answers have ranged from lust to pride. Nevertheless, it would seem that being unthankful, refusing to recognize God as the source of all good things, is very close to the essence of the primal sin. What explains the rebellion of Adam and Eve in the Garden? A lack of proper thankfulness was at the core of their sin. God gave them unspeakable riches and abundance, but forbade them the fruit of one tree. A proper thankfulness would have led our first parents to avoid that fruit at all costs, and to obey the Lord's command. Taken further, this first sin was also a lack of thankfulness in that the decision to eat the forbidden fruit indicated a lack of thankfulness that took the form of an assertion that we creatures -- not the Creator -- know what is best for us and intend the best for us.
They did not honor Him as God or give thanks. Clearly, honoring God as God leads us naturally into thankfulness. To honor Him as God is to honor His limitless love, His benevolence and care, His provision and uncountable gifts. To fail in thankfulness is to fail to honor God -- and this is the biblical description of fallen and sinful humanity. We are a thankless lot.
Sinners saved by the grace and mercy of God know a thankfulness that exceeds any merely human thankfulness. How do we express thankfulness for the provision the Father has made for us in Christ, the riches that are made ours in Him, and the unspeakable gift of the surpassing grace of God? As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift" [2 Corinthians 9:15].
So, observe a wonderful Thanksgiving -- but realize that a proper Christian Thanksgiving is a deeply theological act that requires an active mind as well as a thankful heart. We need to think deeply, widely, carefully, and faithfully about the countless reasons for our thankfulness to God.
It is humbling to see that Paul so explicitly links a lack of thankfulness to sin, foolishness, and idolatry. A lack of proper thankfulness to God is a clear sign of a basic godlessness. Millions of Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving with little consciousness of this truth. Their impulse to express gratitude is a sign of their spiritual need that can be met only in Christ.
By Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
Dr. Mohler serves as the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary-the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
God is For You
One of my favorite bloggers is Mark Batterson who pastors a growing church in the D.C. area. He has helpful insights, a leadership spirit and a pastor's heart. His latest blog is something I felt the need to share with you. Enjoy!
God is For You
"If God is for us then who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31
You + God = a majority. If God is on your side, there is nothing you cannot overcome. Why? Because we are more than conquerors through Christ. That is reality. That isn't optimism. It's biblical realism.
If you know that God is for you, then no challenge is too great, no problem is too big, no obstacle cannot be overcome. But most of us doubt this fundamental truth. And I believe it's one of our root spiritual problems. We aren't sure if God is really for us or against us because we allow the guilt we feel over sins committed to infect our feelings. We think God feels about us the way we feel about ourselves! We need to sanctify our feelings.
You need to settle this once and for all. God is for you. God is on your side. God is in your corner. His intentions toward you are always good. Here's an amazing promise in Psalm 84:11:
"No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what is right."
God is For You
"If God is for us then who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31
You + God = a majority. If God is on your side, there is nothing you cannot overcome. Why? Because we are more than conquerors through Christ. That is reality. That isn't optimism. It's biblical realism.
If you know that God is for you, then no challenge is too great, no problem is too big, no obstacle cannot be overcome. But most of us doubt this fundamental truth. And I believe it's one of our root spiritual problems. We aren't sure if God is really for us or against us because we allow the guilt we feel over sins committed to infect our feelings. We think God feels about us the way we feel about ourselves! We need to sanctify our feelings.
You need to settle this once and for all. God is for you. God is on your side. God is in your corner. His intentions toward you are always good. Here's an amazing promise in Psalm 84:11:
"No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what is right."
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Count Your Blessings
Note: Chuck Swindoll is always encouraging to read and listen to. Below he looks at Psalm 95 and shares some really great observations. Open your bibles today to Psalm 95 and read the Psalm carefully and prayerfully. Then follow Chuck's outline below and be blessed by some of God's amazing promises which will help you to count your blessings. I promise you will be thankful you did. Happy Thanksgiving!
Count Your Blessings
by Charles R. Swindoll
Psalm 95
Sometimes when you don't feel like praying, or you're consumed with needing to speak to the Lord but can't gather the words, try that old standby---count your many blessings, count them one by one.
lt's amazing how you can get carried away from worries and woes and self concern when you start naming out loud what you're thankful for. Right away your focus shifts from your needs to the Father's graciousness and love. Try this:
LOOK UP . . . thank You, Lord . . .
for Your sovereign control over our circumstances
for Your holy character in spite of our sinfulness
for Your Word that gives us direction
for Your grace that removes our guilt
LOOK AROUND . . . thank You, Lord . . .
for our wonderful country
for close family ties
for an opportunity to help others
for a place to live, clothes to wear, food to eat
LOOK WITHIN . . . thank You, Lord . . .
for eyes that see the beauty of Your creation
for minds that are curious, creative, and competent
for memories of pleasures and recent accomplishments
for broken dreams and lingering afflictions that humble us
for a sense of humor that brings healing and hope
He is worthy of our highest praise and gratitude. To Him goes all the glory.
If you can't pray, make a personalized list of blessings.
Count Your Blessings
by Charles R. Swindoll
Psalm 95
Sometimes when you don't feel like praying, or you're consumed with needing to speak to the Lord but can't gather the words, try that old standby---count your many blessings, count them one by one.
lt's amazing how you can get carried away from worries and woes and self concern when you start naming out loud what you're thankful for. Right away your focus shifts from your needs to the Father's graciousness and love. Try this:
LOOK UP . . . thank You, Lord . . .
for Your sovereign control over our circumstances
for Your holy character in spite of our sinfulness
for Your Word that gives us direction
for Your grace that removes our guilt
LOOK AROUND . . . thank You, Lord . . .
for our wonderful country
for close family ties
for an opportunity to help others
for a place to live, clothes to wear, food to eat
LOOK WITHIN . . . thank You, Lord . . .
for eyes that see the beauty of Your creation
for minds that are curious, creative, and competent
for memories of pleasures and recent accomplishments
for broken dreams and lingering afflictions that humble us
for a sense of humor that brings healing and hope
He is worthy of our highest praise and gratitude. To Him goes all the glory.
If you can't pray, make a personalized list of blessings.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Commanding Demons To Stand Down
Note: Remember the song that goes something like this: “I went to the enemy’s camp and took back what he stole from me. . .?” It is a song about warfare and the battle we Christians are continually engaged in over souls of others. Not a bad song. The bible does call Satan a “thief” (John 10:10). He desires to steal away our loved ones. He also wants to blind them and keep them in darkness (2 Cor. 4:4). This is why it can be very difficult to witness to a loved one or anyone for that matter especially when there are demonic interferences. Below is a good article regarding the warfare that we often face when witnessing and what to do about it.
The suggested prayer is good, but I think it does not actually go far enough. There are no scriptures. I cannot imagine praying a warfare prayer to command demons to stand down and not use at least a couple of passages from the bible. So let me suggest two you can use:
2 Corinthians 10:3-6: 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
Luke 10:19: I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
There are a lot more, but any warfare prayer ought to have passages from the Sword of the Spirit – the bible (Eph. 6:17) to offensively battle Satan and his strongholds.
Nevertheless, the article below is definitely worth reading. Enjoy!
Commanding Demons to Stand Down
So You Can Properly Witness to Someone
By Michael Bradley
s we have said over and over in many of our articles, the number one thing that we as Christians should be doing for the Lord is to lead as many souls as we possibly can into eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is greater and more important than leading a lost soul into the saving grace of our Lord and Savor Jesus Christ.
In this article I want to give you a very powerful spiritual warfare tactic and strategy that you can use when trying to witness to someone who has demons attached to them. As many of you probably already know, you will have a very hard time in trying to witness to someone if they have demons attached to them. The reason being is that the demons will rise up on the person as you are trying to witness to them and they will then try and prevent your words from being able to reach their minds.
The demons will try to run a shield between you and the person's mind so they will not fully understand what you are trying to tell them. The demons will either try and disorient and confuse the person you are trying to witness to, or they will try and make them mad at you. But in either event, you won't be able to "reach" the person with the message of the Gospel in order to get them saved.
If you ever run across someone who has been very hard to reach with the truth of the Gospel and you suspect that they may have demons attached to them, what you can do, before you get ready to try and witness to them, is to speak out loud to the demons, telling them that they are to stand down and to be completely silent once you walk into that room to start to witness to this person.
I have read of numerous accounts where people were having a hard time in getting some of their friends and loved ones saved due to the demons rising up on the person and disrupting the flow of the conversation. These people were not able to make any kind of headway with the people they were witnessing to as the demons were doing a good job in running interference.
But once they commanded the demons to stand down and not to interfere with the conversation, then they were able to lead their friends and family members into a true salvation experience with the Lord very quickly. This tactic and strategy is so simple, yet so effective, and it could be the key that will open up the door for you so you can get your friend or family member saved.
How to Use This Strategy
Here is an example of how you can use this specific warfare strategy, along with a sample type of battle command you can use to command the demons to stand down so you can properly witness to your friend or family member.
Example: Say you are trying to witness to your dad. He is not saved and you either know or suspect that he has demons attached to him. You have tried to witness to him numerous times before, but you can barely get him to talk about Jesus for two minutes before he either wants to change the subject matter, starts to get disoriented and confused, or he just flat out gets mad and hostile with you, telling you that he simply doesn't want to talk to you about God and Jesus.
If this is the kind of situation you have been dealing with for quite a long period of time with someone, here is what you can try and do now using this particular spiritual warfare tactic:
1. Say for example you are getting ready to see your dad on a Sunday afternoon. Before you leave the house, you start picking up from the Holy Spirit will be wanting you to try and witness to your dad once again. If you pick up that kind of leading from the Holy Spirit before you actually leave the house, you can now try to employ this strategy either at your own house before you leave to see your dad or you can do it sometime in the car before you actually arrive at your dad's place.
2. What you will now do is speak out loud to the demons, telling them that you are now getting ready to see your dad and that they are not to interfere with the conversation that you will now be having with him. You will first of all have to speak all of this type of battle command out loud to the demons so they can hear you loud and clear in the spirit realm.
There is no "distance" in the realm of the spirit, so the demons will hear you loud and clear once you start speaking out this kind of a direct command to them, even if your dad lives 50 miles away from where you live at. The Holy Spirit Himself will also make sure that they hear you loud and clear so they will fully obey all of your direct orders to them.
3. Now here is a sample type of battle command that you can use so you can cause these demons to back down on your dad so you will have free clearance and access to your dad's mind so you can properly witness to him once you get over there.
The Warfare Prayer
"In the name of Jesus Christ, I am now speaking to every single demon who is attached to my dad, either on the inside of him or on the outside of him. I will be visiting my dad this afternoon. And when I get over there, I want every single one of you to stand down and to be completely silent. I repeat, in the name of Jesus Christ, I am now commanding every single one of you to stand completely down and back off of him the minute I walk into that door to talk with him.
Demons, I now bind up each and everyone of you so you cannot move an inch on my dad and so you cannot interfere with the conversation I will now be having with him. In the name of Jesus Christ, his mind will remain perfectly free and clear from all of your evil influence as I am talking directly to him this afternoon.
Demons, once again, you are not to interfere with our conversation. You are not to try and come up into my dad's mind and block the flow of our conversation or attempt to run any kind of interference with him. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are to stand completely down and remain completely silent and still until I am completely finished with him and I walk out his front door.
In the name of Jesus Christ, this is a direct command to each and everyone of you and you are to fully obey every part of this direct command."
This would be the basic gist on how to word out this type of battle command to these demons so you will be able to properly witness to your dad once you get over to his house.
Conclusion
Again, if there are any of you out there who are having a hard time in trying to get any of your friends or family members saved, and you suspect that demons may be running some kind of interference with your witnessing attempts, do not be afraid to try this particular strategy out. You will have absolutely nothing to lose in trying this tactic out and everything to gain if by chance this tactic does work.
Sometimes something this simple will be the thing that will open up the door to get your loved one saved. I have read about this strategy numerous times in all of the spiritual warfare books I have read and there have been many documented cases where this particular strategy really did work. And when it does work, it can work very, very quickly. Sometimes the person will get saved on the very first time that you try this strategy.
This is another good spiritual warfare tactic for your arsenal should you ever need it.
The suggested prayer is good, but I think it does not actually go far enough. There are no scriptures. I cannot imagine praying a warfare prayer to command demons to stand down and not use at least a couple of passages from the bible. So let me suggest two you can use:
2 Corinthians 10:3-6: 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
Luke 10:19: I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
There are a lot more, but any warfare prayer ought to have passages from the Sword of the Spirit – the bible (Eph. 6:17) to offensively battle Satan and his strongholds.
Nevertheless, the article below is definitely worth reading. Enjoy!
Commanding Demons to Stand Down
So You Can Properly Witness to Someone
By Michael Bradley
s we have said over and over in many of our articles, the number one thing that we as Christians should be doing for the Lord is to lead as many souls as we possibly can into eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is greater and more important than leading a lost soul into the saving grace of our Lord and Savor Jesus Christ.
In this article I want to give you a very powerful spiritual warfare tactic and strategy that you can use when trying to witness to someone who has demons attached to them. As many of you probably already know, you will have a very hard time in trying to witness to someone if they have demons attached to them. The reason being is that the demons will rise up on the person as you are trying to witness to them and they will then try and prevent your words from being able to reach their minds.
The demons will try to run a shield between you and the person's mind so they will not fully understand what you are trying to tell them. The demons will either try and disorient and confuse the person you are trying to witness to, or they will try and make them mad at you. But in either event, you won't be able to "reach" the person with the message of the Gospel in order to get them saved.
If you ever run across someone who has been very hard to reach with the truth of the Gospel and you suspect that they may have demons attached to them, what you can do, before you get ready to try and witness to them, is to speak out loud to the demons, telling them that they are to stand down and to be completely silent once you walk into that room to start to witness to this person.
I have read of numerous accounts where people were having a hard time in getting some of their friends and loved ones saved due to the demons rising up on the person and disrupting the flow of the conversation. These people were not able to make any kind of headway with the people they were witnessing to as the demons were doing a good job in running interference.
But once they commanded the demons to stand down and not to interfere with the conversation, then they were able to lead their friends and family members into a true salvation experience with the Lord very quickly. This tactic and strategy is so simple, yet so effective, and it could be the key that will open up the door for you so you can get your friend or family member saved.
How to Use This Strategy
Here is an example of how you can use this specific warfare strategy, along with a sample type of battle command you can use to command the demons to stand down so you can properly witness to your friend or family member.
Example: Say you are trying to witness to your dad. He is not saved and you either know or suspect that he has demons attached to him. You have tried to witness to him numerous times before, but you can barely get him to talk about Jesus for two minutes before he either wants to change the subject matter, starts to get disoriented and confused, or he just flat out gets mad and hostile with you, telling you that he simply doesn't want to talk to you about God and Jesus.
If this is the kind of situation you have been dealing with for quite a long period of time with someone, here is what you can try and do now using this particular spiritual warfare tactic:
1. Say for example you are getting ready to see your dad on a Sunday afternoon. Before you leave the house, you start picking up from the Holy Spirit will be wanting you to try and witness to your dad once again. If you pick up that kind of leading from the Holy Spirit before you actually leave the house, you can now try to employ this strategy either at your own house before you leave to see your dad or you can do it sometime in the car before you actually arrive at your dad's place.
2. What you will now do is speak out loud to the demons, telling them that you are now getting ready to see your dad and that they are not to interfere with the conversation that you will now be having with him. You will first of all have to speak all of this type of battle command out loud to the demons so they can hear you loud and clear in the spirit realm.
There is no "distance" in the realm of the spirit, so the demons will hear you loud and clear once you start speaking out this kind of a direct command to them, even if your dad lives 50 miles away from where you live at. The Holy Spirit Himself will also make sure that they hear you loud and clear so they will fully obey all of your direct orders to them.
3. Now here is a sample type of battle command that you can use so you can cause these demons to back down on your dad so you will have free clearance and access to your dad's mind so you can properly witness to him once you get over there.
The Warfare Prayer
"In the name of Jesus Christ, I am now speaking to every single demon who is attached to my dad, either on the inside of him or on the outside of him. I will be visiting my dad this afternoon. And when I get over there, I want every single one of you to stand down and to be completely silent. I repeat, in the name of Jesus Christ, I am now commanding every single one of you to stand completely down and back off of him the minute I walk into that door to talk with him.
Demons, I now bind up each and everyone of you so you cannot move an inch on my dad and so you cannot interfere with the conversation I will now be having with him. In the name of Jesus Christ, his mind will remain perfectly free and clear from all of your evil influence as I am talking directly to him this afternoon.
Demons, once again, you are not to interfere with our conversation. You are not to try and come up into my dad's mind and block the flow of our conversation or attempt to run any kind of interference with him. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are to stand completely down and remain completely silent and still until I am completely finished with him and I walk out his front door.
In the name of Jesus Christ, this is a direct command to each and everyone of you and you are to fully obey every part of this direct command."
This would be the basic gist on how to word out this type of battle command to these demons so you will be able to properly witness to your dad once you get over to his house.
Conclusion
Again, if there are any of you out there who are having a hard time in trying to get any of your friends or family members saved, and you suspect that demons may be running some kind of interference with your witnessing attempts, do not be afraid to try this particular strategy out. You will have absolutely nothing to lose in trying this tactic out and everything to gain if by chance this tactic does work.
Sometimes something this simple will be the thing that will open up the door to get your loved one saved. I have read about this strategy numerous times in all of the spiritual warfare books I have read and there have been many documented cases where this particular strategy really did work. And when it does work, it can work very, very quickly. Sometimes the person will get saved on the very first time that you try this strategy.
This is another good spiritual warfare tactic for your arsenal should you ever need it.
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