The Three Great Mistakes Of America

THE THREE GREAT MISTAKES OF AMERICA

     When our forefathers came to this country on the Mayflower so long ago, they came because of their many personal reasons, but they were predominately Christians. This country, when it became independent of Britain, was founded by Christian forefathers who created a very sound constitution and founded a very good government, and much if not all of the legislation that the people were ruled by was based on the bible! However, despite all their careful work to lay the foundation of a nation great and long lasting, I ponder the idea that they made a number of mistakes that have proven very hurtful to this country, and in man's entire history on this planet, no civilization, not one nation, has ever been perfect in eliminating all three of these mistakes from their foundation. Let's look at the first to be considered.

     God's own people saw all that God did for them, and knew of this God-given strategy for nation building from their own leaders, Moses and Joshua, and still they made the same mistake all nations before and after them have made; they allowed nonChristian people to live amongst them. In Deut. 7:1-4 it is written, "When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly." Now consider how our country is faring today, and see if you can see the flaw we have in our governance, that we have allowed other religions to come to our country, and how they have affected us the same way that the Israelites were affected. Did not the perverseness, corruption, and sinfulness of the people of other religions cause the downfall of the Israelites, and didn't they pay the consequence of being conquered by other nations, because they failed to obey God? We've actually allowed the ungodly to put God out of our schools, and they have been working to oust Him from our public property in the form of crosses and Ten Commandment displays! Oh, how do we wrest the power from the ungodly who work to offend Him and rouse Him to wrath? Let's look at another mistake, shall we?

     Exod. 18:19-21 has it, "Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness;...". We as a nation have also not recognized this precept in the way we elect people to lead our nation, not from the lowly councilperson to the presidency. We seem to elect people for good looks, false promises, and without checking their backgrounds or past indiscretions instead of electing them based on at a minimum of at least proclaimed Christian values and beliefs! This nation has suffered many consequences as a result of unwise choices of the leaders of our country. Look at Dan. 7:25; "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." As the antiChrist shall seek to change times and laws, don't some politicians try to do that already? There is one more mistake that I feel our nation has made over the many years, and it is probably the greatest mistake of all.

     While we are young, we are able to accomplish much with our strength. We are able to learn quickly with a youthful mind. We are able to bring in an income to support ourselves and our family, if God is willing to bless us with a job. We are able to raise children, if God is willing to bless us with them. But once we become stricken with age, once we must depend on the retirement funds we (hopefully) were wise enough to put away because we can no longer work, once we are finished with the job of raising children, we can no longer sow, and we must reap of our actions when we were young. If we voted wrong, politicians may change laws or take our retirement away, or worse, may allow our nation to become weak enough to be beaten and lose its sovereignty. If we failed to raise our children properly, we may suffer their behavior as a result of how we reared them. This has become very evident over the decades; people have not raised their children correctly, and our nation continues to suffer more and more as a result. Let's look at this passage in Deut. 4:1-10; "Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children." I tell you, many parents through the lifetime of our nation since it was created have not followed the wise instruction of this part of the Old Testament. Our nation is faster and faster going to its destruction in corruption, perversity, and godlessness. What number of real Christians as are left see this and are troubled, but God rewards action! Let us pray to our God for His help, and let us reprove our children with the bible. Let us lead the distraught and weary and influence them to believe His word, and allow God to reward appropriately those who refuse to hear and even mock Scripture. But let us preach, teach, and pray with love for those who need it, as Jesus wanted done then, and even now.

The Story Between God And Satan

THE STORY BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN

If you haven't been able to piece it all together, there's a history between God and Satan that's rather sad, because Satan wasn't supposed to be such a bad egg like he is. Ezekiel wrote about all the love God put into the creation of Lucifer; "Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, 'Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created...'" (Ezek. 28:12-15).

The devil sounds like he has every reason to be an obedient creation to God, but something went wrong; terribly wrong. Iniquity was found in him (Ezek. 28:15). What was that sin? Pride. His beauty was so bright, it corrupted his mind (Ezek. 28:17). As we who read the bible know from Prov. 16:18, pride goeth before a fall, and how great was Satan's fall! According to Luke 10:18, Jesus spoke as an eyewitness that he fell like lightning, and that's faster than I would ever want to fall down! As Isaiah said of Satan after his fall, "Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?" (Isa. 14:16-17).

So you might next want to know how this sin manifested itself in Satan, that God came to notice it, and that answer is in Isaiah's book; "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." (Isa. 14:12-14). Satan didn't even have to speak his sin, it was read in his heart by our omniscient God, and immediately God dealt with the devil and his sin!

Now many, if not all who read this, have heard of the fires of hell, but remember that part of the gospel where Jesus talks about hell, and where "...their worm never dies"? Look in Mark 9:43 - 44; "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." If you want to see another reference to those worms, look now into Isa. 14:11; "Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee." Are there any volunteers to be in hell where the fire is never quenched and there are worms? Believe it or not, all who disbelieve in Jesus till their final breath.

So now the story becomes ugly for you and me. We didn't want a part of what happened between God and Satan, but the devil brings it to us. He started with some of the other angels, and you can find them in 2 Pet. 2:4; "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;". Satan goes after people, too, such as novices at Christianity who get into positions of leadership too quickly and then become proud, as is written in 1 Tim. 3:6; "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil." So while we're trying to follow Christ, we have to be careful Lucifer doesn't drag us into the mess he's in. And then there's false teachers; they teach everything and anything unScriptural, even up to denying Christ who bought us, and them, too. They exploit who they will, walk after the flesh...how many have been exposed for molestation, homosexuality, and adultery and fornication?  There are also the covetous who do religious work for personal gain. These are all spoken of in 2 Pet. 2:1 - 22. The devil has many devices; he wants us to think we can thrive independent of God; but in the end, it will prove to eternal damnation.

Other ways the devil tries to steal souls is the idea of worshipping demons and false idols, and this has been since the Old Testament, as when the people were warned in Exod. 20:3 - 6; "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments." From one end of the bible to the other, man is warned about false god and demon worship. Even to Rev. 9:20 - 21; "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."

Oh, who can count the devices of the devil? Idolatry, suicide, fortune telling, astrology, witchcraft - all these works of the devil are told of in the bible, and from the time God warned up to even now, people do these things. Exod. 20:13 has it that "thou shalt not kill", and yet people will believe the thoughts demons put in their heads that suicide will release them from some great guilt, or from serious problems they have.

Yes, Satan and his evil angels are determined to drag as many human souls to hell with them as they can. Here is a passage from 1 Tim 4:1-3; "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."

So understand that Satan is our enemy, just as he has made himself God's adversary. Actually, his very name means adversary, and the name "devil" means slanderer. We never went to him to pick a fight with him, he came to us to take our souls. See in 1 Pet. 5:8; "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

Satan uses his workers, besides himself, to try to fool you. They will imitate God's disciples as if they were His, too, so they have to be observed in order to discern if they be of God or of Satan. As it is written in 2 Cor 11:12-15; "But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

And so Satan and his demons try to trick us and use us, because he knows it is the will of the Father that all of us would be saved, but as he is God's adversary, his will would be that none of us get saved. He wants us to worship him (Matt. 4:8 - 9), he wants us to worship false gods and idols (Rev. 9:20), he wants you to believe perversions of the gospel and bible (Gal. 1:6 - 7), and really wants you not to believe in the bible at all so that he can lie to you in all ways, because he is the father of lying (John 8:44). He seeks to eat us up as a roaring lion (1 Pet. 5:8), knowing that sating his appetite on each soul is against the will of our loving Father.

So long as we believe, however, Satan cannot have us. John 3:16 guarantees it to the true believer, and Jesus Himself said nobody can take us from His hand in John 10:28. Jesus, in His death, defeated Satan by nailing our sins to the cross (Col. 2:13 - 15). And God has given us armor, that we may stand against the Devil and his demons (Eph. 6:11 - 19), who are not mere flesh as we are. We can resist the devil (James 4:7) because God is in us (1 John 4:4)! Let me emphasize Eph. 6:18 in relation to putting on this armor properly, "... Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit...".

Now the devil is by no means done and giving up. He will test the world with his antiChrist (2 Thess. 2:8 - 9). Rev. 13:11 - 17 has more trouble for men in the Tribulation, that mankind must worship or die and submit or starve! But for those who resist this terrible trial, and don't take the mark of the beast, nor worship his image, they will never hunger or thirst, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes! (Rev. 7:14b - 17) Satan will lose his war with God in heaven (Rev. 12:7 - 10), and Jesus will rule both in Jerusalem according to Rev. 20:2 - 4, "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." and in the new Jerusalem over all His believers (Rev. 21:1 - 7).

And so this is the story, from beginning to end, of God and Satan, and how we got caught up in it all. Though we suffer trials and tribulation, believing in Jesus through it all, we will enjoy eternal bliss with Christ Jesus!

Oh, But Politics And Religion DO Mix!

OH, BUT POLITICS AND RELIGION DO MIX!

I can just imagine hearing many out there reading the title and saying to themselves, "Oh, no, he can't be serious!" - but I am! All who claim to be Christians have an obligation to demonstrate their belief by voting with their Christian faith, and not because the candidate is good-looking, a smooth talker, or promises change for the better without naming exactly what that change is. Even then, we must look at their history, and their friends, and judge their words. Look at Dan. 7:25; "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." As the antiChrist shall seek to change times and laws, don't some politicians try to do that already?

The bible has it that Moses was advised by Jethro, his father-in-law, to elect godly men. Jethro was a priest in Midian, and owned a flock. Let's see what all is written in Exodus about this: "And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves." - (Exod. 18:13-26).

This explains what I feel is one of the three great mistakes of America, because not everybody votes using their belief in God and the advice of the Scriptures. Do you see the qualities that Jethro names to Moses for the men he should elect to be judges over God's people? Jethro said, "...thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness..." And Jethro also said, "...thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do." So from this, we should understand that Jethro's counsel to Moses was to elect godly men, educated in God's laws and hateful of corruption and perversity. This is good advice; it is godly advice. Moses heeded it. Shouldn't we?

Moses elected men that he had to teach, because God's laws and statutes weren't available on paper, nor on a CD, nor on a website. However, in this day and age, we should be electing church-going Christians, educated in godliness. People who go to Christian churches and who are believers that will behave as godly men and women and execute their elected positions with godly values. They will be the same kind that Jethro spoke of, God-fearing, truthful, and hating covetousness. But even more valuable to our country and people they will be who are instilled with obedience to God's laws and statutes. Imagine if we voted with our Christianity; the media would be hurting for news! They wouldn't have any politicians to write about for any type of corruption or perversity, or any other form of wrong doing. And would this be a bad thing, seeing as some forms of media only survive on gossip and exposing the evil done by the ungodly?

So what would you look for when choosing a nominee for a political position? Most logically, you would choose the more godly of the candidates. Now all of us are human, so it is quite natural you're not going to find a perfect candidate, but you can educate yourself on each candidate's stand on issues and then choose more wisely the best candidate for the position. Are they Christian? Are they pro-abortion ((Exod. 20:13 ("thou shalt not kill.")? Pro-abortion is like offering a child to the god Molech in Lev. 20:1 - 5! Do they have a perverse or ungodly history? Are they known for a past position wherein they caused debt and thereby put taxpayers or a business into a position of paying interest ((see Exod. 22:25) "If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.") Using the ten Commandments and God's statutes of the bible, you can pick the best candidate for each position of authority in your city, state, and country, and thereby strengthening it with God-given values.

Consider what happened with our schools. We, as a country, allowed an atheist to change our entire public school system by allowing God to be taken out of our schools. What happened? Almost immediately, God was replaced by guns, and Columbine high started the sad parade of media-covered school shootings and killings of all sorts. Who was in authority over what happens in the schools that allowed God to be taken out? An unChristian person, I submit to you, was given the office of authority, that they took God out of our schools. An ungodly person was allowed to have that office of authority, and so long as God is kept out of schools, it seems apparent to me that guns and drugs will be in His place, or until a godly person puts Him in one of His many rightful places in our country. A majority of people elected this person into that position. A majority should recognize the consequence of the ungodly decision and vote out the incumbent and replace them with a godly person who will reinstate God into the public school system.

Finally, I submit to you for consideration this; that in the final analysis, politics will be swallowed up by what is written in the bible. That in the end, after the white throne judgment, we will be under a theocracy, whether any be Christian and accept Christ's rule with great joy or whether any be in rejection of what is written in Rev. 22:5 and Dan. 7:27. ("And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.") Rev. 22:5), ("And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.") Dan. 7:27). I accept Christ's rule with great joy!

WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN

WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN

Halloween's origin is not Christian; it is of a Satanic druid holiday. It is an unconscious approval of Satan worship, a partaking in that which is evil, which we are instructed in Scripture not to do. 1 Thess. 5:22 has it, "Abstain from all appearance of evil.". To dress your children up as ghosts and goblins and devils and such is teaching them approval of it! Witch covens and Satanists have an annual worship service of the devil on that evening, including a blood sacrifice! The Celtic druids chose this night to celebrate everything wicked, evil, and dead. They gathered arounda acommunity bonfire and offered sacrifice, and the celebration remained the same even after the Romans conquered the Celts.

The Druids considered the oak trees and mistletoe and hours of midnight and noon as sacred, and practiced divination, which is also a violation of God's laws. Deut 18:9-12 has it, "When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee."

Trick or treating and Jack-o-Lantern carving and display, these too are associated with Halloween. The candy and fruit given at Halloween are of a pagan tradition concerning that if wicked spirits came to your door, they were satisfied with being fed, and so would not scare people as they would if nothing was offered. The Jack-o-Lantern was born from a false theology that a man named Jack died one day and couldn't enter heaven or hell, and so he was doomed to wander in darkness with his lantern until Judgment Day. What a terrible, evil hogwash! Christians trust that Jesus our Savior died for our sins, His blood paid for all our sins at the cross, and we don't have to wander nor wonder until Judgment Day. Anyone who has read Rom. 8:1-6 knows it reads this: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

These Druids were false teachers, spreading folklore such as that men's souls do not perish, but rather transfer from one person to another after death. Many people believe they existed in a former life. This is unscriptural: according to Heb. 9:27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" They also believed that on Halloween, the wicked souls were allowed to inhabit the bodies of animals. It is written in a tract by Rev. D.A. Waite that the Roman Catholics accepted this "Halloween" in the early 700s, and thus it came to America and has been established to this day.

So what other warnings and accounts against Halloween should I bring to mind for you? Acts 19:18-20? ("And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.") Lev. 19:31? ("Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.") Or how about Eph. 5:11-12? ("And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.") While it is a shame to speak of these things, it is done in the open every Oct. 31st, as soon as darkness falls, and some adults dress up as all manner of creatures and things before the night even falls!

So I tell you therefore that bible reading/believing true Christians will not participate in any way, not by displays nor by teaching their children to participate in any manners related to this annual wicked and evil concept. If you have done this in the past, unaware of all these things you have read today, repent, turn away from practicing, for we have a forgiving God to those who confess all sin. Rather, teach your children 1 Cor 10:31, wherein it is written, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

I OWN You!

I OWN YOU!

While going through life, after becoming a Christian, one must come to a point where we learn we no longer are free to do with ourselves as we please, but rather that we are not our own; we are owned! That's right, we who are Christians are bondservants! 1 Cor. 6:19-20 tells us distinctly that we are not our own, and that we were bought with a price, and further tells us our purpose in life, which is to glorify God in our body and our spirit, because they belong to God. In other words, act like and think like you belong to Him. Obey His commandments, and you're glorifying Him.

Now one might wonder where the term came from, but Christians were first called Christians in Acts 11:26. The disciples were in Antioch at the time, and there was where they first received the title.

There may be some out there who read this and think they don't like this concept of being owned, but we all are, regardless of whether we want to accept it or not. Gen. 2:7-8 and 21-23 gives us good reason; He made us! God spoke the world into existence, but He formed man from the dust of the earth; how special is that? All who believe in creationism that is documented in the bible understand by this passage that we are decendants of that first living soul, and that every one of us He made. Melchizedek in Gen. 14:19 also recognized that God possesses, or owns, all heaven and earth.

Now in knowing that the Lord made us, He can also destroy us! He thought about it in Gen. 6:7, and, except for Noah, who found grace in His sight, we almost didn't exist for very long! Think that was a one-time almost? Check again, because in Gen. 19:24-26, He totally destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone, and Lot's wife looked upon it, and she was destroyed to for her disobedience! If one were to think He wouldn't bother with only one person, guess again! Acts 12:21-23 explains that even if one offend Him, He can destroy them! If He should choose to give mercy and not destroy, He could also allow affliction to overcome an offensive person, such as in Acts 13:8-11, where a sorcerer was caused to be blind.

But let not your mind settle on these things of the disobedient, for all who accept Christ as Savior and believe in the Father have good things to look forward to. First of all, He saved us! That's right; we deserve death for our sinfulness, but John 3:16-17 clearly gives us the joyful good news that Jesus came to save us from our sins, and we only need believe on Him! God didn't send Him into the world to condemn us, but rather to save us. Now if you don't understand the need for being saved from death, Rom. 6:20-23 explains that sin creates a debt to be paid in blood, in death, but Jesus paid that debt, and so as a gift from God, we have eternal life through Christ Jesus. No other stipulations apply.

As God owns us, we should also understand we are to be His obedient servant, just as Paul proclaimed to be in Rom. 1:1. As believers in Christ, we willingly do His will, understanding that living as He wants of us gives us forgiveness and eternal life. This leads us to owning grace, Rom. 8:1; "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Okay, what's that mean, exactly? Let not sin own you (Rom. 6:14, 16-18). Learn what sin is, and don't do it anymore. This involves reading the bible and going to church, as when you go to a GOOD church, the pastor will answer questions that arise from reading the word and also orchestrate a good bible study plan for anyone who will attend. As your pastor gives you Christian truth, and you learn it over time, guided by the Holy Spirit, you apply it to your lives, and you become servants of righteousness.

At this point you may be wondering where I'm going with all this being owned by God, but trust that it's all good. Rom. 8:13-17 explains that if we kill the deeds of the body, and live and walk in the Spirit, we are then adopted by God, and when we are adopted by God, we are His children, and thus joint heirs with Christ of the Father's kingdom!

So now as you understand that it is good, yea, even fabulous to be owned by God, that we should inherit the kingdom, let us with emphatic joy shout, "Amen!"

The Sinner's Superheroes - It's All A Matter Of Faith

THE SINNER'S SUPERHEROES - IT'S ALL A MATTER OF FAITH

I would like in this issue to give hope and instill faith to those who are afraid to make the decision to accept Christ, to those who have recently done so, but think back on their past, and for those who, even having some maturity in their walk, may get a chink in their armor from he who plants seeds of doubt, knowing that as humans we have imperfections and are not always impervious to his (the devil's) darts. I would like to showcase some biblical figures, particularly a few with many sins on their record, but because of their faith, they are with Jesus and in heaven.

The first is one who knew Jesus only just before He died, and then he, too, died. The man called by many, "the good thief". Now this is quite the misnomer, because he was not a good thief at all, but rather he was the one of the two who asked Jesus to remember him when He comes into His kingdom, and then was promised paradise. So really, he was "the thief made good", because he died with a promise from Christ to be with Him there in paradise. Now this was just a typical thief for the most part; his sins caught up with him, and there he was, up ther on the cross next to Jesus'. He initially wasn't any better than those who were there at the scene, because like many there, he was mocking Him, as is documented in Matt. 27:44, and Mark 15:32. Now in Luke 23:40 - 43 is where I point out that this thief, who obviously lived a life sinful enough to warrant death on a cross, suddenly came up with faith enough to not only rail the other thief and his taunting of Christ, but to ask Him to remember him when He came into His kingdom! For that, he was rewarded with verification from Jesus that he would be there that day with Him in paradise! Takes a lot of those "Yeah, but..." doubts out of your mind, doesn't it?

Let's go with another person with many sins, only this one is from the Old Testament; how about David? Have you not heard how he killed Goliath (1 Sam. 17:50), after the sixth commandment was given from Moses that "...Thou shalt not kill" (Exod. 20:13)? And not only did he kill Goliath, but tens of thousands (1 Sam. 18:7)? And he killed after that 200 more for a form of dowry (1 Sam. 18:27)? And he further killed more, as is recorded in 1 Sam. 27:8 - 11 and 30:16 - 17. Even in 2 Sam. 8:1 - 18, David killed thousands upon thousands from Philistia, Moab, Zobah, Syria, and Edom. Well over 40,000 he slaughtered in his defeat of Ammon in 2 Sam. 10. As if these many killings were not enough sin, David also sinned in adultery (2 Sam. 11:2 - 5), and to make it worse, after finding out she was pregnant with his child, David had her husband Uriah killed, and sent the letter of instructions how to have him killed in Uriah's own hand! While all these sins are documented in the books of Samuel, despite all these, God's salvation was his. Understand that David had great faith, even before he was king of Israel. He would not harm Saul, the Lord's anointed (1 Sam. 24:6, 10 -12). For all that he did, God promised David his house, kingdom, and throne established for ever (2 Sam. 7:16). This was because David's faith pleased God. As Heb. 11:6 has it, it is impossible to please God without faith. One must believe He is and that He rewards. David praised God much, as in 2 Sam. 7:18 - 29, and don't forget the 73 Psalms David wrote concerning so many aspects of God, and much of it was praise to Him! David's song of his faith in God can be found in 2 Sam. 22:1 - 51.

The last I want to cover is Paul, once Saul. Before his conversion, Saul was into persecution of Christians. Acts 26:9 - 12 has Saul, now Paul, confessing to king Agrippa that before his conversion, he did everything he could contrary to the name of Jesus, shutting up saints in prison, having them put to death, punishing them in synagogues, and compelling them to blaspheme, even persecuting Christians in strange cities. Acts 7:57 - 8:1, 3 has him approving of the stoning of Stephen, a Christian, and documents that he went after Christians with such hatred, he was like a rampaging beast. Acts 9:1-6, 10 - 18, 21, however, explains his wonderful metamorphosis caused by Jesus Himself! After his incredible transformation, Saul, now Paul, became a great champion for Christ, full of faith. He blinded Elymas the sorcerer by the power of God, and when he healed a cripple in Acts 14:8 -20, the people of Lystra called him and Barnabas gods, but after he corrected them, there were visiting Jews who persuaded the people to stone him (ironic that he should learn how Stephen felt!), but later, surrounded by disciples, he got up and went to Derbe. Acts 16:16 -39 has a story of Paul driving a spirit out of a damsel, and ended up being beaten and given stripes for his good deed. Acts 19:6, 11-12 has it that God wrought many miracles up until his death, but what faith he suddenly had after his conversion! He was the first major missionary for Christ, making 3 journeys as His missionary that were so remarkable for any man in that time in history. His final journey was to Rome, where he was martyred.

So when someone thinks they've committed too many sins, that there's no hope for someone who has done so much wrong for so long, or that you can't do much at your age for the Lord, consider one of these superheroes of a sinner like you and me, who, despite when they realized they displeased God in their lifetime, had faith that He is and He rewards, and that they should do and say the righteous things with whatever time they had left. Especially look at the "good thief"; the only thing he could do was to defend Christ in His last hours before He died, and Christ's answer to his request to remember him was an invaluable reward to any who should hear it; (Luke 23:43) "...Verily I say unto thee, to day shalt thou be with Me in paradise."!

R U Bulletproof?

R U BULLETPROOF?

Ever see someone do a lot of things that amazed you they could perform them, and you say to yourself, "How'd they get away with (all) that? Or, "How did they perform that great feat, or those great feats? One would think some people "bulletproof", and perhaps, Phil. 4:13 comes to mind for some Christians. If we have the faith, indeed, His assistance makes us able to do all things through His strength.

Consider Job in Job 1:9 - 11; the devil seemed to be complaining to God that he couldn't test Job because of the hedge God had around Job and all he had, suggesting Job had selfish motives in His blessings for serving Him. Do you feel a hedge around you and your things? And if perhaps a string of things go wrong for you, do you wonder if you're going through a "Job experience"?

Psa. 91:1 - 7 has the author proclaiming his trust in God, calling Him Refuge and Fortress. The author further trusts the Lord to remove him from the snare of the fowler, that is, the devil. Verses 5 - 7 proclaim our security in the Lord always, not necessarily in the physical sense, but definitely in the spiritual sense, which is vastly more important, even priceless. Matt. 16:26 provides insight from Jesus just how invaluable the soul is!

Imagine being king Hezekiah in the Old Testament in Isa. 38:1 - 6. Here you had a ruler sick and and near death, told by the prophet Isaiah he was going to die. This king, not wishing to be gone from the earth just yet, humbled himself before God, crying out his heart, and asked God to remember how he had lived prior to his sickness. The prophet returned with a guarantee from the Lord that he would live another 15 years! On top of this, the Lord said He would keep Hezekiah and his city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and the Assyrians never even got close enough for Israel to see their shields! While they didn't have bullets in those days, I'd say the king and his city were at least Assyrian-proof.

Peter had Jesus' word in John 21:18 that he would live long enough to be old, but not that he would die a natural death, but that of a martyr. True to His word (as we knew He would be!), when Peter was imprisoned by Herod, in Acts 12:6 - 11 he is unchained by an angel and led from prison and thought it was all a vision until the angel departed from him. Peter did not die until 34 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, martyred the same year as Paul.

In Luke 10:1 - 12, 17 - 20, Jesus sends 70 disciples to go do what is today called doorknocking, and gives them specific instructions, advising them that He sent them as lambs among wolves. They returned to Him with great joy that they had power over devils, and Jesus assured them that He gave them power over everything the enemy had, and that nothing would hurt them, but even more wonderful for them was His assurance that their names were written in heaven! These 70 were "bulletproof" not only in life, but in death, and it was sealed with the promise of Christ Jesus!

Remember that we have an Advocate (1 John 2:1); Christ Jesus, and He is our Rock, just as He was in Luke 22:31-32 for the disciples. Jesus told Peter the devil desired him that he might sift him as wheat, and Jesus gave him comfort by telling him that He had prayed for him, that his faith not fail. Of all you who read this and have ever had a time in your life when you had little or no faith, that has to be some anxiety attack! How wonderful it is for us who believe to know in the present that we are bulletproof from the devil and the gates of hell in the blood of Christ Jesus who died for all our sins.

Eph. 6:10 - 20 tells us that we have armor; yes, armor of God! We have the devil for an adversary, and he's not alone. He's got his demonic hosts, principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world. We have the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the sword of the Spirit, the sandals of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the belt of truth. This is not to say that an armored Christian is invulnerable to attack and difficulties. Psa. 44:22 and Rom. 8:36 tell of great difficulties, not meant to be obstacles for the people of God, but He allows us to be tested by them. Remember Job? Here's a man who loved the Lord, a practiced godly man, and he is greatly tested by the devil's work against him. Now he doesn't know what's going on, and some friends condemn him as having done something wrong. Eliphaz tells him he's obviously being disciplined by God, and needs to repent. Bildad tells him he's suffering because of his sins, and calls Job a hypocrite. Zophar tells him he's suffering from his sinfulness and deserves much worse, and that he needs to repent. Got friends like these? Job did nothing wrong, but he was attacked by the devil, and his friends made him out to being a sinner. Great to have these friends, who put down your counsel, and hurl stones at you from their own glass houses. The devil will use your friends to see if you're bulletproof, too, and even your wife, as Job found out (Job 2:9). Also understand that while Job's test was extrinsic, that is to say, an attack on his physical external self and possessions, do not underestimate that the devil will not launch an attack of intrinsic nature, that is to say, on your mind. Satan may attack you with doubts, misinterpretations, delusions, paranoia...and you must wear the belt of truth and hold up the shield of faith against Lucifer's lies and fiery darts. Knowing the bible well and edifying one another in the faith, even yourself with the promises of God, give great strength to this shield.

Paul asserts that those who are in Christ Jesus are inseparable from God in Rom. 8:38 - 39. As we know Christ's salvation for us with open eyes, those who are saved cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus Himself promised in John 10:27 - 28, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand."

Mark 4:6, 17 describes people who fall away in a parable Jesus tells, and later, He explains to His disciples His parable. There are some who will be tested, and may even be being tested now, and, if they have no root, if they are not genuinely saved, it will be known, because they will fall away from the faith. These will stop obeying the commandments, stop proclaiming the gospel, and walk the path of the lost because of persecution or great affliction. Even some will need only little affliction, and they will buckle. For those who are saved, we have 1 Cor. 10:2, which tells us God is faithful and won't suffer us a temptation we cannot bear, but make a way we can escape our test. Now in this understand Paul doesn't mean we get out of the test, but rather that we will be able to bear it, because God will give us the power. Don't forget the martyrdom of the apostles. They did not give up their faith, and were able to bear the death they had at the hands of their persecutors.

So now we understand that while the saved are not necessarily physically bulletproof, they are indeed spiritually bulletproof. Friends and family may be used by the devil to test that, and no matter how severe the test, God will give us the power to withstand the test, we who are genuinely saved. Our assurance is spoken by Christ; "neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand."! Oh, what a reason to praise God!