We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

~ A.W. Tozer

"You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver, and that is something I will not do."

Washington state has accused Christian florist Barronelle Stutzman of discrimination for declining to participate in and create flower arrangements for a long-time customer’s same-sex wedding, Facing lawsuits from customer, Rob Ingersoll, and his partner, as well as the state of Washington Barronelle Stutzman bravely fights for us all.  
“It’s not about the money, its not about me. It‘s about all of us, its about our freedom. It’s about our kids, our grandkids, our future. There’s not a price on freedom,” she added.

“You can’t buy my freedom. It’s me now,… but tomorrow, it’s going to be you.

You’ve gotta wake up.

They can get rid of me, they can't get rid of God.”

Earlier today a friend emailed requesting prayer for her sister living in NYC. Power was out and it was bitter cold. I along with many others prayed. This evening an email was sent - power had been restored.

The first words of the email were; “cant believe it.” My friend then told how ConEd seldom works efficiently or in a timely manner. The last words of the email were: “God is good.”

I was blessed to be a part of a missionary group that traveled to NYC in early January. I saw first hand the poverty of the city. A week or so after returning home a major storm was forecast for NYC. Remembering its beautiful people, its poverty its homeless I prayed fervently that God would protect this beautiful city. He graciously answered my prayer. Imagine my surprise at the reaction of the city as the storm passed them by. There was no hint of gratitude, only condemnation for the mayor, and grumbling for their inconvenience.

I’d like to think otherwise but perhaps these two incidents show more clearly the mindset of the vast majority of Americans.

God answers a prayer - “cant believe it.” Storms pass us by - karma, luck. Majoring on our self and not our Saviour we fail to see the goodness of God so we grumble we complain.

“Father forgive them, they know not what they do.”

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The governor of Alabama, who also serves as a deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church Tuscaloosa, says that he will obey the recent federal court ruling striking down the state’s Sanctity of Marriage Act as being unconstitutional.

Gov. Robert Bentley while attending a meeting of the National Governor’s Association in Washington, D.C. said he believes he must obey the courts even if he disagrees with them personally.

“I would never do anything to disobey a federal court ruling."

"...we ought to obey God rather than man."  Acts 5:29

One second after we die…. it’s too late.

One second after we die, we will be ushered into the presence of our LORD and Saviour or…. As Dr. Erwin Lutzer writes: “If it be true that angels await those who have been made righteous by Christ, it is understandable that demonic spirits would await those who enter eternity without God’s forgiveness and acceptance.’’

Those reading this post, are undoubtedly believers, but….

Is it just about us, or is it, should it be about the tens of thousands who die daily. How many are following the steady stream of people falling through the tunnel - one after another, after another, after... into the terror that awaits all who reject God’s Son. How many family members and dear friends are on the road to destruction yet we have not spoken to them about their future nor pray with broken hearts for their salvation?

Hell is real, created for satan and his followers, be they fallen angels or fallen man. Hell enlarges itself often to accommodate those that enter.

Jesus is coming, very, very soon - how many are ready?

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10

 

“If we believed in hell, we would plead with sinners.” Ray Comfort

One second after we die…. it’s too late.

Accommodate - tolerant - adapt - indulgent - acceptable -

A gospel for the masses, a gospel for the twenty-first century. A gospel of convenience, it has slowly crept into churches in the United States. Becoming an American cultural invention to appease the lifestyle of luxury and pleasure it has given birth to mega-churches with thousands coming weekly to hear a non-confronting message of love and peace. Tens of thousands come each Sunday to socialize, to network or to see and be seen. The seeker friendly, sinner friendly among them gravitate to these churches, embracing the self-indulgent, titillating message:

“ When God thinks about you, He's not thinking about your mistakes, failures or shortcomings. No, His thoughts are for your good. He's not thinking about what you did wrong; He's thinking about what you did right. He's not thinking about how far you have to go; He's thinking about how far you've come. …” Victoria Osteen

"...go with the culture, stay revelant, listen to your emotions.." Rob Bell

“ God designed us to create wealth, to produce wealth; he designed us to be productive people. God wants you to be productive, and his plan for your life includes wealth creation — not wealth redistribution.” Rick Warren

During a Lent message, before administering the ashes, Pope Francis said:
“ask God for the gift of tears in order to make your prayer and your journey of conversion more authentic and without hypocrisy.”

“Paul warned of the coming of another gospel and another Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4). He warned the church that it's really not another gospel but a perversion of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. If you hear any other gospel, he said, let that preacher be accursed. In other words, no matter how pleasant, how pious, or how sincere, if the message is not the death of sin through the cross of Jesus Christ, let it be accursed.” David Wilkerson

A portion of a correspondence I received from a dear friend and brother in the LORD;

“It is amazing to me that the LORD, who is infinite in power, chooses to use human agency to accomplish His purposes in fulfilling His Word. Intercessors literally stand in the gap, and the Father has people interceding for us who may not even know us, but the Holy Spirit leads then to pray. Intercession is one of the most beautiful expressions of pure love - a selfless act that loves for the sake of love, expecting nothing in return, but which brings great glory to the Father.

When His people pray out of a pure heart, they are literally standing in the secret place before the throne of grace and heaven mobilizes as a result. When His people pray with pure hearts, He does not see them with their earthly bodies, but with the fullness of His Holy Spirit in them. He sees the completed, transformation by the Holy Spirit into the image of His Son, and to the glory of the Father. In other words -- He sees Christ, and wherever Christ is, there the Father is glorified.

God our Father doesn’t care so much about the volume of words in prayer, He cares about the heart and the faith with which we pray. He is not seated on His throne with an abacus counting our words. He is our great physician examining our hearts.

An army of intercessors - standing in the gap - angels are dispatched and hearts and lives are changed.”

IF Christ is Lord of our life, then our door posts, our lintels -- our heart, our minds -- have been sprinkled by His blood. His shed blood, not only for forgiveness of our sins -- but also for our protection!

When we are sprinkled, we are under the protection of Christ's blood. Against all principalities and powers of darkness we are safe. When evil forces see Christ's blood on our door posts and lintels, they must pass by. They cannot touch us -- satan cannot pass through the blood, he can only pass over.

"...This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." Luke 22:20

"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us…. How much more shall the blood of Christ...purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Hebrews 9

Yesterday was very interesting, insightful, eye opening. A hard day but one that brought clarity and answered many questions.

For several years I have been praying for my friend Sami. Sami professes a Christian belief yet does not attend church nor read her bible. Refusing to be baptized, she harbors deep seeded hostility, bitterness and unforgiveness while seeing herself as worthy of heaven. Continually, justifying her ‘christian’ lifestyle choices, Sami is lost thinking she is saved. In a conversation yesterday Sami responded as she frequently does: “God and I will have a talk about that when I get to heaven.”

And then I saw it. I at last understood why Sami had chosen to follow her own misguided walk of faith. I finally understood why Sami rejects His Word, choosing instead her own ‘form of christianity.’

Sami, like millions of others has no fear of God.!!.

Mark Driscoll, T.D. Jakes, Francis, Benny Hinn, Ken Copeland, John Hagee, Rick Warren… Sami is not alone. Where there is no fear of God, people do what seems right in their own eyes.

Spurgeon writes: “Faith moulds us, fear moves us. Noah had a loyal reverence of God. He feared him as the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Fear made Noah hew the trees and square the timbers, wield the axe and the hammer. Fear wrought in him diligence and speed. It made him despise the observations of onlookers, and build for his life in brave defiance of the spirit of the age, and the judgment of the wise. Perhaps I speak to persons who are in fear of the wrath to come. I rejoice that you have faith enough to fear. By the way of that faith which brings you unto fear, you will be brought out of it. Believe God in justice till you tremble; then see that justice vindicated in the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and rest in the mercy of God, which, through the cross, comes justly down to guilty men. A holy fear will put wings upon your heels, and help you to fly to Jesus. Moved by fear, may you be drawn and driven to the Lord Jesus!”

The fear of God… the beginning of wisdom.

“We, the church, are not ready for the coming of the Saviour!

Is this the Church victorious, triumphant? Covetous. divorcing, depressed, worldly-minded, grasping for materialism and success, competitive, complacent, lukewarm, tolerant, adulterous, rich and increased with goods, unaware [or unconcerned] that spiritual blindness has overtaken them, pleasure-loving, recreation-minded, consumed with sports, politics, and power - is this what Christ Jesus came and died for?

The Bible says He is coming back for an overcoming Church! A Church without spot or wrinkle! A people whose affections are on things above. A people with clean hands and pure hearts. A people who are looking for His coming! A people with a new Jerusalem state of mind.” [David Wilkerson, World Challenge]

Daniel fell as though dead. Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah , John, Paul…, all acknowledged the holiness of their God. But we today…

The question can no longer be; What can I get from God? Self must no longer be our focus. The question must become - How shall I stand before Him? Is my heart and my life completely His? What sin in my life is keeping me from being all that God would have me be…

will I be able to stand when He appears?’ Malachi 3:2  

  "when a Muslim views a Christian he sees a person who wears his Christianity like a casual garment, useful for show on certain occasions but tossed aside when not needed. He sees Christians as captives of a materialistic culture that has co-opted Christianity by marketing Christian music, books and other paraphernalia.

Why are we so weak when our Lord and Savior is so strong? Why are churches in Europe and the U.K. dying out while mosques are growing in numbers? Jesus warned the church in
Ephesus that if people didn't repent He would come and remove their lampstand from its place. That warning was not just for Ephesus but for today's church as well.

Don't assume any given church's existence is assured. All across Europe and the U.K. we see what happens to a church that is in a weakened state.  We cannot assume that if we are strong now, we will remain so." 

Dr. Erwin Lutzer
The Cross in the Shadow of the Crescent

The Washington Post reports: “President Barack Obama has issued [yet another] executive order directing federal agencies to adapt stricter building and sighting standards to reflect scientific projections that future flooding will be more frequent and destructive due to climate change.”

While reading this, my heart and mind were taken back to Genesis. Thoughts of Nimrod and the tower of Babel crowded in. I immediately saw the parallels between Nimrod and Barack Obama. Nimrod too did what was right in his own eyes. In defiance to God’ commands, in disobedience and rebellion, without restraint of wickedness he moved forward.

Nimrod in Hebrew means rebellious, rebel, revolt…

“The verb מרד Nimrod - (marad) means to be rebellious or to revolt (2 Kings 18:7, Numbers 14:9). It occurs all over the Semitic language spectrum and about twenty-five times in the Bible. More than half of its occurrences cover scenes in which man revolts against man (and always Israel and its king revolting against an invading or occupying foreign force), and in the other half man revolts against God.”

“God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5


Today, 2015, things have changed very little if one would choose to view the world through the eyes of God.

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good…” 2 Timothy 3

And the ‘leader’ of the free world.. Barack Hussein [an Arabic name with no Hebrew meaning]Obama

Barack in Hebrew means lightening or thunderbolt.

The verb ברק Barack - *(baraq) means to cast forth lightening or thunderbolt.

Obama in Hebrew is the noun במה *(bama) primarily denotes high places, such as mountains tops or ridges (Micah 3:12, Ezekiel 36:2). Since military control over these high places is strategically advantageous, the Biblical expression "riding/ treading the high places" is synonymous to controlling the land. In Hebrew the letter vau is primarily used as a conjunction to join concepts together. In joining lightening and high places together in the Hebrew would read Barack Obama. *[abarim publications]

As I reflect on the Tower of Babel and their punishment for disobedience to the commands of God I cannot help but wonder; what fate awaits the USA for our own willful disobedience our determined disregard and our arrogant contempt for the holiness of God and His Word.

God saw their wickedness, and without a doubt He sees ours as well.

“...be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" 1 Peter 1:13-16             




 

All born again, blood bought, heaven bound children of God will have tribulation, trials, testing and troubles. All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Heartache comes when we least expect it; in all shapes, sizes, colors, types and shadows. But if we are to overcome, and overcome we must, we need to be prepared, armed and ready for battle.

God’ Word is clear, we must study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing The Word of God.

Reading Psalm 91 one might not readily grasp the significance of its words or their meaning. These are the promises of God, written to those that are His. Perhaps it was just me who skipped over these covenant promises, ignoring the nuggets of gold God had lovingly placed in my path. Thanks to a dear friend, I once was blind, but now I see. If I may, please allow me to share insight that opened my eyes to provisions God has given His children, provisions that we all too often do not grasp or grab hold of as a drowning man would eagerly grab onto a life raft.

Vs. 1-2 of Psalm 91 says; He [I/me/you/we] who dwells in the shelter [we gotta be shelter dwellers] of the Most High will abide [remain beside or near] in the shadow of the Almighty. How close do we have to be to someone to be in their shadow? If we declare the LORD is our refuge, our fortress, our deliver, confessing with our lips and with our lives that we have total trust in Him - acknowledging Him as our God, our Refuge, our Protector, our Deliver then vs. 3-16, become the promises of God we can cling to when things get tough, the road gets hard, and the nights are lonely and cold. He will deliver us from terror, fear, evil, plagues, pestilence, [disease] and destruction.

Grab onto these covenant promises God has placed in His Word. Grab hold and hold on tightly. Do not allow anything to snatch them from your heart or your mind. Our lives are filled with twists and turns, ups and downs, sorrow, tears and pain, but it is comforting at least to me, that He promised in His Word;

“A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.” vs. 7-8

I have chosen to make it personal - Because I hold fast to Him in love, He will deliver me; God will protect me, because I know His Name. When I call to Him, He will answer me; He will be with me in trouble; He will rescue me and honor me. With long life will He satisfy me and show me His Salvation. vs. 14-16  

I pray you will do the same.


“God causes all things to work to the good for those who love Him.” Romans 8:28