Monday, November 30, 2015

Crusade

  1. Power in the name of Jesus - YouTube

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYdWjIk3y5Y
    Apr 26, 2012 ... Mix - Power in the name of Jesusby YouTube. Power in the Blood of Jesus - Rev. Reinhard Bonnke - Duration: 46:02. by yourlivingmanna ...

A Letter from Ben Carson


President Obama's plan to bring tens of thousands of Syrian refugees to the United States is dangerous and must be stopped!

We know that at least one of the terrorists responsible for the grotesque attacks in Paris may have left Syria posing as a migrant and was able to gain entry to several European countries.

We simply cannot take this risk here in the United States. The right course of action is for the United States to help these refugees settle somewhere else in their own region, secure our borders, and take the fight to radical Islam using every resource at our disposal.

If we bow to political correctness, America will lose this war!

As your Commander-in-Chief I will do what President Obama has failed to do. I will call our enemy by its name -- radical Islam. We cannot win a war if we refuse to accept reality.

We must keep America safe. That is my goal, and I frankly don't care if the PC crowd is offended. The time for feel-good measures is over.

It's time to secure our borders, and stop President Obama's dangerously naive plan to bring tens of thousands of Syrian refugees to our shores.

It's time to lead, and if we stick together, we will usher in a new era of freedom and safety for our children and grandchildren.

Sincerely,
Ben Carson


Planned Parenthood Attack


Planned Parenthood Attack by Bill Wilson

The president wasted no time in turning a tragic event at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic into a gun grab. Once again, there was a diatribe against guns.

This is the typical leftist response blaming an inanimate object for the wicked acts of mankind. The act of killing babies in the womb is murderous and deplorable. Yet the government uses your tax money to fund Planned Parenthood, the most efficient infanticide machine on earth. 

The act of killing people at an abortion clinic is also murderous and deplorable. Two wrongs don't make it right. Guns, however, are not the problem. It is the sinful nature of man that causes him to choose death.

There is certainly no talk by the president of banning instruments used for abortions, which have left over 57 million American babies dead--some 7 million of them under the current administration's reign of womb terror.

Life begins at conception. The law states that if a pregnant woman is murdered and the baby dies, it is charged as a double homicide. On one hand the law protects the unborn, on the other hand it gives the unborn no protection whatsoever.

The lives of some 17 million BLACK babies have ended because of abortions. If Black Lives Matter really cared about Black lives, it would be campaigning against abortion. Blacks represent 13% of the US population, but receive 30% of the abortions.

Despite media denials, there have been Planned Parenthood officials caught on camera discussing the selling of aborted baby's body parts. Former Planned Parenthood officials have admitted to giving teen aged girls the lowest dosage birth control pills in an effort to increase the number of abortions.
These are some of the dirty little secrets of the Planned Parenthood death machine that is supported by the US Government, your hard earned tax dollars and by no law in the US.

This atrocity came about by Supreme Court activism in 1973 that twisted the Constitution to "legalize" abortion. The entire industry is a sordid and sinful mark on America.

Terrorist attacks on the people in abortion clinics should never be condoned. But abortion clinics should be shut down. And there is no moral high ground or nobility in those who perform or assist in performing abortions. They are public outcasts and murderers protected by the Supreme Court and politicians who will not stand against this infanticide.

Who shall stand for those who have no voice and cannot protect themselves in the place that was once known as "safe as a mother's womb"?

As the Lord said in Deuteronomy 30:19, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live."

Choose life.

The Waves and Wind

  1. It Is Well - Bethel Music @ City Harvest Church - ...

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBI35rj_WMU
    Aug 22, 2015 ... The waves and wind still know His name G D Em C So let go my soul and trust in Him G D Em C The waves and wind still know His ...

Power

There Is Power!

  1. There Really Is Power in the Name of Jesus —...

    http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/53475-there-really-is-power-in-the-name-of-jesus
    21 hours ago ... I had always heard of stories of people calling on the name of Jesus to save them , but when confronted with a similar situation, would I do it?

A Defense


Gene Simmons certainly is not commonly associated with Christianity. He is not noted for a stalwart life of faith, lived in the shadow of the Savior. Indeed, he is best noted for his garish make-up and worldly successes in the music realm.

But, it appears at the inner heart of the man, beyond where temporal success was achieved by hard-driving music with self-gratifying themes, this man has embraced the TRUTH that sets men free.

And he has taken a stand for a godly young man who lives his Christian faith steadfastly before all watching eyes. And Simmons has taken a stand for the LORD JESUS.

Tim Tebow does not need his defense, and certainly JESUS does not need his defense, but it is to his credit that he extends it, for Jesus said that whoever declares HIM among men will be declared before God the Father. (See Matthew 10:33.)

Simmons' declaration of defense is also a sobering reminder to all of us that one day, "Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD." Romans 14:11

You, like him, should do it today.

No Other Name


"There is no other name given under heaven whereby men might be saved." Acts 4:12

These words, spoken of Jesus, tell us the most amazing and wondrous and incomparable thing that HE can do for us.

Oh, yes, as the Apostle John said, "If everything were told of what HE did among us, the world could not contain the books," John 21:25, but the ONE UNIQUE THING THAT HE DID, the one unique thing that no other--neither prophet nor priest nor king nor ordinary man--can do is to save our eternal soul.

Our good works cannot save us. Our wisdom cannot save us. Our resolve cannot save us. Our wealth cannot save us. Our military might cannot save us. Nothing, No one but JESUS can save us.
And HE will, if we but ask.
 



Words to Ponder


“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." Mark 8:34


Quotes of Presidents

"The whole inspiration of our civilization springs from the teachings of Christ…To read the Bible for these fundamentals is a necessity of American life." Herbert Hoover




“All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton

They Hate Us Because...

 
November 30
They Hate Us Because by Dr. Michael Brown

Although I’ve known this for decades, a couple of Facebook posts recently reminded me of the fact that the world hates us because it first hates God.

As Jesus said to His disciples in John 15, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).

It is true, of course, that the world sometimes hates us because our behavior is not keeping with the character of Jesus. As Peter urged his readers, “let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler” I Peter 4:15.

When we suffer for our own foolishness or hypocrisy or insensitivity, we alone are to blame, and we bring reproach to the name of the Lord. But it is also true that the world often hates us precisely because our behavior is in keeping with the character of Jesus, and just as the darkness hates the light, the world will hate us.

Speaking on a personal level, there are lots of ugly attacks that come my way as a public figure who tackles controversial issues, from radical Islam to abortion, from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to homosexuality, from atheism to Judaism, and from hyper-grace to strange fire.

Ugly attacks come with the turf, and I’m not complaining in the least.

And some of the attacks are really quite amusing, like the tweet from a Ph.D. scientist responding to my article that stated that we could turn the moral tide in America. “Really?” he tweeted. “The ‘moral tide’ from an admitted drug addict with a ‘burnt out brain’?”

When I actually tried to engage him in a civil and serious way, he responded, “Your burned brain is the issue. Drug man.” This was followed by, “admit you’re a drug piece of [expletive]. Then move on.”

Why so much hostility from a stranger? That’s the world’s reaction to our being salt and light.

But this is what really got my attention.

In response to a video we posted on our Facebook page showing a Palestinian Muslim woman stabbing an Israeli guard, a man named Colin commented, “Dr. Brown, you’re a smug [expletive], aren’t you?” (He used the “b” word for an illegitimate child.)

Where in the world did that come from? And what did it have to do with the video?

The next day, a man named Charlie posted this comment on the Visitor section of our page: “The god you all seem to love so much is the god that sanctions genocide, slavery, human sacrifice, the murder of children, and the condemnation of people that he created, just for the sin of being born. All of this cannot be denied, as it is in your bible. How can you worship this [expletive] and call him loving? Or graceful? Please tell me why I should worship the god of your bible.”

He too used the same expletive – the “b” word for an illegitimate child – and, so, not only was I accused of being a b----- but so was the Lord.

This is exactly what David spoke of in Psalm 69:9, when he wrote that “the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.”

This is why the world hated Jesus – in Romans 15:3, this same verse from Psalm 69 is quoted with reference to Him – as the Lord explained in John 15, “Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father,” John 15:23-24.

That’s why the apostles left the Sanhedrin full of joy after being flogged for their open witness of Yeshua. They were “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name,” Acts 5:41. In other words, they were rejoicing because the world treated them the same way it treated Jesus, and to be identified with Him was an incredible and joy.

That’s why Peter, while warning his readers not to suffer because of their misconduct and sin wrote, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” And, “if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name,” 1 Peter 4:14,16.

In other words, when the world treats you the way it treated Jesus, you are blessed and God’s favor is upon you. So, let us walk in love towards all and let us be in exemplary in word and deed.

And when the flood of hatred comes your way, rejoice; Jesus actually adds “leap for joy” in Luke 6:23, for great is your reward in heaven. This is how the prophets were treated before you, this is how Jesus and the apostles were treated, and this is how believers around the world have been treated through the ages.

The world hates you because it hates Him.

Understanding this puts things in proper perspective and helps us pray for this lost, confused, and rebellious world with all the more compassion. They desperately need to know the Lord.
 

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Remember US

REMEMBER US, LORD...POUR YOUR HOLY SPIRIT AND FIRE UPON US. LET ALL PEOPLE, EVERYWHERE, BE TOUCHED BY THE POWER THAT SETS MEN FREE FROM SIN AND DEATH.

Evangelism in Nigeria - Reinhard Bonnke - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBtBHZtdU78
... See More
Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke is principally known for his Great Gospel Crusades throughout the Continent of Africa.

Buying Influence


Thirty-two billion dollars will go a long way toward promoting the Islamic worldview and Prince Alwaleed seems quite willing to spend whatever amount it takes to saturate the country with his belief system.

But he's not reckoning on the TRUTH THAT SETS MEN FREE--which is free of charge.
...his past statements and commitment to promote Islam in the United States have raised red flags for some.

Underground Revival


Our Heavenly Father loves ALL people.

His love is not constrained to the western world that embraced the truth of JESUS and propelled it forward into all the corners of the earth.

His love is not constrained to the Jews who are His ancient people, although when He came to them, "they received Him not." John 1:11

His love is not constrained to the un-reached people groups who have been steeped in darkness for centuries.

His love is not limited to those who go forth with the LIVING WORD to "preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

His love is not limited to those who spend their resources to share eternal truth with the lost.
He says it best Himself, "For God so loves the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

Yes, He says, "Go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

Yes, He compels people of faith to go, but if believers will not go; if believers cannot convince the lost to receive JESUS as SAVIOR and LORD, then HE WILL GO TO THEM HIMSELF.

Words to Ponder


“And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:7, 8






Quotes of Presidents
"We are inspired by a faith that goes back through all the years to the first chapter of the Book of Genesis: 'God created man in His own image.'" Franklin D. Roosevelt



“We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” Benjamin Franklin to signers of the Declaration of Independence

Retirement?

 
November 29
Retirement or a New Assignment?
From: Today God Is First by Os Hillman

For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill... (Eccl 2:21).
He didn't begin this job until he was sixty-nine years old. He had already had a successful Hollywood movie career and decided to try his hand at politics. He would be known by one job more than any other. He would also be known as one of the United State's greatest statesmen.

He had a faith that was genuine but not intruding or very public, but you knew where he stood. He always treated people, even his detractors with grace. He was known for his extraordinary love he had for his wife.

His name was Ronald Reagan, and he did not begin his greatest work until he was sixty-nine years old. By this season of life, most are thinking of retirement in Florida. Ronald Reagan decided to run for President of the United States and successfully served two terms as our 40th President.

It was Reagan's faith that led him to see the Soviet Union as an "evil empire." He'll be remembered as the President who brought down communism in the Soviet Union. And it was his Christian faith that gave him the quiet confidence and self-certainty that made him a great leader and earned him the title "the great communicator."

Where did he get his spiritual values? There were a number of influences. First and foremost was his mother, Nelle Reagan. I'm confident that had Nelle Reagan died in the winter of 1918-19 - a near-victim of the devastating influenza epidemic that killed millions of healthy, middle-aged mothers around the world - Ronald Reagan very likely would not have become President.

It was Nelle who insisted her boy go to church-a request he happily obliged-and it was in church that Reagan picked up not only those core beliefs and values, but also the intangibles so vital to his success: his confidence, his eternal optimism (which he called a "God-given optimism"), and even his ability to speak.

Indeed, history has also overlooked the fact that the Great Communicator found his first audiences in a church. He learned to speak in a church.*

How many people that the world considers ‘great’—singers, musicians, public speakers—got their start as contributors to the various programs of the Church, the body of believers who know it is their duty to excel at what they do for the Lord.

As the Word declares, “In all things that your hand finds to do, do it as unto the Lord.” Colossians 3:23
 
 

Saturday, November 28, 2015

SNOW

 
As Winter and its cold and snow and ice approach, consider what the Bible says about snow:

The word ‘SNOW’ in SCRIPTURE 

The word ‘snow’ is used to illustrate different thoughts in
Scripture. Below is a list of all of the times snow is mentioned grouped according to the thought that it seems to exemplify.

SNOW PURE & CLEAN:
1. Job 9:30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands clean
2. Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow
3. Psalm 68:14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as
snow
4. Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
5. Lamentations 4:7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire
VISIBLE & CONSPICUOUS:
6. Exodus 4:6 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow
7. Numbers 12:10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.
8. 2 Kings 5:27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow

ADVERSE CONDITIONS:
9. 2 Samuel 23:20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lion-like men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of
snow
10. 1 Chronicles 11:22 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant
man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lion-like men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit on a snowy day.
11. Psalm 148:8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word
12. Proverbs 31:21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
13. Proverbs 26:1 As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool.
14. Psalm 147:16 He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.

REFRESHMENT & BLESSINGS:
15. Job 6:16 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the
snow is hid
16. Job 24:19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.
17. Job 37:6 For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.
18. Proverbs 25:13 As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.
19. Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater
20. Jeremiah 18:14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

BEAUTY, GLORY, HOLY & WHITENESS:
21. Job 38:22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
22. Daniel 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
23. Matthew 28:3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow
24. Mark 9:3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.
25. Revelation 1:14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire

Love


I Corinthians 13:8 tells us that love never fails, but this is contrary to the evidence we see all around us. Babies are aborted, children are abused, marriages fail, friendships end. Love, or man's frail counterfeit of love, had its role in all these relationships at some point in time, but it did not live up to the scriptural standard.

The reason man's love descends into the abyss of failure is because of what it is--it is only man's love. Like fake money, man's frail imitation of love spends only until its true nature is revealed.

In order to have abiding worth, money must originate with the governmental entity tasked with producing it. In order to have abiding worth, love must originate with God who is love. Only HE WHO IS LOVE (I JOHN 4:8) can make available to us the genuine emotion that binds hearts and minds and spirits together with an unbreakable bond.

That unbreakable bond is JESUS who loves us so much that HE died for our sins in order that we may be forever free from the penalty of our sin.

Receive that love, for it spends not only in time but also in eternity.




Black Friday


No business can operate very long without making a profit. Many enterprises have gone under in spite of the hard work, good service and excellent products they offer to the public. Failed businesses are far more common than are successful ones.

In the world of commerce it is 'the bottom line' that seals the fate of endeavors that succeed or fail based upon the ability to operate profitably and the one day of the year when the bookkeeping transforms from red to black ink is the day after Thanksgiving.

Whether a company can go forward or must close its doors is settled on that great shopping phenomenon known as Black Friday. If a business is able to get into black ink on that day, it will succeed for the year.

But there was another Black Friday long ago that is another kind of turn around point. It is the day Christ was crucified for the sins of all men. On that day Jesus took the sin of all mankind upon His sinless person and bore them to not only the cross but to the grave.

Man's sin--my sin--was placed on Him and He died because of it. Man's sin--my sin--required the death penalty and the Savior paid its price in full on the blackest of Black Fridays.

Because HE did, that day has come to signify the moment in time when the blackest of sins can be washed away by the blood of Jesus. Unlike business success which is signified when red ink becomes black, spiritual success comes when the black ink of sin is transformed to the red ink of salvation.

Let the shed blood of Jesus make you new, set you free; let the shed blood of Jesus cause you to become a profitable child who labors for the Kingdom of Christ.




No Hell?


Randy was a former drug dealer, an addict and a felon who overdosed and was pronounced dead! After a near-death experience and a life altering encounter with darkness, he cried out to Jesus.
5:10/5:10

Words to Ponder

“The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17






Quotes of Presidents

"I believe in an America...where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all…” John F. Kennedy





"God does not give us overcoming life: He gives us life as we overcome." Oswald Chambers

Moving in Presumption

 
November 28
Moving in Presumption
From: Today God Is First by Os Hillman

"Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord's covenant moved from the camp." Numbers 14:44

The people of Israel were brought out of Egypt to enter a new land-the Promised Land. This land was not handed over to them freely; it required the removing of God's enemies through battle. It required a partnership between God and the people. As long as the people remained true to God, they were victorious.

The people were camped at Kadesh Barnea, near the border entrance to the long-awaited Promised Land. All the hardships of their journey from Egypt were now culminating at this important crossing.

However, Joshua and Caleb were the only scouts who proclaimed faith in God to take them into the land and conquer their enemies. The other spies saw all the dangers and refused to take the risk. The people of the camp shrank in fear because of their report. They decided not to enter in.

God was angered at the people for their lack of faith. Moses had to intercede on their behalf. Once they realized what they had done, it was too late. But they thought their repentance was enough to right their wrong. They presumed this was all that was necessary.

Moses informed them they were deceived in their presumption of God's favor. They went to battle against the Amalekites only to be soundly defeated. Those who returned did not understand why they lost the battle.

It is important for us to know whether we have God's hand upon our endeavors. Presumption leads to failure. God's favor leads to success. Ask God to confirm His hand on your endeavors.

..."If Your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here," Exodus 33:15. 
 
 

Friday, November 27, 2015

Who Are You?


People tend to be quite wrapped up in who they are. Their self-image is quite important to them. The level of education they have attained, the degree of professional success they have achieved, the amount of wealth they have accumulated is the essence of who they are in their own minds.
But this is not the real man.

Neither is the magnitude of sin that a person has done the definition of who he is, for all of the above shall slip from him as a garment the moment he passes from temporal life to eternal life.

The only identifying quality that any person born into this Vale of Tears carries with him when he slips through the portal of time into the realm of eternity is what he has done with JESUS.

The person who has turned his back on Christ will find fulfillment of the LORD's words, "The man who denies ME before men, I will deny before MY FATHER who is in Heaven." Matthew 10:33
The man who has placed his life at the feet of the Lord, who has had his sins washed away in the precious blood of the LAMB will abide eternally in the Realm of Glory.

What is the sum of who you are?

If you have owned JESUS as your SAVIOR and LORD, you are a child of the King and you will reign with HIM eternally.

Reflection


May we reflect for a moment upon the Thanksgiving holiday that we've just enjoyed--upon the consumption of far too much delicious food, the blessing of family and friends with whom we've shared it, the treasure of life that we take for granted, let us not forget to bow our hearts before the
One of whom the WORD says, "O, Give thanks to the LORD, for HE is good, for HIS mercies endure forever." Psalm 107:1

And let us not forget that this thankfulness of spirit should abide within us not only on one day a year that is set aside for nation-wide thanks, but through every day of our lives.

And may we ever be mindful of the one, "unspeakable GIFT," II Corinthians 9:15, that GIFT that exceeds all others, that GIFT that is our only true treasure amid all the trinkets and baubles and currency of life that we may possess.

Let us never cease to lift up our hands and our hearts in praise to the ONE who gave HIMSELF to set us free from bondage to sin, according to Luke 19:40, the ONE who died that we may live, the ONE who has gone to prepare a place for us to abide with HIM forever.

JESUS, we thank You for YOU!



Christmas Season


A European said recently that Americans should remember that Christmas is 'a day, not a season.' I beg to differ.

Christmas is not a day or a season, Christmas is the SPIRIT of a PERSON, A WONDROUS, GLORIOUS, GRACIOUS, MATCHLESS, LOVING ETERNAL PERSON who "thought it not robbery to be equal with God, who became a MAN and submitted HIMSELF to death--even the death on a cross."

As we immerse ourselves in the shopping, in the decorating, in the celebrating, let us not forget that we buy gifts because gifts were brought to the Christ Child. Let us not forget that we decorate because the angels adorned the heavens with their praise. Let us not forget that we celebrate the FACT of Emmanuel, "GOD WITH US."  Matthew 1:23

And the PRECIOUS LIFE we celebrate at this season should be extolled in our minds and in our hearts and in our spirits, not for just a day, not for merely a season, but for every day of our lives.
Indeed, we shall worship Him for eternity.

"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Philippians 2:6-8

Words to Ponder


"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea." Luke 21:25




Quotes of Presidents

“We must seek revival...in the spiritual foundations which are the bedrock of our republic, for democracy is the outgrowth of the religious conviction of the sacredness of every human life. Its highest embodiment is the Bible; but politically, it is embodied in the Constitution." Herbert Hoover



"Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization... If we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science... Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'" Winston Churchill

The Warfare Within

 
November 27
The Warfare Within by Dr. D. James Kennedy

For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.—Romans 7:19

Have you ever felt the aggravation of doing the very sin you wanted to avoid? Or of not doing a good work you had intended to do?

Why do we find ourselves in this bind on such a consistent basis? When we hand our lives to Jesus, He gives us a new nature that is spotless and clean, incapable of sinning. But as fallen people we also carry within us a nature capable of vile and hideous deeds. And herein lies the battle.

Our regeneration sets up a dichotomy of the new and old natures, and when the Spirit of God dwells in our hearts, we recognize just how wretched we truly are. Only when Paul identified his God-given nature was he able to comprehend his captivity, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me?”

St. Augustine, poignantly aware of his sinfulness, wrote, “By these links, as it were, a chain was I held, shackled with a hard bondage. So these my two wills—the one old, the other new; the one carnal, the other spiritual—contended together, and by their discord disturbed my soul.”

Does your soul cry out for deliverance from your sinful nature? Then nurture your new nature. Read God’s Word daily, and spend quiet time with the Lord.

My friend, I urge you to act on God’s directive: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

If you want your new nature to conquer the old, you must allow Him to feed your soul. And no matter how tough the battles get, always remember that on the cross Jesus Christ won the war—once and for all.
 

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Blessings


To Everyone:

May the blessings of this lovely Thanksgiving pale only in comparison to the abiding "joy of the LORD which is your strength," Nehemiah 8:10, and to the precious wonder of knowing Christ personally and walking hand-in-hand with Him through time and anticipating the wonder of abiding with Him forever.

What Are People Reading?

What Are People Reading in the Living Epistle of Your Life?

They Stared In Disgust When He Walked Into The Jam-Packed Church. Then This Happened.
His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of esoteric and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.

Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students, but are not sure how to go about it. One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat.

The church is completely packed and he can’t find a seat. By now people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet. (Although perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, trust me, this had never happened in this church before!) By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.

About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves, “You can’t blame him for what he’s going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?”

It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can’t even hear anyone breathing. The people are thinking.

The minister can’t even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do and now, they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won’t be alone. Everyone chokes up with emotion.

When the minister gains control he says,

“What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget. Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read.”

A Tradition


"There is a tradition that in the planting of New England, the first settlers met with many difficulties and hardships, as is generally the case when a civiliz'd people attempt to establish themselves in a wilderness country.

Being so piously dispos'd, they sought relief from Heaven by laying their wants and distresses before the Lord in frequent set days of fasting and prayer.

Constant meditation and discourse on these subjects kept their minds gloomy and discontented, and like the children of Israel there were many dispos'd to return to the Egypt which persecution had induc'd them to abandon...

…At length, when it was proposed in the Assembly to proclaim another fast, a farmer of plain sense rose and remark'd that the inconveniences they suffer'd, and concerning which they had so often weary'd heaven with their complaints, were not so great as they might have expected, and were diminishing every day as the colony strengthen'd; that the earth began to reward their labour and furnish liberally for their subsistence; that their seas and rivers were full of fish, the air sweet, the climate healthy, and above all, they were in the full enjoyment of liberty, civil and religious.

He therefore thought that reflecting and conversing on these subjects would be more comfortable and lead more to make them contented with their situation; and that it would be more becoming the gratitude they ow'd to the divine being, if instead of a fast they should proclaim a thanksgiving.

His advice was taken, and from that day to this, they have in every year observ'd circumstances of public felicity sufficient to furnish employment for a Thanksgiving Day, which is therefore constantly ordered and religiously observed." Ben Franklin
 
 

Thanksgiving Even in Wartime


Thanksgiving, Even in Wartime  quoted from WallBuilders

Days of thanksgiving have been observed in America for centuries, from the early celebration by the Pilgrims to the ones we have today. Sometimes they have occurred even during times of war.

For example, following the battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, in November of that year a Thanksgiving proclamation was issued, urging the people, even as war continued to give thanks for all their blessings, including . . .

. . . devoutly to offer up their unfeigned Praises to Almighty God…that the lives of our officers and soldiers have been so remarkably preserved, while our enemies have fell before them…that our unnatural enemies, instead of ravaging the country with uncontrolled sway, are confined within such narrow limits, to their own mortification and distress, environed by an American Army, brave and determined.

And it was actually during the Civil War that the current tradition of our annual, national Thanksgiving was established. The 1863 Thanksgiving proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln also encouraged Americans to give thanks that:

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the aggressions of foreign States, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict.

And during World War II, even though over 400,000 Americans lost their lives, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a Thanksgiving proclamation for November 1944 asking Americans to be thankful . . .

For the preservation of our way of life from the threat of destruction; for the unity of spirit which has kept our Nation strong; for our abiding faith in freedom; and for the promise of an enduring peace.

The Bible tells us to “Be thankful in all circumstances” I Thessalonians 5:18, and America has a long history demonstrating a conformity to this verse. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this year, we can certainly do no less.

So Happy Thanksgiving, and whatever circumstances you may be facing, don't forget to express your gratitude to God for all of His many blessings.

O LORD, Our God, We Thank YOU


O, Lord our God, we thank You on this day that is set aside to express our gratitude for Your abundant provision to us. There are so many things that we simply take for granted because You are so faithful in providing them.

We thank you for the beauty of the world You have created that dazzles our wondering eyes.
We thank You for the shelter of our homes that protects us from the heat of summer and the cold of winter.

We thank You for the varied food of which we partake to strengthen our bodies.

We thank You for the abundant resources at our disposal that enable us to avail ourselves of the abundance that is ours.

We thank You for safety in our homes and for safety abroad--for the security that is ours because You have assured us that You will never fail or forsake us.

We thank You for the friendships we enjoy and for the family that surrounds us with their abiding love.

Above all, LORD JESUS, we thank YOU for dying a cruel death on the cross so we will never have to die. We thank YOU for rising from the grave so that we, too, may arise from death to life. We thank YOU for washing us in Calvary's font and setting us free from the pangs of sin, hell and the grave.

We thank YOU, LORD JESUS, for being our Maker, our Healer, our Comforter, our Teacher, our Guide, our Provider, our Friend, our Savior, our EVERLASTING GOD.