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Become one of the One hundred million

When we get 100,000,000, that’s one hundred million, willing Christians to BOND together, voice their concerns and vote, we can take back America with God’s help. Become one of the One hundred million, then let’s get 200 million.

This can be done by communicating to other Christians you know to get involved Do the math. It only takes a willing heart and a fed up soul.

God Bless America and Shine your light on Her..

In 1952 President Truman established one day a year as a “National Day of Prayer .”
In 1988 President Reagan designated the First Thursday in May of each year as the National Day of Prayer.
In June 2007 (then) Presidential Candidate Barack Obama declared that the USA was, “…… no longer a Christian nation.”
This year President Obama canceled the 21st annual National Day of Prayer ceremony at the White House under the ruse
Of “not wanting to offend anyone”
BUT… on September 25, 2009 from 4 AM until 7 PM, a National Day of Prayer FOR THE MUSLIM RELIGION was Held on Capitol Hill, beside the White House. There were over 50,000 Muslims in D.C. that day.
President Obama PRAYS WITH THE MUSLIMS! He also just had a State Dinner for Muslims celebrating the ending of Ramadan.

I guess it Doesn’t matter if “Christians” are offended by these events – We obviously don ‘t count as “anyone” Anymore.

The direction this country is headed should strike fear in the heart of every Christian, especially knowing that the

Muslim religion believes that if Christians cannot be converted, they should be annihilated.

This is not a Rumor – Go to the website To confirm this info: http://www.islamoncapitolhill.com/

Tell all the Christians you know about this article and effort. Encourage their involvement. Don’t stop praying, and ask God to tell you how He wants you to put legs to your prayers, in Jesus Name, Amen!

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Political, Spiritual

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Creation verses Evolution

Creation vs. Evolution

The Basics Explained

Why Should Christians believe in Creation?

We believe in creation, first of all, not because of scientific evidence, but because of our faith in Jesus Christ and in His Word the Bible. The Lord Jesus is revealed in the Bible to be the Creator of all things (John 1:3, Hebrews 1:1-3), and He is for Christians the Lord of all and the Head over all things, including science (Acts 10:36, Ephesians 1:22). Our Head has said something about science in John 5:45-47, namely this: If we believe in Jesus Christ, then we must believe Moses’ writings. What did Moses write about first of all? He wrote about the creation of all things by God. So we judge science by the Bible and not the other way around. “We walk by faith, not by sight.” (I Corinthians 5:7)

God has given us Scientific Evidence for Creation

Since the beginning all men have been without excuse if they have not acknowledged the Creator God, for the evidence is all around them in the created world (Romans 1:19-20). And modern science has revealed a vast web of evidence which supports the biblical record of creation. Let us think first about the logic of the scientific argument for creation.

The Logic of the Scientific case for Creation

Creation is by definition a divine miracle, an act of God which is outside of and above the physical laws He has established in the world. Therefore, scientists who believe in creation do not try to devise theories to explain how God created, for human beings cannot understand how God created. On the other hand, evolutionary scientists say that they are devising theories to explain the evolution of all life and that they are discovering natural processes or mechanisms which can evolve new plants and animals. So we say to them, “The burden of proof is on you. Come on, now, give us theories which really explain evolution, and show us the natural mechanisms or processes which can produce new designs and evolve new plants and animals.”

Has evolutionary theory really explained evolution? No. Have they discovered any mechanism or process of genetics which can evolve anything really new. No, they have not. And, as long as this failure of evolutionary science continues, divine special creation continues to be an intellectually and scientifically viable belief for anybody, including scientists, to hold.

A Brief Look at the Evidence

The Fossil Evidence. Evolution is supposed to be a process of change. If some ancient species of worm or other creature without a backbone slowly changed into a vertebrate fish with a backbone, there should be a series of intermediate fossil species which document that actual process of change. These intermediate fossil forms are totally absent from the fossil record. Prof. Alfred Romer at Harvard University wrote that this evolution from invertebrate to vertebrate must have required 100 million years for which we do not have the fossil evidence. Prof. Stephen Stanley of Johns Hopkins University wrote in 1979 that the known fossil record provides not a single example of a series of fossils which prove that a process of evolution really took place to produce a new kind of creature.

These systematic gaps in the fossil record mean that every basic type of plant or animal seems to appear suddenly in the fossil-bearing rocks. The fossils speak of sudden appearance of the kinds, not the slow, gradual change of one kind into another kind. But this fossil evidence appears more in agreement with special creation than with evolution, doesn’t it?

Biological Design. Nature is rich everywhere with biological designs which defy evolutionary explanation. Secular scientists, when pressed, have to admit that they cannot offer testable or even plausible explanations for the origin of biodesigns. For just one example, consider the little intestinal microbe, Escherichia coli. Each tiny single-celled microbe propels itself around with six corkscrew propellers which are connected by universal joints to six constant torque, variable speed, reversible rotary motors!

Evolutionary scientists have not the slightest idea how this complex assembly of complex, interdependent parts could have evolved. Yet, they believe it happened. They have faith in dumb atoms. Faith in the Creator God is far superior.

Genetics: For thousands of years intelligent humans have been selectively breeding plants and animals to develop varieties which are of special value to man. So there are 150 varieties of dogs, scores of varieties of roses, many different varieties of cattle and sheep, of apples and potatoes, etc. But they are still dogs, roses, cattle, sheep, apples and potatoes. There is much variation under artificial selection. Also, there is much variation in nature in the wild. But the changes are always limited. Genetics teaches that there are barriers through which genetic change cannot go. Species of plants and animals exist in groups of species which are separated from all other such groups. And this is just what the Bible teaches in Genesis 1 where Moses tells us that God created the “kinds” of plants and animals to reproduce each one “after its own

Watch ‘Evolution vs. God’ – A new movie from the producers of the Award-winning ‘Genius’!

www.EvolutionVsGod.com

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Spiritual

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Military Chaplain’s Assistant Threatened By Superior Over Her Expression Of Christian Beliefs

by Frank Camp // http://lastresistance.com/2981/military-chaplains-assistant-threatened-by-superior-over-her-expression-of-christian-beliefs/#teBAs9yd0hhtWjQk.99

As society progresses, we lose small pieces of what made us human. We replace these little pieces with dangerous facsimiles of what originally filled us. Above all else, we lose our sense of moral integrity. What comes with a loss of moral integrity is an animus toward others who still hold values which many have left behind. We reach a certain point—which I fear we are quickly approaching—when that animus evolves into hostility, and that hostility into tyranny. Once we have reached tyranny, we cannot go back; we are trapped behind a glass wall, only able to see in our minds what once was possible, and who we once were. We are no longer humans, but animals, fighting for territory and scraps of food.

As we have progressed, we have lost tolerance. The Left will tell you that they are the most tolerant people the world has ever seen. That is, of course, a lie. The Left is only tolerant of those with whom they agree—which isn’t tolerance at all.

According to Town Hall, a Army Chaplain’s Assistant is being targeted for her religious beliefs. After watching a documentary in which a Pastor was condoning homosexuality, telling his gay parishioners to embrace who they are, the Chaplain’s Assistant posted a response on her personal Facebook page. This is the response in full:

“A lot ticked off, now to all my gay friends you know I care about you so don’t think otherwise. I’m watching this documentary and this gay guy went to a church and the Pastor was telling him that he needs to embrace his way and know that it is not a sin. Ok umm wow, dude it is. I’m sick of people making Gods word what it’s not. Yes God loves you as a person but He hates the sin. Tired of hearing about Pastors being ok with homosexuality.”

In response, her Commander told her to remove the post, or face demotion, and a salary decrease. Her Commander said that she was creating “a hostile and antagonistic environment in the unit.”

The Assistant says that she will not remove the post, and that she will not be intimidated into hiding her beliefs. “I haven’t taken it down, and I won’t take it down…

I’ve never gotten in trouble for anything. And there’s nothing hostile or antagonistic in the post…Where does it stop? If they are going to silence me on Facebook, where will it stop?”

Todd Hudnall, her Colorado Pastor, came to the defense of the Assistant, saying:

“I read what she posted and there was absolutely no trace of animus, disrespect or hostility. Instead, she expressed love for her gay friends but insisted that biblical values should not be compromised. Her issue wasn’t with anyone who is gay but with pastors who refuse to acknowledge scriptural teaching about homosexual behavior…I was struck by the fact that the military was denying her right to privately exercise her freedom of expression and freedom of religion.”

Where is the tolerance on the part of the Military? I can guarantee that if someone of a faith besides Christianity posted something similar to what the Assistant posted, the response would not be the same. That, right there, is intolerance.

Tolerance–in a sense–means dealing with the world around you; it means seeing people for who they are, not what they are. Tolerance means that although you may not agree with someone, you respect them as a human being, and treat them as you would want to be treated. The Military cannot violate freedom of speech. The Assistant has every right to express her beliefs in a way that doesn’t create an uncomfortable environment for her peers. She did that. She respectfully addressed her biblical understanding on her private Facebook page.

Finally, what the Chaplain’s Assistant said is correct. If the Military silences her on Facebook, where and when will they act next? If they can reach their arms into the personal lives of soldiers–specifically and deliberately targeting religious beliefs–what is stopping them from going further? The answer is nothing. Nothing is stopping them. Animus will turn into hostility, and hostility into tyranny.

I don’t care if you agree with the Chaplain’s Assistant or not. I don’t care if you think her beliefs are wrong. If you care about our country, if you care about the future of our liberties, you will stand with her. With this case, a small, fragile piece of our collective freedom is teetering on the edge of a cliff. If it is allowed to fall, it will shatter into a million tiny pieces which we will never be able to put back together. It will be just one more piece of humanity lost, pushing us further toward tyranny.

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Military, Political, Spiritual

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$100 million mega-mosque coming to this state

WND EXCLUSIVE // http://www.wnd.com/2013/08/100-million-mega-mosque-coming-to-this-state/

‘We will show our friends in the U.S. who we actually are’

Chelsea Schilling About | Email | Archive

Chelsea Schilling is a commentary editor and staff writer for WND, an editor of Jerome Corsi’s Red Alert and a proud U.S. Army veteran. She has also worked as a news producer at USA Radio Network and as a news reporter for the Sacramento Union.

Turkey’s Islamist government is constructing a massive $100 million, 15-acre mosque in Lanham, Md., that is expected to “become the largest and most striking example of Islamic architecture in the Western hemisphere” by October 2014.

In May, Turkey Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan placed a ceremonial stone at the construction site. Now the five-building project known as the Turkish American Culture and Civilization Center is well underway in the town just outside Washington, D.C., with a population of about 10,000.

As the Clarion Project explains, mosques have been springing up all over the U.S. in recent years. As many as 80 percent of the mosques in America have been built in the last 12 years – since the 2001 terror attacks.

“A large majority of mosques in the United States are led by Wahhabi clerics,” the Project explains. “Wahhabism is an extreme brand of Islam practiced dominantly in Saudi Arabia. According to Muslim estimates, up to 80 percent of mosques in the U.S. are owned, operated and led by Wahhabis.

“These radical mosques often promote the installation of Sharia law, an extreme ideology that considers ‘non-believers’ to be infidels. According to Wahhabis, jihad or support of jihad is a Muslim duty. They believe that suicide bombers and martyrs are worthy of the highest praise and reward. And radicals are anticipating the day when an Islamic state will one day span the U.S.”

How can you defend America against Islamic supremacist encroachment? In “Stop the Islamization of America,” renowned activist Pamela Geller provides the answer, offering proven, practical guidance on how freedom lovers can stop jihadist initiatives in local communities.

As many as four studies have independently concluded that 80 percent of U.S. mosques “were teaching jihad, Islamic supremacism, and hatred and contempt for Jews and Christians,” Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch has reported.

Spencer noted, “We are increasingly seeing Muslim patrols in the proximity of mosques saying to passers-by that they can’t walk a dog, wear a skirt, drink alcohol.”

But Dr. Yasar Colak, president of the Turkish American Community Center, told the World Bulletin his organization has special plans for the new mega-mosque, which will be designed in accordance with 16th century Ottoman architecture:

“We will show our friends in the U.S. who we actually are and the main principle of our civilization,” he said. “We will present our peaceful culture. We will try to erase the bad reputation of Muslims and Islam created following September 11 attacks.”

In 2009, WND was one of the first to report plans for a new Islamic mosque just steps from Ground Zero where Muslim terrorists murdered 2,751 people in the name of Allah on Sept. 11, 2001. The New York Daily News recently reported the same developer now “controls three adjacent properties on Park Place, leaving neighbors wondering whether the mysterious owner has a mega mosque planned for the block.”

According to the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, the Turkish American Culture and Civilization Center will include facilities for activities relating to:

Religious services and education
Turkish language education
Turkish history lectures
Turkish culinary arts classes
Cultural exchange
Recreation, sports, and health
U.S. immigration and citizenship
Women’s equality and empowerment education
Civic engagement and public advocacy
Business, commerce and trade development
Spiritual wellness

“There are 19 [Turkish American Community Centers] nationwide,” the Assembly states. ”TACCs represent a board spectrum of Turkish American society, promoting secular democracy and respect towards diverse lifestyles.”

As the Clarion Project reported, the Turkish mosque groundbreaking ceremony was attended by the leaders of two U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entities: Naeem Baig, president of the Islamic Circle of North America, and Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America. A 1991 memo links both organizations to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. Page 7 of the memo states that the Brotherhood’s “work in America” is “a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within.”

Also in May, President Obama welcomed Erdogan, who has been a constant advocate for Hamas in Gaza, to the White House. Erdogan brought with him Mavi Marmara, the father of an Islamic jihadist killed in the 2010 raid on a Gaza flotilla. Marmara has indicated he wants the Obama administration to sue Israel over the raid.

Erdogan has said, “The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers.”

At the May ceremony for the new mosque, he warned of groups promoting “Islamophobia,” and just one month earlier, he called Zionism and “Islamophobia” “crime[s] against humanity.”

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Judicial Watch noted, “During the recent visit to the mosque construction site in Maryland, Erdogan’s deputy prime minister, Bülent Arınç, slipped away from the delegation for a day, according to a newspaper that covers Turkish affairs abroad. Arınç reportedly visited an ‘Islamic scholar’ who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.”

Americans overwhelmingly opposed the Ground Zero mosque, but why was it being built in the first place? WND’s Molotov Mitchell explores what’s really going on in his exclusive in-depth, investigative documentary, “The Mosque.”

British planning lawyer Gavin Boby, an expert on zoning permissions who has successfully blocked the construction of more than 16 mosques in the U.K., explained that the significance of mosques extends far beyond religious purposes:

This is the Islamic doctrine, every mosque is instructed to be based upon the original mosque in Medina, where Muhammad originally in the 7th century set up his religious-political doctrine of social control, and the mosque is a place of government, it is a place where treaties are made, death sentences are passed, armies are blessed and dispatched, it is primarily about political control and it is very much used as a tool of advance. Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey talked about that, the Muslim Brotherhood compared their mosques to battalions and to beehives, where Muslims will gather and then advance, and there’s nothing new about this, it goes back to the 7th century.

In his 2010 exclusive WND column, William Federer, author of “What Every American Needs to Know About the Quran: A History of Islam and the United States,” listed dozens of historical cases in which mosques were erected as signs of Muslim conquest.

In 630 A.D. after he captured Mecca, Muhammad himself converted the Ka’aba, a pagan pantheon, into a mosque.

Boby, who runs the Law and freedom Foundation, also explained that the word “mosque” is strategically omitted during the application process:

“The method is very simple,” he said. “A planning application gets submitted for a mosque in an area, and it will never be called a ‘mosque.’ It will be called a community center; an inter-faith center; a public community, harmony-building outreach center, and then the neighbors contact us, and it’s usually people who have never been involved in politics before, are shy of politics and officialdom and ask us to help them to resist it.”

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Society, Spiritual

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Some Thoughts I want to Share With You

The turmoil we are experiencing in America each day has a single common root; Spiritual Darkness. That is the foundation for most of the stresses, crime, social discord and evil found in our society today. God inspired the Apostle Paul to give us an answer when He had Paul write a letter to all the churches he had ministered. Tychicus, a Christian man and helper of Paul’s, was tasked with inserting the name of each church in the beginning of the letter before he read the letter to them. In our Bibles we find a copy of that letter, the book of Ephesians.

In the sixth chapter Paul is inspired to write, “10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” – (Eph 6:10-12) NIV. The Holy Spirit wants us to know that all the battles we face in this life is spiritual in nature.

Starting at the beginning we learn that the nature to sin was originated with Adam and Eve. Their fall from grace was the result of their disobedience in eating the fruit from the tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil. That knowledge has been passed down to every person ever born on this earth. No exceptions, except Jesus, Who was the result of God’s divine nature impregnating a young virgin girl, Mary.

Jesus also taught us this lesson found in John, chapter three. All too often we preach and teach about the first seventeen verses and neglect the powerful teaching about this issue. “19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:19-21) NIV

“Men love darkness instead of the light…..” That says it all. People of the Extreme Left are made up of those that have chosen DARKNESS for their lifestyle because they were born with the knowledge of God that their life choices are contrary to His will, and therefore, contrary to God Himself. Rather than admit their choices are wrong and all their philosophies are wrong, all their doctrines are wrong and that all they stand for, defend and fight to change, are wrong, wrong, wrong, they curse the light and cling to the darkness. I am sure you know people like that; they will never admit they are wrong.

Those of us who have come to the light have confessed our sins admitting that our life choices are wrong, and we have chosen to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ, making Him the Lord of our lives and yielding to His Holy Spirit to walk in that Light, AS HE IS THE LIGHT (John 1 & 1st John 1). That walk is not withourt it’s challenges, yet He is faithful Who has promised to uphold us with His mighty hand. Darkness hides people for what they are, and the motivations behind all they say and do.

The Apostle Paul wrote the the church in Rome, “18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Rom 1:18-20) NIV

Therefore, all human beings are without excuse before God because we are all born with the knowledge of good and evil. That is why people surround their lives with noise to drown out that still, small voice of God saying, “This is the way and I want you to go. Now walk in it.”

I believe that is the reason the people claiming to be Atheist are so adamant about driving Christianity out of our society. Notice they never attack Catholic’s, Muslims or any other form of religion? Only Christianity is found in their cross-hairs of hatred and strife. Consistent are their efforts to quiet the voice of Christ followers, and our freedom in America to practice our faith and express it openly.

No longer can we say, “I can express my faith in America without fear of reprisal.” Those days are gone because of the efforts of the Socialist Left who want us to stay quiet and stay to ourselves. The persecution of Christ followers is growing in ever rapid pace. The vitriol, hatred, false accusations, misrepresentation of what we say, is becoming more common with each passing day. The day is fast approaching under the Extreme Political Left Wing that being a Christian will be a crime. Already Homeland Security, The State Department and the Department of Defense has labeled Christians as a group pf people to keep a eye on fearing we will cause trouble of some sort, and labeled possible terrorist.

EVIDENCE OF THE GROWING GODLESSNESS OF OUR GOVERNMENT:

Proverbs 18:2 NIV; “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.”

The people the Bible identifies as “Fools” where people who did not know God, or wanted to have anything to do with God. They included the religious of that day, and throughout history, their offspring are following in the same path. We think that only Atheist fall into the “Fool” category, but in reality, anyone who claims they don’t know if their is a God, no God at all, or are simply religious in their thinking and conduct, are denying the living God and the record of His will, the Bible.

These people are free with their opinion about everything, and any opposition is considered hateful and argumentative. The entire Extreme Left falls into this “Fool” category, and those claiming to be Atheist find comfort, security and acceptance in the Socialist wing of the Extreme Left.

Proverbs 18:12 NIV; “”Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.”

Detroit proves this truth of God, and there are many other cities and States (California being one of them) that are about to go the same way. America is thick with politicians convinced they are above the law, a law unto themselves and will never be brought to answer for their deliberate destruction of our towns, cities, counties and States. Praise God we also find a remnant of politicians that are genuinely humble before God and the status of their governance is good, growing and secure.

Without a genuine Holy Spirit powered revival, we are rushing headlong toward a bloody civil war, race war and demise of all our freedoms and an America that will not look like anything our Godly Forefathers had in mind as God influenced the design and birth of the United States of America. History is obvious that God has formed two countries for His Own; Israel and the United States of America. Our country was form by God for the spreading of the Gospel worldwide. Now, the churches we’ve planted are sending missionaries to us praying Americans will find Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to turn this country around.

I have been praying for revival since December of 1982. I will not give up. I believe God is not done with America, but our sins cannot go unpunished. Will you join me in praying for Revival?

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Political, Society, Spiritual

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FBI raids rescue 105 kids forced into prostitution

Back in the 80’s a ministry was formed, Youth Harvest International. One of their ministry tools was a tee shirt they sold that had something similar to this on the front of the shirt;

It would stimulate the question, “Who is the “Sneet Sacirema” Tribe? The answer would start a conversation and that answer is, “America’s Teens”. With the stats on suicide, teen pregnancy and abortion, drug addiction and alcoholism, the amount of teens who end up like the teens in the following article makes saving this “Tribe” a real urgency.

As you read the following article, please do so prayerfully. Please yield yourself the God the Father by the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit to do what you can to help save these children.

Jerry Broussard

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

AP | By PETE YOST, Published July 29, 2013 12:25PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities rescued 105 children who were forced into prostitution and arrested 150 pimps and others in a three-day law enforcement sweep in 76 American cities, the FBI said Monday. The victims, almost all girls, range in age from 13 to 17.

The largest numbers of children rescued were in San Francisco, Detroit, Milwaukee, Denver and New Orleans. The campaign, known as Operation Cross Country, was conducted under the FBI’s Innocence Lost initiative.

“Child prostitution remains a persistent threat to children across the country,” Ron Hosko, assistant director of the bureau’s criminal investigative division, told a press conference.

The FBI said the campaign has resulted in rescuing 2,700 children since 2003.

The investigations and convictions of 1,350 have led to life imprisonment for 10 pimps and the seizure of more than $3.1 million in assets.

For the past decade, the FBI has been attacking the problem in partnership with a non-profit group, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

John Ryan, the head of the center, called the problem “an escalating threat against America’s children.”

The Justice Department has estimated that nearly 450,000 children run away from home each year and that one-third of teens living on the street will be lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.

Congress has introduced legislation that would require state law enforcement, foster care and child welfare programs to identify children lured into sex trafficking as victims of abuse and neglect eligible for the appropriate protections and services.

“In much of the country today if a girl is found in the custody of a so-called pimp she is not considered to be a victim of abuse, and that’s just wrong and defies common sense,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said during a Senate Finance Committee hearing last month. Wyden co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

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Political, Society, Spiritual

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Forced prostitution

Obama celebrates Ramadan: ‘Islam has contributed to the character’ of US

By Kyle Balluck – // http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/313665-obama-celebrates-ramadan-with-white-house-dinner#ixzz2aAAGMRru

President Obama late Thursday celebrated Ramadan with a traditional dinner in the State Dining Room, saying that throughout the nation’s history, “Islam has contributed to the character of our country.”

In remarks before the Iftar dinner, eaten by Muslims after sunset to end the day of fasting, Obama quoted from the Koran, according to a White House pool report. “As the Koran teaches, whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see its results.”

“Muslim-Americans and their good works have helped to build our nation, and we’ve seen the results,” he added.

Obama, who has hosted five Iftar dinners, focused on entrepreneurship during much of his speech.

“Every day, Muslim-Americans are helping to shape the way that we think and the way that we work and the way that we do business,” he said. “And that’s the spirit that we celebrate tonight — the dreamers, the creators whose ideas are pioneering new industries, creating new jobs and unleashing new opportunities for all of us.”

Obama recognized three entrepreneurs, including Shazi Visram, the founder and chief executive of Happy Family Organic Superfoods; Aunim Hossain, chief executive of Tista Games; and Iya Khalil, who co-founded GNS Healthcare, a biotech research company.

“So Shazi, Aunim, Iya and so many of you who have traveled here tonight — each of you have traveled your own path, but each of you have also lived out an American story.

“And of course, this isn’t just the American Dream; it’s the aspiration of people around the world. It’s the basic human desire for progress, to find dignity that comes from work, to give our children something better.”

Members of Congress, local elected officials and dozens of ambassadors were on the White House guest list.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 25, 2013

Expected Attendees at the White House Iftar Dinner

This evening, the President will continue a White House tradition of hosting an Iftar celebrating Ramadan in the State Dining Room. This is the fifth Iftar hosted by the President. The Iftar is the meal that breaks the day of fasting, when Muslim families and communities eat together after sunset.

Below is a list of some of the expected attendees at tonight’s White House dinner
celebrating Ramadan:
Members of Congress:
• The Honorable Debbie Stabenow, United States Senator, Michigan
• The Honorable André Carson, United States Representative, Indiana
• The Honorable John Dingell, United States Representative, Michigan
• The Honorable Keith Ellison, United States Representative, Minnesota
• The Honorable Eliot Engel, United States Representative, New York
• The Honorable Dan Kildee, United States Representative, Michigan

Local Elected Officials:

Mayor Arjumand Hashmi, City of Paris, TX
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, 6th District, Michigan House of Representatives Diplomatic Corps:
Suleiman Salem Hammad Abulhul, Charge d’Affaires of Libya
His Excellency Lukman Al Faily, Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq
Her Excellency Hunaina Al Mughairy, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman
His Excellency Mohamed Abdullah M. Al Rumaihi, Ambassador of the State of Qatar
His Excellency Mohammed Al-Hussaini Al Sharif, Ambassador of the League of Arab States, Arab League Mission
His Excellency Adel Ahmed Al-Jubeir, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi, Arabia
His Excellency Yousef Mana Saeed Alotaiba, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, Embassy of the United Arab Emirates
Adel Ali Ahmed Alsunaini, Charge d’Affaires of the Republic of Yemen
His Excellency Abdallah Baali, Ambassador of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
His Excellency Othman Bin Hashim, Ambassador of Malaysia
His Excellency Seydou Bouda, Ambassador of Burkina Faso
His Excellency Rachad Bouhlal, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco
Her Excellency Alia Mohamad Bouran, Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
His Excellency Antoine Chedid, Ambassador of the Lebanese Republic
His Excellency Blaise Cherif, Ambassador of the Republic of Guinea
Kais Darragi, Charge D’affaires of the Tunisian Republic
His Excellency Maitine Djoumbe, Ambassador of the Republic of Chad
His Excellency Muktar Djumaliev, Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic
His Excellency Mohamed El Haycen, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
His Excellency Bienvenu Joseph Charles Foe-Atangana, Ambassador of the Republic of Cameroon
His Excellency Gilbert Galanxhi, Ambassador of the Republic of Albania
His Excellency Bakhtiyar Gulyamov, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan
His Excellency Eklil Hakimi, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Baboucarr Jallow, Charge d’Affaires of the Gambia
His Excellency Bayney Karran, Ambassador of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana
His Excellency Al Maamoun Keita, Ambassador of the Republic of Mali
Asad Majeed Khan, Charge d’Affaires of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
His Excellency Michael Moussa-Adamo, Ambassador of the Gabonese Republic
His Excellency Stanislas Moussa-Kembe, Ambassador, Central African Republic
Her Excellency Liberata Rutageruka Mulamula, Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania
His Excellency Cheik Niang, Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal
Her Excellency Huda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain
His Excellency Segbe Oguin, Ambassador of the Republic of Benin
His Excellency Roble Olhaye, Ambassador of the Republic of Djibouti
His Excellency Akramul Qader, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
His Excellency Ebrahim Rasool, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa
His Excellency Maman Sidikou, Ambassador of the Republic of Niger
His Excellency Elin Suleymanov, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan
His Excellency Namik Tan, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey
His Excellency Mohamed Mostafa Mohamed Tawfik, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt
His Excellency Kairat Umarov, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Her Excellency Oliver Wonekha, Ambassador of the Republic of Uganda
His Excellency Dato Paduka Yusoff Abd Hamid, Ambassador of the State of Brunei Darussalam
His Excellency Adebowale Adefuye, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
His Excellency Daouda Diabate, Ambassador of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire
His Excellency Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah, Ambassador of the State of Kuwait

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Militant Atheist Demand A Christian Military Chaplian Be Punished For Doing His Job

By Clash Daily / / http://clashdaily.com/2013/07/militant-atheist-demand-military-chaplian-be-punished-for-doing-his-job/

Lt. Col. Kenneth Reyes is a Christian chaplain currently serving in the U.S. Air Force. He is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. As an ordained clergyman whose duties are to provide religious instruction and spiritual counseling, he has a page on the base’s website called “Chaplain’s Corner.”

Reyes recently wrote an essay entitled, “No Atheists in Foxholes: Chaplains Gave All in World War II.” This common saying is attributed to a Catholic priest in World War II, made famous when President Dwight D. Eisenhower said during a 1954 speech: “I am delighted that our veterans are sponsoring a movement to increase our awareness of God in our daily lives. In battle, they learned a great truth that there are no atheists in the foxholes.”

As reported by Fox News’s Todd Starnes, when Reyes referenced this famous line in his essay, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) contacted the base commander, Col. Brian Duffy, demanding he take action on Reyes’s “anti-secular diatribe.”

MRFF’s letter says that by Reyes’s “use of the bigoted, religious supremacist phrase, ‘no atheists in foxholes,’ he defiles the dignity of service members.” They accuse him of violating military regulations.

My legal research on this issue uncovered no regulation prohibiting Reyes’ speech, which looks like expression protected by the free speech and religious freedom provisions of the First Amendment. Military leaders did not respond to Fox’s inquiries asking the Air Force to identify any such rules.

Nonetheless, only five hours after MRFF’s complaint, the essay was removed from the website. Duffy has profusely apologized to MRFF for not stopping this religious leader from sharing religious thoughts.

But this response—which again appears to be a violation of Reyes’s First Amendment rights—is insufficient for MRFF. They said, “Faith based hate, is hate all the same,” and, “Lt. Col. Reyes must be appropriately punished.” (Emphasis added).

So MRFF is saying that the coercive power of government must be used to punish a military officer, who is also an ordained Christian minister, for making ordinary religious references consistent with his faith.

Retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin of the Family Research Council—one of the leaders of a new religious liberty coalition for the military—responded, “A chaplain has been censored for expressing his beliefs about the role of faith in the lives of service members… Why do we have chaplains if they aren’t allowed to fulfill that purpose?”

MRFF is activist Mikey Weinstein’s organization. He called observant Christians “fundamentalist monsters” seeking to impose a “reign of theocratic terror,” and he described sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in the military as an act of “spiritual rape” that makes believers “enemies of the Constitution” who are committing an act of “sedition and treason” against this nation.

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Despite Egypt Ousting Of Muslim Brotherhood, Security Forces Allowed Killing Of 4 Christians By Islamists

by Dean Garrison // http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/07/despite-egypt-ousting-of-muslim-brotherhood-security-forces-allowed-killing-of-4-christians-by-islamists/#ixzz2a6UehO64

The revolution in Egypt was a feel good story for a couple of weeks but we will wait to see if the country truly takes a new direction. Whether Morsi and The Muslim Brotherhood are in power, or not, it does not change the fact that Christians are constantly persecuted and killed in Egypt simply because they refuse to bow down to Allah.

Amnesty International reports:

Security forces stood by and failed to intervene during a brutal attack on Coptic Christians in Luxor, Amnesty International said in a briefing published today. During the sectarian violence, security forces left six besieged men –four of whom were then killed and one hospitalized – to the mercy of an angry crowd.

In an attack lasting 18 hours on 5 July, four Coptic Christian men were killed and four others were seriously injured. An angry mob armed with metal bars, knives, tree branches and hammers attacked Christian homes and businesses in Nagah Hassan, 18 km west of Luxor, after the dead body of a Muslim man was discovered near the homes of Christian families. Despite local residents’ and religious leaders’ repeated calls for help, security forces on the scene made only half-hearted attempts to end the violence and sufficient reinforcements failed to arrive.

“It is outrageous that this attack was left to escalate unhindered in this way. Amnesty International has documented a series of cases in the past where Egypt’s security forces used unnecessary force or live fire during demonstrations, yet in this case they held back even though people’s lives were threatened,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“A thorough, impartial and independent investigation must be conducted into the events in Luxor and the grossly inadequate response of the security forces to the attack.”

According to this report is seems quite plausible that a Coptic Christian could have killed a Muslim. Is that possible? It certainly is, but that is not entirely the point.

One of the constant international criticisms of Morsi was that his police forces would look the other way when Christians were attacked and killed. Bringing one rogue Christian to justice is much different than facilitating unnecessary violence toward lots of innocent people.

This is the reputation of Egypt and their law enforcement. It will be interesting to see if these attacks are treated differently in the future but so far it looks like the same old Egypt.

The fear shared by many who study the region is that nothing has really changed. Morsi lost favor with the people for a lot of reasons and not all of them had to do with the economy. There are many reasons and you can not trust American mainstream media sources to report what is going on in Egypt.

A lot of people either do not know or have forgotten about the promise that Morsi made in June of 2012. He promised to get The Blind Sheik released from an American prison. The Wall Street Journal reported on 6-29-12:

Egypt’s President-elect Mohammed Morsi made a nod to his base in a speech on Friday when he pledged to seek the release of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman from U.S. custody.

Sheik Abdel-Rahman, who is better known as the “blind sheik” is serving a life sentence at a federal penitentiary in North Carolina for his role in planning the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City.

His detention has become a cause célèbre among hard-line Salafi Islamists whom Mr. Morsi counted on in his runoff against ex-regime loyalist Ahmed Shafiq.

Dozens of bearded Abdel-Rahman supporters, many in religious vestments, have slept outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo in a sit-in that has lasted the better part of a year. A full city block of downtown Cairo is festooned with banners bearing the blind sheik’s image—bearded, capped with a red tarboosh and 1960s-era wayfarer sunglasses.

When Egyptian authorities charged seven U.S. citizens, including the son of a cabinet secretary, with violating laws on foreign funding for nongovernmental organizations in the spring, Sheik Abdel-Rahman’s supporters lined up outside the courthouse calling for a prisoner swap.

That is not the prisoner swap that Obama and Morsi had in mind. Benghazi was more than likely a failed attempt at taking Ambassador Chris Stevens alive to use for a collateral exchange for The Blind Sheik. Lots of evidence has been collected to support this theory and if you would like you can read more about it here.

When important people, that were in “the know,” saw Morsi’s attempt fail they had no more reason to support or protect him. It was time to throw him under the bus and find someone else.

Has anything really changed in Egypt?

Time will certainly tell but my opinion is that things will be just as bad or worse. Morsi was just the scapegoat they needed. Future leaders may not wear the colors of The Muslim Brotherhood but they will likely be cut from the same cloth.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

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Lawmakers battle over push to create military ‘chaplain’ for atheists

http://www.FOXNEWS.com

by Jim Angle;

FoxNews.com // http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/23/lawmakers-battle-over-push-to-create-military-chaplain-for-atheists/#ixzz2ZuZ5uV8Z

Members of Congress are set to square off over a push to create military chaplains for people who do not believe in God.

The effort to create a chaplain for atheists and “humanists” has been building over the last several weeks. While the title might sound inherently contradictory, supporters say the point is to give atheists in the military someone who will pro-actively reach out to them and facilitate meetings.

Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Free Thinkers, claims that 23 percent of those in the military ranks assert no religious preference. And he argues chaplains are not providing enough “positive outreach and support” in the way “they do for all of those beliefs that aren’t their own.”

As might be expected, the campaign is running into some heated criticism.

Lawmakers turned away a Democratic-sponsored amendment last month that would have created the post — and now, Republicans are trying to formally quash the idea, with an amendment to a defense budget bill that would require military chaplains to be affiliated with a particular faith.

“When it comes to the idea of an atheist chaplain, which is an oxymoron — it’s self-contradictory — what you’re really doing is now saying that we’re going to replace true chaplains with non-chaplain chaplains,” said sponsor Rep. John Fleming, R-La. “It’s just total nonsense, the idea of having a chaplain who is an atheist.”

Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., who is also an Air Force chaplain, said he often dealt with atheists who were simply asking about their problems.

“What I have found is so many times people in our world today just need someone to listen,” he said.

But he questioned the idea of creating a new atheist-specific position, as there are other counseling services available.

“They need to come at it differently instead of just saying we want an atheist chaplain,” Collins said. “I think there’s plenty of opportunities for them to talk.”

The Armed Forces has counselors of all kinds, including psychologists and psychiatrists. While calling a newly created post something else — like a counselor — might sit fine with the military, it doesn’t satisfy those who specifically want a non-faith chaplain established.

Torpy said current chaplains are not doing enough to embrace non-believers. Further, in response to the effort to require chaplains be affiliated with an endorsing faith, he said the Humanist Society is recognized as a religious organization by the one agency that matters, at least for taxes — the IRS.

“Basically, the standard is to be recognized as a church by the Internal Revenue Service,” he said.

The U.S. military could decide on its own to allow non-faith chaplains, but members of Congress are trying to both require — and prohibit — the post.

Fleming vowed to oppose it.

“Let’s define what a chaplain is. A chaplain is a minister of the faith — someone who believes in a deity of a spiritual life who is assigned to a secular organization,” he said.

Fox News’ Jim Angle contributed to this report.

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Case On Religious Counseling of Homosexuals Wanting Out Could Set Precedent

by Dave Jolly // http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/07/case-on-religious-counseling-of-homosexuals-wanting-out-could-set-precedent/#ixzz2Zths9x4d

Even though homosexuality is becoming more acceptable in today’s hedonistic society, it still carries a stigma about it as it should. God says it’s an abomination. It’s a sinful lifestyle, just like stealing, lying, incest, pedophilia, lust, greed and murder.

Gay activists believe that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality. They also encourage millions of children and teens to explore same-sex attractions. However, it’s not okay for a homosexual to explore normal straight relationships or seek counseling to help themselves overcome their sinful lifestyle and desires. In fact, they feel so strongly about any form of counseling or therapy that helps homosexuals leave the lifestyle that they have tried to pass laws in California banning the practice.

Now, gay activists are filing lawsuits against religious organizations that help counsel those who want to overcome their homosexuality and lead a normal life. One such religious group is JONAH (Jews Offer New Alternative for Healing). Their mission statement reads:

“JONAH, Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing, is a non-profit international organization dedicated to educating the world-wide Jewish community about the social, cultural and emotional factors which lead to same-sex attractions. JONAH works directly with those struggling with unwanted same-sex sexual attractions (SSA) and with families whose loved ones are involved in homosexuality.”

“Our Rabbinical sages explain that because mankind has been endowed by our Creator with a free will, everyone has the capacity to change. Furthermore, the Rabbis emphasize that parents, teachers and counselors have a special responsibility to educate, nurture, and provide an opportunity for those struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions to journey out of homosexuality.”

“Through psychological and spiritual counseling, peer support, and self-empowerment, JONAH seeks to reunify families, to heal the wounds surrounding homosexuality, and to provide hope.”

JONAH like most other religion based counseling groups does not go out and hunt down homosexuals and force them to convert to a straight life. Rather they provide the counseling and support to those who seek it voluntarily. The nearly 70 religious groups that provide counseling to help those who want help all report a number of success stories and can document that the counseling and therapy do work.

Gay activists know that these groups are being successful and they can’t allow that to happen. In typical liberal fashion, they attack the religious groups by claiming they are frauds and that they are hurting people. They fear the success of groups like JONAH so much that they are now taking legal actions against them.

A far left-wing liberal group known as the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit against JONAH, claiming they are frauds and want the courts to stop them from saving anymore people from their debauched lifestyles. Charles LiMandri, President and Chief Counsel of Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund is representing JONAH in their court hearing that started last week. He says that SPLC is doing their best to deprive homosexuals to their right of self-determination and religious freedom when they consider that the Torah teaches that it is a forbidden sin.

LiMandri described the lawsuit saying:

“The SPLC is taking the position that telling homosexuals that you can help them overcome same sex attractions is a fraud, that there’s nothing wrong with having same sex attractions and there’s nothing wrong with being involved in homosexual behavior.”

“Because JONAH is a religiously-based organization, the idea it follows is that homosexuality is disordered. Not because it’s a mental disease or defect, but because it’s a sinful behavior and it’s against God’s plan.”

LiMandri was planning to ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit on constitutional grounds including the First Amendment right of freedom of religion.

Whether you realize it or not, there is a lot riding on this lawsuit. If SPLC wins, it will give every other gay rights group the legal precedent to challenge and stop all religious groups from trying to help those who seek help. Homosexuals who want to change and want someone to help them overcome their sinful lifestyle will have no one left to turn to for help. They will be left to struggle on their own and often that struggle can lead to serious consequences including suicide. It would also mean a severe legal blow against the First Amendment rights to the freedom of religion and speech, further weakening our already crumbling Constitution.

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It Takes More Faith to Believe in Evolution that Creation

Journalist Virginia Heffernan Admits She’s a Creationist and Drives Evolutionists Crazy

by Gary DeMar http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/07/journalist-virginia-heffernan-admits-shes-a-creationist-and-drives-evolutionists-crazy/#ixzz2ZFDJOQps

In the midst of the George Zimmerman “not guilty” verdict, rioting, beatings, threats of violence, calls for “checking your white privilege,” and demands that we “give money to the Dream Defenders, to the Urban League, to the Southern Poverty Law Center … because racism is a natural disaster just like hurricanes and bombings and shootings are,” there’s a story going around about journalist Virginia Heffernan who admits she’s a creationist.

The liberal disdain for Virginia Heffernan is thicker than quick-drying cement. Here’s just one example, written by Laura Helmuth at Slate:

“This is all just to say that I am trying to sympathize, I really am, with Virginia Heffernan. Heffernan is a writer for Yahoo News, formerly of the New York Times and formerly-formerly a TV critic for Slate. Last week she published an essay in which she revealed that she is a creationist. I’m not exaggerating. The essay is titled ‘Why I’m a Creationist,’ and she wrote: ‘Also, at heart, I am a creationist. There, I said it.’”

The article drips with disdain but does not offer a single verifiable scientific fact supporting how nothing became something.

Evolutionists can ridicule all they want (it’s all they have left), but they can’t prove that inorganic matter evolved into organic matter that evolved into the complex life forms we are and see around us. Evolutionists can’t get from atoms to people. It’s even worse for them since they can’t account for the original matter or the organized information necessary to organize the matter.

To believe in evolution is to believe in magic — literally. At least stage and street magicians start with a deck of cards, a coin, or a rabbit. Magicians can’t really make something appear out of thin air. But that’s exactly what evolutionists claim for evolution. When I say exactly, I mean exactly. Here’s an example found in the prestigious Scientific American:

“It is virtually impossible to imagine how a cell’s machines, which are mostly protein-based catalysts called enzymes, could have formed spontaneously as life first arose from nonliving matter around 3.7 billion years ago.”^[1]

It’s impossible to imagine because it’s impossible, but that’s what evolutionists believe. One of the first scientific truths a biology student learns is that spontaneous generation is not science, and yet in order to be an evolutionist, you must believe in it even though it’s contrary to logic, experience, and experimentation.

Did you notice that the authors describe cells as “machines”? When has a machine ever spontaneously come into existence? Never! “But there was this time 3.7 billion years ago. . . .”

Helmuth writes, “Whatever levels of analysis you care to use, from molecular to planetary, they all mutually reinforce the discovery that all living things evolve through a process of natural selection. Absolutely nothing in the 154 years since Origin was published has undermined the theory.” “Absolutely nothing”? Do I detect a hint of desperation and fear?

OK, Laura, like you, I started with the molecular. Using observation (no one was around 3.7 billion years ago and no one has seen nothing become something) and experimentation (no one has been able to produce life in the lab), demonstrate to us how evolution took place. Don’t theorize. Don’t assert. Don’t propagandize. Show us. You can’t and neither can Richard Dawkins or any other evolutionist living or dead.

Virginia Heffernan, Yahoo News July 11, 2013 // http://news.yahoo.com/why-im-a-creationist-141907217.html

> In this May 2013 photo provided by Google, a giant tortoise crawls along the path near Googler Karin …

As a child I fell in love with technology, but I have to admit I never fell in love with science. I kept hoping that messing around with Macs and Atari and eventually the Internet would nudge me closer to caring about the periodic table, Louis Pasteur and the double-blind studies that now seem to stand for science. As it was, I only cared about the double-blind studies that told me what I wanted to hear—that potatoes are good for you or that people of my height are generally happy—and I liked the phrase “double-blind” when it was on my side because it meant “true” and “take that.”

I assume that other people love science and technology, since the fields are often lumped together, but I rarely meet people like that. Technology people are trippy; our minds are blown by the romance of telecom. At the same time, the people I know who consider themselves scientists by nature seem to be super-skeptical types who can be counted on to denigrate religion, fear climate change and think most people—most Americans—are dopey sheep who believe in angels and know nothing about all the gross carbon they trail, like “Pig-Pen.”

I like most people. I don’t fear environmental apocalypse. And I don’t hate religion. Those scientists no doubt see me as a dopey sheep who believes in angels and is carbon-ignorant. I have to say that they may be right.

In the hazy Instagram picture I have in my mind of the mechanisms that animate my ingenious smartphone—a picture that slips in and out of focus, and one I constantly revise—it might as well be angels. At the same time, I have read and heard brilliantly serpentine arguments for and against fracking, not to mention for and against cities and coal and paper (it sidelines carbon and decomposes! it is toxic industrial waste!), and I still don’t know right from wrong when it comes to carbon. All I know is one side of these debates seems maybe slightly more bloodthirsty and opportunistic than the other—but now I can’t remember which one.

Also, at heart, I am a creationist. There, I said it. At least you, dear readers, won’t now storm out of a restaurant like the last person I admitted that to. In New York City saying you’re a creationist is like confessing you think Ahmadinejad has a couple of good points. Maybe I’m the only creationist I know.

This is how I came to it. Like many people, I heard no end of Bible stories as a kid, but in the 1970s in New England they always came with the caveat that they were metaphors. So I read the metaphors of Genesis and Exodus and was amused and bugged and uplifted and moved by them. And then I guess I wanted to know the truth of how the world began, so I was handed the Big Bang. That wasn’t a metaphor, but it wasn’t fact either. It was something called a hypothesis. And it was only a sentence. I was amused and moved, but considerably less amused and moved by the character-free Big Bang story (“something exploded”) than by the twisted and picturesque misadventures of Eve and Adam and Cain and Abel and Abraham.

Later I read Thomas Malthus’ “Essay on the Principle of Population” and “The Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin, as well as probably a dozen books about evolution and atheism, from Stephen Jay Gould to Sam Harris.

The Darwin, with good reason, stuck with me. Though it’s sometimes poetic, “The Origin of Species” has an enchantingly arid English tone to it; this somber tone was part of a deliberate effort to mark it as science and not science fiction—the “Star Trek” of its time. The book also alights on a tautology that, like all tautologies, is gloriously unimpeachable: Whatever survives survives.

But I still wasn’t sure why a book that never directly touches on human evolution, much less the idea of God, was seen as having unseated the story of creation. In short, “The Origin of Species” is not its own creation story. And while the fact that it stints on metaphor—so as to avoid being like H.G. Wells—neither is it bedrock fact. It’s another hypothesis.

Cut to now. I still read and read and listen and listen. And I have never found a more compelling story of our origins than the ones that involve God. The evolutionary psychologists with their just-so stories for everything (“You use a portable Kindle charger because mothers in the primordial forest gathered ginseng”) have become more contradictory than Leviticus. Did you all see that ev-psych now says it’s women who are naturally not monogamous, in spite of the same folks telling us for decades that women are desperate to secure resources for their kids so they frantically sustain wedlock with a rich silverback who will keep them in cashmere?

Sigh. When a social science, made up entirely of observations and hypotheses, tells us first that men are polygamous and women homebodies, and then that men are monogamous and women gallivanters—and, what’s more builds far-fetched protocols of dating and courtship and marriage and divorce around these notions—maybe it’s time to retire the whole approach.

All the while, the first books of the Bible are still hanging around. I guess I don’t “believe” that the world was created in a few days, but what do I know? Seems as plausible (to me) as theoretical astrophysics, and it’s certainly a livelier tale. As “Life of Pi” author Yann Martel once put it, summarizing his page-turner novel: “1) Life is a story. 2) You can choose your story. 3) A story with God is the better story.”

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University Prof Says God Is a White Racist

By Tami Jackson // http://theblacksphere.net/2013/07/university-prof-says-god-is-a-white-racist/

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, Anthea Butler, a religious professor at the University of Pennsylvania, claimed that “America’s God” is a white racist in her July 14 editorial.

Professor Butler wrote at ReligionDispatches.org:

The not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman case has me thinking a lot about a book I first encountered in seminary, Is God a White Racist?, by the Rev. Dr. Bill Jones. As a budding seminary student, it took me by surprise. Now, as a wiser, older professor looking at the needless death of Trayvon Martin, I have to say: I get it.

God ain’t good all of the time. In fact, sometimes, God is not for us. As a black woman in an nation that has taken too many pains to remind me that I am not a white man, and am not capable of taking care of my reproductive rights, or my voting rights, I know that this American god ain’t my god. As a matter of fact, I think he’s a white racist god with a problem. More importantly, he is carrying a gun and stalking young black men.

When George Zimmerman told Sean Hannity that it was God’s will that he shot and killed Trayvon Martin, he was diving right into what most good conservative Christians in America think right now. Whatever makes them protected, safe, and secure, is worth it at the expense of the black and brown people they fear.

Their god is the god that wants to erase race, make everyone act “properly” and respect, as the president said, “a nation of laws”; laws that they made to crush those they consider inferior.

When the laws were never made for people who were considered, constitutionally, to be three-fifths of a person, I have to ask: Is this just? Is it right? Is God the old white male racist looking down from white heaven, ready to bless me if I just believe the white men like Rick Perry who say the Zimmerman case has nothing to do with race?

You already know the answer: No.

What poppycock. This professor questions the nature of God predicated upon a verdict with which she disagrees? Anthea Butler has the audacity to surmise what’s in the hearts and minds of millions of Americans of faith. What Bible is this woman reading — the Gospel according to Rev. Jeremiah Wright?

I listen to another former prof, my father, a retired scientist AND pastor. My dad often quotes:

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7b

Prof Butler concludes:

As a historian of American and African-American religion, I know that the Trayvon Martin moment is just one moment in a history of racism in America that, in large part, has its underpinnings in Christianity and its history.

Those of us who teach American Religion have a responsibility to tell all of the story, not just the nice touchy-feely parts. When the good Christians of America are some of its biggest racists, one has to consider our moral responsibility to call out those who clearly are not for human flourishing, no matter what ethnicity a person is. Where are you on that scale? I know where I am.

Ms. Butler, I suggest that whatever men you call “good Christians” and “racists” are in no way good nor Christian. The “good Christians” were the abolitionists who fought to realize the bright promise of the Constitution.

The good Christians I know believe in the rule of law and truth, because God is Truth. And these good Christians I know amened when Martin Luther King Jr. spoke:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Millions of Americans claim the name of Christ and ascribe to the biblical admonition to value character over physical attributes. And just because a verdict does not square with a bitter, warped narrative does not change the immutable goodness of God.

We mourn the loss of a child of any color. We pray for the Martin family and grieve for their loss.

And in the meantime, Anthea Butler, I suggest you re-visit history and read your Bible — your writings suggest you know little of either.

**********************

Follow Tami on Twitter at @tamij

Author: Tami Jackson

Black Sphere Editor, Tami Jackson is a life-long Conservative embedded in her once red state of Oregon. The grand-daughter of (legal) Norwegian immigrants, she is equal parts goofy and stubborn!

Tami is a Christian, the “mom” of one Persian cat (Omar), a 2nd Amendment aficionado and NRA Certified, a grammar Nazi, the chief organizer and instigator of trouble among the Hugh Hewitt Tribbles, Editor In Chief of her site RightVoiceMedia.com and prone to laugh often and without warning! Oh … and she has SPUNK!

Tami also hosts The Tami Jackson Radio Show (such a creative title) on the405radio.com every Tuesday night. Follow Tami on Twitter at @tamij

View all articles by Tami Jackson.

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Egypt’s Christians target of Islamist anger in wake of Morsi’s ouster

By Lisa Daftari // http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/14/egypt-christians-bear-brunt-islamist-anger-in-wake-morsi-ouster/#ixzz2Z9aY8F8C

Published July 14, 2013

FoxNews.com

Earlier this month, four Copts were murdered and 23 houses of Christian families looted and burned in the southern Egyptian village of Dabaaya. Copts say the violence against them has worsened since the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi. (MCNdirect.com/Ramy)

Egypt’s Muslim extremists, angry over the ouster of Mohammed Morsi from the presidency, have zeroed in on the nation’s Christian minority, scapegoating them even though the Islamist leader was widely unpopular.

On Thursday, the body of a Christian merchant abducted last week from the town of Sheikh Zweid was found decapitated in Egypt’s northern Sinai Peninsula. The grisly discovery came as attacks on Copts and their churches have escalated amid rumors that Christian leaders masterminded Morsi’s removal.

Last Saturday, Coptic Christian priest Mina Abboud Sharobeen was shot dead by gunmen in an outdoor market.

Historically, Egypt’s Coptic community, numbering only six to 12 million, approximately 10 percent of the country’s 85 million population, have faced severe marginalization and often have been imprisoned and tortured for their Christian faith. While they were undeniably part of the movement that ultimately pressured the military to oust Morsi, they were hardly alone.

“Egypt’s Christians played an important role in ousting Morsi,” said Khairi Abaza, a senior fellow at the Foundation from the Defense of Democracies based in Cairo. “They were part of the 20 to 30 million Egyptians who took to the streets, showing that Egypt is united despite its diversity, and that it is their country as much as any Muslim.”

The Coptic community’s new pope, Tawadros II, has often openly condemned the extremists Muslims and more recently, publicly supported the removal of President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from office.

Pope Tawadros even made a televised speech supporting a timeline for Egypt’s future shortly after interim president Adli Mansour was sworn into office. He is being hailed as courageous, as his predecessor, Shenouda III, had encouraged Copts to keep out of politics and the public eye for fear of backlash and retribution.

“There could be concerns of retaliation against Christian individuals or churches by some extremists who could use them as targets to express their anger at the ousting of Morsi,” Abaza said.

Muslim Brotherhood factions inside the country have harshly condemned Pope Tawadros for openly supporting the removal of Morsi.

Among the Egyptian people, however, there is more hope of reconciliation between Muslims and Christians, according to Abaza.

“There is a stronger solidarity between Christians and Muslims in countering extremism. These last two years were a wake up call for both moderate Christian and Muslims that national unity is in danger,” he said.

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Threat to Religious Liberty in the Military

by Onan Coca // http://lastresistance.com/2666/threat-to-religious-liberty-in-the-military/

The good folks at the Family Research Council (FRC) have, over the years, done a lot of important work in fighting to keep Christian values and ethics in our media, as well as working to educate Christians all over the country to the dangers we face if we become culturally irrelevant. Recently, FRC has noticed a growing and disconcerting trend in our military and they’ve just released the findings for us to peruse.

In a report titled “A Clear and Present Danger: The Threat to Religious Liberty in the Military,” the FRC enumerates the increasing frequency of incidents of the military’s mounting intolerance of Christianity.

Some examples from FRC’s report:

Christian Embassy targeted by anti-Christian group – December 2006: Weinstein asked for—and received—a Department of Defense Inspector General investigation of seven officers who appeared in a video for Christian Embassy ministry. The Inspector General concluded in August 2007 that the video was inappropriate, but Weinstein was not satisfied. After seeing the IG’s report, Weinstein told Beliefnet that even though the Air Force suggested corrective actions Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) “wanted to see courts martial.” In its press release MRFF also stated, “MRFF intends to file expeditiously a comprehensive Federal lawsuit that will rapaciously pursue legal remedies to the multitude of horrific Constitutional violations this DoD/IG report reveals.”

Air Force pulls ethics course from curriculum at air base – July 27, 2011: For 20 years, an ethics training course for nuclear missile officers was conducted by a chaplain at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. It included texts from the Bible and materials related to just war theory by Saint Augustine. This course was pulled for “thorough review” by the Air Force primarily due to its use of Christian reading materials.

Walter Reed Medical Center bans Bibles and religious material – September 14, 2011: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the leading medical institution for the U.S. armed forces, issued an official patient and visitor policy banning Bibles. It stated, “No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.” The policy was revoked after a political firestorm erupted in the House of Representatives.

FRC documents many more egregious examples, like the removal of a cross from a chapel, an officer was forced to remove a Bible from his desk, pro-life groups were linked to terrorism, and more.

One takeaway from a thorough reading of the FRC report is that the frequency of these events is increasing, and already 2013 seems to be a banner year for those who would attack any notion of Christianity in the military. The most terrifying aspect of this is, what happens when our Christian ethic is removed completely from the training our fighting men and women receive?

Already the frequency of suicide among service members is way up, and the moral compass of our soldiers is questioned around the globe. Now more than ever we need to be instilling the moral ethics of just war and faithful Christian teaching to our soldiers.

The work the FRC is doing to uncover what the secularists are trying (and succeeding) to do to our military is very important. All of our Congressmen need to see and read this report; it’s the best way to convince them to support our fighting men and women in turning the tide against the anti-God left.

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When God Speaks

Wednesday, 7/10/2013 – Today’s Devotional by Dr. David Jeremiah

When God Speaks

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” – Luke 12:32

Recommended Reading: Luke 22:29-30; “29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” – NIV

One of the greatest learning experiences Jesus’ disciples had was when they set out on the Sea of Galilee in a boat and a great storm came upon them (Mark 4:35-41). Their boat was taking on water and the disciples were sure they would soon drown — yet Jesus was sleeping calmly in the rear of the boat. The disciples had forgotten one thing: Jesus had said, “Let us cross over to the other side” (Mark 4:35).

When God says something is going to happen, that thing will happen. If Jesus says He and the disciples are going to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, they will arrive. Might the journey be harrowing? Yes! But they will arrive. Just so, Jesus has promised His followers a kingdom — the coming kingdom of God. And in light of that promise, He has said, “Do not fear” (Luke 12:32). The turmoil in our world today is like the wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee — it can cloud our expectation of arriving. But Jesus has given us a kingdom, and a kingdom we will receive.

If you fear what you see happening in the world around you, focus instead on what God has said in His Word. Thank God today that nothing in this world can negate His promises.

“A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts.” – Paul Johnson

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A serious Subject

Isn’t life strange? I never met one Veteran Who enlisted to fight for Socialism!

If Muslims can pray on Madison Avenue, and the subway areas in Toronto , why are Christians banned

From praying in public and from erecting religious displays on their holy days?

What happened to our National Day of Prayer? Muslims are allowed to block off Madison Ave. , in N.Y.C., and pray in the middle of the street! And, it’s a monthly ritual!

Tell me, again, whose country is this? Ours or the Muslims?

It is said that 86% of Americans & Canadians believe in God.

Therefore, I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in the U.S. having ‘In God! we Trust’

On their money, and having ‘God’ in their Pledge of Allegiance, or the Lord’s prayer said in our schools or

public meetings.

I believe it’s PAST time we stand up for what we believe!

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Political, Spiritual

Preacher Arrested for Calling Homosexuality a Sin

By Todd Starnes / http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/preacher-arrested-for-calling-homosexuality-a-sin.html

An American evangelist said he was arrested and interrogated about his Christian faith after he was caught on a London sidewalk preaching that homosexuality is a sin.

Tony Miano, a retired deputy sheriff and former chaplain with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept., was charged with “using homophobic speech that could cause people anxiety, distress, alarm or insult.”

Miano had been preaching on a London street corner during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships with a ministry group called Sports Fan Outreach International.

British police prepare to arrest American Evangelist Tony Miano.

He was preaching about immoral living – and cited homosexuality as an example of lifestyle choices that are contrary to biblical teaching.

“I never used any gay slurs,” he said. “You would never hear me using slang or discriminatory language against homosexuals or any other group. That would be contrary to my faith.”

At some point, the evangelist quoted I Thessalonians 4:1-2 – a passage of scripture that mentions sexual immorality.

“I talked about women addicted to romance novels, men addicted to pornography, people with lustful thoughts, heterosexual fornication and homosexuality,” Miano told Fox News. “When I mentioned that the Bible was clear that homosexuality is a sin, a lady walked by and she glared at me and hurled the f-bomb.”

Miano said the woman came back a short time later and began to videotape his sidewalk sermon. Then, she called the police.

“They were concerned about homophobic speech,” he said. “But I told them I don’t fear homosexuals. The language I used was not homophobic, as I was not promoting fear or hatred of homosexuals.”

Miano said he did not limit his remarks to homosexual acts.

“I did not speak solely about homosexuality as a form of sexual immorality but also about any kind of sex outside marriage between one man and one woman, as well as lustful thoughts,” he said. “All of these are considered mainstream Christian positions and have been taught and believed by Christians for thousands of years.”

Police took the retired deputy sheriff to a nearby jail where he was fingerprinted. Officers also took a sample of his DNA and then he was interrogated.

“It was very distressing to be arrested and interrogated for openly expressing my deeply held Christian beliefs,” he said.

According to a transcript of the interrogation provided to Fox News, the officers asked if he really believed homosexuality is a sin. He was also asked whether he would help a homosexual who requested a favor.

READ A TRANSCRIPT OF THE POLICE INTERROGATION. CLICK HERE

“I was made to feel that my thoughts could be held against me,” he said. “The detective also asked me if I thought I was 100 percent right in what I had done. I said yes.”

Miano said he would gladly offer assistance to a homosexual.

“The Christian faith is dictated by the two greatest commandments – to love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor,” he said. “As such, I am compelled to love all people. Had a gay come up and asked me for something to eat, I would have fed him.”

But what troubled Miano is the idea that a hypothetical situation could have been used against him in court.

“I was actually going to be tried for how I thought,” he said.

In an ironic twist, the officers made arrangements to provide the evangelist with a Bible to read in jail – the same book that led to his arrest.

“The same book I read from in public which resulted in my arrest, was now the same book the police were giving to provide me comfort,” he said.

Miano, who is a member of the Evangelical Free Church, has been open-air preaching for eight years. He said this is the first time he’s been arrested.

“It was a rather surreal experience,” the retired deputy sheriff said. “I’ve conducted many interrogations but I’ve never been the subject of one.”

Miano spent about seven hours in jail before he was released without explanation and without an apology.

Now back home in Southern California, Miano said he fears that what happened in Great Britain could soon happen in the United States.

“I believe that’s what our government is going to eventually do here,” he said. “I believe homosexuals or others who are sensitive to their point of view will be visiting churches to listen to what preachers say from the pulpit. And I believe that pastors will be arrested in their pulpits for teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality and other sins.”

Andrea Williams, the chief executive of the British Christian Legal Centre echoed those concerns.

“It’s clear that there is already a clamp down on freedom of speech where people publicly express mainstream Christian views on sexual ethics,” he said.

Watch the sermon that got the evangelist arrested. Police arrive at approximately the 25:40 mark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2vu9CI5Ij4&feature=player_embedded#t=0s and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMmq84eBM8k&feature=player_embedded#t=0s

SARAH PALIN, SEAN HANNITY AND MARK LEVIN SAY YOU NEED TODD’S LATEST BOOK – DISPATCHES FROM BITTER AMERICA. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR COPY!

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On Gay Marriage: I’m Right, and You’re Wrong

by Carly Hill http://patriotupdate.com/articles/on-gay-marriage-im-right-and-youre-wrong/#ixzz2Xvc5m9YA

People who leave comments on the internet are generally the worst. Most comments I get on articles are downright mean and internet people are middle-school-popular-girl-level mean (top of the mean-scale). I hate conflict and I especially hate people being mad at me. So, its unfortunate that the political views I’ve adopted anger people – across the board.

My political views are conservative but with a more libertarian slant; however, I cannot completely separate my faith from my politics. Most cookie-cutter conservatives are irked by libertarian arguments. Similarly, libertarians mostly hate when you make a political issue into a religious issue. The thing is, being a Christian shapes every aspect of my worldview, so while I favor limited government in all areas, my relationship with Christ will always seep into my political commentary. I can’t help it.

If I had to verbalize my opinions and defend them, I would (naturally) be thinking, “I’m right…and you’re wrong.” Anyone with solid beliefs of any kind feels that way. It doesn’t mean you’re an “intolerant bigot” because you believe that something is true. It means that you have a belief-system. Gay people who fight for the legalization of gay marriage are essentially saying the same thing in their heads… “I’m right, and you’re wrong.” There are no victims in this argument. There are simply two groups who believe that their beliefs are correct.

Despite my liberty-focused leanings, I believe that our country’s great success can be attributed to the fact that we were founded with Christian values and led by men who followed Christ. There are those who say the founding fathers were theists, not Christians. To those people, I say, watch Kirk Cameron’s movie, “Monumental.” He literally travels to England and goes the same route the Pilgrims did – talking to expert historians along the way and seeing the first American statues and monuments – all of which placed Jesus Christ as the centerpiece. We may not be a “Christian” nation, but we were absolutely founded on Christianity.

Check out this prayer, prayed by Thomas Jefferson in D.C. – March 4, 1801

“Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our heritage; we humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people, the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those whom in Thy name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth. In time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

So, Christianity used to be the American way, and now, we live in a culture that is just a hair away from literally persecuting Christians. We are despised for believing that sin is sin. We are shunned for saying we stand for traditional marriage. We are hated because of the Savior we love. Man, oh, man. It is so much easier to form political opinions and arguments without bringing God into it, because once you utter his name, your opposition automatically starts picturing you in an alien costume.

My Christianity-infused Libertarian View on Gay Marriage

I’ve voiced my opinion on gay marriage before – and how I wish the government would get out of the business of marriage altogether. The founding fathers never planned for people to pay the government and get permission to marry each other. I don’t believe in Christians trying to force non-Christians to subscribe to a Bible that they don’t believe is true. In my own life, God Himself is the one who saved me and healed me and who continues to point me in the right direction. If someone had tried to force Christianity on me, I would have been instantly turned off.

So, my view on “letting gay people be gay” doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not I think its wrong. Just like I’m not going to make it my mission to find every unmarried couple living together and split them up, I’m not on a war against gays. As a Christian, I’m in a spiritual war – one in which my main weapon should be love and my battle cry should be “Jesus saves.”

It feels as though people in this country shuffle into one of two sides of the spectrum – and both of them are wrong. One group exalts “love” above God to a level that makes Him an afterthought (or nonexistent). The other group becomes so fixated on the holiness of God, and on His key command to love Him, that they fail to obey the second half of that command – that being to love others.

America was founded as one nation, under God. The values we were born into are Biblical – not in a shove-it-down-your-throat way, as many non-Christians perceive. Religious liberty is what the Pilgrims came here for – not a religious take-over. So, where does that leave me? In my personal life, I want to love every person that God puts in my path – regardless of where they are in life.

I was a mess when God saved me, and I still find myself failing and making new messes day after day. Not one of us, if we’re honest, can say that we’ve got it all together. Conservative Christians are not called to be the judges of the nation. However, we are called to uphold the word of God. We should be actively pursuing a lifestyle in which we are firm on our beliefs, but loving to all.

Dan Cathy, Chick-Fil-A’s founder, befriended Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. Check out the op-ed that Windmeyer published on Huffington Post about Dan Cathy. I want to be a Dan Cathy. I don’t want to ever judge another person for what they do, but I do want to remain a person whose beliefs are strong enough to warrant a “this is right, and that is wrong” attitude. Our culture wants us to be a society of wishy-washy secular humanists – a nation of “anything goes as long as it makes you happy.”

I stand for limited government. Politically, in almost all cases, I say “the less government, the better,” so along with that belief, I want the same respect shown toward me and my Christian faith. I want the government to stop punishing businesses for conducting themselves in ways that align with their faith. I don’t want to see Christian schools having to abandon their morality-standards to include all belief-systems. I want the freedom to voice what I think is right and wrong. I want preacher’s to preach what God says about sin – and not fear legal consequences.

That same “tolerance” that liberals are demanding should apply to all groups – including Christians who stand for traditional marriage. Tolerance should mean “Respect” and we should all show respect to our fellow Americans, no matter what their belief system. The sad reality is that actually having a belief system is what’s bad, these days.

What is your belief system and how does it merge with your politics – specifically, your view of gay marriage in America?

Let God Be True and Gays Be Gays

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Confessions of a Believer

Confessions of a Believer

“In Jesus Name, my God DOES supply all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19), because I give unto the saints and His gospel. My faith filled prayers are working mightily because I have asked in Jesus Name (John 14:12-14), asked in faith without wavering (James 1:5-8); I have asked according to His Word and I believe that God has heard me (1 John 5:14-15). I know my God is faithful Who has promised (Heb. 10:23).’

“In Jesus Name I address you *Principalities, *Powers, *Rulers of the Darkness of this world and *Spiritual Wickedness in high places, because I know that my battle is with *YOU (Eph. 6:12; 2 Cor. 10:3) and not against flesh and blood. The WORD declares that, although *YOU have risen up against me, yet, because I have made God, Who is my refuge and my strength, *YOU must flee from me seven ways (Deut. 28:7, James 4:7). In Jesus Name I am pulling down *YOUR strongholds with the weapons of my warfare (Eph. 6:10-18, 2 Cor. 10:3-5), and reminding *YOU of what is rightfully mine. I am bringing my Heavenly Father into remembrance of my covenant with Him (Isa. 43:26) and using my Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God against *YOU.’

“In Jesus Name *YOU are commanded to get your hands off my finances, because Deut. 8:18 declares that God causes me to get wealth so that He can established His covenant with me. Deut. 28:8 declares that God has commanded a blessing upon my finances, and He has commanded a blessing upon all that I set my hand unto. Deut. 28:13 declares that I am the head and not the tail, above ONLY and NOT BENEATH. In fact, all of Deut. 28:1-14 is working mightily in me, my family, my ministry and my business.’

“Because I meditate day and night in God’s Word, and I do not let it depart from my mouth, and I am careful to do according to ALL that is in there, ALL my way is prosperous and I have good success (Joshua 1:8). I am a tree planted by the rivers of water and I bring forth my fruit in it’s season. None of my leaves wither, and all that I do prospers (Psalms 1:3). I have no lack because I revere my Heavenly Father; Therefore I seek him and lack nothing (Psalms 34:9-10; 84:11). I say continually, “Let the Lord be magnified Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants.” (Psalms 35:27) I trust in the Lord, delight myself in the Lord; I have committed my ways unto Him so that all my steps are ordered by Him and He busies Himself with my every step; He upholds me when I stumble, so that he can continually feed me, give me the desires I am suppose to have; Then He fulfills those desires as I continually place my trust in Him (Psalms 37:3-5; 23-24).

I am in constant health because Jesus bore my sicknesses and carried my diseases, by Whose strips I was healed (1 Peter 2:24). I am redeemed from the curse of the law, Jesus being made the curse for me (Galatians 3:13). No plaque can come near by dwelling, not any evil befall me, because I have made God my refuge and my habitation. Angels have charge over me to bear me up in their hands lest I dash my foot against a stone. I tread upon “serpents” and “scorpions” that get in my way. God has set His great love upon me, to deliver me and set me on high because I know His Name. Whenever I call upon Him, He answers me. He is with me in trouble; He delivers me and honors me; with long life He satisfies me and shows me His salvation (Psalms 91:9-16).

I choose to think only upon love and it’s aspects of patience, kindness, no envy, no boasting; I choose not to be proud and I choose not to be rude. I choose not to be self-seeking, or be easily angered; I choose not to keep any records of wrong committed against me, I choose not to delight in evil; instead, I choose to delight in the truth. I choose to always protect, always trust, always hope and always persevere. I choose to have faith in the fact that love never fails. (1Cor. 13:4-8) I choose to think on things that are true, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtuous and praise. (Phil. 4:8) I choose to be swift to listen, slow to speak and slow to wrath. (James 1:19) I choose to remain in Christ Jesus Whose I am and Whom I serve. (Acts 27:23)

Why should I say, “I can’t”, when God’s Word declares that I can do all things through the Lord Jesus Christ Who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)

Why should I fear, when God’s Word declares that, God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2Tim. 1:7) If God is for me, who can be against me? (Rom. 8:31) The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do unto me? (Ps. 118:6). Perfect love cast out all fear. (1John 4:18)

Why should I doubt or lack faith knowing that God has allotted to me a measure of faith? (Rom. 12:3)

Why should I be weak when God’s Word declares that the Lord is the strength of my life (Ps. 27:1) and the people who know their God will display strength and take action? (Dan. 11:32)

Why should I wonder which way to go, or procrastinate in any way, when Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life”? (John 14:6)

Why should I allow Satan to have supremacy over my life when God’s Word declares that, “Greater is He that is within me than he that is in the world”? (1John 4:4)

Why should I accept defeat when God’s Word declares that, “Thanks be to God Who leads me in triumphant procession in Christ Jesus, and through me spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him”? (2Cor. 2:14)

Why should I lack wisdom when God’s Word declares that, “Jesus became to me wisdom from God (1Cor. 1:30), and if I lack wisdom, I can ask God Who gives generously to me without finding fault, and it will be given to me”? (James 1:5)

Why should I worry and fret when I can cast all my cares upon Jesus, because He cares for me? (1Peter 5:7)

Why should I ever be in bondage, for “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2Cor. 3:17) and it was for freedom that Jesus set me free? (Gal. 5:1)

Why should I feel condemned when God’s Word declares that there is now no condemnation for me because I am in Jesus my Lord and Savior? (Rom. 8:1)

Why should I ever feel alone when Jesus said that He is always with me, even to the end of all time (Matt. 28:20), and He promised that He would never leave me nor forsake me? (Heb. 13:5)

Why should I feel accursed or the victim of bad luck when God’s Word declares that Jesus redeemed me from the curse of the law, being made the curse for me, in order that in Christ Jesus I might receive the promise of the Spirit by faith? (Gal. 3:13-14)

Why should I be discontented when I, like Paul, can learn to be independent of my circumstances regardless of my circumstances? (Phil. 4:11)

Why should I feel worthless when He made Jesus, Who knew no sin, to be sin on my behalf, that I might become the righteousness of God in Jesus? (2Cor. 5:21)

Why should I have a persecution complex, if God be for me, who can be against me? (Rom. 8:31)

Why should I be confused, “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace”? (2Cor. 14:33); I have not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, that I might know the things freely given to me by God.” (1Cor. 2:12)

Why should I feel like a failure, when in all these things I overwhelmingly conquer through Him Who loves me? (Rom. 8:37)

Why should I let the pressures of life bother me when Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world”? (John 16:33) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even my faith. (1John 5:4)

I AM God’s child for I am born again of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God which lives and abides forever. (1Peter 1:23)

I AM forgiven of all my sins and washed in the blood of my Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:14; Col. 1:14; 1John 1:9; 1John 2:12)

I AM a new creature. (2Cor. 5:17)

I AM the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1Cor. 6:19)

I AM delivered from the power of darkness and translated into God’s Kingdom. (Col. 1:13)

I AM a saint. (Rom. 1:7; 1Cor. 1:2; Phil. 1:1)

I AM holy and without blame before Him in love. (1Peter 1:16; Eph. 1:4)

I AM elect. (Col. 3:12; Rom. 8:33)

I AM established to the end. (1Cor. 1:8)

I AM brought near to God through the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph. 2:13)

I AM victorious. (Rev. 21:7)

I AM set free. (John 8:31-33)

I AM strong in the Lord and the power of His might. (Eph. 6:10)

I AM dead to sin. (John 8:31-33)

I AM a witness and soul winner for Jesus. (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8)

I AM joint heirs with Jesus. (Rom. 8:17)

I AM sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. (Eph. 1:13)

I AM in Christ Jesus by HIS doing. (1Cor. 1:30)

I AM accepted in the beloved. (Eph. 1:6)

I AM complete in Him. (Col. 2:10)

I AM crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ, nevertheless, I live. (Gal. 2:20)

I AM alive with Jesus. (Eph. 2:5)

I AM reconciled to God. (2Cor. 5:18)

I AM qualified to share in His inheritance. (Col. 1:12)

I AM firmly rooted, built up, established in my faith and overflowing with gratitude. (Col. 2:7)

I AM circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. (Col. 2:11)

I AM a fellow citizen with the saints and of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. (Eph. 2:19-20)

I AM in the world as He is in heaven. (1John 4:17)

I AM born of God and the evil one does not touch me. (1John 5:18)

I AM His faithful follower. (Rev. 17:14b; Eph. 5:1)

I AM overtaken with blessings. (Deut. 28:2; Eph. 5:3)

I AM His disciple because I love those in the family of God. (John 13:34)

I AM the salt of the earth and the light of the world. (Matt. 5:13-14)

I AM a partaker of Jesus divine nature. (2Peter 1:4)

I AM called of God. (2Tim. 1:19)

I AM the first fruits among His creation. (James 1:18)

I AM chosen. (1Thess. 1:4; Eph. 1:4; 1Peter 2:9)

I AM an ambassador for Jesus. (2Cor. 5:20)

I AM God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. (Eph 2:10)

I AM the apple of my Father’s eye. (Deut. 32:10; Ps. 17:8)

I AM being changed into the image of my Lord Jesus Christ. (2Cor. 3:18; Phil. 1:6)

I AM raised up with Jesus and seated in heavenly places. (Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:12)

I AM beloved of God. (Rom. 1:7; Col. 3:12; 1Thess. 1:4)

I AM one with Jesus and the Father. (John 17:21-23)

I HAVE the mind of Jesus. (Phil. 2:5; 1Cor. 2:16)

I HAVE obtained an inheritance. (Eph. 1:11)

I HAVE access by the Holy Spirit unto the Father. (Heb. 4:16; Eph. 2:18)

I HAVE dominion by, and in, the Name of Jesus. (Phil. 2:9-11)

I HAVE everlasting life and will not be condemned. (John 5:24; 6:17)

I HAVE the peace of God which passes understanding. (Phil. 4:17)

I HAVE received power; the power of the Holy Spirit; power to lay hands on the sick and see them recover; power to cast out demons; power over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt me; I have power to speak in new tongues. (Mark 16:17-18; Luke 10:17-19)

I CHOOSE to live by, and in, the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:1-14)

I CHOOSE to walk in Christ Jesus. (Col. 2:6)

I CHOOSE to dwell in God, and He dwells in me. (1John 4:15)

My life is hid with Christ Jesus in God. (Col. 3:13)

The understandings of my eyes have, and are, being enlightened. (Eph. 1:18)

I CHOOSE to press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God. (Phil. 3:13-14)

I CHOOSE to always triumph in Jesus. (2Cor. 2:14)

I CHOOSE to show forth His praise. (1Peter 2:9)

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Spiritual

Atheist Monument Opposes Ten Commandments with no Alternative

Gary DeMar http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/06/atheist-monument-opposes-ten-commandments-with-no-alternative/#ixzz2Wb8b8RLA

The courtyard outside the Bradford County Courthouse in north Florida will include quotations from Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the founder of American Atheists. It will also include a list of Old Testament punishments that mandate the death penalty. The atheist monument will stand next to a copy of the Ten Commandments.

Atheists have no moral standing in critiquing any moral law system. Atheism cannot account for morality. Morality is not a thing. It is not made up of atoms. Morality cannot be derived from the stuff of the cosmos or extracted from our DNA. As a result, atheists can’t argue against murder, genocide, rape, theft, or any other moral aversion. In fact, the category “morality” does not exist in a matter-only worldview.

Atheists have put together the “enjoy yourself” campaign. Here’s there logic:

There’s No God. So Stop Worrying and Enjoy Yourself.

What if people enjoy killing, raping, stealing, and eating people?

If there were a set of commandments that said, “Thou shalt not drive red cars,” “Thou shalt not live in four-side houses,” and “Thou shalt not hop, skip, and jump,” there is nothing within atheism that could fundamentally raise an objection.

Arthur Leff (1935–1981), who taught law at Yale Law School, concluded that, given atheistic assumptions, no way to prove that “any particular act, no matter how horrible, is normatively wrong.” Leff stated:

“I will put the current situation as sharply as possible: there is today no way of ‘proving’ that napalming babies is bad except by asserting it (in a louder and louder voice), or by defining it as so, early in one’s game, and then later slipping it through, in a whisper, as a conclusion.”^[1]

In Leff’s analysis, “‘good’ becomes just a function of nosecounting.”^[2] Was he exaggerating? I don’t think so. Look around us. Where is an absolute moral standard to be found? If you say religion, you’ll never be hired by a major university or sit on the Supreme Court.

Many don’t remember how then-Senator Joe Biden grilled Clarence Thomas on his belief in Natural Law. Thomas knew that any dialog with Biden over the idea that there is a God-given law would have doomed his nomination. Thomas was smart to let Biden ramble and get his analysis of Natural Law wrong, and impossible to account for, given evolutionary assumptions which America’s new religion.

But it’s worse than that for the atheist. There is no basis for the categories “good” and “evil” in a matter-only cosmos. Anything that’s left of the idea of fixed moral laws is an illusion that will soon fade as our nation becomes consistent with what it has mandated from the courts and taught in our schools.

The acceptance of the atheist monument by civil officials and the courts as somehow being equal to the Ten Commandments is a prime indicator that secularism is on its death bed. Let’s pray that we all don’t end up there with them.

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Inspiration, Edification, Encouragement and Comfort

Written

on June 6, 2013

Today’s Devotional by Dr. David Jeremiah

Wednesday, 6/5/2013 – Today’s Devotional

“Not My Will”

“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” – Luke 22:42

Recommended Reading: Daniel 9:1-19; 1 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom- 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:

“O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame-the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” (NIV)

One of the hardest human challenges is to submit. It begins when toddlers learn to obey their parents when they want to say, “No!” As children of God, we live with that challenge all our life — submitting our will to the will of the Father when all we can think of is “Why?”

When the prophet Daniel was a captive in Babylon, he read from the prophet Jeremiah that Israel’s exile would last 70 years (Daniel 9:2; Jeremiah 25:11). And so Daniel turned to God in prayer to pray in accordance with the will of God. He didn’t complain or protest that Israel was in captivity. Rather, in humility, he agreed with God that Israel deserved to be there (Daniel 9:1-19). Daniel displayed humility (verse 3), worship (verse 4), confession (verses 5-15), and petition (verses 16-19). Yes, he asked for the captivity to end. But he couched his request in submission to God’s will — just as Jesus did in the most difficult moment of His life: “…not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

If you wish God’s will for your life were different right now, before asking for it to be different, agree with God that His will is worth submitting to.

“The essence of sin is arrogance; the essence of salvation is submission.” – Alan Redpath

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Spiritual

The Boy Scout Fallout

http://theblacksphere.net/2013/06/the-boy-scout-fallout/

The dust has scarcely settled from the Boy Scouts of America’s landmark vote to allow openly gay young men and boys to participate in scouting, yet already another controversy is brewing with parents and churches caught up in the crossfire.

Nationwide, congregations and families are coming to terms with the BSA policy change. In an effort to remain strong in their biblical convictions, many are being forced to cut ties with the BSA despite years of financial support and mutual trust.

But in doing so, their decision to withdraw support of the nation’s largest scouting organization has come under scrutiny by the liberal media and the leftwing blogosphere. Just days following the vote, Atlanta-area pastor Ernest Easley made national news when he advised his parishioners to cut all ties with BSA.

“I never dreamed I’d have to stand up publicly and say to parents: Pull your kids out of the Boy Scouts,” Easley told the Baptist Press May 28. “If you would have asked me that five years ago, 10 years ago, I would have laughed,” Easley said. “And even as I was saying it Sunday morning, I thought, I cannot believe I’m having to address this and encourage parents to pull their children out of the Boy Scouts of America.”

Louisville’s largest church, Southeast Christian Church, also made headlines when they cut ties with the Boy Scouts after the national organization decided to drop its ban on gay youth.

“We want everyone, including ourselves, to live by biblical standards,” said the Executive Pastor Tim Hester. “Truly for us it’s a logical decision … We cannot be distracted from the mission God has called us to.”

The BSA policy change is a sad reality that parents too must come to terms with. Michael Woodward, whose eleven year old son suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome and is particularly vulnerable to outside influences, has also decided to withdraw his support of BSA.

“I cannot have my son say the Scout oath “…to keep myself morally straight…knowing that the Scout’s definition of that is now in direct contradiction to God’s definition. I cannot risk having my Asperger son led by a role model that is in fact immoral. He would follow.”

So as parents and pastors make the hard choice to cut ties with BSA on account of their new policy, the liberal media has transferred their accusations of bigotry and intolerance from the BSA to its outgoing members and sponsors. Even before making a final decision at this summer’s annual convention, the Southern Baptist Convention has come under attack by those on the left for indicating that they will recommend for its 47,000 churches to pull away from BSA.

Whispers of litigation against these churches have already spurred non-profit legal foundations like Liberty Institute to take up potential lawsuits that are sure to come down the pike. It’s unfortunate that these institutions are being drawn into an ideological fight that they didn’t start nor go looking for.

Churches, families and the Scouts themselves are what some might consider collateral damage of a decade-long battle waged by the LGBT organizations against the BSA to impose their morality on a non-government entity. And thanks to a compliant media, clearly in the LGBT camp, these institutions must fend off accusations of intolerance and bigotry while trying to stand strong in their biblical convictions.

“We hoped to keep sex and politics out of Scouting,” lamented John Stemberger, a lifelong Scout with two sons in scouting, now leading the fight to start a new scouting chapter in defiance of the adopted policy. Unfortunately the LGBT community and the liberal media had other plans.

Sadly, it’s the parents and churches that must unravel this messy BSA policy and tenaciously step through the landmine of media scrutiny as they seek to live biblically in an increasingly anti-Christian society.

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Today’s Devotional by Dr. David Jeremiah

Few Agonizers

Recommended Reading: Daniel 9:17-19; 17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” (NIV)

In his book, Why Revival Tarries, the late preacher Leonard Ravenhill wrote of the prayerlessness of many churches. “We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.”

If you want to see a man of God in prayer, look at the ninth chapter of Daniel. He set his face toward the Lord to make requests by prayer and supplication in great humility and prolonged earnestness. He confessed his sins and those of his people. He pleaded for mercy, begging for God’s “face to shine” on His sanctuary.

How could you improve your life of prayer? Could you take a little more time, be a little more specific, pray a little more frequently? What about devoting an entire hour to prayer, or a morning, or a day?

Lord, teach us to pray!

“No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying.” – Leonard Ravenhill

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Spiritual

Today’s Devotional by Dr. David Jeremiah

Friday, 5/24/2013 – Today’s Devotional

“Blessed Is Your Advice”

“The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings.” – 1 Samuel 25:3

Recommended Reading: 1 Samuel 25:23-33; 23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said: “My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. 25 May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name-his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent.

26 “Now since the LORD has kept you, my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, may your enemies and all who intend to harm my master be like Nabal. 27 And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my master, be given to the men who follow you. 28 Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the LORD’s battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live. 29 Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God. But the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. 30 When the LORD has done for my master every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over Israel, 31 my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the LORD has brought my master success, remember your servant.”

32 David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. 33 May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. 34 Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.” (NIV)

Question: What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Answer: A woman has to intervene.

In 1 Samuel 25, David, running for his life accompanied by a group of malcontents, sought help from a surly and stingy man named Nabal. Conflict and bloodshed seemed inevitable until Nabal’s wife, Abigail, saddled her donkey and sought out David to appeal for peace. Her measured and reasonable words prompted David to reply, “Blessed is the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! And blessed is your advice” (verses 32-33).

One day Jesus will bring peace to the world, but until then we can take His message of peace to others and be peacemakers at home, work, and school. We can give such wise counsel that others will say, “Blessed is your advice.” Do you know an angry soul? Can you say a word to bring calmness to his or her heart and pour oil on troubled waters? “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

“Lord, help me be a person who speaks words that build up and not tear down.” – Stormie Omartian in A Book of Prayer

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Spiritual

I Know Who I Am and Whose I Am

By Stan Toler, as published in, “The Ministers Little Devotional Book”

“I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.’

“My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.’

“I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.’

I won’t give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me – my banner will be clear!”

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Spiritual

Wednesday, 5/1/2013 – Today’s Devotional by Dr. David Jeremiah

How Not to “Pow!”

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” – Isaiah 26:3

Recommended Reading: Philippians 4:6-7; 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (NIV)

Every child eventually undertakes a science experiment having to do with the laws of pressure. Either he blows up a balloon beyond its intended size or she presses her balloon against a sharp object. In either case, the result is the same: POW! The look of bewilderment on a child’s face the first time he pops his balloon is priceless for parents.

Eventually children learn the science: a thin, rubber balloon can only stand so much pressure before it explodes. And the same thing is true for human beings. God did not design the human body to handle unlimited amounts of pressure before it “explodes” in various ways, physically or emotionally. In fact, how a Christian handles pressure is a good indicator of his or her reliance upon God. Christians are not immune to life’s circumstances or the pressure they can produce. But God wants us to trust Him with those circumstances and their outcome — “casting all [our] care upon Him, for He cares for [us]” (1 Peter 5:7).

If you are experiencing pressure in your life, keep your mind stayed upon the God who knows your past, present, and future and promises to meet your every need (Philippians 4:19).

“Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues.” -John R. W. Stott

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Spiritual

“Honor Thy Father and Mother” isn’t a suggestion

‘Honor Thy Father and Mother’: Ignore at Your Peril

‘Honor Thy Father and Mother’: Ignore at Your Peril

by Stephanie Janiczek
Clash Daily Guest Contributor

john-potter I know a lot of theology teachers might argue with me over what the greatest commandment is in the list of ten big ones. To me it always seemed that the biggest one was “Honor Thy Father and Mother”. The other rules God set for us stemmed from that one simple five word bit of divine instruction. Not difficult to understand and not hard to follow.

These days we have certain types of people who not only ignore that commandment but they go out of their way to flaunt that commandment. Too many of our seniors are forgotten, thrown into nursing homes by their selfish boomer children who think they know more than their parents; and because of the privilege’s their parents hard work afforded them are better than their parents.

Today I was introduced to a woman named Janice Cotrill who is evicting her 91 year old father from the home he has lived in with her mother for 54 years. John Potter is a World War II veteran and hero. He has lived in the village of Zaleski ,Ohio his entire life, except for the years he spent in the military in World War II, fighting against the Japanese at Attu in the Aleutian Islands. I am speechless with rage. Here is a link to the story:; and another link.

I think part of my anger towards Ms. Cotrill and her husband is the fact my own father and mother saw their last years sad and lonely and dependent. In fact, it nearly went the same way as Mr. Potter’s life has gone. When it is your own parents and there is nothing you personally can do to help it is the most awful thing to deal with personally. At the time the bad happened to my parents, I was in college and had no money, no personal power to help them. It is funny but it is always that way. The person who cares most about their parents is the one who has the least amount of personal power or money to help them when they need help.

In looking back, I wish I had made different decisions but I know that regrets are for sad sacks. The past should never hold us back but in the case of one’s parents, when they did everything for you, to see older siblings treating them so badly, it is hard not to look back with some regret. The words “I wish I had” run rampant through one’s mind like an old vinyl record skipping. And yet there are those people you grew up with who have no concerns about what they do to their parents. One is introduced to resentments that were never apparent before, angers and envy that were never out in the open.

It is quite disturbing to think there are people out there who are this amoral. Yes, evicting one’s parents from their home of 54 years is amoral. Not allowing a father to see his autistic son is amoral. Instead of spending quality time with a father who is a hero, whom one can learn so much from, this woman and her husband are throwing him out onto the street.

The stories of a father of 91, who has seen so much, done so much could become family lore. It’s the stuff legends are made of. These are the stories children coming after can hear and live up to. Think about the loss of that alone. It is horrifying in a way to think so much can be tossed casually aside like this.

When one throws their parents away like so much trash one throws oneself away with them. So much of a human being’s identity and self are given to them by their parents, through DNA, through being raised and the life’s lessons parents teach their children. You can see in the empty, unhappy lives these amoral creatures live. They live for the moment, materialistic not only in their greed for things and power but a kind of spiritual materialism that causes them to drift even further from themselves. They are quite literally dead inside.

They search continually for a self they would never recognize because they can’t see themselves anymore. Or they know too well who stares back at them from the mirror in the morning and they cannot stand that person. One could feel some pity for these people who abandoned the values and morals they were raised to believe in; but when one reaches a certain age one realizes that there are some people who suck the very soul from everyone around them, and trying to help them is the ultimate expression of futility. One could do better by making life easier for the elderly, reaching out to those that could share with them the wisdom they accumulated over the decades and maybe providing to an elderly veteran and his wife a family they no longer really have.

I want to tell this woman, “That is your Dad. He’s a decorated veteran. Instead of behaving so viciously why not embrace the limited time with your Dad and hear his stories, do your daughter’s duty and honor him? This is the house you grew up in. Think of the memories? Think of times your parents were there for you? Doesn’t any of that mean anything?”

It is funny but in looking back at some of the things I have seen in my own past I realize that those questions would be meaningless to certain people because the idea of honoring ones parents means nothing to them.

We know that people ultimately pay the price for their hubris. It might be in overwhelming guilt for their cruelty with which they have treated their parents. It might be in the hereafter. But people who have committed heinous sins against people they should love and respect do find justice. That is the cold unvarnished truth.

What we are witnessing in this sad story is a Greek Tragedy played out in 2013 USA. It has all the hubris, greed, and like a Greek Tragedy, it will end badly. Not just for Mr. Potter. It will end worse for his daughter and she’s too wrapped up in herself and what she wants to realize that. I feel no pity for her and her husband. What comes ’round goes ’round.

I do feel a terrible sadness that her father, a WWII hero who is sick, is being treated like a criminal by his daughter. The only criminal I can identify here is Ms. Cotrill. “Honor Thy Father and Mother” isn’t a suggestion, as the saying goes, and one would do one a big favor by abiding by that five word commandment.

Image: John Potter; courtesy of Jaclyn Fraley; “World War II Vet John Potter, 91, Faces Eviction by Daughter”; realestate.aol.com

get-attachment (3) Stephanie Janiczek is a former Capitol Hill Staff Assistant, Schedule C Appointee and Leadership Institute alum. Military Wife, Hunter, Horse enthusiast, dog owner, writer and feminist kryptonite.

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Spiritual

Very Important Devotional by Dr. David Jeremiah

Tuesday, 4/23/2013 – Today’s Devotional – April 23

The Limits of God’s Patience

“He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.” – (Psalm 103:9)

Recommended Reading Psalm 75:6-7; 6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both horse and chariot lie still. 7 You alone are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? (NIV)

Israel’s prophets brought comfort to the people during difficult times by reminding them, “[God] will not always strive with us.” That’s a comforting word, except that it is a reminder that, right now, God is striving with us! In other words, God’s patience has its limits. As He demonstrated with Israel over and over, at some point God stops waiting for people to repent by their own choice and He sends judgment.

There was a period in which the nation of Babylon was under God’s blessing — when the king, Nebuchadnezzar, repented of his pride (Daniel 4:34-37). But when a new king, Belshazzar, took the throne, Babylon changed. In a drunken orgy one night, Belshazzar brought out the sacred vessels that had been stolen from the temple in Jerusalem and used them to drink wine. To take and use the sacred vessels from a nation’s temple was a way to proclaim the impotence of the conquered god. The same is true when anyone flaunts or disobeys the laws of God.

God is holy and reserves the right to judge sacrilege, or any other sin, when repentance is absent.

“As we search the Scriptures, we must allow them to search us, to sit in judgment upon our character and conduct.” – (Jerry Bridges)

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Spiritual

It’s Time

By Jerry Broussard

1 Peter 4:12-19; 12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And,

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. (NIV)

I am reluctant to start this observation with a litany of the ills of America and our society. Yet, based on recent voter turnouts, such a review is necessary;

Our Federal government has reached the “out-of-control” point with spending and debt. We are months, may be weeks, away from declaring bankruptcy. Some believe that the Obama administration is doing this deliberately in order to change our nation into a Western Europe Socialist nation.
The manufactured tensions deliberately created between rich and poor continue to rise to the boiling point. The self-appointed “Professional Pot Stirrers” are working overtime to bring about an all-out war between the “haves” and the “have-nots”. Adding to the flame is the Obama administration’s economic policies creating more and more people on the government dole, ensuring the Leftist voting base.
The manufactured tensions between the races (by the same source afore mentioned) is also reaching volatile levels.
Taking advantage of the chaos are the various terrorist groups knowing they have a sympathetic Obama administration that will not call “terrorism” what it is; Terrorism. President Obama has stated he does not want to “rush to judgment” on terrorist like the Boston bombers.
Unemployment continues to be a discussion instead of solution. Partisan politician’s think it more important to hang onto their stupid ideology instead of opening up the market place and let it heal itself.
Education continues its downward spiral as liberal theology continues its influence in how children are educated. These philosophers constant complaint is that we are not spending enough money on education and yet test scores continue to rank at the bottom of the world’s results.
Our society seems to be in an all-out sprint to become as corrupt as Sodom and Gomorrah. Leading the way are the homosexual activist demand for equal recognition in marriage, when all they really want is to shut the church up from teaching the truth about their abhorrent chosen lifestyle. By their side are the social-engineers recreating our nation into their own image.
There are so many more, but let us sum up this list with the motivation for this writing; The Evangelical Church in America seems to spending most of its time “Playing-Church”, than being the church.

The Apostle Peter wrote to the church in the last days of his life. Both letters are so rich with revelation truth, but for this discussion, let us focus on the scripture already introduced. It is time for judgment to begin with the House of God.

One of the admonitions we have from Jesus is found in Mark 9:50; “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” When Jesus gave this admonishment, salt was primarily used as a preservative for meat. They did not have refrigeration to keep meat from spoiling so they would pack it in salt. Salt slows down the “putrefaction” process. Therefore Jesus’ admonition is for His Church, His followers, to be SALT inside the church as well as within society. If the church is walking in obedience of Jesus’ Word, being DOERS of the Word, not HEARERS ONLY (James 1:22-25), than His Church becomes a preservative in society, slowing down the putrefaction process. As it is, our society stinks, and the fault lies at the front door of the Church.

I am quick to point out that there are churches that are “BEING THE CHURCH”. Unfortunately, they are a small minority. God will always have His remnant, and that remnant is alive and well in America. I am talking about the rest of the churches that seem to be more interested in “Great-God-Entertainment” (what they claim to be worship time), than in being Salt and Light in their community. Here are some examples;

If we really have committed Evangelical Christians, than explain to me why we can only get 30 to 40% out to vote. Voting is one of the many ways to be SALT. Allowing the enemies of Jesus’ Church to reign speeds up the putrefaction process. Although it is not scripture, yet the proverb is important to heed; ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ (English philosopher Edmund Burke); i.e., For Jesus’ Church to stop being Salt and Light.
In the late 70’s someone did a study and found that if (at that time) all the Evangelical churches would take four people in and take care of their needs, there would be NO ONE LEFT ON THE WELFARE ROLES.
- Galatians 2:10 sums up the constant focus of the early church; Take care of the poor.
- Remember Jesus’ description of Judgment Day recorded in Matthew 25:25-46? The sheep and the goats both observed the same needs of their society. The only difference between the sheep and the goats is that the sheep DO The Work of Jesus’ Church while the goats did nothing.
- Government took control of education because Jesus’ Church allowed it to happen. The original schools of education, SET UP BY CONGRESS, was done on Sundays, thus we had Sunday school. That became weekly classes as teachers were trained, and children were taught the basics of reading, writing, math, history, government, the Constitution (along with the Federalist Papers), and scriptural truth learning how to be Christian citizens. I doubt if any college graduate today could pass a Sixth Grade Final given in those days in order to be admitted into High School.
- Entertainment, the Arts, Science and more were all created and developed by committed Christians as God gifted them. Jesus’ Church has allowed the secular world to take them over and used as a force against Jesus’ Church.

I could go on and on, however, I hope you are getting the point.

What I have found to be true over the last 40 plus years of study is that there are two different Christianity’s at work in our world today. There is Christianity the religion, and the original Christianity that is Jesus’ Church; Christianity the RELATIONSHIP.

Christianity the Religion: Every bit as cold, dark, full of bondage as any other man made religion. This Christianity the political Left loves to berate. It has all the trappings of the real church, but as often rebuked by God, its motivations are all wrong. Its just religion. Not much different from idol worship and bigoted toward anyone who is not their denominational flavor.
Christianity the Relationship is just that; a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus’ Church consist of individual believers who have openly admitted they are sinners in need of a Savior, repent of their sins, accepted Jesus as their PERSONAL Lord and Savior, and made Jesus the absolute Lord of their lives. Jesus’ Church are the DOERS, those who do not care about the persecution, but have laid down their lives to speak up and fight for what is right, just, “and of good report”. They are feeding the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, in prison, involved in the community, and VOTING –VOTING – VOTING.

During one of God’s rebukes of His nation Israel, He is quoted as saying in Judges 10:14; “Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!” (NIV) That rebuke is as applicable today as when God gave it back in Israel’s early development. They turned their back on God and His Word and went the way of the world. In today’s vernacular God said, “You created your gods (religion, lifestyle choices, politicians, political climate, economical disasters, strife between peoples and groups, schools that have failed, generations that have never heard the Gospel, terrorist gaining control of entire nations, unemployment, more poor today than ever in American history and so much more. Now, turn to those gods you have created and see if they can save you.”

Over the last 100 years, American society has proven what it can do. Disaster is the result. No matter how government tries to fix things, they only make them worse and more of our rights removed. We are getting further away from what our founders created because of hours of prayer, debate and the leading of God’s Holy Spirit.

I believe that judgment has begun with Jesus’ Church. In all of history, there has never been a time when we have been in need of revival than we are today. It is time for the Church to be the Church again. I am calling for all those of you who are Relationship Christians to join me in prayer, and then putting legs to those prayers and let us fight to get out country back.

Any takers?

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Please Join Me in A Moment of Prayer

Heavenly Father, in the mighty Name of Jesus our Lord and Savior, we come before you to lift up the people of Boston, the runners participating in the race, the responders and health care professionals. We ask in Jesus Name that You flood Boston with Your Grace, Comfort and mercy. Please put a hedge of protection around the police that are investigating this and keep them from all harm. Open the eyes of their understanding so they can see clearly the evidence they are collecting so that those responsible for this tragedy are brought to justice.”

“Lord Jesus, we acknowledge that You are our healer, and “…by Your strips we are healed”. We prayer Your healing power flood every hospital and keep any more victims from dyeing as a result of this attack.’

“Heavenly Father we also pray by Your Spirit that you surround the families of the victims with Your Comfort and Love.’

“We thank You for hearing our prayer, in Jesus Name, Amen.”

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Spiritual

A Fragile History

Monday, 4/8/2013 – Today’s Devotional by Dr. David Jeremiah – April 8“You saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron.” – Daniel 2:41

As For Me and My House, We will Serve the Lord and His Word.

The Bible vs. Heart

By: Dennis Prager

http://www.dennisprager.com/columns.aspx?g=db034918-c664-4e07-9ddb-56379d839011&url=the-bible-vs-heart-n1554814

I offer the single most politically incorrect statement a modern American — indeed a modern Westerner, period — can make: I first look to the Bible for moral guidance and for wisdom.I say this even though I am not a Christian (I am a Jew, and a non-Orthodox one at that). And I say this even though I attended an Ivy League graduate school (Columbia), where I learned nothing about the Bible there except that it was irrelevant, outdated and frequently immoral.

I say this because there is nothing — not any religious or secular body of work — that comes close to the Bible in forming the moral bases of Western civilization and therefore of nearly all moral progress in the world.

It was this book that guided every one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, including those described as “deists.” It is the book that formed the foundational values of every major American university. It is the book from which every morally great American from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to the Rev. (yes, “the Reverend,” almost always omitted today in favor of his secular credential, “Dr.”) Martin Luther King, Jr., got his values.

It is this book that gave humanity the Ten Commandments, the greatest moral code ever devised. It not only codified the essential moral rules for society, it announced that the Creator of the universe stands behind them, demands them and judges humans’ compliance with them.

It gave humanity the great moral rule, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

It taught humanity the unprecedented and unparalleled concept that all human beings are created equal because all human beings — of every race, ethnicity, nationality and both male and female — are created in God’s image.

It taught people not to trust the human heart, but to be guided by moral law even when the heart pulled in a different direction.

This is the book that taught humanity that human sacrifice is an abomination.

This is the book that de-sexualized God — a first in human history.

This is the book that alone launched humanity on the long road to abolishing slavery. It was not only Bible-believers (what we would today call “religious fundamentalists”) who led the only crusade in the world against slavery, it was the Bible itself, thousands of years before, that taught that God abhors slavery. it legislated that one cannot return a slave to his owner and banned kidnapping for slaves in the Ten Commandments. Stealing people, kidnapping, was the most widespread source of slavery, and “Thou shall not steal” was first a ban on stealing humans and then on stealing property.

It was this book that taught people the wisdom of Job and of Ecclesiastes, unparalleled masterpieces of world wisdom literature.

Without this book, there would not have been Western civilization, or Western science, or Western human rights, or the abolitionist movement, or the United States of America, the freest, most prosperous, most opportunity-giving society ever formed.

For well over a generation, we have been living on “cut-flower ethics.” We have removed ethics from the Bible-based soil that gave them life and think they can survive removed from that soil. Fools and those possessing an arrogance bordering on self-deification think we will long survive as a decent society without teaching the Bible and without consulting it for moral guidance and wisdom.

If not from the Bible, from where should people get their values and morals? The university? The New York Times editorial page? They have been wrong on virtually every great issue of good and evil in our generation. They mocked Ronald Reagan for calling the Soviet Union an “evil empire.” More than any other group in the world, Western intellectuals supported Stalin, Mao and other Communist monsters. They are utterly morally confused concerning one of the most morally clear conflicts of our time — the Israeli-Palestinian/Arab conflict. The universities and their media supporters have taught a generation of Americans the idiocy that men and women are basically the same. And they are the institutions that teach that America’s founders were essentially moral reprobates — sexist and racist rich white men.

When the current executive editor of the New York Times, Jill Abramson, was appointed to that position she announced that “In my house growing up, The Times substituted for religion.” The quote spoke volumes about the substitution of elite media for religion and the Bible in shaping contemporary America.

The other modern substitute for the Bible is the heart. We live in the Age of Feelings, and an entire generation of Americans has been raised to consult their heart to determine right and wrong.

If you trust the human heart, you should be delighted with this development. But those of us raised with biblical wisdom do not trust the heart. So when we are told by almost every university, by almost every news source, by almost every entertainment medium that the heart demands what is probably the most radical social transformation since Western civilization began — redefining marriage, society’s most basic institution, in terms of gender — it may be wiser to trust the biblical understanding of marriage rather than the heart’s.

My heart, too, supports same-sex marriage. But relying on the heart alone is a terribly flawed guide to social policy. And it is the Bible that has produced all of the world’s most compassionate societies.

This, then, is the great modern battle: the Bible and the heart vs. the heart alone.

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Spiritual

A Refreshing Video of Faith, Hope, Humility and Strength

Ronald Reagan Speaks Boldly of His Christian Faith

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Spiritual

Jesus: The True ‘Political Outcast’

by Eric Rauch http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/03/jesus-the-true-political-outcast/

Many families will gather together on Sunday to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is nothing short of miraculous that anything that happened 2000 years ago is even remembered, let alone celebrated. But what is often overlooked in this event—the most important one in world history—is the political nature of the death and resurrection of Christ. Jesus was a “political outcast” of the first degree. His execution was, of course, a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, reaching all the way back to the Garden of Eden, but it was also a judgment of the entrenched political atmosphere that existed in first century Jerusalem.

Now before you accuse me of teaching a “social gospel,” please understand that the Gospel (the good news of Jesus’ kingship and kingdom) does have political consequences. Herod understood this, and so did Pontius Pilate. Herod, as the “king” of the Jews, knew that Jesus’ proclamation of the “kingdom of God” was a direct assault against his own imagined authority; likewise Pilate recognized that letting Jesus live, against the wishes of the chief priests and who were stirring up the people, could very well incite an insurrection. In Jesus, Herod saw a threat to his rule, while Pilate saw a liability; neither was able to give Jesus a truly fair trial.

In many Easter sermons, the impression is often given that the crowds were aligned against Jesus and crying for His death. While this is technically true, it doesn’t tell the full story. Matthew 27: 20 says that “the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death.” The political and religious leaders were stirring up the people against Jesus, so much so that they were willing to trade a real murder and insurrectionist for a perceived one (see Mark 15:7) and condemn themselves and their posterity: “And all the people said, ‘His blood shall be on us and on our children,’” a self-condemnation which God honored less than 40 years later in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The Gospel of John is crystal clear about what the Jewish leaders and priests thought of Jesus and His promised kingdom: “Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar’” (John 19:15, see also Acts 9:14 to see that this attitude persisted well after Jesus’ Resurrection). They rejected God’s own Messiah for a pretend political messiah in Rome.

Our own modern celebrations of Easter are a reinforcement of the fact that Jesus changed everything. It is a rather bold statement to have ham on the plate when celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of the Jewish Messiah. The pig was (and still is by modern Jews) considered to be an unclean animal because it does not chew its cud (Leviticus 11:7–8; Deuteronomy 14:8). Eating pork to celebrate the risen King of the Jews is a proclamation that God has made all things clean in the death and resurrection of His Son. As Peter finally came to understand, Jesus did indeed make all things new (Acts 10:9–16; see also Revelation 21:1–5).

Communion is another aspect of Jesus flaunting Jewish tradition and giving it an entirely new meaning. During the Last Supper in the upper room, Jesus and the disciples were settled in for the traditional Passover meal of lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8). Sometime after they began eating, Jesus passed around bread and wine; He called the bread “His body” and the wine “His blood.” Prior to this Last Supper, at an earlier Passover—in what is known as the Bread of Life discourse—Jesus had told the Jewish leaders in the synagogue in Capernaum that if they didn’t eat His flesh or drink His blood they could have no part in Him.

Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:52–58)

This command by Jesus is in direct conflict with Leviticus 17, where eating or drinking blood is expressly forbidden. In other words, Old Testament law says, “Do not eat the blood,” and Jesus, in the New Covenant in His blood, says, “You must eat the blood.” As the atoning sacrifice Himself, Jesus is drawing a distinction between Himself as the Lamb of God and a regular Passover lamb. The lamb pointed to the Lamb, and now that the Lamb is here, not drinking his blood is a denial of His being the once-for-all Atonement (see Hebrews 9:28). It was a subversion of sorts, which is to say that the chief priests and Jewish leaders were correct to understand it as such, but they were wrong to think that this subversion was not of God. It was, in reality, the final divine statement regarding Israel’s rejection of God as their King for a human tyrant (see 1 Samuel 8:7).

So when you eat your ham and drink your wine, remember that Jesus did change everything: politically, socially, religiously, and culturally, and this change came about because of what He did covenantally; He obeyed God rather than men, and so did his first century disciples. And as a result, they were accused of “turning the world upside down” because they “acted contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus” (Acts 17:6–7). May we all be accused of being such political outcasts in the days, weeks, and years to come. Happy Easter to all! He is risen indeed!

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The Slide Continues Toward Sodom and Gomorrah

Polygamy Will be Next (And Much More)

By Gary DeMar http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/03/polygamy-will-be-next-and-much-more/

There is nothing in our current legal system or national moral climate that will stop polygamy from becoming the next liberal cause:

“Redefining marriage to include same-sex couples would jettison the rationale and logic behind prohibitions on polygamous marriages, according to several friend-of-the court briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the traditional definition of marriage.

“‘Ultimately, there is no principled basis for recognizing a legality of same-sex marriage without simultaneously providing a basis for the legality of consensual polygamy or certain adult incestuous relationships,’ reads one of the briefs, filed by the Christian legal group Liberty Counsel. ‘In fact, every argument for same-sex marriage is an argument for them as well.’”

The Netherlands is a microcosm of how the homosexual community hoodwinked this once-Christian nation into accepting a perversion. A former Dutch Member of Parliament “has admitted that polygamous marriage is the ‘next logical step’ following the introduction of same-sex marriages in the Netherlands.”

Serial polygamy is already accepted in America. People get married and divorced numerous times with little regard for marriage as a covenant bond. Hollywood types change wives like some people change shoes. Others don’t get married but live together, have children out of wedlock, and few people bat an eye.

Watch the Home and Garden Channel (HGTV) and note how many times non-married couples are living together and the number of homosexual couples that are featured.

In some respects, America is becoming a third-world nation. The cultural mores that made America great are quickly disappearing. Providentially there is a Christian and conservative counter culture that is quietly replacing the disintegrating secular worldview.

Abortion kills off future generations. Homosexuality is a sterile worldview. The only way homosexuality can flourish is by recruitment. I believe a good case can be made that homosexuality is the result of failed families, and that mostly means failed fathers.

The State has become the father figure to many young people. This is especially true in the Black community. The Welfare State made it financially easy for fathers to abandon their children and for the State to become a substitute parent.

Rulers have ever been tempted to play the role of father to their people. . . . When the provision of paternal security replaces the provision of justice as the function of the state, the state stops providing justice. . . . Those who are concerned about the chaos into which the criminal justice system has fallen should consider what the state’s function has become. Because the state can only be a bad imitation of a father, as a dancing bear act is of a ballerina, the protection of this Leviathan of a father turns out to be a bear hug.^[1]

There’s something going on in the black community known as the Down Low.

“Ten years ago, the New York Times reported on a growing underground subculture in the black community known as Down Low, comprised largely of men who secretly engage in homosexual activity while living ‘straight’ lives in public.”

Why is this happening? Because a number of black men are looking for father figures, and they believe they can find it in other men.

The people who have gotten on the “gay train” don’t realize what it’s dragging behind it.

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More Outragious Actions of the Extreme Left

WND

Dem Party official makes students ‘stomp on Jesus’

‘Gee, I wonder if the instructor would dare do this with the name of Muhammed’

A Florida college professor causing national outrage for requiring students to write “Jesus” on a piece of paper, then put it on the floor and stomp on it, turns out also to be a top official in the local Democratic Party – the latest in a string of acute leadership embarrassments.

Although one student who refused to participate claims he was punished by being suspended from the class, Florida Atlantic University is defending the controversial assignment.

The dissenting student, Ryan Rotela, told the local CBS TV affiliate WPEC that his instructor, associate professor Deandre Poole, told everyone in the class to write the word “Jesus” on a piece of paper in bold letters, then put it on the floor and stomp on it.

Rotela, a junior from Coral Springs, said some of his classmates complied, but he refused.

“Anytime you stomp on something it shows that you believe that something has no value. So if you were to stomp on the word Jesus, it says that the word has no value,” he told WPEC.

A religious Mormon who attends church every Sunday, Rotela complained to school officials but said they responded by suspending him from the class.

According to Florida Atlantic University, Poole was conducting an exercise from the textbook “Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach, 5th Edition.”

A synopsis of the lesson plan in question, obtained by Fox News, goes like this:

“Have the students write the name JESUS in big letters on a piece of paper Ask the students to stand up and put the paper on the floor in front of them with the name facing up. Ask the students to think about it for a moment. After a brief period of silence instruct them to step on the paper. Most will hesitate. Ask why they can’t step on the paper. Discuss the importance of symbols in culture.”

Grove City College professor Paul Kengor, author of “The Communist: Frank Marshall Davis: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor,” told Fox he wasn’t surprised by the “lesson.”

“These are the new secular disciples of ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance’ – empty buzzwords that make liberals and progressives feel good while they often refuse to tolerate and sometimes even assault traditional Christian and conservative beliefs,” Kengor told Fox, saying classes like the one at FAU reflect “the rising confidence and aggression of the new secularists and atheists, especially at our sick and surreal modern universities.”

Kengor added: “Gee, I wonder if the instructor would dare do this with the name of Muhammed.”

It turns out, the “stomp-on-Jesus” professor, Poole, also has a prominent position in local politics. As Bizpacreview reports, Poole is vice-chairman of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party.

Moreover, this isn’t the local party’s first brush with negative publicity.

The former chairman of the county Democratic Party was forced to resign in September after comments he made at the Democratic National Convention last year in Charlotte, N.C.

As WND reported, Mark Siegel reportedly told an interviewer Christians who support Israel want to see Jews “slaughtered.”

Siegel was quoted as saying, “Oh no, the Christians just want us to be there so we can all be slaughtered and converted and bring on the second coming of Jesus Christ.”

And two months earlier, a Democratic Executive Committee member from Palm Beach County also slammed Israel. Evelyn Garcia sent an email accusing the Jewish state of atrocities, writing, “By supporting Israeli occupation with U.S. foreign aid, we are all complicit and guilty of their crimes against humanity.”

“And, I deeply resent U.S. taxpayer funds being used to continue Israeli aggression (yes, confiscating other peoples’ land and building illegal settlements is aggression), not to mention ‘incursions’ that kill PEOPLE, destroy civilian homes and infrastructure all over, mass concentration prison camps, etc,etc,etc,” she added.

Garcia quit her post after a public outcry.

In the meantime, still no word from Florida Atlantic University on whether it will discipline the professor who urged students to stomp on “Jesus” and whether Ryan will have his suspension from class lifted.

FAU did, however, email this press statement: “Faculty and students at academic institutions pursue knowledge and engage in open discourse. While at times the topics discussed may be sensitive, a university environment is a venue for such dialogue and debate.

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Is the Door Open for the Rise of the Antichrist?

I am a student of the Bible and have been for forty years. Europe”s present financial disaster is described in Revelations as the platform for the Antichrist to come into power. Jesus reveals that the Antichrist will propose a solution to the economic chaos that will be accepted by the world’s powers and establish peace. That will be his inroad to world wide tyranny.

Please read the following blog post with that in mind. Is Jesus return eminent?

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This is what Socialism looks like if…

Posted by Michael Becker on Mar 18, 2013http://joeforamerica.com/2013/03/this-is-what-socialism-looks-like-if/

… you happen to be a productive member of society.

Yesterday we wrote about Fun and Games in the Mediterranean, how the government of Cyprus was getting set to “tax” bank accounts from 6% to 10% to get the IMF to bail out their two largest banks. The banks shut off all electronic transfers, today is a bank holiday and the government has extended it through Wednesday. The Cypriot (interesting the last four letters of that little nation) Parliament has not yet codified the “tax” but it’s on the way.

Let’s take a quick look back at the two most interesting quotes from Europe’s political class from yesterday.

European officials said it would not set a precedent.

and

officials were quick to say Cyprus was a unique case.

Today, we’re learning more about this “grand bargain.”

First of all, it appears that the highest tax rate will be 15%. It will have three tiers, 6% on small accounts, 10% on account of rich people and 15% on the wealthy. I’m sure it’s all about fairness.

Now you may think a 15% tax on your bank account is outrageous, but the Cypriots are lucky the Germans didn’t get their way. ZeroHedge reports that they wanted a flat tax of 40%.

Second, let’s talk about yesterday’s highlights. No precedent, Cyprus was a unique case.

The Germans, who are throwing up their hands and screaming “Not our idea!!” are pointing every finger they can find and everybody who’s handy.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble deflected blame on Monday for a European bailout deal for Cyprus that foresees hitting small savers in the Mediterranean island’s banks, saying this solution had not been a German idea and that he was open to it being changed.

They’re obviously lying through clenched teeth.

Not only are the Germans – who provide all the European money for bailouts in the EuroZone – lying about Cyprus, they’ve got their eyes on Italy.

Joerg Kraemer, chief economist of the German Commerzbank, has called for private savings accounts in Italy to be similarly plundered. “A tax rate of 15 percent on financial assets would probably be enough to push the Italian government debt to below the critical level of 100 percent of gross domestic product …”

I find it interesting that the IMF, the European Union and the financial media are calling this raid on private bank accounts a “tax.” Kind of like the way the Obama administration, the Congress and the US major media are now referring to the ObamaCare penalties as a “tax.” In fact, neither are taxes.

Again, from ZeroHedge…

Let’s be quite clear; the European Union has confiscated the private property of the citizens in Cyprus without debate, legislation or Parliamentary agreement …

A bank account is not a bond or a stock or any sort of investment. This seems to be lost on many people. A bank account is the private property of a citizen or a corporation and does not belong to the government or at least that was the supposition up until now in Europe.

Europe is on the edge. For all the talk of “austerity” in Greece, Spain and Italy, those governments haven’t faced the reality that they have to make fundamental changes in their government. There were riots in Greece and Italy over cuts that were the rough equivalent of the sequester here in the US. In other words, no real cuts.

Greece, Italy and Spain will all require additional bailouts from the EU and IMF. France will be the next country to fall off the fiscal cliff. Look for more “taxes” imposed by the unelected financial wizards and then you will see real rioting.

Note that big concern with Italy is that their debt to GDP ratio is over 100%. That is a financial red line from which there is little hope of recovery. Note also that President Obama and his Democrats have driven the US debt to GDP to 107% and the US major media hasn’t said a word.

Pay attention to Europe, the same situation is coming our way and there will be nobody around who can bail out the US.

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Amen!

New Pope: Same-Sex Marriage ‘A Machination of the Father of Lies’

By Breitbart News 13 Mar 2013

New Pope Francis I is an ardent opponent of same-sex marriage, in coincidence with traditional Catholic belief. In 2010, he wrote, “Let’s not be naïve, we’re not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.”

The media remains aghast at the fact that Francis I is a Catholic. They should get used to it.

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A Great Message of Hope

byBradlee Dean Published by https://www.lastresistance.com

Tyrants, You Are Warned!

“The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it.”

– Napoleon Bonaparte

On a daily basis, America’s biblical and constitutional foundation is under hostile attack by atheist and homosexual groups that are being used as a political battering ram in an attempt to usher in communism.

For example, an atheist group filed a brief on Feb. 15 fighting the federal government’s motion in support of a permanent shrine to Jesus in the Flathead National Forest. Outrageous!

(I find that these groups operate on the defense rather than the offense, falling into the very holes they themselves have dug (Psalm 7:15).)

Another example: Outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has defied the Defense of Marriage Act and unilaterally issued a directive stating that the U.S. military will now extend certain benefits to unmarried domestic partners that were formerly reserved for married couples—but will only do so if the domestic partners certify in writing to the Department of Defense that they are of the same sex. Absurd!

The question is, who has been responsible for encouraging the onslaught of attacks against America’s Christian heritage and constitutional republic? You need not look any further than Obama and his vile minions for the answer.

Scripture comes to my aid: “The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted” (Psalm 12:8).

Barack Hussein Obama has been labeled the “Architect of a New America” by Time magazine, and Newsweek featured him as the “First Gay President.” Obama is also known as America’s most biblically hostile president. He has placed himself above We the People time and time again, as if to say we derive our rights from Obama instead of God.

Obama has personally attacked biblical values, the bedrock of our republic, over 50 times since he took office.

Day by day, Obama’s tyrannical measures are beginning to take shape. And what should America expect from one who is at war with God?

It is clear to see the narcissism of this president, but just as obvious is the hypocrisy and lack of duty from the professed church and the modern government (leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod, Mark 8:15). After all, leaders will only do what the people let them get away with.

Theologian John Calvin said, “And ye, O peoples, to whom God gave the liberty  to choose your own magistrates,  see to it that  ye do not forfeit this favor  by electing to the positions of highest honor,  rascals and enemies of God.”

Study the Past

At the entrance of the National Archives in Washington, D.C., you will see a monument stating, “Study the Past.”

Why study the past? Our forefathers suggested this so we might learn from history, so it does not repeat itself.

History has shown time and time again that when a nation departs from God, there will be a tyrant in the midst attempting to move into His position. Then follows devastation and massive loss of life. This is what God warned would happen to nations that refuse keep His commandments (Leviticus 26:21).

God commands us to go back to the old paths “where is the good way” (Jeremiah 6:16), not to dare His justice by taking on the new paths.

Here are ten lessons men have learned from history:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Nothing.

Indeed, America is emulating those who have not learned from history. If you do not learn from the lessons history has to teach, then history will repeat itself.

History also teaches a lesson to tyrants who are at war with God and attempt to usurp His law (Isaiah 14:13-15). What man forgets, God will not.

What did Bonaparte say? Those who oppose God and His Word will be conquered – and that is exactly what history teaches us.

Let me show you the little-known history of those who dared to crucify Christ, kill His apostles and behead John the Baptist. Let me also show you what happened to tyrant Mussolini, French Queen Marie Antoinette, godless Voltaire and the vain Senate of Rome: Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QskhAlKJsBE&feature=player_embedded

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Political, Spiritual

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Religion

Pastor Standing Up Against the Politically Correct

Church Celebrates 2nd Amendment, Kids Make Pop-Tart Guns During Sunday School

By Clash Daily / 13 March 2013 / https://www.clashdaily.com

This past Sunday, a Chicago area church sponsored a Second Amendment Sunday filled with “assault” pop-tarts, “combat” cupcakes and a sheet-cake that featured a chocolate semi-automatic Glock handgun with a quote from Jesus that read “Blessed are the peacemakers.” John Kirkwood, Pastor of Grace-Gospel Fellowship in Bensenville Illinois said the idea came to him after reading a column by Doug Giles entitled “Christian Parents Should Have Their Kids Play With Toy Guns.”

“Giles has a way of exposing the absurdity of the left,” said Kirkwood, “his article was in response to some Pastor from St. Louis and his ‘toy gun’ buyback program. That and the news about 7 year olds getting suspended for threatening pop-tarts and menacing cupcakes led me to stand up for true American values and the Biblical wisdom that underlies them.” The Pastor, referring to two recent cases in which a pop-tart shaped like a handgun and cupcakes topped by plastic soldiers brought on what many felt was over-the-top school discipline, decided to respond in kind.

“We had an ‘assault’ pop-tart challenge in our Jr. Church where each child who wanted to participate chewed a pop-tart into the shape of a gun and the top four would win prizes; in this case a toy gun,” said Kirkwood, “the guns were named for celebrities.”

“Second runner up received a double barrel shot-gun that we nicknamed ‘The Biden,’ and when we presented it we made sure to say what ‘not’ to do with it in a real situation. The prize for runner up was a Navy Seal sniper rifle that we named ‘The Chris Kyle’ in honor of the American Sniper. We felt that it was appropriate,” added Kirkwood, “given the insulting way that this administration ignored the death of this American hero, yet had the crust to send a delegation to the memorial service for Hugo Chavez.”

What was the top award? Kirkwood smiled and noted, “You know, I stood in the toy aisle for a good half an hour to choose just the right one and it turned out to be the biggest Nerf gun that I could find, and the kicker – the box was marked ‘semi-auto’ and ‘high capacity,’ so we named that one ‘the Feinstein.’”

The church had signs, sold t-shirts and even had a chili cook off to honor the day but it wasn’t all about mocking political correctness. “I instructed my teachers to plan their lessons around the Biblical understanding of the value of life, the directives to protect that life and the right to bear arms in doing so. We deconstructed the myth of the pacifist Jesus and connected the dots between the second amendment and the Bible,” Kirkwood remarked.

David Steiger, the church coordinator of Bible Boot Camp, added, “At Grace Gospel Fellowship we take words seriously, especially those of God and the founders. That’s why this past Sunday ‘we the people’ sought to honor ‘in God we trust’ by examining God ordained rights in the light of the Declaration, the Bill of Rights and most importantly the revealed Word of God. We celebrated 2nd Amendment Sunday as an assembly because we know … if Christians don’t do it, if Christians WON’T push back, the single most important experiment in the history of the world will come to an ungodly end.”

What was the general response to this rather unique worship service? “Well one couple did walk out, though I was told it was for another engagement, but overall the response was tremendous and we plan on doing it every year … and next year the prizes will be even better. Our Bible Boot Camp class (High School age) will be challenged to come up with a 5 minute speech on the right to bear arms and the winner will walk away with a Ruger 10/22,” said Kirkwood, “who knows, maybe by then we’ll have sponsors.”

As for the odds on this becoming a national phenomenon among fellow pastors, Kirkwood smirked, “you’re kidding me right? The reason this country is in this condition is not because sinners act like sinners, it’s because Christians don’t act at all. And pastors? They’re notorious cowards … anything that will come between a filled pew and a filled collection plate … the hirelings scamper away. Having said that, I have been contacted by three other pastors each from a different state who want to know more and asked me to send them material.” The pastor went on to say, “There will always be a remnant … I hope to see a new Black Robe regiment rise up and man the wall.”

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Why Men Avoid Church

Why Men Avoid Church Like Lindsay Shuns Sobriety

By Doug Giles / 28 February 2013

Have you ever asked yourself, “Self … why do churches today look more like the lingerie department at Wal-Mart, than a battalion of men poised to plunder the powers of darkness?” Why do men avoid going to church, and what can be done about it?

FOLLOW DOUG ON FACEBOOK. CLICK HERE TO JOIN!Certainly, the lack of men in church is not at all difficult to see. Just open your eyes any Sunday morning and go to church. Then, count the number of ladies in the pews, and the number of men. The result: you’re slapped in the face with the Jose Cuervo-like reality that men are avoiding church.

More and more, we are seeing fewer and fewer mature and responsible, evil-challenging tripods who love leadership, the struggle and aren’t afraid to boldly face an increasingly godless environment with conviction, power and the love of God.

So why do most men avoid church? Here’s the veneer stripped-away answer: going to church for the majority of men is an exercise in unwanted effeminacy. Church, for most men, has not only become irrelevant; it has also become effeminate. Hanging out in church for most extra-Y chromosomes seems unmanly and most men more than anything want to be masculine.

The current lack of strong men within the Church, both in the numeric and leadership sense, has crippled our cathedrals and has helped devastate our nation ethically. The masculine spirit being absent from the pulpit, the pew and subsequently the public square has not only slowed down the forward progress of the Church, it has also weakened our nation’s morality, increased our country’s secularity, and has assisted [owing to our absence] the lascivious Left’s re-definition of life, sex, marriage and law.

So how do we regain the masculine spirit in our houses of worship? How do we gird the Church to press on with that which is holy, just and good? How can we Christians fight the good fight honorably, for freedom, family and the flag? Here are a few things the Church can do:

· Put an end to preaching by cheesy, whiny, quiche eating, preening Nancy Boys … right now! It freaks us meat eaters out. Get it? Hire a pastor who throws off a good John Wayne vibe instead of that Boy George feeling. Know what I mean? And cheer on “Pastor Wayne” to serve up the solid meat of the scripture … the stuff that prods the congregation to biblical maturity rather than prolonging their infancy.

· Ditto regarding the worship/music leader. And make sure your new testosterone laden songmeister is outfitted with weighty worship music instead of the saccharine-laced slush we have had to sing ad nauseam et infinitumfor the last, oh, 100 years. That’s a pretty simple can-do ? Don’t you think?

· Enough with the Precious Moments prints and figurines — okay? How about decking out the sanctuary with serious transcendent art work that stops us in our tracks, rather than ubiquitous prints of fat baby angels who look like they’ve got a good buzz going from too much Mountain Dew and children’s aspirin?

· Lose the Church’s “I’m in therapy for ever” feel. Yes, yes, we’re all a work in progress but the co-dependant, extended womb the Church has wrongfully created has allowed congregants to not get a life because of some difficult doo-doo in their lives. Sure life’s hard, little Sally, and the sooner, we celebrate the struggle the quicker we will draw men back to our houses of worship.

If the Church wants to recover its losses, we’ve got to draw the knuckle draggers back to church. Masculine men are pretty easy. Toss in reason, competition, initiation, struggle, fun and a problem to spiritually throttle, and we?ll be there like stink on a monkey. Blow off, suppress, and spiritually emasculate the environment of these holy testicular necessities and your church, as far as men go, will be more empty than an Oktoberfest in Hialeah.

My point is this: if concerned conservative Christians want to improve our nation biblically, then the Church has got to eliminate its effeminate drift and re-establish a masculine bent. Our times demand strong men: the Church must produce them, not repel them. The Church needs men, who start a ministry, start a business; get involved in politics, the arts and education, and who are not afraid of the secular thugs and pimps who try to keep Christians marginalized in a religious ghetto.

One last word for the young Christian man: Do you want to grow up quickly? Then leave mommy’s familiar, safe haven and venture out into the danger zone. As Leon Podles said, “Go find your Holy Grail; go meet the strange, meet the unfamiliar.” Protect people; lead people; rescue people. Fight inequities and absurdities.

Beware, young man, of parents and pastors who want to mother you. Avoid the secure; Fear over-protection; and happily accept the masculine task of the patriarch, the prophet, the warrior and wild man.

Get to a place, young warrior, where pain is not a big deal, where you embrace resistance. And by your example, you will encourage others to resist self-doubt, squeamishness, indecision and the impulse to surrender and withdraw into the warm, wet womb of Wussville.

– See more at: http://clashdaily.com/2013/02/why-men-avoid-church-like-lindsay-shuns-sobriety/#sthash.Jep9MgsV.dpuf

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Spiritual

Inexplicable

by Dave Jolly of https://www.politicaloutcast.com

Student Told to Change Abstinence T-Shirt Because it Violated School’s Dress Code

Summer Schreiner of Cocoa, Florida attended the Silver Ring Thing Conference, a Christian event that promotes abstinence only. At the conference, she obtained a t-shirt that read:

“Don’t drink and park… accidents cause kids”

Summer believed in what the shirt said and was proud to wear it to school the next day. Everything was going well for her at Clearlake Middle School until just after lunch. On her way back to class, the 8^th grader was stopped by the vice principal who told her to go to the office and change her shirt because it was inappropriate. She was given a t-shirt that read:

“Tomorrow I will dress for success.”

Summer tried to explain that the shirt is not offensive, but that it promotes abstinence, but her words fell on deaf ears. She felt angry and humiliated the rest of the day. When she got home she told her mom, Angela Hogan, who said her daughter had dressed for success. Angela contacted the school and asked them to change their decision or apologize for wrongfully humiliating her daughter.

However, school officials said that they would not change their ruling nor would they offer an apology. Their school dress code forbids ‘clothing which contains sexually explicit, or oriented wording,’ and ‘clothing that infringes on the rights of others.’ According to reports, Michele Irwin, director of communications for the school district said:

“This is not a situation of whether or not the district agrees or disagrees with sexual abstinence among teenagers. It’s about the fact there is sexual innuendo on the shirt, and so we believe it violated our dress code policy.”

A vast majority of public schools, including middle schools are involved with organizations like Planned Parenthood who promote sexual promiscuity. I don’t know if that is the case with Clearlake Middle School, but Summer did say:

“If they teach you about sex in the textbooks and stuff, and that’s in a textbook, why can’t I wear something that is related to it on a t-shirt?”

Had I been Summer, I would have told the vice principal that the shirt saying about dressing for success was offensive to me as it did not insinuate the same set of values for success that I believe in. That’s what I would have done, but then again, I was somewhat of a rebel in school if I didn’t agree with the philosophy or politics being taught.

What you have done? Would you have caved in or stood your ground for your faith?

My own 2 cents.

What does it say about a society that does NOT protect ALL SPEECH? How far have we fallen from our Christian foundations as a nation that the promotion of the message of abortion is more protected than abstinence? Why has the Church become so lukewarm and lost saltiness, that it is no longer the center of influence of our society?

Salt’s primary use is for the preservation of meat. Salt slows the process of PUTREFACTION. When the Church went to sleep and we stopped fighting the good fight, our society started to putrefy. The stench of our rotting society is a testimony against the Church.

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Anybody Else Disturbed By This Report?

posted on February 19, 2013 by Francis Marion

Top Medical School Hosts Porn Panel In Campus Chapel

Depending on which source you use, Washington University Medical School in St. Louis, Missouri, is ranked anywhere from number six to number four of the top medical schools in the nation. The medical school is part of Washington University whose reputation for excellence is world renown.

That’s why I found this report so disturbing.

Washington University recently hosted ‘A Night With the Stars: Life, Love, and Sex in the Workplace.’ The panel of stars was composed of famed porn stars James Deen, Lance Hart and Tori Black. Each of the panelists have appeared in numerous, perhaps hundreds of porn videos and movies.

The event, part of the program at the school referred to as Sex Week, was held in the main chapel on campus. The three porn stars talked about careers in the porn industry while sitting in what once was a house of God.

Even more troubling was that the $10,350 cost of the event was paid for with mandatory student fees. Additionally, it was sanctioned by campus administration. Vice President of the Student Health Advisory Committee, Megan Lane commented about the porn panel event saying:

“The administration is very supportive of any choice the students make when it comes to funding.”

It’s a sad commentary on such a prestigious institution as Washington University that it supports a program that endorses careers in the porn industry. Worse yet is that they allowed such a sinful event to take place in the main campus chapel. It’s also an indication of the decadence that has infected America’s college campuses and society in general.

Ancient Rome fell from greatness not long after it embraced much of the same decadence that we see in America today. Is our fate soon to be that of ancient Rome?

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Spiritual

Blood of Patriots

“No amount of riches can atone for poverty of character.”

Author Unknown

Matt 5:33-37: 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (NIV)

Matt 5:33-37: (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.) “And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. 34 You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. 37 Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.”

We are living in a time where “character” seems to be on life support. The standards I grew up on have long since seen their death in our society. Social graces I was raised with have been trampled to death by a single generation, and I am ashamed, and proud, to admit that I am a part of that generation – The Baby Boomers.

I am proud of all the men and women who came through that time governed by the Christian world view, shaped by the involved upbringing of The Great Generation, well groomed in the Social graces that showed respect for everyone, and actually said things like;

“Yes Sir”,
“No Sir”,
“Pardon Me”,
“I’m sorry”,
“I was wrong”,
“Please”,
“Thank You”
Actually cared about what someone else has to say.

Most of our generation is these kinds of people. We served in Viet Nam; we served in the Peace Corp and are members of American Society that actually cares about doing what is right.

I am greatly ashamed of the minority of our generation who became the “Hippies” and extreme Left Wing activist demonstrating at home while the Patriots of our generation where fighting and dying in Viet Nam. These are the people who were indoctrinated by the Far Left, Socialist, and Communist supporting professors of colleges like Berkley. Adding to the shame of their conduct, they have become Extreme Left State and Federal politicians who are responsible for the destruction of our public schools, the rise to tyrannical power of the Unions, the creation of laws that are diametrically opposed to all the our Founders stood for, fought for and died for.

These extreme Left Hippies;

Are the ones that deliberately lied to the Supreme Court on Roe verses Wade to get an extreme Liberal Court to create law from the bench so that over 55 million American citizens could be legally slaughtered in the womb.
They are the ones that want to disarm Americans so that tyranny can rise to;
- Oppress our citizens
- Destroy the Constitution and create a Western European style Socialistic government
- Control our free market place and elevate their Union accomplices to greater oppressive power
- Oppress Evangelical Christians limiting what is preached, taught and lived
- They are the ones who produced the “Self-Appointed” Professional “Pot Stirrers” whose only job is to;
  - make their constituents focus on historical wrongs, making them believe that such hatred still exists today
  - Keep them convinced that the Far Left are the only ones that care about them and that Conservatives want to make them slaves again.
  - Keep them poor so that they are dependent on the Left for their existence.
  - They have created great hatred for those that work hard and earn their living, or for anyone who has more than they do, and especially those who have amassed wealth through building a business and employ others.
  - These Pot Stirrers are directly responsible for creating the Class Warfare that is building to fever pitch.
  - These people are responsible for our “Touchy-Feely” social atmosphere so that anything can offend anyone at any moment and most people have all the feelings on their “sleeve”. Being offended has become a standard way of opposing anyone that does not agree with you.
  - These Hippies are also the ones that have created the Homosexual Political Army whose design is to force homosexuality down our throats forcing all of America to accept a chosen lifestyle as normal and acceptable.
  - They are also responsible for establishing that Political atmosphere that says, “If you don’t agree with me, than you are;
    - a racist,
    - homophobe,
    - hater,
    - social outcast who wants everyone to drink dirty water,
    - have women go into back alleys to have abortions using a coal hanger,
    - starve poor children,
    - take Social Security away from Seniors,
    - reintroduce Slavery,
    - pollute our air,
    - make the rich richer.

The States, like California, are on the brink of bankruptcy, because of these Hippies. Everything that is wrong about our Federal Government is because of these Hippies and their ideology. They are the ones that are working hard to disarm Americans. They stand for oppression, massive governmental control of American citizens and total control of the marketplace. They believe in a One World Government and control. Can you say “Antichrist”?

Sadly, the greater portion of my “Baby Boomer” generation has gone to sleep, or have become apathetic and uninvolved. Making matters worse are my fellow Evangelical Christians who have stopped being “Salt and Light” in our putrefying and darkening society. Therefore, evil in all of its forms are running amuck and growing in power in ever-increasing proportions. Only a genuine Holy Spirit Revival wakening the church to its responsibility to be the influence in our society and government that the Lord Jesus Christ designed His church to be will change the course of America.

Can I count on your commitment?

Finally, a quote from Thomas Jefferson;

“God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. …
And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure.”

by:	Thomas Jefferson: (1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President
Source:	: November 13, 1787, letter to William S. Smith, quoted in Padover’s Jefferson On Democracy, ed., 1939 http://books.google.com/books?id=imMmIlv1G7MC&pg=PA268&q=&f=false#v=onepage&q=&f=false

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Political, Spiritual

Muslim Persecution of Christians Here in America. Who’s Next?

posted 8 hours ago byFrancis Marion

Egyptian Christians Shot and Beheaded By Egyptian Muslim Here In US

Ever since the extremist organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, took control of Egypt, the country’s Christians have been beaten, robbed, raped, tortured, burned and murdered. Incidentally, President Barack Obama continues to bow to Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi and give him billions of dollars along with US fighter jets.

Morsi has publicly stated that everyone in Egypt will either convert to Islam, pay an exorbitant tax for being a non-Muslim or will leave the country. It seems paying the tax is not an option for the nation’s Coptic Christians. They are being driven out of the country or killed.

Now one has to wonder if that same radicalism is also being played out here in the US.

It all started with Hany Tawadros, 25 and Amgad Konds, 27, immigrating to the US from their home in Egypt. The two men are Coptic Christians who came to the US, got jobs and started sending money back home to their families. Besides being friends and roommates, they worshipped at the same Coptic Christian Church in Jersey City, New Jersey.

For reasons as yet unknown, the two men were in their car with an acquaintance, Yusuf Ibrahim, a 27 year old Muslim. According to police, Ibrahim shot the two Christians in the chest, killing them both. Then he drove their bodies to rural area near Buena Vista Township. There he severed the heads and hands of the two men and buried them in separate shallow graves on a property belonging to a relative.

Ibrahim later drove the car to Philadelphia and was in the process of trying to set it on fire when police interrupted him. He fled in another vehicle, with the police hot on his trail, but he managed to elude them and escape.

In the meantime, someone reported something suspicious at the house in Buena Vista Township. Police responded with cadaver dogs who located the shallow graves where they found the bodies, heads and hands, all in separate graves.

Police from several jurisdictions worked together over the weekend to piece all of the evidence together. On Sunday, they found Ibrahim at an apartment in Bayonne, where he was arrested. He is currently in jail facing two murder charges along with two charges of desecrating a corpse.

I have to ask why no one is offering any reason for the murder and mutilation of two Egyptian Coptic Christians by an Egyptian Muslim? So do they honestly not know the reason behind the killings or is the liberal media hiding the fact that the Obama endorsed persecution of Egypt’s Christians has now moved to our own shores? Is it just coincidence that a member of one religion, which has vowed to destroy the other religion took the lives of two men from that other religion? If it is a case of religious persecution, will the American people ever hear the true story or will our Muslim president cover it up like he did the facts surrounding the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School?

These are all questions that need to be asked, yet I doubt if we’ll ever know the real story. All we know for now is that an Egyptian Muslim murdered and then hacked the bodies of two Egyptian Coptic Christians. Do we really need to say anymore?

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More Christian Persecution Within the United States

posted on February 15, 2013 by Dave Jolly

USA Trying to Deport Christian Homeschooling Family Knowing They Face Persecution

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike are Christians and the parents of six children. When their kids attended the German public schools, they were bullied and harassed because of being Christians. The parents began looking into the schools and what their kids were being taught. They found a number of objectionable and inappropriate things in the textbooks that they didn’t want their kids learning.

They strongly believed that their children would receive a better education grounded in biblical principles by being schooled at home rather than having their children indoctrinated by the German schools. Uwe said:

“We knew that homeschooling would not be an easy journey.”

However, the German government had made homeschooling illegal and actively pursued Christian families who tried to homeschool their children. In 2008, the Romeike family was ripped apart when government officials stepped in and forcibly removed the kids from the home. The parents were fined thousands of euros.

Their only hope was to seek political asylum in a country that allowed Christians to homeschool, so they applied to the US for asylum. A US immigration judge ruled in 2010 that the family did face persecution from the German government and granted the Romeike family political asylum. The family moved and settled in Tennessee.

Remember at last month when President Obama issued his Religious Freedom Day proclamation? He said:

“Today, we also remember that religious liberty is not just an American right; it is a universal human right to be protected here at home and across the globe. This freedom is an essential part of human dignity, and without it our world cannot know lasting peace.”

“As we observe Religious Freedom Day, let us remember the legacy of faith and independence we have inherited, and let us honor it by forever upholding our right to exercise our beliefs free from prejudice or persecution…”

Here’s how he lives up to his statement.

US Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Homeland Security are fighting the political asylum status. Holder claims that the family’s fundamental rights have not been violated by Germany’s law forbidding families from homeschooling. They have asked the courts to withdraw the family’s political asylum and have them deported back to Germany.

The Home School legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is representing the Romeikes family and fighting to have them stay in the US. They say that:

“The U.S. law of asylum allows a refugee to stay in the United States permanently if he can show that he is being persecuted for one of several specific reasons. Among these are persecution for religious reasons and persecution of a ‘particular social group.’”

“In most asylum cases, there is some guesswork necessary to figure out the government’s true motive—but not in this case. The Supreme Court of Germany declared that the purpose of the German ban on homeschooling was to ‘counteract the development of religious and philosophically motivated parallel societies.’”

“This sounds elegant, perhaps, but at its core it is a frightening concept. This means that the German government wants to prohibit people who think differently from the government (on religious or philosophical grounds) from growing and developing into a force in society.”

“The Romeikes’ case is before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The case for the government is officially in the name of the Attorney General of the United States. The case is called Romeike v. Holder. Thus, the brief filed by the U.S. Department of Justice is filed on behalf of the attorney general himself—although we can be reasonably certain he has not personally read it. Nonetheless, it is a statement of the position of our government at a very high level.”

“We argued that Germany is a party to many human rights treaties that contain specific provisions that protect the right of parents to provide an education that is different from the government schools. Parents have the explicit right to give their children an education according to their own philosophy.”

“While the United States government argued many things in their brief, there are three specific arguments that you should know about.”

“First, they argued that there was no violation of anyone’s protected rights in a law that entirely bans homeschooling. There would only be a problem if Germany banned homeschooling for some but permitted it for others.”

“A second argument is revealing. The U.S. government contended that the Romeikes’ case failed to show that there was any discrimination based on religion because, among other reasons, the Romeikes did not prove that all homeschoolers were religious, and that not all Christians believed they had to homeschool.”

“This argument demonstrates another form of dangerous “group think” by our own government. The central problem here is that the U.S. government does not understand that religious freedom is an individual right. One need not be a part of any church or other religious group to be able to make a religious freedom claim. Specifically, one doesn’t have to follow the dictates of a church to claim religious freedom—one should be able to follow the dictates of God Himself.”

“One final argument from Romeikes deserves our attention. One of the grounds for asylum is if persecution is aimed at a “particular social group.” The definition of a “particular social group” requires a showing of an “immutable” characteristic that cannot change or should not be required to be changed. We contend that German homeschoolers are a particular social group who are being persecuted by their government.”

If they are returned to Germany, the couple could be facing more large fines, jail time and the loss of their children. If this is not a violation of the family’s fundamental rights, then I don’t know what is. Perhaps more importantly to all homeschoolers in America is that if Holder wins this case, there is the possibility that it could serve as a legal precedent for Obama’s efforts to outlaw homeschooling here in the US.

What gets me really hot under the collar on this case is that Holder and the DHS are allowing nearly a million illegal aliens to remain in the US, still illegally, while trying to deport a family who only wants to homeschool their children. When Obama penned that proclamation last month, he was lying out both sides of his mouth and had no intention of doing anything for any Christian. He’ll leap tall buildings to defend the rights of Muslim and gays, but he’ll turn his back and walk away from Christians. The hypocrisy of the Obama administration is enough to make me want to vomit.

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Submission to tyrants is rebellion to God.

posted on February 8, 2013 by Gordan Runyan

Submission to Tyrants is Rebellion to God

Thomas Jefferson, along with some others of the Founders, is credited with saying, “Resistance to Tyrants is obedience to God.” (It may have been an oft-repeated motto, much like our modern “They can have my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.”)

Jefferson’s statement is Biblically correct. I’ve expended a lot of time and effort to prove that, as have others before me. I want to approach it from a different angle today.

Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. That’s true as stated, but it is also true in its opposite, parallel form, like this:

Submission to tyrants is rebellion to God.

It’s not rocket science, as they say, but there is enough bad teaching out there that we really do need to say it plainly. If resistance is obedience, then submission is wicked. In fact, I propose this: To submit to a tyrant as if he is a lawful ruler is anti-Christian.

Historically speaking, there is no honorable precedent among the great, Christian heroes for failing to oppose a tyrant. And, at a fundamental level, to cower before a tyrant is to violate the consistent Biblical model, from cover to cover, from Genesis to the maps. Today, I want to show you that failure to resist tyranny represents a galling lack of Christian love. Submission to tyrants is un-Christlike, precisely because it is unloving.

How so? Well, the Bible tells us that we are supposed to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31, for instance.) It also gives us the duty of coming to the defense of those who are unjustly oppressed (as in Isaiah 1:17.) So, if a government in rebellion toward God is oppressing your neighbors, and you refuse to stand up for them or to oppose that tyranny in any way, does that sound like obedience or disobedience to you?

Go ahead. You can say it out loud. We all know the answer anyway.

Deitrich Bonhoeffer, the WW2 era preacher and martyr, who did, in fact, seal his testimony with his own blood, put it succinctly in a few famous lines. He wrote:

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.

Bonhoeffer’s colleague was a pastor named Neimoller, who had a rather more passive, let’s-all-get-along view toward their particular tyrant. He wound up paying for it. He penned the famous lines:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Some in our day would tell us that texts like Romans 13:1-7 teach us that we should obey as far as we can, and only resist when the government commands us to sin. Let’s be clear: That is a fair statement of our duties toward lawful government. But when we use that as a thumb-rule for action in the face of tyranny, it becomes the cloak of cowardice. It becomes Neimoller’s failed strategy of silence. A modern patriot, for whom I have a great fondness, admittedly, put it this way:

There is something conveniently self-centered about this proposed strategy. “Wait to resist until I personally am ordered to sin.” While you wait for the moment the government tells you to renounce Christ, your neighbors and fellow citizens are being trampled by the unrestrained, unjust use of power.

Today, as I write this, I read the report of a farmer who began serving a 30 day jail sentence for the crime of collecting rainwater that had fallen on his own land. And something close to 3,000 babies will be dismembered in the womb or burned to death in a salt solution today, with the government’s sanction and the assistance of taxpayer money. As the Scripture says, “Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.” (Proverbs 28:15) But, hey, as long as you personally haven’t yet been commanded to blaspheme God, I guess we can all breathe easy.

As William Wilberforce said, “A private faith that does not act in the face of oppression is no faith at all.” [Source]

In another place, the Bible says this: “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8)

We rightly see that as having something to do with monetarily providing for our family. Surely, it does include that. But what about providing other basic necessities of life, besides food and shelter, for what the founding fathers called “our posterity?” Specifically, what about the necessity of liberty? I know that sounds corny in our day, because nobody cherishes their freedom like the founders did.

Christian men in America routinely plop onto their couches in front of horrible programming on television, or worse, with a video game console, and ignore the steady encroachment of tyranny in their land. As long as they personally are comfortable, and can play their stupid, emasculating first-person shooters for hours on end, well, life is good and what else could matter? And their vile laziness and quest for personal peace winds up passing on to their own children a world in which the flame of freedom grows inexorably colder. How is that providing for your household? Somebody tell me.

How can that be loving? How can it be Christian? It can’t be. It’s time we remembered that courage is a Christian virtue, just as surely as piety is; and, conversely, that the Bible condemns cowards to be exiled from God’s city. (Revelation 21:7-9)

Category:

Patriotic, Political, Spiritual

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Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God?

By Bradlee Dean / 2 February 2013 / 26 Comments

I went at your bidding, and passed along their thoroughfares of trade. I ascended their mountains and went down their valleys. I visited their manufactories, their commercial markets, and emporiums of trade. I entered their judicial courts and legislative halls. But I sought everywhere in vain for the secret of their success, until I entered the church. It was there, as I listened to the soul-equalizing and soul-elevating principles of the Gospel of Christ, as they fell from Sabbath to Sabbath upon the masses of the people, that I learned why America was great and free, and why France was a slave.

– Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian reporting to the French Senate, 1800s

A few years before Dr. D. James Kennedy passed away, I spent an afternoon with him at his church in Florida. Dr. Kennedy was the founder of world-renown Coral Ridge Ministries, known for stating on national television regarding abortion, “Four thousand die daily and 300,000 pulpits are silent.”

On one occasion, Dr. Kennedy told me that while he was holding a large convention at his church, the homosexual lobby was protesting him.

A pastor attending the convention was shocked and asked, “Why is your church being protested?”

D. James Kennedy corrected this pastor with a relevant question: “You mean, your church doesn’t get protested?”

Friends, protestant has meaning: protest – ant.

America is looking for the Christ 78 percent of Americans claim they serve.

Agree or disagree with him, Rev. Charles Finney stated:

“Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours in a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it.”

How deprived is the understanding of the modern church when it comes to its own history!

Nowadays, effeminate hirelings have infiltrated the pulpits – pulpits they have no business occupying.

By the looks of them, I can see why the enemies of America are so encouraged. Instead of preaching against sin (transgression of God’s Law – 1 John 3:4), these hirelings accept sin, attempting to cover it with a false grace – and in so doing, teach their congregants to war against a just and holy God (Micah 3:5).

What a contrast to the preachers who thundered from America’s pulpits before, during and after the Revolutionary War, causing the colonists to stand up in the face of tyranny. The British labeled them as the much-feared “Black Robed Regiment.” The British were not the only ones who recognized them as the bulwarks of America’s Independence:

“Mighty men they were, of iron nerve and strong hand and unblanched cheek and heart of flame. God needed not reeds shaken by the wind, not men clothed in soft raiment [Matthew 11:7-8], but heroes of hardihood and lofty courage. … And such were the sons of the mighty who responded to the Divine call.”

– Bishop Charles Galloway, 1898

“The ministers of the Revolution were, like their Puritan predecessors, bold and fearless in the cause of their country. No class of men contributed more to carry forward the Revolution and to achieve our independence than did the ministers. … [B]y their prayers, patriotic sermons, and services [they] rendered the highest assistance to the civil government, the army, and the country.”

– Historian B. F. Morris, 1864

“The Constitutional Convention and the written Constitution were the children of the pulpit.” – Historian Alice Baldwin, 1918

Today the professed church is attempting to flee from its responsibility to be part of the political process when in fact God is the one who gave government (Exodus 18:21). The church is to overcome evil with good. And as our forefathers rightly stated, “Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.”

Let’s look at the primitive church’s actions through Scripture so we can reform and align ourselves with God’s original intent for the church. And surprise, surprise – guess who they were standing against?

Category:

Political, Spiritual

Perspectives; Thoughts; Comments; Opinions; Discussions

Archive for the ‘Spiritual’ Category

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public meetings.

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