Bible Illiteracy: We Should Be Ashamed!

   

     How many of the Ten Commandments can you name?  How many tribes made up the nation of Israel?  Who was the Patriarch who fathered the twelve tribes?  If you can answer these questions ... or any one of them ... then you are in the minority of Americans who call themselves Christians.  And you're, for darned sure, a freak of nature to those in the secular population.
     In my opinion, the sad state of Bible illiteracy in our country, has contributed to the lack of moral absolutes, and a society that is without (or not concerned with) any moral standards at all.  Furthermore, we have raised generations with no understanding of what the Bible teaches, or no interest in identifying right from wrong... it's all relevant!
     Albert Mohler, who is the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says it way better than I can express it.  While America’s evangelical Christians are rightly concerned about the secular worldview’s rejection of biblical Christianity, we ought to give some urgent attention to a problem much closer to home – biblical illiteracy in the church. This scandalous problem is our own, and it’s up to us to fix it.
     Researchers George Gallup and Jim Castelli put the problem squarely: 'Americans revere the Bible – but, by and large, they don’t read it. And because they don’t read it, they have become a nation of biblical illiterates.'  How bad is it? Researchers tell us that it’s worse than most could imagine.
     Fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels. Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples. According to data from the Barna Research Group, 60 percent of Americans can’t name even five of the Ten Commandments. 'No wonder people break the Ten Commandments all the time. They don’t know what they are,' said George Barna, president of the firm.
     How many of you can identify with these situations in your churches:  Jesus's compassion for His creation has been interpreted as tolerance for everything from abortion to homosexuality, while ignoring His specific commandments against both.  In fact, Albert Mohler addresses this very topic.  He says, "How can a generation be biblically shaped in its understanding of human sexuality when it believes Sodom and Gomorrah to be a married couple? No wonder Christians show a growing tendency to compromise on the issue of homosexuality."
     And how many attendees are in the Bible study classes at your church?  Or is the congregation comfortable with simply receiving a verse or two during the 20-minute sermon section of the choreographed worship service?  The sad thing is that oftentimes those verses are taken out of context.  How many times have you heard "Pride goes before the fall" in a sermon?  But there is much more to God's proffered wisdom than this abbreviated version.  Scripture actually reads, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."  See how much deeper is the knowledge that God wants us to glean?  He wants us to know that Pride is a spiritual problem; a stronghold of the devil that infects our spirits and can lead to destruction and a fall from grace.
     And how many Youth ministries are asked to fix problems, provide entertainment, and keep kids busy?  How many local-church youth programs actually produce substantial Bible knowledge in young people?  Or are Vacation Bible School and Friday night gatherings centered around pizza parties, movies, and games?
     How can we be faithful disciples and spread the Master's message when we don't know what's in the instruction manual?  Frankly, I do not believe that we are to depend on the Pastor to dispense the Word (or to interpret it for you).  It's always been about a one-on-one communication and a personal encounter with our God.  That happens best when we are immersed in His Word.
     I was blown away by the following statement from Dr. Mohler: We will not believe more than we know, and we will not live higher than our beliefs.  Please read that again!  He goes on to say, "The many fronts of Christian compromise in this generation can be directly traced to biblical illiteracy in the pews and the absence of biblical preaching and teaching in our homes and churches.  This generation must get deadly serious about the problem of biblical illiteracy, or a frighteningly large number of Americans – Christians included – will go on thinking that Sodom and Gomorrah lived happily ever after."
     So, what are we going to do about it?  Are we devoting as much of our time to reading and studying the Bible as we are engaging with Facebook, watching TV and movies, or being buried in our phones?  How about even a portion of that time?  And I'm talking to all those who call themselves Christians!  Because if you are lacking in this area, do you even know enough to be a faithful disciple?  It is time to get back to seeking the wisdom and the spiritual connections to our Bibles -- in our homes, our churches, our communities, and our nation.  Repent and ask, in Jesus's Name, for an increased desire and hunger for the Word.  The time is critical!

2 Timothy 3:16-17    "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."

Our Complicity With Evil

     I often work alongside my husband in his studio, taking care of our business needs and tying up loose ends that come with being self-employed.  He has the luxury of being able to listen to podcasts while he works, and I am amazed at the God-fearing men and women who commit their time and talent to bringing new revelations from our Lord to "those who have ears to hear".
     Just the other day I heard Russ Dizdar of SHATTER THE DARKNESS.net referring to a popular radio host and author of a few years back, Stan Monteith.  A retired orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Monteith was kind of a precursor to those of us who speak out against the popular consensus of the day.  Many of the issues that Monteith addressed had to do with globalization and the New World Order.  He was also highly active in warning people about the dangers of fluoride.
     But the significance of Dizdar's mention of Monteith had to do with a statement that the late radio host quoted from an unknown author ... "We become accomplices to those evils we fail to expose."  Now, normally, I am usually in my own little world as I work in the studio, and the podcasts that my husband listens to are often background noise; I drift in and out of awareness of what is being said.  But I heard that quote loud and clear, and it was like the Holy Spirit used a loud speaker to shout it into my brain ...  "We become accomplices to those evils we fail to expose."
     My spirit was struck as if I had been physically knocked down.  It was all so clear.  We have been accomplices in all the sins of our culture and society!  How many of us inherently know that human trafficking is rampant in our country?  How many times have we watched the nightly news (especially here in Texas and the other border states) and viewed reports of the young women and children who are smuggled into this country to be unwilling participants in the sex trade?  We drive along our freeways and see the neon signs for sleazy strip clubs, but we look away, or we avoid thinking about who is forced to work there, and who is supporting such immoral behavior.

     We watch the suggestive advertising on TV which uses young girls and boys to sell merchandise, and we ignore the fact that there is an ugly underbelly that sells them to the highest bidder, or that there are tens of thousands (or more) of children who are exploited by child pornography rings.
     We turn our heads whenever our leaders are involved in sex scandals, unscrupulous business dealings, or cover-ups of illegal activities.  Our Christian brethren are forced out of business because they stand for Biblical principals.  Our military veterans are refused benefits or care because of misappropriation of funds or downright neglect.  We see the bruises and silent screams of the abused, yet we turn a blind eye and don't want to get involved.  Votes come before our legislatures to stop the funding of abortion factories, and we sit quietly on the sidelines, hoping they will do the right thing.  We remain tight-lipped when we know that our neighbors are cheating on their spouses ... that is their business.  We send our kids off to college with permission to take birth control, and we hope for the best.  And when they come home spouting anti-God rhetoric, we have no answers for them.  It just all seems so overwhelming ... and need I say more?
     But why do we stay quiet?  Most likely because we feel that nothing we do will change anything.  Or it will just end up in an argument, and that gets you nowhere.  But can we see that by doing nothing ... by saying nothing ... and by taking no action, that we are actually accomplices in allowing these sins to continue?  If we fail to expose them; if we fail to shine His Light into the Darkness, then whose side are we on?  Who are we allied with?  I guess we really do need to ask the question, "Will it make any difference"?  At the stage that the world is in now, and with the power that the Prince of this world now enjoys, the answer is "Maybe not."
      But I recognize this ... I do not want to stand before my Lord and tell Him I was aware of all this and I never asked, in His Name, for His power to come against this evil; or that I never spoke up for someone, in His Name; or I never stood in defiance against the darkness of this world.  If we refuse to condemn Evil, then by our very silence, we are accepting and allowing sinful behavior to continue.  And one day we will be held accountable for our complicity.  No more excuses ....

Habakkuk 1:13   "You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?"
   

Revelation 6:10

They cried in a loud voice, "O [Sovereign] Lord, holy and true, how long now before You will sit in judgment and avenge our blood upon those who dwell on the earth?"

     If we are any kind of serious student of the Bible, this verse will pierce our hearts.  It is a picture of the martyrs for Christ crying out for His righteous indignation over their physical deaths at the hands of God-haters.  Notice, I said physical deaths, because the persecutors of God's own can only kill the body, and after that, there is no more that they can do; our spirits live.  

   And I believe that the spirits of these holy martyrs now exist very near to Christ in Heaven and are mentioned in various translations as being "at the foot of the altar" or "under the altar".  Now, I have read various commentaries that attempt to explain that this is symbolic because there is no way that there could be an altar big enough to accommodate all the Christian martyrs throughout time.  But that strikes me as limiting God and His creation of Heaven.  Don't you think He can make it as big as He wants? 

     I also believe that God's Temple on earth is an exact replica of His Temple that is in Heaven, and the Throne Room may be the Holy of Holies in the earthly model.  Granted, I can't prove any of that, and to be honest, it doesn't really matter to me because the point of this Scripture is not to determine what or where the altar is, but to recognize, first, the reason that these martyrs suffered.  It was because they believed the Word of God, and they declared the truth of it, and they boldly confessed their faith by holding fast to it without wavering, even though they died for it.

     The second point of this verse is that these martyrs expect Christ to avenge their deaths.  They expect Jesus to impart a righteous response to their persecution for the honor of God and Himself; for the Gospel Message that they were willing to die for; and for the holy terror and persuasion of others that this will be a part of their experience as Evil continues to march towards the final battle.  

     Also, notice that they do not ask God and Jesus to give them the means to avenge themselves.  They know that God will take a just revenge upon the sin of persecution, and they leave it to Him to execute.  They also know, as Matthew Henry explains so well, "There is a number of Christians, known to God, who are appointed as sheep for the slaughter, set apart to be God’s witnesses.  As the measure of the sin of persecutors is filling up, so is the number of the persecuted martyred servants of Christ. When the number of martyrs is fulfilled, God will take a just and glorious revenge upon their cruel persecutors; he will bring tribulation to those who have spilled the blood of martyrs.  

     Down through the centuries, Christians have pictured those martyred spirits as coming from their Age.  And so, we, too, can imagine the spirits of the men, women, and children who are dying for Christ in the Middle East; imagine them crying out from the altar at the feet of Jesus.  And there are martyrs who will give their lives from our land, and we must prepare ourselves to be as convicted and steadfast as those faithful who have preceded us.

     Sadly, there are too many Christians in America who think that Revelation 6:10 could never apply to them.  They only see Jesus as the gentle Lamb.  They cannot conceive Him as being angry or that the wrath of the Lamb will be exceedingly dreadful.  They cannot imagine that it might be their blood that cries out for vengeance.  Are we getting close to that final number of martyrs?  It sure feels like there is an acceleration, doesn't it?  This much I know ... we have had our season of Grace, and the Bible tells us that God will have His day of righteous wrath.  When that day comes, the most evil sinners will not be able to stand before Him.  But the question we all need to ask ourselves is this: Am I ready to stand for Him?

It's Time For A Bit of Good News....

   I don't have to tell you that there is negative news everywhere we turn.  Those of us who discern the Scriptural implications know where this is all leading, and it may sometimes be difficult to keep our Hope before us.  So, I thought you might like to hear a couple of stories that will encourage our faith and trust in the future...
     First, there is the story of Justin Anderson, an Iraq War veteran from Omaha, Nebraska.  Confined to a wheelchair after having his leg amputated and a bout with brain cancer, Anderson may have ended his career in the military, but he is not done serving his fellow citizens.

     Last winter, Anderson converted his off-road wheelchair into a one-man snow plow. He added a blade to the front and used the chair’s on-the-fly tilt as a lever to adjust the blade as he pushed snow.  "I don’t want kids or parents having to go through the snow and possibly trip or hurt themselves," he said.  "It’s very gratifying. It’s nice to know you’re appreciated. But even if I didn’t get any response from anyone, or nobody said ‘thank you,’ I’d still do it."
     Anderson gives credit to the city of Omaha for supporting him through his adversities, and claims that this is a way for him to "give back".  That is the attitude of so many veterans; they have already given far beyond what we could ever do to pay them back. And yet, they still want to give more.  Mr. Anderson truly has a servant's heart, and his labor for his fellow man will not be in vain.
     Then there is the Utah police offer, who with fellow officers answered the call of a woman calling out for help, and found a car upside down in a flowing river.  Each of the four officers who responded each verified that it looked as if there were two adult people in the car, and they could clearly hear the voice of an adult woman.
     They rushed through the running river, toward the overturned car, and Officer Tyler Beddoes explained that there was absolutely no question in his mind at the time that there was somebody in the car calling out for help.  “It was clear as day. There was no one else around,” he said, describing it as a “calming, clear voice ... It came from the car.”

     But after the four officers worked together to turn the car over, they realized something startling: 25-year-old Lynn Groesbeck was the only adult in the car, and she had likely died on impact 14 hours earlier; in the back seat, they discovered an 18-month-old baby named Lily, who was unconscious, but still alive at the time; Lily survived and is now doing very well, Beddoes said.
     So who was the second adult in that front seat?  Could it have been an angel of mercy attending to Lynn?  Was it the voice of the angel that alerted the officers to the car, and the need of help for baby Lily?
     Beddoes is not sure who it was; only that he and his fellow officers all heard the distinct voice.  But it couldn't have come at a better time.  Beddoes also explained that he had been facing a crisis of faith leading up to the rescue after being involved in an investigation of a quadruple homicide in which a father killed his kids, his wife and his mother-in-law — a case that he said “shook” his belief in God to its core.
     “It really tested my faith … [I was] starting to doubt why would God let this happen,” he recalled, saying that he knows that he shouldn’t have felt that way, but was struggling at the time.  ”When this river rescue … came, my faith was not good. I was kind of in the dumps on a spiritual level.”  But he added ... "I don't have that doubt any more."
     The final story that I want to share may have a tragic ending, but it is evidence of the goodness in man that evil cannot destroy.  On Wednesday, 21 people were killed at a Pakistani University by the Taliban.  Hamid Husain, 32, was a chemistry teacher at the university, and was known as "The Protector" to his students, because he always carried a pistol with him.
     On Wednesday, Husain ordered his students to remain inside the classroom as terrorists invaded the school near the city of Peshawar, shooting students and faculty alike.  During the rampage, Husain, a father of two children, opened fired on the attackers, affording his students time to flee before he was shot down by Taliban assailants.

     One of his students said that Husain "would always help the students, and he was the one who knew all their secrets because they would share all their problems with him."  And they all knew that he faithfully carried his 9mm pistol each day, and he showed that he wasn't afraid to use it to protect his kids.  Teachers in northwest Pakistan were permitted to carry firearms in the classroom after Taliban militants slaughtered more than 150 people, the majority of them children, at a school in Peshawar in 2014. That attack on the army-run school was the deadliest in Pakistani history.
     And so, terror and evil attacked the Peshawar community again.  And one man had the courage to stand up to them and sacrifice his life to try to save the lives of those in his care.  Compassion in the face of wickedness; how difficult that is to imagine.
     But I hope that each of these stories gives you a sense of Hope and the presence of a merciful and gracious God.  We are all made in His image, whether we are American or Pakistani.  It is our spirit that identifies with His Spirit, no matter if we have faith or not.  And sometimes our actions are not for our benefit, but for the benefit of others ... to introduce Him to someone who desperately needs Him; or to increase the faith of one who is doubting.  God can use any one person to reveal Himself to a dying world.  And all it takes is a glimpse of Him to ignite a spark that will grow into a holy fire. Meditate upon these individuals and see the Lord in each instance of these stories of service, miracles, and sacrifice.  The world may be coming undone, but we have much to look forward to!

Philippians 2:3-5    "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus"

The World Economy & The End Times

     I don't have to tell you that the global economy is in a world of hurt.  The news cycles are full of stories of the woes of Wall Street, the devaluation of the Chinese Yuan, and the fears of further oil glut in the Middle East.  They are all intertwined to paint a very bleak economic forecast for the Seven Billion+ inhabitants of the planet.  And I can't help but see it in terms of my Biblical worldview, and End Times prophecies.  But how do the particulars of today's world economy play into the predictions that the Bible makes about Christ's return?
     The Bible verse that speaks most clearly to me is Revelation 6:6 ... And I heard what seemed to be a voice from the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius [a whole day’s wages], and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm the oil and the wine!  What this tells me is that at a time that Jesus calls The Great Tribulation, there will be great financial struggle and famine among the world's poor, while at the same time, there will those who enjoy great wealth.  Do we not see the rich getting richer, while more and more of the middle class are falling into poverty; that the chasm between rich and poor is getting wider and deeper?
     If, like myself, you are a believer that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God (revelation of Jesus), and that He spoke prophecy into each of the writers of His Word, then it is Jesus Himself who is telling us that this will be the economic picture in the End Times.  And what is the common denominator mentioned in Revelation, and is also one of the primary factors controlling the world economy today?  It is oil!

     Can you see it?  Can you discern that oil is the stimulus that is driving the nations of the world into not only a battle for domination of the oil reserves, but into a final showdown and conflict at Megiddo in the Valley of Jezreel?  That oil and Armageddon are explicitly linked?
     It should be obvious to everyone that oil is the energy-producing resource that every 21st Century nation needs to survive.  It should be equally obvious that the Middle East is Oil Central, so to speak, and the sectarian violence we are witnessing in the region has as much to do with controlling that resource as it does with warring religious ideologies.  That's why we see the growing presence of Russia and China in the area, and what ultimately drives the foreign policies of all the major nations.
     Remember that Chapter 38 in Ezekiel prophecies that the force that instigates the Gog-Magog war will have "an evil thought" to not only "take a spoil", but to turn his hand "upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land"; in other words, Israel.  I believe that "spoil" will be oil.  As writer, Terry James, so eloquently explains in his article, titled End Times Economy: Forecast of Last-Day Indicators:  "It cannot be mere coincidence that the Middle East region is where the planet was most lush--the place where the Garden of Eden was placed. If oil is, as most scientists believe, primarily decayed vegetation and animal matter that has decomposed, then this is the area where we might expect the greatest deposits of the substance we call oil. It must be more than mere coincidence, too, it follows, that this is the general region where all of the petroleum-hungry nations of the world would place intense interest. How much of a stretch is it, then, to believe that the forces of Gog-Magog would one day consider this region a chief target for invasion? And, carrying this logic to biblically prophetic conclusion, is it any wonder that Armageddon, involving most every nation on earth, will meet in this very region to do battle for the great spoil, the liquid black gold beneath the sand of the Middle East?"

     Can you see it more clearly now?  America played a part in the birth of modern Israel, and we were blessed with new venues of economic markets.  Our alliance with Israel and our protection of the infant state, gave the U.S. presence in the region of planet earth with the deepest petroleum reserves.   We have also played a role in protecting the royal Saudi family, who held the keys to the most copious amounts of oil in the region.  This alliance also assured us that our western economy would continue to flourish, and we could keep the oil spigots open and flowing.
     But now there are new players on the block.  The recent negotiations with Iran threaten to upset that apple cart, and now Russia is making its presence known in the region.  And we cannot dismiss the taste for oil that China's burgeoning industrial economy is demanding.  Can you see the nations of the world gathering, just as the Biblical prophecies predict?  Can you see that oil could be "the hook in the jaw" that pulls nations out of the north to the Valley of Jezreel (Ezekiel 38:4)?  Or that oil could be the impetus for a 200,000,000 man army coming from the East (Revelation 9:14-16)?
     It is interesting to watch all the financial experts and their dire projections of an economic world collapse.  They are specifically focused on this world and how to avoid the coming breakdown of world banks and global economic institutions; how that will affect the world's financial systems.  We, Christians, who are not of this world, see it from a futuristic standpoint.  We see the failing world economy as inevitable; as prophetic, and as one more step towards the return of our Lord and Savior and the institution of a prosperous and glorious 1,000-year reign in His presence.
     We must get ready ... times are going to be horrendous, and millions will die from famine, pestilence and war.  There is no way out of it; the Bible tells me so.  But we have just a little ways to go to get out of this corrupted world system and into His magnificent Kingdom.  Whatever comes, if we stay focused on Him, it will all be worth it.  Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Revelation 16:14    "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

We Desperately Need Healing!

     Last week my husband and I each took part in a personal deliverance session.  Now, that may seem like a confusing religious term to many people, and no doubt, means different things to different people.  It also probably conjures up images of charismatic spectacles, with a lot of wailing and histrionics.  Nothing could be further from the truth.
     I guess I would best describe it as a very deep cleansing of our spirits and a process through which we are rescued from the bondage that Satan has imposed, and we are set free through the power of Jesus's blood.  And again, these, too, are religious expressions that Christians like to spout when discussing our faith, but how many truly experience it?
     "To be delivered".... what is the meaning of that word?  A simple dictionary definition is the aforementioned "to be saved, rescued, or set free [from]".  My mind is overwhelmed at all the things that humanity needs to be saved from, or rescued from .... deliverance from abuse (physical, emotional, sexual, psychological); deliverance from addictions; deliverance from disease and death; deliverance from lust and perversion; deliverance from hate; deliverance from holding grudges and unforgiveness; deliverance from pride; deliverance from the love of money and power; deliverance from war; deliverance from bloodshed.... deliverance from Sin!

     And in case you are thinking that only non-believers are in need of deliverance ... think again!  I absolutely believe that we Christians need to be rescued and set free as much as anyone!  How many of us know the joy of Jesus as our Savior, but are miserable in our lives?
     Each of us have a past, and oh, how the devil likes to whisper his lies that this very past can never be fully erased from our memories, or the sight of our Lord.  Yes, we've heard through the Church that our sins have been washed by the blood of Jesus and we are as white as snow.  But how many of us still feel dirty, or suffer recurring doubt that we can ever be made truly clean?
     How many have trouble believing that Jesus really delights in us?  How many would still feel guilt and shame if they stood before Him today?  Do you have trouble picturing Him hugging you and being proud that you belong to Him?  If any of these thoughts have ever crossed your mind, you are in need of healing those open sores and closing those wounds.
     Both my husband and I are people who have a deep faith in the power of Jesus ... but we are also sinners and people who have pasts that we are not proud of.  Through our separate delivery sessions, we were able to identify those areas of our lives; particular events; and specific people who have contributed to feelings of inadequacy, guilt, anger and any number of burdensome feelings that prohibit a full relationship with God, and keep us from seeing ourselves as Jesus sees us.
     We were able to forgive those who have trespassed against us, just as God forgives us for our trespasses.   In doing so, we were set free from satan's ability to use that unforgiveness against us, and to drive a wedge between us and the flow of God's joy, peace and love into our lives.  (See, there was a reason that Jesus instructed the Disciples to include that verse when they prayed).
     We were able to picture Jesus present in every situation and to accept His forgiveness as we forgave others.  And perhaps most important of all, we were able to forgive ourselves.  And when all that "garbage" was released off our spirit, we could see ourselves lined up with God's purpose for us ; to be one with Jesus and the Father, just as They desire us to be.  Our memories were healed just as the spiritual wounds were healed;  and what once seemed dirty and dingy to us, now looked bright white and pristine as we saw the acceptance in Jesus's eyes.  We were not only healed, but restored; that which had been stolen from us by the Enemy had been repaired and returned.
     Further blessing was released to us in the knowledge that whenever we sense that we are falling for the lies of the devil again -- because he won't just give up; he will try to fool us again because he knows exactly what worked the first time -- we now know how to counter his attacks and heal any new wounds (or the attempt to re-open old ones) with the Truth that has been revealed to us.  We know that Jesus wishes us to use the power of the Holy Spirit that has been deposited in each of us to surrender all our hurts and damage to Him.  When we can picture stuffing all that garbage into a box, handing it to Jesus, and watching Him burn it in the Holy Fire, there is a supernatural transformation that takes place in our spirit, and those memories are no longer painful; the wounds that were caused are healed and a scar has formed, closing that injury against harming us.  Remember, when you invite the Holy Spirit and Jesus to take part in this session, you can expect that they will go to work to set you free!
     The greatest blessing that came from our sessions was that I saw my husband released from a spiritual wound that he had been burying, but which was festering for over 10 years.  He was able to forgive himself for believing a lie Satan told him; a lie that was designed to keep him from growing into the warrior he has become for God.  Satan failed, and didn't stop my husband's relationship with God and Jesus, but he had been beating himself up because the battle resulted in the death of one of his beloved dogs.  He was able to let Jesus take that guilt and shame and anger off his heart, mind, and spirit, and to become free, at last, of that heavy burden.  He can now speak of it as something in the past that was painful, and that Jesus has changed how he views it in the present.  And he was given an image and a thought that shows him how that event will be restored by Jesus's love in his eternal future.  I can literally see and feel the heavy weight lifted off his spirit and heart!
     But that is not the end of the blessings.  We were able to share our experience with a group of true believers who received a new revelation of what deliverance and healing is all about, and what it means to be in the presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit and to be at one with Them.  I believe that spiritual doors were opened and strongholds will be cast down.  Praise the Lord for giving us a picture that shows us He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world!

John 17:23    "I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and [definitely] recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them [even] as You have loved Me."

It Feels Like It's All Falling Apart

   

     It's not only the fact that the Italian ANSA news service reported that local sources in Syria told them that Islamic State militants stormed the city of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria over the weekend, reportedly decapitating upwards of 150 people, including women and children, and abducting hundreds more.
     It's not just that the assaults and rapes perpetrated against young women in Europe by Middle Eastern refugees is rising at an alarming rate.  And it's not just that Britain's former Archbishop of Canterbury is warning that the Church of England is only “one generation away from extinction", while those of the Muslim faith in that country are exploding in numbers.
     And it's not just the scary proposition of a new TV show called Lucifer, which will focus on, you guessed it, Lucifer, "who is bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell and resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for the beauty of Los Angeles, where he gets his kicks helping the LAPD punish criminals."  I enjoy a creative and clever show as much as the next person, but this is an example of our culture embracing one more aspect of Satan's deception and attempting to "mainstream" it.  Among other powers, the main character, Lucifer Morningstar, has a supernatural awareness of any person's hidden desires and can compel them to speak the truth. He enjoys using these abilities to expose sinners in public.  I can only imagine how this makes the real Lucifer more attractive and engaging, and will impose his supernatural and satanic influence on gullible audiences.
     All these topics and headlines point to the spiritual decline that is descending upon this world.  But there is more .... when Walmart and McDonald's announce significant closures, it signals that our nation's economic foundation is crumbling, as well.  Even when mild recessions hit the economy, stores that offer low cost value such as Walmart, or dollar menus, such as McDonald's were always a good fallback plan for families to stay within tightened budgets.  But the fact that hundreds of stores are closing is pretty good evidence that families can't even afford rock bottom prices.  That means the buying power of Americans is declining, along with the depressing news that even more of those same Americans who worked at those stores will be out of a job.
     Then there is the sad state of race relations within this country, when being white is now reason to be ashamed, as evidenced by "White History Month" at Portland Community College.   It all centers around an  "educational project" which explores how the "construct of whiteness" creates racial inequality.  Let me put it more succinctly, according to the description of this project:  Whiteness "does not simply refer to skin color, but [to] an ideology based on beliefs, values, behaviors, habits, and attitudes, which result in the unequal distribution of power and privilege based on skin color."
     I know it may sound naive and simplified, but why do we need to look at each other's skin color at all?  Why can't we just love each other based on our hearts and spirits?  I have people in my life whom I love very deeply; family members of every color, including black, brown, white and in-between, and when I look at them I see their eyes, their smiles, and their spirits.  Skin color just doesn't come into play.  We are all children of God and He made every one of us just as He desired.  So why does diversity have to be so labored, so forced?  I know that this is just one more area that is being exploited by those who will benefit from the friction, but I just wish God would make us all color-blind!
     So, there you have it ... a pretty wide range of spheres where it seems like it is all falling apart.  Whether it is the continued atrocities perpetrated by evil men; the demise of Christianity in one of Europe's oldest countries; the publicity campaign to reform the reputation of Lucifer; the failing American economy; or the efforts to push the racial divide to its limits, it all spells the same thing.  We are rapidly coming to the point of no return; a time when a difficult or important decision must be made by every human being.  Whose side will you choose?  Will you accept the salvation bought for you on the cross at Calvary?  Or will you foolishly believe that the Prince of this world can offer you a better future?  The signs are everywhere.  He is making his move and we will soon have to declare our allegiance to one or the other.  I beg you ... Spread the Good News of our Savior and shine His light into this Darkness!

2 Corinthians 2:14    "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere."

Where Is Our Common Sense?

     First of all, what is common sense?  We hear it talked about from the political stage quite often ... "common sense gun control", for instance.  How do those two terms even exist in the same sentence?
     And where is the common sense in the claim that Dalia Mogahed, formerly Barack Obama’s adviser on Muslim affairs, made on The Daily Show, that wearing the hijab represented nothing more or less than the “privatization of women’s sexuality”.  She insinuated that anyone who objected to this external symbolism of the Islamic faith are "those who want to objectify women as sexual commodities".
     And where is the common sense in Planned Parenthood's lawsuit against the Center for Medical Progress's (CMP) videos exposing their selling aborted baby body parts for profit?  If the allegations are false, why not sue for slander or libel?  Why is the lawsuit based on claiming that the recordings were obtained in violation of applicable State and Federal privacy laws?  Does that sound like common sense to you?

     But, again, I need to define what "common sense" means to me.  On a simple basis, I suppose I would define it as "a good or obvious cause to do something"; a logical, or practical reason to believe something or to act on something.  But perhaps the best definition comes from Harriett Beecher Stowe, the American abolitionist and author:  "Common sense is seeing things as they are; and doing things as they ought to be."  Easier said than done in this society, where there appears to be no absolute truth -- we just manipulate and control matters to fit our own personal prejudices, and that's "our truth".
     Take for instance, the gun control issue.  Does it make sense to call for more background checks or a ban on large magazines and the politically counterfeit term "assault" weapons ... when none of those laws have, or ever will, keep the bad guys from committing crimes or acts of terror?  And there is no sense in the argument that “How can you say you’re pro-life and then own guns or join the NRA?” As Timothy Buchanan, wrote on Barbwire.com, "It’s quite simple. Because Christians realize that God makes a clear distinction between the spilling of innocent blood and killing in defense of one’s own life. Therefore, it is precisely because we value life that we are willing to take lawful and responsible steps to defend it."
     And here is where Buchanan, a former member of the U.S. Navy, applied his common sense ... While working for the Virginia State Police, he saw that campus police and troopers were powerless to stop the Virginia Tech murders because the shooter had chained and locked the doors to the building he was in from the inside. Even if they could have gotten the doors open a few inches, most police officers do not carry bolt-cutters with them, and the hinges of the doors are also on the inside. But what shocked him was that when the shooter was reloading one of his guns, the students simply cowered in a corner waiting to die. Unlike the heroic men on the plane that was heading toward Washington on September 11, 2001, no one stood up and said, “Let’s roll,” and tried to rush the shooter.  They just cowered in a corner and waited to be killed.  
     So, I ask, is there any good, or logical, or practical reason to limit the ability for any one of those victims to defend themselves in that scenario?  Does more gun control make common sense now?  And the same scrutiny can be applied to the common sense arguments for the wearing of the hijab and the Planned Parenthood lawsuit.  There can be no basis to the argument that Westerners are insensitive to the Islamic tradition of the hijab because of their overt sexualization of women, while there is a refusal to shine a light on the persecution and death to women in the Middle East who refuse to wear the headscarf.  Jihad Watch reports that as far back as 2007, jihadists killed 40 women in Iraq for “un-Islamic behavior" (translation: they were not wearing the hijab).  And there are more cases of such murder and mistreatment of women that are never talked about.  And yet we are expected to agree that it makes sense that Westerners just want to "objectify" women?
     And it's supposed to seem logical and make sense to us that Planned Parenthood should sue CMP not because they deny that they sold (and continue to sell) baby parts, but because PP just objects to how CMP went about proving that fact.  So, therefore, they have a right to sue for damages.  Never mind the fact that they are scared to death they will be defunded by Congress, and their donations are drying up, and they need to win this lawsuit to refill their coffers.  Never mind all that --- this is just the logical next step and makes perfect sense.
     Bottom line... I'm afraid that we might have lost our ability to reason and see through the false arguments and the subterfuge and the distractions in order to clearly see the truth of any matter.  Do we really spend time doing our own critical thinking?  Or do we simply embrace whatever persuasive argument that appeals to our emotions, or is represented by a cultural icon or celebrity?  Whose standard do we apply to determine our position on any given topic?  Are there incontrovertible principles by which we judge another's argument or reasoning?   Have you developed your own standards; or do you follow whatever is popular in the culture that day?
     Let's face it.  As we have abandoned God's principles to listen to the lies of Satan, we have suffered a decline in every aspect of our lives.  Our moral base has disintegrated; and we have lost our common sense.  Our ability to reason according to God's guidelines has been replaced with whatever furthers our personal agenda... whether it be gun control, sharia law, or abortion.  So what is your common sense telling you right now?  Mine says there is no safe haven but God.  He is the only standard by which I want to live my life, and I must abide in Him to stand against the threats headed my way.  Anything else is false and destructive.

1 John 5:20    "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."
   

Recommended: 13 Hours, The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

The real heroes and survivors of Benghazi

     I never would have thought that "the righteous acts of men" could be uttered in the same breath as "war".  Yet that is exactly what I saw in the movie, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.  Granted, the American public has been divided over this event since September 11, 2012, and the subject has become highly politicized... after all someone running to be the next Commander-in-Chief is being heavily scrutinized over her connection to the deaths of four Americans that night.  That alone makes this movie important to me.
     It's not because I want to slam one politician, or support one political party over another.  It's because I want to hear the truth from the men who lived the battle that night -- not the State Department's version, or the carefully-crafted script that plays out on the media outlets.  That is all for them to carry out their own agendas.
     No, I want to hear the human story of bravery and heroism; the kind that none of us are capable of; the kind that is willing to face death to try to save the life of a fellow human being; the kind that does the right thing, no matter the personal cost.  And that has nothing in common with presidential campaigns, political pundits, or congressional committees.
     And so I watched 13 Hours with a sense of awe and profound respect, mixed with an emotional anger that Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, and Tyrone Woods had to die that night.  And this is the story of the men that were there that night.  It does not mention any of the big names in Washington.  It is the story of their personal struggles to stay alive during an assault by an enemy determined to kill them, while wondering why the military support that was readily available did not arrive.   Sadly, the deaths of those four men could have been avoided, but it was not the focus of the movie to lay blame for the disgraceful decision(s).
     Instead it was to focus on the incredible professionalism and dedication of the men who never gave up on each other.  Heroes is too common a word for them.  Yes, they found themselves in the middle of a war that they didn't want to fight, but they never wavered in the face of overwhelming odds or certain death.  They never put themselves first, before those they were there to protect.  And, even in the midst of such hell on earth, they never let go of family and God.  It is a story as told by the survivors, and it is their story, no matter how much the narrative doesn't fit someone's political ideology.
     For me, it is sad that this movie fell below expectations at the box office.  It just shows me that people in this nation just want to focus on the politics, and to debate on what went wrong and who is responsible.  What about those brave men?  Have we forgotten them?  I know that it is a cliché to talk about the cost of freedom.  But these men have paid it for us.  Shouldn't we at least honor them by focusing on what they endured that night?  Can we focus on the response of the security teams when Tyrone Woods gives them the assessment of the situation Ambassador Stevens and those were under at the diplomatic outpost, "None of you have to go, but we’re the only hope they have.”  And they went!
     Perhaps one of the saddest moments for me was the moment that Tyrone Woods and fellow Contractor and former SEAL, Jack Silva, discussed the seriousness of the battle in which they were engaged, and the possibility that help would not arrive.  Woods says, "What used to make this worth doin’ is gone."  When our patriotic military men recognize that what this country used to be and what it used to stand for is gone, yet they still answer the call, then I know that they are distinctly superior to any one of us... and I mourn them.  I mourn that their deaths can be so casually ignored by a portion of Americans who live safely and securely in America, precisely because there are men such as they.  I mourn because so many will never know them beyond their connection with an unpleasant moment in history.  And I mourn that both grief and anger will forever be associated with this event; that their heroism is overshadowed by the shameful actions of our government.  Please... see this movie, if for no other reason than they deserve to have you feel the last gut-wrenching hours of that September 11th night, and for the loss of their friends; and for you to experience what it looks like for one man to lay down his life for his fellow man.  And because ... it does make a difference!

Romans 12:10   "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor."

     
     

John 9:35-38

Jesus heard that they had put him out (of the synagogue),

 and meeting him He said, Do you believe in and adhere to 

the Son of Man or the Son of God?

He answered, Who is He, Sir? 

Tell me, that I may believe in and adhere to Him.

 Jesus said to him, You have seen Him; 

[in fact] He is talking to you right now.

He called out, Lord, I believe! [I rely on, I trust, I cleave to You!] And he worshiped Him.

     This particular Chapter in the Book of John fascinates me.  And it particularly speaks to me in light of where God is taking me and my husband, and the ministry He is drawing us to.   And here is why ... in this Chapter, Jesus has cured a man born blind since birth, and the man has proclaimed to all who were amazed by this miracle, "The Man called Jesus made mud and smeared it on my eyes and said to me, Go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and I obtained my sight!"

     Naturally, the Pharisees would have heard of this miracle attributed to Jesus and the man was brought before them, that they might enquire of him how he had received his sight.  Again, he gave credit to the man, Jesus.  Because Jesus had done this act on the Sabbath, some of the Pharisees proclaimed him a sinner, and asked of the blind man, who did he say Jesus was.  The man said, "He must be a prophet."  But there was disagreement among the Pharisees on how to consider Jesus ... a prophet, a sinner, or the Son of God ... so they brought the blind man before them a second time and told him to "give God the glory (praise). This Fellow we know is only a sinner (a wicked person)."  

     The man could not or would not declare Jesus a sinner, and the Pharisees threw him out of the synagogue, and that is the starting point of our Scripture today.  Which brings me to the point that I would like to make.  Various commentaries have disagreed whether the man knew who Jesus was when He approached him at this point in the story; which brings into question whether this man was saved, and if Jesus is willing to heal both the saved and unsaved.

     As the Lord has brought my husband and myself into further understanding regarding his desire to "set the captives free", we know without a doubt that He is directing us to minister to people like this blind man.  That is to say, people who have heard of Jesus, who want to know Him, but are not part of the Church.  They have been wounded deeply and are in great need of the healing by Jesus through the Holy Spirit, but because of their skepticism of organized religion, or their fear of judgment by the Church, or their discomfort with the hypocrisy of some Christians, they will never approach the Church for help or healing.  But it is my firm belief that Jesus wants to heal them as much as He wants to heal the professed believer inside the Church building.  

     That is why He is using those like my husband and myself, who have been moved to work outside the church; to draw those people to us, so that they are comfortable enough to seek Jesus, (without embarrassment or self-consciousness) and can receive the healing, in His Name, and through the Holy Spirit (that they so desperately need), and be free to progress towards their salvation.  

     For those in the Church who hesitate, like the Pharisees did, to offer this spiritual and physical healing to anyone who is not a professed Believer, I would like to suggest that they consider this .... Jesus desires that no man perish.  And what better glory can be given to Him and the Father than a person who was once blind (to their sin) -- but knows of Jesus -- to be healed in His Name, and by the Spirit, and then to come to Jesus in full acknowledgement that it was His power and saving grace that changed his life?  That person, who once would never have darkened the door of a church can be set free to join the Body of Christ, and with a powerful testimony.  

     I just do not believe that we are to keep this freedom to ourselves inside the Church walls.  The Scripture says, He came to set the captives free!  To me, that implies ALL captives... both saved and unsaved.  And by healing them and setting them free, in the Name of Jesus, we just might help another person take those first steps towards entering the Kingdom of God.  Isn't that our purpose?