Dark Agenda

Few people today realize how much of the United States is a creation of Christians. 98% of the settlers to this country were Protestant Christians fleeing persecution. They created the country. And they created it upon Protestant Christian principles. Every value that we own here, equality, inclusion, freedom, are Protestant Christian values.

Before the Protestant Reformation, you couldn’t get into Heaven except by going through the Catholic Church. And the revolutionary idea that the Reformation came up with is called the "Priesthood of all believers." That there is no "Priest class" between you and your Creator. At the time that was a fundamental Protestant idea.

When you think about it for a second, everybody in Christ is a Priest and equal in the sight of God. This was the idea that led to the freeing of the slaves, to recognizing the equality of women, to all the great advances in the culture of our great country. Obviously it was divine providence that established America to be a shining light of liberty and freedom in a world of darkness. And America, like no other country has spread the Gospel of Christ to the World.

But now for the last fifty years there has been a dedicated war against Christianity and against believers by the so-called progressive left. In my lifetime there has never been a darker hour for America. I was once an active progressive liberal. But when I saw how radical the progressive movement had become, I was compelled to leave. I could only characterize it as destructive and evil. They hate America despite all the freedoms and good she has done.

This eye opening experience led me to re-examine the foundations of America. The first thing that occurred to me was, you can’t have inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness unless there’s a God, or at least have respect for those who believe in God. Atheists could not have created this country.

The decline began in 1962 with the Supreme Court’s decision to remove prayer from public schools. For 170 years there had been prayer in the schools, but suddenly, without any precedent, the Court decided that to allow prayer was unconstitutional. As a consequence, any child going to a public school can’t be taught that the Pilgrims were actually religious Christians fleeing persecution.

We have been stripped of our roots, and that’s why we see powerful movements today working to suppress free speech- and they’re coming from the left. They are dividing our country into categories of skin color, gender and sexual orientation. Essentially, the opposite of what our Christian Founders would have believed in and wanted.

One of the things that I explain in my book, is how the progressive left is really a religious cult that is anti-Christian. Actually, it’s an old Christian heresy named after Pelagius, a Christian Monk who lived in the fourth century AD. Pelagius believed that sin was against human nature, therefore if Christians would just be "good Christians" following their true nature they could create the Kingdom of Heaven on earth without the divine intervention of God.

Augustine stood in sharp contrast, believing in the concept of original sin-meaning that man’s nature from the fall of Adam was corrupt and sinful. He believed that sin is a part of our nature not against our nature. And that man must die in Christ through repentance and baptism and rise as a new creation that is born again of the Divine Nature.

Every leftist has the sin of pride inside them -the arrogant belief that they can create a new world where there is social justice, peace, -a perfect paradise on earth. Just as Pelagius believed that if you were true to your nature you would be a good person because sin and evil is against your nature. Likewise, modern progressives believe that if you are politically correct, or if the government can force you to be politically correct, paradise can be created on the earth without the need for a God or a Savior.

This is the most dangerous and destructive idea in the history of the human race. This is why I subtitled my book "The War to Destroy Christian America." The most important freedoms we have begin with religious liberties, -freedom of conscience. If they de-legitimize your conscience to where you can’t speak, then you can no longer defend any of your freedoms. The whole basis of our freedoms in America is, - first of all religious liberty -and liberty of conscience.

There is no more important fight than defending the right of people who disagree with you. The left is at war with people they disagree with. And the left has declared war on Christianity and Christians are on the front line. It’s a very, very dangerous moment in our nation’s history.

Social Justice or Equal Justice?

"Recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Peter and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They only asked us to remember the poor - the very thing I also was eager to do." Galatians 2:9-10

There is a common perception today that Jesus and Christianity teaches that the Church should support the idea of social justice. By social justice, I mean that the Church should be a supporter of government programs to provide for the poor. Though, Christians are told to remember the poor and to share their wealth with the needy, they were taught to be discriminate about who they gave to.

The Bible says that the borrower is the slave of the lender (Proverbs 22:7) so those who become dependent upon government entitlement programs are slaves of the government. Social entitlement programs may initially sound good to those in need but these programs move us into socialism where individual freedoms are forever lost and all eventually become wards of the state. The free practice of religion and the preaching of the Gospel has been suppressed by every nation that has embraced a type of socialist government. Under socialism the media, television and radio programs come under the control of the government ruling elite so there is a real and present danger to the Work of God.

Those who advance social justice believe in the redistribution of wealth - they believe in taking the wealth of others to give to those who are in need, but the Apostles taught that every man is to earn his own living and eat his own food and that if he didn’t work then he should not eat. The Apostles were not teaching the Church to be uncaring but were teaching the brethren to be responsible. The wealthy in the early Church shared their wealth with their poor brethren but not under a Church government mandate - each person had complete control. (Acts 5:4)

In America, we have seen how indiscriminate our government programs often are which has fostered fraud and tremendous waste. The Church practiced equal justice where the needy were given a hand up rather than a hand out. Social justice tends to keep people enslaved and dependent, while the charity of equal justice is designed to help people get back on their feet. Of course there are always exceptions. Some people will always be in constant need and must depend on the charity of others, government or private -the elderly and handicapped.

When the Church began, those who had wealth shared their wealth with others. If they did not know a specific person in need they gave of their wealth to the Apostles for distribution - this was not commanded but was completely voluntary.

But did the Apostles give to everyone who happened to be in need? We will let the Apostles answer that for themselves, -"For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order; if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all. . .such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread." (2 Thes.3)

The early Church was commanded to not support or even feed those who were too lazy to work. In a world where Christianity is thought of as a religion of charity to all, this must come as a shock but God knows well that it does not really "help" people to become dependent. The foremost mission of the Church is to preach the life saving message of the Gospel- secondly, to disciple and teach those who believe - and thirdly, to practice charity. Charity was always practiced to the Church first, which will also surprise many today. In fact, the Apostles commanded that family members must help their own needy before the Church should be burdened.

God commanded the Israelites to save a third tithe twice in seven years to provide for the poor and needy. This was to deal with its widows, disabled and destitute. The Church was instructed only to remember the poor.

After evaluation, the Church placed worthy widows on the list to receive assistance, but the qualifications were strict, notice, -"Honor widows who are widows indeed; but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family. . .But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than 60 years old, the wife of one man, having a good reputation. . .and if she has devoted herself to good works. But refuse to put younger widows on the list. . .If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them and the Church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed." (1 Tim.5) This is a completely foreign concept to the modern Church and seems harsh, but of course it isn't harsh, it's God's way which is always right.

As Christians we must show ourselves to be responsible in the faith which includes our work ethic and the management of our finances. This is the only way that we can finance God's Work and be able to practice discriminate charity. The Church of Jesus Christ was taught and practiced charity and equal justice, but the idea that the Church taught social justice is simply false.

Reasons to Doubt Evolution

If the theory of evolution was true, we should have discovered millions upon millions of transitional fossils that show the development of one species into another species. Instead, we have zero.

When Charles Darwin came up with his theory, he admitted that no transitional forms had been found at that time, but he believed that huge numbers certainly existed and would eventually be discovered…"Lastly, looking not to any one time, but to all time, if my theory be true, numberless intermediate varieties, linking closely together all the species of the same group, must assuredly have existed. But, as by this theory, innumerable transitional forms must have existed, why do we not find them embedded in countless numbers in the crust of the earth?"

Even some of the most famous evolutionists in the world acknowledge the complete absence of transitional fossils in the fossil record. For example, Dr. Colin Patterson, former senior paleontologist of the British Museum of Natural History and author of "Evolution" wrote the following…"I fully agree with your comments about the lack of direct illustration of evolutionary transitions in my book. If I knew of any, fossil or living, I would certainly have included them …. I will lay it on the line – there is not one such fossil for which one could make an watertight argument."

Stephen Jay Gould, Professor of Geology and Paleontology at Harvard University, wrote the following about the lack of transitional forms…"The absence of fossil evidence for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design, indeed our inability, even in our imagination, to construct functional intermediates in many cases, has been a persistent and nagging problem for gradualistic accounts of evolution."

Evolutionist Stephen M. Stanley of Johns Hopkins University has also commented on the stunning lack of transitional forms in the fossil record…"In fact, the fossil record does not convincingly document a single transition from one species to another."

If evolution was happening right now, there would be millions of creatures out there with partially developed features and organs. But instead there are none.

If the theory of evolution was true, we should not see a sudden explosion of fully formed complex life in the fossil record. Instead, that is precisely what we find.

Paleontologist Mark Czarnecki, an evolutionist, commented on the fact that complex life appears very suddenly in the fossil record…"A major problem in proving the theory has been the fossil record; the imprints of vanished species preserved in the Earth’s geological formations. This record has never revealed traces of Darwin’s hypothetical intermediate variants – instead species appear and disappear abruptly, and this anomaly has fueled the creationist argument that each species was created by God."

The sudden appearance of complex life in the fossil record is so undeniable that even Richard Dawkins has been forced to admit it…"It is as though they [fossils] were just planted there, without any evolutionary history. Needless to say this appearance of sudden planting has delighted creationists. Both schools of thought (Punctuationists and Gradualists) despise so-called scientific creationists equally, and both agree that the major gaps are real, that they are true imperfections in the fossil record. The only alternative explanation of the sudden appearance of so many complex animal types in the Cambrian era is divine creation and both reject this alternative."

Evolutionist Jeffrey Schwartz, professor of anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, openly admits that "the formation of a new species, by any mechanism, has never been observed."

Evolutionist Stephen J. Gould of Harvard University has admitted that the record shows that species do not change. The following is how he put it during a lecture at Hobart & William Smith College…"Every paleontologist knows that most species don’t change. That’s bothersome….brings terrible distress. ….They may get a little bigger or bumpier but they remain the same species and that’s not due to imperfection and gaps but stasis. And yet this remarkable stasis has generally been ignored as no data. If they don’t change, its not evolution so you don’t talk about it."

Evolutionist Dr. Lyall Watson make the following statement?…"The fossils that decorate our family tree are so scarce that there are still more scientists than specimens. The remarkable fact is that all of the physical evidence we have for human evolution can still be placed, with room to spare, inside a single coffin!"

Richard Lewontin of Harvard said…"We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, . . for unsubstantiated commitment to materialism. . . . we are forced in the position that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door."

Kindle Afresh the Fire

From a distance they could see the fire as they made their way through the cold waters of the Mediterranean. Victims of shipwreck, these 276 men had been at the mercy of a typhoon for fourteen days. Hungry and suffering from exposure, the small fire served as a beacon of hope and gave them the strength to struggle on to shore.

Many knew that their fortunate escape from a watery grave would be short-lived. Most of them were prisoners of Rome in transit for trial, prison or execution. In fact, had it not been that one of their number had found favor with the Centurion in charge, they all would have been slain before the ship went down. And now with a warm fire in sight they felt the powerful urge to live yet another day.

The natives of this tiny island called Malta had seen the ship from afar. They saw it being tossed about and battered by the surging waves. Realizing the ship could not withstand the beating and that survivors may wash ashore, they quickly kindled a fire, knowing that the men would be terribly cold and in desperate need of warmth. Also, rain had set in and without a fire the survivors would have no means of drying themselves. Certainly, the natives showed extraordinary kindness to these poor men in need of help.

If you are a student of the Bible this story may sound familiar. It is my paraphrase of the Scriptural account where the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked on his journey to Rome. (Acts 27 & 28) The holy spirit inspired the author of Acts to record that the Natives of Malta had showed "extraordinary kindness" in kindling a fire for these cold men.

In the church today, perhaps there is too much "Be warm and filled" and too little kindling of fires. Notice James 2:15-16,- "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?"

Certainly, Christians should care about the physical needs of one another, but what about the spiritual needs of each other? There may be spiritual as well as physical cold, and for this the kindling of a fire is also needed.

In his letter to the Hebrew believers, Paul said "See to it that no one comes short of God's saving grace." To the Church at Philippi he said "Don't just look after your own interests, but also for the interests of your brethren." To Rome, he wrote, that "The spiritually strong should bear the weaknesses of the spiritually weak." James wrote,- "My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20)

The young evangelist Timothy served under Paul's guardianship in caring for the needs of the scattered congregations. For his role, Timothy was given a special gift from God through the laying on of the Apostle's hands. Timothy had previously received the gift of the holy spirit, but was now given a special spiritual gift that would give him the ability to combat false teachers and kindle the cleansing fire of the Lord to others. God revealed that Timothy would receive this gift through prophetic utterance.

Notice,- "This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith." (1 Timothy 1:18-19)

Notice also that Paul referred to brethren who had fallen away from the truth as being spiritually "shipwrecked". They had failed to weather a storm in their lives and were now drifting in the cold waters of the sea of sin. Perhaps some would survive and make it back safely to shore; for those a fire must be kindled by those already on dry land. Some might see the flame of a fire burning and be drawn to make their way back to the warm embrace of the Lord.

The original word used here by Paul denotes the kindling of a fire. This is the precise idea which the Apostle had in his mind, using the term "anazwpurein", which means to stir up the fire, add fresh kindling, or to revive the spark into a flame. He is urging Timothy to set the invincible power of the holy spirit and the special spiritual gift which God had given him, against the storms which were causing so many brethren to suffer spiritual shipwreck.

"Is not My Word like a fire?" (Jeremiah 23:29) Indeed, the Word of God is as a fire. There is power to purify in God's Word. The Word, read or heard has the power to warm the hearts of men; to burn away the hard cold wax that holds the hearts of so many captive. David said,- "Wax melts before the fire." (Psalms 68:2)

The Apostle John tells us that in Jesus, the Word became flesh. The day Jesus rose from the grave, He walked and talked with two men on a country road. The two men did not recognize Him at first but later said to one another,- "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us by the way?" (Luke 24:32)

Retain the standard of sound words which he had been taught by him, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim.1:13)

Be diligent to present himself approved to God as a workman who accurately handles the Word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)

Remind the brethren to not wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. (2 Tim. 2:14)

Refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. That he must not be quarrelsome, but kind to all and gentle, teaching patiently even when wronged, in the hope that some may "come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil." (2 Tim. 2:23-26)

That he must preach the Word in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. (2 Tim. 4:2)

The excellent advice which the Apostle Paul gave to young Timothy is applicable to all who minister in the Church of God. That they should not spend much time in disputes or contend about words which have no tendency to make the brethren either wiser or better, but serve only to violate the principles of love and tolerance. Not tolerance of willful sin of course, but of each other's personal and sincere convictions. No serious Bible student has ever found that he was never wrong about a belief previously held. A faithful believer will adjust his beliefs as God reveals and gives him understanding.

Paul argues that these things beget strife and contention in the Church, dividing the brethren into factions and parties, and also causes subversion among the new and weak, opening the door for the devil to engender doubt in the truth of the faith itself.

It is clear that there will always be small differences among the people of God but we need not go to war with one another over every issue. Yes, we must push the devil out of the Church whenever we see that he has made infiltration, but if we spend all our time focusing our warfare on the home front, we will never make inroads into the devil's territory.

Simply put, a house divided cannot stand. Let us focus our attention on delivering the saving message of the gospel of Christ. To allow God through us, to beg the world to be reconciled to their Heavenly Father by receiving Jesus, the sacrifice He has so lovingly provided. (2 Cor.5) It is our Father's business which He has left in our care.

In following Paul's instructions, Timothy would be kindling a warm fire for those brethren who had suffered spiritual shipwreck, and were struggling in the sea of sin and confusion.

Let us pray that God might grant us men today like Timothy, anointing them with special gifts to strengthen and encourage the weak and confused. Men who will not allow Satan to divert them from fulfilling the great commission of spreading the seeds of the gospel. The Seed is the Word, the Word is Jesus and Jesus is life. The Seed of Jesus will bring life to a dying world and release those held in bondage to Satan, the god of this world. Jesus was crushed before the foundation of the world in order that His servants may sow Him as seed, that whoever would receive Him would not perish but have everlasting life.

Let us pray that faithful men and women would sacrifice themselves for the cause of Christ. That some would lay down their lives as kindling, receptive to the fire of the Lord, dedicated to allowing their lives to burn hot enough that their flame might ignite the mighty timbers which could warm the whole house and give light to many.

The kindling must be laid before the consuming fire of the Lord will descend. And even the mighty and purifying flames of revival must begin with the tiny flames of the kindling.

WHY SATAN WANTS TO DIVIDE THE CHURCH

Have you ever tried setting afire one piece of kindling? It will not even consume itself. Or have you attempted to build a fire by burning one stick at a time? Again, it will not work. Kindling must work together to consistently hold a hot enough flame to ignite timbers.

The age-old, tried and proven method is to place a group of dry kindling together, each touching, resting and relying on another. They cannot serve to kindle the timbers before they first serve to kindle each other. Then what begins as a small flame in one piece spreads to another which serves to not only spread its flame, but help keep the first stick burning. The kindling, working together, soon grows into a strong and hot enough flame that large timbers can be added.

That is one reason why fellowship in assemblies is so important. That is why the author of Hebrews tells the brethren to "Stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together" for worship and services. (Hebrews 10:25) Can you fully keep the Sabbath alone at home? It is to be observed with others if possible, - "The Sabbath was made for man," and "It is right to do good on the Sabbath" and "Do not forsake the assembling." It is not only a day of rest but of worship and service, ("Stimulate one another to love and good deeds.")

Sometimes building a fire is difficult because the wood is wet and resistant to flame. Such was the case on the island of Malta where Paul was shipwrecked. Remember, "the rain had set in." Though the fire was built for him, Paul also did his part and gathered kindling. This kindling was wet, so Paul laid it near the fire so that it would dry enough to burn.

Likewise, Christians can be in a spiritual condition much like damp wood, resistant to the fire of the Lord. Unlike the two men who walked with Jesus along the road, cold Christians are not immediately warmed by the Words of Christ. But they can be if they are near a fire already burning. In time, they may dry enough to no longer be resistant to the fire.

Hidden deep within the cold, damp kindling which Paul had gathered, was a deadly serpent, lying dormant. After a few moments it was revived by the warmth of the fire and reached up and bit the only man of God on the island. Of all the hundreds of people there the serpent attacked only the servant of God.

This occasionally happens to Christians when serving spiritually shipwrecked victims who are washed upon our shores in dying circumstances. But as servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were never told that our service would be without danger and peril. So we must not become unduly discouraged when we are sometimes "bit" by those whom we have tried to serve.

Sadly, some of them will suffer the same fate as the serpent when they are cast off into the fiery flames of judgment. Jude, the brother of Jesus tells us that we are to have mercy on some who doubt, being weak in faith, and to attempt to save others, "Snatching them out of the fire." (Jude verses 22-23)

The devil gets very active when he sees that one who has been spiritually cold and inactive, beginning to warm up. Let us remember that though the serpent struck out at Paul, the very fire that revived him also destroyed him when the Apostle shook him off into the flames. Paul remained unharmed, protected by the grace of our Lord.

The Body of Christ should not be divided, but should distance itself from those who lay a claim to godliness but live in sin, and who refuse to repent.

Jesus said,- "I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!. . .Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division;" (Luke 12:49-51)

The object of Christ's coming was to rouse men to spiritual conflict, to kindle a fire in the hearts of men which would purify the receptive and destroy the resistant. But the burning of this fire would excite men, stirring up their passions to cause division and discord. The opposition of the Pharisees and Sadducees showed that the fire was beginning to kindle as He spoke. To be sure, these men had become the enemies of God.

Nevertheless, in the beginning of His ministry Jesus offered to kindle a fire for their souls as well, but they preferred to stay in the cold habitation of their traditions.

It is no different today. Where the holy spirit is kindled afresh, and wherever there are groups of kindling on fire for the will of God, the flames of revival have begun to burn.

Wherever there are people walking in righteousness and holiness there is also persecution. (2 Tim. 3:12)

There are some in the Church today who prefer to stay in the cold state of tradition, we can't help them. But we can ask God to kindle afresh His fire in us that we may be revived and serve to strengthen and encourage the hungry and willing.

Sometimes the fire must be kindled under difficulties. The sticks may be wet, the hearth may be flooded and the whole atmosphere may be damp and resistant to the spark of God, -yet it must be done, -it will be done, -God will fulfill His promise to bring revival to His people.

The "mighty exploits" attributed to God's people prophesied in Daniel 11 cannot happen without revival. It brings to mind the account where Elijah ordered that the altar of sacrifice be drenched with water before calling upon the Lord to send His fire upon it. Even a water-soaked altar could not withstand the consuming fire of the Lord. Notice,- "Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench." (1 Kings 18:38)

Like the Pharisees and Sadducees, some may not want the fire kindled at all. Those who are numb from cold often find a hot fire painful to be near. It hurts at first when the life forces in the body begin to flow much more actively. Some may leave when the atmosphere gets hotter and more spiritually active.

Years ago when our ministry was young, there were a lot of former members of the Worldwide Church of God following us. I had come out of Worldwide in 1993 due to massive doctrinal changes, and more than 100,000 others eventually left as well.

There were a number of small home groups who needed sermons and teaching materials and we provided for that need. One day I received a lengthy letter from a lady in California who hosted one of these small groups in her home each Sabbath. They had been receiving our sermons and literature for some time. The letter requested that we no longer send sermons because they were offended that I used terms like "Hallelujah", "Praise the Lord" "Thank you Jesus", etc. She said that those terms sounded too "protestant" and like a "Sunday preacher."

The very day I received this letter was also the very day that I had just mailed them another sermon. So I quickly wrote a note and explained that I had removed them from our list but that one more sermon tape was already in the mail. The title of that message was "These Signs Shall Follow Those Who Believe."

In it I preached that simply knowing a few truths did not make you a true follower of Jesus Christ. But that Jesus said,-"These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." (Mark 16:17-18) Those hungry for God must pursue the holy spiritual fire without fear.

And I preached that if these signs are not appearing in your ministry then your ministry is not following Christ fully and needs to seek Him personally and yield to His divine will.

After receiving the sermon they decided to go ahead and listen to this "last" sermon from me. Thankfully, it convicted every heart and she wrote back that they had clearly seen the truth, had repented in humility and desired to continue in our ministry. Praise God!

The flame must be sent from above. Once received, it is necessary to nourish the flame by going down on your knees and breathing upon it with warm and sincere prayers and supplications. It must be fed -fueled to burn. The natives built the fire but Paul gathered more kindling to keep the fire burning.

"Ane stick'll never burn! Put more wood on the fire, laddie; ane stick'll never burn!" said an old Scotchman to his grandson. Sometimes, when the fire in the heart burns low, and love of the Savior grows faint, it would grow warm again if it could only touch another stick. What we need next to prayer and communion with our Heavenly Father is communion with each other. Jesus said,- "Where two or three are gathered together, I will be there in their midst" Where the heart burns, love kindles into a holy flame.

God is our consuming fire and He inhabits the praise of His saints. Therefore, let us enter into His gates with thanksgiving, enter His courts with Praise and enter His presence in worship. As the people of God, let us move from thanksgiving and praise into the pure devotion of worship from a simple and pure heart. And let us kindle afresh the all consuming fire of the Lord.

QUESTION: Good morning! I just had a few questions about the Sabbath day. I believe as well the Sabbath day is a day of rest and is to be kept holy and pure. The part I don’t really understand is how do we truly know if the Sabbath day was on a Saturday and not Sunday or Thursday or some other day? Robyn, Missouri

ANSWER: Good morning. That’s a very common question that’s very easy to answer. First, we have God’s promise that though Heaven and earth may pass away His word would never pass away. This would of course serve to preserve all His Commandments. Consider also that when speaking of the Great Tribulation yet to come, that He instructed His followers who would be living in Judea to flee to the mountains when they saw the Abomination of Desolation standing in the Temple -He told believers to pray that this would not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath Day.(Matthew 24:15-22) This could not be a warning to non-believing Jews since they do not read nor accept the teachings of Jesus. This time has yet to come, yet Jesus is clearly making a distinction between the holiness of the Seventh Day and the six common days of the week.

Secondly, Paul told the Romans that the Jews were entrusted with the sacred oracles of God. The Scriptures, the calendar needed for the Holy Days and the Sabbath would certainly be included since oracle means revelation. The Jews still today acknowledge that Saturday is the seventh day of creation.

Thirdly, it seems that many people who believe in the Bible and in Jesus think that it’s impossible to know which week day was the original seventh day since creation was so long ago. But for those of us who accept Jesus as the Son of God, and that He is identified as the One who spoke the world into existence in John 1, Hebrews 1, Colossians 1-then we need not go any farther back in time than His time on earth 2000 years ago. He kept the Sabbath on what we call Saturday for there has been no historical change during that time period.

And lastly, more than 100 cultures verify with their individual languages that Saturday is the seventh day Sabbath. Here is a list of some, -Arabic: Sabet -Armenian: Shabat -Greek: Savvato -Latin: Sabbatum -Portuguese: Sabado -Russian: Subbota -Italian: Sabato, etc.

Also, Sunday keepers observe Sunday because it follows the Sabbath. They erroneously believe that the Passover crucifixion was on Friday, the preparation day for the Sabbath-therefore they knew that Saturday was the Sabbath -can’t count three days and three nights there though. John recorded that after the Sabbath, early on the first day (Sunday) while it was still dark Mary Magdalene went to the tomb to find that it was already empty. Days begin and end at sundown in the Bible. The Roman Church later used this to teach that Jesus was raised early morning on the first day and thus began forsaking the Sabbath as holy to venerating Sunday.

Cosmological Argument For God

A good argument is a sound argument in which the premises are more plausible in light of the evidence than their opposites. You should compare the premise and its negation and believe whichever one is more plausibly true in light of the evidence. A good argument will be a sound argument whose premises are more plausible than their negations. Given that definition, the question is this: Are there good arguments for God’s existence?

The cosmological argument comes in a variety of forms. Here’s a simple version of the famous version from contingency: 1. Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence, either in the necessity of its own nature or in an external cause. 2. If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. 3. The universe exists. 4. Therefore, the universe has an explanation of its existence (from 1, 3). 5. Therefore, the explanation of the universe’s existence is God (from 2, 4).

Now this is a logically airtight argument. That is to say, if the premises are true, then the conclusion is unavoidable. It doesn’t matter if we don’t like the conclusion. So long as we grant the three premises, we have to accept the conclusion. So the question is this: Which is more plausible—that those premises are true or that they are false?

According to premise 1, there are two kinds of things: things which exist necessarily and things which are produced by some external cause. Let me explain. Things that exist necessarily exist by a necessity of their own nature. It’s impossible for them not to exist. Many mathematicians think that numbers, sets, and other mathematical entities exist in this way. They’re not caused to exist by something else; they just exist necessarily.

By contrast, things that are caused to exist by something else don’t exist necessarily. They exist contingently. They exist because something else has produced them. Familiar physical objects like people, planets, and galaxies belong in this category. So premise 1 asserts that everything that exists can be explained in one of these two ways. This claim, when you reflect on it, seems very plausibly true.

Imagine that you’re hiking through the woods and come across a translucent ball lying on the forest floor. You’d naturally wonder how it came to be there. If one of your hiking partners said to you, "Don’t worry about it! There isn’t any explanation of its existence!", you’d either think he was crazy or figure that he just wanted you to keep moving. No one would take seriously the suggestion that the ball existed there with literally no explanation.

Now suppose you increase the size of the ball in this story to the size of a car. That wouldn’t do anything to satisfy or remove the demand for an explanation. Suppose it were the size of a house. Same problem. Suppose it were the size of a continent or a planet. Same problem. Suppose it were the size of the entire universe. Same problem. Merely increasing the size of the ball does nothing to affect the need of an explanation. Since any object could be substituted for the ball in this story, that gives grounds for thinking premise 1 to be true.

Premise 2 -If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. Is it more plausibly true than false? Although premise 2 might appear at first to be controversial, what’s really awkward for the atheist is that premise 2 is logically equivalent to the typical atheist response to the contingency argument. (Two statements are logically equivalent if it’s impossible for one to be true and the other one false. They stand or fall together.) So what does the atheist almost always say in response to the contingency argument? He typically asserts the following: A. If atheism is true, the universe has no explanation of its existence. Since, in atheism, the universe is the ultimate reality, it just exists as a brute fact.

But that is logically equivalent to saying this: B. If the universe has an explanation of its existence, then atheism is not true. So you can’t affirm (A) and deny (B). But (B) is virtually synonymous with premise 2! So by saying that, given atheism, the universe has no explanation, the atheist is implicitly admitting premise 2: If the universe does have an explanation, then God exists. Just think of what the universe is: all of space-time reality, including all matter and energy. It follows that if the universe has a cause of its existence, that cause must be a non-physical, immaterial being beyond space and time -and that’s the definition of God.

Premise 3 is undeniable for any sincere seeker after truth. Obviously the universe exists!

Conclusion: From these three premises it follows that God exists. Now if God exists, the explanation of God’s existence lies in the necessity of his own nature, since, as even the atheist recognizes, it’s impossible for God to have a cause. So if this argument is successful, it proves the existence of a necessary, uncaused, timeless, spaceless, immaterial, personal Creator of the universe.

The Lord is Searching

The love and mercy of our Father God is so amazing, far beyond the comprehension of our natural mind. The love of carnal man is so selfish, -a love always being given in measures for self gratification. Man wants recognition from the one he offers his affection to, and if he doesn’t receive what he thinks he is entitled to, then he declares war! The natural man is so easily offended. His pride so easily wounded. So the offender better duck because the shrapnel will be flying.

There is only one thing that can tame this untamed nature of man, and that is the love of God, which is offered freely, but must be received. A prideful, self sufficient person feels that he needs no one -he can make his own way. And he doesn’t want anyone telling him how to live his life. It’s his life, he will live it as he chooses. So what can a loving Creator and Father do? He has to show this self-exalted one how little he really knows about anything. And make him aware how much he truly needs the Lord.

The storms of life will surely come, and they are beyond man’s ability to control or solve alone. In the midst of these the loving Father seeks to reveal to every precious soul the pureness of His love for him. The cross was lifted high with our precious Lord hanging in agony. With His gazed fixed on sinners He cried, "Father forgive him they don’t know what they are is doing".

When a person’s spiritual eyes are opened to a love that can only be seen in the face of Jesus, he realizes that it’s a love he hasn’t experienced before. And if he listens carefully he can hear, "This is for you son. Now your debt is paid, receive it and live, you are free." "For whom the Lord sets free is free indeed." When a sinner sees his sins he somehow realizes that it should be him on that cross. And he asks himself, "how could anyone love me so much to be crucified for me?" He is so convicted now he repents and yields his life to God. In time this new man learns to place his life fully into the faithful hands of his Creator. He will say "Lord, live your precious life in me. May your will be done." Now Christ is in control and lives His life in this clay vessel. Thus the Lord has a tabernacle made without hands to indwell.

To become our Savior Jesus had to give up everything. He came to earth as a mere man to defeat the enemy of our soul, and make the way for man to live a victorious life in faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. However man seems to revert back to the rebellious ways of Adam, and the Lord has continuously had to deal with these earthen vessels. Hear His cry- pleading to mankind from the day of Adams transgression to the present day.

Ezekiel 22: 23-30 - "And the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of Man say unto her, "Thou art not a clean land, nor art thou sprinkled with rain in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken treasures and honor; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law by force and have profaned my Holy things; they have made no difference between the Holy and the profane, neither have they shown the difference between the unclean and the clean and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls to follow their own greed. Her prophets have plastered them over with loose mud prophesying vanity and divining lies among them saying, Thus hath the Lord God said, when the Lord has not spoken `The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery and have done violence unto the poor and needy; they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I have sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it, but I found none".

11 Chron. 7:14 tells us "If my people upon whom my name is invoked, shall humble themselves, pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from the heavens and will forgive their sin and will heal their land"

Today, as in days past, the people of the land have gone their own way, defiling the tabernacle, walking in all the ways of the evil one. Yet our Father can still be heard calling out to His straying children, "return, repent and I’ll reinstate you, protect you, and provide for you, just as I did with Israel." If our country continues in her rebellion, turning her back on God, there will be a day of reckoning, and judgment. It is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of an angry God. It is our decision to go with God or continue going our own way. We may not be able to change the nation but we can be lights shining forth in the darkness.

The enemy is after America, because she was established by divine providence. People came to America to be free to worship God. The leaders of this land looked to God for leadership. Bibles and prayer was in the homes, the government, and the schools; even though the enemy was still ever present looking for a way in to steal, deceive or corrupt.

Ephesians 6:10-18, tells us how to prepare to stand in the face of the enemy, - "Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the Lords of this age, rulers of this darkness, against spiritual wickedness in the heavens. Therefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and stand firm. Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with TRUTH, having put on the breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the SHIELD of FAITH, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of SALVATION, and the SWORD of the SPIRIT, which is the WORD OF GOD, With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints". Jesus is the Truth, our Righteousness, our Peace, our Shield, our Faith, our Salvation, the Sword, and The Word.

This armor is spiritual, and it clothes the spiritual man which has been made a holy tabernacle. The Holy Spirit dwells in His saints. The world sees the earthly tabernacle, but the devil sees the spirit man covered in heavenly authority or Christ Jesus. We have been made one with Christ -individual members of His holy and righteous Body. He works through us; we are His hands, His feet, His mouth. He abides in us, and we in Him. He has given us power and authority, the power of attorney to use His name, as we are one with Him and the Father.

Isaiah wrote that the Lord’s arm brought salvation unto him, and His righteousness sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a coat of mail, and a helmet of salvation upon his head and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped himself with zeal as a mantle. – They will fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. For He will come like a rushing stream which the wind of the Lord drives. A redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob.

We have the promise of the Lord in Is. 54:17 that "No weapon formed against us will prosper, every tongue that rises against us in judgment, we shall condemn, this is our heritage." Now that the spirit man has on the armor of God, the enemy sees Christ coming against him, not us as a mere earthly being. Our weapons of warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to pull down strongholds. Mat. 12:29 says first bind the strong man before we can plunder his house. The strong man is the principality, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places. What we bind on earth is bound in heaven, what we loose on earth is loosed in heaven.

The Lord is looking for a people to pray without ceasing; to pray for all people; the leaders of the land, the good and the bad, not just the ones we agree with. We are told to pray for those held captive, and for those being persecuted for righteousness sake, as if it were we ourselves being in bondage and held captive. We are told to love our enemy, and pray for those who spitefully use us. This means we pray for the Muslims, homosexuals, the child traffickers, the transgenders, the abusers, persecutors, dictators; why? Because we do not war against flesh, but against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places. Christ died for all men, and all the undesirables are held captive by Satan and blinded by his lie, deceit, and power. All men need to hear the true Word to be able to make their choice for Christ or against Him.

Let the Church awaken from slumber, -let God rise to her cry, and all His enemies be scattered. We truly are in the last days, so let us be about our Fathers business and work while it is yet day. Let us be the light of the world, and the salt of the earth. Let us stand in the gap for our Lord.

Following Christ From a Distance

"Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance." (Luke 22:54 NASB) Peter tried to follow what was happening to Christ without being seen. One of the gravest mistakes we can make is to try and follow Jesus from a distance.

If we walk down that road of not being seen or heard for Christ, it can eventually lead us to deny him. In times where following Christ can put us in an uncomfortable or precarious situation, we can start to distance ourselves from him. We don’t outright deny Christ, we just begin to be silent and become a sort of a secret Christian. We never receive the power to live for him by distancing ourselves from him. If we become more and more silent, in a moment of weakness, we can find ourselves denying him. There is no status quo in the Kingdom of God, we are either moving towards Christ or away from him.

I wish I could tell you that I have always had victory in this area, but I would be lying to you if I did. I can remember numerous times where I should have spoken up for Christ, but I didn’t. My sin was not of co-mission, but of omission. It was not what I did but what I didn’t do. In spite of my weakness, I have found, like Peter did, that God always gives us another chance. God understands our frailty and gives us grace in time of our need. God is our strength. We never receive the grace to live for Christ by moving away from him but towards him.

Today is Not the Complete Story

Our time on earth is not the complete story-we were made for eternity. Abraham followed God not knowing where he was going. But he knew who he was following and trusted even while in the scarceness of the desert. When we understand that our life has meaning we can bear anything. There is no success outside of His will, and no failure in His will. We may choose many things, but we cannot choose our purpose-it has already been ordained. Thank you Lord, for I know that you have good plans for me.

Authority and Accountability

Did you know that there is a pathogen on your skin right now that could kill you? It's called Staphylococcus Epidermidis, a kissing cousin to MRSA, and it is potentially deadly. But it's not just on you, almost everyone is playing host to this invisible killer. So how is it that we are all managing to stay alive?

We have been given an amazing immune system with highly complex and effective mechanisms for detecting pathogens and preventing them from immediately doing us in. In love, God designed this astonishing feature of our biology to protect our bodies against this and countless other infectious and potentially deadly agents in our environment.

Wait a minute, you may be protesting, if He is so loving, why would God make pathogens and diseases in the first place? A full answer to that big question would take a long time to lay out. If you want to dive deeply into it, please check out our many videos, articles, and booklets at www.pointsoftruth.com. For the purposes of this article, however, we'll just make a couple of brief observations.

God did not make sickness or disease, any more than light makes darkness or heat makes cold. Darkness is what we call the absence of light and cold is what we call the absence of heat. Just so, sickness and death are merely degrees of absence of God's perfect wholeness and life. He didn't make them, they were brought into existence through rejecting God and His instruction. One might just as well blame a book for making ignorance for those who refuse to read it. He could have, of course, prevented that rebellion by not giving us free will, but then we would not be able to freely choose to love Him.

We should also take note that God knew in advance that man would fall into sin. He didn't interfere with our freedom to choose, but He clearly foresaw that we would fall prey to Satan's deception and had already made a plan to sacrifice His precious Son, Jesus, so that we could be rescued from the curse that follows sin. The Bible reveals that the Lamb, that is Jesus, was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).

In fact, the very first blood shed on earth, was that of animal whose skin God used to clothe Adam and Eve after their rebellion. It, like Abraham's ram which he offered in place of Isaac, and Israel's Passover lamb, offered in place of their first born sons, were a foreshadowing of the true Lamb of God who would give Himself as a perfect sacrifice once and for all, so that everyone who chooses, can be set free from the curse that we brought on ourselves when we rejected His Word in the garden.

We see in Genesis that God in His awesome power created almost everything by commanding it to exist. He spoke the atmosphere, sea, dry land, vegetation, land animals, sun, moon, and stars into existence. He simply said, "let them be" and on the authority of His word, they came to be.

We also find that there is a divine pattern at work with the living creatures. He created the cattle after the cattle kind, birds after the bird kind, fish after the fish kind, and so on. Not so with us. God created us after the God kind. That is why He did not merely speak a command to create us as he had the rest of creation. No, with us it was personal. He delicately formed Adam with His own hands and breathed life into him.

How amazing! I love the picture that the Lord gives us in this text. It could not be more personal and intimate. Try to see it in your mind's eye. God, as a master Sculptor, lovingly and passionately forming man in his own image and likeness with His own hands. Then, when He is satisfied that we are a masterpiece worthy of such an image, He breathes life into us. How great are the unfathomable love and riches He has lavished on us from the very beginning?!

Understanding what an amazing thing it is to be given the image and likeness of God Himself, and seeing the great personal care that He took in fashioning our bodies, helps us to understand why He would create such an incredible mechanism as our immune system to protect our bodies from harm. Simply put and rightly understood, our immune systems were given to us in love to help us thrive and protect us from harm. And when you think about the innumerable deadly pathogens surrounding us every day, aren't you thankful for your immune system?

Just as God loves and took great care in creating our physical bodies, He loves and has taken equal care in creating the spiritual body of Christ. When you think about it, the importance of our physical bodies is much lesser than Christ's spiritual body as they are merely temporary, whereas Jesus' spiritual body is eternal. Our physical bodies are merely a reflection of God's glory, whereas in the body of Christ resides the fullness of that glory (Colossians 2:9).

Each individual member of the body of Christ has been very carefully chosen and placed there in such a way that brings Him glory and makes Him happy. All of the holy saints from Abel to Abraham, from Moses to Mary, right down to you and me, are a part of the Church-the body and bride of Christ."But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired" (1 Corinthians 12:18). "Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it" (1 Corinthians 12:27)."...So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another" (Romans 12:5).

Jesus loves His church as a husband loves his bride, and the mysterious oneness found uniquely in the marriage covenant was actually created by God to picture the union of Christ and the church, as Paul explains in his letter to the church in Ephesus, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also {does} the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the Church" (Ephesians 5:25-32).

Like the deadly viruses and bacteria that surround and threaten our fleshly bodies, there is an even more deadly agent in our environment that threatens the body of Christ. It is rebellion, contempt and distrust towards God's authority. It comes from Satan, the first rebel, and infected our perception through the fallen nature which we inherited from Adam. Even now it pervades the very atmosphere of the whole world, as the devil is the God of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and continuously broadcasts his poisonous attitude.

Though Satan was the greatest of all created beings and was given the best gifts and highest position in the courts of heaven, He became resentful and distrusting of God. He created the lie, as the father of lies, that God was holding him back and that he would be better off if He waged war against God and took His throne. That is How Satan became the first rebel and how sin came into existence (Ezekiel 28:11-19, Isaiah 14:12-16).

Of course, he did not become better off, but rather he plunged himself and a third of the Angels into misery and torment as they fell to earth like lightening (Revelation 12:4, Luke 10:18). We see their absolute terror in the New Testament as they encounter Jesus and beg not to receive their judgment before the time, which as the Bible makes plain is not to rule in hell, but rather to be destroyed in the Lake of Fire in the presence of the Lamb (Matthew 8:29, Revelation 14:10).

Not only did Satan infect a third of the Angels with this deadly pathogen of rebellion, but we find in Genesis chapter three that he transmitted it to Adam and Eve, convincing them that God was keeping something good from them and that they could disobey Him and live. As a result, every person since then has been born with resentment and distrust for God's authority as our default setting. The Bible calls this the carnal or sinful nature. It is only by receiving Jesus' divine nature by repenting of our sin and allowing Him to actively live through us by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can see God and His authority accurately and truly understand that every thing He does, both what He forbids and commands, He does out of love.

In the same way that God gave our fleshly bodies an immune system to help us thrive and protect us from infections, He gave the body of Christ, the church, positions of authority and mutual accountability to protect us from false teachers, dangerous heresies, and pernicious sin which can so easily creep in under our individual radars, and in turn, infect many others in the body.

Here we see the Apostle Paul lays out plainly why God has given the church offices and positions of authority. Not to grind us under their thumbs and subjugate us in tyranny as Satan constantly accuses. Jesus strongly condemned the Pharisees for precisely that practice and sternly warned and consistently taught His disciples not to behave that way, but to follow His example in humbly serving and even laying down his life for the sheep.

Rather, Paul shows that the offices which God ordained serve to equip the saints for service, help us to be perfectly unified with Jesus and one another, and to help us mature into the likeness of Christ. He also points out that authorities protect us against men who would try to trick us with false doctrines, who subtly and surreptitiously seek to weaken and if possible destroy us. So when we see God's ordained offices of authority with clear eyes, untainted by the stigma of Satan's bitter and hostile attitude, we understand that they are there for our good and were given to us in love. We should no more resent them than we do our physical body's immune system.

Notice too that those who are placed by God in positions of authority, take it as a grave responsibility to serve in such a way as to bring glory to the Lord. "Obey your leaders and submit {to them,} for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account..." (Hebrews 13:14).. Who knew this better than Paul who said that he would give up his own salvation if it meant that his countrymen would be saved (Romans 9:3)? Who daily bore the weight of the spiritual well-being of the churches which he had planted, and wept tears over them as he wrote letters to encourage and strengthen them? Who suffered beatings, imprisonment, cold, hunger, and many sleepless nights to nurture and protect the body of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:27)?

If we find that we have a bitter and hostile attitude towards authority, we should know that we actually have a bitter and hostile attitude towards God."Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God" (Romans 13:1). Jesus affirmed this truth as he stood before Pilot, the Governor of Judea, on the day that He was crucified, "...Do you not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify you? Jesus answered, 'You would have no authority over me, unless it had been given you from above..."(John 19:10-11).

In addition to authority, God has given the church mutual accountability to protect us. For all of our individual strengths and gifts, we all have vulnerabilities and blind spots. As keen as our perception may be in some areas, we may be equally blind in others. That is why the Lord instructs us to watch over one another.

Many today misuse this teaching of Jesus to argue that we are not to address the speck in our brother's eye ever or at all, but always just take care to get the logs out of our own eyes. Of course, both specks and logs in this teaching represent sin.

The problem with this view is that it directly opposes what Jesus said. He plainly states that the reason we are to keep our eyes log-free, is so we can see clearly to help our brother get speck out of his eye. He wants us to help each other, but is warning us against becoming hypocritical and being filled with an attitude of superiority as the Pharisees were.

Rather we are to always be humble and remember that we have our own weaknesses and blind spots and that our brother will have to restore us at some point as well. "Brethren, even if anyone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; {each one} looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:1-2).

Notice here that helping protect one another from the deceitfulness of sin, which so can so easily ensnare us, Paul says that we are helping to bear the burden of our brother- we lighten their load. When the Apostle says that this fulfills the Law of Christ, I immediately think of Jesus' command to love one another the way that He has loved us.

Satan has infected the whole world with the deadly and contagious attitude of bitterness and resentment against God. In love, God has provided His church, the body and bride of Christ, offices with authority and mutual accountability to protect us.

"You cannot walk with God while holding hands with the devil. The Lord declares ‘Choose you this day whom you will serve!’" Larry R. Lasiter

"The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it; but in the end, there it is." Winston S. Churchill

The Quartodeciman Controversy

In the beginning the Gospel went out to the world from Jerusalem. And at first to the children of Israel scattered around the world. God later raised up Saul of Tarsus, renaming him "Paul" to be an Apostle to the Gentiles. When Gentiles began to receive the Gospel in large numbers a controversy arose on whether the new converts should be circumcised and taught to observe the whole Law of Moses. Because Jerusalem was the home of the original Apostles and birthplace of N.T. Christianity, a council was held there to decide the issue. The Gentile converts had insisted that the matter be taken up and debated in Jerusalem where the "pillars" of the faith resided.

A few years later in 70 AD the city and it’s Temple was sieged and destroyed by the Romans. Being forewarned of this impending destruction the Church fled to Pella six months earlier. After Jerusalem’s fall the city was no longer looked upon to lead the Churches. Rome was the Capital city of the Empire that ruled the known world, and soon the Christian Church there began to be the Church of influence.

Anicetus, was the Bishop of Rome in the 150's AD. The Church there had begun exercising power and directing all the Churches to forsake the Passover for a Sunday Resurrection observance (later called Easter -this included an annual "Good Friday" as the time Jesus was crucified. (Note: Interesting that when Jesus wrote to His seven Churches in Revelation 2 & 3 they were all in Asia Minor-possibly because the rest had wandered astray)

The Churches of Asia Minor resisted this change and sent Polycarp, a disciple of the Apostle John to Rome to discuss the differences that existed between Asia and Rome. Polycarp followed the practice of observing the Passover on the 14th of Nisan, regardless of what day of the week it fell on. Polycarp argued that he had been taught to observe it this way by John and other Apostles. Anicetus followed the newly installed western practice of celebrating a resurrection feast on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring equinox. Though the two representatives found no common ground on the matter, they parted as still considering themselves brothers. From this time on the brethren in Asia Minor were called Quartodecimans because they practiced Quartodecimanism ( Latin quarta decima meaning fourteenther)- the custom of observing the Passover beginning with the eve of the 14th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar.

About ten years later Polycarp was sentenced to be burned at the stake for refusing to burn incense to the Emperor of Rome. When the flames failed to touch him he sang songs of praise, upon which he was quickly stabbed to death. Afterwards another great leader from Asia Minor filled the void left by his death, his name was Polycrates.

By the 190's AD there was a new Bishop of Rome -his name was Victor and is recognized in history as being a Pope. He was not so tolerant of the differences practiced by the Churches in Asia and threatened to excommunicate them if they would not forsake the Passover for the Resurrection Feast. There was a considerable measure of anti-Jewish sentiment at this time, and to practice anything that was "Jewish" or even appeared "Jewish" was frowned upon. This is what eventually led to forsaking the "Jewish" Sabbath for Sunday worship.

Though Victor pressed and threatened the bishops of Asia, led by Polycrates, the Churches decided to hold to the apostolic custom handed down to them. In a letter which Polycrates addressed to Victor and the church of Rome, he set forth in the following words the tradition which had come down to him: "We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s coming, when He shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints.

He then writes of all the bishops who were present with him and thought as he did. His words are as follows: "I could mention the bishops who were present, whom I summoned at your desire; whose names, should I write them, would constitute a great multitude. And they, beholding my littleness, gave their consent to the letter, knowing that I did not bear my gray hairs in vain, but had always governed my life by the Lord Jesus."

As a result, Victor immediately attempted to cut off from the common unity the Churches of all Asia as being in heresy. And he wrote letters and sent them forth declaring all the brethren in Asia were wholly excommunicated from the Body of Jesus Christ.

What have we learned from the Quartodeciman Controversy? We learned that the original Apostles and early Church observed the Passover at the beginning of the 14^th day of the first Hebrew month-the "genuine day." We learned that observing the Passover is part of the Gospel and the rule of faith. We learned that the early Church believed the dead were asleep awaiting the resurrection. We learned that though the Church at Rome and its Bishop/Pope began exercising authority over Christian Churches the world over, the Churches in Asia Minor did not recognize that authority but held to the teachings and traditions of the Apostles.

It was the Roman Church that replaced the Sabbath with Sunday -replaced the Bible Holy Days with the Holidays of Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, etc, and replaced Passover with Communion. And most of the great denominations that arose from the Protestant Reformation still follow many of the teachings of Rome. As for me and my Church, we like Polycarp and Polycrates, will follow the teachings and customs of the Apostles of Jesus.

"He will guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked will be silent in darkness. For by strength no man shall prevail." (1 Samuel 2:9)

Following God is not about human talent, or human strength. What God wants from us most of all is not our great abilities or special talents -though they may play a part. He wants us to hunger and thirst for Him and for His righteousness. He wants us to look to Him and allow Him to put His mind and character in us. We will have all the power we can possibly handle if we do that.

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast, I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made, I am 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, my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don't have to be first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in His presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, 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 until He stops me. And, when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. . .my banner will be clear.

Sept. 9, 2017: While I was reading through Amos I was struck by the Lord saying that He had sent calamity after calamity in the land yet they had not sought the Lord but continued in sin. Reading these Scriptures reminded me of Jesus pronouncing the woes upon Jerusalem saying "You will not see Me again until you say ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’" I then remembered that the Lord had recently told me America was abandoned because she has abandoned the Lord. I thought of Rev.9 where the sixth trumpet sounds and God releases four great demons imprisoned in the Euphrates to kill a third of mankind. Some of our soldiers in Iraq testified that they could hear eerie sounds and feel the presence of evil in a low area of the river. As I was thinking of these things I heard "captivity" and was quickened to read Joel 1:6, -"For a nation has invaded my land, mighty and without number; It’s teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness."

Moral Argument for God’s Existence

C.S. Lewis was undoubtedly one of the greatest Christian apologists of the twentieth century. One of Lewis’s most powerful arguments in Mere Christianity is his first one: what the existence of a universal moral law implies about the existence of God. Lewis begins with a seemingly off-topic statement: "Everyone has heard people quarreling." He gives examples of things people say when they feel they have been mistreated: "How would you like it if anyone did the same to you?" or "Come on, you promised."

What interests me about all these remarks is that the man who makes them is not merely saying that the other man’s behavior does not happen to please him. He is appealing to some kind of standard of behavior which he expects the other man to know about. And the other man very seldom replies: "To hell with your standard."

You might be thinking that in today’s charged environment someone may well respond with "To hell with your standard!" Conservative writers and speakers are constantly complaining that the young people of our culture are relativistic and amoral. But don’t forget that Lewis was aware of moral relativism in 1940s England, too. Such ideas were already in vogue in the academy, if not on street level. But as one Manhattan Pastor observed, -"The secular, young adults I have known have a very finely honed sense of right and wrong. There are many things happening in the world that evoke their moral outrage." Of course the statement, "There is no objective truth" is itself a truth-statement. Proponents of this view think they are correct, that their view is true. We simply can’t get away from this idea of truth, can we?

He may have had many of his Oxford colleagues in mind when he wrote, -‘But the most remarkable thing is this. Whenever you find a man who says he does not believe in a real Right and Wrong, you will find the same man going back on this a moment later. He may break his promise to you, but if you try breaking one to him he will be complaining ‘It’s not fair’ before you can say Jack Robinson.

A nation may say treaties do not matter, but then, next minute, they spoil their case by saying that the particular treaty they want to break was an unfair one. But if treaties do not matter, and if there is no such thing as Right and Wrong-in other words, if there is no Law of Nature-what is the difference between a fair treaty and an unfair one? Have they not let the cat out of the bag and shown that, whatever they say, they really know the Law of Nature just like anyone else? It seems, then, we are forced to believe in a real Right and Wrong."

1. There is a universal moral law, which applies to everyone. Whether or not people explicitly believe in such a thing, they appeal to it all the time—complaining that they’re the victim when someone else doesn’t obey it, and attempting to excuse themselves when they don’t obey it personally. This leads us to Lewis’s next point.

2. All of us are have been or will be breakers of this moral law. We all sin. Only the delusional or those who never examine their consciences would deny this.

3. The existence of this universal, moral law strongly implies a moral law giver (which we would call God, but we’re not quite there yet).

Now, as Lewis adds later, we are "not yet within a hundred miles of the God of Christian theology." This last point is still far from providing sufficient evidence for the Judeo-Christian concept of God, or the divinity of Christ. But it’s a potential starting point for belief in God, and that’s why Lewis leads off Mere Christianity with this argument. It’s also a starting point you and I can use when attempting to engage secular people in discussions about ultimate reality: a universal moral law exists, which in turn strongly implies the existence of God.

Objective Moral Values

Objective moral values are rooted in God's nature, not in His will, and that nature expresses itself toward us in the form of divine commandments, which constitute our moral duties. God may have subjective feelings, but these are not the basis of moral value or obligation. Far from being incompatible with objective moral values and duties, subjective feelings like compassion, moral indignation, sympathy, and so on are actually part of being a perfectly good moral agent.

I suspect that the problem with many is that they don’t share some of the moral feelings ascribed to God and so reject His being the foundation of morality. The idea of a personal, accountable Creator stands in the way of many’s chosen path of indulgence.

Perhaps the difficulty here is that some seem to think of God simply as a creator. But the theistic concept of God is much richer than the notion of a creator and designer of the universe. He is also what Plato called the ultimate Good. God is the highest Good. We have a moral obligation to love and worship Him. And He would be evil if He did not care whether people fulfill their moral obligations or not.

The Finger of God

God could have simply instructed Moses to write the Commandments down like He did the Book of the Law, but He chose to write them into stone with His own finger -both personal and intimate. The Book of the Law which was comprised of additional laws which were added because of transgressions were written onto animal skins and placed on the outside of the Ark of the Covenant while the stone tablets were placed inside under the Mercy Seat.

I had an experience with the finger of God once. We were holding tent crusades in Clarksville, Arkansas in December of 2007 and a young woman came even though she was down in her back and was unable to walk or even stand. They laid her on a blanket in the back of the tent and that is where she stayed during the entire service. After the service one of our members came and told me that someone needed to be anointed for healing and was waiting in the back.

When I got there some of the Church members had stood her up and were waiting to join me in prayer. I took my olive oil out and poured it on both of my hands, then I placed my left hand on her head and put my right hand on the small of her back just under her shirt. As I prayed we all began to feel the sweet but powerful presence of God.

The Lord moved me to just continue to lift her need up in prayer and as I prayed I began to feel movement under her skin there on the small of her back. As the sensation got stronger I could actually feel the finger of God in a circular movement on the small of her back. I didn't look but I believe that the form of God's finger would have been visible because I was feeling it in three dimension.

Her mother was there and also had her hand on her back and when I said, -"I feel the finger of God!" she said, -"I feel it too!" The young woman was standing but was bent over in pain until that moment - then she literally bolted upright and jumped and began shouting, -"I am healed! I am healed" "Praise God, He healed me!" "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord!"

We all erupted in praise and a mini praise and worship service spontaneously happened there in the back of our tent on a cold December night. There was plenty of shouting, crying and rejoicing!

It is so hard to get people to come to a tent crusade even in good weather so we had considered canceling that service because of the cold but decided to push through anyway. It resulted in God meeting us there for a glorious service and a much needed healing. Our tent has sides and is even centrally heated, but most people do not know that and few will brave the conditions to come in bad weather. But for those who do, sometimes it touches the heart of God so deeply that He is moved to move.

This young woman endured the pain and the weather and pressed through into His presence and was blessed and healed by the very finger of God. Had either of us taken the easier, well-traveled road and decided to stay in the comfort of our homes on a cold winter night, God would have been denied the glory of this healing testimony.

And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. He said, "If you give me victory over the Ammonites, I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." (Judges 11:30-31)

Sometimes we can do things to bring about a good result with a bad action. Jephthah made a vow before he had thought it through. Often, we try to give God things he does not want.

Tragically, when Jephthah returned from battle, Mizpah, his daughter, and only child, ran out to meet him. His heart sank. Zeal for the Lord is good if it has been measured by wisdom. Jephthah spoke before considering the consequences of his words.

Bad methods never bring about good results. The Bible tells us that obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). Surely, compliance does often include some form of sacrifice, but sacrifice is not a prerequisite for obedience. We frequently try to negotiate a deal with God. Jephthah made a proposition, if you give me victory, then I will return the favor. God deals through a covenant relationship, not by contract. We sacrifice because we already have God’s favor not to obtain it.

Obedience has no contingency clauses that say if you will, I will. If we relate to God on a contractual basis, we will always end up giving him things that he does not require. The problem with this strategy is that everything depends on what we do and not what God does. Sacrifice, unless directed by God, is futile. When we give just to get from God, it has the opposite effect, as Jephthah found due to his tragic vow.

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