Tuesday, February 25, 2014

FAMILY MOVIEGUIDE AWARDS ON THE REELZ CHANNEL THIS SATURDAY

 The 22nd Annual MOVIEGUIDE Awards 
this Saturday March 1  2pm EDT1pm CDT . 11am PacTime
Reelz Logo

LIST OF NOMINEES
  • BEST FAMILY FILMS
    • Black Nativity
    • Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
    • The Croods
    • Despicable Me 2
    • Frozen (2013)
    • Grace Unplugged
    • Linsanity
    • Monsters University
    • Oz, The Great and Powerful
    • Turbo

  • BEST MATURE AUDIENCE FILMS
    • 42
    • Captain Phillips
    • Gravity
    • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
    • The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
    • Iron Man 3
    • Man of Steel
    • Thor: The Dark World
    • The Tower

  • EPIPHANY PRIZE MOVIES
    • 42
    • Black Nativity
    • Grace Unplugged
    • Man of Steel
    • The Tower

  • EPIPHANY PRIZE TELEVISION
    • The Bible
    • Blue Bloods: Bad Blood
    • The Cross
    • Duck Dynasty: Till Duck Do Us Part
    • Last Man Standing: Back to School

  • FAITH & FREEDOM AWARD MOVIES
    • 42
    • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
    • The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
    • Iron Man 3
    • Man of Steel
    • Turbothe-full-list-of-nominees-for-the-22nd-annual-movieguide-awards

  • FAITH & FREEDOM AWARD TELEVISION
    • Blue Bloods: Bad Blood
    • Christmas in Conway
    • Duck Dynasty: Till Duck Do Us Part
    • Last Man Standing: Back to School
    • Remember Sunday
    • Secret Millionaire: George & Kym Rapier: Oakridge, Oregon

  • FREE ENTERPRISE AWARD MOVIES
    • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
    • Monsters University
    • Turbo

  • FREE ENTERPRISE AWARD TELEVISION
    • Christmas in Conway
    • Last Man Standing: Back to School
    • Remember Sunday
    • Secret Millionaire: George & Kym Rapier: Oakridge, Oregon
    • Shark Tank: Episode 4.20

  • GRACE AWARD MOVIES
    • 42
    • Harrison Ford
    • Black Nativity
    • Forest Whittaker
    • Grace Unplugged
    • AJ Michalka
    • James Denton
    • Gravity
    • Sandra Bullock
    • Man of Steel
    • Henry Cavill
    • Russell Crowe

  • GRACE AWARD TELEVISION
    • The Bible
  • Roma Downey
  • Diogo Morgado

  • Last Man Standing; Back to School
  • Tim Allen
  • Willie Robertson
  • The Cross
  • Billy Graham
  • Blue Bloods: Bad Blood
  • Len Cariou

  • Sunday, February 23, 2014

    #SON OF GOD SET TO GO BIG....WHAT ABOUT NOAH?

    Two brand new movie are due to hit the screens in the next two weeks. One is based on the Bible, the other one is Noah. The most important release is called "SON OF GOD", the Mark Burnett-Roma Downey movie, reflective of the phenomenal 2013 History Channel Series "The Bible". While that series "The Bible", contained some contextual errors, it reached a new generation which most of those criticizing the series will never reach.

    Whenever the Word of God goes out into the atmosphere, great things happen - including spiritual warfare. A clash of systems is about to hit this planet when those two movies go public. Son of God tells the powerful story of Jesus Christ, the Son of God Who became Man, so He could identify with His Creation - thus willingly give His Life that He may SAVE those who repent and believe.
    Son of God is produced by two solid Christian believers - Burnett and Downey (husband and wife) - who believe the Gospel as preached in Mark 1:15. Jesus sent John the Baptist ahead with the message of Repentance.......then in His first message of the Gospel of the Kingdom, He said plain "REPENT, BELIEVE the Gospel and BE SAVED". That is the order. Through this beautifully woven story of Love and Compassion that message comes through along with the word "RESCUE". Jesus basically came to rescue humanity with a free offer of Faith and Salvation. All we have to do is believe. 

    Word of mouth will carry this movie to "Passion of the Christ" status - off the charts. After watching the entire Burnett-Downey "The Bible" series and following the worldwide reaction on Twitter especially....and combining that with the most popular smartphone/tablet app in the world YOUVERSION, interest in the timeless Word of God is now at a peak! This movie will take this interest to a new level. What makes this movie authentic is the humility of its producers, who surrounded themselves with prayer warriors and pastors looking to tell the true story.
    What makes Noah, the next release, almost the Hollywood Dark Knight version of the The Flood, just plain wrong is the same thing on the other side. Son of God was done by Christians to tell the true story of Christ. Paramount seemed to have had good intentions to tell the amazing story of the Flood that wiped out rampant evil from the Earth, but Noah's Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky had other ideas. First of all, you don't win an Oscar in today's Hollywood by being fair and balanced to Christians and the Bible. We just saw what happened last month when the Oscars pulled the nomination of the only Christian-based song, for song of the year, because the nominee was doing what every other nominee does - campaign to make the song known!

    Secondly Aronofsky's mission seems to be modern American low-rent lies and political correctness. It is not accident this movie looks like one of those Batman Dark Knight episodes, starring a man who hates God - Russell Crowe, who does NOT look 500 plus years old. We know that God had promised that He would not destroy the earth until the great Methuselah died. In fact the name Methuselah means "his death shall bring Judgment"! This Hollywood "dark knight" version is more about the leftist's favorite religious cult of "environmentalism and overpopulation"....or "climate change and abortion"! What in the world does this have to do with the account that begins in Genesis 6??!!
    Modern pagan American subjects like Climate Change and "overpopulation" are absolutely 180 degrees out of phase with the Biblical account of Noah.  Hollywood and their morally and intellectually vacant amen corner in the mainstream media, see nothing wrong with that they do and did (so far) in this movie. They think we Bible-believing Christians should just be grateful for the occasional bone and go out in droves to see their "masterpieces". What they don't seem to fully realize we take EVERY word of the Book SERIOUSLY! Every word was put there by the Lord for a reason. 

    There are more Bible based movies to come apart from these two, in coming months. The next major one is EXODUS (the story of Moses) starring Christian Bale and another called Mary, Mother of God with Ben Kingsley. We shall see how these pan out. In the Christian world, movies rise or fall on word of mouth.  When Noah (and others come out, we shall see what the "word on the street is"). I plan to see both, to be both fair and authentic, as far as any criticism of Noah. Paramount is nervous about any backlash and may be correcting course on this as we speak. So all of this public discourse on the Noah Movie pre-pub could result in a better movie. Let's hope....

    Monday, February 17, 2014

    NOTHING FROM NOTHING LEAVES NOTHING

    ....is actually part of a lyric from the old Billy Preston song "Nothing from Nothing" (1975). This word from the "Fifth Beatle", who was given that title due to the few gigs he had with the British pop group aptly described what the "Big Bang" is really all about.  

    Fresh on the heels of the great Creationism debate between Answers in Genesis/Creation
    Photo from Answers in Genesis
    Museum Founder Ken Ham and the former engineer from Boeing and well known atheist Bill Nye, the former TV Science Guy, the debate on Creation, Evolution and the Big Bang is raging once again. This is a debate which will never die or go away, until the Return of Jesus Christ removes all doubt - literally!


    What is particularly troubling to many of us who personally know and believe the Literal Truth of God and His Word is not the insults from Bill Nye that we put our faith in an ancient text written in "American English", but that so many self-described Christians think they can believe in both Creation and Evolution. While Bill Nye is blaspheming the Lord by repeatedly doing the exact thing the pharisees did, before Jesus condemned them all in Matthew 23, people who say they are Christians are denying the Word themselves, when they - like those in the Emergent Church - say it is "the Bible plus" or "Jesus plus"...evolution.

    A. To walk in the two worlds, which modern liberals in the church have to do, in order to hold that belief, rejects the Creation story of the Book of Genesis. Right off the bat, under terms of logic, this discounts the rest of their so-called belief if they then claim to believe only Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" or their selective out-of-context "judge not less ye be judged" or 1 Corinthians 13 "The Love Chapter".  The man or woman who rejects Christ outright is actually more honest than this kind of "a la mode" Cafeteria Christianity. In order words, there is no such thing as selective belief in the Word of God. Why? Jesus is the Word (Logos) and it is written in John 1, 1 John 1 and Revelation 19:13. The written Word of God is true. It is 66 books written over a period of 1600 yeras by 40 authors, most of whom did not know each other. It is one seamless proven story from beginning to end - about the same Person - Jesus!


    B. To walk in two worlds, modern and misled evangelicals have to have bought into the lie that you can influence the culture by "lifestyle" when the opposite happens. They buy this lifestyle lie because they do not know the Truth of Jesus, or are afraid to mention the Name of Jesus, or in most case - don't even know Jesus as Lord and Savior! These young people have been indoctrinated into believing in evolution and modern philosophy are truer than the air they breathe and are not even allowed to think critically anymore. The majority are taught not to question where these things came from, because "the evolution matter is "settled"". They do not even know that the Father of Evolution - Charles Darwin, a failed seminary student, said repeatedly in his THEORY that "If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. But I can find out no such case...(while trying to figure out the complexity of the human eye).

    They do not know that some of the biggest villains in history misused Darwin's theory to justify their agendas - from Margaret Sanger (who started Planned Parenthood), to Adolph Hitler in his book "Mein Kampf" to Eric Harris and Dylan Kleybold who are still talked about almost two decades after their 1999 shooting spree at Columbine High School in Colorado. Both young men wore T shirts which had Darwin's "Natural Selection" written on it.
    Watch this video from Ken Ham "Where Darwin did go wrong":

    They do not know the made up hoax about the "Missing Link" or the PILTDOWN MAN, one of the biggest lies in human history. This is from my own blog post on "Seven Things God Hates" (click here)The Piltdown Man is one of the longest run false testimonies ever about the origins of man. The Word clearly states that it was God Who made man in His own image. In the same way, a man named Charles Dawson created his own false mechanism. The fraud which last for more than 40 years - the longest running "scientific" falsehood in history - began when Dawson said he was "given" the remains of a "being" found in the quarry at Pilton, Sussex County in India. These remains of the secular "being" confirmed to some that here indeed was the "missing link".

    For four decades - lies after lies after lies abounded in the scientific/academic community.  All kinds of study and illogical reasoning were imputed to this so called Piltdown Man. That is, until the quiet investigation of this led to a big exposure in 1953 in TIME magazine. The Piltdown man was the Hoax of the Century! For four decades, the world's academic community thought their "missing link" of the bridge between apes and humans had been found. IT TURNED OUT TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN A WELL CRAFTED, DECEPTIVELY FILED AND STAINED PARTS OF A FULL DEVELOPED 600 year old HUMAN SKULL AND A JAWBONE OF AN ORANGUTAN!!! It was carefully crafted to deceive....to be a false witness to the lie of evolution, against the Truth of Creation.


    When you teach a kid the demonic lie that they are descended from an ape, when no such proof exists and never will, you are actually oppressing the soul of a your fellow human being and destroying his/her self-worth as a loved and valued child of God. If you wish to know why there is so much hopelessness in western society - the richest and most advanced ever on this planet - look no further than their lack of Faith in the real Creator Who does not make junk or mistakes. Unfortunately for these many alive today, and those yet to be born, there are not many pastors/teachers or men like Ken Ham, Ray Comfort or Eric Hovind who will speak the Truth to these wonderful young folks, even if it means being called a crazy person by liberal people in bow ties and the media.

    C. To walk in the world, modern evangelicals (since we already lost the liberal church to secular society) have to believe the lie of the "The Big Bang". The story of how a Jesuit priest from Belgium - Monsignor Georges Lemaitre - came to develop, promote and have his fiction validated by people who should know better, is both too long and stunning to include here.(Click here to read the full account). The only thing we need to know about Lemaitre and those who bought into this insult against Holy God - this: Lemaitre did NOT believe the Book of Genesis was literal about Creation! This is correct - a priest who did not believe the most crucial part of the Bible....the same Book of the Bible which contains the very signature of God the Creator right off the bat in Genesis 1:1 (see below) the letters Aleph Tav (e t).


    The fact that Lemaitre's Big Bang theory is now being used to brainwash society, defies logic and just plain old common sense. Forget all the expanding universe and his math formula debates with Albert Einstein and his experiences with Hubble. In fact, I think Eric Hovind did the best job explaining what certain religious theologians have to twist their unbiblical selves in a knot to try to defend. Please watch this one (1) minute video:

    Ken Ham in his debate with the contentious Bill Nye on February 4 (you can watch his debate here) had one purpose in mind, which was to defend the basis for Creationism.  He did that with civil finesse and showed the remarkable link between God and true science. The post debate discussion has now taken on a life of its own and while Nye was judge the winner on technical debate points on style, Ken Ham is now on the circuit delivering the good message of Creation, the Truth and Validity of the Bible and belief in Jesus Christ which underlies all of this...and could even be said to be winning the post debate by so doing! What is now taking place, is that the true story and science of Creation, the Big Flood, the Fossil Record and the myth of carbon-dating are now getting out there to those who have been getting only one side of the story, increasingly, for over half a century!

    This can only be good...and is much needed in order that people can come to the beneficial (to their own eternal souls) realization that one cannot walk on both sides of this fence. We are either for God and His Word.....or we are with Bill Nye and the rest of secular western world.

    Tuesday, February 11, 2014

    SEVEN THINGS GOD HATES- #7: DISUNITY IN THE REMNANT

    These six things the Lord hates,
    Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 
    A proud look,
    A lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
    A heart that devises wicked plans,
    Feet that are swift in running to evil, 
    A false witness who speaks lies,
    And one who sows discord among brethren
    Proverbs 6:18-19 
    There are more divisions in the western world over the Gospel of Jesus Christ than there are plays in the Seattle Seahawks offensive playbook. In fact, the only thing most real Christians ever agree on is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Who was born as a baby, nailed to a Cross and everyone (except some liberal dying mainline denominations) believes He rose from the dead, on Resurrection Sunday.

    So why is discord sown among the brethren - something which the Lord hates, by the way? The answer can be found in human nature. The seeds of discord were being sowed, believe it or not, while Jesus was still alive! Here were the greatest men who ever lived, after the LORD Himself of course, yet some of them were debating who would be the greatest (see Luke 9:46-47 "46An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side). 

    These men got over themselves and gave all, including their lives in the cause of spreading the Gospel. They fulfilled the mission Christ gave them. They suffered persecution, hunger, pain and then death. But they stood strong to the end. While they were doing that, the Apostle Paul noticed all kinds of divisions. He was not talking about the Gnostics and others who perverted the pure milk of the word. He was speaking of true believers who were just very incorrect in their thinking. Read this portion of Scripture here in from 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 HERE:
                        10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
                     14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. (Courtesy Bible Gateway).

    We do the same things today. We have charismatics criticizing baptists criticizing Assembly of God criticizing Campbellites criticizing Calvinists criticizing.....fill in the blank! With the power and freedom of the internet, entire websites are visiting war upon fellow believers for this or that doctrine.  Some are saying (unbiblically and incorrectly) that those who don't speak in tongues are not Christians. Some are saying if you say you heard a word from the Lord, you made it up. Some are saying....actually, I hear so much of it, the entire thing is tuned out!

    There IS MAJOR heresy out there. There is the Prosperity Gospel - Name and Claim it heresy. This is leading many in some of the poorest countries of the world away from the True Gospel of Jesus Christ. How dare these so-called "preachers" with their $1000 suits and BMW's tell some poor granma who is a shut-in, an unemployed carpenter in Nigeria or a plumber in Phoenix to "just speak it, send in a seed and checks will show up miraculously in the mail"??!! We are not to fellowship in that. 
    There is the emergent church, which is selling a "new Jesus"....because apparently the Jesus Who the Father sent is not good enough. We are not to fellowship with them.
    There is the apostate church which supports abortion; unbiblical marriage apart from God's decree of a man and a woman; and even ordains ungodly couples - of those whom God Himself indicated that He gave over to their abominations in Romans 1:18-31. We are not to fellowship with that.
    There is the liberal church which does not believe the bible, does not believe the Virgin Birth or even the Resurrection...but in something called "social gospel"...or its synonym "social justice"....neither is the gospel or the justice of God.....and on and on.

    This is NOT the discord that the Great God of Heaven despises. We, who are called by His Name, are to have NO part of any of this...all the while praying that they will all come to a knowledge of the True Truth (as Francis Schaeffer said). 

    The discord comes in Bible-believing followers of Jesus letting pride, greed and the lost for fame and power cloud their Jesus'-bought hearts and turn on their brothers and sisters in Christ. The discord comes these same people use Scripture or Biblical traditions to their own selfish ends to further their agendas. The discord comes when people branch out on their own, using the ways of the world and appropriating the Name of God unto it....all the while claiming to be "working for Jesus"!

    So what does God really desire, to soothe His anger at the abomination of separation? Read the following; search your heart and see if you (or I) have anything against or brother....leave our gifts at the altar...and go make it right! 
    Blessed Unity of the People of God

    Psalm 133 

    Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

    It is like the precious oil upon the head,
    Running down on the beard,
    The beard of Aaron,
    Running down on the edge of his garments.
    It is like the dew of Hermon,
    Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
    For there the Lord commanded the blessing— 
    Life forevermore. 

    Sunday, February 9, 2014

    SEVEN THINGS GOD HATES- #6: A FALSE WITNESS

    THE PILTDOWN MAN

    These six things the Lord hates,
    Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 
    A proud look,
    A lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
    A heart that devises wicked plans,
    Feet that are swift in running to evil, 
    A false witness who speaks lies,
    And one who sows discord among brethren
    Proverbs 6:18-19 
    Can God be any clearer? He put the following in the 9th Commandment in Exodus 20:16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor", then He emphasizes that Law in the list of Seven Things He hates! 

    Why is this? Well, because God is Truth, period. It is written "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life". It is also written "the Father is looking for worshippers....who will worship in SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH"! Then twice in three chapters, the Lord Jesus mentioned the Spirit of God - Holy Spirit - and called Him "the Spirit of Truth" - John 14:17 and John 16:13.

    There is a distinction AND a difference - GOD IS TRUTH, the devil is a lie, the father of lies and the personification of the false witness. He is a deceiver, a conniver, a swindler, a conman, a dupe, a wolf in sheep's clothing and his future wardrobe will be flaming hot.

    The debate over something called Evolution has been going on since former seminary student Charles Darwin concocted the theory, in his 1859 book "Origin of the Species". Darwin's close friend, Lady Hope, tried to cover for him at his death by spreading an unlikely story that he was converted on his death bed to Jesus Christ, but his family denied he recanted and believed God. That being said, what Darwin did through his false thesis was unleash a Pandora's box of evil which typified the descent of man into degradation, during the 20th Century.

    The abortionist Margaret Sanger (founder of the misnamed Planned Parenthood); Adolph Hitler and even the Columbine (Colorado) killers of the 1990's were all believer's in Darwin's theory of natural selection, evolution and all that comes with any of this! Another false theory and witness to the Truth of Creation is not just the Big Bang (where you and I and everything around us came out nothing and then - voila - we were all something!), but the Piltdown man!

    The Piltdown Man is one of the longest run false testimonies ever about the origins of man. The Word clearly states that it was God Who made man in His own image. In the same way, a man named Charles Dawson created his own false mechanism. The fraud which last for more than 40 years - the longest running "scientific" falsehood in history - began when Dawson said he was "given" the remains of a "being" found in the quarry at Pilton, Sussex County in India. These remains of the secular "being" confirmed to some that here indeed was the "missing link".

    For four decades - lies after lies after lies abounded in the scientific/academic community.  All kinds of study and illogical reasoning were imputed to this so called Piltdown Man. That is, until the quiet investigation of this led to a big exposure in 1953 in TIME magazine. The Piltdown man was the Hoax of the Century! For four decades, the world's academic community thought their "missing link" of the bridge between apes and humans had been found. IT TURNED OUT TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN A WELL CRAFTED, DECEPTIVELY FILED AND STAINED PARTS OF A FULL DEVELOPED 600 year old HUMAN SKULL AND A JAWBONE OF AN ORANGUTAN!!! It was carefully crafted to deceive....to be a false witness to the lie of evolution, against the Truth of Creation.

    This was NOT a harmless hoax. This fraud/false witness was used by Clarence Darrow in court as evidence of the "Missing Link" in the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. It was used by racists and others to further segregate the races with their concocted theories.  It was used by secularists to dispute the Bible. IT WAS A BLATANT FRAUD. 

    The Truth found in Scripture speaks to this deception and the multitude of others, in these last days:


    Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed (Hosea 4:1-2).

    You destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit (Psalm 5:6).

    A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will perish (Prov. 19:9).
    But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).

    God WILL not let sin go unpunished, whether it is the "Piltdown Man" or not. The damage caused the lie of the Piltdown "man" is unimaginable, as this damage is ongoing now for over 100 years. This too is an abomination unto the Lord....as much as any politician lie or someone preaching heresy.

    Friday, February 7, 2014

    SEVEN THINGS GOD HATES - #5: FEET QUICK TO DO EVIL

    These six things the Lord hates,
    Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 
    A proud look,
    A lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
    A heart that devises wicked plans,
    Feet that are swift in running to evil, 
    A false witness who speaks lies,
    And one who sows discord among brethren
    Proverbs 6:18-19 

    The most famous verse in Scripture about “feet” is most uplifting. The Word says from Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him Who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness,  who announces salvation….and says to Zion “Your God reigns!” These are the feet, which are when shod in the shoes of the Gospel (the part of the Armor defined in Ephesians 6:  ), brings the approval of the Lord.

    So, what brings the abhorrence of about “feet”? What does the Lord mean by. “feet that are swift in running to evil”! Some English translations use the word “mischief” here for evil.  (The dictionary describes the word “mischief” as injury or damage caused by the actions of somebody or something.)

    The  perpetrators of this mischief? Well, they are evil men and women! 
    When a man or woman run to commit sin, they rob God of worship and honor. 
    When a man or woman commit crimes, say, like Bonnie and Clyde – they’re swift to run to evil. 
    When they rendezvous, while married to other people, they’re swift in running to evil. When we gossip and carry news from place to place which hurts another, we’re swift in running to evil. 

    In Isaiah 59:1-8, the Lord describes all the very thing He abhors - evil committed with through the hearts and hands of men:
    "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
    2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
    3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
    4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
    5 They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.
    6 Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
    7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.
    8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace"...

    There it is in verse 7 ""Their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed innocent blood"....but these actions are just the outflow of the rest of that verse. Their corrupt hearts and minds (their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity) cause destruction all around them. We see this all over the world in the various genocides and civil wars of aggression. Wars and rumors of wars....evil just cannot help itself. It must find its own level.

    Just in case you thought I only quote "Old Testament",  the Apostle Paul repeats and doubles down in Romans 3:10. He says "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
    11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
    12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
    13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
    14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
    15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
    16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
    17 And the way of peace have they not known:
    18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

    The Apostle Peter continues this teaching because God wants us to run AWAY with feet shod in the Gospel recognizing what 1 Peter 4:3 says (For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles–when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries) so we would not "run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you" (verse 4). Because we "will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead" (verse 5).

    In light of what Scripture says to convict us of our folly and iniquity, let us run the race set before us like our Savior. He never sinned and even in the face of persecution, saw the Joy that was set before Him. He finished His race, so that we may do the same. Let us resolve to have final words like Paul who said in 2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" Paul finished HIS race without losing his faith. Let us resolve to do the same.

    Finally, let us then stand on Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  (2)  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God".

    Saturday, February 1, 2014

    SEVEN THINGS GOD HATES - #4: A DEVIOUS HEART

    This entire concept (of a "devious heart") goes completely against every western concept that we are really "good people". You would never hear about the "fallen nature" of man, or corruption of the human race; or even the word "sin". Nobody, in these days of extreme political correctness would even think they (you and I) were born with a devious heart.
    Proverbs 6:16-19 New King James Version (NKJV)
    These six things the Lord hates,
    Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 
    A proud look,
    A lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
    A heart that devises wicked plans,
    Feet that are swift in running to evil, 
    A false witness who speaks lies,
    And one who sows discord among brethren.
    Yet, the Creator Who made us, recognizes every single one of us as not just capable of unimaginable evil, but possessing a bent towards it. Jesus Christ, God Who became Man said as much in Mark 7:21 "For it is from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come--sexual immorality, theft, murder,"  This is the outflow of the Adamic or sinful nature which each human is born with.  

    Mark is the first book of the New Testament ever written and it was dictated to him by the Apostle Peter himself - an eyewitness if there ever was one. Peter is an interesting study of a man who was sold out to Jesus, the Disciple of Disciples and all that. Yet, the same man who cut off Malchus' ear trying to defend Jesus from the Temple Guard was denying Jesus three times, outside that same temple as the religious leaders captured Him for their kangaroo court.

    Jesus also spoke of the evil of the heart further in Matthew 13:15 and just about described every human being ever born, before the Spirit and Power of God delivered you and I from spiritual wickedness and eternal death! The Messiah said "For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'"

    This is never more evident when you watch the filth and degradation coming out of American culture today. Take one look at any American TV award show to see the depths of depravity of western "humanity". The recently concluded 2014 Grammy Awards is Exhibit A. We saw everything God described in Ezekiel 16:48-50 as to WHY He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Read on:
    "As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.…

    America is modern day Sodom where its wealth, prosperity and power led to such easy living since World War II that we have gone slack in morality and cold in heart towards the Lord. The bad news is that God never changes and He has seen this before....thousands of years now. Man, in the wickedness and lust of everything ungodly, make the same mistakes over and over and over ahead.While these mistakes take several forms, which we can talk about for volumes, the underlying issue is Sin. While we are not allowed to talk about it in modern culture and even most modern churches, that too has never gone off the Lord's Radar....and He will punish it!

    To help us avoid this trap of an evil and devious heart, which rebels against God, let us see briefly the sequence of events of Sin and how we can avoid it.
    1. The world, the flesh and Satan throws temptation in our faces blatantly or subtly which triggers a thought and desire for that thing or person.
    2.  Depending on the current condition of your walk with Jesus and where one is in the process of Sanctification, that thought or desire will trigger two things - either you will seek to gratify your own flesh no matter the cost OR you will be so disgusted that everything the Lord taught you will kick in and you will RUN away immediately (like Joseph and Potiphar's wife).
    3.  If you choose the Biblical "RUN" option, you and I are in the clear. But here is what happens if you do NOT consider the cost of fulfilling that temporary lust of the flesh and discipline yourself - your heart will lie to you! YES! Your pride (sin #1 here) will like (sin#2)  and tell you that you "really deserve this. God is keeping him or her from you....or that new Mustang (which will put you $40,000 further in debt)....you deserve this....you work hard", And how about this one "you won't get caught"!!! DOES ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?! THIS IS SATAN TEMPTING EVE IN THE GARDEN IN GENESIS 3!!
    4.  Failure to run and instead listen to Satan and the flesh and your own wicked heart will result in death. If not immediate physical death, then death of purity...death of a clear conscience...death of a vibrant relationship with your spouse or the bank or worse - GOD!

    This is where a prideful wickedly devious heart can lead a person. While God's grace extends to the Christian who sins and fall like this, there is a loss of eternal reward and the spiritual blessings in the eternal kingdom to come. This is the end result of the devious heart. This will work out in the end for the person who has been truly saved, but we should worry about those who walk in constant wickedness, such as we see on full display - not just out of Hollywood, but in our local schools; state capitols and all the way to the top of business and politics.

    The only cure to make a heart right is to cry out to God, through Jesus Christ for Him to "open the eyes of your heart"! Great title for a song, as well as good theology like this will focus us on what is truly important - Salvation and getting your own heart, and mine, right with God. While Repentance may be a bad word today, it is still the only road to righteousness - from a Devious Heart! 

    (MANY ASK: WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF THE SPIRITUAL HEART? 
    ANSWER: Sue Bohlin of Probe Ministries has a great and concise definition for us here - In the Bible, the heart is shown to have three capacities: to think (or believe), to choose, and to feel. The heart is really the "innermost part" of us to which David refers in Ps. 51)
    (MANY ASK: WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF THE SPIRITUAL HEART? 
    ANSWERSue Bohlin of Probe Ministries has a great and concise definition for us here - In the Bible, the heart is shown to have three capacities: to think (or believe), to choose, and to feel. The heart is really the "innermost part" of us to which David refers in Ps. 51)