DISCIPLINE #1 OF 12 - CREATION

 

WHY ARE "CHRISTIANS" DECONSTRUCTING?

TEXT:  GENESIS 3:1-4

TEN HABITS FOR CHRISTIAN PERSEVERANCE

TEXT: 

Psalm 37 English Standard Version*

 Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
    be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass
    and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.[b]
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
    and your justice as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
    over the man who carries out evil devices!

8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off,
    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
    though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
11 But the meek shall inherit the land
    and delight themselves in abundant peace.

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF PSALM 37:

 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+37&version=ESV

* English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

JOHN 3:16 - PART 1...."FIRST, THE BACK STORY"

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).
We have seen it in the end zone at football or baseball games. We see it on the helmets of sports figures or written in permanent marker on their shoes. It shows up on Christian T-shirts, wristbands and all kinds of apparel. It even makes for living room artwork on canvas or matte photographic paper.

It is the most popular Bible verse in the world: John 3:16. It is so, for a very good reason.  It perfectly defines and loudly proclaims, the plan of redemption for a world which got off on the wrong foot, almost from its very beginning.  It is the verse in the Bible which is responsible, most likely, for many a lost and drifting soul to come to a saving knowledge of the Lord. It is the verse which is the epitome of the perfect love (agape) which God has for ALL His people, regardless of our station in life. It is the verse which also delineates the Creator of the world from His sinful creation so that we can all participate in the incredible offer of eternal life.

A closer look at the positioning of John 3:16 by the Holy Spirit reveals the very thought process of God. Our Heavenly Father is One Who has always been reasonable and called unredeemed mankind to come talk to Him and to reason. He said so in Isaiah.

At the opening of the famed Gospel of John Chapter 3, we see the Jesus the Messiah speaking to one of the main religious leaders in Jerusalem. This man, Nicodemus, was not just a priest but was called ‘The Teacher of Israel” by the Lord Jesus. Nicodemus would be similar to a version of the local “big church” pastor in town, whom the weekly newspaper would go to for a quote if something significant happened in the school or town council which affected daily community life. The difference here is that Nicodemus was supposed to not just know the Scriptures, which were only our Old Testament at the time, but to know what God’s Word meant. Back then nobody except the Temple priests and scholars had copies of the Scriptures. The majority of the people were at their mercy at all times, since the Bible was not yet put together in the form it is today.

In John Chapter 3, verse 3, Jesus answered Nicodemus’ compliment of Him as being sent from God, with the bold truth of spiritual rebirth. Today, we know that to become a real Christian is not to be born into a Christian family but to be born again, or saved through seeking God’s forgiveness and accepting/receiving Jesus as Savior and the Lord of our lives. To the Pharisee Nicodemus, it was “keeping the Ten Commandments and all the 613 Hebrew laws of the First Five Books of the Bible (the Torah), PLUS all the traditions and rules added on by centuries of religious leaders, with nothing much to do. He was all religion, all the time.

Into this worldview,  Jesus shot the equivalent of a nuclear missile through the theological hat of the religious. Like many today, the “Teacher of Israel” (who later became a stealth disciple of Jesus), knew the LETTER of the Law, like any other Pharisee. What he and the other priests did not know, was the heart and spirit of the Law of God (The Scriptures, the Oracles of God).

This is how he missed what Moses was talking about. His (pre-converted) heart and those of all the Scribes, Pharisees and the Jewish Supreme Court (Sanhedrin) were all alike. They took the letter of the Law and created hard man-made rules that they themselves could not keep, yet they forced it on their people. Jesus dealt with all of this in Matthew 23. However, for now, in John Chapter 3, the Lord focused on the Message of the Gospel going back to the same Moses whom the Pharisees said they loved. None of them, and none of US, before the Holy Spirit opens our eyes, could begin to fathom one syllable of a Word from Heaven.

This is the background against which Jesus the Lord, shared the most important part of His Mission on earth and the reason for it. Jesus again drew on Moses to draw the visual for future believers and to give Nicodemus an illustration of the reason for stepping off the Throne of Heaven, to come down to earth.

John 3:14 tells us what happened when God told Moses to make a brass serpent and put it on a pole, as a standard. This brass serpent on a pole was decreed by God as the antidote to an epidemic of fiery poisonous snake bites, that was killing a huge amount of Israelites in the desert (see Numbers 21:1-9). Those bitten were rebellious against God and had sinned horribly against Him.  They begged Moses to pray to the Lord that He may relent and not kill them. After this is was accomplished, the Lord said that anyone who looked at the brass serpent on the pole, after being bitten by the fiery serpents, will live.

Jesus drew this reference to the brass serpent in order to give the chief Rabbi of the Jerusalem religious sect THE most important insight on the Scriptures so far – Jesus’ Upcoming Crucifixion and its significance!

The discourse between the Son of God and Nicodemus most likely lasted longer than recorded in the Gospel of John. In fact, Nicodemus used to sneak away many times to speak with the Messiah which would later lead to his salvation. Legend has it that, not too long after the Resurrection, Nicodemus was seen fleeing Jerusalem, after being excommunicated by the Pharisees.

Jesus was showing, from this precursor to the Cross – the brass serpent on the pole – that God’s love to save rebels and ingrates was so strong in the desert that He, (the Father), went WAY beyond that and GAVE His Own Son, Who was also sitting on the Eternal Throne, as a sacrifice for all people, of all time.

Then Jesus said something which would absolutely confuse not just Nicodemus at that time, but all unsaved people of all time, who do not really know what John 3:16 really means. Jesus talked about His own death to a man who most likely could not fathom it. After all, Jesus the popular miracle-working Rabbi was alive and well, sitting right in front of him (Nicodemus). What does all this talk about “the Son of Man being lifted up” (verse 15) mean?

Today, all truly saved biblically-grounded Christians know that Jesus’ “lifting up” or death on the Cross, as the Ultimate Sacrifice, is prophesied explicitly in the Old Testament.  Psalm 22 describes Jesus Christ’s actual agony, from HIS point of view, while He was close to physical death on the Cross. Then,  Isaiah 53 points to the Suffering Savior Who gave it all for us sheep to such a graphic extent (as does Psalm 22) that a true student of the Scriptures could discern them.

A complete understanding of what the Lord meant and still means, until the end of the Age, can only had by comprehending the background against which Jesus paints this stunning, eternal masterpiece, of John 3:16.  We, too, can achieve full knowledge of the very Heart and Mind of God, as to why He allowed God the Son to step off the very Throne of Heaven, in order to give His life as a ransom for many.  This comprehension and understanding can be ours, if we understand the Gift of God, the Sacrifice of Christ and the Purposes of the Father. Amen.

THE 3:16 VERSES OF THE BIBLE, PART 20: "A DIRE WARNING"

15 Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. (Ezekiel 3:16)

BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW

A survey by the American Culture and Faith institute (as well as Barna and a host of others) are devastating for the church, its leadership and its people. This wide ranging survey (here) found that 27% of Christians (and by that we mean those who profess to be born-again, conservative believers - the only Biblically sound definition) believe it is NOT their responsibility to share their faith with non-believers! This is on top of incredible numbers where all the major research organizations - from George Barna to the Pew Research Foundation for Religion, have found that only 9% of adult Christians even have a Biblical worldview.

In a country of roughly 330 million people, 9% represents a really small amount of people, given the adult population. The 2013 US Census says we have just over 242 million adults in the USA, with the total now close to 250 million over the age of 18. When calculated and filtered right down, by 2017-18 figures, less than 23 million adults actually have true Bible-based faith, which is what a Biblical Worldview means. 

This Worldview contains the following elements:

-  The inerrancy and accuracy of the Bible as God's Infallible Word. The proof is the document itself: 66 books written by over 40 authors, over 1500 years. These books were written by men, most of whom lived at different time periods and never knew each other. Yet, they tell the same story - the story of God's Redemption plan through the Messiah - the Lord Jesus Christ.

-  Absolute Truth. A biblical worldview believes there is such a things a moral clarity. There are no shades of grey when it comes to the Law of God. He has laid out in the Ten Commandments what is NOT acceptable. They stand today, even in courts of law worldwide.

-  Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God cannot do only one thing - He cannot sin. A biblical worldview believes this fact because only Someone sinless can pay for the sins of an entire human race.

-  Because God sent God the Son to redeem the world, He remains in charge and completely involved in the affairs of humankind, as the All-powerful, All-knowing, and omni-present Creator of the Universe.

-  A Biblical worldview knows that Satan is real and is the prince and the power of the air, in this current age.  Satan has succeeded in lying to most of humanity, that he does not exist, so they can live as they wish, with no consequences. This is not a worldview from God.

-  A Biblical worldview means the acceptance of the literal word of God as pure and divinely inspired in all its teachings.

-  A Biblical worldview means that there is only ONE way to Heaven and it is through the Lord Jesus Christ, as Savior and Master of all. The world's view is that there are many ways, Christianity is only one of the ways, and we are intolerant if we believe otherwise. Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that "no one....(meaning NO ONE) comes to the Father (goes to Heaven) except through Him" (from John 14:6). Christians have the advantage which the majority does not and this advantage confirms the validity of John 14:6. This confirmation is the Holy Spirit. Only born-again believers, who have a Biblical worldview, have been forgiven by God and have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior actually possess the Holy Spirit embedded in our souls, as our confirmed reservation in Heaven - for lack of a clearer description.

- Finally, a Biblical Worldview means that is the responsibility of each Christian to share our faith, in thought, word and deed.

Never mind the violation of all of the above, but this last one is the biggest shortcoming of the modern church, church leadership and the Body of Christ. We are not talking about the 91% of adults who accept the modern "new spirituality" as their "belief" system. They have taken a cafeteria approach to "faith" and mixed in eastern mysticism, buddhism and a little of this or that and a dash of "feel-goodism" and come up with a pseudo-Balaamism. What all modern trends, from actual scientific research by George Barna to evidence on the ground, in front of our eyes, show us is that most Christians think it is the pastor's job to reach people for Christ!

The question is, how can a pastor or preacher who runs the church, reach the co-worker or neighbor or the cashier at your favorite diner etc...when you and I are the only ones who see them regularly and can approach them with ease? The answer lies in the fact that it is NOT the pastor's job to love our co-workers and neighbors to Jesus, but ours. His job is to equip and show the congregation HOW to reach the lost and then we execute that plan over the next six days. We know that this is not how it turns out, because, even in the best of churches, most attendees are barely tuned in and leave with just enough to get them through the next week. It is difficult for someone like this too share Faith. It is not impossible at all, just difficult.

How this relates to the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel is important not just because of Ezekiel 3:16 is setting up, but what God Himself actually says in the next few verses:

Verse 17: God has appointed His servant as a watchman....not in the military sense but in the Spiritual sense of the word. Ezekiel's job was to warn wayward Israel. Our job as watchmen today (Jesus said to be on the alert and watch), is to read the sign of the times. Our job is to find the lost and reach out to them. Our job is to warn them of the Wrath that is to come and how to prepare for it.

Verses 18 and 19:  This is scary for the believer. There are warning signs everywhere that the end is coming closer. Yet, Christians. the church and most western believers are joining the party, caught up in trivial pursuits and living in the fast lane with no thought to eternity - just like the lost. They have absolutely no concern for the Lost or even believe like them that "everything will turn out good in the end". A former member of a very popular megachurch once told me that an associate pastor there told him that the majority of the thousands who go there each and every Sunday are not there for the things "you and I think about" (evangelism, outreach, discipleship or repentance)...."they are here to get something for themselves to either get them through the week, knowing they've been to church....or just that - to be at church and meet their friends and drink fancy coffee"!

That is NOT what God expects of those whom He said by His Blood on the Cross. Check this - suppose your neighbor's roof suddenly looked like there was some smoke, then you notice a thin orange flame. You know he works second shift at the plant and is sleeping at 8 am this Saturday morning after his shift. Suddenly the thin flame kicks up with the wind and the roof over the bedrooms is on fire. Your neighbor is sound asleep from a tough night shift. Do you just keep him and his family in your "thoughts and prayers" and HOPE the fire department gets there soon? Do you actually call the First Responders and wait? OR do you do go bang on your neighbors bedroom window to alert him and his family to get out quickly?

The last one is what God expects us to do FIRST, while calling for help, believe it or not.  We obviously had time to see the warning signs of a fire. What is stopping us from running and banging on the neighbor's window to wake him up and get him out of there? This is exactly what God told Ezekiel to do to even the enemies of God - warn them about the coming judgment.  If Ezekiel warns them and the wicked refuse to repent and turn to God, then Ezekiel is in the clear. He did his job.

If we were continue to tell people about God or even invite them to a Christian event (or church) where they could hear the Gospel and be on the road to salvation, and they do respond, our work will be rewarded on great and terrible Day of the Lord.

However, if the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, directs us to speak to someone or give them a free lunch or a gospel tract or even tell them a great God bless you in the long line at the Grocery Store, and we refuse because "this is NOT our job, but the preacher". Then this person will suffer huge loss on Judgment Day. The Apostle Paul says this person will be saved only, with no reward. In fact, God has said that (in Verse 18 above) He will hold us accountable. 

Do we really wish to take this chance and only slide into Home Plate? Don't we want to head up standing up with all arms high in the air, in a sign of victory and praise?  This can be easily remedied - simply go against the prevailing lazy Christian mindset and do as Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers once said. Spurgeon once said, "gentlemen, do something....DO SOMETHING"! That something is to have a Biblical Worldview - and do what that means.

NOW FAITH IS: "EIMI"....LITERALLY - JESUS (Part 1)

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" Hebrews 11:1

There has never been a more hopeless time, for most people, as it is right now – this day and age. Apparently no age group is exempt. However, it appears that the current crop of young people thirty years old and younger are the most lost, directionless and hopeless. We can point fingers at who is responsible, but the underlying cause is still a lack of Faith.

The current preponderance of Fear, a tool of the evil one of old (the devil), has accomplished its set purpose – the act of driving most of this world away from Holy God! The majority today mock God. They put every other thing else above Him. Even professing Christians are some of the leaders in this Fear Factor which distances from Faith and the Father from the Flock. The statistics do not lie. Over 90% of youth leaving North American colleges leave their “faith” behind. Only 4% of millennials have a Biblical worldview. Adults are not much better. Only 10% of adults have a Biblical worldview. These numbers are from the 2017 Barna Research survey which finds only 46% of Americans professing to be Christians. When these numbers are actually drilled down to who believes the Bible as the very Word of God, only 30 million of the 100 million souls calling themselves Christians are actually heaven-bound, born-again believers! This is both unbelievable and extremely scary.

Why is a Biblical Worldview important to Faith and does it mean that only 10% of adults are solid Bible-based Christians? What is FAITH anyway? Aren’t there many “faiths” so how can Christianity be the ONLY one?

1. A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW - This is the belief, confirmed by the Holy Spirit of God Who lives in every true Christian that God is the Author of Creation. It is the belief that all 66 Books of the Bible are the inspired and inerrant Word of God, which speaks of the Power, Presence, Exclusivity and Holiness of the Great God of Heaven and that Jesus Christ, His only one of a Kind Son, is the Lord, Savior and Judge of all.  The Biblical Worldview holds that the devil is real and Salvation through Christ is the only way to Eternal Life in Heaven. The Biblical Worldview believes the Bible contain the very words of life, which are essential to daily living. Only 10% of Americans believe this and even less Canadians, Europeans and Brits. In the persecuted parts of the world, those numbers are flipped, wherever there are believers.

2. FAITH IS....the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. This is PURE Holy Spirit inspired Bible from Hebrews 11 and was written for people who were in trouble, fear and doubt just like today. It was written before the Roman General Titus completely took down Jerusalem in 70 AD. These were the first generations of Christians after the Resurrection of Christ who had lost both their Apostolic leadership, and by then, the Head of their great Church - James, the half brother of the Lord. They needed a reminder of their true hope. They needed encouragement. God gave them the Book of Hebrews.

But LOOK closer at what the Lord really said here:

NOW FAITH IS - In the original Greek language, the present tense active word "IS" literally connotes "BEING". It is where we get the phrases like "faith is" or "I AM....Who I am"!! When Jesus said in John 8:58 "Before Abraham was, I AM" He said "Ego Eimi" (I Am in Biblical Greek). When Jesus said in John 14:6 "I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE". The original words were "EGO EIMI".

Eimi is being...the state of being. Jesus IS, WAS and always WILL BE. He is also the foundations of Faith and Scripture - direct from God - tells us this Truth EXPLICITLY. When we as Christians, get this right - that our Faith IS all about AND IS Jesus, we are already winners. 

Because we grasp the state of Being, that Faith/Jesus is, we have the Assurance or Hypostasis....an original Bible word which means we have legitimate standing to the Hope of Eternal Life! Here is the progression so far: Faith, being in Jesus, brings the true hope of Glory to our souls.and there is a valid legal covenant with Heaven for our final destination - Heaven

If there is a caveat in all of this, it lies in the word "CONVICTION" (Hebrews 11:1b) or "elegxos" meaning internal confirmation.Here is the one place we must take our stand, namely, that our Faith is Jesus and IN Jesus Alone.

3.   EXCLUSIVE FAITH - Christianity IS the only faith, in a sea of false narratives, systems and religions. Why? It is not just the false religions of no heaven or hell, or 300 million gods etc etc....it is the fact that no other "faith system" has the Foundation, a Man Who rose from the dead and was seen by 500 people in one city, in one month. Secondly, no other religion has as its core, the unique paradigm of Faith being both a Person and a belief and relationship with that same Person. This Faith is a relationship where the one who believes (us) enters into this eternal covenant with eyes wide open and our minds and intellect intact. Faith is Jesus, the Author, Perfector and Creator - the Great I Am, "Ego Eimi".

THY WILL BE DONE..."HOW DO I KNOW WHEN GOD ANSWER MY PRAYER"

During a Bible Conference a couple years ago, I asked Phil Johnson, the president of Dr. John MacArthur's broadcast ministry (Grace to You) the following question, in essence: "how do we know when  God has answered our prayers and how do we proceed from there". His general answer was, to paraphrase, that we should pray about it and trust the Lord and then take the appropriate course of action. This is a great answer but it also assumes a high level of spiritual maturity and discernment. Another small risk in that, is we can listen to our own voice and make a mistake outside the will of God.

For most Christians, it is not that easy because of the lack of spiritual maturity, with only 9 (NINE!!) percent of Americans with any Biblical Worldview at all!!! God has told us what His Will is for our lives and it is thus "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 - please watch my video at the end of this page for a fuller explanation of this verse). God's Will for us is basically walking in Holiness so we can be more like Him, hence the reason He saved us and set us apart.

Now, the responsibility of the Christian is say "Thy Will be done on earth as You, oh God, have willed it in Romans 12:2 and I refuse to conform, compromise, sell out and trade my testimony and worse, my soul, with the world, just to be considered to be one of them"! Our prayer should be "Heavenly Father, most gracious kind, long-suffering, patient and merciful God, I surrender my entire will, my being, my life and my all to you. I take every thought captive and align it more with Thy Word. I accept Your true Will for my life which is obedience and walking in the Light of the Lord my Savior Jesus Christ, and I seek to follow Him in word, action and will. Lord, I seek Thy guidance in all matters. I want Your thoughts to be my thoughts. I desire Your strength to uphold me, Thy Spirit to direct, mold, move, reveal and not conceal but that You, oh Most High God would keep me close, because I am weak and need You, that I may truly discern what Your purposes, plans and paths are for me to follow, through Christ our Lord, my God and my King, amen".

A prayer of submission along those lines is what is needed. We also have to believe in Him for the answer, and that He will reveal it to us. I am cessionist only to the point where there is nothing more written, and revealed from God than His Holy Word, to all the peoples of all times and that means, one can add NOTHING to Scripture than the 66 books of the Bible. I also know PERSONALLY, that God speaks to us, when He wants and HOW He wants, because He is sovereign and we ain't!  The Bible has "Thus sayeth the Lord", in your own prayer life and if you're following and obeying Him (or should be) He will call, guide and/or rebuke in an audible voice, when necessary, as I know He has to me on three separate occasions in my life, in the last two decades. 

The key in praying to God about an important matter such as whom you should marry, or which job you should take or even which roads you should travel on a snowy, wintry day is this: listening! I cannot begin to tell you how many times He has rescued be because the Holy Spirit immediately prompted me to a sudden course of action here or there. I pulled off the interstate on an off-ramp one new year's eve on heading out for a 3 hour drive to family for a New Year's party, swung around and headed back home.  The Holy Spirit did not loudly say "get off this highway NOW" - He just moved and I obeyed immediately. He has also shown me opportunities which I missed because I decided NOT to move! This opportunity was in a flash second.
There is much more we can discuss to seek answers to prayer and that will be addressed in the next post....and then expand on "when God answers prayer"

WHY WE WROTE "25 REASONS TO BELIEVE"

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Anecdotal and empirical evidence have show the challenges facing the future of the majority of our young people. We already know that the majority of the world’s population has turned its back on the Holy God of Heaven, who created everything around  us. We already know that the majority of western has spread its corrupt culture into our churches and misdirected the majority of our youth group attendees away from Jesus Christ, a Biblical Worldview and thus –hell.

We saw from the recent Christian movie phenomenon – “GOD’s NOT DEAD” – that when given a chance, most of our church-raised teens (notice, I did NOT say saved or born-again), would deny God to further their own “futures”, which when they get there, will soon be evident as pathetic, in its destination. 

The amazing thing is some of these teens and twenty –somethings (herein called millennials) went to solid bible-teaching churches….the majority of which never disciples them properly, if at all. I know places like that. The even scarier thing is these young people think they’re Christ followers and all going to heaven. They support non-biblical activities like abortion rights  and "marriages" which God did not ordain and free casual attitude towards morality and the culture. 

Having been burdened to assist young professing Christians in their defense of our Christian Faith, Pastor Mike Henderson, John Snyder and I got to work on some of the popular questions from the scoffers who wish the denigrate Christianity. We then answered them, in a clear and concise way and they are now formatted for easy access on your tablet (iPad, Android etc) or downloading directly to your laptop or personal computer to read. I know of a Christian school right now where the head of the religion class is now using our twenty five topics to teach with! Another man is using them to start an apologetics class, which  he can use almost all year! This is a labor of dedication and love from those of us, who are deeply committed to helping raise the Remnant of the nex generation to have a better Biblical Worldview than we ever had. 

Here is an example of one of the topics we addressed. This one in particular was one of my favorites. It is my favorite as it shows both the Sufficiency of Scripture and the Sizable Impact Scripture has had on daily living:

The Bible and Everyday Life

The Struggle:
The bible is so outdated! It could not possibly apply to my life!

The Answer:
Bible-believing Christians trust every word of every phrase of every
verse of the Word of God – the Bible. The world undervalues this, by
often using language which came DIRECTLY out of Scripture without
knowing! Amazingly, there are over 200 phrases or sayings which
people all over the world use in everyday discussions…and they have
absolutely no idea their origin is the Bible! Here are just a select few
of them and where they can be found in Scripture:

The apple of His eye - Psalms 17:8
A good old age Genesis - 15:15
A still small voice - 1 Kings 19:12
The pride of life - 1 John 2:16
From strength to strength -  Psalms 84:7
A drop in the bucket  - Isaiah 40:15
The salt of the earth -  Matthew 5:13
The signs of the times - Matthew 16:3
The powers that be - Romans 13:1
The fashion of this world - 1 Corinthians 7:31
Decently and in order -  1 Corinthians 14:40
A thorn in the flesh - 2 Corinthians 12:7
A labor of love - 1 Thessalonians 1:3
Thou are the man (You da man!) -  2 Samuel 12:7
The handwriting on the wall -  Daniel 5:5
Stand in awe - Psalms. 4:4; 33:8; 119:161
Clear as crystal -  Revelation 21:1; 11
The fat of the land -  Genesis 45:18
All things to all men - 1 Cor. 9:22 1 Tim. 6:10

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DAY 27/40 DAYS OF PRAYER FOR AMERICA

AMERICA ON ITS KNEES
THE WAY OF THE BIBLE 

The very fact that the God Who created this unfathomable universe KNOWS each of His children intimately...and the fact that He knows our thoughts, actions, feelings, emotions and intentions - should drive us to want to journey through life according to His roadmap - The Bible.

The Word of God is amazingly precise; orderly as well as convicting to the man or woman of God who seeks a more meaningful life and walk with the Savior! This is what a Biblical worldview is all about - knowing the basis of all our Faith and how life it out daily, in a corrupt and perverse generation. The Biblical worldview affects everything we do - from the cars we purchase, to the books we read and the music we listen to, as well as the movies/tv shows we watch. I don't need to say that someone, who claims to be saved and sanctified by the Saving Sacrifice on the Cross of Christ, has NO business spending the Lord's money (i.e. our after-tithe take home pay) on things like Harry Potter; Twilight, Fifty Shades of...whatever or Lady Gaga, Katy Perry or other such Hollywood entertainment.

So, does this extend to voting according to Bible principles? In the past, regardless of party many followers of Christ, including me, have refused to vote to any candidate who does not support the life of the Unborn. Is this the right way to go? Check back tomorrow.

Father in the Name of Jesus, You have given us Life. You have given us the complete Word. You have given us Your Great Son- my God and my King Jesus. You expect us to learn more about You. You expect us to walk and talk with You daily. You expect us to die to self daily so we can see through the Eyes of Christ. You expect more of us than from those who are perishing from walking blindly, by their own choice, even though they have the same opportunity and privilege to hear the Gospel that we did. Lord give us revelation tonight that tomorrow and in the coming hours, days and weeks ahead that we may apply the Biblical worldview to all that we do and act accordingly, knowing that we are accountable for all that we do, in the Name of Jesus I pray, amen.

(image by google)

THINK ON THESE THINGS - TUESDAY

Everyone has a worldview or a way of looking at things! Therefore a worldview is not just how we look at things but how we use that information to then act according to that specific belief system. 

For us, a Biblical Worldview is at a premium. A Christian either has one, or not! Sadly, the world renowned pollster and author George Barna has found that only 9% of us Born-again Christians even have such a worldview! This is not only outrageous, but indicative of the woeful lack of biblical knowledge, application and discernment in the modern American church!

This video is 17 minutes of a 25 minute message recorded on July 16, 2011 for the Florida based Christian Television Network's Decatur, Illinois affiliate - WLCF. This is an episode of SPOTLIGHT which airs weekly from Springfield to Danville, Illinois; parts of Central Florida (including Orlando) as well as now - Ghana!

I attempt to briefly discuss, a Biblical Worldview.  May it bless you. Amen!

THE COMMENCEMENT SPEECH YOU WILL NEVER HEAR @ THIS YEAR'S GRADUATION: CLASS OF 2017

We are not only living in troubled times, but the future looks even bleaker. The generations coming up behind us, who are within 25-50 years of passing from the scene are lost, hopeless, selfish, corrupted and full of nothing but empty knowledge. Never have so many, acquired so much, that cost so much, that will count for nothing, in this life and the next.

Not only has the system - whatever that is - failed almost all our young people, but parents, from the Baby Boomer parents up to now, have allowed schools, communities and even churches, to short change them. For decades, graduates (from high school to college) have been sent out into the world with no solid spiritual food or the knowledge of the One Who created them. For decades, young people are constantly told, by those who will one day wish they were wearing millstone neckties instead, that all they needed was to look inside themselves....and "use barricades and obstacles as opportunities" but never mind "the answer is out there" because "all you need to do is dig deeper" as "the answer is in you"!

That is the biggest pile-up since the post clean-up after the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness combined. How can someone, who has absolutely no foundation in Truth, i.e. - the Word of God, look into their empty souls for an answer? Precisely! What this post-modern thinking really is, would classify as empty, godless, cheap pseudo-buddhism and its step-child "contemplative prayer" rolled into one. Every current survey back up the "empty soul syndrome". The Pew Research Center's just released in depth survey found that Christians in America had dropped from over 78% in 2007 to 70% less than eight years later. Of course, the number of "nones" or believe nothing people has risen from 16% of the population to almost 23% in the same period.

Now those people, the "nones", have always been there. They just answered more honestly this time. Secondly, of the 70% that call themselves "Christian" because that is what an American is supposed to be, the actual number of born-again, Bible-believing Christians falls to a scary and incredible 9%! This was gleaned from several Barna and Pew Surveys from the last few years about what we called "A Biblical Worldview".  The stunning 9% of real Bible-believing Christians is equal to 28.8 million of the current US Population of 320 million!

IT IS EVEN WORSE WITH MILLENNIALS! ONLY 4% OF THEM ARE BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS WITH A BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW! WHO DO YOU THINK GOD WILL HOLD RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS ABOMINATION??!! YOU, THE CHURCH, EVERY SINGLE LIBERAL, POLITICIAN, ACADEMIC..... AND US IF WE DID NOTHING ABOUT IT.

The actual status and positional salvation of someone who calls themselves a Christian are based on what they believe about Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior; Repentance and/or change of heart, lifestyle etc from sin to living for God; what their view of God is and His Word.  A biblical worldview is the complete view of the world based on God’s revealed truth, the Bible, which directs our daily lives and how we think, act and interact. This sort of thing is at a premium these days.

While it may be impossible to turn this entire Titanic-sized ship around, there is no way we should give throw our hands up and walk away. Let us start here:
Each year around this time, the air is full with the sound of commencement speeches in our high schools and college campuses.

Each year around this time, comes the obligatory attack on prayer and God, by an entirely humanistic, secular, godless world.

Each year around this time, high schools and colleges would have politicians and “celebrity” commencement speakers who fill our departing graduates with such ungodly garbage, that it is amazing even 10% of them leave college with a fraction of a Biblical Worldview.

Each year one would be hard-pressed to find an invited speaker who gives a message of the real hope and encouragement, which lasts a lifetime.

The Lord Himself showed us how to live in these times. His Word is so rich and powerful, they need no explanation! So here is the “speech” you will never hear during Commencement Exercises in 2017 or anytime now or sadly, in the near future:

THE 2017 COMMENCEMENT SPEECH YOU WILL NEVER HEAR:4

CONCERNING THE DIFFICULT TIMES AHEAD:

“For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James 1:3-4

CONCERNING STRENGTH IN DIFFICULT TIMES:

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do”. Joshua 1: 7-8

CONCERNING WISDOM IN DIFFICULT TIMES:

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” Colossians 4:5-6

CONCERNING ATTITUDES OF A CHRISTIAN:

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:8

CONCERNING YOUR REACTION TO TRIALS AS A CHRISTIAN:

“Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:10-11

CONCERNING PLANS THAT DO NOT COME FROM GOD:

“Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil”. James 4: 13-16

CONCERNING YOUR WALK WITH GOD THROUGH CHRIST:

“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do”. Psalm 1: 1-3

CONCERNING THE LOVE OF MONEY IN GOD’S ECONOMY:

“Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:5

CONCERNING YOUR LOVE OF GOD:

“Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise Wisdom and Discipline” Proverbs 1:7

"Fear the Lord, Keep His Commandments for this is the whole duty of man" Ecclesiastes 12:13

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength”. Mark 12:30

You would not hear these brief but life changing exhortations on any campus of any great or small American school/college. You may not even hear the Word of God proclaimed in some so-called “Christian” schools. However, these timeless Truths never change. They are for us all. 

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.