Serving The Lord

The Names of The Lord

2006-08-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

El Shaddai (el shad-di') - All-Sufficient One, Lord God Almighty

El Elyon (el el-yone') - The Most High God

Adonai (ad-o-noy') - Lord, Master

Yahweh or Jehovah - (yah-weh)Lord, Jehovah

Jehovah Nissi (yeh-ho-vaw' nis-see') - The Lord My Banner, The Lord my Miracle

Jehovah-Raah (yeh-ho-vaw' raw-aw') - The Lord My Shepherd

Jehovah-Rapha (yeh-ho-vaw' raw-faw') - The Lord that Heals

Jehovah Shammah (yeh-ho-vaw' shawm'-maw) - The Lord Is There

Jehovah Tsidkenu (yeh-ho-vaw' tsid-kay'-noo) - The Lord our Righteousness

Jehovah Mekoddishkem (yeh-ho-vaw' M-qadash) - The Lord who Sanctifies You, The Lord Who makes Holy

El Olam (el o-lawm') - The Everlasting God, The God of Eternity, The God of the Universe, The God of Ancient Days

Elohim (el-o-heem') - God, Judge, Creator

Qanna (kan-naw') - Jealous, Zealous

Jehovah Jireh (yeh-ho-vaw' yir-eh') - The Lord will Provide

Jehovah-Shalom (yeh-ho-vaw' shaw-lome') - The Lord is Peace

Jehovah Sabaoth (yeh-ho-vaw' se ba'?br) - The Lord of Hosts, The Lord of Powers

Hate Speech

2006-08-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

"Our civil rights struggle to engage in protest against the excesses of the gay 'civil rights' movement is about more than the freedom to petition our government for a redress of grievances. It is also about our deeply held religious conviction that expressing opposition to homosexuality is love speech, not 'hate speech.'

The Word of God to Ezekiel (33:8,9) is illustrative: 'If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn them to repent and they don't repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself.'

So, as one can clearly see—if one simply opens his eyes and his heart—the true Christian views the phrase 'it's OK to be gay' to be a form of hate speech. In the view of those who are true followers of Christ, it is a refrain no more hostile than the suggestion that the homosexual simply 'go to hell.' And, so, I submit that those of us who criticize the excesses of the false gay 'civil rights' struggle are the ones involved in the true civil rights struggle on America's campuses." —Mike Adams

Can divine wisdom become ours???

2006-08-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

"Not until we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God's holiness and sovereignty...acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours." —J. I. Packer

Let your light so shine

2006-08-07T05:20:00.000-07:00

"The path of the just is as a shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day."

"Let your light so shine that men may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven."

Jesus said "I am the light of the world."

"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:"

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."

Set Your Affections on Things Below ?????

2006-08-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

"The whole history of the Church is one long story of this tendency to settle down on this earth and to become conformed to this world, to find acceptance and popularity here and to eliminate the element of conflict and of pilgrimage. That is the trend and the tendency of everything. Therefore outwardly, as well as inwardly, pioneering is a costly thing."

"It is a costly and a suffering thing to come up against the religious system that has ' settled down ' here. It is far more costly than coming up against the naked world itself. The religious system can be more ruthless and cruel and bitter; it can be actuated by all those mean things, contemptible things, prejudices and suspicions things that you will not even find in decent people in the world. It is costly to go on to the heavenlies, it is painful; but it is the way of the pioneer, and it has to be settled that that is how it is."

"The Christian life is not by effort, and not by struggle; not merely by trying to put into practice certain maxims, or by trying to attain to a certain measure; but from beginning to end, and all together, it is a matter of knowing the Lord Jesus within."

Discipleship and the Church

2006-07-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Discipleship and the Church
by Bill Hull

The most wonderful thing that has ever happened to the world is Jesus. After that, the most wonderful thing is His presence in a community of people called the Church. Many have been critical of the Church, many more have given up on it, and still others stand against it.

The Church will always vacillate between the glorious and the grotesque.

Grotesque, Webster says is “characterized by distortions or striking incongruities in appearance, shape, manner, fantastic or bizarre…strange, eccentric, ridiculous and absurd.” I think I use grotesque quite accurately; it would take less than a hundred readers of this statement to thoroughly document each part of the above definition.
But then there is the glory, and there is the stunning fact that there is nothing else. As Elton Trueblood put is, “however poor it is, life without it is worse.” Let me steer you away from the notion that Church exclusively means a group of people who gather on Sundays in order to go through a religious routine. Instead think of millions of people who are called by Jesus to follow Him. Part of answering the call and claim of God on their lives is to gather regularly in homes, rented buildings, restaurants and parks, in groups no smaller than two or three. Where they are gathered Christ is present and they stimulate one another to love God and the people around them.

What makes a Church is a group of followers of Jesus who form a community. A community exists where they are committed to a common pattern of life together. They will submit to one another under the authority of Christ, they will be dedicated to form relationships built on trust. They will create an environment of grace rather than judgment or critique. They are devoted to helping each other keep their commitments to God. And the primary commitment is to follow Jesus and to live the life He lived.

The Church Exists for Others

This is true because the Church is composed of disciples, followers of Jesus. Jesus came for others and his life was a gift to the world.

Therefore, followers of Jesus have no other calling than to give their lives as living sacrifices.
Therefore, followers of Jesus are called to live the life He lived and to make other disciples. This is done through love and an extended hand.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” There are far too many people who have agreed to a set of religious facts about Jesus who have not committed themselves to Christ. A non-discipleship Christianity is now accepted and preached in too many churches. When we begin to think that discipleship or following Jesus is optional and not necessary to salvation, we have entered into a Christ-less Christianity. Because discipleship or following Jesus is the evidence that we have committed to Christ, it is more than signing off on the idea. Non-discipleship, Christ-less Christianity is the reason that the Church has lost its power and attraction to so many.

So Why Should You Become a Part of a Church?

There is only one reason: to answer the call of Jesus on your life to follow Him. “If anyone would come after me, let them deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their lives will lose them, but those who lose their lives for me will save them. What good is it for you to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit your very self?”

These words return us to the original idea that since Christ’s life exists for others, his follower’s lives exist for others; therefore, their community or the Church exists for others. The beauty of it is that a life devoted to others is also a life that meets the deepest need of a person. You get everything you desire by giving up the tyranny of the immediate. Joy and fulfillment then are by products of living for others. I can’t imagine a better deal. Give your life to Christ and live the life for which you were created.

Think of the Church this way: The Church is a group of devoted disciples who are intentionally living life as a response to the love of God and learning from Jesus to:

Believe what He believed [transformed mind]
Live the way He lived [transformed character]
Love the way He loved [transformed relationships]
Train the way Jesus trained [transformed habits]
Minister the way He ministered [transformed service]
Lead the way He led [transformed influence]

Can you imagine a group of people who actually lived that way? I close with the words of the once stimulating Quaker Scholar Elton Trueblood who now resides in the presence of Christ:

“What we need is not intellectual theorizing or even preaching, but a demonstration. One of the most powerful ways of turning people’s loyalty to Christ is by loving others with the great love of God. We cannot revive faith by argument, but we might catch the imagination of puzzled men and women by an exhibition of a fellowship so intensely alive that every thoughtful person would be forced to respect it. If there should emerge in our day such a fellowship, wholly without artificiality and free from the dead hand of the past, it would be an exciting event of momentous importance. A society of genuine loving friends, set free from the self-seeking struggle for personal prestige and from all unreality, would be something unutterably priceless and powerful. A wise person would travel any distance to join it.”

Thinking Minds

2006-07-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

"The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking." —A.A. Milne

To that let me add "A Christian mind is only happy when it thoughts are in unison with the mind of Christ."

Innate Knowledge

2006-07-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

Your Conscience a gift from God

"Human nature itself is evermore an advocate for liberty. There is also in human nature a resentment of injury, and indignation against wrong. A love of truth and a veneration of virtue. These amiable passions, are the "latent spark"... If the people are capable of understanding, seeing and feeling the differences between true and false, right and wrong, virtue and vice, to what better principle can the friends of mankind apply than to the sense of this difference?"--

John Adams (1775)

Christ Second Coming

2006-07-17T18:06:00.000-07:00

"Clearly, no one wishes to say anything that will [awaken] mass hysteria. We must never speak...about 'the Day' [of the Second Coming] without emphasizing again and again the utter impossibility of prediction. We must try to show them that that impossibility is an essential part of the doctrine. If you do not believe Our Lord's words, why do you believe in His return at all? And if you do believe them must you not put away from you, utterly and forever, any hope of dating that return? His teaching on the subject quite clearly consisted of three propositions: (1) That He will certainly return; (2) That we cannot possibly find out when; (3) And that therefore we must always be ready for Him." —C. S. Lewis

The Five Solas

2006-07-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

The Five Solas
In preserving and defending the true Christian doctrines that were rediscovered during the Protestant Reformation, we affirm and teach the following five truths:

1. Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone)
The Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our salvation from sin and is the standard by which all Christian behavior must be measured.

2. Sola Gratia (by Grace alone)
In salvation we are rescued from God’s wrath by His grace alone. The supernatural work of the Holy Spirit brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life.

3. Sola Fide (through Faith alone)
Justification is by grace alone through faith alone. Justification can never be the reward or result of human works or merit, nor does it grow out of an infusion of Christ’s righteousness.

4. Sola Christus (because of Christ alone)
Our salvation is accomplished by the mediatorial work of the historical Christ alone. His sinless life and substitutionary death alone are sufficient for our justification and reconciliation to the Father.

5. Sola Deo Gloria (for the Glory of God alone)
God glorifies Himself in all that He does. Therefore we should acknowledge His purpose and live for His glory alone.

US Could be Going Bankrupt

2006-07-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

Owe no man anything!
The borrower is servant to the lender.

US 'could be going bankrupt'

By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor
(Filed: 14/07/2006)

The United States is heading for bankruptcy, according to an extraordinary paper published by one of the key members of the country's central bank.
A ballooning budget deficit and a pensions and welfare timebomb could send the economic superpower into insolvency, according to research by Professor Laurence Kotlikoff for the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, a leading constituent of the US Federal Reserve.
Prof Kotlikoff said that, by some measures, the US is already bankrupt. "To paraphrase the Oxford English Dictionary, is the United States at the end of its resources, exhausted, stripped bare, destitute, bereft, wanting in property, or wrecked in consequence of failure to pay its creditors," he asked.
According to his central analysis, "the US government is, indeed, bankrupt, insofar as it will be unable to pay its creditors, who, in this context, are current and future generations to whom it has explicitly or implicitly promised future net payments of various kinds''.
The budget deficit in the US is not massive. The Bush administration this week cut its forecasts for the fiscal shortfall this year by almost a third, saying it will come in at 2.3pc of gross domestic product. This is smaller than most European countries - including the UK - which have deficits north of 3pc of GDP.
Prof Kotlikoff, who teaches at Boston University, says: "The proper way to consider a country's solvency is to examine the lifetime fiscal burdens facing current and future generations. If these burdens exceed the resources of those generations, get close to doing so, or simply get so high as to preclude their full collection, the country's policy will be unsustainable and can constitute or lead to national bankruptcy.
"Does the United States fit this bill? No one knows for sure, but there are strong reasons to believe the United States may be going broke."
Experts have calculated that the country's long-term "fiscal gap" between all future government spending and all future receipts will widen immensely as the Baby Boomer generation retires, and as the amount the state will have to spend on healthcare and pensions soars. The total fiscal gap could be an almost incomprehensible $65.9 trillion, according to a study by Professors Gokhale and Smetters.
The figure is massive because President George W Bush has made major tax cuts in recent years, and because the bill for Medicare, which provides health insurance for the elderly, and Medicaid, which does likewise for the poor, will increase greatly due to demographics.
Prof Kotlikoff said: "This figure is more than five times US GDP and almost twice the size of national wealth. One way to wrap one's head around $65.9trillion is to ask what fiscal adjustments are needed to eliminate this red hole. The answers are terrifying. One solution is an immediate and permanent doubling of personal and corporate income taxes. Another is an immediate and permanent two-thirds cut in Social Security and Medicare benefits. A third alternative, were it feasible, would be to immediately and permanently cut all federal discretionary spending by 143pc."
The scenario has serious implications for the dollar. If investors lose confidence in the US's future, and suspect the country may at some point allow inflation to erode away its debts, they may reduce their holdings of US Treasury bonds.
Prof Kotlikoff said: "The United States has experienced high rates of inflation in the past and appears to be running the same type of fiscal policies that engendered hyperinflations in 20 countries over the past century."
Paul Ashworth, of Capital Economics, was more sanguine about the coming retirement of the Baby Boomer generation. "For a start, the expected deterioration in the Federal budget owes more to rising per capita spending on health care than to changing demographics," he said.
"This can be contained if the political will is there. Similarly, the expected increase in social security spending can be controlled by reducing the growth rate of benefits. Expecting a fix now is probably asking too much of short-sighted politicians who have no incentives to do so. But a fix, or at least a succession of patches, will come when the problem becomes more pressing."

Living in Darkness then seeing the Light

2006-04-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

"Imagine a life of darkness. From your childhood until now all you have known is darkness. You and your friends have had fun facing the darkness. Your eyes have never seen anything different and you have become accustomed to the dark. You even make fun of those who say they have turned around and seen something different. They call it the light.

Since all you know is darkness, the possibility of something other than darkness seems to be a myth, a delusion, a fantasy, or the invention of religious fools.

After years of facing the darkness you grow bored with the darkness. You secretly long for something other than darkness. You have wished that you had the courage to face the light. One day someone who claims they have seen the light persuades you to turn enough to catch a glimpse of the light. That one glimpse is overwhelming. You have never seen anything so beautiful. You now turn completely around to see the fullness of the light. The brillance, the shades and hues of radient colors completely capture your mind, will, and emotions. You want to be closer to the light. You want to study the light. Why had you waited so long to look? There is more here than your mind can take in. You think about what your friends are missing and purpose to bring them to the light.

When you tell your friends what you have seen they will not turn and look. So you explain the glorious light you have seen but they cannot even comprehend what you are talking about. They stedfastly continue to look into the darkness certain there is nothing more than what they see. They laugh at you and call you a fanatic.

Their ridicule doesn't matter you have seen the light. You now love the light. You wonder how people can be so blind. You wonder why they won't believe what you tell them about the light. Sorrowful for their blind but rejoicing in what you now see you begin moving away from your old friends, your old ways, your old thoughts and move with purpose toward the light. You hear someone say that the path of the just is as a shining light that shines more and more until the perfect day. Now you know what they mean."

His presence My desire

2006-04-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

A.W. Tozer

"There is today no lack of Bible teachers to set forth correctly the principles of the doctrines of Christ, but too many of these seem satisfied to teach the fundamentals of the faith year after year, strangely unaware that there is in their ministry no manifest Presence, nor anything unusual in their personal lives.".

May the Lord stir our souls to God anew and to take God's word seriously!

Biblical scholars say 'Gospel of Judas' not a Christian document

2006-04-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

As we rapidly approach the Day of the Lord, Christians should expect evil men and seducers to get worse and worse. The lies, deception, and ignorance will continue to call the person and work of Jesus Christ into question.

Untold millions will be swept up in these lies and if it was possible even the very elect would be deceived.

I found this article clear and compelling.
_____________________________________________________________

Biblical scholars say 'Gospel of Judas' not a Christian Document
by Michael Foust

The gospel of Judas is helpful in understanding early church heresy but should be viewed as false writings and not comparable to the biblical Gospels, conservative scholars say.
A group of scholars and translators announced in early April the document's discovery, disclosing the find just before a special about the manuscript aired on the National Geographic Channel. National Geographic billed it as a "lost gospel."

Christians long have known about the gospel of Judas and considered it heretical Â even though they didn't have an entire copy. Much of what previously was known came from an early church father, Irenaeus Â a hero of church history who was bishop of Lyons and lived in the second century Â who wrote a work titled "Against Heresies," in which he called the gospel of Judas "fictitious history."

The newly discovered document was dated to around 300 A.D., although it likely is a copy of an earlier manuscript, scholars said.

Unlike the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authorship of Judas is not tied to the name it bears. Also, unlike the biblical Gospels, Judas promotes an early heresy known as Gnosticism, a movement that tried to corrupt the teachings of Christ in the early church. In a nutshell, the gospel of Judas makes Judas a hero, and not a traitor. Orthodox scholars say the gospel of Judas is not Christian at all, but simply heresy.

"The finding of the manuscript is important because we now have a manuscript that we didn't have for 1,700 years, but this manuscript will not change what Christians believe," James M. Hamilton Jr., assistant professor of biblical studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's Houston campus, told Baptist Press. "I have two volumes of 'New Testament Apocrypha' on my shelf that we have had for a long time now, and the fact is that only scholars read this stuff. The canon has long been decided, and the discovery of a Gnostic book is not going to re-open the question."

The discovery of the gospel of Judas should lead believers to "praise God for preserving the books of the Bible he wanted us to have," Hamilton said.

In fact, the gospel of Judas isn't the only surviving early manuscript that wasn't included in the New Testament. There are other Gnostic documents, as well as some documents written by early church fathers, that survived. Chief among the orthodox documents is 1 Clement, written by Clement the bishop of Rome, possibly in the first century.

But none of the "extra" documents rises to the level of Scripture, orthodox scholars say. The 27 books of the New Testament were recognized as Scripture by the early church primarily because of their association with an apostle. The only books not written by an apostle are Mark, Luke, Acts, Hebrews and Jude. Luke and Acts were written by Luke, who was associated closely with the Apostle Paul. Mark had close ties to Peter, and Jude was the brother of the Apostle James and possibly a half brother of Jesus. Although it is not known who wrote Hebrews Â some have thought it was Paul Â it was accepted as Scripture by the early church based on its internal qualities and obvious divine inspiration.

"Archeological finds of the last century have only confirmed that the early church fathers gave us accurate accounts of false teachers," said Alan Branch, vice president for student development at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo. "The gospel of Judas is typical of other Gnostic gospels written during the second and third century. As [the early church father] Origen said, 'The church has four Gospels. Heretics have very many.' The church has never denied or attempted to cover up the fact that other groups circulated fallacious gospels.

The Gnostic gospels are second- and third-century forgeries. Pagan thought hijacked Christian terminology and used the name 'Jesus' as a vehicle for a pagan worldview."
Gnosticism was a heretical teaching that salvation came through a secret knowledge. Supposedly, Judas was a transmitter of that knowledge. According to Gnosticism, matter was evil and was created by the Old Testament God, who also was evil. Spirit, though, was good. In the gospel of Judas, Jesus tells Judas, referring to the other apostles, "But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me." The "clothes" reference presumably referred to Jesus' body.

"Theologically, the gospel of Judas is a false gospel representative of the Gnostic tradition," Malcolm Yarnell III, associate professor of systematic theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, said. "... Christ's bodily resurrection is also denied. Christianity has had heresies or false gospels with us since the apostles began preaching. This is why Paul warned Christians to utterly reject false gospels in Galatians 1.

The false gospel of Judas is an interesting historical find, but should not be placed on the same level as Scripture."

Likewise, Michael D. McMullen, associate professor of church history at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., believes the gospel of Judas has value for learning about heresy.

"[I]t reminds us that the early church was built on Scripture, and that heretics like the Gnostics were a real threat to the Gospel ... and that present-day heretics will continue to use such a document to attack the very same inerrant Scriptures that God has given," McMullen said. "But the real truth is that Gnostic ideas will forever remain at an infinite distance from the truth of the biblical Gospel."

Hamilton, the Southwestern Seminary professor, wondered what would happen today if a "newly discovered" document was found from the American Revolution.
"Let's say the document was written by someone loyal to Great Britain, and let's say that it suggested that George Washington asked Benedict Arnold to betray the American cause," Hamilton said. "Given that the facts are well-established, and given that the sympathies of the author of this document are clear for everyone to see, would this document change our understanding of American history? "I think not, and I think the same is true of the gospel of Judas."

Sorrow's Cure

2004-09-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

"You cannot cure your sorrow by nursing it but you can cure it by nursing another's sorrow."

George Mathesan 1842-1906
Scotland's Blind Preacher

Honest men needed

2004-09-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

"Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest,and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people,in order to betray them." --Joseph Story

Jihadistan: A Clear and Present Danger

2004-09-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

Jihadistan: A clear and present danger...

Thousands of events will recognize the third anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on our nation by Islamist Jihadis. Most of these events are reflective -- appropriate vigils in schools and churches to remember 2,864 innocent non-combatant men, women and children -- our countrymen -- who were slaughtered on that Tuesday morning by 19 al-Qa'ida terrorists.

Amid the solemn vigils, the Leftmedia will highlight planned protests that deposing Saddam Hussein was wrong and that the liberation of Iraq will motivate more terrorism than it blocked.
Those protests are wrong -- dead wrong.

Eleven years ago, our homeland became the front line in our war with Jihadistan, that borderless nation of Islamofascists with global reach, inhabited by al-Qa'ida and other Islamist Jihadis targeting the U.S. Their first assault on U.S. soil -- Sheik Ramzi Yousef's bombing of the WTC's north tower, 26 February 1993, was the opening salvo in our asymmetric war with this insidious enemy. But that campaign wouldn't get under way in earnest until their second attack some eight years later, a far more sophisticated and deadly attack that used commercial airliners as missiles to destroy both WTC towers, in addition to scoring a direct hit on the Pentagon.

On that day, a brave group of passengers on UAL Flight 93 became the first Americans to confront al-Qa'ida Jihadis directly. "Let's roll," said a resolute Todd Beamer as he rallied his fellow Patriots to storm the cockpit and thwart a fourth attack -- likely on the Capitol -- at the cost of their own lives.

The events of 9/11 necessitated a national-security policy shift from containment to preemption -- the most significant policy change since WWII. On 11 September 2001, President Bush told the nation -- and the world, "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them." Two weeks later, he said, "This war on terrorism will be fought on a number of fronts, in different ways. The front lines will look different from the wars of the past."

President Bush made clear that our campaign against terror defies any diplomatic resolution, and that Jihadistan can only be defeated in offensive, preemptive strikes.

Three weeks after the 9/11 attack, American Armed Forces, under the able leadership of their Commander in Chief, took the fight to the enemy, effectively moving the warfront with Jihadistan from U.S. soil to the heart of the Middle East -- Afghanistan and Iraq. It should be noted that American forces and our allies are not, first and foremost, fighting for Iraq's freedom. They are fighting for critical U.S. national-security interests and those of the free world, which was at great peril as long as Saddam remained in power. Most important, they are endeavoring to keep the battle on Jihadi turf, not ours.

In the last three years, other nations, from Indonesia to Kenya to Spain, have suffered severe blows at the blood-soaked hands of Jihadi terrorists. And this past weekend, we were reminded of the unfettered depravity of Islamist terrorism as nearly 400 Russians -- MOST OF THEM CHILDREN! -- were murdered in a Beslan school, bringing the toll to more than 500 Russian innocents killed by terrorists in the last two weeks. Inevitably, these most recent acts of barbarism bitterly evoked our own sense of loss after 9/11 -- the anguish on the faces of parents as they carried the still bodies of their children, and the blank stares of those learning that their loved ones were killed in simultaneous bombings of passenger jets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, responding to the slaughter in Beslan, says his nation will now -- belatedly -- proceed with a policy of preemption.

On this, the third anniversary of 9/11, we note that the number of American Patriots in uniform who have died in the Iraqi theater passed the 1,000 mark -- predictably prompting political opportunists to launch frontal assaults on our policy in the region. Of course, such protests serve only to endanger our Armed Forces on that warfront by inviting additional strikes against them. Such protests belittle the ultimate sacrifice of those who stood in harm's way, and they imply that a policy of appeasement would end the murder of innocents.

Unfortunately, reality dictates that Jihadis are a relentless enemy who will not rest until that beacon of liberty, the United States, is laid waste. These are very dangerous times, when the state sponsors of Islamofascist groups like al-Qa'ida are close to obtaining (or have already obtained) enough highly enriched uranium to kill millions of Americans in U.S. urban centers.

Thus, the Bush administration's policy of preemption, as enforced by our Patriots in uniform, is an essential element in keeping nuclear terror from our homeland.

We hope and pray that this critical policy and its enforcers are not compromised, as they most assuredly would be, by a change of administrations in November.

According to The Patriot's well-placed military and intelligence sources, our ultimate objective in securing a free Iraq is to establish a forward-deployed presence in the Middle East -- a presence of personnel and equipment. We expect that the invitation to establish bases in Iraq will occur soon after a permanent democratically elected Iraqi government is established -- assuming George Bush is still in the White House.

This base objective is critical, given that it will provide us standing right in the heart of Jihadistan, and an ability to project force to protect our national interests in the region without having to ramp up via sea and airlift. Our sources indicate that our military presence in this region will consist primarily of assets transferred from Germany.

In the meantime, we hope our countrymen are not deceived into believing that Islamist terrorism is anything but a clear and present global danger -- one likely to remain so despite our best efforts in the foreseeable future.

In retrospect, American Patriots will observe a moment of silence at 0846 on 9/11, a solemn moment to contemplate the attack against our countrymen three years ago. Additionally, we will honor, as we do every day, the sacrifice of our Patriot Armed Forces, who have given the last full measure in defense of our liberty, and those who remain in harm's way.

In the words of Founding Patriot Samuel Adams, "Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, 'What should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship, and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands, which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!"

from
The Federalist

Love or Selfishness? - God's Way or My Way?

2004-09-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

The measure of our Love is the measure of our worth to society.

Men are valued according to their financial or political standing in a community. It is a problem of how much money they have or how much political influence they can swing. Yet, in the final analysis, the men who Love are the men who help the community.

Man outside of Love is a failure.

Selfishness is the blighting curse to humans. Love stops the rust of selfishness, preserves the home and Church life from decay.

The lover is like stainless steel which will not rust. Given enough time all steel is destroyed by rust. In the same manner our homes are destroyed by selfishness.

Marriages are wrecked by selfishness. The home life disintegrates because the husband is selfish, and the wife seeks her own. The children are born and grow up in that atmosphere. They go out into life living what they have seen.

It is a well-known fact that children who grow up in Godly homes have a better chance in life than those who grow up in homes where there is quarrelling and bitterness. It is almost impossible to find in any of our penal institutions a young man or woman whose father and mother were both walking in Christian love when the child was born, and while it was growing up.

Love is God's adhesive power that binds us together.

What Have You Done With Love?

We have forgotten that Love will make a man a success.

It will put him over where nothing else would make him a victor.

Love never fails. It is the Masters rule of life.

It will lead a man out of selfishness, out of weakness and failure into the very strength and ability of Christ. There is no force in the world that it cannot dominate.

It makes us wanted.

It makes us a blessing.

It enables us to serve in Jesus' place.

As we enthrone Christ in our hearts love reigns.

As Christ takes control over the kingdom of our spirit, then that wonderful passage in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 becomes a living reality: "For the love of Christ constraineth us (or in other words, For the love of Christ has gained control, has taken us over), ; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
"

Paul's friends had challenged him. They said he was beside himself, but the Love of Christ had so set him on fire that he was slowly burning up.

His very being was saturated with the passion that drove Jesus to the cross.

Now you can understand 1 Co. 10:24 "Let no man seek his own, but each his neighbor's good."

Selfishness Reigns Naturally in All of Our Lives

Selfishness is as deadly poison.

It is poison to the spirit.

It is poison to the Body of Christ.

It is a strange thing how man has never feared selfishness. He fears it in the other man, but not in himself.

It is the cause of all the wars that have come; of all the strikes, the battle between labor and capital, and the strife in politics.

That thing born (selfish pride) in the Garden has grown so mighty that it governs the nations of the earth, and Love is the only thing that can destroy it.

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."

I believe that Love is a more excellent way.

I believe it is best to let it govern my life. I have come to believe that it is the best method of ruling a home, a business, and a government.

Only a few folks believe that love is best. They believe in force; they believe in intrigue; they believe in power, knowledge, & logic. If in your heart you believe that the Love way is best, then act it.

Whenever we walk in Love we walk in the light, when we step into selfishness we step into darkness and unhappiness.

Charles Klock
gracebiblefellowship-tx.org

Study Links TV to Teen Sexual Activity

2004-09-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

What you behold you become. Parents guard your children. Why would we set this temptation before them? Carefully select what you allow your children to watch, and never let them indiscrimately watch the filth that is being pumped through your TV set. Watch for their souls, no one else will.

Charles Klock

Study Links TV to Teen Sexual Activity
By Michael Conlon

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Teenagers who watch a lot of television with sexual content are twice as likely to engage in intercourse than those who watch few such programs, according to a study published on Tuesday.

The study covered 1,792 adolescents aged 12 to 17 who were quizzed on viewing habits and sexual activity and then surveyed again a year later. Both regular and cable television were included.

"This is the strongest evidence yet that the sexual content of television programs encourages adolescents to initiate sexual intercourse and other sexual activities," said Rebecca Collins, a psychologist at the RAND Corp. who headed the study.

"The impact of television viewing is so large that even a moderate shift in the sexual content of adolescent TV watching could have a substantial effect on their sexual behavior," she added.

The study found that youths who watched large amounts of programming with sexual content were also more likely to initiate sexual activities short of intercourse, such as oral sex.

It found that shows where sex was talked about but not depicted had just as much impact as the more explicit shows. "Both affect adolescents' perceptions of what is normal sexual behavior and propels their own sexual behavior," Collins said.

She said the 12-year-olds who watched a lot of sexual content behaved like the 14- or 15-years-olds who watched the least amount. "The advancement in sexual behavior we saw among kids who watched a lot of sexual television was striking."

Her comments were released in a statement in conjunction with publication of the study in the September issue of "Pediatrics," the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The survey did not break down the amount of sexual exposure in terms of hours per week or percentages of material viewed, Collins said in an interview.

It did find that the 10 percent of those who watched the most television with sexual content were twice as likely to have initiated sexual intercourse when checked a year later than adolescents who were among the 10 percent who watched the least amount of sexual content.

"The best way for parents who are trying to figure out what is a lot versus little is to realize that the average (U.S.) child watches about three hours of television a day, and that the heaviest rates of sexual content are in prime time which is probably what those hours are made of," she said. The report said earlier studies found that about two-thirds of TV entertainment programs contain sexual content, ranging from jokes and innuendo to intercourse and other behaviors.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Charles Klock
gracebiblefellowship-tx.org

Rejected Love

2004-09-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

Rejected Love

Her mother and daddy disowned her. She did all she could do. When Elizabeth Barrett married the famous poet Robert Browning, her parents were so upset they disowned her. She and her husband settled far from home in Florence, Italy. Elizabeth loved her mother and father and did everything she could to be reconciled with them. Several times a month she wrote expressive, loving letters. After 10 years without any response, finally, a package came from her parents. It was a happy moment for Elizabeth as she opened it. But inside she found all of the letters she had sent--unopened. Like her husband, Elizabeth was a poet and her letters of reconciliation were eloquent. They have been called "some of the most beautiful and expressive in all English literature." But her parents never read them.

Jesus Christ, like Elizabeth, went to extreme measures in a reconciliation attempt. He died so sinful men could be reconciled to God. It breaks His heart that many refuse to even read the letter of Calvary's love. Like Mrs. Browning’s parents have you failed to respond when you had the opportunity to know his love? Have you returned his letters unopened? Do you avoid opportunities to read, hear, or be reminded of his love? Do you scoff at those who attempt to share his love with you?

One day soon all that will matter is do you love the Christ that loves you.

1Cor.16:22 “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema”

Anathema - One that is cursed or damned. One that is greatly reviled, loathed, or shunned

Are You a Functioning Member?

2004-09-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 4:16

As we all grow older we feel the pains that creep into
our once strong and fluid joints. Our hands hurt when
they do their work. Our knees creak when we stoop
down. Our backs and necks are sore when we sleep
wrong. The ailments we suffer from are seemingly
endless.

We are aware of those faulty parts, are we not? When
we have a pain in any portion of the body we tend to
focus on that area. We aren't so mindful of the
hundreds of other parts that don't hurt. We do that
because we go to the aid of the weakest members. They
need the attention, or at least they demand it. The
spiritual implications of these thoughts are many.

Paul, in describing the role of the church's
relationship with its Head, Christ, said, "From whom
the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by
that which every joint supplieth, according to the
effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh
increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in
love" (Eph. 4:16).

As the church, the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22f),
functions to serve the head, it acts as a unit made up
of many members (1 Cor. 12:27). Each part functions on
its own, up to its own ability, yet, all the parts
function together in harmony to produce all proper
reflections of the Head. This places each member in a
position to strive for personal spiritual excellence,
as well as for all to work with each other towards the
ultimate goal of glorifying Christ. When pains enter
into a joint, that joint fails to do its work. It
can't move as it should and it is not as strong as it
should be. But, the body as a whole suffers because
the body not only depends on it to function properly,
it can't even ignore it because the joint's pain is
the body's pain.

Christians functioning as members of the church, must
realize that they are important to the work of the
church. If they grow weak, or cause pain, the whole
body suffers. If they are strong and are doing their
work, they support the overall good of the body. The
tremendous value of being active in the Lord's
business keeps the body young and energetic. When it's
exercised and the stamina is high, what can stop it?
With the mind of Christ the church has no rival. No
power can defeat it.

When we serve God are we the joint that always drops
the load? Do we hurt and complain, or do we silently
do what's expected and needed? Let's be intent to
supplying our part and be able to help others do the
same. --Christian Messenger via The Gospel Messenger

=====
Charles Klock

Coping with Grief

2004-09-09T19:40:00.000-07:00

Loretta, I am so sorry for your loss. Not long ago my lovely niece was killed by her boyfriend. I grieved for her but not as deeply as her mother and father. They experienced sorrow that came like sea billows. Their hearts were torn, bruised, and extremely tender to her memories and the tragic way she died. Their grief was triggered by almost everything. Time has helped to heal their wounds (she has been dead six years now) but they will never be as they were. They went through deep sorrow. I'm sure it was like the valley of the shadow of death.

Grief gives us only one place to go....God. Men may be sympathetic, but they can rarely say or do anything that will answer the hard questions or ease your broken heart. Only the God that restores our broken souls (Psalms 23) can help.

C.S. Lewis wrote “Relying on God has to begin all over again everyday as if nothing had yet been done”. Each day for many days you will have a battle to be fought. You will be weak but God is strong. Do not despair this great pain while unpleasant is normal. However you will be stretched beyond measure, and in the end you will be a stronger mother than you ever though possible. Your pain will become an avenue of ministry. You will reach out to others who will go through similar hurt, and you will bless them.

Paul wrote in the New Testament about hardships: "For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:." 2 Cor 1:8-9
In the face of loss, hardship & uncertainty we can discover power in grief by allowing the pain of grief to move us towards God and to learn to rely totally on Him. When we discover that only God can comfort and His presence is more of a reality than ever before we discover what’s good about grief. Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 12:9-10...“When I am weak, then I am strong.”

In order to keep from falling apart we begin with:

A. Surrender and acceptance with prayer: We can use loss to help our faith grow and move us towards reliance on Christ. The pain of grief draws us to Christ. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.."Matt 11:28-30 ...God hears our prayers, provides comfort and rest.

B. Since “the only way out of grief is through it” we need to work through the stages of grief: feel the pain, express it in healthy ways through journaling, prayer, close friends. Depend on God for strength to take on new responsibilities. Pace yourself. Let other people help.
“The overall purpose of grief is to bring you to the point of making the
necessary changes you need to make so you can live with the loss in a healthy way.” It is at this turning point in our lives that God works on us and through us....on our characters, perspective, behavior helping us to become more Christlike.

I would encourage you to read the story of Jacob losing his beloved son Joseph. (Gen 37:34 ) Paralyzed by grief Jacob become a miserable paranoid hermit. He withdrew from all activity and mourned for years. When he found out that Joseph had not died in Gen 45:25 he said "It is enough". Years of grief were over, hope soared when he realized that Joseph was not dead. What hope for those of us who are Christians. When our children die they have gone to be with the Lord. We will see them again. We must not be swallowed by grief, sorrowing as those without hope. We will see them soon. It is enough.

These suggestions may help.

Be a name dropper! Mentioning your loved one's name during conversation gives others permission to talk about your loved one, too.
Be honest. Don't say that you're "okay" when you're not.
Ask for help and be specific. Ask a friend to hold your hand while you go through a loved one's closet, or make a dreaded phone call. Grief shared is grief diminished.
If possible, postpone making difficult or life-changing decisions until after the first year.
Grief can take a toll on health. Continue to watch your diet, and exercise. Make an appointment for a physical.
Start a grief journal, and write out your feelings.
Write a letter to your loved one, and read it aloud by the graveside.
If it's been six months or longer, consider joining a grief support group.
Spend at least 15 minutes each day in the sun. It will lift your spirits.
Breathe deeply. The shallow breathing that comes with grief can cause chest pains, headaches or other health problems.
Pray for God's help and comfort.

Links

http://www.grievinggodsway.com/book.asp

http://www.texasstar.net/autumn/grief1.html

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product/162793718?item_no=759508&event=SP71457

Books:

Stephenson, Wally. "Helping a Friend Who Is Grieving." Harrisburg, PA: ABWE

Publishing.

Stephenson, Wally. "What Grievers Can Expect." Harrisburg, PA: ABWE Publishing.

Adams, Jay (1988). A Thirst For Wholeness. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, chapter 2.

Bridges, Jerry (1988). Trusting God. Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress.

Our church will pray for you.

Charles Klock for Grace Bible Fellowship