‘when Christianity becomes criminal’

I have a dear friend that was born and raised in the UK and now living in the states. He sent me a link to this CBN video with these comments….

“Welcome to my homeland.  I bolted from this and now the same thing is happening here.”

http://downloads.cbn.com/cbnnewsplayer/cbnplayer.swf?aid=9425

The message in the video says it all….. very thought provoking, eh?

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Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang, Christian owners of the Bounty House Hotel in Liverpool, England were recently arrested after a woman filed a complaint against them.
What was their crime? They defended their belief that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and not just a minor prophet of Islam. For this, the couple awaits trial and could possibly lose their business.

Now Federal Hate Crime laws have just been signed by President Obama. Left unchecked they can eventually have the same effect on our right to share the truth. So A Rally for Religious Free Speech will be held on Monday, November 16th in front of the Department of Justice in Washington DC.

- Christian Anti-Defamation Commission

 

The Hate Crimes Bill is a serious attack on religious liberty and freedom of speech. Soon, it will be against the law for ministers to tell the truth about homosexuality.
How do we know? That is exactly what has happened in other countries with hate crime laws!

• A minister in Sweden, Ake Greene, was convicted of a hate crime and sentenced to a month in jail because of remarks he made in a sermon against homosexuality. 
• A Christian grandmother in England wrote a letter to her city council expressing her opposition to a homosexual parade. Two police men turned up at her door and brow beat her for hours and warned her to watch her words or she would be arrested for a hate crime.
• A Canadian Priest, Father Alphonse DeValk, was investigated for perpetrating a hate crime because he quoted a Bible verse in a debate about homosexual marriage. A Christian Canadian print shop owner was convicted of discrimination and fined $5,000 when he refused to print materials for a homosexual advocacy group because it violated his religious convictions.
• In 2001, a Canadian provincial court ruled that publishing certain Bible verses critical of homosexuality was a hate crime after a man took out an advertisement in a local newspaper. Both the man and the newspaper were fined thousands of dollars.
• Eleven Christians in Philadelphia, including two grandmothers in their seventies, were arrested and charged with hate crimes for peacefully sharing the Gospel at a public homosexual event. They faced up to 47 years in jail and $90,000 in fines.
• In 2005, David Parker was arrested in Massachusetts because he demanded to see the principle of his first grader’s school. Without prior notification the teacher read his child’s class the story of King and King. It tells about two boys that fall in love and get married.

- Christian Anti-Defamation Commission

 

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If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. John 15:18-21

malachi

‘the hand of hope’

 

Story of the “Fetal Hand Grasp” Photograph

As a veteran photojournalist in Nashville, Tennessee, I was hired by USA Today newspaper to photograph a spina bifida corrective surgical procedure. It was to be performed on a twenty-one week old fetus in utero at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. At that time, in 1999, twenty-one weeks in utero was the earliest that the surgical team would consider for surgery. The worst possible outcome would be that the surgery would cause premature delivery, and no child born earlier than twenty-three weeks had survived.

The tension could be felt in the operating room as the surgery began. A typical C-section incision was made to access the uterus, which was then lifted out and laid at the junction of the mother’s thighs. The entire procedure would take place within the uterus, and no part of the child was to breach the surgical opening. During the procedure, the position of the fetus was adjusted by gently manipulating the outside of the uterus. The entire surgical procedure on the child was completed in 1 hour and thirteen minutes. When it was over, the surgical team breathed a sigh of relief, as did I.

As a doctor asked me what speed of film I was using, out of the corner of my eye I saw the uterus shake, but no one’s hands were near it. It was shaking from within. Suddenly, an entire arm thrust out of the opening, then pulled back until just a little hand was showing. The doctor reached over and lifted the hand, which reacted and squeezed the doctor’s finger. As if testing for strength, the doctor shook the tiny fist. Samuel held firm. I took the picture! Wow! It happened so fast that the nurse standing next to me asked, “What happened?” “The child reached out,” I said. “Oh. They do that all the time,” she responded.

The surgical opening to the uterus was closed and the uterus was then put back into the mother and the C-section opening was closed.

It was ten days before I knew if the picture was even in focus. To ensure no digital manipulation of images before they see them, USA Today requires that film be submitted unprocessed. When the photo editor finally phoned me he said, “It’s the most incredible picture I’ve ever seen.”

- Michael Clancy- http://www.michaelclancy.com/

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At the inception of the earthly ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, the scripture tells us that He left Nazareth and came and dwelt in Capernaum which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying, “The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saq great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.” Matthew 4: 13-16

Light Shines in Darkness:

The scripture tells us that the light came into the world and though the world was made by Him, it knew Him not. Jesus the Christ, came unto His own, but His own received Him not. Though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him….

The Light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not!

Why?

“Light has come into the world, but me loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil, for every one that doth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”

When I first heard the above testimony by Michael Clancy and his work:  ‘The Hand of Hope’, I thought to myself, how amazing is the grace of God that He continues in this day to bring forth light (manifest truth), thereby thwarting the lies and works of darkness our society is immersed therein.

After seeing this EVIDENCE OF LIGHT manifested in Michael’s work, how can a nation continue to deny that a child encapsulated in the safety of it’s mother’s womb, is in fact a living human being?

For the rest of the story, read The Controversy Behind The Picture; http://www.michaelclancy.com/story.html#slideshow. Not all that witnessed this miraculous event received the light of the moment.

The Light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not!

Truth was brought to light but the instruments of darkness continue to  reject light and suppress the truth… as it was from the beginning.

It is pretty obvious that the medical profession and Life Magazine had an agenda and they were more interested in showing how far medical science had progressed in the twentieth century, in utero fetal surgery, than giving credence to life, and that in accordance to the truth of God’s word…

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

This rejection of truth (light) in order to give place to a lie is not uncommon. God’s word gives us a vivid picture of this. It is found in the 22nd chapter of 1 Kings.

Ahab is the king of the northern kingdom in Samaria and Jehoshaphat is king in Judah. Ahab petitions Jehoshaphat that he will go with him to battle in Ramoth-gilead against the king of Syria.

Before Jehoshaphat agrees, he request that Ahab “enquire at the word of the Lord”. So Ahab summoned all of his prophets, those who would speak to his liking. Of course they prophesied that he would go up and the Lord would deliver it (Ramoth-gilead) into the hand of the king. 

Jehoshaphat was not as gullible. He petitioned Ahab that a true prophet of the Lord be summoned. So a true prophet of the Lord, Micaiah, was commissioned. Micaiah’s final prophecy was not liken to the prophets of Ahab, as he prophesied that this battle would result in Ahab’s death.

Now Ahab has a decision to make… truth or a lie…. light or darkness? He chose the lying spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets.

When a man chooses to believe a lie for political or financial reasons, God will send that same lying spirit to satisfy that ones wilful rejection of truth.

“Light has come into the world, but me loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil, for every one that doth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”

Wilful rejection of the truth yields the spirit of a strong delusion. We are a nation that is immersed in the same.

The life that reached forth from his mother’s womb at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 1999 would be 10 year old today. God gave Michael Clancy the opportunity to witness and document this miraculous testimony. The question is………… will it be light or darkness? 

An Update on Samuel Armas “The Hand of Hope”
National Right to Life News ^ | 10-31-03 | Jonathan Imbody

Posted on Friday, October 31, 2003 9:53:55 PM by cpforlife.org

“The Hand That Touched The World” Nearly Four Years Later

Malachi 3:10

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

When a nation, a society, or an individual are obedient to God and His word, God’s hand will reach down and they shall find blessing… and there will not be enough room to receive it.

Choose life….

malachi

[per-mish-uhn]

per⋅mis⋅sion 

–noun

1. authorization granted to do something; formal consent:

2. the act of permitting.

 

The 2009 H1N1 virus is shown in this image from the CDC.

        

 

Headline News- FOX News 23-Oct 2009

“9 Children die from the H1N1 virus in America this week”

Florida public schools begin H1N1 vaccinations…

- Each student must have a signed consent from to get vaccinated.
- Those consent forms give parents the option to choose whether their child should receive the nasal spray version of the vaccine, the shot version, or if parents have no preference.
- Before a vaccination program starts at a school, parents will receive an information packet with details about the H1N1 vaccine and about how the vaccine with be given.

___________________________________________________ 

Latest abortion statistics reveal 4,000+ babies are aborted in America every day….

Headline News-

“28,000 children died in America this week!”

          

While innocence is slaughtered,  the debate rages on. If this photo offends, it should, for it is grievous sin against a Right and Holy God.

You don’t know the parents of this child or where they live… you do not even know the sex of this child or the day his/her life was terminated… God does! I would to God that it would offend to the point that we would end this senseless murder!

“For instance, in Tennessee, the abortion rate went down when a federal court suspended a parental consent requirement, then rose when the law went back into effect. In Texas, the rate fell after a notification law went into effect, but not as fast as it did in the years before the law. In Virginia, the rate barely moved when the state introduced a notification law in 1998, but fell after the requirement was changed to parental consent in 2003.
Since the united states supreme court recognized states’ rights to restrict abortion in 1992, parental involvement legislation has been a cornerstone in the effort to reduce abortions. Such laws have been a focus of divisive election campaigns, long court battles and grass-roots activism, and are now in place in 34 states. Most Americans say they favor them.
“it’s one of the few areas that the U.S. Supreme court has allowed states to legislate, so it’s become a key for lowering the abortion rate,” said Mary Spaulding Balch, director of state legislation for the national right to life committee. Ms. Balch said she believed that consent laws were effective.”  Excerpts from NY Times Article below…

http://www.Nytimes.Com/2006/03/06/national /06abortion.Html?Ei=5088&en=c1260d4c6d 56fef3&ex=1299301200&adxnnl=1& partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=117 0976056-xxg47r7d3m4loops8y1zja

 

- questions posed on ehealth forum

• Should there be parental notification laws?
• Should there be ways to circumvent these laws?
• Should 17 year olds be held to the same standards as 14 year olds?
• Should minors from a state that has implemented parental notification laws be ‘allowed’ to obtain an abortion in a state that does not have such a law?

Does it anyone find it strange that the school would mandate that a child would need parental consent to get the H1N1 vaccine but NO PERMISSION is required of the parent in taking the life of our nations teenager’s babies?

The epitome of a rebellious nation against God… killing babies made in the image of God! 

_________________________________________________

 

It seems to be pretty apparent that the permission of the parent is not necessary for we have the permission of our government! We must be about repentance if by chance God would be merciful.

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Cheri DeGruccio- “I wrote this song when I was 16. Now that I am older, married, and pregnant with our first child I have been moved and inspired to record it and finally get it out to the public. I have always been Pro-Life, but having this tiny miracle growing inside me has really made an impact on my heart, and I am convinced that if most people knew the truth about their unborn baby and the horror of abortions and how they are performed, they wouldn’t think twice about letting their baby live.”

“The Dream Of This Child”

 

www.CheriDeGruccio.com

In His time……

malachi

‘when wisdom spews forth from a fools mouth’

A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students…..

“Let me explain the problem science has with religion.” The atheist
professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

“You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?”
“Yes sir,” the student says.
“So you believe in God?”
“Absolutely.”
“Is God good?”
“Sure! God’s good.”
“Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?”
“Yes.”
“Are you good or evil?”
“The Bible says I’m evil.”

The professor grins knowingly. “Aha! The Bible!”

He considers for a moment.
“Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?”

“Yes sir, I would.”
“So you’re good…!”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.”

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. “He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?”

The student remains silent.
“No, you can’t, can you?” the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.
“Let’s start again, young fellow. Is God good?”

“Er…yes,” the student says.
“Is Satan good?”
The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. “No.”
“Then where does Satan come from?”
The student falters. “From God”
“That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he?

Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?”
“Yes.”
“So who created evil?” The professor continued, “If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.”

Again, the student has no answer. “Is there sickness? Immorality?
Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?”
The student squirms on his feet. “Yes.”
“So who created them?”
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question.
“Who created them?” There is still no answer.

Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. “Tell me,” he continues unto another student. “Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?”

The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. “Yes, professor, I do.”
The old man stops pacing. “Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?”

“No sir. I’ve never seen Him.”
“Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?”
“No, sir, I have not.”
“Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus?
Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?”
“No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.”
“Yet you still believe in him?”
“Yes.”
“According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,
science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?”
“Nothing,” the student replies. “I only have my faith.”
“Yes, faith,” the professor repeats. “And that is the problem science has
with God. There is no evidence, only faith.”

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own.

“Professor, is there such thing as heat?”
“Yes,” the professor replies. “There’s heat.”
“And is there such a thing as cold?”
“Yes, son, there’s cold too.”
“No sir, there isn’t.”

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room
suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain.

“You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees.”

“Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits
energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of
it.”

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

“What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?”
“Yes,” the professor replies without hesitation. “What is night if it isn’t
darkness?”

“You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of
something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing
light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called
darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word.”

“In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?”

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. “So what point are you making, young man?”

“Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start
with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.”

The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. “Flawed? Can you explain how?”

“You are working on the premise of duality,” the student explains.
“You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought.”
“It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully
understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be
ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.”

“Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?”

“If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.”

“Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?”

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

“Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?”

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

“To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.”

The student looks around the room. “Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?” The class breaks out into laughter.

“Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the
professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.”

“So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?”

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face
unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. “I guess you’ll have to take them on faith.”

“Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,”
the student continues. “Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?”

Now uncertain, the professor responds, “Of course, there is. We see it
everyday. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in
the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These
manifestations are nothing else but evil.”

To this the student replied, “Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does
not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like
darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart.
It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that
comes when there is no light.”

The professor sat down.

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I am pretty sure most of the readers have run across this story prior to this post. Some credence has been given to the fact that the student was Albert Einstein. I cannot attest to the validity of this or even if this is a true story, but this is not an uncommon occurrence in colleges all across America… the professor attempting to belittle the believer and to make them to feel that their faith in God is a weak and feeble thought process.

In the first epistle to the believers at Corinth, the Spirit of God warned us that the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. So when we see those who are wise in their own intellect, thrashing the  Christian as in the above story, it is to be expected. The believer should not find it strange if the world hates them for the Spirit of God is enmity with the world and its philosophy.So what the Christian must admit is that we are a fool, at least in the eyes of the world.

But what is important is not the world’s view but God’s. You see the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God stronger than men. Therefore God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.

The thought process of the professor stumbled at two very important points. The first is why does God allow bad things to happen and secondly is the reality of the devil.

The first cannot be comprehended until one trust Christ and is the recipient of the same Spirit that quickened Him from the dead. Then we can lay hold to the truth that all things do work together for good, to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose. But it is the later that keeps one’s mind dead in trespasses and sin and under the spiritual bondage of that wicked one for the day of evil . 

If God is good and omniscient, how and why would He create Satan?

The word of God tells us that “the Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil”. Proverbs 16:4

There is mercy in Christ my friend. Why not put your trust in Him instead of your own human intellect. There is no shame in being a fool for Christ!

For the believer that is in the midst of this secular philosophy, a word of encouragement…

“Be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed, by the renewing of your mind” Stand upon His word; it is a sure foundation!

malachi

‘a cultural collapse’

  …fostered by a delusional spirit.

 

In Daniel Quinn’s book, ‘The Story of B’ [1996 novel], Quinn uses the phrase “cultural collapse” to describe the point of history that we are living through today. He believes that circumstances have rendered the cultural mythology of the takers (those who rape and pillage our society) meaningless to its people. When this happens to a culture, Quinn states, things fall apart. “Order and purpose are replaced by chaos and bewilderment. People lose the will to live, become listless, become violent, become suicidal, and take to drink, drugs, and crime… laws, customs and institutions fall into disuse and disrespect, especially among the young, who see that even their elders can no longer make sense of them.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_B

This acknowledgement of Quinn’s writing is not an endorsement of his thought process.

It is Quinn’s opinion that this cultural collapse does not occur over night, but is rather very slow and subtle, liken to his analogy of the proverbial frog slowly and gradually being boiled to death.

“If you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will of course frantically try to clamber out. But if you place it gently in a pot of tepid water and turn the heat on low, it will float there quite placidly. As the water gradually heats up, the frog will sink into a tranquil stupor, exactly like one of us in a hot bath, and before long, with a smile on its face, it will unresistingly allow itself to be boiled to death”…

Although Quinn’s writings and thoughts have no biblical foundation, one must agree with his assessment that we are seeing a ‘cultural collapse’ in America today. This cultural collapse that we are in the midst of today is the results of a crumbling that began nearly one half century ago. The cracking and crumbling of a spiritual foundation has left us in this awful  condition today.

When the spiritual foundation of a nation crumbles, it has far reaching affects… the entire nation, both the people and the land suffers. The condition is not only digressive in nature, but very subtle and persistent. The blame for this ‘cultural collapse’ therefore rest squarely upon the people of God… the church.

When those that are placed in a spiritual leadership role (pastors and teachers), do not see that spiritual light (TRUTH) is disseminated among the populace, the people (church) divert from the straight and narrow way and began to bask in error and are left to satisfy nothing more than one’s own flesh.

When the people of God (church) have no spiritual direction (LIGHT) the nation is left to the influences of the spirit of darkness, and he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth (cf. John 12:35).

When a nation forgets God and turns their back on His Word, He withholds His blessing, and a people and a land void of God’s blessing is a nation most miserable and without hope.  

What we are seeing in America today is a ‘wily enemy’ that is taking full advantage of this spiritual vulnerability.

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Spiritual spirit squad squelched

Pete Chagnon – OneNewsNow – 10/1/2009 6:00:00 AM

A cheerleading team in northern Georgia has come under fire for its controversial banners.

Since September 11, 2001, the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School cheerleading team in Catoosa County, Georgia, has been displaying banners with scripture verses during football games. One recent banner displayed Timothy 1:7 — “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
Now, however, the school has banned the use of the banners since receiving a complaint from a parent.

Brad Scott is a local youth pastor and president of the LFO class of 2004. He is leading the effort to get the banners restored, and says the use of banners with scripture verses is a student-led initiative and therefore does not violate separation of church and state.
“We’ve collected petitions; we have over 1,200 names,” he says. “We had a rally [Tuesday night] with over a thousand people showing up in support of the cheerleaders. [And] we plan to go to the school board meeting [next] Tuesday night with our petitions and voice our concern.”
Legal issues are also part of the mix, Scott adds. “We’re talking to legal groups for Christian rights, national groups for support on this, and we have a few local attorneys as well who are helping us with advice,” he shares. Scott has also started a Facebook page in support of the cheerleaders.
The youth pastor adds that parents and students will show their support at the upcoming Friday night football game by wearing shirts and holding signs with scripture verses. According to Scott, the school has sold a record-breaking number of tickets to the game. [END OF ARTICLE]

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Alan Glasow said “temptation  usually comes through a door that has deliberately been left open”. Church, it is time to close the door. We are in a spiritual warfare and we must heed the word of God…

Ephesians 6:10-18…Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints…

 

malachi

‘the danger of our children being educated by fools’

“the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God”

 

I receive The Voice of the Martyr’s daily devotional, Extreme Devotion. These daily devotions are filled with stories of courage, commitment, confession, and compassion—a price demanded; a price paid.

It is an excellent resource for keeping the church in America aware of the systematic suppression that is waged against Christianity throughout all the world and the plight of the persecuted church as they simply live their life for Christ.

Please pray for our brothers and sisters that are in the midst of the fire!

___________________________________________________

“One day the teacher told us that we would play a special game. She whispered to us about a special book that our parents may have hidden in our homes. We were to wait until our parents went to sleep, search for this book, and secretly bring it to school the following day for a special surprise. I went home and immediately began searching for the book.

    “The next day I was one of fourteen children who brought the black book, a Bible, to class. We were awarded bright red scarves, and the other students clapped as the teacher paraded us around the room.
    “I ran home that afternoon because I was so excited to tell my mother how I had won the red scarf. She wasn’t in the house or the barn. I waited, but neither she nor my father came home, and I began to get scared. I was hungry and it was becoming dark. I began to feel sick inside, and I fell asleep in a chair.
    “The next day police officers came and informed me that I was now in the care of the government. I never saw my parents again.”
    An elderly woman from North Korea relayed this story. She never heard from her parents and is still struggling to find forgiveness. She is only one of many who have gone through such trials.

Contrary to a popular caricature, the devil does not appear in a red suit, poised with a pitchfork. We would easily recognize such an obvious overture to evil. However, like the child in this story, we often come across him in a different light. The enemy representatives are often impressive people in high places. Consider the influence of a smooth-talking business partner. Or imagine the power a university professor wields in the name of academia. As the child in this story discovered, the enemy plays dirty. We must put away naiveté and be on guard against the enemy wherever we come across him and his representatives. Are you easy prey for the enemy? Or will he find you alert and on guard?

vom- extreme devotion sep 21 ‘09

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We are constantly being told today that it is unconstitutional for the government or the public schools to promote ‘religion’. And with this  political verbiage a prayer-less church has been undermined by the wiles of the devil as we have sat by and watched this seeming promotion evolve into an obstruction, and that with absolutely no consideration for one’s constitutional rights.

Now those of us who keep up with this vehement suppression of Christianity in our society, realize the issue is not about religion at all.  The real crux of the matter is this Jesus Christ.

When the children of a nation are indoctrinated by a foolish system, there is a real good chance that the product of that system will be immersed in foolish thinking and that not in the wisdom of God.

Our brothers and sisters in North Korea are still faced with vehement opposition. Please remember them as you live in the comfort of your American Christianity.

malachi

‘looking for love in all the wrong places?’

Painting… HE QI - VISIT GALLERY

Looking for love in all the wrong places? Why not consider this love….

Greater love hath no man than this, that he would lay down his life for a friend!

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He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw……

……  Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

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If you are a faithful reader, I hope you find a sweet spirit of worship as you read and listen.

If you have never stopped in on ‘a word from malachi’ and do not know this Blessed Savior… please consider His gracious love.

Peace in the lovely name of Yeshua.

malachi

‘living in a foxe kind of day’

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

-George Santayana

 

John Foxe, a young teacher at Magdelen College, pleaded in prayer, “They call themselves your priests and ministers, but they worship themselves and their political power. Help them realize that there is no need for another mediator between God and man but Christ Jesus and his Word.”

    Someone overheard John and immediately reported him to the college administration. They accused him of holding beliefs in rebellion to the government and against the state church. When he refused to deny his convictions, the council expelled him from the university.
    Because of this, John had great difficulty finding work as a teacher. One day, exhausted with hunger, he sat praying in a church. A man John had never met suddenly appeared and thrust a sum of money into his hand. “Cheer up,” he said. “In a few days new work will present itself to you.” A few days later he was hired as a tutor.
    Under the reign of Henry VIII, Christians like John were tolerated. When Mary I came to power, however, she executed any who defied the religious edicts of the state. Three hundred people died during her five-year reign. John and his pregnant wife fled England to Belgium, barely escaping being apprehended.
    In defense of those who died for their faith, John wrote Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.    vom- extreme devotions

Sounds akin to what we see going on in America. May God have mercy on America…….

The man that sets his heart upon religion, shall find himself at enmity with the cross…….

malachi

‘abused, misused and taken for granted…therefore forgotten’

 

In the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, God instructed Moses to remind His people of His past dealings with them and why He lead them in the wilderness for forty years. Why He suffered them to hunger and why He fed them with manna, which they knewest not , neither did their fathers know that He might make them to know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Deut 8:1-3.

He then warned them not to forget God when they get into the land of promise wherein they shall eat bread without scarceness and drink from the wells and brooks of water that spring out of the valleys and hills. A good land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, pomegrantes and a land of oil olive and honey.

God promised them that if they forgot the Lord their God and walked after other gods, and served them and worshiped them that this would be His testimony against them the day in which He spoke it…

“ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroyed before their face, so shall they perish; because they would not hearken to the word of the Lord.”

The first evidence that a nation, individual or people has forgotten God is to forget or forsake His word. We in America have sealed our own fate, except this nation repent and return to God and His word we shall surely crumble.

 

Below are three articles. The first two are taken from the Voice of the Martyrs Extreme Devotion- daily post. Notice the hunger for the Word of God. Such commitment constrains me and brings forth a spirit of condemnation.

The Christian woman from North Vietnam traveled eight hundred miles just for the possibility of laying hold to the Word of God. God honored her commitment and fed His people His word. Praise God!

This man in North Korea could not depart with his bible. People had been praying for fifty years that they may lay hold to a bible that they might enjoy a rich, intimate time of fellowship with God in His word. Such a hunger and love for God’s word. If ye should search all the day the streets of America, you would not find such devotion to God and His Word.

The last article is an article posted by Dr. Gary L. Cass, the director of the Anti-Christian Defamation Commission.

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vom- extreme devotion posted Jun 21’2009

Each clickety-clack of the train wheels bounced the Vietnamese Christian woman’s frail body painfully on the hard wooden seat. But she was on a mission.

    She needed spiritual food for the Christians she led in North Vietnam. Three congregations of people were praying that their leader would be successful and bring back precious copies of the Bible.
    Her work back home was tiring. She was the only mature Christian in the area, and she had planted the three churches from nothing, winning one soul at a time through her personal witness. She had no car or even a bicycle. She walked or paddled a small wooden boat to her church meetings.
    She had faced police threats and harassment and her Buddhist parents’ dismay because of her faith. Now she rode the train across eight hundred miles for three consecutive days, hoping to find one believer who could help. Finally she reached Ho Chi Minh City.
    There she met visiting western Christians who gave her Bibles for the Christians in the North. They also gave her a bicycle to help her minister to the three congregations. Before leaving, they prayed together, asking God’s blessing on her travel and her ministry.
    “How old are you?” one of them asked, just as she was about to leave.
    The woman smoothed strands of black hair away from her face and whispered, “I’m twenty-two.”

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vom- extreme devotion posted Jul 29"’2009

“They begged and begged me, but I couldn’t give it to them,” said the man. “I know Christians are supposed to share, but I just couldn’t part with it.” He sadly held out his hand so that his listener could see his prized possession.

    “I really wanted to, but I couldn’t. You see, people in North Korea told me that they have been praying for fifty years to get a Bible. But I didn’t give them mine because I had been praying for twenty years, and I had just gotten it from a pastor in South Korea.”
    He sighed deeply as his mind went to the needy believers in North Korea desperately praying for one copy of the Bible. He hugged his Bible to his chest. He had escaped the Communist prison state and was now living freely in South Korea.
    Bibles in North Korea are rare. Because of the opposition from the Communists, believers consider them more precious than gold. One man was beaten to death with an iron rod along the Chinese border when he was caught bringing Bibles into North Korea. Sadly, cases like this are reported over and over.
    “I cannot forget those people,” he said with a sigh. “I cannot forget the look of envy on their faces when I showed them my Bible. I feel so bad for them.”

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The article below is posted by Dr. Gary L. Cass with the Anti-Christian Defamation Commission

Defaming the Bible as Cruel and Exclusive

Tuesday, 28 July 2009 16:54

A recent art exhibit in Scotland has encouraged many to display their most offensive and anti-Christian comments on a Bible. A Bible sits open in a central part of the exhibit, Made in God’s Image, at the Gallery of Modern Art (Goma) in Glasgow. Next to the Bible there is a container of pens along with a notice saying: “If you feel you have been excluded from the Bible, please write your way back into it.”

The whole idea was given by the Metropolitan Community Church, a homosexual "church." They contend that the idea behind it was to reassert the Bible as a sacred text, but this is exactly the opposite of what is occurring. Many of the comments on the pages are filled with obscenities and atheist ramblings. One contributor wrote on the first page of Genesis: “I am Bi, Female & Proud. I want no god who is disappointed in this.”

Many Christians have come out and condemned the display, including the Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church. They argue that the exhibition reflects the symptoms of a broken and lawless society. But the Church of Scotland defied the biblical prohibition on homosexuality and recently authorized ordaining homosexual clergy. They are fundamentally confused on this issue.

Artists Anthony Schrag and David Malone created the exhibit, in partnership with organizations that represent homosexuals who claim they are Christians and Muslims. It was recently announced that the exhibits producers would remove the most offensive pages. Still the frustration exists in many Christians that the show would even be allowed to continue. Would they do the same if it was the Koran? Would they allow people to write anti-homosexual comments on a rainbow flag?

Regardless, there is no redeeming aspect to the display except to stir up anti-Christian bigotry.  

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Needless to say, everyone does not share the same reverence and have the same longing for God’s Word as our brothers and sisters in Vietnam and North Korea. Pray that God will get them His word and that they will then stand upon it in the heat of persecution.

 

The average bible in America-

They serve as coasters for drinks or a handy spot to rest the remote control. Their sturdy covers help compose a letter on hotel stationery or catch the ashes falling from a cigarette. They listlessly adorn the coffee table, next to the caramel candy dish and the TV Guide. Although this book remains a best-seller year after year, no one seems to be reading it very much. It is the Bible. The Bible is abused and neglected outside of those places where its true value is known all too well. How differently we might treat our Bibles if we had to pray twenty years to get one! What can you do to revive your passion for God’s precious Word? vom

malachi

‘the invincible will of God’ – continued

 

A prelude to this post can be found at ‘the invincible will of God’ and preferred reading before continuing.

Before expounding this truth any further there are three scriptural text that we must consider:

 

Proverbs 21:1

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water, He turneth it whiter so ever He will.

 

Nahum 1:2-8

The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at Him and the hills melt and the earth is burned at His presence, yea, the world and all that dwell therein. Who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire and the rocks are thrown down by Him.

 

Hebrews 13:20-21

Now the God of Peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ. To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen

There are many other scripture references that we could have used to bring home this point, but for the sake of time and space I have selected these three to bring out three truths that permeate in the sovereign realm of God and He operates in these areas in bringing about His divine will.

 

Controls the hearts of men:

Consider His working in King Cyrus of Persia (Ezra 1:1-3)… In the first year of Cyrus, a pagan king, the Lord stirred up his spirit to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Not only did Cyrus release the Jews and allow them to return to Jerusalem, he made sure that they had all the material needs to complete such a task… The decree of Cyrus? The hand of God and Cyrus’ heart in that sovereign hand.

I have found that man is often oblivious to God’s hand and involvement when He is in fact at work. If we consider Pharaoh, Exodus 1:10, Pharaoh enacted a plan that would prevent the seed of Abraham from becoming to great in number and possibly unifying with Egypt’s enemies.

The affliction and oppression of the Hebrews and the killing of the male  children was at least in Pharaoh’s mind a tool to keep the people of God in submission and place of service, but God used these very acts as a tool to bring them out of their complacent service to the Egyptians and to the point of crying out for God’s mercy.

The fullness of time had come, “that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them 400 years”. Pharaoh’s best laid plans to thwart, extort and suppress the people of God had been used of God to bring His people back to Him that He might set His love upon them and bring them out with a mighty hand. What we see here is Pharaoh’s heart is in the hand of the Lord and Him turning it whither so ever He wills.

 

Controls the elements in nature:

I have found this to be the most used tool of God in bringing about His will. From famines and droughts to a mighty tempest in the sea, in order to get a group of fearful mariners to toss His disobedient prophet overboard that He might realign him in a spirit of repentance and service while all along giving us a powerful life lesson concerning the physical death, burial and resurrection His Christ… Yeshua ha Massicah. He has His way in the whirlwind and the storm. They are at His beckoning and control.

 

Controls every intricate detail of His child’s life:

From the selling of a young man into slavery by his brothers, to the rise and preeminence to the highest and trusted position of Pharaoh, Joseph was placed in a divine role to be used of God. His brother’s “intended it for evil but God meant it for good to save much people alive”.

 

 

For an in-depth study of these three spiritual truths one only need to consider the last years of the Apostle Paul’s life; Acts chapters  21-28.

Paul is arrested in Jerusalem and imprisoned in Caesarea. It was this night that the Lord stood by him and told him “to be of good cheer, for as thou have testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also in Rome”. Acts 21:11

Now for the Apostle Paul, I would liken this to when our Lord told His disciples in Capernaum that they must pass over to the other side. Come ‘hell or high water’, he is going to Rome and nothing shall pluck him out of the Father’s hand. Paul’s journey to Rome is… ‘the invincible will of God’

After the Lord appeared unto Paul that night, he was brought before the Sanhedrin, Felix, Festus and even King Agrippa. There were certain Jews that banded together and bound themselves  under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

Even Agrippa thought Paul’s fate rested in his hands as he stated unto Festus “This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar”. The fate of Paul did not rest in the members of the Sanhedrin, or the soldier’s that counseled the centurion to “kill the prisoners lest they swim out and escape”, or even in King Agrippa, but their hearts were simply in the hand of God and He was orchestrating the events that would land Paul on the other side.

Loaded on a ship destined for Rome, the shipped is tossed to a fro amidst a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. I am sure the occupants of the ship must have been concerned for their welfare, but the Lord sent a messenger to reassure Paul that… “he would be brought before Caesar”.

The tempestuous wind wrought havoc on the ship but all the inhabitants of the ship were spared, just as they had been divinely commissioned by God.

Having escaped to the island called Malta, while gathering sticks for a fire, Paul was bitten by a venomous snake. Obliviously this snake was very poisonous as the barbarians thought Paul would most assuredly fallen down dead suddenly. But to they surprise the venom of the serpent was rendered non lethal, and that without the aid of an anti-venom. How can this be? ‘the invincible will of God’ 

Paul eventually arrived in Rome, but one must agree it was quite a bumpy ride to the other side. The Lord did not promise Paul it would be smooth sailing, just that he would get to the other side.

For two years he resided in Rome “preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus. The invincible will of God, and a sovereign, almighty God that will bring it to fruition.

malachi