There Will Be Blood? There Already IS Blood.

Our freedoms are God-given, not state-given, not authorized by some elected official with Emperor envy.  We are His, not his.

By Pastor Ed Evans

http://nocompromisepac.ning.com/profiles/blogs/there-will-be-blood-there-already-is-blood

President Barack Hussein Obama is on record as having told his supporters that if he doesn't win the Presidential election in November there will be fighting in the streets.  Spoken as a double-edged sword, this was said to his supporters as an urging for more supportive action, but the intention was undoubtedly also for the ears of his opponents, his detractors.  

"Take the hint, don't make trouble," is the unspoken warning.  But they are Pres. Obama's opponents, his detractors for reasons none of them takes lightly.  For they have seen active threats to their religious freedoms, frightening threats to their longevity and health through political agendas, threats to their God-given freedoms represented by their Constitutional First and Second Amendment rights.  They have seen the law of the land trampled upon, causing death and destruction in some cases, wars expanded, military respect mocked and embarrassed.  They have seen the America they grew up in depicted as something to be shunned and changed through social experimentation.  They have seen morals and integrity pummeled and questioned at the highest levels.  They have been told that their President and those they themselves elected "know best."  They have been made to understand that author George Orwell's "1984" assertion that "some people are more equal than others" has come to be a truly bitter pill to be accepted and swallowed.  For those who are more equal "know best."  And this "experiment" regarding individual rights will soon be over, to be accepted for the good of the state.

However, those who would rule by tyrannical power never understand that those who have tasted freedom will never give it up lightly, even at the cost of their lives and their livelihood. It is not nearly so much that free men hate what they see before them, but that they love so dearly what is taking shelter behind them.

This Sunday, Pastors in their churches across America must ignore the threat of the IRS regarding involvement in politics and preach the complete word of the Living God.  For He, the Living God, the Creator, He meant us to be free.  He still means us to be free.

Governmental threats regarding preaching on political evils, threats that violate the God-given rights of the U.S. Constitution are but mists in the winds of time as compared to the standing truth of the Living God. We must, we must obey God rather than men.

Such innuendo from the left that speaks of dissolving tax-free statuses, of prison terms, of claims "there will be blood", need have no meaning whatsoever for men and women already covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. He is our God, and we are His. "Be still and know that I am God," says the Creator to the Created.  Upon that we must stand.

Who Loves You, Baby?, by Pastor Ed Evans

Who Loves You, Baby?

by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: John 15:9-17

9.  Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 

10.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 

11.  These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

12.  This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

13.  Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

14.  You are My friends if you do what I command you. 

15.  No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

16.  You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.

17.  This I command you, that you love one another.

                                

          You may recognize the title of today's sermon from something that movie actor Telly Savalas used to say when he played the TV detective Kojak, with a lollipop in the corner of his mouth: "Who loves ya, baby?"

          But love is what I want to talk about this morning.  We have a lot of churches who preach only the God of love, when there are so many other facets to Him.  It is not for nothing it says in Proverbs 9:10, "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."  So yes, God is more than love, but that's my focus this morning.  It's my focus partly because much of the world seems to have lost the idea of love for one another, and it's partly my focus because as we come down to what many of us believe is one of the most important elections in our nation's history, there is a great deal of hate being splashed around.  So I'm going to talk just about love this morning. 

          And the need for love I'm going to talk about has nothing to do with politics, or how the clerk treats you at the grocery store, or how your next door neighbor talks to you about your barking dog.  It's so very much more important than any of that.

          There's the story of the old Pastor, now retired but still very well known, and he was visiting a very large church, and the resident Pastor there asked if the elderly gentleman would bring the message that evening.  The elderly Pastor agreed.

          That night the church's Pastor went into a long introduction of how educated this man was, how many degrees he had, how many of the famous and well-known people sought him out for counsel, and on and on, finally ending with, "Now please welcome and pay rapt attention to this famous man of God."

          The congregation of several thousand people stood and applauded.  The old Pastor shuffled to the podium, signaled for them to please sit down.  They did.  It was so quiet you could have heard a church mouse squeak.

          The old Pastor looked out over that great congregation and he intoned, "It is true I have spent the best years of my life in study of our God, and in service to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  And out of all of that, I want to share with you this evening the very most important essence of what I have learned, and what I have lived.  And that is this ..."

          There was a brief rustle as pens and notebooks came out to take notes.

          "It is this...." he said, "Jesus loves me, this I know.  For the Bible tells me so."

          And he sat down.

          Friends, if you remember nothing else of what I say to you this morning, I would rejoice to know you remember those words: "Jesus loves me, this I know.  For the Bible tells me so."

          Those words actually began as the lines of a novel in 1860 by Norma Lee Liles, just as the nation was entering into the War Between the States.  In the book, a Mr. Linden, the book's principal character, looks into the eyes of a dying child and recites those word, moving thousands of readers to tears.  I'm certain Norma Lee Liles could never have known how many times those words have been repeated, at a child's bedside, on the battlefield, in hospital rooms.  They still have the power to move a loving person to tears.

          It is probably true that most of us learned those words at the knee of a children's Sunday School teacher; some loving man or woman who felt a mission to introduce children to the very God who loved them first, and introduce them just as soon as possible.

          I didn't hear about Jesus Christ -- other than as a swear word -- until I was about 10 years old.  In a little white Baptist Church in Fresno, California, a dear woman who not only told us of Jesus, but lived and modeled Jesus, made an indelible impression on us.

          As a teenager, an Army Major and his wife opened their home to the teenagers the church I attended in Seattle, Washington.  It became a second home, a loving home, for many of us who came from homes full of anger and alcohol and divorce.  We could see Jesus in them; we knew where we could go when we were in trouble; we knew where the love was.

          "Jesus loves me, this I know.  For the Bible tells me so."

          All of us at some point in our lives have learned that life is hard, and it's even harder without Christ.

          To know, from the very beginning of our life, that there is someone who will always love us, this will often give us pause when we are faced with temptation, simply because we don't want to disappoint that person.  And that tag line, how do I know?  Because the Bible tells me so.  Therein lies an assumption that there is truth in the Word of God.

          We know from throughout the Bible and particularly from John 14:6, where Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life..." that God is truth.  So if He is truth, and He is, then His word which He has guided to us down through the ages -- regardless of what all the learned skeptics may say, despite all those who on the basis of either emotion or logic would rewrite history -- despite all that, His word is truth. 

          Jesus love me, this I know.  For the Bible tells me so.

          In those words are multiple sermons for those who would share the gospel message.

          For me, aside from the feeling of safety and fulfillment that is promised -- for no one keeps promises like our God -- aside from that warm, fuzzy  feeling, those words lead me to so many scriptures that undergird my faith in Jesus Christ.

          I am reminded of God's love of children.  There is the verse in Matthew 18:6, "But whoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."  I've often thought I should start a millstone business.  There ought to be a real market for them in this age!           

          Matthew 18 goes on to say in verse 10, “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven."  They are never out of His presence.

          Then there is the issue that, if Jesus loved me first -- and He did -- how can I not love Him?  And in loving Him we come upon John 14:15, where Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will do the things I say."  Oh, yes Lord Jesus, yes Lord.

          There is another story, not a Bible story, but a story of our own time about the love of God, and I want to wrap up by sharing it with you.  Anyone who has spent time in hospitals holding hands with the aged and dying, anyone who has comforted and prayed with distraught parents when their child is under a doctor's care, will identify with this story.

          On March 10, 1991, Diana Blessing, after only 24 weeks of pregnancy, had to undergo a Caesarian operation to save the life of her tiny premature daughter, Danae Lu Blessing.  The baby was 12 inches long and weight only one pound, nine ounces.  The doctors told Diana and her husband that there was little chance the child would survive, and if it did, she would never walk, never talk, and be blind.

          To make matters worse, for two months the child was kept in isolation.  Having been taken early from her mother's womb, for two months she totally alone.  Her under-developed nervous system meant any touch, even a kiss would cause extreme pain.  So the child never knew a mother's touch for two months.  All they could do was pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl.

          Now jump ahead five years, 1996.  Danae Lu Blessing was seen to be - quote - "A petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life.  She shows no signs, whatsoever, of any of the mental or physical impairments of which the doctors warned her parents."  Unquote.

          One afternoon in 1996, on a blistering hot day at her home in Irving, Texas, Danae was sitting in her mother's lap watching her big brother Dustin practice baseball and chattering away.  Suddenly she became very quiet, and hugging her arms across her chest, Danae asked her mother, "Do you smell that?"

          Sensing the approach of a thunderstorm, her mother said, "Yes, smells like rain.  I think we're about to get wet."

          Danae, with her eyes closed, shook her head and patted her thin shoulders, saying, "No, it smells like Him.  It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."

          Tears filled Diana Blessings eyes, as Danae hopped down to go play with the other children.  Danae had confirmed what her family had known, at least in their hearts, all along.  That during those long days and nights of her first two months of life, when her nervous system was too sensitive for them to even touch her, God was holding Danae on His chest, and it was His loving scent she remembered so well.

          We serve such a great, loving God.

          Jesus loves me, this I know.  For the Bible tells me so.

          There is so much more to loving our God, to knowing Jesus Christ, to learning from the leading of the Holy Spirit.  But if you start here, you can't go wrong.

          Jesus loves me, this I know.  For the Bible tells me so.  Amen.

Week of Worship

September 2, 2012

Invocation:  Good Teacher, help me in this hour to hear Your clear call to discipleship.  By the power of your Spirit grant me wisdom, courage and strength to live as Your disciple all day long.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 1

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday                Philippians 2:1-8

Tuesday               Galatians 5:16-24

Wednesday          Matthew 5:1-11
Thursday              Matthew 5:12-16

Friday                   Matthew 7:21-28

Saturday               Matthew 5:43-48

Sunday                 1st Kings 2:1-4, 10-12; Ephesians 6:10-20; Psalm 121;

                             Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "O Jesus, I Have Promised"

Benediction:  O my God, since You are with me, and I must now, in obedience to Your commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I beg You to grant me the grace to continue in Your presence.  To this end, prepare me with Your assistance, receive all my works, and possess all my affections.  Amen.

Echoing Down from Jeremiah, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Jeremiah 18:1-11

18:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
18:2  "Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear My words."
18:3  So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.
18:4  The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.
18:5  Then the word of the Lord came to me:
18:6  Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord.  Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
18:7  At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,
18:8  but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change My mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it.
18:9  And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it,
18:10  but if it does evil in My sight, not listening to My voice, then I will change My mind about the good that I had intended to do to it.
18:11  Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.

The prophet Jeremiah -- sometimes called "the weeping prophet," and a man persecuted by his own Jewish kinsmen who cursed him, beat him, and threw him in prison -- writes between 680 and 530 B.C. about the final prophecies to the kingdom of Judah.  He warns of the nation's coming destruction if they do not repent.  Jeremiah practically begs the nation to return to the God of their fathers.   And yet, all the while he recognizes how inevitable is Judah’s destruction due to the idolatry and immorality from which it will not turn back.
Earlier in his writings Jeremiah even understands how difficult it is for them to turn their back on their pleasures, writing in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?”
So, who is this Jeremiah, that he should have the final word of God?  Jeremiah the prophet was a man who had been given a very difficult task by God.  He loved the nation of Judah, but he loved God more.  So as painful as it was for Jeremiah to tell his own people God had judged them, he knew he needed to be obedient to God.  He could hope and pray for mercy, but He also trusted God to be good, just and righteous in this matter.
Still he often became frustrated and angry with the people of Judah for their refusal to set aside their idols, as he prophesied for a quarter of a century before the siege of Jerusalem and the monumental destruction that included the razing of Solomon's Temple by Nebuchadnezzar.  At times it was apparently more than Jeremiah could handle, and he had to lay it at God's feet.  And yet for those of us in this age, the words Jeremiah brought to the people of Judah from God come echoing down through the ages to us.
When we must finally lay everything at God's feet, in our powerlessness, do we trust that God, in His infinite mercies and in His wisdom, will bring about His perfect plan and, in the end, what is best for us?  That's what Jeremiah had to do.  We of New Testament times absolutely should, even in our overwhelming difficulties believing in the truth of Romans 8:28, "He works all things together for good to those who love God, and are called according to His purposes."  
Jeremiah's story of his visit to the potter's house, and how God uses the potter's working of the clay is a metaphor for God's own work, on the one hand clear and straightforward, but on the other hand, raising questions for us.
For example, God has given us life, and for those of us in America, freedom and the gift of opportunity and hope for the future.  But if we spoil that gift of life, of freedom, of opportunity and hope, Jeremiah says God will scrap what we have spoiled and make of it "what seemed good to Him."
For those of us in America, the historic events happening around us would seem to make it clear we are in "the Potter's House", and as the potter's metaphor makes clear, God will have the last word.  A remolding is taking place, for the first effort has been spoiled.  The very best thing we can do is make God's will our will.  Can we discern meaning in the historic events happening around us at this time?  Does the history of similar events hold lessons for us?
Jeremiah urges us to find meaning in this.  We are not Israel, but we serve the same God now as Israel served then.  And while Jeremiah makes clear that the Lord God may change His mind if the criteria for His judgments change, yet the values, the standards for God's judgments do not change.  It is left for us to change, for us to come up to His standards.  The potter does not allow the clay to create its own standards of perfection.
The very first thing we see in this chapter of Jeremiah is that God changes the prophet's position.  "Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.  So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel," say verses 2 and 3.
We must be in the right position to hear what God wants us to know.
Our natural position is one of bankruptcy.  Physically we are dying and morally we are bankrupt.  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved . . .” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
God, by His grace through faith has moved us from our position of corruption, wearing the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ, to a position within the royal family of God.  And yet, we are undeserving sinners, saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ.  And if we are undeserving sinners, then we have sinned against God’s common grace and have provoked His wrath to His face. We deserve righteous judgment.
But just as God moved Jeremiah to the potter's workplace to see first-hand what He was about to do to Judah, so God moves us under the righteousness of the Son, with eyes to see and ears to hear the truth of the Gospel, to see and to know the deadliness of sin and the consequences of remaining in it.
Just as God was offering the people of Judah a second chance through Jeremiah, the mystery of the gospel is that even though we were corrupt and unrighteous, working against God and without any love for God, yet He gave us the gift of hearing the gospel.  God’s grace -- the mystery of His mercy -- saves us for His glory despite our natural and willful condition.
Today, just as with Jeremiah's people, we have our idols to which we give our time, our money, and our adoration, while tipping our hat to God one day a week.  Do we think God doesn't notice?  Maybe He doesn't care?  The people of Judah had the luxury of hearing Jeremiah's warnings for 25 years before God dropped the hammer on them, and the overwhelming forces of King Nebuchadnezzar's army came rampaging across them, destroying and killing.
If God gave America the same 25 years, the problem is we don't know when He started the clock.  It's terribly obvious this nation is in dire trouble as regards the economy, jobs, our security, and our morality.  Recent surveys show a drastic drop in the public's confidence in both the federal government and the news media.  Murder, mayhem, selfish violence, and a deep lack of morality fill the news each night.
Across America in churches, on television, the Internet, through ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the voice of Jeremiah is heard urging men and women to turn away from the idolatry that occupies them, and turn their attention back to God.  It is not as if we are not being warned.
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of studying the book of Jeremiah is knowing that from chapters 24 on, Jeremiah records King Nebuchadnezzar conquering Judah and making it subject to him (Jeremiah 24:1).  Judah had a promising future, protected by the benevolent and mighty arm of God.  But when they turned away from Him, He merely removed His arm of protection.
After further rebellion, God allowed Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies back to destroy and desolate Judah and Jerusalem (Jeremiah 52).  When God's people do not learn, when they do not respect the God who has cared for them and protected them, then in the end, God's judgment falls on them.  They did not change.  Neither did God.  "He who has ears, let him hear."  (Matt. 11:15).  Amen.


Meditations

August 26-September 2, 2012

Invocation:  Lord Jesus Christ, whose cross was raised on Golgotha's brow, casting its long shadow over Jerusalem's soul, may the cross be raised at the center of my life, casting its shadow over all my desires and all my motives.  In Your strong name I pray.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 18:1-19

Daily Scripture Readings
Monday John 1:19-28
Tuesday John 14:1-11
Wednesday Colossians 1:15-23
Thursday John 6:66-71
Friday John 12:20-36
Saturday John 11:1-16
Sunday 2nd Samuel 23:1-7; Ephesians 5:21-33; Psalm 67;
John 6:55-69

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "How Can We Name a Love"

Benediction: I bind myself today to the strong name of Jesus.  My God, I call You to the center of my life.  Come to me, stay with me, all the day long.  Amen.

In the Right House, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Psalm 111

111:1  Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
111:2  Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.
111:3  Full of honor and majesty is His work, and His righteousness endures forever.
111:4  He has gained renown by His wonderful deeds; the Lord is gracious and merciful.
111:5  He provides food for those who fear Him; He is ever mindful of His covenant.
111:6  He has shown his people the power of His works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.
111:7  The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy.
111:8  They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
111:9  He sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever. Holy and awesome is His name.
111:10  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.

       At the beginning of WWII, a young boy on a farm in Oklahoma was drafted into the Army.  He was to meet the train in the small town of Walnut on a certain date and travel to Oklahoma City for processing.  But the bus he was to catch on the highway to Walnut got there the night before, so he needed a place to stay and his family had no money for hotels.  The boy called his uncle who lived in Walnut to see if he could stay overnight at his house.  The uncle said of course he could, but the uncle would be out of town that night.

       "You come stay at my house," the uncle said, "at 19 Orange St., and I'll meet you there in the morning and take you to the train.  Don't worry about a thing, I'll have a nice hot meal waiting for you and a comfortable bed.  Walnut's a small town, so nobody ever locks their doors, you just go right in and make yourself to home.  I'll leave the porch light on."

       So the boy packed a small overnight case, said goodbye to his family, and caught the bus out on the highway going to Walnut.  It was dark by the time he arrived, so he asked directions and walked over to Orange Street where he found house number 19.  But the porch was dark, as was the house.  Inside, the place was a shambles.  There was no food on the table or in the refrigerator.  The whole place smelled of dirt and mold.  There was no bed in the bedroom, only a broken-down couch in the living room.  And there he spent the night, hungry, tossing and turning in the cold trying to stay warm.

       The beeping horn of his uncle's car woke him in the morning.  He struggled to the door where he found his uncle parked across the street and several houses down.

       "What are you doing over there?" his uncle asked the bedraggled boy.  "Nobody lives over at 16.  The boy looked at the address.  In the morning light he could see a nail had come loose and the number six had dropped around to look like a nine.  Across the street where his uncle was parked, was the real 19, where a hot meal and a warm bed had been waiting for him.

       So often, when people complain to me that "the church" or "pastors" are not doing enough to keep America from going down the ethical and moral drain, not speaking out enough about bad politics and cultic idols and foreign religions, I want to tell them they only believe that because they are in the wrong house.

A recent article, "The Silence of the Pulpits," has been gaining some attention, a piece written by Bill Warner.  It is a well written, but wrong essay, blaming the silence of the church for what is wrong with America.  

Bill Warner is the Director, Center for the Study of Political Islam.  Perhaps it's like the old story about how to carpenters everything looks like a hammer.  Bill Warner's assertion is that it is the fault of Christian Pastors that Islam is growing rampantly across America. He is busily pointing fingers, looking for scapegoats, and warns, "We cannot defeat political Islam until we get Christian boots on the ground.  Do the math. The pulpits must become a source of courage and knowledge and stand up for Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and all others who suffer under Islam’s persecution today and for the last 1400 years."

I do agree with Warner when he points out that "facts are the new hate speech."  Calling sin a sin has never been popular with those involved.  But America is not waiting for Christian pastors to lead the charge against Islam.  Christian pastors are low hanging fruit, and urging them to do more while ignoring the damage done by our elected and appointed politicians, and by the individual uninformed citizen, amounts to grumbling, not doing.

Nor have the Christian church or Christian pastors been silent about the issues of lapsed ethics, morals, and the war against Christ in America.  If anyone accesses any of my 12 Christian Facebook pages they will see no less than Billy Graham has spoken out on this subject.  I am constantly posting news of pastors speaking out about the ethical and moral lapses by politicians and organizations that require us to ask, why are we in this hand basket and where are we going?

There are many people whom I tend to regard as "tip your hat to God Christians" who know little of scripture and have only a Sunday passing acquaintance with the Almighty God, who want to equate America today with the dying Roman empire or with the ancient city of Ninevah whom God threatened to destroy for their rampant evil and giving over to the pleasures of the flesh.  But for Rome, when the Vandals and pagans attacked the gates, it was the insidious evil inside Rome and its war against the Christ that had already destroyed them.  As for Ninevah, God had mercy and sent a recalcitrant prophet -- Jonah didn't want Him to save Ninevah -- to bring that city to its knees, and the people repented.  It lasted another 200 years, finally being destroyed 600 years before the time of Christ.  Today the ruins sit on the east bank of the Tigris River, across from the modern city of Mosul in Iraq.

I once had the grand experience of telling a boardroom full of Army engineers that they paid me a great deal of money for me to share my 50 years of PR expertise with them, they might want to listen to what I was telling them.  They were furious with me, to the point some of them walked out.  They were even more furious later when the issue they were handling badly blew up in their faces, angering an entire town, its mayor and a powerful U.S. Congressman on the Congressional Finance Committee.  It then took months to fix the situation, and the next assignment for the Army Lieutenant Colonel in charge was the Sinai Desert.  I had nothing to do with that.  But he resigned his commission rather than go.

Why do I tell that story?  Because I believe that like most people here, we've all "been there", having spoken up about the clear truth of the matter, and been ignored by those who could have made a difference.  It's frustrating, but as God tells us in Ezekiel 33:8-9, we His children have limited responsibility for others; "When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.  Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul."   

Are we Christians the only ones aware there are Christian pastors being held in prisons in China, Iran and Pakistan under death sentences for preaching Christ? That there are dead pastors and slaughtered churches in India and Africa?  That even though the IRS has not yet been successful in using  the Pres. Lyndon Baines Johnson sponsored law to yank 501.3C tax-free status from churches where Pastors talk politics from the pulpit, they have taken churches to court and attempted it.  So far, they have not been successful.  But the threat remains.  The question is this, why are Christians the only ones who speak out about these things?  As 17th Century English poet John Donne wrote, "Ask not for the whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."

And while I will quickly agree with others that we have an overabundance of liberally-trained "meek and mild-mannered Christian clergy" who shoot from the hip at our own walking wounded, the church in America also has a stiff backbone of clergy -- I know many of them, former U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy, personally -- who speak out regularly and do what they can to raise the awareness that it is necessary we keep the evil politicians and idol-worshipers from controlling America and ripping away our God-given rights. 

Perhaps you've heard of the Black Robe Regiment which goes back to Revolutionary Days; activist ministers of Christ who during the war for independence took the forefront in leading that fight against tyranny.  The Christian ministers who make up today's Black Robe Regiment are still active today.  And while we would hope pressure would be brought to bear to move the political candidates away from supporting the same-sex agendas and "feel good" approaches to religious and cultic enslavement, of even more importance to all of us as men of God, and which we would hope would be important to others, would be represented in the reality that the people of God are rising to the purposes of God's Kingdom.  Across this nation prayer groups are increasing, and we need to continue creating an atmosphere for miracles.  A miracle, through concentrated prayer of God's people, may be the only thing left to us.  

The God for whom time does not exist, who moves mountains, parts seas, heals the living and resurrects the dead surely will have no trouble handling empty suit politicians and those who support them, but will empower His people to crush and set aside Islam and other false religions just as they did Baal in ancient times.  We should all ask Him to do exactly that.  The intent of 2nd Chronicles 7:14 is still alive and well; "If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."  

Let us look again at today's scripture, Psalm 111.

"Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.  Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.  Full of honor and majesty is His work, and His righteousness endures forever.  He has gained renown by His wonderful deeds; the Lord is gracious and merciful.  He provides food for those who fear Him; He is ever mindful of His covenant.  He has shown His people the power of His works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.  The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy.  They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.  He sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever.  Holy and awesome is His name."

Now, I submit to you that if that is not your experience with the Almighty God, friend, you are in the wrong house!  You better take a good look at the address of where you've been staying, because if your god is not full of honor and majesty, if the righteousness does not last forever, if your god is not faithful and just and trustworthy, I don't care how awesome you think he is -- you're in the wrong house!

I've saved the last verse, verse 10 of Psalm 111 for the last point.  Verse 10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever."

I have seen, and you probably know of some, churches where all they preach is the love of God.  Love everyone regardless of how they sin against Him.  But you see, that ignores the intent of John 14:15, where Jesus tells us that if we love Him we will do the things He says.  And let's get down to it, Jesus says some things that are painful.  There are at least four books I know of written about the hard sayings of Jesus, but I think about the best is by F. F. Bruce, published in 1983.  Our God is love, but He is so much more.

In Matthew 10:34, Jesus says, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."  He goes on in Matthew 10 to talk about how divisive the gospel is, but adding near the end of the chapter, in verse 39, "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."  For those who believe in Jesus Christ, this world, indeed, is not our home.  There is more, much more, and much better, to come.

If Satan isn't worried about you, if you are not carrying your cross despite the hardships, if God is not sharing with you sustenance and care and joy, friend, you're in the wrong house.

But let's be clear, nowhere in holy scripture does it tell you to lead an armed insurrection and lynch evil politicians, to turn the government upside down and establish a holy kingdom in America.  God has given His people very clear guidance and if you are not privy to that, you might want to start reading at Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7.

Those demanding that Christian pastors and their churches man the ramparts and lead the revolution against bad politicians and bad government are in the wrong house.  They are also under the wrong leadership.  Almighty God is still in charge, His strategic plans are underway and unfolding.

I respectfully suggest to those who are genuinely concerned about the future of this nation, that instead of pointing fingers and looking for scapegoats they join Christian Pastors and their churches in praying for this nation.  If not, then if we intend to be Ninevah, we better start looking for a Jonah and his whale.  Otherwise, we all perish.

Another Psalm, 107, states in the first two verses, "O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever.  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy."

If that isn't you, if you can't "say so," then you are definitely in the wrong house.  Come join the children of the Almighty God, believe in Jesus Christ.  He has a plan for your life, at the right address.  Amen.

August 19, 2012

Invocation:  Lord Jesus, life of God hidden deep within, give us today Your gift of life and nourish it until it is full-born in us.  Through the power that is Yours alone.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 145

Daily Scripture Readings
Monday        Matthew 8:1-4
Tuesday       Matthew 8:5-13
Wednesday   Matthew 8:14-17
Thursday      Matthew 9:18-26
Friday           Matthew 9:27-34
Saturday       Mark 10: 46-52
Sunday         2nd Samuel 18:24-33; Ephesians 5:15-20; Psalm 102:1-12;

                    John 6:51-58 

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "How Like a Gentle Spirit"

Benediction: And now, Lord Jesus, illumination of the mystery of God's unending love for me, give me the grace to shine today as one of Your lesser lights, illuminating the way for others to come closer to You.  Amen

A Christian Shift: Stop the Hate, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture:  Daniel 3

1  Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

2  Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

3  Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

4  Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,

5  That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:

6  And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

7  Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

8  Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.

9  They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.

10  Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:

11  And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

12  There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

13  Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.

14  Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

15  Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

16  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

17  If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

18  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

19  Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

20  And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

21  Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

22  Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

23  And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

24  Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

25  He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

26  Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

27  And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

28  Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

29  Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

30  Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.

For as long as God has created people, there has been hate.  It begins in the eighth verse of Genesis 4.  We in this generation have seen an abundance of it.  Now, it is time for a Christian shift in society, a shift in how we treat one another, how we deal with one another.

Let us recognize some given facts of which we are all aware.  There are two kinds of people in the world, neither of which are going to change the others' minds.  There are those who belong to God, and those who belong to Satan. 

Any mention of God, of Christian ethics, of Biblical standards lights up the hate machine, and it roars.  It was never more evident than in this latest dustup about the same-sex supporters' call for a boycott of the Chick-Fil-A chicken franchise, and they absolutely heaped the hate on those who refused to bow down to the false god of same-sex.  But some of those who called themselves Christians reciprocated, and that is not of Christ.

We in America have many people, some even in the Christian church, who are using the world's values to make their decisions about spiritual matters, and that is always a mistake.  God has a standard of conduct, He has had His say about those standards thousands of years ago.  What He said remains the same.  He is not going to change.  It is up to us to change.

Change is actually what is badly needed right now; a dramatic change in America's political, economic and cultural integrity.  Having integrity is a matter of being complete and undivided, having the quality of honesty with strong moral principles.  We see the clash of hatred today because when those who follow Jesus Christ hold the line on what God has said, and refuse to compromise His standards, those who will not respect our commitment call that hatred.  That is an attempt to bully others by controlling the language.  We see the same thing at work when those who support same-sex ethics insist on being called "gay."

However, while that has its own effect, that is not where the battle must be fought.

The battle for a shift in integrity, morals and ethics in America must be fought on spiritual grounds even though the opponents of such a shift will deny it, and will claim a false moral and spiritual ground for themselves.  They demand, on those false grounds, that Christians approve what God has said cannot be approved.  Christian believers today occupy the same battleground as Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego when they were set up by the Chaldeans to incur the wrath of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. 

But what is significant about this historic test of wills is that at no time were these three young men angry, disrespectful or revengeful against King Nebuchadnezzar, against those who set them up, or even against those who threw them into that fiery furnace.  These were three young men who had been taken captive with the rest of the Jewish nation.  They had been separated from their families, but they remained true to their faith in the face of opposition.

No one was ever convinced to change their mind by being nasty to them, calling them names, telling them they are going to hell, or hating them.  Arguments don't change minds, they only build resistance.

Separated from all they knew, in a foreign land, under foreign laws, yet they lived out God's law of Leviticus 19:17-18, "You shall not hate your brother in your heart: you shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.  You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am Jehovah."

They were set up before King Nebuchadnezzar by the Chaldeans for death, and yet they refused to respond in kind.  They obeyed God, and He was faithful to them.

If the nation of the United States of America is to survive in this world beyond what we know, there must be a national shift which only Christians can bring about.  But it will not be accomplished through pride or right or might.  It will only be accomplished through the power and the actions of Almighty God.  And in that environment, in those actions, there is no place for hate.  For these three young men whose story is told in the book of Daniel, they knew from Genesis the story of Esau and Jacob, and the impact many generations later when God spoke through the prophet Obadiah to the men of prideful Edom, because of the sin of Esau, saying "For the violence done to thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever."  For the slaughtered warriors were but a portion of the loss of life, loss of wealth, and loss of a future before God.

There must be a shift of dramatic proportions in how America sees success, but hate has no place in that.  We have a chilling reminder in 1st John 3:15, " Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."

As Christians, if we want to recommend the way of Jesus Christ to others, we must be respectful, and not hateful, to those who hate us.  We can be respectful to President Barack Hussein Obama without agreeing with his policies and decisions; we can be respectful to Muslims without worshiping their god; we can be respectful to politicians and others without agreeing to support their goals and programs.

That's what we must do.

What we also must do is hold the line on what God requires.  Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego were respectful to King Nebuchadnezzar and his court, but they still said "We will not eat your pork and other foods unlawful to us," and "We will not bow down and worship your god, but will worship the Living God only."

As followers of Jesus Christ we can respect each person for the creation of God that they are, but we will still not agree to condone what God has said is wrong, we will not agree with worldly values and programs that support rebellion against God, with programs that harm the innocent, that do not support the orphan and the widow.  With all respect and love of God, those things we cannot do.

Psalm 18:2 reminds us, "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."

When Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego made their stand before King Nebuchadnezzar, they said to him in Daniel 3:17-18, "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

Like these three brave followers of the Living God, Christian followers today must respectfully and lovingly take the stand our God has placed before us, but stand we must, like the rock that is our Lord.  Why would anyone follow Jesus Christ when all they see coming from His followers is drenching hate?  He does not tell us to hate or to attack.  Jesus did say to feed the sheep, not beat the sheep.  This is His battle, and He will fight for us, but we must stand firm on who He is, and what He has decreed, for all of us.  Amen.