God's Truth In Love

Archive for the ‘Encouragement’ Category

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Precious Baby–Jesus

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas Star, Devotional, Encouragement, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Renewal, Revival, Spiritual Fruit, Spirituality, Truth on December 18, 2016 at 1:53 pm

A bit of Christmas trivia for you. Many people do not think about it, or either do not know, but Jesus may not have been born on December 25th but it is the day we have chosen to honor His Miraculous birth. Many scholars have debated the facts over the years regarding dates, age, and time frame but here are a couple of widely accepted details.

There is a good chance Jesus was born in April or September, not December. He was also not born in 1AD but instead was born sometime between 7-2BC according to scholars. To me that is quite a gap in time and many people debate those five years but I tend to believe it was about 3-2BC when Christ came to this earth to redeem it from the power of darkness. Additionally, the wise men were not present at Jesus’ birth they came to Jesus, directed by the heavenly star, which marked the birthplace and their travels took them some time as they came from faraway lands. When they arrived, Jesus would have been about two years old, which is why Herod had all the babies two and under killed [Matt. 2:16-18] in an attempt to kill the Messiah. Nevertheless, the precious child was born and we praise God that He was willing to come to this earth and bring us the ability to have joy and peace in Christ at Christmas time.

The balance of this post will include details from a lecture done by Barry Setterfield regarding Jesus’ birth and the study of the Star of Bethlehem. Although none of us can truly pinpoint every detail of Jesus’ birth and the Wise Men’s journey, I find the following teaching to be quite creditable.

The Christmas Star Lecture

Barry Setterfield – Teaching 1993

Based on 28 years of research by historians, astrologers, and astronomers who studied of the Star of Bethlehem.

All of the following dynamics tie into pinpointing when Jesus was born and when the Wise Men would have arrived to worship Him.

Mary and Joseph both came from the line of David.

A woman giving birth would have been considered unclean because of the blood involved. If the woman was in a house during this time, the whole house would have been considered unclean and this was during a time of religious ceremonies. Hence, the use of a stable for birth.

Shepherds were in fields at night only twice a year, in spring and fall. Therefore, Jesus was born in the spring or fall of 3BC. [My note: This could be why some believe Jesus was born in April.]

Autumn 3BC Jesus was born. Between the 10th and the 25th of September.

Jesus is born September 12th then on His eight day He was circumcised, which would have been September 20th the Jewish Day of Atonement thus Jesus was shedding His first blood on the Day of Atonement. Then on September 25th, the Feast of the Tabernacle would have taken place.

If Jesus were in fact born around this time, September 10th – 25th, then His conception would have been close to the 25th of December, the previous year.

The Wise Men, the men who set out to find the New King of the Jews.

The star in the sky that announced Jesus’ birth remained in the sky for a couple, to several, years and moved guiding the Wise Men. When the Wise Men got to Jesus they went into the “house” to worship Him, house not stable [Matt. 2:11]. Above Bethlehem the star, the planet Jupiter, stopped moving and stood still for six days over the Christ Child, the day it stopped moving would have been December 25th 2BC – on that day the Wise Men arrived.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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A Candymaker’s Witness

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Candy Cane, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Christmas, Devotional, Encouragement, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Love, Renewal, Revival, Spiritual Fruit, Spirituality, Truth, Uncategorized on December 13, 2016 at 1:48 pm

Original source/author unknown

A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker made the candy in the form of a “J” to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the “Good Shepherd” with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs, who like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

Unfortunately, the candy became known as a Candy Cane – a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those who “have eyes to see and ears to hear.” I pray that this symbol will again be used to witness TO THE WONDER OF JESUS and HIS GREAT LOVE that came down at Christmas and remains the ultimate and dominant force in the universe today.

This year try hanging your candy canes, on your tree, upside down so that they form the letter “j”. It will be a small way to remind all who see them the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

May God bless all who read this with the knowledge of Him, the wisdom of His mind, and a heart for His will.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 17 God is Out

In Advice, Agape Love, Anger, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Encouragement, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, False Gods, Fear, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Idolatry, Jesus, Loss, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on October 6, 2016 at 11:28 am

In this piece we will explore chapter seven of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. Here are some of the highlights as found within this chapter regarding people’s rejection of God.

In America a large majority of people have begun to reject God, both the reality of His existence and/or His right as their Creator to be their Lord. For many people God is out, no longer in vogue, and Christianity is certainly not fashionable any longer. As we have seen this type of attitude increase in America we have seen the decline of America.

Kupelian address this issue by addressing atheism. At the time of the printing of his book in 2010, in his view atheism was undergoing a remarkable change. The group has gone, in the author’s view, from a group on the fringes of our society to a group that is increasingly vocal and unapologetic when it comes to mocking religion, coalescing into a political force and crying of discrimination against them at every turn. Just as homosexuality was once considered shameful by the larger culture, atheism was considered shameful. However, now both are becoming “hip, sophisticated, even a badge of honor” as the author puts it.

Here are some noteworthy facts the author discovered in his research.

· According to the American Religious Identification Survey, people who claim “no religion” were the only demographic group to expand in all fifty states. Can you imagine how much more that number has increased since that survey in 2009?

· In the United Kingdom atheism is so popular that over one hundred thousand Britons officially renounced their Christian faith by download “certificates of de-baptism” off the internet.

· Many atheists have adopted a euphemistic label, and now they know by the name “Brights.”

· According to the National Journal atheist are less willing to partake in what they deem violent conflicts of a religious nature such as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars/conflicts.

· Atheists have no ethical problem with euthanasia.

· As a collective group atheists believe pharmacist should not be allowed to refuse to fulfill chemical abortion prescriptions as a matter of conscience or religious faith.

· The majority hold the view that only evolution should be taught in schools, no “intelligent design” allowed.

· Many atheists believe all federal funding should be pulled from the Boy Scouts should they choose to teach that a good Scout has a “duty to God.”

· Some very influential atheists reportedly want to clone humans. Atheists are “emerging as an enthusiastic voice on behalf of scientific efforts to clone human beings, a technology with the potential to ‘conquer mortality.’” – Starobin

· Atheists expounding the evolutionary belief system follow the party line of belittling and ridiculing anyone who dares to criticize or question the “utterly unproven theory of macroevolution” – one species morphing into an entirely new species.

The author points out that many atheist authors believe God is not needed because man has a strong innate moral sense. The author Sam Harris makes that point by forcefully stating that ‘human beings are born with an ethical sense of right and wrong – regardless of whether or not they believe in God.’ I would say to that, who do they think created them with this inner conscious and this ethical sense of right and wrong – God of course!

Kupelian makes the point that at birth most people’s inborn sense of right and wrong operates just as God intended it to work. I would like to make the point that just as an organ or limb can become damaged a person’s conscious can become damaged, as they harden their hearts toward the promptings of God within their own conscious.

People love to blame those they deem “hypocrites” for their lack of faith in God. God is God, God is not the individuals who make up any particular religion, nor is God any particular person one might view as a hypocrite. Most noble Christian religious groups are made of up of imperfect people. If the atheist’s problem is truly with God, then there may not be any solution for them but if their problem is with religion and the imperfect people therein, perhaps the atheist deserves a big of slack. Perhaps they have seen the “anesthetizing shallowness and superficiality of far too much of the modern Christian church” as the author notes, and I fully agree. To me this is the greater concern, that this is the true problem, the real issue behind the abandonment of Christianity, and by association God. Decent people have been turned away from God by religious leaders who are phonies. However, keep in mind there is a difference between a phony Christian spiritual leader and an imperfect Christian spiritual leader who is struggling to be all God wants them to be. As the author, Kupelian states, “These may be tough words, but if we’re ever going to understand why so many people are turning not only to atheism, but to pagan and New Age religions and myriad other strange spiritual philosophies and practices, then we need to face the sad state of the modern church.”

The rock of the atheism can be found in the question of, ‘If there is a loving and all-powerful God, why does He allow people to suffer so horribly?’ As C.S. Lewis stated in his famous journal through grief titled, A Greif Observed, “these things are sent to try us” – God wasn’t “trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t.” Lewis goes on with a profound personal truth, “He [meaning God] always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize that fact was to knock it down…” C.S. Lewis had a quality that understood that the good things that happen to us should be considered truly good, and the bad things that happen to us should be considered good as well because they have redemptive value – God uses them to perfect us.

The miracle of character growth can take years, and it cannot take root in the garden of resentment. We must endure with patience and dignity. The acorn dies and becomes a giant oak tree; we too must die to pride and come alive to the change God is trying to bring about in us as we endure patiently all we suffer. We can storm through life like a bull charging at a concrete wall and get nowhere but injured or we can ride through life above the crowd on God’s shoulders being carried.

Hebrews 5:8–9 (NKJV) – Scripture regarding, and speaking of, Jesus

8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,

Pride can give us the delusion that we are the maters of our destiny. However, we are not our own god, and the true seekers of truth know this fact.

Some people love to deny God’s existence and His power or authority over their lives. However, let a crisis or disaster strike and many so called atheist and agnostics go searching for that God they have claimed does not exist.

In the next posting we will begin to review chapter eight of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. That chapter deals with the cultural war on fathers, men, and manhood in America.

 

 

How Evil Works

http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The Marketing of Evil

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 14 – Healing Forgiveness

In Advice, Agape Love, Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Encouragement, Evil, Exhortation, Fear, Forgiveness, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Jesus, Loss, Love, Mental Disorder, Mental Illness, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Psychiatric Drugs, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on October 2, 2016 at 2:42 pm

In this piece we will explore one key point, forgiveness, from chapter five of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. Here are some of the highlights regarding the power of forgiveness as found within this chapter.

Healing from many of life’s issues can be found through forgiveness, true and complete forgiveness. As the author notes in this chapter, the Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus gave us as a blueprint for approaching God just might provide insight for how to heal what we in our society have labeled “mental Illness.” That might sound crazy to you, but is it really?

Below I have provided the Lord’s Prayer from the Book of Matthew just as Jesus spoke it in bold font. In the (parentheses beside each section in regular italic font I have expounded with life application for each principle found within the prayer.)

Matthew 6:9–13 (NKJV) Jesus speaking

9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name. (Revere and submit to God.)

10 Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven. (Want God’s Will.)

11 Give us this day our daily bread. (Trust God.)

12 And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors. (Give and receive forgiveness.)

13 And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one. (Seek to be away from, and protected from, sin.)

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Trust God for it all and seek to glorify Him.)

When it comes to dealing with God and man it is in forgiving others, requesting forgiveness for ourselves, and receiving forgiveness or the lack thereof that we live or die spiritually. In forgiveness, manifest in all three forms, or the lack thereof we either find true happiness and innocence or conflict and separation from God and man.

I have heard it said, though I do not know by whom, that forgiveness means giving up all hope that the past would have been different. This statement is so true because in order to forgive we first must stop clinging to, ‘I wish this had not happened.’ It has happened and there is nothing that can be changed about that truth, however, you can change how you continue to react to what has happen. By forgiving you let go of the idea of there being a different yesterday, and you free yourself to live your tomorrow fully.

The author rightly states, forgiveness is about finding the grace to give up anger and resentment over an injustice. Forgiveness, the willingness to give up this anger and resentment, can be very healing. It is additionally true, that un-forgiveness, clinging to hostility and rage, feeds our pride, because after all we certainly deserved better. Only in releasing pride and embracing humility can a person find the courage to truly forgive.

True healing, God healing from mental illness or mental disorders is possible. There are individuals who have been diagnosed with what we call “bipolar disorder,” “depression,” “anxiety disorders,” “schizophrenia,” and other serious conditions that have mysteriously gotten better as Kupelian states. They discovered how to listen to the godly part of themselves aka the right side and stop listening to the ungodly forces at work around and in them aka the wrong side. Godliness grows and evil diminishes. The Light of God comes in, shines on their conflicts, and untangles their inner messes – primarily through various aspects of forgiveness. Once they give up their resentments and rage, no longer getting upset all the time, they simply get better as the author puts it. Having your mood strings pulled chemically through the use of psychiatric drugs will not accomplish this feat.

Our society seems to have forgotten the concepts of personal choice and personal responsibility. A blindness dominates our age which conceals a truth that even children know and understand naturally. We all have a “good side” (conscience) and we all have a “bad side” (sin nature). It is imperative that we are careful which side we heed and which side we feed. Listening to our wrong side will result in terrible consequences.

There is a famous story of an old Cherokee chief talking to his grandson. The chief said:

“A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible battle – between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, pride, anger, envy, lust, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment, lies, and cruelty. The other wolf stands for honesty, kindness, hope, sharing, sincerity, humility, friendship, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too,” he added. The grandson reflected on these words for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old chief simply relied, “The one you feed.”

Forgiveness feed the good wolf, forgiveness feeds the spirit, forgiveness feeds healing, forgiveness feeds wholeness, and forgiveness feeds godly character.

In the next posting we will examine chapter six of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. This chapter will confront our false gods.

 

Updated 10-2-2016

How Evil Works

http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The Marketing of Evil

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 13 – Spiritual Illness

In Advice, Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Encouragement, Evil, Exhortation, Fear, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Jesus, Loss, Mental Disorder, Mental Illness, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Psychiatric Drugs, Religious Freedom, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on April 20, 2016 at 2:21 pm

In this piece we will explore the spiritual aspects of mental problems as found in a very controversial chapter from David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works, chapter five. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. Here are some of the highlights found within this chapter.

A fair description of a mentally, emotionally, and spiritually tormented person is given by the author in this chapter. It is a person who has cultivated a secret inner life that is controlled by extremely dark thoughts and compulsions. Wild mood swings. Resentment that has so taken over an individual that they are on the edge of a violent frenzy. Paranoid delusions that are fueled by a person’s out of control and intense emotions. Perhaps even satanic visitations and inner voices that torment a person without mercy, for years at times, pushing them toward murder, suicide, or both.

Doctors actually believe they can solve the types of problems listed above with pills. However, as the author points out, ‘If they truly believe that they just might be as delusional as they people they are attempting to help.’

People are attempting to medicate their pain in life away, either through illegal drugs or by taking prescription drugs. Either way they are attempting to escape dealing with life’s problems and instead they are turning to a quick fix. As the author notes, many do this to get a “painless fix” as dealing with and overcoming life’s problems can often be painful hard work. Each time we fail to deal with issues in our life problems develop.

People are being filled with medication instead of receiving the help they truly need to deal with their emotional conflicts, depression, addictions, anger problems with their roots in trauma, flawed family relationships, and hidden resentments toward unresolved buried cruelty they have suffered. These people need help and understanding to heal their negative programming, overcome their destructive attitudes, surmount unhealthy relationships, and learn to develop and function in healthy ones – these people need genuine healing, not a chemical trick that tells their body and mind they “feel better” when they actually do not.

When they stop taking those drugs, the chemicals that trick their mind, they will be worse off than they were before they started taking the medication. There is a biblical principle that evil influences or vices that are not dealt with properly, when they return they will be much worse than they originally were (Matthew 12:43-45 and Luke 11:24-26).

As the author points out, until fifty years ago Western culture reflected Judeo-Christian conviction that God created the human race with the ability to chose between good and evil. Now the “cultural elite” no longer think of man in spiritual terms – morality, character, self-understanding, repentance and forgiveness. Instead man is viewed as a soulless animal, whose behavioral problems are genetic and can be dealt with by drugs. How is that working for us?

If you research the APA’s actual explanation for the cause of depression you will find that “the causes haven’t been pinpointed yet” is their explanation. Yet, if a person is depressed can there be any doubt that somewhere there is a real underlining and understandable reason. Reasons a person with common sense could comprehend and act upon, in order to bring about genuine healing. Find the root issue and deal with it based on biblical principles and find freedom, true freedom from emotional turmoil.

The great psychiatric lie; everything bad from temper tantrums, drunkenness, road rage, pathological lying, cheating, stealing, physical aggression, and drug abuse is now a disease. It is all physiological or genetic and a drug will fix it. Nothing is your fault, you are just a victim. Well, if nothing is your fault you can’t help yourself, therefore you can’t control yourself. If you can’t control yourself, you can’t trust yourself. If you can’t trust yourself, you can’t think for yourself, thus, you need someone else to think for you – doctors, government, etc. Do you see where this is going, where it could go, or where is has gone for some people?

Kupelian correctly notes that for some people the ego loves the idea that they are not at fault. They like not having any responsibly for their actions. They feel relieved to tell themselves that whatever is wrong with them is an organic disorder and not a sin, weakness, or deficit of character on their part. They are comforted by the lie that it is not their fault. When in reality and truth it would be better to stop blaming all psychological-spiritual problems on chemical imbalances, hormones, genes, and “newly minted mental illnesses” and instead look more deeply for the real causes and find the real cures.

The author describes an interaction with a very perceptive woman who summarized her experience with psychiatric drugs this way. “Do you know what the Valium did for me? It deactivated my conscience.” Another Christian lady was advised by her pastor to go on antidepressants because she was stressed–out and depressed. She did and she felt nothing. No conscious at all. She sinned many times and felt nothing. Then she went off the meds and she described how the first time she committed the same sin she had committed many times while on the meds without the meds, she felt conviction and sorrow. However, while she was on the meds, when she committee this same sin yet she felt justified because she was stressed. On the meds she described herself as feeling neither joy nor sadness. Another woman shares how the prescribed drug she became dependent on made her numb to the seriousness of her sins. She stated the drug was stunting her spiritual growth. That my friend is what is wrong with our society, a lack of conscience toward God and man.

Just as alcohol or illegal drug impair the conscience, so too can prescribed drugs. Feeling better often involves eliminating conflict; even when that conflict is internal within one’s own conscience. However, internal conflict tells us that something is wrong in our life, our thinking, or our heart. Anything that alters how God created the mind to work can have a negative result.

God’s inner revelation of Himself to all of mankind can be found within a person, within the human conscience. The conscience is, according to the author, “literally the presence of God in us, the friction between the way we are and the way we could be.” This correcting and illumination Presence is our greatest friend. However, sadly we as individuals experience Him as a psychic pain when we deviate from His urgings – urgings toward goodness, godliness, righteousness, and justice.

In the next posting we will examine one key point from chapter five of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. This point is the answer to healing from many of life’s pains – forgiveness.

 

 

How Evil Works

http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The Marketing of Evil

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 12 – Mental Illness Craze

In Advice, Anger, Anxiety, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Encouragement, Evil, Exhortation, Fear, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Love, Mental Disorder, Mental Illness, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Psychiatric Drugs, Religious Freedom, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on April 9, 2016 at 12:42 pm

In this piece we will explore a very controversial chapter from David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works, chapter five. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. Here are some of the highlights found within this chapter.

Mental illness seems to be everywhere. Most of the people you know have been or could be diagnosed with a mental disorder or mental illness based on their thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. However, just how legitimate is the labeling of an individual’s behavior as mental illness or a mental disorder? Additionally, those people who have been labeled and who are undergoing treatment, are they really being helped or damaged even further?

Let me cite for you behaviors considered to be mental illness or mental disorders.

· Anger and rage inside = intermittent explosive disorder.

· Hostile toward authority = oppositional defiant disorder. (I actually know a woman whose two year old child was diagnosed with this disorder. What happen to the terrible two’s as we called it when my twenty-eight year old was two?)

· Worry excessively = generalized anxiety disorder.

· Road rage = aggressive driving spectrum disorder.

· Child who fidgets, doesn’t want to sit for six hours at a time, not interested in paying attention = attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

· Got yourself on your mind all the mind, everything is about = narcissistic disorder.

· Compulsively get drunk when the stresses of life get to great = you have a disease, alcoholism.

· A lying, cheating jerk, with a load of tattoos = more than likely to suffer from anti-social personality disorder. (I am not kidding, that is according to the APA.)

· Too many mood swings, stubborn, unwilling to yield your long held beliefs = bi-polar disorder or borderline personality disorder.

· Act to often without thinking = impulse control disorder.

I could go on and on but by now surely you get the point. Three seems to be a mental disorder everywhere you look. Then these people get “treatment” that often involves psychiatric medications.

Well here are some examples of what people have done while taking these medications, which were meant to help them.

· Patrick Purdy – schoolyard shooting – murdered five children, wounded thirty – was on amitriptyline and Thorazine.

· Kip Kinkel, 15 years old – murdered parents then went to school and in a shooting rampage killed two classmates and wounded twenty-two others – was on Prozac and Ritalin.

· Laurie Dann, 31 years old – another school shooter, killed one child and wounded six in a second-grade classroom – was taking Anafranil and lithium.

· Michael Carneal, 14 years old – went to a morning prayer meeting at a school and shot four people, killing three and leaving one paralyzed – was on Ritalin.

· Jeff Weise, 16 years old – killed nine people and wounded five when he started shooting on the Indian Reservation where he lived – he had been taking Prozac.

· Joseph Wesbecker 47 years old – shot twenty worker at Standard Gravure Corporation killing eight and then himself – had been on Prozac for one month.

· Kurt Danysh, 18 years old – shot his father to death – had been on Prozac for two weeks.

· John Hinckley, 25 years old – shot President Ronald Reagan, press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, and Thomas Delahanty a police officer – two hours before he had taken four Valium.

· Andrea Yates – drowned all five of her children in the bathtub – she was taking the antidepressant Effexor.

· Eric Harris – went on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School where twelve students and a teacher were killed and twenty-four others were wounded before killing himself – he was taking Luvox.

This is only a few of the best-known cases, there a so many more. It is believed that these drugs affected these fragile people to such a degree they were pushed over the edge. The drug companies and doctors who prescribed these drugs would have us believe these people would have acted anyhow, based on their conditions, but there is much cause to believe that this is not the case. It is becoming commonly known that psychiatric drugs cause people to react violently toward others and themselves. This has become so common that there are now warnings on the medications that indicate this can happen.

After Yates drowned her five children Wyeth Pharmaceuticals the makers of Effexor added “homicidal ideation” to their list of “rare adverse events.” GlaxoSmithKline was order by the court to pay $6.4 million dollars to the family of Donald Schell, after he murdered his wife, daughter, and granddaughter in a fit of rage shortly after starting Paxil. Luvox manufacturer Solvay Pharmaceuticals admitted that 1 in 25 youths who took the drug developed mania, a dangerous and violence prone mental derangement. In the Standard Gravure Corporation killings the Prozac maker Eli Lilly later settled a lawsuit with the survivors.

Lawyers are regularly arguing “involuntary intoxication” as the cause of their client’s often erratic and violent behavior. The combination of drugs, various antidepressants, has been found in people’s systems who have behaved violently. Clearly some people are being pushed over the edge into violence by some of these drugs.

The FDA-approved label for Paxil which describes the “adverse drug reactions” includes depersonalization, lack of emotion, psychosis, delirium, hostility, hallucinations, abnormal thinking, agitation, confusion, depression, paranoid reaction, amnesia, anxiety, insomnia, and mania just to name a few. You have to wonder how bad off does a person has to be to subject themselves to such horrible possibilities by taking this drug. If you were not severely damaged when you began taking the drugs you may well be after a period of their “help.”

We now have the famous “black box” warning on antidepressants that the FDA pushed for in 2004. The warning states that the drugs may increase the risk of suicide in children, adolescents and adults age 18-24 years of age. How ironic that a drug meant to lift your depression could make you want to, or even actually, kill yourself.

From the 1908’s to date the events listed above occurred, during which time the cases of prescribing psychiatric medications had risen astronomically. In the late 1980’s I personally began to notice that everyone seemed to be taking antidepressant, even within the Body of Christ, and this alarmed me because I could sense that it was going to be an avenue through which Satan would work, however, I did not really understand or sense from God how. Now however, it has become painfully obvious. These drugs are dangerous, they are causing people to perform some of the most evil and horrendous acts.

In the next posting we will explore the spiritual side of this problem as we examine the second half of chapter five of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. A very controversial chapter on doctors, drugs, and demons – the mental illness craze in America.

 

 

How Evil Works

http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The Marketing of Evil

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 10 – Applause Please

In Advice, Agape Love, Anxiety, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Encouragement, Evil, Exhortation, Fear, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Jesus, Love, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Truth, Uncategorized on March 19, 2016 at 4:48 pm

In this piece we will explore the second half of chapter four of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. Here are some of the highlights found within this chapter.

The author notes that the truths that lead to true happiness are rarely talked about in modern society. One of those truths being that too much praise to the point of leading to an overdose of praise can result in self-destruction. A spiritually mature person has a quiet inner strength that keeps them centered, self-contained, and most importantly humble.

Kipling has a classic poem which speaks to this truth.

“If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

But make allowance for their doubting too…

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors jus the same…

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Your is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son! ”

In a narcissistic society we must be willing to face the following truth with maturity. Not everything that feels good is good. Truth often hurts and cocaine often feels good. Truth is almost always good for us even when it hurts or makes us feel bad. Cocaine is never good for us even though it may make us feel good temporarily. Truth will set us free and set on the right path in life. Cocaine will destroy us and set on the path to death.

If you are a narcissist you are addicted to praise and supersensitive to criticism according to Kupelian, many psychologist, and I agree myself. Why is this so? Because for a narcissistic person their entire sense of self-worth is based on what others say to and about them. A complement equals feeling good for them and a criticism equals feeling bad for them. Hence, other people control how they feel continually.

As the author notes if you live for applause or appreciation then you entire life can become a stage and you an actor. You cease to be who you truly are and you become whatever is necessary to get the approval, appreciation, and the applause your sinful soul craves. Your inner emptiness will not be filled through your continual manipulative actions to ensure you are viewed in a favorable way by everyone around you.

The author notes that, just as ‘a cruel thoughtless comment can affect you emotionally, so can too much praise affect you emotionally – and adversely.’ The adulation of others only gives you a temporary fix that mask the hunger within but never fills that hunger, more approval will be needed later and the volume of approval needed will increase as times goes on – much like a junky the same amount of your drug will cease to be enough as time goes on. This type of life will exhaust a person mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Many people use this approval seeking behavior to avoid facing who, what, and how they are. When you slow the pace of life you begin to discover the real you. For some people that person has been all but lost. Avoidance behavior can be applied to the use of any distraction to avoid seeing oneself clearly – approval, appreciation, busyness, drugs, food, alcohol, and etcetera.

If you are addicted to the drug of worship it will ultimately destroy you. Humans were never meant to be gods, worship destroys them and drives them mad.

The good news is that you can transition from the outer to the inner person. However, you must be willing to face the problems you find within your soul, your inner man. You will find relief in facing them and a blessing in correcting them. Change and real healing are possible. People are kept sane, happy, and progressing in the right direction in life by living continually in the LIGHT, the light of constant self-awareness and God-awareness.

Only when you have God Himself living inside of you, keeping you centered, God-contained, and humble can you truly be rooted and growing in life regardless of what people think of you or what is going on in the world around you. Your confidence comes from your Creator, not self, and not other people.

Through our obedience to our Creator we find that inner stability and peace. We were created and designed to follow those inner promptings from the Creator and be obedient to those directions. As we learn to do this moment by moment throughout our day, our week, our months, and our years God fills us with purpose and genuine lasting happiness that can come through nothing except following His directions. When you have that going on inside of you, you do not crave the reassurance of troubled souls – people of the world.

Kupelian makes an excellent point near the close of this chapter. “When we develop real character, rooted in ever-growing loyalty to the kingdom of heaven within, we find that “neither foes nor loving friends” – that is, neither condemnation nor praise – have much effect on our happiness.” This measure of character comes with spiritual and personal maturity coupled with life experience.

In the next posting we will explore two key points, pride and hate, from chapter four of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Followed by a very controversial chapter on doctors, drugs, and demons – the mental illness craze in America.

 

 

How Evil Works

http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The Marketing of Evil

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Christ is The Passover

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Easter, Encouragement, God, Godliness, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Passover, Prophecy, Revival, Truth on March 19, 2016 at 11:00 am

1 Corinthians 5:7–8 (NKJV)

7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Exodus 12 – Passover

Passover was a celebration feast to remember the Hebrew people’s liberation from the bondage of Egypt.

Passover involved the sacrifice of a “perfect” lamb and the marking of the door frames of the Israelites’ homes with the lamb’s blood. They also prepared unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Passover was eaten standing up, a symbol of their readiness to leave Egypt within seconds.

Parallels between Passover and Christ

Ex 12:1-2 Passover marked a new year, a new beginning, for the Israelites.

2 Corn. 5:7 In Christ Believers are a new creation, they have a new beginning.

 

Ex 12:5 A male lamb is inspected to ensure it is perfect before sacrifice.

Jesus was inspected by Pilate, Herod, Annas, and Caiaphas in the gospels, but they found no fault with Him because He was without blemish or spot as I Peter 1:19 states.

 

Ex 12:6 The entire community was required to participate in the sacrifice of the lamb.

Romans 3:21-26 In order to be a part of God’s family (His community) each person, all people, must accept Christ’s sacrifice.

 

Ex 12:7, 12, 22 By applying the blood of the lamb to the doorframe the Israelites were spared death when the plague came.

Romans 3:25, 5:9 Christ’s blood covers us in justification to save us from condemnation because as 1 John 1:29 states Christ is the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world.

 

Ex 12:14 The Passover was to be kept in remembrance of God’s deliverance.

Luke 22:19 We take and keep the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Christ deliverance of us, His sacrifice for our eternal security.

 

Ex 12:46 God commanded that the bones of the lamb not be broken.

John 9:32-33 The soldiers wanted to break Jesus’ legs to hasten His death but it did not happen because Jesus was already dead.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 8 – Response is Chosen

In Advice, Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Encouragement, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, Fear, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Loss, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on February 11, 2016 at 12:16 pm

In this piece we will complete exploring chapter three of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon. Here are some of the highlights found within the latter part of this chapter.

Throughout this last portion of chapter three the author reflects upon how the “Greatest Generation” might response to the evil we face today, based upon how they responded to the evil of their day. The author does likewise with how President Ronald Reagan might respond. Both of these journeys into refection are meant to help us understand how we might better respond to the threats of evil that surround us.

During World War II, during the horrific and monstrous movements that took place guided by the hands of evil men, America was a country with “tremendous national unity and a strong sense of identity” as the author points out. Judeo-Christian values were still dominant in people’s life. The culture was a culture of values and principles. The author goes on to note that this was not a time like today, where we, our country, is crippled by national guilt, self-doubt, and self-hatred.

The author goes on to make the point that during that time in history, the World War II era, the people would have never been deceived into thinking same-sex marriage is normal, or that abortion is moral and constitutional, or that posting the Ten Commandments on federal or city property, like a courthouse wall, violated the First Amendment.

The Church and American have lost their unity and loyalty both to one another as a people and to the One and Only True God who blessed them. In the words of the author we allowed ourselves as a collective group to become ‘corrupted with the anti-biblical philosophies and utterly confused to the point of suffocating our modern era and robbing it of genuine moral strength.’ Great strength comes through righteous living, also known as biblically based morality. Moral weakness, which appeasement often is, always encourages violence both on a national level and a personal level.

When writing about Ronald Reagan the author makes the point that though revered for his leadership now, Ronald Reagan was reviled in his day, just as Winston Churchill was. Most non-appeasing leaders are reviled initially or during their reign. It is only later people see the positive, productive, godly results of their moral and wise leadership. Unlike Reagan who had a mission to stand up for moral clarity – displayed as he faced the communist takeover of Hollywood when he was an actor, through his years as California’s governor, and later as President of the United States – we do not see that type of moral character in our leaders today. Steadfastness for Truth is not as prevalent as it once was.

Do you care what people say about you? Do you care about getting credit for your accomplishments? How much do you care? If you could have a choice between getting three things done and getting credit for none of them or getting two things done and getting credit for both, which would you choose? Be honest with yourself. If you care what people think, and you need the credit given to you by man for your accomplishments, this will affect your ability to stand up for Truth. Ronald Reagan did not care what people said about him, in that is found a secret strength and power. When he was president he kept a plaque on the desk in the oval office that read, “There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.”

Are you able to stand alone when it comes to morality, Truth, or godly biblical principles? Strength and courage are a must if you are going to. If you want to be a consequential person, if you want to make a difference in life, you must be able to stand alone. Just like Reagan, a person who makes a difference has to not only endure their critics they must endure their friends, family, and advisers as well. When advised incorrectly take a play from Reagan’s playbook, he gracefully overruled them and forged ahead with what he knew to be morally right and a sound plan of action. A person must be willing to do as God directs them, with or without any support whatsoever.

Worldwide totalitarian movements – the terrible “isms” the author calls them, communism, fascism, Nazism, and Islamism are about seducing millions of people into enslaved nations, subject to utterly ruthless leadership. They are on par with the “ites” of the Bible. As a people, as a person, we must stand strong. “The denial and deference we display toward forces intent on destroying us is actually great weakness – evidence of our loss of courage and moral clarity – disguised as virtue.”, Kupelian states, and I completely agree.

We must face evil with great courage and moral clarity displaying a calm, fearless determination to do what is right, to stand up for Truth, no matter what – grace under pressure. We must withstand cruelty and craziness without becoming emotionally twisted up inside. Strength and patience emanates from true faith. Hate the sin, but not the sinner. Learning to do that will shield you from both Stockholm syndrome and many other evils in this world.

In the next posting we will begin to explore chapter four of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works.

How Evil Works

http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The Marketing of Evil

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 7 – Prolonged Siege

In Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Encouragement, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, Fear, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Jesus, Loss, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on January 30, 2016 at 12:55 pm

In this piece we will explore more of chapter three of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon. Here are some of the highlights found within this chapter. This chapter embodies principles and truths that can be applied globally as a collective society and personally as a private individual.

The author points out that the mind of an individual who has been subject to excessive stress and cruelty can become confused and disorientated. The author calls this having their “brains scrambled” due to the overwhelming emotions that come with intense stress and cruelty. That confusion can take many different forms; including confusion about things we were previously very sure of or confident in. The mental, emotional, and relational disorientation a person would begin to feel can cause a breakdown in long held beliefs about right and wrong or a breakdown in previously cherished relationships. A prolonged siege of stress and cruelty changes a person on the inside, and that change will inevitability begin to be seen on the outside.

Israel and its leaders understood the psychology of war. Ariel Sharon, a former prime minister of Israel, made it known in his autobiography, titled Warrior that the nation’s Arab attackers who wanted to annihilate his beloved nation, had to be dealt with swiftly and severely, defeated and defeated badly in order to build in them a psychology of defeat that would cause them to develop the conviction that they would never win against Israel. Sharon understood, as we must understand, that “anything short of overwhelming, paralyzing, courage-destroying strength” comes across to terrorist and tyrants as contemptible weakness and encourages them to commit more mayhem.

Self-blame or self-hate is a powerful tool destructive people create and install in other people. Like the author notes in his example of the abused child who blames themselves believing if they are good enough the abuse will stop. Another example could be the abused wife, who believes likewise. Her husband will stop his cruelty if she is this way toward him or that way in dealing with him, attempting to “correct” all the things he finds wrong with her. Yet another example would be a country who believes that extreme political correctness will help them fly under the radar of extremist who might attack their homeland.

Dr. Kenneth Levin, a clinical instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a Princeton-trained historian makes the following point in his book, The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People under Siege. “Segments of populations under chronic siege commonly embrace the indictments of the besiegers, however bigoted and outrageous. They hope that by doing so and reforming accordingly they can assuage the hostility of their tormenters and win relief.”

Kupelian points out, Brits have embraced extreme “tolerance” when it comes to dealing with militant jihadist who came to be found in their mist, and to the jihadist this has registered as nothing more than weakness. As he expresses you cannot offer a timid smile to the bully to pacify him in hope that he want hurt you anymore – of course he will, if you tolerate it.

Fear of persecution is the driving force behind political correctness. In America and Europe that whole bend-over-backwards political correctness toward Islam is about appeasing someone we fear. The political correctness movement in general within our society, that silences the voices against all manner of evil and sin, is effective because of a fear of persecution. Yet, we are now finding that people are waking up to the extreme dangers of political correctness, and the reality of the price they have paid for keeping their mouths closed is beginning to set in.

The author claims that most of us are secretly intimidated by extreme Islam and living under that intimidation for years has warped our perspective about them, leading some people to believe they are misunderstood or not truly set on the evil they are set on. However, in the face of weakness as a nation or as a person evil will grow and flourish. Conflict intensifies when weakness is shown. Please understand weakness and biblical gentleness are two very different things. Weakness, according to the author, and I would agree, is actually fueling the growth of Islamofascism. Since 9/11 we, as a country, have gone from ‘We will get you.’ to extreme political correctness regarding Islam.

The author uses an example of a teenage boy with an explosive anger problem. The boy is out of control, a danger to himself and other people. The people around the boy try to be extra nice to him in order to keep him from getting angry, so they walk on eggshells around him. This only serve to enrage the boy more as his contempt for the people around him builds, because they are too weak to stand up to him. The people around the boy are well meaning, and they are trying to keep the peace, but they are not helping the boy learn to take responsibility and deal with his anger. In situations like this the aggressor will almost always just continue to be abusive. Being a doormat does not help the bully, and it certainly does not help you, it actually hurts you over time. Being a doormat also does not glorify God.

When someone makes us extremely upset and fearful of them, our behavior and attitude toward them will change, and change profoundly. This does not always just lead to resentment, with some people that upset and fear can psychologically flip to love and loyalty – strange but true – Stockholm syndrome. This psychological flip is sad and unfortunately disgustingly true. A distorted love and loyalty emerge out of a need for literal, mental, and emotional survival.

The corrosive impact of being under the siege of stress and cruelty can lead a person or a nation down a path called self-destruction.

Whether it is a group coming under siege from those who wish to spread terror throughout the globe or it is a single individual coming under siege from a lone person who wishes to terrorize them, terrorism must be dealt with swiftly and fully in order to ensure the overall wellbeing of our global society or the overall wellbeing of simple yourself. If we as a society allow ourselves or you as an individual allow yourself prolonged exposure to terroristic stress and cruelty we jeopardize our humanity as a whole or you jeopardize being able to function as the person God created you to be.

In the next posting we will complete chapter three of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works.

How Evil Works

http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The Marketing of Evil

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 5 – Sexual Values

In Agape Love, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Encouragement, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Jesus, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Truth, Uncategorized on December 4, 2015 at 3:04 pm

The last posting ended with the following statements. “Sex is such a powerful weapon of evil because it was designed to be something so beautiful, the expression of a man and woman’s love and commitment to one another for life. Sex is so powerful as source of destruction because it was meant to be a source of creation, a means by which new life is formed.”

In this piece we will explore chapter two of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works, the second half of the chapter. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon. We will focus on how we as a society got to a place where our sexual values are so distorted in comparison to God’s ideal, as found in His Word?

The primary cause for the distortion is a byproduct of how Christian and biblical values are viewed by society. As the author points out there was once deep core values which underlined American society and those values were rooted in the Word of God. Having our values as a country rooted in the Word of God, God blessed us as a country due to our overall values. Likewise, as the values of this country have deteriorated the blessings and favor of God have begun to lift from this country.

At one time in our society there was a much greater grasp of the “intuitive understanding of right and wrong” as Kupelian puts it, than there is now. I myself have seen an incredible shift in morality based on God’s Word in just the last twenty plus years. The understanding that we are born in sin and therefore plagued by the sin nature, including in the area of sex, is no longer something people are willing to admit to, thus, they view their sexual sin as their right, as natural, as acceptable to both themselves and for some individuals also acceptable to their god (little “g” intended). Yet, I assure you that sexual sin IS NOT acceptable to God, the ONE and ONLY God, The Almighty of The Holy Bible.

People who partake in sexual sin have their desires for such behavior rooted in some form of trauma Kupelian points out. I would add that they often do not realize that the trauma they went through is connected to the sexual cravings they experience. These cravings are an emotional reaction to cruelty, confusion, and seduction they have experienced at some point in their life, the author notes. Most anyone who is knowledgeable in human behavior will tell you that sexual abuse as a youth almost always leads to sexual promiscuity manifest in some sexual form as an adult. Therefore, there is a call for compassion and understanding to be shown toward these individual by godly people without compromising the Word of God or labeling sin anything other than sin.

I heard someone recently refer to Christian (Devout Christian) beliefs as “archaic” in nature. I assure you they are not. Man continually changes his mind about what is right and what is wrong, what is good for you and what is not. If you live long enough you will see that approximately every twenty or thirty years the “they” of society change their minds about what is best or good for us. For example in the 19080’s homosexuality was considered a mental disorder according to the APA experts. Today, the APA experts would consider you to have a disorder of some type if you consider homosexuality sin or unnatural in nature. Often they label these changes in their position on matters as us evolving as a society, getting better, smarter, more enlightened all the time. If that were true then our society would be getting better not worse. True growth brings positive change not destructive change. However, God’s position on matters of morality, as found in His Word, have not changed, and although our society has changed the principles of His Word still lead to life, life abundant, when they are applied to an individual’s life.

John 10:10 (NKJV) – Jesus speaking

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

People seem to forget that our legal system was founded on the core values that are found in God’s Word. Why do we not murder freely? Because it is morally wrong to murder. How do we know it is morally wrong to murder? Because God’s Word tells us it wrong to murder. Adultery and sodomy (homosexuality) are still illegal in many states. Those who champion homosexuality would condemn murder, yet according to God’s Word both are sin, and to God sin is sin regardless of the form. As the author puts it, ‘We live in a society that mocks and denies the “old truths” that are still at the core of everything of value we possess today – a society similar in nature to C.S. Lewis’ latter-day Narnia.’

It seems even some people who call themselves Christian’s have sold-out God’s Word in order to be accepted by their society or viewed as “loving” people. Very few people who claim to be Christians actually have a Christian Worldview. Kupelian states, and I fully agree, that we as a society and as The Body of Christ seem to have forgotten that we are here to serve a greater purpose than fulfilling our own desires. I would add to that, people forget they would not have America and their constitutional rights if it were not for people with a Christian Worldview.

The author points out that the sexual-predator epidemic has another important factor to it that people must deal with, the mindset that “right” and “wrong” are just not real for most people anymore. For a Devout Christian “right” should equal righteousness according to God’s Word not his or her own views or opinions. Additionally for the Devout Christian “wrong” should equal sin and secularism, those things that are contrary to God’s Word, the Bible. Kupelian states that knowing something is wrong should be enough to keep us from doing it even if we desire to. I would say that the problem with that is that both words, right and wrong, repel either secular or Christian people.

I agree with the writer when he sates, that most people are guided by how they feel about something, their emotions, instead of an inner conscience. He then gives the example of a person who grows up with problems in their childhood that make the individual feel uncomfortable in their own gender therefore, as an adult they seek to change their gender instead of dealing with the problems that created their inner conflict to begin with.

The author goes on to state that “choosing” what is principled and self-sacrificial over our own selfish feelings – preferring something noble or righteous over something ignoble and sinful – implies that there is a God to whom we must answer. This poses a problem for today’s “secular, de facto atheistic worldview” that there is no good or evil. This same worldview believes there is no heaven or hell, and we are all just highly evolved animals. Even Christians to a large degree have abandoned the idea that it is a “choice” that must be made, a choice for godliness and righteousness. Some people seem to believe that if they don’t “feel it” then God is not in it and therefore, they do not need to do it – whatever “it” might be. We as Christians are called to honor God’s Written Word whether we feel like it or not! When and how we got away from this truth is beyond me, beyond my comprehension!

Kupelian states an opinion that I am not sure I agree with and one I would very much like to know my readers thoughts on. He states that, “at the root of so much loathing toward Christianity and the Bible is what they have to say about sex.” I am not so sure that “so much” of society’s “loathing” for us comes from just the sex issue. I believe many factors and principles we as Devout Christian stand for drives society’s loathing of us. Please send me your thoughts via the comment link at the end of this post.

The author makes clear a truth that many people do not want to face. ‘Love is commitment.

It is impossible for there to be love where there is no commitment.’ Sex inside of marriage is sex inside a life-long commitment. A life-long commitment brings about a deep respect that is hard to form outside of long-term commitments. Sex outside of marriage is about exploration of another person to fulfill one’s own needs, as Kupelian puts it so well.

People expect love to be merely some feeling that makes them feel good and gives them an emotional high. Love, real love, agape love is so much more than that. Real love is a choice not a feeling. Real love is a commitment to action that shows love over the course of time. Real love stays put would it would be much easier to leave.

Kupelian goes on to remind us ‘that the Bible exhorts us to choose either life or death – good or evil – listening to our higher or lower nature, our renewed man or the old man. Satan will always want you to choose your lower nature. God will always want you to choose your higher nature. A secular worldview will listen to the lower nature and attempt to justify it’s evil ways. A Christian and godly worldview will listen to the higher nature and never be at peace with sin or in the presence of evil. Each person must choose between godliness and sin.’

Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV)

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

The biblical standards for life and morality were first; they existed even before the Word was written down for us. They existed in God, they came from God, they represent the Holiness of God. The biblical standard was always first.

Just as was found in C.S. Lewis’ book depicting the mythical land of Narnia, we find ourselves in a society today that mocks and demonizes “those who rebuke our growing infatuation with our lower nature” the author notes. I would add to that truth the reality that we live in a time when Devout Christians who stand for biblical Truth have been classed haters – “The Haters” as they are often labeled. I say the opposite is true. People do not bother to tell people the Truth if they hate them. Parents who love their children discipline them. Parents who do not care do not discipline their children. In much the same way Devout Christian tell people the truth about sin because they care about their fellow mankind. Devout Christian must not remain silent, they must speak out. Those who have spoken out Truth for the world to hear, they must continue to speak out.

The author sums up this chapter by commenting on “lie-based revolutions” and how they always turn out bad. Communist revolutions promised freedom and equality but instead delivered misery, death, and tyranny. The sexual liberation movement that was meant to offered equality, self-fulfillment, and unlimited pleasure has just about destroyed America, as the author rightly puts it. I would add that Satan’s bait is always a tasty treat with arsenic at the center.

Are we going to live as humans or animals? If we give way to every compulsion that we have, if we wallow in our desires, all the while justifying them we are not much more than animals. Living in such a way is not truly living at all.

In the next posting we will begin to explore chapter three of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works.

 

 

How Evil Works

http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The Marketing of Evil

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 1 – Evil an Ever-present Reality

In Agape Love, Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Encouragement, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Jesus, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on October 5, 2015 at 11:01 am

In this piece we will explore the introduction portion of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon.

Far too many people, including Christians, bury their heads in the sand and pretend evil does not exist. At best for the majority of Christians evil exist in their theological beliefs but when it comes to them recognizing it in their everyday existence you would find no evidence they believe it is actually at work within the world. Why is this true? How did we get here? There was a time when Christian people were very aware and protective against evil, now they tolerate evil as though they are doing some loving service for God.

Let me inform you clearly – GOD HATES EVIL and there is no glory for Him found in His people embracing or even tolerating evil. We do not choose to be martyrs, God makes that choice. We are to stand up for God, stand up for Truth, and stand up for Holiness whenever possible and wherever needed.

Kupelian makes the point that we as a society seem to be evolving in our knowledge and growth except in the area of understanding evil. He claims we do not understand evil and how it routinely and effortlessly ruins lives, including our own at times. It is vital that we understand what evil is and how evil works.

Kupelian goes on to point out that 30 million Americans take psychiatric drugs to deal with a host of so called mental health problems despite the fact that there is a clear link between those drugs and violent behavior. His figure of 30 million, at the time he researched and wrote his book, is no doubt low compared to the figure today.

I can recall when antidepressants began to enter The Church many years ago as an acceptable alternative for Christians to deal with their problems. I was extremely alarmed and within a few years horrified at what I saw, and what I sensed God telling me about psychiatric medications and people’s problems. I was additionally horrified that it took years before I was willing to speak out about what God had shown me. Satan would use antidepressants and similar medications to take control of American, including Christians to some degree. While everyone around me seemed to think in those initial years that a savior in the form of a pill had arrived for the troubled, I secretly dreaded what I could see was on the horizon and is now here, a society filled with medicated drones that can no longer sense the presence of God.

Evil typically causes psychological damage and psychological damage opens the door to evil. (Perhaps I will elaborate more later, in another piece, on what I mean by that statement.) As Kupelian points out the evidence is in the fruit. Our relationships are fragile at best, marriages fail routinely, and people do not even know what they truly believe any longer. He goes on to state that secular medical “experts” are able to treat the tri-fold mental-emotional-spiritual problems of rage and depression with drugs because they tell people what egos love to hear, “It’s not your fault”.

I recall a debate I had years ago (1990’s) with another church leader over the stronghold of drinking or what the other person referred to as alcoholism. The individual said to me, ‘What are you going to do when you find out it is a disease people can’t help?’ My response, ‘Nothing, because it is not a disease, it is a choice.’ A sin involving abuse of alcohol that has taken place to the degree that it has become a stronghold in someone’s life is just that a stronghold, not a disease. A stronghold is simply something ungodly that has deep roots in a person’s life. By labeling it a disease people have removed the need for dealing with the excess of alcohol as sin and have alleviated the need for personal responsibility.

Another evil, reprogramming people. Though we have those who hate America and wish it nothing but ill as the author points out, we seem to take an overall national view of being almost submissive or apologetic as a nation for considering certain religious groups dangerous. The author equates it to “a national version of Stockholm syndrome.” It is simply tolerance run-a-muck. As the author points out a key factor in terrorism is reprogramming people’s beliefs per Stockholm syndrome. I say reprogramming of people’s beliefs is widespread in America, and I do mean negative, evil, sinful reprogramming.

What causes the success of this reprogramming? Kupelian and I agree on the answer. American people’s disillusionment with Christianity has caused a spiritual vacuum and evil has entered that vacuum. The result being widespread evil painted as progress, enlightenment, and evolution of the mind, celebrities who self-destruct, minister’s or celebrity minister’s of mega churches that self-destruct, people in general who self-destruction – destruction is the result.

The only way out of evil is to understand, resist, and/or confront evil. Once evil is brought into the light it loses it power, the darkness begins to lift, and we can find our way out.

James 4:7 (AV)(KJV)

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

In the next posting we will explore chapter one of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works, which addresses evil in the governmental portion of our society.

 

 

How Evil Works

http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

The Marketing of Evil

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Who is at Fault?

In Advice, Agape Love, Anger, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Devotional, Encouragement, End Times, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Jesus, Love, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Truth on September 2, 2015 at 4:20 pm

Right now we are seeing America rally around Donald J. Trump as a potential president for our country. It was not enough that we elected Obama twice; we are now living in a society that actually thinks someone such as Donald J. Trump is a viable candidate for the presidency of what was once a great and powerful country. (Do not get me wrong, we are still great and powerful, but when you witness the deterioration of that greatness and powerfulness for almost fifty years you know what we were as a country versus what we are today.) What I wish to explore is why we are living in a society that would elect Obama then follow that up with seriously considering Donald J. Trump as a president.

The short answer for both is, in the case of Obama people in our society, especially younger people, base how they should be, how others should be, and how their leaders should be on celebrities, and in the case of Trump he strikes a cord with a society that is fed-up with double talk and political correctness.

Obama did what celebrities do, and he appealed to people based on charm and charisma with very little substance to offer, making grand promises and proposing a ‘reach for the moon’ attitude that was neither wise nor reasonably possible. John McCain attempted to make people understand that Obama’s ideas would not bring about a better American, but instead that making the hard choices would bring about a better America, however, people wanted their ears tickled, they wanted to hear what they wanted to hear.

Now we have Trump doing something similar but his appeal is his willingness to say what other people have become too intimidated to say because of the political correctness persecutors. Trump appeals to people, and Trump is no doubt an extremely crafty businessman who know how to make money, and yes, America needs to make money, but his lack of governmental wisdom and knowledge along with his short-temper and mouth does not make a good mix for dealing with foreign powers and heads of states.

If our country elects someone like Donald J. Trump on the heels of electing Obama twice we will become the laughing stock of the world. The rest of the world no longer looks at America as they once did, and we are a bit of a joke now, but with Trump at the helm we would spiral even further out of control, and the world’s view of us would continue to decline.

How did we get here? How did we become a society who elects the Obama’s of the world and considers Trump a feasible choice for the presidency of the United States of America? A country whose Supreme Court legalized the union between people of the same sex and call it “marriage”? How did our country get in such a mess where Christians are persecuted for expressing their religious freedom and beliefs through the choices they make about whom they chose to deal with, work with, do business with, and so forth, (choices we are required to make per the Bible, if we are truly living out our religious faith) while almost every other class or group of people on the planet are afforded governmental and legal protections from persecution or discrimination? Whose fault is it anyway that we are at this point as a society?

You might not want to read my answer but here it is. The fault lies with the Christian Church and with Christians both as individuals and a collective group.

It is our fault because as a religious institution the Church laid down their mantel of godliness, expressed and expected, and replaced it with a superficial love that has failed to change lives by moving individuals toward godliness and glorifying God with their lives and lifestyle. Our failure to do this as a collective group and individuals, if we are individually guilty of such, is sin and wicked in the eyes of God.

The negligence of the Church has resulted in a decaying society, the Church’s loss of influence in our society, a lack of respect for the Church and Christians, and outright disrespect and discrimination toward Christians.

2 Chronicles 7:13–14 (NKJV)

13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

I love the Church, I love Jesus, I love Christians, and I also love our dying society. It is because I love all of them that I write these things expressing what God has put in my heart and on lips to express. However, there is an answer to this problem and the answer is found in repentance.

As individuals and as a collective group we must humble ourselves before God, acknowledge our sin and that we sacrificed godliness and Truth on the altar of worldly love (instead of agape love) and worldly acceptance. We can begin to tell the world the Truth as found in God’s Word and exhort them to turn from their sin and wickedness just as we have committed in our hearts to do. If we are going to wait until we are sin free to share Truth with people, to share what God has defined as sin or not sin, what He states is righteousness and what is right in His eyes, we will never get around to sharing the Truth with people. It is not about whether or not we measure up, it is about what God has to say about a subject.

Additionally, we can fall on our faces before God and pray for His forgiveness, His restoration, and the healing of our land (America). We can come together in unity once again as the Church should be, supporting each other, and seeking God together while upholding His Righteous Commands.

We can! We should! We must!

I was supposed to go see the move “War Room” with someone the other day but the movie was sold out to such a capacity that we did not go – only the front two rows were left. It was God that I did not go. God instructed me a couple of days later to write this piece, what Scripture to use, and what to say. I got a rough draft of the piece formed and the next day went to see the movie “War Room” and the closing shot of that movie was the above Scripture popping on the screen. The prayer that the woman in the lead role prayed at the end of this movie was so powerful and filled with the heart of God for His people during this time in history. It is a must see movie. Here is a link to the trailer.

War Room –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx5kpJ5mkeE

Christians on a massive scale must once again become proactively involved in the affairs of their society. One way you as an individual can become involved is by standing up for Christian Liberty and Religious Freedom. If we do not stand together our ungodly society will crush us one by one – one small group at a time, one individual at a time. If we refuse to be the family God intended us to be He will allow this to happen.

Below you will find information and links for a project and group who is fighting for religious freedom and fighting for our right to live out our faith in an ungodly society. Please read the information provided, in summary below, from the website. Then please prayerfully consider visiting the website, reading the declaration in its entirety, and sign the declaration for yourself.

Manhattan Declaration

“Because the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of religion are foundational principles of justice and the common good, we affirm:

1. The profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human life

2. Marriage as a union of one man and one woman

3. Religious liberty and the inherent freedom of human beings

As Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians, we take seriously the Biblical admonition to respect and obey those in authority. Because we honor justice and the common good, we will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.”

http://manhattandeclaration.org/#0

http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/man_dec_resources/Manhattan_Declaration_full_text.pdf

Get on your knees, get your heart right, get off your knees, reach out to another, do something to advance God’s agenda and godliness in your society.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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The Curse of Political Correctness

In Advice, Agape Love, Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Encouragement, End Times, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Jesus, Love, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Truth, Uncategorized on July 16, 2015 at 6:36 pm

Many years ago in the late 1990’s I did a radio program titled ‘Political Correctness – The Killer of the Church’ and since that time political correctness has not only severely damaged the functioning of and influence of the church, it has become a cancer and curse upon our society in general.

Political Correctness sounds good, and on the surface it has the appearance of being kind and loving but in truth it robs people of their freedom, their free speech, their freedom of religion, and stifles the REAL TRUTHS as found in God’s Word, that would set people free from their bondages. Political correctness is an oxymoronic concept because it is meant to do good but overall ends us doing a great deal of harm. Political correctness is meant to keep a group of people from being hurt or offended but it often accomplishes this by hurting and offending the secondary group.

Here are some examples of what I mean and some Truths according to God’s Word that are avoided by both Christians and our society because of the monster of political correctness. Please know in advance I personally hold no ill will toward any persons or group of people my sole intent is to accurately represent the biblical position on these issues and express my personal religious views and beliefs, which is still my right in this country, The United States of America, according to The Constitution – Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion.

Transgender might be a worldly concept regarding gender identity but it is not a biblical concept about gender identity. For a person to be born male or female and then change that sex or believe that they were meant to be the opposite sex is to say that God did not know what He was doing when He form that person in his or her mother’s womb (Ps. 139:13-16). A person is born the sex that God intends them to be and in order for a person to reach a transgender mindset their concept of who God created them to be would have to become damaged or distorted. Yet, because of political correctness it is almost impossible for Christian counselors to help these young people from becoming more and more confused and sinking deeper into this transgender type of identity. Political correctness on this topic suppresses expression of Biblical Truth on this topic. One group is suppressed to support another, where is the justice in that!

Psalm 139:13–16 (NKJV)

13 For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.

Same sex unions were legalized as marriage in The United States of America at the end of June 2015 by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote among The Justices. The Justices were just as split on the issue as the people in our country are split on the issue. Because they voted to legalize something does not make it legitimate in God’s eyes and it certainly does not make it marriage. Marriage according the Bible is clearly the joining and union before God and man of a man and a woman (Gen. 2:24, Mk. 10:6-9, and Ep. 5:31).

I personally know homosexual people and their sexuality does not make me love them any less whatsoever but their lifestyle is not something I can endorse or put my stamp of approval on. Moreover, their relationship with another person of the same sex will never be viewed as marriage in my eyes because the Bible does not support such a title for their lifestyle choice.

Christians and Christian Spiritual Leaders are being sued, their businesses boycotted, they are being branded or labeled as haters when they are not, just because they do not wish to partake in what they believe to be sin based on their religion. Because of political correctness it is almost impossible for Christian to express or state what they believe about marriage let alone refuse to be involved in such a ceremony lest they be sued or even prosecuted as having committed a crime. Political correctness on this topic suppresses expression of Biblical Truth on this topic. One group is suppressed to support another, where is the justice in that!

Genesis 2:24 (NKJV)

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Mark 10:6–9 (NKJV) – Jesus speaking

6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Ephesians 5:31 (NKJV)

31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

It is considered politically incorrect to view people within the Muslim community as a possible threat to America yet it was individuals within the Muslim community that planned the attack on America and flew those planes into the world trade center towers. They make up the majority of the cultural community we have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan for years and years. Does that make all Muslim people bad or terrorist? Of course not! Does that make me dislike all Muslim people as individuals or a collective group? Of course not! However, the reality is that there is a large segment of individual within the Muslim community who hate Americans and most especially Christian Americans. Technically the disagreement and battle between Muslim communities and Christian communities dates back as far as the Book of Genesis.

Yet, because of political correctness it is almost impossible for Christians to express concern over the Muslim community and their affect on the world and Christianity as a whole without Christians being viewed as stereotyping all Muslims though they often are not doing so and instead are openly acknowledging that there are some peaceful Muslims within the religion and community. Political correctness on this topic suppresses expression of Biblical History, political concern, and national concern on this topic. One group is suppressed to support another, where is the justice in that!

Because of one individual’s twisted ideas and personal choice to kill innocence people in the Emanuel AME Church and that same individual’s ownership and displaying of the confederate flag, ownership and proper display of the confederate flag has come under fire. Everyone has jump on the bandwagon to do what is considered politically correct in taking down their confederate flags from both government buildings and private establishments to appear on the side of right even though the confederate flag is a part of their and this country’s history and heritage. I would even venture to say it was a proud part of their heritage, especially in South Carolina, June 2015. The idea that Amazon and other retailers have decided they will not even sell the confederate flag any longer is ridiculous based on the actions of one individual.

Let me be clear. I do not own a confederate flag, have never owned a confederate flag, nor does or has anyone I personally know. However, that is not the point, the point is it is a person’s right to have it, own it, and fly it if they so choose. It is a part of the heritage and history of the Southern States and should remain so.

Here is some irony on the subject to consider. We live in a country where you can burn the America flag but cannot own, or it is now made hard to own, a confederate flag. More irony, people have legally burned the American flag in a public arena during various protest in this country yet, the confederate flag can no longer fly in public arenas. Because of political correctness it is almost impossible for Southerners who are proud of their heritage and history to fly a confederate flag in peace. Political correctness on this topic suppresses the rights of an entire group of people as well as individuals. One group is suppressed to support another, where is the justice in that!

There is a saying, ‘So goes the church, so goes the society.’ Tolerance to the extreme, born out of a distorted idea of love, has spiraled out of control turning loving tolerance into tolerance of sin and that form of tolerance has deteriorated the biblical moral backbone of the church. With the increased negative form of tolerance came the increased silence when it came to sin, which lead to the deterioration of the church, which then lead to the deterioration of our society. I said all those years ago during that radio broadcast that tolerance would be the killer of the church, not in that it would end the church – nothing can do that, but in that it would end the church’s effectiveness within the society where it exist and we are certainly seeing the fruit of that here in American.

When Christians are too politically correct it can be dangerous to The Body of Christ and deferential to our society as a whole. Political correctness is not love. Political correctness that avoids, covers, or distorts Biblical Truth is wrong and sinful.

One of, if not the least, tolerated group in America today is the Christians. Everyone is expected to be politically correct unless it comes to talking about Christian groups, then the need to be tolerant of their lifestyle, beliefs, rights, et cetera seems to go out the window in lieu of honoring a different group. This is not the way it should be for in America we are suppose to be able to live side by side while respecting each other despite our words, beliefs, religion, and so forth. Today people claim to have such progressive, enlightened, intellectual thinking, which has supposedly helped our society evolve to the point it is at today; but I ask you, where is that thinking when it comes to respecting and being tolerant of the group labeled Devout Christians. One group is suppressed to support other groups, where is the justice in that!

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Charleston Church Shooting Effect

In Agape Love, Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Encouragement, End Times, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Loss, Love, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on July 3, 2015 at 4:09 pm

I was in Charleston, South Carolina on June 25th and June 26th during the services for the Christians that were shot and killed on the evening of June 17th 2015 during their regular Bible Study at Emanuel AME Church. In attendance were President Obama who spoke on Friday, June 26th 2015 and Rev. Jesse Jackson who arrived the evening of Thursday, June 25th to a large crowd of Christians present paying their respects to their fallen family members, family members many of us had never met but family they were nevertheless.

Family and effect is what I want to address in this piece in the wake of the mass shooting that took place at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston where nine people were shot and killed, including the senior pastor, state senator Clementa C. Pinckney; also where a tenth person was shot yet survived.

I did not go to Charleston originally because of this event. Our trip was previously planned by my spouse as a birthday trip but in the end it turned out to be much more – it became a moment in history and an opportunity to see what drives Christians.

Our hotel was just a few blocks from the Emanuel Church and it was the first place we headed for upon arrival and check in at the hotel. It took only minutes to walk the few blocks and encounter the street barricaded and filled with police officers and media. Yet, there was also an overwhelming Christian presence, God’s people where there in heavy numbers.

We made our way down to the front of the Church about the time the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrived and as I looked at this now aged gentleman I could not help but recall that as a young man he had stood on the balcony with Dr. Martin Luther King at the moment when Dr. King was shot. Now Rev. Jackson was here in his advanced years to give aid and comfort for yet more men and women of God who had been shot and killed out of anger and hate. My heart went out to Rev. Jesse Jackson as I ponder all he has seen and endured through the years. Both a reverend and an activist, as many of us are.

Spiritual Christian activism on the part of Bible Believing Christians is very important. As our beliefs and our rights to believe as we desire are coming continually under fire we need more Christians who are willing to stand up for and fight for their rights both as Americans and Christians combined. A Christian is not merely an American and an American cannot give up his or her Christian rights and beliefs as our country changes and becomes more and more ungodly. I wonder if we have enough Christian people who are willing to be inconvenienced, let alone killed for their beliefs, like Rev. Jackson and Dr. King.

Which leads me to my next point. What did I see and sense there in Charleston, among those people gathered there? How did the family react? What effect did this shooting have on the Christian family?

Christians are a family and we function like a family when tragedy strikes. Families disagree, they argue, they even fight. They might not talk for months but they are family. They might live in different towns and attend different churches but family is still family. We, the family, can talk about each other all we want. We can argue and perhaps even hurt each other more often than we might like. However, let an outsider come in and hurt the family or a family member and watch how we react. No, no, no – no one messes with the family.

That is exactly what I sensed in Charleston, South Carolina. A place filled with people who had never met, who came from different denominations, of different cultures, different races, different social and economical backgrounds but all part of one whole, one family – one Body, The Body of Christ. There was a comfort and an ease among the people. The family had been attacked and the rest of the family was rallying to give their support through their presence and prayers. Every hotel in the area was booked solid from what our hotel concierge told us.

Banners hung on the neighboring churches with Scriptures on them, one of which had 2 Timothy 1:7 on display.

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

I assure you there was no fear in that crowd. These people were not afraid they were there to show how faithful they were to the family.

There was no disunity found on that street as people from every denominational background, color, culture, economic class, and race stood side by side talking and praying. As I talked with a fellow Christian, an African American Woman, I am Caucasian, we spoke about how this young man had messed with the wrong group, Christians are not easily frightened and when attacked they pull together and offer their support to one another. When Christianity is persecuted it flourishes and grows it does not shirk back or diminish. Courage defines the Christian experience both past and present. We pull together during persecution and find courage and strength through the support and prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ. As the young woman put it so well, ‘He will not make us afraid.’ No, persecuting Christians does not result in fear; it results in faith and a fierce infusion of courage. That is exactly what I sensed and felt coming from the crowds of Believers in Charleston, South Carolina.

The people of Charleston, South Carolina both Christian and non-Christian handled themselves with such dignity and poise during a difficult and terrible time and under such tragic circumstances. There were no riots or protest there, no uprising of any type. This in my view is a result of both the Christian faith at work and southern manners. Having been raised both in the south and in a Christian home, I know firsthand there are certain expectations regarding how one handles themselves during a crisis. Bravo to Charleston, they honored the south and southern manners superbly!

Effect according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is defined as follows:

5: power to bring about a result: INFLUENCE

The effect this young man and his actions had on Christians, Charleston, and the south was to give us an opportunity to display our unity, courage, love, compassion, manners, hospitality, grace, and FAITH. The enemy sought to bring harm but God’s end game was to bring good [Genesis 50:20] and in Charleston on June 25th and June 26th 2015 He certainly did that. If you want to see a Christian community rise up and become even stronger persecute the people.

Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

As I prayed on June 25th at Emanuel AME Church I asked God, why He allowed this to happen. He did not cause it but He most certainly allowed it since our God is sovereign and able to control anything He wishes to control. He did not tell me why He allowed this to happen but He did tell me that He intended to bring something MAJOR out of this incident. That it would have an effect on the Body of Christ like nothing else has in a long time. I continue to pray and seek Him for more information about His Plans for this event as He, and if He sees fit to reveal them to me according to His Will.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.