Evil Dignitaries?

According to Webster’s Dictionary the definition of the word dignitaries is, one who possesses exalted rank or holds a position of dignity or honor. Would you say that President Barack Obama holds a position of honer? Now, here is my point. I have had to re-think the way I think about the President, Senators and Congressmen right down to my hometown Mayor. Why? Take a look at 2 Peter chapter 2. In this chapter Peter reminds us of two key figures in our Christian walk of faith, Noah and Lot. Specifically he touches on what the civilization was like during their time here on Earth. You’ll remember that God saw that man was violent and that their thoughts were continually evil, we know this from Genesis chapter 6:5-13. Lot? Well he lived amongst a sexually unclean civilization and we are told that it grieved him to his core, or soul, because of what he had to watch going on around him. Now certainly you and I can relate to both these men, in the sense that we are living in a world that is replicating the lifestyle of their day. Would you not? Is sin abounding? Is sexual immorality a problem? Is violence on the rise? My point, is not to “point” out the similarities of the different ages but rather something else that Peter points out in his Epistle. Look at verses 9 & 10 of 2 Peter chapter 2.

“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.” Stop right there!

Did you see that? Those that despise government and speak evil of dignitaries are lumped into the group of people that not only walk after the flesh but will be punished on judgment day. I don’t know about you but I must confess that my thoughts and speech regarding our Government has been anything but glorifying to the Lord. Am I alone on this one? I am not saying that we can’t be grieved by what we see them doing. But how are we handling it? Are we taking our concerns to God in prayer or are we running around complaining and speaking evil of the Nancy Pelosis, Harry Reeds and yes, even the Barney Franks?

As you move into verse 11 of 2 Peter 2, we learn that the Angels of Heaven do not even speak evil concerning the worlds rulers, and they are higher beings than we. Why is that? Romans chapter 13. The Angels know that all these world leaders are placed there for a reason, time and by the Lord himself? What!?! The Lord? Yes.

Look, I love listening to Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity just as much as the next guy. But the voice we all need to listen to is the voice of our Father in Heaven. The Bible tells us in Romans chapter 13 that God has ordained our leadership and to resist our leadership is to resist our God. Again, I am not saying we lie down and do everything they tell us to do. What I am saying however, is that we need to be careful about what we are saying about our leaders both Spiritual and Carnal.

I can’t speak for you, but I certainly do not want to be lumped in with all those characters lost in the flood or in Sodom simply because I couldn’t hold my tongue in regards to our Nation’s Leaders. Romans 13, which speaks concerning our submission to worldly leadership closes with these words;

“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.”

So, I ask. Could speaking evil of our leaders be fulfilling the lusts of the flesh? Just a thought.

Twosies, twosies.

Exodus chapter 8 verse 4 tells us ” And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.” The buzz in the news lately has been the recent discovery of Noah’s Ark by some Evangelicals from China and Turkey. Now at first glance I, as a I am sure you were too, was eager to receive this news with joy unspeakable. Here we have another truth from God’s word springing up from the earth. (Psalm 85:11) I don’t know if this is really “the” Ark, but I would like to believe it is, and based upon what the Bible has said, I really have no reason to doubt that it is in fact our brother Noah’s boat.

Now imagine what the Atheist and Evolutionists are doing right now. You have probably thought of some of the many excuses that they will come up with to reject the truth of God’s word. They will say that somebody planted it, or it was an ancient civilization, or that Mt. Ararat was once sea level before there was some sort of cataclysmic disaster (other than the flood) pushed it up in the air. Whatever they come up with it will be preposterous at best and frustrating at worst. God knows how to save those people and so to worry about their reasons for rejecting Jesus is futile. What we need to be concerned about is all the other scriptures that are just as believable, no, trustworthy, as Exodus 8:4.

Regardless of whether this is the ark or not it’s exciting nonetheless and it will be fun to watch the world try to explain it away, or should I say, explain Jesus away. Check out Foxnews and decide for yourself whether this is truly the Ark and let’s see what the Lord will allow man to find next. Is it any wonder that the Lord has put the Ark back in the front of man’s thinking again? There is another flood coming and there is another Ark for escape, His name is Jesus Christ. My fear is that the very same people that doubt Noah’s Ark will doubt the only escape from what is to come. God gave man 120 years to repent during the building  of the first ark and it is His great mercy that has allowed over 2000 years for many of us to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Don’t reject the truth and don’t doubt your Lord. Jesus is coming, it’s not a question of if, but when. Jesus loves you, get on board.

True Olympic Gold

WOW! How refreshing to hear this young athlete’s view on life. Would that more young people would follow her lead and find the fulfillment and direction that Elana Meyers has found because of Jesus Christ, and to think she represents our great country. Go USA!

Hate Haiti?

Psalm 109:2-4 “For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.”

As you watch the video below and come to your own conclusions about what Pat Robertson said please note the constant messages that flash across the screen and listen closely to what Mr. Robertson says and ask yourself this question. Does Pat Robertson hate Haiti or does he want the Haitians to come to salvation?

I know as a Father I desire to protect my children from danger. If I tell my children not to play with fire, it is only because I love them. When they get burned because they refused to listen, my love is there to comfort them, care for their wounds and remind them of their need to listen to my word. So too our Heavenly Father is there for the people of Haiti. Now I am not suggesting that God has sent this earthquake specifically to Haiti and I don’t believe Pat Robertson said that either. But  what I am saying is that if God did send the earthquake to the Haitians, of which 50% are practicing Voodoo and 80% claim to be Christian, is God not a God of love? If this causes them to turn back to the Father that they might get the comfort and care they need and experience freedom, prosperity and fulfillment, is that a bad thing?

Certainly continue to pray for the people of Haiti and visit Samaritan’s Purse to find out what the Lord is doing in the name of love.

Happy New Year.

Well, here we are in 2010. Hard to believe isn’t it? Remember when the world was coming to an end in Y2K? Many Christian leaders were even getting caught up in the whole fiasco, but now here we are a whole decade later. God be praised. If you are like me you have probably been thinking about what this New Year holds for you. Maybe you have new career ventures, maybe the current economic crisis has you concerned. Is the Health Care bill really going to help and is global warming a serious issue? Now some of you probably could care less about all those issues because your issues are the more pressing. We all have issues facing us in the unforeseen future and no amount of planning, when it comes right down to it, can prepare us for it. The only thing we can count on is the sure mercies, faithfulness and love of the Lord.

I have been guilty myself of hoping  that things will actually get better in our World. Time and time again however, God’s word reminds me, that is the furthest thing from the truth. We are going to see the Nations of the World continue their revolt against the God of love and salvation. We are watching our very Nation do exactly what the Bible tells us “They frame mischief with a law,” Psalm 94:20. We have been watching our rulers ignore the American people when it comes to health care, global warming, abortion, prayer in school and homosexual marriages and it is only going to escalate as we see the return of the Lord drawing closer. But I did not want to write this to discourage, but rather to encourage.

The very God that has brought us to 2010 will be faithful to bring us to the end of the age. His promises have not failed us yet and there is no reason to believe that they will in the coming year. I want us in this New Year, rather than making resolutions, to simply resolve ourselves to be more like Christ. Often times when I think of being like Christ I focus many times on His ministry to man, His example, His holiness and the way He treated other people. However, this year, let us focus on His relationship with the Father. The Lord Jesus trusted the Father implicitly. The Lord Jesus did nothing without first checking with the Father. The Lord Jesus did those things that were always pleasing in His sight, (John 8:31)and because of that Christ knew His prayers would always be answered. Going into 2010, don’t you want to have your prayers answered? I do. I would venture to say that more than ever we need to have our prayers answered and we also need to take the time to pray. You and I are going to face uncertain times but we serve the God of time. We serve the one who knows the end from the beginning, the God of all comfort and care. Resolve to rely on the Father who has His everlasting arms underneath us and if His hands span the universe, think how big and strong those arms are. May you have a wonderful Christ like, Christ centered New Year. God bless you.

Beauty In The Fall

Every time Fall comes around I am reminded of the beauty and the tragedy of the Cross. It is a beautiful picture of what Christ has done for us and wants to do in us as we take up our cross and follow after Him. (Romans 6:6-11) Have you ever thought about that?

As you look at the colors of the leaves, be mindful of the beauty of your life in Christ.  People are watching you, they want to see this Jesus you speak of and Christ desires to reveal Himself to them, through you. As you daily die a beautiful array of colors will explode from your life. They won’t be tangible colors, but they’ll be there spiritually, and the beauty of Christ in you will be on display for the world to see. For those that are searching for Jesus, it will truly be a sight to behold. So, this fall, don’t think of Summer being over and don’t be sad about the trees losing their leaves but rather think about the way you can demonstrate the colors of Christ in you.

Look at the reds this fall as symbolic of His blood, the forgiveness for you and for others and the price He paid to secure eternity for you. Think of the golds and the yellows as a picture of His Deity and the glory that He wants to reveal to and through you. May the purples remind you of His royalty as King, a royalty that He not only wants to reveal but to share as well. (1 John 3:2) Remember that He is a faithful King and will provide all of your needs according to His riches. How many riches does He have? The browns remind us of His humanity and His bruising, symbolic of His desire to identify Himself with us and familiarize Himself with our sufferings. Remember that is pleased the Father to bruise Him. Are we willing to identify with Christ and suffer persecution and be bruised for Him? Also, amidst the various colors of the dying leaves remember that the trees are not dying but rather preparing themselves for the long cold Winter and it’s storms. Are we preparing our selves for the storms ahead? And all the while the deciduous foliage is falling there are the ever present Evergreens, symbolic of our lives, we who were once dead in trespasses and sins, has He now quickened. (Ephesians 2:1-6) Last thought. Just think about Fall and then think about the Fall of man. The two are closely related, one is a result of the other. Is it a coincidence that the most colorful season has to do with death or do you think the Lord wanted to remind us of the beauty of His life, death and resurrection? Just a thought, what do you think?