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America Fresh Oil New Wine 2013 Living It Out In Real Time The Life of Faith The Mysteries of God

America: Find Your Voice

“One cannot wage war under present conditions without the support of public opinion, which is tremendously molded by the press and other forms of propaganda.” ~ Douglas MacArthur

KS77849Recently at our ministry, we have been inundated with phone calls asking what I think about what is going on in the world right now. Whether it’s the conflicts we see unfolding in Syria, Egypt, Libya, and the rest of the Middle East, or the rampant political correctness that is running amok, ruining our economy, and destroying our spirit of American exceptionalism, people have honest questions. Over these past many years, I have grown to ask myself, when I read or watch the media, “Is it fact, or is it propaganda?” Our government makes claims that seem unrealistic (at best), and then we see the American media walk in lock-step behind (and in support of) the claim.

Disagree?

Consider the “Arab Spring”. We were all told that the Arab Spring would bring democracy and positive change to the Middle East. However, instead of peace, democracy, and hope, what has happened?

  • Chaos has erupted in Egypt. Egypt was almost completely taken over by Morsi, Sharia Law, and the Muslim Brotherhood.
  • Slaughter of American diplomats and their military defenders in Benghazi.
  • Questions abound as to whether we were better off dealing with the likes of Muammar Qaddafi in Libya and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. In my opinion… absolutely.

Now we have a civil war going on in Syria, with an American administration that wants to intervene, and help facilitate the collapse of that government. However, let’s stop for a minute and look at the record of Syria over the past 40 years, since 1973…

  • Syria has committed no aggressive act toward the United States.
  • Syria has not participated in an attack on Israel.
  • Syrian government soldiers have faithfully protected the Aleppo synagogue… the 2nd oldest Jewish synagogue in the world.
  • The Syrian government has protected the Orthodox church, including the 5000 Syrian Orthodox inhabitants (a community of believers that has survived since the time of Christ). They are one of the few communities that still speak Aramaic (the dialect spoken during the time of Christ).

Now, in just a matter of months, these so-called “Rebels” are undoing centuries of religious tolerance and peace; attacking and burning churches, and killing Christians. The Syrian government is protecting Christians, Jews, and Allawi Muslims from these Islamists that are attempting to take over the nation.

And now for the coup de grâce…

After years of being warned about “global warming this” and “climate change that”, it has been determined that the arctic has 1 million MORE square miles of arctic ice than just 1 year ago.  True science sees a trend toward global cooling – NOT warming! Taxpayers have, for years, been robbed of billions upon billions of dollars to help fund the myth of global warming that has been perpetrated upon the world. Climate expert Dr. Tsoris of the University of Wisconsin recently stated that the slight warming trend of the ’80’s and ’90’s (which amounted to 8/10ths of a degree) has reversed, and we are now in a cooling trend. As I write this, there are approximately 20 yachts trapped in Arctic ice, with summer just now coming to a close. In 1993, a British climatologist predicted the Arctic ice would be completely gone by 2013. Yet, in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence, as well a common-sense observation, our government is STILL funding the global warming hoax!

Personally, I am sick to death of diplomatic slight-of -hand, government-funded corruption and cover-up, and agenda-driven junk science. Give me the sacred Scriptures! Give me the reliability of God’s Holy Word! Give me the liberty that comes from the ONLY truth that brings freedom! Give me the church of the Living God — the stronghold of truth in a world running from deception to deception!

Now, a multimillion-dollar presentation entitled Do The Math (which affirms the global warming myth) is about to air on none other than Al Jazeera-owned Current TV. Al Jazeera is owned by Muslims, and Current TV was recently sold to them by it’s owners, including Al Gore.

Just so you understand: One of the loudest voices in the “climate change” camp sold his TV channel to a media company owned by “Arab Oil” — the biggest fossil fuel producers and polluters in the world.

Am I the only one that sees the irony here???

When are we the people going to get tired of being suckers and saps? When will we stop being sheep, led blindly to the slaughter of all that we hold sacred? When are we going to stand by the convictions and creeds on Monday that we espouse on Sunday?

When are we going to demand of our leaders the same standard to which they hold the people?

When are we going to frack and drill from the huge natural reserves that we have been blessed with, and stop funding the very people who are trying to kill us?

When are we going to find our voices, and remind the government that yes, we ARE still ONE NATION UNDER GOD?

Surely, if I know this, living (as I do) in Chattanooga, TN, someone in Washington D.C. knows it as well.

It is time to find our voice.

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America Living It Out In Real Time The Life of Faith The Mysteries of God The Secret Place

Radicals, Racism, or Righteousness: The Choice is Yours

Society is being turned on it’s ear, and we are being given a front-row seat.

I could sit here for days and decry the many ways in which our culture is losing it’s soul. I could catalogue the multiple symptoms that are evidence of the demise of towns and cities all over America.

I mean, think about this…

To steal an eagle’s egg in the U.S. carries a $10,000.00 fine, yet killing an unborn human is perfectly legal. Since the Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973, if the same fine was imposed for the nearly 55 million abortions that have taken place since then, the cumulative monetary fine would be more than $545,596,150,000.00

Staying sexually pure is mocked, while sexual promiscuity is lauded as normal. While the acceptable age for “sex education” in our schools goes younger and younger, “abstinence education” is frowned upon and virtually ignored. Meanwhile, the out-of-wedlock birthrate in our nation is at a disastrous 40.7%.

To speak out against homosexual activity is viewed as more reprehensible than the activity itself.

Time and time again, the national media is caught in the act of “creating news” instead of “reporting news”.

The city of Detroit is now in the process of filing bankruptcy. Political corruption and out-of-control crime are being blamed as two of the contributing factors in the city’s demise.

While the country was focused on the George Zimmerman trial in Florida, the murder statistics in cities like Chicago continued to skyrocket — virtually ignored.

So what do we do? How do we as Christians respond to such overwhelming bad news? How do we stand against the forces of dishonesty, corruption, and division that would tear our country apart?

Righteousness.

Now you say, “Pastor, that sounds a little simplistic and naive.” Maybe it does, but the fact is that truth is not a difficult concept. Regardless of how complicated we try to make things, the best way is, in most cases, the simplest. Throughout history, the most popular ideas and inventions are often the most practical ones. The problems that most people have with Scripture are not based on the doctrines of Scripture, but on our own personal hangups…

  • We have an aversion to calling sin by its proper name: SIN. Because of political correctness and fear of the “thought police”, we suffer from a lost consciousness of evil, and confusion over right and wrong. Solomon tells us in Proverbs 18:21 that…

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.

So the question becomes: Are you eating the wholesome and delectable fruit of righteousness and truth, or the poisonous, rancid, spoiled fruit of “conventional wisdom” and “popular opinion”.

  • There’s an old saying: “If you don’t stand for anything, you’ll fall for everything”. Truth is not subjective. Truth does not change. The consequence of standing in front of a speeding train is certain death, regardless of how much you disagree with the laws of physics. The consequence of breaking the laws of God is spiritual death, regardless of how much man ignores, defies, or denies Him.
  • There is an immutable fact in nature: “You reap what you sow”. The Bible is very clear in Galatians 6:7-8:

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

No society can long survive lawlessness and corruption. Any civilization that forsakes righteousness and truth is not long for the world. As President Ronald Reagan once said..

“If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be one nation gone under.”

  • God didn’t call us to be a “white church” or a “black church” — He called us to be “THE Church”. We cannot begin to expect to change a culture that is (sadly) so racially divided until we break down the walls that divide us in within the family of God. In the Bible, the primary racial divide was between the Jew and the Gentile. Paul addressed that divide in Ephesians when he said:

14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in His flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. ~ Ephesians 2:14-18

We don’t need a culture of more “open-mindedness”… we need a culture of Godly righteousness.

We don’t need more “gun control”… we need more “self control”.

We don’t need leaders who will prove themselves once they get into public office… we need servants who have already proven themselves in order to get into public office.

We don’t need more programs for fatherless children… we need more “real men” who will honor women, and make them wives before they make them mothers.

If we are still bound and determined to be a “colored church”, then let’s be the “Crimson Church” — covered by the crimson blood of the One who died to make us all one in Him.

Join me at Abba’s House this Sunday as I talk about Righteousness as I continue my series “Seven Words that Work Wonders”. If you can’t be there, click here to watch us online.