Check this Out

You Need to Check this out!

There are many issues that we are dealing with in today's society. These issues are not just economical. While the focus of our presidential running mates have been on the economical issues it is the moral issues that must be at the forefront of our thinking. When we look at the moral issues it is easy to see why we as Christians must stand up and be heard. Before I go to far into this post I want you to go to this link and view it because I feel that if you do not go to this link you simply will not read this blog. So here it is.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1815820715/bctid1822459319

If you have watched this video I hope that you are as appalled as I am. I pray that you will re-post this on all of your other sites. We are in a time where we are being given a clear choice to make and that choice is going to dictate the condition of America's heart. It is going to show us what is more important to 'we the people' and will dictate what will happen next. While you can sit there and make arguments regarding both candidates not being perfect there is one candidate that has made a stand regarding moral issues. He has given us his stand on abortion and same sex marriages and while he appears to be losing in the debates the truth is that he shines when the discussion is brought around to morals (abortion). Please know that I am not here to tout John McCain I am here to tout Jesus Christ. I am here to promote His concepts and standards. If 'we the people' chose to elect economic change then we are telling God that morals are not as important as the economy. We are telling Him that we have no problem with sin as long as we are making money. We are saying that we don't believe that you are in control, nor do we think you will take care of us and dear friends the end of this type of thinking is certainly going to be judgment. If you don't believe me just take a look in the Old Testament. Look in Jeremiah for one, look in Deuteronomy, Isaiah and anywhere else that has the children of Israel choosing the things of the world over the things of God. When God tells us that if we would live for Him and abide by His rule then He will provide then we must honestly consider what are the main issues of this campaign. Should they not be moral issues? The choice is yours. God has always given us free will and it has always been that free will that keeps us from a relationship with Him. I pray that the video you watched awakens you to what is forth coming not only on this issue but any issue that is not tolerant of their own desires. Preach about sin; go to jail.

What Are Giants?

In the Old Testament we are told of several giants. Many were of the same family being either children of or siblings of Goliath, but there were other giants that the children of Israel faced and they are the same giants that we face today as well. These giants are what keeps us on the sideline instead of in the thick of battle. They are what keeps us sitting in the pews with the "out of service" sign hanging around our necks and they are the giants that have given over the power to the world. When Goliath came to the children of Israel he hadn't even been in battle with them yet, he had merely spoken and everyone hid in their tents afraid to come out. The mere size of him struck fear in the hearts of men and we are allowing the same thing to render us useless today. We look at the world and say, I can't go out there, they're scary. We claim that they won't listen to us because they have all they need and if they don't have something then they know how to get it. We stay locked up in our own little world and when we do go out we go out as Saul attempted to send David out dressed in armor, looking like the rest of the world. You see we don't really want anyone to see us as we are. Saul didn't want Goliath to see David as this shepherd boy, he wanted him to see him as any other soldier in his army. If David looked like a soldier, if he was dressed like a soldier then perhaps Goliath would think he was just an ordinary soldier coming to face him. When we go out into the world dressed like the world, acting like the world then there is no real difference between us and the world so why would they even take thought to the words that we say because in their eyes we are no different then they are. We listen to the same music as they do, we go to the same places that they go and in many cases we talk and use the same language as they do, so when we go into battle in this manner we are going in prepared for defeat because we know that they are going to come at us with all the fire power they need to defeat us so we are content to get all dressed up and sit in the tents at the edge of the battlefield where we can continue to act as if we are soldiers without actually having to participate in the warfare.
Not so with David though, he stripped the armor off, content to go into battle with the clothes that he was wearing. The clothing that said I am just a simple shepherd boy but I will stand up to you because my power is not of myself but is of God. I don't need to look like everyone else here because I am not here to impress you or to make you think I am something I am not. I am not here to make myself look good or to promote myself, I am here because you insult the name of my God and you insult His army. David didn't care what everyone else thought around him. what he cared about was the name of his Lord and Savior, Almighty God. He wasn't worried about who had his back because he knew it wasn't the soldiers who were still hiding in their tents, it was God and as Goliath hurled insults at him David simply slipped a stone into his sling and begin to swing it over his head and released it striking Goliath. As the rest of the army saw this, all of a sudden they became bold and they began to attack. so often we wait until we see someone else stand up for Christ before we decide to do the same when it should have been us standing up the entire time. The giant we need to slay is the giant of fear. We are told in the New Testament not to fear man who only has the power to kill the body and then can do nothing more but we are to fear the one who after He has killed the body has the power to cast it into hell. the fear we need is the fear of an awesome God and it is not so much fear as the unwillingness to disappoint Him. He gives us the words to speak when we need them just as He did with Jeremiah. Even when we get tongue tied and say the wrong thing He still works it out to His good, just as He did when Philip ran to get Nathaniel, because once he heard Christ he immediately acknowledged Him for who He was and Christ said, 'you shall see greater things than these. Consider Jeremiah;

Jer. 1:3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

Jer. 1:4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

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

Jer. 1:6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

Jer. 1:7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

Jer. 1:8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

Jer. 1:9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

Jer. 1:10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

Look again at verse 5. Before I formed thee. Before He formed us He determined what our purpose was to be and provides us with the ability to do it and it is up to us to have the faith in Him to perform what He created us for. It is up to us to be obedient to His calling and leave the rest of it up to Him for He is able to complete it.

Php. 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

How do we destroy this giant? It is by continuing in His word holding to the promises that He gives us. It is by being obedient in all things to Him. The word of God is sharper than a two edged sword. "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will Fear no evil for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.