October 23, 2016

I get daily email articles from Outreach and they are always good. This one is especially good and timely for us. Thom Rainer is a former pastor who now does surveys and research to help strengthen local churches. I pray you will find it a bit challenging but mostly encouraging! You will notice I added several comments in the margins.

What Non-Christians Really Think about Christians

By

Thom Rainer

These surprising insights about what non-Christians can profoundly impact your outreach.

One of my greatest joys in research is talking to and listening to those who clearly identify themselves as non-Christians. Don’t get me wrong—I’m not celebrating their absence of faith in Christ. My joy comes from listening to those who don’t believe as I do, so I might be better equipped to witness to them.

Over the past several years, my research teams and I have interviewed thousands of unchurched non-Christians. Among the more interesting insights I gleaned were those where the interviewees shared with me their perspectives of Christians.

In this article, I group the seven most common types of comments in order of frequency. I then follow that representative statement with a direct quote from a non-Christian.

Read these comments and see if you learn some of the lessons I learned.

1. Christians are against more things than they are for.

"It just seems to me Christians are mad at the world and mad at each other. They are so negative, they seem unhappy. I have no desire to be like them and stay upset all the time." (OUCH!)

2. I would like to develop a friendship with a Christian.

"I'm really interested in what they believe and how they carry out their beliefs. I wish I could find a Christian who would be willing to spend some time with me. (OUCH AGAIN!)

3. I would like to learn about the Bible from a Christian.

#“The Bible really fascinates me, but I don’t want to go to a stuffy and legalistic church to learn about it. I would be nice if a Christian invited me to study the Bible in his home or at a place like Starbucks.”

4. I don't see much difference in the way Christians live compared to others.

I really can't tell what a Christian believes because he

doesn't seem much different that other people I know. The only exception would be Mormons. They really seem to take their beliefs seriously. (GOD HELP US!)

5. I wish I could learn to be a better husband/wife/dad/mom, etc., from a Christian.

"My wife is threatening to divorce me, and I think she means it this time. My neighbor is a Christian, and he seems to have it together. I am swallowing my pride and asking him to help me. (SEE THE POWER OF GETTING IT RIGHT?)

6. Some Christians act like they always have it all together.

“Harriett works in my department. She is one of those Christians who seems to have a mask on. I would respect her more if she didn’t put on such an act. I know better.

   7. I wish a Christian friend of mine would invite me to church with her/him.

“I really would like to visit a church, but I’m not particularly comfortable going by myself. What is weird is that I am 32 years old, and I’ve never had a Christian invite me to church in my entire life.”

Do you see the pattern? Non-Christians want to interact with Christians. They want to see Christians’ actions match their beliefs. They want Christians to be real.

In one study we conducted, we found only 5 percent of non-Christians are antagonistic toward Christians. It’s time to stop believing the lies we have been told. Jesus said it clearly: “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Luke10:2, HCSB).

October 22, 2016

"Lord, who may dwell in your sacred? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; Whose tongue utters no slander, who does not wrong to a neighbor and casts no slur on another; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest, who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken." Psalms 15:1-5

Another key issue of the 2016 Presidential election is the pending appointments of justices to the Supreme Court. One more liberal-leaning justice will swing the Court to the left and dramatically change the laws of the land. One conservative judge will make a conservative majority and provide protection for the Constitution.

In Chapter 19 of Dr. Garlow's book "Well Versed", he deals with the topic of the Judiciary.

"Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's June 26, 2015, writing in "Obergefell v. Hodges" was quite possibly the strongest attack on Christians and Christian values ever written by a sitting Justice in a majority opinion. In it he accused Christians of animus - that is, hatred or hostility - for believing what has been believed for the last 5,000 years of Judeo-Christianity and what is declared clearly in the Bible: marriage is defined as a union of one man-one woman.

The purpose of the Supreme Court - the judicial branch - is to determine the constitutionality of a law. It cannot create a law, nor even demand a law. The limitations placed on the judicial branch are quite clear in the Constitution; it is the legislative branch - the Congress which creates laws. Neither can the President - as the executive branch. The President can only enact the laws made by the Congress. Executive orders are not mentioned in the U. S. Constitution, although Presidents make, on the average, around sixty executive orders per year.

How did the five majority justices come up with their June 26, 2015? In effect, five justices interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution - designed to ensure freed slaves were not denied citizenship status - to redefine marriage based on sexual orientation. They saw the Fourteenth Amendment as granting them the privilege to redefine an institution which had stood for five thousand years.

The Fourteenth Amendment was also used in the egregious Roe v. Wade decision of 1973. Seven justices concluded then that it guaranteed a woman the "right to privacy" that trumped the unborn child's right to be recognized as a person. Without personhood, the child was relegated to the status of property that had no legal protections.

Let's be clear. The issue we are now discussing is not a mere academic issue. The greatest abuses in America recently have been at the hands of the Supreme Court justices. Due to their life-long terms, the consistent proclivity to disregard the intent of the words of the Constitution, and their recent obsession with consulting European governments and legal documents rather that respecting the intent of our own Constitution, the Supreme Court is one of the greatest dangers to the future of the nation."

When I think about how crucial it is that the next justices appointed be conservatives whose decisions are guided by the original intent of the U.S. Constitution I have to vote for the Presidential Candidate who is most likely to appoint justices like that.

Shouldn't that be a major consideration for you as well?

Why Elections Matter

"For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me water; I was a stranger and you invited me into your homes; naked and you clothed me; sick and in prison, and you visited me." Matthew 25:25-26

Let me preface my comments on immigration by asserting this, "Anyone who walks in the doors of FredWes will be loved, respected and ministered to regardless of where they came from or how they got here!"

That is simply a fact!

The immigration crisis is a key issue in the 2016 Presidential election as it should be. National sovereignty is essential to the security and survival of a nation and unchecked immigration threatens both of those. In fact, unchecked immigration is an invasion.

Think about it, the debate on illegal immigration ought to end at the word "illegal" shouldn't it? At a moment in our national history when law and order are on a precipitous decline why should we allow the invasion of more "illegals".

Please understand that my concern is not directed at the people crossing our borders illegally. Who can blame them for seeking a better life? My concern is with this administration who created this crisis to serve their selfish political agenda. 

Here is what they are up to and why the border must be secured and immigration laws observed.

1) Soon after assuming the Presidency, the Obama Administration took the unprecedented action of moving the Census Bureau into the White House. Why would they do that? They did to identify the areas in the U.S. that vote conservatively so they can flood those areas with immigrants who can change the demographics. It's about inflating their voting rolls and consolidating power. With that strategy it is only a matter of time until they have a one party system.

2) Flooding the nation with good but poor, uneducated and unskilled people will produce a new class of dependents that will need and use Government assistance thus allowing massive Government expansion. With printed money and borrowed money needed to massively expand the welfare, healthcare and social security demands our deficit will continue growing dragging down our economy.

3) Overwhelming our nation with hard-working but low skilled workers who will settle for sub-standard pay will further damage our economy by lowering wages and make it more difficult to find jobs for entry level Americans.

4) The steady stream of illegal undocumented immigrants pouring into our nation is unfair to those who have immigrated legally and are patiently working through the expensive process of acquiring legal citizenship status.

I haven't mentioned the communicable diseases that are brought within our borders or the potential for increased crime or terrorism.

I hate lawlessness and I despise the exploitation of disadvantaged people.

This is why elections matter! 

Before you cast your vote, carefully study each candidate's positions on the important issue of immigration.

God help us!

October 20, 2016

"For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in" Matthew 25:35

One of the contested issues of this 2016 Presidential election is Immigration. 

Secretary Clinton is a globalist and as such supports open borders. Open borders is actually a contradiction of terms. 

Donald Trump promises to protect the borders by building a wall and enforcing existing immigration laws.

Author and talk show host, Dr. Michael Savage, often says, "A nation is defined by a language, a culture and its borders."

Dr. Jim Garlow, in his book "Well Versed", writes about national borders in Chapter 24, "National borders help governments establish who is a citizen and who is a visitor, and who should not be permitted through the door. This process is similar to church membership. The pastors need to be able distinguish who needs to be shepherded and who is just passing through. It doesn't make visitors less important, but membership establishes clear expectations concerning how authority applies, what resources are available for whom, what privileges can be expected and where attention is to be concentrated. Like a church, a nation has the right to enforce borders and having no borders means it is no longer a nation!

If someone comes into your home, even someone without a penny to his name, so they have a right to stay indefinitely and take whatever they want? You know the answer. But if you were to leave your windows and doors wide open all day, leave money and fresh food lying around, hang the keys to the car in plain sight and ignore everyone coming in and out, your home would be packed (and sacked) in no time!

With penalty-free access to open borders, sanctuary cities, unenforced federal laws, driver's licenses, in-state tuition, free medical care, welfare, and any number of entitlements - even amnesty - what's the incentive to respect our laws, our values, and our heritage? In fact, lawlessness and the abuse of compassion actually breeds a contempt for authority and broad-based resentment toward each other.

Having said that, what kingdom issues are at stake? My own denomination, the Wesleyan Church, has processed eight difference principles that form the framework we use to choose a biblical response.

1) The Creation Principle: All persons are created equal and are of equal worth in their Creator's eyes.

2) The Great Commandment Principle: Christ commands us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and our neighbors as ourselves.

3) The Sovereignty Principle: God is sovereignly at work establish His kingdom in heaven and on earth. He determines the times and places where people will seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him.

4) The Submissive Principle: Christians possess dual citizenship, one heavenly and the other earthly. Christians should respect and submit to the laws of the land, except when they are contradiction to biblical principles.

5) The Hospitality Principle: Christ's love compels us to be kind and compassionate and to offer hospitality, especially to those in need, including strangers, windows, orphans, aliens, and immigrants, regardless of their legal status.

6) The Great Commission Principle: Jesus Christ brings good news and has commissioned us to make disciples of all peoples, including citizens and aliens alike.

7) The Grace Principles: All have sinned and deserve God's judgment and punishment. Yes, He is a merciful God and seeks to reconcile us to Himself by grace.

8) The Justice Principle: God's people are called to seek justice for all persons proactively by calling for just, fair, reasonable, and humane laws and serving as advocates and defenders for those who are powerless, disenfranchised, and marginalized.

Everyone understands this is a complex issue and every compassionate person wants to find a way to protect our national sovereignty while writing just laws that will open our borders to those willing to abide by those laws. 

But compassion should be guided by these Scriptural principles lest we be led astray by misguided compassion.

Really A Human Life

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book! How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me.And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!" Psalms 139:13-18

For over 40 years God's people, lovers of life, have grieved over the legalization murder of innocents in the womb. Nearly 60,000,000 have been offered on the altar of "a woman's right to choose". In this post I want to deal with the main reasons offered to justify this abominable practice:

• What if the pregnancy is unwanted?
• A fetus isn't really a human life.
• To save the life of the mother.
• What about cases of rape or incest?

Let's be honest, this is far and away the largest reason for abortion, an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. Being pregnant just isn't convenient at the moment. Perhaps it interferes with a new career or a job promotion so the choice is made to terminate the pregnancy.

With abortion being legal the access is readily available and the moral stigma is significantly diminished. 

If women finding themselves with an unwanted pregnancy would realize they are carrying a wanted child, perhaps that could help stem the rate of abortions.

My oldest son, Matt, is adopted. He was an unwanted pregnancy but thankfully, his mother understood that there were couples eager to adopt her child. Unwanted pregnancies produce wanted children!

It is estimated there are 2,000,000 parents eager to adopt a child in the United States. They desperately long for the children produced by unwanted or unplanned pregnancies.

Until it is able to live outside it is just an nonviable fetus, right?

Wrong!

Consider these undeniable medical realities:

• Eighteen days after conception a baby's heart begins to beat with its own blood.
• Twenty-eight days from conception a baby has eyes and ears.
• At forty-two days the baby has brain waves.
• At ten weeks babies can feel pain and even have developed tiny fingernails.
• Babies have been born and have survived at only twelve weeks.
• When it was discovered the so-called fetus had a heart-beat we continued killing them.
• When sonograms were developed allowing us to physically view the form of a baby we did not cease the killing. When Jane Roe from the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion through the third trimester, came out admitting she never actually had an abortion and admitted the case was the "biggest mistake of her life" - we did not halt the killing. Roe said in a television ad, "You read about me in history books, now I am dedicated to spreading the truth about preserving the dignity of human life from natural conception to natural death - we did not stop the killing.
• When abortion was exposed through the Silent Scream documentary the killing did not stop.
• When Planned Parenthood began dismembering post aborted babies' body parts and selling them for profit - we still did not stop the killing.

Don't you wonder what it will take? Are we as numb as Nazi Germany when six million - some say eight million - men, women and children were marched off to gas chambers? As a nation, we have ignored every ounce of science and turned our backs on millions of dying people.

What about the life of the mother?

Performing an abortion to save the life of the mother is one of the most popular comebacks against pro-life arguments, yet this circumstance makes up only 0.118 percent - that is 1/10 of 1 percent of all abortions in the U.S. This is the only scenario different from all the others, because in this circumstance the choice is between saving one life, the mother's, or losing two lives, mother's and baby's. In reality, both lives are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and worthy to be protected with whatever medical means available. It is extraordinarily rare to have to take the life of the unborn child to ensure the mother lives. Even in this case, God is sovereign over both lives and does not grant any arbitrariness over when life is to be taken. (I Samuel 2:6)

Okay, so how about cases of rape and incest?

Quite frankly killing a child because of the circumstances of its conception is not Biblical.

Deuteronomy 24:16 states, “Fathers shall not be put to death for the sins of their sons nor the sons for the sins of their fathers; every man worthy of death shall be executed for his own crime." Killing the child because of someone else's crime is wrong and can never be justified. What is the crime that the child has committed that is worthy of death? Taking the innocent life of a child because of the sin of the parent is committing an even worse sin, one that can never be rectified. We also need to realize that abortions due to rape and incest make up only 1 percent of all abortions. Ninety-nine percent of abortions have nothing to do with these extreme situations.

Two key moral standards must be acknowledged in order to offer protection for innocent human life. The first is the Sixth Commandment in Exodus 20:13, "You shall not murder." The second moral standard is found in Psalms 139 - "You knit me together in my mother's womb." Human life begins at conception and has a God-ordained right to live until natural death. When these standards no longer have any moral authority with our national leaders, religious liberty suffers.

God have mercy on our nation.

October 18, 2016

"From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God." Psalm 22:10

In Chapter 10 of "Well Versed" Pastor Jim Garlow deals with the single most important moral issue for Christian voters - THE SANCTITY OF LIFE.

It isn't wise to be a single issue voter but there is no issue anymore important that life. What can you think of that's more crucial in selecting a candidate worthy of your vote?

As Dr. Garlow says:

"Let's cut the chase. What does God say about when life begins? This is one of those political or social issues about which the Bible is crystal clear! God's Word clearly reveals how He values pre-born life:

Psalms 139:13-16

Jeremiah 1:4-5

Genesis 25:22-23

Psalms 22:10

Luke 1:44

Even a casual review of these verses will make it clear that God regards life as beginning at conception. When a live sperm unites with a live egg how can you have anything other than a life? You cannot find a Bible verse saying an embryo only becomes a living soul at the second or third trimester.

Old Testament Scripture actually places a greater emphasis on the protection of life for a pregnant woman than for others in society. Exodus 21:22-23 clearly states, "If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is a serious injury, you are to take life for life."

The same people who say, "it is merely a blob of tissue", are quick to condemn and sue a car company for killing a baby when a woman and her pre-born child are killed in a car crash. If a man shoots a woman and kills her and her pre-born baby, he can be charged with two counts of murder for the woman and her baby.

When a doctor diagnosis a woman as pregnant, he doesn't say, "You're going to have a fetus." He says , You're are going to have a baby." In all these scenarios the truth remains constant: from the moment of conception, life exists!

Abortion kills a human being! Watch the daily news and the executions of innocent Christian men, women and children by ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups in heart-wrenching. Equally horrific are the murderous activities happening to the unborn in our communities. Every single day in America, innocent blood runs under the streets of our cities. Again, what does God say about this?

"Rescue those being led away to death;
    hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
    does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
    Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?" Proverbs 24:11-12

The Living Translation expresses it even more powerfully:

"Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die. Don’t try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn’t know about it. For God, who knows all hearts, knows yours, and he knows you knew! And he will reward everyone according to his deeds." Proverbs 24:11-12

Here are the numbers, that you must assume some responsibility for if you have failed to vote exclusively pro-life candidates.

• 50,000,000 abortions globally each year
• 140,000 babies butchered every day worldwide
• 5,700 killed hourly across the world
• Nearly 100 every minute or 2 per second
• 1,500,000 abortions are committed yearly in America
• That factors into 4,100 innocents murdered daily in the U.S. or 177 each hour and 3 every minute.

God have mercy on us!

So, as you prepare to vote it is your duty to carefully research the position each candidate takes on this vital issue of life. There is no way any Christian should ever vote for a candidate who does not fully support protecting the life of unborn children! Never!

October 17, 2016

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’  and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Matthew 19:4-6

An extremely important issue to be considered as you choose candidates to support is their position on marriage. Any clear thinking adult knows that marriage is the most basic foundation upon which a culture is built. In Chapter Eight of "Well Versed" Dr. Jim Garlow offers the following Biblical insights into the sanctity of marriage.

This chapter alone is worth the price of the book. It is available on Amazon and I strongly recommend you order it. 

Pastor Garlow is both a Hebrew and Greek scholar. Here are his insights on the origins of man, woman and marriage!

"God is neither male or female. The Old Testament writers use gender specific metaphors to describe the indescribable.

Sometimes, the words used to describe God are distinctly masculine, most obviously the usage of "Father" or "He." At other times the phrases used to depict God are feminine - terms like birth (Deut. 32:18), in labor (Isaiah 42:14), breast-feeding, nursing mother (Psalms 131:2; Isaiah 49:15), or a mother hen (Matthew 23:37).

It is clear God is neither a he nor a she. Nor, is God some androgynous middle ground. In Genesis 17:1 God's name is the Hebrew phrase "El Shaddai." It is believed "el" means mighty like a mountain, thus the strength of masculinity. "Shaddai" likely comes from the nurturing feminine characteristics of God. That single name for God includes the full spectrum of masculinity and femininity.

You and I are made in His image. However, male alone cannot fully represent all of the descriptors of the image of God. For example, a male, by himself, cannot manifest the full spectrum of God's features historically associated with femininity (tenderness). Thus, no husband can represent the full image of God. At the same time, a female, alone, cannot do justice to His image either, due to a lack of classic masculine strength.

In spite of the fact that we are created by God individually, we express the fullest image of God only when the two halves of humanity complement each other and become one!

Let's go deeper in the Hebrew language of Genesis. The traditional view of human creation is that God created Adam, put him to sleep, took a rib, and created Eve. But the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, not English. Is the Hebrew text saying that God created Adam a male, and then created Eve, a female, from Adam's rib? I think there is something much more profound expressed in the Hebrew Old Testament that reveals a deeper understanding of the Genesis account.

In the beginning, God created not Adam the male, but "adam", that is mankind. Don't picture Adam the male. The word "adam", pronounced "awh-DBAHM," means mankind or personhood. It is later that Adam is the name of a male. But initially God created "adam" - small a - that is, humankind.

After creating humankind, God said, "It is not good that "adam" - humankind - is alone." This was not a case of God creating a male and then saying, "It is not good that a male is alone, so I will make a female." That is not what happened.

I suggest a more correct reading of the Hebrew would be "It is not good for humankind to be at one." Let's not miss the point. God made humankind. He then said, "It is not good for humankind to be at one or one - or to live in solitude."

Here we have the "splitting of the 'adam', so to speak, as "adam" or humankind, gets split apart. We end up with male and female.

But what about the proverbial rib? The word "rib" does not appear in the ancient Hebrew text. The word here is "tsela". What is that the significance of that word? It can be translated as "half" or "side". Don't miss the significance of the next sentence. Instead of God creating Adam and taking his rib to create Eve, the text says that God created humankind, observed it was not good for humankind to be one , or alone, and then took a side or a half of humankind and created a female (Eve). What remained was male (Adam). In other words, the whole (humanity) that was created in the full image of God (with both the strength of masculinity and the tenderness of femininity: male and female.

When the two complimentary halves of humanity unite - physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and psychologically - the image of God, containing both tenderness and strength, is manifested. Male and female are created anatomically, emotionally, and spiritually for oneness.

These are some of the reasons the Bible does not affirm homosexual marriage not the homosexual act. Nowhere. Not overtly. Not covertly.