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.

October 16, 2016

^“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:34

With less than a month before the most important Presidential election of our lifetimes, I wish we had a perfect candidate we could support. But we don’t. And as Christians responsible to be good citizens we must cast a vote. So, how do we choose between two flawed candidates?

Ultimately, it comes down to a question of which candidate is most closely aligned to the moral values I hold precious? In my opinion, here are the most important moral issues:

Life – Which candidate holds life most precious by opposing abortion and valuing the infirm and elderly?

Character – Which candidate lives a life that most closely represents the spiritual and moral values I hold dear?

Which candidate seems to be the most truthful in what he says and does?

One indicator of a man’s character is to take note of the people who he has chosen to surround himself with.

Marriage and Family – Which candidate can be trusted to defend Biblical marriage and the traditional family?

Trust – Which candidate can be trusted to be a good steward of the massive power of the Presidency?

Philosophy – Which candidate adheres most closely to the conservative philosophy of a smaller, less intrusive government as outlined in the United States Constitution?

Freedom – Which candidate seems to hold the strongest respect toward individual freedoms as outlined in the U. S. Constitution?

Leadership – Which candidate seems to possess the best leadership skills required to execute his Constitutional duties and effectively administer the U. S. Government with all of its offices and agencies? Also, which candidate can best command the confidence of our allies and demand the respect of our enemies on the world stage?

Economy – Which candidate is best able to restore fiscal soundness to the U. S. economy and show the fiscal discipline to bring the debt and deficit under control thereby restoring confidence of investors and entrepreneurs?

Remember, we are not electing a pastor or spiritual leader. We are seeking to choose the better of two flawed men who have been selected by two far from perfect political parties. Since none of us are perfect, we should not expect to be led by a perfect man. However, the one thing that DOES need to be perfect is your judgment!  That will be the result of much prayer and thoughtful consideration of where each candidate stands on issues such as those I have mentioned.

Don't just vote for Republicans or Democrats or Independents. Vote for righteousness.

October 15, 2016

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness,righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." Ephesians 5:8-11

Chapter Seven of "Well Versed" covers the insidious issue of political correctness.

For the Progressives "PC" has been a WMD - "weapon of mass distraction" drawing Americans from what is true and real to that which is socially acceptable as defined by the radical left. This powerful method of speech censorship and bullying dates back nearly a century and has it's roots in Marxism. It's primary target is Christianity and the Western civilization it has spawned through its Judeo-Christian values. "PC-ness" is all about controlling speech and thought in order to suppress opposing ideas (truth) and redefine cultural norms.

Marxist "PC" strategies began in Europe and central to the rise of totalitarian regimes that instigated World War II. As the war spread many of the proponents of this this mindset immigrated to the United States and began to spread their poison in the universities, media outlets and political movements across our nation. This tyrannical ungodly doctrine has spread like the vile plague it is and has Christianity in its cross-hairs.

Those of us who know and love the Bible understand this thought-process is as old as humanity itself. We know Nebuchadnezzar used it against the Hebrew children. Darius used it against Daniel. The Pharisees used it against Jesus and the Emperors used it against the Early Church.

If the Democrats prevail in this election we will see an alarming increase in the amount of PC pressure that will be unleashed on the Church. We would do well to learn from these Old Testament heroes.

So what do we do?

First, pray fervently for the election.

Second, get your heart right with God. Find boldness in the truth of God's Word. Stand for God's Word and refuse to be intimidated by the PC bullies.

Next, get informed politically and understand what's happening in our culture.

Vote informed and intelligently.

Use your influence with family and friends to convince them to vote.

Become active in your church and in your community. Consider running for school board or some other key local office. Build your influence in your community by service in your church, in community groups and political activism.

Paul said, "Be not overcome with evil but "overcome evil with good".

Learn that as the record of history testifies truth ultimately defeats error and lies. Truth will win again if God's people will find the courage of a Moses, the truths of God's Word, love God's truth and live the truth. Put on the spiritual armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and stand boldly for the truth regardless of the cost until "PC" comes to stand for "Praise Christ"!

As the three Hebrews said to the king, "Our God is able to deliver us but even if He doesn't, oh King we will not bow."

Be a Daniel! God still controls the lions!

October 14, 2016

"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing." Romans 13:1-6

The Apostle Paul presented the Scriptural view of government in his letter to the Romans. Government exists to foster freedom and moral social order. 

With those principles in mind the Founders brilliantly created a system with a set of checks and balances and a Document containing clearly articulated limitations of the power of government.

That system and the Constitution that protects it have been under a systematic attack by Progressives for more than a century. One of the primary battlefields where this war has been waged is public education. 

In his book, "Well Versed", Dr. Jim Garlow details the powerfully destructive influence public education has had in undermining both Constitutional government and Christian Faith. Here's some excerpts from Chapter Six:

"As government has become more secular at its core, and clearly hostile through the misapplied and redefined concept of "separation of church and state," it's only natural to expect the most powerful tool for societal transformation - public school - to become its weapon of choice.

Is this an overstatement? Consider this: What possible justification can there be to violate a student's First Amendment rights of religious expression and practice, to selectively restrict the right of free speech, and to remove the freedom of assembly? Is it only for the purpose of removing any influence of Jesus Christ on a student's life?

Not only that, but in violating the student's individual liberties as encoded in the Constitution, the government is forcibly restraining that student from being the example of salt and light he or she is called to be every day (Matthew 5:13-16), not just in church on Sunday.

Our nation's failing academic standing isn't because of a supposed lack of funding at every level. To paraphrase Mark 8:36, what good would it be if all the money in the world went to education our children, but they would lose their very soul?

Our current educational system doesn't need a massive of new tax revenue; it needs to be rudely awakened to the fact that it is consumed (and corrupted) with anti-Christian bigotry. This blindness to the eternal value of faith can only be for one purpose - to knowingly or unknowingly turn an impressionable child away from faith that saves and points to the ultimate accountability we will all face. Our nation ignores this truth to its own detriment.

Parents, take responsibility of your children's education. Now! And if you are a believer attending college - stand firm! You are on the front lines of the battleground of the war zone where worldviews collide and agendas infiltrate Ask questions. Do personal research. Dig deep into Scripture. Seek God's wisdom, and commit everything you do to the almighty God. (I Thessalonians 5:16), who will help you fend off those influences that intend you harm."

I remind you of the advice given by the wisest man who ever lived, "train up a child in the way he should go" in spite of governmental obstacles.

October 13, 2016

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; the people he chose for his inheritance." Psalm 33:12

I was privileged to be among thousands of believers from all over the Commonwealth of Virginian today as we gathered on the steps of the Capitol in Richmond to intercede for America. Today was the 49th stop on Dr. Franklin Graham's America Decision 16 50 state tour praying for our Nation on the steps of every State's Capitol.

On a perfect Fall day, God's people called on God and repented of the sins of our nation (Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage, Sexual Perversions, Humanism, Racism, Materialism, Greed, etc.), our personal sins and the sins of our fathers. What a powerful experience as ten to fifteen Christians called out to God for grace and mercy under the leadership of Dr. Graham.

We were exercising our First Amendment right to assemble publicly and practice our religious beliefs. Dr. Graham strongly urged us to engage in the political process and suggested it is a dereliction of our Christian duty if we don't vote. It is irresponsible for a Christian not to stay informed on the issues and be prepared to cast an intelligent informed vote.

The Founders believed that our individual rights were given by God and they designed the government to protect those rights. So, according to the logic of the Founders the goal of government is do the work of God. Contrary to what secular progressives may say, the Church has a place in the governing of a nation.

It is time for the people of God to arise and engage and pray and speak truth to power. Franklin Graham called us to join with tens of thousands of Christians across America to take a pledge. I want you to take your phone and text 21777 and write "america" in the message line. You will receive a copy of the pledge and a comprehensive voter's guide.

Join Dr. Graham, me and thousands of other believers in becoming part of the hope of America turning back to God!

October 12, 2016

"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." Romans 13:1-4

When the Founders designed and instituted the governing principles of the United States of America they had to make a moral judgment of what constitutes right and what constitutes wrong? 

After considerable study of historic philosophies and moral codes they came to a strong consensus that the moral teachings set forth in the Bible best defined what is good and what is evil.

Dr. Garlow writes about the importance of a clearly defined moral code is to good governance.(Pages 34-35 of "Well Versed")

"The restraining of evil includes trying to restrain evil in government itself. This is profoundly demonstrated by the fact that we have three supposedly equal branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. They were instituted to keep each other in check because of the capacity for evil in the human heart - including those in political leadership. The fact that we have three supposedly equal branches of government is a clear acknowledgement by our Founders held a deeply theological truth: humans are prone to evil by nature.

Our Founders knew and understood evil. They had fled evil in their homelands. One of their driving passions was to construct a government that would hold evil in check, even within the government itself. The purpose of the Bill of Rights is to limit government. The failure to understand the capacity of evil itself has been illustrated by both President Franklin Roosevelt (January 11, 1944) and President Barak Obama when they suggested - many decades apart - that here should be a Bill of Rights FOR the government. Bluntly stated, the government does not need more rights. We need protection as citizens, often times FROM our government.

Remember the Bill of Rights are the rights for citizens and are designed to restrain government. But these two Presidents (as does the current Democratic candidate) wanted a Bill of Rights FOR the government (and thereby AGAINST our freedoms). Their view represents an inadequate and sophisticated understanding of the nature of evil and the damage that can be done by an unrestrained government." - Dr. Garlow

I find it interesting that the final verse of Chapter 12 that precedes this portion of Scripture says, "Be not overcome by evil but overcome evil with good."

A government that cannot clearly define evil will eventually be overcome by it.