I Yearn For Messiah! IYFM

Oseh Shalom

2012-01-29T16:58:00.000-08:00

For more info and music visit: http://www.homeofhope.co.uk

The Truth about the West Bank - Danny Ayalon

2012-01-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

The Rule of Law – Espoused but not practiced

2012-01-02T11:37:00.000-08:00

The Rule of Law – Espoused but not practiced

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Our union is fractured, injustice has taken root, and domestic tranquility is gone. The common defense of our citizens has become secondary to the greedy demands of the economic elite. Our leaders have apportioned our wages then transferred the wealth of our treasury to wage wars that benefit the economic elite.

According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, the rule of law is premised on a government being able to provide a predictable and transparent legal system. Fair and effective judicial and law enforcement institutions to protect citizens against the arbitrary use of state authority and lawless acts are also a basic part of such a system.

We have failed to practice what we preach to the rest of the world. We prosecute those who expose the injustice committed by “high-level”, “white-collar”, and leaders of the military-industrial-complex. We choose to overlook and dismiss criminality and lawlessness when the perpetrator has economic clout.

Five percent of the world population is American yet America boasts a penal state that accounts for 25% of all the incarcerated peoples of the world. Justice is not blind but has been blinded. Even when it is obvious that injustice has been perpetrated, the poor has little or no remedy against the claims of the economic elite.

Law functions as a constraint and a unifier. When it is wielded equally; when it is applied equally to everyone, it preserves freedom. When it is abused; used as a coercive cudgel instead of a shield that protects all against tyranny, it leads to captivity.

We have put laws in place that protect the rights of whistle blowers yet most of the population fear disclosing criminality because those in power have the power to destroy the credibility and reputation of those who speak out. Frequently, those who speak out are black-listed; denied the opportunity to make a living.

We are a nation of men and not laws; a nation of haves and have-nots, a nation of economic elites and worker-peons. We espouse free speech. We even choose to designate funding to political campaigns as “free speech” yet we consistently criminalize free speech when it challenges the economic elite.

We have a Press that is fettered, corrupt, owned by the economic elite. This Press is no longer capable of free and independent reporting. This press has become the propaganda arm of a Police State that is run by the economic elite.

We have a Police force that functions mainly to control the populace for the benefit of a small minority-elite. The Police and particularly our Sheriffs have been given a mandate to serve “we the people” yet, they have been compromised into serving the wealthy. They sell themselves. When they carry out the dictates of the powerful, they get more equipment, more authority, more power to protect and shield and enhance their ability to control, punish, and murder with impunity.

We are a nation that chooses to suspend the rule of law when the penalties apply to the economic elite. Will the Police and Sheriffs stand up and defend the people against the banks and all who seek to destroy justice and the tranquility and peace of the populace?

In order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, our Police and Sheriffs must choose to identify with, support and defend “We the People”.

History suggests that when a system of government denies justice to its populace, it will fall. Our compact can be an enduring one if we return to the practice of the Rule of Law, holding corporations, the elite, and every man to the same penalties for unjust acts. The Rule of Law – Espoused but not practiced – leads to a storming of the bastille.

Ten Reasons why I yearn for Messiah

2011-11-14T23:37:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I never posted this list and it has remained a draft copy since October 2010. It is not necessarily in any particular order. I imagine that if I gave this much thought, I'd have to replace one or two items on the list but I'll leave them as is for the time being...

1. America
2. Iran
3. Sudan
4. Somalia
5. Afghanistan
6. Hunger
7. Slavery
8. Iraq
9. Injustice
10. Death

Let me hear the comments...

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One G-d, One Creator of Everything Visible and Invisible

2011-11-14T23:22:00.000-08:00

There is one Creator, One Lord of all, one owner-possessor of the ends of the earth. He is One and beside Him there is no other. None can stand as His equal. This is a sure-fire way to start an argument but most everyone who would rise up against what I just said is an unbeliever. An unbeliever who has never experienced the impossible becoming possible. He knows nothing of wealth in the midst of poverty or strength in the midst of weakness. He has never seen deliverance that puts his enemies to flight and felt the peace that only the Lord of Hosts can give even when you are surrounded by lions.

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses says to the people of Israel, These are the commands of G-d, hear and obey them as you go into the land promised! As you go into the land to possess it, listen and obey the commands, decrees, and regulations of our Creator. Practice them in reverence of the Creator, teach them to your children, and to your children's children so that reverence for G-d will not depart from among you. In return you will be blessed with longevity. And then Moses said "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one". Listen Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One! Beside Him there is none other so Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

These words to Israel and all of G-d's commands apply equally to all humans. We must all hear these words anew; the words must be to our ears like fresh water poured out over a thirsty ground. And we must cry unto our Creator in Repentance.

Are you yearning for Messiah? (via iyfm)

2011-09-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

Adam’s sin caused an enormous fall that only Jesus’ actions would reverse. Without Messiah’s sacrifice on a cross; without the Lamb’s shed blood, there would be no remission of sin. Without an indictment against God’s anointed, without a verdict of “GUILTY!” being pronounced against Him, without a conviction and sentence of death executed, all of creation would have been lost. God’s perfect creation suffered loss, destruction, and death. And so, … Read More

via iyfm

Praise Adonai

2011-09-19T22:07:00.000-07:00

Christian Service In A Fallen World

2011-02-18T08:39:00.000-08:00

A LOOK AT ROMANS 12-16
Christian Service In A Fallen World

The two great themes of the book of Romans are salvation and service. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 1 of the “gospel of God,” the “gospel of His Son,” and the “gospel of Christ” (1:1,9,16 KJV); and these “gospels” summarize the book. The gospel of God was promised before, through the nation of Israel by His prophets concerning the seed of David (1:3). Thus this gospel concerning that nation specifically is in Romans 9-11. The gospel of His Son is the faith these and all Gentiles “throughout the whole world” (1:8) can have in the Son of God as seen in Romans 1-8. The gospel of Christ is “the power of God unto salvation” for in it the righteousness of God is revealed by a life of faithful service. This righteousness (the things that are right) is found in Romans 12-16. It is in the service of this faith that we are to live in a fallen world, “for the just shall live by faith” (1:17). “For even the Son of man came, not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45).

via Feature 3 for July/August 2008 G&T.

Disaster Relief / Humanitarian Aid News

2011-02-17T23:54:00.000-08:00

http://www.gfa.org/videos/jaishri/swf/?logName=jaishri&width=480&height=320

Spiritual Force Multiplyers

2011-02-17T23:53:00.000-08:00

God Himself; Love for God, Faith in God, Prayer to God, Praise to God and Worship of God...

Children in Developing Nations Hungry to Learn

2011-02-17T23:37:00.000-08:00

Children in Developing Nations Hungry to Learn (362)
(NewsUSA) - Most 10- to 12-year-olds in developing nations say that, if they were president of their country, their first order of business would be to provide education to all children by improving their schools or building more of them.

This finding is part of an ambitious multinational survey of children in developing nations. The Small Voices, Big Dreams survey polled close to 3,000 children ages 10 to 12 in 30 countries throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas -- from Afghanistan to Zambia.

"Our mission is to improve the lives of children in poverty around the world -- a mission that starts with listening to the smallest voices among us," said Anne Lynam Goddard, president and CEO of ChildFund International, the U.S. member of ChildFund Alliance, which sponsored and conducted the survey.

Ipsos Observer compiled and tabulated the results for the survey, which also found an overwhelming sentiment among the world's poorest children toward improving their lives through education. More than half of those surveyed (57 percent) said that, were they the president of their country, they would educate all children, improve the quality of schools and construct more of them.

While most children are hungry to learn, the survey found that a great many of them are just plain hungry. When asked what they need most, one in three (33 percent) said food. As president, one in five (19 percent) said that they would help people get food. The emphasis on food is understandable given this finding: one in three children (32 percent) said they go to bed hungry at least once a week.

U.S.-based ChildFund International also works with children living in poverty in the United States. A sampling of those children also participated in the survey, and their responses were largely similar to the answers from children around the world.

"The voices of these children may be small, but their words should resonate around the world," Goddard said. "And what this survey makes clear is that, irrespective of their country, such children around the world share a common sentiment, attuned in a chorus of hardship and hope."

People of the book - tasked to reveal God to His Creation!

2010-12-11T01:09:00.000-08:00

The exile of the Jewish people was ordained by God. Why? So that the light of His Word (Torah) would shine forth to the ends of His creation. That meant that he intended it to go beyond the people themselves. Torah could not simply be taught in Synagogue; he meant for it to go out from the Jews to Galilee of the gentiles. He meant for it to go to those who had not known of Him. He meant for the whole creation to be redeemed.

God’s design for Christians is that they spread the good news – the Word of God to every nation, tribe and tongue. But Jew and Christian alike have tended to keep the light sequestered. The light has mainly remained in the synagogue and within the church buildings. As Christian or Jews, light bearers or missionaries or adherents to Torah, we are all mandated by God to love Him with all our hearts and to spread the good news of redemption to the world. We are to reveal God to a dying world; we are to bring deliverance to the poor, needy and oppressed. We are to reveal God in the places where there is unhappiness, war, slavery, shame, tragedy, pain, and sorrow. Wherever evil thrives, we are to stand up in opposition to it. We are people of the book.

We are God’s people; one a natural seed, the other an engrafted branch. Once the branch is joined to the tree, it binds itself to the tree and takes nourishment from the roots just as the natural branches do. And the graft grows to become an indistinguishable from the original tree, sharing the blessings and taking nourishment and life from the root which is God Himself. Christian and Jew are connected in our Love for God, our service to God, and our actions to bring about redemptive change in the world.

Creation groans for the sons of God to rise up manifesting all the glory of the King of Kings. Messiah is coming and when He comes, will he find you working in His vineyard or will He find you working in your own? Every talent, every blessing, every resource that He has given you must be used to bring about change in the hearts of men and in the world. Soon Messiah will come and our temporary yet extended exile from His continuous presence will come to an anticipated and eagerly awaited end. Then together all who Love God may joyfully proclaim “Immanuel”.

Christmas is a Declaration of War

2010-12-08T00:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a declaration of War and is God's means of bringing peace between mankind and Himself. Through Christmas, God proclaims to all principalities and powers that the bondage that enslaved mankind for millennia is about to be finally broken.

However, many still have not heard the good news. Many still believe that their situation is hopeless. It is time for those who have not heard the Good News to be reached. They must hear. Their bonds must be made to fall off and they must stand free in the liberty Messiah brings.

How awesome is the Lord! He declares war with the arrival of a defenseless child. He uses the "base" things to accomplish great things. He even commands us to take an active part in bringing liberation to every nation. He has chosen to use flawed men and women to proclaim His message of deliverance.

Lord, I pray for those who have never heard about your relentless march toward death and disgrace on a cross. Thank you for making the supreme sacrifice by giving up your life for me and for all humanity. Please send capable workers into your vineyard and bring to an end the evil one's rampage in your creation. May his work cease in the earth, and may it end soon. Rise up oh God and take you rightful place over your creation. Amen.

A Return to the First Century Church Missions Model

2010-12-04T17:24:00.000-08:00

The American Church has become self-centered, self-indulgent and myopic. It seems to be pursuing new methods to impact new and emerging generations in order to build bigger rival franchises around the corner of every city block. It strives to appeal to every quirk, every possible demographic, and seem not to care so much for those dying without Jesus as much as it cares about becoming bigger. It seeks new ways to appear seeker-friendly and provide every amenity to attract, grow, and retain membership. But has lost sight of its God-given purpose of making disciples.

It grows large and unresponsive to the Holy Spirit and seems to be engaged in the pursuit of the next big thing; the next book, the next hot seminar, the next holy land trip, the next CD, the next movie, and all rush to embrace the next charismatic personality. You get the picture, it begs to be entertained. It needs to return to its first love and to the first century church model for the answers concerning what a church is, why it exists, how it is led, and to whom it belongs.

One distinctive of the first century Church sets it apart from the current US Church. In the first century church every person actively shared the good news and as a result the entire then known world was reached with the gospel. If everyone responded to the Lord’s mandate to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age”, the church would complete its mission to reach every nation, every tribe, and every tongue.

The church has stopped emphasizing this mandate by insisting that it only applies to those few who feel called by God to Go. Yet, the going, the making of disciples, the baptism, the teaching of God’s commandments are entirely the responsibility of the believer. Not all believers need to go to a particular place but each of us is somewhere. We must therefore do what he has commanded where we now are and wherever he sends us. We are, everyone of us, God’s priest; able with His help to minister deliverance to the captives. We must forsake a willingness to pursue personal comfort and look outward toward the harvest. That means that in every action we seek to know personally how God wants us to act toward all men in light of the blessings we have received.

God will require an accounting from the Church. Pastors have to consciously reposition their congregations to be focused on God and toward the harvest. Pastors should reposition their hearts toward equipping congregations that are effective in individually presenting the good news for God’s purpose and not their own.

Acts 13:1-3 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Pastors must position themselves to be willing to act strategically; to hear the Holy Spirit say send this one and that one to such-and-such a place and to not resist losing their so-called best people. All God’s people must partner with God to bring release to the captives and to shine light into the darkness. Let's do it!

To Be God's hand extended

2010-11-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

I am a manifestation of God; much like the mountains, a rainbow, or a trout in a stream. Without His creative action, I would not be. I would not exist. All that I am, all that I may become depends on His enabling grace and my own actions. My effect on the earth will be beneficial if I depend on God for direction, vision, and guidance. I must also act based on that guidance. Otherwise, my life will be marked with what Solomon described as "vanity and vexation of spirit" as I exert my own petty, vicious will.

In depending on God, my desires will become kind and gentle ones that benefit others and myself. I will be able to choose the way of the merciful. I will be able to choose to be loving. I will choose to be and become the person God intends me to be. I know what He intends me to be like because He tells me in His Word. And as I meditate on His word today these are the ones that come to mind:

Proverbs 24:3-4 - By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.

Jeremiah 32:27 - I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

Job 22:28 - You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways.

All good things that I desire are mine and nothing may interfere with the manifestation of those things in every area of my life. According to James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows". I am also aware of my impermanence and that this lifetime is limited. Each passing day must me marked by obedience to God and actions that are pleasing to Him.

So today I pray for wisdom, vision, direction, guidance and I move toward God in my actions.

Underneath are the everlasting arms. - Deu 33:27

2010-11-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

(Spurgeon) - God-the eternal God-is himself our support at all times, and especially when we are sinking in deep trouble. There are seasons when the Christian sinks very low in humiliation. Under a deep sense of his great sinfulness, he is humbled before God till he scarcely knows how to pray, because he appears, in his own sight, so worthless. Well, child of God, remember that when thou art at thy worst and lowest, yet “underneath” thee “are everlasting arms.” Sin may drag thee ever so low, but Christ’s great atonement is still under all. You may have descended into the deeps, but you cannot have fallen so low as “the uttermost”; and to the uttermost he saves. Again, the Christian sometimes sinks very deeply in sore trial from without. Every earthly prop is cut away. What then? Still underneath him are “the everlasting arms.” He cannot fall so deep in distress and affliction but what the covenant grace of an ever-faithful God will still encircle him. The Christian may be sinking under trouble from within through fierce conflict, but even then he cannot be brought so low as to be beyond the reach of the “everlasting arms”-they are underneath him; and, while thus sustained, all Satan’s efforts to harm him avail nothing.

This assurance of support is a comfort to any weary but earnest worker in the service of God. It implies a promise of strength for each day, grace for each need, and power for each duty. And, further, when death comes, the promise shall still hold good. When we stand in the midst of Jordan, we shall be able to say with David, “I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” We shall descend into the grave, but we shall go no lower, for the eternal arms prevent our further fall. All through life, and at its close, we shall be upheld by the “everlasting arms”-arms that neither flag nor lose their strength, for “the everlasting God fainteth not, neither is weary.”
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Praise the Lord for He is Good and His mercy endures forever - Jer 33:11

So walk ye in him. - Col 2:6

2010-11-09T10:53:00.000-08:00

(Spurgeon) - If we have received Christ himself in our inmost hearts, our new life will manifest its intimate acquaintance with him by a walk of faith in him. Walking implies action. Our religion is not to be confined to our closet; we must carry out into practical effect that which we believe. If a man walks in Christ, then he so acts as Christ would act; for Christ being in him, his hope, his love, his joy, his life, he is the reflex of the image of Jesus; and men say of that man, “He is like his Master; he lives like Jesus Christ.”

Walking signifies progress. “So walk ye in him”; proceed from grace to grace, run forward until you reach the uttermost degree of knowledge that a man can attain concerning our Beloved. Walking implies continuance. There must be a perpetual abiding in Christ. How many Christians think that in the morning and evening they ought to come into the company of Jesus, and may then give their hearts to the world all the day: but this is poor living; we should always be with him, treading in his steps and doing his will. Walking also implies habit. When we speak of a man’s walk and conversation, we mean his habits, the constant tenor of his life.

Now, if we sometimes enjoy Christ, and then forget him; sometimes call him ours, and anon lose our hold, that is not a habit; we do not walk in him. We must keep to him, cling to him, never let him go, but live and have our being in him. “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him”; persevere in the same way in which ye have begun, and, as at the first Christ Jesus was the trust of your faith, the source of your life, the principle of your action, and the joy of your spirit, so let him be the same till life’s end; the same when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and enter into the joy and the rest which remain for the people of God. O Holy Spirit, enable us to obey this heavenly precept.

A God of Deliverances

2010-11-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

(Spurgeon) - “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” - Isa_54:17

This day is notable in English history for two great deliverances wrought by God for us. On this day the plot of the Papists to destroy our Houses of Parliament was discovered, 1605.

While for our princes they prepare
In caverns deep a burning snare,
He shot from heaven a piercing ray,
And the dark treachery brought to day.

And secondly-to-day is the anniversary of the landing of King William III, at Torbay, by which the hope of Popish ascendancy was quashed, and religious liberty was secured, 1688. This day ought to be celebrated, not by the saturnalia of striplings, but by the songs of saints. Our Puritan forefathers most devoutly made it a special time of thanksgiving. There is extant a record of the annual sermons preached by Matthew Henry on this day. Our Protestant feeling, and our love of liberty, should make us regard its anniversary with holy gratitude.

Let our hearts and lips exclaim, “We have heard with our ears, and our fathers have told us the wondrous things which thou didst in their day, and in the old time before them.” Thou hast made this nation the home of the gospel; and when the foe has risen against her, thou hast shielded her. Help us to offer repeated songs for repeated deliverances. Grant us more and more a hatred of Antichrist, and hasten on the day of her entire extinction. Till then and ever, we believe the promise, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” Should it not be laid upon the heart of every lover of the gospel of Jesus on this day to plead for the overturning of false doctrines and the extension of divine truth? Would it not be well to search our own hearts, and turn out any of the Popish lumber of self-righteousness which may lie concealed therein?

A city set on a hill

2010-10-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

Cecil Stewart, IYFM - I find that I do my best soul searching when I go walking. When I walk I seem to hear God more clearly. So, this morning I went walk-about. I felt great and soon my legs were eating up the miles. As I walked, I felt His peace and with every step joy welled up in my heart. I was actually enjoying the walk when a car pulled up beside me. The driver, a young lady, asked if I knew where she could find the Jubilee farm and, miracle of miracles, I knew immediately where it was and precisely how to find it. As she drove off to find it, I gave thanks to God because he has made my mind alert and quick and it has been a blessing to me and to others.

I marveled at his goodness when I realized that I had covered four miles in just about an hour. At 50+ I was still managing to cover a mile in fifteen minutes with a full pack on my back across undulating terrain. As I walked and thought about it, the thought flooded my mind that with God nothing is impossible. Not even the things we consider bad, unfortunate, or unseemly is beyond His capability. By His power He caused baby Moses to be placed in basket, to be found, retrieved and to be deposited in Pharaoh’s household where he would be raised as a son, a prince of Egypt. He was blessed. God‘s intricate plan was that Moses would become a deliverer of his people. Nothing is impossible for God and even though I walk through my personal wilderness where my faith in God is being tested, even as I walk through my desert time, I am convinced that God has a plan to lead me out into a bountiful place.

I certainly desire that He would today unveil His plan and I grow impatient but I know He is giving me grace to walk through my hard times, grace to emerge into a future enriched by faith. I have experienced unemployment, loss of family and things, and have been bankrupt in every sense of the word. As I walked I sang “If it had not been for the Lord on my side, where would I be, where would I be?” If it had not been for God, I would have slipped and fell, my enemies would have triumphed over me. I would have given up and died in this desert. He reassured me that I will pass through this season of disappointment, unnerving chaos, scathing loss, and debilitating pain. He assures me that I am not unique in my suffering; that others have walked this path before me, that He has walked this path and persevered and that I too may walk it as He did.

I reached this bridge and the thought occurred to me that God calls us to be bridges of hope to the people He places in our path. We are to lead them from where they are firmly entrenched in the kingdom of darkness toward a future planted firmly in the kingdom of righteousness. We are to lead them out of their loss, disappointment, sorrow and pain into salvation and restoration. I realize that the bridge is not an ideal analogy as it facilitates travel in two directions. I like that analogy though because as a Christian my actions may so affect a person that s/he may become bitter, angry, and may even fall away from following after God.

I have endured persecution within and outside of the church. I have been accused, scorned, and abused so I am a blessed man according to GOD. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. In Matthew 18:1-7 the word says:

¹At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

²He called a little child and had him stand among them. ³And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

⁵And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. ⁶But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

⁷Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! “

One benefit that I clearly see through my recent experience is that God has been demolishing my pride and arrogance. He is changing me in ways that are painful yet productive. He is removing my neutrality; I know now that I have to radically declare who I am in Him. I have to openly and clearly declare who He is and testify about His goodness. I have to foster the habits of childlike faith and humility having my mind washed by His word so that God will occupy a clean, prepared place in my heart and life. And be manifested in and through me.

Matthew 5: 14-16 declares:

¹⁴"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”.

God is good and there is none like Him.

Featured Video

2010-10-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

Is the Messiah divine? (via The Rosh Pina Project)

2010-10-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

This is a guest post by David M. Cook of Advent of Messiah Many of the Rabbis and religious leaders of the Jewish community today do not now believe that Messiah is divine and therefore is one of the reasons they reject Jesus as the Messiah since He claimed to be the Son of God. (Although, certainly the Messianic Jewish Rabbis do believe Messiah is the Son of God.) Evidently, these Rabbis who do not believe that Moshiach/Mashiach (Messiah) is di … Read More

via The Rosh Pina Project

Learning From Micah

2010-10-19T18:23:00.000-07:00

(gtpress.org) - Micah – which means “Who is like Jehovah?” – is more than a currently popular child’s name. A prophet by that name lived and prophesied in the southern kingdom of Judah long ago in the days of kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Since he and the better known prophet Isaiah confronted the same kings and the same people, it is not surprising to find some resemblances between their writings, although Isaiah’s prophecy is much longer. Hosea too was a contemporary, but his messages were directed to Israel, the northern kingdom.

Micah, A Prophet
Both Micah and Isaiah predicted and lived to see Israel fall to the Assyrian conquerors, and Judah struggle in deep difficulty with this cruel pagan power. While the Assyrians form a vital part of Micah’s prophecy, he saw beyond this: Jehovah had a controversy with His people and would deal with them in judgment. This is evident from his very first pronouncement in Micah 1:2-7.

The next verses show plainly that while the people and their rulers went on in their sinful ways, heedless of what God was saying to them, Micah was in deep distress at their plight. God’s prophets were not professional prognosticators, but holy men of God who felt keenly what would befall their people.

The apostle Peter tells us the prophets “inquired and searched carefully ... what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow” (1 Pet. 1:10-12 NKJV). While they did not understand fully what they were prophesying, they wanted to. In fact, even angels desire to look into these things. How deeply are we affected by what we understand of God’s Word?

When Micah Prophesied
Micah began prophesying at a time when Judah was prospering outwardly. King Jotham had succeeded his father Uzziah, after Uzziah (who had a long, successful reign) had defied Azariah the high priest, along with 80 other priests, and entered the temple to burn incense. God immediately intervened in judgment, striking Uzziah with leprosy on the forehead, thus ending his reign. We are then told that “Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God” (2 Chr. 27:6).

Sadly enough, a good king did not always mean a good people. The next king, Ahaz, was one of the worst kings Judah ever had. Micah’s prophecy shows us that it was not only the king who was bad. Micah had to castigate “those who devise iniquity, and work out evil on their beds ... covet fields and take them by violence ... oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance” (2:1-2). Foremost among these were the rulers and the well-to-do, as we also see at the beginning of Micah 3.

Nor were the prophets any better. A prophet should have been God’s mouthpiece, speaking for Him and drawing people to Him. But these prophets (not Micah and Isaiah) were leading God’s people astray, and were after what they could get for themselves. About them God said: “Her heads judge for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, and her prophets divine for money ... yet they lean on the LORD and say, ‘Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us’” (3:5,11).

God cannot sanction such self-seeking wickedness on the part of leaders and spiritual guides among His people today either, but in His righteousness must inevitably bring in judgment. In Micah’s day judgment was just around the corner. Are things different today? If anything, our state of affairs is worse. God hasn’t changed. He will not compromise His character.

Micah Quoted Today
When we read the writings of Micah and other prophets of old, we find that while the details of their messages were for their people in that day, many of the principles they enunciated are relevant to our situation today. Here are a number of sayings from this short book that are still quoted for our encouragement today:

“Do not My words do good to him who walks uprightly?” (2:7).

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (4:3).

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (6:8).

“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?” (7:18).

“You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (7:19).

Micah Prophesied The Messiah
God’s answer to the wickedness of His people is not only judgment. Judgment is His “unusual” work (Isa. 28:21), certainly not the work He delights in. Rather, again and again He presents the Lord Jesus, the promised Messiah, as the real answer to the problems of His people, and indeed the ultimate answer to the problems of all mankind. Consistent with the messages of all the prophets, Micah speaks both of “the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow” (1 Pet. 1:11).

God used Micah to indicate where our Lord would be born. When the wise men inquired where was the King of the Jews whose star they had seen in the East, the chief priests and scribes found the answer, Bethlehem Ephrathah, in Micah (Mic. 5:2; Mt. 2:5-6). Sad to say, they apparently did not tell Herod or the wise men all that God said about Him in this passage, for the portion from which they quoted went on to say, “whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” They conveniently omitted this from their reply. Men today still try desperately to ignore, explain away or deny the eternal sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ, but this does not change the fact of who He is.

Micah Prophesied The End Times
Micah 5 goes right from the life of the Messiah to the events of the end times. He, the Judge of Israel, would be smitten with a rod on the cheek. We know this happened when He was unjustly placed on trial just before He was crucified. But the time will come when “He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God ... He shall be great to the ends of the earth; and this One shall be peace” (5:4-5). How God delights to speak of the many aspects of the dignity of His Son!

The Assyrian enemy was threatening God’s people in Micah’s day. This enemy typifies the King of the North who will devastate the land of Israel in that soon-coming day we term the Tribulation. Micah points to the encouraging fact that “He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he comes into our land and when he treads within our borders” (5:6). He declares that God pardons iniquity and does not retain His anger forever because He delights in showing mercy (7:18).

Similarly to Isaiah, Micah looks to the coming millennial kingdom. What a comfort his prophecy must have been to his people as they were being overrun by the Assyrian armies in King Hezekiah’s day. We often find the expression “in the latter days” in the writings of the prophets (Ezek. 38:8,16; Dan. 10:14; Hos. 3:5). Micah repeatedly refers to what God had done for His people in the past, pointing to a future that would be even more glorious.

And the good that God will do for His people will not be confined to them. He will deal with the nations as well. Ultimately they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Jerusalem, “the mountain of the Lord’s house, shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills” (4:1). Many nations will want to go there to be taught His ways and to walk in His paths.

While the past has often been dismal and the present is quite disorderly, Micah points to a glorious future of hope that is coming both for Israel and for the world. May the Lord hasten that day!

By Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.

Divine Healing Today

2010-10-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

(gtpress.org) - Oh how I yearned for the power to heal my friend. He was still so young and until recently so healthy; but now he was dying in spite of the best medical care and the prayers of many Christians. God had used him to be a spiritual help to me and many others. What a tragedy! It seemed so unfair.

Many times I have stood at the side of patients suffering from injuries or sickness and wished that I could miraculously make them whole again. Some people tell me that through faith my wishes can become reality since God wants all His children to be well. They say that healing is in the atonement, and if a Christian has enough faith his health can be restored.

When a man who claimed to have the gift of healing came to town some people claimed to be helped but others were disappointed. One patient told me that he had been cured of several problems, but unfortunately could get no help for the more serious condition for which I had been treating him. Yet he believes that people are miraculously healed today just as they were in the time of our Lord and of His apostles.

How Did Jesus Heal?
Since it is true that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8), and since we live in the same dispensation as the apostles, isn’t it logical to assume that what Jesus did back then, He is still doing today? To answer this question we must compare the biblical healings of the Lord and His apostles with today’s claims of healing. The New Testament refers to healing more than 70 times. Healing occupies a large part of our Lord’s public ministry and the disciples’ activities. How did they heal? How do the characteristics of those healings compare with what is taking place today? Let’s consider eight comparisons.

The diseases healed by the Lord Jesus and the apostles were incurable then, and for the most part still are. They were organic rather than functional disorders. The patient I referred to above thought his functional problems were better, but his organic illness had not changed. William A. Nolen, MD (author of seven books and many AMA journal articles on medical practice) makes a clear distinction between functional and organic disease. A functional disease is one in which a good organ is not functioning properly. An organic disease is one in which the organ is physically destroyed, maimed, or crippled.
According to Doctor Nolen, infections, heart attacks, gallstones, hernias, cancers of all kinds, broken bones, congenital deformities and lacerations are all included in the organic disease class. He maintains that these are the ones the healers cannot cure, whereas Jesus and the apostles did cure them, including blindness and crippled bodies.

Christ healed with a word or touch. Sometimes those healed were not even present, such as the nobleman’s son and the centurion’s servant (Jn. 4:46-54; Mt. 8:5-13). There was no need for theatrics as there is today.

Jesus healed all who came to Him (Lk. 4:40; 9:11). Unlike healers today, Jesus did not leave long lines of disappointed people to return home on their crutches. There is not one instance in the Bible of anyone coming to the Lord to be healed and going away disappointed. There were no failures because of their lack of faith.

Jesus healed both believers and unbelievers. He healed people who had faith as well as some who didn’t. Faith wasn’t a requirement for being healed (Mt. 8:1,14; 9:32; 12:10), although in some cases he attributed peoples’ healing to their faith (Mt. 9:22; Mk. 10:52; Lk. 7:19). Jesus restored the ear of Malchus, a man without faith (Lk. 22:50-51). Peter healed a lame beggar who was looking for money rather than healing (Acts 3:1-8). And Jesus healed the maniac of Gadara in spite of his protests (Mk. 5:7-8). In some examples, sick people were healed through the faith of others (Mk. 2:1-12; Mt. 8:5-13). In contrast, contemporary healers often attribute their failures to the lack of faith of those who would be healed.

Jesus healed instantly and completely. This demonstrated His divine power. No time was needed for natural healing processes. The centurion’s servant was healed “that same hour” (Mt. 8:13). The woman with the bleeding problem was healed “immediately” (Mk. 5:29). Peter’s mother-in-law could get up immediately and serve others (Mt. 8:14-15). When the lame man in Acts 3 was healed, immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened, enabling him to jump up and continue walking and leaping. Today people are often told that they are healed but that their symptoms are not yet gone. This differs from the scriptural accounts.

The Bible never records a relapse or recurrence. Yet many today who claim to be healed of organic diseases have again fallen victim to the same disorders after a short time. This is so common that healers have become a laughing stock in the medical community. One famous healer supposedly healed many with cancer, yet everyone with proven incurable cancer whom she “healed” later died of that same disease.

Jesus raised the dead and so did the apostles. Although there are rumors today of dead people being raised, none has been substantiated.

Jesus did not want His miracles publicized. (Lk. 8:56; Mt. 9:30; 12:16; Mk. 7:36; 8:26). How different from the theatrics and publicity which accompany healings today. Jesus came to die for us, “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Lk. 19:10). Although the miracles were part of His credentials, they were not His purpose for coming. He came as a man to glorify God and provide salvation for our souls. He did not want His miracles to detract from that.

Why Did Jesus Heal?
Why are there such differences between the healings of the Lord and the apostles, and the so-called “healing miracles” we hear about today? The answer becomes clear when we understand the purpose for supernatural signs. Although the Lord displayed His goodness and compassion in healing the sick, the real purpose for His miracles was to show that He was the true Messiah. His miracles displayed His divine power.

After His resurrection, according to the writer of Hebrews, God again used miracles to authenticate the apostolic message: “God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will” (Heb. 2:4). When Paul wrote about the miracles he performed, he referred to them as “the signs of an apostle” (2 Cor. 12:12). God’s revelation to us is now complete. Through the inspired Word of God we can know that the things concerning Jesus are true; and we can believe in Him through the Scriptures (Jn. 21:24). We need nothing further to authenticate God’s message.

The Most Important Healing
God can still heal people’s bodies in a supernatural way today and may do so in response to prayer, but it is no longer the norm. Often He does not even heal those we consider to be most deserving. Multitudes of earnest Christians pray to be healed but are not. But it is different with the healing of our souls. Those who come to Christ with contrite hearts will be saved, and their souls will be healed from the deadly disease of sin (Ps. 41:4; 1 Pet. 2:24). This is God’s message for today in the Epistles.

It is interesting that the Epistles never refer to the miracles of Jesus. In fact, after Christ’s resurrection, except for Dorcas who was raised from the dead by Peter (Acts 9:36-42), we never read of a believer being miraculously healed from any disease. However, at least six times we read of believers being ill. Timothy, Gaius, and Paul himself suffered in this way. Although Paul had used the gift of healing in a mighty way to authenticate his message concerning the resurrected Christ, he had to leave his friend Trophimus in Miletus because he was sick (2 Tim. 4:20).

God’s emphasis, and that of the completed Bible, now concerns the redemption of souls. The redemption of our bodies will have to wait until we are raptured into the presence of the Son of God (Rom. 8:23). Until then, we need to encourage each other in the faith, realizing that “we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

We look forward to the day when “God shall wipe away every tear from our eyes. Then there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying or pain” (Rev. 21:4-5). Then, and only then, will all things be well. Praise God for such a great salvation!

By Theo Habel, MD

"I Love You"

2010-10-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

(gtpress.org) – I was recently watching a TV talent show when, after a particularly disappointing audition, the judges tried to soften their crushing evaluation by telling the performer they “loved him.” I found this rather interesting, as my definition of love would not have included telling a person I’d met a couple of times and had a brief conversation with, that I loved him. However, as I am encountering more young people on a daily basis – one of my children is 13 years old – I find telling people you love them is becoming common.

Each telephone call, text message, internet encounter and face-to-face conversation ends with “I love you.” Now you may say, “Well it makes a pleasant change, hearing young people say nice things to each other, and I’m all for that.” I also accept that language is constantly changing and no one can prevent this. Nevertheless, love is a very powerful word; yet its overuse, I fear, will devalue its true meaning.

Personally I only tell my parents, husband and children that I love them. In fact, it’s a matter of some amusement to my mom and dad if I write anything other then “love, Anna” in a greeting card, and they are very impressed when I add a kiss and they are able to claim it! Maybe my behavior is extreme, but I feel whatever I say or write must be meant; otherwise it has no meaning or purpose. I feel everyone should seriously think about their use of the word “love.”

When I looked at the dictionary definition of love it states “to feel strong affection to someone.” Now if we really applied that meaning to our conversations, there would be a number of people we would not be telling we loved them!

The Bible goes even further than that: “For God so LOVED the world that He gave His one and only Son, that who ever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life“ (John 3:16 NIV). God didn’t just like, appreciate, enjoy or cherish the world, which are some of the words people could use instead of “love” in their conversations. He LOVED the world – and that led Him to take action. The action was to give His only Son, the Lord Jesus to die on the cross for each and every one of us, so we can spend eternity with Him in heaven.

How about these verses: “God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 5:8-10).

What have you done with God’s love for you? What have you done with God’s offer of free salvation made possible through the atoning death of His Son? Believe and be saved! We can explain.

By L. S.

From: Spread The Word

From Messages of God’s Love, Bible Truth Publishers

Available as a tract from Bible Truth Publishers

By Anna Davies, from Alive!, Scripture Truth Publications

Team World Vision and Clean Water in Africa (via Poiesis Theou)

2010-10-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I checked out and watched "Song of the Salish Sea" from my local library. A nature video for children, it is a stunningly photographed and packed with information on the Salish Sea; the Strait of Georgia, the waters of Puget Sound, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The video examined the fragile habitats that make up this large inland sea and its watershed. One of the seven standalone segments was Module Two: Watersheds. It discussed the water cycle and the fresh water habitats found in the Salish Sea’s watershed: creeks, rivers, wetlands and lakes. It also discussed he role of estuaries. The video clearly demonstrated the interconnectedness and interdependency of the system. Imbalance in one area of the system can mean death or decrease of a specie leading to cascading detrimental effects on the species that depend on that specie for sustenance.

Water is important to human life but when we damage the quality of water and watersheds, we also put at risk many species that depend on clean water. When any one specie suffers, we all suffer. We must therefore promote access-free (no fee, no tax), and equal access to clean water world-wide.

Today is Blog Action Day (see Blog Action Day), and writers all around the world are writing on the theme of clean water. I'm no expert about it, but World Vision says that at least 20 percent of the world does not have safe drinking water, and lack of access to safe water is the number one cause of preventable death. So what can we do about it? It's seven months away (exactly) but on May 15, 2011, several friends and I will be running in the Pit … Read More

via Poiesis Theou