An Open Letter to Otis Moss III

Bro. Moss:

I do not know you and you do not know me. However, I have admired from afar the humility, dignity and class of your father and what he has meant to our community for years. I am happy that God has blessed you with the pedigree that you have. Obviously, I do not have the blessing of that kind of notable pedigree, especially among traditional black preachers. In fact, there are greater men of God than myself who can respond to you and who will probably do so in the coming days if they find the time and if the Lord would so lead them — such men as: Rev. Dwight McKissic, Dr. Tony Evans, Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., Bishop T.D. Jakes, Pastor Fred Luter, president-elect of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Albert Mohler, Bishop Charles Blake, Rev. Julius Scruggs, Pastor Bryant Wright and many other notable black and white pastors across the country. I am not in your league and I am not in the league of these great men of God that I have just mentioned. Who knows, you may even hear from some of our more liberal brethren from the United Methodist Church who have recently taken a firm stand on this matter, making it clear that marriage ought to be between a man and a woman.

So that you will know a little bit about me, God saved my wretched soul on December 19, 1979. Before getting saved, I hated preachers and church with a passion. I swore to my friends that I would never be a preacher as my dad was who was well-known in the states of North Carolina and Florida. He was one of the first black preachers in America to have his own television broadcast many years ago. I have been preaching the Gospel as an evangelist (which is my calling) and a few years as a pastor (which is not my calling) for over 32 years now. I am the president of Gospel Light Society International which is a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week. God has given me the priviledge to preach in over 23 countries and in nearly every state in the Union. I have written over 20 books including the Essence magazine national bestseller “Letters to Young Black Men” and the national bestseller “Letters to Young Black Women”. My wife and I are the authors of the runaway bestselling novels “…And Family Drama Just Won’t Stop (which was inspired by a sermon by I am sure a preacher you hold in high regard, Dr. Frederick Haynes III) as well as “No Time For Evil”. I mention these latter two books because both of these novels touch on the problem of homosexuality in the black community and the black church. My latest project which will be coming out soon is The Prayer Motivator Bible. By the grace of God, I am heard by thousands each week on my radio broadcasts, The Prayer Motivator Devotional and the Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, The Prophet Daniel’s Report, and the Second Coming Watch News Update. I am also the CEO of GLM Omnimedia Group LLC, which is a multimedia corporation which among other things has over 85 news, magazine, and Christian communication sites. Our network receives over one million visits and 6 million pageviews each month. We also have over 500 websites that we use to spread the gospel and keep people informed regarding the news and current events in every country and nearly every major city in the world.

With that said, since we have not heard from anyone else regarding your misguided comments, I will share this open letter with you.

Dear Rev. Moss:

Recently, I read the letter and watched the video of you reading a portion of the letter to your congregation, which you wrote to another pastor expressing your concern about Black pastors who say they cannot support President Obama because he has come out and endorsed homosexual marriage. I found it to be troubling in light of God’s Word. Allow me to offer the following response since your letter was obviously an open letter:

First, you accuse these preachers who say they cannot support President Obama of hiding “from true dialogue with quick dismissive claims devised from poor biblical scholarship”. First of all, no “dialogue” is really necessary on this matter. As you know, and as many Bible scholars and seminary professors will tell you, the best way of studying and understanding Scripture is through plain, literal interpretation of the text. There is no need to have any “dialogue” about the plain, clear teaching of what God said. There is no need to complicate something that the Bible makes plain. Yes, there are some prophetic passages in the Bible that are clearly meant to be taken symbolically, but the issue at hand is not one of those. The issue of homosexuality, not to mention homosexual marriage, is something on which the Bible speaks very clearly.

Leviticus 18:22 says, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” There is nothing mysterious or hard to understand about this verse. In fact, this verse is included close to the end of a chapter which discusses other sexual prohibitions. For example, Leviticus 18 also expresses God’s prohibitions against adultery, incest, inbreeding, and bestiality. “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind” is just as plain as “Thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife.” If you want to twist God’s word to say that it is not condemning homosexual activity, then you are opening the door for others to twist God’s word to say that it is not condemning adultery, fornication, or incest. Even though we are now under grace and not under the law, and the punishment that was meted out for these sins and abominations would not be used today, we all would agree that adultery is still wrong, incest is still wrong, inbreeding is still wrong, bestiality is still wrong, and homosexuality is still wrong. In fact, Bro. Moss, if a man attempted to commit adultery with your wife and he wanted to come and have a “dialogue” with you about the matter, I do not believe you would be as cerebral as you were when you were reading the letter to your congregation. You would say like most husbands would say, “there is no need for any dialogue; and if you come over here again messing with my wife, you will never be able to “dialogue” with anyone else again.”

Your indirect and condescending attack on those whom you call “narrow-minded ministers” and ‘poor biblical scholars’ — basically all Black pastors who disagree with Obama’s decision to endorse same-sex marriage and will not vote for him because of it — is wrong. You are on the borderline of committing what is known in logic as the ad hominem fallacy, that is, attacking the person making the argument instead of addressing the argument itself. (You sarcastically stated that these pastors who disagreed with Obama were “mostly Black”. This is wrong as well. Many pastors — White, Black, and Hispanic — have spoken out against Obama’s endorsement of homosexual marriage. This is not just a “Black issue”. This is a Biblical issue.) Furthermore you equated those who embrace the doctrines of Christ and the doctrines of the Bible with those who embraced the twisted “doctrine” of the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists who killed Medgar Evers and those four little girls in Alabama. That is simply heinous. Instead of attacking these men personally, why not simply “search the Scriptures” and seek out what the Bible says on the issues at hand.

(As a side note, I found it interesting to hear this week Louis Farrakhan, the head of the Nation of Islam, a Muslim, not only rebuking the president, but rebuking Christian pastors, preachers, and rabbis who have refused to speak out against Obama and his endorsement of homosexual marriage. He called out pastors and Christian leaders who believe that ‘what society says is more important than what God says’ and are ‘backing down from the Bible’ because they are afraid people will get offended. It is a shame to have a Muslim standing up for Biblical Judeo-Christian truth when Christian pastors and preachers such as yourself will not.)

Second, throughout your article you claimed that it is “love” that should drive our decisions regarding the issue of homosexual marriage which you strangely call “marriage equality.” Your letter states, “We serve in ministry this day because of a man who believed in love over doctrine…” Unfortunately, here you are misguided as well. Love does not trump doctrine. Jesus Christ loved the woman caught in adultery, but He told her “Go and sin no more.” Jesus Christ loved Matthew, the dishonest tax collector, but He pulled him from his trade and set him on a better course for his life. Jesus Christ loved Mary Magdalene, the demoniac and prostitute, but He did not allow her to stay in her sin. Jesus Christ never turned his back on doctrine or law. He condemned the religious power structure of his day, not because He was rejecting the law, but because He wanted to stop them from twisting the law to oppress the people He loved.

Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:17-20, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

If Jesus Christ was okay with our sin, He would not have gone to the cross to suffer, bleed, and die to save us from our sins. Abiding by biblical principles and encouraging others to do the same, does not mean that we are not expressing love. In fact, even the muslim Farrakhan stated to the crowd he was speaking to, “if I didn’t love you, I would go along with you. But because I love you, I must tell you the truth.” And the truth will set you free. We love our children, but we still lay down rules for them to live by and rebuke and chastise them when they are wrong. In the same vein, we love all people who are engaged in any sin including the abomination of homosexuality, but we do not abandon God’s word and endorse their sin. The presence of love does not necessitate the absence of law.

Third, you argued that Obama “is President of the United States of America not the President of the Baptist convention or Bishop of the Sanctified or Holiness Church” and that he is called to “protect the rights” of all, thus justifying his support of homosexual marriage. I suppose, then, that by your criteria, George W. Bush was not being president of all the people when he told the United Nations that the United States would not go along with their global homosexual rights agenda. And I suppose that Bill Clinton was not being president of all the people when he signed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” into law in 1993 (which Obama has repealed) or when he signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law in 1996 (which Obama is trying to repeal).

Allow me to remind you that even the President of the United States is subject to God. Romans 13:1,3 says: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God…For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.” God gives governmental leaders their power to rule, and expects them to rule righteously not wickedly. Proverbs 29:2 says, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” God blesses a people who have a righteous ruler. Also, Proverbs 16:12 says, “It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.” If a governmental leader rules wickedly, God will eventually cast him aside. But if he rules righteously, God will uphold his rule and reward him and the country accordingly.

Furthermore, Rev. Moss, you seem to contradict yourself in this point. You stated that Obama was president of all the people, yet in your address to the church congregation you stated three times that “November is incredibly important to OUR community.” Which is it? Is it important for Obama to be president of all the people? Or is it just important for us to elect a black president for the next four years — regardless of his ungodly and immoral views? Should not our community decide who to vote for based on God’s principles — regardless of skin color? (I am not suggesting that we vote for Romney either. By the way, I, for one, will not be voting for Romney or Obama; and I am thankful to God that it is not a sin not to vote. Christians do not have to choose the lesser of two evils or the lesser of two liars when they know voting is a waste of time when you look at the grand scheme of things. It is a waste of time because neither one of these men can deliver us from the trouble we’re in or the trouble to come, and when they know that only God can.)

Fourth, you came to the wrong conclusion in your paragraph discussing the difference between the authority of the religious structure and the authority of the civil structure. You stated that there is “the arena of civic debate where the Constitution is the document of authority” and that there is “the realm of ecclesiastical councils where theology, conscience and biblical mandates are the guiding ethos.” We must not forget that marriage began long before there was either the Constitution or ecclesiastical councils. God created marriage at the beginning of history in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve — a man and a woman.

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” This is further reiterated in Genesis 2 when Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” Jesus Christ backed this up in the New Testament when He said, “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?” Romans 1:26-27 says, “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.” Now, Reverend, let me ask you a question: is the Constitution equal to the Bible or is the Constitution based upon the Bible? Which one is your final authority?

God’s Word is above both Constitutions and ecclesiastical councils. Both structures should be based on His word. His laws are perfect and man’s laws should be subject to His laws. It is the job of the Christian community to apply God’s laws to our personal lives in the physical, temporal realm no matter what our government may say. While the civil and religious structures may have jurisdiction over people, God is over the civil structure, the religious structure, and the people. As the Apostles said in Acts 5:29, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Fifth, you failed to consider the proper role of the prophet/preacher in the political arena. A prophet’s job is not to bow down to any political leader. In fact, the prophet because he is God’s messenger has authority over the king or the president. The prophet tells the president what to do. The president doesn’t ever tell the prophet what to do. Your desire for Black pastors and churches to continue supporting Obama is not biblically based. A preacher’s first and only allegiance is to God and His word. He is to speak “thus saith the Lord” no matter what situation he is faced with. The prophet takes God’s side in any argument. Your predecessor at Trinity United Church of Christ seemed to understand this. In a recently published book, it is reported that the following exchange (told by Jeremiah Wright) took place between then-presidential candidate Barack Obama and his pastor:

“Barack said, ‘I’m sorry you don’t see it the way I do. Do you know what your problem is?’ And I said, ‘No, what’s my problem?’ And he said, ‘You have to tell the truth.’ I said, ‘That’s a good problem to have. That’s a good problem for all preachers to have. That’s why I could never be a politician.’”

A prophet’s job is to tell the truth. He is to stand against the wrongs of the king (president in this case), the government, the people, and even misguided pastors, as you appear to be. The Bible shows us this with Nathan confronting David, Isaiah bringing God’s word to King Hezekiah, Moses demanding that Pharaoh let God’s people go, and Elijah standing up to Jezebel and the priests of Baal. The preacher’s role is not to side with one party or the other, but to stick to the truth laid out in God’s word.

God told Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:17, “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.” That is the simple job of the prophet — to hear God’s Word and then deliver it to the people and any other intended audience.

In case you haven’t noticed, preachers nearly always get burned when they try to side with politicians. Barack Obama lied to the church and the nation three times during the 2008 campaign saying that he believed marriage was between a man and a woman. He even went further and described it as a “sacred union”. Of course, everyone now knows that he believes the complete opposite and preachers across America, both Black, White, and Hispanic, have publicly expressed their shock and disappointment. If the President wins another term, what will stop him from pushing the homosexual marriage agenda in Congress, before the Supreme Court, or even (God forbid) proposing an amendment that would enshrine homosexual marriage in the Constitution?

Sixth, in your letter, you broke the laws of logic again, when you made red herring attempts to divert attention from the issue at hand — homosexual marriage. In one paragraph you stated that the “institution of marriage is not under attack as a result of the President’s words” and then went on to say that “Marriage was under attack years ago by men who viewed women as property and children as trophies of sexual prowess. Marriage is under attack by low wages, high incarceration, unfair tax policy, unemployment, and lack of education.” While each of the things you named are negative and should be addressed for the betterment of our society, none of these things actually affect the issue at hand. Traditional marriage stands independent of all of these issues. The things you mentioned have nothing to do with whether or not we as preachers and followers of Christ will stand up for the Biblical definition of marriage. (Perhaps, you can write a series of far less controversial letters to black ministers telling them how they can help their church members find better paying jobs, keep their sons out of jail, treat their wives with respect, and obtain a college education. But for now, let’s stay focused on the marriage issue.)

In this series of issues you listed, you also mentioned clergy “who proclaim monogamy yet think nothing of stepping outside the bonds of marriage to have multiple affairs with ‘preaching groupies.’” This, too, takes away from the issue at hand. While I will not say that this is not going on in some churches, I would like to know how you know about it. Oftentimes, Reverend, as you know, when we preach against sin, we are preaching to ourselves first because we either have temptations in those areas ourselves or we have had some experience with that sin. As far as I know, the sins of adultery are kept under wraps and nobody knows about it unless God exposes it. So, the question again is, how do you know that preachers have groupies? Be careful about trying to expose others lest you expose yourself.

You again made an attempt to divert from the issue at hand near the end of your letter where you state, “November is fast approaching, and the spirits of Ella Baker, Septima Clarke, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, A. Phillip Randolph, James Orange, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King, Jr. stand in the balcony of heaven raising the question, ‘Will you do justice, live [sic] mercy and walk humbly with our God?’…” Please do not contaminate the legacy of such prominent civil rights figures by attempting to identify them with the “homosexual rights” movement when they are not here to defend themselves. By the way, I doubt very seriously if any of the people you mentioned would be for homosexual marriage. The civil rights movement was a movement for fair and equal treatment of a people who had been maligned and abused because of their skin color which they had no control over. If you would allow me to borrow some terminology from a speech then-candidate Obama made at the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Alabama, I think I can explain it a little better.

The civil rights figures you mentioned were a part of the “Moses generation”. They have accomplished the task that they were sent here to do and they have gone home to be with the Lord. We (in Obama’s words) are the “Joshua generation.” It is our time to fight. And it just so happens that our fight is not civil rights, but the fight for traditional marriage. Just as Moses did not enter the Promised Land to fight in Canaan, let us not try to use the sainted memories of African-American heroes as swords in the fight for or against traditional marriage. (If you wish to know my opinion, I believe it is most likely these men and women are turning over in their graves because of black ministers who have betrayed the Bible to support homosexual marriage.) Again, let us stay focused on the issue at hand.

Seventh, despite arguments to the contrary, homosexual marriage will only lead to family break-down, community break-down and national destruction in our country. The reason is simple — when you have homosexual marriage, you have no future because you have no children.

A former Republican presidential candidate stated that if he were elected he would create a colony on the moon. Suppose we were to create a colony on the moon and 100 homosexuals were sent there to cultivate the colony and start a new society. If we went back in 70 years, what would we find? Nothing. God specifically commanded Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” Common sense tells us that if we put “Adam and Steve” on the moon, there would be no fruitfulness, multiplying or replenishing.

Now, I am not going to allow you to accuse me of being homophobic. A phobia is a fear. I am not afraid of homosexuals. In fact, just the other day, God touched my heart and gave me a message to share with homosexuals titled Born Again This Way showing them how they can accept Christ as their Saviour and be delivered from their sin. Our job as ministers of the Gospel is to show people how they can be saved and to teach them the whole council of God and that is as far as we should go. We do not have to marry homosexuals and we do not have to sanction homosexual marriage by supporting a president who does.

In fact, here is a poem titled “Born Again This Way” which was written by my daughter for the message:

I gave my heart to Jesus
On a blustery, winter day.
A man showed me Jesus loved me
And I was born again this way.

I used to have no need for God
Never minded what preachers say.
But through the Bible, I saw the light
And I was born again this way.

I could’ve continued on my sinful path
And if I did, I’d have to pay.
But God’s light shone down into my soul
And I was born again this way.

You can give your heart to Jesus too
No matter if you’re a liar, fornicator, or gay.
All you must do is believe on Him
And you can be born again this way.

We must be concerned about our future — our children and our grandchildren. The president and the preachers who support him in this matter are corrupting, confusing, and destroying our children. We are sitting in a slow cooker and the heat is slowly being turned up. It is the prophet/preacher’s job to stand up and “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” and in this case, show the danger that we are facing in America. The Bible gives us repeated examples of God punishing and/or destroying a nation or people because of their sin. (Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? Remember the nations of Israel and Judah? Remember Babylon?) If our government sanctions the abomination of homosexuality, it is certain that God is going to judge this nation as well.

Suffice it to say that our President did not exercise good judgment when he endorsed homosexual marriage. His daughters, Malia and Sasha, have been blessed to have a father and a mother who love them and care for them. Your children, Elijah and Makayla, have been blessed to have both a father and a mother who love them and care for them. Tell me this: which parent was unnecessary in the birth of your children?

God made mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, males and females for a reason. Far be it from us to try to change the natural order that God has formed — or to encourage and support those who do. The road of homosexual marriage is a dead-end. By the way, if your father, Otis Moss Jr., was not a red-blooded heterosexual alpha masculine male who loved a woman and not another ugly stinking man, you, Otis Moss III, would not even be here to express your sad, unfortunate and misguided view.

Your brother in Christ,

Daniel Whyte III

A NOTE TO ALL BLACK PASTORS AND MINISTERS

Dear Preacher:

If you are reading this, I want to encourage you to continue standing for God’s Word. (If you are not standing for God’s Word, please start now.) The Bible is clear on the issue of homosexuality. Frankly, I believe that if you cannot stand against homosexual marriage as a pastor, you will not stand against anything. Do not allow society, popular opinion, the President’s words, misguided ministers, or your desire to be friends with the President and hopefully get an invitation to the White House to sway you from clear Scriptural truth. Unfortunately, in this day and time, you will be criticized, maligned and ostracized for speaking the truth. Paul warns us in II Timothy 4:3, that “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” I believe we are living in those days that Paul spoke of.

Do not allow the ever-present lure of praise, plaudits, or popularity to drown out your holy calling as a bearer of God’s truth. You may never get an invitation to the White House Prayer Breakfast, you may lose members, and you may lose the friendship of other pastors. Just remember that Jesus Christ rebuked the Pharisees for receiving their praise from men rather than from God. John 12:43 talks about those people who would not follow Jesus Christ because “they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

Do not compromise God’s word for temporal praise or for the sake of convenience. It is more important for us to hear Christ say when we get to heaven, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Your brother in Christ,

Daniel Whyte III

Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over twenty books. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry which publishes a monthly magazine called The Torch Leader. He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts, The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report and the Second Coming Watch Update. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, and a Master’s degree in Religion from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica for twenty-five years. God has blessed their union with seven children. Find out more at www.danielwhyte3.com.

I trust that you have listened to or read my special messages from Monday and Tuesday, especially the one from Tuesday titled “Special Update Message on Fasting from Daniel Whyte III”. If not, you may do so at www.gospellightsociety.com. We want to thank all of you who joined us for the one day fast on the past three Wednesdays and for those of you who will be joining us for the ten day fast which begins today, June 1st and lasts until June 10th. We praise the Lord also for all of you who will be going on this journey with us throughout the remainder of this time.

Our Scripture reading for today is Isaiah 58:1-14 which reads: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

Here we have, beginning in verse 3, the displeasure which these hypocrites conceived against God for not accepting the services which they themselves had a mighty opinion of: ‘Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?’ Thus they went in the way of Cain, who was angry at God, and resented it as a gross affront that his offering was not accepted. Having gone about to put a cheat upon God by their external services, here they go about to pick a quarrel with God for not being pleased with their services, as if he had not done fairly or justly by them. Observe, How they boast of themselves, and magnify their own performances: “We have fasted, and afflicted our souls; we have not only sought God daily, but have kept some certain times of more solemn devotion.’’ Some think this refers to the yearly fast (which was called the day of atonement), others to their arbitrary occasional fasts. Note, It is common for unhumbled hearts to be proud of their professions of humiliation, as the Pharisee said in Luke 18:12, “I fast twice in the week.”

We will continue discussing this verse in our next broadcast.

Our fasting quote of encouragement today is from an Unknown Author. He said: “Fasting is a way to demonstrate to God, and to yourself, that you are serious about your relationship with Him. Fasting helps you to gain a new perspective and a renewed reliance upon God.”

Our fasting devotional today is part 4 of our series titled “IS FASTING A COMMANDMENT?” from Richard J. Foster in his book “Celebration of Discipline”.

Perhaps it is best to avoid the term “command” since in the strictest sense Jesus did not command fasting. But it is obvious that he proceeded on the principle that the children of the kingdom of God would fast. For the person longing for a more intimate walk with God, these statements of Jesus are drawing words.

Where are the people today who will respond to the call of Christ? Have we become so accustomed to “cheap grace” that we instinctively shy away from more demanding calls to obedience? “Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross.” Why has the giving of money, for example, been questionably recognized as an element in Christian devotion and fasting so disputed? Certainly we have much, if not more, evidence from the Bible for fasting as we have for giving. Perhaps in our affluent society fasting involves a far larger sacrifice than the giving of money.

Now, let’s take this moment to break up the fallow ground in our lives. Hosea 10:12 states, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

The great evangelist Charles G. Finney preached a message titled “Breaking Up the Fallow Ground – An Outline for Repentance”. In this sermon, he listed 26 sins that we as Christians should confess and repent of. The thirteenth sin he lists is: a Neglect to watch over your brethren. He urges us to confess this sin in our lives by saying: “How often have you broken your covenant that you would watch over them in the Lord ! How little do you know or care about the state of their souls! And yet you are under a solemn oath to watch over them. What have you done to make yourself acquainted with them? In how many of them have you interested yourself to know their spiritual state? Go over the list, and wherever you find there has been a neglect, write it down. How many times have you seen your brethren growing cold in religion, and have not spoken to them about it? You have seen them beginning to neglect one duty after another, and you did not reprove them, in a brotherly way. You have seen them falling into sin, and you let them go on. And yet you pretend to love them. What a hypocrite I Would you see your wife or child going into disgrace, or into the fire, and hold your peace? No, you would not. What do you think of yourself, then, to pretend to love Christians, and to love Christ, while you can see them going into disgrace, and say nothing to them?”

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer right now and confess this sin and others before God.

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is Jonah 4:2-3 which reads: “And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

We see here that Jonah begins to justify himself in fleeing from the presence of the Lord, when he was first ordered to go to Nineveh, for which he had before, with good reason, condemned himself: “Lord,” said he, “was not this my saying when I was in my own country? Did I not foresee that if I went to preach to Nineveh they would repent, and thou wouldst forgive them, and then thy word would be reflected upon and reproached as yea and nay?” What a strange sort of man was Jonah, to dread the success of his ministry! Many have been tempted to withdraw from their work because they had despaired of doing good by it, but Jonah declined preaching because he was afraid of doing good by it; and still he persists in the same corrupt notion, for, it seems, the whale’s belly itself could not cure him of it. It was his saying when he was in his own country, but it was a bad saying; yet here he stands to it, and, very unlike the other prophets, desires the woeful day which he had foretold and grieves because it does not come. Even Christ’s disciples know not what manner of spirit they are of; those did not who wished for fire from heaven upon the city that did not receive them, much less did Jonah, who wished for fire from heaven upon the city that did receive him. Jonah thinks he has reason to complain of that, when it is done, which he was before afraid of; so hard is it to get a root of bitterness plucked out of the mind, when once it is fastened there.

We will discuss this verse further in the next broadcast.

My personal encouragement to you today is that we have to pray and ask God to help us to live right, to think right, and to act right. I don’t know about you, but I just cannot live the Christian life by myself, that is, in my own strength. And you can’t do it in your own strength, either. That is why we need to realize and pray as Zechariah did in Zechariah 4:6: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts”. Whether you know it or not, we cannot live this Christian life in our own power. We have got to allow Jesus Christ to live it through us.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Timothy K. Jones. He said: “Recently I read again of a woman who simply decided one day to make such a commitment to pray, and my conscience was pricked. But I knew myself well enough to know that something other than resolve was being called for. I began to pray about praying. I expressed to God my frustrated longings, my jaded sense of caution about trying again, my sense of failure over working at being more disciplined and regular. I discovered something surprising happening from such simple praying: I was drawn into the presence of One who had, far more than I did, the power to keep me close. I found my focus subtly shifting away from my efforts to God’s, from rigor to grace, from rigidity to relationship. I soon realized that this was happening regularly. I was praying much more. I became less worried about the mechanics and methods, and in turn I was more motivated. And God so cares for us, I realized anew, that He Himself helps us pray. When we ‘do not know what we ought to pray for… the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.’”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 22 of our series titled “PRAYING THROUGH” from Dr. John R. Rice.

In the New Testament it is the same way as in the Old Testament. Preceding Pentecost it is certainly fair to say that the disciples prayed through. Acts 1:14 says, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”

Supplication, that is, pleading, is certainly all right for a child of God who wants to become a soul winner. It is not in order for a lost sinner who wants to be saved. The sinner needs only to trust and accept the salvation so freely offered. But the Christian needs God to work him over and prepare him for soul winning and endue him with power from on High, and he should pray through.

+ Plus, listen to Deitrick Haddon singing “Prayer Changes Things”

Our Scripture reading for today is Isaiah 58:1-14 which reads: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

We notice from this passage, (4.) They are inquisitive concerning their duty and seem desirous only to know it, making no question but that then they should do it: They ask of me the ordinances of justice, the rules of piety in the worship of God, the rules of equity in their dealings with men, both which are ordinances of justice. (5.) They appear to the eye of the world as if they made conscience of doing their duty: They are as a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinances of their God; others took them for such, and they themselves pretended to be such. Nothing lay open to view that was a contradiction to their profession, but they seemed to be such as they should be. Note, Men may go a great way towards heaven and yet come short; nay, may go to hell with a good reputation. But, He intimates that this was so far from being a cover or excuse for their sin that really it was an aggravation of it: “Show them their sins which they go on in notwithstanding their knowledge of good and evil, sin and duty, and the convictions of their consciences concerning them.”

We will continue discussing this verse in our next broadcast.

Our fasting quote of encouragement today is from Andrew Bonar. He said: “Fasting [is] abstaining from anything that hinders prayer.”

Our fasting devotional today is part 3 of our series titled “IS FASTING A COMMANDMENT?” from Richard J. Foster in his book “Celebration of Discipline”.

The most natural interpretation of the days when Jesus’ disciples will fast is the present Church age, especially in light of its intricate connection with Jesus’ statement on the new wine-skins of the kingdom of God which follows immediately. Arthur Wallis argues that Jesus is referring to the present Church age rather than just the three-day period between his death and resurrection. He concludes his argument, “We are therefore compelled to refer the days of His absence to the period of this age, from the time He ascended to the Father until He shall return from heaven. This is evidently how His apostles understood Him, for it was not until after His ascension to the Father that we read of them fasting…It is this age of the Church to which our Master referred when He said, ‘Then they will fast.’ The time is now!”

There is no way to escape the force of Jesus’ words in this passage. He made it clear that he expected his disciples to fast after He was gone. Although the words are not couched in the form of a command, that is only a semantic technicality. It is clear from this passage that Christ both upheld the Discipline of fasting and anticipated that his followers would do it.

Now, let’s take this moment to break up the fallow ground in our lives. Hosea 10:12 states, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

The great evangelist Charles G. Finney preached a message titled “Breaking Up the Fallow Ground – An Outline for Repentance”. In this sermon, he listed 26 sins that we as Christians should confess and repent of. The eleventh and twelfth sins he lists are: a Neglect of social duties and a Neglect of social duties. He urges us to confess this sin in our lives by saying: “In how many instances you have hurried over your private duties, and have not been fully responsible in preforming your duties, nor honestly made up your accounts with God; how often have you entirely neglected to watch your conduct, and, having been off your guard, have sinned before the world, and before the Church, and before God!”

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer right now and confess this sin and others before God.

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is Jonah 4:2-3 which reads: “And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

We see here that Jonah begins to justify himself in fleeing from the presence of the Lord, when he was first ordered to go to Nineveh, for which he had before, with good reason, condemned himself: “Lord,” said he, “was not this my saying when I was in my own country? Did I not foresee that if I went to preach to Nineveh they would repent, and thou wouldst forgive them, and then thy word would be reflected upon and reproached as yea and nay?” What a strange sort of man was Jonah, to dread the success of his ministry! Many have been tempted to withdraw from their work because they had despaired of doing good by it, but Jonah declined preaching because he was afraid of doing good by it; and still he persists in the same corrupt notion, for, it seems, the whale’s belly itself could not cure him of it. It was his saying when he was in his own country, but it was a bad saying; yet here he stands to it, and, very unlike the other prophets, desires the woeful day which he had foretold and grieves because it does not come. Even Christ’s disciples know not what manner of spirit they are of; those did not who wished for fire from heaven upon the city that did not receive them, much less did Jonah, who wished for fire from heaven upon the city that did receive him. Jonah thinks he has reason to complain of that, when it is done, which he was before afraid of; so hard is it to get a root of bitterness plucked out of the mind, when once it is fastened there.

We will discuss this verse further in the next broadcast.

My personal encouragement to you today is that we have to pray and ask God to help us to live right, to think right, and to act right. I don’t know about you, but I just cannot live the Christian life by myself, that is, in my own strength. And you can’t do it in your own strength, either. That is why we need to realize and pray as Zechariah did in Zechariah 4:6: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts”. Whether you know it or not, we cannot live this Christian life in our own power. We have got to allow Jesus Christ to live it through us.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Timothy K. Jones. He said: “Recently I read again of a woman who simply decided one day to make such a commitment to pray, and my conscience was pricked. But I knew myself well enough to know that something other than resolve was being called for. I began to pray about praying. I expressed to God my frustrated longings, my jaded sense of caution about trying again, my sense of failure over working at being more disciplined and regular. I discovered something surprising happening from such simple praying: I was drawn into the presence of One who had, far more than I did, the power to keep me close. I found my focus subtly shifting away from my efforts to God’s, from rigor to grace, from rigidity to relationship. I soon realized that this was happening regularly. I was praying much more. I became less worried about the mechanics and methods, and in turn I was more motivated. And God so cares for us, I realized anew, that He Himself helps us pray. When we ‘do not know what we ought to pray for… the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.’”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 22 of our series titled “PRAYING THROUGH” from Dr. John R. Rice.

In the New Testament it is the same way as in the Old Testament. Preceding Pentecost it is certainly fair to say that the disciples prayed through. Acts 1:14 says, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”

Supplication, that is, pleading, is certainly all right for a child of God who wants to become a soul winner. It is not in order for a lost sinner who wants to be saved. The sinner needs only to trust and accept the salvation so freely offered. But the Christian needs God to work him over and prepare him for soul winning and endue him with power from on High, and he should pray through.

+ Plus, listen to Andrae Crouch singing “Pray”

I trust that you have listened to or read my special messages from the previous two days, especially the one from yesterday titled “Special Update Message on Fasting from Daniel Whyte III”. Today’s broadcast is really a continuation of yesterday’s message. If not, you may do so at www.gospellightsociety.com. We want to thank all of you who joined us for the one day fast on the past two Wednesdays and for those of you who will be joining us for the one day fast today. We praise the Lord also for all of you who will be going on this journey with us throughout the remainder of this time.

Our Scripture reading for today is Isaiah 58:1-14 which reads: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

We notice from this passage, He must acknowledge how very good they seemed to be, notwithstanding: Yet they seek me daily. When the prophet went about to show them their transgressions they pleaded that they could see no transgressions which they were guilty of; for they were diligent and constant in attending on God’s worship—and what more would he have of them? Now, He owns the matter of fact to be true. As far as hypocrites do that which is good, they shall not be denied the praise of it; let them make their best of it. It is owned that they have a form of godliness. (1.) They go to church, and observe their hours of prayer: They seek me daily; they are very constant in their devotions and never omit them nor suffer any thing to put them by. (2.) They love to hear good preaching; They delight to know my ways, as Herod, who heard John gladly, and the stony ground, that received the seed of the word with joy; it is to them as a lovely song (3.) They seem to take great pleasure in the exercises of religion and to be in their element when they are at their devotions: They delight in approaching to God, not for his sake to whom they approach, but for the sake of some pleasing circumstance, the company, or the festival.

We will continue discussing this verse in our next broadcast.

Our fasting quote of encouragement today is from Bill Thrasher. He said: “The abstinence is not to be an end in itself but rather for the purpose of being separated to the Lord and to concentrate on godliness. This kind of fasting reduces the influence of our self-will and invites the Holy Spirit to do a more intense work in us.”

Our fasting devotional today is part 2 of a new series titled “IS FASTING A COMMANDMENT?” from Richard J. Foster in his book “Celebration of Discipline”.

We must realize that the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:16 that says “When you fast…” do not constitute a command. Jesus was giving instruction on the proper exercise of a common practice of his day. He did not speak a word about whether it was a right practice or if it should be continued. So, although Jesus does not say “If you fast,” neither does he say “You must fast.” His word is, very simply, “When you fast.”

The second crucial statement of Jesus about fasting comes in response to a question by the disciples of John the Baptist. Perplexed over the fact that both they and the Pharisees fasted but Jesus’ disciples did not, they asked “Why?” Jesus replied in Matthew 9:15, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” That is perhaps the most important statement in the New Testament on whether or not Christians should fast today.

In the coming of Jesus, a new day had dawned. The kingdom of God had come among them in present power. The Bridegroom was in their midst; it was a time for feasting, not fasting. There would, however, come a time for his disciples to fast although not in the legalism of the old order.

Now, let’s take this moment to break up the fallow ground in our lives. Hosea 10:12 states, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

The great evangelist Charles G. Finney preached a message titled “Breaking Up the Fallow Ground – An Outline for Repentance”. In this sermon, he listed 26 sins that we as Christians should confess and repent of. The tenth sin he lists is: a Neglect of family duties. He urges us to confess this sin in our lives by saying: “Think how you have prayed before your family, how you have prayed, what an example you have set before them. What direct efforts do you habitually make for their spiritual good? What duty have you not neglected?”

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer right now and confess this sin and others before God.

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is Jonah 4:2-3 which reads: “And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

Jonah quarreled with God about his situation. When his heart was hot within him, he spoke unadvisedly with his lips; and here he tells us what he said: He prayed unto the Lord, but it is a very awkward prayer, not like that which he prayed in the fish’s belly; for affliction teaches us to pray submissively, which Jonah now forgot to do. Being in discontent, he applied to the duty of prayer, as he used to do in his troubles, but his corruptions got head of his graces, and, when he should have been praying for benefit by the mercy of God himself, he was complaining of the benefit others had by that mercy. Nothing could be spoken more unbecomingly.

We will discuss this verse further in the next broadcast.

My personal encouragement to you today is that we ought to pray because every now and then, we have to get down on our knees and confess our sins, faults, and failures to God. Now I know that some of you listening to me do not do bad things, but I have done some bad things in my life and every now and then, I have to get down on my knees and confess my sins before God in prayer.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Jonathan Edwards. He said: “When God is about to bestow some great blessing on His church, it is often His manner, in the first place, so to order things in His providence as to show His church their great need of it, and to bring them into distress for want of it, and so put them upon crying earnestly to Him for it.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 21 of our series titled “PRAYING THROUGH” from Dr. John R. Rice.

When a group of Israelites were going back from Babylon to Jerusalem under Ezra the scribe, they proclaimed a fast at the river Ahava. There they afflicted themselves and fasted and prayed and begged God for protection from the bandit bands that roamed the country, since they were ashamed to ask the king for soldiers, having told him that God would care for them. And they prayed through, as Ezra 8:21-23 tells us, and God was entreated for them and protected them. They arrived safely and unharmed at Jerusalem.

The Jews fasted and prayed for God to spare their lives during the time of Queen Esther in Persia, and in three days and nights they prayed through and the Jews had salvation and then vengeance on their enemies.

The people of Ninevah fasted and prayed, and God repented of the evil that He thought to do to their great city and did it not. Their fasting was not in order to get saved but that God would relent and not destroy the great wicked city as He had announced through Jonah that He would do.

+ Plus, listen to The City Harmonic singing “Manifesto”

As you may know, on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, (the day after President Obama announced his support for homosexual marriage) we immediately called and commenced a season of fasting and prayer for 165 days for America and the world through election day on November 6th (we include the world because America is the leader of the world). This fast is designed where people can jump in at any time and fast as long as the Lord may lead them, be it one day, three days, twenty-one days, or forty days – please join in only when the Lord leads you to because “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Also, you do not have to sign up and send us your email address or address and so forth. If anyone is trying to gather up information on you to see whether or not you are fasting and praying, that is not us; the Lord is not leading us to do that. You fast and pray with us only as the Lord leads you. We frankly believe that if folks start collecting names and addresses, it would cause us to lose the effectiveness and power of the fast and time of prayer. Also, if you hear someone asking you to send in money associated with fasting and prayer, that is not us.

Our hearts were blessed when we were informed that great Christian leaders from across the nation such as Dr. Jim Garlow, Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., Bishop Joseph Mattera, and Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, will be starting the major leg of the fast on the same day that we will be starting, as they will begin fasting for 40 days and nights beginning on June 1st. We would encourage all pastors and Christian leaders from across the nation to join these influential leaders and us in fasting and praying and to encourage their church members to fast and pray, for God to revive the church, to heal the nation, for 3 million or more people to come to Christ during this time, and if the Lord is going to tarry His coming, to give us the godly leadership that this nation needs going forward. Please be reminded that we are not for Obama or Romney. Personally, I am not led to vote for either one of these candidates. You can vote or not vote however the Lord may lead you. If you do vote, however, I would encourage you not to shout who you vote for from the rooftops. (I am personally praying that God would raise up a third-party candidate who Christians can vote for.) We have called this fast for God to do something so dramatic that it would change the course of this country if He plans on tarrying His coming. Quite frankly, however, we are expecting the Lord to come back any day now, and if He is planning on doing that, then it won’t matter. We believe that the choice we have been presented with for president is a result of the curse God has placed on this nation because of our own sins and failures in the church and because this nation, in general, has turned its back on God. This fast is about far more than politics. In fact, it is not about politics at all. Our nation and the world is in so much trouble that only God can help us now.

There are approximately 50 million Christians across all major church denominations in America. There are many more millions of Christians around the world as well. During these 165 days, we are asking every single person to reach one other person for Jesus Christ. All of us know of somebody else who needs to be saved. All you have to do is share with them how you got saved or take one of the many Gospel tracts that are available through our website www.gospellightsociety.com and pass it on to them. As Christians, we may not be able to vote for either of the two candidates running, but we can vote for Jesus Christ who can save us and who is the answer to all of the problems that we face in this nation and the world. Share the good news of Christ with just one person, then email us and let us know that you did.

Also, if there ever was a person who did not want to witness to the homosexual community, it is I. I was like Jonah who did not want to go to Ninevah. One of the reasons why I did not want to do this was because I could not get my head around this sin — this abomination. I just could not see what one ugly man would want with another ugly man (and all men are ugly to me) or what one ugly man would do with another ugly man. But be that as it may, however, the Lord has convicted my heart about that and I have written two Gospel tracts that reach out to the homosexual community with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you know of a homosexual in your family, church, workplace, or community, and you are led of the Lord to do so, please pass this message on to them. You can get both tracts and the audio version from www.gospellightminutex.com. The best thing you or I can do for any lost person is show them the way to eternal life in Christ.

Please do not forget to join us for the one day fast on tomorrow, Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Then, if you are not inclined to fast for 40 days or if you cannot fast for 40 days for other reasons, please prepare for the 10 day fast beginning Friday, June 1st through June 10th.

Please see the Updated Suggested Fasting Schedule as well as tips on how to prepare yourself spiritually and physically for an extended fast and how to maintain nutritional balance while fasting at www.gospellightsociety.com. Again, we thank the Lord for all of you who are joining us on this journey.

Our Scripture reading for today is Isaiah 58:1-14 which reads: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

We notice from this passage, He must acknowledge how very good they seemed to be, notwithstanding: Yet they seek me daily. When the prophet went about to show them their transgressions they pleaded that they could see no transgressions which they were guilty of; for they were diligent and constant in attending on God’s worship—and what more would he have of them? Now, He owns the matter of fact to be true. As far as hypocrites do that which is good, they shall not be denied the praise of it; let them make their best of it. It is owned that they have a form of godliness. (1.) They go to church, and observe their hours of prayer: They seek me daily; they are very constant in their devotions and never omit them nor suffer any thing to put them by. (2.) They love to hear good preaching; They delight to know my ways, as Herod, who heard John gladly, and the stony ground, that received the seed of the word with joy; it is to them as a lovely song (3.) They seem to take great pleasure in the exercises of religion and to be in their element when they are at their devotions: They delight in approaching to God, not for his sake to whom they approach, but for the sake of some pleasing circumstance, the company, or the festival.

We will continue discussing this verse in our next broadcast.

Our fasting quote of encouragement today is from Bill Thrasher. He said: “The abstinence is not to be an end in itself but rather for the purpose of being separated to the Lord and to concentrate on godliness. This kind of fasting reduces the influence of our self-will and invites the Holy Spirit to do a more intense work in us.”

Our fasting devotional today is part 2 of a new series titled “IS FASTING A COMMANDMENT?” from Richard J. Foster in his book “Celebration of Discipline”.

We must realize that the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:16 that says “When you fast…” do not constitute a command. Jesus was giving instruction on the proper exercise of a common practice of his day. He did not speak a word about whether it was a right practice or if it should be continued. So, although Jesus does not say “If you fast,” neither does he say “You must fast.” His word is, very simply, “When you fast.”

The second crucial statement of Jesus about fasting comes in response to a question by the disciples of John the Baptist. Perplexed over the fact that both they and the Pharisees fasted but Jesus’ disciples did not, they asked “Why?” Jesus replied in Matthew 9:15, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” That is perhaps the most important statement in the New Testament on whether or not Christians should fast today.

In the coming of Jesus, a new day had dawned. The kingdom of God had come among them in present power. The Bridegroom was in their midst; it was a time for feasting, not fasting. There would, however, come a time for his disciples to fast although not in the legalism of the old order.

Now, let’s take this moment to break up the fallow ground in our lives. Hosea 10:12 states, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

The great evangelist Charles G. Finney preached a message titled “Breaking Up the Fallow Ground – An Outline for Repentance”. In this sermon, he listed 26 sins that we as Christians should confess and repent of. The tenth sin he lists is: a Neglect of family duties. He urges us to confess this sin in our lives by saying: “Think how you have prayed before your family, how you have prayed, what an example you have set before them. What direct efforts do you habitually make for their spiritual good? What duty have you not neglected?”

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer right now and confess this sin and others before God.

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is Jeremiah 29:13 which reads: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

We often do not know our own minds, but the Lord is never at an uncertainty. We are sometimes ready to fear that God’s designs are all against us; but as to his own people, even that which seems evil, is for good. He will give them, not the expectations of their fears, or the expectations of their fancies, but the expectations of their faith; the end he has promised, which will be the best for them. When the Lord pours out an especial spirit of prayer, it is a good sign that he is coming toward us in mercy. Promises are given to quicken and encourage prayer. He never said, Seek ye me in vain.

My personal encouragement to you today is that God is not going to make you pray, but you ought to pray. God does not make you pray. But if you want to see souls saved in your ministry, if you want to see revival, if you want to see God bless your family and your children, if you want to see all of your needs met, then it is best for you to pray, it behooves you to pray—you ought to pray.

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Phillips Brooks. He said: “I hear men praying everywhere for more faith, but when I listen to them carefully, and get to the real heart of their prayer, very often it is not more faith at all that they are wanting, but a change from faith to sight. Faith says not, “I see that it is good for me, so God must have sent it,” but, “God sent it, and so it must be good for me.” Faith, walking in the dark with God, only prays Him to clasp its hand more closely.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is part 18 of our series titled “PRAYING THROUGH” from Dr. John R. Rice.

Daniel set his face to seek the Lord by prayer and supplication, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes in Daniel 9:3. He prayed through until the Angel Gabriel came and made known to Daniel the thing he was so greatly concerned about — the future of the nation Israel which had so greatly sinned against God.

Again in the tenth chapter, Daniel prayed through, going for three full weeks without eating any pleasant bread, any meat or wine. Finally his prayer was answered and divine revelation was given to him, then his heart’s burden was eased.

Nehemiah prayed through about the sad condition of the desolate city of Jerusalem during his captivity. Nehemiah 1:4 says, “And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven.”

Some of Nehemiah’s prayer is given to us; how contritely he pled with God! But his prayer was heard, the heart of the king was touched, and God sent Nehemiah back to build the walls of the city so dear to his heart because he prayed through.

+ Plus, listen to CeCe Winans singing “Anybody Wanna Pray?”

As you may know, on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, (the day after President Obama announced his support for homosexual marriage) we immediately called and commenced a season of fasting and prayer for 165 days for America and the world through election day on November 6th (we include the world because America is the leader of the world). This fast is designed where people can jump in at any time and fast as long as the Lord may lead them, be it one day, three days, twenty-one days, or forty days – please join in only when the Lord leads you to because “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Also, you do not have to sign up and send us your email address or address and so forth. If anyone is trying to gather up information on you to see whether or not you are fasting and praying, that is not us; the Lord is not leading us to do that. You fast and pray with us only as the Lord leads you. We frankly believe that if folks start collecting names and addresses, it would cause us to lose the effectiveness and power of the fast and time of prayer. Also, if you hear someone asking you to send in money associated with fasting and prayer, that is not us.

Our hearts were blessed when we were informed that great Christian leaders from across the nation such as Dr. Jim Garlow, Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., Bishop Joseph Mattera, and Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, will be starting the major leg of the fast on the same day that we will be starting, as they will begin fasting for 40 days and nights beginning on June 1st. We would encourage all pastors and Christian leaders from across the nation to join these influential leaders and us in fasting and praying and to encourage their church members to fast and pray, for God to revive the church, to heal the nation, for 3 million or more people to come to Christ during this time, and if the Lord is going to tarry His coming, to give us the godly leadership that this nation needs going forward. Please be reminded that we are not for Obama or Romney. Personally, I am not led to vote for either one of these candidates. You can vote or not vote however the Lord may lead you. If you do vote, however, I would encourage you not to shout who you vote for from the rooftops. (I am personally praying that God would raise up a third-party candidate who Christians can vote for.) We have called this fast for God to do something so dramatic that it would change the course of this country if He plans on tarrying His coming. Quite frankly, however, we are expecting the Lord to come back any day now, and if He is planning on doing that, then it won’t matter. We believe that the choice we have been presented with for president is a result of the curse God has placed on this nation because of our own sins and failures in the church and because this nation, in general, has turned its back on God. This fast is about far more than politics. In fact, it is not about politics at all. Our nation and the world is in so much trouble that only God can help us now. Please do not forget to join us for the one day fast on Wednesday, and then if you can, prepare for the 10 day fast beginning June 1st through June 10th. Please see the updated suggestions on how to spiritually and physically prepare for an extended fast at www.gospellightsociety.com. Again, we thank the Lord for all of you who are joining us on this journey.

Our Scripture reading for today is Isaiah 58:1-14 which reads: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Allow me to share with you some important points regarding this verse from Matthew Henry’s Commentary:

We notice from this passage, (1.) God sees sin in his people, in the house of Jacob, and is displeased with it. (2.) They are often unapt and unwilling to see their own sins, and need to have them shown them, and to be told, “Thus and thus thou hast done.” He must be vehement and in good earnest herein, must cry aloud, and not spare, not spare them (not touch them with his reproofs as if he were afraid of hurting them, but search the wound to the bottom, lay it bare to the bone), not spare himself or his own pains, but cry as loud as he can; though he spend his strength and waste his spirits, though he get their ill-will by it and get himself into an ill name, yet he must not spare. He must lift up his voice like a trumpet, to make those hear of their faults that were apt to be deaf when admonition was addressed to them. He must give his reproofs in the most powerful and pressing manner possible, as one who desired to be heeded. The trumpet does not give an uncertain sound, but, though loud and shrill, is intelligible; so must his alarms be, giving them warning of the fatal consequences of sin.

We will continue discussing this verse in our next broadcast.

Our fasting quote of encouragement today is from Jonathan Edwards. He said: “David Brainerd prayed with fasting for the Lord’s leadership regarding his entry into ministry. He said of his experience during that day, I felt the power of intercession for precious, immortal souls; for the advancement of the kingdom of my dear Lord and Saviour in the world; and withal, a most sweet resignation and even consolation and joy in the thoughts of suffering hardships, distresses, and even death itself, in the promotion of it… My soul was drawn out very much for the world, for multitudes of souls. I think I had more enlargement for sinners than for the children of God, though I felt as if I could spend my life in cries for both. I enjoyed great sweetness in communion with my dear Saviour. I think I never in my life felt such an entire weanedness from this world and so much resigned to God in everything.”

Our fasting devotional today is part 1 of a new series titled “IS FASTING A COMMANDMENT?” from Richard J. Foster in his book “Celebration of Discipline”.

One issue that understandably concerns many people is whether or not Scripture makes fasting obligatory upon all Christians. Numerous attempts have been made to answer this question, resulting in a variety of conclusions. One of the finest defenses of an affirmative answer was penned in 1580 by Thomas Cartwright in a book, something of a classic in the field, entitled “The Holy Exercise of a True Fast.”

Although many passages of Scripture deal with this subject, two stand out in importance. The first is Jesus’ startling teaching about fasting in the Sermon on the Mount. Two factors bear directly on the issue at hand. His teaching on fasting is directly in the context of his teaching on giving and praying. It is as if there is an almost unconscious assumption that giving, praying, and fasting are all part of Christian devotion. We have no more reason to exclude fasting from the teaching than we do giving or praying. Second, Jesus states in Matthew 6:16, “When you fast…” He seems to make the assumption that people will fast, and is giving instruction on how to do it properly. Martin Luther said, “It was not Christ’s intention to reject or despise fasting…it was His intention to restore proper fasting.”

Now, let’s take this moment to break up the fallow ground in our lives. Hosea 10:12 states, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

The great evangelist Charles G. Finney preached a message titled “Breaking Up the Fallow Ground – An Outline for Repentance”. In this sermon, he listed 26 sins that we as Christians should confess and repent of. The ninth sin he lists is: a Lack of care for the lost. He urges us to confess this sin in our lives by saying: “Perhaps you have not cared enough for them to attempt to learn their condition; perhaps not even to take a missionary magazine. Look at this, and see how much you really care for the lost, and write down honestly the real amount of your feelings for them, and your desire for their salvation. Measure your desire for their salvation by the self-denial you practice, in giving of your substance to send them the Gospel. Do you deny yourself even the hurtful and unnecessary desires of life, such as tea, coffee, and tobacco? Do you cut back on your style of living, and hesitate not to deny yourself any inconvenience to save them? Do you daily pray for them in private? Are you putting money aside to put into the treasury of the Lord when you go up to pray? If you are not doing these things, and if your soul is not agonized for the poor benighted heathen, why are you such a hypocrite to pretend to be a Christian? Why saying you are a Christian is an insult to Jesus Christ!”

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer right now and confess this sin and others before God.