Muslim Mobs Destroy Christian Town in Pakistan

Hundreds of Christians in Lahore, Pakistan had their homes burnt down and later clashed with police who provided no protection after a dispute in which a Christian man was accused of blasphemy of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The rampant persecution against Christians in Muslim nations continues to be inflamed with little government help on the way.
Joseph Colony, an area of Lahore, where the attack took place has been ravaged by the destruction from the mob of angry Muslims who burnt down homes and businesses while the authorities told local police to let the angered Muslims “let them vent their grief and anger.”

According to reports:

Shahid Imran, a Muslim barber in Joseph Colony in the Badami Bagh area, on Friday (March 8) accused his Christian neighbor, 26-year-old Sawan Masih, of blaspheming Muhammad. Imran alleged that Masih, who runs a small billiards business, had “ridiculed” Islam’s prophet by saying that Jesus was the greatest prophet ever.
Soon after, crowds of armed Muslims began gathering in the area of about 200 Christian families, mostly sanitation workers, demanding that Masih be handed over to them. They besieged his house and started pelting it with stones, damaging the windows and door. Masih had fled the area as soon as news reached him about Imran’s accusation. (source).

 Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code calls for death or life imprisonment for those accused of blaspheming Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. These laws have emboldened the Muslim communities to attack those with vigilante or mob violence against those who are suspected of speaking out against Islam. And such was the case in Joseph Colony, where the angry mob rushed to Masih’s home. Efforts to calm the crowd were futile. Soon police arrested Imran’s father in hopes that would ease tensions but soon they were accused of being “blasphemers.” While he was taken into custody the crowd went on the attack.

The police stood by idly while homes, stores and churches were destroyed.

Despite a heavy police presence in Joseph Colony, the crowd started to destroy property. prompting the order from the local government to “let them vent their anger.” Approximately 170 homes, 18 shops and several churches were burned down and destroyed. Many of the homes were looted before being destroyed by the rioters.
“I have been robbed of all of my life’s savings,” Yousuf Masih said, standing close to his burned house.
Area resident Haroon Masih wept as he described how the raiders broke the locks of his door and stole the dowries of his four daughters that he had been gathering for several years.

“They made off with everything valuable I had and then simply set the house on fire,” he said. “My new rickshaw was also burnt to ashes.” Residents also showed Morning Star News gas pipelines that had been sawed off to ensure maximum spread of fires.

Jesus Christ prophesied that all Christians should expect to be despised, rejected and hated in the world.

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. – John 15-18:21.

Double Standard Imposed

Families in Joseph Colony returned to destroyed homes. All because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

In response to the destruction of the Christian neighborhood, approximately Several hundred Christian protestors blocked a highway, demanding that the police take some action to stop the destruction. According to police officials, they uprooted a fence and burned an electric generator. Rather than letting them “vent their frustration” police responded by using tear gas on the crowd and arresting 150 protestors.

The government has offered 200,000 rupees ($2,000US) as compensation to each family, which was immediately rejected by the people of Joseph Colony:

“It is like poison to us,” they screamed as Christian Senator Kamran Michael and Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah visited the area late Saturday night amid heavy security.

The crowd shouted slogans against Michael and the Punjab government, believing Islamic leaders would have heeded them and holding them responsible for doing nothing to stop the violence. The two officials were forced to leave the area after just a few minutes.

The Punjab government later raised the compensation amount to 500,000 rupees, and the checks were handed out to victims. (source).

Pray for the Christians in Pakistan who suffered this horrific attack and for others who may be in danger as well. It is difficult for some living in certain parts of the world to grasp a reality where just being known as a Christian literally puts your home, family and life in jeopardy. But this is the reality for millions of Christians worldwide today. Pray for the failure of their persecutors and for the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to lead them to repentance.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.- Romans 8:35-37.

Courtesy of http://beginningandend.com/muslim-mobs-destroy-christian-town-in-pakistan/

Jesus, Mohammed, and Comedy Central

From Uppsala, Sweden comes the news that cartoonist Lars Vilks was attacked and head-butted by an angry Muslim at a university lecture. A group of Muslims surrounding him shouted “God is great!” in Arabic as the cartoonist laid on the floor, his glasses broken. Ever since Vilks impolitely drew the prophet Muhammad’s head on a dog, he’s been a wanted man. Even the American terrorist wannabe nicknamed “Jihad Jane” plotted to kill him.
 
This explains why Comedy Central’s “South Park” has been censoring images that might offend Muslims. The executives at Comedy Central (and their parent company Viacom) regularly pledge allegiance to freedom of expression, but don’t really believe it – not when they ponder someone cracking their skulls at a Beverly Hills restaurant.
 
It’s not just “South Park.” Jo Piazza of Foxnews.com reports that after the failed Times Square bombing, Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” told their “senior Islamic correspondent” Aasif Mandvi not to comment further on it. One writer for a scripted drama told Piazza that in one of his show’s final episodes there had been a minor plot involving a Muslim extremist. Last week, “it was removed and the script was rewritten.”
 
It’s clear that Mohammed is off limits – and it’s just as crystal clear that Jesus Christ remains the juiciest of targets.
 
Even at the sensitive time when they’re shutting down every possible mockery of Islamic extremism, Comedy Central has announced their plans for a new cartoon titled simply “JC,” a half-hour show about Jesus trying to live a normal life in New York City to escape his “powerful but apathetic father.” God is preoccupied with playing video games while Christ is the “ultimate fish out of water.” 
 
As “original programming,” this hardly applies. A slacker Jesus came to Earth to escape an annoying God the Father as He tried to quit smoking on “Family Guy” two years ago.
 
On the offensiveness scale, that’s nothing. In the 2005 Comedy Central special “Merry F—ing Christmas,” Denis Leary called the Christmas story “bull[bleep]” and said the Virgin Mary must be a myth since someone surely “banged the hell” out of her. In the 2006 “South Park” episode that spiked Mohammed themes, the show ended with Jesus wildly defecating on President Bush: “Look at me, I’m Jesus. Would you like me to crap on you, Mr. Bush? Mmm, yummy, yummy crap!” And there was Stephen Colbert’s 2008 Christmas special, where Toby Keith sang about (and a cartoon Santa laughed at) Christians blowing up an ACLU lawyer’s house.
 
Comedy Central programming head Kent Alterman trotted out the normal line for anyone objecting to this profane new series on the god most Americans define as sacred. “In general, comedy in its purest form always makes some people uncomfortable.”
 
Earth to Alterman: just stop with the First Amendment poseur routine there at Cowardly Central. If you’re proud of “making some people uncomfortable” (Christians) while censoring your jokesters in fear of others (Muslims), you’re just an anti-Christian bigot.
 
This “JC” show is merely in development, alongside other potential gems like “Live Sex Show” (no mystery in that title), “Rich Dicks” (ditto), and two pot-themed shows, “Highdeas” and “This Show Will Get You High.” How is that for comedic genius? 
 
Comedy Central is currently airing another religion-mocking cartoon right after “South Park.” It’s called “Ugly Americans,” and it imagines a New York City crawling with demons, monsters, and zombies. Some are even social workers at the “Department of Integration.” Mark, the lead character, is a social worker who’s dating a co-worker and daughter of the devil named Callie Maggotbone. One of his supervisors is a bullying demon called “Twayne the Bone-Raper.”
 
Mark works with a washed-up wizard named Leonard, whose brother is a superstar magician named….”Christ Angel.” So it should not come as a surprise that “Christ” is a nasty guy who pulls “tricks” on women like inserting himself into their uterus, forcing labor, and being “born again.” He also makes Leonard punch himself repeatedly in the face.
 
There is a silly tendency to raise anti-social pranksters to First Amendment hero status for their willingness to be atheist jerks. The TV critics shower you with praise about how you’re “profanely whip-smart” and have a “wry, postmodern vibe” – even when there’s hardly anything smart or wry in the tasteless gore and sex jokes that are the norm on this network. Having Mark meet the devil in Hell and decline an order for “unbaptized baby-arm soup” is not witty. It’s just sick.
 
But the amazing thing is that a sleazy programming chief like Kent Alterman will still claim, “The beauty of working at a place like Comedy Central is you can empower people to actualize their vision in a really unfiltered way, and that’s when things have the best shot at being funny.”
 
Unfiltered? What a shameless liar.

Courtesy of http://cnsnews.com/commentary/article/65923

Outrage builds over Graham’s rejection at Pentagon

Pro-family leaders and a U.S. Senator have joined a growing list of conservatives expressing outrage over the Pentagon’s decision this week to tell evangelist Franklin Graham that he is barred from taking part in a National Day of Prayer event at the military headquarters.

On Thursday afternoon, a spokesman for the U.S. Army said the Pentagon had rescinded its invitation to Graham — founder of Samaritan’s Purse — to be the lead speaker at a May 6 Pentagon service held in conjunction with the National Day of Prayer. In a statement, Graham said he regrets the Army’s decision and will continue to pray for the troops.
 
The reason for the “dis-invite”? Graham’s earlier comments about Islam were “not appropriate,” said the Army (see more details below from Associated Press). In 2001, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham described Islam as “evil” following terrorist attacks. More recently, he has said he finds Islam offensive and wants Muslims to know that Jesus Christ died for their sins.

AFA backs Graham
On Friday, the Mississippi-based American Family Association (AFA) sent a letter to Franklin Graham, criticizing the Pentagon for “severely” compromising Graham’s First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and free exercise of religion. In addition, the letter – signed by AFA president Tim Wildmon — expresses the organization’s staunch support of Graham’s “expressions of love for Muslims” as well as his “criticisms of Islam.”
 
“We at [AFA] likewise desire that every Muslim may come to faith in Jesus Christ and know the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal that is found in him,” the letter states.
 
“We, too, want to see every Muslim come to faith in Jesus Christ,” says Bryan Fischer, AFA’s director of issues analysis. “We also agree with Reverend Graham that Islam is an evil and wicked religion.”
 
In earlier comments, Rev. Graham described Islam as an “evil and wicked religion” that puts its followers in bondage and puts others in danger. AFA’s letter to Graham comments that his remarks are supported by a culture that “seems determined to ignore” several aspects of Islam that are in direct opposition to Christian principles.
 
The letter offers as examples: a call by the Koran to kill “infidels”; documented acts of pedophilia by Islam’s founder, Muhammad; the religion’s intolerance of conversion out of Islam; “blatant and deadly sexism” as expressed in Islam’s treatment of women; and “honor killings” — a practice that AFA points out is “utterly at odds with the Christian teaching that fathers are to nurture and protect their children.”
 
Fischer comments specifically on Islam’s treatment of women. “[Muslim] husbands are taught that they literally may beat their wives into submission,” he notes. “[And] you have the shameful practice of honor killings in many Muslim countries. That practice has come to the United States. A Muslim husband decapitated his wife in New York not too long ago.” 
 
AFA’s letter to Franklin Graham concludes with a statement that AFA plans to challenge its constituency to contact their members of Congress, asking them if they agree with the “shameful treatment” Graham has received from the White House and the Pentagon.
 
‘Political correctness’ of the White House
Tony Perkins is a pro-family leader who himself was disinvited from speaking at an Air Force event. He says it’s an absolute outrage that the Army has caved to political correctness in disinviting Graham from taking part in an upcoming prayer event.
 
Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), was similarly disinvited from speaking at a luncheon in February at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, DC, after he criticized President Obama’s call for lifting the ban on homosexuals serving in the military. He notes that political correctness has struck again. (Listen to audio report)
 
“Radical Islamists operate very much like radical homosexuals in that they don’t mind screaming and playing the role of the victim and using special laws to protect them,” Perkins comments.
 
“We don’t even have many of those laws in place yet in this country like they do in Europe, but we have seen this environment of political correctness created by this administration — and clearly the White House could step in at any time in any of these decisions that the military has made to disinvite Christian leaders, and they have not.”
 
The FRC president believes this treatment of Franklin Graham clearly illustrates that the Obama administration is creating a hostile environment toward Christianity.

Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, concurs with Perkins’ observation.

“Franklin Graham is being barred [from the event] for publicly stating nothing more than [what] Christian evangelists have preached for centuries,” Wicker says in a press release. “To ban from an ecumenical service every person who believes their faith is the true religion is taking political correctness several steps too far.” Ministers who have “fervently advocated their own religious beliefs in an entirely different context” should not be prohibited from participating in ecumenical events, the senator continues.
 

“What they’re saying is that a Christian evangelist who has basically given his message publicly to the exclusion of other religions is somehow now unfit to go to an evangelical prayer event. If you take it to that extreme, any preacher who’d ever preached revival [or] brought the message of Jesus dying for our sins would now be excluded from being invited to a prayer event at a defense facility because they’re being exclusive,” he concludes.

The Council on American Islamic Relations, a group with ties to terrorism, had called on the Pentagon to disinvite Graham.

Courtesy of http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=985012

Heal the Nation? Heal the Church First!

By R.L. David Jolly 

Many people and organizations including our own are calling for a political revival back to the form of government that our Founding Fathers established.  However, when examining the history of God’s people in His Word, it has become clearly obvious that before we can ask God to heal our land that we first need to heal the Church.

By Church, I am referring to the 77% of Americans that identified themselves as Christians in a Gallup Poll released April 10, 2009.  (Sadly, that figure has dropped from the 91% in 1948.)  If the three-fourths of the American population actually lived a true Christian life, our nation would not be suffering the wrath of God that we are currently under.  If these Christians lived their lives like 77% of Muslims or Buddhists, or Sikhs, or other religions do, we would still be the Christian nation that our Founders established it to be.

Unfortunately, the Church in America has been silent and inactive in the political arena for the past 60 years.  Its silence has allowed the vocal minorities to be heard and push through legislation after legislation that has undermined and replaced the Word of God with the immoral and hedonistic desires of a godless few.

In addition to allowing this godless minority to take control of our nation, now we have a leadership that is not only ignoring the words, writings and intent of our Founding Fathers, but is looking to other nations that do not have the same Christian foundation that America has, to be our examples to follow and this is not the first time in history this has happened.  In 2 Kings 17:15 we read, They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them.

Obama has used the examples of Canada and Europe to help justify his efforts to turn America into a socialistic nation.  Once again, when we turn to God’s Word, we see that God even warns us about how foolish it is to look to these other nations in 1 Cor. 1:20, Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

And when our leaders ignore God’s warnings, we see that God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, (2 Thess. 2:11) and They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart, (Eph. 4:18).

The consequences of a nation turning from God to the wicked ways of man results in God’s wrath and judgment.  If you don’t believe that the United States of America is currently under God’s judgment, then I strongly urge you to read Romans 1:18-32.  Three times it says that because we do this, God turns us over to that.  My fellow American, what I read in the last half of Romans 1 describes our nation in every way.

I recently met a gentleman that had served in the U.S. Marine Corp a few years back.  He had been stationed overseas for 4 years and then returned to a duty post in the Washington D.C. area.  He told me that when he returned to the U.S. that he was shocked to see how far it had declined in morality and godliness.  He told me that we had become a nation of lust, perversion, and hedonism unlike anything he had seen overseas and it saddened him to his very heart to realize that this is what he had been defending with his life.

Psalm 11:3 tell us that if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? I contend that our foundations are being destroyed and replaced with a godless socialist foundation that has a 100% failure rate everywhere else it has been tried in the world.  It was tried in Soviet Russia and it failed.  It was tried in China and it failed.  It was tried in Poland and it failed. It was tried in North Korea and it failed, and the list goes on.

I run into people every day that say that it is too late and that things have gone too far and that one or two people cannot change anything.  In response, I tell them that George Washington lost every battle that he fought in and lead troops in until he crossed the Delaware River and captured the Hessian troops and eventually won the Revolutionary War.  Like Winston Churchill, Washington never gave in and never gave up.

We may have lost some battles, but we have not lost the war.  However, in order to win the war to save America from the complete destruction of the current political machine, the Church or the people, need to follow the instructions of 2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Humble. Pray. Seek. Turn.  Four steps to healing the Church and our nation.

Humble. Have you ever read about a small shepherd boy named David?  He wasn’t tall in stature and considered himself least among his father’s sons.  He sought not fortune or fame, but because he regularly humbled himself before God, God raised him up to be one of the greatest kings of all time.

Pray. George Müller.  If you don’t know who George Müller is, then read George Müller of Bristol by Arthur Tappan Pierson (available online at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=EFbkOf1YoJQC).  George Müller established an orphanage in England in the middle 1800’s.  Time after time, Müller would sit the children down to the table for a meal when he knew he had no food to feed them nor any funds to purchase food for them.  Never-the-less, he would sit them down and lift up a prayer to God thanking Him for their blessings and for providing for them and time and time again, by the time he finished praying, someone would be at the door of the orphanage with enough food to go around.  Müller was a true man of prayer and his biography is a testimony as to the power of prayer, especially when offered by someone that has humbled themselves before the Lord.

Seek. Jehoshaphat  did not seek out the false gods and idols of those around him, but sought after God.  In return, God blessed the kingdom of Judah under Jehoshaphat’s rule.  (2 Chron. 17:3-5)

Turn. Not long after Jesus had been crucified and had risen from the grave, a Pharisee by the name of Saul set out to find and destroy those that professed a faith in Jesus as the Messiah.  However, on the road to Damascus, Saul was blinded by a vision from God and he turned from his ways of persecution to become Paul, one of the greatest apostles of Jesus Christ.

As a people, a Church and a nation, we need to humble ourselves like David, pray like George Müller, seekafter God’s ways like Jehoshaphat and turn from our wicked ways like Paul.  Then and only then can we have any hope of God healing our land and returning it to the Christian nation of our Founding Fathers.

If we don’t humble ourselves, pray and seek after God and turn from our wicked ways, then our children will be asking us the same thing that God asked the people in the time of Jeremiah, what wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? (Jer. 2:5)

Join us in our efforts to revive the Church and heal our great land by supporting us with your prayers and finances.  Prayer is the greatest tool that we have to use in this war to save our nation.  And unfortunately, it requires financial funding to wage this war and get the Word out to those that need to hear it.

Courtesy of http://americanvision.org/2010/post/heal-the-nation-heal-the-church-first/#more-2285

California city may face legal action over prayer vote

LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) – When Lancaster’s flamboyant mayor R. Rex Parris calls the City Council to order at its next meeting, it’s a good bet he’ll open the proceedings with a prayer.

A controversial measure calling on residents to allow the City Council to continue beginning its meetings with heads bowed passed by a vote of more than 3-to-1 in Tuesday’s municipal election.

The issue seems far from resolved, however.

Peter Eliasberg, managing attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said Wednesday the ACLU is considering taking Lancaster to court if the prayers keep singling out Christianity over other religions.

Parris, who was up for re-election, had exhorted people to vote for the prayer initiative even if they didn’t want to vote for him.

Apparently quite a few listened, as he won re-election over four challengers by collecting 57 percent of the vote. Voters also extended the mayor’s term from two to four years beginning in 2012.

Nonbinding Measure I, the prayer measure placed on the ballot by the City Council, put the spotlight on the dusty, high-desert community of 145,000 located 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

City officials say clergy of different faiths are invited to lead the opening prayer, but critics have complained that Christian prayers are usually delivered. The Antelope Valley Press reported in February that 11 of 14 prayers over one stretch invoked the name of Jesus Christ.

Parris said Wednesday that isn’t surprising, estimating that as much as 90 percent of the community’s faithful is Christian. But the mayor, a prominent litigation attorney, said he is confident the measure will hold up in court. He said city officials were careful to phrase it in a way that gives all religious groups the opportunity to take part in leading some prayers.

Eliasberg said there is precedent for allowing nondenominational prayers at a public meeting, but that constitutional boundaries protecting religious freedom are crossed when such prayers almost always advocate a particular religion.

“We don’t allow the voters to decide what’s the official religion in the city of Lancaster,” he said.

The controversy was fueled in part by Parris’ statement earlier this year that he was “growing a Christian community” in Lancaster. He later apologized, saying he realized his words had offended non-Christians. He said Wednesday he’s proud that some of his most ardent supporters are members of Lancaster’s Sikh community.

Courtesy of http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/apr/14/calif-city-may-face-legal-action-over-prayer/

The Real War of the Worlds: The High Cost of Believing the Theory of Evolution

By Caitlyn Theisen

For thousands of years, a war has raged between two worlds; one a kingdom of light, the other, a kingdom of darkness. Lives have been lost, battles have been fought, homes have been torn apart. Lies have been spun, traps have been set, countless have been deceived. These two worlds that wrestle against one another both fight for life – your life. But only one has the truth. This epic war between the two greatest kingdoms in the universe is never so evident as it is in the Creation/Evolution debate.

“Surely not!” you cry. “How can a mere science disagreement be considered so crucial? What does this debate have to do with me?”

Let us enter this world of treachery and deception to find the facts that have been purposefully distorted and blurred. Let us boldly drive away the shadows and reveal that which has been so carefully concealed in the darkness: the truth.

God, our Father, has His heart set on having us to call His own – but so does Satan. These titanic powers have clashed and battled together since the very beginning. And since the very beginning, Satan has used evolution to draw God’s children away from Him.

In Genesis 3, the serpent successfully tempted mankind with the promise that we “will be like God.” In the same way, evolution proclaims that we evolved by chance; that there was no outside force, no creator to mold us as we are. Without a creator, there is nothing higher than ourselves. We are, then, each and every one of us, gods. We are our own god and need look no farther than ourselves. How sad this selfish way of thinking has trapped so many into searching for answers within themselves when all they will find is emptiness and brokenness without hope of redemption.

The cost of believing the Theory of Evolution is high and the consequences are numerous. Evolution claims we do not have a Creator and are a series of accidents. Because we are not uniquely created, it is impossible for us to have a unique purpose. Evolution reduces human beings into organisms related to earthworms without purpose or direction in life. Evolution takes away the point to living. Without a purpose, life is cheapened. It is no big deal to abort unborn children or to abuse your body with drugs or alcohol. The Theory of Evolution states each organism evolves into a more highly evolved organism. One creature, then, is considered “higher” than another. This is also known as racism. Hitler was a devoted follower of Darwin and, like Darwin himself, fervently believed that their race was higher on the evolutionary chain than were the blacks, Jews, and other “non-whites.” Stalin and Marx were also staunch evolutionists and many were killed under their political rule. Evolution has directly led to wars, mass genocide, murder, and bondage. Much evil stems from its beliefs and has led the blind, the naive, and the wounded away from the One who would give them sight, wisdom and healing.

Why has Satan spent so much energy into promoting evolution? Merely to create a difference of opinion concerning science facts or trick a few intellectuals? No, the stakes are much higher.

The Devil’s entire purpose is to steal, slaughter, and annihilate (John 10:10). The very core of evolution is to lead us into everlasting death. Evolution propounds that, we have no Creator, and we came about by chance. Since there is no Creator, there is no creation story, no Adam. If there is no Adam, there is no fall, no sin. If there is no sin, there is nothing to be saved from. And if there is nothing to be saved from, there is no need for a savior. This, my friends, is the heart of evolution. It takes away the need for a savior and the path to everlasting life. Satan has worked hard to ensure that this lie is taught in every science book, in every classroom, and in every grade. If you questioned any public school student from first grade on, every single one would be able to tell you basic evolutionary “facts,” such as the Big Bang, how birds came from reptiles, and how men and apes evolved from a common ancestor. As a biology major at an esteemed university, the very first biology class I had to take was Evolution and Diversity. Not only do evolutionists assume evolution is fact, they blend their evolutionary theory with the fact of diversity and call it all fact. Satan has done a marvelous job at saturating our education system with his “truth.” So well, in fact, that 83% of children raised in a Christian home reject their faith by the end of their first year in college.

The situation at times may appear hopeless. This appealing lie has been set behind a facade of logic and science. In reality, evolution is a theory of assumptions that are not only without evidence, they are illogical and unscientific. So what can we do to uproot this lie that is deeply embedded in the lives of so many? Exactly what our God and our Savior have already told us to do. We are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. We are to preach the good news of salvation, which includes creation and the Fall of man. We are to pray for those in authority, including education boards and textbook writers. We are to use our influence on school boards and politics. We do have a say in what is taught in our schools and what curriculum our children learn. Let us not hold back and let yet another child of God fall to Satan’s tempting, but false, offer to “be like God.” Let us boldly stand for truth in our education, our society, and our lives. Let us seek out truth in every area of life and we will find that where truth is, there God is also, for they are one and the same. True science points to God.

Let me warn you. The quest for truth is not for the faint of heart. Your journey will lead you to new levels of knowledge that will demand much in order to be fully understood. You will uncover such blatant and obvious lies, you will be astounded so many have believed in them. You will face the raw anger and hatred of many who oppose you, because you have exposed their “proof,” their religion, as fraudulent and nonexistent. In order to find truth, you must be willing to let go of all you have ever known or believed, for the truth will stand on its own and needs no explanation. Do not despair in this quest you have chosen, for it leads to abundant life. Take heart and be encouraged. For your Savior will never leave you and he will never forsake you, even in the midst of your darkest tribulation. Take heed of his words, for they are truth.

Matthew 28:19a – 20
(19a) “Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations…
(20)  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

‘Letters to God’ Reaches Box Office Top 10

Faith-based movie “Letters to God” rounded out the box office top ten this past weekend with a gross of $1.25 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

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  Though small compared to the No. 1 movie of the weekend, “Date Night,” which grossed around $27 million, the earnings of “Letters to God” places it around where “Facing the Giants” was when it came out in 2006.

“Facing the Giants,” considered one of the big screen pioneers for independent Christian films, went on to gross over $10 million with just a $100,000 production budget.

Though 30 times larger, the production budget of “Letters to God” is still small by Hollywood standards and makes a $1.25 debut a good start.

The movie, produced by one of the filmmakers behind successful faith-based flicks “Facing the Giants” and “Fireproof,” tells the story of a young cancer-stricken boy who corresponds regularly with God through prayers in the form of letters.

Though initially unsure about what to do with the letters, the beleaguered mailman assigned to deliver the ailing boy’s letters decides to make a series of choices that will change his life and help the young boy touch the lives of those around him.

“Inspired by a true story, Letters to God is an intimate, moving and often funny story about the galvanizing effect one child’s belief can have on his family, friends and community,” the film’s promoters say.

Presently, the movie has over 60,000 “fans” on Facebook and looks to continue building up the momentum that’s picked up since the Christian community flexed its muscle in front of Hollywood with the release of “The Passion of the Christ.”

The release of the overtly Christian film comes as more Christian filmmakers are taking their projects to the big screen, encouraged by the success of “The Passion of the Christ” and even more so by smaller, independent films like “Fireproof,” which was produced on a $500,000 budget and ended up grossing more than $33 million in the United States.

Prior to the release of “The Passion of the Christ” in February 2004, only two Christian films grossed over $10 million, according to Box Office Mojo. After the release of Mel Gibson’s film, nine more went on hit at least eight figures. “The Passion of the Christ” and the first two film adaptations of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia series even hit nine-digit figures – not surprising, however, as they were the products of Hollywood.

Courtesy of Christian Post at http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100412/-letters-to-god-reaches-box-office-top-10/index.html

Was George Washington a Christian?

This is a question often asked today, and it arises from the efforts of those who seek to impeach Washington’s character by portraying him as irreligious. Interestingly, Washington’s own contemporaries did not question his Christianity but were thoroughly convinced of his devout faith–a fact made evident in the first-ever compilation of the The Writings of George Washington, published in the 1830s.

That compilation of Washington’s writings was prepared and published by Jared Sparks (1789-1866), a noted writer and historian. Sparks’ Herculean historical productions included not only the writing of George Washington (12 volumes) but also Benjamin Franklin (10 volumes) and Constitution signer Gouverneur Morris (3 volumes). Additionally, Sparks compiled the Library of American Biography (25 volumes), The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution (12 volumes), and the Correspondence of the American Revolution (4 volumes). In all, Sparks was responsible for some 100 historical volumes. Additionally, Sparks was America’s first professor of history–other than ecclesiastical history–to teach at the college level in the United States, and he was later chosen president of Harvard. 

QUOTE

By 1778, George Washington had so often witnessed God’s intervention that on August 20, he wrote Thomas Nelson that: The Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations. [1]

Jared Sparks’ decision to compile George Washington’s works is described by The Dictionary of American Biography. It details that Sparks began… 

…what was destined to be his greatest life work, the publication of the writings of George Washington. … In January 1827, Sparks found himself alone at Mount Vernon with the manuscripts. An examination of them extending over three months showed that years would be required for the undertaking; and with the owner’s consent, Sparks carried off the entire collection, eight large boxes, picking up on the way to Boston a box of diplomatic correspondence from the Department of State, and the [General Horatio] Gates manuscripts from the New York Historical Society. Not content with these, he searched or caused to be searched public and private archives for material, questioned survivors of the Revolution, visited and mapped historic sites. In 1830, for instance, he followed [Benedict] Arnold’s [1775] route to Quebec. The first of the twelve volumes of The Writings of George Washington to be published (vol. II) appeared in 1834 and the last (vol. I, containing the biography) in 1837.

In Volume XII of these writings, Jared Sparks delved into the religious character of George Washington, and included numerous letters written by the friends, associates, and family of Washington which testified of his religious character. Based on that extensive evidence, Sparks concluded:

To say that he [George Washington] was not a Christian would be to impeach his sincerity and honesty. Of all men in the world, Washington was certainly the last whom any one would charge with dissimulation or indirectness [hypocrisies and evasiveness]; and if he was so scrupulous in avoiding even a shadow of these faults in every known act of his life, [regardless of] however unimportant, is it likely, is it credible, that in a matter of the highest and most serious importance [his religious faith, that] he should practice through a long series of years a deliberate deception upon his friends and the public? It is neither credible nor possible.

One of the letters Sparks used to arrive at his conclusion was from Nelly Custis-Lewis. While Nelly technically was the granddaughter of the Washingtons, in reality she was much more.

When Martha [Custis] married George, she was a widow and brought two young children (John and Martha–also called Patsy) from her first marriage into her marriage with George. The two were carefully raised by George and Martha, later married, and each had children of their own. Unfortunately, tragedy struck, and both John and Patsy died early (by 1781). John left behind his widow and four young children ranging in age from infancy to six years old.

At the time, Washington was still deeply involved in guiding the American Revolution and tried unsuccessfully to convince Martha’s brother to raise the children. The young widow of John was unable to raise all four, so George and Martha adopted the two younger children: Nelly Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, both of whom already were living at Mount Vernon.

Nelly lived with the Washingtons for twenty years, from the time of her birth in 1779 until 1799, the year of her marriage and of George Washington’s untimely death. She called George and Martha her “beloved parents whom I loved with so much devotion, to whose unceasing tenderness I was indebted for every good I possessed.”

Nelly was ten years old when Washington was called to the Presidency, and she grew to maturity during his two terms. During that time, she traveled with Washington and walked amidst the great foreign and domestic names of the day. On Washington’s retirement, she returned with the family to Mount Vernon. Nelly was energetic, spry, and lively, and was the joy of George Washington’s life. She served as a gracious hostess and entertained the frequent guests to Mount Vernon who visited the former President.

Clearly, Nelly was someone who knew the private and public life of her “father” very well. Therefore, Jared Sparks, in searching for information on Washington’s religious habits, dispatched a letter to Nelly, asking if she knew for sure whether George Washington indeed was a Christian. Within a week, she had replied to Sparks, and Sparks included her letter in Volume XII of Washington’s writings in the lengthy section on Washington’s religious habits. Of that specific letter, Jared Sparks explained:

I shall here insert a letter on this subject, written to me by a lady who lived twenty years in Washington’s family and who was his adopted daughter, and the granddaughter of Mrs. Washington. The testimony it affords, and the hints it contains respecting the domestic habits of Washington, are interesting and valuable.

Woodlawn, 26 February, 1833Sir,I received your favor of the 20th instant last evening, and hasten to give you the information, which you desire. Truro Parish [Episcopal] is the one in which Mount Vernon, Pohick Church [the church where George Washington served as a vestryman], and Woodlawn [the home of Nelly and Lawrence Lewis] are situated. Fairfax Parish is now Alexandria. Before the Federal District was ceded to Congress, Alexandria was in Fairfax County. General Washington had a pew in Pohick Church, and one in Christ Church at Alexandria. He was very instrumental in establishing Pohick Church, and I believe subscribed [supported and contributed to] largely. His pew was near the pulpit. I have a perfect recollection of being there, before his election to the presidency, with him and my grandmother… He attended the church at Alexandria when the weather and roads permitted a ride of ten miles [a one-way journey of 2-3 hours by horse or carriage]. In New York and Philadelphia he never omitted attendance at church in the morning, unless detained by indisposition [sickness]. The afternoon was spent in his own room at home; the evening with his family, and without company. Sometimes an old and intimate friend called to see us for an hour or two; but visiting and visitors were prohibited for that day [Sunday]. No one in church attended to the services with more reverential respect. My grandmother, who was eminently pious, never deviated from her early habits. She always knelt. The General, as was then the custom, stood during the devotional parts of the service. On communion Sundays, he left the church with me, after the blessing, and returned home, and we sent the carriage back for my grandmother. It was his custom to retire to his library at nine or ten o’clock where he remained an hour before he went to his chamber. He always rose before the sun and remained in his library until called to breakfast. I never witnessed his private devotions. I never inquired about them. I should have thought it the greatest heresy to doubt his firm belief in Christianity. His life, his writings, prove that he was a Christian. He was not one of those who act or pray, “that they may be seen of men” [Matthew 6:5]. He communed with his God in secret [Matthew 6:6]. My mother [Eleanor Calvert-Lewis] resided two years at Mount Vernon after her marriage [in 1774] with John Parke Custis, the only son of Mrs. Washington. I have heard her say that General Washington always received the sacrament with my grandmother before the revolution. When my aunt, Miss Custis [Martha's daughter] died suddenly at Mount Vernon, before they could realize the event [before they understood she was dead], he [General Washington] knelt by her and prayed most fervently, most affectingly, for her recovery. Of this I was assured by Judge [Bushrod] Washington’s mother and other witnesses. He was a silent, thoughtful man. He spoke little generally; never of himself. I never heard him relate a single act of his life during the war. I have often seen him perfectly abstracted, his lips moving, but no sound was perceptible. I have sometimes made him laugh most heartily from sympathy with my joyous and extravagant spirits. I was, probably, one of the last persons on earth to whom he would have addressed serious conversation, particularly when he knew that I had the most perfect model of female excellence [Martha Washington] ever with me as my monitress, who acted the part of a tender and devoted parent, loving me as only a mother can love, and never extenuating [tolerating] or approving in me what she disapproved of others. She never omitted her private devotions, or her public duties; and she and her husband were so perfectly united and happy that he must have been a Christian. She had no doubts, no fears for him. After forty years of devoted affection and uninterrupted happiness, she resigned him without a murmur into the arms of his Savior and his God, with the assured hope of his eternal felicity [happiness in Heaven]. Is it necessary that any one should certify, “General Washington avowed himself to me a believer in Christianity?” As well may we question his patriotism, his heroic, disinterested devotion to his country. His mottos were, “Deeds, not Words”; and, “For God and my Country.” With sentiments of esteem, I am, Nelly Custis-Lewis

George Washington’s adopted daughter, having spent twenty years of her life in his presence, declared that one might as well question Washington’s patriotism as question his Christianity. Certainly, no one questions his patriotism; so is it not rather ridiculous to question his Christianity? George Washington was a devout Episcopalian; and although as an Episcopalian he would not be classified as an outspoken and extrovert “evangelical” Founder as were Founding Fathers like Benjamin Rush, Roger Sherman, and Thomas McKean, nevertheless, being an Episcopalian makes George Washington no less of a Christian.

 Yet for the current revisionists who have made it their goal to assert that America was founded as a secular nation by secular individuals and that the only hope for America’s longevity rests in her continued secularism, George Washington’s faith must be sacrificed on the altar of their secularist agenda.

QUOTE

After researching Washington’s life, Dr. Tim LaHaye wrote: “Our first President was a godly man of humble character and sterling commitment to God. William White reports of his sincere piety in ‘Washington Writings’: ‘It seems proper to subjoin to this letter what was told to me by Mr. Robert Lewis, at Fredricksburg, in the year 1827. Being a nephew of Washington, and his private secretary during the first part of his presidency, Mr. Lewis lived with him on terms of intimacy, and had the best opportunity for observing his habits. Mr. Lewis said that he had accidentally witnessed his private devotions in his library both morning and evening; that on those occasions he had seen him in a kneeling posture with a Bible open before him, and that he believed such to have been his daily practice.’” [2]

At the end of the Revolutionary War, when the announcement of official peace arrived in America, George Washington issued his final sentiments. In his circular letter to the States on June 8, 1783, even though Washington gratefully acknowledged that we had won the war, he urged them to recall something of much greater importance and to remember…

…the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation. [3]

From George Washington’s first official order through his last, he displayed a Christian emphasis.

QUOTE

While encamped on the banks of a river, Washington was approached by Delaware Indian chiefs who desired that their youth be trained in American schools. In Washington’s response, he first told them that “Congress… will look on them as on their own children.” [4] That is, we would train their children as if they were our own. He then commended the chiefs for their decision:  You do well to wish to learn our arts and our ways of life and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention. [4] According to George Washington, what students would learn in American schools “above all” was “the religion of Jesus Christ.”

For much more on George Washington and the evidences of his strong faith, examine the following sources…

• George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Ferdinand Andrews, Publisher, 1838), Vol. XII, pp. 399-411.
• George Washington, The Religious Opinions of Washington, E. C. M’Guire, editor (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1836).
• William Johnson, George Washington The Christian (1917).
• William Jackson Johnstone, How Washington Prayed (New York: The Abingdon Press, 1932).
• James D. Richardson, editor, The Messages and Papers of the Presidents (Published by the Authority of Congress, 1899), Vol. I, pp. 51-57 (1789), 64 (1789), 213-224 (1796), etc.
• George Washington, Address of George Washington, President of the United States, Late Commander in Chief of the American Army, to the People of the United States, Preparatory to his Declination (Baltimore: George & Henry S. Keatinge, 1796), pp. 22-23.
• George Washington, The Maxims of Washington (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1855).

REFERENCES

1. George Washington’s letter of August 20, 1778 to Brig. General Thomas Nelson, in John C. Fitzpatrick, editor, The Writings of George Washington, Vol. XII (Washinton: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1932), p. 343.
2. Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, Tennessee: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 103.
3. George Washington’s Circular to the States, June 8, 1783, in John C. Fitzpatrick, editor, The Writings of George Washington, Vol. XXVI (Washinton: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1932), p. 496.
4. George Washington’s Speech to Delaware Indian Chiefs on May 12, 1779, in John C. Fitzpatrick, editor, The Writings of George Washington, Vol. XV (Washinton: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1932), p. 55.

Courtesy of http://www.christiananswers.net/q-wall/wal-g011.html

America’s all-out spiritual battle, part 1

By Marsha West

“Two boys were walking home from Sunday school after hearing a strong preaching on the devil.

One said to the other, ‘What do you think about all this Satan stuff?’

The other boy replied, ‘Well, you know how Santa Claus turned out. It’s probably just your Dad.’”

What do you think about all the Satan stuff? Do you believe Satan exists? If you do, where do you think he hangs out? He must be a regular globe trotter. Every minute of the day, in every part of the world, exorcisms are being performed on people who are supposedly possessed by the devil. If these exorcisms are indeed legitimate the implication is that Satan can be in a million places at once.

According to Scripture Satan, a fallen angel, is a personal being. Note that Jesus used the personal pronoun when referring to him: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).

Logically, Satan can only be in one place at a time. So I’ve been giving his whereabouts some serious thought. To me it makes sense that he would be headquartered on Capitol Hill. But I could be wrong. Perhaps he’s in Iran or Pakistan or for that matter, even Hollywood. Regardless of where the “liar” resides, you’ve got to admit that some pretty powerful demonic forces are working their wiles on a number of our elected officials. I mean, think about it. The Left’s diabolical agenda most certainly is influenced by liars.

All kidding aside, the Bible contains quite a few references to angels and demons. A Bible believing Christian knows that the spirits are very real — a clear and present danger.

Even after I accepted Christ I remained skeptical of Satan and his legions of demons for quite some time. As I worked my way through the Bible I came to believe that there are indeed “spiritual forces of evil.” You first meet Satan (the serpent) in Genesis 3:1. He shows up in the Garden of Eden intent on tricking Eve into disobeying God. (More on Eve and the snake later.) In the last book of the Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, he finally gets his comeuppance. Without going into the gory details, let’s just say that Satan and his demons are sent spiraling into the abyss where they will cool (or warm) their heals for all eternity. God’s judgment is final, by the way. No spirit or human being sentenced to eternal punishment (Mat. 25:46) in the lake of burning sulfur (Rev. 20:10) gets out on good behavior — or for any reason!

But before Satan takes up permanent residence in the place prepared for him and his angles, and all those who reject the Son of God, he shall remain the “god of this world” (2Cor. 4:4). Answers.com explains Satan’s influence: “Satan is the major influence on the mind-set expressed by the ideals, opinions, goals, hopes and views of the majority of people. His areas of influence also encompass the world’s philosophies, education, and commerce. The thoughts, ideas, speculations and false religions of the world are under his control and have sprung from his lies and deceptions.”

Angels were created with a free will. When some of them exercised their free will and rebelled against God, He cast them out of heaven to earth. For thousands of years God has allowed these spirits to wreak havoc on this planet. And one has to admit they’re doing a pretty thorough job of it.

In Ephesians 6:12 Paul “outs” mankind’s true enemy:

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

The Bible calls the struggle “spiritual warfare.” Spiritual warfare has been ongoing since the Fall of Man. Although Satan has won a multitude of battles, in the end he will be the big loser.

A word of warning before I move on. Evil spirits have supernatural powers that man does not possess, never will possess, and should not endeavor to possess. Deceptive spirits have persuaded some people to think they are among the “enlightened ones” (EO). Allegedly EOs are a spiritually advanced order of philosophers and peacemakers. (Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey are said to be EOs. Joe Biden, not so much.) These folks believe they’re here to help usher in a new way of being on the planet. In other words, to help humans evolve to a higher plane of existence. Supposedly an EO possesses superior intellect, has been given extraordinary insights, and is magically empowered. Many EOs seek guidance from spirits.

In Scripture God makes it abundantly clear that spirits, including angels, are not to be evoked, called on, invited in or channeled. We should never try to connect with spirits and we certainly shouldn’t try to glean information from them. Jesus Himself often told the demons to keep quiet!

Christians who are in contact with so-called angels will read this article and get a little testy with me because they see nothing wrong in contacting angels — and they sure don’t want anyone raining on their parade! But here’s the thing. Getting a little wet sure beats getting struck by a lightening bolt from above.

The purpose of this article, in part, is to attempt to give sincere Christians a clear understanding of the Bible’s teaching on spiritual warfare and also to pass on some of the practices God strictly forbids.

One thing is clear. Contacting spirits or consulting mediums for any reason is forbidden. In other words, participating in the occult is taboo. (Deut. 18: 10-12) You ask, “Why does it matter to God?” As I pointed out, the spirits are malevolent. They are counterfeit…phony…fakes! (There are rumors that Adolph Hitler, who was an occultist, invoked the “Spirit of Anti-Christ” for guidance. Look where it got him!)

One final point. Many Christians have a misconception of “spiritual warfare.” Nowhere in Scripture does it say that believers are to go into enemy territory. God’s people, says Paul, are to be “strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” As well, we are admonished by Peter to, “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith…”

Be strong in the Lord! Resist the devil! Put on the full armor of God! When God’s people stand firm in their faith the tempters make tracks. (To help give Christians an inside look at angels and demons fighting for control of the mind of a back-slidden Christian, I wrote an allegory on the armor of God. Read it here http://emailbrigade.com/322.html)

AN ALL OUT SPIRITUAL BATTLE

Most of the “experts” now agree that our beloved country is in dire straits. Some of them have gone so far as to say that our economy is teetering on the brink of collapse but that remains to be seen.

Thanks largely to the secularization of America, the culture is becoming darker, more corrupt and perverse as time goes on. Almost everyone I know has gone through — or is currently going through — trials and tribulations. It seems people all over the globe are getting pummeled by evil forces! I would go so far as to say that there is an all out spiritual battle going on for the hearts and minds of men!

What’s behind this? I’ll use Paul’s terminology: rulers, authorities, powers, spiritual forces of evil in the supernatural realm. In other words, Satan and the fallen angels.

Some of you reading this article probably think I’ve gone ’round the bend. But keep in mind that a large number of rational people who resist the idea of the devil believe in angles. Many people believe in ghosts to include those of the dearly departed. Still others believe the planet is being visited by extraterrestrials. I don’t have the space to cover all of what people believe in, so I’ll move on.

Scripture clearly teaches that there are forces of good and evil occupying the heavenly realm. Angels are good, demons are evil. The chief of fallen angels has many names including Satan, Beelzebub and Belial. He’s called the old serpent, our adversary, god of this world, prince of darkness, father of lies, great dragon…enemy…deceiver… murderer…let’s leave it at that. Fallen angels are not benevolent beings. They do not come to impart wisdom and give guidance. On the contrary. They’re lying spirits! (1 Kings 22:22, 23; 2 Chron. 18: 21, 22) Moreover, they have nothing but contempt for humans. They are hell bent on destroying God’s entire creation.

If you’re not a Christian and you’re still reading this, you’ll be rolling your eyes about now. Fear not! The best is yet to come. Stay with me and you will see what many orthodox (conservative) Christians believe about angels and demons and why we believe it. Additionally, you’ll learn the ways in which Jesus and His apostles dealt with the devil. There will also be some examples of Satan’s victories in both the Church and the culture.

THE FATHER OF LIES

In our postmodern culture many self-identifying Christians deny that Satan, or the devil, actually exists. As I said, these same people readily admit to a belief in ghosts, angels, fairies, and extraterrestrials yet they reject the notion that Satan is real. Some skeptics think of the devil as a sort of mythological character while others say he’s merely a symbol of evil. Then there are those who think of him as a caricature. Parents who view him that way often dress their children in devil costumes on Halloween. Most of the costumes are a combination of red and black, have a long tail with a spear on the end, bat-like ears and a three pronged pitchfork. Women’s devil costumes are usually sexy.

Christians who read and study Scripture know that Satan relishes being thought of as a silly, or sexy, caricature. Most people have no fear of a person who goes around in red tights, sporting a cape and carrying a phony pitchfork. These sorts of devils are not taken seriously. I mean, why would anyone fear something so….ridiculous?

What we must remember is that Satan doesn’t wear a costume. He comes as one of us.

THE DEVIL WITHOUT TIGHTS

According to a number of Bible scholars, Isaiah 14: 12-15 tells the story of Lucifer, an archangel, who fell from God’s grace and became the devil. God tossed Lucifer out of heaven because he conspired to make his throne higher than the clouds. In other words, he contrived to dethrone God.

Lucifer is Latin for “morning star” or “light-bearer.” (In 2 Peter 1:19 morning star has no relation to Satan.) The way Isaiah describes him is a far cry from the way in which he’s viewed by our culture:

“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” (NIV for clarity)

Many people have heard the story of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman created by God. Adam and Eve were born with a free will. They did not have a sin nature. In the beginning there was no death. We learn from the book of Genesis that they made their home in the Garden of Eden. Then one day the wily serpent came to the garden with evil intent. He found Eve alone and, through lies and deceit, convinced her to disregard God’s command to Adam “…you must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for when you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:17) The serpent claimed that God had withheld knowledge that would make them like God and give them hidden wisdom. So Eve chose to disregard God’s warning and took a bite out of the fruit. The serpent was right as it relates to God withholding knowledge from them. However, the hidden knowledge turned out to be detrimental. The moment Eve ate of the fruit her eyes were opened…and sin came into the world. Eve handed the fruit to her husband and he also chose to disregard God’s command and ate the fruit. Adam and Eve went from God-centeredness to self-centeredness. When God confronted them with what they had done Adam blamed the whole thing on his wife! Adam and Eve’s sin (going against God) precipitated the Fall of Man. The consequence of sin is death. (2 Cor. 11:3) Because of the Fall, human beings are in bondage to sin and the kingdom of Satan.

© Marsha West

Courtesy of Renew America at http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/mwest/100406

 

The Magnificent Healing and Deliverance accomplished on The Cross of Christ

      

       We may never fully understand the magnificent work accomplished on the cross by Jesus Christ. It is so big and so monumental it is simply amazing. I want to talk to about one aspect of this wonderful work and that is the completing healing and restoration available at the cross. God truly is Yahweh Raphe-the God who heals us.  

       Sickness and disease do not originate with God but entered the world with the fall of Adam and the corruption and pollution of sin that infiltrated the entire creation. Mankind became terribly marred by sin, evil, sorrow, and the countless disorders that plague the physical, emotional, mental, and behavioral components of man’s being. The entire human race groans and travails under the heavy burdens and consequences that result from sin and the Fall. These burdens include sickness, emotional illness, behavior dysfunctions, death, heartaches, loneliness, famine, bereavement, disease, loss, futility, fear, depression, hopelessness, and everything else that is contrary to God’s loving design and desire for His creation. How sorely mankind is need of a healer! Yahweh-Rapha steadfastly desires to repair these blotches on His beautiful handiwork and heal, repair, and restore His creation to its proper function and beauty. Yahweh-Rapha earnestly wants to repair men and women who are the crowning glory of His works and restore their dignity, giving them complete deliverance from the bondage of sin. This complete redemptive healing can only be accomplished through Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross and in His resurrection. Just as Moses cast the tree in the waters of Marah and made the bitter water sweet, Jesus Christ was crucified upon a tree to take away the bitter waters of sin and restore the sweet living waters of healing and restoration to all those who come to Him. The healing tree of Calvary provides redemptive healing and wholeness.  

I Peter 2:24 (King James Version):                             

Who his own self bare our sins in his own

body on the tree, that we, being dead to

sins, should live unto righteousness: by

whose stripes ye were healed. 

Galatians 3:13 (NIV): 

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the

law, being made a curse for us, for it is

written, “Cursed is everyone who is hung

on a tree.”

             Jesus Christ paid the full and complete price for our redemption on the tree of Calvary by not only bearing our every sin, but also by bearing our sicknesses and our pains. Jesus Christ redeemed us from the bondage of the curse of the law, and part of that curse was sickness and disease. Physical, mental, and spiritual healing is an integral part of the atonement and salvation that God made available by sending His only begotten Son to a world plagued with sin, sickness, and disease. In the Greek, “to be saved” means to be made whole, and that not only includes remission and forgiveness of sins, but also includes a physical restoration and healing of the body and soul. Jesus Christ was our complete substitute on the cross, as God made Christ to be sin for us as He died in our place so we could be made free from the penalty of sin. But the cross of Christ is much more, as God also laid upon that cross every sickness, every infirmity, every disease, and every pain that has inflicted and tormented the human race since the fall of Adam.  All the bitterness that infiltrated the world from the curse of the Fall was laid on the cross of Christ, and He broke the authority and power of sin, sickness, disease, and death. Jesus Christ broke the power of the curse and made life sweet again. God gave us a new nature and made us a new creation in Christ. The old ways of sin, sickness, pain, disease, and physical or mental infirmity have no more authority over the born again believer, who chooses by faith to walk in their redemptive sonship rights. The cross made available the promised blessing of salvation, and this includes the blessing of sweet healing to our mind, body, and soul.

            Christ’s awesome redemptive work enables us to live in righteousness and reign as kings in life, enjoying the more than abundant and good life that God has so richly and freely given us in Christ. According to Ephesians 4:8, Jesus Christ led captivity captive, and we no longer have to be in bondage or under the oppression of anything, for we have been delivered and made free. Anything that could ever hold you in captivity or bondage, Jesus Christ triumphed over it by leading it captive to the cross he bore at Calvary. Oh, that the Christian Church might see how big their redemption is in Christ! Oh, that the Christian church might see how much was accomplished for them at Calvary. We were justified, made righteous, sanctified, made whole, given a new nature, healed, delivered, set free and glorified by our Lord’s wonderful atonement and redemption accomplished at Calvary. The power of the devil was broken and paralyzed, and he became eternally defeated against the children of the living God. 

            I Peter 2:24 clearly proclaims that “by his stripes we have been healed.”  The word “stripes” in the Greek is a welt, wale, bruise or wound caused by blows; it is the mark left on the body by the beating with a rod or a whip or the fist; it is a lashing that draws blood. It literally means a “battle face” which is a face that looks like it has been through an extreme battle, war, or fight. In the Hebrew, it means: the mark or print of blows in the skin. Jesus Christ was subject to savage beatings by the religious leaders and the Romans over a period of time of about forty (40) hours, from the time of his arrest until the time of his death. The vicious blows on the body of Jesus Christ began during his illegal trial, when one of the officers of the temple was offended by Jesus’ remark to Annas, the high priest, and struck him with a rod (more accurate translation from the Greek). The Greek word “smitest” in John 18:23, describing this beating, means “to skin, flay or scourge.” The rod would have been a thin, flexible whip-like cane. Upon hitting the face, it would easily bend and wrap around the face, cutting the flesh.  

            The second record in the Gospels of the stripes that Jesus Christ bore for you is after the illegal sentence of death by the high priest, scribes, and elders. The high priest’s servants, the guards, the religious leaders and the mob began to spit on him after the mock trial, and covered his face and began to strike and beat him with their palms and with rods, mocking the Son of God. The Greek words used in the Gospel accounts indicate that they skinned, flayed, or thrashed him with their hand, fist, rod, or weapon and violently beat and pummeled him with repeated blows. This opened terrible wounds on the body and face of Jesus.

            Later the Romans would brutally beat and flog Jesus beginning with the scourging ordered by Pontius Pilate. The soldiers stripped Jesus, tied him to a post, and savagely flogged him. The Romans used a scourge of cords or leather thongs to which were attached pieces of lead, brass, or small sharp pieces of bone. The whipping on the bare back would hideously gouge the flesh, literally plowing it loose from the ribs and vertebrae. In Word Studies of the Greek New Testament, Wuest expounds more on this brutal Roman scourging:

Criminals condemned to crucifixion were ordinarily

scourged before being executed. The victim was

stripped to the waist and bound in a stooping position,

with the hands behind the back, to a post or pillar.

The suffering under the lash was intense. The body

was frightfully lacerated. The Christian martyrs at

Smyrna about A.D. 155 were so torn by the scourges

that their veins were laid bare, and the inner muscles

and sinews and even the bowels were exposed. The

Greek word translated “stripes” refers to a bloody wale   

trickling with blood that arises under a blow. The word

is singular, not plural. Peter remembered the body of

our Lord after the scourging, the flesh so dreadfully

mangled that the disfigured  form appeared in his eyes

as one single bruise. Thus we have the portrait of the

suffering Servant of Yahweh. His blessed face so

pummeled by the hard fists of the mob that  it did not

look like a human face anymore. His back lacerated 

by the Roman scourge so that it was one mass of open,

raw, quivering flesh trickling with blood.

            The effects of this scourging are vividly described in Psalms.

Psalm 129:3 (KJV):

The plowers plowed upon my back; they made

long their furrows. 

            Rows of ploughed flesh lined Jesus’ back from these beatings, as his back looked like a freshly ploughed field with deep furrows. Yet the brutal beatings and stripes that Jesus Christ bore for your healing was not done. After the death sentence by crucifixion, Pilate sent Jesus into the judgment hall, the Praetorium, with a cohort of four to six hundred Roman soldiers, who gathered to mock and torture him some more. They put on his head a crown of thorns, composed of twigs broken off from a thorny plant which grew on wasteland nearby.  These thorns were long, sharp, and re-curved and were driven into his scalp causing festering wounds and profuse bleeding.  They viciously flogged Jesus again as the cruel mocking and terrible scourging lasted into the night, and in the morning they dragged Jesus out of the judgment hall to be crucified.

            God gave Isaiah revelation concerning this brutality of our Lord’s sacrifice for us.

Isaiah 50:6 (Holman Christian Standard Bible):

I gave my back to those who beat Me, and

My cheeks to those who tore out My beard.

I did not hide my face from scorn and spitting.    

Isaiah 52:14 (NIV):

Just as there were many who were appalled at

Him-his appearance was so disfigured beyond

that of any man and his form marred beyond

human likeness.

New Jerusalem Bible:

As many people were aghast at him-he was so

inhumanly disfigured that he no longer looked

like a man.

            All of the devilish forces of hell were unleashed upon the body of Jesus, and he was beaten so badly that it grossly disfigured his appearance beyond human likeness. You could hardly even recognize that he was a man as they ravaged his back and face with cruel scourging, and viciously pummeled his face with their fists and rods, even ripping out his beard. His body was a massive bloody mess of torn and ripped flesh that caused him extreme agony and pain. Jesus went through this unimaginable physical and mental torture to pay the price for our sins, our sicknesses, our pains, and our infirmities. At any moment during this torment and anguish, Jesus could have called 72,000 angels to stop the madness and free him from this torture (Matthew 26:53). But he chose instead to endure the cross, to endure the pain, to endure the beatings, to endure the mocking and to endure the torture because he loved you and me. When Jesus was beaten, mocked and crucified, he had you on his mind. Jesus would have gone through all the agony of the crucifixion for you, even if you would have been the only person who would ever believe and be saved. That is how special and valuable you are to our Lord.

           Hebrews 12 tells us that with great joy Jesus endured the cross, because he knew he was paying the price for our complete deliverance and redemption. Jesus died in our stead; he paid the penalty for our sin and its consequences; he bore our sins, our sicknesses, our pains and our infirmities; he was savagely beaten and crucified for you so that he could justify you, make you righteous, sanctify you, and bring you into the family of God as a son and daughter. He broke the authority of sin, sickness, and disease by his sacrifice on the cross. He delivered us from the authority and power of darkness and gave us full citizenship in his kingdom. What a Savior! What a Lord! The love of Christ is so big that it is beyond human understanding that Jesus would bear the ultimate physical and mental torture and gross disfigurement of the crucifixion and die on the cross for you and me. We are made whole by the blood he shed for us and the body he allowed to be broken for us. 

            The prophet Isaiah further expounds on what Jesus bore on his cross and the physical, mental and spiritual healing that are part of our redemption. 

Isaiah 53:3-7 (KJV):

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of

sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as

it were our faces from him; he was despised, and

we esteemed him not. 

Surely he hath borne our griefs (Hebrew choliy-sickness)

and carried our sorrows (Hebrew-makob-pains: both

physical and mental): yet we did esteem him stricken,

smitten of God and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was

bruised (Hebrew-shalowm-crushed, broken, shattered)

for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was

upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned

everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on

him the iniquity of us all.

            The Word of God proclaims that Jesus bore our sicknesses and carried our pains. God emphasizes this indisputable truth by the word “surely” in verse 4, which means “truly, certainly and absolutely” and indicates its stability, faithfulness, firmness, and truth. God wanted to leave no doubt in your mind as to this firm truth that all of your sicknesses and pains were absolutely and certainly borne on the cross of Christ. The word “borne” in the Hebrew means: to lift up, to be taken away, to be carried off, to be swept away, and to move by bearing. The word “carry” in the Hebrew means: to bear a heavy load or burden. Both words do not just mean suffering, but denote an actual substitution and a complete removal of the thing borne.  Jesus took upon himself every sickness, every pain, and every sin known to man, and paid the price for each one, effectively discharging their power and bondage over us. Your sicknesses, your pains, your sins and all of their consequences passed from you to Calvary and salvation, health, deliverance, and peace flowed from Calvary to you. Jesus Christ was our complete substitute for sin and its consequences, which includes sickness, disease, infirmity, depression, anxiety, weakness, oppression, and all bitterness of mind and body.

            Yahweh-Rapha accomplished complete healing on the cross of Jesus Christ and reversed the destruction of the curse brought by the fall of Adam. With Jesus’ brutal stripes that ripped his body apart, we have been healed. Remember-the word healed means: to cure, to cause to live, to revive, to make healthful, to restore, to repair, to mend and to make whole. How wonderful and magnificent is this blessing of healing that is inherent in our redemption. There is awesome physical, mental, and spiritual healing in our salvation that floods our entire being with healing wholeness and restores, repairs, and mends every bitter disease of body, heart, and soul. This sweet healing causes us to live in peace and contentment, and enables us to have a living, deep, and intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. Yahweh-Rapha wants us to live healthful, vibrant and vivacious lives on the earth. Yahweh-Rapha wants us to have absolute mental health, where our minds are renewed to the truth of his Word and our thinking is pure and unpolluted by the fears, anxieties, and worries of this age. No longer do we have to be in bondage to any depression, any thought of inadequacy, any feeling of unworthiness, any fear of doom, or any gloominess, because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ paid the price for our mental healing and brought mighty deliverance and freedom through his redeeming work on the cross. 

From Tim Rowe’s Book “The Magnificent Goodness of God and How it Will Transform Your Life.”