Esther 4:14
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
The story of Esther is one of the most dramatic books in all of scripture. The story of Jewish girl taken by force to be part of the Kings harem to choose a new bride from who is chosen to be queen. Dire circumstances fell and increased government persecution of Gods people came to a boiling point when a descendent of a former enemy of the Jews gains power and influence and tries to have all the Jews put to death. Esther must then use her position, defy the formal protocols of the land, possible facing death as a result to stand up and make it be known to the king exactly what was up.
The above verse came at the time when she was being asked to stand up for Gods people and proclaim the truth, even if it meant her demise. We today are facing hard times. While we are not yet at the point of being annihilated, we are at the point of having our ability to live and express our faith openly taken away. The full force of government is being used to try and make us go against our God with the threat of loss of property, livelihood, family. We are regularly ridiculed and lied about, demonized by those who wish to silence us.
Looming in the backdrop of all this is an old enemy of Christendom; Islam. For 1400 years those who follow Mohamed have been venturing on a quest for world domination and the extermination of Christians and Jews. Unbelievers here side with them and give them favored status, while attacking and removing all symbols and remembrances of Christendom from our national memory.
In modern memory we can still look back and see what happened in Germany to the Jews and see very eerie similarities to what is starting to take place in the US. The German government too gave favored status to Muslims while attacking and removing anything Jewish from German memory. They, like has begun here, were being made as the scapegoats. All that was wrong could be placed squarely on Gods people and if only they were not there, we could evolve into the great human utopian era.
Now is the time for believers to stand up and proclaim the truth of God to the nation and to the world. It is time we stand up and live our beliefs faithfully and recommit ourselves to do that which God wills us to do. It is time to stand up and call out the evildoers and expose what they are doing. For if we remain silent at this time, God will raise up those voices elsewhere and we will not be spared. Who knows whether we have been placed here for a time such as this?
Showing posts with label persecution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label persecution. Show all posts
2015/07/19
2014/08/31
Drama in the Weather
I suppose the world of weather is not unlike the rest of the world. There are always people ready to criticize, ready to pounce on an error, ready to believe that their own knowledge or skill is superior to that of another, and that others don't know what they are talking about. Maybe it is just a sign of the times, or of the upcoming generation, but it feels like that this is getting worse and worse as time goes along.
In the weather world, this sort of criticism is far more critical. People get upset because a forecast did not occur exactly as predicted in their driveway. It doesn't matter that the forecast was right for the region and occurred exactly as expected, if that rain did not fall on their yard, you are an idiot. Most of these types of people really don't know anything about the weather to begin with. They don't understand that predicting the future isn't exactly easy.
The ones that are worst though are those folks who think they know something. Well, they do know something about weather and have experience and training, but, they don't seem to think they have the same predictive limitations that face us all.
About a week and a half ago, for example, someone had made a report to the local weather service office of observing a rotating wall cloud. Another amateur meteorologist jumped all over the report and ridiculed the person because they thought the conditions were such that this would not happen. They figured it had to be some idiot who had no clue what he was looking at made an erroneous report. Oh and did the people pile on their FB post all piling on the stupid person who made that report. There was one problem with this... The person who made the report was correct. I had observed and filmed it prior to the report.
There also seems to be a rigidity in folks that expects other people to be perfect. Good example happened to me last night. I was going through weather data for the upcoming weekend and based on what I had observed and read put out my forecast. Within a number of minutes I was getting more feedback on that one post than I had gotten in weeks of correct forecasts. One of the pages I was getting info from had not fully updated their information when I viewed it so I saw two days of weather information that was supposed to be one. It was changed after I had viewed and gone over the info. Ooops, I goofed (or they did), and the forecast 3 days out was wrong.
That one minor and correctable error brought people out of the woodwork with criticism. Why? People are so quick to criticize others while excusing themselves. People need to recognize their own imperfection and extend the same courtesy of excuse to others that they claim for themselves. It is a principle that extends beyond weather and into every facet of life.
Jesus Christ had put it this way in Luke 6:31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. I don't think most people like to be criticized, or made fun of, or have the inevitable mistakes pounced on. I think we would like people to gently point out and/or correct our errors, be forgiving of the gaffs we may make, and to be praised for the good work we do. What a monumental world changing thing it would be if people would follow that one simple verse.
In the weather world, this sort of criticism is far more critical. People get upset because a forecast did not occur exactly as predicted in their driveway. It doesn't matter that the forecast was right for the region and occurred exactly as expected, if that rain did not fall on their yard, you are an idiot. Most of these types of people really don't know anything about the weather to begin with. They don't understand that predicting the future isn't exactly easy.
The ones that are worst though are those folks who think they know something. Well, they do know something about weather and have experience and training, but, they don't seem to think they have the same predictive limitations that face us all.
About a week and a half ago, for example, someone had made a report to the local weather service office of observing a rotating wall cloud. Another amateur meteorologist jumped all over the report and ridiculed the person because they thought the conditions were such that this would not happen. They figured it had to be some idiot who had no clue what he was looking at made an erroneous report. Oh and did the people pile on their FB post all piling on the stupid person who made that report. There was one problem with this... The person who made the report was correct. I had observed and filmed it prior to the report.
There also seems to be a rigidity in folks that expects other people to be perfect. Good example happened to me last night. I was going through weather data for the upcoming weekend and based on what I had observed and read put out my forecast. Within a number of minutes I was getting more feedback on that one post than I had gotten in weeks of correct forecasts. One of the pages I was getting info from had not fully updated their information when I viewed it so I saw two days of weather information that was supposed to be one. It was changed after I had viewed and gone over the info. Ooops, I goofed (or they did), and the forecast 3 days out was wrong.
That one minor and correctable error brought people out of the woodwork with criticism. Why? People are so quick to criticize others while excusing themselves. People need to recognize their own imperfection and extend the same courtesy of excuse to others that they claim for themselves. It is a principle that extends beyond weather and into every facet of life.
Jesus Christ had put it this way in Luke 6:31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. I don't think most people like to be criticized, or made fun of, or have the inevitable mistakes pounced on. I think we would like people to gently point out and/or correct our errors, be forgiving of the gaffs we may make, and to be praised for the good work we do. What a monumental world changing thing it would be if people would follow that one simple verse.
2014/07/04
The Babies Bathwater
Often times we wonder where it is that we strayed. Not just personally, but collectively. There was a time where the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in His word the Bible was the foundation for us as individuals, families, communities, regions, states, and as a nation. It was such an infused part of most everyone lifestyles and our overall culture that Christianity and the United States were seen as inseparable.
Now we look around today and see all manner of ungodliness occurring and accepted as normal. Our own leader has even declared that we are no longer a Christian nation, and he is right. In the void left by peoples lack of personal responsibility as forged by their fear of the Lord, government has stepped into that role as God and savior of the people. Because of peoples immoralities, government has had to make laws that infringe upon every aspect of our lives. We as a people can no linger be trusted to do what is right. Sadly though, those same people are in the government trying to tell us what is right.
We know the situation we are in, but we do wonder how we got here. The last couple of weeks and a little light bulb action from above and I think I can put a finger on a least a good portion of what happened. I've talked to a lot of different people from a lot of different churches and other beliefs as well as no belief at all. It seems like everyone has their own doctrine, and it has gotten to the point where unless you are in lock step with what the other believes, you are a heretic, a false teacher, someone to be shunned. The Love of God does not reside with many any longer. The Gospel of Christ has been replaced with doctrines of men. We are full of pride and arrogance. We are backbiters, and lovers of self. I say these things with great shame.
This I don't believe is an accident. The enemy has always set about to divide and conquer. Many of the divisions are like long lasting feuds that linger on and on even to the point where no one remembers what really started it, but they all know their talking points and have their preconceived ideas to label each other with. It's gotten to be a free for all or a witch hunt where everyone is pointing fingers and yelling FALSE TEACHER!
I think this goes on because we are so woefully illiterate biblically. Many folks know the scriptures... the ones that support their church doctrine. Show them some others that contradict that and hoo boy, thems fightin words. Others know so much that they literally can't see the forest through the trees. They have gone to colleges and were taught under liberal professors who sliced and diced, shaked and baked that Bible so much that it was left looking like a lump of unrecognizable slop.
This fear of false teachers is a big one. We have whole segments of the gospel torn away because we are afraid of false teaching. This is where we throw the baby out with the bathwater. Many folks are horribly weak in faith because they threw out the scriptures about faith because there was a word of faith false teaching. So as to avoid going anywhere near there, they throw out the teachings on faith. Because we have charlatans running around with their miracle circus', many throw out completely that God can and does work supernaturally in our lives and will heal and deliver us. People are so afraid to be under the law that they want to throw out the law completely as if it did not exist. then there are others who throw out everything God says about prospering us in our lives because they are afraid of the false prosperity gospel. And it goes on.
The only way to safely navigate oneself through all of this mess is by getting into the word themselves and setting aside the teachings of the church or a particular teacher and do so with a sincere heart in asking God to reveal the truth to you. The Holy spirit will guide the sincere heart in the path to take and safely guide us through the dark and dangerous forests of doubt, disbelief, and skepticism.
Will it be an easy journey? No. Friends, family, strangers, everyone might accuse you, negate you, get mad at you, deny you, abandon you... and yes, there are times where they could even hurt or kill you for the sake of the truth of the Gospel. Remember that it was the religious folks that put Jesus to death. Jesus assures us that for His sake people will indeed hate you and persecute you. He tells us to count it all joy when this happens. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is all that matters though. Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life; no man going to the father but by Him. You won't get to heaven following a church doctrine or a teaching of men.
Read your bibles, and talk to God as you do. Let your questions and concerns be known to him. His spirit will answer a sincere heart.
2014/03/13
Dear Diary
I was walking along, minding my own business, when all of a sudden something caught my eye that seemed out of place. Indeed it was something that was out of place. It was some sort of binder that had gotten left behind by someone. Forgetting that I had been minding my own business I began investigating the object.
The outside was covered with doodles and band names and such. There were little flowers and puppy dogs and the like drawn randomly around. It seemed pretty obvious that this belonged to a teenage girl. Upon holding the item, it appeared to be extra heavy to one side. Feeling around it seemed like a small book size. I was thinking maybe something like an ipad; something of value. I probably needed to find if there was some sort of lost and found nearby, or some sort of official place for this to go. Curiosity got the best of me though and I thought I had better look inside to confirm my suspicions and see if there was any sort of identification that would reconnect this lost item with its owner.
I unzipped the zipper and opened up the binder thing. Sitting there staring at me was a little red book with silver edged pages titled with big bold letters.... My Life.
Ok, so what would you do? Of course I totally abandon the "minding my own business" and opened up the book and found myself reading the diary of a teenage girl. For some reason I felt a little giddy about the possible entertainment I might come across. Stories of puppy love? Perhaps a little juicy gossip about a cheerleader? Or how boring the history teacher was? That is not what I found.
On the first page I opened to, I began reading about a friend of this girl... how she had been bullied by others in the school... how she had committed suicide because of the bullying. I began reading about the pain and confusion of this girl trying to figure out why bullies could be so mean to drive someone to kill themselves. I read of the loneliness and emptiness this girl felt by her friends absence, and the anger at those who could not leave her friend alone.
I closed the book. I could not read any more. I cursed myself for having let my curiosity get the best of me, and cursed the bullies who could cause so much hurt to others. I said a silent prayer for the girl who wrote out her feelings there, never expecting that anyone besides herself would ever read those words.
It hit me hard too because I could relate to this story. I was once a victim of bullies, and their relentless attacks. It ruined my middle school years all the way until late my sophomore year. I hated going to school to have to face it every day. No one seemed to understand. No one was there to support me. Day after day, the jokes, the pranks, the physical abuse.... I did not think it would ever end. That is where that girl was who committed suicide.
I wish for her that someone had known. If there had been someone who would have helped her through, helped her to feel loved, helped her to feel she was not alone. Did her parents know? Or did they just seem to pile on top of it? Did her friends know? Or did they just seem dismissive? Did anyone try to share the love of Christ with her? For me those were all no's as I went through my own private hell. She could not take it anymore and snapped, ending her life. I snapped too, but lashed out on the bully.
We need to watch out for others. We never know what a person is going through. We will never know if a kind word or gesture in a given moment could be a life saver. We never know if showing and sharing the love of Jesus might at a moment be preventing another suicide. If you see bullying say something. Don't be afraid to step up and defend the person being bullied. It is never cool to call people names, or belittle them, or abuse them in any way. It is evil.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Love others in the same way Christ loved us, putting them first, and ourselves last.
Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, only that which will lift others up.
Don't be selfish. If someone has a need, meet it if you can. If they are hungry, feed them. Thirsty? Give them a drink. Need clothes? give and share.
Love is patient, kind. It is not jealous. It does not boast of self, or brag. It does not act badly, nor is it selfish. It is not easily provoked. Love thinks no evil nor has fun in doing wrong, but instead rejoices in truth. It bears all, believes all, hopes all, endures all. Love never fails.
Those are all scriptures and are bully beaters. Do good to those who use and abuse you. Let God take your vengeance, for it is His. Pray for the bullies.
How is that possible? You don't know what they have done to me? Maybe not, but there is one who does. His name is Jesus. He was bullied, beaten, abused, mocked, made fun of, and chased away. And He was God. He could have at any time called down legions of angels to stop others. He did not though. He still loved those who hated him without a cause. Jesus had done no wrong to anyone, but was hated so much he was put to death. He did this to save you. He knows just what you are going through. Believe on Him and you will be saved. Trust in Him and He will enable you, through His spirit, to be able to be obedient to loving your enemies and doing good to those who persecute you. And you have His promise that you will never be alone for He will never leave you nor forsake you.
The outside was covered with doodles and band names and such. There were little flowers and puppy dogs and the like drawn randomly around. It seemed pretty obvious that this belonged to a teenage girl. Upon holding the item, it appeared to be extra heavy to one side. Feeling around it seemed like a small book size. I was thinking maybe something like an ipad; something of value. I probably needed to find if there was some sort of lost and found nearby, or some sort of official place for this to go. Curiosity got the best of me though and I thought I had better look inside to confirm my suspicions and see if there was any sort of identification that would reconnect this lost item with its owner.
I unzipped the zipper and opened up the binder thing. Sitting there staring at me was a little red book with silver edged pages titled with big bold letters.... My Life.
Ok, so what would you do? Of course I totally abandon the "minding my own business" and opened up the book and found myself reading the diary of a teenage girl. For some reason I felt a little giddy about the possible entertainment I might come across. Stories of puppy love? Perhaps a little juicy gossip about a cheerleader? Or how boring the history teacher was? That is not what I found.
On the first page I opened to, I began reading about a friend of this girl... how she had been bullied by others in the school... how she had committed suicide because of the bullying. I began reading about the pain and confusion of this girl trying to figure out why bullies could be so mean to drive someone to kill themselves. I read of the loneliness and emptiness this girl felt by her friends absence, and the anger at those who could not leave her friend alone.
I closed the book. I could not read any more. I cursed myself for having let my curiosity get the best of me, and cursed the bullies who could cause so much hurt to others. I said a silent prayer for the girl who wrote out her feelings there, never expecting that anyone besides herself would ever read those words.
It hit me hard too because I could relate to this story. I was once a victim of bullies, and their relentless attacks. It ruined my middle school years all the way until late my sophomore year. I hated going to school to have to face it every day. No one seemed to understand. No one was there to support me. Day after day, the jokes, the pranks, the physical abuse.... I did not think it would ever end. That is where that girl was who committed suicide.
I wish for her that someone had known. If there had been someone who would have helped her through, helped her to feel loved, helped her to feel she was not alone. Did her parents know? Or did they just seem to pile on top of it? Did her friends know? Or did they just seem dismissive? Did anyone try to share the love of Christ with her? For me those were all no's as I went through my own private hell. She could not take it anymore and snapped, ending her life. I snapped too, but lashed out on the bully.
We need to watch out for others. We never know what a person is going through. We will never know if a kind word or gesture in a given moment could be a life saver. We never know if showing and sharing the love of Jesus might at a moment be preventing another suicide. If you see bullying say something. Don't be afraid to step up and defend the person being bullied. It is never cool to call people names, or belittle them, or abuse them in any way. It is evil.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Love others in the same way Christ loved us, putting them first, and ourselves last.
Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, only that which will lift others up.
Don't be selfish. If someone has a need, meet it if you can. If they are hungry, feed them. Thirsty? Give them a drink. Need clothes? give and share.
Love is patient, kind. It is not jealous. It does not boast of self, or brag. It does not act badly, nor is it selfish. It is not easily provoked. Love thinks no evil nor has fun in doing wrong, but instead rejoices in truth. It bears all, believes all, hopes all, endures all. Love never fails.
Those are all scriptures and are bully beaters. Do good to those who use and abuse you. Let God take your vengeance, for it is His. Pray for the bullies.
How is that possible? You don't know what they have done to me? Maybe not, but there is one who does. His name is Jesus. He was bullied, beaten, abused, mocked, made fun of, and chased away. And He was God. He could have at any time called down legions of angels to stop others. He did not though. He still loved those who hated him without a cause. Jesus had done no wrong to anyone, but was hated so much he was put to death. He did this to save you. He knows just what you are going through. Believe on Him and you will be saved. Trust in Him and He will enable you, through His spirit, to be able to be obedient to loving your enemies and doing good to those who persecute you. And you have His promise that you will never be alone for He will never leave you nor forsake you.
2014/01/14
Prosperity or Persecution?
Recently, I posted a praise report on my Facebook page. It read as follows: I was going shopping at Wal-mart this evening. Before I got in the parking lot, I thought I heard God say he'd save me a front row spot, in an aisle where I would be facing away from the store. So, I go in the lot a few minutes later. I'm rolling along slowly, stopping to let people and other cars by, crossed the whole store to the far exit when right then, someone pulls out of the first spot, and I rolled right in. That's not all. In the store, I got the first cashier with nobody in line while the other lines were into the aisles. I zipped right through. That's not all. I got permission to go to McDonalds. When I went to the store, it was packed. When I stopped on the way back, not a single car in the drive thru. This is rush hour mind you, the whole time. And people laughed at John Osteen for saying God saves us parking spots. We serve a great and mighty God.
It certainly did not take long to hear some chime in with the negative. I heard about how we were only promised suffering in life. I heard about how if we are not being chastised by God, that we must not be His. I heard about how we are not blessed in material ways in this life. I heard about how God is not our magic genie to make our lives all comfy. Why is it so hard for people to accept the idea that at times, God may choose to bless His children with good things? And why would a praise report about the goodness of God make people react as if you have uttered some profanity? Maybe it was the Osteen reference, but I dealt with that issue on my last blog.
All throughout the Bible, we see the promises of blessing on those who believed. A quick perusal of the Book of Proverbs will quickly show this. Proverbs 10: 4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. Is that not a promise from God? There are many more in this book and the other 65 books to be found. Mathew 7: 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? If God knows the very number of the hairs on your head, don’t you think he would be intimately involved in your daily goings on?
On the other hand, we also see throughout the bible men being tested, scorned, and persecuted. Look at what Joseph went through, and Job, and Jesus himself. We can cite a number of examples where we are told to shun riches and worldly things and look to spiritual things. Mathew 6: 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Numbers of other examples can be found.
It seems to happen that people run to the extremes. Some will solely focus on teaching only prosperity and leave out the suffering. Others will focus on the suffering and forget about the blessings. Each of those extremes will miss out on what the real message is. You won’t handle suffering well if you think God only blesses, and you will pass on great blessings if you think this life is only about suffering. Neither one is the full council of God.
The truth is that there is a balance. When we submit ourselves to god, we are His to do with as He so pleases. If it pleases Him to bless us, we are so blessed. If it pleases Him to try us, we are so blessed, for we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28) I close with these words from Ecclesiastics 3
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
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