What is important about this election?

How is Tim going to vote?

I have been asked many times of the past few weeks and have refused to answer, mainly because I like to first research, then pray. I research first so I know how to pray.

I vote issues. I don't vote men or women, age, skin color, ethnic background, political party, nor how they grew up. What matters is what they believe in and how it relates to the Word of God. Please understand I don’t vote only for Christians. If I did I would hardly vote for anyone. Being a Christian is not about whether you claim to believe in God or claim to be a Christian. Jesus said if you love me you would keep my commandments. Keeping the commandants requires knowledge of God’s Word and living God’s Word. I am sorry to say is rare in our political process today. However, there are some very devout men and women of God running for office. I believe I am responsible before God to vote for the ones who most reflect godly principles.

It is also critical to understand that I believe regardless of who is elected God’s will, will be done. We have Israel as an example. God would allow godly and ungodly kings to rule over both Israel and Judah. Even the ungodly served His purpose in drawing the nation back to Himself. As a Christian my destiny is not held by who is in office but by God. I must do everything I can to surrender to him daily (take up my cross daily and follow Him) and be the salt and light to ultimately bring freedom to millions of people around the world. I do believe certain philosophies held by our government can make that easier or harder in the natural arena, so I vote.

Here are some of my issues.

Marriage

Many will say it is the Old Testament that condemns acts of homosexuality and that Jesus never spoke against the flagrant homosexuality displayed among the Romans during his lifetime. I believe Jesus did make God’s plan and purpose for mankind very clear. Mark 10 and Matthew 19 both affirm God’s plan for mankind.

And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. ⁶But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ ⁷‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Mark 10: 5 - 9

This doesn’t give us license to ridicule, make fun of, or in any way hate those in a homosexual life style. I believe that is part of why the war for the defense of marriage is going on. Christians have allowed hatred and prejudice toward homosexuals to reign rather than the love of God. The love of God does not mean that I accept what the Bible calls sin as normal or acceptable behavior. It does mean that I must love them and help them to come to freedom. Giving homosexuals the right to marriage only promotes their sin to a level of acceptance. It is sin, we must not become co-dependent as a society and allow sin to be considered healthy. Marriage between one man and one woman is God’s ideal. Abraham, David, Solomon, and many others failed also to live up to that ideal.

Life

This is a core value in the Kingdom of God. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Moloch an ancient Ammonite god is still being worshiped today. Moloch required the sacrifice of children as an act of worship (1 Kings 11, 2 Kings 23, Jeremiah 32, and 49). Today we have sacrificed many under the guise of convenience; over 53 million children have been exterminated to the god Moloch in the United States alone. Our economy is suffering because 53 million who could be in the work force, 1/6 of our population are simply missing. Many are missing from art, science, engineering and other fields. Over half of those aborted have been female. So while this is done in the name of women’s rights it is at the same time an attack on women.

It is genocide against African Americans; this is the real race war. African Americans proportionally are the largest group having abortions. African American women are 5 times more likely to have an abortion than white woman. While they make up 13% of the population, African American women have 36% of all the abortions, to me that sounds like genocide. Nearly 1/3 of the African American population is missing.

 Abortions have been linked to incidents of breast cancer. A Howard University study has shown that women who have had an abortion are 5 times more likely to develop breast cancer than women who have not. The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation made a correct decision to stop supporting planned parenthood if they really do want to help stop breast cancer. Politics of abortion is not about rights or freedom it is about money.

Debt

The borrower is a slave to a lender (Proverbs 22:7). This is pure and undefiled religion that we care for widows and orphans (James 1:27). Our debt has been increasing over the last decade. Under President Bush his 8 year term gave us a deficit of 5 trillion dollars. Under President Obama’s 4 year term that deficit has grown and additional 6.5 trillion dollars. Our present deficit is 16.5 trillion dollars. I can’t even grasp that number. We are in debt to China and others which makes us a slave to these governments. If we want to pressure them for human rights violations or for fair trade practices, they hold us by the throat because they hold our debt. This is not the worst of it!

Most of our debt is to Social Security. At least 2/3 of the debt we owe has been taken from our parent’s futures and ours. The widow’s money has been stolen and I can’t see, except for and extreme change in the way we spend money, that money will ever be returned. The widows and orphans have been robbed. Our future has been stolen. God can’t bless when we intentionally hurt the poor and widowed. It is defiled faith not undefiled! Printing more money does not solve the problem. President Obama believes that we are a household in trouble and the answer to our money issues is to pay our debts with a credit card. If we borrow more we can work our way out. Governor Romney believes we need to look at our spending and cut to come back to a place where we can afford to live. Both plans will cause us pain. Governor Romney’s will cause us pain as a country in the immediate future and President Obama’s will cause us pain in the future. Think about both of these approaches, if these were your personal finances which would you do to solve the problem?

Energy Independence

Jesus did not talk about energy independence, obviously, but I believe in some ways this also comes under the idea of being a slave of the borrower. As long as we are not independent with our energy needs we will always need to serve those who hold our “energy life” in their hands. Since President Jimmy Carter, every President has stated that we must become “energy independent”. Despite all of their best efforts it still hasn’t happened.

Much of the support for terrorism around the world comes from money that flows through these oil-producing nations. In effect, every time we purchase a gallon of gas we are in some aspects helping to fund terrorism against our own nation.

More importantly the Gospel is being blocked because of the power these oil rich nations carry. Many are dying and going to hell because our support of their oil has kept them arrogant enough to block the Gospel. We have enough oil, natural gas and coal reserves in our own nation to carry us through hundreds of years, at least enough time where we can develop cleaner alternative power sources like solar, wind, fusion, and better batteries. I believe in alternative energy sources. I am cheap enough to believe I would like “free” energy like wind and solar and cheaper energy like fusion technology but to develop it to a marketable level is going to take more time. We have invested millions into solar energy companies that have failed us. I do not blame our President for this. I believe he simply believed in the wrong people. He has the right idea but we can’t do it that fast it is just not possible. To effectively and efficiently develop these alternative fuels is going to take time and much more research and development. I believe we can be there within the next twenty-five years with a correct plan but we must become energy independent now and not mourn over a lost dream.

Thousands have died because of our dependence on foreign oil. Millions have died without Christ because of our dependence on foreign oil. We have become a slave to foreign governments because our lack of insight.

Religious Freedom

In the United States last year a woman was fined and arrested because as a photographer who owned her own business, she was asked to photograph a lesbian wedding. It violated her religious beliefs so she turned down the offer to photograph the wedding. She was sued, thrown in jail, and lost her business. Her religious freedom was violated.

A pastor was holding a Bible study in his home. Cars were parked off of the street in his driveway. His Bible study was shut down and he was arrested for holding an illegal meeting.

This is America, we are given such rights by our creator. Our freedoms are being dismissed daily.

I am worried about our ability to have the free exercise of religion in America today. When claims came from wherever, that it was a movie that started the riots in Egypt and Libya. The man who produced the film was arrested and is still in jail. Where is freedom of speech and religion? The movie was stupid, ignorant, and poorly produced but that is part of the freedom we have in America.

We may say, “these things don’t affect me”. If we allow the rights of others to be violated it will not be long before our rights are violated and there is no one left to stand. Christianity and freedom are under attack in America and it must stop.

There are many more issues we must think about as Christians and Americans. These are the ones on the top of my list. Please pray before you vote. Vote as if the Lord were with you.

Our Destiny

Please remember our destiny is not in the hands of whoever is elected on Tuesday. However, it may make our jobs easier or more difficult. Our destiny is in God’s hands. I will pray for God’s wisdom and guidance for whoever is elected on Tuesday. I hope you will as well. If your candidate is not elected it is not the end of the world, it is simply a greater reason for you to pray more fervently. We are called to be salt and light and whoever is in charge does not control that we do! God will be always our God. Don’t allow the government to be your god! Your future is in God’s hands. Live like it is!

Luke 11 Part 2

Luke 11 Part 2 Real verses the Unreal

Last week we learned how to pray, how to gain the power we need to be overcomers. This week we see Jesus dealing with the enemies of true faith the demonic and the legalist some times they are one in the same.

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. ¹⁵But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

¹⁶Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. ¹⁸If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. ¹⁹And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. ²²But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. ²³He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

Two groups of people looking to accuse Jesus. Did you ever notice there are always people around looking to tear down things even under the guise of “righteousness”? They believe their faith to be real but by gossiping, being critical and

Jesus had just shown a sign of his power and that the Holy Spirit and the Father are with Him. Immediately those performed the unforgivable sin (that is if they did it knowingly) they claimed the thing of God was Satan. “He cast out demons by the Lord of demons!”

Even after He did this “sign” of God’s power through Him, some asked for a sign.

Jesus answers both of these questions in one.

1)           If I am casting out demons by demons aren’t your sons doing the same things???

2)           How long will a kingdom, army, a household last if it is divided. Two visions in a house bring division.  What would happen to an army if a general began shooting his own soldiers?

3)           If you are seeing the Power of God in what I am doing then you are seeing the Kingdom established (the only sign you need) in front of you.

Practical note here: If there are two visions in your home, at work, in this church there is not unity and nothing will get done and destruction will come in the form of divorce, a business collapse or a church split.

The psalmist wrote that God’s blessing is only commanded and poured out on unity (not uniformity) but unity; Psalm 133: 1-3. We do not all have to agree on every little thing or every way of doing things we just have to agree on where we are going.

Our Vision Statement

We will be a training ground for the believers in Jesus, and those who are not yet believers but are attending the Center, to become all that they can be to change their world


- every person will know the Lord and be known by Him



- every person will understand their calling, value, and purpose



- every person will function in their calling, both in the church and outside of the church so as to serve the whole Body of Christ.



- we will use tried and true methods as well as technology, innovation, and the best means possible to accomplish this task.



Basis of this belief is found in Ephesians 4: 11-16

There have been many interpretations about this “strong man” part of this chapter but taken in context here is what it means.

The strong man here is Satan, his goods are those bound in his kingdom. The stronger man is Jesus he comes and overcomes the strong man and takes his spoil those who were bound by Satan. It is He who overcomes the strong man not us. We raise up in pride of our power to overcome Satan we will fall every time but as long as we recognize greater is He who is in me, IT IS HE in me!!!

There is no neutrality in this world you are either a possession of the strong man (Satan) or a possession of the stronger man Jesus. You either recognize you are bought with a price and are part of the Kingdom or your are not there are no gray areas in eternity.

The enemy will be defeated every time that we stand against him, as a child of God, not in our own strength but on His!

²⁴“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

How does this happen? What is Jesus saying here about demonic power is it useless to see people get set free?

Do you believe in demons? Jesus does!  In fact demons believe in Jesus (James 2:19)

1)    Demonization begins by our agreement with them

2)    No demon has more control than what we give them

3)    If we leave open a door then the enemy has a right to come back through that door

4)    The door to the demonic or the Godly is through our flesh (don’t just run with this make sure you listen to my explanation)

²⁷And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!”

²⁸But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

- It is not about heritage.

- It doesn’t matter if you were born a Jew, or born in a Christian home

- It doesn’t matter if you have a priest or a pastor in your family

- it is about your relationship with Jesus that makes the difference

²⁹And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. ³⁰For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. ³¹The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. ³²The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

- There is nothing in Jonah that mentions he told them the story of his being in the big fish

- The only sign they were given was Jonah preaching to them about destruction was coming if they did not repent

- Anyone who had been around Jesus or heard the stories would have seen or heard about the dead being raised, the hungry being fed, the lame walking and all of the other “signs” Just like the rich man who said to Abraham send someone back from the dead so my family will believe.

There is created in each man and woman a belief in what is right and wrong and when the Holy Spirit empowers words that is all that they need if they will not be convinced by words powered by the Holy Spirit a “sign” will not change them

³³“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. ³⁴The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. ³⁶If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”

Light is a guiding force. Your eye is naturally drawn to light. Light shatters darkness and darkness is the absence of light that is why Jesus calls us the light. The unreal world tries to make darkness seem enticing which it can be for a season but it quickly becomes a trap.

Lying seems like a good idea to get you out of some immediate trouble but trying to keep up the lies is exhausting and can trap you into more lies

Blowing up in anger may intimidate someone to get them off of your back but it does not resolve the conflict or build better relationships.

These are things that seem real but are not the real life solving things

If your eyes are on the prize, the right things, full of love and hope then you will be full of love and hope and you will get through whatever the difficulty is and the darkness will be over come you will stay in the real life giving world

If you allow the darkness to give you a quick fix it will only push you into more darkness.

But the deepest darkness can not overwhelm the light of His love for us and through us.

If your eye is on the light you will naturally do things that are full of light you will step away from the darkness and into His marvelous light. Just like what I talked about earlier with the demonic you make a choice to allow the light to flood you you to allow the darkness to overwhelm you

³⁷And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. ³⁸When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.

³⁹Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.

⁴²“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ⁴³Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”

Jesus skipped a ritual that that every good Rabbi would do a ritual washing to make a point. The Pharisee was saying Jesus look this is what we do to make our selves clean and Jesus said listen washing your hands, looking pretty, looking righteous does not make you clean your “cleanliness” will be shown by what you do.

- Give generously

- Act with Justice

- Pour out love

Micah 6:8

⁴⁵Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.”

⁴⁶And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ⁴⁷Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, ⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

⁵²“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”

⁵³ And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, ⁵⁴lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.

Jesus is clarifying to those who deemed themselves righteous showing their lack of true righteousness. Taking them from the unreal to what is real

1)    The law or the burden was not the problem here but the fact that they would not help the people to walk in the fullness of God’s grace and mercy recognizing their need for relationship.

2)    Building the tombs refers to holding up monuments about the prophets rather than heeding what the prophets said. They took pride in the fact that they had these prophets but weren’t concerned about living lives of whole hearted commitment to the love of God in a way that would cause them to stand and be “different” to be an example to the nations so that they might know who God is. That is what the prophets did. The lawyers are too much like the rest of the world so the blood of the prophets is on their hands

3)    Rather than pressing into God for themselves they have lived on the wisdom of others or the wisdom of the world and rather than speaking the truth that would set men and women free because they limited their relationship with the Lord they hindered others from coming to the full knowledge of God.

Here is Jesus challenge about the unreal verses the real

1)    Demons are real but they only have the power we give them by our submitting to them or giving them an open door through our flesh

2)    The enemy is strong and can intimidate but Christ is stronger through us if we submit to Him

3)    Settling for a “quick fix” in our lives may solve a problem for a moment but surrendering completely to God may cause pain for a moment by joy and freedom for a life time

4)    Some people will settle for looking  good and faking god as a show on the outside but the reality of our true relationship with Christ is shown from the inside out

5)    Religion is nothing and a form of godliness is empty press into God to be blessed with wholeness, fullness and fulfillment of every dream

September 11, what have we learned?

Think about that question for a moment, what have we learned. We learned there is a hatred for America that runs deep in some parts of the world. We learned we are vulnerable. We have learned, as a nation, more about Islam than most of us knew before.

We have also learned some powerfully positive things. We learned when we are under attack, there are no atheist in this country. We learned that we are one country and no one had better not “mess” with anyone white, black, Hispanic, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish. When we are pushed, we stand together. We learned there are still heroes. We learned we are best and we are strong when we stand together.

We also learned our memories are short. It didn’t take long for us to forget we need God. It didn’t take long for us to forget we need each other.

I have learned from our short memories that our faith, as a nation is shallow. It is a faith, for many, of convenience or tradition rather than a true relationship with the Father. This is not something that discourages me but it challenges me to stand in the gap for America, to stand in the gap for those who don’t know, and to stand in the gap even for our enemies.

God has not called his church to be passive, but aggressive. We have not been given weapons of warfare to keep them polished and on a mantle or in a closet. We are not called to be light to hang out with other lights but instead to be lights in the darkness. We are called light because God knew there would always be darkness.

What I’ve learned since September 11, 2001 is that now more than ever the world needs the love that the Lord has given me, the grace He has shown me and that I now live in, and the power that can change lives from fear, anger, hatred, confusion, insecurity, hopelessness, in effect… darkness. Now more than ever this is what the world needs. 9/11 has shown me it is not up to just anyone but it is up to everyone who believes that Jesus Christ is Lord. We have the only answers, the only hope, the only truth, and the only light for a world caught in darkness.

This is not an evil day. This is simply a day to remember the line has been drawn in the sand. Men and women of God all over the world are being called to active duty, on their knees, through God’s Word and their words, with others. We must begin to believe again, “to let your light so shine before men that they will see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven”. We will bring the only hope to a world in fear. Be the Light!