2008 ELECTIONS Part one

While as a ministry, we cannot endorse a particular candidate: although I personally feel we should be able to do so, we do have the duty to comment as it regards the Christian vote in November. Every other group of people in this country is afforded the right to speak up on the issue's, we Christians should be able to do the same.

There is a movement in America that is trying to remove God from American history and culture. One of the two major political parties along with the American Civil Liberties Union, spend millions of dollars on lawsuits aimed at keeping prayer out of all public and government places. They try to remove nativity scenes and even want to take God's name out of the pledge of allegiance. This leftist, evil faction wants the Ten Commandments removed from public buildings.


Back in the 1800's, Russia was a strong Orthodox Christian nation. Prayer and Bible reading was permitted in the public schools. Many teachers were christians and could freely share their faith. But from 1917 to 1937 there was an organized effort to remove all religious emblems and information from Russia. They had a ten point plan that they used to do this. It is the same thing we are now seeing happen in America in 2008. America is already on the sixth point. Four more steps to go before God could become illegal in our beloved nation. In Russia, the final step was making preaching illegal and arresting the preachers.

In our land, this tenth and final step will be finalized with " hate crimes" laws that will make it a crime to preach against any form of sin. This would never happen if christians would stand up for their beliefs. If christians would all get out and vote based on the moral issues, we could see this plauge in our land stayed. However, christians would rather hear preaching on prosperity than take a stand for righteousness. Today too many seeker-sensitive pastors are filling the pulpits of America and they think its cute to tell people that they can remain in their sin. Today rather than being committed to Christ, far too many seek the purpose driven life. I really hate to say it, but we are in deep spiritual trouble.

A WORD ABOUT PURITY

" Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God"[Matt. 5:8]

When we recieve a new moral nature by being born-again, we will then see God manifest Himself in our lives in every respect. Scripture tells us "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new".[2 Cor.5:17] Purity in our lives, hearts, minds--purity in every area, can only come about by us being washed in the Blood of Jesus.

God brings us into a place of maturing love and maturing faith. A person who is born of God is brought into an inward affection and a loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ that shrinks back from anything impure. You will see the purity of a man and a woman when there is a strong and deep natural affection and bond between them. They abhor and disdain the thought of either of them being untrue to each other. In the same way, by the measure that a person has faith in Jesus, they are pure.
Faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the Cross will produce purity of heart, purity of thought, and purity in every area of life. The Holy Spirit can bring about the grace of purity in you, but only as you place your faith in what Jesus did at the Cross.

When the Cross of Christ, the work that He there did, is the object of our faith then the Holy Spirit is able to work God's will in us. Gods will is that we should be pure and holy. We cannot be pure and holy on our own, we must have the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit. We can only recieve that help if our faith is in Calvary.

THE INVISIBLE THINGS

You cannot see the smallest micro-creatures that exist in water, but they are there. You can in fact find a great number of these tiny, tiny creatures in a single drop of water. Just because they are unseen to the naked eye does not mean that they do not exist. How foolish it would be to claim that they do not exist simply because they cannot be seen without a microscope.

The Bible tells us that " The natural man recieveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."[1 Cor. 2:14]

The powerful lens of a living faith is needed to see spiritual and eternal things. When a persons eyes are opened by the Spirit of God, new life will appear in the vast ocean of God's revealed truth in the Bible.

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,neither have entered into the heart of man,the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." [1 Cor. 2:9-10]
If you will look to Jesus Christ and Him crucified today: God will reveal wonderful truths to you. It all begins by putting your faith in what Jesus did at the Cross.

God longs for us to know Him and we only truly can when our faith is in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

"For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."[1 Cor 1:18]

BEHIND THE LIES OF OUR ENEMIES

Someone once said that we can learn so much from those who position themselves against us. I really believe that is true. Beautiful truths often lay hidden beneath the lies of our enemies. This was the case with the foes of Jesus.
When someone hates your cause, all of your actions will be slandered. All your strategies of love will be twisted and slandered by those who oppose all that you are.

Jesus was astonished at this in His generation. "to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places"[Matt 11:16 paraphrased]. They won't dance with the flute and they won't weep with the dirge. John The Baptist was the dirge and Jesus was the flute. Israel would neither weep and mourn with John when he proclaimed their need for repentance nor would they rejoice with Jesus Christ.

How shall these two be silenced? Slander.


You see, Truth itself was and is the stumbling block. The only escape for the enemies of truth is caricature and half-truth.
Preacher, when you stand up in the face of this generation, at a time when truth lies fallen in the streets, and declare the message of the Cross, you can expect opposition. When you cry out to a church that is steeped in the Madison Avenue allure of the Purpose Driven Life scheme that they need to forsake that and return to the message of the Cross, you can count on being slandered. Preacher, when you stand in your pulpit and boldly declare that a man of God ought not to be a prosperity pimp and tell your people that so many of the health and wealth gurus of today are merchandising them, you will be opposed and even hated. Truth is what is at stake..

Stand up boldly and proclaim that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. Stand boldly and call the church back to the Cross. God Himself will be your vindication. If man called you then you need to get out of the ministry. But if you are called of God, then preach it straight and true. Stand up tall in the face of all slander and opposition and preach what "Thus saith the Lord".

To be sure, some will lie about you. They have lied about me. They lied about Jesus. Many voices will attempt to speak discouragement into your life. But let me tell you; for every soul that truly gets saved because you preach the right message[Jesus Christ and Him Crucified] to them, you will know true and lasting joy.

The only concern that we should have is--"Is God pleased with what we are giving the people?"

THE WORDS OF THE LORD

" The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." [Psalm 12:6-7]


This is a word picture taken from the process of purifying silver in a furnace or oven. These clay ovens are still in use in the Arab world today.The clay furnace represents the human element; the silver represents the Divine message which is to be conveyed through the human channel.[ 2 Peter 1:21]

The fire which ensures the absolute purity of the silver, that is, the absolute accuracy of the message, represents the Holy Spirit.
The phrase "seven times" indicates- as the number 7 does many times in the Bible-the absolute perfection of the Holy Spirit's work. So, the whole picture here assures us that the total accuracy of the Divine message in the scriptures is due to the perfect operation of the Holy Spirit, overruling all the fraility of human clay and purging all the dross of human error from the flawless silver of God's message.

The message is Divine. It is other than the messenger[man]. Man recieves God's word by the Power of the Holy Spirit which is made possible because of what Jesus did at the Cross.

A person cannot really understand the Word as it should be understood, unless they have placed their faith totally in what Jesus did at the Cross, thereby ensuring the help of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 7 says" Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever". This has a double meaning. God will keep His Words and God will keep His people. God will preserve His Words and He will preserve His people. No matter how evil and wicked men attack the word of God, they will not prevail.

From the very time that God uttered His Word it is most surely to come to pass exactly as He has spoken it.

DID JESUS DIE SPIRITUALLY?

In a word, no He did not.
The Jesus died spiritually doctrine is one of the most brutal attacks on the finished work of Christ upon the cross in todays church. This heresey is promoted mostly by the so called word of faith movement. This bogus doctrine has been made popular by false teachers such as E.W. Kenyon and Kenneth Copeland.

Paul says in 1 Cor 2:2 "For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Quite clearly the New Testament teaches that redemption was paid for by Jesus Christ, on the Cross. 1 Cor. 1:18 says "For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God". Every aspect of Salvation is carried out as the believer recieves the truth of Christ and Him crucified. The Jesus died spiritually doctrine attacks both who Christ is and also the finished work that He accomplished on the Cross of Calvary.

These people teach that Jesus' physical death on the Cross was not sufficient to redeem all mankind. They say that Jesus was defeated by satan at the Cross. Nothing could be any further from the truth. The majority of the word of faith teachers say that Jesus was impregnated with a sinful demonic nature. They wrongly interpret 2 Cor. 5:17 and teach that Jesus became a sinner. He did not...

Let me say it loud and clear, JESUS DEATH ON THE CROSS AND THE SHEDDING OF HIS PRECIOUS, INNOCENT, AND PURE BLOOD IS WHAT PAID THE PRICE FOR MAN'S REDEMPTION...

Jesus did not become a sinner. He became the perfect sin-offering. Calvary was not a defeat, it was where the eternal victory was forever won.. Jesus did not have a sin nature and He never one single time sinned. ever. PERIOD...

These false teachers also say that Jesus went to hell and burned there as a sinner and then was born again in hell, and that, they say is how redeemption was won. Kenneth Copeland even went so far as to say that God told him that he [Copeland] could have done the same thing if it were physical death that paid the price. This statement is utter, raw BLASPHEMY...

The Bible says " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God".[Heb. 9:14] and " By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all".[Heb. 10:10] You see my friend, it was on the Cross and by the shedding of His Holy Blood that Jesus paid the sin debt and broke the power of sin over us..

Jesus Christ did not die spiritually. He had never sinned. Jesus Christ did die physically and shed His Pure blood for our sins. If we will recieve Christ and what He did at the Cross, we can be redeemed and live a holy life.

These people who teach the false Jesus died spiritually doctrine expose themselves that they have opted for a redemption plan that God will have nothing to do with... You cannot be saved unless you are saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ. The Cross is the only way.

DO MORE THAN YOU CAN DO

In Deuteronomy 9:1, scripture says, " Hear O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven"

Notice first of all that without the Lord, they could not have done that which God told them to do. We likewise cannot accomplish our callings without the Lord. With the Lord however, all things are possible...
God told them to do more than they could do within themselves.. God's plans for our lives always seem to be more than we can do. This is so we have to look to Him and believe in His ability to work through us in achieving those plans.

When you really believe that because of Calvary and the finished work of Christ upon the cross; Christ lives in you and His power has been made available to you, God will begin to show you how He is going to do those "impossible" things in your life...

God will open the right doors for you. He will send the right people to help you. God will uncover ways of obtaining the necessary finances that you will need. We simply need to move out on faith and have confidence in our God. We will see miracles.