Month: July 2019

Ann Voskamp: How To Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay

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Great words of encouragement from Ann Voskamp for when things are not okay in your life. Read the whole article here

So you can look up at the calendar today and exhale: “It’s okay to feel bone tired — you have One who gives His bone and His body for you and beckoned:  Come Rest.”“It’s okay to feel bone tired — you have One who gives His bone and His body for you and beckoned:  Come Rest.”

It’s okay to feel bone tired — you have One who gives His bone and His body for you and beckoned:  Come Rest. 

It’s okay to feel disillusioned — you have One who destroys cheap illusions of perfection and offers you His. 

It’s okay to feel done — you have One who listens to the last nail be driven in and proclaims all the hellish things finished. 

It’s okay to feel battered and bruised — you have One who storms your battles, takes back everything that needs a comeback, and proves His side won. 

It’s okay to feel a bit like a fool — you have One who proves that real love always makes anyone the wisest fool who gives more, lives more, forgives more, because love defies logic, because love is the self-giving, cruciform foolishness that is the ultimate wisdom of the universe.

It’s okay to feel behind — you have One who is the Head and the Author and the Maker and the Finisher and the Carrier and the Warrior and nothing is over until He carries you over the finish line. 

Reflection on Colossians 1:1-14

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Scripture

This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

Observation

Paul writes to the holy people of Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. He has heard of their faith and love which come from their confident hope in their eternal destiny.

This same Good News is bearing fruit all over the earth as people turn to Christ. Paul prays for the Colossians that they will be strengthened ad filled with joy.

Application

The Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, has been spreading constantly through the world since the day of Pentecost. In just about every nation of the world there are faithful followers of Christ.

As people turn to the Lord, their lives are transformed, and ultimately whole nations are changed.

In the West we often find this hard to believe. It seems that the society in which we live is turning against the Gospel, sometimes with hostility.

In this situation, we just need to let Jesus continue to work in us, changing our lives one day at a time. As we are able to give testimony about what He has done for us, our actions will demonstrate the truth of our words.

People are hungry for truth and authenticity. They are tired of slick advertising messages, political spin and hollow promises. When they see someone whose life shows the truth of their beliefs, then they will take notice.

The Good News is bearing fruit all over the world. We need to believe that it will bear fruit in the lives of our friends and neighbours.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for the transformation that comes when people believe your Good News. Help me to live a life that testifies to your goodness, and to speak words that point people to you. Amen.

Reflection on Amos 7:7-17

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Scripture

Amos replies, “I am not a professional prophet, and I never trained to be one. I am just a shepherd and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. Bu the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people Israel.’”

Observation

The Lord shows Amos a vision of a wall being measured with a plumb line to determine if it is straight. The Lord tells Amos that He will test His people with a plumb line and bring judgement against the house of Jeroboam.

Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, sends a message to Jeroboam accusing Amos of plotting against him. Amaziah also tells Amos to go back to Judah and prophesy there.

Amos responds that he has never been a professional prophet; he is just obeying the Lord’s commandment.

Application

Pastors and other trained ministers of the gospel play an important role in the church. They are indispensable in providing oversight and direction.

But God will use anyone who is ready to obey Him. You don’t need a degree to serve the Lord.

Amos was a shepherd and a tender of sycamore-fig trees. The Hebrew suggests that he was a land owner and not just an employee, but regardless of this he was not a professional prophet schooled in the Law and the prophetic traditions.

God used Amos to get a message to the people of Israel. His training and experience meant little to the Lord.

The Lord is looking for people who are willing to take His word to people who will not necessarily welcome it.

When God calls, He gives the training, the knowledge and the skills we need. We just have to answer His call and trust Him to supply what we need.

Prayer

Lord God, I thank you that you do not require people to be college trained or to have decades of experience before they can serve you. Please use me for your purposes today. Amen.

Rugby Australia Has A Problem With The Bible

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Apparently Raelene Castle has ditched all pretence that the sacking of Israel Folau was anything other than religious discrimination.

According to Miranda Devine in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph, even if he had simply photocopied the relevant pages from the Bible in his social media posts that would have been a problem.

Here is part of the transcript from the code of conduct meeting in May:

Apparently quoting from the Islamic texts would not have been a problem:

‘Will you persist in these lewd acts which no other nation has committed before you? You lust after men instead of women. Truly, you are a degenerate people.’ Quran 7:81-82

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Whoever you find doing the action of the people of Loot, execute the one who does it and the one to whom it is done.” Abu Dawud 4462 (This is a sahih hadith)

As Devine concludes:

Castle made a mountain out of a molehill, and has thrown Australian rugby into disrepute as a result, trashing morale and sabotaging the Wallabies’ chances in a World Cup year.

Having unilaterally condemned the foundational document of Judaeo-Christian civilisation as akin to hate speech, she [Castle] boasted in a press conference that her decision was a ­“landmark” which “will change the landscape for rugby and sport”.

There’s one person who should have been sacked, and it wasn’t Folau.

HT to Caldron Pool

Babylon, the United Nations and End Time Speculation

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UK news site theweek.co.uk

Babylon finally declared a Unesco World Heritage Site
The ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon has been declared a Unesco World Heritage Site following a long campaign. Iraq had been lobbying since the 1980s for the 4,000-year-old site to be added to the UN list. Although the site has suffered from being used as a base for US troops, it was made famous for its Hanging Gardens, which were among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

In the Bible Babylon is often used as a symbol of worldly powers opposed to God and His people.

If you were minded to get excited about end time prophecies you might find this interesting. Just don’t get any chips inserted into your hand.

10 Biblical Purposes for Fasting

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10 Biblical Purposes for Fasting


 
 
Throughout the Bible we most often find God’s people turn to fasting as the natural, inevitable response to a grievous sacred moment in life, such as death, sin and tragedy. But other times a fast is not a spontaneous reaction and we have time to prepare to respond both physically and spiritually.

Fasting is not an end unto itself, but a means of focusing our minds and bodies for a spiritual reason. Whenever you fast, do so for a reason that is mentioned or modeled in the Bible. Here are ten primary purposes for fasting mentioned in Scripture:¹

1. To strengthen prayer (e.g., see Ezra 8:23)

Numerous incidents in the Old Testament connect fasting to prayer, especially intercessory prayer. Fasting does not change whether God hears our prayers, but it can change our praying. As Arthur Wallis says, “Fasting is calculated to bring a note of urgency and importunity into our praying, and to give force to our pleading in the court of heaven.”²

2. To seek God’s guidance (e.g., see Judges 20:26)

As with prayer, fasting to seek God’s guidance isn’t done to change God but to make us more receptive to his guidance.

3. To express grief (e.g., see 1 Samuel 31:13)

Expressing grief is one of the primary reasons for fasting. Ever notice that when you’re moved to tears by grief you lose the urge to eat? When we grieve, our family and friends often have to plead with us to eat because our body’s appropriate response to grief is to fast. A prime example occurs in 2 Samuel 1:12, where David and his men are described as having “mourned and wept and fasted till evening” for their friends, their enemies and their nation.

4. To seek deliverance or protection (e.g., see 2 Chronicles 20:3 – 4)

Another common reason for fasting in the Old Testament was to seek deliverance from enemies or circumstances. In Scripture, this type of fast is generally carried out with other believers.

5. To express repentance and a return to God (e.g., see 1 Samuel 7:6)

This type of fasting helps us to express grief over our sins and shows our seriousness about returning to the path of godly obedience.

6. To humble oneself before God (e.g., see 1 Kings 21:27 – 29)

“Remember that fasting itself is not humility before God,” reminds Donald Whitney, “but should be an expression of humility.”³

7. To express concern for the work of God (e.g., see Nehemiah 1:3 – 4)

As with Nehemiah, fasting can be a tangible sign of our concern over a particular work God is doing.

8. To minister to the needs of others (e.g., see Isaiah 58:3 – 7)

We can use time we’d normally spend eating to fast and minister to others.

9. To overcome temptation and dedicate yourself to God (e.g., see Matthew 4:1 – 11)

Fasting can help us focus when we are struggling with particular temptations.

10. To express love and worship for God (e.g., see Luke 2:37)

Fasting can show, as John Piper says, that “what we hunger for most, we worship.”⁴

How should we equip ourselves when God calls us to “declare a holy fast”? Here are some things to consider as you prepare for fasting:

Pray and confess your sins
A necessary step before fasting is to humble yourself before God (see Psalm 35:13) and confess your sins (see 1 Samuel 7:6). Prayer should be our sustenance throughout the fast, but it is imperative we begin the fast with a contrite heart.

Turn to Scripture
Spend additional time meditating on God’s Word, before and during the fast.

Keep it secret
Fasting is unbiblical and even spiritually harmful when we do it to show off our spirituality (see Matthew 6:16 – 18) or when we focus more on our own fasting than on the clear needs of others (see Isaiah 58:1 – 11). Don’t boast about your fast; tell people you won’t be eating only if necessary. Fasting should not be done when imposed for false motives (see 1 Samuel 14:24-30).

Prepare your body
Fasting, especially for days or weeks, can have unexpected and even detrimental effects on your health. There is no scriptural warrant for harming yourself to undergo a fast. Be sure to consult a doctor before starting any fasting regimen to make sure you can fast in a healthy manner.

Fasting is an appropriate bodily reaction to the grievous state of our soul. If it is done correctly you can expect many results, including growing closer to God, feeling more solidarity with those who suffer, and increasing self-control.

For Reflection

Rather than wondering whether you should fast, ask why you would want to miss out on the Father’s reward.

From the NIV Bible Blog

Bill Muehlenberg: We Told You So: Everything Has Changed – For the Worse

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From Bill Muehlenberg’ Culture Watch blog.

We Told You So: Everything Has Changed – For the Worse

Jul 3, 2019

Children being thrown out of the classroom for saying there are only two biological genders. Teachers losing their jobs for saying the same thing. Star athletes losing their entire careers for simply quoting from the Bible on their own time. Males claiming to be females sending female athletes to hospital.

Churches embracing what the Bible has always called sin. Public libraries using tax dollars to have young children read stories by drag queens. Christians businesses being forced to close down for refusing to submit to the militant homosexual agenda.

People arrested for simply declaring in public what almost everyone throughout human history believed about human sexuality. People fined for affirming the truth that marriage is between a man and a woman. Children too young to know what a puberty blocker is directed by adults into renouncing their natal sex. Tampons put in men’s bathrooms.

Welcome to the brave new world of the sexual revolution – particularly the bitter fruit of the radical homosexual takeover of the West. The world is unravelling before our eyes at such a rapid rate, that anyone living just a few short decades ago would be utterly amazed at the speed and degree of the decline.

There were some voices seeking to warn about all this decades ago. We especially warned that granting special rights to homosexuals, including the destruction of marriage along the way, would impact every single one of us, and open up a Pandora’s Box never again to be closed. Obviously our concerns fell on deaf ears.

While I have warned for over three decades about the tsunami of destruction that the sexual revolution is unleashing, I have been warning for over a decade about the consequences of legalising fake marriage. As I wrote nine years ago:

It is very common for homosexual activists to argue that granting special rights to homosexuals and legalising homosexual marriage will not impact on anyone in any way. They claim that faith-based communities have nothing to fear, and no one will be forced to embrace their lifestyle, and things will simply go on as normal.

Of course they are lying through their teeth, and they know it. They are being deliberately deceptive here. They know full well that everything will radically change. So they have to rely on subterfuge and deceit to seek to make their case. Both faith and family suffer tremendously when these radical social upheavals are inflicted upon the rest of the community.
billmuehlenberg.com/2010/12/10/same-sex-marriage-who-says-nothing-will-change/

I wrote article after article on this theme. Here are just a few of them:

billmuehlenberg.com/2012/02/07/war-has-been-declared/

www.billmuehlenberg.com/2012/09/12/the-never-ending-story-of-tolerance/

www.billmuehlenberg.com/2012/05/15/homosexual-marriage-everything-will-change/

billmuehlenberg.com/2015/07/01/this-is-how-homosexual-marriage-impacts-me/

billmuehlenberg.com/2016/09/30/yes-homosexual-marriage-impacts-every-single-one-us/

While a few folks paid attention to the warnings and heeded the alarms, most did not. Most simply slept through the revolution. And now we are all paying the price for this moral and spiritual slumber. Simply consider the hyper-radical trans revolution.

No one was even thinking or talking about this a decade ago. Now it is everywhere, and children all over the West are being subject to radical child abuse as activist adults are foisting all this on them. So mainstream has all this become, that I have already penned over 180 articles on this.

One of my first pieces on this was written in 2008: billmuehlenberg.com/2008/04/05/pregnant-males-and-a-lost-civilisation/

Now we have the absolute insanity of American Democrat presidential contenders actually arguing – with a straight face – for abortion rights for biological males. In a debate last week, Julián Castro was asked about abortion funding. He answered:

“I believe in reproductive justice, and what that means is just because a woman — or, let’s not forget someone in the trans community, a trans female — is poor doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the right to exercise the right to choose.” 
www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/julian-castro-democratic-debate-reproductive-justice_n_5d141d98e4b0e455603742aa

Just a few short years ago a remark like this would have had him laughed off the stage – or booed off. Now it is seen as something completely normal – even something a potential leader of the free world would happily promote. Wow, talk about a moral, cultural and spiritual freefall!

But as always it is the diabolical war on children that is especially grievous to behold. Be it denying a child the right to a mother and father, or twisting their vulnerable minds into embracing a lie that biological sex is merely a social construct, the militants HAVE declared an all-out war on our children.

And one of the most recent and disgusting cases of this was written up in this report:

A west coast public library “Drag Queen Story Time” has evolved beyond drag queens reading pro-gay and pro-transgender books to kids to permitting children to frolic on the floor and lie on top of a man dressed as a woman. Photo evidence of children having inappropriate contact with drag queen Carla Rossi at Portland, Oregon’s St. John’s Library last October has been brought to the attention of LifeSiteNews. The photos are posted on the Multnomah County Library’s own Flickr account (Note: photos have been removed after LifeSiteNews published this report. The photos can be found here WARNING: Link leads to images of child abuse).

“I wouldn’t let my kids crawl on top of random strangers no matter how said strangers are dressed,” commented Kaeley Triller Harms on Facebook. “Even as a day camp counselor 15 years ago, we were pretty carefully trained about not giving kids piggyback rides or letting them sit on our laps,” continued Harms. “And if they asked for hugs, we took the side hug approach.”
www.lifesitenews.com/news/shocking-photos-kids-lie-on-man-dressed-as-woman-at-drag-queen-story-time

 

happen, they would have been shut down by now. And all this is not new. Two years ago the “Activist Mommy” wrote a piece on similar things, with the title, “Brazilian ‘Art’ Exhibition Promotes and Normalizes Pedophilia In A Disgusting Way.” The article and pictures of this are found here: activistmommy.com/brazilian-art-exhibition-promotes-normalizes-pedophilia-disgusting-way/

Also, we have this piece from a few months ago:

On Monday, 10-year-old Canadian boy Nemis Quinn Mélançon-Golden was featured in a troubling Huck Magazine piece highlighting the life of a so-called “child drag queen.” Young Nemis, whose drag name is “Queen Lactacia,” was shot by photographer Jonathan Frederick Turton for the spread. In one of the shots that did not make the magazine, Nemis, in full drag makeup and a black dress, is posing for a photo with the Season 7 winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Violet Chachki. In the shocking photo, Violet is wearing nothing but a pair of heels and a small piece of fabric covering his genitals
www.dailywire.com/news/42081/10-year-old-boy-dressed-drag-pictured-naked-amanda-prestigiacomo

Yet this is the logical endgame of the sexual revolution. It involves the “p” word. Many of the more honest activists have admitted that adult-child sexual relations is the last great taboo that must be eliminated altogether. It is time to wake up folks.

They ARE targeting our children, and they ARE softening them up to accept child-adult sexuality. Indeed, way back in 2011 in my book Strained Relations I documented plenty of this. For example, one early list of demands put out by the homosexual community included these items:

• Repeal of all laws prohibiting private sexual acts involving consenting persons.
• Repeal of all laws prohibiting prostitution, both male and female.
• Repeal of all laws governing the age of sexual consent.

Two more short quotes from my book can be offered here:

And then we have had pro-homosexual authors writing in praise of lowering age of consent laws. One university press published a book by Judith Levine arguing that it is harmful to protect children from sex. In it she said age of consent laws should be reduced to 12 for sexual relations between children and adults.

Australian expatriate Peter Tatchell, a leading British homosexual activist, has made his views clear on under-age sex: “The age of consent should be reduced to 14 for everyone – gay and straight – and consensual sex involving people under 14 should not be prosecuted providing there is no more than three years difference in the partners’ ages.”

This has always been pushed by some in the homosexual camp. And just as it is now almost becoming illegal to say anything negative or critical about homosexuality and the trans revolution, I can assure you that soon enough it will also become illegal to say anything against “intergenerational sex” as they like to euphemistically call it.

Um, the word is paedophilia in case you still don’t get it. They militant adults WANT our children. The sexual revolution may well be the most devastating, destructive and diabolical revolution of our time. And the culmination of this has always been the direct targeting of our vulnerable children.

happen, they would have been shut down by now. And all this is not new. Two years ago the “Activist Mommy” wrote a piece on similar things, with the title, “Brazilian ‘Art’ Exhibition Promotes and Normalizes Pedophilia In A Disgusting Way.” The article and pictures of this are found here: activistmommy.com/brazilian-art-exhibition-promotes-normalizes-pedophilia-disgusting-way/

Also, we have this piece from a few months ago:

On Monday, 10-year-old Canadian boy Nemis Quinn Mélançon-Golden was featured in a troubling Huck Magazine piece highlighting the life of a so-called “child drag queen.” Young Nemis, whose drag name is “Queen Lactacia,” was shot by photographer Jonathan Frederick Turton for the spread. In one of the shots that did not make the magazine, Nemis, in full drag makeup and a black dress, is posing for a photo with the Season 7 winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Violet Chachki. In the shocking photo, Violet is wearing nothing but a pair of heels and a small piece of fabric covering his genitals
www.dailywire.com/news/42081/10-year-old-boy-dressed-drag-pictured-naked-amanda-prestigiacomo

Yet this is the logical endgame of the sexual revolution. It involves the “p” word. Many of the more honest activists have admitted that adult-child sexual relations is the last great taboo that must be eliminated altogether. It is time to wake up folks.

They ARE targeting our children, and they ARE softening them up to accept child-adult sexuality. Indeed, way back in 2011 in my book Strained Relations I documented plenty of this. For example, one early list of demands put out by the homosexual community included these items:

• Repeal of all laws prohibiting private sexual acts involving consenting persons.
• Repeal of all laws prohibiting prostitution, both male and female.
• Repeal of all laws governing the age of sexual consent.

Two more short quotes from my book can be offered here:

And then we have had pro-homosexual authors writing in praise of lowering age of consent laws. One university press published a book by Judith Levine arguing that it is harmful to protect children from sex. In it she said age of consent laws should be reduced to 12 for sexual relations between children and adults.

Australian expatriate Peter Tatchell, a leading British homosexual activist, has made his views clear on under-age sex: “The age of consent should be reduced to 14 for everyone – gay and straight – and consensual sex involving people under 14 should not be prosecuted providing there is no more than three years difference in the partners’ ages.”

This has always been pushed by some in the homosexual camp. And just as it is now almost becoming illegal to say anything negative or critical about homosexuality and the trans revolution, I can assure you that soon enough it will also become illegal to say anything against “intergenerational sex” as they like to euphemistically call it.

Um, the word is paedophilia in case you still don’t get it. They militant adults WANT our children. The sexual revolution may well be the most devastating, destructive and diabolical revolution of our time. And the culmination of this has always been the direct targeting of our vulnerable children.

Wow. If a day-care centre or Sunday School allowed something like that to happen, they would have been shut down by now. And all this is not new. Two years ago the “Activist Mommy” wrote a piece on similar things, with the title, “Brazilian ‘Art’ Exhibition Promotes and Normalizes Pedophilia In A Disgusting Way.” The article and pictures of this are found here: activistmommy.com/brazilian-art-exhibition-promotes-normalizes-pedophilia-disgusting-way/

Also, we have this piece from a few months ago:

On Monday, 10-year-old Canadian boy Nemis Quinn Mélançon-Golden was featured in a troubling Huck Magazine piece highlighting the life of a so-called “child drag queen.” Young Nemis, whose drag name is “Queen Lactacia,” was shot by photographer Jonathan Frederick Turton for the spread. In one of the shots that did not make the magazine, Nemis, in full drag makeup and a black dress, is posing for a photo with the Season 7 winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Violet Chachki. In the shocking photo, Violet is wearing nothing but a pair of heels and a small piece of fabric covering his genitals
www.dailywire.com/news/42081/10-year-old-boy-dressed-drag-pictured-naked-amanda-prestigiacomo

Yet this is the logical endgame of the sexual revolution. It involves the “p” word. Many of the more honest activists have admitted that adult-child sexual relations is the last great taboo that must be eliminated altogether. It is time to wake up folks.

They ARE targeting our children, and they ARE softening them up to accept child-adult sexuality. Indeed, way back in 2011 in my book Strained Relations I documented plenty of this. For example, one early list of demands put out by the homosexual community included these items:

• Repeal of all laws prohibiting private sexual acts involving consenting persons.
• Repeal of all laws prohibiting prostitution, both male and female.
• Repeal of all laws governing the age of sexual consent.

Two more short quotes from my book can be offered here:

And then we have had pro-homosexual authors writing in praise of lowering age of consent laws. One university press published a book by Judith Levine arguing that it is harmful to protect children from sex. In it she said age of consent laws should be reduced to 12 for sexual relations between children and adults.

Australian expatriate Peter Tatchell, a leading British homosexual activist, has made his views clear on under-age sex: “The age of consent should be reduced to 14 for everyone – gay and straight – and consensual sex involving people under 14 should not be prosecuted providing there is no more than three years difference in the partners’ ages.”

This has always been pushed by some in the homosexual camp. And just as it is now almost becoming illegal to say anything negative or critical about homosexuality and the trans revolution, I can assure you that soon enough it will also become illegal to say anything against “intergenerational sex” as they like to euphemistically call it.

Um, the word is paedophilia in case you still don’t get it. They militant adults WANT our children. The sexual revolution may well be the most devastating, destructive and diabolical revolution of our time. And the culmination of this has always been the direct targeting of our vulnerable children.

Reflection on Psalm 30

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Scripture

You have turned my mourning into dancing

You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.


Reflection

With you O Lord

There is joy

Even in the shadows

In the valley of death.


I have tasted grief

Mourning has torn my soul

But you touched me

Turning it into joy


My joy is in you Father

My hope is set on you my God

You give me reason to live

And to laugh at my enemies.


Yes mourning comes and sadness strikes

But you are my joy and my strength.