My Nephew Enjoying Hillsong United’s “Oceans”

http://ctt.ec/d27U5

With all the news about Planned Parenthood’s gruesome practices, it is sad to think how far gone humanity has become.  What once was done out in the open – the sacrificing of infants to Molech by the Phoenicians and Canaanites – to appease a god is now done in “secrecy” to appease our own selfish desires, if you know what I mean.  They say it helps women, so they can be in control of their own bodies.

In our quest to be in control of our lives, finances, or whatever other reason, it has come to mean giving up babies; which most of us Christians have detested for years.  Now, we have gone even further as to use their parts for the quest of science and even more greed on the part of those performing the abortions.

I say “we”, because it is our responsibility to pray for our society and we are not necessarily off the hook for letting this out of hand.  It’s easy to point our fingers to those doing the crime, but the question is what have we done to stop what’s going on?  (Tweet this http://ctt.ec/GT7dp )

So, this post really is more to urge folks to pray and also to do something practical.  You can go to http://www.frcaction.org/alerts and send an email, already prepared by Family Research Council, to your Senators.

To get to the title of this post and make the mood a little lighter, I thought I’d share a video of my nephew enjoying the bridge and chorus of his favorite song that I played and sang for him on the piano.  I am so glad to have the privilege of having him grow up in my home for the last couple of months.  Babies are so precious and I hope we can always remember that. (Tweet this http://ctt.ec/d27U5)

Here’s the link in case the video below won’t show…   https://youtu.be/pLC5YCN4Fl0

WOULD YOU GO TO HELL FOR SOMEONE ELSE?

Would you, literally, utterly and sincerely, be willing to go to hell for or with someone?

Would you go to hell for someone else?

What kind of question is that? You might ask.

People die for one another, or for a nation, or for a cause. But would someone willingly give their place in hell for the sake of another?  Or would someone identify with someone else’s sin and choose to be with someone in hell rather than with God in heaven.

I was reading Exodus 32 and realized the depth of Moses’ request from God in verse 32. “‘But now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin – and if not, blot me, I pray Thee from Thy book which Thou hast written.'” (RSV, 1952) 

Israel had just turned their backs on the God that delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. They exchanged Him for a lifeless golden calf, something even less than a human being.

Moses, being the savior-type that he is, offered to be removed from God’s book of life for these ungrateful people if God will not forgive them. On one hand, it is admirable. You can see his dedication to those he was leading.  He was willing to go down with them.

On the other hand, he was not perfect.  He did not qualify as savior nor could he be the atonement for these people. That was not his calling.  Going to hell for and with them would not do any good.

In verse 33 & 34 it says, “But the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you…'”

His calling was to lead and teach them God’s statutes here on earth. Their eternal salvation was up to God.

There is only One Savior and Atonement – Jesus Christ.

It is not you. It is not I.

Yes, let’s evangelize, intercede, and lead people to the River of Life; but rest assured that we don’t have to take anyone’s place in hell.

Jesus already did. And hell couldn’t hold Him, so He now sits at the right hand of the Father.

4 DEMANDS OF INDEPENDENCE

4 DEMANDS OF INDEPENDENCE

From birth to old age, there is always the nagging desire to be INDEPENDENT.

Babies, for instance, do not have a concept of other people’s schedules.  In the very first few weeks, they are independent in the sense that you can’t control their feeding or pooping times.

When babies become children, they can’t wait until they can do things on their own.

Teenagers can’t wait until they become adults, independent of their parents.

At some point adulthood brings the rude awakening of responsibility.  So, they start saving up and waiting for the time when they retire so that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want.

Why do we have this nagging feeling?  I think it’s because we quite often, and rightly so, equate independence to freedom.  The problem arises when we focus on highlighting freedom and not balancing it out with the demands of independence.

The problem arises when we focus on highlighting freedom and not balancing it out with the demands of independence.

Look at the rise of the Indie industry, for instance.  You’ve got your Indie artists, Indie authors, Indie films, and I’ll mix into that your solopreneurs.  Who knows what other types of Indies are out there?  On the outside, it looks like this makes it possible for anybody to get into whatever industry they want.  There are no music labels, publishers, corporations, nor bosses to please.  However, on the inside, there are a multitude of demands to be fulfilled to get you onto a successful road.  You don’t have the resources, expertise, connections, etc., that the bigger corporations have.  So you can appreciate the ones that have been very successful as Indies as you know there’s been a lot of hard work that brought them to where they are.

It’s the same with an independent nation.  This weekend, we are celebrating the 239^th year of America’s independence from Great Britain.  When this nation was born, we weren’t very wealthy, but a lot of work was put in by our forefathers to make us a successful nation.

With that in mind, I’d like to reflect on the independence of the nation of Israel from Egypt centuries prior.  What did it take for them to form a new nation, independent of her 400 year master?  What were the demands of their independence?

1. Someone to followRemember when Moses went up the mountain and he was there so many days? They felt lost without their leader. In Exodus 31:1 they told Aaron, “…’Come make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’” (NAS)

   Not only that, you’ve got Judges 21:25 telling us that “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This was many years into their being an independent nation in the Promised Land.

   They needed someone that could show them they didn’t have to be slaves forever. God had other plans for them and they needed someone to lead them the way to the Promised Land.

2. Someone/something to worshipWhen they lost sight of their leader, they also lost sight of the God that delivered them with a mighty hand out of Egypt. A lifeless golden calf was no comparison to the One who parted the Red Sea for them, but they were desperate for someone or something to call their leader and worship as their god.

   In the course of their history, there were times when they either worshipped God or worshipped other gods. Either way, they were always worshipping Someone or something. In other words, they knew that they needed a power outside of themselves to keep them safe, healthy and make them prosper. When they turned their backs from God and attributed that power to other gods, they faced calamities and disasters. Eventually, they were brought into captivity and lost their independence.

3. Structure They needed laws to maintain peace and order. These God gave to them in the very beginning of their nationhood. When they strayed away from them, they got into trouble.
4. SustenanceAs an independent nation, they needed to be able to provide for themselves. That’s why going to the land of milk and honey was a great promise. On their way there, God miraculously provided them with food and water. When God finally gave them the land, they eventually had to work it. As long as they followed God’s commands, He blessed the land to give them a bountiful return. When they strayed, the land lost its fruitfulness. There was economic trouble.

   Do you see the pattern here?  God was in the center of their independence.  God provided for them and taught them how to live as an independent nation.  When they strayed from Him and His commands, they lost their freedom.

   Much like Israel, when our nation was born, we needed a leader to keep us in the right path.  We elected our own presidents.  Our leading forefathers wrote the Constitution to give us structure.  These leaders recognized God’s hand in all of this and submitted and proclaimed us as a nation under God.

   It’s pretty scary that we are little by little changing the Bible-based laws embedded in our Constitution.  We still proclaim ourselves as a nation under God, but do we act like it?  Without God, we wouldn’t be a nation.  Without God, how long, I wonder, can we remain an independent nation?

   Let us pray that God would first of all, open our eyes to our shortcomings as individuals. Maybe in striving to be independent, we’ve forgotten that we still need to be dependent on the God who gave us life.  We need His direction, His structure and His sustenance.

   Then let us pray for our nation that He may help us turn around and go back to following Him wholeheartedly.  With our structure and sustenance being shaky, we need Him to lead us back to being truly independent.