Our pastor Bro Dennis is beginning a men’s study on leadership. Men, if you are a member of Midway Baptist Church or live in the Florida Panhandle, please consider this an invitation to join us on Monday evenings from 6:00 – 7:30 (Bible Study begins at 6:30).
I am so looking forward to this teaching.
Moral courage seems to be in short supply these days, particularly in Washington, D.C. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is set to vote on increasing the debt limit as early as today. I’ve read any number of pragmatic opinion pieces on why the Republicans have no choice but to raise the limit.
Of course they have a choice. It isn’t a matter of choice, it’s a matter of courage.
I wanted to share an encouraging note I received from one of my devotional readers; she is somewhat new to our group (now numbering 212). Tara wrote in response to my taking a devotional hiatus, and I publish this somewhat unwillingly because I do not want to draw attention to myself, but I felt a strong urging from the Lord to share this with you.
This dear sister-in-Christ so clearly addresses what we all struggle with; how to best serve the Lord. Here is her response:
Beloved,
I will be taking a two-week hiatus from writing devotionals as I work on another project. I’ll give you a hint of what it is; it is a sequel to my book Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide To Jesusland. If you don’t have a copy of the first one, you get one in paperback or Kindle at Amazon.
So once again we are watching the circus live and in color on our television sets. The stage? Congress and the White House and the looming fiscal cliff. It is amazing to see after what was called the most important election of our lifetime that nothing has changed in Washington D.C. All the old leaders are the new leaders and you could not fill a bus up with those serving who are righteous in the sight of God. It reminds me of the old Rolling Stones song “We Won’t Get Fooled Again” where it ends with “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
I was asked by some, and accused by others, if I was looking for perfection in a candidate. My answer to both is I am looking for righteousness in our public servants. Those, whether or not they are Christians, who have a sense of responsibility to their electorate and more important to “the laws of nature and nature’s God.” As my buddy Steve Deace always says, “We want people of convictions, not positions.”
Happy Thanksgiving! I am so glad I decided to write this devotional because I’ve been down a couple of days with vertigo and was kind of feeling sorry for myself. Karen and I will be going over to friends later today to celebrate Thanksgiving with them, but I woke up not preparing a turkey as is our tradition in the past. At first it really didn’t feel like Thanksgiving morning. But alas, it is!
Thanksgiving is not a day as much as it is a state of mind. While the fourth Thursday of November is a declared American holiday, thanksgiving should be a part of my Christian character. (more…)
When I was a young boy and even in my teenage years growing up in Northern California near the Pacific Ocean, one of my favorite things to do when we went to Bodega Bay was to go out on the jetty at Doran Beach and climb and walk the big rocks all the way to the end. We would even fish from there. However, it was very dangerous and at times extremely slippery on those massive, jagged rocks. If you were not careful you could slip and hurt yourself real good.
As we go through this Christian life, keeping in mind the encouraging words of Christ to be of good cheer, we must be certain we know what that means. We’ve said it means to take courage, but often that is easier said than done. I would submit that we usually are fearful before we are courageous.
Glory to God, for He is on His throne! Jesus is King, Lord, and Savior to all who call to Him for salvation. America is today still the greatest nation in history and I praise God for being born an American. No matter the outcome of our elections throughout history, the peaceful transition of power is a God-breathed miracle captured by godly men who founded our nation. They were God-fearing men who recognized and relied upon the Providence of God.
Our nation is truly at a crossroads. The political outcome of yesterday’s election is a reflection…a symptom…of what ails our great country. Over half of our country clearly has an entitlement mentality where they believe by merely being Americans who may or may not have been dealt a bad hand that they are entitled to other people’s money. Beloved, that is a clear indication of a deeper issue that must be addressed.
I received a response from a dear sister-in-Christ to the comments the past two emails I sent out on whether or not we can vote for the lesser of two evils. Understand that this is no simple matter, voting that is. I am glad to see so many Christians thinking through all of this by questioning and searching the scriptures for answers. That is what we are called to do. In fact, I presented some questions to my pastor and interviewed him Monday night to get his perspective. Bro Dennis is the one man I trust most in this world and while I may not always agree with him, I know I will get a straight answer from him. So is the case with so many other men who bless my life. There are a few women who fit that category also. You can hear Part 1 of Bro Dennis interview at my other blog: http://www.aletheiagroup.org/?p=1088
Here are the words of one sister-in-Christ and her thought process in this election season, admittedly by her incomplete words but I believe they warrant sharing:
That’s the topic of this week’s The Truth Newsletter. It seems that we can not only break God’s 6th Commandment, “You shall not murder,” but we can also disobey God’s 8th Commandment, “You shall not steal.” You can do these things if America’s survival is at stake. At least that is what I am being told by Christians and a Tea Party Leader.
I obviously have a very strong opinion about this that most of you could probably state verbatim. However, my opinion in and of itself means nothing if it is not grounded in Biblical truth. God’s 2nd Commandment is the second longest of the ten and I think it is most overlooked by American Christians. I know for me it is the commandment hardest for me to keep because I allow so many things in this world to become an idol. Here’s what God wrote:
In this week’s The Truth Newsletter I write about the Injustice of Chief Justice John Roberts and the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare. Men and women who are in seats of power who are not governing from a foundation of righteousness will almost always make poor if not lawless decisions. And when I say lawless I mean any decision, or law for that matter, that violates God’s law. Obamacare is theft and the Eighth Commandment clearly commands against stealing.
Lawlessness from judges is not a 21st Century phenomenon; it’s not exclusive American History. It has been in effect for centuries. King Solomon observed:
Our men’s ministry at Midway Baptist Church has had the blessing and privilege of hearing this strong man of faith preach. His church is our sister church and this pastor is a close, personal friend of our pastor, Dr. Dennis Brunet. These mighty warriors have stood in the trenches opposing evil and both ministries are being blessed because of it. Please share this video with all your friends.
The latest Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare so enraged many a person because justice was not served. Now you will hear many a pundit lavishing praise on Chief Justice John Roberts’ brilliance in his majority opinion for its political wisdom, but that’s politics, not justice. I will be writing on this ruling in this week’s The Truth Newsletter, but I want to explore Biblical justice.
How should we as Christians approach justice? Of course we must look at God’s view of it. We desire justice, somewhat foolishly I might add, because we only desire justice in others’ lives. But how does God view justice?
I’m looking at my brother-in-Christ Brian Ward’s new and improved website Boogai.net and reading the headlines there is not a means of starting your week off on a positive note (at least not all of the headlines). The Obama Administration has once again misused the executive orders powers to bring more tyranny to government. The State of California has laid off 32,000 teachers but can somehow afford to spend 3.2 billion (as in “B”) dollars on a new high-speed rail line. And the government has put more employees out of work through new regulatory burdens. Blue, blue Monday.
But Brian would tell you that we need not despair. You see Brian is not only the owner and proprietor of this excellent website, but more importantly he is a pastor who knows of and preaches about the sovereignty of Almighty God. And at our church we are doing a study on Nehemiah and Nehemiah understood who God was, even amongst the most trying times:
I do not think it a stretch to say our nation has become overall weaker than it once was. Whether it be economically, militarily, morally, or socially, the United States of America is not as strong as it used to be. How has this happen? Without a doubt the last three or so years under the Obama Administration has done much to weaken our nation. But that is the symptom, not the sickness. Electing and appointing unrighteous men and women to serve in the halls of government will always end up with a most destructive and despotic leader/ruler. But the issue is even deeper than that.
Our pulpits have been too silent for too long. Pulpits long ago stopped preaching against sin and a reliance of King Jesus and have preached a prosperity gospel that displays the Savior as some motivational coach to live your best life now. WE the People long ago, as a society, left the path of righteousness for a way of individualism, paved with self-esteem and lined with the poison of political correctness. King Solomon reminds us:
A nation without a moral compass is one devoid of liberty. Any country that allows the wanton enslavement, murder, and taxation of its citizens is one in violation of the laws of Nature and Nature’s God. The purpose of government is to protect the unalienable rights of the people. What does that word, unalienable mean (now known as in modern English as inalienable)?
Random House Dictionary defines it as “not transferable to another or capable of being repudiated.” Rights cannot be given nor denied by the government. Any law that violates the unalienable rights of the people is an immoral law; it is an un-law. John Locke was a 17th Century philosopher who greatly influenced our Founding Fathers. He wrote this about natural law and natural rights:
Since Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare, I have seen all manner of exposition and explanation for why Chief Justice John Roberts’ ruling was brilliant. I have been asked if I want conservative judges, oppose liberal judges, want those that are Republican, and oppose those that are Democrats. Do I want originalists and oppose activists.
I take none of the above.
If you must take a stand for God, you must expect persecution to come. You cannot stand on the truth of God’s Word and all around you accept it peacefully, unless you are doing so in a “Christian ghetto” and even there pure aletheia truth is not always welcomed. And yet we do not have a choice of where we will stand for God; we can only choose to obey or disobey. David understood this calling very clearly.
In case you forgot, today is Tax Day and your taxes are due today. Karen and I paid ours Sunday night through the convenience of the internet. There are among some fringe “Christian” movements the idea that we do not have to pay our taxes because the federal government has moved beyond the original intent our Constitution and individual liberty. While the latter may be true, the former is counterintuitive to the argument. We get the government we deserve; we have the right to choose our rulers. So what about paying our taxes? You already know the answer because Jesus provides it:
When the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were divided, Rehoboam—the son of Solomon—had intended to attack Israel with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, but God intervened. God told the man of God Shemaiah to tell Rehoboam not rise up against their brethren. Rehoboam obeyed and fortified the cities of Judah and Benjamin, stockpiling arms and supplies and having a ready reserve of able warriors for the defense of their kingdom. King Rehoboam’s willingness to obey God, at least in this instance, became known throughout the land.
And then an amazing thing happened. We’ll pick the story up in 2 Chronicles 11:
