Pray and Vote!
My brother, a Minister, Pastor, and Retired Missionary to the Philipines, sent this to me:
He also forwarded this e-mail to me:
Believing that November 4th is a critical day in the life of America, I feel compelled to send this note I received from a friend this morning that we all might continually be called to prayer asking in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to fight one more battle for us ALL. This is truly what I have been teaching the last several weeks for God states "this battle is not yours, it is God's". Let us remember that God is faithful to hear the cry of His children.........AND move mountains!!
It is the desire of my heart that this be passed on to all who will pray.......
Are you sensing that there is something different about this presidential election? I was telling someone just recently that it seems like this election is far more serious than those in the recent past. Something in my spirit is very uneasy. In the past I have felt the need to pray for different elections but I have never felt so strongly the urge to pray, and pray fervently, for an election as I do for this one. I truly believe that if the wrong person (Obama) is elected this nation will be changed forever. We may not be able to undo the things that will be unleashed during an Obama presidency.
My concern about an Obama presidency is not based on politics; it is based on righteousness. Look at any of the major moral issues and you will find Obama on the wrong side of the issue, and Palin and McCain on the right side of the issue. What makes this so disturbing is that the Obama team has raised far more money than McCain/Palin and the media is unabashedly supporting Obama with every story and headline they write. Currently McCain/Palin is behind in the polls and is having a very difficult time. Some in the media have suggested that the race is over and there is little or nothing McCain can do to change the outcome. Oh how wrong they are!
Let me briefly share a story I recently read in 2 Samuel Chapter 5. David had just become king of Israel and the Philistines went up to wage war against him. So David inquired of the Lord and said, 'Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?' The LORD said, 'Yes I will surely hand them over to you.' So David went and defeated them. He said, 'As waters break out, the LORD has broken out against my enemies before me.'
After suffering a great loss in the first battle the Philistines must have thought they now knew David's defense strategy and they would be ready for him the next time, because once more the Philistines came up to attack David. So once again David inquired of the LORD, but this time the Lord gave different instructions. He said to David, 'Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.' David obeyed the Lord and was victorious.
This story holds a very important lesson for us at this time. In most presidential elections a frontal assault, a face-to-face battle, is what is needed. But this is no ordinary election. McCain is trying all the normal tactics but he is not prevailing. It seems no matter what he says or does it is not effective. I am convinced this election CANNOT be won using normal methods. Just as the Lord told David to go around behind the enemy and attack him there, so we must go around the face of this election and wage war where the battle is truly raging…in the spiritual realm! The fact that the normal physical methods are not effective this time should tell us that this is a very important spiritual battle and we can only win by using spiritual methods…Prayer!
What about the sound of marching in the treetops? What is that? I have read on the Internet several accounts of fellow Christians being stirred up in their spirits to pray. Many have been drawn into times of deep prayer and weeping as they intercede for Palin and McCain. Some have woke up in the middle of the night and sensed a great need to pray, other have told of how when they heard about Sarah Palin being chosen as VP that something came over them and they wept and felt a need to pray for Her and McCain. Many others are feeling the calling and urging of the Spirit to enter into a time of fervent prayer and fasting for Palin and McCain and our nation.
What is this unusually stirring that is occurring? I believe it is the Sound of the Lord marching in the trees, calling his children to act quickly to pray and fast for Palin and McCain. Think about this, what would the marching have sounded like to David? It may have sounded like the rustling of leaves as when wind blows through them, but was this time something was different and out of the ordinary. Maybe it was like the sound of the great wind when the Spirit moved on the day of Pentecost. Also, God’s people are referred to as Trees of Righteous in Isaiah 61. So the sound of the Lord marching in the treetops in David’s time is a portrait of the Spirit of the Lord moving among and stirring up his children today.
So what are we to do when we sense this stirring of the Spirit? Two things, first we are to take it as the sign that the Lord is moving out in front of us. Anytime the Lord calls us to do something he goes ahead of us to prepare the way and fight for us. When Joshua returned from spying out Jericho the Lord gave him insight to see that the Lord had removed the Jericho ’s protection so Israel could defeat them. When the Lord calls us into battle he goes ahead of us, removes the enemy’s protection, and fights for us to give us the victory. Secondly, the Lord tells us when we sense the stirring of the Spirit we are to act quickly and join Him in the battle (through prayer, fasting, praise and obedience)
This election is by no means lost. For God would not be stirring up his children all across this nation and indeed around the world, to pray, if he did not want to give us the victory in this election. And he wants us to join him in the battle. God will hear the cries of his children if we will only cry out to him with fervent, earnest, prayers for this election and this nation. If those who are being drawn to prayer by the Spirit will indeed enter into a time of prayer and seeking His face, then God will have mercy on America spare us from having an ungodly leader, I’m sure of it!
One more thought, after the last debate, so-called ‘conservative’ David Brooks gushed about Obama, 'I thought Obama had the night he needed to have. You know, through this whole 20 month marathon, I think what struck me is how incredibly even he is. And how frankly reassuring he is. It is like you’re camping, and you wake up one morning, and there is a mountain. And then the next morning, there is a mountain, and there’s the next morning, there’s a mountain. Obama is just the mountain. He is just there. He is always the same, he doesn't hurt himself. McCain can sometimes lob a cannonball at the mountain, but the mountain doesn't move, and the mountain doesn't care. And so I think his steadiness, his temperament has been the dramatic theme of this campaign, dramatic in being undramatic. And it was on display tonight. And the good part of the mountain is that he is reassuring and reliable.'
I’m really glad he used the word ‘mountain’ to describe Obama. It caused me to remember what Jesus said about unmovable mountains. Jesus said, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'
And it only takes a little faith!
This election can only be won by going around the face of the election and attacking the enemy where he is vulnerable, through prayer, fasting and praise. If you hear the sound of the Lord marching in the tree tops, if you feel the stirring of the Spirit calling you to pray, then move quickly into a time of prayer, for God is moving ahead of you at that time to give us the victory. May God give us ears to hear the marching!
Together with you in the battle, Scott Whitley
Vote and Pray! Pray and Vote!
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
ONLY GOD CAN CHANGE THE RULES
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
--2 Timothy 3:1-7
In reading that passage, the word, "incontinent" kind of jumped out at me. Maybe I misunderstand the Biblical definition of that word, but if it is defined the way we normally define it, it would appear that possibly Paul was referring to the consequences of man-on-man homosexual fornication. After all, incontinence is a direct consequence of repeated penetration of the rectum by a penis. It is a common medical complaint of gay men. Many gay men wear diapers because they can no longer control their bowels.
Could Paul have been directly referring to the sin of homosexuality by using this word? Would God sanctify, or even condone the kind of behavior that would cause this kind of physical damage to oneself?
If God is not willing that any should perish, how much more would he not be willing that any would have to wear diapers because they have caused permanent physical damage to themselves through homosexual acts that have already been declared abominable by the Creator of the Universe?
There were physical common sense reasons for the rules set down in Leviticus. The reason they were told not to handle or eat pork and shrimp etc, was the same reason they were told not to penetrate each other's rectums with penises:
Irreparable physical damage and even death resulted from those behaviors then.
Now, we have learned how to process and cook pork and shrimp, etc, but the ramifications (Pun not intended) of homosexual behavior are not only still physically harmful, they are now deadly, like AIDS, the various new medication resistant strains of STD's, etc.
God knew these ramifications then, and He predicted them accurately.
In Acts 10: 11-13, the author writes: 11. He(Peter) saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13. Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."
14. "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."
15. The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
God was referring to the old prohibitions against eating unclean food. And comparing them with the old Jewish prohibitions against fraternizing with Gentiles.
He wasn't saying homosexual behavior is now considered clean. God has never changed the rules referring to homosexuality. If He had, there would be no such thing as AIDS.
The only entity that can change God's rules is God Himself. He has the advantage of forethought. No one else does.
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
--2 Timothy 3:1-7
In reading that passage, the word, "incontinent" kind of jumped out at me. Maybe I misunderstand the Biblical definition of that word, but if it is defined the way we normally define it, it would appear that possibly Paul was referring to the consequences of man-on-man homosexual fornication. After all, incontinence is a direct consequence of repeated penetration of the rectum by a penis. It is a common medical complaint of gay men. Many gay men wear diapers because they can no longer control their bowels.
Could Paul have been directly referring to the sin of homosexuality by using this word? Would God sanctify, or even condone the kind of behavior that would cause this kind of physical damage to oneself?
If God is not willing that any should perish, how much more would he not be willing that any would have to wear diapers because they have caused permanent physical damage to themselves through homosexual acts that have already been declared abominable by the Creator of the Universe?
There were physical common sense reasons for the rules set down in Leviticus. The reason they were told not to handle or eat pork and shrimp etc, was the same reason they were told not to penetrate each other's rectums with penises:
Irreparable physical damage and even death resulted from those behaviors then.
Now, we have learned how to process and cook pork and shrimp, etc, but the ramifications (Pun not intended) of homosexual behavior are not only still physically harmful, they are now deadly, like AIDS, the various new medication resistant strains of STD's, etc.
God knew these ramifications then, and He predicted them accurately.
In Acts 10: 11-13, the author writes: 11. He(Peter) saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13. Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."
14. "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."
15. The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
God was referring to the old prohibitions against eating unclean food. And comparing them with the old Jewish prohibitions against fraternizing with Gentiles.
He wasn't saying homosexual behavior is now considered clean. God has never changed the rules referring to homosexuality. If He had, there would be no such thing as AIDS.
The only entity that can change God's rules is God Himself. He has the advantage of forethought. No one else does.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
THE "INCLUSIVENESS" RELIGION
One of the new age humanists religious philosophies that are prevalent in today's society is the religion of inclusiveness. This religious philosophy espouses there is only good, and there is no such thing as Hell or Satan. They claim to believe there is no real God, but instead, a sort of God consciousness which is some mystical power of all good and no evil. There is no such thing as sin, or any negatives, for that matter. There is only good. All people, regardless of their religious philosophy or religion, will go to Heaven, or at least the new-agers concept of whatever Heaven must be. I could write a great deal more about this subject but this video touches on the subject somewhat.
Apparently, Oprah Winfrey is one of the new age goddesses of our time.
My brother, the retired foreign missionary, sent this to me. I've always suspected something wasn't right about Oprah, but I always believed she had some Christian up-bringing. This video would suggest she isn't Christian at all. It is disturbing to know that she has such tremendous influence. I wonder. How many innocent people is she leading into Hell?
Many people who believe the kind of things represented in this video don't believe in Satan and Hell, yet they say they believe in God. If that were true, how do they respond to the fact that there are many more references to Hell and Satan in the Bible than there are Heaven?
One of the new age humanists religious philosophies that are prevalent in today's society is the religion of inclusiveness. This religious philosophy espouses there is only good, and there is no such thing as Hell or Satan. They claim to believe there is no real God, but instead, a sort of God consciousness which is some mystical power of all good and no evil. There is no such thing as sin, or any negatives, for that matter. There is only good. All people, regardless of their religious philosophy or religion, will go to Heaven, or at least the new-agers concept of whatever Heaven must be. I could write a great deal more about this subject but this video touches on the subject somewhat.
Apparently, Oprah Winfrey is one of the new age goddesses of our time.
My brother, the retired foreign missionary, sent this to me. I've always suspected something wasn't right about Oprah, but I always believed she had some Christian up-bringing. This video would suggest she isn't Christian at all. It is disturbing to know that she has such tremendous influence. I wonder. How many innocent people is she leading into Hell?
Many people who believe the kind of things represented in this video don't believe in Satan and Hell, yet they say they believe in God. If that were true, how do they respond to the fact that there are many more references to Hell and Satan in the Bible than there are Heaven?
Sunday, March 23, 2008
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