Amos 4
24 Nov 2011 1 Comment
Amos 4
1Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
2The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
3And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.
4Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
5And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
6And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
7And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
8So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
9I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
10I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
11I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
12Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
13For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.
I surely wish mankind would finally open their eyes, and realize, that the one and true God in Heaven, the creator of all earth, governs all we do, all we have, all we receive. We need to be thankful to Him for all that He has bestowed on us. His love is bountiful and will never cease. We are the ones that have turned out backs on Him, continually, yet He continues to call us into His fold, wanting to share the glories of Heaven with Him. All He asks of us is to worship Him, obey His simple commandments, and we will enter into His kingdom.
How long will He continue to be ignored, before He will finally say, “Enough!”? He shows punishment to us for disobeying Him, but to certain individuals at a time, not everyone at once, just so we may learn from others, but do we?? We are stubborn, things have to happen to us personally before we learn, and that’s if we do. We need to get back on our knees, and pray, rededicate our lives back to God, our Creator, thanking Him for all His blessings in our lives.
Anti-Abortion ’180′ Film Billboards Rejected by L.A. Ad Companies By Alex Murashko
24 Nov 2011 1 Comment
Pro-life evangelist and filmmaker Ray Comfort, whose controversial 33-minute anti-abortion video “180″ recently upset Jewish groups, says billboard companies in Southern California have turned down his requests to put up signs promoting the film.
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(Image: Living Waters)Pro-life evangelist Ray Comfort is looking for a billboard company that will display his message promoting the controversial video ’180,’ a 33-minute documentary that compares the Holocaust in Europe to abortions in the U.S., November 2011.
A Jewish advocacy group recently denounced the video, which juxtaposes the murders that took place during the Nazi-led Holocaust with abortions performed in the United States, as an outrageous abuse of the memory of the tragedy that occurred during World War II.
Comfort told The Christian Post that three of the largest billboard companies in the Los Angeles area, including Lamar Advertising, CBS Outdoor, and one he did not name, have “declined to promote the pro-life movie ‘180.’”
“One is owned by a Jewish family. Their spokesperson was very upset that we dared to compare American abortion to the Holocaust,” Comfort said.
The Living Waters Ministry leader said that he plans to continue his effort to put up the billboards, which will have no graphic abortion images, and state, “The ‘hottest movie’ on the Internet – 1 million views in 22 days – 33 minutes that will rock your world! Free viewing: 180movie.com.”
The documentary, which was released in late September, has been viewed more than 1.6 million times at 180Movie.com and YouTube. On Oct. 25, about 200,000 DVD copies of the film were passed out to students at more than 100 universities throughout the U.S., Canada and New Zealand.
The decision-making process of the billboard companies is being questioned by Comfort.
“They have the right to refuse, but I think their refusal hasn’t been well thought out,” he said. “These are the same companies that advertise atheists’ mockery of God and the Bible, promote strip clubs, and porn conventions.”
Comfort, who was born to a Jewish mother and father, ran into trouble earlier this month when the Anti-Defamation League stated its outrage over “180.”
“The film is a perverse attempt to make a case against abortion in America through the cynical abuse of the memory of those killed in the Holocaust,” said ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman, a Holocaust survivor. “Not only does the film try to assert a moral equivalency between the Holocaust and abortion, but it also brings Jews and Jewish history into the discussion and then calls on its viewers to repent and accept Jesus as their savior.”
Comfort argues that in the same way that Hitler fueled the Nazi war machine by the death of human beings and sale of their possessions and belongings, so too is the abortion business in the U.S. profiting by the selling of services to perform abortion.
“If they don’t see the comparison of the killing of six million Jews with the slaughter of nearly 60 million Americans through abortion, it’s probably because they don’t consider a baby in the womb to be human,” Comfort said. “That’s exactly what Hitler did with the Jews. He said that they weren’t human, and then he made billions when he killed them and seized their assets.”
“American abortion makes billions through the slaughter of the unborn, and like the Nazi machine, it is a well-run money-making industry that has been successful in brainwashing millions into believing that a baby is something other than a baby,” he explains.
Some churches across the U.S. have begun promoting the film, including a small Florida church that displayed banners with the film’s website address and 4,000 white crosses on its lawn meant to represent the number of babies lost to abortion each day in the United States.
Comfort said he is hoping more churches decide to help promote the film in light of the trouble he is having with finding approved billboard locations.
Attempts by CP to contact the billboard companies for comments were unsuccessful.
Rights for the pre-born in California — it’s possible (OneNewsNow.com)
24 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
Rights for the pre-born in California — it’s possible (OneNewsNow.com).
Stay Focused on What’s Important
24 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
A Week of Thanksgiving: Reflection for Thanksgiving Day by Mark D. Roberts
24 Nov 2011 2 Comments
Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.
On this Thanksgiving Day, Americans are encouraged to pause and give thanks to God. In his Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863, President Abraham Lincoln wrote: “The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.”
As you may recall, in 1863, the United States was in the Civil War, a terribly brutal and emotionally horrifying experience. Thousands of young Americans had died, while others faced the prospect of imminent death. Yet, in the midst of such a challenging time, President Lincoln called upon Americans to remember the richness of God’s blessings and to be thankful.
So it should be with us. In many ways, 2011 has not been an easy year for our nation. We continue to struggle with economic hardships. Bad weather and natural disasters have devastated whole cities. Wars continue to take thousands of men and women away from their homes, and some of these brave soldiers will never return. Political tensions throughout the world bring the threat of further violence and death.
Thus, we need to hear the encouragement of Abraham Lincoln again. In spite of our challenges and setbacks, we have been richly blessed by God. Thanksgiving is due just as much today as it was in 1863, perhaps much more.
When we give thanks, we bring to mind God’s gifts to us. This, in turn, reminds us of God’s gracious nature. We think, not just of what God has done, but also of who God is. Thus, thanks is a point of entry to praise. In the language of Psalm 100, we enter God’s gates with thanksgiving, so that we might go into his courts with praise. There’s no biblical rule that states that thanks must always come before praise. But, for many of us, thanksgiving for what God has done leads us to praise God for who he is.
So, may you enter God’s gates with thanksgiving today, so that you might celebrate in his courts with praise! May God give you a rich and blessed Thanksgiving Day!
QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: How is it possible to give thanks even in hard times? Does thanking God lead to praising God in your life? For what are you most grateful today?
PRAYER: Thank you, gracious God, for your abundant gifts to me. Thank you for giving me, not what I deserve, but so very much more. Thank you for the ways you have blessed me throughout my life. Thank you for allowing me to live in a country where I am free, safe, and prosperous. Thank you, most of all, for the gift of life you have given me through Christ. Thanks for the incredible privilege of knowing you and living my life in relationship with you, both now and forever.
All praise be to you, O God, giver of all good gifts! All praise be to you, because your grace and mercy are without end! All praise be to you for the gift of life in this world, and life forever in the age to come! All praise to you, O God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen!
http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/week-thanksgiving-reflection-thanksgiving-day
Tozer Devotional-Winds of Change and the Changeless God
24 Nov 2011 1 Comment
in A. W. Tozer
Winds of Change and the Changeless God
The contemporary world is a result of radical changes down the generations amounting to revolution: the scientific revolution, the industrial revolution, the communications revolution, the philosophical revolution and the social revolution. Are we going to accept the belief that the Bible must be interpreted anew in the light of these developments? Are we going to allow ourselves to accept the doctrine that the prophets and apostles were mistaken about God? Are we going to allow society to tell us that the Bible is outmoded and largely irrelevant and must therefore be reassessed in the light of modern advancements? Has God changed? Are we going to accept it? Is there a change in the purpose of God? Have the changes in human society startled or shocked God? Must we, in order to remain intellectually respectable and have good standing with these who doubt the Word, humbly say, “Well, I do not believe in miracles”? Or have we got enough of our Protestant protest and courage to stand up and say, “I believe in miracles whenever God Almighty wants to perform them. I believe that whenever God wants to do anything that is out of the ordinary and contrary to or at least above the common processes of nature, He is able to do it. I believe the miracles of Jesus Christ were real miracles. I believe the miracles of the Old Testament were real miracles.” Are we going to allow ourselves to be brainwashed along with all the rest? Or are we going to dare to stand and protest and be known over the country as being Protestant indeed? We would be people who refuse to adjust but who make the world adjust to us. When you adjust, you are dead. The same is true if a church adjusts to these ideas. If you adjust, you are done. But if you dare to stand, the world will adjust to you. I can promise you that. Not all will adjust to you, but at least some will.
