‘Stand Up And Pray’ Website Unites Believers and Social Media By Vincent Funaro

Believers all over the world can now join each other online and exchange prayer requests with the new Stand Up And Pray Facebook application created by Christian entertainment company EGT.

“Stand Up And Pray.com helps family and friends cover one another in prayer,” said the company in a press release. “This Facebook application allows users to post prayer requests, ask friends to keep them in prayer, and give encouraging comments to their friends who posted requests.”

The creators of Stand Up And Pray wanted to encourage those engaged in social media to pray by providing them with an application where their requests would not go unheard.

Now they can connect to friends, family, co-workers, pastors and spiritual leaders by using Stand Up And Pray, an intiative EGT’s founder Justin Kazmierczak says was created from an unction he was given under the Holy Spirit where he was called to make a place for Christians to encourage and lift each other up in prayer.

He also cites 2 Chronicles 7:14 as further inspiration.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land,” reads the passage in the King James Version of the Bible.

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Kazmierczak feels that he’s answered the call with Stand Up And Pray and has also united believers around the world for a good cause, praying for the persecuted.

“Internationally, Stand Up And Pray has helped a Pakistani woman to cover her fellow brothers and sisters in Christ through prayer and help bring out a pivotal reminder of the Christian Walk: It is not easy to be a Christian and walk upright,” Kazmierczak told The Christian Post. “And on the other side of the world it may be illegal to worship Jesus Christ openly.”

“I become aware of an outcry for help,” he continued. “The youth of her church’s congregation got arrested and thrown in prison, most likely because of their faith in Jesus. We don’t know how hard Christians in the Middle-Eastern world have it.”

After hearing about this situation with the woman, Kazmierczak alerted every believer he could- even ones unfamiliar with Facebook- to pray for her until they would start to the dire predicament turn around.

And God began to work things towards the good just days after they received this news.

“Days later, I got a response from the Pakistani woman on Facebook,” he said. “All she did was just thank me for my prayers. She didn’t say anything specific, but I know God did something. It’s impossible for God not to move on our behalf, we just had too many men and women praying for the members of her church.”

Kamierczak aims to help isolated believers around the world by taking advantage of social networking. And Stand Up And Pray brings many Christians together in a way that would be impossible without the technological advancements we’ve seen in recent times.

Stand Up And Pray can be accessed at their website.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/stand-up-and-pray-website-unites-believers-and-social-media-74827/

Black Pastors Speak Out on Obama’s Gay Marriage Stance By Anugrah Kumar

Black pastors across the country dwelt on President Barack Obama‘s stance during worship services Sunday, after Obama’s May 9 announcement that he supports gay marriage.

The Rev. Emmett C. Burns Jr., a politically influential black minister, held an event Sunday at his Rising Sun Baptist Church in Baltimore, Md., to publicly withdraw support from Obama over his same-sex marriage support, CNN reported. “I love the president, but I cannot support what he has done,” Burns was quoted as saying at the church. He also predicted that Obama’s stance would lead to his defeat in November.

Many other black ministers differed with Obama’s stance but also said they’d continue to support him.

The Rev. Wallace Charles Smith of the largely black Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington said the church is against same-sex marriage. However, he did not fully condemn the president, noting there were “larger challenges that we have to struggle with.” He said, “We may disagree with our president on this one issue. But we will keep him lifted up in prayer. … Pray for President Barack Obama.”

The willingness of African-American pastors to openly talk about same-sex marriage is an emerging trend, some believe, and can possibly hurt Obama.

Atlanta-based Tim McDonald, founder of African-American Ministers LeadershipCouncil, was earlier quoted as saying that more black pastors were talking about gay marriage than ever before. “Three years ago, there was not even a conversation about this issue. There wasn’t even an entertainment of a conversation about this.”

A poll held in April by Pew Research Center found that almost half of all African-Americans oppose legalized same-sex marriage, as compared to 43 percent of whites who oppose it.

A May 10 USA Today/Gallup poll also warned that the president’s support of gay marriage might make some independents and Democrats less likely to vote for him in November. It found that 23 percent of independents and 10 percent of Democrats say it makes them less likely to vote for Obama, while a smaller 11 percent of independents and 2 percent of Republicans say it makes them more likely to vote for Obama, the first president to publicly support gay marriage while in office.

Obama made the historic announcement last Wednesday in an interview with ABC News. He said, “[I]t is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think that same-sex couples should be able to get married.” Obama cited friends, family and staff as well as the Golden Rule for his position in now supporting gay marriage.

Dr. Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Redmond, Wash., told The Christian Post last Thursday that he would never vote for someone who believes in same-sex marriage and abortion, “regardless who it is, regardless how white they are, regardless how black they are.”

Rick Santorum has urged presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney to use Obama’s support of same-sex marriage as a “potent weapon” in the November election.

The former presidential candidate told Arkansas TV station KARK, “This is a very potent weapon, if you will, for Governor Romney if he’s willing to step up and take advantage of a president who is very much out of touch with the values of America.”

Santorum also said during his interview with the channel Friday night that he hoped Romney would continue to “stand tall for his position on this issue and understand how detrimental it would be for society for it to have this changed.” The presumptive GOP nominee, Santorum added, “has to talk about his values. That’s the most important thing.”

Romney reiterated his opposition to gay marriage after Obama’s announcement, but he later seemed hesitant in making it one of the main issues of his campaign.

Romney told Fox News last Thursday, “I believe that marriage has been defined the same way for literally thousands of years by virtually every civilization in history and that marriage is by its definition a relationship between a man and woman.” He also said it’s fine for gay couples to adopt children.

However, in North Carolina, where voters approved a constitutional ban on gay marriage and civil unions by a large margin last week, Romney remained silent on the issue during his visit last Friday.

Notably, a day later, he reaffirmed his support for traditional marriage in front of thousands of evangelicals at Liberty University’s commencement ceremony.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/black-pastors-speak-out-on-obamas-gay-marriage-stance-74868/

GCB – Gone, Canceled, Buh-Bye

Ten weeks ago ABC/Disney premiered the much hyped “GCB” – otherwise known as “Good Christian B—ches.”  Each of the 10 episodes made mockery of the Bible, of Christ, and of believers.  ABC pulled out all the stops to ensure GCB’s success – giving the show a prime spot in the lineup following two shows with a large viewership, airing tons of provocative promotions, using a fawning, lap dog industry of entertainment writers and commentators who praised the show as the best thing since sliced bread.  ABC heralded the show as the next “Desperate Housewives” and had high expectations that “GCB” would draw huge ratings.

Well, something happened that foiled their plans.  YOU happened!  Over the weekend it was announced that “GCB” was cancelled!  There will not be a second season for this show that broke new ground in its ridicule of Christianity.

 

The network executives, who obviously don’t know a thing about true Christianity, also don’t seem to understand the millions of American Christians who don’t find the mocking of their faith a laughing matter.  As thousands of you responded to our take action links to advertisers, numbers of sponsors pulled their ads, demonstrating to ABC that it would be difficult to sell the show to “A” list advertisers.   In addition, the overall ratings were mediocre at best.  The high viewership of the preceding shows didn’t carry over to “GCB.”

While Christian bashing may be a favorite sport in Hollywood, ABC has found that we Christians who are “clinging” to our religion – or rather, clinging to the Cross – would not tune in to a show that ridicules our faith.  So, lousy advertiser support and lousy ratings equals no “GCB!”

The Los Angeles Times wrote:  “Once touted as the successor to “Desperate Housewives,” ABC’s hour-long comedy “GCB,” about out-of-control Dallas divas, didn’t make the cut for the fall schedule. While its ratings weren’t the greatest, shows that have smaller audiences are returning. So why aren’t the girls of “GCB” coming back? Ask Madison Avenue. Originally called “Good Christian B*****s” and then “Good Christian Belles,” the show’s name didn’t charm advertisers, who weren’t fooled by the acronym. The show proved to be a hot potato for ABC’s sales department even without a B or C word in the title …”

Another secular commentator stated:   “The controversy surrounding the ABC series GCB, which first had to do with objections to its original title, Good Christian B…hes, followed by accusations that it was poking fun at Christians, have finally caught up with it, as ABC has reportedly decided not to renew GCB…”

 

ADA was one of the few ministries engaged in monitoring this direct assault upon Christ and Christians that has ever been shown on network television.  Each week we analyzed the program and provided a mechanism to contact the list of sponsors keeping this show on the air.

What would have happened if we together had not spoken out against this show whose underlying theme was the contempt of Christianity?  If we hadn’t expressed outrage, would advertisers have shied away?  I doubt it.  If the advertising support had been strong, the show would most likely have been renewed even if the ratings were poor.  As the LA Times commented above, shows with lower ratings were renewed.  However, as we put pressure on the sponsors, we kept the show from gaining a foothold and becoming established and perhaps growing in viewership over time.

Though there will be no great accolades or press acknowledgements of the part that we played, our united, diligent efforts  significantly contributed to the departure of this degrading television show.

How I wish that we could ensure you that everything we do would result in success; that all programs that we target for monitoring due to their perversity would be dropped; that the advertisers that we address would change in their inclination as to what they sponsor.

However, hard fought victories are still seen.

And what would happen and/or what will happen if our influence (and of other like-minded ministries) is dispelled, quenched – no longer supported?

Your voice matters!  Taking a moment to click on the “take action” links we provide does make a difference!  We may not always see large victories such as this, but by speaking up we are being salt and light to a watching world.

In our May newsletter, I raised the question in “Does what we do matter?”  One comment in reply was made by a former fourth grade student of mine.  Michelle sent a picture of her beautiful young children and answered by question with the words:  “Just look at your grandchildren and you will know the answer.”

 

May God shrink our support and dissolve our existence if we ever grow timid and become part of the politically correct crowd.   May it also be that God will enlarge our support as we stay faithful to Him in standing fast against that which opposes His Holy Name and His righteous standards bestowed upon us for His glory and our blessing.  We need your stand with us!

 

Your support is vital to our ongoing efforts – not only by contacting corporations, but by empowering us to stay in the battle with your financial support.  We are dependent upon the sacrificial giving of you, our friends, to continue in ministry.

 

Please click here to show your support and help keep us in the battle!

 

Thank you for standing with us!  This victory is in large part to you who took a moment each week to express concern to sponsors, who forwarded our emails to friends and family, and who spoke out against such Christian bigotry.

 

Please continue to stand together with us with your financial support and as we give you opportunity to “take action” against the darkness of our age.

http://www.americandecency.org/archives/gcb-%e2%80%93-gone-canceled-buh-bye/#more-6664

Time Magazine vs Mothers on Mother’s Day

TIME Magazine, in synchronized coordination with the rest of the pathetic media, found some random mother and child to exploit to mock a reverent holiday.  The article is presumably about the conflicts associated with “attachment parenting”—a parenting theory popular in the 1970’s that has made a small comeback among mothers today.

The cover touts a mother posed with her 3-year-old boy (whom they made look much older in the photo) with his mouth fixed on her breast for all to see.  Willing to neglect all social graces to boost their slow sales at TIME, the magazine pits parental rights advocates against breastfeeding mothers, and makes a mockery of motherhood, in general.

The cover is mere bait to lure curious onlookers to subscribe to their site to read the article.  I didn’t.  But the content of the article is somewhat irrelevant, because it has become the “Mother’s Day” photo of 2012, drawing unknown numbers of confused onlookers to subscribe just to see what is said about this photo.

I submit that their cover exposes a deeper agenda.  I see a disgusting political play to attempt to force families to cynically choose sides between the “out of my bedroom” business, and the “family-friendly, values-voters” types.  This sort of division is an attempt to prop up the Obama re-election campaign’s invention of a Republican “war on women” that doesn’t exist.

Comments immediately ensued with feminists screaming at all proverbial white men to keep their hands off of their bodies (as she bares it complete with a photo suggesting indecency, even sexual perversion).

I am the mother of five amazing children.  I breast fed all of my children for years, and did so publicly when appropriate.  I wore my babies in a sling, and subscribe to many of the bonding techniques advocated in Attachment Parenting theory.  I spoke recently to a group of women who advocate total freedom for birthing babies, and I helped my husband pass the Birth Freedom Act in the Missouri State Senate. I believe such freedoms are a parent’s constitutional right.  TIME Magazine’s attempt to draw lines between breastfeeding advocates and First Amendment advocates is flawed. Conservative women are savvy, and will not fall into the trap that liberals are setting for them.   Conservative women will not be told that they need to choose between their private rights as parents to mother their children as they see fit, and common moral decency.

Benjamin Franklin warned, “We have given you a republic, if you can keep it.”  Those profound words mean that Americans would enjoy the greatest liberties of any people in the history of mankind, but we would only be allowed those liberties as long as we can self govern.  Time and again, virtually every one of the founding fathers described the strong moral character, and the peoples’ ability to self govern as the key to the survival of the republic.  This photo is exhibit A of the media’s attack on our Country using a “victim flavor of the day”—in this case, mothers and their children.

Every conservative I know supports a woman’s right to breastfeed, and most understand that sometimes, that means that women will nurse discretely in public.  TIME Magazine’s portrayal ignores all decency and glamorizes a woman making a nuisance of herself.  There is no controversy here.  The question of “where to draw the line” is an old one, but TIME brought it up now, as if to say that conservatives must consent to all portrayals of breastfeeding or they are “anti-woman.”  What is the next controversial cover that conservatives will be forced to condone or be branded “anti-woman”?  Maybe they will show a single dad naked in bed with his young son?  Perhaps they will feature a baby being breast fed by a medically enhanced, breasted man?  The list goes on.

The media’s deliberate attempt to pit groups of people into corners and to divide them should offend every “victim flavor of the day” that they attempt to exploit.

Contrast the spin and exploitation of the current media’s efforts to carry the water for this administration, with the 1980’s administration of Ronald Reagan.  He quoted a Jewish proverb that sums it up beautifully:  “God could not be everywhere – so He created mothers.”

This mother’s day, I hope that mothers everywhere are blessed, and that they fundamentally reject the leftist media’s attempt to divide us based upon our private parenting practices.  Further, I hope that those who have the insight to see through this thinly veiled exploitation will dig deep inside and use every bit of maternal grit they can muster to fight for the Constitution that this administration and media assaults daily.

That way, one day our daughters and sons will have the same rights we have to parent their children as they best deem fit.  Our founders understood a principle my co-author and I discuss at length in our new book, coming out later this summer.  Charles Carroll, Signer of the Declaration of Independence said that “Without morals, a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion…are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.”

God bless our Mothers, this Mother’s Day!

Gina Loudon

Dr. Gina Loudon is the host of the PM drivetime show The Dr. Gina Show heard in 8 states across the Midwest and the South.

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/ginaloudon/2012/05/13/time_magazine_vs_mothers_on_mothers_day/page/full/

Free Our Kids From Arne Duncan

President Obama now commands center stage following his formal announcement that, yes, he supports same sex marriage.

But for perspective on how we got to this point, we should shift our sights to three days before the president’s announcement. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appeared on MSNBC where he responded “yes, I do” when asked if he supports same sex marriage.

Duncan at best raised a few eyebrows by stating his support for same sex marriage.

If he had said that homosexuality is immoral there would have been demands for his ouster.

How have we gone from a nation where our first president, George Washington, admonished that religion and morality are “indispensable” to ‘political prosperity” to one, today, in which our president says “same-sex couples should be able to get married?”

On the marriage issue, the national transformation has been breathtaking. A new Gallup poll shows the nation evenly divided – 50 percent saying same-sex marriage should be valid and 48 percent saying it should not be. When Gallup asked the same question in 1996, 68 percent opposed legalization of same sex marriage against 27 percent in favor.

In just 16 years the gap between those opposed and in support of same sex marriage has gone from a 41 point difference to practically zero.

Our public schools are controlled locally. But the influence of the federal government is substantial. The Department of Education, per its website, “administers a budget of $68.1 billion dollars in discretionary appropriations…” serving “…nearly 16,000 school districts and approximately 49 million students…”

It’s not trivial that Duncan, the man who oversees this massive enterprise molding the minds of our nation’s youth, publicly rejects the traditional definition of marriage in favor of one saying it just takes two (so far) warm bodies of any gender combination.

The president brandishes one of his favorite words in explaining his support for same sex marriage. “Fairness.”

Actually, this is about unfairness.

We have bought into a grand illusion that we can make our public spaces value neutral. But this is impossible.

The struggle in our public spaces is about competing world views. Not neutrality.

As one court ruling after another has purged religious expression from our public spaces, we have unfairly suppressed traditional values in favor of promoting alternative secular views.

As we have sanitized our public schools from prayer, from displays of the Ten Commandments, from any teaching that can be associated with biblical sources, we’ve put government monopoly power behind moral relativism.

California, for instance, has a new law mandating teaching gay history in public schools. A similar mandate to teach Christian history would be challenged constitutionally.

2011-2012 Resolutions of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, include support of same sex marriage and sex education programs that appreciate “diversity of …sexual orientation and gender identification.”

Randi Weingarten, president of the nation’s second largest teacher’s union, American Federation of Teachers, lives in an open lesbian relationship.

It should come as no surprise when President Obama says he sees much of the growth in support for same sex marriage as “generational,” with strong support coming from our youth.

Attitudes reflect education. We have created a world in which it is illegal to teach youth in our public schools traditional religious values but it is not illegal to teach them competing values of nihilism, materialism, and relativism. And these competing values are actively promoted.

As elsewhere, the main victims are poor, minority kids, often from broken families, held hostage in these public schools and prohibited from being taught the very values that could save their lives.

Is there a way out? I only see one. Universal school choice. Liberate parents and kids from government and union controlled schools. In a free America, parents who don’t share Arne Duncan’s values shouldn’t have them forced on them.

Star Parker

Star Parker is founder and president of CURE, the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, a 501c3 think tank which explores and promotes market based public policy to fight poverty, as well as author of the newly revised Uncle Sam’s Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America’s Poor and What We Can do About It.

http://townhall.com/columnists/starparker/2012/05/14/free_our_kids_from_arne_duncan/page/full/

A Murder of One

Some years ago, I was sitting in a tree stand in Sampson County, North Carolina. Less than an hour after ascending into the stand, a beautiful doe stepped into my field of vision. I raised my 30/30 and set my sights just behind her right shoulder. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, I saw something moving along the outer perimeter of my field of vision. I glanced to my right and saw a young fawn grazing just 25 yards away from its mother – the doe I had nearly shot. I had to draw my weapon down for a moment and reassess the situation.

After I took a second careful look at the doe and the fawn, I made a decision. I took the shot and watched the doe run about fifty yards until she rolled over under a tree and died resting in a bed of leaves. As I turned around and got ready to step down out the tree stand, I saw the fawn stop and turn around to look for its mother. Seeing nothing, the young deer turned and ran off into the distance.

When I came upon the fallen doe resting in the bed of leaves, I was relieved to see that my assessment of the situation was correct. She was no longer nursing. That meant her young fawn was ready to survive on its own. That is important to me because I would never want to see the fawn left to fend for itself and try to survive on its own unless it was ready to do so. I try to show a concern for helpless young fawns that exceeds our president’s concern for helpless young humans. It isn’t hard to do.

I’ve never met a pro-abortion liberal who disagreed with my assertion that the young fawn is living and fully a deer even before it has the capacity to survive on its own. But many liberals view the unborn as less than persons simply because they lack the ability to survive on their own. This strange deference to the deer (but not the human) is symptomatic of a deeply confused worldview – one that refuses to see man as made in the image of God.

Several weeks ago, I ran across one such person. I assume she was a person though she may well have been dependent on the government for her survival. She argued vigorously that the unborn are not persons until they are capable of surviving on their own. She was somewhat emotional as she argued with me. So I struggled for just the right example to come to my mind – one that would convince her that dependency did not undermine personhood. I wanted to plant a stone in her shoe by making her think deeply without deepening her defensiveness. Within seconds, it came to me.

Because I teach law courses, I am forced to illustrate points by using hypotheticals, which I must often think up on the spur of the moment. In the middle of our discussion of dependency and personhood, I asked the young women to consider the following hypothetical:

I am a member of a gang that has just decided to retaliate against a rival gang for a drug-related murder. While driving by the home of the rival gang member, I fire ten shots into what I thought was his bedroom window. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The room housed two of his siblings. Consequently, the bullets struck and killed both of his twin sisters. How many counts of murder should I face in court?

 

Without hesitation, the pro-choice woman said “That’s easy. Two.” Then I asked her the $64,000 question: “Would it change your answer if they were Siamese twins?” Without hesitation, she replied, “Of course not.” Checkmate.

I followed up by reminding her that the twins were not only physically connected to one another but also dependent on one another for survival. If depending on another for survival does, in fact, undermine personhood then I was responsible for zero, as opposed to two, counts of murder. In other words, the dependency argument that gives license to kill unborn babies also gives license to kill Siamese twins. And that is no mark of compassion.

Shortly after we ended the conversation, the woman stood up and thanked me for talking to her. When she stood, I noticed a bulge around her waistline. About a minute later, her pro-life friend approached me and thanked me, too. It was then that I learned she was five months pregnant. In other words, as she was making the dependency argument she was carrying a baby that was not “viable.”

Ideas have consequences so we must be prepared to answer them with both logic and evidence. The stakes are always high. Abortion season lasts twelve months out of every year.

Mike Adams

Mike Adams is a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and author of Feminists Say the Darndest Things: A Politically Incorrect Professor Confronts “Womyn” On Campus.

http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/2012/05/14/a_murder_of_one/page/full/

The Habit of Enjoying Adversity

. . . that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body —2 Corinthians 4:10

We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved so that “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” And it is adversity that makes us exhibit His life in our mortal flesh. Is my life exhibiting the essence of the sweetness of the Son of God, or just the basic irritation of “myself” that I would have apart from Him? The only thing that will enable me to enjoy adversity is the acute sense of eagerness of allowing the life of the Son of God to evidence itself in me. No matter how difficult something may be, I must say, “Lord, I am delighted to obey You in this.” Instantly, the Son of God will move to the forefront of my life, and will manifest in my body that which glorifies Him.

You must not debate. The moment you obey the light of God, His Son shines through you in that very adversity; but if you debate with God, you grieve His Spirit (see Ephesians 4:30). You must keep yourself in the proper condition to allow the life of the Son of God to be manifested in you, and you cannot keep yourself fit if you give way to self-pity. Our circumstances are the means God uses to exhibit just how wonderfully perfect and extraordinarily pure His Son is. Discovering a new way of manifesting the Son of God should make our heart beat with renewed excitement. It is one thing to choose adversity, and quite another to enter into adversity through the orchestrating of our circumstances by God’s sovereignty. And if God puts you into adversity, He is adequately sufficient to “supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19).

Keep your soul properly conditioned to manifest the life of the Son of God. Never live on your memories of past experiences, but let the Word of God always be living and active in you.

http://utmost.org/the-habit-of-enjoying-adversity/

Final Exam

“God tested Abraham.” Genesis 22:1

In universities everywhere, mid-May brings late-night study sessions, caffeine-fueled writing binges, and ulcer-inducing stress as students are preparing for final exams—those critically important tests to determine how well the student has learned the lessons of the semester.

Let’s look at a familiar incident in the life of Abraham through that lens.

Genesis 22 begins by saying, “God tested Abraham.” In other words, it’s like Abraham’s big exam. And what is the test? God is about to test Abraham’s allegiance to the one true God in a most stressful way.

So let’s review: God called out Abraham to the city of Ur. Ur was an advanced culture and a highly sophisticated town, but it was rampant with idolatry. When God passed out this test to Abraham, Abraham was wandering through Canaan—yet another pagan, idolatrous region. And keep in mind that in pagan idolatry, the highest demonstration of loyalty to one’s god was to offer—you guessed it—your children as a sacrifice.

With that in mind, look back at Genesis 22:1. The text actually says that it is the God who tests Abraham. This is in contrast to those lifeless forms of wood and stone that were the idols of the pagan Canaanites. And it’s the one true God who comes to Abraham and gives him the following test.

Would the loyalty and allegiance of Abraham to the genuine Creator God match the misplaced loyalty and devotion of the surrounding nations to their false idols? The test is simple yet very demanding: “Abraham,” God says, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love . . . and sacrifice him.”

That’s the test, plain and simple. It’s a pass/fail exam with no room for grading on the curve. If Abraham obeys, demonstrating his allegiance, loyalty, and trust in the promises of God, he passes the test. If he refuses, he retains control over his son’s destiny, but fails to demonstrate his commitment to following God no matter what the cost.

Well, we know the rest of the story. In fact, it’s amplified and explained beautifully in the book of Hebrews where the writer explains that Abraham by faith obeyed, reckoning that even if Isaac died, God could raise him from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19).

So what does Abraham’s test have to do with us? While God won’t ask you to literally sacrifice a child on an altar, He does often require the things in your life that are precious to you. Think about it. Isaac was God’s gift to Abraham. All of God’s promises were wrapped up in that miracle child. How easy it would have been for Abraham to love Isaac more than he loved God. Or to put it another way, to love the gift more than the Giver! The test may be the same for you. God always wants to know that nothing in your life is more important or more valuable than your relationship to Him. It may even be a sinful pattern that for some reason provides temporary kicks, comfort, or security. Do you love Him more than the sin in your life?

If by faith you can believe with Abraham that when God takes something from you, God will give something back in even better terms, then you will pass the test and give Him all He demands and all He desires. Whether it’s your money, your possessions, your career, your dreams, or even your children to His service—everything we give to Him is an opportunity to pass the test and in worship prove to Him that nothing in our lives is of greater value than His friendship and fellowship.

As you face the tests of this week, know that your Tester loves you deeply and is ready to help you pass, like Abraham, with flying colors!

YOUR JOURNEY…

• What tests are you currently facing? What can you learn from the example of Abraham to help you pass the test with flying colors?
• James 1:2-4 also addresses the issue of tests. Based on this passage, what is God testing and why?
• If you’re one of those people who has always dreaded taking exams, ask the Lord to change your perspective about His tests. Think through the reasons that He wants to test you, and trust Him to supply the courage and faith you need to pass the exam in a way that glorifies Him.

http://getmorestrength.org/daily/final-exam/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GetMoreStrength+%28Strength+For+The+Journey%29

Partners with Zion

“And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.” — Ezra 1:4

Theodor Herzl was the father of the modern State of Israel. Like many great men, he kept a diary. Herzl recorded the journey that he underwent trying to birth the state of Israel into being, and he spoke about those who helped him along the way. One name, in particular, is mentioned more than any other in the entire account.

That name is Reverend William Henry Hechler. The greatest ally of the Jewish journalist from Vienna was an English priest. Hechler’s partnership with Herzl played a fundamental role in the re-establishment of the State of Israel and the return of the Jews to their homeland.

Partnership between Jews and Gentiles for the sake of Israel goes back thousands of years to biblical times. The book of Ezra opens with a monumental declaration by Cyrus, King of Persia. Seventy years after the Jewish nation had been exiled from their homeland by the Babylonians, the Persians had taken control and initiated the Jewish return to their land. Not only did Cyrus grant permission for the return and rebuilding of the Temple, he also urged local residents to donate to the cause. It was with the help of these Gentile friends that the Jewish people were able to return to their homeland.

Sound familiar?

The time period that we are living in today shares many similarities with the time period in which Ezra lived. While his generation saw the first people in history to re-establish a homeland after being exiled from it, today’s generation is witnessing the only nation in history to return to its homeland twice! And just as the initial return to Israel was only possible because of the partnership between Jews, Gentiles and Christians alike, today’s return to Zion is the product of a Jewish and non-Jewish alliance once again.

I don’t think that’s an accident. God wants to give all people a chance to be involved in the rebuilding of the Holy Land. Israel may be the homeland of the Jewish people, but Israel is for everyone. The Holy Land contains everyone’s past, and also their future. The Scripture tells us that the third and final temple will be a house of prayer for all nations. So it is only fitting that every nation should have the opportunity to contribute to its making.

We are witnessing the fulfillment of ancient prophecies before our very eyes! The children of Israel are returning to their land, and we invite you to become a part of it through prayer, through visits, through your voice, and your support of The Fellowship’s many programs and ministries.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/partners-with-zion

The Evident Christ

He could not be hid–Mar 7:24

It Was Impossible to Conceal Christ

Jesus was in retirement at this time. He had sought seclusion in the coasts of Tyre. It was perilous for Him to be seen just then, and the hour of His cross had not yet come. The tetrarch Herod had become suspicious. The Pharisees made no concealment of their hatred. The people who were so enthusiastic lately had taken deep offence at Jesus’ teaching. And our Lord, recognizing the danger in all this, withdrew for a time to a half-heathen territory, where occurred that exquisite and precious incident–the visit of the Syrophenician woman. Now there was one thing which deeply impressed the disciples there. It was the impossibility of concealment for their Master. Quietly He had stolen away. No vision of Messiah stirred these villagers, for they were pagans and outside the covenant. Yet even there Jesus could not be hid–there were hearts which recognized Him as the Christ–and it was that which made so deep a mark on the watchful minds of the disciples. It is very probable that as the years went on that thought would grow in meaning for the twelve. John would recall it on the shores of Patmos; Peter amid the crowds of Babylon. And when they were wearied out with opposition, or crushed by the might and mockery of heathendom, it would come to them sometimes like cheering music, that Christ could not be hid. On that thought I wish to speak. I want to show you how grandly true it is. Firstly, we shall consider Jesus in the flesh. Secondly, Jesus in the world. Thirdly, Jesus in the heart.

Jesus in the Flesh

First, then, considering Jesus in the flesh let us dwell for a moment on His lot. It would be hard to imagine any lot that offered a surer promise of obscurity. He was the child of a secluded village–a village that was not held in much repute. There He lived and there He humbly labored till He was some thirty years of age. And so deep was the retirement of these years, so void of rumors of the coming glory, that Nathanael, who belonged to Cana in the neighborhood, seems never to have heard a whisper of Him. Most men who are to come to greatness are on the road to it before the age of thirty. They have left their native village long ere that; they are out in the world and battling with its powers. But at thirty Christ was still at Nazareth, still toiling for His daily bread there, still acting as a father to His brothers, for His mother Mary was a widow now. Wealth is able to open many doors, but in the cottage at Nazareth there was no wealth. Influence is powerful in advancement, but what influence had a village carpenter? Learning can beat a way through every barrier, and bring a man into the court of kings, but to the laborious learning of His day, Jesus was utterly indifferent.

Have you ever thought again how much in Jesus’ character seemed to promise nothing but obscurity? I say that with the utmost reverence–you all know what our Lord means for me. There is not a trace in Him of lust of power, so often the characteristic of the great. If He had ever felt it He had crushed it down, as you may read in the Temptation narrative. There is not a sign in Him of any passion for fame–the spur that the clear spirit doth raise, as Milton puts it. And as for ambition, if He were ambitious, ambition should be made of sterner stuff. Christ was gentle. Christ was tenderhearted. Christ was compassionate to all the failures. And when men would have made Him a king He slipped away. He had a habit of slipping away from demonstrations. And He loved solitude, and lowly life, and the quiet beauty of pasture and of hill. And He was never happier than with His own, where the waves were lapping on the shore. There were men who became powerful then as now by taking the lead in patriotic movements. Christ never once identified Himself with any popular or patriotic movement. He stood apart a little from them all; went His own way in sunshine and in shadow; and, with a character of perfect poise, kept at the heart of all a perfect love. It is not usually characters like that which break through every barrier of concealment. It is men who are determined and aglow; who are intense even to narrowness. And it seems to me that the very poise of Christ, and His meekness, and the beauty of His love, are just the elements we might have reckoned on as making for the shelter of obscurity.

Yet we all know that that was not the case. Jesus could not be hid. No prophet who ever lifted up his voice created such intense interest as Jesus. Wherever He went, crowds hung upon His steps. Wherever He was known to be, crowds gathered. He was talked of in the castle of the Herods. He was the conversation of the cottage. And there were some who loved Him, and there were some who scorned Him, and there were some who wished Him dead; but there were none who could be quite indifferent. And it was not just His miracles that did it, though His miracles deepened the impression. Nor was it just the wonder of His speech, although the charm of it was irresistible. It was the feeling, born they knew not how, and spreading mysteriously and steadily, that here was One who stood apart from all, and in whose being were unfathomed depths. You will never understand the life of Christ until you waken to that great impression. There was something about Him that suggested God, and men, detecting it, were awed. It shone through every veil that wrapped Him round–poverty, lowliness, suffering, and death–till those who loved Him knew, nothing could ever hide the Christ of God.

Jesus in the World

So much then about Jesus in the flesh; now shall we think of Jesus in the world? Our text is as true of the big world of Rome as it had been of the little world of Palestine. You know how powerless one often feels on entering a great city as a stranger. That is often a moment of great loneliness, and of an overwhelming sense of insignificance. And I think the apostles must have felt like that when they went out from the land of their nativity, and entered the cities of the Roman Empire, carrying the simple message of the Christ. Everywhere around them was philosophy, and they were ignorant of all philosophies. Everywhere were temples to the gods, and the only temples they had were themselves. Everywhere they were confronted with a powerful faith which was rooted in an immemorial past, and they had to preach the happenings of yesterday–the death of Jesus and the resurrection. Roman patriotism was against them, for every patriot clung to the old gods. Pride was against them, for it was intolerable that one should worship a Jew who had been crucified. And immorality was rampant everywhere, and superstition was a tremendous power, and every act of soldier or of emperor was interpenetrated with ancient ritual. What chance had Jesus in a world like that? He had an excellent chance of being buried. Roman historians made so little of Him that they could not even spell His name correctly. It was a gallant sight to see those eastern preachers carrying the message of their Christ abroad; but everyone was certain that in a dozen years Jesus Christ would be buried in oblivion.

Yet the fact is, that is what never happened. The strange thing is, Jesus could not be hid. In the might of a power that was the power of God, Jesus rose conspicuous in Rome. They tried to hide Him by ignoring Him, but Jesus can never be ignored. They tried it by awful persecution, but persecution was powerless to do it. They tried to hide Him in the cloak of ridicule, wrapping Him in the motley of derision; but the more they tried it, taunting Him with folly, the more He silently showed Himself a King. His name became familiar in the markets. It was whispered by the soldiers in the camp. Where no philosopher had ever entered, Christ entered with His power and His peace. Until at last to the remotest west, and from the cottage to the court of Caesar, there was not a woman but had heard of Calvary, and not a man but knew the name of Jesus. Explain it as you will, these are the facts. That is what happened on the stage of history. Out of an obscurity like night, Christ rose into the gaze of every eye. And it just means that Jesus in the world was the very Jesus who had lived in Galilee. In Rome and Lyons, as in the coasts of Tyre, Jesus could not be hid.

And is not the same thing eminently true as we survey the ages till today? The verdict of all the centuries is this, that there is that in Jesus which is irrepressible. I have seen a rock cleft into twain by a seedling-birch that rooted in the crannies. A seed had fallen, and the spring had quickened it, and it rent its prison-house and rose in beauty. And so in the ages has it been with Christ–He has been buried out of sight a thousand times, and a thousand times when hope was almost dead, the world has learned that He could not be hid. That is the meaning of the Reformation, when Christ stepped forth again out of the darkness. That is the meaning of every revival, when Christ is uplifted and every eye beholds Him. That is the meaning of all social effort, which is so earnest in our land today; for it is Christ who is moving in it all, and He cannot be hid. We have had, in the generation that is passing, an unparalleled criticism of the Bible. Did it not seem as if Christ were to be hid in the clouds of dust from the critics’ chariot-wheels? Yet to how many of us Christ is nearer now, and His grace more real, and His love more wonderful; to how many the Bible is a more precious book, because it is the avenue to Him. Science has been powerless to hide Him, though it has lengthened time by millions of years. Astronomy has been powerless to hide Him, though it has cast the earth out of her central place. It is to Christ’s ideals we still are working. It is by Christ’s standards that we still are judging. It is in Christ’s Spirit that we still are hoping for the weakest and the worst of human kind. Heaven and earth have passed away since Galilee, yet every letter you write, you date from Jesus. Commerce is vast and intricate and keen, yet commerce ceases the day when Jesus rose. On every hospital Christ is written large. On every orphanage His name is graven. Through every provision for friendless and for fallen, the pity of His heart is shining still. Think what you will of Christ, there is the fact, that history has been powerless to hide Him. You cannot avoid Him; He confronts you everywhere; He is magnificently and universally conspicuous. And yet this Christ was very meek and lowly, and shrunk from popularity and clamor, and was never happier than with His own, where the waves were lapping on the beach.

Jesus in the Heart

And now in closing, and in a word or two, shall we think of Jesus in the heart? In the heart within as in the world without, Jesus cannot be hid. Of course there is a very real sense in which, when He is ours, He is concealed. He is our life–and can you fathom life? Can you find its secret in the tiniest weed? Search for it, and it lurks within the shadows. Probe for it with the lancet, and it dies. Of every flower which blossoms that is true; and it is true of every Christian man. There must always be a secret in religion–something you cannot tell to anybody. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him–always a secret between Him and you. And so the Christian has a hidden life, and it is fed by thanksgiving and prayer, and no one shall ever know how deep it is, until the day when secrets are revealed.

But if Christ in the heart is always hidden thus, it is just as true that He cannot be hid. If Christ be in you, everything is possible, except to hide Him from the light of day. You can never crush Him down and keep Him so. If you can do it, it is not the Christ. The power of the resurrection is within you, and it is mightier than human weakness. Slowly the Master will reveal Himself, like a root out of a dry ground, until at last, over the field of character, there is the swaying of branches in the wind. In one He will be seen in added strength; in another, in unexpected tenderness. One will be filled with a desire to serve; another with a new desire to pray. And some will walk in a new path of rectitude; and some will cease to fret and become happy; and some will no longer be rebellious, but will take up their cross, and be at peace. We may never be aware of what is happening. Moses wist not that his face shone. We shall cry to the last day we live, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” Yet if we trust Him, and if we long to be like Him, and if we have taken Him to be our own, Christ will use us, and He will not be hid in us, any more than in the coasts of Sidon.

http://devotionals.ochristian.com/george-h-morrison-devotional-sermons-devotional.shtml