Billy Graham Advises Repentance for ‘American Lifestyle’ By Myles Collier , Christian Post Contributor

Given the rapid rate of the decline in Christian values  throughout America, religious leaders are thinking of ways to reinvigorate faith  communities and draw people closer to Christ.

Billy Graham is calling on people to repent as part of the “My Hope with  Billy Graham” evangelistic outreach event scheduled for the week of Nov. 7,  2013. The event will also coincide with Grahams’ 95th birthday.

The outreach scheduled for next year is part of a growing trend of  evangelicals who are concerned with the state of this country and the lack of  faith in Jesus Christ. It is part of a larger grassroots movement to bring  people closer to God as well as giving them the tools to spread the good  word.

In what could be the largest undertaking in its 60-plus year history, the  Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is trying to engage millions of Christians  by asking believers to register as host “Matthews” at  http://www.myhopewithbillygraham.org to receive training on how to share the word of  God with others.

“We have seen God visit our nation in powerful and transformational ways in  the past,” Preston Parrish, vice president of “My Hope with Billy Graham,” told  WND.com.

“We are praying this will be a real moment of revival and awakening and  transformation across our nation,” he added.

This new undertaking of evangelism comes after Graham released a letter last  month entitled, “My Heart Aches for America” where he described his late wife  Ruth’s concerns about the “terrible downward spiral of our nation’s moral  standards.”

“If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and  Gomorrah,” the letter read.

But one does not have to wait until next year to start. Beginning on Sept. 28  and continuing through Nov. 6, 40 Days to Save America is calling for  repentance, prayer and fasting during the 40 days leading up to the presidential  election and those who are interested are encouraged to visit www.40daystosaveamerica.com.

In his letter Graham blamed the continued “self-centered indulgence, pride  and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle” for  societal ills.

“My heart aches for America and its deceived people,” he said in the  letter.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/billy-graham-advises-repentance-for-american-lifestyle-79698/#RC8PZS54P1YYHUGk.99

Texas Pastor Tells Church to Vote for Jesus but Not as US President By Audrey Barrick , Christian Post Reporter

A megachurch  in San Antonio, Texas, is not going to avoid the elephant in the room any  longer. Its pastors have  decided to talk from the pulpit about the upcoming presidential election.

“This is a big one,” said Pastor Randy Frazee to the Oak Hills Church  congregation on Sunday regarding the Nov. 6, 2012, election. “It seems like  maybe with the state of the economy, the state of world affairs, the state of  ongoing wards, there just seems to be a lot at stake right now.”

“Maybe this upcoming election might unite us or it might further divide us,”  the senior minister said, describing this year’s election as “a little bit more  polarized” than previous ones he has participated in.

During his sermon Sunday, Frazee didn’t tell the congregation who would make  a better president for the next four years – Barack  Obama or Mitt Romney. He  didn’t discuss specific policies either. But he did call on Christians to cast a  vote for Jesus.

He wasn’t suggesting that Christians write in Jesus on the ballot but he was  encouraging them to make Jesus the “president” and lord of their lives and then  vote accordingly.

“Jesus for President” is Oak Hills’ newest sermon series that will run for  four more weeks, with renowned author Max Lucado scheduled to speak next. The  series, the church says, “isn’t about … Republican or Democratic parties, hot  button political issues and political rallies.” Instead, it “seeks to capture  biblical principles and encourage you to live them out in your life.”

“When we let Christ rule our lives and decisions we join His campaign.”

One major biblical principle that Frazee highlighted on Sunday is the value  of every life, what he listed as part of Jesus’ “Bill of Rights.”

During the Greek and Roman empires, women were highly devalued, the pastor  cited. It was common practice at the time to kill baby girls upon delivery, abortion was prevalent, daughters  were forced to marry before puberty, and female widows were pressured to remarry  so that their inheritance from their late husbands would be transferred to their  new husbands.

It was Jesus who valued women. And following the principles of Jesus,  Christians in the early years prohibited infanticide and abortion, and protected  young girls and widows. Sociologist Rodney Stark believes this contributed to  the rapid growth of Christianity and thus impacted society.

Frazee asked Christians to rediscover the principle of seeing people the way  Jesus sees them – with extreme value. Today, the largest group of people who are  devalued in society are children, Frazee said.

More than 400,000 children are in the U.S. foster care system or waiting to  be on it, 13 million worldwide are awaiting adoption, and 42 million worldwide  are aborted annually, he said.

“What if the body of Christ, what if the church were to value these children  and act on that declaration like the church did for women in the first 350 years  of the church?” Frazee asked.

Lamenting the problem of the breakdown of families today, the Texas pastor  urged believers to help build stronger families – whether through adoption,  mentoring, fostering, supporting other families, or simply praying for children  at risk by name.

By building such families on biblical grounds, Frazee believes there could be  a seismic shift in faith around the world.

Though he did not discuss politics specifically, Frazee did encourage the  congregation to let their voice and values count during the presidential  election.

“Max and myself are inviting you to pray for your leaders and we’re inviting  you with all that Jesus has been teaching you and has done for you to simply  take that with you whatever you do, including vote,” he stated.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/texas-pastor-tells-church-to-vote-for-jesus-but-not-as-us-president-79612/#HuRjSV7LfCwlYgzO.99

Tim Tebow on Boomer’s Criticism: ‘God Bless Him’ By Alex Murashko , Christian Post Reporter

Devout Christian quarterback Tim  Tebow appears to have taken the biblical axiom “turn the other cheek”  (Matthew 5:38, 39) to a new level after former Jets player and current football  analyst Boomer Esiason said the New York team should cut him.

“I’ve heard nothing but great things about Mr. Esiason,” said Tebow, in  comments distributed by the Jets to the media. “I know he was a great player  here, and I just wish him nothing but the best in his announcing and God bless  him.”

Tebow’s response came after Esiason, during his New York radio show on Monday  said, “If I were the Jets . . . I would cut Tim Tebow, I really would. It’s not  in any way, shape or form, I think, benefiting this team.

“All you have to do is watch him throw the ball. I just think this whole  thing, at least from my perspective right now in relation to who Mark Sanchez is – your starting quarterback – is a major mistake.”

It’s not the first time that Esiason has blasted Tebow for his skill sets or  suggested a team should cut him, according to a CBS New York article.

Esiason thought the Denver Broncos should cut Tebow after a game last season  in which he played poorly. The local New York CBS station reported that the  quarterback “got mocked and flat-out rocked. Of course, he went on to lead  Denver to the playoffs and a first-round shocker over Pittsburgh.”

Apparently Esiason took the “other cheek” that Tebow has so masterfully  offered to his critics as an invitation to verbally slap the QB again as a Jets  player.

“You can say whatever you want about Tim Tebow,” said Esiason. “He played  some of the worst football that any quarterback has ever played in the history  of the game last year at times.”

The New King James version of Matthew 5:38, 39 reads: “You have heard that it  was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to  resist … But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him  also.”

As for Tebow, he has been on record as saying he has heard all the criticism  and negative outlook about his career before.

“I’ve pretty much heard a lot of it,” Tebow said. “From when I was in high  school, when they said I couldn’t be a high school quarterback, when I was in  college and my first year they told me ‘you’ll never play quarterback,’ and  then, ‘you can never win a championship,’ and ‘you’ll never play in the NFL.’  I’ve heard a lot of it and I just continue to use that as motivation and when I  get my opportunities, try to make the most of them, just be the person that I am  and not let that get me too excited or too down, but just be who I am and go out  there and work as hard as I can every day and try and improve and be the best  football player/quarterback that I can be.”

Tebow has brought extra attention to the Jets summer training camp this year  with many observers speculating as to exactly how the team will be using him in  addition to his backup role to Sanchez.

Jets owner Woody Johnson said he was expecting more media coverage of the  team because of the addition of Tebow, but was astounded by the amount of  intensity, according to The Associated Press.

“I think the enormity of the coverage kind of surprised me a little bit,”  Johnson said during the team’s workout on Tuesday. “Well, I knew there would be  press, there would be interest,” Johnson said, “but even by our standards, this  is pretty amazing.”

http://www.christianpost.com/news/tim-tebow-on-boomers-criticism-god-bless-him-79646/#xT6ZFjMqO3Xv4fmG.99

Heaven is Your Home

Heaven is Your Home.

True Truth

“Prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:21

Remember the days of the multivolume encyclopedia? Not long ago nearly every home had a set gathering dust on the bookcase.

Not anymore! Research materials are now easily found on the Internet. The unprecedented growth of the web gives us a staggering amount of information, literally at our fingertips.

One of the most interesting variants is “Wikipedia”—a completely online, free encyclopedia compiled by contributions from its users. It can be a helpful, fascinating source of information, but somehow the idea of everyone contributing their “two cents” to an article makes me a little uneasy about using that information as a primary source of authority and reliability.

Hopefully you are not among them, but some skeptics view the Bible as if it were compiled like a Wikipedia article. With more than 40 contributing authors spanning several centuries, they say, it cannot be completely accurate. But Scripture sets the record straight. There is only one author. Peter wrote, “Prophecy never had its origin in the will of man” (2 Peter 1:21). In other words, we are not reading the mere thoughts of Moses, David, Isaiah, Paul, or Peter. Rather, the words of the Bible come directly from God, put to paper by men “as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Which means that we find incredible unity, clarity, and commonality flowing through the Old and New Testaments. The truths expressed in Daniel’s writing from the palace courts of Babylon are mirrored in John’s words from the isle of Patmos, hundreds of years later. The themes of God’s character, of man’s rebellion, and of God’s glorious plan of redemption wind their way through each page. Further additions, revisions, or retractions are unthinkable and unnecessary because God’s Word is confidently complete.

If what you need is a quick glance at the history of jazz music, the opinions and perspectives offered in Wikipedia might be helpful. But, if you’re looking for meaning and purpose and the answers to life’s deepest questions, a multiplicity of conflicting opinions won’t help.

Thank God that He has given us what we need for every challenge and crossroad of life as His clear and trustworthy voice speaks to us through His Word!

YOUR JOURNEY…

• What are the dangers of treating God’s Word like Wikipedia?
• How does your view of the authority of God’s Word affect your commitment to live by it?
• How are the themes of God’s Word tied together between the Old and New Testaments?

http://getmorestrength.org/daily/true-truth/

The Holy Suffering of the Saint

Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good . . . —1 Peter 4:19

Choosing to suffer means that there must be something wrong with you, but choosing God’s will— even if it means you will suffer— is something very different. No normal, healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he simply chooses God’s will, just as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. And no saint should ever dare to interfere with the lesson of suffering being taught in another saint’s life.

The saint who satisfies the heart of Jesus will make other saints strong and mature for God. But the people used to strengthen us are never those who sympathize with us; in fact, we are hindered by those who give us their sympathy, because sympathy only serves to weaken us. No one better understands a saint than the saint who is as close and as intimate with Jesus as possible. If we accept the sympathy of another saint, our spontaneous feeling is, “God is dealing too harshly with me and making my life too difficult.” That is why Jesus said that self-pity was of the devil (see Matthew 16:21-23). We must be merciful to God’s reputation. It is easy for us to tarnish God’s character because He never argues back; He never tries to defend or vindicate Himself. Beware of thinking that Jesus needed sympathy during His life on earth. He refused the sympathy of people because in His great wisdom He knew that no one on earth understood His purpose (see Matthew 16:23). He accepted only the sympathy of His Father and the angels (see Luke 15:10).

Look at God’s incredible waste of His saints, according to the world’s judgment. God seems to plant His saints in the most useless places. And then we say, “God intends for me to be here because I am so useful to Him.” Yet Jesus never measured His life by how or where He was of the greatest use. God places His saints where they will bring the most glory to Him, and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be.

http://utmost.org/the-holy-suffering-of-the-saint/

Priority Check

“Now they sin more and more; they make idols for themselves from their silver, cleverly fashioned images, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of these people, “They offer human sacrifices! They kiss calf-idols!” — Hosea 13:2

The corruption that Hosea dedicates his life to correcting is so aptly captured in the following quote: “They offer human sacrifices! They kiss calf-idols!” The Sages teach that while the normal way of a human being is to kiss people and slaughter calves, this generation got things completely backwards. They would kiss calves and slaughter people! Apparently, their priorities had been turned completely inside out.

It sounds barbaric to us, but human sacrifice was an accepted practice in ancient times. Our verse describes the worship of an idol in the image of a silver calf. People would sacrifice humans – even their own children – just for the opportunity to kiss the idol. It sounds absolutely insane to value an inanimate object over a human being. Who could do such a thing? But – wait. Think about it. People do it all of the time.

“Cat’s in the Cradle” is a famous song all about a father who is too busy to spend time with his son. Though the son repeatedly asks his father to spend time with him, the father offers little more than vague promises to spend time together in the future. He is presumably busy with his job and earning a living. As the song progresses, the child who wants to be just like Dad grows up. The day with Dad never comes.

In the last two verses of the song, the roles are reversed and the child doesn’t have time for his father. The father, now an older man, realizes that he missed the chance to have a relationship with his child. He may have achieved financial success, but in the process, he gave up his son.

This haunting song reminds us of the sacrifice many of us unknowingly make when we strive for gold and silver. In our pursuit of success, it’s so easy to forget the cost. Though most people start out with their priorities in place, time and challenges can turn them inside out. The scary part is that most people don’t even realize that their priorities are shifting. Harry Chapin, the author of the song, said about it, “This song scares me to death.” It should stir us all.

In our generation, we often flip-flop our priorities like the idol worshipers in the time of Hosea.  The question is this:  Do we sacrifice our money so that we can kiss our kids? Or do we give up our children because of our love for money?

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/priority-check

Some have never read God’s Word

Some have never read God’s Word.

Have you ever read through the Bible? Some follow a plan that takes them through the Bible in one year. In doing this, they increasingly understand Biblical history and the mind and leading of the Creator of the universe.

By the grace of God you can begin to see that God is a loving God but that He is also a just God.

We also see in the Bible that there were times when “everyone did what was right in their own eyes” [in the book of Judges, for example] and paid no attention to the Creator God.  Wickedness, evil, man against man, hatred, idolatry.  Godlessness prevailed.

Have we moved into such a time as this?   Some of the comments that I receive are filled with so much hatred.   Yesterday I shared a few.  Here is just one:

Email #1:

I’m the child of Holocaust survivors. Your rhetoric reminds me of the rantings of the Nazis who tried to exterminate my people, my family, and my culture.

Rest assured that as a veteran of the US Army and a person dedicated to equality for all and the destruction of bigotry and hatred, I will willingly take up arms if necessary to defend decent people from the likes of you. You cloak your hatred and vile nature in a cloak of religion, but at your core you are just as bad as the merchants of death in Nazi Germany.

The good thing is that America and the world are turning away from your evil. People are accepting diversity, embracing openness and change, and relegating fossils like you to the curiosity shelf.

 

 

 

Good day.

 

My response:  Really?  Good day after saying that he will take up arms if necessary to defend decent people from the likes of me; that I cloak my hatred and vile nature in a cloak of religion; that I’m just as bad as the merchants of death in Nazi Germany?

I read a quote this morning from one of America’s most regarded presidents:  President Abraham Lincoln.  The quote was this “Without this book, we couldn’t know the difference between right and wrong.”

He was referencing the Bible, of course.

Most of us know what it’s like to be in a classroom without some semblance of discipline.   A society without laws is a society that is on its way to chaos followed by tyranny.  The Bible provides a standard of right!

The Bible opposes killing, stealing, idolatry, adultery, coveting, dishonoring our parents, homosexuality, polygamy, bestiality and many others sins.

Why? Because they degrade God’s Holy Name and degrade His creation – you and me.

This writer states that I cloak my hatred and vile nature in a cloak of religion.  Really?

Why did God give us the account of Sodom and Gomorrah?  Why did He tell us in His Word that homosexuality is an abomination?

The answer is clear.  Because God didn’t create us to have sexual relations with those of the same gender; that homosexuality is a perversion.  It isn’t healthy.  He made the female to receive a male in one flesh unity.  Not the unnaturalness of man with man. Woman with woman.  See Romans 1: 24, 25.

Sexually transmitted diseases are major issues as people sleep around in fornication and in adulterous relationships.  HIV is still most pronounced in the homosexual community.  These are natural consequences of living outside of the way God lovingly and masterfully made us.

Why do ministries like ours speak out against corporations that endorse and promote homosexuality and same sex marriages?  [Companies like J.C. Penney, Fifth Third Bank and General Mills?]

Because we are haters? Absolutely not!  Because as corporations use their name to empower degrading and godless behaviors, it leads to greater degradation , greater moral decline which leads to the decline of our nation – degradation from within!

Not because we say so but because God says so.   Our forefathers, the founders of our nation, our parents –  believed God to be the Creator God; the author and perfecter of our faith.  We have seen our nation blessed as we have followed Biblical standards.  We now are seeing our nation at great  risk because there are voices like the one writing this email who mock God’s standard thereby denying God and His loving authority.

In closing, I haven’t written this because my feelings are hurt by such vitriolic verbiage but rather because I fear for our great country.

I fear that our President, too, has been instrumental in this balkanization of America with his aggressive promotion of GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) in our military and throughout our world.   As he names June GLBT month -  in doing so he is promoting perversion.  It is a direct attack upon a loving but a Holy and just God.  Great degradation and declension has and is resulting!  Make no mistake!

Do any of us want our children and grandchildren sleeping around, committing adultery – having unnatural relationships?   I don’t because I want what is the very best for them.  What about you?

The best for them is not homosexuality or same sex marriage.  Shame on Fifth Third Bank.  Shame on J.C. Penney, General Mills and others who have done similarly.  They have done us great harm.  I say this with great sadness.

http://www.americandecency.org/archives/some-have-never-read-god%e2%80%99s-word/#more-6930

Jesus Walks And Talks With Two Of His Disciples

On the same day two of Jesus’ disciples were on their way to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem; and as they talked together about what had happened, Jesus himself drew near and went with them; but their eyes were kept from knowing him.

He said to them, “What are you talking about so earnestly as you walk along?” And they stood still, looking sad, and one of them, named Cleopas, answered, “Are you only a stranger stopping in Jerusalem? Do you not know the things that have happened there within these last few days?” He asked, “What things?” They answered, “Why, about Jesus of Nazareth, who proved himself a prophet, mighty in word and deed before God and all the people, and how our high priests and rulers gave him over to be sentenced to death and had him crucified. But we were hoping that he was the one to save Israel. It is now the third day since these things happened. Yet some of our women who were at the tomb early this morning, amazed us. They told us that they had not found his body but that they had seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Then some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it as the women had said. But him they did not see.”

Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish men, so slow of heart to believe in what the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer and so win his glory?”

When they came to the village to which they were going, he seemed to be going farther on, but they urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, the day is nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them.

As he sat with them at table, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and passed it to them. Then their eyes were opened so that they knew him; but he disappeared from their sight. They said to one another, “Did not our hearts glow while he was talking with us on the way!”

At once they started back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered with their companions, and from them they learned that the Lord had really risen and that he had appeared to Simon. Then they told of their own experience on the road, and how they knew him when he broke the bread.

http://kids.ochristian.com/Childrens-Bible/Jesus-Walks-And-Talks-With-Two-Of-His-Disciples.shtml

“Having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8

True religion lies deep; it is not a balloon hovering over us miles up in the air. It is like truth–it lies at the bottom of the well. We must go down, then, into religion, if we are to have it really in our hearts. The Lord Jesus Christ was “a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” He took the lowest, last, and least place. He was always down; so that if we are to be companions with the Lord Jesus Christ, we must go down with him–down into the valley, down into suffering, down into humiliation, down into trial, down into sorrow. When we get puffed up by worldly joy, or elated by carnal excitement, we do not sympathise with the Lord Jesus Christ in his suffering manhood; we do not go with him then into the garden of Gethsemane, nor behold him as “the Lamb of God” on the accursed tree. We can do without Jesus very well when the world smiles, and carnal things are uppermost in our heart. But let affliction come, a heavy cross, a burden to weigh us down, then we drop into the place where the Lord Jesus is only to be found. We find, then, if the Lord is pleased to bring a little godliness into the soul, and to draw forth this godliness into vital exercise, that it has “the promise of the life that now is.” There are promises connected with it of support and strength, comfort, consolation, and peace, that the world knows nothing of; there is a truth in it, a power, a reality, a blessedness in it, that tongue can never express. And when the soul gets pressed down into the vale of affliction, and the Lord is pleased to meet with it there, and visit it then, and draw forth godliness in its actings and exercises, then it is found to have “the promise of the life that now is.” Faith, hope, love, repentance, prayerfulness, humility, contrition, long-suffering, and peace–all these gifts and graces of the Spirit are exercised chiefly when the soul is down in affliction. Here is. “the promise of the life that now is” in the drawing forth of these heavenly graces in the heart.

And godliness hath the promise also of “the life which is to come.” It supports in life and in death; and takes the soul into a happy and blessed eternity. Grace will end in glory; faith in sight; hope in fruition. The soul taught of God will see Jesus as he is. Thus godliness has “the promise of the life which is to come,” when eternal peace shall abound, tears be wiped from off all faces, and grace consummated in endless bliss.

http://devotionals.ochristian.com/j-c-philpot-daily-portions.shtml