The Glory of the Blood

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)
We had our annual Thanksgiving Service yesterday. It is a time when all are given an opportunity to come forward and voice their thanks to the Lord. It is always a special time. There were many testimonies of God's faithfulness to individuals but the best part of the service was the end.
We all joined in remembering and declaring His death as the greatest gift of all through observance of the Lord's Supper.
Oh, the glory of the blood!! Oh, the beauty of His indescribable gift!! He is the Just and the Justifier!! Our God...who is like Him?? There is no other!! Hallelujah Jesus!! Praise His name!! Let all the earth stand in awe!! Let all men bow to Him!! He is KING of Kings and LORD of Lords!!

Repent of your sins and believe on Christ without delay!! Your eternity hangs in the balance!! He is The Awesome God and He has completed the great work of atonement but you must believe! You must cry out to Him for mercy!! Do not harden your heart against Him and trample on the precious blood of Christ!! Seek the Lord while He may be found!! The Day of the Lord is coming when all will answer for their sins and rebellion against Him!! Do you have an answer? Your only hope is the blood of Christ!! Your only hope of justification is the work of Jesus on the Cross!! It is the power of salvation!! There is no other name given under heaven by which men might be saved then the name of Jesus!! He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and NO MAN comes unto the Father but by Him!! Come to Jesus!! Come to Jesus!! Come to Jesus!!

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 4:1-3)

Waxing on Weakness

So I know I seem to have an opinion about everything, and I know I talk pretty confidently about things but don't misunderstand me....I have absolutely no confidence in me and sometimes my weakness is all that I see.
Sometimes I am very aware of the heaviness and I feel like I am being crushed under the weight. Ever feel like that? I had one of those days today so I went to the Lord. I love Him! He is so good!
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Jesus Christ

"A Place on the Earth" - Fernando Ortega

Find me a place on the earth
Where a weary man can rest
And listen for your voice
In the turning seasons
A quiet place in the world
Where I can bow
And confess that I fear
Where you have brought me,
Mysterious God

All of my life You have been with me
My comfort in loneliness My hope in the dark
All of my life Lord, please stay with me
Be my sustaining breath
Guardian of my heart

My days are passing by
Like falling stars
That blaze across the night sky
Then they are gone
But Father, at your side I will never be afraid
For you have held all my days
In the palm of your hand

Waxing on His Unchanging Ways

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work,and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy.What god is great like our God? (Psalm 77:11-13)

While our moral climate is declining, protestors demand the "right" to be officially wicked and the move is on to remove even the simplest mention of God from Government buildings, it has not moved Him at all. God does not change. In Him there is no shadow of moving. He is the same yesterday, today and forever and while it may seem that the whole world has turned from Him, that is not true. Don't let the loud activists convince you that the majority is on their side. Take hope in Him.

Tonight Becky and I drove Jordyn about an hour north to attend a Bible Study. This was her choice. A Bible Study on Friday Night. My daughter has made the choice to remember God's great wonders of old and to meditate on His mighty deeds. This study was pretty serious. The book of Daniel, verse by verse. These teenagers have been going through Daniel for a year and they all go because they want to. Jesus said:

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

Waxing on Boiling Frogs, Democracy and Hate

You know the old story about boiling a frog right? Well in case you don't, it goes something like this:

If you put a frog in boiling water he will jump out because he doesn't want to get cooked...but if you put him in cool water and gradually turn up the heat, by the time he realizes he is being cooked it is too late.

It might be too late for our nation but I will keep talking about it because if you are a frog out there and you suddenly realize that the water is real hot, get out before you are cooked! What am I referring too?

Well, like some of you, I have watched an unusual amount of news this year as I usually do during a Presidential Election Year and now that the election is over it would be normal for my news watching to be on the decline but the post election news has been fascinating and disturbing...but not about President Elect Obama. No, what I have found myself amazed at is the militancy of the homosexual activists over Proposition 8 in California and of course the media's liberally slanted coverage.

Just a few of the demonstrations of displeasure over the results of the vote that have occurred in the last week since Prop 8 won:

In California activists have been publishing blacklists of donors to the Proposition 8 support. They have been egging churches. In one incident activists wrestled a styrofoam cross from a 69 year-old woman and trampled on it.

In Lansing Michigan, an activist group organized an invasive well-coordinated interruption of blasphemous shouts and public displays of homosexual affection during a worship service of a large Bible-believing church...complete with pink confetti and the unfurling of a large banner that read "It's Okay to Be Gay!" Did I mention this was in a Church?

And here is the kicker: The homosexual activists are calling the passage of Proposition 8 "hate!"

Just a quick review of Prop 8...Californians had already voted yes on Proposition 22 in 2000 to specify in state law that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized. In May 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that the statute enacted by Proposition 22 and other statutes that limit marriage to a relationship between a man and a woman violated the equal protection clause of the California Constitution.

Proposition 8 effectively amends the California Constitution to specify that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

So California has voted to amend its Constitution to preserve the institution of marriage to be between one man and one woman and now the homosexual activists are mad because the vote did not go their way. I wonder if the Republicans should be throwing eggs or wrestling DNC symbols from senior citizens (or maybe the gavel from Nancy Pelosi?). Maybe they should post blacklists of all the people that donated to the Democratic Campaign or unfurl a large banner with an elephant on it in front of the White house.

Sounds pretty ridiculous huh? It is ridiculous. This is democracy. The people voted and the majority won. But the media covers these "gay" attacks as if they were some valiant effort by an oppressed group to win basic human rights. That is what happens when the frog doesn't realize how hot the water is getting. Another way to put it is that we have slid way down on a slippery slope to total moral depravity when we even entertain the idea of calling what God calls evil, good. Rights? In this country you are free to be perverse, but now the perverse want all moral judgment eradicated. Anything that dares to say that your "sexual preference" is immoral must be eliminated from your sight, even if it is a private Church building. Who is really hating here?

How far have we gone? How hot is the water?

In Genesis 19 the Lord sent two messengers to rescue Abraham's nephew, Lot, from the city of Sodom. God was about to destroy the city for its wickedness and sexual perversity. The two messengers of God were staying the night in Lot's house....
4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” 6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down.

It seems the one thing the most "tolerant" cannot tolerate is for anyone to point out the error of their ways. "You don't agree with us, we will attack!!"

Think about it! Get out of the pot! Repent of your wickedness and trust Christ! He is able to save you and He will not turn away anyone who truly repents and believes in Him! And if you are one of the angry ones...one of those who is demanding that we approve of wickedness, please consider repentance. Eternity is a long time. Nobody hates you. God demonstrated His love for you in that while you were yet perverse and hating righteousness, Christ died for you. But you must repent and turn to Him before it is too late. Think about it.

Waxing on High Stakes Gambling

The Associated Press reported that ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on Washington, D.C., buses starting next week and running through December. The American Humanist Association unveiled the provocative $40,000 holiday ad campaign Tuesday.

I am not offended by these efforts, rather I am amazed at the reasoning...

"We are trying to reach our audience, and sometimes in order to reach an audience, everybody has to hear you," said Fred Edwords, spokesman for the humanist group. "Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion."

Alone? Since when were unbelievers left out of holiday celebrations? Our culture offers much more secular references in holiday celebrations than the original meaning of these holidays anyway! What exactly should holidays like Christmas or Hanakkuh be associated with?

Edwords said the purpose isn't to argue that God doesn't exist or change minds about a deity, although "we are trying to plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people's minds."

OK, this is about rational thought...I am all for rational thought. Maybe the holiday celebrations are pricking consciences of the atheists and causing them to actually do some critical thinking about God. Why else would they campaign so hard against faith in God! Who are they trying to convince?

Last month, the British Humanist Association caused a ruckus announcing a similar campaign on London buses with the message: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

Are you willing to gamble with your eternal destiny on a probability? Is that rational and critical thinking? Sounds like some seriously high stakes gambling to me! By the way: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

John 3:16-21

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Waxing on Messiah

Daniel answered and said:“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,to whom belong wisdom and might.He changes times and seasons;he removes kings and sets up kings;he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things;he knows what is in the darkness,and the light dwells with him. (Daniel 2:20-22)

So the election is over. We have a new President Elect of the United States. In 1992 I had a similar feeling on the day after the Presidential Election. I felt as if my country had defied God by its election of a man who promised change but refused to change his heart about abortion and homosexuality. Over the last 16 years we have watched our country fall deeper into the abyss of rebellion against God. When the highest office in the land approves of acts that God calls abominations, the slope ahead appears to be slippery towards total depravity.

Yesterday California also voted to make chickens more comfortable in their cages....seriously...you can't make this stuff up! We are evicerating precious little babies in their mother's wombs by the thousands each day and our concern is for the comfort of chickens in their cages!

We did see a glimmer of hope as Florida, Arizona and even California voted to protect marriage as one man and one woman. I wonder if those laws will be struck down now that the "ultra-liberals" have complete control in our government. I do wonder where we are headed but I do not worry. I do not fret. For 4 days the precious Holy Spirit has been speaking comfort to me, His still small voice whispering to me over and over..."Jesus Messiah."

Jesus Messiah. It was prophesied that He would come. He did. It was prophesied that He would lay down His life as the sacrifice for sins for those who believe in Him. He did.

It was prophesied that He would rise again after 3 days. He did. He prophesied to His disciples that they would be hated, become outlaws and even executed. They were. Before they were taken from this world they wrote words for us to find direction and strength in. They prophesied that a great falling away would occur and the love of most would grow cold. That people would be lover's of pleasure rather than lover's of God. That people would no longer tolerate truth but would gather leaders and speakers to tickle their itching ears with things they want to hear. It has happened. But they also reminded us over and over about Jesus Messiah. They reminded us that the prophecies about Jesus were not yet completely fulfilled. Jesus Messiah is coming again. He is coming. No amount of scoffing and ridicule will stop Him. No amount of defiance and rebellion, even from the "greatest nation on earth" as we like to call ourselves, will stop Him. Jesus Messiah is coming again and this time, in all of His glory!

Revelation 6:15-17

Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Who's your Messiah?

Waxing on the VOTE

So I am going to wait in line no matter how long it takes tomorrow to vote. It is amazing to me how many people don't vote and then complain about who is in office. I am voting no matter what the polls say...and I am proudly voting for the candidate that will do what he can to protect the innocent. I will NEVER vote for ANY candidate for ANY office that refuses to protect the most innocent of all life. If you don't know which one is Pro-Life and which one is Pro-Murder, find out and do the right thing. By the way, keep praying no matter what. If the polls are right and we end up with the most left-wing President in our history, God will not be any different. Our Lord is still Sovereign. He is still on His throne. Righteousness will win in the end and the gates of Hell will not prevail against the true Church of Jesus Christ! EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!! He is Messiah! NO OTHER! Cast your vote tomorrow to honor HIM ONLY!