A Pound of Thoughts

Recently I have been, um, not exactly the perfect model of a Christian.  I have let other things get in my way of going to church, whether it be television or the computer or just something small that I wanted to do other than go to church.

But today, I changed all that.  I went to church:  Sunday school, morning service, and evening service.  And I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was truly a blessing to get back into the swing of things as for as going to church.  It was truly a refreshing, rewarding experience.

I am determined to not let anything get me down, get me discouraged, and get me from going to church.  That is one thing I wish I could go back and change, but I can’t get this year back.  If there are any Christians out there who are feeling down, depressed, frustrated with their church, I strongly urge you to talk to someone in your church:  family, friends, church leaders, your pastor, anyone.  Don’t let Satan get in your life and keep you from going to church.  Go.  Do.  Be a part of it.  It will bless your heart and your life.

As the old Nike slogan goes:  Just do it.

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I missed yesterday’s devotional, so I’m skipping it and I will have to catch it later.  But today’s little devotion is about intercession.  Here’s the question:  Sometimes I have no idea what to do next.  What should I do?

Well, like everything we should do in life, let’s find out what the Bible says.

12 O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

2 Chronicles 20:12 (ESV)

In this verse, Jehoshaphat is pleading to God, because the armies of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir are approaching Jerusalem, ready to sack the Israelites.  But God tells them that it is not their war, but His.  King Jehoshaphat and the people of Israel had no clue what to do - but they turned to God.   They did exactly as God commanded, and they won the battle.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:26-27 (ESV)

These verses tell us that when we are overwhelmed, and can’t get out any words, that the Holy Spirit will intercede for us “with groanings too deep for words.”  Sometimes we will be just too distraught with our situation, there will be no words for what we are dealing with.  God knows what’s in our hearts, and He will hear us.  I like this sentence from the devotional:  “If you don’t know what to say, the Spirit will pray on your behalf.”

And now for God’s promise:  “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”  2 Chronicles 16:9

My morning devotional deals with facing and dealing with change.  Every devotional poses a different question.  This morning’s question is:  How do I find the courage to face change?

Three verses are given for the text:

But you, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations. Lamentations 5:19 (ESV)

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. Malachi 3:6 (ESV)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 (ESV)

Like the devotional states, changes in life happen.  We cannot escape them.  So when they come, especially when we are not ready for them, we can lean on God.  He is the One who does not change.  No matter the situation, we can trust and believe in that.  His promises are rock solid; His salvation last for eternity.

God’s Promise

19 God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Numbers 23:19 (ESV)

Isn’t that a wonderful promise?  God will never lie to us, and we can always know that He will act on what He says.

This question was posed in my devotional reading for tonight. (Yes, I’m still up, even though it’s 1:13 in the morning.) The author brings out several good examples: David, Paul, and Jesus himself. The base scripture was 2 Samuel 5:4:

4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

2 Samuel 5:4 (ESV)

Everyone is familiar with the story about David and the giant Goliath. He was only a boy when this occurred, no older than a youth. He was also anointed to be the next King of Israel as a youth. So why did God wait so long to allow David to reign as king?

The answer? God was preparing him. Molding him into the leader he wanted him to be. Sure, he made mistakes - some of them grave. But God knew he could use him. He just had to let David grow and mature.

So, if it seems you’re running in place, just think of it this way - God could be making you into the next “giant slayer”! So don’t try to rush God…Things will happen in His own time.

The verse of promise for today: I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. Psalm 57:2 (ESV)

Last night, I had a revelation, although I have known it for quite some time.  I just never chose to recognize it.  I have not been a strong example of a child of God.  I have been doing what I want, when I want to.  I have not been allowing him to take the lead.  I had forced Him into the co-pilot’s chair.

I had a good heart-to-heart with Him last night, as I was preparing to go to sleep.  I have removed myself from the pilot’s chair.  I have made a choice to let Him lead.

We have homecoming coming up at our church this Sunday, and I plan to be there for every service.  I haven’t been going to church regularly, and I am deeply ashamed of this.  I used to be more dedicated, and more diligent in being active at church.  What happened?  Why did I allow this to happen?  I’ve been selfish.  I’ve wanted to live my life the way I want to, not the way God wants me to.  I no longer want my wants and desires to get in the way of my service to my God.  He is the most important person to me, with my wife being second.  I owe it not only to God to be faithful, but I also owe it to her and to myself.

I have let things from the past influence my thinking and attitude towards my church, and that is wrong and a sin.  The church is only as strong as its weakest member, and I no longer want to be that “weak link.”  There are so many things I want to do for God, and I can’t do them if I am not active in church.

That ends now.  It’s time for a revival – a personal revival.   Praise be to God!

Here’s some news for those out there that consider themselves Protestants.  Pope Benedict of the Roman Catholic Church has said that any church outside of the Roman Catholic hierarchy is not a “true” church.

Full stories here and here.

“Christ ‘established here on earth’ only one Church,” said the document released as the pope vacations at a villa in Lorenzago di Cadore, in Italy’s Dolomite mountains.

The other communities “cannot be called ‘churches’ in the proper sense” because they do not have apostolic succession — the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ’s original apostles — and therefore their priestly ordinations are not valid, it said.

This is complete hogwash.  I strongly advise all Christians (who are not Roman Catholic) to pay no heed to this.

The word “church” comes from the Greek word ekklesia, meaning “a company of Christian, or of those who, hoping for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, observe their own religious rites, hold their own religious meetings, and manage their own affairs, according to regulations prescribed for the body for order’s sake.”

The only verse that Pope Benedict is going on is Matthew 16:18, which states:

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

All Jesus was saying here was that Peter was the first and foremost member of the church.  The church is Jesus’, and no one elses.  Therefore, if we adhere to John 3:16 which says:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

And this verse (Matthew 18:20):

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

How dare any man say that we who believe in the only begotten Son of God and have been saved by Him are not part of the church?  The church is considered the body of believers.

Here’s another verse for proof (Ephesians 5:23):

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

Jesus Christ is the head of the church.  Not Simon Peter, and certainly not any pope that sits in Rome.

And as a side note, here’s an article to read regarding Mystery Babylon, the Great Whore in Revelation.  Gets you thinking doesn’t it?

Updated 11:25 a.m. - The reason?  To get the post where I wanted to originally go. 

As you probably know, J.K. Rowling’s last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is going to be released soon.  Well, yesterday afternoon I watched John Hagee’s televised message.  It was a replay of his “Angels and Demons” series regarding witchcraft.  Well, to say the least, it got me thinking.

I must say that lately I have been curious as to what the attraction of the Harry Potter books and movies are.  I have seen all four of the movies (and plan to see the fifth one next week) and I own, but have not read, the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone.  Although parts of the movies were funny and the special effects being excellent, I still don’t see what all the fuss is about.

But I do understand one thing:  One cannot take these movies and books seriously, and should not be looking for “Christian” themes and messages in these movies or books.  Now let me tell you why.

Quoting from the Bible, Galations 5:19-21:

(19) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,  (20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, (21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

And here’s 2 Chronicles 33:6:

And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

The emphasis is mine.  It is very plain that God does not want his children practicing any type of sorcery or witchcraft.  They are very real, and they are very dangerous.  In the fourth movie (as well as the fourth book), a professor teaches Harry and his friends “divination” - how to read tea leaves and a crystal ball.  Here’s what God had to say to the children of Israel when they were about to enter into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 18:9-13):

(9) When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. (10) There shall not be found among you [any one] that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, [or] that useth divination, [or] an observer of times [astrology], or an enchanter, or a witch, (11) Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. (12) For all that do these things [are] an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. (13) Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.

Satan is getting more and more clever, as well as more and more subtle.  Does God say anything about “watching” or “reading about” witchcraft?  Well, I can’t really find anything on “observing” witchcraft.

Question #1.  Is it harmless to watch Harry Potter movies and read the books? 

Those of you Christians that think it’s okay to let your kids read these books, well, that worries concerns me.  Would it be the same as you letting your kids read pornography?  Satanism books?  “How to Murder” books? 

Let me put this question to you Question #2.  Why did J.K. Rowling use witchcraft to tell her story?  If she wanted to include Christian themes, why write about something that God clearly teaches against?

Kids are very impressionable, and will adopt as truth anything they read if they’re not taught differently.  It has been widely reported that several kids have written J.K. Rowling, wanting to attend “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy”, which is the primary location in all the books.  That just proves that Satan is using these books to entice some children to believe in witchcraft.

I know this is probably a touchy subject with a lot of Christians who love the Harry Potter series, but just remember - anything that is put first and foremost above God is considered an idol and abomination - check the above scriptures…I may watch the movies and read the books, just to find out what it’s all about, but one has to be careful to not let anything like this, or Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings to become more important that God.

Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one. Thomas Jefferson
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

Rev. Jerry Falwell, the founder of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, died this morning around 10:45 a.m.  According to Fox News, he was found unresponsive after he missed an appointment and was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital.

Aides are not sure as to what caused the collapse, but they say he “has a history of heart challenges.”

My thoughts and prayers are with his family and his staff at Liberty U.  May God be with them in their time of sorrow.

Katherine Coble has a great post regarding Johannes Kepler discovering the harmonics law.

But another event also happened on this day in history.  A little country in the Middle East, newly born, fought its neighbors for its independence.  That country was called Israel.

I wish I would have posted a little bit of history yesterday, since 14 May is the birthday of Israel.  Israel was 59 yesterday.  However, I will share what was run in the Philadelphia Enquirer on 15 May 1948.  More below the fold.

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