Job 12:7-10 7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; 8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. 9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?"

Church Beauty, Austin, Texas

In the beginning God...

The Ten Commandments

1. I am the LORD your God:
you shall not have
strange Gods before me.

2. You shall not take
the name of the LORD your God in vain.

3. Remember to keep holy the LORD'S Day.

4. Honor your father and your mother.

5. You shall not murder.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor.

9. You shall not covet
your neighbor's wife.

10. You shall not covet
your neighbor's goods.

God is a Mighty Fortress

One day a Monk was walking in the city of Strasbourg when he met a peasant. By way of greeting the man, the monk said, "God give you a good day, my friend."

"I thank God I never have a bad day," answered the peasant.

Astonished, the Monk was silent for a moment, then tried again. "God give you happy life, my friend."

The peasant replied, "I thank God I am never unhappy."

"Never unhappy?" cried the Monk, bewildered. "What do you mean?"

"Well," came the response, "when it is fine I thank God, when it rains I thank God, when I have plenty I thank God, when I am hungry I thank God, and since God's will is my will, and whatever pleases Him pleases me, why should I say I am unhappy when I am not?

The Monk looked at him with awe. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I am a king," said the peasant.

"A king? Where is your kingdom?"

The peasant smiled. "In my heart," he whispered.

The Word Equals Peace and Prosperity

I have had the opportunity to live during a time in the United States of America when it was a strong Christian nation where the Word of God was everywhere. Now I am living in the United States of America where the newest generations know nothing about the Word of God. And the demise of Peace, Prosperity, Freedom is a major issue.

And looking around the world where anyone associated with the Word of God is executed and beheaded, places where death is everywhere, it is true that the world is becoming dark and death and without form again.

The Rot and Decay of the United States of America

The torch that is now only a candle is going out.

This nation continues its rebellion against the God of its heritage. It is no longer God Bless America from top to bottom, as trespasses against the Eternal One by a decadent mortal generation of people continues.

The greatness is no more. The blessings cease. The cup no longer runneth over as darkness descends, and the flame of the Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of people in this land in fewer and fewer places.

Letter from Imprisoned American Pastor Saeed Abedini written to his wife, Naghmeh, and his family in Iran

Hello to my dear love and wife,

When I saw my family for the first time behind the glass walls, I could see my mom four meters away. As she approached me and saw my face, she broke down and could not get closer. She was crying. I understood what she felt because after weeks of being in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, I also got to see my face in the mirror of an elevator that was taking me to the prison hospital. I said hi to the person staring back at me because I did not recognize myself. My hair was shaven, under my eyes were swollen three times what they should have been, my face was swollen, and my beard had grown.

It was a few days ago when one of my family members, with weary eyes and after running around for 15 weeks in trying to get me out of prison, said that my dad says every single day that “this week I will get my son out of prison.” But this does not happen and he is not able to get me out of prison. In that instant I looked into the wrinkled and tired eyes of my dad. I could clearly see that he had ran around for months and he had no more strength left in him. It was very hard seeing my family in such a situation.

You, my wife, on the other side of the world, alone with the kids. Alone and worried. My family here in Iran, being interrogated, tired and under so much pressure.

With the loud voice of the prison guard, our visitation had ended and they put covers over our eyes and we returned to the dark room void of any natural sunlight. I started praying for my family. My dear Naghmeh. You are the love of my life. I am always in love with you.

Dear Naghmeh, I have been stung so many times that I have become full of poison. This is an Iranian saying. A lot of people say that they have been stung by so many people that their whole being is full of poison like a poisonous snake. It means that we have been bitten by the snakes of this world so many times that, that all of the poison has collected in us and that we are like the poisonous snake. But if we sting anyone, we will die. This Iranian saying is full of spirit of revenge and unforgiveness and every time I would hear this in Iran, I would get very sick hearing it.

A few days ago they brought a young war veteran who was disabled in 80% of his body in my cell. He had been put in solitary confinement with his horrific condition. And this had made him very mad and he kept saying “why did they do this to me? I gave my whole life for their sake. See what they have done to me!!!” And when he would get very mad he would say “I will take my revenge!”

I spoke to this young man until 4 in the morning. I spent time with him and spoke to him to forgive. When we don’t forgive, we drink the poison ourselves and then wait for the other person to die. And we take the knife that has hurt us and we stab ourselves with it again! And this is the will of the evil one who wants to destroy us.

But when we forgive, we pour out the poison of the enemy and of the devil and we don’t let the poison stay in us and we don’t let the poison make us into poisonous snakes! So that we don’t become like the person we despised and who persecuted and tortured us.

Maybe you ask, what is the secret of being so happy in such a hard situation?

Forgiveness and a change of attitude. When we forgive, we become free and we become messengers of peace and reconciliation and goodness. And whoever stings us, we can take into our embrace and love them. And in this dark and evil time, we can live full of love and full of peace and full of joy and shine like the stars! Glory be to His Name.

I forgave the prison doctor who did not listen to me and did not give me the medication that I needed. I forgave the interrogator who beat me. Every day when I would see the interrogator and for the last time when I saw him, I forgave him. I smiled at him and with respect shook his hand and I said my goodbye. The minute I forgave them and loved them, that second I was filled with unspeakable joy. I saw in the eyes of the interrogator that he had come to respect me and as he was leaving, he could not look behind him. Love is as strong as death.

We have to get rid of the poison in our body because if we don’t, we will die. We have to get rid of both poisons; first the poison of the snake that bit us and also the poison in us that was created by that bite. We can get rid of the first poison by forgiveness and we can get rid of the second poison by humility, by dying to ourselves, and allowing the band-aid of love and goodness to replace the empty place of the wound. So that we are not a tool of darkness and revenge, but that we can be light and love and a vessel of forgiveness and we can be transformed in the process.

Surely you have someone in your family, city, work or environment that have become like poisonous snake who have bitten you and tried to make you poisonous. So, forgive them and use the antidote of love and be Victorious!

One of the chances of forgiveness came when I was blindfolded and a guard was holding my hand guiding me. He asked “what are you here for? What is your crime?” I said “I am Christian Pastor.” All of the sudden he let go of my hand and said “so you are unclean! I will tell others not to defile themselves by touching you!” He would tell others not to get close to me. It really broke my heart. The nurse would also come to take care of us and provide us with treatment, but she said in front of others “in our religion we are not suppose to touch you, you are unclean. Baha’i (religion) and Christians are unclean!” She did not treat me and that night I could not sleep from the intense pain I had. According to the doctor’s instructions, they would not give me the pain medication that they would give other prisoners because I was unclean.

I could not fall sleep one night due to the pain when all of a sudden I could hear the sound of dirty sewer rats with their loud noises and screeches. It was around 4 in the morning. It sounded like laughter in a way.

Even though many would call me unclean and filthy and would not even want to pass by me and they had abandoned me and they were disgusted to touch me because they were afraid that they would also become unclean, but I knew that in the eyes of Jesus Christ, and in the eyes of my brothers and sisters, I am like the sewer rat, beautiful and loveable – not disgusting and unclean – and like the rats I can scream with joy within those prison walls and worship my Lord in joy and strength.

The Joy of the Lord is my strength. Amen.

2013 National Prayer Breakfast

Dr Benjamin Carson lectures Barack Obama.

It Is Well

Tony Evans: The Kingdom We Belong To

Tony Evans is a black Texas preacher out of the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas. Trully, uniquely Texas as he is fiercely independant and is a man who believes that God and man are partners in the well being of the individual. That no group of corrupt politicians, union bosses, or incompetent government bureaucrats need take over our lives.

A Muslim Experiences "Amazing Grace"

A former Mujaadeen who fought in Tora Bora.

Messianic Judaism is Accepted In Israel

The Supreme Court of Israel ruled in 1989 that Messianic Judaism constituted another religion (it is considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity), and that people who had become Messianic Jews were not therefore eligible for Aliyah under the law.

On April 16, 2008, the Supreme Court of Israel ruled in a case brought by a number of people with Jewish fathers and grandfathers whose applications for citizenship had been rejected on the grounds that they were Messianic Jews. The argument was made by the applicants that they had never been Jews according to halakha, and were not therefore excluded by the conversion clause. This argument was upheld in the ruling, and the government agreed to reprocess their applications.

Since 1950 2,734,245 Jews have immigrated to Israel. Hundreds of thousands of non-Jews have received Israeli citizenship due to the law.

The Rise of the Christian Faith in Israel now begins. This could also be the turning point of the Age of The Gentile, when God takes away his blessings from Gentiles and transfers those blessings to the restored nation of Israel as predicted in the books of Luke and Romans.

A Message to America - In God We Trust

Not Socialism, Not Man.

Satan is...

If I could pick out Satan, as he really is, I would picture him as a great, popular leader of government. And he comes forth as the champion of the people and rather than face the harsh realities and stubborn facts of economic life, he soothes the people into the persuasion that he is their great benefactor and patron, and he looks at the printing press making money ; thousands of dollars, millions of dollars. And he gives order through the instruments of government for deficit financing, and the presses—it is that simple—and they print money, and print money, and the government goes in debt and what finally happens is: it's a painless way to rob the poor, and to destroy the pensioner, and finally to bring the country into economic collapse and chaos. That is Satan! Smart, shrewd, deceptive, but beyond his soft and mellifluous voice there is destruction and ruin: that is Satan. Dr. W. A. Criswell, 02-24-1974

And Pontius Pilate Replied: "What is Truth?"

John 18:37 & 38Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?

The Impeachment of Socialism by God

covet - to covet another's property.

Listed below are only a few of the many scriptures in the Bible of God's views of legislating and taxing in the name of "spreading the wealth", in other words Socialism. History proves that Socialism has always brought societies down. And who knows better than the Creator of mankind. Yet Americans for the first time in history are allowing themselves to be lead down a disastrous path to this great provocation against the will of God.

From One of God's the Ten Commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:21 . ' You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that [is] your neighbor's.'

Micah 2:2 They covet fields and take [them] by violence, Also houses, and seize [them.] So they oppress a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.

Acts 20:33 I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.

Hebrews 13:5 [Let your] conduct [be] without covetousness; [be] content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

God's desire that women of commerce be rewarded with full ownership of the work of their own hands.
Proverbs 30 Charm [is] deceitful and beauty [is] passing, But a woman [who] fears the LORD, she shall be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.

Handling Strife Amongst Friends and Family

There are many forms of strife between people. This post offers biblical thought regarding strife amongst family and friends.

Love is the supreme value in the kingdom of God. Anger and conflict block out love. There is probably no greater challenge to spiritual growth than how you handle anger and conflict.

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over." -- Matthew 18:15


Seven steps to resolving conflict:
1. IF THERE IS CONFLICT
2. YOU
3. GO
4. TO THE PERSON
5. IN PRIVATE
6. AND DISCUSS THE PROBLEM
7. FOR THE PURPOSE OF RECONCILIATION
Discussion of the steps:

Acknowledge the conflict. Conflict is normal; it is a part of human nature. Lack of conflict does not equal maturity.
You must do something about it. Why don't we face up to resolving conflict? Pride. Fear. Stubbornness.
Go means go or approach. Go does not mean avoid or pray or think or forget. But before going, ask yourself:
Why am I angry? There are three major reasons that we get angry:
Hurt
Frustration
Fear
What do you want?
Go directly to the person involved. NO third parties, no mediators, no friends. Conflict is inevitable. Resentment is optional. Resolution is up to you.
Talk in private. Be sensitive. Approach the other person as you would like to be approached.
Anger Myth: The best way to handle anger is to ventilate it.
Reality: Ventilation only reinforces anger. It is also not appreciated by those ventilated on. It accomplishes nothing positive in either person.
Use direct communication.
Describe clearly what you observed. (Example: "You didn't listen to what I said.")
Explain how it hurt you. (Example: "My opinion doesn't matter to you.")
Tell what the consequences have been. (Example: "I'm feeling quite resentful." or maybe "I feel like smashing you one when you treat me like that.")
Ask for what change you would like. Change implies more than simply an apology, although an apology is often a good place to start.
Aim at reconciliation. The goal is to restore the relationship. The goal is not to prove who was right, not to get back at someone, not to avoid the situation, not to turn away and forget.

The above is an excerpt from http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Bible/Conflict.htm .

One thing to remember, the non-Christian home is always filled with strife.

Michael Jackson and The Nation of Islam

"The mission of the Nation of Islam is to restore the total man, the total life, the total community" Warith Deen Mohammed - Nation of Islam

A former nanny of Jackson's three children Grace Rwaramba told news sources that Jackson had rented the Bel Air home from the Nation of Islam and that his nearly $100,000 monthly rent was 4 times more than the going rate of other rentals in the neighborhood. "But," Rwaramba stated, "he [Jackson] knew nothing about money." The nanny who worked for the singer for 10 years, first as his office assistant, then as nanny to his three children, says the star lived a nomadic life, hid his money under carpets in the rental home or in black trash bags, and once was so short of cash, she had to buy birthday balloons for one of the kids on her own credit cards. Rwaramba also said she personally has "pumped" the singer's stomach of dangerous cocktails of drugs so many times, she cannot count them all, though she vividly remembers Jackson took at least 8 medications a day -- including three different types of painkillers.

Credit

Ask Michael Jackson how great Islam is. But you can't. He died an early death.

The Commandments: Part 1

These commandments and others are the best morals you can live by. Others I will post as time goes by. Commandments, laws and statutes of God are the instruction manual to his creation.

1 "You shall have no other gods before Me."

2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.

3 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

4 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

5 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

6 “You shall not murder.

7 “You shall not commit adultery.

8 “You shall not steal.

9 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The Apostle Paul in the book of Acts did indicate that he and the Apostles were instructed by the Holy Spirit that Gentiles are not restricted to not working on the Sabbath, but that the Jews, God's chosen people were restricted.