Biblical Values Under Fire

Rom. 1:21 ~ For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Vs. 32… Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. 

The Apostle Paul’s words to the Romans deserve pause and consideration for us today.

We live amidst a culture of corruption in America. We see it in the area of core values, world views and our national moral compass. The futility and darkness of our culture is apparent in so many areas that it is difficult for me to address just one or two as examples. But let’s take the Biblical view of sexuality and marriage. The Biblical view is clear that man and woman are designed distinctly differently, yet are designed by God to come together in marriage to become a union. God considered this union to be His design and plan. We find no latitude in scripture to endorse or advocate for same sex marriage and, until recent years, there was no latitude in our culture for such endorsement or advocacy. However, same sex unions and lifestyles are not only accepted but endorsed, advocated and even celebrated. 

What were Paul’s words?  … ‘they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them’.   Approval comes in the form of politically correct cultural rules, new laws defining ‘hate speech’ and marriage, and government and corporate policies reflecting the same approvals and endorsements.  We see this in hundreds of examples in our nation, but let me briefly list a few; an attorney in Virginia is being disciplined for articulating his belief in the Biblical definition of  marriage, a newspaper editor in Iowa being fired for writing a personal blog describing his Biblical view of marriage, an Army Colonel describing the American Family Association as a ‘hate group’ for its Biblical view of marriage, and a high school in California banning Chick-fil-A sandwiches because Chick-fil-A’s founder (now deceased) once said his view of marriage was between a man and a woman. So we see governmental, corporate, and media policy embracing the new normal; same sex unions and lifestyles are embraced and Biblical worldviews are excluded and even punished!

Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently stated in a speech that America has experienced a ‘cultural reversal’. He defined a cultural reversal as when that which was condemned is now celebrated and those who refuse to celebrate it are now condemned. His words are a precise expression of where we find ourselves in this nation on many issues, including the one described above.

So, is the Biblical perspective lost in America? No, it is clarified. It stands in stark contrast to the emerging culture. Those of us who embrace the Kingdom of God also embrace its fundamental truths and principles. Living out those truths and principles bring clarity to the Kingdom perspective of living. Embracing them also brings attention and forms of persecution from the culture. So how do we move forward with Kingdom clarity in our culture?  

We do the following:

·        We are alert for and resist the enemy and his strategies.

·        We pray in the spirit on all occasions.

·        We speak truth in love…love is not always ‘nice’ and agreeable.

·        We speak with clarity…ambiguity and gray language does not help!

·        We live what we speak…actions reflect Kingdom character and commitment.

·        We bless those who curse us.

Move forward with the Kingdom of God as your focus, your substance, and your provision every day. We focus on what Jesus did for us and for them as scripture says, ‘Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Heb. 12:3)

The CrossFire Minute

Developing a Biblical Worldview

This week is introduction week for our Free Biblical World view class. You can download the entire course in PDF file format with this link.  Download link
Please read the previous intro posted below and then the introductory material of the PFD download.
Next week we start chapter one of the course.

DO YOU SEE THROUGH THE EYES OF THE KING OF KINGS?

Do You have a Biblical WorldView? What do you see when you look around today? I see wars and rumor of wars Matthew 24:6, I see the flood of darkness (in every form of wickedness) and the battle for the elect of God is being waged by a seemingly endless flood of false causes and doctrines. If we look to Jesus the author and finisher of your faith what might we see? Hebrews 12:2.

If we look through the Eyes of the Creator/King we will see a three-layered or three-dimensional blue print.

The 1st layer our daily life where mankind seeks to plan, rule and to be as God.

The 2nd layer contains the plans and schemes of the Satan, to kill, steal and destroy all that God has established. John 10:10.

The 3rd layer revealed the plans and strategy of The Great I Am Exodus 3:14, The Father of Lights James 1:17.

We must look past the our earthly sight or the glimpse we may see of our adversary the devil who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.1 Peter 5:8 and look to ‘God the builder of everything’ Hebrews 3:4 He is the Great I Am, the King of Kings. His Word tells us The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:5. So as much as Satan knows he does not comprehend the ways or plans of God.
Look to God’s Word and see God’s plans and ways so that you might see through the Eyes of the King.

Understand that it is ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts’ Zechariah 4:6.  God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts Isaiah 55:8. He knows the beginning from the end and every scheme of the evil one is laid bare before Him who from everlasting to everlasting is God. Become a friend of God because God shows His plans to those He calls His friends John 15:15. His plans come to us with His provision, wisdom and His timing.

In the book of Joshua we see that Israel never lost a battle when they sought the Lord and His strategy.
Look and See through the Eyes of the King, then say with Job “I know that you can do all things! No purpose of yours can be thwarted”. Job 42 2  So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic because of them (what you see in the first two layers). For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you." This is an applied paraphrase of Deuteronomy 31:6
Welcome to our new class (A Biblical Worldview)

COURSE CONTENT INTRODUCTION

Having a Biblical worldview means you see the world on the basis of what God reveals about it in the Bible. You do not look at the world as politicians, economists, or educators. You do not view the world in terms of your own culture. Instead, you view the world as God sees it. You begin to understand it from His perspective. To "develop" means to acquire something or to expand knowledge in a certain area. This course will expand your knowledge of the world in which you live for the purpose of multiplying spiritual laborers.

This course explains the "world view" revealed in the Bible, the written Word of God. It traces the subject from the book of Genesis through Revelation. It explains God's plan for the nations of the world from the beginning through the end of what we call "time." This course presents the believer's responsibility to Participate in what God is doing in the nations by introducing the challenge to become a "World Christian."

These lessons discuss current global spiritual conditions, stressing the urgent need to spread the Gospel to unreached people groups of the world. The lessons also focus on the responsibility of the Church in the world and you will begin to see the world as God sees it. But as faith without works is dead (James 2:26), a Biblical world view without personal involvement is also not effective. This course will challenge you to become more than a mere spectator with a Biblical worldview.

 You will be motivated to become a participant, who is an active part of what God is doing in the world today.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this course you will be able to:1. View the world as God views it.2. Summarize what the Bible teaches about the world.3. Demonstrate understanding of the plan of God for the nations.4. Assume your role in extending the Gospel of the Kingdom throughout the world.

5. Become a "World Christian."6. Minister through international intercession.7. Share the Biblical world view with others.

Course Weekly Content

1. In The Beginning

2. A Divided World

3. Seeing The World As God Sees It

4. The World In The Word: Old Testament

5. The World In The Word: New Testament

6. The Church In The World

7. The Waiting World

8. Becoming A World Christian

9. International Intercession

10. Sharing The Biblical World View

11. Then Shall The End Come

http://abbasglory.squarespace.com/developing-a-biblical-worldvie/?SSScrollPosition=298

Open My Ears!

Psalm 40:6-8You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings. Then I said, “Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures: I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.”New Living Translation (NLT) 

When the psalmist speaks there about burnt offering and meal offering and sin offering and so on, he’s speaking about the externals of religion and he’s saying, in essence, “That isn’t what God is really after. We may give all the externals and yet miss the real point.”

He says, “My ears Thou hast opened.” We need to be able to hear God speaking to us personally. It’s the voice of God that we need to hear and for that our ears need to be opened. When we hear the voice of God, it reveals the will of God.

The psalmist says, “In the scroll of the book it is written of me, I delight to do Thy will.” I believe that’s true for every person that turns to God. There’s something written there in the scroll of the book which is God’s will in each of our individual lives. And when God opens our ears and we turn to Him and surrender our lives to Him, we’ll make the amazing and glorious discovery that God has got a special plan for each one of us – something that’s written in God’s eternal book. Something that’s in the scroll for each one of us individually.

God never makes one person a carbon copy of another. God has a specific, individual plan for each one of His children. If He can but open our ears and we turn to Him and yield to Him, He’ll reveal it to us.

—Derek Prince

To listen to Derek's original audio on his website click here.

SEEING THROUGH THE EYES OF THE KING

Do You have a Biblical WorldView? What do you see when you look around today? I see wars and rumor of wars Matthew 24:6, I see the flood of darkness (in every form of wickedness) and the battle for the elect of God is being waged by a seemingly endless flood of false causes and doctrines. If we look to Jesus the author and finisher of your faith what might we see? Hebrews 12:2.

If we look through the Eyes of the Creator/King we will see a three-layered or three-dimensional blue print.

The 1^st layer our daily life where mankind seeks to plan, rule and to be as God.  

The 2^nd layer contains the plans and schemes of the Satan, to kill, steal and destroy all that God has established. John 10:10.

 The 3^rd layer revealed the plans and strategy of The Great I Am Exodus 3:14, The Father of Lights James 1:17.

We must look past the our earthly sight or the glimpse we may see of our adversary the devil who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.1 Peter 5:8 and look to ‘God the builder of everything’ Hebrews 3:4 He is the Great I Am, the King of Kings. His Word tells us The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:5. So as much as Satan knows he does not comprehend the ways or plans of God.

Look to God’s Word and see God’s plans and ways so that you might see through the Eyes of the King. Understand that it is ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts’ Zechariah 4:6.  God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts Isaiah 55:8. He knows the beginning from the end and every scheme of the evil one is laid bare before Him who from everlasting to everlasting is God.

Become a friend of God because God shows His plans to those He calls His friends John 15:15. His plans come to us with His provision, wisdom and His timing.

In the book of Joshua we see that Israel never lost a battle when they sought the Lord and his strategy.

Look and See through the Eyes of the King, then say with Job “I know that you can do all things! No purpose of yours can be thwarted”. Job 42 2 

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic because of them (what you see in the first two layers). For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you." This is an applied paraphrase of Deuteronomy 31:6

Look for our new class (A Biblical Worldview) to begin September 15th.

Draftsman of the Declaration

Today marks the 238th anniversary of the Continental Congress approving the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. That fateful day not only sealed the future for those brave men who approved that document but that paper also established the principles by which America became the most successful nation of the past three centuries.

Of the fifty-six men who signed this document, the final to pass away was Charles Carroll, who died at the age of 95. Before his passing, New York City asked him to inscribe his final thoughts on a copy of the Declaration. On it he wrote that he was "Grateful to Almighty God for the blessings which, through Jesus Christ Our Lord, He has conferred on my beloved country in her emancipation." Significantly, this Founding Father, in looking back over what had occurred as a result of the Declaration, wanted to specifically thank Jesus for what had happened with America.

The two signers of the Declaration to precede Charles Carroll in death were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Both had been on the committee to draft the Declaration, and bothdied on the 50th anniversary of that document - on July 4, 1826.

Of the two, Thomas Jefferson is considered the penman of the Declaration, and many today do not know much about his beliefs or actions. Significantly, he was not only a strong advocate for political and national freedom but also for spiritual freedom. 

In fact, throughout his life, he freely gave numerous financial contributions to Gospel ministers and missionaries and supported their work and office. Perhaps this is not surprising, for as Governor of Virginia and a member of the Board of the College of William and Mary, he stipulated that the professors "appoint from time to time a missionaryof approved veracity to the several tribes of Indians." When he became President of the United States, he signed a treaty that included a provision of $300 to "assist the said [Kaskaskia] tribe in the erection of a church” and to provide “annually for seven years one hundred dollars towards the support of a [Catholic] priest."
 

He also signed three federal acts setting aside government lands for the sole use of religious groups so that Moravian missionaries might be assisted in "promoting Christianity." In 1804, he prepared a volume of the key teachings of Jesus to be distributed among the Indians. Today's secularist critics (and the uninformed) claim that Jefferson excluded the supernatural from this work, but that was definitely not the case, for it contained Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons, as well as Jesus' teachings about heaven, hell, and the resurrection.

There is much to celebrate about our Declaration and those who produced it. This year, as we honor the birthday of our nation, let's remember President Jefferson's wise declaration that:

No nation has ever existed or been governed without religion – nor can be. The Christian religion is the best religion that has been given to man and I, as Chief Magistrate of this nation, am bound to give it the sanction of my example.

By the way, we just posted an old 1825 sermon and an old 1825 oration from our library about the Fourth of July that you might enjoy reading.

Article from Wallbuilders.com and David Barton

The Psalms, ESV

God’s people have a deep love and appreciation for the Psalms, but there are actually very few Psalters available on the market. So Crossway’s Bible Production team set out to produce an edition that would serve the church by meeting this need.

It was essential that the edition not only be a pleasure to hold and read, but also facilitate personal engagement with God’s Word. Decisions regarding the layout, typeface, paper, trim size, and binding were made with an eye towards making this edition as inviting and attractive as possible, all the while maintaining an excellence that honors and highlights the worth of Scripture.

The result is The Psalms, ESV, a beautiful presentation of one of the most beloved sections of Scripture. Each psalm is presented in 11-point font with line matching, and is printed on extremely opaque paper. The layout gives ample space for the text and adds to the aesthetic value of the biblical poetry. The Psalms, ESV is a wonderful edition for devotions, for liturgical use, or for giving as a gift.

Specifications

Format:	TruTone Over Board
Page Count:	384
ISBN-10:	1-4335-4420-2
ISBN-13:	978-1-4335-4420-0
Trim Size:	4.5 in x 6.5 in
Weight:	16.9 ounces
Published:	June 30, 2014
Type Size:	11 pt
Page Layout	Single Column
Additional Features	Sewn Binding Lifetime Guarantee Ribbon Words of Christ Red

Signed in His Blood

The Bible paints a vivid picture of an unseen but very real war going on in the heavens. Revelation 12:11 describes some of the weapons available to God’s people for fighting the good fight. The first weapon mentioned is Christ’s blood.

Do you know how to use this powerful weapon? Signed in His Blood explains the amazing relationship between Christ’s blood and our covenant with God, bringing together both the Old and the New Testaments to demonstrate the incredible hope we have in Jesus for freedom and deliverance.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments
Foreword by Jack Hayford
Preface
Introduction: Why Blood?
Chapter 1: A Covenant of Blood
Chapter 2: Life Is in the Blood
Chapter 3: The Source of Life and Peace
Chapter 4: Relationship by Agreement
Chapter 5: Sealed in Blood
Chapter 6: The Old Testament Blood Covenant
Chapter 7: the Rules of the Agreement
Chapter 8: the “Sign” of the Agreement
Chapter 9: Circumcision of the Flesh
Chapter 10: Circumcision of the Heart
Chapter 11: God’s Redemption Plan
Chapter 12: The Power of Substitution
Chapter 13: Passover: commemorating the Old Covenant
Chapter 14: The Signature of the New Covenant
Chapter 15: the Stipulations of the New Covenant
Chapter 16: Washed in blood
Chapter 17: A Radical Substitution
Chapter 18: Communion: Celebrating the New Covenant
Chapter 19: Blessing and Power Through Jesus’s Blood
Chapter 20: Nobody Can Touch the Baby
Chapter 21: God’s Purpose in Covenant Making
Chapter 22: The Benefits of Covenant
Chapter 23: Entering God’s Presence
Chapter 24: Power in the Blood
Chapter 25: Counterfeit Covenants
Chapter 26: Breaking the New Covenant
Chapter 27: the Covenant of Promise
Chapter 28: The Wonder of Being “in Christ”
Chapter 29: Christ “In Us” Is Our Only Hope
Notes

Endorsements:

It is with great joy I endorse this powerful book by Ray Beeson. Satan hates the blood of Jesus, the cross of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus. Anything that expounds and illuminates the blood of Jesus is sure to bring deliverance and healing. Let your spirit saturate in the powerful principles of the blood of Jesus. Your miracle could be present by the end of this book!
Larry Stockstill, Teaching Pastor, Bethany World Outreach Church, Author

I cannot recall reading a book on the subject of Christ’s blood that included so many valuable insights. Ray Beeson has managed to give us what I believe will be a classic. I intend to keep this book very close at hand. It contains so many elements that are practical for a disciple of Jesus. For so many years there has been great misunderstanding about the blood. Like so many truths of the Word, you will find extremes – from those who would see the blood as a “magic wand” to those who see it only in a historical context. The truth is that there is great power in the blood. What we need is a skilled writer and student of the Word to convey its wonderous truths. Ray Beeson is that skilled writer. He invites us to a journey, a journey that will cause us to worship our God for His unspeakable love and provision. That love and those provisions are signed in blood.
Chris Hayward, President, Cleansing Stream Ministries

About the Author:

Ray Beeson is the director of Overcomers Ministries, a teaching ministry with a special emphasis on spiritual warfare and prayer. Ray teaches seminars on spiritual warfare, prayer, and Christlike living and is the author of numerous books, including The Real Battle and Strategic Spiritual Warfare, and the coauthor of The Hidden Price of Greatness and Don’t Miss the Point. get yours at The Arsenal Bookstore -https://www.facebook.com/ArsenalBooks

Sneak Peak at the New Bible Gateway!

A new, much-improved Bible Gateway website is coming! We invite you to try out a fully-functional beta version at beta.biblegateway.com.

The new Bible Gateway website is a complete rethinking and overhaul of BibleGateway.com. It represents the most significant enhancement of Bible Gateway since it first went online 20 years ago. You’ll find many changes and improvements both big and small. Here are some of the most important highlights:

1. It’s the same Bible Gateway you know and love. Nearly everything you could do in the old site, you can do in the new site. No major features or content have been removed. On the contrary, we’ve added a number of new features and expanded the usefulness of some of the existing ones.

2. User accounts. You can now create a BibleGateway.com account that lets you manage your Bible Gateway profile, set your Bible reading preferences, take notes as you read (and sync those notes across multiple computers and devices), manage your devotional subscriptions, and more.

3. Personal Bible annotation. You can now take notes as you read the Bible on BibleGateway.com—your notes will be saved and synced across every device you use to access Bible Gateway. The new annotation tools also let you highlight and share passages.

4. A responsive, cross-platform experience. The new Bible Gateway works equally well across every type of device–whether you’re using a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or phone.

5. Unlockable digital study resources. Bible Gateway has always made a variety of references, dictionaries, and other study tools available for free to access alongside your Scripture reading. Those are all still available—but now, you can build up a personalized library by purchasing additional digital books to be unlocked in your Bible Gateway account.

6. An improved, easy-to-use interface. Building on years of data and feedback about how people use Bible Gateway, we’ve redesigned the interface to make it easier to do what you want to do on BibleGateway.com.

As you explore the beta website, you’ll find many other small changes and improvements. (You’ll also probably run into a few glitches and quirks—the purpose of this beta period is to identify and fix those!) We want to hear about any suggestions you have—or problems you run into—while using the beta website. We’ll listen carefully to your feedback during this beta period, and will use it to shape the final version of the new website.

So if you want a preview of what the new Bible Gateway will look like, visitbeta.biblegateway.com and give us your feedback!

Book Trailer for AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH

NOAH....Missing the Point!

The new Noah movie is said to be about environmentalism. Bill Mar says it is about mass murder. The Bible says its about rejecting God and God dealing with mankind's sin by an act of Grace in allowing people to start over the human race.  People do not want to acknowledge God or true righteousness or His Justice or His Mercy because they would the have to admit their own sin and accept that He alone can wash it away and forgive them. Real Justice would requires a penalty for sin and rebellion and God sent Jesus to pay that penalty..

Environmentalism is not our original purpose or primary responsibility. God made us to Have fellowship with Him. Our responsibility to Reign on Earth was training to reign with Him for eternity. When we abdicated our Reign and authority to Satan by choosing to believe him and not God we brought sin and corruption into the world and it corrupted all of creation. Our own DNA and understanding of who we were created to be has been corrupted.

While God does not want us to needlessly harm His creation it can not and will not be healed or restored until the new Heaven and Earth. So Our purpose is one of reconciling people to God and Growing in our walk with Him as we Advance His Kingdom in the Earth among all peoples. Caring for the Earth and all life on it is a responsibility but not our purpose.

The Amazing Christian

In the introduction to the book, " LIVING AS A CHRISTIAN" by A.W. Tozer, James Snyder gives us the following start to this study on 1st Peter. 

"What is a Christian?  The contemporary scene is flooded with all kinds of erroneous ideas of what it means to be a Christian, most taken from the culture around us.  For some, the Christian is simply a cleaned-up person trying to do the best he can.  Some have crafted a template into which they try to squeeze the Christian.  But the Christian does not fit, and the result is a caricature, without any power or authority.

In this book, Dr. Tozer is writing to the Christian whose love and affection for Christ is the all-consuming passion of his life . . . every day.  He is not writing about the carnal Christian who has not surrendered himself to Christ’s rule in his life.  Throughout this book, he makes one assumption: that he is talking to someone who has experienced a genuine conversion experience.  He insists that we must have the utmost confidence in our conversion experience and trust the Holy Spirit to guide us day by day in the way that brings the most glory to the Christ who died for us.  Tozer begins where most writers end.  To him, conversion is not the end but rather the beginning of a wonderful walk of faith and trust and, yes, of works.

It was interesting to me to see Dr. Tozer’s comment about Hebrews 11.  Most of us look at that as the “faith chapter” of the Bible, but Tozer, in his inimitable way, calls it the “works chapter.”  Faith without works is dead, and there has to be a balance between what we believe and what we live.  Nobody can walk far on only one foot—we need the balance of both feet, and Dr. Tozer gives us quite a spiritual balance as he describes from God’s Word what the Christian walk is all about.

Certainly, we need to celebrate what we have been saved from.  That should bring to us a great deal of praise and thanksgiving that God has saved us from a life of wretchedness.  But, more important, we need to celebrate what we have been saved unto.  The Christian walk is the forward walk.  It is the “looking unto Jesus” that is most important.  Every redeemed person has a specific destiny to fulfill.  Discovering that destiny and fulfilling it in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the joy of the Christian’s daily walk.

We must start with Christ, continue with Christ and, finally, end with Christ.  It is always Jesus Christ, our all in all; anything outside of Christ is not part of the Christian’s life and walk.

Throughout the book, Dr. Tozer spends time developing the theme of salvation as God’s master plan for man.  The preciousness of God’s plan of salvation reveals the value He places on man.  Salvation is not a casual thing to God, and should not be thought of carelessly by us.  To use a favorite Tozer illustration, it is not put a nickel in the slot, pull the lever, take a box of salvation and then go your separate way.  Rather, what salvation does to the person who embraces Jesus Christ is nothing short of revolutionary, and his walk from that moment on is nothing short of miraculous.

This amazing Christian is the reflection of salvation’s glory in the world around him.  Not only is salvation a precious and wonderful thing, but also so is the Christian.  Salvation is not an end in itself, but rather a plan for man to get back into the center of God’s love and favor.  Everything about the Christian reflects the glory of his salvation.  All heaven looks with pride upon this curious creature called a Christian.

This Christian can withstand anything that comes against him, including heresy of all kinds that have infested the Church from the beginning.  Tozer describes these heresies and how the Christian rises above them, including the blatant attack of Christianity’s archenemy the devil.  It also includes the Christian’s attitude toward persecution and suffering for the cause of Christ.  This remarkable Christian is in the world, but he is not of it.  Therefore, how he lives in front of the unsaved is crucial.

Because of the Christian’s position in Christ, seated in the heavenlies, no matter what befalls, he is above all harm and can rest in the security of Jesus Christ, the victor.  Dr. Tozer says, “No one, no thing, no circumstance can harm a good man.”  This “good man” is immortal, and when his destiny on earth has been completed, his destiny continues in what he has inherited through salvation."