Deception

"My heart is crying this morning. The greatest sign that these are the last days is not the cataclysmic events we see around us, but according to Jesus, Paul and Peter, is DECEPTION. Jesus warned of it in his message to the disciples (Mt. 24) 4 times more than any other issue. And I am appalled that Christians in America cannot see the DECEPTION of the rhetoric in the Presidential candidates on BOTH sides. It is troubling for Christians to cry about the duty to vote, yet spend NO real time in genuine intercession for our country, pouring their hearts out to God that HE would send His Spirit in a mighty wind of Repentance and revival. That is the only thing that can turn our country around. IF it is "too late" it is not because of electing the right political leader, but because the Church in America is not on its knees. That shows just how deceived we really are. God is not going to bring revival through a political figure who rejects the gospel and worships a god that is Antichrist. He works through His people who will carry His burden and weep before HIM for our lost and dying condition." Frank Ides Van Dyck

"No ma’am, I won’t ever!”

I saw him in the church building for the first time last Wednesday evening. He was in his mid 70s with silver hair and a neat brown suit. Many times in the past I had invited him to come. Several friends had talked to him about the Lord and had tried to share the Good News of Christ with him. He was a well-respected, honest man with so many characteristics a Christian should have, but he had never put on Christ in baptism. A few years ago, I asked him, after finishing a pleasant day of visiting and talking, “Have you ever been to a church service in your life?” He hesitated, then with a bitter smile he told me of a childhood experience some sixty years ago.

He was one of many children in a large impoverished family. His parents had struggled to provide food, with little left for housing and clothing. When he was about ten, some neighbors invited him to worship with them. The Bible class had been very exciting. He had never heard such songs and stories before. He had never heard anyone read from the Bible before. After class was over, the teacher took him aside and said, “Son, please don’t come again dressed as you are now. We want to look our best when we come worship the Lord.” He stood in his ragged, unpatched overalls, looked at his bare, dirty feet and said, “No ma’am, I won’t ever!” And he never did.

There must have been other factors to have hardened him so, but this one experience formed a significant part of the bitterness in his heart. I’m sure the Bible teacher meant well, but what if she had studied and accepted the teachings found in the second chapter of James? What if she had put her arms around that dirty, ragged little boy and said, “Son, I’m so glad you are here, and I hope you will come every chance you get to hear more about Jesus!” What a difference that statement would have made in this little boy’s life!

I pray that I might ever be open to the tenderness of a child’s heart, and that I might never fail to see beyond the appearance and behavior of a child to the eternal possibilities within. Yes, I saw him in the church house for the first time last Wednesday evening. As I looked at that immaculately dressed old gentleman lying in his casket, I thought of the little boy of long ago. I could almost hear him saying, "No ma’am, I won’t ever!” …. and I wept.

How To Change the World

Edward Kimball was concerned about one of his young Sunday school students who worked at a shoe store in town. One day Kimball visited him at the store, found the student working in the back stocking shelves, and led him to Christ then and there. Dwight L. Moody eventually left the shoe store to become one of the greatest preachers and evangelists of all time.

Moody, whose international speaking took him to the British Isles, preached in a little chapel pastored by a young man with the imposing name of Frederic Brotherton Meyer. In his sermon Moody told an emotionally charged story about a Sunday school teacher who personally went to every student in his class and let each of them to Christ.

That message changed Pastor Meyer’s ministry, inspiring him to become an evangelist like Moody. Over the years Meyer came to America. While speaking in Northfield, MA a young preacher heard Meyer say, “If you are not willing to give up everything for Christ, are you willing to be made willing?” That remark led J. Wilbur Chapman to respond to the call of God on his life.

Chapman went on to become one of the most effective evangelists of his time. A volunteer by the name of Billy Sunday helped set up his crusades and learned how to preach by watching Chapman. Billy Sunday eventually took over Chapman’s ministry becoming one of the most dynamic evangelists of this century. Billy Sunday’s preaching brought thousands to Christ.

Inspired by a 1924 Billy Sunday crusade in Charlotte, NC a group of Christians dedicated themselves to reaching their city for Christ. The group invited the evangelist Mordecai Ham to come and hold a series of evangelistic meetings in 1932. A lanky 16 year old sat in the huge crowd one evening, spellbound by the message the white-haired preacher gave. Each evening the preacher seemed to be shouting and waving his finger at the young man. Night after night the teen came and finally went forward to give his life to Christ.

That teenager was Billy Graham. Billy Graham has communicated the gospel to more people than any other person in history. And it all started with a Sunday school teacher named Kimball. Millions have been affected by his decision to go into a shoe store and share Christ with one person. Millions more will continue to feel his impact.

Can something like this happen today? Of course! God wants to use you to change the world. Make an eternal difference by sharing the gospel with those around you and by supporting others who do God’s work around the world.

By Their Fruit You Will Know Them...

David Barton of Wallbuilders has come out with a list explaining why Barack Obama is the most biblically hostile President of all time. While most of these stories have been seen before, seeing them all laid out in one list is pretty astonishing. Many of these actions are literally unprecedented. This is the first time they have happened in four centuries of American history. The hostility of President Obama toward Biblical faith and values is without equal from any previous American president. Take a few minutes and read through this list! Remember, "Matt. 7:20 - Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

1. Acts of Hostility Toward People Of Biblical Faith:

a.April 2008 Obama speaks disrespectfully of Christians, saying they “cling to guns or religion” and have an“antipathy to people who aren’t like them.”

b. February 2009 Obama announces plans to revoke conscience protection for health workers who refuse to participate in medical activities that go against their beliefs, and fully implements the plan in February 2011.

c. April 2009 When speaking at Georgetown University , Obama orders that a monogram symbolizing Jesus’s name be covered when he is making his speech.

d. May 2009 Obama declines to host services for the National Prayer Day (a day established by federal law) at the White House.

e. April 2009 In a deliberate act of disrespect, Obama nominated three pro-abortion ambassadors to the Vatican ; of course, the pro-life Vatican rejected all three.

f. October 19, 2010 Obama begins deliberately omitting the phrase about “the Creator” when quoting the Declaration of Independence, an omission he has made on no less than seven occasions.

g. November 2010 Obama misquotes the National Motto, saying it is “E pluribus Unum” rather than “In God We Trust” as established by federal law.

h. January 2011 After a federal law was passed to transfer a WWI Memorial in the Mojave Desert to private ownership, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the cross in the memorial could continue to stand, but the Obama administration refused to allow the land to be transferred as required by law, and refused to allow the cross to be re-erected as ordered by the Court.

i. February 2011 Although he filled posts in the State Department, for more than two years Obama did not fill the post of religious freedom ambassador, an official that works against religious persecution across the world; he filled it only after heavy pressure from the public and from Congress.

j. April 2011 For the first time in American history, Obama urges passage of a non-discrimination law that does not contain hiring protections for religious groups, forcing religious organizations to hire according to federal mandates without regard to the dictates of their own faith, thus eliminating conscience protection in hiring.

k. August 2011 The Obama administration releases its new health care rules that override religious conscience protections for medical workers in the areas of abortion and contraception.

l. November 2011 Obama opposes inclusion of President Franklin Roosevelt’s famous D-Day Prayer in the WWII Memorial. m. November 2011 Unlike previous presidents, Obama studiously avoids any religious references in his Thanksgiving speech. n. December 2011 The Obama administration denigrates other countries religious beliefs as an obstacle to radical homosexual rights.

o. January 2012 The Obama administration argues that the First Amendment provides no protection for churches and synagogues in hiring their pastors and rabbis.

p. February 2012 The Obama administration forgives student loans in exchange for public service, but announces it will no longer forgive student loans if the public service is related to religion.

2. Acts of Hostility From The Obama-Led Military Toward People Of Biblical Faith:

a. June 2011 The Department of Veterans Affairs forbids references to God and Jesus during burial ceremonies at Houston National Cemetery .

b. August 2011 The Air Force stops teaching the Just War theory to officers in California because the course is taught by chaplains and is based on a philosophy introduced by St. Augustine in the third century AD, a theory long taught by civilized nations across the world.

c. September 2011 Air Force Chief of Staff prohibits commanders from notifying airmen of programs and services available to them from chaplains.

d. September 2011 The Army issues guidelines for Walter Reed Medical Center stipulating that “No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading materials and/or facts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.”

e. November 2011 The Air Force Academy rescinds support for Operation Christmas Child, a program to send holiday gifts to impoverished children across the world, because the program is run by a Christian charity.

f. November 2011 The Air Force Academy pays $80,000 to add a Stonehenge-like worship center for pagans, druids, witches and Wiccans.

g. February 2012 The U. S. Military Academy at West Point dis-invites three star Army general & decorated war hero Lieutenant General William G. (Jerry) Boykin (retired) from speaking at an event because he is an outspoken Christian.

h. February 2012 The Air Force removes God from the patch of Rapid Capabilities Office (the word on the patch was in Latin: Dei).

i. February 2012 The Army orders Catholic chaplains not to read a letter to parishioners that their archbishop asked them to read.

3. Acts of Hostility Toward Biblical Values:

a. January 2009 Obama lifts restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, forcing taxpayers to fund pro-abortion groups that either promote or perform abortions in other nations.

b. January 2009 President Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of state asserts that American taxpayers are required to pay for abortions and that limits on abortion funding are unconstitutional.

c. March 2009 The Obama administration shut out pro-life groups from attending a White House-sponsored health care summit.

d. March 2009 Obama orders taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research.

e. March 2009 Obama gave $50 million for the UNFPA, the UN population agency that promotes abortion and works closely with Chinese population control officials who use forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations.

f. May 2009 The White House budget eliminates all funding for abstinence-only education and replaces it with “comprehensive” sexual education, repeatedly proven to increase teen pregnancies and abortions. He continues the deletion in subsequent budgets.

g. May 2009 Obama officials assemble a terrorism dictionary calling pro-life advocates violent and charging that they use racism in their “criminal” activities.

h. July 2009 The Obama administration illegally extends federal benefits to same-sex partners of Foreign Service and Executive Branch employees, in direct violation of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

i September 16, 2009 The Obama administration appoints as EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum, who asserts that society should “not tolerate” any “private beliefs, including religious beliefs, if they may negatively affect homosexual equality.”

j. July 2010 The Obama administration uses federal funds in violation of federal law to get Kenya to change its constitution to include abortion.

k. August 2010 The Obama administration cuts funding for 176 abstinence education programs.

l. September 2010 The Obama administration tells researchers to ignore a judge’s decision striking down federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

m. February 2011 Obama directs the Justice Department to stop defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

n. March 2011 The Obama administration refuses to investigate videos showing Planned Parenthood helping alleged sex traffickers get abortions for victimized underage girls.

o. July 2011 Obama allows homosexuals to serve openly in the military, reversing a policy originally instituted by George Washington in March 1778.

p. September 2011 The Pentagon directs that military chaplains may perform same-sex marriages at military facilities in violation of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

q. October 2011 The Obama administration eliminates federal grants to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for their extensive programs that aid victims of human trafficking because the Catholic Church is anti-abortion.

4. Acts Of Preferentialism For Islam:

a. May 2009 While Obama does not host any National Day of Prayer event at the White House, he does host White House Iftar dinners in honor of Ramadan.

b. April 2010 Christian leader Franklin Graham is dis-invited from the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer Event because of complaints from the Muslim community.

c. April 2010 The Obama administration requires rewriting of government documents and a change in administration vocabulary to remove terms that are deemed offensive to Muslims, including “jihad, jihadists, terrorists, radical Islamic”.

d. August 2010 Obama speaks with great praise of Islam and condescendingly of Christianity.

e. August 2010 Obama went to great lengths to speak out on multiple occasions on behalf of building an Islamic mosque at Ground Zero, while at the same time he was silent about a Christian church being denied permission to rebuild at that location.

f. 2010 While every White House traditionally issues hundreds of official proclamations and statements on numerous occasions, this White House avoids traditional Biblical holidays and events but regularly recognizes major Muslim holidays, as evidenced by its 2010 statements on Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj, and Eid-ul-Adha.

g. October 2011 Obama’s Muslim advisers block Middle Eastern Christians access to the White House.

h. February 2012 The Obama administration makes effulgent apologies for Korans being burned by the U. S. military, but when Bibles were burned by the military, numerous reasons were offered why it was the right thing to do.