tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9327980103562465882024-03-01T00:39:38.973-05:00Signs and Wonders WebsiteWelcome to the Signs and Wonders web site. The purpose of this multifaceted ministry is to preach the gospel and teach others to do the same. Contains testimonies and tips on how to witness and share the gospel more effectively. All content is by missionary evangelist T. R. Post.T. R. Posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07648160105697528323noreply@blogger.comBlogger549125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-82096454539358245412021-09-26T04:23:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:14.104-04:00Marriage, Money, and Ministry<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6lHvGn9kh297NK0EPr4DWr86B4-Eq_vhLQ68ArN8Moa8z5rklU55-XxErmqcvNJX9fwFxIbozD2_wg7SqLpjAROHUzNGSxnpvMlwyzYVjx_sf7tal8J9zEJNvopIOQx7w1r-cFBGVAGo/s920/92B-360.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="768" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6lHvGn9kh297NK0EPr4DWr86B4-Eq_vhLQ68ArN8Moa8z5rklU55-XxErmqcvNJX9fwFxIbozD2_wg7SqLpjAROHUzNGSxnpvMlwyzYVjx_sf7tal8J9zEJNvopIOQx7w1r-cFBGVAGo/w167-h200/92B-360.jpg" width="167" /></a></div>A few days ago, I saw this message posted on Facebook….<p></p><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">“My fiancée wants a wedding and I don't. I want a small ceremony. She wants to use the $16,000 that I have saved up for a home and for emergency funds. I already spent $3,000 on a ring she wanted and that was from my savings. We can’t seem to come to a compromise. I’m willing to spend $5,000 on the wedding and she says that’s not enough. What should I do?”</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My initial reply was, “Break off the engagement.” I thought this woman was greedy. It would be better to invest more money in the marriage itself. A wedding ceremony plus a reception will last a few hours at the most. Marriage is for a lifetime.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Then I remembered something <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2018/02/remembering-brother-billy.html">Billy Graham</a> wrote in his autobiography “Just As I Am.” While attending Wheaton College, Billy got engaged to another student named Ruth Bell. Soon they got into a disagreement about their plans for the future. Ruth wanted to be a missionary in Tibet. Billy knew his calling was to preach the gospel throughout the world. At one point, Billy suggested Ruth return the ring he gave her. Ruth didn’t want to think about doing that. That settled the disagreement. Billy also told Ruth, “God will lead me, and you will do the following.” They were married for almost 64 years. Two cannot walk together unless they are agreed (Amos 3:3).</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Are you a woman seeking a godly man for a husband? We’re out there but I’d like to offer some suggestions for when you think you’ve found the right one…</span></p><ul><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Until you tie the knot, avoid spending too much time alone with him even in prayer. Soul ties can develop that are hard to break if he ends up not being “the one.”</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Be punctual when you plan to meet somewhere. It’s not cool to be “fashionably late.” If you can show up on time at your job, a doctor’s appointment, or a court hearing, then show that same kind of respect for your potential spouse. Jesus said in Matthew 5:37, <span style="color: #e6000e;"><i>“But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’”</i></span></span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Clearly communicate with him. Don’t assume he knows what you mean. We cannot read your thoughts.</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Encourage him in his calling. Don’t distract him with suggestions incompatible with God’s plan for his life, especially if he’s already in full-time ministry. Husbands need helpmates to keep them focused on their divine mission. At the same time, he will seek to help fulfill yours.</span></li></ul><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">God wants every believer to have a happy marriage (unless you desire to remain single), <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2019/09/redefining-prosperity-gospel.html" target="_blank">plenty of money</a> so we can also help others, and a fruitful ministry. All three are possible when our priorities are in order.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #e6000e; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”</i></b><span style="color: black;"><b> - Matthew 6:33</b></span></span></p><div><span style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-3666954195823273372021-09-19T08:15:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:14.356-04:00Just the Facts<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMg1uFAwuKBEqFZmz7AyIlnF20yeC58Qyjj-5-yV4HPKTbXpsOgYnDUcSytf5czx5wbmGyQ9a7rls8y_qzt4UCvYq8eT35EG2PQReRhz5dml_1YD-2L4Qn3Wgj_xzDq3iDBsIV_L4AEeM/s234/Jack+Webb.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="234" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMg1uFAwuKBEqFZmz7AyIlnF20yeC58Qyjj-5-yV4HPKTbXpsOgYnDUcSytf5czx5wbmGyQ9a7rls8y_qzt4UCvYq8eT35EG2PQReRhz5dml_1YD-2L4Qn3Wgj_xzDq3iDBsIV_L4AEeM/w200-h185/Jack+Webb.jpeg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">In the classic police drama “Dragnet,” Sergeant Joe Friday (portrayed by the late Jack Webb) implored informants, “All we want are the facts.” Parodies have paraphrased this to where many believe Friday frequently said, “Just the facts, ma’am.” The truth is <a href="https://www.metv.com/stories/sgt-joe-friday-never-actually-said-just-the-facts-maam-on-dragnet" target="_blank">he never uttered that exact phrase</a> on radio or TV. However, it was used to promote the 1987 movie “Dragnet” and as the title of an authorized biography of Jack Webb.</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As stated before in this blog, I refuse to pass on <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2017/05/break-every-christian-chain.html" target="_blank">chain letters</a>. They often contain outdated or inaccurate information. A new one that’s appeared in my Facebook news feed is <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2011/12/go-tebow.html" target="_blank">Tim Tebow</a> warning us about the government preparing us for a cashless society. I don't believe Tim wrote this. It resembles a meme falsely attributed to another well-known Christian. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For years, a prayer request has circulated with Joyce Meyer’s name attached to it. It claims twenty churches got burned down in an Indian province called Olisabang. There are no provinces in India. They have states and districts. None of which is named Olisabang. Joyce Meyer Ministries has <a href="https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/02/fake-news-115-churches-and-missionaries-NOT-attacked-in-india.html" target="_blank">confirmed</a> that the message did not come from her.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">During the last year, fact-checkers have gotten a negative reputation. Some have tried suppressing information about the 2020 election and the coronavirus. That doesn’t mean we should dismiss non-partisan fact-checkers like <a href="https://www.truthorfiction.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3a55d8;">truthorfction.com</span></a> (a website I often refer to). So before sharing a meme or story sent to you, please <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2020/03/think-before-you-share.html" target="_blank">take a few seconds to verify its legitimacy</a>. There’s too much fake news going around as it is. Would you like it if people claimed you wrote something that wasn’t true?</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”</i> - Exodus 20:16</span></b></p><div><b><br /></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-57259975710361779772021-09-12T05:20:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:14.512-04:00Moments of Silence<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMXlsRss21kyMGQOW-wBK2zUIsE1xpYk7JZaEo54UVMAyXGVGc00ivS7ggUZsYPVqdqlSQfkl96aq0nGJ1D4fSIrzL3KBYoBoptSL7xPGrRmAn6Q_-i8-VVsO3heQaTvilWu_5eDfVwVs/s2048/kristina-flour-BcjdbyKWquw-unsplash-scaled.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1310" data-original-width="2048" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMXlsRss21kyMGQOW-wBK2zUIsE1xpYk7JZaEo54UVMAyXGVGc00ivS7ggUZsYPVqdqlSQfkl96aq0nGJ1D4fSIrzL3KBYoBoptSL7xPGrRmAn6Q_-i8-VVsO3heQaTvilWu_5eDfVwVs/w200-h128/kristina-flour-BcjdbyKWquw-unsplash-scaled.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Many Americans recalled <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2016/09/when-towers-fell.html" target="_blank">what they were doing</a> when four hijacked planes caused the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. Some commemorate that and other events with moments of silence. Is this beneficial?</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There’s an old saying, “Silence is golden.” Some people talk too much and would be better off practicing moments of silence. One should be cautious of opening their mouths, especially when they are angry. That way, they won’t utter anything hastily. Ecclesiastes 3:7 says there is <i>”a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.”</i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Usually, I spend a few minutes per day “<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EGM17H_Uv9v8xZ4v0tCtMXl7vjsRyIjcinlaHBshzIM/edit" target="_blank">soaking</a>” while soft music is playing in the background. At the very least, it quiets my mind. Often God speaks to me through a vision. However, moments of silence (just like <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2015/05/thoughts-and-prayers.html" target="_blank">thoughts</a>) don’t take the place of spoken prayers. James 4:2 (KJV) says, <i>“…ye have not, because ye ask not.”</i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">After <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2019/12/making-god-famous.html" target="_blank">John Lennon died</a> in 1980, his widow Yoko Ono requested ten minutes of silence on his behalf. That didn’t change John’s eternal destiny. Honoring the dead will not cause them to go from hell to heaven. Their fate has been determined. Psalm 115:17 says, <i>“The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence.”</i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Religious folk will tell you to be quiet in their institutions and in public like what happened with the two blind men who called out to Jesus for healing (Matthew 20:29-34). People won’t get saved and delivered unless they hear the truth. God gave us mouths to speak. Let’s use them to share the Good News, edify the brethren, and cry out against tyranny and deception.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence…”</i> - Isaiah 65:6</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-6471867414303669112021-09-05T03:55:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:14.670-04:00Dealing with a Moochinary<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSK_xI9ea0XMtF3xGJ5kqxlQk_UgGBQoXeRWnBilrkfRXM2b4cjnyfmiewNe8vXxQTxIcYEp5jmI0Xm2zgn4V-B6gF92gSdQUUsQgi5gb05zU3QlT1zQh2a9dmpAPuG8Ah86xD70GNG88/s259/Christian+Beggar.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="259" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSK_xI9ea0XMtF3xGJ5kqxlQk_UgGBQoXeRWnBilrkfRXM2b4cjnyfmiewNe8vXxQTxIcYEp5jmI0Xm2zgn4V-B6gF92gSdQUUsQgi5gb05zU3QlT1zQh2a9dmpAPuG8Ah86xD70GNG88/w200-h151/Christian+Beggar.jpeg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Tomorrow is Labor Day, which one dictionary defines as “a public holiday or day of festivities held in honor of working people, in the US and Canada on the first Monday in September, in many other countries on May 1.” Despite the Bible’s commandments to have a good work ethic, some missionaries are more like “moochinaries”, begging in the name of the Lord. I’ve dealt with a few especially online.</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Three years ago, a Facebook friend who called himself “The Thankful Leper” sent me a message asking for money. Until then, I never had any interaction with this man since accepting his friend request. Initially, I replied with a link to my “<a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2018/09/discernment-for-donations.html" target="_blank">Discernment for Donations</a>” article. That was to explain why I don’t give money in response to unsolicited emails. He immediately responded by saying he won’t play “scripture ping pong” but quoted verses about why I should help him financially. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This man went on to say, “If you can't help me in that way I’d be happy to move in with you and you can take care of me that would be a better blessing.” He lived in Dallas while I was hundreds of miles away in Minnesota. I pointed out I’m a traveling missionary who lives out of a suitcase and doesn’t have a permanent home. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Thankful Leper then suggested I partner with him calling this “a divine appointment.” I told him, “<a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2019/02/believing-vs-begging.html" target="_blank">I’m a believer...not a beggar</a>.” (I look to God as my source and avoid asking people for money while this professional panhandler had a GoFundMe page that collected over $24,000 within two years). He went on to quote more Bible verses trying to put a guilt trip on me. Since he handled the word of God deceitfully (2 Corinthians 4:2) and wasn’t teachable, I unfriended him.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jesus never had to beg for His needs to be met. The Apostle Paul supported himself by making tents but later wrote in </span><span style="font-family: arial;">1 Corinthians 9:14 (NIV)</span><span style="font-family: arial;">, </span><i style="font-family: arial;">“…the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.”</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> Whether you are called to the ministry or the marketplace, the Lord wants your </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PD44dQzgR3cQnfuaCHZSND8GziY5V436edDtBcBET2o" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">work to glorify Him</a><span style="font-family: arial;">. We are not to be slothful or have a sense of entitlement.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies…And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.” - </i>2 Thessalonians 3:11, 14</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-68663059034657359882021-08-29T08:12:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:14.828-04:00The Real Tragedy<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #151719;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiMEiFxw6cvyklB5igriVxLAx_CRUffhTpHVghAsPNfUJ1La8VcfO1apLwexChaFKZb7ekbnPdL2CsfsIrJx8xJdUkAFLORajgJqxAFyI5h-gLKeO5PajerEVZXgFyuAAWTzFW7a8Osg/s440/Diana%252C_Princess_of_Wales_1997_%25282%2529+2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="440" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiMEiFxw6cvyklB5igriVxLAx_CRUffhTpHVghAsPNfUJ1La8VcfO1apLwexChaFKZb7ekbnPdL2CsfsIrJx8xJdUkAFLORajgJqxAFyI5h-gLKeO5PajerEVZXgFyuAAWTzFW7a8Osg/w200-h200/Diana%252C_Princess_of_Wales_1997_%25282%2529+2.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">This Tuesday will be the 24th anniversary of the car accident in Paris that killed Princess Diana and her companion Dodi Fayed. This tragedy resulted in outpourings of grief from all over the world. At Diana’s funeral, Elton John sang a revised version of his hit “Candle in the Wind” as a tribute. That recording went on to become the second biggest selling single in history (behind Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”).</span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #151719; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, the real tragedy is that Diana might not be in heaven right now. In his book “Good or God”, John Bevere wrote about how he spent much time grieving over Diana’s death until the Spirit of God instructed him to read Revelation 18. Verses 5 through 7 stood out…</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #151719; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #151719; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">“In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her…”</span></i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #151719; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #151719; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Lord later told John, “She [Diana] flaunted her defiance to authority and her adultery to the world. She wasn’t submitted to Me.” John then brought up all the good works Diana had done. He eventually heard the Spirit of God say, “There is a good that is not of Me.” As Proverbs 14:12 says, <i>“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”</i></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #151719; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #151719; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’m not judging Diana. I’d rather think of her making it through the pearly gates instead of being tormented in hell. Regardless, we must always be ready for eternity and not depend on our good works for salvation.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #151719; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #e6000e; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”</i></b><span style="color: #151719;"><b> - Matthew 7:22-23</b></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-35639760845295459262021-08-22T08:57:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:15.003-04:00Honoring Nick Kinn<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsu_epSa2q-14wSV4O6tKcQFVjuEGurWPKDNqZYGuKi9B3SRbEQu_gDyuptPwnQ_g-nem3a7_nnHnq0ESPfDQTHNI48Te9ENiqXsfmXzvFV6CHdugGsp1aGvI2AigAY3eHDvcpH0PeL84/s400/PastorPage_NickKinn.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsu_epSa2q-14wSV4O6tKcQFVjuEGurWPKDNqZYGuKi9B3SRbEQu_gDyuptPwnQ_g-nem3a7_nnHnq0ESPfDQTHNI48Te9ENiqXsfmXzvFV6CHdugGsp1aGvI2AigAY3eHDvcpH0PeL84/w200-h200/PastorPage_NickKinn.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The Bible tells us to give honor to whom honor is due. Yesterday was the 70th birthday of the minister most responsible for helping me become a successful soul-winner. Therefore, I’ve written this tribute to him.</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Alex Nicholas Kinn Jr. was born on August 21, 1951, and grew up just west of Minneapolis. Like myself, he went through confirmation at a Lutheran church that didn't teach the necessity to be born again. Following high school and a brief college stint, Nick was drafted into the U. S. Army and got stationed in Germany. After his discharge, Nick returned to Minnesota and continued being an alcoholic. One night, he caused a drunk driving accident that almost killed six people.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, a few Christians had reached out to Nick with the gospel. Two of them happened while he was in the military. Another person had slid a tract underneath his door. A turning point occurred 45 years ago today. After Nick had been out celebrating his 25th birthday, he got down on his knees at 2:00 a.m. and said, “Jesus, if you’re real, I’m tired of being a drunk. Come into my heart.” His life hasn’t been the same since.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Nick immediately started witnessing but didn’t lead anyone to the Lord until almost three years later. While hosting an Amway meeting in his house, Nick had an altar call. One woman came forward to give her life to Christ. After attending various churches, Nick started going to <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2020/11/happy-birthday-living-word.html" target="_blank">Living Word Christian Center</a> in Brooklyn Park. In 1986, he was asked to take charge of their evangelism ministry. Two years later, Nick left his job at the post office to become a full-time pastor. As he often says now, “I used to be a mailman, but now I’m a messenger.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I first attended Living Word in 1991. Back then, Pastor Nick also led outreaches called “All-Church Evangelism.” Wednesday night services were canceled once a month during the summer. That was to encourage more congregation members to share their faith. I participated in a few of those but didn’t pray with anyone until three years after my conversion. By that time, I committed myself to evangelize with Living Word every Monday night. Soon I became a team leader and started training other people how to win souls. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My faithfulness to Living Word’s evangelism ministry resulted in various blessings. Since Nick and I are about the same size, he frequently gave me clothes he no longer needed. One night after returning from an outreach, Pastor Nick asked if anyone wanted prayer. I mentioned my starting a sales job with a meat company that day and needed to make money. Nick suddenly took up an offering for me. I received $68 in cash. That sales job wouldn’t work out for me. Eventually, the Lord led me to go into full-time ministry.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For over a decade, I mostly traveled along the east coast as a missionary. During which, I had little contact with Pastor Nick. Then one night in a Minneapolis suburb, I walked into a bus station. Nick happened to be evangelizing there along with another man I knew named Tom. Nick gave me some of his “<a href="https://www.cfaith.com/index.php/blog/27-articles/your-destiny/16993-have-you-heard-the-good-news" target="_blank">Have You Heard the Good News</a>” tracts. Tom then handed me $20. That inspired me to resume regular outreaches with Living Word during return visits to the Twin Cities area. I still enjoy listening to <a href="http://nkinn.net/sermons.html" target="_blank">Nick’s teachings</a> before we hit the streets.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I appreciate Nick Kinn’s continued commitment to the Great Commission and also his sense of humor. Often we experience bouts of <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2016/09/thou-shalt-laugh.html" target="_blank">holy laughter</a> while looking at each other. With the help of other laborers involved with Living Word’s evangelism ministry, over 1.6 million salvations have occurred. Pastor Nick has (so far) ministered in 28 countries and 35 states. May the Lord give him many more years to give the devil a black eye.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i><span>“</span>And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you</i><span><i>” </i>- 1 Thessalonians 5:12</span></b></span></p><div><b><br /></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-23390479796722035082021-08-15T05:03:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:15.159-04:00NFL: No Fans Left<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9Iw_mwU8nhaff-AL7Yc85baf2JJ2zTBSZxqKQctg7mvoYQ3F_9aW8kagLn70uNxH_9-naqiWlMddimQrE8VjW84mDBnsyfX-gLxEei8YkU2DmbqI55nX6wTzX67o3No22FuTXuGl_6A/s180/Boycott+NFL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="180" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9Iw_mwU8nhaff-AL7Yc85baf2JJ2zTBSZxqKQctg7mvoYQ3F_9aW8kagLn70uNxH_9-naqiWlMddimQrE8VjW84mDBnsyfX-gLxEei8YkU2DmbqI55nX6wTzX67o3No22FuTXuGl_6A/s0/Boycott+NFL.jpg" width="180" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">In less than a month, the National Football League will begin a new regular season. I used to enjoy watching their games on TV. This year I plan to shy away from that even more.<span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Many fans like myself are opposed to the NFL permitting players to <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2018/05/standing-vs-kneeling.html" target="_blank">disrespect “The Star-Spangled Banner.</a>” Last year, the league started pairing that with “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which has been called a “black national anthem.” Despite widespread criticism, Commissioner Roger Goodell declared, “We, the National Football League, believe black lives matter…Without black players, there would be no National Football League.” </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That’s not entirely true. The league existed before segregation in professional sports ended. I’m not against “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as a song. It originated from a Christian hymnal. However, playing a “black national anthem” before games is divisive instead of unifying. As stated before, <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2021/04/8-reasons-not-to-support-black-lives.html" target="_blank">I do not support the Black Lives Matter movement</a>.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The league has also succumbed to the homosexual agenda. While channel surfing on a friend's TV a few weeks ago, I briefly stopped on the NFL Network. An ad came up declaring “football is gay” and featured a rainbow-colored NFL logo. I searched for this on their YouTube channel to give it a “dislike.” It had over five times more of those than “likes” plus many written complaints. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Minnesota Vikings will always be <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2018/01/memories-from-cautiously-optimistic.html" target="_blank">my favorite team</a>, but I’ve become less enthusiastic about following them. Their Facebook page recently had pride memes posted. Offensive line coach Rick Dennison got removed from his post for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccination but then was reinstated as “senior offensive advisor.” Players like starting quarterback Kirk Cousins have been criticized for not getting jabbed. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Will they soon require proof of vaccinations for fans to attend their games?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Another thing I don’t like about the NFL is how they are adding extra games. Last year, two more wild card teams were added for the playoffs. Just like other major league sports, the NFL is allowing too many teams in the postseason. It defeats the necessity to play well enough throughout the regular season for the opportunity of becoming “World Champions.” I’d rather see division winners only qualify for the playoffs.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This year all teams will play 17 regular-season games. The odd number means half the teams (including the Vikings) will have one fewer home game than those played on the road. To lengthen the season, the league could have given each team an extra bye week as they did once before in 1993. Another option would be to play an 18 game regular season as the defunct USFL had in the 1980s. That still gives every team an equal number of home games.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I wish the league would play their games without all the greed and politicization. That would stop the increasing exodus of fans. Nevertheless, I hope all the Christian players have successful seasons this year. One I’m rooting for is <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2011/12/go-tebow.html" target="_blank">Tim Tebow</a>. He is attempting a comeback as a tight end with the Jacksonville Jaguars. If Tim makes the team, we could see him Tebowing again. I’d rather watch that instead of players kneeling during the national anthem or doing end zone celebrations that have gotten ridiculous.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”</i> - Colossians 3:17</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-68045948091926915162021-08-08T04:54:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:15.317-04:00Angels in Disguise?<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsG6nw8SgqvccAeKVqtb2CwYMiUHEq2pz0preVhOyBnCPuWGbxOWfwWZvi0gJntxe1jt2RaZwMTmE7vNGJbs-pcm8dVtegAW6LxeQX3NMwEaUEexUQz1RfKH-zKRpTiTzt680fKaRknRY/s454/Homeless+Angel.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="454" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsG6nw8SgqvccAeKVqtb2CwYMiUHEq2pz0preVhOyBnCPuWGbxOWfwWZvi0gJntxe1jt2RaZwMTmE7vNGJbs-pcm8dVtegAW6LxeQX3NMwEaUEexUQz1RfKH-zKRpTiTzt680fKaRknRY/w200-h139/Homeless+Angel.jpeg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I go out of my way to <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2014/07/pursuing-panhandlers.html" target="_blank">minister to beggars</a>. With rare exceptions, I have a policy <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GvtAWVIKj-WW3ej-4EIJJvjezSGmZ0AuUXAWuHK2oXM" target="_blank">not to give them money</a>. Instead, I offer snacks to the hungry. While many have legitimate needs, professional panhandlers will use deceptive tactics to extract cash from <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2018/09/discernment-for-donations.html" target="_blank">undiscerning donors</a>.</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One night while evangelizing in south Minneapolis with <a href="https://www.lwcc.org" target="_blank">Living Word Christian Center,</a> a man with a gas can came up to us asking for money. He claimed his car got stalled on the freeway a short distance away. Evangelism Pastor Nick Kinn was with me and offered to fill up this man’s can if he followed us to a nearby gas station. He hesitated and then claimed the gas wouldn’t be enough to get him home. This beggar wasn’t honest with us.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A few friends of mine freely give to panhandlers because Hebrews 13:2 says, <i>“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.</i>” In Genesis 18, Abraham offered hospitality to three men passing by. Two of them were angels. These same beings later stayed with Lot and his family in Sodom. Notice the angels were invited and didn’t insist on being served.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve had bizarre incidents with scraggly beggars claiming to be angels. Don’t forget the devil can transform himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) who comes to <span style="color: #e6000e;"><i>“steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”</i></span> (John 10:10). That would include a believer’s finances. On the other hand, God uses angels to bring provision to the heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14). One angel brought food to Elijah in the desert (1 Kings 19:5-8). </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Once I visited a church to hear Jerry Savelle minister there. Near the end of the service, a man sitting behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said, “The Lord told me to give you this.“ It was a $100 bill! It was the first time a total stranger gave me money. This incident has frequently come up in my mind whenever I hear somebody talk about angels. For that reason, I believe the person who gave me the $100 was an angel. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">During a recent evangelism outing in downtown Minneapolis, a man came up to my team saying he had just finished working as a window washer and needed $16 to get his car out of a parking garage. A woman with me handed him the remaining dollar in her purse. I thought of offering to walk with him to the garage and use my debit card to help get his car out, but we were waiting for another team that was running late. We ended up praying for this man before he continued down the street. The possibility of him being an angel crossed my mind. Later, it occurred to me angels can fly and translate from one place to another. They don’t need money for transportation expenses.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We should be willing to help those in need but not give out of manipulation or just in case they might be a divine messenger. I doubt God would have angels disguised as drunken homeless people who use profanity or solicit funds in areas where it is illegal to do so. Use wisdom, folks!</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">“<i>Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?” </i>- 1 Corinthians 6:3</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-31263110856480616282021-08-01T11:08:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:15.472-04:00God’s Got Your Back<p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTznSWAiaQEZwArdcgnh0C4bPUFaX_1XqqR4QDtE8ufZRdQjk1MZMvBHTa5wOk8APHSyhaHlopcxyncJxJJhiyJ-_novW-0Vg-HaLzWANMAtVesTfvsqRT-0l7maBmwel5bRYxcSCd8rM/s360/001-christian-armour.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="360" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTznSWAiaQEZwArdcgnh0C4bPUFaX_1XqqR4QDtE8ufZRdQjk1MZMvBHTa5wOk8APHSyhaHlopcxyncJxJJhiyJ-_novW-0Vg-HaLzWANMAtVesTfvsqRT-0l7maBmwel5bRYxcSCd8rM/w200-h200/001-christian-armour.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I believe one reason some people shy away from Christianity is seeing passive believers. The Lord doesn’t want us being idle wimps until He returns. When Jesus gave the Great Commission, He said, “Go ye,” not “Sit ye.”</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Many Christians need a greater revelation of their authority in Christ. As a young believer, I heard my then-pastor share a powerful truth regarding what Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, <span style="color: #e6000e;"><i>“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”</i></span><i> </i>Religious people misinterpret this verse to mean the church is to huddle together while withstanding demonic attacks. However, gates don’t attack anybody. They just stand there. </span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s the church that is to be on the attack. As Jesus said in Luke 19:13 (KJV), <span style="color: #e6000e;"><i>“Occupy till I come.”</i></span> To take spiritual ground, we must put on equipment described in Ephesians 6…</span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>13 </i></b><i>Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.</i></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>14 </i></b><i>Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, </i></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>15 </i></b><i>and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; </i></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>16 </i></b><i>above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. </i></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>17 </i></b><i>And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God</i></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Note that there is no armor for the back. There is no need for Christians to retreat. Jesus already defeated the devil. We reinforce his defeat like an occupying army.</span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sometimes I face persecution when doing street evangelism. Individuals have threatened me if I don’t leave the area. If I’m on public property, then I have a right to be there just like them. Unless the Lord directs me to walk away and minister someplace else, I stand still and hold my ground.</span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">God’s methods of victory are often unconventional. Joshua led the children of Israel to march around Jericho seven times. David using a small stone to take down Goliath. God has a plan to take out the giants facing you. All you need to do is ask for wisdom and then obey without fearing your rear. God’s got your back!</span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” </i>- 1 Corinthians 15:57</b></span></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-54859120050150305212021-07-25T03:27:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:15.626-04:00Love Thy Neighbor?<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQle6cn5vsnuCex4amiiZOi78Afuh9UOS6QhuhJNnkGOTd6zlfu7RfTPM3ypUslr-wtH7DiDMYNpZtejMICBTjYcUcEa_xhxKJ-sHfYzusWIpwmCpxVBAEmjTnCxWc5mEHLFvgeawYUFY/s225/Love+Thy+Neighbor.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQle6cn5vsnuCex4amiiZOi78Afuh9UOS6QhuhJNnkGOTd6zlfu7RfTPM3ypUslr-wtH7DiDMYNpZtejMICBTjYcUcEa_xhxKJ-sHfYzusWIpwmCpxVBAEmjTnCxWc5mEHLFvgeawYUFY/w200-h200/Love+Thy+Neighbor.jpeg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">As a minister of the gospel, one thing that irritates me is when people handle the word of God deceitfully (2 Corinthians 4:2) to get something they want without acknowledging all of its commands. Sometimes I deal with <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GvtAWVIKj-WW3ej-4EIJJvjezSGmZ0AuUXAWuHK2oXM" target="_blank">pushy panhandlers</a> who insist the Bible commands me to “feed the poor.” I reply by pointing out the Bible also says, <i>“If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”</i> (2 Thessalonians 3:10) </span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">During a recent vaccine mobilization event in Detroit, Vice President Kamala Harris declared we should all get vaccinated because it is “…the very essence of what the Bible tells us when it says, ‘Love thy neighbor.’ Right?” Wrong! Jesus actually said, <span style="color: #e6000e;"><i>“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”</i></span> Yes, we should look out for the welfare of others. That doesn’t mean we have to neglect our own. If vaccinations are so wonderful, why are vaccinated people still getting COVID-19? Others who have gotten jabbed have experienced side effects and even died!</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On a related note, I’m so tired of people using the “love your neighbor” mantra to promote mask mandates. While I wore one on a Southwest flight a few months ago, the pilot announced on the intercom he was wearing a mask for me just like I was wearing one for him. Baloney! The pilot was inside the cockpit, where he is <a href="https://thepointsguy.com/news/why-pilots-dont-wear-masks-flying/" target="_blank">not required to put on a mask</a>.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">James 2:8-9 repeats the “love your neighbor” command but then goes on to say, <i>“…if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” </i>Governments and businesses are now offering rewards and perks to the vaccinated. I see this as bribery and discrimination. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Love doesn’t pressure people to do questionable things that could harm their health. The best way for Christians to “love your neighbor” is not by <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2020/12/should-christians-vaccinate.html" target="_blank">getting vaccinated</a> or <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2020/07/why-i-resist-wearing-masks.html">wearing a mask</a> but by obeying the Great Commission, which includes healing the sick.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #e6000e; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature…And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons…they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”</i></b><span style="color: black;"><b> - Mark 16:15, 17-18</b></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-76406202290515802062021-07-18T07:01:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:15.781-04:00Building a Building<p><span style="color: #0d0d14;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgftFtpEs8xS4oFm2Ig5uyyFa9MVnptiPWQ8yUn3VuISFaT0Qz-4HVUnxeo5svuTRM5p2B2uPqxdBcWYa474s9XCVn9J9V0jhT3J164zz7IYxv4VgEvb1kp4FZEm2NmWtJon0W2VnP71c/s1050/212393626_10222380692525467_8112641501301707203_n+2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="1050" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgftFtpEs8xS4oFm2Ig5uyyFa9MVnptiPWQ8yUn3VuISFaT0Qz-4HVUnxeo5svuTRM5p2B2uPqxdBcWYa474s9XCVn9J9V0jhT3J164zz7IYxv4VgEvb1kp4FZEm2NmWtJon0W2VnP71c/w200-h113/212393626_10222380692525467_8112641501301707203_n+2.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Among my favorite Bible teachers is <a href="https://perrystone.org" target="_blank">Perry Stone</a>. While watching one of his “Manna-Fest” programs on YouTube a few years ago, I noticed another viewer posted the following comment: “It is NOT time to build a building, it’s time for winning the souls!” This was in response to brief remarks Perry made about a building project for his ministry. No financial appeals were made while computerized graphics of his ministry center were shown.</span><p></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As an evangelist, I agree it's time for winning souls. God doesn’t want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). But if the Lord continues tarrying His return, where will all the new converts be discipled…outdoors? That would be comparable to a farmer who reaped a huge harvest of wheat but had no barn to put it in. Some will argue the early Christians met in people’s homes. Churches today sometimes start off as home bible studies. But if that group grows too large, a person’s house won’t have enough room to accommodate everyone.</span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The above photo is part of a meme Facebook friends have posted claiming: “Back when God mattered more than the church building.” I agree what’s preached inside the church is more important than how it looks on the outside. God isn’t honored if His people meet in a luxurious facility but the spiritual needs of the congregation are neglected. Nor it is good for a church to have a debt load that cannot be paid. </span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Nevertheless, abundant resources were used in building tabernacles and temples in the Old Testament. During one such building project, Moses said in Exodus 36:6, <i>“‘Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.’ And the people were restrained from bringing.”</i> How many pastors do you know telling their congregations not to give any more money because they have more than enough to do the work of the Lord?</span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sports fans don’t think it’s wrong when millions of dollars are spent on a new stadium for their favorite team to play in. Yet critics complain if a church spends (in their opinion) too much money on a new building. Some Christians defiantly claim, “The church is not a building!” The Lord asked in Haggai 1:4 (NLT), <i>“Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?”</i></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #0d0d14; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It’s time for the body of Christ to get rid of a poverty mentality regarding our church buildings. In his book “How God Taught Me About Prosperity”, Kenneth E. Hagin was told, “I expect My people to have the best place in town to meet in!” If we take care of God’s house, He will take care of ours.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order.” </i>- 2 Chronicles 29:35</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-35122712429359569392021-07-11T09:42:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:15.939-04:00True Humility<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAj_1TBtPlK5vLWv4GAejzomHRsztcvNWqfGVJeS6ldyFCVE_8M4JFadTsOb8aeJhOWrzktifZZXjjWwkDeGzdsGzmmWuToPpyOw_vqPj-KKsaxPu48Quq62TukZhrY5hx8X87FP-BW4/s500/in-humility-simon-dewey.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="500" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAj_1TBtPlK5vLWv4GAejzomHRsztcvNWqfGVJeS6ldyFCVE_8M4JFadTsOb8aeJhOWrzktifZZXjjWwkDeGzdsGzmmWuToPpyOw_vqPj-KKsaxPu48Quq62TukZhrY5hx8X87FP-BW4/w200-h158/in-humility-simon-dewey.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">One of my Facebook friends recently posted a meme with this prayer: “Lord, empty me of me so I can be filled of You.” Technically, this is impossible. We are all unique individuals with talents, hopes, and dreams. God didn’t create us to be robots. A Christian can pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit and then obey His promptings instead of fulfilling selfish desires. </span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A personal example that comes to my mind happened over twenty years ago. While walking around my neighborhood, I saw five boys playing football in a church parking lot. A thought crossed my mind that when their football landed by me, that would be a sign to witness to them. Seconds later, the football bounced my way when one of the boys made a bad punt. However, I wanted to be by myself and went straight home. God kept telling me to go back. So I put my shoes on and hurried to the parking lot where the boys were still playing. After one of them scored a touchdown, I asked the boys to take a time-out. All five got born again.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve heard worship songs with the line “more of You, less of me.” While these may be sincere attempts to be humble, I think they are a bit degrading. Psalm 139:14 says, <i>“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”</i> God is not glorified when man criticizes himself. There’s a difference between humility and being humiliated, which the New Oxford American Dictionary defines as “make (someone) feel ashamed and foolish by injuring their dignity and self-respect, especially publicly.”<i> </i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">John the Baptist did say in John 3:30, <i>“He must increase, but I must decrease.” </i>The Jewish prophet was exalting Jesus’ ministry above his. I like The Message Bible’s rendering of this verse: <i>“This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.”</i> Preachers need to be cautious not to <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2017/02/me-is-exalted.html" target="_blank">exalt themselves</a> and their ministries more than the God they serve.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One friend of mine used to pray for God to make him humble until I pointed out what James 4:10 says, <i>“</i><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><i>Humble yourselves</i></span><i> in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” </i>Fasting is one way of doing that (Psalm 35:13), but that won’t do much good for one who isn’t submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Colossians 2 warns of false humility. Verse 18 connects that with </span><i style="font-family: arial;">“…worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.”</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> Verse 23 goes on to say, </span><i style="font-family: arial;">“These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”</i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i></i><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Another way to humble yourself is by seeking to meet other people’s needs. Philippians 2:3-4 says, <i>“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” </i>Jesus famously demonstrated this by washing His disciples’ feet.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i></i><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The late Mac Davis sang, “Lord, it’s hard to be humble.” The truth is it’s not that hard. We simply need to exalt Jesus and others more than ourselves. C. S. Lewis wrote, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” Another minister pointed out, “Humility is knowing who are you in Christ and who you are without Him.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” </i>- 1 Peter 5:5</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-3045740207393684642021-07-04T07:59:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:16.096-04:00Foundations of a Nation<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBxMV17gQgUPoTnvpL6TeI4U9sRWoVFnqw5DFt7vJnks3VhIYRLDUbi7ZVMX6ZnUTnCmXKqeHOSklpWS6nXqqpbZ6GNteXI-O6YFfMo2aTwxLm0DW1HwpSGjR30CnS31yNrrPGBQ13bQg/s500/Statue+of+Liberty+Foundation.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="500" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBxMV17gQgUPoTnvpL6TeI4U9sRWoVFnqw5DFt7vJnks3VhIYRLDUbi7ZVMX6ZnUTnCmXKqeHOSklpWS6nXqqpbZ6GNteXI-O6YFfMo2aTwxLm0DW1HwpSGjR30CnS31yNrrPGBQ13bQg/w200-h141/Statue+of+Liberty+Foundation.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">July 4th is a memorable day for me not only because I’m an American. It was also my grandmother’s birthday. Leah Post was born on this day in 1908 (she passed away 92 years later). My family often got together with her on Independence Day before seeing fireworks that evening.</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My grandparents were devoted members of a Methodist church (though Grandpa Post wasn’t sure of going to heaven until I prayed with him in 1996). One gift they gave me as a boy was a storybook based on these words by Jesus in Matthew 7…</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>24<span style="color: #e6000e;"> </span></i></b><i style="color: #e6000e;">“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: </i></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>25 </i></b><i style="color: #e6000e;">and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.</i></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>26<span style="color: #e6000e;"> </span></i></b><i style="color: #e6000e;">“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: </i></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>27<span style="color: #e6000e;"> </span></i></b><i style="color: #e6000e;">and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”</i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">These verses can apply to individuals, families, and nations. Since 1776, the United States of America was founded upon Judeo-Christian values framed in the Declaration of Independence and reaffirmed eleven years later with the Constitution. 34% of the ideas in the latter document originated from the Bible. While other countries have changed governments numerous times, the U. S. has remained constant despite challenges such as the Civil War, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2016/09/when-towers-fell.html" target="_blank">9/11</a>.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Psalm 11:3 says, <i>“If the foundations are destroyed,</i><span style="background-color: white;"><i> w</i></span><i>hat can the righteous do?” </i>Godless politicians are attempting to infringe upon our Constitutional rights to <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-permit-to-preach.html" target="_blank">freedom of speech</a> and to <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-biblical-viewpoint-on-bearing-arms.html" target="_blank">bear arms</a>. If those two amendments are ever removed, the United States as we know it will no longer exist. Just as a building can collapse if the foundation is compromised, so will this country. Fortunately, that won’t happen as long as American Christians continue doing their part by <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2020/07/pray-for-your-nation.html" target="_blank">praying</a> and voting for God-fearing leaders.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined.” </i>- Isaiah 60:12</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-86986072362184114902021-06-27T08:23:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:16.251-04:00Reach Out and Resist<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCz5ioIHwp9JI9ohTZHtIga-mPxtqPw6ENV_6b7KCjyfInqA0z5XQ6zU2xUc-h0QAcl4WB0yMiO2CI1fNy-diw8amZRklhj75IbZMYYvJSpDmc2Mx3tpHaGJEFDkEqZbu1guymsC_wJVo/s259/Reach+Out+and+Resist.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="259" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCz5ioIHwp9JI9ohTZHtIga-mPxtqPw6ENV_6b7KCjyfInqA0z5XQ6zU2xUc-h0QAcl4WB0yMiO2CI1fNy-diw8amZRklhj75IbZMYYvJSpDmc2Mx3tpHaGJEFDkEqZbu1guymsC_wJVo/w200-h200/Reach+Out+and+Resist.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I will continue using Facebook as a ministry platform despite them force-feeding us propaganda (including added links about COVID-19 that</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b> I do not approve of</b>). Earlier this week, a sponsored ad from singer Carole King came up in my News Feed in which she thanked Dolly Parton “for inspiring me to record my own vaccination song.” I had no interest in hearing the song. When I clicked on the ellipsis, nothing happened. I couldn’t hide the ad. The only way to prevent it from coming up again on my News Feed was to block Carole King’s Facebook page.</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve also been doing this with Facebook ads “celebrating” pride month. This year several of them have appeared in my News Feed. One by iHeart Radio claimed you “can’t cancel pride.” I did so by blocking their page. James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 both say, <i>“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” </i></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To anyone wanting to label me a hater, I need to clarify something. I do not hate homosexuals. By His grace, I love them as God loves them. What I hate is the demonic deception that's blinding their minds (2 Corinthians 4:4). In his book “A Queer Thing Happened to America,” Dr. Michael L. Brown encourages Christians to “<a href="http://www.shen-guo.org/reaching-out-and-resist-e.html" target="_blank">reach out and resist</a>” when relating to homosexuals: reach out to them with compassion but resist gay activism with courage. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The late D. James Kennedy stated, “<a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2011/10/coexisting-with-intolerant.html" target="_blank">Tolerance</a> is the last virtue of a depraved society. When you have an immoral society that has blatantly, proudly, violated all of the commandments of God, there is one last virtue they insist upon: tolerance for their immorality.” LGBT advocates are wasting their time and money trying to convince me to condone lifestyles the Bible calls an abomination. I pray they repent before it’s too late.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.”</i> - Psalm 63:11</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-7922657343688904502021-06-20T07:13:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:16.407-04:00Spiritual Fathers<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwoOKNASgRWmILaufqoxe24aKKa7AyCgctTbmzW36WWr0E3VECuawvq3KUWIlEJ_wotYgvp4PTUGUi_xjc0BYeBniugNXfFFxlGm8tFqVSkEud5t2m7FOnCzFVguBXFZ3sIicWUcQkxU/s401/Chase+a+Ball.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="401" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwoOKNASgRWmILaufqoxe24aKKa7AyCgctTbmzW36WWr0E3VECuawvq3KUWIlEJ_wotYgvp4PTUGUi_xjc0BYeBniugNXfFFxlGm8tFqVSkEud5t2m7FOnCzFVguBXFZ3sIicWUcQkxU/w200-h200/Chase+a+Ball.jpeg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">On Father’s Day, most people honor the men that raised them. While I’m grateful for the good things <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-eulogy-for-my-dad.html" target="_blank">mine did for me</a>, my spiritual life was stagnant as a boy. The Lutheran church our family attended never taught us we must be born again (John 3:3, 7). It wasn’t until years later when I learned what it really meant to be a Christian.</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">At the time of my conversion in 1991, I had started attending <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2020/11/happy-birthday-living-word.html" target="_blank">Living Word Christian Center</a>, a megachurch in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Senior Pastor <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2013/09/honoring-mac-hammond.html" target="_blank">Mac Hammond</a> became my first spiritual father. Although I never got to know him on a personal level, Mac’s teachings helped me build a solid foundation on God’s word. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Other men connected with Living Word played a part in my spiritual growth. Associate pastor Kent Otey met with me a few times for counseling sessions. The late Gary Rue was a postal worker who hosted Thursday night Bible studies at his house, which provided additional discipleship and fellowship. When I got serious about sharing my faith more, I had regular interaction with Living Word’s evangelism pastor Nick Kinn. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, I learned Biblical truths from guest speakers at Living Word. Jerry Savelle was an early favorite of mine because of his sense of humor. For that same reason, I enjoyed the preaching of <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2018/06/why-i-like-jesse-duplantis.html" target="_blank">Jesse Duplantis</a> and later <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2019/06/my-response-to-copeland-critics.html" target="_blank">Kenneth Copeland</a>. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One day, I visited another church and saw Mike Murdock minister for the first time. Soon I listened to many of his teaching tapes. Mike’s series “The Assignment” impacted me the most. Since then, I’ve gleaned from a variety of other preachers through their meetings and recordings. In recent years, I’ve probably listened to <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2020/04/why-i-stand-with-rodney-howard-browne_5.html" target="_blank">Rodney Howard-Browne</a> and Perry Stone the most.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve had a few Facebook friends call me their spiritual father. I’m honored that anyone would look to me as a mentor. However, I question why most of my so-called spiritual sons don’t subscribe to my monthly newsletter or respond to my teachings and praise reports. While I have a policy not to <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2019/02/believing-vs-begging.html" target="_blank">beg for money</a>, it's nice to receive gifts from those who value my ministry. Galatians 6:6 says, <i>“Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.” </i>I make it a point to send offerings to ministers who most impacted my life.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">All of us should be thankful for the different people God used to help us grow spiritually. But just like natural fathers shouldn’t control their children's lives, spiritual fathers need to allow their sons in the faith to follow their divine destinies. They cannot take the place of God Himself.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #e6000e; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.”</i></b><span style="color: black;"><b> - Matthew 23:9-10</b></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-15847509595057447502021-06-13T08:09:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:16.564-04:00An Obscene Book?<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGOONnpGmGzaiATGKkqxwaNHylAx0XbijRu5bqRJ53LrwL3ymCMO0dy7KEmaGRfQ4d__xMQDeKWYP5HG_E2AKuPj-MHINqGN1YoY0OqqDCTved8EukL87BFp8eG374fTR7Ia0TLpmX7x4/s445/OMSSO034.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="337" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGOONnpGmGzaiATGKkqxwaNHylAx0XbijRu5bqRJ53LrwL3ymCMO0dy7KEmaGRfQ4d__xMQDeKWYP5HG_E2AKuPj-MHINqGN1YoY0OqqDCTved8EukL87BFp8eG374fTR7Ia0TLpmX7x4/w151-h200/OMSSO034.JPG" width="151" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Some individuals go to ridiculous measures to try discrediting God’s word. In 1992 while living in suburban Minneapolis, I attended a memorable school board meeting. A local atheist tried to get the Bible banned in public schools because it is full of “obscene and offensive passages.” American Center for Law and Justice spokesman Jay Sekulow showed up (along with numerous Christians) and convinced the school board to reject the atheist’s complaint.</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Once I received an email by someone initially protesting my YouTube video defending the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCBBIEkfkyg" target="_blank">Ten Commandments displayed on public property</a>. After sending a response, this person wrote back saying, “Would you say it’s morally wrong to rape a woman? Nowhere is this mentioned in your commandments.” Look at Deuteronomy 22:25…</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">“But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he rapes her, then only the man must die.”</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Shechem the son of Hamor, a Hivite, raped Dinah (see Genesis 34:2-7), and Amnon raped his sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13:14). In both instances, their brothers got vengeance for the rape of their sister. The Bible says in many places that fornication (any kind of sex outside of marriage) is sinful. Jesus even went on to say in Matthew 5:27, <span style="color: #fb0207;"><i>“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”</i></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This person brought up other issues (probably as more excuses to disbelieve the Bible) by writing, “Abusing children, setting fires, pedophilia, slavery... dozens upon dozens of moral concepts that we currently have laws about that are not mentioned or even worse are openly condoned in biblical accounts.” Just because a certain activity is mentioned in Scripture doesn’t mean God condones it. Specific events are recorded to show what can happen if we obey or disobey God's commandments.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let us address this person’s concern over abused children. While Scripture does not specifically say, “Thou shalt not commit child abuse,” the Bible does instruct parents to be gentle and loving with their children…</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i></i><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” </i>- Ephesians 6:4</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i></i><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” </i>- Colossians 3:21</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Proverbs 22:6 also commands, <i>“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”</i> Children have a special place in God’s heart. Jesus had harsh words for anyone who would cause a child to fall into sin, <span style="color: #fb0207;"><i>“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.”</i></span> (Mark 9:42)</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Bible as a whole gives man a moral standard that if followed will benefit everyone. Even non-believers have enjoyed the freedom and abundant resources available in countries founded upon the Judeo-Christian ethic. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, <span style="color: #fb0207;"><i>“for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”</i></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Christians cannot force atheists to accept the Bible as their source of moral guidance. But we should never let them stop us from preaching the word publicly and fulfilling the Great Commission.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i></i></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-family: arial;">“I will speak to kings about your laws, and I will not be ashamed.” </span></i></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">- Psalm 119:46 (NLT)</span></b></p><div><b><br /></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-4934330680482606872021-06-06T07:16:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:16.720-04:00An Open Letter to Paxton Smith<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRFD3bBIhyphenhyphenX5Gzo8FDTw9VeZldbhzzEqlHdKcEVsg2Xr6U6hODSkko59PVsk4sGEf2ARS2rKXHnYaQ7xxzm2UFvGkakJR_GfLFdA6wUJGMcFr1KfdQlwfrVttDxs6rorLAnlPAHe0Ftq0/s310/Paxton+Smith.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="310" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRFD3bBIhyphenhyphenX5Gzo8FDTw9VeZldbhzzEqlHdKcEVsg2Xr6U6hODSkko59PVsk4sGEf2ARS2rKXHnYaQ7xxzm2UFvGkakJR_GfLFdA6wUJGMcFr1KfdQlwfrVttDxs6rorLAnlPAHe0Ftq0/w320-h168/Paxton+Smith.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Dear Miss Smith:</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This past Thursday, I learned about your <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpJkErsb7UE" target="_blank">valedictory address</a> that went viral. While many people commended you for speaking against the new Texas law banning abortions as early as six weeks after conception, I have a differing viewpoint. Hopefully, you are open-minded enough to read this.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">First, let me point out I’m a Christian who once leaned towards a pro-choice stance. Radical pro-life advocates who harassed and killed abortion practitioners repelled me from their cause. Then one day, I saw a picture of a little girl whose arm got cut off from an attempted abortion. The back of this flyer had illustrations of a fetus killed during an abortion procedure. That convinced me abortion is taking the lives of innocent human beings. If you haven’t already done so, I recommend watching the movie <a href="http://“Unplanned.”">“Unplanned.”</a></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Those in favor of abortion talk about <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2017/01/womens-rights.html" target="_blank">“women’s rights.”</a> What about the baby’s rights? It’s not the mother’s body cut to pieces during an abortion procedure. That fetus is a separate person. How would you feel if your mother had aborted you?</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">God forbid, I don’t want to see any woman raped. But every child has a divine destiny regardless of the circumstances of their birth. Did you know there have been <a href="https://tinseltownmom.com/10-celebrities-who-were-conceived-by-rape-or-bore-a-child-out-of-rape/" target="_blank">famous people conceived in rape</a> like Jesse Jackson and Ethel Waters? I once met a minister’s wife who was the offspring of a rapist. Jeri and her </span><span style="font-family: arial;">late husband </span><a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2014/03/in-remembrance-steve-hill-1954-2014.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Steve Hill</a> <span style="font-family: arial;">traveled to numerous countries and impacted many lives.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Contrary to your claim, pregnancies are detectable within six weeks. One obvious sign is missing a period. If you ever have an unplanned pregnancy and not in a position to raise that child, you could <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fRIiDf-aTXAQ42MvDeKkcVM3ush6Z4wF1cBO72TIacw" target="_blank">choose life</a> by giving him/her up for adoption. Again, think of the child’s life. Think about the couples who want children but cannot conceive on their own. Think of the blessing your unplanned child could be to them. Many adoptive parents would be willing to cover hospitalization and other expenses.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I wish you the best in your future. I pray the Lord Jesus Christ becomes the center of it.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”</i> - Jeremiah 1:5</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-65034796169124573502021-05-30T04:59:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:16.876-04:00Facebook Frustrations<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFauHyzfPhEVr4hKH2-QL4LhGgW2gCLTHIjNeG-x3VyewRFmkBlgQzL68eHM-wZIUxEZkteu2pdyPPdNYKFW30lEB-2EfP-GFJyJqdpUrb6i2uW9dap8rFbdxqPGyFnnhCur4rDPPp5s/s550/frustrated-facebook+2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="550" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFauHyzfPhEVr4hKH2-QL4LhGgW2gCLTHIjNeG-x3VyewRFmkBlgQzL68eHM-wZIUxEZkteu2pdyPPdNYKFW30lEB-2EfP-GFJyJqdpUrb6i2uW9dap8rFbdxqPGyFnnhCur4rDPPp5s/w200-h134/frustrated-facebook+2.jpg" title="Photo courtesy of www.makeuseof.com" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Facebook is a marvelous tool to connect with people and minister to them. It’s also a source of occasional frustration and conflict. Aside from increased <a href="https://stream.org/let-us-never-forget-the-outrage-of-social-media-censorship/?fbclid=IwAR0Sl8KsD522JuJi-iwVBcMMJnm1gXHbWjc8ALBeCDvbiAou0ZIEQbZihx0" target="_blank">censorship by social media platforms</a>, you risk offending others no matter how you speak the truth in love. One time a woman unfriended me after I advised her not to sow discord amongst my other friends (Proverbs 6:19) regarding another minister we had differing opinions.</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve also had preachers promote their ministries and make <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2019/02/believing-vs-begging.html" target="_blank">fundraising appeals</a> on my Facebook pages despite asking them to stop. That prompted me to change my account settings. Friends can only write comments in response to my articles and praise reports. Still, people will post stuff irrelevant to my writings. Usually, I remove these posts but have unfriended individuals who won’t respect my <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2017/08/online-boundaries.html" target="_blank">boundaries</a>. <span style="color: #1d1d1d;">In recent years, I’ve blocked (but not unfriended) many people on Messenger. With close to 5,000 friends from all over the world, I don’t have time to chat with everyone.</span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #10131a; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Another thing that has irritated me is Facebook Groups. Until a couple of years ago, friends were able to add me to these groups without my permission. A few of them took offense when I asked them to stop. One minister from India I met at a conference in South Carolina added me to two groups despite my sending two previous emails asking him not to do that. This time I emailed him two reminders: first privately but then posted a comment directly on the group page since he wasn’t checking his inbox. This minister unfriended me.</span></p><p style="color: #10131a; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #10131a; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A few days before that, a Canadian pastor who friended me (but I never met in person) added me to a Facebook group promoting him and his wife. After immediately leaving that group, I sent an email asking him not to add me to any groups. This minister responded by blocking me. That’s a bit extreme. All I did was make a simple request.</span></p><p style="color: #10131a; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #10131a; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I pray all my brothers and sisters in Christ grow up and pursue His purposes instead of their agenda. We are all called to reach the world but not necessarily associate and work with everybody who calls themselves a Christian. As Mike Murdock says, “Your Assignment is not to everybody, but to somebody.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #1d1d1d; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."</i> - 1 Corinthians 2:2</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-61733343301483029312021-05-23T08:44:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:17.029-04:00Saved by Tongues?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.charismamag.com/blogs/fire-in-my-bones/49068-5-ways-another-pentecost-will-surprise-us" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="726" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwwtIuuKdntCrznx4ugnhArK8O6mUCtim-xWNp79URHJh3-Yc77eMy2hBvJS_dOa-lcwrEJB7TpCjbToQAVaioMwN2H_cbA4VMmKpGqTmfbMC9t8YfIYPvFM2-fLqV_HACPgNXHA3NYw/w200-h150/PENTECOST-UPPER-ROOM-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Today is Pentecost Sunday, which is acknowledged by many churches and is even a holiday in Germany. Pentecost literally means “50.” Fifty days passed from the R<span apple_mouseover_highlight="1" face="-apple-system">esurrection</span> to when early believers received an impartation of power as described in Acts 2…</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. </span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. </span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. </span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.</span></i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The manifestation of speaking of tongues continues to be a controversial topic amongst the Body of Christ. Many believers don’t believe it exists today. Some claim it’s of the devil. Yet tongues can a powerful weapon against demonic forces. I heard John Bevere share a story about a mother and her daughter whose home was broken into by a burglar. This burglar threatened to kill them until the mother started praying in tongues loudly. The burglar got scared and ran away.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A few Christians think speaking in tongues is necessary for salvation. I remember an incident when witnessing to three people smoking outside a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania. One of them named Chelsea wasn’t sure of her eternal destiny. I later learned she was backslidden and went to a church that taught one must be baptized and speak in tongues to be saved. Strangely enough, Chelsea defended that doctrine after praying along with her two friends to get born again.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OcW3BHt3ikZnudYZSLdtJL7p_00IWsRfQcEkvppTI8k/edit" target="_blank">Baptism of the Holy Spirit</a> with the evidence of speaking in other tongues is a gift God wants every believer to have. However, salvation is solely based on our faith in the risen Savior. (Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9-10, Ephesians 2:8-9). My sister and her husband weren't Spirit-filled but constantly prayed that I would recognize my need for Jesus. In March 1991, they led me to the Lord. Two months later, I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at the Full Gospel church I attended. It took a while before speaking in tongues became natural for me.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When evangelizing, I rarely discuss speaking in tongues with new converts unless they appear to have a hunger for the deeper things of God. My focus is on getting people saved. As </span><span style="font-family: arial;">J. Lee Grady stated in his latest </span><a href="https://www.charismamag.com/blogs/fire-in-my-bones" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">column</a><span style="font-family: arial;">: “You may speak in tongues, but if you don't use the Spirit's power to reach lost souls, you have cheapened the definition of a Pentecostal. We often say that tongues is the initial evidence of the infilling of the Spirit. But if someone isn't bold to witness, they can't be full of the Spirit. Lord, give us souls again!”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e6000e; font-family: arial;"><b><i>“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”</i></b><span style="color: black;"><b> </b></span></span><b><span style="font-family: arial;">- Mark 16:17-18</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-63836467529884322032021-05-16T06:33:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:17.183-04:00How to Fish for Men<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsp3MeX_zDn3C1MiS1ssvBjkm5gIc6f8YF0ffHLVZHvk0mYm0T6sh5tt_CdzT-je-joJ7UzS1hTRHS5NMsItfr3rH5bihXm1v8yMQFQFDSILCrzEQClAE1o-pshyphenhyphen6w73FyNn_EV5TR17c/s372/sunset-fishing.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="372" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsp3MeX_zDn3C1MiS1ssvBjkm5gIc6f8YF0ffHLVZHvk0mYm0T6sh5tt_CdzT-je-joJ7UzS1hTRHS5NMsItfr3rH5bihXm1v8yMQFQFDSILCrzEQClAE1o-pshyphenhyphen6w73FyNn_EV5TR17c/w200-h200/sunset-fishing.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">While growing up in Minnesota, my family had property on Big Sugar Bush Lake just north of Detroit Lakes. During the summer months, we spent almost every weekend there. Dad often went fishing. That wasn’t something I particularly enjoyed except when I caught a lot of fish. Years later, the Lord called me to be a fisher of men.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As a young Christian, one of the most powerful sermons I heard <a href="https://www.cfaith.com/index.php/blog/39-articles/evangelism/14694-the-strategy-for-witnessing" target="_blank">compared evangelism to fishing</a>. Pastor Mac Hammond mentioned five key points to successful soul-winning. I will list the points below along with my thoughts on each one…</span></p><ol><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Go Where the Fish Are.</b> Many Christians fish out of their bathtub. If you’re always surrounded by other believers and isolate yourself from the lost, you won’t have opportunities to lead sinners to salvation. Jesus said in Mark 16:15, <span style="color: #e6000e;"><i>“Go into all </i></span><span style="color: #e6000e; text-decoration: underline;"><i>the world</i></span><span style="color: #e6000e;"><i> and preach the gospel to every creature.”</i></span></span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Go Where the Fish Are Hungry.</b> Although everyone needs to hear the gospel, those who are well-off financially usually aren’t as receptive. That’s why when coming into a new city, I often seek out low-income neighborhoods to evangelize. As Jesus said in Luke 4:18, <span style="color: #e6000e;"><i>“…He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.”</i></span></span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Use the Right Bait.</b> The right kind of gospel tract can make a difference, especially when given to someone who doesn’t have time to converse with you. Normally I use Nick Kinn’s <a href="http://nkinn.net/goodnews.html" target="_blank">“Have You Heard the Good News?”</a>, but sometimes hand out <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2012/04/right-kind-of-bait.html" target="_blank">million-dollar bills</a>. The latter are good conversation starters. Sometimes the Lord leads me to minister healing to people first before asking questions about their eternal destiny.</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Present the Bait Correctly. </b>We must always show compassion by speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). It’s the goodness of God that leads one to repentance (Romans 2:4), not guilt or condemnation.</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Reel Them In.</b> It’s frustrating when I work with believers who take too much time talking about the gospel when a sinner is ready to get saved. Jesus said in Luke 14:23, <span style="color: #e6000e;"><i>“Go out into the highways and hedges, and <u>compel them</u> to come in, that my house may be filled.”</i></span></span></li></ol><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One Christian cliché I find annoying is “we are to make disciples, not converts.” Making disciples starts by being a fisher of men. When doing the work of the evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5), the focus is getting people saved. It’s often been said, “You catch them, He’ll clean them.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #e6000e; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i>“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”</i></b><span style="color: black;"><b> - Matthew 4:19</b></span></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">><((((o>...·' `·...<o))))><</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-31167221268373896612021-05-09T06:23:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:17.337-04:00When Not to Go to Church<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_G5QyYpCwZ507d_UZ3OSFiMR725Ex4uRHTqkWhEDDk12fhaRX3FSrjKetVlRa0xf6WQhC2l8uDlswDNS2jB0x_cf8nuccS80prmNMOL4xWVPtlJ32hugt2iHYVF3FGq6UjjDGwQ-qA4w/s410/no-church-sign.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="410" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_G5QyYpCwZ507d_UZ3OSFiMR725Ex4uRHTqkWhEDDk12fhaRX3FSrjKetVlRa0xf6WQhC2l8uDlswDNS2jB0x_cf8nuccS80prmNMOL4xWVPtlJ32hugt2iHYVF3FGq6UjjDGwQ-qA4w/w200-h151/no-church-sign.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">As a minister of the gospel, it saddens me when I hear Christians give excuses not to attend church. Previously in this blog, I listed <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2015/02/take-me-to-church.html" target="_blank">ten reasons</a> why one should want to come into the house of the Lord. Nevertheless, there have been instances when I opted to watch services online as opposed to sitting inside religious institutions.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">During the mid-2010s, I was hosted a few times at a house in Shelby, Iowa, a town of just over 600 people. The homeowner lived 40 miles away in Omaha, Nebraska. Because of not having access to a car, I only had three churches to choose from in Shelby: Catholic, Lutheran, or Presbyterian. I looked up info on these churches and perceived it wouldn’t be beneficial to sit through their meetings. As a child, I endured many boring services at the traditional church my parents took me to. The last time I was in Shelby, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">the homeowner drove us to a house meeting in Omaha when the gifts of the Spirit manifested. I’d be open to going there again.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There’s also a place I occasionally stay at in Casselton, North Dakota. Unless I have a ride into Fargo (which is twenty miles away), my church options are limited there as well. During my last time in Casselton, I visited a church that just opened the year before. I showed up early looking forward to some fellowship plus coffee and snacks. Unfortunately, that was temporarily suspended because of the coronavirus. I sat through the service for only a few minutes. The opening prayers and worship music promoted sin consciousness instead of who we are in Christ. One song repeated the lyric: “Our sins are many.” I quietly slipped out of the sanctuary and later felt edified after watching anointed preaching online. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There’s another friend I often stay with who lives in Northern Virginia. Although I got to lead him to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he still prefers attending an Anglican church that’s too structured. The last time I stayed with this man, I found out his church had mask mandates. That gave me <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2020/07/why-i-resist-wearing-masks.html">another reason</a> not to go there.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There may be occasions (such as vacationing in a secluded area) when you might find yourself temporarily without a good church to attend. Unless the Lord leads otherwise, I caution anyone against going to services that are void of power. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #e6000e; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">“<i>Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.” </i></span></b></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>- </i>Matthew 15:6</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-21976549435084043012021-05-02T04:48:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:17.488-04:00Nobody’s Perfect<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAPtxbrcYuNNCiMMdRKhW1shfesl5JNNkwEcr9RozdAc0FF2zlKvrct_CNJZu7PD3vbghrex-gLYo9JIxySH_oRoABWYyC8Bbex4UFnVy5g_dq23j7IR0yENeTa3NH9AQS4KveOPmY-lQ/s410/1275529323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="410" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAPtxbrcYuNNCiMMdRKhW1shfesl5JNNkwEcr9RozdAc0FF2zlKvrct_CNJZu7PD3vbghrex-gLYo9JIxySH_oRoABWYyC8Bbex4UFnVy5g_dq23j7IR0yENeTa3NH9AQS4KveOPmY-lQ/w200-h139/1275529323.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">One of the rarest feats in baseball is a perfect game. This is when a pitcher retires all 27 batters he faces during a nine-inning game. Not only does the pitcher have to show exceptional skill but also his teammates. If one of them commits an error, that wipes away the perfect game. In major league history, only 23 perfect games have occurred. Another one would’ve made the record books if it weren’t for a blown call by an umpire.</span><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers retired the first 26 Cleveland Indians he faced. The 27th batter, Jason Donald, hit a ground ball to first base. Miguel Cabrera fielded it and threw it to Galarraga, whose foot hit the bag before Donald’s did. But umpire Jim Joyce, a 21-year veteran, ruled that Donald was safe. Replays clearly showed that Donald was out. Jim Joyce later acknowledged he missed the call and said, “I just cost that kid a perfect game.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Last year, many ministers prophesied Donald Trump would be reelected President of the United States. A handful of them has since said they missed it. One named Jeremiah Johnson even shut down his ministry. However, others are still standing by their prophecies. One prophet who I consider a friend predicted the military would remove <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2021/01/an-open-letter-to-joe-biden.html" target="_blank">Joe Biden</a> from the White House and reinstate Trump by April. That didn’t come to pass. Hopefully, my friend will issue some kind of retraction. I don’t want to see him branded a <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2020/11/prophets-and-non-prophets.html" target="_blank">false prophet</a>.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What happens when you mess up? Are you humble enough to say you made a mistake?</span></p><p style="color: #0c0c0c; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i></i></b><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.” </i>- Proverbs 28:13 (Living Bible)</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-8795519565739520372021-04-25T07:32:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:17.641-04:00Not Moved By What You See<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYTPSnBXyiLxoJea1P7r2y2gLuYPD7nkQHg7fD9sXcByEhisC7_Ed9BgJOIFXwB-3XifL6QDiIyoCcFeBdhIHG7mNz6WwRwnnDZ3G_XvwTh5jTkfsD_CjQfus6Y54jIEzP5u7fzRULbR0/s2048/AdobeStock_264567438-4000x2491.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="2048" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYTPSnBXyiLxoJea1P7r2y2gLuYPD7nkQHg7fD9sXcByEhisC7_Ed9BgJOIFXwB-3XifL6QDiIyoCcFeBdhIHG7mNz6WwRwnnDZ3G_XvwTh5jTkfsD_CjQfus6Y54jIEzP5u7fzRULbR0/w200-h124/AdobeStock_264567438-4000x2491.jpeg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I didn’t closely follow the Derek Chauvin trial but was a bit surprised with the outcome. The former Minneapolis police officer was convicted on all three counts for the death of George Floyd. I didn’t agree with Chauvin pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes. However, fentanyl could have killed Floyd (similar to what happened to <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2016/04/princely-encounters.html" target="_blank">Prince</a> five years ago). He had three times the lethal dosage in his system. The jurors may have rendered the guilty verdict fearing reprisals from protesters. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Throughout history, innocent people have been imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. They were sometimes the victims of circumstantial evidence. One online dictionary defines that as “evidence not drawn from direct observation of a fact in issue.” An example could be someone running away from a murder scene with a weapon in hand. Unless witnesses saw him commit the murder, there’s a possibility the suspect wasn’t involved.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Hours before the Derek Chauvin verdict was delivered, I had an incident that reminded me how other situations can be misinterpreted. I went to the Apple Store because the power cord for my MacBook Pro stopped working the day before. Troubleshooting on my part convinced me the USB-C Charge Cable needed replacing. When an Apple Store employee tried a different cord, my laptop didn’t receive power from that. A closer examination revealed residue had accumulated on the Thunderbolt port. Cleaning that resulted in my cable working again.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jesus warned in Matthew 24:24, <span style="color: #e6000e;"><i>“For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”</i></span> In this day and hour, we cannot make decisions strictly by what we see in the natural realm where Satan can manipulate things. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit regardless of what our five senses tell us. Even when our prayers appear to go unanswered, standing on the word of God will produce results. As Smith Wigglesworth famously said, “I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe.”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”</i> - 2 Corinthians 5:7</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-42153209702652710852021-04-18T09:24:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:17.792-04:008 Reasons Not to Support Black Lives Matter<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOu-3alcnDmiiJU66jPOQSNuteGfYQBJxcZM29yBYuX2fIbqu-cF_8MJGjT9ddc2VXql6444xnqaNuEzo8xaEl8-6wOic5wJRRM8ekuwYrHH_L0EOR3TjykPafXHhohAfiPr2xvt8kI20/s1442/0415211720.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="1442" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOu-3alcnDmiiJU66jPOQSNuteGfYQBJxcZM29yBYuX2fIbqu-cF_8MJGjT9ddc2VXql6444xnqaNuEzo8xaEl8-6wOic5wJRRM8ekuwYrHH_L0EOR3TjykPafXHhohAfiPr2xvt8kI20/w200-h150/0415211720.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Almost a year ago, the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked riots there and in other cities. Then last Sunday, the police shooting of Daunte Wright in the adjoining suburb of Brooklyn Center resulted in more unrest. These and other incidents have spurred greater attention to the Black Lives Matter movement. Their mission “is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.” </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Certainly, I’m against racism. However, there are reasons why I will not support BLM…</span><p></p><ol><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Black Lives Matter dishonors authority. I’ve seen protesters make ugly remarks and gestures toward the police. Those crying “justice for Daunte Wright” need to be reminded he was being arrested for an outstanding warrant. While it’s tragic Daunte was accidentally shot and killed, that wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t committed another crime: fleeing the police. Romans 13:4 says, <i>“For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.” </i>There are consequences for breaking the law.</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Black Lives Matter disrespects other people’s time. One of their tactics that immediately turned me off to their cause is blocking highways. These types of protests cost time and money for commuters trying to get to work. What if somebody dies because an emergency vehicle cannot get around a BLM protest? Their lives matter, too. Philippians 2:4 says, <i>“Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”</i></span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Black Lives Matter has little regard for other people’s property. While some protesters simply display signs and banners, others write graffiti (often profane remarks) on public property and businesses. Greater New York Black Lives Matter president Hawk Newsome warned last year in a Fox News interview that if the United States “doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it.” Looting is not the answer. Ephesians 4:28 says, <i>“Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.”</i></span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The BLM website calls for defunding the police. This is a ridiculous idea. Who are we supposed to call when criminals threaten our communities? Without our men and women in blue, there would be more chaos and anarchy. Most law enforcement officials strive to <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2020/05/pray-for-police.html" rel="nofollow">do their jobs with excellence</a>. Far more people die from medical malpractice than police shootings.</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Black Lives Matter promotes deviant lifestyle choices. Their website states, “We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks.” 1 Corinthians 6:18 says, <i>“Flee sexual immorality.”</i></span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Black Lives Matter promotes anti-Semitism. Their platform has described Israel as an “apartheid state” that perpetrates “genocide” against the Palestinian people. As a result, they endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign. Scripture encourages us to bless the Jewish people (Genesis 12:3, Psalm 122:6). The United States has suffered <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_9gemgSJnJB99RkZ8AS0UWuSCd95rcl0oRQLJ7f8KS4/edit" target="_blank">devastating consequences</a> when our government enacts policies against Israel.</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors and her fellow organizers are avowed Marxists. A Norwegian politician named Petter Eide who represents the Socialist Left Party nominated BLM for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. Marxism results in reduced freedom for everyone except those in political power. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation took in over $90 million in 2020. Patrisse has spent at least $3.2 million on personal real estate. The mother of Breonna Taylor (another police shooting victim) has called her local Black Lives Matter chapter a fraud.</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Black Lives Matter website calls for banning Donald Trump from future political office and all digital media platforms. The 45th President of the United States isn’t perfect but his <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2016/07/why-im-republican-and-voting-for-trump.html" target="_blank">policies are more in line with Judeo-Christian values</a> than what the Democratic Party promotes. Trump has First Amendment rights just like every other American.</span></li></ol><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This past Thursday, I went with two friends to share the gospel with those gathered near the Brooklyn Center Police Department. Many tracts were handed out. Some people received prayer. A few of them got saved. Racial injustice and police brutality are wrong but so are Christians aligning with ungodly causes. One can minister to Black Lives Matter supporters without getting caught up in their agenda. The root problem isn’t black violence or white privilege but sin. The answer is red…the blood of Jesus that washes away our sin if we repent and forgive others.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice.”</i> - Exodus 23:2 (NLT)</span></b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932798010356246588.post-14240949082547037122021-04-11T08:27:00.000-04:002021-09-30T15:07:17.945-04:00A Peculiar Way<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBy2ft-UK_qWUhejDaruYjHwfbKiFXaZigjxGtoNommEqbl3nan-HW2sm_gCBhqW0mgmz2NS_7W6UbAZQTNgk6UfjHsDTAgHdB66hzX8yPwGsxd562HbFoABmzuwECsVylb8cOfK2wlko/s1074/0410211341.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="1074" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBy2ft-UK_qWUhejDaruYjHwfbKiFXaZigjxGtoNommEqbl3nan-HW2sm_gCBhqW0mgmz2NS_7W6UbAZQTNgk6UfjHsDTAgHdB66hzX8yPwGsxd562HbFoABmzuwECsVylb8cOfK2wlko/w200-h150/0410211341.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Sometimes when God leads us to do something, the outcome doesn’t go as planned. This weekend, my friend Gretchen and I attempted a road trip from Minnesota to Texas. We both prayed before leaving and perceived this was God’s will. The original plan was for us to stay a few days with an intercessor who lives outside Dallas. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">While checking my text messages in Missouri, I found out the intercessor doesn’t allow dogs in her home. Gretchen had brought along her chihuahua. Nevertheless, we continued our trip since Gretchen has a daughter in Austin she could stay with. Hours later, Gretchen received an emergency phone call from her parents. It became necessary for us to turn around and return to Minnesota.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><p></p><p></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This wasn’t a wasted trip from an eternal perspective. Gospel tracts were handed out along the way. One recipient was a McDonald’s employee in Kansas City who had to bring our order out in the rain. She still prayed with me to receive salvation. Jesus said in Luke 15:10, <span style="color: #e6000e;"><i>“…there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” </i></span>Gretchen and I also stopped at the <a href="https://www.ihopkc.org" target="_blank">International House of Prayer of Kansas City</a>. She received a prophetic word that ministered to her.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I recall a story told by <a href="https://trpost.blogspot.com/2019/06/my-response-to-copeland-critics.html" target="_blank">Kenneth Copeland</a>. One time the Lord instructed him to fly to Israel to minister to one woman. At first, Kenneth questioned this mission as being a bit extravagant. The Lord told him, “I am extravagant...I am never wasteful.” He then asked Kenneth if one of his daughters was on the other side of the world and would only listen to one person, wouldn’t he send that person to get her out of trouble. </span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Kenneth replied, “When do I leave?”</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">One of the cities Gretchen and I drove through was Peculiar, Missouri. One of the two exits from Interstate 49 was “Peculiar Way.” That had me thinking about how God’s ways are often peculiar. We may not fully understand why He leads us to do things that in the natural seem to be poor handling of our resources. However, everything works out for good if we continue trusting in Him.</span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”</i> - Proverbs 3:5-6</span></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0