Wednesday
SPIRITUAL WARFARE IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY!
ANC for October 5, 2011 of our 9th year of publication.
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A thought for today, for this week, or for the future
“When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win
the day, that battle is your calling, and peace has become sin. You must,
at the price of dearest peace, lay your conviction bare before
friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith.”
Abraham Kuyper, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands
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WE ENGAGE IN THE CONFLICT OF WAR SO FREQUENTLY,
BUT EQUALLY SELDOM DO WE ENGAGE IN SPIRITUAL
WARFARE AS INSTRUCTED BY THE SCRIPTURES
WARFARE AS INSTRUCTED BY THE SCRIPTURES
War, as a state of hostility between two nations is much more an Old Testament
concept than a New Testament one. Aside from Jesus' use of the word in a
teaching parable in the Gospel of Luke, that use of the word "war" appears in the
New Testament only in Revelation, where John speaks of future events.
But in another sense, the concept of "spiritual warfare" is very much a New
Testament teaching. Paul stated this aspect of "war" very clearly when he wrote:
"For we do not walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh; for the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strongholds." (II Cor.10:3-4) And Paul continues his teaching
on spiritual warfare in these words, "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power
of his might, put on the whole armor of God ... for we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph. 6:11-12)
It is this preparation for spiritual warfare, and our participation in combating what
Paul described as "spiritual wickedness," that is the New Testament teaching
on "war." And it is the lack of such preparation and participation by the church
today that is such a great cause for concern for Christian believers who rely upon
the Word of God as our rule of faith and practice.
There is another word, the very antithesis of "war " which is used some 300 times
in the Bible -- "peace." It was used as the salutation of the Angels at the time of
the birth of Jesus -- "peace on earth, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14), and
throughout His earthly ministry, and in his closing words, "Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give unto you." (John 14:27) This peace, which Jesus spoke of as
being His peace, is an inner peace, as He said, "Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid." And Paul spoke of another aspect of peace, our once-
and-for-all eternal relationship with God, "we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1)
This inner peace, this peace in our relationship with God, is in no way in conflict
with the words of Jesus when he announced the Church He was establishing --
"upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it." He spoke of a militant church which would overcome the defenses of
hell. In 1865, an English writer, Sabine Baring-Gould, wrote the classic hymn,
"Onward Christian Soldiers," with this very definitive verse, "Like a mighty army
moves the church of God." It is that militant church, engaged in spiritual warfare
against the forces of evil, that is so lacking in what we know as the Christian church
in today's world.
In the words of Baring-Gould, we are indeed a "mighty army." Despite Mr.
Obama's bragging that America is not a Christian nation, some 80% of our total
population is Christian -- and his supporters, his Muslims, his homosexuals, his
atheists and agnostics, and all the non-religionists all included together represent
a combined total of only 20% of the American population. But those minorities,
widely divergent in their beliefs, attempt to remake our nation in their mould.
Many of us recall half a century ago in 1955, a Peter Sellers film, titled
The Mouse that Roared. It was one of Sellers' most enjoyable films, based on
the improbable situation where a tiny principality in Europe -- "the Duchy of
Grand Fenwick" -- faced with a failing economy, decided to declare war on
the United States, and in anticipation of a certain defeat, expected the U.S. to
shower reparations on them as a former enemy, as had been observed with
respect to Germany after WW II.
Our friend, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council (FRC), saw a remarkable
parallel in the way the homosexuals in America have declared war on America's
Christian establishment -- and in return are receiving a tremendous outpouring of
support from the White House. Perkins isn't far off in his comparison. In May
of this year, a Gallup poll reported that most Americans think that more than 20%
of the U.S. population is homosexual. Even leading homosexual researchers put
the figure at 1.7% homosexual and 1.8% bisexual. Further, the Census Bureau last
week released the figure that the number of households headed by same-sex couples
is 1 in 180 -- that's less than half of 1%. Perhaps a consideration of the actual small
size of the homosexual minority will help politicians to understand that there is very
little to be gained by pandering to such a tiny population.
But Mr. Obama -- who doesn't depend for election on such a small number of
supporters -- continues to, well, "pander" to them. Last week at the annual dinner of
the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), he told the attendees that America is becoming
more homosexual friendly, and recounted all he had done to benefit their cause. Mr.
Fred Sainz, HRC Vice President, said of him: "He really has been an incredible
champion for the issues that are important to us...It's fair to say we've made
more progress in the past two years than in the past 40 years combined."
Since this doesn't make any sense as a political ploy, it must represent Obama's
own personal beliefs. Earlier he dismissed Bible teaching against homosexuality by
speaking of "an obscure passage in Romans" -- totally disregarding Christian
beliefs beginning with Genesis 1:27-28, continuing through Lev. 18:22; Romans
1:26-227; I Cor. 6:9 and I Tim. 1:10, for examples. And he disregards also the
historical foundation of this nation. The years from 1607 to 1776 constitute the
founding era of what became the United States. In the early years of this era, in the
American colonies, the penalty for sodomy was death, and a number of executions
are documented.
As for same-sex "marriage," Mr. Obama always stops short of actually endorsing
it, but keeps saying his views are "evolving." Some gay rights activists believe he
will fail to actively support same-sex "marriage" until after the 2012 election.
This moral issue remains a matter for prayer and our long-time Countdown
for Prayer for the upcoming election, now stands at 398 days until Nov. 6, 2012.
We have 398 days to pray for our leaders to have wisdom in governing, and for
God's direction as we go to the polls and vote to restore this nation. The extreme
importance of this election is summarized in this comment by Tony Perkins of FRC:
"The President has a much clearer understanding of what the 2012 election is
about than many Republican leaders. It is about values, and whose values will
guide our nation into the future. President Obama's values are clear --
marriage, life and the Constitution mean little to him in the pursuit of his
radical agenda." And please do not fail to pray for our fellow believers, all over
the world, who are experiencing persecution by Islamic jihadists.
It helps to keep informed by reading "What Others Are Saying" . . .
Gary Schilling (if you are wondering how things are): "I am sorry to report
that the global economic outlook is getting darker by the day ... Investors are
now questioning the global banking system ... Here at home, unemployment
remains high and economic growth continues to be weak. Consumer
confidence is waning. Housing remains in the dumps. Meanwhile, stocks
have plunged more than 10% since April."
Beverly Perdue (No. Car. Democrat Governor): "I think we ought to
suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we
won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them
help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me."
(Is this part of the strategy to impose the president’s agenda through administrative
channels -- bordering almost on dictatorial powers or open fascism?)
Rush Limbaugh (writing in Conservativebyte.com): "He wants to change
the country. He has said it, and he means it. When you are president, when
you’re president and you view your commitment not to constitutional
government, not to the market system, not to individual rights — but rather
to big government and socialism, group rights — you’re not capable of
promoting the common good. You’re not capable of promoting the decency
that is this country."
Dr. Mike Evans (of Jerusalem Prayer Team): "Dr. Salah Sultan, a member
of the Muslim Brotherhood (the group the Obama Administration regards as
a legitimate part of the Egyptian political process), issued a call for mass
murder recently on Al-Jazeera television. He called for the 'death of every
Zionist who enters Egypt.' There are no limits to the hatred of the anti-Semites,
not just for the nation of Israel, but for individual Jews as well ... They are
radical Islamists, dedicated to using any means necessary to annihilate the
Jewish people."
And there are these few interesting "One Liners" to chuckle over . . .
“He’s not in charge, I am.” -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner when
asked last week by European Central Bank Chief Jean-Claude Trichet if this
was "Obama’s position."
"We had this with Obama. He wasn't ready, it turns out, really."
-- Tina Brown, Editor, Newsweek
-- Tina Brown, Editor, Newsweek
"Until Nancy Pelosi is speaker again -- I'd like to work my way around
Congress." -- Barack Obama, in Washington on Sept. 14 speaking to
a visiting Hispanic group. (Of course -- forget the Constitution.)
On the other hand: “I think you need to talk about how poorly they [the
White House] do on message...They can’t see around corners; they anticipate
nothing." -- Nancy Pelosi (speaking to Howard Kurtz of Newsweek)
And speaking of Nancy Pelosi . . . we are all familiar with the Solyndra debacle,
and we haven't heard the last of that one yet. . . how a half billion dollars of U.S.
taxpayers' money went to buy an Obama photo-op, just before Solyndra went
out of business. But there are other interesting corollaries, and here we reprint
one of those stories in full, with no editing, just as it appeared in Grasstops.USA:
"Despite the growing Solyndra scandal, yesterday the Department of Energy
approved $1 billion in new loans to green energy companies - including a
$737 million loan guarantee to a company known as SolarReserve: On
SolarReserve's website is a list of 'investment partners,' including the 'PCG
Clean Energy & Technology Fund (East) LLC.' As blogger, American Glob,
quickly discovered, PCG's number two is none other than 'Ronald Pelosi, a
San Francisco political insider and financial industry polymath who happens
to be the brother-in-law of Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader of the United
States House of Representatives.'" [A report like that doesn't need any editing.]
And now, just a few "Afterthoughts," selected at random from our sources.
It is difficult to understand just who our terrorist enemies are. A recent poll
disclosed that only 2% of Americans listed "terrorism" as the major threat to our
national security. The reason is that President Obama has failed to provide us
education as to just what "terrorism" involves, and who is behind all the continuing
attacks. He has consistently refused to link terrorism to Islam -- but instead refers
to a "violent extremist threat" of unknown origin. He may be right that all Muslims
are not terrorists -- but it is also true that all terrorists who have attacked us have
been Muslims.
An important date is coming soon, and it is apparently too late to stop it.
On November 20, just 46 days from today, the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) will seize control of the Internet through their Net Neutrality
regulations -- very probably a totally unconstitutional action. Aside from the
regulations -- very probably a totally unconstitutional action. Aside from the
conceivably more than 100,000 real jobs that will be killed, we are also beginning
to see problems for religious and conservative websites, some of which are already
being classified as "hate sites."
"Mob Rule" seems to be a very contagious disease. We watched as
mob rule deposed (with American support) our long time friend and fellow
supporter of Israel -- President Mubarak of Egypt. Then we subtly supported
a "non war" war in Libya, leading to what appears to be another Islamic/Shariah
law state. And we watched in horror as unruly mobs burned and destroyed
public property in France and Great Britain. And we stayed aloof as mobs
threatened governments in Iran, and miscellaneous other countries in the Middle
Est. And now it is happening right here at home, in New York, and spreading.
Just yesterday, one of the leaders, Harrison Schultz, said to Al Sharpton on
MSNBC: "We’re talking about revolution, not about reform." Final thought:
Those 398 days till Nov. 6, 2012 can't pass soon enough!
The wisdom of our Founding Fathers is applicable to our nation today . . .
"All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree."
-- James Madison, 1787
"A feeble executive implies a feeble execution of the government. A feeble
execution is but another phrase for a bad execution; and a government ill
executed, whatever may be its theory, must be, in practice, a bad
government." -- Alexander Hamilton, 1788
"Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and
mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1816
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