SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS, A - Z

You are of great value to Jesus Christ. 

I ran across this A-Z list and thought it
might encourage you....Take time to read each
verse.  It's a great bible study!

In Christ we have been blessed with “every spiritual blessing”.   (Ephesians 1:3) 
 
 
Accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6)

Born of God (1 John 5:1)

Crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20)

Delivered from the power of darkness (Colossians 1:13)

Enriched in everything in Him (1 Corinthians 1:5)

Forgiven for Christ’s sake (Ephesians 4:32)

Grounded in love (Ephesians 3:17)

Hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3)

Instructed in the way of the Lord (Acts 18:25)

Justified by his grace (Titus 3:7)

Kept by the power of God (1 Peter 1:5)

Led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14)

Made near to God by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13)

Nourished in the words of faith and good doctrine (1 Timothy 4:6)

Ordained to eternal life (Acts 13:48)

Perfected forever (Hebrews 10:14)

Quickened together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

Redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13)

Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13)

Translated into the kingdom of his Son (Colossians 1:13)

Unblameable in His sight (Colossians 1:22)

Victorious through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57)

Washed from our sins in His own blood (Revelation 7:15)

Yearned over by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26)

Zealous of good works (Titus 2:14)
.........

Say, "Thank You"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Why did only one cleansed leper return to thank Jesus? The following are nine suggested reasons why the nine did not return:

One waited to see if the cure was real.

One waited to see if it would last.

One said he would see Jesus later.

One decided that he had never had leprosy.

One said he would have gotten well anyway.

One gave the glory to the priests.

One said, "O, well, Jesus didn't really do anything."

One said, "Any rabbi could have done it."

One said, "I was already much improved."

 

It's a good day to say "Thank You" to Jesus. 

...

BELLY BUTTON BANTER (Yep, yours!)

Belly button bacteria samples: Bacillus subtilis (left) and Staphylococcus epidermidis

So you think you're all that and a bag of chips?                

 

Just take a microscopic view of your belly button!

This puts all of us on equal footing.  Not one person on earth has a a belly button free of bacterial loot.  Don't believe me?  Then go to this web site and read for yourself!

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/11/121114-belly-button-bacteria-science-health-dunn/

Published November 13, 2012

Rob Dunn and his team of ecologists aren't your average navel gazers. They're professional navel gazers, thank you very much, and their new study details the microbial contents of 60 volunteers' belly buttons.

The upshot? Belly buttons, it turns out, are a lot like rain forests.

One science writer, for instance, apparently harbored a bacterium that had previously been found only in soil from Japan—where he has never been.

About right now we should all start singing "It's a small, small world."  

If you rub shoulders daily with a big ego and you're weary of hearing how great and superior that person is (as they let you know with a daily ALERT)....tell them to go swab their belly button and take it to a lab.  It's a rain forest of bacteria.  That will bring them down to the level of humanity!

I prefer what the Word of God says, Psalm 139:14   I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.  (God knows about my humanity and my belly button and He loves me, anyway.)

 

If you find this belly button banter disgusting and humbling - Good!  We only boast in our Creator, God.  We are made from dust and to dust we will return (with the bacteria in our belly button).  :)  

Hang on -  their next citizen-science spectacular: Armpit-pa-looza.

Ah-ha.....see you there!

Happy showering!
....

 

WHO IS JESUS?

Who is Jesus?  That is the greatest question you may ever be asked.

It is also the greatest question you will ever answer. 

Who is Jesus to you?

≈ 

 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.   John 3:16

When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” they replied, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” But Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”  Matt. 16:13–16.

Jesus is the perfect revelation of the nature and person of God.  He is the second person of the Trinity.  He always was with the Father.  He was with God before the creation of the world.  He is divine. He was not created...but through Him the Father created all things and sustains all things.

He left the throne of His Father and became a human being...but He was without sin.  He was born to a virgin.  Jesus was conceived in the womb of His mother, Mary when the Holy Spirit came upon her.  His blood was from His Father, God, thus it was pure and holy.  The miracle of His conception is explained in Luke 2.   As He walked this earth, He healed the sick, raised the dead and delivered the gospel to a world who did not accept Him as Messiah. 

There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can’t imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books.  John 21:25 (the Message)

Because Jesus was Holy and without sin...He was presented to the Father as the perfect sacrifice on the cross.   He was the Lamb provided by God to be sacrificed in the place of sinners, like you and me.  His death on the cross was reserved for the most wretched of all criminals and yet, He was the most Holy Son of God who knew no sin.  They buried Him in a borrowed tomb. Three days later, God the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit, brought Him alive out of the grave. 

He was seen by many as a testimony to His resurrection.   Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus called his 11 apostles together on the Mount of Olives, outside Jerusalem.  Then Jesus was taken up, and a cloud hid him from their sight. As the disciples were watching him ascend, two angels dressed in white robes stood beside them and asked why they were looking into the sky. The angels said:
"This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11, NIV)

By His death on the cross, Jesus redeemed all claims Satan had on man, or the earth, or as an authority of any kind in the heavens.  He bought us back by the shedding of His blood.      

Through faith in Him as the Son of God and confessing Him as Lord with my mouth -  with a sincere belief in my heart, I am redeemed before the Father.  I am justified; made clean through His precious blood. There is no other way to the Father except by Jesus.  There's no other plan for salvation except through the precious blood of the Lamb of God. 

Jesus is my Lord and my Savior.  He is my peace, my provider, and my joy.  At the sound of the trumpet He is coming again to receive all who believe in Him - we will be caught up together to be with Him for all eternity.  We will have no more distress, persecution or oppression.  We will be united with those who have died in Christ.  That event is called the rapture of the church. 

I Corinthians 15:51-57 (the Message)

But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
Who got the last word, oh, Death?
Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?

It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!

Who is Jesus?  Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords.  There is none like Him. 

My answer to the question "Who is Jesus" amounts to less than one drop of water in a vast ocean.  How can I describe Him in all of His fullness with such few words.  I just know that He is worthy to be praised.  He is our only hope.  He is the answer for every problem.  He is the healer for every hurt.

That's Who He is.  Who do you say Jesus is?
....

Muslim Persecution of Christians: Part 2

OCTOBER, a suicide bomber crashed a jeep laden with explosives into a packed Catholic church in Kaduna, northern Nigeria, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 100 Photo: AFP/Getty Images

 

Part 1 introduced Raymond Ibrahim,  a Middle East and Islam specialist and clips from his article How the Media Whitewashes Muslim Persecution of Christians .

Part 2 shares persecution in various countries from Ibrahim's email.  You can view the full report on his web site: http://www.raymondibrahim.com/.

From this email I also learned that Islam's color is green.  More on that in another blog.

Church Attacks

Bahrain: The latest to showcase intolerance for churches.  More than 70 clerics signed a petition last week saying it was forbidden to build churches in the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam.” One prominent cleric, Sheik Adel Hassan al-Hamad, proclaimed that “anyone who believes that a church is a true place of worship is someone who has broken in their faith in God.”

Egypt:  Kasr El-Dobara, the largest evangelical church in the Middle East, located in Egypt, was besieged by “unknown people” hurling “stones and gas bombs.”  

Indonesia: The several-year-long campaign against GKI Yasmin Church took another turn for the worse, as authorities ordered the congregation to relocate—a demand that abrogated a previous agreement which had permitted the church to exist, provided that a mosque would be built next door, and to which the church had agreed.

Lebanon: Two unknown assailants opened fire on the Saint Joseph Church in the town of Bqosta near Sidon, damaging the building’s windows.

Nigeria: A suicide bomb attack on Saint John’s Catholic Church claimed three lives including those of a woman and a child; 44 others were seriously injured.  “One month after gunmen opened fire inside Deeper Life Bible Church [August 7] … members of the church have yet to resume worship services and other activities. ‘All of us are traumatized by this attack. [There is] no family in this church that is not affected by this incident,’ said Stephen Imagejor, an assistant pastor whose wife, Ruth, was killed, and their two daughters, Amen, 12, and Juliet, 9, hit by bullets and hospitalized. In all, 19 died.

Spain: In Catalonia, a Catholic church was attacked by Moroccan Muslims, who, along with two other Moroccan Muslims, have been detained and charged with multiple assaults and robberies, including terrorizing and beating indigenous Spaniards with clubs and robbing them.

Apostasy, Blasphemy, Proselytism

Egypt: The U.S. embassy in Cairo issued a press release saying it had “credible information suggesting terrorist interest in targeting U.S. female missionaries in Egypt. Accordingly, U.S. citizens should exercise vigilance.” And an Egyptian court sentenced a Christian teacher to six years in prison after convicting him of blasphemy—specifically “insulting Prophet Muhammad”—and defaming the Muslim Brotherhood president of Egypt on his Facebook page.

Saudi Arabia: The hunt for a 28-year-old Saudi woman, Maryan, who embraced Christianity and fled the country, first gaining sanctuary in a Lebanese church, but then fleeing to Sweden, continues. Earlier the woman had said that, though she “was raised to hate Judaism and Christianity she has come to love those religions since finding peace in Christianity.”   Swedish authorities are actually helping to find and extradite the apostate fugitive back to Saudi Arabia to face Sharia justice, including the possibility of execution

Somalia: Muslims shot three converts to Christianity. The men had converted while in Ethiopia in 2005, but when Muslims began noticing they were not serious about attending mosque prayers, the apostates were attacked by “militants” who burst into their home and opened fire. Similarly, another family that had embraced Christianity fled their village after receiving death threats. Another convert who fled to Kenya said “Pastors and Christians are very afraid.  The messages of the Islamists include statements like: “Stop your harmful ideologies and preaching to the Muslims”; “Some Somali Muslims are already affected by this cancer of Christianity… they will be under the sword of the mujahedeen (holy worriers)… We know where you are… We ask Allah to help us make his purpose reign… We are reaching millions of youth to join our jihad against the enemy of Islam and to terrorize by any means we can to make them understand that they are nothing but lowly infidels.”

Uzbekistan: A disabled Christian woman, who walks with crutches, and her mother were brutally beaten with sticks in a violent police raid on their home. The officers turned the home upside down, seizing Bibles and other religious literature. At the police station, officers tried to pressure them to accept Islam, saying it was better than Christianity, and that a married man could marry them because Muslim men are allowed to have four wives. When the women refused to comply, the officers beat them again. The court ordered the destruction of the literature.

Dhimmitude  [General Abuse and Suppression of Non-Muslims as "Tolerated" Citizens]
Bangladesh: A new report indicates that some 300 Christian children were recently abducted and forcibly converted to Islam: So-called intermediaries visit poverty-stricken communities where they convince families to send their children to a mission hostel, charging them the equivalent of US$ 500 to 1,200 for school and board. “After pocketing the money, the intermediaries sell the children to Islamic schools elsewhere in the country ‘where imams force them to abjure Christianity.’” The children are then instructed in Islam and beaten; after full indoctrination, they are asked if they are “ready to give their lives for Islam,” presumably by becoming jihadi suicide-bombers.

Iran: Pastor Behnam Irani, imprisoned for “holding house church services and leading Muslims to Christ,” continues to suffer health problems, while receiving no aid:

Syria: Christians fleeing to the Lebanese border are still being targeted, kidnapped, and in some cases murdered for ransom money.

Turkmenistan: Christian homes were raided and Bibles confiscated; Christians were threatened for not participating in Muslim prayers; they lost their jobs and businesses; Christian children are being harassed and discriminated against in schools.

Uzbekistan: A former Uzbek Muslim who converted to Christianity eventually becoming an active Protestant house church leader, and subsequently persecuted by the state, fled with his family to Kazakhstan.

Pakistan continues to show that it is one of the absolute worst nations for Christians and other non-Muslims, requiring its own section for September.  The content is lengthy.  I will give a quick summary of events:
-A 16-year-old Christian girl, Shumaila Masih, was gang-raped for hours by Muslims—joining the countless Christian girls and boys raped and murdered in Pakistan
-as many as 2,000 women and girls from various minority sects, especially Christianity, were forcibly converted to Islam through rape, torture and kidnappings, while 161 people were charged with blasphemy in 2011.
-Militants raid houses, steal and abuse women and children for fun.
-Another 16-year-old Christian girl, Sumbal, a maid working for Muslims, was “beaten harshly” by the family with “pipes and iron rods … afterwards, she was taken to the washroom and terribly tortured there.” 
-Soon after a Muslim opened a madrassa (Islamic school) near where Christians held their tent church worship, Muslims began harassing the Christians, including by spraying bullets on their homes and saying “Convert to Islam or leave this neighborhood."

-----
Now we know.  Islam is not a religion of peace! 

Now, if we could only convince our government and a few of our neighbors...
.....

Muslim Persecution of Christians: Part 1

BEFORE we begin...May I introduce you to:

Raymond Ibrahim

RAYMOND IBRAHIM, a Middle East and Islam specialist.  A widely published author, best known for The Al Qaeda Reader (Doubleday, 2007), he guest lectures at universities, including the National Defense Intelligence College, briefs governmental agencies, such as U.S. Strategic Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency, provides expert testimony for Islam-related lawsuits, and has testified before Congress regarding the conceptual failures that dominate American discourse concerning Islam and the worsening plight of Egypt’s Christian Copts. Among other media, he has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, PBS, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, CBN, and NPR.

I discovered an article while doing research for the blog I intended to write!  After reading portions of it, I was surprised to find that the author of said article was none other than Raymond Ibraham.  Before reporting about the Persecution of Christians by Muslims - it is imperative to know about the Mainstream Media and why we are not informed of the full impact of persecution happening to believers around the world.

Here's the link: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3002/media-whitewash-muslim-persecution-christians  

Read a few snippits of his writing concerning the MSM or the "Main Stream Media".... from:

 How the Media Whitewashes Muslim Persecution of Christians 

Of course, the media's obfuscation (to make obscure or unclear) of jihadi goals serves a purpose: it leaves the way open for the politically correct, MSM-approved motivations for Muslim violence: "political oppression," "poverty," "frustration," and so on. From here, one can see why politicians such as former U.S. president Bill Clinton cite "poverty" as "what's fueling all this stuff" (a reference to Boko Haram's slaughter of Christians).

In short, while the MSM may report the most frugal facts concerning Christian persecution, they utilize their entire arsenal of semantic games, catch phrases, and convenient omissions that uphold the traditional narrative—that Muslim violence is anything but a byproduct of the Islamic indoctrination of intolerance.

1. False Moral Equivalency
Two more strategies with which the reader should become acquainted—appeared in recent reports dealing with the jihadi group Boko Haram and its ongoing genocide of Nigeria's Christians. Boko Haram—acronym for "Western Education is a Sin", its full name in Arabic is "Sunnis for Da'wa [Islamization] and Jihad"—is a full-throated terrorist organization dedicated to the overthrow of the secular government and establishment of Sharia law. It has been slaughtering Christians for years, with an uptick since the Christmas Day church bombing in 2011, which left at least 40 Christians dead; followed by its New Year ultimatum that all Christians must evacuate the northern regions of Nigeria or die—an ultimatum Boko Haram has been living up to: hardly a day goes by without a terrorist attack on Christians or a church, most recently on Easter day, leaving 20 dead.

2. Blurring the Line Between Persecutor and Victim
...a recent BBC report on one of Boko Haram's many church attacks that left three Christians dead, including a toddler. After stating the bare-bones facts in a couple of sentences, the report went on to describe how "the bombing sparked a riot by Christian youths, with reports that at least two Muslims were killed in the violence -  a special section about "very angry" Christians, until one all but confuses victims with persecutors, forgetting what the Christians are "very angry" about in the first place—unprovoked and nonstop terror attacks on their churches, and the murder of their women and children.

3. Dissembling the Perpetrators' Motivation
... it concludes: "Violence blamed on Boko Haram, whose goals remain largely unclear, has since 2009 claimed more than 1,000 lives, including more than 300 this year, according to figures tallied by AFP and rights groups."..Boko Haram has the same clear goals for a decade—enforcing Sharia law and subjugating, if not eliminating, Nigeria's Christians—the media with a straight face is claiming ignorance about these goals (similarly, the New York Times described Boko Haram's goals as "senseless"—even as the group continues justifying them on Islamic doctrinal grounds).

You'd think that reporters would by now know what their goals are.

 
Again, the media leaves the way open for the politically correct, MSM-approved motivations for Muslim violence: "political oppression," "poverty," "frustration," and so on.

Could the MSM be working against freedom and Christianity? 
Could political correctness be working to destroy Christianity?

Maybe...
....

JESUS Could Come Today...

One rather ignored subject in our
society is that of the Rapture of the
church.

Just as sure as I'm sitting here writing this blog,  the trumpet will sound - Jesus will appear in the skies...the dead in Christ will arise first, then we which remain will be caught up to meet them in the air and so....will we forever be with the Lord.

This will be the greatest event of your life.  It will affect you for eternity.  It means bliss and happiness for eternity.  Can you imagine that? 

1 Cor. 15:51-52 - The Rapture will take place in the twinkling of an eye. A blink of the eye has been times at 1/50th of a second. A twinkling is even faster than that!

There's no time to decide if you want to 'go' when the trumpet sounds....you have to be prepared ahead of time. 

Perhaps because of this fact (the twinkling of an eye) we should give more attention to the Rapture.

One sermon said:  There will be no announcements made, no advertisements posted, the Lord will come and go for His church in a split second of time. (Ill. In the computer world, there is a division of time called the "nano-second". This is a span of time equivalent to 1/1,000,000,000 of a second. If mankind and his technology can achieve this, what can the Lord with His infinite power do?

This is one event I don't want to miss.  Why on earth would I want to stay here for the seven year period of tribulation that will follow the rapture? 

I'd much rather spend that seven years with the Lord and the redeemed....celebrating the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and receiving crowns promised to the faithful.  I can just imagine the scene now - the multitude of those who received salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ, take our crowns and bow humbly before the Majestic King Jesus - and then carefully and lovingly - lay our crowns at his feet....and worship Him.  That's something I don't want to miss.  Not for the world (literally).  I look forward to it.  I will be free from problems, free to live....I'll be in great company for eternity.  No devil will be allowed entrance!  It will be greater than my human brain can imagine. 

D L Moody was asked, why did he look up when he prayed? He said, because heaven is up...where my Jesus is.

While on a South Pole expedition, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton left a few men on Elephant Island, promising that he would return. Later, when he tried to go back, huge icebergs blocked the way. But suddenly, as if by a miracle, an avenue opened in the ice and Shackleton was able to get through. His men, ready and waiting, quickly scrambled aboard. No sooner had the ship cleared the island than the ice crashed together behind them. Contemplating their narrow escape, the explorer said to his men, "It was fortunate you were all packed and ready to go!" They replied, "We never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was clear of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and reminded each other, ’The boss may come today.’"

The question is, what will happen to you? If Jesus came right now, would you go to be with Him, or would you be left behind to endure the Tribulation? Would your future be in Heaven, or in Hell? If there is the slightest hint of doubt about your relationship to the Lord Jesus, today is the time to give Him your heart and get right for the flight.

I THESS. 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

A tourist in Switzerland visited a beautiful mansion surrounded by well-kept gardens. How long have you been the caretaker here? He asked the gardener. The answer was twenty years. How often does the owner of this property come here? The answer was only four times in the twenty years. And to think, said the guest, you keep this property in superb shape just as though he might come tomorrow. The caretaker replied, No, I look after these grounds as if I expected him to come today.

Ready or not - He is coming!
...

CHONDA PIERCE...

CHONDA PIERCE

Oh my, who doesn't love Chonda Pierce.  She is medicine for the soul.  Laughter all rolled up into one lady. 

I just clicked 'like' on her facebook page.  I had to laugh (of course) at one of her posts:  Well, I don't have cable! The only station I can get on my TV has a Tractor Pull/Monster Truck thing on.... And I just found myself cooing over the Kentuckian! It's a lovely tractor! And cheering for Mr.Twister! I need to get out more!!

I thank God for putting a built-in humor box inside of Chonda.   She came equipped with it.  For some of us ... it's optional.  You have to pay extra for that step-up quality of life.  You know, like buying a car.  Some things (for the lack of a better term) are standard and some are optional.

Last week I was obsessed with trading vehicles up a year or two, especially because the one I wanted was red and I'm driving a white one.  Admittedly, the mileage on mine is low and it's in great shape - but the red was appealing and I tried so hard to get a newer one without a payment increase.  Somehow, the dealers aren't too fond of doing that...unless you put down your life savings to boot.   I finally got over the bug...just like getting over a virus...it took a few days to get back to normal.

I struggled with the price because I wanted the one with alloy wheels, rail on top, etc.....I wanted all of the options without paying the price. 

We're guilty of that in our spiritual life.  We want all the options that come with salvation, but we don't want to pay the price.  I admire those who move freely in the gifts of the Spirit - healing - prophecy....and the rest...but we fail to note the price they paid.   If I settle for standard spiritual activity, I won't have all the options that are available.  I have to pay the price.

I am thankful for people like Chondra.  While I focus on End Time News, which is heavy and serious, yet needed for the hour....there is still a lighter side of life to enjoy.  Chondra brings that to us. 

Serious stuff of life is all around us but.....but....we have a hope that lifts beyond the clouds....and that is the Rapture of the Church.  A moment when Jesus Christ splits that eastern sky and at the sound of the trumpet we are caught up to be with the Lord. 

But until then.....enjoy all the humor in life that you can muster....even go to the extreme of enjoying a happy life...and remember, it's only going to get better up there!

..... 

PANERA BREAD'S HONOR SYSTEM

TAKE WHAT YOU NEED....LEAVE YOUR FAIR SHARE

That’s the new policy at a Panera Bread café in suburban St. Louis, where diners are asked to pay what they want for their food, leaving the money in a donation box—and leaving some wondering if a restaurant can successfully serve up a side order of responsibility.  (Brought to you by Liberty Mutual's The Responsibility Project)

The CEO is trying to find out what human nature is all about. 

If you can't pay...then you are asked to volunteer at the restaurant.  Their intent is to keep the restaurant running while providing jobs and feeding the 'have nots' - sorta like 'redistrubition' of meals....

I wonder how long they can operate with this "fair share" system.  I'd like to think it would work...that human nature is such that the haves would pay more so that the have-nots could pay what they can afford, which sometimes may be nothing.

Human nature, being what it is, has two sides.  Generous and not-so-generous.  I'm wondering what Panera Bread will do with the side that has a 'I deserve it all for free' mentality. 

Human nature defined is:  the psychological and social qualities that characterize humankind, especially in contrast with other living things.   Also: ordinary human behaviour, esp considered as less than perfect.

We are all less than perfect.  Our human nature causes us to behave as humans....and that is often indictative of a negative trait.  We were born into sin because of the fall of man.  Genesis 3:1-8 gives the account of Eve being tempted by the serpent (Satan) to eat of the forbidden fruit.  After Eve ate of the fruit, she then tempted Adam to do the same.  He ate.  They hid.  They hid from the Presence of God.   They went from innocent to guilty.  And that's where we are now.  Guilty.  But we have a Redeemer.  Jesus Christ shed His innocent blood on the cross for our sins, that carnal nature we were born with. He bought us back (He purchased us again) with His blood.  Through faith in Him and accepting Him as Savior, we are thereby justified with God.  Jesus was that perfect sacrifice for our fallen nature.   

That is human nature.  Without the grace of God and the presence of His Holy Spirit in our lives we are, by nature, tempted to not pay the full price of a Panera Bread sandwich when the opportunity is put in front of us.

I hope Panera's project goes well.  It would be refreshing to hear that human nature proved to be nothing but good and generous. 

But, I'm still worried about the "Fair Share" thing.
.....

POISONED FRUIT

HEADLINE:
College Allows Transgender Man to
Expose Himself to Young Girls
-by Todd Starnes

First Paragraph:
A Washington college said their non-discrimination policy prevents them from stopping a transgender man from exposing himself to young girls inside a women’s locker room, according to a group of concerned parents.

Second Paragraph:
“Little girls should not be exposed to naked men, period,” said David Hacker, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom. A group of concerned parents contacted the legal firm for help.

This is the poisoned fruit of so-called ‘non-discrimination’ laws and policies.  The policy prohibits discrimination against current or prospective users and employees on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristics.

Note the Poisonous Phrase:  ....any other legally protected characteristics.

Non-discrimination - fairness in treating people without prejudice

The transgender mentioned in the above two paragraphs was walking naked in the locker room. The man sprawled out in a sauna exposing himself.   The 'man' decided in 2009 that he wanted to be a 'she' and the rest of us can just get over it.  So:  he/she assumes that he/she has the right to expose private parts to little girls in a public locker room. 

Non-discrimination is going far beyond common sense.  If we are intolerant of opinions/actions differing from decency we are labeled as a prejudiced person.  Policies have been constructed beyond the healthy norm, allowing anyone to do anything...anywhere...and if there are complaints...then the person standing for decency is guilty of discrimination.

This is poisoned fruit at its best.  Laws of decency and right cannot be thrown out the window.  In that case, every kind of evil known and unknown to man will gain freedom to flaunt every wickedness from hell before our eyes. 

I state with boldness:  This type of legislation and policies amount to nothing more than poisoned fruit.   

On the horizon are laws quickly taking shape to protect Islam.  Our complaints against this ideology, which is determined to control the world and kill the infidels, will be taken as discrimination resulting criminal charges.  Poisoned policies turn the innocent into criminals while the wrong-doer enjoys freedom.  This type of freedom is simply a policy which allows sin to run rampant and it is a policy to quiet the voice of righteousness and purity.  Poisoned fruit is Satan's expression in our world.  It is his method to turn society into nothing more than a cesspool of immorality, a pit of filth.

Placing a person's proclivities, inclinations, or desires above the american/christian standard of clean and ethical behavior is deadly.  It is a fast growing malignant tumor in the body of humanity. 

Poisoned fruit will result in a loss of freedom in our nation.  How did this kind of fruit become so powerful?  What is the answer?

Apathy and lethargy have afflicted the people of  God...Too many churches (and members) have lost their first love.  Lukewarmness has lulled believers into a comfort zone of occupying pews and leaving with a feeling of satisfaction without involvement.

We must awake from carelessness and indifference, shake off slothfulness, security, and sinful living.  It's time for churches and christians to awake from fatal indifference to eternal things.  We know a Power beyond all powers.  We have a King beyond all kings. 

No, this is not the end of the story.  Churches and believers are rising from the lazy state of indifference and we are coming against poisoned policies.  This blog is one example of 'arising'....

Righteousness is still popular.  It remains the only road to decency.  As a pastor stated recently:  Hell is not equipped to handle the activation of your faith.  I have a feeling hell is about to see what christians are up to.  And hell won't like it. 

We will put on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
We will put on the armor of Jesus Christ.
We will no longer make provision for the flesh! 

We will....and...Amen.
..........