Tag: #Blogs

GOD’S CHOSEN WATCHMEN

God has planned from the beginning to make men and women in His image and to give us dominion over the world He created. While we gave up that role through our disobedience, He still calls us to a critical role: To tell everyone about Him, who He is, what He has done for us, and how placing our faith in Him will lead us to an everlasting joy … and life with Him.

  • Ezekiel 33:9 (NKJV): “Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”
  • Acts 1:8 (ESV): “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

We Are Ambassadors for Christ

THE MOST LOVING ACT we can do for another human being — be they man, woman, or child — is to tell them about God, both that He is a God of love and mercy and also that He is a God of wrath and justice.

“YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES.”

The world teaches that we should affirm everyone’s life choices, that we should not breath a word about God (especially about Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit), and that we should leave the word “sin” out of our conversation entirely.

God told the prophet Ezekiel that he was a “watchman” and that his job was to tell the Jews the truth of what God was saying to  them, that they had forgotten His deeds on their behalf and forsaken His commandments, especially the First One — “I am the LORD your God, … You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:2-3 NIV). 

God’s message to his prophet was simply this: “You tell the people what I tell you to tell them. If they listen, both you and they will be saved; but if they don’t listen, you will be saved because you obeyed, but they will die in their sins.”

The third option was the least pleasant for everyone: “If you don’t tell them what I tell you, and they die in their sins, so will you for your disobedience.”

WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE

SINCE WE’RE ON this side of the Cross, we come under the Law of Grace, not the Law, but we are still called to be God’s watchmen to the people in our lives, and we are still accountable for our obedience … as well as our disobedience.

OUR BIG OPPORTUNITY

IMAGINE THIS SCENE: It is Christmas dinner, and you are surrounded at the big table — with the leaves installed, the candles lit, and the good silverware arranged around the dinner plates — with your loved ones.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!!”

You can enjoy seeing your children all grown up with husbands and wives of their own and the smiling cherubic faces of excited little children, looking so much like their mothers and fathers,  that your heart swells with the joy of the moment.

Yet, beneath the laughter and the friendly banter, lies a dark film and behind that film lurks the evil of unrepentant hearts.

Your family — your most precious loved ones — are grabbing the festive secularism of Christmas while leaving the spiritual essence of the holiday far behind.

While you enjoy their bubbly presence at this long-for feast, your heart burns in anguish for their souls.

FAST TRACK TO HELL

HOW DO YOU TURN the conversation into one that turns their hearts toward the Lord’s outstretched hand, beseeching them to turn to Him in humility, seeking His grace and forgiveness, receiving Him into their lives as Lord and Savior.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

How do you maintain your joyous countenance when you fear — no, you know! — that if they were to perish this very day on the drive home, they would spend an eternity without God, and their suffering would haunt you.

How can you change that?

We know we can’t change anything, only God can, so, first, we are called to pray … and pray … and pray.

Then, we, as God’s watchmen, can obediently speak a word or two for the Lord, striving to plant seeds (and possibly water seeds) while not tarnishing the moment.

William Fay’s “Share Jesus Without Fear” program offers some suggestions. Let’s look at them.

QUESTIONS TO ASK

NO SET OF QUESTIONS will change a conversation pattern if your audience is not interested in following, but most people have a desire to share their thoughts and opinions, so asking questions is a good starting place.

Here are Fay’s suggested questions:

  1. Do you have any kind of spiritual belief? (Or, more simply, what is your spiritual belief?)
  2. To you, who is Jesus? (Or, Who would you say Jesus is?)
  3. Do you believe there are a Heaven and a Hell (Or, do you believe both Heaven and Hell exist?)
  4. If you died right now, where would you go … and why?
  5. If what you said were not true, would you want to know it?

The first four questions in that list should elicit an animated conversation, but don’t stope there! They are merely set-ups for the fifth question. Let’s look at it again and focus on it:

>If what you said were not true, would you want to know it?

Just lay the question out there. Be patient. Be silent. Wait. Let the words sink in. Even if someone pridefully dismisses the question, even the most jaded is likely to be curious enough to ask, “Okay, so what are the right answers?”

BE READY TO POUNCE

THIS IS YOUR Big Moment.

The Bible tells us (1 Peter 3:15) to “be ready” to share your faith. 

Examine your arsenal: a brief personal testimony, the four-part Plan of Salvation, a few general Bible truths (God died for sinners, Jesus is Truth, God loves you), and the reality that only those who believe in Jesus will spend eternity with Him. The rest will not.

Be ready to pray with them, whoever is willing to call on the Lord. The others can listen to the prayer and jeer, if they want, but probably they will realize the seriousness of the moment and not act out. 

As born-again Christians, we are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20) and His watchmen (Ezek. 33:7). He has turned the job of witnessing for Him over to us (Matt. 28:19-20), and He expects us to deliver.

This is an awesome opportunity to thank our Lord for His saving grace by sharing the Good News with our families, friends, and neighbors, but also an opportunity to show our obedience to the Almighty.

You are to be My Witnesses.

I call you to be My Ambassadors.

I have appointed you as Watchmen.

PRAYER

“O, LORD, WE COME TO YOU …”

Dear Father God, please save our families. Please turn the hearts of our loved ones to You. Humble them to seek You out and confess their need for You, that only Your Son can deliver them to healing, to peace in their souls, to forgiveness … and to life. Then, Lord, help us carry out our role as facilitators, as ambassadors, as witnesses, as watchmen … as You have appointed us. Come now, Jesus. You are both our Sacrificial Lamb and the Lion of Judah. It’s in Your name and through You that we lift this prayer. AMEN

THE WORLD’S HATRED OF CHRIST’S FOLLOWERS

Once again, we see the hatred and intolerance of the world toward the body of Christ. In New Jersey, a Christian woman who worked as a barista at Starbucks Coffee Shop said she was fired from her job when she refused to wear the company-sponsored “Pride” T-shirt, glorifying homosexuality. She said Jesus condemned the practice as being “unnatural.” The company’s official response was that the shirt reflected Starbucks’ commitment to “inclusion and diversity” and proclaimed the company “does not discriminate on the basis of religion.” Really?

Isaiah 5:20 (NKJV): “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

2 Timothy 4:3-4 (ESV): “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

Rom. 12:2 (CSB): “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

____________________

“WE’RE ‘INCLUSIVE,’ SO YOU’RE FIRED!”

A RECENT ARTICLE in the New York Post reported that a Christian woman in New Jersey was fired from her job in August 2019 for refusing to wear a company-sponsored homosexual “Pride” T-shirt.

STARBUCKS_LES_PRIDE2019jpeg
Starbucks Pride T-Shirt 2019

The woman, who filed a wrongful termination lawsuit  in November 2020, said she told her employers she wanted to follow the Bible’s teaching, which condemns homosexuality, but her employer said her position violated the company’s “core values.”

LoveAndGrace blogged last week about the world’s discrimination against Christians in the name of “inclusion.”

The woman, Betsy Freese, was employed by Starbucks Coffee Co. as a barista from December 2015 until her termination in August 2019. 

Freese charged that being forced to wear the T-shirt as a condition of employment was “tantamount to forced speech” because the Bible defines marriage as the permanent and monogamous union of one male and one female, a message counter to that proclaimed on the T-shirt.

She said store managers were aware of her religious beliefs because she regularly asked for time off on Sundays and certain evenings to attend church.

‘THEY KNEW MY BELIEFS’ 

WHILE FRESSE SAID the store’s managers knew of her religious beliefs, she was fired for refusing to wear the “Pride” shirt. 

The newspaper said the company told NBC News that the lawsuit was “without merit” and stated in the woman’s termination notice that the company’s corporate policy endorses the core values of “inclusion and diversity, and [that we] welcome and learn from people with different backgrounds and perspectives.”

(NBC further reported that in September, two workers at Kroger supermarket in Arkansas filed a similar lawsuit, claiming they were fired for refusing to wear a store apron with a rainbow heart emblem on it.image-20

(The plaintiffs, Brenda Lawson and Trudy Rickerd, maintained the logo was an endorsement of the LGBTQ community, which violated their belief “that homosexuality is a sin,” according to their complaint. After being disciplined for violating the store’s dress code, both Lawson and Rickerd were ultimately terminated.)

Starbucks further stated that it “does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation.” The federal Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 says it is unlawful for a place of employment to discriminate on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”

The newspaper article picked up by ChurchLeaders.com said that on Aug. 22, 2019, Fresse was told by a company district manager that she was being fired for “violating Starbucks’ ‘core values.’”

Fresse said in her lawsuit that “every Christian is called to love and treat everyone with respect and compassion” regardless of their religious or other beliefs. 

DEATH OF ‘ABSOLUTE TRUTHS’

WHAT IS HAPPENING is the “death of ‘absolute truth’” in a culture that elevates human reason and experience above God’s laws and His design for our lives.

This is the hallmark of the “postmodernist” thought process, where all values and goals are relative, without any being absolute or perfect. So, the thinking goes, what is true for you might not be true for me, and what is true for me might not be true for you.COFFEE.SHOP

It’s the theory behind several popular refrains: “Follow your bliss,” “Whatever floats your boat,” “Whatever works for you,” “Do what’s inside of you,” “You’re okay; I’m okay,” and “You do you, Bro; I’ll do me.”

In his article “Postmodernism,” in the creationist website, AnswersInGenesis.org., Dr. Carl J. Broggi concluded that in the postmodernist view of the world, “no one is really wrong except for those who hold to absolute truth.” Broggi is senior pastor of Community Bible Church in Beaufort, SC. 

“Because truth cannot absolutely be known in their religion, the highest virtue for the postmodern man is tolerance, but not as the word has traditionally been defined. In the past, when Americans used the term tolerance, it was understood to mean that everyone has a right to have their viewpoint respected,” Broggi writes.

He concludes: “‘Tolerance’ for the postmodernist is to be extended only to those who embrace a relativistic worldview. In practice, since postmodernism cannot possibly coexist with a worldview that embraces absolute truth, they are intolerant of those who do not agree, particularly Christians.”

Broggi says that what the world believes, according to its postmodernist viewpoint, is that “because Bible-believers insist their point of view concerning moral absolutes and salvation in Jesus Christ is correct and other views are aberrant, they [the Christians] should be defined as intolerant.”

POSTSCRIPT

THIS, IN FACT, is what we see. It is the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. 

Look again at the text source for this article, particularly the verse from Isaiah 5:20, warning us against labeling as “good” or “benign”  those things that God calls “evil.”

J33.Suffering for the GospelOr consider 2 Timothy 4:3, where God says that men will “turn away” from the truth and follow falsehoods of their own design.

As they do so, the will run afoul of Romans 2:2, where God tells us not to be conformed to the world and its beliefs but that we should hold fast to that which is the “good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

That is what Betsy Fresse tried to so, at least according to the public record as explained in her lawsuit. It is a story of “inclusion” — which should mean embracing everyone — but always excludes the Bible-believing Christian because the Christian believer, unlike non-believers, embraces the truth that God has revealed — not man’s truth, but the Creator’s truth.

As Jesus termed it in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His crucifixion (John 17:17 NIV): 

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

____________________

PRAYER

Our Heavenly Father, God of all Creation, Maker of Heaven  and Earth, You created man in Your image to reflect Your glory and to worship You. We OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAconfess, O Lord, that too many of us have been arrogant, prideful, and willful, ignoring You and Your design for our lives. Those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus repent of our sin, and we pray for those among us who are lost in spirit and destined for eternal separation from You. O Lord, burden our hearts to reach out to them and share with them the Truth of Your Word, the saving grace of Your love for us. In Jesus’ almighty and magnificent name we pray. AMEN

BEWARE OF THOSE WHO PREACH ‘INCLUSION’ BUT EXCLUDE JESUS

Regardless of whether you call it Orwellian, Alice-in-Wonderland, or the Last Days, the modern era is overrun by double-speak, where one term means its opposite, and if you don’t understand that or accept it, then you’re part of the problem and need to shut up. You’re not wanted. This is particularly challenging for believing Christians, who are under mandate from our Savior to speak boldly for the truth.

Isaiah 5:20 (NKJV): “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

2 Timothy 4:3-4 (ESV): “For the time is coming when people will not  endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

Rom. 12:2 (CSB): “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

_________________

EXCLUDING CHRISTIANS TO BE “INCLUSIVE”

THE HEADLINE SCREAMED the righteous indignation of actress Melissa McCarthy, who loudly proclaimed she was withdrawing financial “support” from an anti-trafficking group, Exodus Cry, that is a faith-based Christian organization.

The reason?SEXUAL_TRAFFICKING

The organization, which rescues girls and women from sexual exploitation, is founded by, and operates on, principles gleaned from God’s Holy Word. 

Specifically in relation to sexual practice, the group not only opposes the exploitation and forced prostitution of females, but it also, in keeping with God’s Word, opposes abortion and LGBTQ “rights.”

The actress is staring in a new movie, “Superintelligence,” to be released Thanksgiving Day. As part of the pre-release promotion, McCarthy launched “20 Days of Kindness” to support 20 charities, among them Exodus Cry and Planned Parenthood.

A Nov. 16, 2020, article in ChurchLeaders.com, said the actress pulled the funding once she found out from social media that the organization is “hostile” to gay rights and abortion procedures.

FAVORING WORLDLY VALUES

IN A PUBLIC STATEMENT explaining her action, McCarthy said the Christian organization “stands for everything that we do not.”

Melissa McCarthy
Melissa McCarthy

She further said she wanted to “thank everyone” on social  media who asked, “‘What are you doing? Are you sure you want to back this?’ Because the answer is, ‘No, we do not.’”

Her final comment was, “Thanks for helping us correct a big mistake.”

A big mistake? Really?

What is going on here? Isn’t this a case of calling what’s “up” “down” and what’s “good” “bad”?

Yes, that’s what it is.

It’s the very thing the prophet Isaiah warned us of 2,700 years ago: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.” (Isaiah 5:20)

OPPOSING GODLY VALUES

UNFORTUNATELY, THIS has become a commonplace story. 

The apostle Paul issued this warning 2,000 years ago: “Don’t be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom. 12:2)

The Dec. 18, 2018, Washington Examiner ran an article from Syracuse, N.Y., saying New York state officials told an adoption agency, New Hope Family Services, to close its doors unless it violated its religious beliefs to place children only in homes with a married mother and father.

In fact, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services congratulated New Hope for “a number of strengths in providing adoption services within the community.”OIP.mQPtvzMH5-XFwQJ_1w4hJAHaE8

The organization has placed more than 1,000 adoptions throughout the state between 1965, when it opened, to 2018, when the article ran. Since then, according to its website, it has expanded its adoption services to include a full-range of pregnancy counseling, excluding performing or referring for abortions.

TRANSFORMING BUSINESSES

THE GRAPHIC DESIGN Circles Conference in Texas announced in 2019 that it was cancelling a church leader from its list of speakers after a member group complained he might make others feel unsafe.

David Roark, the communications and resources director for The Village Church, a megachurch based in Flower Mound, Texas, was uninvited from the September conference after the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) refused to participate because of his inclusion. 67.Conference_Lecture

AIGA claimed that The Village Church “does not meet our standards of inclusion because of openly discriminatory policies and practices towards women and the LGBTQ+ community.” The Circles Conference agreed with the group and scrubbed Mr. Roark’s profile from their website.

In a statement announcing the change, Conference founder Ismael Burciaga said, “When you walk through the doors of Circles Conference, we want you to feel welcome.” 

The statement concluded by noting the conference’s continued commitment to “assemble a diverse, inclusive, and innovative lineup of speakers.”

Paul referenced this very thing in an apostolic letter to his disciple, Timothy: “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching … and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Tim. 4:3-4)

POSTSCRIPT

IN ALL OF THESE examples, and the many more that could be assembled, one maxim stands out: 

In the name of “diversity and inclusion,” the buzzwords of the modern secular era, conservative thinkers — especially those who are Christian faith-based — need not apply.

There’s a very significant reason why. 

The Christian believer holds God’s Truth to be an absolute, which makes His Word both eternal and universal. His Word was good yesterday and today, and it will be good tomorrow. 

Plus, it is good and right for everyone, not just one person. The Christian faith is not about “You do you, bro.”

71.Hatred_Christians_pin

The “modern” thinker, who is drawn by the wisdom of his own observation and reasoning, will not allow for absolutes, because, for the non-believer, they don’t exist.

While various modern groups can differ in their beliefs, they can align around the shared value that all truths are relative and personal. 

The strongest exception comes from the Christian believer, who holds onto a set of values that does not allow for compromise or dissent.

As the Lord proclaimed in John 17:17 (NASB2020):

YOUR WORD IS TRUTH.

_________________

PRAYER

O LORD, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, sometimes, we just feel so overwhelmed with the task of carrying the Gospel to a broken, unbelieving, cynical world; yet, when we place our trust in You, we labor not with our strength and wisdom but with Yours. We pray for grace and mercy as Your Spirit prepares us for the good work to be done on behalf of the Kingdom, not for our glory, O Lord, but for Yours. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. AMEN
%d bloggers like this: