Satan's Best Allies - So Called Christians

I am still thinking on this morning's message that Pastor preached "The Right Choices" or "You Know Brass isn't Gold!"  2 Chronicles 12:9-12  It really did something for me and I'm not going to go into great detail but it drove me to a firmer, bolder stand for God!  I was reading a lot tonight - a hunger for righteousness and a disgust for worldliness in the church.  The whole message was basically about counterfeits and guarding your treasures that God has given you and the church!  I dare to fight and stand to keep worldliness and ungodliness out of my church........I know several others who will also.  Will you dare to stand?  Or are you busy polishing your brass behind the curtain?



They who design and endeavor to win others . . . must religiously avoid that which is the greatest obstruction of all, the profligate and atrocious lives of some that call themselves Christians. If men were prompted and employed by the devil himself, they could not be more effective in making the Gospel to be abhorred, than by living as some Christians do. How can it be expected, that the poor, ignorant heathen should have any reverence for the great and sacred name of God, when they hear those who pretend that they have a deep veneration for Him, reproach and blaspheme Him? . . . Can any man convince them, that the saints are such excellent creatures, when they see those who call themselves so, live like brutes or devils? - George Hammond

I now see more good and more evil in men than I did before. . . . I once thought that anyone who could pray eloquently and fluently, and talk well of religion, had to be saints. But experience has revealed to me that low crimes can co-exist with high professions. - Richard Baxter 1615 – 1691

There is a widely-spread desire to make things pleasant in religion – to saw off the corners and edges of the cross, and to avoid, as far as possible, self-denial. On every side we hear professing Christians declaring loudly that we must not be “narrow and exclusive” and that there is no harm in many things which the holiest of saints of old thought bad for their souls.

That we may go anywhere, and do anything, and spend our time in anything, and read anything, and keep any company, and plunge into anything, and all the while may be very good Christians – this is the maxim of thousands. In a day like this I think it good to raise a warning voice, and invite attention to the teaching of God’s Word. It is written in that Word, ‘Come out and be separate. - J.C. Ryle

I believe there is far more harm done by unholy and inconsistent Christians than we are at all aware of. Such men are among Satan’s best allies. They pull down by their lives what ministers build up with their lips. . . . I fear that Christ’s name is too often blasphemed because of the lives of Christians.- J. C. Ryle

Our Lord’s strong language about the false teachers of the Jews ends here. Those who think that unsound ministers ought never to be exposed and held up to notice, and men ought never to be warned against them, would do well to study this passage. No class of character throughout our Lord’s ministry seems to call forth such severe denunciation as that of false pastors. The reason is obvious. Other men ruin themselves alone: false pastors ruin their flocks as well as themselves. To flatter all ordained men, and say they never should be called unsound and dangerous guides, is the surest way to injure the Church and offend Christ.- J.C. Ryle 1816 – 1900

Many a church has fallen into a condition of indifference, and when it does so it generally becomes the haunt of worldly professors, a refuge for people who want an easy religion, which enables them to enjoy the pleasures of sin and the honours of piety at the same time; where things are free and easy, where you are not expected to do much, or give much, or pray much, or to be very religious; where the minister is not so precise as the old school divines, a more liberal people, of broad views, free-thinking and free-acting, where there is full tolerance for sin, and no demand for vital godliness. Such churches applaud cleverness in a preacher. As for his doctrine, that is of small consequence, and his love to Christ and zeal for souls is very secondary. He is a clever fellow, and can speak well, and that suffices. This style of things is all too common, yet we are expected to hold our tongue, for the people are very respectable. The Lord grant that we may be kept clear of such respectability! -Charles Spurgeon (“An Earnest Warning about Lukewarmness”)1834-1892

God's Word vs. Man's Opinion

I chose this picture for this post because it demonstrates so well a lot of kid's teachers - the TV.  But this isn't about the TV, although it does most definitely apply!!

My husband and I have been having some pretty soul-searching talks lately and with others at church on the topic of recent - dealing with the ungodly public school system.  Pastor was describing just the other night how they have taken out spirituality by removing prayer and Bible and the name Jesus, the teachers are in unions now and its all about the money and you would be hard pressed to find one who is actually there for the love of it and for the care of the child.  You are saying when you give your child to a teacher "I trust you to TEACH my child".

A commentor made the comment what about the pediatrician, nurse, etc.  They are teaching my child 6 hours a day.  Teaching is the subject here - can Christians let God haters teach their children?  Can Christians let a homosexual indoctrinate their children?  How bad does it have to get for some to come out from among them?  Will it take another school shooting close to home?  Will it take another teacher having sexual relations with a student?  Will it take them having those MANDATORY sex lessons from K-12?  For some, they will still be sitting in 'Sodom and Gomorrah' all the way till God himself destroys it before they would wake up.  Was taking out God, prayer and Bibles NOT BAD ENOUGH for some Christians??? Was it really not enough?? Is God not worth it??  Was it not 'bad enough' when they kicked him out??  Does God really not matter that much?  Guess not........you can have school without God.  It's ok to leave him out during the day in all subjects because after all..........who needs him that much in day to day life right?  Sheesh, we go to church once a week and I couldn't do more than that because God has his small part and I wouldn't dream of giving up my priorities to have more God HA!

I could do a post on the Biblical backing of keeping our children out of a God haters teaching that would go on for pages!  Not only does he say COME OUT from among them and be ye separate, he even told us to ABSTAIN from all appearance of evil and this hasn't even included the verses on teaching the children daily.  One commentor said we have to contribute to the school by putting "God back in the school" and sending our kids there.  I guess we should also go in bars and brothels to add a bit of God there too huh? Or what about Sodom and Gomorrah??  Lot became corrupt in the midst of them and he would have been destroyed if it wasn't for Abraham's plea's.   Maybe we should re-write the Bible and instead of come out, we could do better than God and put "go in among them" that way we could put GOD back in them right??

The only thing I hear from the other side; those that support the public school - are merely man's opinionsNot once have I been given Biblical backing for this view.  Yet, they reason among themselves that is must be ok.  Doth not God tell us in Proverbs "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."  If someone could show me through God's word of Biblical principle how it is ok for a child to learn from a God hater/homosexual/liberal teacher then please do but NONE yet have used GOD'S WORD in their criticism - rather they go off an opinion they have formed or another man's opinion or their own reasonings with no backing from God's Word.  When will we get back to God's word!?!
True friends warn you of danger and toil ahead.  I heard a story the other day about a King who was drinking from his cup but every time he tried to take a drink, this bird would swoop down and get in his way so he couldn't drink from the cup.  He would shoo the bird away and yell at it and this happened a few times and he still couldn't drink from his cup!  He finally said "that's it" and drew his sword and the next time he tried to take a drink from his cup, the bird (as he had expected) swooped down and he killed it, knocking his cup on the ground in the process.  He went to get his cup and noticed a snake - then he realized the grave error he had made.  All along the bird was simply trying to stop him from drinking his death and he killed the very thing that was trying to help him! 

I said all this to provoke others to search their reasonings and opinions and see whether they be of God or the enemies making?  Does it line up with the Word of God?  FORGET ME!  Does it line up with God's word and His instruction for His people over all time??  If not, then stop and ask yourself just who are you really listening to? As was preached this morning, don't just drift along and go with the flow.  This is your child we are talking about!  The one that GOD gave you to raise for Him!  I take that SO seriously and I'm so careful and make sure I have God's backing in my decisions.

Drowning in a Sea of Books.......

Last week we got our curriculum books and I laid most of them out on the table as you can see in the photos below.  We started homeschool this Monday and just completed our 3rd day and I must say that my daughter is LOVING it and even wants to do it at night.  It does take sacrifice on my part but I believe my daughter is WORTH it!  I believe it helps kill any selfishness a person may have lol - after all, it isn't all about 'you' anymore.  To give your time and energies over to train up a child in the way he/she should go is the calling of a Mother. 

It has been amazing to feel the Holy Spirit when we start school with prayer and 'invite' God into the classroom!  The first day I did this, I almost shouted because the Holy Spirit's presence was so strong and I didn't expect that.  I knew that including God in our children's learning was without question, a must, but I didn't expect the strong presence I felt that first morning!  It was as though God was saying "Thank you for allowing me into the school!"  I'm sure God's heart is saddened when His people send their children to schools that don't want God but he is even more happy when they make him the first and foremost importance of a child's learning!  Then when we did Science - WOW!  The presence of the Holy Spirit once again filled the room and I felt such joy teaching Katie just WHO created the world and how God did it!  God blesses truth!!

Jesus the Critic

The title might have got your attention I'd say! Most people don't hear Jesus being called a critic but he was by definition. These thoughts have been on my mind for quite some time now. My husband and I have talked them over and I've even had a conversation with my Pastor about some that I'm writing about in this post.

You may remember the post, "Misconceptions about WWJD" and how so many people perceive that what Jesus would do is never name-call, criticize, fault-find or raise his voice but yet he did all of those. What they don't understand and have failed to grasp by mere lack of thought - is that fact that there are two kinds of each of these things. One for the good and one for the bad.

First lets start by defining these terms:

Criticize - finding fault with, denouncing, evaluate
Fault-find - in essence, criticizing, pointing out wrongs in others
Complain - to express grief, pain or discontent; a formal accusation or charge

Now let's begin with the good side of these, or rather the ones Jesus himself portrayed.
  1. Standing up for the Truth
  2. Rebuking evil or wrong doing
  3. Pointing out the evil in another to warn others
In the conversation I had with my Pastor - I had brought up my blog. It isn't any secret I receive a lot of hate mail, distasteful comments and the such like on here. I just wanted to make sure I was not in any way doing something wrong. He commented that I'm taking a stand for the truth. I have never really viewed it quite that way. Yes, I knew this was something God wanted me to do because there was a need online for truth in Google searches lol, but to view it as me standing out in the midst of the world with my sword, standing for the truth of the Almighty God - encouraged me to not be discouraged! For whatsoever we do for the Lord is not in vain. It also helped me to forgive those that say things about me, gossip about me and call me all manner of things in what I share. I've even lost friends with what I've stood up for. However, I've truly been able to let it deflect off of me when I realized I am a partaker in Christ's sufferings.

When you stand up for the truth, whether its standing up for what the Bible says about truly being saved to all aspects of a holy life - you are sounding out against evil! Jesus stood many times for the truth, rebuked evil and pointed out the wrong/evil in others. In all essence of the words, he criticized the rulers of his day, found fault with them and complained about those who were using God's house for a house of merchandise! Yet, he did it all with Love (tough love) and to show others what is right. It was still compassion, still meekness, even though it was stern.

Stephen stood for the truth - even though it cut the hearers to the heart until they stoned him - he did not shut up for anyone!! I'm sure if Stephen had a blog, he would probably get virtually stoned as well lol. My own Pastor gets his inbox full of hate mail daily and his blog only opened him up to more of that but he still stands for the truth. Paul named names - Demas, for instance, and how he had forsaken him for the love of the world! Then don't forget Jesus' name-calling when he called Herod a fox. Yes - there is a time for everything!

We could go on and on about examples but I think you get the just. Now let's move on to the wrong side of the coin.

When someone criticizes God, find faults with righteous people living for God and seeks to tear down God's church - this is wrong! They seek to tear God, and all he stands for, down - they do the biddings of satan. They despise those that are good. They can't stand when a woman looks like her gender and vice versa for a man. They crave sin and lust continually and thus their heart is evil and they criticize, fault-find, murmer and complain sinfully. So for them, to come to a blog that holds the Bible and God as the sourcebook - it convicts them and they lash out with bitter criticisms and fault findings against God's Word and his standards for living.

We can go all the way back the days of Moses when the people murmured and complained about what God had given them for food. It just was never good enough. Un-thankful hearts motivated their complaints. Then in New Testament times we see the Pharisees finding fault with Jesus. Jesus had no fault! Yet, they watched his every move to try and find that one little thing that seemed to them to be enough to make something out of. Their fault finding was motivated by the spirit of satan to tear down the righteous.

So in summary, you can see the two sides of this coin. A lot of times I've heard people refer to another Pastor's exhortation to not criticize or find fault with others and they assume it pertains to all things. What they failed to realize is that Pastor himself does these two very things over the pulpit, yet he does them in the way that Jesus himself did - to provoke good works and rebuke sin! When he criticizes those that are doing wrong, those that have done evil in our midst and sometimes calls them out - it is for their good and Biblical. Just like Paul instructed. Paul even went as far to say turn them over to satan for their soul's sake!

Another Pastor was speaking tonight on not offending God or man. However, he was simply stating, not that we should never stand for God or anything righteous, as to not offend anyone, but rather not to offend in a way that is wrong. For if he had meant all offending is wrong, then we better stop preaching at people LOL. Stephen offended others so bad they stoned him, but you see.........he did the right offense, the one that stood for God and truth! There is a wrong offense and we know when we have done that - said a word out of turn that was inspired by bitterness or jealousy, etc.

If you are a true born-again believer, doth not the Bible say that those which love God's law "nothing shall offend them"? Psalm 119:165 So, if you are offended, what does that say about you? Most of the time, it is our pride that is offended. Other times, what we think is offense, is in actuality - conviction, because we know what we are doing is not right and we can't stand it when someone else hits that spot.

Someone was mentioning to me recently about how they endeavored to not hear anything negative. (I imagine they will be a cave dweller soon) They took the idea from a message Pastor preached about not letting negativity in your ears. However, did Pastor stop reading the news? No, he shares stories a lot of bad things that are happening. He was talking about those that want to just talk negative - to have a coke with the devil, so to speak. Who needs that in their ears all the time was what he referring to.

Misconceptions come from a weak walk with the Lord. The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. God will lead you but if you don't spend time with Him, how will you know which way to go or what to do? You won't!

It's high time we start to look unto Jesus and let his life, here on earth teach us! For all the answers lie in the great Book; The Bible; God's Word!! It is truly an instruction book to life.

The Case for Christian Education

I came across a blog today and I had to share this post! It is a must read! She gives many links that are worthy of reading:

http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/2009/09/case-for-christian-education.html

A quote she shared from John Wesley, I also wanted to share. What would John Wesley say today in this society that has schools which teach as though God is irrelevant to a child's education and that some think its acceptable to leave the Creator; God out of a child's learning. To let them be taught by a system that most definitely, beyond any doubts, supports satan's type of education - the Godless one........let John Wesley's words speak even unto this day as it applies even more the so!! God give us more men like these who have their eyes on the greater learning - that which God is a part of!

"Let it be remembered, that I do not speak to the wild, giddy, thoughtless world, but to those that fear God. I ask, then, for what end do you send you children to school? “Why, that they may be fit to live in the world.” In which world do you mean, — this or the next? Perhaps you thought of this world only; and had forgot that there is a world to come; yea, and one that will last for ever! Pray take this into your account, and send them to such masters as will keep it always before their eyes. Otherwise, to send them to school (permit me to speak plainly) is little better than sending them to the devil. At all events, then, send your boys, if you have any concern for their souls, not to any of the large public schools, (for they are nurseries of all manner of wickedness,) but private school, kept by some pious man, who endeavors to instruct a small number of children in religion and learning together."

The matter is simple for you must only ask yourself these questions:
  1. Would God support/approve of an education that leaves God out?
  2. Is God behind such an education?
  3. Does God smile happily as your child learns science, history, etc minus the Creator?
You can't say yes to any of these but you could if you replace "God" with "satan" and then you can see the big picture and you will begin to THINK and realize just who is behind the curtain. Let me replace that for you:
  1. Would satan support/approve of an education that leaves God out?
  2. Is satan behind such an education?
  3. Does satan smile happily as your child learns science, history, etc minus the Creator?
Whose side will you choose? Whose report will you believe? Is God irrelevant to a child's education or not? I hope to provoke others to thought as that is the purpose for even God himself said "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" - you can't just follow the crowd because the crowd is going to hell.

Mandatory Gay-Friendly Classes: Have we reached "enough" yet?

I can't imagine a real, born-again, Bible-believing Christian would even consider allowing their child to attend a school which indoctrinates homosexuality in such a way as this!!  It is happening in California - children as young as 5yr old in Kindergarten will be indoctrinated with this ungodly teaching!  Wake up America!!  Why don't you just go ahead and give your child to satan already - because you are by who you entrust them with.

Hey Lot!  Get your children out of that environment!  Abraham - get out from among that bad environment......notice God has always commanded his people to COME OUT from among them and be ye separate.  Now some are letting the very devils teach their children and indoctrinate them against God's Holy Word......the shame!  This is one person who will stand for God's word and speak up, I'm not ashamed!  I really don't care what you think of me either, because I have the Bible to back me up and you have absolutely nothing from God's word to back up your sending them to this horrible pit of ungodly, humanistic education.  You think taking God out of a child's education is ok??  Who indoctrinated you to think he wasn't important enough to have during the day?  Do you really think your ten minutes of Godly instruction 'some' nights will outweigh the 6 hours of anti-God instruction they receive daily?  What about in the Old Testament when he commanded them morning, noon and night?  They didn't have public school indoctrination back then - parents actually wanted kids (prayed for them) and taught them in the Lord!  Who are you looking to for your example - God's word or a man??

"Parents in the Alameda Unified School District were refused the right to excuse their kids from classes that would teach all kids in the district's elementary schools about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender alternative families. The parents say they are concerned about "indoctrination" in the schools, but administrators say the course is needed to protect against sexual discrimination — and that the lessons are protected by laws in California and 10 other states."

Washington IS one of the ten states folks!  You know, I can't see God saying "Oh yes, let the little children learn that being a HOMOsexual is ok and acceptable".  No, rather God would say as he has always - it is an ABOMINATION!  Your stupid! - there I said it........if you think raising children in the precepts of the Lord involves someone teaching this perversion as acceptable. Maybe this will be 'enough' for some parents - because taking God out of the school just wasn't "bad enough" for some.  Who needs God from 7-2 daily anyway? He just isn't that important.

Read the article here:  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,546280,00.html?test=latestnews

Fox is also doing a special tonight on "Do you know what textbooks your children are really reading?".

Education is Discipleship: http://bradmelton.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/education-is-discipleship-two-biblical-options-for-christian-families/

Here is a quote from the above article:

“SECULARISM is a philosophy that claims that there is no God-or that if there is a God, He is irrelevant. HUMANISM essentially says that in the absence of God, humans can and should act as gods by judging, choosing, and defining what is right for themselves. The philosophy pervading the public education system combines these two philosophies into one.”-Ken Ham, Genesis of a Legacy, p. 152

If you have something opposing to say - realize this is a blog that supports homeschooling, some private schools and Christian schools and doesn't support God-less school systems, so it may be time you stopped visiting here instead of getting angry and retaliating. Luckily I don't blog to please, I don't even blog to be popular, I blog for Jesus and stand for His Word.