I am just a guy who has been blessed in ways I don't deserve. I have been blessed with an incredble wife and a daughter who melts my heart. Most importantly, I am passionately in love with Jesus and I want the world to know it.
I have had three events recently that have made me realize my lack of knowledge about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My curiosity and recent studies of the this group led me to this video. It was made by Jeremiah Films who is a reputable Christian based film company who has produced videos of this nature for quite some time. I was surprised, to say the least, to learn the things that I have learned about this extra-biblical organization. As always, please do your own research, but this was definitely a compelling program that has heightened my awareness and peaked my interest to learn more about current cults operating in our society that attempt to strip the atoning power of the blood of Jesus. We as the body of Christ must be able to defend the Gospel. What soldier goes into battle without knowing everything they can about the enemy (the devil)?
1 Peter 3:15 - But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
2 Timothy 2:15 - Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Father, thank you for making me righteous and accepted through the Blood of Jesus, because of that, I am blessed and highly favored by YOU.I am the object of your affection.Your favor surrounds me as a shield, and the first think that people come into contact with is my favor shield.
Thank you that I have favor with You and man today. All day long people go out of their way to bless me and to help me.I have favor with everyone that I deal with today.Doors that were once closed are now opened for me.I receive preferential treatment, and I have special privileges.I am God’s favored child.
No good thing will He withhold from me.Because of God’s Favor, my enemies cannot triumph over me.I have supernatural increase and promotion.I declare restoration of everything that the devil has EVER stolen from me.I have honor in the midst of my adversaries and an increase of assets- especially in our businesses and an expansion of territory.
Because I am highly favored by God, I experience great victories, supernatural turnarounds and miraculous breakthroughs in the midst of great impossibilities.I receive recognition, prominence, and honor.Even ungodly authorities grant petitions to me.Policies, rules, regulations, and laws are changed on my behalf.
I win battles that I don’t even have to fight, because God fights them for me.This is the day: the set time and designated moment for me to experience the free favors of God that profusely and lavishly abound on my behalf.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
PROTECTION:
I declare that no matter what happens around me, I have a covenant of peace and wholeness with God.His love, kindness and protection will never depart from me.My prosperity causes me to be steadfast and unshakable.The Lord has granted me long life and has preserved me from destruction.No weapon formed against me prospers, and every tongue that rises up in judgment against me shall be proven wrong.
In the name of Jesus, I dwell in the secret place of the Most High God, and abide in the Shadow of the Almighty.The Lord is my Refuge and my Fortress.He delivers me from the enemy; therefore, I do not fear the terror of the night or the destruction that takes place at noonday.When I call upon the Lord, He immediately answers me.He is with me in trouble, He always delivers me.
Because the Lord has given His angels charge over me, my life is redeemed from destruction.No evil comes near me, and neither does sickness or disease come near my home.
Although hard times may come, they pass me by, because I am established in righteousness.He lives inside of me.Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.The name of the Lord is a Strong and Mighty Tower, because I am the righteousness of Christ, I run into it and I am safe!
How U.S Evangelicals Lost the Culture War and the Way Forward.
-by Eddie Hyatt.
Evangelicals may finally be realizing that political activism is not the path to preserving the Christian character and culture of America.
After 30 years of the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition and the religious right, America, last November, elected what are probably the most liberal president and congress in its history. Since that time 5 states have legalized homosexual marriage and others are poised to follow suit. Chuck Schumer, the influential, liberal senator from New York, gleefully declared that, “All this talk about family and traditional values is a thing of the past.” In the midst of all this, Dr. James Dobson, whom many would consider the most prominent voice of the religious right, solemnly announced, “We (evangelicalChristians) have lost the culture war.”
Although this turn of events is disturbing for evangelical Christians, this could be the starting point for a national awakening unto God; but only if we admit our failures and turn from the notion that we can change America by our own efforts, political or otherwise.
We (Evangelicals) Have Been Wrong. Please understand that I am not suggesting that we should not be good citizens and participate in the political process; nor am I suggesting that God does not call some to civil service and statesmanship. But I am convinced that evangelical Christians in America crossed the line in trying to change America through political activism. We thought that if we could get enough Christians elected to Congress and elect a Christian president that we would preserve our Christian culture and heritage. Instead, politics, power and pride became characteristic of American evangelicalism, rather than prayer, compassion, humility and spiritual power. We forgot that America has a history of Spiritual awakenings and that this “revival heritage” has been the preserving force of our Christian culture.
God Will Not Ride in on Either an Elephant or a Donkey.
Hopefully, some are beginning to realize that God’s purposes for America will not be realized through a political process or political party. As Dr. Tony Evans once said, “God will not ride into our midst on either an elephant (symbol of the Democrat party) or a donkey (symbol of the Republican party).”
In seeking a political solution to our spiritual problems we, as evangelical Christians, identified ourselves with a particular political party and, thereby, alienated ourselves from over half of the American populace. This is not good! Neither Jesus nor the earliest Christians identified themselves with any of the many political parties that were operative in their day; but, instead, preached a transcendent government or kingdom of God that would transform individuals (and thereby society) from within. We need to take a closer look at the New Testament in this area and adjust our thinking accordingly.
Let’s Remember Our Revival Heritage. Spiritual awakenings are an intrinsic part of American history. They are a vital part of who we are as a people. Perry Miller, the late professor of church history at Harvard University, said that the Declaration of Independence of 1776 was a direct result of the preaching of the evangelists of the First Great Awakening.
Awakenings such as the First Great Awakening (1726-1750), the Second Great Awakening (1801-1840) and the great Prayer Revival of 1858 have preserved the Christian character of American culture at crucial times in our history. These were not religious excitements generated by the fleshly machinations of professional revivalists, but divine visitations in answer to the fervent, faith-filled prayers of God’s people.
It’s Time For Repentance & Change in the Church. America is in dire need of another national awakening. Such an awakening cannot be organized or strategized by skillful religious marketeers. Such awakenings are conceived in the womb of prayer and given birth through the absolute trust and simple obedience of God’s people. If evangelical Christians are ready to admit that political activism is not the way to change America, this could be the beginning of our finest hour. If we will repent for our politics, for seeking power and for pride and call out to God with all our hearts, there is no reason why God will not answer with another national Spiritual awakening.
A Prayer For Spiritual Awakening.
Here is a prayer that I offer for Spiritual awakening in this hour; and I pray that individuals and groups throughout America will begin to pray prayers such as this:
"Oh LORD God, we come to You in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ. We acknowledge that we have missed the mark in all our efforts to save this nation. We repent of self-reliance and pride, and for imagining that we could make a difference in this nation by our own human efforts and through a mere political process. Oh LORD, we acknowledge that only you can change the heart of this nation and restore to it the fear and honor that belongs to You alone. We pray today that you will turn our hearts to you. Send the fire of your presence, power and love once again to this nation. We pray for another Great Awakening!"
The idea that since the emergence of Christ into our world there is no longer any sin problem is completely preposterous, and not less so is the notion that the approach of the lost man to God is theological instead of moral. Yet this is what the not-the-sin-question thing has taught the religious world to believe. This idea has been expanded, extended and illustrated in how many thousand sermons over the last fifty years till it has become part of the total belief of evangelical groups all over the world. I have personally heard earnest men tell their hearers that they need never fear being sent to hell because of their sins; that the only thing that could possibly condemn them is their failure to “accept” Christ. Thus the whole terrible sin question has been reduced to a theological technicality, and sin itself, that damning and destructive enemy of God and men, has been whitewashed and rendered tolerable, contrary to the whole spirit and mood of the Scriptures and to the beliefs of Christians since the days of the apostles.
Regardless of what men may say, we are still face to face with the sin question, and no man who has neglected to deal with his sins can even remotely understand the question of the deity of Christ and the mystery of the Godhead. Until the sinner has been brought before the bar of God and convicted of personal guilt, any notions he may have about Christ are bound to be academic, nothing more, and wholly unrelated to life. One deadly result of our failure to face up to the fact of sin is the widespread moral insensitivity which characterizes Christians these days. Because there is only a Son question and not a sin question at all, there is little or no repentance required as a preparation for saving faith. The new convert accepts Christ and adopts a certain easy code--a bit above that of the irreligious world, to be sure, but infinitely below that of the New Testament. The nerve has died in the Christian conscience and the sin that would have driven our Christian fathers to their knees in a paroxysm of repentance leaves us almost untouched. It’s lots easier to shift the whole thing over to the “Son question” and escape the pains of repentance. Lots easier, but extremely dangerous, and this latter is what we appear to have forgotten.
Is music playing a part in the degradation of our culture?There is a lot of debate on this topic.For years I denied that music could ever “do” anything to me or “cause” me to behave or think in a certain way.I have now had to embrace the humble pie once again and admit that I was wrong.Music is an incredibly powerful medium that has been used very successfully throughout history to shape and control people's thinking. It is not an overnight effect, but a gradual one that lulls a person into tolerance until they find themselves signing along with lyrics that would...and does grieve the Holy Spirit. What goes in our ears (as non threatening as is might seem) is crucial to our ability to attain holiness.
How long has it been since we actually examined the words to the songs we so ignorantly repeat day after day?What are we subconsciously meditating on when a song gets stuck in our head.We have so many excuses as to why it is “no big deal” to listen to certain artists, but are we justified in saying such things?As a parent, I am much more interested in what my daughter is listening to than I ever thought I would be. If we were “bought with a price” and commanded to “glorify God in your body, and in your spirit” as 1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us, then what gives us the right to grieve the Spirit with what we listen to?1 Peter 1:16 tells us to “be ye holy, for I am holy”.
About 6 months ago, I came across a documentary that was a real eye opener and I want to share it.Each part is around 57 minutes long, but once you have watched one, it will be hard to stop.I thought it was very well done and very informative.
