Following the Stars


Those who are wise will shine like the bright expanse ?of the heavens?, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. Daniel 12:3

Following the Star

The Wise Men followed a star to the place where Jesus was. For they saw his sign and came to worship Him. They brought with them gifts fit for a king. We consider these star-gazers as wise men because they sought out Jesus Christ. Daniel tell us that the truly wise will be like that star which leads others to Christ.

Many people try to be stars in the world of entertainment, only to find their stardom temporary. With the advent of the Internet and social media almost anyone can become an overnight sensation. YouTube has launched many an unknown into super stardom when a video goes viral.

Reality TV is another avenue that turns ordinary citizens into media stars. Their exposure on these programs (some exposing more than others) cause them instant fame and recognition. These stars however soon become dim and fade from view.

Contrast these temporary examples stardom with the stardom spoken of by Daniel.

God tells us how we can be eternal “stars”-by being wise and leading many to God’s righteousness.

A wise man not only seeks Christ but leads others to him as well. We are called to be LIGHTS in a dark world. We are to be the stars that others can use to navigate their way through life. We should be the light that shines on the place where Jesus can be found.

Are you a star in God’s Kingdom or are you seeking temporary stardom in an earthly kingdom? Will you be the star that leads wise men, women and children to Christ or should we look for another?

If we share our Lord with others, we can be true stars-radiantly beautiful in God’s sight!

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The Silence of the Lambs


  1. No I am not talking about the movie starring Jodi Foster and Anthony Hopkins but rather the reluctance of Christians to speak out on political issues. The silence of the lambs has allowed an ever-expanding government to grow even larger and more tyrannical with each subsequent administration.

In this article from Godfather Politics the author traces the silencing of the lambs historically to tyrannical regimes of the past including China and Nazi Germany. The article’s writer cites references to the government crackdown on religion and especially preachers who dared challenge the government aggression or speak out against government abuses of power.

“Over time, churches in Nazi German were “confined as far as possible to the performance of narrowly religious functions, and even within this narrow sphere were subjected to as many hindrances as the Nazis dared to impose.” This is the evaluation of a 1945 report published by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA. It was called The Nazi Master Plan: The Persecution of the Christian Churches and was prepared for the War Crimes Staff. It offered the following summary: “This study describes, with illustrative factual evidence, Nazi purposes, policies and methods of persecuting the Christian Churches in Germany and occupied Europe.””

  1. “Where did the strategic plan begin? “Implementation of this objective
    started with the curtailment of religious instruction in the primary and
    secondary schools with the squeezing of the religious periods into
    inconvenient hours, with Nazi propaganda among the teachers in order to
    induce them to refuse the teaching of religion, with vetoing of . . .
    religious text books, and finally with substituting [a] Nazi Weltanschauung [worldview] and ‘German faith’ for Christian religious denominational instruction. . .”

  2. “The next step was to neutralize the impact that churches would have on
    politics. “Under the pretext that the Churches themselves were
    interfering in political and state matters, [the Nazis] would deprive
    the Churches, step by step, of all opportunity to affect German public
    life.” How often do we hear that the “separation between church and
    state” means that churches must remain silent on social and political
    issues?”

If any of this sounds familiar it is because the wiles of the devil have not changed. In order to gain access to destroy a family, a community, a city or a country the evil one must first be granted permission to do his dirty work. By getting God-fearing men and women to fear the created and not the Creator, the enemy of life and peace is able to gain the upper hand and sets himself up as god. This can be seen clearly in the garden of Eden where the serpent beguiled Eve to seduce Adam to disobey God and by so doing the serpent gains access to all that once belonged to Adam. The serpent gained power over all of life and began to bring about man’s destruction along with everything created by God.

  1. Adam did not heed the Lord’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and by his disobedience sin entered the world.

Sin came into the world through one person, and death came through sin. So death spread to everyone, because everyone sinned.Romans 5:12 (GW)

Jesus came to regain the authority that Adam lost through his disobedience. Jesus therefore defeated the power the enemy had to run amok in the world. Therefore Satan has to resort to his tried and true tactics to gain power and authority over a group of people. His main modus operandi is to twist the word of God to seduce people into believing that God hates them and is keeping something from them and thereby getting a person to distrust God which makes them an easy target.

Be well-balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the dominion (power, authority, rule) forever and ever. Amen (so be it). 1 Peter 5:8-11 (AMP)
God gives stern warnings to the church and church leaders who refuse to warn His people of impending doom and destruction. Since Satan operates in all areas of life that pertains to humanity why should Christians be limited to only being concerned about one area of life the spiritual? Shouldn’t Christian leaders be encouraging their flocks to be diligent in all areas of life especially since Satan is out to gain authority over them anyway that he can? I think that answer to that is obvious.
The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘Suppose I bring war on this country, and the people of this country choose one of their men and make him their watchman. If he sees the enemy coming to attack the country, he will blow his horn to warn the people. If the people hear the horn and ignore the warning and the enemy comes and takes them, they will be responsible for their own deaths. They heard the sound of the horn but ignored its warning. So they are responsible for their own deaths. If they had taken the warning, they would have saved themselves. “‘But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t blow his horn to warn the people and the enemy comes and kills someone, that watchman must die because of his sin. I will hold him responsible for their deaths.Ezekiel 33:1-6 (GW)

The trumpet has been sounded, you have been warned, take heed to yourself how you shall respond. As for me and this blog I will continue to speak forth the words of the Lord as the Lord gives me the utterance so help me God.

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A Presidential Greeting for the New Year


Official Portrait of President Ronald Reagan.

“I’ve always thought New Year’s Day was an especially American tradition, full of the optimism and hope we’re famous for in our daily lives — an energy and confidence we call the American spirit. Perhaps because we know we control our own destiny, we believe deep down inside that working together we can make each new year better than the old. … Let us renew our faith that as free men and women we still have the power to better our lives, and let us resolve to face the challenges of the new year holding that conviction firmly in our hearts. That, after all, is our greatest strength and our greatest gift as Americans.” —Ronald Reagan

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Same Ol’ Same Ol’


That which has been, is that which is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will be done, and there is no new thing under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9 (BBE) 

The 1960’s ushered in the sexual revolution. They called it the new morality, but it wasn’t new; it was very old. The Greeks and Romans embraced it thousands of years ago, and soon afterwards they were history. It was introduced thousands of years before that in the days of Noah. At that time, God got so disgusted with the filth that He gave the earth a good bath.

And the Lord saw that the sin of man was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts of his heart were evil. And the Lord had sorrow because he had made man on the earth, and grief was in his heart. And the Lord said, I will take away man, whom I have made, from the face of the earth, even man and beast and that which goes on the earth and every bird of the air; for I have sorrow for having made them. But Noah had grace in the eyes of God. Genesis 6:5-8 (BBE) 

With each passing generation, the affairs of the heart continually plot evil and rebellion against God. We are creatures of habit and undoubtedly we will follow in the footsteps of others who have gone before us. It would do us well to study that past and learn lessons from it, but it seems, as history continues to repeat itself, we are slow to learn. Somehow we think that this time it will be different, we can continue do the things that brought ruin to other civilizations and somehow we will escape the same end results.

Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8 (AMP) 

How is the sexual revolution progressing in the 21st century?

Today ‘the enlightened’ have started a new revolution. They have started to mainstream that which God deems abominable, and perverse. What was considered unclean, and unholy, modern man is attempting to make acceptable. In order to ease our collective conscience toward the untoward, we are being told that it is simply an alternate lifestyle and not a deviation from the norm.

We are being told as a society that we should not judge but learn to be accepting of those who do not hold our viewpoints on sexual matters. After all they say it is between them and none of our business. I would agree if these same folks were not forcing me to acknowledge their personal choices and then asking me to suspend my personal beliefs to embrace theirs. I can not nor will I suspend my personal beliefs for that would be denying my belief in God and His laws. Asking me to become lawless to relieve someone else of the guilt they feel because of their own lawlessness is ridiculous, and yet here we are being told to do just that by the so-called ‘enlightened’ among us.

There is only one problem with this thought process, there is still a God who judges all of us according to his laws and standards.

We know that Moses‘ Teachings are good if they are used as they were intended to be used. For example, a person must realize that laws are not intended for people who have God’s approval. Laws are intended for lawbreakers and rebels, for ungodly people and sinners, for those who think nothing is holy or sacred, for those who kill their fathers, their mothers, or other people. Laws are intended for people involved in sexual sins, for homosexuals, for kidnappers, for liars, for those who lie when they take an oath, and for whatever else is against accurate teachings. 1 Timothy 1:8-10 (GW) 

Although many think that there is no God and that we can do as we please, history bears out that bad actions lead to bad results, bad lives, and the destruction of the civil society, in the end eternal death.

As a result the latter part of the 20th century ushered in an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases–some of them like AIDS are deadly. The sexual fears began to multiply. To save the revolution, the idea of safe sex was introduced, but it wasn’t safe–it was just as deadly. So much for utopian dreams!

Instead of trying to relive the errors of past generations, why not attempt to learn from the mistake of others and learn to live rightly? Or is that asking too much of the’ enlightened’?

So as we start  a New Year let us not continue in the same ol’ bad habits from yesteryear, instead learn from mistakes of the past and do not repeat them in the new year. A new year, a new beginning, a new outlook on life, a new lesson to be learned from the past. Happy New Year!

And that is just another view from the nest

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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Cooperation is not Compromise


Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn’t blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won’t cheat, then you know he never will.” John D. MacDonald

When a man walks in integrity and justice, happy are his children after him. PROVERBS 20:7

It seems to me that the only time we hear the word compromise, or the concept of compromise is when the democrats do not have control of one house of the congress or the other. When they controlled both houses plus the White House I do not recall ever hearing the word compromise. Now that the American people voted to put some brakes on this current administration, every congressional impasse is met with the term compromise.

Have you noticed how it is usually the democrats telling the republicans that they need to compromise? If you can cite me examples of democrats willing to compromise with republicans I would welcome the response.

Compromising one’s ethics, integrity, and core values does not move morality and ethics forward, it dilutes them at best and negates them at worst.

Cooperation however can be achieved without compromising one’s principles and values. What we need are more men and women of conviction who will not compromise their values just to get along with the opposition.  With that being said I give you an article written by Debra Burgess. Be sure to stop by her website and show her some comment love.

Eagle out.

Cooperation For Integrity
By Debra Burgess

The time has come to learn what cooperation is. When I research it, I find the meaning to be “working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit”. Something stands out however; there is no synonym for its meaning to compromise.

Looking at historical references we can learn much. The downfall of nations all seem to begin in the heart of those who lead, or are in partnership with leaders. The downfalls begin because someone came into an agreement to compromise from what they knew to be right.

Imagine the possibilities if our leaders could be surrounded by those whose hearts are willing to cooperate but never compromise? Integrity could use some good press these days, but until we value it within ourselves we cannot appreciate its truth in others.

I love to encourage the heart of people to be who they are meant to be in Christ. My hope is anything offered of myself would be pleasing first to my Heavenly Father and secondly to bring a blessing to others.

http://www.debrabee.org

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