Category Where Eagle’s Soar

Wreaking havoc on America

Allen Frederick 1 Comment
Matt Friedeman – Guest Columnist –
On occasion I find articles written that reinforce the philosophy of this blog and I like to share those articles with you. This is one such article. Be sure to check out his webpage at www.InTheFight.com.

Matt Friedeman

There are four “modern horsemen of the apocalypse,” according to Dr. Richard Land in remarks delivered to the annual Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis, and they are “riding forth to wreak havoc and destruction in our society.” Land listed the four as the denial of the sanctity of human life, the rise of hardcore Internet pornography, the radical homosexual agenda and the attempt to undermine marriage, and radical Islamic jihadism.

Scary enough list.  Here’s an even scarier one:

• The inactive, rudderless Church
• Fatherlessness
• Undisciplined prosperity
• The values of popular culture
Let’s take these in reverse order:

The values of popular culture

Popular culture comes to us in many ways, most of them with the unfettered approval of evangelical Christians.  We of the faith watch just as much television as the secular world.  We allow our kids to view MTV just as much, R-rated movies to the same extent, listen to hip-hop and secular rock music, and are just as open to the lowest common denominators in Internet and computer games.

Through these technological media our children, our teens, and none-too-few adults learn the majority of their life lessons about sex, drug use, violence, family, materialism, and peer relationships.  And the lessons are hardly reflective of Judeo-Christian tradition, which receives much less of our time and attention on a daily basis.  Small example — the average television viewing per home is seven hours a day … more American households have televisions than indoor plumbing … the average American preschooler watches an average of four hours of television daily.

Care to guess how much the average household spends in private or family devotions, or how much daily conversation actually passes between parent and teen?

Undisciplined prosperity

Undisciplined prosperity and the development of Mammonites is a curse to any generation.  It is an easy thing to get wrapped up in the pursuit of happiness and to forget that the pursuit of holiness ought to trump the former.  Money, possessions, and comforts tend to fuzz up the clear thinking of a culture until the stern virtues of hard work, frugality, integrity, sacrifice, self-denial, and biblical righteousness — the things that led to the foundation of our prosperity — are shoved to life’s periphery.  The prophets and teachers of Scripture knew this, which is why the Bible talks four to five times as much about money as it does about the vitally imperative topics of prayer or faith.  Undisciplined prosperity that makes “self” the focus instead of God and others becomes the millstone around the neck of a once moral people.

Undisciplined prosperity tends to make a people sloppy, selfish and arrogant.  And it is an age-old problem, as can be seen from this description of Sodom’s sin in Ezekiel 16:49:

Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

Part of this sloppiness becomes the sense of entitlement — the attitude that even if I can’t afford it, I will get it.  Call it debt — whether through personal credit cards or government borrowing.  Debt is no friend to society and, left unchecked, an ultimately lethal enemy. Continue reading “Wreaking havoc on America” →

No Record- by Julie Arduini

Allen Frederick 2 Comments

 

This post is by quest author Julie Arduini a fellow writer at Faithwriters.com. Take some time to stop by the website and read the thousands of posts by fellow travelers. And now for No Record by Julie Arduini.

 

Psalm 130:3: “If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?” NIV

1Corinthians 13: 4-5: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” NIV

MacDonalds sign in Times Square, New York

Image via Wikipedia

 

We went out to dinner as a family moment before my husband left for a work trip. Of all the places to go, we chose McDonalds. I know, big shock with small kids, right? My order is standard, always the chicken wrap with barbeque sauce. Problem is,they don’t agree with me.

 

Case in point: last month I took the kids there for dinner and while talking along I let out a sound that I can’t even define as a burp because the humiliating act had an echo that turned heads. The kids cackled and cackled. They bring it up often, even during this most recent Golden Arches meal.

As our trip to the airport progressed, we paid tolls. I wasn’t even in my husband’s life then and even I recall the same story his older children told from years ago: he went to pay the automatic toll and missed the catch, dropping his money. After all this time, no one forgot.

Same for when we needed an elevator to get my husband to the correct gate. Even our oldest says, “remember when” and tells the tale of when my husband’s older children used to sit on elevator floors. My elevator recollection is from a few years ago when I was in a performance of “Heaven’s Gates and Hell‘s Flames”. My character perished in an elevator accident. If I ever hear the music that accompanied my dramatic death scene, I can assure you I’m off that real elevator!

Embarrassing sounds. Clumsy actions. Uncomfortable moments. Our kids don’t forget those times and most likely, spouses don’t either.

I’m so thankful to serve a God who does not keep a record of our wrongs. It isn’t because He’s ditsy and He forgot, it’s because He loves us so much He chooses not to. As Psalm 130 states, who could stand under such a recollection if the Lord did such a thing?

I’ve been watching online evenings on God.TV. services out of Lakeland, Florida. God is using a man the world would never think of because his record of shame is etched in his skin with colored ink. Todd Bentley by his own account was saved in his drug dealer‘s trailer. He used to cut himself and was an alcoholic.

Then Jesus came.

I blush over a traffic stopping burp. Todd Bentley remembers the smells and sounds of artificial highs. Perhaps your account of deeds lie somewhere in the middle. No matter what you’ve done, are doing, or are even tempted to do, you can live a true clean slate free of shame.

Call on the Lord today. The Lord who forgives. The Lord who is Love.

The Lord who keeps no record of wrongs.

Julie Arduini, http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/, is devoted to writing for Christ in ways that encourage and inspire. Happily married to Tom, they have two children: Brian and Hannah.

@2008 by Julie Arduini

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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Poison Ivy

Allen Frederick 1 Comment
Poison ivy produces urushiol to protect the plant from herbivores. In humans this chemical produces an allergic skin rash, known as urushiol-induced contact dermatitis.

Image via Wikipedia

By Patty Wysong

I have a couple of kids that catch poison ivy very easily and one of them is my teen daughter. Living in the country like we do, there’s an abundance of it but they know where most of it is and stay away from it, so I was surprised when she came to me and showed me her blisters.

“Mom, why do I get it and you don’t?”

I had to laugh at her question. “Because I don’t go where the poison ivy is and you do.”

It was no sooner out my mouth then God flashed the neon ‘Duh!’ sign He has just for me.

Why do some things affect me that don’t bother or affect my Christian sisters? Because I go where poison ivy is and they don’t.

It’s made me, once again, consider where I walk. Am I tip toeing through poison ivy hoping and praying I don’t get it? It would be so much better if I just stayed away from areas where I know the poison ivy grows!

“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 (NAS)

Patty Wysong is a wife and homeschool mom of 5 who is passionate about wrapping lessons in pretty packages that will point others to God.

Blog: http://pattywysong.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com–CHRISTIAN WRITERS–MAKE A WEBSITE

Armageddon and an Independent Palestinian State

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Image via Wikipedia

By Don Costello

There is much talk in the news lately about the formation of a Palestinian state. It has become a major goal of President Bush. I believe that he is making the worst mistake of his Presidency. Biblically the West Bank, as it is called today is part of the land that Almighty God covenanted with Abraham to give his descendants through Isaac. Even more important is the fact that one of the reasons Jesus Christ is coming back at Armageddon is to destroy the people trying to steal the land of Israel away from Him and Israel. Although the Golan Heights are included in that Covenant, I want to focus on the area of the West Bank because that is the area the whole world is trying to make an independent Palestinian state.

A crucial element of this debate for the Bible believing Christian is that the West Bank as it is known today is referred to in Scripture as “Judea” and “Samaria” or “the mountains of Israel”. In 1999, the magazine “Christians for Israel” published an article documenting this entitled, “The Mountains of Israel”, by Karel van Oordt and Pee Koelewijn. There is also a book entitled, “The Mountains of Israel” by Norma Archbold that refers to this.

According to scripture, from the time when Lot and Abraham separated until after God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham lived on the plain of Mamre, which is present day Hebron in the West Bank. The events of Genesis 15 of the cutting of the covenant and the giving of the land occurred at that very place. In these scriptures we see the elements of the ancient Middle Eastern covenant. In Genesis 15:9, the animals are chosen, in verse 10 they are divided and laind against one another and in verses 17 and 18 the participants pass through the divided animals. The purpose for this according to Unger’s Bible Dictionary was to confirm the covenant, “by slaughtering and cutting the victim into halves, between which the parties passed, to intimate that if either of them broke the covenant it would fare with him as with the slain and divided beast.” The element not mentioned in the Genesis passage but most definitely took place at the time of the oath in Ezekiel 47:14 (NIV) where God, “swore with an uplifted hand”, to give the land to Israel. We get that impression from Jeremiah 34:14, which says the LORD will punish those, “which have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof.” The picture we see when all these elements are included is when the LORD was passing through those pieces, He was swearing with an uplifted hand He was going to give Israel the land.

According to Isaiah 62:4, God is married to Israel and the land. The New American Standard Version says, “It well no longer be said to you “”Forsaken”” Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “”Desolate””; But you will be called, “”My delight is in her,”” and your land, “”Married.”” It is no wonder then that the first three verses of Ezekiel 36, which deals with the mountains of Israel, i.e. the West Bank, are laced with a very stern warning from God in the spirit of a jealous husband. Ezekiel 36:5 says the LORD is speaking, “in the fire of my jealouslyagainst the rest of the nationswho appropriated my land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and scorn of soul.” The LORD God in Jeremiah 12:14 (NIV) calls those nations “wicked neighbors” who would “seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel.” Continue reading “Armageddon and an Independent Palestinian State” →

Promises Delivered

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Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”

A View from the nest www.eagleviews.org

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.” (NIV 2 Corinthians 5.17-18 Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 1984)

http://articles.faithwriters.com/reprint-article-details.php?article=4727

uspsThe USPS has a motto well not really a motto- but more or less it has been attributed to that branch of the federal government that nothing was going to hinder the postal worker from delivering his assigned duties. It is comforting to know that our mail system will get our mail to us in a timely manner and when we expect to receive it. Many other support industries have developed over the years to meet the customer’s need for guaranteed on time delivery. UPS and FEDEX just to name the two most prominent in our society.

In my part of the world there is a company called G.O.D. which stands for ’Guaranteed Overnight Delivery’. What an acronym- to call yourself god. The implication being, that like God, they can be counted on to be on time. Some may choose to argue the on-timeliness of God in some circumstances. Let us take a look at one in particular.

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” 4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” John 11:1-11 (NKJV)

Lazarus lie dead in the grave. Word was sent to Jesus that Lazarus was sick. He delayed his coming until Lazarus was already laying in the grave for four days. Mary said to Him, well it is nice that you are here, but it is too late. We wanted you here days ago. Where were you? Well that is not exactly what she said but I am taking literary license here to emphasize a point. From Mary’s perspective Jesus was late. He did not show up immediately when called upon. God did not send his answer overnight.

I do not know about you but I have spent hours sitting around waiting for certain deliveries in my lifetime. We can probably all relate to the lateness of the cable installer. They promise morning delivery which stretches into the early afternoon, sometimes even later. The time waiting seems intense, especially when you are going through a dramatic experience like Mary was with Lazarus. This was a hard time for the ladies to deal with so they called upon Jesus, expecting him to show up overnight, or even better, immediately.

Best BuyThe internet has spawned a whole new shopping experience with many items able to be delivered almost instantaneously. Best Buy and Circuit City in addition to WalMart have implemented order online for in-store pick up in as little as twenty minutes. Some items like music and digital files can be downloaded immediately upon purchase. Even the movie industry is getting in the practice of making full length movies available online for immediate viewing. Perhaps you are familiar with Pay Per View, when you pick a show and a time and instantaneously you are given access to your purchase.

In our hurry up world and what seems like a shrinking patience for waiting, perhaps we can feel like Mary and Martha did on that fateful day when Lazarus lie sick.

In our above illustration with Lazarus however, Jesus did wait. Four whole days he delayed his coming, but when he got there he was right on time. No matter what we may be going through, we are instructed to persevere, because if we hang onto God, he will show up and when he does all will be well. It is when we are in a hurry and not willing to wait on God that we find ourselves in that place where disbelief can arise. If we truly believe he is the son of the living God then we should also know that nothing in life or the next world to come can separate us from the love of God through Christ Jesus. That is a promise delivered.

Have faith in God and wait upon His timing, for no matter when He chooses to show up, He will be right on time. Guaranteed on-time delivery. That is just like GOD.

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)

2yovmk

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