Memories

Well, Christmas is gone, along with a whole lot of money! But money well spent, as long as we remember that the reason we exchange gifts is not for fun, but in remembrance of a little baby born in a Bethlehem stable over 2000 years ago.

I hope you all had a wonderful day spent with loved ones. For all of you soldiers overseas, I hope you took time out of your schedule to realize that you are not over there in vain, and that your sacrifice is remembered and greatly honored by most of us on this side.

I remember all those Christmases that I missed...nothing will bring those back, and that makes these later ones so much more cherished. For our children grow up all too quickly, don't they? Memories are forever- make sure you remember that and make yours worthy of remembering.

I remember in 2000, I was in Kuwait during Christmas. I served in an Air Defense Unit, and I was the Satellite Monitor that watched the skies over Kuwait City, and I had duty that night. I went outside to smoke, and I remember how clear the sky was, and how beautiful the stars were. . I wondered if the skies over the Middle East had been that clear while those Magi crossed the deserts from Persia. One of the benefits of working in a Joint Command Center was that I had a phone that could call any where in the world, so after receiving permission from my British shift supervisor, I called home. Roxann and the kids were in Germany, and she was having a really rough time. She had three kids in diapers, and her plans to return to Ohio were thwarted because she had lost one of the kids passports. She was in a deep, deep, depression, and I felt so helpless. But on that night, by the grace of God, we were able to reach through that heavy fog and help each other see the big picture.

And another Christmas when I was in Korea. This time, I was alone in my barracks room, and had noone to share my misery. Roxann had went home to visit our families in Ohio and Alabama, and I was worried sick that our van was not up to the trip. I tried to focus on school work, etc., but I remember feeling so lonely...and then a Peace like you had never known, or at least I hadn't, settled on me, and I realized that I was never alone! And it was like a huge weight was lifted off of my chest. So I got out of my selfishness, and decided that I was being pitiful. 90 others in my unit were also alone on this Christmas. And 8 of those were "my" soldiers. They were young, and for a lot of them, it was their first Christmas away from home. They looked to me for strength and leadership, and I was in my room having a pity party. So I went to them, and visited them in their rooms. Laughed and joked with them, but most importantly, I listened to them; I let them tell me what they missed the most about home, etc.

So I hope you all made the most of this time with your families. Remember, there were a lot of people that spent Christmas surrounded by people, but were really alone. Soldiers and policemen, firefighters in Florida...they all missed their Christmas so you could safely have yours. And enjoy those pre-dawn wake-ups by the kids...cherish them, because their will come a time when you wished they were there on Christmas morning waking you up at or before the sun came up.

And most of all, thank your God in Heaven, that He allowed His Son to come to us and spend a little time on this old hunk of dirt to show us all the way. Want to know what that "way" is? Jesus said, I Am the Way...

So I hope you all had a joy filled day. Thanks for making this blog so popular this year, and thanks for all of your kind words and comments...and even your criticism. I look forward to another year, and many, many more friends and even more "memories."

Jesse

Extra Bibles

Hey friends, there is an opportunity out there to help missionaries and Pastors in Africa, and this is not asking for money. More new Christians are baptized in Africa every day than the rest of the world combined! Did you know that? Another fun fact, almost all of the Pastors in the tribal villages do not have their own bibles. Some walk for over 20 miles to a neighboring village or missionary to copy portions of scripture on scraps of paper and animal hide. Some use napkins, or any thing that can be written on, as paper is scarce. And that is all these ministers have.

There is a ministry that is dedicated to getting a Bible in the hands of the Christians in Africa. First to every village and town, then to every Pastor, and then to every Christian.

The average American Christian household has 9 bibles in it. They are asking that we donate any extra Bibles to them. Surely we have one to spare. What we would call old, wore out, and out dated, they would call a miracle. Please consider rounding up your extras and donating them to this ministry.

Go to www.bareyourbookshelf.com and register on their website, and then follow the directions there. You can also find a story about this ministry in today’s Faith News Network News Brief.

This is a unique opportunity for us to stand with our Christian Brothers and Sisters and ensure that they receive a complete Bible to study and to use in their worship. Boy, do we take a lot of things for granted, or what?

And the even better news: The Gospel is getting closer to being preached to all peoples, which means we are getting closer to our Blessed Hope, the return of our Lord Jesus Christ!

And then help spread the news to all those you can so they can take it to their churches as well. God bless you all!

I Wonder?

Sometimes when I am meditating or reflecting on God, I begin to wonder about some things and ask some what if's. You know, like what if Jesus had come today, instead of the 2000 years ago. And I find myself really dwelling on the state of The Church today. Not my church, or your church, but The Church. The one that Jesus prayed for His that last night before the crucifixion. The followers He prayed would be one, like He was One with the Father.

but really, what would He say to us today, if He just dropped by to visit?

I wonder what He would tell the Pharisees of our day? Lord the church is full of them. Legalism and pride have decimated the congregation.

I wonder what He would think about all the racism and hate still going on in the world 2000 years after He showed the way of Peace and Love, and Kindness. About the prejudices' and hatefulness from the pews of His Church? I wonder?

I wonder what it is like to spend your first Christmas in Heaven. I wonder if the Angels would mind letting us hear the story from their point of view.

I know, just sentimental thoughts of a young fool, but I am misty eyed thinking about it. And all of the ones I loved so much that have went on to be with Jesus. I am reminded of Whintly Phipps reciting "Go Down Death" and feel sorry for those that would not listen to it because of his skin color.

I wonder how often the angels in heaven gasp at the actions of men, and then gasp again at the Glory of God? I wonder why the ears of men have grown dull and their hearts hardened? And that's just the ones that claim Christ. I also wonder about the ones who have no chance because someone was too shy to share a man called Hope with them? Or about the abused child who languishes because we are "minding our own business".

Its ironic, that we will mind our own business about a child or woman undergoing abuse, but will light the ears of anyone who would listen about a Christian Brother or Sister. Gossip about their clothes, their tithes, or about how they have backslidden because they miss a Sunday at Church. I wonder what Jesus thinks about that?

I wonder why more churches are not feeding the hungry, taking care of orphans and widows, healing the sick, and visiting the prisoner? I wonder why we turn a blind eye to all of the violence and hatred in our world, then rain judgment down upon a Christian brother or sister?

I wonder why sinners believe me when I tell them what God has called me to do, but Christians do not. I wonder why the miracles in our Churches are not brought up when we are evangelizing. I wonder if the Church is even evangelizing at all?

Don't you all ever wonder these things? Take a moment and be silent. Listen. And then wonder. And ask yourself, have I been faithful to my calling? Have I followed Jesus. I mean really followed- that means in loving others, showing kindness to those we wouldn't be caught dead socializing with before our Change.

Following Jesus is so much more than just claiming Him. So much more. And I wonder, am I following Him? Can I humble myself low enough to see, in this age of Me and I?

Are we really following Christ? I mean, really following Him? Jesus said that the world would know His followers by their love for one another. Do people recognize you by your love and kindness toward others?

Are you aware that other people are watching you? In a survey of preachers and workers done by Charisma magazine, did you know that the #1 excuse for people not attending a church was because of the behavior of other Christians?

Out of 1000 people who say they have been saved but do not attend Church, 80% said they no longer attend because they had been hurt by other Church goers. Going deeper, it was the legalists in church that did the most harm.

Pharisees and Legalist's are ever present today. They consider themselves the perfect Christian. You know them, not by their love for other people, but by their "holier than thou" attitudes. These are the ones constantly bragging about how often they pray, how long they pray, where they pray, the money they give, how often they read the Bible, how much they read of the Bible etc. When praying out loud, they try to be the loudest.

And they are the first ones to judge, criticize, point fingers, gossip, and hurt other people.

They put on Christ and take Him off like a jacket, whenever it is convenient to them. They wear a form of Godliness on the outside, but their inside is filthy. Everything Jesus said to the Pharisees in the Gospels apply to them today.

We are to follow Jesus, and to do what He did. Do you know how many sinners Jesus judged or condemned while He was here on Earth? Not one. Not a single one.

do you know who He DID criticize and who's behavior He did condemn? The "church-goers" of His time, the scribes and Pharisees.

So much for being sentimental, huh? But really, have you been hurt in Church? Well I have, and quiet recently. And I am a preacher! I had some awful and hateful things said about me, but you know what? I am still here! I am still standing, and am still doing what God called me to do.

So I wonder, how to address this cancer in our Churches and congregation? I will tell you how.

Love more. Be kind. Have faith. Know that they did the same thing to Christ. He was not welcome in the "religious" establishments of His day, and He would probably not be welcome in a lot of our organizations here. And for that reason, He has already left quiet a few of them.

But be of good cheer! Do not judge all churches like the one that hurt you. Their are true Churches out there doing what God called His Church to do. And there are Christians who love deeply any one, regardless of who they are. And you will know them when you see them. How?

By their Love and Kindness, of Course!

How we celebrate Christmas

Continuing on with our last post, I would like to share how we celebrate Christmas. In these days of mall trampling's and fighting over toys, it seems like America has forgot what we celebrate. Christmas has long been about giving and receiving gifts, and in the process we forgot about The Gift. The Gift that God gave us all those years ago in a small town in Judea called Bethlehem. The Gift was more than just a baby, and became more than just a man, He became our Savior, and will one day soon be our King.

Christmas was supposed to be about giving and receiving gifts and then preparing and eating a feast in honor of Christ, and what He did for us. Just think about how humbling it must have been to leave all of the Glory of heaven to be laid in a feeding trough. And then to put Himself within the limits of a human body, and grow, and then die. We have a hard time relating to any of this, because we seldom give up anything for anybody, let alone die in their place.

Look at the word Christmas. It is a Latin word of a combination of "Christ" and "mass", and has its origins in the Catholic church, meaning "a mass to celebrate Christ", but "mass" can also mean beginning, and Christ literally means "Messiah, or Savior". So for those of us who are not Catholic, in defining the word outside of Catholic lingo, Christmas literally means in secular language "the beginning of our Salvation." Salvation would not exist if Jesus had not had to come. This is explained extensively in the last third of the book of Isaiah, the entire book of Zechariah, and most of Hebrews.

So, how do we celebrate Christmas? Like I said in our previous post, we try to make Christ the focus. This is challenging enough for adults, but with five young boys, it is even harder. Try telling a 7 year old about the story of Christmas, and you will get "Yeah, yeah, but what did I get?" So it is a challenge, but it is easily overcome.

This is what we do. First, we made it clear when we decided to serve Christ full time that Santa Clause had to go. we told our kids the real story of Christopher Kringle, and that was that. Then we began setting our own traditions, and sometimes add a little more of it.

On Christmas Eve, we gather as a family, and I read the story of Jesus' birth from the family Bible. I am a pretty good story teller, so I make this as interesting and fun as I can. And then me and Roxann answer all the questions that we know the answers too, and then we put the kids to bed.

When it comes to presents, we used to go all out. We let our budget decide on how many and what kinds of gifts to buy. But last year, and again this year we decided on three gifts only. we let the kids give us a list of 5-10 things they want, and try to stick with those when possible. We then wrap the three gifts in colors representing the gifts the Magi, or wise men gave on that night. Gold for Gold, Deep red/maroon for myrrh, and earthy brown for frankincense. We also describe these gifts Jesus received and their meanings on Christmas morning.

Now these gifts are only the ones from us. Gifts from grandparents, friends, relatives, etc. are not considered to be our gifts. We then spend the day cooking and singing, and generally praising God. We remind ourselves and the children about why we are celebrating. And then we eat. We devote the day to kindness and love. Of course, we try to do that every day, but go out of our way on that day, and pledge to do the same the rest of the year.

And there you have it. Now, this is not to say that the way we do it is right, or your way wrong, but I hoped to answer the question so many of you have asked about getting the focus of Christmas off of money and on the One that money cannot buy.

I have two more post I am working on, one a sentimental one, and the other on a subject most like to avoid, the one of tithing. With the economy in the shape its in, tithing becomes harder, and around Christmas it becomes even easier to give less and take some for yourself. So we will look at ways to remain faithful while pinching pennies. And it will be all scriptural, and hopefully will ease some of your worries about preachers taking your money and buying yachts, etc.

Until next time, may God rain down blessings on you and your entire family!

Christmas in June?

Our last discussion went kind of well, but not many responses, so I will switch gears for this one.

Many of you have probably seen on the news in the last day or so (It was on Fox and Friends this morning), but a team of scientists think they have finally figured out when Jesus' real birthday was. They did this by studying the stars, and using new information regarding the stars alignment and how fast the galaxies are expanding, have pinpointed a phenomenon that is similar to the one we have been witnessing over the last month.

If any one has noticed the two really bright "stars" outside at dusk that look like you can touch them, well they are not stars at all, but the planets Jupiter and Mars. They line up like this every so often.

So using that data, they have discovered in the year 4 B.C. (which correlates with Luke and Matthews Gospel on the year), these stars lined up one on the top of another, and along with Venus, looked like an arrow was pointing at....can you guess where this is going? Of course it was pointing at Israel. They cannot pinpoint it no further than that, but I would guess that if they could, it would look like, at least from Iran, that it was over Bethlehem. (BTW, Magi are from Iran according to Daniel, where Daniel was "Prince of the Magi and Wise Men")

And the month was June. Previously, for those nerds like me that are very interested when science studies Christianity, scholars thought it was in September. Any astrologer or astronomer would have noticed this phenomenon, but only three went to "check it out".

Now, where did come up with December 25th? Glad you asked. All of you history buffs probably already know this, but for those that don't here is an abbreviated version. A disclaimer: Pharisees and other uneducated people will not agree with this "true" history, but here it is any way.

Emperor Constantine seen a vision of a cross in the sky, and made a new decree: In the Roman Empire, Christianity would be the state religion. As a matter of fact, it would now be the only religion. As a gift to the underground Churches, he gave all of the temples and pagan worship areas, to compensate them for all of the persecution they had undergone.

As would be expected, some of those temple priest's and priestesses were not over joyed with this, so several cults arose. Most of these have become Catholic Doctrine through the years, like praying to Saints, dead people, and the worshiping of the Virgin Mary. Quiet a lot of the rituals got passed along too.

Keep in mind that all of this "integration" did not happen immediately: the True Church worked in the Empire for a long time before finally breaking away and forming Independent Churches again, that were soon drove underground; only this time by their fellow Christians. To put this in perspective, Mary Worship did not become "official" Catholic doctrine until the 1960's Vatican Council. (although the "mother-son" cult was always present, they were considered a sect, or cult for a long time).

OK, one of the Roman Goddesses, Dionysis (not the Greek God of Wine, like on Hercules the series, but another Dionysys), was a fertility goddess. we know the "popular" ones like Zeus, Hades, etc, but their were over 100 fertility goddesses, and Dionysis was one.

Every year, it was said she was born on December 25th and died on the first Friday in April and was resurrected on the following Sunday. Her "familiar" was a rabbit, by the way. Fertility=rabbit, naturally.

Any way, to celebrate her re-birth every year, people decorated trees with green, red and blue and exchanged presents wrapped with green, red, or blue bows.

So you can see how easy it was to "hide" this cult within Christianity until one day a Pope arose who was a member of the cult. The rest is history, and now Christmas is a national holiday in over two-thirds of the world!

Just so some won't be offended, it is not known when the early church celebrated Jesus' birthday or even if they did at all. The Gospel of John was the latest Gospel to be written, and it was thought to have been written for the Church he (John) pastored at Ephesus, and he doesn't mention Jesus' birth, at least directly. The historian Justin mentions only His Resurrection being celebrated, and it was celebrated every Sunday when they met. And since Jesus' birth is really not specifically mentioned at all for several centuries shows me that they either did not think it was that important, or they thought His death and Resurrection was more important.

So, feel free to comment, or add what history you know to fill in the gaps, because the spread of "cults" into Catholic doctrine is much, much, more complicated and drawn out than can be allowed here. And leave us your thoughts about whether you think this is even important at all. And is Jesus' birth as important than His death and Resurrection?

There is actually controversy over this scientific inquiry. The pagan celebration I told you about is very well docuemented, but folks will argue that December 25th is "in the Bible". Check out YouTube and you will find a lot of the people that argue that Jesus' birth was December 25th are the same that will tell you the KJV of the Bible is the only inspred version of the Word. (Never mind the original scriptures arguement, they will argue with a telephone pole).

But you will also find lots of Christians refusing to celebrate on this day BECAUSE of the orgins of the holiday. And thats fine with me. I don't think you will go wrong by dedicating a day to focus on Jesus coming to the Earth. That is, as long as Jesus is the focus. My next post will be about how me and my family celebrate Christmas, and yes we do it on the 25th of December. If God knows everything there is to know, and has a personal relationship with me, then He surely knows whether I am celebrating Christ's birth or a pagan fertility goddess!

Until next time, Peace and Blessings on you and your family!

Jesse

Rebuke

Now it is time for our quick lesson on rebuking. I said in the last post that this was a new one for me, and I share it gladly with you.

Us Pentecostals will rebuke anything. And I am not saying that to be funny, but if you are from a Pentecostal congregation, you know what I am talking about. People go up front, and the preacher, Elders, and even a prophet or two start anointing with oil, laying hands on you, and rebuking whatever is bothering you. You know, like "I rebuke this sickness in the Name of Jesus, I rebuke this enemy, and I rebuke this devil or that devil."

That is all fine and good, but we have been doing it wrong. The wrong word in those sentences is the small word "I". Now "I" gets us in enough trouble by itself, but that is another lesson all together. You see, we have no business going out and fighting with any demon, devil, or Satan himself. As TD Jakes says, the best way to beat the devil is to "not get into the ring."

Now don't get me wrong, you will be involved in some battles. And God has equipped you to win those battles. Read Ephesians Chapter 6 and review the Armor of God. Jesus tells us that "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven" . But these should all be defensive battles! These should all be responses to attacks on you.

A little disclaimer, one sure way to know that you are doing the right thing for God is if you are being attacked by the devil. This is why Christians always seem to be under attack and people living like hell have such an easy go at it (most of the time). They nailed Jesus Himself to a cross, after all, and He promised some of us would "drink" the same cup as Him, which is die for our beliefs.

But again, Christians are equipped to deal with these attacks, and God allows them to happen. God allows them to happen for various reasons, but the main ones are the testing of your Faith. This includes a smorgasbord of others, such as drawing you closer to Him, teaching you a lesson in humility, and strengthening you for future battles. But a lot of Christians fail miserably at these tests, and Jesus is always there to pick us up and wipe the dust off, and then send us out again. We fail because we do not use our equipment right. The armor of God is another lesson entirely that could never be put in one post, but today I want to talk about an offensive weapon greater than any others, and that is the Word.

See, when we talk about "I rebuke you Satan in the name of Jesus", we are using OUR word. Sure, Jesus said whatever we ask in His Name, He would give it to us, but study a little more and you will see that He was not talking about this, but something else.

Now, lets look at our text: Jude Verse 9. "Yet Michael the Archangel, when he was disputing with the Devil in a debate about Moses body, did not dare bring an abusive condemnation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

Now, lets get you a little background. Moses went on a mountain to die, and they never find his body, even though Joshua allowed the people to look for it (Deut Chapter 34). The story of Satan and Michael fighting over the body comes from an Apocryphal book of the Bible that is not included in our current canon.

The story goes that God sent the strongest angel He had ever created, Michael, down to earth to retrieve Moses' body. If you remember from Revelation, Michael is also the battle leader, or warrior, that leads the angels in the last battles. So he is a pretty powerful angel. When he arrived on the mountain, Satan met him there, and they "disputed", or argued over his body. Satan used some pretty rough language, promises, and blasphemy to convince Michael to allow him to have the body of Moses. Michael refuses to confront him out of fear of disrespecting God. God has withheld the pleasure of defeating Satan for Himself, and actually does it twice during the end times. All Michael would say was "the Lord Rebuke You!", and Satan immediately fled because he thought that God may actually show up Himself.

If the strongest angel (other than Satan) ever created refuses to rebuke Satan, should we? In every direct confrontation in the Bible between Satan and someone else, what defeats him? Think about that for a second. Think about these direct occasions where Satan did not send a demon or evil spirit, but left his customary place of accusing the Saints before God's throne and directly confronted somebody: Eve, Job, Jesus, and Michael the Archangel.

The answer is God's Word. Cursed Eve, restored Job, Glorified Jesus, and allowed Michael.

Want to know how powerful God's Word is? Have you seen the sun move from its place since He said "let there be light?" If your a woman and had a baby, did it hurt? When it rains, are there still rainbows?

The Lord rebuke you. Not I, not we, not in Jesus name I, or we, but The Lord Rebuke you.

You would be amazed at the results of believing and using this phrase. Now, this is a hard pill for some of you Pharisees to swallow. You like thinking you have all of this power and can single handily whip any demon, devil, or even Satan himself. You like thinking you can push around a supernatural being by yourself.

But our power comes from the Word, which comes from God. YOU have no power on your own. Your heads have become so swelled that it makes it hard for anyone to share your pew seat.

The Word. His Word. Your power.

The Lord Rebuke you! Try it, believe it, or continue getting knocked on your hiney. Your choice.

Admitting defeat, and future lessons.

Just a quick hit to admit defeat! My Alabama Crimson Tide was defeated today by the Florida Gators, and will now likely play in the Sugar Bowl. It was a great game, and I hope some of you watched it. A solid performance by two very good teams. It was one of those games that you hated to see anyone lose, but at the end somebody had too. So a mighty congratulations goes out to the Florida Gators!

Small message for Coach Bob Stoops: As a Christian, you should know that unsportsmanlike conduct is not Christlike, and as the coach, you should set the example.

Now, in the next day or so, I am going to be posting a teaching that I just learned myself today. And that is how to defeat the enemy, the devil. For those that don't believe in a real devil, you should follow along too. It can't hurt, and it can definitely help. See, I have been going at it all wrong. I have fought the devil hand and tooth; especially the last couple of months. I have been going at it all wrong. My spiritual mentor set me straight today, and I will be passing it along to you within the next few days.

So, your assignment: Read the Book of Jude. It is towards the end of the New Testament, and is very short. You should be able to read it in about 10 or so minutes.

And this is the thought I want you to keep in mind: Its all in the rebuke; we have been doing it wrong (especially us Pentecostals)

Until then, God Bless and keep you. May He rain down blessings on you that fill your cup to overflowing, and bubble forth from you and infect all of those around you! (Say that to yourself, and believe it, and then look out!)

Comments and Questions

Hey guys and gals, thought I would post some admin things while waiting on the Alabama- Florida football game. Roll Tide, by the way.

Please, use the comment link at the end of each post as often as you like. You can even disagree! Just keep it clean and no vulgar language. Also post your questions there; that way we can share with everyone else! And I don't get 1000 e-mails a day on my blackberry! An "interactive" site requires you to interact too, not just me. I WILL respond to all, except vulgar ones, which will be deleted.

I encourage all Bible or God question's! I will do my best to answer them, and not in a Pharisee "holier than thou" way. Directly from the Bible, and not a specific church's point of view. Of course, if a church is in direct line with the Bible, it should be the same. But then again, we would not have churches every 100 feet in America that hates each other and think all others are going to hell.

Listen-getting to heaven is easy, and no church can get you there. Only by the BLOOD can you be saved. If Church could get you to heaven, Jesus would not have had to die, He could have just started a church! But Church IS important. It is an institution of God. God only "built" three holy institutions: Israel, Marriage, and the Church. Look at what Satan attacks the most- Israel, Marriage, and the Church. And all three are made up of PEOPLE, consecrated by God.

It sounds simple- so why isn't everyone saved? Because God is holy, and they would rather not be. Too much fun down here, right. Look, you are only down here for a short while, and eternity is a long...long...LONG time. And I have a blast being saved! If you are a miserable Christian, you have missed something along the way! Well, it is time to go watch an Elephant run over an alligator...ROLL TIDE!

Horses and the Good Lord

Well, to say traffic has picked up on here would be an understatement! Thanks for all of comments. I may actually get around to answering some of your questions as well. I hope you are all doing and feeling well. I thought I would post real quick before finishing up an accounting project for school.

It looks like I will be buying a horse tomorrow- a beautiful 18 month old buckskin filly. I should be riding her by Spring if I can get my back to working again. I tell you, it has never hurt this bad until they "fixed" it, ha. Well, at least it keeps me occupied.

Now to the Good Lord. The Great I AM, El Shaddai, Elohim. It looks like He is preparing the way for His coming. Keep a close watch on the news, and re-read Daniel and Revelation. Then quickly skim the last part of Ezekiel and all of Zechariah. Looks like CNN headlines, doesn't it? But for those of us that are ready, keep a watch on that Eastern Sky, because it shouldn't be long. Now mind you, not immediate. There are still a few things that need to happen. Scholars the world over have always wondered where the US was in the end times, and why we did not come to the aid of Israel. There are two lines of thoughts: that we have failed as a nation and are out of the picture, or that we are the Eagle that protects Israel on her way to Petra while they are fleeing the Anti-chirst's persecution.

It looks like it could swing either way friends- if China cashed in all of its treasuries with the credit market froze, the US as we know it would cease to exist. Even our great military would grind to a halt, because it is now financed by credit.

But be of good cheer! Our Lord is in control, and is coming for us! For those left behind- feel free to use this blog as a reference. I hope to put some actual teachings out there so those non-Christians can understand what I am talking about. Even a lot of Christians do not know a whole lot about end time prophecies, so it could help them too! Until next time Shalom and God Bless!

Jesse

New Kentucky Law

I wanted to post this news blast real quick. I think this is awesome! Jesse

Kentucky's Anti-Terror Law Stresses 'Dependence on God'

A Kentucky lawmaker believes God is the state's first line of defense against terrorism.

In legislation organizing the state's Homeland Security division, state Sen. Tom Riner tacked on a provision that lists the agency's "dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth" before its other duties, which include analyzing terror threats and distributing millions of dollars in federal grants.

The department is also required to credit God in its annual reports and to post a plaque at the entrance of the state Emergency Operations Center with an 88-word statement that begins, "The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God."

Riner, a Southern Baptist minister, said acknowledging the state's need for God's protection is appropriate. "This is recognition that government alone cannot guarantee the perfect safety of the people of Kentucky," Riner told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Some lawmakers say crediting God distracts from the department's mission. "It's very sad to me that we do this sort of thing," said state Sen. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, who is a frequent critic of mixing church and state. "It takes away from the seriousness of the public discussion over security, and it clearly hurts the credibility of this office if it's supposed to be depending on God, first and foremost." But Riner says keeping Kentucky safe is too big a job for the government alone. "Government itself, apart from God, cannot close the security gap," he said. "The job is too big for government."

(Source: Charisma online)

Still Thankful

First of all, I need to add a disclaimer. In my previous post about your church only asking for your attendance and tithe check, I want you to know that I was not talking about any specific church. Of course with a blog that has over 1500 subscribers, you are going to say something occasionally to offend someone, and this was not the comment that I would have thought would, but it did. So accept my apology in that regard. Their are however churches out there that don't ask much from their members, and if THAT offends you, you probably go to one. I was simply contrasting that we in America take Church for granted. Christian in other countries are arrested, tortured, and even killed for attending church. And you know what? They attend any way. They may not go on Sunday at 10am and 6pm and Wednesday at 7pm like the Bible says (I am being sarcastic, please no hateful e-mails- really I know what the Bible says), but they go any way. But alas, I digress.

I must admit, that my church attendance has not actually been very Pharisee like itself. As a matter of fact, after my last flare up was over, I only went a couple of times. I preached on Sunday at a different church, went to my home church Sunday night, and then skipped Wed. night. Actually I don't remember if I did or not, but lets just say my joy in attending my current Church has went away. I attended a few weeks after my flare up, and then have not been back. As a matter of fact, I am resigning my membership their and moving on to what God has for me next. Why, you ask? None of your business, really. There was some conflict, and I asked God to open some new doors for me if He wanted me to move on, and He has opened several! Leave it to the Great I Am to give you some awesome employment options!

I actually would like to go to Dallas and to the Potter's House Church there, but the Lord says no, they don't need another preacher working from there. Sorry Bishop Jakes! You will have to get Roxann's Dumplings another time, ha.

Any way, I did not go to church this Sunday either- I had back surgery Saturday at the VA Clinic in Lexington. I guess it was more like a procedure, but boy did it feel major! They could not use anesthesia because they needed to know which nerve to "burn" (BTW I had microwave ablation of some spinal nerves). Can I just tell you it hurt! So Roxann and the kids went to the Church of our neighbors, Seven Pines Pentecostal Church while I enjoyed the Potters House Live from my computer screen. They liked it- the boys loved it, and I will try it out tomorrow night.

Back to my back. By Monday, I felt pretty good, so me and a guy named Red, who is my handy man that I hired to help take care of this place and who will also be the full time caretaker of our horse farm (more on that in another blog). So we moved my office and study downstairs into the basement, and then cleaned up my wood shop/garage. Felt really good. Called the Pastor of our old Church to try to explain why we were resigning, and again she refused to listen- I was wrong, and that was that. Its hard to argue with someone who is convinced that their position makes them right 100% of the time. So I stayed up all night in prayer (again, and for the same reasons as before). Then God told me what to do.

Remember in a previous post when I said what true worship was- adoration of God. To Adore your Creator. I put on a song by the Gaither Vocal Band called "Worthy the Lamb", and I just sat back and adored my Lord and Creator. And God gave me a message to give to my Pastor. I typed it up, and mailed it out. Which is what He told me to do. Not to speak-words are worthless when they are not listened to. So now she has a letter penned directly from God, and she will know exactly what to do next.

So, by this time Roxann is awake, and there is a good amount of snow on the ground, so she asked me to remove the snow from the van and drive down the road to see if it was safe enough for her to drive. Boy the things you do for love! So it was, she left, and I went back to prayer.

Kids did not have school because of snow-oh great, I have been awake for two full days and nights, and was really looking forward to sleeping while they were at school! So I wait until they get up, fix them breakfast, and Tyler offers to be the boss so I can sleep. He said, "Dad you look like death walking-like Spawn from my comic book". So I took him up on it and went to sleep. And boy, I slept like the dead. Me and my cat Sheba both didn't move for nine hours....at all.

Now back to my back-see there is a method to my madness! When I woke up, it hurt. Badly. Very Badly. I called the Pain Clinic where I had the procedure done and they said don't worry, your fine as long as there is no bulging or spinal fluid leaking. Now bu now, yall know my luck right. Of course, I had both. On all four puncture sites. So they said whatever you do, don't apply heat. So I take the heating pads I already had on off (ok, stop laughing), and then they said come in immediately. Screw that! I'm tired of doctors. So here I am in another sleepless night-this time because of pain. I can take no pain killers-you know us former addicts know better. It only takes one, and then there goes the vicious cycle all over again. And really friends, my former Pastor thinks that is why I am leaving the church anyway, that I have started doing them again, so it would be easy to go back. I have a stack of prescriptions a quarter of an inch thick I haven't gotten filled (wonder how much those are worth-kidding, no e-mails pleas), so why not?

I'll tell you why not. Did Jesus have pain killers when He was strapped to that Roman whipping post? NO I am sure His back hurt a whole lot worse than mine.

I thought about trying the vinager and gaul thing, but since I have no idea what it is, I'll have to pass. The Greek word for it seems to be "sour wine", but my Greek is a little rusty, and I don't like good wine, so sour wine will just have to wait as well. Now a good shot of Jack Daniels maybe. Look, I am just kidding again- remember I am the preacher that listens to AC/DC! I have a little bit of a sense of humor, and have not had a drink of alcohol in a really, really long time. SO for those of you critics and Pharisees that just take the negatives from these post to use as ammunition against me- there you go. By the way, Jack Daniels used to cost $41.00. That was another joke, but a rather cruel one. The one it was intended for knows exactly where it came from. Oh yeah, $41.00 was also the amount of the tithe from my kids birthday money. They gave me the money, I wrote a check, and was told I stole from God! Did that sound bitter? I must pray some more, because I told the Lord I was over that.

OK, thats it for me tonight. This was just me rambling since some of you said you missed my humorous post's from the old blog on myspace. I hope there was some lessons in it too, and not about the price of Jack Daniels. I have no idea what it cost now, and do not care to know, but since 100 or so of you comedians are going to tell me anyway, I'll post it next time. BTW, welcome to the new subscribers from the desert paradise of Iraq. I was with you the first time 108th, and I would be lieing if I told you I wished I was with you now. I miss you guys and gals, but not that much! Jeez, you almost got me killed last time. But I will send you the Bibles as promised- they will be in Arabaic, so I need to figure out how to "camo" them so customs don't burn them. Give one to the gold dealer with one eye-he'll know who its from. He will curse you and yell, but will keep it. He's got good prices too! Sandy, you know the one I am talking about, he asked you for a piece of your hair! I pray for your protection daily.

One last note, the missionary from Northern Iraq is back in country now. His family is safe. Thanks for the prayers. Sorry this post is so long, but I hope I kept you entertained. It is now time to go wake the kiddos up for school and then go meet with a Preacher who is looking for a youth Pastor in good ole Anneville Kentucky.

Oh yeah..ROLL TIDE