Poll finds more Americans believe in devil than Darwin

DALLAS (Reuters Life!) - More Americans believe in a literal hell and the devil than Darwin's theory of evolution, according to a new Harris poll released on Thursday.

82% of Americans believe in God, 79% believe in miracles, 75% believe in heaven, 72% believe Jesus is God, 62% believe in hell and the devil. 42% believe in evolution.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKN2922875820071129?sp=true

Anti-Christian Crusade

" ...while Hollywood can appear to be on a crusade to defame Christianity, it would do well to remember that it is because of Christian civilization that they are even able to make movies in the first place.Not only is Christianity fundamentally responsible for what many a Western liberal takes for granted — that is, the freedom and advancements of Western civilization — but also for much of the historical record from which movie-makers are able to exploit, warp, and subsequently rake in millions, was compiled by Christians. It is no small irony that the one single solitary manuscript that contains the text of Beowulf was written by a monk, and preserved in a monastery for centuries."

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDU5MGIwYWJlOTQ3OWE2MjNjN2E2MzcyMjFkYWIxMmM=

We the people

This is American history that each American should be interested in. Why? Because if things do not change in the near future there is going to be a major shift that will impact every American citizen. Christians need to wake up and smell the coffee...

Thomas Paine said it best.

"It has been thought," he wrote in The Rights of Man in 1791, "…that government is a compact between those who govern and those who are governed; but this cannot be true, because it is putting the effect before the cause; for as man must have existed before governments existed, there necessarily was a time when governments did not exist, and consequently there could originally exist no governors to form such a compact with. The fact therefore must be, that the individuals themselves, each in his own personal and sovereign right, entered into a compact with each other to produce a government: and this is the only mode in which governments have a right to arise, and the only principle on which they have a right to exist."

Thus, Paine and others of the Revolutionary Era reasoned, any institution made up by and of humans - from governments to churches to corporations - must be subordinate to individual living people in terms of the rights and powers held by the institution.

Because of the unique frailties and depths of passion unique to humans, just after the United States Constitution was ratified Thomas Jefferson and James Madison began a campaign to amend it with a 12-point explicit statement that would clearly and unambiguously place humans - who had created government - above their creation. This was the birth of what would become the Bill of Rights, and it originally had twelve - not ten - protections for citizens’ rights.

On December 20th, 1787, Jefferson wrote to James Madison about his concerns regarding the Constitution. He said, bluntly, that it was deficient in several areas. "I will now tell you what I do not like," he wrote. "First, the omission of a bill of rights, providing clearly, and without the aid of sophism, for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, restriction of monopolies, the eternal and unremitting force of the habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury in all matters of fact triable by the laws of the land, and not by the laws of nations."

Such a bill protecting natural persons from out-of-control governments or commercial monopolies shouldn’t just be limited to America, Jefferson believed. "Let me add," he summarized, "that a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular; and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference."

The following year, Jefferson wrote about his concerns to several people. In a letter to Mr. A. Donald, on February 7th, 1788, he defined the items that should be in a bill of rights: "By a declaration of rights, I mean one which shall stipulate freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of commerce against monopolies, trial by juries in all cases, no suspensions of the habeas corpus, no standing armies. These are fetters against doing evil, which no honest government should decline."

Jefferson kept pushing for a law, written into the constitution as an amendment, which would guarantee liberties for citizens, prevent companies from growing so large they could dominate entire industries or have the power to influence the people’s government, and reduce the possibility of the nation being taken over by a military coup.

On February 12th, 1788, he wrote to Mr. Dumas about his pleasure that the US Constitution was about to be ratified, but also expressed his concerns about what was missing from the Constitution. He was pushing hard for his own state to reject the Constitution if it didn’t protect people from the dangers he foresaw.

"With respect to the new Government," he wrote, "nine or ten States will probably have accepted by the end of this month. The others may oppose it. Virginia, I think, will be of this number. Besides other objections of less moment, she [Virginia] will insist on annexing a bill of rights to the new Constitution, i.e. a bill wherein the Government shall declare that, 1. Religion shall be free; 2. Printing presses free; 3. Trials by jury preserved in all cases; 4. No monopolies in commerce; 5. No standing army. Upon receiving this bill of rights, she will probably depart from her other objections; and this bill is so much to the interest of all the States, that I presume they will offer it, and thus our Constitution be amended, and our Union closed by the end of the present year."

By mid-summer of 1788, things were moving along and Jefferson was helping his close friend James Madison to write the Bill of Rights. On the last day of July, he wrote to Madison: "I sincerely rejoice at the acceptance of our new constitution by nine States. It is a good canvass, on which some strokes only want retouching. What these are, I think are sufficiently manifested by the general voice from north to south, which calls for a bill of rights. It seems pretty generally understood, that this should go to juries, habeas corpus, standing armies, printing, religion, and monopolies."

But on the issues of banning a standing army and blocking corporations from gaining monopolistic control over industries, Jefferson was getting resistance. The nation had just fought a bloody war against England, and there was little sentiment for completely dismantling the army. And the Federalists who were in power - a party largely made up of what Jefferson called "the rich and the well born" - were opposed to government constraints on business activities.

Thus only ten of his twelve visions for a Bill of Rights - all except "freedom from monopolies in commerce" and his concern about a permanent army - were incorporated into the actual Bill of Rights, which James Madison shepherded through Congress and was ratified as the first ten amendments to the constitution on December 15, 1791.

Monopolies as persons

As the new country grew, so did its institutions. Trading companies, banks, and eventually railroads all used the corporate form to conduct business, reduce shareholder liability, and accumulate profits. America boomed through the early 19th Century, then experienced a severe economic depression in the decade just before the Civil War, then boomed again, starting in the post-war years of the late 1860s.

And then a curious thing happened.

The stage was set when, just after the Civil War on July 9, 1868, three-quarters of the states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution as part of a set of laws to end slavery.

The intent of Congress and the states was clear: to provide full constitutional protections and due process of law to the now-emancipated former slaves in the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment’s first article says, in its entirety:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Along with the Thirteenth Amendment ("Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude … shall exist within the United States") and the Fifteenth Amendment ("The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude"), the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed that freed slaves would have full access to legal due process: "equal protection of the laws."

Corporations aspire to personhood

During this same period, because everybody understood Paine and Jefferson’s argument that human-made institutions must be subordinate to humans themselves; virtually every state had laws on the books that regulated the behavior of corporations.

The corporate form is, after all, just a legal structure to facilitate the conversion of products or services into cash for stockholders. As Buckminster Fuller wrote in his brilliant essay The Grunch of Giants, "Corporations are neither physical nor metaphysical phenomena. They are socioeconomic ploys-legally enacted game-playing-agreed upon only between overwhelmingly powerful socioeconomic individuals and by them imposed upon human society and its all unwitting members."

Thus, states made it illegal for corporations to participate in the political process: politicians were doing the voters’ business, and corporations couldn’t vote, so it didn’t make sense they should be allowed to try to influence votes. States made it illegal for corporations to lie about their products, and required that their books and processes always be open and available to government regulators. States and the Federal government claimed the right to inspect companies and investigate them when they caused pollution, harmed workers, or created hazards for human communities, even if in the early years that right was unevenly used.

These constraints and oversights had been a thorn in the side of the barons of trade and industry from the earliest days of the new American republic. But what to do about it?

With the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, the owners of the what were then America’s largest and most powerful corporations - the railroads - figured they’d finally found a way to reverse Paine’s logic and no longer have to answer to "we, the people." They would claim that the corporation is a person. They would claim that for legal purposes, the certificate of incorporation declares the legal birth of a new person, who should therefore have the full protections the voters have under the Bill of Rights.

It was an amazing irony, given that one of Jefferson’s original proposed Amendments was an explicit ban on corporations becoming so large as to gain monopoly power and be able to easily crush or stifle small, local entrepreneurs. But, setting the irony aside, the railroads threw massive resources into their new campaign to be given full human rights.

Acting on behalf of the railroad barons, attorneys for the railroads repeatedly filed suits against local and state governments that had passed laws regulating railroad corporations. They rebelled against restrictions, and most of all they rebelled against being taxed.

The main tool the railroad’s lawyers tried to use was the fact that corporations had historically been referred to under law not as "corporations" but as "artificial persons." Based on this, they argued, corporations should be considered "persons" under the free-the-slaves Fourteenth Amendment and enjoy the protections of the constitution just like living, breathing, human persons.

Using this argument for their base, the railroads repeatedly sued various states, counties, and towns claiming that they shouldn’t have to pay local taxes because different railroad properties were taxed in different ways in different places and this constituted the creation of different "classes of persons" and was, thus, illegal discrimination under the Fourteenth Amendment.

For almost twenty years, these arguments did not succeed.

In 1873, the Supreme Court made its first explicit comment on the Fourteenth Amendment. The Amendment’s "one pervading purpose," Justice Samuel F. Miller wrote in the majority opinion, "was the freedom of the slave race, the security and firm establishment of that freedom, and the protection of the newly-made freeman and citizen from the oppression of those who had formerly exercised unlimited dominion over him."

The railroads, however, had a lot of money to pay for lawyers, and railroad lawyer S. W. Sanderson had the reputation of a pit bull. Undeterred, the railroads again and again argued their "corporations are persons" position all the way to the Supreme Court.

The peak year for their legal assault was 1877, with four different cases reaching the Supreme Court in which the railroads argued that governments could not regulate their fees or activities, or tax them in differing ways, because governments can’t interfere to such an extent in the lives of "persons" and because different laws and taxes in different states and counties represented illegal discrimination against the persons of the railroads under the Fourteenth Amendment.

By then, the Supreme Court was under the supervision of Chief Justice Morris Remick Waite, himself a former railroad attorney. Associate Justice Stephen Field, who was so openly on the side of the railroads in case after case that he annoyed his colleagues, also heavily influenced the court. In each of the previous four cases, the Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment was not intended to regulate interstate commerce and therefore not applicable. But in none of those cases did Waite or any other Justice on the court muster a majority opinion on the issue of whether or not railroad corporations were "persons" under the constitution, and so Miller’s "one pervading purpose" of the Fourteenth Amendment (to free slaves) prevailed, and year after year, the railroads were told that they’re not persons.

Having lost four cases in one year took a bit of the wind out of the sails of the railroads, and there followed a few years of relative calm. The railroads continued to assert they were "persons," but states and localities continued to call them "artificial persons" and pass laws regulating their activities.

For twenty years corporate personhood was debated. Across America, politicians were elected repeatedly on platforms that included the regulation of corporations, particularly the railroads. But the legal fight continued - and in 1886 the railroad hit paydirt.

The Supreme Court ruled on an obscure taxation issue in the Santa Clara County vs. The Union Pacific Railroad case, but the Recorder of the court - a man named J. C. Bancroft Davis, himself formerly the president of a small railroad - wrote into his personal commentary of the case (known as a headnote) that the Chief Justice had said that all the Justices agreed that corporations are persons.

And in so doing, he - not the Supreme Court, but its clerical recorder - inserted a statement that would change history and give corporations enormous powers that were not granted by Congress, not granted by the voters, and not even granted by the Supreme Court. Davis’s headnote, which had no legal standing, was taken as precedent by generations of jurists (including the Supreme Court) who followed and apparently read the headnote but not the decision.

What is especially ironic about this is that Davis knew the Court had not ruled on this issue. We found a handwritten note in the J.C. Bancroft Davis collection in the Library of Congress, from Chief Justice Waite to reporter Davis, explicitly saying, "we did not meet the constitutional issues in the case." (In other words, the Court had decided the case on lesser grounds, which it always prefers to do when possible.)

Yet Davis wrote that the constitutional issue of corporate personhood had been decided, and his headnote was published the year Waite died, most likely after Waite’s death. The railroads were persons, he wrote (in the headnote), implying that they’re entitled to the same rights as persons. And Davis attributed this new legal reality to Chief Justice Waite who had specifically, in writing, disavowed it (although that note wouldn’t become public for over a hundred years - it’s now on my website).

Another great irony of this event is that the Bill of Rights was designed to protect human persons because of their vulnerability in relations with other human persons who may be much more powerful. But corporations are bestowed with potential immortality, can change their identity in a day, or even tear off parts of themselves and instantly turn those parts into entirely new "persons." Yet regardless of all these superhuman powers, corporations are now considered persons.

These non-living, non-breathing persons are now, according to the pronouncements of their own attorneys and spokespeople who cite the headnotes of the Santa Clara County case, fully entitled to the protections that Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wrote into the Bill of Rights to shield human persons from abuse by such powerful institutions as governments. Even the American Civil Liberties Union, in a recent and misguided effort, argued before the Supreme Court that corporations should have the free speech right to lie (or say anything else they want) that’s granted to humans by the First Amendment.

A few of the world’s largest corporations referenced Santa Clara and successfully claimed the protection of the First Amendment, then lobbied Congress and the FCC to relax local ownership rules so they could take control of our media. Once that was done, they claimed First Amendment free speech rights to tell us whatever serves their interest and call it "news" without consideration of its truthfulness or having to worry about giving fair and equal time to other viewpoints. They claim the protection of the Fourth Amendment (search and seizure) so they can prevent the EPA and OSHA from inspecting factories for environmental or labor violations without first obtaining the corporation’s permission - which they say can be withheld for any reason.

They now have the protection of the Fifth Amendment so they are protected from double jeopardy and don’t have to answer questions about their own crimes. They now have the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment so they can sue local towns or counties or states that try to pass laws to protect local small businesses against their predations.

The structure for this displacement of humans by corporations under the constitution has been in place since 1886, but only since the 1980s have our largest corporations aggressively used the courts to claim human rights. (Interestingly, small and medium-sized corporations almost never use this argument: to them if corporate personhood vanished nothing would change.)

But a human backlash is now developing.

In ten Pennsylvania townships, the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) has helped local governments pass ordinances denying corporate personhood in order to block large corporate factory farms from setting up in areas previously the sole territory of family farms. In the city of Point Arena, California, voters passed a resolution declaring corporate personhood a threat to democracy, and encouraging a debate on it by other communities.

The Woman’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), America’s oldest and most prestigious women’s rights group (founded in 1919 by Jane Addams, with two Nobel Prize Winners as past presidents), declared at their July, 2002 annual meeting the kick-off of a three-year "Abolish Corporate Personhood" educational and legislative campaign.

And elected officials across the nation are discovering that meaningful campaign finance reform, effective environmental protections, and human-friendly health-care will only happen when corporations can no longer use the extraordinary power of the Bill of Rights to insinuate themselves into politics and legislation.

An internet search on the phrase "corporate personhood" will find thousands of sites discussing or devoted to the topic, and models of legislation to remedy the error of 1886.

But the first step, as always, is awakening people to the root cause of the problems we face - the use of corporate personhood by a handful of the world’s largest enterprises to insinuate themselves into governments and seize control of legislative and regulatory agendas. As enough voters learn the history and realize the consequences of this, the solution - ending corporate personhood - will become more and more possible, and Paine’s and Jefferson’s original idea of democracy representing "we, the people" will come back to life.

This article is copyright 2002 by Thom Hartmann, and largely excerpted from Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights by Thom Hartmann, published by Rodale Books, 2002.

Amazing Grace

New Film Amazing Grace Highlights Christian Role in Abolitionist Movement

MEDIA ADVISORY, Nov. 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- The release on DVD last week of the film Amazing Grace, about the life of British abolitionist William Wilberforce, should help dispel one of the greatest lies secularists continue to tell themselves: That it was the atheist "free thinkers" of the Enlightenment who led the abolitionist cause to ban slavery in Europe.
The truth is precisely the opposite.

http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/418984866.html

Faith

In my last post a few post below I spoke of 'Gods ways.' Today I would like to springboard from that thought just a bit more.

When Jesus came into His home town of Nazereth He could not do very much in the way of the supernatural because of their unbelief. Apistia in the Greek. Not a good thing because it limits what will take place in the way of the supernatural. Think about it, here is Almighty God in Christ and He can't do mighty works because of their unbelief? What!?

Apparently there is some sort of a spiritual dynamic that limits God when their is Apistia present. Some sort of agreement of the Holy Trinity to limit actions of the supernatural in the presence of unbelief. There is no where in scripture where we see or learn of this agreement, but it must have taken place because we see evidence that alludes to an agreement...

Matthew 13:58And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

The reason? BECAUSE of THEIR unbelief. Apistia strikes again in the next few verses of Scripture and effects the supernatural-Jesus uses this same word apistia-unbelief.

Matthew 17:19-21
19Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief (Your apistia): for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

So simple to have faith that even a small tiny portion of faith has great affects, in fact nothing shall be impossible to you. I didnt say that, a slick TV personality didnt say that. Jesus Christ said that.

Galatians 5:25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

I have been walking in the Spirit since I was 17 and have had many opportunitys to see the effects of unbelief destroy the ability of supernatural manifestations in our meetings.
In the early days of my Christian experience there were miracles in so many of the meetings that I attended. People had faith that God was at work. And He was.
Jesus, knowing the negative effects of having unbelief present put those who were in the state of unbelief away from the vicinity where He desired the supernatural manifestation of the bringing back from the dead a little girl.

Mark 5:40And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
41And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
42And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.

Oh this is good stuff, dont you think? Jesus puts out those who laughed him to scorn, those who had unbelief present in their hearts. Those who were negative and full of doubt and laughed Him to scorn as a result of their unbelief. And then, and only then does He bring back from the dead the twelve year old girl.

This is so significant that Matthew, Luke and Mark all make mention of this incident in their Gospel narratives.
The people of the New Testament lived in an age which expected miracles. There is a kind of rationalism which kills miracles. When miracles are dead, miraculous things cease to happen. We would receive more miracles, if we stopped insisting that miracles do not happen, and began expecting them to happen.

Our current day world has become so materialistic (Black Friday LOL); we are skeptical of any experiience that cannot be measured, weighed and verified by everyone else. We often assume that only the rational exists. We feel that things need to be understood in order to be real. Our assumptions and preconceived notions about miracles need to be set aside.

Paul the apostle used the same word 'apistia' in Hebrews 3:12.
"Take heed brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief..."
Paul says the children of Israel could not enter into God's rest because of their unbelief (Apistia). Hebrews 3:19.
Notice that each and every time apistia is mentioned it is personalized? Your unbelief. Their unbelief. It is something we possess positionally. Apostle Paul called it 'an evil heart of unbelief.'
As you can see, lack of faith and distrust robs us of God moving in our lives with His miracles and is regarded as evil by Him (Remember Hebrews 3:12).

Perhaps we are not seeing New Testament miracles in this our day and age because of our apistia. We should turn off our cultural limits and biases and be open to the greatness and power of the supreme in all power and authority.
The bible is telling the truth when we read about all the miracles that Jesus performed in the Gospels and in the book of Acts. But you would not know that by looking at the church today. We do not seem to allow Jesus to heal and perform miracles in our midst.
Jesus has not changed any since the writing of the Bible. He is the same today, yesterday and forever. Then why is He not doing the same today as He did in the Bible days? It has got to be us that are preventing Him.

Why do we not expect miracles? What is preventing us from believing?
Start to trust Jesus and believe Him for miracles in your life today.
Apistia (unbelief) interferes with faith and the out working of faith. Apistia gets you nowhere.
How many times we have stood in front of people and sensed an atmosphere of unbelief? An unwelcoming atmosphere where unbelief has free course and no agreement of faith is present. O that oppressive atmosphere that grieves the Holy Spirit. Those cold hindering, miracle limiting moments of oppression and judgement where in the spirit you are being 'laughed to scorn.'

The 'Holy Huddle.'
Matthew 23:27

27"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.
An extreme case. But none the less we do encounter them. Having a religious spirit and no faith.
This is not New Age teaching. This is Kingdom teaching from the Word of God. This is what undermines faith and prevents miracles from happening, undermining God's plans.
Christian brother and sister, I know you have faith for miracles.

1 John 2:20 (Amplified Bible)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
20But you have been anointed by [you hold a sacred appointment from, you have been given an unction from] the Holy One, and you all know [the Truth] or you know all things.
See, you have an inner witness that what I am telling you is the truth. You know that you need to look inward to see if you are possessing 'an evil heart of unbelief' or a heart of faith.
When you pray are you expecting results? Are you expecting the Holy Spirit to manifest in your meetings together? Our God is a supernatural God, a spirit.

John 4:24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Today we see the 'Emerging Church.' A church that is emerging from and deserting the authority of Scripture for man's own understanding and comprehension. A church that is fast becoming a dead church totally devoid of the miraculous and supernatural divine intervention.
1 Thessalonians 4:1Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
Hebrews 11:6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

See. You have got to have faith! Just...expect it.
The disciples asked for miracles and honored God's Word.
Acts 4
29And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
30By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
31And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
32And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul...

Faith and love draws the faithful together, binding them together in Christ as one heart and one soul.

1 John 4:20If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1 John 4:21And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
1 John 4:7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 1 John 4:8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Faith and love are always present when we are balanced and pleasing to God.
1 John 4:12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
2 John 1:5And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
2 John 1:6And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

David Sloane

Einstein on Jesus

The following comes from "What Life Means to Einstein: An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck,"The Saturday Evening Post, Oct. 26, 1929, p. 17. The questions are posed by Viereck; the reply to each is by Einstein. Since the interview was conducted in Berlin and both Viereck and Einstein had German as their mother tongue, the interview was likely conducted in German and then translated into English by Viereck.

"To what extent are you influenced by Christianity?"

"As a child, I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene."

"Have you read Emil Ludwig's book on Jesus?

"Emil Ludwig's Jesus," replied Einstein, "is shallow. Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrasemongers, however artful. No man can dispose of Christianity with a bon mot."

"You accept the historical existence of Jesus?"

"Unquestionably. No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life. How different, for instance, is the impression which we receive from an account of legendary heroes of antiquity like Theseus. Theseus and other heroes of his type lack the authentic vitality of Jesus."

"Ludwig Lewisohn, in one of his recent books, claims that many of the sayings of Jesus paraphrase the sayings of other prophets."

"No man," Einstein replied, "can deny the fact that Jesus existed, nor that his sayings are beautiful. Even if some them have been said before, no one has expressed them so divinely as he."

God Loves You

http://www.4stepstogod.com/

Gods Ways

THE PAOMNNEHAL PWEOR OF THE HMUAN MNID.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch
at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosnt mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclace. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit it bnieg a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Most people want to control all aspects of their lives. They don't want to just let go in simple childlike faith and trust God fully. To this type of person the above text will be very irritating. They will want everything to be totally under their control as they perceive things. They will not be content until all is in place as they think it should be, even though the 'content' and 'meaning' of the above text still comes across inspite of the spelling.

God at times will hide His hand at work in our lives even though He is still at work. We may think that all is just chaos and out of control. We may even go so far as to think that we have done something wrong and are abandoned by God in a sense. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

Isaiah 55:
8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God requires us to put our trust in Him. At times we may not know or comprehend what is going on in our life at a given moment. It is enough to acknowledge that God is still upon His throne and all is well inspite of what we perceive or may think. He is at work.

I once heard a wonderful woman of God (Corey Ten Boom) say that from our earthly vantage point it looks like the chaotic underside of a work of embrodery and that from Gods orderly heavenly vantage point it looks as it should look.

Romans 11:33O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Isaiah 53:6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way...

Isaiah 56:11Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way...

God says:
Isaiah 55:
8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God requires us to put our trust in Him. So simple a child can do it.

2 Samuel 22:31As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

Psalm 16:1Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

Psalm 18:2The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psalm 25:2O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Psalm 37:5Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Almighty Master Creator God can be trusted. Jesus Christ loves you dearly!

Numbers 23:19God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Isaiah 55
10For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
12For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Has God made promises to you? Does it seem as though you may have misunderstood?

The enemy of our soul is a theif and a robber. Satan will seek to rob us of the promises of God. He will seek to convince us that we were wrong and that the promise of God was only in our imagination, nothing more then a foolish day dream.

Satan will do anything to get us to doubt God, he will do anything to rob us of God's promises to us. Do not look to circumstances of life to decide if God is faithful or not. He is still upon His throne and in all command and authority!

Speaking of Satan:
John 8:44... He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Look to the content of Gods promises to you and not your current circumstances or anything else. God is 2 Corinthians 9:8And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: Our God is able!!!

Romans 16:20And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Father,
We are so thankful to You today for all that You have done and are doing for us. Today we acknowledge Your loving hand at work in our lives inspite of what we perceive or think. We know that Your Word is truth. We know that You are in full control of oue lives and that you are able.
Amen

Jeremiah 33:14Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

Isaiah 55:11So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Hallelujah! Praise The Lord! So shall it be...

Hpapy Tnnaksgviing.

David

TO BE ETERNALLY SAVED

To be saved you must die to live. The apostle Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live. Jesus taught that you must lose your life to save it. He is the resurrection, and the life.

The wages of sin is death. Without Christ we are dead in our trespasses and sins. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. All we like sheep have gone astray. Unless we are born again, we cannot be saved. "Ye must be born again."

Jesus said, "If any man comes after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." Those who come to Him will never be ashamed and He will never turn you away. You will in no wise be cast out. God is willing that none should perish.

Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks. If you will hear His voice and open the door, He will come into you. Jesus is calling out, "Come unto me and I will give you rest." God is saying, "Come let us reason together, and though your sins are black like ashes, I will make them white as snow.

You cannot be good enough to go to heaven, and you cannot be bad enough to go to hell; it depends solely on what you do with Christ. If you deny Him in this temporary life on earth, He will deny you for eternity on judgment day. For it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart. Open the door to your life and welcome Him in. Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?

A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. What would it profit a man, if he were to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly. God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

God’s promise of eternal life is by grace and free for the asking. It cannot be earned and it cannot be lost. The Bible calls eternal life – The Gift of God. Once you have received this offer of eternal life, it’s eternal.

Pastor Tilson

I don't think that this guy understands that there is a spiritual war going on. There are those who desire to not allow Christians to speak in the cultural marketplace of ideas. There is a concerted attempt to remove Christ from the traditional time of the year that Christians choose to celebrate His birth. I know that I can't just sit by and not speak up in protest as I perceive the marginalization of Christ Birth in the market place of ideas. We Christians have just as much right to speak up as anyone else. I am pleased when I hear of anyone who takes a stand against the tide.

He is the reason for the season! It offends me to see Christians lie down and take it! Merry Christmas has become a bad thing? As I see Star Bucks and others allude to Christmas in their ads while keeping a safe distance from actually coming out and using the banned greeting, I am stirred up inside. I make a point to tell anyone who says 'Happy Holiday' to me about my Savior who was born on a truly Holy day...a Happy Holiday for humankind. A Merry Christmas.

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071120/NEWS01/711200324/1006

Chuck Norris Stands For The Bible

It is always great to see a TV personality take a stand for Christ!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1pnFg0Sp2Xw

Evangelist Greg Laurie Draws Thousands

"God doesn't want anyone or anything in your life to be more important than Him – material possessions won't make you happy," Laurie told his audience. "You can be a good, moral person who has everything the world can offer, but the only thing that can bring true happiness is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Take your needs to Him."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44004

related:

http://www.allendavidbooks.com/cgi-bin/books.pl?funct=bookstore

What You Didn't Know About Scientology

"Various Scientology hagiographies of Hubbard are widely divergent from known facts. This is mainly due to the phantasmagoric history that Hubbard fashioned for himself and repeated ad nauseum to his followers.

Hubbard would often boast of a distinguished pedigree, claiming descent from nobility going back to the Norman Invasion. He also claimed at various times to have been a barn-stormer in a circus, a great white hunter in Africa, an explorer of the upper Amazon and a heavily decorated naval officer, the recipient of more than 2 dozen medals and palms. He also claimed that his naval exploits were the inspiration for Henry Fonda’s character in the film Mister Roberts. On the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor he stated that he was the only person to survive the sinking of the destroyer he was on near the coast of Java and that he swam ashore and lived for weeks on the jungle flora. Later he would be wounded in the back and kidneys by machine-gun fire, making urination difficult."

http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Commentary/Scientology.htm

Noah's Ark rests in Iran?

"Evangelical explorer, author and lecturer Bob Cornuke has followed the Exodus route of Moses, dived the Red Sea in search of Pharaoh's chariots, searched for the lost Ark of the Covenant in Israel and Ethiopia, sought in Malta's ocean beds the four anchors from the shipwreck of St. Paul, and traveled through Eastern Turkey with Apollo 15 astronaut James Irwin."

Cornuke believes the discovery of the ark would rock the archaeological world, and cause many skeptics to take a renewed look at the historical authenticity of the bible.

http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=2424

Man proves that the Torah Law cannot be kept

"At the time, Jacobs was in month two of his venture, still throbbing with a neophyte's enthusiasm: "I want to smash idols," he surprised himself by musing. Gathering a pocketful of tiny white pebbles in Central Park, he strolled until he met an irascible old man who mocked Jacobs' walking stick. When this man -- having been asked -- declared himself an adulterer, Jacobs lobbed a pebble at his chest. It bounced off."

http://alternet.org/rights/68194/

Christians in Jerusalem want Jews to stop spitting on them

"A few weeks ago, a senior Greek Orthodox clergyman in Israel attended a meeting at a government office in Jerusalem's Givat Shaul quarter. When he returned to his car, an elderly man wearing a skullcap came and knocked on the window. When the clergyman let the window down, the passerby spat in his face..."

“…Christians in Jerusalem have attacked what they say is the increasingly common phenomenon of ultra-orthodox Jews spitting on them.”–from the Telegraph in London

We hear a lot about the intolerance of Muslims or even the intolerance of American fundamentalist Christians, but the controlled media in America make sure we learn little about Jewish hatred toward Jesus Christ and Christians.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=487412&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=487412

FAITH AND HOPE

FAITH AND HOPE

Faith and hope are not the same. Many times we confuse hope with faith and thus never receive what is hoped for. Hope without faith is dead, just as faith without works is dead being alone.

Faith comes to the heart but hope is stored in the mind. Hope within the mind that is produced by faith within the heart is certain and powerful, but without faith from the heart it’s only wishful thinking. The hopes dreams and aspirations that we have in our minds are sometimes disappointing and never produce the desired effect. A steadfast faith at work within the heart produces a hope within the mind that you can depend on. Hope is stored in the mind and protected for the future whereas faith is now. Scripture never speaks of delayed faith, it is always referred to as either being present or absent. The delayed results of faith are called hope and they will surly come to pass. Like salvation, the hope of our salvation is anchored in our faith.

When God imparts faith, it sinks into the heart and seeps into the mind. Then we have what Ephesians chapter 6 refers to as the "Armor of God" to protect both our hearts and our minds. The helmet of salvation is given to protect our minds - where hope is stored, and the breastplate of righteousness is given to protect our hearts - where faith is received.

I share all this to give some explanation as to why so many of us Christians become disenchanted and lose hope when what we were hoping for never happened. When you begin to lose hope, remember that it was by faith that you received Jesus into your heart and He will never leave you or forsake you. The life of Christ that is by faith within you will never let the hope of your salvation die. All hope that is conceived in faith is kept by faith. It can never die. You may lose the kind of hope that makes for dreams and great expectations but you will never lose the kind of hope generated by faith that comes to the heart and then from the heart to the mind. Faith is not an idea or even a decision that comes from the mind; it is more an attitude of the heart.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and He will keep your soul and mind. When we abide in Him, His word abides in us. In that relationship, faith produces the fruit that hope waits for. His living word in us will produce the promised fruit, but only in its ripened appointed season.

Pastor Tilson

Raising Godly Children In An Ungodly World

http://www.answersingenesis.org/video/ondemand/

Finding Your Gifts

FINDING YOUR GIFTS

"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant" (1 Corinthians 12:1). Spiritual gifts are often set aside when confused with the perfecting of natural talent.

I have read through a lot of material on the subject of finding your spiritual gifts. The intellect of man always seems to have some natural, logical explanation for taking out the supernatural. Most teachings on Finding Your Spiritual Gifts would better be titled, Finding Your Natural Talents.

Gifts of the Spirit are spiritual, not natural. You cannot find your spiritual gift by finding what you are naturally good at. Chances are your spiritual gifts will have nothing to do with what your natural talents are. When we are weak, He is strong. Your natural strong points are probably not your spiritual strong points. How can anybody be good at working miracles? If somebody were to have the gift of miracles, could anybody say that it was because they were good at it? Our natural strengths are almost never our spiritual strengths.

The prophet Amos recognized this when God called him to prophesy, he said in Amos 7:14-15, "...I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdsmen and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel."

He was good at being a herdsman and gathering fruit, but being a prophet, that was something new__it was spiritual. It is not something that is hereditary, or by any means a naturally developed ability.

Gifts of the Spirit go beyond human boundaries. They enable a change of circumstances for a higher purpose. God uses spiritual gifts to alter the natural course of events.

There are many gifts of the Spirit and nine of them are clearly listed in 1 Corinthians 12. You cannot pick and choose which one of the nine best suits your religious preference and then leave the others out. God’s Word is not partially inspired, every word is pure.

Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights. All nine of the gifts that are listed in 1 Corinthians 12 are good and perfect.
The Pharisees of today say that it is wrong to seek signs and wonders and miracles. The Bible says to pursue them. "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts..." (1 Corinthians 14:1).

The disciples prayed for miracles, they sought the Lord for signs and wonders. They prayed in Acts 4:29 –31, "And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thy hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of God with boldness." Did God shake the place in His disapproval, or His approval?

To seek an experience is good when you seek to experience God.

Pastor Tilson

We bless you who stand and serve

THANK YOU
We love you and honor you today...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/marlboromarine/?x

Gideon Bibles not allowed

So Long, Gideons
The one thing travelers could reliably count on in their hotel rooms: a Bible in the bedside table.

Even the staid Marriott chain, founded by a Mormon, is debating whether or not to include Bibles in its yet to be named boutique chain, which is set to launch in partnership with hipster hotelier Ian Schrager, who created the '70s disco Studio 54 and later New York City's Morgans, Royalton and Paramount hotels—which are largely credited with kicking off the boutique hotel craze. Schrager says he hasn't yet discussed the Bible amenity with Marriott, though he adds that his properties have never had in-room Bibles.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/69049

http://www.afa.net/newsweekgideons.htm

Intertwining faith and legal procedure

Some constitutional law classes begin with the professor challenging a student with probing questions about the separation of church and state.
Others start with a five-minute prayer.
Or they might if they're one of the growing number of Christian law schools in the country. The idea at these schools is to intertwine, not separate out, the tenants of one or more branches of Christianity into the legal curriculum.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/5290045.html

Healing service

This healing service takes place in the Philippines at the Quezon city hall. It appears to be a Shekinah Fellowship home video, videographer unknown. Offers an insight into extended ministry of Brant Baker.

COMPLETE YOUR MISSION

COMPLETE YOUR MISSION

Jesus said, "... many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). I wonder why He said," few are chosen." I know that God has a special plan for each of us. A possible rendering of the verse might be quoted: "Many are called, but few are willing to birth the call."

How can we know for sure that we have answered the call, and is it better to be chosen than it is to be called?

When you answer the call, you will find that you were also chosen. You were chosen before the foundation of the world.

Finding your niche in the body of Christ is the most important part of life. It puts God on the throne of your life, and with that, everything else will fall into place.

Although all are called to salvation, not all birth that call and thus become born again. Likewise, all who answer the call to salvation, and are born again, do not go on to walk with God in the fullness of their calling. They have entered the kingdom of God and are numbered with the saints but never go on to walk in the authority of that kingdom.

"Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat" (Matthew 7:13). All are called to the narrow road, although, only a few will heed that call and find it. Those who do not heed the call to salvation are on the broad road that leads to hell.

According to Holy Scripture, only a few will find their way to heaven, and even fewer of those few will ever move on in God, after they are saved, to complete their mission inlife. In Matthew 7:14 Jesus said, "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Only a few of the "few there be that find it" are daring enough, and will explore heaven long enough to really walk with God in their calling. They not only enter heaven, they bring something back, much like those who have died and lived to tell about it.

To find your mission in life, you must first find your Creator; the one who designed your mission. Find the one that called you and then completely answer that call. Begin at the beginning. "In the beginning God..." (Genesis 1:1). Man sinned and fell away from God. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). To start from the beginning, "Ye must be born again" by accepting Jesus Christ into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior. He will then send His Holy Spirit to instruct, lead, and guide you, back to the glory of God; which is the fullness of why you were created.

God will not leave His people without meaning and purpose; He desires to lead you as the good shepherd.

After you have been birthed into the kingdom of God, you need to venture into that kingdom and birth your call. The call for which you were chosen. 2 Peter 1:10-11 says, "...give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, ye shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." An entrance for you means access for you, and with that, you cannot fail, "ye shall never fall." Give diligence to make your calling sure, and be content to blossom where God plants you. "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called" (1 Corinthians 7:20)

It may take a lifetime, and it may cost you everything, but it is in the realm of reality to fulfill your call. "According to your faith be it unto you" (Matthew 9:29). What God has done for others, He can do for you.

Pastor Tilson

Tonight and Dr. Gary Greenwald

Tonight is Friday Nov, 2, 07.

Ok...after dinner I go to Fry's electronics in Fountain Valley. I wander around a bit. Then I see in front of me, in the Hi~definition television section, Dr. Gary Greenwald around 8:00 PM. He was standing there all by himself with no one around him. He was just standing there looking at a television. He had on a green Hawaian print shirt. I did a double take.

Now what is so significant about this is just this morning I told the Lord that I was ready for a 'divine appointment.' I stayed ready for one all day at work. Nothing happened.

I was so shocked to see Gary all by himself that I froze. I did not go up to him and deliver the message from Lonnie Frisbee. I don't know why I didn't do it. I even passed by him one more time. To stand in the presence of a real man of God that I respect can be intimidating for me.

The guy is humble, I could see that in his face. I also could sense the powerful anointing that God has placed within him. I respect the anointing! I was somewhat shocked to see him there. I have been to Frys thousands of times before. I build my own computers and for others.

I think that it took me totally off guard and by suprise. What are the odds? LOL

I once ran across Jan Crouch of TBN fame there in the computer department with her son. She has 'presence.' I also ran across Oden Fong of Mustard Seed Faith Band there. Seems like everyone, sooner or later shows up at Fry's.

I apologize Gary, I froze...I couldn't gather my thoughts. I think that the full belly of food made me dull witted. I let the divine appointment slip by...

It was a major blessing to see you though. You looked well.
http://www.eaglesnestministries.org/home.htm

Blessings
David

REJECTION AND LONELINESS

REJECTION AND LONELINESS

When you feel alone in a crowd, or only tolerated among family, the cause could be an absence of faith. Does your family believe in you? Do they have faith for you? Jesus could not do many mighty works in His own home town, and among His own family, because of their unbelief. He may have had a loving family who showed respect for Him, but respect and faith are not the same.

The force of faith is so strong that God used it to create the universe. You can also feel the strong effect of its absence. It will make you sad and even physically weak. With faith you can move mountains. By it we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God; but without it, Jesus was wounded in the house of His friends.

Pastor Tilson

Halloween: The Unpopular Christian Story

 It was started by Christians...
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20071031/29906_Halloween:_The_Unpopular_Christian_Story.htm

Some Christian pastors embrace Scientology

Now this is something we here can not even begin to endorse! Scientologist believe in reincarnation among other things.
"Some Christian congregations, particularly in lower income, urban areas, are turning to an unlikely source for help -- the Church of Scientology. Scientologists do not worship God, much less Jesus Christ. The church has seen plenty of controversy and critics consider it a cult. So why are observant Christians embracing some of its teachings?
Two pastors who spoke recently with CNN explained that when it comes to religion, they still preach the core beliefs of Christianity. But when it comes to practicing what they preach in a modern world, borrowing from Scientology helps."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/31/christian.scientology/
Videos that expose some of Scientology's inner workings:
Filmed 1968

http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com/