In less than one week, in the United States, families will gather around for Thanksgiving dinner.  It reminds me of a time when I was a child.  We would always play football on Thanksgiving day.  My uncle, six years my senior, would always call the play “Same thing but different” that meant if I ran left the first time, I ran right this time.  It sounds like an oxymoron, but it is also a great spiritual lesson too.
Same thing but different.  That’s what our lives are like.  Paul wrote this to the Corinthian church: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”

We are all so different but have the same thing working in us.   We have the Holy Spirit of God within us.  We may not understand why someone doesn’t believe exactly the same way we do.  Why do some believe in the laying on of hands while others wonder what good it could really do?  Why do some pray on their knees only but others feel all you need to do is open your heart to God.  Why do some worship on Saturday and some on Sunday?  Why? Because we are all different and have different spiritual gifts and God may even lead us in different understandings.

I have become convinced that many of the mistakes I made in life were ordained by God so I would understand people better.  I believe He allows some to believe differently or just be different so He can use their experiences to further their gifts or to help them understand Him better.  He’s like a master chess player and He never loses.

Hebrews tells us that it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God, for judgment yes.  But it is a fabulous thing to be moved by the hands of the living God too.

I read this morning on the drudge report that congress is preparing for “a final battle” with President Bush.  WHY?!?!?!?!?  Why didn’t the American people vote these ignorant people out of office?  Instead we gave them more power by awarding them more seats in both the senate and the house.  Yes, I am sorry, but I am speaking of the liberals.  Yes, I am a conservative, but that is not why I say this. Yes, I am biased, I admit it.  But I would say the same thing about republicans if they were treating President-Elect Obama this way too.

This is the United States of America and we are now almost 150 years past the Civil War. It’s about time we started acting like Americans and stopped treating our president like he is a clump of dirt.  I mean this for all Americans too.  George Bush may not be an eloquent speaker.  Yes, he makes me laugh at times when I listen to him speak. He may not be a strong leader, but he is our leader and we should back him and not call him names and act as if the entire economic crisis is his fault when the liberals under Clinton started the housing mess.

We should support him and Obama too, with our ardent prayers and we should never bad mouth him even though we may not like him.  I couldn’t wait for the day that Bill Clinton left office, but I never said that while he was still our president.

I can guarantee you that our world is going to change while Obama is president and he is going to make decisions that cause even his greatest supporters to ask what he is thinking.  I don’t  know how he will go down in history, as a good or bad president and I am not sure who even gets to make that decision.  To me, it should be personal.  But I know this, I will pray for and support him until he tries to make me deny my faith in Jesus Christ. No president has ever done that and I doubt he will, but that is the only reason I would ever not support a sitting president and I sure hope all Americans join me in that.

I came across something the other day while reading Daniel chapter 11.  Three times, Daniel says that the end is still to come at the appointed time.  As I read it on the surface, I took it to mean at the time that God has set forth by His own command.  But then it dawned on me.  Leviticus 23 commands Moses to speak to the Israelites concerning “MY APPOINTED TIMES”.  God’s appointed times number 7.  They are Passover, the feast of unleavened bread, feast of first fruits, shauot or Pentecost, Yom Teruah or the feast of trumpets, Yom Kippur or the day of Atonement, and Sukkot or the feast of Tabernacles.  These are His appointed times.  Though often we call these the “Jewish Feasts”, God calls them His appointed times. 

Then I realized that on one of these appointed times, Jesus seemingly will return; The feast of trumpets.  However, Jesus also told us that He would come at a time that we do not expect.  No, that does not mean His return is imminent and it does not mean that we may as well never try to figure out when it is.  See my post on this from October 14 for more information.  It means that He may not come on the feast of Trumpets, but maybe on the day of Atonement or Day of Judgment.  I still beleive He will come on the feast of trumpets however and Daniel corroborates this with his language of the end coming “At the Appointed Time”.

It’s absolutely amazing what God will show you from His word if you are just willing to ask and learn from Him.  But too often, we choose to learn from man and not from God and then we learn the mistakes of man instead of the wisdom of God.

Ok right off the bat, I am not sure if bounceable is word.  Firefox underlines it so I am guessing it is not.  But for today I want to use it to illustrate a point.

Exodus 7:13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

I am sure you recognize the passage.  This occurred just after Moses and Aaron put the staff before Pharaoh and it became a snake.  What eventually happened to his heart?  It was broken by the death of his son.  The natural physical fact is that if something is hard, it stands a better chance of breaking than if it is soft in which case it may bounce back.

Don’t try this at home but consider in your mind.  If you have a drinking glass and a styrofoam ball that weigh exactly the same amount and drop them from 10 feet unto a hard surface, which will break?  The glass of course.  I am not going to get into the physics of mass and momentum and amount of force exterted, etc.  My point is the harder item breaks.  Ok, make it a plastic drinking glass then.  But still if you crush it, the harder substance will break first.

Why am I telling you this?  Because I see too often around me the hearts of God loving, God fearing Christians being hard and they don’t even realize it.  My heart was hard for a while but no one would have ever told you it was.  I didn’t show Pharaoh qualities, but I showed “i am positive I know what it means” qualities.

Do you know what your future holds?  Do you know all you can know about God?  Do you know what God requires of you?  If you do, then you have gone farther in life than I ever will.  We can never know enough.  To know it all is to have the mind of God and to have a hard heart.

Jesus said that He would come a time we don’t expect and then in another place asked if He would find faith on the earth.  Why?  Because people get in the mindset of “The temple must be built” or even the one I used to be in “The altar must be built” or “there must be a war in Israel”.  I know longer believe these things are musts.  In fact, I believe they are minute possibilities at best.   Well, the war will probably happen sooner or later, but it doesn’t mean that it is the start of or end of or even midst of the Daniel’s 70th week.  Jesus told us to be aware and watch.  I believe that means with a humble heart and not an “I know for certain” attitude.

When you allow yourself to be open to other interpretations, you stand the chance of being decieved.  But if you allow yourself to be lead by the spirit in all of your understanding and faith, you will not be deceived.  I speak to you on a very high level right now.  I realize that.  But all that i am asking is that you from this day forward, put just a small amount of effort into your prayers for understanding and wisdom so that when the time comes, you can be counted with those of Daniel 12:3 that have insight and understanding.

In yesterday’s post, I said I would let you know why I felt we should not be looking for a peace treaty with Israel. I have become more and more convinced that it, like the rapture, has become a distraction to divert our attention to the world and not on Christ.

First, what Did Jesus tell us to watch for in Matthew 24? Did He say “When you see the peace treaty with Israel, let the reader understand”? No, He mentioned something spoken of by Daniel, but not a peace treaty with Israel.

Secondly, what did Daniel tell us? He said “and he will confirm a covenant with the many for one shabuwa”. This word for MANY is thankfully never used to describe Israel. In fact, it comes from Strongs 7727 which comes from the root of 7726 meaning idoloatrous, apostate, and backsliding. Who then are the many? I sure hope it is not you!

At first I thought it was the antichrist making a secret covenant with his ten kings that will give him power three and half years later. Now, I am not so sure. It very well may be that, but it may also be a covenant with apostate, idolatrous, backsliding Christians!

Finally, it never ever has felt right. I just figured others knew better than I, so I went with it.  No, we should not trust our feelings over the word of God. But when these feelings line up with the word of God, then it may be the Holy Spirit quickening it within us. But don’t take my word for it, take it to God and study it for yourselves.

I believe that there is at least one more “what not to look for” in Bible prophecy but i am still formulating that hypothesis and will share with ‘the many’ when the time comes. (Reference to the many was meant in jest. I am not calling anyone apostate. English word for many was implied and not Hebrew word used in Dan 9:27)

As I write this post, Tuesday evening, Asian markets are having a gloomy day.  When you are reading this post, it may already be the same for the US Stock Markets.  But as I have said before I will say again, the stock market is not the best barometer for our global economies.  Yes, they are an indicator but too often when the market gets low, people buy and drive the indexes higher and then sell off with thier profits and leave the rest of us that are in it for our retirement wondering what the next 20 years will bring.  I wish I could tell you, but I don’t know.

But what I do know is this. For the next two and a half weeks, until after Thanksgiving in the US, I am not going to worry about the economy at all.  I am declaring a moratorium on worry.  Well, actually I rarely worry about it becuase I know God is in control.  But I admit, at times I say Hmm, what in the world is going on.  But let’s not worry if you are a worrier.  Enjoy the remaining autumn days, prepare for Christmas and the joy of the season and forget about the economy for a while.  Also enjoy the gas prices because I can promise you they will get higher again.  Yes, they depend on strong econonmic growth, but they are also dependent upon supply and demand and with a cold winter and a lunatic in Iran, something is going to blow soon.

So no more posts from me about the economy for 2 and a half weeks.

There was a worldwide economic crisis 70 years ago.  Many people alive today did not live during that time and many more were born after it was over.  During that time, there was a nation on earth that had a new leader and this leader had the support of the people, for the most part.  He was charismatic, he was well spoken, he was idealistic and he was liberal.  He was also quite antisemitic.

I am concerned about what I have seen in our nation in the last week.  Yes, it is exciting that we as a nation have finally crossed the racial boundary. I could not be happier about that.  But let’s remember that he is merely a man.  He is not a god nor a demigod nor even anything more than a man.

When I see a long running show about business and the stock market showing his picture along side which stock the contributors feel will be a good money maker, that scares me.  When I see video of a prep school with 145 young men singing a rap song about him and holding up signs of him, it reminds me of a middle-eastern Arab dictator regime.  When I hear people say “If I take care of him, he will take care of me, I won’t have to worry about gas in my tank or paying for my mortgage” I want to move to Canada!

Is America moving away from its democratic and capitalistic principles?  Are we going to inaugurate a president on January 20 or are we going to corronate a king?  It’s only been a week and it seems as though many feel it is the latter. It literally scares me to death to think about how people have elevated this man.  They will either A) be extremely disappointed in four years and we will have a Republican landslide the likes of the 1984 election or B) they will follow him headlong into the worst time in our nations history praising him and bowing before him if he should ever demand it.

What’s more is that plans for an Obama national holiday (probably a joke. I didn’t check Snopes yet) were circulating around the internet yesterday.  Here’s the gist of the story

Plans are being made to promote a national holiday for Barack Obama, who will become the nation’s 44th president when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20.

“Yes We Can” planning rallies will be at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. every Tuesday at the downtown McDonald’s restaurant, 1100 Kansas Ave., until Jan. 13. The goals are to secure a national holiday in Obama’s honor, to organize celebrations around his inauguration and to celebrate the 200th birthday of President Abraham Lincoln, who was born on Feb. 12 1809.

At 7:30 a.m. on Inauguration Day, Obama Cake will be served at the downtown McDonald’s, and a celebration is scheduled for 8 p.m. to midnight Jan. 20 at the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center, 420 S.E. 6th.

I have asked and will continue to ask any God-fearing believer who reads this blog to pray for our president-elect, but now I feel we must pray that God remain our sovereign leader or else we may as well say our goodbyes to this great nation.  Let’s pray it’s just the people without wisdom that are doing this.  Let’s pray it is just a fluke and biased media attention.  Let’s pray that the nation that our veterans fought for and gave up so much for is still the nation it was 1 week and 1 day ago.  Let’s pray our nation is not becoming the next Nazi Germany or worse, Babylon the Great!

Romans 10:14-15

14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

When I moved to this small town I live in, I was amazed at how quickly people knew me and knew about me.  12 years later, I am a local celebrity, but then again, everyone is.  At least that is how it seems.  Not one person is more than two people away from knowing someone you know.

I guess that’s how it is in a small town but that’s not always a good thing.  But imagine if one person in this small town told two people about the wonderful news of Christ. Those two people could tell two people and so on.  Before you know it, it would be like getting the same email about “Touched by an Angel” going off the air 40 times a year.

But that is how the news is spread.  That’s what Paul’s message was.  That’s what we need to do.  Salvation comes by faith and faith by hearing the word of God.  Go out and tell someone today that God loves them.  Remember, there is an ANGEL in the middle of evangelism.

Have you ever wondered why God hates sin?  Well there are many reasons and too many to count in this short message but I came to a realization this past Friday night.  Sin changes our view of things.  Let’s say you lie, then you don’t see any negative results, you may lie again.  Before you know it, you might be lying all the time and not even know you are doing it.  Your spirit will be fighting with your flesh and the battle will have a toll on  you.  You will become blind.  You eventually will not be able to see God clearly because sin causes a battle to rage in you and in time you become numb to the truth or blind to the truth.

Jesus told the Laodiceans to repent because they were blind.  Remember it was Christ who made the blind see.  It is He, through your repentance, that can make you see again.
Do you have a sin that is keeping you from seeing God clearly?  Is your sin blinding you from the truth?  Repent then and be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Daniel 2:21 - “It is He [the God of heaven]…who removes kings and establishes kings.”

God’s in complete control of this situation not matter who wins.  No matter at all!  Please believe that.  Don’t let anyone tell you differently.  God has chosen our leader for us and for His purposes and His purposes will not be dismantled by man.
God Bless you all….. I will be back probably next week, but i am enjoying the time away.