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Are you a God-fearing man?

“Are you a God-fearing man?” That’s a question a close Christian brother of mine sometimes asks before witnessing to other men.

When he shared this with me I was immediately struck by the term. It’s old-fashioned , masculine and at the the same time, humble. I thought to myself, I have to write a column about the question, “Are you a God-fearing man?”

So here you go.

First of all, what is a God-fearing man? The obvious answer is in the term, a man who fears God. Makes sense, right?

But digging deeper, we find that “fearing” God is more complex than just living life afraid of God. First, let’s look at what Proverbs says about fear:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.–Proverbs 9:10

The fear referred to in Proverbs is reverence of the Lord. Before one can gain true wisdom, he must revere the Lord as Creator, Heavenly Father and Provider. To not hold God in awe is foolishness.

However, Jesus speaks of fear in a different context when detailing why we should not fear man, but only the Lord.

“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”–Matthew 10:27-28

Jesus is, of course, speaking of God as the one who “is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Yet, in the next verse, Jesus speaks of God’s love for us:

“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

So God can banish you to hell , yet love you so much that all the hairs of your head are numbered? The best picture I can think of to describe this is a Godly earthly father: He loves you , yet sometimes has to discipline you.

If that fails to take hold, fathers sometimes have to make the tough decision to let you experience the consequences of disobedience. Sometimes the cost of this is devastating and life-changing.

While not perfect, I hope the previous analogy paints a picture of God allowing people the consequence of hell for a life of unrepentant sin.

Like a loving father constantly warning his children of the dangers of disobedience, so God sends warnings to the world. First the prophets, then Jesus, then the apostles and now Christians. This, so no one has an excuse of not hearing the gospel.

Af the forefront of this evangelism are God-fearing men, answering the Father’s call of using our talents to share the good news of Jesus Christ. God sent His Son to die for our sins so we could be saved from eternal punishment. All we have to do is repent from sin and place our eyes on Jesus as Lord and Savior.

“Uh …hold on,” says the secularist.

“God-fearing men? Oh great, they’ll push their religion onto everyone. What are we talking now, a theocracy for America?”

Here’s a news flash. WE are living smack dab in a religious theocracy!

The problem is it’s a secular-leftist, pseudo- religious theocracy. I’ll prove it.

The sacrament for this secular-leftist theocracy is abortion. Nothing else explains the feverous zeal to protect a women’s right to kill her baby. I’m convinced that abortion is ritualized sacrifice designed to appease the secular-left’s god. Here’s a hint, their god is not the God of the Bible and certainly not the Creator of the heavens and earth.

Everything about this pseudo-religion is a counterfeit of God’s creation. Marriage between a man and a woman? We’ll allow same -sex marriage . The family? Government will tell you how to raise your children. Men as head and protector of the family? Government will take that role for single-parent families. Truth? Truth is whatever the secular-leftist narrative needs it to be.

Want to have a trouble free life? Shut your mouth, pretend not to know things and go along with everything like it’s normal. Want to be diminished, ridiculed , and cancelled? Stand for outdated concepts such as Christianity, the Bible , the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Those are your choices under the Secular-leftist religion: Living under the fear of the state, or choosing to live according to the fear of the Lord. The God-fearing man chooses the latter and rejects the former .

The God-fearing man takes seriously the biblical warning of friendship with the world making one an enemy of God (James 4:4). He believes Jesus’ promise of hatred from the world since the world hated Him first( John 15:18). But the God-fearing man also has faith and believes that in persecution comes blessing and reward in heaven (Matt. 5:10-12).

So if God exacts death for our sin, isn’t that it? If we’re dead, what difference does it make?

The problem is you don’t actually “die.” Everyone of us when our physical bodies die, will receive an eternal body. That is, a body built for eternity.

Got it?

Now here’s the deliniation.

Those who accepted Christ as Lord and Savior will have bodies equipped for eternity living under God’s presence in heaven. Now here’s the bad news:Those who rejected the gift of grace through His death and resurrection, will have bodies equipped for wrath. The “death” is total separation from God.

Jesus spoke of hell more than anyone else in the Bible, describing it as outer darkness, fire, torment and full of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Sin, any sin, is a capital offense per God’s law. He is holy therefore, He cannot, and will not tolerate sin.

Most pastors leave hell out of their sermons, so as not to offend or scare parishioners. This is preaching the “modern” gospel which ignores the truth that the consequence of a choice of unrepentant sin is eternal punishment in hell.

Focus on that description , eternal. That means not one hundred , a thousand or ever a million years living under God’s wrath, but forever.

Fearing God means living a life with the knowledge that everyone is accountable to God. This fear is also accepting that everyone, every man, woman and child has fallen short of the glory of God, due to sin.

God-fearing men (and women) only become as such, because they understand the eternal consequences of rejecting Jesus. The Christ is our only salvation from hell.

The God- fearing man knows we are literally enemies of Jehovah without Jesus as Lord. This is frightening and ,at the same time, humbling when you understand only God’s grace saves us.

God sent His only Son as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Jesus willingly faced God’s wrath and eventual death to save us. His resurrection provided the gift freely offered to us.

We live in a world where leaders are God-mockers instead of God-fearing. They are weak, vindictive, deceitful, hateful , spineless, fearful ,dishonorable and arrogant with no moral foundation. Their schemes are anti-God, anti-life and idolatrous.

Can you see why we need God-fearing men in leadership? Only men who understand their accountability to God should be trusted with power.

What say you Christian? Are you a God-fearing man?

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He is Risen…He is Risen indeed!

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

-Luke 24:1-3

We need to see the image of the empty tomb more than once a year. What a sublime reminder that we have a Lord and Savior who is not of this filthy and dying world.

With darkness engulfing America and the world, we must keep our eyes above to Jesus . Why is this vital? Keeping our eyes on Jesus reminds us He is our light above this darkness and the supreme source of our joy.

The world snatches our joy at every moment, making us forget the truth that we are no longer of the world because of the Christ. Our home is where He sits, heaven.

Let’s get out of that mode of just saying Jesus Christ as if Christ is His last name. Christ is a title . Christ in the greek comes from the word Christos, which means anointed. The title is the equivalent of the word mashiach , or messiah in Hebrew. Christ literally means Messiah, the “Anointed One” of God.

To anoint is to be covered with sacred oil . To be anointed is to be chosen by God for a special mission or task. Jesus was sent to save the world from sin and death.

For only the Son of God, unblemished and without sin, could be the final and ultimate sacrifice to satisfy God’s wrath against mankind due to our sin. Jesus ransomed us from Satan and death on the cross.

When He arose three days later, Satan and death were defeated. Blessedly, we are no longer enemies of God when we accept Jesus, the Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are spiritually marked with the blood of Jesus so that God sees us , not as sinners, but as sons and daughters in Christ.

The empty tomb also serves as a reminder that Jesus will return. It’s not a question of if, but when. We should endeavor to live from this moment forward with that promise foremost in our minds.

Yes, we live in this world and our flesh is susceptible to worry and anxious thoughts. Fear only occurs when we take our eyes and thoughts from Jesus .

Let us keep the image of empty tomb as a symbol that we will conquer death, as Jesus did, and spend eternity with our Heavenly Father and His Son, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

God is in control. Nothing is happening in this world that has not been ordained. One crucial aspect to God’s plan was and is that empty tomb.

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Warfare prayers needed for President Trump

President Donald Trump is out in front, taking slings and arrows on the people’s behalf. What Trump has faced would cause most politicians to slink away in defeat.

Trump is showing that he is the people’s President and this frightens the uniparty and the deep state.

They have thrown everything at this man and everything has failed. Now all they got is revisiting the hush money probe that failed before. Legal experts say Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case doesn’t hold up to legal scrutiny.

Please pray for him as he prepares to enter the Manhattan courthouse Tuesday .This, the culmination of the George Soros funded DA’s witch-hunt.

That isn’t stopping the deep state and the press from salivating about the prospect of getting video of authorities booking Trump.

Trump will likely be fingerprinted, have a mug shot taken , among other formalities before he’s formally arraigned and appears in court to plead not guilty.

We are living through dark times in America right now. We are surrounded by and being governed by pawns doing the work of evil forces hidden from public scrutiny.

Like you , I have had feelings of revulsion pondering the level of satanic evil looming over this country. We are witnessing the physical manifestations of spiritual warfare.

Evil is ugly and disturbing when you witness godless people carry it out without fear of consequences. Our enemies are emboldened because every institution in our country is corrupted.

For example, the indictment of President Trump is a glaring example of how the deep state has weaponized the legal system against their political enemies.

That all this happening during Holy Week is uncanny. I’m sure it’s part of God’s timing that this sham of an indictment is reminiscent of the sham trials Jesus experienced before His crucifixion.

Jesus knew He was going to the cross to save man. He knew he would die , be resurrected and sit at the right hand of God , ready to return during our Heavenly Father’s timing.

Let us pray that no harm comes to President Trump while in custody and that he and the MAGA movement emerges stronger:

Heavenly Father,

May your angels surround President Trump and his group with your protection . Lord May the plans of our enemies meet with failure. Please bless President Trump with godly wisdom and discernment. Please fill his heart and the hearts of his family with your perfect peace that defies human understanding.

May President Trump keep our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ first and foremost in his heart and mind from this day forward.

Lord we pray that no plan will succeed against this man and his family and his administration.

Lord we pray that you would be glorified in this situation and that from this period of darkness would come the light of revival throughout this nation.

We ask in Jesus’ name…Amen

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Keep your eyes on Jesus

by Dex

I am at the point where my well of outrage is empty.

After a certain point how angry can you get about the latest government example of either not enforcing laws , creating a new morality or turning the law against law abiding citizens who happen to be Christian and or conservative? I don’t know about you but my peak anger was reached after the 2022 midterms.

It’s pretty obvious our system of elections are corrupted. The scoundrels in charge don’t even hide their chicanery anymore.

The situation is not helped by certain judges who refuse to hear the serious merits of the lawsuits brought about by conservative candidates or by “journalists” who refuse to look into allegations of election misconduct.

We also have blatantly unconstitutional laws in effect such as the recent law in California prohibiting doctors from spreading “misinformation” about Covid -19 and vaccines under penalty of losing their medical license.

And speaking of the vaccines , where are the enterprising investigative reporters looking into the rash young athletes suddenly dropping dead or suffering sudden deleterious signs and symptoms out of nowhere? This phenomena has only been happening in the last two years. Hmm… could this be connected to the Covid vaccines? Maybe, maybe not, but why is no one investigating the situation to at least definitively show that the shots are truly “safe and effective” as advertised?

I look at what’s going on and the effort by people to pretend not to know things and I have to admit it is quite exasperating. Perhaps you have also gotten to the point where you feel tuning out is your best recourse to maintain your sanity.

Americans are losing faith in their government and in institutions that were once revered such as law enforcement , the judiciary and medicine. This is a serious situation because these institutions are matching the lack of trust citizens have in the federal government.

So where do we turn and whom do we turn to ? We can’t run because America is the last bastion of freedom for the world . We must also be guarded in our trust of politicians since many are bought and paid for by entities who either view the American people as an annoyance or want to subjugate us.

Looking around at the rampant lawlessness and disregard for traditional morals can easily make one hopeless. However, as Christians our hope is not in some politician, political party or even a judicial ruling.

No. Our hope is in one person and one person alone: Jesus.

For good reason Jesus said ” I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). ” He said so because it is the truth.

And speaking of truth, it is what is sorely lacking in our current society. We are lied to about everything. We’re told there are multiple agendas, we’re told science trumps the Bible; we’re told marriage between a man and woman is not important; we’re told that climate change is an existential threat and we’re told minor laws such as jaywalking or shoplifting aren’t worth enforcing.

Christian , God has revealed to you the effects of a society that chooses to reject God and the Son. You are witnessing the literal madness and lawlessness that is associated with this decision.

America is mired in darkness as a result. Why did Jesus call himself the light of the world (John 8:12) ? Easy, the world is in darkness (Isaiah 60:2). Why is the world in darkness? The world is in darkness because Satan rules those who are not in Christ (1 John 5:19, John 8:44). Satan’s kingdom is darkness full of lies, murder, lust, sensuality, envy, anger, hatred, jealousy, covetousness, fornication, adultery, thievery, slander and idolatry, just to name a few examples.

Instead of emphasizing the Gospel and the morals attached to it, American culture embraces woke politics. Instead of teaching love thy neighbor, what is taught is love thyself. Instead of promoting humility, pop culture preaches pride.

These are the bitter fruits that come from turning from Christ to the false gospel of the flesh. We are in times where good is called evil and evil is called good and that should cause us to shudder.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. –Isaiah 5:20 (New International Version)

Woe is more than just an expression of a feeling , in this use in the Bible it is an expression of judgement. We are witnessing the consequences of knowing God, but not acknowledging the Son, Jesus, though the arrogant and futile thoughts and policies of those who claim to know what is best. It can be strongly argued that America and most of Western Civilization is living out Romans 1:

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.— Romans 1:24-32 (NIV)

When God gives you over to something, it is because you worship that object ( be it a political philosophy, alcohol, drugs, pornography, occult ic practices, fornication, adultery or homosexuality) more than the Heavenly Father. His love for us may sometimes allow for bitter discipline that comes from the consequences of pursing sin. These consequences will either bring us back to the Father, through Jesus, giving us life, or we will harden our hearts and embrace the world, and the devil, resulting in death.

Picture yourself in extreme darkness. I am talking no streetlights, no moonlight, no ambient light. We’re talking darkness that is so black that you do not even see your hands in front of your face. How do you even walk in such heavy darkness, much less see your path? Now picture a light in the distance giving you a faint glimmer of your path and surroundings. Most people would go to the light unless they are hiding from something they fear.

This is America right now… mired in darkness. As Christians it is vitally important to keep our eyes on Jesus.

We need to make sure we reflect His light and not the darkness of the culture.

Our lights grow brighter when we pray, study and (if God places it on your heart) fast. We become more spiritually luminescent as we draw closer to the Father , Son and the Holy Sprit and stand uncompromising in our faith.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.–Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)

Do not look to the left or the right. In other words, do not despair over the latest outrageous headline about corrupt politicians enabling lawlessness through irresponsible legislation. Don’t worry over the state of our economy. Don’t worry about Covid. What does worry change? Nothing. Neither does anger and outrage have any effect except for disrupting your health and peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Take heart, we are not powerless. We possess the most powerful weapon in the world, prayer and we have a Heavenly Father who promises to answer our prayers according to His perfect will. All we have to do is keep our eyes on Jesus and the Almighty God will do the rest.

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The Name is Christian , not doormat

by Dex Bahr

Too many Christians are content to be a doormat for the world. Christianity is not an excuse for anyone to remain passive and non-judgmental regarding right and wrong and good and evil.

Unbelievers love to throw Matthew 7:1-2 in Christians’ faces to shame them.:

“Judge not, that you be not judged. “ (New King James Bible)

Bu was Jesus telling us not to ever judge? Many people , including Christians, take this verse out of context, assuming that it is not up to us to judge the actions of others.

Jesus says nothing of the sort. When you read further into the chapter you find this in verses 3-5:

“And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother,’Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Clearly , Jesus is not restricting us from making judgments. However, He is telling us to first take care of our own sin before judging another’s sin.And if you needed further proof that Jesus is in fact telling us to judge, examine Matthew 7:6:

“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

Discerning just who are dogs and swine obviously requires judgment for that determination. Our Lord and Savior is teaching us that we don’t just share the Gospel willy nilly to just anyone. For instance sharing the Gospel in the middle of Satanic ritual or to a group of anarchists in the midst of a riot is bad judgment. Even Jesus was silent before His accusers during the night of a His arrest and later crucifixion.

When Jesus told us not to judge this was a warning not to be excessively critical and eager to point out the faults of others. Jesus is not telling us not to judge good and evil. If this were so , why would the God tell us to hate evil?

You who love the Lord, hate evil!
He preserves the souls of His saints;
He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked
.–Psalm 97:10 (NKJV)

If we were not to judge, as the world is so quick to tell Christians, how can we discern truth versus deception? We can do so because we judge by the discernment given to us by God through the Holy Spirit. However, while we are to judge, our role is not condemnation. God tells to love our enemies for a reason: we were once enemies of God because of our sin. We can never forget that and we must remember that only God can make a final judgment on a person. That role is not for us as believers.

We can only stand in the truth of God because to stand in the truth of man is foolishness. The world hates the truth of God preferring , instead, to create its own reality: a reality comprised of lies and deception.

This only makes sense because to deny the truth of God is to lie to yourself. If you deny this basic truth in the face of all of creation speaking of God, then lies will corrupt every fiber of your being. We are seeing the fruits of this in the corruption of every institution that has provided the guardrails of our society. Look around. From marriage, to law, to education , to science and even to the Christian church, secularism in the form of politics has corrupted everything.

The truth of contemporary America and of Western Civilization is that lies have become the foundation of politics, philosophy and even morality. People have believed the lies that they are good people because they care for the environment, condemn racism and stand for social justice. They have been led to believe by the arbiters of pop culture that these are three of the biggest problems facing the world. Talk about deception of the highest order.

Yet, many churches have also bought into this deception. They have chosen to acquiesce to a culture that rejects truth instead of standing on the truth of the Bible and making a right judgment. This happens because too many Christians are preoccupied with disproving a negative that the world accuses them of (i.e. bigotry of homosexuals or being against a woman’s right to a abortion). This stems primarily from Christians having a fear of man rather than a fear of God.

Fear of man deludes Christians to prostrate themselves for cultural approval rather than standing for Godly Truth no matter who is offended . The truth is Jesus offends the culture. The Bible offends the culture and truth be told, even God offends the culture. And guess what? If you follow Jesus you should be offending the culture. If you are not, then a stark personal assessment is needed.

Yes we are to love our enemies, but we are to hate evil. Yes we are to render unto Caesar, but we are also to worship the Lord our God even when government commands us not to do so. We obey government but not at the cost of fellowship and worship.

The Christian Church is tasked with the mission of sharing the Gospel of the life, death , resurrection and return of Christ and that alone (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15-16; Acts1:8; Romans10:12-15). We are not called to validate sin or pervert the Word of God in the pursuit of riches.

Love is shown by speaking the truth, while appeasement is staying silent. Our current culture is a consequence of the too many churches choosing to remain silent about the rot infecting it because of a wrong belief about rightful judgment Time to reject the passive role of doormat to the culture and instead dedicate our selves to leading people the doorway of Jesus as as Lord and Savior.