Colored Glasses

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

Luke 6:1-5 “One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, ‘Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.’  Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’”

 

The Pharisees had a real distain for Jesus and His disciples and so they nit-picked everything that He did. Here they saw Jesus doing something that they thought was unlawful and pointed it out. They were looking through what I call colored glasses. They did not criticize King David for when he did something similar – they looked the other way.

 

When it comes to President Trump and the main stream media I see the same thing in the political world today. Yes, Trump is not your typical politician or president, following protocol and all, and saying things he probably wished he hadn’t, that the media continues to harp on, but what about Obama and the unmasking of Americans? What about Hillary selling 20% of our uranium to the Russians and the next thing we see is millions coming into their foundation and Bill Clinton receiving a whopping honorarium for one speech given in Moscow? Or Hillary’s private e-mail server that contained classified information? Or their foundation when it came to finances meant for the earthquake victims of Haiti? Could it be that the main stream media is looking at President Trump through their colored glasses?

 

What about us personally? Are we guilty of the same thing as the Pharisees, looking at things through their colored glasses? What about those who preach and teach the Word of God giving prestige to those who are the bigger givers in the churches – as James brings out: “If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, ‘Here’s a good seat for you,’ but say to the poor man, ‘You stand there’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet,’ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” James 2:3-4

 

Perhaps we have become judges with evil thoughts, like James said, with politics too?

 

When it comes to members of our family, are we judging one another with our evil thoughts of colored glasses? Have we looked at our spouse or children and found ourselves judging them in a condemning way for something they did or did not do?

 

In Romans 2:1 Paul tells us: “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” We seem to forget that people around us are like mirrors reflecting us and reacting to others we are faced with.

 

Paul goes on to tell us in Romans 2:1 “And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?” Sin is sin. We are all sinners. One sin is not worse than another to God.

 

It is like a tape recorder is tied around our necks that records every word that we speak and God judges us on that basis. Words have the power of life and death. Jesus say “that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36-37

 

No wonder James gave us sound advice when he said, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” James 1:19

 

We should learn from Job who said to God when he didn’t understand what was happening and what God was doing, “I put my hand over my mouth.” Job 40:4

 

 

 

Serious Thought: Slave or Free

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

To take a people from being slaves to being freemen will require them to think differently. When everything has been given to you by those who lord it over you (like in government or dictatorships) and now you are free from your task master, when you are faced with hard times you will be tempted to go back to thinking like a slave and will give up on the road to freedom because freedom requires sacrifice to keep your freedom. The Hebrews in the desert of freedom (after God delivered them from Egypt) cried out to the Lord about their hunger and thirst, not understanding what God was doing. They said that it was better as a slave for at least they had food and water. (Exodus 14:10-12) But God had no intention of denying them their basic needs, but just that they came to faith in God, and no longer depending on man (government and world systems).

 

When slaves keep moving towards freedom with God, they will be filled with AWE of what God will do to provide for them and protect them as they move through God’s open doors of opportunity for them to prosper on their own. Faith in God and courage to take risks believing God will support and bless the work of our hands, will bring us to experience the life of freemen.

 

“When the people saw the mighty power of the LORD they were filled with awe, and put their faith in the LORD.” Exodus 14:31 NLT

 

 

The Holy Spirit Gifts

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

Ephesians 4:11-14 NLT

 

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever – they sound like the truth.

 

I had a conversation the other day with some of the church and asked them how many prophets have you heard. They said they never even hear of a prophet. This verse was in my quiet time this morning and I thought it was interesting to see this list of gifts that God intended for building up the church and keep them away from new and false teachings. I have been told by pastors that the gifts of apostles and prophets are no longer needed, therefore, God has removed them. Even the gift and work of evangelism, is hardly talked about or encouraged in the church service today. Could this be why the ‘progressive’ doctrine has come into the church?

 

Just Some Thoughts

 

The Spin Stops Here

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

The Spin Stops Here

 

Luke 7:22 “So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”

 

When John’s disciples came, and asked Jesus if He is the one prophesied of, or should they look for another – it is interesting to see the answer that Jesus gave them.  He tells them to go tell John what they have seen (action/miracles) and heard (apologetics); that the sick are healed, the blind receive sight, the lame walk, etc. In other words, we need to have both. People need to see miracles taking place as well as hearing systematic argumentation and discourse in understanding the foundation of our faith in Jesus Christ (apologetics).

 

We are to go out and meet the world. We are to be influencers and Jesus showed us some of the principles that will make a difference in the world. Often what it means, is to be just the opposite of what we see in the world.

 

For example, where there is the spirit of pride, exhibit humility; where there is stubbornness, exhibit flexibility; where there is an unforgiving spirit, exhibit forgiveness.  In other words, we are to exhibit the opposite of the ungodly spirit that is being manifested. We are in a spiritual warfare and we are to use our weapons wisely.

 

For the last couple of weeks, I have seen in several families a spiritual battle taking place in how what is said is being spun leading to strife within the marriage.

 

Praying over this I have come to realize that there is a Leviathan-spirit and one of its main tactics is to twist our words and spin the truth. This spirit causes misunderstanding and strife within relationships. It is like a crocodile that gets its kill in its mouth and will spin as fast as it can to bring its kill under its control. We see this spirit being played out in the political and media realm in how truth is being spun.

 

One of the most successful programs on the Fox News has been Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin Zone. He has now been fired by Fox, because of sexual innuendos. How true those accusations are I do not know, but what is interesting to me is that his “No Spin Zone” is no more. Could this be a spiritual battle taking place?

 

We live in a world where there is so much deception and the possibility of being deceived is great, because the truth is being spun. Did not Isaiah speak of a day like this?

 

Isaiah 59:14-15 “Truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.”

 

When John the Baptist’s disciples came to Jesus asking if He was the real one, the true one, what did Jesus do? He showed them that He was – by what He was doing.

 

In all of the spinning taking place in the world today as well as in our families – what are we to do? We show the opposite spirit. We put up ‘no spin zones’ in our area of influence within our families, jobs, professions, etc., and we say to the Leviathan spirit: ‘the spin stops here!’

Wait on the Lord

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

Luke 10:38-41 “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’”

 

‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.’”

 

We need balance in all that we do. We need ‘to be’ like Mary more often sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to what He is saying, along with the work of each day like Martha. This is why I like the early morning when I get up and sit at the feet of the Lord to hear what He has to say, giving me instructions for the day. When I miss this time it is to my own detriment. We are always wanting ‘to do,’ but God is often wanting us ‘to be.’

 

In Psalms 37:7 King David gave us some good advice: “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.”

 

The Hebrew word for “rest” is daman: to be silent, still, dumb. Calmly resign and leave all things in the hands of God. This is a sure cure for dissatisfaction.  The idea in back of the word ‘wait’ is to set yourself to expect God to answer.

 

A danger of not waiting on the Lord is that we will run ahead of Him and do the work of the Lord in human energy and not in the Holy Spirit. Not only do we build on wood, hay and stubble, but we can put into effect circumstances that have far reaching consequences. We see with this Abraham’s wife, Sarah, when the promise of God was late in coming, so she thought. What she put into motion is now affecting Israel and all of us today.

 

In our Western culture, we find it difficult to wait. We live in a world where success takes on the form of doing, what we achieve, being super busy, etc. and when this is not happening there is that feeling of not accomplishing anything. When it comes to sitting at the feet of Jesus, waiting on Him we find hard to do because we cannot measure what is being done. It is not something that we can see. This is where faith comes in because “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  (Hebrews 11:1)

 

Yet the idea in back of the word ‘wait’ is to set yourself to expect God to answer.

 

Faith is being in God’s waiting room and while there – God is teaching us some precious lessons. We find that we are being:

 

  1. Tested by uncertainty. We know that something we have been waiting for, praying for, is coming, but we do not know when. Faith is trusting God in the uncertainty. When we have been praying about something and it does not immediately manifest we will go through a time of uncertainty. This is where real faith comes in. Do we trust God during these times?
  2. Tested by fear. Fear is what paralyzes us from doing and being all that God wants.  It was fear that kept me from responding to God’s calling for almost three years. There was a fear that He might call me do something that I did not want to do or felt incapable of doing.  I was afraid that if I surrendered to God that He would call me to preach, the one thing that I hated was public speaking. God had given me a promise in Matthew 28: 20 “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” It was also through 1 John 4:18 that God spoke to me: “There is no fear (fobos, fobou, fear, dread, terror) in love. But perfect love drives out fear.”
  3. Tested by disappointment. We live in a fallen world and there will be disappointments. What we thought would happen did not; people that we depend on can let us down.
  4. Tested by delay. God keeping His promises. This is probably the biggest test and that is delay. It ties in with uncertainty, because when something does not happen that we thought would, we begin to doubt if what we were believing and working towards was really of the Lord to begin with.   Satan is very clever coming in at this time to throw doubts and discouragement our way. We may also begin to manipulate and in our strength try to bring the desired result.
  5. Tested by blessings. In Genesis 22:1 we see that Abraham after waiting for a number of years is finally blessed with what God had promised that he would have the son of Sarah as promised in her old age: Isaac (whose name means laughter). It was a few years after this that Abraham was tested when God told him to take his son to a certain mountain and there sacrifice him. What thoughts must have gone through Abraham’s mind at the time; what a battle, but he obeyed and Isaac was replaced with a ram. What was happening here was to establish priority. God must be first.

 

If we will seek FIRST the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness, God will add all good things to us. Nothing good will He withhold from them who walk uprightly.

 

Psalms 27:14 “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

 

 

 

 

 

Political Gaslighting

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

The word ‘gaslighting’ has been popularized in psychology to describe a form of mental and emotional abuse in which a domineering person denies and contradicts the memories and perceptions of an intended victim begins to doubt his or her perception of reality.

 

The word ‘gaslighting’ comes from the 1944 mystery film “Gaslight,” in which a woman’s husband tries to convince her that she is losing her mind and that the things she is experiencing – such as the gaslights in the house flickering and dimming – are not real. Only when an inspector from Scotland Yard also notices the gaslights flickering does she realize that she is not losing her mind and that her husband has a devious agenda.

 

In politics, the world “gaslighting” is increasingly used to describe the left’s efforts to push a false view of reality and to convince mainstream Americans that their common-sense views are somehow extreme. For example, on a recent edition of “Varney & Co.,” Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said the Obama administration’s portrayal of Israel as our enemy and Iran as nothing to worry about could be described as “gaslighting.” Bill Whittle’s popular video “Gaslighting” exposed the left’s use of the gaslighting tactic to spread false information about issues such as Benghazi and Obamacare.

 

Note that gaslighting is a far more insidious tactic than political spin. Spin merely attempts to shift the interpretation of a real situation by presenting it in a different light. Gaslighting presents a completely false alternative to reality and is intended to erode the confidence of the target in his or her own perception.

 

For example: Imagine two people standing outside in a severe rainstorm.

Spin: “You say this is a downpour? It looks more like a heavy sprinkle to me.”

Gaslighting: “You say this is a downpour? What are you talking about? It’s sunny and pleasant. Are you feeling OK? You’re acting a little strange.”

 

The left’s dominance in the cultural institutions of education, news and entertainment has given them two elements: confidence and audacity in pushing their view of reality persevering boldly in the face of EVIDENCE that CONTRADICTS their claim. Secondly, the left’s ‘target’ must be psychologically isolated and denied validation by others who see the SAME REALITY.

 

(It’s mostly the millennials, upcoming leaders, who are being brainwashed by leftist college professors, Hollywood and media, which is their only means of what they believe is knowledge/wisdom – so that there is constant and increasing outbreaks of emotional and aggressive insanity over this new administration working to bring COMMON-SENCE back, and the left’s using them for organized hostility towards those who speak the truth in the face of lies and opposing the left’s agenda with their effect on the brainwashed younger generation.)

 

Another example: Seattle University students were asked if there’s a difference between men and women. Instead of answering, “You’re kidding me, right?” these students actually took the interviewer’s question seriously and, even worse, they struggled to answer it. Some went as far as to PARROT the far left’s narrative that the distinction between male and female is merely a social construct imposed on people by society and that it has no real significance otherwise.

 

Has news about who has the babies not reached Seattle?

 

In the left’s ALTERNATE REALITY, the police are threats to law and order and rioters are victims of the system. If you support Trump you are “anti-immigrant,” “homophobic,” and “Islamophobic.” Rejecting the belief that refugees should be carefully vetted these days in order to keep more terrorists from exploiting our generosity now makes those with COMMON-SENSE “xenophobics.”

 

In gaslighting, it is the EFFECT of WORDS on the intended ‘target’ that counts, and not the truthfulness or logical consistency of those words. If the target is isolated, demoralized and fearful of opposing the left’s agenda, the tactic has worked.

 

One of the reasons for Trump’s Electoral College landslide was that he VALIDATED what tens of millions of Americans had been long thinking in spite of the gaslighting efforts of the left. The LIGHT OF LIBERTY has indeed been “flickering.” We weren’t just imagining things! The political elite really did have an agenda other than promoting the interests of the American people. We weren’t crazy!

 

With their power threatened, the left’s gaslighting has passed audacious and become desperate. A man who has never held elective office trounced the Clinton machines and their echo chamber in the media. And what does the left tell us? The Russians did it. (The FBI did it. WikiLeaks did it. Facebook, Twitter, racism, misogyny, Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, voter suppression, The New York Times, Steve Bannon, Google, the media, fake news, sexism, etc., the list keeps growing!)

 

Article by Dr. Timothy Daughtry in the Whistleblower March magazine (text in parenthesis is mine)

Serious Thought

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

This morning I began my reading in the Word: Exodus chapter one. The first question that came to me was: How do you take a people who are free and make them slaves? The answer that came to me is: You give them everything so that they depend upon you, then you take the males and remove their manhood and masculinity as God designed, just like the rulers in Egypt did to the Israelites.

 

America’s so-called “educators” have been shaming and removing any thinking and behavior of early masculinity in little boys – so that they will no longer rebel against the ‘new’ definition of male and female.

 

In America people are slowing being turned into slaves of those forcefully setting ‘new’ definitions of gender, law and liberty.

 

Our government has provided so many ‘entitlements’ that people now think these entitlements are their rights. Wake up America and learn from history that the path we have been on will only lead to bondage. It’s time to take a stand for the truth and fight in the ways our God tells us to.

 

Serious Thought

 

Daily Devotional

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

Yesterday I had a conversation with a young man. He asked me what church I belong to and I told him, “I do not belong to any organized church but I do attend one.” He told me he was moving close to where I lived, and he went on to say that what he really wanted was to get in a Bible study with men his age. I told him of some churches in the area he could check out to see if they have what he was looking for.

 

After this conversation I began to think why would he want to meet only with men of his own age? Why not have older men involved as well? When talking with him he said he wanted to meet with young men going through the life issues he is going through. Why not ask someone who has gone through what he is facing instead of just talking with others his age? I was impressed by his request for the knowledge of God, but was a little disturbed by his request of only young men. Why re-invent the wheel when the wheel works perfect?

 

The more I thought about this on my prayer walk a thought came to me that it was a sign of the times we are living in. A new generation has come that does not want to hear from those who have already gone through life’s experiences with sound wisdom to impart, but rather to hear from those who think there are new ways of successfully going through life experiences. I was reminded of a young man in the Bible who had the choice of listing to older men or to his friends. He listed to his friends and it split the nation of Israel in two.

 

As I talk with older people today, most young people do not ask the elderly about their life. As a matter of fact most reject any wisdom we might have. (I’m thankful for my children who still want to tell me their struggles, pick my brain and let me pray over them.)

 

Throughout history the young went to the older folks for their opinions and wisdom, or answers to personal questions, but this is not the case today. Maybe I see it more now than when I was younger because I am one of the old folks.

 

Could this be a sign that we are living in the last days when the godly wisdom of the old is not honored or even tested by most of the younger generation?

 

Just Some Thoughts

 

The New Generation

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

A new generation has come and they do not acknowledge Jesus, nor do they remember the mighty things that He has done for past generations. How quickly they turn away from the path of their ancestors who walked in obedience to God’s Word. This new generation contradicts the teachings of the bible, and the result is that most of them have turned away from truth and follow deceptive teachings, and argue with anyone who tells them the truth.

 

Why did this happen? Because some of God’s leaders in His church refused to stand up and speak out against those who teach and tell lies. Therefore, this generation shows no respect for anyone who still speaks the truth. Instead they listen to those who say pleasing things.

 

To those who know God’s Word, they know to keep a close watch on how they live and what they say today. We need to be wise about what is being taught by comparing it to God’s Word. When you know God’s Word, it will be easy to know when anyone teaches lies.

 

Godly teaching promotes a godly life, and a godly life produces contentment, and with contentment there is great gain.

 

Just Some Thoughts

The Jesus Method

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

Luke 6:12 “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”

 

Jesus was faced with the same problem that we are faced with. How would Jesus get His message out that He came to dies for the sins of the world? It is the responsibility of the Church in world evangelism.

 

What did Jesus do?

 

The first thing we see Jesus doing: He prayed. (Luke 4:12 “Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray.” So we see that prayer was Jesus’ main agenda. “At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.’ ”  (Luke 4: 41,43)  What comes out here is that prayer helps us to keep our focus, because if we do not have focus we will have fragmentation. “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.” (Luke 5:16,18)

 

We see the connection between prayer and the power to heal.

 

Jesus not only prayed alone, but there were times when He prayed with others. “About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.” (Luke 9:28) In Ephesians 6:18 Paul tells us: “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

 

It might seem unimportant, but the necessity of waiting on God is essential.  A.W. Tozer said: “When I am praying the most eloquently, I am getting the least accomplished in my prayer life. But when I stop getting eloquent and give God less theology and shut up and just gaze upward and wait for God to speak to my heart He speaks with such power that I have to grab a pencil and a notebook and take notes on what God is saying to my heart.”

 

Secondly, Jesus chose 12 men. “He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.” (Mark 3:14) I shared about power versus influence and mentioned the following: “Power works by division, influence by multiplication. In other words, the more power you share the less you have, but the more influence you share the more you have.”

 

What did Jesus do? We read that Jesus spent the night in prayer and the next morning He called His followers and out of them He chose 12 whom He called His Apostles.

 

We read in John 20:22: “And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

 

One could say that He gave them His influence and they went forth and spread that influence.

 

Thirdly, He taught them. What did He teach? He taught them the true meaning of discipleship. “Looking at his disciples, he said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.’”

 

This sounds like the beatitudes in Matthew 5, but I do not think it is so because of the following verses. If He is talking about the poor in spirit then why would he mention about being rich and if he is talking about hunger in righteousness then why would he mention about being well fed, etc. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” (Luke 6:20-26) Jesus is teaching His disciples that God is first in all things. He is the Lord; He is the King and not self. This is a hard lesson to learn, but one that we must learn if we are going to be successful in God’s work.

 

Fourthly, Jesus showed His disciples how to influence the world – to live by His kingdom principles. But if Jesus is not the King in our life it will be impossible to do; to love your enemies; to bless those who curse you; to lend expecting nothing in return; not to judge. So often we have a tendency to judge the motives of others and find ourselves acting in the way that we have judged others.

 

We will face many storms in life and whether we will stand or crumble before the storms of life will depend on our foundation. Are we built on the sand or on the solid rock of the teaching of Christ?