Civil Disobedience and Christians

Dealing With The Crazy Makers In Our Life

Dealing With Crazy Makers in Your Life

Bring It To Him

"A man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and
saying, 'Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is
very ill; ... I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not
cure him. ' And Jesus answered and said ... 'Bring him here to Me"
Matthew 17:14-17

In life there are problems that I call "God problems." These are
not problems with God, but problems only God can handle. God
problems are those that cannot be fixed with your checkbook,
education or influence. These problems are outside of the control
of human beings and lie squarely within God's sovereign
jurisdiction. They stop us in our tracks and cause us to soberly
assess our associations and situation in life. They bring us face
to face with our insufficiency and our need for God's sufficiency.
When we face a God problem we discover what is really important
in life.

These problems are not designed to stop us from making
progress in life, but to reveal our dependency on God for
everything in life. God wants to reveal something to you and your
problem may be the vehicle He is using to do it.

Throughout the Gospel people sought Jesus to do what no one else
could do. In Matthew 17:14-1 7, a father had a son who was
demon-possessed and no one else was able to help him, including
Jesus' disciples. Finally, the father encounters Jesus. Jesus,
looking at this seemingly impossible and long term situation,
tells the father to, "Bring him to Me". Jesus did in a moment
what others could not do!

In another situation, the disciples faced a seemingly impossible
task of feeding over 5000 men (not including the women and
children) with two fish and five loaves of bread. After taking
inventory of the situation, Jesus, speaking of the fish and loaves,
tells the disciples to, "Bring them here to me." Having placed
their impossible situation in the hands of Jesus, the peoples'
insufficiency was transformed into over flowing sufficiency. So
much so, that there were 12 baskets full of leftover after
everyone had eaten their fill.

Too often, God is the last stop in our search for help. We don't
have to lose everything before we begin to seek Him. God is not
intimidated by what we are dealing with. We must stop trying to
fix our problem on our own and seek God for our deliverance.

Let's be honest, if we could fix it, it would have been fixed by
now. This is a "God Problem", or a "problem for God". Don't
mistake your trusting people with trusting God. When God showed
up, deliverance quickly followed.

I want to challenge you. Set aside some time in the morning,
evening, on your lunch break or when you are lying in bed, and
seek out God's presence. Block out your situation and focus on
God's promises. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus promised, "Come to
Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, .... 'For My yoke is
easy and My burden is light'." This offer still stands for those
who will seek Him! No matter ho long you had the problem. NO
matter how big it is. Whatever it is, God still says to -
"Bring it to Me!"

Bringing America Back Into The Grace Of God?

Dear Praying Friends,

In 1994, Congregational minister Rev. Richard Owen Roberts reintroduced America's churches to the seemingly forgotten Biblical truth about "Solemn Assembly." His article of the same title from his book, Sanctify the Congregation, has been reprinted again and again to help Christians in America and around the world respond to God's call for corporate repentance and prayer. But have we met God's requirements to prevent our nation from moral, spiritual, economic, and political collapse? Or will judgments against our nation only increase? Our patriot pastors, colonial governors, Continental Congresses, and many Presidents frequently called for days of sincere fasting, humiliation and prayer. They were taken seriously and nearly universally observed. We cannot save ourselves. God's Word declares hope for our nation, but only as we seek Him (Is 1:4-20; 2 Chr 7:14).

Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) - The President has not kept his word on a range of issues, but he is aggressively working to keep his promises to the nation's homosexual activists. With an expanded Hate Crimes Law already in force and a plan to open the U.S. military to homosexuals underway, Congressional Democrats are now promising a vote on ENDA (H.R.3017, S.1584) during the next few weeks. If passed, ENDA will require businesses, charities, schools, day care centers, etc., to hire, retain, and promote persons who could have been arrested as criminals in many states until just seven years ago under sodomy laws (Lawrence v. Texas U.S. 558 [2003]).

Suspected violators of what some refer to as "Cross-Dresser Protection" legislation will be investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which will facilitate lawsuits by homosexual activists. The bill gives special employment protection to homosexual, bisexuals and "transgender persons" and covers both "actual" and "perceived" "sexual orientation or gender identity." There is some (but not enough) protection for religious organizations. Chai Feldblum, who drafted the measure, was recently appointed by President Obama to the EEOC. Feldblum, a law school professor and lesbian activist, believes first amendment religious rights must bow to homosexual rights, "Gays win; Christians lose," she says (see Feldblum, Fight ENDA).

May God intervene to stop this evil bill. May God's people exercise their duty as citizens to demand that their representatives uphold religious liberty over sexual immorality by defeating ENDA (Pr 16:10-11; 20:23; Mic 6:11; Rom 1:32; 1 Ti 5:21; 2 Tim 4:2-3; Jas 3:17).

DC. Same Sex Marriage - Next Tuesday, May 4th at 10:00 AM, a nine member panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals will hear Stand4MarriageDC Coalition's appeal defending their right under the D.C. Charter to conduct a citizen initiative (a proactive referendum) on the issue of marriage. The Board of Elections and Ethics has called the initiative discriminatory and an unfit topic for a citizen initiative, simply because it seeks to keep the legal definition of marriage that has been in force since D.C.'s inception. The court ruling could further challenge the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage for federal purposes as a union between a man and woman. When the D.C. Council passed a same-sex marriage bill in December, Congress had 30 legislative days to override the bill. Only a handful fulfilled their duty to act to overturn the law. The city began issuing marriage licenses to homosexuals in early March. Activists want to make our nation's capital the homosexual capital. According to a recent report by the D.C. AIDS office, more than 3% of D.C. residents have HIV or full blown AIDS (the actual number is much higher than the number of reported cases). D.C.'s rate is similar to that in African Uganda, which, for many years had the highest AIDS rate for any nation (Hearing, Stand4MarriageDC).

May God move upon the Court to uphold D.C. citizens' right to define marriage in their city. And may they win the Initiative at the polls! May our federal legislators fulfill their duty to uphold DOMA. If taken to the U.S. Supreme Court, may God grant a wondrous victory! (Gen 1:27-28; 2:20-25; Dt 16:18-20; Ecc 12:13; Mt 19:4-6; Rev 12:11).

National Day of Prayer - Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the world's best known evangelist and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse, was unceremoniously disinvited from speaking at the Pentagon on May 6th. Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, wrote Secretary of Defense Robert Gates "demanding" that the Pentagon choose another speaker. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Muslim lobbyist group with ties to HAMAS, a certified terrorist organization, complained about Graham, pointing to his statements that Islam is an "evil and wicked religion." Now they are demanding that Graham be disinvited from speaking at the main NDP event on Capitol Hill Graham stands by his statements, originally made after the terrorist attacks in 2001 (Story, Hearings, Weinstein, CAIR, Capitol Hill Event).

May the Commander-in-Chief make amends for this discourteous act in which the Pentagon bowed to the demands of a competing religious group with a questionable history. May God-fearing people across America, outraged by this provocation, speak out, and may the Pentagon's posture be reversed! May Rev. Graham and others be strengthened to speak the truth! (2 Sam 22:1 ff; 2 Chr 7:14; Ps 50:14-15; Is 1:10-20; Joel 1:14, 2:12-18; Mt 18:18-20; John 10:10-15; 16:23-27).

Finally, this Saturday, May 1, from 6 AM - 2 PM, Christians from many denominations will gather on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial to "Cry to God for a Nation in Distress." This gathering promises to be a powerful antecedent to National Day of Prayer activities scheduled in Washington, D.C. and across the nation. On Thursday May 6th, the NDP Task Force prayer meeting on Capitol Hill will be aired live via God TV (9 AM - 12 Noon); an NDP Eastern National Area Solemn Assembly will be conducted West of the Capitol (11:30 AM - 1 PM), and the Capitol Region NDP Committee will conduct a pastors and leaders meeting (2 - 4 PM), and a Prayer and Unity gathering on the Capitol West Lawn (4:30 - 8:30 PM). Thank you for praying!

Sincerely,
Rev. Pierre Bynum
National Prayer Director
Email: pbynum@frc.org

Family Research Council
801 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-2100
Fax: 202-393-2134
Web: www.frc.org

Urgent Prayer Needed: Socialist Agenda Ungodly

Dear Praying Friends,

This Sunday the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the long-debated government takeover of the American health care system. We urge you to pray like you have never prayed before. We urge you, too, to talk to your pastor about joining with churches across America who will be uniting in prayer during their morning services this Sunday to pray about this all-important vote. And we urge you to do all you can to mobilize your praying friends to cry out to God between now and when the vote is taken -- as the Lord would lead you.

FRC and our allies and supporters have labored for the past year to educate Americans about the evils of this bill and the threat it poses to all of us, but especially the unborn. If passed, it will lead to the largest expansion of elective abortion in the history of our nation, and will require taxpayers to fund abortion for the first time in 35 years. Polls show that a majority of Americans oppose it, and that an even greater number (71%) oppose taxpayer funding of abortion. The vote will be very close, and no one will know the outcome for certain until the vote is taken, except God. It is to Him we must appeal.

We have previously made biblically based resources available to pastors and churches. You may wish to forward this letter to your pastor, who may not be on our pastors' list. He may wish to use them this Sunday:

Click here for an updated Sermon Starter entitled: The Wrong Prescription for America. If he wishes, your pastor can download it, copy the text, paste it into word processing software, edit as he sees fit and use it in his sermon!

Click here for a Bulletin Insert which contains a brief description of the fiscal, ethical, and moral problems with the bill and a call to action. Download the Bulletin Insert, print it out, copy it double-sided, and cut it down the middle. The half-sheet copies can be used in your church bulletin or as a stand-alone flier.

It may be too late to reach your Senators and Representative, but you can pray. As salt and light, we the church must influence this critical debate (Matt. 5:13-16). Visit www.FRCAction.org/healthcare for the latest information.

And please forward this message to your pastor friends. We have made a tremendous impact in slowing this unholy juggernaut that will fund abortions, but now is not the time we must not let up. It is absolutely imperative that we prevail in prayer during the few hours we still have to do so.



Nancy Pelosi claims to be praying to St Joseph and Nuns have told her they pray for this most evil agenda of our lifetime. Pelosi should have been ex-communicated when she defended Obama's stand on abortion, claiming the Catholic Church could not decide when life begins.

Lord Have Mercy

Psalm 85:7 - “Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.”

You may have joined a church, but have you thrown yourself on the mercy of the court? Have you said, “Lord God, be merciful to me, a sinner”? (Luke 18:13)

For the last few years of his life, I was a dedicated listener of Adrian Rogers' Gospel Lectures. There are few Pastors these days that are unafraid of calling a spade a spade as did Adrian. He was real quick to point out how we are deceived by today's evangelists and living in a fog as to the meaning of being a Christian.

This is one of Adrian Rogers anecdotes on mercy I had to share with you.

There’s a story about a lady who went to a photographer to have her picture made. When she saw it, she didn’t like it. So she took it back and told the photographer, “You’ll have to take this over.” He asked, “What’s wrong with it?” She said, “It doesn’t do me justice.” He looked at it and looked at her and said, “Lady, you don’t need justice; what you need is mercy.” God is just, but we need mercy. If you have never come to the place where you have seen yourself as a lost sinner before Almighty God and cried out to Him for mercy, then you’ve never been saved.

A little boy had a jigsaw puzzle that had a map of the world on one side and a picture of a man on the other. His mother asked him to try to work it, and before long he had put the puzzle together. The mother was surprised to find that the little fellow knew so much about geography.
“How on earth did you do that?” she asked.
“Oh,” he said, “I worked the other side first. When I got the man right, the world was right.”
How true that is! We will never fix this world until we get the man right — the Man Jesus Christ, that is.

Are things in your world confusing you these days? Turn to Jesus and trust Him to make sense of what you don’t understand.

Psalm 139:23 - “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.”

If you are so inclined to turn your heart over to the Lord, or aren't quite certain where you stand if something were to happen to you tonight, follow this link

Dealing With Distractions

"Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do
according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded
you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you
may have success wherever you go." Joshua 1:7-8

In Joshua 1:7-8, God gives us some key principles that we can apply
in making the transition from our situation to our destinations.
The first thing God warns His people of is the danger of becoming
distracted. He warns them not to take their focus off of His Word
and become distracted by what's going on around them. You will
generally encounter distractions when you are getting close to
achieving something that will take you to the next level in your
life.

Distractions are designed to take your focus off of your future and
cause you to become fixated and stuck in your present situation.
Some of the most dangerous distractions are those that don't make
much noise but creep in while we're at ease. The apparent ease
that we enjoy often causes us to forget about the work that still
must be done in order for God's promises to manifest in our lives.
A season of calm can cause the most diligent of us to become slack
in the very thing that got us headed in the right direction. The
enemy knows we pray more fervently and are more diligent in our
efforts to be delivered, when we're in trouble then when we're at
ease. Therefore, he allows a season of "trouble free living",
hoping that we will take our focus off of destroying his work,
slowing being lulled asleep. Once at ease, we don't discern his
activity in our lives and slowly find ourselves struggling with the
same things we once overcame. Remember, nothing is truly free
unless it comes from God. There is always a cost - even to what
appears to be peace.

Often, when we are at ease we allow God to slip into the background
of our lives and we slowly drift away from His purpose and plan for
our lives. If the truth were told, that is the reason many of us
are in the situations we're in now. This is why we must stay
focused on where we are going and what we are trying to accomplish.

Distractions also feed of our doubts and fears. When Peter began
to walk on the water, he did not sink because he couldn't finish
what he began to do. He sank because he became distracted and
fearful of what was going on around him. As he stepped out and did
the impossible, the bible says that the storm around him became
more fierce. This is a primary mode of operation of the enemy.
If he can't stop you then he will try to distract you. You must
be determined to finish what you've begun and be ready to face the
certain distractions that will arise.

Your success will be found in your ability to keep your focus on
what is ahead of you and not be distracted by what is going on
around you. Distractions are not always giants or storm, but can
also be found a season of apparent ease. The most dangerous enemy
one can face, is an enemy that has not been detected. The Bible
promises, "He will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed
on Him, because he trusts in Him" (Isaiah 26:3, NKJV).

Dr J C Mathews



GOD BLESS YOU!!!