Category Archives: Vision

“Repairing The Hedge”

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If you have a fenced in yard, and all the sudden you notice there are animals trampling your flowers and destroying your vegetable garden, you know there’s something wrong with your fence.  So you look for where the fence is broken, where it has a gap, and you fix it.  To stop the flow of intruders into your property, you must repair the gap in your fence.

God uses this very picture in the Bible to describe what happens when His people start to disobey Him.  God evidently places a “hedge” of protection (Isaiah 5:1-7) around each individual at birth.  As we grow in age and size we learn from parents, teachers and others about life.  If what we learn is the truth as revealed in the Bible, and we choose to consistently obey that truth, the “hedge” stays up.  But if what we learn either is not the truth, or if we choose to disobey the truth, then our “hedge” of protection starts to break down.  The more disobedience there is to God’s Word, the more our fence comes down; and the more satan and his evil spirits, who come to “kill, steal, and destroy,” (John 10:10) break into our lives.  Thus, the destruction in our lives will Continue reading →

“Triumph Will Come Out of Tragedy”

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While this has been the worst year in American history, God is yet at work.  The story He is writing through the course of time is filled with triumphs that came out of tragedies.  One of these was when the Jews were carried away to Babylon for seventy years.  Their temple was torn down and the palaces of their kings destroyed.  Nothing was left of their previous civilization.  And yet, in that darkest of all days in their history, God was still writing His-Story.  He promised them that this tragedy would be used to work their repentance, which would bring them back to His order—and, in His order, there is always the flow of His blessing.

At this, the lowest moment in all their long history, God gave them an encouraging word through the prophet Jeremiah.  He boldly declared to the nation that, out of this tragedy, He would,

“…give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto Me with their whole heart.” (Jeremiah 24:7)

He said, “I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord…”  They had gone into captivity because they had forgotten He was “the Lord”; that is, He was the Owner and Master of everything—including them!  He owned their possessions; and those should have been used for bringing their children and others into agreement with God’s way of thinking.  Instead, they had Continue reading →

“The Christmas Story”

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Ladies and gentlemen, the following story is why we have Christmas:

The Christmas Story1 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away [privately]. But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for…he…shall save his people from their sins.’ Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us.’ And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name JESUS.” Continue reading →

“Born to Raise the Sons of Earth”

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At this time of year we probably hear the Name of Jesus spoken more often than at any other time.  We thrill to the story of His miraculous birth and the way He arose out of very humble surroundings to become a Man who helped so many hurting people.  But there, most people’s thoughts of Him stop.  And we miss the reason for all His background and upbringing.  We miss what the great hymn written by Charles Wesley captured so well when he wrote in the 1700s that Jesus was:

“…born to raise the sons of earth; born to give them second birth.” (Hark the Herald Angels Sing)

So how does Jesus raise the sons of earth?  Well, He starts by bringing us into what the next phrase of the hymn calls the “second birth.”  He has the Holy Spirit convince us that we have rebelled against God and His order for our lives; thus, the Bible reveals to us that we are each sinners.  Then the Holy Spirit convinces us that Jesus has Continue reading →

“God Was Taking Care of America”

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god-was-taking-care-of-america1The date was December 7th, 1941. The time was 7:55am. To the complete surprise of American forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Japanese planes began to sweep down and drop devastating bombs onto our fleet and also our planes on the ground. When the attack was done, eighteen of our ships were sunk or sinking and nearly all of our planes were destroyed. Over 3,500 of our servicemen were dead. We were shocked at such a bold and devastating attack on our U.S Navy. Many wondered if the Navy would ever recover. Even worse, we wondered if our liberty would shortly be ended and we would be required to worship the Emperor of Japan as god.

In the midst of this despair, President Franklin Roosevelt replaced the commander of our Pacific fleet with an Admiral named Chester Nimitz. Nimitz arrived at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941. He immediately went for an inspection of the harbor. Sunken ships and twisted metal were everywhere. Once Nimitz had inspected the whole harbor, the young seaman at the helm of his boat asked him, “Well, Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?” Nimitz’ reply shocked everyone listening. He said Continue reading →

“The Birth that Affected Civil Law”

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This time of year there’s a lot of reference to the Baby Jesus in the manger.  That’s a good thing.  We think of the Christ Child and hope comes to us that God literally invaded history and brought hope that there could be “peace on earth toward men of good will” (Luke 2:14).

And yet, for all this good feeling surrounding the Baby Jesus, few ever think beyond the manger.  And even of those who do think of His important life, death, and resurrection, even fewer ever come to understand His impact on all civilization; and particularly here in the western hemisphere.  Jesus was the most important Law-Giver in world history.  His influence over moral and civil law in this world makes Him, without question, the most influential person in all of history.  Yet, few law schools in America ever acknowledge His powerful impact.

Jesus’ birth came at a time when Rome ruled the world with crushing dictatorial power.  No one criticized Roman authority without placing their lives at great risk.  Into this oppressive realm Jesus was born.  The very place of His birth was Continue reading →

“The Pilgrims — Overcoming the Hard Times”

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The Pilgrims - Overcoming the Hard Times 1Forefathers Monument, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, is dedicated to the memory of the Pilgrims: Specifically to the memory of, “…their labors, sufferings, and sacrifices in the cause of civil and religious liberty.” One of the five statues which make up Forefathers Monument is Morality. This statue reveals the Pilgrims desire to live conforming their actions to the Bible. They demonstrated how Christ could live His life through us if we were surrendered to Him as a living Master. And that was true in hard times as well as good times. Their story shows us this reality—even in the most difficult circumstances.

When they came together in a church covenant in 1605 to: “…walk together in all His ways…whatsoever it should cost them…” (Bradford, William. Of Plimoth Plantation), it would cost them dearly. Several times over the next three years, English deputies would burst into their worship meetings, hauling the men off to jail; fining them and keeping them locked up for thirty days. This cost them financially because they were unable to work their farms during those times.

When they moved to Holland in order to have the religious freedom to teach their children the ways of Christ, they were Continue reading →

“Halloween or Reformation Day?”

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October 31st marked the great change in history which began to restore the “liberty of conscience” to the human race. Five hundred years ago a young priest Halloween or Reformation Day 1tacked on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany a document that changed the course of history. Martin Luther was that young priest, and his bold act threw off the religious yoke of “the tyranny of the mind”. And while most in America now think of October 31st as Halloween, that’s a “Johnny-come-lately” idea. Up until the mid-1800s, on October 31st, we celebrated “Reformation Day”, for that was the day the mind of man began to be set free from hundreds of years of living in the fear of what other men thought. Once again, man began to learn that only God has the right to shape our minds for He created us, and thus by rights, owns us and our minds. What Martin Luther did would start to restore the precious freedom Jesus talked about when He stated,

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32)

We call that truth, the “liberty of conscience”, and it is a most sacred part of “religious liberty”. God used a lowly young boy, grown into a courageous young man, to Continue reading →

“Where Is Our King?”

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Do you sense the growing desperation right now?  With the cowardice that grips most of our government servants, rendering them powerless to deal with the rising oil prices and the out-of-control spending of government itself, there is great cause for alarm.  I’ve never known a time when there seemed to be such little resolve among those who were supposed to be leaders to correct such obvious problems.  Our leaders seemed paralyzed by ignorance, or worse—no moral courage!

While there is plenty around us to discourage us, let us not forget that the God of heaven still rules.  It has always been at the darkest moments in history that He has shown up with His mighty power.  The Psalmist recognized just such a time and cried out, “It is time for You to act, O Lord, for they have made void Your law.” (Psalms 119:126).  Indeed, the current crisis should not be allowed to bring us to despair, but rather to bring us to our knees so we would cry to our God to deliver us!  Our children are worth fighting for.  Our God-given liberty is worth personal sacrifice!

In December of 1776, as George Washington’s ‘rag tag’ army moved into Valley Forge Pennsylvania to spend the winter there, they were Continue reading →

“Knowing Our History Is a Must!”

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Knowing Our History Is a Must- 1Woodrow Wilson said:

“A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do.  We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about…”

(1913. Robert Flood, The Rebirth of America (Philadelphia: The Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), p. 12)

Where did earlier generations get the idea we are to know our history?  Why did our ancestors place so much emphasis on knowing our history?  Could our present decline be rooted in the “national amnesia” so prevalent across our land?

While it may be a shock to some; America’s Founders got the idea they must communicate to their children the story of where they came from—right out of the Bible.  It was the Pastors who taught the importance of remembering our history.  They pointed out such commands by God as the one in Deuteronomy 32:7, which states:

“Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.”

Those early American Pastors realized that if we knew history well, we would Continue reading →