VOTE: Give Unto Caesar The Things That Are Caesar's

To those Christian Conservatives who plan to sit this election out and NOT vote because you don't want to vote for a Mormon. I TOTALLY understand where you're coming from, I had the same feeling......until my very wise hubby reminded me we are NOT now, nor have we EVER cast a vote for Pastor in the WH. And that is the crux of the matter, watch the video below, it expresses it much better than I.

First and foremost, Spiritually they are equally lost and need our prayer and indeed we are COMMANDED to pray even for unjust and cruel leaders.....1 Tim 2:1-4......"1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

YOUR VOTE & TAXES:
How different is voting for a secular office than paying taxes? And what did Jesus say in Matt 22 when the Pharisees plotted to trap him with a question of paying taxes?

Matthew 22:15-22

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said. 16 And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. 17 Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 And hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away.

Whomever you vote for...........GIVE UNTO CAESAR THE THINGS THAT ARE CAESAR'S, AND UNTO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE GOD's!!!!!!!!!

RESPECT FOR YOUR DECISION:
I don't write this to insist you vote, nor to imply that you are any less of a Christian if you don't vote for Romney. That logic (which I have seen expressed by some online friends) is as faulty as saying you are any less black if you don't vote for Obama (pressure being felt and expressed by my black brothers and sister online). So this is a free country, you have the PRIVILEGE and RESPONSIBILITY of voting, but you also have the FREEDOM not to, if that is what your heart leads you. I love the brethren, liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat.

Pastor David Jeremiah states for the first time in his forty years as a Pastor he felt he had to speak out on this coming election, and shared many things about Obama I didn't even know, since I don't care about politics much, and frankly can't stand the sound of his voice!



David Jeremiah says goto http://www.afaaction.net from American Family Association on Vimeo.

Additionally, Chuck Missler wrote a short article on this in the November 2012 Khouse Personal Update News Journal: AMERICA 2012

Will There Be Animals / Pets in Heaven? What Do the Scriptures Tell Us?

Our rescue Peanut

I've been in discussions regarding the issue of whether our pets will be with us in Heaven many times.  For those of us who are ardent animal lovers and Bible students, it's an interesting study. The short answer is, God has not chosen to reveal that to us. 

There are, however, many interesting passages in the Bible about animals in Heaven. Any definitive statement about our pets in Heaven,  however, would be purely speculative. All verses I cite below regard (as I understand them) the Millennium reign of Christ, not Heaven per se. I encourage you however, to be Berean, look them up and study on it. There will undoubtedly be others which apply, please leave a comment with additional passages or input you would like to add to the post.

We know that there will be animals in the New Jerusalem, the Millennium reign of Christ on this earth:
Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.

Isaiah 11:6-9
6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. 
7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. 
8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. 
9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.
Illustrating the now dangerous animals still present in the Millennium, yet not causing any harm even to a small child or to other animals. Showing them reverted back to the apparent state in which they lived before the fall of man in the Garden of Eden - vegetarian and harmless.

In Ezekiel 34:25 God says “I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods." This shows we will not be surrounded by only the "good" animals, because as we can see in the Isaiah passages above, God specifically says there will be cobras, bears, wolves, etc. But rather that God in His omnipotence will turn harmless the animals we now know as dangerous.

God is the giver of life, He cares even for the smallest creatures. Jesus said in Matt 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. He was speaking about God's omnipotence and omniscience.

Revelation 19:11-14
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 
12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 
13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 
14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
John is shown Heaven, and in it were horses.

Digging a little deeper, there is Scripture that says that the Lord gives breath to every living being, that includes animals. Ecclesiastes 3:18-21 18 I said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.” 19 For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. 20 All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. 21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?
The final verse is a question, not a statement. This verse tells that all die, man and beast, but where the beasts go is a question that's been asked for thousands of years.

In Genesis 7:15 it says So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. The Hebrew word for 'breath' in the original text is 'ruach' which throughout OT Scripture is the word for the breath of life which is the Holy Spirit and is the breath which in the OT was a temporary indwelling rather than a permanent one which was given as a pledge and seal to Christians in the New Covenant. Look up Strong's Concordance H3707 for all instances and uses of it in Scripture.

That same Holy Spirit in 2 Thes 2:7 will be taken out of this world (raptured) before the Anti-Christ is let loose on the 2nd half of the Great Tribulation. That doesn't mean pets will be raptured. Just believe that God takes care of even the sparrows.

Psalm 104 speaks of all God's works and His care for animals, they are His:
24 O LORD, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions. 
25 There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great. 
26 There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it. 
 27 They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. 
28 You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. 
29 You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust. 
30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground.
NOTE: In v. 29 (spirit of animals) as well as in v. 30 (Holy Spirit of God) are the same Hebrew word in the original text. In Genesis 7:15 it says So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. It seems to say the animals have within them the same Spirit which we Christians have within us, the Holy Spirit. Both words in Hebrew is רוח = 'ruach', which is the Hebrew word for the Holy Spirit). In the OT was a temporary indwelling rather than a permanent one which was given as a pledge and seal to Christians in the New Covenant. Look up Strong's Concordance H3707 for all instances and uses of it in Scripture.

That doesn't mean animals will be raptured. 2 Thesasalonians 2:6-8: 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; That same Holy Spirit will be taken out of this world (raptured) before the Anti-Christ is let loose on the 2nd half of the Great Tribulation.

Speaking on the resurrection of the human body and the Rapture, the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” .........38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish........50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. He is speaking of course of the human resurrection, not at all about animals - however v.39 makes the distinction of the flesh.

There are undoubtedly many more passages I might add. We MUST test everything thru the lense of Scripture so that we don't get caught up in deception. The anthropomorphic view we can have of animals gives us a warped sense of who they really are, and we can find ourselves thinking that it wouldn't be Heaven without them. It's important to remember:
1. We must not worship our pets, but trust the that the Lord loves all His creatures, as Scripture shows us. Know that His will is perfect and always done in Heaven!
2. Heaven is not a place where God takes us to rest and enjoy ourselves, it's a place of complete and total worship to Him. Man's words cannot explain the wonders of God. John wrote in John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they *were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself *would not contain the books that *would be written.

“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” - 1 Corinthians 2:9

Finally, as interesting as it is to study on God's Word in this or any other subject which touches your heart, remember always.....do NOT let it not be an idol to you beloved. Like you I am an ardent animal lover, I feel they are great blessings to us in THIS world and pray that they will be with us in Heaven, however I trust in God's perfect plan if not.

God wishes that none should perish and go to hell 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance., You might wonder, why then is there a hell? Jesus answered that. A person who has not confessed his sins repented (turned away from those sins) and accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the one and only salvation of his soul, is choosing to join Satan and his demons in hell: Matthew 25:41-46 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;.......These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

If you are reading this and have not accepted Christ's sacrifice to you, know that Heaven is real, our pets may not go to Heaven, but man has a definite final destination after this life.

Recommended reading: Lamb & Lion Ministries Do pets go to Heaven? Some thought-provoking answers to the age-old question.

FoxNews Science: Mystery Roar Detected From Faraway Space

This interesting story was on Fox News recently: Mystery Roar Detected From Faraway Space.

Radio waves are not sound waves, but they are still electromagnetic waves, situated on the low-frequency end of the light spectrum.

Many objects in the universe, including stars and quasars, emit radio waves. Even our home galaxy, the Milky Way, emits a static hiss (first detected in 1931 by physicist Karl Jansky). Other galaxies also send out a background radio hiss.

But the newly detected signal, described here today at the 213th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, is far louder than astronomers expected.

There is "something new and interesting going on in the universe," said Alan Kogut of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.A team led by Kogut detected the signal with a balloon-borne instrument named ARCADE (Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission).

In July 2006, the instrument was launched from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, and reached an altitude of about 120,000 feet (36,500 meters), where the atmosphere thins into the vacuum of space.

ARCADE's mission was to search the sky for faint signs of heat from the first generation of stars, but instead they heard a roar from the distant reaches of the universe."The universe really threw us a curve," Kogut said. "Instead of the faint signal we hoped to find, here was this booming noise six times louder than anyone had predicted."

Detailed analysis of the signal ruled out primordial stars or any known radio sources, including gas in the outermost halo of our own galaxy.

Other radio galaxies also can't account for the noise — there just aren't enough of them.

Source: FoxNews: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,477880,00.html

2 Corinthians 12:2-4
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows-- was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak."

Whether Paul was physically taken to heaven or it was shown him, even he could not say for sure; however, it's clear from this passage that he went to the place where the Lord resides, the third heaven. The first heaven is regarded by theologians as our earthly atmosphere, the second heaven: outerspace, and the third heaven as God's habitation. A paradise! I pray to see you there!

Acceptance is Unacceptable

Don't fall for today's mentality of acceptance. You don't have to hit everyone over the head with a Bible to be a witness, a mistake we too often make. The best witness is one which allows the Lord Jesus to shine through them and allows the Holy Spirit to guide their tongues.

However, we cannot be shy about our faith of fall into the all-accepting crowd. If Jesus is the Lord of your life, live that way...........the salvation of the person you meet today may depend on it. You are to plant the seed of God's word..........He says nothing about working the soil, that's up to the Holy Spirit. Read Matthew 13:1-52

I believe the Bible is clear on what the Lord considers an abomination and is not at all ambiguous about it. God never deals in "gray areas"! I won't get into the particular issues here, you can read the Bible and figure that out for yourself. A good start is to see who the Bible says will NOT be in heaven also see my post Whose Name Is In The Book of Life for more Scripture on this subject......

Revelation 21:8
But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Before you go throwing stones, see how many of those sin YOU have committed. Perhaps never committed murder or adultery.........but how about lying? You'll be lying right now if you say "never" so there goes your so-called perfect record ;o). Without repentance - no matter how small your sin - you won't be in heaven after your death.

The Bible teaches us to hate the sin but love the sinner............NOT to accept or make excuses the sin. If you are a Christian you can act no other way and please God! Let HIM take care of the judging and the punishment.

The best thing you can do, that which give you the most strength, is to pray for those people to see the truth and be saved.

The point is too often we hear we should be "all encompassing" in religious beliefs. Don't let that sort of talk make you shy away from being a light to the world!

God bless you!
Lu

Whose Name Is In The Book of Life????

A question was posted to me.......what are the qualifications for one to go to heaven (to have one's name in the Book of Life?, and conversely, the qualifications for one's name to be omitted? The items in bold italics below are his questions.

My problem is I love everyone and my hope is everyone is saved; though, I know this will probably not happen, the Bible teaches us there will be those thrown into the lake of fire.

Of course everyone will not be saved - wish though we might, that they all be. I dare say more will be unsaved due to the fact that there is ONE book of life and BOOKS of the unsaved. Hope and pray as we might, it's not up to us, it's up to the individual. Hell was created for Satan and his angels (those who followed him) - NOT for man. God did not intend for man to go there, but anyone who chooses to follow Satan, will. [Mat 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, `Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;] (emphases mine)

First of all, anyone who sins is going to hell UNLESS he accepts that Jesus' blood washed their sins away. Not just "major" sins like murder, even one lie will get you into hell without Jesus (Rev 21:27 [below]). It doesn't matter how earnestly you look for "god" and how many poems you write about "god"! You can be looking right at something and not accept it as truth.

The Truth is Jesus Christ. It's the act of accepting Jesus into your heart/life that gets you to heaven.

Some feel there are many paths to heaven. That God is a universal force, and all sorts of nonsense. Worshiping one god does not make you saved. The Egyptians eventually moved from a polytheistic society to a monotheistic one and worshiped only 1 god: Ra, the sun god. Is that the same as worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac & Israel? Is that being saved? NO.

The Bible says about the Book of Life:

Rev 21:27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

At the judgment throne of God this is the criteria for who will be in the book of life:
He who is righteous will be in the book of life:

Psa 69:28 May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

Those who spread the gospel - i.e. spread the good news that Jesus Christ is our Savior:

Php 4:3 Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

He who overcomes the world (does not succumb to its deceptions) and who therefore is not a Christian in name only - i.e. a "carnal Christian":

Rev 3:5 `He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

He who has been washed by the blood of Jesus - who has more than his "good works" with which to defend himself at the throne of Judgment. Since we, and even our BEST deeds are as filthy rags to God, it won't be enough to save us from hell:

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. Rev 20:15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

NOT in the book of life:

Those who remain after the rapture, who are deceived by and worship the beast:

Rev 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. Rev 17:8 "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.

I know some people like Judas and Pharaoh probably will not make it; they were selected for the purposes of God to be who they were. Now that we know this; did God select entire cultures to be thrown into the lake of fire and a select few not to be?

There WERE Egyptians who believed, I was just reading about the 10 plagues in Egypt. They had a choice, as humanity as always had!

Are all the Jews from the time of Jesus gonners? If they are, what does it mean to be God's chosen people? Moses pleaded with God not to destroy them for His name sake; how would it look if he delivered them just to destroy them?

&

If God can save the Jews what are his limitations and if He is going to destry them where is His mercy?

God has NO limitations, but those are questions no one can answer, since He has not yet revealed their answers to us; however, we do know that Yahweh is a just and loving God, and perhaps He leaves that question unanswered in order to test OUR faith in His loving kindness!

Equally important is the fact that HE doesn't send anyone to damnation, it's man's choice. Punishment is so often built in to the curse. The verse that comes to mind is James 4:4

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

I saw Zola Levitt mention in his testimony (watch online free) that his parents were not believers of Jesus, and he was quite peaceful about the fact. It was just a "by the way" at the end of a sentence, but I was impressed by his faith in God's love.

Conclusion:
We all have such questions, and we all have people whose salvation we are unsure of. Frankly we cannot be sure of anyone's heart decision for Christ except our own. When such questions of life arise, remember, the answers come from God's word. We must pick up the Bible (praying first that the Holy Spirit will show us truth, or guide us to peace about what we are seeking). He won't necessarily reveal it during that study session, but He WILL grant peace and show us the truth you are searching for.

I pray that you find peace about those who you fear are lost. We ALL have them in our lives. The most effective thing we can do for the world is to pray for their salvation. It is in prayer that we have the greatest power.