In 1984, President Ronald Reagan called on Americans to “give thanks for the gift of life, and to reaffirm our commitment to the dignity of every human being and the sanctity of each human life.” Many churches will do just that this Sunday.
National Religious Freedom Day is celebrated on January 16th to mark the anniversary of the adoption of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom written by Thomas Jefferson in 1786.
Jefferson’s statute served as the model for our First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom, which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . .”
This Sunday, I hope you and your church will join me in praying for the protection of innocent life and for the protection of religious liberty in America.
“Nothing is more terrifying than a man who, with the look of a lion in his eyes, refuses to surrender, who charges when everyone else around him is in full retreat. And best of all? Courage is contagious.” Slaying the Feminist Leviathan by Eric Conn, Fight Laugh Feast issue 2.3 Fall 2021 https://flfnetwork.com/product/fight-laugh-feast-magazine/
Brothers, our households, churches, and communities need us. I pray we understand and walk in the masculine mandate God has given us “to cultivate, build, and grow (both things and people), but also to stand guard so that people and things are kept safe – so that the fruit of past cultivating and nurturing is preserved… In our families… At church… In society.” I’m praying God would give us courage and move us to action, even small daily disciplines, for His glory.
“I can add my hearty “Amen!” to the idea that Christian men should reject a feminized idea of manhood…
the point of Genesis 2:8 is that God has put the man into the garden, into the world of covenantal relationships and duties, in order to gain and act out his God-given identity there… Adam was put in the garden to be its lord and servant. Adam was to bring glory to God by devoting himself to bearing God’s fruit, starting in the garden and extending outward to all of creation. For this reason, Adam was God’s assistant lord, exercising authority over creation: “Subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28)… he was to be lord and keeper of God’s created realm, bringing glory to the Creator as he sought to bear the image of God in servant faithfulness…
In “Genesis 2:15, we learn how man is to fulfill his calling: ‘The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.’ … Work. To work is to labor to make things grow… Keep. To keep is to protect and to sustain progress already achieved…
“God calls us to bear His image in the real world, in this garden that has become corrupted by sin but is being redeemed by the power of God’s grace in Christ. He calls us to do this by being leaders and servants in the ultimate cause of displaying God’s glory and bearing the fruit of God’s love in real relationships… Our calling in life really is this simple (although not therefore easy): We are to devote ourselves to working/building and keeping/protecting everything placed into our charge…
WORK: TO CULTIVATE AS A GARDENER
“avad, the Hebrew term translated in Genesis 2:15 as “work” … Adam was called by God to till and cultivate the garden so it would grow and bear an abundance of fruit. Thus, the command to “work” links up with the earlier mandate to “be fruitful … and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28)… we are called to “work” whatever “field” God has given us. Men are to be planters, builders, and growers. A man’s working life is to be spent accomplishing things, usually as part of a company or other grouping of people. We are to invest our time, our energies, our ideas, and our passions in bringing good things into being. A faithful man, then, is one who has devoted himself to cultivating, building, and growing…
KEEP: TO PROTECT AS A SWORD-BEARER
“shamar, which is translated by such English terms as “watch,” “guard,” “protect,” “take under custody,” or “exercise care” … His calling to Christian men is similar: we are to watch over and keep safe all that the Lord has put under our care… our basic mandate as Christian men is to cultivate, build, and grow (both things and people), but also to stand guard so that people and things are kept safe – so that the fruit of past cultivating and nurturing is preserved… In our families, our presence is to make our wives and children feel secure and at ease. At church, we are to stand for truth and godliness against the encroachment of worldliness and error. In society, we are to take our places as men who stand up against evil and who defend the nation from threat of danger.”
The Masculine Mandate: God’s Calling to Men by Richard D. Phillips https://a.co/hPkBUjb
Brothers, I’m praying we would be filled with the Holy Spirit and trusting in Him as we prepare our children, as we lead our households, and as we witness to the Kingdom of Heaven in this world. Praying for good health through cold, flu, and covid season.
“Prepare your children to stand up in the battlefield. Prepare your children to stand upon the Word of God. Prepare your children to have confidence in the Word of God. The greatest legacy we leave our children and grandchildren is not a great education, good and important as that may be… the greatest legacy, the best legacy, the most enduring legacy, is to teach them to appreciate, revere, and obey the Word of God.” A message from Dr. @MichaelAYoussef to Christian parents https://twitter.com/leadingtheway/status/1476346087296413698?s=21
“God loves to work through small bands of hard men… a local gang of hard men who can train together – theologically, physically, spiritually – and start to multiply through discipleship and household building. A psalm-singing, worship gang of holy troublemakers… a few good men dedicated to worship-centered culture building and defending the perimeter… The nuclear center of God’s plan for establishing order in the cosmos starts with one man and one woman coming together to produce offspring and live out God’s creational, sexual, hierarchical order (Ephesians 5)” Slaying the Feminist Leviathan by Eric Conn, Fight Laugh Feast issue 2.3 Fall 2021
Wrong End Times theology keeps Christians “out of the fight” – they don’t continue the “good and faithful servanthood” – they don’t think multi-generational, instead abandoning the “be fruitful and multiply”, “work and keep”, and “make disciples of all nations” aspects of the dominion mandate.
Jesus Christ the King of Kings, “ruler of kings on earth”
“and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/rev.1.5-6.ESV
“To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1ti.1.17.ESV
“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,” Hebrews 12:28 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.12.28.ESV
“If you love your children… remove them from the public school system.”
“Education has come front and center in the United States, where parents are allegedly being targeted through counterterrorism technologies through a request from the school boards. At the same time, the Chinese regime is promoting critical race theory through its state-run media, right here in the United States—raising big questions on why this is happening. To learn more about how parents have gradually gotten less say in what their children are being taught, and how education can be weaponized as a political tool, we’ve invited investigative journalist and Epoch Times contributor Alex Newman to speak with us.”
“They discuss the impact of growing up in a christian home and the importance of the nuclear family. They discuss the war that is being waged by Black Lives Matter, Radical Feminists and others on the nuclear family in the black community. How do we fight back with Gospel truth? How do we have these conversations as Christians?”
Before any governments or churches, God ordained the family!
“Haven’t you read,” [Jesus] replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” Matthew 19:4-6 (Jesus quotes from Genesis 1:27 and 2:24)
“The natural family, creation of God, is the fundamental human community, based on the life-long marriage between a man and a woman, in which new individuals are conceived, born and raised.” – World Congress of Families. The Warsaw Declaration, 2007. (www.worldcongress.org)
Godly families are central in Scripture. Families are God’s design and purpose, and it is our belief that families are the key social unit to any nation or culture. Unfortunately, we live in a time that the culture is hostile to the traditional family as designed by God.
It does not “take a village” to raise a child! It takes one man and one woman committed to each other and to God’s purpose and plan for their marriage. In other words – a natural family. God has provided and families need support communities of extended family and church groups. These support communities and civil governments, i.e. “villages,” should support the natural family’s role in raising their children, but should not subvert the parents God given rights. Unfortunately two current philosophies endorse the “village” subversion of parental rights and duties in our culture today: communism and humanism.
The communists see all lives as economic property of the state, and therefore, for example, “‘The worker-mother must learn not to differentiate between yours and mine; she must remember that there are only our children, the children of Russia’s communist workers.’” (“The Natural Family: Bulwark of Liberty” by Carlson and Mero, page 36)
Humanists (Atheistic or Secularist) see the family as a man made system that can be altered by those in power to their own needs, and therefore, “The day care center, . . . not the disintegrating home, represented the new human order. In the former, small children could be rescued from the shallow views of their parents, and reprogrammed for life in an androgynous, cooperative socialist order.” (“The Natural Family: Bulwark of Liberty” by Carlson and Mero, page 48)
So, just to be clear, we believe that God created the man and the woman and that God has ordained marriage and the family by His plan and for His purpose!
We, therefore, declare our family sovereign and ordained by God!
“The level of anxiety in America has gone through the roof, stoked by our own government that appears to have a vested interest in America living in constant fear and panic…The Omicron variant… seems to only affect the nose and upper respiratory tract, just like a cold, and not the lungs”https://www.cwfpac.com/monday-december-20-2021-bbb-doa-panic-pandemic-losing-our-freedom
“Many Chinese citizens periodically receive messages on their phones from the government to go take a covid test otherwise their QR code status will go yellow.”
“Many people believe communist China is preparing for war with Taiwan. But I believe there are disturbing signs that Beijing is preparing for a major war with the United States… Beijing seems particularly intent on getting their youth ready for something big. Communist authorities banned Chinese children from playing video games more than a few hours a week. They issued an edict to all media outlets banning certain men from the radio and TV… they don’t want effeminate men seen in social media or entertainment because they want Chinese boys to be manly. Almost overnight, the Chinese built a major missile field in the middle of a desert capable of accommodating ICBMS with nuclear warheads. They are testing highly sophisticated first-strike weapons. A top Pentagon commander conceded recently that communist China has been trying to disable our military satellites “every single day.” That sounds like an act of war to me… Any one of these issues is cause for concern. But taken together, they paint a very disturbing picture of a regime on war footing.”
“‘I am deeply troubled by reports of a Saudi national apprehended at the southwest border with potential ties to terrorism and found wearing a jacket emblazoned with a Central Oneida County Volunteer Ambulance Corps emblem,’ Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, told The Epoch Times in an email.”
“The scene at the Illinois State Capitol where the Satanic Temple of Illinois is installing the “satanic deity” Baphomet as the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property recite the Rosary.” https://twitter.com/justinlfowler/status/1473019636493033475?s=21
“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”Genesis 14:14 CSB
“The right to life is a good example of what legal historians refer to as an objective right: it is objective in the sense that it exists outside ourselves and is unalienable… The right to life imposes obligations: you must do everything in your power to preserve it.” #SlayingLeviathan https://canonpress.com/products/slaying-leviathan/
“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/deu.6.7.ESV
Brothers, I pray you had a blessed Christmas, and as we come to celebrating the start of a new year, I pray that you will find rhythm and consistency in family worship, devotions, and instruction. I listened to two young fathers give their testimony on growing up in Christian homes and what they experienced from their new fathers perspective. Rhythm and consistency were two keys mentioned.
“They discuss the impact of growing up in a christian home and the importance of the nuclear family. They discuss the war that is being waged by Black Lives Matter, Radical Feminists and others on the nuclear family in the black community. How do we fight back with Gospel truth? How do we have these conversations as Christians?”
“If you love your children… remove them from the public school system.”
“Education has come front and center in the United States, where parents are allegedly being targeted through counterterrorism technologies through a request from the school boards. At the same time, the Chinese regime is promoting critical race theory through its state-run media, right here in the United States—raising big questions on why this is happening. To learn more about how parents have gradually gotten less say in what their children are being taught, and how education can be weaponized as a political tool, we’ve invited investigative journalist and Epoch Times contributor Alex Newman to speak with us.”
“Recently, after our family had completed its daily devotional time together, my oldest son asked me a very insightful question: How do the Ten Commandments apply to us today if they were given so long ago in the Old Testament? … In his venerable systematic theology, the Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin set forth three “uses” for the moral law of God. The Lord of history has given His law, Calvin wrote, to serve as…”
“A mirror. Calvin argued that the law functions to expose our sin and unrighteousness. When a sinner looks into the mirror of God’s law, he sees himself as he really is: depraved, sinful, wretched, undone, lost and in need of cleansing, in need of a savior…”
“A restrainer of evil. The law of God functions to keep evildoers from being as bad as they otherwise might be. Thus, to some degree it serves to protect God’s people from the sinful machinations of the ungodly, Calvin argued…”
“A revelation of the will of God. Believers, who have been transformed by the gospel, Calvin wrote, need the law as well, certainly not as a means of salvation, but as a guide to sanctification. The law reveals God’s perfect righteousness and reveals that which is pleasing to him. A believer can come to delight in God’s commands, however, only after his heart has been regenerated by God’s grace through the gospel. Wrote Calvin…”
Brothers, Are we sons of Issachar, understanding the times we are in and knowing what to do about them? And are we preparing and equipping our children as citizens and ambassadors of the Kingdom of God in these times? Brothers I’m praying we make our best effort. I’m praying God the Holy Spirit would dwell in our children keeping them firm in the faith and courageous to stand in the truth.
Just a note on the role of Ambassador. We are sent to a nation to represent our King and His Kingdom, but if we don’t understand the culture and other dynamics in the nations we are sent to we may not be effective.
“Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.” 1 Chronicles 12:32 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1ch.12.32.ESV
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127:3-5 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.127.3-5.ESV
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/eph.6.4.ESV
Why? What is going on? Our local and American culture is not what it was. It is post-Christian. We should consider this as we disciple our children.
“Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.” 1 Chronicles 12:32 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1ch.12.32.ESV
“As of the date of this posting (11 Dec 2021 @ 18:30 Pacific) AmRRON is raising the communications readiness level to AmCON-3. Numerous intelligence analyses indicate a high probability that Russia will conduct open combat operations against Ukraine. Analysts are generally in agreement that war could break out within the next 30 days, and possibly much sooner.”
“WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) – A video feed of a Taiwanese minister was cut during U.S. President Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy last week after a map in her slide presentation showed Taiwan in a different color to China, which claims the island as its own. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Friday’s slide show by Taiwanese Digital Minister Audrey Tang caused consternation among U.S. officials after the map appeared in her video feed for about a minute.”
“George Orwell’s final warning: ‘Imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever. The moral to be drawn from this dangerous, nightmare situation is a simple one: Don’t let it happen. It depends on you.’ From BBC interview.” Click to watch this short clip https://twitter.com/conceptualjames/status/1471303602815868930?s=21
“Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.” 1 Chronicles 12:32 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1ch.12.32.ESV
Are we sons of Issachar, understanding the times we are in and knowing what to do about them? And are we preparing and equipping our children as citizens and ambassadors of the Kingdom of God in their generation?
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127:3-5 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.127.3-5.ESV
If the church is not reenchanting this fallen world with God’s truth and grace, then it is being disenchanted with the lies of Satan! “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:14-15
“But Feucht’s boldness to stand up for the constitutional freedom of religion didn’t come without bitter attacks and threats of violence from people who claimed to care about saving lives. Opponents of his gatherings accused him of spreading COVID with his outdoor events, which forced him to hire security guards to protect him and his team after receiving death threats. Feucht has made it known that he plans to continue spreading God’s Word across the country, regardless of the pushback he may receive. In fact, he’s launching the “Awake America” revival tour this New Year’s Eve in Miami, Florida.” https://www.letusworship.us/
Q: “How do you defeat today’s [far left] revolutionary movement?”
“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”Genesis 14:14 CSB
“The right to life is a good example of what legal historians refer to as an objective right: it is objective in the sense that it exists outside ourselves and is unalienable… The right to life imposes obligations: you must do everything in your power to preserve it.” #SlayingLeviathan https://canonpress.com/products/slaying-leviathan/
“‘People can’t really go to court on it because the suit will be moot before the court ever has a hearing on it,’ Boch said. ‘So people really have no place to go other than just to wait for the state to finally catch up when it comes to fulfilling their duties under law.’ … ‘And I think sooner than later the FOID card is going to be ruled unconstitutional, but until we get to that point, we’ve got to live with what we’ve got,’ Boch said. Illinois is one of three states that require residents to get a state-issued ID to own a gun.”
“White, 39, found herself in the tunnel near Boyland—and her harrowing account describes nothing short of criminal misconduct by still-unidentified members of the D.C. Metropolitan Police department. Further, her experience bolsters allegations that police contributed or directly caused the death of a second unarmed female Trump supporter on January 6… According to McBride, the supervisor hit White at least 13 times with the metal stick and at least five times in her face with his fist. He then ‘spears and pokes [White] with his baton about the head, neck, and face so as to inflict maximum pain,’ McBride wrote. This happened as White tried to escape the tunnel numerous times. Another officer joined in and ‘starts beating [White] in the head with his baton, landing twelve strikes in seven seconds.’”
“A new trove of leaked Chinese government documents confirms what was only previously assumed: Chinese President Xi Jinping himself authorized the brutal crackdown taking place against the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang region. Dubbed the “Xinjiang Papers,” the hundreds of pages lend additional evidence that the Chinese government is committing crimes against humanity and even genocide… Witnesses that testified before the Uyghur Tribunal said that abortions were performed on all pregnant women before they entered the internment camps, even late into pregnancy. Detainees described horrific treatment. One woman said that guards would ‘take girls into the investigation rooms where there’s no camera, and 4-5 police officers rape one girl, one after another.’ The testimonies are difficult to listen to; each one makes the situation more difficult to ignore.”
“China has been buying up agricultural land in the United States for years, a trend that a U.S. lawmaker said must end in order to safeguard the U.S. food supply chain… “China, frankly, is an adversary. We want to make sure that we control our food supply. I think it’s a natural, important, national security issue,” Newhouse said… Chinese firms have been buying U.S. agricultural land for the past decade. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Chinese investors controlled 191,652 acres in the United States worth about $1.86 million before the start of 2020, compared to 13,720 acres, worth $81,425, as of the end of 2010.”
“Just a few weeks ago, another thug who should have been in jail attacked a Christmas parade in Wisconsin, killing six and wounding dozens.”
“This weekend, there will be more mass looting in our major cities. More churches will be desecrated and vandalized. In some cases, churches will be the targets of arson. You may not have heard of these church attacks because our hostile left-wing media ignores them.”
“The people committing these horrible crimes are responsible for their actions. But there are many others who have created the culture that empowers these barbarians.”
“Leftist groups pushed the idiotic idea to release defendants without any bail requirements. So, all over the country, people who should be in jail for previous offenses are out committing new crimes.”
“Last summer, anarchy in the name of social justice swept our cities, and went largely unpunished. Leftist mayors and city councils turned our streets over to criminals. Anyone who spoke out against the rioting was, of course, labeled a racist.”
“Not surprisingly, only 27% of Americans think the country is headed in the right direction. The rest of us know that we must get back to law and order and reliable standards of right and wrong, or even worse days are ahead.”
“there are two places in the world where an authoritarian power is threatening to invade a small nearby democracy. That would be Russia on Ukraine and China on Taiwan… If you were a foreign leader hostile to the United States, how would you view the U.S. today? You would know that the U.S. on the backside of two disastrous wars, you know the U.S. civilian leadership is unpopular and weak, you know that the military is undergoing dramatic social change, and you know that the public is deeply polarized, distracted by a weakening economy, and unlikely to support any new military conflicts. Perhaps most important, you know that big changes are coming with America’s mid-term elections, and more so, with the next presidential race. Both China and Russia are keenly aware there is a narrow window in which to achieve any expansionist goals before strong leadership returns to the U.S. And that window is closing.”
“When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel? My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord.” Judges 5:8-9 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jdg.5.8-9.ESV
“One of the causes of statist encroachment, socialist policies, and lockdown and mandate mentalities for the shamdemic is the feminine and effeminate responses to hardship and threat. Men have failed to lead, sacrifice, and protect lives and freedom. This ends when men stand up.”https://twitter.com/tjsumpter/status/1469396891959906310?s=21
“So much masculine energy has been wasted on sportsball and pornography and cheering for endless war and fornication and rock and roll music and first person shooters and NASCAR and recreational hunting and motorcycles and and and… Masculinity became a hobby that we indulge in periodicallyinstead of something that reshapes nations, carves out freedom, destroys evil, and protects the ones we love. Men, you don’t get to take Monday through Friday off. We need you. We need every last ounce of masculinity you can muster right now.” https://gab.com/josefbosch/posts/107425592037167118
Church men, are we building prepared fellowships, communities, and institutions? Are we reshaping nations, carving out freedom, destroying evil, and protecting the ones we love?
“Jesus did not ascend into heaven and say ‘see you later guys, uhh just sit around and let the world trample all over you until I get back.’”
“He left us a set of very clear instructions.”
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28-18-20
“Jesus has ALL power, not just in Heaven, but here on earth as well.“
“He told us very clearly to teach and baptize ALL nations…”
“We must not only drive the moneychangers out of the systems of control in our society, rebuke them, scorn them, and flip over their tables. We must also build new systems and infrastructure to form a parallel Christian society that glorifies King Jesus forever and ever amen.”
The Confessional County: Realizing the Kingdom through Local Christendom by Raymond Simmonshttps://a.co/dbVN7QG
“This dominion mandate has not gone away because it is part of the creation ordinance, “ordinances that define human ethics for all history,” according to John Frame.”
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”” Genesis 1:26 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/gen.1.26.ESV
“And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”” Genesis 1:28 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/gen.1.28.ESV
“Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” Psalm 90:16-17 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.90.16-17.ESV
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” Matthew 28:18-20 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.28.18-20.ESV
“Some things – educating the young, caring for the old or ill – might be just too precious to leave to the care of impersonal institutions. Other things might be just too risky to fully outsource – things like food security and sources of income are moving closer to home… exercising dominion, as in the dominion the first household was given, and as Tom Bombadil, in The Lord of the Rings, lives it out in Middle Earth. Now, I know what you’re thinking – domination is bad. But the word dominion shares a common root with the Latin word for home, domus, from which we get the word domesticity. Tom Bombadil’s dominion is not over other people but over his own home domain.”
“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”Genesis 14:14 CSB
“The right to life is a good example of what legal historians refer to as an objective right: it is objective in the sense that it exists outside ourselves and is unalienable… The right to life imposes obligations: you must do everything in your power to preserve it.” #SlayingLeviathan https://canonpress.com/products/slaying-leviathan/
Hey brothers, hope thanksgiving was a joy. I love the advent season and the teaching and discipleship opportunities it brings. Praying for sweet times reflecting on Immanuel, God with us, this month for every household in our community. Pray for continued good health and healing through the covid/flu season.
John Newton: Exhibit “A” For Why We Should Catechize Our Children “Catechesis was one factor in helping John Newton (1725–1807) finish well… Newton was converted amid a providentially ordained storm at sea. But the foundation for his encounter with grace was laid those first seven years at home… Parents, catechize your children, and watch God work. It may please him to open their blind eyes now, or perhaps later. Indeed, memorized truth could eventually become a light in a dark place, as it was for the great blasphemer who became a Jesus lover.” https://founders.org/2017/08/17/john-newton-exhibit-a-for-why-we-should-catechize-our-children/
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me; I once was lost, but now I’m found, Was blind, but now I see.
Self governance, Household governance, Church governance… Less civil government and more personal responsibility. Order yourself properly and add the tools of Liberty. Ordered liberty under King Jesus Christ. (CROSSPOLITIC: Tools of Liberty w/ AR500 Armor CEO https://youtu.be/iA4cA6vxgR0)
“Socialism, Spurgeon knew, was much more than an economic or political question. It is a spiritual question, if only because it denies the very existence of the spiritual. It is, as I have written elsewhere, atheism masquerading as political philosophy… It is very likely that the preaching of Spurgeon, and others like him, prevented the violent Revolution in Britain that Marx sought. Ironically, that revolution would come in the unindustrialized Russia of 1917, when Vladimir Lenin would, at the cost of millions of lives, implement Marx’s unworkable ideas. That is in no small measure due to the fact that there was no viable church to critique the undeliverable promises of socialism… “Karl Marx vs Charles Spurgeon: An Epic Struggle for the Souls of Men in 19th-Century London” by LARRY ALEX TAUNTON
“The Great Commission is strategy par excellence. It has a power source (Christ), ways (comprehensiveness and confessing Christ), and ends (total victory over the earth). The City on a Hill is a good sub-strategy… The City, if it is distinct from the broader culture, leverages jealousy as a good thing. It glorifies God and leads people to inquire and find out more about this unknown God (Acts 17: 23). But we should not put this off to the future. We may have missed the fact that the City exists in our current history as a causal element. If we relegate the City on the Hill to the end of the gospel campaign, we miss the whole point of it.” The Confessional County: Realizing the Kingdom through Local Christendom by Raymond Simmons https://a.co/gnIgZHf
“Here is a three-stage Action Agenda to help you live faithfully for Christ in this post-Christian age:” (excerpts)
Stage I: Learn the Truth Be a noble Berean student of God’s Word. Read to examine and understand the foundations of your faith. Be a skeptical—but active and involved—consumer of the news.
Stage II: Stand for the Truth Practice absolute honesty and integrity. When talking to unbelievers or doubters, defend the truth with reason and evidence. Defend the First Amendment.
Stage III: Share the Truth Be a witness. Commit to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the people around you—in your neighborhood, at work, and wherever you go. Pray for your country and for your leaders.
“We who bear the name of Christ must wake up and shake ourselves from our long stupor. We must recommit ourselves to standing for God’s truth. We must rededicate ourselves to taking the great commission seriously and taking the good news of Jesus Christ to the world around us, starting with our next-door neighbors and reaching out to the ends of the earth. Instead of accommodating ourselves to the lies of our culture, we must proactively teach and preach the truth of the gospel to this dying world, including the secularists and Muslims whose worldviews are so different from ours.”
The Hidden Enemy: Aggressive Secularism, Radical Islam, and the Fight for Our Future by Michael Youssef https://a.co/aJUrAmB
Do not trust in [politicians], they can not save you. When they die they return to the earth, and on that very day their plans perish! Psalm 146:3-4
Dobra Family Ministry 