Sweeping Delusion Coming to America- So Get Ready

Today I am digressing from my intention to write the three-part series entitled "The Blood, the Covenant, and the Last Days", in order to say something that is heavy on my heart. I also published this on facebook.

It is New Years Eve this evening in the world. But I think it is a different time on God's time clock. This is not your average "New Years" well wishes. In fact, it is almost the opposite. Not for the faint of heart, but take heart. For in a little while, He shall come and His reward will be with Him! Read on fellow soldier....

There is a sweeping delusion that is coming to America. So repent of the delusions you ALREADY have.

The definition of delusion is, "an erroneous belief that is held in the face of evidence to the contrary."

Many people are starting off the "New Year" of 2009 looking to make-over their bodies or their bank accounts or whatever. Might I suggest a makeover of your soul?

If you are an American (I am one too), you are undoubtedly under a delusion of some kind (I am too). In Jeremiah 16:19 it says "the nations will come to you [God] and say,'our ancestors have inherited lies, worthless and unprofitable gods'...".

The Bible clearly teaches that to follow Yeshua (Jesus), repentance is necessary. And that repentance doesn't stop at your altar call or "sinner's prayer"; no, it is required daily. The scriptures say to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling".

The doctrine of eternal security is not scriptural. The one who has the power to change your eternal destiny is you. So the idea does not exist in the Bible. For if it did, it would not be written "he who endures to the end shall be saved", or that men's names will be blotted out of the Lamb's book of Life. Unrepentant sin pushes us further and further from God and it will cause MANY to be open to going the way of perdition and making allegiance with the "Lawless One", the anti-christ. It clearly says in 1 Corinthians 6:9, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals..." Tough words. They're not mine. Nevertheless, IT IS POSSIBLE TO BE DECEIVED- EVEN FOR SO-CALLED CHRISTIANS.

As evangelist Steve Hill says, "You can go to hell with a choir robe on. You can go to hell with a Bible in your hand...".

We live in a time like no other. Wickedness (the twisting of the truth) is getting more wicked and righteousness is getting more righteous. Soon we will have to give an account. This coming year the spiritual climate of America will be changing. It will be tougher for those who identify with Jesus. And in many ways, the Hand of protection and blessing of God will be lifting from our nation. Don't blame Him, sin has its own reward. We are entering a time of trials and tribulations unlike we have seen ever. Just to wake up to THAT fact, the fact that it will not be business as usual, and turn from it, and you will be repenting of a delusion.

"Christians" are real good about being some of the best motivational speakers there exists. And also persecuting those who live righteously. It is not about living your best life. It is not about a purpose-driven life. All flowery ideas. All vanity. It is about knowing Him, having less of me, and making Him known. Cherishing His words and doing what He says. Jesus said many will come to Him saying "Lord, Lord", (those who have even cast out devils in His Name), and yet He will say "depart from me, you workers of iniquity (which literaly means YOU TRANSGRESSORS OF THE LAW), for I never knew you...." (amplification mine).

I want to encourage all my friends, that while you are going about your way, making merry, joking and encouraging one another, don't forget the Nazarene who died on the execution stake just so you could be given the opportunity to repent and have new life. Take advantage of that opportunity NOW, before the grand delusion infiltrates. Repent of church delusion. Repent of religious pride. Repent of selfish ambition, idolatry (we all have it to some degree or another), lawlessness, sexual immorality, sins of the tongue, hardness of heart, greed, jealousy, following the traditions of men rather than the Word of God. Repent of the sins of your church, your spiritual forefathers, your natural fathers.

If you think this is too heavy for a facebook entry, perhaps so. But "he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches".

Only eternity matters. Jesus said "he who gives up his life for my sake shall find it". Perhaps this should be a time of mourning, rather than feasting and mirth.

Shalom

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Coming Soon....

We are living in the most unique period of time since the beginning of creation. Did you know the Bible has more to say about this time period than any other? Did you know that the blood of Jesus of Nazareth is real, tangible, and has never lost its power? How did the blood of Jesus fulfill God's plan for all of creation? How did it ratify the covenant God made with Moses and the people of Israel, as well as those from the nations who would follow Him? What will the antichrist look like and can we be on the lookout for him now?

To get the answers to these and other fascinating questions, don't forget to check back soon for my three part series entitled "The Blood, The Covenant, and the Last Days".

A Prod and a Dream

In the body of Messiah (the Body of Christ, or the church), we have many different backgrounds and many lifestyles that vary from family to family and from person to person. I believe God wanted it that way. He loves variety. He does not want us all to be the same. That is why we have different qualities and features given our families and races. And at the same time, I believe He loves it when we come together in unity despite our various backgrounds. I have a friend in the Body of Messiah who grew up Muslim in Pakistan. She became a born again Christian and is now a Messianic follower of Jesus, Yeshua. She is precious to me- she taught me a lot of what it means to be a wife and a mother. I also have friends who are Jewish, friends who are gentiles (non Jews). It is so nice to gather together under the banner of and in the Name of Jesus.

That is not to say that we have agreed on everything or that we argue whenever we get together. In the New Testament the apostle warns against factions and divisions. I believe the apostle was talking here of petty arguements and resentments that have nothing to do with the kingdom of God, nothing to do with loving your neighbor as yourself. That is not to say that we cannot each be different, be the person God has called us to be. I have been accused in the past of causing division. I should disclaim here that it does not matter whether you stand for righteousness' sake or not, someone will inevitably disagree with you and your convictions. And some may even misunderstand my convictions as condemnation toward them. This is simply not true. Many times, people react to the plain unadulterated truth as if they were being ripped apart. I believe this is sometimes due to the nature of God's truth from His Word~ it is meant to divide. But not for the sake of petty factions. But for the conforming of the believer into the image of Christ. The Bible says about itself, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Literally, the Word of God, the scriptures of both Old and New Testaments, divide. That is one of their purposes. I think we need to discern the difference between conviction and diviciveness.

I personally do not condemn anybody for what they do or do not do as unto the Lord. I do share the things the Lord has shown me in His Word, so that others might repent and receive the refreshing that comes from turning from one's own ways toward God's. And I have been called to a very specific path in my walk with the Lord.

But many times my job in the Body of Christ is to poke and prod people toward the truth. I do not apologize for this- it is the way God made me. I need to make sure my conscience and heart are pure before the Lord in doing this. But just because I say something that may sting, convict, or prod, does not mean that I do not speak the truth.

My son is almost 18 months old. He has a specific destiny in the Lord which he was called to before the foundaiton fo the world. My job as a parent is to train him up in the way he should go, as the proverb states, so that when he is old, he will not depart from it. This includes the path of righteousness, living in relationship to God and following His word, but it also includes some specific things the Lord speaks to his father and myself about who our son is. For me, it is important that my son knows his heritage as a son of Israel, a Jew. My lifestyle has been molded and shaped by the Lord Himself to see to it that my son grows up learning to embrace his Jewishness and to identify with his people. This includes learning Torah. No one but my husband and myself will stand accountable for this task. And so I wholly embrace it with passion. I have been preparing for this longer than I prepared my wedding plans. So much so that it is part of who I am. I love God and I love His people. And I want to spark that love in other people as well.

When I relate to God, I relate to Him as a Jew. That is who Jesus is. When I understand who He is, I can better relate to Him and learn the things that please Him most.

I was debating on whether or not to share the following experience in this forum. I will venture to share some of it:

When I was pregnant with my son, I had a dream. This was no ordinary dream. In my dream, I saw Jesus. It was really Him...Himself. He appeared at some functions where my spiritual family had been gathering for fellowship. When we gather together, we often sing songs in Hebrew as well as English, such as the Bracha (blessing) over the bread and wine, sometimes known as communion, or kiddush. In this particular dream, when we started to sing the blessing in Hebrew, Jesus joined in. He did not lead it, He joined in. It is, after all, His native tongue. He seemed full of joy and right at home in the midst of us. In the dream, when we got together for a circle dancing a la Israeli-style, Jesus joined in with us and danced! I watched his every move and noticed he joined hands between two men in the circle, thereby being discreet and modest. Some time went by during the dream and again we assembled. I noticed that Jesus showed up during certain times where we were partaking in certain activities (such as the Hebrew and the dancing) and noticed He did not show up at other times. I will not go into all the details of those "other times", but I will say that even though He was not present bodily at those times, and although I painfully longed for Him to come back, I sensed His joy on the inside of me knowing that His Law, His Commandments, His teachings, the things that please Him, were written on my heart as it says in Deuteronomy 6:6, "These words which I command you this day are to be upon your heart...".

I knew that when we were doing things a certain way, when we were worshipping God a certain way, He showed up because He felt at home. I have not had a dream with Jesus in it since then. O how I long for one! And better yet, I long for Heaven, where my real home is, where we can dance for millenia and not get tired or have to leave or go home or part ways with Him. No experience on earth can compare. No drug measures up. You cannot find a bar or a party or a certain piece of music, or any person on the earth or under the earth that could possibly give you the peace and joy of knowing Him who died to make you free. And I want to make Him feel as comfortable as possible in my life. Do I make mistakes? Yeah. Am I often misunderstood? You betcha. Does it mean living my life counter-culture and often appear as a freak to other people? Oh yes. It sometimes means my decision to go a different way than those who are close to me- my family and loved ones. But what matters more to me than what other people think is the expression I want to see on the Lord's face when I approach the gates of pearl to enter eternity....I want to see a welcoming smile.


Happy Chanukah (Feast of Dedication John 10:22).

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Part 2~ A Holy Controversy~changing the traditions of man

Vesteen hates to disappoint all her American Christian friends, but contrary to the activities people think we will being doing in the afterlife, we will not be celebrating Christmas in Heaven. Read your Bible. There is no such celebration that is sanctioned or even accepted. Similar practices in the Bible to today's cultural practices, such as cutting down a tree, adorning it with silver and gold, are actually condemned practices in the Bible (see Jeremiah 10). It is considered idolatry. (For more info on the roots of Christmas and what scripture has to say about it, please read Part 1 of Christmas- A Holy Controversy).

The God of the Bible (sorry- Allah and Buddah do not qualify)- is so very different from us. It says so in Isaiah 55:8, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways my ways". We either want to get to know God for who He is, on His terms, or we do not. His ways are made plain in the holy scriptures. For all scripture is God-breathed and is good for reproof and instruction in righteousness... Many people who say they have a relationship with Jesus the Christ (Messiah), do not really know Him at all. They take the idea of a greasy grace God who has no standards, which their religious leaders have handed down to them, and do not learn to think or relate to God for themselves.



I hear a lot of people talk about Heaven and mention Chrsitmas in the same context. This is erroneous. For example, "I had a dream we were in Heaven and it was Christmas and the trees were decorated beautifully..." etc. There will not be a Christmas celebration in Heaven. If you want to celebrate something in Heaven, or better yet "On earth as it is in Heaven", then celebrate the feasts of the Lord as outlined in Leviticus 23. Those are actually celebrations and observances that were mandated by God Himself (no, they are not 'Jewish' feasts, as some call them- they did not originate with the Jewish people, but with God Himself). You might have the excuse that you are celebrating Jesus' birthday when you celebrate Christmas. However well-meaning this may be, it does not please Him. As my friend Stephanie VanderWal Zlab has pointed out in her article, "I Sat Not With Those Who Make Merry", to celebrate the birthday of a deity is a pagan practice. If it is pagan rooted, it will not be blessed by God. Where do we get the idea that whatever we do is ok with God? It is a lie. Jeremiah says the nations will come to the God of the universe and say, "Truly we have inherited lies from our fathers". Undoubtedly, this is talking about, at least in part, of idolatrous practices in violation of the first and second commandments.



Did you know that the modern day celebration of Christmas has only been celebrated in it's current recognizable form for around 100 years? The pilgrims did not celebrate it, in fact it was shunned as a practice to take off Dec 25 from work. They recognized it for what it is: idolatry- and they abhorred it. The practice of the Christmas tree was revived from an ancient practice honoring the god Tammuz and only became popular again when Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria introduced it to English society at the turn of the last century. The tree is supposed to commemorate the rebirth of the sun god Tammuz and it is a fertility symbol. And yet it is instilled as a nostaligic, warm, and happy tradition in our children...and without repentance and or God's intervention, will undoubtedly be passed on to their children's children.

When I first met my husband, I told him during one of the first phone conversations we had that I was going to raise my children to know who they are and to know who their God is. My children would be Jewish. And I would raise them to know the God of Israel. The Sabbath would be honored in my home. We would celebrate the feasts of the Lord, not pagan holidays. The scriptures would be upheld as the standard of truth in our home. That's how strong my convictions were regarding the matter. They are that strong today.

I, in a sense, left "Moab" when I made the transformation from being a gentile pagan Christian to a Messianic Jewish follower of Yeshua the Messiah. When I stood at the altar and took the vow of Ruth during my wedding ceremony...it was not for show. It was a vow to the God of all creation that I was leaving once and for all, my pagan roots and acknowledging that He had grafted me into the olive tree (Romans 11) that is the commonwealth of Israel. Like Ruth, I left behind all that I knew- all that I grew up with and that was familiar to me. I left, in a sense, my allegiances to my parents, (as one is supposed to do anyway when they marry), my grandparents, and my culture. Included in that, like the Ruth of the Bible, I was vowing to leave behind my pagan gods. But much like Ruth as well as the children of Israel who came out of Egypt, I was not merely coming out of something to just languish in a barren desert, but like them, I was coming into something...the promised Land of my faith in the Messiah. He always brings us out of something on order to bring us in. He brought me into the root that is Israel...a more intimate knowledge of God through the scriptures. A life of obedience to His Torah, His Word and His ways, rather than passivity, rebellion and chains, complacency and compromise which always leads to bondage~and never leads to freedom. I left the practices of Christmas, Halloween, and Easter, severed roots with the Catholic church and anti-semitic forefathers' doctrines of demons and instead embraced the Feasts of Almighty God of the Bible. I even embraced some feasts which are considered "man made" all for the sake of identifying with my Messiah and His people, the Jews. I will explain what I mean further, for not all man-made traditions are abominations unto the Lord of Glory.



Many people say, "Well, Chanukah is a man made tradition and holiday". To this I say, true. But it does not go against God's word, His Torah. Furthermore, this particular holiday, also called the Feast of Dedication, which is to commemorate the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem after it was sacked by the Antiochus Epiphenes, an anti-christ figure, was actually observed by Jesus Himself! (John 10:22). Jesus took this opportunity to teach about the Kingdom of God, as well as to remember the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem, which, like all of the things the Lord commanded the Israelites to do, was a type and a shadow of things to be fulfilled by Yeshua. It was a re-dedication. And He showed true miracles during the backdrop of this holiday called Chankah, during which the Israelities remembered the famous miracle of one day's supply of holy oil lasting 8 nights, thus keeping the menorah lit in the temple, as was commanded by God. Now, I, like Yeshua, keep this feast. However, I readily acknowledge that this is one of the very minor feasts, not on par with those of Leviticus 23 such as Yom Kippur and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles, also called the Great Feast). That is why most Jews to this day do not make a big hoopla out of Chanukah. But in the spirit of most of the feasts of Israel, we say, "They tried to kill us, we survived....Let's EAT!!"

My own personal transformation was gradual. However, there were certain milestones that I passed when I made a decision to repent. God blessed my repentance. The Bible says God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Pride puffs up in insistent persistence in the things that are anti-God. It is also written that His goodness leads us toward repentance. But repentance is necessary in our relationship with the Lord. In the book of Acts, the Jews asked Peter and the apostles what they must do in order to be saved. He responded with a very Hebrew concept: Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Jesus was the blood covering for all the sins. But it did not mean a life of repentance was no longer necessary!!- that line of thinking is not in keeping with Torah- God's Word! I myself could not even begin to repent if it weren't for God's goodness and lovingkindness (mercy) toward me. But a response was required of me. My response came in the form of an active love for Israel and was followed by subsequent revelation of His ways.



To my friends who try to understand my passion for the Hebrew roots of my faith (which is also the roots of their faith if they put their trust in Jesus), I say it is like being so in love with your spouse. Remember in the courtship phase?- You were so in love with your intended that you wanted to know everything about that person? Where they grew up? How they grew up? What they thought about just about everything under the sun? How they perceived the world? Who their friends were? What their values are? Well, it's the same for me. Believers in Jesus are actually engaged to Him. Collectively and individually. We are waiting for His return so that we can be with Him forever, married to Him for all eternity. Well, you don't take a practice that you know offends your beloved and flaunt it in front of His face! That would not be good. That would not be loving. And after too long, your fiance may just want to call off the nuptials.



So it is with God. And yet every year, Christians are offending the very One who died in their place! -who purchased eternity for them! But you may say, "I didn't know!!" Well, now you do. At least you are starting to know. And we are accountable for the things that we do know. We will have no excuse.



For me, the process by which I started coming "out of Babylon" began after seeking God on my face and Him revealing Himself to me, as a Jew. A son of Israel. With a passionate love for His people. I took one step at a time (that's all it takes!)- and He was gracious to surround me with people who also were endeavoring to enter into His ways- which includes the feasts. These feasts in God's Word were never meant to be celebrated alone, but rather in community...Kehillah Kadosh...holy community. It is more enjoyable that way, and after all, that is how He called us, to be One Body...many parts. The dividing wall broken down... not "Those Jewish holidays"...but OUR holidays (which in fact are 'Holy Days'). By the way, that dividing wall was broken down so we gentiles may enter into the nourishing sap which is the root of the commonwealth of Israel, not to abolish believers' Jewish identity, which is often taught in the gentile church.

On the contrary, we were meant to celebrate in unity that is based on His truth. After all, that is the funnest and most fulfilling way to celebrate!!!! L'Chaim! (To Life!)

For confirming info, please read: http://from-thewall.blogspot.com/

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Christmas- A Holy Controversy

What? You Don't Celebrate Christmas??!!

Many people ask me what traditions our household does around the holidays, especially if they know we are messianic Jews, or if I tell them we don't celebrate Christmas. Some are shocked to find out we do not decorate a tree, give expensive, elaborate gifts, go holiday shopping, stand under a mistletoe, or tell our son that Santa Claus is coming.

And the people that are the most shocked are my churched Christian friends. Many of them love the Lord. Many of them serve Him with everything that is within them. And yet, I find it that even when sincere, well-meaning people are given the truth about where their beloved Christmas holiday traditions really come from, they nod their head or look puzzled, or explain it away, and continue on business as usual. Although many people are sincere, as I have discovered, they can be sincerely wrong.

So I have decided to write a blog on the subject. I have recently gotten into contact with old friends from church and high school via Facebook and emails, and I would just like to mention the reasons I do not observe this celebration, namely because of the pagan roots of this so-called Christian holiday, the one believers are waging war over in the secular marketplace. I believe their efforts are ultimately in vain, for I do not believe "putting Christ back into Christmas" is a worthy cause. I will explain why.

Who Cares What I Think?

Of course, as the foundation for my arguement, I have to assume that everyone who wishes to seriously and honestly look at this issue must weigh with importance that what matters on the subject is not what you or I think about it. It does not matter that my family has been celebrating this holiday and has incorporated special traditions and memories around the festivities of December 25th for hundreds of years. It does not matter that this might be your favorite holiday of the year or that you get warm fuzzies everytime you hear a Chrsitmas song. What does matter, if you are a follower of the Messiah (Christ), whether you be a Jew or a gentile, is: what is God's opinion on the whole thing? It has been my experience that to find this out, one must be willing to be honest, willing to look at scripture, and of course PRAY. I encourage my friends at the outset, that if you are not sure and you honestly would like to know how God feels about the customs and traditions we keep, ask Him to make it plain to you how He feels about it. Ask Him to reveal truth to you. We have the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, which the Bible says will "lead you and guide you into all truth".

The Date

Most Bible scholars agree that while it is difficult to determine the exact time Yeshua (Jesus) was born, they know when it is NOT: It is not December 25th. For one thing, scripture reveals the circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth. The shepherds of Israel were attending their flocks in the fields. They would not be doing this during the winter months. So those who focus on the birth of Jesus on this date lose a little of their credibility because December 25 is not Jesus' birthday.

It is more plausible that Christ was born in Beit Lechem (Bethlehem) (literally 'House of Bread') during the autumn or spring months. Again, although it is speculation, many who study these things believe Messiah more than likely was born during the autumn feast of "Sukkot" also called the "Feast of Tabernacles", the clue they take is from John chapter 1 "And the word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us".

So Whose Birthday Is It??

In addition to December 25th being celebrated as the winter solstice by pagan cultures and the Feast of Saturnalia in Roman culture in particular, the birthday of December 25th belongs to another god....that of Tammuz....the re-born and "invincible" sun god. For more background on this figure from antiquity, I suggest going to Google or some other search engine. The information is vast and I do not have the time or desire to give him anything other than a quick mention.

But why is it such a crime to take a well-known and celebrated birthday of a foreign god and declare it a day as unto the Lord?

Well, for one: we have to look for precedence in scripture. What happened in the book of Exodus not long after Moses descended the mountain with the 10 commmandments? He found the Israelites engaging in pagan revelry and worshipping the golden calf (a pagan god they brought with them from Egypt). Many of them died at the hand of the Lord for doing this, not to mention Moses was very angry. But why was God so angry? Because they used the celebration of a false god in which to worship the Lord. God told them not to follow the ways of the pagans and use them to worship the one true God.

Again and again in scripture we find the Israelites engaging in idol worship and declaring it to be worship unto the Lord God of Israel. After much patience and grace, what was God's response? That's right...He did what He told them would happen if they would not repent....they reaped the consequence of being taken into captivity by their enemies. He tried repeatedly to warn them.

Moreover, concerning the very idol's birthday celebrated by pagans and Christians alike whether they realize it or not- Tammuz...we can know exactly how the Lord feels about this specific pagan god, for he is mentioned in scripture. In Ezekiel, the Lord told the prophet to enter a place in the holy temple in Jerusalem where an "abomination" was taking place. What did Ezekiel see?

Ezekiel 8:14 says:
Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

In verse 6, The Lord calls what they are doing "utterly detestable" and declares that this practice will drive His presence far from the temple. Then, it goes on to say in Ezekiel 8:13, that the Lord tells the prophet he will see EVEN more wicked and detestable things than this. Then Ezekiel goes to the entrance between the portico (porch) and the altar and sees 25 men with their backs toward the temple and their faces toward the east and they were "bowing down to the sun in the east."

Remember that the god Tammuz was the invincible sun god. All sun god worship comes out of Babylon where the people were congregating in unity building the Tower of Babel and rebelling against God who told them to spread out over the earth, to fill and subdue it (Genesis). So how did they respond? By building a tower, undoubtedly in this writer's mind, in the shape of a phallic symbol, as all pagan religious systems incorporate some form of fertility gods and goddesses. Some aspects of all the false religions of the world come out of the practices in Babylon. There is nothing new under the sun. (Pun intended). It is all rebellion. Even the concept of humanism comes out of Babylon, by the way, and the American educational system is built on the foundation of this idea.

We also have to remember who was behind all of this rebellion: Satan. Lucifer. The one who originally rebelled against God in Heaven and took 1/3 of the angels with him. And being that all pagan roots have their origin in Lucifer's rebellion, we can see his plan to disprove God and His Word and destroy God's precious creation- man- who is made in the likeness of God and after God's own image and is the object of God's very own affection. The Jews call him "The satan"- the opposer-they do not even give him the dignity of a name. I'll bet that the satan is sitting back every December 25th laughing his head off, thinking he has pulled the wool over the eyes of God's people yet again and is thus mocking our creator and savior. All because so many people are in agreement with him and his ways. In fact, I would venture to say that in modern American Christianity, and unless people repent and ask God's forgiveness for these heinous practices, the devil is gaining the victory.

What About Trees and other Customs? They're Harmless, Right?

Well, that depends on what you think of Jeremiah 10:3, which, concerning the ways of the idolatrous nations, says, "For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter". How much more specific can you get than that?! The Lord even describes how people make a stand for the tree! A practice still carried out today...to the letter. And I should also remind you that this custom pre-dates the birth of Christ by several hundreds of years. Therefore, it has nothing to do with His birth, and does not glorify Him at all.

Mistletoe was used by the pagans as a fertility rite. The story of Santa Claus is a fable and a fraud. What's more, many people every year lie to their children about this fraud, telling them Santa is real (it is just a nice, harmless fantasy, right?!), getting their children to adore this being who will give them gifts, then parents threaten them saying they will get nothing if they are not good and obedient all year long, but reward them with gifts in the end anyway, thus making the True giver of all good gifts out to be some pansy deity who does not punish unrighteousness.

There are many more startling facts about this so called "holiday" which is not a "holy day" at all, too many to get into in this entry. I can direct you to other resources if you have the desire to study these roots further.

But We Are Under Grace, Not Under Law...Right?

False teaching in the church has led many people to believe that we do not have to keep the Lord's commandments. That we do not have to do what He says. Or in the least, we only have to keep the 2 "new" ones Jesus gave. This is patently false. Number one: Jesus was summing up the heart of the entirety of His commandments by saying Love God with all your heart mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Secondly, God NEVER abolished His word (the commandments. Indeed the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Yeshua, the same yesterday, today and forever-Hebrews 13:8) and Yeshua also clarified, "Think not that I came to destroy the law and the prophets....I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (That word fulfill in the Greek means 'to uphold to its highest and fullest expression') The commandments Jesus gave were in fact, not new at all. The entire Torah (the five books of Moses) are an explanation and an expansion on how to keep God's commandments.

Doesn't it matter to us what Jesus actually said? Or would we rather follow our church's or man's tradition?

Indeed, Paul said he would have never known sin except for the Law (Torah). It is like looking into a mirror to see how inadequate we are and how we of ourselves cannot keep God's commandments, thus earning our way into Heaven. That is why we have Yeshua, Jesus, who fulfilled the entire Torah (indeed He IS Torah- think on that one for awhile- we serve an unfathomable God!) and became our atonement for violating God's law ('For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God'). But Yeshua did not die for us so that we could go on sinning. No, make no mistake, there will come a day when we will be held accountable to the God of the universe for what we did with the truth when we became aware of it. That day is coming sooner than you think. For Jesus says in the parable of separating the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25, "Depart from me you workers of iniquity", this means 'you transgressors of the law', "for I never knew you". And they will be thrown into outer darkness.

Many Christians mistakenly believe that when believers in the Body of Messiah start teaching about the Law, that we are trying to put people "back under the law". This is a misunderstanding. Jesus Himself said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" and "Those who keep my commandments and teach others to do the same, will be called greatest in the kingdom..." What are the commandments? THE LAW. The problem is not the law itself. The law is good. It is the trying to keep the law in our own flesh that is condemned in scripture. For when we sow to the flesh we reap of the flesh corruption. That is why we must be born again and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to work through us to follow God's commandments (His teachings). Then His law is written on our hearts and the desire to sin (trangress the law) is abolished. We have the ability to be perfect- to keep God's Law. Since the Holy Spirit is Messiah dwelling in us, I think He has the ability to keep His own commandments! And those who persist in rebellion are actaully falling away from the faith.

In the first century church, there arose a controversy amongst pharisees who were also followers of Yeshua when it was evident that gentiles could become born again and followers of Jesus also (up to that point the whole church consisted of only Jews). These pharisees were saying that in order for non-Jews to become followers of Jesus, (there's a paradox for our times!), they had to FIRST CONVERT to Judaism, be circumcised, and THEN they could follow the Jewish Messiah. There was no precedent for this situation.

So the apostles met at the council of Jerusalem to settle the dispute prayerfully and responsibly. This is recorded in Acts 15. In the letter to the gentiles as recorded in Acts, it says in verse 28 "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality". (emphases mine)

If we look closely at what is required of gentile believers in the Messiah, we will see our issue addressed. The text says to "abstain from food sacrificed to idols". How much more, then, as children of God, are we to abstain from the actual practice (sin) of idolatry itself?!

Finally, for those believers who put emphasis on the close and personal relationship we have with the Lord above any kind of talk of the Law, and say it is all about knowing Him and walking with Him in His grace.....I say this: wouldn't it seem wise to take into consideration His feelings regarding the matter? For those who truly follow Jesus Christ, would not want to grieve His Spirit. From the Lord's reaction to the practices in Ezekiel chapter 8, I think we can safely assume that these pagan-rooted practices are grievous to Him.

For those Christians who are desperate to see a move of God in their lifetime unlike any they have ever seen before- from just the scriptures we have been looking at here it is apparent what types of things can actually block or hinder such a move of God. I hope we heed these warnings from God's Word.


So What NOW?

I will share more of my own personal testimony in my next blog entry. But by the time I asked myself this question "So what do I do now?", I had already begun celebrating the Lord's appointed feasts as outlined in Leviticus 23. Additionally, I began celebrating some of the festivals celebrated by Israel and the Jewish people, including Hanukkah, also called the Feast of Dedication, which some Christians are surprised to know that Jesus Himself celebrated (John 10:22), even though this particular feast was instituted by man and not by God. There is evidence enough in the Bible that ALL the nations will be required to celebrate the Lord's appointed feasts during Jesus' future reign on earth (I will deal more with that in the future), so my reasoning is this: why not start NOW? God is a wise and loving Father. He does not take away so that we will have nothing and be destitute and sad. For me, the Lord had given me a love for Israel and the Jews, including celebrating right along with them, long before He required me to totally come out of celebrating Christmas. For me, it was a process. It took time. What was required of me was a response to the truth. I had to remain determined and I had to walk in repentance. There was someone who was in the same process right along with me. The Lord was so good to give me a companion to walk this unfamiliar road. Turned out He was leading her in the same direction. My good friend Stephanie VanderWal Zlab. The Lord has used Stephanie and me as "two witnesses" to the Body of Messiah regarding these issues, much as the Lord used Paul and Barnabas sending them to the believers at Antioch with the letter containing the decision of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. The Lord has used Stephanie mightily as a teacher and prophet to the Body of Messiah. I encourage you to read her blog entries on the subject by going to:

http://from-thewall.blogspot.com/

Stay tuned for works in progress on her site as well.

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Secret Sister Revealed

Today our Moms Club had the "Secret Sister" reveal party. Boy was I surprised to find out who my secret sister was! (I had no clue~ I thought it was somebody else).

Here is how Secret Sister works: at the beginning of the 4 month period, you fill out a questionnaire about yourself and give it to the moderator. Then each person draws a name. You secretly gift that person every month for the duration (there is a spending limit, although I have to admit, I went slightly over a couple times!) Since we live in a small town, it is easy to secretly leave the gift on your sister's doorstep or you can get a cohort to help you. I tried to throw my person off my trail by actually delivering her gift to her face to face one time (today she confessed she questioned if it was me or not when I left..oh well!). Then we gave eachother the last gift today at the reveal party. It was so much fun.

My sister which I gifted told me she loved the gifts I gave her. She had tears in her eyes as she thanked me. She went through a very stressful season during this whole thing and she was very touched by the things I left for her and she said each one was very "timely". Oh goodie! I am so glad, because, as I told her this morning.....I prayed and asked God before I gave her each gift what would bless her the most at each time. And boy did He answer!!

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How I Got My Son to Sleep Through the Night

Ok, so as of last week, my son was still not night weaned. You know what that means, right?....No sleep for Mommy! EVER!! That is, until now!

Benjamin was up at least 1 time per night on a good night, and as often as 10 times per night (Like when he was teething) on a bad one! He had a strong suck-to-sleep association that he developed when he was a very high needs infant. We co-slept and that meant breastfeeding on demand so that Mommy could get sleep, any sleep, as much as possible. Only the last few months he had been sleeping in his own bed and I in mine. Of course that meant me getting up out of bed several times per night to tend to his night waking. Talk about night of the LIVING DEAD!! Sometimes I would wake up not knowing where I was. Other times I would be so angry and frustrated. "Go night night!", I would say to him. But he did not know what that meant. He thought it meant I go to sleep when I get nay-nays (that's what we call it in my house).

So after much frustration and prayer, I began to discern that it is time....Benjamin is finally emotinally and developmentally ready to try a new approach (when he was younger, I did not think it right for him to cry for hours on end...the 'cry-it-out method; and La Leche League leaders made it seem like there was something wrong with ME for not wanting to martyr myself for the sake of my toddler's sleep- both extreme ends of the spectrum I was not willing to go for).

Then I thought about the "sleep separation technique" as featured on the tv show the Supernanny. And a light shone down from Heaven....

Yup! I said, "I think he is ready to try. " I certainly am and it does my son no good when Mommy is so frustrated and grumpy in the night. It can't possibly contribute to bonding, but rather hinder it. So I developed a plan.....

First off, I gradually encouraged Benjamin to nurse nutritively only during the night and I discouraged all wee hours feedings. Then I made what is called a "social story", which is a tool I used when working with students who have autism. It is a story you make up about how that particular child does something successfully, such as brush their teeth, initiate play with a friend, or solve a problem. Mine was very raw.... scribbled drawings on a few pieces of copy paper with the story line and the steps of going to sleep and staying asleep all night...LIKE A BIG BOY!! Benjamin is the main character in the story and he sleeps successfully all night long without (and this is the key) crying all night, whining for Mommy, or getting up to play. We read the story every night at his bedtime.

The next thing I did was change his bedtime routine. Usually, after bath time and story time, he would nurse to sleep. I now offer nay-nays on my lap, rather than in bed in sleeping position BEFORE laying him down to sleep. Once he is done, I say "Ok, it's time to go to sleep now; time to go night night". The first night after laying him down and shutting off the light, I sat right next to his bed facing to the side with my head down not making any eye contact whatsoever (and of course I am praying and interceding like mad!) If he got out of bed, I simply put him back with a kiss and a firm "It's time to go night night". Then reassumed my position. Each subsequent night, I moved a few inches closer to the door. (I had to go gradually because my son has quite high sepapration anxiety- I let his abilities determine my pace). The final end result was I was out the door!

If he woke up during the night (which he is notorious for doing), I would simply kiss him goodnight and tell him again it is time to go to sleep and assume my positon (wherever I had left off at bedtime). Then when he went back to sleep, I returned to my bed.

How it Worked

The first night Benjamin cried for only 1 or 2 minutes, and not boisterously. Then he fussed (complained) for a minute or 2, said, "Mama...mama...", then fell over and slept. The next night it was less and the night after that it was even less. I do not feel guilty because he didn't cry it out, as in be in distress for hours or even minutes on end. Did he complain? Oh yeah. That is my son's personality- he complains and is expressive. But he complains when I don't give him a toy fast enough either. He was not damaged one bit in the process. As I said....I knew through prayer and mommy's instinct that he was ready for this step toward independance. He was developmentally ready as well...he had already cut all his teeth and he was not sick.

We worked on naps at the same time during the day using the same method as at night. And I made sure he was neither hungry nor thirsty before time to sleep.

His complaints got less and less at bedtime. Last night, he did not make a sound. He lay down happily, cuddled his favorite bear, and drifted off. Even during the night he just would make a vocal noise, then go right back to sleep. He finally broke his suck-to-sleep association and not only puts himslef back to sleep, he doesn't fully wake up from light phase sleep during the night, thus having trained HIMSELF, to fall back into deep sleep! Now, to me, who has been sleep deprived for over a year and suffering, this is no small feat!! It is nothing short of a miracle.

Let me tell you what it means to me to have my toddler sleep thru the night:

I can focus and concentrate on any given task.
I do not have purple circles around my eyes that I try to cover with make-up.
I no longer take my plate to the bathroom instead of the kitchen sink (this really happened!)
I am a safer driver on the roads.. and all of you said, "AMEN!"
I can lose weight like any normal person (if I apply myself! Ha!)
I am less grumpy and snappy toward my husband and son (and they both said AMEN!)
I can start going to prayer group some evenings (and God said AMEN!)
My house stays cleaner.
I don't forget to pay the bills (and my creditors said AMEN!)
And I have more uninterrupted time in the evenings to write my blogs (and you readers said....Uggh!) Just kidding.

You get the point, and I get the shut eye!

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Terms of Endearment and a Drink Offering

Yesterday my son said "Papa" easily. This after months of me calling him "Daddy". Who would have known Dr. Suess with his "Hop on Pop" would be such a powerful influence in a 1 year old's life? Oh, how much more so is his own precious Daddy..er..."Papa" to him.

This morning my son clearly said "cracker". I delighted with glee.

Then my son proceeded to pour his apple juice out as a drink offering before the Lord.

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Lucy Moments

In my family, when something outrageous or funny happens, we call it a "Lucy Moment"- in refernce to all the zany things that happened to Lucille Ball on her show. Most of the time, they happen to my mother. But I AM her daughter, and the older I get, I find the MORE Lucy moments I have!!

This one grosses my husband out: last week, my son was having trouble breathing, so I got the aspirator out to suction his nose. Now, in my defense, when he was a preemie in the NICU, the nurse there showed me how to use it and in order to get rid of any substance that may have come out, she "flicked" it toward the floor. This was part of my training. Well, preemies must have smaller "substances" than 1 year olds...because once I suctioned his nose and "flicked" it away from me, his substance, which was about an inch and half long, flew across the room and landed on the side of his changing table!

I had another Lucy moment within days of this one. My mom was out of town speaking at a women's church retreat. I laugh and say I was filling in for her while she was gone, because just a day or two later, I was in the grocery store with my husband and my son when the next one happened:

We were at the deli ordering some food for dinner. My husband ordered his and I turned to the deli girl to order mine. Well, when I received my container of goodies, I turned back around and stuck it down in the shoppinng cart. Only it wasn't our cart!! I looked up at the strange man who was attached to the cart I had just put my food in and I exclaimed, "You're not my husband!" The deli girl was laughing and the polite stranger smiled obligingly. I looked down the counter a ways where my husband had wandered. I am sure the strange man was thinking "No, I'm not your husband, thank God! I would be married to Lucille Ball"....

Talk about embarrassing!

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The Theatre...ahhh, I Miss It!

Today was my first true outing with the gals since my son was born! A friend from the Moms Club got a big part in a play put on by Patterson Repertory Theatre. So some of the moms from the club, including me, went to see it.

There I was, sitting with about 40-50 other people watching the Sunday matinee of "The Nerd". It felt good to just BE in a theatre again. To see the constructed set, the props sitting inanimately waiting for the tiny part in which they would become useful. The sounds of people talking during intermission..the smell of butter popcorn filling the air...well, you get the point.

It made me yearn for the days when I was behind the set, waiting for my entrance cue, the director calling out, "Scene 2..PLACES PEOPLE!!" Those seemingly endless hours of tech rehearsals, the impromptu line run-throughs with your scene mates while waiting for the light guy to learn his cues, and the excitement of looking over the precipice of that final dress rehearsal. The elation of looking forward to the cast party and wondering if you were ever going to get close to a another cast ever again like you have with the present one. Those were the days. The carefree "I'm a single gal expressing my creativity" days. It was so invigorating to the soul.

Ya see, the thing is, I haven't been to even a movie theatre since the early part of my pregnancy. That was 2 years ago. I watched movie after movie that I would otherwise be dying to see come and go. "We'll catch it on video" was the rallying cry at our house when we watched Ebert and Roper. (And even watching it on video wasn't the same, with all of the interruptions and pressing pause). Besides, as a nursing mom, you can't just nab a babysitter at the last minute and steal away with your husband to the Triplex for a few hours. When Benjamin was an infant, we had no family or close friends who lived nearby to watch him anyway. And we couldn't leave Benjamin with anyone for fear that he would be traumatized and scream bloody murder the whole time.

So to go to a real play where I knew one of the actors, was a real treat. It was second to being up on stage myself. The baby did quite well with his Daddy, too, playing at home on his jungle gym.

And it was nice to come home to 2 smiling faces, both eager to see me, and not just because I had washed their socks! This is invigorating to the soul...remembering who I am not just as a wife and a mom, which are without a doubt my most important and cherished roles. But also remembering who I am as a thinker, a writer, a patron of the arts.

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Church Deception in the Last Days

Today's blog is for all my friends and family who are Christians. If you are not a Christian..no offense, but this blog is not for you. You may read it, you may even agree with some of it, but most of it will assuredly go over your head. You may even call me insane. I do not care. I have been called worse. If you think you are a Christian, I entreat you to read on. For I will deal with the change in the paradigm of being a follower of CHRIST in the last days and what that definition entails.

Now that it is even more apparent to me the days we are living in, I plan on running the race set before me without looking back. I plan on exposing the root of my faith. That is what the word radical means. Exposing the root. If you were put on trial today for being a Christian, would you have enough evidence to convict you? Read on....

I had a very interesting chat this morning with a friend of mine on Facebook. She and I went to the same pentacostal church several years back and were involved in the church's single's ministry. We seem to be on the same wavelength concerning all that is going on in the world~according to a Christian worldview, that is.

But then I got to thinking: this is only a small fraction of the people I know who are concerned about the events in the last days. I would be hard pressed to find many Chrisitans left nowadays who believe we are living in the last days, much less being vigilant to be on the lookout for deception.

If you call yourself a Christian and do not hold fast ot the tenets of Jesus (as outlined in the New Testament AS WELL AS THE OLD), then you are deceived and you are not a follower of Christ at all. You may think you are. Your church may even think you are. You may even be a leader in your church. But if Jesus Christ is not the One who reigns over your life, involved in every decision you make, if you do not seek His face and will according to the holy scriptures and live a life that is albeit not perfect but seeks to be pleasing to God, then you are not a Christian. The Bible is clear that a Christian does not persist in sin. The Bible teaches that a Christian is one who follows his Savior and lives a life of death everyday, carrying his or her cross, in order to be more LIKE HIM.

When I used to work with emotionally disturbed children, there was one little girl, who when she would go into a rage, would scream at the top of her lungs, "You are NOT the BOSS of me!" I got to thinking: this little girl had a point. We each of us thinks we are our own boss. Self vies for position on the throne of autonomy and independence in our hearts. As a follower of Christ, I must NOT be the boss of me. Jesus must be. And everyday it is a decision of my will that He remain so. Only His grace can see me through this "boss struggle" I engage in every single moment of my life.

Regardless of how you voted in the presidential election, I am not bashing any particular candidate in the race in this blog. I have read many people who are into name-setting and date setting concerning events in the end times and I am not into that. I do not believe in saying any person is the anti-christ or not because the Lord has not shown me that. To do so would be arrogance on my part. I have and will continue to pray for Barak Obama and he will receive my respect as my president. I also maintain the right to disagree with him. This is still America. That being said, I would like to raise up a mindset that holds everyone, every value, up to the light of scripture. And I would like to focus on what Jesus told us, His followers, to focus on in the last days.

Jesus said regarding the end times, "Let no man deceive you. For many will come in my name saying I am he and will deceive many". Are many being deceived right now? I believe the biggest the grandest deception, my friends, is not going on in the voting polls, although the political arena is one that is frought with deception. No, I believe the grandest deception is happening in the churches.

Jesus also said, "Beware of the leaven of the pharisees". What He was talking about is religious pride. Most of the pharisees (religious leaders and teachers of the Law) of Jesus' time were puffed up in pride, thinking they were righteous and holy and on their way to receiving Heaven in the afterlife. They also believed they were God's chosen, God's elect. They probably believed there was no way under the sun THEY could be deceived. Ahh, but that is the nature of deception....is it not??- it tricks one into believeing a lie based upon his or her own pride and a refusal to be dependant upon God for everything.

Today, I see so much of the spirit of anti-christ in the church. The word "anti" means against, or instead of. I see exampes of both of the meanings of this word in the Amercian church today. Most of it is in regard to being against what God has made plain in His Word, elevating the traditions of man above God's standards. 1 John 2:18-19 says:

"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the anti-christ is coming, even now many anti-christs have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us".

Who is John talking about? PEOPLE WHO WERE BELIEVED TO BE CHRISTIANS!!

Even now, the spirit of anit-christ is in the world. And those who have gone out from amongst the true believers are FALSE CONVERTS. The Bible says in the last days, the wheat shall be separated from the chaff and the weeds will be separated from the good fruit. There are those who are in the church who are teaching the way of anti-christ. They are as weeds set aside to be burned in the fire.

Paul warned in 2 Corinthians 11:4 against those who would come preaching "another Jesus" than the one that had been preached to the believers. In 1 Timothy 4:1-2 says that in the last days some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared, as with a hot iron. This makes it clear that there will be those who professed faith in Yeshua, and yet were led away by deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. Some of these doctrines, which are of the spirit of anti-christ, teach that there are other ways to get closer to God than through Jesus. There are many practices in the church today that are rooted in these teachings.

Centering prayer, labyrinth walks, transendental meditation, and the like, are all attempts to reach God or a higher state of enlightenment. They are rooted in paganism, Eastern mysticism, which all goes back to the mystery religions of Babylon and sun god worship. And yet today, many are deceived into praciticing them and believing they are harmless practices.

Romans chapter 1 talks about those who suppress the truth of God. They neither give glory to Him as God and they approve of those who are sinning in the same way. They are vocal about it. The Bible teaches there is no excuse for not seeing the evidence of God in His creation. The creation points to a majestic and holy God. Have you ever watched the sunset at the ocean and been amazed? God is the one who created it for your enjoyment. The Bible doesn't set out to prove the existence of God. It assumes it. Those who deny God are supressing the truth. Those who deny the ways of God are in deception. They will be given over to their lusts and eventually over to final deception, the abased mind, rejecting Christ and accepting the anti-christ, the one whom the Bible calls THE LAWLESS ONE. (Remember the Law the Bible talks about is God and HIS LAW, His commandments).

The reason why I am very concerned about those who profess to be Christians is that most of them do not have the evidence of a life surrendered to Jesus. They are more interested in serving self. They are more interested in seeking a perfect earth- a utopia. Such ideology is rooted in anti-christ. One day it may be illegal to practice our faith in God. What will happen to those who are shallowly grounded in their faith right now? What will happen to those who have remained spiritual babies for far too long, refusing to grow up in God and instead follow after experiences and seducing spirits? I am speaking especially about those who come from the same background as me: charasmatic. We MUST be grounded in the Word in these last days. Only the things done for our Lord Jesus will have any lasting value. Wide is the road that leads to destruction, Jesus said, and many are on it. MANY IN THE CHURCH!!

Jesus said to WATCH THEREFORE and PRAY. Are we doing that? Are we being sober and vigilant? For we do not know in which day or which hour our Lord will come for us. Let's not fall asleep or remain in a drunken stupor. Let's get serious and wise.

For more topics of discussion and an excellent radio program designed to deal with end-times issues, check out Jan Markell's Understanding the Times.
http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio_show.shtml

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Election

Tomorrow is election day in America. I for one, am very grateful to be living in a country where the people have a voice. We used to have a government of the people, for the people, by the people. But now, I think an argument could be made that we the people are left with merely a voice. Since the disintigration of the operation of our constitution in this country, via judges legislating from the bench, the eroding away of religious freedom, and the increasing power of a centralized national governement (ok, let's just call it what it is: a NANNY STATE), we are left with being thankful for merely having a voice. It is better than nothing. But sad to say, the America I once knew even just 2 decades ago is slowly fading away. Our soverignty has been chipped away at by the past several administrations (both Republican and Democratic presidents), and we are left vulnerable to other world economic powers as well as other military powers.

So at least we still have a voice. Many countries don't even have that. And the ones that give a voice to the people officially, sometimes persecute the people when they make their voices heard. I hope that we all exercise our right to vote tomorrow and make our voices heard.

Here is a link to a blog written by my friend Stephanie VanderWal Zlab. She is an excellent writer, prophet and intercessor in the Body of Messiah. Being newly married, she has written a fresh angle on the issue of marriage which is on the ballot again this year. I highly recommend that you read it.
http://from-thewall.blogspot.com/

Toodles!

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The Standard

I just got done watching "The Great Debaters" starring Denzel Washington last night. Excellent movie. Stirring and inspirational. I loved that these young men and women stood up for what they believed was right during a time when in regards to civil rights in the South, justice was seldom carried out. My husband (who watched it with me) and I discussed the story after watching the movie. The thing that struck me the most was how the story set up its standard: Denzel Washington had the debaters chant a refrain which established the bottom line of truth for the rest of the movie. This mantra became the debaters standard of truth, the measure by which they argued all of their positions.



I got to thinking: everybody has such a standard. Everyone has a standard by which they evaluate the world and form their own opinions. For many, the standard is what their family and friends think. For others, it is a religious structure, such as church doctine, the Bible, or the Koran. And still for many others, especially in our culture in America, the standard by which people base their opinions and therefore their actions is pragmatism. Pragmatism is the notion or idea that what works best in a situation is the best determining factor for that situation. For example, I believe that a certain belief or behavior works for me, such as recycling. If I believe that recycling works for me and the future of my children, then I am more apt to recycle. If I do not believe it will work for me for whatever reason, I may choose not to recycle, but it will be MY choice, based upon what I think works for me. If I do not have time or patience to separate my garbage, it does not work for me. If I am idealistically passionate about the environment and what happens to it (I DO believe in recycling, by the way, if anything for good stewardship of the earth which God has given us to take care of), then I will be sure to recycle. Recycling works for me. Regardless of whether they make a law in the future to recycle or not, I will most likely continue my behavior based upon what works for me. This would be fine if the issue was as benign as whether or not to make good use of your garbage! Most other issues in our culture have to do with whether or not justice is carried out and also whether or not we defend those who are defenseless (two issues that were very important to God, in Israel's history, by the way).



What works for me is very popular in America. Problem with that is, it causes everyone to have different standards by which to measure right and wrong by, because what works for one person does not necessarily work for another. The foundation for pragmatism, by the way, is either hedonism (indulging in one's own pleasures), or humanism (the belief that humans are good and doing what is best for the human race as a whole, emphasis is on evolution and intellectualism) These two building blocks for pragmatism determine the motives for what works in any particular situation.



There is an interesting account in the Bible that chronicles the what works for me ideology in Israel's history. In Judges 21:25, it says, "In those days, there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." There was no reigning authority. No final word. The people had abandoned Torah, the Law, so each person did what they thought was right in their own opinion. They did not believe in absolute truths. They did not believe in the plumbline of God and His word. Then there came a succession of judges to make decisions for the Israleites by which if they repented and returned to the word of the Lord (in that day it would have been either a prophecy, the Torah, or one of the writings), God blessed the land. But if they did what was right in their own eyes, forsaking the Lord's ways, the Lord would not bless them, they were given over to their enemies, and were led away into idolatry upon which God brought extreme judgement. (You remember the prophecies of being conquered by enemies, starved, even parents doing the unthinkable: eating members of their own household! No one likes to talk about those parts of the Bible. But I digress...) The point is that a culture can only use pragmatism as its standard for so long. Whether or not they believe they are accountable to a Higher being...they are.



I am more concerned with how Americans live their lives on Novemer 5th, than about how people vote in this election. I am more concerned with the prayers that are prayed over the next four years (or the lack of prayer) and how Americans, especially those who are Christians, live their lives. But most importantly, I am more concerned about the people in our society are sliding away from the standard that has been foundational in our country's past: the Judeo-Christian standard which has governed our laws, courts, as well as our personal lives, prior to this secular age of the rule of pragmatism.



The standard by which the debaters in the movie last night was not even the Bible. Although they mentioned God in their mantra, it was very nebulus as to what god and which truth was governing the basis for their arguments. But one thing is for sure if there is to be any honest debate in our culture and that is this: we have to be able to find some sort of common ground upon which to base our decisions upon. To evade the responsibility by acting pragmatically is both cowardly and unwise. The future of our generations, yea, even the very survival of our culture as we know it depends upon it.

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Baby Languages

My brother is one of the funniest people on the face of the earth! But he is a sweet sort of funny, and not malicious. He knows we have been teaching Benjamin baby signs so that it will be easier to communicate with a pre-verbal toddler. Benjamin has learned more signs since he last saw his uncle. My mother saw my brother recently and he asked her if Benjamin was still going...(and he did the sign for more). My mom told him yes.

Having had a strong willed and high needs son, it has been imperative that we teach him how to communicate his wants and needs appropriately. It was also important for us in the beginning to be able to know what those needs were. Before he was born, I learned of a lady who was on Oprah who discovered that all newborns, regardless of culture or ethnicity, have a language. They make pre-cry sounds that are tied to a certain reflex. They make a sound that expresses the need. For instance, a baby whose pre-cry sounds like "nah" or "neh", is hungry. This pre-cry sound is tied to the sucking reflex, thus the "n" sound in the beginning. And so on. There are pre-cry sounds or "words" for tired, uncomfortable (hot or cold), upper gas, lower gas, and hunger. The research on the baby language is sound and proven and all babies exhibit this language from birth to age 3 months. For more info, Google "Dunstan Baby Language". We are so glad we learned this "baby language" because Benjamin was so fussy and colicky, it was comforting to know we could determine his needs if we listened closely enough. This helped in major ways, such as bonding and helping him to learn to trust that we would meet his needs. This contributed to overall security and well-being.

We also wanted to avoid the "terrible two's" altogether. Being a preemie, we knew there was a possibilty he would be late on all his milestones, including talking. Therefore, we started teaching him baby sign language at about 6 months of age. It has paid off. His first sign was "more", then "cheese", then "banana", then "yogurt". We started accepting approximations to the actual sign. Then we shaped up each sign as he became more proficient with his motor skills. I attended a playgroup where we learned some basic signs for food, etc. I combined this with the limited amount of knowledge of signs I had from working with kids who have autism and need to use signs. From then on, we found that the need for new signs outgrew our knowledge and resources. So I figured we would make up some of our own signs, since it is just us he needs to communicate with right now and he would soon outgrow signing altogether when he starts talking. We made a sign for "nursing". I do not use the sign for "milk" when I want to say "nurse", reserving it for cow's milk one day. We made up a sign for "cracker". It is the word "break", taking both fists and "breaking" them apart (since I break the cracker to give it to Benjamin). Pretty soon, his need for signs outgrew manding (requesting) and we taught him some signs to use for making comments (i.e. 'butterfly'..as in 'I see a butterfly', or 'where is the butterfy?')

I am glad we held off on purchasing an expensive signing curriculum, because after we had decided I was going to homeschool Benjamin, we learned of the "Your Baby Can Read" program. So far, this language and reading program has been worth the investment and I know it will be relevant to Benjamin's growing academic needs. The program is based on the research of Robert Titzer, PhD. The premise of the program is that babies can learn to read at the same they learn spoken language by pairing the two. Babies learn it much easier during the aquisition of language rather than later upon entering grade school, because they are being exposed to it during the time when they experience the most rapid brain development. After the first 3 days of exposure to the program, Benjamin started recognizing the words!

We do our reading program everyday, except for Saturdays which is the Sabbath and we rest from "all regular work", and for Ben, that is school. The program includes DVD's, flashcards, a book, and parent instructions. Benjamin is already on volume 1 after just 3 weeks. We reinforce his learning from the DVD's by reading to him the book and flashcards at night during storytime. We limit tv viewing in our household anyway, but this improves the efficacy of the teaching DVD's. How do I know he enjoys learning this way? Because during the day, if we have not watched his "video" yet, Benjamin walks over to the tv and points to it. I say, "Do you want to watch your video?" and he smiles and laughs. He loves them. And as a parent of a toddler about to embark on the spoken language which will make my life and my son's life more fulfilling and peaceful, I love it too.

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Halloween

My husband and I were recently driving through our neighborhood and saw all the various Halloween decorations that were up. Have you noticed how they have gotten way more gruesome just in the last couple of years? Anyway, we just don't happen to celebrate Halloween- I personally know for a fact that witches and warlocks and devils DO exist and I just don't feel like making it seem like "fun" for kids, thus desensitizing them to their reality. Other people might not feel the same way and I respect their opinion at the same time hoping they would respect mine.

My husband, who has a penchant for coming up with just the wisest thing to say at the right time quipped, "When Benjamin is older and he asks why we don't celebrate Halloween, I think I will tell him, 'because we worship the God of the living....not the dead'".

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My Story

I recently met up with an old friend online from high school. She read my profile and being from the mid-west, in what is known as "The Bible Belt", she didn't know what a messianic Jew was. Then I realized that I take a lot for granted and perhaps there are many people who do no know what that is. I love talking about my faith and especially the way we choose to live out our faith in my household. So I decided to write a little something on the subject here.

Jewish?

God gave me a Jewish heart many years ago. He placed a deep love in me for Israel and the Jewish people, as well as for learning the Jewish roots of my faith. I also had a question in my mind about whether or not I myself have Jewish ancestry. Ya know, God keeps track of the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He knows our DNA. He is in covenant with them due to His love for our father, Abraham. But being Jewish is more than a religion. It is more than a race. Those many years ago when I questioned if I had Jewish ancestry, I received a dream in which God spoke and answered in the affirmative. Although I do not have any proof in the natural realm to prove this, my heart is plain....I love the Jews and if you were to peel back my skin and peek inside or look in my heart, you would see a Jew.

In The Beginning

My story is not one of great triumph and a life of privelege, although I am blessed. I had an unhappy childhood, spotted with domestic displays of violence, divorce, adultery, alcohol and drug abuse, and rejection. When I was 15 years old, I almost took my own life. I was at the bottom of a pit of despair and I did not love myself. Nor did I think that God loved me. When I was a freshman in high school, I moved to live with my mother and former step father who were living in northern Kentucky.

My life seemed to get better. I had a stable home life. I liked my school. Soon my brother joined us and we had a sense of family and some good times. I went off to University and it was there I met a representative for Campus Crusade for Christ. She shared the love of God with me from the scriptures and God's plan of salvation. I believed on Jesus Christ as my personal savior based upon God's Word. I had never heard of a Jew for Jesus. I didn't think such a thing existed. But my best friend's mom got us tickets to the synagogue in Evansville to see a musical group. I loved the music. I remember feeling that I didn't want to leave that concert!

I was a psych major in college. My Childhood Psych professor saw talent in me and she took me under her wing. As a freshman, I headed up research teams that did studies for graduate students to do their theses and dissertations. I had a road of success mapped out before me. My professor, upon learning of the bad news of my mom's divorce even offered for me to stay with her so I could continue my studies. (I later realized my psych professor was Jewish, as was her husband. They were from New York). When my mother's marriage ended in divorce and she convinced me to move back to California where we were from, I was devastated. College went down the drain. And so did all my dreams.

Back in California, we stayed with family as we had no home, no jobs. I soon gained employment, but I sank into a deep depression. My brother fathered a baby at age 17. He had moved back in with our dad. I thought if you loved me God, how could you let all this bad stuff happen? I walked away from the path He had for me. I walked away from God. But He did not walk away from me. I tried to drink and go out and party with my friends. It did not matter. I would be cornered into a conversation about God even at parties. I can remember sharing the gospel with friends over a drinking game! Nevertheless, I was hurting, and soon I felt God drawing me back by His unconditional love. I repented and turned back to the Lord and He led me to a church where I made friends, He gave me good jobs (working in special ed, nontheless, using the background in psychology.) He restored my dreams, even gave me new ones, and He restored my self worth.

It was then that God began to stir a deep love in me for the Jews. I would cry on my face before Him in prayer for them. I read "the Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom and cried for a week. I would cry out during worship services, "God, I love your people". I read every book I could get my hands on. I enetered bible college and went on a missions trip to Russia where we helped Jewish people escape persecution and move to Israel, fulfilling a vision the Lord had given me while I was on my face months earlier. Up til that point, I never knew such a ministry existed. As a young woman nearing her 30's and wanting a family and children, I knew that I had to marry a Jewish person, or in the least someone who loved the Jewish people and would share my burden for them.


The Messianic Movement and a Marriage


I would read about ministries such as Chosen People, Jews for Jesus, and Jewish Voice. I devoured the teachings about the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith. I read how the church got disconnected from the nourishing sap that is Israel and the Torah and the prophets. I learned how centuries of Christian anti-semitism turned off the Jewish people to Jesus; how many crimes were horrendously committed in His name. I wanted to ask the forgiveness of every Jewish person on behalf of my Christian spiritual forefathers for how they treated the Jews. I attended my first messianic congregation in Indianapolis (Rabbi Jeff Adler) with my best friend from college (I can remember wanting to marry Rabbi Jeff, but the Lord had to give me a dream to show me it was not His will). The friend in Indianapolis whose congregation it was was the same friend whose mother had taken us to the concert at the synagogue. I read books and articles about the pioneers of messianic Judaism in the 60's and 70's and I would lay on my bed and cry for hours on end feeling a deep connection with them.

I had a prayer partner and some friends from church I found out the husband was Jewish and we all began to celebrate the feasts of the Lord outlined in Leviticus 23. This grew out of a group of people that prayed together. We started attending MJAA conferences (Messianic Jewish Alliance of America) and we found commraderie and strength as we assembled ourselves together with others who were like-hearted. I also began sensing when people I would meet or people on tv were Jewish.

Then through the advice of a friend, I met my husband through a messianic Jewish singles website. He was 14 years older than I. He was born in San Francisco and raised in Berkeley. He did some work with Jews for Jesus. He had 2 sons. During our first phone conversation, I remember telling him that I wanted to raise my children to know who they were (meaning that they were Jewish...the audacity! I did not even know at that point whom I would marry, I just figured it must be somebody Jewish). I told him how I felt that it was important for Jews who follow Yeshua to keep their identity, for they have a specific destiny in God and promises given to them by God that have never been taken away- land, abundance, spiritual blessings tied to Israel. My (future) husband agreed. On our second date, I remember not wanting to leave- the same feeling I had at that Jewish concert years before. We courted for about 2 months and were engaged for about 4 months. We prayed to seek God's will for our relationship. Never in that time did we ever kiss. (We had a secret handshake!) The first time we kissed was at the altar (under the wedding canopy) after saying our vows. During our wedding ceremony, I took the vow of Ruth which was an outward expression of what God had already done in my heart and it was an official vow to God. "Where you go, I will go. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God".

We lived in Berkeley the first couple of years of our marriage with my husband's older sons (at intermittent times). It was rough in the beginning. Then we moved to Hayward where our son Benjamin was born. Now we live in Patterson where we bought a house. We are close to the friends who were with me from the beginning and who celebrate the feasts with us. I call them the "Modesto Mishpocah"- mishpocah means family in Hebrew- for that is what they are.

So my journey has taken quite a few surprising turns, but the pilot has always been Yeshua HaMaschiah, Jesus Christ. I may have stepped out of the vehicle along the way, but one thing that cannot be denied is that His hand has been with me every step of the way. And the journey is not over. To people who ask me if I will one day move to Israel, I say that I might. After all, my son is Jewish and the land belongs to him too. And I made a vow that I intend to keep.

And so to all my friends here and in the mid-west where I went to high school and college, I say, "Shalom y'all!"

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Busy

We have been so busy lately, after a string of colds and flu's, and a flurry of activities, I forget what it's like to just BE! Well, after a busy season, it is nice to return to normalcy in my life. (Normalcy starts next week!) This week, we had dinner with guests in our sukkah, went to the pumpkin patch on a Moms Club field trip, went to the park, went to playgroup, did our academics (reading/language program), I wrote quite a few blogs, wrote on Facebook, posted photos on Facebook (If you aren't on there yet, it is a great way to catch up with people!), made a scrapbook for the Moms Club booth at the Family Fall Festival at which I will be manning from 11-12, and tonight our church leaders are having a prayer meeting at our house. My pastor's wife is a dear friend and is Jewish. She is bringing the Jewish roots of our faith to our church. Then on Sunday, we have Benjamin's baby dedication at church with reception to follow (I am so excited- some special people are coming!) Then on Monday I just have to make a meal for one of the moms who had surgery. Good thing next week is Halloween- of which we do not celebrate. That will be our breather.

Boy do I need a Sabbath!! :)

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Torahlessness (lawlessness)

The Torah is the five books of Moses, of which Christians these days call the "Old Testament". Contained in the Torah is the Law of God (Law is a Greek term, in the Hebrew it is much more acurate to say Teachings or Commands of God). These are God's instructions to the people He called out of the nations to be His own people: the Israelites, called the Jews. Out of the Israelites came the messiah, Yeshua, or you may know Him by Jesus. The instructions God gave in the Torah are the plumbline for righteousness. And not just for the Jewish people, but for all those who put their trust in Jesus as well; and not just followers of Jesus, but also for the nations.

You might be asking....didn't Jesus do AWAY with the Law on the cross at Calvary? The answer is a definite: NO! Jesus did not do away with the law or teachings of God on the cross. He did away with the requirement of a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. In essence He, who was without sin, became a sacrifice for us so we could be forgiven and have a relationship with God. In fact, Jesus Himself said "Think not that I have come to destroy the Law and the prophets. I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17). That word fulfill means to make full, to explain fully. And indeed Jesus did that in His day. The pharisees and sadducees-teachers of the Law- were teaching a form of Judaism which had gone so far away from the true meaning of Torah that it became a burden on the people and they could not worhsip God the way He wanted them to. It actually took the people away from their God. So Yeshua, Jesus, came to CORRECTLY INTERPRET the Law, the Torah. Jesus also said that not ONE JOT nor ONE TITTLE (comparable to our saying dotting of the eye and crossing of the t) would be destroyed unless the earth be destroyed. I would say that Jesus Himself took the Torah pretty seriously! Why don't most Christians today?

Well, there are a few contributing factors. Two of which are early anti-semitism and persecution against Jews (the first followers of Jesus were all Jews) in the early church and the second of which is Replacement Theology. In a nut shell, replacemet theology teaches that the gentile church has replaced Israel in all God's promises to them in the Old Testament, including the promise for land. While we gentile believers are grafted into the olive tree which is the common wealth of Israel, we DO NOT supercede them in the promises God made to them, nor has God taken away these promises from the descendants of Israel and given them to gentile followers of Yeshua. Such teaching has no basis in scripture. Yet the predominantly gentile church of our day persists in this teaching, whether directly or indirectly.

The result of this throughout church history has been catastrophic. The church has literally cut herself off from much of the depth and the richness of her faith due to pride and anti-semitism. Our early church fathers were vicious anti-semites. In fact, Hilter got much of his inspiration from their writings. I am talking majorly influential fathers, such as Martin Luther. You can look this up. It is fact. He called the Jews vermin and said they should be persecuted. Also, the influence of pagan practices infiltrated the early church and was legislated as church doctrine by the self-proclaimed head of the church- Constantine. These pagan influences have replaced the Biblical feasts and have become man's traditions which are falsely taught as biblical doctrine.

The result of the gentile church taking the gospel to the nations without any emphasis on God's law or His holiness, which is demonstrated throughout both Old and New Testaments, has resulted in an anemic church which does not preach the whole truth and is ineffectual in gaining true converts. It has failed to produce much lasting fruit in the kingdom of God and other than a remnant, the scriptures predict that many will fall away from the faith in the last days to follow the anti-christ instead of following Christ. It has also resulted in the wickedness of men increasing on the earth, the lack of basic respect for life, and the natural love of many waxing cold. Men will call what is good evil and what is evil good. We are indeed a wicked (twisted) generation.

In Matthew 24:12, Jesus says, "Because of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold". That word lawlessness correlates to the Hebrew term Torahlessness. Also wickedness. The rabbis have taught for years that in the last days before the Messiah comes (and as we believers know, when He comes again), man will move further and further away from Torah (God's Law). We see this to be true today. Lawlessness abounds. The love of many has grown cold. When parents can beat their children to death, spouses murder eachother over money and adultery, when breaking the seventh commandment is portrayed as glamorous every night on tv, when people are lovers of self rather than lovers of God and dispose of babies in the womb simply because it is not convenient for their lifestyle to be responsible for another human being. Indeed, we are in those days where Torahlessness has increased.

What can we do then? How about RETURNING (repenting) to God and His ways, how about allowing ourselves to return to the whole word of God and his ancient paths? How about repenting to Israel and the Jewish people for the vicious anti-semitism we inherited from man's doctrines and traditions? How about by being reconciled to the root of Israel and letting Yeshua Himself be our teacher and guide and the interpreter of His own Law, just as He did in His ministry on the earth? What have we got to lose? Pride? Selfish ambition? Sin? Judgement? All of which are the ways of God's enemies. It would do us good to lose these things. I would even say it is NECESSARY for us to lose these things. Let us not forget that it was Jesus who told His followers that if your right eye causes you to sin, gauge it out! For it would be better for you to enter into the kingdom of God (eternal life) with one eye, than to be thrown into hell with both eyes (Mark 9:47). Now Jesus said this to make a point and the point is this: we MUST repent of sin and lawlessness.

On the other hand, what have we got to gain by returning to God's ways? Cleansing, righteousness, fear of God, a much closer more intimate relationship with the Savior, a supernatural blessed existence that will spur Israel and the rest of humanity toward God with the right kind of holy jealousy, eternal life in Heaven never to be separated from God...and life from the dead?

We need to weigh the options closely and choose life. We need to remember that doing NOTHING is still a choice. Just as God set before the Israelites life and death and He told them to choose life; so we too stare this choice in the face. As individuals and as a nation. I would say that to make the right choice will ultimately be worth it.

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The Bottom Line

The way I view this upcoming presidential election is similar in many ways to past elections, only the stakes are much higher. We live in a different nation than we did in the 2000 election, and with Iran's latest bully antics, the landscape is even different from the 2004 elections.



But given the choices we have, since the primaries, I have characterized this election as voting not so much FOR a particular candidate, as more AGAINST the other. I, like most Americans, am not thrilled with the choices.



We must not forget that the voter is left voting for a particular platform, more so than a particular candidate. I had wanted Alan Keyes to race to victory and become the first African American president and a conservative at that! But it was not to be.


However, the most important thing about looking at these candidates is that we cannot forget that each candidate carries the social values of their respective parties! A conservative platform and a liberal platform. Each has it's different ways of approaching issues from abortion to traditional marriage and the like. We must not forget that the upcoming president will be appointing judges to the Supreme Court and many of these controversial issues will come up at that level during his presidency.


What does this mean in light of voting in a way that we can sleep at night?


For me, the bottom line is this: life. As a Bible-believing American, I have to choose life over all of these peripheral issues. And sad to say, many Bible believers, whether they be Christians or Jews, have gotten the priorities of this election all out of whack. Rather than focusing on the mud slinging and the Gallup polls, why don't we focus on something that has brought this nation under the warning judgements of a righteous God? Why don't we focus on saving millions of pre-born lives and stop the holocaust of abortion in this nation? Millions of babies have been killed since the 1970's and that is innocent blood that is on our hands.


The act of pechuach nefesh, saving a life, is the highest commandment in all of Judaism, and I would argue, the highest commandment of Jesus as well. (I will write more in depth on this concept in a future post). It out-trumps caring for the poor, it out-trumps temple duty, even one's own religious duties to GOD.


And yet Barak Obama is decidedly pro-choice, a position that wants to ensure the choice to women to be able to have an abortion, thus taking innocent life. He is not only pro-abortion (let's call pro-choice for what it is- after all, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...it's a duck, people! Life begins at conception and the heart starts beating as early as 5 weeks), but Obama also advocates late-term abortion, something even a vast number of independants and moderate liberals oppose. If you are not familiar with Obama's voting record on abortion, I highly suggest you GET familiar with it soon!


So why is Obama getting the swing voter? Could it be that our nation has become so numb to this vital issue, that we would rather be lulled to sleep by someone's charm and acting ability?! No! I would have to say that most Americans want someone to promise them the moon (or rather just the current level of lifestyle they are living) and they will vote for that person even KNOWING FULL WELL that the person will not be able to deliver. That my friend, is sick. According to the Hebrew perspective of righteousness, if each individual is not doing something to fight against and stop this unrighteousness, no matter what the reason, it is as though that person were contributing to the crime.



I have contemplated this election from the beginning and the issue which is most at stake is not our mortgages!- It's not our gas prices....it's not even the future economy of America ('It is NOT about the economy, stupid!') this election is about protecting life. You can better be certain that if we do not choose life, as a nation, our lives will be taken. I am not joking about this. And if American voters do not think so, they are sorely deceived.


I cannot bear the thought of standing before those aborted babies in Heaven one day- the ones who never got to play soccer, or learn algebra, or take one breath, the ones among whom we may have had the inventor of the cure to cancer, the common cold, or AIDS, yes, even those whose blood cries out to God for justice day and night; I cannot stand the thought of standing before them and say I did not do SOMETHING, ANYTHING, much less my least responsibility and duty as a free American to make it possible for them to be alive on the earth.


You can rest assure that God has not forgotten those babies. And the Bible teaches clearly that the life of any creature is in the blood and their blood cries out for justice even now. What part of thou shalt not kill do Americans not understand? Because of the persistent shedding of innocent blood, our nation is coming under judgement. I would in no way diminish the lives that were destroyed in the recent past due to natural disasters like Katrina, etc, however, what America is about to experience in the near future, those events pale in comparison. Not because He is a vengeful angry God, but because we brought this upon ourselves. Sin brings its own reward. We did the crime and now we must do the time. There is a saying amongst some believers that "If God did not judge...(America)....He would have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah".


And for those of my fellow brothers and sisters who are Christians, what makes them think they will be able to make a decision in this election based upon issues that have nothing to do with each candidate's track record of voting in the fight for innocent life in this country? No, I would argue that those people, by voting for a man who has consistently pushed and advocated for the annialation of the unborn in our country, are not only are in danger of searing their consciences, but they WILL stand accountable before a holy God for their decision this election day. This is becoming an unavoidable issue in our spiritual accountability. Those of my friends who profess Christ and are for electing Obama, I do not even know how they may say they follow Christ. Knowing their candidate has voted consistently for abortion, even late-term abortion, I do not see how Christians will be able to vote for this man and be able to sleep at night or conintue on in the blessings of God. Jesus said "If you love me, keep my comandments." Jesus NEVER advocated the right to kill a child in the womb. No matter what the "choice" was. He taught clearly to take up the cause of those who are defenseless.

Americans have done a good job of going to sleep this election cycle. We have allowed our focus to be taken off what is most important in this election and have fallen into fear of our own lives because we would rather retain our nice houses and continue to shop and serve the idol of mammon (love of money) in our lives and vote for candidates who seem to promise a continuance of that lifestyle, than to stand up for righteousness at the polls. We don't want to grow up. We don't want to take responsibility for our own poor decisions. C'mon people! Open your eyes and see. See that both candidates look the same except in regards for how they have treated abortion. This is the defining issue of our nation's history. Don't go to sleep now. The bottom line is LIFE.

America is in the balances according to Gods righteousness. And it is found wanting. Let it not be too late for this issue to weigh heavily on our consciences and truly affect our decision come that November night.

For a similar blog article written by a friend of mine and an intercessor, written at the same time as mine, although neither one of us knew it- please read: http://from-thewall.blogspot.com/


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