Isaiah 59:19 declares: “…when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the lord lifts up a standard against him.”

I’m not all that sure that the original language in which this was written contained a comma after the word “flood.” I prefer to believe that the actual pause belongs after the word “IN.” Try it again: “When the enemy comes in, LIKE A FLOOD, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”

There. That’s more like it.

When we think of “spiritual journeys,” we usually envision experiences that will lead us to peace and harmony, serenity and contentment. As we attempt to deal with the stuff of life, whether it’s emotional, physical, relational or financial, as spiritual beings, we tend to tap into spiritual things for comfort and guidance.

As you take your spiritual journey, beware! God may be taking you somewhere special and unexpected. Don’t fall for the illusion that spirituality is always a source of solace. There’s an old Yiddish proverb that goes, “God is an earthquake, not an uncle.”

Along those lines, do you recall the Prophet Elijah’s encounter with God on Mount Horeb? Here we have the mighty Prophet Elijah, fresh after his defeat of the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the Asherah on Mount Carmel, being hunted by Queen Jezebel. While this mighty man of God was hiding from this woman, he encountered some other, very frightening things - natural elements that included an earthquake, wind, lightning, and fire. But by virtue of the depth of his relationship with God, he knew these could not have been sent by Him, the God who had cared for him for so many years. It was only when Elijah heard “a still small voice,” that he felt he was finally hearing from God of Heaven.

ARE YOU LISTENING?

It’s that same “still small voice” that each of us can listen for and be guided by - even when we are in situations less life-threatening than the path of a hurricane. Right now, we can let that voice direct our prayers for the refugees and the rescuers. We can listen and understand those who are impacted by disaster when we recognize that Hurricane Katrina was NOT God’s way of punishing the Big Easy, though it’s a fact that we will ALWAYS reap the consequences for the seeds we sow - good seeds and bad. If we’re listening, that still small voice will guide us through our own life’s disasters and strengthen us, even when the tide is rising.

How strong is your faith? It WILL be tested.

How strong is your family? The tests will come.

How strong is your church? Your organization? Your relationship? Your community? Your nation? Just as Jesus Himself was led by the Spirit to be tested by the devil (Gee, thanks, Spirit!), so , too, will WE be tested. How else will we know what we’re made of? Jesus said several times that He came “as an example.” If He went through trials, we, TOO, shall face trials. And if we FAIL the tests, we get to take them again and again till we pass to the next level.

WARNING: New level, new devil, but we must soldier-on if our lives are ever going to exhibit the fruit of our relationship with God. Don’t worry…once you’ve passed through the Refiner’s fire, you won’t smell a hint of smoke.

We have God’s promise.

HERE’S WHAT JESUS HAS TO SAY:

“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it,” (Matt 7:24-27).
Jesus warned us about the coming flood of the last days, a storm that would be unleashed against the people of God. He described this flood to be accompanied by hurricane winds of testing, torrents of trouble, and rising tide of demonic fury.

In such days of persecution, wrath and trouble will pour out of the devil’s foul mouth against the Body of Christ: “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time… he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child… and the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman [the church], that he might cause her to he carried away of the flood,” (Rev 12:12-15).

Will Satan literally spew floodwaters out of his mouth? No. The enemy WILL come against us with words, lies, half- truths, and every wicked thing that can be verbalized or even written. He will use our own minds and even other people to keep the “flood” coming at us relentlessly to get us where we have no solid foundation on which to stand.

By now, we’ve all seen the TV footage of Katrina’s floodwaters carrying with it everything from cars to trains to houses, destroying everything in its path. This is why God says our enemy comes in like a “flood”, using words of destruction to bring us down and to destroy us. Satan wants to do to us what a flood does to everything in its path.

LIFT UP A STANDARD

As was mentioned at the start in Isaiah 59:19, a “standard is lifted up by the Spirit of the Lord on our behalf. What is the “standard”? How do we make use of this resource? We find the answer in Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

There it is, the “word of their testimony” was the overcoming action they used. Yes, we hate those tests but we do love the testimonies, don’t we?

We also find in Isaiah 59:21 “As for Me,” says the LORD, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore.”

God has placed His Word in our mouths. Not only in our minds (Psalm 119:11 says: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you!”) Certainly, His Word is in our Bibles, but He wants the Word in our mouths. In our hearts. We overcome the “flood” of the enemy by God’s Words coming out of our mouths. Our testimony. Jesus used this when He was tested; our example. Jesus only responded to Satan in His wilderness discipleship course with the Word.

God has provided the perfect weapon to use. His Word is powerful and Satan cannot stand against it. It is so much more than a levee that diverts the flood he sends our way; it swallows it up.

We now have everything we need for covenant living. We can have triumphant lives, pleasing to God, serving Jesus and following the small voice of the Holy Spirit.

IS GOD YOUR HIDING PLACE?

I’ve faced some tragic crises, both personal and professional. My own dad once asked me why it was I wasn’t seeing a psychologist after all I’d been through. It’s because Jesus is REAL to me; real as you are. In the darkest hours of my soul, the only place where I’ve found the genuine “peace that passes all understanding” and the “unspeakable joy” referred to by Paul the Apostle came as a result of a relationship with God in trusting that He truly is my refuge.

Regarding Katrina, there will be much to do to recover from this mess. God’s presence and power will be available to guide and direct recovery efforts as well as the return to civilization for all who will call upon Him. Throughout the restoration effort, His love, mercy and grace will continue to be available as the refuge that comforts, strengthens, and restores the spirit of those in need. My warning to those being tested through this recent, overwhelming disaster: Do NOT be too quick to detest your current discomfort. We in the West would do well to learn to embrace the thorns as well as stopping to smell every delightful rose.

This life is not “it” for you.

There’s more.

It gets better.

We can never expect to be satisfied here anyway.

Need hope for the “floods” that seem to be overtaking YOUR life right now? Read this from Jeremiah 29:11-14: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

DO YOU WANT TO HELP?

The largest displacement of Americans since the Civil War reverberated across the country from New Orleans yesterday, as more than half a million people uprooted by Hurricane Katrina seek shelter, sustenance and are facing the uncertainties of starting some sort of new lives.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and his wife Shonda paid to fly a New Orleans family of nine to Boston and pledged to provide them with housing for a year. The Fields family, with seven children between the ages of 5 and 12, fled New Orleans just before Hurricane Katrina struck.
“When we realized how many people had nowhere to go, we didn’t just want to make a donation,” Shonda Schilling told The Boston Globe. “We decided we wanted to bring an entire family here and put them up.”

The families connected through a Web site, OpenYourHome.com, which matches displaced families with people willing to house them. The Schillings registered Friday and on Saturday anonymously arranged for the family to fly to Boston.

Additionally, the American Red Cross has set up a site where individuals may volunteer their homes or request a place to stay. That site is located at KatrinaHousing.org. Check it out. To Christians everywhere, we must ask ourselves the question, if we do not take these displaced families in, taking advantage of the opportunity to make disciples, who will?

Over the years, I have taken in homeless people myself. A gay witch. A long-bearded alcoholic brick-layer. A former Army Ranger who had just become a Christian after years in the occult. A black crack addict. Several others on a very short-term basis. I have also been that person seeking shelter, trusting that God was going to provide in one way or another. He always did.

My advice to anyone is simply: (1) make sure you’re being led by the Spirit. A “good” idea is not always a GOD idea.(2) if you take someone in, set the house rules IN WRITING so that your guests know what’s expected by both parties, what will not be tolerated and what the consequences will be if rules are broken. (3) involve church leadership; keep everyone accountable. There are more. implementing these would be a good start.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pastor Michael is founder of t.e.a.m. ministries (team1min@aol.com). His eMail broadcasts, known as “Your Town for Jesus” (SEARCH!) are reaching tens of thousands WEEKLY. Log on at http://www.PlanetaryMinistry.org
Michael’s mission: to bring Discipleship and Encouragement to the Body of Christ. He is the author of numerous booklets on subjects that will interest the thinking Christian. Since 1999, he has written and broadcast hundreds of inspirational articles and a dozen booklets, all designed to accelerate the process of spiritual development in God’s people.

Evangelist Vance Havner told the story of a boy who brought home a watermelon he had stolen from his neighbor’s farm and proudly showed it to his parents. They knew he had stolen the watermelon but after looking it over for a moment all his parents had to say to their son was… “Don’t get any more of them because you don’t know what they have been sprayed with.”

The parents knowing the unseen poison on the watermelon might make their son sick or even worse could kill him gave him what seems like a concerned warning. They ignored the command of God, “thou shalt not steal” and the concomitant effects of stealing that result from ignoring that commandment. Could the boy get sick from stealing? I can hear a line from a beautiful traditional hymn “There is a Balm in Gilead, to heal the sin sick soul.” I can also hear the warning of God from Romans 6:23…”the wages of sin is death” The parents were concerned for the boys health but not for his future or the health of his soul.

In a recent episode of the popular TV show “Law and Order” an enraged father beat and killed a homosexual man who along with his homosexual partner had adopted his son. The mother a drug addict never told the father he had a son and after being removed from her custody the boy was placed in the home of the homosexual couple. Anyone who knows their bible is aware that killing a homosexual person is just as sinful as being a homosexual person.

In the end the man was tried and found guilty of murder and it would seem that alls well that ends well. Before the entire matter was disposed of the prosecutors gave a final argument that was based on the idea that it was the love of the homosexual couple that saved the boy from a terrible life without a home. Here is the choice; here is the lesser of two evils. One might ask first. is a home a destination for an entire life. Has the American dream become an end in itself or is there still something more?

The homosexual union was bestowed a sort of reverent dignity because of the couples willingness to do what others would not. The constant daily example of a perverted and sinful lifestyle is ignored for the fulfillment of the American dream. Today’s morality labors hard not just to ignore Gods commandments but to deny them and actively fight against them. Can good come from a sinful union? Jesus said it could not. “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” Matthew 7:18. The lifestyle of the homosexual couple would do far more harm to a boy if he was taught to accept it than years of shuffling around in foster homes. The lesser of two evils won this bout. Not forgetting that “Law and Order” is after all only fiction it is the message that we are addressing here and not the program itself.

That men can become proficient in choosing between the lesser of two evils was known to the apostle James who said…”Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts.” James 2:4. How many parents today have boasted that even though there may not be much in their children’s behavior that is redeemable at least they don’t do drugs? This is the lesser of two evils magnified or perhaps even glorified. Where will it end? Is beating people up OK as long as we don’t kill them? Is robbery OK as long as we are not armed? Is stealing watermelons OK as long as we know they have not been sprayed with a toxic substance?

This is just one example of a dangerous trend in America that leaves our children with only the choice of the lesser of two evils. This is no choice at all.

Rev Bresciani has written many articles over the past thirty years in such periodicals as Guideposts and Catholic Digest. He is the author of two books available on Amazon.com, Alibris, Barnes and Noble and many other places. Rev Bresciani wrote “Hook Line and Sinker or what has Your Church Been Teaching You,” publisher, PublishAmerica of Baltimore MD. He also wrote a book published by Xulon Press entitled “An American Prophet and His Message, Questions and Answers on the Second Coming of Christ.” His book is now being heralded as the clearest book on the subject of the second coming of Christ since Hal Lindsey’s “Late Great Planet Earth” Rev Bresciani’s website is, http://americanprophet.org.

The dark powers of the European Union, under evil influence of
the very real German-Jesuit cabal, are intent on ripping out the
heart of Israel and sacrificing Israeli sovereignty to their
wannabe divine emperor about to take the world by storm, pimped
by the sorcerer-pope.

The German-dominated EU have set their evil eye upon Jerusalem
and prepare to go for the kill with the call for UN Resolution 181 - the blueprint of THE
BEAST - to be enforced, all under guise of promoting world peace
while whetting their nuclear sword for World War, ignited by the
foolish Muslims whose imminent jihad against Europe will result
in their rapid response: a NEW CRUSADE.

The Vatican is tightening its noose around the neck of Israel
and its diabolical desire for Jerusalem plans on being fulfilled
by implementing THE GRAND DESIGN: the final revival of
the unholy Roma
n Empire of the German Nation, the restoration of the
Crusader-Kingdom, with Jerusalem as its crown and the Temple
Mount (with its imminent Temple) as the crown jewel.

Truth is stranger than fiction and to fail to appreciate
or even begin to understand the cultic pull, the demonic drive,
key players (with their foreign interests and alien ideas) feel
and exert to possess Jerusalem and occupy Israel is to doom the
Jewish homeland to getting stomped by the EU jackboot and
conquered in the satanic sign of their cross.

As Israeli investigative reporter Joel Bainerman has exposed
within The
Vatican Agenda, this pagan plot to subdue Israel and control
Jerusalem is very real and important and serious to the criminal
minds that spawned the Luciferian Oslo “peace process” (which
has been nothing less than the systematic dismantling of the
Jewish homeland and imminent destruction of many of its Jews,
whether oblivious Israelis grasp or believe it or not).

Mr. Bainerman charges the lying “peace process” has been nothing
but a smokescreen, a red herring, while the Vatican is intent,
based upon their Babylonian Mystery religious beliefs
masquerading as Christian, to feverishly work underground,
undermining Israeli will and sovereignty, bringing both to a
state of collapse, inviting foreign invasion under the guise of
“peacekeeping” troops.

Yitzhak Rabin was the biggest diversionary tactic these
murderers in our midst have pulled off: the Israeli Left,
ignobly represented by the likes of Shimon Peres, conspired with
their European masters to sacrifice Rabin to become their martyr
and ritually abuse his blood to further their agenda against
those faithful Jews and patriots who won’t just go like sheep to
the slaughter, or at least not as easily as the others who have
been duped into believing the BIG LIE of “Land for Peace.”
Israel has given plenty of land and yet still has no peace, and
yet continues blindly toward the abyss with such a failed
formula and miserable “Roadmap” to hell! Where is Israel’s rosh
Yehudi? (Jewish head). Where is the nephesh Yehudi? (Jewish
soul).

Bar
ry Chamish and David Rutstein, two Israelis, both publicly
charge Shimon Peres with the murder of
Yitzhak Rabin and haven’t been sued! They courageously
testify before the Israeli people that something isn’t kosher.
They offer plenty of evidence that Shimon Peres came to power
over Rabin’s dead body. Messrs. Chamish and Rutstein decry that
Rabin’s real killers are still at large and that Rabin’s real
killers are still selling out Israel to foreigners, gorging
themselves with blood money and fattening themselves for the
slaughter they fail to believe will include them, as it most
certainly will, as history warns every kapo discovered to his
horror.

I’m convinced that the same vultures that circled Rabin, that
saw to his violent death, who have brutally betrayed Prime
Minister Rabin and sold out the nation, are heavily bribed,
bought and paid for prostitutes, involved in illicit foreign
affairs with their European counterparts and Vatican cronies.

Such scandals must be brought to light (that would rock
the nation and shake the world), if such stooges are to be
stopped dead in their tracks, their treason exposed and their
ticking time-bomb defused! Otherwise, they will carry out their
instructions until the bitter end of the Third Jewish
Commonwealth; instrumental in the premeditated murder of Israeli
sovereignty, enslavement of the Jewish people and rape of
Jerusalem.

Israel must reopen the Rabin File (which will bring all
this out into the open) or they will have sealed their own fate
and written it in Rabin’s blood that still cries out for
justice.

The welfare system in the United States, following as it does in every state, the guidelines set up by a federal bureaucracy known as the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), could scarcely have been better designed to destroy families if that had been the singular goal of its ill-advised architects.

The system was developed primarily by feminists and lawyers, and, consequently, it shows a decidedly hostile bent against male headship, the biblical norm for the family. The worst of its problems, however, stems from the fact that it requires those who receive welfare aid to do injury to the familial covenant in several ways. To help those who need a more biblical understanding of this problem then, I offer today’s post, which aims to help Christian men and women trying to get by in tough economic times, to enable them to make ends meet without resorting to ungodly means. Providing for one’s family (although this is extremely important), never justifies wicked means to obtain righteous ends.

First, let the reader recall that the most fundamental difference between the righteous and the wicked derives from the fact that the former are uniquely holy — set apart to Christ by their baptismal vow, and the other lawful vows or oaths they have taken. Oaths circumscribe a special set of rights and responsibilities unique to the individual who has taken the oath before God. To keep your oaths, you must walk in holiness — thoughts, actions and habits consistent with doing what your oaths require — and, as it is written, “without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

The Bible calls Christians “saints,” which in biblical Greek reads “hoi hagioi” - literally “the holy ones.” Thus, holiness of life separates, and MUST separate Christians from the pagan world. The Bible puts it thus: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” The welfare system, having been designed by pagans — who have no knowledge of (or concern for) holiness — designed a system which punishes holiness and promotes the violation of one’s marital promises — which can and does in many cases make those PROFANE who stay in it long enough, abiding by its evil terms when they come up against the terms of their marriage vows. It’s designers were pragmatists. So here is a brief list and explanation of just how the welfare system tends to profane the marriage oath, and what Christians can and should do about it.

Now, when a woman goes on welfare — and it is almost always WOMEN who do — the system gives her money. This creates a dynamic shift in power AWAY from the husband and toward the wife-mother. The money always comes with strings — and some strings are more dangerous to families than others. What she actually did was to sell something holy — an integral part of the familial covenant — to the state as though it were an ordinary commodity — her husband’s duty and right to provide for his own children. Here, the state steps in and begins to replace the husband (in principle). It discourages him from making payments to his wife and family DIRECTLY by punishing her with a potential reduction in monthly stipend if she accepts it — and mandates that she report it. He has to make payments to the collection agency of the welfare department — euphemistically called “Child Support.” Thus, the state becomes the economic intermediary situated between husband and wife — exercising in some cases an extraordinary degree of fiscal control over the family so tied to the welfare system. Local bureaucrats (many of whom are women) — and for whom no one voted — now wield power (by threat of legal force) over the husband as well, not just the wife-mother.

The label “Child Support” is something of an Orwellian misnomer since his children continue receiving money from welfare whether he repays the debt or not. It is county support and welfare system support. But the state (and perhaps the wife-mother if she works), not the husband, now provides for the children. He is actually prevented from supporting his own children in the name of “child support.” She has been deceived into thinking she has done a good thing — to provide for her family — but at an unholy expense. Jesus commanded, “Do not give to the dogs what is holy; neither cast your pearls to swine.” Bottom line: It is not lawful to sell the husband’s familial obligations to care for his children, any more than it is lawful to sell his wife’s conjugal rights to some other woman. Rights emerging from covenants (not mere contracts) are in the nature of the case EXCLUSIVE, and not for sale. To sell them is profane.

A man’s marital and familial obligations in the Bible are holy, as these arise from the marriage covenant, the oath he took on the day of his wedding. All such holy duties of his come with corresponding rights. It is his RIGHT — not merely his duty — to provide for his family in whatever lawful and ethical manner he sees fit. Once the wife-mother chooses the state as provider, she has begun to replace her husband with another man — represented by the state. For the state gives her ALL (100% of) the subsidy and exclusive custody over the children, making the family a one-parent family in principle. He inherits 100% of the liability — there is no 50-50 split here. The state has just forced the husband out of the familial circle and is free to tyrannize him at length, unless, of course he

1. is able to land a rather high-paying job, or
2. has the unlikely, but quite helpful, knowledge of how to create a corporation (and put his money into a corporate account)or
3. to employ some other protective investment vehicle (e.g. an irrevocable trust) to shield his assets from being sucked into the welfare-CSS vortex.

Yet the wife-mother remains altogether immune from such threats from the start.

The wife does not know it, of course, but the state just “helped” her into a divorce (in principle), with no biblical cause, as though she jettisoned her husband to rescue her children. This is (in principle) the ungodly divide built into the strings referred to earlier. This is, of course, the reverse of biblical priorities: her covenant vow is to Christ (represented by the husband) first, and THEN to the children. This is NOT the feminist view. He now falls under the jurisdiction of a tyrant, having been sold into slavery for a (regular) bowl of stew for the rest of the family. This also leaves her open for another man to move into the marital picture (for marriage, being a creation ordinance, abhors a vacuum just like nature) — while her husband is kept under by the oppressive requirements of the state. This is “bricks without straw.” The state can take up to half of his salary, removing most of what he earns so he cannot get ahead of the game enough to get his family out of the welfare pit. The state also frequently imposes an exorbitant interest rate (10% in CA) — thus reducing further his ability to provide for his family at just the time he needs to provide MORE to get them off welfare.

This is how welfare self-perpetuates. It pays the wife to help the state overburden (and even attack by way of litigation) her husband. If he cannot get work, the extremely unconstitutional “quasi-criminal” court case he will face — the charge for non-payment in which (if he cannot find work) — comes with the name “contempt of court.” He no longer has the presumption of innocence in such a case, but must prove he has diligently tried to find work to stave off jail time. But if he spends the time necessary to manage the paperwork this requires, he will incur the wrath of those around him as someone who should be out jobhunting instead. The label “deadbeat,” no matter how unfair or wrong, will trample his good name.

To further these shennanigans, state laws circumvent (where this means “steamroller”) U.S. constitutional law by simply creating a class of cases unknown at the time the constitution was written, today called: “quasi-criminal” litigation. This will also give her husband a criminal record and a bad name, further decapitalizing him. Here, the state uses a new procedure to simply ignore the bill of rights because — you will be told — some of these do not apply in “quasi-criminal cases” (which obviously shows such litigation unconstitutional).

Thus the welfare system:

1. Belittles the marriage covenant (which is holy, and not common), treating it as though it were a mere business contract, where a person can buy or sell the rights arising from this “contract” to get money.

2. It gives all the family assets over to the woman, including the children, eliminating the man from the picture by burdening him beyond his capabilities (the legal term is “undue burden”). The Bible calls this “crushing the poor.” It often comes with usury also.

3. This can turn the husband and wife against each other, especially if he didn’t want to assume the obligation — this has the “divide and conquer” effect upon the family.

4. This also tempts each to look elsewhere to get their needs met — promoting divorce and adultery — both of which God hates — the violating of their marriage vows. This also begins to put an end to the progress of sanctification in the household, in favor of sinful habits and attitudes, since the wife no longer will look to her husband as the one who properly is to promote her sanctification. Thus, she begins to look elsewhere for a spiritual leader, completely unaware that she just disregarded the biblically-appointed guardian of her spiritual well-being. A wolf — to be sure well-dressed in sheep’s clothing — will happily oblige her search apart from her husband.

5. The DHHS and states keep no statistics on the state welfare departments; for if they did, it would be easily demonstrable that only men go to jail (almost never women) over non-payment of child support. The whole system is hostile to male headship and discriminates against them in the extreme. Hence the lack of record-keeping. This removes an obvious legal defense for men in court based on the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.

6. It leaves the man and woman exposed to others that Satan can (and will) bring into their lives who will promise to fulfill the needs left unfulfilled after he has turned them against each other.

These are easy to spot. To the woman, they come with “authority” and defame her husband eagerly and aggressively, with highly uncharitable accusations both true and false. They always promise “security and money,” emphasizing her duty to her children while downplaying and denying her responsibility to her husband. The role is almost a cliche in motion.

Of course, we all already know how Satan attacks the men — with women. Just see the examples of Adam, David and Solomon in the Bible. First, he uses the wife against her husband (to “help” her children out of a father and spiritual leader), and then he brings other women — pretty ones, smart ones — whichever he likes the best — to try to get him to meet his sexual needs outside the marriage covenant. This is age-old stuff — same song, eight-hundredth verse.

How to Save Your Family From Disaster.

1. Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. This means get rid of all forms of government assistance that obligate your husband or family to the state. It simply is not the job of the state to provide this way anyhow, but the obligation and responsibility of private charities. This may be difficult, since women quite naturally crave security for their families, and this may seem the “only way” to provide for your family at the moment. Don’t judge by appearances, but by the Word of God. Biblical faith often involves risk. Esther’s faith welled up in the act of submitting to her God-ordained authority, Mordecai, and she said, “If I perish, I perish.” When you notify the welfare department that you no longer need their “services,” be prepared for everyone in the world to try to talk you back into the system. They won’t let you go without a contest of wills. Be firm in your resistance. Remember, the kindness of the wicked is but cruelty in disguise.

2. Wives, this may not be easy either, but adopt an attitude of charity — not hostility — toward your husband. Judge him favorably. The better part of charity is what is called “empathy” — walking a mile or two in his shoes — as we say. Charity is the most essential of all christian virtues. Without it all is lost, since charity is the basis for building up family, church and society. This is especially important in the family since a woman’s husband is the most immediate representative to her of Jesus Christ the Lord on earth — not the Church and not the state — her husband. Hence also his significant level of responsibility in this office.

This is why the passage (cited below) says “AS TO THE LORD.” Marriage is the basis for church and state, but the converse is not true. No minister of church or state, therefore, has lawful authority to dissolve a marriage without conclusive proof and due process IN COURT where the accused may answer the charges against him — that a man has either physically deserted his family or committed adultery. “What God has joined together, let no man separate.” Thus, a wife is duty-bound to help her husband in everything to fulfill his covenant vows to her and her children. She is not free to stand idly by and require him to do it alone — a form of dereliction of duty on her part.

Women put in a position of power over their husbands (unlawfully, by the state) will often find that when they start giving him orders (rather, say, than helping him find work) he will resent this. This is because she is not properly appointed by God (or anyone else) to give orders to her husband, but to help him fulfill his oaths. The Bible says, “Wives submit yourselves to your husbands in everything AS TO THE LORD.” This, of course, is NOT the feminist view.

If she tries to impose some sort of negative sanction against him, she simply makes herself an insubordinate. She is “de-sanctifying” herself, denying an essential characteristic of her God-given femininity, and transgressing her marital vow. He (God and the husband) will see this as mutiny, which is what it is. If she continues the mutiny, she will eventually become apostate (total, permanent de-sanctification), for her rebellion is not merely against her husband, but against the source of his authority — Jesus Christ. This is not doormat theology; it comes straight from Genesis and the New Testament. And everyone is subordinate to someone — The head of the woman is the man, and the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God. the woman is no more a doormat for being a willing help-mate subordinate than the man is a doormat for submitting to the Word of Christ.

Feminists will, of course, hate this saying (which virtually proves that it’s true), but no man or woman can show it other than the biblical position. Thus, step one for a woman to save her household is to recall what she knows of the basics of the Bible, and start doing them.

3. Wives will find their husbands far more eager to serve them when the husband sees that she wants to help him. Accusations typically only bring counter-accusations — the chief of which will be insubordination. Wives are never supposed to accuse their husbands — ever. Constructive criticism — to help your husband — is appropriate when you are alone, but not accusations. A woman who accuses her husband aims to dominate him (whether she realizes this or no) which tends to undo (in a contradictory fashion) everything she liked about his masculinity when she married him in the first place.

4. Wives should stop listening to their husbands accusers/ detractors, and reject their accusations. Defend his good name the way you would want him to defend yours if others accused you behind your back. Try your best to overlook his faults and do what you can to compensate for them (if anything).

5. Pray and sing psalms together. Have confidence that God will really help when the two of you work together. Talk openly with your husband and form a plan of action TOGETHER as to what each of you can do to work together as a team to provide for your household. Discuss all the possible resources available (minus the state’s “help”) and the Christian people who might help you — and write it out on paper. Perhaps your church, or other non-profit organizations, can help. For some strange reason, immigrants who come to the U.S. seem much more aware of the need to exert community efforts than native-borns, who prefer the highly individualistic route. The Bible says, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”

6. Have the children play an active role in praying for the parents, and for God to bless their sanctified familial efforts. Never underestimate the efficacy of a child’s prayer. God loves the covenant children — even the ones who aren’t adults yet.

Praise the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures forever.

To begin your own research on the leviathan welfare system, you may want to start here.

http://www.reason.com/0402/fe.mw.injustice.shtml

Carson Day has written some 1.3 gazillion articles, with insightful (if alternative) viewpoints. He specialized in the history of ideas in college, and has been quoted as saying “What box?” He remains at large despite the best efforts of the civil authorities. To see Carson’s blogs visit: http://ophirgold.blogspot.com or
http://extremeprofit.blogspot.com

Draw a Line (B)

Terry Dashner (www.ffcba.com)

On which side will you stand? You may stand on the Lord’s side
or the side of the world, but you cannot stand on both.

We continue our study regarding commitment to the Lord Jesus
Christ. The first lesson (Draw a Line) asked the question how
does one know that he or she is standing on the side of the
Lord. For one, he or she is still actively moved to action when
hearing the Word of God. The heart is still sensitive to the
message preached. Secondly, the believer offers his or her body
as a living sacrifice first before offering anything else to the
Lord. Everything we live, do, or think is to be a presentable
offering unto the Lord.

Today we look at our responsibilities before the Lord that
points to the sincerity of our commitment in His service.

First responsibilities include this: we are to faithfully
execute our calling. Again, everyone who is in Christ is
positioned in His body strategically. He called us, saved us,
and placed us. If the body of believers is healthy, it is in
unity and functioning in full movement. If the body is
handicapped, it is because many in the body are refusing to
carry their load of ministry.

Why would some not execute their calling? The list of excuses is
endless, but some refuse to go forward because of the perceived
difficulties. Many think that taking hold of their calling would
carry them to places unknown, facing difficulties and challenges
that might require their life. They’re okay with their calling
if it doesn’t require much from them.

Recently I was reading through Ezekiel. In chapter three and
verse eight I read these words again, “Behold, I have made your
face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their
foreheads.” After reading these words I began to think about
Ezekiel’s calling to Israel. It was not going to be an easy
task. Israel had refused to hear Jeremiah. They had refused to
hear God. And now God was sending Ezekiel with this
assignment–go and speak to them, although they won’t listen to
you; nevertheless, go speak the Word of the Lord to them anyway.
I’m sure Ezekiel’s heart sank when he heard this commission for
ministry.

God told Ezekiel that He was going to make his head as hard as
theirs. What does that mean? I believe that God was making
Ezekiel a mirror to reflect the attitude and condition of the
people. When the people heard and saw Ezekiel, they were made to
see the hardness of their own heart. And yet even seeing the
hardness of their hearts, many refused to repent. Ezekiel had to
be strong to continue this type of ministry. He saw very little
results if any. It was bound to discourage him, so God made him
tougher-than-boot-nails to endure his ministry (read Ezekiel
3:14).

There is a message here. If God calls you, He will equip you. If
you will take hold of your responsibilities in the Lord and move
out for His glory’s sake, then God will go with you every step
of the way. He will honor you and reward you with His
faithfulness. Remember, God has not called you to “get results.”
He has called you to be faithful. The results belong to Him.
That is His responsibility, not yours.

Secondly in regards to responsibilities before God, the believer
must carry his own burden of ministry.