The Pastor has Guts

When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the brand new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.
We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbour's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honoured values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Amen!"

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea.

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, "The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.[1]

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over the nation of the United States. May it once again be said that they are "one nation under God."

May we as Canadians remember that our founding fathers named our country the “Dominion of Canada” after deliberating whether to simply call us “Canada”. And that to remind us of that decision they had inscribed over one of the entrance ways to the Parliament Buildings this verse of scripture;

Psalm 87 - 8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.”

No doubt our Canadian founding fathers had the Ottawa river in mind which connects to the Saint Lawrence and onto the Atlantic Ocean and beyond.

But sadly today Canada languishes with the same rejection of Gods standards for our society as has also occurred in many other nations. We have somehow come to believe that we can separate democracy from Godly morals.

We have even eliminated reference to God from our modern dictionaries.[2] In the original Webster’s dictionary of 1828 he defined the word Moral as; “…applicable to actions that are good or evil, virtuous or vicious, and has reference to the law of God as the standard by which their character is to be determined.” Today our modern 10th revision of that dictionary reads; “… conforming to a standard of right behavior …. sanctioned by or operative on one's conscience or ethical judgment.”

By doing so some in our society are encouraged to take the law in their own hands; These are people who have no conscience or ethical judgement because of the false idea that each of us can follow his or her own private ethical judgments rather than a common set of ethics which is unchanging when based on Gods dominion over us.

We have also eliminated the Lord’s Prayer [3] from our schools. By doing so;
1. We fail to teach our children to ask that God will keep them from temptation.
2. We fail to teach our children to seek to be delivered us from evil thoughts and practises.
3. We no longer teach our children that there is anyone to depend on when others fail.

We are now reaping what we’ve sown. [4] We now have soaring rates of suicide, soaring rates of crime, soaring rates of sexually transmitted diseases, soaring rates of abortion (now approaching 33% of all first pregnancies), soaring rates of violence including abuse against children, soaring rates of divorce (no 50%)

We have replaced God with ourselves.

We have put our faith that our individual freedoms will be protected by a democratic process rather than by the protection of the laws of God to have dominion over us.

Where is it all leading? Think about where we are now as a society and where we were 20 years ago. We have health care rates soaring out of control while offering free abortions. Our homicide rates are increasing. 20 years ago who ever heard of high school shootings. If we do not recognize the trends that are already in place little will convince us of where we are heading. I will simply state that I believe we can expect things to get much worse if we don’t once again seek to have Gods dominion over us.

What can we do about it? We would like to recommend that a person try reading the gospel of John from the Bible. If you do not own a Bible, let us know we will be glad to help you to obtain one. We are convinced that if you give it a chance that you too will discover that you want God to have dominion over you. Once God has dominion over you, He will tell you what to do and where to go from there. But we would be glad to assist you in any way we can.
Please join us to pray and support efforts to once again allow God to have dominion over our country. Prayerfully consider joining a political party of your choosing and influence that party with your desire to allow God to have Dominion over our country once again.

"If you don't stand for something, you will fall for everything."
Let us know if you would like us to assist you in any way.

You may contact the person who handed you this tract or the author.

Bible Door Tracts

bibledoor@rogers.com,

273 Manchester Drive, Newmarket, ON, L3Y 6J4, Canada,

http://bibledoor.blogspot.com/ & http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/
Copyright 2006 © Bible Door Tracts.

This tracts author is Ray Luff of Bible Door Tracts. The opinions contained in this tract do not necessarily represent the opinions of Riverdrive Park Bible Chapel where Ray is in fellowship. All Bible references are from The New King James Version. 1996, c1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson unless otherwise noted

--- Footnotes ---
[1]The italicised portion of this tract was sent to us at Bible Door Tracts by a missionary in Mexico, quoted from another news source. We have asked him to provide us with that source so we can include it in the future printings.

[2] Many seem unaware that Noah Webster (of Webster Dictionary fame) was a minister of the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ. He first made a translation of the Bible from Greek to English called the Webster’s Bible then he decided to provide a dictionary to go with the Bible that many of us know as the Webster’s Dictionary.
[3] Matthew 6 – 9 Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

[4] Galatians 6 - 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Why Only Four Gospels?

In Christianity, gospel means "good news". It’s generally thought that the word gospel derives from the Old English god "good", and spell "news", a translation of the Greek word ευαγγέλιον (evangelion) eu (good) angelon (message). This is also the Greek word from which we get the term evangelist.

The Good Message regards the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to our planet earth. He willingly took on a body of flesh and blood so that he could dwell among us and accomplish the will of the Father who sent Him. (John 1:1-14) His mission was to demonstrate a holy life without sin and then to allow His life to be sacrificed to deal with the sins of those that will put their trust in Him to rescue them from the consequences of their sins.

The Good News of the Old Testament
The Holy Bible is a collection of 66 books written over a period of time spanning 1500 years. The Old Testament (Testimony concerning Christ) contains 39 of these books that were written before the coming of the Lord Jesus to our planet. The Old Testament explains how man first fell into sin and it defines for us what sin is and the inescapable penalty for those that chose to die without dealing with it in God’s prescribed manner.

The concept that innocent blood of animals must be shed to cover man’s sin was first introduced in the Old Testament. [1] The prediction was made that some day God would send the Anointed One [2] who would be the great prophet who will know no sin and in fact will deal with the question of mans sin. [3]

The Good News of the New Testament
The New Testament was written after the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One fulfilled the Old Testament Predictions. It explains why Jesus came. It explains the meaning of the Cross and how that affects you and I personally.

The exactly four gospels of the New Testament [4]
In AD 185, Irenaeus of Lyons wrote an apologetic work he entitled “Adversu Haereses Irenaus”. In his apologetic he argued against some late dated gospels which had already shown up which dated to after AD 70. He specifically argued against the altered version of the gospel of Luke which Marcion had produced. Irenaus drew a conclusion from a vision given to Ezekiel of a creature with four faces that this must mean four views of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ezekiel 1 - 10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle.

And Iranaeus argued that there was a distinct purpose for each of the original four gospels as follows;
· Gospel according to Matthew-written by or to Jewish Christians
· Gospel according to Mark-written to a Roman audience
· Gospel according to Luke-written to "most excellent Theophilus" (Greek)
· Gospel according to John-written to non-Jews

Early dating of the four gospels
Early Christian writers always understood the order of the writing of the Gospels to be Matthew, followed by Luke, followed by Mark then followed by John. But in the 1800’s skeptics attempted to discredit the gospels as original accounts claiming a different order for the books and claiming a mysterious original gospel they call “Q”. “Q” has never been found. In order to believe there is a “Q” gospel there is a tendency by the same skeptics to claim a late dating of the original Gospels writing. By claiming this late dating they are also attempt to bring parity to other late dated heretical “gnostic” gospels. They are called “gnostic” gospels because the early church correctly understood that these were largely written by a cult that predated Christianity which believes in goddess worship and attempts to hi-jack Christianity to discredit Christ as being a member of the triune Godhead. [5]

Unfortunately many mainstream Christians today have bought this lie regarding the “Q” manuscript and many have bought into the second lie regarding the late dating of the writing of the New Testament. The range of consensus is as follows;
· Mark: c. 68 (minority) vs 73
· Matthew: c. pre 70 (minority) vs 70 to 100
· Luke: c. pre 70 (minority) vs 80–100 most argue for 85
· John: c. Pre 70 (minority) vs 90–110. many skeptics argue for 2 stages with no stated date of completion. [6]

Although the early dating of scripture is held today by only a minority of Christians we see no evidence other than human deductive reasoning which we believe has led the majority of Christians in the wrong direction to support anything other than the “Minority” view of when the Gospel accounts were written.

Consider the following reasons to consider the early dating of Scripture;
1. The witness of the Spirit - The Bible Tells Christians to become born anew. (John 3:3). When they do so it tells them that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within them forever (John 14:16). We are told clearly that our spirit witnesses with God’s Spirit, placed within us that these things are true. (1 John 5:6)
2. The promises to preserve the gospel message regarding our Lord Jesus - The gates of hell will not prevail against it. (Matt 16:18)
3. The eyewitness claims made - We are told that the scripture was written by eye witnesses (Luke 1:2; 2 Pet 1:16)
4. The fulfilled prophecy of the destruction of the temple - The great Prophecy of the Lord Jesus that the Temple would soon be destroyed came true in AD 70 along with the genocide of 2 Million Jews and Christians, yet nothing of this is mentioned in the New Testament.
The Bible tells us that skeptics will come which we must guard against regarding the accuracy of the word of God. (1 Tim 3:16, Rev 22:18-19) It tells us to defend it and to exhort and convict those who contradict it.

Titus 1 - 9 holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

It is our hope that this tract will help you to defend the Good News of Jesus Christ as it is explained in the Bible. Please visit our website and listen to the Audio Bible broadcast from there or read it from one of our many links. Let us know where you are at in your spiritual journey. We would be glad to correspond with you.

You may contact the person who handed you this tract or the author.
Bible Door Tracts
bibledoor@rogers.com,
273 Manchester Drive, Newmarket, ON, L3Y 6J4, Canada, http://bibledoor.blogspot.com/ & http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/
Copyright 2006 © Bible Door Tracts.
This tracts author is Ray Luff of Bible Door Tracts. The opinions contained in this tract do not necessarily represent the opinions of Riverdrive Park Bible Chapel where Ray is in fellowship. All Bible references are from The New King James Version. 1996, c1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson unless otherwise noted

--- Footnotes ---

[1] Lev 6:6-16

[2] “Hamashiak” in Hebrew translated in BCE 250 as “Christos” in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament. http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_annointed_one.pdf

[3] Ps 22, Isa 52-53

[4] Wikipedia topic “Gospel”, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel

[5] For further information see: http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_DaVinciCode_TheCaseForChrist.pdf

[6] John while written last has the earliest manuscript fragments found to support it, dating to 115 AD.

Prehistoric ecosystem found in Israeli cave

Wed May 31, 2006 8:10 AM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli scientists said on Wednesday they had discovered a prehistoric ecosystem dating back millions of years.

The discovery was made in a cave near the central Israeli city of Ramle during rock drilling at a quarry. Scientists were called in and soon found eight previously unknown species of crustaceans and invertebrates similar to scorpions.

"Until now eight species of animals were found in the cave, all of them unknown to science," said Dr Hanan Dimantman, a biologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

He said the cave's ecosystem probably dates back around five million years when the Mediterranean Sea covered parts of Israel
The cave was completely sealed off from the world, including from water and nutrients seeping through rock crevices above. Scientists who discovered the cave believe it has been intact for millions of years. "Every species we examined had no eyes which means they lost their sight due to evolution," said Dimantman.

Samples of the animals discovered in the cave were sent for DNA tests which found they were unique, he said. The cave has been closed off as scientists conduct a more detailed survey. "This is a cave of fantastic biodiversity," Dimantman said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060531/sc_nm/science_israel_cave_dc_3

“They lost their sight due to evolution.” This is typical of the claims of the evolutionist. All science can demonstrate are changes within species but not changes from one species to another. And the changes within a species represent a failure of some kind in the genetic makeup of the animal rather than an enhancement.

The Bible tells us that God created every living species on earth; all of the plant life, aquatic life, reptiles, animals, birds, insects, mankind and He left instructions for each to reproduce “after its kind”.

Genesis 1 - 24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so.

Darwin pointed to the differences between Finches and Pigeons as evidence of Evolution. But each of these were part of a kind. When God created living things He embedded enough genetic diversity that each “kind” could adapt to weather conditions and environmental factors to survive, but He put a limit on adaptation that it could not and would not occur between species. That is why Science has never proven a “missing link” between species. There have been attempts but each attempt has been proven in time to be a hoax.

Dog breeders know what constitutes a pure breed. They know that if no selective breeding is done on an ongoing basis that the breed will deteriorate and eventually the characteristics of the breed will revert. That is why some dogs are sold as non-breeder dogs, even though their parentage may be of the right selection of breeds.

Because of the tremendous genetic diversity God created within each species traits can be enhanced by selective breeding. We have all benefited by this when it comes to our pets and our livestock. But no amount of breeding has ever demonstrated the changing of a single species into another species. A dog has always produced a dog. A cat has always produced a cat. This is just as God had determined it would be in the beginning.

There is absolutely nothing in the fossil record that can suggest any other conclusion, even though scientists have believed they would find a missing link for many years now they have come up lacking. Of the millions of fossils that have been examined any mutations that have been found could easily be explained as arthritic or otherwise non beneficial mutations cause by disease.
You were wonderfully made by the Creator of all that there is that exists. He has created you in his own image. You are not a mistake of evolution. He has placed you on this earth and he has given you a mind.

He wants you to analyse and discover the wonder of His intricate and detailed design for every aspect of your life.

No one questions when they see a tall building that there is an architect who designed that building. Yet man knows that he is much more complex than that building and wonders if he was made by accident. Some have said that the odds of a man being created by accident are similar to a jumbo jet being created by a tornado barrelling through a junk yard. You were not created that way.
You can live your life out of touch with the creator who made you, but you are the only one who will lose. We have that example regarding many things in life. If I chose to overeat I may gain weight and die early of diabetic complications. If chose to smoke I may die early of cancer. If I sleep in everyday I may lose my job and die in poverty. Perhaps God allows these things in our lives as examples of loss due to our actions or inactions.

If only we could learn from life’s examples when it comes to knowing God. We will have only ourselves to blame if we do not discover the truth of the master designer while we visit this earth in the bodies that he has created for us. God did not leave us on our own to discover Him. He has given us the Bible; the only book in existence that continues to prove itself as Gods word by fulfilled prophecy.[1] God didn’t stop there he sent His only begotten son to dwell here in the flesh among us. His name was Jesus.

You owe it to yourself to check out the claims of the Bible and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do it while God continues to grant you the breath of life on this earth to do so.
The Bible warns those that put this off;

Daniel 12 – 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.

For you see God has created you as an eternal being. Your examination of why God has placed you hear on this earth will have everlasting consequences.

You may contact the person who handed you this tract or the author.
Bible Door Tracts
bibledoor@rogers.com,
273 Manchester Drive, Newmarket, ON, L3Y 6J4, Canada,

http://bibledoor.blogspot.com/ & http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/
Copyright 2006 © Bible Door Tracts.
This tracts author is Ray Luff of Bible Door Tracts. The opinions contained in this tract do not necessarily represent the opinions of Riverdrive Park Bible Chapel where Ray is in fellowship. All Bible references are from The New King James Version. 1996, c1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson unless otherwise noted

[1] For fulfilled prophecy see http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_annointed_one.pdf