OSA NATIONAL EVENT – LAS VEGAS – DAY 4 (A.M.)

Overpass Teams – Saturday Morning

If I haven’t said it already, I just want to let everyone reading this know that this is just my journal from the 2009 OSA National Event in Las Vegas. I tried to keep up, from day to day, some of the things that were taking place. No doubt, God did many more amazing things. These were just some of the raids that I took part in. And, it seemed that the stories were getting longer, as the week went on, so I’m going to break them up into stories, instead of the entire day.

On Saturday morning, I rode down to the strip with Pastor Andrew, his wife Morgan, and Joe. From there, I was assigned to Pastor Mark’s team. I have found that, if you want to get into some “trouble”, you just need to tag along with Pastor Mark for a little while. Praise the Lord!

We set up on a walkway overpass which connected Bally’s to Bill’s. The pedestrian traffic was pretty busy. It was awesome! All of the tracts were passed out within the first half hour. That was alright though, because it seemed that everyone in my team was quite the evangelist. Everywhere I looked, someone was either in a conversation or doing some open-air preaching.

I recall a conversation I had with a young couple. They were appalled by the Malachi sign I was holding. I was able to explain to them how it is the churches’ responsibility to fight abortion. This hit home for them, because they were professing Christians. They had even given me a promotional flyer to their church, which was linked to Creflo Dollar (who has a large abortion mill right across the street from him, which he has been completely apathetic towards). Using the story of the good Samaritan, I was able to show them their specific responsibility, not only to the poor and destitute, but for their unborn neighbors. I could tell that they had been cut to the heart. They promised me that they would join the battle at the clinics in their hometown. I even got Flip to come over and meet them. He told them that they needed to confront Creflo, telling him to do something about the clinic across the street from him. They said they would send him an email. I pray they do.

To end our conversation, I confronted them for being in Las Vegas. They said they were there to celebrate the husbands’ birthday. So I told them they had no business in Las Vegas if they were there for themselves. No, the only reason a Christian should come to Vegas is to serve Jesus Christ and to proclaim the Gospel.

The morning went very well. The gospel was preached, sin was exposed, and Jesus was lifted up. As we were wrapping up, I had a little altercation with a drunk guy. I had previously told him that there would be no drunkards in the Kingdom of Heaven. I saw him walk by from time to time. Well, after walking up, running his mouth, and walking off a few times, he decided he was going to put a stop to my preaching. He charged up, got right in my face, and punched me in the ear. Praise the Lord! That was the first time I have been punched for the sake of Christ!

By the way, I didn’t stop preaching.

OSA NATIONAL EVENT – LAS VEGAS – DAY 3

Witnessing Encounter with Larry – Friday Morning at The Fremont Street Experience

Friday morning, at the Fremont Street Experience was quite dead.  It was obvious that Las Vegas was not the kind of city that got up very early.  All we saw, for a while were clean-up crews.  I was under the impression that it was a daily necessity, considering the filthiness of that place.

We were manning Tom Raddell’s abortion display, and reading through the Bible, when I had a conversation with a man named Larry.  It was, no doubt, a divine appointment, which went on for, what seemed to me, well over an hour.  I remember his initial comments.  He basically was asking the question of, “Where is God when all of this happens?”  He was looking at pictures of aborted babies, an african american hanging from a tree, and holocaust victims piled in stacks.  That’s a good question isn’t it?

During my attempt to answer this question, he said that he didn’t believe that God would send anyone to Hell.  Well, after I shared some Scriptures with him and some sound reasoning, he changed his mind.  I could tell that Larry was a man of much conviction.  He believed in God, but confessed that he was unsaved.  He had never really thought it necessary to search the Bible for the truth, because he thought he had enough of it to get by.

After discussing sin, righteousness, and judgment; he was pretty convinced that he didn’t have what he was hoping he had before.  He knew, for sure, that he needed to get right with God or he would spend eternity in Hell.

It was incredible to see the Scriptures coming alive to him.  I shared with him many Scriptures, but the ones that made the most sense to him were Romans 7:14-25 and Romans 1:18-32.  When I shared Romans 1 with him, he was astonished.  His exact words were, “Adam, if I didn’t know you were reading that from the Bible, I would say that that is an editorial from one of today’s newspapers.”  Isn’t it amazing to see the Scriptures come alive to someone who, previously, had never given them the time of day.

I was so blessed to be able to minister to Larry.  His heart had truly been pricked.  I explained some things in the Bible to him and tried to answer all of his questions.  By the end of our conversation, he told me he would go home and search out the truth for himself by beginning to read the Bible; that he would get right with God.  I told him to start with the Gospel of John.

I’ll never fortget his departing words.  He said, “I’ll never forget you, Adam.”  Isn’t it such a priviledge to be able to share the Gospel with someone, and know that his life has been so drastically changed.  Praise God!  Just think, he was just heading on a daily task one minute, and the next minute God confronted him with eternity.

Visiting the abortionist’s house(Eric Grant) – Friday afternoon

On Friday afternoon, when we were visiting the houses of the abortionists, I had the chance to speak to some of the neighbors.  I spoke with one woman for a long time.  It was Brenda, Kelly, Michael and me.  It was awesome how God used each of us to minister to her.  She said that she didn’t have a problem with killing a child in order to keep “crackheads” off the street.  Her logic was that a child raised in a bad home was a drain on the society.  Therefore, kill them before they are born.

I tested her premise.  I suggested that we ought not to stop at killing the unborn.  If they are a drain on the society, we should kill the children that have already been born as well.  She had to change her logic after that one.  I then explained to her that criminals are criminals, not because they were born in bad environments.  No, criminals are criminals because they turn their backs on God and do what is right in their own eyes.

I was able to explain to her that we are born in sin.  Sin is the problem.  The Holy Spirit provided excellent opportunities to proclaim the Gospel, in it’s entirety, to this woman.  I could see that, as we reasoned with her, she was really listening.  For, it wasn’t us that was speaking to her, but it was the Spirit of God.

I pray that this woman comes to repentance.  She knows the truth now.  She might not accept it, but she knows it.

Meanwhile, there was a bunch of screaming going on down the street(at the abortionist’s house).  I found out later, that Eric Grant’s wife had come out and started acting like the demon-possessed woman that she is.  I didn’t see this happen, but I did get to see Pastor Mark and Shelley confront him right at his door-step.

It was awesome.  As Mark and Shelley were talking to him, about forty people, dawning red OSA shirts, gathered in his front yard.  Mark said that in the middle of a sentence, Eric Grant’s jaw hit the floor, as he said, “Whoa.”  You could tell he had never been confronted for murdering little babies.  I couldn’t believe his response.  He actually said that he’s not an abortionist, rather he is an OB-GYN.  OK.  I don’t care what your job title is.  You can be a lawyer, but if you commit rape, you are a rapist.  Likewise, you can be a doctor, but if you perform abortions, you are an abortionist.  Therefore, a murderer.

He didn’t like it too much when Ken and Jo Scott asked him some tough questions.  That’s about the time that he got a phone call.  After returning from the call, he said he would not take anymore questions and asked us all to leave the yard.

I guess that’s when his wife (the head of his household) reared her head.

OSA NATIONAL EVENT – LAS VEGAS – DAY 2

A-Z Women’s Clinic – Thursday Morning

By the time we arrived to the abortion mill (around 7:30am), it was already quite hot.  Being that it was our first day together, the entire group joined forces at this specific gate of Hell.

I was really blessed to hear Rusty’s testimony.  He shared about a wonderful opportunity he had, sharing the gospel with an irate woman that morning.  In his words, she was “spittin’ mad” because we were judging.  Well, she was under the assumption that we had no right to be where we were, doing what we were doing.  I believe Rusty said that she asked him the age-old question, “Who gave you the right to judge?”  Being a man of great discernment, Rusty politely said in reply, “Ma’am, do you have a few minutes?”  She pulled to the side, and it wasn’t long that she was in tears, weeping uncontrollably.  She was under much conviction.  Praise God!

Our prayer is that she has, by now, found the peace of God through repentance and faith in Christ.

The Fremont Street Experience – Thursday…All Day

After being at the Fremont Street Experience for a few hours, I was getting pretty tired and was ready to get back to the hotel.  It was around 2pm and I figured that, if I left, I would have a chance to get a nap before the Thursday night rally.  Well, that was before Tom asked me to stay.  I sure am glad he did.  All of my flesh wanted to say no, but I knew, in my spirit what God wanted me to do.

Had I left when I wanted to, I would never of had the chance to meet Bubba.  Bubba was around fourteen years old, accompanied by his sister and I think a couple other family members.  He was a very nice kid, but was lost in his sin.  His sister professed to be a Christian, and I could tell she was excited about where our conversation was going.

After taking him through the law, this happy-go-lucky kid was pierced to the heart with the fear of God.  He was thoroughly humbled and I could see that he was ready for grace.  I told him that he didn’t have to pay for his transgressions with an eternity in Hell.  I explained to him how Jesus took his punishment on the cross.  His eyes were opened and I could see that glimmer of hope in his eyes.  He now saw that the cross was, by no means, foolishness.  It now made perfect sense to him.

Now, just so you know, I’m not one that pushes “cheap grace”.  I could have easily gotten him to pray the “sinners prayer”, but I don’t do that.  I don’t ever want to give someone the false assurance of being saved if they have not truly repented.  Jesus didn’t teach it, so I don’t use it.  His sister was a Christian and he said that they would go home and talk about it.  He knew what he needed to do, and he knew the cost of doing it.  It’s up to him when he wants to come to Christ.

I prayed with them and encouraged them to sit down today and go over the things we had talked about.  I truly believe, that as you read this, Bubba’s name has already been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!  Praise God!

Though I wanted to leave at 2pm, God had other plans.  I ended up staying for around twelve hours.  It was worth it.

OSA NATIONAL EVENT – LAS VEGAS – DAY 1

Witnessing Encounter with Brian – Wednesday Night

On the first night, at the airport, I met a man named Brian.  He was from Las Vegas, flying in from New Orleans.  It was a great conversation(which hopefully leads to a great conversion).  He told me that he was a Catholic and needed to get right with God.  When I witness to Catholics, the first place I take them is usually John 3:1-21, which is where Jesus tells Nicodemus that you must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God.  He was interested in what I had to say, and had admittedly never paid the Scriptures much attention.  He was very excited when I pulled out my Bible and showed him certain passages.  Don’t you love it when someone, all of the sudden, realizes the power in God’s Word.  I could tell that he would go and search out the things we had talked about to see if what I said was true.  After all, he knew that if what I told him was true, he would not be going to Heaven when he dies.

I gave him Mark Cahill’s, “One Heartbeat Away” before his ride picked him up.  When his ride pulled up, I helped with his luggage and we said our goodbyes.  Over and over, he expressed how thankful he was for the conversation we had.  I am just thankful that God gave me the opportunity to share the gospel on that night.

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE: WHAT DOES GOD’S WORD REALLY SAY?

Before getting into this article, I think it is very important to stress something: God is a God of mercy.  Though the words you will read might cut you to pieces, please know that God does not want to leave you there.  His desire is to pour out His grace and mercy.  This has always been His desire.  However, God is also a God of Judgment.  The prerequisite to Him being able to pour out His grace and mercy is your repentance.  And in order to get you to that place, He will cut you in pieces with His prophets, kill you with the words of His mouth and flash His judgments upon you like lightning. For He desires mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.  (See Hosea 6:5-6)

Jesus came to proclaim this truth.  In Matthew 12:17-20, he quoted Isaiah, saying, “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.  He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.  A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.”  Just what , exactly, does that mean?  I’ll tell you what it means.  God has to cut us to pieces with His prophets, with His Word, and with His judgments, so that we can have the victory.  What is the victory?  Simple.  It is when we come to God, with a broken and contrite heart, confess who we really are and repent.  The moment you do that, you are forgiven.  Yes!  The moment you come to Him, everything changes!  You are forgiven.  Amen!

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE: WHAT DOES GOD’S WORD REALLY SAY?

Over the past couple of years, I have written several articles on how dangerous dating can be.  I wasn’t the first to say it, but over and over, I stressed that dating is nothing more than practice for divorce.  Unfortunately, both of these practices have become far too common in our culture.  And what is even sadder is that, when you examine the church, you will see that nothing changes.  As someone whose childhood was stricken with divorce, I cannot stress enough, the importance of a family that realizes that divorce is not an option.

Last Thursday, I visited what is already being labeled an “outpouring” at Morning Star Ministries in Fort Mill, SC.  Now, this article is not about this so-called outpouring, so I won’t spend time exposing all of the falsehood behind this movement.  But there is one thing that stands out above all others.  That being the lifting up of Todd Bentley; a man who cheated on his wife and then ran off with his adulteress; leaving behind his wife and three children.  This is a tragic thing.  It is a horrible thing; and totally tramples the marriage covenant.

I have a feeling that this “outpouring” will only grow from here, as they are bent on pumping it up into something that it is not.  This, I am sure, will put me in the position to explain to many why this is so degrading to biblical truth.  So, this article, more than anything, is meant to be a reference to those who don’t quite understand what the Bible truly says about marriage and divorce.  The best part about this is that the Bible is very clear on this issue.  So, let’s take a look at what the word of God truly says about it.

Malachi 2:10-16 says:

10 Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?

11 Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. 12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD cut him off from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings offerings to the LORD Almighty.

13 Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

15 Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring.  So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

16 “I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the LORD Almighty.  So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.

Good places to cross reference this are Ezra and Nehemiah.  When the people of Judah came back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, they started divorcing the wives of their youth and marrying pagan wives.  So, God rebuked them.  It doesn’t get much clearer than verse sixteen.  God said, “I hate divorce.”

It’s unfortunate that we don’t hear this passage of scripture preached in churches today.  The reason it is not probably has to do with the fact that the preacher would likely be stepping on the toes of around half of his congregation.  That doesn’t keep him from preaching from Malachi chapter three, on tithing though does it?  Hmmm….that’s strange isn’t it?  Well, that’s another message altogether.

Let’s move on to the New Testament so you can see what Jesus had to say about this issue.  But, just so you know that God has not changed his stance on this, take a look at chapter three, verse six of Malachi, which says, “I the Lord do not change.”

So we know that God hates divorce, right?  Then, why is it we, as the church, are so accepting of the practice?  I’ll tell you why.  It is because of what has become known as “the exception clause.”  The exception clause is found in Matthew 5:31-32 and Matthew 19:1-12.  Now it is very important that you understand that Matthew was writing to the Jews, who were the only group of people that practiced “betrothal.”  That is why “the exception clause” is not found in the other synoptic gospels.  I’ll explain that later.  We will visit both of these passages from Matthew, as well as the parallel passages on divorce, and we will find that there really are no exceptions. Divorce is never, under any circumstances, permissible.

Let’s start with Matthew 5:31-32:

31″It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’32But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness (porneia), causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery (moicheia).

You’ll notice that I added the greek in this passage of scripture so we can better talk about the correct translation of a couple of words.

At first glance, it might seem that Jesus is contradicting what God said in Malachi 2.  How is it that Jesus lends legitimacy to something that God hates?  To answer that question, we have to first understand the book of Matthew.

First of all, unlike the other synoptic gospels, Matthew was written specifically to the Jews.  Why is that relevant?  Well, because the Jews had a practice called betrothal.  Betrothal was a legally binding contract, between a young man and woman, who had made a pledge to get married.  It’s kind of like an engagement, but far more binding.  With a betrothal, the only way out was if it were found that the woman were not a virgin.  In that case, the husband would write his betrothed wife a certificate of divorce.

The reason this is important is that Matthew uses a word in the exception clause that deals with breaking a betrothal, not a marriage.  He uses the greek word, “porneia” which means, “fornication.”  Jesus’ exact words were, “But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for fornication (porneia), causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery (moicheia).

For some reason this is confusing to many Pastors.  I don’t understand this, but I often hear something like this, “Oh, divorce is unacceptable, except in the case of adultery…or fornication.”  Hold on a second!  Jesus did not lump those words together and neither can we!  He was very clear in what He said.  Porneia means fornication and moicheia means adultery.  He used both words in the same sentence.  He meant what He said and He said what He meant.  And He never said that adultery is grounds for divorce.

To understand this better, let’s turn to Matthew 1:18-25:

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

First, notice in verse eighteen that Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph.  But, then look at verse nineteen.  The text says that Joseph is already her husband.  That’s how it worked with betrothals.  They were already seen as husband and wife, but they had not come together in marriage yet.  They would go through a year long betrothal period, when the husband would go and prepare a place for her.  Then, after a year they would have the marriage ceremony and the two would become one flesh.

It is vitally important to see that Joseph was going to “divorce” Mary.  That’s not a mistake.  That is exactly what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:31-32 and Matthew 19:1-12.  And the only reason Matthew even mentioned the exception clause was because he knew his audience (the Jews) would understand it.  And, of course, because Matthew is the only gospel writer that talks about the marriage of Mary and Joseph.

I want to make sure that you see this clearly.  So, let’s look at the parallel passages of this in Mark and Luke.

Mark 10:11-12 says:

“He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

Luke 16:18 says:

“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

Do you see how, if these were the only two passages about divorce, than there would be no exceptions?  Hopefully, you now understand why Matthew is different.  Again, it is because he was writing to the Jews.

The exception clause is also found in Matthew 19:1-12, so let’s take a look at that:

1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

The only thing covered here, that we haven’t already talked about is the Pharisees’ claim that Moses gave permission for a man to divorce his wife.  Jesus answers this very clearly in verse eight and nine.  Notice he said that Moses permitted them to divorce their wives because of their hard hearts.  He didn’t say that God permitted this.  He again says that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness (again, that means fornication or sex before marriage—not adultery), and marries another woman commits adultery.

So, now we have clarified what Jesus said about divorce, let’s look at what Paul said about it.  There is another passage that is used by those who would argue that divorce is acceptable.  They use 1 Corinthians 7:15 to say that God would permit you to divorce your spouse if he/she is an unbeliever.  That’s not true at all and a simple reading of this verse, in context, will clearly show this.

Look at 1 Corinthians 7:10-16:

10To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

12To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

A simple reading of this verse in context clearly shows that Paul did not permit divorce, despite a spouse being a non-believer.  All verse fifteen says is that if your spouse leaves, let him or her leave.  It says nothing about divorce.   You run into this all the time though.  A non-believing spouse leaves, and the believer just signs the papers and gets a divorce.  That is not permissible.  You are to remain faithful to the covenant you made.  If your spouse leaves, there is nothing you can do about it.  But you need to just stay faithful to the covenant you made.  Don’t get a divorce.

So, there you have it.  Indeed, God does not change, does he?  He has always hated divorce and he always will.  There is not exception to that.  Anyone that gets a divorce sins against God.  And anyone that remarries commits adultery.

I understand that this is a truth that many have never heard.  But it is a truth that needs to be shouted from the rooftops.  The ways in which we have been doing things, as a nation and as a church, are in stark contrast to the truth of Scripture.  Just look at our churches.  We have families on one side of the aisle whose former spouses are sitting on the other aisle with new husbands and wives and precious kids who don’t even know what their last name ought to be.  This is flat-out wrong and a slap in the face to God.

What would it look like if the church were to repent of this mess, anyway?  Do we separate husbands from new wives as Nehemiah did.  No.  Absolutely not.  What needs to be done is an open confession, within the church, from the top-down.  We need to deal harshly with the sin we have gotten ourselves into.  Long ago, the desire to be accepting and loving, within the church, led to the twisting of Scripture so we can be soft on marriage, divorce and remarriage.

So the first thing that needs to take place is for the men of God to repent and return to preaching the Word of God.  Let God’s Word say what it says, and stop trying to soften it up for fear that it may hurt someone’s feelings.  Tell our Lord’s confused lambs that if they are divorced and remarried that they must repent and confess that what the Lord says about marriage is true – there are no exceptions!  Then be true to the covenant they are presently in – always confessing the truth about God’s design in marriage.  It is the first and most important institution God gave to man.  A child needs a father and a mother who remain true to their covenant, for better or for worse, because God desires Godly offspring.

Then men of God must commit to never remarrying any person who is divorced and whose spouse is still living.  It will take a generation.  But we can again have God’s blessing back.  If we will simply return to Him, He will return to us.

I am well aware that it is highly probable that some of you reading this are divorced, and maybe even remarried.  I hope you can look past any feelings of anger that you might have toward me right now.  Here is all that I would ask of you.  Examine the Scriptures for yourself.  If I am in error, I would like you to show me how.

Many of you will probably have questions, as this message is not common today.  Please, feel free to ask me.  And if I don’t have the answer, I will do all that I can to get it for you.

For His Glory,

Adam Tennant

NAMBY-PAMBY CHRISTIANITY

C.T. Studd (1860-1931) was an English missionary who faithfully served His Saviour in China, India, and Africa. His motto was: “If Jesus Christ is God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

“Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time of waiting is past! The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In God’s Holy Name let us arise and build! ‘The God of Heaven, He will fight for us’, as we for Him. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us.  Should such men as we fear? Before the world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only our God, than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ.”  (C.T. Studd)

When I first read this quote, I was blown away.  I’m not sure when C.T. Studd gave this quote, but it was at least 78 years ago, as he died in 1931.  And though it was uttered almost a century ago, is it not just as relevant today?

Men like C.T. Studd are rarely found today.  He was obviously a man’s man.  He preached the gospel without compromise.  And he stormed the gates of Hell with reckless abandon.  Praise God!  As a man of God, he didn’t mince words.  He fearlessly preached the truth, regardless of who might get offended.  Do you see that today?  Yeah, about as often as you see a comet.

The truth is, a man of God who has grasped “Masculine Holiness” is hard to find today.  Why, when you look at this “namby-pamby Christian world”, you don’t at all find masculinity.  On the contrary, you find a church that has been emasculated…a bunch of spiritual sissies.  It seems today, the church finds it more relevant to be a hippie than a man of God!

Why has the church been so emasculated?

First of all, we no longer stand on the Word of God.  We are far more concerned with being relevant to the world and allowing the world to dictate truth, than we are standing on the Word of Almighty God.  We just don’t want to confront anyone with God’s Word.  We would rather tell them a pretty story about God’s word and paint it up to look all non-offensive.  I’ve got news for you!  The Word of God is offensive!

Secondly, the men have become lazy and passed the authority to women.  This is true, not only in the church, but in the home.  We live in a feminized culture and a feminized church.  We shed more tears trying to pray saints out of heaven than we do praying sinners out of Hell!  How backwards is that?  We need men of God, like King Josiah, to rip their garments and weep over their sin.  We need men of God to openly confess and repent!  We need men of God to take back the responsibility and authority in God’s church and in our homes, and take to the streets to tear down the gates of Hell!

In the words of Dr. Voddie Baucham, “Are you smellin’ what I’m steppin’ in?”  You see beloved, all of our compromises today started when we departed from the firm stance on God’s Word being our standard.  As soon as you allow any outside influences to direct your paths, you will compromise His standard.  And, as soon as you do, Satan is just waiting to pounce on you.

Hopefully, this will cause you to ask the question, “Well, what must I do?”  I’m so glad you asked.

First, you’ve got to come to terms with the fact that you are wrong.  You’ve got to humble yourselves.  Despite how strongly you believe that everything you are doing is completely justifiable, you need to admit that you are wrong and God is right.  And just so you know, as I write this, God is revealing things to me that I’ve got to change.

Then, once you realize that you are wrong, you need to repent.  That is basically just changing all of your thinking to line up with God and His Word.  You can’t let experience dictate truth any longer.  You can’t let your emotions run your spiritual life.  You must ground yourself into God’s Word.  Allow all of your thoughts and actions to be filtered through His standard.

And last of all, you’ve got to go to battle.  “The time of waiting is past! The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In God’s Holy Name let us arise and build! ‘The God of Heaven, He will fight for us’, as we for Him. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us.” We need to, as C.T. Studd did, run to the front lines.

There is a wonderful opportunity to respond to God’s call to battle.  From July 15-22, men and women of God will be meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada to wage war against the devil.  There are currently nine abortion mills in the city of Las Vegas.  If you are wondering where the battle is, you can see it no clearer than when you look at abortion.  Innocent blood is being shed and we must stand in the gap on behalf of our unborn neighbors.  We must run to the front lines.

It’s not to late to join us.  Just go to http://lasvegas.operationsaveamerica.org for all the information.  Time is running out, but you shouldn’t have any trouble booking a cheap flight and a room.

In Christian love,

Adam Tennant