THANKSGIVING 2009 – IN WHOM WILL YOU TRUST?

Hello beloved,

Just this past Sunday, I found out some news that drastically changed the lives of many people.  One of the owners of the company I work for had a heart attack on Saturday and passed away.  My first thoughts were about the state of this man’s soul.  Today, he knows the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord.  I pray that, in his last moments, he repented and trusted in Christ, for  Jesus clearly said that those who don’t repent and believe in the Son will be condemned to eternal punishment.

All of these thoughts and emotions went through my mind extremely quickly.  I hope this doesn’t sound insensitive, but my next thoughts were about the company I work for.  This man had poured his life into his work, and now his responsibilities would have to be swallowed by someone else.  The major problem with this is that he never really shared his workload.  The procedure for much of what he did was only known by him.

My first reaction to all of these thoughts was asking myself, “How are we going to do it?”  I then called a co-worker.  He answered the phone by saying, “What are we going to do?”  An unexpected peace came over me.  I just told him, “Dude, it’s not in our hands.”  Of course, I can also look at all of the talented people that work with us, including the other owner.  I know that we have all the pieces in place to do what many in our industry are saying we can’t do.  But I realized after speaking with this co-worker that it’s really not in our hands.  It’s this simple, if we trust in our own strength and intellect, we will fail.  Despite our situation, our only hope will come from putting our trust in Jesus Christ.  That’s right, if we commit ourselves to bringing glory to God in all that we do, he will see us through.  I truly believe that.  It has not been our strength that got us here, and it won’t be our strength that keeps us going.  We need not forget that. (Read Deuteronomy chapter eight.)

In Deuteronomy chapter eight, we find the admonition that we had better praise God for blessing us and also that we had better not forget Him.  Of course, there are many examples of this throughout Scripture, but what better place to look, during this time of year, than the history of Thanksgiving.  Let’s take a quick look at providential hand of God that led our Pilgrim forefathers to this great land of ours, seeing them through every hardship they would experience.  And they were no strangers to hardship.

The Pilgrims, also called Separatists, were a group that had separated themselves from the Church of England because they believed that the Church could only be under the headship of Jesus Christ, not the Queen.  It’s not that they chose to separate themselves, but they were so persecuted for the stance they took, that they were eventually forced to meet privately in their homes.  The key leaders of this movement were Richard Clyfton, John Robinson, William Brewster and William Bradford.

In 1606, several of them joined together to start a church in the town of Scrooby.  After about a year, even more severe persecutions fell on them.  Bradford says that they “could not long continue in any peaceable condition, but were hunted and persecuted on every side, so as their former afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison of those which now came upon them.  For some were taken and clapt up in prison, others had their houses beset and watcht night and day and hardly escaped their hands; and the most were faine to flee and leave their houses and habitations and the means of their livelihood.  Yet these and many other sharper things which afterward befel them were no other than they looked for and therefore were the better prepared to bear them, by the assistance of God’s grace and spirit.”

You might be wondering what this has to do with the situation my company is in.  Well, it has everything to do with it.  How’s that?  Because, as we stand at this fork in the road, we have a choice to make.  God has blessed us, and even, as he later did with the Pilgrims, whittled us down to a much smaller number.  We can look at the example that the Pilgrims set for us, and trust in God with all our might.  Or, we can do as the settlers of Jamestown did, and trust in our own strength and riches to see us through.  And we all know that that didn’t work out too well for them.

Back to the Pilgrims.  Due to the severe persecution, the Scrooby Church, under the Pastoral guidance of Richard Clyfton, made the decision to flee to Holland.  They first fled to Amsterdam, stayed there about a year and finally made it to Leyden.  Before they even got to Leyden, they lost their beloved Pastor as he was too old to make the trek.  So, much like the situation I find myself in today, they could either put their trust in the strength and intellect of their new Pastor, John Robinson.  Or, they could humble themselves and seek the face of God for guidance.  Of course, John Robinson was a great man, and they looked to him as their shepherd.  But you can rest assured that these Pilgrims knew good and well that their deliverance would not come from any man.  Pastor Robinson knew this as well.

After eleven years in Leyden, they once again were faced with the decision to flee.  This time, it was not due to persecution, but to their living conditions.  In Bradford’s “Of Plymouth Plantation” he lists four reasons for their deciding to leave, but one stuck out more than the others.  They were losing their children to the culture.  So, once again they sought the face of the Lord and were led to leave.

They initially set out on two ships, the Speedwell and the Mayflower.  God had other plans.  Apparently, he wanted to whittle them down some more so that he could get the saltiest of the salty to found this nation of ours.  And don’t fool yourself.  He was not looking for the strongest or the smartest.  He was looking for those who he knew would trust him.  He was looking for the few that he knew would make this nation of ours into, as John Winthrop said, “A city set upon a hill.”  That’s right, he wanted a nation that would spread the light of Christ all across this dark world.

It appeared that God had finally found himself a people that he could trust.  So, September 6, 1620,  Pilgrims set out from Southampton on the Mayflower.  Now, if you think the hardships were over, you’ve got another thing coming.  A total of 102 Pilgrims were all crammed into the tween-decks, no bigger than a volleyball court.  They went through seven weeks in a “rolling, pitching, stinking inferno.”  Those on board were unable to see the sunshine the whole way, due to the violent storms.  No doubt, many forgot what fresh air smelled like amidst all those that were constantly throwing up.

But, through all this, they still trusted in God and even sang praises to His name.  One of the deck-hands mocked them the whole way.  He even said that he couldn’t wait until he could seal up their body bag and toss those “psalm-singing pukestockings” overboard to the sharks.  Ironically, it was he that had to be tossed overboard. All of the sudden, he came down with a mysterious illness and died within a couple of days.  This, and the death of one other who refused to take lemon juice to fight the scurvy, were the only two to die on the entire trip.

Finally, on the ninth of November of 1620, they reached Cape Cod.  By the Providential hand of God, they had missed their landing by almost a hundred miles to the north.  After much prayer though, they decided not to go south, but to stay put.  On November 11, they set anchor in the natural harbor on the inside of the Cape.

Yet again, they were faced with a dilemma.  Being that they had blown north, they were no longer under the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company.  And since the had no patent from the New England Company, they would be under…no one.  Thankfully, the few that God had assembled knew better than to go into a land with no authority.  So, right then and there, they sought the face of God and drew up the cornerstones of American Democracy.  They put their trust in the Word of God and drafted up The Mayflower Compact.  This marked the first time in history that free and equal men had voluntarily covenanted together to create their own new civil government based on biblical principles.

They finally made it.  Time to relax, right?  If you know much about this story, you know that’s not the case.  In fact, their hardships only got worse.  But all through it, the Pilgrims set an example for us that we should never forget.  No matter how horrible things looked, they always put their trust in God.  During the first winter, forty-seven out of a hundred Pilgrims lost their lives to sickness.  To put it in perspective, thirteen out of eighteen wives died.  They had hardly anything to eat, they were constantly cold, and constantly sick, yet they never lost their faith.  We can’t even imagine the horrors they experienced.  Just imagine how miserable we get when having to be in the cold for an extended period of time.  Well, they were always that cold.  And they had no place to warm themselves.  Yet…they never lost their faith in God.  What an example.

Now, I get to the part of the story which is familiar to most of us.  In March of 1621, an Algonquin Chief named Samoset arrived.  His first word was, “Welcome.”  It was he that introduced them to Massosoit, the Chief of the Wampanoags, who turned out to be a great friend to the Pilgrims.  Through Massosoit, they met Squanto; who Bradford describes as “a special instrument sent of God for their good, beyond their expectation.”  Then, of course, we have all been taught how Squanto taught them how to survive in this new environment.  Unfortunately, most of us have not been taught that Squanto truly was “a special instrument of God.”

God used Squanto to see them through.  And the Pilgrims were definitely not ignorant of this.  From 1606 to 1621, they had seen one hardship after another.  But through all of them, they never failed to keep the faith.  They fought the good fight and God saw them through with one miracle after another.  Therefore, in the fall of 1621, Governor William Bradford declared a day of public Thanksgiving to be held in October.

Oh, sure, they were thankful to the Native Americans, as we are taught in public school.  But, more than anything, these godly Pilgrims were thankful to Almighty God.  For they knew that they would have never made it, had it not been for His mighty hand.  Though this great day was a day of feasting and games, they put God first by beginning the festivities with a prayer by William Brewster.  They had so much for which to thank God: for providing all their needs, even when their faith had not been up to believing that He would do so; for the lives of those who passed away and for taking the home to be with Him; for their friendship with the natives–so extraordinary when settlers to the south of them experienced the opposite; for all His remarkable providences in bringing them to this place and sustaining them.

Just look at all the wonderful things we can glean from our Pilgrim forefathers.  It’s sad that we are public schools never mention the providential hand of God throughout American History.  It is stories like these that will, as you look back on them, teach you to fear the Lord.  The situation my company is in is a perfect example of that.  We are at a crossroads where we can either band together and look to our own strength for salvation.  Or, we can do as the Pilgrims did and humbles ourselves, putting our trust in God.

So, this Thanksgiving, though my company is facing a situation we must ultimately look to the God of our forefathers; the Lord Jesus Christ.  We must remember that things might get much worse from this point on, but regardless of that, we must continue to trust in him.  Though all of our reasoning will tell us that we are strong enough to make it, we will only make it when we admit that we truly are weak and cannot do it lest the Lord come to our side.

The same goes for all of you.  There are not many out there that have not been touched by this economic downslide.  You too, have a choice to make.  Will you trust in yourself, or will you trust in God.

Again, I would encourage you to read Deuteronomy chapter eight.

—

For His Glory,

Adam Tennant

If you do not know Christ as your Lord and Savior, and have questions about your eternity, either send me an email or go to http://www.wayofthemaster.com/goodperson.shtml

ARE YOU TRULY PRO-LIFE?

Dear Fellow Soldiers In Christ,

Many people today consider themselves to be pro-life.  It think it’s safe to say that most Christians would make that claim.  However, are we as Christians really living up to that name?  To answer that question, what really needs to be done is an accurate defining of the term, “pro-life.”  And, for that answer, there is no better place to start than the word of God.

This is pretty simple, so I won’t spend long showing you what God thinks about the issue.  In Genesis 9:6, the word of God says, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.” This is the establishment of civil government.  Capital punishment was set up to keep bullies like Lamech (Gen. 4:19-24) from going around ruling over everyone.  This should show you that life is very precious in the sight of God.

If that wasn’t enough, he clearly said in the sixth commandment, “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13) Notice, he gave no exception clauses, such as we do today.  God was very clear that He would not stand for the shedding of innocent blood, regardless of the circumstances.

And then you have, what is probably one of the most popular verses declaring God’s stance on life.  Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” Do you need any commentary on that one?  I think not.  As I said before, God is very clear on this issue.  Notice, He didn’t paint anything gray.  The issue of life is black and white.

So, with that being said, can we now come up with a biblical definition of the term “pro-life?”  The Bible clearly shows you that life begins at the moment of fertilization, and even before that. (Job 31:15, Psalms 139:13-16; Is. 49:1, Jer. 1:5, Luke 1:39-44, Gal. 1:15)  So, here is what pro-life really is.  Pro-life is standing on the truth of God’s word and saying that personhood begins at the moment of fertilization.  Therefore, it is never, under any circumstance, acceptable to take the life of a baby inside the womb.  Period.  That is the pro-life stance.

Now, what exactly does that mean? Well, that means abortion is not acceptable even in the case of rape, incest, or life of the mother.  That means that abortifacients (methods of birth-control that result in the death of a fertilized egg) are unacceptable.  That also means that, if you are pro-life, you will never, under any circumstances, endorse or support a candidate that is not truly pro-life.  Period.

Let’s put this in perspective now.  What is the opposite of pro-life?  Pro-death or pro-murder, right?  Right.  Most who claim this stance call it pro-choice.  That’s a lie.  So let’s just call it what it is…pro-murder.  And what would be an accurate definition of the pro-death stance?  Simple.  Anyone who does not stand on the truth that personhood begins at the moment of fertilization.  Bold statement?  Yes, but true, nonetheless.  Think about it.  If you believe that abortion is wrong in all cases, except the cases of rape, incest or life of the mother, then you are pro-death.  In those instances, you believe that a woman should have the right to murder her child.  I’ll go one step further.  This one might sting a little bit, but you really need to hear the truth.  The pill, IUD’s, Norplant, and some other forms of birth control are abortifacients.  Abortifacients are forms of birth control that prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg, therefore resulting in an abortion.  For more information about abortifacients, go to http://www.pregnantpause.org/abort/untold.htm.

Now that we have defined the two sides of the fence, have you figured out on which side you stand?  Remember, you are either one one side or the other.  If you are undecided, than you can no longer claim ignorance.  You need to make a choice.  And like Mark Cahill says, “Satan owns the fence.”

In these last days, the battle for life is being won by those who are starting to see the truth.  And I’ve got some very exciting news for those of you that truly are pro-life.  We are finally seeing the Sword of the Spirit wielded in the battle for life, through the means of pro-life legislation that actually stands on God’s Word.  (unlike all of the incremental legislation that we have seen to this point.)

EDIT – Until recently, the pro-life movement has bought the lie of a failed pro-life strategy called incrementalism.  Incrementalism is the strategy to slowly but surely win a few battles here and a few battles there with the ultimate goal of ending legal abortion.  The problem with that is all of the compromise that takes place when using this strategy.

Let me explain.  The pro-life movement praised legislation, such as fetal pain, parental notification and parental consent.  However, there is a huge problem with these pieces of legislation.  All of these pieces of “pro-life” legislation have the same end, “once you anesthetize the baby, notify the parents, or get the parents permission…then you can kill the baby.”  None of them stop the shedding of innocent blood.  They only set parameters on killing children.  Can you see that?  I hope so.  We have been deceived for far too long about this beloved.

However, I’ve got some great news.  There is a new piece of legislation that stands firmly on the Word of God.  What is it?  Pure and simple…repentance.  It’s called the Personhood Bill.  The personhood bill would be an amendment to a state’s constitution defining a person as a human being at fertilization/biological beginning.  What does that mean?  A child in the womb, from the moment of fertilization, will have all of the rights as any human being.

Now that you have heard the truth, you have one of two choices you can make.  You can either accept these truths and repent of your current stance.  Or, you can just get mad at the fact that I would say such things and continue being pro-murder.  It’s up to you.  But the one thing I would stress more than any other is that you look into the things I have said to see if they are true.  Remember, the truth is the plumbline.  If what I am saying is true, and you find that you are actually pro-murder, you need to repent.  Repentance changes everything.  It’s time to stand on the word of God and forsake the lie of incrementalism.  It’s time to repent.

Well now, isn’t this exciting?  I can’t help but to see all of the parallels to the movement to abolish slavery.  If you recall, you will find that there was a incremental strategy that failed in that movement too.  Now, don’t you want to know what you can do?  I am attaching several links that can help inform you and a link to Personhood USA, where you can join the battle.  We are living in exciting times, beloved.  The question is, are you going to serve your King or not?  I say, “Let’s do this!”

Brochures on incrementalism:
http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/cms/assets/brochures/Incrementalism.pdf
http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/cms/assets/brochures/Sauls%20Armor.pdf

Brochure on how to end abortion in America:
http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/brochures/acrobat/ToEndAllAbortion.pdf

Link about abortifacients:
http://www.pregnantpause.org/abort/untold.htm

Personhood USA:
http://www.personhoodusa.com/

Find out which side of the fence people are on at:
http://prolifeprofiles.com/

—
For His Glory,
Adam Tennant

PREACH THE WORD…WHETHER THEY LISTEN OR NOT.

The sun started to rise as we traveled in Tom Cook’s Denali on our way to meet twenty other saints to deliver the truth to those attending the 2009 Atlanta Pride Parade.  It wasn’t long that we decided to read some Scripture.  Jason had to catch up in his Bible reading schedule so we read from Saturday’s reading.  We quickly realized that it was no accident that we read these particular chapters.  No.  In preparation for the grueling day we faced, God had a specific word for us straight out of Ezekiel, chapters two and three.

Before I get to the exact scripture that stuck out to us so much, let me first set it up with another passage from the same book.  In Ezekiel chapter eight, The Spirit took Ezekiel to the temple so that he could see, for himself, the detestable things that were taking place.  Ezekiel’s eyes were opened to the wicked and detestable things that were taking place in the temple of the Lord.  The house of Israel was doing horrible things, but they were being led by the ruling seventy elders(the Sanhedrin).  Ezekiel was blown away by the things he saw, but the Spirit kept telling him that he would see things that are “even more detestable.”

You might wonder what this passage has to do with the 2009 Atlanta Pride Parade.  Well, here’s the point.  Ezekiel was a prophet called to deliver God’s mail to the house of Israel.  But, before he could go amongst them and proclaim His word, his eyes had to be opened.  Likewise, today, the church of Jesus Christ has been called to be watchmen and proclaim God’s word to all.  Therefore, we need to be able to see.

Hopefully, after reading this, you will get a glimpse of what goes on at these detestable events.  When a Christian hears what we do at these parades, the most popular response is, “Don’t you think you should be more loving?” There are many problems with that question.  But, instead of addressing all of them, let me just say that if they had eyes to see, they would not say such things.  And I also have to say that they obviously don’t fully grasp the biblical concept of love (See Leviticus 19:17).

That gets us back to the scripture that stuck out to us on our ride down.  There were several key words and phrases that stuck out to us.  The word, “rebellious” was mentioned eight times in Ezekiel chapters two and three.  God was also adamant in these two chapters that Ezekiel speak His words to the people.  He also, repeatedly, told him not to be afraid of the people to whom he would be delivering God’s mail.  All of those things were very applicable to our trip to Atlanta.  But, more than anything, verse seven of chapter two really spoke to us.  “You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.”

Beloved, we had been to this particular event in years past and we knew what to expect.  We were going to be speaking the word of God to a people that, for the most part, would not listen to the things we had to say.  Now, most of the church would say that we must not be going about things the right way.  But, remember this, it’s not about success.  It’s about faithfulness.  We must speak the word of God to all the world, regardless of whether they listen or not.  And trust me, for the most part, our message fell on deaf ears this year.  Oh, they heard it.  They just hated what we had to say.

Don’t get me wrong.  When we broke up into pairs of two at this event, we ran into one divine appointment after another.  When having these one-to-one conversations, it’s amazing to see the Holy Spirit breaking through the pride of individuals.  Those conversations are fun and are very necessary in ministering at these kinds of events.

But, there is another message that must be brought: the public proclamation.  And that’s where we get the message from the church, that we are not doing things right.  But make no mistake about it, this message must be brought.  While one-to-one witnessing is vitally important, so is this.  We cannot allow hundreds of thousands of homosexuals to parade their sin like Sodom in the streets of our cities without boldly and sternly confronting them in their sin.  Will you win many converts this way?  Probably not.  Not right off the bat anyway.  But that’s what the one-to-one witnessing is for.

When you are witnessing to a homosexual, you usually don’t want to start off by dealing with his sexual perversion.  No.  You want to make a connection and swing it to the spiritual.  If the conversation goes well, the Holy Spirit will open a door to deal with the specific sin of homosexuality (usually while you are going through God’s Law).  Then you will have a wonderful opportunity to talk to him about his childhood, his sin and, most importantly, the Savior.

But when you are making a public proclamation, confronting the sin of homosexuality, you need to bring it down hard.  Why?  Because many believe that they can practice homosexuality and love Jesus at the same time.  And what might that be called?  A false religion. So, when Christians say that Jesus would never do it the way we do it, they simply don’t understand the Jesus of the Bible.  Remember, it was Jesus who nailed the religious hypocrites of His day, by calling them hypocrites, vipers, whitewashed tombs, etc.  Jesus didn’t pull any punches and neither should we.  Especially, when you have churches participating IN the parade.  That’s right.  There are always a number of churches that actually march in the parade.  Where did you think they were getting their affirmation from?  None other than wolves in sheep’s clothing.  And when you deal with these guys(and gals), you don’t start by setting up a friendly dialog.  No.  You bust them!

Now, just to warn you, when you go with this message, you will not go without great opposition.  I am making no exaggerations when I say this, but had the SWAT team not surrounded us, I would not be writing this article today.  I would be dead (probably after being brutally mutilated by this blood-thirsty mob).  You can hardly believe the hatred spewing from their lips.  What’s so odd about it is that, on many occasions, someone would be screaming obscenities, with spit flying all over the place, shouting, “God is love! You are full of hate!”  I’m not joking.  Then, Craig Gross, the founder of XXX Church decided to lecture Flip on how to be more loving in his approach.  Craig Gross, aka the Porn Pastor, designed his emergent ministry to make the gospel more suitable for porn stars, porn addicts, homosexuals, etc.  By the end of the conversation, he made a wonderful display of this “luv” he was talking about, by pouring his water on Flip’s shirt (Flip had all kinds of stuff dumped on him).

But the attacks got worse.  In years past, we have been physically attacked, but one thing really got to me this year.  A young lady that came with us was threatened by two girls.  The threat?  One of them held an object in her hand and threatened that they would rape her.  But these same girls were also shouting about how WE were so unloving.

There are so many detestable things that take place at these events.  I could go on and on.  But why should I go on and on when you can come to see for yourself?  And don’t say it’s not your calling.  We are all called to confront sin.  When we make that commitment to Christ, we aren’t just gaining Heaven, we are losing our lives.  That’s right.  Our lives do not belong to ourselves.  And God is calling us to be the salt of the earth; to be watchmen over this once Godly nation.  Will it cost you something?  Yes.  And it might even cost you your life one day.  I have no doubt we would have lost ours had the SWAT team not protected us this year.  But, remember, my life does not belong to me and neither does your life belong to you.

MIRACLES IN CHARLOTTE!

An amazing thing took place yesterday (Wednesday November 4th).   Nine babies were saved from the clutches of death.  As two women ventured to two abortion clinics in the city of Charlotte, God showed up.  Here’s the thing though.  All they did was show up.  They are not great evangelists or preachers.  They are just two simple little Christians living out their faith at the gates of Hell.  It is absolutely incredible what God can do if we just, “show up!”

Flip called me yesterday and gave me this account.  He went to the Hebron abortion mill yesterday morning and met his sister and mother there.  Chrissy is sixty and Grandma is eighty-one.   Before he arrived, one mother had already chosen life for her baby.  As always, they rejoiced and praised God over the life that had been saved.

Chrissy and Grandma have been faithful since October 27, 2008, to go to the Charlotte abortion mills five days a week.  As a result, over 460 babies have been saved since that day.  I’m sure that, up until yesterday, they would have attributed much of that success to having Flip with them.  After all, he is the National Director of Operation Save America.  But, after yesterday, there is no doubt that they would attribute all of these miraculous saves to, none other than Jesus Christ.

After the save at Hebron, Flip needed to go into the office.  That meant Chrissy and Grandma had to go to the Latrobe clinic by themselves.  There is no way that they could have imagined what would happen as they went.  After seeing a baby saved at Hebron, they could have gone home knowing that they made a difference, but they hadn’t seen anything yet.  As these two women stood outside of the Latrobe abortion mill in downtown Charlotte, ministering to the women going in, eight of them changed their minds.  That’s right!  Eight women decided to choose life for their babies!  Eight!  Praise God!

Now, beloved, you need to know something.  That simply does not happen if these two women don’t show up.  But, thank God, they understand that they have a responsibility to be a voice for the voiceless.  God pricked their hearts long ago and they have faithfully rescued those being led away to death.

So, if two simple little Christian ladies can make this kind of impact, imagine what would happen if you showed up.  Just think about it.  You could make a difference too.  So, please obey the Lord and stand in the gap on behalf of these innocent children.  Heed the call.