Friday, January 20, 2017
Shalom! Jonathan will be speaking this morning at the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Breakfast. He asks for your prayers that the Lord will have him do and say exactly as the Lord would have him. Pray for the Lord's protection on him and all at this historic event. Also, let us continue to pray for America. God bless!
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Did
a 4,000-year-old covenant just put an end to the legacy of Barack
Obama? Could an ancient promise of God recorded in the Book of
Genesis, actually cause the election of Donald Trump?
In
his eight years in office, Barack Obama enacted a multitude of laws,
initiatives, campaigns and legal actions that Christians saw as
directly defying and warring against the laws, the order and the Word
of God.
OBAMA'S
WAR
This
included everything from lobbying for the destruction of the Defense
of Marriage Act, to the overturning of the biblical definition of
marriage, to the transgenderizing of children’s bathrooms in the
nation’s public schools, to the erosion of religious liberty in the
military and throughout American culture, to the expansion of
abortion around the world, the seeking to make Christian employers go
against their beliefs and their faith to fund the killing of the
unborn, to the pressuring of governments around the world to end the
traditional definition of marriage and kill their unborn and much
more.
Obama
enacted many of these policies and actions not by the legislative
process of having Congress debate, vote on and ratify them but by
presidential policies and executive actions, which circumvented
Congress. Because of this, much of what he did rested on shaky
political ground, being vulnerable to being reversed and nullified by
the executive actions of a subsequent president with differing views.
Or in other words, he who lives by executive actions can die by them.
Thus
much of Obama’s legacy was hanging on the election of 2016. The
outcome would decide whether or not his many actions would be sealed
by the election of a president in favor of his agenda or reversed by
the election of a president not in favor. Thus, he had more riding on
the election of 2016 than any president in modern times. In other
words, if Hillary Clinton won the election, Obama’s legacy was
preserved. If Donald Trump won the election, his legacy would be
largely undone.
The
election that defied explanation
It
seemed to most observers it was impossible for Donald Trump to win
the presidency. If there had been a book written on thing never to do
if you’re running for the presidency, in the top 10 had to be
“Don’t get into a fight with the pope – and if you do, don’t
ever call the pope names.” Donald Trump broke that rule and every
other. His campaign expenditures were swamped and dwarfed by massive
amounts spent by Hillary Clinton. It was a given that he had lost the
women’s vote and had lost the key swing votes needed to even have a
fighting chance. It was a given among all experts that Trump had
virtually no chance of winning the presidency.
And
then he won.
It
was the shock heard around the world. The Democrats were surprised,
the Republicans were surprised, Hillary Clinton was surprised, Donald
Trump was surprised. And Barack Obama was surprised. Poll after poll
not only showed Trump losing, but losing badly. The odds against him
in the Electoral College were even more impossible. And yet he won.
As
the voting began, the returns confirmed what virtually every poll and
prediction had foreseen. Trump would be defeated, and badly. And then
something happened. And no one was quite sure how. The numbers on the
boards began to change in his favor. It defied explanation – as
most of the experts and pundits were at a loss to account for it and,
at best, could now only admit that they had been completely wrong.
And
as for those supporting and supporting for a Trump victory, the
results appeared nothing less than miraculous.
Obama’s
legacy was now surely to be undone. What had happened? Obama claimed
that the election had been impacted by some interference. A foreign
power, Russia, he claimed, had hacked into American computers, and
particularly into those belonging to operatives in the Democratic
Party, and used the information to tilt the election in Trump’s
favor. It became a major international incident. In response, Obama
ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats.
But
what really happened? Even if Russia did interfere, what happened in
the election of 2016 could not be explained by any one factor.
THE
4,000-YEAR-OLD-MYSTERY
Could
the answer lie in a 4000 year old mystery from the Book of Genesis?
Enter
Abraham, a Middle Eastern shepherd from the Ur of the Chaldees and
chosen by God to bring into the world a new nation – Israel.
In
Genesis 12, God gives Abraham a promise: “I will bless those you
who bless you and curse those who curse you.” In other words, those
peoples, kings and nations that bless the children of Israel, the
Jewish people, will be blessed. And those who curse them will be
cursed. But it goes further than that. The promise contains the
principle of reciprocity. Whatever you do to Israel will be done to
you.
Beyond
what Obama did on the biblical issues of life, gender, marriage and
religious liberty, Christians were horrified by what he did with
regard to Israel. Under the Obama administration, relations between
American and Israel fell to an all-time low, the worst it had ever
been since the creation of Israel in 1948. Beyond that, Obama
appeared to declare war on America’s strongest and closest ally in
the Middle East. He attacked Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu, over and over again, relentlessly. He publicly maligned
Israel’s leader and government in a way he had never done even to
America’s sworn enemies.
HE
WHO INTERFERES WITH ISRAEL
In
the spring of 2015, Netanyahu was up for election. It was clear that
Obama wanted Netanyahu to be defeated – with a passion. He believed
that if Netanyahu’s opponent could win, then Netanyahu’s policies
could be reversed, undone, nullified. Then Obama could enforce his
plan for Israel and the Palestinians.
Interfering
in another country’s election, and especially another country that
constitutes a close ally, has long been considered forbidden. But in
the case of Israel, apparently Obama felt that this taboo could be
broken. During that Israeli election, article after article came out
revealing that the Obama administration was doing just that,
intervening and interfering in Israel’s election.
“Obama
admin. sent taxpayer money to campaign to oust Netanyahu …”
“Obama
campaign team arrives in Israel to defeat Netanyahu”
“Netanyahu
pollster: Obama role in election larger than reported”
“Obama’s
offensive against Netanyahu backfires”
According
to the reports, Obama was funding an organization in Israel dedicated
to defeating Netanyahu in his bid for re-election as Israel’s prime
minister.
But
in a way that was eerily similar to Trump’s victory in America, all
the polls and major media outlets were predicting Netanyahu’s
defeat and the end of his agenda. And paralleling what would happen
in the American election the following year, the outcome was so
surprising that many media outlets didn’t even make it known for
hours.
Netanyahu
won.
Obama’s
interference in Israel’s election had come to nothing. And
Netanyahu’s policies would be preserved.
THE
ABRAHAMIC COVENANT, OBAMA AND TRUMP
But
the ancient covenant that God made with Israel ordains that what one
does to Israel will be done back to you – either directly by God,
or indirectly, using a vessel or secondary means.
Obama
had sought to end the policies, stands and agenda of Benjamin
Netanyahu.
Therefore,
according to the ancient mystery, God would likewise bring the
policies, stands and agenda of Barack Obama to an end.
Obama,
as an outside power, had intervened and interfered in the election of
Israel to defeat the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu
Therefore,
according to the mystery, it would mean that God would likewise allow
an outside power to interfere in America’s election in order to
defeat the policies of Barack Obama.
Beyond
Russia, the mystery would ordain that God Himself could intervene in
America’s election to cause Barack Obama’s policies to be undone
and his legacy nullified. This would explain the very strange,
odds-defying, experts-defying and natural explanation-defying
phenomenon of the 2016 election – that it was God’s intervention.
This
divine law of history has been in effect from the days of Babylon and
Egypt and to this day, long before Barack Obama, long before America
itself. That Obama does not know this ancient biblical law, or
doesn’t believe it, is obvious. For shortly after the election, the
Obama administration brought America’s relationship to Israel to
yet new unprecedented depths. He chose to have America abandon Israel
at the United Nations and make possible a resolution that calls
Jerusalem Palestinian territory.
As
Obama leaves the White House and watches his legacy being taken
apart, it may be wise that he not look not to the Russians, but open
a Bible to Genesis 12 and realize that there are laws and a force
much greater than he – namely, the force (God) who said, “I will
bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you” – and
has kept His word from the days of the ancient pharaohs to the days
of Barack Obama. For another ancient law is also true – namely:
“The
grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures
forever” (Isaiah 40:6).
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Shalom, to you my Friend and Co-Minister in the Great Commission,
THE ALTERING OF NATIONAL MEMORY
Word for the Month & for Sun., January 1
Scripture: Psalm 143:5
See Message: After the Shaking
When Jacob woke up from his dream in which God spoke to him, he set up a rock to serve as a memorial to the encounter. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, they set up a monument of stones to serve as a memorial of that crossing. The rocks would be unchanging reminders of the nation’s past, part of its collective memory. Rocks and monuments serve to preserve, reinforce, or create a national memory.
When Jeroboam sought to change Israel’s identity from a godly nation to a pagan nation that worshiped idols, he built two golden calves and told the nation: “Behold your gods O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” Jeroboam was rewriting history. He was altering Israel’s national memory – and doing so through the monument of a golden calf. If one can alter a nation’s memory, one will alter that nation’s identity and future.
And so it is especially noteworthy what President Obama did this past summer. He declared the Stonewall Inn in New York City to be a national monument. Stonewall was now something all Americans were to celebrate. It was now to be enshrined in America’s national memory.
What exactly was this new monument and shrine that we’re now to venerate? Stonewall was a gay bar run by the Mafia and raided by police who regularly received bribe money from the bar. During one of these raids, the patrons of Stonewall fought the police who found themselves trapped inside the bar. Angry patrons then threw garbage into the bar and lit it up on fire. Then someone poured lighter fluid into the bar to cause an even greater fire. This is what we were called on to venerate.
The point of making this a national monument is to alter America’s national memory. It is to convert the history of the gay agenda into the hallowed history and sacred memory of the nation as a whole. By altering a nation’s memory, one also alters a nation’s identity and future.
At the same time, it is no accident that in the same day that America enshrines immorality as a national monument, it is striking down the monuments of morality and righteousness. All across the land, monuments to the ten commandments, to Jesus, to God, to the cross are being removed, struck down, torn down. What does that signify? A monument is a memory. To remove Christian or godly monuments, is to seek to eradicate the memory of God and Christianity from the nation’s consciousness. Alter that memory, and you alter the nation’s identity – no longer Christian – and you alter its future – godless.
In such a time, it is crucial that we as God’s people all the more obey the command to remember – to remember His Word, remember His ways, remember His commands, remember His order, remember His truth, remember His power, and remember His love. This month, be in His Word all the more, and let it change your identity – and thus, your future. And may God greatly bless you as you do!
Your brother and co-laborer
in His love and service,
Jonathan
THE ALTERING OF NATIONAL MEMORY
Word for the Month & for Sun., January 1
Scripture: Psalm 143:5
See Message: After the Shaking
When Jacob woke up from his dream in which God spoke to him, he set up a rock to serve as a memorial to the encounter. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, they set up a monument of stones to serve as a memorial of that crossing. The rocks would be unchanging reminders of the nation’s past, part of its collective memory. Rocks and monuments serve to preserve, reinforce, or create a national memory.
When Jeroboam sought to change Israel’s identity from a godly nation to a pagan nation that worshiped idols, he built two golden calves and told the nation: “Behold your gods O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” Jeroboam was rewriting history. He was altering Israel’s national memory – and doing so through the monument of a golden calf. If one can alter a nation’s memory, one will alter that nation’s identity and future.
And so it is especially noteworthy what President Obama did this past summer. He declared the Stonewall Inn in New York City to be a national monument. Stonewall was now something all Americans were to celebrate. It was now to be enshrined in America’s national memory.
What exactly was this new monument and shrine that we’re now to venerate? Stonewall was a gay bar run by the Mafia and raided by police who regularly received bribe money from the bar. During one of these raids, the patrons of Stonewall fought the police who found themselves trapped inside the bar. Angry patrons then threw garbage into the bar and lit it up on fire. Then someone poured lighter fluid into the bar to cause an even greater fire. This is what we were called on to venerate.
The point of making this a national monument is to alter America’s national memory. It is to convert the history of the gay agenda into the hallowed history and sacred memory of the nation as a whole. By altering a nation’s memory, one also alters a nation’s identity and future.
At the same time, it is no accident that in the same day that America enshrines immorality as a national monument, it is striking down the monuments of morality and righteousness. All across the land, monuments to the ten commandments, to Jesus, to God, to the cross are being removed, struck down, torn down. What does that signify? A monument is a memory. To remove Christian or godly monuments, is to seek to eradicate the memory of God and Christianity from the nation’s consciousness. Alter that memory, and you alter the nation’s identity – no longer Christian – and you alter its future – godless.
In such a time, it is crucial that we as God’s people all the more obey the command to remember – to remember His Word, remember His ways, remember His commands, remember His order, remember His truth, remember His power, and remember His love. This month, be in His Word all the more, and let it change your identity – and thus, your future. And may God greatly bless you as you do!
Your brother and co-laborer
in His love and service,
Jonathan
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