Let’s be children again

When one studies the Bible in the manner of an apologist. I find that people use the term ‘interpretation’ of a verse alot. I find this uncomfortable and very disheartening.

Why? Simply look at the definition of the word interpretation.

1 : the act or the result of interpreting : explanation 2 : a particular adaptation or version of a work, method, or style 3 : a teaching technique that combines factual with stimulating explanatory information

when someone interprets a verse, they almost imply that it was written in another language and when something is interpreted it is often up to the person interpreting to decide what the meaning is.

As an apologist I believe there is only ONE interpretation of Scripture, the Holy Spirit and he alone can accurately ‘interpret’ the scripture. We often forget the Bible was written for the intellectually inferior in the eyes of the educated. Out of the mouths of babes and infants he ordains strength, and mysteries are given to children. We often get sidetracked and lose the reality that our doctrines are subject to the scriptures instead of the other way around. So often we are blinded by pride and we refuse to be taught and to listen to one another our discussions are often riddled with arrogant statements and laced with sarcasm and pride.

So often I find that when we study the Bible we are often incensed in conversations that have nothing to do with the purpose of studying the Bible, to know God.

For example: I find people wanting to know what Paul’s ‘thorn in the flesh’ was in 2 Corinthians 12 when in the end no one will really know and it really doesn’t matter. What we often miss is the most powerful part of the exchange between Jesus and Paul when he told Paul ‘my grace is sufficient’ and as a result of trying to find out ‘what’ we lose the whole context of what Paul was trying to tell the church.

So when we are trying to prove the infallibility of the word and it’s being thrown back at us, It’s crucial to remember that most of the world was uneducated and that all believers have the Holy Spirit who teaches all things living inside of us. And we have each other and others who came before us to guide us.

But first and foremost, if your Bible study and End Times study isn’t producing love and friendship for God, then it’s a waste of time and you’re just adding Knowledge that puffs up instead of love that edifies.

So let’s be babes and infants again.

Twitter the newest fad… or is it?

In the past I have heard of twitter and I’ve heard of celebrites and athletes using twitter to update their loyal fans concerning their every move. I had no desire to get one myself figuring I would never have the time to deal with it.

But, one day while talking with my dear friend and supporter Ram Laska (http://alifeofprayer.wordpress.com/), he told me of twitter. I saw his and decided I would get one figuring I would never use it and would forget about it within a matter of days…. oh how wrong I was. When I found out I can use this on my phone I flipped! I could text twitter with my update when I register my phone! This was a little much for me… but like anything else you have to do to understand, you have to try it first. So, I tried, I got hooked, and now I do it all the time. It’s really simple to use and easy to update. What’s better is that you can post links and pictures.

Now my friend Steven Palomino (www.stevenpalomino.wordpress.com) has discovered the wonders of Twitter and now he’s gone crazy! Now it’s like back and forth with a guy I work with! It’s really fun but I don’t recommend that everyone get one of these.

One thing I must warn those who want to receive Twitter updates on their phone. I learned this the hard way. You know those people who aren’t doing Twitter updates all the time and you know the ones who seem to live on Twitter. All social networking sites have them. I recommend you don’t add the ones who never seem to leave or stop to your device updates. Otherwise your phone will be blowing up with new text messages every three seconds. You will have to attend meetings and will not be able to attend your phone and when you finally get back to it you will find your phone jam packed with more twitter updates than you will be able to count or want to deal with. So for the sake of your sanity and for the sake of your phone, exercise with great discretion whom you want to receive device updates from.

As for the use of it in itself, it’s a great tool and it’s a great way to advertise. Even the magazine has one as well. It’s gotten us quite far in business and I recommend it for anybody who would want it for business and personal use. I personally love it!

A New Undertaking

I just wanted to just let people know what’s going on in my life. For the past 5 years of my life I have made my keep working in restaurants. For 5 years I have longed for a way out of working in restaurants. I thought that going to school would solve that and I would teach history. I’ve always wanted to teach. Whether it be the Bible or history or even being a tour guide in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame, I have always had this driving desire to teach.

With that being said, I am hoping and praying that this new undertaking would be my ticket to making money outside of the restaurant business.

I, Timothy Brownlee am now working for a Martial Arts Magazine known as Alive: Practical Fighting Concepts. I am currently serving as Assistant Website Administrator and the Public Relations Director. Our website is www.alivepfc.com.

I will also be training on the side with my new boss, Andrew Kodger so I will be able to assist him in teaching martial arts classes in the future.

Do not think for a second that I have stopped being an Intercessory Missionary and being a priest before the Lord. My calling has not changed. I am simply going in a new direction. My work and responsibilities have not changed in the slightest. I am still as committed to the House of Prayer as ever if not more. I am creating an alternate opportunity to make money outside of working in a restaurant.

Please pray for me that this busisness venture will succeed in that it would make more room in my schedule to devote to the House of Prayer and to my work in the House of Prayer before God day and night. Thank you for your prayers. God Bless You!

The Green Card ain’t no Valentine

This was supposed to be another boring night with nothing to do. The girls aka Tab, Kerri, and Sarah Beth were going to come by the apartment to watch some cheesy chick flick. I didn’t know about this till I get a text from Sarah Beth saying that they were over there while I was buying soap at Walmart. But anyways, back to the story:

The movie was typical chick flick, guy meets girl, girl marries guy so he can get green card, ie. french guy that is. They hate each other, but everybody loves him. He cooks, cleans, and writes music. This is the dream guy for every girl who watches chick flicks. The girls are so into this movie. The awws, and the “I wish i could find a guy to do that for me’ moments were all over this thing according to Bradley my roommate who is actually the main character in the story and had to tell me this after the fact to add more to the moment that I am currently setting up. Poor Bradley is suffering through this and I know every guy suffers through cheesy chick flicks. He takes it like a champ. I tip my cap to this guy, I would have left the room long ago. I would have talked under such torture.

Back to the movie, (I walk in about this part) They are taking some test that immigration is making them take some kind of test so they can see if they are really in love and all that jazz. But the guy makes it so obvious that he studied for the test. He failed the test so to speak.

Sometime in between here and where I’m going, it’s typical chick flick, they are falling in love. They are really in love and they meet and hug and the girls are waiting for the kiss and all that jazz. They are talking and all and here come the immigration guys. Watching them smooch all over themselves and they are just emotionless, oblivious to the climax that is oh so obvious to the female spectators. One of them commented “Can’t they see how much they love each other?” To which I responded, “Yup but politics and policy prevail.” He turns, she follows, “I write everyday”, says the guy. More tears…. more kissing… guy gets in the car and they drive away. “This CAN’T be the end!” exclaims Tabitha… then the dreaded four letter word shines across the screen…

CAST….

as the credits roll, me and Bradley look at each other hoping that the other just caught the glorious moment that just transpired. The look in his eyes was evident as we burst into cheers of jubilation and laughter as we roll on the floor in absolute hilarity. We just witnessed every single chick flick dream go up in smoke. The total desecration of what a chick flick should be had transpired before our eyes. Bradley and I could hardly keep ourselves together to explain ourselves and this glorious moment to our bewildered female onlookers. As much as we tried to explain this to them, they did not understand nor comprehend the moment. This was a victory for the guys. At least for us who have endured chick flick after chick flick in the name of pleasing the girls. All the things that guys have to fake was rewarded for a moment of genuine victory for every guy. Green Card was for me a reward. That not everything happens the typical way and that someone whether they knew it or not, if it wasn’t the producer then I will credit God for this moment but someone out there knew what guys wanted to happen in a chick flick and someone was generous enough to give it to us. Thank you whoever you are!

A Baseball Historian’s take on the Steroid Era

I’ve been a baseball fan ever since I was 8. I have been a student of the history of the game since I was 14. I became very good at memorizing every single world series winner since the Fall Classic was inaugurated in 1903. I’m the kind of guy that loves the history of the game. I love the game. If I could be alive in a place in history it would be in the 1950s, the golden age of baseball. From New York where Willie, Mickey, and the Duke reigned supreme to Philidelphia where Robin Roberts and Richie Ashburn were diamonds in a tar pit, to Milwaukee where Warren Spahn, Hank Aaron, and company put up a title in 1957 and choked it up in 58, to St. Louis where Stan the Man was still riding the peak of a stellar career. I could go on and on and on about that era.

But sadly in our day and time. Baseball has lost it’s purity. It has been tainted by steroids. While the past cannot be undone and players have been very vauge regarding their involvement in it. The whole thing stinks. If the sport isn’t already tainted by the fact that the players took steroids, it’s been further tainted by the questionable character of the players because of their dodging of the questions by the press. It makes me sick to see the reality of some of the greatest role models in sports fail in the simplest test of human character. It’s a shame to see that great players such as Mark McGwire, who was the fastest player to 500 home runs, Barry Bonds who (whether you like it or not) owns the career homerun record, Rafael Palmeiro who is one of very few players to have both 500 home runs and 3,000 and now it looks like Alex Rodriguez who is the youngest member of the 500 home run fraternity will more than likely never see their plaques in Cooperstown where folks with those kind of numbers are bound. It’s really sad for our sport. First it was the money and strikes and labor issues, now it’s doping. The reality is that baseball, for all it’s mystery and glory in the past is going through it’s biggest crisis since the 1919 Black Sox scandal. The scandals the past in my opinion pale in comparison comparing to the stain of steroids.

Now here’s my solution to the whole problem. Bud Selig, get your head out of the sand, take responsibility for something that you should have dealt with ever since you became commissioner of baseball. Admit that the testing increases and penalty increases you have implemented now should have been implemented 5 years before Mark McGwire shattered the single season home run record. I’m not saying it was all your fault. But it happened on your watch. You are to blame for this. You were in charge, You had the power and yet you stood by and did nothing until the media blew the whistle on you. You were perfectly content to let steroids fly under the radar as long as no one noticed and now that it is you are so quick to say you are not to blame. That was a bad leadership move Selig. Very bad. Bud Selig is the key to unlock the door for great healing in this game. It may cost you your reputation, but, I believe it’s a necessary move to take responsibility for what went down on YOUR watch. It’s the responsibility of every leader whether you did something or not. It’s still your job and your duty to the game you love so much.

Now for my Hall of Fame solution. I could care less if these guys got in or not. Character was never an issue before. Example, Ty Cobb, the meanest and dirtiest player who ever played the game was also a racist, but the fact that there are some records of his that even to this day will never be touched is a testament to his great game. But on the other hand there was no preformance enhancing substances (or PES because I like acronymns). Even if they do get in the stain of the steroids era will forever be on them and the public. The only way that I think they will ever find their way in is if they own up to their responsibility and just tell the truth about the steroids. I don’t want books. I hate books about this thing. Pete Rose burned me on books about controversial subjects. But if not, the Hall still has to acknowledge the affects of steroids on the game and make a section for it.  If I were a voter there’s no way on God’s green earth I would ever put any of their names on my ballot for the simple case that they didn’t own up to their mistakes. These are role models, but they’re human. But humans make mistakes. When humans make mistakes they have to claim responsibility for them. I mean this is an opportunity to really clean up your image in the media who want to skewer you. This is an opportunity for you to redeem yourself in the eyes of the young ones like  I was during that time who held you guys in such high esteem. For God’s sake take it. I would rather put someone in the Hall of Fame who would really and truly own up to what he knew he was doing to himself apologize for damaging the integrity of the game and commit himself to preventing this kind of stuff in the game. Now in this time in baseball, character means so much more than numbers.

As far as the media is concerned. They are like me. We want answers. Right now we aren’t getting them. But, I have this to say, there is hope for baseball. There are those who have not done so. We have the Ken Griffey Jr.s and Cal Ripkens and Tony Gwynns who have done extraordinary and are or will be first ballot HOFers and we should honor them. While the stink of steroids has forever marked baseball. There is still some good in it. I for one will cling to that good with everything within me.

The Hypocrisy of America

Florida Abortionist Held Accountable—Stripped of Medical License in Hialeah Baby Murder Case

Troy Newman (February 9, 2009)

“We are very grateful to the Florida Medical Board for stripping Renelique of his medical license. His incompetence led to the brutal death of an innocent baby born alive, and we are grateful that he will not be afforded the opportunity of hurting anyone else…”

(Tampa, Florida)—On Friday morning, the Florida Board of Medicine revoked the medical license of Pierre Renelique, a Florida abortionist who failed to show up for a scheduled late-term abortion at a Hialeah clinic in July, 2006. As a result, unlicensed workers delivered a live 23-week old baby girl, shoved the struggling baby into trash bag, and stashed her body on the roof.

The Board found Renelique guilty of medical malpractice and delegating responsibility to unlicensed personnel.

“We are very grateful to the Florida Medical Board for stripping Renelique of his medical license. His incompetence led to the brutal death of an innocent baby born alive, and we are grateful that he will not be afforded the opportunity of hurting anyone else,” said Operation Rescue Troy Newman. “Justice was delayed but justice has been at least partially served. We will continue to work to hold the abortion industry accountable until women and babies are safe from these incompetent, predatory abortionists.”

Police, working on an informant’s tip, were able to recover the little girl’s body. An autopsy determined that she had air in her lungs and had therefore been born alive. A second evaluation of the autopsy determined that actions taken by unlicensed abortion worker Belkis Gonzalez caused her death.

The baby, Shanice Denise Osbourne, was finally given a proper burial in October, 2008, and just last week a civil suit was filed against Renelique, Gonzalez, and others on behalf of Shanice.

Criminal charges have yet to be filed, but a spokesperson for the state attorney’s office told reporters that a decision on criminal charges is expected soon.

“This was the first step in finally holding Shanice’s killers accountable for her murder. We look forward to seeing criminal charges filed very soon,” said Newman. Operation Rescue has been encouraging calls to the prosecutor David Waksman, who had delayed pressing charges for over two years.

“This is an open and shut case, as shown by the Medical Boards actions today. There is no more reason for delay. Causing the death of someone, even if they are terminal, is still murder in anyone’s book,” said Newman.

Source: Christian Newswire, Operation Rescue
Now here’s my analogy of the argument: If that baby would have been ‘terminated’ 3 minutes  before, we would have no story it would have been just routine.  We fail to realize that there is really no difference in sticking a knife in a woman’s womb and killing the baby inside of her and waiting outside with a knife in your hand ready to kill whatever comes out.

Oh well… to quote the ever famous Ebeneezer Scrooge, “If they are to die, then let them die, and thus decrease the surplus population.” That’s the mindset of those behind abortion in that it helps those who are poor not have to raise a child that they cannot afford. Every argument I hear for abortion begins with the words, “If I….” or, “Well, I….” or “What if…”. It’s selfish and wrong. No human being should have the right to decide whether another human being should have the right to live based on THEIR convience. Go tell a 10 year old with Down’s Syndrome that he should have been aborted as a child because that’s supposedly a valid excuse for many who abort their child. Has a parent ever told a child, I shouldn’t have let you live, I can’t afford you. Pathetic excuses supposedly justify our rights to kill our children.

Abortion is little more than legalized infanticide. The doctor will be charged with infantcide on one count, instead of the hundreds maybe thousands of counts which he can legally be charged for. What should the mother be so upset about, she was content to kill it while it was inside of her, what’s the difference to her if the baby is suffocating in a plastic bag on top of the roof of an abortion clinic. That’s humane when you consider the brutality of the procedures used to kill a baby inside the womb of a woman.

So all you pro choice people out there who were so outraged at this incident. I have only one word for you. No wait two: YOU HYPOCRITES!!!

Friendship with Jesus: The End Times Key

One of the questions I hear most often concerning understanding the Book of Revelation and the End Times is, “How can anyone understand this?” I know this because I wondered the same thing when I became a Christian. I read the Left Behind books and was so taken in by the events that unfolded and seeing God work in mighty ways and seeing him protect the righteous and vindicating them that I put down the series kinda bummed out in the end. I wondered why if the church was going to be vindicated and protected in the eyes of the wicked were we going to be taken out? I mean everything that we have waited to see is happening right before our eyes!

When I started studying Mike Bickle and the Bridal Paradigm I was amazed. Because I have never found something this awesome and so totally biblical. I was revolutionary to me. It also was my first argument against a Pre Tribulation Rapture in the sense that Jesus wants a pure and spotless bride and the best way to purify something is through fire. God will use the Antichrist and Satan’s powerless rage to purify the church and aid the release of signs and wonders through the hands of his bride. Persecution always brings revival or vice versa. It always brings to people the severity of the decision to follow Christ to a completely different level. Making a decision for Christ is truly making a decision against your comfort and your life. You could die for this, but it’s too real to deny. Eternity becomes a issue on your heart and you are forced to know this man Jesus and partner with him not only in the signs and wonders and the greater works (John 14:12) but you are almost automatically thrust into partnering with him in the fellowship of his sufferings (Phillippians 3:10). It’s not what we are so common to see here in the west where to know Christ means health and wealth and comfort and a free ticket out of here when things get ugly. That’s a mindset I see NOWHERE in the Scriptures. I mean NO-WHERE.

So with that mindset, the next question comes, “If I’m going to be here during the tribulation, How do I prepare?” I mean what do you do? Do you stockpile canned goods and ammo and form a resistance against the Antichrist? Do we start banding together in the mountains and start going back to the Jewish roots of our faith and sacrificing bulls?  Do we start remodeling our homes to include underground communities so we won’t be affected by the judgements and to hide from the oppressive government of Antichrist?

The answer to this is a resounding ABSITIVELY POSILUTELY NO!!!! If we read the Bible we find that one, if we really believed what Jesus said about the end times we could understand it. John 15:15 says that I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends because everything the Father has told me I am telling you. Most people look at this as a verse of identification and rightfully so. But, this verse has more of an end times reality than most people realize. That everything we need to know about the end times Jesus has told us. Daniel and Revelation in the Bible are meant for us to know in our time and to add to the revelation of Jesus Christ is to place yourself under the judgement in the book (). Everytime someone has a new theology about the end times based on one verse without looking at the whole of scripture is walking dangerous ground simply because the bible is made subject to their theology instead of the other way around. Jesus has told us everything we need to know without any outside refrence. If the earth hasn’t come to an end and we aren’t ruling and reigning with Jesus on the earth, that means that there is still unfulfilled eschatological prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled. If we truly knew God as a God that doesn’t lie or repent we would see that many of the things that were prophesied about Jerusalem in the Old Testament have yet to happen to her which should be a clear indicator that it hasn’t come yet.

What’s the best way on how to take God at his word? What’s the best way to know his heart concerning what he will allow Antichrist to do to Jerusalem for 42 months? What’s the best way to know what the Father is doing in the end times? You guessed it… FRIENDSHIP. Intimacy with Jesus is the only way that we as a church will make it in the end times. Not only do friends know what the Father is doing, but the Father trust his friends to testify of him in truth, and to testify of that truth will be the power of the word made manifest in signs and wonders. Jesus will have a pure and spotless bride at the end of the age, not behind him, but beside him. Working with him, going where he goes, and doing what he is doing completely in love with him and desiring what he desires.

Jesus gives the summary of the end times in Matthew 24, and he continues his talk in Matthew 25 with his parable of the ten virgins. 5 were wise and 5 were foolish. They all had lamps (which symbolizes ministry) but 5 had oil (which symbolizes intimacy) and 5 did not. People will have their ministries, they will be working for God and doing the works of the kingdom. But that will not preserve them when the Bridegroom comes. Preparation for the end times will not be in what can visibly be done, but how well you know the man sending the judgements. Intimacy with Jesus is the key to preparing for the end times. For when the Bridegroom comes, only those with oil will be ready to meet him. Those without will try to buy and not have the time to do it. Their offense with Jesus and what he’s doing will prevent them from doing so. Go buy oil while there’s time. For when the rain starts falling it’s too late. Antichrist and the Beast and the Harlot Babylon will make themselves known in due time, the important thing is to buy oil, get to know Jesus, it’s the only thing that will keep you from offense and it’s the only thing that will keep you when you are faced with the choice of having to suffer and die for your faith in him.

The Preposterous Premise of Gay Marriage by Frank Turek

The Preposterous Premise for Gay Marriage

Filed under Law & Politics on December 10th, 2008 by Frank Turek

Editor’s Note: Originally published on TownHall.com,  used with permission.  Frank Turek is a speaker and author, and a leading Christian apologist.  Learn more at his website www.CrossExamined.org
After the passage of Prop 8 in California, homosexuals are still howling that they don’t have “equal rights.”  Hopefully, the California Supreme Court will respect the equal rights of voters by affirming Prop 8 because the howls of homosexuals are false.  The truth is every person in America already has equal marriage rights!

We’re all playing by the same rules—we all have the same right to marry any non-related adult of the opposite sex. Those rules do not deny anyone “equal protection of the laws” because the qualifications to enter a marriage apply equally to everyone—every adult person has the same right to marry.

Homosexuals want the court to believe that because of their sexual desires they are a special class of persons that is being discriminated against. In other words, they think that sexual desires guarantee people special legal rights.

That’s a preposterous premise!  It would mean that men born with a desire for many women (i.e. most men) are having their rights violated because marriage laws provide no means for polygamy.  Likewise, it would mean that people desiring to marry their close relatives don’t have “equal rights” because our marriage laws have no provision for incest. And bisexuals could object because existing marriage laws don’t allow them to marry a man and a woman!

If desires alone guarantee someone special rights, why no special rights for pedophiles and gay bashers?  The answer is obvious—because desires, even if you were “born” with them, do not justify behavior, do not make anyone a special class, and should have no impact on our laws (see Born Gay or a Gay Basher: No Excuse).

Laws encourage good behavior or prevent bad behavior. Desires are irrelevant.  We enact all kinds of laws that conflict with people’s desires.  In fact, that’s why we need them!  We wouldn’t need any laws if people always desired to do good, which is why James Madison wrote, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

So there should be no legal class of “gay” or “straight,” just a legal class called “person.”  And it doesn’t matter whether persons desire sex with the same or opposite sex, or whether they desire sex with children, parents, or farm animals.  What matters is whether the behavior desired is something the law should prohibit, permit or promote. Those are the only three choices we have when it comes to making law.

We already permit homosexuals to pledge themselves to one another “till death do them part.” They can privately commit themselves to one another in every state, and in California domestic partnerships give them all the benefits of marriage. But that’s not enough for homosexual activists. They want homosexuality to be promoted and endorsed by getting the government to call it “marriage.” That way they can get the social approval they want and use the law as a club to beat homosexual values into our school children, businesses, and charities.

Sorry, but there is no “right” to have any sexual relationship officially called “marriage” and have it granted benefits by the state.  We have government-backed natural marriage because it benefits the country greatly, especially children, and because we voted for it!

Gay complaints of “discrimination” are bogus as well. Marriage laws do not discriminate against persons, they discriminate against behavior. That’s true of most laws. For example, the Thirteenth Amendment discriminates against the behavior of some businessmen who might like to improve their profits through slavery, but it does not discriminate against those businessmen as persons.  And the First Amendment’s freedom-of-religion protections discriminate against the behavior of some Muslims who want to impose Islam on the entire nation, but it does not discriminate against those Muslims as persons. Likewise, our marriage laws discriminate against the desired behaviors of homosexuals, polygamists, bigamists, adulterers, and the incestuous, but they do not discriminate against them as persons.

The nonsensical comparisons to interracial marriage don’t work either. Race is irrelevant to marriage while gender is essential to it. There is nothing wrong with interracial marriages because men and women are designed for one another and can procreate regardless of their racial background. But same-sex marriages can’t procreate or provide a mom and a dad to kids.  No law can change that or alleviate the documented health problems that result from same-sex couplings. So our marriage laws should be color blind but not gender blind.

Ironically, it’s not conservatives but homosexual activists who are acting like racists. Instead of asking the state to recognize the preexisting institution of marriage, homosexuals are asking the state to define marriage. That’s exactly what racists were trying to do to prevent interracial marriage. Racists wanted the state to define marriage as only between same-race couples, instead of having the state recognize what marriage already was—the union of a man and a woman regardless of their racial background. While racists and homosexuals may want to alter the legal definition of marriage, they can’t alter the laws of nature that helped lead to the recognition of legal marriage in the first place.

The bottom line is that we’re not discriminating against anyone with our current marriage laws.  Like most laws, we’re only discriminating for or against behavior that is good or bad for our country. So this debate really has nothing to do with equal rights, discrimination, hate or bigotry, but whether or not same-sex marriage would be good or bad for our country.  As I’ve shown in Gay Marriage: Even Liberals Know It’s Bad, the evidence clearly shows same-sex marriage would be detrimental to everyone which is why we should oppose it.

If the California Supreme Court overturns Proposition 8, the people who will be denied equal rights are the majority of Californians who voted for it.  The rights of more than six million voters will be denied by four judges who refuse to acknowledge a false and preposterous premise. Only democracy will be in the closet at that point.

What would you do if you were Israel?

I’ve always been a big supporter of Israel on biblical terms. Saying that I don’t always agree with what they do and I don’t necessarily pray that God would prosper Israel apart from his plan for them.

With that aside, I must address something. Israel has launched an all out attack in the Gaza Strip against terrorist organization Hamas, and the world is clamoring for Israel to stop these attacks. The news organizations are littered with pictures of pitiful Palestinians weeping over damaged homes and property and dead relatives. The French and the American governments have placed pressure on Israel to stop these attacks.

Now, let’s look at things from Israel’s perspective; For about a year and a half I have been reading reports of Palestinian terrorists shooting up the streets of Israel, endless mortar and rocket attacks on civilian targets in Israel. Schools in towns like Ashkelon and Sderot are forced to build missle shelters to protect their children from missles launched by an enemy that will stop at nothing to kill them. What’s worse is they play off Israel’s desire for peace by taking more land, shooting their weapons in civilan targets and hiding and locating these weapons in the middle of their civilans! These people are cold hearted, ruthless, and will stop at nothing till Israel is totally and completely wiped off the map?

Now, while the Bible is very clear on it’s support of Israel and God’s plan for Israel in the End Times, this should be made very clear to those who don’t share the beliefs of Scripture; But what do you say to nations who are defending the terrorists that unashamedly lauch rockets at your civilians? If I were Israel I would send the pictures of my frightened people and their damaged property to the news organizations, I would have alot more than the Palestinians. If I were Israel, I would tell the governments trying to put pressure on me to either help or get out of the way. Since when did the free world sympathize with terrorist organizations anyway? Especially the American government. Frankly, If I were Israel, I would have had enough and thrown the world’s opinion and the UN in the garbage and put Hamas in a bag and beat the bag with a baseball bat a long time ago.

I want to say this to the American government and the French government that is so working for peace in the Middle East, it won’t be until Jesus comes back that there will be peace there. The reality is that Jacob and Esau will forever be enemies, Issac and Ishmael will forever be enemies and only Jesus can heal the wounds that have been centuries old. Either help Israel protect their civilians or get out of their way. It is a war and Hamas started it, put pressure on them to stop their attacks. What if this were happening on your own soil? You would have gone after them and done much worse to them than Israel is doing now.

I don’t necessarily need to use scripture to defend Israel this time. I am just using plain old common sense. Please, use yours.

My Response Concerning Lakeland and recent events

Well… since i was so adamant in supporting Todd Bentley and the Lakland Outpouring and my reluctant approval of what went on there for the sake of the healings, I am obligated to make this ’statement’.

I am no leader or authority in the prophetic movement nor do I claim any responsibility for anything other than my lack of discernment and I seriously doubt that what I have to say is of any importance or will have any lasting effect.

I have 4 friends who went to Lakeland came back ‘on fire’. While God was doing something miraculous in them and in my congregation which I meet with every Sunday, I did not feel right about how they were handling what God was really trying to do with us. There was alot of pride and division around it and it threatened our friendship and our working relationship.

But, I was willing to tolerate it for the sake of the good that was going on even though I was hurt over seeing my friend almost ailenate me because of my concerns. My take on revival has always been to accept the good and overlook the bad for the sake of the good. It is still that way. But, I found myself taking part in that what I didn’t even approve of. In doing that, I sacrificed my discernment.

When the move of God comes, you need to look for fruit. Is this helping you grow in love? Does this focus your eyes on Jesus? Sadly, at Lakeland most were not. Todd was not wise in his scheduling and his marriage is suffering. I’m not saying that God didn’t know what he was doing when he chose Todd to lead the revival at Lakeland. Todd was not wise when he was given what he wanted. Often God gives us what we want if we want it bad enough even though he knows it will hurt us. He did that to Israel when he gave them a king. They wanted a king, he did not and he even warned them what would happen if they did have a king. But, nevertheless they got one and sure enough everything that God said would happen to them under a king happened under Saul’s reign.

I am in no way excusing Todd for his actions. But what happened to him happens to so many people on so much smaller a scale. His focus became more on revival and success than Jesus himself. Me and my friends became more focused on manifestations of the Holy Spirit than Jesus himself. Revival, success, and manifestations are good. But like any blessing such as money and power, they can become a God if we aren’t careful. We must not neglect the reality and the goodness of what happened at Lakeland. Many people got saved and many were healed at Lakeland even though the leader fell into sin.

I call anyone who has sinned ever in their life (Rom. 3:23) to fervently pray for Todd. No matter what he did, no man deserves to go through what he is going through now. He has submitted to restoration under Bill Johnson, Che Ahn, and John Arnott. We need to stand with him especially during this time. I cannot say what i would do if i was in the situation that Todd was in at Lakeland. While I do not approve of his actions at Lakeland, I will stand with Todd and pray for him. Micah 7:18 says that God delights in mercy. I pray that Todd Bentley will be restored and made a trophy of grace and hopefully be used by God in ministry again. I pray for healing and restoration in his life. In Jesus name, Amen.