No Weapon Formed Against Us Shall Prosper

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Isaiah 54:17

17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper,

And every tongue which rises against you in judgment

You shall condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,

And their righteousness is from Me,"

Says the LORD.

NKJV

Unlike any moment in our lifetimes, we are witnessing gruesomely brutal acts performed against followers of Jesus Christ.  These gruesome acts are similar to what early Christians experienced with one exception, media now allows thousands to view this brutality instilling fear in many.  We know from 2 Timothy 1:7, fear is not from God.  However, we are fleshly beings and witnessing the gruesome brutality against Christians today can cause even the most courageous person to fear.

 To deal with this fear we must,

1)      Pray – Praying according to the pattern of prayer outlined in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) begins with our praising and worshipping God.  This makes it possible for us to see our situation from God’s perspective and from that perspective, things that appear big to us from our fleshly perspective appear small.  From this perspective we experience power, love, and can have soundness of mind instead of fear (2 Timothy 1:7).

2)      Study God’s Word – Besides being a sword for spiritual battle, the Word of God also brings comfort to followers of Jesus Christ.  Since the Bible is the Word of God, reading and studying it is like having God in the room with us, speaking to us.  Just as prayer can give us a Godly perspective of our situation, listening to God through study of His Word also gives us a Godly perspective.  Prayer, in conjunction with study of God’s Word lets us be in communication with God, the source of the solution to our situation.  We would never believe failing to communicate with our spouse or a close friend was a good idea and likewise must make an effort to communicate with God, our creator through prayer and study of His Word. 

3)      Fellowship with other believers – When we find ourselves in a fearful situation, it is easy to begin believing no one else has ever been in this situation before.  We then begin to believe our situation is hopeless.  Hebrews  10:25 says, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”  (NKJV)  Jesus experienced oppression that led to his gruesome death on a cross.  He also knew after his ascension to be with His Father, His followers would experience great persecution causing the martyring of many for their faith.  Without regular fellowship with others experiencing the same persecution, Jesus knew His followers would begin to feel isolated, believing their situation was hopeless.  In our age of social media and the internet, it is possible for Christians to have regular study of God’s Word in cyberspace.  In fact, many churches, including the one I attend, live stream services over the internet.  This is useful for times when it is not possible to physically attend services due to being out of town or sick but it should not be a replacement for regular physical connection with other believers.  We need regular contact with others who may be experiencing the same persecution or oppression we are experiencing so that we do not become fearful or feel isolated.

4)      Focus on our eternal reward and Jesus’ promise to return – When we place our faith in Jesus Christ and make Him our savior, we have the hope and promise of eternal life, a life of eternity with Jesus Christ.  Even death cannot separate us from this promise.  When experiencing fear, read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.  14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.  

15                 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”  (NKJV)

Fear is a very real emotion and even though we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and have the Holy Spirit within us, we still live in fleshly bodies and experience fear.  This is why we must remain in constant communication with God through prayer and His Word.  We must also meet regularly with other believers to strengthen one another.  We must also keep our focus on the prize, eternity with our Lord and share the Gospel with others so they too can experience relief from fear. 

Effective Spiritual Swordsmanship

By:  Dale Weckbacher

This Saturday’s post is the fifth segment of the six-week series on empowered evangelism.  The studies are based upon the Book Empowered Evangelism, which is available at https://sites.google.com/site/dalesrbooks/

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

NKJV

As we saw in Ephesians, the arsenal of the believer contains many weapons.  We saw that the arsenal contains a shield, helmet, belt, breastplate, shoes, and a sword.  Of these weapons, the only offensive weapon is the sword or Word of God.  As such, a believer without the Word of God would only be able to defend him or herself and unable to move forward in spiritual battle.  I believe this is why our spiritual enemy attacks the Word of God with such fervor.

Attacks on the Bible are nothing new and even today carrying one in countries like Saudi Arabia or North Korea could mean imprisonment or even death.  Some believe the reason for this reaction stems from the claims of the Bible to be the inspired Word of God.  Since God is the creator of the universe, this claim makes the Bible the final authority.  Anyone coming against the views of the Bible or touting some other view is therefore coming against God, the creator.  Since people and nations dislike finding out they are wrong, they attack the standard of truth judging them as wrong.  (1)

In the United States, people have traditionally had freedom of religious expression and can carry a Bible almost anywhere.  However, when the Supreme Court banned prayer in school, the door was opened to not only ban prayer in schools, but also banning the Bible.  Recently, a teacher told a 12-year-old student at a middle school that he could not read his Bible in school.  The child was not reading his Bible aloud or sharing it with others, he was simply reading it to himself.  (2)  I guess a 12-year-old honing his sword fighting skills by learning the Word of God threatened this teacher.

Besides attacking individuals’ rights to carry or even study the Bible, the Bible’s authenticity also comes under frequent attack.  These attacks cite alleged contradictions in the Bible and since we as Christians claim that the Bible is free from errors, even one contradiction means that the Bible is just another book and not the inspired Word of God.  As believers desiring to share the good news of the Gospel with others, we must be prepared to confront these alleged contradictions. 

Alleged biblical contradictions happen for the following reasons.

1)      Translation errors

2)      Scribal errors

3)      Theological conflicts

4)      Literary techniques

5)      Contradictions regarding Jesus

6)      Messianic genealogy conflicts  (3)

The book Empowered Evangelism investigates examples of each of these types of contradictions in detail, showing them not to be contradictions at all.  Most alleged contradictions are explained by taking the scripture in its historical and contextual context.  For example, the Bible is an ancient text and the literary techniques used in its writing differ from the literary techniques in modern writing. 

Recently the Pentagon in a course on sexism claimed the Bible, as well as the Constitution and Declaration of Independence are sexist documents.  (4)   In Wednesday’s posting, I challenged this claim by citing the important role women have played in scripture.  However, claims of sexism are also made because the Bible, when referring to mankind, uses the word man.  In our modern politically correct society, such writing would be considered sexist.  However, taken in the context of ancient literature the word man refers to mankind, which includes men and women. 

In addition, unless one is a Hebrew or Greek scholar, the Bible most of us read is a translation from the original Hebrew or Greek text.  As with all translations of literature, there might be translational errors since imperfect humans perform the translations.  This is why we as believers must attend church and Bible studies where someone versed in Greek and Hebrew can clarify any errors or inadequacies in translation. 

Anyone endeavoring to become a student of the Bible must take care to study all scripture in its historical and contextual context and refer to the original text when a contradiction seems to appear.  This clarifies the alleged contradiction and demonstrates the inerrancy of the Bible.  Instead of causing us to doubt the validity of the Bible, resolution of these alleged contradictions through study of scripture in context referring to the original text actually increases our confidence in the validity of the Word of God. 

Followers of Jesus Christ have no reason to be on the defensive.  Even though the armor of God only provides believers with one offensive weapon, it is a very powerful weapon for it is the inerrant Word of God.  We therefore must become proficient in the use of our sword as we engage in the spiritual war for the souls of lost men and women.  

1. Truthnet.org. What is the Bible. www.truthnet.org. [Online] Truthnet. [Cited: April 22, 2015.] http://www.truthnet.org/Bible-Origins/1_WhatistheBible/.

2. teaparty.org. Banned from Reading the Bible? In America? www.teaparty.org. [Online] Teaparty.org, January 6, 2015. [Cited: April 22, 2015.] http://www.teaparty.org/banned-reading-bible-america-75978/.

3. The Devine Evidence. Answering Alleged Bible Contradictions. www.thedivineevidence.com. [Online] [Cited: December 1, 2013.] http://www.thedevineevidence.com/skeptic_contradictions.html.

4. Goldberg, Ashley Rae. Defense Department: The Bible, Constitution And Declaration Of Independence All Perpetuate Sexism. www.dailycaller.com. [Online] The Dailey Caller, April 13, 2015. [Cited: April 16, 2015.] http://dailycaller.com/2015/04/13/defense-department-the-bible-constitution-and-declaration-of-independence-all-perpetuate-sexism/.

The Real War on Women

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Luke 1:28

And having come in, the angel said to her,"Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"

NKJV

Once again, the Bible has come under attack but this time the attack is coming from a totally unexpected source.  This time the attack did not originate from liberal media, academia, or even some atheist organization for this time the attack comes from the Pentagon.  (1)

The allegations are part of a Department of Defense approved sexism course.  The course also claims the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence are sexist.  With a Presidential election coming in 2016 and candidates, including the first women announcing their intention to seek the Presidency this election, the war on women appears to be in full swing. 

This is not a new issue in presidential elections for in the New Hampshire GOP Presidential Debate in 2012, the moderator asked candidate Mitt Romney if he favored the overturn of a 1965 ruling barring states from banning contraception.  (2)   In a presidential election focused in issues like the economy, immigration, and national security, a question regarding contraceptives was totally unexpected.  However, what was previously a non-issue quickly became an issue. 

The issue moved from one about reversing a 1965 court ruling to an economic issue with President Obama criticizing Mitt Romney for not requiring insurance companies to provide contraceptive coverage under Obamacare.  In other words, elderly people and single males who do not need contraceptives are required to pay for them as part of the health insurance premiums even though they will not use them just so some woman wanting to live a life of promiscuity can have free contraceptives.  The war on women was in full swing.

I do agree that there is a very real war on women occurring but it has nothing to do with free contraceptives or abortion.  No, the real war on women revolves around women denied basic rights because of a religious ideology.  Under Sharia law women live under the follow rules,

• A man is entitled to up to four wives, but a woman may only have one husband. In Western societies, a man typically only takes one wife.
• The husband (or his family) pays a “bride price” or "dower" (mahr, which is money or property paid to the bride) which she is entitled to keep. This “mahr” is in exchange for sexual submission (tamkin). Sexual submission is traditionally regarded as unconditional consent for the remainder of the marriage.
• A man can divorce his wife by making a declaration (talaq) in front of an Islamic judge irrespective of the woman's consent. Even her presence is not required. For a woman to divorce a man (khula), his consent is required.
• The husband is responsible for the financial upkeep of home (nafaqa).
• “Temporary marriage” (even for less than a half an hour) is allowed by some scholars, others regard it as a form of prostitution. A report by the Gatestone Institute charts its development in Britain.
• Wife beating permitted according to some scholars.
• There is no joint property; the man owns all property, (except for what the woman owned before the marriage).
• There is no specific minimum age for marriage, but most agree a woman must have reached puberty. Marriage as young as 12 or 13 is not uncommon in Muslim-majority countries. In Yemen in 2013, there was a highly publicized case of an eight-year-old girl who died of internal injuries suffered on her wedding night. According to Al Jazeera, "Nearly 14 percent of Yemeni girls [are] married before the age of 15 and 52 percent before the age of 18." The case prompted calls for Yemen to pass a law setting a minimum age for marriage, although it has not yet done so.  (3) 

However, as we see in Luke 1:28, God chooses a woman to give birth to the savior of the world, Jesus Christ.  Not only was Jesus born of a woman, but God chose a woman to be the first to see Jesus after He had arisen from the grave (Matthew 28:1-10).  Of course, we cannot forget Esther who courageously approached the king, saving the Jewish people making it possible for Messiah to be born.  Obviously, the Pentagon’s claims that the Bible is a sexist document fail to consider the special women in the Bible that are an integral part of God’s grand plan. 

Then there is the issue of sex trafficking that enslaves women all over the world, including the United States.  Fortunately, in the United States, sex trafficking is taken seriously by the FBI (4) but in other parts of the world, sex trafficking is virtually ignored and a high-profit, low-risk endeavor.  (5)  Women and even children living in these countries live in fear of becoming victims, living lives in slavery as sexual slaves. 

However, politicians interested in creating an issue they can run on and win votes, will most likely claim there is a war on women in the United States because women cannot receive free contraceptives.  Liberals in media, academia, and now even the Pentagon also claim there is a war on women supported by the Bible, ignoring the many great women of the Bible.  However, we know that the real war on women exists under Sharia law and in places where sex trafficking is ignored and allowed to prosper. 

I therefore urge everyone to ignore the politically concocted war on women and instead pray for those victimized by the real war on women in countries under Sharia law or where sex trafficking is ignored and allowed to prosper.  I also urge those who can to support organizations engaged in preventing the implementation of Sharia law or stopping sex trafficking. 

Part of insuring victory in war is understanding the real battle and engaging the enemy.  The war on women is no different and the battle must focus on where women live in genuine fear and oppression. 

1. Goldberg, Ashley Rae. Defense Department: The Bible, Constitution And Declaration Of Independence All Perpetuate Sexism. www.dailycaller.com. [Online] The Dailey Caller, April 13, 2015. [Cited: April 16, 2015.] http://dailycaller.com/2015/04/13/defense-department-the-bible-constitution-and-declaration-of-independence-all-perpetuate-sexism/.

2. Wilmouth, Brad. In Debate, ABC's Stephanopoulos Presses Romney on 1965 Contraception Ruling. www.newsbusters.com. [Online] News Busters, January 8, 2012. [Cited: April 16, 2015.] http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2012/01/08/debate-abcs-stephanopoulos-presses-romney-contraception-ruling.

3. Friedland, Elliot. Women's Rights Under Sharia. www.clarionproject.org. [Online] The Clarion Project, February 19, 2014. [Cited: April 16, 2015.] http://www.clarionproject.org/understanding-islamism/womens-rights-under-sharia.

4. FBI. It’s sad but true: here in this country, people are being bought, sold, and smuggled like modern-day slaves. www.fbi.gov. [Online] Federal Bureau of Investigation. [Cited: April 16, 2015.] http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/human_trafficking.

5. ft.hub. Trafficking for sexual exploitation. www.ugift.org. [Online] FT.Hub. [Cited: April 16, 2015.] http://www.ungift.org/knowledgehub/about/trafficking-for-sexual-exploitation.html.

Powerful Effective Prayer

By:  Dale Weckbacher

This Saturday’s post is the fourth segment of the six-week series on empowered evangelism.  The studies are based upon the Book Empowered Evangelism, which is available at https://sites.google.com/site/dalesrbooks/

James 5:16-18

16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

NKJV

Prayer is a power and effective tool and its power must not be underestimated.  When sharing a struggle or problem with another brother or sister in the Lord and they tell us they will pray for us, it is easy to believe they are just uninterested in our particular problem and are simply putting us off.  I hope that is not the case for those reading this for as James reminds us, effective and fervent prayer is powerful. 

In fact, I believe anything done for the Lord must be done with prayer backing it up for as we saw last Saturday, we are engaged in a spiritual battle and need to be in continual conversation and communion with God to be effective.  I also believe this to be especially true as we endeavor to reach lost souls God puts in our path but we must ask, how should we pray?

In what is called “the Lord’s Prayer” Jesus provides us with the following pattern for prayer,

Matthew 6:9-13

 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.  10 Your kingdom come.  Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.  11 Give us this day our daily bread.  12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.  13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.  

NKJV

As a child, I remember my mother having me memorize this prayer.  I believe she did this in order to have me memorize scripture but God does not want us to recite this prayer word for word for in Matthew 6:7 Jesus also warned against making vain repetitions.  This model prayer however provides a pattern for us to use when praying. 

The prayer is broken down into two parts.  The first part, Matthew 6:9-10 tells us to begin our prayers with worship of God by,

1)      Addressing our prayers to God the Father – Because of the finished work of salvation at the Cross, we who have accepted Jesus as our Savior have complete access to God the Father.  We can therefore address our prayers directly to God the Father without the need of going through some third party intermediary. 

2)      The name of the Father is hallowed – Even the very name of God is holy.  Unfortunately, it is all too easy, especially for those of us living in the United States where we have the freedom to worship God as we please to take the name of God for granted.  I follow some Jewish rabbis on Twitter and whenever they tweet about God, instead of writing God they write G-d.  These rabbis revere and hallow the name of God so much, that they cannot even write it.  However, I do not believe it is necessary for us as Christians to forbid the writing of the name of God for as we saw in point 1, Jesus finished work on the cross did give us full access.  However, we do not deserve salvation for nothing we do can make us good enough to earn salvation.  Therefore, we must also hallow the name of God and continually thank Him for providing full salvation from our sins by sending His Son to die for us.

3)      The Kingdom of God is coming and God’s will is going to be done – As Christians, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and therefore the Kingdom of God dwells within us.  In addition, Jesus is coming again and when He does, He will establish his Kingdom here on earth.  Our prayers must also be in agreement with the will of God.  Granted we can pray for anything and God will answer every prayer we offer to him but the answer may be yes, no, or wait.  However, prayers offered for salvation of the lost are always in the will of God (Revelation 22:17). 

The second part of the Lords pattern for prayer tells us how to make our specific petitions to God. 

1)      First, we ask God for our daily provision – Notice, the prayer does not ask us to make petitions for His provision for the next 5 to 10 years or for the rest of our lives, only to petition Him for our daily provision.  God wants us to live lives that trust Him daily for His provision.

2)      Ask for forgiveness – Sin separates us from God and if any unforgiven sin exists in our lives, it may hamper the answer from coming.  This would represent an instance where God answers our prayer with wait for there is unforgiven sin in our lives that must be dealt with before the answer comes.  We are also to forgive others.  This is especially important for those of us that have decided to share our faith with others for the very people we are praying for may have wronged us in the past. 

3)      We ask for protection from temptation and evil – We live in a secular world full of sin.  Temptation surrounds us but we must remember that temptation is not sin because sin is when we give in to temptation.  As we endeavor to share our faith with others, Satan may throw temptation at us, tempting us to revert back to the lifestyle we lived prior to accepting Christ.  Therefore, praying for protection from temptation and evil is vital. 

By addressing prayer to God the Father, hallowing His name, acknowledging his Kingdom is in our hearts, His earthly Kingdom will come, and His will is to be done, we gain a Godly perspective of our problems.  Living in Arizona, I have visited the Grand Canyon many times.  The canyon is 18 miles across and one mile deep.  To cross it is a monumental hike that only those in good shape should attempt.  However, at 30,000 feet from a plane, the canyon appears small.  This is the Godly perspective of our problems and gaining that perspective allows us to gain confidence that God can help us.  With this Godly perspective we are ready to ask God to supply our needs.  However, before the answer can come we must search our hearts to insure we have no sin or unforgiveness in our hearts.  We also must seek God’s protection from temptation and the evil of the world we live in. 

Prayer is an effective and powerful tool.  Using the pattern for prayer Jesus offers in the Lord’s Prayer will help insure the prayers of intercession offered for lost souls God places in our lives are effective.