Mission Lighthouse: Being a Light in a Dark World.

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Matthew 5:16

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. 

NKJV

Recently I went into my office at work only to discover the lights were not working.  Since my office at work has no windows, even though it was daylight outside, my office was pitch black.  After checking the obvious potential causes of the problem such as a tripped circuit breaker, we relegated ourselves to calling an electrician.  Fortunately, the problem was a defective light switch and after replacing it, the lights were restored. 

Rather than wallowing in the darkness and not accomplishing anything, my boss and I began looking around the office for some sort of desk lamp.  Thankfully, we were able to find one and I was able to work until the lights were fixed.  This event provides an excellent picture of how just a little light can illuminate darkness for the desk lamp we found only had a 60-watt bulb yet I was able to function using this small amount of light until the lights were fixed.

Unfortunately, many Christians believe evangelism requires one to have the light of tremendous theological knowledge.  This is unfortunate for it means many Christians fail to engage nonbelievers they work with, family members, or friends because they believe they are unequipped to share the Gospel with them.  However, as the example of my dark office taught me, it only takes a small amount of light to illuminate a dark place.

For even the smallest amount of light to shine in the dark world in which we live we must,

1)      Not be pushy – When we storm in and begin out of the blue sharing the gospel with others, especially those we work with or family members, they see it as preaching and build up a wall of defense around themselves.  In Matthew 5:16 Jesus told us to let our light shine before men.  The light he is talking about is the light of the Holy Spirit, which takes up residence in us when we accept Christ.  The most effective way to allow this light to shine is not in preaching the gospel to others but in how we live.  The light of the Holy Spirit in us will cause us to abandon the works of sin we once engaged in and begin performing good works that bring glory to our Father in Heaven. 

2)      Offer to Pray for Them – Whether we are Christians or not, we all experience struggles in our lives.  However, as Christians we know that our struggles will end for Jesus has overcome the world and promised us that believe in Him eternal life (John 16:33, John 3:16).  However, those who do not know Christ lack this hope and often find themselves living in despair not knowing where to turn.  Offering to pray for them at these times may provide them some comfort and may even open up an opportunity to share the Gospel with them. 

3)      Do not be discouraged – As humans we can easily become discouraged when we see no results.  My father-in-law was a devout atheist and our relationship got off to a contentious start when I married his daughter against his wishes.  However, as the years progressed I continued to pray for him and we did develop a friendship.  Admittedly at times I did become discouraged seeing no results but just prior to his death, he did give his heart to the Lord and I know I will see him again.  The moral to this story, never give up but keep on praying.

4)      Learn the Roman Road to salvation – It does not require great theological knowledge to lead someone to Christ.  Throughout the years many have used the Roman Road to salvation which consists of,

a.       Every person has sinned (Romans 3:23) – Even though we may have led a good life keeping out or trouble and even done some good and charitable works, we inherited a sin nature due to Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden and are thus separated from God.

b.      The penalty for the sin in all of us is death (Romans 6:23a) – This may seem cruel but God is a righteous God and as descendants of Adam and Eve, sees the mark of sin on everyone’s life.

c.       The good news however is even though humanity sinned, God did not abandon humanity but instead provided someone to die for humanity’s sins, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:8)

d.      Jesus death for our sins provided the gift of eternal life for humanity (Romans 6:23b) through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10)

e.      However, like any gift, we must open the gift of salvation to enjoy it.  The opening of this gift is accomplished by believing (John 3:16) and calling upon the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13)

5)      When all else fails, share what Christ has done in your life – If you are like me, someone raised in the Church, you may not have some rags-to-riches story of how Jesus changed your life.  However, Jesus did change your life and so do not be afraid to share what he has done for you.  The person you are sharing with may also have led a good life but if they do now know Jesus as their savior, there is something missing in their life and they probably know it.  Remember, God can use even your 60-watt boring story of how Jesus saved you to bring light to their lives. 

As we witness the degrading or our world and culture it is evident the world is becoming darker by the minute.  We as Christians, therefore, have a duty and responsibility to heed Jesus words of Matthew 5:16 and let the light of God within us, even if it is only a 60-watt light, shine knowing that the darker the world becomes, the brighter even the little amount of light within us will shine.  

Let’s Make Victors, Not Victims

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Acts 1:8

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

NKJV

In the last half of John 16:33, Jesus tells his disciples that in the world they will have tribulation.  If this verse ended at this point, it would be depressing.  Fortunately, however, Jesus goes on to tell his disciples that He has overcome the world.  Taken in its context, this verse takes on even greater meaning for it inspires us to live as victors and not victims. 

The words spoken by Jesus in John 16:33 occurred during Jesus final talk with His disciples at the Last Supper.  During Jesus ministry he had healed the sick, opened blinded eyes, and even raised the dead.  The disciples might have believed these miracles were a demonstration of how Jesus had overcome the evil in the world.  However, Jesus statement that he had overcome the world in John 16:33 was prophetic for the very next day Jesus would suffer a cruel death by crucifixion and three days later fulfill Genesis 3:15 crushing the serpent, Satan’s head and overcome the curse of sin placed upon humanity by Adam and Eve’s sin.

Previously, in his conversation with Nicodemus Jesus stated that God sent His only Son into the world and that if we believe in Him, we can have eternal life.  Paul then went on to write in Romans 10:9-10 that if we believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, we would be saved.  Therefore, taken together, these verses are telling us that God wants us to live as victors because of what Christ has done and not victims for even though we all experience struggles in life, Jesus has overcome them all through His death on the cross. 

Unfortunately, our world often places victims on a pedestal, encouraging them to continue living as victims instead of striving to become victors.  We see this playing out in,

1)      Education – There was a time in education when the system encouraged students to work hard and achieve the highest score.  Granted, not everyone in class could achieve the highest score but in striving to achieve this level, all students were encouraged to work hard and if they failed to achieve the highest score, work harder next time to do so.  The theory was equality of opportunity in education with unequal outcomes based on effort and merit.  Unfortunately, the education system has replaced achievement-based education with outcome-based education praising everyone for high achievement despite his or her effort.  The thought is that this will prevent those struggling in class from having hurt feelings over not achieving the highest score.  However, no thought is put into those putting in great effort only to see those putting in less effort praised for their achievement. 

2)      Media – The latest craze in media are reality shows.  On the surface these programs appear to reward effort and achievement because in the end there is only one winner.  However, viewers of these shows often select the winners and vote for the greatest victim and instead of the highest achiever.  The news media as well parades victim after victim before the public encouraging us to have compassion on them for the plight in which they are living.  Instead of sharing stories of how someone was able to rise from the pit of their situation through hard work and achievement, those that have achieved are vilified and touted as winners in lifes lottery. 

3)      Politics – Media vilified Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney in 2012 for his 47 percent comment.  (1)  However, the numbers supporting his comment show that our political system has evolved, or devolved in my opinion, into a system rewarding victims with continual government subsistence.  Now I am not against the government assisting individuals going through a rough time in their lives but these programs also need to have the goal of encouraging people to become victors and not remain victims.  The 1996 welfare reform act was a step in correcting this situation but unfortunately, the Obama Administration has chosen through executive order to return the welfare program to encouraging eternal victimhood instead of placing people on a path to victory.  (2) 

4)      Churches – Capitalism has a proven record of accomplishment  making it the best, although not perfect, economic system for an individual to rise from abject poverty to wealth than any other man-made economic system.  (3)  However, instead of touting capitalism as a path to escaping poverty, Pope Francis condemns it in favor of government mandated wealth redistribution.  (4)   Granted scripture encourages Christians to be compassionate to the poor (Matthew 25:31-46).  However, Jesus is speaking of each individual voluntarily giving out of compassion and not a forced system of wealth redistribution directed by government mandate.  In fact, I believe the most compassionate thing anyone can do is offer a poor person an opportunity to succeed through his or her own efforts, empowering them to live victoriously and not as victims.

Knowing His disciples would experience great persecution and martyrdom after his ascension, Jesus knew His disciples might wallow in their victimhood instead of living in the victorious provision of salvation provided by the cross and confidently spreading this good news to the world.  This is why He told his disciples in Acts 1:8 to wait for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  He knew they would need this power to continue living victoriously in spite of the struggles they would face.

As Christians, we have the knowledge that Jesus overcame the curse placed on humanity through his death on the cross and all we are required to do is believe.  We also have the power of the Holy Spirit within us and the promises contained in the Word of God to empower us to live victoriously and not as victims.  Let us therefore live not as victims but as victors through Christ in this dark world directing them to how they too can live victoriously. 

1. Hobson, Jeremy. The numbers behind Mitt Romney's 47% comment. www.marketplace.org. [Online] Marketplace Campaign Trail, September 18, 2012. [Cited: November 23, 2013.] http://www.marketplace.org/topics/elections/campaign-trail/numbers-behind-mitt-romneys-47-comment.

2. Rector, Robert. Obama's End Run on Welfare Reform, Part One: Understanding Workfare. www.heritage.org. [Online] The Heritage Foundation, September 19, 2012. [Cited: April 24, 2016.] www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/09/obamas-end-run-on-welfare-reform-part-one-understanding-workfare.

3. Tanner, Michael. Occupy Wall Street is Wrong - It's the Best System for Everyone. www.nationalreview.com. [Online] The National Review, September 18, 2013. [Cited: April 24, 2016.] www.nationalreview.com/article/358771/capitalisms-triumph-michael-tanner.

4. Dalmia, Shikha. The Pope's Self-Defeating Anti-Capitalistic Rant. reason.com. [Online] Reason.com, December 3, 2013. [Cited: December 19, 2013.] http://reason.com/archives/2013/12/03/the-popes-self-defeating-anti-capitalist.

Effective Powerful Prayer

By:  Dale Weckbacher

James 5:16b

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

NKJV

Unfortunately, we have all been guilty of telling someone we would pray for them, only to get busy with life and forget.  This is why I try, if it is possible, to pray with someone on the spot when I say I will pray for them.  If that is not possible, one thing we can do is to make a note on the calendar of our smart phones reminding us to pray for them.

Most of us have also experienced the feeling that our prayers are ineffective and seemingly not heard by our heavenly father.  This feeling is usually due to not receiving an instantaneous answer to our prayers but rest assured, God always hears the prayers of His people when they pray according to the will of God (1 John5:14-15).  However, a look at some of the prayers of Jesus to His Heavenly Father provides insight on how we can be more effective and powerful in our prayers.  The ABC’s of Jesus prayers are,

1)      According to the will of God (Matthew 26:39) – In His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed for the cup to pass from Him.  The cup Jesus is speaking of was the cup of God’s wrath as he was about to take upon himself the sins of humanity.  Some believe this may be the cup referred to in Revelation 14:9 that all that receive the mark of the Beast in the last days will be required to drink.  Jesus knew that drinking of this cup would result in incredible physical pain and possibly the human side of Jesus was seeking to escape the pain.  (1)  However, Jesus prayer goes on to state that not His will but the will of His Father must be done which included his brutal death by crucifixion on the cross.  Similarly, we to want to avoid pain and often find ourselves praying that the pain goes away.  In Psalm 23, the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ (John 10:11) reminds us that when it is his will that we go through the valley of the shadow of death, the darkest place we as fleshly humans could possibly endure, the Good Shepherd will be with us. 

2)      Be specific (John 11:41-43) – Jesus has come to visit the grieving family of Lazarus.  Lazarus has been dead four days (John 11:39) and therefore the situation appears hopeless.  However, Jesus knows His Father has a miracle planned and when He prays, His Heavenly Father will hear and answer his prayer.  Jesus does not offer up some lengthy eloquent prayer and instead prays that through this miracle those watching will believe God the Father sent Him.  After offering his brief prayer, Jesus simply asks Lazarus to come forth (John 11:43).  Jesus specifically asks for Lazarus in order to prevent every dead person in the cemetery from coming forth.  Jesus specific prayer was answered for many did come to believe (John11:45) initiating the plot of the Pharisees to kill Jesus (John 11:46-53).  Not only did this specific prayer lead to the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus from the dead causing many to believe but it also initiated the process that would lead to the shedding of the Blood of Jesus Christ providing salvation for all who believe. 

3)      Constant (Luke 18:1-5) – The persistent widow constantly petitioned the ungodly judge and by her continual prayer, convinced the ungodly judge to avenge her from her adversary.  Jesus goes on to say that if an unjust judge would avenge someone after constant petitioning, can we not depend upon our Heavenly Father to avenge us when we constantly petition Him to do so (Luke18:6-7).  There was a time when I believed continually petitioning God for something demonstrated a lack of faith and meant we believed God did not hear us the first time.  However, this passage is in scripture and I now believe Jesus is telling us to constantly demonstrate our faith in God’s ability to answer our prayer by continuing to petition Him instead of taking matters into our own hands.  Constantly praying to God means we are continuing to believe He has the answer and are waiting on Him to provide.

Prayer is a powerful weapon in the arsenal of the people of God and therefore a weapon we must learn to use more effectively.  Effective and powerful prayer is a prayer that is according to the will of God, specific, and constant waiting and believing God will provide the answer. 

Join me in becoming more powerful and effective in praying to God. 

1. Biblestudy.org. Let This Cup Pass From Me. www.biblestudy.org. [Online] Biblestudy.org. [Cited: April 17, 2016.] www.biblestudy.org/basicart/let-this-cup-pass-from-me.html.

I Had a Nightmare and Then a Dream

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Joel 2:28

"And it shall come to pass afterward

That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

Your old men shall dream dreams,

Your young men shall see visions.

NKJV

I am going to be turning 60 this year so I guess that puts me in the category of those dreaming dreams.  Since nightmares are scary dreams, I guess the fact that I recently had a nightmare and then a dream is not so surprising.  Let me take a few moments to share my nightmare and dream.

I am normally a sound sleeper but the other night I awoke in a cold sweat.  Granted I live in Arizona where sweating is not out of the ordinary but this sweat was not due to the Arizona heat and instead due to two of the scariest things I could imagine for my country. 

In my first nightmare, it was election night.  I had just finished voting after work, as I normally do, and sat down to watch the returns.  I had voted for the Republican nominee for President, which, since I am a Ted Cruz supporter was Ted Cruz in my dream.  As the returns came in however it was beginning to become apparent Hillary Clinton, in spite of a recent indictment for having placed high security emails on her unsecured private server, was going to be the next President of the United States.  Of course, the fact of the indictment went unmentioned by the liberal media and instead they were giddy about the prospects of the first woman President, reminding me of how giddy they were at the election of the first black President in 2008. 

My nightmare then leapt forward two years and I was watching the news on CNN.  I was forced to watch CNN because the FCC had shut down Fox for not obeying the so-called fairness doctrine.  The news began with a report of another terrorist attack, this time in the town in which I live, Phoenix Arizona.  The fact of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil was scary enough but what made this a full-blown nightmare was how casual the reporter was in his reporting.  He then commented on how these terrorist attacks from Muslims living in the country were becoming commonplace and expressed his desire that we begin trying to understand these people more so these attacks could end.  Of course, there was no mention of stopping the invasion of our country by these people who have no love for the country and only desire the slaughter of all who refuse to adopt their religion.

The newscast then went on to the economy.  “The recession was officially deemed a depression today,” said the reporter, “but not to fear.  We only need to give the Clinton agenda of higher taxes, free healthcare, free education, and free money to the disadvantaged a little more time to take effect.”  The economic story then shifted to how another U.S. company was relocating its operations overseas.  No mention of course to the fact that this company relocated to escape the 75% corporate tax rate and instead the report vilified the company for not fulfilling its patriotic duty of paying taxes to help the disadvantaged.  I thought how about allowing the company to make a profit and create jobs and opportunities for the disadvantaged.  Of course, I thought, the people voted for the freebies so why would they even want to work.  The economic report then went on to bemoan the fact that the government for the first time in its history would default on its debt causing many to speculate the very real possibility that the government would not be able to make good on its promises of freebies to citizens now conditioned to expect them for their daily survival.    

At this point I awoke in a cold sweat.  After taking a few moments to compose myself I once again fell asleep only to have a similar nightmare, this time with Bernie Sanders as President.  The situation was much worse under the socialist agenda of Bernie Sanders with the country already defaulting on its debt and failing to make entitlement payments that month resulting in civil unrest and riots in the streets.  Unfortunately, with the confiscation from guns from citizens in the first year of the Sanders Administration, many innocent people were being killed in the resulting violence.  In an emergency speech from the Oval Office, President Sanders urged people to calm down and that the situation would be fixed as soon as they could find out how to confiscate the wealth of companies exiting the nation. 

I awoke terrified similar to how Scrooge must have felt after his visit from the ghosts of Christmas.  I dropped to my knees in prayer praying for God to intervene and insure my two nightmares did not become reality.  I then remembered Proverbs 3:5 and was reminded that no matter who wins elections, God is in control and we need to trust him and not elected officials. 

Reassured by my time with the Lord I was soon able to get back to sleep.  This time, instead of a nightmare I had a dream.  After voting, I began watching the election returns and after the GOP candidate took Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida it became evident that the GOP candidate would be the next President.  Much of the credit for this victory was a miraculous unification within the GOP after the convention resulting in massive national support and turnout to elect the GOP nominee President. 

Fast-forward two years and the Fox News report was touting how the border wall and enforcement of immigration laws had resulted in a reduction of crime in U.S. cities.  The engaging and swift defeat of ISIS on the battlefield had resulted in a drastic reduction and near elimination of terrorism globally making the world a much safer place. 

Economically, the elimination of the corporate income tax and the replacement of the progressive income tax with a flat tax had caused many companies to move back to the U.S. and hire more U.S. citizens.  This influx of capital coupled with a drastic increase in the labor participation rate had eliminated budget deficits and enabled the nation to begin reducing, not increasing, its national debt.  Instead of debate on how to continue entitlements without money, the debate turned to what to do with the surpluses.  After this dream I dropped to my knees once again and asked the Lord what I could do to insure my dream, and not my nightmares became reality. 

In reality I never had such nightmares or dreams while sleeping but as I look over the electoral landscape, my greatest concern is that either one of my nightmares or my dream will become reality.  In order to insure it is the dream, and not a nightmare, that becomes reality, I urge the GOP to unify either before or at the convention to insure a massive turnout of voters for the GOP candidate in November.  The 2010 and 2014 elections stand as proof that a unified and energized GOP base will turn out in mass to bring a GOP victory.  We must insure that happens in 2016 for if it does not, I fear one of my nightmare scenarios will become reality and we all will suffer.  

Wanted: Prayer Warriors

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Ephesians 6:18

praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints

NKJV

After putting on the whole armor of God, Paul tells the church in Ephesus to be watchful with all perseverance and supplication in prayer for all the saints.  The very fact that we must put on the whole armor of God is because we are in a battle, not battle with flesh and blood, but a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:10-17).  However, just as the armies of Israel only prevailed in battle when Moses arms were raised, soldiers engaged in today’s spiritual battles need to support of our prayers of support to succeed in battle.

We need prayer warriors not afraid to enter into their war room of prayer praying for,

1)      Removal of obstacles in their own lives that may hinder the effectiveness of their prayers offered unto God.  These obstacles may come in the form of marital strife (1 Peter 3:7), not living in unity, or unforgiveness towards our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord (1 Peter 3:8-9).  Sin also represents an obstacle to effectiveness in prayer (Psalm 66:18). 

2)      Our church leaders – Our church leaders, like us, are sinful flawed individuals in need or our prayers.  Church leaders are also on the frontlines of the spiritual battle for the souls of lost men and women.  Our church leaders are also the shepherds over the flock and if the enemy can strike the shepherd, the sheep will scatter (Zechariah 13:7, Matthew 26:31). 

3)      The leaders of our nation (1 Timothy 2:1-2) – We must also pray for these leaders for they too are flawed sinful individuals who can be corrupted by the tremendous power available to them as leaders of our nation, states, and local communities.  We must therefore pray they remain humble and follow the Godly Principles of the Word of God and do not become corrupted by power.

4)      Our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord – Since we are all sinful individuals saved by the grace of God, we can all succumb to the temptation to return to our sinful lives.  Even the Apostle Paul experienced this struggle in his life and wrote about it in Romans 7:13-20.  We therefore must pray for strength to resist temptation for our fellow believers in order to insure they too can be effective prayer warriors.  Jesus reminds us that where two or three are gathered together in His name, He is there with them (Matthew 18:20).  There is also strength in numbers in the spiritual battle we are engaged in (Leviticus 26:8).

Like it or not, we as believers find ourselves in a spiritual battle.  As we are reminded in Ephesians 6:12, it is not a typical battle with flesh and blood but a spiritual battle requiring special weapons (Ephesians 6:13-17) and requires constant prayer (Ephesians 6:18).  We therefore all must become prayer warriors spending time daily, maybe even several times daily in prayer as the Spirit of God leads us. 

Please comment to this blog if you are volunteering to become a prayer warrior in this spiritual battle.

The Power of Prayer

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Acts 4:29

Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,

NKJV

Acts 4:29 is a portion of the prayer offered up by Peter and John after their release from captivity under orders not to speak of Jesus anymore.  As we see from this passage, instead of timidly cowering in the corner and remaining silent, they asked for boldness to speak the Word of God in spite of the threats.  After seeing Jesus brutally crucified on the cross, seeing him after his resurrection, and being filled with the Spirit of God, these men had incredible boldness and believed that the power of their prayer could trump any attack.

Last Sunday I saw the movie ‘God’s not Dead 2’ and highly recommend it.  Not to spoil it for anyone that has yet to see the movie I will not give away any details but just say that the movie deals with one person’s fight for their right to speak the Word of God.  Even though the movie is a fictitious account, it is based upon the very real fact that our right to openly speak the Word of God is constantly under threat and a reminder of the need to constantly pray for boldness to speak God’s Word.

In John 8:12 Jesus stated that He was the light of the world.  John 1:1 tells us that Jesus is the Word.  Psalm 119:105 says the Word of God is a light unto our paths. 

We live in a dark world and only the light of Jesus and the Word of God provides the light this world needs.  We therefore as Believers must pray for boldness to speak the Word of God in spite of any threats or persecution we may encounter.  Unfortunately, at times our prayers offered up to God seem ineffective and powerless.  So let us take a moment to look at three instances in the Bible where the power of prayer brought victory.

1)      Exodus 17:8-16 – This passage of scripture is a reminder of the importance of interceding for our leaders.  There are constant reminders that leaders in all aspects of our lives are human and full of flaws as we all are.  Just as Moses arms became weak and began to fall, causing the armies of Israel to be defeated, our leaders can become weak and fail.  However, when we come beside them in prayer just as Aaron and Hur propped up Moses arms so Israel could prevail in battle, we spiritually lift up the arms of our leaders when we lift them up in prayer.

2)      Psalm 51 – This is the prayer of repentance offered up by David after his sins of adultery and murder as recorded in  2 Samuel 11.  David, like us all was flawed and sinned.  However, David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) demonstrated by his swift repentance when confronted with his sin.  The Bible also reminds us that a prayer of repentance offered up to God always results in forgiveness (1 John1:9).

3)      Acts 5:17-42 – Soon after being ordered to cease preaching Christ, the Apostles find themselves imprisoned in answer to their prayer in Acts 4:29 for boldness to speak the Word of God in spite of threats.  However, God was also faithful and miraculously arranges for their release (Acts 5:33-42).  Their boldness was not lessened by their arrest and miraculous deliverance for they continued to boldly teach and preach Jesus as the Christ (Acts 5:42).

Prayer is a powerful weapon in the arsenal of all believers in Christ.  Unfortunately, however, life can become busy and sadly, we often allow time for prayer to slip away due to our busy schedules.  Therefore, in light of the power of prayer, I encourage everyone to make an appointment with God each day and spend a few minutes in prayer and the Word each day.

Prayer offered on behalf of those in leadership over us has the power to strengthen them and cause them to make wise decisions.  Prayers of repentance offered when we become aware of some sin in our lives always results in forgiveness and our experiencing the grace of God.  Finally, prayers for boldness in speaking God’s Word will be answered with a boldness that ignores threats of harm if we continue to speak out.  In addition, just as God miraculously freed the disciples, God can miraculously intervene on our behalf and provide a miraculous path for us to speak the Word of God with boldness where no path seems to exist.  

Defining and Defeating the Enemy

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Ephesians 6:12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

NKJV

In Sun Tzu’s the Art of War, Mr. Tzu says the following, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.  If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”  (1) 

Ephesians 6:12 is the identification of the enemy of Christianity, Satan and his principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.  Unfortunately, instead of visually manifesting himself, Satan manifests himself through people making it easy for us as Christians to attack these deceived individuals instead of attacking the satanic force behind their attacks.  In Matthew 16:23, Jesus properly attacked Satan and not Peter.  This does not mean however, that we as Christians need to go out onto the streets rebuking Satan around every corner but is a reminder to pray for the salvation of those deceived by Satan and prayerfully rebuke the satanic forces keeping these individuals from coming to know Christ as their Savior.  Paul then goes on in Ephesians6:13-20 to list the spiritual weapons available to us as believers, urging us to pray always, and remain watchful.

The GOP primary has devolved from a vigorous debate on issues important to voters such as the sluggish economy, dangerous open border, and the very real threat presented by radical Islamic terrorism to a vicious reality show of vicious personal attacks.  These distractive attacks have resulted in the party losing its identity as well as its focus on who the real enemy is.  As the words of Mr. Tzu remind us, failure of the GOP to know itself and its enemy will result in defeat in every election.  Let us therefore take a moment to pause from the personal attacks and rhetoric and solve this identity crisis.

The GOP is a diverse collection of conservatives, moderates and a few liberals.  This collection of diverse groups makes unification difficult and has resulted in defeat in four out of the last six Electoral College elections and five out of the last six presidential popular votes.  Only the scandals of the Clinton presidency and the unification of the nation around President Bush after 911 unified these factions of the GOP, bringing victory in the 2000 and 2004 Electoral College elections.  However, in the 2000 presidential election the GOP won the Electoral College that elects the President of the United States but failed to win the popular vote.  However, I believe unification is possible if instead of attacking each other, the remaining candidates in the GOP focus on the failures of the Obama Administration and the danger to the nation if these failed policies continue through a Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders administration. 

The enemy this election is not our fellow Republicans but the liberal and socialist policies of the Democratic Party.  As Mr. Tzu reminds us, when we enter this electoral battle with the knowledge that the GOP consists of a diverse collection of conservatives, moderates, and liberals that must unify around defeating the Democrat Party consisting of ultra-liberal socialists, unification and victory in November is possible. 

However, if the personal attacks among GOP candidates continue, I fear many will be discouraged and stay home once again.  (2)  I therefore urge my fellow Republicans and all Republican candidates to cease the destructive divisive personal attacks and unify around defeating the Democratic Party enemy whose policies are destroying the once great United States. 

Recently divisiveness in the elections in Canada resulted in an electoral defeat for conservatives.  (3)  Let us not suffer such an electoral defeat in the November 2016 election and instead achieve victory by uniting the divergent factions of the GOP around a candidate vowing to defeat the real enemy, the ultra-liberal socialist Democrat Party with its failed socialist policies. 

1. West, Allen. We Must Define the Enemy. www.usnews.com. [Online] US News, February 23, 2015. [Cited: April 3, 2016.] www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-the-president-right-to-say-violent-extremism-instead-of-islamic-extremism/we-must-define-the-enemy.

2. Griffin. What went wrong in 2012? The case of the 4 million missing voters. www.redstate.com. [Online] Red State, November 14, 2012. [Cited: July 12, 2015.] http://www.redstate.com/diary/griffinelection/2012/11/14/what-went-wrong-in-2012-the-case-of-the-4-million-missing-voters/ .

3. David Solway, Janice Fiamengo. A Lesson to Republicans in Canada's Conservative Party Defeat. www.americanthinker.com. [Online] American Thinker, February 7, 2016. [Cited: April 3, 2016.] http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/a_lesson_to_republicans_in_canadas_conservative_party_defeat.html.

A Squirrelish Path to Defeat and Destruction

By:  Dale Weckbacher

2 Corinthians 11:3

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

NKJV

Deception was the tool of Satan in the Garden of Eden and remains his strategy today.  The message of the Gospel is simple, so simple it has escaped, and continues to escape, the minds of great intellectuals throughout history.  This complicating of the simplistic message of the Gospel has led to great deception and I fear caused many to fall from faith or never enter into a relationship with God to begin with. 

Some misconceptions of the Gospel include,

1)      Belief that one must be perfect to be a Christian – Romans 3:23 reminds us that we all have sinned.  1 John 1:9 which speaks to believers in Jesus and not unbelievers reminds us that when we sin God will forgive our sin.  In other words, even though one has accepted Jesus as their savior they do not become perfect and can mess up and need to ask for forgiveness.  However, this is not a blanket excuse to sin (Romans 6:1-4). 

2)      Christianity is just a crutch for the weak – This erroneous belief stems from the belief that meekness equates to weakness (Psalm 37:11, Matthew 5:5) when the truth is that meekness is strength under control.   (1)  During the last 100 years of history, we have witnessed strong powerful leaders like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao who allowed power to corrupt them and get out of control.  Jesus is calling for strong leadership not corrupted by power and following God’s Word is the best way to keep power under control.

3)      Christians should stay out of the political process and place their trust in God – While it is true that Christians are to place their trust in God, the logic that this means they are to completely stay out of the political process is flawed.  This logic is like saying Christians should trust God to put gas in the car and not stop at the gas station for gas.  We who live in countries that give us an opportunity to elect our leaders are blessed and should be involved and continue to trust God and pray for the leaders that end up being elected. 

Satan’s most effective weapon however is the weapon of division.  He used this weapon to cause Eve to sin bringing separation from God and eviction from the pristine Garden of Eden.  He uses this weapon to cause division in Christianity as a whole by causing differing denominations to lose sight of the Great Commission of spreading the Gospel (Mark 16:14-18) and instead divide over petty theological interpretations of God’s Word.  (2)   This weapon of divisiveness not only manifests itself in the spiritual and religious realm but in the business and political world as well.  

I have worked as an accountant in the business world for almost 40 years.  In that time I have seen divisiveness in management lead to decisions based upon protection of one’s position of power within the company at the expense of company success, often leading to the financial ruin of the company.  This does not mean companies must adopt groupthink and discard any new ideas viewing them as threats.  Instead, new ideas should not initially be viewed as threats and instead investigated and if viable adopted.

In the political realm we are witnessing divisiveness within the Republican Party which if not dealt with will result in a third straight GOP presidential defeat.  This is what recently happened in Canada and will happen here if not dealt with.  (3)  The difference this election however is not that the divisiveness is due to the GOP establishment ramming an undesirable moderate down the throats of the GOP conservative base but a divisiveness within the conservative base threatening to suppress GOP voter turnout resulting in another defeat.  I recently wrote about this divisiveness within the conservative movement and invite readers to follow this link (4) and read about this and how to unify the conservative movement. 

The real enemy against Christianity is not people speaking out against it but the satanic powers deceiving these people (Ephesians 6:12).  Jesus wants all denominations of Christianity to unite in the spreading of the Gospel and not allow our petty theological differences to cause us to lose focus.  The real enemy for the GOP this election is attacking and dividing each other over accusations, weather false or true, and losing focus on defeating the real enemy, the liberal progressive socialist DNC. 

In the movie Up, you may remember the dog wearing a collar allowing it to talk.  This dog could carry on an intelligent conversation until a squirrel distracted him.  When the primary season started this election, insurgent candidates like Trump, Cruz, and even Ben Carson surged and collectively garnered a majority of the GOP support.  This is because like in the 2010 and 2014 off-year elections, these candidates were speaking about issues resonating with voters.  Unfortunately, the wedge of division has caused the GOP primary debate to become distracted by the squirrels of personal attacks and they have lost the focus that propelled them to the top of the polls. 

The question is can we return to a debate on the issues and not be distracted by the squirrels of deception for if we do not, I believe conservatives are on the path to another defeat and the nation will suffer irreparable damage. 

1. TOW Bible Commentary. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. www.theologyofwork.org. [Online] Theology of Work. [Cited: February 21, 2016.] https://www.theologyofwork.org/new-testament/matthew/the-kingdom-of-heaven-at-work-in-us-matthew-5-7/the-beatitudes-matthew-51-12/blessed-are-the-meek-for-they-will-inherit-the-earth-matthew-55.

2. Gotquestions.org. Why Are There so Many Different Christian Interpretations? www.gotquestions.org. [Online] Gotquestions.org. [Cited: April 3, 2016.] http://www.gotquestions.org/interpretations-Christian.html.

3. David Solway, Janice Fiamengo. A Lesson to Republicans in Canada's Conservative Party Defeat. www.americanthinker.com. [Online] American Thinker, February 7, 2016. [Cited: April 3, 2016.] http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/a_lesson_to_republicans_in_canadas_conservative_party_defeat.html

4. Weckbacher, Dale. Defining and Unifying the Conservative Movement. politicalavenger.blogspot.com. [Online] Political Aventer, March 23, 2016. [Cited: April 3, 2016.] https://politicalavenger.blogspot.com/2016/03/defining-and-unifying-conservative.html.

Hope Rooted on the Rock

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Psalm 119:114

You are my hiding place and my shield;

I hope in Your word.

NKJV

President Obama won election in 2008 on a message of hope and change.  However, as we approach the end of Obama’s second term, we are seeing much anger and frustration among voters in the United States.  With the passage of Obamacare, millions still unemployed, and the threat of terrorism like we now see in Europe coming to the U.S. through its open borders, there has been change but little hope.

Hope is a fleeting thing and something we as humans cling to when we find ourselves in a struggle.  However, when we put our hope in something unstable like a politician, or government program concocted by flawed people, our hopes are soon dashed as the politician, or program fails.  This leaves us with the question, in what should we place our hope. 

In Psalm 16:8-9, David declares that he has set the Lord always before him and because of that, his flesh rests in hope.  In Psalm 31:24 David tells us all who hope in the Lord will be of good courage and will have the Lord strengthen their hearts.  Psalm 33:17-18 reminds us that a horse, a symbol of strength in battle is a vain hope and that hope comes to those hoping in the mercy of the Lord.  These scriptures, and many others contained in The Bible remind us that the source of hope that is not fleeting is found in the Lord. 

This election has reached the crazy time where the personal attacks are flying around like a swarm of bees around a honeycomb.  A Cruz supporting PAC, a PAC in which Ted Cruz is forbidden by law from being involved in, attacks Donald Trump’s wife.  (1)  Even though the law not only forbids Cruz from coordinating with the PAC to make such an attack but also forbids him from ordering them to stop, the calls on Cruz to take down the ad continue. 

However, this did not prevent Donald Trump from going to his favorite place, Twitter, to launch his own personal attacks at Heidi Cruz for her looks tweeting side-by-side pictures of both wives.  (2)  We also have accusations from five women that they supposedly had affairs with Ted Cruz from of all places the National Enquirer.  Initially the Cruz campaign hurled accusations at the Trump campaign for peddling the story to the Enquirer.  However, the truth behind the peddling of the story goes back to the Rubio campaign.  (3)  

On the Democrat side of the coin we have the potential indictment of Hillary Clinton over the placing of sensitive information that could jeopardize national security on an insecure server.  (4)  Voters placing their hope in Hillary Clinton as President face the very real possibility of another Clinton Presidency surrounded by scandal and possible impeachment, another example of the fleetingness of hope placed in flawed politicians.  Meanwhile, the real issues of the campaign seem to be ignored as the candidates hurl personal slurs back and forth.

The real issues facing voters today is how they have seen the hope placed in Obama to change the direction of the country and improve their lives fail.  Once again, voters are turning to candidates for President with the hope that they will somehow have the magic formula or program that will improve their situation only to see these candidates participating in a juvenile playground argument over whose spouse is more attractive or facing criminal indictment. 

I encourage candidates to get back to debating the issues affecting the daily lives of voters like the economy and national security and stop the juvenile attacks.  I encourage any candidate facing potential criminal indictment to come clean and if necessary drop out of the campaign in order to prevent the nation from having to endure another presidential scandal and possible impeachment. 

I encourage voters to remember that all of the candidates running for office are flawed individuals as we all are (Romans 3:23).  The perfect candidate has never been on the ballot and is absent in this election as well.  Hope placed in these individuals to improve one’s situation in life is fleeting and will leave one empty.   

Instead, let us place our hope in the one who left the glory of heaven to become one of us (Philippians 2:6).  Let us place our hope in the only one who lived a sinless life but died for all of our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21) so we can have eternal life with God by simply believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Messiah (John 3:16).  Let us place our hope in the one who is coming back to end all the struggles and evil in our world (Revelation 22:1-5).

It is another election year and it is our duty as voters, and especially evangelical Christian voters to vote for the best candidate for office by remembering they all have flaws.  However, when it comes to hope, let us remember to place our hope on the rock of Jesus Christ and the Word of God for only then can we have a hope that is not fleeting and will not fade away. 

1. Krieg, Gregory J. What is a Super PAC? A Short History. abcnews.go.com. [Online] ABC News, August 9, 2012. [Cited: March 27, 2016.] abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/super-pac-short-history/story?id=16960267.

2. Byrnes, Jesse. Trump Revs Up Heidi Cruz Attacks. thehill.com. [Online] The Hill, March 24, 2016. [Cited: March 27, 2016.] thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/274159-trump-doubles-down-on-heidi-cruz-attacks.

3. Asawin Suebsaeng, Betsy Woodruff. Ted Cruz 'Affair' Rumors Peddled by Marco Ribio's Allies. www.thedailybeast.com. [Online] The Daily Beast, March 25, 2016. [Cited: March 27, 2016.] www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/25/ted-cruz-affair-rumors-peddled-by-marco-rubio-s-allies.html.

4. Hattem, Julian. FBI's Hillary Clinton Email Investigation Not Letting Up. thehill.com. [Online] The Hill, January 28, 2016. [Cited: March 27, 2016.] thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/267269-fbis-clinton-investigation-not-letting-up.