tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62279386335267710222024-03-05T17:59:08.172-08:00GLOBAL CHRISTIAN AWAKENINGIn addition to wars and societal chaos predicted for the last days, the Bible also predicts great Spiritual activity at the time of the end--an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh and the world-wide preaching of the gospel (see Matt. 24:14 & Acts 2:17). This blog is dedicated to encouraging Christians around the world to pray and believe for a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit on their land and in their churches.Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.comBlogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-53647488293907953072024-02-15T08:42:00.000-08:002024-02-17T16:23:10.612-08:00DON'T QUIT: HOW A LITTLE NUT BECOMES A GIANT OAK<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgewRFgpT6PDH0FW7QqW2Y6hNr2SbQwkGiognvB2B404dcz-yGvh4lCf00qkLk5FY0mUUaPFWXH9G5y0R7PYg0EHW-nk2MgOCvNHimCamPPDwDUyIcE4vFUQPf-8jvaBkxQsESL0DTIAe0EegHywjkYzNxUizAuacPD6FzVkMZiZ8P5tdE7G4MqXOUt1iE/s612/Oak%20Tree.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="612" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgewRFgpT6PDH0FW7QqW2Y6hNr2SbQwkGiognvB2B404dcz-yGvh4lCf00qkLk5FY0mUUaPFWXH9G5y0R7PYg0EHW-nk2MgOCvNHimCamPPDwDUyIcE4vFUQPf-8jvaBkxQsESL0DTIAe0EegHywjkYzNxUizAuacPD6FzVkMZiZ8P5tdE7G4MqXOUt1iE/w399-h265/Oak%20Tree.jpg" width="399" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Someone has said that the giant oak is a little nut that held its ground. From a little acorn to a sapling to a giant tree, it held its ground through heat, cold, wind, rain and storm. You may feel like a little nut today surrounded by insurmountable challenges, but if you will hold your ground, you will see God do incredible things in you and through you.</span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Getting
knocked down in life is no disgrace, but refusing to get up and try again is. Consider
the string of defeats suffered by one of the greatest individuals of all times;
yet he refused to quit and became one of the giants of human history.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .8in; text-indent: 0in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">In 1832 he lost
his job.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .8in; text-indent: 0in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">In 1832 he ran
for the state legislature and lost.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .8in; text-indent: 0in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">In 1833 he failed
in a business venture.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .8in; text-indent: 0in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">In 1835 his
fiancé died.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .8in; text-indent: 0in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">In 1836 he
suffered a nervous breakdown.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .8in; text-indent: 0in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">In 1838 he ran
for speaker of the state legislature and lost.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .8in; text-indent: 0in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">In 1843 he ran
for Congress and lost.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .8in; text-indent: 0in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">In 1849 he
applied for the post of land officer but was rejected.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .8in; text-indent: 0in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">In 1854 he ran
for the Senate and lost.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .8in; text-indent: 0in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 13pt;">In 1856 he ran
for vice-president and lost.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-top: 8pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">HOWEVER, IN 1860 ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES. HE REFUSED TO QUIT - HE HELD HIS GROUND - AND BECAME A GIANT OAK!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Hebrews 6:12 tells us that it is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">through faith and patience</i> that we
inherit the promises of God. The word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">patience</i>
in this verse is a translation of the Greek word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">makrothumia</i> and it means to “persevere” or to “continue in the face
of trouble and adversity.” To put is simply and succinctly, it means you “<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">don’t quit.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoHeading8" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Promise, Praise & Perseverance<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">During a tremendous battle of faith in
1989, God gave me three words which he said were keys to answered prayer. The
three words were promise, praise, and perseverance. As pointed out above, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">perseverance</i> is the same as the biblical
word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">patience</i>. It means that you
don’t quit. It means that if you get knocked down, you get up again. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-top: 8pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Hebrews 6:13-15 presents Abraham as an example of one
who refused to quit and obtained the promise of God. In Genesis 13:16; 15:5,
God promised Abram that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the
seashore and as the stars of heaven. However, the years passed without any
fulfillment of this promise and finally Sarai and Abram were childless and too
old to bear children. What does one do when faced with such adversity? You keep
your eye on the promise and you don’t quit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">It was about 14 years from the time God
gave the promise to Abram to the time the promise was fulfilled in the birth of
Isaac. At one time the faith of both Abram and Sarai wavered. They decided to
help and hurry the fulfillment of the promise and Abram took Sarah’s maid, Hagar,
and bore a son, Ishmael, through her. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">God, however, revealed to them that
this was not His way for the promise to be fulfilled. Abram and Sarai recovered
and determined that they would trust God to fulfill that which He had promised.
As a result, God changed their names: Sarai to Sarah which means “Mother of
Nations;” and Abram to Abraham which means “Father of a Multitude.” </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Of Sarah,
Hebrews 11:11 says that, at the age of 99, she received strength to conceive
because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">she judged Him faithful who had
promised</i>. Of Abraham, Hebrews 6:15 says, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise</i>.
They were knocked down but they got up, kept going and obtained the promise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 8pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333px;"><b><span style="color: #351c75;">The Little Nut Becomes a Giant Oak</span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-top: 8pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Christians often mistakenly think that if the answer
to their prayer has not manifested within a few days or weeks, that God has
denied their request. NOT SO! Delay does not mean denial. Delay often means
that we need to persevere in the face of adversity until we obtain the answer
we desire. In other words, it means that we DON’T QUIT. Through faith and not
quitting we obtain the promise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-top: 8pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Yes, the little nut--the acorn--has the inherent potential to become a giant oak. And as a child of God, you have incredible, inherent potential in you. To realize that potential you must hold your ground. If you will hold your ground and refuse to quit, you will see God do amazing things in you, through you and on your behalf.</span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-top: 8pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #660000;">This article was written by Dr. Eddie Hyatt who is an author, Bible teacher, and revivalist. Check out his books on Amazon and his website at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com">www.eddiehyatt.com</a>.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-top: 8pt; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></p>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-78045490768561741712023-07-24T17:36:00.000-07:002023-07-24T17:36:20.333-07:005 MODERN DECEPTIONS CONCERNING JESUS - PART 2<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Dypsf2H8JLuudBPAIYG9TxctyCRzWyIszL4HmOSzZvGI3c9UJ64FBzaHDIhlP4El0uxySqHxlzG7ESfd93piP__XHPV46UweqhGSER4nScyF2wDiHGORyyaoFnxPJBdOsyT4EqWDJXpPyZD7ibO5u9MFTu3WK27QXwsBNRWKVE0KVl1jSQTDRmAwaiA/s640/Jesus-Ancient.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Dypsf2H8JLuudBPAIYG9TxctyCRzWyIszL4HmOSzZvGI3c9UJ64FBzaHDIhlP4El0uxySqHxlzG7ESfd93piP__XHPV46UweqhGSER4nScyF2wDiHGORyyaoFnxPJBdOsyT4EqWDJXpPyZD7ibO5u9MFTu3WK27QXwsBNRWKVE0KVl1jSQTDRmAwaiA/w448-h254/Jesus-Ancient.jpg" width="448" /></a></i></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><i><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><b>Continued from Part 1</b><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The Malleable Jesus of Modern Liberalism<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Liberal theology begins with skepticism and an <i>a
priori</i> commitment against the possibility of miracles. They, therefore,
deny the inspiration of Scripture, the deity of Jesus, His miracles, and His
resurrection. In their attempts to explain away the miraculous character of
Jesus and the Gospel record, they have created a false dichotomy between what
they call “the Jesus of history” and “the Christ of Faith.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Liberal theologians insist that the Gospels were written,
not by <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">the traditional authors, but by later
writers who embellished the</span> original historical account of Jesus with mythical
stories <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">of miracles and His claims to being
the Messiah and Son of God. </span>This they claim is the “Christ of faith” of
a later generation. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">This
is the position of the Jesus Seminar, a group of liberal scholars, some of whom
are atheists, who have decided that only 20% of the sayings of Jesus in the Gospels
are really from Him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; letter-spacing: -.2pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">This,
of course, is a modern and novel theory rooted in skepticism</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> and a pronounced
anti-supernatural bias. Because they have never seen a miracle, they insist
that miracles do not happen. <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">This is neither
science nor good scholarship. The well-known</span> New Testament scholar, Dr.
Gregory Boyd, who is known for debating atheists and liberal theologians, has been
devastating in his critique of the Jesus Seminar, saying,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; letter-spacing: -.2pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Jesus Seminar represents an extremely small number</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">of radical-fringe scholars who are on the far, far
left wing of New Testament scholarship. </span>It does not represent mainstream
scholarship.<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sadly, this distorted, liberal
thinking about Jesus has filtered down into the culture and even the Church.
Bill O’Reilly wrote a book entitled <i>Killing Jesus</i>. I heard him emphasize
that in the book they do not talk about the miracles of Jesus because, he said,
“the book is about history, not about faith.” I immediately realized that he
had naively accepted this false dichotomy between the “Jesus of history” and
the “Christ of faith,” created by modern liberal theologians.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">With no moorings of faith in Scripture, the Jesus of post-modern, liberal
theology is like a malleable piece of material that can be twisted and shaped
into an endless variety of shapes and forms. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lee Strobel was right when he
said that the liberal Jesus is a “symbolic Jesus who is impotent to offer the
world anything except the illusion of hope.”<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The “Nice” Jesus of Popular Culture<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Thousands of pastors and directors of Christian education
were trained in liberal colleges and seminaries during the 20<sup>th</sup>
century. Liberal professors and theologians taught an entire generation of
Christian leaders that the Bible is unreliable and that they must “demythologize”
the New Testament in order to discover what may remain of the Jesus of history.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">As this malleable Jesus of liberal professors and theologians
was adopted by pastors and communicated to their congregations, what has emerged
is a milquetoast Jesus who is “nice” and accepting of everyone and neither challenges
or judges anyone. This is the “nice” Jesus of popular culture that we encounter
in daily conversations on the internet and on radio and TV. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">For example, I recall listening to a discussion
concerning same-<span style="letter-spacing: -.3pt;">sex marriage on Fox News. The
person being interviewed brought</span> Jesus into the conversation and it was
soon obvious that she had embraced the “nice” Jesus of popular culture. She
insisted that Jesus would never judge or confront anyone. Her mantra that she repeated
over and over, was, “He was all about love.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">This, of course, reflects a misunderstanding of both Biblical
love and the person of Jesus Himself. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">If you asked the temple money changers and
merchants about their perception of Jesus, they would not describe him as
“nice.” He walked into their midst with a whip in his hand, a somber and fierce
look on His face, and began turning over their tables. He shouted that they had
turned His Father’s house into a “den of thieves” as He drove them from the
temple area (Matthew 21:12-13).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Neither would the religious leaders in Israel describe
Jesus as “nice,” for He was continually rebuking them for their pride and
misuse of Scripture and people. His language sounded particularly harsh when he
called them “hypocrites” and compared them to whitewashed tombs that appear
beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead people’s bones. He rebuked
them, calling them snakes, and saying, </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the
damnation of hell (Matthew 23:33)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">On the other hand, Jesus
was very tender and compassionate toward the desperate who came to Him in
faith. The compassion of Jesus toward the distressed is illustrated in the
story of the woman brought to Him by the Pharisees whom they said had been
caught in the very act of adultery (John 8:3-11). They set her in front of
Jesus, reminded Him that the Old Testament law said that such should be stoned,
and then asked, “But what do you say?” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">This was, of course, an
attempt by the Pharisees to entrap Jesus. They knew that He was very compassionate
toward women and the oppressed. Would He defend her from being stoned according
to the Old Testament law?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, they
could then accuse him of being a lawbreaker. They thought they had Him in a
corner.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus did not immediately answer but stooped
down and wrote in the sand. He then stood and said, <i>Let he who is without
sin among you cast the first stone</i> (John 8:7). Now, they were the ones
entrapped by their own words. They too were sinners; only their sins were hidden
from the public but would be known by their closest friends. There must have
been an uncomfortable silence as no one moved forward to pick up a stone. Then
they began to quietly leave the scene until every accuser was gone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jesus, left alone with woman,
then said to her, <i>Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one
condemned you</i>? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She replied, <i>No
one Lord</i>. Jesus then spoke words that must have been music to her ears. He
said, <i>Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jesus did not condone
her sin, for His final words were, <i>Go, and sin no more</i>. (John 8:11). What
He did was give her a new beginning, free from the guilt and pain of her past. Only
Jesus can do this, for as is demonstrated in the book, <i>Discovering the Real
Jesus</i>, forgiving sins was a sign of His Deity, for only God can forgive sin
and give a new beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Jesus loves everyone in the sense that His intentions
toward everyone is for their good. He does not, however, fawn over everyone
with sugary sweet accolades and affirmations. Because He desires the best for
us, He is willing to point out the attitudes and sins that are destroying us.
To the members of the lukewarm church in Laodicea, He said, <i>As many as I
love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be zealous and repent</i> (Revelation
3:19). </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
Distorted Jesus of Religious Cults<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">In her excellent book, <i>Another Gospel</i>, Ruth A. Tucker,
defines a “cult” as a religious group that has a “prophet”-founder who claims
to have a special message from God, not found in the Bible. The leadership
style of the leader is authoritarian, and they tend to see themselves as the
only ones possessing the truth. They also inevitably distort the person of
Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jehovah’s Witnesses<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jehovah’s Witnesses was founded in 1884 by Charles T. Russel
under the name, <i>Zion’s Watch Tower and Tract Society</i>. The movement arose
in a milieu of great emphasis on the second advent of Jesus and speculation as
to when it would occur. Russel accepted a widespread teaching that Jesus would
return in 1874. He and others were very disappointed when the year came and
went, and nothing happened. However, in 1875, Russel claimed that it had been
revealed to him that Jesus did return in 1874, but “invisibly.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">Russel later predicted that Jesus would return in 1914, based on
<span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">his study and interpretation of the Old
Testament Book of Daniel.</span> When Jesus did not return in 1914, another
explanation was necessary. It was decided that this was the time when Christ’s
kingdom began on earth and the Jehovah’s Witnesses were chosen as His official
organization. According to one writer,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">What expressly distinguishes their teachings from any
other denomination is the keystone doctrine centered on 1914. This is the date
when Christ’s rulership began, his commencing judgment then and, above all, his
selecting the Watchtower organization as his official channel (Hyatt, Discovering
the Real Jesus, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jehovah’s Witnesses deny both the deity of Jesus and salvation <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">through faith in Him. I once confronted two
Jehovah’s Witnesses</span> on these two issues. It happened while Sue and I
were visiting family in Ontario, Canada. It occurred one Saturday when we
visited a massive outdoor market attended by thousands of people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">As we entered, we noticed that two Jehovah's Witness women had
stationed themselves near the entrance with a small tent and racks of books and
pamphlets. When we passed them for the second time on the way out, I sensed a
compassionate drawing toward them and so retraced my steps and politely opened
a conversation with them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">I began by asking them how, according to their beliefs, a person
can know they are saved and will go to heaven. The one who was obviously the
leader answered that we cannot know if we are saved until we die. She then
quoted Jesus’ words, <i>He who endures to the end shall be saved (Matthew
24:13).<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">I responded with the question, "Does that mean that at the
end of our life, if our good works outweigh our bad works, we will be OK?"
She replied, "Yes." I then asked, "So what was the need for
Jesus to come and die for our sins?" They did not have an answer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">The conversation then turned to who Jesus is when they mentioned
the name "Jehovah." I asked, "Do you believe Jesus is
Jehovah?" She answered with an emphatic "No!" When I pointed out
Scripture that clearly point to the deity of Jesus, the leader politely brought
the conversation to a close. Jehovah Witnesses believe that Jesus was Michael
the Archangel before His birth in Bethlehem. Their doctrine is very similar to
the Arian doctrine of the 4<sup>th</sup> century that was condemned by the
Council of Nicaea.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">Realizing the leader did not want to hear anymore from me, I kindly
exhorted them to follow Jesus and went on my way with a sense of knowing I had
obeyed the Lord and borne witness to His name.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">Mormons<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">Mormons are another group founded by a self-proclaimed prophet
by the name of Joseph Smith. I have a chapter on the <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">origins of Mormonism in my book, <i>Prophets and Prophecy, </i>which</span>
shows how the early Mormons naively accepted everything Joseph Smith said,
including his claim to finding the golden plates on which were written <i>The
Book of Moroni</i> in an ancient hieroglyphic text. Smith also claimed that John
the Baptist, as well as Peter, James, and John, appeared to him and a colleague
and ordained them to the Priesthood of Melchizedek (Hyatt, <i>Prophets and
Prophecy</i>, 92).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">Mormons teach that God was once a man and that men can become
gods through adhering to Mormon doctrine and ritual, particularly “celestial
marriage.” With their wives they will populate the various planets in the
universe. This teaching is summed up in the Mormon eternal law of progression:
“As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;">Although Mormons claim to be orthodox
Christians and use Christian terminology, the words obviously have a different meaning
for them. They also balk at the exaltation and preeminence of Jesus that is so
clear in Scripture. For example, in the 1980s, there was a movement on the
campus of Brigham Young University encouraging students to develop a “personal <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">relationship” with Jesus. Mormon leadership, however,
opposed</span> this movement.<span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt; letter-spacing: -.2pt;">Bruce McConkie, one of their Twelve
Apostles at the time, spoke against the movement and</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.0pt;"> condemned the creeds of Christendom, particularly
the Apostles and Nicene creeds, which clarify the deity and preeminence of
Jesus. He went so far as the say that these creeds are what Lucifer wants
so-called Christians to believe so they will be damned. As far as Jesus is
concerned, McConkie insisted, “We worship the Father and him only and no one
else.”<a href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Where to Find the
Real Jesus<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It is obvious that we will never discover the real Jesus in New Age
seminars, fictional novels, liberal theology, popular culture, or religious
cults. Neither will the real Jesus be found in many Christian churches and
seminaries that have been affected by these teachings. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we want to know the real Jesus, there is
only one reliable source, and that is in God’s word, approached with a
prayerful heart and teachable spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">This article was derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s new book, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">Discovering the Real Jesus</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">, available from Amazon and his website at </span><a href="http://eddiehyatt.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #cc6611; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; text-decoration-line: none;">http://eddiehyatt.com</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">.</span></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Strobel, <i>The Case for Christ,</i> 152.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Lee Strobel, <i>The Case for Christ</i> (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), 167.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly;"><a href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Tucker, <i>Another Gospel</i>, 88.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-31313720546231812072023-07-23T11:54:00.003-07:002023-07-24T07:20:13.190-07:005 MODERN DECEPTIONS CONCERNING JESUS - PART 1<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMf5UM4bo1BBMABW-lEPOBoADyeU2Bqsxm1qXMJgYDxjuny862AjIlmbvcD_xjy6ZCxwLyvgm-Iu9ijvkofXE-N_azoUNLCAz6MKgHujNoqXxK_ODshcSpkpGyg3vs2W_78SXJgtpNv-EaOrhP2bIumba07KZRDloJEDOQHSt0oLeTWewEGF5xcZqlIk/s640/Jesus-Ancient.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMf5UM4bo1BBMABW-lEPOBoADyeU2Bqsxm1qXMJgYDxjuny862AjIlmbvcD_xjy6ZCxwLyvgm-Iu9ijvkofXE-N_azoUNLCAz6MKgHujNoqXxK_ODshcSpkpGyg3vs2W_78SXJgtpNv-EaOrhP2bIumba07KZRDloJEDOQHSt0oLeTWewEGF5xcZqlIk/w438-h243/Jesus-Ancient.jpg" width="438" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">A headline in the Dallas Morning News seemed to jump off the page at me. It read, “New spirituality: one part Jesus, two parts Buddha . . ..” The author described the growing trend in modern America wherein people are concocting their own personal religion by borrowing what they like from various religious traditions. This combining of different belief systems is known as “syncretism.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">In this subjective, self-centered approach to faith, people view the religions of the world, and the Bible itself, as a great smorgasbord of religious ideas from which they are free to choose what suits their feelings and desires. If something does not appeal to their tastes, they consider themselves free to discard it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This approach is based in post-modernism, which is the prevailing philosophy being taught in America’s educational systems. They are called post-modernists because they deny the existence of any objective truth. The modernists, who emerged out of the Enlightenment, rejected the Bible and religious dogma as sources of objective truth but insisted that objective truth could be discovered by human reason.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">For the post-modernists, however, objective truth does not exist. Truth, therefore, is not something to be discovered, but something to be created. For the post-modernists, truth is very “I” or <i>ego</i> centered. It is all about me and what feels good and right to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was clearly expressed by one couple that was interviewed in the above article. They said,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">We discovered the God within. That’s why we need God. Because we are God. God gives me the ability to create my own godliness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This, of course, is the lie of the serpent to Adam and Eve that if they would ignore what God had said and follow their own desires, <i>you will be like God, knowing good and evil</i> (Genesis 3:1-5). In other words, they did not need God to know good and evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They could become like God and create their own moral and religious system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sadly, this kind of thinking has become mainstream in American culture as is indicated by the following examples of spiritual counterfeits that Jesus predicted would come. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In Matthew 24:4-5, He warned his disciples, saying, <i>Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Here are 5 deceptive views of Jesus that have emerged in the modern world: (1) the New Age Jesus of Oprah Winfrey, (2) the Fictitious Jesus of the DaVinci Code, (3) the Malleable Jesus of Liberal Theology, (4) the “Nice” Jesus of Popular Culture, and (5) the Distorted Jesus of Religious Cults.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p align="center" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Deception #1<br />The New Age Jesus of Oprah Winfrey<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span>This post-modern way of thinking has opened the door for a spiritual, New Age Jesus to emerge that has its roots in Eastern mysticism and ancient Gnosticism. This concept of Jesus, which has been popularized by Oprah Winfrey, is not the real historical Jesus of Scripture but a mystical Jesus, waiting to </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">be discovered within every person’s consciousness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Winfrey has helped popularize the New Age author, Eckhart Tolle, and his book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Earth</i>, in which he presents Jesus as a Spiritual Master, along with Buddha and others, who have helped humanity discover the “Christ consciousness” that he says is already residing within every person.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Tolle has also promoted an ancient heresy about Jesus called Gnosticism. Somewhat like the modern New Age movement, ancient Gnosticism emphasized the “spiritual” over the material and went so far as to even deny the reality of the material, physical world. Gnostic “Christians” denied that Jesus had a real physical body and claimed He only appeared to have such a body. John the apostle confronted this false teaching in I John 3:2-3, saying,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN" style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In this same vein of post-modern, New Age thinking, Deepak Chopra, the well-known </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Indian medical doctor and purveyor of Eastern mysticism, </span><span lang="EN" style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">published a book entitled </span><i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Jesus</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">. Chopra admits that the Jesus of his book cannot be found in the Bible. Where did he get information for his Jesus? He says that he researched the cultural, political, and religious contexts of Jesus’ time, “Then I went into incubation, meditation, and I allowed this story to unfold.” His Jesus is a product of his own mind, thoughts, and imaginations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This New Age Jesus is completely divorced from the Jesus of Scripture and any rational thought. This New Age Jesus is based in feelings, emotions, and over-active imaginations. This New Age Jesus is just one of the many counterfeits that Jesus warned would appear and deceive many. </span></span></p><p align="center" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Deception #2<br />The Fictitious Jesus of <i>The Davinci
Code</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The very popular novel, <i>The Davinci
Code</i>, made fantastic and false claims about Jesus that impacted many people.
We must remember, however, that the author does not claim his work to be “history.”
On the title page are the words, “A Novel.” <i>The <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">Davinci Code</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;"> is a genre of
literature known as “historical fiction.”</span> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The author of “historical fiction” sets
their story in a real historical setting with real people and events. He then
inserts his own fictional characters and creates his own fictional but
intriguing story. This is exactly what Dan Brown did with <i>The Davinci Code.</i>
His story includes Leonardo Da Vinci, his painting of the Last Supper, Jesus,
the Bible, the Council of Nicaea, and more. For the naïve, it comes across as
very believable. It is, however, a novel. It is “historical fiction.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>The Davinci Code</i> presents fictional accounts of Jesus and of how the
Bible came into existence. Concerning Jesus, Brown has one of his fictional characters
saying that His followers considered Him a mortal prophet, and not the Son of
God. This fictional character goes on to say that Jesus was given Divine status
by Constantine for political purposes and by the vote of the Council of Nicea in
<span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">a.d.</span> 325. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This is blatantly false as is
demonstrated on the pages of my latest book, <i>Discovering the Real Jesus</i>.
The truth is that the Council of Nicaea merely affirmed what the Church had
always believed about Jesus. The Council of Nicaea was convened because a
Christian leader, named Arius, was teaching that Jesus was a created being and
not fully God. This was contrary to what the Church had always believed and
preached.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Because Arius was causing so much
confusion and leading many astray, this Council met together, deliberated, and
issued the Nicene Creed by which they affirmed what the Church had believed
from the beginning. Concerning Jesus, the Creed says,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-weight: normal; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of
God, born of the Father before all ages. God from <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;</span> through him all things were made. For
us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy
Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake he was
crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and
rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He
ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He
will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his
kingdom will have no end.<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></p><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><strong><i><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-weight: normal; padding: 0in;">The Da Vinci Code</span></i></strong><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-weight: normal; padding: 0in;"> is an intriguing novel, but
it does not convey historical facts. More than </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">anything, it conveys the liberal,
agnostic worldview of the author who is a gifted storyteller. </span></span><i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>To be continued . . .</b></span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">This article was derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s new book, </span><i style="color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">Discovering the Real Jesus</i><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">, available from Amazon and his website at </span><a href="http://eddiehyatt.com" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">http://eddiehyatt.com</a><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">.</span></p>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-56344612740797709992023-03-19T16:22:00.001-07:002023-03-19T16:22:29.154-07:00WHY THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION WAS WRONG TO EXPEL SADDLEBACK CHURCH<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The Southern Baptist
Convention recently expelled Saddleback Church in southern California because
of a woman on their staff who carries title of “teaching pastor.” According to
Baptist Press, Saddleback was declared </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">to “not be in friendly
cooperation with the necessary credentials under the Southern Baptist
Convention.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">This is an example of how “institutionalism” quenches the gifts and
ministries of the Holy Spirit. “Institutionalism” is defined as “an emphasis on
organization at the expense of other factors.” In the church, institutionalism
always comes at the expense of the freedom and life of the Holy Spirit expressed
through all members of the body of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">In her book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3Z0gWry">In the Spirit We’re Equal 2<sup>nd</sup> Edition</a></i>,
Dr. Susan Hyatt documents how every genuine revival in church history has led
to the elevation of women. This happens because in revival the church tends to
give more emphasis to the dynamic work of the Holy Spirit than to
organizational and institutional concerns.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">John Wesley, for example, began commissioning uneducated men and women
to preach the gospel although opposed to it at first. When asked why he changed
his mind about commissioning women preachers, he replied, “Because God owns
them in the conversion of sinners and who am I to withstand God” (Hyatt, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3Z0gWry">In
the Spirit We’re Equal 2<sup>nd</sup> Edition</a></i>, 253). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I appreciate the Southern Baptist Convention’s commitment to the authority
of Scripture. However, I pray that they will open themselves to the dynamic
work of the Holy Spirit in their midst and consider the following Biblical truths.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: center;"><b><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Women
Included in the Leadership Gifts of Ephesians 4:11<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The English noun “pastor” is
found only once in our English Bibles and that is in Ephesians 4:11 where Paul
includes it in that list of leadership gifts, along with the apostle, prophet,
evangelist, and teacher. That women are included is made clear by how Paul
introduces this list of ministry or ascension gifts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">In 4:8, Paul speaks of
Christ’s ascension and says, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When He
ascended on high He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men</i> (NKJV). The
word “men” in this passage is translated from the Greek word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anthropoi</i>, which is gender-inclusive and
literally means “people.” This is why the NIV, NLT, and NRSV have all translated
the word as “people.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">If Paul had wanted to confine
these gifts to males only, he could have done so by using the gender-specific
Greek word for man, which is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aner.</i> Instead,
he used <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anthropoi</i>, which left open
the possibility of women also functioning in these leadership gifts, including
that of pastor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I Timothy 2:11-12 Does Not
Restrict Women from Pastoring<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Some will surely protest and
point to I Timothy 2:11-12 where Paul says he does not allow a woman to teach
or have authority over a man. However, a close examination of this passage
makes clear that Paul is addressing a particular situation with Timothy in
Ephesus where he is dealing with false teachings in that city.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">This is indicated by Paul’s
use of the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">authentein</i>, which is translated
“authority” in this passage. It is of utmost importance to note that this is
not the normal Greek word for “authority.” In fact, <i>authentein</i> is found
only here in the entire New Testament. Neither Paul nor any other writer ever
uses it, except for Paul’s use of it in this one passage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The normal New Testament
word for “authority” is <i>exousia</i> and it is used by Paul and other New
Testament writers over 100 times. Nowhere are women told they cannot exercise <i>exousia</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">If Paul were here addressing
the normal exercise of “authority” in the church, he would have used <i>exousia</i>.
His use of <i>authentein</i> indicates that he is addressing a unique and local
situation in Ephesus and is not giving instructions for all women and churches
everywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Concluding Thought form the
Early Pentecostal Revival<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">At the beginning of the 20<sup>th</sup>
century, the great Pentecostal Revival exploded in growth all over the world. In
a conversation many years ago with Dr. Harvey Cox, who served as Professor of
Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, he commented that a key to this explosive
growth was what he called the “quasi-chaotic” character of the movement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">He used that expression in a
positive sense to emphasize that the movement was not hampered and weighed down
with bureaucratic, organizational structures. The movement relied primarily on
the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit for its life, mission, and direction. In
this milieu, women flourished as evangelists, teachers, church planters, and pastors.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The early Pentecostals were
also a people committed to a Bible orientation and sought a healthy balance
between Word and Spirit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the January
1908 edition of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apostolic Faith</i>, the
official publication of the Azusa Street Revival, William Seymour and the
publishers gave a biblical basis for their acceptance of women pastors and
leaders. They wrote, </span><span style="color: windowtext; line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: windowtext; line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Before
Pentecost, the woman could only go into the ‘court of the women’ and not into
the inner court. But when our Lord poured out Pentecost He brought all those
faithful women with the other disciples into the upper room and God baptized
them all in the same room and made no difference. All the women received the
anointed oil of the Holy Ghost and were able to preach the same as men. They
both were co-workers in Eden and both fell into sin; so they both have to come </span><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">together</span><span style="color: windowtext; line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> and work
in the Gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Let’s pray that the Southern
Baptist Convention will experience genuine Holy Spirit revival and that their
leaders will realize that in this new and better covenant God is calling women
as well as men to serve Him in every area of ministry and leadership in the
Church. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-top: 8.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 102%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Dr. Eddie
Hyatt is an author, historian, and ordained minister. This article is derived primarily
from <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3Z0gWry">In the Spirit We’re Equal 2<span style="font-size: 16.6667px;">nd</span> Edition</a></i> by his wife Dr.
Susan Hyatt, and is available from Amazon and their websites at <span style="color: #c00000;"><a href="http://eddiehyatt.com">http://eddiehyatt.com</a></span>
and <span style="color: #c00000;"><a href="http://godswordtowomen.org">http://godswordtowomen.org</a></span>.
For more information on institutionalism and how it has affected the church
throughout history, see Eddie’s book, <i>2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity</i>,
published by Charisma House.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-15040277191897374372022-10-30T16:14:00.003-07:002022-10-30T16:36:10.876-07:00WHY I HAVE NO FEAR OF WITCHES, HEXES AND CURSES<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">In the early days of our ministry, a well-known witch attended services in the church Sue and I were planting in eastern Canada. Several people came to me concerned about the presence of this witch. They wondered if she was trying to work some spell or sorcery on our fledgling congregation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">Several of us met together to pray about the situation. While praying, I saw a vision of smoke (representing the devil) and then a wind (representing the Spirit of God) that came along and blew the smoke away. The smoke had no substance or strength with which to resist the wind. It was suddenly gone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">At the very same time another person saw a similar vision and then a powerful, prophetic word came forth that gave me a new perspective on the devil. God said, “My power is so far surpassing any power possessed by the devil, he is not worthy of the attention you are giving him.”<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">Satan is a Defeated Foe<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">When it comes to spiritual warfare, we must realize that there was a tremendous shift that took place at the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Satan was not annihilated but he was stripped of his authority. He is like a 5-star general who is court-martialed, stripped of his authority, and drummed out of the army.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">The general still exists but no longer has any authority. If, however, the general puts on his uniform with all his military medals, he will be able to exercise authority over those who do know the truth of his court-martial. But for those who know the truth, even a private can tell the former general to “get lost.” So it is with even the newest babe "in Christ."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">The overwhelming victory of Christ over Satan is delineated by Paul in Ephesians 1:15-23. He speaks of Christ being raised from the dead by the mighty power of God and then being seated <i>at His right hand in the heavenly places</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">The “right hand” in Scripture is symbolic of authority and power. Psalm 98:1, for example, says of God, <i>His right hand and His holy arm have gotten Him the victory</i>. When Paul says that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God, he is saying that Jesus is seated at the pinnacle of the universe, in the place of ultimate authority and power.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">This place where Christ is seated is <i>far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come</i> (Eph. 1:21). It doesn’t matter what kind of principality or power it may be–even Satan himself–-the place where Christ is seated is <i>far above</i> them all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">And here is what is incredible! Paul says that the same power that raised Jesus from dead and seated Him in that place of ultimate authority, far above any power possessed by the devil, is now at work in you and me. No wonder Satan trembles at the child of God who knows his/her position and authority in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">T.L. Osborn Understood Satan’s Defeat<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">I had the privilege of working with the elder statesman of modern, miracle evangelism, the late Dr. T. L. Osborn. T. L was a firm believer in the absolute victory of Jesus over Satan and demonic forces, and he expressed this in his overseas crusades where much fear and superstition existed concerning Satan and demons.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">He told, for example, about a miracle crusade his ministry sponsored in Africa. Among the many thousands that had gathered in the open air were hundreds of witch doctors who had come there with their fetishes to cast curses and spells on the foreign preacher.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">Knowing this, the supporting pastors wanted to lay hands on him and pray for his protection before going on the platform. T. L. emphatically refused their prayer. He said, “I would not insult my Lord in that way.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">T. L. focused his attention on preaching the good news of Jesus and His victory over all the powers of darkness and hell. Many came to Christ that day and many were miraculously set free from all kinds of illnesses and bondages. And some Christian pastors realized that they did not have to be afraid of the devil.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">This New and Better Covenant<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;">Even under the Old Covenant the enemies of God could not cast spells and curses on His people. Balak hired the prophet Balaam to curse Israel but after seven attempts he had to admit he could not do it. <i>How shall I curse whom God has not cursed</i>, Balaam asked (Numbers 23:8).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 102%;">If this were true under the Old Covenant, how much more is it true
under this new and better covenant based on the shed blood of Jesus Christ! Remember
the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19. After emerging from the tomb as a mighty
conqueror over death, hell, and the grave, He said to His disciples, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 102%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 102%;">All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 102%;"> . . ..</span><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 102%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 20.4px; margin: 8pt 0in 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 17.68px;"><span style="color: #660000;">Dr. Eddie Hyatt is the founder of <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com">Hyatt Int'l Ministries</a>, the <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/project1726.html">"1726 Project"</a> and <a href="https://dreddiehyatt.podbean.com/">The Eddie Hyatt Podcast</a>. His books are available on <a href="https://amzn.to/3NhSLkl">Amazon </a>and his website at <a href="http://eddiehyatt.com">http://eddiehyatt.com</a>.</span></span></p>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-50126208033643393052022-06-03T15:38:00.001-07:002022-06-03T15:38:47.376-07:00THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 4; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDTYsP6LTGV7hd6AlVfL8f9v2Gb3Lq9oxCkSwI3R0eHkLp8aVXPkhl_NJPoV9izUH1v3GpwfrIXqYKQsLpeOq4UCQ03zuRlYxxCU9o42Nvk_mmCdN7ZNEMdQzGj1QzWr3bmXW2PXBXYEM02fS-c7Dt5ZGztzKbU_G7jNU_DhfhSbxwb5vX_UFHCklv/s375/Pentecost-New.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="375" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDTYsP6LTGV7hd6AlVfL8f9v2Gb3Lq9oxCkSwI3R0eHkLp8aVXPkhl_NJPoV9izUH1v3GpwfrIXqYKQsLpeOq4UCQ03zuRlYxxCU9o42Nvk_mmCdN7ZNEMdQzGj1QzWr3bmXW2PXBXYEM02fS-c7Dt5ZGztzKbU_G7jNU_DhfhSbxwb5vX_UFHCklv/w405-h270/Pentecost-New.jpg" width="405" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Franklin Gothic Demi",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-outline-level: 4; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Franklin Gothic Demi",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;">The
Baptism in the Holy Spirit<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: center;">By
Eddie L. Hyatt<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 24.0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I indeed baptize you with
water unto repentance, but He who comes <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">after</span>
me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
fire</span> </span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">(Matthew 3:11).</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; text-transform: uppercase;">i.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The baptism in the holy spirit is an
enduement of power for effective life and service.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 24.0pt; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The word “baptize” comes from the Greek word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">baptizo</i> which means to “immerse” or
“soak;” therefore, to be “baptized in the Holy Spirit” is to be completely
under the influence of the Holy Spirit.<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 24.0pt; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">B.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the book of Acts, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is used
interchangeably with expressions such as <i>they received the Holy Spirit</i>
or they were <i>filled with the Holy Spirit</i> or <i>the Holy Spirit fell upon
them</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 24.0pt; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">C.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The baptism in the Holy Spirit is given to empower the
believer to be an effective witness of Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">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 </span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">(Jesus
in Acts 1:8).</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 24.0pt; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; text-transform: uppercase;">Ii.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: -.4pt;">in the
book of acts there are 5 instances of people being baptized in the holy spirit,
and in 3 of those it explicitely says that the recipients spoke in tongues, and
in the other 2 it can be implied.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 24.0pt; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">1.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: -.2pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And they were all filled with
the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them
utterance</span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: -.2pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (Acts 2:4).</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">2.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When Peter was asked the meaning of the
speaking in tongues on the Day of Pentecost, he replied that it signified (was
the sign) of the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy that in the last days God would
pour out His Spirit on all flesh (Acts 2:15-16).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 24.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">B.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">At the House of Cornelius (Acts 10:44-48).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: -.2pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The skeptical Jewish believers, who accompanied
Peter to Cornelius’ house, were convinced that these Gentiles had truly
received the Holy Spirit the same as they had, <i>For they heard them speak
with tongues and magnify God </i>(Acts 10:45-46).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 24.0pt; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">C.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In Ephesus (Acts 19:1-6).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In Ephesus Paul found certain disciples and asked them if they received
the Holy Spirit when they believed. When they said they did not even know that
there was a Holy Spirit Paul gave them further instructions and when he had
laid hands on them, <i>The Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke with
tongues and prophesied</i> (Acts 19:1-6).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 24.0pt; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">D.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the Samaritan Revival (Acts 8:4-17).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Philip saw great response to his preaching in Samaria with many
miraculous healings, water baptisms and <i>great joy</i> in the city. But in
spite of all these manifestations, Peter and John were sent from Jerusalem to
pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit <i>for as yet He had fallen upon none
of them</i>. After praying for them to receive the Holy Spirit, Peter and John
laid hands on them, <i>And they received the Holy Spirit</i>. Although speaking
in tongues is not mentioned, it is obvious that Peter and John had a criterion
by which they determined if the people had been baptized in the Holy Spirit,
and that criterion must have been speaking in tongues.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 24.0pt; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">E.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Paul’s baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">At the time of Paul’s baptism when Ananias laid hands on him that he
might receive his sight and <i>be</i> <i>filled with the Holy Spirit</i>, there
is no mention of speaking in tongues. Nonetheless, it may be assumed, for Paul
later wrote to the Corinthians, saying, <i>I thank my God I speak with tongues
more than you all</i> (I Corinthians 14:18). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; text-transform: uppercase;">III.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>HOw is the baptism in the holy Spirit
received?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b>Ask.
</b>Jesus said in<b> </b>Luke 11:13, <i>How much more will the heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">B.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b>Believe.</b>
Jesus said in Mark 11:24, <i>Whatever things you desire when you pray, believe
that you receive them, and you will have them</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">C.<b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Receive
or “Actively Take.” </b>Luke says in Acts 8:15, 17, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When they (Peter and John) had come down, [they] prayed for them that
they might <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">receive </b>the Holy Spirit.
. . . Then they laid hands on them, and they <b>received</b> the Holy Spirit.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">D.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b>Allow
to Flow Out.</b> Jesus said of the one who is thirsty and comes to Him and
drinks, <i>Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water, but this He spoke
concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive</i> (John
7:37-38). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Holy Spirit comes in for the purpose of then flowing out to others.
Once you have asked, believed and received, then open your heart and mouth in
praise to God and allow the Holy Spirit to flow out in that initial sign of
speaking in tongues. In their book, <i>The Holy Spirit and You</i>, Dennis and
Rita Bennett say, “We are convinced, from the Scripture and after praying with
thousands of people to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit over the past ten
years and more, that there is no believer who cannot speak in tongues, if he or
she is properly prepared, and really ready to trust the Lord” (Bennett, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Holy Spirit and You</i>, 75).</span><o:p></o:p></p>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-56107741327230050702022-06-02T11:59:00.008-07:002022-06-03T08:22:08.008-07:00NEW BOOK BY SUSAN HYATT COULD SPARK A MASS MOVEMENT FROM ISLAM TO CHRISTIANITY<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">Dr. Susan Hyatt’s latest book, the 2</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.5556px;">nd</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> edition of her classic, </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3mevKlm">In the Spirit We’re Equal</a></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">, has the potential to ignite
a Reformation that will transform how the Church thinks about women and thereby
ignite a mass movement from Islam to Christianity. </span><o:p style="font-size: 14pt;"></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">This was made very clear to me about 12 years ago when the Lord visited me in an unusual manner and instructed
me to “identify” with Sue and her two-fold vision to articulate the Biblical
basis for the equality of women with men "in Christ" and to “write God’s women
back into history.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">It began early one morning around 3 a.m.
when I suddenly found myself wide awake. Desiring to pray, but not wanting to
disturb Sue, I quietly slipped out of bed and made my way to another room where
I sat on a couch. The only light in the room came from a streetlight just
outside the window. It was an incredibly quiet and tranquil setting. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">As I quietly communed with the Lord, I had
a very unusual experience. My soul seemed to become supernaturally quiet, and I
heard the voice of the Lord in my heart, saying, “I want you to be more
identified with Sue and what she is doing.” There was a moment of silence and
then I heard words that astounded me. <b>“This message has the power to begin a
mass movement from Islam to Christianity, beginning with the women.”</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">As I sat in the darkness contemplating
what I had just heard, an African woman, <span style="background: white;">Ayaan Hirsi Ali,</span> came to mind whom I had heard speak boldly about
the inherent dangers of Islam. She had grown up in a Muslim family in Africa and when
barely a teenager her father arranged for her to marry a Muslim man in Canada.
She escaped to the Netherlands where she received a college education, became an
atheist, and was then elected to the Dutch parliament where she was an
outspoken critic of Islam.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">When I heard her story, I had wondered why
she did not become a Christian when she left Islam. As I sat quietly that
morning pondering what I had just heard, I suddenly knew the answer. Why would
she leave a hard form of patriarchal oppression in Islam for a softer form in
Christianity? If she had known the truths in this book, I believe she would
have become a Christian. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">From that moment, I knew that the message
contained in this book is vital for world evangelism and for the Church to
truly be the Church—a fully functioning body where people function, not
according to their gender (man or woman) but according to their God-given gifts
and callings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">It is my prayer that God will use this
book to awaken his Church to the fact that the Holy Spirit empowers women as
well as men to leadership in His body and to any and every sort of ministry and
function. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">I am convinced that this book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3mevKlm">In the Spirit We’re Equal (2nd Edition)</a>,</i> has the power to ignite a Reformation on
the scale of the Protestant Reformation that Luther ignited when he nailed his
95 theses to the Wittenberg Church door. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">This article was derived from The Foreword, written by Dr. Eddie Hyatt, for the 503 page book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3mevKlm">In the Spirit We're Equal (2nd Edition)</a>,</i> by Dr. Susan Hyatt. The book is available from Amazon and their website bookstore at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/bookstore.html">www.eddiehyatt.com/bookstore.html</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> <a href="https://amzn.to/3mevKlm">https://amzn.to/3mevKlm</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_SgZjI9RNS1wPZvz1Ou-sqKQuNt-KfaPbmbY9s4Px5TrdiqH9wgo_BnidaHKwyTCPK9NUARaHQNK6cf-44mtrWe7whmdtQ9_rUhCdIAoSl42M3im_YoM9azHnIK4U_KkUkgLtv4SxM3WGzrmtK2V51OSilMUPmwM01boLcJMjllDnGyW0dIe-6iq/s293/cover-In%20the%20Spirit%20%20(2nd%20Edition).webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="196" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_SgZjI9RNS1wPZvz1Ou-sqKQuNt-KfaPbmbY9s4Px5TrdiqH9wgo_BnidaHKwyTCPK9NUARaHQNK6cf-44mtrWe7whmdtQ9_rUhCdIAoSl42M3im_YoM9azHnIK4U_KkUkgLtv4SxM3WGzrmtK2V51OSilMUPmwM01boLcJMjllDnGyW0dIe-6iq/s1600/cover-In%20the%20Spirit%20%20(2nd%20Edition).webp" width="196" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 9.0pt; margin: 9pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-37812248049466115652022-02-06T10:11:00.019-08:002022-02-06T15:24:46.749-08:00OVERCOMING THE GIANTS IN YOUR LIFE<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;">5 Lessons from David's Takedown of Goliath</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3HlHZbV4fiwiLGh1vsJS3kuGkJHUnmgTxgKMc97qzfUy1xW9GTUW_gDIVKqLJMz3LiSN6wyvuix_-BcUdg2Vz5vQu11MtFuE56D8Ns7DyUTqLi3dua-67uqlf9aoLNw_AijDaOEWf_aL8BLKSL0QY6ERx4VUIJ82l9wapsz1iU6BaMl3SFaqRZ7MY=s341" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="227" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3HlHZbV4fiwiLGh1vsJS3kuGkJHUnmgTxgKMc97qzfUy1xW9GTUW_gDIVKqLJMz3LiSN6wyvuix_-BcUdg2Vz5vQu11MtFuE56D8Ns7DyUTqLi3dua-67uqlf9aoLNw_AijDaOEWf_aL8BLKSL0QY6ERx4VUIJ82l9wapsz1iU6BaMl3SFaqRZ7MY=s320" width="213" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>BOLDLY CONFRONT THE GIANT</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">Then David said to
Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight
with this Philistine</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">. (I Sam. 17:32).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">So
it was when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that
David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">.
(I Sam. 17:48)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">II.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>DON’T TRY TO BATTLE IN SOMEONE
ELSE’S ARMOR</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>So Saul clothed David
with his armor and put a bronze helmet on his head. And David said to Saul, “I
cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.</i> (I
Sam. 17:38-39)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">III.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>USE WHAT YOU HAVE AND ARE COMFORTABLE WITH</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>And he took his
[shepherd’s] staff in his hand and he chose for himself five smooth stones from
the brook . . . and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the
Philistine.</i> (I Sam. 17:40).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IV.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>FACE YOUR GIANT IN THE NAME OF THE LORD</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Then David said to the
Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I
come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel,
whom you have defied.”</i> (I Sam. 17:45)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">V.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>DECLARE YOUR FAITH IN THE FACE OF THE GIANT</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph"><!--[if !supportLists]-->
</p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Then David said to the
Philistine, This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike
you and take your head from you. Then all this assembly shall know that the
LORD does not save with sword and spear, for the battle is the LORD’S.</i> (I Sam.
17:45-47).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">Dr. Eddie Hyatt will teach this message on The Eddie Hyatt Podcast beginning Wednesday Febrary 9, 2022. The episodes can be downloaded on demand by going to <a href="https://dreddiehyatt.podbean.com/">https://dreddiehyatt.podbean.com/</a>. Check out Eddie's website at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com">www.eddiehyatt.com</a>.</span></p><p></p>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-49316529832498606472021-02-17T08:50:00.003-08:002021-02-17T09:48:37.765-08:00THE PROPHETHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-9xY5cCEMqW_ETRho4SUJV_n5lekGk2oEOEy6RWzl7PA0kWMWiiEmn02rxB0r1P5n-zZGjjYffQ3Wu46r9aSZ60qxVjPDeBMuUnksYXqV0L8IleBO-cRzNWRvneOrjdnwMVObQxfjH4/s375/Pentecost-New.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-9xY5cCEMqW_ETRho4SUJV_n5lekGk2oEOEy6RWzl7PA0kWMWiiEmn02rxB0r1P5n-zZGjjYffQ3Wu46r9aSZ60qxVjPDeBMuUnksYXqV0L8IleBO-cRzNWRvneOrjdnwMVObQxfjH4/s320/Pentecost-New.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: 13pt; text-align: justify;">Robert Morris, Senior Pastor at Gateway
Church in Southlake, TX, told of an individual approaching him and saying, “You
have lots of good leaders around you but you don’t have a prophet.” Morris said
he replied, “I don’t need a prophet; I have the Holy Spirit.”</span></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Morris obvisouly understands that there is a great difference between the
Old Testament era, when the masses were dependent on prophets to hear from God,
and the New Testament era wherein the Holy Spirit is given to every believer
and all have the potential to hear from God. <span style="letter-spacing: -0.3pt; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: center; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><b><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Shifting
from Old Testament to New Testament Thinking<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">In
the Old Testament, the work of the Holy Spirit was confined and limited. He
came only upon certain prophets, judges, and kings such as Moses, Deborah,
Gideon, Samuel, David, and Elijah. He came only at certain times and for special
occasions, such as the dedication of Moses’ tabernacle and Solomon’s temple.
The masses were not privileged to have the Spirit of God and had to enquire of
a prophet in order to hear from God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">This all
changed, however, with the coming of the Messiah and the promised outpouring of
the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. With the coming of Messiah Jesus and
His redemptive work, a new era dawned. The ministry of the prophet was not
discontinued; it was expanded to include the entire believing community. This
is what Dr. Roger Stronstad has called “the prophethood of all believers.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: center; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b>Predicted
by Old Testament Prophets</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Old
Testament prophets spoke of this wonderful time when prophetic ministry would
be expanded to include all of God’s people. This was the prediction of the Old
Testament prophet Joel who declared,</span><span class="text"><span style="background: white; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span class="text"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 13pt;">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. And also on My</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 13pt;">
</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 13pt;">menservants and on</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 13pt;">My</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 13pt;">maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days</span></i></span><span class="text"><span style="background: white; font-size: 13pt;">
(Joel 2:28-29).</span></span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">In
Jewish/rabbinic tradition, this passage was associated with the coming of the
Messiah and the messianic age, also known as “the last days.” The messianic age
would be a time when, unlike the era in which they lived, the Holy Spirit would
be poured out on all of God’s people. Gender would not be an issue as both sons
and daughters would prophesy. Age would not matter and even the very lowest of
society—the menservants and maidservants—would experience this outpouring of
the Holy Spirit and would prophesy. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">On
the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was being poured out and the
disciples were speaking in other tongues, Peter explained to the questioning
onlookers what was happening by quoting Joel’s prophecy. Peter made it clear
that the messianic blessing for which they were looking had arrived. He did
this by pointing out that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this is that</i>;
in other words, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this</i> that you see
happening here today is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> which
Joel prophesied would come to pass. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Peter
further made his point by substituting Joel’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it shall come to pass <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">afterwards</b></i>
with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it shall come to pass <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">in the last days</b></i>. As far as Peter
was concerned, the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus had ushered in
the promised era. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">last</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">days</i> had dawned and the Spirit of
prophecy was now being made available to all who would receive Jesus, the risen
Savior and Lord (Acts 2:14-18). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Moses
also spoke of this wonderful era when God’s Spirit would be made available to
all of God’s people. When a young Joshua wanted him to stop two elders from
prophesying in the camp, Moses passionately replied, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Are you jealous for my sake</i>? He then earnestly declared his heart’s
desire, <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">O</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">h, that all the LORD'S people were prophets and that the LORD would put
His Spirit upon them</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">(Num. 11:29). </span><span style="font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Moses
was, no doubt, expressing God’s heart when he expressed his desire that all of
God’s people were prophets. This earnest desire began to be fulfilled on the
Day of Pentecost with the outpouring of God’s Spirit on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all flesh</i>. Stronstad says that Luke, in recording these events on
the Day of Pentecost, <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Has
thus reported the actual historical fulfillment of Moses’s earnest desire: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Would that all the Lord’s people were
prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them</i> (Hyatt, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3s6VDor">Prophets and Prophecy</a></i>, 105)!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: center; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b>A
Nation of Prophets</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">What
a change from former times when the masses would have to seek out a “prophet”
to hear from God. Now the prophetic Spirit is resting on all of God’s people,
and the gift of prophecy is potentially available to all. Prophecy is no longer
the province of certain individuals, but now belongs to the entire community.
Stronstad says, <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">Here in Luke’s narrative, for the first time ever in the
redemptive history of God’s people, those people truly function as a nation of
prophets—the prophethood of all believers </span><span style="font-size: 13pt;">(Hyatt, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3s6VDor">Prophets and Prophecy</a></i>, 106).<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">This
is the context for understanding the words of John in John 7:39 where he says
that the Holy Spirit was<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> not yet given</i>.
John spoke this when quoting the words of Jesus during the Feast of Tabernacles
in Jerusalem when He cried out, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whoever
is thirsty let him come to Me and drink; as the Scripture has said, “Out of his
belly will flow rivers of living water</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">John explains
that Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit whom<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> those who believe on Him should receive <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">for the Holy Spirit was not yet given</b></i>. At that time, the Holy
Spirit had not yet been given in the universal sense as predicted by Joel and
anticipated by Moses. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">At
that point in history (before Pentecost) the Holy Spirit had only been given to
certain prophets and kings, to John the Baptist in the womb, and to Jesus at
His baptism. The time when all of God’s people would have the Spirit of God was
still future. That time arrived on the Day of Pentecost when they <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i></b> were filled with the Holy Spirit
and <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i></b> began to speak
prophetically as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 17pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><b>No Elite Company of Prophets
<br />
In the New Testament Church</b></span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">There is a popular contemporary teaching that God began
restoring the “office” of the prophet to the church in the 1980s. The problem
with this idea is that neither Jesus nor the Twelve instituted church
“offices.” In fact, the word “office” is not found in the Greek New Testament. </span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Although the English word “office’ is found in I
Timothy 3:1, it has been added by the translators and is not found in the
Greek. The passage literally reads, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If
anyone desires oversight, he desires a good work</i>. The language is
functional, not official.</span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Words
used to describe leaders in the New Testament, such as apostle, prophet, pastor,
bishop, etc., are functional in nature describing the leaders’ task, rather
than official describing their authority and status. They are never used as
titles. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">In Acts, for example, Luke mentions Paul by name more
than 120 times and not once does he say, “Apostle Paul,” but merely “Paul.” In
2 Peter 3:14, Peter refers to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our beloved
brother Paul</i>. In Rev. 1:9, John the apostle, in his letter to the churches,
refers to himself as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your brother and
companion in tribulation</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Their obvious avoidance of titles is understandable in light of the
words of Jesus in Matt. 23:6-12 where He warned His disciples about adopting
titles that would set themselves apart from others. He obviously saw His
disciples as a band of brothers and sisters. He said, <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">But you, do not be called “Rabbi”; for One is your Teacher, the Christ,
and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is
your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is
your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your
servant.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">The early church obviously took
this admonition of Jesus seriously, which is why Rudolph Bultman, a liberal
theologian, but an astute historian, said, </span><span style="font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.3pt;">Neither
in the earliest Palestinian congregation nor in earliest Hellenistic
Christianity was there originally any thought of establishing church
regulations and offices </span><span style="font-size: 13pt;">(Hyatt,
<i><a href="https://amzn.to/3s6VDor">Prophets and Prophecy</a></i>, 108).</span><span style="font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.3pt; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="STANDARDPARAGRAPH" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b>Functional
Language</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="STANDARDPARAGRAPH" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Some will surely
ask, “But what about certain individuals like Agabus and Silas who are referred
to as prophets in the book of Acts?” First of all, note that they are never
called “Prophet Agabus” or “Prophet Silas.” The word is never used as a title. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="STANDARDPARAGRAPH" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Fee is, no doubt,
correct when he says that those who are referred to as “prophets” in the New
Testament are merely those who prophesy more than the other members of the
prophetic community. In other words, the designation is functional, not
official. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="STANDARDPARAGRAPH" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">For example, it is
obvious that in Paul’s use of the noun “prophet” in I Corinthians 14:29-32, he is
using functional language meaning “the one prophesying.” Although some think he
is referring to a special group of “prophets,” it is obvious that the whole
community is being addressed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="STANDARDPARAGRAPH" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">This is confirmed
by the fact that inclusive language is used throughout, such as in 14:32, where
he says, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For you can <b>all</b> prophesy
one by one, that <b>all</b> may learn and <b>all</b> may be encouraged</i>. Fee
comments on this passage, saying,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="STANDARDPARAGRAPH" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.3pt;">This does not mean, of course, that all will or do prophesy. It is
simply to note that Paul’s concern here is not with a group of prophets, but
with the functioning of prophecy in the assembly. The noun “prophets,”
therefore, is to be understood as functional language similar to the use of
interpreter in v. 28 </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;">(Hyatt, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3s6VDor">Prophets and Prophecy</a></i>, 109).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.3pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">In the Old Testament era, when the masses did not
possess the Holy Spirit, individuals would seek out a prophet to hear the mind
and heart of the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the New
Testament, however, there is not a single example of someone seeking out a
“prophet” to hear from God. Neither is there a single example of Paul, or any
New Testament writer, instructing their readers to seek out the “prophets” in
their midst to hear what they have to say. </span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">To tell New Testament believers to seek out a prophet
would be a reversion to a former and less desirable time. Instead, the obvious
assumption is that they all have the Spirit of God. The emphasis is on everyone
living in the Spirit, adhering to the Scriptures, loving one another, listening
to one another, and keeping Christ central. </span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: center; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><b>A Truth Whose Time Has Come</b></span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Martin Luther brought to the church the truth of the
“priesthood of all believers.” It is time that we also understand the truth of
the “prophethood of all believers.” In the same way that we do not need a
special priest to go to God on our behalf, we do not need a special prophet to
act as God’s mouthpiece for us. </span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Let us remember the words of Paul in in I Tim. 2:5.
He wrote, <i>For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man
Christ Jesus</i>. The prophethood of all believers is a truth whose time has
come.</span></span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: auto; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: justify; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric ideograph-other;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #660000;">This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s latest
book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3s6VDor">Prophets and Prophecy</a></i>, available from Amazon and his website at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com">www.eddiehyatt.com</a>.</span></span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-62772196420693362932021-01-06T08:21:00.001-08:002021-01-06T08:21:30.703-08:00RESPONDING TO THE IDOLOTROUS PRAYER OF THE 117TH CONGRESS<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Every
American should be startled and deeply concerned by the idolatrous, un-American
prayer that opened the current session of the U.S. Congress. Democrat
representative, Emmanuel Cleaver, a Methodist minister, closed his politically
correct prayer by invoking the names of foreign gods, saying,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">"We ask these
things in the name of the monotheistic God, Brahma, and god known by many names
by many different faiths. Amen and Awoman.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Since most Americans
profess to be Christian, you would think Jesus Christ would have earned at
least a mention, but it was not to be. Cleaver, no doubt, would insist that He
is included in the “god known by many names by many different faiths.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">In other words, for
the Democrat Party, and many Republicans as well, Jesus Christ is no longer the
unique Son of God and Savior of the world. In their secularist, postmodern worldview,
all religions worship the same God and call him by different names such as Brahma,
Allah, Krishna, Shiva Yahweh, and Jesus Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">This prayer serves to highlight
how far our culture has drifted from a Christian worldview and the original
American vision.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">This is Unbiblical and Un-American<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Cleaver’s
prayer was such a contrast to the prayer that opened the very first session of
the U.S. Congress on September 5, 1774. The delegates had met to discuss how to
respond to the British invasion of the colonies, their lockdown of the city of
Boston, and their closure of the Boston seaport. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Before
beginning their discussions, they agreed to have a time of Bible reading and
prayer. They invited Rev. Jacob Dusche, an Anglican minister from Philadelphia,
to lead them in the time of prayer. After reading the entire 35<sup>th</sup>
Psalm, Dusche began praying, saying, <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">O Lord,
our high and mighty Father, heavenly king of kings, and Lord of Lords, who dost
from Thy throne behold all the dwellers of the earth, and reignest with power
supreme over all kingdoms, empires, and governments.</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look down in mercy we beseech thee on these
our American states who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor . . . desiring
to be henceforth dependent only on Thee. Shower down upon them and the millions
they represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in
this world and crown them with everlasting joy in the world to come.</span> <b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">All this we ask in
the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, and our Savior. Amen </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">(Hyatt, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2XfVMZd">1726:The Year that Defined America</a></i>, 113).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">As
Dusche prayed, many of the delegates, particularly the Anglicans such as George
Washington and Richard Henry Lee, knelt in prayer. The Puritans and Quakers,
according to their custom, sat with bowed heads and prayed. So powerful was the
Bible reading and prayer that Dusche was invited to be the chaplain for the
Congress and to open every session with prayer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Members
of this First Continental Congress were a “Who’s Who” of America’s founding
generation. They included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander
Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and others. Every day
they lifted prayers to God in the name of Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Thirteen
years later, at the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin recalled the
power of those daily prayers that were offered in the name of Christ. Recognizing
the need for prayer at the Convention, he addressed the Convention president,
George Washington, saying,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">In
the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible to
danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers,
sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. I therefore beg leave to
move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its
blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we
proceed to business (Hyatt, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2XfVMZd">1726: The Year that Defined America</a></i>, 141-42).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Jesus Christ Was at the Center of Their Faith<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">There
is no question that the faith of the founding generation was centered in Jesus
Christ. In fact, a British-appointed governor wrote to his superiors in
England, “If you ask an American who is his master, he will tell you he has
none, nor any governor but Jesus Christ” (Hyatt, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2XfVMZd">1726: The Year that DefinedAmerica</a></i>, 81).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">This
Christ-centered faith was a fruit of the Great Awakening that transformed
colonial America. Every founder was affected to one degree or another. This
explains a prayer recorded in a prayer journal kept by George Washington in his
twenties. It reads, “Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind, and let the
world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son, Jesus Christ” (Hyatt, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2XfVMZd">1726:The Year that Defined America</a></i>, 132).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">It
also explains the Prayer Proclamation of John Hancock while serving as governor
of Massachusetts. Hancock, who also served as president of the Continental
Congress, called on the constituents of his state, and all Americans, to ask forgiveness
for their sins “through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ,” and,<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">To
overrule all the commotion in the world, to the spreading of the true religion
of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, in its purity and power, among all the people of the
earth (Hyatt, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2XfVMZd">1726: The Year that Defined America</a></i>, 171).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">This is What Made America Great<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Deuteronomy
6:13 directly confronts Cleaver’s idolatrous prayer. It reads, <i><span style="background: white;">Fear the <span class="small-caps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span></span> your God, serve him only and
take your oaths in his name</span></i><span style="background: white;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">We
gain understanding of this passage by considering the Old Testament Hebrew
words for “LORD” and “God.” “LORD” is a translation of <i>Yahweh</i> and this
was the personal name of God as revealed to Abraham, Moses, and the Jewish
people. “God” is a translation of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elohim</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, which</span> was a generic name for deity
in the ancient near East. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Yahweh
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">revealed
Himself to Israel as a personal God with self-consciousness, and will, capable
of feeling, choosing, and having a reciprocal relationship with other personal and
social beings. <i>Yahweh</i> was the personal name of the God of Israel. The
nations surrounding Israel had their <i>Elohim</i>, but <i>Yahweh</i> was their
<i>Elohim</i> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The
Deuteronomy 6:13 command reads in Hebrew, <i>Fear Yahweh your Elohim and serve
him only</i> . . .. Jesus quoted this passage to Satan in Luke 4:8 in response
to Satan offering Him all the kingdoms of this world if he would bow down and
worship him. Jesus vehemently replied, <i>Get behind Me Satan! For it is
written, “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">There
is no room for religious pluralism here. God our Creator has made Himself known
and He alone is worthy of our honor, worship, and service.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Jesus is God Incarnate<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">In
the New Testament, Jesus identified Himself with <i>Yahweh</i> of the Old
Testament. For example, in talking to a Jewish audience, Jesus said, <i>Your father
Abraham rejoiced to see My day and he saw it and was glad</i>. They answered, <i>You
are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham</i>? Jesus replied, <b><i>Before
Abraham was, I Am</i></b> (John 8:58).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Jesus
is here alluding to God’s appearance to Moses in the burning bush where He
revealed Himself by the Hebrew name <i>Yahweh</i> (Exodus 3:14). The Hebrew name
<i>Yahweh</i> is normally translated as “LORD,” but here, in Exodus 3:14, it is
translated as “I Am.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">At
this point, the Jews took up stones to stone Him because, in their minds, He had
blasphemed by identifying Himself with the God of Israel. He had not
blasphemed, however, for he was God incarnate. He was <i>Yahweh</i> made flesh,
the ultimate revelation of God to humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The
early church understood this, which is why they referred to Him by the Greek
title <i>kurios</i>, translated as “Lord” in our English Bibles. He is called
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus, and Christ Jesus the Lord. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">This
is significant for the Hebrew name <i>Yahweh</i> was translated as <i>kurios</i>
by the Septuagint, a widely used Greek translation of the Old Testament,
produced around 275 B.C. This meant that all Greek-speaking Jews would
understand the confession of Jesus as <i>kurios</i>, or Lord, to be a
confession of His deity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The Only Path to National Blessing<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Psalm
33:12 says, <i>Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD</i>, or literally, <i>Blessed
is the nation whose Elohim is Yahweh</i>. America has been blessed like no
other nation because her founders honored Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They
were not perfect but they acknowledge their need for Him and unashamedly prayed
in His name. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The
idolatrous prayer of the 117<sup>th</sup> Congress should be a wake-up call for
the American church. This is no time for indifference and compromise. We must
take a stand for our Christ-centered faith. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">We
must also be serious about praying for another Jesus revival to sweep across
the land. For only that nation whose God is the LORD has any solid hope of
being protected and blessed.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #660000;">This article is derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2XfVMZd">1726: The Year that Defined America</a></i>, available from Amazon and his website at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com">www.eddiehyatt.com</a>. He is also the founder of the <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/project1726.html">"1726 Project"</a> dedicated to educating Americans about the Christian origins of their nation out of a great, spiritual awakening. </span></span></p>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-29874981564674575502020-12-24T16:23:00.018-08:002021-02-14T10:55:31.236-08:00HOW GOD USED A GIFT OF PROPHECY TO INTRODUCE ME TO AN INDIAN AUDIENCE<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQeTZZW7xXn7p0kxGbfPbvLEUTWRX6M233tUA8EqFrWDNCZP_Asg2xF21-L4UnKaDoh_bF1G8rteTRnKxzq4TfkfwBiDHeIo1vbqcXtt3EDATAZnsohXoqiDf5sRiRJmNmCbMmmDsNMs/s640/India.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQeTZZW7xXn7p0kxGbfPbvLEUTWRX6M233tUA8EqFrWDNCZP_Asg2xF21-L4UnKaDoh_bF1G8rteTRnKxzq4TfkfwBiDHeIo1vbqcXtt3EDATAZnsohXoqiDf5sRiRJmNmCbMmmDsNMs/w376-h282/India.jpg" width="376" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"></span></span></span></p><h1 style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: georgia; font-size: xx-small;">This true story opens the 1st chapter of my latest book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2ZcA6y1">Prophets and Prophecy</a></i>, <br />availalable from Amazon in both paperback and Kindle.</span></span></h1><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;">It was April of 1983 and
I had arrived in Shillong, Meghalaya in northeast India to minister for 10 days
among the Khasi people of that region. I was staying in the home of my host,
</span><a href="https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/38444-indian-apostolic-leader-r-joseph-skinner-passes-away" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;">Dr. R. Joseph Skinner</a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The night before our first service, God gave me a word of prophecy
to speak forth in that service. Interestingly, I knew that the message I had been
given was an interpretation to a tongue. I Corinthians 14:5 tells us that
tongues with interpretation is equal to prophecy, and I knew that I was to wait
for a message in tongues before speaking the prophetic message I had been
given.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;">This raised the question in my own mind as to how I would know
when somebody gave a message in tongues, since I knew nothing of the Khasi
language. In addition, I did not know if they even practiced messages in
tongues and interpretations in their services.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">I went to the church service the next morning in faith and with a determination to be spiritually alert and see how things would unfold.
The small building was packed
with every seat filled and people standing shoulder to shoulder, filling every
nook and cranny.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;">I stood alongside several other leaders on the platform and
someone began to lead in singing and praise in the Khasi tongue. At the close of the singing there
was a long, extended time of fervent, corporate prayer. The crescendo of prayer
eventually descended until everything became still and quiet. No one moved or
spoke, including the leaders on the platform.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Suddenly, from out in the congregation, the silence was broken by
someone speaking in a beautiful, melodious tone. I was alert and thought to
myself, “That sounds like a message in tongues.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">I then stepped to the microphone and gave the
interpretation I had been given the night before, which was a word of encouragement to that congregation. I finished speaking and one
of the Khasi pastors stepped forward and interpreted to the people in their
language what I had said. Shortly thereafter, the service was turned to me and preached my first sermon in India.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;">After the service, I asked my host, Dr. Skinner, if that was a message in tongues to which I had responded. He said, “Yes, that person spoke in an unknown tongue.” Wow! God had worked the prophetic gift through two people of different languages and cultures who had never met! And it flowed so seamlessly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;">God used this manifestation of prophecy to introduce me to the Khasi people. It brought an immediate acceptance and respect that I could not have earned on my own. We then had a wonderful 10 days of teaching, preaching, and powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span></span></span></p><h1 style="background: white; color: #20124d; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: normal;">It was also the beginning of a life-long friendship with
the late <a href="https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/38444-indian-apostolic-leader-r-joseph-skinner-passes-away">Dr. Joseph Skinner</a>, his brother, Kitbok</span><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: normal;"> Ryntathiang, </span><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: normal;">and the Khasi people of
northeast India. <span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></h1><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0in;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #660000;">This article is derived
from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s latest book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2ZcA6y1">Prophets and Prophecy</a></i>, with the
subtitle, <a href="https://amzn.to/2ZcA6y1"><i>Timely</i> <i>Insights from the Bible, History, and My Experience</i></a>. It is availalable from Amazon in both paperback and Kindle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></h1><br /></span></span><p></p>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-43744652019746130112020-08-25T15:10:00.002-07:002020-08-25T15:17:14.615-07:00I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FAITH TO BE AN ATHEIST<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> <span face="" style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large; letter-spacing: 0.4pt; text-align: center;">The Teleological Argument </span></div><span face="" style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">for the Existence of God</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Excerpted from the manual "Think Biblically" available at this link. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/think_biblically.html#BOOK" style="text-align: left;">http://www.eddiehyatt.com/think_biblically.html#BOOK</a>)</span></div></span><p></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">DEFINITION:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Teleological</i> is derived from the Greek
word <i>teleos</i> meaning “goal or purpose.” The teleological argument for
God’s existence says that the orderliness and complexity of the Creation
indicates that it was created for a purpose. This approach is also known as the
argument from “Intelligent Design.” Consider the few examples below.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 24pt 0in 0in 0.5in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><a name="_Hlk32422573"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">I.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; text-transform: uppercase;">The Earth Is Precisely the Right Size <br />
for Sustaining Life.<o:p></o:p></span></b></a></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.25in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk32422573;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If the
size of the earth varied by as much as 10%, life could not exist.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk32422573;"></span>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.25in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">B.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Isaiah
40:12b says that God <i>Calculated the dust of the earth in a measure and
weighed the mountains in scales.</i> In other words, He chose just the right
amount.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 24pt 0in 0in 0.5in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">II.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span>EARTH IS
THE ONLY PLACE WHERE WATER IS FOUND IN ABUNDANCE AND IT IS FOUND IN PRECISELY
THE RIGHT AMOUNT.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.25in left 333.0pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>If the ratio of
water to land varied by a small percentage, life could not exist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.25in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">B.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Isaiah
40:12 says that God, <i>Measured the waters in the palm of His hand</i>. In
other words, He used precisely the right amount.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoBodyTextIndent3" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 24pt 0in 0in 0.5in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><b><span>III.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>THE SIZE OF THE SUN AND
ITS DISTANCE FROM EARTH <br />
IS EXACTLY RIGHT FOR SUSTAINING LIFE.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 1.25in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If
either the size of the sun or its distance from the earth varied by a very
small degree, life could not exist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: list 1.25in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">B.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Isaiah
40:12 says that God <i>Measured heaven with a span. </i>In other words, He put
exactly the right distances between the heavenly bodies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 24pt 0in 0in 0.5in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">IV.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">THE SIZE AND POSITION OF THE MOON IS JUST RIGHT <br />
FOR SUSTAINING LIFE ON EARTH. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.2in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The moon
creates the tides that clean the harbors and shores.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.2in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">B.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
oceans and tides, in turn, provide oxygen for plankton that is the foundation
of the food chain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 24pt 0in 0in 0.5in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .75in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">V.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">EARTH’S
ATMOSPHERE IS JUST RIGHT FOR SUSTAINING LIFE, BEING COMPOSED OF 78% NITROGEN,
21% OXYGEN AND 1% OF VARIOUS OTHER ELEMENTS.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo4; tab-stops: list 104.25pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">A.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This is
precisely the right mix of the right elements <br />
for life to exist on earth<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo4; tab-stops: list 104.25pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="letter-spacing: -0.3pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">B.<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="letter-spacing: -0.3pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">These elements are not chemically combined, but instead
they are continually being mixed mechanically by the tidal effect of the moon
upon the atmosphere.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 24pt 0in 0in 0.5in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">VI.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>THE VERY COMPLEX OZONE
LAYER MAKES LIFE POSSIBLE ON EARTH. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
ozone layer screens out eight deadly long rays, which would burn earth’s
inhabitants, and the shorter rays, which are necessary for life, are admitted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0.25in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">B.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
deadliest of the long rays are allowed through in a very limited amount—just
enough to kill the green algae, which otherwise would grow to fill all the
lakes, rivers and oceans of the world and destroy all human life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 12pt 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">C.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Isaiah
40:22 describes graphically this atmospheric canopy as being like a tent that God
has stretched out for people to live in.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left;"><i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its
people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and
spreads them out like a tent to live in</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (NIV).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 17pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPKKopCtySNnycVjpnAzUc3Gqxk298LQpR0_7pLsyWNM6uKBZKBP08U4Y2H4Uv6-u_PPn8xpVaySIAymf4hDDDn5TqO1Zy-Yp9mm1TPCggQ5Xns7UQDSqBauXM-Q6FDXQBYnsW99t9Ho/s600/Ozone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPKKopCtySNnycVjpnAzUc3Gqxk298LQpR0_7pLsyWNM6uKBZKBP08U4Y2H4Uv6-u_PPn8xpVaySIAymf4hDDDn5TqO1Zy-Yp9mm1TPCggQ5Xns7UQDSqBauXM-Q6FDXQBYnsW99t9Ho/w384-h288/Ozone.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span><p></p>Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-4985697452552196932020-06-19T18:30:00.004-07:002020-06-20T10:58:31.864-07:00GOD'S LOVE AND THE DOCTRINE OF HELL<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishQHRC9n2P4oDxs2g28OE5wsYc1SIVbL5NiNtzaRTl3rSiDUrNTYJYCjBHj-DYiH1tASAI5XvN_23K6o8HS8le_xMwDdIdG8Xv03qDJcFNOi-Kvz8X6-duXsqQ4rZ_xhbc8iMs8tQlu0/s1600/The+Eternal+Fires+Front+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1032" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishQHRC9n2P4oDxs2g28OE5wsYc1SIVbL5NiNtzaRTl3rSiDUrNTYJYCjBHj-DYiH1tASAI5XvN_23K6o8HS8le_xMwDdIdG8Xv03qDJcFNOi-Kvz8X6-duXsqQ4rZ_xhbc8iMs8tQlu0/s200/The+Eternal+Fires+Front+Cover.jpg" width="128" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">I received an email from a person in another
state asking my thoughts on hell. She went on to explain</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"> that many of her
Christian friends have dispensed with the idea of hell and have chided her for
being “stuck in religion” for believing in such “an old-fashioned doctrine.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Indeed, many Evangelicals are giving up the doctrine
of hell as a place of eternal punishment, in spite of the fact that it is
mentioned numerous times by Jesus and NT writers who urge their readers to
avoid it at all costs. <span style="letter-spacing: -.3pt;">One of the starkest
examples is in Matthew 18:8 where Jesus said, <i>If your hand or foot causes
you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into
life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into
the everlasting fire</i>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">The argument commonly presented against hell is that
it is inconsistent with a God whose chief characteristic is love. This argument,
however, reveals a serious misunderstanding of love and the place of God’s
justice in the matter. In the following essay, I present 3 reasons I still
believe in hell: (1) God’s love made hell necessary; (2) Mankind’s freedom to
choose made hell necessary; and (3) the Holy Spirit has confirmed the doctrine
of hell throughout history. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h1 align="center" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Reason #1<o:p></o:p></span></b></h1>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">God’s Love Made
Hell Necessary<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Suppose
a serial child molester is released from prison by a progressive, liberal judge. He
immediately kidnaps an innocent child whom he abuses, rapes, and murders. The murderer/rapist
is arrested, tried before the same judge, and is found guilty. The judge then sentences
him to six months of community service, a $1,000.00 fine, and lets him go free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Would
we say, “Oh, what a loving and kind man is that judge?” No! We would be
rightfully outraged because justice, you see, is a necessary component of love.
Love without justice is an empty, sugary-sweet niceness that refuses to protect
the righteous and do what is right and just in every situation. Such “love” is
worthless and dangerous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">A
parent who does not protect his/her children does not love them. Most parents will
fight tooth and nail to protect their children, and that is an expression of
their love. In a similar way, God will not allow the evil intentions of men and
devils to mar the eternal happiness of those who have put their trust in Him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">What
we are talking about here is the Biblical concept of love that is expressed by
the New Testament Greek word <i>agape</i>. <i>Agape</i> is not flaky or shallow
but is infinitely just and wise. <i>Agape</i> is not a fleeting feeling or
emotion but is sensible and rational. It was this <i>agape</i> love that
brought our Creator down from heaven to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our
sins, and the very nature of this love made hell necessary for those who would
reject such infinite love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
is made clear in John 3:16, the love verse of the Bible. It reads, <i>For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in
Him should not <b>perish</b> but have everlasting life</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
verse says that those who reject this infinite love of our Creator, revealed in
Jesus Christ, will “perish.” The Greek word translated “perish” is <i>apolumi</i>.
<i>Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon</i> defines this word as meaning “to
destroy,” “to abolish,” and “to devote or give over to eternal misery.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 15pt; margin-top: 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Those who reject God’s infinite love justly deserve
infinite punishment, for they have chosen their own selfish, temporal goals and
rejected God’s eternal, infinite plan for them and all mankind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">This
is the point Charles Finney made in his preaching on hell and eternal
punishment. In his <i>Autobiography</i>,
he tells of a great revival in Rochester, New York in which many lawyers and
judges were coming to Christ. Finney, who was a converted lawyer, tells of a
conversation he had with <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">Judge Addison
Gardiner, who was a Supreme Court Justice</span> for the State of New York. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">The judge told
Finney that he had answered his questions thus far and cleared the way for him
to become a Christian. <span style="letter-spacing: -.3pt;">“But,” he said, “When
you come to the question of the endless</span> punishment of the wicked you
will slip up—you will fail to convince us on that question.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">When the night came that Finney preached on the
endless punishment of the wicked in hell, he was careful to thoroughly present the Biblical and reasonable arguments. He showed how those who reject the infinite good of God and His
salvation in Christ for their own selfish ends, justly deserve infinite, or
endless, punishment. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">As he neared the end of the sermon, Judge Gardiner could not wait for him to finish, but came to the front and with great emotion made known his desire to commit his life to Christ. This had a powerful impact on all present and many bowed their heads and wept. Finney said, "The lawyers arose almost <i>en masse</i>, and crowded into the aisles, and crowded around the open space in front, wherever they could get a place to kneel." Incredible revival swept over the city.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Finney told what happened when he met Judge Gardiner
the next day. He said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">The next day I met him, and he
volunteered the remark at once, “Mr. Finney, I am convinced. Your dealing with
that subject was a success; nothing can be said against it” (Owen, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3hOzYg8">The Eternal Fires: Why I Believe in Hell</a></i>, 128).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Yes,
infinite Divine Love came down from heaven and provided an infinite sacrifice
for our sins. The just punishment for rejecting such infinite love is also
infinite, or eternal, in nature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Finney
considered hell to be God’s eternal prison house where incorrigible rebels
against God and his kingdom will be confined and not allowed to spoil the
eternal bliss and happiness of those who have accepted the free mercy and grace
God has shown to us in Jesus Christ. This too is love!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Yes,
hell is a necessary expression of God’s amazing grace and love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Reason #2<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Mankind’s Freedom
to Choose Made Hell Necessary<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">I once read a romantic
piece in a newspaper about an old bridge that had been torn down to make way
for a new <span style="letter-spacing: -.3pt;">highway. The author ascribed
personal virtues to this bridge,</span> speaking of how faithful it had been
for so many years, and how it had remained steadfast in the face of wind, rain,
snow, cold, and heat. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">As I read this, I thought about how there
really were no virtues in this bridge, for it was just a heap of metal and
concrete. Virtue is found in personhood, and personhood is distinguished by the
ability and freedom to think and choose.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">Not only is virtue not to be found in
inanimate materials such as wood, stone, concrete, and steel, neither is it to
be <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">found in feeling. Virtue is ultimately
tied, not to our feelings,</span> but to our choices. We are responsible, not
for how we feel, but for how we choose.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">Love also is tied to the freedom to
choose. Where there is no choice, there is no love. Can you imagine being
married to a robot—even a very sophisticated one? Anytime you want to hear
words of affirmation and love, all you have to do is load the right software
and push the right buttons. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">We know that would not be satisfying.
Love is real because the people involved have chosen to love.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">When God created Adam
and Eve, He did not create robots or creatures that were programmed to love and
serve Him. Creating them in His own image and likeness meant that they would
have the ability and freedom to think, to choose, and to decide if they were
going to trust Him and love Him. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">In this sense, it was a
risky move on God’s part to create such beings, for they might choose to rebel
against Him. But if there was going to be real love in the relationship, there
had to be real freedom to choose.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">Yes, God knew beforehand that our first
parents would <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">turn from Him. He also knew
that countless numbers of their</span> offspring would reject His love and
truth. Nonetheless, He considered that the benefits and blessings of creating
them outweighed the pain and suffering that He knew would come.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">Do you want to know why there is pain and
suffering in the world? It cannot be blamed on God. It is because human beings
have misused and abused their God-given freedom to choose. Instead of choosing
God and His ways, they have chosen to rebel against God and do their own thing,
create their own morals, and erect their own standards of truth and
righteousness. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">It is self-evident that creatures with
such freedom to choose, must be held accountable for their choices, and the
Bible is clear in this regard. Throughout Scripture there are warnings and
exhortations concerning a Day of Judgment.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">In Matthew 12:36, for example, Jesus
said, <i>But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will
give account of it in the day of judgment</i>. And in In II Corinthians
5:10-11, Paul speaks of the judgment of the righteous at the Judgment Seat of
Christ. This is not a judgment concerning our worthiness for heaven, but a
judgment concerning our motives and how we have lived our lives. Paul says, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="break-after: avoid; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0.0001pt;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">For
we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we
deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. Because we
understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others
(NLT). <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">The great American
statesman, Daniel Webster (1782 –1852),</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> when asked what the most
sobering thought was to ever <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">enter his mind,
replied, “My personal accountability to God.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">In Revelation 20:11-12 John describes
his vision of the great and final judgment, saying,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0.0001pt;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">Then I saw a great white throne and Him
who sat upon it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, And there was
found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before
God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of
Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which
were written in the books.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">Yes,
mankind’s freedom to choose made hell necessary. That is why, i</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">n Deuteronomy 30:19,
God through Moses, urged the people of Israel to make the right decisions and
choose life.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0.25in 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">I
call heaven and earth today as witnesses against you, that I have set before
you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life that both you
and your descendants may live.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Have
you chosen to make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 8.0pt; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Reason
#3<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Hell
is Confirmed by the Holy Spirit<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">There
has never been any significant work of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of
universalism. I do not know of any example, past or present, in which the
preaching of universalism inspired men and women to a greater love for God and
a new determination to walk in His truth. On the other hand, preaching on
eternal punishment has been a part—even if a small part—of the great revivals
of Christian history. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 8pt 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">In the First Great Awakening </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jonathan Edwards’
sermon, <i>Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God, </i>captivated the minds and
hearts of the masses. The Holy Spirit fell like rain when he read this message <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">from the pulpit. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">In the Second Great Awakening </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">sermons
on hell and Divine retribution were preached along with messages on God’s
redeeming love and grace, and the masses were awakened. Finney’s pointed
preaching about the Divine justice of eternal punishment turned the hearts and
minds of many to Christ and lifted the Church to a new level of commitment and
effectiveness. Numerous such examples could be cited from the annals of
Christian history and revivalism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">One of the most somber examples comes from the pen of <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), pastor of the
Congregational</span> Church in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was one of the
most prominent leaders in the First Great Awakening. He tells of a wicked and
intemperate man coming to him one day in a very solemn state of mind. This man
related to Edwards an alarming dream he had experienced the previous night. In
this dream, he had descended into hell and observed the horrors of that place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">He was told, however, that he was being allowed to
return to earth on a one-year probation, the condition being that he must
change his manner of life during this time or he would have to return at the
end of the year. Edwards was solemnly impressed with the man’s dream and
assured him that it was a warning from God. Before retiring for the night,
Edwards opened his journal and recorded the details of the dream and the date. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Edwards said the man seemed to be serious in his new
commitment, leaving off the bottle and faithfully attending church. However,
before the year had ended the man returned to his former manner of life. One
evening, in a drunken state, he turned to descend a set of stairs when he
stumbled and pitched headlong down the stairs breaking his neck and dying
instantly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">When Edwards was informed of the tragic news, he
opened his journal and somberly noted that that very evening was exactly one
year from the time the man had experienced the dream of his one-year probation
from hell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Yes, the Holy Spirit has confirmed the doctrine of
hell throughout the history of the church, especially in those Spiritual
Awakenings that have revitalized Christendom again and again during times of
spiritual malaise and indifference. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">How to Avoid Hell<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jesus and the NT writers treated hell as a very
serious matter, and so should we. You can avoid hell by praying this prayer
with sincerity of heart. “Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner in need of
your mercy and grace. I turn to you now with all my heart. I believe that you
died and rose again for my salvation and from this day forth I confess you to
be my Lord and Savior."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
eternal life </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">(John
3:16).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">This article by Dr. Eddie Hyatt was derived from Chapter 10
of the book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/37IUMB6">The Eternal Fires: Why I Believe in Hell</a></i> by Valarie Owen
and is available from Amazon. Dr. Hyatt contributed Chapter 10 to the book. His books are available from Amazon and his website at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/">www.eddiehyatt.com</a>.</span></div>
</div>
Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-91332943850832708712020-06-16T13:43:00.004-07:002020-06-18T17:56:15.927-07:00WHY I AM THANKFUL FOR WOMEN PREACHERS ON FATHER'S DAY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-LRvKGetS2j8c_7VethmpVnKdZhlBhYMKkPUMxcOJLtUdsv8zZh0NqNie6yXozb55OSLZWC4nnzlfFiRoZNcBWufdYFBD5czGfrlwCecGmDlBO4zODH2eAc7TUb57R-dsuTfxeZqEKR4/s1600/Jeffries-Mary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="895" data-original-width="612" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-LRvKGetS2j8c_7VethmpVnKdZhlBhYMKkPUMxcOJLtUdsv8zZh0NqNie6yXozb55OSLZWC4nnzlfFiRoZNcBWufdYFBD5czGfrlwCecGmDlBO4zODH2eAc7TUb57R-dsuTfxeZqEKR4/s200/Jeffries-Mary.jpg" width="136" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">On Father's Day, I thank God for women preachers for around 1939-40 my father was saved as the result of a young woman--Mary Jeffries--stepping out in faith and preaching an extended "revival" meeting under a brush arbor in NE Texas. Hundreds of people turned out and many gave their lives to the Lord. My Dad, who was in his twenties, was one of them.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdd-71HWIRnrB9nBrgjQAhGJ2qkCuClXrKPGUboniO51MImN8B5zbGhPBaJrVqWcTCKHAOX8OYF0-neX4ftiPnHgTU3qChA7qZBOTbRYFuHXGe2-Qp5ZNQsNBsY00bI9KwYjD3e5jrrJM/s1600/Hyatt-ClarencePearl-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="240" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdd-71HWIRnrB9nBrgjQAhGJ2qkCuClXrKPGUboniO51MImN8B5zbGhPBaJrVqWcTCKHAOX8OYF0-neX4ftiPnHgTU3qChA7qZBOTbRYFuHXGe2-Qp5ZNQsNBsY00bI9KwYjD3e5jrrJM/s200/Hyatt-ClarencePearl-1.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">He was standing outside the arbor leaning against a pickup with other men, some who had brought their wives. As the invitation was being given, my Dad felt the convicting, drawing power of the Holy Spirit to go forward and kneel at the altar bench they had set up. He wasn’t sure, however, if God would save him, for he had been a “bad” person.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">His mother died when he was 11 and he quit school after the 4th grade. He was such a bad kid that his father kicked him out of the house when he was 13. At 16 he was sent to prison.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">One thing my Dad had going for him was an old aunt that knew how to "pray through." The whole countryside could hear Aunt Mamie when she would go to their barn and pray. She had invited my Dad to this revival and he went but did not go under the arbor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">Uncle Henry was standing next to him, and although he had not yet made a full commitment, he had been around Aunt Mamie long enough to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit. He looked at my Dad and said, "Son, you may as well go on down there; they are after you."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">My Dad went forward and when he knelt down it seemed that everything around him, including time, disappeared. The next thing he knew he was on his feet clapping his hands and shouting, "He did!" "He did!" "He did!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">My father went on to live a long full life and pastored for almost 40 years in the Assemblies of God and was, of course, always supportive of women preachers, pastors, and evangelists. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">That is why on Father’s Day I am also thankful for women preachers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: #660000;">Dr. Eddie Hyatt is the author of <i><a href="https://amzn.to/37CXkk8">1726: The Year that Defined America</a></i>, a book that documents how the Great Awakening had a direct bearing on both the founding of America and the ending of slavery on this continent. This and other volumes he has written are available form <a href="https://amzn.to/2N0qtfM">Amazon </a>and his website at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/">www.eddiehyatt.com</a>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-82251393500609684762020-06-02T11:30:00.000-07:002020-06-02T11:30:19.013-07:00GOD'S DELAY MAY INDICATE THAT A GREATER DISPLAY OF HIS POWER IS COMING<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUV5wS7SE-mficnEs4BWolcgren-hpnrB-FgSlAxi8-XNuNDiEdEyOkkpP9GctL7RksINH5CQQDqALIifMXExRuXZXltHyp_yj7rY8qnQ5JwwHuFOwI0UztnhUnQJ2nua15h8xJjoS6Q/s1600/Paul-Silas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="185" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirUV5wS7SE-mficnEs4BWolcgren-hpnrB-FgSlAxi8-XNuNDiEdEyOkkpP9GctL7RksINH5CQQDqALIifMXExRuXZXltHyp_yj7rY8qnQ5JwwHuFOwI0UztnhUnQJ2nua15h8xJjoS6Q/s200/Paul-Silas.jpg" width="172" /></a><span style="color: #1c1e21; font-size: 13.0pt;">While
sharing God's word with friends in Paris, TX this past Sunday morning I saw
something that blessed me through and through. I was sharing about Paul and
Silas being arrested in Philippi, publicly beaten, and then thrown into prison
and their feet put in stocks. I then read that at midnight, while they were
praying and praising God, an earthquake came and shook the foundations of the
prison house with e<span class="textexposedshow">veryone's bands being loosed and
every prison door standing open (Acts 16:25-33).</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1e21; font-size: 13.0pt;">I asked the
rhetorical question, "Why didn't God deliver them before they were beaten
and put in prison?" As soon as the question was out of my mouth, I saw the
answer. It was for God's greater glory. As a result of God's deliverance coming
just when it did, the jailer and his entire household came to Christ. I think
we can assume the same about the prisoners, for not one of them tried to escape
when they easily could have. As a result of God's delay, a greater display of
His power was seen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1e21; font-size: 13.0pt;">As I shard this
I was reminded of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. Lazarus' sisters,
Mary and Martha, had sent Jesus a note asking him to come and heal their
brother who was sick. Jesus did not immediately respond but delayed the departure
for his two-day journey by two days. As a result of His delay, Lazarus died.
But in conversation with His disciples about the matter, Jesus had said,
"This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God" (John
11:4).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1e21; font-size: 13.0pt;">Jesus came to
Bethany and raised Lazarus from the dead, even though he had been buried now
for four days. It was an incredible miracle and had a far greater impact than a
healing would have had. As a result, many of the Jews who were there
"believed in Him" (John 11:45).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1c1e21; font-size: 13.0pt;">So, if you are
experiencing delay in an answer to prayer, don't throw in the towel. Don't give
up! The delay could be for the greater glory of God. God's delay could indicate
that a greater display of His power is coming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 17.3333px;"><span style="color: #660000;">Dr. Eddie Hyatt is historian, Bible teacher and ordained minister with a commission to help facilitate another Great Awakening across the land by documenting America's Christian birth out of a great spiritual awakening. He has done this in his latest book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3csssUD">1726: The Year that Defined America</a></i>, available from Amazon and his website at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/">www.eddiehyatt.com</a>.</span></span></div>
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Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-4169401100969728142020-05-25T12:22:00.003-07:002020-05-26T10:29:37.812-07:00GOD SEEKS WEAK VESSELS THROUGH WHICH TO DEMONSTRATE HIS POWER<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0EeZfbA8GwmGZHZm2Hh4QmZZ-W2V6bmxKdXHJixv0YdpuRFkkovuxGFj71AsEHdpYJaAEzjRf5YotBEcSR77PNkIF0hGEDQQSGRqRRLaOqZS9VuMZNzQ1GbrXJUGeMI57Kof4I8RznI/s1600/repent-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0EeZfbA8GwmGZHZm2Hh4QmZZ-W2V6bmxKdXHJixv0YdpuRFkkovuxGFj71AsEHdpYJaAEzjRf5YotBEcSR77PNkIF0hGEDQQSGRqRRLaOqZS9VuMZNzQ1GbrXJUGeMI57Kof4I8RznI/s200/repent-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When
God looks for a person to carry out a task, He does not tap the person who is
self-confident and whose response will be, “Piece of cake, God; I can handle
that.” Instead, He chooses the weak who are aware of their own inadequacy and
whose response is like that of Mary to the angel Gabriel when he announced that
she would give birth to the Son of God. She asked in awe, “How can this be?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Yes,
God chooses those who realize how much they need Him and through such weak
human vessels He demonstrates His power in the earth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Paul
Learns this Principle<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
principle was revealed to Paul in II Corinthians 12:9 where Paul had prayed
that a difficult, debilitating situation be removed from his life. God
responded by saying, <i>My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made
perfect in weakness</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
word “strength” in this passage is a translation of the Greek word <i>dunamis</i>,
which in other places is translated as “power.” The word “perfect” is a
translation of the Greek word <i>teleos</i>, which means “end” or
“destination.” A more accurate translation of this verse would be, <i>My grace
is sufficient for you, for <b>My power is maximized in weakness</b></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Gideon
Learns this Principle<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Yes, "God's power is maximized in weakness" and this
is the principle at work when God told Gideon he was too strong for Him to give
Israel victory over the Amalekites. At the time, Gideon had an army of 32,000
and the Amalekites numbered 145,000. In other words, Israel was outnumbered
approximately 5 to 1 but God said they were too strong. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And
the LORD said to Gideon the people who are with you are too many for Me to give
the Midianites in their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me,
saying, “My own hand has saved me” (Judges 7:2)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Gideon,
therefore, told everyone who was fearful to go home and 22,000 departed. He is
now outnumbered 15 to 1, but God tells him he is still too strong. Gideon then
takes his soldiers to the water, and depending on how they drink, he separates
300 and sends the rest home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">God
then gave Gideon and his 300-man army a resounding victory over 145,000 enemy
troops. God’s power was maximized in their weakness. There was no room for
chest-thumping and boasting. They knew that only God could have given them the
victory. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">God’s
Power Will Rest on You<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After
learning that God’s power will be maximized in his weakness, Paul says in II
Corinthians 12:9b, <i>Therefore most gladly</i> <i>I will rather boast in my infirmities [weaknesses], that the power of
Christ may <b>rest</b> upon me</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Interestingly,
the word “rest” in this verse is translated from the Greek word <i>episkenose</i>. It is a cognate form of the
same word the angel used in response to Mary’s question as to how she could
bring forth a Son when she was a virgin. The angel had answered, <i>The Holy
Spirit will come upon you and</i> the <i>power
of the highest will <b>overshadow</b> you</i>
(Luke 1:35).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do
you want God’s power to rest upon you and overshadow you? Then don’t be afraid
to have integrity and admit how much you need God. This is what Paul learned and
he goes on to say, <i>Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches,
in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak,
then I am strong</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">Paul is not being negative and wallowing in his pain. No,
he has discovered the freedom to have integrity and admit his own inadequacies
because He now knows that God’s power is going to be maximized in his
weaknesses. He is free to be Paul.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Paul’s Integrity and God’s Power<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We see this clearly in Paul’s description of his personal
state upon arrival in the pagan city of Corinth. Instead of giving a glowing
resume of his strengths and successes, he described his ministry in terms of
his frail, human weakness and his radical dependence on God. He wrote,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And I,
brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of
wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not
to know anything among except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was
with you in weakness, in fear and in much trembling. And my speech
and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should
not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Weakness”
in this verse is from the Greek word <i>asthenia</i> and means “to be powerless
and without strength.” “Fear” is from the Greek word <i>phobo</i> (from which
we get “phobia”) and, according to <i>Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon</i>, means
“to be struck with terror and fear.” “Much trembling” is from the Greek work <i>tromo</i>
(from which we get “trauma” and “traumatized”) and according to <i>Thayer’s
Greek English Lexicon</i>, means “to shake and tremble with fear and dread.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This does not sound like a great apostle ready to take a city for God. In fact, Paul's description of himself sounds as if he is almost an emotional
basket case. Perhaps this is where he learned the principle that he later
expresses in II Corinthians 12:9-10 that God’s strength is maximized in
weakness and, <i>when I am weak, then I am strong</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
key was that Paul did not wallow in his weakness or turn inward to self but
looked away to Jesus and saw a demonstration of God’s Spirit and power in
Corinth. God’s power was maximized in Paul’s weakness and a lively—if sometimes
rowdy—church was established in that decadent, pagan city. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Have
We Been Too Strong for Real Revival?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
it possible that we--the American church--have been too strong for God to give us
resounding victory through a great, national spiritual awakening? Have we been
too proud of our beautiful buildings and too confident in our own talents, skills, and
abilities to do church? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Perhaps
through the coronavirus pandemic we are recognizing, in a new way, how frail we
are and how much we need His grace at work in our lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
this regard, I am reminded of the December 1906 edition of the <i>Apostolic
Faith</i>, the official paper of the Azusa Street Revival. The editor made reference to Alexander Dowie and Frank Sanford, two self-proclaimed apostles
of that day, and then wrote,</span><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There
is no pope, Doweism, or Sanfordism, but we are all little children knowing only
Jesus and Him crucified. This work is carried on by the people of Los Angeles
that God has united by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and the
power of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No
pomp or arrogance at Azusa where they sat on rough hewn benches and the pulpit was a stack of used wooden shoe boxes. True to Paul's revelation, God’s power was being maximized in their
weakness for this was written at the height of that earth-shaking revival. It
reminds us of Paul’s words in </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">I Corinthians 1:26-29.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">For
you see your calling brethren, that not many wise according the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the
world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world
to shame the things that are mighty . . . that no flesh should glory in His
presence</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">.</span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">Yes, God </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;">seeks weak human
vessels that will rely totally on Him and through whom His power will be maximized
in the earth. As Paul said in II Corinthians 7:4, <i>But we have this treasure
in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from
us</i>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Dr. Eddie Hyatt is the author of numerous books on Spiritual awakening and the founder of the </span><a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/project1726.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: small;">"1726 Project"</a><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"> dedicated to reconnecting America with her Christian roots in the Great Awakening. His books can be found at </span><a href="https://amzn.to/3eiTkaW" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: small;">Amazon </a><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">and his website at </span><a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: small;">www.eddiehyatt.com</a><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">.</span></div>
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Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-61083599414550883932020-05-08T13:10:00.001-07:002020-05-10T13:48:48.779-07:00GOD'S FAITHFULNESS IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC DISTRESS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #660000; font-size: xx-small;"><b><i>The blameless spend their days under the LORD'S care . . . <br />In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will have plenty</i>.</b></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #660000; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Psalm 37:18-19</b></span></i></div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlMTt-GtNGqZYoSHe788UOGvUW5JYGB2Wwp3-ySNMpPwTLBBI0pAzMgs8CEIvZY2B65DF0LoSHkzBsDNy5_DmAlK08HUrnWDFQRUO-8l7WCjBXaWxD-4LVvEJtkBe4G0g6tKpGImB8Ktw/s1600/elijah-fed-by-ravens2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="570" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlMTt-GtNGqZYoSHe788UOGvUW5JYGB2Wwp3-ySNMpPwTLBBI0pAzMgs8CEIvZY2B65DF0LoSHkzBsDNy5_DmAlK08HUrnWDFQRUO-8l7WCjBXaWxD-4LVvEJtkBe4G0g6tKpGImB8Ktw/s200/elijah-fed-by-ravens2.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">The coronavirus continues to take thousands of lives but there is, perhaps, an even more deadly scourge that is now plaguing our land--"hopelessness."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">Because of the shutdown of the economy and the ensuing loss of millions of jobs, suicides, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and domestic violence are all on the rise. The stress of being without income and unable to pay the bills is putting many thousands over the edge. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">Many find themselves ensnared in pits of despair and hopelessness with seemingly no way out. CBS News recently reported a study that estimated that 75,000 Americans will die of what they called “deaths of despair.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">Sue and I believe that God showed us in 2001 that there will be a collapse of the world economy. I do not believe that this downturn is the fulfillment of that vision, but that is not the point here. At that time God showed us that out of the rubble of economic collapse, His providential provision would arise for His people, and that is my point in this article.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">This providential provision and blessing I call “the opening of the windows of heaven.” Many years ago, God spoke to me with great clarity about this “opening of the windows of heaven” and it has been an incredible source of hope and strength ever since.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">God Gives Me a Promise<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkpPI6Vsd1O6ApsS9qohHsLac6ThUPy69DTFV2rVCmGPrvTcBIaaQDGtPINIZX-vUvFmGhc7albPA8lV_jDi3JXESK5W9UFz6Fbu9KvpgQGH2CKZvIVyTRxVbUJvKV_ELuhx5zZr4HUI/s1600/windowsofheaven.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkpPI6Vsd1O6ApsS9qohHsLac6ThUPy69DTFV2rVCmGPrvTcBIaaQDGtPINIZX-vUvFmGhc7albPA8lV_jDi3JXESK5W9UFz6Fbu9KvpgQGH2CKZvIVyTRxVbUJvKV_ELuhx5zZr4HUI/s200/windowsofheaven.png" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">In 1976 I was reading a small book entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Authority of the Believer</i>. Within the book was a quotation of Malachi 3:10, which includes the promise from God that He will <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">open for you the windows of heaven</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> and pour out for you such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">The phrase <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">open for you the windows of heaven</i></b> burned in my soul. I went to bed that night and it seemed as though I could actually “feel” that word in my soul in the same way food just eaten could be felt in the stomach. It was a very real experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">I arose the next morning and began my devotional time in which I was reading through the Bible. However, I immediately sensed my heart beginning to burn with that phrase <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I will open for you the windows of heaven</i>. I paused to consider whether I should continue with my devotions as usual or should I give attention to this burning in my soul.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">As I pondered this question, I glanced down at my Bible which was lying open on the floor. It had fallen open to 2 Kings Chapter 7 and the first words I saw were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">windows in heaven</i>. I was astounded for I did know there was another place in the Bible that spoke of the windows of heaven. This was incredible and I knew that God was speaking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">God Uses Four Poor Lepers<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">I continued to read and found that this was the account of God’s supernatural deliverance of a city of Samaria that was besieged by the king of Syria and his powerful army. They had cut off all escape routes and blocked any food or other supplies going into the city. There was a complete economic collapse. It was so bad some in the city were turning to cannibalism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">In the midst of this desperate and impossible situation, Elisha the prophet (who was inside the city) made an incredible prophecy. He predicted that the very next day food would be sold at ridiculously low prices because of the abundance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">An officer of the king of Israel (who resided in this city), heard Elisha’s prophecy and scoffed. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Look</i>, he said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If the Lord could make <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">windows in heaven</b>, could this thing be</i> (I Kings 7:2)? Elisha replied that he would see it but would not eat or partake of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">That same night four leprous, homeless men who lived outside the city gates decided that it was time to take radical action. They said to one another, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why are we sitting here until we die?</i> They reasoned that if they went into the city they would die of starvation. They would also die if they remained in their present position. Why not go out to the camp of the enemy, they reasoned. The worst that can happen to us is that we will die. But if we sit here, we are going to die anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">So, they began walking toward the enemy camp. As they marched forth, God caused the Syrian army to hear a sound of a large army marching toward them. They concluded that the king of Israel had hired the Egyptian army, and they ran in terror, leaving everything behind<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">The Windows of Heaven are Opened<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">The four lepers reached the camp and found food, clothes, gold, and silver in abundance. They enjoyed a sumptuous meal and then they took gold and silver out and buried it. Then they went back to the city and informed the watchman on the wall of what they had discovered. The watchman informed the king and the king sent several men to check it out. It was as the leprous men had said. The Syrian army had fled leaving behind a massive storehouse of supplies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">As morning dawned and word spread that food was being sold at the gates of the city, there was a mad rush by a lot of hungry people. The officer of the king who had scoffed at the prophecy of Elisha was put in charge of the gate where the food was being sold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">As the crowd rushed forward, he was trampled and died. The prophecy of Elisha was fulfilled in that he saw the widows of heaven opened but he did not eat or partake of the miracle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">God’s Sudden, Supernatural, Abundant Provision<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">Out of this experience <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">opening the windows of heaven</i></b> came to mean to me “God’s sudden, supernatural, abundant provision.” It is God breaking through from above into our present situation. It is God bringing about effects for which there is no human cause or explanation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">In the natural world there is the scientific law of cause and effect which says that for every effect there is a cause. This is a human attempt to explain, on a horizontal plane, why things happen. We work forty hours per week in order to get a paycheck. We toil for hours digging, planting, weeding, and watering and the effect is a beautiful garden. Sometimes it seems that nothing happens unless we do something to cause it to happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">But when God opens the windows of heaven, He brings about effects for which there is no human cause or explanation. He breaks into our lives from above and produces effects that we have not caused. He provides in a way that is sudden, supernatural, and abundant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">God Confirms His Word<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">As I pondered all of this that morning, I seemed to hear in my spirit, “I am going to open the windows of heaven on you and on everyone who supports you in what I have called you to do.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">About two years after this, Sue and I were sitting around our kitchen table with several other people, including a white-haired, eighty-year old woman who was a long-time prayer warrior. As we lifted out hearts in prayer, this dear old saint, arose from her chair, came around the table, laid her hands on my head, and began to pray. After our time of prayer had ended, she said, “The Lord told me to lay my hands on you and pray, and when I did, I saw two doors/windows open over your head.” I excitedly replied, “Praise the Lord! He told me he would open the windows of heaven on me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">As Sue and I have, for many years, sought to walk out God’s plan for our lives with integrity and a daily dependence on Him, we have seen Him fulfill His promise and open the windows of heaven in ways we could never have imagined. Out of our walk with Him certain principles have emerged that I will here share with you. They are, I believe, keys to seeing God open the windows of heaven in your life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">1)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Always see God as your source.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">Your job is not your source. Your government pension is not your source. These are channels that God uses to provide for you. God has many channels that He can use, but you must always see Him as your One and only Source.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">2)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ground yourself in God’s promises.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Before we married, the Holy Spirit brought three promises to Sue’s mind that would characterize our lives together. All three are wonderful promises of God’s provision; Psalm 34:10, Psalm 84:11, and Philippians 4:19. Memorize these and other promises of provision and meditate on them every day until they are a part of your life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">3)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Nurture an attitude of generosity.</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">I am not talking about a “give to get” religious legalism that often comes through in Christian fundraisers and telethons. I am talking about a heart attitude that wants to bless others and help those in need. There are many promises in Scripture related to the generous and those who give out of a pure heart. Jesus said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Give and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken down, and running over will be put into your bosom</i> (Luke 6:26).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">4)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Listen for God’s wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">God’s provision often comes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to us</i>, but it will sometimes come <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">through us</i>. In other words, there are times that we will have to take certain actions to set in motion the miracle that is needed. Wisdom is defined as “the correct application of knowledge” and God wisdom working through you will bring blessing and favor into your life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">5)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Be the best you can be—diligence.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-size: 14pt;">One thing that impressed me about John D. Rockefeller was that in his autobiography he tells about when, as a young man looking for his first job, he decided that he would put in eight hours per day looking for a job until he found one. This is known as “diligence.” At a significant time in our lives, God said to Sue and me, “Be the best you can be.” That is diligence. Proverbs 22:29 says, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Do you see a man (or woman) who excels (is diligent) in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #073763;">Will God still open the windows of heaven? Will He do it for me? Absolutely! One of His Old Testament covenant names is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yahweh Jireh</i>, which literally means the “The LORD will see and provide.” As we take Him as our Source and Provider, we will see Him open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings in ways we could never have imagined. We will not live in fear about the economy. As it says in Psalm 37:19 of those who trust in the LORD, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty</i>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="color: #660000;">Dr. Eddie Hyatt is the co-founder and president of Hyatt Int'l Ministries with a vision to see the church transformed and the world impacted by Biblical Reformation and Spiritual Awakening. His books are available from <a href="https://amzn.to/35J9jf4">Amazon </a>and his website at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/">www.eddiehyatt.com</a>. His latest book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2WCEftv">1726: The Year that Defined America</a></i>, documents the impact of the First Great Awakening on the founding of the United States and the ending of slavery on the American continent.</span></span></div>
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Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-62265966490683657932020-04-24T07:50:00.000-07:002020-04-24T08:43:32.397-07:00FINDING FREEDOM BY FINDING YOUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">by Dr. Susan C. Hyatt</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.icwhp.org/" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">www.icwhp.org</a><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: xx-small;"> and </span><a href="http://www.godswordtowomen.org/" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">www.godswordtowomen.org</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xIZXYzzKf3KPtvrTcEDAoABrK00m3dpw9mcQy1NfpE1xdmL4J_Dgs89acuYAQ2l_Y1L2kZ14ytUnL9IcGxGTjvVzZm258vLLMuoTm7byCM2MXbzcjkFVVAw9d8DqYXTzc21HhrBckQw/s1600/Sue+%2526+me-Indonesia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="330" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xIZXYzzKf3KPtvrTcEDAoABrK00m3dpw9mcQy1NfpE1xdmL4J_Dgs89acuYAQ2l_Y1L2kZ14ytUnL9IcGxGTjvVzZm258vLLMuoTm7byCM2MXbzcjkFVVAw9d8DqYXTzc21HhrBckQw/s200/Sue+%2526+me-Indonesia.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: 14pt;">When I was in my mid-twenties, I fell into a deep depression. I didn’t need medical help, but I did need the Lord!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Through this very difficult time, I began to realize on a deeper level than ever before what it is to be a Disciple of the Lord Jesus. I gained insight that serves me well today. It all had to do with my sense of identity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Growing up, I developed a sense of who I was through being a highly successful student and a horsewoman. I was also a devoted follower of Jesus from my earliest memory. I talked to the Lord and He talked to me. On one occasion, when I was 8 years old in a Sunday school class when we were studying the life of Stephen, I heard Him ask me: “Would you be willing to die for me?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Growing up, I enjoyed church, reading my Bible, and singing hymns while I played my little chord organ. Then, when I was 16, the city-wide Billy Graham/Leighton Ford Crusade came to town, and I joined the choir, faithfully attended all of the meetings, and had a powerful encounter of knowing I was “saved.” On that occasion, the grass appeared greener and the sky seemed more brilliantly blue than ever before. It was as though something had been removed from my vision and God’s creation seemed more wonderful than ever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">My identity as a Christian was very important to me, but in retrospect, without realizing it, I self-defined first and foremost as a student and horsewoman. Therein was not only my real sense of who I was, but also my comfort zone was in those roles.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">I became a school teacher, working mainly, but not exclusively, with junior high students. To a degree, my sense of identity became bound up in my relationship with “my kids.” After 10 months with these students, when the end of June would come each year, they would be gone from my life, and I would fall into a mild sense of loss—a mild state of depression.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">But the real crisis came when my family moved from our country home where we had our horses. My brothers and I were now adult and away from home. My parents, as “empty nesters,” needed the more simple life of apartment living in the city in their senior years. But their decision left a big hole in my life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">In addition, I retired from teaching, and searching for God’s highest for my life, I enrolled in nursing school, thinking that being a nurse and an educator would make me more useable to Him. When I was 13, my teachers had encouraged me to become a medical doctor, but I knew that was not for me! And that reality was confirmed in my experience to become a nurse! I soon learned that God had not given me a personality designed for this humanitarian field of service, and for the first time in my life, I quit what I had begun.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">No more horses. No more studies in which to excel. No more “others” to help define me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">I withdrew to my room with my Bible and tried to figure out life. God met me. The first thing He told me was not to blame anyone if my life was not fulfilling. He began showing me that I had the privilege and responsibility of making choices that would determine the quality and direction of my life. During this time, He baptized me in the Holy Spirit, giving me the power to live for Him more fully. (We cannot live fully for Him in our own strength!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">It was a really hard season for me. I was only in my mid-twenties and I was a “has been.” But through it all, I was coming to the realization that I would have to find my identity--my real sense of who I was--in Him alone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The fact that I was to let God define me has been one of the most important things I’ve learned in life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">As Disciples of the Lord, our identity is not in what we can do. It’s not in our relationships. It’s not in ministry or a job. It’s not in marriage or singlehood. It’s not in parenting or caregiving. These speak of roles we might or might not fill in life. Roles fluctuate. They come and go. As Disciples of the Lord, however, our identity is in Christ alone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Have you found that place of comfort, security, and peace? In finding our identity and reason for being IN HIM alone, we find settled rest and fulfillment. There is, indeed, a rest to the people of God (Hebrews 4:9).</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 19.046px;"><span style="color: #660000;">Dr. Susan Hyatt is the founder of the Int'l Christian Women's Hall of Fame & Research Center in Grapevine, TX (</span></span><a class="_553k" href="http://www.gwtwchristianwomenshalloffame.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: small; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">www.GWTWChristianWomensHallofFame.com</a><span style="color: #4b4f56; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">). </span></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">She and her husband, Dr. Eddie Hyatt, have been in the ministry together for over 40 years. Her books are available on Amazon and at their websites, </span><a href="http://www.godswordtowomen.org/" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: small;">www.godswordtowomen.org</a><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"> and </span><a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: small;">www.eddiehyatt.com</a><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">.</span></span></div>
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Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-89334914326172875842020-04-11T16:04:00.001-07:002020-04-11T16:05:07.768-07:00HE IS ALIVE!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgko1G7hTsFaEMt_CvjVKxdqMdevHSxlVBy5cHiAbwTnLA4dL1aVGp3ImxKusFkUlpq7Tpd21NlUnSPtNP5vG340SbAxJC3EvToTO6AmFvY1fJTqQ2j5S3EKiWftnjB7IdOBRlwWJeRc/s1600/Emmaus+Road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #1c1e21; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="355" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgko1G7hTsFaEMt_CvjVKxdqMdevHSxlVBy5cHiAbwTnLA4dL1aVGp3ImxKusFkUlpq7Tpd21NlUnSPtNP5vG340SbAxJC3EvToTO6AmFvY1fJTqQ2j5S3EKiWftnjB7IdOBRlwWJeRc/s200/Emmaus+Road.jpg" width="200" /></a><span data-offset-key="6mncg-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We can only imagine the pain and disappointment of those two disciples as they walked the Emmaus Road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They were heartbroken. The One whom they they</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">thought was the promised Messiah, that would drive out the pagan Romans and restore the political kingdom of David, had been arrested and put to death by the Romans. All their hopes and dreams had been dashed.</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="ac0i0-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-small;">As they walked and talked of these things, Jesus came alongside them in His resurrection body, but they did not recognize Him. His first question was, "Why are you so sad?"</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="cbgc0-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-small;">Jesus then took them through the Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi explaining why it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and die. When they arrived at their destination, it was getting late and they invited this Stranger to stay with them for the night. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="4oitv-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-small;">As they sat down to eat the evening meal, they must have been shocked when this Stranger took bread and broke it, for it was the place of the master of the household to break the bread. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="ee2sg-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-small;">Suddenly their eyes were opened and they recognzied Him. It was Jesus! He then vanished before their eyes. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">They were so excited that even though it was late they hurried the seven miles back to Jerusalem to tell the others that Jesus was alive.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="9vm1b-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-small;">They were no longer cocnerned about the Romans. They were no longer concerned about the Pharisees, Sadducess and religious rulers. JESUS WAS ALIVE and nothing else really mattered.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="1t33e-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-small;">Yes, we face many challenges today including a deadly pandemic and millions of people losing their jobs. But be of good cheer. There is Good News. JESUS IS ALIVE!</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="58tjn-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-small;">The Risen Lord will see us through!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;">by Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/">www.eddiehyatt.com</a></span></div>
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Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-22400672807723563532020-03-31T13:06:00.001-07:002020-03-31T13:34:09.407-07:00THE MISSING COMPONENT IN OUR MODERN PRAYERS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">I am thankful for all the prayers that are going up at this time for America and the world. I was blessed when our president called for a Day of Prayer on March 15. I am sure things would be much worse if not for these prayers. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">We must admit, however, that we have not yet seen the breakthrough that is needed. The pandemic continues to rage and America, to a great extent, continues on lockown with millions suddenly out of work. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">There is, however, an answer from Scritpure and from our own history as a nation that, I believe, will bring the breakthrough we long to see.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b>"Humiliation" is the Missing Component</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The earliest immigrants to America and their descendants, right on up through the Revoutionary War, were people of prayer. However, there is a word they often used in regards to their special times of prayer that we seldom hear today--the word "humiliation."</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">By “humiliation” they did not mean a groveling before God or self-flagellation. They saw “humiliation” as the admission of their own human inadequacy and their desperate need for God’s intervention and help. </span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">It was the opposite of pride and self-sufficiency. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">For them, "humiliation" meant </span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">acknowledging their wretched condition before God apart from His mercy and grace. They saw it </span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">expressed in biblical passages such as </span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">I Peter 5:5b-6, which reads, </span><i style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time</i><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;"> </span></span><b style="color: #351c75; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Humiliation and Prayer in the American Revolution</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">During the fall of 1776, when the morale of the American army and populace had sunk to an all-time low because of a poor harvest and hardship on the battlefield, Congress proclaimed December 11, 1776, as a day of “solemn fasting and humiliation.” The proclamation called on all Americans,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">To implore of Almighty God the forgiveness of the many sins prevailing among all ranks, and to beg the assistance of his Providence in the prosecution of the present just and necessary war (Hyatt, <i>1726: The Year that Defined America</i>, 117).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">After this day of “humiliation and prayer,” there was an amazing change in circumstances with successes on the battlefield and the reaping of abundant harvests. There was, in fact, such a </span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.2pt;">turnaround that Congress issued a proclamation</span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> for a national Day of Thanksgiving for October 20, 1779 because, “It hath pleased Almighty God, the father of mercies, remarkably to assist and support the United States of America in their important struggle for liberty” (Hyatt, </span><i style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">1726: The Year that Defined America</i><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">, 117).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Humiliation and Prayer Saves the Pilgrims</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJfdBfgHWgss4FajO4ANYW6I9qMrda8Ga_gtd3_mBURPCf8UgP29838YEpAqjK8QojZZ_XWAXI7c5r89okN9c-_SGJo4_F6wpiWD9lve7StTVnHtnl7YIuUU5N7BliH-34jFuFdxUQ-8/s1600/Pilgrims-Cropped.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #888888; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="473" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJfdBfgHWgss4FajO4ANYW6I9qMrda8Ga_gtd3_mBURPCf8UgP29838YEpAqjK8QojZZ_XWAXI7c5r89okN9c-_SGJo4_F6wpiWD9lve7StTVnHtnl7YIuUU5N7BliH-34jFuFdxUQ-8/s320/Pilgrims-Cropped.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">The coupling together of “humiliation and prayer” had been a part of America from the time of the Pilgrims, who observed a day of “solemn humiliation” and prayer before embarking on their journey to America. And during the long, hot summer of 1623 when it looked as though their crops would all be destroyed, Governor William Bradford called for a day of “humiliation and prayer.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Their day of “humiliation and prayer” began like so many previous days and weeks, with not a cloud and in the sky and the hot sun beating down. However, before the day was over, and to their great delight, clouds gathered and a gentle rain, without wind or thunder, came down and revived their crops and probably saved their lives (Hyatt, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2wP5qrY" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">Pilgrims and Patriots</a></i>, 34-35).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Indeed, the word "humiliation" was commonly coupled with calls for prayer throughout America's early history. For example, John Hancock, issued a Prayer Proclamation while serving as governor of Massachusetts in 1793. Hancock, a signer of the Declaration of Indipendence and President of the Continental Congress, called on all citizens of the Commonwealth to observe "a day of solemn fasting, humiliation and prayer </span></span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(Hyatt, </span><i style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2wP5qrY" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">Pilgrims and Patriots</a></i><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">, 173).</span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Humiliation and Prayer Preserved the American Union</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">“Humiliation” as a necessary ingredient for successful prayer was not lost on succeeding generations. When Abraham Lincoln called the nation to prayer during the midst of the horrible Civil War, he listed pride and self-sufficiency as sins for which the nation must repent. In his Prayer Proclamation for April 30, 1863, the president said,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God and have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">And I do hereby request all the people to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion (Hyatt, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2xBjLZ3" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">1726: The Year that Defined America</a></i>, 185).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">There was tremendous response to this call for a day of humiliation and prayer. Lincoln himself said,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">I went to my room and got down on my knees before Almighty God and prayed. Soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul that God Almighty had taken the whole business into His own hands (Hyatt, </span><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2xBjLZ3" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">1726: The Year that Defined America</a></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">, 187).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Shortly thereafter, Union forces won a decisive victory over Confederate forces at Gettysburg and this proved to be the turning point of the war. The American Union was saved by humiliation and prayer.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">What About the Church Today?</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Is not the call to prayer and "humiliation" appropriate for America and the American church of today? Have we not become proud of our great mega churches, or mass choirs, our worship events, and our church structures? Is it possible that we are more like the Pharisee than the publican?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus told of two men—a Pharisee and a publican--going to the temple to pray. The publican’s prayer was heard and answered by God. The Pharisee’s prayer was ignored by God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The difference was not in the place where they prayed, for they both prayed in the temple. Nor was the difference in their posture for they both stood and prayed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The difference was in the attitude of the heart. The pontificating Pharisee expressed an attitude of smugness, self-sufficiency and pride. The publican, in contrast, expressed an attitude of abject spiritual poverty, acknowledging his desperate need for God’s mercy and grace in his life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The publican sort of prayer has saved America through numerous times of crises that could have destroyed her. It is the prayer that will save her again today.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><b>The Greatest Threat to America</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Matthew 5:3 in the NKJV says, <i>Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven</i>. The phrase, <i>the poor in spirit</i>, may also be expressed as, <i>those who realize how much they need God</i>. It is those who realize their own human frailty and their desperate need for God’s mercy and grace in their lives who will see His kingdom power at work in their midst.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">The greatest threat to America at this time is not the coronavirus. The </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">greatest<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> threat to America is a proud, self-sufficient church that has no sense of her own need. This was the case of the Laodicean church whom Jesus rebuked, saying,</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"> . . . (Revelation 3:16-17).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">What will save America is not pontificating declarations and prayers. What will save America is a realiziation of how poor and needy we are apart from His mercy and grace. As we turn to Him in humiliation and prayer, we can expect to see displays of His power that will change the course of history. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">We will also see the great, national spiritual awakening for which so many long, for the promise of a national healing in II Chronicles 7:14 begins with the condition, <i>If My people, who are called by My name, <b>will</b></i> <b><i>humble themselves and pray . . ..</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">This article was derived in part from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's latest book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2xBjLZ3" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">1726: The Year that Defined America</a></i>, available from <a href="https://amzn.to/3avjsOb" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">Amazon </a>and his website at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">www.eddiehyatt.com</a>. He is also the founder of the <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/project1726.html" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">"1726 Project"</a> that is dedicated to helping America reconnect with her Christian roots in Spiritual Awakening.</span></div>
Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-9697245070808737762020-03-24T11:54:00.000-07:002020-03-24T15:24:07.505-07:00HOW MARTIN LUTHER CONFRONTED A DEADLY PANDEMIC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PWJslScVaIqBBQcuz47_QrRONzXa-s2Mf-4_5ln2qzzbOah65RDYDSCzwPvRQAfzEUKPYbeHuPDZzjFVSSfvD79p7b0C8No6FIlALfIsNMsHGbUe8w93bTe7gTkGLYOcUA6nfwrkY14/s1600/Luther.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="272" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PWJslScVaIqBBQcuz47_QrRONzXa-s2Mf-4_5ln2qzzbOah65RDYDSCzwPvRQAfzEUKPYbeHuPDZzjFVSSfvD79p7b0C8No6FIlALfIsNMsHGbUe8w93bTe7gTkGLYOcUA6nfwrkY14/s200/Luther.jpeg" width="159" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">We are not the first people to have to deal with a deadly pandemic. The Black Plague killed millions in 14th century Europe, and Martin Luther faced a deadly pandemic in the 16th century.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">When
the Bubonic Plague came to Luther’s hometown of Wittenberg in August of
1527, he responded with faith and some of the same procedures being implemented
today to combat the coronavirus. These included social distancing, prayer, and
medical treatment. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The
plague was spread by fleas, carried by rodents. The infected fleas passed it to humans who passed it through the air and by contact. It was a nasty disease with symptoms of fever,
speech disorders, large boils that infected the bloodstream and loss of
consciousness. A healthy individual could die within 10 days or less after
contracting the disease. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Many
panicked and departed Wittenberg to escape the plague. Luther and his wife,
Katie, chose to remain and minister to the sick. He did not condemn those who
left but stated that no one should leave his sick neighbor unless there was
someone to care for them in their stead. He said, “<em><span style="background: white; font-style: normal;">In such cases we must respect the word of
Christ, </span><span style="background: white;">I was sick and you
did not visit me</span></em><em><span style="background: white; font-style: normal;"> …” (Matt. 25:41–46).</span></em><span class="color24"><i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Luther’s
approach was one of fearless faith, compassion for the sick, and good common
sense. On their decision to remain and minister to the sick, he wrote,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Therefore
I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify
the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons
where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus
perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my
negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have
done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own
death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not
avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above. See, this is such a
God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt
God (Luther’s Works, v. 43, p. 132). <span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Even though their medical knowledge and
treatments were simple, their faith was deep and strong. Neither Luther nor
Katie contracted the disease and 3 months later, the plague was over.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">We should follow Luther’s example by heeding the
advice of the medical professionals and our government officials. Like Luther,
we should give no place to fear. Our faith in God should be a shining light in
this moment of darkness. We must also pray fervently, as Jesus taught in the
Lord’s prayer, that we will be delivered from this coronavirus evil (Matt.
6:13). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The Bubonic Plague passed away and Luther had
many more years of fruitful service. In the same way, this coronavirus pandemic
will pass and I expect to see, in the days ahead, greater displays of God’s
grace and goodness than we have ever seen before.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">Dr. Eddie Hyatt is the author of numerous books, including his latest, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/33IzTUD">1726: The Year that Defined America</a></i>, which documents how the Great Awakening had a direct bearing on the founding of Ameica and the abolishing of slavery on this contienent. You can read about his vision for America and the world at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/">www.eddiehyatt.com</a>. </span></span></div>
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Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-54468482028626590742020-03-12T12:22:00.002-07:002020-03-12T17:50:32.316-07:00NARCISSISM, SELF-LOVE & THE BIBLE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #660000;">But know this,
that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be
lovers of themselves . . . having a form of godliness but
denying its power. And from such people, turn away</span></span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #660000;"><i> (II Timothy 3:1-5).</i></span><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">In vs. 2 of the above passage, Paul says a characteristic
of the last days will be that people will be <i>lovers of themselves</i>. This
is narcissism. The word narcissism is derived from Narcissus, a handsome young
man of Greek mythology whose self-fixation led to his demise. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">Faint with thirst from his travels one
day, Narcissus came to a quiet, still stream in the woods. Crouching over to
take a drink, he was struck by his own reflection in the water. Staring into
the water at his own reflection, Narcissus fell in love with himself. So
enamored was he with his own beauty, Narcissus refused to move to either eat or
drink and finally died, gazing at himself in the water.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Selfishness Cloaked in Godliness<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">Modern psychology has taken this mythical
story and its central figure, Narcissus, and constructed some elaborate theories
from it. My purpose in this article is to simply show how the “self-love” illustrated
by this story, is rampant in the church today.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">Paul says that such self-love will be a
characteristic of the last days. “Lovers of themselves” is a translation of the
one Greek word <i>philautoi</i>, which literally means “self-lovers.” The word "form" in vs. 5 is from the Greek word <i>morphe</i>, which refers to the outward appearance
of a thing. Paul is saying that in the last days people will be self-lovers and
will cloak their selfishness with a form or appearance of godliness. Have you
noticed how rampant this is in the church today!</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The American Narcissistic Gospel<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">I heard a well-known TV preacher
explain why she was divorcing her husband, who was also a pastor. In her mind she had spiritually
grown past their relationship and it was time for her to move on. It was such a
clear example of this passage—narcissism cloaked in the appearance of
godliness. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">This sort of self-centered attitude has become
characteristic of the American gospel. No call to discipleship. No indication
of the need to be willing to suffer for the cause of Christ. Just send your
offering and everything will be OK. In this narcissistic gospel, God exists for
no higher purpose than to meet the selfish wishes and whims of fallen humanity.
What a tragedy! </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Take Up Your Cross & Follow Jesus<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">On the other hand, when did you last hear
a message on the words of Jesus in Matt. 16:24-25, <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">If anyone desires to come after Me, let
him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it</span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">When the disciples heard these words, they
knew it was a call to let go of their lives--to die to self. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Watch His Resurrection Life Break
Forth<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">This is not something morbid; for it is
only when we let go of our own life that we find His resurrection life working
in us and on our behalf. During one of the most devastating times of my life, I
heard the Holy Spirit say, “Don’t be afraid of death, for I am the
resurrection.” <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">So, go ahead, let go of your life—die to
self-- and watch His resurrection life break forth as the morning Sun. And
remember the prayer of Francis of Assisi;<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;">O Divine
Master,</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to
console;</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">To be understood, as to understand;</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">To be loved, as to love;</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">For it is in giving that we receive,</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Amen.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Check out Dr. Eddie Hyatt's books on <a href="https://amzn.to/2II3zb6">Amazon </a>and his website at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/">www.eddiehyatt.com</a>.</span></span></span></div>
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Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-80253724217078599432020-03-11T11:27:00.002-07:002020-03-12T11:39:56.430-07:00POSTMODERNISM AND A NEW "BACK TO THE BIBLE" REFORMATION<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">We live in a postmodern world where any concept of objective truth and reality has been rejected. Not only have the postmodernists rejected the Biblical worldview on which Western civilization was founded, they have rejected the modern Enlightenment worldview that exalted “reason” as the path for discovering truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">The Postmodernist Creates His Own Truth<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">For the postmodernist, truth and reality are not to be discovered, they are to be created. Therefore, if biology tells me I am a man, I do not have to accept it. I can self-identify as a woman because I am free to create my own truth system and my own reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Is this not the lie the serpent presented to our first parents? If they would reject God’s command, they themselves would be as gods, <i>knowing [determining] good and evil</i>. (Genesis 3:1-4). In other words, they could create their own moral and ethical system apart from God. Sadly, this same destructive belief system is being taught in schools throughout America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Postmodernism is obviously very “I” or <i>ego</i> centered. Even science and biology must be rejected to accommodate “my” feelings and desires. Truth and reality is what “I” decide it to be and the rest of the world is obligated to accept and accommodate me in my pursuit of self-fulfillment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Religious Syncretism<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">This rejection of objective truth is also leading to religious syncretism, which is the combining of different belief systems. Students of mine at a Christian University visited a Buddhist temple as part of their assignment for a class on world religions. They were greeted by a man who introduced himself as a “Christian Buddhist.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">A headline in the Dallas Morning News reads, “One Part Jesus, Two Parts Buddha.” The writer goes on to explain that a popular trend in America is for people to concoct their own personal religion by borrowing what they like from various religions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">When postmodern thinking seeps into the church, we see a loss of any emphasis on consecration, commitment, and sacrifice. The call of Jesus to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him is seldom if ever heard (Luke 9:23-24). The emphasis, instead, is on “me” and my feelings and how I can have feel-good experiences with God apart from the call to repentance and holy living.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">The postmodern way of thinking leads to confusion, and will ultimately destroy individuals, families, churches and entire societies. This is why we must have a “Back to the Bible” Reformation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">The Bible Has Shaped World History<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">The Bible is a book infused with life and power. It provided the intellectual and moral foundation for Western Civilization and for America. A ten-year study to determine where America’s founders got their ideas for the nation’s founding documents discovered that they quote the Bible far more than any other source. And in <span style="color: black;">a December 1982 article in <i>Newsweek</i> entitled “How the Bible Made America,” the authors state,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.3pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">For centuries [the Bible] has exerted an unrivaled influence</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"> <span style="letter-spacing: -.3pt;">on American culture, politics and social life. Now historians</span> are discovering that the Bible, perhaps even more than the Constitution, is our founding document: the source of the powerful myth of the United States as a special, <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">sacred nation, a people called by God to establish a model</span> of society, a beacon to the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">The great church historian, Philip Schaff, said, “Every true progress in church history is conditioned by a new and deeper study of the Scriptures.” Indeed, virtually all the great revivals of Christian history have begun with a new and in-depth study of God’s word.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">For example, the great Methodist revival that transformed 18<sup>th</sup> century England, began with John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and others at Oxford University studying the Greek New Testament each evening from 6–9 p.m. John Wesley judged every manifestation and revelation by the word of God and once declared, “Let me be a man of One Book.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Jonathan Edwards, who ignited the Great Awakening in New England, was known to study the Bible for many hours each day. At the height of the Awakening he said that there was “no book so delightful as the Bible.” He went on to say, “Some, by reason of their love to God’s word, at times have been wonderfully delighted and affected at the sight of a Bible."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">George Whitefield who spread the Awakening up and down the eastern seaboard, was also a man of One Book. After being born again through the ministry of the Wesleys at Oxford, he experienced an insatiable hunger for God’s word, and wrote,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">My mind <span style="background: white;">now</span> being more open and enlarged, I began to read the Holy Scriptures on my knees, laying aside all other books, and praying over, if possible, every line and every word.<span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Whitefield’s sermons, which he preached to thousands in the open air, were Bible based. He always began with a Biblical passage, such as the Ten Virgins or the Healing of Blind Bartimaeus, and then elaborated and made application of those passages to his audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Charles Finney the 19<sup>th</sup> century “Prince of Revivalists” was consumed with God’s word. He tells how during his preparation for the ministry, and struggling with traditional theology, he turned to the Bible, which he read on his knees. He wrote.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Often when I would leave Mr. Gale, I would go to my room and spend a long time on my knees over my </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Bible<span style="background: white;">. Indeed, I read my Bible on my knees a great deal during those days. I had nowhere to go but directly to the Bible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">The modern Pentecostal-Charismatic revival began in a Bible school in Topeka Kansas in 1901. The students at Bethel Bible College were focused on studying various Biblical doctrines including the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and out of their study came a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">We Must Learn to “Think Biblically”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">When, in later life, Martin Luther was asked how he, a simple monk and professor, was able to have such an impact on the church and empire, he replied,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s word; otherwise, I did nothing. The Word so weakened the </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">papacy</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"> that never a prince or emperor did such damage to it. I did nothing. The Word did it all.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #38761d; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">We have some great singing, musical and artistic ministries in the church today, but unless we recover an emphasis on God’s word and regain a Biblical worldview, we will have failed in our mission and this generation will be lost.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #660000;">This article is derived from the Preface of <i><a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/think_biblically.html#BOOK">Think Biblically</a></i>, a teaching manual/study guide available from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's website at <a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/bookstore.html">www.eddiehyatt.com/bookstore.html</a>. Dr. Hyatt is teaching this "Think Biblically" course each Tuesday evening and the live stream can be accessed from his website and his Facebook page at </span></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/dreddiehyatt" style="text-align: left;">https://www.facebook.com/dreddiehyatt</a>.</span></div>
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Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-56166469986122500502020-03-09T10:12:00.004-07:002020-03-09T10:16:33.944-07:00THE "AUTHORITY MYTH" CONCERNING WOMEN & CHURCH<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">By Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">
OPEN HOUSE <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>March 7, 2020<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;">at The Int’l Christian Women’s
Hall of Fame</span></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #660000; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">To access the video teaching that goes with this outline, click this link. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXiSRX0OKMk" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXiSRX0OKMk</a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">For
many churches, “authority” is the central issue that determines a woman’s role
in their congregation. One mega church, for example, allows women pastors but
only male elders. They explain that the governing body for their church is
their board of elders, and since women cannot exercise governing authority, all
elders must be men. This “authority” myth is pervasive. The popular <i>Spirit Filled Life Bible</i>, for example,
without a shred of evidence, explains the prohibition toward women in I Timothy
2:12 as referring to “the authoritative office of apostolic teacher in the
church.” We will confront this “myth” in the following lesson.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">I. The
New Testament Greek word for “authority” is <i>exousia</i>
and it carries the meaning of “authority” and “the right to act.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">A. <i>Exousia</i> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">is found </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">102 times </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">in the Greek New Testament </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">plus several times in
its verb and cognate forms</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">1. <i>And they were astonished at His teaching,
for He taught them as one having <b>authority</b>
and not as the scribes</i> (Mark 1:22).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">2. <i>Therefore I write these things being absent,
lest being present I should use sharpness according the <b>authority</b> the Lord has given me</i> for edification and not for
destruction (II Corinthians 13:10).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">3. <i>Nevertheless,
we have not used this <b>right</b>, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel
of Christ</i> (I Corinthians 9:12b).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">4. <i>The wife does not have <b>authority</b> over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the
husband does not have <b>authority</b> over
his own body, but </i></span><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">the wife does </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">(I Corinthians 7:4).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">This
is the only passage where Paul uses the word authority regarding the marriage relationship,
and he gives the same authority to the wife as to the husband.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">B. Nowhere
in the New Testament is a woman told she cannot exercise <i>exousia, i.e., </i>authority.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">II. Jesus
completely blew apart the “authority” myth when he made “service” the criterion
for leadership in His kingdom.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">A. Jesus
insisted that <i>diakonos</i> (service) rather
than <i>exousia</i> (authority) would be the
defining characteristic of leadership in His kingdom (Mark 10:35-45).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">B. Jesus
presented this radical model of leadership to His disciples in response to
James and John requesting the two most prominent seats in the kingdom, which
provoked an argument among the Twelve about who would be the greatest.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">C. The
Twelve must have been shocked when Jesus told them they were to function as <i>diakonoi</i>, a Greek word that referred to
a lowly “servant” with no connotations of status, importance or power. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">III. During
the 1<sup>st</sup> century when “service” was the chief characteristic of a
Christian leader, women functioned freely in leadership as evidenced even by
Paul.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">A. <i>Phoebe </i>is described by Paul as a <i>diakonos</i>, the word Jesus said should
characterize His leaders. Paul also calls her a <i>prostatis</i>, which the NKJV translates as “helper,” but <i>Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon </i>says the
word refers to “a woman set over others” (Romans 16:1-2).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">B. Paul
greets Priscilla and Aquilla and the church that is in their house. Priscilla
and Aquilla are always mentioned together and here Paul went against the
accepted protocol and mentioned Priscilla first, leading many NT scholars to
believe that she was the spiritually gifted one and the pastor of the church
that met in their home (Romans 16:3-5). </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">C. Paul
greets Andronicus and <i>Junia</i> who are
of note among the apostles (Romans 16:7). Junia is a feminine name and every
ancient Greek manuscript has the feminine form. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 102%;">1. Based
on the overwhelming textual and historical evidence, every early English
translation opted for the feminine name, <i>Junia</i>.
These include Tyndale’s New Testament (1526), the Coverdale Bible (1535), the
Great Bible (1539), the Geneva Bible (1560), the Bishop’s Bible (1568) and the
King James Version (1611). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 102%;">2. We only find the male name
"Junias" appearing in modern translations beginning with the Revised
Version in 1881 and followed by the RSV, the NASB, the TEV, the MSG and the
1984 NIV. Newer translations, such as the NRSV, NLT and NKJV, have returned to
the original understanding of the word as <i>Junia</i>.
Faced with the overwhelming evidence, the translators of the NIV changed the
name to <i>Junia</i> in their 2011 edition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">D. In
Philippians 4:3 Paul acknowledges the women whom he said, <i>Labored with me in the gospel</i>. Gerald F. Hawthorne, in the <i>Word Biblical Commentary</i>, says that
Paul, in this passage, uses a metaphor which means "to fight together side
by side with," clearly indicating that Paul sees these women, not as peons
under him, but as highly esteemed members of his team who have labored at his
side in the cause of Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">E. Considering
the many examples of women leaders in Scripture, it is no wonder that the noted
British, New Testament scholar, the late F.F. Bruce declared, “The mainstream
churches of Christendom, as they inch along towards a worthier recognition of
the ministry of women, have some way to go yet before they come abreast of
Paul.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">IV. The word
“authority” in I Timothy 2:12 is NOT from <i>exousia. </i>It is translated from
a strange Greek word, <i>authentein</i>, and
is found only here in the entire New Testament. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">A. <i>Authentein</i> is a negative word meaning to
control or domineer and at least once was used in the ancient world regarding a
murder.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">B. Because
this is not <i>exousia</i>, the normal word
for authority, Paul cannot be here referring to the normal exercise of
authority in the church.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">C. Because
<i>authentein</i> is found only here, in
this personal letter to Timothy, Paul’s directive that women are not to teach
or to <i>authentein</i> a man must be
understood as applying to the unique situation Timothy is facing in the city of
Ephesus where he is confronting heretical teaching (see I Timothy 1:3).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">V. <span style="letter-spacing: -.1pt;">After Paul and the first generation of Christians
passed off the scene, the church began to institutionalize, putting more and
more emphases on outward forms of order and structure.</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">A. As
part of this institutionalizing process, they began to think of ministry, no
longer in terms of service, but in terms of "office" and
"authority."</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">B. This
“authoritarian” approach to church and ministry reached its crescendo with
Constantine and the emergence of a form of Christianity that is predicated on
power and authority. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">C. It
was after the church institutionalized and began to think of leadership in
terms of “office” and “authority” that women began to be excluded from
leadership roles in the church and passages such as I Timothy 2:11-12 used to
justify their exclusion.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">D. The
fact that so much of the church still makes “authority” the criterion for
excluding women from leadership, is an indication that we have not fully
recovered from the Constantinian form of church where “authority” is the
central issue.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">VI. Let us
pray and be bold to declare God’s truth to this generation. Pray that our
authority-laden church structures will be transformed into centers of service
where women as well as men are free to exercise their leadership gifts and
callings. This, I believe, will help position us to see another great
world-wide spiritual awakening.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">This outline was
derived from the book, </span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt; text-decoration: none;"><a href="https://amzn.to/334fadH">Paul, Women and Church</a></span></i></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">, by Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt and is available from </span></span><a href="https://amzn.to/2LXOSo9"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt; text-decoration: none;">Amazon</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></u></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">and his website, </span></span><a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt; text-decoration: none;">www.eddiehyatt.com</span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk28870835;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13pt;">. To access the video where Dr. Hyatt is teaching this subject, click this link. </span></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXiSRX0OKMk" style="background-color: transparent; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXiSRX0OKMk</span></a></span></div>
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Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6227938633526771022.post-31675935197026931112020-03-02T11:27:00.000-08:002020-03-02T18:23:24.120-08:00WHEN ANGELS BECOME A DISTRACTION<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">We as Pentecostals and charismatics love sensational manifestations, but the downside is that we too often become enthralled with them and begin seeking them instead of the Lord and His word. Angels are real but they can become a distraction as in the case of the man at the Pool of Bethesda.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b>The Problem at the Pool</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">John 5:1-15 tells the story of Jesus healing a paralytic who had been lying at the Pool of Bethesda, probably for many years, waiting for an angel to come down and “stir up” the water. John says that when the angel “stirred up” the water, whoever stepped first into the pool was healed of whatever disease they had.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Any results at this pool were obviously minimal for the place was crowded with a “multitude” of weak, sickly, and helpless people. The man Jesus talked to had been in his paralytic condition for 38 years. Despite his unflagging preoccupation with this sensational angelic phenomenon, he had found no relief.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Jesus did not try to help the man into the pool. He did not encourage him to keep watching for the angel. Jesus, in fact, took his attention away from the pool and the angel to his own state of mind and heart. He asked the man, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Do you want to be made well? </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The Greek word for "want" in Jesus' question does not refer to a mere wish, but to an "earnest desire." In other words, does this man really want to be well or has he settled into a blas</span></span><span style="color: #351c75; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">é</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">existence in which he is satisfied with being mesmerized by the sensational, spiritual phenomena he finds there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b>God and His Word are Our Only Sure Hope</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">We must remember that this man, and all the others around the pool, were Jews with a healing covenant from God. All the Old Testament promises of healing belonged to them. Exodus 15:26 belonged to them, where God revealed Himself to Israel as <i>the LORD your Healer</i>. Psalm 103:2-3 was theirs, where David exhorted God’s people to <i>forget not all His benefits; who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">It seems that the stirring of the water had become a distraction for this man and many others like him. They had placed their hope in an unpredictable, sensational phenomenon rather than the sure promises of God’s word. They were in the same place as the Colossian believers whom Paul, years later in Colossians 2:18, chided for their “worship” of angels.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The word “worship” in Colossians 2:18 is a translation of the Greek word <i>threskia</i> and is not the normal word for “worship.” Besides Col. 2:18 it is found in only three other places in the New Testament, Acts 26:3 and James 1:26, 27, where it is translated as “religion.” The point seems to be that the Colossians had developed an unhealthy “religious” fascination with angels.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 19.04px;">Is this not the problem with the man at the pool? </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;">It reminds me of how George Whitefield wrote to John Wesley and cautioned him not to make too much of the sensational outward phenomena that were occurring in their meetings, such as falling, weeping, visions, shouting, laughing etc. He said,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 19.04px;">That </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.25pt; line-height: 19.04px;">there </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.2pt; line-height: 19.04px;">is </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.25pt; line-height: 19.04px;">something </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;">of <span style="letter-spacing: -.15pt;">God </span>in <span style="letter-spacing: -.15pt;">it, </span>I <span style="letter-spacing: -.25pt;">doubt </span><span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">not. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -.3pt;">But </span><span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">the </span><span style="letter-spacing: -.25pt;">devil, </span>I <span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">believe, does </span><span style="letter-spacing: -.25pt;">interpose. </span>I <span style="letter-spacing: -.25pt;">think </span><span style="letter-spacing: -.2pt;">it </span><span style="letter-spacing: -.25pt;">will . . . </span>take people away from the written word, and make them depend on visions, convulsions, etc., more than on the promises and precepts of the<span style="letter-spacing: -.6pt;"> </span>gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">In the case of the man at the pool, his enamored preoccupation with the angel and the stirring of the water had taken him away from focusing on God and His covenant promises. Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us that we are to run this Christian race <i>looking unto Jesus</i> (Hebrews 12:2), not chasing every exciting sign and wonder that comes down the pike.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><b>How I Learned this Lesson</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">I had to learn this lesson the hard way. In 1989 I became very ill while living in Tulsa, OK, which at that time was the mecca of the charismatic/healing movement. Oral Roberts, T.L. Osborn, Kenneth Hagin and other renowned healing ministers all had their headquarters there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">God, however, would not allow me to lie around the pool (so to speak) hoping that a healing gift would be manifest for me. He made it very clear that I was to trust Him and His covenant promises. In the midst of the battle, He gave me three keys to answered prayer: Promise, Praise and Perseverance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">He made it clear that I was to keep myself preoccupied with His Promise, rather than running here and there hoping for a sensational miracle of healing. I was to surround myself with Praise, for praise is the voice of faith. Finally, I was to Persevere and not throw in the towel just because I did not see an immediate manifestation of healing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">So, I got my eyes off the pool and on God’s promise. I praised and persevered and over the next 3.5 years my faith became firmly rooted in God and His covenant promises. I was healed and thirty years later I am still well and taking no medication. Hallelujah!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.04px;"><span style="color: #351c75;">If God chooses to manifest an angel to me, I have no problem with that. However, I have discovered something far superior and more exciting than any angel—God Himself and His covenant promises. That is where I have chosen to live.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 102%;">Dr. Eddie Hyatt is an author, revivalist and ordained minister. His testimony of finding healing in God's covenant promises is found in his book, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/32IIFS3">3 Keys to Answered Prayer</a></i>, available from Amazon and his website at <a href="http://www.eddiehhyatt.com/">www.eddiehhyatt.com</a>. Read about his vision for revival in America at </span><a href="http://www.eddiehyatt.com/project1726.html" style="text-align: left;">http://www.eddiehyatt.com/project1726.html</a></span></div>
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Eddie Hyatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05778790061210375660noreply@blogger.com0