Westboro Baptist church: This is a group of people that give the Christian community a bad name. For all of you that look at this group and think all Christians are like that, you are very wrong. As a Christian it is embarrassing that a church would do such things, and as a veteran of the United States Army it is a disgrace. This is the kind of people I would donate to by an airfare to some other country as long as the promised to never return.
I feel the people of Westboro Baptist church will be in serious trouble when they stand before Jesus on judgment day. I am sure even Jesus is appalled by their actions. On behalf of the Christian community I would like to apologize for the actions of this so called church, and to the members of Westboro Baptist church I would like to say, if you are going to say you are a church member then you should at least read the word of God (the bible). After all that is what church is for, to go learn about the word of God?
Jesus said to love one another this is the greatest commandment, going to a funeral and attacking the family of the deceased is not love! Even if you do not agree that being at war is a just cause, a rational person could agree that the surviving family members had nothing to do with the soldier being at war. To me this is border line criminal actions.

Jesus Christ is Risen Today
How do we get the power of Jesus Christ to work in our life? It starts with saying help me Jesus.  The biggest problem I see in people today and I am sure it goes back to Adam and Eve, is we want things done our way. We use the knowledge and wisdom we have and analyze everything so we can create a plan to guide us thru life, but what about the plan God has for us? Where does that fit in to our plan? What about the thing God is calling you to do you know the thing that is uncomfortable and you can’t see any prosperity in it or you have to deal with types of people you do not like, or move to another state when you are really comfortable where you are.
The power is available to do the will of God 1 John 5:13-15 tells us if we as Christians pray, Jesus hears us, and if what we are praying is within his will for us we will receive it. We have to grasp that Jesus Christ is risen today, that this is real today; the same power he walked in on earth is available to us today, if we are walking in the will of God! We cannot walk in our will and expect God to pay the bill he is only responsible for the bill if we are in his will. It’s like working for a company, the company will pay the bills associated with you doing business for them but they’re not going to pay your utilities and rent for your personal home! We can also see in these scriptures that we are suppose to pray with boldness, go before Jesus with faith and boldness that we can have what we are asking for. After all we are the children of a great king, nothing is out of the reach of our father.
Spend time seeking a close relationship with Jesus, if you do not know what Gods will is for your life start praying and fasting for the answer. You may need to begin by praying about anything in your life that needs to be fixed and saying help me Jesus. What sins are you hanging on to? We may be living in a time that society says your life is ok but what does the word of God say about your life? When was the last time you read your bible? Or are you one that goes to the church and just listen to what the preacher tells you? You have to read the bible yourself; there will be many that are led astray by preachers that are teaching mans doctrine and not what the word of God says!
It all comes down to a place of being totally surrendered to whatever God wants you to do! Take all your ideals and throw them into the trash and ask Jesus Christ to be your guide, help me Jesus and take complete control of my life, and as you do this, staying totally surrendered to the will of God and start moving as he tells you to, you will begin seeing the power of God working thru you and around you.

Become a Christian! This begins with John 3:16 (For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever has faith in him may not come to destruction but have eternal life). This is only the beginning. Many are teaching this is all you need and this belief will lead many to the pits of hell. Matthew 7:23 (Then I will tell them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity). The bible tells us that if we do not do the will of the father (God) we will not get to enter heaven Matthew 7:21 (Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven).

If you do not have a specific call from God on your life what is the will of the father? I have heard it said look around you and see what God is doing and join in. If you do not see anything then start by helping the poor and homeless, the widows, orphans, and fatherless. James 1:27 (The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world). There are several hundred verses calling us as Christians to help the poor and needy, but yet most churches never bother to reach out and offer a helping hand to those in need.
It is my belief and if you open your eyes and read the bible you will come to the same conclusion, that there will be many on judgment day who attended church here the words depart from me I never knew you. Search your heart and seek the Lord Jesus for guidance on what you need to do. Do not just believe everything taught from the pulpit. Open your bible and learn what God really has to say. If you do not know what the bible says then how will you know when you are being taught a lie? While the preacher will be held accountable for misleading you, you will be held accountable for not seeking God yourself. It is your responsibility to seek the truth for yourself.

The Temple Of God Restored
David desperately wanted the presence of God available to him, to be in His
presence and so he set up a tent on Mt Zion, placed within it the Ark of
Covenant and worshiped before the Lord as he did in the hills as a shepherd .
Solomon built a Temple to the Lord and placed the Ark behind the veil. At the
time of Jesus’ death on the cross, the veil was ripped open. God did it to
reveal Himself, so He would be available to His people. Now He has made us to be
the Temple as He dwells in us. The shadow has passed away, now we have the
reality (John 14.23). Do you know that you are the Temple of God and that the
Spirit of God lives in You? (1Corinthians 3.16)
About the Author
Dory Robertson is an ordained minister of Pastoral Counseling at home with Abundant Life Family Ministries, Ocala, FL
To buy the book send an email to doryptl7@hotmail.com

For me the thing that has captured my attention and does not make sense is my health. For about 40 years I had almost perfect health and then I started having headaches and my back and neck hurting and stiff. It turns out I have a degenerative disk problem in my neck and a bone spur that pushes on a nerve causing headaches to the point of being difficult to even think clearly. It took over a year to even find a doctor that finally figured out what it was, and had set a consultation with a sergeant to fix the bone spur and 1 week before the scheduled date my insurance canceled me because they said it was a pre existing problem. So here I am with no insurance and had gotten to the point it was not safe to keep driving so that meant no income. I was at the point of God this doesn’t make since.

The biggest problem with being at this place for me is that God has used me to heal the sick and many other things in my walk with him, so why not heal me?  I think he has allowed this because it is my nature to work and I tend to focus on what I am doing and forget about everything else including Jesus. I feel he has taken me to a place that I have had to trust him to survive instead of my abilities. Currently he has directed me to help with a homeless mission and my church and I spend more time with him each day that if I was still driving a truck would not be possible.

It has been a big change for me and my family, to go from buying whatever we wanted to saving coupons and running a strict budget to get by. I have to say that all our needs have been met and our bills are paid. I have seen Gods presence in all this even though it doesn’t make sense that he would want me in such a place when I am capable of doing so much more. If you find yourself in such a place start praying and asking what God wants you to do and pay attention to the things you hear him saying especially the ones you don’t want to hear, and prepare for a drastic change in your life. Remember it is all up to God, all we can do is try to carry out his will, even when it does not make sense!

Something to think about: If you read the old testament of the bible especially Jeremiah you will see that God has begged His people to turn from their evil sinful ways for long periods of time. He has sent several prophets to warn them and try to get them to turn back to Him. You also see that eventually He gets tired of the sin and destroys them when they refuse to turn from their sinful lives. Jeremiah 8 God says I know my people sin and that’s ok as long as they acknowledge their sin and turn back to me. I feel Jeremiah 8 is a warning to us today, that God is saying I have seen the sin of the USA, I see all the corrupt leaders (politicians, business leaders, preachers, etc.) and that’s ok, but I am getting tired of all the sin it is time to return to me. It is time to heal the land but I cannot heal it with all the sin present.

I feel God is trying to get us the people of the USA to turn back to Him, He wants us to stop believing all the lies and look at what the truth is. One of the big lies in this country is that it is ok to be a homosexual and that is a flat out lie. How can any preacher say that it is ok when the word of God says it is an abomination? The preachers and teachers that say being gay is ok have the same mind set as those who crucified Jesus.

I challenge each one of you to read the bible yourself so that you are not deceived by these falls teachers. Those of you that teach I warn you that the word of God says your punishment will be worse for misleading Gods people. The only way I have found to know what the truth is, is to stay in the word and listen to the Holy Spirit. Have a daily walk with Jesus and he will guide you.

The race called life: It seems the whole world is running this race, and each person gets a different result and reward. In this race of life everyone is trying to accomplish as much as possible in the time we are given, which is one lifetime. If we look at the difference in lifestyles just in the last 50 years, we can see drastic changes. In 1960 most families it was just the dad that worked and provided for his family, the family was content and I would dare say much happier with such a life, but as time goes on to the present day. Both parents work as many hours as possible and still can’t make enough money to have a savings or even keep the bills paid.

What happened? I would say God has been removing his protective hand from our lives. Since God is not welcome in most of the world these days how can his blessings work for us? Instead of trusting God to provide for us we trust our jobs. I am not saying set on your butt and God will hand you everything. There has to be a balance. Live according to the word of God. Jeremiah 6:16 tells us to stand at the crossroads and see which road is the old reliable path that leads to blessings. Today everyone is in such a hurry to keep getting more and more of whatever it is that they think they need.

How many people do you know that are way over their head in debt? If you took those same people reduced their house size traded the new luxury cars in for something cheaper and got rid of all the high priced toys they could probably live real comfortable. A simple life has many advantages but most people get caught up in trying to stay up with their friends to the point that money is all they think about.

What does God want you to do? Have you stopped at the cross road and considered which path to take? Or did you just keep running with the crowd? Matthew 7:14 tells us that the path to life is narrow but wide is the path to destruction, which one are you on? If you look at the people of the USA and most of the world in context with the bible you will see there is a thousand on the path to destruction and one on the path to life. I caution you about taking paths just because everyone else is on that path.

We are Gods: Psalm 82 tells us that we are sons and daughters of God so that makes us gods. This does not mean we are equal to God the father; only that we share his power like a royal family. I believe the scripture is trying to tell us to take our position as judges on the earth, don’t just bow down to all the corrupt ideals of the law makers and judges. Many times in scripture you can find reference of evil and corrupt judges (politicians). I think these references are put there to let us know to expect this, and not be a part of it.

If you look at the election process of the USA you can find plenty of corruptness, many times the president is not elected based on what he offers to do for the country or what he believes as far as God, but what he offers the individual person. It saddens me to see people vote for someone that campaigns on a few things to benefit a select group but their overall agenda will hurt the nation. Most people today really do not look beyond what they can get! So it works for the politicians who are running.

This could be stopped if the people would follow the commandment of not having any other gods. When we are looking at the government or anyone or thing to provide for us we are making that our god. If we would accept that God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ is our provider we would not need to look to the government for our help, and I think this nation would still be powerful and prosperous. Instead we continue to get weaker and the economy is falling apart. As a Christian I expect this to happen because our leaders continue to turn their backs on God. He is no longer welcome in public places in this nation. If someone is not welcome how can they help you?

In Jeremiah 2:27-28 God has gotten fed up with the people turning their backs on him. He tells Jeremiah to tell them to call on the gods they have been worshiping in times of trouble. He has gotten tired of them worshiping created gods instead of him. I don’t know about you but I don’t have much faith in a handmade god being able to help me. I am afraid this once great nation is at that place where God says let your gods rescue you; don’t bother me when you have problems. You trust the government god to rescue you all the time so let them rescue you this time. Or you always bow down and worship the money god so call on it to save you this time.

We need to be more like a little child. Matthew 18 tells us to have the faith of a little child. Have you noticed when your children are small they look to you for everything?  This is where we need to be with our father, not looking at the job, government, or anything else to take care of us, just Jesus that’s all we need. We as the nation of the United States of America need to take a serious look at who our God is!!

It is time we the people of the USA repent for serving all the other gods in our life, and turn our face to the one true God, Jesus. 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells that if we will humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways that God will hear our prayers and heal our land. I ask that you think about what your god is? What do you worship? If in times of trouble you do not turn to God the Lord Jesus Christ then you have a problem that needs to be fixed.

The Christian walk: Have you ever considered what being a Christian means? Those of us that go to church often get caught up in the lie that just being at church is all it takes to be a Christian. Or maybe you’re one that thinks because you are a good and kind person that it is enough to fulfill the Christian requirements. If you actually read the bible you will come to the conclusion just going to church is not enough. 2^nd Peter 1 tells us that it is a continual growth process in fact 2^nd Peter 1:9 tell us if these qualities aren’t present in your life, you’re shortsighted and have forgotten that you were cleansed from your past sins. The qualities spoken of are: integrity, faith, knowledge, self control, endurance, godliness, Christian affection, and love.

How many of us have all these qualities and are growing in them? What is your integrity like? A good way to check this is by what you do when no one is around. Do you have some secret things you do when alone that are not Christ like? How about your faith? When life gets tough do you fall apart or do you stand in faith that your God is bigger than whatever the problem is. What level is your knowledge? Do you read your bible daily praying for wisdom? Or do you just leave that to the preacher and except whatever he tells you the bible says.

How about your self control? Do you just go with whatever feels good or do you practice self control, to do what is right? How about endurance? Do you push yourself to do what needs to be done or do you wimp out because you’re a little tired? How is your godliness Do you do ok on all the things God says we can or can’t do? Or do you just ignore the things that are uncomfortable like the movies or radio that have content that would be offensive to God. Where is your Christian affection? Jesus was very affectionate when he was on earth and now setting on the throne. How about love? Do you struggle to love the people you come in contact with? Do you love the homeless person on the corner or are they like an ugly tree in the neighbor’s yard, you wished you could cut down so you wouldn’t have to look at it. Or maybe your ex spouse, can you find that love of Jesus Christ for them. We are not required to like them and what they do but we are required to love them.

It all comes down to; where are you at with God and the bible? The bible is the word of God and Gods word does not change, if he said it, you can count on it happening, because he said he would make his words come to pass.

When your life on earth is over will you hear Matthew 25:34 then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, my Father has blessed you! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. Or will you hear? Matthew 7:23 depart from me I never knew you. These are things to think about, the bible tells us how to live, and what we need to do to go to heaven or hell. We will go to one of the 2 places when we die. Which one will you choose?

When we worship God it is suppose to be a time between us and Him, a time that we are saying how great God is and we really appreciate everything He does for us. Most of the time, it is just part of the church program! The congregation is not singing from the heart, it is all from the head trying to look all holy for everyone around them. I can say this because I have caught myself doing it, my mind will be on lunch, what I have to do after church, or what happened before church. It is at these times we need to press in harder to clear our minds and give ourselves completely to the Lord Jesus Christ, after all that is why we go to church. Or is church just a cheap social gathering?

I have been in many churches were I got the feeling it was just a social gathering; the preacher never preached about anything that might offend someone; only feel good messages. It is my belief and if you read Matthew then you will get the same ideal, that there will be a lot of church goers in hell. We are not called to merely show up on Wednesday and Sunday to listen to what God is doing in someone else’s life. We are called to be an active part, of the body of Christ. That means to look beyond our self, to help others, to be Christ like. Matthew 7:21-23 tells us that only those who do what the father (God) said to do will enter heaven.

Where do you stand? Has God given you something to do? Are you doing it? According to Jesus we are in danger of going to hell if we are not doing what God has called us to do. I believe this even goes farther. Did God call you to clean the church but you chose to teach the youth or some other more honorable position? There are very few that will humble themselves to clean the toilets in the church, if that is your calling then that is what you need to do. If everyone would do what they have been called to do, then all the needs of the church would be covered, instead of a few doing everything.

Chances are your calling is whatever you are good at. I believe God designs us to be good at whatever it is, he wants us to do. Many times you find someone really struggling in a position and it is because they are outside their calling. This is not always the case, God will challenge us in the position were suppose to be in, so that we can grow, but His favor will be with you, there will be a peace and joy even in the hard times.

If you do not know what you are called to do, ask God to show you. Is there a position open in the church that you are good at doing? Talk to your pastor, ask him to help you figure out your calling. It may be as simple as greeting people as they come into church, mow the lawn, clean restrooms, etc. We all work together to make the body of Christ. Can you imagine a church that no one cleaned? That would be a disgrace, to call it the house of God. Or how about the church with no preacher or no one to mow the grass or change light bulbs, or clean the sanctuary. Look at the needs of your church and ask yourself what can I do? With God and the bible you can do anything as long as it is God’s will for you.