Freedom News- An American Blog

HI Folks,Tomorrow is Tuesday.This Tuesday is perhaps a bit more crucial than the others, for it’s the final Tuesday of 2008.  New Year’s Day is this Thursday.Normally I don’t put much stock in New Year’s Day, for it’s largely a commemoration of our own scientific prowess.  We’re the ones who decided the location for the Prime Meridian and the location of 0 degrees longitude.  These are the measures by which we determine time zones, and thus days, weeks, etc.However, we’re this much closer to the Lord’s judgment if this nation doesn’t turn back to the Lord.A well-known pastor calls his church to 21-Days of Prayer and Fasting every New Year’s Day.  Due to the lateness of the hour and the ever-nearing approach of the Lord’s wrath upon our land, maybe we should begin 2009 with 21 days of fasting and prayer.  Why fast?  Fasting makes us more able to hear the Lord’s voice and brings a greater reliance upon Him for strength.  Fasting purges our systems of the toxins we’ve introduced by our abysmal diets and poor nutritional habits.  This purging of our systems brings better physical health and thus, a greater ability to think clearly.  When this happens, we’re better able to read and understand God’s Word.  Fasting trains our minds to be able to focus on the Lord more clearly.  The discipline of submitting our flesh to a righteous hunger for more of the Lord brings us closer to Him and facilitates greater obedience to Him.So, we have everything to gain by fasting.So how?  I suggest something like the Bible’s Daniel Fast:  This is a diet of fresh (hopefully organic) fruits and vegetables and whole grain cereals.  We drink only water, tea and pure fruit juices.  No chocolate, cake, pie or other sweets, no fruit punch or Kool-Aid, no sodas (pop), or milk shakes and ice cream.  Or you can take one day a week to do a 24-hour, no-food fast.  During the 21 days, do two, two-day fasts or start out the 21 days with a 3-day, liquid only fast.I usually prefer one 24-hour, no-food fast or the fresh fruits, veggies and whole grain fast.  Not only is my mind more in tune with the Lord, I simply feel better physically.    With fasting, there are also other things that take place.  Let’s look at Isaiah 58.6…

• 6.

 

• Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Fasting tears down ‘strongholds’, removes barriers, opens hearts and minds.  Those who have resisted hearing the Gospel are more open.  The hardest hearted of our nemeses are suddenly willing to listen.  No, fasting isn’t a ‘hunger strike’ where God changes others because we’re denying ourselves food.  What happens is that because our minds are clearer and we’re more in tune with the Lord, we’re better able to pray in line with what needs to happen.  We hear God more clearly and are better able to listen to how He leads.  So the walls come down inside of us.  We hear the Lord more clearly and we’re able to pray more powerfully!So tomorrow evening, let’s join together in our weekly Tuesday at 8:45 Eastern prayer time.  Yet, on New Year’s Eve, let’s resolve that we will enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise by allowing our bodies to pray by fasting.Rev. Michael CarlPastorGreenwood Union ChurchWakefield, MA   01880Pastor@GreenwoodUnionChurch,org

By Michael Carl

            When I was a kid, I looked forward to Sundays. 

Yes, that means I looked forward to going to church, but it also means I looked forward to going home after church and opening up the Sunday comics.

            Since my parents subscribed to both of Houston, Texas’ daily newspapers, that means I had two comic sections, eight pages each, and full of complete, four-colour drawings.  When we arrived home, I would dive into the color comics, reading and digesting the chuckles, the laughs and the subtle messages.   

In the sixties and early seventies, comics had subtle messages based on our human nature.  They were larger than life caricatures of people’s behaviour, with all its faults and foibles.

These were still golden days for the comics.  There were the classics:  the original Blondie, Snuffy Smith, Li’l Abner, the old Beetle Bailey, Hi and Lois, Alley Oop, Gasoline Alley, Nancy, Prince Valiant, Mary Worth, Ferdinand, and Superman.  Then there was the unrivalled genius of my all-time favourite—Peanuts. 

            Comics back then didn’t have too many overtly political messages and the jokes didn’t depend on savage brutality, anger, revenge, bitterness or our baser natures.

            The drawings were beautiful.  The Sunday comics were genuinely works of art.  They were, or so we thought, permanent mainstays of Americana.  The larger, readable panels were almost like Monet paintings on newsprint. 

            Those days are unfortunately gone.  Today’s Sunday comic sections been reduced to barely four pages and in most cases, the panels have been so reduced in size that they’re barely legible.

            The quality of the material has gone down too.  The humour is base and crude.  Sometimes the punch lines are so coarse and offensive that I hesitate to try to explain them to anyone.

            Such is the case of American culture.  As a whole, our culture has left excellence behind and has embraced minimalism as a way of life.

            So what does all of this have to do with Christmas?  I admit that the connection here is tenuous at best.  Yet, we’ve allowed the media moguls and the power brokers to do with Christmas what they’ve done to the Sunday funnies.  The media and the marketers have trivialized Christianity and have reduced the birth of our Saviour to a mere marketing gimmick.

            Oh, we may hear Christmas music in every store, but all too often I hear  “Jingle Bells”, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”, “Sleigh Ride”, “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”, “Winter Wonderland” and “White Christmas”.  Admittedly a few of the traditional carols have made it back on the rotation, but only because Christians have pushed back against the tide of minimalist relativism.

            Yes, times change.  Financial concerns, space requirements, and a shrinking readership have forced newspapers to push the most artistic part of the paper into a corner.

            Yet, sometimes change isn’t for the better, especially if a great American art form is the casualty.

Still, be of good cheer.  While art may be temporary, Jesus is forever.  The celebration of His birth is not a consumer commodity.  The public holiday is a holy day.  The real celebration of His birthday doesn’t depend on consumer demand, space requirements and ad revenues. 

Jesus came into our world to give us a bigger perspective than the “Bottom Line”.  He came to give us a glimpse into the eternal.  He came to remedy human faults and reshape our shifting priorities.  Jesus can forgive our sin and give us eternal life because He Himself is eternal.

Remember that while creativity may be divinely inspired, our public displays through the arts may be temporary. 

Jesus is forever!  With Him, we can live forever!

So, Merry Christmas everyone!

 

The time has come for us to put aside our hesitations about serving the Lord.  The time has come for us to stop worrying about public opinion, approvals and approbation from a dying world.  Forget it.  The world is never going to “approve” of the Gospel.Paul said it so well when he said in Galatians 1.10, “Am I still trying to please human beings?  If I were still doing that I should not be a servant of Christ.”In a more contemporary time, a pastor going to martyrdom in Zimbabwe wrote the following stirring essay about his faithful service.  Let these words burn deeply into your heart as you resolve to no longer seek the world’s approval for your faithful Christ-centred living…

Zimbabwe Pastor’s Quote, written in about 1990

 

“I have Holy Spirit Power. The die has been cast. I’ve stepped over the line. I am out of the comfort zone. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.

 

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colourless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, tiny giving and dwarfed goals.

 

I no longer need preeminence, plaudits, prosperity, position, promotions or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, love by patience, lift up by prayer and labor by His power.

 

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable and my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, diluted or delayed.

 

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

 

I won’t give up, shut up or let up till I’ve preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up and stayed up for the cause of Jesus Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go ’til I drop, preach ’til all know and work ’til He stops me. I’m going to hang on, hunker down, hug tight and go where He wants to go and let Him take me there. And when He comes to get His own, He’ll have no trouble recognizing me because my banner will be clear!”

What else can we add to this?

World NewsChavez seeks power extensionHugo Chavez, the colorful President of Venzuala, has been making moves behind the scenes to alter the Venezualan constitution to allow him to stay in power until 2021.  A few days ago, at a rally of thousands orchestrated by Chavez’ party, the United Socialist party, the animated President chortled “I am ready, and if I am healthy, God willing, I will be with you until 20219”.  The staged rally’s throngs reacted with predicted shouts of acclamation.<a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7757784.stm>News Source</a>An unnamed “senior Pakistani security official” was quoted in an article in the

UK times as saying . “If something happens on (the Indian) front, the war on terror won’t be our priority.  We’ll take out everything from the western border.” He was referring to a growing throng of Indians calling for force-buildup along the border with

Pakistan, the disputed Kashmere region.  The bifurcating needs of India and Pakistan place the U.S. in the unenviable position of having two ostensible allies pulling

U.S. interests into disparate directions.While Pakistan seeks to pressure the U.S. to pull back the Indian groundswell of rage directed at all things Pakistani, India is pressuring the U.S to get the Pakistani government to aggressively pursue all agents of the Mumbai Massacre, whether they be Pakistani government officials or not.<a href=”http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5259622.ece”>News Source</a> 

Economic newsDow declines in the past year- 33%

Germany’s DAX_n 42%Shanghai Composite- 64$The World Index- sans the DOW- 49%

Nations such as China, Russia, India, Japan, the alleged usurpers of parts of American dominance in the world, are in considerably worst turmoil than

America herself is.  This bodes well for

America in that, during her time of weakness the rest of world is unable to muster the strength to usurp American power in the world today.

 

Credit Freeze is not done yetDespite the billions of dollars that credit card companies have received through the bailout, that industry is discussing a plan that would call for the credit industry to freeze 2 plus trillion dollars over the next 18 months in an attempt to account for risk aversion and the anticipated changes in regulations.The source of this speculation is Meredith Whitney, in a Reuters article, quoted as saying “….we expect available consumer liquidity in the form of credit-card lines to decline by 45 percent”.Due to the recent mergers both before and after the bail out, lines of credit, referred to as “consumer liquidity” are now in the hands of 5 international leviathons.  This dominance by a few has resulted in the power of the few to develop a coordinated drawback of credit across the boards, to be assisted by more aggressive collection practices, a trend supported by thousands of anecdotal witness accounts from those who are being pursued by one of the big 5. <a href= http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4B01HI20081201 >News Source</a>Paul Collier, americanfreedomist.comThis article may be used freely so long as you credit Paul Collier and the American Freedomist Network, as well as include the links.