"Preach the Word,

There is an expression in America that inspires excitement and raises hope. When a situation seems hopeless and the cry is heard, the downtrodden senses his rescue on the horizon. “The Cavalry is coming!” The victim feels he can survive long enough for the men of blue riding on horses to arrive.




Let’s Ride.

Let me apologize in advance for this lengthy post.
As we all know, the "Lord's prayer" was never prayed by our Lord. It was a pattern for prayer: "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name..." (Mt 6:9). To repeat these words over and over (instead of using them as a pattern for prayer from the heart) would be to disobey our Lord and to engage in what He strictly forbade: "vain repetition" (6:7).

Certainly this prayer is only for those who know God as their heavenly Father. It is a grievous error common to pseudo-Christianity to assume the universal Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man. The typical Unity church service, for example, includes this affirmation repeated in unison, "I am a child of God and therefore I do not inherit sickness." Such "positive confessions" have led multitudes astray. Paul declared that we become "the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:26).

The fact that this relationship with God as one's Father does not come by natural birth is clear. To those who boasted of being "Abraham's children," Christ countered, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do" (Jn 8:44). The rebellion of Adam and Eve, by which they became the followers of Satan as "the god of this world" (2 Cor 4:4), made the devil the patriarch of mankind.

That is why Christ told Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (Jn 3:3). This spiritual birth is an absolute requirement, allowing no exceptions. No one will be in heaven who has not been "born again," both "of water and of the Spirit" (v. 5).

There is a common abuse of this prayer among American athletic teams. A high percentage of teams across America (especially in high school football) pray the "Lord's Prayer" either before or after games. Attitudes of participants vary from skepticism, to suppressed ridicule, to a shrugging acquiescence to something that might now and then bring "good luck." This American tradition is an abomination to God.

Phil Jackson, one of the most successful coaches in NBA history, turned from the Pentecostalism in which his co-pastor parents raised him to Zen Buddhism and the occultism of Lakota Indian "spirituality." Yet he still repeats the "Lord's prayer" and has for years encouraged his teams to do so without knowing God or Christ. This unbiblical practice has been one of Satan's major tools of deception.

Confusion reigns over what it means to be "born again" another deception of the devil. The teaching is rather common that Christ's words, "of water," refer to the protective amniotic water sac that breaks in natural birth, while "of the Spirit" refers to being born of the Spirit of God at the second birth. The latter is true, but I'm of the opinion that the former is false.

Everyone enters via the amniotic fluid into the human race. "Born of water" must mean more than that. It would be redundant to say that in order to be born again one must have already been born once. Furthermore, that doctrine would place an unbiblical restriction upon entrance into heaven! Such a proposition would mean that there would be no salvation for anyone who had not experienced natural birth. Thus no fetus that died by whatever means before coming to full-term delivery could be considered a real person eligible for the second birth and heaven, thus allowing abortion at any stage.

The biblical teaching of the "new birth" (becoming a "born-again" person) has caused much controversy. Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and others believe this occurs at baptism. As previously noted (see TBC 8/04), every Lutheran church follows Luther's Small Catechism. At baptism (usually as a baby), one receives a certificate stating, "In baptism full salvation has been given unto you; God has become your Father, and you have become His child through this act...."

In fact, the Bible teaches that baptism (like the "Lord's prayer") is only for those who have believed the gospel. Baptism testifies to the faith by which one was born again. Otherwise it is meaningless. Infant baptism defies Scripture, denies the gospel, and is a major net by which "the god of this world" gathers multitudes into his kingdom, providing them with false assurance that prevents them from seeing their need to receive Christ as Savior and Lord.

How could a church defend baptizing an infant that cannot understand or believe? It was necessary to claim some efficacy, as the Catechisms say, "in this act of baptism...." This occult lie of spiritual power innate in and released by baptism, burning a candle or incense, doing rituals, priestly hand motions, voice tones, etc., has been for thousands of years the essence of ritual magic, witchcraft, paganism, etc., which anthropologists now call shamanism.

This ruinous delusion is also known as sacramentalism-a heresy so vital to Roman Catholicism that it has its own Latin term: ex opere operato (i.e., "in the act itself"). To deny this doctrine concerning any official sacrament is to deny Roman Catholicism, for which the penalty is automatic excommunication (tantamount to being sentenced to hell). Here it is from The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent: Seventh Session...third day of March, 1547, Decree Concerning the Sacraments...Canons on the Sacraments in General [still in full force]:

Can. 4. If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for salvation but...that without them or without the desire of them men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification...let him be anathema.


Can. 8. If anyone says that by the sacraments of the New Law grace is not conferred ex opere operato, but that faith alone in the divine promise is sufficient to obtain grace, let him be anathema.

The grievous heresy of sacramentalism continues to seduce in various forms most "Reformed" churches. R.C. Sproul, for example, justifies infant baptism by likening it to circumcision: "The scriptural case for baptizing believers' infants rests on the parallel between [O.T.] circumcision and N.T. baptism as signs and seals of the covenant of grace....The Old Testament precedent requires it" (Geneva Study Bible, p. 38).

The Ethiopian to whom Philip had just preached Christ from Isaiah 53 (Acts 8:29-35) asked, "See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest" (8:36,37). Philip then baptized him-not by sprinkling or pouring water over him but, obviously, by immersion, for "they went down both into the water" (v. 38). Baptism publicly declares one's faith, identifying the believer with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. One does not sprinkle dirt on a corpse. One buries it.

If "born of water" does not refer to amniotic fluid or to baptism, what could it mean? The second birth is by the Spirit of God and by water (Jn 3:5), symbolic of the Word of God, as in "the washing of water by the word" (Eph 5:26), and "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you" (Jn 15:3). When we believe the gospel, we are regenerated and washed clean. "He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Peter declares: "Being born again...by the word of God...which by the gospel is preached unto you" (1 Pt 1:23-25).

Having been brought into the family of God, we address Him as "Father" in prayer. In His high priestly prayer (the true "Lord's prayer" that Christ prayed), He declared, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (Jn 17:3). So the new birth involves knowing the only true God-not being "born again" through baptism, especially of infants.

There are millions of so-called gods and numerous prayers to each of them in the various religions they represent. The Bible condemns every one in unmistakable terms:

For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens....Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name....[F]ear before him, all the earth....[H]e cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. (Ps 96:5-13)

Such language is ridiculed by the "New Atheists" such as Richard Dawkins, who says the atheists must "spread the good news. Evangelism [to convert the world to atheism] is a moral imperative." Although the Bible clearly distinguishes Christianity from all religions and separates their leaders (Buddha, Muhammad, et al.) from Christ, who is unique, atheists make no such distinction. Consequently, most of their arguments are irrelevant.

The Bible denounces all religions as instruments of Satan to keep mankind in darkness, shut off from the light of the gospel by which alone one can be saved, for "the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not" (2 Cor 4:4).

Atheism is just one of the world's religions, and Satanic blindness is reflected in its arguments against God and Christianity. A recent secular article about the New Atheists was titled, "The Church of the Non-Believers." And it is a church-a church to which everyone must belong, if atheists get their way. In their religious fervor to destroy "religious faith" and to convert the entire world to their religion, they are blind to the true faith that motivates biblical Christians.

Dawkins says, "Faith is one of the world's great evils....[It is] belief that isn't based on evidence [and] the principal vice of any religion." Francis Collins, however (in charge of the Human Genome Project involving 2,300 scientists), who turned from unbelief to faith in Christ, says that Dawkins' definition of faith "certainly does not describe the faith of most serious believers of history nor of most of those of my personal acquaintance."

Many famous scientists, Nobel Prize winners, and some of the greatest historians and legal experts have turned from atheism to faith in the resurrected Christ-not by mystical or emotional experience but from verifiable evidence. The early pioneers in science, like Kepler, claimed that it was precisely their conviction that there was a creator that inspired their science to ever-greater heights.

"Religion is not only wrong; it's evil," atheists fume, unaware that biblical Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Leading atheists harangue against religion, blind to the fact that the Bible is not about religion. In its more than 1,000 pages, the phrase "religious faith" is not found once, the word "religion" appears only five times, all in one verse, and the word "religious" twice in the next verse. All but one of these seven references is critical of "religion." Furthermore, in these few times that it mentions religion, the Bible never means what atheists foolishly denounce.

In their war against God, Dawkins and his fellow crusaders dishonestly equate Christian "fundamentalists" with murderous Muslims. In fact, atheists are themselves fundamentalists, seeking to impose their warped interpretation of the fundamentals of science on the world.

Nor can the New Atheists be ignorant of the fact that the fundamentals of Islam (according to the Qur'an, Hadith, the dogmas and example of Muhammad, and 1,300 years of history) teach that Islam must be forced upon the entire world by murdering all who refuse to submit to Allah. Christ taught and lived entirely otherwise. Yet the New Atheists persist in equating Islam and Christianity simply because each is considered to be a "faith." Such irresponsible accusations permeate their arguments.

Yes, some who have called themselves Christians (Roman Catholic popes, Eastern Orthodox leaders, crusaders, numerous televangelists, et al.) have been guilty of all manner of evil. In the process, they have violated the teachings and example of Christ. But Muslim terrorists follow both Islamic teaching and the example of Muhammad and his successors who tortured and slaughtered millions from France to China for 13 centuries. Today's terrorism is just a hint of what Islam would continue to do if it could.

The fundamentals of true Christianity promote love, freedom of choice, and forgiveness, not hatred and violence. The latter are the trademark of fundamentalist Islam. To equate the fundamentals of Islam with those of Christianity is reprehensible.

Atheists also perversely equate Christianity with the fanaticism and violence of the Crusades and Inquisition. Yet the crusaders were not biblical Christians; they violated everything Christ taught and slaughtered His brethren, the Jews, everywhere they went. It is gross dishonesty to attribute the crusaders' misconduct to biblical Christianity.

From the days of Christ, multitudes of Christians have never given allegiance to Rome but to the Bible and to Christ alone. They were martyred by the millions by the church of Rome for centuries before the birth of Luther. From the 16th-century Reformation onward, millions of Roman Catholics embraced faith in the Bible and Christ alone and were martyred by the hundreds of thousands by the popes and their armies. To fail to distinguish between martyrs and their murderers is unconscionable.

The New Atheists, led by Dawkins, call themselves "the brights" and look upon theists as dimwits. Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg recently said, "The world needs to wake up from the long nightmare of religion....Anything we scientists can do to weaken the hold of religion should be done, and may in fact be our greatest contribution to civilization." Richard Dawkins says: "I am utterly fed up with the respect we have been brainwashed into bestowing on religion." Religion? As we've seen, atheists are tilting at windmills.

In their fervor to convert the world to their religion, atheists betray their complete ignorance of biblical Christianity. The Bible is not a religious book and does not promote "religion."

Many Christians try to be "scientific" by adopting theistic evolution as compatible with Christianity. Their compromise does not impress atheists. Unashamedly, Dawkins declares that "evolution must lead to atheism" and "the atheist movement has...a moral imperative...to aggressively spread the good news...."

Dawkins declares, "Should [theists] be free to impose their beliefs on their children? Is there something to be said for society stepping in?" This is dangerous totalitarian talk that makes one fear for parents and children alike.

Author James Perloff put it well: "But remember; 'The princess kissed the frog, and he turned into a handsome prince.' We call that a fairy tale. Evolution says frogs turn into princes, and we call it science....Is that science? Or is it, like the fraud of Piltdown Man, the forgeries of Haeckel's embryos, the misrepresentations of Inherit the Wind, and the coercions of the Supreme Court, merely part of a long effort to deny God?"

"Religious people" and Atheists who end up in hell cannot blame the God they ignore and even hate for excluding them from heaven. We need to rescue as many as we can from the false religion's and the atheist's lies.

Genesis 20:6 "And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her."




I recall once while working as an Instructor that we had a storm blow through the area, and the power went out a few times. You know, it's awfully hard to get any work done when it's dark. It is during those times that you realize how important it is to have light!

The same is true spiritually. Without spiritual light-knowledge of God's will and way-it is impossible to live pleasing to God. But, as is pictured so clearly in this story, with more light comes more responsibility. Abraham, a man of great faith, really messed up this time. His faith in God's protection faltered, he asked his wife to stretch the truth, and he ended up in a real mess.

We see two sins committed (or about to be committed) in this story: the sin of adultery and the sin of stretching the truth. Which sin do you think was worse? Well, both sins are wicked in God's sight, and neither sin will go unpunished. But God did hold one man more responsible than the other because the one had more light.

Abraham was a godly man who communed with God and knew what was expected of him. He had seen God work mightily in the past. He knew that stretching the truth would be taking things into his own hands-it would be a step of unbelief. Because Abraham went against what he knew, God allowed Sarah, his wife, to be taken into King Abimelech's harem. Abraham was held completely responsible for his actions.

Obviously, King Abimelech was not completely on the straight and narrow path himself-he had a harem! We know that God does not condone such things, but Abilmelech did not have as much light as Abraham had. He was a heathen king. And yet, we know that he had a healthy fear of Jehovah. After he had taken Sarah into his harem, God appeared to him in a dream and said, "Behold, thou art a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife." That was quite a wake-up call!

King Abimelech responded in humility, pleading his case: "Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? Said he not unto me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this." In other words, "Lord, it was an honest mistake! I didn't know that she was Abraham's wife." The Lord agreed with Abimelech and said, "Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me; therefore suffered I thee not to touch her." Because King Abimelech didn't have much light to go by, God showed him great mercy and prevented him from sinning against Him.

(Just as a side note, notice that the sin of adultery would not have been primarily against Abraham but against God. All sin, no matter who else it hurts, is first and foremost a sin against God.)

Yes, Abilmelech was shown mercy, but now that he had been given light, he was given more responsibility. God tells him, "Now therefore restore the man his wife...." With more light comes more responsibility.

What about us? We have been given much light because we have the Word of God in our hands. Let's not take that truth lightly. Let us recognize our responsibility before God and live according to the light we have been given. Like King Abimelech, if we have a heart that wants to know what is right, God will give us the light we need to live according to His will.

Recently I reread the life story of George Muller who, in the mid-1830s, cared for over 2,000 orphans in England – all by faith in God. Muller was a known as the man who got answers to his prayers. Before he died, he had listed in his journals over 50,000 answers to prayer.

When asked how he determined the will of God on any matter, Muller listed the following steps he believed were necessary:
     1. “I get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to any particular matter.”
     2. “I do not leave the result to feelings or simple impressions. That can make one open to great delusions.”
     3. “I seek God’s will through, or in connection with, his Word. If you look to the Spirit without the Word, you open yourself to delusion.”
     4. “I consider providential [God-controlled] circumstances.”
     5. “I ask God in prayer to reveal his will to me.”
     6. “I make sure I have a clear conscience before God and man.”
     7. “Every time I listened to men instead of God, I made serious mistakes.”
     8. “I act only when I am at peace, after much prayer, waiting on God with faith.”

Those who walk by faith, seeking only God’s perfect will, are often sorely tested and tried. More and more in my own life, I am finding out how important diligent prayer and Bible reading are. Sadly, not many of God’s people pray diligently nowadays. Instead, there is much TV viewing and very little of waiting on God.

When I give myself to prayer, my faith rises. And when I feed on God’s Word, my confidence in his power to lead and help me increases. The Lord becomes my banker, my advisor, my attorney.

May you find him doing the same for you.

Down through the years, one of my favourite songs by Ron Hamilton has been “Rejoice in the Lord.” Ron wrote this song back when he first was diagnosed with cancer in his left eye. Though Ron & Shelly did not understand all that God was doing at the moment, through that difficult and trying time, they learned to commit themselves to God’s gracious hand and let Him do what He knew was best. Of course, looking back now, everyone can see that God was preparing the Hamilton family for a lifetime of musical ministry to children – our children through “Patch the Pirate.” As I listen to Ron give his testimony, it is clear that he would not change one step of the way of his life and he is careful to give God the glory, rejoicing in the Lord.



“God never moves without purpose or plan, When trying His servant or moulding a man. Give thanks to the Lord, though your testing seems long; In darkness, He giveth a song.

O rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistake. He knoweth the end of each path that I take. For when I am tried and purified, I shall come forth as gold.”


Times of trial are not meant to be enjoyed, but they are meant to be understood. While we may not always fully comprehend what God is doing at the moment, we can understand that God never works on a whim or with randomness, but with purpose to shape us, cleanse us, and prepare us for greater things.


James 1:2-4


2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.


1 Peter 1:7


7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:


When I go through times of testing and trial, I try (not always succeeding) to ask the Lord to help me see His hand as He works to purge me, strengthen me, and clarify His plan for my life. And if I cannot see His hand, to at least continue to trust Him, knowing He has promised to never leave me or forsake me. When I do this, He enables me to face each new day and new challenge with a sense of His purpose and trusting my life to His care.


“Now I can see, testing comes from above; God strengthens His children and purges in love. My Father knows best, and I trust in His care; through purging more fruit I will bear.”


This is the ultimate goal in God-allowed trials. To bring us to the place where can bear more fruit. The testing, the trials, the learning to depend upon Him all work together to make you and me more productive in God’s harvest field.


What trials have you passed through of late? Have they helped you grow in your relationship to the Lord? Have they brought maturing in faith, strengthening of resolve, and humility of spirit? Remember that God allows these times of trial to make us better, not bitter. And when we experience our spiritual fruitfulness increasing, then we, too, can join in singing, “O rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistake. He knoweth the end of each path that I take. For when I am tried and purified, I shall come forth as gold.”

Genesis 12:1 "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:"


A simple test to tell if you are walking by faith is if you are living without scheming. Scheming is trying to accomplish things or trying to get things through your own manipulations and devices. Scheming is the opposite of trusting. We see in Abraham a man of great faith-most of the time. But there are times when even Abraham resorted to scheming instead of trusting.


In the very same chapter, though, we see another instance in which Abraham's faith was tested. This time, instead of trusting God in the face of fear, he chose to resort to scheming. His fear was real-Sarai, his wife, must have been very beautiful, because Abraham feared that Pharoah would take her for himself. Pharaoh might even have him killed in order to steal away Sarai.

Abraham's scheme was to have Sarai tell a "half-truth": that she was only Abram's sister-not his wife. Did his scheme work? Well, he wasn't killed. Pharoah took Sarai and gave Abraham all kinds of livestock and servants in exchange. In a small sense, I suppose we could say that it "worked" for Abraham. But in the much greater picture, Abraham would have been much better off to have trusted God, letting Him take care of his needs. When Abraham schemed, he settled for less than the best. Pharoah was taking care of him, instead of God-and Pharoah had his wife! In the end, the Lord graciously rescued Abraham from the mess he had gotten himself into.

Yes, its true that you can sometimes get what you think you need by scheming instead of trusting. But when you scheme, you give up God's best! The troubles and fears that we face in life can either bring out great faith or great failure. Does great faith come by mustering up as much faith as we can? No! Great faith has nothing to do with how much faith we have; great faith has everything to do with Who our faith is in.

If our faith is in ourselves, we will settle for a life of scheming and frustration. If we place our faith in God, we can see Him work in ways we would have never thought possible. This does not mean that you sit back and do nothing, but it does mean that you work, depending upon God to do what you cannot. Today you have a choice: when your faith is tested, will you scheme or will you trust?