 |
Ken Williams Ministeries Quarterly News Letter Copyright 2010 - All Rights Reserved ______________________ Fall 2010 (Sept. thru Nov.) Vol 3, No. 4 IN THIS ISSUE BIBLE STUDY: "Finding Jesus in Isaiah" THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: "The Effects of Evolution on American Society and Culture" OUR REAL AMERICAN HISTORY: "James Garfield" A PERSONAL NOTE: "From Ken Williams" ___________________________________________________________ BIBLE STUDY: "Finding Jesus in Isaiah" Yeshayahu in Hebrew By Ken Williams We begin with a reminder that the Christian Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible contain the same books. However, they are in a different order. The Hebrew Bible is in the same order as it was in Jesus' day. He referred to the Scriptures as the Books of Moses, the Prophets and the Writings. The prophets, in the Hebrew Bible begin with Joshua, then Judges, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, and now we come to Isaiah. Isaiah served as a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah during the reigns of four kings from approximately 740 to 680 BC, over a period of about 60 years. In 722 and 721 BC Sennacherib destroyed Samaria, the capitol of the northern ten tribes called Israel, and took the people into exile in Assyria (or what today is Northern Iraq). Then in 701 BC Sennacherib came against Judah and Jerusalem and God provided a miraculous deliverance. In Isaiah we encounter something significant, which we also find in the Psalms - large numbers of references to a victorious conquering Messiah, and even larger numbers of passages dealing with a suffering, rejected Messiah. Up to the time of the Babylonian captivity, Jewish theologians felt certain there must be two separate Messiahs. However, after hundreds of years living under the thumb of ruling conquering armies, Jews began to look only for the triumphant Messiah who would lead them into the Kingdom Age. Looking back from today's vantage point, we can see that there was to be just one Messiah, with two separate appearings on the earth. The Old Covenant prophets saw a suffering Messiah and a triumphant Messiah, but did not see that there would be some 2,000 years between. In the early 1980's, I purchased a farm in Southwestern Missouri. One winter morning, I was standing on top of the mountain where I lived and looked out across the valley below, and toward the mountain on the other side of the valley. It was cold, but there was no snow on the ground. However, beyond that mountain, was a second, snow capped mountain showcased against a perfectly blue sky. In my life, it has to rank as one of the top 25 sights that have passed before my eyes. I owned that farm for over 20 years. But in all that time, I never ventured over the first mountain to see what was between the mountain on the other side of the valley, and that snow capped mountain beyond that. I think that was much like the Old Covenant prophets. They stood on the mountain top of their own vantage point in time. They looked across the valley of their immediate future to the cold, leafless mountain on the other side. Then, beyond that, they saw the wonders of the Triumphant Messiah. Son of David, coming to deliver, rule and reign. They did not relize that betwen that rugged, treeless mountain across the valley, and that wonderful sight behind it, there was a 2,000 year period that the Jewish Prophet Danicl called the "Times of the Gentiles." We begin by looking at Isaiah's prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah and His unusual birth. In Isaiah 7, the prophet says that one way the Jews will know that the Messiah has arrived, is that He will be born of a virgin. "The Lord himself will choose the sign - a child shall be born to a virgin! And she shall call him Emmanual (meaning, God is with us)" (Isaiah7:14 LB). Notice three things in this verse: 1. A virgin shall have a son. The Hebrew word is a young whoman who has not yet been with a man. This is going to be a miraculous birth. God says this will be a sign that He is the true Messiah. 2. The virgin will bare a son. This is to be the long awaited Messiah. 3. His name was to be Emmanuel. Emmanual means "God with us." He will be God in human flesh. Do you have a problem with the virgin birth? Many Christians view it as impossible. Many Jews consider it to be contrary to Jewish tradition. Let me address both of these points. First, if you feel a virgin birth is imposbible, as some Christians insist, then you neither know nor do you have a reltionaship with the God of the Bible. On the other hand, if you feel that opening a womb miraculously is foreign to Jewish tradition, let me remind you that the existence of the Jewish people is the result of such a miracle. Sarah, Abraham's wife and mother of Isaac, did not have any children until she was well past child bearing age. God mraculously gave her the "Son of Promise," her only child, when she was 90 years old. Isaac's wife Rebeckah's womb was closed. Jacob, the "Son of Promise," came only after God opened her womb. She bore twins and had no other births. The virgin birth was not a problem for Jewish scholars before the time of Jesus. It became a problem, because they did not want to accept Jesus as the Promised Messiah. Today, the Jewish Publication Society translates this passage, "Assuredly, my Lord will give you a sign of His own accord! Look, the young woman is with child and about to give birth to a son. Let her name him Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14 JPS). Indeed, this does refer to a young woman; but a young woman who has not yet been with a man in the Jewish culture of that day. About 300 years before the time of Jesus the Messiah, Jewish scholars translated the Septuagint, a translation of the Jewish Scriptures into Greek. They translated this Hebrew word into a Greek word which means virgin in English, and can have no other meaning. What happened between 300 BC and the time the Messiah arrived on the scene? When Messiah actually arrived, while most of the population followed after Him, many of the leaders saw Him as a threat to their positions of authority, and wanted Him gone. Little did they know that they were fulfilling the prophecies of the ancient Jewish prophets, including Isaiah. In chapter 9 there is more, "For unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. These will be His royal titles: Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6 LB). Take note of each of these royal titles: 1. Wonderful - This Hebrew word is used only a few times in the Scriptures. It is not the normal word for "wonderful," but is used only of the "wonderful works of God" - related to miraculous works of God. 2. Counselor - This is the normal Hebrew word for counselor. It is usually used of someone giving "wise counsel." 3. Mighty God - This is one of the Hebrew words for "God." It is sometimes translated "The Almighty." Obviously Isaiah is saying that Messiah is going to be God Himself. 4. Everlasting Father - This is the normal Hebrew word for "father." But the use of the word "everlasting" before it would indicate that this reference is to the "Heavenly Father." This could be translated "Father of Eternity." Again, Isaiah is saying that the Messiah is going to be God taking on a human body. 5. Prince of Peace - This word "prince" is not the normal Hebrew word for prince. It is used only a few times in the Old Testament, and usually is speaking not of the son of a king, as we might think, but rather as one with the title of Prince who is ruling - is already responsible for the government. Isaiah, by the inspiration of God, gives this Child five titles, each of which indicates that He is not going to be some mere human, but actually God come in a human body to rescue His "Chosen People." Isaiah also describes the Messiah's ministry during His time on earth. In Isaiah 9:1-2, Isaiah says the majority of it will take place in the Galilee and Trans-Jordan area. Read the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), and you will discover that most of Jesus' ministry was in the area around the Sea of Galilee. The only times Jesus went up to Jerusalem were for the required Feasts of the Lord, since He was a practicing Orthodox Jew. In Isaiah 35, we discover that this Messiah is going to be a miracle worker. Rabbinic literature from the time tells us that, "As was the first Redeemer, so would be the second Redeemer." The first Redeemer was Moses, according to the Rabbis. The second Redeemer would be Messiah. Isaiah predicted He would be a miracle worker. "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing..." (Isaiah 33:5-6 NIV). The Rabbis after the time of Jesus did not deny that He performed unexplainable healings. They described it this way, "Jesus of Nazareth had been a magician, and that he had done things by saying the divine name." Let's go on to Isaiah 42, where the prophet writes, "The Lord God who created the heavens and stretched them out and created the earth and everything in it, and gives life and breath and spirit to everyone in all the world, he is the one who says [to his Servant, the Messiah]; I the Lord have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will guard and support you, for I have given you to my people as a personal confirmation of my covenant with them. You shall also be a light to guile the nations unto me" (Isaiah 42:6-7 LB). Notice the three purposes for which God said He would sent the Messiah to earth: 1. To demonstrate God's righteousness - He did! The Bible says He was tempted in every way we are, yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). 2. To be a confirmation of God's covenant with Israel - Notice the Messiah did not come to cast off Israel, but to confirm God's unconditional covenant with Israel. 3. To guide the nations to God - indeed, the Jewish Messiah and His message has spread throughout all the earth. As the Apostle Paul (Shaul in Hebrew) put it, many Gentiles have been "grafted in" to the True Israel. Unfortunately much of what goes on today in the name of the Jewish Messiah bares little similarity to what He taught. In Isaiah 61:1-2, the prophet gives still more reasons for the Messiah's first coming: 1. To bring the good news. 2. To bring healing to the suffering and afflicted. 3. To comfort the broken hearted. 4. To announce liberty to those captivated by sin. 5. To open the eyes of the blind. 6. To announce that God's favor has come on mankind. Can any deny that this is exactly what the Messiah did? Again, read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament, and learn of His mighty works. Finally, Isaiah concludes the first advent of Messiah by predicting His rejection and cruel death. This is pricipally outlined in the end of the chapter 52, and into chapter 53. Consider this: 1. Messiah will be "beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know it was a person standing there" (Isaiah 52:14 LB). Compare this with Matthew 26:67-68 and 27:27-30. 2. Messiah will be in this condition, "so shall He cleanse many nations" (Isaiah 52:15 LB). This is a prediction of Messiah's death for the sins of many. This is why He is called in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, the "Lamb of God." 3. God will reveal His saving power through Messiah, but few will believe it (Isaiah 53:1). 4. "God laid on Him the guilt and sins of every one of us" (Isaiah 53:6 LB)! Check the four Gospels. He came to pay the penalty for sin. Only God, infinite in Himself, could pay the infinite debt for sin. 5. God laid on Messiah, "the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6 NIV). 6. He did not answer His accusers (Isaiah 53:7). Compare with Matthew 26:62-63, Mark 13:3-5, John 19:9 and Acts 8:32-33. 7. He was killed for the transgressions of His people (Isaiah 53:8). 8. While He died like a criminal, He was buried with the rich (Isaiah 53:9). Compare with Matthew 27:57-60. 9. It pleased God to bruise the Messiah as "an offering for sin," then to raise Him from the dead and "prolong His days" (Isaiah 53:10). In Isaiah chapter 53, Messiah is presented as rejected by the religious leaders of His day. He is to be "despised and rejected." The fact is that if the religious leaders of Jesus' day had received Him, it would have been proof positive that He was not the Messiah. His acceptance by the religious leaders would have been in opposition to the Old Testament prophets. In Matthew 34:39, just before His crucifixion, Jesus tells His detractors, "For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (KJV). That last pohrase, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord," is a traditional Jewish greeting. According to the Scriptures it is also what Israel will say when they see "the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the sky" to rescue them from their enemies at the time His Kingdom is permanently established on earth. There are over three hundred prophecies about the first advent of the Messiah found in the Old Testament. The odds that ten of them could be fulfilled by one person, is a statistical marvel. That all three hundred should be fulfilled by Jesus to the very smallest detail is a statistical impossibility. It is a "God Thing!" Now we move on to the Prophet Isaiah's predictions concerning Messiah's Second Coming. The Old Covenant prophets used terms like "in that day," and "in the last days." Ancient Jewish rabbis have referred to this as the Kingdom. Christians have called it the "Millennial Age," the "Thousand Year Reign," the "Return of the Lord," etc. Isaiah chapter 2 begins with the words, "And it shall come to pass in the last days..." (Isaiah 2:2 NIV). The first five verses describe some of the things that will come to pass during that time. 1. Jerusalem and the rebuilt Temple will draw people from around the world to come and worship the LORD in Jesusalem (verse 2). 2. From the Temple, God will teach them His law, and they will gladly obey (verse 3). 3. God will settle all international disputes, and war machines will be turned into peaceful products (verse 4). Isaiah chapter 4 says that the presence of God will be evident in the Temple in Jerusalem. You will remember that when the Children of Israel left Egypt under Moses, God's presence led them in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The cloud and the fire also protected them from the pursuing Egyptians. Once across the Sea, they constructed, under God's prescribed dimensions, a Tabernacle to worship God. When it was complete the cloud and the pillar hovered over the Tabernacle and continued to lead them. Isaiah says in chapter 4 that the cloud and the pillar will return, hovering over the Temple in Jerusalem, evidence of the presence of God. In chapter 11 there are several more predictions: 1. Wild animals will lay down with tame animals and not hurt them (verses 6-7). 2. A small baby will play with a poisonous animal and not be hurt (verse 8). 3. The knowledge of Israel's Messiah will cover the earth (verse 9). 4. God (Messiah) will rule from Jerusalem, and Israel will be a glorious place (verse 10). 5. There will be a second massive return of Jews to Israel (verse 11). The first return is described as from "the North Country." Many Christians believe that this may have started as the present gathering of Jews is largely from the land straight north from Jerusalem - Russia. The second return is from "the ends of the earth" (verse 12). 6. Israel will occupy all the land promised by God to Abraham for the first time in human history (verse 14). That land includes presend day Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and parts of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In Isaiah 16:5 it says that God will establish the Just and Righteous King on the Throne of David and He will reign forever. Isaiah 24:23 says, "Then the Lord of heaven's armies will mount His throne in Zion and rule gloriously in Jerusalem" (LB). Let's sum up what Isaiah says about Messiah: 1. He will be born of a virgin. 2. He will be God come in a human body. 3. He will live a perfect life - without sin. 4. He will live in poverty, and serve people. 5. He will be rejected by His people and killed. 6. What the people meant for evil, God turns into salvation. 7. He is resurrected from the dead, and His life is prolonged. 8. He ascends His throne and rules the world from Jerusalem. 9. A time of peace and prosperity follows. 10. The entire world comes to Jerusalem to worship Him. The first seven were accomplished at His first coming. The last three are still future. Isaiah presents a suffering Messiah, and a conquering ruling Messiah. We know from the prophecies fulfilled in the New Testament that this is one Messiah, at two separate appearings. The first appearing is history. The second is still to come. ___________________________________________________________ THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: "The Effects of evolution on American Society and Culture" By Ken Williams America was founded on a very strong Judeo-Christian ethic. However, today much of that Judeo-Christian philosophy is rejected as archaic. Most of the rejection of this country's founding social morays is the result of the teaching of evolution. We will consider evolution's effects on our society and our culture in two major areas: "The Devaluation of Human Life," and "The Devaluation and Segmenting of Religious Life." THE DEVALUATION OF HUMAN LIFE There are many aspects of our daily life that have been so affected. Most of these would have been condemned and fought less than fifty years ago. However, today we accept them and think nothing of them. Let's look at a number of these areas. * SUICIDE The major increase in suicide in the United States has shocked almost everyone. Major organizations have been established in the last 25 years to help prevent suicide. Suicide hot lines have been established in major cities across the United States. There have always been suicides. But why have we seen such a major jump in the number of suiceides in recent years; especially the huge increase in teen suicides? Suicides are not uncommon in some other cultures. For instance, in Japan, suicide has been concidered honorable. However, in our culture until recently suicide has been considered a sin against God, against one's self, against one's family and against society. That is no longer the case. If evolution is true, then there is no God and there is no life after death. If evolution is true, then death ends it all, and there is nothing. With that understanding, suicide is no longer considered as a solution to major, permanent problems in life. Now suicide becomes an out for teenagers and others who are faced with moderate to difficult termporary problems, sometimes as simple as having been made fun of or having been embarrassed. * ABORTION Again, if we simply evolved from lower forms of animals, then there is nothing sacred about human life. Since a baby in the mother's womb has not yet seen the light of day that life can be arbitrarily taken since it is of no more value than the life of a baby fawn prior to birth. Since there is no God (according to evolution), society becomes the final authority for all boundaries. However, in the Bible, the Psalmist speaks of God having "woven" him together in his mother's womb. The prophet said God planned his life before he was ever born. The Psalmist wrote that God knew him while he was still in his mother's womb. Statistically, the most dangerous place for a person to reside today is in his or her mother's womb. In the 35 years since abortion has been declared legal by the U.S. Supreme Court, we have killed off a number of babies equal to an entire generation (about 45,000,000). You don't hear many people saying it out loud, but that is the reason that within 10 to 20 years there will only be two people working for each one receiving Social Security. Those two people will never allow enough money to be taken out of their pay checks to support the Social Security payment to that retired person. If the God of the Bible is real, abortion is murder. If evolution is correct, abortion is a "choice." Notice that word "choice." That is the key word for evolutionists, and it will come up again in this discussion. * EUTHANASIA The dictionary defines "euthanasia" as "The deliberate putting to death of a person suffering from a painful and incurable disease; mercy killing." In the Netherlands, where euthanasia is legal, more than 100,000 people are put to death each year in that tiny country, and in more than half the cases, it is done without the permission of the patient. This was a procedure popularized in Communist countries where everyone's worth was determined by what they were able to contribute to the whole of society. In those countries euthanasia was also extended to people with disabilities. There is nothing wrong with that if we are merely evolved animals. If that is the case, then society is the ultimate authority, and who are we to say that some other society's standards are wrong because they are different than ours. After Germany was defeated in World War II, many German war criminals were prosecuted by the Allies. They were prosecuted, convicted and sentenced based on what is called Natural Law, or God's Law. The convictions were over the objections of the defense which argued that they were merely carrying out the directives of their society. Fifty years ago, that argument did not stand. Today, with the change in our world-view, we could not prosecute those ciminals, because by our own standard, we no longer accept Natural Law. * CRIME When asked why young adults kill others who are different than themselves; kill employees of businesses they rob; or even kill family members, psychologists tell us that these young adults do not see their killing of another human being as being murder. They see it no differently than killing a monkey or an ape. They see themselves as killing an animal. THE DEVALUATION AND SEGMENTING OF RELIGIOUS LIFE Our founding fathers saw no difference between their religious life and their business, professional or political life. It was all the same. It was a life of service to God and mankind. That is why they so inculcated their religion into the founding documents of our country. Today, most Christians relegate their religious life to church and home Bible reading. They separate that from the rest of their lives and see little relevance between the two. They have no conception of what a Biblical world-view is. As a matter of fact, a Barna survey ten years ago reported that more than half of all evangelical pastors at that time did not have a Biblical world-view. They had accepted the world-view that segements religion into a category of its own. The rest of life functions independently from the religious segment. That is not what Jesus taught. That is not what the apostles and early Christians lived. It is not how our founding fathers viewed the world. * TRUTH IS RELATIVE In today's world there is no right or wrong. Truth is relative. Something that might be wrong for you may well be right for someone else. There is no over all standard. That is the concept accepted by 95% of evangelical young people according to a Barna poll. In other words, the Ten Commandments are merely ten suggestions, and it is up to us to determine which ones are right for us. We have been brainwashed by evolutionists. If there is no God, if we evolved, then there are no hard and fast rules. Each society makes its own laws as needed to control its people. But even those rules are toss up's for people who might not agree with them. Do you believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, inerrant word of the Living, Holy God? Most people who call themselves Christians would deny the validity of that question. Many more, so called Christians, live like they don't believe it. But no one who denies the inspiration, infallibility or the inerrancy of the Scriptures can be a Biblical Christian. The Bible claims that for itself. Its entire message is based on that. In a world which claims that truth is relative, the Bible not only claims to be truth, but the only truth. That claim, however, is worthless if evolution is true. * TOLERANCE True biblical Christianity has been the only tolerant religion in the world. I hesitate to use that word "religion" because Christianity was never intended to be a religion at all. It was intended to be a lifestyle involved in a personal, intimate relationship with the Creator. However, most of what we see today as organized Christianity is nothing more than religion. Unfortunately most of organized Christianity has not been very tolerant. When Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire during the fourth century, followers under the banner of Rome and Christianity began a persecution against the Jews. During the Crusades, Christians under the banner of the cross killed all Jews and Moslems in the Middle East who refused to convert to Christianity. The Inquisition in the Middle Ages continued that intolerance, and on and on we could go. Even most of the reformers were not very tolerant in places where they came to power, and even Martin Luther was very anti-Semitic in his writings. Our founding fathers established a nation that would be a haven for persecuted religious groups in other parts of the world. Most of their predecessors were in that situation when they came to these shores. They felt that people had the right to believe what they felt was right. The largest minority religion at the founding of the new nation was the Jews. At the same time, our founders also understood that the nation must be based upon law, and they wrote a constitution firmly based upon Scriptures. They even stated that the Constitution they wrote was insufficient to govern an ungodly people. True biblical Christianity has always been tolerant of those who believe differently. That's what the Bible teaches. Christians have understood that the Scriptures teach that a person forcibly convented, remains unconverted still. So, true biblical evangelims has been based on presenting the Christian message, and allowing people to make up their own minds. It is based on the fact that the Bible is the only truth; that there is one God and no other. However, each individual must decide their own allegiance to the God of the Bible. That has always been the accepted definition of tolerance. However, the definition of tolerance has been reinvented. Today it is considered intolerant to say, "The Bible says..." or "Jesus said..." Under the new definition of tolerance, that is alright for you to believe, but it is intolerant to convey that belief to anyone else. The new definition of intolerance forces a new lifestyile upon us as Christians. The new definition declares that everyone's beliefs are as valid as anyone else's. We Christians are being told that we must view all other beliefs as equal in validity to that which is taught in the Bible. There is nothing wrong with what we believe for ourselves. But that is just for us. We are told we must agree that the religious beliefs of other religions are just as good and just as valid as our own. It is not sufficient to accept their right to practice their own religion. We must accept that our faith is not any more correct than is theirs, and we must accept that evangelism is wrong. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). Jesus said that anyone who "does not believe is condemned already" (John 3:17-18). Jesus, who claimed equality with God, made those statements. Today, that is considered to be intolerant and not to be permitted. Therefore, true biblical Christianity must be confined to the walls of the church. Despite the fact that our nation was established to protect the proclamation of the Bible and Christian principles, that is no longer accepted. The message of Christianity is not politically correct in today's world. This is only the beginning of the affects the teaching of evolution has had on our society and our culture. I invite you to take some time and investigate this subject for yourself. __________________________________________________________ AMERICAN HISTORY "James Garfield" By Ken Williams Just before the Civil War, a young lad went to work on a prosperous Ohio farm owned by Worthy Taylor. Taylor never asked much about the lad. He know only that his name was Jim. As fate would have it, Jim fell in love with Mr. Taylor's daughter and asked for her hand in marriage. Taylor turned him down rather bluntly, because Jim had no money, no well-known family background, and worst of all, Jim wanted to be a preacher. Taylor would have none of that for his daughter. At the end of the summer Jim packed his belongings into a carpet bag and left. The Civil War came and went. Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford Hayes had all come and gone, and now President Garfield had moved into the White House with his first lady. It was 1881, the year the 20th President of the United States was inaugurated, that back in Ohio, Worthy Taylor decided to tear down the old barn and build a new one. Above the haloft, where the young farmhand, Jim, had bunked, he had carved his full name into a rafter. With a sudden sinking feeling Taylor read the name, James A. Garfield. His daughter could have been the first lady of the United States. I tell you this story for two reasons. First, you won't read this story in any modern day biography of President Garfield, nor even that he was a preacher before becoming president. The second reason I tell you this story is that Jim Garfield, who felt called of God to become a preacher of the Gospel, also announced that he felt God's call on him to go into politics. Does that seem strange to you? What would you think of a candidate for public office who announced he had been led of God to run? Certainly he would be labled a crackpot by his opposition. In the Congressional district in which I live, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives suggested that his Republican opponent was unfit to hold public office because he had attended a certain Christian college. It used to be that if you wanted to get elected in this country you would not only claim God had led you to run, but even explain how He had called you. In the early days of our country politics was considered service for God, just as much as being a pastor or a missionary. Our founding fathers saw it that way. Do you remember why we have a president instead of a king? Remember the cry, "We will have no king but King Jesus?" From the Bible they discovered that Moses had chosen holy men to "preside" over various functions of government in the place of God. Hence, we have a president to preside over the Executive Branch to carry out the will of God as determined by the Legislative Branch. If you go to Washington, D.C. and look back at the legislation passed during the first nearly one hundred years of our country, you will note that virtually every bill passed has attached one or more Scripture verses to support it. If a legislator could not support his proposed bill from the Bible, it could not be passed. You don't remember reading that in your history book? That is because it has been censored from our history over the past 50 years or so as the revisionists have sought to secularize our society. By the way, how long ago was it that James Garfield was president and was willing to state his faith in Christ, and his call to the presidency during a political campaign? Garfield was elected in 1880 and began his term in 1881. He served just six months and fifteen days before being killed by an assassin's bullet. Beginning in the 1920's, Christians began to get the idea that somehow politics was dirty and sinful. As a result they turned the reigns of their Christian government over to the irreligious and ungodly. Very few politicians today would admit that they are in politics because God called them to that profession. Many politicians today would not even qualify for state and local offices under early state constitutions because of their lack of faith in the Bible and its precepts. And, by the way, those "faith" litmus tests required in most of the state constitutions were not deemed to violate the U.S. Constitution nor the first ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights. __________________________________________________________ A PERSONAL NOTE: From Ken Williams Most of you are well aware, that back in January of this year (2010) I was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on my spine. Praise the Lord, the tumor is gone! I am, however, still dealing with weakness in the legs and exhaustion; although these side effects are gradually getting better. I bring this up because of something that the Lord had to deal with me which I want to share with you. This is it: a new adiction has been discovered, and I have it. Back in March and April, I was prescribed 10 pills to be taken every Friday morning (I am off of them now). The side affects were a 50% increase in my pulse rate, becoming hyper throughout that day, and a total lack of sleep that night. Since I could not sleep, I spent the time studying and writing. One Saturday morning about 2:00 a.m., I turned on the television. There wasn't much to watch, even on the Christian channels. I did stop at Joyce Meyer. I had crossed her program many times in the past, but never stopped to listen. I didn't hear much of what she had to say on this particular occasion either. I did hear her say that she had written a new book called The Approval Adiction. Meyer said that an "approval adiction" is the result of people living and planning their lives with the purpose of obtaining the approval of their family, friends and associates; even people that they do not know. That comment hit me like a ton of bricks. It was like the Lord had taken a knife and stuck it right into my soul. Back in November of 2007 a local newspaper struck out on a personal vendetta against me. They not only printed things which were incorrect; they printed things which they knew were not true when they wrote them. This attack continued with regular articles for two years, through June of 2009. In that final article they claimed I had pled guilty to a crime with which I had never been charged. Although you would never have known it from the newspaper stories, I was never arrested, never found guilty of anything, never declared guilty of anything and no plea was ever entered on my behalf. During the past year, through June of this year, I have been trying to "help the Lord maintain the honor of His name." As I sit here and write that phrase, it sounds like one of the most stupid things I have ever written. Certainly I did not perceive what I was doing as that. But when the Lord convicted me, that's what it came down to. I have wasted the better part of a year trying to communicate to people the truth of what happened. In reality, what the Lord showed me is that He doesn't need my help in that particular realm. My efforts were mostly in vain, anyway. My friends and associates didn't believe what the newspaper reported. Most of the other people I talked to didn't care one way or the other. All of this was running through my mind was Joyce Meyer was speaking. As I said, I didn't hear much of what she had to say, but one verse did break through; which the Lord used to completely redirect my life. It was the words of the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi. "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14). Those words dug into me as if the Lord had used a knife to stick into the deepest part of my soul. I was wasting time trying to defend myself and the Lord's name (and certainly the Lord did not need to be defended in this way). It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck me. Much of my efforts during the past year were focused on the past. That was all for naught. God had given me direction for the present, and I had added all of this on to that on my own. It is not going to be easy to change things in my life which have become habits over the past year. I have found myself in conversations, drifting toward the past. I have to stop and change the direction of the talk. I have found my thoughts drifting into the past, and have had to purposely stop and tell my mind that we are not going there. I hope you will pray with me that the Lord will continue to show me things in my life which are not pleasing to Him. I want to be totally open to Him and to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. In the meantime, I am going to continue in the service which the Lord has shown Pat and I for the immediate future. We will continue to be active in the Hispanic congregation in Bentonville which we helped establish almost four years ago. We will continue to volunteer two days a week at the church's food pantry, helping needy families with food and other necessities. I will continue to speak in various places as the Lord gives us opportunity. And I will continue to write, giving even more emphasis to this area of our ministry (both here on the website, and the book, a word-by-word study of the Gospel According to Matthew) which I believe the Lord has laid on my heart. _________________________________________________________ Click on to previous Ken Williams Ministries Newsletters: Summer 2010 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2010 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Winter 2010 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Summer 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Winter 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly Newsletter Home - Click here to go back to the Home Page _________________________________________________________ |
 |
 |
||
|
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
| Site Map |