FAITH

Posted on August 20, 2014 by touchingheavenministries

 

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to GOD must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.“ (Hebrews 11:6)

GOD applies salvation with regeneration and in justification be energizing faith in the believer. Faith is the channel through which GOD’s grace flows. It is the means by which grace is appropriated. Faith brings delight to GOD and salvation to mankind. By faith GOD is perceived and in faith the believer is pardoned.

There are three virtues: “Faith, Hope, and Love”. Only love remains eternal. Faith is that virtue making GOD’s love eternal in salvation. Both believing faith and saving grace are gifts from GOD.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of GOD: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

“But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of GOD, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.” (Romans 5:15)

Faith is that capacity of the human heart by which the nature of GOD, the gift of salvation and the eternal purposes of the Almighty are understood. Faith is embedded in hope and is the predecessor to sight. It envisions the impossible and accepts the incredible. Faith is uniquely a human capacity but is naturally rejected by the heart because of sin. Faith is the only key that will unlock the release of making from the condemnation for his sin and that will grant eternal salvation.

THE NEED FOR FAITH

The first time the word faith is used in Scripture it is spoked by Moses as he quotes GOD’s evaluation of Israel.

“And GOD said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.” (Deuteronomy 32:20)

The Lord Jesus also described Hes generation as having no faith:

“And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in GOD.” (Mark 11:22)

The lack of faith results in the unlikeness of GOD and in the unhappiness of people:

A.)   Inability to live life with meaning… 

“But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of GOD, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3:11)

B.)   Fear in life… 

“And He saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.” (Matt. 8:26)

C.)   Suffering and illness… 

“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” (James 5:15)

D.)   Doubt and uncertainty… 

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, yeshall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed , and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.” (Matthew 21:21)

E.)   Worry and anxiety… 

“And He said unto His disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and GOD feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then GOD so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith?” (Luke 12:22-28)

F.)   Weakness and loss of strength… 

“And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” (Acts 3:16)

G.)   Hatred and absence of love… 

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.” (Galatians 5:6)

H.)   Hopelessness… 

“For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of                                                   righteousness by faith.” (Galatians 5:5)

I.)   Insecurity and shyness… 

“In whom we have boldness and access with                                              confidence by the faith of Him.” (Ephesians 3:12)

J.)   Joylessness… 

“And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith.” (Philippians 1:25)

K.)   Loss of assurance… 

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,                          having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies          washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22)

L.)   Lostness toward GOD… (Ephesians 2:8) 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of GOD.” (Ephesians 2:8)

THE NATURE OF FAITH

There are three kinds of faith:

A.)  Factual Faith: This form of faith depends on historic or scientific data. It is a trust in what is evident or seen. Every person has this kind of faith. Seeing is believing. Jesus said that Thomas had this kind of faith.  Jesus saith unto him, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed….” (John 20:29)

B.)  Temporary Faith:  The faith is flawed because it does not last. It flares up quickly but fails to endure. “Yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.” (Matthew 13:21) Judas probably had temporary faith even though he was a disciple, chosen and commissioned. He preached and participated in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout Israel but wavered in his faith and betrayed the Lord, this can be found in Matthew chapter 10.

C.)  Saving Faith: Called “the operation of GOD” (Colossians 2:12), saving faith “justifies and redeems the believer” (Romans 10:17). It is more than an acknowledgement of the facts or the recognition of GOD as Savior. The demons “believed” and testified that “Jesus was the Son of GOD” (Matthew 8:29). This faith, however, moves beyond an initial response and an understanding of truth to commitment, “… for obedience to the faith…” as found in Romans 1:5.

1.)   The Source of Faith:  The Word of GOD, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of GOD.” (Romans 10:17) “Many heard the Word and believed.” (Acts 4:4) These Scriptures are the means by which GOD draws faith from the believer. GOD’s inerrant Word communicates the completely adequate message to man. The truth from GOD about mankind’s need for salvation and GOD’s free offer of grace is mediated by the Word. Faith is born from the seed of the Word. Faith grows as it feeds on the Word. Faith is established and continues steadfastly by the Word.

2.) The Substance of Faith:  The formation of two responses by the believer:

a.)  First is Acknowledgement:  To trust in GOD for salvation is to distrust in mankind’s ability to save himself. GOD’s righteousness can be appreciated only when compared to mankind’s unrighteousness… “Not having mine own righteousness,” Paul confessed in Philippians 3:9. Faith recognizes the personal obligation of sin and in repentance turns from it… “… yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life whichI now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God“ (Galatians 2:20). The return to GOD begins with the recognition of the sinner’s offense to GOD. Jesus explains it in the parable of the prodigal son,  “And when he came to himself, he said , How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father,and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,  And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.  And he arose , and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off , his father saw him, and had compassion , and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.  And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.” (Luke 15:17-21). In the loss to self-confidence in any ability to save himself, the stirrings of salvation begin. The sinner turns in faith to GOD, who alone can save. (See Acts 4:12; 16:31)

b.) Appropriation is the second response of faith in salvation. “He love me and He gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Acknowledgement recognizes that “Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). But appropriation says, “GOD commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Saving faith receives GOD’s gift of eternal life. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become the sons of GOD” (John 1:12). Thomas said, “My Lord, my GOD” (John 20:28). The source of faith is the Word of GOD. The substance of faith is action.

Seeking the face of GOD
His Always
Bishop JD Sparks
Touching Heaven Ministries

65 Outrageous Lies of Barack Obama Fired Off in Entertaining Fashion

Found at snopes/com regarding Obama's lies.  Their refutations are weak at best. http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/50lies.asp

Obama’s vacations and golfing by the numbers

By Olivier Knox, Yahoo News August 13, 2013 12:52 PM Yahoo News

How many days has President Barack Obama been on vacation since assuming office in January 2009? How much has he golfed? CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller has the answers.

Since 1996, Knoller has kept tabs on all kinds of presidential data — How many summits? With whom? How many press conferences? — including how often the occupant of the Oval Office at the time leaves the stifling (literally and figuratively) climate of Washington to go on vacation. Successive White Houses have generally found that when their numbers are at odds with the bearded and booming-voiced reporter's figures, the official tallies are the ones that need correcting.

Knoller — who always notes that presidents are never truly on vacation, given the demands of the job and the era of 24/7 communications — graciously shared his latest data with Yahoo News. So here it is:

As of Aug. 13, 2013, Obama is on his 15th vacation trip, covering all or part of 96 days total. He's spending this vacation in Martha's Vineyard with his family.

At the same point in his presidency — Aug. 13, 2005 — George W. Bush had made 51 visits to his ranch in tiny Crawford, Texas, totaling all or part of 335 days. (Note: Bush sometimes used the property to host world leaders.)

Bush also traveled seven times to his family’s oceanside compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, covering all or part of 26 days — bringing his total number of vacation days at this point in his presidency to 349 days. (335+26 doesn’t = 349, but remember the “all or part of” caveat.)

What about former President Bill Clinton? At this point in his second term, he had taken 11 vacations covering all or part of 84 days.

“The trips were mostly to Martha’s Vineyard or Jackson Hole, WY. Though he also spent a few days in Hilton Head for New Year’s and then to the Virgin Islands for a few days,” Knoller said in an email.

And former President Ronald Reagan? At this point in his second term he had made 29 trips to his ranch in California, spanning all or part of 180 days.

None of these figures includes visits to Camp David, the presidential retreat outside Washington, which Knoller does not consider vacation.

What about golf? Obama has played two rounds thus far on this vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, bringing his total to 135 rounds as president so far.

He has played 60 rounds at Andrews Air Force Base just outside Washington, D.C. — the home of Air Force One. He has played an additional 31 rounds at Fort Belvoir in nearby Virginia. Obama has played 18 rounds each in Hawaii and Martha’s Vineyard, “and a few others along the way,” according to Knoller.

Bush played 24 rounds of golf as president — but he stopped in the fall of 2003, after deciding it was not appropriate to be seen playing golf while American troops fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

TV Preachers Glowingly Describe Meeting with Pope to Tear Down ‘Walls of Division’

July 3, 2014 | Filed under: Apostasy,Highlights,Life & Society,Top Stories | By: Garrett Haley

 

ROME – Two controversial TV preachers recently met Pope Francis in an effort to work toward tearing down the ‘walls of division’ between Catholics and Protestants.

Kenneth Copeland and James Robison are two religious leaders in northeast Texas known for drawing huge crowds to their services and events, and who were a part of leading the group identifying as a “delegation of Evangelical Christian leaders” in its meeting with the Roman Catholic pontiff late last month.

Copeland heads Kenneth Copeland Ministries and Eagle Mountain International Church, while Robison is an “apostolic elder” at Gateway Church and co-hosts the Life Today TV program.

In 2008, CBS News released a detailed report on Kenneth Copeland Ministries, saying an investigation “raises serious questions about the Copeland’s religious empire.” For example, according to the report, the “ministry” operates private jets which are often used for vacation trips.

“In my viewpoint,” one of the Copelands’ former employees told CBS News, “I believe that they were using a lot of the ministry’s assets for personal businesses.”

The Copelands have also been accused of promoting the so-called “prosperity gospel.”

“God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” Copeland’s wife, Gloria, once preached, according to The New York Times.

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Like the Copelands, Robison has been criticized for straying from traditional biblical teaching. He once invited “Father” Jonathan Morris to his Life Today TV program and praised his Catholic beliefs and practices.

“As a Protestant, every time you talk—every time I see you, I see Jesus,” Robison told Morris, according to Ken Silva at Apprising.org.

“I wish most Protestant preachers had the sensitivity, and discernment, and gift to communicate that you have,” Robison added.

This month, Copeland and Robison are once again the focus of controversy after news surfaced that they both visited Pope Francis at the Vatican in late June. Afterward, Robison said the meeting was an answered prayer, describing it as a “supernatural gathering” and “an unprecedented moment between evangelicals and the Catholic Pope.”

“On [June 24], for nearly three hours, a few of us were blessed to meet in an intimate circle of prayerful discussion,” Robison wrote in a blog post.

Several other evangelicals, including Robison’s wife, were present at the meeting, which was organized by an Episcopal bishop.

“This meeting was a miracle,” Robison told Fort Worth’s Star-Telegram after returning from Rome. “This is something God has done. God wants his arms around the world. And he wants Christians to put his arms around the world by working together.”

Robison gives Pope high-five

“The world is suffering,” Robison added. “We as Christians have too much love to share without fighting one another.”

Robison said he enjoyed every moment with the leader of the Roman Catholic church, saying he even gave Pope Francis a friendly high-five.

“We continued in such glorious fellowship that words could never begin to describe it,” he wrote. “I am fighting back tears even as I write, so glorious was the manifest presence of Jesus.”

Copeland shared similarly positive sentiments about the visit. According to Robison’s blog post, Copeland “lovingly” spoke “a few words of encouragement” to Pope Francis, afterward praying for him.

When news of the ecumenical get-together at the Vatican was publicized, many Christians expressed disappointment, saying it was unwise for the evangelical leaders to meet with Pope Francis.

“What fellowship does light have with darkness?” one commenter asked. “Roman Catholicism has never been and never will be Christian. You cannot unite what is not the same—that is called being unequally yoked!”

“We should bear in mind [that] Catholic doctrine can never marry with the doctrine of Jesus Christ,” another argued.

“There is a huge difference between loving and helping your neighbor and adopting their heresies,” a third asserted.

As previously reported, megachurch speaker Joel Osteen similarly met with Pope Francis at the Vatican in early June. After the meeting, Osteen praised the Pope’s attempts to make the church “more inclusive.”

Photos: JamesRobison.net

Discovery of Fossilized Brain Matter Floors Scientists, Challenges Evolution

August 5, 2014 | Filed under: Highlights,Science,Top Stories,World | By: Garrett Haley

 

Photo: Norwegian Broadcasting

 

STOKKE, Norway – Archaeologists working in Norway were recently stunned when they discovered what appears to be remains of a fossilized brain—a find that could prove to be a significant challenge to the evolutionary timescale.

A team of about a dozen scientists affiliated with the University of Oslo in Norway has been digging for the past two months in a fjordside area near Oslo. The researchers believe the location was once the site of a Stone Age civilization, where—according to secular models—humans supposedly lived 8,000 years ago.

As reported by Norwegian Broadcasting, the team of archaeologists has unearthed several noteworthy specimens, including ancient bone remnants and other biological material.

“The fact that we’re uncovering a whole lot of things that are exceptional on a national basis, makes this very special,” said Gaute Reitan, the leader of the excavations.

However, one find in particular completely surprised the scientists and may directly contradict the evolutionary timeframe. The shocking discovery came when the archaeologists noticed softer gray material inside a skull remnant.

“It’s not easy to see, you need to have some training and have an open mind,” Reitan told reporters. “But we saw something brown, with a bit darker surface.”

The scientists believe they have found brain matter, somehow preserved after all these years.

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“Inside [the skull] is something rather grey and clay-like,” Reitan explained. “You can just think for yourself what that may be.”

Right now, the scientists are unsure whether the bone fragments belonged to people or animals. Regardless, their dating methods indicate that the specimens from the dig site, including the apparent brain matter, are nearly 8,000 years old.

Can brain matter survive for eight millennia without disintegrating entirely? Brian Thomas, science writer for the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), says that is highly unlikely.

“The biblical idea of post-Flood mega-storms supplies a framework for rapid and catastrophic inundations—those unique conditions required to mineralize soft organs before the tissues disintegrate,” Thomas wrote in a recent ICR article. “Plus, the idea of a recent creation supplies a timeframe for ancient soft tissues to fit within their expected shelf-lives.”

Thomas says this Norwegian find is similar to a 2010 discovery, when potential brain remnants were found on an African ape fossil that was allegedly 1.9 million years old. These discoveries, Thomas argues, do not comport with the evolutionary timeframe.

“In a biblical framework,” Thomas wrote, “the remains from both the African and Norwegian fossil sites were buried after the Flood, and would thus be fewer than 4,500 years old. Since brains disintegrate with time like all soft tissue, older age assignments for fossil brains seem less credible.”

However, the biblical model may provide a better explanation for these recent discoveries. In fact, in a 2009 article, Thomas predicted that scientists would likely unearth brain matter and soft tissues in fossil remains.

“Given the catastrophic formation indicated by most of earth’s geologic structures and the massive extermination of life represented in the fossil record … the biblical Flood is a valid and relevant interpretive key to earth’s past,” he wrote at the time. “It can be expected that more soft tissue fossils, including brains and perhaps visceral organs, will be found.”

As previously reported, a scientist at California State University was recently fired for discovering soft tissue on a Triceratops fossil. In a similar situation, a team of Canadian researchers were surprised to find well-preserved dinosaur remains on a fossil that was purportedly 60 million years old.