What's Holding You Back?

In Luke 19: 1–9, we see that Zacchaeus had a goal; he wanted desperately to see Jesus. However, a very large crowd was in his way and being a short man he couldn't see over the crowd. Instead of him saying "Well I can't do this", "I am too short", "The Democrats or Republicans are in power", “its Bush’s fault,” Zacchaeus came up with a plan.

Zacchaeus made a decision to see Jesus through the crowd. He decided no one would stop him. No matter what, or who, Satan puts in our way, even if the doors seem closed, or barriers are in the way to accomplish your dream, be like Zacchaeus!

So Zacchaeus ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by. Zacchaeus refused to say no. "If I can't get past the crowd I will climb that tree to see Jesus."

Zacchaeus was an unlikely person to have an encounter with Jesus because he was a tax collector, he wasn't part of the "in" crowd that seemed like they should be blessed and have success in Jesus.

Jesus saw Zacchaeus when he got to the tree; he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” Jesus wanted it to stay at his house.

Zacchaeus expected Jesus to show up by the sycamore tree. He made a plan. He didn't allow others to dictate what he would receive from God. He didn't allow others to dictate the outcome of his dream.

Let's now examine our lives. You have a God-given dream and whatever barriers you see are only temporary obstacles. In Matthew 17:20, Jesus tells us to speak to our mountains.

It is no coincidence that the parable of the ten minas is found immediately afterwards. In this parable, the king tells his 10 servants to put the 10 minas to work – until his return.

Don't let others inhibit your God-given dreams! Make a plan, be creative, and aggressively pursue Jesus. He will pass by and He will see you. Jesus wants to stay in your house!

What are you investing in? Our King is coming again.

America's Only Hope

I have seen numerous yard signs over the past few months with the inscription, “PRAYER, America’s Only Hope” 2 Chronicles 7:14. The only problem with these signs is that they are wrong. Jesus Christ is America’s only hope.

I believe the context of the yard signs was done with the most honorable intent and I commend the people responsible.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God says, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

There are four things God tells Solomon that Israel must do in this passage:

1. Humble themselves – That one is always the hardest

2. Pray

3. Seek God’s face

4. Turn from their wicked ways

There are also three promises from God here:

1. God will hear from heaven

2. Forgive their sins

3. Heal their land

Why wait for another year to pass to do the right things? The New Year is here and there is no time like now to get started. Love more, forgive more, volunteer more, give more to our church and charities, and attend church or synagogue.

If we as American’s will only do what God tells us to do, what a paradise America would be. Prayer is not America’s only hope, or the worlds only hope, Jesus Christ is. Well, what are we waiting for? When Jesus returns, it will be too late. Let’s start now!

Obama's Make Believe Life - By Alan Caruba

I have this theory about Barack Obama. I think he’s led a kind of make-believe life in which money was provided and doors were opened because at some point early on somebody or some group took a look at this tall, good looking, half-white, half-black, young man with an exotic African/Muslim name and concluded he could be guided toward a life in politics where his facile speaking skills could even put him in the White House.

In a very real way, he has been a young man in a very big hurry. Who else do you know has written two memoirs before the age of 45? “Dreams of My Father” was published in 1995 when he was only 34 years old. The “Audacity of Hope” followed in 2006. If, indeed, he did write them himself. There are some who think that his mentor and friend, Bill Ayers, a man who calls himself a “communist with a small ‘c’” was the real author.

His political skills consisted of rarely voting on anything that might be deemed controversial. He went from a legislator in the Illinois legislature to the Senator from that state because he had the good fortune of having Mayor Daley’s formidable political machine at his disposal.

He was in the U.S. Senate so briefly that his bid for the presidency was either an act of astonishing self-confidence or part of some greater game plan that had been determined before he first stepped foot in the Capital. How, many must wonder, was he selected to be a 2004 keynote speaker at the Democrat convention that nominated John Kerry when virtually no one had ever even heard of him before?

He outmaneuvered Hillary Clinton in primaries. He took Iowa by storm. A charming young man, an anomaly in the state with a very small black population, he oozed “cool” in a place where agriculture was the antithesis of cool. He dazzled the locals. And he had an army of volunteers drawn to a charisma that hid any real substance.

And then he had the great good fortune of having the Republicans select one of the most inept candidates for the presidency since Bob Dole. And then John McCain did something crazy. He picked Sarah Palin, an unknown female governor from the very distant state of Alaska. It was a ticket that was reminiscent of 1984’s Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro and they went down to defeat.

The mainstream political media fell in love with him. It was a schoolgirl crush with febrile commentators like Chris Mathews swooning then and now over the man. The venom directed against McCain and, in particular, Palin, was extraordinary.

Now, nearly a full year into his first term, all of those gilded years leading up to the White House have left him unprepared to be President. Left to his own instincts, he has a talent for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. It swiftly became a joke that he could not deliver even the briefest of statements without the ever-present Tele-Prompters.

Far worse, however, is his capacity to want to “wish away” some terrible realities, not the least of which is the Islamist intention to destroy America and enslave the West. Any student of history knows how swiftly Islam initially spread. It knocked on the doors of Europe, having gained a foothold in Spain.

The great crowds that greeted him at home or on his campaign “world tour” were no substitute for having even the slightest grasp of history and the reality of a world filled with really bad people with really bad intentions.

Oddly and perhaps even inevitably, his political experience, a cakewalk, has positioned him to destroy the Democrat Party’s hold on power in Congress because in the end it was never about the Party. It was always about his communist ideology, learned at an early age from family, mentors, college professors, and extreme leftist friends and colleagues.

Obama is a man who could deliver a snap judgment about a Boston police officer who arrested an “obstreperous” Harvard professor-friend, but would warn Americans against “jumping to conclusions” about a mass murderer at Fort Hood who shouted “Allahu Akbar.” The absurdity of that was lost on no one. He has since compounded this by calling the Christmas bomber “an isolated extremist” only to have to admit a day or two later that he was part of an al Qaeda plot.

He is a man who could strive to close down our detention facility at Guantanamo even though those released were known to have returned to the battlefield against America. He could even instruct his Attorney General to afford the perpetrator of 9/11 a civil trial when no one else would ever even consider such an obscenity. And he is a man who could wait three days before having anything to say about the perpetrator of yet another terrorist attack on Americans and then have to elaborate on his remarks the following day because his first statement was so lame.

The pattern repeats itself. He either blames any problem on the Bush administration or he naively seeks to wish away the truth.

Knock, knock. Anyone home? Anyone there? Barack Obama exists only as the sock puppet of his handlers, of the people who have maneuvered and manufactured this pathetic individual’s life.

When anyone else would quickly and easily produce a birth certificate, this man has spent over a million dollars to deny access to his. Most other documents, the paper trail we all leave in our wake, have been sequestered from review. He has lived a make-believe life whose true facts remain hidden.

We laugh at the ventriloquist’s dummy, but what do you do when the dummy is President of the United States of America?

Christianity and Immigration

Does Arizona’s new immigration law stand up to God’s law? Yes!

Romans 13:1-7, tells us that we are to submit to the governing authorities and that the government is to protect its citizens. God has delegated this authority to civil government for that specific purpose. ^“For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13:3-4).

Many who support giving amnesty to illegal immigrants misquote Leviticus as their source. Sadly, they do not understand the facts. Leviticus 19:33-34 says that aliens (temporary visitors) are not to be mistreated. They are referred to as aliens because they we not living there permanently. The word immigrant does not exist in the Hebrew language. Aliens could remain in Judea only if they paid taxes, converted to Judaism, obeyed the Israelite laws, went to Jerusalem each year to be counted, they could not violate any norm of Israelite law. Those who want to live here legally should not have to adopt Christianity. They should be able to worship or not worship how they like. However, they should never be allowed to walk on other religions be mandating that others make unnecessary adjustments just for a different religion. Some religions have tried to mandate that our public schools add separate water fountains for boys and girls, prayer rooms for their specific religion, and many more.

Some Christians are even voicing opposition to the Arizona immigration law by saying this law in not compassionate or fair. My question to them, “Who is it the state and federal laws are in place to protect? Should it be those who break the law or the law abiding citizens of the US?” Is it fair to law abiding citizens to live in fear of escalating violence, and to have their wallets continually skimmed to provide welfare, education and medical care to individuals who have no legal right even to be in our country? Remember, the word illegal refers to those who do not enter the US legally.

It is time for mature Christian thinking to solve this, and other, issues. We must have a Christ minded view and not world minded view in order to resolve the issues our country has and will have in the future. George Washington said, “What happens when a nation stops basing its judgments on a Biblical basis? Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” Ronald Reagan said, "Without God democracy will not and cannot long endure."

Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer explains that she signed this bill into law because, as governor, she has a responsibility to protect the safety and security of Arizonans. That is her Biblical job.

Arizona is a state that has been ravaged by illegal aliens committing criminal acts and has seen a rise in almost all violent crimes; murder, burglary, illegal drugs, human trafficking for prostitution, car theft and home invasions to name a few. Arizona is now the kidnapping capital of the world. Not a title any city wants to bear. There are an estimated 500,000 illegal immigrants currently in Arizona alone. This is a huge strain on their budget. Taxpayers are the ones footing many of their bills.

For years the federal government has not lived up to its Romans 13 duty of protecting the citizens of the United States. President Obama has even said that there has been a failure to act by the federal government. That is the sole reason Governor Brewer signed SB1070 into law. It is not the states duty to protect its citizens; it is the God-given duty of the federal government.

The new Arizona law is very close to the federal law that has been active, but not enforced, for over 50 years. This should not be a States Rights (Tenth Amendment) issue. This is a federal issue. The problem has been that the federal government has been asleep on the job so the states are acting out of necessity.

A 2006 congressional report claims that only 10 to 30 percent of illegal aliens are ever caught -- implying that 70 to 90 percent enter the U.S. unnoticed.

I oppose granting amnesty to illegal immigrants for the same reasons that we rose up twice during George W. Bush's presidency and defeated two congressional efforts to create amnesty and a path to citizenship for an estimated 12 to 20 million illegal aliens. I believe it is simply wrong to reward citizenship to those who illegally crossed our borders without permission or overstayed their visas. Those who want to enter our borders legally should come from those waiting in line or willing to join the existing line.

Health Care

The U.S. House of Representatives voted recently on a Health Care Overhaul bill. We must do everything we can to stop this awful piece of law from being funded. The American people, in poll after poll, opposed this legislation, but Congress refused to listen to us. Therefore, we need to elect a conservative Republican majority this November and defund this so called Health Care Reform Act.

Americans for Tax Reform and the Beacon Hill Institute have just released a study that projects ObamaCare would cost the economy around 700,000 jobs by 2019. Another study shows that 46 percent of doctors say they will stop practicing medicine if the Health Care bill passes.

The government has taken over one sixth of the American economy, and put government bureaucrats between you and your family’s health care providers. It will cost a projected $2.3 trillion over 10 years when fully implemented and dump a huge debt on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren. It creates more than 110 new agencies and bureaucracies in the federal government. It will cut $500 billion from Medicare and $170 billion from Medicare Advantage, resulting in rationed and inferior medical care for senior citizens. It will require taxpayer funding for abortions, and will even require purchasers of private plans to pay a monthly fee to pay for other people’s abortions. It contains no conscience protections for health care providers who do not want to be coerced into performing abortions.

As a small-business owner I certainly acknowledge that our health care system needs to be tweaked. I also recognize this bill for what it is. A big government power grab that ultimately will make our national debt swell, cause taxes to go up, create a shortage of doctors and cause unemployment to go up. Government as an institution does not do many things very well. I certainly do not want to put my health into the hands of the same institution that gave us Amtrak and the Post Office. They could not even efficiently manage the swine flu vaccination. So now the Democrats want to turn over one sixth of the U.S. economy to them.

True reform and the most important element of any health care reform will begin with tort reform. Tort reform, along with allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines, would help lower costs and make health insurance more available and affordable to the ten percent of our population that want health insurance and currently do not have it. President Obama and the democrat controlled Congress have raised our taxes by 500 billion dollars and are destroying the greatest health care system in the world.

Christians and Voting - A Duty

It is imperative for everyone, who is eligible, to vote. However, it is more important for Christians to do a better job of getting to the polls and voting for the best candidates.

There are currently 13,023,358 registered voters in Texas. Less than 17% of those registered voted in the March Primary.

It is time to put Brown County on the election map for every candidate; local, district and statewide. The only way to do this is for us to vote in large numbers. My wife and I voted on Monday during early voting while on our lunch break, we were numbers 4 & 5. The polls had been open since 7AM that morning. The location to vote in Brown County is Adams Street Community Center.

Christian voting patterns from 1992 – 2000 were dismal to say the least. There was a 40% decrease in Christians who voted. In the 2002 election, following the dramatic drop in 1992-2000, national evangelical leaders widely urged Christians to register, vote, and vote their values. The national efforts showed a 2% increase in Christian voter turnout which resulted in dramatic improvements.

We, as Christians, are to shape and transform culture. Our light is to shine before others so that they may see our good works and give glory to God. Christians are to be transformers of society, salt of the earth and the light of the world. God does not want us to just get saved and then sit on a pew, sing our bless me songs and not be engaged in this world.

Nationwide, approximately one-half of Christians who are eligible to vote are registered. Only one-half of registered Christians actually vote. This means only 25% of eligible Christians actually vote. If that number was increased by only 10%, Christians would be elected to virtually every office in America.

I believe it is not only our duty, but our honor to vote and to vote for Christians. Proverbs 29:2 says, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” Well then, do we want to rejoice or do we want to mourn? It is our choice.

As citizens of earth, as well as of heaven, we cannot complain about the political leaders we have, nor the decisions they make, unless we are willing to elect men and women of integrity who support policies that restrain evil and reinforce goodness. For Christians to make a difference in this world, as salt and light, they need to be involved in the political process, both by voting and by encouraging qualified men and women to enter the vocation of politics.

We simply cannot escape by pointing out the imperfections of leaders.

Our calling in this world is not to wait for the perfect candidate to be placed on the ticket, but to pick our way through the thicket of flaws we find in a Genesis 3 world by walking in wisdom and voting for imperfect candidates who best reflect a biblical worldview.

Political decisions affect every aspect of our lives from taxation to issues such as stem-cell research, abortion, marriage, the family, war and economic policies. God has commanded us to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find welfare” (Jer. 29:7).

The apostle Paul writes: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:1-2).

Praying for the welfare of our city and for our leaders is being involved in politics. If Christians would spend more time praying to our Father in heaven with broken hearts rather than murmuring and criticizing our political leaders while failing to pray for them, we could see God transform this nation.

Christians are to be a positive, godly influence in their communities.

When you walk into the voting booth, the kingdom of God will not be on the ballot. However, there will be electoral choices that significantly impact the common good. And your choices are important. May you enter the voting booth and make your selections for the glory of God and the good of your fellow man.

An Open Letter to Texas School Boards and Districts

Prior to 1995, a student elected as Santa Fe High School's student council chaplain delivered a prayer over the public address system before each home varsity football game. Respondents, Mormon and Catholic students or alumni and their mothers, filed a suit challenging this practice and others under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Since the 1994 District Court verdict that has eliminated prayer before our high school football games, there has been groundswell within the community to once again have prayer before our schools sporting events. The Santa Fe Independent School District was the defendant in the case. After the ruling, it ended its tradition of pre-game prayer.

Prayer before our football games is just as much a part of playing football as putting on the shoulder pads and helmet. There are numerous school districts that allow prayer before their football games.

On June 19, 2000, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that amplified, student-led prayer approved by public school officials crossed the line in the separation of church and state. The tool that shut down the effort, according to parents of several children that attended Santa Fe School District, was the school-owned public address system the Supreme Court said could not be used to broadcast a prayer. Advocates said the prayer was meant to be a testament to their right of free speech. Even their former adversaries in court agreed.

For too long, we as Christian have sat in our pews singing our bless me songs with our heads in the ground. The time has come for Christians to stand and be counted. We will no longer be bullied by those who wish to silence us. That type of silence is censorship. There are several school districts across Texas that continues the time honored tradition of prayer before their football games. I believe we must bring this tradition back.

In Daniel 6, we read where King Darius passed a law stating that prayer to God was unlawful, Daniel decided to obey God instead of the king. Verse 10 & 11 of Daniel Chapter 6, “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.

We are going to be thrown to the lions den whether we pray in public or not, so why not be on God’s side when we are thrown to the lions instead of the side of the government? I do believe that our government can work hand in hand with the church. That is the way our Founding Fathers set up our country.

Stevens, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ., joined.

Chief Justice Rehnquist, with whom Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas join, dissenting.

The Court distorts existing precedent to conclude that the school district's student-message program is invalid on its face under the Establishment Clause. But even more disturbing than its holding is the tone of the Court's opinion; it bristles with hostility to all things religious in public life. Neither the holding nor the tone of the opinion is faithful to the meaning of the Establishment Clause, when it is recalled that George Washington himself, at the request of the very Congress which passed the Bill of Rights, proclaimed a day of "public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God." Presidential Proclamation, 1 Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897, p. 64 (J. Richardson ed. 1897).

Santa Fe School District was allowing students to vote to see who would say the prayer at their football games.

The court said, “Through its election scheme, the District has established a governmental electoral mechanism that turns the school into a forum for religious debate. It further empowers the student body majority with the authority to subject students of minority views to constitutionally improper messages. The award of that power alone, regardless of the students' ultimate use of it, is not acceptable.²³ Like the referendum in Board of Regents of Univ. of Wis. System v. Southworth, 529 U. S. ___ (2000), the election mechanism established by the District undermines the essential protection of minority viewpoints. Such a system encourages divisiveness along religious lines and threatens the imposition of coercion upon those students not desiring to participate in a religious exercise. Simply by establishing this school-related procedure, which entrusts the inherently nongovernmental subject of religion to a majoritarian vote, a constitutional violation has occurred.²⁴ No further injury is required for the policy to fail a facial challenge.”

In the 1960’s we had the Holy Bible and prayer taken out of our public schools. In 1973, we saw Roe vs. Wade become law allowing over 50 million babies to be aborted. Just in the past few years it has become unlawful to pray at football games, for coaches to join the players and students in prayer.

The Founders of the Constitution were Christians and they expected it would be so for their descendents. They stated, “The great vital and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrine and divine truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

1947 - Everson vs. the Board of Education – Only nineteen words of Jefferson’s speech were used, those being, “The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state.” That wall must be kept high and impregnable.” It was because these words were taken out of context that the Founding father’s intent was reversed. Jefferson meant, not state from church, but church from state.

Dr. William James –the Father of Modern Psychology influenced the court. He wanted church out of state. Dr. James stated, “There is nothing so absurd but if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it.” The courts began used this tactic through the years.

1958 - Bear vs. Colmore – One of the judges got tired of hearing the statement, “separation of church and state.” He said, “If this court doesn’t stop talking about separation of church and state, someone will think it is part of the constitution.” The court continued to talk about it.

June 25, 1962 - Engle vs. Vitale – This was the first time there was a separation of religious principles from public education. The courts rules that there should not be prayers in school. It was the first time we had a separation of church and state. It was the first time that NO precedence (where previous legal cases were cited) or historical incidents were quoted.

1962-65 - The courts removed church from state through rulings on these cases:

1- Engle vs. Vital - Removal of prayer from school. The prayer before the court only mentioned God once. The Constitution mentions God four times. Does this make it unconstitutional?

2- Murray vs. Curlett – Removal of bible reading in school. Bible study used to be required to graduate from High School.

3- June 17, 1965 -Abington vs. Schempp – Removal of religious instruction from school. The courts stated, “If portions of the New Testament were read without explanation, they could be, and have been psychologically harmful to the child.”

In this case the courts said that only 3% of the nation professed no belief in religion or God. That prayer was consistent with 97% of the nation, but the courts ruled for the minority. Now, the philosophy of the 3% rules the 97%.

Our courts used to use biblical guidelines to rule on the areas of the citizens, families, schools, and the nation. Not anymore! Before 1962, the courts said, “We only allow divorce for six reasons. They are the six reasons God allows as written in the bible. God made the family (Adam’s and Noah’s) and so we have to use God’s precepts/rules to govern the family.” After 1965 the courts said we were not to do so any more, because it causes psychological damage to children. George Washington stated, “Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religions principle.”

1965 - Reid vs. Vanhovan – It is unconstitutional for a student to pray aloud in school.

1967 - Decab vs. Dispain – The courts took a four-line nursery rhyme used in pre-kindergarten and ruled it unconstitutional. The courts said, “The rhyme is unconstitutional since it might cause someone to think of God.”

1980 - Stone vs. Graham – The Ten Commandments were posted in a school’s hall bulletin board. The court ruled: “If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all it will be induce the school children to read, meditate upon them, and perhaps to venerate and obey the commandment; this is not a permissible objective.”

When the courts say something is unconstitutional, what they are saying is that this thing is something our founding fathers would have been opposed to and would not have allowed it! The court’s findings do not reflect this.

James Madison, the Chief Architect of the Constitution, said, “We have stated the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

Our country is now number one in:

• Violent crime
• Teen pregnancy
• Illegal drug use
• Divorce
• Abortion
• Illiteracy (in all the industrial world) - In 1997, seven hundred thousand students graduated from high school, who couldn’t read their diplomas.

Jeremiah 6:16 says to go back to the old paths if you want things to be back the way it should be. Many state constitutions require people, who hold office, to believe in God, the scriptures, and understand them.

1774 - Ben Franklin stated, “Introduce into public affairs the principles of Christianity and it will change the face of the world.”

Charles Finnay said, “The church must take right ground in regard to politics. Politics are part of religion in a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to the country as a part of their duty to God. He will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics.”

If God’s people do not make it into office God’s principles do not make it into office. That is why Christians must be in office. Our government has been taken over by ungodly men.

Proverbs 18:1 “A man who isolates himself seeks his own desires; he rages against all wise judgment.”

The separation of church and state allows Christians to be a light to the world, but only in the confines of the church. We know that the Lord wants us to be a light unto the government too.

If we want to see our children live right we must stop handing out condoms and start handing out the Word of God in schools again.

We have lost our heritage. We must get Christianity back into government, our schools, and in our society!

God Bless,

Steve Fryar