God give us men. The time demands
Strong minds, great hearts,
True faith and willing hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned men, who live above the fog
In public duty and in private thinking.
When Pastor Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate over fifteen years ago, everyone was expecting the usual politically correct generalities. But, what they heard instead was a stirring prayer, passionately calling our country to repentance and righteousness.
The response was immediate and a number of legislators walked out during the prayer. In six short weeks, the Central Christian Church (USA) had logged more than 5,000 phone calls, with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. Commentator Paul Harvey aired the prayer on the radio and received a large response.
Pastor Joe’s prayer is reprinted here as an encouragement and challenge for each of us to stand for the truth of the Gospel whenever the Lord gives us the opportunity because it is even more needed.
The Prayer:
“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know your Word says, ‘Woe on those who call evil good,’ but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.
We confess that:
We ridiculed the absolute truth of your Word and called it pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by you to govern this great state. Grant them the wisdom to rule, and may their decisions direct us to the center of your will. I ask it in the name of your Son, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.” – Pastor Joe Wright
It has been said by the poet Charles Bowen and others since: “The rain raineth on the just and unjust fella; but chiefly upon the just because the unjust steals the just’s umbrella.
Humorous, yes, however the blessings of heaven descend so that perhaps the unjust (according to the God of Father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s reckoning) may pause and consider the opportunity provided for repentance in order that they also may join the ranks of the redeemed of the Lord. Blessed even is the hypocrite who repents of, turns away from, his sins.
In these days and times multitudes of people are caught in the delusion that a mental self-denial of sin, as defined by the Holy Bible, will have the effect of cleansing the soul. They tend to appropriate unto themselves material wealth and deem themselves wiser than the children of the kingdom of God and arrogate unto themselves power to rule and exercise dominion over others. Some even seek to overthrow the institutions of heaven proclaiming knowledge of better paths. Still, there remains but one good path, the way of God, follow Him for all other paths lead to sorrow.
“I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.” – Jesus the Messiah.
–Pastor Ward Clinton
It may be Friday but Sonday is coming!
–Pastor Ward Clinton
Every Christian is, in all actuality, a theologian. Imagine how blessed our world could be if every Christian were a good theologian in the distinctly Christian sense.
There is very much a need for “the Church” to again proclaim and live the message of Christian holiness. Collectively, it have been, for quite some time now, living far below the standard that it has been called to. The people of God must once again become “salt and light” especially in this hour of spiritual darkness. Our lives must become “reruns” of the life of The Christ, that is, lives fully surrendered to the Father’s will, cleansed and filled by His Holy Spirit. Christ-like men and women are very urgently needed at this time, in this hour.
God has always intended for His people to be a holy people. The Holy Bible is pretty clear about that. God has designed a plan whereby the heart of His people can be cleansed from all sin. Some can’t see that because they don’t want to see that fact.
1st Thessalonians 4:7 “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”
God did not call us to imitate a sinful man but to be like, to imitate, the Holy One of God, Jesus The Christ.
1st Corinthians 3:3 “You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?” We are called to be imitators of Jesus, the holy one of God, and not like mere sinful men trying to make excuses for being sinful rather than living better lives than that. We are called to have a better understanding of God and an acceptable walk. 1st Peter 1:13-16
“Therefore prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your pope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be ye holy in all that you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.'”
Christians are supposed to stay clean while living in an unclean world; Jesus did not compromise with the world, He remained holy and sin-free and we are to follow his example — not the devil’s.
1st Thessalonians 5:23-24 And may the God of peace Himself fully sanctify you, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is the One calling you, who also will perform it.
Walk in the paths of holiness of heart and life, the world secretly longs for us Christ followers to do that. Sure they may give us grief for it, but if we do not falter, some of them will join us in that walk, the only walk that is acceptable to the one true God, the God of Father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Then, when we Talk About God And Love Others Graciously – they will see something special and understand.
–Pastor Ward Clinton
Good Theology requires a good perspective.
Three people were visiting and viewing the Grand Canyon – an artist, a pastor, and a cowboy. As they stood at the edge of that massive abyss, each one offered his personal perspective. The artist said, “Ah, what a beautiful scene to paint.” The minister said, “What a wonderful example of the handiwork of God.” The cowboy mused, “What a terrible place to lose a cow.”
If every Christian were a better theologian the world, instead of sitting on the verge of collapse into chaos, would be a far better place than it is currently.
True theology points to God. In the summer of 2015, LifeWay Research conducted a survey which revealed that 45% of Americans claim there are many ways to Heaven. Only 30% of Americans actually have Evangelical beliefs and of them only 70% believe Jesus is the only way of salvation. The good news is that it does appear that those who believe Jesus is the only way also believe that they have a responsibility to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus as their Savior.
Distinctly Christian theology, which the apostle Paul refers to as “sound doctrine” in 2nd Timothy 4:3 is founded upon the belief that God has revealed Himself to us in His Word, The Holy Bible. Of course good theology is also focused on Messiah, the holy one of God, The Christ. We read in the Gospel according to John in 5:39 that Jesus declared the Scripture testifies about Him.
Unfortunately, a large portion of Americans are getting their “theology” from Hollywood, television, and other unchristian, even antichristian sources instead of the Holy Bible. Yes, even Christians have to be careful to avoid getting their theology warped by the wrong sources.
It is by knowing God that we come to love Him, and by loving Him that we come to know Him who first loved us.
Theology is undertaken so that our hearts might respond to God and that our lives might be conformed to His will, not the will of some mere ‘prophet.’ Loving God and loving people are made possible by a correct theological vision of God and the Christian life.
True theology, a correct speaking of the things of God, fuels our devotion to God, the God of Father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and our passion for sharing the gospel of the holy one of God, Jesus The Christ.
Every Christian is, in all actuality, a theologian. Imagine how blessed our world could be if every Christian were a good theologian in the distinctly Christian sense of the term.
–Pastor Ward Clinton
I’m a theologian.
Now I don’t know what thoughts just came into your head when you read that. What I know is that I tend to have a slightly erroneous picture formulate in my own head. (But i’m getting better)
Many of us Christians tend to think of theology as an abstract academic discipline with little bearing on day-to-day Christian life and activity. Therefore one of the first things we ought to do is to understand what theology is. Theos (God) logos (word); it means a word about God.
There is Christian theology, Muslim theology and atheist theology as well as a few others. …Atheist theology? …Oh yes, some atheists absolutely obsess on the God whom they vehemently deny exists and then they go to great effort, expending lots of energy and time, to try to get rid of the God they claim to not believe in…is that weird or what?
It is no wonder, then, that God calls them what He does.
Muslim theology is based on the Koran while Christian theology is talking and thinking about God in a distinct way based upon the Holy Bible which, even the Koran acknowledges, is the uncorrupted holy book of God. Sadly, for the followers of Mohammad, most of them don’t seem to be aware of that fact. That is understandable because of all the confusing contradictions contained in each of the various versions of the Koran.
Every Christian, by definition, knows God, thinks about God, and makes statements about God. Therefore every Christian is a theologian; some are better at it than others but every child of God is supposed to be a good theologian and that is accomplished by studying and knowing what is actually in the Holy Bible and what is not. Some, if they are asked to open their Bible to something like 2nd Hezekiah 3:16 will search and search while others will quietly smile. It is an indicator of the level of theological understanding, not the best indicator, but it is one.
I am an above average theologian but every Christian should be at least at my current level. I did not get to my current level of theological comprehension without lots of study and help from fellow Christians; however I am far from where I really should be.
If every Christian were a better theologian the world would be a far better place than it currently is.
…to be continued…
–Pastor Ward Clinton
Then there is 1st Corinthians Chapter 6: “1Co 6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
1Co 6:4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
1Co 6:5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
1Co 6:6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
1Co 6:7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
1Co 6:8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
1Co 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1Co 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. ”
–Pastor Ward Clinton
–Pastor Ward Clinton
–Pastor Ward Clinton
pastorwardclinton 