“The main idea is that Islam is a dangerous religion of demons, it is built upon lies and cruelty that goes back to this prophecy in Gen.16, and we as Christians must unite and oppose and expose Islam for the evil it truly is. I am convinced that we, the Church, have been silent in the face of too many evils and our silence is allowing evil to spread.”

Genesis Class 11-08-2009

Gen. 16:11-12 “Ishmael, Islam and the Atrocity at Fort Hood”

Bryan E. Walker

Read Gen. 16:1-12

Pray

*********************

Introduction: Where were you on Tuesday morning, September 11^th, 2001? Do you remember 9/11? What were your feelings? your thoughts? Do you remember anything about Sunday, September 16^th, 2001? Did your pastor preach about the attack on America? Did he preach about the nature and source of Evil? Did he discuss Islam at all? Or did he preach that “America’s chickens, were coming home, to roost?”  I preached on the problem of evil, Islam and what our response should be to the evil. Since that time we have engaged ourselves in two wars that are still going on, 8 years later. Over 4000 of our soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen have died. Since 9/11 there have been at least 4 successful, homegrown terrorist attacks inside America, (can you name them?) three of which have been labeled as crimes and the latest one is likely to be labeled a crime instead of a terrorist attack. Many more attempts have been made, but spoiled by law enforcement.

This last Thursday, November 5, 2009 the most successful homegrown terror attack has occurred since 9/11. US Army Major, Medical Corps, Nidal Malik Hasan, a natural born American of Palestinian parentage and a lifelong muslim, shot and killed 13 American soldiers and a civilian, and wounded over 30 others, while yelling “Allah akhbar!”, Allah is Great, the standard Islamic jihadist battle cry. Our President, Barack Hussein Obama, has cautioned us to not jump to conclusions, the press and the experts are examining the Psychiatrist to see what made him snap, some are already blaming it on his own stress from listening to the war stories of the war vets he was counseling combined with his own imminent deployment and being harassed for his religious and ethnic background.

This attack has affected me almost as deeply as did 9/11 though, obviously, the casualties were far fewer. But 9/11 was conducted by people here on visas or illegally, the Battle of Fort Hood was conducted by a Traitor and Infiltrator, an enemy who had been commissioned as a US Army Officer. The attack was directly against soldiers inside their “safe zone”, at the heart of Ft. Hood. This betrayal is the equal, at least, of Benedict Arnold’s treachery in the Revolutionary War. May Nidal Malik Hasan’s name be remembered as is Benedict Arnold.

I could not come here this morning and just carry on in Gen. 15 as if nothing had happened. I have to search the Scriptures to make sense of this. Therefore, I have jumped ahead to Gen. 16 this morning. What do I want to accomplish here this morning? I want to: 1) interpret Gen. 16:11-12, 2) briefly explain the nature of evil, 3) explain the spiritual nature of this war in which we are involved, 4) give a brief history of this conflict, and, 5) give some suggestions for how we as Christians and citizens should respond. The main idea is that Islam is a dangerous religion of demons, it is built upon lies and cruelty that goes back to this prophecy in Gen.16, and we as Christians must unite and oppose and expose Islam for the evil it truly is. I am convinced that we, the Church, have been silent in the face of too many evils and our silence is allowing evil to spread.

1. I. Genesis 16:11-12 Ishmael Shall Be A Wild Donkey
   1. A. Ishmael was Born Out of a Failure of Abram’s Faith
      1. 1. In 15:4-5 God specifically promises Abram “your very own son” and innumerable offspring. God enters into a formal covenant with Abram and in 15:18 promises to give his offspring this land. Abram’s faith is a saving faith, a justifying faith, proclaimed by Moses in 15:6.
      2. 2. In 16:1-4 Abram and Sarai decide to engage in a relevant cultural practice of giving a servant girl to Abram to have as a concubine so that Sarai can obtain children through her. Mathews writes, (NAC vol.1B, p.185) “Sarai never speaks directly to Hagar or speaks her name; Hagar is a tool to relieve Sarai’s embarrassment. Yet Sarai never claims Ishmael as her son…. Ancient Near Eastern custom provided for the substitution of a slave for the purpose of bearing a child in the case of a barren mistress. If the wife could not produce children, the husband might marry another; perhaps the offer of a substitute circumvented the acquisition of a second wife. That barrenness was grounds for a divorce after a ten-year period is a rabbinic explanation for Sarai’s actions…Employing the language of chap. 3, vv.2-3 describes Abram’s agreement to Sarai’s plan and her presentation of the slave girl. Abram’s misguided compliance… is cast in the same terms as Adam’s obedience to his wife (3:17). That Sarai ‘took’ (laqah) her and ‘gave’ (natan) Hagar ‘to her husband’ (v.3) portrays the matriarch as another Eve (3:6). Reference to Abram’s residence in Canaan for ‘ten years’ 9v.3; 12:4) without a child indicates that patience for Sarai had run its course. The wait, however, had only begun, for it would be another fifteen years before Isaac…” Mathews, then, says that the language used by Moses in this story links Abram and Sarai to Adam and Eve in Gen. 3, and says that Abram was here, misguided.
      3. 3. John Calvin writes, (pp.422-424) “Moses here recites a new history, namely, that Sarai, through the impatience of long delay, resorted to a method of obtaining seed by her husband, at variance with the word of God….For however laudable was Sarai’s wish, as regards the end, or the scope to which it tended; nevertheless, in the pursuit of it, she was guilty of no light sin, by impatiently departing from the word of God, for the purpose of enjoying the effect of that word….Nor was even Abram free from fault, in following the foolish and preposterous counsel of his wife….The faith of both of them was defective…”
      4. 4. Application- it is all too easy for us to believe God and then, upon growing impatient, take matters into our own hands and do things our way instead of God’s way. It is not always easy to know the difference. Abram, Sarai and Hagar all did something that was perfectly legal, moral and even expected in their day. But it was not of faith and was therefore sin. In our response to the actions of muslims today, we must be careful to not act out of our own understanding, but to act in faith.
   2. B. Ishmael Is Going To Be a Wild Donkey of a Man
      1. 1. You shall call his name Ishmael- the name means “God hears” or “may God hear”, and is related to what immediately follows “the LORD has listened to your affliction”.
      2. 2. I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered- vs.10 gives Hagar a similar promise as was given to Abram. Today muslims number about 1 billion. Muslims do look to Ishmael as their ancestor, claiming that the true line of promise ran through him instead of Isaac, Muhammad is a descendant of Ishmael.
      3. 3. He shall be a wild donkey of a man- Vs12 is a quatrain giving us four lines describing Ishmael. First, he will be a wild donkey of a man. Calvin says, “The simple meaning is that he will be a warlike man, and so formidable to his enemies, that none shall injure him with impunity.” (p.434). Victor Hamilton writes, (NICOT, p.454) “Ishmael is to be a wild ass of the steppe land. This designation is derogatory and derisive. Here we have the metaphorical use of animals, a frequent device in the OT. The wild ass is the onager, whose habitat is in waste places (Job 39:5-8; Isa 32:14; Jer. 14:6; Hosea 8:9), suggesting a desert, nomadic life-style for Ishmael and his descendants.”
      4. 4. his hand against everyone- he will be aggressive and belligerent, proud and violent.
      5. 5. everyone’s hand against him- because of his violent and aggressive ways, everyone will respond negatively to him and will give him violence in return.
      6. 6. he shall dwell over against his kinsmen- he won’t even be able to get along with his own kin, breaking the bonds of family loyalty. See 25:18.
      7. 7. Luther writes on this passage, (Luther’ Works, vol.3, pp.66-67) “Strictly speaking, this description applies to the Arabs, who do not stay in a definite place but carry all their possessions with them in carts and live mostly on plunder…the Arabs…consider it their rightful privilege to live by plundering and robbery…They often harassed the Romans and Persians with their marauding.”
      8. 8. Application- This derogatory description of Ishmael has been kept by all of his descendants, the Arabs, and passed on to the spiritual heirs, the muslims. They self identify with Ishmael. We should take them, and this text, seriously. I will speak more on this in a bit.
   3. C. Ishmael is not the Child of Promise
      1. 1. In 17:18-21 Abram pleads, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father 12 princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac.” Mathews writes, (p.206) “The birth announcements of Ishmael and Isaac present a striking contrast in the destinies of the two sons, Ishmael will become the father of a great people, but he and his offspring will be outsiders, whereas Isaac will assume his father’s inheritance.”
      2. 2. Gen.21:8-21 Ishmael is making fun of his little brother, and he is about 13-14 years older than Isaac, so this is a case of bullying, fitting considering the prophecy. Ishmael and his mother are sent out from the camp.
      3. 3. Application- do we not see this still played out today between the muslims and Jews?

1. II. The Problem of Evil Luke 13:1-5

“There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The critics of Christianity would say that we Christians believe in a God who is both all Good and all Powerful. The problem then, is the presence of evil. Evil does exist so either the good God is unable to eliminate it, and thus is not all powerful, or he is able to powerfully eliminate evil, but chooses not to, therefore proving himself to not be good.

Today we are without question facing raw, hellish evil. A man who was serving as a Major in the US Army, a psychiatrist whose job it is to provide some measure of emotional, psychological and mental healing, attacked an Army unit and singlehandedly killed 13 and wounded about 30 more, all the while yelling, “Allah Akhbar= God is great”. In the Luke passage above we see that Jesus lists two different examples of the problem of evil- 1 was an accident and 1 was a deliberate act of evil committed by a person in authority.

In Gen. 1:31, at the end of 6 days of creation, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” We have the assurance from God’s Word that everything was not just good, but Very Good.

Psalm 86:5 says, “For you, O Lord, are good” and Psalm 119:68 “You are good and do good”. Jesus himself said in Mark 10:18 “No one is good except God alone”. Scripture says scores of times that God is good, that he is righteous, that he is loving, merciful and just. Why then does evil enter into his universe?

Scripture does not DIRECTLY answer that question, and that is why so many object to the Christian answer. But the Bible does give us many very good points to consider in seeking an answer.

1) God created everything for his Glory.

Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”

36″ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

We believe that God created because he wanted to, not because he was compelled to from anything outside of himself. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Isaiah 43:7 “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” And in John’s Gospel ch.9 in the story about the man born blind, the disciples wondered who sinned, the man’s parents or the blind man himself. But Jesus said “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed though him.”

If God then created all things good, and the heavens declare his glory and all people are created for his glory, and even something as horrible as being born blind is part of God’s overall plan, we see that the universe is not man-centered, it is God-centered; it is all designed to somehow give God glory as the Creator.

2) Therefore, even allowing evil into his universe through Satan, and through the sin of Adam and Eve somehow gives God glory. This is a hard truth but must be brought out. In what possible way could the Devil’s rebellion and Adam’s sin give God glory?

We believe God is ultimately just. Now we know there is very often no real justice in this world. The just seem to suffer and the unjust prosper all too often. Nonetheless, our very idea of justice and all our efforts at obtaining and administering justice point to something bigger than us, outside of us, that is just. God is just, he will finally, at the end of time, on the Day of Judgment, mete out justice. Evil will one day be punished and righteousness exalted. That will give God glory. His holy justice will be on display for all to see. So in that sense, allowing the presence of evil will ultimately serve to display God’s justice and bring him glory for his justice. When a notorious criminal in our day gets caught, goes on trial, and gets sentenced, we all do have a sense of satisfaction that justice has been served.

Now the problem for us is the timing. In this world we do not always see justice, so we complain against God that he is not just and that evil exists.  Did the soldiers who died Thursday deserve to die in our eyes? No. This attack was a gross injustice. We want justice immediately. But for the Christian, we understand that there is coming a solution for the problem of evil. God is eternal, outside of time, the creator of time, and he will execute justice on the day of His choosing. The answer then, to the problem of evil, is that this Good God who is indeed All-Powerful, will Ultimately bring about a just resolution to the problem of evil in his timing. In other words, while we are complaining about the problem of evil, we are not looking at it from God’s eternal perspective; God is not finished yet, evil is temporary.

Even though I am as hurt, scared and angry as any of you at this unjust attack on our country, I have confidence that ultimately God will judge the perpetrator.

3) God is also loving, gracious, forgiving and merciful. God’s love and grace are poured out upon us in the context of suffering, pain and evil. This contrast of God’s Goodness while still allowing evil also gives God glory as he displays his attributes of Goodness- lovingkindness, forgiveness, grace, steadfast love. I believe that ultimately, God’s justice and his love will both be on display for his greater glory.

We see this most clearly in the cross of Christ. On the cross we see God’s Son suffering an unjust penalty by men. Jesus was sinless, but we sinners condemned him to death on the cross. At the same time, God the Father was allowing his Son to die in our place, as our substitute. He bore our guilt and shame and he received in himself God’s justice that we deserved. Jesus was punished for our sins when he himself was sinless. So on the cross we see the holy and just wrath of God and the utter depravity of man along with the sinlessness and perfect obedience of God the Son. But since the cross is God’s chosen means for our salvation, we also see the love of the Father poured out on us through the blood of His Son. In the cross then, is the solution to evil. God’s wrath and love both on display in one act.

1. III. The Current Conflict with Islam Is Not Just Political/Military, It Is Spiritual and Theological
   1. A. The World Denies the Spiritual Nature of the Conflict
      1. 1. The World Believes All Religions Are the Same- beginning in the 19^th century and the not so scientific theory of evolution and the German efforts at higher criticism that seemed to lead them to view the Scripture as a evolutionary document, an opinion developed that all religions could be boiled down to a common essence of there being a creator god who loves us and we are to love him and love our neighbor. All religions worship this same creator god, by different names and methods. Today, all religions are viewed as being equal in value although some religions are more equal than others.
      2. 2. Because we have freedom of religion- it is not PC to criticize minority religions, like Islam, but it always seems PC to criticize the majority religion, Christianity.
      3. 3. Therefore, if one religion makes truth claims that are outlandish, the world doesn’t much care, unless it is Christianity. Islamiscists are claiming that their jihad is based upon their religious convictions from the Koran. The world doesn’t listen to that nor take it seriously.
      4. 4. The politicians, military and press are not seeking any type of a religious input or response to the Islamic claims about why they are attacking the west. They just want to negotiate or carry out the war in secular terms.
   2. B. The Spiritual Background to the Conflict

We began by looking at what God said about Ishmael in Gen. 16. That prophetic statement is certainly true in the descendents of Ishmael and the Arabs claim Ishmael to be their ancestor and all muslims look to Ishmael as their spiritual ancestor. In Gen.25 is a list of the descendents of Ishmael and the names are Arabic. In 37:28 we find that Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery to some Ishmaelites. This is a picture of the antipathy between God’s people and the descendents of Ishmael that continues down to this day and is played out in our world by not just the muslim hatred for Jews, but the muslim hatred of Christians, or of any non-muslim.

Many groups in the mideast would be descendents of the ancient Canaanites, Hittites, the children of Esau, the children of the incestuous Lot named Moabites and Ammonites. In short, all the ancient enemies of Israel including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians and Persians are still the enemies of Israel and Christians.

Now here we do have to be careful because they are not the only enemies of Israel and Christians. Don’t forget that it was Rome who crucified Christ and persecuted the early Church. There are many Americans who are atheistic and hate the Church and the Jews. The Marxist-socialists who run this country are not Christian friendly! The world system is fundamentally anti-christian. The communists have long hated the Christian west and the Jews. But this morning we are focusing on the war with Islam.

The main idea for this point is that the people who we are fighting are the same people the Bible says were opposed to God’s people. This has not changed in 6,000 years. That is a long history of hatred and war. We would be naïve to even begin to think that the UN or any negotiators can fix what has been going on since Ishmael picked on Isaac 6,000 years ago.

This lengthy history is not just a bunch of raw facts. It has a spiritual point. The devil is at war with God and has used and will continue to use certain people groups to conduct his war in every age. But this war is primarily spiritual, not racial.

Keep in mind that God also chooses to save some from the nations that he has cursed. Melchizedek was a king and priest in Salem, Jerusalem, and was a Jebusite. Rahab of Jericho was a Canaanite. Moses’ father in law was a Midianite. Ruth was a Moabite. There is excellent evidence that Job could have been an Arab. Jonah preached to the Assyrians and many repented and believed. The wise men who sought out the baby Jesus were either Arabs, Babylonians or Persians.

Remember that Jesus died to save people from the whole world. God is saving many out of Islam whatever their ethnic origins. So, Yes, the war is against Islamiscists, usually of mideastern descent, but while we should support the war, we should, above and beyond that, support the conversion of muslims first and foremost.

Our enemies have boldly defined their jihad against us as being fundamentally a religious war. We need to see it in those terms because I believe they are correct in calling it a religious war. We must compare Islam with biblical Christianity to find the root causes of the war. Islam teaches that they must win over the entire world through convincing others of the truth of Islam, through conquest and enslavement or death. Islam and Christianity both have a world wide mandate but are taught, from our founding documents, very different means to the end.

Look at 1Cor 10:20 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.

Paul tells us here that the pagans are not worshipping any real god, they are worshipping demons who are called gods. 1John2: 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

John tells us that all who do not acknowledge Jesus as the Christ have the spirit of the antichrist.

Therefore, since Islam worships a god who in no way resembles the God of the Bible, and since Islam only reveres Jesus as a prophet, not as the Christ, not as the Son of God, then muslims are actually worshippng and following a demon, not the one true God. Conversely, muslims call Christians polytheists because we believe God exists as a Trinity.

When you hear politicians or news reporters or liberal preachers say things like we all worship the same god just in different ways, you ought to be sickened by that kind of talk. That is unbiblical, unchristian, and philosophically illogical, unreasonable and fundamentally ignorant and condescending. No committed muslim would agree with that kind of statement and no committed, biblical Christian could agree with it. Joint prayer services that include Christians, Jews and muslims are nonsense at best, an abomination at worst. It would be like the prophet Elijah having a joint worship service with the prophets of Baal but not  seizing them at the end.

The muslim has as their authority the Koran while we have the Bible. The way of salvation for the muslim is by a combination of good works and the mercy of allah while the way of salvation the Bible teaches is of God’s grace alone, through faith alone, not of works, lest any man should boast. In Islam there is no atonement for sin offered while in Christianity Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins and he was raised again so that we could have eternal life. In Islam there is absolutely nothing to compare with 1John 4:8 God is love or John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. Islam commands its adherents to convert the world to islam through any means including conquering and enslaving or killing the infidels. Christ teaches us to love our enemies, bless those who curse us and pray for those who do wrong against us. Christianity is to spread by the preaching of the gospel and doing acts of goodness and kindness. In Islam you must give your son up for allah while in Christianity God gave up his Son for humanity.

I do not even have the time to get into the horrid moral code of Islam nor could you stomach that kind of discussion in church. I cannot get into the treatment of women by the Koran and islam. But suffice it say that Christ lifts up woman and islam puts down woman.

The consequences of the differences in the worldviews of Christianity and Islam are demonstrated clearly by the two civilizations that have resulted. One civilization has peaked at the level of the 13^th century and the other civilization has brought about Handle, Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, Michaelangelo, Leonardo DaVinci, Rembrandt; Dumas, Tolstoy, Dostoevesky, Dickens and Twain; polio vaccines, heart transplants, landing on the moon and super computers.

Because Islam is anti-trinitarian, is authoritarian at its core, and has the Koran as its founding document instead of the Bible, the muslims as a whole cannot respect our form of government. When you look at what is happening in Britain, now even in Canada, and beginning to happen in some places here in America, you see the spread and acceptance of Sharia Law, the muslim law code. In England and other places in Europe they have two legal systems, one for muslims and one for others. This violates equal protection under the law. Muslims treat their women and children, especially girl children, in a way that is very cruel and against our way of life because Western Civ has been affected by the doctrines of the Bible and our law codes reflect it. The two systems cannot co-exist, they are at odds at the very core.

The west is treating Islam with toleration but Islam is the most intolerant of all religions. The media tries to make the point that in medieval times Islam was more tolerant than the west and points, legitimately to how Christians persecuted the Jews, but then they fail to note the fact that in muslim lands, non-muslims were given a special tax simply to live there, and they could have no political power at all, their rights were limited. The west has obviously made much progress with liberty for all, but the muslims have not. Their worldview prohibits that.

1. IV. A Brief History to the Current Conflict With Islam

 It seems to have been  the attack on the Israeli Olympic Team in Munich in 1972 by the muslim Black September group that started this modern  wave of terrorism. The US Ambassador to Sudan was assassinated at Khartoum by the same Black September group in 1973;  in June of 1976 two US diplomats were kidnapped and executed in Beirut; also that month Palestinian terrorists seized an Air France jet and landed at Entebbe Airport, Uganda where the Israeli anti-terrorist team freed them in a courageous raid; in 1979 our Ambassador to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs was assassinated; Nov. 4, 1979 the Iranian radicals took over the US Embassy- Pres. Carter attempted a weak rescue with a weakened military that failed miserably. Weak Presidents who weaken our military and Intelligence lead to worse conflicts than if we maintained a strong military and an active Intelligence force. This defeat led to Ronald Reagan’s election the following year and the Iranians, knowing they were dealing with a strong President, released the hostages on inauguration day. And President Reagan went on to strengthen our military and end the Cold War. Yet muslim terrorism continued under even President Reagan.”

“April 18, 1983 the bombing of the US Embassy of Beirut killed 63 and injured 120, but in October of that year the Marine Barracks in Beirut was bombed with 242 Americans killed. In 1984 another Beirut embassy official, William Buckley, was kidnapped and murdered. The TWA hijacking in June of ‘85 was led by Hezbollah terrorists and resulted in their execution of a US Navy sailor who was aboard that flight. October of ‘85 the Achille Lauro ship was pirated and one US citizen was executed for being a Jew by the muslim terrorists.”

“In Dec. of 1985 at Rome and Vienna, muslim terrorists attacked the airports, focusing on El Al airlines. March of 1986 a Palestinian terror group bombed TWA flight 840 coming into Athens airport killing 4 Americans. April 5th, 1986 two American GIs were killed in a Libyan muslim bombing in a Berlin disco, 79 service men were wounded. President Reagan subsequently ordered the bombing of Libya in retaliation. Feb. ‘88 LTC William Higgins, USMC, was kidknapped and murdered in Lebanon by Hezbollah. Dec. 21, 1988, over Lockerbie, Scotland, Pan AM flight 103 was blown up by Libyan terrorists and one of the key muslim masterminds of that bombing was released from his life sentence in prison back in 2009 and returned home to Libya.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1207816/Obamas-desperate-appeal-Lockerbie-bomber-die-Scottish-prison-killers-fate-decided.html

Feb.26, 1993 the World Trade Center in NY was bombed the first time by muslim terrorists at the direction of an Egyptian cleric teaching in NY. In April of 1993, former President George HW Bush was in Kuwait when an Iraqi assassination attempt failed. March of 1995 two US Diplomats were killed by muslims in Pakistan.”

“In June of 1996 a terrorist attack at the US military barracks of the Khobar Towers killed 19 and wounded 240 Americans.  Feb.23, 1997 a Palestinian terrorist sniper killed 1 and wounded several at the Empire State Building in New York. August 7, 1998 two bombs went off simultaneously at two different US Embassies in Africa, Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania killing a total of 301 and wounding hundreds more. October 12, 2000 the USS Cole was bombed in Yemen killing 17 US Sailors.”

“Sept. 11, 2001 the attacks on NY and Washington DC  killed over 3000. Jan. of 2002, Daniel Pearl of the Wall Street Journal was kidnapped and later beheaded by muslims in Pakistan. In the fall of 2002 there were the Beltway Sniper killings led by John Allen Muhammed which killed at least 10 people. In Feb. 2007 Sulejmen Talovic, an 18yr old muslim, shot several people in a Utah mall before being shot by an off cuty police officer. In May of 2007 six muslim men were arrested for plotting an attack on soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Do you remember hearing about the Somali Pirates off the Horn of Africa earlier this year? Guess which religion they are! Muslim.  In June of this year Abdulhakim Muhammad shot and killed a soldier at the Little Rock Recruiting Station. On Nov. 5, 2009 that infamous Traitor, Infiltrator and Enemy Combatant- Major Nidal Malik Hasan- killed 13 fellow troops and wounded 30 more at Fort Hood here in Texas.”

www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/5902.htm

“I could go on an on here because there have been many other small attacks by muslims inside America and many efforts that failed and were broken up by good police work. But by now you get the idea. The answer to the question, “Why has this happened?” is that we have not taken the threat of Islam seriously. The one thing that all of these attacks have in common is not a nationality, not a race, not a language, not a common set of socio-economic status, not an education level. The ONE THING they all have in common is a RELIGION, ISLAM.”

“Islam teaches that muslims will, must, rule the world and either convert, enslave or kill all unbelievers. That is their stated purpose. The jihad movement is islamic to the core, it is being a good muslim. They preach in the mosques that they build here in the United States and in other western countries, that to die fighting the infidels, that would be us, is to go to heaven where the 72 virgins await their new master for eternity. Their view of heaven is one of a sexual orgy with their 72 young virgins forever. Their treatment of women today reflects that.”

In all fairness to Pres. Obama, the former Presidents going all the way back to Jimmy Carter are also guilty. America just has never had the guts to admit that an entire religion was at war with us. We did not want to call it a religious war even though our enemies explicitly did call it a religious war. It goes against our principles to discriminate against someone because of their religion. It perfectly fits into THEIR principles to absolutely discriminate because of religion. WE celebrate religious freedom and diversity, they do not.  But this religion wants to kill us and has used the freedom we provided as cover for their evil desires.“

“Americans have gone to war now four times in recent years to help muslim nations. In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait and the United States led a coalition to protect Saudi Arabia and then, in 1991, to invade Kuwait and kick the Iraqis back out. In 1992/93 we sent troops to muslim Somalia to feed the starving people in that chaotic, war torn land, and then, under Pres. Clinton, attempt to arrest one of the most vicious war lords and restore some sense of order. It resulted in a huge battle, the deaths of many US Army Rangers, and the movie Blackhawk Down. In Bosnia, the United States and NATO forces defended the Bosnian Muslims in 1994. In the Russian Chechen War, President George W. Bush chastised Russia for its actions against the muslim Chechens. In 2001 President Bush sent a small contingent of special ops forces into Afghanistan to topple the Taliban and liberate Afghanistan. We still have troops there. In 2003 we invaded Iraq and captured Sadaam Hussein. Most Iraqis thanked us for that. We have diligently tried to set up democratic governments in both countries but success is still some years away, if at all. The only country we had a legitimate beef with was Iran and we never went to war with them. All of our good deeds towards muslims around the world, and they still hate us.

The last 30 years is not the first time America has fought with muslims. Back in World War I the Ottoman Turks sided with the Germans against England, Italy, France and America. In the 1930’s and early 40’s there was a lot of contact between the Nazis and the Palestinians, this is where so much of the radical hatred for the Jews came from. To this day Hitler’s Mein Kampf is a best seller in the middle east.

Our first war with muslims as a nation came shortly after independence in the 1780s. America was a major shipbuilding and trading nation so the sea lanes were important to us. But the Barbary Pirates of North Africa, all muslims, pirated our ships, stole our goods and enslaved our sailors. The muslims required huge ransoms for the captives and bribes to leave our ships alone. The European nations paid the bribes, and America paid some, for a while. But finally we had had enough, and in 1801 President Jefferson refused to pay the $225,000 demanded by the Pasha of Tripoli and the Pasha declared war on the US by cutting down the flag at the US Consulate. President Jefferson took the muslims seriously and commissioned the building of 6 new frigates and sending some to the Mediterranean  to wage war. The rally cry in those days was, “Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute!” Although Congress never voted on a formal declaration of war, they did authorize the President to instruct the commanders of armed vessels of the United States to seize all vessels and goods of the Pasha of Tripoli “and also to cause to be done all such other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war will justify.”

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War

“After many battles and a long blockade against Tripoli the war was won by the US Navy and Marine Corps in 1804 with a new treaty agreed to and signed in 1805. Heroes such as Commodore Edward Preble, Captain William Bainbridge, Lt. Stephen Decatur, Consul William Eaton and Lt. Presley O’Bannon of the USMC led the way in a victory that is memorialized in the Marine Corps Hymn, “From the halls of Montezeuma, to the shores of Tripoli“.”

“But long before our wars with the Barbary Pirate muslims, western civilization had been at war with them since the 7th century. Few people today realize that in 1683, during the height of the Baroque Music period, Vienna Austria was under siege by the Ottoman Turks, muslims all. Vienna, the home of great music, almost collapsed. But the allied army of Poles, Germans and Austrians, led by Jan Sobieski attacked and routed the Turks on Sept. 12, 1683. Notice that it was not Westerners invading muslim lands, it was muslims invading the west. This was not the first attempt by the muslims to capture Vienna. In 1529 Sulieman the Magnificent lay siege to Vienna but failed to capture it.”

“While many point to the Crusades of the 11th-13th centuries as the reason why muslims hate us, and therefore it is all our fault, it must be pointed out that long before the crusades, the middle east and North Africa were Christian lands. The Crusades were in many ways a horrible example of what happens when you mix political power with religious fervor and military might. The main idea of the Crusades, however, was to regain the Holy Land that had been lost by conquest to the muslims. The Crusades were a response to pleas of help by besieged Christian Constantinople, which had been attacked by the moslem Turks. Islam was not spread by peaceful missionaries founding hospitals and orphanages, using reasoned arguments from godly men to win hearts and minds. Islam has always been spread by the sword.”

“Does anyone know why it was the year 1492 when Columbus discovered America? In that year, Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Spain finished the “reconquista” and finally forced the Moors (muslims) from their last stronghold in Spain at Granada. The war finished, they had the funds available to outfit the three ships for Columbus to make his voyage of discovery.”

“Have you ever heard the story of Charles Martel, Charles the Hammer of France? In 732 he led a Frank army to defeat a muslim army that had crossed over into France from Spain at the Battle of Tours. If he had not won that battle, all of France would have fallen to the muslims.”

“Why am I giving you this long history lesson in a week where we have seen so much death and destruction? Is it because I hate the muslims? No, I have had muslim friends. I can love and respect individual muslims. But I cannot love or respect a religion that clearly states it wants to convert, enslave or kill me. I gave you this history lesson because we need to know and remember why this has happened. It happened because we did not listen to our enemies. We did not learn from the battles we have fought recently. We did not learn from history. Perhaps now, in our agony of defeat, maybe  we shall learn.”

“There are those out there who desire to kill us, enslave us or convert us in the name of their God.  I am convinced that this atrocity is the result of a muslim terrorist attack. The attack was successful because for too long the political leaders of our country, both Republican and Democrat, did not recognize the threat or treated the threat lightly, thinking that we could bow to the Saudi king, speak some arabic in Egypt, quote the Quran here and there and talk about the rich culture of this religion of peace and by our niceness it would make them love us. WRONG! And today we are paying for those mistakes.”

1. V. How Should Christians Respond?
   1. A. Spiritual Response
      1. 1. Pray- We should pray for the casualties and families of the Battle last Thursday. Pray for our leaders to recognize that what happened Thursday was not a crime, it was another battle in the war on terror; that Major Hasan was not a wacked out criminal, he was a jihadist. Pray that the press and news media would report the truth and not obscure the truth with their lies. Pray imprecatory prayers against islam. Look at Psalm 58

58:1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.

6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away;
when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!

10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

1. 2. There is nothing wrong with praying for victory over evil forces and praying for their destruction. When you realize that Islam is sending a billion people to hell with their demonic beliefs, and that they are tormenting the rest of us along the way, you will understand that we can and should pray against them. Pray for the conversion of muslims to Christ. Pray for our mission efforts in islamic lands. Pray that America would wake up to the danger we have allowed in to our country.
2. 3. Inform yourself. Have you studied Islam or the history of the ongoing conflict between Islam and Christianity? Have you studied how they treat women? Have you studied the Word of God about how God views false religions? Inform yourself.
3. Here is a list of books that could be helpful for you:
4. mark12ministries.wordpress.com/2009/06/02/books-about-islam-and-muslims-vs-the-west/

1. 4. Do not remain silent. I used to work with a muslim who was Americanized and moderate, theologically; he thought we all worshipped the same god and it was all about being good. He was not very open ot the gospel. But he was not moderate in his politics. He hated Israel and the Jews and voted for democrats because they favored the Palestinians against Israel. He was against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have to be careful how we speak to muslims because they are very easily upset and the PC culture in America right now restricts free speech. You can get fired for sharing your faith because it automatically discriminates against muslims. But we need to share a biblical view of islam with those with whom we converse. We need to share the gospel with muslims and with others who are saying that all religions are the same.
2. 5. Speak out against evil. When an outrageous example of muslim evil happens, like this past Thursday, we need Christians to say, Thus saith the Lord! We need to speak truth to evil and not just say, “Oh how awful” or, “I will pray for the soldiers”. We need Christians to speak out loud about the evil.
3. B. Can/Should Christians Do More?
   1. 1. Clearly when you read the OT you see God’s people taking direct action. Samuel hacked Agag to pieces in 1 Sam. 15:33. Elijah did lead the people to slaughter the prophets of Baal in 1Kings 18:40. I think it would be very wrong to take those passages and use them as a basis for committing violent acts today. But we can and should use every legitimate, social and political tool to protect ourselves and our nation from the evil that is attacking us. In Acts, Paul, at times, used his Roman citizenship wisely to protect himself and proclaim the gospel. Action is called for today.
   2. 2. This past Friday I called both of our Texas Senators and my Congresswoman to formally request that they contact the DoD to request that the soldiers who were killed and wounded in the Battle of Fort Hood be awarded the Purple Hearts they deserve. You see, if it is just considered a crime, no purple hearts are awarded. But if it is recognized that Major Hasan was an enemy combatant, and that what happened was an engagement with the enemy, then the medals can be awarded. What does that do? 1) it respects the soldiers. 2) it changes the wording, and meaning of the situation. It calls it what it is.
   3. 3. We Christians need to seriously challenge our politicians, news media and others with every legitimate means over the issue of islam and muslims in America. To do so, will open ourselves up to the charge of racism, so we need to still show love for our enemies, here. But we need to take a stand against the evil that is in our midst.

Conclusion: Islam is the self proclaimed enemy of Christianity, Christians, Jews and the western world. Biblically, this goes back to Gen. 16 and the problem of Ishmael. Historically, it is verifiable, beyond dispute, that Islam has been a constant aggressor and has spread by conquering previously Christian lands. Recent history has shown that while not all muslims are terrorists, about 98% of all terrorism in the last 40 years has been islamic. Christians have been silent in the face of raw evil for way too long. It is time to speak out.

helpcom.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=270

www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/09/fort_hood_99072.html

www.forbes.com/2009/11/08/fort-hood-nidal-malik-hasan-muslims-opinions-columnists-tunku-varadarajan.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6521578/Fort-Hood-shooting-inside-story-of-how-massacre-on-military-base-happened.html

www.ocregister.com/articles/hasan-218107-maj-american.html

www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/07/pondering_the_fort_hood_massacre_99067.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_Five-seven

righttruth.typepad.com/right_truth/2009/11/at-war-with-islam.html

www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/fatal_correctness.html

abcnews.go.com/Blotter/fort-hood-shooter-contact-al-qaeda-terrorists-officials/Story?id=9030873&page=1

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33777070/ns/us_news-tragedy_at_fort_hood

The Walker Library

Commentaries on the Gospel of John

Leon Morris, NICNT The Gospel According To John. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1971 (936pp.)

D.A. Carson, Pillar New Testament Commentaries, The Gospel According To John. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, Michigan 1991 (715pp.)

John Calvin, The Crossway Classic Commentaries, John. Crossway Books: Wheaton, Ill. 1994/1553 in Geneva (473pp.)

George R. Beasley-Murray, Word Biblical Commentaries, John. Word Books: Waco, TX. 1987 (441pp.)

Gary M. Burge, The NIV Application Commentary, John. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 2000 (618pp.)

Barnabas Lindars, The New Century Bible Commentary, The Gospel of John. Marshall, Morgan & Scott: London, 1972 (648pp.)

Gerald L. Borchert, New American Commentary, vol.25A, John 1-11. Broadman & Holman: Nashville, TN 1996 (399pp.)

Ibid. vol.25B, John 12-21. Broadman & Holman: Nashville, TN 2002 (398pp.)

Andreas Kostenberger, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, John. Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI 2004 (700pp.)

William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, Exposition of the Gospel According to John. Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, MI. 1953 (507pp.)

Merrill C. Tenney, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol.9, “John”. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 1981 (pp.3-203).

John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 1-11. Moody Publishers: Chicago, ILL. 2006 (509pp.)

Bruce Milne, The Bible Speaks Today, The Message of John. InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, ILL. 1993 (352pp.)

R.V.G. Tasker, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, John. InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, ILL 1960 (237pp.)

William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series, The Gospel of John, volume 1, rev.ed. The Westminster Press: Philadelphia, PA. 1975 (254pp.)

Ibid. The Gospel of John, volume 2, rev. ed. (293pp.)

James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary, Five Volumes in One. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 1985 (1487pp.)

Arthur W. Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John: Three Volumes Complete and Unabridged in One. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 1975/1945 (1154pp.)

R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word series, John: That You May Believe. Crossway Books: Wheaton, ILL. 1999 (527pp.)

Roger L. Fredrikson, The Communicator’s Commentary, John. Word Books: Waco, TX. 1985 (299pp.)

The Walker Library

The Holy Spirit

Donald G. Bloesch, Christian Foundations series, The Holy Spirit- Works & Gifts. InterVarsity Press: Downer’s Grove,ILL 2000 (415pp.)

Robert Gromacki, The Holy Spirit: Who He Is, What He Does. Word Publishing: Nashville, TN. 1999 (277pp.)

Sinclair B. Ferguson, Contours of Christian Theology series, The Holy Spirit. InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, 1996 (288pp.)

George Smeaton, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Banner of Truth Trust: Edinburgh, 1958/1882, (418).

Ray Pritchard, Names of the Holy Spirit. Moody Press: Chicago, ILL. 1995 (214pp.)

Andrew Murray, On the Holy Spirit. Whitaker House: New Kensington, PA. 1998, (203pp.)

R.C. Sproul, The Mystery of the Holy Spirit. Tyndale House: Wheaton, ILL 1990 (191pp.)

W.A. Criswell, The Holy Spirit in Today’s World. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 1966 (242pp.)

J.I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit.

Billy Graham, The Holy Spirit.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army Psychiatrist at Fort Hood, went on a very well planned shooting that has killed about 13 soldiers and wounded over 30, apparently using two handguns. He was shot by civilian police officer Sgt. Kimberly Munley.

It has been reported that Major Hasan had been upset about his upcoming deployment to Iraq. He had been recently transferred to Ft. Hood, TX from Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC.

Hasan was born in Virginia to parents of Palestinian background and is a lifelong muslim. As he was shooting the soldiers, he was yelling, “Allahu Akhbar” or- God is Great in typical jihadist fashion.

The interviews of experts I have heard have been careful to say this was not a terrorist act. However, though it has not yet been proven he had terrorist cell connections, he was known for protesting American foreign policy, the war “against islam”, and for trying to proselytize his patients.

If a muslim shoots up a liquor store, that is probably a crime. If a muslim enters an Army base and shoots up 40+ soldiers, that is terrorism. Wake up America!

Here is the link to my sermon on this topic:

mark12ministries.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/a-sermon-on-major-nidal-malik-hasan-and-the-terrorist-attack-on-fort-hood/

And here are news/opinion links to the story:

righttruth.typepad.com/right_truth/2009/11/at-war-with-islam.html

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33678801/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/?GT1=43001

apnews.myway.com/article/20091108/D9BRD8GO1.html

helpcom.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=270

www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/09/fort_hood_99072.html

www.forbes.com/2009/11/08/fort-hood-nidal-malik-hasan-muslims-opinions-columnists-tunku-varadarajan.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6521578/Fort-Hood-shooting-inside-story-of-how-massacre-on-military-base-happened.html

www.ocregister.com/articles/hasan-218107-maj-american.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_Five-seven

www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/fatal_correctness.html

abcnews.go.com/Blotter/fort-hood-shooter-contact-al-qaeda-terrorists-officials/Story?id=9030873&page=1

More to follow.

Equality 7-2521

In a stunning defeat of the homosexual lobby, Hollywood, the liberal Main Stream Media, Demoncrats, and the State Legislature of Maine, voters defeated the Gay Marriage law with a 53% vote to overturn it. 31 out of 31 states that have brought Gay Marriage to the voters have voted against gay marriage.

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gay_marriage_maine

www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=31615

The first lesson to be learned is that the average American from Maine to California, does not want gay marriage. Our judges and legislators, Congressmen and Senators, Governors and Presidents need to get a clue. Maine and California are nowhere near conservative states, yet they still voted down the gay agenda. This is not due to large amounts of money, nor is it due to control of the media. The gays invest more money and they do have the major media on their side. Certainly both sides are passionate about their positions. It boils down to the fact that from one end of the country to another, America does not want gays to marry.

Why is that? In the article linked to above you see this quote:

“I’m ready to start crying,” said Burnett, a 58-year-old massage therapist, walking out of the ballroom with Swanson at her side. “I don’t understand what the fear is, why people are so afraid of this change.

“It hurts. It hurts personally,” she said. “It’s a personal rejection of us and our relationship, and I don’t understand what the fear is.”

According to the person interviewed above, Americans are “afraid” of this change. Fear is the reason given by some gays as to why straight America does not want gay marriage. For other gays, I am sure their is a belief that it is hatred of gays that keeps straights from voting for gay marriage. But both of these stated reasons are wrong and reveal more about the inner motives of the gays themselves.

Gays need to understand straights here. We do not want gay marriage because we know that it goes against God’s law, against nature, is harmful to society because it automatically cheapens and harms marriage. To allow gays special privileges to marry harms us, takes something away from us, and weakens marriage in general.

How so? Gays have the right to marry already, just marry the opposite sex like everyone else. To claim that you deserve to marry whomever you want, i.e., a person of the same sex, lowers the bar of marriage by redefinition. If we make it legal to marry “whoever”, then obviously those who want plural marriage will be next in line. People involved in some fundamentalist sects of the LDS church want to have multiple wives. Some businessmen who travel extensively like to have a woman in each state. Polyamory folk like threesomes and more. What about the LGBT crowd that includes bi-sexuals? By definition don’t Bi’s like more than one person to love? If you bend/break the definition of marriage for gays don’t you logically have to do it for all these others? Historically, having multiple wives is more valid than gay marriage anyway. Ask any muslim. Will we allow all muslim men to have the standards 4 wives now?

Gays just are refusing to acknowledge that they want “Special Rights” not Equal Rights. And they use the terminology of “Fear” against the pro-family crowd in a deliberate smear technique rather than being honest.

Imagine if gays win this argument, as they have in Massachusetts and Iowa, what will that do to the school textbooks that small children are REQUIRED to use? Do you think that there just might be stories for first graders about Jenny and her Two Mommies? or Peter and his Two Daddies? Maybe even some math “word problems” involving gay couples just as part of a math problem to make it look normal?

What is likely to happen? The gays will never give up, they own the education and entertainment elites and the news media as well as most politicians. The votes by the people are close, no more than 10 point spreads. In 5-10 years they will win one of these votes. Then another. And another. A few court cases here and there, then a SCOTUS case that will use the 14th Amendment to apply one state’s law to all the states.

After that, the court cases against churches and ministries will be a stampede and churches will be forced to marry gays, hire gays, and not exercise church discipline on gays.

The only way this will be stopped is if God sends a Holy Spirit Revival that will lead to a Reformation in our society that will change people’s hearts and lead to a change in the laws to, once again, force gays into the background instead of in the mainstream.

I am not saying that I want to see a society where gays are persecuted or harassed by the police. The last thing I want is the state police snooping in people’s bedrooms. I trust the State less than I trust gays. If a company wants to hire gays, fine. I really do not think schools ought to have gay teachers or administrators; schools ought to have moral (if not Christian) teachers. Does that mean I think gay behavior is immoral? You betcha’! I think that any community that elects a gay to a public office is an immoral community. But I don’t think it should be against the law. Gay Public Displays of Affection- yeah, that is gross and ought to get a ticket. Gay Days at Disney Land- the public outcry ought to shut that down, but otherwise it is somebody’s private property and they can have GAy Day if they want to.

But Gay Marriage…no way. That is the State sanctioning that which the Bible says is an abomination. Not on my watch!

Here is an interesting piece by Charles Winecoff over at BigHollywood.

bighollywood.breitbart.com/cwinecoff/2009/11/05/note-to-andrew-sullivan-dont-blame-breitbart-for-my-thought-crimes/#more-256154

He gets some things right and makes some astounding claims, but his basic premise that we straights would be fine with a civil union for gays, THAT INCLUDES ALL THE LEGAL PRIVILEGES OF MARRIAGE WITHOUT THE NAME, is flawed. To give the same social benefits and status to gay civil unions as to marriage, yet not calling in marriage, is a farce. Again, you are simply redefining marriage.  Nice try, but I ain’t buyin’ it!

Equality 7-2521

On Friday, October 30th, just two weeks before rotating home, Private First Class Lukas C. Hopper was killed in a vehicle accident outside of Baghdad, Iraq. Pfc. Hopper was an airborne infantryman in Company D, 1/505th PIR, 3rd Bde, 82nd Airborne. He was from Merced, CA. and is survived by his parents, Robin and Yancy Hopper, and two sisters, Chantal and Celeste.

PFC. Hopper was in the 8th grade when 9/11 hit and it deeply moved him, and was a motivating factor in his enlisting in the Army. A highly motivated paratrooper, Pfc Hopper had volunteered for a unit transfer in order to go with another 82nd unit to Afghanistan after the holidays.

He was the recipient of the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Oversees Service Ribbon, and Parachutist Badge.

Pray for his family and for his fellow paratroopers.

After the power shut down and the airplanes had crashed and everyone was trying to figure out what to do, Tami Davis tried to start her BMW without success. It was dead just like all the other cars in the Data Center’s parking lot. But at least her car had not been damaged by the flying debris from the crash across the street! Her car still looked good. She got out of her car and wandered over to her co-workers and listened as they talked about the disaster and the death of Jared, one of the best guys in her division. The intense fire across the street from the downed airliner was putting out heat and smoke all across their parking lot. She saw people from that building staggering away injured, burned and dazed. She hadn’t planned on any of this for her schedule today.

Stan, the Data Center Manager was calling everyone together for some kind of meeting so Tami drifted over to where he and George, the chief engineer, and Ryan, the security guard, were standing. Stan told everyone that we were apparently in a nuclear war and that a very high altitude nuclear blast had sent an EMP through the area knocking out all electricity and everything electronic or computerized. That was why the airplanes were crashing and why the cars wouldn’t start. Then he went on and on about the muslims and how this was all their fault…and she got bored and somewhat offended by how prejudiced this sounded. Not that she had any muslim friends, she didn’t even know a single muslim, but she just thought all this talk of terrorism and war with the muslims was overdone and bigoted.

After the long speech by Stan, the security guard began to preach, of all things. With a Bible and everything! That really offended her, especially when he started talking about everyone being a sinner. She drifted to the back of the crowd out of disgust and boredom and wandered back to her car to eat the little snack everyone got from the vending machines that the engineers and security had broken into. Everyone got two snacks and a can of soda or bottle of juice or water. She chose water because she was always on a strict diet keeping her perfect body in good shape.

About the time she finished her snack the “church” gathering broke up. It was time to head home apparently; on foot. Tami linked up with three of the guys who lived close to where she lived in Plano to see about walking home together. She wanted to get home tonight before it got too late.

“Hey guys, let’s go, I don’t want to be out walking all night,” she said.

“All night!? Tami, do you know how far it is to Plano?” asked Brent incredulously. “It’s over 30 miles to my house and you live a couple of miles past me!”

“OK, so we better get started,” she replied.

“Tami, this is going to take a couple of days to get home,” said Eric, joining in the conversation.

“A couple of days!? What are you talking about? It can’t take that long; it only takes me about 45 minutes to drive in to work as long as the traffic is nice,” she exclaimed.

“Look, we are going to have to walk most of the night, and maybe find someplace to spend the night. Then we will walk most of the day tomorrow before we can get home. Thirty miles is a long way.”

“You’re serious? Well crap. I hadn’t thought it would take that long. Bummer” she said.

“Well, let’s all four stick together since we are going pretty much the same way,” said Trey to the others. “It’s safer that way.”

“Yeah,” said Brent and Eric.

“OK, let’s get started. This will be kind of exciting!” said Tami.

The three guys just looked at each other and shrugged. Tami was brilliant with the computer network, but seemed a little clueless about the severity of this disaster.

“Well, we have to get to Hwy 115 to head east, so let’s go up Cavendish to Northpool,” suggested Brent.

“Do you think we can get past the fire? It looks like that jet crash may have blocked the road,” said Eric.

“Let’s head up the road and see, but we will have to go around over there, it’s just too hot right here on the street,” said Trey.

The four started off through the parking lot to the west and then turned on the far side of Cavendish to head north to Northpool. It was about 4:20pm, three and a quarter hours since the lights went out.

Tami was wearing her trademark skin-tight, hip hugger, blue jeans, a sweater that didn’t quite cover everything, and a light coat. On her feet she had a pair of nearly knee high fashion boots with high heels. She had no gloves or cap. Trey was in a pair of cargo shorts with tennis shoes and a T-shirt with a light jacket- definitely not dressed for the occasion. Brent had on dockers, loafers, and a T-shirt but had a decent coat and a hat. Eric was in blue jeans, sneakers, a flannel shirt and a good coat with a hat and gloves. Tami was in good shape, she ate healthy and always worked out in the gym to maintain her perfect figure. Trey was way overweight, perhaps 200 lbs overweight, and not in good shape at all. Brent was athletic and in great shape and Eric was about average, maybe 40 lbs overweight and pretty much a couch potato.

As the four co-workers turned up Cavendish, they could see that the road was blocked ahead by the tail section of the airliner that had crashed. The tail was a good 100 yards from the front half of the airplane that now was in the building behind the one across the street from the Data Center. But the burning fuel and explosion had gone through the backside of that front building. One wing was also across the street, blocking their path. The fire had spread to a building on the west side of Cavendish so the foursome had no way through on this street and had to turn back right at the start of their long walk home.

“Okaaayyy, that didn’t work out so well,” grumbled Eric.

“Well we can just go down Kendall to HWY 36 and get to 115 from there,” suggested Brent.

So the four headed south to Kendall and turned east. But the closer they got to HWY 36 the more they realized that road was blocked by the airplane that crashed just south and east of their building. That one was a huge 747 and there was no way they could get around that inferno.

“Well, guys, I guess we will just have to take Kendall all the way around to Northpool,” stated Tami.

“Yeah, but that is like a two mile hike,” said Trey.

“Add those two miles to the 30+ miles we have to go to get home,” murmured Eric.

Between their two false starts the four had already walked about a mile in their first 20 minutes, but it was a mile of going nowhere. Now they started trudging up Kendall which would take them two miles in the wrong direction just to get to the right highway to then begin heading home, adding a total of about 4 miles to their trip.

After about a mile of walking up the long gentle hill, Tami’s feet were starting to burn. The boots were her favorite boots, she really looked good in them, but the high heels weren’t made for all this walking, and it seemed like her feet were moving around a tad too much inside the boots. She was already starting to fall behind and had to consciously work to keep up, even though she was in great shape.

But Tami wasn’t alone in struggling to keep up. Trey was huffing and puffing as he swished along. Weighing in at almost 400 lbs, he was having a time of it.

“Brent! You’ve got to slow down! We are having a hard time keeping up with your long legs, c’mon, wait up a bit would ya?” Tami called out.

“Oh, geez, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was going that fast.”

“Yeah dude, you’re running us all into the ground,” panted Trey.

“Tami, why don’t you get up here in front and you set the pace then.” suggested Brent.

So Tami moved up to the front, joining Brent, and started walking, but noticeably more slowly than they had been.

After about 15 minutes they could see the intersection with Northpool, and quickly gained their first objective.

“Hey guys, can we take a breather?” huffed Trey.

“Well, we haven’t gone that far,” said Brent, “but sure, I guess so.”

“Great,” said Tami, “My feet are really hurting.”

“That’s not good,” said Eric. “We still have over 30 miles to go!”

“Don’t remind me,” she said.

By now it was about 5:00pm and the sun was getting close to the horizon. Already they could feel the temperature dropping with the sun. After about a 10 minute break, Brent got them up and moving again. Trey had a tough time getting up and Eric gave him a hand. Tami winced as she stood back up.

The four friends joined the parade of people walking down Northpool in both directions. Cars were stalled everywhere. A few of the cars still had occupants, somehow reluctant to leave their car and join the crowd. Some of the people were openly weeping out of shock and fear, others were laughing and joking like it was all a game. Most had a very serious, grim even, look about them. Some were traveling in obvious groups, sticking together. Most, however, were lonely, desperate individuals, trying to survive and get home.

They saw an elderly couple barely walking, with canes for support, arm in arm. A young mom with three small children, one in her arms, her other hand holding the tiny, trusting hand of her oldest who in turn held the even smaller hand of a girl about 3. One tragic story after another passed by in both directions on Northpool as the four computer geeks journeyed on.

There was a small crowd stopped just ahead, with several people bending over. As Tami got closer she saw a middle aged man, overweight, lying on the ground with a purple face while someone was trying to do CPR. The stress of the day combined with the walk must have been too much.  They continued on towards the highway and saw another man face down in the middle of the street, dead. No one was stopping. An older woman, all alone, was sitting down on the curb crying. She could go no further and no one was helping her. They were passed by a young man in a wheelchair, pushing himself home. They passed a blind man with a red tipped cane and wearing shades, flint faced, doggedly going forward, not afraid of the gathering darkness.

They finally made it to HWY 115 in the dark and after a journey of about 4 miles, most of it in the wrong direction. It was now getting very cold and Tami’s feet were killing her. Trey was panting and huffing and puffing. After all of this walking and they were really only about a half mile from the Data Center as the crow flies, but due to the crashed jets, they could not take the shortest, direct route.

“Let’s rest for a bit guys. My feet are getting blisters,” she said. Trey quickly seconded that motion and they all sat down on the cold, hard concrete except for Brent who paced nervously. But after only a few brief moments of sitting on the overpass, the dropping temperature caused all four friends to get chilled.

Eric said, “Man is it cold! Let’s get movin’ again to stay warm. Let’s just not go quite as fast.”

“What do you mean, ‘not go quite as fast’? We’re already going way to slow for me. At this pace we aren’t going to get home for a week! Let’s head out” said the frustrated Brent.

Brent, Eric and Tami stood up, but Trey was reluctant.

“C’mon big guy, let’s go,” said Eric to the 400lb Trey.

“I don’t know if I can, man. I have about had it.”

“No you don’t! You’re not quitting on me now,” said Brent as he reached out his hand to help Trey get up.

Slowly, ponderously, the big man gained his feet, huffing and puffing, grunting and groaning. Despite the cold air he was visibly sweating. Once they had Trey up they set out down the entrance ramp to HWY 115 east bound. Many others were doing the same.

After about another twenty minutes of walking at a much slower pace than Brent preferred, Trey pitched forward onto the concrete, cracking his head with a loud thump, and lay completely motionless. Tami immediately panicked, screamed and began crying, “Trey! Trey! Oh no! Help! Help!”

Brent and Eric immediately stopped and bent down over the huge man. Even in the dark they could see the blood all over his face and on the road surface. It took both of them to roll Trey over.

“Hey man, listen to me! Can you hear me bro’?” said Eric. “C’mon man, are you OK?”

Brent placed his fingers on Trey’s throat by his jugular to check for a pulse.

He quickly moved his hand away, “He’s a goner; he must have had a heart attack.”

Tami shrieked, “Noooo! He can’t be dead! We have to get help!.” She instinctively pulled out her cell phone and tried to call 911. Nothing. Dead. She knelt down and tried to talk Trey back, grabbing his shirt. The stench of his released bowels was now filling the still night air.

Eric bent down and felt his throat again, “I think I feel a pulse! He may not be dead!” He bent his ear down to Trey’s mouth to listen and feel for breath.

Brent bent down again and took his pulse again and said, “No man, he’s dead I tell you. Even if he is not yet dead we can’t call 911. Who could help us? We can’t carry the man to a hospital. I don’t even know where a hospital is around here. He’s gone. We just have to leave him.”

“What!?” Shrieked Tami. “You can’t just go off and leave Trey behind?”

“Tami, what do you expect us to do? We had to leave Jared back at the Data Center, he died. There is nothing we can do here. Trey is dead, it’s cold and its dark. We have over 30 miles to go to get home and it’s already close to 6:oo. C’mon, we have to leave now.”

And the crowd of people on the Highway around them did not gather, they shuffled on in the dark, desperate to get home and in from the cold. No one offered to help. No one could help.

So they left Trey on the pavement where he fell. Brent and Eric grabbing Tami by her hands and dragging her forward, crying softly in the freezing night air.

On they trudged  with the herd of humanity; but Tami was limping now, the blisters on her feet burning. Finally, she caught the high heel of her right boot on a crack in the pavement and broke the heel completely loose from the boot, twisting her ankle in the process. She fell down on the concrete, bruising her knee and scraping her hands.

“Ohhhh! Owww!” she cried out.

Brent and Eric stopped and tried to help her up, but now she was lopsided with one high heel and one broken boot; combined with a twisted ankle and her already blistered feet, Tami was not going anywhere very fast.

“I can’t walk like this!” she protested. “My boot heel came off. What am I going to do?”

“Well,” Brent said, “I guess we will have to break off the other heel to make them even. You might be able to walk on them then.”

“Yeah, that’s the only way,” chimed in Eric. “Sit down over here on the grass and give me your other boot.”

Tami hobbled over to the grass beside the highway and sat down, then tugged her left boot off. Removing her sore, blistered feet from the uncomfortable boot felt great! She handed the boot to Eric began trying to wrestle the heel off.

After several minutes of wrestling with the boot, Brent, obviously frustrated, took the boot from Eric’s grasp. He wedged it in the guardrail somehow and wrenched it violently until the heel came off. Unfortunately, so did part of the sole. He gave what was left of the boot back to Tami and gruffly said, “There put it back on and let’s get going.”

Tami groaned as she wriggled the boot back on and staggered when she stood up and tried to walk. With her right ankle twisted, she was compensating with her left, and the sole of her left boot was now so badly damaged it was almost useless.

Brent started off walking, and Eric followed, but Tami could not keep up, even at the slower pace. She was crying softly as she limped.

“Guys,” she sniffled, “this isn’t working. I can’t keep up. It just hurts too bad. My ankle and my feet just can’t go on.”

“Look, WE HAVE TO KEEP GOING,” shouted Brent impatiently.

With that Tami broke down into sobs, shuddering in the cold.

“Chill out Brent, man!” said Eric. “She can’t walk anymore, those boots are a mess and she twisted her ankle.”

“Well what do you want to do? Carry her?” asked Brent angrily.

“Yeah, maybe we should give that a try. C’mon.”

“OK, Tami, hop onto my back and I’ll carry you piggy back.” said Eric.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, c’mon, get up here.” With that Eric squatted down in front of her and she climbed onto his back. The three headed out again, but Brent kept slowly getting ahead of them. Sometimes, when Eric called out to him, he would wait for a while til they caught up. But after about 20 minutes of this, probably around a mile, Eric was giving out.

“Hey man, slow down…wait up a minute,” he huffed and puffed. “Can you carry her for a while? I’m beat!”

But Brent kept on walking, maybe even a bit faster. The distance between them lengthened and in the sea of darkness it didn’t take long at all for Eric to lose sight of Brent. There were still several others on the dark highway so it was confusing at first, but then Eric knew that he could no longer see Brent. He had left them. He could feel Tami’s cold tears on the back of his neck.

Finally, Eric stopped and dropped Tami. She landed on her feet with an “Ouch!” but she did not fall to the blacktop.

“I’m sorry Tami, but I can’t go on anymore,” he wheezed. “I just can’t carry you any further. You’ll have to walk. I will go as slow as you need but I just can’t carry you. I need to rest for a while.”

“Hey, there’s a burger joint over there on the access road, let’s go over there and get some rest,” Tami suggested.

“Yeah, that sounds great; maybe they have some food we can eat.”

The Wendy’s had about 15 cars in the parking lot, left there since 1205 and the bomb going off. Of course the lights were out and it was pitch black like everywhere else so they could not tell if anyone was there as they slowly approached the door, Tami leaning on Eric.

They tested the door and it was unlocked so they entered the pitch black, stone cold fast food restaurant. Tami pulled her cigarette lighter out of her pocket and flicked it on. In the wavering light they did see a handful of others in the restaurant sitting at the tables. One of them had a flashlight and flicked it on the two newcomers.

“Ooooo WEeeee, look at the nice lookin’ white girl, ” he said. The light went slowly from her face to her neck, to her chest, her belly, her groin and then her legs. A lot of hootin’ and hollerin commenced with a cacophony of  jeers, whistles and cat calls with crude comments.

Quickly, Eric grabbed Tami and turned back to the door from which they entered and attempted to leave, but a strong arm appeared out of nowhere and blocked his path while another arm reached out and grabbed Tami, none too gently. “Now don’t y’all get in no hurry and leave this here party. You look mighty cold and we can sure get you all warmed up if you stay!”

“Let go of me!” Tami yelled as she whirled and hit the young man who grabbed her. He then grabbed her arms and pinned them down to her sides and turned her so that she could not even kick at him.

Eric took a swing at the guy blocking his path but received a punch in the nose for his trouble and went down to the floor moaning, grasping at his bloody nose. Then the man started kicking him and shouting, “Whatchu gonna do white boy? You’re all bleeding and stuff now!” And he kicked him unmercifully into a bloody pulp. Others joined in the fun until Eric passed out.

Tami was being pulled down to the carpeted floor by three different guys, one for each arm and one for her feet. She started fighting like a little she devil but only got several punches in her face for her trouble. She was knocked almost out, but not quite. As they ripped her clothes off of her, she knew what was about to happen.

***************************

A few hours  later, about 1 am, the men had finished with her and left the restaurant. She was barely conscious, naked, bloody, and shivering uncontrollably. She rolled over to her hands and knees and started to grope for her clothes. She crawled around but only succeeded in bumping her bruised and bleeding head against several chairs and a table. No clothes. By this time it was certainly in the low twenties inside the Wendy’s and Tami was going into shock. The cold reached down inside her so that, on top of the wounds she had received while being brutalized, now she ached deep down inside from the cold.

She crawled over towards the door and found Eric’s cold, lifeless body lying face up in a pool of his blood, eyes half open. She collapsed on the hard tile floor, shaking, trembling. Her eyes were growing heavy and the darkness got strangely darker. Soon, she was no longer shivering, she was drifting off to sleep, where it was warm.

*****************************************

“We are leaving an hour later than I wanted, it’s almost 1am, so I hope to be at our bivouac by dawn, around 7:30 am.”

“Any questions?”

I put on my web gear and fastened the belt and then I put my Chinese bandolier of SKS ammo over the top of that. Finally I squatted down, grabbed my ruck and threw it over my head, putting my arms through the straps.

“Ugh! This is gonna suck” I said.

With that little op order out of the way, we set out from the Data Center. Our little camp fire was still going but it was on concrete and would burn out safely. The fires around us illuminated our way for the first leg of our journey, but the moon was coming up now too. It was only about a quarter moon, but with no clouds, it would provide sufficient light once we were out of the glow from the fires.

As we headed out I kept my SKS on safe, but with a round chambered. My Ruger was in my side holster and I took it off safe. I put my watchcap on my head and the gloves on my hands. It felt like it was about 20 or 25 degrees. Liz took her final puffs from a cigarette and threw it down. I looked at John and he said, “Let’s roll.” I nodded, turned and set out at a slow 2-3 mile per hour pace. Our journey home was beginning.

“Do you really expect there will be trouble out here tonight?” Liz asked. “Is it really going to be dangerous?”

“As long as we stay together, stay alert, and stay armed, we should be OK. But, yeah, I think things may get a little primitive very quickly.” I told her.

********************

Previously:

mark12ministries.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/teotwawki-the-long-walk-home-ch-8-preparing-to-depart/

Here is a new song that our Minister of Worship began teaching us on this past Sunday, Reformation Day:

Salvation Unto Us Has Come- Paul Speratus, 1523,

tune Es Ist das Heil, Ger­man tune, cir­ca 1400 //

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/a/l/saluushc.htm

Salvation unto us has come
By God’s free grace and favor;
Good works cannot avert our doom,
They help and save us never.
Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,
Who did for all the world atone;
He is our one Redeemer.

What God did in His law demand
And none to Him could render
Caused wrath and woe on every hand
For man, the vile offender.
Our flesh has not those pure desires
The spirit of the Law requires,
And lost is our condition.

It was a false, misleading dream
That God His Law had given
So sinners could themselves redeem
And by their works gain Heaven.
The Law is but a mirror bright
To bring the inbred sin to light
That lurks within our nature.

From sin our flesh could not abstain
Sin held its sway unceasing;
The task was useless and in vain,
Our guilt was e’er increasing.
None can remove sin’s poisoned dart
Or purify our guileful heart—
So deep is our corruption.

Yet as the Law must be fulfilled
Or we must die despairing,
Christ came and hath God’s anger stilled,
Our human nature sharing.
He hath for us the Law obeyed
And thus the Father’s vengeance stayed
Which over us impended.

Since Christ hath full atonement made
And brought us to salvation,
Each Christian therefore may be glad
And build on this foundation.
Thy grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,
Thy death is now my life indeed,
For Thou hast paid my ransom.

Let me not doubt, but trust in Thee,
Thy Word cannot be broken;
Thy call rings out, “Come unto Me!”
No falsehood hast Thou spoken.
Baptized into Thy precious Name,
My faith cannot be put to shame,
And I shall never perish.

The Law reveals the guilt of sin
And makes men conscience-stricken;
The Gospel then doth enter in
The sinful soul to quicken.
Come to the cross, trust Christ, and live;
The Law no peace can ever give,
No comfort and no blessing.

Faith clings to Jesus’ cross alone
And rests in Him unceasing;
And by its fruits true faith is known,
With love and hope increasing.
Yet faith alone doth justify,
Works serve thy neighbor and supply
The proof that faith is living.

All blessing, honor, thanks, and praise
To Father, Son, and Spirit,
The God that saved us by His grace—
All glory to His merit!
O Triune God in Heav’n above,
Who hast revealed Thy saving love,
Thy blessèd Name be hallowed.

Fall is my favorite time of year, not just because the long Texas summer winds down and the leaves start turning colors, not just because of football, dove hunting and lower electric bills, but because of the Fall Cuisine at the Walker bunker. Fall is still nice enough to grill outside, have a cool sandwich or salad, but also now cool enough to enjoy soups and stews, lasagna and spaghetti, etc., etc.

This weekend Dawn and I decided to do a stew, and here is what we came up with.

I started with a 2lb+ package of stew meat, but didn’t quite use it all- saved out about 1/2 a lb to use with something else. I placed the stew in the crock pot on high with about 6 cups of water.

Next I turned to the veggies with a vengeance, knife in hand. I attacked the carrots first all. I peeled and chopped several carrots until I had a dinner plate completely covered in the orange  treasures. I cut my carrots pretty large for a pot roast, and fairly small for a soup. Carrots for a stew are in the middle, the biggest pieces may be an inch in length. I use regular full size carrots because I like the difference in diameters each piece gives. In the crock pot you go!

My next victims are the potatoes. We prefer red skinned potatoes for most things and we always leave the skins on. Again, like the carrots, I chop them smaller than I would for a roast, but larger than for a soup. Another full plate of chopped veggies goes into the pot.

I give three stalks of celery the same treatment. This is only about 2/3 of plate however. Off to the crock pot with you.

I had two smallish onions and I chop them up, but I chop some of them quite small, as if for  a soup, and other large.

I chop up a rather large jalapeno and couple of small, stray, serrano peppers. You didn’t think I could make stew without hot peppers did ya? I do sample the peppers to make sure I am not going to overheat the stew, because I will add some black pepper and cayenne later. The red serranos were surprisingly mild but the green  jalapeno was a bit warm.

The final vegetable is garlic. Most people would say that garlic is but a seasoning, but not me. I consider it to be a real live veggie. So I use an entire bulb of fresh garlic. Yeah, it’s a real pain chopping up all those cloves, but I prefer that to getting the garlic in a bottle. Like the onions, I chop the garlic into different sizes from minced finely to whole cloves untouched.

After all the veggies and meat have cooked for a while, a couple of hours on high, I start adding the seasonings. I start with about a teaspoon of sea salt, but that is rarely enough and I always end up adding more salt to my own bowl as I eat. I just don’t want to over salt it at the beginning. Then about a teaspoon of black pepper followed closely by 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne. I like my stews spicy hot (when I eat my stew I will also usually add some Tabasco).

I throw in about 5-6 Bay Leaves, a few sprinkles of liquid smoke, 1 can of tomato sauce, and, this is the first time I have done this-but it really worked- about 1/4 bottle of Mesquite Bar B Q sauce.

I let this mixture heat up to boiling again, another couple of hours, then I add the pearled barley and brown rice, about 1/4 cup each, and finally add the thickener, about 1 cup of whole grain Rye flour. Some of the flour I mix in a cup of cold water and then stir into the stew, but I also use the sprinkle method, which invariably produces tiny lumps so I have to stir and mash with a fork. The boiling process also eliminated the remaining small lumps.

It now cooks for a couple of more hours.

But the result? I think this was the best stew I have ever made. The addition of the jalapenos, the whole grain flour, and the Bar B Q sauce really set this stew apart. I think it may have been perfect. We basically let it cook all night Saturday night, and all day Sunday and finally ate it on Sunday evening before church.

Redeemer Church

Genesis 15:6 “Abraham  and Sola Fide”

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Bryan E. Walker

Genesis 15:1-6

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue  childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son  shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Romans 4:1-8

What then shall we say was gained by  Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in  him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Introduction: It is our tradition at Redeemer Church to celebrate our doctrinal heritage by remembering the beginning of the Reformation on All Saints Day eve, Oct. 31, 1517, the day that a German Catholic monk, Martin Luther, nailed his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenberg. Luther’s studies of the Scriptures, and his keen insights into the doctrinal, liturgical and ethical problems of the Catholic Church in his day led him to a point of breaking with Rome. The key doctrine which he found in Scripture that went against the teaching and practice of the Roman Church, was the doctrine of Sola Fide, salvation, justification, is through faith alone. While Luther recovered this doctrine, and thereby the Gospel, he did not invent it. The doctrine of Sola Fide was preached by Paul and even Moses. This is both a New Testament and Old Testament doctrine and we see it proclaimed in our primary text today, Gen. 15:6.

Luther said of this doctrine, justification by faith alone, this is “the article with and by which the church stands, without which it falls…The article of justification is the master and prince, the lord, the ruler, and the judge over all kinds of doctrines; it preserves and governs all church doctrine and raises up our conscience before God. Without this article the world is utter death and darkness. No error is so mean, so clumsy, and so outworn as not to be supremely pleasing to human reason and to seduce us if we are without the knowledge and the contemplation of this article.” (quoted by RC Sproul in Grace Unknown: The Heart of Reformed Theology, Baker books, 1997, pp.59-60).

This doctrine is the great dividing line between men and religions. Men will either have faith and trust in themselves, and what they can do, or men will have faith and trust in God. Religions will either teach how man can become a god, and save himself, or they will teach how God has saved man by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Make no mistake about it, this Gospel of grace and faith brings peace with God but division between men. Man in his natural condition of sin hates this doctrine for it exposes man’s sinfulness and reveals God’s holiness, it shows man to be unable and unwilling but God fully able and willing to save to the uttermost.

This doctrine of salvation through faith alone is on hard times in our day. We live in a Pelagian world that would make Pelagius blush. Our world, even churches and denominations, does not believe in original sin; beyond that they do not believe in the concept of sin, nor of a holy and righteous God. Just this past summer the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in America stated, at their triennial convention in Los Angeles, that the idea of individual salvation was the great western heresy. Several years ago I was visiting family out of state and attended several meetings of a Methodist revival. Not once in those sermons did I hear sin mentioned, or repentance, or salvation by grace alone through faith alone. In the Southern Baptist Church I pastored for 15 yrs I well remember a widow, and she had been a Sunday School teacher for years, and rarely missed a service, who was confident that her deceased husband who had been a deacon and Sunday School teacher for decades, was in heaven because he was 1) a good man, 2) a good Mason and 3) a good Christian.

There is a need today for godly Christians to know, understand, live by, and be able to articulate this important doctrine of Sola Fide, justification through faith alone. There is so much bad teaching, heresy, and apostasy out there that even in the churches of our extended families there are countless people who think and hope that they are saved by something that they do. They need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This morning I want to explain this essential doctrine from Gen. 15:6 and some other texts so that we understand that our salvation rests in God’s grace alone, and that we receive it by faith alone.

1. I. The Context of Abram’s Faith
   1. A. Verse 6 is referring to Abram but this is an editorial comment by Moses inserted here in the story. By this I mean that this place and time is not the point of Abram’s salvation. Abram has clearly demonstrated faith in God since 12:4 where he obeys God’s initial call. So 15:6 serves as kind of a summary statement of Abram’s faith at a critical point. Ch.15 is where God enters into a formal covenant with Abram and it occurs right after ch.14 where Abram had fought a battle and had an encouraging encounter with the mysterious Melchizedek, priest of God Most High and king of Salem.
   2. B. Abram has clearly demonstrated his faith already by heeding the call of God and going to the land God showed him. Sojourning there as an alien amongst the Canaanites, he built altars and called out to the Lord, leading his family in worship. He exhibited tremendous faith in God when the problem arose with Lot over the abundance of their flocks and herds by giving Lot the first choice of the land. He again trusts in God as he wages war to rescue his troubled nephew in ch. 14 and he publicly proclaims his faith before Melchizedek and the king of Sodom as he rejects the Sodomite’s offer of keeping the treasure from the battle because he has lifted his hand to the LORD, God Most High. He not only does the righteous thing, he explains why he does it in terms of faith in his God.
   3. C. Yet we know that Abram is not perfect, he too is a sinner. According to Joshua 24:14 we see that the forefathers were idolaters and this may mean that before Abram was called of God, while he was growing up in Ur under his father Terah, they could have been worshiping false gods. So when God calls Abram in 12:1-3 we see God’s sovereign and amazing grace in action. There is no text indicating that Abram was obedient or deserving before this call by God. Abram’s faith exists because of God’s grace.
   4. D. In ch. 15 Abram’s faith is stated in the context of childlessness. God has promised him descendants, yet he remains childless. For the world at that time, childlessness indicates being abandoned by the gods, hopeless. He has great material wealth but no lasting fruit. In the face of that fruitlessness, Abram believes God, he trusts that God will bring about a child that will eventually turn into a nation.
2. II. And He Believed
   1. A. The word translated believed means to place your trust in someone with great confidence; to rely on someone for the future. The sense is that Abram trusts God with his future, believing that God will do what he promises. He is trusting God rather than himself. To believe is to stand firm in the one trusted, like a pillar holding up a part of a building, unmoving, unyielding.
   2. B. What is faith? Faith can be seen to have three elements. a) notitia- this is the basic content of saving faith. Saving faith is not empty or ignorant, it is not faith in nothing, it must have content. The context of Abram’s faith is the revelation of God to him, the faithfulness of God to him, and the opposing faith of the Canaanites around him. Abram did not believe in God in the face of apathetic neutrality or in a vacuum. The Canaanites had a belief system that was opposed to Abram’s. The Canaanite gods were opposed to Abram’s God, the LORD. In ch. 14 Abram knows God as God Most High and the Creator and Possessor of Heaven and Earth. Then, in ch.15 he knows him as his Shield. There is rich content in his faith.
   3. C. Our world today does not much care about the content of our faith. To the world, faith is ok, but it is faith in whatever you want to believe in for all of the world’s religions are equally true in their eyes. For this age, as long as you are sincere in what you believe that is sufficient. Simply believe in whatever god you want to believe in. I have encountered many, many people who, when it comes to worshiping God, do their own thing. Just this last week I linked up with an old childhood friend who used to be a Baptist, but he said he now does his own thing. Content is not essential to most of our generation. How do you share the gospel in those circumstances? You must confront them with the content of the gospel, with the God of the gospel, with the historical Jesus of Nazareth who was born of a virgin, lived a perfectly sinless life of obedience to God, died as our substitute on the cross and rose again on the third day. We confront willful ignorance, contentless  faith, with the Word of God, the Gospel. Content matters! Without belief in the essentials of the Christian Faith, doctrines, there is no salvation. A Charismatic pastor told me once, “Bryan, the problem with Christianity is too much doctrine. We need less doctrine and more Jesus.” I was aghast. But content alone will not save. You can know the Scriptures and all the doctrines and still be lost and go to hell.
   4. D. What is this faith that Abram had? The second element to genuine faith is assensus- agreeing with, giving your assent to the truthfulness of the content of the faith. It is not merely knowing the content, understanding the doctrines, but agreeing with them as being true and important. Sadly, in some denominations today, there are statements of faith that list the core doctrines of the faith, but practically speaking they are diminished from the pulpit or even outright contradicted. Many accept the essentials but are unmoved and do not see the impact of their truthfulness in the world around them or in their own lives. It is entirely possible to agree that something is true and not care, not be changed by what is “believed”.
   5. E. Faith is not just agreeing with the content as being true and important it is fiducia- personally trusting in and relying on the one trusted. Here we see Abram as the great Old Testament example of faith, radical faith. He left all he had known to follow this God who had called him. He persevered in old age, as his beloved wife Sarah got older and still no child. But he had been promised a child by God, so he trusted. Faith is trusting and committing yourself wholeheartedly. Your mind, will and emotions are committed so that you follow and you persevere. A saving faith will love, will have affection for, its object- in this case Christ.
   6. F. Here is another place the world gets nervous about our faith. Genuine, saving faith will produce followers. Abram followed God and we will follow Jesus. This means our faith is not simply a private matter and our world desperately wants us to keep our faith private. In Chapter 14 Abram publicly rebuked the king of Sodom with his refusal to accept the war treasure and then he had the audacity to proclaim in public his faith in God. When you and I live out our faith in public, it makes the world uncomfortable. Good! Habakkuk 2:4 “but the righteous shall live by his faith” shows us that faith will be ongoing, it is a way of life that is demonstrable. We are considered righteous through faith in God and then it will be shown by how we live.
   7. G. In this text the word repentance is not used, but the idea is there. Implicit in the word for believe or trust, is the fact that Abram is trusting in God as his Shield and rewarder, his defender and provider, his benefactor, and not trusting in himself. Genuine saving faith is always accompanied by a cessation of trusting in self and a turning to trust in God alone. Again, the word for repent is not here, but it is used by Jesus in his first recorded sermon in Mark 1:15 where he says, “repent and believe the gospel.” To repent is to change ones mind and to head in another, opposite direction. Abram once was living in Ur along with all the other pagans, then he was called of God and he changed directions and followed God. The fishermen in Mark 1 leave their nets and immediately follow Jesus. Paul was on the road to Damascus to arrest Christians until he is confronted by Jesus and he starts saying, “Yes Lord”.
   8. H. It is at this point that again, there is much confusion and disagreement within Christianity and in the world. Many are simply redefining sin in order to avoid repentance and thus prove their faith is false. I have a homosexual person I am close to who was raised in the church, accepted Christ as a child and was baptized, but has struggled with homosexuality since adolescence. Once he struggled with it as a sin and sought godly counsel and accountability. But in recent years he has a new position that God created him this way, therefore it is good and not sinful. He has left the Baptist church and joined the Metropolitan Community Church where homosexuality is celebrated, endorsed and viewed as good and godly. There is no repentance, yet he claims faith. He had a minister contact me in order to convince me that Scripture allowed for this view. The minister was not gay, he was in the Nazarene church. His position was that unless the gay person felt that homosexuality was a sin, then it wasn’t a sin for them. This last summer two denominations voted to declare that homosexuality is not a sin, the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Folks, repentance is not in the program anymore! But genuine saving faith is a turning from self and sin to Christ. Faith without repentance is not saving faith. Redefining sin does not help.
   9. I. There are those in Christian churches and seminaries who would say that those of us who require there to be repentance and visible fruit are adding works to our faith. But the sequence of events here is interesting. God revealed himself to Abram, he called Abram to follow, and Abram followed. He had saving faith and it showed. He received revelation, he believed and he obeyed. We believe in salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, but not through a faith which remains alone. James 2:14-26

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good  is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

1. J. The basic argument of James here is not that your works bring about justification or salvation, but that your works, justify or prove you are saved. Genuine faith will produce good works. There is a proper sequence there that is necessary. To say that saving faith may not be accompanied by good works is to deny the presence and power of the Holy Spirit and to make saving faith a man made thing. In Galatians 2:15-16 Paul tells us, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” Works cannot save us, but faith will lead to works. Spurgeon writes about Gen. 15:6 “Always distinguish between the truth, that living faith always produces works; and the lie, that faith and works cooperate to justify the soul. We are made righteous only by an act of faith in the work of Jesus Christ. That faith, if true, always produces holiness of life, but our being righteous before God is not because of our holiness in life in any degree or respect, but simply because of our faith in the divine promise.” (Spurgeons Expository Encyclopedia, vol.1, p.12)
2. K. Faith is ultimately a grace gift from God, it is not from ourselves. Lost man by definition is not neutral towards God, and has no faith and no desire to get faith. But when God’s amazing and powerful grace comes upon you through the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit, you are born again, as Jesus talks about in John 3. Being born is something that you do not choose, it just happens to you, which is why Jesus chose to use that as a metaphor. When you are born again you will have a new heart that will express itself in faith and repentance Godward. In Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” All of our salvation, including the faith part, is the gift of God and not a result of our works. Phil 1:29 also shows that even our faith has been granted by God, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe but also suffer for his sake.” Acts 13:48 also helps us understand that faith is not natural in fallen man, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”
3. III. And he believed the LORD
   1. A. Abram believed the LORD because it is the LORD who saves. The Lord called him, the LORD sustained him and protected him and the LORD will keep his word. In ch. 15 the LORD makes a covenant with Abram and promises him land and an heir. When we trust in Christ we are promised eternal life. The LORD delivers on his promises.
   2. B. How is it that the Lord saves? Why do we trust in Him alone? We believe that our salvation is in Christ alone, Solus Christus. Jesus is the Son of God, born of the virgin. He is 100% man and also 100% God, 2 natures in one person. Jesus perfectly kept and obeyed the Law of God, he never sinned or failed in any way. He always abstained from the wrong things and always did the right things. With the right motivations and attitudes. And he always did the right things at the right time. Jesus was the perfect man, fulfilling God’s law. Jesus then, died on the cross as a sinless, perfect sacrifice, as our substitute, in order to atone for our sins. Because it was a man who sinned, a man, a sinless man had to die. But that one man was also divine and his death atones for all who believe. Jesus’ death on the cross did not simply make salvation possible, he actually accomplished salvation for the elect. When God promised Abram a son, he did not just make a son a possibility, he accomplished it. Again, I quote from Spurgeon: “Faith cannot be its own righteousness, for it is of the very nature of faith to look out of self to Christ. If any man should say, ‘My faith is my righteousness’, then it is evident that he is confiding in his faith; but this is just the thing of all others which it would be unsafe to do, for we must look altogether away from ourselves to Christ alone, or we have no true faith at all. Faith must look to the atonement and work of Jesus, or else she is not the faith of Scripture. Therefore, to say that faith in and of itself becomes our righteousness, is, it seems to me, to tear out the very bowels of the gospel, and to deny the faith which has been once delivered to the saints.” (ibid. p.13).
   3. C. Many today believe in the LORD, plus. They believe that the Lord makes salvation possible. The Mormon understanding of salvation is that you do all that you can do, and Jesus (their definition of Jesus is all wrong too) does the rest. The Roman Catholicism that Luther faced had the several sacraments and indulgences and purgatory. As you worked God’s grace was given to you and his righteousness was infused into you.
   4. D. The world believes in a Santa Claus kind of god who winks at sin and helps you as you help yourself. The world believes in a god whose job it is to save you as long as your good outweighs your bad and you had good intentions. That is not the God of Abram. We must believe in the God who is.
4. IV. And He counted it to him as Righteousess
   1. A. Here we see the concepts of imputation and justification. The word for counted or credited means to assign value. God assigned value to his faith, he counted it as righteousness. The problem with this in the Catholic’s eyes in Luther’s day was that they considered it a legal fiction that made God unjust. To consider somebody righteous when they were not would be wrong. But the idea of imputation was for God to look at us through the obedience and righteousness of Christ. We remain sinners in ourselves, but God has applied the righteousness of Christ to us legally. Abram was justified by his faith. John L. Dagg, the earliest writing Southern Baptist Theologian defines justification this way: “justification is the act of a judge acquitting one who is charged with a crime. It is the opposite of condemnation…Justification is a higher blessing of grace than pardon. The latter frees from the penalty due to sin, but it does not fully restore the lost favor of God. A pardoned criminal, and a just man who has committed no crime, stand on different ground….Such is the greatness of divine grace to the sinner who returns to God through Jesus Christ, that he is treated as if he had never sinned…” (Manual of Theology, Gano Books, p.265-266).
   2. B. It is not merely a legal declaration. Though we remain sinners we have new hearts that crave righteousness and we have the indwelling Holy Spirit who leads us into righteousness. Like Abram we have  a promise of new land, for us that is heaven where we will be made perfect in Christ and cease sinning.

1. C. In Gen. 15:6 righteousness is used as Abram was credited with treating others rightly, doing what was right. Righteousness in the Pentateuch is a human activity and is treating others the right way, doing what God commands and desires. That whole loving your neighbor as yourself thing.
2. D. I have already spoken of Christ’s righteousness being imputed to us. I want to stress that the righteousness we have is alien to us, it is Christ’s being applied to us. God looks at the person whose faith is in Christ and he sees, not their sinfulness, but the righteousness of his Son. Any righteousness of my own is a false righteousness and tainted with sin, not able to save me in the least. It is Christ’s righteousness or none.
3. E. Our World has totally lost its way in regards to righteousness.
4. V. The Application of this Doctrine
   1. A. Salvation- This morning I want you to search your heart in light of the Scriptures presented and see if you are in fact trusting only in Jesus for your salvation. Have you reached the point in your life of realizing that you are a helpless and hopeless sinner who cannot save yourself? Have you cried out to God for mercy and then believed in Christ alone as your Lord and Savior? Is your faith a following faith that actively trusts in the completed work of Christ for your daily life and your eternal destiny? Folks, there is nothing you or I can do to add to this salvation, we do not contribute anything to it, it either all comes from God’s amazing grace or it doesn’t come at all.
   2. B. Emotionally and Psychologically- as sinners this doctrine assaults our pride, it wounds us, humbles us. We like to think we are capable of saving ourselves, but the Bible says “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and  “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” To trust in Christ alone is to acknowledge our own inability and unworthiness, we have failed, we cannot save ourselves. But when we do trust in Christ alone, God forgives us our sin, pardons us, cleanses us and adopts us into his family. The alienation we have grown accustomed to as lost sinners is replaced by belonging in Christ. Our self-centeredness is replaced with a Christ-centeredness that brings healing to our deepest hurts, and straightens out our confusion.
   3. C. As we see in the person of Melchizedek, in Gen. 14, there will be a joining of righteousness and peace as we trust in the God of Abraham. When we trust in our own righteousness, there is no peace, when we trust in Christ, his righteousness covers us and we experience peace with God. Let us pray.