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 City officials under attack for pro-Christian comments.

 These two officials are under attack for simply standing on their worldview in their comments. It amazes me that these two are under attack for some simple comments defending a Christian worldview. The mayor is under attack from the Council on American-Islamic Relations for his comments about being a Christian community. Councilwoman Sherry Marquez has been criticized for posting biblical references on her Facebook site encouraging Christians to defend themselves.

 Marquez is free to post any reference she wants on Facebook. As a matter of fact, I post a biblical references on Facebook every single day. Maybe I should tell how I do not believe in the Homosexual movement. Maybe I should state the only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ. Muslims, you will spend an eternity in hell.

 Make no mistake where I stand people. I stand with Jesus Christ and the Holy Scriptures. I will tell you to repent and put your belief in Jesus Christ who died for your sins.

 So, maybe I should get into politics. I will not stop preaching and teaching the Holy Bible. The Scriptures define my worldview and that will never change. The Tea Party movement sounds very good right now. We do need change in Washington. This hate crime bill is bad not just for Believers, but for every American. There is a right to free speech that comes from our constitution. These city officials have a constitutional right to say what they want to say. The only ones getting attacked are Christians and that is bad news for every American.

 Matt

City officials under attack for pro-Christian comments.

These two officials are under attack for simply standing on their worldview
in their comments. It amazes me that these two are under attack for some
simple comments defending a Christian worldview. The mayor is under attack
from the Council on American-Islamic Relations for his comments about being
a Christian community. Councilwoman Sherry Marquez has been criticized for
posting biblical references on her Facebook site encouraging Christians to
defend themselves.

Marquez is free to post any reference she wants on Facebook. As a matter of
fact, I post a biblical references on Facebook every single day. Maybe I
should tell how I do not believe in the Homosexual movement. Maybe I should
state the only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ. Muslims, you will
spend an eternity in hell.

Make no mistake where I stand people. I stand with Jesus Christ and the Holy
Scriptures. I will tell you to repent and put your belief in Jesus Christ
who died for your sins.

So, maybe I should get into politics. I will not stop preaching and teaching
the Holy Bible. The Scriptures define my worldview and that will never
change. The Tea Party movement sounds very good right now. We do need change
in Washington. This hate crime bill is bad not just for Believers, but for
every American. There is a right to free speech that comes from our
constitution. These city officials have a constitutional right to say what
they want to say. The only ones getting attacked are Christians and that is
bad news for every American.

Matt

Kaiser C. Walter, Jr. Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003. 222 pp. $18.99

Walter Christian Kaiser, Jr. entered Wheaton College in 1951. While at Wheaton he majored in Bible and minored in Greek and philosophy. He was married just before his final year of study at Wheaton Graduate School.

In 1964 Kaiser began a two-year term of teaching at both Trinity and Wheaton. In the fall of 1966 he joined the Trinity faculty on a full-time basis. He completed his Ph.D. dissertation in 1973. In 1980 Kaiser assumed the responsibilities of vice president and academic dean of Trinity and continued in that office until June of 1992. In the fall of 1993 he accepted an invitation from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary to serve as the first Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor of Old Testament. He retired from the presidency of Gordon-Conwell on July 1, 2006.  Currently he is President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Ethics at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, MA.

Kaiser has numerous publications that mostly deal with the Old Testament.

Kaiser states in the introduction there remains a distressing absence of the Old Testament in the church (10). He argues the Old Testament was the Bible of the early church. All the saints can agree because Jesus, Paul, and all the apostles studied the scriptures. The scriptures they studied were what we know as the Old Testament. Kaiser gives four major theses that can be found in chapter 1 of his book.

First of all, the Old Testament is the powerful Word of God. He argues that it leads us to Jesus the Messiah (20). Also, it deals with the questions of life. Finally, the Old Testament was used as the exclusive authority in the early church.

The intended audience is the church. However, Kaiser uses some scholarly words that simple church people may not know, but it is nothing that a good dictionary can not fix. There is a table of contents and the book breaks down into two parts. The first part is the need to preach and teach from the Old Testament. The second part is how to preach and teach the Old Testament.

In the first part of the book, Kaiser talks about the need to preach and teach from the Old Testament. He gives us some things to think about when talking about the Old Testament. Furthermore, he gives reasons why the church should hear the Old Testament. Moreover, he gives the reasons why the church lost the Old Testament in its preaching the first place. He argues “if we are to have a balanced and full ministry, we must preach the whole counsel of God to the whole person” (44).

Kaiser starts talking about the art and science of expository preaching in chapter four. He introduces some terminology that most church members will not know. However, for the trained church member, Kaiser covers some good hermeneutical terminology that the church needs to implement. In accordance with hermeneutical rules, Kaiser said, “…we must first ask what the author meant” (52). He teaches us to apply hermeneutical rules to our interpretation of scripture; even the Old Testament.

In part two, Kaiser gives the how to preach and teach from the Old Testament. He covers the literary genres of the Old Testament. In the rest of the book he covers the literary genres of narrative, wisdom books, prophets, laments, Torah, praise, and apocalyptic.

In the genre of narrative or narration, Kaiser gives the elements of the narrative text. They are the scene, plot, point of view, characterization, setting, dialogue, leitwort, and structure. He goes on to give an example of preaching a narrative text. In the genre of the proverb, he says, “In some ways, proverbs are not all that different from narratives, for in some sense, proverbs arise out of a recurring story” (84). He also gives an example of preaching from a wisdom proverb (95-99). To simplify the paper, Kaiser goes on to give an example of preaching for all the genres of the book. Finally, there are two appendixes that act as working papers to close out the book.

This book is a very logical easy read. The vocabulary would not be good for the average church member, but it is great for the trained church leaders. The argument about the lack of the Old Testament in the church is valid. Many churches do not present the Old Testament and the sheep lose two thirds of God’s word. Kaiser presented his case in the need to preach and teach the Old Testament and then went on to tell how it is done. Kaiser accomplished his task to present the argument to the church and now the church must respond.

This book is an introductory book that Kaiser could have gone into more depth with. As a beginning Old Testament student, I felt like some other aspects should have been introduced or covered. The praise genre got three pages before the example on how to preach it. I feel the number one thing most Christians lack is praise and thanksgiving, so he should have covered more. The overall value this book offered me is great. I want to be a pastor and preacher that give the whole counsel of God to the church. I think every church member should read this book. Kaiser is an Old Testament scholar and he presents his case clearly with practical help on how to implement the Old Testament in the entire presentation to the church.

On Saturday, April 25th, 2009 I was watching Huckabee on Fox News. On Mr. Huckabee’s show he had a constitutional lawyer named Michael Farris. They were talking about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Here is a link where you can get the press release from Huckabee.

Here is a link where you can read the entire document on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Here is another link where you can read the United States Constitution in it’s entirety.

Now this is another right being stripped from all Americans. The current administration is turning our country into a socialist society. We knew this was coming, but what bothers me is how my children will have more authority over me when it concerns them by turning to the United Nations and leaving our Constitution. My 22 years in the United States Army now has no meaning to me. I raised my hand to protect and defend the United States according to our Constitution. Soon, young men and women will raise their hands to protect and defend the United Nations according to the International Community. We will no longer  be called a United States citizen. We will be called United Nations citizens.

This is another way our government is taking control of all of us. We must act and act now. Please contact your Senators and demand that they DO NOT ratify this treaty. It is bad for all Americans even though our current leaders think it is best. Let them hear your voice.

Here is a link where you can find your Senators and their contact information.

I probably don’t have to remind you how our judicial system has slowly been ruling from the bench based upon the International Community and not the U.S. Constitution. Our country is slowly becoming dependent on Foreign entities that have a lot more to do with oil.

Now is the time to let your voice be heard about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. If this treaty is ratified look for more rights of yours to be handed over to the International Community.

So a vote is looming in Congress. Big Deal

The so called Hate Crimes Bill is a potential crisis for many believers. However, I am not one of them. As a pastor I look forward to challenging H.R. 1913. I will not bow to this so called law. We have two documents this country was founded on that give me the right to preach whatever the Holy Spirit tells me to preach. One and it is really the only document we need in this world are the Holy Scriptures. For an easy example let’s look at Leviticus 18:22 which says, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” Or if you prefer in more modern English the same verse, “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable. So, according to the Holy Bible and God’s Word homosexual activity is an abomination and detestable to God. Now according to this new bill I may offend someone with those verses that I preach from the Bible. First of all, it’s not me offending but God and His Word. Second, there isn’t any government in this world going to tell me what I can and can’t preach. Only the Holy Spirit will tell me what to preach or what not to preach. If you are offended; seek Jesus and ask for forgiveness. That’s just one example. I can talk about my belief about abortion being murder and I’m sure that will offend someone too. So, that brings me to document number two.

The second document we have is the Constitution of the United States. And since I am a United States born and bred, but thank God I’m Baptist dead citizen; I have assurances that I can say whatever I want to say and I’m protected by the Constitution.

Here’s Number 1: The Constitution starts out with “We the People..” That is me and my family.

Number 2: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Now our Constitution was written at a time so someone with a reading level in seventh grade could understand it. So it’s an easy read. I’m free to practice whatever religion I want. In the process of practicing that religion I can say whatever I want. In Church, which is the Body of Christ, I’m free to preach the Word of God and I hope it offends someone. That is exactly what it is designed to do. So, I don’t fear H.R. 1913 or any potential prosecution against me. I am assured it will happen anyway by the Word of God. I will go forth and preach the Word of God no matter what laws spring up in my country against me. Throw me in jail and I’ll preach there too. We do have enemies fighting against our country and our government is wasting time with stimulus plans and Bills that have absolutely no meaning.

This is a new blog courtesy of In Christ Always Ministry. We will be giving our thoughts on the Word of God and how it matches with what is going on in the world. If you have any comments please leave them here or visit In Christ Always and leave them in our forums. We will post in here as the Holy Spirit puts things on our hearts.