Braveheart
Add text
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Berean Baptist Church of Terre Haute
  • Journal December 2019
  • Journal November 2019
  • Journal October 2019
  • Journal September 2019
  • Journal August 2019
  • Journal July 2019
  • Journal May 2019
  • Journal April 2019
  • Journal February 2019
  • Journal January 2019
  • Journal December 2018
  • Journal October 2018
  • Journal September 2018
  • Journal August 2018
  • Journal June 2018
  • Journal April 2018
  • Journal March 2018
  • Journal February 2018
  • Journal December 2017
  • Journal November 2017
  • Journal October 2017
  • Journal September 2017
  • Journal August 2017
  • Journal July 2017
  • Journal June 2017
  • Journal May 2017
  • Journal April 2017
  • Journal March 2017
  • Journal February 2017
  • Journal January 2017
  • Journal December 2016
  • Journal October 2016
  • Journal Sept 2016
  • Journal August 2016
  • Journal July 2016
  • Journal June 2016
  • Journal May 2016
  • Journal April 2016
  • Journal March 2016
  • Journal February 2016
  • Journal November 2015
  • Journal October 2015
  • Journal September 2015
  • Journal August 2015
  • Journal July 2015
  • Journal June 2015
  • Journal May 2015
  • Journal April 2015
  • Journal March 2015
  • Journal February 2015
  • Journal January 2015
  • Outrageous Forgiveness
  • Making it Thru The Holidays
  • About Walls, Pope & Trump
  • Sunday at Berean 2/19/2017
  • Prison Ministry Update
  • Journal November 2018
    • Amazing Grace Booklet
  • Untitled
  • Blog
  • Blog
  • Blog
  • Blog

Larry Lilly's Journal      Discerning The Times  Volume 17 Issue 8 

Picture
Discerning the Times      Larry Lilly

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: “2 Tim 3:1
That we live in perilous times is a given. Just how perilous are the times seems to mystify most people who admit to worrying about them. Some, unaware of history or the Bible honestly believe there “has never been a time like this.” Of course this is not true. Times very much like this was the norm in the days of Noah and according to

Jesus said those days are to return in what is known as the “last days.” Note Luke 17:26 "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:” To get the full impact note the context as revealed in the following three verses:
Lu 17:27 "They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.”

A glance as well as a thorough word study, reveals the face of the scriptures that in each “time” something involving a breach of marriage protocol is going on, along with several other planks of civilization being thrown overboard. No one doubts that violence filling the land.

The history of those past times reads much like our daily news. Recent decisions by the United States Supreme Court have set those loose who are throwing away all restraint and attempting to relegate the scripture to fantasy land, are celebrating, though blood is running in the streets due to lawlessness in high places.

A few weeks ago I pointed out to the congregation I pastor that 15 of the 26 books of the New Testament were written while Nero was the Roman Emperor. Many have never been told of the debauched nature of this Roman who mainly know of him for fiddling while Rome burned. (Actually he played the Lyre as the Violin wasn’t invented until much later).

During the reign of this mad man, who for a while traveled the Empire as the female/wife of a male Sodomite. Later he took Sporus, a 12 year old boy as his wife, married him in grand ceremony and the boy traveled as Nero’s wife. The boy was castrated, wore a wig, and was introduced as the Empress.

When Nero passed, the next Emperor took Sporus to wife. Sporus committed suicide at age 20. So, there is nothing new in this, except the approval/celebrating such by some facets of the professing church.

The scripture is replete with the destructive nature of Sodomy and in O.T. times when revival broke out the temple was cleansed of the Sodomites who had crept in! In 1Corinthians 5 Paul records the sordid account of a professing Christian indulging in an affair with his own mother. Paul deals with this by insisting on the expulsion of the man. (In 2Corinthians, after the man repented Paul insists on the church forgiving/restoring the man).

Immediately following the expulsion of the man from the church Paul writes in 1Co 5:9,  “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.
10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person.
12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?”

As a flag waving American I was saddened to see the gay flag colors lighting the White House. But not any more so than when some years ago it was revealed that séances were being conducted there. Yet as a Christian Pastor, a Bible believing one at that, I must line up with Paul and state simply, emphatically, that the Lord’s people must stand firm, as Paul instructs in 1Corinthians 5 among numerous other passages.

Ralph Emerson wrote concerning the times, “This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.”

Dr. Francis Schaeffer asked concerning the times, “How Should We Then Live?” the defining book of recent times concerning the demise of Western Culture. I note in passing that his book was on the same page as the Apostles 2000 years ago. The Bible and Dr. Schaeffer’s book point out a forgotten truth encapsulated in this statement: “The way a person lives is based on how they view the world. Ideas are not without consequences.”

The Apostle Paul aided in understanding Emerson’s statement as he wrote, in essence that Christians are to live life in the power of the Spirit, submitting our life to biblical instruction concerning righteousness.

The current rage is to cry loud and spare not concerning the portending Sodomite invasion of the church, worrying about “loss of special State treatment if we resist.” Yet, the problem with truly effective resistance is clearly visible in the compromise of cultural evil listed along with the sin of Sodomy. A partial list is found in 1Corinthians 5 notes; sexual sins, covetous, extortioners, idolaters, revilers and drunkards.

Moderns have changed the names of a few of the above sins. However, changing the name of a drunkard to alcoholic, or Sodomite to Gay, does not change the heart of the beneficiary of the name change.

To clear any confusion I add that God can and will save lost Sodomites and forgive and restore repentant ones as is laid out so beautifully here:

1Co 6:9, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

Note Peter’s take on the challenge of his time and ours: 1Pe 4:17, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

The New Testament Temple is the body of believers where The Holy Spirit dwells and revival begins in our heart by surrendering spaces that have been held tightly for our own use. I Surrender All is a good song now for Christians.

Against the dark backdrop of corrupt culture, Christians are given clear plans to counter and conquer the culture, regardless of its denigration. Here’s a few thoughts:

“Christians who understand biblical truth and have the courage to live it out can indeed redeem a culture, or even create one. This is the challenge facing all of us in the new millennium.” Charles Colson How Now Shall We Live.

2Cor 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Php 2:15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

The power of the early church on fire for God changed hearts and the culture. They had the same cultural problems facing us. They also had fire of the spirit we lack. Now you know the times and how we must live to prevail. So what will you do? LML.

“As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” Joshua.

Letter's & Comments                 

Dear Brother Lilly,
   Well one of our long time volunteers has won his battle over cancer. He went home to be with the Lord. No more sickness, no more pain. We rejoice in being blessed to have Pastor Metcalf with us for the time that God saw fit to lend him to us. I’m going to really miss his preaching and teaching. He was a no nonsense by the Holy Writ man of God. He’s going to be a really great loss to this body, as well as the church that he pastored on the street.
   Now I have a prayer concern for you. My father has a cancer for which they tell him there’s no cure. He’s in good spirits, even though you can tell that he’s trying to be strong for everybody else. He’s a man of God and he knows that prayer changes things. He has given all that know him the blueprint of what a hard working family man is. He really sat a very high standard.  C.A.W.


Editor’s Note: C.W. shares insight into the deep Christian relationships that form between prisoners and dedicated volunteers over long years. Sometimes the bond is actually stronger between volunteers and their congregants than between pastors and parishioners on the outside. It’s strange but true. Of course in prison there is no church down the street to run off to!
   Many prisons are begging for serious volunteers to help in numerous programs that may make a difference in prisoners when they are released.
   On Monday the 29th of June, Joyce and I along with Brad and Jennifer Utz and Darrell and Connie Case attended the Volunteers Appreciation Banquet at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility at Carlisle, IN. The Superintendent, Steve Brown, told us there are a little over four hundred volunteers at the facility and that the prison could not provide many of the programs without committed volunteers. A few very good programs are languishing due to the lack of such men and women. Several of the paid staff donate part of their time to aid in the administration of the volunteer programs. I see this as a bright light in a dark place. You may consider looking into volunteering at a prison or jail near you. And old time preacher wrote, “There are many Christians doing nothing, but there are no Christians with nothing to do.” Something to think about. LML.
***
I received a nice letter from Dr. Russell Dennis Jr. He included an update about the progress of Heritage Baptist College. The Lord is blessing with the beginning of the dormitory, which is essential to growth as the college trains men and women for Christian ministry in these dark times. Dr. Dennis has demonstrated Joshua like courage over the years he has led the school. Part of the update relates this about Abraham Lincoln:
“Abraham Lincoln was more driven by accomplishing the goal, than personal slight. He was known to say, ‘Perhaps I have too little resentment, but I never thought it paid. A man has not time to spend half his life in quarrels. If any man ceases to attack me, I never remember the past against him.’ To Abraham Lincoln, a grudge was a waste of resources.
   Lincoln also handled criticism in similar fashion. Not attacking the critic, Lincoln would often brush aside the negative statement as ignorance. “I know more about it than them,” he would say.” David Von Drehle, Rise to Greatness, New York: Henry Hold Co.
  Dr. Dennis states, “In the spiritual warfare that Paul addresses so amply in Ephesians 6, our adversary is not “the brethren.” God equips us to battle the “wiles of the devil” (v.11), and to pray and assist the saints (v.18).” LML.
+++
 “But all at once I realized that it was not my success God had used to enable me to help those in this prison, or in hundreds of others just like it. My life of success was not what made this morning so glorious -- all my achievements meant nothing in God's economy.
 "No, the real legacy of my life was my biggest failure -- that I was an ex-convict. My greatest humiliation -- being sent to prison -- was the beginning of God's greatest use of my life; He chose the one thing in which I could not glory for His glory.” Charles Colson, Founder Prison Fellowship.

***
In light of the direction our nation is taking, when even Christians are bowing to the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the age, here’s a helpful word from Albert Einstein, “Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.”


Please by all means say a prayer for me as I stand fast for the truth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in these times! Larry Lilly

The Book Worm's Corner     Comments From Helpful Books  Joyce Lilly

Picture
The Politically Incorrect Guide to The Founding Fathers.
Brian McClanahan Ph.D. Regnery 22Chps 349 pgs. $34.95
   I found it hard to put this hardback tome down as gems leap off each page. The dustjacket states: “The Political Incorrect Guide proves that the Founders had a better understanding of the problems we face today than do our hopelessly liberal and painfully self-serving members of Congress.”
 Here’s a gem from John Adams to his children: “Take care that they don’t go astray. Cultivate their minds, inspire their little hearts, raise their wishes. Fix their attention upon great and glorious objects, root out every little thing, weed out every meanness, make them great and manly. Teach them to scorn injustice, ingratitude, cowardice, and falsehood. Let them revere nothing but religion, morality and liberty.” 1776.
  Roger Sherman of Connecticut, a militant supporter of State’s rights wrote concerning that Connecticut would remain Sovereign, not the central government!  He vociferously demanded the executive power should be limited because “no man could be found so far above all the rest in wisdom.”
  Farther along he wrote, “An unchecked executive is ’the very essence of tyranny,’” and “The best check on the power of the executive branch of the federal government was the authority of the sovereign states.” (We’ve come a long way, toward tyranny).
  More than a little humor, often biting such as this adds pleasure to the reading: One delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention called George Mason a ‘poor old man” who due to age, had lost his wits. Mason replied to this insignificant delegate: “Sir, when yours fail, nobody will ever discover it.”
  Reading this book will help anyone to better grasp the historical reasoning behind many of today’s bitter meetings on the congressional floor.  Get the book. JDL Tg.B.


Page Four! Contrast Work & Prison!

Just in case you ever get these two environments mixed up, this should make things a little bit clearer.

IN PRISON..........you spend the majority of your time in a 10 X 10 cell.
AT WORK............you spend the majority of your time in an 8 X 8 cubicle.

IN PRISON.........you get three meals a day.
AT WORK...........you get a break for one meal and you have to pay for it.

IN PRISON..........you get time off for good behavior.
AT WORK............you get more work for good behavior.

IN PRISON..........the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK............you must often carry a security card and open all the doors for yourself.

IN PRISON..........you can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK...........you could get fired for watching TV and playing games.

IN PRISON.........you get your own toilet.
AT WORK..........you have to share the toilet with some people who mess on the seat.

IN PRISON..........they allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK............you aren't even supposed to speak to your family.

IN PRISON..........all expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required.
AT WORK............you get to pay all your expenses to go to work, and they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON..........you spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out.
AT WORK ..........some spend most of their time wanting to get out and go inside bars.

IN PRISON .........you must deal with sadistic wardens.
AT WORK...........they are called deacons/managers.


Sent in by:
Dale & Liz Flynn
Word of Life Local Church Ministries
The Leader in Principle-Centered Youth Ministry
DFlynn@wol.org
www.daleflynn.wol.org
***
Dale and Liz have served Jesus for many years and are effective servant leaders in their area of ministry. It may pay you to look into their Word of Life Programs.
*****
“Life is a mess. And theology must be lived out in the midst of that mess.” 
      Charles W. Colson

A Special Note From Larry

Picture
   To say yet again, it’s summertime and the financial part of this ministry of Reaching, Raising and Restoring goes on reaching down helping people from many different walks of life to get up after some disaster/chastening in life. Actually, in the summer months I get more calls for help than at any other time.
   Conversely, the financial part of helping men and women up, via salvation or restoration seems to hit bottom. Along with this shrinking of funds usually come needs for equipment replacement. If the Lord lays it on your heart help to me keep pace with the needs you may help by sending a one time offering or becoming a regular supporter by mailing your prayer request and offering to:
Larry Lilly
P.O. Box 5212
Terre Haute, IN 47805
Thank you for your prayerful consideration,
Larry Lilly


Proudly powered by Weebly