Beginning in 1740, George Whitefield preached seven times in America. He spread the Great Awakening Revival, which helped unite the Colonies prior to the Revolutionary War.
Whitefield‘s preaching stirred crowds with enthusiasm, which was criticized by the formal, established churches of the day. When they closed their doors to him, Whitefield began preaching out-of-doors. Crowds grew so large that no church could have held the number of people, sometimes being as large as 25,000.
In one sermon, George Whitefield proclaimed:
“Never rest until you can say, ‘the Lord our righteousness.’ Who knows but the Lord may have mercy, nay, abundantly pardon you? Beg of God to give you faith; and if the Lord give you that, you will by it receive Christ, with his righteousness, and his all … None, none can tell, but those happy souls who have experienced it with what demonstration of the Spirit this conviction comes …”
“Oh, how amiable, as well as all sufficient, does the blessed Jesus now appear! With what new eyes does the soul now see the Lord its righteousness! Brethren, it is unutterable … Those who live godly in Christ, may not so much be said to live, as Christ to live in them … They are led by the Spirit as a child is led by the hand of its father … They hear, know, and obey his voice … Being born again in God they habitually live to, and daily walk with God.”
George Whitefield was one of the first ministers to publicly preach the Gospel to slaves. This profoundly influenced many preachers, such as Rev. Samuel Davies, and denominations, such as Baptists, Methodists and Quakers, to be inclusive of blacks.
A young black teenager named John Marrant heard Whitefield preach in Charleston, South Carolina. Marrant converted and went on to become one of America’s first black preachers, even preaching among Cherokee, in England and in Nova Scotia.
George Liele, a black slave in Georgia, heard a Great Awakening preacher. He converted and began preaching with such conviction that his master freed him. Liele founded one of America’s first black churches–Silver Bluff Baptist Church in Beach Island, South Carolina, 1773, and then became one of America’s first foreign missionaries, arriving in Jamaica in 1792.
George Whitefield advocated for the improvement of the treatment of slaves, though he sadly held the typical 18th century view which accommodated the institution of slavery.
It was not until 1770 that Pennsylvania Quaker Anthony Benezet pioneered the movement to abolish slavery by founding the Negro School at Philadelphia, and, in 1775, the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, of which Franklin became the president in 1785.
Benezet’s school was inspired by Whitefield, who had first proposed in 1739 that Philadelphia have a Charity School for blacks and poor orphan children. Franklin later merged the Charity School with his newly formed Academy of Philadelphia.
Franklin helped finance the building of an auditorium for Whitefield to preach in, after which it became one of the first buildings of the Academy, which turned into the University of Pennsylvania.
I am praying for another Great Awakening in the United States to bring repentance and restoration. Our nation has had at least three great moves of God. Lord we pray for one more! We you join with me to see one last move of God before it is too late. Every major issue that divides our land is a moral issue. It will take moral solutions, not political ones. Rh
We live in a world saturated with sin, which frequently comes across as death-obsessed. Look around and you’ll quickly see how many in our culture demand abortion, the death of the unborn. Our schools and government continue to push for transgenderism and LGBT ideology, the death of innocence and basic biology. Society, it often seems, craves complete subjectivity, the death of truth itself. And yet, death has another sly sickle swinging in the lives of vulnerable people, and it goes by the name of euthanasia — the death of hope.
For someone already questioning their life, fed up with the troubles of this world and looking for a way out, euthanasia seems a fitting route. But really, it’s a tragedy, and one being heavily promoted in various parts of the world. A major culprit of this life-ending system is Switzerland, which recently brought attention to their soon-to-come “portable suicide pod,” Sarco. In less than 10 minutes and at the cost of $20, this pod will rob you of your life.
The Last Resort (LR) is the organization presenting this with the inventor Philip Nitschke of Exit International (EI), and they noted they “saw no legal obstacle to its use in Switzerland, where the law generally allows assisted suicide if the person commits the lethal act themselves.” According to LR executive Florian Willet, the suicide pod, which was first unveiled in 2019, already has people “queuing up.” It currently only holds someone as tall as five feet eight inches, but “the development team is seeking to build a double Sarco so couples could end their lives together.”
The way it operates is by replacing the oxygen inside the pod with nitrogen, which then leads to death by hypoxia. “I cannot imagine a more beautiful way [to die],” Willet added. “[B]reathing air without oxygen until falling into an eternal sleep.” For someone who chooses this route, these are the last words they will hear from a robotic voice: “If you want to die, press this button.”
As Nitschke explained, “Within two breaths of air of that low level of oxygen, they will start to feel disorientated, uncoordinated and slightly euphoric before losing consciousness. … We will be able to see quite quickly when that person has died.” And once that button is pressed, he noted, that’s it — “There’s no way of going back.”
In a conversation with Annabelle Pechmann, a current intern with Family Research Council’s Communications Department, it became clear her heart for bringing awareness to the dangers of euthanasia and its threat to the sanctity of life. To The Washington Stand, she explained that Sarco’s launch in Switzerland seems to be “a wake-up call to our society in the West,” and especially for those of us in the church. She urged, “As Christians, [it’s important] to start preparing policies against this happening in places such as America.”
From Pechmann’s perspective, euthanasia is a “type of genocide,” and arguably, it’s been largely off the radar of most Americans. But “we shouldn’t wait until a policy or a nonprofit or some piece of legislation comes out to declare that this is acceptable … in our country” before we counter it, she urged. “The time to stand against such evil is now.”
This suicide pod, as it’s been deemed, is a machine created by people who claim to be doctors yet have dedicated the majority of their work to making death more convenient. Allegedly, Sarco is reserved for people over the age of 50. But as LR advisory board member Fiona Stewart said that if someone 18 or older was severely ill, “[W]e would not want to deny a suffering person based on their age.” And digging deeper, it becomes evident that someone like Nitschke has podcasts, videos, workshops, and more, all of which promote death — even if you’re physically healthy.
Indeed, if you look at the Sarco website, it includes these phrases like “(Re)design Death” and “what if we dared to imagine that our last day might also be one of our most exciting?” The page specifically states, “The elegant design was intended to suggest a sense of occasion: of travel to a ‘new destination.’” This is a system glorifying and romanticizing death. As Pechmann emphasized, “Last time I thought about it, human beings still feel pain, death still exists, and suffering occurs in this broken world. To state that euthanasia and physician assisted suicide are part to solving people’s problems, well, it is only adding to them.”
The truth is, as Pechmann eloquently said, euthanasia does not provide “hope, a cure, [or] a change.” And yet, these are what people need most. More than just needing them, we need hopes, cures, and changes that are eternal — all of which are exclusively offered in Jesus Christ.
As I read about Sarco, becoming increasingly mournful over this flippant view of life and death, the words from Matthew 6 came to mind. “Look at the birds of the air,” Jesus said. “They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” He went on, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:26; 28-30).
In the strife of life, perhaps there are fewer comforts greater than knowing our Lord loves us. “Come to Me,” Jesus tells us, “All you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). To not only serve an all-powerful God, but one who genuinely cares about us — oh, how sweet is this truth. Because even when life doesn’t feel worth living, His promises give us hope to endure; His truth gives us council to move forward; His grace opens the door to eternal life with Him. One day, we will be free of sin, where pain, death, and all suffering will be no more. This is what the Christian life is all about. Truly, to someday live eternally with our Maker is all we need to live joyfully now, despite the vexations that arise as we wait for that day.
Suicide is simply not the answer. Christ, in any and all things, is. As a church, my prayer is that we can take heartbreaking information like what is coming out of Switzerland and be stirred to more passionate evangelism. Don’t you realize? We have the truth every person walking this earth needs. Christ, as Paul wrote in Phillipians 4, is the key to contentment and the key to fortitude. Christ, as Pastor Charles Spurgeon stated, is a perfect Savior who “hath all power in heaven and in earth to save souls.” He has the “power to meet all needs … in all cases … at all times.”
Christ, Spurgeon concludes, “is the God of all grace to us. Deep as our miseries and boundless as our sins may be, the mines of His unfathomable love, His grace, and His power, exceed them still.” This is what broken souls need. Not a pod that permanently erases all hope and life, but a Savior who is a permanent hope, and offers eternal, painless life.
We are that generation that will see the return of the Lord. I truly believe that from the bottom of my heart and from the cry of the Spirit. Even so come Lord Jesus.
Israel’s rebirth in 1948 and it’s continual victories over it’s enemies have proven that God is in control of their destiny. After wars, and multiple violet terror attacks, Israel is stronger than it’s ever been.
What comes next, we know, but the timetable is up to the Almighty. Know this for certain, that Israel will stand and not be driven into the sea. The inner circle around Israel that seeks it annihilation will have their threats turned back onto them and they will suffer a crushing defeat. the Israeli army will with God’s help prove victorious and live in a short time of peace, having vanquished their mortal enemies.
The outer circle and the lands from the north and the far north will be dealt with by God with 100 pound hailstone falling upon them and they shall also be devastated and destroyed. This war will be short with God proving who He is and that His word and His people will always survive and live and prosper in the land given to them many centuries ago. Praise the Lord!
God is faithful to His Word! Psalms 138: declares “For you have magnified Your Word above all your name.” Rh
Today I would like to speak about the Bride of Christ as opposed to the Body of Christ. I will attempt to explain my reasoning why I believe that they are two distinctly different entities of the Church. The Body of Christ consists of all who have confessed Christ as their savior. The Bride of Christ are the ekklesia or the sold out bond-servants of Christ. Let me explain.
I do not believe there are different levels of Christianity. Some worship Christ for salvation only, and still enjoy worldly desires. They may even be oppressed in mind or have certain desire or lust they are trying, but unfortunately not able to completely overcome. They settle for a good Christian life, but with fleshy struggles. Their Bible study and prayer is sporadic and their discipleship is non- existent. The growth track they are on keeps their desire in the milk of the Word, not meat. They have not exercised their learning beyond the simplistic doctrines of the Church. They live in the elementary aspects of basic Christianity. To grow in Christ, find a mentor, get into a good Bible Study, find someone you trust to be a battle buddy to share and pray with. Most importantly read the Word! Neglecting the Word is neglecting Jesus. (John 1:1) Remember Jesus was not a man that became the Word, but the eternal Word who took on flesh and became a man. (Philippians 2:5-11) Fully God and fully man.
In Matthew 25 we have a parable of the wise and foolish virgins. The wise virgins are a type of the true Bride of Christ. They have a full supply of oil (Holy Spirit) and are ever watching for the Messiah to come back. May I ask, are you full of the Spirit, and longing to be filled every day? Their desire is to follow and please the Lord Jesus. They are aware of the time we live in, meditating on Christ and praying even if it is just a few minutes several times throughout the day. Following Paul’s admonition to pray without ceasing. The constant desire of bond-servants of God is to be pleasing to Christ and walk in submission to the Holy Spirit. They aren’t perfect, but they long to be transformed into the very image of Christ, “partakers in the divine nature of God”. (2 Peter 1:2-3),
The church is to be, sanctified, cleansed and presented to Christ without spot or blemish. (Ephesians 5:26-27)
A glorious church.
There are two priorities of the Bride, the Word and the Spirit. Worshiping in Spirit and Truth. (John 4:24) Live in the Word, and walk in His Spirit!
The Spirit and the Bride say “Come!” (Revelation 22:17)
You were born for such a time as this. Be strong and courageous for God chose us for this particular time. If He chose us, He will sustain us!
Maranatha – Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. Amen! Rh
As I was reading in Ezekiel this morning I came to a powerful insight for us today. Ezek.11:16 talks about how God is dispersing Israel because of their sin and apostacy. But in the midst of that God tells them in v.16 that when they are driven out of Jerusalem, and scattered “He will be a little sanctuary (Holy Place) for them in the countries where they have gone”.
Powerful, even under the judgement of God, which I believe America is under at the present time, God always tempers with grace. Grace is divine favor or getting what we DON’T deserve! What a beautiful picture of the everlasting love of God.
If you are in a tough place this is not the time to give up. Reach out to the Lord, He is only a whispered prayer away. Rh
Dolly Parton’s new song issues staunch to believers. Dolly composed a song called “Don’t Make Me Come Down There” after having a dream about God. He was standing on a mountain top, looking down on us and in my dream I heard Him say, ‘Don’t make Me have to come down there. My children, you had best beware. If you don’t pay attention, consequences will be dire. Don’t make Me have to come down there.’”
For those of us who have been in church their whole life, the state of the church is really not good. Yes we have some great churches, but on the other hand many are nothing more than country clubs. The state of America is the fault of the church as it has tried to be relevant and not the body of Christ. Anyone is welcome in our churches, but just don’t stay the way you come. Preach repentance and transformation. It’s time to awaken a sleeping giant to transform themselves into the Army of God to battle the evil that is permeating America. God needs a warring church, not the Laodicean Church..
A Texas micro-preemie, who weighed just 1 pound and 5 ounces the day he was born, celebrated his first birthday on Tuesday, defying predictions of doctors who only gave him a 10 percent chance of survival.
Amandi Omokore-Allen defied all odds after spending 155 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after his birth.
“He was under a pound-and-a-half and 23 weeks and two days,” Samantha Smith, a neonatal nurse practitioner at Pediatrix Neonatology of Texas and Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin, told Fox News.
Amandi was only slightly more than halfway through the pregnancy, which is typically 40 weeks.
“Back in 2016, when Kaepernick started kneeling, I said there is something we gotta do to bring law enforcement and community and sports to be that vehicle,” Brewer told The Daily Wire. “And so we started that program and partnered with a number of police athletic leagues around the country to kind of bridge that gap. And I served for a couple of years as the spokesman for the police athletic league.”
“And as that grew and things didn’t necessarily get better around us with these relations, I just wanted to do more,” Brewer continued. “I started to do a lot of teaching and we started programs in partnership with the Fordham Gabelli School of Business, and now with Liberty University. I started teaching professional athletes and I started teaching in the prisons, and I just noticed that one thing that was keeping us divided was that access to education.”
AUGUST 15, 2020 | FROM DR. MICHAEL BROWN This is a fairly long read, but well worth the time. Nothing most don’t know, but here it is in their own words.
