Join us todayon WMCA, 970 A.M. at 11:00 A.M.. Today’s show is all about the New York Institute of Biblicl Studies. Our guests are

Pastor Paul Schooling, Ms. Betsy Maddox and

our Dean, Tom Riley. Here is the other important information:

Join us tomorrow on 570, wmca, January 26th  at 11:00 A.M. for our

Super Bowl Show featuring the chaplin of the New

York Giants, George McGovern. Email me your

Super Bowl pick with score  and total points scored.

Email to nycshepherd@gmail.com. Winner gets two books. four runner ups will get one book.

Our New Radio Program “God in our City” airs today, Janaury 12^th at 11:00 A.M.- Leave a comment to tell us what you thought about it. Next week’s guest is Father Frank Pavone with “Priests for Life”

     In a few short weeks Americans will go to the polls and pull a lever to elect a President of the United States as well as to elect state and local office holders. We are truly a privileged people. Christians in centuries past had to put up with maniacal dictators who persecuted and martyred our forbearers. Even today there are places in the world where believers are suppressed and oppressed. Because of our freedoms I hope you will avail yourself of the right to vote. Being a good Christian means being a good citizen, rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s, so go and vote on Tuesday, November 6th.

     A sample of internet sites from and for believers will yield a multitude of reasons to vote for one candidate or another. Many times we are told to pray and seek the Lord’s leading as to who we should vote for. I do believe we should pray. However, I don’t think we should so much seek a leading as we should seek discernment. We need discernment to see through the media’s hoopla and the candidates’ smoke and mirrors. They are, after all, politicians. We may not want to buy what they are selling. But there is more.

      As Evangelical Christians we believe we have been given the infallible, life-changing, inspired Word of God. From these Scriptures we can discern, at best, which candidate we should vote for or, at worst, which candidate not to vote for. It seems to me that there are five timeless truths in Scriptures that give us the guidance we need. They provide us with a buyer’s guide if you will.

These timless truths are:

 #1 – A commitment to a pro-life position – All life is sacred because we are all made equally in the image of God (Genesis 1:27-28). The life of the innocent unborn is indeed precious. The Scriptures teach us that God supervises our creation in the womb (Psalm 139:13-16) and that He has a purpose for us from before we were born (Jeremiah 1:5). In Amos 1:13, God promised to judge the Ammonites for their mistreatment of the unborn. God is clearly on the side of the unborn, so the person we vote for should be fully of that persuasion as well, both in their personal and political convictions.

#2 – A commitment to a pro-traditional family position – From the time of Creation, God has defined marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman; Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve or Eve and Elaine (Genesis 2:22-25). Same sex marriage and or polygamous marriages are outside of God’s design. A society cannot survive without strong traditional families. Every effort should be made to hold this Biblical model up as the standard. What’s more, any major deviation  from God’s original design for the family is both dangerous and destructive to a society. The person we pull the lever for should share God’s view of marriage and the family as outlined in the Bible.

#3 – A commitment to a pro-Israel position – God promised Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you. And I will curse him who curses you.” (Genesis 12:1-3) This Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional and carries through to today. It behooves our nation then to bless Israel, to support her. This is a Biblical conviction we should embrace and hold to. It doesn’t mean we don’t confront Israel’s evils and faults. Israel doesn’t get a free pass to do whatever it pleases. However, it is clear that the Jewish nation is still the apple of God’s eye and we and the person we vote for should see them that way.

#4 – A commitment to a pro-Judeo/Christian values position – Proverbs 14:34 tells us that “Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people”. The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount reflect what the Lord means by righteousness. Psalm 94:20 asks, “Shall the throne of iniquity which devises evil by law, have fellowship with You?” The Lord says He will have no part with the nation that legislates evil. .

     As serious followers of Christ we should support those who share our values. We live in a pluralistic society but we are under no obligation to vote for those who don’t share our Judeo/Christian values. These values are a major foundation for the goodness of our land as well as the blessings of God.

#5 – A commitment to a pro-compassion position – Psalm 9:17-18 tells us, “The wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten, the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.” It is clear that God cares about the poor and needy. The Church should have that same concern and so should those we vote for. Turning our back on those who are genuinely in need can result in God turning His back on us as a nation.

     I encourage you to use these five timeless truths to determine which candidate would best reflect our Christian values. As believers in Jesus Christ we are told to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”. Thus, we don’t vote a political party but our Savior’s priorities. We cannot vote our color, but His creed. We don’t vote our ethnicity but His ethics. We don’t merely vote for “A change we can believe in”, we vote according to “God’s Word that we can count on.” We don’t vote “Country First”, we vote “Christ’s Kingdom First.” We don’t even vote according to our pocketbook, but rather, we must vote according to His principles. And in the end, our prayer is not for what we want but what He wills.

     If you aren’t sure where a candidate stands, Google that candidate and the principles above. This time around, let’s be sure we search the Scriptures, search the internet, search our hearts and on Tuesday, November 6th search out our polling place.

    As a citizen of the United States of America I am grateful for the privilege of voting to elect a president and other public officials. As a citizen of heaven I am grateful for the knowledge that the Lord ultimately selects our leaders. Daniel 2:20 tells us that the Lord “changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings”. First, foremost and always though, you and I are committed to follow one person, our Lord, Jesus Christ. He is our only real Hope both now and eternally.

I CHOOSE THE CITY
by Francis DuBose

I choose the city…
Not simply to live in it,
to see it,
to hear it;
But to touch it;
yes, to embrace it,
to hold it,

To feel the wild glory of its
pulsating soul,

To move over its wide,
hurried broadways,

To stand stilled and sobered
at the nowhere of its dead-end streets,

To be trapped with it in its
pain and problems,

To be at once chilled by its ill
and covered with its confetti.

I choose the city because I choose God,
Because I choose humanity,
Because I choose the divine-human
struggle–

The struggle which will be won
Not in the serene path through
meadow and wood,
among the bees and birds, and flowers,

But in the city street
Made by the hand of man
Through the gift of God–
Main Street: the final battle field,
The scene of the ultimate struggle,
Where man chooses right
Because he is free to choose wrong.

Babylon, dirty and daring–
Babylon, yes–
Babylon today–

Tomorrow…
The New Jerusalem!

Francis DuBose, Mystic on Main Street, Chapel Hill, NC: Professional Press, 1993, pp. 78, 79.

It’s Now or Never

 

     Indisputably, the most influential document in our world has been the Bible. This is the theme of a recent book by Vishal Mangalwadi entitled, The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of the Western World.  Since the time that the average person has been given the opportunity to read and study the Bible for themselves the world has experienced radical change.

 

     Nearly 700 hundred years ago, men like John Wycliffe and John Hus stood up against the religious hierarchy of their day at the cost of their lives in order to give the Holy Scriptures to the common man. With the invention of the Guttenberg Printing Press and thus the printing of the first Bibles around 1440, wide distribution of the Scriptures began. The rest, as they say, is history.

 

     The availability of the Bible gave a reason for individuals to be educated (to read and understand the Sciptures). Quickly this led to an understanding that many practices of the dominant church such as indulgences for the dead and the primacy of the priesthood were shown to be blatantly unbiblical. Soon there followed a Protestant Reformation where the mantra became “sola scriptura.” Shortly afterward, peace loving pilgrims came to this country’s shore in search of religious freedom. Their fervor fueled by their understanding of Scripture.

 

    One hundred years later when the Colonies were struggling politically and morally, Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield preached the Bible in the new world and a Great Awakening followed. This set the stage for the American Revolution. Across the ocean in England a parliamentarian named William Wilberforce was beginning a nearly 50 year struggle to see slavery abolished because of his belief in the Scriptures.  Time and space will not let us detail the Second Great Awakening before the Civil War which caused the end of slavery and birthed the modern missions movement, or the effect the Bible had on the industrial revolution. Neither will time and space let us wax eloquent on the Bible and the Fulton Street Revival in New York City that prepared us for two Word Wars or the Bible’s affect on Evangelist Billy Grahm who in turn has ministered to every President our nation has had since Harry Truman.  Suffice it to say the Bible has dramatically shaped the world we live in.

 

    Tragically, Biblical illiteracy among professing Christians is now at an all time high. That’s right, the book that shaped our world is now the book that occupies most book shelves but is largely unread and misunderstood by those who claim it as their authority for life and practice. The average Christian is more familiar with the primetime TV schedule than they are with their Bible. We may know John 3:16 and Psalm 23 or other familiar passages by heart, but that’s about the extent of our saturation with Scripture. The product of this is that we are no longer the salt and light to our culture that we are called by God to be.

 

     Regrettably, we now live in a post-Christian culture and world.  The Bible was once required reading in every classroom in our country. But now, because we have “evolved and are more pluralistic and tolerant” you’d be hard pressed to find a Bible anywhere in a public school except in the dark corner of a library shelf.  As result, the influence of the Scriptures has waned, and the values that are critical to our nation’s prosperity and survival are no longer supported because our spiritual foundation has deteriorated. We have climbed far out on a limb and cut the branch behind us and now we wonder why we find ourselves in freefall in a less civil, less moral, less stable, less peaceful culture.  

 

     Undoubtedly, it is time for a change.  It is, in fact, past time for a change. It is time that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, once again fully embrace the Scriptures– God’s love letters to us. It is time we know what the Bible says about our obligations to each other and to our neighbor. It is time for us to once again experience the Bible’s life changing work. It is time for a change.  For if we don’t change things now there will be no turning back from the abyss of secularism that we find our culture hurtling toward.

 

I would like to suggest five simple things that can and must be done by each of us in order to change the current trend lines.

 

1. As a practicing believer, determine to read the Bible every day. If you are unsure where to start, go to my new blog www.nycshepherd.com and sign up by placing your email address in the box to follow me or send me an email at nycshepherd@gmail.com and I will send you a free 40 Day Devotional on the book of James, one of the most practical books in the New Testament.

 

2. As a Bible student determine to take a class on the Bible from a trustworthy source. Either find something online or attend our New York Institute for Biblical Studies (go to www.nyibs.net for more information). Don’t be content to continue in Biblical illiteracy.

 

3. As a Christian parent determine that in your home the Bible will be read and taught. Read the Bible as a family and talk about it as a family. Buy a simple devotion book for your family and get your family into the Word. Let’s make sure the next generation is not Biblically illiterate. Check out this book by Josh McDowell for family devotions

(http://www.amazon.com/Year-Book-McDowells-Family-Devotions/dp/0842343024)

 

4. As a concerned citizen, determine that you will be relentless about keeping the Scriptures in our culture. The values that made us great as a nation, the values that have helped us overcome our many flaws as a people are Biblical values. Get informed at the Revelation Movement http://www.revelationmovement.com/

 

5. As a Lay Church member determine to not sit idly by and hope for the best. Volunteer to help your church family teach the Bible to its members and the next generation.  Host a small group Bible Study or teach or assist in Christian Education in some way. You can make a difference. Check out the free spiritual gift analysis to see where you best fit in at http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi?intro=1 .

 

I implore to you to take all of these steps. The time for change is now. It’s now or never.

 In His Service,

 Pastor Dave

NYC Shepherd

A casual perusing of your local newspaper or almost any magazine will reveal that our world is obsessed with the concept of “connecting”. A brief journey through primetime TV with your remote control will affirm the same. Cell phones promote 24/7 connections with those that matter most to us. Text messaging is the new email. Media commercials guarantee connections with self, our new car or house and even with nature. The internet, with “instant messaging” and Facebook promises a connection with just about everyone and everything instaneously.

Because of the way we are made, connections are very important to us. This month I want to talk about four connections that God, the one who designed and created us, wants us to experience above any others. Let’s call these HiPri (High Priority) connections.

The first connection God wants us to have is a connection with Himself. The Lord of the universe has made it possible for us to enter into a relationship, a connection, with Him. The Bible teaches us that our sin separates us from God but that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ died for those sins to make it possible for us to experience a connection, a relationship with Him. The Scripture says “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God…” (1 Peter 3:18). Having been brought to God through Christ we are now eternally connected to Him. Thus we will call this our HiPri eternal connection.

This brings us to a second connection that God would have us to experience. Beyond an initial connection to Himself, the Lord would have us cultivate and develop an ongoing personal relationship with Him. This involves the regular hearing of His voice through His written Word, the Holy Scriptures and the ongoing expression of our worship and needs to Him through prayer. Let’s call this our HiPri daily connection.

A third HiPri connection is the one we have with other believers. The apostle Paul says “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Romans 12:5). In Christ we are united, we are mutually dependant on one another, we are connected. Because of our connections we are to “bear one another’s burden and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). In light of our connection we are to provoke one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:24-25). Biblically we are challenged to have a fervent love toward one another (1 Peter 4:8). Let’s call this our HiPri family connection.

A fourth and a final HiPri connection we are told to have is described for us in the book of 1Peter 3:15. It says “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear…” The very clear implication of this verse is that we are to be interacting and connecting with people who don’t have Jesus Christ in their lives. A similar implication can be drawn from Matthew 5 where Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world. The world we live in desperately needs the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Sharing our hope is one of the main reasons we are here. In order to tell others about Christ we must connect with them. The last HiPri connection could be called our redemptive connection.

We all have the possibility of so many different connections in our lives. It seems to me that these four are to be our highest priorities. So let us, having experienced an eternal connection with Almighty God, now cultivate that relationship through a daily connection with our Heavenly Father. Let us as well enjoy and minister through our family connections with other believers. Finally let us not forget the importance of sharing our faith with those around us and let us seek redemptive connections with those who need Christ. In short, let’s connect.