Death Is Not Dying

I would like for you to get ready to take the ride of your life. When you click the link to the side (deathisnotdying.com) you will need two things: 1) About an hour and 2) A box of tissues. This will change your life regarding life and suffering. The lady you will meet is a Christian and is dying of cancer. I want to thank my professor, Todd von Helms, at Dallas Baptist University who shared this with us this morning in our study of the Book of James. This class has been awesome and part of the reason is because my professor has so diligently shared resources like this. I do not know how long this will be up. From my understanding she had only a few weeks to live and is still alive right now.
Also, some have e-mailed me regarding my thoughts about the North Korean issue going on right now. Sometime next week I will comment since I have not had time to study the situation and since it is still an on-growing issue. I do have some thoughts but since I'm in class this week I cannot get to it yet, which is probably good in the mean time.
I hope you enjoy and learn from this video feed. Believe me, this young lady really gets it, to bad so many of us do not.
You will need to hit the link to the side at www.deathisnotdying.com.

Lord Bless,

Steven Swaim

This Week

I'll be out of touch for a few days because I am taking an intense class which is only a week long. So when I say out of touch I mean out of touch. I'll attempt to watch the news wires while working on the next devotional in order to try and post my next blog. I am also attempting to work on a recorded commentary for quick access on emergency and entertaining basis.

God Bless,

Steven

The Good Hand Of God Through Active Faith-Part 2

Ezra 3:1-7

1Now when the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. 2Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers arose and built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. 3So they set up the altar on its foundation, for they were terrified because of the peoples of the lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4They celebrated the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the fixed number of burnt offerings daily, according to the ordinance, as each day required; 5and afterward there was a continual burnt offering, also for the new moons and for all the fixed festivals of the LORD that were consecrated, and from everyone who offered a freewill offering to the LORD. 6From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, but the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid. 7Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food, drink and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, according to the permission they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

I deal with depression in a unique way…everyday. Since I was in my mid-twenties I have suffered from some form of depression or another. Sometimes it’s the results of my own doing but a lot of times it is more of just not getting enough rest, exercise and watching my diet. While that all may seem to be something I can control, guess again. I’m an unpaid staff member with a small urban church who is attempting to get out of survival mode into a growth stage. I study for Sunday School and am presently preaching through the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which includes an incredible amount of study as well as preparation time. I counsel people who are dealing with real life issues. I have just finished taking my second semester of New Testament Greek, which takes about fifteen to twenty hours out of my week. My job is also very intense and stressful because of my position as a supervisor over an area which is constantly scrutinized by auditors. And somewhere in there is the need of my family which includes my wife, both of our parents, siblings, and of course Malley our weimaraner, and Patches our cat. Does the word exhausted come to your mind? Well, if it does then you’re on the right track. In fact if you say depressed because of lack of down time, you have the clearest picture of them all. There is however, one thing which helps me reset and refocus. That one thing is daily private and weekly corporate worship of our Lord.

When the Jews begin to return to Jerusalem with the blessings of Cyrus king of Persia (Ezra 1:1) the first thing that do is reestablish worship. Notice some of the things they do to re-establish this worship. First, they rebuild the altar of sacrifice in its original place (v. 3a). The words “they set up the altar on its foundation” means they literally found were the altar was originally and rebuilt it there. Second, they began to make sacrifices (v. 3b). These sacrifices were not a one time deal but a constant thing which was done in accordance with what Yahweh had instructed them in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It also can be seen in the re-establishing of the Feast of Booths and the following the instruction directly from Scripture itself (v. 4-6). Verse 3 notes that they did this despite the fear and threat they felt from those nations which surrounded them.

The second thing they did was to start rebuilding the temple. Verse 6 goes out its way to make note that “the foundation of the temple of the LORD had not been laid.” They paid those who going to do the work and supply the material (v. 7).

The key note is that worship was important to the Jewish community and serves as an example to us today in Christianity. You and I will show faith in what we worship. We will continue doing those things which are important to us. If private and public worship is important to us then we will daily meet with God in prayer and His word. If public worship is important to us then we will meet with God along with other fellow believers at the local church we belong to for the sake of praying and seeking God through the teaching of His word. The key is that both must be important not just one or the other. When we truly worship God then He will open our eyes up to what He is doing and how He is working. It takes sacrifice, time, possible humiliation, and laying a foundation worthy of praise to our Father.

How about you, do you worship God in truth and spirit? Do you draw to God daily in personal and weekly in corporate worship? Do you know that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation and true worship of God? Do you understand that the reason we don’t sacrifice today the way the Jews did during those days is because Jesus Christ took our sins on Him at the cross? That He sacrificed Himself so that we would not have to suffer the agony of an eternity without Him. Worship starts with sacrifice. The only sacrifice we have is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The only way to truly worship God is through Jesus.

God Bless,

Steven Swaim

(All quotations is from the New American Standard Bible)

WHERE ARE THE PARENTAL RIGHTS?

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

Hosea 4:6 (NASB)

When growing up my parents would tell you that I was less than an accommodating child. I was often rebellious, argumentative, and downright hard headed. Anyone reading my blogs can tell that some (if not all) of these has a tendency to bleed through. Rebel with a cause often yakking about something the establishment is doing. Always ready for the next fight, almost certain that the world will end if my thoughts are not heard and explained. Constantly hard headed, to the point that my wife has probably thought about getting my golf clubs out and play a round or two with my head. One of my favorite lines when I was a child to use on my parents was, “I’m going to sue you.” Now don’t ask me where I got the idea or the phrase. I watched a lot of Perry Mason but that was criminal law, not civil. On top of the fact that I was another ten to fifteen years from working for law firms. Of course my parent’s response always had that “yeah/right” smirk on their face, “Go ahead and try.”

While that story sounds ridiculous and funny, unfortunately in today’s atmosphere that story may be truer than we wish. I worked for almost fifteen years for attorneys before I came to work for the Southern Baptist Convention. I have seen and read my far share of ridiculous cases through the years. I also came in contact with a world that was sorted with the reality that all was not as it appears. One of those things I came in contact with was the erosion of parental rights and authority. Now I have a theory which I believe if anyone took the time to look into sociologically and politically they would find interesting. I plan on expounding on this theory with the devotionals at the end of Ezra/Nehemiah. But I believe that the erosion started in the 1960’s with no fault divorce. It was during this time that we began to allow judges to tell how families were going to be split up and how they were going to work because a couple of knuckleheads who could not get along. Now before you start throwing stones in regards to what I am saying, I have been through a divorce. Because of the no fault clause in our laws people can choose not to work it out, announce they are leaving, walk out and ruin parts of your life without a thought. Regardless, the parental authority issues began at that point because the child became the focus not the salvation of the marriage.

What is bringing this up? Several months ago on the Live From Criswell radio show, which took the place of Jerry Johnson Live, on KCBI, 90.9 FM in Dallas, Dr. Barry Creamer the host (and Professor of Humanities at Criswell College) brought a topic up dealing with a children’s rights treaty which the United Nations was pushing for ratification in the U.S. Senate. On the surface it sounds okay, but as always all things are not as they seem. A couple of weeks ago this same discussion about this same thing came up on the Mike Huckabee show where he interviewed the founder and president of www.Parentalrights.org , Mike Farris. A week later Dr. Barry Creamer brought it back up on the show he host with Dr. Brian Webster from Dallas Theological who is a member of www.Parentalrights.org.

In each situation the reasons for having such a document were understood with good reasons: child abuse and child neglect. However at the same time these formats also discussed why this was not necessary here in the United States primarily because there are laws already in place regarding these issues. While this may be something that other nations need which do not have child protection laws in place, our nation does not need to ratify such a treaty. They also made note of what this means in regards family relationships on a family to person level.

Let’s look at some of the ways in which our laws have already been used as an intrusive matter. First, as I have already noted, since the 1960’s divorce laws have been loosened. Before then you could still get a divorce it just had to be proven that adultery and neglect had occurred. From that point until now families are being told how the relationships can be built, who they can be built with, when they can be built and how they can be built. The courts also tell the parents how much can be spent each month for child care through child support payments. Today I still praise God that there were no children involved in my first marriage. The courts even demonstrate the strong arm of sovereignty by telling the primary parent were they can or cannot live. And the parent with visitation rights may be told where they can and cannot go with the children. This is the first area of intrusiveness.

Now enters CPS (Child Protection Services). While many of these people work hard at what they do and do it with skill, class and a great deal of understanding socially. Many of them are also very aware of what they are doing and the dangers which are involved if they make a mistake. They are often overloaded with case files and have a hard time making sure those who really need intervention, get it. However, at the very top of the pyramid there are those who have guiltless ambition about being intrusive into the lives of families who do not do anything. In some cases just an overstress mother yelling at a child in public for misbehaving can cause the child legal advocates to press abuse charges against otherwise model parent.

Those are just two examples of the intrusiveness which goes on under our laws that have watchdog groups keeping an eye on them. This treaty being discussed is even worse than that. As a treaty it will subvert the Constitution of the United States. Any laws in a treaty which are ratified immediately become the law of the land. Treaties are meant to show cooperation among nations. Unlike other nations we cannot pick and choose which part of the law we will obey. For us we have to take the treaty in entirety or reject it in its entirety. There is no middle ground.

So what does this mean for us as a nation, communities and family? In a socialistic nation the government often poises communities against one another; the same tactic would be used here. In a way we already have some of this kind of activity going on with home owner associations, statutory laws, and hate speech legislation. The treaty, turned law, will require us to turn each other in.

The scenarios of how this could affect us are astronomical. First, spanking your child, even with a proper motive, understanding and personal reflection would be illegal. If your child goes to school and complains that you spanked them, even if it’s not true, you’re in trouble. Some have noted that this could even mean if you yell at your child then abuse charges could be filed. Imagine a situation where your child is about to run into the street with a car coming down the road. Do you yield at the child in risk of having charges pressed against you for abuse? Or do you risk the child’s life and get put in jail for neglectful behavior and endangerment of a child? Either way you lose. For the school system this is even a double concern. Already many school districts have their hands tied regarding corporal punishment leaving many teachers and administrators in a lurch with discipline problems. (I will actual blog on the punishment and school situation in a week. There is an article from Newsweek, of all people, which looks at this.) Let’s say you attend church, but you eight year old doesn’t want to go. There is a religious clause in this treaty which does not allow you to force your child to attend services even if you want too. Perplexing or disturbing? What if they don’t want to take the vaccine or go to school or brush their teeth? It may be crazy to imagine but you won’t have the authority to make them do any of this without the possibility of having abuse charges placed against you. And if you choose not to have them do these life/health saving things then you could easily be charged with neglect and endangerment of a child. I’m telling you, you lose either way. Don’t worry, just in case you think that your child won’t know about this, there will be a campaign in the public schools, internet and television to help educate them of the fact. ( www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/19/rosemond-treaty-abolishes-rights-of-parents/ ) (www.parentalrights.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={81C1F260-4A9F-4013-8164-68A360E295A5}&DE= ).

Another problem would be the courts. Now the courts (from a local municipal judge to the Supreme Court) would be obligated to rule based on international law not Constitutional law. Your rights as an individual and not just as a parent will be eradicated. Here is the clincher…this will not show up all at once. It will be slow in coming about to the point that the quantum leap can be made with very little opposition. Believe me when I say that in the 1980’s I warned Christians and churches of the on-coming danger and possible laws regarding homosexuality and was met with stiff necks and hushing mouths which said, “This is America. Nothing like that can happen here.” And what is happening on Capitol Hill?

What can be done? There are several things which can be done. First, pray for our leaders. This is a command in Scripture. It is something we should always do. Second, go to www.Parentalrights.org and learn more about this subject and the possible ramifications. Third, the Senate is due to vote on this bill sometime in September, start making your voice known by phone, e-mail, and letter. Forth, make people aware of what is going on by sending them here or to www.Parentalrights.org , www.barrycreamer.com or www.mikehuckabee.com . The more people who hear and act the better the out come. Fifth, listen to news sources very closely. As the vote gets closer ramp up more activity against it. Sixth, make your opposition know to the President by phone, e-mail, and letter. Seventh, keep sharing what is going on. Last, pray! We must continue to pray for the grace and mercy of God on our homes, communities and nation. Pray!

God bless you and your family!

Steven Swaim

Pray For Me

I'm going to ask for you to pray for Mary and myself this week. I am studying for finals which I will be taking on Wednesday in my Greek class. It is always an interesting time when studying for test, especially finals. This is another dream come true. Learning Greek has been a dream since my days at Criswell College. For the last two semesters I have gone through the grueling task of learning this language and have many doubts about how much I learned. But now I have the tools and knowledge to reinforce that learning through practice and plan on using it quiet a bit. The reason I'm asking for you to pray for Mary is because she has to endure the onslaught of stupidity which comes from me during this time. Also be aware that we attempting to get my pastor, Brother Wayne Wible's sermons on you tube. I'll link it when it's available. Hopefully there will be a lot of them.

God Bless,

Steven