Category Archives: Sarah Palin

February 16, 2009 · 7:14 am

Swimming Upstream: “Pray For President Obama, But Don’t Bow Your Knees To Him”

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

Can you imagine what Timothy thought when he read the letter from the Apostle Paul containing the above verses? Maybe something like – Paul, you’ve lost it this time. Emperor Nero needs to be hung from a tree, shot at sunup, knifed in the back, pushed over a cliff and crucified. Prayers! Why waste them on this rogue?

But did you know that historians portray Nero as being extremely popular with the common classes of people? He supported the freedman class by vetoing laws enacted by the Senate. He cut taxes. He removed harsh tax collectors. He removed tariffs on imported food. His public relief effort after the fire consisted of heavy government spending on construction projects. He tried to reform the government. And oh yes, he was a great orator. People loved to hear him speak, especially when he promised them goodies.

Nero had a major downside; he persecuted Christians. Squads of soldiers were dispatched throughout the empire to inquire of people, “Do you swear allegiance to Emperor Nero as your lord?”

Sadly, Christians were backed into a corner with the question. They had one Lord, Jesus. When they answered negatively, they were whisked off to arenas where they were covered with skins of animals and offered as prey for hungry lions. Or they were crucified. Or they were mounted on poles, covered with wax and used as candles for lawn parties.

It was not a good time to be a Christian. And yet, Paul stated that believers needed to pray for Nero and that this was good and acceptable in the sight of God.

So fast forward to 2009, we need to do the same for President Obama. Pray for him in every possible way. For Michelle. For Malia and Sasha. For his mother-in-law. For his aunt. For all of his administration. Why? So that we Christians can lead quiet and tranquil lives in all godliness and dignity.

But if President Obama steps over the line and asks us compromise our Christian principles, don’t bow your knees to him. Grab an animal skin and head for the lions’ den.

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s a little of this and a little of that, all written to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian jouneys.

3 Comments

Filed under Abortion, African-American, America, black people, Christian Conservative, Christianity, Christians, Church, church planting, Election 2008, Emergent Church, Faith, Gifts of the Spirit, God, Home Church, Inspirational, jesus, Kingdom of God, morality, Politics, Prayer, Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, Prophecy, Race, Red Letter Christians, reformation, Religion, Sarah Palin, Spirituality, vietnam

February 11, 2009 · 7:05 am

Swimming Upstream: “Following God…No Matter Where”

What if the Lord asked you to go to what looks like a garbage dump and minister to some of the poorest and neediest people in the world, would you go? No doubt, a tough question for most of us. One, we hope the Lord would never ask.

But Mark and Christine Pedder were asked just that, and they said, “Yes.”

The following is taken from Mark’s blog:

Mark and Christine Pedder, two Aussies living and working one of the largest slums in Asia, BASECO.

Around 60 acres of reclaimed land, with an estimated 16,000 families living on it in abject poverty. The average family size is mum, dad and 4-6 children, with extremes where families have more than 10 children. The largest family we personally know has 21 living children, our neighbor has 18. So even if you do the lowest possible estimate of our slum population, we have more than 100,000 people living in our slum.

Poverty, the poorest of the poor, disease, sickness, rubbish, lack of clean water, no sewerage, occassional pirated electricity… (See here)

Tired of reading, check out these photos and have your heart crushed. Mark’s blog. And their ministry.

One of my biggest fears is that one day soon I will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. There I will watch Jesus set a torch to all of my so-called works. What will the fire reveal? I fear there will be nothing but ashes left from my man-made wood, hay and straw works. Nothing else. No gold, silver or precious jewels. Then, how will I will spend my eternity in heaven? Will I always lament my lost opportunities? Or is there enough grace to cover my shame?

Mark and Christine have challenged me with an opportunity. Now, what am I going to do with it?

Are Pulpits At Fault For America’s Present Dilemma?

We are sick, and the pulpits are largely at fault. It is certainly not because we lack great pulpiteers, personalities and promoters. What, then, is the root problem? Or, like the old commercial of a national fast food franchise, “Where’s the beef?”
Pastors must get back to putting the call to make disciples and teach the people “all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20) ahead of church as usual. Preach the unvarnished Word of God rather than telling stories salted with a few Scriptures. Will it empty some pews? Undoubtedly. Will it make you more popular and a pop icon? Most likely not. Will it restore the power of God to the church and bring healing to our land? It always has.
We are at a point where thousands of pastors across America must take the challenge, honestly assess whether we are accepting the full mandate in every area shown above and providing the “offensive” leadership that the church so desperately needs. The cost of not doing so can already be measured in broken lives and a weak nation. (Dave Welch)

Are pulpits at fault for America’s present dilemma? Yes.

Do I agree with the analysis by Dave Welch? No, absolutely not.

What’s my suggestion? Burn the pulpits. Sell the churches. Give the money to charity. Start a reformation. Begin anew.

6 Comments

Filed under Abortion, African-American, America, black people, Christian Conservative, Christianity, Christians, Church, church planting, Election 2008, Emergent Church, Faith, Gifts of the Spirit, God, Inspirational, Kingdom of God, morality, Politics, Prayer, Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, Prophecy, Race, reformation, Religion, Sarah Palin, Spirituality, vietnam

February 5, 2009 · 10:45 am

The Writing of “New Wind Blowing (Part 3)

new-wind2

Click on following for earlier article: Part 1 and Part 2 .

Admittedly, I struggle with writing prophetic articles; I really do. Maybe other writers can breeze right along with what they feel the Lord wants them to say, but I can not. Every word and every sentence is an agonizing experience for me.

As one prophetic teacher stated, “All prophetic revelations have three possible sources: God, Satan or our own creative flesh. And often, prophetic revelations are a mixture of all three.”

Sadly, I struggle with all three sources when I write.

In my first draft of New Wind Blowing which appeared in late October, 2008, on www.larrywho.com. The core revelation of the e-Booklet concerning abortion, the Vietnam War and Governor Sarah Palin remained the same as in the updated version which now appears on the site. But the main difference was that I included a prophetic word stating that John McCain would win the presidency.

When Senator Obama won the election, I rewrote New Wind Blowing. This became draft #2 which omitted the McCain stuff and dealt with abortion, the Vietnam War and Governor Palin.

Draft #2 became obsolete in January, 2009, when the Lord had me study Deuteronomy 28 again. This time, I discovered that illegal aliens, terrorists and our nation’s financial problems are also judgments from God because of our Vietnam War sins. (See New Wind Blowing, Chapter 2.)

Thus, the New Wind Blowing which now appears on www.larrywho.com is in fact Draft #3, not the original version.

So, why even mention all of this, right?

I truly believe that New Wind Blowing has needed revelations for the Body of Christ. And if I am correct, the Lord will open doors for these revelations, despite all of my mistakes. My faith is in His ability to lead me and not in my puny ability to follow Him.

But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. (John 3:21)

The Writing of “New Wind Blowing” (Part 2)

new-wind1

Click on following for earlier article: Part 1.

Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican Party’s Vice Presidential candidate, gave her speech at the Republican National Convention on September 3, 2008. Just days after her speech, I had the revelation that a new prophetic wind was blowing out of heaven and across America with new anointing, authority and revelations for the Body of Christ.

I felt that the new wind was triggered by Palin’s arrival on the national scene. It’s not that she is the Grand Poobah of this new spiritual movement, but instead, she is a spiritual sign for all to see. (See New Wind Blowing, chapter 3, page 20).

With the new wind, I received the revelation that abortion is a judgment from God caused by our treacherous handling of the Vietnam War, especially our broken promises and lies to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. (See New Wind Blowing, chapter 4, page 22.)

Maybe, your first thought is, no way! God would not allow 50,000,000 babies to die just because we messed up in Vietnam.You’re nuts!

But remember this: our nation’s sin causes judgment to come upon our nation. It’s our sin that does it. Not God. He is not responsible. We are. We have to take the responsibility for our sins, and then repent of them.

But it shall come about, if you will not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. (Deuteronomy 28:15)

The writer of Deuteronomy used the word curses to describe what would happen if a nation disobeyed God. We would now use the word judgments instead of that word.

Look at verse 18 of Chapter 28:

Cursed shall be the offspring of your body…

The offspring (children, babies, pregnancies) are cursed if we sin against God. Therefore, abortion is a curse, or a judgment of God against a national sin. (See New Wind Blowing, chapter 2.)

I realize that this is the exactly opposite of what you have been taught. You’ve always heard that judgment would fall on America because of our willful sin of abortion; and I’m saying that judgment is already here in the form of abortion. And we need to repent of a different national sin to rid us of abortion.

If I’m correct, then we have been heading in the wrong direction for years. Read the booklet. Download it. It’s free. (New Wind Blowing.)

Tomorrow, I will list my mistakes in the writing of the booklet.

(Continued in Part 3.)

1 Comment

February 3, 2009 · 2:55 pm

The Writing of “New Wind Blowing” (Part 1)

new-wind

I was not seeking it, did not ask for it, and when I received the revelation for New Wind Blowing, I tried to pray it onto someone else. Someone like Billy Graham or Franklin Graham or Rick Warren. A person who had the ears of millions of people rather than an unknown sixty year-old guy like me.

It all began with me having a hair cut in a barber shop just down the street from work. Now to be honest, when it came to barbers, I was not picky. Most winked at my bald pate and asked, “How do you want it cut?”

I usually smiled back at them. “A number two will do,” I’d say. They’d set their trimmers for a quarter inch; and buzz, buzz, I was done and out of there.

So, when I entered the barber shop the first time, there were three barbers working on customers. The first available one was a mid-thirties woman named Belinda. We chatted a little and she told me that she was Vietnamese. I gave no thought to her cultural background as being important to me one way or another. It was a barber shop conversation, just two ships passing each other in the night. But over the next six months – as my hair was being cut – she told me her story.

When Belinda was ten years old, South Vietnam was falling apart. The Americans had left. The Communists were taking over the government. Her dad decided that Belinda, her younger brother and the mother would take a boat to a safer country, Malaysia. At the last second, there was not enough room for all three of them. So, only Belinda and her brother left Vietnam.

boatpeople-3

Somehow, the boat arrived in Malaysia. There, little Belinda learned that being ashore was not the safest place for a little girl. She had to fight off robbers and rapists, all the while watching over her little brother. They survived by hiding in the jungle forests.

Then, after a few months, the two came to America. But even this had its dark side for her with the problems she suffered in a foster family.

A few years later, Belinda and her brother were reunited with her mother when she arrived in America. Her father was forced to stay in Vietnam.

No matter how hard I tried after hearing her story, I could not get it out of my mind. I could not pray it away. It gripped my heart to think that a little girl had suffered so much. It seemed so unfair.

Out of my struggles, I wrote this article on May 2, 2008.

(Continued in Part 2)

2 Comments

Filed under Abortion, African-American, America, black people, Christian Conservative, Christianity, Christians, Church, Election 2008, Emergent Church, Gifts of the Spirit, God, Home Church, Inspirational, Kingdom of God, morality, Politics, Prayer, Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, Prophecy, Race, reformation, Religion, Sarah Palin, Spirituality, vietnam

January 24, 2009 · 9:39 am

Is God Judging America’s Newspapers?

From 1950 to 2000, advertising revenue for America’s newspapers had a consistent growth pattern year after year. Then something happened, which changed the whole economic model for newspapers. What was it?

Was it the growth of the internet? Yes, in small part; but this excuse becomes lame when you consider that newspapers could have reaped financial profits by jumping on the internet bandwagon early on. What stopped them from doing so?

Was it the souring of the economy? Yes, in small part; but hey, it was the newspapers who told us day after day after day the economy was bad. Don’t they believe their own words? Why didn’t they make cut-backs?

If it wasn the internet or the economy which has sealed the doom of the newspaper industry, especially the LA Times, Chicago Tribune and the New York Times, then what was it?

The election of George W. Bush as president of the United States. This man was the most lied about, most lambasted and most hated president by the newspaper industry – as a whole – in the history of the United States. The ink on each paper dripped with venom, nothing was too outrageous to print about Bush.

And at the same time, President Bush was the most vocal Christian proponent in the history of the White House. A man whose faith was always apparent for all to see.

So, is God judging America’s newspapers? Of course, He is. He’s a Father who loves His son, George, and knows how to avenge the wrongs done to this man.

Saying, “Do not touch My annointed ones…” (Psalm 105:15)

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19)

6 Comments

Filed under Abortion, African-American, America, black people, Christian Conservative, Christianity, Christians, Church, Election 2008, Emergent Church, Faith, George Bush, Gifts of the Spirit, God, Home Church, Inspirational, Kingdom of God, morality, Politics, Prayer, Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, Prophecy, Race, reformation, Religion, Sarah Palin, Spirituality, vietnam

January 20, 2009 · 7:47 am

God Bless President Barack Obama

I pray that President Barack Obama will fulfill the divine plans and redemptive purposes that the Lord has placed on his life. And that President Obama will open up his heart to the truth, and will never settle for anything less than the truth in his life and in his administration. That when his presidential term in office is over that all will proclaim, “President Barack Obama was the Lord’s Champion.” Amen.

Islamic Terrorists Vs. Radical Christians: New Game. New Rules. (Part 10)

india-terrorist13

Click on following links for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 , Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, and Part 9.

How to be a Radical Christian (v).

And it was so, when the Philistine (Goliath) arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. (2 Samuel 17:48)

The Philistine army was on one mountain. Israel was cowering on a mountain opposite the Philistines. A small valley ran between them. The ten-foot tall giant, Goliath, was dressed in bronze armor and was standing in front of the Philistine army, challenging Israel to a duel. He was armed with a sword, spear, and javelin. His shield bearer was standing off to his left and slightly in front of him, protecting him from arrows.

Now, standing out in front of the Israeli army was a fifteen year-old kid with a sling and five stones. No armor. No sword. No spear. No javelin. No shield or shield bearer. He was all alone; and he could expect no assistance from the nervous Nellies standing behind him wearing Israeli uniforms.

Goliath mocked and cursed David. Then David boasted about the Lord.

The Philistine giant and his shield bearer trudged forward, but what did David do? He didn’t walk. He raced toward his foe. And while he was running, he swung his sling around and around.

What do you think was going through the heads of the the Israeli soldiers as they watched the fifteen year-old kid racing toward the Terminator of that day? Probably something like this: “He’s a nut! He doesn’t have a chance. We are doomed.”

And yet none of the Israeli soldiers, including King Saul and David’s older brothers, had the courage to take David’s place. So, they stood and watched from a distance as David won the battle for them.

David’s running toward Goliath is a perfect illustration of how Radical Christians must help fight Islamic Terrorists. “What?” you say.

Not too many years ago, a well-known prophet prophesied what he saw was going to happen in California – death and destruction. He advised all Christians to move to safer states. Maybe, Montana, Utah, or Idaho.

Sadly, I agree with his visions about death and destruction in California and on the West Coast. But I disagree with his advice that we Christians should abandon ship and run for safety.

When the bombs begin exploding (and they soon will), Radical Christians must be set in place to be the Body of Christ, willing to reach out and help the hurting people, and to be leaders. This could be the church’s finest hour.

3 Comments

December 22, 2008 · 3:43 pm

Islamic Terrorists Vs. Radical Christians: New Game. New Rules. (Part 10)

india-terrorist12

Click on following links for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, and Part 9.

How to be a Radical Christian (v).

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40)

Most of us Christians, even in times of rebellion, love God. Why? Because when we gave ourselves to the Lord, He poured His love into our hearts. So in effect, our love for Him is His love back to Him, perfect in every way.

Now, loving neighbors as ourselves, that’s a different story. After all, there has to be some boundaries for our love, doesn’t there? No use in throwing our love-pearls before the swine, right?

So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. (Ephesians 6:28)

The Greek word agape is translated into the English word love in Matthew 22:39 and Ephesians 6:28. And if you reread the two scriptures, you will notice an interesting point: we are to love our wives as our neighbors and as ourselves.

This agape type of love is different from the other Greek words translated into the English word love: eros (husband-wife love), storge (family love), and philia (friend’s love). It is an unconditional love that cares not about the character flaws or weaknesses in the other person and does not require a reciprocal love in return. It is God’s love, hanging on the cross, and reaching out to all of mankind.

So, if you want to be a radical Christian, look at your neighbor and say to yourself, “If need be, I will lay down my life for you, just as I would for my wife.”