My Prayer For The Nation

Father, I come to you now and I ask that you would be with our nation. We have forgotten that we were founded on Your values. Now we only seek after what feels right for "us" and don't care about what it does to others or that it goes against Your word. The students are being taught the lies of evolution theory as a fact with little or no mention of the truth of Your creation. They are being taught that they came from monkeys and then get in trouble because they act like one. They are taught to practice "safe sex" and given condoms at school. Students are now sexually active by the age of 11 or 12 and having babies and getting STD's. Our youth now have "friends with benefits" and practice oral sex and think it's OK. The schools have forgotten that they used to set Wednesdays aside so students could go to church and started having games on Wednesdays. The schools have placed themselves above family by having practices during Thanksgiving and CHRISTmas break. We have taken You out of our schools and wonder why a "loving God" would allow school shootings. Parents are no longer trying to be parents but "buddies" so that their children will think that they are "cool". Parents let their children dress in ways that "show off" their bodies and cause the opposite sex to sin by lust and think nothing of it. Parents now are scared to tell their kids what to do so the kids get away with back talking and doing whatever else they feel like. We as a nation complain because we have no money but have no problem paying for our cigarettes, alcohol, porn, cell phones, internet, and going to casinos. And all of this while not giving you the tithe that You ask of us. We have forgotten that Your Word says a worker is worthy of their wages and expect to be paid to sit at home. We reward those on welfare by giving them free health care and giving them more money each time they have a child. We have the misconception that it is our money so we'll do what we want, we forget that You are THE one who provides it for us. We put higher value on animals and trees lives than we do on humans. We murder and call it abortion and that it's our choice. And the saddest thing of all of this is that we as Christians are sometimes guilty of all of this as well. There are way too many "Christians" who do not even attempt to glorify You with their lives. Some of us look no different from the world, we forget that You have called us to be Holy (set apart) just as You are Holy. We lie, cheat, steal, gossip, and put ourselves before You and wonder why bad things happen to "good" people. We'll praise You while we are at church (that is IF we bothered to go) and then leave unchanged and act like the rest of the world.

So, Father, where I have wronged You in these things, please convict my heart so that I repent, and when I sin, make me so miserable that I can't even eat or sleep until I do repent. Help me to be sorry I hurt you and NOT just sorry I GOT CAUGHT. Father, change our hearts, or come back soon!

In Your beautiful, holy, righteous, just and perfect name I humbly ask and pray, AMEN.

Seeking His face,

Tyson Murphy

Fast Food Society

Look around, we have become a "fast food" society. We are so used to pulling up to our local fast food joint, placing our order, and driving off with our food, and in about the same time it would take us to pop something in the microwave at home. Fast Food joints (and regular restaurants) are a great convenience. It seems fewer and fewer families eat at home anymore. Not that I'm saying that this is a bad thing, but just stating my opinions. This mentality has spread, however into every part of our lives. We expect to get what we want and when we want it. We don't take time to stop and smell the roses anymore. I went to a local pizza joint a few months ago with several church members. It was a great time of fellowship, (it always is) but the service was horrible! There were 16 or so of us in our group and there were only 2 other people in the place. They were a little under staffed that night, so we were there for 10 minutes or so before someone took our drink orders. It was probably another 15 minutes before we got our drinks. I don't remember how long it took them to take our orders, but I do know it was close to an hour and a half before the last order came out. Needless to say, we were not to happy about the service. Why, because it was not as fast as what we expected. After about 40 minutes of S-L-O-W service 85% of our conversations turned to talking about that, SLOW SERVICE. We all started complaining to each other about it. (I did say WE ALL, which includes me!) Don't get me wrong, there is a certain quality of service that should be expected when we go out to eat. But I think we sometimes forget what goes into preparing a meal.

Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house is always great. My dad always smokes a turkey on the Webber Kettle. (Not a gas grill. They are faster, but the flavor is not quite as good.) It takes about 3 hours to cook it this way. Mom slaves away for a few days before making all kinds of good deserts. Plus, on Thanksgiving day mom is still making the side dishes. A good home cooked meal is NOT fast food. It's a process. Red Lobster now has a special menu, the Wood Fire Grill menu. It takes longer for them to cook it, but man, just like Thanksgiving dinner at home, it's worth the wait.

Back to the "fast food". If all we ever ate was fast food we would be in some BIG trouble. (Side note: The USA on average is the FATTEST COUNTRY in the world. Let that soak in for a minute. Maybe it's because there is a fast food restaurant on almost every corner!) There was a documentary a few years back called "Super Size Me". Morgan Spurlock only ate McDonalds for 30 days. That's 3 meals a day for 30 days for a total of 90 meals. He went to a doctor several times during this 30 day period to track his health changes. It got to the point where his doctors tried to get him to stop filming the documentary because it was destroying his health and they thought it was going to kill him.

So, here's my point...

In our spiritual lives we do the same thing. A lot of times we live on a "Fast Food" diet. We get up in the morning and read one or two verses and go on about our day and wonder why we haven't seen God do amazing things in our lives. We all know someone we look up to spiritually. someone who we say we'd like to be like some day. They seem to always be able to find joy even in the middle of trials. If you were to ask them how they got this way they would tell you it was a process. They didn't just wake up one night and have it all together. In fact, they would probably tell you they still don't have it all together and don't think they ever will. You see, they have learned that getting to know God is a process. You can't just pull up to church on Sunday mornings and expect to walk out full of the knowledge of God. For that matter, come back Sunday and Wednesday nights and it still won't happen. You need to spend time with God every day in order for that to happen. I know my youth think I'm old, but I'm not. I'm only 33 at the time of writing this. However I have learned this. When I spend time with God I learn to become content in Him. Which means that there is still stuff happening around me, but I'm able to keep my focus on Him. I know that just hit-and-miss time with God is not healthy. I can't grow spiritually if that is my regular habit. When I become content in God I am able to have joy through the struggles. Most of them are not fixed overnight. In fact, a lot of them take years, and some of them will last until I'm at home with my Lord. But I'm able to trust that everything is ok because of the time spent with Him. We CAN'T expect to grow in Christ if all we do is eat spiritual fast food. It will give us our fill, make us feel like we did something for the day, but what we will end up with is a spiritually fat and lazy life. We won't want to get off of our backsides and do something for God because wel will be too tired to do so.


I know I'm probably the last person who should use this example, but I'm going to anyway. Physically if we don't exercise regularly we will become lazy. When we become lazy we become fat. When we become fat we see people all around us having fun and want to join in. However, now we don't have the energy to get up off of our backsides because of our laziness and lack of good nourishment. We know we need to change our diets, we know we need to start to exercise, but we don't have the energy to do so. Sometimes people will even get depressed because of this. We think about the old days when we could run and play with the best of them. Now we are stuck. We know that if we would just start small, maybe a walk around the yard twice a day, then a walk around the block, the 2 times around the block. The next thing we know we are able to walk 2 miles. Spiritually it's the same way. If we start off spending just a little more time with God, the next thing you know we are able to spend more and more time with Him.


That's just something that was on my mind today. I hope you are able to get something out of it.

Sick & Tired

Like the title says, I'm sick and tired. I'm sick and tired of people calling themselves "Christians" but living like the world. Every day it seems like I meet a person who claims the name of Christ (Christian) and then talks about someone they can't stand or cuss, or (and this one really gets me) their cell phone rings and it is some song cussing or talking about what they would like to do and with who. Revelation 3:16 says...So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Some translations even say VOMIT you out of my mouth. So, in other words, God says, YOU MAKE ME SICK TO MY STOMACH! I guess I say that to say this...Christians, ACT LIKE CHRIST!!! Trust me, I'm not saying that I am perfect, I know I make mistakes. Watch me long enough and you will see me fall (I'm only human). But keep watching and see who picks me back up again. It is CHRIST and CHRIST alone. Christians, when you examine your life think about this... When the world looks at you who do they see? If they see anything other than Christ there is something wrong. Anyway, feel free to comment on this blog, I'm sure I will add more to it later.

Did Jesus Go To Hell?

When Jesus died on the cross, did He go to heaven or hell before He rose again? (The following answer is my opinion from my beliefs, feel free to comment if you disagree or agree.)

There is no way to know for sure. Preachers still debate this one and will until Christ comes back. Here is what I think...

The Bible teaches that when He died He took on all of the sins of the world. The Bible also teaches that sin CANNOT be in heaven. Sin leads to eternal death. Eternal death is hell. So if Jesus defeated or overcame death. Well, to me it is only logical that He went to hell to defeat death. Some people say there is no way that Jesus went to hell because He was perfect, He was and is God, He never sinned and hell is for sinners. Good points, but, they totally miss the fact that when He took on our sins He became "as a sinner". That is the ONLY way he could defeat sin.

What If You Stop Believing?

In John 3:16, it says, Who ever shall believe in Him shall not parish but have everlasting life. What if you are saved and years later..someone close to you dies or something tragic happens and you stop going to church and you say God isn't real and you don't believe in Him anymore? Where would you go when you die?

First off I have to address a touchy issue about that question. I know it's not my place to say if someone has accepted Christ as their savior or not. However, if a person quits believing in God for any reason at all I have to question if they ever KNEW Him in the first place, or if they just knew ABOUT Him. When a person has a growing relationship with Christ it means that they spend time with Him in the good times and in the bad times. This builds a relationship that is real and true and if you have that kind of a relationship with Him you won't stop believing He is real when bad stuff happens. It doesn't mean you won't get mad, but even that is temporary.

That would be just like saying...

My best friend who I have talked with and spent time with wasn't there when I needed them the other day so I no longer believe that they exist. Sounds kind of dumb doesn't it.

Anyway that leads me on to this...

The truth of the matter is if a person who used to believe in God, but now for whatever reason doesn't, they are either (A) just plain mad at Him or (B) they never KNEW Him in the first place.

If they never knew Him, and they die, the Bible is pretty clear on it, they will go to hell.

If they had a relationship with Him and are mad at Him when they die, they will still go to Heaven. Once we have a relationship with Him, nothing, including anger, can cause us to lose the salvation that He gave to us.

John 10:27-29 (New International Version)

27. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.

God and Devil

How is God God, and the devil the devil? How was the devil made?

I know this probably isn't the answer you are looking for on the first one, but here is my answer. God ALWAYS has existed and He always will. (That is one thing you have to take by faith.) God actually created the devil/satan except for he was originally named Lucifer which means "Light-Bearer" or "Morning Star". Lucifer was the most beautiful angel God ever created. (That's right, I said the devil was an angel of God.) When God created the angels He gave them free will (or the freedom to choose to obey or disobey Him) just like He gives us. When God created Lucifer He gave him a lot of power and responsibility, however, his beauty and power went to his head and he thought he could overthrow God and take over Heaven. It didn't work. God cast him out of Heaven along with 1/3 of the angels who fought with him. Some scholars say that this would have been only a day or two before he talked Adam and Eve into eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden.

Revelation 12:7-9 HCSB

7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.

Ezekiel 28:12-19 NIV (it says king of Tyre, but this scripture is a reference about the devil)

12 "Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
" 'You were the model of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

13 You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
ruby, topaz and emerald,
chrysolite, onyx and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.

14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.

15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.

16 Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
and I expelled you, O guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.

17 Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.

18 By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.

19 All the nations who knew you
are appalled at you;
you have come to a horrible end
and will be no more.' "

Isaiah 14:12-15 NIV

12 How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!

13 You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."

15 But you are brought down to the grave,
to the depths of the pit.

I know this is a lot to think about and can be somewhat confusing. If you leave your comments I will be sure to try to respond to them too.

Tongues

I know how our church doesn't believe in speaking in tongues and I have been taught my entire life that they were good so my friend's church was talking about tongues and I wanted to go and see what they thought. I still don't know what to do will you please try to explain it to me!

Wow! Let me start by saying I AM NOT trying to cause denominational arguments here. I will do my best to use some scripture to answer this and to be honest will interject some of my own thought.

One of the most popular scriptures about tongues are as follows. I will add my 2 cents in blue, the scripture will be in red.

Day of Pentecost

Acts 2:1-12 (Holman Christian Standard) I know I should have used the NIV and I will from this point on. It is more widely accepted. However in this scripture reference the wording is very similar.

1 When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. 3 And tongues (from the Greek word glossa; a language, specifically one naturally unacquired. (This and all other definitions from the Greek language are from "The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible') My example... I have never studied Spanish and now all of the sudden I speak it. "This says nothing about an "unknown" or "Prayer" language.), like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech. 5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 When this sound occurred, the multitude came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. (In this scripture passage the miracle is that everyone heard in their own language. Here is an example... I go to a conference and there are people from China, Russia, Mexico, Spain, France there. It is my turn to speak, I speak in English, but everyone else hears me in their own language without the use of a interpreter. That is what happened here.)7 And they were astounded and amazed, saying, "Look, aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 How is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages the magnificent acts of God." 12 And they were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, "What could this be?"

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (NIV)

4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues (this is from the same Greek word as before, "glossa"), and to still another the interpretation of tongues (still "glossa"). 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

This is a long one so I left in the footnotes. Be sure to read them!

1 Corinthians 14 (NIV)

Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues

1Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2For anyone who speaks in a tongue^[a] does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.^[b] 3But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. 4He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5I would like every one of you to speak in tongues,^[c] but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues,^[d] unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified. 6Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. 12So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church. 13For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. 14For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. (I found this thought on the internet about this passage, "This is interpreted by some to mean that when Paul prayed in the Spirit, he used a "heavenly tongue" and did not himself know what he was praying. First of all, this raises an important question. How would they ever know if their prayer was answered? What would be the point? Does God's own Spirit just pray to Himself as some would imply? So what is Paul really saying in this verse? The problem in understanding this verse comes largely from the issue of the awkward translation of Greek to English. Please allow me to re-articulate this verse in modern English, "If I pray in a language those around me do not know, I might be praying with the Spirit, but my thoughts would be unfruitful for those listening." Paul is constantly putting forward the same message which is, if we pray out loud, we should either pray so others around us can understand or we should remain quiet. This information is from www.speaking-in-tongues.net I have not finished reviewing this website and at this time cannot endorse it, I will say what I have skimmed through I have agreed with.)15So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. 16If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand^[e] say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? 17You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. 18I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. 20Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21In the Law it is written:
"Through men of strange tongues
and through the lips of foreigners
I will speak to this people,
but even then they will not listen to me,"^[f] says the Lord.

22Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. 23So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand^[g] or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand^[h]comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, 25and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"

Orderly Worship

26What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. 27If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. 29Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
As in all the congregations of the saints, 34women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 36Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? 37If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. 38If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored.^[i] 39Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

Footnotes:

1. 1 Corinthians 14:2 Or another language; also in verses 4, 13, 14, 19, 26 and 27
2. 1 Corinthians 14:2 Or by the Spirit
3. 1 Corinthians 14:5 Or other languages; also in verses 6, 18, 22, 23 and 39
4. 1 Corinthians 14:5 Or other languages; also in verses 6, 18, 22, 23 and 39
5. 1 Corinthians 14:16 Or among the inquirers
6. 1 Corinthians 14:21 Isaiah 28:11,12
7. 1 Corinthians 14:23 Or some inquirers
8. 1 Corinthians 14:24 Or or some inquirer
9. 1 Corinthians 14:38 Some manuscripts If he is ignorant of this, let him be ignorant

I will stop here on this subject for now because this subject alone can go on for page after page. I know this blog will probably just bring up a lot more questions so I will do my best to answer as I have time. But let me end with this thought of mine...

If tongues is thought to be so important, why is it that we never read in the Bible where Jesus spoke in tongues? I asked a minister that question one time and the response he gave me was that because it is a private prayer language. To which I replied, "When Jesus was asked by the disciples how should we pray Jesus said, 5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.^[a]' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matt. 6:5-15)

Jesus does not say that we need to speak in an unknown language or tongue to pray. He didn't really have a response for that one.

Anyway, that's all for now. Feel free to respond.

Thoughts

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, and yes, it hurt! When the world looks at me, what do they see. Do they see just some normal guy or do they see something different? I hope something different. I don’t want to be the same. I want to stand out. I don’t mean by the way I dress, or the fact that I have a tattoo or ear rings. I want to stand out because of my attitude, my actions, how I do business, how I treat others...

I want my attitude to line up with that of Christ. (Phil. 2:5). The Bible teaches that when people look at us as Christians they should see something different. We should stand out...(Matt. 7:16-20).

I think the world is full of too many people who claim to be "Christian" but you can’t tell it by their language or actions. The Bible says that when we are in Christ, we are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17) When we look at Phil. 2:5 along with this scripture we see that we CAN’T live for Christ and act like the world.

Anyway, just a thought. I’m sure I will add more later. But I do want to leave this challenge. If you claim to be a Christian but act like the world, read the scriptures that I mentioned and pray and ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart to His truth, NOT mine or yours. His scripture does NOT lie.