Value of marriage-A While the church teaches the sanctity of marriage, it has been lax in protecting it. Churches need to support young families going through the stress of surviving in a culture that considers marriage transitional or obsolete and who have no family nearby to help them. The church can do a great deal to strengthen the marriages in its church families through marriage enrichment classes and discussions with youth about dealing with relationships. The subject is too broad to cover here but I have written a series on the Value of Marriage including “God Made Them Male & Female” (about differences between them), “In Defense of Marriage” (about benefits of marriage), and “What is Normal” (Problems we have today due to the breakdown of marriage) which are available through Udemy at – https://www.udemy.com/course/value-of-family-and-gender/?referralCode=B59AC09CACA5C0C97BDD
Politics-I-AY
Democrats are attacking Republicans for trying to repeal the Voter Rights Act which would prevent a lot of people from voting. Republicans want to remove dead people from the rolls so a party can’t hire people to vote in the name of the dead people. They also want to reestablish the voter ID requirement so people can’t vote who are not eligible to vote like illegal immigrants and people can’t vote multiple times under different names, using the names of those who have died. They also want to ban mail-in voting since there is no way to verify that it was sent by the person whose name is on it. It would prevent someone from intercepting the ballots and substituting ballots that support their candidate. They also want to prevent the counting of votes that come in after the election is over so a party can’t check to see how many votes they are losing by and suddenly discover (manufacture) enough ballots to help them win the election. By repealing the Voter Rights Act, it could prevent a large number of people from voting illegally. Maybe it is time we repealed the Voter Rights Act and only allow people to vote who can vote legally.
Politics-I-AX
Even though liberals say the Republicans pose a great threat to democracy, with no proof of any kind, they continue to show their contempt for democracy. Democrat politicians are urging Democrat voters to switch their affiliation to Republican in the primary and vote for the worst candidate so the Democrats can be guaranteed of winning the next election. They are seeking to corrupt elections, discourage candidates from running against them by physical threats and legal harassment, and blackening the reputation of their opponents through frivolous accusations and investigations so voters won’t vote for them. Once in power, they pass legislation that goes against the wishes of a majority of voters. They don’t care anything about the will of the people, all they care about is winning so they can impose their will on the people. They demonstrate open contempt for democracy and the will of the people. That doesn’t sound like democracy to me, that sounds like the working of a party that is trying to overthrow a democracy and establish a dictatorship. We need to elect people who will respect the Constitution, the rule of law, and the will of the people. If voters don’t pay attention to who they are voting for, the day will come when we will be like China and Russia and a wide variety of banana republics who hold elections but the one chosen by the party always wins.
New videos in Telugu language for India
I have videos are available to view on the ministry You Tube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWs_YWcEVgAf7jlU7nlEbdw
They have all been in English up until recently, however I created a separate You Tube account on which I have posted some videos of sessions with translations in Telugu for pastors in India who do not speak good English, but can speak Telugu. You can access the channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDwg0bYrBnTif7no-dFafrg Feel free to share this with pastors you know.
Rev Robert Barr
Neighborhood Ministries of NW Ohio.
neighborhoodministries.net
Seventh Sunday of Kingdomtide-B
Freedom and Domination-B – God established the United States under a Constitution that would guarantee that the government would be made up of average people, and serve the interests of the people, however, the people have allowed the government officials to tell them what to do and draw them away from God. Those who believe the liberal philosophy feel that the average person is not smart enough to rule themselves and need someone to rule over them, but Jesus said, he who would be great, must be a servant (Mark 9:26). Our first priority should be to serve others, not enslave them. We get through giving to others. While we may not get rich in the things of this world, we become rich in things that really matter. It goes against all we consider to be wise but it works and those who seek to get find that which they get slips through their fingers and is easily lost. Jesus says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. God established the government to keep the peace but when they tell us to do that which violates God’s will, God expects us to obey Him and not the government. We tend to hide behind the government officials and say that they made us do it, but God will hold each of us accountable for our actions. We may suffer because of disobeying the government, but not nearly as much as we will suffer if we disobey God. By disobeying the government, we could end up in jail, but by disobeying God, we could end up spending eternity in Hell. We saw pro-life people sent to prison under the Biden Administration for praying outside of an abortion clinic. They had been warned but felt their duty to God to protect the innocent required it.
Seventh Sunday of Kingdomtide-A-Oct 19
Freedom and Domination-A-The prophets were very clear about responsibility. The saying had been, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge”, implying that the children suffered due to the sins of their parents. While all mankind suffers because of the sins of Adam and Eve, it is because we choose to follow their example and choose our way over God’s way. God gave the law to direct our behavior towards what God had intended but our desire is to obey the letter of the law while getting around it to get our way if possible. Since our heart seeks to disobey, even when we outwardly obey, our heart isn’t in it and we are rebelling against God’s law, and the penalty for sin is death. God established Israel with no rulers. Every man was responsible to God. The people later demanded a king like the other nations but God warned them that the king would draw them away from God and demand allegiance that only God deserved. However, the Israelites persisted, and God allowed them to have a king. The kings drew the people away from God, just as He said they would. In fact, that is what the kings did. The prophets reminded the people that “the soul that sins will die”. Each man is responsible for his own behavior. Men want to have someone else in charge to make decisions and take the heat for bad decisions. When we appoint leaders over us, we are authorizing them to make decisions on our behalf. We then become responsible for their decisions. If they don’t do what we want, we should remove them if we can. If we can remove them and do not, we are consenting to their decisions. When leaders take power by force and try to force us to do something that violates God’s will, we must decide whether we will obey them or obey God. We cannot claim we violated God’s law because man told us to, because no man has the authority to override God’s commands. Ultimately, God will hold us accountable for our behavior and will hold them accountable for theirs.
MAGA-A-E
It seems like the country is in a mess and the church has been unable to do anything to change it but many churches have allowed sin to enter the church and many other churches hold up Biblical standards but do not teach their people how to live like Christ would have us. As a result, many church members live no differently then unbelievers. Yet, God has said that if we humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways, and seek His face, he will hear our cry and turn and heal our land. We need a nationwide revival. Revivals are now breaking out on our college campuses and we need revivals in our churches. If the people in church turn back to God those around the church will notice the change and will want that difference in their life. All past revivals have begun when church members recognize their failure to live as Christ wants them to and turn back to God. Government can make it easier for the church or harder, but it cannot bring revival.
Health Care-M
I had Polio at age two. For two days my life hung by a thread. I lived but was paralyzed from the waist down until a nurse developed physical therapy to restore muscle function. I was finally able to walk again after six years on crutches and in braces. I was one on the fortunate ones. Millions of children died from Polio and millions more were crippled for life. The Polio vaccine saved millions of children and their families from the disease but came 10 years too late for me. Children should get vaccinated against major diseases but I sometimes think they get too many too fast. Vaccines using live or dead viruses are a great life saver but the ones developed for Covid are artificial not real vaccines. They were never fully tested to how the body would react and may have done more damage then good. We need answers and have not been getting them. Maybe now we will with someone in charge who is interested in getting answers, not kickbacks.
Sixth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Oct 12-B
We are seeing an increasing number of judges and politicians in the U.S. who don’t feel that they are bound by the laws of this country or the will of the people, let alone by God’s law, and the people need to let their leaders know through the ballot box that that is not acceptable. We are facing a crucial election next month. No one, who values his freedom, should vote for a candidate who shows open contempt for the people who elect him and the laws of this country, but sadly, many including Christians will do so this election. Voters need to check the candidate’s record and not rely on his campaign promises. There are a number of organizations like the League of Women Voters, the Faith and Freedom Coalition, and others that publish the voting records of candidates so voters should check them before voting. (see Christian Values-Rule of Law at https://www.udemy.com/course/christian-values-rule-of-law/?referralCode=71BC01DED5FF0937DCF0