To live a long time is nothing, to live a long time wisely is something.”
–Louis L’Amour (The Californios)

“My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying.”
–Proverbs 3:1-2 (NLT)
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See if you feel a pin-prick or maybe a dagger thrust as you read the following. All I can say is “Ouch!”

“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
–James 4:17 (NIV)

“Most of the time when we sin we are fully aware that we are doing so. We know what we ought to do but our selfish sinful nature leads us astray. We rationalize our sins by telling ourselves that no one is being hurt or that no one will know, or that everyone acts this way.
Driving over the speed limit is a good example. When we drive over the speed limit we are usually aware and rationalize our bad driving behavior by telling ourselves we really aren’t hurting anyone. Or we might tell ourselves that everyone else seems to be going over the speed limit too.
One who rationalizes these small sins will probably find it easy to rationalize larger and more serious ones. We know the good we ought to do; we just don’t want to do it. Everyone should make a more serious effort to do the right thing, all the time and without rationalizing.”
(taken from the “Good News Journal”)
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November 3, 1723, a child was born in the colony of Delaware–Samuel Davies. He would be ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1747 and began to preach in Virginia, a place where the established church was the Church of England. He was the first preacher licensed outside the established church.
While pastoring in Virginia he heard of a new college founded in New Jersey. It started out as the Log College, but was now calling itself the College of New Jersey and it was open to all denominations. The school persuaded him to travel with one of the founders, evangelist Gilbert Tennent, to England to raise money for the school and they raised enough to erect the first permanent building, Nassau Hall. Later he was asked to serve as president of this school and by the time he died in 1761, the school was being called Princeton.
Patrick Henry remembered Davies as the man who taught him what an orator should be as he heard him preach many times as a child. Davies “would be very proud that the college he helped establish is one of the elite schools in America. He would likely be horrified that the school has, like the other Ivy League colleges, become aggressively secular.”
(taken from The Christian History)

They know that when he gives his word he will keep it, and that he never gives an inch after he makes up his mind.”
–Charles A. Seltzer  (West)

“But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.”
–1 John 2:5 (NLT)
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There was another Islamic jihadist attack in New York, and yet there are those, especially on the left that will continue to spout that we are not in a war.  Remember when the previous President said that there is not a “War on Terror” but it is an “Overseas Contingency Operation”?  I have often ponder since that time the question:  How is a nonwar executed?
One of the biggest problems I see is that pastors are doing the same thing with spiritual warfare.  Many Christians today do not realize that they are involved in an all-out, full-fledged war.  This warfare is not passive, in fact, it is becoming more and more intense and will continue to do so until the return of the Lord.  Christians do not take this warfare seriously.
I have been writing on my “Battle Grounds” on Facebook scriptures regarding this warfare.  Peter, Paul, John and even Jude give warnings to believers about this war that is taking place.  Paul writes, “Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1, HCSB)  Scripture declares the following of Satan’s activities:  beguiles, seduces, opposes, resists, deceives, sows terror, hinders, buffets, tempts, persecutes, blasphemes, and more.  He is the master when it comes to human subversion because he is the ultimate manipulator.
Satan is described as a serpent, bird, wolf, lion, and dragon.  However, 40% of those saying they are born-again Christians say Satan is only a symbol of evil.  No, he is evil, and he is a being, a spiritual-being.  I think far too many smile when they read Job 2:2 and they see Satan before God and God asks where he has come from and Satan replies, “From roaming through the earth …“and walking around on it.”  This verse should actually make us shudder for he is looking for those whom he may devour.
Ponder the following:

     “Men think of the world not as a battleground, but as a playground.”  –A.W. Tozer
     “True Christianity is a struggle, a fight and a warfare.”  –J.C. Ryle
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November 2, 1893, marks the death of Daniel Payne.  If he were to be described the following would have to be said of him, he lived a “lifetime of tireless service, a vivid example of faith, hard work, and commitment.”  Daniel Payne once stated, “When God has a work to be executed, he also chooses the man to execute it.”  His life-long work:  improve the lot of black Americans, spiritually and mentally.
Daniel Payne was born in Charleston, SC in 1811 as a free black.  He worked hard for an education and after the Nat Turner Revolt South Carolina restricted the teaching of blacks, so he left to study at a seminary in Pennsylvania.  While there he joined the African Methodist Episcopal church.  Later the AME joined with white Methodists to found Wilberforce University in Ohio and eventually he became its president, the first black college president in America.
Following the Civil War the freedmen in the South needed guidance for they were now free but without guidance.  Previously all of their life decisions had been made for them.  Payne led a band of missionaries to the South to raise the spiritual condition of the now freedmen, thus establishing the AME church in the South.  (taken from The Christian History)

There was a simplicity to the smell of sweat and to the gentle grumbling of [her] voice; there was an ancient reality to the feel of dust and pine needles against his skin; there was something in the far sky that caught up a man and cradled him with its timeless promise.  A man was meant to be a part of dust and struggle, to feel hardness and to get his pleasure from the little intervals between.”
–Ernest Haycox  (The Border Legion)

“So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life.”
–Leviticus 18:3 (NLT)
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“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason – I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.
On this I take my stand. I can do no other. God help me.”
–Martin Luther

This statement, one of the most important in history, was made by a real man.  A man who dared to stand up to the ultimate powers of his day–the pope and the Holy Roman emperor.  He wanted only to argue the sale of indulgences, but that gesture turned into one of the greatest movements in all history; that of Protestantism.
Luther made a stand in the midst of a time of social turmoil; in the midst of terrorism and the invasion of the Muslim horde from the East; in the midst of political turmoil; and in the midst of religious heresy.  Yet, he could have wilted and crumbled.  He could have shirked his duty to the Most High, but no, in the midst of all of these he stood the test–a man of God.
Because of this Luther was declared a heretic by the pope.  He was declared an outlaw by the emperor.  Both would be charges enough to warrant his death; yet through it all, he would not recant.  If makes me wonder how many in the church today dare to have our conscience captive to the Word of God?  Or do we drift about with the winds of the world, not daring to take a stand?  From what I understand there is some discussion on whether or not he made the last statement, but argument aside, his conviction about the Word of God is definitely implied.  What else is there to do?
The words he muttered to his friends after leaving the hall of the Diet were said to be, “I am finished.”  But in reality he was just beginning.  Yes, he was finished as a monk and Catholic priest, but God turned him into a champion of the faith.  Luther, the man of faith.  A man who dared to live by God’s Word.  No wonder he could write, what has been called the “Battle Hymn of the Reformation.”
 
               “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
                Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
                For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
                His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
                On earth is not his equal.”
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Stupid is the “keyword” of the age:
1)  From the brilliant Hillary Clinton — Transgenders have bled and died in all of our wars from the Revolution.  (Imagine a Minuteman asking Paul Revere, “what’s a transgender?”  Plus if they are .8% of the population now, what would they have been back in 1776?)
2)  Some guy in a plane lit up a cigarette.  He was told to put it out by a passenger.  Seems a fight ensued.  (Question:  how did he get the lighter through security?)
3)  A letter was sent to the Iowa Fish and Game Department:  Why don’t you put the deer crossing signs where the deer could read them?  (Duh, and that used to be a blonde joke.)
4)  Hillary said she was going to masquerade on Halloween as the president.  (Why doesn’t she just move back into the woodwork?)
5)  California just passed a law limiting the amount of flatulence a cow may have.  (Have to shake my head at that one.)
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I noticed the Bergdahl’s lawyers are complaining that he won’t get a fair trial.  What trial?  He pleaded guilty.
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This is the date of the death of Dennis Bennett.  Maybe you haven’t heard of him, but he was one of those ministers who help begin the “charismatic revival.”  A stolid Episcopal pastor had received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and it became national news.  He was shown and experienced that the baptism in the Spirit was not just for the Pentecostals, but for all Christians, even dignified Episcopalians.