In today's episode, Craig and LaDonna continue to let God's Word tell the powerful story of King Josiah, who became known as one of the most godly and righteous leaders over God's Chosen People, the Children of Israel.  As the king tore down the idols and sacrificial places to the demonic Baal, Asherah, and Molech, he also turned the hearts of his people back to the Lord after the discovery of the Books of Moses, which were hidden away in the back corners of the Temple of God.  Once the content of those books were read to Josiah, he wept bitterly for the condition his people were in through compromise and syncretism, all from Josiah's wicked father and grandfather's leadership.  But this brave young leader stood tall and called his nation to repentance, and to turn back to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  One of the huge changes Josiah instituted was to return to the celebration of the Passover, which hadn't been celebrated for such a long, long time!  Scripture so wonderfully explains the joy and celebratory attitude that swept throughout the land as God's people returned to God honoring worship!  All thanks to a king who's most impactful decisions were made before his thirtieth birthday!  Yes, we can learn so much from this king on how we, too, must live as we're surrounded by many voices that want to take us away from God honoring worship and living.  May we learn well from the lessons of this young, energetic, and God honoring leader.  Oh that our tribes and nations were led by similar leaders who's primary purpose is to obey the God of heaven and earth and lead their people in the ways of the Lord!

In today's third installment on the life of King Josiah, we begin to see that how he ruled gained him the blessing and favor of God.  The Lord had favor on not only this king, but the people he ruled over, the Children of Israel.  He did several important things as he turned the hearts of the people away from embracing the pagan gods of the nations around them and towards the One True Living God!  He began by removing the places of worship that were dedicated over to the pagan gods they were compromising with.  He also put time and effort, resources and people, into the repairing of the Temple of God, which had gone through much dismantling and destruction.  While doing all this, one of the most significant things happened as the leaders were cleaning the Temple of God out.  They discovered stashed away the book of the Law given originally through Moses.  As it eventually made it's way into the King's throne room, and they began to read its contents to the king, Josiah wept bitterly when he realized how compromised Israel had become through his father and grandfather's influence and leadership.  Josiah makes a covenant with God to restore true worship among God's people, including the commemoration of the Passover and all its celebratory parts.  The death angel who passed over those Israeli slaves in Egypt while destroying all the firstborn of the Egyptian people because of the blood on the doorposts was one of the most powerful deliverances God gave to His people before they were released from their slavery by Pharaoh.  Bringing that celebration back to Israel was a powerful expression, filled with joy, celebration, and feasting that spread throughout the land.  What a contrast this one celebration had on a people who for over four hundred years knew only slavery in a foreign land.  No wonder why God's blessing and favor was on Josiah.  But all that goodness seems to be tempered a bit by what the last part of 2 Chronicles 35 tells us about Josiah's death.  We all will die, of course, but some deaths are more painful than others.  Josiah's demise ended on the battlefield, as his body was filled with arrows shot from the enemy forces.  In next week's study, Pastor Craig tries to answer the difficult question of why does God allow so much suffering, especially among those who are considered righteous and godly?  You won't want to miss that session, dear friend. But first, join hosts Craig and LaDonna Smith as they unpackage what God's Word has to say about this righteous and just king...King Josiah!

In part two of the Smith's study on King Josiah, Craig and LaDonna continue to unpackage the reasons why this study into the lives of the kings of Israel and Judah.  Along with the obvious of their leading God's people into syncretism if they were described by God as evil, or away from syncretistic behaviors when they were described by God as righteous, the Smiths also present the need for Indigenous believers today to be engaged in the political affairs of not just their tribes, but for the larger nations to whom we are citizens of as well.  It's an important part of discipleship to engage in our civic duties.  But in order to do so, we need to be knowledgable about the candidates and platforms on which they stand before casting a vote their way.  Do the exhibit godliness or embrace evil by the platforms their party stands on?  We can't respond in the old way we did before coming to Christ.  We now must let God's Word guide us in whom we are to cast our votes towards.  But also, the prophetic Scriptures (almost 1/3 of the whole Bible is prophetic), give us clues into when Jesus will come again, this time to rule and reign on earth.  But most people, tribal or not, do not possess a biblical understanding of the times and seasons we are now in.  So all these reasons help us as Indigenous people to have the right view on the role of human leaders God establishes to lead us and guide us.  That's why this study into the kings of the Old Testament is so relevant to us today.  May God use these dives into the Scriptures to equip us appropriately until Jesus comes again!

Craig and LaDonna Smith begin today their final study in the lives of the kings of the Old Testament.  By now, you know the drill...they identify whether these kings were labeled by God as wicked kings, or godly and righteous kings.  In the episodes to come, the Smiths attention turns to King Josiah, who was known historically as one of the most godly and effective rulers in Israel and Judah's history.   He served for 31 years, but began his rule at the ripe old age of eight!  That's right!  All of his kingly reign happened before this young man had turned forty years of age.  In today's episode, the Smiths lay some important foundational truths that will help us as we start the review of Josiah in earnest in next week's episode.  We're glad you are along with the Smiths for another journey into God's Holy Word.  Craig and LaDonna pray it will be used to encourage you as you establish the kind of faith that is lasting, obedient, and Spirit-led.  So come along for the journey as over the next weeks we'll get to know this great man of God close up and personal.  Enjoy this week's edition of Indigenous Faith!

As the Smiths wrap up this 3 part series on King Hoshea, LaDonna continues to read the very consequential passage in Deuteronomy 28 that defines God's responses to both obedience and disobedience of His Chosen People, Israel.  It's not like they didn't know what would happen if they chose to disobey God's instructions in holy living. They brought upon themselves their own tormentors, and paid the consequences for their sin for many centuries to follow.  But God's not done with Israel, my friend!  He brought them back to become a nation again in 1948 and they will play a key role in the end times before Christ returns!  We would do well if we would only learn from their disobedience so that we would not compromise, syncretize, and romanticize the enemy of our souls, who only seeks to kill, steal, and destroy.  Pay close attention to the Smiths wrap up of this series, as they offer some very practical yet crucial steps to maintain the blessing of God in our generation.  Join us again next week for another new study into God's holy Word!  Bye for now!

In today's episode, Craig and LaDonna continue their study into the life of another wicked king, this time King Hoshea, who led Israel during Ahaz's rule over Judah.  They continue to walk us through the judgements of God because of their unholy alliances with the Unholy Trinity of Baal, Asherah, and gods of child sacrifice.  Banishment from their land which included Samaria, they were scattered far away from it and far away from each other.  In one of the most important passages in all of the Indigenous Faith series, the Smiths then take us to Deuteronomy 28, where the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob clearly laid out how He would bless them if they only obeyed His word, and how he would judge them ever so severely if they chose unrighteousness instead.  Hoshea's leadership had consequences not just for him, but for the nation he led astray.  Just another example of what happens to God's people when we choose to let our affections be taken away from the One true God to serve and embrace lesser gods.  He who has ears, let him hear what the Lord is saying to us today.

Welcome to another episode of Indigenous Faith.  In today's podcast, Craig and LaDonna Smith continue down the road of their studies in the life and times of some of the Old Testament Kings of Israel and Judah.  Today, they switch kingdoms and present one of the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel.  Hoshea comes on the scene in the 12th year of King Ahaz, who ruled wickedly over the southern Kingdom of Judah.  Hoshea followed the path of wickedness of Ahaz, leading Israel into more compromise, debauchery, and pagan worship.  Craig and LaDonna can only introduce Hoshea today, and will continue unpacking his life and rule in episodes to come.  Needless to say, it's another sad story in the life of God's Chosen People, who could have been enjoying the blessing and favor of God if they only chose to obey His commandments and instructions.  But as the Smith's are prone to say in this series, Leadership Matters!  The saddest part of Hoshea's wicked reign?  It ended with the demise of the Kingdom of Israel.  Only the southern Kingdom of Judah survived as this remnant pressed on to provide the path for the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, to come on the scene centuries later.
Craig and LaDonna want to remind you, as a faithful listener to this podcast, to be ever vigilant to hear and obey the truths that come from the mouth and heart of God.  Whenever Israel syncretized, severe judgement came upon them as promised by God when He laid out the ground rules in Deuteronomy 28 (which the Smiths will delve into more in-depth in next week's episode.  So friend, join the Smiths in this painfully difficult journey into the life of this wicked king who turned the lives of the wicked kingdom he led into such disobedience, it cost them their very existence.  May we learn from them, but never emulate them.  It's an easy thing to do living in such a wicked environment in modern world cultures and nations.  Maybe that's why the Scriptures remind us that only a few will be found faithful at the coming of the Lord.  May we be included in that number, dear friend!

In today's concluding episode of the Smith's look into the life and leadership of the wicked King Ahaz, the Smiths seek to tie in the lessons learned from these Old Testament stories into our own life experiences to help us know how to sort out the supernatural and delineate the holy from the unholy.  Using the tough lessons learned from not only Ahaz, but others like King Solomon, who manifested more stupidity at times instead of great wisdom whenever they entered into unholy alliances through marriage, we today have to make sure we don't repeat their mistakes.  God calls us to marry only other Christians, but then gives instruction to those who don't follow that advice and end up marrying unbelievers instead.  Ahaz's story then turns more political, as he establishes more unholy alliances with leaders of the pagan nations around, including the Assyrians.  What happens when Ahaz goes to visit the king of Assyria?  He is mezermized by what he sees as an amazing altar this pagan nation offered their sacrifices to their pagan gods on.  What does he do?  He instructs his staff to draw up the plans to replicate this altar and have it built back in Jerusalem.  When that was done, Ahaz begins his syncretistic worship by offering the God ordained sacrifices give to His Chosen People, but did so on this shiny new pagan altar that came from the Assyrians.  Just one more way to demonstrate why he was known as a wicked king who did not obey God or His instructions on leading God's people.  Child sacrifice was also engaged in by this wicked king, which led LaDonna to insightfully comment that she was glad that it wasn't Ahaz's son, Hezekiah, who was offered in this brutal burning ritual on the molten arms of the pagan god, Molech!  Thank God Hezekiah survived being raised in such godless environments as in the household of Ahaz!  And thank God, not all leaders are wicked and vile.  Let's thank God for the ones who had and have today a heart after God and His righteousness!  What amazing insights can be mined out of only 20 short verses!  That's the power of the Living Word of God, dear friends!

In this third episode in the Smith's series on the Wicked King Ahaz, Craig and LaDonna continue going over the 20 verses in 2 Kings 16 that speak of the life and times of King Ahaz.  They begin to summarize what the Scriptures are saying about Ahaz' life and reign, and end up taking their listeners down several trails of truth that show how these verses apply to our current times and current events.  Even the wise old King Solomon, while showing off that wisdom in many cases, proves the point that even the wisest among us can demonstrate rather stupid and less than wise decisions and choices because of the unholy alliances he entered into when he included bringing brides from the pagan nations around into his harem.  They led him and God's people to embrace the pagan practices from their nations, causing further decline among God's chosen and covenant people.  And while God had to always punish the compromises of a King and his people, Craig and LaDonna remind us all about the amazing grace of God to all mankind through the finished work of Christ on Calvary's cross.  Great news for back then, and great news for all nations today!

As Craig and LaDonna Smith move into the second part of this series on the life and times of King Ahaz, LaDonna continues her reading of 2 Kings 16, and the 20 short verses God's Word dedicates to this wicked king.   Even though his rule lasted for over 16 years, it takes only 20 verses of one Old Testament chapter to give the Smiths plenty  of things to talk about.  In these short verses are found some amazing truths that help us understand that what we are experiencing today in our modern American culture is no different than what Judah of old experienced under Ahaz's ungodly reign.  In fact, the Smiths introduce some enlightening information from a godly Messianic Jewish Christian leader, Jonathan Cahn, in a message he presented in a special National Day of Prayer and Repentance gathering in Washington, DC on the very day they were recording this session.  He introduced to his audience the demonic powers behind Israel and Judah's fall in the Old Testament and helps us understand those same demonic powers are at work in the moral decline and slippery slope into wickedness being experienced today in not just modern American culture, but throughout the world as well.  It becomes very clear that these Satanic forces are bringing into our nation a return to Old Testament paganism and the American culture is totally blind to that reality.  But if you give a listen to today's podcast, along with Rabbi Cahn's enlightening statements, Craig and LaDonna come alongside him with their own perspectives that come from their understanding of the supernatural world of the tribes that they were born and raised in.  Yes, we are in more than a cultural battle, we are in a supernatural battle with three members of what Rabbi Cahn describes as an Unholy Trinity, that of the pagan gods Baal, Asherah, and Molech.  Such a short passage of Scripture that unpackages some of the most important information that makes sense to the larger American culture's slide into demonic spirit worship as well.  And its up to us as Native believers in Christ to sound the alarm bell and to pray for the glory of God to return to this land that we all love before it's too late.  Serious business, dear friends, serious business indeed!