We talk about FAITH and POLITICS because, according to the Bible, faith that doesn't radically shape every area of our lives is weak faith. We want EYES TO SEE and EARS TO HEAR, but we cannot see or hear is we are DECEIVED.

Scripture warns over and over again that ANTICHRISTS will be HIGHLY DECEPTIVE because they appear as ANGELS OF LIGHT, claiming to do good, claiming to be Christians, or even Christ himself.

The ISRAELITES REJECTED GOD and desired to have a king because they, like us, worshipped the idea that "the right government" promised SAFETY, SECURITY and ABSOLUTION. They IDOLIZED THEIR GOVERNMENT by following it instead of God. Even their BEST KINGS did unspeakable evil in the sight of the Lord...and ALL brought the same kind of OPPRESSION they had experienced in Egypt. The people CHOSE and IDOLIZED SAUL because he was "as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.” - ‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭9:2

After Saul turns away from FOLLOWING GOD'S way and chose to establish his OWN KINGDOM, God rejected him. When Samuel looks for the kings replacement God gives us very clear instructions for how to scrutinize and evaluate EVERYTHING... “When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”” - ‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16:6-7‬

How can we tell a counterfeit from the authentic? How can we trust claims to be a follower of Jesus, when ALL OF US fall short of living like him?

In an age of "fake news" and individualized realities, STANDING FIRM ON TRUTH is one of the most critically important roles of the people of God, the Kingdom Community for the 21st Century. If we cannot call EVIL "wrong", then we will NEVER be able to call GOD "good" or "father". When power and famous people claim to be a follower of Christ and then live in ANTAGONISM to everything he loved and stood for, it is the job and duty of his real followers to say "That doesn't represent us"...our concern should always be with loving and serving others, not getting rights for ourselves above all else.

We are NOT looking to condemn Trump, we are not advocating for one political party or politician over the other. We feel an URGENT CALL to highlight JESUS and call his followers to cling to and be formed around HIS WORDS, not the promises or praises of others. By simply holding up the words of Trump to the words of Christ we are hoping that Christians can see the disparity and choose between the two...for on this conviction we feel certain: No man can serve two masters: for either he. will hate the one, and love the other; or else. he will hold to the one, and despise the other...

Jesus: Blessed are the poor, for they will inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Trump: “My entire life, I’ve watched politicians bragging about how poor they are, how they came from nothing, how poor their parents and grandparents were. And I said to myself, if they can stay so poor for so many generations, maybe this isn’t the kind of person we want to be electing to higher office. How smart can they be? They’re morons.”- DJT, 1999 Maureen Dowd, The New York Times

Jesus: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Trump: “He was captured…Does being captured make you a hero? I don’t know. I’m not sure. I like people that weren't captured" - December 1999 interview with Dan Rather

Jesus: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

"For us here in Washington, we must never ever stop asking God for the wisdom to serve the public according to His will. But we had tremendous success on The Apprentice and, when I ran for President, I had to leave the show, that's when I knew for sure I was doing it, and they hired a big, big movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to take my place, and we know how that turned out. The ratings went right down the tubes, it's been a total disaster, and Mark [Burnett] will never, ever bet against Trump again, and I want to just pray for Arnold, if we can, for those rating, OK?" - Trump's "National Prayer Breakfast" - 2/2/17

Jesus: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Trump: “When people wrong you, go after those people, because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it. I always get even.” - Interview, Cal Thomas - 6/8/16

Jesus: Blessed are the merciful, for they will find mercy.

Trump: “Why do I have to repent, why do I have to ask for forgiveness if [I’m] not making mistakes?” - DJT, CNN 360 Anderson Cooper Interview - 7/23/15

Jesus: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Trump: “I did try and fuck her. She was married.”

“I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything…Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.” - DJT, Access Hollywood tape - 2005

Jesus: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Trump: “When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families” - DJT, FOX News Fox and Friends - 12/3/15

The Antichrist will be exactly that, ANTI CHRIST. The "man of lawlessness" appears over and over again throughout our history, claiming "PEACE, PEACE! WHEN THERE IS NO PEACE!"...can we recognize this in our own midst right now?

As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by SPIRIT or by WORD or by LETTER, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. LET NO ONE DECEIVE YOU IN ANY WAY; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He OPPOSES and EXALTS HIMSELF above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. — 2 Thessalonians 2:1–4 NRSV (1989)

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, TEACHING in their SYNAGOGUES, proclaiming the GOOD NEWS of the KINGDOM and HEALING EVERY DISEASE and illness.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

- Matthew 9:35-38

SHEPHERDING Is PROTECTIVE and AGGRESSIVE

PERSECUTION WILL COME FROM WITHIN!

I Am Sending You PROPHETS, SAGES and TEACHERS

There are MANY people following MANY different ANTI-CHRISTS

IMPOSTERS Deceive Many Through FEAR-MONGERING

LAWLESSNESS Will Grow STRONG, LOVE will GROW COLD

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings

"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us, " they said, "when will this happen, and what will be a SIGN of your coming and of the END OF THE AGE?"

Jesus answered: "Watch out that NO ONE DECEIVES YOU. For MANY will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Messiah,' and will DECEIVE MANY.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of BIRTH PAINS. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.

It Is POSSIBLE to LOSE YOUR "SALVATION", Because salvation IS JESUS

At that time MANY WILL TURN AWAY FROM THE FAITH and will betray and hate each other, and MANY FALSE PROPHETS will appear and DECEIVE MANY PEOPLE.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." - Matthew 24:1-14

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”- Matthew 27-34

Following Jesus Requires PERSISTENCE and DESIRE

Faith in Jesus Requires HONESTY and TRUTH

THE FIRST TIME JESUS IS IDENTIFIED AS THE MESSIAH ("Son Of David")

JESUS Silences The Blind and Leper in Matthew Because he WANTS TO AVOID TITLES

This is all about WHO JESUS IS

Jesus Saw No Difference Between the PHYSICAL and the "SPIRITUAL"

Healing is a PHYSICAL sign of God's (SPIRITUAL) REALITY

Jesus Saw HUGE Differences Between Types of DEMONS and AILMENTS

HUMANS Misjudge WHAT WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

THE CROWD Is Amazed by Jesus

THE RELIGIOUS Are BLINDED by Jesus

ne ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” – C.S. Lewis

 

18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. 20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” 22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment. 23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.26 News of this spread through all that region. Matthew 9:18-25

We have drugs for people with diseases like leprosy. But these drugs do not treat the main problem, the disease of being unwanted…. The sick and poor suffer even more from rejection than material want. Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” – Mother Teresa

“Listen to God with a broken heart. He is not only the doctor who mends it, but also the father who wipes away the tears.” ― Criss Jami

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” Psalm 34:18

1. Be Aware Of Those Who Have A Broken Heart.

2. Expect God To Act. Jesus Has Authority Over Death & Disease.

3. See Interruptions As Divine Appointments To Dispense God’s Grace.

4. Refuse To Listen To Words of Disbelief.

 

“Other people are going to find healing in your wounds. Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts.” – Rick Warren

 

Be Available To Reach Out In Compassion.

16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 9:16, 17

Some Closing Questions To Consider:

1. Have you ever felt isolated or found yourself in a desperate situation? Did it cause you to seek God, cause you to give up or cause you to be a scoffer? Why did you react that way?

 

2. In today’s Scripture reading, we read: Jesus turned and “SAW” her. 

What does it mean to you that Jesus “saw her”? How do you see Jesus “seeing” you?

 

3. Do you see interruptions in your day as an annoyance or as an invitation to have a Divine Appointment? How does making yourself available grow your faith?

 

4. In which ways have words of disbelief (internal or external) affected your faith journey? What are some ways you can overturn these “voices”?

CHILD-LIKE REPENTANCE

CHILD-LIKE FAITH is ALL IN!

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. ” - Matthew 4:17 NLT

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” - Mark 1:14-15

BELIEF always proceeds REPENTANCE

The Calling of Matthew

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” - Matthew 9:9-13

For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. - Matthew 21:32

GROWN-UP RELIGION is always built on our OWN STRENGTH

CHILD-LIKE REPENTANCE is always initiated by GOD'S MERCY

CHILD-LIKE BELIEF always leads to ACTION

THE SCANDAL OF FEASTING

Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” - Matthew 9:14-17

Following Jesus is never STATIC or STATIONARY

Following Jesus never LOOKS LIKE RELIGION

Following Jesus is THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS

CHILD-LIKE FORGIVENESS – Noah Stepro

CHILD-LIKE FAITH is FORGIVING in nature

DESIRE and SIN are directly related to FORGIVENESS and HEALING…RELATIONALLY, rather than MAGICALLY

"CONFESS your sins (desires, motives, fears) so you MAY be HEALED" - James 5:16

CONFESSION, FORGIVENESS and HEALING are all three about:

RELATIONSHIP: What is RELATIONAL about the way we talk about FORGIVENESS?

RELEASE: Without RELEASE we cannot RECEIVE

Truly I tell you, whatever you BIND on EARTH will be BOUND in HEAVEN, and whatever you LOOSE on EARTH will be LOOSED in HEAVEN. - Matthew 18:15-18

RECEIVING: When Jesus gave us HIS SPIRIT he immediately told us to RECEIVE PEACE by GIVING PEACE

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” - John 20:19-23

THE LORD’S PRAYER – Melody Bowes

This, then, is how you should pray:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:5-15‬ ‬‬‬

The very best of the RELIGIOUS people ENCOUNTERED JESUS but did not KNOW HIM because they were concerned with their own IMAGE and POWER.

Knowing Jesus vs Knowing ABOUT Jesus - Salvation IS knowing Jesus

The TRUSTINGNESS of a child is what's required to join THE KINGDOM

We cannot TRUST what we do not KNOW, SUSPECT or BLAME

What do the people of the BIBLE BELIEVE ABOUT GOD?

DOCTRINES DON'T SAVE YOU, and neither do your

JESUS is SIMPLE and DIFFICULT

RELIGION is COMPLICATED and EASY

Matthew (9:1–8), Mark (2:1–12), and Luke (5:17–26)

Matthew: Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to HIS OWN TOWN.

Mark: A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.

Luke: Jesus was teaching, and PHARISEES and TEACHERS OF THE LAW were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem.

Mark: And the POWER OF THE LORD was with Jesus to HEAL THE SICK.

Matthew: Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat.

Luke: When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. Matthew: When Jesus saw their FAITH, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is BLASPHEMING!”

Luke: Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

But I want you to KNOW that the Son of Man has AUTHORITY on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”

Mark: He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Luke: Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Matthew: Then the man GOT UP and went HOME. When the crowd saw this, they were FILLED WITH AWE; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. - Titus 1:15‭-‬16 NIV

But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you. - Luke 11:41

CHILD-LIKE FAITH HAS PURE MOTIVES

SELF AWARENESS and HUMILITY

When we DO KNOW OURSELVES we stop JOCKEYING FOR POWER and POSITIONS

When we DON'T KNOW our own MOTIVATIONS we often PROJECT them on others WITHOUT REALIZING IT

HONESTY and BOLDNESS

When we DO KNOW our DESIRES we can PRAY BOLDLY

When we DON'T we SUSPECT OTHERS of our level of DISHONESTY

TRUST and CONFIDENCE

When we speak from a PURE HEART we can BELIEVE OTHERS and OURSELVES

When we speak from a DIVIDE HEART we can BELIEVE OUR OWN ABILITY to PURIFY OURSELVES

There is a generation of those who are pure in their own eyes and yet unwashed of their filth. - Proverbs 30:12

Be careful that no one falls short of the grace of God, so that no root of bitterness will spring up to cause trouble and defile many. - Hebrews 12:15