Wisdom From Proverbs
Proverbs 27:19 - The Heart (Spirit) of Man is the Man
As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
Jesus said much about the heart of man such as "out of the abundance of heart the mouth speaks," meaning our words as much as our actions reveal who we are and how others see us. The word "heart" has different connotations depending on the context. Sometimes it means the spirit of man; sometimes the soul of man and other times the mind of man. In this passage, it can be interpreted either soul or spirit. For a detailed description of the meaning and separation of the soul and spirit, I recommend the Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee (there is no better handling of the subject than this book and article).
How you ever saw your face reflected in a pool of water which mirrored your physical appearance? You either liked what you saw or thought you were better looking than what you saw in the mirror of water. So it is with our human spirit or our soul - the core personality. Others see the real us in what we say and do and how we do what we say. We may have a false impression of who and what we are, but our spirits cannot be denied - we are what we think, say and do. We may even disguise our real intent, but our spirits will always eventually reveal the real us because our spirits and souls are the real us. Our bodies only do what our spirit operating through the soul tells it to do. Try to do anything in or with your body without first thinking about it. It won't do anything because while the mind is the faculty of thought and decision-making, the spirit via the soul carries out the action. The spirit of man is the center of all life activity while the soul is the mistress and obeys the spirit. The body obeys either the spirit or the soul. It has no life activity of its own. A lost person has a dead spirit (dead to God and spiritual matters, not that it is non-existent) and the soul is the power source, that is, it has replaced the spirit's function. When the soul is in power or the authority, people live solely in their human nature and commit many sins and acts of wickedness or are totally indifferent to spiritual things. Carnal Christians have a similar experience. Though saved, they continue to live mainly by the soul (mind, will and emotions) and often look like someone who isn't saved.
How do we as humans communicate with one another - by our human spirit and soul? How do believers communicate with one another - by our reborn spirits? This is not to say we don't communicate via our human souls, we do, but we also communicate and fellowship with one another and to God via our reborn spirits. Have you ever met a Christian for the first time and yet it seemed you knew him or her before you even met? What happened? Your reborn spirits connected and without even saying so, you both knew you were genuine Christians. This is the wonderful world of the Spirit that lost people do not have and for that matter many carnal Christians. Spiritual and carnal Christians have little in common except they are saved and in Christ. However, one follows the Spirit and the other follows their carnal mind.
In the human realm, we have relationship with all human beings (I didn't say fellowship) and our hearts telegraph to others who we are. If we are angry and irritable all the time or given to coarse jesting using an old Kings James wordage, others see us as that kind of person. If we are kind, loving and gentle, then others see us in that light and like to be around us. We can hide behind the veneer of false personalities for a while, but it won't be long before the real us surfaces. People with Multiple Personality Disorders have split souls and demon personalities (demons masquerading as personalities). Their core personality has been split off several times and they actually live several lives. Only by deliverance can they be set free and restored to their core personality - the one God gave them at birth.
As we see our reflection in water there is no doubt we are that person, so is the heart of man to man - it reveals to others the character, the personality and the spirituality or lack of it to others in our world. Someone said, "To thy own self be true." We are all unique in that no one else is completely like us. Our DNA is stamped all over us - it is our "mark" of life that we establish here on this earth and we carry it into eternity. We are known by others of all that we say and do in this life. More importantly, we are known by God who will re-play our life at the Judgment that will determine our eternal destiny and whether or not we are rewarded for works of righteousness or condemned for having none.
While our heart (soul) answers to man in the human realm, our spirit answers to God in the spiritual realm. Paul said our life is naked and bare before God for He knows everything we have ever thought, said and did in this life. In another place in Scripture, Paul says, "What don't you know that you are not your own, but you have been bought with a precious price, the blood of the Lord Jesus, therefore, serve Him in your body and spirit?"
Everyday of our lives our heart's mirror is reflected back to God and He sees us as we really are not how we may see ourselves. As soon as we draw our last breath on this earth, we are required at the appointed time to stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ either as believers or non-believers whereby we will give an account of all our deeds. That is a sobering thought that few take seriously.
How is the mirror of your heart? Is it clean and pure or is it cracked and soiled?
Dr. Barber
Very good artilce from Western Journalism about the Catholic Church's legal battle with the Obama administration.
Eric Holder Was a Strong Opponent of the Second Amendent in 1995. See the following video.
This is a very good article which I encourage everyone to read. Obama does not have a clue to what makes a good president. Most everything he does is unconstitutional, economic disaster, and the opposite of what made America a great prosperous nation. He is a bumbling immature politician, a class divider, a devoted socialist and a great deceiver. He is deserving of being sent back to Chicago in November. Anyone who votes for him is totally blind and in denial of the facts - that he is determined to tear this nation apart so his New World Order Socialist buddies can rebuild it to their liking. However, everyone including the liberals are not going to like the end result.
If you want a free America, lower taxes, less government regulations, the restoration of free capitalistic enterprise and a more moral climate then don't cast your vote for Barack Hussein Obama.
AG Holder Orders Female Restrooms Open to Transgenders
AG Holder shows once again he has no biblically based morals, which are the only true morality. The president and his AG reveal a strong anti-moral attitude toward common decency and absolute truth. Both are aggressive advocates of homosexuality and abortion upon demand and both are abominations in the eyes of God.
I was first exposed to neutral bathrooms in Germany in 1982 because I could not read or speak German. The sign over the door in German identified the public bathroom as neutral. Upon entering the restroom, I was shocked to see both women and men using the same urinals (you can use your own imagination of how women pulled that off but they did). It was barbaric to say the least - women and men standing side by side at a urinal is disgusting. Of course I got out of there as quick as I could when I realized what was going on.
God made the human race male and female with obvious different body parts which are to be treated with the utmost modesty. Transgenders are in defiance of God's creative order and in essence are shakng their fist in the face of God and saying, they don't like the way He made them. Such people are inviting demonic curses along with the damnation of hell for in Romans 1:21-32 God says He gives up such people to a reprobate or rebellious mind to do their own thing, but not without eternal consequences. What does it mean that God gives someone up to their own lust? It means He has withdrawn His Spirit and it is near to impossible for them to be saved.
Do you realize what Jesus meant in Matthew 13:30 in the Parable of the Weeds when He said, let the weeds grow together with the wheat until the harvest; then I will tell my angels (the reapers) to gather the weeds into bundles to burned (hell fire), but the wheat (believers) gather them into my barn (house, which is the coming kingdom)? Homosexuals and transgenders are being gathered in bundles waiting the final end-time harvest to be cast into hell fire. If they knew this truth, they might have a serious mind change, but they have no insight or knowledge of their future peril. Now it is true that some homosexuals are being saved, but the number is few. These are the ones who have not yet become hardened to the point of repentance. They have a inner longing in their heart to change and are open to the Holy Spirit.
I have personally led homosexuals to Jesus that I discerned God had not given up on them. When I was doing prison ministry, I was allowed, even asked to minister in the homosexual pods. While some wanted to change, many were openly defiant, mocking, and abusive. These are those whom demons control and are preparing them for the pits of hell. The demons know they are going to spent an eternity in the Lake of Fire and they want to take as many humans with them as possible.
Obama and Holder's actions in this regard are shameful and wicked and have brought themselves under the judgment of God. I assure you that when wicked leaders begin to lead a nation into sin and debauchery, it gets God's undivided attention.
I keep saying and warning this nation that we are prime for a direct serious judgment of God that will be an attention grabber and heard around the world to produce shock and awe. It is coming and coming soon for there is no repentance only more wickedness each passing day.
Dr. Barber
Insights From Luke
The Spirit of the Lord Does Not Strive With All People
Luke 4: 16-30
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?
23 And he said unto them, You will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal yourself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in your country.
24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
26 But unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
Evangelicals have the mistaken opinion that God is always working with all people at all times regardless of their spiritual condition or lack thereof. As far as the gospel or good news it is up to the Church (the redeemed people of God) to preach it to the world. God is not working independently of His people who are given the gifts of the Spirit and commanded to preach the gospel to every person within their sphere of life. It begins with our neighbors, but how many actually know or share the gospel with neighbors. I have to tell you that in my 40 years plus as a Christian, pastor, and Bible teacher, personal evangelism has fallen sharply off from what it was when I became a Christian in April 1971. I include myself in this condemnation. When I was a pastor, I spent most of my Saturday afternoon's doing door-to-door evangelism and some were saved. Even before I entered the pastorate, I was zealous to do personal evangelism, but like most, as I have gotten older and accustomed to the modern era of the computer age, I spend too much time within the four walls of my house banging away on my computers - yes I have more than one.
People today live in a quasi closed-in environment. When we moved to Highland Village last July 2011, not one of our neighbors welcomed us to the neighborhood. We have tried to speak to our neighbors, but they appear self-centered and not interested in getting to know us. One neighbor I spoke to just looked at me, grunted something unintelligible and walked into his garage leaving me standing alone. It used to be that if you moved into a new neighborhood, the neighbors not only knocked on your door, but brought food and goodies. Those days are long gone. Computers and high tech has created a much closed-in society.
Now what did Jesus say that angered the residents of His hometown, Nazareth (I have been there and stood on the hill where they probably tried to throw Him off)?
First, because he grew up in Nazareth, they assumed Joseph was His father. Joseph was His step-father. God the Father was Jesus's father for He was born of a virgin who had no relations with a man before she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit which proves that life comes from God via the DNA of the sperm and egg.
Second, they did not recognize the works He did as fulfilling the Scriptures about the Messiah. In fact, the Jewish mindset then as well as today is that the Messiah will be "a man" from among their race in the role of Moses, not that He was and is deity - God. This was the problem with the people of Nazareth, they did not understand that Jesus was God in human flesh. I fully understand the comment Jesus made about a prophet is not without honor except in his own country. Those who reject my ministry and teaching the most are those of my own family and some friends. They never accepted my calling and gifts because I grew up with them and know my sins and failures which they to this day hold against me. The same is true of Jesus except He had no sin or failures. He was perfect in every way.
Third, when Jesus told the leaders of Nazareth who were wanting Him to perform some miracle so they "might" believe in Him, that in the days of the great famine in Israel, God sent the prophet Elijah to only one of many widows and although there were many lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha the prophet, God only cleansed one leper - a Gentile of Syrian descent, the elders of Nazareth were astute enough to know that Jesus was talking about them - that He was not going to do any miracles among them because of their unbelief. That made them angry enough to want to kill Him. What did Jesus tell His disciples? He came not bring peace upon the earth, but a sword (the sword was His Word for the sword of the Spirit is like a sharp two-edged sword that cuts both ways - within and without). His words stirred up anger among unbelievers the same as it does today. If you don't believe it, try speaking bold truth in the Church today and the elders as well as the people will send you out the front door in a hurry.
When I was a pastor, I spoke bold uncompromising truth in my messages (sermons for you religious folks) and it made many people angry, so much so, that one Baptist Church asked me to leave. In the words of one of the prominent members (a lawyer and later a Congressman) - "make sure your message pumps me up for that is what I want out of your sermons." What he wanted was a cheerleader who made him feel good about his sin or to be left alone. This is why Joel Osteen has such a large following - he tells the people what they want and prefer to hear. If he started preaching bold truth tomorrow, it would not take long before the large crowds would dwindle and his income with it. He likes his rich lifestyle too much to preach bold truth. The churches are full of sin, abominations, and false forms of worship because there is no preaching anymore on sin. You cannot read the New Testament without noticing the many references to sin among the saints. Saints are not sinless, but saved sinners that still struggle with the old sin nature and commit many sins. We need a balanced teaching in the Church on sin and righteous living.
Here is a truth we need to understand - God does not work where their is strong unbelief against Him. In that situation, He sends judgment not blessings. In the days of both Elijah and Elisha, the nation of Israel had become wicked and worshipers of idols and that is why God raised-up both prophets to speak to their sins. He purposely chose and elected to work through His prophets to a restricted few. I tell you the truth that God is working only though the overcomers in His Church today by-passing much of what is nothing but religious exercises. Although God is sovereign and can do as He pleases among nations, He works only with His people in those nations. His work among nations that have forsaken Him as the United States has done is to send judgments, trouble and perplexity. Isaiah 26:9 says, the nations learn righteousness when God's judgments come upon the earth. God's chief work is to save individuals by the preaching of the gospel in contrast to the nations (governments) who have turned their backs to Him and are recipients of His judgments. The troubles this nation is having is due to our national sins and the judgments of God (up until now they have been mild, but without repentance they will become more severe).
Where there is bold truth proclaimed, the casting out of demons and the healing of the sick, you can be assured there the kingdom of God is at work. How many so-called churches qualify to be kingdom ministries by that definition, which by the way is how Jesus defined the kingdom. (Luke 10:9-11; 11:18, 20).
Dr. Barber
Whoever said that Obama hasn’t acomplished anything in his first term?
WHAT AN IMPRESSIVE LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS!…
Source: Western Journalism
Read this article carefully and you will see NWO written all over it. What is not mentioned is that it will lead to a global tax on all goods and services produced by the world community of nations. What does it take to have official world government? A parliament, a judiciary, a standing army and a world tax. The judiciary is already in place in Brussels Belgium as the International Criminal Court (ICC); the parliament is in place "in form" as the United Nations and the ten world zones that are forming such as the European Union, the African Union, the Asian Union, the South American Union, the North American Union, the Middle East Union, etc. Once all ten zones are formed, the Antichrist will appear - come up form among them. The UN has a small army contingent that is increasing in size which the Antichrist will take over and expand it for the prophet Daniel says he will honor a god of fortresses. All that is needed to complete the New World Order official status is a world or global tax and this article points to that.
When you see things through the prism of the NWO Agenda, you understand the Obama agenda and why he is doing his dead level best to dismantle and change the United States into a socialist country as it better suits the NWO strategy for world control. The media is blind to this including Bill O'Reilly who keeps dodging and making excuses for Obama NOT being a socialist. Last night on his program, Christene Powers, a democratic strategist, remarked that the extreme far right tries to portray Obama as a socialist meaning she is willingly dumb and blind when the facts prove otherwise.
The democratic far left and liberals fulfill what Isaiah said about the religious leaders of Israel -
Having eyes they do not see and having ears they do not hear!
However, this is not due to ignorance, but willful choice. They see the truth everyday, but reject it for lies.
There will be an aggressive push the remainder of the year to move the world into the NWO. If Obama is re-elected, the United States will cease to be an independent sovereign nation and will become ONE with world governance.
Jesus said in Luke 21 we are to watch the things coming on the world which He warned about and to pray to be able to escape these things and to be found worthy to stand before Him at His coming. The Greek meaning of escape does not imply a pretrib rapture rather to be protected while going through tribulation. Being protected does not mean we will not suffer persecution and even death and martyrdom. The protection implied contextually in the prophetic Scriptures has more a connotation of not being deceived and led astray by the Antichrist's system including the Mark of the Beast.
Dr. Barber
Changing to WTO's "Made in the World" Labeling Would Harm Americans
May 23, 2012
How would you like to go shopping and find that everywhere you went, the label said "Made in the World" instead of "Made in China," "Made in India," "Made in USA" etc.? The label on products Americans purchase that names the country in which they are made may soon be gone. How could this be possible?
The World Trade Organization has been working on the "Made in the World" initiative for years, and in 2008, the WTO and Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) began cooperating with other stakeholders to provide data that would shed lights on what is called "trade in tasks" i.e., the domestic value added content of trade. While traditional statistics are necessary, they don't identify the contribution of each trade partner to the total value of the final good in the supply chain. By contributing to specific segments of a global value chains, trade partners are actually "trading tasks" rather than trading final products.
In 2011, Andreas Maurer, chief of the WTO's International Trade Statistics Section, "... in the past two or three years there has been huge momentum to get the necessary information" that would be used to rationalize elimination of country of origin labeling."
The World Trade Organization and the European Union moved one step closer to eliminating "country of origin" labeling. On April 16, 2012, the European Commission and WTO held a conference to mark the launch of the World Input-Output Database (WIOD). This new database allows trade analysts to have a better view of the global value chains created by world trade.
Globalization is changing business models and increasing fragmentation of production. Companies divide their operations around the world, from product design, manufacturing, to assembly and marketing, creating global production chains. More and more products are 'made in the world' rather than in any particular country.
Today's traded products are not produced in a single location but are the end-result of a series of steps carried out in many countries around the world. For example, cars and trucks produced by General Motors or Ford may have parts and assemblies coming from several other countries, including China.
Instead of counting the gross value of goods and services exchanged, the new database reveals the value-added that make up these goods and services as they are traded internationally. The findings The Europe-based organizations instead want to adopt a "Made in the World" logo for all products on the grounds that global supply chains have rendered country of origin labeling inaccurate and obsolete. are significant as they may change the perception of the competitiveness of certain industrial sectors in some countries.
The WTO and OECD have been working with the U.S. International Trade Commission and the World Bank in the United States, the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE) and the Japan External Trade Organization in Asia, and the recently created World Input-Output Database (WIOD) consortium in Europe to implement the new trade statistics. The WTO has signed a contract with the OECD to start issuing official statistics on international trade based on value added.
The WTO's Made in the World initiative is part of the process of "re-engineering global governance," said WTO Deputy Director General Alejandro Jara at the event launching the opening of the World Input-Output Database. With the rise of global supply chains "it is misleading to rely solely on gross trade flows as a measure" of a country's competitive position. As companies have created global supply chains, "attributing the full commercial value of imports to the last country of origin can skew bilateral trade balances, pervert the political debate on trade imbalances and may lead to wrong and counter-productive decisions," says the WTO.
The intent of the WTO's "Made in the World" initiative is to modernize global trade statistics, reduce public pressure on politicians for protectionist trade policies, and reduce public opposition to free trade.
Director-General Pascal Lamy has said that "improved measurement and knowledge of actual trade flows will help better understand the interdependencies of today's national economies, supporting the design of better policies and better trade regulation worldwide."
In an article on the Economy in Crisis website, "WTO Pushes ‘Made in the World’" on May 16, 2012, Karl Rusnak commented, "This may be a good PR move for the WTO and its agenda, but it doesn't change the facts: trade still picks winners and losers, and the United States consistently finds itself in the "losers" column...This new initiative takes the same ill effects that have been occurring from free trade and attempts to reframe them in a more positive light...Trade deficits lead to bad results, but ultimately it is the bad results we need to look at, not the nominal number that represents the trade deficit. If the numbers had shown that the United States was running a trade deficit but maintaining strong job growth, the WTO's new calculation method might be something worth looking at. Instead, we have lost millions of jobs as a result of free trade. Whether you calculate our trade deficit as $100 billion or $600 billion, those job losses can still be directly attributed to our failed free trade agreements."
This Initiative could have dire consequences for America's manufacturers and consumers. For manufacturers, it could eliminate one of the options allowed by the WTO ─ filing a charge for product "dumping" against another country to have countervailing duties applied against that country. For consumers, "Made in the World" labels wouldn't allow you to protect your family from the tainted, harmful, and even life threatening products coming from China. You wouldn't be able to support saving and creating jobs for other Americans by buying "Made in USA."
Alan Uke, founder of Underwater Kinetics, a company that manufactures high intensity lighting and other products, believes that "country of origin" labels could change consumer behavior and revive U.S. manufacturing. He wants the government to require a detailed country-of-origin label on every product sold in America. The label would include sourcing information on all of the product's parts and components along with the trade balance the U.S. maintains with each of those countries. Uke outlines his proposal in his book, Buying America Back, a Real-Deal Blueprint for Restoring American Prosperity.
The labels would be similar to those that have been successfully implemented in the U.S. food industry, describing such things as fat content, calories and nutritional values. Those labels have changed consumer behavior, forced producers to change ingredients, and motivated retailers to stock items that are demanded by customers. "I am trying to start a movement of American consumers," says Uke. "We need a home-team preference." Uke is convinced that only the American consumer, whose spending represents 70 percent of the economy, will change the international trade dynamic in favor of U.S. manufacturing. Knowledgeable consumers demanding products made in the United States or in countries that have employ ethical business practices could motivate companies to change their sourcing practices.
During my interview, Uke said, "The "Made in the World" label is the antithesis of my proposal. This initiative was probably promoted by those who profit from environmental abuse and child labor. It makes countries that rape our environment and support child labor unaccountable to the world. Knowing the sources for products is the only way that people can make countries accountable for their actions. Consumers can't determine their own destiny if they have no idea of the sources. If we want a better world, consumers need to be able to send their money to countries whose policies they support. This isn't free trade, it is slave trade."
Peter Navarro and Greg Autry, the authors of Death by China - Confronting the Dragon, A Global Call to Action, also recommend that "country of origin" information be provided for all products sold on the Internet by online retailers that "Congress should require all food and drug producers to clearly label the countries of origin for all major ingredients that go into a product - and do so in a standardized and legible manner" in order to protect American consumers from tainted and poisonous products coming from China.
Greg Autry told me, "The "Made in the World" label is an obvious attempt to disguise the political differences between countries and normalize despotic regimes like China. This initiative can only result in the reduction of critical information to consumers. I agree that we don't have full information provided on the sources for products today, but this is the exact opposite direction to go."
The authors believe that if 10% or more of Chinese products were boycotted by Americans, it could be enough to destabilize the Chinese economy and topple the Communist regime. Converting to "Made in the World" labels would eliminate this possibility.
I urge everyone to contact your current representative to urge them to oppose this initiative and ask all candidates for federal office if they support our current "country of origin" labeling laws and oppose "Made in the World" labeling.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I know you are probably as busy as I am. If you found it informative, please, forward it to people you know.
Sincerely,
Michele Nash-Hoff
President
ElectroFab Sales
Author, Can American Manufacturing be Saved? Why we should and how we can
Available at www.savingusmanufacturing.com or www.amazon.com