Psalms 66:2

[jmwhalen]

(bold is my emphasis)

"...the honour of his name..." Psalms 66:2

"I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed." Psalms 119:46

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16

"Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God..." 2 Timothy 1:8

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/20...20020207-1.html

President's Remarks at National Prayer Breakfast

Remarks by the President at National Prayer Breakfast

Washington Hilton Hotel

Washington, D.C.

8:45 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, John. Laura and I are really honored to join you this morning to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Prayer Breakfast. And Admiral Clark, whatever prayer you used for eloquence, worked. (Laughter and applause.) I appreciate your message and I appreciate your service to our great country. (Applause.)

I want to thank Jon Kyl and Judge Sentelle for their words, and CeCe for your music. I appreciate getting the chance to meet Joe Finley, the New York City firefighter. He's a living example of what sacrifice and courage means. Thank you for coming, Joe. (Applause.)

I want to thank Congressman Bart Stupak. I really appreciate the fact that my National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, is here to offer prayer. (Applause.) I appreciate the members of my Cabinet who are here. I want to say hello to the members of Congress.

I'm particularly grateful to Lisa Beamer for her reading and for her example. (Applause.) I appreciate her example of faith made stronger in trial. In the worst moments of her life, Lisa has been a model of grace -- her own, and the grace of God. (Applause.) And all America welcomes into the world Todd and Lisa's new daughter, Morgan Kay Beamer. (Applause.)

Since we met last year, millions of Americans have been led to prayer. They have prayed for comfort in time of grief; for understanding in a time of anger; for protection in a time of uncertainty. Many, including me, have been on bended knee. The prayers of this nation are a part of the good that has come from the evil of September the 11th, more good than we could ever have predicted. Tragedy has brought forth the courage and the generosity of our people.

None of us would ever wish on anyone what happened on that day. Yet, as with each life, sorrows we would not choose can bring wisdom and strength gained in no other way. This insight is central to many faiths, and certainly to faith that finds hope and comfort in a cross.

Every religion is welcomed in our country; all are practiced here. Many of our good citizens profess no religion at all. Our country has never had an official faith. Yet we have all been witnesses these past 21 weeks to the power of faith to see us through the hurt and loss that has come to our country.

Faith gives the assurance that our lives and our history have a moral design. As individuals, we know that suffering is temporary, and hope is eternal. As a nation, we know that the ruthless will not inherit the Earth. Faith teaches humility, and with it, tolerance. Once we have recognized God's image in ourselves, we must recognize it in every human being.

Respect for the dignity of others can be found outside of religion, just as intolerance is sometimes found within it. Yet for millions of Americans, the practice of tolerance is a command of faith. When our country was attacked, Americans did not respond with bigotry. People from other countries and cultures have been treated with respect. And this is one victory in the war against terror. (Applause.)

At the same time, faith shows us the reality of good, and the reality of evil. Some acts and choices in this world have eternal consequences. It is always, and everywhere, wrong to target and kill the innocent. It is always, and everywhere, wrong to be cruel and hateful, to enslave and oppress. It is always, and everywhere, right to be kind and just, to protect the lives of others, and to lay down your life for a friend.

The men and women who charged into burning buildings to save others, those who fought the hijackers, were not confused about the difference between right and wrong. They knew the difference. They knew their duty. And we know their sacrifice was not in vain. (Applause.)

Faith shows us the way to self-giving, to love our neighbor as we would want to be loved ourselves. In service to others, we find deep human fulfillment. And as acts of service are multiplied, our nation becomes a more welcoming place for the weak, and a better place for those who suffer and griev

For half a century now, the National Prayer Breakfast has been a symbol of the vital place of faith in the life of our nation. You've reminded generations of leaders of a purpose and a power greater than their own. In times of calm, and in times of crisis, you've called us to prayer.

In this time of testing for our nation, my family and I have been blessed by the prayers of countless of Americans. We have felt their sustaining power and we're incredibly grateful. Tremendous challenges await this nation, and there will be hardships ahead. Faith will not make our path easy, but it will give us strength for the journey.

The promise of faith is not the absence of suffering, it is the presence of grace. And at ever step we are secure in knowing that suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope -- and hope does not disappoint.

May God bless you, and may God continue to bless America. (Applause.)

END 8:54 A.M. EST

______________________________________

At this meeting of "kings", there was no mention of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, "the one who is "...before all things, and by him all things consist..."(Colossians 1:17), the one who upholds "...all things by the word of his power...(Hebrews 1:3), despite the fact that "...in him we live, and move, and have our being..."(Acts 17:28)!

.

"Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." 2 Cor. 5:16

We are not saved by the Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry; we are saved by 1 Cor. 15:1-4. Paul, "...the apostle of the Gentiles..."(Romans 11:13), and thus our apostle, tells us, in no uncertain terms, that we are not to know our Saviour any longer, in this dispensation(Ephesians 3:2) in His earthly ministry. We can learn(Romans 15:4) from the "4 gospels", as they have many beautiful intra-dispensational spiritual applications/truths. However, the body of Christ's doctrine in this age is contained in Romans-Philemon. Remove Romans-Philemon and you have no Christianity-you have Jews under the law.

Contrary to what "Joe Blow pastor/teacher/theologian with 15 titles before and after his/her name" has "spoon-fed" most(children need spoon-feeding, as opposed to adults-"milk" vs. "meat"-2 Cor. 3:2) to accept, much of Matthew-John is "Old Testament"(read Hebrews 9:16,17) "law-ground", with the Jews living under the law, not Christians under grace, who have been freed from the burdensome demands of the law(Romans 6:14,15). As an aside, did you know that the era we commonly refer to as "The Old Testament", "The Old Covenant", did not begin at Genesis 1:1, but at Exodus 20:4?(per Hebrews 9:22)

The "gospels" were not written to teach Christianity, but to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ in the different aspects of His person and work as Israel's Messiah(Matthew), Jehovah's servant(Mark)j, Son of Man(Luke), and Son of God(John), no book being complete in itself. We must not "down play" the Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry-"God forbid"(Romans 3:4 and others). However, the foundation of our faith rests upon our risen, ascended, glorified, and coming Lord Jesus Christ.

We are not now, in this dispensation, to know our great Saviour as "Jesus"(a very "common" name during His times), his name of humiliation. NO, we are to recognize him, know Him, love Him, and worship Him as the risen, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ, and not as some "sweet little baby lying in the manger", who is no threat there, nor as merely a wise, itinerant teacher/preacher traveling in Israel, who is no threat there either. This is the point Paul was driving home in Philippians 2:5-11, i.e., one day soon, this same "Jesus", the one who suffered for us all, and endured the humiliation of a servant when he humbled himself in His earthly ministry and in the death of the cross, the one who was "...despised and rejected of men...."(Isaiah 53:3), the one who was thought to be "out of his mind" by even his friends(Mk. 3:21), will be acknowledged(whether willingly, or by force, I know not), not in this former state/reputation/office as just the rejected and non-threatening "Jesus", but as the risen, ascended, and glorified LORD JESUS CHRIST(and I am shouting this, and one day soon everyone, without exception, will).

Are you "following Jesus", or are you a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, our living "...Lord from heaven..."(1 Cor. 15:47), who "...died for our sins according to the scriptures.... was buried.....and.... rose again the third day according to the scriptures..."(1 Cor. 15:--4), "...for our justification..."(Romans 4:25), and who now reigns in glory in heaven, and is coming again in glory?

We are to worship Him as Colossians 1:16, acknowledge Him as Colossians 1:18("the head of the Body"), praise Him for Colossians 2:10, and pray to Him as Colossians 2:19.

I find it quite telling that those such as us, those who were bought with a tremendous price(1 Cor. 6:20, 7:23), refer to each other as saints, and rightly so, but only because what was done by this "... the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ..."(Titus 2:13), this "...man of war..."(Exodus 15:3). And yet, we do not accord this same honour to our "Wonderful"(Isaiah 9:6) Saviour of ours, the only Saviour, who accomplished this miracle on our behalf, who made each one of us a "new creature in Christ Jesus"(2 Cor. 5:17, Galatians 6:15). Even those who followed "Jesus" in His earthly ministry, those who were "followers of Jesus", never called Him "Jesus", never exhibited such disrespect as to call Him by such a familiar name ("check it out" per Acts 17:11-"Master", yes; "Jesus", no). They honoured His person and His office. Only his enemies referred to Him as "Jesus." This is a great object lesson the LORD God would have each of us to realize, and the apostle Paul, "...the apostle of the Gentiles..."(Romans 11:13), and thus our/your apostle, not Peter, "raises the bar" with the revelation of the mystery(Romans 16:25, Ephesians 3:1-9, Colossians 1:25-27....).

How much more so those such as us, given our former miserable condition, given what we once were, "...-without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world..."(Eph. 2:12), as compared to what we have "in Christ" as a present possession, as revealed to Paul by this same risen, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, should honour the only true "Commander-In-Chief" !

No, I no longer, as a new creature in Christ Jesus, know "Jesus". I know, acknowledge, love, serve, thank, and worship not a crucified man still hanging on the cross as a victim(being a former Roman Catholic), but a victorious "...the God of the living..."(Mk. 12:27)-a living, resurrected, ascended, and glorified LORD JESUS CHRIST! I pray each one of us will now shout the following within our hearts, and give Him His due honour, as it is written:

"Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious." Psalms 66:2

For, eventually:

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11

I also pray that all of us that "....have the mind of Christ...."(1 Cor. 2:16) would "...think on these things"(Philippians 4:8).

"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." 2 Cor. 4:5

In Christ,

John M. Whalen

[boblandis]

It's funny, in this country, in order to worship the one true God, you have to give the devil freedom of worship too. This is what Christians in this country conceed in order to NOT be persecuted. I don't think God likes this at all.