Warfare in the Spiritual Realm Incites Behavior in the Physical Realm!

On June 2, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Education, God's Love, Judeo-Christian CultureLeave a comment

The battle between the advocates of the Judeo-Christian worldview and the advocates of the evolution-driven humanistic worldview has been astonishingly aggressive. The extreme intensity and relentless endurance of the battle strongly suggests the involvement of an unseen power or powers. That world of unseen powers we call the spirit world.

God defines good and evil in Scripture. His love fuels and drives, or should drive the lives of believers. Pride leveraged by Satan drives the lives of advocates of Humanism. In his book, Angels, Billy Graham explained:

“We live in a perpetual battlefield…The wars among the nations on earth are mere popgun affairs compared to the fierceness of battle in the spiritual unseen world. This invisible spiritual conflict is waged around us incessantly and unremittingly. Where the Lord works, Satan’s forces hinder; where angel beings carry out divine directives, the devils rage. All this comes about because the powers of darkness press their counterattack to recapture the ground held for the glory of God…

Since the fall of Lucifer, that angel of light and son of the morning, there has been no respite in the bitter Battle of the Ages. Night and day Lucifer, the master craftsman of the devices of darkness, labors to thwart God’s plan of the ages. We can find inscribed on every page of human history the consequences of the evil brought to fruition by the powers of darkness with the devil in charge. Satan never yields an inch, nor does he ever pause in his opposition to the plan of God to redeem the “cosmos” from his control.”

Satan works to capture or destroy God’s greatest creation, mankind made in the likeness or image of God. God’s plan is to preserve and save as many as possible for the Kingdom of Heaven. Satan fans the flame of pride. He relentlessly whispers, “Do what YOU want…” God commands us to love others first. The power of His love is the fuel for ours. Pre-existing pride gives Satan the starting advantage. Only if God is voluntarily chosen can His love flow freely through the individual enabling unconditional love of others.

In the Old Testament, the Lord’s faithfulness was often demonstrated by protecting the Israelites from physical harm providing food and securing land on which to live, which frequently meant prevailing in battle despite being greatly outnumbered. “…the battle is the Lord’s…” [1 Samuel 17:47 KJV]

The New Testament battle is fought to prevent the hearts and souls of people from being ensnared by the spiritual enemy. “We do not battle to gain ground from our enemies as Israel did with the Canaanites; we battle for and seek to gain lost souls snared by the great enemy, Satan and his kingdom of darkness, and through the gospel of salvation see them translated from the devil’s domain to the “kingdom of [God’s] dear Son. [Colossians 1:12] “…the enemy…is the devil…” [Matthew 13:37-39 KJV]

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament repeatedly characterize the fight as in the spiritual realm between God and His angels battling Satan and his demons. Mankind is the prize because humanity is the greatest expression of God’s love and His greatest creative achievement.

God continues to love and protect people today, but He nevertheless has given them a free will. They are free to love Him or hate Him. A scriptural love of God inspires the Judeo-Christian worldview championed throughout the Bible and this book. A rejection of God incites the humanistic evolution-rooted worldview. God continues to bless those who seek and love Him and withdraws the blessing from those who ignore or abandon Him.

Throughout the centuries, the spiritual enemy has planted the seeds of doubt in the minds of people, “Did god really say…?” It is a powerful weapon in the spiritual battle that enables a continuing and subtle drift away from God and His incomparable Word, the Bible. As the seeds grow they produce the fruit of unbelief. In modern times the seeds of doubt have been fertilized by the theory of evolution, watered by the Humanist Manifesto, and championed by the liberal progressive movement. Throughout recorded history, there has been a small number of completely faithful believers and a small number of undeterred atheists. In between, there has been a very large number of vulnerable believers.

As the overall American culture has drifted away from God in recent decades, the mass of vulnerable believers has been caught in the back draft, albeit a few steps behind. Today, believers can still point to lifestyle habits that they cultivate or avoid. But the differences between the Biblical culture of believers and the secular culture are shrinking as believers increasingly adopt unscriptural rationalizations and support tragic choices and decisions related to divorce; abortion; infanticide; euthanasia; premature reliance on nursing homes; ungodly expansion of government, which for many has become the new god; and the downward redefinition of marriage and family.

The migration from a godly worldview to an ungodly worldview results from an endless sequence of slight compromises. We have seen that there is actually very little academically defensible scientific support for biological evolution, but spiritual devolution, i.e. erosion of spiritual convictions, has become a modern reality.

Is there a new normal? What is normal? Normal is an elusive and difficult to define concept. However you define normal, it is moving at an accelerating pace toward the darkness of humanism. God is still God. He is still the only and infinite source of love. YOU must be or become plugged into His infinite wellspring of love and be committed to energetically and frequently serving the needs of others as a priority lifestyle. His love must shine so brightly through YOU that people are compelled to ask, “What makes YOU so different?” Then—tell’em!!!! Above all, continue to serve! Serve! Serve!

Freedom is a Gift from God not a Grant from Government!

On May 25, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Education, Freedom, God's Love, Government, Holidays, Judeo-Christian Culture4 Comments

The Declaration of Independence firmly embedded God’s gift of freedom in the souls of all Americans, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men…are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

All civilizations begin in a condition of chaos and anarchy with no external control by government or any other authority. Consider what might happen if you went down in a commercial airliner crash and became part of 100 survivors stranded on a remote uncharted island with no means of communication and little chance of rescue. You and the other survivors initially work together for survival determining how to meet the immediate needs for food and shelter. Soon, however, disagreements break out, tending to escalate with time. At some point, a council of volunteers or elected members forms to draft guidelines for assuring more harmonious living among the survivors. The guidelines prohibit certain actions and mandate others. But the voluntary guidelines are only partially effective and conflict continues. A mechanism is designed and designated people are given the authority to monitor compliance with the guidelines, seek violators, and punish them in a predetermined fashion. The guidelines have now become the beginnings of enforceable law.

Whoa! What just happened? All freedom…that’s right, all freedom comes from God as the incredible gift of free will, bounded only by certain moral limitations that He applies for harmonious living and to protect you and others from physical, emotional, and spiritual harm. Any form of government can only can only limit or deny any particular freedoms. Governments can only wield money and power in an impersonal way; they have no moral authority or ability.

Government continues to be “of the people, by the people, and for the people” as long as the laws passed and regulations adopted conform to or are aligned with Scriptural mandates. God-given freedom powered by His love and limited by Scriptural boundaries—primarily the prohibitions of the Ten Commandments and moral/ethical limitations on behavior—depend on voluntary restraint. The prohibitions and limitations were given for the benefit of mankind to assure the richness of the human experience.

“…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” [2 Corinthians 3:17 KJV ]

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” [Galatians 5:1 KJV ]

“From the day of the Declaration…they [the American people] were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of the gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledged as the rules of their conduct” John Quincy Adams

Freedom is provided by God (“endowed by our Creator”) as the awesome gift of free will. Freedom, enshrined in the Declaration of Independence as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” can only be curtailed or restricted by a government that exceeds the moral limits defined by God. Government can only become the source of freedom after the government has seized total control of every aspect of life, then doles out a sort of pseudo-freedom in bits and pieces as incentives to control the people. That is not freedom.

The constitutional form of the United States government was designed to protect the God-given freedom, which was won by great sacrifice in the Revolutionary War and preserved by great sacrifices in all later wars. The Constitution provided for the military to protect American citizens from foreign intervention and a network of separation of powers as well as limiting checks and balances to protect the citizens from progressive government intrusion.

It has been the Great American Experiment in self-rule, “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” The military protects the freedom in America from external invasion. However, freedom will decay from within unless our culture is constantly nourished with a spiritual and emotional passion for freedom and the people defend it vigorously.

“God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.”Daniel Webster

“Though, when a people shall have become incapable of governing themselves and fit for a master, it is of little consequence from what quarter he comes.” George Washington

America’s Traditional Enemies Readily Understand the Source of America’s Greatness—Many Americans Cannot! Why?

On May 23, 2015May 23, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Education, Freedom, God's Love, Government, Holidays, Judeo-Christian Culture2 Comments

The People’s Republic of China is officially atheist and communist. Yet their Academy of Social Sciences recently testified:

We were asked to look into what accounted for the preeminence of the West all over the world. At first we thought it was because you had more powerful guns then we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system. But in the past 20 years we have realized the heart of your culture is your religion, Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to Democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this. The Christian Post May 22, 2015

In a recent speech, critical of the United States, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin asserted that there can be no benefit to society when good and evil are treated equally.

What is going on here? Russian and Chinese leaders have come to actually admire the source of America’s strength, which of course comes from God. Our traditional enemies have admired the cultural strengths that far too many American have learned to ridicule. America is increasingly championing evil.

Many of our uncommonly wise Founders anticipated the current condition. Founder and early President John Adams expressed the concern clearly and forcefully:

“Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand…The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure, than they have it now, they may change their Rulers and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty. June 21, 1776

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” October 11, 1798 (Address to the military)

Founder and first President George Washington issued a prophetic proclamation during his first Inaugural Address:

“…there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” April 30, 1789

Seventy years later, President Abraham Lincoln sternly warned of the consequences of forgetting or abandoning God:

“We have been recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown; but we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.” March 30, 1863

In our time, the situation has become far more serious. Freedom is incredibly fragile and can be lost at any time. President Ronald Reagan proclaimed:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” Annual meeting of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce (30 March 1961)

This time of year, we often hear the slogan Freedom is not free. It’s been paid for in blood. The blood of Jesus (Y’shua) was shed to give us spiritual freedom from the curse of sin. Throughout many wars, hundreds of thousands of our military warriors have shed their blood and given their lives to protect our freedom from outside encroachment by the armies of other nations.

But it is up to us to fight for and protect freedom from internal decay and collapse. Freedom is not a natural condition. The Garden of Eden was the only place where freedom was natural. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, pride has caused men or groups of men to seek power at the expense of the personal freedom of others.

Throughout history and in all cultures power has always tended to concentrate. The U.S. Constitution was the founder’s air tight box designed to contain the Federal government. Today, both major political parties are increasingly ignoring the Constitution; the U.S. Supreme Court long ago abandoned its primary obligation as the guarantor of the Constitution. The results have been tragic.

Listen to the stern, uncompromising admonition, of the great orator, Senator Daniel Webster (late nineteenth century):

Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.

If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.”

Freedom is a gift from God; it is not a grant from government. It is not natural and must be protected or it will dissipate and the fire of freedom, which George Washington called a “sacred fire,” will be extinguished. The trickle of lost freedom that began over 50 years ago has become a raging torrent today. Founder Samuel Adams, cousin of John Adams, had little patience with people unwilling to fight for freedom:

“If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our country men.”

A generation later, Senator Daniel Webster added, “God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.” Ultimately,

only Judeo-Christian believers can understand that freedom is a gift from God;
only believers can learn to treasure that gift.
Only believers can understand that freedom not jealously guarded and aggressively protected will be lost.

In view of the tragic collapse of the American culture, the obvious question becomes, “Where are all the believers?”

Believers have always had a cultural impact far beyond their actual numbers. Regretfully, many believers today don’t fully understand the concept of freedom. To varying degrees, believers have bought in to the ungodly cultural compromises.

The second, equally obvious question becomes, “Where are all the pastors, rabbis, and church/synagogue leaders who must embed the concept of God-given freedom in the souls of believers?

What do YOU think? What should be changed or pursued differently within the body of believers?

On May 20, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Education, Freedom, God's Love, Judeo-Christian CultureLeave a comment

“If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our country men.” Samuel Adams

Mothers are Awesome!

On May 9, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Family, God's Love, Holidays, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage, MotherLeave a comment

“Mothers constitute the only universal agent of civilization. Nature has placed in her hands both infancy and youth. The vital interest of America hang largely upon the influence of mothers. The queen that sits upon the throne of home, crowned and sceptered as none other ever can be, is—mother. Her enthronement is complete, her reign unrivaled, and the moral issues of her empire are eternal. ‘Her children rise up, and call her blessed.’ Rebellious at times, as the subjects of her government may be, she rules them with marvelous patience, winning tenderness and undying love. She so presents and exemplifies divine truth, that it reproduces itself in the happiest development of childhood—character and life…An ounce of mother is worth more than a pound of clergy.” [Shannon]

The Power of the Breast

The breasts of a woman illustrate that her power and her freedom are greater when she is satisfying the needs of her family than anywhere else. For a moment, set aside all the breast jokes you have ever heard and consider a much more profound discussion.

When she is pregnant, she is bonding with the baby for nine months. It is reasonable to recognize that “fetus” is a scientific term acceptable for use in a laboratory and for scientific research. But any woman who has ever been pregnant knows that she is carrying her baby. Her unique bonding with the baby continues during and following birth, as long as she is using her breasts to nurse the baby. The bond grows throughout the child’s growing years as she devotes special individual attention to the child’s needs.

The breasts have another vital function as part of reproductive or recreational intimacy with her husband, activities that contribute to the growing and sustaining the marriage bond. Of course the breasts of a woman are the outward physical representation of a much more holistic bond with the baby (intellectual, emotional, and spiritual) and a much more holistic bond with her husband (intellectual, emotional, and spiritual).

As the ultimate bonding connection between the woman and her child and between the woman and her husband, her breasts represent the indispensable totality and power of her role as the heart of the home. The powerful bond with her husband is her link with the present and the past; her powerful bond with the children is her link with the future. When she leaves the home for a career, she becomes the missing link. Love leaves the home like air out of a flat tire. Her involved presence is vital to the continuity and cohesiveness of the family and the sustainability of the culture.

Mothers are indispensable!

Mothers are Awesome!

Mothers are one of God’s greatest miracles!

I Will NOT Render Unto Caesar That Which is God’s!

On May 7, 2015May 7, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, Baby Boomers, Family, Freedom, God's Love, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage2 Comments

The traditional family and institution of marriage are under relentless and ferocious attack. Together they are the bedrock of American culture. Yet most believers are unable to articulate, advocate, and defend them. Nor are they able to cast an informed vote.

Scripture says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. [Mark 13:17 KJV] Caesar (the government) can confiscate all of my material possessions as excessive taxes, but:

The institution of Marriage was created by God millennia before man’s creation of the American government. Marriage belongs to God, not Caesar! The government is NOT free to redefine marriage.
The institution of the Family was created by God millennia before man’s creation of the American government. The family belongs to God, not Caesar! The government is NOT free to redefine the family.
Life was created and given by God millennia before man’s creation of the American government. Life belongs to God not Caesar. The government is NOT free to redefine or exterminate life, except for capital punishment as prescribed by God.
Freedom was given by God millennia before man’s creation of the American government. Freedom is an incredible gift from God, not a piece meal grant from Caesar. The government is NOT free to restrict freedom beyond Biblical restrictions that come from God.

Believers should have no problem rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, However, believers must be willing to exert whatever effort is necessary to defend that which is God’s and prohibit takeover by the government. We owe that much to God, to our children, to our grandchildren, and to our great grandchildren.

Otherwise, the iniquity (sins) of the fathers will be visited, “upon the children unto the third and fourth generation” [Numbers 14:18 KJV] and “Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.” [Psalm 109:14 KJV] Are YOU willing to allow your sins of neglect to be passed on to the next three or four generations?

The body of believers has always impacted their surrounding culture to an extent far greater than their numbers. It is unlikely that conservative believers have ever been a majority in the United States. Yet, the culture was largely driven by Judeo-Christian tradition and values for nearly 200 years. Today, our light is dim and we have lost our saltiness. In recent decades, the body of believers has negatively impacted the American culture. It is way past time to turn that negative impact into a lasting positive impact. The Master expects it! We owe it!

Marriage, family, life, and freedom are all extraordinary gifts from God. He would reasonably expect believers to respect, value, treasure, protect and defend those gifts for now and posterity (future generations).

One day, He will ask each believer, “What did YOU do with my gifts?” Will we be excited about sharing our love and protection of His awesome, incomparable gifts? Or will we hang our heads in shame as we feebly attempt to explain that we were so addicted to material and other self-indulgent pursuits that we allowed His precious gifts to be taken from us without a whimper?

America’s founding documents, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States, considered together, were written in their entirety to preserve and guarantee personal freedom in the broadest sense and religious freedom in a special sense. The founding package was and is unique in all of recorded history. It was designed to protect the people and their God-given gifts from a potentially runaway government. Reducing an understanding of the Founders intentions as expressed in those documents to a mere discussion of the First Amendment or even the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments) is a monumental distortion of America’s governing principles.

Today, the founding documents are continually undermined by public ignorance, apathy, and indifference enabling a government that increasingly ignores the Constitution and its strict boundaries.

“There is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow. Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence. I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men and become the instruments of their own undoing…Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.” Daniel Webster

Are YOU willing to do whatever is necessary to restore and protect our God-endowed “unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness?” Or will YOU merely slip back into your materialistic, self-indulgent slumber after reading this statement?

On May 4, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Freedom, God's Love, Government, Judeo-Christian Culture, LoveLeave a comment

“While most nations trace their origin to barbarians, the foundations of our nation were laid by civilized men, by Christians. … The memory of our fathers should be the watchword of liberty throughout the land; for, imperfect as they were, the world before had not seen their like, nor will it soon, we fear, behold their like again. Such models of moral excellence, such apostles of civil and religious liberty. … To ridicule them is national suicide.” McGuffey’s Eclectic Sixth Reader (1907)

Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment!

On April 30, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, Education, Family, Freedom, God's Love, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage2 Comments

How many people do YOU know who are truly merciful?

Once again many groups have responded with bewilderment and a struggle to identify such persons within their circle of relationships. Jesus modeled mercy toward an adulteress about to be stoned. “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” [John. 8:7 NIV] Even at the point of death, Jesus showed mercy toward a thief hanging from an adjacent cross by confirming that, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” [Luke 23:43 NIV]

During the Revolutionary War, the winter of 1777-1778 was particularly brutal. General George Washington and his army were quartered at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The General listened to a very unusual request for mercy. Michael Wittman, a spy, had been sentenced to hang for treason. The night before the scheduled execution, an elderly man, Peter Miller, was given permission to see the commanding officer. In exchange for many previous favors, Miller asked for only one:

“I’ve come to ask you to pardon Michael Wittman.”

Washington was taken aback. “Impossible! Wittman has done all in his power to betray us, even offering to join the British and help destroy us.” He shook his head. “In these times we cannot be lenient with traitors; and for that reason I cannot pardon your friend.”

“Friend? [said Miller] He’s no friend of mine. He is my bitterest enemy. He has persecuted me for years. He has even beaten me and spit in my face, knowing full well that I would not strike back. Michael Wittman is no friend of mine!”

Washington was puzzled. “And you still wish me to pardon him?” “I do. I ask it of you as a great personal favor.” “Why?’ “I ask it because Jesus did as much for me.”

Washington turned away and walked into the next room. Soon he returned with a paper on which was written the pardon of Michael Wittman. “My dear friend,” he said to Peter, placing the paper in the old man’s hand. “I thank you for this.”

We often hear the phrase, “That’s not fair.” Did you know that fairness is not a Scriptural concept? Perhaps it is partially because fairness like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. There is no commonly held standard or definition of fairness. Instead, two prominent elements of the character of God are judgment and mercy. Scripture tells us that in situations where judgment and mercy are in opposition, mercy wins. If mercy is such an important and powerful principle, why are many people missing out?

Are YOU truly merciful?

Are YOU more merciful than you were five or ten years ago?

If not, why are you not growing or maturing in such a vitally important godly character trait?

What do YOU think?

“Mercy triumphs over judgment!” [James 2:13/Proverbs 21:13 NIV]

Are YOU truly forgiving? Why not?

On April 29, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, Baby Boomers, Family, Freedom, God's Love, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage2 Comments

How many people do YOU know who are truly forgiving? When confronted, many groups responded as before with puzzled looks as individuals struggled to identify even one such person within his/her circle of relationships.

In 2006, the Pennsylvania Amish, regarded by many as a bit strange because of their apparent “old fashioned” lifestyle, gave the world an extraordinary lesson in forgiveness. A gunman from a religious home invaded a small Amish schoolhouse shooting ten young girls. Five girls died from the wounds.

At the end of the rampage, the gunman committed suicide. His suicide left behind a widow and his two young children. Despite the horrendous nature of the tragedy, the leaders of the Amish church appeared at the gunman’s home within hours to comfort the gunman’s family and offer their help to the widow in any way she wished. Later the Amish people attended the gunman’s funeral; his widow was invited to attend the Amish funerals. The experience evoked numerous other stories of extraordinary forgiveness.

Many people, including those with a strong faith in God, were astonished at the quickness, generosity, and extent of the Amish people’s forgiveness of the gunman who committed such an unspeakable atrocity. Why did it happen?

Forgiveness is soulfully embedded in the Amish culture. After all, the model prayer, often called The Lord’s Prayer, says in part, “…Forgive us our debts (trespasses), as we also have forgiven our debtors (those who trespass against us)…” [Matthew 6:12 NIV] The passage immediately following the prayer indicates that, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” [Matthew 6:14-15 NIV]

It is the only part of the prayer that is immediately reinforced. It is as if the Lord is saying even if you miss everything else be sure to get the forgiveness thing right. If forgiveness is so important, are many of the rest of us in our Judeo-Christian culture missing something? Those seemingly strange Pennsylvania folks who insist on horse-and-buggy transportation and avoiding modern technology have given the rest of us a truly powerful lesson in forgiveness. What do YOU think? Does YOUR life match their forgiveness? Why not?

Humility is magnetic and godly. Are YOU?

On April 24, 2015April 24, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Education, Family, God's Love, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, MarriageLeave a comment

The components of love are expressed as attitudes and specific acts of humility, forgiveness, mercy, long-suffering, and a servant’s spirit. Collectively, the growth of those influences in each person’s life moves him/her toward the perfection of godly character, i.e. maturity.

How many people do YOU know who are truly humble?

Many groups have been asked that question. The response has typically been a wave of bewildered looks. Some say they do not know anyone who is truly humble. Others struggle to identify one such person or two at most. Clearly such people are rare in American culture—even in religious cultures. Yet Scripture loudly proclaims, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [James 4:6 NIV/ also Proverbs 3:34 & Psalms 138:6]

The Supreme Commander in Chief is also our supreme role model. He entered this world in a very humble way through a stable manger. He left us in the humblest possible way through a torturous death on a cross and led a continuously humble life in between.

Mother Teresa was one of the best known modern role models of humility. In relative obscurity, she devoted many years to meeting the needs of the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta, India before receiving worldwide recognition late in life. In part, that recognition included a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

The greatest politicians and statesmen, such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are known as much for their humility as for their magnificent accomplishments.

Researcher and author Jim Collins, lead a large team that collectively devoted about 15,000 hours to researching the difference between good companies and great companies. The difference they concluded was what they called Level 5 leadership—extreme humility coupled with an unyielding commitment to a vision.

Leaf through a rack of leadership books. Humility is rarely mentioned. Yet it is a vital part of the most effective leadership in any area of life.

How about YOU? Would others say that you are a humble person? Is it a characteristic that you strive to build into your life? Be careful! As soon as you claim humility verbally, you’ve lost it.

“But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” [Matthew 19:30 NIV]

On April 24, 2015April 26, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Education, God's Love, Judeo-Christian Culture, ScienceLeave a comment

“Scientific concepts exist only in the minds of men. Behind these concepts lies the reality which is being revealed to us, but only by the grace of God.” Wernher Bon Braun, “Founder of Rocketry”

Modern Science Emerged from Judeo-Christian Tradition

On April 17, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Education, God's Love, Judeo-Christian Culture, ScienceLeave a comment

Today, there is a common view that faith and science are in conflict, irreconcilable opposites. The view is a myth, popularized by those who seek to avoid accountability to God and ultimately deny His existence. Actually, modern science emerged from a Judeo-Christian worldview. What happened? It is an amazing story.

The Middle Ages was not a period devoid of progress. The Middle Ages were not the “Dark Ages.” Actually, the term “Dark Ages was not coined until the 19^th Century. During the so-called Middle Ages, Europeans invented spectacles, the mechanical clock, the windmill, the blast furnace, lenses, cameras, and almost all kinds of machinery. In addition, they developed to a far higher level other inventions that originated in the Far East, including the compass, paper, printing, stirrups, and gunpowder.¹

The Church has been accused of obstructing of even blocking scientific investigations. The truth is “the Church never supported the idea that the earth is flat, never banned human dissection, never banned the zero, and certainly never burned anyone at the stake for scientific ideas.” During that period, the priests were among the most educated people. They began studies of nature as a way to improve their understanding of God. They taught that God created an orderly universe that was amenable to human understanding, if investigators proceeded in an orderly manner with each generation peeling back successive layers of the cosmic onion. Sir Isaac Newton’s famous quote, “If I have seen a little further, then it is by standing on the shoulders of giants,” was actually originated by the theologian Bernard of Chartres (died about 1130). “Science” had a far broader definition at that time.

The word, science is derived from the Latin word scientia meaning knowledge. Science originally included the entire realm of human knowledge, including politics, theology, and philosophy. Theology, the study of God and His relation to man and the world, was known as the queen of the sciences. The study of nature was known as natural philosophy. Emerging as a distinct discipline, science became widely known as the handmaiden of theology (servant). The prevailing view was that mankind could learn about God from two books, the book of nature and the book of revealed knowledge (scriptures). However, human pride is tenacious and easily inflated, especially among those gifted with higher than average intelligence. The ability to reason is itself clearly a gift as well as an important and useful tool to learn about everything in the universe. Faith and reason are a powerful combination for discerning the whole of creation. However, an accumulating array of small, pride-induced compromises within the Church allowed reason to overtake faith and in some cases replace faith in the marketplace of ideas. The trend gave birth to the “Age of Reason.” When reason is not tempered by faith, reason tends to puff pride. Satan has never stopped asking the question, “Did God really say_______?” [Genesis 3:1 NIV] However, placing reason before faith puts mankind in the position of judging God, a fearsome place to be, indeed.

Apostle Paul’s Disciples Condemn Abortion

On April 8, 2015April 8, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, Baby Boomers, Education, Family, God's Love, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, MarriageLeave a comment

“You shall not murder a child by abortion, nor kill them when born.” Barnabas, 100 A.D.

“Christians follow the customs of their native lands…they marry and have children, but they never have abortions.” Mathetes, 130 A.D.

Young Baby Boomers Caught in the Vortex of a Perfect Storm

On April 3, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Baby Boomers, Family, God's Love, Judeo-Christian Culture5 Comments

The greatest cultural collapse in recorded history was energized by the theory of evolution and accelerated by modern technology. The Baby Boomers, born from 1946 – 1964, were caught in a perfect cultural storm. That storm compromised their soul-deep reality systems intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually, during their most formative coming-of-age years, the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. The resulting cultural drift away from Judeo-Christian tradition created a spiritual vacuum.

The Boomer’s deepest yearnings for significance and meaning were unsatisfied or poorly satisfied. Many people attempted to fill their spiritual vacuum by participating in various political movements such as the “protests” of the 1960s and beyond, radical feminism, multiculturalism, and various “rights” movements (abortion, animal, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender). By effectively leveraging the power of mission and vision statements, even the business world learned to evoke significance and meaning in the lives of employees.

The abundance of emerging political movements and advances in business created stiff spiritual competition for the attention of vulnerable Jews and Christians. The results have produced the splintering of the traditional God-created, God-centered family and an increasingly fragmented directionless national culture. The political and cultural power of the Boomers arises from sheer numbers—76 million, greater than any subsequent generation—as well as their high level of activism.

The perfect storm was enabled, in part, because prior to WWII the intellectual skepticism regarding the existence of God and post-modern thinking was limited primarily to a small cadre of campus-cloistered academics. However, their radical thinking was rapidly instilled in the swelling student populations, beginning with the Boomer’s parents who massively used the “G.I. Bill” to finance college educations for post-WWII veterans. After the war, there were substantially more students on university campuses than ever before. Jobs for returning veterans were scarce; pursuing a college education at government expense provided a reasonable alternative.

Evolution was the “excuse” offered by persuasive and demanding professors for questioning or denying the existence of God. Intellectually the theory of evolution produced post-modern thinking contending there is 1) no god, 2) no objective truth, and 3) no overarching universal values that apply to all people. It was not necessary for the Boomer’s parents to be fully compromised; the professors’ arguments merely created doubt, regarding traditional Judeo-Christian values and beliefs—a doubt that slightly loosened child-rearing responsibilities. The “Greatest Generation” was about to unwittingly unleash tectonic cultural changes that would be expressed throughout the lives of the Baby Boomers.

The winds of the same post-modern thinking were gleefully fanned by the media, 1960s activists, the entertainment industry and politicians. Accordingly, generations following the Boomers have been increasingly compromised and their march to maturity largely disabled, because parents cannot teach their children concepts they do not know or understand themselves.

In a recent well-researched book, Diana West observed that America has become a culture of perpetual adolescence. We have replaced anchor-like virtues with slippery values, based on situational ethics. America has become a, “culture that has perpetuated and enshrined immaturity for more than a half century,” and, “…the civilization that forever dodges maturity will never live to a ripe old age.” Mike Males forcefully adds that, “The deterioration in middle-aged adult behavior has driven virtually every major American social problem over the past 25 years.”

Today, the so-called elite and many parents view the universe in strictly physical terms. As such, ordinary thinking is dominated by impersonal practical considerations (utilitarian, logic). Purposeful (spiritual) and principled (emotional) influences have been routinely torpedoed by evolution, science, the media, Hollywood, and many politicians. The results are evidenced by extreme political correctness, escalating cultural chaos, and the movement to “control” thought by defining “hate speech” and “hate crimes,” then rendering both unlawful.

A remedy, offered in future blogs, requires recognizing the role of Judeo-Christian tradition in the development of the greatest country and culture in recorded history, a culture envied the world over for the best quality-of-life and the highest standard-of-living ever achieved, and restore that tradition to prominence. Judge Robert Bork advises that “Religion must be recaptured church by church; and education, university by university; school board by school board.” Over two centuries ago, William Penn maintained, “Those people who are not ruled by God will be governed by tyrants.” Founder John Adams agreed, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion…”

So…What happened to the Baby Boomers? What constituted the perfect storm that collapsed a national culture in such an incredibly short time? That will be the topic of a future blog. Meanwhile, what do YOU think?

On April 1, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, Baby Boomers, Education, Entertainment, Family, Freedom, God's Love, Government, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage, Science10 Comments

“…the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” I Corinthians 3:19 NIV

Do YOU Really Think God Will Overlook the American Holocaust of Unborn Children?

On March 23, 2015March 27, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn Abortion, American Culture, Family, God's Love, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love, Marriage, Science10 Comments

Do YOU really think God will overlook the American Holocaust of unborn children? Consider the historical precedents.

American Civil War

On Saturday, March 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Second Inaugural Address just a few weeks before his assassination. It’s the one with the famous line near the end, “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right…” let us repair the physical, emotional, and spiritual damage of the Civil War. The brief, but profound speech is inscribed on the wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

The Civil War was by far the bloodiest of all American Wars. More blood was shed and lives lost during the Civil War than all other wars involving Americans put together. Why? Lincoln provided an answer in the lines preceding the famous one:

Both [sides] read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invoked His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” [Matthew 18:7 KJV]

If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.

Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequired toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash (slavery) shall be paid by another drawn with the sword (war), as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” (parentheses added)

Such is the “woe” (price) Americans apparently paid of the “offense” of slavery. Now, let’s fast forward to World War II.

Holocaust of World War II

We are accustomed to viewing World War II from the perspective of the Americans and Allied Forces. However, Anita Dittman provided another profound perspective in her just published book, Trapped in Hitler’s Hell: A Young Jewish Girl Discovers the Messiah’s faithfulness in the Midst of the Holocaust. Anita’s faith sustained her throughout the most horrifying times the human mind can possibly conjure. The book is her story.

Her comments near the end of the book highlight the enormous price Germany paid for the holocaust of the Jews:

Germany was a massive, burned-out crater by the end of the war. Three million of her soldiers died, and another million shivered in the prisons of Siberia (presumably dying there as well). More than half a million civilians perished in the air raids over Germany.

The Nazis did their best to exterminate the entire Jewish race. In so doing, the Germans lost nearly as many of their own citizens, in addition to massive material losses. “Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” [Matthew 18:7 KJV] Although the Germans paid an astronomical price for their “woe,” there is yet another one in our time.

Holocaust of America’s Unborn Children

Since the U.S. Supreme Court rendered the infamous 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, there has been a holocaust of nearly 58,000,000 unborn children. “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones…it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” [Matthew 18:6 KJV] Each individual childbirth is widely proclaimed to be a miracle from God. Can we reasonably expect God to keep His word with respect to the woe of slavery and the woe of the Jewish holocaust, yet look the other way regarding the modern woe (holocaust) of His miracle unborn children?

In a recent South Korean TV drama, a young girl discovers she’s pregnant following a single intimate encounter. She tells the father she’ll go to the hospital and have it “taken care of.” Neither liked the idea of abortion, but in the tense moments of the conversation, it seemed to be the only way to deal with the situation. The next morning, the father awakens to a note indicating that the mother was on the way to the hospital. The father rushes into the doctor’s office during a preliminary ultrasound. The father is told that the rhythmic sound emerging from a speaker is the baby’s heartbeat.

After a few anxious moments, both mother and father sign the consent form and the father walks to a waiting room. As he sits down, an immediate expression of anguish spreads across his face. He’s soon sweating bullets. When the tension exceeds his coping ability, he charges down the hospital hall faster than a 100-yard dasher, bursting into the operating room, screaming, “Stop!”

Moments later, the father and still-pregnant mother leave the hospital relieved to have avoided the abortion. The chuckling doctor turns to the nurse saying, “The heartbeat gets’em every time. Nine out of ten of them can’t go through with it after hearing the baby’s heartbeat.” The heart begins beating a mere 18 days after conception. Of course, life begins with God’s miracle at the moment of conception.

It’s fascinating that the Korean doctor’s do everything possible to discourage abortion. In contrast, the doctors in the American money-machine abortion mills do everything possible to encourage abortion. However, it’s not a matter of encouraging or discouraging abortion. The woe of the modern American holocaust of unborn children must be banned altogether.

Anita Dittman further charged that:

Many pastors and churches sold out to the Nazis or else turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to the suffering of Europe’s incarcerated. Satan worked himself into the very heart of the church in Germany and caused many church people—pastors and layman alike—to rationalize and compromise with the Nazis. A hear-no-evil, see-no-evil mentality swept the country with regard to her treatment of the Jews and other “undesirables.”

Today, it appears that many pastors and laymen are similarly turning a deaf hear to the holocaust of abortions. A compromise with evolution-rooted humanism, pressured by the beguiling notion of so called political correctness, is a compromise with Satan. How many Germans suffered severely just because they looked the other way. Do you really think that Americans can get away with “looking the other way?” What do YOU think?

“Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” [Matthew 18:7 KJV] “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones…it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” [Matthew 18:6 KJV]

The Family is Rock Solid!

On March 13, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Education, Family, Freedom, God's Love, Homemaker, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love7 Comments

The family is rock solid. Don’t miss out! The traditional family is one of the most awesome, breathtaking, and vitally important of all of God’s magnificent creations! Here’s why:

God’s plan stabilizes and provides coherence to the family.

The stabilized family builds stability and coherence into the national culture.

A stable culture assures continuity of values across future generations.

God’s plan facilitates the growth of the God-ordained marriage partnership and family.

Married people are happier.

Married people are healthier.

Family is life’s boot camp for children, instilling virtues and guiding growth.

True family-centered families—as opposed to career-centered family arrangements reduce crime.

True family-centered families—as opposed to career-centered family arrangements reduce drug abuse.

A loving family experience facilitates interpersonal relationships outside the family, enhancing the richness of career, hobby, volunteer, and recreational experiences.

God’s plan enables family members to practice humility, forgiveness, mercy, longsuffering, and a servant’s spirit in a loving, nonthreatening environment.

The positive character embedded in family members—parents and children—is carried to the outside community throughout life.

Family members learn to overcome pride by serving other family members

The family is an incubator for building God-ordained intellectual, emotional, and spiritual views and values (character development).

The family aligned with God’s plan ultimately leaves the greatest of all possible legacies.

The family aligned with God’s plan is the married couple’s gift back to God.

The family aligned with God’s plan inspires frequent, comfortable, and nonthreatening opportunities for faith sharing.

The driving passion for the family visualized in God’s plan is the aggregate of:

Gratitude for the Lord’s personally expressed infinite love.
Desire to express that gratitude by serving Him and others as a way of life.
Desire to be a conduit of His love to succeeding generations by embedding His love and character in the next generation’s children.

Anything that erodes family culture absolutely and irretrievably undermines national culture, at first weakening it and ultimately annihilating it. No culture has ever survived the breakdown of the family. Ours won’t either. It’s up to YOU to save America and the family. What do you think?

What Did Einstein Think About God?

On March 9, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, God's Love, Judeo-Christian Culture, Science3 Comments

What did Albert Einstein, the monumental icon of the intellect, think about God? Let’s just let him speak for himself:

“Everyone who is seriously interested in the pursuit of science become convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe—a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our most modest powers must feel humble.”
“His [scientist’s] religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.”
“As a child I received instruction in both the Bible and the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene… No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.”

Perhaps, Einstein was inspired by Job 38:4-7, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Or…

“The Lord by wisdom founded the earth.” [Proverbs 3:19]
“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible…All things were created through Him and for Him.” [Colossians 1:16]
“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” [Revelation 4:11]

Sadly, today our culture has, “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” [Romans 1:25] When the God of the universe competes with man’s attempts to make himself his own god, who wins? Who do you think? Are YOU willing to stand with Albert Einstein in awe of the Creator and honor Him for all He has done?

On March 4, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Freedom, God's Love, Government, Judeo-Christian Culture4 Comments

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” [Prov. 14:34 NIV]

Evolution Blows Away Like a House of Cards in a Hurricane!

On March 3, 2015March 3, 2015 By Dr. Lloyd StebbinsIn American Culture, Education, Freedom, God's Love, Judeo-Christian Culture, Love2 Comments

Darwin knew a living cell as only a blob of green protoplasm. However, in recent decades since the discovery of DNA, knowledge of cell structure has exploded at an exponential pace. A cell is like a micro-city. It has power plants (mitochondria), manufacturing plants (ribosomes), a central library or database (DNA), an “Interstate” highway system (microtubules), a distribution center (Golgi Complex), a fleet of trucks (vesicles), and provisions for water and wastewater treatment. Your body has 50-100 trillion of these micro-cities.

Each of your cells houses a DNA database that contains at least 3 gigabytes of information (think Encyclopedia Britannica) coded in a language that uses a four-letter alphabet (nitrogen bases). Each of 100,000 different proteins in the body is itself a massive molecule created from a language using a twenty-letter alphabet (amino acids). Proteins contain from 50 to 36,000 amino acids in a precisely programmed sequence. A single cell contains about 9,000 of these amazingly complex molecules in addition to the DNA.

To manufacture just one protein, the information coded in a very specific DNA location must be transcribed (like old-fashioned short hand) from coded information to information in a useful form (RNA). The information in the more useful form must be translated from a 4-letter alphabet language into different 20-letter alphabet language, similar to translating English into Chinese. Only then can the actual manufacture of the protein begin.

Even the DNA of a single-celled bacterium contains an amount of coded information in the megabyte range. Remember when computers had a memory measured in megabytes? We were amazed at even those computer capabilities at the time.

Did all this arise by time and chance alone? No way! Absolutely not! Simply imagining astronomical amounts of time cannot come anywhere close to explaining the creation of life.

Today, Charles Darwin would likely doubt, if not repudiate, his own theory. Toward the end of his life, he observed:

I was a young man with unformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over everything; and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion of them. Charles Darwin

Praise God from whom ALL things flow!