Controversy over National Day of Prayer

On April 17, 1952, Congress approved the National Day of Prayer to became an annual event when people are asked “to turn to God in prayer and meditation”.

A quick study of history shows there have been previous single days in our country where we’ve had a national day of prayer.

During the struggle for independence, the Continental Congress issued a proclamation for “a day of publick humiliation, fasting, and prayer” on July 20, 1775.

When threatened by France, President John Adams made May 9, 1798 “a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer” when people of all faiths were  asked to pray “that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it.”

President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed April 30, 1863 as a day of “national humiliation, fasting, and prayer” with hopes that God would restore “our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace”.

A quick look at recent history reveals Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush each hosted National Day of Prayer events only once during each of their administrations.  President Clinton never held any National Day of Prayer events during either of his terms in office.  President George W. Bush held National Day of Prayer events every year during his presidency.  While Barack Obama did not hold any National Day of Prayer events in 2009, he issued a proclamation for 2010.  (http://nationaldayofprayer.org/news/2010-presidential-proclamation/)

The President did this in spite of what U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb did on April 15, 2010 when she ruled the National Day of Prayer was unconstitutional as it is an “an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function”.  The U.S. Department of Justice did say they were going to appeal.

We need to pray for our country now, even as we have seemingly more and more people wanting to push God out of the way in everything we do.  We need to pray for our legislative, judicial, and executive branches now to humble themselves before God, to seek Him out for counsel in all they do and in the decisions they must make as our leaders.

Gabriel’s tablet

A recent Fox News article titled “Pre-Christian Stone Tablet Foretells Resurrection” (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,378523,00.html) comments on a newly discovered tablet on the Dead Sea that brings a “radical new interpretation” about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The article points out this tablet is believed to have been written decades before the birth of Jesus. Israel Knohl, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem contends this tablet proves messianic followers possessed the paradigm of their leader from the grave before Jesus was born.

Professor Knohl seems to suggest messianic followers always possessed the notion that Christ would be resurrected in three days after His death. So he’s trying to create some confusion. We all know who the father of confusion is.

Now, I am not any scholar, nor am I a university professor, nor am I an archaeologist. It seems to me that we already have a pre-Christian document foretelling Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection. It’s called the Holy Bible.

There is nothing in the Holy Bible that is a radical new interpretation about the death and resurrection of Jesus. Nor is there anything in this tablet that is a new radical interpretation about the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The Old Testament of the Holy Bible was written hundreds and thousands of years before the birth of Jesus.

While the Old Testament does contain prophecies about the resurrection, there is nothing there about it happening in three days. There is no three day paradigm.

Let’s examine the Scriptures.

While there are many references to three days in Old Testament writings, none of them are in reference to the prophecy of resurrection.

As for the resurrection, Psalm 16:10 tells us:
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

The reference by David in this psalm refers to Jesus Christ – “Your Holy One”.

Psalm 22: 1-18 describes the Passion and crucifixion of Christ in painful detail, then quickly changes tone in verse 19 to praising God for deliverance from death.

Verse 1 begins:
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning – then ends in verses 17 and 18 with – I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Notice how version 19 changes to praise of God:
But You, O LORD, be not far off; O You my help, hasten to my assistance. And after being saved from the lion’s mouth (a metaphor for Satan)

and praise for the resurrection (how else can Jesus tell of God’s name unless He has been resurrected?):
I will tell of Your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You. You who fear the LORD, praise Him; all you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, and stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel. For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from him; but when he cried to Him for help, He heard.

These prophecies were written by David who lived approximately 1000 years before Christ.

Isaiah 53 also describes the death and resurrection of Christ. Isaiah penned his prophecies about 700 years before Christ. Verse 5 says:
“But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities”

Verses 7 and 8 continue:
“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?”

Verses 11 and 12 refer to His resurrection for after His death, how else could be allotted a portion with the great and divide the booty with the strong unless there was a resurrection following His death?
“As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.”

Jesus himself foretold His own resurrection in the Gospel accounts. Jesus is the one who introduced the three day time frame into the prophecy of the resurrection. Since His church and Christianity began on the day of Pentecost after His resurrection, then the Gospel accounts can actually be considered part of the Old Testament since Jesus died and was the perfect sacrifice under the old covenant. John the Baptist, mentioned in these same Gospel accounts, is frequently referred by Bible scholars as the last of the Old Testament prophets.

Remember, Jesus was born as a Jew under the old covenant, he lived His life as a Jew under the old covenant, and he died as a Jew under the old covenant for the sins of us all. Christianity as a religion only began showing up in references starting around 100 AD.

Matthew 12:39-40
But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 16:21-22
From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”

Matthew 17:22-23
And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

Matthew 20:18-19
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”

Matthew 26: 31-32
Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.’ “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

John 2:19, 21
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

John 10:17-18
“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again this commandment I received from My Father.”

Mark 10:32-34
They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.”

Luke 18:31-33
Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.”

Luke 24: 44-47
Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Christ himself knew the prophecies about Him from the Old Testament – “Thus it is written…”

From the above reference in Matthew 16:21-22, even Peter had no three day paradigm in his mind.

In Acts 2:24-28, Peter, on the day of Pentecost, pointed out the references David made in Psalms to Christ’s resurrection:

“But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

“For David says of Him,
‘I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE;
FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN.
‘THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED;
MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE;
BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES,
NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.
‘YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE;
YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’”

Peter continues in Acts 2:29-32 to show David was talking about Christ, not David himself, as some believed:

“Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”

Paul also referred to the Old Testament prophecies (“reasoned with them from the Scriptures”) concerning Christ’s resurrection in Acts 17:2-3:

And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.”

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul again refers to the Old Testament (“according to the Scriptures”) regarding the resurrection as he summarizes the Gospel message of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3-4):

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

Who do you believe?

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.”

“How can there be only one way to heaven or to God?” Oprah Winfrey asked her audience in a show taped years ago. When one woman in the audience asked, “What about Jesus?” Oprah defiantly answered, “What about Jesus?…There couldn’t possibly be one way.”(http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080423/32068_Oprah%27s_%27Church%27_Video_Draws_Over_5_Million_to_YouTube.htm)

Now compare this:

Genesis 2:16-17 says “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knoowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Genesis 3:1 says “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has god said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

Notice any striking similarities?!?!?!

Who do YOU believe? The Word of God? Or Oprah?

Matthew 24:3-4 says “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.”

Matthew 24:11 says “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.”

Matthew 24:24 warns “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”

Jesus offers the truth for all who seek it. John 8:12 says “Then Jesus again to them, saying “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

John 8:31-22 promises “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Can YOU handle the truth? Who do YOU believe? God, the loving Father? Or Oprah Winfey? The eternal choice is yours.

Joshua 24:15 “…as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog for the LeRoy Christian Church!

LeRoy Christian Church is a non-denominational fellowship which seeks to follow the New Testament pattern of faith and worship as closely as possible. We offer an invitation at the close of every worship service. During the invitation anyone who would like to make a public decision for Christ is invited to come forward. If you desire to come in repentance, to confess your faith in Christ (Romans 10:10), and to be buried with Christ in baptism (Mark 16:16, Romans 6:4), we encourage you to do so, and we will rejoice with the angels of Heaven over your decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.

If you are already a baptized (immersed) believer in Christ, and you would like to place your membership, as well as your fellowship with our congregation of Christians here in LeRoy, then you are also invited to come forward to transfer your membership.

If you would like to rededicate your life to Christ as a Christian, or if you would like to publicly dedicate your life to specialized Christian service in the ministry or on the mission field, or if you need special prayer for any reason, you’re invited to come forward during the invitation.

We want you to know that we are concerned about your personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and that we especially offer this time of invitation for you to pray and consider your spiritual life. We also want you to know that a life-changing decision can be made for Christ any time and any place. Any of our ministers or servant/leaders will be happy to talk with you about these matters, or to direct you to someone who can. Your walk with Christ is of utmost importance to our family of Christians here at LCC.