🏳️‍🌈✝️🔻 Power in the Name of God

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower;  

the righteous runs to it and is safe and set on high [far above evil]."

 Proverbs 18:10 (AMP)

 

Rainbow Pastor David 

11/21/2019 

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The next few weeks as we draw closer to a new year I will be sharing some of the many names of God with you. It is my desire that you learn these names so you can praise your God in His names and rest assured that He will give you strength to stand against the enemy of God another year. Our God has revealed Himself through His many names and it is important that we as His followers learn and revere those names. Together let us learn how to take an attribute of God and us it in our worship of Him. For example: God Almighty – “Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.” Psalm 89:8 (NIV)

As followers of Jesus Christ we must never forget that everything God said He was in the old covenant, Jesus fulfilled in the new. In JESUS, the old covenant names are very much alive and real to us still today.

From history we learn that the nation of Israel was founded on the Word of God, however there came a time when their leaders commanded believers not to use the name of Jesus in public. When the Protestants came to America to form the United States they were escaping the rule of the Church of England in order to form a more perfect union under God for themselves. As time progresses we are finding it harder and harder to mention the Name of Jesus in the USA because of a corrupt government who have made policy to prevent His name from being used even in public prayer.

Why has the Name of Jesus been under attack for all these years? It is because there is POWER in the name of Jesus! Take a few minutes to listen to this song about the Power in the Name of Jesus to break EVERY chain of bondage in your life.

     1.      The Power to Heal – Jeremiah 17:14

     2.      Power for Salvation -  Acts 4:12

     3.      Power to Answer Prayers – John 14:13-14

     4.      Power to Cast Out Satan and his demonic forces – Acts 16:18

     5.      Power to Bring Jesus Into a Gathering – Matthew 18:20

     6.      Power to Do Signs and Wonders – Mark 16:17-18

I am looking forward to sharing with you the many Names of God and how awesome it is to worship and praise Him through the Power of His Names. Now is the time followers of Jesus Christ rise up in His Power, Repent of our sins, Pray for America and watch Jehovah Rophe {the One who heals} heal our land.

Blessings and Peace,

Rainbow Pastor David 

🏳️‍🌈✝️🔻 Black and White Matters of the Heart

Rainbow Pastor David

11/20/2019 

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It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this article today. On Tuesday, November 19, 2019 my mother and her husband were in a car accident because a woman ran a stop sign and keep pushing their vehicle trying to get away. My Mom called me shaken because she had just dropped me off and this accident happen one block from my house. Of course I rushed to the scene to make sure my Mom and her husband were okay. Let me pause right here to say that my behavior at the scene of this accident did NOT reflect the Lord Jesus Christ and for that I am ashamed to my core.

When I got there I asked my Mom if she was okay and begin asking her questions about the accident. I asked if the person was just not paying attention or what because of the condition of the scene and my Mom’s truck in comparison to the other drivers car who t-boned them.

While I was questioning my mother a young girl who happened to be black turned around and gave me a go to hell look. I asked her why she was looking at me like that and if she was the driver. At that she began to cuss me out saying I was accusing her for the accident when that is not what I was doing at all. I just wanted to make sure the other driver was okay. She walked away from the scene so I was attending to my Mom when she came back yelling on the phone about me so I went over to apologize for offending her and she told me in her words, “Shut the F up you F’ing Cracker.” I should have kept my mouth shut but a HATE that I have never felt in my life welled up inside me and I yelled at her and asked her why she would call me that when I just wanted to apologize if I made her uncomfortable and she continued to yell at me and a Black cop got on the scene while this was happening went straight to the Black Woman who hit my Mom and her husband and was repeating over and over do you want me to call an ambulance. Did not ever once ask if anyone else was hurt – The PEOPLE SHE HIT!!! He stopped long enough to yell at me and tell me to shut my mouth. I told him the girl was the one who was keeping on at which he bucked up in my face and asked me who the hell I was. So I naturally bucked up back at him and told him I was the son of this woman. He told me if I was not in the accident to leave at which I said I will not leave because I will be right by mothers side. He turned to the girl and told her to shut up but she just kept being mouthy. I told my mom I had had enough and was going home before I got arrested. So I left.

Let me tell you this is one of the worst experiencing I have had with a Black Person.  Well except for the time one of the Black girls working for me one time when I sent her to my office for being hateful with customers. I asked her if she was okay because it was not like her to be like that with customers. At which point she said she did not need to tell me anything and called me a F’ing faggot. Of course I fired her on the spot. Anyway when this young Black girl called me a F’ing Cracker I lost my mind. It is a good thing God gives me strength in certain situations because I was ready to punch her and that Black cop in the throat for being so disrespectful.

I will tell you this much, if you expect RESPECT then you need to show RESPECT and that goes for those BEHIND THE BADGE also. You know I have cousins who are mixed and I would never use the N Word to describe them they are just my cousins. I don’t even refer to them as my black cousins. This girl and this cop caused me to use the N Word talking to my mother and it made me sick to my stomach. I have cried and begged God today to forgive me for even entertaining those thoughts. Obviously I have been affected by the HATRED this horrific administration has caused in our country.

When a young person comes at you with slang words like the N word or Cracker or any of the other horrible words like FAGGOT you need to remember it is because they have NOT been brought up in a home filled with the LOVE of JESUS CHRIST and you need to show them as much love as they will allow or just walk away and pray they will some way find JESUS.

RACISM is WRONG – REVERSE RACISM is WRONG

It is time for AMERICA to heal from all this HATE and the ONLY WAY IT WILL HAPPEN is if this country will REPENT OF ITS SINS and TURN TO JESUS CHRIST!!!

I am sick just writing this article but I felt I needed to get it out of my system and to let everyone know that I am only human and I too am capable of thoughts so evil that it nauseates me. I am praying God will cleanse me of this evil thorn that is being driven into my heart and the hearts of all Americans. I need more of JESUS and HIS WORD now more than ever because the EVIL in this world is GROWING STRONGER the closer it gets to JESUS’ RETURN.

In one Scripture that is often misunderstood, Matthew11:12, Jesus said: "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."

 

The wording of this verse must be taken in light of all Scripture. It means, violence; it calls for violence and assures that the violent take the Kingdom by force. This truth must be rightly understood. Jesus affirms that to gain entrance into the Kingdom will be by force. The powers of hell will try to prevent the salvation of a soul. God is the Victor. But, when you enter into God's Kingdom, every opposition of hell will be brought against that soul. From the beginning, a born again soul realizes that God's dealings with him were not just for his redemption, but he now has the realization of his new life and how he must guard and fight against every attempt to rob him of this treasure. That individual will fight every prejudice and bias leveled against him. 

This is why we must take up the full armor of God daily so we can fight these fiery arrows Satan and his demonic forces are throwing our way each day.

Ephesians 6:10-18

“In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might. Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places. Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious]. So stand firm and hold your ground, having tightened the wide band of truth (personal integrity, moral courage) around your waist and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (an upright heart), and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace in preparation [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news]. Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people.”

To ALL my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus who have dealt with any kind of RACISM I pray that you will take up the full armor of God so you will be able to fight the HATE Satan will try to manifest in your life to bring you down.

To all my Black brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus I know you know all too well what it feels like to be discriminated against because of the color of your skin. I ask that you too will forgive this Pastor for feeling the hate he had in his heart during this horrible experience. Know that I have no HATE towards any of God’s Rainbow of Children. It makes me sick to see how low Satan has drug this country with his instruments in Washington D.C. I just pray that God’s people will WAKE UP and actually ask God to help them pick the RIGHT man or woman to help bring healing to our country. We made great strides during the Obama Presidency only to have a White Supremacy come in and tear it all down in less than 4 years.

Before all those who follow me I ask God to forgive me for the HATE filled thoughts I had and I ask God to cover my mind with His Holy Spirit so only thoughts that are like Jesus Christ will fill my mind, my heart and my mouth. In Jesus Name I ask, Amen.

I ask that all my followers please keep the older Black woman, my Mom, and my Step Dad in your prayers for healing to their bodies which were injured in this accident. Pray with me that our Heavenly Father will give the woman who caused this wreck to have peace of mind because she was so shook up. I also pray that my Mom will find peace because she is still shook up pretty bad today.

Blessings and Peace,

Rainbow Pastor David

🏳️‍🌈✝️🔻 Just a few of the multitudes of challenges facing the church today

Rainbow Pastor David

08/25/2019

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What are the biggest challenges today’s churches face?

 How can they overcome them? 

1.   Biblical Illiteracy. Biblical literacy is a huge problem in the American church, and it makes many of the challenges on this list all the more challenging. Quite simply, people in churches (and even more so those not in churches) may pay lip service to the importance of the Bible, but by and large they do not read it or know it. Almost 1 in 5 churchgoers say they never read the Bible—essentially the same number who read it every day. Research found that while 67 percent of Americans believe heaven is a real place, 45 percent believe there are many ways to get there—including 1 in 5 evangelical Christians. More than half of evangelicals (59 percent) believe the Holy Spirit is a force and not a personal being—in contrast to the orthodox biblical teaching of the Trinity being three Persons in one God. As a whole, Americans, including many Christians, hold unbiblical views on hell, sin, salvation, Jesus, humanity, and the Bible itself. It’s embarrassing, and there is much work to do. Preaching the TRUTH of GOD will bring people into a better understanding of God and give them the desire to want to know more. Ministers need to be more like Paul’s example in 2 Corinthians 4 and 2 Timothy 4:2-8.

2.   Presence. Christians ought to be people of presence, connected to God and to one another through the inhabiting, unifying power of the Holy Spirit. But today’s world busies our lives and distracts us so that every moment pulls us away from presence. The church must re-prioritize its vocation as presenters of God’s presence in the world, and to do so we must cultivate habits and liturgies that create the space and contours for that presence to be felt and known. Romans 12:1-2 encourages believers to present themselves as living sacrifices for the world to see and know that we are in this world but we are not of this world.

3.   Lacking Power. The “church” demonstrates no power anymore therefore people have no need to attend. Throughout the Bible we read that God gives us POWER when we follow HIM and keep His commandments. The “church” today has become the PORTRAIT of 2 Timothy 3:1-5 which says, “But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them.”

4.   Disembodied Tendencies. The trajectory of technology is away from incarnational presence and toward disembodied experience. We live our mediated lives via windows and boxes. We chat with multiple people at a time, post one fragment of our lives here and another there, consume visual media in one window and read the Bible in another. All of this makes it easier to fracture our lived experience into disconnected compartments, a process that wreaks havoc on our spiritual formation. Integrity is wholeness (integer = whole number), all parts of our lives integrated and reflective of the Lordship of Christ. Churches today must work extra hard to cultivate this. We increasingly live our lives via screens, streams, apps, phones. Our relationships are digital. This exacerbates existing Gnostic tendencies (a cerebral rather than embodied faith) and subtly de-emphasizes the crucial physicality of the church, the “body of Christ” in the material and not just theoretical sense. Churches should find ways to encourage physical gatherings, the practice of the Lord’s Supper, meals together in neighborhoods, bodily movement in worship, shaking hands and hugging each other, whatever it takes! Anything to re-sensitize people to the fleshly reality of the church in the world. We must live our lives according to the new and living way found in Hebrews 10:19-25.

5.   Boredom. We are an antsy culture. Everything is fast-paced and harried; we can hardly remember which Netflix show we loved last month or which restaurant was the rage last year. We have short attention spans and get bored easily, and this poses a huge challenge to the church. The values of routine, tradition and stability that define the church are distasteful in our fidgety age. Churches are naturally tempted to use gimmicks and trendiness to solve this problem, but this is ill-advised. The task of the church is to lead people to awe, wonder and worship without watering things down or constantly reinventing the wheel. The boredom challenge leads to this challenge, to “rethink” church every couple years. The problem is endemic in American evangelicalism. It is exhausting to read the scores of books that come out every year that provide a new paradigm or prescription for a revived church. The evangelical church should become a bite more trusting; trusting a bit more in continuity rather than seeing every cultural change as an invitation to reinvent the wheel. According to Hebrews 13:8-9, “Jesus Christ is [eternally changeless, always] the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established and strengthened by grace and not by foods [rules of diet and ritualistic meals], which bring no benefit or spiritual growth to those who observe them.” In this know that through the TRUTH of the WORD, the POWER of GOD will be revealed through the HEALING POWER of JESUS CHRIST brought to you through the HOLY SPIRIT moving through the PREACHING of the WORD.

6.   Consumer Christians. The ubiquity of consumerism in late capitalism has fully infiltrated the church, to the extent that “church shopping” and “what I got from the sermon” are things we say without thinking anything of it. People go to Sunday services to “get something.” They choose churches that “fit them” and match their checklist of preferences, just as one would choose a car or a new pair of jeans. But churches must challenge rather than cater to this mentality. Church is a place where members of a body come together for purposes beyond themselves. It’s an invitation to join Christ in what he is already doing in the world, not an invitation for Christ to affirm our self-actualization. Be careful to stay away from the churches {such as the mega ministries} that have become breading grounds for those who want nothing more than their ears tickled on Sunday by FALSE MINISTERS who cater to the their earthly needs {2 Timothy 4:3-4}. There are many of the FALSE MINISTRIES that tell people what they want to hear with a big smiles on their faces as they rob the people blind to support their own personal wealth goals to satisfy their earthly desires {Matthew 7:15-20}.

7.   The Temptation to Homogeneity. The consumerism of contemporary Christianity has unsurprisingly led to churches that are more homogeneous than ever. When we go to churches that fit us (how we look, talk and worship) we will naturally be surrounded by people who look, talk and worship just like us. But homogeneity is not the biblical ideal. The power of the gospel is that of unifying diverse groups of people, breaking down the walls of hostility that naturally divide us (race, class, culture, gender, music preference, whatever). At a time when social media allows us to curate feeds and surround ourselves with people who agree with us and confirm our biases, this work becomes even more difficult. In the eyes of God we are ALL the same who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior therefore we should NOT separate ourselves from one another {Galatians 3:28, Hebrews 10:25}. Let us learn to love one another according to John 13:35 and live in harmony with one another according to Psalm 133:1.

8.   The “Authenticity = Brokenness” Fallacy. At the heart of it is an unbelief in change and a weak theology of sanctification, a problem that leads to claims of “this is just who I am” essentialism and immutability. Aren’t we a people of resurrection and hope? Isn’t the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead within us now? Our anemic belief in change is coupled with a fetishizing of brokenness, and it’s a toxic combination. Many Christians today are quite simply more compelled by sin (though we call it “brokenness”) than we are with holiness, and that is a significant problem the church must address. True brokenness can be found in Luke 9:23, And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross daily [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].” TRUE HOLINESS means set yourself APART from this world {1 Peter 1:15-17}.

9.   The Idol of Autonomy. Little poses a bigger threat to the church in western culture than the pervasive mindset that individual people are the sole arbiters of their identity, morality and destiny. The “be and do whatever feels right to you” philosophy of expressive individualism is fundamentally at odds with Christianity, which calls us to bow to the lordship of Christ. Churches must counter this and disciple people to submit their convictions about themselves, however sincere and authentic they may be, to the authority of Jesus Christ as revealed to us in Scripture. As followers of Jesus Christ, the body of Christ, known as the “church” we must submit to the authority of God according to James 4:7-10.

10.  Aversion to Commitment. We live in a culture that is commitment averse. Millennials are the FOMO (“fear of missing out”) generation, that prefers to keep options open rather than committing to something or someone and foreclosing other possibilities. We are the generation that has rendered RSVP-based party planning a futile endeavor. We are the generation that is opting to own homes at a far lower rate than previous generations did. 91% of us expect to stay in a job less than 3 years. We are far less likely to be affiliated with a religion or a political party than previous generations were, and we get married at lower rates and later in life than our parents and grandparents did. Naturally, this leads to weak (if any) commitment to the local church, which makes discipleship and true “long obedience” formation difficult. Against this backdrop, churches can be relevant not by reinforcing unencumbered individualism but by challenging people to connect and commit to the body of Christ. Proverbs 16:3 tells us to, “Commit your works to the Lord [submit and trust them to Him], and your plans will succeed [if you respond to His will and guidance].” Hebrews 10:25 encourages believers to assemble together to exhort and comfort one another.

11.  Social Media. There are some positive things social media offers, but there are many things about it that pose challenges to the contemporary church. Chief among them is the challenge of posturing, a performative obsession that feeds pride and hypocrisy. But social media (and texting too!) also can complicate pastoral situations and make existing problems worse. Closely associated with social media, the allure of celebrity and “platform” has become pervasive and can destroy a church, particularly when pastors and leaders become more interested in impressing their “audience” than tending to the flock of God {Matthew 7:15-20, 2 Timothy 3:1-9, 2 Timothy 4:3-4}.

12. The Need for Racial Reconciliation. The church should be no haven for racism, and yet too often the church has let racial wounds fester and prejudice (whether explicit or implicit) goes unaddressed. The church must not be on the sidelines in the work of justice, healing and reconciliation; she must actually lead these efforts. The most vibrant centers of global Christianity are not in western countries these days, and the face of western Christianity is becoming much more diverse. Churches that celebrate, embrace and embody this reality in their communities will thrive, while those that resist diversity and cling to their ethnocentric privilege will falter. The “American” Church needs to be reconciled with God according to 2 Corinthians 5:17-19.

13. Religious Freedom.  Churches must disentangle from the government to the extent that they can (return to house-churches?), or else figure out how to deal with inevitable legal/legislative challenges. We read in Acts 5:29-32, Then Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men [we have no other choice]. The God of our fathers rose up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross [and you are responsible]. God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior and Deliverer, in order to grant repentance to Israel, and [to grant] forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has bestowed on those who obey Him.”

14. Demilitarization of the Church. The church has allowed this world to do away with its God given authority as God’s military against the forces of evil controlling this world. Lies and deception have caused the people of God to cower in the face of diversity instead of standing up in the POWER of the Holy Spirit against the forces of evil. We need to put on the Armor of God and be the warriors God meant for us to be {Ephesians 6:10-18}.

15. Distrust of Authority. For many (very valid) reasons, younger generations today have a real distrust of authority. This makes church inherently challenging for them, not only because they have a hard time trusting leaders but (more importantly) they struggle with submitting fully to the authority of Christ and the authority of Scripture. Yet churches must lean into the “transcendent authority” of Christ, counterculture as that may be. We learn from scripture {Matthew 28:18} that ALL AUTHORITY in heaven and earth have been given to JESUS CHRIST therefore we must teach our younger generation to have full faith and trust in HIS authority. As Christians we must humble ourselves in the face of authority and live peacefully with all of mankind {Romans 13:2-7, Titus 3:1-3}

16.  Entanglements of Allegiances. This has been a struggle for the church since her earliest days. In what sense does a person’s allegiance to empire or nation or some other secular community interact with their allegiance to Christ and his church? Today we’re seeing this play out in the messy entanglements of Christians in politics, to the point that we have to say out loud that trickle-down economics and the right to bear arms are political, not biblical values. Today’s focus on identity politics makes this even more challenging, as any given member of a church may see their Christian identity as secondary to some other identity (gender, race, political affiliation, nationality, etc.). Churches will have the messy task of acknowledging and respecting multifarious identities while also challenging people to prioritize them in the right way. Read 2 Timothy 2 to learn that a GOOD SOLDIER for CHRIST does NOT get entangled in the affairs of this world.

It is more important now than ever before in history that the “Church” of God rise up in the POWER it has been given through CHRIST JESUS and the POWER that comes from the HOLY SPIRIT guiding us against the rulers of darkness in this world. In order for the Church to overcome the challenges is faces today, it MUST get back to basics and that would be TEACHING THE TRUTH of THE WORD of GOD and NOT what MANKIND has INTERPRETED as the TRUTH. It is time for the MINISTERS of GOD to KNOW the HISTORY behind the written WORD and TEACH it to the people so they will have a better understand of God's love for His creation.

You adulteresses [disloyal sinners—flirting with the world and breaking your vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend [that is, loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4

Do not be unequally bound together with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial (Satan)? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and Idols? For we are the temple of the living God: just as God said: “I will dwell among them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. So come out from among unbelievers and be separate,” says the Lord, “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will graciously receive you and welcome you [with favor], and I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters,” Says the Lord Almighty. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Do as the Word commands and "Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15  

Forever in Christ Jesus Service,
Rainbow Pastor David