Copyright © 2008 Jon Straumfjord
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. (Hebrews 11:30-31, NKJV)
Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly….
So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.
[Rahab] took the two men and hid them.
she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall.
And the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
[the priests] who bore the ark came to the Jordan, dipped [their feet] in the edge of the … [Jordan] …, the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap … and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.
the LORD said to Joshua: "…You shall march around [Jericho], all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets…. all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat…." (Joshua 2:1-2,4,15, 3:7,15-17, 6:2-5 NKJV)
Joshua was now the leader of the nation of Israel, a commission he had accepted in faith. The first task the Lord gave him was to enter the land of Canaan and attack the fortress of Jericho. Even as Moses had lead the nation of Israel through the Red Sea, the Lord performed a similar miracle on Joshua's behalf at the Jordan River during flood season.
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Posted by Walt as Bible Study, History at 12:00 AM EDT
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Copyright © 2008 Jon Straumfjord
Then the LORD … said [to Gideon], "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?"
So he said to Him, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."
So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread …
Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. (Judges 6:14,15,19,21, NKJV)
… the same night … the LORD said to [Gideon], "… tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, … and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock … So Gideon … did as the LORD had said …. But … by night. (Judges 6:25-27, NKJV)
Then the LORD said to Gideon,"By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. (Judges 7:7, NKJV)
Now the Midianites and Amalekites, … were … as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude. (Judges 7:12, NKJV)
Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. … When I blow the trumpet, … then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, 'The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!'" (Judges 7:16-18, NKJV)
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Posted by Walt as Bible Study at 11:53 PM EDT
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BAY MINETTE, Ala. — A Christian student told he could not perform a religious song at a high school talent show was permitted to perform it with another student Friday, after ADF attorneys representing the student sent a letter to Baldwin County Public Schools officials on his behalf. The student’s song won the talent show.
“Christian students shouldn’t be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “In this case, students were invited to perform an act of their choosing. It was a violation of our client’s constitutional rights to tell him what song he could or could not include simply because it was religious in nature. Once we explained this to the school district, it did the right thing. Officials there should be commended for deciding to respect the First Amendment rights of their students.”
Spanish Fort High School invited students to perform at an April 11 talent show. Timothy “T.J.” McCarty, a senior, submitted two songs to perform, both of which contained religious messages. A teacher facilitating the show and the school’s principal prohibited McCarty and another student from co-performing one of the songs because it was deemed “too religious.”
After district officials received a letter from ADF attorneys advising them of McCarty’s constitutional rights, the school agreed to let him perform both songs. McCarty co-performed the song that was originally prohibited, and which ultimately won the talent show, by accompanying another student who sang the song while he played piano. McCarty took second place with his other song, which he sang himself.
“Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate,” said ADF Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “ADF will continue to be available to students and school districts that wish to know more about the free speech and religious expression rights students have under the Constitution.”
A copy of the letter sent to Baldwin County Public Schools officials by ADF attorneys April 4 is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/SpanishFortLetter.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org
Posted by Walt as Constitutional Issues, News Events at 10:39 PM EDT
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Copyright © 2008 Jon Straumfjord
After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, … the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying: "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, {D1} arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them — the children of Israel. {P1} Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, … {P2} No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; {P3} as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. {P4} I will not leave you nor forsake you. {D2} Be strong and of good courage, … be strong and very courageous, that you may {D3} observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. {D4} This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall {D5} meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. {P5} For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success…. Be strong and of good courage; {D6} do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for {P6} the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:1-9, NKJV)
Moses had been a prophet like none other in the entire history of Israel, and was probably the very first apostle, the second being Jesus Christ Himself (Hebrews 3:1-2, Deuteronomy 18:15-1). The nation of Israel had learned to respect and obey Moses over their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Moses had demonstrated his power and authority through a variety of miracles that had been performed through him, and through the demonstration of the wisdom the Lord had bestowed upon him. Now that Moses was dead, a new leader had to be commissioned.
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Posted by Walt as Bible Study, History at 9:42 PM EDT
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Copyright © 2008 Jon Straumfjord
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. (Hebrews 11:27-28, NKJV)
Moses had a revelation that he was going to be a deliverer of the nation of Israel out of bondage to Pharaoh. However, instead of patiently waiting for the Lord to move in His time and power, Moses initiated an ill-advised and murderous effort without the Lord's direction. As a consequence, Moses spent forty unnecessary years in Midian, and the nation of Israel spent an extra thirty years in bondage to Egypt. However forty years in Midian greatly humbled the arrogant Moses, making him ready to be commissioned by the Lord for the work to which he had been called.
After an encounter with the Lord at the Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-4:17), Moses returned to Egypt to confront the son of the Pharaoh from whom he had fled forty years previously (Exodus 4:18-31,7:7, Acts 7:24). In fact, Moses was very confrontational with the new Pharaoh, continually demanding that the entire nation of Israel leave Egypt to go worship the Lord in the desert. Every time Pharaoh refused, Moses made a prophetic proclamation, and released another plague on the Egyptian deities, Pharaoh, and the entire nation of Egypt (Exodus 5:1-10:29). However, rather than becoming more compliant to the demands of the Lord, Pharaoh became increasingly resistant, even against the expressed wishes of his own advisers and the desires of his own people, which lead to one final confrontation:
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Posted by Walt as Bible Study at 8:43 PM EDT
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Copyright © 2008 Jon Straumfjord
By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. (Hebrews 11:24-26, NKJV)
Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
"Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. (Acts 7:23-25, NKJV)
Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand…. When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian…. (Exodus 2:11-12,15, NKJV)
As an infant, Moses and all other male Israelite children were under a death sentence from Pharaoh. However, because his parents acted in faith by building a boat for him and letting it float in the river, Moses was actually saved by the daughter of Pharaoh himself. Since Moses was now living in the household of Pharaoh, he was living like a prince: he was one of the few people in the entire kingdom who was taught to read, and he always had the best food and clothing available. He lived a life of luxury.
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Posted by Walt as General at 9:22 PM EDT
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WASHINGTON, April 10 /Christian Newswire/– On her television show Oprah Winfrey has been pushing a new book by Eckhart Tolle called A New Earth. In fact, Oprah has now taken up preaching as a new past time and has determined in her own mixed-up mind there are now millions of ways to get to heaven.
This is so sad because Oprah is a hero of tens of millions of television viewers and she is expressing her own Biblical beliefs without any understanding of the Bible. Oprah has in effect denied the teachings of the Bible and of Jesus Christ by asking her viewing audience, "How can there be only one way to heaven or to God?"
When a lady in her audience asked, "What about Jesus?" Oprah defiantly answered her by repeating the question, "What about Jesus?" Oprah went on to explain how she had been a Baptist until she heard a charismatic Pastor make the statement that God was a jealous God. She told her viewers in her opinion God was simply love and God being described as a Jealous God made her really stop and think.
Don Swarthout, President of Christians Reviving America's Values said, "Oprah Winfrey has in reality just exposed her own lack of understanding about the God of Christianity. God may be a God of love, but he is also a God of justice and judgment."
Don Swarthout said, "The point is there are millions upon millions of Christians in the United States who thoroughly believe what Jesus taught in the Bible and for Oprah to come out against that teaching so strongly is simply appalling. Oprah should really stop to think before she goes off preaching her own unfounded beliefs to the world on her show."
Rebecca Chadwick, a news contributor for CRAVE said, "All cults share the same premise; they misrepresent the nature of God. Let's pray for Oprah and Tolle… and all those who are lost."
Contact: Don Swarthout, President, Christians Reviving America's Values, CRAVE, 859-219-1222, 859-619-2811 Cell
Posted by Walt as Apostasy at 11:24 PM EDT
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How much of your Bible lesson did your students miss because they were distracted?
And how much of that distraction is really your fault, dear teacher?
If you want to improve the quality and effectiveness of your teaching — so that you are teaching to change lives! — then stop being a distraction or creating them. You can't stop every possible distraction in the room, but you can make sure YOU are not the distraction.
Let me give you two ways that you can be a huge distraction to your students.
First, get rid of anything that "amplifys" your nervous tics.
True story: One Sunday morning, I was really zinging this lesson out, totally "on," and full of zeal. My lesson points were sharp and the life application was perfect for this class.
It was c-o-o-l to see how God had brought all this together!
After I dismissed the class, one nice lady came up and complimented me on my car keys. I was horrified to learn that she and others had hardly heard what I said, because I had been playing with my keys in my pocket and distracting EVERYONE.
Take everything that makes noise out of your pockets before you teach. Keys, coins, pens, trinkets. And don't click ballpoint pens or pop on and off whiteboard marker caps, either. Give your students every reason to focus on the Word of God and you.
Second, don't make your students juggle. What am I talking about?
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Posted by Walt as Bible Study at 9:23 PM EDT
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Copyright © 2008 Jon Straumfjord
By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. (Hebrews 11:29, NKJV)
Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: "…; you shall camp … by the sea…. Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD." … (Exodus 14:1-4, NKJV)
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. (Exodus 14:21-23, NKJV)
And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. (Exodus 14:27-28, NKJV)
After spending forty years in the land of Midian, Moses was finally ready to begin the ministry that had been previously revealed to him. In place of the arrogant man, who had attempted to fulfill what he believed was the Lord's will in his own power, stood a man who was more humble than any other on the face of earth (Numbers 12:3), a man who was now very timid and insecure (Exodus 4:10-17). Yet Moses was called to a position of power, authority, and confrontation (2 Corinthians 12:9).
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Posted by Walt as Bible Study at 11:35 PM EDT
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Copyright © 2008 Jon Straumfjord
Jabin king of Canaan…. The commander of his army was Sisera, … had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel.
… Deborah, a prophetess, … sent and called for Barak …, and said to him, "… the LORD God of Israel commanded, 'Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men … and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand'?"
And Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!"
So she said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." …
And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot … to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber … And … she covered him with a blanket.
… So [Jael] opened a jug of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him….
Then Jael, … took a tent peg and … a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground …. So he died.
Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day … (Judges 4:2-9,15-21, 5:1, NKJV)
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Posted by Walt as Bible Study at 11:05 PM EDT
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