Denying Christ with a gun pointed at you, is still denying Christ

We’re so happy to see that the renegade Palestinian kidnappers released the two Fox journalists who were held hostage. It was moving to see them finally free and embracing their spouses and colleagues in celebration. So many kidnappings within that region have resulted in such tragedy, that to see freedom gained is a time to celebrate.

I don’t know if the two reporters are Christian or not. If I did know, I would have to consider many more things when I write today. But since I don’t know, I have an opportunity to remind all of our students a very important fact:

IF YOU DENY CHRIST because a gun is pointed at you or at your loved ones, or to remove yourself from a fiery death, or to gain your release from kidnappers, or to stop persecution, or to gain advantage, or to survive in order to live another day; it doesn’t matter the reason, you are still guilty of denying Jesus Christ!

The kidnappers of the reporters held a gun to their heads and told them to read a prepared statement that announced to the world that they had converted to Islam. They complied, then after their release announced that they did not mean what they read.

End Times Christians do not have that freedom! There comes a time when every Christian must stand up strongly and faithfully declare their allegiance to Jesus Christ. In these times, it is crucial to stand firm, regardless of the threats made to you.

The world considers the reading of the kidnapper’s letters as mere propaganda; to the Christians who are forced to read that trash, it is something more. It is the denial of their allegiance to their King.

Certainly, many would argue that to survive is the important thing, for if they were dead, their witness to Jesus Christ could not continue. But in reality, a Christian’s witness to Jesus Christ is destroyed the first time He is denied. From that moment of denial, the word a Christian speaks is of no consequence; if a Christian cannot stand tall in conflict, then his faith is pretend. It is a Christian’s strong stance in times of danger to himself or his family that is the powerful witness of the One they serve and love.

It’s scary times, I know, and to imagine yourself or loved ones in this situation is sickening and terrifying. We can hope that each of us survives these end days intact, without being placed in the threat of death or persecution for our belief. The Word of God, and reality, tells us that most of us will in fact be placed in very difficult and scary positions in order to break our testimony for Jesus Christ.

It is the testimony of the martyrs and saints that spread Christianity throughout the world. It is the blood of those who stood strong in faith in Jesus Christ, and announced to the witnesses that He is King and Savior above all! It was the burning saints that looked to the Heaven for redemption, rather than the world for salvation, who cried out to their Lord in faith as they burned, rather than remove themselves from fiery death through denial of the One they loved.

When your time comes, and you are faced with that terrible choice of saving your life, reputation, family, possessions or freedom through the denial of your walk with Jesus Christ, or going to your death and facing persecution for your belief.

Shout loudly to your Savior so all can hear:

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO MY LAMB! WITH ALL MY STRENGTH, WITH ALL I AM!

Then ready yourself for your glorious reward! Any day is a good day to die, when you can go with your faith in Jesus Christ being proclaimed to the world!

Kathy L. McFarland, MDiv

“9 ¶ And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they [were], should be fulfilled. (Revelations 6:9-11 KJV)

Special Note: Obviously I wrote this post many years ago. Please understand my point to always hold allegiance to Christ. Do NOT use the current protests of unwanted vaccines as part of this point. Uphold Christ, not necessarily your own personal belief system concerning the different happenings in these End Times. That is the real meaning of this message. NEVER DENY CHRIST!

Who is Jesus Christ Really?

Your question is deep and probing, and the answer to it has been debated among scholars, misunderstood among preachers, and confusing to the faithful. Some believe that the LORD God Himself came down from Heaven and inserted His complete self into flesh. Others believe that a portion of the LORD God, a portion of Jesus Christ, and a portion of the Holy Spirit join together to make a complete LORD God. Many believe that Jesus is God and the LORD God is a greater God. In a manner of speaking, these schools of thought are correct to a point, and most of these beliefs are harmless to the Faithful and do not prevent them from growing to the places that God wills.

In fact, early on in our beginnings, this very question of a Triune God, surfaced time after time in our studies and caused us to focus on defining and teaching about Jesus Christ in a way that our student’s human minds can grasp and that was supported completely through the Word of God.

It was that direct focus to the Word of God that opened up our understanding to a place that many things became clear. As the Holy Spirit led us from one understanding to the next, many of our Guided Bible Studies were derived from this one question. The answer centers around one verse in the Bible; but, there are many, many verses that support our place of understanding.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4 KJV)

Jesus Christ is the Word of God. When the holy, all powerful, all knowing LORD God spoke His Will at the start of His Creation, Jesus Christ was begotten. As a result, he received the essence of His Father, which was imputed throughout his being.

Jesus was with His Father at the creation of this world, and assisted in all things created. He is greatly loved by the LORD God, and His Glory shined brightly throughout the Heavens as he accomplished the Things of God.

To effect these Things, in the order and pattern that God had planned from the start, Jesus Christ was given human form in order that he might die, and through his experience and conquering of death through glorious resurrection, bring God’s people salvation and redemption and life eternal.

As a result of Jesus Christ’s dedicated walk and faithful accomplishment of every task given to him by His Father, He was given even greater authority and responsibilities following his Resurrection. Jesus now sits at the right hand of his Father in Heaven, and welds His power of Judgment, which will be executed completely and fully in the great Day of Judgment to come.

He has the essence and the power of the LORD God, and is glorified as well. Though he is not the LORD God in completeness, he completes the LORD God, and has been given the Things of God to accomplish His Will. His power and existence is derived from the LORD God, and without the LORD God, he would not exist. Without Jesus Christ, we would not exist.

On a personal note: Jesus Christ is my Savior, my King, my Priest, my Lord, my Intercessor, and my Love. It is only on the personal level that one can understand and know the deep things of his existence and there is only one place you can learn about Him.

The Word of God. The Bible. Just as the LORD God spoke and Christ was begotten, the Word of God IS Jesus Christ. When you read the Word, you are reading Jesus, learning of Him from the same essence that created Him. It is that Holy Word of God that truly reflects and explains the completeness of Jesus Christ which would be an impossible task by mere man’s words, but accomplished completely through His!

Kathy L. McFarland, MDiv

We Stand with Israel!

Becker Bible Ministries, Inc. love the Chosen People of the LORD God
The LORD God loves his Jewish Chosen People and the Land of Israel. We want to love those whom the LORD God loves.

The LORD God continues to love His people regardless of the inability for God-loving Jews to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as the true Messiah.

In the End Times, the Lord Jesus Christ will make judgment upon the Jews and their obedient upholding of His laws.

We believe at the Judgment Seat of Christ or just prior, as End Time’s events unfold, obedient, LORD God-loving Jews will recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and repent of their sins. At this Judgment Seat of Christ, the obedient and sincere Jews will be separated to the Lord’s right side and saved, away from the non-religious people who hate or are apathetic to Him, which will be sorted to the Lord’s left side and cursed. (Revelation 20:12)

We know that one day we will share the New Heavens and the New Earth with our Jewish brothers and sisters who love the LORD God, and that they will recognize, know and love the Lord Jesus Christ as much, if not more, than us.

We think that when the things of this world are past, we will find a close and deep spiritual relationship is possible between Jews and Christians as we live in the New Earth with the Lord Jesus Christ leading us together.

Thus, we believe it is fruitful and wise to learn the ways and thoughts of God-loving Jews to prepare for a close relationship together. One of the best ways to know a person is to know his language; therefore, a study of the present-day Hebrew language as well as a study of the Biblical Hebrew language are prudent, wise, and will help nurture our future relationship together.

We Stand for Israel!

The Promised Land was given to the Twelve Tribes of Israel by the LORD God.

No worldly authority or power has the right to take from the Israelites the land given to them by the LORD God.

We stand strong and support the right of Israel to exist. We are committed to our support of our Jewish brothers and sisters, and would be willing to fight for their cause and suffer beside them if moved by Him to do so.

Although oceans separate us, our hearts remain focused upon Israel’s survival. We try to make wise effort to support their initiatives to hold and maintain their rightful inheritance of land. We also involve ourselves in the political policy of the United States to encourage a strong and public support of Israel in the face of terrorism and persecution.

Thought you would like to know!

Christians often make the Word of God Irrelevant

Christians are the laziest group of spiritual believers I have ever observed. Jewish children and adults study their Torah daily, and practice their prayers and traditions religiously. Muslim servants of God pray seven times a day as ordered by their prophet, and memorize by heart their designated holy book, the Koran.

Christians, on the other hand, most often rely on their thoughts and feelings to establish their faith walk, and depend heavily on the Holy Spirit inside them to give them the answers when they are needed. Our Christian faith is the only faith that I know of that allows new converts and mere children of faith to speak doctrine and establish practices unquestioned. Because a new Christian feels such an empowerment when receiving the Holy Spirit, and because Christian leaders forgot a long time ago how to lead, many of the faithful Christians are being led by the nose by a Christian child that has little knowledge of the Word of God.

Many Christians refuse to open the Word of God and study it diligently, and will defend that neglect by citing their worth in His Kingdom as evidenced by the Holy Spirit that dwells in them. Simply speaking, they feel holy, so why do more than is necessary?

Christians are Christians because they declare Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ IS the Word of God. Jesus Christ began as a result of the LORD God speaking His Word. Every Word contained within the Holy Bible is the LORD God’s Word; thus, the Word of God IS Jesus Christ. When you study and read the Word of God, you are communing with Jesus Christ. When you understand deeply the messages in the Word of God, you are understanding deeply the things of your Jesus Christ. A Christian that fails to constantly turn to the Word of God, and rely instead on the powerful feelings of the Holy Spirit alone, is like a child leaving his fathers wisdom and teachings yet still demanding that the father provide the feel good and protective things in life.

The Holy Spirit is critical to the study of God’s Word, and the Word cannot be known completely without the Spirit revealing the things God wants you to know. However, you have to open God’s Word, and study God’s Word, if you expect to receive growth in the spiritual realm. It is as simple as that.

Now secular fools, and stuffy shirt pharisees will often pronounce the love of God’s Word as the “worship of the Bible” to the exclusion of God. They do this in an attempt to make the Word of God irrelevant, and to gain control over the faithful of Jesus Christ.

The true fact is that the Word of God empowers and makes a Christian perfect. The more the Christian knows the Word of God, the more perfect a Christian he is.

Psalm 119 was written by David (according to most scholars). It is one of the longest psalms, and one of the most beautiful. David’s soul is exclaiming with every breath the magnificence and glory of the Word of God. To read this psalm with purpose and meditation causes believers to be highly elevated because of the love expressed repeatedly by David to His LORD God. The reader of Psalm 119 almost feels like he is intruding on the revealing of David’s soul to God. That is how impassioned and giving David is when he declares his beliefs in His Word.

Yet, many stuffy shirts today accuse him of the same thing that many Christians on forums are being accused of often: “Worshiping the WORD OF GOD to the exclusion of God Himself”. Then to add to the confusion and mistrust of the young, the secular points out the different Bibles and the different translations and pronounces them all false because of this.

This is wrong! Christian brothers and sisters, please don’t fall for this attempt to make the Word of God irrelevant! You owe them no explanation, but most certainly, you do not owe them an ear! The secular and the pious fools want you to be weak and ineffective….their worst fears is that you will break free of their control and become perfect in God’s Word. Do not let this argument dissuade you from study of the Word of God. You owe it to the Savior that you have been chosen to follow and learn as much of Him as you are graced to receive!

“16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV)