CSN - LightWing Messages - Sunday- 9/24/2023
Paul’s Anguish Over Israel
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
God’s Sovereign Choice
It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”
Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist His will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
What if God, although choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As He says in Hosea:
“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”
and,
“In the very place where it was said to them,
‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
only the remnant will be saved.
For the Lord will carry out His sentence on earth with speed and finality.”
It is just as Isaiah said previously: Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.”
Israel’s Unbelief
What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it is written:
“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.” Romans 9:1-33 (NIV)
In last week’s edition of the LightWing Messages, we featured an article on Constitution Day since it was Constitution Day on Sunday. The article was from 2022, though much of the content was still relevant. We also provided readers, who could attend our Zoom call, an interview with Mr. Michael Yakawich, a state elected official in Montana. Mr. Yakawich was able to share a lot of personal advice and experiences with those on our Wednesday call.
Today, the faithful Jewish people celebrate Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, which has a lot to do with repentance and getting right with God. So, in this edition LightWing Messages, we do offer a few links to explanations of this Jewish holy day. Additionally, I am offering a followup message to the Constitution Day message from last week (really from last year). Unfortunately,
there is seemingly a conflict of messaging between the concepts behind the Day of Atonement and my contemporary message. In fact, the messages conflict on several levels because in my non-Jewish interpretation of the Day of Atonement, the Jewish people depend upon the high priest to atone for the sins of the people, and they do nothing. It is not that I do not understand the concept of doing nothing in regard to one’s sin, I do not agree with doing nothing.
The reliance upon the high priest to atone for one’s sins at this time of the Hebrew year, is also in alignment with some Chritstians attitude that through Jesus’ blood all sins have been atoned for, as belief in his sacrifice for all humanity absolves us of all sin. If this were true, then why did Jesus admonish everyone to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:12-17
It seems to me that he was encouraging individual repentance from those he encountered on his path. So, because of the cross does that eliminate the need to repent for our sins? I believe some Christians believe this because they live in such a manner they demonstrate that they are not responsible for the atoning of one’s sins – it was done through the blood Jesus shed during the time of scourging and his sacrifice on the cross. But, I submit that his most serious sacrifice was on behalf of humanity in atoning for Original Sin. Yet, humanity has yet to atone for many of the sins of rebellious behavior as God’s children. And, without personal repentance, a cleansing of the sins each person bears responsibility for, no positive advancement, development, or value can come from one’s “life of faith.”
That is a pretty heavy statement when one seriously considers it in a prayerful manner. It is truly understandable that someone less sinful, like a high priest, could intercede on one’s behalf for
their repentance because they are not clean enough or pure enough to approach God on such matters. However, at the end of one’s life, each individual has to stand before God to account for, or atone for their behavior on the planet. How do I know this? It is from Jesus’ words:
“He answered, ‘A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.’” Matthew 12:38-42
So, Christians, people of faith, conservatives, and patriots who are alive in such a time as this, need to consider how we got here. America is now worse than in the days of Nineveh, Sodom, or Gomorrah. We can blame others, and target others for being responsible, but Americans had been the stewards of the Land of the Free – it was created as “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Mental, physical, or spiritual ineptitude or laziness is no excuse. And, even on the brink of losing our nation, Americans seek to deny any responsibility for what has happened to our beloved country. Wherein lies the ownership of the Republic?
If Americans want to preserve the notion of God-given rights, we must repent for our sins because our sins have allowed evil to metastasize in our nation. We the People’s government is responsible. We can pretend that we are not responsible for keeping our Republic, but think about God’s viewpoint on this. He helped give birth to the Land of the Free. He had great hope for the Land of the Free, in the beginning. The sacrifice of the founding generation is epic. But, can people of faith be proud of what we have allowed to happen to America over the past few decades? If we understand Paul’s realization and anguish in Romans 9:1-33.
There is more to being a Christian and a follower of Jesus than just belief in him, or in his blood. How do I know this?
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:21-23
To start, American citizens need to repent for we have done a poor job of keeping our Republic, and we need to turn from our wickedness indeed, but turning from our cluelessness may need to come first. In light of the signs in simple observation of the state of the nation, that right is now deemed wrong, and wrong is deemed right, we need to return to being righteous adults as opposed to spoiled children seeking to get away with misbehavior.
The second message is a poem Dr. Ben Carson referred to a number of times regarding how his mother raised him and his brother. We have a link to a presentation from Dr, Carson in this edition, and indeed he refers to “YOURSELF TO BLAME” by Mayme White Miller. We also have a link to the site where the poem has been preserved.
Our interview last week with Mr. Michael Yakawich, a state elected official in Montana, went very well and I believe all were inspired by an elected official who actually considered himself a public servant. Mr. Michael Yakawich was able to share a lot with those on the Wednesday call. The Zoom calls are offered each Wednesday at 5pm PDT (6pm MDT; 7pm CDT; and 8pm EDT). This coming Wednesday, we hope to have a discussion with the focus on today’s message. Readers can partake in this upcoming Zoom call and participate (or just listen) in our discussion, but please reach out if anyone wants to get on the call.. Readers who are interested in receiving the Zoom link to the call, are asked to please send a brief email request to this address: d.jamzon@gmail.com
CSN LightWing Mission – Zoom call Wednesday 9/27/23 at 5:00pm PDT
We hope our readers enjoy this edition of the LightWing Messages today as well as the limited aggregated messages. Read, absorb and share, and practice what is within you. And we always hope readers would consider the messages in this edition meaningful, or relevant in some way, and if readers know others who might value these messages too, please help by passing this newsletter on to those whom you feel would welcome it. Or simply, please receive it yourselves.
These words are being freely offered to you and are intended to shine light unto our paths, as it was written: “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18 - KJV
May God bless all of our readers and all of their loved ones. May God bless America!
May we, who are called by His name, humble ourselves and earnestly repent for our unbridled Egos and our transgressions against (even those of the least among us) and make a U-turn from wickedness - even if that may translate into our failure to fathom the providential significance of the time we are living in, and to commit to actions that pro-actively demonstrate a genuine faith and a sincere trust in God.
The Spirit Required to Revive the Republic
By Dennis Jamison 9/10/23
Constitution Day - 2023 was just a week ago last Sunday. How many people took notice? The United States of America came into existence upon the foundation of the Judeo-Christian ethic and a heritage of struggle for freedom, with the fundamental acceptance of God-given rights as proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. Under such authority, America was established as a Constitutional Republic – NOT a democracy. Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States specifically expresses the intent for each state as well:
Article IV, Section 4
“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.”
However, in recent decades, elected leaders in several states have lost touch with this crucial aspect of this intent of the founding generation in establishing states’ rights and have deferred to the centralized authority centering in Washington, D.C. Even the people seem to have lost touch with the fundamental concept that this nation was created to be a government of the people, by the people and for the people, as Mr. Lincoln re-affirmed in his Gettysburg Address. The original concept has been subverted to the “government of the elitists, by the elitists, and for the elitists.” “We the people” have seemed to have lost our collective identity.
With this shift in thinking, a major casualty has been the sacred right of voting for our leaders. In turn, the responsibility and accountability for good governance has been lost. The very bedrock of the freedoms guaranteed to citizens in the United States is the freedom and right to choose our leaders in fair, honest and transparent elections. Yet in recent years, American citizens have grown increasingly skeptical of the trustworthiness and the value of participating in elections. As fewer and fewer citizens participated in voting, either because they seemed to determine that it didn’t make much of a real difference in the grand scheme of things, or they were disinterested or simply lazy.
The reverse of this recent trend was the empowerment of those who realized it made a world of difference if fewer and fewer people cared about voting. Such opportunists ultimately realized that capturing power as elected officials enabled them to do whatever they desired as long as they could retain their position in office. Many corrupt opportunists have been elected because good people held their noses and voted for whoever appeared to be the lesser of two evils, or they simply stopped participating in what they perceived to be a broken election system.
Dr. Ben Franklin Franklin foretold of such a time, and he warned the United States’ experiment in self-government “… can only end in despotism … when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.” Was this Franklin’s prophecy of an inevitable outcome of the human endeavor to obtain a “more perfect union” or ideal form of government?
Rapid changes in the nation in the past few decades show the tell-tale signs of the fundamental corruption Franklin and the other Founding Fathers feared. The portents of a creeping tyranny aren’t that hard to recognize. Franklin explained that “much of the strength & efficiency of any government in procuring and securing happiness to the people, depends … on the general opinion of the goodness of the government, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors.” The concept of the goodness of government seems foreign to many, except for the ones who relish the power of a big and centralized government leviathan.
Many Americans are disgusted by the lack of “the goodness of the government.” On the verge of another election year, the prophetic warning of Franklin should ring in citizen’s ears. It is quite likely, the outcome of the 2024 election will determine whether we will still be able to truly exist as a nation “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Currently, the population has become more vulnerable to fear or comfortable in ignorance depending upon the intensity of activities of domestic or foreign enemies. Tyrants, or would-be tyrants, are the enemies of the freedom of people wherever they may be. Tyrannical-minded people can become, or can simply employ, foreign or domestic actors to utilize fear and ignorance for the nefarious efforts to divide and conquer the fearful and the ignorant.
A multitude of examples of such domination over people exist within the annals of our human history. Yet, humanity seems to easily forget, or to diminish the value of the historical records of man’s inhumanity to man. And though Americans seem to have come full circle in confronting tyrannical actions from its own government, many seem to have become complacent in our very “comfortable system of corruption.” There is great enduring truth to the old expression that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. “Good” Americans seem to be in this state at present because the “good” people have decided to let others handle the details of governance without genuine oversight, and those people who had been trusted with the reins of power have turned out to be “not-so-good” people.
The concept of willingness to sacrifice for the sake of others is a Christian concept, and it was secured in the annals of human history by Jesus of Nazareth. He explained that there was no greater gift that anyone could give but that which one could offer through laying down one’s life for their friends. He did not just speak about such a concept. He demonstrated it by giving his life for the future of humanity. That foundation of sacrifice was planted in the soil of this nation through the blood of those willing to die so others could be free. This spirit enabled brave souls to lay down their lives for others in faraway places, that could allow for the spread and the growth of freedom to many places in the world where tyranny had traditionally reigned. That spirit of the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of others needs to be revived within America. It is the foundation for self-governance. It is the foundation for reviving the Republic. It is the foundation for the rebirth of Freedom. This is the key for the goodness of government.
Yourself to Blame
by Mayme White Miller
If things go bad for you
And make you a bit ashamed
Often you will find out that
You have yourself to blame
~
Swiftly we ran to mischief
And then the bad luck came
Why do we fault others?
We have ourselves to blame
~
Whatever happens to us,
Here is what we say
“Had it not been for so-and-so
Things wouldn’t have gone that way.”
~
And if you are short of friends,
I’ll tell you what to do
Make an examination,
You’ll find the faults in you…
~
You are the captain of your ship,
So agree with the same
If you travel downward
You have yourself to blame
YOURSELF TO BLAME by Mayme White Miller - LEAD FROM YOUR CURRENT POSITION
Onward and Upward!
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From Rooted in Christ MUSIC: Nearer, my God, to Thee - in English, Ukrainian, Hebrew, Portuguese | Rooted in Christ | 2023 - 6/16/23
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From OLUWAFIMIDARA: IM PRESSING ON THE UPWARD WAY + TIS SO SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS; HYMN MEDLEY - 8/4/2020
From CBN News: 'Devil Qualities': 'Duck Dynasty' Star's Shift From 'Heathen' to Christ Told in 'The Blind'
From Zach Williams: No Longer Slaves by Zach Williams (Live from Harding Prison) - 10/5/2018
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Podcast - From Dutch Sheets Ministries: Persevere, My Friend | Give Him 15 Daily Prayer with Dutch | September 15, 2023
Podcast – From Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk: The Josiah Manifesto - Part 3 with Guest Rabbi Jonathan Cahn – 9/7/2023
ICYMI > Podcast – From Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk: The Josiah Manifesto - Part 2 with Guest Rabbi Jonathan Cahn – 9/6/2023
Podcast - From Tim Taylor - Kingdom League International: God Marked the Word I Gave About the Remnant Rising in 5748 With a Sign Today – 9/20/2023
Jerusalem Lights - Rabbi Chaim Richman: Parashat Ha'azinu/Yom Kippur Message 5784: The Heavenly Song - 9/22/23
What affects one, can affect all! * News From The Growing Free Union -
From Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov: Supreme Court Ruling Suddenly Countered – 9/19/23
From The Megyn Kelly Show: Is Donald Trump's Life Actually in Danger, and is He Being Protected Enough? With Dan Bongino – 9/22/23
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From Huckabee: FINALLY! Is THIS Washington's WAKE-UP CALL!? | Sen. Roger Marshall, Rich Little and MORE! | Huckabee – 9/23/23
From ABC News: Commissioned officers have ‘obligation to stay out of politics’: Mark Milley – 9/17/23
Review > From Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson: Amish Covid | Full Measure – 10/11/21
ICYMI > From The Christian Post: Dr. Ben Carson lists 7 ways communism has won in America – 9/17/23
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* News From the States –
News From California -
From California Insider: How Efforts to End Racial Bias Create Judicial Bias | Nicole Castronovo & Meagan McCarthy – 9/21/2023
From LifeSite News: High school football team goes viral for singing Ave Maria after each game: 'We want to glorify God' – 9/22/2023
News From Michigan -
From The Absolute Truth with Emerald Robinson: Michigan Men Found Not Guilty In Whitmer Kidnapping Hoax - FrankSpeech – 9/18/2023
News From New Jersey -
From CNBC: Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife charged with bribery – 9/22/2023
News From Texas -
From CBS Evening News: El Paso mayor says city reaching breaking point as more migrants arrive – 9/24/2023
News From Washington D.C. -
From ABC News: Justice Department arrests, charges IT contractor with espionage – 9/21/2023