May 2014
June 2012
“Caught Serving”
“MOM of the YEAR!”
“God at Work” Testimony
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By Pastor Dave Bryan
O
ver 200 years ago, our country’s founders gave us the first ever, best ever REPRESENTATIVE form of government... along with a solemn warning that it would take “eternal vigilance” on the part of the governed to maintain it! The citizens of the new “American Experiment” were repeatedly warned that government tends to selfcorrupt, and MUST be held accountable to the will of the people to keep it clean! Well... whadoyaknow... THEY WERE RIGHT! Two centuries later, we’re beginning to wake up to the fact that the American people have failed to hold our elected officials accountable, and now “government of the people, by the people and for the people” has very nearly
“perished from the earth!” For the past few months, we have joined with other good people of various religious backgrounds and political affiliations to promote the formation of a new and independent State of Jefferson in the North State from the southern border of Yuba County northwards all the way to the border of Oregon! While most folks have been very supportive of exercising our Constitutional Rights to appeal for new statehood, some passive souls have suggested that the whole idea may not jibe with a truly Christian world-view. Some wrongly feel that true Christianity must always be passive and go docilely along with “the powers that be” regardless of what the issues are. To these, I recommend a more careful reading of Scripture with an eye open toward the
frequent revolutions of Israel and Judah as they were rallied by spiritual leaders (“Deliverers” or “Judges”) in casting off their oppressors. Also note the frequent confrontations in Scripture between godly Prophets and ungodly rulers, as well as the Spiritual Warfare motif of the entire Bible that clearly portrays us Christians as the emissaries and warriors of God’s heavenly kingdom that has come to earth to “destroy the work of the devil!” (1 John 3:8) and to “overcome evil with good!” (Romans 12:21). In the New Testament age, too, we see that the great heroes of the Christian faith boldly risked their lives to confront and overcome the evils of their age. They were not cowardly passivists that allowed evil to reign uncontested in their day! No indeed! Just the opposite
The Secret to JOY and PURPOSE Page 17
is true! Whether it was Justin Martyr confronting Roman Emperor Antonius Pius regarding the wrongful persecution of Christians under Roman law, or Martin Luther risking his life by bucking the allpowerful politico-religious system of the Catholic Church by nailing his 95 points of protest to the church door, or William Tyndale resorting to clearly “illegal” tactics in order to get God’s Word into
Cont. on p. 9
The Ambassador
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