The pursuit of temporal things is futile.

August 5

Ecclesiastes 12

The pursuit of temporal things is futile.

INSIGHT

Our society tends to breed materialism. Young couples expect to own a house, two cars, and maybe a boat. We dream of the day when we can afford to take exotic vacations and own a bigger house. Game shows offer spectacular prizes, and lottery tickets are sold by the thousands. But Solomon experienced tremendous wealth and found himself unhappy. He learned that eternal things matter most. God wants His children to invest their brief lives in others–not just in material things.

PRAYER

God has promised that He will provide His children’s needs. Let’s praise Him:
“Why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? . . . But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:28-30, 33).

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? . . . Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Matthew 6:25, 27).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to mind.

Now pray this affirmation to the Lord:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? . . . If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:7-9, 11).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:
– Contentment with the material possessions you own
– God’s provision for the less fortunate
– Safety of missionaries in Central America

Offer this closing prayer to God:
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

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EVANGELICAL ENIGMA

EVANGELICAL ENIGMA

By Jon Christian Ryter

August 4, 2008

NewsWithViews.com

As the liberal voters in New Hampshire—one of the northeastern “Patriot States” where the Revolutionary War began in 1775—casually surrender their historic blood-fought liberty to communism by endorsing the most unpatriotic, un-American “citizen-of-the-world” for the office of the presidency, conservative evangelicals in the heartland of the nation are doing everything in their power to throw the election to presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Hussein Obama [D-IL]. They did so by demanding that GOP presumptive nominee Sen. John Sidney McCain [R-AZ] not pick former Gov. Mitt Romney [R-MA] as his running mate. Why? Because Romney is a Mormon. The excuse the evangelicals initially tried to use was that Romney has flip-flopped on outlawing abortion and on the issue of same-sex marriage. The allegations—at least today—are patently false as the evangelicals well know.

Evangelicals like novelist-preacher Tim LaHaye; Calvary Chapel pastor Rob McCoy; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Gary Bauer, former FRC leader; anti-porn crusader Phil Burness who heads Citizens for Community Values; Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson; Don Wildmon President of the American Family Association (and Gary Glenn, president of its Michigan chapter); William Murray, chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition; Rick Scarborough, founder of Vision America; Janet Folger, president of Faith2Action; Matthew Staver, founder of the Liberty Counsel; Rob Schenck, founder of the Faith & Action Network and an assortment of lesser known pastors from lesser known churches and advocacy groups all denounced Romney as unfit for their support—solely because he is a Mormon.

Rick Warren, ‘gay’ advocate team up to host Obama-McCain Joint appearance at Saddleback Church co-sponsored by faith group challenging ‘right’

Rick Warren, ‘gay’ advocate team up to host Obama-McCain

Posted: July 26, 2008
12:00 am Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

Hillary Clinton greeted by Rick Warren before her speech at Saddleback Church in November (WND photo)

The upcoming joint appearance by Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain at Rick Warren’s evangelical Saddleback Church is co-sponsored by a left-leaning group led by a Unitarian-Universalist minister who once headed her denomination’s homosexual advocacy office.

Meg Riley is the board president of Faith in Public Life, whose board members include other theological liberals, including a pro-abortion Muslim leader and a Jewish rabbi, reported OneNewsNow.

The group’s stated vision hints at its challenge to the influence of the so-called religious right, saying it “envisions a country in which diverse religious voices for justice and the common good consistently impact public policy; and those who use religion as a tool of division and exclusion do not dominate public discourse.”

The blog Watchers Lamp noted Faith in Public Life offers a list of faith-based groups on its website that promote the homosexual-rights agenda.

Warren told OneNewsNow, a Christian Internet site, he’s not troubled by the association with a group at odds with his church’s conservative evangelical theology.

“Really we just are … co-hosting [the event],” Warren said, noting Faith in Public Life came up with the idea.

“Actually, we’re in total control of the format, the program, the questions,” he said. “It’s at our church; and so it’s not their event, it’s our event.”