LOVE & FAITHFULNESS

Proverbs 3:3-4 notes, "Let not love and faithfulness never leave you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
And so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.

This is a powerful verse! Some would ask, does it "always work." And, yes the Word of God always works!

Using the perfect example of Jesus Christ showing "love and faithfulness", surely He the ongoing, eternal favor of God the Father. Indeed, after Jesus had been baptized in Matthew 3:16-17, the Spirit of God descended like a dove on Him and a voice from heaven said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

However, in Matthew 27:45, while hanging on the cross, Jesus cried out the prophecy of Psalm 22:1, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" At this moment, Jesus felt the full weight of mankind's sin! Jesus became a curse for us according to Galatians 3:13, which in turn cites Deuteronomy 21:23, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree." He felt abandoned by God, separated from God. 

So, can we conclude that this meant that God's favor toward Jesus stopped at that particular moment? We could refer to God's timing in Ecclesiastes 3, which notes, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven..." I would also add like when a father has to discipline his son doesn't mean the father's love ends so can the same be said about God the Father's love toward Jesus at that time.

This verse from Proverbs teaches us about timing, the need to "rightly divide the Word of truth", as well as favor!

MARKS OF A CULT

The four basic tests of a cult are:


1) Add to the Bible as equal spiritual authority. It could be a book like the Book of Mormon or the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

2) Subtract from the divinity of Jesus Christ or add to the fallen nature of mankind. Again, Mormonism does this by subtly making Jesus Christ a created being and human beings born of spiritual beings.

3) Add good works apart from God's commands in some fashion to earn salvation. The Bible condemns the "filthy rags" type of good works noted in the book of Isaiah where human beings do good works to earn God's favor. I would disagree with Watchman Fellowship that any good works apart from receiving Christ as Savior is a dead work. Doing what Jesus commands in His Word requires faith such as tithing, doing His will, etc.

4) Divide loyalty of men between God and the organization in question.




*Modified from the tests developed by the ministry, Watchman Fellowship.

UMAIR MINISTERING IN KADRABAD & his wife and children with birthday cake for Daniel O'Hara

BANGLADESH CHURCH & ORPHANAGE.........

that the Lion's Den Society started supporting this April 2019.

DO WE REALLY KNOW HOW MUCH WE OWE JESUS CHRIST?

After having a few Twitter “discussions” this past week, it became clear to me how easy it is to take the focus of Christianity, i.e. our faith, away from Jesus Christ! It’s easy because our rebellious, arrogant sinful nature has a problem with having to rely on Jesus Christ for our eternal salvation. We would prefer to do it ourselves or at least use another human being or organization so we can derive some sense of importance or self-righteousness from them. I can sense this attitude rising up in myself at times…..it is from the pit of hell, by the way!

But the truth is, as I Timothy 2:5 notes, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus…” And as the prophet Isaiah notes, “all are righteous deeds are like filthy rags…”

The reality is…after the literal fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, human beings were without hope EXCEPT THAT….God’s pronounced judgment on the serpent (Satan), gave hope to humanity by promising a coming Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Genesis 3:15 notes, “And I will put enmity between your seed and her (Eve’s) Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden because they were deceived by Satan to believe God was holding out on them, because of fleshly lusts and because of our sinful desire to be righteous and wise without God.

The reality that humanity is condemned to eternity without God in hell is a given because of our sinful nature.

Indeed, John 3:13 is an eye opener. It notes, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man, who is in heaven.”  Even Abraham, our father in faith, was per Luke 16:24 held in a place apart from hell, a waiting place. However, Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, the Old Testament prophets and others living righteously by faith alone were not admitted to heaven until Jesus died for their sins.

The truth is we owe Jesus an INFINITE THANKS, as well as praise and worship for dying to save our souls. No other man, church, organization, ritual, or sacrament can take Jesus’ place. Jesus is an integral part of these things but there is no one way to be saved apart from Jesus Christ. The fact that many don’t appreciate Jesus’ work for us is evidence of an “attitude problem” that will lead them to hell. From God’s perspective, HE offered His only begotten Son for our salvation, rejecting Jesus means YOU CHOOSE TO GO TO HELL, where God is not present!

Indeed, only Jesus IS THE WAY! John 14:6 notes, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.” On his show, “The Story of God,” actor Morgan Freeman said one of the things he learned was that everyone’s truth is their truth. COMPLETE NONSENSE! Pope Francis recently came out, in the name of peace, and said that both Muslims and Christians and anyone who worships a god, worship the same God. WRONG! BLASPHEMOUSLY WRONG! This is manifestly wrong and offensive to the true God, specifically Jesus Christ, since it wrongly removes Jesus Christ from the Godhead. You can’t “gloss over” the utterly essential role of Jesus Christ for human salvation. A proper view of God means viewing things from God’s perspective, not based on our own human wishful thinking! A Roman Catholic pope who has said Mass hundreds of times should know better and will have to answer for such blatantly false teaching, denying the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Religion isn’t about a Masonic global peace or appeasing pagans. It is about worshiping God in “spirit and in truth.” There is A TRUTH and you can know it! God isn’t about making human beings feel all “touchy-feely” and deceived that they are OK and the “everyone’s truth is their truth” nonsense. Does this apply anywhere else in human study or science? Sorry, but Christianity is fundamentally at odds with Islam and every other pagan world religion. They CAN NOT BOTH BE TRUE!

We owe our eternal salvation to Jesus Christ. He is worthy to be trusted as our Lord and Savior! Religion is not a democracy! God makes the rules. If no human beings were on God’s side, then “news flash”: the true God still wins! 

The bottom line really is….”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes (a very active, not a passive belief) in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. John 3:18 makes it clear, “…he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

If you would like to donate to my GoFundMe page please go to www.gofundme.com/DanielLionsDen or donate directly to my church, the Lion’s Den Society, by Paypal.com with danieldeohara@gmail.com as the payment email address. May God bless you per Genesis 12:3 as you give. I will pray God’s blessings on your life according to Psalm 23, Psalm 103 and John 10:10.

MEET UMAIR from the PUNJAB area of PAKISTAN

I hooked up with Umair in 2018, when he sent me a Friend Request on Facebook. Umair is doing the work of an evangelist and helping the poor and orphans in Gojra, Punjab state of Pakistan. It has been a joy to get to know Umair and chat with him regularly on WhatsApp. 

The Lion's Den Society helps to support Umair and his work financially in the Muslim-dominated nation of Pakistan. Also, Daniel O. helps Umair with Christian teaching & discipleship to increase his growth and understanding of the Word, as well as with financial management, budgeting, problem solving and planning for his efforts there. Daniel also helps Umair to increase his knowledge and understanding of English so he can outreach to Americans and others about his needs and share his story. 

Please contact the Lion's Den Society at 406-591-7291 (call or text) or email Daniel O'Hara at danieldeohara@gmail.com if you would like to support Umair directly. I can attest that Umair has a sweet, loving spirit and a genuine heart to do God's work in Pakistan-- a land beset with rampant and institutional discrimination against Christians. 

Umair with Amara, one of his young Christian sisters he ministers to in Pakistan. The Lion's Den Society supports Umair and these people in prayer and with monetary support. The situation of these people in Pakistan is quite harsh given the hostility and antichrist nature of Islam. According to Genesis 12:3, may the Lord "bless those who bless " His people and "curse those who curse them" in Pakistan and around the world in Jesus' name. Amen.

Umair with Naseem, one of the orphans he ministers to in the Punjab area of Pakistan.

Umair, eating with a group of orphan Christian children in Pakistan.

Pastor Umair preparing to baptize some new converts in a water tank in Pakistan.

Pastor Umair passing out gifts to orphan children he ministers to in Pakistan.

One of Pastor Umair's friends, doing some of the nasty work Christians in Pakistan end up doing in light of Muslim discrimination, cleaning sewers.

HOW DOES THE LORD PROVIDE A RETURN ON YOUR GIVING?

In this Christimas season, we often hear (or perhaps we used to hear it more, haha) the saying, "It is more blessed to give than receive." That's from the Bible, by the way. Acts 20:35, to be exact. Admittedly, I always thought it was a nice, fluffy thing to say when I was younger, but is it? IT IS.

How exactly does a return come to the giver. Aside, from the nice feeling you may get from helping someone less fortunate, I thought it would be fun to jot down some of the more tangible blessings of giving.

They include:
*Favor, from God and man. Giving honors Proverbs 3:3-4, so you get favor from "God and man" as that verse indicates. Even pursusing righteousness by caring for your pets (Proverbs 12:10), provides favor from God according to Proverbs 21:3.
*Perhaps, like me, your eyes may be opened, to character issues or a trait you may be weak on that could help you materially, if addressed.
*Kindness to the poor makes God your debtor, as Proverbs 19:17 notes, and He will repay you for your good deed. Good deeds don't save your soul, but God will repay you.
*A recent offering I made, saved me money as the Lord led me to a less expensive but more effective choice in business.
*Giving can be returned by receiving insight about some assets that you aren't using or forgot about, a comforter for your bed or a crock pot, you received as gifts but never opened, for example.
*Or insight again, about an unused item that can be sold, if not used or needed. Perhaps, you realize those old dumbbell weights could be sold at a place like Play-It Again Sports, without being missed.
*Perhaps, your previously closed mind, may be humbled or opened to new options or closed to unprofitable ones you may be currently pursuing.
*Customers you didn't have before, suddenly show up.
*Maybe, you suddenly, easily lose a few of those stubborn lbs (empowered by God), and the return is feeling better about yourself or saving money on, buying some new clothes.

The Word tells us that the return on giving can be enhanced--by being cheerful (II Corinthians 9:7) or praising God (Psalm 100:4). It can be shriveled by murmuring or complaining against God. I know I've done it. It can delay your blessing. The Lord said of the children of Israel in Numbers 14:34-35, "According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know my rejection. I, the Lord, have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die."

Every so often, I've hear folks get down on giving....saying "the Bible doesn't work," "that used to work but recently not so much." Big time, caution though....murmuring is hated by God. It is yet another reason we need to fear Him, and not presume on His grace. As noted previously, the children of Israel had to wander 40 years in the wilderness because of it.

Well, I have kind of "preached myself happy", as Kenneth Copeland says, by writing this message because I realize the true power in giving....and the different forms God gives back to you when you give.

Originally written 12/24/2013.

WORK OF PASTOR O IN AFRICA (Lion's Den Society has supported ).

Photos and detailed information about Pastor O kept confidential due to government regulations and concerns in this particular country in Africa.

Pastor O (intentionally cropped off on the left) preaching at a market in Africa.

What we are doing in the markets when we have money to hire a Public Address System. Below is the work that we do in Prisons and take bibles to inmates. 


PRISON PHOTO OMITTED DUE TO GOVERNMENT REGULATION, HOSTILITY IN PASTOR O'S HOME COUNTRY

Bible study is our main tool to bring people back into the ways of God. Through small savings, I have been purchasing few copies of the bibles which are enabling them to find the truth and live Biblical standard life.

One of the schools I am visiting and teaching young people the ways of God.

Dear brother Daniel, these are just a sample of the work God is doing through us. Without finances it is hard to fulfill what we want to do for God. I really want to reach more souls in markets when I have our own equipments and if God bless us with a vehicle will be nice to move around markets, schools, Prisons to spread the gospel.

Pray for our needs as we also pray for you.

The Pope wants to change the Lord's Prayer....and other thoughts!

December 8, 2017, a day which will live in infamy....OK, that date was already set aside for December 7th for another infamous event! But today, Pope Francis (aka Jorge Bergoglio), or as some like to call him "Red" Francis, for his socialist tendencies and/or sympathies, came out today calling for a change to the Lord's Prayer. It is the Lord's Prayer since it was instituted by the Lord, Jesus Christ, called the Word in John 1. That is some chutzpah...audacity, temerity or blasphemy, in my view of the Pope! In fairness, he got the idea from the French Catholic Church, it seems.

Anyway, the Bishop of Rome seems to think that the line, "lead us not into temptation.." in the Lord's Prayer leads people to believe that God causes temptation. First of all, James 1:13-14 notes, "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." In an article on www.npr.org, the Pope basically reiterated James 1:13-14, saying "it's not the Lord that tempts". He is right about that! 

However, a close reading of the Lord's Prayer doesn't say that God tempts people, either. Instead, of exercising his papal desire to "become holier than the Bible" or more holy than Christ Himself, Pope "Red" could have merely directed "the faithful" to James 1:13-14, as well as urging a careful reading of the Lord's Prayer itself. But as we shall see, popes like to make a name for themselves, perhaps thinking they are "holier than the Bible." In fairness, he thinks this line is a "bad translation." Really...after hundreds of years??? He is the first pope to be so concerned about this? 

The Roman Catholic Church, in my first-hand experience as a former Roman Catholic, tends to like to "dumb down" doctrine or make up its own doctrine, so folks don't have to be "bothered" with actually reading the Bible, it seems. An example is the distinction between mortal and venial sins, which is a Roman Catholic innovation carved from I John 5:16-17, perhaps. 

The Pope could have and should have--if he were exercising the role of a true spiritual shepherd--also pointed out that the Bible is "living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword" per Hebrews 4:12 and also II Timothy 2:15, which notes the need to "rightly divide the word of truth." Instead, Mr. Bergoglio and most Roman Catholic clergy don't seem to like to have their members "hang out" in the Bible too long in my experience. My personal informed opinion is that this would undermine their spiritual authority, their mediation (instead of allowing Jesus alone to be our mediator per I Timothy 2:5) . The Roman Catholic Church likes to point folks quickly back to its tradition, "reason-based" doctrine (instead of the Bible) that keeps them under the Church's control.  Jesus warned, in one way or another, continually about making "doctrines out of the traditions of men" (Mark 7), ultimately being betrayed by the Pharisees', the champion "tradition keepers" of his day! Proverbs 3:5-6 urges us to "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding..."

Perhaps the Pope's announcement today is appropriate? December 8th is the Roman Church's feast day for another extra-biblical innovation based in human reason and tradition....the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, pronounced as a dogmatic truth by Pope Pius IX in 1854.  Mary, it is reasoned, "was just too special to have sinned"; this conflicts with Romans 3:23 and makes her effectively divine, as well. Pope Pius IX took a break for a number of years and then added Papal Infallibility as another dogmatic doctrine in 1870, based in a hyper-literal exaggeration of Matthew 16:18. Pope Paul VI added the idea that birth control was immoral, again not biblical. Pope John Paul II, although correctly urging holiness and speaking out boldly against abortion during his tenure, did encourage a misguided unity among so-called monotheistic religions (even though Islam is pagan and antichrist, not worshiping the true God). Popes like to be remembered but they forget Revelation 22:18-19 warning!

And back to Pope Francis, who championed the cause of Muslim immigrants, becoming a naive partner in the Muslim invasion of Europe and other nations with their deceitful agenda, while not addressing strongly the truly persecuted refugees, Christians! Mr. Bergoglio also ventured into science, speaking out for the environment and the climate-change hoax/ "junk science" agenda. This type of "crusade" engenders favor with the misguided world while giving the Vatican "a seat at the table" as a moral authority! The rabidly antichrist secularists who typically squeal about the separation of church and state were quite happy to welcome this misguided, apostate Pope as a "moral stamp" on their globalist agenda! The Catholic Church really excels at giving the gift of guilt! It seems the lesson of the Catholic Church's misguided ventures into science, persecuting Galileo many years ago, has been forgotten by an even more misguided world, today.

Pope Francis has been warmly received, even given "rock star" treatment by the world and misguided politicians like Barack Obama. True Christians should refer to I John 4:5-6 as a test. An excerpt notes, "...They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them." This biblical test and Pope Francis' ongoing unwillingness to quote the Bible but rather attempt to change it, should raise "red flags" about him!

In summary, the question/ objection raised by Pope Francis about the Lord's Prayer would have been an excellent opportunity to teach the Bible and point out it needs to be "rightly divided" as the "double-edged sword" of truth that it is, as well as to encourage believers to pursue the "full counsel of God" available in the Bible. Instead, the Catholic Church tends to like to dismiss the Word (aka Jesus Christ per John 1), saying, ".. you can't take it literally"... or, if you are as nervey as Pope "Red" Francis, you just go ahead and change the Word! Roman Catholics, in my experience, get quite defensive when you jokingly challenge them to pray to their pope. Actions, as they say, speak louder than words! Do they not seem quite willing to dismiss the Bible and cling to "rock star", Pope "Red" Francis' "cooler, hipper" path! Following him on the path of apostasy endangers their soul!!!

Dangers to the Soul

The Parable of the Sower found in Matthew 13 provides the inspiration for this posting, at least in part.

This parable addresses how the human heart will respond to the Gospel.

The parable addresses four possible responses:

• Either total rejection from the hard path,
• Initial joy squelched by worldly pressures,
• Growth being choked out by the thorns of worldly concerns of life, wealth, etc., and
• Finally the good soil that produces "thirty, sixty and one-hundred fold."

In brief some of the dangers to our soul, the hazards of living on this planet, can be:

• Sexual sins and lusts
• Misplaced loyalty to a person or organization rather than ultimately to God's Word/ Jesus Christ
• A desire to conform to or be part of the world
• A concern for worldly promotion, wealth and advancement
• Dissipation, i.e. reckless living, partying, vain pursuit of pleasure
• Societal pressures
• Fear
• And even being misled by false teaching about God's Word by not "rightly dividing" it properly according to II Timothy 2:15.

Originally written 8/25/2016.