Jesus Can Save You ~ Fortis Media ~ Video

Now, being that this is the first of the blogs that I am posting here, from Foundation Church Portland, let me introduce you to JJ McNown. JJ is a young man that I followed on Twitter one day, and then found his Fortis Media channel on youtube.com. In this post, you will see one of JJ McNown's preaching messages in the video below, during his time pastoring the church he founded, at just 22 years old.

The message is referring to Genesis 41, the story of the Pharoah's dreams, and how Joseph rose to power and saved Egypt, and the world, during the seven years of famine. Brothers and Sisters, in this message, JJ explains the meanings of this chapter, and how they relate to Jesus Christ. Not only that, but in this message, JJ also shows us how we can only be Saved through the Grace of God, through our Faith - a Gift of God - and not by our works, as said in Ephesians 2:6-10 (NIV):

"6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Also referenced in this message is Zechariah 12:10 (NIV):

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son..."

There is a good reason that I chose this video, to be the first of the ministry videos that I will provide here on The Cross Tribe Network. Unfortunately, there are many of us who are Christian that may not have realized how important the Old Testament is in understanding His Grace, and His gift of offering His Son Jesus Christ for our Redemption, just as Zechariah prophesized.

Love Softens Our Hearts

Things on my heart...

Love Softens Our Hearts

Verses of the day, which gave me some insight on what we are up against. Ephesians 4:17-19 (NIV):

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

My thoughts on this:

Those three verses explain very well why it is so hard to explain God's love to people. Yes, as the world is, there is a lot of hardening of our hearts. Yes, I had a long period of my life where my heart was hardened, and looking back, it was always a matter where I felt there was some worldwide conspiracy to keep me slightly in poverty (relative to my peers)... Imagine that, predictably, I was outraged because "some unknown power" was always holding me down. And, I wasn't ever going to have the lifestyle of the rich and famous; so, therefore, my belief was that they were all just greedy.

Do you see what I am getting at, yet? What I am saying, is that by some miracle, I finally realized that the real joy in life was in loving people, despite their "place in life." Which, eventually, softened my heart, and which allowed me to find the sensitivity I needed to get back to the life God wants for me. It is what made me understand, completely, that Love Is The Way. If I could finally find His Truth, so can anyone else. I really do my best now, to Melt Their Hearts With Love. Love is the way. I'm just sayin'....

America: Graduating from God? Part 1 ~ By Chuck Norris

Rep. Randy Forbes put a video on youtube.com, which now has 3,196,272 views, and is described as follows:

Our Judeo-Christian Nation

Congressman Forbes asks the questions "Did America ever consider itself a Judeo-Christian nation?" and "If America was once a Judeo-Christian nation, when did it cease to be?" on the floor of the US House.

Video provided by RepRandyForbes

When I went to Chuck's column on WND tonight, I noticed it was Part 2 of a two-part series, so I went back to this Part 1 to start from the beginning. (I missed last week's column because of that morning when technology failed, and didn't get a chance to get caught up.)  Amazingly, this column was directly related to the two previous stories that I post on this blog this morning, which you can see under RELATED STORIES toward the bottom of this page. Pat Boone wrote about the problems facing America and the world that there seems to be no solutions for, except for turning to God.  The column by Greg Laurie discusses the need for Christians to quit evading and start invading. In short, both columns said that Christians must be SILENT NO MORE. And in this column, Chuck Norris explains how Christianity is being eliminated from American culture. So, it is very fitting for me to conclude this introduction to Chuck's column by saying that we must pray, and begin taking back America. We need to be the shining city on the hill for all to see. Just sayin'...

George Washington gave a very wise and timely word in his "Farewell Address" to all prospective Americans (including all government officials) who even entertain the thought that they can graduate from God. It also serves as a great "commencement address" to all graduates this spring:

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

Our founders' America is on life support and breathing its last. And the only ones who can save it are the God who assisted our founders in its creation and the patriots who today bear His and our founders' baton. Our focus is no longer the total war, but one battle at a time – one rally at a time, one election at a time and one piece of legislation at a time.

By Chuck Norris

Posted: June 07, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

(Note: This is Part 1 of a two-part series on spiritual regression in America.)

Last week I read a blog post that noted how prayer was banned at a high-school graduation in Indiana but not in Alabama. Then I read another news report about how another California high school changed its graduation "opening prayer" to "a moment of silence." No big shocker there.

Tragically, these types of devaluing religious news stories are a dime a dozen today. Spiritual regression is not only a trend but an epidemic.

The Fuller Youth Institute just reported that less than half (40 percent) of even church-going high-school seniors "significantly struggle with their faith and with finding a church after graduation." And other statistics show that, by the time they end their college education, 90 percent will have dropped out of church.

The Barna Group reports that only 29 percent of teenagers say they "will definitely" be attending church after graduation. That's about one in three if you're an optimist – about one in four if you're a pessimist. And about one in five if you believe these polled teenagers are either overly optimistic or over-exaggerators. Any way you look at it, the "Leave It to Beaver" family seems so passé and archaic in our times.

Long ago the Creator was replaced by natural causes in public classrooms. Prayer was ousted by human potential. Humans have become the kings of their castles and captains of their souls. Preaching has been overturned by political correctness. Church has been replaced by the NFL and Sunday commerce. And the government is now God, granting to all who has need. And we're shocked that more and more of our children and grandchildren want nothing to do with church?

Attrition in church attendance and faith in God is definitely on the rise. And so is animosity toward America's Judeo-Christian heritage.

Two Connecticut public schools were denied their graduation ceremonies from being held in a local church by U.S. District Court Judge Janet Hall. Hall ruled in favor of the ACLU on behalf of two local high-school seniors and their parents, who said the students were agnostic and would find it "difficult if not impossible" to attend the graduation if it were held in a church. Hall concluded that using a church for graduation would be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. Leave it up to the ACLU and a federal judge to tell a local community where they could and could not hold their graduations, even though the majority favored it in the large church which was perfect for the big graduation crowds.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

RELATED STORIES:
Can things get any worse? You betcha ~ By Pat Boone (READ THIS 1ST)
Christians: Infiltrate, don't isolate ~ By Greg Laurie (READ THIS 2ND)

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What You've Just Seen...

So, once again, my very good friend and Sister in the Lord, Rev. Gerri Janeway, sent me an email that I needed to share with you today. Now, I've seen this one before, this story has been around. Oh, but there's a good reason it has. It's a great story, and the rumor is, something like this actually happened... somewhere, sometime... Okay, I won't keep teasing you; here's the story:

What You've Just Seen...

His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.

Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative Church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it.

One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. People are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.

By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick. About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill.

Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can't blame him for what he's going to do.

How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?

It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane. All eyes are focused on him... You can't even hear anyone breathing. The minister can't even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do.

And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won't be alone.

Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister gains control, he says, "What I'm about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget."

Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read! I asked the Lord to bless you, as I prayed for you today. To guide you and protect you as you go along your way...

His love is always with you,
His promises are true,
And when we give Him all our cares,
You know He will see us through.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name!" ~ Psalms 103:1

This is just one of those remarkable stories that must stay "viral." It's a story that we must all stay aware of, and remember. God actually DOES use us all. We ARE part of His Creation, part of His Word. Our actions speak volumes.

Can we trust Biblical prophecy?

From GotQuestions.org - The Bible has the answers.

Question: "How can we trust that Biblical prophecy can indeed predict the future?"

Answer: The main reason we can trust biblical prophecy is that it, like the rest of Scripture, was written — literally “God-breathed” — by the Creator of the universe. It is inerrant, perfect, and true. We must understand that before we can understand the role of biblical prophecy.

Biblical prophecy plays two roles. It foretells the future, and it explains what the positive or negative results of future events will be. Prophecy may announce events that bring joy and pleasure or fear and foreboding. When prophecy is ignored, it is usually because the hearers don’t like what they hear for one reason or another. Biblical prophecy is not usually general in nature. It normally is very specific as to how it will affect someone or something. But it is always dependable and worthy of our complete trust. We can allow prophecy to help shape our lives, giving us direction and guidance in serving our Lord. It should be a source of strength and instruction for us. Unlike what we hear called “prophecy” today, both in the church and outside the church, true biblical prophecy is always accurate and precise. What God prophesies always occurs. [Continue reading]

digg story, submitted by hookedonjesus

Announcing the new Cross Tribe Network

By John Kubicek

My friends, my Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, I am not sure where things will go starting on November 5, 2008. Things may soon change. And for that reason, it is time for me to begin thinking about a change in my focus.

Oh, please beleive me, the timing of this announcement is not "coincidental". I have to say that in the next few mohths, there will be many changes that may not be for our benefit as Christians. This may be a very short-lived effort, so I will take every advantage I can of our current freedoms.

So, what is this blog going to be about? Well, I just have one goal, one mission, one purpose, and all with a lot of passion. I want to take this blog to the limits of exposing the Lord to as many people as possible!

In this process, I want many guest writers. I will link to great blogs. I will bring you the best of great Christian videos. And I will depend on YOU, my Brothers and Sisters, to contribute!

Don't worry. I will relieve you of any further responsibility other than the effort to point me to what needs to be posted. I'll be doing the "editor" job. But, I know that with a great team effort, this can be a fabulous blog. I am already believing that we can get top writers in the Christian community to offer their works. And that is what this all about.

This is the network of the Cross Tribe. Now is our time. If you have been keeping in touch with the events over the last few years, months, weeks, days... you should know that there is a limited amount of time left for us to share the Gospel... at least without worrying about being intimidated and villified.

Hey, let's get 'er done!