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Opening Remarks in Pittsfield, NH 8/29/2014 AD
Written by The Patriot Pastor Garrett Lear
Hello Pittsfield & NH Welcome to Dustin Park!
Let’s give THE LORD a clap offering of thanks
Why are we here?
Call out to JESUS
Cry out to JESUS
HE is here and HE hears
Though others have hurt and failed you…
Though you have hurt others and failed them…
JESUS never hurts, JESUS helps
JESUS never fails, JESUS heals
HE saves the lost who come to HIM
HE fixes what is broken
Romans 3:23 & 6:23
I trust & follow JESUS,
Many here tonight already trust & follow JESUS
You can make the decision right here, right now to trust & follow JESUS
All through this evening together here in Dustin Park
You will hear from many folks, just like you, how to trust & follow JESUS and why you can & should
In the meanwhile let’s enjoy each other and all we have here including a very special time for the kids we will be announcing soon.
Feel free to visit the tables/booths around the park you will find a welcome there too.
Written by The Patriot Pastor Garrett Lear
“If a baby is not safe in his or her mother’s womb … then no one is safe anywhere” – Garrett Lear, 1991 sermon in a public park.
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein
To learn more, we offer the audio CD The Horror That Happened At The Concord Landfill
Someone has Stolen My Country and I Want Her Back
Written by The Patriot Pastor Garrett Lear
Someone has Stolen My Country and I Want Her Back!
It must go with out needing to be said,( but I will say it anyway) that I love the original intent of America. I do not love America more than I love my Savior (who is The Only Savior) JESUS CHRIST. I do not love America more than I love my wife and my family. I believe that is the proper order of priority so that all will know that I am no idolater, statist, or nationalist. I am a patriotic American New Testament Christian.
I have had the blessing in my nearly six decades of living to have traveled extensively through out these United States of America – North, South, East and West – literally “From Sea to Shining Sea”. I have been a resident of some eight different states. I have seen the cities, the suburbs and the rural countryside. I have been swimming in The Atlantic and The Pacific Oceans, I have climbed numerous mountains negotiated and navigated valleys and rivers. There is very little about America that I have not heard, seen, smelled and tasted. I have driven by car, moved by boat, bicycle, motorcycle, horse and shanks’ mare (old-fashioned for walking). It has taken thousands of years for mankind to be ready to do without worldly kings, tyrants, despots, and the like. It has taken millenniums for there to be an American Republic. I am eminently qualified to say the following: America is beautiful; America has been blessed BUT America is in trouble. America is soul sick and has lost her way!
I was born in “The Cradle of American Liberty” (Lexington – The Lexington – Massachusetts that is, see if you can spell that state from memory as I did at Fiske Elementary). I walked by The Minuteman (a likeness of Captain (Deacon) John Parker). I thought, “what a fine figure of a man he is/was.”
My mother, who also was born in and grew up in Lexington, told me stories about who our ancestors were. I took it all in with out really paying too much attention to the relevance of her stories. My heritage was so varied, perhaps like many native Americans (not Indians but those others born here). I had ancestors that came from Italy, England, and Nova Scotia in the 19th Century. I had ancestors that came from Flanders in the early 20th century. I can say that all of them were patriotic Americans. Those who did not speak English (American) as their first language learned it and it became their first language. They all prospered many becoming decorated war veteran’s as my dad was.
I served my native land in The Army though I was discharged because of injury before I ever made it to combat.
When I began to preach that is to say serve THE LORD in ministry, I found myself teaching on the Christian Heritage of America. I would correlate Bible truth with our Founding Fathers and our organic foundational documents (such as The Mayflower Compact, The New England Confederation and The Declaration of Independence (just to name a few). As my studies intensified, as my library grew, as my understanding deepened (I credit The HOLY SPIRIT for that), it became obvious that I was not called to be a foreign missionary. My calling and my manifest destiny is right here at home.
I was a guest on a radio broadcast years ago and I was sharing fascinating true stories from America’s Christian history, the show’s host proclaimed: “You are The Patriot Pastor”. That appellate stuck to me like glue and fit like a custom made shoe!
I had been studying about the involvement of Christians in the struggle for freedom in the 18th century colonial America. I especially was enthralled by the leadership of those that King George III called “The Black (Robed) Regiment”. The Patriot Pastors of the day. I got their sermons and read them. I especially have a fondness for Pastor Jonas Clark of Lexington. He preached to the Minutemen on the village green, at daybreak before The Battle of Lexington April 19, 1775 AD. He preached to men (they were familiar with his preaching for they and their Captain John Parker were members of his church) from Judges 6 & 7. What a shock that is for most Christians today.
Well, I am a Patriot Pastor as they were. I am reorganizing, reconstituting, reinvigorating and recalling The Black (Robed) Regiment for today. We are leading the modern day Minutemen United. They are so much needed. The spiritual “battle cry”, “We will have no other king but KING JESUS!” That is not political. That is Bible (see Isaiah 33:22: Mt. 28:19; Acts 5:29; Rev.11:15;17:14.KJV)
Incidentally, there are only two English translations of The Bible which were used by our Founding Fathers – The Geneva and King James Versions of The Bible. The understanding that they brought in to civil government came from Scripture.
America is in a life threatening battle for survival. Much of what is Christian has been lost but also much of what truly is America has been lost. That is a sad and great loss. Is it too late? Only CHRIST, our Commander and Chief knows for sure, HE has told me not to give up (Gal.6:9).
Now, why do I say someone has stolen my country and I want her back! At first, when I began to utter this phrase, in public and often, I thought it must simply be THE HOLY SPIRIT stating through me what has happened to America with the liberal, leftist, globalist, communist, socialist, fascist, new age, atheist, anarchist, baby killer, pornographic, sex confused, drug demented, covenant breaking, robber (I probably have left some out) agenda. I sensed it was more even than that. It was when I remembered what my mother has said to me as a child about our heritage that I knew I was representing more than myself. Through an extraordinary turn of events, I have been able to trace a branch of my direct ancestry back to The Mayflower. My family has been in Massachusetts for nearly four centuries praying, worshiping, giving, living, dying, working, serving, fighting, paying for a very long time investing in America. I had ancestors who fought in The War for Independence one was even at The Battle of Lexington!
So, when I say someone has stolen my country and I want her back!, I am not speaking for only myself. I am the posterity they fought for. We have enjoyed the blessings that CHRIST has given us and our forefathers (remember the Hymn Faith of Our Fathers?) Will you sit idly by and watch this theft by deception continue or will you say enough is enough: Give my country back now for I will have no other king but KING JESUS! amen.
P.S. Before you send me nasty and threatening mail calling me a whatever phobe, intolerant elitist judgmental religious zealot hate-monger. I will tolerate what THE KING of KINGS tolerates, I will love you enough to tell you the truth and then pray that you will be made free (John 8:32)
Why Bother
Written by The Patriot Pastor Garrett Lear
Why Bother?
James Chapter 2 verse 17 (KJV) … “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
Often, I am asked why bother being involved with “politics”, it is such a nasty business. Well, before I give my response to that statement, let me quote from an American foundational document … “Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid…”
That is from the Mayflower Compact which I consider to be “The Birth Certificate of America. Pay very close attention to its three fundamental parts… 1) Glory to God; 2) Advancement of the Christian faith; 3) Together in a Civil Body Politick. This is how America began.
These fine Christian folk did not think it wrong or useless to be involved in politics or that Christians should remain absent from such pursuits. They thought it essential! They also had first hand experience with what happens when Christians are disengaged with the culture.
The Constitution of The State of Massachusetts (1780) stated: “I,___________, do declare, that I believe the Christian religion, and have firm persuasion of its truth.” Christians were expected to be involved in politics and were preferred. Please remember the preamble to The Constitution of The United States which begins with, “We the people…”.
So, my answer is that politics is nasty because we the people of Christ have not been involved enough! I hope your theology will not prevent you from realizing that or prevent you from being strategically involved. All the great movements of the world have been led by Christians and many atrocities have prospered (such as Nazism, Communism, Tyranny and Dictatorship) when The Church was wrong-headed, slow or absent in the culture war.
Edward Everett Hale who was Chaplain of The US Senate in the late 1800’s said; ” I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something. And because I can not do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do by the grace of God. I will do.”
John Wesley, The Founder of Methodism, said in 1775, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways that you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can…” The great reformer Martin Luther called this vocational theology.
By now, certainly, you can see where I am heading with this. Politics (and for that matter any other sphere of influence) is nasty because good people vacate their responsibility to be strongly salt and strongly light. I see no conflict in loving God and loving the country of my native birth. I think about what will happen to my posterity (my children, grandchildren, etc.) if America continues in this moral decline. The Lord knows my labors for Him and I want my posterity to know that I was active in preserving their freedoms and liberties. General (1st President) George Washington gave orders to the troops at Valley Forge in 1778; “To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished Character of Christian.” As the Scripture, that I opened this piece with, confirms… I will show my faith by my works and trust that The Lord Jesus Christ through His grace will make it count where it should.
What is the benefit of all this? Do not think for one minute that the globalists, communists, cultists, religionists, humanists, secularists, atheists, and all the other “ists” will leave you alone if you just do not get involved… history is replete with proofs otherwise. We will be expected and even forced to obey bad laws ( that are not even laws at all) if they are enacted. Then what? The Early New Testament Church and The Colonial Americans knew otherwise! God save America. I will have no other king but KING JESUS… oh, to hear those precious words… well done thou good and faithful servant.
“When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice, but when the wicked beareth rule the people mourn.” Proverbs 29:2 KJV
The Patriot Pastor and the Heroes of Liberty
The Patriot Pastor and the Heroes of Liberty
Garrett Lear 12/29/06AD
The Patriot Pastor and The Heroes of Liberty
Written by The Patriot Pastor Garrett Lear
What Happens When The Church Is Not Free
Written by The Patriot Pastor Garrett Lear
What Happens When The Church Is Not Free?
By Garrett Lear
“Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32 KJV). O.K., I confess, I love The Lord Jesus Christ. I love and trust God’s Word (The Holy Bible) pure and unadulterated straight up and in your face! You see I have tested it and I know it is true. I am certainly not the only person in this world who has had this same attitude or a Biblical worldview. I am also not the only American who has loved God and taken Him at His Word either. The Founding Fathers of America did.
I will also confess that I love this land America, my native land…the land of my birth. I must admit, though, that I am struggling with a high degree of disappointment over the direction that this, my favorite country is heading in. When you grow up in a historical town, Lexington Massachusetts, like I did… when you walk by the Minuteman statue practically everyday during your formative years and watch yearly reenactments of The Battle Of Lexington something profound happens to you. My appetite for freedom was whet very early in my life. Also set early in my life was a love for God and to this day, I do not see any conflict between being a devoted Christian and being a true American patriot. Our Founders did not have a conflict between their love for God and their love for America either…for me that is good company to stand with.
The greatest traitors that our country, in fact, the whole world must deal with, are those black hearted people I call “revisionist historians”. They are those pseudo scholars that alter the truth to meet their desired ends. In America, this brood of vipers has kept many of our countrymen from knowing the truth about the founding of this Nation as “One Nation under God”… and what happens when the church is not free.
How many “modern” Americans know that those much maligned and slandered Pilgrim/Puritans who landed at what is now Plymouth Massachusetts signed a sacred covenant with The Lord called The Mayflower Compact (America’s “birth certificate”)? How many know that the primary “slogan” of The War For American Independence (some call the Revolutionary War) was … “We will have no other king but King Jesus”? How many know that of the majority of the signers of that marvelous cornerstone of American liberty, The Declaration Of American Independence, were devote, baptized, open, consecrated Christians? Let me give you the answer… not many and certainly not enough! What happens when the church is not free?
Today, this country spends billions of dollars on “education” but what have we gotten for these tax-extracted dollars? We have gotten a general population that is ignorant of some of the most important parts of our heritage. One of our founders was empathetic in noting that “ignorant and free can never be”. Can you see now why I chose the Scripture verse I did to began this writing?
In the town of Lexington is a well preserved (thank God and some patriots) two story colonial house called The Hancock-Clark house named for two great Christians of the founding era…two great patriots, John Hancock and Jonas Clark. Most people are more familiar with Hancock than they are with Clark
Please allow me to introduce him to you… people meet Pastor Jonas Clark. Are you shocked? You mean some one who was a clergyman, a church leader and a pulpit preacher got involved with “politics” and the cause of liberty? Can you imagine he had the “audacity” to harbor the known “criminals” John Hancock and Samuel Adams in the parsonage (church property)? Just before the British troops arrived in Lexington for that battle of note (“the shot heard around the world”), Pastor Clark delivered a rousing and inspirational message from Judges 6-8 encouraging the local militiamen to (the minutemen) fight fiercely for God and country. He knew what would happen if the church was not free. Now, stay with me, as I further lay out my case.
Is there any one in America today that would say that the church is really like what it was in the first century? Does any one care that it isn’t? I care. If you are a Christian, you will care too! Many will argue that the world is so vastly different than the first century but is it really? Jesus Christ began the church, that He expected to follow Him through the ages, in the Roman Empire. I certainly wouldn’t insult your intelligence to say that those times were the same as ours in areas of technology but do not be deceived, governmentally, socially, morally, behaviorally, they were very similar. I wish it were not so.
The beginning of the true New Testament Church was on The Day of Pentecost as recorded in the Book of Acts. Jesus declared His church (His Father’s House) not be a “a house of merchandise…but a house of prayer”. He said His Kingdom was not of this world and emphasized the distinctions between His followers and the rest of the population. All of the early church leaders were martyred (killed) for their refusal to put devotion to Caesar (government) above devotion to God. They knew and understood the Ten Commandments (not the Ten Suggestions) and had the mind of Christ in regards to the proper role of civil government. A “mind set” we desperately need today. What happens when the church is not free?
Many casual Bible readers have been put off by the “difficulties” of the Book of Revelation. Let me offer an explanation for its symbolism… the Roman government! If the Apostle John, as the “secretary” for The Holy Spirit writing it, had clearly spelled out what He wanted the readers to do concerning civil disobedience, the Romans would never have let those writings leave the island of Patmos (remind you of any other times in history). Believe it or not the Romans did have “freedom of religion”… if … you accepted Caesar as God and took a license for your “church”… neither of which, the early New Testament Christians, in good conscience, could or would do! It was considered blasphemy and the way of destroying the truth of The Gospel. They knew what would happen if the church was not free.
It is amazing what one can learn reading someone’s diary. When we read the Bible, we are reading the way the Creator (The One mentioned in The Declaration of American Independence) wants life to be for us. When we read the writings of the Founders of the Plymouth colony and the writings of the Founders of America, we find out how educated these people were in tyranny. They were willing to die (and many did) to avoid it like the black plague. They knew what would happen if the church was not free.
The U.S. Constitution was crafted by men who did not want to repeat the atrocities of the state run church…(they had read about the “whore of Babylon and the mark of the beast”) such as was the case through out Europe and certainly in England. King George was both king of the civil government and head of the Anglican Church. Opposition to George was tantamount, in his thinking, to opposing God… although, he personally cared little what God thought about his actions. He knew what would happen if the church was not free. He did his level best to make sure it was not!
Beginning in the-mid 1770s, preachers began to deliver sermons critical of the abuses of the British rule in the American colonies. Many colonists were stirred up in a similar way that had happened in England with the Puritans/Pilgrims in pre-Plymouth colony days. The truth was told and freedom was prized… but, as with all such situations throughout man’s history, not without a heavy price.
By the time of the War for American Independence, those preachers had a bounty on their heads… and for what? Preaching the truth…opposing tyranny…teaching the colonial citizens to stand up for their God given -freedoms and take responsibility for their walk with Christ. It became a capitol crime and preachers and their families were executed. They knew what would happen if the church was not free.
Most Americans know the famous speech delivered by Virginian Patrick Henry (a very committed Christian and a lawyer)… “Give me liberty or give me death!”. Very few people, however, know why he said it. Henry had witnessed the flogging of a colonist by British troops. He, the young lawyer, inquired as to what this man’s crime was… he was told “preaching with out a license”. King George offered some very handsome rewards for the heads of the members of “The Black Regiment”… the unlicensed, unregistered, “free church” preachers who knew the proper Biblical relationship between church and state… and who the true Sovereign over the church was. They understood when Jesus said; you can not serve two masters, what He meant. They had read and correctly interpreted Romans chapter 13… God gives us limited civil government… not that government gives us God. They loved and feared The Lord and understood what happens when Jesus Christ is not Sovereign over His Church.
Until recently, you could not incorporate a church in the state of Virginia (the home state of; Patrick Henry; George Washington; Thomas Jefferson; and, James Madison). I have read the original intent of the crafters of our U.S. Constitution. These men knew what they were doing and I believe were guided by God’s hand to set a rule of law for a limited Constitutional Republic which would deliver to its citizens the most freedom, prosperity, and opportunity ever known to man. Eldredge Gerry and Fisher Ames, both fine Christian men, wrote the 1st Amendment to the Constitution, as part of the Bill of Rights. It was to guarantee many things and to protect Americans from the whim of some, humanistic, rogue government, or a meglomaniacal king). The most precious of these freedoms, to me, is the freedom of religion, which I know they meant to be true Biblical orthodox New Testament Christianity! Not freedom from The Lord or His ways… not freedom from His Sovereignty and His loving guidance but freedom from government hindering The Truth that sets men free and keeps them free happy virtuous and prosperous. They knew what would happen if the church was not free.
What happens when the true Christian church is not free to speak out what needs to be said? Why not ask the Russians, the Romanians, the Chinese, the Vietnamese, the Sudanese and the Iraqis. More close to home, what has happened to “One Nation under God”? Are we freer and better off than we were in say, 1953? It sickens me to see the moral and spiritual condition of this great land. America is soul sick. America is confused. America has lost its moral high ground. The church has been silent and we have been hurt because of it. We have lost the direction that comes from a right relationship with our Creator.
I am not a critic of the true church of Jesus Christ. I am a critic and a repairer of her weaknesses. I am not a critic of America. I am a critic and a repairer of America’s weaknesses. I love America but I love my Lord and Savior more. As a preacher and church leader, the church I lead must be free to speak the truth in love… with out fear of government reprisal for not being politically correct. I need no licensing or official government recognition or empowerment… I have my calling from Jesus Christ and I say that in all humility. It is a big responsibility and a wonderful privilege. Jesus through His sacrifice bought me this freedom and the Founders of America in a blessed covenant with Almighty God secured it with their blood, their sweat and their tears. I will render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s but I will not give him, or any government agency, entity or officer what belongs to God alone. The church must be free or no one will be free. Someone must be there to remind Caesar that he is just a man under God like the rest of us.
All too often, I have heard preachers say they can not speak out because of the loss of tax exemption or the fear of sanctions and law suits. Why do they voluntarily take on the unnecessary restrictions to free Christian speech, which the 501 c 3 recognition of tax exemption imposes? Yes, voluntarily, because Congress has a long standing recognition of the contribution to the well being of America that is made by the Christian church and the First Amendment “establishment” clause. It is documented that no church needs to apply for IRS recognition. All income to churches is tax “immune”; it is published in the IRS own documents. It seems that church leaders have, like Esau in The Bible, traded their “birthright for a morsel of bread”. What was once considered sacrilegious and not Christian has now become the standard for preachers and churches. Oh, if only they could realize how that displeases The Lord and how they are giving a way a great inheritance, which is secured even by the laws of this land.
Why are Christian preachers, that have voluntarily taken the IRS stamp of approval (that is the same bureaucracy that calls the worship of satan a church) and state incorporation as non-profit religious businesses, reluctant to speak out against the many immoral and un-Biblical things that are happening in our country? They have signed an agreement saying that they would not speak out against any public policy. It is no wonder that the church in America has been largely silent about the grossest sins of our day and turns its back on the death of unborn children and adulterous presidents. Thank you Father that Jesus and the early church leaders and the Founders of America had the grace and courage to make the right stand. I am a beneficiary of their courage. I will keep the church I lead free and teach others to do the same. In time, America may be returned to her former greatness as the home of a truly free people who love, honor and worship God in spirit and in truth and teach the rest of the world to do the same. The Frenchman, Alexis DeTocqueville, was dispatched to America in the 19th century to find out why America was so strong. He traversed this country, taking note of what he experienced. He later reported that he had “discovered the secret” to America’s greatness. He said that he visited America’s Christian churches and “their pulpits were ablaze with righteousness … America is great because America is good… when America ceases to be good America will cease to be great”. He knew what would happen if the church in America should ever not be free. Alexis knew then, what some do not appear to know now, that it is the mission and responsibility of the true New Testament Church of Jesus Christ to be an ever constant reminder that “Blessed is the nation whose God is The Lord”(Psalm 33:12).
These are my strongly held “religious” convictions in my relationship with God as a follower of Christ. For today at least, in America, I am by The Father’s grace with some perseverance and courage on my part, “entitled” to live by them. I will have no other king but King Jesus.
By Garrett Lear 2003
A Fruit Inspection
Written by The Patriot Pastor Garrett Lear
A Fruit Inspection
Some five or so years ago, I preached and taught a sermon entitled “If a baby is not safe in his or her mother’s womb, then no one is safe any where”. Although I have been completely pro-life from the day I accepted CHRIST as my SAVIOUR and very often spoke/stood against abortion even calling it murder of innocent babies, I knew that this particular message had prophetic implications.
Here we are in our “Good Friday” observances and America is focused on another struggle over the sanctity, sacredness and preciousness of life. After a lifetime of studying the original intent of our Founding Fathers, I can not dismiss what I know for sure, they would be shocked to know what our Nation – our Republic has become.
Several passages of Scripture come to mind here. Matthew 7:16 instructs us to know people (yes and nations too) by their fruit (works). A number of Holy Bible verses, such as in The Book of Psalms Chapters 15:5; 94:21; 106:38; tell us that THE LORD defends the innocent, the helpless and those whose cause is righteous. HE will judge all those who shed innocent blood!
If you have not yet guessed it, I am at present talking about what is happening in our third most populous state, Florida concerning Terri Shiavo. The implications in this matter are literally, well, huge! Those who are elderly, those who are disabled, those who are politically incorrect and those that love these people need to pay close attention here.
Now, I have read many commentaries about this. Believe it or not my research on any matter is not unilateral. In other words, I do consult many sources and read widely the various opinions and sort through the ‘evidence’. Of course, the opinion and perspective I cherish most is that of THE FATHER. I do confess to not always know what that is though that is why I study so diligently. Prudence is in order.
What does THE GOD OF THE BIBLE think about what is happening to Terri and why is this getting national/international coverage? I believe I know, yet I challenge you to do your homework!
America is at a dangerous crossroads. Thomas Jefferson (and other of our Founders) warned against an overreaching, overacting judiciary. The black robed ones who compose the judiciary were to be watched by the other branches of government that they would not become a nobility, an oligarchy or tyrannical. They were to be carefully watched to not be political but to be Constitutional, never to seize power by judicial fiat, never to make law or amendment from the bench.
Make your own ‘fruit inspection’. The judiciary in America, on all levels, is seizing control. I am not saying all judges but too many are. Is it not treason and a violation of their Constitutional Oath to claim that we in America must adjudicate by International Law?
The President, the Congress, the Governor of a sovereign state, that state’s legislature, they are all saying we must let the courts handle these things. A court order can never be disobeyed. Oh, really? They have been handling things not to be in their purview and look what they have done to our beloved country. We are looking more like the despotic, ungodly countries of the past and present which we have fought to be free of.
I am a law abiding and respectful citizen but I know there is only one true and reliable JUDGE – THE LORD HIMSELF (that is why we have various jurisdictions, authorities, appeals etc.)! There are court orders that a true believer in CHRIST and our Constitutional Republic can not obey! Where is the courage of our elected representatives to stand up as ‘lesser civil magistrates’ (in some situations) to ‘higher civil magistrates’?
Though some wrong minded judges may try, CHRIST can not and should not be ruled out of America! HE founded this country. It is a ‘GOD- incident’ that all these things should be so prominent at this time of year when we celebrate JESUS’ Resurrection ( I pray for holy lives not just ‘Holy Weeks’). JESUS is alive and HE is the righteous judge.
I will have no other KING but KING JESUS! LORD, have mercy on America.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF CHRIST
Written by The Patriot Pastor Garrett Lear
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF CHRIST
What is the number one problem that all men must face? I believe it is the decision of who will rule them. Make no mistakes about it, all men will be ruled, governed, controlled, directed, persuaded, pushed, pulled etc. by someone or something. Long ago, I made my choice that I will have no other KING but KING JESUS! That is not a statement of rebellion. It is a declaration of obedience (read Acts 5:29)obedience to the only ONE worthy of it and trustworthy with it.
We read in Matthew 6:24 that there are only two masters: GOD and mammon (worldliness, sin, evil, satan, etc.). There are only two choices. A man can not serve two masters, so why try to?
It would appear that many folks are trying to ‘straddle the fence’ between serving JESUS CHRIST fully and playing safe by ‘not making waves’ and going with the flow. I believe what JESUS says in Revelation about the lukewarm Laodicean church: “I will spue (vomit) you out of my mouth”. I know for sure that I do not want to be vomited out of the mouth of JESUS! I know that The Holy Bible is true and JESUS CHRIST means and will do exactly what HE has said.
I have a great concern that not many Christians understand the absolute necessity of the sovereignty of JESUS CHRIST over each person of mankind (those who would be saved by HIS grace). I have an even greater concern for The Church, the only true one, which CHRIST himself builds as described in Matthew 16:18.
Let me give you a few examples of what I mean by living under the sovereignty of CHRIST: before you name your children, you pray and ask JESUS; before you train for a career, you pray and ask JESUS; before you go to the doctor, you pray and ask JESUS; before you move to a new home, you pray and ask JESUS; and the same for every significant issue concerning your life and the lives of those in your care. Remember if you have accepted JESUS as your SAVIOUR, you must also accept HIM as THE KING OF KINGS. HE bought and paid in full for you. You never bow your knee to or agree with anyone or anything that will take first place in your life or contradict what is written in The Bible. First place in the life of a true believer in and follower of CHRIST is reserved for CHRIST only!
I believe this to be true also for churches. So why do so many give this sovereignty over to the state? Please do not say that it isn’t happening. One has only to read the many regulations imposed upon churches by various agencies in the numerous tiers of government to know that it is happening. How can this be in America with so many citizens who are Christians, with her Constitution, Bill of Rights and the original intent of The Founders?
Which came first, ALMIGHTY GOD or the state? Read Romans 13 and see that GOD has given us government (not the other way around, as some impose) with specific purposes of THE FATHERS’S choosing for the freedom of HIS creation, mankind – not tyranny, despotism or oppression.
Many Christians in too many churches are not living under the sovereignty of CHRIST! If they were, this would be a very different country and world. The incorporation of churches, the ungodly and unconstitutional regulations of certain government agencies, such as The Internal Revenue Service, have undermined the sovereignty of CHRIST over HIS Bride, The Church, and it shows in the lack of true holy boldness and Kingdom life. To be a ‘religious business’ is not Biblical, it is not American and most certainly is impeding the fullness of THE LORD in our country (JESUS went to the temple and drove the money changers off but they are back).
The Apostles of the early New Testament Church of JESUS CHRIST (as we read about in The Book of Acts) and America’s Founders would be horrified by what has taken place concerning the church. They did not live and or die, expend blood sweat and tears for GOD’S people to return to the bondage of ‘churchianity’ in exchange for a true Biblical New Testament relationship with THE BRIDEGROOM. CHRIST wants an alive, passionate, strong and covenanted wife committed only to HIM; only then all other relationships will be as they should be.
We can take no oath, give any pledge, sign any agreement or make any covenant as individuals, as churches or as nations that violate the sovereignty of CHRIST. Some perhaps have done so ignorantly or innocently; some have ‘inherited’ bad vows; none the less, THE LORD will hold all accountable that violate what the first and second commandments teach (no other gods) which is amplified in The New Testament many places such as in John 14:6 (I am the way) or Revelation 1:8 (I am the beginning & the end). A correct and righteous relationship with KING JESUS will put all other dominions in their correct GOD assigned places.
To allow civil government (as one authority) to suppress the sovereignty of GOD is called statism (slavish, unquestioning obedience and worship of the state) and it is idolatry. Almighty GOD, the GOD of The Bible must in everything be recognized as the GREAT I AM (Exodus 3:14). Ceremonial Deism (we have so much of this in America today) is treating GOD as if HE no longer is alive and present with us. It is treating GOD as if HE is no longer involved in anything anymore and we make our own ‘rules’ follow our own instincts, whims and the traditions of men.
From the beginning of recorded time (Genesis), there have been ongoing assaults on the sovereignty of GOD. No individual, groups of individuals, nations, organizations, etc. that have tried to usurp the authority, power and majesty that rightfully belong to THE ONLY TRUE KING -¦ CHRIST, have ever survived and neither will we. Judgment will come and is here.
Oh so many have tried and failed – pharaohs, emperors, national kings, communists, fascists, atheists, humanists, pagans, religionists, industrialists ( remember the Titanic built by professionals that said ‘not even GOD could sink it!’), secularists, the list goes on. There is only ONE who can be both KING and HIGH PRIEST and HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST (the wise men of Matthew 2 knew that and the patriots of 1775 knew that).
It is my prayer and action that all churches world wide will purposefully and visibly come under the sovereignty of CHRIST. It is my prayer and action for the church in my native land of America that all churches would become true New Testament Churches and be free of the conflicts and the contradictions which undermine the sovereignty of CHRIST. The true Church will look to be like the early New Testament Church as in the Book of Acts staying with the Apostolic traditions and teachings moving in the empowerment of THE HOLY SPIRIT and the protection of KING JESUS.
In America, which is unlike any other nation in her founding, The Church is to be vibrantly alive and ministering freely under the protections and purposes of CHRIST and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution – not be a tax collector, business agent or a partner in any wrong doings, no matter what human agency commands it.
The attacks on the true Church will continue. All who seek power that is not to be theirs will be jealous of THE TRUE KING. The struggle for power between the many jurisdictions, authorities, principalities and responsibilities will continue. The only ‘agency’ on earth that can oppose the corruptions in civil government (and for that matter in all other influences) is the true free New Testament Church under the sovereignty of CHRIST. Many churches and many Christians have like Esau sold their birthright for comfort, ease, acceptance, payments, or to avoid conflict and responsibility. 2 Corinthians 3:17 states that, where The Spirit of THE LORD is there is liberty – where THE LORD is not, there is bondage. As Americans, we are at the place in our short national existence of the least personal freedoms that we have ever enjoyed (that is what happens when one replaces the true KING with one who is not).
As I write this piece, we are about to celebrate the birth of CHRIST, yet, it has become ‘illegal’ to do so in public in many places in America. Even so, KING JESUS, come now. So who rules you? Really?
Garrett Lear 12/04 AD
