What  happens when man's law conflicts with God's law? (Reuters)

Should You Do Your Job or Obey Your Conscience?

 9/9/2015 FRANK TUREK  charisma News

Should Christians ever disobey their government? Some say no. But Kim Davis sides with Martin Luther King Jr. and thinks civil disobedience is justified. Mrs. Davis is the Rowan County Kentucky clerk who spent four days in jail for refusing to put her name on same-sex marriage licenses. Claiming to be a new Christian, Ms. Davis is also a longtime Democrat.

"The court cannot condone the willful disobedience of its lawfully issued order," Judge David Bunning told Davis last week in court. "If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that's what potentially causes problems."

Judge Bunning is absolutely right. This is the kind of chaos that results when people do not respect the law. But I'm not referring to Kim Davis—I'm referring to the United States Supreme Court. As I've written before, and the multiple dissents state more eloquently, there is no justification in the Constitution for judicially imposing genderless marriage on every state in the union. Five unelected justices simply imposed their own law on 330 million people.

But does that justify civil disobedience? Where do you draw the line?

Certainly, there is a line somewhere. After all, we laud those behind the Underground Railroad who freed slaves and those who protected Jews in Nazi Germany. While bad marriage laws are obviously not as serious, consider a more equivalent scenario: Suppose the Supreme Court decided to drop the age of consent in every state to 12 years old (a position Ruth Bader Ginsberg supported before she became a Supreme Court Justice). Would you think that Kim Davis should be forced to endorse the marriage of a 75-year-old man who brought a 12-year-old girl into her office? I hope you can see that there is a line and it's not far from Kim Davis.

Liberals believe in civil disobedience—when it suits their causes. Despite chanting, "Do your job!" outside Kim Davis's office, liberals were rejoicing when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered clerks to violate California law and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004. They certainly were not chanting "Do your job" outside of Attorney General Eric Holder's office when he told the states last year to ignore their own laws that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. And liberals were not asking a federal judge to throw President Obama in jail when he refused to do his job by defending the Defense of Marriage Act in Court.

So just 10 minutes ago liberals believed that defying marriage laws was heroic! Now their blatant double standard is all too obvious—they laud civil disobedience when it's used to advance the religion of sex and denounce it when it's used to protect Christian or natural law beliefs.

But on what authority does one defy the government? One man who wanted a same-sex marriage license asked Kim Davis on "what authority" was she not issuing licenses. She cited God.

Yet the question needs to be asked of both sides. By what authority did Newsom, Holder, Obama and other liberal politicians defy the law? They certainly weren't citing God or the Creator cited in our Declaration of Independence who gives us unalienable rights. But without an authority beyond man's law, there is no authority for their actions nor is there any objective standard to ground unalienable rights. Without God, every right claim is merely a human opinion. At least Kim Davis, agree with her or not, is citing an authority beyond herself.

Civil disobedience has rich precedent in the United States. In fact, our country was founded on it largely to secure religious freedom. Civil disobedience also has precedent in the Bible. When Pharaoh ordered Hebrew midwives to murder all Hebrew boys, they disobeyed and even lied to the authorities (Ex. 1). And Daniel and his friends peacefully defied laws that contracted God's commands. Likewise, when the Jewish authorities told John and Peter to stop telling people the good news that Jesus paid for your sins and rose from the dead, they disobeyed, saying that they would obey God rather than men (Acts 4).

Therefore, the principle for Christians is this: Civil disobedience is necessary when a government compels you to sin or prevents you from doing something God commands you to do. You don't disobey the government merely because it permits others to sin—only when it compels you to do so. Kim Davis thinks that line has been crossed.

It's actually not hard to avoid crossing the line. Both parties can be accommodated as Judge Bunning finally figured out when he released Davis yesterday. In North Carolina, we passed a law to allow people like Kim Davis to opt out of endorsing relationships that violated their religious or moral beliefs. Since other government employees are more than happy to issue licenses, no one is inconvenienced or forced to violate conscience. We do this for far more serious issues than weddings. For example, even during a time of war when we draft people to defend the country, we allow for conscientious objectors to opt out. If we can allow exemptions for government employees involved in protecting the very existence of our nation, we can certainly allow exemptions for government employees involved in weddings!

Will the Kentucky legislature act when it returns in January to pass such a law? Unfortunately, I doubt the activists who are always demanding tolerance will tolerate such reasonableness. It seems that some people just can't live and let live. They will not rest until all opposition is crushed and everyone is forced to celebrate what they are doing.

If that's your position, I have a question for you: Why would you want anyone who disagrees with your wedding to have anything to do with it? Go to another clerk, another florist, another photographer. Why force people to violate their conscience when there are so many other people willing to help you and celebrate with you?  After all, isn't this supposed to be a time when "love wins?"

Apparently not. For some liberals, "love wins" as long as everyone agrees with them. Those that disagree will not like the kind of "love" some liberals dish out. Are the same people who are chanting, "Love wins," some of the same people who issued death threats to Kim Davis? It certainly wasn't the Christians.

The truth is Kim Davis and other victims of "tolerance" don't want a holy war. Davis just doesn't want her signature on the license. She suggested other government officials sign, and Judge Bunning finally agreed. But a law needs to be passed to prevent future problems.

North Carolina has led the way. It remains to be seen if liberals in Kentucky will accept that way. If their recent history is a guide, I'm afraid they will demand that every knee bow and every tongue confess the dogma of their secular religion.

Frank Turek is the president of crossexamined.org, coauthor of I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist and the author of the new book Stealing From God: Why Atheists Need God to Make Their Case.

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Prophetic Dream: The Perfect Storm Is Upon America - Jeremiah Johnson

Prophetic Dream: The Perfect Storm Is Upon America

 6/2/2015 JEREMIAH JOHNSON  charisma magazine

America's perfect storm is coming. (iStock photo )

The Father showed five areas on which the American church must change its position before the 2016 election.

One of them was the issue of sexual immorality. Another was abortion. The third is our view and perception of what biblical love and grace really is. He reminded me of a powerful prophetic dream He had given me several years ago. 

In the dream, I found myself standing on the shoreline of the Atlantic coast facing the ocean. There was a tremendous storm front that was beginning to gather in the Atlantic. I could see the tip of Florida to my right and the upper parts of Maine to my left. I had a sense that I was somewhere near or in Virginia. 

As I looked up over the Atlantic Ocean, I noticed two enormous storms beginning to form. The first front moved ahead of the other. The Spirit of God spoke to me and said, "The Perfect Storm is upon America." These two fronts immediately began to move toward me, and demons began to manifest inside of them. I called out to the first front sweeping toward me and said, "Who are you?" The word "Rebellion" flashed before my eyes. I called out to the front behind it and said, "Who are you?" The word "Tolerance" appeared in the sky.

As these tremendous storms now passed over my head, I violently cried out and said, "I live in the most rebellious and tolerant generation that the world has ever known." The Spirit of God responded to me and said,

"The former prophets looked for physical storms by which they saw my judgments coming, but in these days I'm raising up prophets that will discern spiritual storms. You must know that the spiritual storms that are upon the earth are far greater than any physical storm that has touched earth. Physical storms are limited to a region of people. These spiritual storms that shall rise in the earth will have the power to affect every area of culture. Beware!"

As I faced America on the Atlantic coast and saw these two massive storms sweeping the land, I felt a tremendous urgency of the hour. I immediately jumped on a horse and began to ride, and the word "Paul Revere" was placed in my mouth as I rode. During the next years in the dream, I traveled to different churches all over America proclaiming what I had seen and heard. Though I went to thousands of different churches and visited numerous ethnic groups all over America, there were only three categories of churches. The following are the encounters that I had as I visited the different churches:

The Sleeping Church

The first type of church I visited had "Sleeping Church" engraved on its doors. As I opened the doors to these churches, every one of them was in the middle of a service. I would hurry in to relay the message of what I had just seen and heard, only to be shocked to see everyone in attendance, including the leadership, sucking on pacifiers. While this type of church could hear my words, they had no ability to respond. I began to cry out and say, "Why are you silent, Church, why are you silent? Though you are awake, you are sleeping!"

In the dream, the Holy Spirit immediately spoke to me Eph 4:14: "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming."

The Street Church

The second type of church I visited met in the streets of America. Upon seeing all of these different gatherings in many different cities, I was delighted because many of them seemed to be around my age (18-35) and simply claimed allegiance to "Street Church." I began to interview and ask members of this particular type of church if they had heard about the two storms descending over America named "Rebellion" and "Tolerance." None of them seemed to understand what I was asking.

I continued in the street on my horse until I found myself at a gathering of thousands and thousands of these "Street Church" people. I recognized one of the leaders, but for the sake of integrity I will leave his name out. As I pressed into the crowd, there was an incredible sense of chaos and confusion among the people. I cried out to the Lord in the dream and said, "Who are these people?"

He said, "These are the products of the works-based gospel movement of the '80s and '90s. These are they who have rebelled in the name of grace but not in the name of My Son." As the Spirit spoke this to me, there began to be mass commotion in the crowd.

Suddenly, banners began to be carried by the Street Church all over America that read "GRACE." It was especially intriguing to me that these banners were dusty, and you could visibly see the mud on them. I said to the Lord, "Where have these young people picked up these banners from?" He said, "They have resurrected them from the former generations. False doctrines that were once done away with are now rising in the streets." The Spirit specifically showed me three false doctrines these groups believed in.

They were: 1. Manifest Sons of God Doctrine; 2. Joel's Army; and 3. Finished Work of the Cross Movement

Manifest Sons of God Doctrine

Those that resurrect this teaching will specifically focus on the perfection of the saints, immortalization and the attainment of actually being Christ as we become just like Him in nature and ability. This doctrine, as stated in the dream, will be carried by thousands of young adults being deceived because of the lack of biblical literacy and false teachers leading them astray.

Joel's Army Doctrine

This doctrine will specifically be marked by those who believe that the church has replaced Israel. This is also known as Replacement Theology. Dominion Theology and claims of divinity will also mark those who follow this doctrine.

Finished Work of the Cross Doctrine

I am aware that many people have never heard of this doctrine or movement that is really beginning to deceive many young people. In all my prayer and study, I have discerned that burned-out young people in particular who have served God through striving and performance-based Christianity are the primary targets of this deceptive doctrine and movement.

In essence, they were extremely faithful to God in past seasons without a heart that truly encountered the love and affection of Jesus. The problem with this movement and doctrine is that while there is much truth in the teaching that Christ is our final sacrifice, many in this movement believe that all mankind has been reconciled to God, which leads to universalism. 

Taking it a step further, postmodern universalists believe that unrepentant individuals will go to hell, but upon going there will recognize their sin and ultimately be taken to heaven. This movement also teaches that because Christ was sacrificed once and for all, Christians will never have to make sacrifices. Any grace teaching that alleviates believers from the personal responsibility of holiness and accountability is a false doctrine. 

Jesus Christ did not pick up His cross so that we don't have to. Jesus Christ picked up His cross to show us how to pick up ours. It's impossible to say we love Jesus and not seek to obey His Word. The Holy Spirit showed me that these three doctrines would begin to creep into the church because of the lack of biblical knowledge, coupled with tolerance and rebellion. I began to follow the grace banners with the people to the cities where they went. As the Street Church swarmed the crowds, they pulled out mace from their pockets. They began to spray people in the eyes and the Spirit said,

"They are blinding the generations to the truth in the name of grace. They call themselves Joel's army because they believe they will usher in the last day's grace movement in the earth, but know that they are like the locust seeking to devour and ravage the vineyards of young generations. They distort the truth and preach rebellion and tolerance in the name of grace. They shall question if hell exists. They will believe that many paths lead to Me. Their toleration has led to jubilation. They create crazy party atmospheres that attract the drug culture and the homosexual spirit. You must know that things are never as they appear with the Street Church."

After visiting these two types of churches, I was in great distress. I cried out to the Spirit and said, "Take me to Your church." I immediately rode up on a church building that had "Surrendered Church" on its doors.

The Surrendered Church

I quickly walked in and sat down. I immediately noticed that in the back of this church was a gaping hole. It was as if a blast had gone off and almost entirely knocked out the back walls of the Surrendered Church. As I visited surrendered churches all over America, I found the exact same thing. I sat in the back and asked the Father what had happened. He said, "My church was at first deceived by rebellion and tolerance. The Street Church you just saw stormed out of the back of My church and left because of the lack of foundation and character, but now My church has been awakened and shall be repaired."

I got up out of my seat and watched as many people were working on repairing the gaping hole in the back of the church. As I watched, I noticed something interesting; the workers were not just any workers. They were true apostles and prophets restoring the foundation, and many of them were teaching other young men how to properly lay the foundation. Meanwhile, many intercessors were in great travail repenting but having a great sense of hope as they cried out and thanked the Father for awakening His Son's bride from deception and for restoring the foundation layers to His church.

The Perfect Storm has landed in America and Rebellion and Tolerance have swept over our land. Three different types of churches are on every street corner in America. Will the Surrendered Church arise and take its rightful place among the masses?

I prophesy and warn you that one of the greatest challenges that the church in the West is facing and will face is how to deal with young people that have never understood or been taught biblical grace. Many of these individuals have been overly exposed to legalism and because of this are now embracing false grace and unbiblical views on love.

There must be a shift in the American church prior to the 2016 election with regard to the views of tolerance and rebellion. The Spirit of Truth must be given access to this specific area that is on the Father's heart in this hour.

Jeremiah Johnson is the servant leader of Heart of the Father Ministry in Lakeland, Florida. A gifted teacher, book author, and prophetic minister, Jeremiah travels extensively throughout the United States and abroad as a conference and guest speaker. Jeremiah and his wife, Morgan, reside in Florida with their two children: Bella Grace and Israel David. Visit Jeremiah online at hotfmlakeland.com or Unknown Dreamer Ministries.

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Indiana's Mike Pence: Tolerance Is a Two-Way Street

By Gary Lane

CBN News Sr. Correspondent

Monday, March 30, 2015

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A new religious freedom law in Indiana has created a political firestorm across the country.

From the White House to Hollywood, critics hit the streets and social media saying the law discriminates against gays and lesbians.

But Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said the purpose of the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act is to protect people of faith, not discriminate against gays and lesbians.

"The issue here is, you know, is tolerance a two-way street or not? You know, there's a lot of talk about tolerance today in this country having to do with people on the left," Pence noted.

"But here Indiana steps forward to protect the constitutional rights and privileges of freedom of religion for people of faith and families of faith in our state and this avalanche of intolerance that has been poured on our state is just outrageous," he said.

In fact, Pence and supporters of the Indiana law say it's similar to federal legislation signed by President Bill Clinton and laws approved by 19 other states, including Illinois where then state Sen. Barack Obama voted for it.

But White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the Illinois bill Obama supported did not legitimize discrimination.

Critics say the Indiana law allows businesses like florists and bakeries to go unpunished when denying service to gay couples for religious reasons. In states with gay protections, some Christians have already lost their businesses.

On ABC's "This Week," George Stephanapoulos attacked Pence on the issue.

"Do you think it should be legal in the state of Indiana to discriminate against gays or lesbians?" Stephanapoulos asked the governor.

"George…" Pence began.

"It's a yes or no question," Stephanapoulos challenged.

"Come on. Hoosiers don't believe in discrimination," Pence replied. "This is about protecting the religious liberty of every Hoosier of every faith."

Most people support the idea behind the Indiana law.

One Associated Press poll taken last February showed 57 percent of Americans believe business owners should not be forced to provide services for same-sex weddings if they have religious objections.

Meanwhile, the uproar is expected to continue. The NCAA has expressed concern as Indiana prepares to host college basketball's Final Four.

And other companies and business may soon bow to pressure to boycott Indiana, possibly costing the state millions of dollars in tax revenues.