Recently God’s been talking to me more and more about fear vs. faith. I’ve never been a fearful person by nature and it’s never been an area the devil’s been able to attack me in very effectively.

God has shown me recently though that even if you have never dealt with this issue like me in the past we’re all going to be dealing with it in the not so disdant future and many are dealing with it here in the present. The world is getting scarier all the time as in daily! Jesus said this would happen in Matthew 24. He said it would get so scary near the end that people would beg God for death. I don’t believe that should be the case for His people.

Lately I’ve had some major financial set backs. Like losing a whole shift of overtime everyweek and having to pay $200 more a month for my medical insurance and having to pay $100 more a month towards rent. That makes a grand total of about $700 a month less in my pocket and I don’t make that much to begin with ( I live and work in Florida). So for the first time I felt myself begiining to feel the pangs of fear.

Last week I felt ( very strongly ) God tell me I had two choices; “FALL BACK IN FEAR OR GO FORWARD IN FAITH” and that it was His will for me and all His people that we should GO FORWARD IN FAITH.It’s easy “TO HAVE FAITH” in the good and easy times. It’s not so easy in the bad and hard times. That however is exactly when God expects us to start using it like we never have before.

So as the world begins going more crazy than ever and getting scarier all the time I’m going to challenge you to do something. Try exercising faith more than you ever have before. Get up each day for the rest of your lives and challenge yourselves to not give in to fear but rather to will yourselves into faith. The worse things get the more we must draw near to God as opposed to running away from Him. take these hard and troubled times as an “OPPURTUNITY” to show just how great your God is!!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely positively refuse to fall back in fear and force yourselves to go forward in faith. Let’s determine to really be a different kind of people in a way that matters. Let’s maintain our testimonies while the world falls apart around us. After my first month of losing that $700 a month and the temptation to fall back in fear the Lord told me to go buy some clothes I’d had my eye on and get a haircut. So instead of going into hoarding mode I spent. It felt great!!! It felt so much better than not spending and going backwards. Try it you’ll like it. I’m not telling you to go spend crazy but I am telling you to not hoard ( fear) and go out and spend ( faith) on what you need.

Above all don’t stop giving! Americans are the most giving people in the world and people of faith are the most giving americans. Keep casting your bread upon the water and it will continue coming back to you. This isn’t a plead for money for this ministry. I just know that you can’t outgive God and that faith without works is dead. So keep giving and spending within your means and watch God come through for you.Live like citizens of God’s Kingdom and not as those that are subject to this world system. Lift Jesus higher in everything you do and He will lift you up as well,,,,,,,,

Hi all,

This is a quick message to let everyone know that ” Blessed Warmakers Radio” is coming back on after a legnthy hiatus. Joel’s baby girl Sarah is now 9 months old and sleeping through ( mostly ) the night. It’s been a period of transition and adjustments. She’s beautiful and brilliant and the fact that she’s my grandaughter has “almost” nothing to do with that statement.

Anyway the boys will be back with their first show tomorrow night, wed the 28th of may. They’ll be talking about the “Florida Outpouring”. In case you haven’t heard about it I can tell you there’s a major revival with signs and wonders happening in ;”LAKELAND” Fl. That’s located halfway between Tampa And Orlando and is about an hour and a half from us here in Sarasota. Everyone here at CRASH has been at least once and most of us more. I’m not going to talk to much about it cause they’ll be discussing it in depth. I’ll just tell you that as someone who got saved in the height of ” The Charismatic Renewal” what’s going on here is the real deal. I’v e been to some real ones and some not so real ones and I can spot a phony from a long way off and this is for real!

So be sure to check out the first new show in a long time. It’ll be podcast on “SWITCHPOD” and uploaded onto our own internet radio station at; www.live365.com/stations/crashradioinc sometime after 9:00pm tomorrow night. I’ve missed the show a great deal and I know there are others out there who have as well. I’m very happy to be welcoming them back.

Thomas

Hi all,

I was in Walden’s Books yesterday and saw a table they had set up with books that were spiritual/political themed. The first book I’d talked about awhile ago; “HOW WOULD JESUS VOTE”? was there along with others I’ve seen before. There was also a new one that I hadn’t seen before called; “WE THE PURPLE”. It was written by a Christian woman that was basically reiterating a lot of things we’d discussed in the previous blogs. What was being discussed was how, many Christians today are sick of being pigeonholed and cajoled to vote in a certain way and always for a certain party.

It talked about how there is a movement in this country right here and now among secularists and church members alike. It’s a movement away from the RED STATE/BLUE STATE mentality. What she came up with that at least metaphorically is “purple”. Most of us know that red states generally vote republican while the blue states vote democrat.

Purple therefore represents independence and free thinking. I may vote republican this time like I have so many times before or I may go a completely different route. What I do know is that this time and from now on I won’t be voting in any block at all. I’ll be voting for the person that I feel best represents my personal beliefs not just the beliefs of a certain group of people.

So mover over “BARNEY” there’s a new purple kid on the block! Maybe I’ll get attacked like Barney did years ago. That’s ok I’m used to it and I can take it. This is an idea who’s time has come. Up with free/critical/independent thinking……

Sir Thomas

Happy Good Friday everybody! Amazing isn’t it how such an apparently tragic event good have turned out so good for all of us!?

I was raised Roman Catholic. In that religion/tradition good friday is still treated like a tragic event. I remember how that going to church as a child was such a “somber” experience and how my friends and I ditched it every chance we got. Which wasn’t to difficult because none of our parents actually went! They just insisted we go. I think I thought it was God’s way of punishing us kids for having so much fun the rest of the week. I left the church at age 12 and didn’t set foot in one again till I was 24 and that was 12/25/77 and the day I got saved.

Now I know that there’s no need for our worship time with God to be somber. Not on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday or any day. Why? Because I know now that what the bible says is true “that all things work together for the good for those that believe and are called according to His purposes”. Jesus didn’t want to go to that cross anymore than you or I would but He knew what was waiting for Him on the other side. That’s what gave Him the courage to do it and it was His great love for us that motivated Him to do it.

In other words if Jesus hadn’t used His own faith to see through the pain and loss of His own life to the other side which was being reunited with the Father and Paradise and being able to take His rightful place at the right hand of the Father again then he couldn’t've done it.

If we don’t start getting our acts together then we won’t be able to either. Are we better than Christ!? No. We need to start excercising our faith too. What better day than this Good Friday? We’re all going to face challenges in the days ahead. We’re all going to experience tragedy at one time or another. Our faith will be tested. Jesus passed His tests because he was constantly doing His homework. He was constantly practicing His faith. So when tragedy struck and tests arose he was more than ready for them everytime. How do you think you’ll get through your trials and tests? hoping God will wave a magic wand over you? He won’t.

The only way we’re going to get through whatever we’re going through now or whatever we may face in the future is to do exactly what Jesus did. Start practicing now. Do it now in the midst of your trial. Do it now in preparation for whatever may come.

Remember on the first Good Friday ever the disciples were scattered and in hiding. By the next day they were in mourning and even deepr in hiding due to fear and lack of faith . By Easter Sunday they were so desperate ad petrified that even when brothers and sisters in the faith came proclaiming the best news ever; “HE IS RISEN”! They didn’t believe them!!! Even though Christ had told them exactly what would take place and how it would take place they still didn’t believe. It took Christ walking right through the walls of the upper room and upraiding them for their lack of faith to get them out of their collective funk.

What advantage do we have over the disciples of those days? First of all The Holy Spirit hadn’t fallen on the believers at that time. He has on us.Second they didn’t have the NEW TESTAMENT ( they later wrote it which once again shows that God doth have a sense of humor) we do have it.Finally we have two thousand years of history of the faith behind us now. We better fare better in our tests and trials then they did in their first ones!

I’m proposing right here and now that we take advantage of this Good friday Of 2008. I hope each of us will make a commitment to remember that we already know what we need to know and that we’ll start using our knowlege so that we’ll then be truly wise. We do have the word of God let’s get into it like never before. We have the Holy Spirit in us and all around us let’s lean on Him and not ourselves. We have each other. let’s start doing what the word says we should be doing. Let’s start speaking words of encouragement and love to each other. let’s bear one anothers burdens so that the load is never to heavy for anyone of us. This is Good friday but we already know Easter is coming. Let’s start realizing that each and everyday. For us, for every Maundy Thursday and Good friday there’s always an Easter.

Lose someone or something recently? Remember Easter is coming. If you get bad news tomorrow remember Easter is coming!!!!!!!!! Read that bible now. pray now. Fast now. Give now. Minister now. love now. Believe now. I promise you that if you do this the next good friday that comes into your life you’ll pass the test and you won’t even have to wait three days for your personal Easter…………………… to come,,,,,,,,,,,,Amen

Sir Thomas

Hi all,

Well there were some interesting comments left on the board concerning the ”HOW WOULD JESUS VOTE” blog. I think we all pretty much agreed that Jesus wouldn’t be very involved in the political arena anymore today than He was in His own days here on earth. Some think that He would’ve at least voted  but i’m not convinced of that. We’ll have to wait for that answer as a matter of fact till we see Him face to face and can ask Him face to face.

One aspect of the blog that I don’t feel got dealt with very much was the question I asked regarding His leanings. Do we believe they’d be towards the far left, the left, the center, the right or the far right. I’m sure that if you took a poll today and asked the general population of this country which way they think the church would lean they’d overwhelmingly say that the church leans towards the “far right”.

So I’m asking do you agree with that sentiment? Do you believe that the church ( the body of Christ) leans towards the far right politically? Do you believe that Jesus Himself would lean towards the far right politically. If yes why do you believe that? If your answer is no then why do you believe that. Do you think it’s a good thing that all christians are lumped in with the far right?

I stated in the first part of this post that I believed His leanings would be situational. I believe He’d be liberal on some things, moderate on others and conservative on yet others. For example regarding the death penalty. The one chance He had to enforce it He chose mercy instead. Would He always choose mercy or would there be times He’d enforce it Himself?What about prayer in school? He said that when you pray you should do so in private and not in public like the hypocrites. Would this include children praying in school. Would He say that no child should leave home without first praying with his/her family?What about abortion? He said the Kingdom of God is like a little child and also woe unto him or her that harms a little child. So in the big three “The Death Penalty”, “Prayer In School” and “Abortion” I can see Him being liberal on one, moderate on another and conservative on the last one. I don’t believe He’d allow Himself to be pidgeon holed into being put into a box of anykind regarding anything.

So then why has  His church? How did it happen that if we don’t all read the same version of the bible or belong to the same political party or lean the same way politically then we’re not considered christian by so many. There are many liberal christians out there. While I was growing up they ran things and all christians were associated with their brands of religion and political leanings ( left wing ). They were the Roman Catholic church and the Main Line Protestant churches and on any given day you could find them supplying communist insurgents with arms and sometimes even fighting right alongside of them. Then in the 80’s the evangelicals took over as the power base of the christian church and suddenly all christians began being lumped in with them and their political leanings( far right). Many of us got caught up in it.  Several months ago I was talking to a young woman and mentioned the far left side of the christian faith and she laughed and said there was no such thing. I said during your lifetime so far they’ve been very very quiet but it won’t stay that way, everything is cyclical.

Now we have something happening in this country and all over the world called; “The Emergent Church Movement”. I’m watching to see if this is just a new incarnation of the old religious left or something truly new? I know and sense in my own spirit that God is doing a new thing in the earth. He’s about to pour out His Spirit like never before as described in the book of Joel. Will this move take us to the left or the right or to the center or in an entirely new direction? I for one can’t wait to see. I know I’m done marching in lock step with any political party or movement. I’m blowing in the wind of the Holy Spirit. Where He leads I will follow whether the rest of the body goes with me or not.

At the beginning of 07′ I felt the Lord very clearly tell me to tell His people to; “PUT DOWN THEIR FLAGS AND PICK UP THEIR CROSSES”!!! I believe you should be as involved in the political system as you feel God is leading you to be. I also believe that if you feel God telling you to step away from it then you should do that as well. I know it’s time for all those that name the name of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior to stop watching and worrying about what everyone else is doing and get back to working out your own salvations with fear and trembling. Don’t judge someone by who they do or don’t vote for. Judge the fruits of a persons life, not the person. Work on your individual relationships with the Lord and leave others to do the same. Listen for the Wind, be lead by the wind of the Holy Spirit and not by ABC,NBC,CBS,CNN or FOX NEWS NETWORK. For all those who are born by the Spirit are lead by the Spirit.

As for me? I still haven’t made up my mind as to what exactly I’m going to do yet. I still don’t know who I’ll vote for. I’m trying something new and novel for someone who got saved in the late 70’s i’m thinking and praying about who I’ll vote for this time. When I get the answer I’ll do what each and everyone of us should do. I’ll follow my conscience instead of a political party or philosophy.

God Bless You in your quests

Sir Thomas

I was in a christian bookstore saturday and as I was leaving I noticed a book on the bottom shelf. It was called;”How Would Jesus Vote?” I didn’t have time to pick it up and check it out. I have no idea from what perspective the book was coming from. I only know it’s been a running internal discussion I’ve been Having with the Lord for years. I’ve also had it occasionaly with others ( externally) as well.

So that’s basically what I want to do today with this post. I want to start a new conversation regarding what we all think about this subject matter. Is Jesus part of the religious right? Is He part of the religious left? Is He a moderate ( centrist)?

If Jesus were living in present day America in the flesh would He be a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent or part of a third party? Would He even be involved with the political system here at all?

I’d like to encourage you all to particpate in this conversation. We may all learn a thing or two we didn’t know. It may just further confirm what we already believe or actually change our minds about some things. I hope we can all participate in some open honest effective communication at the least. I’ll remind everyone in advance that this is a no bashing zone. No matter what your political/spiritual leanings are you can feel safe in expressing yourself here.

When you get to the end of reading this blog you’ll see a comments section. Click on it and you’ll see comments people have already left. Then after that there’s a section that will allow you to leave a comment.

 I’ll start the conversation off by saying that from reading the gospel accounts of Christ’s first coming it doesn’t appear that he was at all active in the politics of His day. There were obviously people constantly trying to get Him to be. Most believe that the justification Judas used to himself for betraying Christ was that he did it to force Jesus to choose sides politically and to be an active participant to the point of declaring Himself to be king. When he saw that Christ could not be manipulated in this way and went to the cross instead he became so despondent that he hung himself. So truthfully I believe that Jesus would be no more involved in the political system of America today than He was in His own nation during His own time here on earth.

I know that He would pay taxes. I don’t however think He’d see any of the candidates as the saviors people want them to be since He is The Savior!

For the sake of argument though and the sake of this blog. I’m going to pretend that i believe that Christ would be involved. So how do I believe He’d vote? He’d vote  His consience i believe. I believe He’d be an independent and vote for the person as opposed to the party that represented His views best. If there was no such candidate then I believe He’d be very vocal in saying so and would never vote for the lesser of two evils. I believe He’d be liberal on some issues, moderate on others and conservative on still others. I don’t believe He’d be ultra on anything but love and joy and peace and forgiveness.

Now those are just some of my beliefs on the subject. What are some of yours? Looking forward to hearing from you all.

Thomas Harvey

I was in a christian bookstore saturday and as I was leaving I noticed a book on the bottom shelf. It was called;”How Would Jesus Vote?” I didn’t have time to pick it up and check it out. I have no idea from what perspective the book was coming from. I only know it’s been a running internal discussion I’ve been Having with the Lord for years. I’ve also had it occasionaly with others ( externally) as well.

So that’s basically what I want to do today with this post. I want to start a new conversation regarding what we all think about this subject matter. Is Jesus part of the religious right? Is He part of the religious left? Is He a moderate ( centrist)?

If Jesus were living in present day America in the flesh would He be a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent or part of a third party? Would He even be involved with the political system here at all?

I’d like to encourage you all to particpate in this conversation. We may all learn a thing or two we didn’t know. It may just further confirm what we already believe or actually change our minds about some things. I hope we can all participate in some open honest effective communication at the least. I’ll remind everyone in advance that this is a no bashing zone. No matter what your political/spiritual leanings are you can feel safe in expressing yourself here.

When you get to the end of reading this blog you’ll see a comments section. Click on it and you’ll see comments people have already left. Then after that there’s a section that will allow you to leave a comment.

 I’ll start the conversation off by saying that from reading the gospel accounts of Christ’s first coming it doesn’t appear that he was at all active in the politics of His day. There were obviously people constantly trying to get Him to be. Most believe that the justification Judas used to himself for betraying Christ was that he did it to force Jesus to choose sides politically and to be an active participant to the point of declaring Himself to be king. When he saw that Christ could not be manipulated in this way and went to the cross instead he became so despondent that he hung himself. So truthfully I believe that Jesus would be no more involved in the political system of America today than He was in His own nation during His own time here on earth.

I know that He would pay taxes. I don’t however think He’d see any of the candidates as the saviors people want them to be since He is The Savior!

For the sake of argument though and the sake of this blog. I’m going to pretend that i believe that Christ would be involved. So how do I believe He’d vote? He’d vote  His consience i believe. I believe He’d be an independent and vote for the person as opposed to the party that represented His views best. If there was no such candidate then I believe He’d be very vocal in saying so and would never vote for the lesser of two evils. I believe He’d be liberal on some issues, moderate on others and conservative on still others. I don’t believe He’d be ultra on anything but love and joy and peace and forgiveness.

Now those are just some of my beliefs on the subject. What are some of yours? Looking forward to hearing from you all.

Thomas Harvey

Hi all,

It’s been great  seeing all the comments regarding my blog on this year’s election. I can see that we have all been paying attention to what’s been going on. That is a good thing.

I do agree with everyone that’s said that we should vote no matter who we vote for. So I can now honestly say I am going to vote this year just like I have every election year. I also agree with Lisa and Lou that this is actually a very exciting election. History will be made no matter who gets elected. Obviously Hillary would be the first woman. Obama would be the first African American. John McCain would be the oldest man ever elected president.

I don’t want anyone to have the impression that I wouldn’t vote for McCain because of his age. I was just bringing up my concerns about each of the candidates. Seventy one is a liitle long in the tooth to become president.Reagan was the man for me too. It’s very well known however that in the last two years of his second term He was beginning to lose it. Rumors abounded about him falling asleep in meetings and becoming very absent minded. McCain would be the same age near the end of his first term. But then there’s always his 96 year old mother who is still sharp as a tack. So no I won’t let that stop me from voting for him.

To me the most important role for the president is to be a motivator and communicator. That’s where Obama’s strength comes in. He is a great communicator. I also believe that he would at least try to be a unifier.

I truly hope it’s a battle between Obama and McCain. I’m leaning heavily towards McCain but I haven’t made up my mind yet. I think I could live with either of them, but I couldn’t live with Hillary being our next president!

So now we wait and see. I can’t wait till the primaries are over and we have the nominees for both parties.Then it’s going to get even more interesting!!!!!!!!!!!

Sir Thomas
 

Is it just me or is this upcoming presidential election starting to scare you too? The way i see it right now is we’ve got the second coming of Jimmy Carter in the person of Barak Obama. The second coming of Bill Clinton in Hillary Clinton and I don’t know what in John McCain.

I voted democrat once in my life. It was the 1976 election between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Talk about having little to choose from! But Jimmy Carter had a little thing they called momentum. He came out of nowhere and had everyone excited and ran on a platform of change. Sound familiar? We later found out that he really was all flash and no substance. I’ve lived through; Ike, JFK,LBJ,Nixon,Ford,Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush. I can honestly say Carter was the worst. Yep that includes slick Willie! I swore after that mistake that I’d never vote democrat again.

I’ve decided to release myself from that promise. No that doesn’t mean I’m going to vote democrat this time. But the republicans have become so creepy and dysfunctional that i won’t be bound to them either. So I’m a free agent again. I don’t know who’ll I’ll vote for this time or if I’ll even vote. I’ve never missed voting in a presidential since I was first eligible in 76′. This year just might be the exception to my rule. If I don’t vote this time it won’t be because I’m just to lazy or uninformed. It will be in protest. I will never vote for Hillary. No explanation neccessary. Every fiber of my being would love to vote for Obama for all the same reasons i voted Jimmy Carter. But fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me.

I can tell you three things that would automatically happen if Barak gets elected. First he will raise taxes. He doesn’t pretend he wouldn’t. He would leave Iraq to soon. Even if you think the war was a mistake to enter into it would be an even bigger mistake to cut and run now. Finally the next president will most likely get to appoint two or three of the next Supreme Court Justices. I don’t even want to think about his nominees. Don’t get me wrong i don’t care if the next appointees are moderates or conservative but I don’t want far right or left. Make no mistake about it Obama is a far left liberal. He was voted the most liberal senator of 2007. I don’t want the most conservative or the most liberal. Which leaves us with John McCain. Now politically he actually is the closest thing to a moderate. If I vote I know it will be for him. He is what we call a RINO which stands for a republican in name only. Which when I think of it is probably the best thing. 71 is a number I’m so not comfortable with though! Then there’s the fact that he is soooooo unexciting and such a lousy public speaker. There’s also the problem of just as i believe that Hillary or Obama would leave Iraq to soon I believe that McCain just might keep us there to long.

So the point is I quess. Is this all there really is again? After all this campaining and this long process of selection this is the best we can do again? Come on everyone I know says the same thing every election “well i guess i have to vote for the lesser of two evils again”. Is anyone else as sick of this as I am? So will I vote or will I sit this one out as a matter of principle? I honestly don’t know yet. So stay tuned and let me know how you’re feeling about all this yourselves. I know there has to be a better way than this though.

To start viewing ,”Thoughts from Sir Thomas” click on the blog section just above

this window. I’ll be doing my best to update them for now weekly and soon daily.

Why “Sir Thomas”? It’s because above all else I consider myself a knight errant on

a quest for ; “The KING OF KINGS and The LORD OF LORDS”. What is my quest?

It’s to take back what the church ( body of Christ) has surrendered to the world.

I’ve come to pick a fight with the world the flesh and the devil. I’m taking back the ARTS

and The Sciences( higher learning).

We will make better music, movies,art works of all kinds, theater and literature. I will

not be deterred, dissuaded or detoured from this mission. I’m invited, encouraging

and challenging any other like minded artists of any stripe to join me in this quest.

Buckle up kids i promise you it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

“Sir Thomas”