First Lutheran Church of Little Rock

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and YE SHALL BE AS GODS…” Genesis 3:2-5

“For the first time, we are going to have THE DIVINE ABILITY of creation and destruction, to re-engineer life, to re-engineer bodies and brains and minds,” states Yuval Noah Harai, historian, philosopher and best-selling author of “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow”. Portrayed as one of the world’s most influential public intellectuals today, Harai’s books have sold 45 million copies and translated into 65 languages. He is also lead advisor to the World Economic Forum, bringing national and corporate leaders together to promote their elite globalist agenda, which is to replace nations with a global government.

Harai continues: “I titled the book ‘Homo Deus’ [HUMAN GODS] because we really are becoming gods in the most literal sense possible. We are acquiring abilities that have always been thought to be divine abilities – in particular, the ability to create life. And we can do with that whatever we want.”

Harari on Christianity: “Fake news has been with us for thousands of years. Just think of the Bible. The story of Jesus rising from the dead and being the son of God. THIS IS FAKE NEWS. How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order is imagined.”

Harari on Human Nature: “Homo sapiens [that is you and me] does it best to forget the fact, but IT IS AN ANIMAL… As far as we can tell from a purely scientific viewpoint, HUMAN LIFE HAS ABSOLUTELY NO MEANING. Humans are the outcome of blind evolutionary processes that operate without goal or purpose. Our actions are not part of some divine cosmic plan.” (Among other things, this shows the inability of science – to measure what can be seen, to comprehend the supernatural, which cannot be seen.)

Harari on the Human Population: “We just don’t need the vast majority of the population in the early 21st century given modern technologies rendering human labor economically and militarily redundant. The most important question in 21st-century economics may well be, ‘WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH ALL THE SUPERFLUOUS PEOPLE [also called “useless eaters”, THAT WOULD BE US]?’” (This reveals the globalist depopulation agenda – to reduce the human population.)
Harari on New Technologies and Human Beings: “I strongly believe that given the technologies we are now developing, within a century or two at most, our species will disappear. Having raised humanity above the beastly level of survival struggles, we will now aim to UPGRADE HUMANS INTO GODS and turn Homo sapiens into Homo deus. What you try to do a thousand years ago with the priest preaching from the pulpit you will be able to do in a far more invasive way in 10 or 15 years with all kinds of brain-computer interfaces and direct biological interventions.” (Such as the chip described in the book of Revelation).

Harari on Culture vs. Nature (i.e. NO RULES): “Culture tends to argue that it forbids only that which is unnatural. But from a biological perspective, NOTHING IS UNNATURAL. Whatever is possible is by definition also natural. A truly unnatural behavior, one that goes against the laws of nature, simply cannot exist, so it would need no prohibition.” (Harari’s husband would agree with this.)

Summary: We have just glimpsed the mindset and value system of elite globalists, including many members of the World Economic Forum. We see their total dismissal of the God of the Bible and God’s special creation of men and women, created in His image, to live lives of meaning and purpose and carry out His mission while we are here on earth.

Harari’s ideas and values are embraced by many people, as traditional teaching about our nation, founded on Godly principles, and about Christ are not embraced by our culture. So let us go forth with the love and truth of Christ to witness to all who come across our path, for only The Truth of Christ can set us free, and time is short, eternity is forever, and we are not guaranteed tomorrow.

To God be the glory
Board of Evangelism

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

He also instituted:

· the family (of man, woman, and children) to ensure that children would be raised in the training and admonition of the Lord.

· government to keep peace and restrain evil.

· the church to become a gathering of His people for worship and the sacraments, for fellowship and support, and to send ambassadors of Christ out to reach the lost.

Satan’s primary target is people, and his primary strategy is through lies that draw people from God’s narrow path to heaven, to the broad path to the Lake of Fire. Here are eight of his favorite lies that he uses to deceive people; you may recognize them, as they are often expressed in our modern woke culture, as Satan whispers into our ears:

LIE #1: The traditional view of family – father, mother, and children is merely a social construct, created by the people in charge of a government, nation, or religion.

· Different cultures embrace different practices, such as homosexual marriages and polygamy. Old Testament patriarchs IN THE BIBLE even had multiple wives – Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. So if you want to be married to someone of your same sex, what is wrong with that? And why limit it to people? Why not to your dog, sheep, or goat? Were we not all created by God to enjoy life and to be happy?

· And why get married at all? If you love each other, why not just live together and enjoy freedom as well as companionship?
RESPONSE: God’s created order makes clear distinctions between
God and man, men and women, adults and children, people and animals, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Man. Furthermore, He instituted the family (of man, woman, and children) to channel human passions, provide valuable social stability, and to ensure that children would be raised in a safe and nurturing environment.

LIE #2: Not only is the traditional view of family merely a social construct, but so is your gender identity.

· The transsexuality movement frees us to choose our own gender identity, liberating us from the constraints and demands of the body we happen to be born in.
RESPONSE: This aberrant ideology flies in the sense of basic biology
as well as common sense. To claim that men can become women and vice versa leads to troubled lives and perverted bodies.

LIE #3: Women, you, not the government, should have the right to control your own bodies, to have the sexual freedom you deserve.

· Since a fetus is just a blob of tissue until birth, abortion is not a sin; it is merely a form of birth control.
RESPONSE: The act of human procreation and giving birth to a new
human being is a tremendous gift from God. So to destroy this new life in the womb is taking a life of another human being, a right that no other person has, including the mother.

LIE #4: Traditional taboos about shielding children from sexual practices are outmoded.

· Not only should you be free to express your sexuality in whatever ways we choose, you should liberate your children to do the same, rather than keep them in a cage of celibacy until they are grown up.
RESPONSE: The rearing a child is a tremendous responsibility, and
the sexual act a precious gift from God, to take place in consecrated marriage. To exploit children sexually – pedophilia – is a terrible crime foisted on the young and innocent.

LIE #5: Feel free to embrace divorce as liberating you from the constrictions of marriage, so you will be free to move on with your life.

· Just as one career can never encompass all the talents that an individual has, so can your marriage never enable you to fully express your potential as a human being.
RESPONSE: In addition to creating human beings as male and female,
God also instituted marriage to be a lifelong commitment, not merely a temporary arrangement dependent on the whims of either party.

LIE #6: Considering the outmoded beliefs of many parents today, it is the state – the government – that is best able to determine what should be taught to your children, and care for them from cradle to grave.

· After all, does not the government have authority to rule an entire nation (within which there are many religions and ideologies), rather than any one of them dominating our society or family life?
RESPONSE: God instituted marriage between a man and a woman as
the ideal and most effective means to raise children. He instituted government to provide protection and civil order, but when government takes over the functions of parenting, it always fails miserably because it is simply ill-equipped to do so.

LIE #7: All guilt is false, created by religious leaders for power, control, and money.

· You are a free, individual person, with your own mind, feelings, and volition; who are these people, organizations, or religions to tell you what you should do and make you feel guilty for not complying with THEIR wishes?
RESPONSE: As every government has to have a civil and moral order
to restrain chaos and violence, it must also have compliance and a sense of right and wrong (guilt) to ensure its continuance. In similar fashion, the sovereign, living God of the universe established laws (the Ten Commandments), and sent His Son to usher in an even more just and moral order. To maintain this new ethic, the Lord sent the Holy Spirit to teach, love, guide, and convict us (through guilt) when we stray from the narrow path He set before us. Eliminating guilt in a society is a sure guarantee that chaos and anarchy are on their way.

LIE #8: Satan and hell are not real.

· Like guilt, notions of Satan and hell are not real, but were just created to scare you into complying with their agenda and plans for your life.
RESPONSE: The spirit world cannot be experienced through our
senses because it is invisible. Nevertheless, it is still very real, as testified by fulfilled prophecies and many other evidence. So claiming it is not real is one of Satan’s favorite lies, with eternal consequences.

For each of these lies, Satan promises great happiness, wealth and pleasure, but delivers a life of broken hearts, loneliness, and despair.

Satan’s ultimate lie is that if we abandon God, we can live a life unmitigated pleasure and happiness and still go to heaven. But the Lake of Fire is full of poor souls who fell for his lies on earth and are paying for their terribly wrong decision in the Lake of Fire for eternity.

In contrast to the lies of Satan, Jesus stated: “If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32

So let us go forth to witness to all who come across our path with the love and truth of Christ, for life is short, eternity is a very long time, and we are not guaranteed tomorrow.

To God be the Glory
Board of Evangelism

“He was saying to them, “The harvest is abundant [for there are many who need to hear the good news about salvation], but the workers [those available to proclaim the message of salvation] are few. Therefore, [prayerfully] ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Luke 10:2 AMP

The Lord is calling each of us to report for duty to carry out The Great Commission. If you don’t think God can use you, just remember: “Eve was deceived * Adam went along * Noah was a drunk * Abraham was too old * Sarah laughed at God * Isaac was a daydreamer * Jacob was a liar * Joseph was abused * Moses stuttered * Gideon was afraid * Sampson was a womanizer * Rehab was a prostitute * Jeremiah was too young * David had an affair and was a murderer * Elijah was suicidal * Isaiah preached naked * Jonah ran from God * Job went bankrupt * John the Baptist ate bugs * Peter denied Christ * the Disciples fell asleep while praying * Martha worried about everything * the Samaritan woman was divorced * Zaccheus was too small * Paul persecuted the church * Timothy had an ulcer * and Lazarus was dead.” Carey Scott – CareyScott.org

“Jesus didn’t choose the most qualified, the most successful, or those who had it all together; rather, He chose those who made themselves available to Him. He didn’t choose ability; He chose availability. Our failures become our authority once we learn the lessons of the failure. Peter’s denial of Jesus ultimately led to him being the leader of the early church.” Os Hillman, todaygodisfirst.com

“Christ says ‘Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want YOU. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out.

Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: My own will shall become yours.’” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
So our Lord is not seeking golden or silver vessels, but vessels who will submit to the will of the Father. It is a life to so surrendered to Him that the name of the sovereign, living God of the universe will be glorified through our lives. But it requires that we die to self so we can live for Christ. We must become emptied of all else so we can be filled with the Holy Spirit, equipped by the Word and empowered to reach the world with His love and truth.

“This means no matter what age we are, young or old, we can live these days with great purpose and intention, for He has something in mind to accomplish in and through each of us in every season of our lives. It means life is never over. Never. We have stepped into the stream of eternal life where we live real life with Jesus from now on into forever in heaven.” Catherine Martin, The Calling

Our Lord wants to touch lives in and through each of us in the place where He has us living for the time that He has us on earth, until He takes us home to heaven. So let us reach out to those who come across our path with the love and truth of Christ, for time is short, eternity is a very long time, and we are not guaranteed tomorrow.

To God be the glory
Board of Evangelism

Healthy, Low-Cost Meals – Key Points

Christians know that we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, an incredible
fact that is humbling and convicting. So we need to nourish our bodies with
good food and exercise (the temple of the Holy Spirit) just as we nourish
our souls with the Word of God, prayer, and worship.

A workshop and food preparation demonstration on preparing healthy,
low-cost meals was taught in the Luther Building on September 6, 2023 by
Ms. Laura Anne Warren, Family and Consumer Science Agent, Pulaski County
Extension Office. Ms. Warren stated that we are often overfed and
undernourished, consuming a high number of calories with a low amount of
nutrition.

She provided tips for cooking healthy, delicious food, ways to reduce food
costs, and a source of simple, excellent recipes.

Christians know that we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, an incredible fact that is humbling and convicting. So we need to nourish our bodies with good food and exercise (the temple of the Holy Spirit) just as we nourish our souls with the Word of God, prayer, and worship.

A workshop and food preparation demonstration on preparing healthy, low-cost meals was taught on September 6, 2023 by Ms. Laura Anne Warren, Family and Consumer Science Agent, Pulaski County Extension Office, Little Rock AR. The following are some key points from the workshop:

Overall statement: We are often overfed and undernourished, consuming a high number of calories with a low amount of nutrition.

Tips to Reduce the Amount of Food We Consume:

· Eat more slowly – chew your food for a longer time before swallowing it. (Don’t just scarf it down)

· Retain our tongue – experience the world through our taste buds.

· Drink more water

· Exercise more – walking – routine physical activity is very important for our health

Tips for Cooking Healthy, Delicious Food

· Recipes with a limited number of ingredients can be delicious.

· Drain off and rinse fruits and vegetables out of cans.

· Read the labels, to see what the first five ingredients are, and look for lower sodium, reduced fat. We don’t want a lot of extra chemicals.

· Parmesan cheese has a lot better taste if you buy a chunk and shave it yourself (but it costs a little more).

· Walnuts are an excellent heart-healthy protein food

· Instead of sale, use cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, fresh Basel, mint, lemon juice, lime, or vinegar

· Healthy foods

o Make a wrap by wrapping the food in a lettuce leaf instead of a tortilla

o Choose whole grain tortillas and whole grain bread

o Avoid or reduce sugar consumption (SUGAR IS HARDER TO KICK THAN HEROIN)

Ways to Reduce Food Costs

· Fresh foods purchased in season are usually lower in cost

· Always make a list of what you need before going to a grocery store

· Don’t take your kids with you to the grocery store

· Have a little snack before you go to the grocery store

· Store brands are quality products but cost less than national name brands. (Often they are produced by the same food processor)

· Understand that “Use by date” signs on canned foods are for use by the company

o Canned foods usually last longer, sometimes much longer.

o If there is any swelling or leaks from the can, discard it. Same for bad smells, or significant off-color of the food

o Milk products are pasteurized, so the harmful bacteria are cooked out of it (you can drink chunky milk)

· Grocery stores use FIFO – first in, first out. So look at the dates to be used by for milk, greens, etc., and select the food item with the longest use date.

· Extend hamburger by substituting half of the required portion by using textured vegetable protein. (TVP is really dried tofu)

· Avoid these more expensive foods:

o Pre-cut vegetables

o Deli fruit trays

o Whole roasted chickens (are packed with sodium)

o Name brand food items

Check out MyPlate.gov for simple, excellent recipes
Do you remember the food pyramid? Meet MyPlate, the official symbol of the five food groups. The MyPlate.gov website has:

· Many easy, low-cost recipes

· Learn how to eat healthy

· MyPlate quiz

· Budget-friendly food ideas

· The MyPlate diagram to help plan healthy meals.