We have hit the first 1,000 hit mark - God is good!

We recently had a question on the WFC Website.  Is it right for a Christian to go to a Pow Wow?

The answer - it all depends.  It depends on the individual and the reasons he/she goes to the Pow Wow.  If the person has recently become a Christian and they have been personally involved in a "drum" or dancing and if it had been a spiritual experience for them (such as having a shaman sponsor them), and being involved in spiritual preparation for the Pow Wow, then it would be best to stay away from Pow Wows for awhile, until they are a strong "Warrior for Christ".

If the Christian has not been involved in the dance circle and feels drawn to share his new faith in Christ, and if he is in prayer, and asks other to be praying for him for strength and protection, then we would suggest it is a great idea to reach out with Christ's love.  (WFC has a Gospel tract just for the traditional Indian - "The Four Seasons".)

NOTE:  Some Pow Wows are more social than spiritual. For example, Lakota drums vs. Navajo - or non-word songs for intertribal Pow Wows.  Some songs tell of a historical event, war, social or spiritual, or a combination.

Please let us know what you think on this subject!  Give us your comments by going to our website (www.warriorsforchristonline.org) and using the "Contact Us" page.

Walking a New Path
(Part 3 from Lesson 1: Basic Discipleship Course)

Romans 3:23: "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God".

SIN is a hunting term meaning you missed the target.  When we sign, and (which we all do), we miss doing what God wants us to do - be Righteous and Holy.

• We have to totally keep the "Law" - Our Father-Creator's law (the 10 Commandments - Exodus 20:1-17) says we should not ever lie about others, kill, steal even a little from others, wan to take what others have, and honor our father and mother.  If we break even one law, it is like breaking all the laws.  Our Holy God requires us to keep all the laws, all the time.
• Basketball - Could you make 5 out of 10 baskets?  How about 10 out of 10?  Could you make 10 out of 10 baskets if the basketball hoop was on a four-story building?  Impossible, right?  So it is with the Law.  It is impossible to keep.  The standard is too high.
• Good Works - We can't please the Creator on our own by trying to do "good things".  We can try very hard to be good, say many prayers, help people, take pain (like the sun dance), cleanse ourselves spiritually by the sweat lodge.  Even our man-made laws and traditions we don't keep all the time.  How much more impossible it is to keep God's Law and keep on the Creator's true path.

This comes to a very important question we need to ask - can we get to heaven by being good?

2.  The Judgment We Deserve

Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

• Death - Our physical body may die, but our spirit will continue to exist.  The question is, where will your spirit go?  "Death" means that our spirit will not be with our Creator, separated from Him - we call this "hell".
• Father-Creator = Perfect Justice and Perfect Love - But here's a problem.  How can a righteous God be with sinful mankind (you and me)?  Our Creator wants to walk with us (fellowship), to be our friend because He loves us.  But because our sin, we have broken that friendship.  We have all chosen to "do our own thing", go our own path, not His.  Yet He still loves us.  Out of His love He found a way to have perfect love and perfect justice.
  
  You might ask, "Dean, if I did something really bad, like lied to my dad about something important, what would he do?"  He would spank you.  But what would you think if someone else offered to take the punishment for you?  If this person asked your father if he could take the punishment you deserved, would that show you how much he loved you?  That is what Jesus did for us.  He took the punishment for all the bad things that we have done (sins).  Now we have to decide if you are going to accept the offer.  You could say to him, "No, I deserve the punishment" and go home and take it yourself.  Or you could accept his offer and have him take the punishment for you.  Jesus is just waiting for us to accept his offer and have him take upon himself your punishment that you deserved.

In the autumn of 1832, four Indian chiefs representing the Flathead and Nez Perce tribes arrived in St. Louis, Missouri.  They had come on a long journey of more than 3,000 miles from their home in the Oregon Country because a white man had witnessed to their tribes about a "Book from Heaven" that told of the one true God.  The tribes had held a council fire and chose these four men to go East and find the Book.
 
The Indians came to see the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, famous explorer William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  He told them what he knew about the Bible, and then he took them on a tour of St. Louis, thinking that this would impress them.  But the Indians only wanted "the Book" and a preacher to explain it.  Before long, two of the Indians died of an illness to which they had no natural immunity.  When the time came for the two remaining Indians to return home, General Clark honored them with an elaborate banquet, where one of the Indians stood and said:
 
"My people sent me to get the white man's Book from Heaven.  You took me where you allow your women to dance, as we do not ours, and the Book was not there.  You took me where they worship the Great Spirit with Candles, and the Book was not there.  You showed me the images of good spirits and pictures of the good land beyond, but the Book was not among them.
 
"I am going back the long, sad trail to my people of the dark land.  You make my feet heavy with burdens of gifts, and my moccasins will grow old in carrying them, but the Book is not among them.  When I tell my poor blind people, after one more snow, in the big council, that I do not bring the Book, no word will be spoken by our old men or our young braves.  One by one they will rise up and go out in silence.
 
"My people will die in darkness, and they will go on the long path to the other hunting grounds.  No white man will go with them and no white man's Book, to make the way plain.  I have no more words."
 
Just as in other accounts around the world, the Lord had prepared the hearts of the American Indians to hear the "Good News" of Jesus.  Unfortunately, the way the Lord was presented to them - the things that were done in the name of Christianity prevented so many from hearing the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

• For the families of the victims of the September 11^th tragedy.
• For our President and the nation - that the Lord will give us wisdom and grace.
• That American Indians across the nation will be open to the Gospel.
• That WFC will have a greater financial base.
• For those that have posted prayer requests on the website.

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain".

1 Corinthians 15:57-58