This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International with the Whyte House Daily Devotional Bible Reading Episode #86. Where I read three chapters of the Holy Bible in the King James Version a day with my family as a part of our family devotions, to encourage you to read the Holy Bible in a year’s time. We are using a modified version of the Five Day Bible Reading Plan. It is modified because we read the Bible everyday and not just five days a week. The benefit of using the Five Day Bible Reading Plan is: you can read the entire Bible in a chronological reading plan that helps the Bible make sense. Today we are reading Leviticus 27, Psalm 54 and Acts 12.

John Quincy Adams said, “I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one or two chapters every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity.”

Someone said, “Reading the Bible without meditating on it is like trying to eat without swallowing.”

Leviticus 27
1 And the Lord spake unto Mo’-ses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Is’-ra-el, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation.

3 And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty she’-kels of silver, after the she’-kel of the sanctuary.

4 And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty she’-kels.

5 And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty she’-kels, and for the female ten she’-kels.

6 And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five she’-kels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three she’-kels of silver.

7 And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen she’-kels, and for the female ten she’-kels.

8 But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.

9 And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord, all that any man giveth of such unto the Lord shall be holy.

10 He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.

11 And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the Lord, then he shall present the beast before the priest:

12 And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.

13 But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.

14 And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand.

15 And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.

16 And if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an ho’-mer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty she’-kels of silver.

17 If he sanctify his field from the year of ju’-bi-le, according to thy estimation it shall stand.

18 But if he sanctify his field after the ju’-bi-le, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the ju’-bi-le, and it shall be abated from thy estimation.

19 And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.

20 And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.

21 But the field, when it goeth out in the ju’-bi-le, shall be holy unto the Lord, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest’s.

22 And if a man sanctify unto the Lord a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession;

23 Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the ju’-bi-le: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the Lord.

24 In the year of the ju’-bi-le the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.

25 And all thy estimations shall be according to the she’-kel of the sanctuary: twenty ge’-rahs shall be the she’-kel.

26 Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the Lord’s firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the Lord’s.

27 And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.

28 Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord.

29 None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death.

30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.

31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.

32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.

33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

34 These are the commandments, which the Lord commanded Mo’-ses for the children of Is’-ra-el in mount Si’-nai.

Psalm 54
To the chief Musician on Ne-gi’-noth, Mas’-chil, A Psalm of Da’-vid, when the Ziph’-ims came and said to Saul, Doth not Da’-vid hide himself with us?
1 Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.

2 Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Se’-lah.

4 Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.

6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O Lord; for it is good.

7 For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.

Acts 12
1 Now about that time Her’-od the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.

2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Pe’-ter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)

4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

5 Pe’-ter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

6 And when Her’-od would have brought him forth, the same night Pe’-ter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Pe’-ter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.

10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

11 And when Pe’-ter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Her’-od, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

12 And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mar’-y the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.

13 And as Pe’-ter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rho-da.

14 And when she knew Pe’-ter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Pe’-ter stood before the gate.

15 And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.

16 But Pe’-ter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.

17 But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.

18 Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Pe’-ter.

19 And when Her’-od had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Ju-dae’-a to Cae-sa-re’-a, and there abode.

20 And Her’-od was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Si’-don: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blas’-tus the king’s chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king’s country.

21 And upon a set day Her’-od, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.

22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.

23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.

25 And Bar’-na-bas and Saul returned from Je-ru’-sa-lem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

________

PRAY
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When I was a teenager I wanted to get wisdom and knowledge, so I set out the read the big family Bible that many families had in those days. But I couldn’t get past Genesis 2 before I got bored with reading the Bible. I found out later in life that you have to believe on Christ and get saved before you can understand the Bible. So here is how I became a Christian and how you can too:

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 18:8: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now that is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.

Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your Salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please email me at [email protected] and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.

God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.

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DUBLIN – If there is a symbol of what happened to faith in Ireland, it might be the Church of the Annunciation just outside of Dublin. It’s one of the largest church buildings in all Ireland, and it’s about to be knocked down because so few people attend services. 

Ireland was once called “the most Catholic country in the world.” But it has gone from one of the world’s most outwardly religious nations to what some claim is one of the most secular.

For the Irish, “God Has Become Irrelevant”

Anyone in Ireland over age 50 can remember a nation where almost everyone went to church, but today live in a nation where in some areas, almost no one goes to church. 

The institutional Christian faith that dominated Ireland died with surprising speed. And today, as one leader put it, “for the Irish, God has become irrelevant.”

Rocked by sexual abuse scandals, the Catholic Church lost its spiritual authority for many Irish, who not only walked away from the church, but legalized same-sex marriage, abortion, and elected an openly gay prime minister. 

“It was very much a cultural religion,” says Pastor Nick Park, Executive Director of Evangelical Alliance Ireland https://www.evangelical.ie/. He says, “They were Catholic because they were Irish and the two were seen as synonymous.”

“We were very arrogant as a Church,” says Paddy Monaghan with Ireland’s Evangelical Catholic Initiative. “Sadly, it’s taken to two referendums that we fought, one on same-sex marriage one on abortion to bring home to the Catholic church in Ireland that we are now a minority church.”

With church buildings being abandoned and some Catholic seminaries almost empty, one writer declared that the battle for faith in Ireland has been “lost.”

But a new church is rising. 

The largest church in Ireland today is Romanian Pentecostal. The worshippers of Betania (Bethany) Church came to Ireland to find work. Many probably didn’t realize they were being sent to Ireland as missionaries. 

Praying and Fasting for Ireland

Betania Church is exploding. It’s building a new five and half-million-dollar facility on faith, one that will accommodate 1,500 worshippers. 

Betania Pastor Valerian Jurjea says, “We are praying for this country, we are fasting for this country and I think God has a plan with us to be a blessing for this country, and for more people to know God and to be saved in this country because God loves Ireland.

Betania Pastor Avram Hadarau added, “We realize God has a great plan, a bigger purpose for our lives: to deliver His message and His kingdom works for this country.” 

In fact, the second largest church in Ireland is also Romanian Pentecostal. 

Immigrant Churches Thriving in Ireland

Betania Pastor Jurjea remembers when nations like Ireland sent Bibles to communist Romania, and he says, “Those Bible are coming back now.”

African churches are also growing. In a little over 20 years the Nigerian Redeemed Christian Church of God has grown to more than 100 churches in Ireland with more than eight thousand members.

And surprisingly, even though most Irish have rejected the institutional church, Park says they still believe the core of the Gospel. 

Institutional Religion Declining, but Belief in God Remains

“Among Irish youth, I think it’s something like seventy percent of them said they really believe Jesus rose from the dead, they really believe in heaven and hell, they really believe that Jesus was the incarnate Son of God. So, you’ve still got these very high rates of belief.

“When we were choked by religion and institutionalism, there wasn’t much life,” said Pastor Sean Mularkey of St Marks Church in Dublin, “But now that we have those institutions crumbling, I think we’re in the land of opportunity.”

Monaghan says the Spirit is moving in some Catholic churches as well. 

“There’s a spiritual awakening happening in this country. Parish priests are really getting born again and filled with the Holy Spirit and getting a vision for what’s possible. There’s that spiritual heritage within this nation that I believe the enemy Satan wants to destroy but I believe is going to happen again.”

“We are seeing such an explosion of Christianity,” said Nick Park, who believes that Ireland, once a base for missions and is now a mission field, will return to its calling, “I believe the gifts and callings of God are without repentance, and Ireland still has a call to be a missionary sending nation and I believe Ireland will fulfill that role again.” 

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NASHVILLE (BP) — Pastor Marshal Ausberry uses a basketball analogy to describe the late missionary George Liele, whom the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee recognized Tuesday (Feb. 18) as worthy of inclusion on the official SBC calendar of events.

“If I use a basketball term, he was a triple threat, an evangelist, a missionary and church planter. All done under extremely difficult circumstances,” Ausberry has said. “If George Liele had a basketball jersey I think we would all be wearing it. He rightfully stands along with the missionary giants (Adonirum) Judson and (William) Carey.”

The EC voted to approve the first Sunday in February as the annual George Liele Church Planting, Evangelism and Missions Day. The addition names the International Mission Board as a resourcer and supporter of the annual observance, which would begin in 2021.

Ausberry leads the SBC National African American Fellowship of some 4,000 pastors, who in 2019 renamed their annual banquet after Liele, a former enslaved man whose earthly owners recognized his spiritual gifts. NAAF presented awards to Julia Frazier White and Deborah Van Broekhoven as co-authors of the 2013 book “George Liele’s Life and Legacy: An Unsung Hero.”

The 2020 George Liele/NAAF Mission Support Banquet is set for June 8 at 6:30 p.m. in Orlando in advance of the SBC annual meeting.

“In one sense, he was set free that he could set others free from the bondage and penalty of sin,” Ausberry, senior pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Fairfax Station, Va., told BP. “My hope is that all Southern Baptist churches will share about the life and mission work of George Liele to inspire current and future generations to spread the Gospel around the world. George Liele’s life shows that despite adverse circumstances God can still use us in a mighty way.”

Fred Luter, who served from 2012-14 as the first black president of the SBC, is an active NAAF member as senior pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans.

“On behalf of all the African-Americans who are part of the Southern Baptist Convention I would like to applaud the Executive Committee for approving to add George Liele Church Planting, Evangelism and Missions Day to the SBC calendar,” Luter told Baptist Press Wednesday (Feb. 19). “This recognition will introduce the entire SBC to a great missionary who had a tremendous role of spreading the Gospel to slaves who made a decision to be followers of Jesus Christ. George Liele’s missionary efforts affirmed the saying, ‘Red, yellow, black and white, we are all precious in HIS sight!’”

Robert Anderson, who made the motion at the 2019 SBC Annual Meeting in Birmingham to add the calendar date, also affirmed the EC vote.

Source: Baptist Press

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Over 100,000 people have been displaced and at least 700 have died in the majority-Christian country of Mozambique since 2017, as the spread of radical Islamic extremism in Africa is starting to plague the continent’s southeast region.

This month, the U.N.’s High Commission for Refugees said it is boosting its response in Mozambique’s northeastern Cabo Delgado province, an oil-rich coastal region on the Indian Ocean.

Although southeast Africa was once considered relatively peaceful compared to its counterparts in the north, there’s concern that the region is becoming a foothold for militants that appear to be aligned with the Islamic State.

The Institute for Security Studies, an Africa-based think tank, published a report last month stating that as many as 350 terror incidents have occurred in Mozambique since the local jihadi group Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jammah simultaneously attacked police and military bases in October 2017.

However, the UNHCR warns that the most recent weeks have proved to be the most “volatile period” as attacks are now spreading across most of Cabo Delgado’s 16 districts.

Cabo Delgado is one of the least developed regions in the country. According to UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic, hundreds of villages have been burned and abandoned because of the “indiscriminate campaign of terror.”

“Armed groups have been randomly targeting local villages and terrorizing the local population,” Mahecic said at a press briefing earlier this month in Geneva, Switzerland.  “Those fleeing speak of killings, maiming, and torture, burnt homes, destroyed crops and shops.”

Mahecic explained that there have also been reports of beheadings, kidnappings, and disappearances of women and children. Mahecic said the attackers, at times, warn locals when and where they will attack, causing a mad rush of residents to flee those areas.

As attacks are spreading southward across the province, the U.N. notes that many in the provincial capital of Pemba are starting to flee.

Bishop Luiz Fernando Lisboa of the Diocese of Pemba told the Catholic Charity Aid to the Church in Need that one attack in the region targeted an agricultural teacher training school in Bilibiza with over 500 students.

“The school was burned down, then [the attackers] smashed up other shops and businesses nearby,” the bishop said. “It is a sad fact that the military and security forces are unable to contain these attacks without international support. If the government had done something to improve conditions, then perhaps this problem would have been resolved, but instead many people are dying.”

Lisboa warned that as villages are being vacated entirely, no one is left to plant crops.

“That means that there will be hunger, and we will have thousands of internally displaced people,” he warned.

According to ISS consultant Peter Fabricius, the insurgency morphed into a terror campaign directed mainly at unarmed civilians after it began with attacks on the military bases.

Fabricius reported in January that the death toll when including security personal, insurgents and civilians stands at over 600 since 2017. However, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders told AFP that at least 700 have been killed.

Source: Christian Post

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A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Christian professor who sued his employer for forcing him use opposite sex pronouns when speaking to transgender-identifying persons.

The lawsuit, filed by Nicholas Meriwether against Shawnee State University, a small public university in southern Ohio, argued that the school had unjustly compelled him to speak things he did not believe.

SSU maintained that using such language was a part of his job description and, as such, the First Amendment does not apply to his contention, a conclusion which U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott, appointed by Bill Clinton, concurred.

“His speech — the manner by which he addressed a transgender student — was not protected under the First Amendment,” Dlott wrote, according to Cleveland.com.

Meriwether was represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian firm that frequently takes on religious liberty and other First Amendment cases.

“I encourage my students to express their political and religious views, and professors should have the same freedom,” Meriwether said in a statement sent out from ADF.

“But the University insisted that I endorse an ideology I do not believe is true. This is simply wrong. True tolerance must be a two-way street. Now the district court suggests that professors have no free speech rights, which should trouble us all. Public universities have no business compelling people to express ideological beliefs that they do not hold. But the court’s decision opens the door for them to shift from being a marketplace of ideas to an assembly line for one type of thought.”

ADF attorney Travis Barham said Monday that they are considering their options in light of the court’s dismissal.

“This is wrong,” Barham said in a statement.

“Public universities have no business compelling people to express ideological beliefs that they don’t hold.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Brandon Showalter

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