Tuesday, December 26, 2017
The Giant of the Flesh
Truth be told we all have a problem with walking the Christian walk. It is not easy for us because we are faced daily with the difficult decisions that surround us. The world is in our face constantly and the desires take over. We have open sexuality all around us. We can't even watch a moment of TV without it being flaunted in our face. We have the desire for wealth taunting us with the latest gadgets, vehicles, houses, and clothing. We see others living as they chose to live having a seemingly enjoyable life and we are sitting there struggling and wondering why. We see others in our churches doing the same thing and we wonder why is God allowing them to have such a great life here on earth while I am sitting here struggling so we cut back. We cut back on what we should be giving to God. We cut back on our time. We cut back on our service. We cut back on our worship and instead of getting better it only gets worse. Our churches are filled with people who are not there to seek God's face but to simply look good and it is creating a void in the world. Our kids are walking away from the church and we are not doing anything about it and we must ask ourselves why it is happening. If we do not generate a desire for God in our own lives then we cannot expect others to do the same. The giant of indifference has all but destroyed our churches and the lives of believers today. The problem begins with us as individual believers because we have forgotten that the Christian walk is not simply going to church but a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
We wrap ourselves up in busyness so as to limit the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I know this to be true because I am just as guilty as everyone else. We have a form of godliness as Paul states in 2 Timothy 3:5 but we deny the power thereof. We think we can be friends with the world. You know just keep that little side sin and everything will be alright but we are denying the power of the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us. We forget that we can't serve two masters because we will eventually come to hate the one while serving the other. The question then becomes what are YOU going to do about it? All we really have to do is to consider what we really want. God tells us His thoughts on the subject in the book of Revelations, chapter 3 verse 16: So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth (KJV). In other words because you are lukewarm I will vomit you out of my mouth. This is the same thing that Peter was facing when he wrote 2nd Peter and he gives a very simple guide to keep it from happening.
As I began to read this book of Peter for the umpteenth time the first thing that struck me was Peter's opening. You see in the past I was simply reading it. I wasn't looking for anything to really affect me because I wasn't wanting to be changed by God's word, but this time I was looking for and expecting God to speak to me. To open my eyes to what was really going on in my heart and life. So as I began reading I am thinking of the Peter of the gospels. The rough and tough burly fisherman who had a habit of putting his foot in his mouth but that wasn't who I saw this time. This time I saw a man who was humbled. A man who despite his position considered himself a servant, not only to God but to his flock. Immediately Romans 12:3 came to mind; ....not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. I realized then how much Peter had changed over the years and in doing so his authority became so much more apparent in his writing. He doesn't mince words after his greeting because he had the sense of urgency that time was short. Not only because this is written shortly before his death but because the influences of the world were infiltrating the early church much in the same way it has gotten into ours today. He begins speaking truth. Not simply in hate of the sin but for the love of the sinner.
As I got to verse 3 I saw a giant being destroyed. The giant of disability was completely dismantled before my eyes. The excuses that are so readily given were completely torn down in that verse. "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:" When we recognize that it is only by Him and thru Him that we are anything at all then we see ourselves as what we truly are; nothing. You see He did not save us because we possessed some great gift that He couldn't do without. He saved us because He loved us. We are His creation. Everything that we have and need comes from Him. Oh, we might have worked for a paycheck but it is because of Him that we have the ability to work. The other thing is that all that we need to live a life that honors Him is provided to us. The true knowledge of Him acknowledges that we do not merit His gifts or favor on our own or by anything that we might do. It is only thru Him who has provided us with a life to live influenced thru Jesus Christ and when we fail to do so it is because we are unwilling to surrender our will to Him. He gives us these gifts not so we can puff ourselves up to look good to our neighbors but so that He might be seen thru us. Look at verse 4: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." However In order to escape the corruption we must do something. Just like if we expect to receive a paycheck we must complete a task, if we expect to be able to live a life that honors and glorifies God we must work at it. That is the giant that is defeating us today. The giant of laziness. We don't want to have to work at it. The problem is that there is also another giant at work against us and that is the giant of indifference.
I think that I am going to end this here. There is much more to go over but we can do it another day.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Growing up
Every once in a while we take a walk down memory lane. For some of us it might be good memories while others might have bad ones that they recall. For me although I know there were bad times it is the good memories I remember because it is those ones that shaped me into the person I am today.
Most of my childhood was spent on a farm off of 422 in New Castle PA across the road from the boyscout camp and Slippery Rock Creek and while we did live on 40 acres it wasn't enough land to keep us occupied for long. In a time where you only got 3 channels on television our imaginations were fueled by books and stories, as well as 'The Wonderful World of Disney' which aired every Sunday evening after 'Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.'
If we had no work to do we soon were transposed into cowboys and Indians or pirates on a quest for gold. We were sultans in Arabia or soldiers in some distant war. There was no hiding out in the house even if it was raining outside because we had a 2 story barn with a hayloft that provided all the shelter from the rain that we needed. However in many cases we were outside playing in the rain anyways. Very seldom was there any boredom around our home. Friends would often come to spend the night during the summer and never go home until school was about to start.
As I close my eyes I can still the sweet aroma of the hay in the loft. The sounds of the horses below gently moving about in their stalls or the smell of the leaves after a rain in the tree houses we built in oak trees through out the property and when the wind is blowing in the right direction the smell of Slippery Rock Creek would make its way to our house through an open window. Its smell would beckon you to make the trek to its banks, like the smell of freshly baked bread would call you to the kitchen from across the yard.
Some nights the call would be too strong to deny so me and my brothers would make our way downstairs and out the back door flash lights in hand and begin scouring the yard for the evasive night crawlers we would need as bait for the trip. Our fishing poles were always ready to go down in the basement with the tackle boxes lying nearby. After an hour of searching we would have the desired amount of bait and off we would go with poles and lanterns in hand snaking our way through the trees and bushes along the path that would lead us to the edge of the 30 foot drop off that led down to the rivers banks.
Once there the noise of the river was as loud as subway cars running through the streets of New York or some other great city. Darkness covered the path. The great trees insured that little moonlight could get through as if they dared anything to make the trip and yet we would. As we would start down one hill we eagerly looked for the splotch of moonlight that we knew would light the way to the next trail along side of this dangerous pathway, often times grabbing each others hands to insure that no one was lost. Rocks and tree stumps formed imaginative creatures and any wrong step we were sure that we would be eaten or mauled to death by these creatures yet the desire to finish our quest always kept us pushing forward over rocks and trees. Soon the noise would be so loud that you could not even hear each other talk. The aroma was one that can not be described except by those who were drawn to it.
Upon reaching the bottoms we still had a ways to go to get to that sweet fishing spot that we had claimed as our own. We imagined that few knew where it was and while it could have been true it probably was not. This part of the trek required crossing several small streams which would flow down off the hill. It required sure footing as you climbed up large rocks that sloped down towards the rapids below which appeared to awaiting their next victim. Their swirling waters glistening in the moonlight as if calling you into their grasp. As we neared the calm area of the river we would begin looking for spots to return to among these massive rock outcroppings knowing that many would hold the ultimate treasure, fish. From these areas we could let our baited hooks flow into the unreachable areas of the river that held our query. They would be there captivated by the food sources that were carried down river by the currents and the moonlight which was allowed to peek through this area would reveal the bait as the sun points the way to a shiny penny left laying on the ground.
Finally we would arrive at our destination. Long branches reached out over the water dimming the shore line. The muddy banks seemingly appeared to attempt to convince you that they were actually water instead of land. Several large flat rocks loomed out of the water as if massive sea creatures. We would light our lanterns bait our hooks and begin the conquest of our queries, the mighty catfish that filled Slippery Rock Creek and as the moonlight would dance across the waters we would imagine being on some great fishing vessel, miles from shore. Few words would be shared except when a fish would be caught but then again few words were ever really needed between us. We were brothers, bonded at birth and nothing could ever come between that bond. Not even the mighty Slippery Rock Creek who had claimed hundreds of lives and would one day try to claim one of us, but that is for another time because for now we were the kings of the river and some time before the sun would rise we would make that long hazardous trip back up the hill with a stringer full of fish.
Most of my childhood was spent on a farm off of 422 in New Castle PA across the road from the boyscout camp and Slippery Rock Creek and while we did live on 40 acres it wasn't enough land to keep us occupied for long. In a time where you only got 3 channels on television our imaginations were fueled by books and stories, as well as 'The Wonderful World of Disney' which aired every Sunday evening after 'Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.'
If we had no work to do we soon were transposed into cowboys and Indians or pirates on a quest for gold. We were sultans in Arabia or soldiers in some distant war. There was no hiding out in the house even if it was raining outside because we had a 2 story barn with a hayloft that provided all the shelter from the rain that we needed. However in many cases we were outside playing in the rain anyways. Very seldom was there any boredom around our home. Friends would often come to spend the night during the summer and never go home until school was about to start.
As I close my eyes I can still the sweet aroma of the hay in the loft. The sounds of the horses below gently moving about in their stalls or the smell of the leaves after a rain in the tree houses we built in oak trees through out the property and when the wind is blowing in the right direction the smell of Slippery Rock Creek would make its way to our house through an open window. Its smell would beckon you to make the trek to its banks, like the smell of freshly baked bread would call you to the kitchen from across the yard.
Some nights the call would be too strong to deny so me and my brothers would make our way downstairs and out the back door flash lights in hand and begin scouring the yard for the evasive night crawlers we would need as bait for the trip. Our fishing poles were always ready to go down in the basement with the tackle boxes lying nearby. After an hour of searching we would have the desired amount of bait and off we would go with poles and lanterns in hand snaking our way through the trees and bushes along the path that would lead us to the edge of the 30 foot drop off that led down to the rivers banks.
Once there the noise of the river was as loud as subway cars running through the streets of New York or some other great city. Darkness covered the path. The great trees insured that little moonlight could get through as if they dared anything to make the trip and yet we would. As we would start down one hill we eagerly looked for the splotch of moonlight that we knew would light the way to the next trail along side of this dangerous pathway, often times grabbing each others hands to insure that no one was lost. Rocks and tree stumps formed imaginative creatures and any wrong step we were sure that we would be eaten or mauled to death by these creatures yet the desire to finish our quest always kept us pushing forward over rocks and trees. Soon the noise would be so loud that you could not even hear each other talk. The aroma was one that can not be described except by those who were drawn to it.
Upon reaching the bottoms we still had a ways to go to get to that sweet fishing spot that we had claimed as our own. We imagined that few knew where it was and while it could have been true it probably was not. This part of the trek required crossing several small streams which would flow down off the hill. It required sure footing as you climbed up large rocks that sloped down towards the rapids below which appeared to awaiting their next victim. Their swirling waters glistening in the moonlight as if calling you into their grasp. As we neared the calm area of the river we would begin looking for spots to return to among these massive rock outcroppings knowing that many would hold the ultimate treasure, fish. From these areas we could let our baited hooks flow into the unreachable areas of the river that held our query. They would be there captivated by the food sources that were carried down river by the currents and the moonlight which was allowed to peek through this area would reveal the bait as the sun points the way to a shiny penny left laying on the ground.
Finally we would arrive at our destination. Long branches reached out over the water dimming the shore line. The muddy banks seemingly appeared to attempt to convince you that they were actually water instead of land. Several large flat rocks loomed out of the water as if massive sea creatures. We would light our lanterns bait our hooks and begin the conquest of our queries, the mighty catfish that filled Slippery Rock Creek and as the moonlight would dance across the waters we would imagine being on some great fishing vessel, miles from shore. Few words would be shared except when a fish would be caught but then again few words were ever really needed between us. We were brothers, bonded at birth and nothing could ever come between that bond. Not even the mighty Slippery Rock Creek who had claimed hundreds of lives and would one day try to claim one of us, but that is for another time because for now we were the kings of the river and some time before the sun would rise we would make that long hazardous trip back up the hill with a stringer full of fish.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Separation Between God and Man
The following is part of a discussion between myself and a fifteen year old boy. This started a few days ago over the subject of Obama and worked into a discussion regarding slavery. While this insert has nothing to do with slavery it is laying the basis for punishment of sin. Until we recognize the gravity of sin it is hard to accept the punishment for it, so here is the installment that was recently sent. I might come back later with more of the conversation.
Ok, I am going to take a step back as we are beginning to attempt to cover too many subjects at once and while I will answer each of them I think we first need to start at the very beginning as it is the only way to understand what God has done, is doing, and what He intends to do in the future. In order to understand this, there must be an understanding of the thing that separates us from God.
From the very beginning man was created to have close personal relationship with God. This was not the relationship that we now have but one in which God’s presence was visible and audible. We know that by the words recorded by Moses that no man could look upon God and live, while on Mount Sinai God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock so that he could see His glory after He had passed. Later the children of Israel were afraid to even look at Moses because he shone from the countenance of God. Now let’s go back to the relationship with God; because it is what we have to look forward to in the future. At this time in the garden there was no sin. Man was still in his perfect state which is why he could enjoy that relationship with God, however once Satan deceived man and man sinned there was a separation between God and man. The relationship that he enjoyed with God was no more because God cannot be in the presence of sin.
At this time God could have destroyed His creation right then and there but His love for His creation kept Him from doing so; instead He allowed man to make their own choice as whether to glorify Him or not but because all of the angels who rebelled against God with Satan were present on the earth that by the time of Noah mans thoughts were completely evil. You see God’s standards are so far above our standards that looking at a woman to lust after her, or to fantasize about her is the same as actually committing the act of adultery; to tell one lie is to be a liar, and to take something that does not belong to you makes you a thief. The problem was during this time is that the thoughts of man became their actions. They did these things with out hiding the deeds. They committed adultery in the broad daylight, they killed without being accountable for their deeds, they committed acts against children and no body saw anything wrong with their actions. However God was still loving and did not want to just wipe them off the face of the earth so He gave them another 120 years to repent of their sins. All they had to do was to turn from their actions and turn towards God. All the evidence they needed for the judgment to come was Noah building the ark during this period. He told them it was going to rain but because it had never rained previous to this point, no one believed that it would. He told them God was going to judge them for their actions, but because they had not been judged previously, no one believed him. They had committed these same heinous acts for all these years and there had not been any repercussions before because God’s love suffered long. He could not bring Himself to destroy His handiwork because He loved them beyond our own comprehension. In fact when someone wrongs us we can’t wait to get back at them and yet here was His creation, destroying each other. Then as the rain began to fall they suddenly began to realize that perhaps what Noah had been saying was true but their opportunity had passed because God had already shut the door of the ark. They were not repentant towards their acts but the fact that they were going to have to face the punishment for their acts. Up until this point they were not concerned about the judgment to come because they had continued with the same things that they were doing up until the time that the judgment actually came.
This judgment from God was just. Not just because they deserved the punishment but because they denied that He had any control over them, they refused to recognize Him as God and because their sins were so gross that they no longer resembled the creation that they once were. The thing that really makes you wonder is how bad it must have been if seeing the condition of mans heart today, He has not yet determined to return yet. This very act against His creation grieved Him so much that He made a promise to never destroy the earth in this manner again and yet man’s relationship with Him quickly slipped into another great low. By this time however the most wicked of the fallen angels were bound so as not to be able to sway the hearts of man in such a manner, yet man did not need their help to sway their hearts against Him. All they needed was a little push. Just a little nudge in the area of pride to get them to think themselves above God and attempt to build a tower that would reach into the heavens so that the gods would come down to worship with them.
Through out this entire period God continued to make His presence known and yet they denied Him in both word and deed and yet His love was such that He could not exact judgment upon them in the manner that He had done before. He therefore decided to set Himself apart a people who would be called by His name that would honor and glorify His name that other nations might look at them and recognize that they were the children of the most high God and would repent of their sins and turn to Him.
Now from the flood forward we saw a continuance of sin. Sin will never stop on the earth until Christ sets up His kingdom but God cannot allow it to get as bad as it had done prior to the flood, yet His love for us is such that He will not destroy as He did with the flood. It is that love that generates punishment towards people that hopefully results in repentance, however if repentance does not come then a stricter punishment or possibly death might come upon them. Sodom and Gomorrah is an example of God’s longsuffering and love for as long as Lot chose to live in the city God had His hand upon them in order that they might repent of their sins and turn towards Him. A neighboring king attacked them and took the people as slaves. Abraham went at God’s request and rescued them, yet the people would not repent, finally God determined to destroy the cities and Abraham pleaded for God to consider not doing so if he could find 50 righteous people and then it was 20 and so on until it was obvious that the only righteous people was Lot. The example of the hearts of Sodom and Gomorrah was when God sent His angels to lead Lot and his family out of the city and the men of the city came to literally attempt to drag these angels out into the streets that they might know them in a sexual sense.
The city of Nineveh is an example of a city that faced the same ending as Sodom and Gomorrah. The people of Nineveh were hated by the Israelites because of their wickedness and when God called Jonah to go to the city to preach, he ran from God. I am sure you have heard the story of Jonah before. The ending of course is what is important because when the entire city repented and turned to God the city was spared from destruction much to Jonahs dismay. He felt that it was unfair to that they were allowed to escape certain judgment. This example of God’s love is extended to us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
The problem is that we have made the word sin seem as if it is really no big deal. We downplay the seriousness of it because we don’t want to feel as if we are so bad. We don’t want to think that the acts that we commit against others are worthy of any type of punishment. The problem is that our actions directly affect others and encourages them to go even further that we had gone. This is obvious from one generation to another, with each one pushing the boundaries even further away from God. The land that God gave to Abraham was the land of Canaan, and from the time that he first stepped foot on the land until the time that the children of Israel actually took over the land these people had the opportunity to turn to God yet never did. Even after everything that they saw God doing for His people in Egypt and after their departure from Egypt. You might ask why would God want to destroy a whole group of people and the answer is that when a people becomes so evil that their acts possibly run the risk of affecting others that it becomes urgent to God to eliminate that evil that others might turn to Him. The people of Canaan had gone so far that they would sacrifice their own children to their false gods and since God loved them so much that He could not exact judgment upon them without providing enough time for them to repent, other people groups had begun doing the same thing.
Today almost every people group who had deteriorated to the point of human sacrifice has either been subdued or eliminated so that God could continue to be longsuffering toward us because of His love for us. Europeans, Asians, Africans, The Mayans, The Incas, The Aztecs, certain tribes of the American Indians, and on and on it goes. The question then becomes does He now see abortion as human sacrifice to the god of pleasure or selfishness and do we then run the risk of His judgment upon us because of the sheer numbers that have been aborted? You see sin is not just a three letter word but it is enmity between us and God. It is a gross act against the One that gave us life, against the One who loved us enough that He was willing to take on the form of man and to sacrifice Himself on the cross that we might be covered in His blood to be seen as righteous before God. You see sin requires a blood sacrifice because nothing shows sacrifice as much as blood. Without the shedding of blood repentance does not carry the same weight because you are basically saying that I am sorry about what I did but I am not willing to turn from it. Think about it for a moment. When animal sacrifice was introduced for repentance of sins, what was required? If a person only had to take an animal in for sacrifice, what we he take? Most of us would do what we do today. Provide the least that we can. We would take the weakest and poorest excuse for an animal to offer as a sacrifice and leave the best for ourselves; therefore God requested that it would be the first born without spot or blemish. It was to be the best of the best because that is what true sacrifice is. The best of the best because anything less says that He is just not that important to us and when we give Him the leftovers and keep the best for ourselves we are saying the exact same thing. When we focus our energies on the things that we want instead of what He wants we are telling Him that it doesn’t matter that you have loved us enough to be patient with us nor does it matter that you created us, what matters is that I am happy doing the things I want to do in the manner in which I want to do them. You see until we actually can see sin as exceedingly sinful then we do not see the need for judgment for sin, nor do we see the need for a Savior.
Consider for a moment that you are arrested and taken before the judge and the judge says that you owe fines over $100,000 dollars. Of course your response is that that is ridiculous. You have never done anything that would cause you to even get a ticket. (Pretend you have your driver’s license) The judge says to you as a matter of fact you did and begins to explain that on your way to school they had a special handicap area that had 10 mile an hour speed zones and your car was filmed going 35 through each one of those ten zones to which the total cost of the fines totaled the $100,000 dollars and if you did not pay it in full you would have to go to jail. Suddenly you remember that day of the handicap conference and you realize that yes you were guilty and you admit to the judge that you are guilty but you don’t have that kind of money. You ask for leniency because you have never been in trouble before. He tells you that taking that into consideration he still must enforce the law because of the injuries that could have incurred if there had been an accident. As you stand there dreading the outcome you plead one more time crying out “I learned my lesson judge it will never happen again,” but the judge calmly ask you if you have the money to pay the fine and when you reply no, he orders the bailiff to take you into custody when some stranger walks in and tells the judge that he will pay the fine for you. This is how it is with God’s judgment. It doesn’t matter if you think it is right or not because He loves you and because He loves you He must be just, not only with you but with everyone and because He is just His sentencing is just and we are deserving the penalty. Yet because of His love He provided the ultimate payment for the penalty in the form of Jesus Christ and while we might not deserve it, He still died for us, He still shed His blood for us that we might not have to pay the penalty ourselves because that would require total separation from our Creator. The one who has waited patiently for us to turn to Him, the one who had loving persevered while we blatantly and willfully sinned against Him, who could have taken our lives at any moment but allowed us to live in the hopes that we would recognize Him for who He is, that we would finally understand that regardless of all the good that we had done, we still needed a Savior and just like the human judge cannot let someone who has broken the law go free because He is a good judge neither can a Holy God allow us to go free, without a penalty being paid.
When asked what the greatest commandment was Jesus answered, “To love God with all your heart, soul and spirit and the second is like unto it, to love your neighbor as your self. Upon these two commandments hang all of the law and the prophets.” When we refuse to obey these two then we are open to whatever thoughts that may go through our heads. When we refuse to love God with all we have we take no consideration of His love for us or others and this is what causes man to act the way that he does towards others. This lack of love for Him is what causes people to rape, murder, and steal. It is what causes people to commit terrible acts against children. It is what is responsible for all the atrocities that have happened throughout history and until we can admit to it and acknowledge it there is no way that we can understand the things that He has written in His word because as He tells us they are foolishness to those who do not believe.
You see I don’t have all the answers for you. Only He does and while I may be responding to your questions it is only through Him that you can truly receive the truth. I really appreciate all that you are doing right now because it drives me to find the explanations for you and pushes me into His Word even more, so right now you are being His instrument to draw me even closer to Him. He will use it later with others that might have the same questions. I pray that this has helped you in some way and that through it you might come to recognize that, that which separates us from God carries a punishment that must be exacted and that His love for us keeps Him from exacting that punishment immediately in hopes that we might repent and turn to Him.
I will send you some research regarding your questions about slavery in the bible. I found many things that I did not realize at first but after rereading many of the scriptures I saw it in a different light, but please be prepared because they are quite intense and very long, not that this is short. Anyways I hope that you have had a great weekend and wish you an even better week.
Stephen
PS: More on the other points later.
Ok, I am going to take a step back as we are beginning to attempt to cover too many subjects at once and while I will answer each of them I think we first need to start at the very beginning as it is the only way to understand what God has done, is doing, and what He intends to do in the future. In order to understand this, there must be an understanding of the thing that separates us from God.
From the very beginning man was created to have close personal relationship with God. This was not the relationship that we now have but one in which God’s presence was visible and audible. We know that by the words recorded by Moses that no man could look upon God and live, while on Mount Sinai God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock so that he could see His glory after He had passed. Later the children of Israel were afraid to even look at Moses because he shone from the countenance of God. Now let’s go back to the relationship with God; because it is what we have to look forward to in the future. At this time in the garden there was no sin. Man was still in his perfect state which is why he could enjoy that relationship with God, however once Satan deceived man and man sinned there was a separation between God and man. The relationship that he enjoyed with God was no more because God cannot be in the presence of sin.
At this time God could have destroyed His creation right then and there but His love for His creation kept Him from doing so; instead He allowed man to make their own choice as whether to glorify Him or not but because all of the angels who rebelled against God with Satan were present on the earth that by the time of Noah mans thoughts were completely evil. You see God’s standards are so far above our standards that looking at a woman to lust after her, or to fantasize about her is the same as actually committing the act of adultery; to tell one lie is to be a liar, and to take something that does not belong to you makes you a thief. The problem was during this time is that the thoughts of man became their actions. They did these things with out hiding the deeds. They committed adultery in the broad daylight, they killed without being accountable for their deeds, they committed acts against children and no body saw anything wrong with their actions. However God was still loving and did not want to just wipe them off the face of the earth so He gave them another 120 years to repent of their sins. All they had to do was to turn from their actions and turn towards God. All the evidence they needed for the judgment to come was Noah building the ark during this period. He told them it was going to rain but because it had never rained previous to this point, no one believed that it would. He told them God was going to judge them for their actions, but because they had not been judged previously, no one believed him. They had committed these same heinous acts for all these years and there had not been any repercussions before because God’s love suffered long. He could not bring Himself to destroy His handiwork because He loved them beyond our own comprehension. In fact when someone wrongs us we can’t wait to get back at them and yet here was His creation, destroying each other. Then as the rain began to fall they suddenly began to realize that perhaps what Noah had been saying was true but their opportunity had passed because God had already shut the door of the ark. They were not repentant towards their acts but the fact that they were going to have to face the punishment for their acts. Up until this point they were not concerned about the judgment to come because they had continued with the same things that they were doing up until the time that the judgment actually came.
This judgment from God was just. Not just because they deserved the punishment but because they denied that He had any control over them, they refused to recognize Him as God and because their sins were so gross that they no longer resembled the creation that they once were. The thing that really makes you wonder is how bad it must have been if seeing the condition of mans heart today, He has not yet determined to return yet. This very act against His creation grieved Him so much that He made a promise to never destroy the earth in this manner again and yet man’s relationship with Him quickly slipped into another great low. By this time however the most wicked of the fallen angels were bound so as not to be able to sway the hearts of man in such a manner, yet man did not need their help to sway their hearts against Him. All they needed was a little push. Just a little nudge in the area of pride to get them to think themselves above God and attempt to build a tower that would reach into the heavens so that the gods would come down to worship with them.
Through out this entire period God continued to make His presence known and yet they denied Him in both word and deed and yet His love was such that He could not exact judgment upon them in the manner that He had done before. He therefore decided to set Himself apart a people who would be called by His name that would honor and glorify His name that other nations might look at them and recognize that they were the children of the most high God and would repent of their sins and turn to Him.
Now from the flood forward we saw a continuance of sin. Sin will never stop on the earth until Christ sets up His kingdom but God cannot allow it to get as bad as it had done prior to the flood, yet His love for us is such that He will not destroy as He did with the flood. It is that love that generates punishment towards people that hopefully results in repentance, however if repentance does not come then a stricter punishment or possibly death might come upon them. Sodom and Gomorrah is an example of God’s longsuffering and love for as long as Lot chose to live in the city God had His hand upon them in order that they might repent of their sins and turn towards Him. A neighboring king attacked them and took the people as slaves. Abraham went at God’s request and rescued them, yet the people would not repent, finally God determined to destroy the cities and Abraham pleaded for God to consider not doing so if he could find 50 righteous people and then it was 20 and so on until it was obvious that the only righteous people was Lot. The example of the hearts of Sodom and Gomorrah was when God sent His angels to lead Lot and his family out of the city and the men of the city came to literally attempt to drag these angels out into the streets that they might know them in a sexual sense.
The city of Nineveh is an example of a city that faced the same ending as Sodom and Gomorrah. The people of Nineveh were hated by the Israelites because of their wickedness and when God called Jonah to go to the city to preach, he ran from God. I am sure you have heard the story of Jonah before. The ending of course is what is important because when the entire city repented and turned to God the city was spared from destruction much to Jonahs dismay. He felt that it was unfair to that they were allowed to escape certain judgment. This example of God’s love is extended to us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
The problem is that we have made the word sin seem as if it is really no big deal. We downplay the seriousness of it because we don’t want to feel as if we are so bad. We don’t want to think that the acts that we commit against others are worthy of any type of punishment. The problem is that our actions directly affect others and encourages them to go even further that we had gone. This is obvious from one generation to another, with each one pushing the boundaries even further away from God. The land that God gave to Abraham was the land of Canaan, and from the time that he first stepped foot on the land until the time that the children of Israel actually took over the land these people had the opportunity to turn to God yet never did. Even after everything that they saw God doing for His people in Egypt and after their departure from Egypt. You might ask why would God want to destroy a whole group of people and the answer is that when a people becomes so evil that their acts possibly run the risk of affecting others that it becomes urgent to God to eliminate that evil that others might turn to Him. The people of Canaan had gone so far that they would sacrifice their own children to their false gods and since God loved them so much that He could not exact judgment upon them without providing enough time for them to repent, other people groups had begun doing the same thing.
Today almost every people group who had deteriorated to the point of human sacrifice has either been subdued or eliminated so that God could continue to be longsuffering toward us because of His love for us. Europeans, Asians, Africans, The Mayans, The Incas, The Aztecs, certain tribes of the American Indians, and on and on it goes. The question then becomes does He now see abortion as human sacrifice to the god of pleasure or selfishness and do we then run the risk of His judgment upon us because of the sheer numbers that have been aborted? You see sin is not just a three letter word but it is enmity between us and God. It is a gross act against the One that gave us life, against the One who loved us enough that He was willing to take on the form of man and to sacrifice Himself on the cross that we might be covered in His blood to be seen as righteous before God. You see sin requires a blood sacrifice because nothing shows sacrifice as much as blood. Without the shedding of blood repentance does not carry the same weight because you are basically saying that I am sorry about what I did but I am not willing to turn from it. Think about it for a moment. When animal sacrifice was introduced for repentance of sins, what was required? If a person only had to take an animal in for sacrifice, what we he take? Most of us would do what we do today. Provide the least that we can. We would take the weakest and poorest excuse for an animal to offer as a sacrifice and leave the best for ourselves; therefore God requested that it would be the first born without spot or blemish. It was to be the best of the best because that is what true sacrifice is. The best of the best because anything less says that He is just not that important to us and when we give Him the leftovers and keep the best for ourselves we are saying the exact same thing. When we focus our energies on the things that we want instead of what He wants we are telling Him that it doesn’t matter that you have loved us enough to be patient with us nor does it matter that you created us, what matters is that I am happy doing the things I want to do in the manner in which I want to do them. You see until we actually can see sin as exceedingly sinful then we do not see the need for judgment for sin, nor do we see the need for a Savior.
Consider for a moment that you are arrested and taken before the judge and the judge says that you owe fines over $100,000 dollars. Of course your response is that that is ridiculous. You have never done anything that would cause you to even get a ticket. (Pretend you have your driver’s license) The judge says to you as a matter of fact you did and begins to explain that on your way to school they had a special handicap area that had 10 mile an hour speed zones and your car was filmed going 35 through each one of those ten zones to which the total cost of the fines totaled the $100,000 dollars and if you did not pay it in full you would have to go to jail. Suddenly you remember that day of the handicap conference and you realize that yes you were guilty and you admit to the judge that you are guilty but you don’t have that kind of money. You ask for leniency because you have never been in trouble before. He tells you that taking that into consideration he still must enforce the law because of the injuries that could have incurred if there had been an accident. As you stand there dreading the outcome you plead one more time crying out “I learned my lesson judge it will never happen again,” but the judge calmly ask you if you have the money to pay the fine and when you reply no, he orders the bailiff to take you into custody when some stranger walks in and tells the judge that he will pay the fine for you. This is how it is with God’s judgment. It doesn’t matter if you think it is right or not because He loves you and because He loves you He must be just, not only with you but with everyone and because He is just His sentencing is just and we are deserving the penalty. Yet because of His love He provided the ultimate payment for the penalty in the form of Jesus Christ and while we might not deserve it, He still died for us, He still shed His blood for us that we might not have to pay the penalty ourselves because that would require total separation from our Creator. The one who has waited patiently for us to turn to Him, the one who had loving persevered while we blatantly and willfully sinned against Him, who could have taken our lives at any moment but allowed us to live in the hopes that we would recognize Him for who He is, that we would finally understand that regardless of all the good that we had done, we still needed a Savior and just like the human judge cannot let someone who has broken the law go free because He is a good judge neither can a Holy God allow us to go free, without a penalty being paid.
When asked what the greatest commandment was Jesus answered, “To love God with all your heart, soul and spirit and the second is like unto it, to love your neighbor as your self. Upon these two commandments hang all of the law and the prophets.” When we refuse to obey these two then we are open to whatever thoughts that may go through our heads. When we refuse to love God with all we have we take no consideration of His love for us or others and this is what causes man to act the way that he does towards others. This lack of love for Him is what causes people to rape, murder, and steal. It is what causes people to commit terrible acts against children. It is what is responsible for all the atrocities that have happened throughout history and until we can admit to it and acknowledge it there is no way that we can understand the things that He has written in His word because as He tells us they are foolishness to those who do not believe.
You see I don’t have all the answers for you. Only He does and while I may be responding to your questions it is only through Him that you can truly receive the truth. I really appreciate all that you are doing right now because it drives me to find the explanations for you and pushes me into His Word even more, so right now you are being His instrument to draw me even closer to Him. He will use it later with others that might have the same questions. I pray that this has helped you in some way and that through it you might come to recognize that, that which separates us from God carries a punishment that must be exacted and that His love for us keeps Him from exacting that punishment immediately in hopes that we might repent and turn to Him.
I will send you some research regarding your questions about slavery in the bible. I found many things that I did not realize at first but after rereading many of the scriptures I saw it in a different light, but please be prepared because they are quite intense and very long, not that this is short. Anyways I hope that you have had a great weekend and wish you an even better week.
Stephen
PS: More on the other points later.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Failing the Test
I have been having a discussion with a young man whom I have developed an enormous amount of respect for. At 15 he is more mature than most of us on here and has brought several points to light where we have failed the test. You see Jesus said, "By this men shall know that you are my disciples, that you love one another." This enormous test epitomizes the true believer. Yet we deny the very essence of this command. Oh' we have no problem loving those who are lovable but everybody can do that and what profit is there if you only love those who love you, as Jesus pointed out, even the world does this. We claim to love our family, yet many of us spend more time away from them at work than we do with them and then we wonder why we can't communicate with our children. We claim to love those who go to church with us, yet many of us have never been to their houses nor have they been to ours. We claim to love our neighbor but we reserve that love only for those of the same nationality as we are. No, the truth is we have failed the test. As we have walked down the street we have crossed over to the other side so that we couldn't see the man lying in the ditch. We have done this so we wouldn't have to feel guilty for not helping him. Jesus got down on His knees to wash His disciples feet yet many of us won't even shake hands with certain people. We walk around as the Pharisee wearing our cloak of righteousness and then wonder why we don't have revival in our churches. The test was not seeing how many bodies they could get into the church, the test was how their love affected those coming to Christ. Jesus didn't ignore the prostitute caught in the act, He forgave her. He didn't turn away the adulterous women, He gave her living water. He didn't condemn the ten lepers, He healed them even though only one would return to give thanks. He didn't congregate with the wealthy, He ate with the sinners. He didn't give us what we deserved, He spread His arms and allowed them to nail Him to the cross. Oh, many of us would have refused to go to the cross after all they aren't appreciative. Their not going to use the gift the way we think they should. Oh, they'll just run and hide as soon as it all begins. These people don't deserve the sacrifice I am willing to give, it just ain't worth it but He remained. He shed His blood! He endured separation from the Father so we wouldn't have to and all He asked was for our obedience and we can't even do that, and we consider others to be ungrateful. We look at where they come from and judge them based upon that and leave them hanging at the edge of the cliff ready to plummet into hell while we sit back and claim that if they really wanted to change they could get out of their situation, after all, I pulled myself up by the bootstraps. I worked hard for what I have and I am not sharing it with anybody. We pat ourselves on the back for having a food pantry but once we hand out the food we don't go see those we have served. We brag about our rebuilding of houses in disaster areas but ignore the neighbors house that is falling down around them. We interact with people at church but the rest of the week we dread Sunday because we might have to talk to them and hear their problems. We shut our parents up in nursing homes so we can have a life without worrying about them. Yes we have failed the test because if that is the way people know that we are His then there aren't many of His disciples in the world today. I am ashamed! I am ashamed at the way that we have blasphemed His name among the Nations and the way that we have treated people. I am ashamed that we don't have people on the streets every night attempting to reach out to a lost and dying world and I include myself in that shame. I am ashamed that we refuse to reach into our pockets ourselves and rely on the church to take from the tithes and offerings which was meant for the spread of the gospel and not the meeting of the needs of others. I am ashamed that we have 15 year old kids who cannot see the love of God being reflected in the faces of those who are supposed to be called by His name. It is no wonder people can't see the truth in the word of God, it is because we have aided in blinding them. We walk around all pious looking as if we just got done sucking on a lemon and wonder why people don't want to be like us. We make disparaging remarks against the man that God put into the white house and wonder why we are under attack by others when David repented for cutting a section off of the robe of God's annointed. Paul tells us that not even the angels speak against those who God has put into power, yet we are bent on bad mouthing them to the detriment of the gospel and wonder why we can't reach these people. We failed the test! We fail the test because instead of putting our trust in God we put it in our 401K or our jobs and investments. We tell people they should be content with what they have but we are busy gathering up all we can and then wonder how people could get into financial difficulties. We refuse to pay an honest wage for an honest days work yet we want top dollar for our products. We overcharge those who go to church with us because after all they are paying for the privilege of hiring a Christian. Many of us have betrayed Christ for a lot less than thirty pieces of silver and the result has been countless souls lost. We have failed the test but if He hasn't already cut you off of the vine there is still time to begin to produce fruit. There is still time to repent and be obedient to His commands but it is going to take complete surrender to Him because if you aren't willing to give all you are simply taking up space on the vine. Consider the fig tree that produced no fruit for three years. The owner commanded that it be cut down but the servant requested another year. He said he would dig around it and ferilize it and then after the year if it didn't produce fruit he would concede on having it dug up. Are you in that final year of being fruitless? The evidence is condemning against many of us and I pray that we will turn to Him. We have enough of these pointless blogs being posted preaching a prosperity gospel that is from the pits of hell because all we are promised is that if the world hated Him, it will hate us. He told Paul that He would show him the things he must endure for His names sake. What are you willing to endure?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The Wrong Side of the River
The Wrong Side of the River
Recently during our Sunday evening service Pastor was reviewing the message from the morning service, which he had not been able to finish due to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The message had began in Joshua chapter one but was tied in to many other passages concerning the children of Israel. As confirmation regarding where God has had me, he used this to show how we, the believers are compared with the children of Israel; in fact Peter uses the same terminology that Moses used when he calls us a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, and a special people. Paul speaks of us being grafted in to the vine, but if He did not spare the natural vine, how much more will He not spare us. As you read both Old and New Testaments you can see the harmony between the two and see the behavior of Christians today in the actions of the children of Israel; and that is what we see as Joshua is preparing to cross the river Jordan and enter into the promise land.
In Numbers chapter 32, we see;
Num 32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;
Num 32:2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,
Num 32:3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
Num 32:4 Even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle:
Num 32:5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.
John speaks of this in I John;
1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
We today are doing the same thing. We have the promise but we are not willing to cross over the Jordan because we have great possessions and the land where we are is good for those possessions. We might have truly placed our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ but the moment we reach the river Jordan we refuse to cross over to serve Him. As you look further on in chapter 32 of Numbers you will see the arrangement they made with Moses. They would send their men at arms over the Jordan to help subdue the land if they could but build cities and sheepfolds for their families and their livestock.
I want you to think about this for a while. In order to justify our disobedience to Him, in spreading the gospel we willingly give our tithes and offerings to missionaries and ministries, but when times get rough those are the first things we stop giving to. After all we need to worry about our own families on this side of the river and as long as we have peace on this side of the river, as long as we have success on this side of the river we are content but when things start to get rough, when neighboring kingdoms begin to invade, when famine begins to hit, we call our men at arms home to help. Oh, we might go down to the edge of the river but we will not cross over because we might get our feet wet or muddy. You see we were there when the priest began to carry the ark across and God began to push back the waters. We saw the wall begin to get higher as the ground began to dry. We saw our brothers and sisters begin to walk across on dry land but it wasn’t enough to cause us to follow because the land on this side was good for our own purposes and we continue to do the same thing today. Oh, we receive some blessings but we never achieve the richness of His blessings because we refuse to cross the river. We refuse to sacrifice our own wants and desires required to receive the full inheritance that awaits us and therefore the ones who we send across the river to help, receive our blessings, they receive the rewards that God had intended for us and thereby we will stand before Him empty-handed, achieving the promise by the skin of our teeth only. John tells us of those who receive the inheritance, saving their lives only. He tells of the tears that will be shed for a thousand years because of the lack of service to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and the countless numbers of lives that were lost because we refused to cross the Jordan.
I am reminded of the movie “The Mummy” in 1999 with Brendan Fraser. During one of the scenes the boat that they are on catches fire during a battle. There are two groups attempting to reach the destination of a dig, as the boat starts to sink both groups jump into the river and swim for safety. We see them both reach land when one hollers out, “O’Connell, it looks like we have all the horses.” O’Connell replies, “Benny, it looks like you’re on the wrong side of the river.” Benny looks around and realizes that they are on the wrong side. We have all of our possessions, we go to church every Sunday and we holler out, it looks like we got all the horses, to a lost and dying world, thinking that if they could just be like us, then they wouldn’t have the problems they have, but Jesus his calling back, your on the wrong side of the river, to be in complete obedience to me you have to leave everything over there and cross over in order to receive the full inheritance I have in store for you.
He never promised them that it would be easy, in fact He told Paul that He would show him all that he must suffer for His name sake, but his inheritance would come not here but when he reached his final destination, when he would see Him in heaven, the true promise land. The difficulty is not found in the task but in the completion of the task. There was just as good of pasture on the other side of the Jordan but it was what might await them there that kept them from crossing. They had already won some battles over here, they had already defeated some of their enemies and those who they had not done battle with had known what happened to those who they had defeated but those on the other side probably did not know nor would they give in without a battle and they might just lose what possessions they already had, so the thought was why risk it? The early church experienced the same thing, just as we do today and the one thing that has plagued us has been the infiltration of the enemy and our unwillingness to remove him from the church because after all it sounds good. It is enough to just send our men at arms while we stay here where the battles have already been fought and then as Samson watched as the Israelites went into the city of Gaza without any judgment falling upon them we watch as the world slowly moves into our churches and sets up housekeeping and before you know it we are walking into their gates without being noticed because they have seen our kind before. Oh, and by the way did you know that so and so goes to church on Sundays? Then before you know it the power is gone and the enemy has your eyes put out and you spend the rest of your life going around in circles amusing the crowd until one day He returns and exacts His judgments upon the earth.
It is true that those who crossed over eventually disobeyed God and He allowed them to fall into captivity; it is true that many of the early churches disobeyed and allowed false teachers to spread their deceits without hindrance and it is true that many once strong churches have all but lost their power, it is equally true that God will exact His judgment upon all, judging us by His standards and not ours.
“It looks like we got all the horses.” “It looks like you’re on the wrong side of the river” Ask yourself, which are you hollering?
Recently during our Sunday evening service Pastor was reviewing the message from the morning service, which he had not been able to finish due to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The message had began in Joshua chapter one but was tied in to many other passages concerning the children of Israel. As confirmation regarding where God has had me, he used this to show how we, the believers are compared with the children of Israel; in fact Peter uses the same terminology that Moses used when he calls us a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, and a special people. Paul speaks of us being grafted in to the vine, but if He did not spare the natural vine, how much more will He not spare us. As you read both Old and New Testaments you can see the harmony between the two and see the behavior of Christians today in the actions of the children of Israel; and that is what we see as Joshua is preparing to cross the river Jordan and enter into the promise land.
In Numbers chapter 32, we see;
Num 32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;
Num 32:2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,
Num 32:3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
Num 32:4 Even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle:
Num 32:5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.
John speaks of this in I John;
1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
We today are doing the same thing. We have the promise but we are not willing to cross over the Jordan because we have great possessions and the land where we are is good for those possessions. We might have truly placed our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ but the moment we reach the river Jordan we refuse to cross over to serve Him. As you look further on in chapter 32 of Numbers you will see the arrangement they made with Moses. They would send their men at arms over the Jordan to help subdue the land if they could but build cities and sheepfolds for their families and their livestock.
I want you to think about this for a while. In order to justify our disobedience to Him, in spreading the gospel we willingly give our tithes and offerings to missionaries and ministries, but when times get rough those are the first things we stop giving to. After all we need to worry about our own families on this side of the river and as long as we have peace on this side of the river, as long as we have success on this side of the river we are content but when things start to get rough, when neighboring kingdoms begin to invade, when famine begins to hit, we call our men at arms home to help. Oh, we might go down to the edge of the river but we will not cross over because we might get our feet wet or muddy. You see we were there when the priest began to carry the ark across and God began to push back the waters. We saw the wall begin to get higher as the ground began to dry. We saw our brothers and sisters begin to walk across on dry land but it wasn’t enough to cause us to follow because the land on this side was good for our own purposes and we continue to do the same thing today. Oh, we receive some blessings but we never achieve the richness of His blessings because we refuse to cross the river. We refuse to sacrifice our own wants and desires required to receive the full inheritance that awaits us and therefore the ones who we send across the river to help, receive our blessings, they receive the rewards that God had intended for us and thereby we will stand before Him empty-handed, achieving the promise by the skin of our teeth only. John tells us of those who receive the inheritance, saving their lives only. He tells of the tears that will be shed for a thousand years because of the lack of service to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and the countless numbers of lives that were lost because we refused to cross the Jordan.
I am reminded of the movie “The Mummy” in 1999 with Brendan Fraser. During one of the scenes the boat that they are on catches fire during a battle. There are two groups attempting to reach the destination of a dig, as the boat starts to sink both groups jump into the river and swim for safety. We see them both reach land when one hollers out, “O’Connell, it looks like we have all the horses.” O’Connell replies, “Benny, it looks like you’re on the wrong side of the river.” Benny looks around and realizes that they are on the wrong side. We have all of our possessions, we go to church every Sunday and we holler out, it looks like we got all the horses, to a lost and dying world, thinking that if they could just be like us, then they wouldn’t have the problems they have, but Jesus his calling back, your on the wrong side of the river, to be in complete obedience to me you have to leave everything over there and cross over in order to receive the full inheritance I have in store for you.
He never promised them that it would be easy, in fact He told Paul that He would show him all that he must suffer for His name sake, but his inheritance would come not here but when he reached his final destination, when he would see Him in heaven, the true promise land. The difficulty is not found in the task but in the completion of the task. There was just as good of pasture on the other side of the Jordan but it was what might await them there that kept them from crossing. They had already won some battles over here, they had already defeated some of their enemies and those who they had not done battle with had known what happened to those who they had defeated but those on the other side probably did not know nor would they give in without a battle and they might just lose what possessions they already had, so the thought was why risk it? The early church experienced the same thing, just as we do today and the one thing that has plagued us has been the infiltration of the enemy and our unwillingness to remove him from the church because after all it sounds good. It is enough to just send our men at arms while we stay here where the battles have already been fought and then as Samson watched as the Israelites went into the city of Gaza without any judgment falling upon them we watch as the world slowly moves into our churches and sets up housekeeping and before you know it we are walking into their gates without being noticed because they have seen our kind before. Oh, and by the way did you know that so and so goes to church on Sundays? Then before you know it the power is gone and the enemy has your eyes put out and you spend the rest of your life going around in circles amusing the crowd until one day He returns and exacts His judgments upon the earth.
It is true that those who crossed over eventually disobeyed God and He allowed them to fall into captivity; it is true that many of the early churches disobeyed and allowed false teachers to spread their deceits without hindrance and it is true that many once strong churches have all but lost their power, it is equally true that God will exact His judgment upon all, judging us by His standards and not ours.
“It looks like we got all the horses.” “It looks like you’re on the wrong side of the river” Ask yourself, which are you hollering?
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The Sky is Falling
Every since Christ was raised again people have looked for His glorious return and while others believe that wait to be in vain those who have their trust placed firmly in Him know that nothing is in vain when done for the glory of God. You see even He told us that the angels know not the hour or the day that He will return. The message is to be always ready, always prepared that it could be today. The other side is that many have used the fact that He has not returned yet as claim that He will not return or the He was not who He claimed to be in the first place and that brings us to the manner in which we live our lives. If our lives do not reflect Him then how can those who come after us believe or see the truth. The day in which He returns will remove all influence of Him from the earth and all that will remain are those who have denied Him and the influence that we had on them. I do not believe that it will be impossible for people to come to Christ during this period because we are assured that those who come to Christ during this time will be called Tribulation Saints, but it is not to assure you that there is time for you then because the more that you deny Christ now the easier it will be to be deceived during that period.
You see it was because of this always being ready that the early church so eagerly spread the word. It is why they received the name the Way because their lives reflected Christ and showed that there was another Way, the Only Way and all others were merely false. There was no longer a need for blood sacrifice because His blood covered it all. There was no longer a need for a high Priest because He is the High Priest who sits on the right hand of the Father. We all con go into the Holiest of Holy's because He tore down the wall that separated us from the presence of the Father. There needs not be any other intercessor for us because He is the only intercessor for us. Muhammad can not lead us to Him, Buddha can not lead us to Him, our good works can not get us there, Mary can not lead us to Him, only Jesus Christ can lead us to Him and that requires one thing from us and that is sacrifice on our behalf. It is sacrificing ourselves for Him. It is relying on Him and not our selves that He desires. You see every day that He does not return brings us one day closer to His return and that time should be spent for Him and in assuring that others hear about Him and see His work through us. If all we leave behind are dusty Bibles and a life that did not reflect Him, who are those who were left behind believe?
You see it was because of this always being ready that the early church so eagerly spread the word. It is why they received the name the Way because their lives reflected Christ and showed that there was another Way, the Only Way and all others were merely false. There was no longer a need for blood sacrifice because His blood covered it all. There was no longer a need for a high Priest because He is the High Priest who sits on the right hand of the Father. We all con go into the Holiest of Holy's because He tore down the wall that separated us from the presence of the Father. There needs not be any other intercessor for us because He is the only intercessor for us. Muhammad can not lead us to Him, Buddha can not lead us to Him, our good works can not get us there, Mary can not lead us to Him, only Jesus Christ can lead us to Him and that requires one thing from us and that is sacrifice on our behalf. It is sacrificing ourselves for Him. It is relying on Him and not our selves that He desires. You see every day that He does not return brings us one day closer to His return and that time should be spent for Him and in assuring that others hear about Him and see His work through us. If all we leave behind are dusty Bibles and a life that did not reflect Him, who are those who were left behind believe?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
A Christian in Name Only
Over the past several weeks I have been working on a family tree, which has been extremely fun and yet at the same time difficult. You see I have been married three times and while it was not my decision to do so it was my choice, which I will explain later. The other difficulty is that the wonderful man who raised me and provided my last name is not my biological father, he adopted my brother and I after he married our mother. So not only do I have children from 3 lines that I must research I also am researching my biological and adoptive lines and the lines of my current wife and her children's parental line. In doing so however both on her side and my two older children's maternal side I have been able to take their line back, in some cases 106 generations simply because of who their ancestors were.
The one thing that I have always rejected even while running away from God was that we came from the Catholic Church and yes I know that the organized Protestant Church was separated from the Catholic Church but as the body of Christ we did not come from any organized religious establishment. Many of us may have been truly born again but just as many have not been and are merely a Christian in name only, much in the same way that we are categorized with all the acts that have been attributed to the title of Christian through out history and this is how I have come to write this. In reading many of the historical documents that have been preserved regarding history and the ancestors of my wife and children I have seen the gradual transition from the teachings of Christ and that of the infiltrated organized church. Pliny the younger wrote of the difference in the Christians that were in his territory and requested aid in knowing how to handle them. His account was one of admiration because of the difference in them from others. We saw the same difference in the book of Acts because Luke recorded that they not only turned the world upside down but the new believers had a good report from ALL men, even from those of pagan beliefs. This was not because they were self serving but because they were serving Christ using the example that He provided and not one of mans own devices. Even as the Catholic Church grew and expanded these first believers had already gone before them and many of the countries that early Catholic priest went into were not totally barbaric or of pagan belief because when the early believers were scattered they preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ where ever they went. Thia has been recorded by their accounts often time known as Chronicles.
Paul nor any of the original Apostles taught anything but Christ and Him crucified and rose again and yet we claim homage to the Catholic Church who from the beginning paid much homage to Mary, who was nothing more than the vessel chosen to bear the Savior. Jesus did not put her on a pedestal, for we read when she and His brothers were hoping to speak to Him that He said, pointing to the crowd, these are my mother and my brothers, anyone one that is willing to do the work of the Father is my family. I am paraphrasing here simply to make a point that the title Christian is not just in name but must be in heart and spirit. Further more He said that anyone not willing to forsake all is not worthy of Me. That sounds more like a total commitment then the Christianity that we claim today.
The disciples did not use their teaching to dismantle governments nor to create riots in the cities nor did Paul use it to destroy the Roman Empire while awaiting trial and the persecution that he knew would eventually come. When Jesus said that He came to bring the sword it was not the sword that everyone thinks of but the very words that the Father intended for Him to speak because those words are what divides people. Those are the words that cut to the heart and convict man of their deeds against a Just and Holy God who while not willing that any should perish can not be in the presence of sin. His words were the sword used to defeat the temptations of Satan in the wilderness during His fasting before beginning His ministry. They are the words that have caused many dissensions through out history because man can not bear to be convicted of his sins. It has been mans design at the instigation of Satan to cause the terrible deeds of the Crusades and other wars in the name of Christianity because the result was not one that pleased God or furthered His kingdom. The results were that false religion were able to prosper and man himself was lifted up. You see they were Christian in name alone and just as my adopted name does not make me blood to the family line calling yourself a Christian does not make you part of the family of Jesus Christ and just as my actions did not always bring honor to my adopted name neither do our actions bring glory to God when we refuse to surrender all to His Son and do the will of the Father. You see it was my will that caused the failure of two marriages and it is my will that still gets in the way of Him working. We are always looking for Him to move when it is us who have to move. We must get out of the way that He might be able to perform in us and when we do that the result is as it was in the early church and that is when true persecution comes because others are convicted by your life not just your name. We are not Baptist or Catholic or Church of God or Methodist or any of the other organized religions we are the Body of Christ. Jesus said that by this men shall know that ye are my disciples and that is if you love one another as I have loved you. The name Christian means nothing and that is why it has been destroyed, because the actions have not reflected Him nor has they glorified the Father.
There is not other way to heaven but by Him. It is not through our church affiliation nor by the name or title we bear, it is through Jesus Christ and Him alone. It is only through our repentance and turning away from sins and towards the perfect sacrifice whose blood was shed upon that tree that we can truly call ourselves by His name and the reason that that is so difficult for so many of us is that we know that it requires sacrifice on our part. Dr Tony Evans preached an awesome message the other day on the radio, which moved me in a tremendous way because it was confirmation of what was being laid on my heart. It not only mentioned what I am saying in a different way but it went further to say that just because we have possessions does not mean that we are being blessed by God especially when they keep us from a relationship with Him. You see the early church did not just meet once a week, they met daily in each others house, breaking bread or fellowshipping, today we would look at that as an invasion of privacy, we would see it as other people getting into our stuff because we have our hidden stash in our house. We have our secret sin closet where we keep all the things that prevent us from serving Jesus Christ in our house and we don't want others to see it because they just might judge us or is it that they might realize that we are not as pious as they think we are? We enjoy walking around in our fine robes as the Pharisee's did and with the solemn look of the early Quakers so people would know that we are serious about God and all the while it is merely a facade so they can not see the truth that lies in our hearts that the only reason we took the name of a Christian is because it presents us with some prestige. In the past it looked good on a resume to be able to put that you were a deacon or an elder in the church. Today it doesn't bring as much recognition unless you are running for political office and that is only so you can gain the votes of Evangelicals in your precinct. No, today we are more worried about what the neighbors might think or that our parents might leave us out of the will or that we simply need to go to build up our brownie points with God so He will look at us favorably. Actually, there is no reason for us to go to church anymore because no one looks at us any differently anymore and that is why the church buildings are empty unless the people there are actually moving themselves out of the way so that God can work through them and the thing is that they are growing and God is blessing because it is not about them, it is about Jesus. They are not just a large church. Oh they may still have a few sour apples but you can spot them by their faces. They are not Christian in name but part of the body doing the work that God had prepared for them to do. They are not perfect, just willing to allow God to use them. They are willing to pour themselves out and allow Him to fill them up. The question becomes will you pour yourself out and allow Him to fill you up or will continue in name only hoping that it will be enough?
The one thing that I have always rejected even while running away from God was that we came from the Catholic Church and yes I know that the organized Protestant Church was separated from the Catholic Church but as the body of Christ we did not come from any organized religious establishment. Many of us may have been truly born again but just as many have not been and are merely a Christian in name only, much in the same way that we are categorized with all the acts that have been attributed to the title of Christian through out history and this is how I have come to write this. In reading many of the historical documents that have been preserved regarding history and the ancestors of my wife and children I have seen the gradual transition from the teachings of Christ and that of the infiltrated organized church. Pliny the younger wrote of the difference in the Christians that were in his territory and requested aid in knowing how to handle them. His account was one of admiration because of the difference in them from others. We saw the same difference in the book of Acts because Luke recorded that they not only turned the world upside down but the new believers had a good report from ALL men, even from those of pagan beliefs. This was not because they were self serving but because they were serving Christ using the example that He provided and not one of mans own devices. Even as the Catholic Church grew and expanded these first believers had already gone before them and many of the countries that early Catholic priest went into were not totally barbaric or of pagan belief because when the early believers were scattered they preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ where ever they went. Thia has been recorded by their accounts often time known as Chronicles.
Paul nor any of the original Apostles taught anything but Christ and Him crucified and rose again and yet we claim homage to the Catholic Church who from the beginning paid much homage to Mary, who was nothing more than the vessel chosen to bear the Savior. Jesus did not put her on a pedestal, for we read when she and His brothers were hoping to speak to Him that He said, pointing to the crowd, these are my mother and my brothers, anyone one that is willing to do the work of the Father is my family. I am paraphrasing here simply to make a point that the title Christian is not just in name but must be in heart and spirit. Further more He said that anyone not willing to forsake all is not worthy of Me. That sounds more like a total commitment then the Christianity that we claim today.
The disciples did not use their teaching to dismantle governments nor to create riots in the cities nor did Paul use it to destroy the Roman Empire while awaiting trial and the persecution that he knew would eventually come. When Jesus said that He came to bring the sword it was not the sword that everyone thinks of but the very words that the Father intended for Him to speak because those words are what divides people. Those are the words that cut to the heart and convict man of their deeds against a Just and Holy God who while not willing that any should perish can not be in the presence of sin. His words were the sword used to defeat the temptations of Satan in the wilderness during His fasting before beginning His ministry. They are the words that have caused many dissensions through out history because man can not bear to be convicted of his sins. It has been mans design at the instigation of Satan to cause the terrible deeds of the Crusades and other wars in the name of Christianity because the result was not one that pleased God or furthered His kingdom. The results were that false religion were able to prosper and man himself was lifted up. You see they were Christian in name alone and just as my adopted name does not make me blood to the family line calling yourself a Christian does not make you part of the family of Jesus Christ and just as my actions did not always bring honor to my adopted name neither do our actions bring glory to God when we refuse to surrender all to His Son and do the will of the Father. You see it was my will that caused the failure of two marriages and it is my will that still gets in the way of Him working. We are always looking for Him to move when it is us who have to move. We must get out of the way that He might be able to perform in us and when we do that the result is as it was in the early church and that is when true persecution comes because others are convicted by your life not just your name. We are not Baptist or Catholic or Church of God or Methodist or any of the other organized religions we are the Body of Christ. Jesus said that by this men shall know that ye are my disciples and that is if you love one another as I have loved you. The name Christian means nothing and that is why it has been destroyed, because the actions have not reflected Him nor has they glorified the Father.
There is not other way to heaven but by Him. It is not through our church affiliation nor by the name or title we bear, it is through Jesus Christ and Him alone. It is only through our repentance and turning away from sins and towards the perfect sacrifice whose blood was shed upon that tree that we can truly call ourselves by His name and the reason that that is so difficult for so many of us is that we know that it requires sacrifice on our part. Dr Tony Evans preached an awesome message the other day on the radio, which moved me in a tremendous way because it was confirmation of what was being laid on my heart. It not only mentioned what I am saying in a different way but it went further to say that just because we have possessions does not mean that we are being blessed by God especially when they keep us from a relationship with Him. You see the early church did not just meet once a week, they met daily in each others house, breaking bread or fellowshipping, today we would look at that as an invasion of privacy, we would see it as other people getting into our stuff because we have our hidden stash in our house. We have our secret sin closet where we keep all the things that prevent us from serving Jesus Christ in our house and we don't want others to see it because they just might judge us or is it that they might realize that we are not as pious as they think we are? We enjoy walking around in our fine robes as the Pharisee's did and with the solemn look of the early Quakers so people would know that we are serious about God and all the while it is merely a facade so they can not see the truth that lies in our hearts that the only reason we took the name of a Christian is because it presents us with some prestige. In the past it looked good on a resume to be able to put that you were a deacon or an elder in the church. Today it doesn't bring as much recognition unless you are running for political office and that is only so you can gain the votes of Evangelicals in your precinct. No, today we are more worried about what the neighbors might think or that our parents might leave us out of the will or that we simply need to go to build up our brownie points with God so He will look at us favorably. Actually, there is no reason for us to go to church anymore because no one looks at us any differently anymore and that is why the church buildings are empty unless the people there are actually moving themselves out of the way so that God can work through them and the thing is that they are growing and God is blessing because it is not about them, it is about Jesus. They are not just a large church. Oh they may still have a few sour apples but you can spot them by their faces. They are not Christian in name but part of the body doing the work that God had prepared for them to do. They are not perfect, just willing to allow God to use them. They are willing to pour themselves out and allow Him to fill them up. The question becomes will you pour yourself out and allow Him to fill you up or will continue in name only hoping that it will be enough?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
