We welcome the stories of your lives that will help and inspire other men in the body of Christ!
Supplements
By Dr. Michael A. Halleen
"I pray that . . . (God) may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being." (Ephesians 3:16)
The fitness center in which I work out several times a week has pictures on the wall of club members who have won prizes in regional bodybuilding contests. One of them is of a fierce looking man who often has his workout at the same time of day - early morning - as I do. He has a shaved head, long mustache and eyes that bore holes through the air. His time in the gym is alone time - Mr. Bodybuilder never speaks to anyone or even acknowledges that others of us are in the gym. The picture on the wall of his finely chiseled body in full flex pose, wearing the championship belt of the Masters Division (age 50 and above), is a reminder of who the alpha male is in this neck of the woods.
One holiday morning the club attendant was late arriving. Several of us sat in our cars, listening to radios, waiting for the doors to open. Mr. Bodybuilder drove up in a canary-yellow convertible and started pacing up and down on the strip mall sidewalk. After a five-minute wait, he strode back to his car and said the only words I've ever heard him speak: "I can't wait! I've got supplements to take!"
The only supplements I take are jam on toast and cream in coffee. But apparently there are additives available that do more than stimulate the palate. Some seem to help one look like a Michelangelo statue. What if there were also supplements available to help improve one's attitude? A friendship pill, a good-cheer capsule, or a relax-and-smile tablet might help some I know. Some need persistence supplements, others could use a self-worth additive. Many would benefit from salting their breakfast with determination and a positive spirit.
What was impressive about Mr. Bodybuilder's commitment was his discipline. His supplements were taken at a certain time, with determined regularity. Nothing was going to prevent that from happening. The benefit of similar discipline in prayer . . . in study . . . in serving those in need . . . in worship . . . in building relationships within one's family-who can tell what kind of championship awaits the one who faithfully develops the inner being?
So when I saw another man on an exercise bike in the gym reading a Bible the other morning, I strode back to my car thinking, "I've got supplements to take!"
@July 22, 2010
Why The ‘Wilderness’?
By Andrew Strom.
The 'wilderness' is not a concept that is understood too well in Christendom, despite the fact that it is all the way through the Bible. From the book of Genesis right through Revelation there are clear references to the 'wilderness' as being something God often employs in His dealings with men. The pattern is undeniable.
When we look through the Scriptures we see that the wilderness is often a place of spiritual "crisis" and also preparation. It is the place God sends us before the "real action" begins - before we enter into the full purposes of God in our lives. There must be 'death' before there can be resurrection. There must be a desert place before the "promised land".
The wilderness is a place of trial and testing, of brokenness and full surrender to God. The props and activities that have kept us continually striving to "make things happen" are stripped away. Our self-reliance is shattered and replaced with a total reliance on God alone. Every "idol" in our lives (often including our own ministry) is brought under the piercing searchlight of God. Our selfish motives and ambitions are shown for what they are. This process may take years. Finally we emerge broken, chastened and purified. The process has matured and cleansed us in so many ways. We are now ready for the fulfillment of all that God originally called us to do. But our heart-motives are vastly different from what they were before.
We see this pattern all the way through Scripture. Many lessons can be learned from what we read there. Abraham, Joseph, Joshua, Moses, David, Elijah, John the Baptist, Paul the apostle - and even Jesus Himself - all had to go through this "wilderness" experience. Very often it lasted for years and years. Why then should we be surprised if it happens to us?
Probably the best-known instance of a 'wilderness experience' in the Old Testament is the story of Moses and the children of Israel. Moses had been raised and trained all his life in the palaces of Egypt. But when he came face-to-face with his heritage as an Israelite, he rose up "in his own strength" and killed an Egyptian slave-driver. He was then forced to flee into the desert, where he was to spend 40 YEARS as a simple shepherd in the wilderness. What an enormous length of time! Imagine if every Christian leader had to spend that long in the wilderness before God would allow them to lead His people! It is almost impossible to imagine the depths of despair and "death" to all his dreams and hopes that Moses went through during this time. In fact, after 40 years it is hard to imagine anyone being "deader" to the usual ambitions and temptations of leadership than Moses would have been. And what PATIENCE these years of waiting must have produced in him!
We see here the lengths that God will go to in the "preparation" of a leader "after His own heart." (-Though 40 years is unusually long). The isolation, the chafing, the crying out to God for deliverance - all play their part. Such an experience is almost irreplaceable. That is why God uses it so often. The hearts of driven men are so similar in so many ways, that God's "cure" becomes similar also! He will even shut us up in a kind-of 'prison' for a time so we cannot escape the process. It is that important. He does not want 'self'- oriented leaders shepherding his precious sheep.
After his 40 years of preparation, Moses returned to Egypt at God's command to lead His people out of bondage. This was the beginning of the entire nation of Israels' wilderness experience. For when they left Egypt the only way to their "Promised Land" was through the desert. Some commentators say that in a straight line, their journey could have taken just a few weeks or less. But because of their disobedience and fear, the vast majority of those who left Egypt were destined to die in the desert, never reaching the Promised Land. In fact, their wilderness journey ended up taking 40 years!
Now we need to take special note of this fact:- Not everyone who entered the wilderness survived it. In fact, multitudes perished there. The wilderness tried them and found them wanting. They went to the place of testing and failed the test. This is a pretty crucial fact to realize in our day also. Just because we are "called out" and enter a wilderness time, does not mean that we will embrace the dealings of God and respond appropriately. It is entirely possible to lose everything out there. These people lost out completely. Only their children came through to inherit the promises of God.
How clearly we see this pattern over and over again - in both the Old Testament and the New:- That many whom God wants to one day use are sent into a place of aloneness and brokenness before being brought into their true destiny. We have not even mentioned heroes of God such as Noah, Jacob, Job and others who all had similar experiences. Part of this process lies in the "waiting" that takes place. Also, the fact that all the supporting 'props' are taken away. The "waiting" alone can be torture.
The wilderness also deals with any fear of man or 'systemized' way of looking at things. God often uses it to bring a whole fresh perspective, which is very important for leaders who are going to be representing a "new" approach or facing opposition because of the confrontational words that they are bringing. The lonely desert years give them backbone to stand up to the crowd or the powers- that-be, and declare God's truth without compromise. They now truly fear God rather than man. And they think differently from others. The wilderness is vital for anyone who is wanting to bring fresh manna to God's people.
Are you someone who has been going through such a "desert" experience, my friend? Be encouraged! Look up, for your deliverance draws nigh. God only ever sends His children through such experiences when there is a great purpose to it. Don't give up. Don't be cast down. On the other side lies a 'land of promise' if only you can hang on to Jesus. Be active, be praying, be prepared. Don't become "passive" and let the desert swallow you whole. Use this time to draw closer and closer to Jesus. Dig down and plant your feet firmly on the Rock. Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up in due time - if only you can cling to Him.
-Please comment on this article at the following website- http://www.johnthebaptisttv.com/
God bless you all.
Andrew Strom.
@ July 15, 2010
Wilderness Journey
By David Wilkerson.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian, pictured the Christian like someone trying to cross a sea of floating pieces of ice. The Christian cannot rest anywhere while crossing, except in his faith that God will see him through. He cannot stand anywhere too long, otherwise he sinks. After taking a step, he must watch out for the next. Beneath him is the abyss and before him is uncertainty - but always ahead is the Lord - firm and sure! He doesn't see the land yet, but it is there - a promise in his heart. So the Christian traveler keeps his eyes fixed upon his final place!
I prefer to think of life as a wilderness journey - like that of the children of Israel . And King Jehoshaphat's battle, along with all the children of Judah , is also our battle (see 2 Chronicles 20). Sure, it's a wilderness; yes, there are snakes, dry water holes, valleys of tears, enemy armies, hot sands, drought, impassable mountains. But when the children of the Lord stood still to see his salvation, he spread a table in that wilderness, rained manna from above, destroyed enemy armies by his power alone, brought water out of rocks, took poison out of the snakebites, led them by pillar and cloud, gave them milk and honey, and brought them into the Promised Land with a high and mighty hand. And God warned them to tell every following generation: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6).
Stop looking in the wrong direction for help. Get alone with Jesus in a secret place; tell him all about your confusion. Tell him you have no other place to go. Tell him you trust him alone to see you through. You will be tempted to take matters into your own hand. You will want to figure things out on your own. You will wonder if God is working at all - there is nothing to lose. Peter summed it all up: "To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).
"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else" (Isaiah 45:22).
"Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me" (Micah 7:7).
SOURCE: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/devotions/2010/wilderness-journey (c) 2010 World Challenge, Inc.
@ July 9, 2010
BEYOND REVOLUTION:
Going Deeper
By Darren Smith
A while back I sent out a word called the Five Points of Revolution. We have had a lot of responses and I feel its time to go a little deeper in this word. I believe that we are all being called into this deeper walk of faith and must be challenged to draw closer to the Lord. I will be taking each of the five points and teaching more on each one in this series. The first one we will look at, is the return to the true faith, that I feel we have lost in the modern church.
1) Return to the true faith: When you look around at all the teaching in the modern church, how much true faith can you find? ... Before we tackle being born again, we must go further back to get clear on what was the reason for Christ going to the Cross, which, I might add, is missing from most modern teaching. Why did Christ have to die on the Cross?
The most common answer I get when I ask people is to "save us." That brings about the question- What is He saving us from? When this question is asked most people reply from hell or the devil, which is not true at all! Jesus came to save us from the wrath of God!! But wait a minute, isn't God loving and kind and full of grace and mercy? Yes, that is why He sent Jesus to take the full cup of Gods' wrath for man's sin. Without His blood covering you, God's wrath will pour out on you!
It's simply not popular. We must not look for popularity, but hold onto truth. One day we will stand before God and give an account for our life and being popular will mean nothing on that day. I believe that the reason most do not share their faith is that they are not sure what their faith is! If all you know is to tell people to ask Jesus into your heart and you will be saved, then you don't have the true faith and can't share true salvation. There is nowhere in the Bible that says to invite Christ into your heart and you will be saved. This is a man-made doctrine that will not stand, a convenient message designed to make men feel better about themselves.
There is a group that ministers alongside us every Saturday that always tells the people in the street to ask Jesus into their heart and they will be saved, and every Saturday the same people raise their hand and invite Jesus into their heart. Minutes later they are right back on the streets doing the same thing they were a few minutes earlier, no change and worse off than they were. Why? Because they are being misled by a false doctrine that requires nothing other than raising their hand to invite Jesus in to their heart.
On the other hand, we preach that Jesus came to take their punishment and to withstand the wrath of God for mans' sins and that to be saved you must be born again. We spend a great deal of time showing them that God loves them, but never compromise the true Gospel. Which is easier for them to believe, that you must believe, repent, confess and be baptized; or to raise your hand and invite Jesus into your heart? Which is easier, teaching that you must die to yourself to live for Christ, or that Jesus wants to give you all your heart's desires?
So many become hardened after a while of inviting Jesus into their heart and seeing no results that they kindle anger and disbelief against God. I've had guys tell me that they had been saved many times but nothing happened in their life and now they don't believe.
This is what false teaching does, it turns hearts cold to the truth. We must return to the Gospel and not water it down to make it more appealing to the flesh. The preaching of the Cross is the Power of God and releases the supernatural in peoples' lives!
When you preach the Gospel, you see salvation and healing, not man-made shows. It's the power of God unto Salvation, why water it down? This world doesn't need to feel better about itself, it needs to see the state it's truly in before the Holy God of the Universe - and repent and bow down to the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. We must teach the true faith which is loving God and loving your neighbor which brings about Kingdom change in this earth!
True Faith isn't going to a religious service a couple times a week and singing a few songs and hearing a little preaching. True faith is about being light in this fallen world. Light that shows men Christ, the only hope of redemption. You won't find that in a meeting that is all about having your best life now. You only find that by living for Christ and not yourself.
Most churches today are by design self-serving instead of God- serving, that's why they have no power. Where the Gospel is absent, so is the power of God! Jesus not only preached the Gospel but lived it as an example for us to follow. We must live the Gospel as well. As the Church, we are to build relationships with God and with each other. A selfless relationship always looking to lift up the Lord and blessing others. Instead, most relationships today are selfish and only look for how serving can benefit them. Be not fooled brothers, God will judge this. His eye is not missing how many people are in need and the modern church pours into itself instead of helping.
The American gospel, which is no gospel at all, will be judged and will be found guilty as well as all those who partake in it. We must warn people of the wrath that is upon us for we have all been guilty. This is why returning to the true Faith is so important. So what must we do?
2 Corinthians 13:5 - "Examine yourself to see if you are in the faith: test yourself." ...The first thing we should do is examine ourselves, test ourselves to see if Christ is in us. Do I know the true Gospel? Have I been born again? Can I see Christ in my life? Do I really Love God? Do I really love my neighbor? All of these are valid starting points to begin this journey. If you ask God to show you, I promise that HE will.
I want to go on a little further, even though I will not be able to get through this point with one email. This point is, am I willing to forsake myself and follow Him? Luke 9 :57-62 - please read this very closely - it's just one place where Jesus tells us to forsake and follow. Jesus said if anyone comes after me, he must lay down his life and pick up his cross and follow me. Have you laid down your life or are you holding onto it trying to follow Jesus? Is Christ evident in your life as a present reality or just a religious theory you kick around from time to time? Does self consume your life or Christ? Is love your lifestyle or pride? All these and much more must be opened up to truly examine ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith. I pray you will take this test with me and we will draw closer to God.
About the Author: To find out more about Darren Smith you can visit his websites at- www.streetscapeministries.com, www.revivalstreet.com, & www.unitethefight.com.
@ July 1, 2010
Are You Holding On...or Letting Go?
By J. Lee Grady
It's time to check your posture: Are your hands in the air? True worship requires surrender.
Christians used to talk a lot about surrender. They called it the consecrated life, and they sang about it in hymns such as "I Surrender All," "Have Thine Own Way" or "Wherever He Leads, I'll Go." These songs fueled the missionary movements of the past.
Today? Not so much.
In many American churches, "altars" are a strange concept. They are referred to as "stages," and they are used only for fog machines or music performances. "Altar calls" no longer fit in the time constraints of our trendy 80-minute services. Meanwhile, talk of surrender has been replaced by messages about self-empowerment and self-motivation.
The Good Life has replaced The God Life. The Path to Prosperity has become more popular than The Calvary Road. We are more interested in getting a breakthrough than brokenness.
Yet God is calling us back to consecration. Genuine worship, according to Romans 12:1, involves a wholehearted abandonment of self. Paul wrote: "Therefore I urge you, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" (NASB).
When priests were set apart for God's service in the Old Covenant, they were "consecrated" in a solemn ceremony. The word for consecration in Exodus 28:41 means "to fill the hand." The word is a picture of an empty hand receiving God's blessings and then giving them back to the Lord in unconditional surrender.
My question to you: Are your hands open and raised to God? Or are you making a fist? Have you given back to the Lord what He has given you? Or are your hands tightly clenched? It might be a good idea to examine how you are holding every aspect of your life:
Your time. Does God have your life 24/7? Does He have your weekends? Have you made room in your life to spend time with Him? Or has prayer been crowded out by your favorite TV shows, time with friends or the demands of work?
Your talents. Are you using your natural and spiritual gifts to reach others for Christ? Or did you hide your talents, like the unwise steward in Jesus' parable? Have you assumed that, because others seemed more gifted, you should be a spectator while they serve?
Your money. The only way to know if you are truly surrendered to God's will is if your wallet is open. A lack of generosity toward God's work reveals a much deeper problem.
Your future. Are you driving your career plans-or have you allowed God to take the steering wheel? Ambition can take you a long way - but it must be yielded to His will or it will lead to tragedy. You must agree with what Jesus prayed at Gethsemane: "Not my will, but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).
Your relationships. Do you allow friends, or romantic relationships, to lead you away from purity, integrity and spiritual faithfulness? The Bible says friendship with the world is hostility toward God (James 4:4). As painful as it may be, true surrender will involve cutting some ties.
Your sexuality. Many Christians believe they can be faithful believers while practicing immorality. Don't buy that lie. Living the consecrated life means repenting of all known sin daily-and fleeing from fornication, adultery, pornography and all forms of lust.
Your children. While we have been commanded to raise our kids for God, we also must entrust them to His care. After all, they are really His children, not ours. Once you've done your part, give them back to Him.
This week my youngest daughter-our so-called "baby"-is graduating from high school and headed to college in Georgia. Meanwhile my third daughter is leaving this week to minister on a foreign mission field for two months-in a place where women are not exactly safe or respected. I've had to consciously put my girls on the altar whenever I've doubted that God will take care of them.
It's one thing to give your own life to Christ. It's another thing to surrender those you love to His will and purpose. It requires a whole new level of trust. But it is the path that Abraham, the father of our faith, was required to walk when he put his son Isaac on the altar.
True faith always involves gut-wrenching surrender. I urge you to take the right posture: Get your hands open, lift them up to heaven and say with all your heart: "Lord, I'm all yours."
-Comment on this issue of "Full Surrender" at the website below-
http://www.johnthebaptisttv.com/
About the Author: J. Lee Grady served as editor of Charisma for 11 years and is now contributing editor. More of his articles can be found at…
http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/fire-in-my-bones/
@June 17, 2010
Has Television Done This??
By Andrew Strom.
According to A.C. Nielsen, in a 65-year life the average American will have spent 9 years glued to the TV. Now think about that for a minute. Nine years of their life spent - doing what? Achieving what? Can we imagine in our wildest dreams that this is what God wants for us?
Statistics also tell us that on average, parents only spend 3 - 5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children. And yet the average child watches television for 1,680 minutes per week. So who is raising these children? Parents or the TV? Who is molding their minds, values, and attitudes? Why do so many Christian children rebel and turn from God in their teen years? Is there a connection?
We all know that a household of godly LOVE balanced with loving DISCIPLINE is the ideal for bringing up children. But I want to put it to you that HOURS OF INFLUENCE also make a huge difference. I once wrote an article pointing out the two biggest factors in this: TV and SCHOOL. In other words, TV hours and Peer pressure. These 2 things alone have the power to change your child's life. And many times they are ripping them away from God. In that article I recommended getting rid of TV and also starting to Home- school. Many thought I was too radical. But we have seen it work big-time. And we learnt the hard way.
What do children do when they have no TV? They read books, they create things, they play with others. And they grow up without that awful worldly cynicism and rebellion in their eyes. And of course there are always DVDs if we want them to watch something.
We just had another minor "storm" on our Facebook page over this quote from Leonard Ravenhill - "If you want your child to go to hell, buy him a T.V. all for himself and (it'll) destroy him!"
There were quite a few reactions - both for and against - so we are going to discuss this on our website too (see link below). Here were a few of the comments from people:-
David - "I agree... my husband and I have been without TV for about 2 months and we have seen God more clearly than ever working in and through us. No more TV for us!!"
Mishael - "I am soooo anti-video games and t.v. We just got rid of our t.v. in September. I hated it at first but am finally used to it! Now when I watch t.v. at friends' houses, I am shocked at what I see because I'm not desensitized to it anymore."
Austin - "I like what Paul Washer says about T.V. Men don't do great things by watching other men do nothing."
Sandi - "In this modern day of technology, we can also include the internet and our cell phones too. These modern day conveniences can really preoccupy us, and take us away from Bible study and prayer."
Marilena - "I agree to this, except that I only bought a TV for my daughter so I can show her Christian DVDs on it and some cartoons that are carefully selected by me... TV is a means of feeding things into your heart... what seeds do you want in there? They will grow."
Mark - "I'm not supporting TV but I'm also not supporting laws to live by... If you have a problem with watching unclean things on TV or the internet or doing anything unclean, making laws to control it is not the answer. Something is wrong inside you. Laws are for the unrighteous..."
Judah - "It wasn't until I got the TV idol out of my life that I started experiencing personal revival and hearing the call of God to Street Preach."
Sally - "Even many (or should I say "most") of the so-called Christian programs are eroneous, hypocritical, and/or phony. According to God's word, we are to set no unclean thing before us. Is this law? or is this wisdom?... If you think TV is fine, I challenge you to try turning it off for just a week or a month and see if anything changes. If nothing else to prove to yourself that it's just a harmless box."
Marilena - "It is not a matter of a law, but it is a matter of what's profitable and what is destructive."
-Please add your comment to this discussion at the site below-
http://www.JohntheBaptistTV.com/
@May 20, 2010
Pastor?
By Gary Amirault
Once traditions are set, they are nearly impossible to remove. It appears this is especially true in religion, including Christianity. Of course, it is always the other denominations who have fallen into that error, not us. Right? For example, Protestants can’t understand why Roman Catholics so blatantly violate the Scriptures by calling their priests “father” in the light of the fact that Jesus plainly told us not to. (Matt. 23:9)
Years ago, I was attending a particular church that came to the scriptural conclusion that the church-at-large had thrown out a major part of the leadership God placed into the body of Christ to bring it to maturity. They concluded there was nothing in scripture that stated the apostle and prophet would be removed from the body of Christ during the “church” age. They pointed out there were over two dozen people in the New Testament who functioned in the capacity of an apostle. Besides the original twelve, Paul was an apostle (1Tim 2:7 and elsewhere). Matthias was an apostle (Acts 1:26). Barnabus was an apostle (Act 14:14). Andronicus and Junias (a woman’s name) were both apostles (Rm 16:7). James, the Lord’s brother was an apostle (1Cor 9:5; Gal 1:19). Silas/Silvanus and Timothy were apostles (1Thess. 1:1-2; 2:6). For a list of those who were considered apostles in the New Testament see these verses in the Greek. Many translations have not consistently translated apostolos as apostle. The following people were also considered functioning in the role of apostle in the Greek New Testament: Apollos, Epaphroditus, Titus, two unnamed apostles in 2 Cor. 8:23, Judas, Erastus, Tychicus, Peter, Andrew, James brother of John, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Mary, Judas son of James (not Iscariot), Judas Iscariot, Simon the Zealot, and Jesus.
After this church concluded that apostles and prophets are still to be in church government today, they joined a federation of churches that came under an apostolic-prophetic “covering.” We were advised that just as we called the local leader of the church by the Ephesians 4:11 “title,” so should we also call the other offices by their titles as well. So now, besides “Pastor” Jim, we had “Apostle” Chuck, “Prophet Gene”, and so on. I had no problem personally with the teaching that all those functions in Ephesians 4:11 should still be in operation in the body of Christ today. It seemed to me rather strange that Paul would list five important “gifts of men (and women)” for the equipping of the saints only to remove the two top positions within a few years of establishing them in crucial roles for maturing the body of Christ. After all, the church didn’t stop growing a few years after coming into existence. When these five functions are likened to a (helping) hand, the thumb and index finger have been removed from most traditional church governments. That could explain why we presently have over 30,000 denominations in the earth today. We’ve gotten confused because we have cut off the most important governmental and visionary roles in the body - the apostle and prophet. While I saw that perhaps most denominations have gone into error by removing those functions from their governmental structures, I did and do have a problem with turning those functional gifts of men and women into titles. I couldn’t find precedence for that in the Scriptures. And I think the greatest majority of Christians that I know would probably concur.
This issue, however, presented a bigger problem for me than I thought. I didn’t see any example in Scripture that an apostle should demand to be given that title in greeting or documentation. I felt extremely uncomfortable calling this new church leader “apostle” Chuck, and I didn’t. But neither did I find anything in Scripture to suggest a church leader should use the word “pastor” as a title either! Even worse, nowhere in Scripture did I find anything even remotely suggesting that the “pastor” would be the main player in local church life. How did this come about? Well, that’s another story – a long one! For now, let’s just stay on the subject of the title of the main player in church government.
The word “pastor” doesn’t occur in the New Testament (KJV, NIV, NASK, NRSB) at all. Shocked? I was. The word “pastors” occurs ONCE in the N.T. in Ephesians 4:11 and NOT as a title.
In order to do prison ministry, one must be ordained or closely affiliated with a recognized religious body. So I got my ordination papers to get me into prisons. The card they gave me put the title “Rev.” in front of my name. I felt uncomfortable about that. Why, you might ask? Well, the word “reverend” occurs in the Bible only one time:
“He has sent redemption unto His people; He hath commanded His covenant forever: holy and reverend is His name.” (Psalm 111:9, KJV)
It took a little arm-twisting to get them to remove the word “Rev.” from before my name on the official card. They said that the state recognized that as an official title. Well, it might be official to the American government, but I don’t think the Holy Angels of the Lord would appreciate my taking a word that appears only once in the KJV as a word describing our Father’s name and using it as a title to describe me!
Traditions die hard, especially religious traditions. It was the traditions of men that prevented them from seeing their Messiah when He appeared in the first century. After His departure, God judged Israel, leadership and people, and tore their traditions to threads. Read “Wars of the Jews” by Josephus, the Jewish historian, and see what God does to a people called by His name who leave Him to follow the traditions of men. Why is God so adamantly against these traditions?
“Thus you have made the commandments of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well, did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matt. 15:6-9, NKJV)
The answer? They draw people away from the Living God. After dealing with Israel for 1600 years, God raised up the Roman army to destroy the Mosaic system corrupted by thousands of traditions which made the word of God of no effect. Over a million Jews were killed. Over 100,000 Jews were sold into slavery. The temple, the priesthood, the covenant, the city of Jerusalem and the people all were decimated. (See Matt. chapters 23, 24, 25.)
For 2,000 years, the institutional church has added thousands upon thousands of “traditions of men” to the foundation of the teachings of the Jesus and His apostles and prophets. It has removed many doctrines contained in the scriptures. If the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD is God’s judgment upon Israel for abandoning its Maker, what can we expect for the church?
I don’t expect this brief “Bible Matters” study will change many people’s religious habits. I doubt many pastors will step down from a position and title not found in Scriptures. And most of the readers of this article will go on calling their church leader “Pastor Dave,” or “Pastor Mike” or whatever. Like I said, traditions die hard. Just remember what they do. (Matt 15:6-9) And remember what God does to them … in the fullness of time. Remember Jerusalem in 70AD.
About the Author: Tentmaker Ministries, 118 Walnut, Hermann, MO. 65041 http://www.tentmaker.org
@May 14, 2010
More Great Quotes
By Various Authors
"Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the Cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship.
“I wish, in America, (that) we were as concerned about separation from church and sin as we are about separation between church and state. Church and sin-- it's a monstrous problem.” - Leonard Ravenhill
"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." - John Piper
"Safety is not the absence of danger, but the presence of God" - unknown
"Cowards never won heaven. Do not claim that you are begotten of God and have His royal blood running in your veins unless you can prove your lineage by this heroic spirit: to dare to be holy in spite of men and devils." - William Gurnall
These quotes were taken from Sermonindex.net. If you enjoyed them, you might want to check out this website for more!
@ April 22, 2010
George Fox - the Holy Radical
By David Smithers
In the year of 1647, a large man with piercing eyes named George Fox started preaching throughout the towns and villages of England. He prayed and fasted often, traveling with no other companion but his Bible. He proclaimed a gospel of purity, power and repentance.
When George Fox began preaching, many churches were dead and bound in man-made traditions and formalism. When the Church drifts into formalism, the world drifts into further ungodliness. The methods and appearance of George Fox to some, seemed quite offensive and extreme. It is sometimes necessary for God's prophets to be unconventional in order to thoroughly awaken the indifferent and hard hearted.
Soon after George Fox began to preach, he had a remarkable spiritual experience that lasted fourteen days. A certain Mr. Brown, while on his death bed prophesied many great things concerning Fox. "When this man was buried," says Fox, "a great work of the
Lord fell on me." During this mighty baptism of the Spirit, Fox received a remarkable gift of discernment. "He seemed to be able to read the character of men by looking at them." Miraculous healings also accompanied his ministry. Through prayer and the laying on of hands, the sick were often healed and devils were cast out to the glory of Christ. When George Fox preached men would shake and tremble. "The name Quaker was given to Fox and his followers because of the quaking of the men who came to scoff but stayed to pray." This remarkable power seemed to accompany the preaching of Fox wherever he went.
Fox preached that Jesus Christ is the author of a faith which purifies and gives victory over sin. He fervently exhorted men to pursue complete holiness rather than empty religious ceremonies. As a result, he was often beaten, stoned and driven out of town. It is estimated that perhaps no other man since the time of the Reformation was persecuted and imprisoned as often as George Fox. He usually went about the country on foot, dressed in his famous suit of leather clothes, which it is believed he made himself. He often slept outside under a tree or in some haystack. Fox also often pointed out that what was commonly called the Church was only a building. He boldly declared that only the fervent believers of Christ were the living stones of the true Church.
"Above all George Fox excelled in prayer." It was his habit to wait in silence for the movement of the Holy Spirit and then begin to pray, causing whole congregations to be shaken and humbled under the hand of God Almighty. "As he prayed the power of God came down in such a marvelous manner the very building seemed to rock." Through the ministry of George Fox, a glimmer of Apostolic power was revealed to seventeenth century England. He was a man of the Spirit in an age that emphasized theological and scriptural accuracy at the expense of the power of the Holy Ghost. He always stressed the importance of a Spirit filled life and refused to let dead orthodoxy be a veil for the works of the flesh.
If we as believers are content with a gospel that merely comforts our conscience and perseveres our traditions, then we are also content to forsake the gospel of Christ and the Apostles. God help us to truly seek the kind of praying and preaching that will once again make men tremble in the presence of Jesus Christ.
@ April 15, 2010; Source: http://www.watchword.org/
Mousetrap Theology
By Patrick Odum
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown all you people what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:7-8)
 |
As March Madness begins this week, maybe we need to take the time to appreciate a true dynasty in college competition.
It's not a basketball program. It's not even an athletic team. It's the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers, a group of engineering students from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. They won the regional finals of the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest last month, and are favorites to win the national championship later this month. They've won the contest seven out of the last nine years, including an astounding six straight from 2003-2008.
The contest is named after the cartoonist Rube Goldberg, who drew absurdly complicated machines for performing extremely simple tasks. The contest has in previous years asked entrants to create complicated machines for tasks like sharpening a pencil or making a cup of coffee. This year's contest asked students to design and build working machines to dispense an appropriate amount of hand sanitizer into someone's hand.
A few years ago, the students at Purdue designed a machine that changed the batteries and turned on a flashlight in 125 steps. Think about that. How many steps does it usually take you to change batteries in a flashlight? I just counted five. Six, if you want to turn it on afterward. Six steps: it would take some work, wouldn't it, to stretch that to 125? Purdue's contraption included simulations of a rocket launch and a meteor impact on earth.
Some days I wonder if Rube Goldberg isn't the most influential theologian in the church today. I wonder because it seems to me that many of us, myself included sometimes, hopelessly complicate our relationships with God. I'm thinking of folks I know, good people, whose status with God seems to rely on the correct parsing and synthesis of difficult biblical passages. Of people whose blueprint for being in relationship with God includes the maintaining of empty traditions or the keeping of countless rules. Some of the people on my mind at the moment see no alternative than to allow others to define and maintain their faith for them. Maybe this Goldbergian theology involves particular worship methodology or style. Sometimes it involves preoccupation with the human response to the gospel, to the extent that the gospel itself becomes secondary. Whatever the particular complexities of these various means of approach to God, the end result is the same.
If you've ever played the game Mouse Trap, you know what the end result it. In Mouse Trap, players build an incredibly complicated trap that includes a boot on a stick kicking a ball that falls through a bathtub and onto a springboard, which flips a man into a tub and which eventually causes a cage to fall on a mouse. At least in theory.
But it never works.
You carefully build the trap. You follow the directions to the best of your ability, feel certain that you have all the parts in the correct places. And then it comes time to spring the trap and something always seems to go wrong. The man misses the tub. The boot doesn't hit the ball it's supposed to kick. The cage doesn't fall. One of the myriad parts is just slightly out of alignment, and it messes up the whole works. It's frustrating, discouraging, and it makes you not want to play the game again.
That's true with Mouse Trap Theology, too. When your relationship with God depends on getting all the parts in a complicated machine in line, everything will rarely be in line. And you'll be frustrated, and discouraged. And you might just decide it's not worth doing if it's not going to work like it's supposed to.
Maybe that's why from time to time God has raised up people who have a knack for simplifying theology, for boiling down the relationship between human beings and God to its essence. “What does the LORD require of you?” Micah asked. “More and more sacrifice of escalating value? Shall I offer my own children to God?” Micah shakes his head and ticks it off on his fingers: “treat the people around you with justice and mercy, live humbly with God.”
Micah's not adding a couple of new mechanisms to an already-complicated machine. He's dismantling the machine. Relationship with God is not cultic, or ritualistic, or rule-oriented, or a matter of interpretation. It's relational, and it lives and thrives when we treat others right and live in submission to God.
Jesus brought the same breath of fresh air to the smoggy, stifling religious atmosphere of his day. He waved away all the haze of traditions and laws and exegetical hoops. He dismantled the Goldbergian theological machines the religious people of his time had constructed. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” he said. “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Those words are the sound of freedom. God has reached out to us. He has built a bridge of grace and forgiveness that we walk through faith in Jesus. He wants a relationship with us. He loves us first, and all he asks of us is that we love him in return. Every command he ever gave, every moral and ethical obligation, every ritual demanded, every work of service ever required, hangs on the fact that God is looking for love from us.
It is not our calling to take those commands, obligations, rituals, and works of service and cobble them together into a hopelessly complicated configuration that dispenses his favor. He asks us simply to love him, and defines the terms and parameters of the love he wants through all those commands, obligations, rituals, and works of service.
There is not credit for complexity awarded here. There is only God, loving you and asking you to love him. Only Christ on the cross, purchasing your freedom and forgiveness. Only an empty tomb, promising hope. Only the Holy Spirit, living inside you. In the end, you can't build anything that will give you any of that. All you can do is live a life of love for the One who did it for you.
To read more from Patrick Odum, please visit his website at FaithWebBlog.com.
@March 25, 2010
The 'Ned Flanders' Syndrome
By Andrew Strom.
Most of you will have seen numerous episodes of that worldwide TV sensation, 'The Simpsons', which is still rating incredibly highlyafter all these years. Ned Flanders is the Simpsons' neighbor - the"born-again Christian" of the show, who is often the subject of comedicderision and irreverent mockery for his mild-mannered "churchy" ways.
Of course, like all the characters in the Simpsons, Ned Flanders is a caricature - an exaggerated stereotype. But the "born-again" model that he represents to the world is sadly a genuine reflection of what Bible-based Christianity has come to mean to many people today.
Ned Flanders is the apologetic, eager-to-please, church-going, glasses-wearing, overly-"nice", conventional and dull neighbor to the manic yet somehow 'real', edge-of-dysfunctional Simpsons. The contrasts are stark, and often unflattering. The jokes are almost always on us. Ned Flanders has obviously been created to represent modern-day evangelical Christianity, and for many youngsters he is the "Christian" that they know the best - the one whose life they see the most. And whether we like it or not, every one of us is subtly being tarred with the same sickly brush every time he appears on screen. But in truth, all this goes back well before Ned Flanders.
As someone who is involved with the media every day - TV, radio, music, video, writing, etc - I guess I should state at the outset what the basic premise for this article is:- My premise is that the church has been losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the 'man on the street' for the past thirty years or more. In fact, we have been losing so disastrously that in many cases we are no longer even on the battlefield. We have been routed, annihilated, out-gunned and out-manoevered on almost every front, and the devil is laughing all the way to the awards ceremony. My contention is not that we are losing the propaganda war, but that we have already lost it - and lost it so terribly for so long that we are now almost out of the race altogether. And tragically it is God's name and God's cause that are suffering alongside that of His church. For we are His representatives - His "ambassadors" in the earth. The 'salt' has lost it's saltiness, the 'light on the hill' has been subdued.
The basic questions I will be examining in this article are:- How big is the problem? How on earth did it get so bad? And what can be done about it?
As to the first question, let me use a rather extreme example from history. How important to Hitler's cause was Goebells' internal propaganda war using radio, film and the media? Answer: It was utterly crucial and without it Hitler would never have been able to carry the German people with him into all that followed. The propaganda war had to be won first before anything else. The people's hearts and minds had to be won over, and then their actions would follow.
As I said, this is an extreme example, and I use it only to show how influential the media can be in shaping people's thinking and beliefs. Today, the media is vastly more pervasive than in Goebell's time. One can hardly escape the blare of a million televisions or radios in our big cities. Despite the rise of the computer and the Internet, it is still television that dominates the landscape. For it is hard to match a medium that grabs both the eyes and the ears (as well as the heart and mind if it can) for several hours every day, right in a person's own living room.
In fact, it has been argued by Marshall McLuhan and others that modern man no longer has an old-style 'community' like in former days, when everybody in a neighborhood knew everyone else and news was shared over the garden fence or in local meeting-places. McLuhan contends that modern man is losing touch with his neighbors, and that he is now tending to 'gather' around the television set - from which he receives his news, his entertainment and many of the influences that shape his world-view. Thus the media is becoming more and more powerful in the lives of everyday people. And the tragedy is that vital, credible Christianity is almost completely absent from this window that the average man or woman has on the world. To all intents and purposes we have abandoned the battlefield to the enemy, and he has taken massive advantage. Christian television of the "evangelists-in-suits" variety may still be reaching the faithful today, but it is hardly calculated to impact the real world where most ordinary people live. We need drastic measures for drastic times.
Today, the only time when evangelical Christianity is likely to be mentioned in the news is when some terrible scandal breaks involving a well-known preacher, or some similar fiasco. The media love to ignore Christianity for the most part, but when they do focus on it for a few moments it is often the negative, the extreme or the scandalous elements that are highlighted. Michael Medved noted in his incisive best-seller ' Hollywood versus America', that when believers are portrayed in movies or on TV today, they are often either deranged psychopaths or bumbling hicks. Very rarely do we find sympathetic portrayals of Christians on fictional TV shows (apart, perhaps, from the odd ecumenical Catholic Priest). In the Simpsons, the "born- again" is the butt of continual snickering humor. However, for the most part, Christianity is utterly ignored by network television (and thus by many ordinary people also). This is particularly notable in the USA - a nation with over 30% church attendance - one of the highest rates in the world - yet where are the credible Christians on American TV (-which is watched worldwide)?
The brutal fact is that we have allowed ourselves to become silenced and marginalized in the most watched 'news, values and ideas' venue of our time. This means that our message and our Saviour are silenced and marginalized also. And the people who are suffering most from this are the youth - who are impacted more by the media than any other age group. The devil gets to preach his seductive lies to them all day long using the best in music, films and TV, while the church sleeps on apparently unconcerned. The mocking "Ned Flanders Syndrome" is working wonders for the enemy, who already seems to be the winner of the 'media war' for the hearts and minds of our young people, with us barely firing a shot in reply. Friends, this has got to change, and it has got to change fast... But how?
Send feedback to - prophetic@revivalschool.com
God bless you all!
Andrew Strom.
@February 18, 2010
A Plastic Wal-Mart "Jesus"
By Darren Smith.
We, the Body of Christ, should be a revolutionary force on this earth, not a sub-culture bound by the walls of our buildings and our lifestyles. If you look around you in the culture today, we are losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the people. Our families are in decay, our cities are in decay, our nation has become a nation of godless people living for themselves in rebellion to God. We really don't want to address the problems, instead most of us that claim to be Christians bury our head in the sand and refuse to look. Instead, we go to church rather than becoming the Church that God ordained. We even build doctrines around our lack of concern for what's happening around us and become even more self-centered and ineffective. Then we wonder why even our own families are falling apart. Is it surprising that the divorce rate in the church is the same as the secular world? Not really, because you can't find any difference with the modern church and the world; we copy all the things that they do. In reality we have become them.
I am about to bring up a couple of points that will anger a whole lot of people, but I really don't care if it causes them to think. The first point is the whole "We can change this land in the political arena." This is not true and should be examined. Consider this, does the River of Life flow out of Washington DC or out of the body of Christ? Does the healing flow come from the halls of the most corrupt Congress ever, or from the Holy Spirit? If not, why do we spend so much effort and time trying to get man-made institutions to take over this work? We should be in the process of a complete world takeover by the Kingdom of God, by carrying out the mandate of Christ our King: go into all nations making disciples. Would this not bring about the change needed on this earth or have we, in our foolishness, come up with a better plan than the Great Commission? I think not!! Instead, we have created a man-made religion that has no power at all, and a secular gospel that has no power and, in fact, is no gospel at all. Our idea of the Great Commission is to create a Christian castle filled with people all looking for something for themselves - not to sacrifice their life for Christ.
This system of religion is simply a business designed to grow and support itself. Their idea of being radical is to send out emails telling everyone they know to get stirred up about such holy things as taking the little plastic baby Jesus out of the court- house square. I get hundreds of these emails where people think they are fighting the good fight by getting into such things. God help us if that is radical faith. I really don't care if they take the little plastic Jesus out of the city hall or courthouse square and I don't believe Jesus does either. Part of the problem is that the little plastic Jesus is the only Jesus that most of our country recognizes. They don't know the King of Kings, nor do they take Him seriously. If they did, they would get radical about living His message instead of rushing to the mall on black Friday to prepare for what the culture calls His birthday. Wow, is that how Christ would want us to remember Him, by filling up our shopping carts and credit cards with more junk we don't need, instead of bringing people into His Kingdom? Would He rather us spoil ourselves even more or would He have us put our money and time to good use by feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, taking care of widows and orphans? Or what about sending out preachers and ministers of the Gospel to take over this world - do you think Christ would choose this or the commercial American Christmas? Guys, I'm telling you that Christ will return to this earth to judge it and He will not return as the little plastic Jesus that you can buy at Wal-Mart made in China - no, He will come back as a roaring Lion with fury and there will be no excuse for those who are truly His disciples.
At judgment day Christ will not ask for your voter registration card to make sure you are a republican or a democrat, He won't even ask you if you were mad about them taking down little plastic Jesus or saying "Happy holidays." Friends, He won't ask you if you protested the taking down of the Ten commandments off of the courthouse wall or how many Christian t-shirts you wore, or even if you bought all the latest praise CD's. No friend, He will ask questions like these: What did you do for the least of these? Did you care for the widow and orphan, feed the hungry, give without expecting anything in return? Did you love God with all your heart, love your neighbor as yourself without expecting his friendship? Did you repent and live a life that shows it, did you forgive so you could be forgiven? Yes, these are the questions that will be asked and no amount of religious activity will make up for these things, the sheep and the goats will be separated.
Many of you may say right now I never hear this at my church.. If this is you, I say get out of there as fast as you can and pray for a true body where you will be challenged to get this right.
To say this as simply as possible.... we must become radical and I would say even militant. Read Matt 11:12. Yes we must forcefully take hold of the Kingdom and advance it with all we are. We must truly bombard this land with the truth. We must charge the gates of Hell and tear them down. Matt 16:18. We have the power from on high - why don't we use it? We would rather stay in our comfortable buildings and homes and hope maybe the Lord will forgive our lack of passion for Him. Why is this true? Because we are just like Demus that deserted Paul - 2 Tim 4:10. We love this present world.
You say its not that bad; well, I beg to differ. This world is heading to Hell on a runaway train and for the most part the modern church is adding fuel to the engine. The ones out here trying to throw on the brakes are called "too radical, extremist, critical" and even divisive. Brothers, I would rather be called all these things than "complacent" or a casual Christian. We are doing all we can to get this message out and are looking for like minded people from all over this world to join the fight. If this is your heart please let us know. The Revolution has begun and man will not be able to stop it. The question is whether are not you will join.
Are you willing to lay down your life and take up your cross and follow Christ? Will the Christ that shed His blood for you on the Cross and beat death and hell for you be your Christ or will the little plastic Wal-Mart Jesus be the one you choose?
About the Author – for more information on Darren Smith, please check out his websites at www.streetscapeministries.com; www.revivalstreet.com & www.unitethefight.com.
@ February 11, 2010
Recovering The Axe-Head Of Genuine Anointing
By J. Lee Grady.
We've faked the power of Pentecost long enough. Let's set aside the imitations and reclaim the real deal.
Shortly after Elijah was carried to heaven in his fiery chariot, a group of young prophets asked Elisha to go with them to build new living quarters near the Jordan River. While one of the young men was cutting down a tree, the blade of his axe fell in the water and sank into the murky depths of the riverbed (see 2 Kings 6:1-7).
The construction project came to an abrupt stop. This was before the days of flashlights and sonar devices. These guys were in trouble.
Knowing that his friends could not replace this expensive iron tool they had borrowed, the young prophet cried to his mentor Elisha for help. The wise prophet threw a stick in the water where the axe head had sunk. Immediately the heavy iron blade floated to the surface—defying the laws of physics and proving that nothing is impossible with God. Elisha's faith saved the day.
We can gain so much comfort from this story. It reminds us that God has power over the natural world. It also proves that He cares about the seemingly trivial details of our lives—and that He is even willing to bail us out of the messes we make.
As I have meditated on this passage in recent days I've also applied it to our current situation in the American church. It illustrates how desperately we need to recover what we've lost.
Perhaps you've noticed that our blade is missing. I don't know exactly when it fell off the handle, but it seems as if we've been trying to build God's house without the sharp edge of His genuine anointing. We've traded the real for the phony. We've cheapened Pentecost to the point that it's been reduced to dry religious programs and circus sideshow antics.
We've mastered the art of hype. We know how to fake the anointing. We push people to the floor during our altar times. We know how to manipulate music and crowds so that we can create the atmosphere of the anointing. But in so many cases the real anointing isn't there. In its place is a hollow imitation.
Some charismatic leaders today are even selling specially handcrafted oils that promise the Holy Spirit's power. Others sell scented candles that claim to bring God's presence. And last year one brother was traveling the country with feathers in a jar— claiming that these belonged to an angel with healing powers.
Lord, forgive us for our charlatanism. We need the blade back! We must cry out to the God Who has the power to raise iron from the bottom of a river.
We are not going to advance Christ's kingdom, or build His victorious church, using scented oils, fake charms, ear-tickling prophecies and goofy charismatic gimmicks. This is all wood, hay and stubble destined for the furnace. What we need today is the sharp blade of the Word that is empowered by the Holy Ghost and fire.
In my world travels during the past few years I have met humble Christians who carry the genuine anointing of the Spirit. I've spent time with Chinese believers who see miracles inside their prison cells. I've met an Indian evangelist who has seen six people raised from the dead. I've met a Pakistani apostle who regularly sees Muslims healed during outdoor gospel meetings.
Last week I interviewed an Iranian church leader whose ministry is leading 5,000 Iranians to faith in Christ every month. In the midst of persecution and political upheaval, a New Testament— style revival is erupting in that Shiite Muslim stronghold-all because the church in Iran is wielding the axe head of genuine Holy Spirit anointing.
Where is the God of Elisha? There is a cry in the American church today that resembles the cry of the desperate young prophet in 2 Kings 6. We have not been good stewards of the Holy Spirit's gifts, and now the precious power of God has eluded us. We dropped it. Yet we are beginning to acknowledge our blunder.
Let's fully humble ourselves. Let's repent of fakery and fraud. Let's ditch our counterfeits and our cheap substitutes, and ask the Lord to restore the axe blade. Let's cry to Him for a pure, unadulterated, genuine, life-changing, planet-shaking revival.
About the Author - J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma Magazine and website.
@February 4, 2010
The Measure of Success
By Dr. Michael Halleen
The purposes of (one’s) heart are deep waters, but a (person) of understanding draws them out. (Proverbs 20:5)
I’m asked occasionally for my resume. People consider me as a potential consultant to their organization or interim pastor for their church, and they want to know what I’ve accomplished. When I asked a committee chairperson if he was looking for anything special in the resume, he said, “Success! Nothing succeeds like success.” It got me to thinking about some things that do succeed like success—and more so.
Friendliness succeeds. It sells more goods than high-priced ad campaigns. It wins more converts than eloquent appeals. The hardest person in the world to resist is the friendly one. We can steel ourselves against the clever persuader and refute the most efficient argument of the debater, but we surrender to the friendly voice every time. An impressive resume means little unless the committee also likes me. Being friendly succeeds.
Character succeeds. Character is what’s left after I fail to get the job, the bank has foreclosed, the car is stolen and the whole family comes down with the flu. Competition or circumstance may rob us of hard-earned success, but nothing can ever steal our good character. It can never be taken away without our consent. We build it out of the events and relationships of our lives, fashion it with faith and refine it through perseverance. Strong character is always successful.
Faithfulness succeeds. William H. Seward, Secretary of State in Lincoln’s cabinet, had been a successful lawyer in New York. Preferring politics to the humdrum practice of law, he nevertheless was compelled from time to time to take on cases and causes that were unpopular. On one occasion he defended a young black man accused of murder. Seward argued the man’s case with passion, despite enormous public opposition and racially motivated threats against him and his family. He lost the case but took comfort in the fact that he had been faithful to his client and to the law. Today William Seward’s grave marker in the Fort Hill Cemetery of Auburn, New York bears the words He was faithful. Good epitaph. Faithfulness marks a successful life.
A resume cannot say what are the purposes of one’s heart—the truest and best things about us. Yet only in those deep waters does the understanding person find the real measure of success.
About the Author: Monday Moments are written by Dr. Michael A. Halleen. Contact Mike at mhalleen@att.net to be added to or removed from the distribution list.
@January 28, 2010
Spiritual Discernment for the Word of God -
Christian Myths and Fairy Tales
By Joseph Ho
The Christian World is now full of false teachers and prophets, preaching things which the itchy ears love to hear. They bring you myths and fairy tales stating that Jesus will solve all your problems, selling the Gospel for offering and tithes. Truth in its original unadulterated form is not very appealing to the prevailing people of our age. We now live in the world of instant gratification of our soul. We constantly seek the quick fix to all our problems when in reality we took many years to build the wrong values and principles in our lives and yet we hope against all odds that within one single moment or even in a single day that all the repercussions and the impact of our wrong actions will be taken away instantly.
The irresponsible preaching by preachers who do not know or even understand the heartbeat of the Lord our God, constantly aired their misconstrued opinions as Gospel truth. These over zealous preachers sell the Gospel as an ultimate cure it all. Before I proceed to explain the deeper issues there, please do not think I am against the fact that Jesus can solve all problems since he is God. The subtle difference between a God who can solve it all and the matter of the fact of whether he will solve it for you is entire two difference truth. We can not assume that just because the bible contains 6,800 blessings that all these blessings will automatically come upon a person once he says the sinners’ prayer and once he is baptized. If that was the case, then all Christians would be Billionaires, very healthy, and have great material and spiritual wealth, yet we do not see this for a fact.
Don’t forget there is still the matter of justification, sanctification and glorification. Before God will bless you with anything, you have to repent of your past sin, make amendments to change and with the help of God work out the changes. This is not super grace without effort, super grace without righteous work yes, but not without effort, you still have to read your bible and walk towards the light willingly by hearing the promptings of the Holy Spirit and obey its guidance and to do the will of God and not your own will; as in thy will be done not my will.
Myth Number One: Jesus will heal all your disease all the time.
As far as I know, Jesus can heal all disease, but whether he will heal yours is another matter all together. If accepting the Lord will cause your disease to go away and you then live a disease-free life then this is a myth. If you do not believe me, simply ask your fellow Christians if they are suffering from any health issue and you will find that Christians who are baptized, tongues and spirit-filled sons of God still have health problems. Then again you might not have attended prayer request sessions where lots of Christians who are already saved and are still sick and having illness which did not go away. Coming to Jesus does not ensure you get a sick free life and live happily ever after, that is not the right theology of God. Read the Book of James and you will know the truth.
Then we come to this scripture which says by His stripes we are healed in the book of Isaiah, and preachers always quote this to infuse the meaning that coming to Jesus will cause your disease to disappear all together.
Isaiah 53:5 (King James Version)
5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Strangely enough, I have still yet to see God healing the amputees of their legs or hands. If God will solve all our problems once we become a Christian, why wouldn’t God re-grow limbs of Christians? I have seen pastors with no right arm. However, Jesus did say this:
Matthew 5:29 (New International Version)
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Exodus 15:26 (New International Version)
26 He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."
I have seen Christian intercessors or prayer warriors coming down with a stroke or half body paralysis. I have also seen pastors with nose cancer. I have also seen sincere Christians with diabetes and high blood pressure. Why did the Lord God not take away all these diseases as the preachers have claimed? Did God lie when he said what he would do, or did the preachers preach something which God did not say? This is a warning from the Lord for those who speak presumptuously on behalf of God when in fact it is there own words and not the words of God.
Jeremiah 27:15 (New International Version)
15 'I have not sent them,' declares the LORD. 'They are prophesying lies in my name. Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.' "
The Truth for these people mentioned above is that there is sin in their lives. But didn’t Jesus forgive them of all their sin, past present and future, once they accepted Christ? The Truth is you need to acknowledge your sin, repent and go through a Sanctification process. The first Christian intercessor mentioned above had harbor hatred in her life against her husband and was not forgiving thus, she developed stroke on her left part of her entire body. The second being the pastor who got nose cancer which was a result of having judged someone very strongly without mercy and therefore it manifested as a nose cancer. Nose represents the matters of judgment. The third case of the diabetic was a problem with eating disorder, you are what you eat and the physical health of a person is determined by what he eats. I have also seen parents who believed this myth that when you pray to God he will always heal you and they refused to send their children to the doctors because they believe God will heal them. The result was a disaster, their kid died, so now they come to hate God for not fulfilling his promise as a healer.
Have you ever thought why God made some Christians to be medical doctors? Why would a healer God need medical doctors if he did not intend for us to be treated by them sometimes. I would like to suggest that each time we come to an impasse situation, God will create a miracle to solve our problems since we have no way out, but if there was an easier way God would almost always use that way. God works in many ways and we can not and should not force the hand of God to move the way we want him to act. This is called testing God, and Jesus cautions us against this belief, when Satan tested Jesus’ understanding by asking him to jump off the building to see if he was indeed God’s son.
Did God actually promise to heal their kid or did the preachers preach that God promised he would heal all the time no matter what, as long as it is written in the bible? These people do not understand the meaning of the Rhema Word. Static words taken from the bible can not be used literally at times because it’s not the current word, the letter without the Spirit will kill. In the days of Moses, the manna when kept for more than a day will produce maggots. The manna from heaven is symbolic representation of the Rhema Word.
Deuteronomy 8:3 (New International Version)
3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
The Rhema Word is a word given to someone by God’s authorized and anointed messengers to fulfill his promise of what he would do at the present moment in time. If you don’t get this Rhema Word then God has no responsibility to fulfill anything for you since he did not say so to you. The other matter is that you need spiritual discernment to know which one is the Rhema Word from God and which one is of men and not God. Standing on the Bible promises without the actual consent from God is really foolish. But again, how can you know the consent of God when you can not even hear his replies?
Lamentations 3:37-38 (New International Version)
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?
If we look carefully at the verse in Exodus 15:26 again, you shall see that there is a condition which God has stated and if you follow that diligently then he will not bring any of the disease upon you. But, many have now come to denounce the importance and truth of the Old Testament, saying, Jesus has done away with the Law. This is another misunderstanding on the part of the “Prosperity Gospel Preachers”. I lump all these materialistic seekers and super grace preachers under this label since they go hand in hand, because they have denounced the need for the Old Testament. But are they really ignoring the Old Testament, oh no, I don’t think so, they seem to love Malachi 3:10 quite a bit when it comes to offerings time. But when it comes to punishment and wrath of God, they run back to the New Testament of grace, forgiveness and mercy; aren’t they like the Pharisees of the olden days? You can not pick and choose what you like in the bible to follow its everything within that you have to observe obey and follow.
Malachi 3:10 (New International Version)
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Can anyone pick and choose what they like and follow partial truths? That would again result in idolatry since they make up their own rules and regulations. Jesus warns his disciples not to follow those who fabricate traditions and preached it as Gospel truth.
1 Timothy 4:7 (New International Version)
7Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
2 Timothy 4 (New International Version)
1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Surely, God can not lie, but then why is it that the preachers continue to say the things which God did not sanction. These preachers have sold the Gospel truth for Church growth and wealth. They wrongly think that because they are getting more sheep that God has blessed them. With more sheep comes more offerings and with more offerings come wealth. If wealth alone is a result of being blessed than all the pimps and drug lords of the world would have been very blessed by God. If more sheep is the result of being blessed, than the entire non-believing pagan people would be very blessed since there are more of them than us.
I leave you with this warning:
Matthew 12:36
But I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
May God open the eyes of your heart and I will continue to expound on Godly Myths and Fairy Tales in my coming articles. But for those who are victims of these myths and fairy tales and seek to know more, can proceed to my website at www.kingscepter.com to learn how to attain discernment on God’s truth or send me your questions at prophet3333@yahoo.com. God bless those who seek the truth and not after man’s traditions, formulas and myths and fairy tales. The Truth needs no defense for its defender is the Lord of Host, The Almighty God of all creation.
About the Author – Read more from Joseph Ho at http://www.kingscepter.com, www.thyscepter.com. You can contact him at prophet3333@yahoo.com.
@ January 21, 2010; Source: Christian Article Bank
The Spirit of Love
By Dr. Michael Halleen
But the fruit of the Spirit is love… (and) gentleness…. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 6:22, 23)
My friend and pastor Jim Gertmenian tells the story of old Eber, a character from Great Cranberry Island in Maine where Jim’s family has a summer home.
Eber owned a boat which he used to go to the mainland each day to pick up mail for the island residents. Wary of being on the water at night or in bad weather, he nonetheless agreed to the request of a woman who wanted to be taken to the mainland one evening so she could catch the night train to Boston. There was some light fog on the water when they left, but by the time he ought to have been returning, it had become thick as cotton. The word got around the island, and a group of neighbors gathered down at the dock to wait and to worry together.
Finally they heard the sound of a boat motor out in the fog. The old-timers who knew the sound of each other’s engines recognized it as Eber’s. For a time it seemed to be drawing nearer and people were breathing easier. But then the sound started to fade and get farther away. “Oh, no,” they said, “he’s missed the harbor.” It was an uncomfortable thought—nothing but the open ocean lay beyond the harbor.
Everyone got very quiet, afraid of what might be happening. Then they heard Eber’s motor shut off altogether. They realized that he had cut his engine so that he might hear the bell buoys and get his bearings. People began to yell, “Over here, Eber! Over here!” Soon they heard the engine start up again and, sure enough, it got closer and closer until, even though they couldn’t see him, they knew he was in the harbor.
When Eber pulled up in his boat, there wasn’t a soul on that dock. And no one said a word to him about the incident. Who, Jim asks, doesn’t know about an old man’s pride? Is there any among us who can’t understand how hard it would have been for Eber to face his neighbors that night or to rehash the story with them the next morning?
The Spirit visited Great Cranberry Island that night. Love prompted Eber’s neighbors to call out to him. Gentleness guided them early away from the dock to keep them from embarrassing a friend. Against such things there is no law.
About the Author: Monday Moments are written by Dr. Michael A. Halleen. Contact Mike at mhalleen@att.net to be added to or removed from the distribution list.
@ January 12, 2010
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