At sixteen years old I was encouraged by my fiance to go into the confessional to confess to the priest. Right before I went I watched a very large "friar" looking man in robes walk into the little box. I didn't know everything to do so I opened the other door got on my knees in front of this little window with a door. It was dark and foreboding in that box, but I wasn't afraid. The big man on the other side slid open the little door and said some meaningless and dead words at me, then I began to confess.
The first time I went into the confessional I didn't know the "act of contrition", because I wasn't raised Catholic, I was a very young convert. The priest chewed me out for not knowing it. Then I began to chew out the priest, I told him that I believed God forgave me, it doesn't matter what words you say. He became embarrassed and reluctantly absolved me of my sin because I didn't say those words. LOL
I never went into the confessional again!
I had the nasty habit of thinking for myself, it drove the priests and nuns crazy every time I asked "why do we do that."
After I became born again I began to read the word of God, ravenously devouring it every day. While still in the church I became even more frustrating to priests, nuns and parishioners, when I would proclaim often to them, "that's not Scriptural" or "that's out of context."
Needless to say I was born for such a job as this, to be a continual prod in everyone's side, not meaning too, but just couldn't stand following something just because everyone else did it. I am happy to follow others when they get it right according to the Word, but am not willing to obey something that is wrong so others will like me, it's God I want to please.
I thought when we left the church, now I would have more friends and fellowship, after all I am now in "Bible Believing" groups who claim to love the Lord. Little did I realize after many years of study, that the "Protestant" denominations in many ways are just as wrong as the Catholic church.
I was once asked "Can a Catholic be saved?" My answer was a question, "Can a Protestant be saved?" Sensing the person hearing me was confused, I explained that no one who loved the Catholic church and will not leave it cannot be born again. Anyone who has been changed into a new creation by Christ couldn't sit through the heresy that goes on in the mass week after week, the Holy Spirit would nag them until they left.
Continuing to answer the rest of the question, "Can a Protestant be saved?" I explained that protestants have their own set of heresies based on human wisdom and rules, they even have their own "Protestant Popes", they are called "ordained ministers." These ordained ministers carry nearly the same weight as the Pope does in the minds of church goers.
We were taught in the Catholic church that a non-priest couldn't know the truth, that only the priest could interpret the Bible. Sadly I have actually been told this by "evangelical" church goers, that I couldn't understand the Bible because I didn't go to seminary.
Of course this declaration that only seminary students could understand the Bible brought forth belly laughs, feeling like I had been transported back into the Catholic church momentarily. I asked the people who said this to me, "Oh, you mean the Holy Spirit only goes to seminary?"
You see, the organized, one man paid pastor, 501c3 organizations are not following the Biblical model of worship as the first century church did, instead they have a modified Catholicized form of religion hardly recognizable according to the Biblical church, not to mention their own set of human traditions that they hold very tightly to just as do the Catholics.
The moral of this story is this; If you want to know truth, read the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit that lives in you and question every single thing you were taught and every single things you are being taught! Leave nothing unquestioned.
Human hierarchy teaches man to trust the leaders above all else. The Bible teaches us to trust on man but to only trust Christ, this leaves much room for testing all things according to the Bible and leaves no man higher than any other man.
How wonderful to be able to go to God knowing He will give us the answer to all our questions correctly. Of course we listen to good teachers, but we evaluate what they say in front of Christ, He is our final authority.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Keepers of Our Homes
We are keepers of our own homes, it is our job to make sure that evil does not come to live in our dwelling! If there are adult children who refuse to obey the standards of the household, they must leave so that God's peace can return.
We have to remember we are not responsible for the safety or physical needs of adult children, they must carry their own weight in respectfulness, or they may not partake of the blessing of the home.
Psalm 101:7
"7 He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house;
He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me."
"7 He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house;
He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me."
Romans 16:17-18
"17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.
18 For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting."
"17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.
18 For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting."
I have no tolerance for whining, lazy, disrespectful adult children who are not only selfish but ungrateful. In order for them to learn a proper attitude they need to support themselves in the world where they will experience buffeting as their training. If they have straightened their life and have learned their lesson out in the world, it is a mistake to take them back, they could backslide, after all, when things are too easy, they will tend to sit back and let things ride.
If rebellious adult children have not learned our standards by the time they are adults, then they won't learn it by remaining in our home, God will have to teach them somewhere else.
If rebellious adult children have not learned our standards by the time they are adults, then they won't learn it by remaining in our home, God will have to teach them somewhere else.
2 Timothy 3:2-5
"2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, [a]haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."
"2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, [a]haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."
Some adult children will pour on the charm to work their way back into the home where they think they can ride freely again. There is no reason to let this happen, if they have proven themselves to be responsible they will take care of themselves in their own place and come and visit their parents for a few hours and leave again to go home.
The Biblical model of the family is for the adult children to care for their aging parents if necessary, never is there any mandate for aging parents to care for their adult children. Our culture has this backward in this age of entitlement.
Of course there are exceptions to this rule, that might be necessary. If something happens not of our adult child's own making, a terrible accident on the job, a car wreck, a flood that takes their home and other calamities that were not their own fault, are exceptions to this, but the attitudes of respect and compliance to the household boundaries still apply. A responsible child will listen to their parents while living in their home, respecting all the boundaries while being an asset to the household by helping out when ever possible.
The adult child who is respectful, loving and hard working can be a joy in the house. Sadly this is not the norm these days and some elderly people need the permission to expel their lazy good for nothing adult children.
Are You Corrected For Correcting?
The Scripture is clear that there are many who malign the facts, deny truth, fabricate stories, withhold important information to spin a story the way they want to influence others. Truth and integrity is not very important to these people, feeling good about themselves is paramount.
This is becoming more common among those who have been raised with situational ethics all their lives, they feel free to skew things for the purpose of self elevation. Few teache against this, few correct when they see this happening. Those who do correct are corrected for correcting! LOL
Our mission is to avoid becoming like this through prayer and Scripture study.
Here is what God says about it!
Psalm 5:8
"O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of [a]my foes;
Make Your way [b]straight before me."
Psalm 10:7
"His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness."
Psalm 58:3
"His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness."
Psalm 109:2-5
"For they have opened the [a]wicked and deceitful mouth against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me without cause.
4 In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer.
5 Thus they have repaid me evil for good And hatred for my love."
Psalm 140:2
"Who devise evil things in their hearts; They continually stir up wars."
Proverbs 6:13-14
"13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,
Who points with his fingers;
14 Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil,
Who spreads strife."
Proverbs 6:18-19
"18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers."
Proverbs 12:13
"13 An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,
But the righteous will escape from trouble."
Proverbs 16:20
"20 He who gives attention to the word will find good,
And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord."
Proverbs 16:27-28
"27 A worthless man digs up evil, While [a]his words are like scorching fire.
28 A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends."
Proverbs 30:14
"14 There is a [a]kind of man whose teeth are like swords And his jaw teeth like knives, To devour the afflicted from the earth And the needy from among men."
Job 15:35
"“They conceive [a]mischief and bring forth iniquity, And their [b]mind prepares deception.”
Jeremiah 18:18
"18 Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the sage, nor the divine word to the prophet! Come on and let us strike at him with our tongue, and let us give no heed to any of his words.”
Nehemiah 6:8
"8 Then I sent a message to him saying, “Such things as you are saying have not been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind.”
Micah 2:1
"2 Woe to those who scheme iniquity, Who work out evil on their beds!
When morning comes, they do it, For it is in the power of their hands."
Matthew 12:34-35
"34 You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
35 The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil."
Acts 6:11-13
11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
12 And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council.
13 They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law;"
2 Peter 3:16
"16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction."
They did it to Christ and the apostles and they will do it to us too!
This is becoming more common among those who have been raised with situational ethics all their lives, they feel free to skew things for the purpose of self elevation. Few teache against this, few correct when they see this happening. Those who do correct are corrected for correcting! LOL
Our mission is to avoid becoming like this through prayer and Scripture study.
Here is what God says about it!
Psalm 5:8
"O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of [a]my foes;
Make Your way [b]straight before me."
Psalm 10:7
"His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness."
Psalm 58:3
"His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness."
Psalm 109:2-5
"For they have opened the [a]wicked and deceitful mouth against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me without cause.
4 In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer.
5 Thus they have repaid me evil for good And hatred for my love."
Psalm 140:2
"Who devise evil things in their hearts; They continually stir up wars."
Proverbs 6:13-14
"13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,
Who points with his fingers;
14 Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil,
Who spreads strife."
Proverbs 6:18-19
"18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers."
Proverbs 12:13
"13 An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,
But the righteous will escape from trouble."
Proverbs 16:20
"20 He who gives attention to the word will find good,
And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord."
Proverbs 16:27-28
"27 A worthless man digs up evil, While [a]his words are like scorching fire.
28 A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends."
Proverbs 30:14
"14 There is a [a]kind of man whose teeth are like swords And his jaw teeth like knives, To devour the afflicted from the earth And the needy from among men."
Job 15:35
"“They conceive [a]mischief and bring forth iniquity, And their [b]mind prepares deception.”
Jeremiah 18:18
"18 Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the sage, nor the divine word to the prophet! Come on and let us strike at him with our tongue, and let us give no heed to any of his words.”
Nehemiah 6:8
"8 Then I sent a message to him saying, “Such things as you are saying have not been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind.”
Micah 2:1
"2 Woe to those who scheme iniquity, Who work out evil on their beds!
When morning comes, they do it, For it is in the power of their hands."
Matthew 12:34-35
"34 You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
35 The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil."
Acts 6:11-13
11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
12 And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council.
13 They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law;"
2 Peter 3:16
"16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction."
They did it to Christ and the apostles and they will do it to us too!
Wolves Among the Sheep
Wolves in Sheeps Clothing
Jeremiah 23:14
14 “Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing:
The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood;
And they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one has turned back from his wickedness.
All of them have become to Me like Sodom,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
Titus 1:10
"10 For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,"
Revelation 2:2
"2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;"
Jeremiah 23:14
14 “Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing:
The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood;
And they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one has turned back from his wickedness.
All of them have become to Me like Sodom,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
Titus 1:10
"10 For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,"
Revelation 2:2
"2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;"
Loving the Evil Beating Up the Righteous
Does this sound like our culture today? Perhaps even in the church gatherings we encounter this?
Jeremiah 24:13 "14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness. They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah."
Jeremiah 24:13 "14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness. They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah."
Favoring a Wicked Man Does Not Help Him Change
Throwing a Christian brother under the bus to remain popular with evil people is a clear indication of the heart of anyone who does this.
Isaiah 26:10 "Though the wicked is shown favor, He does not learn righteousness; He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, And does not perceive the majesty of the LORD."
Isaiah 26:10 "Though the wicked is shown favor, He does not learn righteousness; He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, And does not perceive the majesty of the LORD."
Ragers Give themselves Away
There are those who mock our fellowship on facebook. They believe that all people on facebook are insincere or keeping secrets from us as though we are duped by their lies. They also say that we have nothing better to do than be on facebook. I laugh at this because many of these people are engaging in useless pleasurable activities that bring no wisdom or truth to their existence. We all have pleasures that we enjoy, but when these pleasures take presidence over relationship, then we are narcissistic.
It has been my experience on facebook that many believers on here are seeking something deeper than pleasure or superficial relationships, they are wanting to proclaim the principles of God and the salvation message to as many people as they can before the return of Christ.
I have news for the kind of people who mock what they have no knowledge of. There are fakers in the church too, you see them every week, showing forth a phony persona to make others believe something about them that would not bear out, if those people in the church gathering knew them intimately.
Facebook is no different from any other gathering or communication, there are some who are fakers, hiding their real selves to manipulate perceptions about themselves, and there are people who really are what they claim to be. Those who are genuine don't have to flaunt it, they live their faith in very real ways.
Those who have mocked because they think all people on facebook are fakers, do this because they themselves are fakers. They believe everyone else is just like them.
There are certain things we can discern that tell us whether or not someone is a faker, over time they give themselves away and often they rage when challenged about something. Anytime there is rage, mocking, demeaning, name calling and maligning of character, we can be sure we have met a faker, when there is nothing more than a disagreement going on.
Those who have integrity are the same all the time no matter what comes up. When they are maligned they simply state the truth but seldom if ever indulge in manipulation by intimidation or raging.
On my page I meet up with the ragers occasionally, but they don't stay when they are discovered for what they are, they move on or if they refuse to stop when asked to stop, I block them.
Proverbs 28:1 "The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion."
Ragers hate to be found out, they hate to be proven wrong and they never apologize for anything.
Speaking the truth in love definition: telling the truth straight out without compromising, without manipulative intimidation. It is not speaking the truth in love to soften a much needed warning message. Love warns and teaches truth, while leaving the response to Christ.
Ephesians 4:10-15 "10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, "
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, "
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)