The Foolishness of Women's Lib

Having pondered the whole "women's lib" foolishness, I realized that those who want to pretend they are just like men are disrespecting themselves.

 
If they think women are not good enough and must become just like men to be appreciated, they are fostering contempt for those who choose to enjoy what God made them.

 
Isaiah 5:20 "20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

There is an old saying, "they cut their nose off to spite their face", which shows that one devalues themselves just to prove they can be something they were never meant to be, which ruins them in the long run.

 
The liberal women are saying they value men above women by asserting that women must be just like men to have significance.

 
How sad that some women have managed to convince many in the culture that they are worthless the way they were born, and must become something that flies in the face of their own unique talents and personalities.

 
My challenge to women is to embrace what God made you, speak boldly against the devil who is working to destroy women while demeaning them by pretending they are less than men because they are not like men.

 
It is not only alright to be different from men, but it is a privilege to be the way God made us. Enjoy your womanhood and ignore, even chastise those women who mock and demean your choice to be who you are as a woman.

People Only Change When They Have To

People only change when they have to change. It is very rare for someone to change because they want to be a better person when their life is going the way they want it to go.

It is hardship and loss that cause most people to rethink their lives and desire something better, and only if they can self-reflect. Narcissists (2 Timothy 3:1-5) never self-reflect; instead, they blame others for the failures in their own lives.

It is common for people to only evaluate themselves if they have had conviction of the Holy Spirit and desire to grow in holiness.

Many people in our day seek to find fault in others to justify their own lack of character. Those who are the most critical of others are projecting, meaning they are looking for flaws in others to avoid facing their own.

It is a weak spirit that cannot tolerate seeing flaws in itself, even if the realization of flaws would cause maturing and transformation for the better.

Pride is a monstrous thing; it caused the devil to think he could be more powerful than God. He knew that God made him and could easily destroy him, but he followed his obsession for power, it blinded him, choosing to deny what he knew, and that was that God would never be overthrown.

Narcissists not only lie to others they also lie to themselves first. The only way one can maintain a superior attitude without conscience is if they convince themselves that their flaws and insecurities are not really theirs but belong to others.

If we are to grow in holiness or become born again, we must admit what we are and deny that we are special or good. It is normal and natural for mankind, who is basically wicked, to pretend we are good. We must deny that we are good and admit we need a Savior to be changed by Christ into a new creation. We must give up our false sense of superiority to follow Christ.

Luke 9:23 "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

Luke 10:27 "And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Matthew 6:24a "24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other."

We cannot love ourselves and God too! If we love ourselves, we will place ourselves above God.

John 13:34 "I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

We are all born loving ourselves; to teach one to love themselves is to tell them to indulge in selfishness. The Bible teaches us we are to love others as much as we love ourselves. In doing that, we will be loving God the way He deserves to be loved, that is, "with all our hearts."

The false church teaches us that the Bible says to love ourselves; this is not true. The Bible teaches that we are already too selfish, that our love should be diverted from ourselves to God first and then to others, and the right kind of love, God's kind of love.

What is love: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

We become less important to ourselves when we make God and others more important.

A Pastors Perspective on Trumps Peace Deal

Eyes that were Opened and can never be Shut Again

Over the years, God has shown me many things. I have outgrown the beliefs and systems of the world as I depend entirely on the Holy Spirit to guide me.

God began to challenge me while I was in the Catholic Church, and when I left that system, He continued to challenge me in the Evangelical system.

Eventually, I left that system too and can never return to any system that promotes a form of hierarchy that usurps the Holy Spirit.

When we begin to obey the Holy Spirit walking in deeper understandings according to the Word of God, we no longer fit into any man-made system that is based on rituals and practices devised by men that those systems think are helping God.

When we rely on men for our understanding, we will see many traditions that God never commanded that tend to distract from intimacy with Christ while elevating men.

The one-man-paid-pastor system was devised by men, not God.
The pews all face forward, giving one man all the attention and power over the people. The people believed him without challenge.
One person chooses the songs while those in the pews do what they are told.
A sermon by one person while the others are expected to remain silent.
The one man in the pulpit is seen as the authority over the people rather than a servant to all while negating the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The Evangelical system is so broken the only way to fix it is to leave those groups of large people and begin again in homes as the first-century gathering practiced.

When the people in the pews below the pulpit see the man in the pulpit as above them, smarter and more educated than themselves, and worse more led by the Holy Spirit than they, we have idol worship of a man instead of the leading of the Holy Spirit.

God gave commands for the gatherings to be led by the Holy Spirit in all the believers in the gathering. No one was elevated, no one had more authority than the others. The leaders were servants, not authorities over the people.

1 Corinthians 14:26 " 26 What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church."

We come together to edify one another in the word, and all participate as led by the Holy Spirit. I have seen this in practic,e and it was a beautiful thing. Someone would ask for a song, others would pray, while some would read from the word, and all was done to glorify God in Christ's name. No one was elevated above anyone else, and no one was elevated above the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:19 "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,"

When this was done God's way, He was glorified, no human being was.

Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."

Romans 12:6-8 "We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."

1 Peter 4:10-11 "As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another. If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen."

Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Acts 2:42-47 "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. A sense of awe came over everyone, and the apostles performed many wonders and signs. All the believers were together and had everything in common."

In our modern system of apostasy, people are elevated, show off, and demand money from others to pay for their salaries, the buildings, uniforms for the choir, and send children on mission trips that are more like vacations than anything else. They must pay for the fun things, the useless things, and the things that elevate pleasure above the gospel. In short, they are a social club with religious leanings.

No one is edified to go into their world speaking the gospel to the lost. No one learns very much because the sermon speaks so generically and without conviction that the people are open-eyed sleeping people. They can't even remember what the sermon was about when they reach the parking lot to drive back home to their neighborhood 30 minutes away.

No one weeps in the pews from conviction; in fact, there is often laughing and clapping at the "funny" sermon or the happy story that was told to keep the people entertained. Then there is the music and the "worship leaders" who entertain too. The Holy Spirit is not the leader in these places; the people are, and they are very worldly.

Those in the building never see the others during the week, don't know their lives nor do they care. It's all about the enjoyment of the "service" and the superficial friendliness of the people as they come in or exit the building.

The one who mentions the name of Jesus Christ outside the building is ignored because of the embarrassment it brings to those who love their happy social club.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"

If you don't believe me, correct someone on doctrine or criticize their observance of Halloween and see what comes out. You will be treated as though you were rude and the one who causes division by remaining faithful to the word of God.

Christ Above All Else

So many people are staunch conservatives, attend large churches every week, but never speak the name of Jesus Christ.

They equate Christianity with conservatism and rule following, but have nothing to say about the principles and commands of Christ unless it is to justify their own desires.

In fact, most of the people who are like this have very committed views about politics as though they have placed their trust in the system and their votes more than in Christ.

Some of them have forbidden women to speak of Christ because of their gender, but have no problem with their wives speaking about politics.

Don't we speak about what is important to us? Why would politics be more important than Christ? Or, why would anything about this world be more important than Christ?

Could it be said that the interest in politics outweighs interest in Christ because safety and personal control over life are what are more important?

God said: "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's", meaning we are to pay our taxes as required by the government and obey the laws of the land that do not disobey God.

Our country has been trained for several generations now that we are good citizens if we vote because of this passage in the Bible about taxes. Those who do not vote are chastised for not being responsible citizens of this country.

However, there is one problem with equating the paying of taxes with voting. The problem is that it is the law of the land that we pay our taxes and is Biblically based, but voting is not a law of the land and is not mentioned in the Bible; it is a choice. Those who choose not to vote are not breaking any law.

This is the reason I say with conviction that if someone is a Christian and chooses not to vote, they are in right standing with God. Just as those who choose to vote may also be in right standing with God.

God has allowed this country to have a vote to show us where our heart is as a country. The country as a whole places its trust in the system of government and its own desires, but they do not place its trust in God. We know this because there is more complaining about the government and politics than there are praises to God for His provision and purpose.

Notice the mantra on our money? "In God we trust." Think about it, why has this been placed on the money and not on the facade of every government building?

I do not trust in our government or our money; I trust in Christ alone. God may take away our form of government and even our money, but neither will affect my walk with Christ. Removal of everything that is comfortable might cause the authentic born-again beleivers to become stronger in their faith, while those who are not authentic believers will abandon their faith when the going gets rough.

When people place their trust in the government, or their power over the government, they will be continually frustrated because the world as a whole does not think with the mind of Christ, nor do most Christians in our day.

We talk the most about those things that are the most important to us. Many people around the world are not allowed to vote, and many are persecuted in their countries for their faith in Christ.

These people tend to be far more dedicated to Christ than American Christians. They have everything to lose by following Christ. Americans have almost nothing to lose, except family members. The worst Americans can expect is to be excluded from events or mean looks when they mention Christ. Believers in other countries can expect to lose their lives, even tortured for their faith.

Sadly, superficial believers who are dedicated to their politics often engage in arguments that demean those who do not do what they do, pertaining to voting or activism.

I am not against activism under the direction of the Holy Spirit or voting also under the direction of the Holy Spirit. What I am dismayed in is the arrogance that others are pressured to engage in the same things or be rejected if they do not, when the things expected have not been commanded in Scripture.

Chastising someone should be reserved for sin and deviation from the Word of God. Everything judged must be according to the Word of God.

Colossians 2:16 "Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day—"

This seems applicable to anyone judging us on things that God never commanded, things based on human desires and cultural rules.

John 16:22 "22 Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one is going to take your joy away from you."

Do not tell anyone I am against voting or not voting; this was not the message here. I am saying we need to stop judging others on things God never addressed. Yes, there are principles that are not specific but apply to how we live our lives; this is not the same as adding to God's Word things He never said.

Bottom line; seek Christ in all things, depend on the Holy Spirit for your guidance, and you will not become fleshly in your judging of others.

Worship #7: What Do We Do Now?

Those who are proud of themselves will not be used of God