On another thread, there was a discussion on how believers met in the first century. I thought that Tom Stewart brought up a very good point that I wanted to share here.
Tom Stewart said:
"When Constantine built the first official building dedicated to being a Christian church he patterned it after the Roman Senate. Audience and stage or focal point. It changed Christianity from being a participatory event to being a spectator event. No more body ministry and individual involvement. The professionals took over."
Gwendolyn Wehage said:
"Tom Stewart yep, and this was a shame. Some believers are beginning to realize the traditions they followed for centuries were not God's doing but humans' thinking of a way to control the people, rather than allowing them to be controlled by the Holy Spirit."
A picture Tom provided for us.
Anyone who desires to follow a man, quoting that man more than quoting God has an idol.
1 Corinthians 3:1-9 "3 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,
3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.
9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building."
Why would you want to follow a man when the Creator of the universe lives in you, Jesus Christ Himself? There are no mediators between us and God other than Jesus Christ. If you follow Calvin then you have assigned him the mediator between you and God rather than Jesus Christ.
When Christ changes us into a new creation when we trust in Him, at that moment His Holy Spirit comes to live in us eternally.
Ephesians 1:12-14 "…12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory. 13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth— the gospel of your salvation— you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory."
When we watch a sad movie, we cry even though we know it isn't real. This is why God says that sin begins in the mind. Our mind records the actions on the screen as our experiencing them.
I see the connection much more clearly now between sin in the heart and sin in actions.
Proverbs 23:7 "7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!” But his heart is not with you."
Psalm 55:21 "His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed."
Matthew 12:34-35 "You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure."
Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God."
God is more concerned with the inner heart than outer actions. The outer actions are obvious, but people can be outwardly good and inwardly wicked.
Matthew 12:33-35 "33 Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. "
John 8:44 "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies."
Proverbs 15:28
The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil. The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure."
A man can fool others only so long before the wicked man's heart is revealed in his actions and words. Those who are Spiritually discerning can see what the undiscerning cannot see.
A "supposed" friend making a deal with the friend's enemy is to be disloyal to the friend.
Making a deal with Iran is to be disloyal to Israel!!!!
I have learned this from my studies and experiences with narcissism. A narcissist is friends with their targets' enemies as a show of solidarity with the persecutors.
Now that our government has turned its back on Israel, we can see more miracles than ever in Israel because of God's protection when no one else will defend her.
Keep this in mind when you are treated disrespectfully by your enemies: God will fight for you and protect you because you belong to Him, just as God will protect and defend Israel Himself while the whole world is against her.
Never fear or become disquieted because your friends will not be loyal. If they are disloyal, that is the clue that they were never your friends in the first place. True friends do not turn on their friends; they defend and comfort them.
And, best of all, know that God is our defender, we need not worry about having allies when He is our protector!!!! Hallelujah!!!
Genesis 12:3 "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
America has much to be afraid of in these last days but will not understand why!
Isaiah 60:12 "For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste."
Today, I am feeling blessed to have had many prayers answered over the years. Most answered prayers have been about understanding life and God's response to it.
I have no ill feelings toward anyone who has acted disrespectfully toward me; I do feel sorry for them.
As Joseph once said to his estranged brothers, "You meant it for evil but God meant it for good."
I even love the people who have treated me with contempt because I know they were only acting out of the sadness and insecurity of their own hearts.
Those who judge others over small matters and innocent statements do it because they need to feel superior to others. They are deeply addicted to a sense of dominance and control over others.
They especially target people who have disagreed with them at some time, even though they agreed on other things; that one time was enough to foster contempt in their hearts. They can no longer see anything good in the target of their hate.
When we love people, we interpret the object of our love with grace. Seeking to discover the intent behind actions and emotions rather than automatically choosing a negative intent. We interpret everything with grace unless blatantly obvious.
A narcissist can take any innocent and even good comment or reaction and spin it to look bad. We see this in the media all the time. They will never be direct in their communication, always questioning things that do not need questioning, to minimize and diminish the kind act.
A hypothetical example of this might be a person giving a cookbook as a gift to a friend, knowing the friend enjoys cooking. The friend gossiped to others that the book was a hint to her that she was a bad cook and that she needed to be taught how to cook.
There are many examples like this that we could all remember experiencing. Rather than the friend enjoying the thoughtful gift, perhaps even cooking something from it to share with their friend, the narcissist turns the whole experience into gossip and degradation.
Every gift to someone like this is seen as manipulation or as a message meant to embarrass them. They ignore all the good things their target does and twist innocent things into bad.
Lessons like this bless me. I no longer feel any hurt or anger when I see it because I know the person acting this way has a deeper spiritual and emotional problem that emerges to make themselves feel better about themselves. This allows me to treat them with kindness so that I do not engage in becoming like them.
Proverbs 26:4-5 "4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him. 5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes."
Proverbs 23:9 "Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words."
2 Timothy 2:23-24 "But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling. And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing."
Knowing the Bible principles for dealing with difficult people frees us from our emotions and pride. God also gives us permission to avoid people who engage in these negative interpretations, causing trouble not only for us but also for others.
The devil wants us to focus on ourselves, feelings, and retorts that only give the rude person an excuse. When we respond in a Christlike way, a mild rebuke or total silence, and then move away from it, we are free from the guilt of having reacted to the rudeness with more rudeness. The perpetrator gets nothing from us out of their personal attack, and we walk away guilt-free.
Our freedom from guilt is far more valuable than attempting to help someone understand something they have no intention of understanding, no matter how good the response.
There is a saying that I have heard that makes sense, especially in these last days of rebellion: "There are those who are dedicated to misunderstanding you." I would add, with the intent of falsely accusing us to elevate themselves.
We are living in the times of 2 Timothy 3, and I am convinced it has been this way for 2000 years since Christ left. The last days have been around this long, but these mentalities have grown exponentially during our lifetime. Israel is the benchmark of the very end of the end days, having been regathered to their land in 1948.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, 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 people as these."
Many of these people will have a form of religion but deny God in their lifestyle and attitude. They will say they are Bible believers but violate much of God's Word, negating their claim.
Do not despair in these last days, but rejoice that this mess is almost over for the believer who has trusted in Christ. We will be going home soon. May we remain faithful to God's Word even if no one else within our influence does.
It began in the garden when the devil convinced Eve of lies about God. God the Father is the Perfect Father, and yet Eve was led to believe evil things about Him by Satan.
Demons have twisted the minds of the adult children to reject their parents; this takes away any influence they will have on their grandchildren. Ruining families is the best way to destroy lives.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 "1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."
The best way to corrupt families is to divide them in foolish arguments over nothing important. Satan did this in the garden when he divided Eve from the Father by lying to her that she could be like God. He is doing the same thing today in families, dividing children against their parents most often for no good reason, over lies the devil is telling them.
Adult children loved their parents when they were small, but over the years, the devil managed to convince the children that their parents were the problem, and they refused to listen to and respect their parents.
It all began in the garden with Eve when the devil convinced her that God was keeping things from her and that He was evil and should be disregarded.
I am hearing more stories every day of parents who have been good and still their children were rejecting them as though they just were not perfect enough.
They judge their parents about things they have little knowledge of, but are disinformation and gossip. Just like the devil in the garden in conversation with Eve, the adult children are convincing the grandchildren of things that were not true.
The devil's most effective weapon against mankind is to destroy good family connections over petty things that were lies. Causing adult children to interpret things falsely while refusing to have a discussion over those things.
It is not enough for the devil to twist the minds of the children; he then compels them to share their lies with others in the family, so everyone is against the person they hate.
Genesis 3:1-4 "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The devil is still operating the same way today that he did in the garden with Eve, only on steroids. As we approach the end of the church age, when he knows his time is short, he will do as much damage as he can before he is destroyed by God.
Do not be dismayed when you are rejected, it has been prophesied, nothing will stop it so the best course of action is to live fully for God no matter what anyone else is doing. Leave the evil ones to God to deal with.
