Do you want to watch an amazing movie that will bring tears to your eyes and conviction to your heart? I recommend a movie called "Sheffey." The story of a man who dedicated His life as an itinerant preacher in the late 1800's until 1902.
He made a very good point about the state of the organized church, even in his time.
Our freedom to practice our Christian faith has not been taken away from us, we have given it away, little by little as we ignored the principles of Christ in favor of modern methods and liturgical man made mantras.
Pride has caused us to figure things out according to our own desires and the acceptance of the culture around us. We have integrated psychology along with manipulative technique, to engage the populous, making popular opinion the focus of our attentions much more than the principles of Christ.
Rather than being attentive to God's heart and depending on His provision, we have pushed Him out of our thinking replacing Him, with what others have pressured us to promote.
Psalm 143:10
"Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness."
Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
The problem with the mainstream gatherings today is that they do not seek God for His Will, but they do persist in having their own way and tacking God's name onto the end of their activities as though He endorses them.
John 16:13
"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come."
Psalm 119:105
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."
Isaiah 30:21
"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."
John 14:26
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."
Did we see any protests in the organized church when the leaders deviated from the Word of God in their methods or preaching? The answer to this question is that there may have been one or two in a gathering who protested the errors, but the leadership would not listen to those who would correct, but rather they were disciplined for causing division. The congregations regularly decided to follow the preachers instead of God, thinking they were God's "Vicors" on earth.
Yes, even the "evangelical" churches were and are acting this way thinking they are different than the Catholics in this respect, but they really are not .
1 Timothy 2:5
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"
The errors increased in increments so small and insidious that barely anyone noticed. The leaders got away with this because the congregations were not reading their Bibles or praying in their homes. Those who were ignored, when they challenge others to get back to the Bible, could no longer stand the rebellion and narcissism in the church, and left. Now the errors are monstrous and still no one notices.
We are left with so few people who care about Scriptural integrity and obedience to God's principles, that those who do care are leaving these "ego inflated" gatherings to either worship in home groups or are not attending a gathering at all.
When error in the body is not challenged it grows. Nothing that is fed stays small. When we feed the body with the pure milk of the word, paying close attention to God's heart, then we will see spiritual growth. If we ignore God's Word, effectively negating it by making it seem unimportant, the only thing that grows is the sin of self will.
Most people I meet who claim to be believers are embarrassed at attention to the detail of God's word. They call it legalism, not realizing that legalism is obeying man's rules, while obedience is obeying God's principles, desiring to know the heart of God.
Interestingly enough, those who cry legalism the loudest are in bondage to the whims of the culture, obeying what everyone else is saying and doing at the same time negating God's Word entirely, the ultimate legalists, declaring that we should do things man's way.
One of the devils tactics is to accuse the believer of things they are not doing but he is doing.
Never listen to those who claim "legalism" when we obey God, Satan is using their mouth, just as he did with Peter when Christ said to him, "get thee behind me satan." Men's hearts and minds are being controlled by satan in these last days, they will quote scripture out of context to make it say the opposite of what is actually written. They will torment the believers who love God's Word and the integrity of obedience to it.
Romans 12:1-2
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Lying is no Innocent Matter
Do you really think that you can raise your children on lies about "santa" and the "easter bunny" and expect them to take stories about Christ seriously.
When we tell lies to children about mythical magical creatures, they will place Christ in the same category when they hear of Him.
Do children have any reason to believe their parents about anything when they know that Dad and Mom have been lying to them, and does anyone stop to consider that when we lie to our children we can expect them to learn to lie to us and to God, even about God?
Think about it.....It is not nearly as innocent as we might think.
When we tell lies to children about mythical magical creatures, they will place Christ in the same category when they hear of Him.
Do children have any reason to believe their parents about anything when they know that Dad and Mom have been lying to them, and does anyone stop to consider that when we lie to our children we can expect them to learn to lie to us and to God, even about God?
Think about it.....It is not nearly as innocent as we might think.
Friday, December 12, 2014
Christ Must Do The Change In Us
We must make a decision if we are to hear from the Lord Jesus Christ. That decision is whether we are going to walk superficially, continually focused on how good we want to be, or on the Greatness of Christ, fixated on what He did on the cross and can do within us now.
Far too many believers are making it their aim to follow as many of God’s rules as possible, hoping to please God with their fleshly and futile attempts at holiness.
When we realize that God wants us to fix our gaze on Him, allowing Him to work mightily in our hearts, that He might get the glory for who we have become, only then will Christ change our souls, something only He can change.
The flesh cannot change the spiritual.
When we feverishly work at “being good”, we are operating in the flesh. However, when we worship God in all His glory, knowing that if He does not do the work in us, the work is vanity, only then can we see permanent and lifelong transformation. After all, it is only Christ Who can transform. We can only modify superficially our attitudes and behavior, but Christ can extract completely from our being that which does not honor Him.
We cannot control those around us and their response to our dedication to the Lord, but God makes us strong in spite of the attitudes of rejection that we encounter.
Please remember that we need to stop attempting to figure out how to refute the ungodly or the superficial believer. Our aim to become Christ-like. The only way that our spirits can become truly one with that of Christ, Who lives in us, is to relinquish all our own will to His. Christ must work in us His way, to be truly Christ-like. We cannot do it for ourselves, but submitting to Him moment by moment will produce a greater dependency on His Holy Spirit. This will mean that we are speaking to Him and listening for His answers frequently.
John 16:13 “"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
I am noticing that God does not say we are transformed by the renewing of our flesh, good deeds or attitudes, but by the renewing of our mind. Man can change their outward deeds and modify their attitudes but if their mind is merely playing a game without being transformed by God, then it is an exercise in futility to appear good, when the heart and mind are not good. God is going for the heart transformation first. Striving after superficial fleshly goodness gains nothing except an attitude of pride. When God transforms our hearts, we know it was Him and He gets the glory.
I once heard it said that all we have to do to become a better person is to “deliberately work to change a behavior and the new behavior will become habit.” Sadly, this too is fleshly, since changing from one habit to another does not make us Christ-like. Christ wants to be the one who changes our heart, when we try to change our own actions and attitudes, He will let us, then we will see the uselessness of our struggle.
2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
Galatians 2:20 “20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and [a]the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
1 John 4:19 “19 We love, because He first loved us.”
Romans 12:9 “9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”
Philippians 4:6-7 “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all [a]comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
James 1:22 “22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
Galatians 5:22-23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
One could take these scriptures and think they have to try to do all this in their own power, the truth is that we cannot do these things in our own power, we must ask the Lord to do them in us.
Ephesians 2:10 “10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
The day we stop attempting to effect our own transformation is the day God will begin the work in us. Our prayer ought to reflect that we know how impotent we are in our transformation, and that we desire for the Lord to change us. God will only change us if we want Him to do so.
James 1:5 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
God will never deny a heart that seeks after Him, the wisdom and strength to obey that wisdom comes to a submitted heart.
Far too many believers are making it their aim to follow as many of God’s rules as possible, hoping to please God with their fleshly and futile attempts at holiness.
When we realize that God wants us to fix our gaze on Him, allowing Him to work mightily in our hearts, that He might get the glory for who we have become, only then will Christ change our souls, something only He can change.
The flesh cannot change the spiritual.
When we feverishly work at “being good”, we are operating in the flesh. However, when we worship God in all His glory, knowing that if He does not do the work in us, the work is vanity, only then can we see permanent and lifelong transformation. After all, it is only Christ Who can transform. We can only modify superficially our attitudes and behavior, but Christ can extract completely from our being that which does not honor Him.
We cannot control those around us and their response to our dedication to the Lord, but God makes us strong in spite of the attitudes of rejection that we encounter.
Please remember that we need to stop attempting to figure out how to refute the ungodly or the superficial believer. Our aim to become Christ-like. The only way that our spirits can become truly one with that of Christ, Who lives in us, is to relinquish all our own will to His. Christ must work in us His way, to be truly Christ-like. We cannot do it for ourselves, but submitting to Him moment by moment will produce a greater dependency on His Holy Spirit. This will mean that we are speaking to Him and listening for His answers frequently.
John 16:13 “"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
I am noticing that God does not say we are transformed by the renewing of our flesh, good deeds or attitudes, but by the renewing of our mind. Man can change their outward deeds and modify their attitudes but if their mind is merely playing a game without being transformed by God, then it is an exercise in futility to appear good, when the heart and mind are not good. God is going for the heart transformation first. Striving after superficial fleshly goodness gains nothing except an attitude of pride. When God transforms our hearts, we know it was Him and He gets the glory.
I once heard it said that all we have to do to become a better person is to “deliberately work to change a behavior and the new behavior will become habit.” Sadly, this too is fleshly, since changing from one habit to another does not make us Christ-like. Christ wants to be the one who changes our heart, when we try to change our own actions and attitudes, He will let us, then we will see the uselessness of our struggle.
2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
Galatians 2:20 “20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and [a]the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
1 John 4:19 “19 We love, because He first loved us.”
Romans 12:9 “9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”
Philippians 4:6-7 “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all [a]comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
James 1:22 “22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
Galatians 5:22-23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
One could take these scriptures and think they have to try to do all this in their own power, the truth is that we cannot do these things in our own power, we must ask the Lord to do them in us.
Ephesians 2:10 “10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
The day we stop attempting to effect our own transformation is the day God will begin the work in us. Our prayer ought to reflect that we know how impotent we are in our transformation, and that we desire for the Lord to change us. God will only change us if we want Him to do so.
James 1:5 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
God will never deny a heart that seeks after Him, the wisdom and strength to obey that wisdom comes to a submitted heart.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
All Have Sinned!
Each person must seek the Holy Spirit for how to interact with those who are lost. God has principles in His word that clearly show us what to do. The unsaved are not to be our closest friends, but we are not to completely ignore them or we would not be bringing the gospel to them.
Who of us could say that we never needed to hear the gospel because we were so much better than those who do certain sins. All sin sends the unbeliever to hell.
There are those who have opted not to serve those of same sex marriage proponents in their businesses, and I would applaud them for their sense of disgust at unrighteousness. I wonder though if they would show the same disgust toward those who are remarrying after a divorce. Both situations are sin and both are condemned by God.
One seems worse than the other because it is unnatural, nonethless both are sins that can send someone to hell.
We used to have an ice cream business, we worked fairs, festivals and high schools, selling our product. When someone came to shop at our booth, we didn't ask what sin they were involved in, we simply sold to them. Everyone must make their own decision on this matter, but doing business with the world is not a sin.
Many of the people who bought our product were living in all kinds of sin, just by the way they conducted themselves and who they were associating with. Why would we take a stand against one sin over another in our business. I agree that same sex marriage is debauchery, but as long as they are not getting married in my house or church, I leave them alone. I do not attend remarriages from divorce, nor would I attend a marriage of a couple of the same sex, but we would sell our ice cream to them, while sharing the gospel them.
God gave clear commands to withdraw from a person who says they are a believers, who have become a part of our Christian gathering, who is in open sin. This is to discipline them to repent and become restored, or if they are proven to be pretenders, then they will choose never to return and remain in the sin as unsaved people, preventing them from infecting the body of Christ.
If we are to avoid them entirely then they would never hear the gospel. Looking down our noses at the unsaved does not show Christlike love. Showing them their sin because of the Christlike love in us, that desires for them to be born again, is the mandate given to us by God. Christ died for those people too, just as He died for us. We had to repent and become born again once, just as we should desire that they do.
1 Corinthians 5
" 5 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.
2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
3 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit,with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?
7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 1
10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.
11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?
13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves. "
Each one must seek God for who they do business with, but remember, we are no better than the people we serve, it is only Christ in us, that we share with them Who is righteous.
Who of us could say that we never needed to hear the gospel because we were so much better than those who do certain sins. All sin sends the unbeliever to hell.
There are those who have opted not to serve those of same sex marriage proponents in their businesses, and I would applaud them for their sense of disgust at unrighteousness. I wonder though if they would show the same disgust toward those who are remarrying after a divorce. Both situations are sin and both are condemned by God.
One seems worse than the other because it is unnatural, nonethless both are sins that can send someone to hell.
We used to have an ice cream business, we worked fairs, festivals and high schools, selling our product. When someone came to shop at our booth, we didn't ask what sin they were involved in, we simply sold to them. Everyone must make their own decision on this matter, but doing business with the world is not a sin.
Many of the people who bought our product were living in all kinds of sin, just by the way they conducted themselves and who they were associating with. Why would we take a stand against one sin over another in our business. I agree that same sex marriage is debauchery, but as long as they are not getting married in my house or church, I leave them alone. I do not attend remarriages from divorce, nor would I attend a marriage of a couple of the same sex, but we would sell our ice cream to them, while sharing the gospel them.
God gave clear commands to withdraw from a person who says they are a believers, who have become a part of our Christian gathering, who is in open sin. This is to discipline them to repent and become restored, or if they are proven to be pretenders, then they will choose never to return and remain in the sin as unsaved people, preventing them from infecting the body of Christ.
If we are to avoid them entirely then they would never hear the gospel. Looking down our noses at the unsaved does not show Christlike love. Showing them their sin because of the Christlike love in us, that desires for them to be born again, is the mandate given to us by God. Christ died for those people too, just as He died for us. We had to repent and become born again once, just as we should desire that they do.
1 Corinthians 5
" 5 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.
2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
3 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit,with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?
7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 1
10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.
11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?
13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves. "
Each one must seek God for who they do business with, but remember, we are no better than the people we serve, it is only Christ in us, that we share with them Who is righteous.
Politicians: Truth or Consequences
I have opinions about who we should vote for, but that is neither here nor there, when man persists in using manipulation and power plays to get elected, rather than just telling the truth and leaving the results to God, there is no hope.
It takes faith to obey God much more than attempting to figure out which method will work best to manipulate and deceive the voting populous. Faith in our own devices will always bring trouble and be ineffective in making headway long term.
When we place our faith in Christ, do as He commanded, telling the truth everywhere we go, then we will see the true pulse of the nation. If we cannot win votes by truth, then that tells us the level of depravity and wickedness of our nation.
Christians in elections, have been compromising God's principles to win for many years. The level of honesty is at an all-time low in most people, and even more so in politicians.
Some Christian politicians have managed to maintain their integrity, but many who say they are "Christians" are merely using the title to gain the block of Christian voters that can push them over the edge into victory.
Our president Bush was one of those who claimed to be a Christian, but stated that there are many ways to God. He never came against Islam, except what he called "the extremists", whom he claimed did not represent all Muslims. Any Muslim who follows their holy book, the Koran, WILL love to kill anyone who is not Muslim, especially Jews and Christians.
Our focus now must be total honesty and integrity when voting, no matter where it takes us. I want to ask all those who spent years manipulating verbiage, hiding our true aim, "how has this been working out for you?" We are further along in our level of corruption in the government, our laws allowing for immorality and murder have been enhanced and added to, in the past few years.
Why can't conservative Christians get elected nationwide? The answer......we are a sinful and rebellious people who spur any sort of correction or instruction in righteousness.
Why do we have to manipulate public perception to get believers elected? The answer.....because we know the voters will not tolerate blatant displays of morality or rejection of immorality.
The general populous does not care about the immorality and most endorse it in one way or another, simply by accepting it while saying nothing against it.
I hear believers claim to want "conservative, moral" leaders but have completely accepted divorce and remarriage in their church gatherings, even pastors have gone this route, while some are on their third and fourth marriages themselves. Within the church now we have people living together in sin, women dressing in bikinis at the beach, most Christian youth are attending rock concerts and immoral movies.
AND WE WHINE AND COMPLAIN ABOUT POLITICIANS!!!!!
The church has no business crying and whining about the state of the nation when their own house is a mess, most people in them are not hearing the true gospel of repentance. They think because they preach against killing babies, their sin is not as bad as that, so they are alright with God. NOT!!!
The sin in the church is rampant, those who claim to be believers, while living in sin, fight and argue against us when we chastise them, while continuing to complain about our "corrupt" government. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
We have no right to expect our government to do better than we are doing. Next time you are tempted to complain, take a look at your own state. Are you in the Word of God for the purpose of finding His will for you, or are you reading the things you like and extracting from the context things you want to believe? Twisting God's Word to fit your desired lifestyle, is the favorite tactic of phony believers.
The politics of our time is doing nothing less than following the will of the people. Our only hope as a nation would be nationwide public repentance, while individuals in every home confess their sin and becomes born again.
Without this all our efforts to make our country "moral" and "Godlike", is going to continue to fail.
Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!"
Isaiah 60:12 "For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste."
2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
Proverbs 14:34 "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
Look what God said to Judah, when they acted like we are acting!
Daniel 9:3-21 "Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you."
Notice that our sin was not only against the people of the nation but against God Himself.
What is our mandate from God? It is answered here in Matthew!
Matthew 28:18-19 "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"
It takes faith to obey God much more than attempting to figure out which method will work best to manipulate and deceive the voting populous. Faith in our own devices will always bring trouble and be ineffective in making headway long term.
When we place our faith in Christ, do as He commanded, telling the truth everywhere we go, then we will see the true pulse of the nation. If we cannot win votes by truth, then that tells us the level of depravity and wickedness of our nation.
Christians in elections, have been compromising God's principles to win for many years. The level of honesty is at an all-time low in most people, and even more so in politicians.
Some Christian politicians have managed to maintain their integrity, but many who say they are "Christians" are merely using the title to gain the block of Christian voters that can push them over the edge into victory.
Our president Bush was one of those who claimed to be a Christian, but stated that there are many ways to God. He never came against Islam, except what he called "the extremists", whom he claimed did not represent all Muslims. Any Muslim who follows their holy book, the Koran, WILL love to kill anyone who is not Muslim, especially Jews and Christians.
Our focus now must be total honesty and integrity when voting, no matter where it takes us. I want to ask all those who spent years manipulating verbiage, hiding our true aim, "how has this been working out for you?" We are further along in our level of corruption in the government, our laws allowing for immorality and murder have been enhanced and added to, in the past few years.
Why can't conservative Christians get elected nationwide? The answer......we are a sinful and rebellious people who spur any sort of correction or instruction in righteousness.
Why do we have to manipulate public perception to get believers elected? The answer.....because we know the voters will not tolerate blatant displays of morality or rejection of immorality.
The general populous does not care about the immorality and most endorse it in one way or another, simply by accepting it while saying nothing against it.
I hear believers claim to want "conservative, moral" leaders but have completely accepted divorce and remarriage in their church gatherings, even pastors have gone this route, while some are on their third and fourth marriages themselves. Within the church now we have people living together in sin, women dressing in bikinis at the beach, most Christian youth are attending rock concerts and immoral movies.
AND WE WHINE AND COMPLAIN ABOUT POLITICIANS!!!!!
The church has no business crying and whining about the state of the nation when their own house is a mess, most people in them are not hearing the true gospel of repentance. They think because they preach against killing babies, their sin is not as bad as that, so they are alright with God. NOT!!!
The sin in the church is rampant, those who claim to be believers, while living in sin, fight and argue against us when we chastise them, while continuing to complain about our "corrupt" government. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
We have no right to expect our government to do better than we are doing. Next time you are tempted to complain, take a look at your own state. Are you in the Word of God for the purpose of finding His will for you, or are you reading the things you like and extracting from the context things you want to believe? Twisting God's Word to fit your desired lifestyle, is the favorite tactic of phony believers.
The politics of our time is doing nothing less than following the will of the people. Our only hope as a nation would be nationwide public repentance, while individuals in every home confess their sin and becomes born again.
Without this all our efforts to make our country "moral" and "Godlike", is going to continue to fail.
Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!"
Isaiah 60:12 "For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste."
2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
Proverbs 14:34 "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
Look what God said to Judah, when they acted like we are acting!
Daniel 9:3-21 "Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you."
Notice that our sin was not only against the people of the nation but against God Himself.
What is our mandate from God? It is answered here in Matthew!
Matthew 28:18-19 "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
The Downward Spiral
This passage reminds me of the culture we live in today, not too much has changed. Those who love the Lord are noticing an increase in these attitudes as our country makes a downward spiral into greater debauchery.
Jeremiah 6:13-19
"13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
16 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it."
Jeremiah 6:13-19
"13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
16 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it."
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Why Fight For A Holiday
I am shocked and surprised at those who are coming to "defend Christmas." If you are free in your heart to enjoy these holidays, then there is no reason to attempt to convince others they are acceptable.
I have worn nail polish off and on for years, it is basically a worthless thing, but not forbidden in the Word. It is a worldly enjoyment I have from time to time, but I feel no compulsion to convince anyone else that they do as I do. Nor do I care if anyone else accepts it. If one feels the holidays are completely acceptable, then why bother arguing to convince others that it is.
Those that say we should not go back under the law with traditions and rituals are placing themselves under human rituals called the "holiday seasons."
They do the same thing year after year the same way and are grieved and upset if they are told there is no need to follow them. My question is, why would we choose to follow man made traditions and rituals when we are no longer under God's rituals and traditions as outlined in the OT passages?
I am not criticizing the use of the rituals as much as the use of the excuse of "not under the law" in this particular post.
The choice to follow man made rituals, tells me that using "we are no longer under the law", is merely an excuse to ignore God's principles to be able to follow the expectations of man. My educated guess is that if everyone stopped celebrating the holidays, most Christians would see no reason to do it all by themselves. The masses celebrate the holidays because everyone else is doing it. The same reason so many are divorcing, when just a 60 years ago most were not, and no one in normal families were using pot, but now many are.
Something to think about. If we are "no longer under the law of God, how much more free are we from the law of man through traditions and rituals.
I grieve every time I see a believer cherry picking scripture to justify their man made traditions. They just love their traditions.
Mark 7:8 " "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men."
I can understand believers holding onto their traditions, it is human nature to keep what makes us feel warm and fuzzy and gives us happiness, however, I cannot understand fighting and arguing to justify it.
Why not just ignore the debates, why work so hard to convince others they should celebrate the holidays or to accept our choice to do so?
There is a simple answer, many people cannot enjoy their choices unless others endorse it. That is an indication that they are not as convinced of their position as they say they are. When we base our actions on what we are familiar with and what keeps us friends with other people, then we are not looking vertically but rather we are looking horizontally, for the acceptance of men rather than learning to please God.
Those who enjoy the holidays and attempt to make them more Christlike, ignore these debates, because although they are free to indulge in them, they do not make them an issue. They understand that they are not necessarily Biblical, but do not want to encourage others to do as they do necessarily.
No one can honestly defend the holidays as being ordained of God. No one can say that Christ commanded it as He did the Lord's supper.
If I see a post against nail polish, I will laugh and ignore it. If I see a post about the length of a woman's hair, I will ignore it, because I see no clear commands in the Word on these matters.
However when God says "do not do as the heathens do", we are to follow "God rather than men", I see a need for believer to evaluate what they do on this basis rather than just following what they have always done or what makes them and other people happy.
1 Corinthians 10:23 "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify."
I have worn nail polish off and on for years, it is basically a worthless thing, but not forbidden in the Word. It is a worldly enjoyment I have from time to time, but I feel no compulsion to convince anyone else that they do as I do. Nor do I care if anyone else accepts it. If one feels the holidays are completely acceptable, then why bother arguing to convince others that it is.
Those that say we should not go back under the law with traditions and rituals are placing themselves under human rituals called the "holiday seasons."
They do the same thing year after year the same way and are grieved and upset if they are told there is no need to follow them. My question is, why would we choose to follow man made traditions and rituals when we are no longer under God's rituals and traditions as outlined in the OT passages?
I am not criticizing the use of the rituals as much as the use of the excuse of "not under the law" in this particular post.
The choice to follow man made rituals, tells me that using "we are no longer under the law", is merely an excuse to ignore God's principles to be able to follow the expectations of man. My educated guess is that if everyone stopped celebrating the holidays, most Christians would see no reason to do it all by themselves. The masses celebrate the holidays because everyone else is doing it. The same reason so many are divorcing, when just a 60 years ago most were not, and no one in normal families were using pot, but now many are.
Something to think about. If we are "no longer under the law of God, how much more free are we from the law of man through traditions and rituals.
I grieve every time I see a believer cherry picking scripture to justify their man made traditions. They just love their traditions.
Mark 7:8 " "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men."
I can understand believers holding onto their traditions, it is human nature to keep what makes us feel warm and fuzzy and gives us happiness, however, I cannot understand fighting and arguing to justify it.
Why not just ignore the debates, why work so hard to convince others they should celebrate the holidays or to accept our choice to do so?
There is a simple answer, many people cannot enjoy their choices unless others endorse it. That is an indication that they are not as convinced of their position as they say they are. When we base our actions on what we are familiar with and what keeps us friends with other people, then we are not looking vertically but rather we are looking horizontally, for the acceptance of men rather than learning to please God.
Those who enjoy the holidays and attempt to make them more Christlike, ignore these debates, because although they are free to indulge in them, they do not make them an issue. They understand that they are not necessarily Biblical, but do not want to encourage others to do as they do necessarily.
No one can honestly defend the holidays as being ordained of God. No one can say that Christ commanded it as He did the Lord's supper.
If I see a post against nail polish, I will laugh and ignore it. If I see a post about the length of a woman's hair, I will ignore it, because I see no clear commands in the Word on these matters.
However when God says "do not do as the heathens do", we are to follow "God rather than men", I see a need for believer to evaluate what they do on this basis rather than just following what they have always done or what makes them and other people happy.
1 Corinthians 10:23 "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify."
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)