Not Individual Sins but a Character of Sinfulness

Unsaved people are not going to hell because of individual sins, they are on their way to hell because of their sinful nature. The only way to fix this problem is to trust in Christ Who paid the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross for all of mankind.

Christ desired that everyone become born-again but knew most would not choose to be changed by Him.

Most people who say they are Christians never became born-again because they still think they are basically good and don't need cleansing. Did you know the jails are full of people who never repented from their crimes but think they are basically good?

No one who is good to the core of his being could ever sin. Mankind is basically evil to the core and cannot save themselves by working to be better. Even their best is still as filthy rags in the eyes of God.

Christ paid the price for sin which was death, so that all anyone has to do is confess their sinfulness and desire to be changed by Him.

Did you know that no one can follow the ten commandments, they were given to show us our sinfulness not to save us from hell by following them.

When realizing how sinful we are because we cannot follow the commandments of God then is when we die to ourselves and trust in Christ. Only He is good!!

God requires that we are crushed under the weight of our sin so that we will want His cleansing to be born-again.

John 3:5 " Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."

The term "born again" means that when Christ saves us He replaces our spirit with the Holy Spirit. We then have the Holy Spirit living in us who is our mentor, our guide, our helper, and healer, who disciplines us and convicts the world of sin.

Unbelievers are afraid of those who are full of the Holy Spirit, they don't know why they are uncomfortable they just know they want to know more or they want to run away from the holiness of God Who lives in us. Most people want to avoid those who are Holy Spirit-filled. They think there is something wrong with us that makes them uncomfortable but it is Christ, not us.

Unbelievers will even try to figure out what is wrong with us that makes them uncomfortable, making up stories to justify hating us, but they have no reason, it is the Holy Spirit Who convicts them.

No one has to remain uncomfortable they can ask God about their own sinful state and want Him to change them too.

Trusting in Christ not in Politics or Paid-Pastors

I have no interest in God saving this wicked country any more than I would have wanted Him to spare Sodom and Gomorrah! My interest is in people realizing their need for Christ because hardship comes. What is better, to spare people hardship while they are on their way to hell or allow the hardship so they can see their need for Christ?

It is my opinion that those who want to save America walk in fear that they will lose their freedom and prosperity. Freedom to sin and prosperity to be able to play, living in luxury without being thankful to God for it. America as a whole is "entitled" thinking it deserves good things even when it has not honored God.

I don't pray for America anymore for safety, I pray for repentance and for many to humble themselves, become crushed over their sin, and ask to be cleansed by Christ.

Jeremiah 11:14-15 "As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me in their time of disaster. 15 What right has My beloved in My house, having carried out so many evil schemes? Can consecrated meat avert your doom, so that you can rejoice?…"

This passage was written to the Jews back in the day but the principle remains throughout the Bible, that a country that will not obey God will lose its protection from God.

We will not see the prayers of many who have desired to save America answered, because if they were to be honest they could self-reflect and realize they have not been obeying God themselves. They have bought into all kinds of psychological teachings that fly in the face of Jesus Christ the Word!!!!

Sure we could all say; "but Lord, that person is worse than me", and feel alright about the "little" sins that we justify in the name of personal rights and freedom.

Perhaps America is too busy justifying its sin in the name of love to realize they are just as bad as those they criticize. Just because we are free and not under a dictator does not mean we are good.

1 John 5:16

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he should ask God, who will give life to those who commit this kind of sin. There is a sin that leads to death; I am not saying he should ask regarding that sin.

Psalm 66:18

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

God does not hear the prayers of those who walk sinfully and justify it. He came against the world when He shut down all the churches during COVID. He closed many establishments as a punishment to show us our dependence on "paid pastors" rather than on Christ.

People did not continue to worship in their homes, they just waited until the religious buildings opened up again. They did not study their Bibles to seek Christ during this time, we know this because they complained about what God did blaming it on the government instead of repenting and realizing it was God Who was in control.

If our focus is Christ we need no "paid pastor" to tell us what to do or be, we have Christ. If we focus on Christ it doesn't matter what the government is doing, we will praise and worship in the jail if that's where we end up for our faith.

Jeremiah 7:16

"Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee."

It is time to allow God to discipline America and even praise Him for His purposes in it. Our personal safety doesn't matter, and our personal freedom doesn't matter, it is what we do when it is all taken away that matters. Do we turn to Christ and praise Him in the midst of the storms or do we find a scapegoat to blame it on, when it was our own sin that brought God's anger upon us as a nation?

Calling yourself a Christian, attending the formal one-man-paid-pastor system does not save us or evidence that we are born-again.

Remember that what we do with Christ when all our comforts are taken away is strong evidence of our salvation. Do you ignore Him completely when you cannot be in those buildings with that system? Or, do you keep worshiping in your homes, keep reading His Word, and obey Him even if no one else is with you?

Stop focusing on the government to save you, the will of the people in voting to protect you and your prosperous lifestyle, and begin repenting from the idolatry of political leaders, the traditions of men, and the support of those around you, as well as those man-educated preachers in the pulpit and begin depending on Christ alone.

Psalm 62:5-8

"5 My soul, wait in silence for God alone,

For my hope is from Him.

6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,

My refuge; I will not be shaken.

7 My salvation and my glory rest on God;

The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.

8 Trust in Him at all times, you people;

Pour out your hearts before Him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah

John 16:13-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"

When Christ is upheld in any gathering no one else will be elevated. He gets all the glory. No one is up front leading and no one is special.

If teachers in the Christian gathering are not being led by the Holy Spirit we are free to ignore them, they do not speak for Christ when they are in error.

Isaiah 11:2

"The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him--the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD."

Everyone born-again authentically has the Holy Spirit He is their guide and teacher.

John 4:23-24 "…23But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” "

We help one another by speaking the truths of God's Word, but the Holy Spirit is the final WORD, if someone does not speak what God speaks then we must ignore them.

Acts 17:11-12 "11 Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.…"

We are to be like the Bereans were, that is, whenever we hear something taught by others we are to go to Scripture to see if it is true. The leaders lead by example and teaching they do not have authority over us. They do not tell us what to do or how to believe, they teach from the Bible and we evaluate through the Holy Spirit.

If the teachers are wrong according to the Bible we are to correct them and if they continue we are to rebuke and ignore them.

No man has more power or control over us than Jesus Christ. He is the Spirit of our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. No one else has that position in our lives.

Remember, you will be reviled for standing for the Word of God in this time of apostasy of the church.

James 1:2-8 "2 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters when you encounter various trials,

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

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.

6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

7 For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

Notice God said to ask Him, not the pastor, not the leader, but Christ if we lack wisdom. There is no leader who can know more than Christ. God PROMISED if we ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom He will give it. The only condition is that we ask in faith and believe what He tells us.

"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."

What Happened to My Church? – Pastor Mark Henry

Adultery in the Heart and Adultery after Divorce

“A man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself” Proverbs 6:32

Why does a man who commits adultery destroy Himself? Because God made he and his wife one, if he destroys her, he destroys himself, they are one and the same.

Ephesians 5:28-30 "…28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. 30 For we are members of His body.…"

Did you know when you speak your vows to someone God makes you and your new spouse ONE?! This applies to unbelievers too, God did not make separate rules for believers and non-believers, we are all held to the same standard.

Matthew 19:6

"6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.”

Marriage is a work of God, no two people make themselves one, only God can do that. Its a spiritual union that God made. Perhaps a "spiritual glue" that no man can undo.

This is why some people years ago used to say; "when two remarried people get into bed together there are four people in the bed. "

God calls remarriage adultery, it remains adultery until the adulterous couple separates.

Luke 16:17-18 "17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. 18 Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

God also says this: Mark 10:7-9 "…7‘ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”…"

If someone divorces God commands this;

1 Corinthians 7:10-11 "To the married, I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11

But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife."

God tells those who have divorced to remain alone because they are still spiritually connected to the one they made their vows. That spiritual glue cannot be melted away merely because of a decree by the law of the land. This vow is sealed until one of the spouses dies.

1 Corinthians 7:39 "39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord."

It's not hard to understand these things, it's just hard to believe because the culture we live in wants to accept any and all sin, excusing a sin because of difficulty or selfishness.

All you have to do in our age to see that this is true is speak these truths to your friends and family and suddenly you will find yourself alone without support and without love.

Many years ago a friend who remarried after a divorce told me she couldn't understand what had happened because she had so many prayers answered and God took care of her when her husband left and divorced her. But after she remarried the miracles and blessings dried up and she couldn't hear from God anymore.

I don't doubt that this Christian lady was saved but it does tell us that when we defy God and His Word He shuts us out and we miss blessings! She never put the two things together, getting remarried and no longer hearing from God.

As long as we remain in rebellion against God's principles He will go silent because we won't listen. This might be a good lesson for our adult children or friends who will not hear from God.

Proverbs 28:9

"9 If one turns away his ear from hearing the law,

even his prayer is an abomination."

Psalm 66:18-20

"18 If I regard wickedness in my heart,

The Lord will not hear;

19 But God has heard;

He has given attention to the sound of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God,

Who has not turned away my prayer

Nor His favor from me."

Many people regard a second marriage after divorce as a marriage, God says no, it is not a marriage it is adultery. But our culture will not receive this truth, the very reason there is spiritual deadness in our churches, as well as destroyed families and especially children, who are growing up angry and disoriented, without clear direction that would bring stability to their lives.

As a country our people have been calling "bad" good and "good" bad for so long now it is difficult to wrap their minds around the truth.

Isaiah 5:20 "

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"

Does anyone really think God is going to turn a blind eye to all that is going on?

Beware of Cults Claiming to be Christian

We see so many people in cults now claiming to be "born-again Christians" that it is beginning to confuse many people in the Christian church. No one who becomes born again would remain in the cults.

The devil has been using the tactic of taking the terminology of Christians and of the Bible and using them in the cults to confuse those who are not familiar with the Bible.

2 Corinthians 6:16-18 "…16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 17“ Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18 And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”…"

When someone becomes born-again the Holy Spirit in them will compel them to come out from the cults. Those who have been saved will hate what they see going on in the cults after God opens their eyes.

Beware of Catholics, Mormons and other cults that begin to use phrases like; "I am a born-again Catholic" or "I am a born-again Mormon. It is not possible to have been changed by Christ into a new creation and remain in wickedness.

Anyone who has become a new creation through Christ would not be able to tolerate the core beliefs and lies of these two cults. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth, tolerating lies in a cult is not possible when someone is indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.

The devil couldn't get Christians to embrace these cults so he is managing to confuse them into thinking they were brothers and sisters. When we begin to accept them as family we will be influenced by their false testimony.

Satan is very adept at using flattery and our own words in someone else's mouth to disarm us, confuse us and distract us. This is only possible when an authentic believer doesn't know the Bible well enough to discern a conversation with a person from one of these cults.

I have been in contact with Catholics and Mormons most of my life, they are adept at hiding the doctrine they know an authentic Christian would not want to hear, that they know is not Biblical.

1 Timothy 6:3-5

3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness,

4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a sick craving for controversial questions and disputes about words, from which come envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions,

5 and constant friction between people of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain."

Matthew 7:13-14

The Narrow and Wide Gates

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

Just because someone has some words from the Bible that you agree with does not mean they are on the same path as we are, they may be decievers. It is good to question people by asking; "what do you mean by this." Most of the time those who are in cults will not answer Biblically, or so vaguely that it shows us they do not really understand the terms they are using.

Romans 16:17-19

17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, 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 people 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. 19 For the report of your obedience has reached everyone; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil."

The Manipulation Does Not Have to Work

Often in our day if we tell the truth about a matter in a kind and friendly way, someone hearing is going to be angry and others will judge us as having been rude because the other person became angry.

This is backward, just because someone became angry at what we said does not mean we caused their anger. Jesus Christ and the apostles experienced this irrational anger all the time with those who didn't want to hear the truth.

We are not responsible for someone else's anger. Others do not trigger anger in us. If someone becomes angry it is more likely that they have anger hiding inside of them just waiting to come out when they hear or see something they don't like.

There is a difference between righteous anger and fleshly anger. Fleshly anger is usually associated with self-esteem, someone doesn't like to hear the truth about themselves so defensiveness emerges to stop the criticism. Manipulative rage is designed to make the truth-teller feel guilty. It is common in our culture to judge someone as rude and causing anger in someone else merely by telling the truth or asserting our boundaries.

However righteous anger is associated with injustice to someone else, or blasphemy against God and often anger at sin because of the destructive nature of sin.

Ephesians 4:26-27

"26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity."

Proverbs 22:24-25

"Make no friendship with an angry man; And with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, And get a snare to thy soul."

James 1:19-20

“Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."

Anger in our culture is used to foster guilt in someone who speaks the truth. Manipulation in the form of rage is the favored tactic of the devil in the person he is using.

When we see this irrational anger of manipulation we would do best to ignore it and walk away. Never apologize for someone else's anger it only validates their strategy to control you and the conversation. As we keep ourselves calm and kind we do not have to be provoked ourselves by their choice to become angry.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8a "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."

There are those who will call you unloving for obeying God, remember it is only a tactic that we need not take seriously or personally.

Believers are One in the Spirit!

Philippians 2:2

"2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose."

Philippians 2:3

"3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves;"

Philippians 2:18

"18 You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me."

Amen! Hallelujah!!!!