April 23, 2015

The Holy Spirit is still active!!

Natural maturity and Spiritual maturity have some striking parallels. As our kids grow up, we expect them to develop maturity by being responsible for themselves in certain areas of life. Natural maturity involves working and sacrificing of self to benefit others. Natural maturity recognizes the difference between a type of freedom that says, "I'll do what I please" and a true liberty that allows me some latitude in choices. We demonstrate our responsibility by being aware of, and sensitive to the needs of others when we make those choices where we have liberty. Maturity means operating as a team player, even if you're the captain or coach of that team. Maturity means recognizing that we have a purpose greater than ourselves--greater than our own self-indulgence or self-enrichment.

Responsibility means being accountable when we violate boundaries, or get careless even within the boundaries. There is too much of the church today that sees itself in the light of a "grace covenant" that does not require change or maturing or becoming more responsible. That part of what claims to be Christianity has no true authority because it refuses to come under any authority.

April 17, 2015

The question of "Why evil??"

We all are aware of 'ordinary' people who are made victims by wicked people. Muslims throwing Christians off a boat to drown in the Mediterranean; a confused soccer mom shot by DC police for being in the wrong place; crazy people destroying family members or their possessions; and the list goes on. You've read and seen the news, and you may be aware of things that someone you know has seen. Part of the reason evil flourishes is because it intimidates the righteous with threats. We are at a point where government, at every level, seeks to intimidate the righteous, because it seeks an ever increasing amount of power and wealth. If someone declares the truth about the evil being promoted,
they will be fired, intimidated, audited, lied about in the media, have their bank accounts seized, or be killed by law enforcement personnel.

Keep living a righteous life. Keep proclaiming truth and God's Word in the face of evil. God is your refuge and strength. He will justify you before your enemies--even if it is only at the Judgement.

April 15, 2015

Just as surely as there is a real God, there is a real devil. he is going into 'overdrive' because he senses that his time is short. Fellow believer, he will do anything to disrupt whatever peace is inside you, whatever unity you have with others, whatever stability exists in government, business and finance. Stand your ground. Continue to believe God. Listen for what He wants to say to you. Obey with whatever power and strength God's Spirit imparts to you. Don't lose your peace.

April 14, 2015 (Post #2)

It has occurred to me that we, as a nation, have gone through a character change--and not one for the better. It's not everyone, but it is the predominant theme among so many, especially the most vocal. We have become prideful, scorning any mention of God, or of our need for Him. We have proclaimed our own self-sufficiency and we have assumed an attitude of entitlement.

God have mercy on us.

Pride goes before destruction. But repentance is the changing of the mind--the turning around....if My people will humble themselves....and pray.

April 14, 2015

Because [in part] we have grown up in a Western culture, with our roots in Athens and Rome (ancient), we tend to default to a concept of our relationship with God as being positional and/or intellectual. This is a hallmark of denominations--it's how they denominate themselves from each other {"We believe x, but they believe y--we're superior."}.

God's desire has always been for a relationship that is personal, intimate, trusting, open. In spite of our Western misinterpreting of the word "believe", none of us goes to heaven because of what we think is eternally true. We get to live forever with God by abandoning our own "theology" and surrendering to the person of God Himself. That's why Jesus said we had to be born again. Something in the realm of 'spirit' must take place. The Lamb was slain for each of us and for all of us. But that sacrifice, and the resurrection that confirmed it is something each person must personally embrace. We must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. We prove our faith is real by a personal obedience to His voice--His prompting us on the inside. Anything that seeks to "fix" you by focusing on 'form' and starting at the outside and working inward is from the pit.

April 13, 2015

We must always pursue character as opposed appearance, substance as opposed to form.

What has largely been lost is the pattern of mentor-apprentice, master-disciple. It is in this relationship that there is an imparting of spirit and understanding and skills-material and human. There has been a decades-long push to obliterate this pattern, substituting education or money or selfish relationships to reach or be placed into positions of power. It is, in a sense, the Peter Principle applied in such a way as to circumvent rightful, God-ordained authority. We see this in business where owners and managers don't really understand the complexities of operating a business--they're too busy accumulating profits for themselves. We see this in government wherever people in power use that power only to enhance their positions, not to do what is right by the constitution or the people they are supposed to serve.

Jesus said that we were to make disciples, not theologians or bishops or even students.

April 10, 2015

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  (Mark 2:17)

The mental picture that arose this morning was that of people, their bodies riddled with cancer, walking through a hospital not understanding why they were there. We ALL have a cancer called s i n that is slowly, but surely, killing us. How many of us--how many among those we know-- cannot bring themselves to acknowledge their problem, much less seek help for it.

While Jesus died and rose to kill that cancer once and for all, it seems to keep resurrecting daily in each of us. That's why there must be a daily cleansing by HIM by the power of HIS blood to keep that cancer from getting another foothold in us. The blood will never lose its power. But it cannot help us if we refuse to admit our need for it.

April 2, 2015

The conflicts we see around us, and around the world, are the same conflicts that have always existed:  who shall be "g o d". 

In this country, we have lots of folks who are wedded to the entitlement mentality, which basically and implicitly says, "I am g o d." In the Middle East, and spreading from there, you have a belief system that says, "Allah is g o d; and if you offend me, I will kill you." And in places of power, you have those whose lifestyle and actions say that either money or power [or both] is g o d.
The true God has allowed us some latitude in a variety of areas. We can paint our homes a variety of colors without fear of eternal punishment. But there are areas where God has decreed, "T H I S is my plan, and deviating from it will bring pain and suffering, either in this world, or the one to come [sometimes both].

March 24, 2015

As I sit here praying for some of my fellow believers, the Spirit of God nudges me with the reality that, when we feel insecure, we resort either to talking too much, or being consumed by "forms" that feel comfortable to us. Those forms may be what we are used to wearing (clothes) or what we habitually do at certain times of the day, or in certain situations. God would remind us all, that if we're too busy talking we can't hear Him speaking to us. Jesus' blood has cleansed us of every sin and every mis-step and mistake. If we will truly give these to Him, we can stand, not proud of ourselves, but neither ashamed of what is past. Our identity must come from HIM--not what we have done. Whether it is pride of accomplishment, or shame in our failures, either way we have become victims of a performance based self-worth. We become worthy as we surrender to Him, surrender to who He says we are, surrender to His will in our lives.

March 20, 2015 (Post #2)

God desires disciples who will follow Him in loving devotion. When you have a person (human or spiritual) who requires obeisance and blind obedience out of a sense of fear, you have a dictator or a devil, regardless of what he calls himself.

This can take place in the workplace, the home, the political arena, or in the depths of the human soul. Yes, even in relationships (note: domestic abuse is a form of witchcraft--it is illegitimate authority exercised to debase the object and elevate the subject; sexually or otherwise).

March 20, 2015

God is not just a being, He is a person and He wants a personal relationship with people--His creation. This requires two-way communication. We must speak to Him in prayer, but we must also expect to hear from Him in our "inner man". Too many of our man-made denominations are willing to settle for simply knowing the right stuff a b o u t Him. And they will [falsely] teach that this is all that is required for heaven.

God has attributes; we know that He is omnipotent, omniscient, eternal, etc. But God also has character traits; He is merciful and compassionate and loving and desires intimacy (etc.). God came to the earth in the person of His Son, Jesus to restore all that man had forfeited away in the Garden. Has it not occurred to you that God wants us to be l o v i n g l y obedient--an act of personal submission; we need to do what God commands, and what God desires because it is the right thing to do, and because it will be for our own good. What a drastic difference this is from 'Allah', who personally delights in the death of those who will not submit to him. His believers are commanded to do things that run contrary to the nature of man as the true God created him. Obeying the true and living God will always transform you into His loving image--loving, faithful, giving, patient, kind (see 1 Corinthians 13).

March 19, 2015

True Leadership is the result of right character--not merely correct intellectual computations. True leadership comes from a demonstration of consistent sacrifice of self for the good of those being lead. True leadership requires elements of courage and wisdom and being willing to listen to the hearts of those following. True leadership never "leads from behind", it always marches in the front, willing to endure whatever comes. True leadership is what the people seek, in order to have someone to follow, to have somewhere to go, to have a purpose beyond themselves. In today's world, it is in short supply. But there is someone to whom we can turn, to follow:...."looking unto Jesus..."

March 17, 2015: True Faith Always Costs Somebody Something

"God does nothing except in response to believing prayer." -John Wesley

Faith is relational! It is about persons trusting other persons. It is about the doing of things that bless and benefit the other, or the relationship. It is about us obeying God, and trusting Him to do right by us by doing what we ask. No, it does not mean we get Snickers & cokes at breakfast, lunch and dinner. God is a good daddy.

When we were taken to the doctor or dentist as children, they did things that hurt, but they meant for us to be healed. Sometimes we do things that have natural consequences that hurt. Sometimes we hurt because we live in a fallen world and dumb people do dumb things, not even thinking about the ramifications.

But Faith means we believe Him, we believe that He is good, we believe that He knows better, we believe that He is who He says He is, therefore, we do what He says do. Faith always COSTS something. Sometimes it costs us the control of our lives, or certain parts of our lives. God gave the earth to man at the Garden; God made it for us, that we should administrate it (the earth) in all its glory. When man sinned, he lost control and authority over the earth. For God to be able to restore man to that place in creation, it COST God the life of His Son.

True Faith always COSTS somebody some thing.

March 17, 2015

"Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

F orsaking
A ll,
I
T ake (or, "choose")
H im

Faith--Bible Faith--does not just evolve, or happen. It is not some "spooky-spiritual" thing. It is not vague or nebulous. It is a willful decision--a choice I make (aided by God's Spirit) to believe Him, and I give evidence of that faith by doing what He tells me to do, both in His Word, and by His Spirit.

I know of individual people--husbands and wives--who have no faith in their spouse. They do not t r u s t (another word for faith) their spouse to do what is right towards them, or towards the marriage covenant. Sometimes, this is in spite of the evidence--the faithfulness of the spouse demonstrated by word, gesture and spirit (heart attitude).

On the flip side, I know of people who will choose to place their loyalty and trust in someone they don't know, or have just met simply because that other person has bribed them with tangible things or flattering words. Sometimes that "other person" will say one thing now, and something very different or opposite
after they have gained the trust of the other person(s). Sometimes, the untrustworthy one will "trade" on something in common--"..but he's f a m i l y..."

IN WHOM is y o u r faith???

March 9, 2015

It is a dangerous thing to believe that we can measure eternal truths with only our limited intellects. I believe it would be like trying to grasp a person's IQ or their mental health with a scale, tape measure and measuring cup. The Bible does not teach "body and soul". The Word of God proclaims that we are spirit, soul and body. That is the reality of God's handiwork in creating human beings. Have you noticed that Jesus uses parables to describe the Kingdom of God? ("The Kingdom of God is like....") That's because it is so deep and so varied in all its facets that simple propositional truths come up short. Entry into that Kingdom requires a new birth. You are expected to grow into a Bride who embraces her Lord and Savior as she would her husband. She enters that relationship which is a new covenant--one of grace and mercy and loving obedience (think: marriage covenant). Jesus even said that the first and greatest commandment was to love the Lord, our God.

March 4, 2015: All the World's A Stage

And God is allowing Light and darkness to contrast each other ever more plainly each day. Will we see it? Will we cling to the light and abhor the darkness? God is also contrasting Truth and lies, the Real and the counterfeit. Will you be a voice for Truth, or merely for intellectual gobble-dee-gook? The line-in-the-sand which man draws is very temporary, at best. God is drawing a line across his-story, across the ages. Which side will you be on?

The longer you try to straddle that line, the more painful it becomes. And if you stay too long on the wrong side, even due to indecision, the more difficult it becomes to move to the right side: it's a type of spiritual inertia.

The ground at the foot of the cross is perfectly level. Not one of us comes with bragging rights, even if we think we've been obedient. This is personal, because God is a personal God. We must humble ourselves before Him, and allow Him the opportunity to reshape us into what He originally intended. Apart from that experience, we remain a counterfeit.....without salt or light or life; good for nothing but to be trodden under foot of men.

March 2, 2015

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:1-3)

The only true King is King Jesus, and His Father who gave Him the throne. He is the only King who is always working to love, bless and bring all peoples into His Kingdom. As we look through history, we see--every so often--a ruler who takes the responsibility of governing seriously, and seeks to exercise authority to govern wisely in a way that benefits the people. We see LOTS of rulers who sought to indulge themselves with the power and wealth of the office. The painful truth is that every dictator, or dictator wannabe, is simply a counterfeit king, regardless of the title they bear.

"Be careful what you ask for....God just might give it to you."

February 28, 2015

We, as a nation, and as 'Western Civilization' have arrogantly turned our backs on God, and willfully placed our souls on the throne of our hearts--a place God created for Himself alone. The selfishness is rampant among "leadership" and the common man. Watch how people drive, how people park, how people operate their carts in the grocery store--"it's ME, first and always". Watch and listen to how people treat other people--respect is minimal, because people don't truly respect themselves. And they can't respect themselves because, deep down, they know they are not doing right. They are doing what they think will exalt and protect themselves.

Only being born again by the Spirit of God, only by surrendering and receiving Jesus will we know who we truly are and feel safe and content in the Father's love and discipline. Without discipline, we do not know how we should behave and act towards others. Without discipline, we will not know the direction we should go in, or how we should carry ourselves along the way. Without His Love, we don't know what our value--our worth to God--truly is. Without His Love, we are INsecure, and constantly searching for something or someone to make us feel worth-y. Without His Love, we don't know what real love is.

February 19, 2015: It Doesn't "Just Happen"

"Therefore....I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." Acts 26:19

Some of us believers have been blessed with either a vision or a verbal inner directive or a prophetic utterance by a person giving us direction and vision for what was to come, and how we were to be a part of that. I have witnessed that latter example several times.

Here's the problem: We have all been taught the Biblical truth that God is sovereign and omnipotent. However, understanding those concepts from a merely human and mental standpoint, our inclination is to sit it out and wait for God to make it (and us) 'happen'.

Paul's understanding of that calling or vision requires obedience! Ouch!!

The will of man is the valve that God has given to each of us that determines whom and how much we will obey (cooperate with). God does not force us to do anything--He wants us to willfully love Him back, just as He has willfully loved us. Yes, that requires the enabling grace that comes from God. Yes, we must surrender to that grace.

The devil will use either apathy to entice us to do nothing, or the threat of pain to dislodge us from obeying God's will. Likewise, God will sometimes allow a challenge to arise to show us how much or how little it takes to knock us off course.

Father, please give us a fresh revelation of the greatness and power of Your love, and the willingness to love-you-back with that same love.

February 14, 2015

The infinite variety in people is a testimony to God's infinite creative powers. It is the servants of satan who wish to dominate us as a cookie cutter...stamping out the same shape from a flat piece of dough.

February 13, 2015

For GOD so loved...that HE gave.

God made Him, who knew no sin to BE sin.....for us that we may become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

It's not enough to acknowledge....in our little brains....that the offer has been made; we must humble ourselves, daily, and accept the offer.

We have no cause for pride or pretense.

God is offering us the gift of regeneration. To accept it, we must give up the 'mess' that we are to be transformed into the person God intends us to be.

February 12, 2015 (post #2)

Forgiveness is a remarkable and mis-understood thing. Forgiveness always COSTS the forgiver. But, to be received, forgiveness requires that the one who is being forgiven must acknowledge their own wrong, and desire to turn from it.

The forgiveness from God cost Him the death of His Son. For us to truly receive it, we must acknowledge our guilt, and desire to be different. If we truly long for that 'change', it will not come about by our own reason or strength--it will require our surrender to God.

February 12, 2015

No Band-Aids...No Long Sleeve Shirts.

I've been reading "Irregular People". It's about those who hurt us so deeply by what they do--or don't do--say--or don't say, etc. Those whom we feel we should be close to, but seem so insensitive to us as people--the "red-headed step-children" of their lives.

The author clarifies with examples what she means by irregular people and the ways they hurt us. She bares her soul, recounting the natural and spiritual progression she has gone through to be where she is now. She prayed for a heart to be obedient to God's voice--to 'want' to do what He had asked her. To forgive and to love, not out of her own strength, but out of His. And to follow His strategy in getting there. No counting the days or the time in any way; allow God to work His miracles in His time and His way if she just stayed obedient.

She is a wounded warrior. But the thing is, WE ALL ARE!! She has allowed God to be her strength. So she can walk transparently and not fear the faces of people because God is, and has been, her strength. Remember when Jesus met with His disciples after His resurrection; He said "See my hands and feet [the wounds], it is I". We can be like Him if we will only allow the Father to be completely ALL that He desires in us and through us and for us.

Today's post from February 15, 2016

The devil knows how to bring division into a situation, and in so doing undermine and destroy the foundations of what has been entrusted to us. The evil that runs rampant on the earth today has its roots in pride and envy. There are a lot of people who are insecure in themselves; they do not hear God speaking His Love songs to them, trying to bring them back to a divine sanity and His Kingdom community. This includes some real Christians who just don't know any better. Sadly, there is a streak of hateful, fear-based arrogance that is evident and manifest in the words and actions of real believers, pretend believers, and non-believers.

Those who lean and vote Left-ward seem to be the most hateful, but they are not the only ones. (Note the hateful things spoken and written about Scalia at his death by Lefties.) THAT is demonizing your opponent in a fit of self-righteous arrogance.

"Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." (Romans 8:9b)

And, NO, I don't see the words and attitudes and behaviors of some of the Republican front-runners as being terribly godly or Christ-like. Our Pastor is ever challenging us to be the Church, to pray like there's no tomorrow, and act like Jesus in our everyday lives. God's calling to every believer is to be a disciple of--and a witness to--Jesus. Not a theology. And certainly not of ourselves. We only impact the world when we act contrary to the behavior and value-system OF the world. There are those who claim the name of Jesus, but insist on manipulating the Word of God so as to conform to the culture of today. If you have not truly been born again, you will always seek to compromise with 'the world'. Jesus had authority (see Matt.21:23-27) because He was under the Father's authority (John 5:19 & 8:28). And it was personal, not merely propositional or based on principles. That's the pattern Jesus set for us to follow. We desperately need God's intervention in the world and in the political process. We must submit ourselves to His voice and His direction.

"Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it." (1 Peter 3:15 NLT)

February 11, 2015

I don't know if there is any real and significant change--inside--until we deliberately make a change in the "gods" we have inside. Whatever thing(s) or person(s) we submit to in part or in whole have the authority to really change us from the inside out, which is the only meaningful change there is.

A discerning eye will ultimately reveal someone else's "god(s)". It may be ego, their bank account, their power level, certain possessions, their spouse or children, etc.

February 8, 2015

I was blessed to hear a part of Charles Stanley's message on Friendship this morning, and I need to listen to it in its entirety. At the same time I am reading "Irregular People", an insightful book on those people in our lives (especially kin) who always seem to say and do the most insensitively painful things. And, when we seek to say the most delicate and intimately vulnerable things--it's as if they didn't even hear us.

Our Pastor Chuck consistently tells us that we must sit still long enough to let God truly love us--for us to hear Him say "I Love You" in our prayer closets, and to let that divine love work the changes in us that must take place. Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth, because he was always moving into or coming from the presence of God. Jesus had total peace and confidence even though He was the Son of Man, because He knew that He and the Father were One. His beloved disciple John said that the Law came through Moses, but Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ.

Think of all those you know who must "have the preeminence", who must always be right, who must always have the last word, who never apologize for anything, who must always have things their way, who must be the center of attention and appreciation. These are people for whom Jesus Christ has no authority--He is not LORD in or over their lives--and can neither be Savior. They need our compassion and our prayers that God would bring about a divine intervention.

Good friends can tease each other about their foibles and strange habits (because, as humans, we all have them) because they see themselves and each other as the fallen humanity that we are. We are in desperate need of God's mercy and grace. We see ourselves and our friends as co-equals at the foot of the cross. Sadly, those who must constantly strive to be better--or SEEN as better--than others are people without peace and without God.

James Robison: "It takes hurt people to hurt people."

February 5, 2015

There is an ancient story about six (or so) blind men who tried to describe an elephant. Each touched a different part of the elephant's body and the descriptions were obviously different from each other. Each man tried to express what he felt by likening that part to something he had experienced before. When we seek to describe some thing or some experience that is new to us, we try to liken it to something we already know. It helps to have a frame of reference when we deal with that which is beyond our past experiences.

Have you noticed how often Jesus said something like, "The Kingdom of God is like......"? He did that because the Kingdom is beyond our experiences. And one complex description can't cover it all--it's far too grand and glorious. The Kingdom of God is not something we can intellectually describe and present for people to ponder and someday make a decision about. Those individual decisions are moral--not mental. Will we surrender to the King--personally, not just an abstract thought? Wise people have observed how Jesus would locate [pinpoint] a person's heart with a question, or with a challenge. Note how the rich young ruler went away sad [when Jesus said, "Sell what you have and give to the poor"] because he was very rich.

February 4, 2015 (post #2)

We are not transformed by information or head knowledge. We are transformed by submission to a Person that we honor and esteem and [even] worship. That is why our time with Him in our prayer closets has the ability to do more good for us than most anything else. God would have all men (people) to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. God also knows that time must be allotted for that task to be done. We desire instant 'justice' (revenge?), but God desires a permanent change in the one who done-us-wrong. As we truly pray for those who hurt us--either on purpose or through insensitivity--we ask that HIS heart and mind be transplanted into that person.

So, we must willfully forgive, and pray "Hurry up, Lord!" And with me, too.

February 4, 2015

"A mental relationship with God is mechanical and spiritless.  We were created to dwell with Him in reality, not theory alone."  --John Bevere

THIS is why the New Birth is both Biblical and essential for eternal life under the Lordship of King Jesus. A lot of American "Christians" aren't because they don't understand that birth--natural or spiritual--is something you experience and KNOW you have experienced. Contemporary American culture has diluted the Bible word "believe" so that it only means "I think that is so." The Bible word "believe" has a Person as its object, and involves commitment to that Person, even to the point of obedience to that Person's authority. The Father is Daddy to all who are born again by His Spirit.

January 30, 2015

I believe that common sense and education by mentoring/apprenticing--i.e. discipling and being discipled are intimately linked.

Common sense is dying because the way we educate our progeny has been changed by powerful forces that do satan's bidding. Like Gnostics of old, we worship at the feet of knowledge for knowledge's sake--the belief that the one who has taken a lot of classes, knows a lot of "stuff", and has college degrees is the one who should have authority.

Jesus said, "Go, make disciples..." He did not say, accumulate or collect students.

If you read "The Peter Principle", you begin to understand why you may be thoroughly frustrated in dealing with people who have 'power', but no sense. You get a real sense of this just by watching brief excerpts of Congressional hearings. I cringe to think that our governmental beauracracy is LOADED with these kinds of air-heads. And I know that the private sector has their share as well; how often we see examples of..."It doesn't make sense, but the 'rules' say we must......" or "this is a new product, and although we don't know how well it will sell, let's buy 3 years of it to get the best per-unit pricing." The people who make those decisions have not proven themselves to be successful in the business world, but they do have a degree, and friends who have money and power.

I have been taught enough history to know that the D-Day invasion succeeded, in part, due to German beauracratic thinking, and, in part, due to American ingenuity. The German Army was not sent from Pas de Calais to Normandy in time because of Hitler's predisposition, and military red tape. The Americans succeeded because they knew the goals, both overall and those specific to each group of fighting men. They had the liberty to improvise a Plan B if something went wrong. That 'America' almost doesn't exist anymore.

January 28, 2015

Religion is always an issue of bondage. That's because the word origin for 'religion' is a return to the law. You know you are in a "religious" system when the key issues have to do with FORM over SUBSTANCE.

Relationship is always an issue of the heart and of discipline.

January 24, 2015

So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.  (Hebrews 6:1-2)

The true Kingdom of God runs counter to all our fallen human-hood wants to believe is the 'natural' course of things. For us to go forward in His Kingdom, we must go back--back to the basics--including time with Him in prayer [not just the recitation of our laundry list of wants] and His Word. Re-read the Sermon on the Mount; look at who the "Blessed are's" really are; "You have heard it said....but I say to you...." . These cannot happen without an inner regeneration of the heart by Jesus through the Spirit.

All the rituals we believe will fix the problem are just hollow. We require God to do a fresh work in us to be truly content, to be truly at peace.I grieve at the demonized people who have no God ordained way of dealing with their own sinfulness and their own flaws. They keep doing the same things, day-after-day, week-after-week, and nothing changes; and they don't understand why.

January 21, 2015

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  (Genesis 1:26-28)

Our Heavenly Father is not like a lot of our earthly fathers.

We all know [or know of] men/fathers who became so exasperated with their children that they took away an assignment or responsibility--usually in a big huff. I even know a man who was so frustrated with his wife's way of folding towels that he took that job away from her and did it himself.

Now, our Heavenly Father desires that we be enabled and equipped to do what He has called us to do. So He patiently takes us "around the mountain again." ...until we learn to do it right--to do it His way.

GOD HAS NO PLAN B! When man sinned, the sin problem had to be dealt with. That's why Jesus came. But it did not mean that our assignment to "Have dominion" got scrubbed. The Church has been allowed to believe that, once we are saved, we're just waiting to go to heaven. And we don't understand why the world is "going to hell in a handbasket."

January 16, 2015

Bill Gaither wrote...."let freedom ring through the lonely streets where prisons have no key".

Many today are enslaved in a prison of their own making. They bought "the lie" of the devil that said, "if only you do______ , then you will be great, you will have pleasure, you will be rich, (etc.)." Worse yet, they suffer the insanity of "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."

"Whom the Son sets free is free indeed!" It takes a Person, not a doctrine or a denomination.  If you are one of those, HE is your way out. But you must admit that you are a slave, turn against the "tar baby" that entrapped you, and call upon HIM. HE can free you, HE wants to free you, but you must desire to belong to HIM.

January 2, 2015

We were created to have relationship with Him--God, our Creator and Father. We were also created to bring Him glory by being the humans He created us to be--in His image. The Western Church has failed in its responsibilities to bring God glory by the way we live. We have done this by allowing ourselves to be convinced that our relationship with God is merely 'religion'--a set of privately held beliefs and the rites and rituals which we have made up to go along with those beliefs. The result is a church which is shrinking in numbers of committed members and weakening in its influence in our society and culture. Jesus said that we were to be salt and light.

To live is to grow and to grow is to change.  The Word talks about going from faith to faith and glory to glory.  This means that I am supposed to be becoming more like Jesus.  It does not mean that I have a greater intellectual, or politically correct, set of doctrines I believe in.  For us to MAKE a difference, we have to BE different--and not just different for difference's sake. There's a lot of folk out there who color their hair, tatoo their bodies and wear weird clothes (or not much clothes) just to be different because they crave the attention.  I need to carry myself in such a way that the Jesus-in-me either attracts or repels people, because Jesus attracted or repelled people. People are rarely neutral about Jesus.

December 27, 2014 (Lengthy)

A Moral Superiority Apart from the Person of Jesus Christ:  There ain't no such 'animal' !!

God gave man the most precious of gifts at creation--the gift of choice. He placed within the garden two trees, the Tree Of Life, which was to personify Jesus (John 14:6, Rev. 22:2), and also the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God told man not to eat of that second Tree or he would die. The serpent lied to man and said that he would not die, but that he would be like God, knowing good and evil (Gen. 3). The woman was deceived and the man freely ate and both of their eyes were opened. The sad fact is that the devil told a half-truth [at best] for they became like God knowing good and evil...but that was as far as their "God-likeness" would go. Their being made in God's image was marred, and they did indeed die.

Across this nation and around the world, you have untold numbers of people who--either as individuals or as groups--are committed to proving their own righteousness apart from the person of Jesus Christ. For some it is a political agenda, for some it is a doctrinal agenda (maybe from the Qu'ran; maybe from that person's understanding of the Bible) and maybe it is just a personal agenda/vendetta. And this will offend some--it's not even WWJD.

It is, what did the person Jesus Christ tell you to do or not do when you met with Him in your prayer closet? For some of you, you really don't know what to do with that paradigm. Jesus said "My sheep hear My voice" (John 10:27). He did not say my sheep will read what the gospel writers put down as what I said. God has not stopped speaking. If we are not hearing, it's our responsibility to get in relationship with Him in such a way that we DO hear Him. It is only as we hear and obey that we will have peace, because it won't be about us, it will be about doing what He said.

He can be found and He can be heard if we devote ourselves to finding Him (Jer.29:13) He wants to speak to us more than we want to listen--but we must first decide that what He has to say will have more weight than our own self-talk. He will forgive and heal and cleanse and change, but we must first accept the fact that we must turn from our own rightness and accept His correction and His changing of us (Is.64:6).

Relationship requires change and growth. In eternal terms, it requires the intervention of God (and that's our choice). Relationship with God takes place within the framework of a Covenant. Like a marriage, it begins at a point in time, it begins with a commitment. But it will require the rest of your life...in more ways than one.

Jesus is my righteousness. If I am in the wrong, He is more than able to bring me up short and correct me.

The most "not-at-peace-within-themselves" people I know are those who are driven to rise up each day to find more proof [if only to themselves] that they are right and others are wrong.

And, yes, there are those who claim to be Christians who fit that pattern (Westboro Baptist Church comes to mind as an extreme example).

As Jesus told Peter (John 21:22) "what is that to you? You follow Me."

Today's post for January 23, 2016

We cannot be changed or transformed apart from deliberately embracing all of God that we can stand at each point in our lives. Each day, we must enter His presence, like stepping into a scalding hot shower, and allow Him to cleanse and warm us for as long as we can stand it. Only HE can transform us into what He has always intended for us to be.

Today's post for January 22, 2016

Editor's note:  I know I've already posted much on here for the first day of this blog's existence, but I did want to share one post that my dad posted earlier today.  

Not sure how long it will take for me to catch up to the present day, but I hope what I've posted so far has given you some thoughts to consider.  

Thanks again for visiting this site; please bookmark this site and tell your friends!  

God bless,
Chris

God WANTS us to be spiritually mature and discerning. Only mature disciples can effectually further the Kingdom and push back the gates of hell. So we must ask the Spirit of God to teach us HOW to discern evil. We must learn from God HOW to deal with that evil so that we are neither overwhelmed nor corrupted by it. We must ask Jesus to show us and encourage us how to push back against that evil in a righteous and victorious manner.

December 18, 2014

Sadly, most people today do not understand the true meanings of words like 'authority', 'service', 'responsibility', 'leadership', 'sacrifice' and the like. Many of us recognize that certain people in positions of power are doing wrong and even doing evil, but they cannot explain exactly why.

John Bevere has wisely observed that authority is given to serve, not to set one's self apart. When men and women in public office do wrong and do evil, it is because they seek to use the power of their office to benefit themselves and their friends in a selfish manner--at the expense of those they rule. ( "Ready to RULE from Day One" comes to mind.)

It's a SPIRITUAL THING!! Jesus demonstrated that He was the ultimate leader: He sacrificed ALL for us. Multi-million dollar vacations at taxpayer expense do not constitute sacrifice.

December 8, 2014

Can I trust you with my sins?

Ultimately, I think this is the question that everyone who comes to Jesus wants to know. We have been told that confession is good for the soul. And it is--but repentance is even better. 

Let me challenge us who call our selves believers or disciples: Can someone trust you with their sins?--Are you approachable enough that someone who is willing to unload their "mess" knows that you are available and equipped by the Master to help them with that overpowering task? For "He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin" He has taken my sin away!! But only when I am filled with Him can I be transparent. Only when I am filled with Him can I represent Him--be His ambassador. For He alone is what the world, and each individual in it, needs.

November 21, 2014: Believing or Becoming

Romans 8:29 tells us that God's plan for His children is to conformed to the image of Jesus. So much of the Church and so many Christians have a minimal impact and don't know why. The First Century Church did not seem to have that problem, even though they were seen by many as either heretics or cult members.

What we believe is important, but not nearly as important as WHOM we believe. The New Birth is essential ( see John 1 and John 3 ), but we dare not think of it as synonymous with a procedure, a protocol, an ordinance or a sacrament. It is our surrender to God and our embracing of the Covenant He offers on HIS terms; it takes place in our heart and spirit.

We become like those we spend time with. When I spend too much time with just myself, I become set in my ways. When I spend time in His presence, listening to His voice and obeying His promptings, my heart softens and I sense myself becoming more pliable to His intentions. Jesus says in Revelation 3:20 that He stands at the door and knocks. We cannot become like Him apart from Him.

November 15, 2014

The Christian life is not about subscribing to a set of propositional truths. It is about being transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus--being God's ambassadors to a lost, dying, insane world. This means that we WILL be offended, often intentionally. The hard part is not breaking from our role--not stooping to "their" level. When we misstep and do that, we merely prove that we are not yet re-formed into His image. Even on the cross, He forgave ("What wondrous love is this..."). People were either attracted to or repelled by Jesus, because even though he was 'human' He wasn't like them.

Jimmy Evans teaches the insightful truths that our most basic needs are acceptance, identity, security, and purpose. Until we are spending time in HIS presence, we won't have those basic needs met. And only as those needs are met in Him, then the real change in each of us will take place.

We must each be a representation of HIM, first and foremost, then be the unique creature that God has created each of us to be, whatever that may be. Great cooks, lovers of flowers or animals, organizers, honest salespeople, musicians...whatever. As much as we dearly love the gifts God has placed in us, those gifts...and what those gifts make us...must not overshadow the God we are to represent. 'Being' must precede 'doing'. This cannot happen apart from faith--trusting God by obeying Him--which comes by hearing (not merely reading or supposing) what He speaks to each of us..