Coming soon!

See What’s Coming Soon!

NEWEST EDITION ADDITIONS:

• Re-edited: Reality of Halloween. What ARE You Celebrating?
• Think being a believer is easy?  The Cost of Being Christian gives insight to the hadships some believers will face. Jesus never said we’d have a picnic.
• If you read the peviously mentioned article, you must know that there is another side to the coin! Reward for Following Jesus tells us of they marvelous payoff we can and will receive if we are faithfull in following Christ! We have the mightiest treasure to look forward to!
• “BIG Questions” series- I will briefly answer some of the “Big Questions” that are frequently asked about the Christian faith. These will most likely come one or a few at a time. Part one is posted now at BIG Questions- Part 1: “Who made God?” “What does He look like?” and “Who wrote the Bible?”  and Part two is at BIG Questions- Part 2: “Is getting a tattoo a sin?” “Is it a sin to smoke or do drugs?” and “Is it really a big deal if I sin?” Be sure to look for more to come! If you would like your question answered, just leave it as a comment below.
• The Rapture- Is there going to be one? When will it be? The answer will surprise most Christians! Will There Be A Rapture?
• Is the swine flu something to worry about? Is it going to turn into a deadly plague? Or is this just the latest hype to keep us entertained? Find out here: Swine Flu a Hoax?
• No one likes to admit it, but nearly everyone, including most Christians, denies Christ more often than they’d like to think. For a unique perspective and a much needed reminder, read DENYING CHRIST

What’s being worked on:

I’m working on a new series that will discuss some of the most controversial and denominationally dividing issues; issues that, if we read Scripture correctly, would have no quarrel. Some topics are:

• The Trinity/ Oneness argument
• A short(er) summary on the timing & placement of the rapture. (See also the article Will There Be A Rapture?)
• Baptism: Water vs. Spirit
• Tongues- Types & Uses in the Church
• Dependability on the Bible- Literal, Metaphorical, or False?
• As always, the fight between Creationism and Evolution marches on. I will provide a list and summary of more evidence that the earth is young, not million of years old. (See also the article The Evolutionary Lie: Biblical Reality Proved)

As always, I’m researching and working on my book, Confessions and Professions. In the book, I examine the gifts of speech and language, and their impacts on our lives both physically and spiritually.

God’s Will Be Done?

God’s Will Be Done?

“Oh, well. I guess it wasn’t God’s will.”

“Well it’ll happen if God wants it to.”

These are sayings I’ve heard countless times. They are modern clichés in our churches and even in our secular society. Although, sometimes the thought is misdirected as karma or luck or fortune. Whatever you call it, the principal of it is wrong. Dead wrong.

            It would certainly be nice to take solace in the fact that no matter how bad a situation gets, that if it happened, God wanted it to. The fact that it would be God’s plan and not our folly makes it all the more easily acceptable. The blame is off of us and we feel as though God is still in control. It would give us hope that all will turn out okay. It makes us believe that we deserved what we got, and that has to be somehow sanctioned.

            The truth of the matter is simply this: God’s will is not always done. God doesn’t always get His way. To many, this comes as a complete shock.

“What about God’s plan? What about His control?”

Allow me to be clear on this: God is always in control, even when His will is not done. God is so multi-dimensional, that He can maintain absolute control over the entire cosmos and still be disappointed. God’s plan is so diverse that every possible mistake that every person could ever make, and the consequences thereof, has been accounted for. At the same time, God has allowed us the ability of free will and the exercise of that will.

Many times, a preacher will make reference to the fact that God is a God of second chances. Does that mean He wanted us to sin? Would God ever sanction something He told us not to do? Of course not. That’s why He’s all about another chance. Each time you go against His will, He is agreeable to forgive you and let you carry on with a clean slate.

Consider the Fall of mankind. Did God want Adam and Eve to sin? Of course not. If that were the case, He could’ve made it a lot easier for them to do so. He wouldn’t have offered Paradise as a reward for their remaining in perfection.

Then there’s the Flood. Do you suppose that God took joy and pride in having to destroy all of mankind, save eight? Do you really believe that He wanted the earth to be so corrupt that all the people of His planet, all His would-be followers, would instead choose to be evil? I don’t believe that for a minute. I believe that it was, and still is, God’s will that all of mankind follow Him; that we would all choose life eternal in His Kingdom.

Lest we not forget the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; two cities destroyed because of their wickedness, not because God wanted to be mean and destructive. To say that God’s will is always done would make Him nothing but a bully. That would mean that God took pride in every robbery, burglary, rape, scandal, slander, act of adultery, lust, pornography, every death, disaster and form of destruction, every lie and act of hate. This isn’t my God. Yes, He occasionally allows things to happen, as in the case of Job, but that does not mean it is His divine will. God is simply being truthful. He promises to punish the wicked, and both the wickedness and the punishment come in many forms. Friends, sin doesn’t please God, it angers Him.

Ø          “But God was angry…” –Numbers 22:22

Ø          “Now the LORD was angry with me…” –Deuteronomy 4:22

Ø          “Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry.” -1 Samuel 11:6

Ø          “Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD…” -1 Kings 11:9

Ø          “Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah…” -2 Chronicles 28:9

Ø          “O God, You have rejected us You have broken us; You have been angry…” –Psalm 60:1

Ø          “Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands?” –Ecclesiastes 5:6

 

So now you have read many times over that God is indeed angered by sinfulness and disobedience. But God is also love, so He does not strike just because He’s angry; God only strikes when and where it is somehow earned.

 

Let me back this up. As we consider eternity, let’s examine a few points of Scripture.

“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” -1 Timothy 2:3-4

This verse is very clear, and hard to take out of context. It is obvious that the Scriptures here refer to God our Savior. The fact about Him is that He desires all men to be saved. Let me ask you, is that what is happening? Are all men being saved? Will there be no one in hell, then, because God wills that all be saved? Sadly, that isn’t true. I would hope that somehow it could be factual, but I cannot ignore this:

 

“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” –Revelation 21:8

 

By that verse alone, we know that hell will not be empty. Not to mention anyone whose name isn’t written in the Book of Life and all the fallen angels. If God’s will is always done, we’d be able to strike out that verse (and the ones like it) entirely.

God doesn’t like to make that choice. What father would? But God did promise His Kingdom for His faithful. By act of disobedience, those destined for hell have in a sense chosen it over God. They begin “paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1) rather than choosing to follow God. That does not mean that God is pleased.

If God’s will is always done, then hell will be empty and all men will be saved. That would mean that there would have to be no consequence for any wrongdoing. Anyone could rape, kill, steal, blaspheme, etc. and be completely pardoned without ever admitting any faith or Lordship in Jesus Christ. So I ask again, is God’s will always done? No. It cannot be. God wills that all men be saved, and sadly, they won’t all be.

What does this reality mean? We must consider that we may not be doing God’s will. There can be, and have been, churches that perform a variety of ministry that is not what God wants them to do. In the same way, many have utterly ignored God’s divine will.

Say, for the sake of argument, a member of the church is very faithful in prayer- a real intercessor. One night while on their knees, asking for the Lord’s direction, the Lord speaks to this person. The Lord says, “I want you to start a homeless outreach.” The intercessor takes this to the Pastor, who brings the suggestion before the elders of the congregation. The elders bat the idea back and forth, concluding that they don’t have the capacity of staff or the finances set aside to start a new form of outreach. They justify it with all the other things they do, saying, “We have a food pantry, Sunday school, youth group, Bible studies, and we sponsor a child in India. We don’t need to do everything, so we’ll pass on this.”

Now imagine how this intercessor must feel. None of the elders or the Pastor was there when God spoke this command, but they chose not to do it. The intercessor knows that it is what God willed, but he cannot complete the mission alone. What is he to do? Without other faithful believers, the will goes undone.

 

How can we apply this to our own lives? We must take with all seriousness any person who claims to have heard from the Lord. If God has truly asked that something be done, we cannot justify its ignorance. It is our duty as proclaiming Christians to follow the will and direction of God.

“Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;” -1 Thessalonians 5:20

“Please receive instruction from His mouth; And establish His words in your heart.” –Job 22:22

“For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of the LORD;” –Isaiah 30:9

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” –Ephesians 6:4

When the Lord speaks, be faithful in carrying out His will.

 

“So Jesus answered them and said, ‘My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.’” –John 7:16-18

May God “equip you in every good thing to do His will,” –Hebrews 13:21

 

 

7 Deep Things of God

7 Deep things of God – 1 Cor. 2: 7-12

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory…But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:7-10)

Part I. 7 DEEP THINGS THAT GOD WILL REVEAL TO THE CHURCH

1. Deep love and affection –

That you may be able to comprehend….what is the width and length and depth and height– to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge… (Ephesians 3:18-19)

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

2. Deep displeasure – because of His deep love unto deep judgment

Then He shall…distress them in His deep displeasure (Psalm 2:5)

My own fury, it sustained Me. I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, made them drunk in My fury… (Isaiah 63:5-6)

3. Deep judgments – complex in purpose and nature

Your judgments are a great deep; O LORD (Psalm 36:6)

How unsearchable are His judgments…(Romans 11:33)

4. Deep thoughts – hidden plans of the mystery of God

How great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep. (Ps 92:5)

His ways are past finding out! (Romans 11:33)

We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory… (1 Corinthians 2:7-8 )

Also see Eph 3:9; Col 1:26; Luke 19:42

5. Deep wisdom – administration of His plans

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! (Romans 11:33)

…in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3)

6. Deep knowledge – possesses vast info

Oh, the depth of the riches of …the knowledge of God… (Romans 11:33)

7. Deep secrets – hidden manna

He reveals deep and secret things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. (Daniel 2:22)

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29)

The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him… (Psalm 25:14)

His secret counsel is with the upright. (Proverbs 3:32)

Part II. ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK

Called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” of whom we have much to say and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. (Hebrews 5:10-11)

Order of Melchizedek – Holy Spirit merger with perfect harmony of kingly and priestly dimension of kingdom.

1. Warring with worship .2. Outreach with gazing 3. Working with loving 4. Ruling with adoring – NOTE: ruling that is in the flesh is “me” focused however, adoring is “God” focused.

Dull of hearing makes a false distinction between the kingly and priestly heart and function. This false distinction exists within the heart of the dull.

 

Source: Friends of the Bridegroom www.FOTB.com

 

Politics. Stand for someting.

Politics. So many of us are just sick of it. Neither candidate has been telling the whole truth. Neither of them has a perfect voting record. Both of them love to sling mud. Its part of the job. One has to wonder, though, if being in the position of a presidential candidate requires such, let call it cruelty, and a heartlessness that you can publically attack another in front of millions, what else must that person have done to be in that position? Did they have to lie? Cheat? Break IRS tax codes and commit mass corporate deceptions? I’m sure that they did. You can’t get all the way to the top without stepping on a few toes.

 

He taxes too much. If you vote for him you’ll be homeless. If you vote for the other one, your children will starve. But if you vote for the first guy, they’ll lose all their education and become stupid rejects, begging for day-old scraps behind the ghetto bakery. But the other guy will take your job. And the other one will tax your new raise so you actually come home with $5 less every week. One of them will date your mom. The other will shut down her nursing home. One will have dinner with terrorists at Arby’s while the other just sends him a check at Christmas, even though they don’t celebrate Christmas.

 

Here’s what I’m saying: There are bigger issues than whose face is on the front page. Every day 6000 kids are killed by mid-term or later abortion. They refuse to allow Bibles in schools, so Christian parents teach home school, allowing their children to learn math and moral values at the same time. While the schools are taking a massive dump when it comes to value and ethics and crime and teaching self-worth, the state of California just outlawed Christians from their God-given right to teach their own kids. Now they have to send them to the cesspool of a school that will teach anti-creation science, thereby infringing on the rights of students to practice their own religion freely (but don’t worry, they won’t attack Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, pagans, wiccans, Scientologists, etc. Just the Christians.)

 

Let’s see, what else? Lets talk about gay marriage. I’m all for gays to have the right to choose their lifestyle- its their choice. (Just like my kids schooling used to be.) But I’m not for the whole gay-marriage thing. Sure, they can practice it, but that doesn’t really make it a marriage. I know, I know, they’ve redefined what “marriage” is, but it used to be a union before God between a man and a woman. Since most homosexuals don’t believe in or care for God, they can’t really have a union before Him that He will honor. But, what they hey, they ignored my right to practice my faith (only if it’s from the Christian Bible) by ignoring the 1^st amendment, why not ignore the other principals too.

 

So who is going to do what to help me out? Am I personally going to benefit from either party being elected? Maybe, but probably not. There aren’t a whole lot of things that are going to actually make a difference in the way I daily live my life. I could be wrong, but here’s how I look at it:

If one side is accused of overtaxing and the other of allowing abortions, I will sacrifice a couple bucks, even a couple hundred, per year to vote for the sanctity of life.

If one side is accused of sending jobs overseas and the other of limiting free speech, I’m probably going to have to go for free speech. There will always be a need for jobs on the US. They may not be the best, but we have too many people not to need a ton of jobs. We also have a lot of politicians going after free speech, even though the ones attacked are the churches and the right. Hmm.

If one side wants to build a thousand mile fence at the borders and the other wants to let gays marry, I will go for the fence. Those guys are great climbers and if they can get in through, over or under a military fence, then they deserve to stay. For those that can’t, they can still come here, but have to go through the legal process. Meanwhile, I stand up for what I believe regarding gay marriage. I’m not anti-gay, but I’m not pro-gay. I’m just ok-gay; they can do their thing, but I don’t want tax dollars going toward something I find immoral.

Bottom line, I can’t do anything about the politicians. But, then again, I will probably never have to answer to them. I will, however, have to answer to God. I will stand before Him and be able to say that I voted for the things and the principles that are on His side, His Law, and His eternal purpose. I will say that I stood up for hundreds of thousands of innocent children and supported their right to life. I will say that I voted against the activity that led to His destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, the activities that He calls an abomination. I will be able to say that I stood up for His Word, His teaching, for the right to exhibit by faith, to speak freely the gospel. I will say, “Jesus, I stood up for you.”

What do you stand for?

Purpose of the Church- A short answer

Question: “What is the purpose of the church?”Acts 2:42 could be considered a purpose statement for the church, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” So, according to this Scripture, the purposes / activities of the church should be: (1) teaching Biblical doctrine, (2) providing a place of fellowship for believers, (3) observing the Lord’s supper, and (4) praying. But there is even more:The church is to teach Biblical doctrine so we can be grounded in our faith. Ephesians 4:14 tells us, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” The church is to be a place of fellowship, where Christians can be devoted to one another and honor one another (Romans 12:10), instruct one another (Romans 15:14), be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32), encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11), and most importantly love one another (1 John 3:11).

The church is to be a place where believers can observe the Lord’s supper, remembering Christ’s death and shed blood on our behalf (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). The concept of “breaking bread” (Acts 2:42) also carries the idea of having meals together. This is another example of the church promoting fellowship. The final purpose of the church according to Acts 2:42 is prayer. The church is to be a place that promotes prayer, teaches prayer, and practices prayer. Philippians 4:6-7 encourages us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Answer:

 

 

VERSES TO READ:

Ephesians 4:14; Romans 12:10; Romans 15:14; Ephesians 4:32; 1 Thessalonians 5:11; 1 John 3:11; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Acts 2:42; Philippians 4:6-7