The Money God

THE MONEY GOD

 

A man robs a bank and makes off with 10 million dollars. He is never caught and his family invests the money and generations of his family become wealthy. They call it God’s blessings.

Tens of millions of slaves are transported to America. They play a significant part in America’s growing economy. Later, many white people who benefited from that slave labor directly and indirectly proclaim God’s blessing on their finances.

I’m not seeing much difference. In America, “God’s blessings” are almost always measured in dollars. Donald Trump and Hugh Hefner must be God’s favorites. Somewhere along the line we have made God a divine rich uncle. But God desires to fill our hearts, not our wallets.

Eph.1: Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

² Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

The church of Jesus Christ was never meant to acquiesce, much less embrace, the dictates and mores of the culture in which God planted it. But so often the church at large and individual believers as well have lifted up their eyes and seen how the heathen lived and what satisfied them. And after gazing longingly at their lost neighbors they began to acquire a lust for the things that enamored the kingdom of darkness. And instead of fulfilling such needs with the spiritual blessings given to us in Christ the church found their lusts could easily be satisfied by money and material things.

And after a while the word “blessings” always had something to do with money or material things. And when you cement an attachment to God’s blessings with money then you will easily fall into a deep trap. Without even realizing it you can become prosperous by leveraging the fallen culture and call it God’s blessings. That is exactly what has happened to the evangelical community in the west. Anything that positively affects your financial situation must always be God and anything that negatively affects your finances is a cause for prayer asking God to turn it around.

Jude ¹¹ Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

¹² These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
¹³ Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

These are very serious and even dire warnings. Could it be possible that millions of professing believers have believed in God’s hand and not on God’s Son? The church has brought God the sacrifices of Cain which are the fruit of our hands. Larger buildings and larger numbers and more activities are what the evangelical church believes God will accept. We have great organizations and well orchestrated events and even our gatherings have been well thought out from parking to taking offerings. Our churches are corporations and are constructed to mirror the world in most things.

And we measure the church’s spirituality by numbers and offerings. The larger the church gets, and the greater the offerings, the preacher’s salary gets larger and the requirements for a new pastor can now be elevated. When a church reaches a certain numerical level they usually require any candidate for pastor to have a “Dr.” precede his name. It is run and evaluated just like a secular corporation.

And when the structure and practice is designed according to worldly principles then it isn’t long before the Spirit no longer works within the structure. Even though there may be much activity, a growing congregation, and a wonderful building complex, and in general a thriving ecclesiastical unit, in spiritual terms it is a place of compromise and even death. And let us just take two practices and see if they are according to the Spirit or if they have been adjusted to conform to the habits of a western culture.

The church does not observe any days or feasts. We live in the Spirit and not in the “beggarly elements” of the law. But there are two and only two observances taught in the New Testament. They are communion and baptism. Baptism should occur when a sinner believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and is born again. He then is commanded to be baptized in order to make public his profession of faith. In some cultures that may cost you dearly, however in our culture it is so meaningless that even a fallen culture accepts it as a religious event that is mostly a talisman. It occurs conveniently at the end of a service or at the night service, but somewhere where it does not significantly interfere with the overall timetable.

Pictures can be taken, and many families enjoy a get together of cold cuts and a general atmosphere of celebration. Every person baptized gets a certificate which is proof of that event, and that baptism also is a necessary component to being a “church member” which is another element of being like a secular club. Being an official church member has been gleaned from the culture and is primarily so a person can vote in church business meetings. Voting and church business meetings are also another way that the church has been constructed according to the culture. And baptism is the door to it all. Some churches have even spent much money to have a wonderful place to baptize which looks like a lovely pond surrounded by green foliage and is accommodating for pictures.

Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, was instituted by our Lord at the last Passover observance. It is spiritually important and is a time for repentance and remembrance. In fact Paul deals extensively with the Corinthian church over how they were observing communion. It seems they were conveniently incorporating it into their church picnics. Yes, the early church ate together regularly. But in Corinth they would get hungry and so instead of waiting for everyone to arrive they would begin eating and consider that communion as well. Even back then they began to treat the gathering in terms of convenience and without the sacred aspect it deserved. How much more today?

 

Communion has been shoehorned into a tight schedule and observed with the utmost efficiency and with a breathtaking redundancy. Rarely, if ever, does it consume an entire gathering. And it is served to the entire mixed multitude without question, and after a person is baptized he is allowed to participate, which usually requires little more than eating and drinking when a prayer ends and everyone else does it. And it is an incredible show of compartmentalization to see how quickly the mood and direction can change after the communion is over. We even have a table for the event. And if done correctly it does not extend the service significantly and all is well with the world.

Rev.2: ² I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

³ And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
⁴ Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

This admonition was not written to an apostate church. It was written to a church which could not abide heretics in their midst. This was a church that would have rejected Rob Bell or Rick Warren or Joel Osteen. They did labor for Christ; they did have a missions program; they did see people saved; they did observe communion and baptism; they did believe God’s Word. But the Spirit said they had left their first love. Wow, what an indictment from God.

You would have thought that since they did serve God in those areas that the Lord would have cut them some slack. But God is not interested in redundant ecclesiastical constructs even though they might serve God in some ways. God seeks our hearts, and too often local churches have an organization which serves the people well but they have lost the passion and deep spiritual love for Jesus. And money, personal success, and the material world in general have become lynchpins for how we love and praise Christ.

But the Laodicean church in Revelation chapter three were lukewarm toward God but very focused about the material world. They claimed to be “blessed” and all their needs were met, however they were poor toward God. The American evangelical church uses the word “blessed” as well. “We have been so blessed here in America” is a well word mantra in the church. And what is meant by that can be defined it terms of money and material goods. When people say America is the “greatest country in the world” they mean materially and militarily. And yet God said the Laodicean church was poor and wretched and blind, even in the midst of their prosperity. They had earthly gold, but nor the gold of knowing and serving Christ.

I do wonder, though, since we have become so entrenched and so integrated within a dark and fallen culture, only a mighty move of God could ever break our spiritual inertia.

The Taking of a Human Life and the Worth of a Soul

THE TAKING OF A HUMAN LIFE

and

THE WORTH OF A HUMAN SOUL

A human life is a creation of God. Yes, God created the life that He knew would be unproductive, and that He knew would be named Adolf Hitler, and that He knew would study to become a doctor who performs abortions. God knew all that and yet still He created that life. I do not believe that God created the universe including man and then sat down to watch as an uninvolved spectator. Nor do I believe that God orchestrates everything like moving a chess piece. I believe it is a great mystery, but it is evident that God both intervenes as well as allows man to find his own way. Anyone who tells you he has it all figured out is enamored with his own intellectual prowess and is to prayed for rather than listened to. Anyone who can present an ironclad doctrine about such things by removing any mystery is playing an eternal game with earthly rules.

But a human life is much more than arms and legs. Each life, regardless if it travels down the fallopian tubes for several days and fails to attach to the uterine wall and is discharged, is still a human soul. Yes, without arms and legs and eyes and ears, and a full five to six weeks before the heart begins to beat, a living soul has been created. And this soul, even though only existing within a few cells during the first few moments, was known by God before the first atom was created. But to the temporal and carnal mind the concept of a soul has been all but ignored except for a few minor doctrinal tenants.

Through death and war and miscarriage and contraception, and perhaps the most vicious killing of all called abortion, the world has been desensitized to the taking of a human life, and we have also been completely inoculated from coming to grips with a human soul. We see murder constantly on television and the movies, and when I was young we played cowboys and Indians and when shot we would fall and be dead. Those were the rules. We can watch a car crash during a race where the driver is killed and we are startled and horrified, but how often do we consider the fact that in that steel wreckage a human soul was released from its human body and is has now in the hands of its Creator?

I have presided over many funerals and I can tell you that the earthly loss almost always outweighs the spiritual state of the dead person. Only if the person had been a faithful follower of Christ is there any mitigating factors. In fact, when a saint dies there is some sadness mingled with great joy. But usually that is when a person dies of old age or even a disease. I have officiated at funerals where a man has been murdered or someone has died suddenly in a car wreck. I once was the minister at a funeral where an ex-husband had kidnapped his ex-wife, a faithful member of the church where I pastored, and he murdered her and then killed himself. Surprisingly, the family had both caskets there at once for a dual funeral. Not your run of the mill funeral to say the least.

So when a human like is taken by the hands of another human being it is a most serious event. And if that person was young people will say, “He had his whole life ahead of him”. And while that may be true in an earthly sense, it is most untrue when you consider that person’s soul. Regardless of when anyone dies and at what age, that soul will exist forever in eternity. I realize the evangelical church no longer really believes that aside from some half hearted doctrinal assertions, however it is true nonetheless. The taking of a human life has eternal consequences and that alone must make it an act of war against God.

So let us come to grips with the reality of days gone by and the narrative contained within the Old Testament. God clearly has taken human lives in the past, and even used people to do it. Let us be transparent here and admit that many things that are recorded in the Old Testament are mysteries and do not seem to comply with the teachings of Jesus. That is why it is impossible to place the Old Testament Law of Moses in a bucket, add the New Testament grace of Jesus in that same bucket, and stir them into a spiritual meal which contains a little of this and a little of that. No, we live completely and exclusively within the church age where Jesus is Lord and His teachings and His life are our guides being empowered by His Spirit. When the Spirit of God came He was to speak of Jesus, not Moses. The amalgam of the law and grace presented by some is erroneous and has spread self righteous error in some corners of the church. You do not get to pull out parts of the law. If you desire the law to be your guide then you must embrace all of it; every single part of it from picking up sticks on the Sabbath to stoning a rebellious child. You cannot present your condensed version of the law and teach that your version must be followed.

Now having addressed that, the New Testament provides a far reaching template for believers that overrides any and all former teachings. Only God can sort out the “why’s”, but we are called to follow Jesus and His teachings. And in that context a human soul must be held in the highest of all concerns. Now if your main concern is preserving your way of life, or if your primary concern is to protect and defend a nation, than you already have made a human soul irrelevant. Although you may claim to believe the Bible, you do not. But if you do believe the teachings of Jesus, then you cannot teach that some souls are worth less than others.

During the last century or so, the church in America has been systematically taught a religion of moral patriotism and has been led away from the faith once delivered to the saints. Now I do not just mean the liberals and the Rick Warrens and the Joel Osteens. Even some of most orthodox among us who may loudly rebuke those men and others has succumbed to a spiritual format that has been severely compromised by the patriotic culture. In effect, when believer lends his love and allegiance to any earthly system it begins to poison all areas of his spiritual life. It clouds his thinking, makes him double minded in all his ways, and renders his doctrinal statement as compromised even when those words seem orthodox and in alignment with some ancient creeds.

And the practical implications of such a compromise are many and varied. From unwholesome speech, to hatred for certain people, and to self serving prayers, the infection of a patriotic spirit contaminates any disciple who wishes to remain pure and broken before His Lord. It puts the spiritual foundation of truth at variance with the entire revelation of the New Testament. And although there are many manifestations of such a compromise, the one most notable is the devaluing of a human soul and considering it subservient to the interests or worldly affairs.

Matt.16: ²⁶ For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

It is impossible to understand the enormous worth of a human soul. We are so prone to see and assess the worth of everything in the temporal and not the eternal. But Jesus said that if you gain the entire world it is not worth one human soul. That means if you could kill all your enemies, and if you alone owned everything in this world, and if you were the ruler over all the inhabitants of the world, that could not compare in value with the soul a little eight year old HIV infected African girl. And Charles Manson’s soul would be worth more than that as well. You see, it all depends upon what prism you use to see and understand truth. And even though you may understand truth in the doctrinal abstract, if we do not preserve that truth as we make practical applications then our doctrine is hollow and just a show piece.

If we consider the weight of the cross as it pertains to redemption and the implications about how God feels about human souls, then we must be driven to a more expansive view of the value of the human soul. And given this more spiritual perspective it will lead us into uncomfortable areas that we have considered as “settled law” in the practical realm. What I mean is that we have for so long lived within an ecclesiastical structure that accepted and embraced compromise that to reexamine some of these issues would not only be inconvenient and discomforting, but it could well lead to major changes in the way we think and act. And no one likes that kind of change. And I can personally testify to the spiritual and even emotional pain caused when I have had to face a Biblical reality, repent of my thinking and ways, and set out to bring my being into conformity with the teachings and truth of Jesus that I had previously abrogated.

The Lordship of Jesus brings everything, and I mean everything, into question. If we truly desire to follow Jesus as Lord, then it cannot be with a tepid understanding about that Lordship which is more prominent in worship songs than it is in our lives. Many things we do without a real spiritual searching as to the will of the Spirit revealed in the Word of God. In fact most professing believers have never done any searching even close to that, nor do they have any desire to do so. And that is not only sad and unfortunate; it contaminates the church and over the years changes everything within the evangelical community. Given enough decades without any deep spiritual vigilance or laying what we believe and practice comprehensively before the Lord in prayer and fasting, the church will slowly but surely comply to the dictates of its surrounding culture.

And when the church becomes attached to this world in thought, word, and deed, then the souls of men are not held as valuable as is taught in Scripture. That means men and women can die without the church shedding a tear unless it affects us. That means that many thousands can die if they threaten our western lifestyle and the church rejoices in victory. That means that the church can provide a written creed which says that Jesus died for ever person but then the church goes about feeling and treating differently. That means that the driving force within the church is not the gospel and the redemption of lost souls, but it becomes a matter of earthly issues and influences.

And when the church lives in such a compromised and spiritually treacherous position then the taking of human life becomes much easier to digest because the worth of human souls are no longer seen in the light of eternity and with a divine creative element. This is no small issue. In fact it literally rips out the core of the gospel and of Christianity itself. We can now travel to and from church every week without a shred of observable compassion for the plight of the lost. And only an horrific event that claims the lives of children or has a certain amount of deaths to it can elicit even momentary “tsk-tsk” kind of disapproval. But every day and every week and every month souls are killed and souls die to face a Christless eternity and yet the church service is always designed to lift our spirits and avoid any real spiritual evaluation. It’s the gays and the liberals that need to change, not us.

The world has created more efficient and convenient ways to kill people it deems as enemies. The drone technology increases every day, and soon they will flood the skies. You can kill people while sipping a latte. It is probably inevitable that some nation will use a nuclear weapon. Bombs are now guided to their targets by satellites circling the earth. And companies are making huge profits from these killing technologies. Yes, man seeks to increase his expertise at killing other human beings. The reasons are varied, you can take your pick. But we as followers of Jesus are called to His teachings and not the reasoning of fallen man. Yes, the world has created more efficient and convenient ways to kill people.

We should be thankful Jesus came for a purpose completely at odds with killing enemies.

We see arms and legs and mouths.

Jesus saw souls.

The Myopic Evangelical Church

THE MYOPIC EVANGELICAL CHURCH

In 1994, in the space of about 100 days, anywhere from 500,000 to 1,000,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda, Africa. Most Americans do not know that nor do they really care. The genocide went on without much of an interest here in America. The human devastation was almost unfathomable. Mothers, fathers, and children died mercilessly. It is too bad they did not have oil or were in America’s national interest. Had they been white Europeans things may have been somewhat different.

And during this time we could assume the evangelical churches in America were at least fasting and praying in desperation? No, that would be massively inaccurate. So just what were the churches actually doing while such bloodshed raged? They were playing a game they so often like to play. Three Blind Mice.

This raises a profound question for all who confess Jesus as Lord. Are we to live with a vision for mankind that begins and ends in our national locale, or are we called to see the humanity without race, without social status, and without national citizenship? In short, are we called to care about all people around the world or are our interests primarily, or even exclusively, where we live?

Soon after the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to seal and empower the first believers, the gospel went out into all the world. To have all the different Jews from all over the world in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost was a setting orchestrated by the Spirit of God. And when thousands believed on Jesus and were filled with the Spirit they went with Christ in their hearts and lives to the far flung corners of the world. And things of the Spirit began to happen at an amazing pace. The gospel bore fruit in almost unbelievable numbers and power until the rulers of this world became very nervous. No one seems nervous today.

And how did these new believers know to be concerned with brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world? Being so young in the Lord, and without the New Testament, how did they know to feel a sense of compassion for the lost and the poor? How did they know to support Paul’s missions and to give to the poor and needy people they had never met? And it was just that global vision that allowed the gospel to spread rapidly around the world. With no New Testament, with no Bible schools, with no television, with no Bible commentaries, with no church system for support, and yet many became missionaries purely upon the ministry and calling of the Spirit within their own hearts. Where is that today?

Millions around the world are starving to the point of death. Millions will die without medicine and proper medical care. Millions live in war torn areas with their very lives at stake every day. And billions walk in spiritual darkness. But with the knowledge of that situation we are colossal wasters of money and time. Walking a dry eyed and self serving existence we have constructed an ecclesiastical system which is supremely designed to meet our needs and wants with a small humanitarian corner designed primarily to soothe our consciences. I once mentioned to a very godly lady that people were dying around the world and she replied that we do not live in those areas. Yes, exactly.

Tragically the church in the west is just another consumer demographic. In fact many companies design some products in order to appeal to the evangelical community. A rich entrepreneur mentions that he supports traditional marriage and evangelical consumers by the millions flock to his place of business and purchase amazing amounts of his chicken sandwiches. Waiting in line professing believers reveled in their outward support of the already rich because it made them feel righteous. However millions of people were still starving. There we no lines to help them. Again, the evangelical community has become a narcissistic bastion of self righteousness.

We cannot plead ignorance. We know what is happening around the world. Oh we for sure do not know it as we should but we do know the unvarnished facts. And are we responsible to act according to God’s Word? Are there geographical boundaries for our responsibility? Surely we know the answer to those questions, and if the New Testament is true, and if the life and teachings of Jesus mean anything to us, then how can we wallow in wasteful abundance without any sacrifice? How can we turn a blind eye and a deaf ear toward those in such desperate need? What is this thing called Christianity all about anyway?

How myopic has the church become when we pass out voting record cards in the worship gathering and strongly urge people to exercise their Constitutional rights? That has become a passion within the church at the expense of following Jesus and His passion. We rush to confront the latest heresy and false teacher and yet just the way we live out the faith is heretical when juxtaposed upon the teachings of the New Testament. We are safe, contented, warm and well fed, and literally have need of nothing. The Spirit addresses that condition in the third chapter of Revelation.

All the issues of this fallen world have been adopted by us. All the economic and political issues and all the national and moral issues have become of great importance to the preacher and his pew dwellers. And when that becomes our focus, or even our hobby, we have lost the path of Christ. But once we have pinned down the doctrine of justification by faith and the exclusivity of Christ’s redemption are we then absolved from the responsibility to help meet people's material needs? Is ministering to the poor an elective? Has our doctrine muscled out ministry to the poor and needy or any worldwide vision, when in effect our doctrine, if Biblical, must compel us to be passionate about those things.

We all love to speak of the train to glory but do we love to be His living sacrifice while on that train? Could it really be possible that we will have to give an account to Jesus? Does the parable of the talents mean anything to anyone? The devil has provided a litany of false teachers and heresies so as to lull us to sleep concerning our own spiritual compromises and dilutions. The New Testament is replete with all kind of exhortations and admonitions about serving the needy and it makes no distinctions concerning the geographical radius from where you live.

I wish to provide you with some information which I hope you will receive in the spirit it is given. I have in 7 years only provided this information upon request. Approximately twenty years ago my friend and I started Uttermost Parts Fellowship which is a missionary outreach to places, primarily in Africa, which are in great need materially and of the gospel. My friend has the gift of administration and he has faithfully distributed the money to all the missionaries we support. He has never been paid one penny. He does it in love. We are tax exempt and send out tax information every year. If you are looking for a place where your money is assured of going to people who need it then I now provide you with the name and address of our foundation.

Uttermost Parts Fellowship

P.O. Box 61

Crystal Springs, Fl. 33524

Racism? Still? Oh Yes.

RACISM? STILL? OH YES.

So many people, overwhelmingly white, suggest that racism does not exist in America or that it exists only rarely. Because we have now many black doctors and lawyers and elected officials, to say nothing of the President, we assume that racism is all but eradicated. Oh contraire mon ami. Racism not only exists in America, but it still exists within the evangelical community. Yes, we love to point to a black friend or two, or several black families that attend our church as proof that we are freewheeling civil rights advocates who see no color at all. Yes, that is what we tell ourselves.

But the truth is that as long as men are fallen racism from all sides will still exist in the hearts and minds of men. Case in point. Part of the 1964 Voting Rights Act insures that no state or county can change voting laws that restrict in any way the free practice of voting, especially as it pertains to race and poverty. Any law that changes the practice of voting must be approved by federal oversight. Usually, though, learned men can hide their true feelings by manipulating words which are so nebulous that any direct accusation of racism is can be easily deflected. But every once in a while someone opens their mouths and allows their true feelings to come forth in revealing terms which have no linguistic buffer.

Justice Antony Scalia deemed section five of the Voting Rights Act as a “racial entitlement”. Now most of us white people would see that as a little brunt and insensitive, however it far more racially savage than that. In an unguarded moment Scalia has allowed a brief looking glass into the racial prism that still exists in this culture. The county in Alabama that brought this case to the Supreme Court was motivated by one man and funded by several right wings groups. And let is be known that Shelby County, Alabama has attempted to pass 240 voting laws that were blocked by section 5 oversights because they were discriminatory.

So you would think that an educated man who is so well versed in law and so esteemed by the academic community that he was appointed to the Supreme Court would be so enlightened that no hint of racism could ever find its way into his thinking. You would think that but you would be wrong. Most racist speech remains hidden in the kitchen or living room or in a bar or while traveling in a car. But sometimes it inadvertently spills over into the public arena.

This post is about racism or its twin sister prejudice. I want to address some issues which center around two points. First I want believers to see the truth about a fallen culture. And secondly, I want believers to see how racism has infiltrated the church. Do you want a one word expose on prejudice and racism?

Obama.

In the Senate there is a parliamentary vehicle called a “filibuster”. Any senator can block even a discussion on certain legislation simply by rising to speak and speaking for hours on end. He can read a book or just babble, it does not matter. It is an incredible act of insanity. Can you imagine having a big decision to make in your family and someone begins to talk so no decision can be made? Yes, that is how juvenile the government is.

But the longest filibuster ever recorded was in 1957 when Sen. Strom Thurmond spoke for over 24 hours straight. I believe that is even without a bathroom break. And what was the piece of legislation about which Thurmond felt so strongly that he needed to block it? It was a civil rights legislation. And no one knew but Thurmond had “raped” a 15 year old little black maid years before and fathered a mixed child. Now that is some hubris, but he was revered as a great patriot. At least he shared something in common with some of the founding fathers.

Racism is very slippery. It can hide behind talk of socialism, or liberalism, or most anything as long as it is protected from a public revelation. Years ago racism was accepted, but now it is considered objectionable so it must be well hidden. But while these kinds of prejudices are understood within a culture of darkness, they should have no place within the community of faith or in a believer’s life. But, sadly, they still exist and there is little preacher correction from the pulpit against it. In the late eighties I pastured a church when a young couple were living together. But the Lord got a hold of their hearts, and they both professed Christ. The next step was to be married, and they had two children as well. No problem, right?

The man was black and the woman was white. I set the date right after a Sunday morning service. Most people stayed to witness the union, however several “leaders” in the church left because they disagreed with mixed marriages. That sentiment quietly lives within many evangelical hearts. Comments with racial overtones are usually camouflaged, but the attitude still exists. Over many years I have found that unless you face that sin, see it for what it is, you will allow your flesh to cleverly find a place within your heart.

Those of us who grew up in America have been affected by racism both subtle and overt. And when a Supreme Court justice says that a law designed to make sure no law infringes on anyone’s right to vote is a “racial entitlement”, well you know that we have a long way to go. Since the church of Jesus Christ was mostly silent and sometimes complicit in the racism of years gone by, perhaps we can shine the light of Christ this time and openly present the gospel without regard to ethnicity. Until then we can never fully serve Christ.

The church must have a voice that is completely different than all the rest.

When we are called liberal or conservative it is an indictment to us who profess to follow Jesus.

Three Blind Mice

THREE BLIND MICE

 

In 1994, in the space of about 100 days, anywhere from 500,000 to 1,000,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda, Africa. Most Americans do not know that nor do they really care. The genocide went on without much of an interest here in America. The human devastation was almost unfathomable. Mothers, fathers, and children died mercilessly. It is too bad they did not have oil or were in America’s national interest. Had they been white Europeans things may have been somewhat different.

And during this time we could assume the evangelical churches in America were at least fasting and praying in desperation? No, that would be massively inaccurate. So just what were the churches actually doing while such bloodshed raged? They were playing a game they so often like to play. 

 

Three blind mice.

I Long to See Him

I LONG TO SEE HIM

I Thess.4: ¹³ But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
¹⁵ For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
¹⁶ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

It seems in these days of self help and "how to" Christianity that these words mean precious little to the church. Several years ago I actually heard one of the property heretics say “The only people who want to go to heaven are those who are broke!” I can hardly imagine such a sentiment, and it not only exposes a demon of greed and self righteousness, but it reveals that this man does not know who Jesus is. Who but a lost man could ever, EVER, compare what this world has to offer with the glory of being in the presence of the Lord Jesus?

Phil.1: ²³ For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

Paul did not just say it would be better to go and be with Christ. He said it would be far better. Why would Paul say such a thing? Because Paul knew Christ and His surpassing glory. He did not mention golden streets or gates of pearls or even the angelic hosts. No, Paul’s heart was to be with Jesus. And that must be the heart of every born again believer. But I fear we have lost the unquenchable anticipation that longs to be with Christ. The things of this world have captured our hearts and we now recognize the catching away of the believers as a church doctrine rather than a personal culmination of His gracious redemption.

Most of the church could not care less about this catching away. And even those who believe in it would much rather argue about when it will take place rather than salivate at its eternal implications and glory. Per-trib or mid-trib or post- trib are the usual suspects when any discussion of this catching away takes place. The post tribulation adherents suggest that the pre tribulation people will be unprepared for enduring the tribulation, but their lives are no different than any other believers. This is not an issue where you do much study so you can be correct in your eschatological chronology and exude smugness.

This event, clear in Scripture yet filled with mystery, is the beginning of a majestic plan which includes us. Jesus loves us so much that He has planned to come and get the remnant along with all those who went before. But all these pictures that show planes without a pilot and cars without a driver miss the very essence of this teaching. We will be caught up to be with the Risen Christ! And this gathering will not be some gathering around the piano and singing the old hymns. This ushering into His presence will be filled with a glory that is without imagery in this present life.

We will be changed, and we then will be able to experience eternal emotions that are centered upon Him and not the self serving emotions we so often displayed on earth. Worship will not be centered around music although there will be music, but our worship will be transfixed upon the glory of the Lamb Who was Slain. What lips can do that justice? What emotions can touch that scenario? Just to lay our spiritual eyes upon Him who was dead and now lives forevermore will be a gift of grace that is more than we ever deserved.

But the church has lost the vision of the Great Shepherd. We speak about liberals and nations and taxes and clothes and new buildings and great music and all the rest. But where in God’s Holy Name is the obsession we should have with Him? Where are the elongated times during the day where we remove our spiritual sandals and sit at His feet and consume His Words and worship His Being? In truth, where is the Lord Jesus in our lives?

Yes He is in our doctrines, and His name appears in our songs, but does He hold the place of Lordship in our daily lives? And of what importance is it when He comes in the prophetic timetable? That is already set and no man can change anything. The great truth, the surpassing glory, is that Jesus IS coming! Oh my. How have we lost the reality of that truth? That alone should shake our beings and cause us to keep our hearts pure before Him and completely resistant to the alluring influences of this world. Jesus is coming, and if we dwell upon the quintessence of that spectacular event we must be transformed.

He who created Jupiter; He who made the Sun; He who knows every atom; He who knows all thoughts; He who created space itself; it is the Sovereign Monarch, Ruler of all there is, who so desire us to be with Him that He will come for us. Can your heart even contain such a thought? There are times I do not even desire to be with myself, and yet the Holy One desires my company? Who can really understand such a Being and such a love? And when we stand before Him His redemptive power and His eternal love will overwhelm our beings in ways we have never known.

No longer we will be harnessed to our doctrines, for now those truths have been transformed into waves of power and glory. Our lips then can only speak of His glory and they can only worship Him. This transformation from the temporal into the eternal will happen in a moment of time. The Greek word for moment used by Paul comes from the word "atom" and is actually used to indicate a particle of time so small and so quick that it cannot be divided. And in an instant we will be changed from this wretched body of sin into one made like unto His. Again, who can know such a thing? To think that I will be like Him is beyond the imagination and is way beyond what I could have ever deserved.

But even in the light of this foretaste of glory divine the church is still in Martha’s kitchen attempting to clean the dishes of this fallen earth. When was the last time you paused and meditated upon your Redeemer? When was the last time you were moved to tears that was not elicited by a sad story or an animal’s death? When have you bowed your head and your heart and wept quietly in His matchless presence? Have you through prayer been so captivated by His powerful presence that you were overwhelmed and lost all sense of time? How much glory and love have we forfeited because we have become part of the fast paced culture and thereby have very little room for Him?

This event commonly called the “rapture”, will indeed be the greatest event any believer will ever experience. How many of us have watched a Passion Play at church? Or how many of us have seen the life of Jesus portrayed somehow on the television or in a theatre? And even though they usually take some license with all the facts, how many of us have been moved to tears? Have you ever been moved emotionally just by hearing a song about Jesus or heard a message lifting Him up? Well all those times will be completely irrelevant memories when we see the Risen Christ and the glory which emanates from His being and illuminates the corridors of heaven.

The rapture of all true believers both living and dead will be an incredible spectacle culminating with millions of blood washed saints worshiping Him who they have seen for the very first time. The colossal reality of everything we believed will only then take hold without doubt or shadow of turning. Yes, all the imagery which we allowed to enter into our minds has given way to the surpassing reality of His incandescent glory. Can you even think upon such a thought with trembling and a sense of awe? He not only has come for us, He has brought us forever into His presence. But think on this as well. We have so often let Him down. We have sometimes sinned in thought, word, and deed. We have not prayed as we should have. We have ignored the Spirit’s prompting to witness sometimes. Yes, and Jesus knows all of that and more, and yet that divine heart of love and the utter expansiveness of His redemption still comes to claim us as His very own!

Oh what a Savior! Oh what love is this? Let my mind be consumed with Him and Him alone. I am prone to wander and yet my Lord never is distracted for an instant and His love has never wandered a moment from me. I should never have been offered salvation, and even when He saved my soul I should never been allowed an entrance into the shimmering spectacle of His risen presence which no man can know and no lips can describe. I cannot tell you how undone I feel when I think of Him and when I think of me. This journey which began in 1975 for me has had its ups and downs because of me, but it has never lost its sense of wonder. I long to see Him.

I could have done more but I long to see Him. I should have been more surrendered but I long to see Him. I could have been a greater witness but I long to see Him. I could have prayed more but I long to see Him. I have sinned but I long to see Him. I have been selfish but I long to see Him. I have preached His gospel thousands of times but I long to see Him. And what imprisons me with amazement is that He longs for me. Oh my…oh my.

I long to see Him.

Repentance for Us All

REPENTANCE FOR US ALL

II Cor.7: ⁸ For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.

⁹ Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.

¹⁰ For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

The word translated “repentance” in the Greek is “metanoia” which means to change your mind. Meta = change and noia = mind or to think. It means to change one’s thinking or change one’s mind. So when we repent our minds are changed, and if our behavior does not change than we have not repented. And the only way we can change our minds and bring them into alignment with Christ is by prayer, God’s Word, and beseeching the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Only then can true repentance be experienced in our hearts and minds and lives.

We are living amidst a great spiritual war. What we can see are the residual effects, but the battle rages in the unseen world. Biblical prophecy is being fulfilled with each passing day, and the church that bears His name continues to slide into apostasy while most orthodox churches walk in spiritual lethargy. Yes we are seeing nation rise up against nation and wars and rumors of wars, but that is just God’s way to warn and encourage us. We must not get involved in all the machinations of man as he attempts to sculpt out a worldwide utopia. Our calling is and always will be the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ

We believers in the west stand in desperate need of a massive and life shaking awakening that is completely of God’s Spirit and is in no way a contrivance of man. We have steadily left our first love and in order to minimize that falling away in our own minds we have set our sights on uncovering heretics and false teachers. And hiding behind that which is necessary, we ourselves have fallen prey to our own fleshly lusts and spiritual lethargy. But no one can see their own spiritual need without the ministry of God’s Spirit, and that ministry cannot be effective without a diligent, relentless, and heart breaking season of prayer. And that kind of prayer is not accomplished in a day.

The first question that must be asked is do we really desire an awakening or are we satisfied and content with our spiritual life as it now stands? Or do we admit to some needed tweaking that perhaps changes things a little? Or are we open to anything and everything the Spirit would expose? And therein lies the battle and the great hindrance. Before we can be changed and then be empowered by God’s Spirit we need to come out from complacency or even denial and admit we stand in great need of a change from the inside out. But our flesh warns us against such a drastic and ill conceived adventure.

And so without being able to overcome the spiritual inertia which keeps us immobile we remain the same day after day. We are very adept at shining the light of discernment and correction at the Rick Warrens and Joel Osteens of the evangelical world, but we have little energy to shine that same light upon ourselves. Imagine for a moment that there were no Warrens and no Osteens. Imagine that there was no emergent church and no seeker churches. Imagine every church was doctrinally orthodox. Imagine the church that you believe is a true church and imagine every church was like that one. Now tell me, how much affect would that kind of church have in this culture?

Imagine every believer prayed as much as you. Imagine every believer read the Word as much as you. Imagine every believer spoke the way you do and spent money the way you do. Imagine every believer witnessed the way you do and loved sinners the way you do. Imagine every believer lived his life just as you do. Would that scenario shine the light of Christ so dramatically that the kingdom of darkness had to either repent and believe or place us in jail? Let us not pretend or worse yet lie to ourselves. We have all been affected by this culture and we all need a mighty cleansing of the Spirit that washes away the sleep from our eyes. And it all must begin with repentance.

Matt.17: ¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

¹⁹ Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
²⁰ And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
²¹ Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

The kind of repentance that brings forth spiritual power can only be summoned through fasting and prayer. Could our Lord be any more clear? And with that open teaching can we describe the church and its members as being passionate about fasting and prayer? How about us as individual followers of Jesus? Are we consumed with fasting and prayer? And yet we scream and caterwaul about this liberal and this law and this gay agenda and yet we are not even willing to follow the prescription given clearly by the One we say we follow.

Where are the church wide calls emanating from the leadership for days of fastings and consecutive nights of searching intercessory prayer? So who are we kidding? Our brand of Christianity is a redundant and innocuous practice that is mostly designed to minister to ourselves and nod among ourselves as we complain about the deteriorating moral climate all around us. “Tsk,tsk, how awful things are getting.” And that is pretty much the extent of our concern, a shallow and meaningless regurgitation of the obvious. The situation is desperate but we are not.

To suggest that this is the way to follow Jesus is preposterous and an insult to the Word of God and to His Spirit. I have watched as mothers and fathers sacrifice time and effort in order to support their children in Little League or Pop Warner football or in many other activities. They will buy their children all kinds of equipment and they will drive them to and from practice and attend every game and wash their uniforms and take them to sporting goods stores and willfully and cheerfully do all that is necessary to help them in their hobby of choice. Yes, they are fully committed.

But why is that not the case when it comes to following Jesus? In light of the colossal difference in importance between baseball and eternity, should there not be a remarkable and undeniable difference in the level of commitment between those two issues? Why is the practice of Christianity so less important in time and sacrifice than is the practice of baseball? We have succumbed to the dictates and allurements of the culture, and the culture and the Spirit are completely at odds with one another.

But as it pertains to repentance let us not assume that it can be assigned doctrinal status without a forceful power within our lives. And just to repeat the word in a short prayer is no more repentance than reciting the rosary. Because of the spiritual situation we find ourselves in, the repentance of which I speak must be a vigorous and forceful journey which seeks to die to everything that is not of Christ and resurrect everything that bears His Spirit. What is needed is a sharp turn around which begins with a painful inventory of all our beliefs and practices with everything on the table. This is no easy task since we have been comfortable for so long. We have become entrenched.

And as is the natural inclination of the flesh, we have embraced certain beliefs and practices and used them as comforting diversions which have shielded us from any substantive evaluation, to say nothing of repentance, concerning our own powerless situation. In a clever and self serving pattern the church can hold up the practices of the immoral in our culture and with that create an unspoken atmosphere that we ourselves are following hard after Christ. In fact, the church embraces and defends a capitalist culture which showers us with any number of luxuries we do not need and also practices a lifestyle of enormous waste. Our lives are filled with entertainment from a myriad of sources and a constant planning for more. And yet, in the midst of that egregious consumerism we have the audacity to shake our moral fists at the kingdom of the spiritually dead.

So who bears the weight of responsibility before God? To whom much is given, much is required. And when the Spirit uses the word “much” He is not speaking of material gifts. When God graciously shows grace and favor, and when the Spirit illuminates the heart to understanding God’s Word, much will be required of those people. We have legions of Bibles and translations. We have the Bible on CD and on iTunes. We have a Christian bookstore in every town with rows of commentaries and Bible dictionaries and Greek word studies. And yet what good do they do when you can travel to some third world countries and see people who have one worn out Bible but who live such a humble and Christlike life that it indicts us all?

Yes, it is time for all of us to repent. Until then we will continue to be swept downstream by the current of this hedonistic culture.

The Risen Christ

THE RISEN CHRIST





Humankind has for thousands of years sought some kind of meaning in life. Man has invented all kinds of religions which pacify his curiosity about a divine being and how to please him. And within these religious constructs are a wide variety of sacrifices and personal pain designed to appease or please the unknown divine entity. Some teach a system of self inflicted pain, or fastings that endanger health, while some teach in the west that God needs your money in order to work with you and make you prosperous. It is all a confusing mess but it emanates from a need to hold on to some form of religious spirit.

But in the midst of all the swirling religious notions and beliefs, is one immutable fact that renders all of the spirits of religion as lies and falsehoods. The man called Yeshua, Jesus, died and was resurrected from the dead. That is the event which openly separates Jesus from all other religions or ideas about the Creator. The resurrection of Jesus the Christ is the lynchpin that secures the truth He taught and substantiates everything He claimed about Himself. This is not just another doctrine of the Christian faith. The Christian faith rises or falls based upon the resurrection.

I Cor.15: ¹² Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

¹³ But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
¹⁴ And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
¹⁵ Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
¹⁶ For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
¹⁷ And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
¹⁸ Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
¹⁹ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

The Apostle Paul presents it with startling clarity. If Jesus did not rise from the dead than our faith is little more than earthly self help. But of course the reverse is also true. If Jesus of Nazareth did indeed rise bodily from the dead, then that erases all doubts and validates not only what He taught, but who He was. And that is the very essence of what those who believe in and follow Jesus are sharing and preaching and loving. When we say that Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of mankind and people ask us how do we know, then we only need say “the resurrection”.

Rev.1: ¹⁸ I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

And it was John which heard and recorded these words from the lips of the Risen Christ. He affirms that He was surely dead and has indeed risen from the dead. And you gather everything Jesus said and did, and everything He was and stood for, and wrap it all up in one large package, you would seal the package with a ribbon called the resurrection. You see, the concept of someone really coming back from the dead was so outrageous and so preposterous that if indeed someone really did rise from the dead it would carry with it eternal implications. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man winds up in Hades and begs for the Lord to send a messenger to his five brothers so they would not come to the torture he was experiencing. The Lord tells the man that Moses and the prophets had warned them. But the man, knowing that people no longer believed the prophets, told the Lord that if someone would rise from the dead then his brothers would then believe. Listen to the story.

Lk.16: ²⁷ Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

²⁸ For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
²⁹ Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
³⁰ And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
³¹ And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

And there it is in prophetic and even parabolic form. Jesus makes mention of His own resurrection and even suggests that when He resurrects that many still will not believe on Him. And indeed history bears that out. A person born of a woman, albeit fathered by God, has walked into the chief enemy about which mankind has feared, and He has walked out of that dungeon. That man, Christ Jesus, has resurrected from the dead. And that event was the capstone to all Jesus had taught and proclaimed.

And in the Book of the Revelation we see the Glorified and Risen Christ. It is most difficult for a human mind to comprehend the truth of that reality to say nothing of the spiritual significance of the resurrection. Why do people take vitamins? Why do they take medicine? Why do they exercise? Who do they go to the doctor? Why do they buckle their seat belts? They do all these things and more in order to prolong their life and avoid death. Death is the enemy. And all men attempt to avoid death for as long as they are able. But Jesus not only conquered death but He offered His eternal victory unto whosoever will.

The resurrection changed everything. And the glorious proof of that resurrection is indeed the Risen Christ Himself. He reigns in a place sometimes called heaven. So ethereal and yet so tangible that Paul could not tell whether he had been there in or out of the body. All heaven is mesmerized by this Divine Monarch.

He is the start, the journey, and the destination. He is everything to all His followers and in Him we live and move and have our being. He is our life and our death and He dwells in heaven and simultaneously in the heart of every believer. He has no equals and no competitors. He is the first among His brethren and He is the vine while His brethren were grafted into Him. He must be the pursuit of every blood bought saint of God. He is the object of all our worship and all the angels of heaven worship Him with us. He is the Creator of time and yet eternal.

To say He is important is to capture Him in human terms which minimize Who He is. He is not just important, He is all in all. He is everything. Do we think the blood washed waves of heavenly saints would consider Him important? They are consumed with Him and being made like Him they actually reflect Him as they worship Him. His dwelling place is beyond words, how much more He Himself? And for all eternity the Seraphim surround the glory of His throne and worship Him with heavenly chants of “Holy, holy, holy…”. And they, the angels, were not redeemed. How do you think we will feel when we set our eyes upon the glorified Savior who purchased our eternity?? We were not angels, we were disgusting rebels who thought of no one but ourselves. We were not content with Eden’s perfection, we had to have the forbidden fruit, and when God the Son came to this desolate place that was permeated with Spiritual death, we murdered Him.

Do not think that any Hollywood producer can actually portray the sufferings of the Lamb, His agonies are a sacred mystery which eclipse human understanding. And when I speak of the love inherent in the crimson cross we must all bow and shake our poor heads in wonder and unworthiness. Why? Why? Me? Why? The glory of the Savior God and His death is that the love that motivated His sacrifice cannot be defined. There was absolutely nothing, I said nothing, lovable about us. So God’s love is absolutely pure of any object impurities and His love was never drawn by anything on earth but it emanated from He who is love. We can never know why until the moment we are changed in His presence and we know then even as we are known. I cannot describe it, but when we see the Risen Lamb of God we will be able to understand more deeply that it is all of Him and none of us.

Jesus is neither renaissance nor industrial nor modern nor post modern, and all attempts to present Him in those terms tarnish the revelation He has so graciously given to us. To bring Him into this world and capture Him in our man made descriptions obscure His glory and run the ever increasing risk of creating someone else than the true Risen Christ. He is the deepest of all mysteries and at the same time the divine simplicity for our sake granted by the looking glass of the Spirit. The Lord Jesus sits above all creation, that which He Himself has made, and all things continue at the behest of His power. Human words can describe Him but only the Spirit of God can unveil Who He is to any woman born sinner. He is the great I Am.

He has been relegated to the back of the modern theological bus only to be discussed usually in musings about different perspectives of Who He is in this world today and, oh yes, how He relates to us today. But Jesus relates to us today the same way He related to those on the Day of Pentecost, the same way He related to Luther, the same way He related to Whitefield, the same way He related Moody, the same way He related to Tozer. We should not be so consumed with dissecting how Christ relates to us, we should be desirous to learn how we should relate to Him. Indeed. And I challenge you this Sunday, as you arrive on the grounds of the church and exit your car, restrict your conversation to small greetings and listen to the conversations taking place before and after the service. I had done that several weeks in a row and I had not heard one, not one, conversation about Jesus. How often is He spoken of in our phone conversations, our dinner table, our car discussions, our blogs, and the preponderance of all our words never mention Him. So there He sits on His reigning throne, above all the universe, powerful and merciful, august and yet reaching into our cursed world, magnificent and glorious, and His own people barely talk of Him in their everyday lives. If God would transport you, me, and 100 other people to spend 3 hours before His magnificent throne, worshipping Him in all His glory, and granting us remembrance as we returned, would we speak of Him?

Well we will not be afforded that miracle but we have been given many other miracles that should translate into an uncontrollable urge to speak of Jesus. He has saved us from eternal judgment. Oh my, how can we ever cease to praise Him? Standing in the grocery store and the Spirit brings to mind how He has saved you from hell, do you praise Him regardless of the so called embarrassment? When listening to a worship song and the Spirit again brings to your mind that you have been eternally rescued do you suddenly worship Him with your voice even if you are alone. When do we make a phone call just to share with a brother or sister about something the Spirit showed you about our Wonderful Savior? Who gets more mouth time than Jesus in the life of an average believer? Bush, Clinton, Trump, Shaq, MacArthur, and list goes on and on. And the One Who should have the preeminence barely is the topic of discussion on Sunday mornings. Let us repent before the King of Kings and the Beautiful Lord of Lords.

Finally Jesus is the center of everything. And when we think about His resplendence and magnificence, we must ask the question “What is man that Thou art mindful of him??”. He has accomplished for us what we could never attempt to gain for ourselves, and He has secured it for eternity. Our future is no time framed vacation, no, it is captured in the eternal realm and He has included us in His plans. And think of this, would it not have been gracious for Jesus to have prepared an eternal paradise where we would go to live forever? But instead, remove your Spiritual shoes, our Lord has summed us to spend eternity in HIS VERY DWELLINGPLACE. If that ever really soaks into our Spiritual realities, we will never be restrained from speaking “those things which we have seen and heard”…about Him.

There is no such thing as "Easter". Worship the Risen Christ every day.