Victory

Jn.19:16-18 - Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led Him away. And He bearing His cross went forth into a pace called the place of the skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha. Where they crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
I Sam.17:54 - And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem.

God. Jehovah. Jesus. All the attributes of God are interconnected and are inseparable and exist as one. But if there is one central revelation of the nature and fullness of Almighty God that more wholly unveils who God is to man it is the cross. If you could take all sixty-six books of the Holy Scriptures and follow each verse and each sentence like a divine path to its source and intended destination they would all gather at the cross. It is this magnificent act of sacrifice, death, and victory that defies human understanding, and without the personal apocalypse of the Holy Spirit it is foolishness. Justice and injustice; death and life; angels and demons; beautiful and grotesque; eternally planned but captured in 360 minutes; lamb and lion; goat and ram; common and royal; Roman and Hebrew; and God and man.
And the Savior Himself told us that the Old Testament Scriptures that the Jews studied, recited, and even wore as jewelry, spoke of Him. If you took a verse from Chronicles that only listed three men in a genealogy and as such seemed insignificant and unrevealing, and if you distilled it down by the power and guidance of God’s Spirit using the context in history and the lives of the men listed and other interconnections of the Spirit you would still find the cross. And with that understanding, the following story of David and Goliath is an historical and Scriptural alabaster box that when broken fills the heart of the spiritually minded believer with another glorious glimpse of the cross.
Even the little four year old vacation Bible school child has heard the story of how David defeated Goliath with just one God empowered stone to the center of Goliath’s forehead. It is a true story of God’s great and miraculous power over evil that can be revealed through any surrendered vessel and with the weapons of God’s own choosing. God sends His prophet Samuel into the house of Jesse and He instructs Samuel to anoint the future king inside this humble house. Now Jesse brought seven of his sons before Samuel being sure that the king would come from one of these. But Samuel did not have the witness of the Spirit about any of those seven and after inquiring about any other sons Jesse sends for his youngest, David. And David comes into the house stinking of sheep and in a blur he feels oil running down his face and hears Samuel talk of the King of Israel. The Word tells us at that very day the Spirit came upon David.
Not too many days later the Philistines were locked in battle against the children of Israel and they sent out a giant named Goliath to challenge anyone from the Israeli camp to fight him and decide the war. All the Jews were afraid and they did not know what to do so they did nothing. As it happened in God’s providence Jesse sent David with some food for his brothers and when he arrived at the camp he heard Goliath defying the army of the children of God. So David, anointed by God’s Spirit, asks, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the Living God?”.
They eventually let David face Goliath and with one providential stone Goliath is hit in the head, falls to the ground, and dies. So David runs to the corpse of Goliath, picks up Goliath's own sword, and severs his head off of his body, and upon seeing this the Philistines fled and the victory was won. Why did David cut off Goliath’s head? Well it represented a visual display of total victory and was proof that the enemy was completely defeated. But now follow as we go further through this historical account that will lead us to, yes, the cross.
Many times after a battle in Old Testament times the victorious army would behead the vanquished army or its ruler using that bloody act to symbolize how great their victory had been. In those days it was also a common practice for armies to display their victory by placing the heads of the slain rulers or military leaders upon stakes so other, would be adversaries would take notice and fear. In Judges chapter seven and II Kings chapter ten and elsewhere are examples of the heads of the defeated being used for emblems of victory.
But I draw your attention to I Samuel 17:54 - And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; and he put his armor in his tent.

There are at least two things that are peculiar to this verse. Why did David take the head of Goliath to Jerusalem? And also it should be noted that the city of Jerusalem did not as yet exist. It would be founded by David at a later date but it seems that the Holy Spirit was proclaiming it prophetically as "Jerusalem" for a reason. The practice of placing the heads of defeated enemies upon wooden stakes also served to warn travelers of the power that was in the city because many times the heads were staked high outside the city. Of course after many days the weather and the birds would strip the heads of all their flesh and eventually all that was left was a skull attached to the top of a wooden stake.
So when David took the bloody head to the future city of Jerusalem he would have placed it high on a stake to warn others of God’s power and to proclaim this great victory over the Philistines and that this city belonged to the Most High God. The place would become known as the place of the skull. Several years later David would take over the city from the Jebusites and name it Jerusalem, the city of peace.

Rom.16:20 - And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet.

Fast forward approximately one thousand years and journey to a place just outside Jerusalem. Look, there is the place of a skull, Golgotha. But so many years had passed that Goliath’s skull was now gone. Close to four thousand years earlier God had prophesied this day by telling Eve that her seed, the Lord Jesus, would bruise the head of the serpent. (Gen.3:15) Oh yes, there was something significant and symbolic about the head of Goliath.
More than any other identification in the New Testament Jesus is referred to as the son of David. In Matt.1:1 it is the first description in the New Testament of the Lord Jesus as “the son of David”. And in the very last chapter of Revelation Jesus refers to Himself as “the offspring of David”. So from the beginning of the New Testament all the way through to the end Jesus is named the son of David. The greatest Patriarch, the greatest king of Israel, the greatest warrior, and the most compassionate and intimate servant of Jehovah was David. And of course he was just a shadow of the coming Son of the Living God. But Jesus, at the place of a skull, annihilated the enemy and won the victory over sin, death, and Satan himself. This was the prophetic fulfillment of the victory David had won over Goliath when he had placed his severed head at Jerusalem as a sign that loudly spoke of a coming victory at Golgotha.
Through all those centuries the skull itself was now gone but because the event was so significant people had referred to this place as the place of a skull. It was at this very place that King Jesus, still wearing human appearance, slew the giant and forever severed his head and held it up openly throughout the world and for all eternity. And just as the skull was placed upon a wooden stake to display the victory, the Lord Jesus, Moses’ serpent, was placed high upon a wooden beam just outside of the city of Jerusalem to warn and woo the whole world to the everlasting victory.
And everyone who looks and believes in true faith that this sacrifice is the complete and only way into the Celestial City of Peace, the heavenly Jerusalem, will be allowed into the Great City and more importantly the very presence of the Risen Christ, the Son of David. And the Scriptures declare that one day the Lord Jesus will actually rule and reign for one thousand years sitting upon the throne of his father, King David.
Remember, this magnificent and everlasting victory was once pictured in the story of a little shepherd boy who defeated the enemy with one stone and the anointing of God. Every Word that God has spoken is intertwined with all His Words and they are sewn together with one scarlet thread that winds around and through the victory that was won at Golgotha, the place of a skull. David had severed the head of Goliath and won the victory for the children of Israel, but the Lord Jesus had severed the head of Satan and won the victory for the entire world. Only believe.

Bethlehem, David, the valley of Elah, a stone, victory, a head, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jesus, Nazareth, Passover, Jerusalem, Gethsemane, Ciaphas, Pilate, Herod, thirty-nine stripes, a robe, thorns, mocking, a sentence, a street, a walk, a skull, two thieves, soldiers, Mary, John, nails, a spear, and
blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood,
blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood,
blood, blood, blood, blood, blood,
DEATH

******VICTORY******

The Dark Side of the Moon

The mission of Apollo 8 was to reach the Moon, enter into orbit, and successfully return to the Earth. It would be the first time humans would leave the orbit of the Earth, and it would be the very first time a human being would lay eyes upon the dark side of the Moon. Since the Moon rotates once every 27.3 days, and since it revolves around the Earth the same amount of time, only one side of the Moon faces the Earth.
But when the men looked upon the dark side of our Moon, they discovered that it was similar to the lighted, or near, side. It had distinguishing craters and the basic soil makeup as the opposite hemisphere. The visible side of the Moon revealed with great accuracy how its far counterpart would appear. With a few features that would distinguish them, they were completely alike.

“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” (NIV)

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;

And therein lies the greatest mystery of all. Jesus is separate from the Father and yet the same. Go ahead, explain that; dissect that. Some Christian sects suggest that Jesus is the Father and the Spirit, and there is no Trinity as we understand it. I can excuse such a theology since the mystery is far greater than can be captured in some systematic theology. Like explaining the color “red” to a person born blind, with what words do you use to explain a spirit, much less the Godhead? The inexcusable theology is when men suggest that Jesus was not divine.
And it is that very spiritual truth that I want to explore. Exploring a mystery is a daunting task, but when the mystery is the Lord Jesus then it is also exhilarating and glorious! And we have as our guide the Spirit and the Holy Words He wrote through the hands of men. I do not speak of some scientific exploration or fact finding mission. How many believers treat the scriptures and the Christ as they would treat mathematical problems or instructional manuals? But this is much more than an expedition, this is a pilgrimage.
We are not searching for God in the abstract or in a vacuum. We are looking for God through the exclusive looking glass of His Son Who is both the window and that which appears through the window. Do you understand that concept? Jesus is the express image of the Father and yet John says He was with God in the beginning. I hope you can feel how sacred and ethereal the ground is becoming as we step carefully into this spiritual expanse. So often we are guilty of making God a set of do’s and don’ts.
Any religion that seeks God without embracing Jesus as His only begotten Son looks in vain. They are man made houses of cards that use the glue of morality, ritual, intellect, and the works of man as its foundation. There is no wiggle room and there can be no negotiation; Jesus is the one and only Creator God. He is not just the way shower, He is THE way. Through Him and His death and resurrection there was provided an escape, a rescue, through which any sinner born of woman can believe and be saved. And if you are searching for God, look no further than Jesus.

Like the near side of the moon, Jesus reveals the Father whom we have not seen. This is no ordinary mystery; this is THE mystery. But Jesus Himself publicly claimed to be the answer to this mystery, and He made sure His words were etched in paper and preserved throughout history. Even though wicked men attempted to eradicate and destroy the Scriptural record of His teachings, He was faithful to preserve them. And faced with the open and obvious teachings from His own lips, other wicked men attempt to change and distort what the Christ has said.
Look at Jesus. See the Father God. Two as one. Profound. Deep. And for our benefit God has given Himself names that mean something to us like Father and Son, and yet God is a spirit. The revelation is expansive and beyond human capture, but it has also been presented in childlike form. Man craves technology and knowledge and he rejects things that seem beneath him and without the necessary intellectual challenges that draw self applause. To the post modern mind, Jesus is way too simple to be the complete definition of the Creator. Sinners demand a hearing and are way too sophisticated to embrace profundity when it appears in simplicity.
Things that tingle the mind feed the fallen nature. Philosophy and imaginations fueled by “what if’s” and “How about’s” are gobbled up by the fallen masses educated by heathens and infidels. And the simple and humble man born to a peasant woman who allowed himself to be murdered is not even worthy of honorable mention when it comes to who is God. But He will be mentioned only if He is stripped of His claims and presented as a good or great man who had good ideas and probably manifested some divine traits.
But if a man stands and declares that he does not believe the far side of the Moon resembles the near side he is called a fool. But men who declare that God looks nothing like Jesus are called intellects. But every once in while one of their own countermands that dictate and leaves the reservation. Every once in a while the Spirit soars the wall and lights upon one of these intellects, and in a miracle that sinner comes to childlike faith in the Lord Jesus.
And when asked what is God like, the born again follower replies, “God is like Jesus. Jesus is God.” And that is usually unpalatable to the carnal mind and the fallen religious mind. It is not that God is simple. He is deeper and more profound than human minds could ever comprehend, but He has lovingly condescended in order to reach us. And God wasn’t satisfied with reaching out to us; He became one of us. Coming to us as a man, and in the likeness of sinful flesh, God says through the lips of Judah’s son, His own lips, “I AM. You who seek God, look at Me. I am God."
John tells us that it does not yet appear exactly what we will be when we get to the eternal dimension, but we do know we will be like Him. Who? Jesus. Read the Book of the Revelation and you will find something very curious. The Father and the Spirit willingly take a back seat, and the centerpiece of the book is Jesus the Risen Christ, the Lamb of God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. The unseen side of God has now been revealed. And He doesn’t just look like Jesus…He is Jesus. The mystery is solved as the mystery continues. Halleluiah to the Redeemer King!!!

We Shall Never Die

I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

Thanksgiving

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

All our hopes? Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground. There can be only one hope and one source of our praise…Jesus. Everything we have, everything we are, and everything we will be is all because of Him. How we seem to forget and limit what He has done and continues to do and will complete, all for us. I do not remember pilgrims at this time. I remember and give thanks to the Great Redeemer and I remember the price He paid.

As we neatly cut the turkey and find room on our plates for all the food, let us be consumed with the aroma of His power and presence. He alone was worthy to suffer in our place and His face was set like a flint to be our slaughtered Lamb. I cannot put into words how unworthy I feel when I think about Him and His passion. To say I have fallen short is to elevate myself far above that which actually reveals the gaping chasm between my true self and His true salvation. I bring nothing of any value and no moral or spiritual merit. What He has freely bestowed upon me is all grace.

In my mind I’m going to be with Him forever. I abhor myself for having any affection for the things of this world. Spurgeon once stated that, “when we first set our eyes upon the Risen Christ we will consider ourselves a thousand fools for having been allured by anything other than Jesus”. Just the passing thought of eternal life is beyond me. And Jesus would have been so very gracious to save me and prepare an eternal paradise for me where I would live in perfect ecstasy. But He promised to prepare a place for me with Him…forever.

Oh heart and mind, how incompetent you are to fully embrace such fairy tales! I think that if I ever believed that in all its glory I would die at that very moment. I am such an unworthy sinner who deserves nothing, much less an eternity with my wonderful Creator. Oh lips, you are so accomplished at spewing forth so much nonsense and worthless chatter; when will you surrender completely to bringing forth that which always honors and lifts up Him? And you mind, how practiced you have become in wandering around and touching all kinds of useless and even sinful things; when will you settle upon Him and deepen the stakes and lengthen the cords of your tent right there? And you, heart, why do you listen to those sirens which do not profit?

And so I come before the blood drenched Roman planks, and I bow my sinful head and worship with a broken spirit and grateful heart. My Creator has loved me so deeply that He took my well deserved place of punishment, and He gave me a gift that soars above my ability to repay in the smallest way. He gave me Himself. All I can do is praise His matchless name…forever.

Celebrating Christmas?

Here is a good study on when Jesus was born.

Jesus was not born in December, and the holiday called “Christmas” is a man made construct designed primarily to benefit man and not God. It is curious that gifts are given to each other when Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of Jesus’ birthday. Where are His gifts? The holiday itself has become a spectacle of hedonism and consumerism with a touch of religious sentimentalism. Great and expensive Christmas pageants are presented around the country while other believers are persecuted, live in prisons, or even starve elsewhere in the world.

If the church began to celebrate Christmas during Rosh Hashanah or on Yom Kippur, it might be more appropriate. And if we celebrated it with joy and worship without the clamor of presents and credit card enthusiasm, it might be much more representative of our faith. The world has not adopted our holiday, we’ve adopted theirs. The New Testament exhorts us not to observe days, especially days which we have invented. When we mold our faith and our God into things that are events to watch and be entertained, then we have removed the spiritual essence of our faith.

The observable manifestation of Jesus should always be embedded in the lives of those who profess His name and follow His Lordship. Theatrical presentations can be used for evangelism, and some people have come to Christ through Christmas pageants, but the observance of Christmas has now become a western spectacle that is so void of anything resembling Jesus or the New Testament, that even Jews and other religions celebrate it without feeling that they are compromising their own faith.

I attempt to avoid being legalistic or hysterical about the issue of Christmas, but I do not observe it any longer. The most insidious forms of paganism are those which shroud themselves in Christian verbiage and even go so far as to claim to be Christian observances in and of themselves. When a believer dresses up his child as Moses and allows him to collect candy on Halloween, that might be an issue. However, at least no one claims that Halloween is a Christian observance. But what if Halloween began as a ecclesiastical holiday designed to promote giving as outlined in John 3:16? And if over the years the goblins and ghosts had consumed that holiday to where they were the focus and not God’s gift of His only Son, would it still be appropriate for believers to celebrate it?

Gal.4:9-11 - But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

The account in Luke concerning the birth of Jesus was specifically designed to reveal His divine birth, and present Him as the virgin born Savior of the world. No New Testament writers recall with any specificity that event, and Paul says only that “in the fulness of time God sent His Son”. The birth of Jesus was not meant to become a holiday, and surely not the disgusting display it has become today. It makes us feel good and gives us that Norman Rockwell holiday spirit, but it is a mirage and a deception that for the most part draws us away from Christ and not to Him.

And yet those that trumpet their literal Bible stance are reticent to even address the issue, much less repent and adjust their celebration accordingly. I do realize that in the course of what is entrenched and accepted I am considered a nut and a Scrooge. I take no pride in that and I am aware that many committed believers celebrate Christmas.. (The word itself is compromise.) But perhaps Jesus is not returning as soon as some of us believe. And if so, perhaps God wants to sanctify His people in anticipation of a mighty move of His Spirit.

I do not believe in a world wide revival, however I do believe pockets of revival are possible if God’s people are willing to allow themselves to be pruned by the Sword of the Spirit. But if we resist being challenged in the obvious issues, how will we bow willingly to the more painful and sacrificial ones? And in the end, what have we sacrificed for Jesus and His kingdom?

The Lord has place a difference between you and the Egyptians.

Where is that difference? Where is that sweet smelling fragrance that identifies us as humble reflections of the Lord Jesus? I ask you this question: What holiday do we as believers celebrate that the world does not? The truth is that the New Testament exhorts us not to celebrate holidays, especially those in concert with the world. The historical birth of God the Son was probably in September or early October, but the greatest replication of that birth takes place when a sinner believes on the Lord Jesus and Jesus is “birthed” inside his mortal being.

When we celebrate communion, we do not eat candy straw out of plastic mangers. We eat bread and wine that represents the blood and body of Jesus on the cross, and we do that looking forward until He comes. But in true Israelite fashon, we have taken that which is good and made it into an idol. Do we celebrate the circumcision of the infant Jesus? In this latter part of December, I exhort you to take inventory of what is happening all around you. I believe the Spirit will reveal to you how much He disapproves of what men suggest comes from God. If you want to accurately observe the birth of Jesus, you will have to wait for naxt fall. This year's date has already passed.

Can You Be That Blind?

I have since the year 2000 been a strong advocate for believers in Jesus to withdraw completely from politics. Usually, though, evangelicals who do participate in politics are Republicans. But just the fact that Sarah Palin is considered a qualified candidate for the office of president should reveal how shallow and blind the political arena has become.

It has become a pitiful cartoon.

The Doctrinal Proletariat's Axiom

The highest attribute is love, the highest love is redemption, and the highest redemption is the cross.

Using the Name of the Lord in Vain

Beginning in the 15th century, slave ships took more than 12 million people out of Africa. The vast majority went to the Americas. In 1776, a medium sized ship docked along the island of Madagascar. The ship was equipped to hold approximately 100 or more slaves. It is assumed that the white captain of the ship called Meermin paid the king of the village Toulier to ask some of his people to visit the ship, unaware that they would be caught and shackled.
After the Africans were secured below deck, the ship set sail for Cape Town. The conditions of these ships were unimaginable. The temperature averaged over 100 degrees, and the air was so compromised that often it became impossible to even light a match. Only a couple portals were available to the 100 plus slaves, and it was almost inevitable that some would die to disease. The white slave traders always figured in deaths when assessing how many slaves they would take aboard. And many slave traders took some extra slaves that they would not document but sell for their own profit.
But something happened on this ship. The white slave traders made the slaves clean their firearms, and led by one slave, these slaves rebelled against the slave traders. Many were killed, and the slaves took control over the ship. The captain and his crew had deceived the slaves into thinking they had returned to Madagascar when in fact they were anchored off the coast of a Dutch settlement. The sentence for a slave who attacked his master was death by impalement on a stake.
Fearing for their lives, and locked inside the gun room, the slave traders write a letter to the Dutch farmers and place it in a bottle in hopes it will be found and read. Here is what that letter said:

*******
Through the guidance of our Almighty and beloved God, the 140 male and female slaves which we exchanged at Madagascar have revolted and taken over the Meermin. About 70 of them went ashore with the boat but at least 50 have remained on board. 32 of the Europeans are still alive, but most of them are wounded. The slaves are in control of the whole ship, except for the gunroom, to which we have fled.

Although we trust in the Lord to save us we kindly request the finder of this letter to light three fires on the beach and stand guard at these behind the dunes, should the ship run aground, so that the slaves may not become aware that this is a Christian country. They will certainly kill us if they establish that we made them believe that this is their country.

In the name of the Lord we remain your obedient servant.
*******

Now can you imagine such a thing? Men have surreptitiously enslaved other men, ripped them from their home and their families, and placed them in conditions that endangered their lives as they sailed for the slave trading docks of Cape Town. And when faced with the specter of losing their own lives, they use the name of God and profess their faith in Him to save them. It is the absolute height of deception and self righteousness, and it illustrates just how deeply men can be deceived into believing God is on their side when in reality He abhors their very conduct. Shocking, you say?
Indeed. But think about this shocking scenario. Imagine people who profess Christ taking up arms and slaughtering other people because these people, or their countrymen, slaughtered the countrymen of the professing believers. Imagine them dropping indiscriminate bombs that kill and maim thousands of men, women, and children. Imagine these actions were in defense of a standard of living that these believers thought would be decreased.
But also image that these professing believers would bomb villages in countries that they assumed would in the future present a security risk to the country in which they lived in accordance with God’s will. And regardless of whether or not their fellow soldiers were believers, these Christians would gladly kill with them. Now like the slave traders, these believers had been brought up in a culture that taught them that violence was acceptable in God’s sight, just as these slave traders had been taught that God approved slavery.
So not only did they not question their behavior, they believed that they had divine favor. And just like the letter written by the slave traders, these believers prayed that God would protect their soldiers as they killed others, including women and children, and that God would give them victory in their military campaigns. Victory, of course, must be translated as killing more of the enemy than the enemy kills of you. And the only reason you and I see some difference between the slave traders invoking God’s help in their endeavor and Christians invoking God’s help in war is because we have been taught from birth that it is divinely acceptable, just as had the slave traders been taught from birth that slavery was acceptable.
Step back and see that man has constructed his own god and called him “jesus”. This jesus takes sides against other countries and abrogates his own commandments when it comes to violence and war, especially when a democracy is involved which has a large professing Christian contingent. A believer is not allowed by God to kill his neighbor when that neighbor constructs a fence two feet into his property and refuses to move it, but he is allowed to kill his distant neighbor if that neighbor encroaches his land elsewhere. What kind of convoluted Christianity is that? Let us be honest about it, we refuse to give up our lives for Christ. As Patton put it, “I don’t want our men to die for their country, let the enemy die for his!”
And there you have it. When it comes to sacrifice and being like Jesus, we use the tired and safe illustration of being patient when someone cuts you off in traffic. How pitiful we are to illustrate Christlikeness with such a shallow and worthless model that elicits no real sacrifice, much less any danger to our lifestyle or very lives. We are soft and comfortable and squeal at the first sign of discomfort, or God forbid, any abridgment of our earthly rights. But we have to preach about sacrifice so we talk about financial commitments to building programs or teaching a Sunday School class or helping teenagers go to camp. But where is the call to mirror Stephen and die with forgiveness on our lips for our persecutors?
Peter picks up a sword to protect Jesus and yet Peter is not only rebuked, Jesus heals the man who came for His life!! What Christianity are we practicing today? And in the tradition of the slave traders, we invoke God’s blessing upon our actions even though they are in direct violation of the Scriptures which we claim to believe. And even while waging war and violence by claiming self defense, we glibly leaf through Fox’s Book of Martyrs and revel in their courage, but we are blind to that which indicts us through the sacrifice of those same martyrs. Why didn’t the friends of those martyrs pick up swords and rescue their friends?
If the community of Christ followers had in these last few centuries became peaceful and humble followers of the Lord Jesus, and moderate livers whose lifestyles were significantly different then the culture, perhaps His power and Person would have been much more tangible throughout communities in which we lived. But as has evolved, we have become faithful Americans whose religion is not much more than a box to be checked every ten years when the census is taken.
But let the lost around the world beware. If you attempt to threaten our lives or our lifestyles, we as believers will gladly stand with our lost brothers and sisters who happen to live near us and annihilate you and enjoy our technology as we watch our destruction take place in 3-D color on CNN, just before we get into the comfort of our air conditioned automobile and ride nicely to church on Sunday morning. All this while bombs kill and maim men, women, and children.
Oh yes, just in case we haven't already used the Lord's name in vain, when we arrive at church, and while carnage rages, we will sit on our padded pews, smiling to our neighbors, and let our pastor ask God to protect our troops and help us get a speedy victory. After about an hour we head off to eat again. Football awaits.

If that’s Christianity then I am an atheist.

The Mystery Revealed - Jesus

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

The mystery. Throughout the Old Testament God hides and only reveals the “backside” of Himself to a few, while the rest must watch as an animal is savagely drained of its blood, twitching and squealing. God will hide in a bush and in an ark and even in a donkey, but He will not, perhaps cannot, unveil Himself to a fallen and rebellious race - not just yet. Israel must be content to see God through commandments of stone, and sometimes in fire and smoke, but never face to face. Moses came as close to meeting God as anyone had, but even He met a vision that had a passing glory, but even that limited vision adorned the face of Moses with a residual glory that would blind other humans. But it still remained shrouded in mystery.

The mystery continues. Who was this God? What was He like? Was He the tender story of Solomon’s Song or was He the fierce warrior that wiped out entire cities? Was He the still, small voice or was He the consuming fire? Was He the life giver or the life taker? Was He the healer or did He send plagues? And while that mystery continued the children of Israel molded their God into one that contained their own imaginations and desires. And by the time the Romans conquered the world the God of the Jews had only a very slight resemblance to the God of Jacob.

The mystery speaks. But throughout the Old Covenant men of God spoke prophetic visions that would later be recognized as facets of this mystery. A king, a servant, a seed, a plant, and a host of other descriptive visions were spoken that many times seemed incongruous with each other. And by the time the days of Caesar arrived Israel had forgotten many of those spoken revelations.

The mystery arrives. In a little town just south of Jerusalem, in an animal shelter, a son of Judah is born. No mystery here, or is there? How could a boy born to a peasant girl be associated with any mystery? Where is the mighty Messiah from the Tribe of Levi? No one’s ears were inclined toward Bethlehem, and no one recognized a maiden of Judah as having a glorious part of this mystery. The angels, the shepherds, and Mary herself are granted this holy knowledge. The mystery, disguised as an infant, has arrived.

The mystery announced. And at the back end of hundreds of years of divine silence and spiritual decay, a voice lifts itself above the lifeless drone of dead expectations and spiritual ritualism and shouts, “Prepare the way of the Lord!!”. A nobody arrives, draped in animal skins and dining with a barbaric menu, and he proclaims the coming of the Lord. He assumes authority as he exhorts men to repent and cleanse their hearts. And along side of his boldness and spiritual authority, he confesses to the coming of One from which he is not even worthy to unlatch His sandals. What kind of man is this, and what kind of “One” is coming??

The mystery anointed. People are coming to repent and be baptized in their repentance. But suddenly, this John the Baptizer, lifts his eyes to the line that awaits baptism and he sees the “One” about which he spoke. “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!” What? About what Lamb is he speaking? I see no one carrying a lamb to be sacrificed. And when this “One” comes face to face with John, John humbly confesses unworthiness. This “One” submits to John’s baptism, and God anoints Him from heaven and calls Him His Beloved Son. What a scene. What an event. The mystery is now anointed.

The mystery has been spoken, and has arrived, and has been anointed, but as yet the mystery has not been revealed. He walks, this mystery, among men and as a man. He does wonderful miracles and shows uncommon love and compassion. His words are like fire and draw sinners to His side. But this mystery is still hidden, except to a very small few. Even Peter, who by the Spirit speaks His name, is severely limited in his knowledge of the mystery and His mission.

There were times that the mystery attempted to reveal Himself to others. Many times He would say “I am”, and even pronounce that He came before Abraham. He even said that whoever saw Him saw the Father God. But no one really understood, and many more were offended by His words. For thirty-three years He remained a mystery. So how would God reveal this mystery to mankind? Would He gather the earth and sit this mystery upon a throne and pronounce Him King? Would God surround Him with unspeakable glory and introduce Him as God Incarnate?

No, the Father had prophetically outlined how He would reveal the mystery to mankind in the life of Abraham. God’s instruction to Abraham concerning Isaac was not just some divine amusement, but thousands of years later the Holy Spirit would shine His illumination upon that narrative and believers would see clearly God’s eternal plan. The Messiah was revealed as Isaac's prophetic reflection. But from Adam to John the Baptist the revelations were mere facets and pieces and shadows. But now all those shadows and pieces came together and were manifested in Jesus. Jesus is the one and only revealed mystery, and those who have embraced Him have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit and we now see clearly - the mystery called Jesus is and always was the God of all creation.

This Jesus, this mystery, is now revealed. Through God’s Word, through the Holy Spirit, and through believers, this Jesus is revealed again and again. The heavens shout His Name, and the angels worship this Risen Christ. There is none like Him and He alone is worthy of every scintilla of human praise. He has created everything and all who believe will return to Him. The world seeks to answer this mystery with longevity of life, intellect and knowledge, money and riches, power and success, and all sorts of religious constructs from the imaginations of men. God will not share His glory with another, and without Jesus all religions are worthless, hollow, and eternally dead. Jesus alone is the mystery they seek.

But if you desire to see the uncovered glory of this divine mystery, you need not look through a telescope and see the celestial splendors. You do not have to understand the wonders of medicine or the unfathomable architecture of the atomic world. Do not look at Mt. Everest, or the vastness of the Pacific, or the breathtaking sights of nature's creations.

If you desire to see the glory of this mystery in all its august and colossal majesty, then just slowly walk up a small hill just outside of Jerusalem and lift up you poor eyes and gaze at the Lamb as He expires for you. Sinner, you need look no further…the mystery has been revealed to you.

Kingdom Deeds

I am so moved today. After posting about a believing woman who raised a woman prisoner’s young son until she could be released, a commenter reminded me about ancient Rome. This post was birthed because of that comment.
The family in ancient Rome was patriarchal and the oldest living male ruled the entire family. He had authority to deny or grant permission for family members to marry. And after marriage he also had the power to embrace or reject any offspring born to these marriages. It was customary for the midwife to place the newborn baby in certain designated areas in the city and if the baby was accepted by the patriarch the baby would be rescued, but if the patriarch rejected this newborn then most times it would die in hours.
This practice was evident before and after the coming of Jesus Christ. However, during the first century after Christ came, Roman sinners were converted to Christ and began to live as followers of Jesus. Now they did not have all the Christian books on theology, or all the teaching Cds, or all the new member’s literature that are given by churches today, or even the complete canon of Scripture. They believed that Jesus was the Son of the Living God and that He had paid for their sins in order for them to receive eternal life. Profound but simple.
But through their understanding of the character and nature of Messiah, and through the power and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit within them, their behavior changed in accordance with the change that had been wrought in their hearts. They had been pagans, but they were now believing followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. They had worshiped Caesar but now they worshiped King Jesus. They once showed allegiance to Rome, but now they had complete and exclusive allegiance to the Lord Christ. Many would lose their lives, not because they were bellicose irritants in Roman society, but because they refused to bow to Rome even though they were humble servants that in many humanitarian ways benefited those around them. You see, Jesus was the reason for their persecution, not any moral causes.
Now as this practice of abandoning babies continued these new believers began to be moved by God’s Spirit concerning their plight. They could have made posters and protested, or began petitions to Rome to ban the practice, but that is not what the Spirit desired. It may come as a shock to some believers, but the Spirit of God is wiser than men, and even His foolishness is wiser than man’s wisdom. And the Spirit began to direct the believing mothers to watch these abandoned babies, and when it became evident that the patriarch was not going to rescue it, the believing mothers would rescue it and raise that child as if it had come from their very own body.
That, my friends, is Jesus Christ’s life manifesting itself through a mortal body. How wonderful! How glorious! What a divine calling! And what a picture of how Christ rescued us and brought us into His family! When I remember things like that it breaks my hearts for two reasons. First, I feel ashamed that I have not served the Lord Jesus with such profound commitments of sacrificial love. And secondly, I grieve over the condition of the church today as it thinks so highly of itself when in fact it is “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked“. Those early believers were not consumed with political movements or economic issues. They did not clutter their lives with the national interests of Rome or even being a part of the mighty Roman military. These believers attempted to make a difference in the lives of people through humble demonstrations of God’s love along with sharing the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
I have many missionary friends. The husband and father of this one particular family was a missionary aviator. It was his calling to fly missionaries and supplies in the western hemisphere, and specifically South America. He and his wonderful family served Christ during the years that Chavez came to power in Venezuela. One of the customs that was observed by some Venezuelans was that if a baby at birth slipped to the ground it was cursed and had to be abandoned. One such baby was thrown into the weeds and was discovered by one of the missionaries.
This child came to the attention of these friends of mine, and after much prayer they took the little girl into their home. Now the missionary wife had been very ill because of the conditions in Venezuela, but they still took the child into their family. Many months later President Chavez ordered all missionaries out of the country, but this child had not been adopted yet and may not be allowed to leave the country with her new family. We all prayed fervently and much money was raised in order for the missionaries to legally adopt the little girl, and miraculously, and before they had to leave, the legal process was complete and the family left intact.
As we as believers watch the western church with all their activities and political involvements, and all their many structured discipleship programs, and all their self centered conferences designed to enhance different facets of their own lives, it would do us well to realize the power of humble servant hood that glorifies Christ without fanfare and earthly reward. While preachers hold conferences and receive outrageous honorariums and book sales and dine sumptuously in first class hotels, we must remind ourselves how unlike Christ that construct really is.
When all is said and done, and when God closes this present time, the throne room of God will witness the accounting of everything, including those things that were supposedly done in Jesus’ name and for His kingdom. I strongly believe that most of the rewards for such things will be bestowed upon people whose acts were never even recognized here on earth. And the fire that will burn up all the worthless deeds will be fueled by many, many deeds that seemed so spiritual here on earth but were worthless and hollow to heaven. Perhaps Wesley and Spurgeon will have to take a back seat to some humble peasant women who lived in Rome and raised abandoned babies to the glory of God.

The Hands of Jesus in Action

I watched a documentary on a women’s prison. I have participated in prison ministry in a small way, however I feel much sympathy for many of the prisoners. But what was different of this version of Lockdown: Raw was a particular woman who was not a prisoner. She was about 35 years old and had several children of her own, and she was a member of a local evangelical church.

This woman had felt the Lord direct her to start a ministry within the church. But this ministry was unique and special. She found a woman who was to spend 2 years in prison but whose child might be taken from her because she had no one to keep the child for two years. The little boy was under two years old. This believer volunteered to keep and watch and love that little boy until the woman was released from prison. And she faithfully brought the child to visit his mother, as well as she used those opportunities to help that mother spiritually.

Wow. The hands of Jesus in action.

Hold Fast to His Promises

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

That Great and Terrible Day

Matt.24: 43-44 - 43But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

On a frosty night in 1975 on top of Garrett Mountain in Wayne, New Jersey, and overlooking the Manhattan skyline, I became a Christian. My life would never be the same. But many, many things have changed in the church since then. God used a message on the second coming of Jesus to draw my heart to believe.
Back then there was much interest in the second coming and the rapture of the church. Graphs and charts and chronologies were abundant. There were many sermons on the signs of the times, and even though there still were many different denominations in the evangelical world, most believed that Jesus was the only path to eternal life and that He was returning to earth one day, perhaps soon. Today, the western church has precious little time for the prospect of the second coming of Jesus, and any substantive discussion of the signs is usually confined to conferences designed to address that specifically.
In fact, many consider those who speak of the eminent return of Christ as a little goofy and unbalanced. We are rich and increased with goods and seem to have little need of Christ’s return. The Spirit still says “Come!” but the bride no longer joins in with the Spirit. I am not writing this post to argue about pre or post or mid tribulation theories, so if I may take some license I want to imagine what the glorious return of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ might be like from the perspective of the human race alive at that time.
Perhaps the entire world feels a slight but growing tremor. That phenomenon is being felt in every corner of the earth, and seismologists are baffled as to the cause. The whole world begins to feel uneasy and normal activities are being disrupted. The news media addresses it almost hourly and world leaders call for calm. The animal world is affected as hens refuse to lay eggs, cows give little milk, and many animals become unruly. Billions loose sleep and violence increases dramatically, as does drug use, both legal and illegal.
About three months into this tremor there appears a brightening of the skies. There doesn’t seem to be any source, however the daytime grows much brighter and the night time begins to disappear. Now this event causes much concern around the world, and with the astronomers clueless as to its cause, the entire world grows increasingly uneasy and even frightened. Many things are disrupted including the use of electricity, night time partying, and many things that are exclusively night activities. Combined with the tremor, this constant brilliance begins to wreak havoc over the entire earth.
There is a tangible sense of impending doom. The careless hedonism of the industrialized world ceases, and the third world countries experience heightened superstition. Scientists all over the world gather to study all this, and most people await their findings. Many flock to churches, synagogues, and mosques but there doesn’t seem to be any clear witness or spiritual wisdom. And with every day the tremor increases and the light becomes almost blinding.
And then there is an ear splitting clap of thunder heard in ever corner of the world that shakes ever human being to his core. It is 100 times louder and more powerful than any movie house effects, and many people die of fright on the spot. It is followed by a strange sound that causes everyone to cover their ears. What in God’s name is happening?? And suddenly the heavens open. Incredibly the heavens open around the entire globe and all men see it in the same way. It is an unexplainable phenomenon and defies the known laws of physics.
And there He is! Behold, He comes from the eternal realm and is riding what appears to be a majestic white horse. It is a scene out of a fairy tale but the reality and power of it assures everyone it is no movie. The sound is deafening as He rides into the world surrounded by the hosts of heaven and the glorified saints. (when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels) Mountains melt and seas dry up and out of sheer fright men and women beg for death.

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

All the sermons and Sunday School stories that seemed unbelievable and only some kind of metaphors are unfolding in colossal reality as the Redeemer God returns to His rebellious world. And mankind now realizes that these events are beyond what we ever could have imagined, and even the most dramatic and powerful sermons had not even approached defining the divine force of the second coming of Christ. What we treated as a figment that God used to describe a prophetic event that would probably come with much more reason and measured restraint, is in actuality much greater in intensity and experience that words could have ever projected. The specifics and manifestation of the Lord’s coming shakes heaven and earth and permeates the entire universe with a tangible glory of His Person and presence.

In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

Oh dear God in heaven, can we even dare to understand such words? The church has had to dilute their meaning or at least leave them alone, but there they stand. They are every bit God’s Word as Jn.3:16. And if indeed they mean what they say, how can we even profess to believe them? While we play and enjoy the good life, and while the church builds gymnasiums and fellowship halls and spends God’s money on bank loans, do we even have the hubris to whisper that we believe the Bible?
A man sits in his living room and his neighbor walks through the door and greets him. The man invites his neighbor to help himself to the meal his wife has made, and the neighbor fills up his plate and sits next to the man and begins to watch television. After a few bites the neighbor remarks that before he came in he noticed an airplane falling from the sky, consumed in flames, and heading straight for this very house. The man looks at his neighbor and smiles. How can he believe such a wild story when his neighbor continues to calmly eat and enjoy the football game?
How can the world be expected to believe that we believe what we say? And because of that overt hypocrisy and the tension of that hypocrisy, the church has changed her message to accommodate our lifestyles and to relegate such teachings as prophetic musings and not coming realities that continue to alter our lives and move our hearts. To actually believe that Jesus is returning to earth with a vengeance must bring some change to a believer’s life, if in fact he does believe it. The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the event which will change the universe and bring into account all things.
As Vance Havner used to say, “The situation is desperate, but we are not.” It is time for individual believers to embrace a holy desperation that seeks the face of Christ and live lives that draw sinners to Him who we follow. The days are evil and the time is short. Let us redeem the time that we do have and glorify God in our mortal bodies. And when that great and terrible day of the Lord comes, what will we say to those who say to us, “You knew this was coming and you said nothing??”

Guardians of the Doctrine

There is more to being a Christian than just espousing and protecting truth as communicated in theology and doctrine. And there is more to truth than those that center on theology as defined by systematized facticity. If the greatest manifestation of Biblical truth we have are in words, and if the greatest mode of defense is in words, than we are hypocrites who are engaged in little more than theological conversations. Knowing spiritual facts is very different than living them out.
Even though the British could not be convinced of Gandhi’s policy of non-violence by argument and logic, they were defeated by Gandhi’s practice of that same policy. But so many believers think that they can use reason and logic and exposure to defeat those who dilute Biblical truth. Although comparing Scripture with Scripture is essential in identifying Biblical truth, displaying a living manifestation of what the Bible teaches is indispensable in proving truth in a tangible way and not just in the Biblical abstract. How was truth conveyed in times past when most of the culture could not read nor write?

You are epistles read of all men.

Reciting and rehearsing Biblical doctrines are hollow expressions of truth if they are not supported by life revelations of that same truth. Of course Paul warns us of those who come presenting another Jesus or a works based salvation, but there are scores of other truths that should be powerful articulations of the spirit and character of the Lord Jesus. It isn’t enough to build doctrinal fortresses to protect truths that are dealt with in the abstract. Our whole lives must be consumed with breathing, revealing, and living the Biblical truths we so often defend.
But one of the problems is that too often believers defend doctrines such as the Trinity or the virgin birth or others that are difficult to actually replicate in human behavior. For example, how does one communicate the Trinity by actions? But many truths such as love, compassion, mercy, moderation, and many others have innumerable ways to live them out as open expressions. But, sadly, those truths are not defended as vehemently as are the others. Which is easier to say, “I believe in the Trinity” or “I believe in compassion”? Just as Jesus made that same observation about saying “Your sins are forgiven” or “Take up your bed and walk”, the principle is the same. No one can discern if you actually believe the Trinity by human works, however there are plenty of observations that can authenticate your confession concerning compassion.
Redemption is active and living, and energized completely by faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross, but that same redemption must go without the camp bearing His reproach. And the greatest challenge of all is to be “clothed with humility” in everything we do, including contending for the faith. Not only is that supremely difficult, but it is altogether difficult to imagine what that looks like in daily life. What does it look like to be bold for Christ and clothed with humility at the same time? Because we have been brought up in a culture of chest beating individualism, we seem to have lost the path, and even the desire, to follow in the footsteps that led to Golgotha. We recoil at being castigated or even slighted, while His face was adorned with spit. He was mocked but we need constant affirmation. They called Him Beelzebub while we demand respect.
Have we lost the way of Jesus? Oh yes, we are orthodox in our systematic theology and we are familiar with Koine Greek and Hebrew, but how articulate are we in embracing unconditional humility? Where are the ten week sermon series that lay out humility in an uncomfortable way that exposes our self righteousness? True spiritual power does not come in the decibel level of our Biblical words, or the ability to proof text our doctrines, or the redundant drone of Sunday School material, but resurrection power can only come through absolute humility that is called death. The death of the cross.
What does the death on the cross mean as it applies to followers of Jesus? It must endure public ridicule. It must be painful and self denying. It must willingly give itself to the excruciating suffering of being rejected. This death is not quick, it is replicated daily and most times many times a day. This humility, gained only through crucifixion, is a glorious and colossal struggle with the world, the devil, and most of all our own personal monster called the flesh. In fact, our old man will embrace religion, fellowship, teaching, missions, and all sorts of evangelical activities, but when our carnal man is asked to die he will do anything to avoid the nails.
The old man will behave and exhibit all sorts of reform in order to remain alive, albeit hidden. He will act religious and even curb speaking his thoughts, as long as he can still freely roam our minds with his disgusting and self righteous imaginations. This carnal man, energized by the fall, is the enemy of God. It will allow itself to be trained, or so it seems. But in order for us to be transformed into the image of Christ we must submit to our own cross, not to be saved, but to manifest the One who saved us.
You see, I do not speak of defending some ethereal doctrine, regardless of how true. The issue about which I speak is far more profound and requires a much deeper dedication and sacrifice than just publicly expressing a faith by words. This discipleship demands a glorious sacrifice that removes the allurement of this world and walks in the eternal spirit of Jesus Christ. To contend for this faith entails a life long struggle. And many times this defense appears as surrender and defeat, when in reality it is the very image of Christ and Him crucified. Approval and affirmation will not be forthcoming here on earth, but just the nod of the Eternal King will be more than enough encouragement.
The western church has changed the image of Christ and made Him altogether different than what we see in the New Testament. Everyone desires to be a John the Baptist but no one seeks to be the man from Cyrene. We relish the thought of scourging the temple with a whip, but resist being scourged ourselves with that same whip. We pray for the self aggrandizement miracles but are blind to the many miraculous opportunities to walk as he walked and to be made conformable unto His death.
And so here we are, thriving in the Babylonian culture. The church has adopted the culture’s fallen values while praising herself because she rejects abortion and gay marriage. Pompous and brash, militant and judgmental, debt ridden and saturated with entertainment, the church enjoys the amen choruses Sunday morning and embraces the “I thank God I am not like that publican” spirit. And mere minutes after the “service” ends the followers of Jesus resume their chatter about anything and everything but Christ, as if the school play has just ended. And with dry eyes and unbroken hearts they pile into their financed cars and head for the planned feast, at home or at the local eatery, to be followed by a recovery from different levels of overeating. And they claim to have met with Jesus that very morning; but honestly I do not think we even claim that anymore.
We have been deceived into learning and defending the truths of Christ. We have staked out our proof texted positions and stand guard over every doctrinal bastion. And safely ensconced inside Fort Orthodox we warm our hearts by the fire of self righteousness, fully fed, and headed for another night of comfort and sleep. It does not matter that the world lies in the wicked one, or that millions are in need of food and water just to live another week. “Be warm and filled” say our lips while we ourselves assume that very position. I suggest you read again, perhaps in one sitting, the gospels. And pay particular attention to the life and spirit of our Master.
So you want to be a warrior for God. You desire to defend His truth. You seek to be a doctrinal bulwark. You want to be like Jesus. All of these are lofty goals, but the road to achieving them is something far different than is offered by today’s evangelical construct. The path to being like Jesus leads through the Via Dolorosa all the way to the place of the skull…the place of death. You see, to be like Jesus you cannot be satisfied with being kind and gentle, or even loving and compassionate. Those are some of His attributes for sure. But to be like Him you must die to yourself completely. And until we give up that ghost, we will still live as religious people and not as followers and imitators of the Lord Jesus. And we will continue to audit the class called "in His steps".

Class dismissed. Resume general swim.

List of Idols.

Idol:
an object of extreme devotion; a representation or symbol of an object of worship; broadly : a false god
(Webster)

Here are a list of common idols among evangelicals that involuntarily come between a believer and His Lord.

Money
Nation
Musicians
Movie stars
Preachers
Cars
Television
Music
Family
Conservatism
Liberalism
Denomination
Doctrine
Success
Career
Entertainment
Appearance
Food
Politics
Military
Health
Church
Authority
Intellect
Science
Talk show hosts
Capitalism
Democracy
Socialism

These three are the only objects of our love and worship - Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Many of the things I list are not necessarily wrong in and of themselves, and some are a Biblical part of a believer's life. But when elevated to an unhealthy level they can easily become idols. Have I missed any?

What's Missing?

The American evangelical culture has innumerable communication avenues: Cds, books, radio, television, pamphlets, iTunes, mp3s, internet, twitter, sermon series, conferences, and many other ways to communicate the gospel and discipleship truths. It is a billion dollar business that has saturated the evangelical community. So what is missing?

Power.

The Wind Blows Where He Will

Jn.3:5-8 - Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

The Lord makes the statement that the Spirit gives birth to the spirit. That is an obvious reference to the Holy Spirit being the One who gives the new birth to a sinner’s fallen spirit. And how does the Spirit operate in this ministry? Again, Jesus now compares the Spirit to the wind, in that He moves around invisibly and works as He pleases. The working of the Spirit in redemption is a glorious mystery and often accomplishes His mission in ways that we would not approve. But so many times, we in the western industrialized cultures, must have all things within reach of our intellect and explanation.

But the glory of the Spirit will not bow down to the intellectual dictates of men, and He has defied the doctrinal and theological constructs of the church. Many times a sinner has come to saving faith in Jesus Christ through avenues that are unacceptable to our normal evangelistic constructs. I am not saying that the truth that Jesus is the only way to eternal life can be altered, it cannot. But I have seen and heard many saints whose testimonies defy orthodox evangelism. Let me rehearse a few of this authentic narratives.

There is a widespread phenomenon that has been taking place in some Muslim countries. A faithful Muslim, usually a man and father, goes to sleep at night after having observed his normal Islamic prayers. During the night, this man has a dream, perhaps more than a dream, in which Jesus appears to him and presents Himself as He really is - more than just a prophet but the Savior of the world. This man not only awakens with that dream permeating his very being, but he rises with a faith in Jesus Christ and the freshness of the new birth. Do a google search and you will find many accounts of such a remarkable phenomenon. The man cannot help but witness to his family and often they follow in his new found faith. From that day he begins a new life which is both glorious and challenging considering the culture in which he lives. The wind, my friends.

I knew an aviator who was a missionary. He was once commissioned to fly several missionaries to a tribe in South America who were very primitive. These missionaries had worked with this tribe for many months, learning their language and putting the gospel into that language. When they arrived they had brought a tape player with the gospel recorded upon a cassette tape. As soon as they turned it on the entire tribe ran scared into the woods. It took some time to coax them out through their interpreter. They all went into a large hut and began to listen to the missionary preach through the interpreter.

But as the aviator listened, a woman began to cough violently near him and those sitting near her scattered. The woman was in the last stages of tuberculosis and was coughing up blood. She was dying and only had an hour to live. This aviator began to tell her a story of the Great Creator who wished to have her come and live in His house. Did she desire to go to Him? The woman nodded that she did. Through the interpreter the aviator explained that the Creator’s own Son had made the only path to His house, and did she believe in the Creator’s Son. She nodded that she did, and the aviator said His name was Jesus. Since the woman could not speak very well in her condition, the aviator asked her if he could pray for her and his voice would be hers. She agreed.

He prayed a prayer that outlined the gospel in her words and said that she believed in Jesus to take her to the Creator’s home. After the prayer the woman looked at the missionary and smiled and nodded that she had understood and agreed. In 45 minutes she was dead. Now perhaps you do not believe that God’s grace extends to such a woman, or that a sinner needs more specifics to be saved, but I refer to the thief upon the cross who had less information than did this native woman. The wind, my friends.

Lastly I recall a story of a very sinful man who sold drugs into the high school. He was a very violent man who abused drugs and alcohol. He was a bouncer at a very violent bar. And this man was planning to rob a certain bank with other friends and kill the guard as they entered. But before he could implement this plan he was injured in a street fight. While he was convalescing as his lost aunt’s house, he was invited to a Broadway play in Manhattan named “Godspell”. It was written by an unbelieving Jew named Stephen Schwartz, and it was a modern narrative of the Gospel of Matthew. This man was very move by that play. Later, he was watching television and saw Billy Graham on TV and heard that Jesus was returning. Again, he was moved.

One night he climbed the face of Garret Mountain at night, and sitting high atop that mountain and overlooking the Manhattan skyline, he believed on Jesus Christ. His life was changed that night and he entered Bible College and became a preacher. Many people would say that God would not use a medium such as Godspell, or that God would not use Billy Graham. But just as the Jewish rulers doubted that Jesus had made the blind man see, I can only say with the once blind man that “Once I was blind, but now I can see!” You see, that man was me. The wind, my friends.

So while we stand firm on the gospel and the exclusivity of the Lord Jesus being the only Savior, we must also humbly admit that the Spirit can work and move in areas about which we are unaware and often about which we would normally disapprove. You see, redemption of sinners is more important to God than obeying the suggestions of man as to how He must accomplish it. So sometimes we must confess to being limited in our understanding, and with our faces lifted toward heaven and our hearts filled with worship, we can feel God’s wind even if we cannot see Him. The wind, my friends, continues to blow today.

Looking for Committed Believers?

Some of the most humble, committed, and deeply spiritual believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are behind prison bars.

Judgment Without Mercy

Jam.2:12,13 - Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Speaks for itself.

Don't Ask - Don't Tell?

To gay Americans: You may kill for us but you may not admit to being gay.

Why? Because our killing has moral standards, so pretend while you die.

Now as a believer and imperfect follower of Jesus I submit to you the ridiculousness of such a construct. Now we as believers must always allow the lost to admit who they are without condemnation. Jesus did not come into the world to condemn, but to save. And yet even the world divides according to acceptable sins and those that are not acceptable. But we are ambassadors of redemption, not exposers of sin. Sin must be discussed within the body of Christ so that we can please God and sanctify ourselves as vessels fit for the Master’s use.

But the whole world lies in the wicked one, and they are dead in trespasses and sins. We must lift up the Lord Jesus and the good news of the gospel. Our policy?

Don’t ask, but tell them of the Savior’s love!

Living in the Future

There is no past, only the constantly arriving future.

Christ and Christ Alone!

Heb.7: 18-19 - For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

II Cor.3: 5-11 - Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

The law was a schoolmaster, or a guide, that brought us to Jesus Christ. It was a glorious covenant that kept sinners locked up in faith until the New Covenant was established by the shed blood of the Divine Passover Lamb. But that Old Covenant was made with stone and had the aroma of death. It killed anyone who could not keep it perfectly, which was everyone. Do not think that the Old Testament saints were saved by the blood of bulls and goats; they were not. Those blood offerings were accepted by God as a prophetic looking glass that pictured the only sacrifice for sins, the Son of the Living God.

Notice the phrase “that which is done away”. There is no more law for the reborn child of God. He lives in the Spirit and through the power of Christ’s love. We are no longer bound by the Old Covenant and its many laws. Does that mean we are free to do what we please? Yes, but if you are a child of God be prepared for the consequences. You see we may be free in Christ, but that does not mean we should do whatever we please. We live to please our Heavenly Father. Our sonship does not hinge upon our adherence to the law, for if it did, we would all still be dead in our sins.

For Christ is the end of the law to all who believe.

One of the greatest obstacles the Apostle Paul faced were Jews who attempted to drag parts of the law into the covenant of the Spirit. Using the word law Paul shows us the infinite difference in how we as Spirit indwelt believers live.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

The Old testament saints walked according to the law, but New Testament saints walk according to the Spirit. When someone insists the law is still in effect today, ask them what part of the law. Do we stone our children? Do we avoid working on Saturday? Is your pastor of Aaron’s lineage? And do not think that this issue is not an important one. Listen to these serious words from Paul:

Gal.5: 1-4 - Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Christ shall profit you nothing?? That, my friends, is as serious as it gets. But many will say that of course no one can be saved by the law, but after salvation “parts” of the law come back into effect. Let’s see what Paul says about that.

Gal.3: 1-3 - O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Paul calls it witchcraft when anyone attempts to pin the law upon the believers in Christ, and he calls the Galatians “foolish” for incorporating the law into their walk of faith. Let me illustrate. A father loves his son, and a son loves his father. Now the father tells the son not to go into the shed in the back yard. Does the son demand a written, notarized copy of his father’s order including proof of who owns that shed? Then why does he not go into the shed? Because he loves and respects his father, and on some level fears him and his authority.

But what happens when a stranger goes into the backyard and enters the shed? The father comes out and has him arrested in accordance with the law of the community. The father does not know this stranger. But what if the father’s son goes into the shed? Does the father have his son arrested? No! The father corrects and punishes his son, but because he is his son he does not demand he be punished according to the law. But the stranger gets the law. You see, we not only have a covenant with the Father God, we are His sons. Oh my!! How glorious is that when you consider how selfish and sinful we were AND ARE?

Another example. A man drives down the highway and he sees the signs that say 60 mph and he knows it’s the law. But this man finds it difficult to always drive below that speed limit. Occasionally he gets a speeding ticket. But another man is driving on a highway where there are no speed limits, however the architect of the highway has implanted that man with a guide that tells him when he is going too fast. That man occasionally exceeds a safe speed, but he never gets a ticket since there is no law. In fact, when he drives too fast the inner guide’s voice becomes unbearable. And his unsaved passenger does not understand why this man just can’t go as fast as he wants, after all there is no speed limit.

I Pet.4:3-4 - 3For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: 4Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot


But should we sin that grace may abound? Paul makes it clear - absolutely not. But two things are also clear: If any believer sins he has an advocate with the Father. And if any believer sins without remorse he will be punished by the Father. And why will the Father chasten us? Because He loves us, not because we broke the law of Moses. I realize many believers use the law in their evangelism, but that is a false construct and contorts the gospel.

Acts 1:8 - But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Jn.3:17 - For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

The Jews persecuted the early believers not because they preached the law, but because they refused to obey the law of Moses. Paul says all things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. Christ has fulfilled the demands of the law perfectly, and He has imputed that unto us because we could not, nor can we obey it. James says if you break one part of the law you break the entire law. We cannot seek Christ through the dictates of the law. Only through the Spirit can we follow the Lord Jesus and worship Him in Spirit and in truth. To those who continue to embrace the law, you have strayed from Christ. We are free from the law and now our motive for personal righteousness in this world is Jesus, not the law of Moses. And if indeed the law of Moses was glorious in its time and purpose, what glory is there in knowing and loving the Risen Christ!!

Col.2:16-23 - 16Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
18Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
20Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
21(Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
23Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

Gal.4:4-11 - 4But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
6And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
8Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
9But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
10Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
11I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Should we return to the “beggarly elements” after we have known and been transformed by the Living Christ? Should we mesh that which kills with He who makes alive?? Oh dear ones, Christ will not share His glory with the dictates of the law, and in fact, He has triumphed over the entire law and ushered in a new and better covenant with new and better promises. And we have been born of the Spirit, made alive by the Spirit, led by the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, sealed with the Spirit, and been grafted into the True Vine by the Spirit. The law killed us, but the Spirit gave us His life. And just as God breathed into Adam the spirit of life, so has the Spirit breathed life into us who were dead in trespasses and sins.

While others may cry “The law, the law!!” let us cry louder “Christ and Christ alone!!”.

The Redemptive Flower

The Cross

The picture below was taken at an anti-war protest in the 1960's. It depicts a young man placing a flower inside the barrel of a gun. These hippies had the right idea about peace, but they did not have the eternal answer.

The eternal offer of peace, a redemptive flower if you will, is the cross of Jesus Christ.

It is the only way to eternal life.

Believers Rejoice!

Triumph is in the Air!

(Again?)

The words are the same.

“This is a victory for the American people!

“This is a repudiation of Washington!”

“No more politics as usual!”

Could I step away from Christianity for just one second and ask you this question:
Are you really that dumb? (Sorry, just asking.)

Returning to being a believer I must again assert this all encompassing truth:

Jesus Christ is our only hope. Today is just as corrupt as yesterday, and greed and avarice will still be at the core of almost everything. Hatred and self righteousness still roam the culture treated as kings, and men still claim that they have the answers for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And living inside a culture of perversion, hedonism, and outright antichrist are sinners who profess to both know Jesus Christ and be directed by His voice. And yet these sinners, saved by His grace, continue to follow the machinations of men and allow such things to capture their minds, energies, and even their hearts. It is way past time for the church of Jesus Christ to awaken and arise!

And just as in 2000 (the last time I voted) believers are especially hopeful since many “conservatives” have been voted in. It is a sad spectacle and openly displays the sheep mentality of people. They, like sheep, will follow whoever they listen to most or last. And these blind sheep will allow carnal men of the media to applaud them for their activism while these millionaires rake in the profits. Until we, as believers, refuse to see people as liberal or conservative we will continue to live in a prison of the unredemptive “now” instead of being salt and light that shines the eternal redemption of the Lord Jesus. There can be no compromise.

The fallen world operates within the God given governmental construct. So let them run to and fro, spending money like drunken sailors and assailing each other with unkind words while painting themselves with great and swelling words. Our calling is infinitely higher than the unseemly melee called politics. Of course politics provides a sense of purpose to the fallen mind, but our purpose must not be diluted by attempting to serve two masters.

If you are not yet convinced but at least you are on some level reexamining the entire situation against the backdrop of Scripture, I invite you to watch the next two years, without even bringing Scripture into it. Just watch what men and women do and say in the next two years. Here are a few things to watch for:

Watch how politicians beat their chests with self righteousness.
Watch how often they say “The American people…” claiming them as one entity.
Watch how often they assail others.
Watch how often nothing really gets done.
Watch how quickly they begin running again looking toward 2012.

And just a side note. The President is going to spend 200 million dollars a day for a trip to India. I guess it is to organize some trade policy, however technology today includes visual conference calling for much less.

Are you surprised or angry? Don’t be. All presidents do much the same thing, and that kind of expenditure happens all the time in Washington while millions starve around the world. And one of the candidates for governor spent in excess of 50 million dollars of his own money. It is an abomination and God is not pleased.

Until we as believers climb out of the pig sty called politics, and repent of sectarianism disguised as patriotism, and leave self righteousness masquerading as nationalism, we will only be followers of Christ in our own fallen minds. But realize this as well: Just leaving those things I mentioned does not guarantee a Spirit filled walk with Jesus, it only allows that process to begin. The pursuit of that journey is achieved only through prayer and brokenness before the Lord Jesus.

Today's Feast of Booths

There is a great delusion enveloping the world in these last days. It is sophisticated and morphs into many different forms that are the most effective for each and every culture. The purpose of this deception is to blind the eyes of lost to the light of the gospel, and to lead believers into falsehoods and spiritual sleep. The only answer for deception in a lost person is the gospel, both lived and spoken. But for believers, we must search the Scriptures with a heart ready to receive correction. And the light of the Spirit will shine His corrective truth on things that He desires us to forsake, as well as things He desires us to incorporate.

I predict that in two years the same issues with the same hatred and insults will be evident in that election, just as they were in this one. God instituted human government but he never meant for His church to be involved in these secular, pluralistic, and antichrist constructs. Millions of believers will go to the polls today believing they are voting God’s way. Interestingly, many will vote differently.

The scene is a textbook case of human idolatry and greed. Greed? Oh yes, no one actually believes Roe verses Wade will be overturned (see the Bush 8 years) but most believers are voting for the candidate they believe will best preserve their personal wealth. The tea party of 1773 and 2010 were both about money. It seems the Scriptures that exhort us to rejoice in persecution and in trials stops at the political arena. Perhaps when 2012 arrives some believers who participated in this year's political extravaganza will see the light and come out from among them.

Billions of dollars have been spent/wasted in this years election. Nothing will change until the church is revived and turns wholeheartedly and exclusively to the Lord Jesus Christ. I do not care who gets elected today. I rejoice in the fact that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life!!

Halleluiah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!