Mary

Lk.1:46 - My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.

Mary...A little insignificant peasant girl from the loins of David and from the loins of Judah, from which the Lion will spring. Just being faithful in her walk with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and not expecting anything special. Humble and obedient and obscure, but Jehovah had been watching. Jehovah had been guiding. Jehovah had chosen...her. The human ark of the New Covenant Lamb.

Mary...Before Jesus was born, before the shepherds worshipped, before the wise men brought gifts, before Simeon blessed Him, before Anna prophesied, before John the Baptist identified Him, before the Roman soldier knew who He was, before all of those and other declarations of who Jesus was, Mary identifies Him as "God my Savior" while He was still in her womb.

Mary...God borrows Mary's virgin womb with the unspeakable blessing of Himself. Not "a" miracle but "THE" miracle. The divine seed of God and the human egg of Mary combine to give life to the sinless "seed of the woman" as first prophesied in Genesis. Mary was obviously a godly and spiritual young woman and even though she must have been incredibly unsettled by the chain of events, she humbles herself and praises her Lord. God must have granted her a wonderful and unique covering of His grace that He had planned before He made the worlds.

Mary...The rumors, the embarrassment, the wonder, the pondering, all must bow as her soul magnifies the Lord. Just an angelic visitation must have been an amazing event, but when she, as a 14, 15, or maybe 16 year old young virgin, is told that she will be pregnant, she immediately asks "how can this be?". Pregnant? She truthfully confesses, with a quiet, trembling voice, that she has never been with a man and Gabriel confirms that as true. You see, not just "an" angel but the arch-angel Gabriel. Imagine the splendor, the brilliance, the beauty, and the aroma of heaven that must have been experienced by Mary in the presence of Gabriel.

Mary...Now, as she has been told she will be pregnant, Gabriel informs her that the baby will be a boy and His name shall be called Jesus(Joshua-"Jehovah saves"). Gabriel says that He will be called "the Son of the Highest". After she asks how, Gabriel tells her it is the Holy Spirit that will perform this miracle, and as Gabriel leaves he calls her baby the "Son of God". Wow. Mary has just had a one-of-a kind church service created just for her. With Gabriel the preacher, God prophesies to Mary about His will for her life and she surrenders. As she metaphorically comes down the aisle she bows at the altar and says,"be it unto me according to thy Word".

Mary...Just a righteous girl, chosen by Jehovah, invaded by God's Spirit, kept by God's grace, blessed among women, the earthly mother of God. Mary will be with Jesus throughout His life. She is with Him in Jerusalem at 12 years of age; she is with Him at His first miracle at Cana; She follows Him during His ministry; she is there as He stands before Pilate; she watches Him carry His own cross; she stands at the foot of the cross and watches her son be murdered, crucified; she is there as he is taken to a borrowed tomb. Beside the natural horror of seeing your son murdered, what must Mary have thought spiritually. Did she think it was over and the Romans had killed the Messiah?

Mary...It is significant that when Jesus is resurrected we find no accounts of Mary being there. The risen Christ is now stripped of all earthly ties and Jesus tells His disciples to go tell the brethren. No mention of Mary. The sword that Simeon had prophesied about has pierced her heart, and she is now just a disciple of Jesus. The maternal miracle is now over, but a new one is on the horizon.

Mary...The Day of Pentecost. The disciples are praying in the upper room and God feels it necessary to mention that Mary was among them. The last mention of Mary. She has fulfilled the mission God gave her and she is now a follower of Jesus. A humble, broken, Spirit-filled follower. And one day she dies, and as she enters the presence of Jesus she bows with the other saints and worships the King of Kings. That's right. This is not a mother-son reunion. She received a breathtaking reward for her earthly faithfulness, and she places it at the feet of, in her own words, "God my Savior". God broke the alabaster box of Mary's life, spilled it out on His Son, and the aroma of her humble faithfulness will last forever.

Mary...a priceless gem of God's grace.

To Know Him

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death...

To believe in Jesus is to follow Him.
And to follow Him leads along a path of sacrifice that is wilderness to the world,
but is glory to those who commune with Him.
Although this path scorns earthly accolades,
it leads to eternal life.
To follow in His steps is a privilege above all else,
but it requires a humility and love that is foreign to this world.
For every ounce of personal sacrifice and denial,
there is given a hundred blessings.
The greatest of these blessings is the knowledge and fragrance of the Christ Himself.
It is most difficult to communicate the experience of meeting the Lord Jesus.
It is only natural that men would think us crazy and unbalanced.
That indeed what it must appear to those who do not know Him,
but shame has no power over those who gladly follow Him.
When you have been allowed to enter the King’s chamber and experience His presence, His reality, His love, His grace, and a startling glimpse of His glory,
you cannot find adequate words with which to present Him.
As one who uses written carriers I am often undone,
especially when I write or speak of Him.
I am reduced to a child even while using some “great and swelling”
words to share what the Spirit shares with me.
I am not unaware that my writings, regardless of how verbose and
well composed, are pitiful devises that attempt paint His being, but alas,
only provide a sketch.
Jesus cannot be captured by pen and paper.
I have wept often when I write of Him, or worship Him, or pray to Him.
When in His presence my masculine pretense is quickly eradicated
and I am His servant child.
I am grateful to sit at His feet even in silent meditation.
Jesus is not just the most important part of our lives.
He is our life.

Let us Meet the Jesus of Glory

Rev.1:13-17 - 13And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
16And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.

The Book of the Revelation contains many prophetic glimpses. But the book itself is actually a revelation of the Risen Christ, Jesus. And here John recounts an encounter with that same Risen Christ, and it is startling. The description of Jesus is overwhelming in its majesty and glory. It is very difficult, and probably impossible, for the Spirit to communicate through human words the colossal resplendence of our Lord and Savior, but even those words are enough to shake our beings.
It has become customary in today’s evangelical circles to treat Jesus as merely a divine friend, and someone who desires to help you be a success in this western culture. That is not to say that Jesus is not our friend, He is, but we must not reduce Him to that alone and strip Him of the majesty He so richly deserves and wears. Look at verse 17. This is the Apostle John who loved Jesus and so often laid his head upon the chest of the Messiah. John walked with Jesus for several years and knew Him most intimately, and I am certain they had many conversations that could very well be described as friend to friend.
But now, in the presence of the Risen and Glorified Christ, John falls at His feet as if he were dead. Imagine that! Now if John was reduced to trembling worship when in His presence, how can we believers claim we have been in the presence of Jesus and yet be unchanged and even distracted? I am one who fully embraces intimacy and friendship with the Lord Jesus, but I also believe much of the church has robbed Him of His breathtaking glory. Where is the refiner’s fire that accompanies His presence? Where are the tears of brokenness that authenticate that we have met the August Lamb? How often have our knees buckled under the weight of our own sin and the weight of His eternal forgiveness?
Our Christology may be Biblical and orthodox, but our prayer closets and worship times seem so shallow and perfunctory and diminish the Lord we have so neatly carved out in doctrine. Even non-liturgical church meetings have become so predictable and ritualistic in their own right regardless of their volume and demonstrative freedom. And do not believe that you can just conjure up Jesus at any convenient time and by the sheer force of your own will and imagination have an “in and out“ encounter with Christ. Jesus is everywhere, but experiencing His presence is more than just believing God is omnipresent. Entering into the presence of Christ requires a thirst and a seeking that is Jacob-esque in its relentlessness. If you can be satisfied without being in the tangible atmosphere of God’s presence, then you will be. I do not speak of emotionalism or displays of self serving melodrama that can be seen in some churches, but I do speak of a much deeper level of spiritual encounter in our devotional lives. And with all of this world, and our own flesh as well, weighing us down, we cannot just microwave our prayer and worship times and expect to please God or be changed from glory to glory.
And that is the challenge laid before us. And this is a ministry to which all believers are called; it is ministering to Christ, worshiping at His feet and allowing the Spirit to filet our hearts wide open and cleanse us from all unrighteousness as well as continuing the process of Christ being formed within us. Let us not deceive ourselves and let us be painfully honest; this western culture of entertainment, success, television, debt, and idolatry has taken a savage toll on our devotional lives. We have at our disposal a plethora of Christian books and Cds and aids that are designed to communicate information to us. But we have allowed those things to replace elongated times of seeking God in the secret places.
I believe most believers walk through the church doors on Sunday morning without ever having spent any serious or meaningful time with the Lord Jesus that week. And yet many of those same people can manifest all the outward demonstrations of worship on demand. And when the “service” is over the congregation exits to enjoy an afternoon feast, perhaps some football, and some well deserved rest. Viola! The redundant Sunday morning religious festivities have once again been accomplished until next week.
If that is what you want then you can continue on that assembly line. But if there is something inside you that is stirring and creating a holy discomfort, and if you are willing to alter some things in your life, then Jesus awaits. But it will take more than turning over a new leaf; more than just reading one more chapter a day; and more than buying some new worship music. This is a labor of love that finds its joy in the labor and not some accomplishment. This is a thirst that when quenched breeds more thirst. I have in my lifetime lived in seasons with such a spiritual thirst for Jesus that I could not wait until the earthly work was done and I could surrender to the shadow of His wings. I long for a return to that sacred sukkah.
Two sisters, Peggy and Christine Smith, were both over 80 years old. Peggy was blind and Christine was bent over with arthritis. They lived off the coast of Scotland in what is called the Hebrides islands. Although they were not physically able to make the church services, they felt strongly that God was calling them to a ministry of prayer and intercession, especially praying for revival. The Christian community in the Hebrides had grown cold by 1949 and the Spirit was knocking on the door of these two precious women.
Both women felt impressed of the Spirit that revival was coming if believers would pray. They conveyed this to the local pastor, and they told him that he should organize prayer meetings. The pastor did so and many began to pray in earnest. After many weeks, a young deacon rose up in one of the prayer meetings and openly expressed his frustration with the group as a whole, including himself. He was convinced that their lives were not coming into compliance with what they were praying for and that they all needed to repent.
The young man looked up into heaven and asked God if his own hands were clean before God. In a moment, that young man fell to the ground and was in a trance-like spiritual state. From there the revival gained momentum. A young preacher named Duncan Campbell was called to the islands, and on the very first day he arrived there were mighty manifestations of the Spirit. For months sinners were saved from all over the islands, and dance halls and bars were closed as people were inexplicably drawn to the church and convicted of their lost condition. Some further descriptions can be found here.
I long to return to those days again…for His glory alone. In the midst of the candlesticks He stands, glorious and with indescribable power. The Lord of all Lords awaits with undeserved patience, for when that patience evaporates and the Lamb readies Himself for battle, the entire world will feel the horror of His wrath. Do not succumb to the noxious sirens of today’s evangelical counterfeits. They would strip the Lord Jesus of His magnificence and reduce Him to earth’s servant. He has played the servant once for us all, but that servant is now the Crowned Prince of Heaven.

Lord revive your stricken church. We have drifted so far and so wide, and we have become faithful Babylonians rather than faithful servants of the Most High God. You have suffered for us, but we have dined at the table of ease. We are blind and deaf, and our worship has become music and sound systems that elicit emotion and an appreciation for human talent, but our hearts remain unbroken and beating to our own fleshly wills.

Give us an unquenchable desire to pray, fervently and with passion and faith, and empower us with a relentless journey to seek you with our whole hearts. We have become satisfied with our own caricatures of Jesus. We stumble from week to week, and with each week replicating the former and foreshadowing the next, and still we are content. Believers have been burned at the stake in your name with a song on their lips, but our complaints blanket the smallest inconvenience. We have massaged our consciences by throwing stones at lost sinners, but we close our eyes to the mirror of Your Word that screams our spiritual indictment.

Lord, begin a fire within us that cannot be denied. Burn the dross of this world from the dwelling place it has found in our wayward hearts. We are in a desperate situation. Like Samson of old we pray, show Your power and Your glory once more. If we will not surrender then capture us with your love and grace and power. We are Your unprofitable servants; if You still can, ignite Your glory within us and by consuming all that is of us, may Jesus be high and lifted up.

Why so many denominations?
and
What does it create?

Did you ever wonder why there are so many denominations created from so many different doctrinal points of view? I mean what must people think when they hear believers take loud and uncompromising stands in favor of the Scriptures being inerrant, and then they see a thousand different interpretations and doctrinal constructs, all based upon those same inerrant Scriptures? The obvious question must be, “If the interpretations are so varied, and if the interpretations are errant, than how important is it to claim the Scriptures are inerrant?” That is an honest question.
Pull up a chair and listen as believers argue about all sorts of issues ranging from baptism to eternal security to Bible translations to the 24 hour creation day to eschatology and on and on. And the doctrinal slants are so deep about almost everything that entire denominations must be formed. But that was never God’s intent and it only undermines and hinders the proclamation of the gospel.
The gospel was never meant to be a collection of minuscule doctrines that are mainly for theological debates and in general have no use in the lives of average believers. In fact, a committed believer from a “baptismal regeneration” denomination mirrors a committed believer from a “baptism is symbolic” denomination. What does that tell you? It tells you that for all the sound and fury about denominational distinctives they are generally meaningless in the devotional life of a believing follower. Many times they create an atmosphere of self righteousness and judgmentalism.
The overarching and foundational message of the Scriptures are Jesus and redemption. There are other important teachings, but they all find their source and destination in Jesus and His gospel. When we take smaller issues and magnify them so as to create doctrinal idols and walls of separation between believers we do a disservice to the kingdom of God. It is human nature to desire to be significant and right. And along that line we have given way to splintered doctrines and we have formed groups, not formed primarily to crystallize evangelism, but to elevate what we portray as our doctrinal difference and purity.
But that agenda has led to many unfortunate divisions over issues that are either insignificant redemptively speaking, or are unclear Scripturally. And that projects sectarianism to the world and obscures the glory of the Risen Christ. I can recall a nationwide conference that was headed by a well known pastor and teacher, and one from whom I have been enriched. However, the main speaker gave a multi-part sermon series entitled, “Why I am a Calvinist.” Really? The entire world is going to hell, and pastors in the west have minimal devotional lives, and the church in general is in desperate need of a sweeping revival, and God wants those hundreds of pastors to know why this man is a Calvinist? If that isn’t doctrinal idolatry I do not know what is.

And therein lies my point. We have left the core redemptive doctrines of the faith and the person of Jesus Christ and have instead become enamored with fringe doctrines and our own favorite doctrines that we believe define us as Biblically pure. It is self righteousness disguised as exegesis and it divides where no division is necessary. Of course there are false teachers and heretics that are deceived and are systematically stripping Christ of His exclusiveness and they are presenting redemption in a doctrinal kaleidoscope which wreaks of universalism. Those issues must be addressed with firmness, humility, and uncompromised Scriptural integrity.
But that is not what usually divides professing evangelicals who resist the Osteen or Warren brand of theology, or lack thereof. It is usually some quirky doctrine or ritual. It is sometimes music, or communion methodology, or mode of baptism, or church leadership structures, or many other differences of opinion. I suggest that reducing doctrine to such things is a departure from the gospel and the divine redemptive mission.

Ti.3:8-10 - 8This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
9But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
10A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject;

Paul exhorts believers to good works and to avoid arguments. The heretic Paul commands us to avoid is one who teaches a works based salvation or one who teaches “another Jesus”.

I Tim.6:3-4 3If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
4He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,

Again the strife enters when we create nano-doctrines around which we form ecclesiastical cliques.

Rom.16:17 - 17Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

What doctrine have we learned? The doctrine of Jesus Christ and His gospel. When you hear men, in the emergent movement for instance, teachings some strange doctrines that hardly mention the cross, or clearly suggest all religions have Jesus somewhere in them, that is a man or woman who is causing divisions contrary to sound doctrine.

Col.2:20-23 - 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 show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.

Rules Christianity is not Christianity.


I Tim.4:1-7 - 1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
4For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
5For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
6If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
7But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

Again, rules Christianity.

Heb.6:1-3 - 1Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3And this will we do, if God permit.

Creating distinctives and organizing around those doctrines is immature and many times elevates those distinctives higher than Christ Himself. Today we have some denominations that actually claim they can trace their roots all the way back to the upper room, and some all the way to John the Baptist. So self righteous.

Ti.2: 1-15 - 1But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
2That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
3The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becomes holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
5To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
6Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
7In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
8Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
9Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
10Not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.
11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
15These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

Look at that first verse. Paul exhorts Titus to teach things that are “sound doctrine”. But notice in the following verses the things Paul outlines as sound doctrine. I don’t see any of the cardinal doctrines of the church. Where is the Trinity or hell or the virgin birth or many of the other doctrines we would consider foundational? Of course the New Testament deals with those issues elsewhere, but it is obvious that the doctrines (teachings) that are most effective in manifesting the character of Christ, and that God can use in “adorning the doctrine of God our Savior”, are those which mold our lives into humble servants. Sometimes in our passion to be theologically orthodox, we lose the passion to be like Jesus. Those two issues are not inevitably linked.
I have written a previous post about separating ourselves from heretics. But I fear we have constructed walls of separation among believing followers of Jesus that should not be there. And usually those walls are built upon small doctrines that are not redemptive and whose only practical use is to divide. If we are to reveal Jesus to a lost world we must rise above these petty differences.

What is Love?

What is Love. Part II

Out of the depths of depraved humanity unfolds a living narrative complete with a living human being made in the likeness of sinful flesh. This image had been painted aforetime upon the fresco of prophetic lips with bits and pieces of descriptive glory. This narrative was not implemented as a result of unexpected circumstances; this narrative had been carefully crafted and set in unchangeable and indefatigable motion by the divine decree of Almighty God. The mystery of this narrative is unfathomable, from the love which propelled it, to the human instruments that were allowed to become players in that which was entirely divine.
The mind boggling scope and perfection of creation gives way to the mind boggling scope and perfection of destruction. Creation, hoisted up and presented upon the glorious scaffold of the power and authority of God’s creative command, this creation suffers the indignity of man’s willful disobedience to that very same Word. The scaffolding collapses under the weight of such colossal evil, and all hope seems forever lost. Enter sin, enter sickness, enter death.
Why in God’s dear name did He ever choose to create such a wasteland of wickedness? And when will God destroy such an unrighteous landscape and attempt to create something that obeys and worships Him? Surely God was finished with mankind after Adam’s representative sin. Surely God would withdraw His love and allow this creation to be consumed by the sheer force of His own righteous wrath. God’s justice must be fulfilled, and man’s disobedience must be avenged eternally. Why should God care, and even if He does care, what could He do about it?
And out of utter darkness there appears a light. Very dim and just a flicker, but a light nonetheless. Even before God sheds blood and clothes Adam and Eve with coats of skin, God makes this prophetic and redemptive promise:

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
I am not clear as to how the Jews interpreted such a promise, but its full impact cannot be understood without the illumination of the Holy Spirit. The phrase “the seed of the woman” is paradoxical since the woman does not have a seed. However, the Spirit that wrote those words takes another step through Isaiah and proclaims:

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
A further light; an increase in illumination; a prophetic incandescence. God is guiding His own narrative and is incrementally revealing it to those whose ears can hear and whose hearts seek Him. We now have pieces that say the seed of the woman, and a virgin, and even the name of God, Emmanuel. Although still cloudy and unclear, the pieces begin to form a coming reality, that when complete, will testify of this glorious plan which stood perfect and pristine in the waiting room of history before the first word of creation was even uttered.
Although there will come many hints and shadows, and even some bold prophetic images, without the Holy Spirit the Old Testament saints can only cling to the slaughter of animals and the promise of Almighty God. The angelic hosts are privileged to announce the final act of God’s eternal plan, however the central figure would still be understood through the prism of a national messiah. Peter would identify Christ but misunderstand His mission. And to misunderstand why He came is to misunderstand the entire plan.
We anticipated golden chariots and a celestial promenade that would come with great power and by sheer force usher in God’s redemption. Perhaps God would sacrifice a trillion lambs at one time and make atonement for the sins of mankind. Perhaps he would sacrifice one lamb for every sin. Perhaps God would bring a celestial lamb, created with a spiritual body that was colossal and beautiful, and with all of heaven and earth watching, God would sacrifice this stupendous lamb for mankind. We could only imagine the enormity of God’s redemptive plan!
Quiet. In the obscurity of history and with no fanfare or even respect, a baby is born to a peasant girl in the insignificant town of Bethlehem and in the aroma of an animal shelter. This cannot possibly be God! The culmination of the divine plan surely cannot begin with this humble birth from a daughter of Judah. It is beyond anything that can be understood and it defies the sensibilities of God’s people. No one had been listening and no one was there. Only Mary, giving birth to a son while still a virgin, pondered the meaning of it all. Joseph had been spoken to in a dream, but it was surely still a mystery to him.
A son is born from the loins of Judah. Angels and prophets and voices from heaven would surrender clues to His identity, but His mission would remain for the Holy Spirit to reveal. No one understood the resurrection since no one saw His coming death. And no one even caught a glimpse of what kind of death He would have to endure. That God would use a Roman instrument of punishment and death in His plan was beyond incredulous. Israel awaited their Deliverer who would defeat the power of Rome and return their nation to a place of power and glory. No one knew.
But now the curtain is opened, and the light shines brightly. God anoints the Baptist with a knowledge that is more wonderful than any man born of a woman could ever understand. The man, Jesus, is announced as “the lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world”. The pieces begin to fit and the light becomes brilliant. God does care about His fallen and rebellious creation. His kindness, His grace, His truth, and His miracles all speak of His identity. But still hidden is His mission and what it will take to accomplish it. No one could imagine that a brutal Roman cross will be the instrument of redemption.
The scientist sees God as a power, mathematical and ordered. The philosopher sees God as a concept and a mystical centralized intelligence. The lawyer sees God as a judge and a law maker. The rich man sees God as the creator of wealth. The astronomer sees God as a celestial orchestrater. There are many other images that man’s mind conjures up about the nature and character of God, but no one would have seen crucifixion as a revelation of God and His love. Death was something to be avoided and surely could never touch God, the giver of life.
But redemption had a vicious price tag, and there was no room for a bargain. That God knew all this before He ever created man is both a mystery and a revelation of His infinite love and goodness. Of what value is your love and goodness if it remains coiled up inside you and is never allowed to be a blessing to others? It would be nothing more than a section in a divine profile. But authentic goodness desires, and in fact needs, to be loosed upon others. And given the situation man was in due to his own deeds, the goodness and love that man needed must be described as redemption.
The redemption of mankind did not come with several different plans from which God could choose the most convenient. There was only one way, and that way was littered with humiliation, mocking, suffering, torture, bleeding, and even death itself. Death? God and death? That is the mystery for all eternity. How can God, the eternal and all powerful Creator of all that is, die? And yet wrapped up in this eternal plan of redemption is a glorious mystery which would become the focal point for either faith or rejection. God would become a man; sinless, born of a virgin, having miraculous powers, but a man nonetheless. And this God-man would stand as the eternal Lamb upon which all sin, past, present, and future would be placed. The millions of animals that were slaughtered in the Old Testament were only models, temporary players in the many prophetic rehearsals that depicted a coming event so mystifying, so disconcerting, and so glorious that it would change human history and change the eternal destinations of anyone who believed.
He walks the land of Palestine for 33 years doing good and even miraculous works. He even gives a small peek into His passion, but still He is a curiosity, an enigma, even to those who love Him. He refuses all advise and has in His heart an agenda, a mission, from which He will not deviate. When Jehovah instituted the Passover Feast in Exodus, He new there would be one universe shaking Passover that would arrive while Pilate was in power. It would be a day of reckoning, and much animal blood would be spilled in Jerusalem. Long lines with lambs draped around shoulders would wait their turn outside the Temple. The traditional spectacle would be repeated that day just as it had for thousands of years. But this day was different…very, very different.
While the line of worshipers moved slowly toward the Temple altar, a Lamb moved slowly toward an altar made with wood. Acting as His own priest, this Lamb does not flinch or run away, but He methodically moves toward the altar which had already made a place for Him. Perhaps He would recognize these Roman planks since they had been hewed from a tree He Himself had made. He lays upon the altar, and a Roman soldier raises his hammer and nails this lamb to the intersected planks. The altar is raised to heaven with a thud.
This Lamb must suffer.
You want to see God’s love? Open your eyes and see this Lamb writhing in excruciating pain. Do not for one second render that pain as purely physical, oh no, this Lamb endures the pain of the world’s sin. How that works is a gigantic mystery, but rest assured the pain associated with sin is meted out without measure. True to His nature and mission, Jesus asks for forgiveness for those who are crucifying Him. That alone cannot be fully understood.
Gaze at the grotesque figure of an innocent man, tortured and bleeding, and receive God’s love. Redemption is being paid at the ultimate price, and somehow, someway, God is being glorified in the death of His only begotten Son. I have seen several people die in my lifetime, but the most horrifying sight I have ever seen is watching my mother suffer for 5 hours and eventually die. I was there, I watched it, and it changed me.
It was not until several years later that I became a believer. I have thought about and meditated upon the cross many thousands of times since I became a believer in 1975. I have imagined my Savior being mocked and brutalized, and I have known He was thinking of me. It is in those times of meditation and reflection that I feel most unworthy and most grateful. I did not deserve what He did for me, and in light of the many times I have failed Him since I believed, I will never be worthy. But through this execution Jesus opened a portal to eternal life and has by His labor alone made me worthy. The greatest work of righteousness I have ever done could never add one ounce of value to the cross.
This has been a long post, but it always seems that when I speak of the cross I am flooded with inspiration. I am empowered by its majesty, by its bloody glory, and by the One who adorns its wooden grandeur. I am undone by its selflessness and sacrifice, and I am made whole by its redemptive power. I am reduced to brokenness by it unrivaled splendor, and I am granted the privilege of worship. I see bruises and scars; I see wounds and lacerations; I see gashes and stripes; I see thorns and swelling; I see slits for eyes and a beard massacred; I see a spear’s mark and I see impaled hands and feet; I see a chest heaving and lips gasping for air; I see spittle and matted hair; I see blood almost everywhere; and I see the physical demonstrations of unfathomable pain. And I see death.

But most of all…I see love.

What is Love? Really.

Rom.5:7-9 - 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Anything that is called love, but contains or offers no redemption, is an imposter and a fraud. And the Scriptures clearly teach that the highest level of the divine is love, and love is revealed and exhibited by redemption. The sentimental, syrupy brand of Hollywood love is a deception and a counterfeit. True love, God’s love, is manifested in His redemption, the redemption only found in the Lord Jesus and His redemptive work on the cross and subsequently authenticated by His resurrection. Halleluiah!
We, as believers in and receivers of God’s redemptive love, are called to a life that both reflects that redemptive love and offers our lives as a sacrifice to it. When we are involved with things and movements that are without God’s redemptive love, we do a disservice to Christ and we operate in a realm that is in fact antichrist. No man can serve two masters because he, by practice, will love one and hate the other. That teaching, from the very incarnate lips of the Master, places a firewall between His cause and all other causes. Before I enter into the eternal glory of Christ and His love, let me identify causes that are both spiritually hollow and also impugn the very character of the Risen Christ.

Morality. When followers of Jesus join moral crusades they reject the very nature of the gospel message and pitch their self righteous tents upon the law of Moses. Let us be very clear, all of us break God’s moral law EVERY SINGLE DAY OF OUR LIVES. There, the emperor has no clothes. Our calling is not to condemn the world, and Christ, from His own lips, said condemnation of the world was not His mission at all. He stated clearly that His mission was salvation, and He opened that door through His passion and resurrection.

And when those of us who so loudly tout our redemption as entirely woven from the fabric of grace, stand upon that foundation and rain down stones of moral condemnation upon the heads of dead sinners, we have identified ourselves as modern day Pharisees. Magnifying the sin of others is a self righteous labor that consistently blossoms through the nourishment provided by the fallen nature of others. What would people think of a person who labors in a cemetery, digs up corpses, and itemizes their past sins and their present decomposition? That person would be considered disturbed and his mission would be considered macabre.

Politics. Can there be any greater field where redemption and love are undetected? Harsh words, character assassination, exaggerated accomplishments, scheming, and vast amounts of financial misuse and squandering are all important parts of this vicious treadmill. The energy expended to acquire power is astounding, but only second to the gullibility of people who not only watch such a spectacle, but become willing participants and supporters. And when those supporters are professing believers in the Lord Jesus and His teachings, then it reveals the colossal force of deception.

When someone verbally embraces the teachings of Jesus, and then actively engages in endeavors that are antithetical to those very teachings, it manifests how sophisticated deception can be. The evil one is not satisfied with the achievement of believers being uninterested and apathetic to the gospel, he also desires, with astounding success, to have believers involved with causes that are counter productive to that same gospel and actually work against the kingdom of God and the teachings of Jesus. Think on that for a moment and shake your head.

Nationalism. It is quite a challenge to trace the history of God’s church and see exactly when the Bride of Christ gave her allegiance to any one nation. If you read some of the teachings of the Anabaptists you will discover a thirst to remain unfettered by this world, to say nothing of being wholly given to it. Where did the followers of Jesus decide to give their lives and hearts to things other than Jesus? I suggest that in large part it is a phenomenon seen most powerfully in America. If you travel to foreign countries and converse with other believers, you will sometimes see nationalism, but not nearly on the same scale as it is practiced in American evangelicalism.

In fact, just questioning the Biblical validity of such a practice can elicit scorn and castigation from brothers and sisters in Christ. Nationalism is void of love and redemption, and in fact divides believers around the world. The spectacle of one believer pledging his allegiance to France, while another believer pledges his allegiance to Canada, goes against every New Testament teaching concerning unity or complete surrender to Christ Himself. And when those two believers find themselves passionately attempting to kill each other on the battlefield, that in and of itself countermands all the teachings of the Lord Jesus. And usually wars are about money (land, lifestyle, etc.) It is a narrative that will always be unredemptive and void of God’s love.

Greed. Actually, elements of this cause are found in all the rest. It is the strongest and most pervasive of them all, and it stands in direct conflict with all things in Christ. Fallen man finds his security and even his worth in money. When the New Testament exhorts us to be content with food and clothing we manipulate it to mean some abstract principle which still allows for a variety of financial self aggrandizements. And here in America, entire teachings have sprung up that openly claim that God is in favor of greed, which they conveniently call “prosperity”. And most cleverly they insist that the path to such prosperity is by giving money to them. Isn’t the gullibility of people simply breath taking?

But listen as believers complain about taxes, gas prices, salaries, and a plethora of things associated with their own wealth. All of these are nothing more than shades of greed. And during election years, the overwhelming issues are about who can help the economy and provide good paying jobs for everyone. And believers are no different in their verbiage and what their hearts seek. The reason believers vote for conservatives lies predominately in their belief that such men will cut taxes, cut entitlement spending, not raise the minimum wage, reduce foreign aid, and many other things that they believe will help fill their own pockets. Like Fagin sang in Oliver,

“In this life, one thing counts
In the bank, large amounts.”

What a theologian Fagin was!

This is a short list of the things that have no divine love or redemption in them. I was going to conclude this post with a description of God’s authentic love and redemption, but I have decided to make another entire post about that. So I invite you to digest what I have written about and see if the New Testament teaches us to participate in such things. But even if you cannot fully endorse what I have written, perhaps it has ignited a first step in investigating the spiritual productivity of such things. But do not just tippy toe around, embrace the danger of finding out something that alters the doctrinal landscape that has become your comfortably bulwark.

Watch for “What is Love? Really?” part II.

Jesus is Coming Back?

We have preached and taught that Jesus is coming back to this earth. We have sometimes insisted that He may return soon. We have suggested He is returning in judgment and with great power. In many different ways we have presented that scenario as verifiable truth.

But how can we expect the world to believe us when all the evidence they have is how we live in the shadow of that truth? Instead of living like pilgrims passing through, we live like indigenous people who believe their future is here. And in light of that, the world remains overwhelmingly unconvinced.

Relationships, Fellowships, and Associations

Acts 2:42 - And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

I Cor.1:9 - God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

I Cor.10:14-23 - 14Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
15I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.
16The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
17For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
18Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
19What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?
20But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
21Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
22Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
23All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

II Cor.6 - Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Eph. 5 - 10Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.


Over the years there has evolved a superficial view of which relationships a believer should have and which ones he should avoid. In general we call that doctrine “separation”. In fact, the doctrine or teaching of separation has all but been eradicated, and when it is addressed it is usually in the context of marriage. But in my experience, when a believing girl or boy falls in love with an unbeliever, they can usually come to my office and present an obviously awkward case for his or her salvation. Or the unsaved fiancé will gladly recite some prayer in order to be married.
The verses I posted mean almost nothing in today’s brand of “anything goes” Christianity. Now the Scriptures clearly exhort us to have some evangelistic fellowship with sinners, even the most demonstrable sinners. That means inviting homosexuals or adulterers or felons over to eat with you from time to time. Much of the church has grown accustomed to a bushel style existence that loves the church events but looks down upon lost sinners. Some blogs that claim to be Christian mock and castigate the lost when their brand of sin is at odds with the bloggers moral sensibilities. But as lights we should seek those who dwell in darkness.
But I want to address the other kind of relationships. In the western world the visible church is fragmented into all sorts of beliefs and practices that range from similar all the way to bizarre and even into practicing the ways of other religions and calling them “Christian”. This is a serious situation that demands a Biblical response from anyone who desires to please and glorify Christ in their walk of faith. And with the onslaught of erroneous and extra-Biblical teachings it is imperative that we humbly, but decisively, separate ourselves from those who teach such things.

(Although this not the thrust of this post, there are some orthodx teachers who are so caustic, so self righteous, and even so nationalistic, that we should avoid them as well.)

We must not fellowship with those who label themselves as emergent or post modern or universalist, even if they project themselves as Biblical. But make no mistake, many who travel in such groups are well disguised and are very slippery in their doctrinal expressions. And many who tout an “orthodox” theology, complete with a statement of faith that seems to be Biblical, fellowship and retain ecclesiastical associations with heretics. What are we to make of that? And what is our Biblical direction when that occurs?
For instance, an emergent man named Dan Kimball touts a Biblical theology both in written form and by his own mouth. Although some of his practices, including his appearance, seems a little odd and unorthodox, he still maintains that he is Biblically solid in his theology. But he has many friendships, fellowships, and associations with men whose theology is not only suspect, it is rank heresy. Now that is a problem that demands a response.
Paul rhetorically asks, “What fellowship does light have with darkness”? And therein lies the obvious double mindedness. If a preacher, or any believer, has an orthodox statement of faith and forcefully suggests his theology is Biblical, how can he comfortably fellowship with heretics? Does that not cast some doubt upon his own theology, or at least how deeply he holds to his statement of faith and how wide are his acceptable theological parameters that are outside his own doctrinal descriptions?
For instance, if a man believes in the virgin birth of Jesus, but the preacher down the street teaches otherwise, can the “orthodox” believer exercise a spiritual bond of fellowship with that preacher? No, he should humbly but demonstrably avoid being his ecclesiastical colleague. It comes down to this: In today’s expansive theology many have abandoned any semblance of being separate from those who teach otherwise than Biblical truths. I do not mean to be nit picky, but we are far from that today. The Scriptures are not to be worshiped as we worship Jesus, however they are a glorious and indispensible part of a believer's walk. The moment we dilute the Scriptures is the very moment we are deceived into following human logic and reason.
If Jesus should tarry another fifty years, the church will continue to slide into a gooey conglomeration of beliefs and practices that have long since become untethered to any stretch of Biblical truth. Even the churches with Biblical statements of faith will by their methods and practices overtly mock that which they say they believe. Many are already exhibiting such behavior. And in the coming days, the individual believer will be sorely challenged by the swirling events unfolding around him that present a carousel of confusion. Here are some suggestions:

1. Do not become enamored with any man, preacher or otherwise.

2. Test the spirits, not as a caustic judge, but as a seeker of Jesus and His truth.

3. Beg God to keep you humble every single day. That will be a great challenge.

4. Devour the Scriptures privately, and use the older commentaries as aids.

5. No one’s views are completely accurate.

6. Avoid Scriptural controversy, and in general view “new revelations” as very suspect.

7. The greatest challenge of all will be to deepen you private prayer life.

8. Do not be pressured into having all the answers or understanding all the mysteries.

9. Strive to love everyone, even those from whom you withdraw.

10. Seek Jesus with all your hearts and do not let all the ecclesiastical confusion distract you from Him.

God's Sovereingty

Lk.2:1-6 -And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. 2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

The Jews constantly protested the Roman occupation, and they hated the Roman taxes. It was well known that the taxes usually ended up in the coffers of Rome itself, and did little to aid those in need. They were unfair and unjust. But I want us to draw our attention to the entire story of Christ’s birth.

The prophet had identified Bethlehem, meaning the house of bread, as the birthplace of the Messiah. Now God could have chosen a virgin who lived in Bethlehem to be the chosen mother of Jesus. But God, in His wisdom and sovereignty, chose a young virgin from Nazareth knowing full well that the fulfillment of Micah 5:2 would necessitate incorporating a Roman decree. Think on that for a moment, the Holy Spirit visits a virgin from Nazareth at least 9 months before the decree went out, and God knew that Joseph would have to take Mary to Bethlehem since they both were of the tribe of Judah.

A Roman decree of census and taxation became an integral part of the birth of Jesus because God designed it so. Think about the complaining today from believers about American taxes. In fact, the most recent political movements, which included many believers, were about publicly decrying taxes. And yet God Himself orchestrated the birth of His Son to include the oppressive Roman tax decree as a sovereign part of the prophetic narrative.

Should we complain about the taxation decree of Caesar Augustus (probably around 8B.C.) which brought Mary to Bethlehem? Should we question God’s wisdom in not choosing a virgin from Bethlehem so Rome would not have any part in it? Or can we glean from the narrative an exhortation to trust in God’s sovereignty and avoid complaining about circumstances since God is well able to both plan and bring about His will, even if certain events seem confusing to us?

‘For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

So the next time you are tempted to complain and criticize things that seem unfair, remember God is always at work in means and ways that sometimes are known only to Him. Jesus would later exhort His followers to pay their taxes to Rome. Persecution from within the church must be rebuked and corrected. Persecution from without should be endured with humility and patience and even joy.

Thanksgiving

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.

How can someone express thanksgiving to His Creator? Let us be clear, God Himself gave us life, and we took it and threw it all away. And then this same God came and gave us another chance, but in a colossal mystery, it cost God His own life. He died so that we could live. Go ahead, shake your head.

The depth and meaning and sacrifice of the cross is fathomless. Not just representative, but experiential in ever dimension and detail. Jesus, Son of the Living God, and indeed God in the flesh, writhes in mortal pain and is tortured by those to whom He gave life. The word “love” is always bandied about when it comes to Jesus, but that word seems so antiseptic and shallow. The cross, in all its gory majesty, speaks with words that cannot be uttered.

The concept of love is understood by sinners on a very selfish level, and we use it for all sorts of people and things. We love music, a job, an aunt, a favorite fishing spot, a story, clothing, a car, and on and on it goes until the word has become so diluted its meaning is practically worthless. And yet God has to communicate what He feels and shows to us by the words that we can understand, and he sends the Spirit to amplify and expand the meaning and reality of those words with a combination of emotions, images, concepts, imaginations, metaphors, and other intangibles that when allowed to collaborate inside our mental kaleidoscopes and guided by the foundation of Scripture, our hearts almost burst with wonder and worship.

Do not think that we have even touched the hem of His garment when it comes to then glory of heaven and the Risen Christ. When we think about Jesus and what He has done we must not stray from Scripture, but we can take the wings of Scripture and soar into spiritual astonishment. Yes, I believe in the deeper life and the things of the Spirit. We as believers have become so earth bound that we no longer spend the necessary time to allow our hearts and minds to fly high above the spiritually mundane. We are afraid of the uncommon because so many abuse it, but we are missing much of what the Spirit has for us!

God loves to see and hear His people dwelling upon Him. He is always ready to reveal another aspect of Himself to those who diligently seek Him, or even enlighten us further about something we already know about Him. You desire to give thanks to God today? Well do not offer Him some perfunctory “We’re thankful” concerning freedom or food or the catch-all “blessings”. The greatest thanks you can give unto our Redeemer is to seek Him at a special time and in a special place until you have made an unmistakable connection that both thrills you and changes you.

Thanksgiving, as it is supposedly projected today, is a diluted representation of the meal between the Pilgrims and a small number of Indians. It would do us well to remember that the Pilgrims, and all the white settlers that followed, systematically decimated the native Americans and by trickery and force took over the land that had been theirs. But it makes Americans feel good to think that white Pilgrims and American Indians dined together in peace and harmony and with God’s blessing. That is a self serving caricature. (I know, cold water.)

But we as believing followers of the Lord Jesus must give more than words and much more than an inaccurate historical reenactment to our God and King. The unsaved will settle in and consume a feast, but while we as believers eat that meal, we should deviate from the common and the norm. We should devote some quality time alone with the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. He is worthy of much more than a perfunctory holiday and a meal upon which we gorge ourselves. Our Savior awaits to meet with us.

Let us give Him the gift of thanksgiving by giving Him the gift of ourselves in His very presence! He has risen from the dead and He is alive!!

Discernment

In many circles, internet and otherwise, discernment has become an end and not a means. If you are “orthodox”, and if you identify and call out heretics and the like, you consider yourself right with God and divinely endorsed. That is nothing more than doctrinal idolatry.

Let us not forget that it was none other than Peter who proclaimed publicly that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But the narrative reveals Peter’s heart was far from Christ. He was doctrinally sound but still not right with God and divinely rebuked. I continue to find it strange and revealing that the discernment sites are not discerning the doctrinal compromises in Christian love, humility, and the rest of the Christ manifestations. But the greatest of these is love, not the Trinity, inerrancy, 24 hour creation day, doctrines of grace, stand on homosexuality, or pro-life position.

Pursuing the Christ starts with the truth about Him, but that is just the beginning of the journey.

“That I may know Him…” - The Apostle Paul

The word "know" is the same Greek word used in Matt.1:24-25

24Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

Do we know the Christ in that kind of intimacy? Your doctrinal orthodoxy is foundational, but standing alone it is hollow and stark. And if your defense comes with more words of theology, then your defense arises from a keyboard and not an observable expression arising from the Daystar in your very being. If you desire to wear the moniker of “discerner” then you must do much more than arrange sentences; you must display a living manifestation of Jesus Himself, not just a written argument about Jesus.

You want to be a discerner?

Look deeply into a mirror; go ahead, discern.

Consider Him

Heb.3:1 - Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

The writer of Hebrews is, in this context, going to compare Jesus with Moses whom the Hebrews held in high esteem. But later in the chapter the Scriptures refer to Jesus as the Creator and Moses the creation. Quite a difference. But in this first verse we are exhorted to “consider” Jesus. That is a wonderful discipleship verse. In my own mind I believe the greatest and most comprehensive discipleship verse is “He must increase, but I must decrease”, but consider Jesus is another good one.
How would our lives change if in everything we did we considered Jesus. Not just a wristband that says WWJD, but a lifestyle that actually considered Jesus in everything and acted accordingly. Take an imaginary trip with me.

We are heaven, the throne room and dwelling place of God. In the very center is the Lamb who was slain, the Risen and Glorified Christ. He is beyond words and His brilliance lights the entire universe. His countenance is stunning and just one glance is so overwhelming no one can stand in His presence. We bow down and worship Him with exaltations that were unavailable to us on earth. His voice, His eyes, His robe, and everything about Him commands all attention, and the angels swirl around him saying,

“Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”

Our entire beings are consumed with the knowledge and presence of the glorified Son of God. We have found our eternal rest in Him. Time is no more, we live in the eternal moment.

Now Jesus calls us over and tells us that He is sending us to a world where sinners need His redemption. He tells us that the price has already been paid, and He extends His hands to prove it. He instructs us to go and be His witnesses, and we will be given earthly bodies. We will get married and have children and have to earn a living, but our mission is to share His gospel and live as salt and light in that dark place. But Jesus tells us He will allow us to remember everything about where we are coming from, including Himself.
So we arrive in this world and begin our missionary journey, as it were. Of course we cannot tell people we have just come from heaven, but the memory of being with Christ empowers us daily. I want to ask you this: Would anything on this earth allure us? Would we care about the politics and nationalistic wrangling? Would we worry about money and the cares of this world? After being in God’s eternal throne room, would the Taj Mahal amaze us? And having seen the scars in the hands of Jesus, would we, could we, ever compromise and say there are other religions just as valid? So why would our lives be so different? Think about what conclusion sinners drew about the apostles in Acts.

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”

Our lives would be demonstrably different because we could not get the knowledge of Jesus out of our minds. His vision and His presence would saturate our minds and hearts, and regardless of what circumstance we found ourselves in, the presence of the Risen Christ would make us soar above it all. Our bodies would be walking upon this earth, but our hearts and minds would always dwell with the Lord Jesus. And with that, our lives would be so very different and unencumbered by this world, that others around us would surely notice something very different about us. I mean what would people think about a person who was so free from the cares and pressures of this world that his existence manifested Christ continually?
We would be so loving and gracious, and in view of the Lord Jesus, humility would come naturally. And when we were castigated or mocked by anyone, we took it without retribution and with a grace that baffled those around us. Being very aware of where we came from and where we would return to, we sought the good of others at our own expense. And having experienced in person God’s love for sinners, we would not think of condemning and judging. Redemption would be our very breath.

Of course we have not yet been to heaven, but we are going there. So what is missing in our lives that would reshape us in a way that would mirror the imaginary narrative I just outlined? In one succinct phrase:

Consider Him.

Giving the More Earnest Heed

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

These are not the times to become careless and indifferent. These are very possibly the end times, the last days, and our endurance will be sorely tested. To use the word “serious” in describing these times is to downplay their importance. If indeed it is true that Jesus is actually at the door and ready to return, should that not send shivers down our spines and cause our hearts to melt into repentance and a deeper commitment to worship and service?
But how often do believers become comfortable and even passive in their faith and expressions of that faith? How often have we succumbed to our culture and the pressures of this present life, and in doing so we become lukewarm? As darkness increases in scope and depth, should not light increase as well, even if that light remained the same? If you light a candle in a lit room its light is diffuse, but if you slowly begin to turn off all other lights that candle becomes increasingly bright, even when the flame itself remains at the same size and brightness. So when spiritual darkness increases all around us, and yet our lights become less and less observable, what does that indicate?
It reveals that we are being assimilated by the darkness. And go and sit in the average evangelical church and do you anticipate hearing the pastor speak with any kind of passionate urgency at the present situation? The incandescence that Jesus said should be ours has gone out and the vessels are indifferent to that. It doesn’t happen overnight, but little slips added to little slips and before long you are practicing a diluted and even bastardized brand of Christianity and embrace it warmly.
Let us examine the personal level, which actually is part of the collective. Do you spend daily time with the Lord? I do not speak of reading five minutes of Daily Bread or spending ten minutes reading the assigned verses that will help you read through the Bible in one year (highly overrated). Are there times where the Spirit imprisons your heart and binds you for a time to a section of Scripture where you meditate almost hourly until that portion of God’s Word breaks you and begins to reform your very being? I’m not saying that is the norm, but does that ever take place?
The majority of American believers have time for all sorts of things but precious little for any deep and meaningful feeding from the Scriptures. I am reticent to rehearse again the ratio between television, entertainment, sports, fellowship, in comparison to reading and spiritually consuming God’s Word. All of us are guilty before our Blessed Savior and all of us are in need of repentance and revival. We bare the shame of treating God’s Word as if it was just one part of a well rounded western religious lifestyle.
What about personal prayer? If our dedication to God’s Word is wanting, then our prayer lives are a much greater source of shame. The mice maze western lifestyle has all but consumed our time for any elongated and meaningful times of prayer. And since we have become accustomed to comparing ourselves with ourselves, we feel comfortable and just a slight conviction about the extent and depth of our personal prayer lives. In general, the average evangelical prayer life mocks the God he professes to serve. Is that not a primary part of a believers life, and have we not let it slip? And if nothing changes, today is tomorrow.
But the end is at the door, and even if we ourselves are saved, those around us are in eternal danger. This is no religious game; this is life and death…eternally. Do we still believe that God can pour out His power upon His people if they will seek His face and turn from their wicked ways? Do we thirst for more of Jesus or have we become satisfied with doctrinal scraps? The church is asleep and like Samson we do not even know our power is gone. Masses and masses of young people are graduating from high school and leaving the church, and we think that inventing more attractive activities will draw them back. But in reality, they leave because nothing is happening in our midst. The intense presence and reality of Jesus Christ is no longer there.
The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to give the MORE EARNEST HEED to the things that we have heard. That does not mean we should lightly salt our lives with some practical moral teachings, and participate in the church building program. That means we should, we must, circumcise our hearts and with brokenness and contrition and allow God’s Word to mold us into the present life of Jesus the Christ. Anyone who openly suggests that what we now live mirrors the Lord Jesus is deceived and a liar. And instead of being ashamed at our pitiful revelation of our Redeemer, the church becomes bellicose in the affairs of this world. Shouting and spewing redemption less moral invectives aimed toward those who are already dead in trespasses and sins is the very height of spiritual hubris and pharisee-ism. And while we assume the moral high ground, the visible church is filled with adultery, divorce, immorality of all sorts, and a dedication to greed and hedonism that rivals the Masonic lodge.

Shhhh…listen. Still no sense of urgency or crisis. To you, the individual believer, there may not ever be a massive repentance among the visible church. However God continues to hold us as individuals accountable. Are you still not discontent with the things of this world? Are you not yet tired of it all, the back and forth political wrangling, the debt ridden western lifestyle, the striving to fend off boredom, and the worry laden attempt to gain more and keep more? Is your soul still not exhausted and willing to turn and pursue a different direction?
If God Himself came down and told you personally that the return of Jesus would be in your lifetime, would that dramatically change the way you live? And if so, wouldn’t that mean that the level of your consecration to Jesus is dependent upon the chronology of future events and not the magnificence of His very Being and what He sacrificed for you?? I feel a tangible sense of impending doom and glory emanating from the very same event…the return of the King of all Kings. By His grace I will be a part of that glory, but also by His grace I want to be His instrument to warn and woo those who now stand in the impending doom.

As much as possible, I want to be Jesus.

My journey to that end has more in front of me

than behind.

Come Out From Among Them

II Cor.6:14-18 -Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

II Cor7:1 - Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.


These words have been manipulated to mean a variety of things, usually centering on marriage, business partnerships, and friendships. And those things do have much validity in obeying the spirit of these verses and Paul’s teaching concerning levels of relationships. Look at II Cor. 7:1 and notice that Paul refers to promises. This verse follows the verses I first posted, so what does Paul mean when he says “these promises”. It is obvious that the Spirit, through Paul, is referring to the promises that say, “I will receive you” and “And will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters”.
Now we know that salvation is by faith alone, and that by faith we have been grafted into God’s family and been made sons and heirs. So what is the Spirit teaching here? Carefully review the overall context and you will find that verses 17 and 18 are dealing with the depth of relationship between believers and their Lord. Verse 14 is obviously speaking to a believer since an unbeliever cannot be unequally yoked with another unbeliever. But God is exhorting and commanding His children to come out from among the unbelievers.
And God promises to increase the Father - child relationship when we separate ourselves from those who do not know the Savior. The Father does not just receive us as His property or His servants, although we are surely that, but God says he will be a Father unto us when we draw closer to Him by putting distance between ourselves and those who do not know and serve the Risen Christ. And almost all believers would agree to the teaching of separation as it concerns marriage or friendship, but there are a number of areas that are in direct violation of that teaching that the church blindly embraces.
The two major areas are interrelated and somewhat symbiotic in practice. They are politics and nationalism. And the reason I seem to consistently deal with these two issues is because I believe they are major stumbling blocks to revival, they are overt idolatry within the church, and God’s people cannot deepen their spiritual walk with Jesus Christ while those things remain intact. And I continue to get correspondence from believers who have recently been enlightened and are taking steps into spiritual freedom from these things. And since I am a nobody and my site is miniscule in the scheme of things, I must draw the conclusion that God is doing a wonderful work of repentance among His people.
Are we interested in experiencing God Almighty as a Father and we His children? And are we seeking reverence, the fear of the Lord, as well as intimacy? If that is truly the case, then everything must be on the table. We must provide the Spirit with access to everything in our lives, including the traditions of men that have crept in unawares. We must dare to be transparent and dangerously consider the possibility that in the area of relationships, callings, and goals, our practice is disobedient.
The word “yoked” refers to the wooden tool that joined two oxen and helped them pull together toward the same goal and target. They labored together in the fields and that yoke helped them accomplish the same task. Now the farmer would never have an oxen and a horse yoked together since that would cause an unbalance in speed and strength and would ultimately be counter productive to the task at hand. I want to take the metaphor much farther than that. Would a farmer yoke together a live oxen and a dead one? How would that relationship work in plowing the field? Of course you can see the problem that would cause.
The same is true when believers become yoked with unbelievers in causes, political or otherwise, since you in fact are yoked with a dead person spiritually speaking. And because that dead person seems willing to yoke with you, then we can rightfully assume the field that he is willing to labor in does not belong to Christ since he does not know or serve Christ. That can mean only one thing: YOU are laboring in the wrong field. Paul is very clear about joining forces with the unbeliever in endeavors that are anything higher than the issues of everyday living. It is permissible to be a plumber and work with an unbelieving plumber, but it is against Scripture to join forces with that same unbelieving plumber in moral or spiritual causes. Another picture of the yoke metaphor is this: Would a farmer yoke one oxen that faced west and one oxen that faced east? And yet that is exactly what happens when believers join forces with unbelievers, they are, or should be, laboring in different directions.
And those “conservatives” that scream loudest about socialism and being dependent upon the government for the things of this life, are the same ones who loudly give thanks to that same government who supposedly gives them their freedom. Can you not see the contradiction in all of it? The same people who promote less government also give their allegiance to that government, and aggressively suggest that government should legislate morality along the lines in which they agree. And in that political melee, and openly for all to see, believers join hands with unbelievers to accomplish the political goals they deem “constitutional”. So many believers treat the constitution as nationalistic Scripture.
And here we are as the church that lives in the west. We worship democracy and call it a divine gift. We reconstruct the birth of this nation so that we can also claim a divine creation with continued divine approval. And it does not even matter when this nation murders millions of unborn babies, or promotes sexual perversion, or is permeated by hedonism, or even publicly treats all religions as paths to God. Those who claim to believe the Bible will still pledge allegiance to this nation and soothe their conscience by claiming they are attempting to “bring it back to God” when it never was walking with God at all. We call that deception.
But stop and listen to these words. A great and sophisticated deception is aimed at those of us who have removed ourselves from politics and nationalism. A cloud of self righteousness descends upon us, and we are deceived into believing that as a result of our “coming out” party we are closer to God. Oh no, friends, that is not true. In fact, there are unbelievers who do not participate in politics or give their allegiance to this nation. So just because God has led us out from bondage in these areas, we still must pursue Him and seek Him with all our hearts. And we must humbly remember it was the Spirit that helped us and not our great intellect.
And perhaps the most difficult, at least to me personally, we must ask God to give us love and patience for our brothers and sisters who remain entrenched in things that do not profit spiritually. Let us remember that we were once aggressive and caustic as it concerned politics and patriotism. We once proudly claimed to be “conservative” and loved the “founding fathers”. We were virulent in our defense of moral issues even when speaking to blind people. We were self righteous and that same self righteousness desires to have a stake in our new position. We must daily refuse to succumb to that fleshly attitude, and repent when we fall into it.
Let us encourage one another in these issues, and let us also encourage each other to remain demonstrably humble and gracious and loving to the brethren from which we came. Jesus the Christ deserves all the honor and praise, and we as His servant sons, are striving to reflect Him alone, and surely not even us as faithful. As the Master said, we are unprofitable servants of the Most High God. We have no other gods before us!! Halleluiah!!!!

The Days are Evil

Eph.5:15-17 - See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

The days are evil? What does the Apostle Paul mean by that? There can be no doubt that in the context Paul is warning us that with each passing day we both lose opportunity in God’s kingdom, and that the end approaches when all opportunities will vanish. If you wish to remain deceived by false hopes and promises, then by all means continue to look to things on this earth. Listen to the politicians, look to the ebb and flow of economics, incline your ears to world events, and put your faith in men who are either conservative or liberal or something in between. In all of these, if you haven’t been convinced of their futility then perhaps you never will be.

But if something within your spirit is whispering, or even shouting, that the time is short and the gospel of the everlasting kingdom is the only message of hope, then you are hearing the Spirit’s voice and not the voice of man. Let us act accordingly.

Overcoming Evil

Marching relentlessly throughout history, and with a ferociousness that employs both overt and clandestine power equally, evil lives. This evil strives to convince mankind that all religions are universally true, and that the gospel is antiquated as revealed in Scripture. And at its core, this evil has attacked, redefined, ignored, and even mocked the person of Jesus Christ. It continues to use riches and success and everything that pertains to this life to divert attention from the life to come.
And if evil cannot completely tarnish the person of Christ, it will attempt to lure those who speak His name into self righteousness. Evil never slumbers or sleeps and its scope is enormous, active in the littlest things all the way to world wide events. Evil knows no boundaries and is never embarrassed by the depths of depravity into which it ventures. Evil hates God, and in particular, the Lord Jesus Christ. It will only compromise to leverage a greater evil in the future.

Sophisticated and cunning, evil uses different levels of pressure and a range of suggestions and logic. It appeals to the flesh, and even incorporates religion and the spirit world to lure susceptible and unsusceptible souls into sin and darkness. Evil has a plan and is well able to adjust and customize its approach in order to maximize its effectiveness. And when one avenue closes, evil can immediately change course and probe other spiritual weaknesses, or create one.
Determined and aggressive, along with skillful passivity, evil operates openly and camouflaged simultaneously. Evil loves to be neatly defined, which allows it to maneuver inconspicuously outside the defined parameters. Evil uses immorality, indulgence, and all sorts of sin in order to destroy people and their souls, however the main object never detours from drawing sinners into rejecting Christ, and drawing believers away from serving the Lord Jesus.
Evil itself is a mystery, but make no mistake, its tentacles lead back to the father of all lies, Lucifer, also known as Satan. This is a personal entity that hates God with a viciousness unfathomable to the human mind. He is not God’s equal, and this is not a great battle between comparable rivals. Satan has been defeated through the death and resurrection of the Son of God, however God holds the door of the ark open in hopes that many more will enter into God’s eternal redemption. But until the end, God allows evil to roam. We are not robots or just divine marionettes dancing for the amusement of the Creator.
We have been made in God’s image, and in God’s sovereignty, He has bestowed upon us the ability to choose between evil and good, Satan and Christ. Now many have chosen Satan without actually realizing it because they have been deceived. Some have believed in a false Christ and are actually serving Satan. Does that sound a little harsh and inflexible to you? Then you still do not realize the depth and force of evil and its captain. Imagine a demented person who wants to see people fall off a high cliff to their death. If they remain many yards away from the edge the possibility that they will fall over the edge is remote. But the closer they walk to the edge the smaller the distance is to death and tragedy. So if evil can allure people to live and think along the edge of spiritual disaster, then the task of complete damnation becomes much more possible.
Churches will gather and present research about death metal and black metal bands, and the evils of Hollywood and other rock and pop icons. They will hold seminars that decry such genres that lead young people away from their moral and spiritual moorings. Crusades for young people about sex and drugs are designed to have these young people eschew such things, and many times some do. But evil does not fight against such things because evil knows that when older people target younger genres they are blind to and ignore the ways evil has overtaken them.
Vows and professions and resolutions are all well and good, however there is only one way that actually stands against evil. We as believers are called to love, worship, and serve the Risen Christ with all our hearts, souls, bodies, and minds. This is our relentless journey; this is our labor of love. Evil invites us to depart from our passion to follow Christ, and if evil cannot get us to completely detour, it calls us to compromise. A little compromise at first, and then greater and more treacherous compromises down the road. Evil and its captain are hard at work endeavoring to besmirch the name of Christ and damn the eternal souls of men.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Notice what John says under the anointing of the Spirit. We who believe have been given salvation, strength, God’s kingdom, and the power of Christ, and through these the evil one is cast down. Brethren, we live in a world filled and controlled by all sorts of evil, but the entire earthly kingdom lies with the Wicked One. The acts of evil just expose the power behind this present earthly kingdom. But the church, the Bride of the Son of God, must not partake of this kingdom. We must come out from among the spirit of this world and become incandescent pilgrims who by our words and lives call to those in darkness. We must be Jesus, who said,

“My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”

Open your ears and your hearts and listen, not just hear, what the Spirit is saying to the children of God in these last days.

“Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”

Like a global tsunami, evil rushes around the world to execute the purposes of the enemy of our souls who realizes his time grows short. It is everywhere and it labors day and night. But in the midst of this tidal wave lives God’s people who have professed faith in Jesus Christ and are called to follow in His steps. And yet we have inclined our ears to the sirens of evil, and have become prisoners of that which is against God’s Christ and God’s kingdom.
What is the word of our testimony? Is it not the Lord Jesus Himself? Are we not imitators of God and the Savior? Are not our lives His very own property? Must we exhaust our lusts upon this earth and submit to its dictates? Are we blind to the beautiful satisfactions of evil, or deaf to the wonderful songs of Satan? Evil has provided a feast and we have accepted its invitation to dine.
Let us arise, awake, and return to our Blessed Lord and Savior with hearts full of repentance and a determination to serve and worship the Living Christ! Let the things of this world grow strangely dim and let the Spirit take inventory of everything we do. And let us die to ourselves and be resurrected in the power and person of Jesus Christ. Let this be a honest reflection of who we are and how we live:

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.