Entermission

Entermission the debut album from DJ Official available in stores now!.

After producing for over 10 years and serving as traveling deejay, Official finally has the opportunity to reveal the dynamic of his skill-set on one project. The album is purposed to influence Christians to think about the Great Commission (Matt 28:19) and the Great Commandment (Luke 10:27) on a local level. As Christians we have a personal mission field, which consist of those that God has placed in our sphere of influence. With a missional mindset we can affect the people around us with the Gospel message by the way we live and conduct ourselves in our everyday walk. This is a message that needs to be heard and with everything from Reggae, Downsouth, East Coast, Commercial, Underground, Electro, and Rock/Hipster featured on the album there is something for everyone!

EnterMission features over 20 artists such as Lecrae, Flame, Sho Baraka, JR, Tedashii, Trip Lee, R-Swift, Thi'sl, Jahaziel, and more! Every single track on EnterMission is produced by DJ Official.

To buy it on iTunes, click here

To order the physical album, go here

You can listen to the singles, read about the album, and create your own version of the album cover here

There are three versions to choose from

Immanuel

Grace & Peace to you all.

I hope this holiday season brings you great memories shared with family and friends. This year remember to celebrate the One who hung on the tree and not just what may be under the tree. The Christmas holiday and Jesus' birth are great but it's the end of the story that really matters and causes us to rejoice. It was on that tree that He bore our sin in His body and was bruised for our iniquities. It is through Jesus that we're justified, have peace with God, & have gained access by faith into God's grace. And It was for this very reason that He was even born on that "Silent Night, Holy Night".

For "God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God". II Corinthians 5:21

Immanuel

Isaiah 7:14 says, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."

This prophecy about the Messiah states that his name will be Immanuel. The Hebrew name consists of two words; El "God" and Immanu "with us". Immanuel literally means "God with us." This is significant because Jesus would literally be God in flesh:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....and the Word became flesh and dwelt[tabernacled] among us... -John 1:1, 14

He[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. -Colossians 1:15

For in Him [Jesus] all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form. -Colossians 2:9

in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. He[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high -Hebrews 1:2-3

So, we can see that a prophecy of Jesus being "Immanuel" is dealing with him being God, the Word, in flesh. This was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus otherwise known as the incarnation of the Word.

This same Word existed before and created the universe. It's important to remember that the Word[Jesus] was not just a man, but rather He "became" a man. Genesis 1: 3, John 1:1, 14, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2-3 all speak to this [Be Like The Bereans!] but I would like to highlite Micah 5:2-3:

And you, Bethlehem Ephratah, you being least among the thousands of Judah, out of you shall come forth for Me, One who is to become Ruler in Israel, He whose origin has been from of old, from the days of eternity. Therefore He[God] will give them[Israel] over until the time when she who is in labor has given birth;

You see it is true that on that first Christmas if you would, Jesus entered into humanity as the Messiah, God with us, with the mission of saving His people from their sins; but His incarnation was not His inception. He existed before "in the beginning"... If we miss this, we're putting the cart before the horse.

So this year as you celebrate the newborn King, and the star that lit up the sky to proclaim His birth; remember that He was the one who said Let there be light and created that star.


Merry Christmas,

Steve

LYRICAL THEOLOGY

A complete catechism in 4 minutes... OVER THAT BOOM BAP! CHEA!

What makes the gospel "good news"

There was a question asked on shai linne's facebook page re: some lyrics he wrote that say "for the first time in eternity God was alone" speakin about the cross. The question was "wasnt God alone before He made Adam?" Although his question was only about God being alone b4 Adam(a), it got me thinkin about the fact that there are many Christians who also may not understand God "being alone" on the cross(b).

Well i took the time out to answer the questions.... and a lil more. Hope this is helpful.

Answer (a):
God had never been alone. The Father Son and Holy Spirit have always[even before the world began] existed as the Godhead without any separation from each other. Even as Jesus walked out His earthly ministry He was always connected with The Father and Spirit.... and then there was the cross. Which brings us to...

Answer (b):
Matt 27:45-46" From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Often times people misrepresent Jesus' agony as being a result of crucifixion. However every Scriptural account of the events of the crucifixion confirm His full acceptance of His fate and purpose. Jesus said things like noone takes my life rather I lay it down. It wasnt death or the way He died that made Him ask the Father why He forsook Him. When Jesus uttered the words "Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani?" it was because He for the first time felt the Father turn away from Him.

There is at least 1 Scripture that gives us this insight:
II Corinthians 5:21

"For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Follow the quotations;

God the Father cannot look at "sin". For a moment "Jesus", symbolically, became "sin" and God had to look away. "Jesus" becoming "sin" involved "Him[Jesus]" LITERALLY taking the wrath of God on our behalf... so for a portion of the time on the cross, "Jesus"-being God in the flesh- felt alone as the Father poured out His wrath on "sin".

Make sense? Hope so.

Then comes the second half II Cor 5:21 "that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." The other half of the divine exchange takes place here. We [all who repent and believe putting their faith in Jesus as Savior] are now looked at as the "the righteousness of God" in him[Jesus]. God having punished "sin" already can now looks at His people and see righteousness- literally the righteousness of Jesus. God treated Christ as if He lived a wicked and perverse life and then turns and treats the wicked and perverse, who turn to him in repentance and faith, as if they lived in complete compliance to His laws. Crazy!

This is why the "good news" of the cross of Christ really is good news. And it didnt end there. He laid in a tomb dead for 3 days and then by His Spirit rose back to life defeating death which was the power that sin and Satan had over all people, and now Jesus offers all who believe in Him that same conquering Spirit which resurrects us to a new life while on earth as well as will resurrect us to eternal life in immortal bodies.

Maaan if knowing that Jesus became a liar, thief, fornicator, murderer, backbiter, homosexual, slanderer, adulterer, rapist, and all else... so that you could not only be forgiven but made perfect and holy isnt good news I dont know what is!! I know what the bad news is though. The bad news is that all who continue in their sin & rebellion, no matter how small, will have to pay the price themselves. Jesus was able to endure God's wrath -and take it- for hours before the ransom had been paid and He died... YOU cant take it and therefore it'll take all of eternity for you to pay it. And thats what hell is.

So seriously... why wouldnt you turn to Him? Is sin really worth it?

The Good Shepherd

" 7It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." As Christians we don't always walk in the truth of this reality. Often times we resist, rather than embrace, the correction of our loving Father. Praying for relief, begging for a way out, trying desperately to convince Him that we know what's best (and this [pain] ain't it!). Similar to a child with a flu in the doctors office for immunizations. Just like that child we often forget that it's our "sickness", if you would, that has landed us here- and the Physician knows just what we need to healed. Instead of trusting the Doctor to deliver us from the ultimate pain and suffering as a result of our state, we ignorantly kick and scream trying desperately to avoid the very means He's using to restore us to health. <----Sad but true. Another thing to note is how v.10 says that God disciplines us for our good so that we might share in His holiness. This is really good news since according to v.14 "...without holiness no one can see the Lord", and we can't do it ourselves. The "comfort" of God Psalm 23:4 - Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Did he just say that God's comfort is His rod and staff?? Psalm 23 is probably the most quoted piece of scripture from all of God's word. But what does this mean? Verse 4 of this Psalm paints a picture of God’s "comfort" as being the love of God showing forth His care and concern for His flock. The terminology that God has utilized in this verse, is an allusion to the Shepherd’s crook or staff, and the valley of the shadow of death, is a picture of the sheep that wanders in the dark valley without his shepherd. As you'll see in the story below a Shepherd will always CARE for his sheep. He doesn’t just chastise them for his good pleasure, but, rather, lovingly corrects them, if needed. Perhaps THIS is the crux of the problem within the current mindset of Christianity? Have we become such an arrogant people that we think we are above being corrected by God? Have we become so self-esteemed that we think we don’t need to obey correction from God? I pray it is not so. God's correction often times comes by way of His Word. The simple action that is required, is obedience from our heart of thankfulness. This obedience CANNOT be offered to God by necessity, nor by works. All obedience to God must be rendered to Him from the love that He has already shed abroad in our hearts. It's reciprocal; we love Him because He first loved us(1JN4:7-21). One question we might ask is: If this correction/discipline is to comfort us then why do the rod and staff not feel comfortable? Could it be that we have not submitted ourselves to the Word of God? Have we gone our own way? Do we know what awaits us down the road of life? These are things we should consider on a regular basis. God knows our submission, or rebellion, to His Word. He knows if we are following His path or our own ways. When His rod and His staff comforts us, sometimes it doesn’t seem like it’s being directed from the hand of our loving Father. If you haven't found out yet, there will surely come a time when you'll see it is not "comfortable" to be poked and prodded with the rod and staff of God, but it is certainly necessary to our well-being to keep us from falling off of a spiritual or maybe even physical cliff. Consider the story below, in your eyes is that viewed as done out of the heart of a loving and caring shepherd? Correlate it to the love our Chief Shepherd has for us. A sheep story One day a tourist was visiting a small sheep farm. Even though the farm was small, she witnessed the well-kept barns and sheds. In one shed, she noticed a sheep lying on a pile of straw. The sheep had a broken leg. She asked the farmer, "How did the sheep break its leg?" "I broke it", responded the farmer. A horrified look came upon the woman's face. "How could you do such a thing?" she asked. "Of all the sheep in my flock," answered the farmer, "this one was the most wayward. Often he would wander off to the verge of perilous cliffs. Not only was he disobedient himself, but he was continually leading the other sheep astray. That's why I broke his leg." "The first day after I broke his leg, I brought him food and water. He tried to bite me. So I left him alone in this shed for a couple of days. When I returned with food and water, he was happy to see me. Now when I come to him, he licks my hand." "This sheep now shows every sign of submission and obedience. Now let me tell you something. When this sheep is well, as he soon shall be, he will be the model sheep of my flock. He will be the quickest to hear me and the one who stays closest beside me. To the other wayward sheep, he will be an example of obedience. He has been transformed by his suffering." There are times in our lives when God has to break us. He has to break our stubbornness, our pride, our self-sufficiency. He does it because He loves us. If God did not break us, we would, as sheep, stray into all kinds of dangers. Because he breaks us, we lead changed lives. We learn to obey Him, follow Him, and be dependent on Him. The discipline of God is almost never pleasant, but the God who loves us dearly disciplines our lives for our good. Brothers and Sisters... Jesus, the "Messiah", is just that- our Deliverer! He is the one who is willing and able to deliver us out of snares, whether they be a test from the enemy of God, or a result of our own disobedience! Can you see the picture presented in the story of the shepherd? Can we expect any less from the Chief Shepherd? One of my greatest concerns in this day in which we live, is that we are caught unaware of the real deficit in the Body of Christ. Please do not be hasty to attribute every small inconvenience in your life to the work of the enemy! Preserve the honor that is due God! There is no power, nor any circumstance in your life, which He is NOT in absolute control over! Not one! As His child nothing can touch you except that the finger of God has appointed it. These things are meant for our good, not for our destruction. God knows exactly what it takes for you to be conformed to the exact image of His Son. I always say, If there is any doubt as to the happenings in the life of a person who is considered righteous by God’s standards, I would remind you of Job. He was perfect, upright, and feared God. Did this absolve him of any tests in his life? No, in fact it qualified him! In closing, I want to encourage you to welcome the rod and the staff of God. No matter hard it gets, or how much pain is involved, stay in fellowship with God to taste and see that the Lord is good! You can know Him, and all that He represents in your life, by studying His Word. This will at least help you have the right perception of the "comfort" you experience as His sheep. Let the truth and love of Him reflect from His Word into your life, especially when it hurts. Like a dear friend wrote on his twitter page this week: "A fear for the unrepentant man is that God may break your leg. But what's even more scary is if he doesn't, you may not be his sheep."

What a sight to behold

This isn't the typical "Be Like The Bereans" blog. No scriptures, no study, no sermon. Just my eye witness account of God's glory once again manifested to a people group that the "religious authority" despise. You would think that after 2000 years things would be different.

A couple years ago I read a blog by a brother who had an experience very much akin to one I just had. It inspired me to write a quick report on something peculiar 'I saw' last Thursday. So much so that I actually copied some of what he saw since I saw the same things. (Thanks shai)

It may shock you, but it shouldnt.

- I saw a gathering of "the church" take place at a local church building.

- I saw Spirit-filled believers with administrative gifts put in months of work leading up to the event.

- I saw people of all races eager to serve one another.

- I saw Christians with evangelistic gifts sharing their faith with people at the gathering as they had opportunity.

- I saw ministers with artistic, poetic, musical, and teaching gifts boldly proclaiming a crucified, risen and returning King for all to hear.

- I saw brothers and sisters with gifts of mercy giving of their time and resources for the good of the community and the glory of the Savior.

- I saw people stand in awe as an urban event was held in the city with the 4th highest murder rate in the US - for 6 hours. And while there were plenty of smiles and hugs, not one fight broke out, not one blunt was lit up, not even one word of profanity came from the mouths of those in attendance or on stage.

- I saw the church unified in love serving each other in ways that made those watching curious about the God they kept hearing about from the stage.

- I saw a young man wearing a t shirt, LA hat, baggy jeans, and sneakers clearly present the truth of the gospel to a crowd of 1500+ people.

- And immediately following the young man's presentation, in a quiet room off to the side, I saw men women and children professing Jesus as Lord, praying and reading bibles, many of them for the first time ever.

- In the end you know what I saw? ...

I saw a Hip Hop concert.

But more importantly I saw Jesus.

Obedience 2 - The Basis for Assurance.

As I sat thinking about writing another blog - I couldn't help but refer back to the testimonies I've heard these past few weeks of how the last post "Obedience" was helpful to some of you. It's refreshing to know I'm not the only one that gets something from these posts.

In preparing for this next topic, I felt it necessary to tie the two into one; After all according to 1 John 2:3-6, Obedience = The Basis for Assurance.

1 John 2:3-6
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

According to the Apostle, we can know and have assurance that we're in Christ when we're in obedience and compliance to His ways and commands. So how do we do this?

In short it’s only achievable when we are clothed in Christ. Over and over again in the Bible we are told to put on Jesus; we are told to clothe ourselves with Christ and His righteousness (Galatians 3:27; Romans 13:14; Luke 24:49; Ephesians 4:24). Romans 13:14 is my favorite “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”

Does this require us to become perfect? No. To say otherwise would be heresy. The point however is that there is a standard, God’s holy standard, which is met naturally by the believer as fruits flow from his/her new life. As we put on Christ we indulge in our sinful nature less and less, allowing the Holy Spirit to shape and form us more and more. Hence I say the Apostle John calls obedience the basis for our assurance.

When our lives reflect Christ and His goodness then we can be sure that we’ve come to know Him(1 John 2:3-6) and knowing Him is eternal life (John. 17:3). If we therefore have eternal life then we can be sure of our salvation since the promise of it is eternal. This is why the Doctrine of The Perseverance of the Saints, when taught correctly, is nicknamed Eternal Security.

Eternal Security

or Perseverance of the Saints, states that all who are chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the Spirit are eternally saved. They are kept in faith by the power of God and persevere to the end. (John 3:36, 5:24, 6:37-40, Ephesians 1:11-14, 1 Corinthians 1:4-9, 2 Corinthians 1:22, Philippians 1:6, Hebrews 10:14, 1 Peter 1:3-5, 1 John 2:19, 1 John 3:9, Jude 1, 24).

This doctrine does not mean that all those who merely appear to have faith (i.e., said a certain prayer, walked down the church isle, joined a church, were baptized, etc.) will be kept by God and will therefore persevere to the end. As stated in the Regeneration blog there are many people who profess to be believers but then later fall away. Instead, Perseverance of the Saints means that all those who have a genuine faith in Christ will be kept by God forever and will persevere to the end. There are many professing Christians who trust in their own works, goodness, merits for their salvation. These people are trusting in their own righteousness, instead of Jesus' blood, and do not have true faith in Jesus Christ.

Another important point that must be made is that contrary to what some believe, the doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints in no way permits believers to live a lazy and rebellious Christian life. That's why I titled this blog Obedience - The Basis for Assurance.

Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."

Since the Christian is born again by the Holy Spirit, he loves Jesus and so naturally desires to keep His commandments. The change of heart that the Holy Spirit makes in regeneration, as well as the indwelling presence of the Spirit in the believer, ensures that the believer will continue to love Christ. True believers strive each and every day to please Him, this is not done in order to obtain salvation, or even to maintain salvation, because that would turn salvation by grace into salvation by works. Rather, Christians keep His commandments out of love and gratitude.

Saying that we must do the right things and obey all the rules in order to rather than in appreciation of (big difference) would be as a friend said today, putting the cart before the horse. The sustaining power in our salvation comes completely from The LORD. Grace, forgiveness, a new heart, His Spirit placed in us, and reverent fear of Him, are all given to us freely at The Father's will. Read Jeremiah 32:36-41. He does it all.

Now lets look a little closer at two of Jesus' statements:

Jesus said in John 6:39-40, "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." Here we are told that the Father's will for the Son is that the Son lose none of those that were chosen and given to Him. So in order for an elect person to be lost, the Son would either have to disobey the Father's will, or be impotent in His power to prevent the loss of those given to Him by the Father. Put plainly the only way a believer could be lost is for the Son of God to sin or be powerless to keep them. Needless to say, that will never happen.

In John 10:27-29 Jesus says about the elect sheep in verse 27, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;". Notice that it is the nature of sheep to follow the Shepherd. If anyone fails to follow the Shepherd, that person was never really a sheep. In the verses 28-29 He continues, "And I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." It is sometimes argued that although nothing can take a believer out of the Father's hand, a person might take himself out of the Father's hand. However, Jesus does not say that the believer is holding tightly to the Father's hand. He says that the Father is holding tightly to the believer. Another thing to consider is who's doing the saving? We're talking about the Almighty God here... who is "greater than all". Hence "no one" means no one!

Be sure

Now that we're clear on what it actually means to have "eternal" life, let's get back to our assurance in the matter. We know that we have come to know Him when we love him and in His own words loving him is keeping His commands. Jesus' infamous 'you will know them by their fruits' statement in Matthew 7 is a very real life example.

From the time I can remember, my mother has had a lemon tree in her backyard. In due season it produces bright yellow, juicy, and very aromatic lemons. Just recently some of them started tasting different. They were no longer sour but instead had a sweet taste to them. After 1-2 tastes we'd all been convinced that somehow the fruits of the tree had changed. What we were eating was undoubtedly grapefruit. It wasn't until about a month ago that my step-dad went back to prune the tree and lo and behold there was a separate trunk that had grown up right beside the original one and indeed was a grapefruit tree. But think about it, we knew that before it was proven, and how... by the fruit it had been bearing! In the same way you know a person by their fruit. Jesus went on to say a good tree cannot produce bad fruit and a bad tree cannot produce good. Just like that lemon tree cannot produce grapefruit and visa versa (even though it had us fooled for a while...which.... wow! that could start a whole nother blog!!!).

So what fruit or evidence is growing from your life? Jesus' commandments were only two. Love God with all you've got, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the fulfillment of the whole Law and the prophets. As we read in Romans 13:

8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Is this what hangs from your tree? Habitual obedience to the whole law and the prophets because you love God and others, and more importantly because God has so changed you from the inside out? Examine yourself to see if you are in the faith, ... you do not know whether you are, unless you pass the test. A good place to start is the book of 1st John.

Remember this is simply, but importantly, the evidence that you have come to know Him; that these things flow naturally from your life. We truly are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, for it is the gift of God, lest anyone should boast. We have no reason to boast about anything. Not even for making a decision for Christ. We serve a gracious and merciful God who chose us before the foundation of the world; who shed His precious blood which covered our sins; who changed our hearts so that we would willingly serve Him for all of eternity; who gave us the faith we need to do so; and who holds us in His hand now and forever. To Him and Him alone be all glory (soli deo gloria) and praise forever and ever!

grace & peace,

Da Sciple

Obedience

I just finished up "bible time" with the family. We finished the book of Joshua yesterday (been through Exodus, parts of Leviticus and Dueteronomy, and Joshua so far this year) and moved onto Judges. To sum it up, Joshua dies at 110 years old but before he dies his last command is to remember all that the LORD has done for them, keep His commandments, choose who they will serve and if God then do away with all the other gods/idols and do not turn away from the LORD. We pick up in verses 14-21 of Joshua 24 where it's worded this way:

14 "Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
16Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods, 17for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. 18And the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."
19But Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good." 21And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD." 22Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses." 23He said, "Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel." 24And the people said to Joshua, "The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey."

Easy no?! I mean it might be hard for me today but not the people who firsthand saw God working in and through their camp to defeat their enemies, part rivers, and perform miracle after miracle right? Wrong! The unfaithfulness of man at its finest.

The first thing recorded in the book of Judges ch 1 is that the Israelites inquired of God who was going to continue leading the conquest of the Canaanites since Joshua had died. (Important note - the conquest was to be completed just as God had commanded the Israelites in Dueteronomy 7:2 "when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them." They were to kill everyone, break down their altars, do away with their idols setting the totality of the land apart to God.[Exodus 34:13 & Dueteronomy 7:5]) So God sent Judah, who took his brother Simeon, and immediately they defeated 10,000 at Bezek(v.4), they even found the King (Adoni-Bezek), cut off his thumbs and big toes, which was repayment for what he'd done to others during his reign (v.5-7) and let him die. All this under the power of the LORD. From there on they went from land to land and the Bible records that "The LORD was with them" everytime- signifying that He handed their enemies over to them as promised"(v.1-26). Still looking good right?

Starting in v. 27 and continuing for the rest of the chapter its recorded that as the Israelites grew strong and so they stopped killing the Canaanites and instead started putting them to forced labor(taking them as slaves). Both Brooklyn 7, and Zion 4 next month, dropped their mouths wide open. They remembered what the LORD commanded Israel and to hear that they so quickly decided to do otherwise was astonishing to them. Boy was I blessed to see their reactions. Just goes to show how childlike faith trumps "adult wisdom". Jamie and i thought everyhing was ok. Although it seemed to us as if they were still defeating their enemies and had the upper hand, Brooklyn pointed out that the scripture no longer said that "the LORD was with them".

She was right! Judges 2:

1Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, "I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, 2and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you." 4As soon as the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5And they called the name of that place Bochim. And they sacrificed there to the LORD.

Verses 10-13 go on to tell us that the generation who'd lived with Joshua died off and the next generation who did not know the LORD or anything He'd done, worshipped the gods of the people around them (who should have been dead), & abandoned the LORD. In v.14-15 Joshuas warning came to pass (from Joshua 24:20 which is up above):

So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress

The Moral of The Story- applying yesterday's lesson to today

I'll stop the bible study there although we went into chapter 3. The purpose of this blog was not to take you on an expository journey through that text, rather to deal with the matter at hand, all God requires of His people is obedience. He does the rest. For the Christian a major part of your sanctification is obeying God as He revealed His will in the Word, thus conforming your life to that of Christ. Yea you actually are required to renounce/repent of the way(s) you are and to change, sometimes dramatically, the way you act and live. But during the entire process it's 99.9% reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit.

So why don't we just obey? It's something that goes against almost everyone's basic nature, especially here in America. We loath being told we have to do something a certain way; we cherish our independence and our right to do and to act in the way we please. We prefer to focus on grace, and ignore that God has a claim on our lives. But we are not our own; we are bought with a price and are now slaves of Christ. He has every right to command us how to live our lives and to expect our obedience.

During our bible time with the kids I had the family consider the analogy of a parent and a child. We as parents expect obedience from our children for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that we typically know better than they do what is good for them. Well...one of the steps of salvation is "adoption," where we as believers become adopted children of God. As His children, God has every right as our Father to expect our obedience and we should expect that His commands for us result in what is best, even if we can't see it.

Christ obeyed perfectly. If we are to become like Christ in sanctification, we also should be obeying more and more each day. Obviously we won't have perfect obedience this side of heaven, but we certainly should be progressing that way, and again as we become more and more obedient- the Holy Spirit can progress in His perfecting work in us. HALLELUJAH!

This brings me to a second point which somewhat digresses back to the last blog but with it I close. If we are progressing in obedience to the Word of God, then our lives are going to change. You cannot be the same person this year that you were last year if you are concentrating on conforming your life to God's commands. For example, you will be more patient, more loving, more God-centered, more service-focused, more joyful, more ______ (you fill in the blank). The Holy Spirit will begin to have His way with you as you make a highway for God in your heart through obedience to the LORD's commands.

1 John 3:24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

Praying for obedience and change, both in my life and in the lives of those I love....

grace and peace,

da sciple

Regeneration

In this blog I've grazed the surface of what regeneration or being born again [really] means and attempted to help you, the reader, to 1) examine yourself to see that you are in the faith[2 Cor.13:5], and subsequently 2) make your calling and election sure[2 Peter 1:10]. I didnt set out with the intention of it being this long. After 3 days of intermittent reading and writing all between the hours of 12 and 3am, i have decided to cut it short. there may be a pt. 2, however I hope that you will read this blog in it's entirety and take the pearl from the clam.

grace and peace,

steve

Many of you have seen me wearing this t-shirt from time to time and some of you have even asked... "What is regeneration"? Regeneration is another word for rebirth or being born again. But the term born again is desecrated when used the way the Barna Research Group, and others, use it(details below).

My concern and motivation for writing is that the vast majority of the professing church today are not really born again. Some of them are church attenders and church members, even church leaders. But they are not born again. They are cultural Christians. Religion is a formal, external thing, but there has been no true inner awakening from spiritual death to spiritual life. You may even be one of them.

I want to serve those people by showing them what must happen to them. In John 3 Jesus said:

"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is 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.'

I know it may be hard for those of you who've been "Christian your whole lives" but, according to Jesus - everyone must be regenerated. Noone escapes being born into sin. Everyone born is steeped in iniquity because of the fall. There are no people born Christian, everyone has to experience re-birth...according to Jesus. If you dont have a conversion story and cant define when you were born again/grabbed a hold of/snatched up/etc., theres a great chance that you have not been. And by the word and the prayers of believers, and mainly the Spirit of God, I pray that the Lord might use this blog as an aid that carries you to re-birth or a tool of reference for those of you who already are but don't truly understand it.

I feel it necessary to note that being born again or regenerated is Monergistic. Monergism describes that God through the Holy Spirit works to bring about the salvation of individuals through spiritual regeneration without cooperation from the individual. For example [biblically]:

· God’s effectual calling (“Those whom He called He justified,” Rom. 8:30),
· the new creation (“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,” 2 Cor. 5:17),
· God’s drawing us to Christ (“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,” John 6:44),
· God’s giving people to his Son (“All that the Father gives me will come to me,” John 6:37),
· God’s opening our hearts (“The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul,” Acts 16:14),
· God’s illumining our hearts (“God…has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” 2 Cor. 4:6),
· God’s taking the heart of stone out and giving us a heart of flesh (“I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh,” Ezek. 36:26),
· God’s making us alive (“even when we were dead in our tres- passes, [God] made us alive together with Christ,” Eph. 2:5),
· God’s adopting us into his family (“You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” Rom. 8:15).

The list could go on. I just figured it'd be best to note this since there exists a doctrine that is diametrically opposed to Monergism. Synergism states that the human will cooperates with God's grace in order to be regenerated. To the synergist, faith may arise from unregenerated human nature. Salvation is not complete until the individual performs some action(s). Scripturally however, faith in Christ only springs from a heart first renewed by God. [1 Cor 12:3].

Misuse of the term born again.

The Barna Research Group documents that 45% of Americans claim to be "born again".

In a report titled “Born Again Christians Just as Likely to Divorce as Are Non-Christians,” among other things Barna goes on to list:

· Of 12,000 teenagers who took the pledge to wait for marriage, 80 percent had sex outside marriage in the next seven years.
· Twenty-six percent of traditional evangelicals do not think premarital sex is wrong.
· Among married born again Christians, 35% have experienced a divorce. That figure is identical to the outcome among married adults who are not born again: 35%.
· Although Bible scholars and teachers point out that Jesus taught that divorce was a sin unless adultery was involved 52% of born again Christians disagree with this statement.

Here's how The Barna Group defines born again:

“Born again Christians” were defined in these surveys as

people who said they have made “a personal commitment

to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today”

and who also indicated they believe that when they die

they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their

sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respon-

dents were not asked to describe themselves as “born again.”

In other words, in this research the term born again refers to people who say things. They say, “I have a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. It’s important to me.” They say, “I believe that I will go to Heaven when I die. I have confessed my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.” Then the Barna Group takes them at their word, ascribes to them the infinitely important reality of the new birth, and then slanders that precious biblical reality by saying that regenerate hearts have no more victory over sin than unregenerate hearts.

One thing I won't say is that their research is wrong. In fact is seems to be exactly correct. It would be unwise to state that the church is not as worldly as it is. I will say that the writers of the New Testament think in exactly the opposite direction about being born again. Instead of moving from a profession of faith, to the label born again, to the worldliness of these so-called born again people, to the conclusion that the new birth does not radically change people, the New Testament moves in the other direction.

Properly Handled

The New Testament moves from the absolute certainty that the new birth radically changes people, to the observation that many professing Christians are indeed (as the Barna Group says) not radically changed, to the conclusion that they are not born again. The New Testament, unlike the Barna Group, does not defile the new birth with the worldliness of unregenerate, professing Christians. For example, one of the main points of the First Epistle of John is to drive home this very truth:

· 1 John 2:29: “If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”

· 1 John 3:9: “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.”
· 1 John 4:7: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”
· 1 John 5:4: “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
· 1 John 5:18: “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”

These statements appear to be written with the very claims of the Barna Group in mind. The Bible is profoundly aware of such people in the church. That is one reason why 1 John was written. But instead of following the Barna Group, the Bible says that the research is not finding that born again people are permeated with worldliness; the research is finding that the church is permeated by people who are not born again.

My Testimony-The difference between one and the other (abridged).

From the time I can remember, I was always in a congregation. "Raised in church". By the time I was a pre-teen I was participating in all of the churches services, leading songs in the choir, and serving as the treasurer and secretary of the Jr. Laymen. Aside from this, somewhat as a character trait but largely due to boundaries set by my mothers strict discipline, I was thought by many(almost everyone) to be a morally good person. I didn't use foul language, I was respectful to adults, I never got into trouble with the law, at most I'd tried to be a "hang-banger" but wasn't into gangs. My life, from the outside looking in- and compared to my peers, was A OK.

Even after almost flunking High School, "only" smoking marijuana, and forsaking sexual purity in my latter teen years,... rather than someone telling me that God had a standard of righteousness and that because I was living in clear violation of it, this indicated that I did not know God the Father, had not(yet) been granted repentance and/nor faith in His Son, and was not indwelled with His Spirit, I was assured that being baptized at 7 and going to church meant I was a Christian. And oh yeah, nobody's perfect and we all fall short were carved deep into my heart of stone. What a tragedy. I say all the time that I was headed for hell on a grease poll, but was as religious as they come.

I grew even further into this state as an adult. Having corrected my only outward/socially recognizable sin by getting married to my girlfriend[now wife of 8 years] who was soon to give birth to our daughter, I was now praised by everyone for being "so mature". All I had to do was go before her dad's[pk] church congregation and announce "we're getting married". While there is some virtue in man'ing up, this meant absolutely nothing for the state of my soul. Shortly after this, unbenounced to me, I was taken before the church and announced as the youth leader.... soon to follow was the announcement that I was to be Timothy and her dad --- Paul [I was to take over the ministry]. Understanding that my ficade had lots of people fooled and fearing that if I was to accept these offers I'd soon be unmasked -after all I couldnt find John 3:16 in the bible-, I swiftly made an exit out of that church.

Still walking on cloud 9 and soaking in the glory men gave me I went on to become a semi-successful Loan Officer, making (and spending) money hand over fist. Purchased a 5 bedroom house at 22 years old.I guess you can say I had it made. I even started taking church more serious when I joined a local mega church of 17,000 members. It was spiritual disneyland. Praise and Worship was like unto a rock and roll concert every service - lights off, smoke and strobe lights flashing etc. I was in a service 3x a week at the bare minimum. No life change, just a whole lot of church attendance. I had walked down the aisle for altar call a couple of times and recited the sinners prayer ---- once while hungover from partying the night before. Although my lifestyle was identical to the average unbeliever in terms of sinful acts and the absense of conviction thereof, I was frequently mailed "Thank You" and "God Bless You" cards from the pastor and wife for tithing up to $4,000.00 at a time.

Without going in to much more detail, I'm sure you can see how these cards are stacking. There was an on going affirmation I received from "the church" despite my wickedness, which resulted in me becoming more and more comfortable in sin.

One day I was handed 14 or 15 DVDs. The Way of The Master Television Series Seasons 1 & 2. The first DVD I watched was "Hell's Best Kept Secret". In short "the secret" is convincing the church to remove the law from the gospel, so that people no longer feel guilty of sin and thus no longer see their need to repent. This is the reason why the church attendance, spiritual practices, etc. were always ineffectual. Without first being diagnosed (presented with the law) I could never appropriate the cure (the good news that although I was guilty my debt had been paid). Remember Paul said that the law was our school master or tudor to Christ. It's what's drives the sinner to the cross. Another result of this fallacy has been the implementation of the altar call. Pastors telling people that all they have to do get to heaven is recite the sinners prayer and invite Jesus into their hearts and He will definitely come in. Now I know what you may be thinking "what's wrong with that"?! Everything is! You don't find a sinners prayer, altar call, or the idea of inviting Jesus into your heart in scripture at all.

After watching this episode my eyes were opened. For the first time in my life I understood the Gospel. I was spiritually resurrected from death to life as God open my heart to believe His good news. All along I thought Jesus died for my sins, therefore I just prayed and asked for forgiveness and kept on sinning. Sure I'd believed in Jesus, there wasnt a time in my life when I'd say I did not. However, James says "even the demons believe [and tremble]". The demons believe in Jesus and tremble at the thought of Him --- but theyre not born again. To believe the way God commmands is to allow this new belief, imparted to you by grace through faith in Christ, to "put off the old man", "become a new creation" who by way of default is a "slave to righteousness". Believing with no evidence of a life change is nothing more than a mental ascent. A way that seemeth right unto man but the end thereof is death!

Since that day I have been called everything from "just more spiritual", to "very religious", none of which I am, nevertheless - - everyone around me has been able to see the change. That's what the verse means when it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Behold indicates that you can "see" all the new things.

This is the story of every true believer. My version only differs in the events approaching my new birth, from there it's one and the same with every disciple of Jesus Christ. Decreased patterns of sin, hatred of sin, love for God, love for His Word, answered prayer, the witness of the Spirit, rejection and persecution because of our faith etc. all hang as glorious fruit from us branches.... so long as we abide in the vine. If you can testify to these things - then Praise the Lord. For those of you who don't know and/or know you cannot, I could want nothing more for you.

Father,
it is in the Name of your blessed Son, Jesus the messiah, that i pray. i beseech you Lord on the behalf of those who do not know you intimitely. may the things written bring glory to your Name not mine. If you see fit, use these words as a flint knife slicing through the stone hearts of sinners and imparting them with a new, heart of flesh. For those who know you, Lord comfort and encourage them with your Word and by your Spirit empower them to live holy as your are holy- as You've commanded us to do. Thank you Father.
Amen.

12 Essentials

Ran across this again (after having recorded it a few years back) and thought to share. 

The following represents some key pillars of what should define ministry for any true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. I certainly haven't arrived at these things in my own life and ministry. But they are there as key signposts to remind us all of what is important vs. what is urgent.

May they be an encouragement to you and be used by God to strengthen you as you serve Him in the sphere of influence He has sovereignly placed you today.

grace & peace,

steve

12 Essentials of Christian Ministry for All Believers in Jesus Christ

pray fervently: praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, -Eph. 6:18

study carefully: Be Like The Bereans!!! -Acts 17:11

embrace fidelity: And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. -1 Thess. 2:13

contend earnestly: Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. -Jude 3

live missionally: and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, -Romans 15:20

serve sacrificially: So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. -Phil. 2:1-4

teach faithfully: But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. -Titus 2:1-8

love unconditionally: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. -1 Cor. 13:4-8a

walk obediently: Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. -Titus 3:1-2

repent daily: Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him." -Luke 17:3-4

worship continually: Through Him [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. -Hebrews 13:15

and 

watch expectantly: Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. -2 Tim. 4:8