Be Like The Bereans

LEGACY

2011-03-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

By definition legacy is anything passed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor. The closest synonym to the word is inheritance. Related to the Kingdom of God, legacy is what God has passed down to His people through the ages in the form of faith [believing God and that belief being counted to them as righteousness- despite their state of unrighteousness]. This faith is clearly seen and only available in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Christians have the privilege of participating in the extension of God's legacy by telling others the good news of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners, and justification (declared righteousness) before God by faith in that alone.

On Saturday April 9, 2011 I have the privilege of partnering with some friends to bring a 1 day conference to LA, that seeks to train believers in an urban/inner city context to be leaders in their churches and communities by participating in God's legacy. Featuring Sponsored by Biola University, The Master's College and Seminary(whoo hoo), Chick Fil A, and the Be Side Radio; the conference will be hosted in the city of Compton at my childhood home church Citizens of Zion. With a general session in the AM, two 2 hour workshops during the day and an evening hip hop concert, the day will be sure to encourage and challenge it's target group of 18-35 year old aspiring leaders of the next generation church. If you havent already, plan to be there and bring some folks with you.

Below there's a video of a friend of mine Brian Dye, the founder of The Legacy Movement. In it he, and his wife Heidi, tell how they are making an impact on their community on the westside of Chicago by opening their lives up to young men in the neighborhood, and doing life on life discipleship in their home. I hope it encourages and challenges you to be about leaving a legacy.

grace & peace

REJOICE Said Musa REJOICE!

2011-02-21T08:32:00.001-08:00

Said (Sa-yeed) Musa is an Afghan father of six, a Red Cross worker, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus. Musa was imprisoned because of his conversion to Christianity. A judge recently warned Musa that he would be hanged within days if he does not recant his Christian faith and reconvert to Islam.

In response to this their has been a twitter campaign launched by Christian Leaders in an effort to stop the execution of Musa- pimarily by way of tagging @BarackObama in their posts and challenging him to intervene on this since he did so re: the potential burning of Quran's in Fl.

As I've been reading thru, and memorizing, the book of Philippians for the past 6 weeks I've run into verses like these(and more) and been challenged to reconsider the way I view trials of all sorts.

^1:12I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel

^1:20-21 it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to meto live is Christ, and to die is gain.

^1:28-30[do] not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

^3:8,10Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death

...and on and on I could go.

Paul's letter to the Philippians is primarily in praise of their faith and love for one another. His biggest exhortation is simply that they would abound still more(1:9). This is a stark contrast to some of his other epistles- take 1 Corinthians for example. It could be said that the message of Philippians is what the Lord has to say to the maturing Christian. So when there's no reason to admonish a church for conduct or condoning of sin, error of doctrine, or lack of faith/hope/love etc. - we get "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.(4:4)"

So what should we pray for Musa during this fiery trial? Two prayers have been on my heart since I woke up this morning. The first is that God would be pleased to release Musa from prison. God has done such things before — sometimes through earthquakes and angels (Acts 5:19; 16:26), other times through rulers reversing their decisions(Acts 5:35-40) -which seems to be what most are currently praying for.

The reason I write this blog though is because there seems to be an absence of prayers toward the other end. It may not be the Lord’s will that Musa be released. The number of martyrs is not yet complete (Rev 6:11), and Musa may soon join the white-robed company in heaven. The cup of suffering isn’t always taken from our hands, as our Lord himself would remind us (Luke 22:42). So my second prayer is that Said will "Rejoice" and that God will strengthen Mr. Musa unto death if need be. I once read of a Christian on his way to be executed whose believing wife and son cheered him on until the end. In my opinion we must do no less for Musa through our prayers.

Good and wise Father, please strengthen Said Musa:

to fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith, knowing that the noose around his neck will be displaced by a crown upon his head (2 Tim 4:6-8);
to rejoice as did the apostles that he has been counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name (Acts 5:41);
to have confidence that even if he is killed not a hair of his head will perish (Luke 21:16-18);
to not be afraid of those who can only kill the body (Matt 10:28);
to face his persecutors with the certain hope of a better resurrection (Heb 11:35);
to feel at peace in the hands of him who who judges justly (1 Pet 2:23);
to draw his last breath believing that death is gain (Phil 1:21);
to endure to the end (Matt 24:13).

Either way, my fellow Christians, will you pray? May the Lord work his will in Said Musa, in the comfort of Musa’s family, and in the spread of the gospel among the Afghans and around the world.

For the glory of the King,

Da' sciple

The Grace Card

2011-02-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

As I ponder the grace of God in Jesus and it's implications in the lives of people from every tribe tongue and nation, I find that two of the most profound consequences of this grace is forgiveness and unity. Not just vertically but horizontally. There is redemption of the broken relationship between God and man, and then there is redemption between men.

In Colossians 3:11 Paul makes an outlandish statement saying:

"Here (in Christ) there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all."

Paul is assserting that the divisions that exist because of racial, cultural, and even social divergences are removed by faith in Christ.

Re: this verse, the commentary in the ESV Study Bible goes on to explain that[paraphrased]- There are no status distinctions among the new covenant people of God. No one has a special claim on God or is treated with less dignity than any other. Highlighting The Scythians as violent, uneducated, uncivilized, and altogether inferior people (according to Greeks), Paul here makes the point that in contrast to such discrimination and prejudice against other races, and cultures, Jesus binds all Christians together in equality, irrespective of such differences.

Unfortunately, just like the ancient believers at Colossae, Christians today need a primer on what it means to be reconciled w/ God and placed in Christ. I have a couple of friends who will be featured in a movie due out next Friday entitled "The Grace Card" that is sure to point in that direction.

The film features a policeman "Mac" who loses his son in an accident, which ultimately leaves him angry with God ... and just about everyone else. Mac's rage stonewalls his career in the police department and then he's partnered with Sam Wright, a rising star on the force who happens to be a part-time pastor and a loving family man. The plot of the movie has an underlying tone of how God's grace overcomes not only their difference of worldview but also the obvious difference between their race. Sure to be a great film the movie encourages viewers to never underestimate the power of God's love.

I encourage you to watch the trailer below and plan on seeing the movie next Friday when it's released in theaters nationwide. But more importantly be encouraged to walk in love and unity as a redeemed sinner joint to Christ -and all His people- by faith.

THE SHOOTING OF THE PASTOR WAS HORRIBLE!!

2011-01-15T12:20:00.000-08:00

One of the few blogs I wrote last year honed in on the importance of properly interpreting passages from scripture by reading the immediate context surrounding the verse you seek to understand/apply. It was called Never Read A Bible Verse. Check it out when you can.

I just completed my final project for Hermeneutics (how to properly interpret scripture) and thought to emphasize the same point and maybe share a couple more related to the topic. The best way I saw fit to do so was to exercise some of the principles right here on this blog... and for that I selected your favorite verse:

Lets look at Phil 4:13 - I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

What does Paul mean by he can do all things through Christ? Is he simply saying he can do anything he put's his mind to, or was he being specific? Did he mean to lead Christians to believing they have the power to do anything they want because of Jesus? If so, like what?- Swim across the pacific ocean? Become wealthy? Play their best and win games if they're an athlete?..... What then? The answer can be found in at least a couple places; (a) historical background of the letter and (b) the immediate 'context' of this particular statement. For the sake of time i'll cut to the chase and fill in some of the blanks.

Remember our Who What Where When Why tools from Never Read A Bible Verse? Let's put a couple of them in action:

Who wrote it and to who? Paul the Apostle(and Timothy), to the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi. History records that Timothy often visited Paul in prison and handwrote letters as Paul dictated. This letter is addressed to God's people in Philippi- the first town in Macedonia where Paul established a church after a woman named Lydia was converted to Christ(Acts 16:14) and opened her home as the location for the church gatherings(Acts 16:40). [Read the whole 16th chapter of Acts for more info]
Where is the setting of the author and reader? Paul wrote this letter while in prison- this info can be confirmed in Ch 1 verses 12-13 among other places: "I want you to know brethren that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel so that my imprisonment for the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole governors palace and to everyone else"

... note that Paul said his bondage turned out for "greater progress of the gospel"- the news of it had spread to what may have been a local/modern day equivalent to the White House(the governors palace), and "to everyone else"- the whole city of Rome knew Paul was in jail for preaching Jesus and His gospel.

Next lets look at the immediate context surrounding the verse in question:

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
13 I can do all hings through him who strengthens me.

To summarize- Paul rejoiced that the Philippians were concerned for him while he was in jail even though they had no way of assisting him financially. He wanted to encourage them and let them know that he could handle all things, pertaining to going hungry or having abundance, being in need or having plenty, because God taught Him that he is to be content in every situation and Christ gave him the strength to do so.

Did you notice that before I summarized it? In this case the surrounding verses alone should have pretty much corrected any other other assumptions... but further study (the 'Who' and 'Where') were also helpful in understanding why Paul would be talking the way he was and why it's so noteable that he had such a good attitude.

It's kind of like if I'd told you that a church had a retreat where the members and leaders played one another in a basketball tournament before I had you just read the title of this blog huh???...

Did you feel what just happened in your brain when you looked back at the title? That's called understanding. It immediately followed your introduction to the proper context of the title. That's how we must read and study Scripture... 'in context'. I have yet to meet a person who doesnt mind their words being taken out of context to suit the intentions of someone else. God is no different. The least He demands is that you treat His Word how you want yours to be treated. Besides it's only then that you will know God intimately and experience the life changing power of His Bible.

Be like the Bereans!

Back2Basics

2011-01-02T00:05:00.000-08:00

It's 2011. Happy New Year.

For me this year is about getting back to the basics. No 'new' resolutions, just plans of returning to home base. Part of my return flight is this blog.

After months away from the blogspot, I've decided to return in a different fashion. Although the goals are the same (to edify the saints & evanglelize the aint's), I plan on tweeking the methods by which I go about accomplishing them, in hopes of being more efficient and effective. Here's what you can expect:

1. More entries.

- As I surveyed the history of my posts I noticed that, although it had
it's times of 'hype', it's never really been as consitant as I would have liked.
18 posts in 2008, 16 in 09' and 4 [smh] last year is far from what I had in mind
when I started writing. That said, I plan on writing more frequently
[the goal is 52 blogs in 52 weeks].

2. Brevity. [for at least 2 reasons]

-A lot has changed since I last wrote. My responsibilities with family,
ministry, work, and school have all increased considerably and because
of the above mentioned goal of producing more blog entries than ever, it's
inconceivable to think I'll be able to write the way I've written in the
past. For those of you who want more of the former.... I guess you'll have
to wait for the books or the commentaries. ;-)

-Although I've always written for the benefit of others, I've never really
written with others in mind. As I considered returning to the blogosphere,
I recounted times where people- often times those I was specifically
writing a particular post 'for'- told me they would have read
the posts if they werent so long. It will be my goal to not allow the
length of a post to turn any readers away.

3. Life on Life

- Another tweek is my desire to have this blog serve as more of an
extension of my everyday life. Though it wont be as simple as a journal,
it will reflect more of whats 'happening' as opposed to being limited to my
thoughts and meditations on any given topic.

- I will attempt to leverage this web platform as an
extension of [informal] discipleship. Following the model of imitate me as
I imitate Christ, I plan to invite others to walk with me as I pursue the Lord
by various means- case in point The Philippians Memory
Moleskine.

So as I return, and increase my contribution, I encourage you to Be Like The Bereans all the more. Enjoy what you read, discern what you hear, and weigh it against scripture. The word of God is without error... this blog is full of them. Don't believe me- hit spellcheck.

grace & peace

Psalm 119:11

2011-01-01T23:26:00.000-08:00

"I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin aganst you"

King David was committed to God's word in ways most of us know nothing of us. Psalm 119 is great evidence of that. It is my earnest prayer that todays Christian will return to meditatiing on Scripture with this kind of intentionality.

Motivated by my 2, 4, 5, & 9 year old childrens' recent accomplishment of memorizing the entire chapter of Psalm 51, and an invitation from a friend, I have taken on the challenge of memorizing the book of Philippians by Easter weekend. I now invite you to join us in Partnering 2 Remember.

Will you join us? Hope so. I know it's short notice but it's far from too late.

Here's some encouragement re: the verse above:

David studied not to be ambitious to make a glorious show before men; but
that he had God for a witness of that secret desire which was within him.
-John Calvin

***In case you missed it here's the link for more info -----> Click Here

Chag Shavuot Sameach (Happy Pentecost Holiday)!

2010-05-18T23:21:00.000-07:00

Many of you have seen me post twitter and facebook updates re: the Shavuot holy day, as I have been counting the Omer... the 50 days between Pesach (commonly known as Passover where the Hebrews were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a spring lamb, so that the spirit of the Lord passed over their homes, and didnt kill their first born), and Shavout (Greek= Pentecost or "the fiftieth day").

In celebration of this day I had a bible study with my 2 favorite girls on the planet. Here's the bible study I just went through with my wife and oldest daughter. My prayer is that it blesses you as much if not more than us.

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"it is the Spirit who gives life" Jn. 6:63

Origin

Shavuot is historically and symbolically related to the Jewish harvest festival, which commemorates God giving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai fifty days after the Exodus.

Shavuot was instituted(by the LORD) as a harvest festival, which represented the end of the barley harvest and the first fruits of the wheat harvest [Scripture Reading: Lev 23:15-16]

The feast also commemorates the giving of the Covenant of Sinai [ Scritpure Reading: Exodus 19:1- 20:23]

The LORD told His people to observe this feast 50 days after a certain sabbath that historically fell on the second day of Passover. Thus the counting reminds us of the important connection between Passover and Shavuot.

Old Covenant Implication: Passover freed Israel physically from bondage,The giving of the Torah on Shavuot redeemed Israel spiritually from its bondage to idolatry and immorality. This reminds us that Israels redemption from slavery was not complete until they were given the Torah.

As the LORD gave His people the Torah he instructed them to obey/keep the Covenant and not turn from Him to idols. Ultimately they disobeyed which broke the Covenant and resulted in separation between them and their God.

The LORD did not leave His people in this state but rather prophesied of a New Covenant that would supersede the first, and solve -once and for all- their problem of inability to obey Him.

The Connection

The Tanakh (Old Testament) anticipated a new covenant between God and Israel which establishes the relationship between the giving of the Torah on Shavuot and the giving of the Spirit. The LORD prophesied that He would soon not only give the Torah but write it on His peoples hearts and put His Spirit in them- causing them to keep His statutes and obey His covenant. [Scripture Reading: Jer 31:30-34, Ezekiel 36:24-28]

Fulfillment

The LORD fulfilled His promise at the Shavuot in 33 A.D. Here he poured out His Spirit on the Apostles and other disciples, and empowered them to keep His Covenant. This occurred just "50 days" after the Passover celebration where our Lord Yeshua Ha'MaShiach (Jesus Christ) was sacrificed as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World".

Among Christians, Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus during the Jewish Shavuot or "fiftieth day" celebration in Jerusalem. [Scripture Reading: Acts 2]

The physical presence of God upon Sinai in wind, sound, and fire from Exodus 19-20 was here duplicated upon each of the believers present at that Pentecost in Acts 2.

New Covenant Implication: The Passover that occurred at Jesus’ death frees believers physically from the bondage of being slaves to sin. The giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost redeems believers from bondage to idolatry and immorality and empowers them with the power to keep God’s law (it’s written on our new hearts Jer 31/Ezek 36). This reminds us that our redemption form sin, although accomplished at Calvary, was not complete until the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost.

Bonus: The Significance re: Salvation

Paul's depiction of the new covenant highlights the significance of the arrival of the Spirit on Shavuot (2 Cor 3:1-18). He shows the strong connection between the work of the Spirit and the "new covenant," which he contrasts with the Torah that Israel received at Sinai. In this comparison, Paul echoes Jeremiah's promise that God will place his Spirit upon the hearts of his people and not upon stone tablets, which God gave to Moses at Sinai. Through his Spirit, which is the hallmark of the "new covenant," God imparts life to his people (2 Cor 3:6).

Despite its glory, the Torah did not produce life, but death (2 Cor 3:7). Paul affirms that the Torah is holy, righteous and good, but it lacks the ability to produce the same divine empowerment as the Spirit

*** An interesting and relative point was brought to me by one of my boys (Shout out to B RICH) this evening as he shared of His experience at a Messianic Synagogue's Shavuot Service tonight. The Rabbi made a correlation between the '3000' people in Ex. 32 who died on the same day in the desert for breaking the Covenant the LORD gave them at Mt Sinai by making a carved/golden calf to worship, and the '3000' people who were filled with the Spirit and added to the Church in Acts 2. WOW! Wish I were there!

Ok back to the study...

Now Paul does not malign the Torah, since he depicts it as arriving with glory, but, by comparison, he emphasizes the magnitude of the work of the Spirit within the new covenant (2 Cor 3:7-9). If God bestowed great honor upon the Torah, which was not able to produce life, then he gives even greater honor to the Spirit who transforms God's people from death to life.

Although God reveals his holy standard through the Torah, he empowers his people to live according to his holy standard through the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:9-10; Rom 8:3-4). By the Spirit, God is in the process of continually transforming his people into his likeness (2 Cor 3:18).

Application

As we know the sacrifice of God's Lamb once and for all ended more than half of the required Shavuot observance through sacrifice but there is still much significance for us today as believers.

The celebration of Shavuot is mainly a time to be thankful for God’s provision. Shavuot, after all, was in part established to celebrate the wheat "harvest". We can also remember and celebrate the giving of both covenants, and of the written Word and the Spirit of God.

My prayer for you is that the LORD would impart to you a spirit of thanksgiving for all of His harvest provision in your own life, and moreover His Law and His Spirit.

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Again I hope you're blessed by this study. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I encourage you to Be Like The Bereans and search the scriptures to see if what I'm saying is true. I assure you that if you do so with with a "noble character" and "great eagerness"... God will impart to you the gift of faith you need to believe His word.

Shalom!

Never read a Bible verse

2010-05-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

I often get questions from people looking for practical insight regarding growth as believers. While much could be suggested in the slot of "how to" when it comes to maturing as Christians, I think I've narrowed it down to the most important piece of advice I can give a person.

Never read a Bible verse. That's right, never read a Bible verse.

Instead, always read at least a paragraph. I call it the 20/20 rule. 20/20 being perfect vision... so to see clearly[what the true message of a particular verse is] read the 20 verses above it and the 20 below it. In essence 'Be like the Bereans' and examine the scripture"s".

I recently heard a story (probably satire) of a woman who met with her Pastor for counseling. The story goes on to tell that the lady, well meaning, told the Pastor that as she was praying on April 24 at 4:24, she flipped open her bible and it landed on Ephesians 4:24 which says: "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." For this reason she was filing for a divorce from her husband who wouldn't come to church and wanted to remarry a godly man.

While I doubt seriously the truthfulness of that story, this just about sums up the way a lot of Christians today approach reading their Bible. Most people may not be as mystical, but the result and application is the same. Just reach into the scriptures and pull out a verse you like, as if the Bible is a grab bag full of sweets for your soul. This should not be.

In addition to reading the surrounding passage when looking at a verse, here are a few (familiar) tools/considerations to keep in mind as you approach reading and/or studying.

1. Who - Who wrote it and who did he write it to?
2. What - What is the overall message of the passage/letter/book?
3. Where - Where is the setting of the writer and reader? How does it relate to our setting?
4. When - What time frame was it written in? How does that differ from or reflect our time?
5. Why - What was the authors intent? (Jn 20:30 is an example of the authors intent for his writing)

Though simple, applying these methods will greatly help you in your reading and comprehension of God's Word. Get started.

****UPDATE****

FOUND A VIDEO THAT HELPED ME A WHILE BACK. FUNNY THING IS I SAT IN ON A "BIBLE STUDY" GROUP LIKE THE ONE FEATURED IN THE BEGINNING JUST RECENTLY AND ALMOST BURST AT THE SEAMS.

Lions and Liars

2010-02-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

Check out the first single "We Can be More" (Ft. JR), from Sho Baraka's highly anticipated sophomore album Lions & Liars! Get it now on i Tunes

Everyone wants love. Everyone needs love. Everyone at some point has expressed or experienced love. However, love is so misunderstood and abused. With "We Can be More" Sho attempts to communicate love from a perspective that goes beyond the contemporary views of lust and selfishness.

For another taste of what you can expect from the Lions & Liars album, check out Sho Baraka's Revolutionary Died video. A revolution is coming 3.30.10

Whats behind door number 1

2010-01-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

What if there were two doors to choose from; behind one door was the complete will of God for your life and behind the other door was how life could be according to your own preference. Which door would you choose?

Sure you would... me too ;-)

The struggle for most lies in the earnest desire to follow God completely vs. the fear of what might be behind the door of full surrender. Most of us desire to follow God, but few of us actually do it at any cost. Often times we prove in deed that we don't really believe God loves us to the degree that we are willing to give Him complete permission to do as He wills in us.

(Selah)

If we desire to fully walk with Christ, there is a cost. We may give intellectual assent and go along with His principles and do fine; however, if we are fully given over to Him and His will for our life, it will be a life that will have adversity. The Bible is clear that humans do not achieve "greatness", if you will, without having their sinful will broken. This process is designed to create a nature change in each of us, not just a habit change. The Bible calls it circumcision. Circumcision is painful, bloody, and personal.

How do you respond to adversity and trials? Do you like Paul see them as momentary and "light afflictions" that are achieving for you an eternal glory that's far greater in value and makes any tribulation worth passing through?

If God has plans to greatly use you in the lives of others, you can expect your trials to be even greater. Why? Because, like Joseph who went through greater trials than most patriarchs, your calling may have such responsibility that God cannot afford to entrust to you without ensuring your complete faithfulness to the call. He has much invested in you on behalf of others. He may want to speak through your life to a greater degree than through another. The events of your life would become the frame for the message He wants to speak through you.

Do not fear the path that God may lead you on. Embrace it. God may have to bring you down a path of pain in your life to ensure the reward of your inheritance. For "Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Cor. 4:17)

Entermission

2009-12-28T11:02:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-20T22:23:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-19T13:43:00.000-08:00

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

What makes the gospel "good news"

2009-10-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

^{" 7}It 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

2009-07-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-06-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-20T12:00:00.001-07:00

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

ITS GONNA BE A "GOOD FRIDAY"

2009-04-09T19:32:00.001-07:00

WHAT BETTER WAY TO CELEBRATE THE ATONEMENT OF OUR BLESSED LORD YESHUA HA'MASHIACH (JESUS THE MESSIAH) THAN FELLOWSHIP WITH THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH. COME OUT TO HAWAIIAN GARDENS AND BUILD WITH THE CHURCH FOR GOOD FRIDAY - IN A 09' KINDA WAY.

shai linne (the lower case emcee www.lampmode.com) and

Blair Wingo (of www.P4CM.com)

will be ministering in the arts.

See below for preview of what's in store.

Grace & Peace saints,

da' Sciple

Date: Friday, April 10th

Place: The Way Out Student Center

Address: 22427 Norwalk Blvd. Hawaiian Gardens, CA 90716

Time: Doors open at 7:30pm

Cost: Free

DWYL pt. 1

2009-02-28T21:12:00.000-08:00

It's been 5 weeks of daily lessons since we started our "Dont Waste Your Life" book study. This week actually marks the half way point. It's been so good that after each lesson I honestly feel that if it had ended during the previous week I'd be more than satisfied with what I'd learned.

I would love to share all of it with you, and had planned on blogging after each week, however haven't had the time. For now I'd like to fill you in on some things that have really struck a chord with me. Although I could write a ton about the first 5 chapters there have been 2 concepts in particular that I couldn't wait to share. In fact they're so good I'll quote right out of the book.

What does it mean to glorify God?

It may get a dangerous twist if we are not careful. Glorify is like the word beautify. But beautify usually means "make something more beautiful than it is", improve it's beauty. That is emphatically not what we mean by glorify in relation to God. God cannot be more glorious or more beautiful than he is. He cannot be improved, "nor is he served by human hands, as though h needed anything"(Acts 17:25). Glorify does not mean add more glory to God.

It is more like the word magnify. But here too we can go wrong. Magnify has two distinct meanings. In relation to God, one is worship and one is wickedness. You can magnify like a telescope or like a microscope. When you magnify like a microscope, you make something tiny look bigger than it is. A dust mite can look like a monster. Pretending to magnify God like that is wickedness. But when you magnify like a telescope, you make something unimaginably great look like what it really is. With the Hubble Space Telescope, pinprick galaxies in the sky are revealed for the billion-star giants that they are. Magnifying God like that is worship.
We waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life. God created us for this: to live our lives in a way that makes Him look more like the greatness and the beauty and the infinite worth that He really is. In the night sky of this world God appears to most people, if at all, like a pinprick of light in a heaven of darkness. But He created us and called us to make Him look like what He really is. This is what it means to be created in the image of God. We are meant to image forth in the world what He is really like.

All I could say after reading this was "wow". I'm completely blown away by this simple yet profound illustration of truth. How about you? Have you always viewed glorifying/magnifying God this way? I don't think I'd thought enough about it at all, but honestly as I do so now I've definitely had my eyes opened by this contrast.

Another concept that really hit home had to do with the fact that all we are is credited to the glory of God. Even our salvation is for His glory. The author submits that for most people this isn't the best of news. They do not feel loved when they are told that God created them for His glory. They feel used. The next few pages in the book attempted to re-focus the view of those who may feel this way, by exposing the root of their distortion --- a false definition of love. And again I quote:

What is love?

For most people, to be loved is to be made much of. Almost everything in our Western culture serves this distortion of love. We are taught in a thousand ways that love means increasing someone's self-esteem. Love is helping someone feel good about themselves. Love is giving someone a mirror and helping him like what he sees.

This is not what the Bible means by the love of God. Love is doing what is best for someone. But making self the object of our highest affections is not best for us. It is, in fact, a lethal distraction. We were made to see and savor God --and savoring Him, to be supremely satisfied, and thus spread in all the world the worth of his presence. Not to show people the all-satisfying God is not to love them. To make them feel good about themselves when they were made to feel good about seeing God is like taking someone to Alps and locking them in a room full of mirrors.

The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not the moments of self-satisfaction, but self-forgetfulness. Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and contemplating your own greatness is pathological! At such moments we are made for a magnificent joy that comes outside ourselves. And each of these rare and precious moments in life [beside the canyon, before the Alps, under the stars] is an echo of a far greater excellence, namely, the glory of God. That is why the Bible says: the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).

God made man small and the universe big to say something about Himself, not man. And he says it for us to learn and enjoy--namely, that He is infinitely great and powerful and wise and beautiful. The more The Hubble Telescope sends back to us about the unfathomable depths of space, the more we should stand in awe of God. The disproportion between us and the universe is a parable about the disproportion between us and God.

Now think what this means for God's love. How shall God love us? Mere logic could give us the answer: God loves us best by giving us the best to enjoy forever, namely Himself, for He is best. But we are not dependent on logic alone. The Bible makes this clear in John 3:16. God loves us by giving us eternal life at the cost of His Son, Jesus Christ. But what is eternal life? Is it eternal self esteem? Is it a heaven full of mirrors? Or snowboards, or golf links, or black-eyed virgins?

No. Jesus tells us what he meant: "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you've sent"(John 17:3). Eternal life is to know God and his Son, Jesus Christ. No thing can satisfy the soul. The soul was made to stand in awe of a Person --the only person worthy of awe. All life's heroes are shadows of Christ. We love to admire their excellence. How much more will we be satisfied by the one Person who conceived all excellence and embodies all skill, all talent, all strength and brilliance and savvy and goodness. God loves us by liberating us from the bondage of self so that we can enjoy knowing and admiring Him forever.

So here is the question to test whether you have been sucked into this world's distortion of love: Would you feel more loved by God if he made much of you, or if he liberated you from the bondage of self-regard, at great cost to himself, so that you enjoy making much of him forever? When our answer is the latter then we see that in creating us for His glory, He is creating us for our highest joy. He is most satisfied in us when we are most satisfied in him.

God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is the most loving act. Anyone else who exalts himself distracts us from what we need, namely, God. But if God exalts Himself, he calls attention to the very thing we need most for our joy.

If great paintings could talk, and they saw you walking through the gallery staring at the floor, they would cry out, "Look! Look at me. I am the reason you are here." And when you look and exult in the beauty of the paintings with those around you, your joy would be full. You would not complain that the paintings should have kept quiet. They rescued you from wasting your visit. In the same way no child complains, "I am being used" when his father delights to make the child happy with his own presence.

And again I say --wow! I could write a book about how the unpacking of this truth has my heart burning within me with a passion for seeing and savoring God's glory. For now I'll take a break from the writing. I'd like to hear from you.

Leave a comment re: how these ideas have challenged or impacted you; what you think about the metaphoric comparison between the microscope and telescope, and how you feel about being created to only be satisfied by God's glory ---namely in Christ. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

grace & peace

da' sciple

Saying "I do" and meaning it

2009-02-11T15:48:00.000-08:00

I was browsing another blog where a brother in Christ asked us fellow believers who frequent, to share their thoughts on commitment -horizontally-. He mentioned friendships, church membership, and marriage.

Since I've been so fortunate to experience what commitment looks like in the area of marriage... I responded regarding it. As I wrote my response I decided to incorporate it into a blog too. It didn't hurt that my beautiful wife so lovingly reminded me that Valentine's Day is this weekend (the flowers are from her). ISN'T SHE SWEEEEEET?!

Staying Committed in Marriage

As we all should very well know, it's vitally important for us to be committed in Marriage. As we enter into this relationship, as believers, we put on display- for the world to see - a picture of Christ and His church; Unconditional love, grace in spite of all the wrongs, loving one another despite imperfections, overcoming problems mercifully etc.

Statistically I would have to admit that we've done a poor job at understanding this.

I think it's because we've treated the marriage as more of a contract than a covenant. Contractual arrangements are a calculated effort to get what you want on the best terms you can get it. Covenants are sacrificial commitments.

Contract

A contract is an agreement between two parties that must equally fulfill a prior agreed upon service or product for a certain price. The moment the contract becomes unequal for either party there is discord as the one party not receiving as much is offended and believes they are being shortchanged. The offended party may then seek to terminate the contract.

Covenant

A covenant, in its most general sense, is a solemn promise to engage in a specified action, regardless of the action(s) of other involved parties. As Christians the idea of a "New Covenant" is principally important to us in that it's a bond, in blood, sovereignly administered by God. In essence, though we're saved by grace through faith(Ephesians 2), our salvation exists because God promised it and paid for it.

In Contrast

Contracts are limited and renewable; a covenant(marriage) is a permanent, life-long commitment. It is about self-sacrifice, not self-satisfaction. As Christians we should see marriage as a covenant, with God as a party to it. Couples are to put aside their own selfish desires and focus on the needs of their loved one.

Unfortunately, in addition to viewing marriage as a contract, the values of the marketplace are also being applied to it. These values teach a totally different message: that is, that we are entitled to a good "return on our investment." They turn would-be brides and grooms into marital consumers, looking for the best deal they can get. Tragically, people who think this way often end up in a kind of unholy wedlock—one in which men abandon wives the moment their looks begin to fade, and women drop husbands if they run out of money.

Having a proper understanding of this one bit of truth, before the wedding and during the marriage, would probably save 90% of the divorces we see within the church. People would either count the cost and re-consider the reason(s) why they're getting married, or come into the covenant saying "I Do" with the proper perspective- allowing their 'yes to be yes and no be no'.

Without a doubt a persons ability to grasp the gospel's effect on their life is fundamental to comprehending this. Here's why: When you truly understand what God has done for you in Christ -after what you've done to Him- nothing your spouse can do is above forgiveness and thus you can stay committed even in the hardest of times. I mean think about it for a sec. Apart from the grace of God, the book of Romans, namely chapter 1, could very well be known as the autobiography of __________ (your name). Everyone of us is mentioned in these verses:
"28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them." Yet God, infinite in mercy, through the redemptive work of the cross, elects to make a way for us to be not only forgiven but justified. [Praise God]

When we see ourselves as we really are(above) vs. how God sees us through divine imputation (Christ's righteousness being set to our account, so that we are now entitled to all the rewards of that perfect righteousness- Rom. 5: 18, II Cor. 5:21), it especially helps us to see our spouse's imperfections as more reason(s) to love. Suddenly we realize what it really means "To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part."

Is this the way you've viewed marriage? How could adapting to this truth change your outlook re: matrimony, be it yours or others'? I recently shared this truth with a couple in a small group bible study on marriage who were not yet married. Once the gentleman in the relationship understood this concept, he immediately decided to get married. Their wedding is this Saturday, Valentine's Day. I couldn't be happier for them.

I can only but hope that all of us would experience change like the couple mentioned above in this and other areas of our lives. As John Piper says in the beginning of the video below, "it doesn't always occur in a moment" like it did with them; but be it now, in the near future or years down the line, I pray we would all become new people by the constant renewing of our minds and conformity to God's will's and way's.

Happy Valentines Day!!

Election Day - in Israel

2009-02-10T10:08:00.001-08:00

Israelis go to the polls today. Because I know most of you don't like long posts, I'm going to attempt to summarize an Article written by Joel Rosenburg. It's an overview of the Israeli candidates and their positions. There is also a link below that YOU MUST READ. It's an article in today's JERUSALEM POST, that one of the few "diciples indeed" who I believe isn't asleep at the wheel forwarded to me - Big Ups to "Mr. Melody". In it you'll see how the rest of the world views the US right now, and probably learn something(s) concerning the Obama administration that you didn't ((ahem listen to)))-excuse me- I mean that you didn't know.. [if you don't know who Joel Rosenburg is, then - - my dear friends....you should start by watching The Glenn Beck Show on FOX News tonight at 5pm, 8pmEastern. TIVO it!!!!]

I can't plead with you all enough - please take heed to what's happening around you besides black history month and our black president. Sure American history books will be re-written, the black man has become "all that he can be" and we should all marvel at this fact, knowing the horrible attrocities committed against blacks in our past; but it's time to get down to business now folks. The history that's unfolding before us is far more important. It's pre-written... (BIBLE PROPHECY). Open up your eyes, Jesus said It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.(Luke 12:37). Get in your Word and start paying attention to what's happening folks! Stop repeating what your grandmother told you as a kid. Yes it's ture Jesus said "I will come as a thief in the night, and you wont know the "hour" -WE WONT!!! but Paul clearly exhorts us not to be ignorant of the "day".

1 Thessalonians 5
1Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

You - "BROTHERS" don't be surprised. It's true we won't know the hour but we should not be surprised at the day. If I gave you a letter and said I'll be back when this that and the third happens, you might not know what time I'm coming but you'd have a good idea of the day/season.

Ok - kinda got caught up there... Here's the summary of today's election/candidates:

> Fmr. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had the lead for the entire campaign -- until now. He strongly opposed giving away Gaza in 2005, arguing it would create a terror base camp he nicknamed "Hamastan." He was right. While economic growth is a major issue for him, he is best known for strongly opposing the dividing of Jerusalem, Palestinian leadership. He is also out front in making the Iran nuclear threat a top campaign issue, saying he will do everything in his power to stop Iran from acquiring The Bomb.

> Running almost neck-and-neck with Netanyahu is Israel's current Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Livni was a key player in the Gaza turnover in 2005, supports creating a Palestinian state in the West Bank, and dividing Jerusalem.

> In third place and rising rapidly is former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Lieberman is a hawkish, right-wing Russian immigrant who used to serve as a senior aide to Netanyahu. Currently, he's increasingly perceived by many voters on the right as tougher against the Arabs and Iran than Netanyahu. His party's polls have surged from about 13 mandates to between 18 and 20. All of this is coming out of Netanyahu's support.

Please keep Israel in prayer over the next 24 hours, that the Lord would be gracious to her people. The threats they face are very real. The stakes are very high. And the world is increasingly turning against Israel. They need leaders like the "sons of Issachar," mentioned in the Book of Numbers, "men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do."

----

1 Now the LORD had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1-3

Folks, this land God spoke about is Israel - not Palestine. Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman seemingly support this however Tzipi Livni has already played a "major role" in turning parts of Israel over to Palestine in the past. In the midst of all this our new President holds the same position as the latter, and they're(Israel) already preparing for the US to turn it's back on them - as Obama's just done to India.

Here's the link to today's Newspaper - In Jerusalem.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304731240&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

stand firm my friends, and endure to the end.

Alone with God

2009-01-27T02:04:00.000-08:00

I thought it'd be appropriate to post this A.W. Tozer excerpt for a few reasons - mainly for personal encouragement. I'm writing this first paragraph after having written the complete blog entry and can honestly say that my final statement is true.

The Loneliness of the Christian

by A. W. Tozer

The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone.

The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.

The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens.

He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.

It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else."

From: Man - The Dwelling Place of God, Chapter 39 : "The Saint Must Walk Alone"

I could not have come across this at a better time! You ever go through one of life's episodes that you don't fully understand, and can't fully articulate, yet know it's God's doing? I've experienced this for at least the past 60-90 days.

Although I couldn't put my finger on why, I felt so alone that at times that I've spent days wondering 'what's the point?' - 'if I'm running this race alone, then why even run hard?' I've felt like Paul must have felt when he wrote I Californians -[witticism]- warning them to flee carnality, cling to the saving work of the cross, and walk in the Spirit only to have to write them a second time concerning similar things. Every thing from what I believe to be a clearly biblical worldview on the Christian's responsibility during this last presidential election, to constantly defending the Bible and Gospel [to believers], at times has mentally driven me to the darkest of corners, where all I could do was cry out 'Lord where have all your people gone, am I supposed to be all by myself or do I have to change?' to which He replies "YES".

As Tozer so pointedly named the chapter in his book that I took this quote from, 'The saint must walk alone'.

"The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him....

....It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else."

I have undoubtedly been driven to seek in God what I can't, and shouldn't find anywhere else. The union, love, alliance and trust can only be found in Him. Ever since the creation of man we were designed to find solidarity in Him(Gn 1:27). Any and everything else will inevitably let us down(Ecc. 1:14). Even our Lord Jesus was prevented from performing miracles because the people in His hometown rejected him (Matt 13:53-58). He was left alone in the garden by His disciples (Mk 14:37) and ultimately betrayed by Judas (Luke 22:3-4). In all of these instances Jesus relied on God the Father for strength, comfort and perseverance. If it's fit for Him, I submit that it is likewise fit for us today (Matthew 10:24-25).

Is it time for you to become at home with being 'alone'? Ask the Lord how He might use some unaccompanied time with Him so they you might come to know Him better and your faith might grow.

Mine just did at 2am on a Monday night.

Bait and Switch

2009-01-15T15:55:00.001-08:00

I just stumbled across this animated commercial that made me think. In the marketing & advertising business it's often said that "perception is reality" for the person who views your advertising message. It does not matter whether the audience believes the message to be true, only that they perceive it to be true. Their actions will be the same whether they believe it or only perceive it. Often times companies prey on consumers by advertising falsely and telling half truths (which are whole lies btw) in order to make the sale. In sales we call this the "bait and switch".

The enemy of our souls is very good at this. Satan constantly presents us with lies in hopes that we perceive them as truth, and consequently fall into sin. Once we do this it's not long before you get dropped like a bad habit or hot potato and are left to reap the fruit of the bad decision(s) sown.

The most common reaction to the tempation to sin is looking for a way around the situation.

Thoughts like "but I have to feed my family" and/or "the Bible doesnt explicitly say do/don't _____" begin to loom. Or how about this one: "Nobodies looking, I just want to see why everyone on the internet keeps talking about this video, I'll turn it off it gets too bad"

Instead of fleeing our lusts & immorality; pursuing righteousness (I Cor. 6:18; II Timothy 2:22), and resisting the devil (James 4:7) --- some of us often dive in head first because "we all fall short". Ehhhhh.... not like that we don't!

This is not the way it is meant to be for the Christian.

1 Peter 5: 8-9 says

Be sober-minded;be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith...

So the next time there's the temptation to sin, first consider this.

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. [1 Cor. 12-13]

Dont Waste Your Life

2008-12-30T12:55:00.000-08:00

If I could say one last thing in 08' - if I had a moment to grab the attention of everyone I know have known and will know friends co workers family & associates alike. This would be it:

DONT WASTE YOUR LIFE.

In the coming weeks (at least the next 5) - I will be doing a blog series with this title. My wife and I are currently walking through a bible study curriculum that we will soon be leading in our home. In the first few lessons alone - I've been challenged to do an "inventory" of my life and it's pursuits and -WOW- lotta work to be done. Look out for the next few blogs titled DWYL. I plan to get pretty transparent with my findings, challenges, repentance, frustrations etc.

In the meantime - back to that "last message of the year". I've got a video to share. Pretty much sums it up.

(((Watch the video first -rap is only 45 seconds or so the rest is speaking)))

Toward the end shai posed the question/comment:
How shameful would it be?... he directed it to the concert attendees and kept it relevant to the topic of the music, the hype of the show etc. But if I may - I'd like to dig deeper.

Have you ever thought about this? How shameful would it be?- to have wasted your life attending church services every Sunday(or even sometime), praising God with your lips only to have Him reveal that all along your heart wasnt in it?(Isaiah 29:13) How shameful would it be to have wasted your life wearing the label of 'Christ'ian and have Christ himself declare "I never knew you"..?(Matthew 7:23) How shameful to have wasted your life saying prayers to God - and He never heard you?(Psalm 16:18;Proverbs 28:9)

Some of you have heard me say this plenty of times. "I'd rather live my life like 50 cent or Hugh Hefner than to live trying to be a "Christian" and be deceived my whole life- ultimately ending up in the same place they will" (should The Lord not grant them(50 & Hugh) repentance and everlasting life by grace through faith in Jesus Christ).

I would much rather do my own thing, chase money, women, success, and the likes - and reap the fruit of that life in the after life, than to be "lukewarm".

In Revelation 3 Jesus writes a letter to a church -who quite a few theologians say is a prophecy to the end times church (that'd be us)- saying:

"I know your ways and that you are neither hot nor cold I wish that you were hot or cold but because you are lukewarm I will spew you from my mouth."

So my plea -to professing believers- in 09'. Make your calling and election sure. As shai said "bear fruit in keeping with repentance". Repentance is not a one time deal, where you repented(or as some misconstrue it "asked for forgiveness") and now you're saved. Repentance is a part of the daily Christian life.

Daily Christian living is daily Christian dying. A part of the dying I'm speaking of is the dying of comfort and security and reputation and health and family and friends and wealth and homeland. These may be taken from us at any time in the path of Christ-exalting obedience. To die daily the way Paul did, and to take up your cross the way Jesus commanded, is to embrace this life of loss for Christ's sake and count it gain. In other words, the way we honor Christ in death is to treasure Jesus above the gift of life, and the way we honor Christ in life is to treasure Jesus above life's gifts.

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body - Paul in 1 Cor. 6:19-20

God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to PRAY, and THINK, and DREAM, and PLAN, and WORK, not to be made much of, but to make much of Him in every part of our lives.

In closing - I offer up some more of Jesus' words:
'You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity!’ (matthew 7:16-23)

A Way That Seems Right

2008-12-12T18:46:00.002-08:00

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man,

but the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbs 14:12

There are many ways that seem right to us. Those ways may have been established by tradition, culture or even here-say. Yet, there is a way that is right.

Much of what pulls us away from obedience to God is putting great trust in our own reasoning abilities (when we're not flat out seeking to compromise). We examine and weigh the facts, then we draw our conclusions. Then we often make decisions as to how to act based primarily upon what we see to be the right way to go. However, there is grave danger in following what appears to be right in our own eyes. The Bible (primarily it's "Book Of Wisdom") is very clear on this subject:

Proverbs 3:7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,but a wise man listens to advice.
Proverbs 26:12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Proverbs 26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.
Isaiah 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,and shrewd in their own sight!

Clearly my eye-dea will carry me off onto the wrong path(s).

As mentioned above, there is a definite way that is right. In order for us to set out and remain on that right road - we must "know" where we're headed. Agree? Ok read on.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;

Here we see that The Bible established our road map. "the fear of the LORD" is said to be the very beginning of knowledge. If we want to be sure we're on the right road -I submit that it is vitally important to have a healthy fear of the LORD.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom
Proverbs 14:2 Whoever walks in uprightness fears the LORD
Proverbs 16:6b by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.
Proverbs 28:14 Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always
Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. ***shout out to all my Proverbs 31 women - you can hit the wife at LadeeProverbs31@aim.com**

Many of you may be asking "What does it mean to fear the LORD"? Here it is defined:

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.

Ask yourself - Do you hate evil? Do you abhor wrong doings? Do you detest wickedness? Do you loathe the sin in your life?

God does; and God's Word says that the fear of the LORD -which is... the way of the righteous, the blessed one's ways, the woman to be praised's attribute, etc- is hatred of evil.

Pray that the Lord would cause you to fear HIM and hate evil, after all this marks the starting point toward knowledge and wisdom -[The Right Road].

Ecclesiastes 12:13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

What if there were no more excuses?

2008-12-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

"Powerful"

Don't Drink The Kool-Aid

2008-11-26T15:15:00.000-08:00

Don't Drink The Kool-Aid
Many of you have heard me using the term “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid” a lot lately. It’s become a modern day proverb to me. So what does don’t drink the kool-aid mean? One of the lasting legacies of the Jonestown tragedy(description to follow) is the saying, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.” This basically means, "Whatever they tell you, don't believe it too strongly or " Of course, you would have to know of Kool-Aid’s connection to Jim Jones to understand the proverb.

Here’s what happened: [Copied from Wikipedia]
In November of 1978, the world was shocked by the suicide deaths of 913 members of the People's Temple cult. Jim Jones, the leader of the group, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown, Guyana, a remote community that Jones carved out of the South American jungle and named after himself. Jones constantly feared losing control of his followers. His paranoia was the main reason he moved the cult to Guyana.

The mass suicide occurred after U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan of California and a team of reporters visited the compound to investigate reports of abuse. After some members tried to leave with the congressman’s group, Jim Jones had Ryan and his entourage ambushed at the nearby airstrip. He then ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavored Kool-Aid laced with potassium cyanide.

The mass suicide wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. During the weeks that preceded the dreadful event, Jones had conducted a series of suicide drills, according to survivors. An alarm call would sound and every person in the camp would line up to receive a fatal dosage. These exercises in insanity proved that all of the adults at the compound knew what would be the result of their actions.

The People’s Temple did not start off as your average mind-controlling cult. It initially gained much respect as an interracial mission for the sick, homeless and jobless. Jim Jones did not manifest his darker side until near the end.

Here’s a thought

For the most part we don’t have to worry about committing physical suicide – It’s actually quite rare for religious groups to commit mass suicide. Most cults are quite peaceful, and they typically try to maintain a low profile. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are one such example. They have never been known to carry out any violent acts – but they’re “Kool-Aid” is very deadly.

The most dangerous feature of cults is the erroneous doctrine they propagate. The falsehood that causes a soul to be eternally lost is far more deadly than any earthly poison. In all cases of doctrinal error, the poison itself is not really what we should be worried about. False teachings always will contaminate the thinking of men. The root of the problem is what leads people to consuming this falsehood. The members of People's Temple knew that drinking poison is bad for you. Their better judgment was overcome by their blind trust in a mortal man.

As Christians, we shouldn’t be suspicious of everything we hear from the pulpit. We just need to use Bible-based common sense. We should all ‘Be like the Bereans’, never taking any new teaching at the word of the speaker, but rather using Scripture to verify anything that seems to conflict with sound biblical doctrine.

That’s our golden rule for scripture and our faith – but what about everyday decisions and actions? The “proverb” still applies.

I have to admit – today’s Kool-Aid can be very appetizing, however like always, the drink is sweet to the taste but lethal to the soul.

Some of today’s social flavors would be:
The Secret, Oprah Winfrey, Affordable Housing, Universal Healthcare, Re-Distribution of Wealth, The Economic Bail-Out(s), rumors of Hyper-Inflation, (((GLOBAL WARMING))); to name a few.

Some of today’s religiously disguised flavors include but are not limited to:
The Prosperity Gospel, The Church becoming seeker friendly, getting slain in the spirit or ‘slaying’ someone, holy laughter, the books on the shelves of your local ‘Christian’ bookstore that tell how to live your best life now -become a better you and/or find Purpose, The 500.00 “Prayer Cloth”, the $500.00 healing line, and the likes.

Basically if you don’t see it in The Script don’t trust it..
While walking through a local Christian Bookstore today my dear brother Chris and I stumbled upon this kool-aid… Make sure you listen intently to the prayer toward the end... remember people --- the idea is to pose as an "Angel of Light"

Have you tasted it?

Be Like The Bereans: What it means to Be Like The Bereans

2008-11-14T18:03:00.000-08:00

Be Like The Bereans: What it means to Be Like The Bereans

What it means to Be Like The Bereans

2008-11-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

This is a blog I've worked on for some time. On the day after the 2008 Presidential campaign finally came to an end I thought this would be a perfect time to complete it.

For the past few weeks there have been countless discussions, debates, arguments etc. around the country pertaining to the election. One of the most sought after weapons on both sides of the fence has been "the fatcs-from credible sources of course". With such facts one would have the ability to prove what they believe and why it is "good".

While this factual approach would only be stuck to in the beginnings of most political discussions - which quickly turn into arguments where [as my younger brother puts it] "people begin to stack there decks higher and higher but never accomplish anything" - it is the way things should be. This is essentially what it means - pertaining to the Christian faith - to 'Be Like The Bereans'

What it means to 'Be Like the Bereans'

In a list of final admonitions at the end of his letter to the Thessalonians, the apostle Paul told the Church in Thessalonica to "prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). The word used for "prove" in the Greek means to "test, examine, prove, scrutinize".

We are instructed to examine, test and prove what we believe. It isn't good enough to just believe, or to accept a doctrine just because it has been taught. Perhaps now would be a good time for each of us to ask ourselves: "Do I practice 1 Thessalonians 5:21?"

A wonderful example of doing just that is recorded in Acts 17. Paul and his party had trouble in the city of Thessalonica and had to leave under cover of darkness. They traveled west about 75 miles to the city of Berea, where Paul once again began to preach the truth.

Verse 11 says this of the men and women of Berea: "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true".

The approach of the Bereans is something you and I can learn from. First of all they "received the word"—they listened attentively and respectfully to the preaching of Paul. They wanted to know what he had to say and make sure they clearly understood him before making any judgments.

I personally believe it would have been much easier for them to listen and then conclude that Paul was correct, and accept what he said without further worry. But that was not their approach. They understood that the Word of God should be handled with dignity and care, not taken lightly or taken for granted. So they "examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

Not only did they open the Scriptures and study subjects for themselves, but we are told they did so daily. They didn't just listen on the Sabbath and look up some things then—they made a study of the Word of God a part of their lives every day! They wanted to know whether or not Paul's preaching was accurate. If they could affirm his teachings from the Scriptures they had (what we call the Old Testament), then they could accept it as something new they had learned.

If, however, they had found Paul's teachings to be incorrect when examined in the light of Scriptures, it is certain they would have rejected them as heresy. Put another way, it was important for them to know what they believed, but it was just as important to know why they believed it!

Their example is a wonderful lesson for each of us in the Church today. Paul was not always met with respect, but he was in Berea. It should be the hallmark of every individual and every congregation of God's Church that we listen and approach the ministry with dignity and respect (Hebrews 13:17). That is the starting point.

But we also must know with certainty what we believe, and we need to be sure we know why we believe it. To do that, we have to examine, test and prove our beliefs, carefully examining the things we are taught in the light of Scripture, being certain our faith is secure, not easily moved (Hebrews 13:9).

That is the danger of accepting a Pastors' teachings blindly rather than following 1 Thessalonians 5:21. To the congregation in Corinth Paul wrote: "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough" (2 Corinthians 11:3-4).

The Corinthians exhibited the all-too-human tendency to be taken in by a good sounding argument without spending the time and effort to examine it carefully in the light of Scripture. The same thing happened later on in the congregations of the region of Galatia (Galatians 1:6; 3:1). If it could happen to them—it could happen to us.~ Might I assert that it has.

Where Do We Start?

Understanding that, how can and should we go about examining and proving our beliefs? Where do we start?

We are fortunate to live in an age where studying the Scriptures is more convenient than ever before. Bibles in many different translations are commonly available, and many are fairly inexpensive to obtain. There are concordances that make finding a particular verse or section much easier and faster. There are Bible dictionaries, lexicons, commentaries and Bible atlases to help us further understand the words God chose to use, the circumstances in which the men and women of old lived and how to apply their examples to our lives today.

For those who are a little computer savvy, all of those Bible helps can be found in various computer programs or many times even on the Internet free of charge. A computer can make finding information faster, and often will allow you to pull material together from various sources and save it to a file or print it out as a study of a particular topic.

All of these can be a big help to us in following 1 Thessalonians 5:21, but I want to offer a word of caution here: As well written and accurate as commentaries may be, as colorful and well presented as they may be, they are not Scripture, and watching, reading and studying them should not replace reading the Bible.

To effectively use material published by the Church, we should take the approach of the Bereans and listen (or read) intently, and then study the Bible daily to prove what we've read.

Be Prepared to Give an Answer

The benefits to each of us of examining, studying and proving our beliefs are tremendous. Our faith is strengthened as we become more confident in what we believe. We will not be as easily swayed by a new idea or passing fancy of doctrine that comes our way, because we will not only know what we believe, but, just as importantly, we will know why we believe it—and we can go back and prove it again if need be. "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15).

Paul told the brethren in Thessalonica to "prove all things; hold fast that which is good." It was sage advice for the early Church, and it is needful for the Church in these end times as much or more than ever.

Here's what a modern day application of this looks like.

I don't just write - I read far more. I also use other mediums as tools to guide me in study of the scriptures. One of these is music - namely Hip Hop (yea you heard right). A dear brother in Christ and indigenous mission to the Hip Hop culture - Stephen the Levite - also has a blog I frequent. In it he posts lyrics from songs/albums and encourages his listeners to "seacrh the scriptures" to match up his lyrics. Here's the most recent post(s).

RobynAnnLawson.com has left a new comment on the post "...to die is gain lyrics":
Finally got around to the Demons and Angels track this morning (it takes me a while to get through you songs, because the passages referenced usually send me on a half-day study journey, lol)... and have a quick question/errr?
One line states: "they’re never female, always fully grown, never children/ never seen with the wings but usually in some white linen"..
So I was wondering what the 2 women in Zech 5:9 would be considered?
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=zech%205:9&version=50
Thanks.. young disciple in training.

Stephen the Levite has left a new comment on the post "...to die is gain lyrics":
Actually it's funny that you ask. My wife asked me about this same passage a while ago. And even though it was underlined in my Bible I felt like I had never seen it.
There are some visions in the bible that seem to be symbolic, and some that seem to be realistic. In Is. 6 when he sees the Lord, that one seems pretty real. Others like the Multiple headed beasts in Revelation I would say are symbolic. This passage in Zech. 5 I would say fit in the symbolic catagory. The vision is lengthy, much like Revelation, filled with symbolism. I haven't studied it much yet (though I am excited about figuring out what it all means) but I don't think it adds any solid evidence of actual female angels. 2 reasons: 1. They still don't do any talking, making their role something other than a messenger (or angel) and 2. They have wings, which if anything would put them in the category with Cherebim or Serephim. However, it doesn't tell us how many wings (which makes us assume they had 2), and other than the wings they seem to look totally human. Serephim have 6 wings and the name serephim may indicate a form that seems other than human. Cherebim I believe have 4 wings and differ in form, usually with multiple heads, and taking features similar to a variety of animals. So if these women with stork wings are real, they may even fit in a category of their own. Very interesting passage.
Hope that helps.
Grace and Peace

RobynAnnLawson.com has left a new comment on the post "...to die is gain lyrics":
Thanks alot!
It definitely helped. I came to the same conclusion while discussing it with my roommate later that day (saying that they never gave a message.. so I don't believe they were "angels" based on the literal definition) ..and thought maybe they have their own category... or were just being used as an illustration (a symbol is a better word, which you used).
But then another commentary I was reading considered all the "hosts" of heaven to be angels... (and thus included seraphim, cherubim, thrones, powers, principalities, archangels, etc..) So NOW I'm on another hunt (not complaining)... but thanks alot for stirring the waters in me with those lyrics!
In Christ.

Big Ups to Robyn and Steve... [soli deo gloria]
So once again let's ask, "Do I practice 1 Thessalonians 5:21?"

Real Vision

2008-10-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

Verse 1 - Trip Lee:
Look I don't know what they told you but if it don't match up/With His holy Word then homie they need to back up/Some they pretend like they get Him they twisting facts up/That's why we dig in the scriptures to know the Master/Homie, we have to if we want to get past the Only thing we know being what we learned from the Pastor/I really hope your listening, my listeners cause after/We want to see Him clear like a big screen plasma/Half of the cats I seen they don't really know the Lord/They think my views are extreme, think I'm going overboard/But they ain't read a page of the place where He's spoken for Himself in the matters, man that's what I be quoting for/Some say He don't exist, nah that don't even make sense/This Earth is masterpiece somebody had to paint this/Forget the big bang, or evolution and face this/He's the King of Kings and author of all creation/Some say He made it then lets it run like a clock/Nah, He controls every soul and every action on the block/If it happened then He watched and it happens on His watch/No surprise in His eyes, no my God's never shocked

Hook:
I don't know what you heard, I don't know what you heard/I don't know what you heard, hope it matches with the Word/I don't know what you think, I don't know what you think/I don't know what you think, homie time to get it straight

Verse 2 - Tedashii:
Wonderful, Counselor, Masterful/This is Jesus Christ, LORD, all capitals/This is why Trip and I trip after the mass appeal/Of people, who pigeonhole Jesus as a pacifist, Whoa!/A prophet with no power in His plasma/Still we preach against the views that Arius profess to have of Him (look it up!)/Meaning the deifying of Jesus was nothing more than an accident/But the Bible's the proof that refutes and gives us facts on Him/That He was, what His Daddy was Homousia, the God-Man/sent to save us all that He loves/And set us free from sin and shut it down like it was Attica/Anyone disbelieving this truth may want to back it up or back It up/Because the Son of Man is coming that's what's up and at His judgment seat is where you will see/His holy wrath is just/But God is Love, that don't mean He's weak! Hey check His resume/Just cause He lets you breath don't mean He won't take His breath away
Hook

Verse 3 - Trip Lee:
These days in the church, most cats got it twisted/Don't let them fool you on how we posed to live this/For instance, some say to come to Christ for riches/Or maybe your blessing, but my question is what is this?Cause that ain't the gospel, that if you put your faith in Him/To come to the Savior, and then you'll rake that paper in? Face it friends, they made Jesus they holy ATM/Paul would appalled, this gospel would be disgrace to Him/This false gospel strips Him of His flyness/He's more like your servant and less like His Highness/So please don't buy it, that idea is absurd/Jesus said the Christian life can be strife and it's filled with hurt/ Look homie I would hate for, cats to get that fake stuff/And never know it's wrong cause they wont open a page up/I pray we erase the wrong views and embrace the Holy Word that testifies to us about the Savior

Snatch them out of the fire

2008-09-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

My wife and I recently joined a marriage discipleship group called Love and Respect.

This weekend(and next) the group is going to the theater to view a new film called "Fireproof". Its a movie about a firefighter who, while at work, always considers others' lives before his. When he's at home he's all about himself and is losing his marriage.

If you're married this would be a great date night movie.

That's not what I wanted to write about though (the movie and/or marriage). You see, the photo above is a snapshot from a dramatic scene in the film. In this scene the fireman has to act swiftly and "Snatch" a young girl, unconscious to her surroundings, out of a burning building. It's the classic fireman rescue scene where the victims are either trapped, asleep, unconscious, or often times willingly defying the fireman's help because of their attachement to possessions. This brought to mind a verse not commonly taught or practiced in modern evangelism.

Jude 1:21-23
21Guard and keep yourselves in the love of God; expect and patiently wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)--[which will bring you] unto life eternal. 22And refute [so as to] convict some who dispute with you, and on some who waver and doubt have mercy. 23[Strive to] save others, by snatching [them] out of [the] fire; take pity [but] with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh and polluted by their sensuality.

Imagine a firefighter headed to a call of a burning building. He pulls up to the site but doesnt get out of the truck for 5 minutes because he's listening to a radio transmission on his headset, of a meeting back at the station. Out of a 5th story window, flames lick at a mother’s clothing. She's crying out in terror and ultimately falls to her death, still clutching an infant in her arms. Her Husband also hold's two terrified children as the massive flames engulfed him.

This firefighter just allowed 5 people to die.
What do you think would be fitting punishment for such a crime—probation? Two years in jail?
Twenty years? Life? Death? What sentence would you give the negligent firefighter? Please make a judgment.

Ok now imagine he's on trial and at the trial, the defense pleaded, “no contest,” but added
that the defendant had gone to great personal sacrifice to be a good employee and not miss the meeting, and he hoped that the judge would take that into account when passing sentence.

Do you enjoy worshiping God? Most people in the Church would say they do. Every Sunday all acr oss the country, auditoriums are filled with hand-raising, God-loving Christians singing their praises t o God. That’s understandable, because when the Holy Spirit dwells within us, it’s not hard to worship our Creator. May I ask you a personal question? When was the last time you shared your faith with an unsaved person? When did you last go out of your way to witness to a stranger? It's noted that only two percent of American churchgoers share their faith with others.That is tragic. If the love of God dwells in us, how can we not be horrified by the fate of the lost? Many professing Christians today are so locked into their religious cliques that they seem to give little or no thought to the fact that all who die in their sins will be cast into the lake offire (Revelation 21:8).

Did you know that if you allow another human being to die when it’s within your ability to save him, you are guilty of something called, “depraved indifference?” They are applicable words. “Depraved” means that it’ s as low as you can get, and “indifference”
means that y ou couldn’t care less . Think now of the terrible neglect of that firefighter. What sentence did you give him? Did you throw him in jail for two years? Did you think that
such a hard-hearted human being (someone who could be only concerned with himself) should be given the death sentence? Then judge yourself by the same standard, because if you are not concerned for the lost, then you are that firefighter. If you are not seeking to save them with fear, “snatching them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the
flesh” you are guilty of the serious crime of “depraved indifference.”

Am I saying that if we don’t evangelize, we’re not saved? Of course not. But if we would expect a firefighter to make saving lives a priority, are we honest enough to judge ourselves by the same standard? Are we doing all we can to rescue the lost, or are we sitting passively in the pews while people perish?

How many friends, family members, church members, and co workers do you have who are trapped by sin in their lives? These people may even be unaware (or unconscious) of their guilt, or so comfortable and happy with their lifestyle that they gladly rebel against God's Moral standards. THINK OF THEIR FATE IF THEY DIE WITHOUT CHRIST!!! Forget about what they'll think of you if you share your faith with them. Who cares if they get offended and their pride is hurt?! They are terminally ill and you have the cure! To worry about these (and other) things.. would be to not grab that woman in the 5th story window by her shirt because it's 100% Silk.

I know that what I am saying is hard to say without sounding harsh and judgmental, but I can’t think of any other way to say it. Please, don’t be offended. Stay with me. My purpose is not to offend, but to get your attention and present things as they really are, and they are not good. The story of the firefighter was fictitious, but what is happening in the contemporary Church is real. Think of it; only 2 percent doing what we are commanded to do. Worship is the highest calling of every Christian, and we can see in the book of Revelation that the Church will one day be consumed in worship before the throne of the Almighty. We are going to worship God for eternity. But when we look back at the book of Acts, we don’t find the Church consumed with worship. Instead, we find it was obsessed with reaching the lost, to the point that they willingly gave their lives to preach the gospel.

So, please, reevaluate your priorities, take off the earphones, unlock the doors, become equipped, and demonstrate the depth of your love for God by rescuing those who are about to perish.

Sin shades. Photo Blog Series 4

2008-09-03T12:06:00.001-07:00

When "The Bible Highliter" (click if you missed it) fails... there's always a fresh pair of sin shades courtesy of the prince of the air himself.

1 Corinthians 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 3....if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Topically speaking, satan has done a grand job pulling these shades down over the worlds eyes, and some of the church's too with regards to multimedia and entertainment; Namely music and movies.

So whats so wrong with listening to secular music that contains explicit lyrics and content, or movies full of immorality and that blaspheme our Lord in every other scene?

Paul exhorted the Philippian church in his letter to them saying:

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Doesn't this New testament principle also apply today...especially to what we listen to and look upon? In order for today's secular songs and movies to be excluded from this text it'd have to read : whatever is false, dishonorable, unjust, impure, without love, whatever degrades(antonym of commend), if there is any poorness or anything worthy of shame... think on these things. - - God forbid!

The devil has blinded so many and is working tirelessly to use the lives of celebrities to promote his agenda.

Let us pray for the repentance and salvation of those in Hollywood and the music industry who are doing Satan's bidding whether wittingly or unwittingly. Let us pray for those who have bought into Satan's lies and are living superficial lives for temporary and passing sinful pleasures at the expense of eternal life. Let us also pray for those among us, even ourselves, who have been deceived into thinking "its just music" and/or "its just a movie". Lord grant us recourse and re-route us back to the holiness you first called us to.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, He loves you dearly and promised that if you turn from your sin and follow Him in faith, He will forgive you and bring you into His Kingdom forever.

Extra Credit assignment 1...

2008-08-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

Remember grade school.. where you had quizzes with 'Extra Credit' on the back. You're decison to complete them wasn't an issue of passing or failing. You do it if you want and if you dont , then don't.

Likewise, I would first like to take this opportunity to say that the subjects in this blog are not ‘Salvation’ issues. As a matter of fact, Salvation is the only issue, of any concern, in the Christian life. The rest we can refer to as ‘Extra Credit.’

A dear friend of mine does not believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture and I reassured them (not that they needed it) that there is no prerequisite to being ‘snatched up’ other than the total belief and faith that results in the acknowledgement, acceptance and surrender to the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord over all. <---That period should read audibly. Whether you believe we're outta here prior to God pouring out His wrath on this earth, or that we'll be here to experience it for a little while (Mid-Trib), or that we're here for the whole ride (Post-Trib) doesn't make you less a member of The Body.

That isn't this weeks extra credit assignment however. This week I felt the need to clear the air on a topic my wife was confronted with when speaking to a brother of ours.

Election and Pre-Destination.

A group of individuals, whom I sit at the feet of and agree with, have a firm Biblically backed belief in Calvinism. This term refers to the doctrines and practices of the Reformed church of which John Calvin was an early leader. There are 5 key components to Calvinism:
Total depravity - which asserts that, as a consequence of the fall of humanity into sin, every person born is enslaved to the service of sin.
Unconditional Election/Pre-Destination - which states that God's choice from eternity of those whom he will bring to himself is not based on foreseen virtue, merit, or faith in those people. Rather, it is unconditionally grounded in God's mercy alone.
Limited atonement - the teaching that Jesus' substitutionary atonement was definite and certain in its design and accomplishment.
Irresistible grace - the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save (that is, the elect) and, in God's timing, overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to a saving faith.
Perseverance of the saints - also known as "eternal security." Since God is sovereign and his will cannot be frustrated by humans or anything else, those whom God has called into communion with himself will continue in faith until the end. Those who apparently fall away either never had true faith to begin with or will return.

The main topic of this blog is Unconditional Election and particularly Pre-destination. To sum it up the belief is that that before the creation God determined the fate of the universe throughout all of time and space.

This dear brother in the faith, with whom m wife spoke, submits himself to the contrary belief of a more 'free will'/determinism philosophy. This is the thesis that future events are necessitated by past and present events combined with the laws of nature. In other words, every event, including human cognition and behavior, decision and action, is determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. I guess the biggest problem with this is that it compromises the doctrine of God's sovereignty (big ups to C*BATES for identifying my favorite word).

The main reason this poses a problem is because to say God created all then let's it just run like a clock and then, subjectively re-acts to it's happenings, questions His total control. Did he really not know "WHO TOLD" Adam he was naked? I doubt it. Did he raise Jesus from the dead because He didn't know He was going to be crucified and then die, so now He needed a plan B?

No for Jesus himself said:

John 3:14:15 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Right there He's quoting a prophecy about himself, likened to Moses' Nehushtan in Numbers 21:6-8 (bronze snake on a pole), which cured the Israelites of their snake bites when they repented and looked up on the pole.

This is one of thousands of prophecies that contrast the supposition.

So let's dive into the specific debate.

Did God ELECT those who believe, prior to their belief.

Let's let The Word answer:

Romans 8:28-30
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Romans 11:7-8
7What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, 8as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day."
This verse takes it a step further and not only says God elected those who believe but also gave Israel a Spirit of stupor and prevented them from believing. The next 2 verses say the same... I use these verses because it #1 supports God's sovereignty and #2 it shows the flip side of election.

Romans 11:25
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
2 Corinthians 3:14
14But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.

Ahhh.. the blessed 9th chapter in Romans... please, for 'Extra Credit' read it yourselves.
Here are a couple highlites.
Romans 9:10-12
10Not only that, but Rebekah's children[two sons under exactly the same circumstances]had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12not by works but by him who calls—she was told, "The older will serve the younger."

Romans 9:18-21
18Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
Read that again

There are countless other answers THE BIBLE could give but I think those suffice.

To sum it all up - God knew(even this word is inaccurate because he;s infinite not finite) all in eternity past, controls all since before In The Beginning, and "has mercy on who he wants to have mercy and hardens he wants to harden."

Your thoughts? Agrees? Disagreements? Comment.. please do.

To judge or not to judge...

2008-07-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

The most misquoted bible verse in America is Matthew 7:1-2 where Jesus says

"Judge not, that you be not judged. 2For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

--How many times have you heard someone say "JUDGE NOT LEST YOU BE JUDGED"? Next time..tell them to keep reading!

When Jesus condemned judging He wasn't at all saying that we should not make judgements about anyone or anything... in fact just a few verses later he calls people pigs, dogs, and wolves in sheep's clothing.

As Christians we in fact should judge whether something is right or wrong...whether something is moral or immoral, legal or illegal. However whats important is that we don't condemn others for the very things we do. <----- thats called being a hypocrite. Its ok to judge if we live by the standards in which we judge others.

If Christians don't start to judge evil, instead of accepting all ideas and beliefs, we will become a Church that welcomes...well just about anything. In fact this has already begun...

Christians had better start getting comfortable with politically INCORRECT but loving judgements based on absolute moral truth no matter how offensive it may be to the liberal elite....

So the next time you hear someone misquoting God by telling you not to judge. Remind them that God is very willing to judge our nation on what we don't judge as wrong, and He doesnt repsond well to flawed logic or being misquoted.

Bible Highliter Photo Blog Series 3

2008-07-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

I once did a series on popular and unpopular promises. Below is an unpopular promise that may make some reach for the "Bible Highliter".

Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. (Joh_8:24)

Generally speaking, God's promises are "popular" with many people. When most of the Lord's promises are read or taught, people are delighted.

Promises like these are so often received with favor, because they are so encouraging. They are embraced with approval, because they are so comforting. On the other hand, some of God's promises are definitely "unpopular" with certain segments of humanity. This type of promise is scorned or rejected, because of its convicting or sobering character. Nevertheless, these promises that are not always well-received have great importance in God's plan.

One such promise is given two-fold in our present verse. "You will die in your sins... you will die in your sins." In a tolerant world that wants to deny the reality of sin and its consequences, this is an unpopular promise. Yet, the promise is true nonetheless. Sin brings spiritual death. From the beginning, this has been the case. "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die' " (Gen_2:16-17)

It was also repeated by the apostles in the early church. "For the wages of sin is death" (Rom_6:23). Since everyone has sinned, this warning by promise that Jesus gave applies to us all. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom_3:23).

To escape the inevitable consequences of sin, one must trust in Jesus as the promised, divine Savior. "If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." This statement ("I am He") hints of Jesus' deity. Shortly thereafter, He openly declares that he is God, the Son. "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" (Joh_8:58). Here, Jesus applies to Himself the same name that God revealed to Moses.

Thus, this important promise by Jesus warns that only faith in Him as the divine Savior will deliver a person from the certain consequences of sin.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank You for this important warning given by promise. I am delighted to have yielded to its truth and certainty. I rejoice that my sins are forgiven. Use me to pass on this promise to others who need to respond to it, in Jesus name, Amen.

San Fransisco is burning

2008-06-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

They say lighting never strikes in the same place twice.... WHAT ABOUT 8,000 times? (Click here)

How do you explain such events other than to identify them as God's Judgment?

But why would God judge San Fransisco? Hmmm... let's see if we can identify a reason or ten.

1. Recently, homosexuals in San Francisco celebrated an event called the Folsom Street Fair for the 24th straight year. The organizing group claimed that 400,000 people attended the event.The purpose of the fair was to celebrate "leather pride", a euphemism for homosexuals who indulge in sadomasochism, often called S&M. These people enjoy bondage, whipping, spanking and other perverted sexual practices.People who attended the event reported that police backed off while the party-goers practiced oral sex, nudity, masturbation, and orgies in public. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED! THERE ARE PHOTOS IN THIS LINK.

2. The participants of the Folsom Street Fair

3. The city councilman who dont oppose events such as the Folsom Street Fair.

4. Did I mention the Folsom Street Fair. Ok one last thing about it. Go view the pics and tell me who you see depicted in the first cage photo.

5-9. The people behind the person in the picture from reason #4.

10. After the ruling that supports same sex mariages was upheld earlier this month, more than 3,000 marriage licenses had been issued within a weeks time to same-sex couples.

Reason enough? Maybe, maybe not.. depending on your views. I personally view homosexuality the same way I view Lying, Stealing, Idolatry, Fornication, and any other sin. God hates it and calls people to Repent! (Turn away from their sin and turn to Him).

In 1 Corinthians Chapter 6 it says:
9do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you. But you were washed you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God

Like the passage reads.. none of the people listed will inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of us! Don't know about you (yes I do) but I was once worse than the homosexual as a greedy, sexually immoral, thieving, drunkard. Not to mention a blasphemous liar full of idoloatry.

Nevertheless God promises forgiveness and remission of this and other sin for all - by His grace, through faith in Christ and He declares all who believe "justified". The Encarta dictionary defines justification this way: the grace of God absolves people from all sin!

I ask you all to pray for all people including Gay's to recognize their sin and repent, putting their absolute faith in Jesus Christ alone to save them from eternal damnation in hell, knowing that while we were yet sinners CHRIST DIED FOR US.

OF COURSE YOU'LL HAVE TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE...

We all fall short?!? Photo Blog Series 2

2008-06-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

Best life now!? Photo Blog Series 1

2008-06-03T17:24:00.001-07:00

((Global Pew Warming))

2008-05-22T16:59:00.000-07:00

...truth in a form of fiction

Global Pew Warming is the sad truth that large majorities of the people who are in the church today are not born again believers as defined by scripture. (See First John.) They are people who have been convinced, through various means, that church is good for their life and their family. They have been convinced that they need to add God to their lives in order to be more complete. They have been convinced that going to church can be fun, exciting and a great benefit to their sense of well-being. They have been shown that the church can compete weekly with anything in the secular world in order to attract their attention.

A consequence of this epidemic is already being seen in the food supply. Genetic modifications have been made to the good seed and have caused fruit production to decrease to levels that have not been seen in our lifetime. The fruit that is being produced by this modified seed lacks the ability to provide necessary nutrition and ultimately, to sustain life. Though it has only been used in production for a relatively short time, this bad seed is showing its inability to produce lasting results.

Massive amounts of resources have been used to grow this church environmental nightmare. Money is thrown at anything that will get people in the doors. Time and energy are expended by well-meaning members as they are given tasks that are supposed to be building the church. Methods, no matter how harmful, are legitimized and become the accepted norm as long as they work to the desired end; bring in lots of people, keep them happy and have lots of programs for them to support that make them feel good about things in their lives.

Who is responsible for this Global Pew Warming?

While I am sure that there is enough blame to go around, the responsibility for this seems to fall squarely at the feet of leaders, specifically leaders in the church.

Many leaders in what is called the church today have become addicted to Big Church, Big Production, Big Budget, Big Buildings, Big Debt, Big TV, Big Crowds and Big Success. In their pursuit of these goals, the biblical environment that is supposed to exist in the church has been polluted to the point that it is hardly recognizable. What we see today is a result of years of neglect. The outlook seems to be very bleak.

Is change possible? In truth, yes and no.

For many of these leaders, because of their addiction, their goals and desires, when confronted with the need for change, they can only give it lip service. They see clearly that reform is needed to correct the problems associated with Global Pew Warming but the cost is just too great. If they initiate reform and return to biblical truth, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all its exclusivity, people will be offended. More than likely, many would choose to leave the church and an exodus like that would trigger a landslide of financial problems, not to mention the programs that would be destroyed. All that time and energy, wasted.

The hope lies in leaders in the church who believe that the Lord is the One who builds His church. They rest securely in the fact that they are called to faithfully preach, teach, disciple and train believers for life and ministry to God. They desire to see the true transforming power of the Gospel at work in the lives of those who are being born again.

So is there hope? Can Global Pew Warming be reversed? I believe so. Here are a few suggestions to get the process started:

*Reduce the toxic emissions of relevance
*Drive less with purpose for life and more with passion for the gospel
*Recycle the Word of God in the church and home
*Eliminate "led" based ideas unless they are biblically sound
*Cut back on energy consumption for things that do not matter for eternity *Promote conservation and preservation of truth

If we begin with these few steps, we may be able to reverse the current effects of Global Pew Warming.

The Gospel According to Rick Warren

2008-05-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

"The Gospel According to Rick Warren"
Warren predicts that Christian fundamentalism, will be one of the big enemies of the 21st Century.

Statements from The Purpose Driven Church:
"Catching fish on their terms means letting your target determine your approach." (pg 196);
"While most unbelievers aren't looking for truth, they are looking for relief." (pg 226);
"The ground we have in common with unbelievers is not the Bible, but our common needs, hurts and interests as human beings." (pg 295)

REMEMBER SOMETHING SAINTS - When we look for common ground with unbelievers, we never end up with the truth of the Bible.

Rick Warren has subtlety and critically changed the message of the Gospel.
Rick Warren has done for the church what McDonald's has done for the restaurant industry. Unfortunately, the church is not in the hamburger flipping business. Applying franchising principles toChrist's church may result in outward success, but true success cannot be measured by simply reading the bottom line of 'nickels and noses,' buildings and programs. But there is a bottom line by which to measure the church: it is doctrinal integrity. The church is the pillar and support of the truth (I Timothy 3:15). If the church fails in its God-given mission of upholding, defending and propagating the truth then it fails. Period. It is on this level that Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" agenda is challenged. Is the Warren franchise successful? By every criteria that a retail franchise can be measured, the answer is a clear yes. But how is the Warren franchise doing with the all important commodity of truth is concerned?..."

The Gospel of Rick Warren is not a biblical call to sinners to throw down their rebel arms at the cross and embrace the salvation offered by the Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere in the Purpose Driven Life are readers told that sinners (what an archaic term now) are under the wrath and curse of God unless they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice on the cross. Rick Warren instead retools the Gospel message to appeal to the unregenerate. He does not believe that God's purposes are declared in his revealed Word, but rather teaches that the unsaved should go on a journey of self-discovery in order to locate God's purposes for their lives.

To Rick Warren, church growth is not the result of the Holy Spirit converting sinners as seen in the book of Acts but is the result of the latest marketing techniques that will make church attractive to those who don't know Jesus Christ. Thousands of churches are now Purpose Driven franchises with success hungry pastors taking their cues and even their sermons from Rick Warren. Rick Warren calls this "Church-in-a-box" and he offers it on his numerous websites. But the true Gospel of Christ, the narrow way that Christ spoke of in the Bible, has been altered to suit the world. Numerical success may be achieved, but the Gospel must be obscured to do it Warren's way.

When original sin and the blood atonement are removed from the message, there is no "good news". The world is then being given a gospel that is false. It really is that serious.

Rick Warren's distaste for Christian fundamentalism is a result of his distaste for the fundamentals of God's Word. Those who insist on hearkening back to the Word of God stand in direct opposition to Warren's "Purpose-Driven" marketing tsunami. Rick's much vaunted PEACE plan, his unprecedented popularity with the secular media and his continuing ascendancy in American evangelicalism is dependent upon those pastors and leaders who are willing to set aside the clear dictates of God's Word in order to ride the coattails of Rick Warren and his temporal success. Fundamentalists get in the way.

In the midst of the marketing hype and popular clamor for Rick Warren's man-centered Gospel, may the clear voice of our Savior Jesus Christ cut through the din. "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, and few there be that find it."Matthew 7:13-14

A Purpose Plea to Pastors

Would you let a surgeon operate on you or your family if he didn't know the procedure perfectly? Of course not. How much more accurate should a pastor be with the Gospel that is the power unto salvation?

If you are responsible for introducing the Purpose Driven Life to your church or small group, please consider the following verses. "I (Paul) have laid the foundations like an expert builder. Now others (you) are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful." I Cor.3:10.

How careful have you been in endorsing the Purpose Driven Life? Did you study it with a critical eye? Did you know the theology and history of Rick Warren before you fed Purpose to your sheep? Were you "very careful?"

"There is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone's work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of flames." (I Cor.3:13-15)

Hold it, it gets worse. Paul tells us that "God will bring ruin upon anyone who ruins this temple." (v.17)

Uh oh. For 57 pages, Pastor Warren does not describe sin, righteousness, judgment, God's holiness, hell, repentance, shedding of blood, atonement or resurrection. Yet on page 58 of Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Warren invites the reader to become a Christian by "whispering the prayer that will change your eternity." This prayer better be surgically accurate or we have a pastor who is guilty of malpractice (pardon the mixed metaphor). So what is the prayer that will save?

"'Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you.' Go ahead. If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations! Welcome to the family of God."

If you believe that James 4:9,10 describes the conversion experience of godly sorrow that leads to repentance, then you recognize that Pastor Warren's presentation of salvation is, and I state this very carefully, not Biblical.

Friend, we can argue about many things in Christianity, but salvation is one message we must have complete accuracy and agreement on. Paul warned that any other Gospel is no Gospel at all. "Let God's curse fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other message than the one we told you about. Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him forever be accursed." Gal.1:8

We cannot say, "Well, he sort of presents the Gospel." Jesus shed His blood for this Gospel, we must get it right. Eternity is at stake.

"Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.'" (Mark 1:14,15) "Repent and trust" is the Biblical response to the Gospel, not whispering a prayer. God commands all men everywhere to repent.

Imagine your spouse committed adultery against you and returned to you and said, "Honey, I believe in you and I receive you." Would that be acceptable to you? Why would we think that is acceptable to God? It isn't. That is a false Gospel. That is a damning Gospel.

Luther, Calvin, Moody and Tozer all preached repentance and trust. Charles Spurgeon proclaimed, "While the gospel is a command, it is a two-fold command explaining itself. "Repent ye, and believe the gospel.'"

If you believe that is the only saving Gospel, then you stand at odds with Purpose Driven Life.

While we could discuss the Pastor Warren's faulty forty day premise, man-centered theology, rampant mis-use of Scripture, using a dozen liberal translations and his questionable connections and endorsement by Robert Schuller, his salvation message alone should disqualify Purpose from being promoted in evangelical circles.

Please, you are the shepherd of your flock. Your sheep are being fed another Gospel. You will be judged for this. All I ask is that you consider what I am saying and check it with Scripture. This is your duty.

Transformers

2008-05-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

What does it really mean to Be Ye Transformed?

Scripture reference Romans 12:2 - Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God

Transformation is simply an exchange of life. It means we are showing forth and manifesting Christ's Life instead of our own. Scripture tells us that the only way we can do this is by the constant renewing of our minds; putting off the garbage in our own thinking and putting on the Mind of Christ. It's the Holy Spirit's mission, with our consent, to produce the Mind of Christ in us, so that we can be transformed and live (not just speak) the truth.

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). Your life should be more organized according to the standards in the Bible rather than the standards of our culture. You cannot be the same person; your life must reflect more of Christ and His way today then it did at a previous point in time. (The longer the time frame, the more obvious to those around you the change will be.) If you are the same person and haven't been moving toward Christ-likeness in obedience, then you should seriously question your progress in sanctification. And if there is a problem with sanctification, then you should have a serious Self Examiniation of your salvation ... just in case theres need to, I've compiled a scale that will assist you with examining yourself... short 5 questions/answers. (request it by email)

The bottom line for the Christian is that 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. That requires work. It requires the power of the Holy Spirit. It requires that you actually renounce/repent of the way you are and change, sometimes dramatically, the way you act and live. If more people who go by the name, "Christian," would do this, then we would actually look different to the pagan world, and would be a far better witness.

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

Grace & Peace

Da' Sciple