How Do You Respond?

How Do You Respond?

1/30/18

Often we encounter people who display different opinions from our own and many times after the setting has expired, we wonder if we could have handled things in another light.  Are we allowing our emotions take control of the situation or do we approach differences with a haughty demeanor that others view and then discharge?  How many times have we Christians had this type of attitude when speaking with those with differences to ours, is our feathers up or are we calm and collected as the conversation advances?  We have many examples in the Bible of how to act in these instances and we need to return to these Scriptures in order to ensure that we are being 100% effective for the advancement of God’s Kingdom.

I know that I have not always responded to issues in the correct manner, I did not respond well when I was younger and there are times that I do not respond correctly towards others today as well.  Responses come with a vast array of territory but usually are conveyed with a personal accuracy when challenged, but it is how we display these responses that give us satisfaction or not and it should also allow us to see what frame of mind we are in at the time of discussion.  We all know that if we are trying to get someone to purchase an item from us and the person says “no” and then we commenced to yell at them for turning down our offer, business will not stay intact for very much longer.  It is this type of demeanor that we need to understand before we speak about God, Jesus, or the Church because many times when address people concerning these issues they already have an opinion concerning them and if we light a match under their feet, we may never have another opportunity to witness to them again.

Some of the titles and topics that God gives me to share can be somewhat difficult to complete, but I also understand that He is giving me these topics so that people that do not know His Ways can learn about Him and hopefully one day heed His voice and turn back to God.  Some of the responses to these writings are harsh and cold with others being somewhat receptive but with God stepping on toes of those who call themselves Christians who just sit around waiting for Jesus to return you can imagine that when God calls them out, they are not really in a good mood.  I have to really be careful when I respond to some of these comments, for I only could deepen their animosity or provide an avenue for them to separate themselves from God further.  It is here that we should have the capability to understand just how much the world has control over these people and respond accordingly.

Over the past few years or so and especially over this past year alone, we have witnessed a growing divide amongst this nation concerning how people view issues and then in response how they view the people who have differing opinions.  Many are shaking their heads and wondering why such activities are occurring and just what is the root of what seems to be such nonsense.  All levels of discord are popping up almost every day with a trail that seems to be endless.  As we witness these tense environments rupture, we also can sit back and have the opportunity to watch the responses afterward.  Often, it is the responses to such initial words, attitudes, and gestures that gain the most adherence thus creating a hostile atmosphere to which almost any type of additional response might occur.  It does not matter what setting or level of engagement that this potential bomb could explode for it is evident on the individual level and will rise to the national level if left unchecked.

It is through these contacts and contests that provide us with the perfect opportunity to either diffuse or heighten the situation of disagreement and from what I can tell as of now we have no introductory ideas of backing down from our polarized positions.  What we as humans and more importantly and directly as a nation is how we refuse to notice that our own actions are the cause of such deep and deepening divisions that are in our hearts towards our fellow citizens.  It is laughable to believe that we can be on equal terms with anyone or any other country when we cannot be amicable in times of disagreement with our own citizenry.  This picture also demonstrates just how much alignment with the world we have incorporated as well and at the same time are blinded to the fact that it is the world itself that mass produces such deadly divisions.  If we do not immediately correct these personal atmospheres they shall continue to grow into a civil strife that the world has never witnessed before, one that will take decades to complete and even longer to heal.  But will God allow such an event to occur?  Yes, He will for He has done something like this many times before and since we are no higher than the children of Israel we are the next ones to seek shelter from the waves.

“This is war”, “let’s fight until the finish” or any other type of war-like congruity statements are being thrown around every day and quite frankly these phrases and verbal contacts are taking their toll.  I am very surprised that some type of massive civil unrest has not already been undertaken and to be totally honest it is a testament to our strength that we have not resorted to such fringes yet.  Clearly, through these verbal uprisings we must know or at least feel the boiling temperatures that are inside us but why are we stoking our furnaces instead of allowing them to die down?  The answer lies with what lies within our hearts and as long as selfish, divisional, and worldly politics reign in our hearts these instances shall only continue to increase.  Do you really believe that all of this mess will just go away when a new leader comes into office?  I think not, for the cauldron has been lit and it is being stirred by both sides and we cannot see any melting of the stir stick.

I believe that most of us would agree that the supernatural world represents the most intense setting a person could imagine existed and when we address such an issue we cannot refrain from expressing our actions and reactions to such settings.  We need to remember that this type of realm does exist and is actively involved in your eternal placement, a condition that most may not realize.  When we deal in this setting we must consider the fact that those spiritual leaders have access to our lives and while we are just walking around not paying attention to our spiritual surroundings they are placing themselves in a position to ambush us and if we do not recognize what is going on they will attack us according to what doors we have allowed open, thus giving them access to all of the interior portions of our lives.  Any level of influence will then be allowed to be demonstrated on a command level basis which is why many of us see people fly off the handle at what should seem to be normal and focused areas.  Also, do we really recognize what is at stake and what is transpiring when we have these physical and verbal encounters?  They are not coincidental and actually serve a purpose for the spiritual, an act that we really need to watch out for because we could either damage a person’s chance of knowing God in such settings.

In Matthew 8:28-34 we have a perfect example of what type of reaction needs to occur when extreme circumstances are encountered.  Now, I am not suggesting that people are possessed by demons here (in the examples I have given above) but we do need to recognize that some sort of inner influence is occurring because rational people should not have motives of this magnitude in public places.  The passage reads as follows: ”And when he was come to the other side unto the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.  And he said unto them, Go.  And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.  And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what had befallen to the possessed of the devils.  And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.”  Oh boy, there is a lot of information here.

I know that this biblical example is an extreme account but the personal example I have to offer is just as extreme but on the opposite end of the spectrum.  The other night it was approaching time to go to bed and the before bedtime routine was taking place as normal.  My wife went upstairs to end the evening and our Dachshund followed her routine as well by going outside before she went to bed.  She did not stay out too long but that really was not out of the ordinary especially during the winter months.  My wife and Heidi were in their respective beds by 9:30 or so and I shortly followed them at about 10:15.  I was lying there in bed making sure my thoughts were cleared and within a few minutes time I hear Heidi begin to whine like she needed to go to the bathroom, this event occurred at 10:30.

After I recognized the distinctive sound she makes, I was not happy with her at all and for the next few moments, my feelings transferred from inside my body to the outside.  I threw the covers back waking my wife up and put my house slippers on again.  I took the covers off of the top of Heidi’s bed and began to coarsely chide her for not going outside and doing what she is supposed to just approximately 30 minutes before, but by this time my emotions were antsy as I flipped open her cage door.  Her bed is a simple rectangle cage with a swinging door on the front that has a hinge lock.  It can be noisy at times and if opened quickly without holding the door it will fly back and make a huge sound as it does, this is what occurred as I opened the door and it bounced back and hit Heidi’s hip as she was exiting her cage.  This scared her and she immediately tucked her tail and ran downstairs.  In no way was she harmed or hurt only scared, but I immediately knew that she was frightened and that her entire demeanor had changed.

I took her outside and as I watched her leave the garage she still had her tail tucked and was walking away in slight fear.  It was at this time I knew that it was going to be a long night for when she becomes frightened for any reason she is up and nervous for hours.  Sure enough, when she was outside she did not do anything and came back inside and headed straight for the downstairs couch.  I put some more clothes on and sat with her for an hour or so then carried her upstairs to the bedroom and placed her on the bed with my wife and me.  Her nervousness continued and I understood why for I knew she needed to go to the bathroom but didn’t because of the earlier event.  She did try and go to sleep but there was no way because she was uncomfortable.  Finally, at about 3:00 am, she was finally confident enough to go outside and go to the bathroom and came back in and went right to sleep.

How does this example come into play?  Well, it was all because of my attitude when I got out of bed the first time.  Animals may not speak English but they do pick up on atmospheric conditions coming from the human and this truth came into play that night.  I felt terrible because of what occurred and I was staring at the results of my frustration towards Heidi.  I was out of line and my actions portrayed a situation that is not present in my house and Heidi had every right to be nervous about the conditions.  It was the time of my sitting with her on the couch that God reminded me of the article that I had begun writing the day before, it was this article, you know, the one about how we should respond to others.  It gripped my heart and God hit a home run when He gently reminded me of what had just occurred.  This small reminder convicted me and it still troubles me to this exact moment that I am writing about the incident.  Heidi is okay her and I “made up” so to speak, but my heart still aches for what occurred and I am now more conscious about how I respond to this precious part of our lives.  Yes, it seems a tad minor but it grabbed my heart to teach me the importance of how we respond to others when times of frustration occur.

It is not too difficult to understand why people would like to work together in order to complete a task that has been assigned to them.  It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that if the job is delayed or is not completed at all that the team that was put in charge of such operation should be replaced so that the task at hand is completed.  Somewhere along humanity’s life cycle, we have failed to recognize this detail and are once again repeating such iniquities against humanity.  The Scripture that we just read gives us a great example of what we need to do in order for our lives to function normally again and that is to allow God to throw out all of the junk that we have accumulated inside and to start over and to rebuild our lives according to His Ways.

I find a certain statement in this passage to be very interesting and it comes in the form of the demons speaking to Jesus about “if” He wanted to and was going to cast them out of the men to allow them to be cast into a herd of pigs that were a short distance away.  The interesting part about this statement from the demons is where they wanted to be cast into for we all know that demons are unclean spirits and that Jews find the pigs to be unclean animals as well, which means that Satan’s kingdom follows uniformity as well and is not divided in its stance which proves Jesus correct again when He talks to the Pharisees about healing the sick.  We must never forget that Satan can only follow his own kingdom lines and if placing unclean spirits into a person’s inner life is such a “reward” of this kingdom then we need to understand this enemy of ours so we do not lose control of our lives.  This statement also provides us that the enemy’s servants and kingdom have to recognize God and His Kingdom and then automatically submit to it.

I pose the question to you that if Jesus would have acted out of His character or would have reacted hastily what do you think would have occurred here?  Would the physical reactions of Jesus and the others around Him contributed to a positive setting for the possessed men or would the demons be justified in their current position?  There were many different types of scenarios that could have played out here but instead, Jesus’ response to the unconventional setting was perfect and the one who had the authority over the situation handled the situation perfectly.  How many of you would have done the exact same thing if you encountered such demonic activity?  Do you realize that the majority of us have been in contact with a demon at some point in our lives and did not know it?  Why don’t we have the authority to recognize and then react appropriately when this occurs?  We do have the authority but we do not wish to recognize it and then use it according to God’s Ways.

After Jesus had come into contact with the men that were possessed and had cast out the demons that inhabited them the demons requested to be allowed to go into a group of pigs that was a distance off.  Jesus did not yell or scream any commandments to them in order for them to leave the men, a normal “Go.” Was given to them and they left.  There is a period after the word “Go” and not an exclamation point which means that a normal tone was handed out during this process.  The demons fled without a fight for they knew the authority of who they had come into contact with for they also directly address Him as the Son of God.  It was Jesus’ response to that setting that dispossessed the unclean spirits for Jesus understood and the demons understood who was in the authoritative position and who was not, so why do we yell and scream trying to make out point concerning God and Jesus?  When we do, we are not following the guidelines that Jesus set into motion.

It does not matter what type of setting we are presented with there is no reason for us to yell and scream at those who have incorporated another verse than what we have in our lives.  Yes, we can recognize what they harbor and yes, we are to address it if God directs us to do so but if we take the approach of holding a huge sign in front of their heads and scream at them that they are wrong they will just walk on by returning the favor and nothing will be accomplished.  We have touched on this issue a couple of times now and God wants us to understand that this type of aggressive approach is not what we need to be doing to the common person who does not know God.  There is nothing wrong with a fire and brimstone sermon but when we are presenting that type of atmosphere to those who are lost, we are not going to get very far in the witnessing command that Jesus gave us to do.  We have the authority to witness and to bring people to Christ but we cannot afford to destroy their wills before we even begin to share the gospel with them.

Church, do you even understand your authority and how to use it against the world’s ruler, or have you given your authority away and allowed others to usurp the power that Jesus gave to you?  That question is easily answered for we do not even understand what that authority even was in the first place.  It is painful to watch the spirit of the age rip out the heart of Jesus’ bride and to watch her heart beating in the hands of demons while she falls on her face to the ground in agony and experiencing an eternal death.  The fight that she has left goes to glorify her captor instead of towards the One who can give her life again.  She has focused so much on the physical that she has lost the true concept of salvation, redemption, and restoration in God through the blood of His Son.  She has been blinded so much by the world that she does not even believe in the true words of Scripture and what it means for her life and her witness.  Her hands are clean and present with a perfect manicure, yet she has no heart to fight the wiles of our enemy, a complete farce in the eyes of our Creator.

So, Church, go on with your dancing before your idols as the children of Israel did when Elijah and Ahab dueled and at some point in time when your loud screams, shouts, and vibrations cease due to your being tired, God shall answer through His might and holy Ways to set the record straight once again.  You are not acting like the leader that Jesus told us to be but transmitting a false impression (lie) to the ones that we should be witnessing to.  How can we be a functioning body if our hands and feet are holding onto worldly idols and positions?  The world that we are so desperately reaching for is falling apart and if we continue to attach ourselves to its structures we will be destroyed just as it will.  It is important that we let go of the world and take back the authoritative reigns that Jesus has given us to save the world and not take it with us.  What are we doing when we recognize demons?  Are we looking at them and frightened by their presence, do we ignore them all together, or do we cast them out with the authority that Jesus gave us?

If we cannot embark upon reaching both sides of the eternal spectrum then we have no chance of reaching the majority of those that fall within the middle portions of that realm which constitute all who we are commanded to go to and teach.  It does not matter who we witness to for the world is lost and the harvest is ripe but if we lack the true authority that Jesus gave us we will be no better than the animals that hold a higher status than our own personal lives.  Repent Church, and allow God to once again give our hearts their beats back so we can preach the gospel of Christ.  The world has voluntarily given its life to its death march but the Church is supposed to be the light and show it the Life Giver, we need to start doing that again before we experience a devastation that shall change the entire world’s status.  A renewed calling is the true response of how God wants us to act when sin approaches our lives, not to buckle under its weight.

God expects His children to respond to the world in an authoritative manner but speak with a loving heart at the same time.  We must never forget that we are in an eternal war for our lives and at no time can we compromise this position.  In war, there is nothing sacred from a vile enemy but we cannot afford to forget the enemy’s tactics while we advance God and His Kingdom.  It is written that we have the same authority as Jesus had while He was on the earth, then why are we not proclaiming this truth?  Jesus was tough and gentle at the same time, He always kept the truth and proclaimed His Father’s truth at all times.  This is our goal and one that needs to be sanctified in our hearts every day and the only way we can do this is to follow God’s Word at all times through living it stemming from what is in our hearts.

Presentation of ourselves to a dying world is of the utmost importance and if we present as a flawed sinner saved through the changing Grace of Christ we cannot fail.  But if our actions continue to shine through worldly actions, the very people who we intend to reach will sort us out as hypocrites to God’s Word and not hypocrites of the world’s standards.  Church, repent and allow God change your presentation and your response to the world.  Stand firm in your testimony and demonstrate Christ through your actions.  God loves each and every one of us and it is His desire to see all live in eternal standards with Him.  How are you responding to all of the corruption around us?  As in the passage above states that even though Jesus acted normally the townspeople did not and rebuked Him and told Him to leave the area.  Jesus did not turn the tables and place a self-righteous trip to show the people what He had just done, but He kept calm and left the area.  It does not matter what the circumstances are or how the others respond but it all depends on how you show your temperament when you are witnessing to others.  We must accept that not all will hear and accept the gospel of Christ but it does not give us the authority to yell and scream at them or to mock them as they walk away.

I understand that we have discussed this type of actions and behavior a couple of times in the past, but it is so relevant today because of the extreme measures that many of us face today.  Each day another scandal or full-blown mess is made public that involves another part of our society.  It seems like no one is immune to such allegations and as these stories expand themselves the tensions and divisions become heightened to the point where we can almost hear the anger grow inch by inch.  The incredible depth and agony of these conditions are literally ripping society apart and right at this moment, we need God in the most complete way known to humanity.  But as the division and canyon become wider and deeper we are expounding this growing space further because we are casting out God of our lives even faster.  It is this in combination with the accusations and allegations against each other that is going to bring further hurt, disappointment, and added stress that at some point will blow if God does not intervene.

It does not matter if we must deal with a restless family pet or a person that is harboring a demon within their life, we need to make sure we know how to respond when these settings expose themselves.  It makes no sense to respond in an unkind fashion or in a reactive manner when challenged, for that type of response is one that the world is constantly displaying and bringing further devastation to everyone all the way down to the personal level.  I do not know how long God is going to allow us to continue our divide but I do know that unless we turn our hearts back to Him the canyon shall continue on its growth spurt and that can only mean higher stress and tension levels.

In a world where chaos seems to have the authoritative upper hand, it is imperative that we take control of the situation in the name of Jesus Christ and act accordingly.  Church, it is time we take back what we have voluntarily surrendered to our enemy and once again separate ourselves from the world and show the Light of God in the darkness.  As I stated above I cannot say what will occur in our personal lives or in our society down the road, but I do know that as that time approaches where God has to take over things will only become worse and we need to be prepared to respond in the correct and godly manner.  And during this present time and when things become worse we need to have our hearts grounded in the Word of God enough to understand what is going on in these people’s lives and then have the capability to explain to them why things are occurring as they are.  God loves each one of His beautifully created children and as each one falls away it breaks His heart even more and it is our mission to help those who are falling but still seek help.  Let us be prepared for today and for tomorrow because we encounter hurting and suffering people every day and we need to show the true authority of God to them when we meet.

DLB

Born Into Sin

Born Into Sin

1/17/18

I know that many of us have used this phrase before to try and conceive our inherited status but have we been exposed to its true origins and what this status encompasses?  The origins of such a phrase have a grave impact on our lives and this truth really should be further understood when we use it.  God never intended for us to live under this status but due to our choices we now face its consequences, and we must ask ourselves to what extent do we use this condition to justify our death sentences?  This phrase is a true statement concerning our lives but it does not define our genetic makeup, only our physicality’s.  God’s Word clearly gives us ample opportunities to figure this out and until we do then repent of our sins these atrocities against our eternity and God’s holy provisions shall only increase.

Most of us have fallen into the trap of believing that sin is based on levels where a lie is considered no sin at all a white lie as we have heard, stealing is a medium sin which could be or not be of any great significance, murder, of course, is a huge industrial type of crime with a vast range of condemnation, and we can place any other bad intentions into one of these categories as well.  However, this trap we fall into comes from our eternal enemy for if he can get us to believe that sin comes in different levels then we will be prone to accept such activities more readily without considering true repentance as a viable option to discontinue such practices.  God clearly states in His Word that sin is just that sin.  There are no boundary guidelines as to what God considers a lower sin and what is considered to be a higher sin, sin is just sin.  The eternal definition of sin is a short one and it goes like this: sin is disobedience.  The level of disobedience is not ambiguous by any means even though the world and its leader would argue this for obvious reasons.

What is amazing to us, or what should serve as a direct warning against, is how God gives us examples of while sin is sin He points out the individual characteristics of sin, how they affect our lives in term of relationship with Him, and the consequences of unrepentant sin all in His Word.  If God just said that sin was sin and did not characterize what was considered sin then our minds would not be able to make a choice and therefore obey or disobey.  Sin would then become ambiguous in status and in origin, a state which our enemy likes to use but one that is a direct lie in the Creator’s heart.  God is not an ambiguous God at all and while there are details about His Word that He has not fully shared yet, we can have the hope that one day He shall do such glorious event while we study and then live by His Ways.

There is a bunch of foundational information that needs to be reviewed before we actually can proceed into the meat of what God wants us to understand.  This article and its content will challenge you to think about the deepness of God’s Word and will also prove to be a testament to your trust in God and His Word at the same time.  The topic of this article is a hard truth and will not be accepted by all but it strictly comes from God’s Word which makes sure that it is upright, holy, and true on all levels.  Of course, the world shall never see it this way and will do its best to counter the eternal truth of God, for we must always remember that the ultimate goal of Lucifer is to make us believe he is not real and when this is accomplished than his job is a lot easier in implantation standards.  The basic foundation of this article is that homosexuality is a sin and nothing more than a sin.  If we continue to accept the lies concerning this sin as truth, our ignorance shall consume us until our nation suffers the greatest disaster the world has ever witnessed.  Is this a scare tactic, no it is a Truth tactic that we all need to understand.  I also understand that some shall dismiss this message and walk away from it, but others will receive it and hopefully use it to begin the healing process that God wants in each one of our lives.

Some of the first references that will be used here fall into the refreshing category for God has already shared with us about these verses but they serve as a basis for what He is explaining to us here.  We find in Genesis 3:7 a new state of living for Adam and Eve where sin has been voluntarily accepted by their actions.  A few verses later we find that God is issuing out the direct consequences of what Adam and Eve allowed into their lives; more specifically, in Genesis 3:16 states that the conception process and child-bearing procedures change for the woman. For God states that He will greatly multiply her sorrow in this setting and if God multiplies something it must mean that a process was already in place before this change took place.  We also understand that God, Adam, and Eve were the first and holy definition of “we” which means everyone was on equal terms when it came to our creation status with each other, providing God was the center of all life.  So, if we look at the process of sexual reproduction today we find that the male still produces millions of sperm with each ejaculation yet the woman normally produces one, two, or three eggs at a time.  More on this at a later time but keep this in mind for God would not intentionally create an imbalance.

Genesis 2:23 gives us the first marriage of humanity which was officiated by God when He brought the woman to where the man was.  It was already known that the man was not doing well alone which is why God created the woman from the man so he could physically and intimately relate to her.  If God had not created the woman in such a manner the woman could legally say that she was not attracted to the man and could pursue other options, with this stated we know that once God establishes a pattern He cannot change such authority.  This means that God being the eternal authority who created the two individuals then sanctioned the unity of them both together is the only official and eternal way that man and woman can live as commanded by God in Genesis 1:28.

Genesis 3:7 serves as the original line of sin into the human existence for up until that verse Adam and Eve had personal no clue about what sin would do to their lives.  It is this point where humanity gives God their option that He originally gave them as proof that He was not a slave owner or slave creator.  It is also through this verse that every type of sin (disobedience) known to mankind was established and allowed to enter into our structure, an event that God could not allow to inhabit His perfect setting which was the basis for the eviction of Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden.  Sin is a vast lined definition but in this case, we are going to deal with a specific topic that is catching the eyes and ears of everyone around the world and that is the sin of homosexuality.  YES, homosexuality is a sin and NOT a genetic defect for there is no such genetic condition that defines homosexuality as a genetic defect, all studies have concluded that there is no such thing and the ones that have suggested that there was a “gay gene” were admittedly falsified in order to push forward their funding agendas and targets.  God’s Word is the complete authority on all ears of human existence and living conditions, it has been ever since God gave it to the writers and it is still completely relevant to our lives today.

Some of the examples that will be used here are familiar to many but there are some others that while fall into the same familiar category probably have not been placed into this topic but provide excellent resources for our lives to understand.  We have heard many sermons and lectures concerning the unity of God and how complete His Ways are at all times, His provisions in this matter stay in their completed status and to begin with this truth we must take a look at Matthew 12:25-28 where after Jesus has healed person that was possessed with a devil, blind and dumb and had a theological discussion with the Pharisees about such a healing session and said to them: “And Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought into desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?  And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.”

What Jesus is saying here that if the kingdom He represents is of Satan then why would He be willing to cast out a devil that Satan had placed there in the first place?  It would not be logical for any leader to perform such an act for it truly would be defeating their own purpose, thus condoning the status of falling and not allowing their ways to stand properly.  This means that Jesus has to work in the kingdom that He represents and Satan must work in the kingdom that he represents at all times.  We have plenty of other examples in the New Testament where Jesus did the will of His Father to advance His Father’s Kingdom this proves that Jesus was complete and consistent with God the Father’s Ways thus not divided in any way from God.  This passage also gives rise to the fact that the religious leaders may have understood the reasoning and practice of casting out devils but did not understand the Kingdom principles of God, a devastating truth that should have brought truth and repentance to their lives but did not.  This issue is not a part of the specific topic that we are discussing but it does provide the foundation of completeness of God and His Kingdom.

There are no false accusations when it comes to the belief that humans are supposed to be progressive in their outcomes in life we were made to keep things up and to build upon what we have been given.  But we also must understand that if we do not have God as the center of our lives this progression becomes clouded and distorted with the ways of the world many times unknowingly so.  This continual lifestyle of inherited sin (born into not genetic) grows and then frustrates many until they choose to succumb to the ways of the world and forsake their Creator.  I must admit that this topic is difficult for me not because I have fallen into such desires but because it concerns a very close family member of mine.  However, my selfish and procrastination desires are not what is in question here but the eternity of those that have bought into the lie concerning homosexuality and the grip it has over them.  God does love each and every one of us and He wants to see each one of His children free from not only this oppression but of all sin that we are born into.

As stated many times in the articles, messages, and notes God has given us that He is a consistent God and one that cannot change His Ways in any form or measure.  This means that if He is who He says He is that His actions cannot deviate from practiced examples and no changes in any character of His children should deviate from His authority either for if there is any change contrary to God’s Word then it automatically becomes a divided kingdom and shall fall.  Matthew 12:25 gives us the truth concerning this matter when Jesus is questioned by the religious leaders about His healing practices.  Jesus sets the foundation for being undivided from His Father and at the same time rips into the Pharisees’ fallacies concerning this miracle.  God’s consistency was at the question concerning healing, a process in which God is the superb King over and Jesus was reinforcing this truth.  It is this principle that we need to keep in mind as we read and understand this topic for we all know that the world sees this lie as a worldly truth that we must all comply with.

In Genesis Chapter 19, we find a couple of cities that have been designated by God to be destroyed because of their blatant, accepted, and willingly openness to homosexuality.  Above we have been reminded that the only order of sexual contact that God approves is that of between a woman and a man with any deviation from such intimacy being classified as an abomination.  This setting is deeply troubling because we have an entire civilization that is about to be wiped off the face of the earth by the choices that the people have made.  A while back we learned that Abraham argued with God about destroying the city if a certain amount of righteous people were present which means that at one time there were more righteous people there or Abraham would not have had any grounds to argue.  This action alone presents as a choice and how the choices of people grow into reality.  We cannot forget or dismiss that the reason for such action by God was strict because of their behavior and ignorance of God's Laws, it was their choice to do such activities, not through uncontrollable genetic provocations.

God completely destroys the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and while they are not mentioned here, He destroys other cities in the area as well for the same sin.  It has taken a very long time for archaeologists to find the location of Sodom and Gomorrah and what they have discovered so far is that there is a destroyed city that appears to have been annihilated by an incredible heat source.  We have here an incident where one could and many still do question God about His authority to complete such a destruction, and while this act can be quickly condemned by humanity we should understand why God did such an act because it is through this act that God stays consistent with His command to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden concerning intimacy.  When God looked upon the hearts and witnessed that acts of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, realized that their hearts had become a majority of sinful abominations God did not have a choice but to keep His Word.  I do not believe that God could make a clearer statement about how He feels about this sin that we choose to accept as normal, yet at the same time, this act that God demonstrates should also provide us with the greatest of warnings of what not to accept into our lives either.

This act of God raises another question in that why would God do such a thing when we are born into sin, or in the argued case today, why would He do such a thing when homosexuality is a genetic code?  There is no genetic code or “gay gene” that is present in our genetic makeup so this means that this behavior is a choice issue and not one that we cannot control.  Ever since I can remember my cholesterol and triglyceride levels have been astronomically high and up until researchers developed medication to lower such levels I presented as a ticking time bomb for a major physical event, which did occur about fifteen years ago now.  Geneticists have found out that this issue is a genetic process in which I have no control over and that I inherited this problem from my biological parents, in other words, I have problematic genes and this is not a choice that I can make so I have to live with and reduce the risks with all possibilities.  God has not wiped me off the earth because of this issue for He understands that this is not a choice of mine.

I remember back in the early 2000s, a huge news conference was called to announce that the human genome had finally been completely mapped and that the entire genetic code could now be recognized.  General knowledge of such an existence already was in place and since this issue of homosexuality was and still is a huge detail it would have been proudly told about this gene’s existence, but the people making the presentation did not say anything about it.  For if they did, it would present a huge issue for the question would now be if the person who had this real “gay gene” fell into the category of a genetic defect or if those who did not have this “gay gene” fell into that category, a quagmire that just does not exist but could be used to endorse such a behavioral issue.  Ultimately, if there was a “gay gene” in our lives then God has some huge explaining to do and to provide humanity with an astronomical apology for His actions, which God has NEVER done and shall Never do because this act is our choice and not His.

Psalms 51:1-5 explains a detail about our lives that separate us from genetics and choices when it states the following: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according to unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speaketh, and be clear when thou judgest.  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”  It is this verse that confirms that sin inhabits our lives from the day we were conceived which means that since disobedience is the definition of sin, we have a choice to disobey God’s Word or to obey His Word and Ways.  This represents a choice which goes straightaway with why God had the authority to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because the people there chose to live in their sins that they were born with thus subject to God’s holy hand.

As the old saying goes, the proof is in the pudding and we all know that God will not leave us hanging when it comes to the Truth concerning our lives.  With the truth of Romans 3:23 encompassing our lives, we cannot say that we are not and will not be treated equally in the eyes of God, so we really need to be careful when we casually throw out the “you cannot judge me” statement that we hear so often.  With everyone being sinners that means sin itself totally envelops our lives even further and deeper than we can imagine, our entire concept of existence is compromised with sin and therefore cannot be exempt from any door that lies within our bounds.  We have the greatest example that separates this genetic mistake and lie that many have used in order to justify their sins instead of being convicted of them.  This prime example also explains what God would do if homosexuality is a genetic issue, remember God is a consistent God and one that can only act according to His Word.

John 9:1-3 is our example and it states the following: “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God be made manifest in him.”  Jesus then goes on to make clay from the ground and place it on the eyes of the man then told him to go to the pool and washed the clay from his eyes and was able to see.  The conditions of people who we come in contact with are usually known by others and it is not uncommon to talk about such people as well when we encounter their presence.  The passage here describes Jesus and His disciples coming up to a man which had been blind at birth, a tough place to be even in today’s standards but one that occurred in Jesus’ time and in our “modern” world as well.  A logical question is then asked by the disciples about why this man was born blind and the way that Jesus answers them is unique and specific at the same time for it gives us suggestions that something else is working in our physical bodies that has the explanation as to why this man was blind.

We must consider that DNA technology was not possible back during the days of Jesus, now, given this statement we have proof that Jesus understood such DNA concepts through the answer He gave to the disciples for He said that neither instance provided the accurate setting for the condition of the man which means that there was something else underlying that made the difference.  Jesus turned and healed the man by spitting onto the ground, made a type of clay from His action and then rubbing it over the man’s eyes.  I find this technique very intriguing because Jesus used His holy and pure state along with the origin of our existence in order to heal this man, the perfect example of His authority and purpose for Him being on earth.  Jesus made an important remark here when He said “Neither” for it meant that the two knowledgeable forms of beliefs about deformities were not in play here.  Jesus’ answer also provides a great deal of information about how sin operates in our lives as well, a subject for later discussion.

The remarkable detail here yet one that should not surprise us is the fact that Jesus willingly and lovingly heals the man from his blindness.  While there is no mention of the reactions of the disciples here, one would believe that it at least would have triggered their curiosities enough to wonder what the underlying cause might be.  It is this portion of the Scripture that proves there is no divided status between God and Jesus as well, for if Jesus would have done something other than heal this man, say, condemn him, Jesus would not be in alignment with God and therefore prove Himself not to be who He said He was (is).  So, Matthew 12:25 is satisfied with Jesus’ actions here and we now understand that Jesus knew about the DNA makeup and potential for genetic mishaps.  Therefore, if Jesus healed the man from this genetic blindness yet God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for homosexuality and with God and Jesus being united together in all things, we must come to the conclusion that homosexuality is not a genetic issue but one of choice.  If homosexuality was a genetic issue, then God would have made a way for those people to be healed of such uncontrolled condition, but He did not which means there is another explanation for such action of His and we have this proof coming centuries later when God’s Son heals a genetic issue instead of destroying the man.  Consistency is a wonderful detail about God that is intriguing to realize.

As stated above the saying “I was born this way” when referring to homosexuality concerns has become a rallying cry for many, yet we can see it in the eyes of these beautiful people that they are struggling and hurting because they have not found what they are looking for to make them happy.  All of us are born into sin and this condition completely overwhelms our lives and can become exhausting at best sometimes.  But what we need to recognize that the statement by these people is a correct statement for we all are born into sin and our enemy has done a fabulous job in convincing us that sin is okay to harbor and that it is okay to live in such sin because there are no major consequences for such condition.  All of us need God in our lives and we need to have Him 100% in our lives as well, not just ½ the time or even 10% of the time.  This is a complete lie from Satan and we have bought into it hook, line, and sinker and it is costing millions of lives each day. 

Another consistency about God is that He wants our lives to be free from this world and to live with Him for eternity.  God will do His very best to ensure that He heals those who are hurting in all forms and manner.  It breaks God’s heart for Him to know that His children have a way out of their misery yet continue to choose to be ruled by lies.  In this truth from God we, find that there is a difference between genetics and sin and that there is also a great difference of how God deals with each setting.  God does not wish to see anyone of His children falling into the wiles of sin and dying without knowing who He is and what He has done to protect us.  God has also made a stance against sin and He is consistent with this stance both in our history, today, and in our future if need be.

One of the main themes that we recognize in the Bible is that mankind falls into a stupor when it comes to sin and the recognition of sin.  The minds of these people are sharp concerning this condition but over time seem to relax their beliefs and thus their standards and eventually end up falling into danger.  Our pattern is quite similar and I would argue identical to what the people in the Bible provide, so why don’t we figure this out before something drastic occurs in our world?  God is not in the business to destroy our lives that is the job of our enemy.  God is in the business of restoration and protection from our enemy.  We see every day many leaders and so-called common people crying out for responsibility for some reason but do not take the initiative to find out what truly needs to be done to correct such ignorance.  The answers we need shall never come from human sources nor shall they ever come from worldly standards and as long as we continue to ignore God and His Word we will be inching ever closer to our destruction.

Societies throughout history and the ones today have ordained the act of homosexuality as a normal practice that should be praised and completely accepted as a normal state.  Coming from a worldly presence and attitude I can fully see where it would be classified as such, but the world and its leader are defeated and the ruler of the world is a liar as well.  Church, BY NO MEANS NECESSARY should we be promoting homosexuality as the truth and a holy order of life.  YES, we should accept the people of this lifestyle into our lives but when we do we cannot allow their sin to go unnoticed.  We need to carefully yet passionately share the gospel with these people and to tell them of God’s Truth concerning the lie that they have fallen for.  Complete separation from the world is what God placed Adam and Eve into, showed the children of Israel, showed the Gentiles as Jesus walked the earth and provides us in His Word today.

God urges us to study these verses in this message and to know them well enough to be able to witness to those that have fallen into the trap and lies of homosexuality.  Any worldly order that defies God’s true form of intimacy shall fall and the societies that harbor such abominations shall fall even harder.  Church, it is time to stand up for what is written in the Bible and not what we want written from the world.  It is time we repent and begin to spread the Truth once again for God is a consistent and loving God who wants all to live with Him for eternity.  The best way to defeat our enemy is with the complete Word of God and just parts of it.  Study to show thyself approved is an excellent example for this article for it is the only way we shall ever know the truth about our lives, how we were created, our purpose in life and how much God loves us.  Listen to the voice of God and g with God all of your days.  Rely on His Word and His guidance and He shall never leave you.  Give God 100% of your heart and He shall reward your service continually.  We may all be born into sin but that does not mean we have to stand by and allow it to rule our lives, we do have the eternal means necessary to win this fight.

DLB

Abortion and the Church

Abortion and the Church

1/9/18

The time has arrived that God is going to deal with us concerning this topic and when this article is finished you will understand that both of these subjects run together and have a common point that defines each entity.  The common point is a word that should mean everything to each side of these issues yet it is one that is totally ignored within both communities.  Discipleship is the key to any subject’s passage and then spread and if not conducted properly a gross injustice will be the result of such actions, or lack of action as these cases may be.  God is in the restoration business but if things are dropped as soon as people walk out of the doors all is lost and every effort by the human being is left in vain.  Church it is our responsibility to grab hold of both of these issues and play the vital role in discipleship so that our hearts can once again be turned in the correct direction.

The last week of 2017 was an eventful one for many of us who live in western cultures and societies and my family’s life was no exception.  God has asked me on occasion to address a few difficult settings and worldly rules that affect the church and everyone’s lives and for the next couple of articles, this will be the case once again.  Anytime someone goes up against the subject of abortion and homosexuality the worldly standards rear their ugly heads and the seditious claws of such unholy rulers and leaders come out.  When these instances come to light the church and those who are against such practices are usually thrown into the proverbial lion’s den and watched being shredded to pieces.  Over the last few decades the cries of the unborn have been growing and while the procedures of this practice are law of the land there is a gap in one side of this issue that is a gross injustice and needs to be addressed.  Ironically, it is the exact same point that needs to be conducted in churches as well and that is the common point of discipleship.

Be honest, have you ever placed these two subjects at a common point such as this?  I have not and when God gave me this topic during the last week of 2017 I could not believe my heart.  But as God began to show me what He wanted His children to understand it made perfect sense and I hope that after you read this article you will know a bit more about whom God is and just how much He cares about each and every one of you even after a devastating procedure as an abortion has occurs.  Plus, I hope that you shall also understand that when a person leaves the church building after their profession of salvation and then nothing is done to disciple that person the exact same procedure of abortion has been done for as soon as they walk out of the building the act is completed but no one talks with them to make sure that their walk is changed and different from when they went into the building before they made the life-altering decision.

As I stated above that when God gave me this topic to write about I had no idea of how He was going to approach things, for we all know how God feels about life and death and what each polar representation means.  But let me reassure those who may have some doubts about this topic that God wants you to understand two truths about Him that shall never change.  The first is that God cannot stand death of any kind especially when it is an elected death by a human being towards another.  Abortion is the law of the land and it probably will never change because so many people in western societies depend on its finality to escape their previous choices, yet an abortion kills physically the baby and emotionally and potentially spiritually the mother.  Second thing that God wants you to understand about Him is that no matter what you have done and in this case have an abortion, that He loves you and He wants to not only forgive you of this heinous act but to restore you into His loving arms as well for you have a child to meet one day.  The question here is not going to deal with the procedure of abortion but to the people who have gone through them and the problems that they deal with afterward.  It is this setting that God cares about the most for the mother because it is at this time that her life has changed and needs to have all the help necessary that deters her from having another abortion sometime in the future, not another smile and thank you for your business.

I shall never vote for any measure, candidate, proclamation, or any type of general or specific legislature concerning the expansion of abortion.  I cannot because in my personal story if I did I would be voting against my own life and that would be a divided kingdom and I could no longer have any authority to write for God.  This article is not going to address any type of abortion subject other than the aftermath and what should occur after the procedure has been performed.  God may share some further insight about this process to me or to you at a later time but for now, the subject has been determined discipleship.  Yes, discipleship, it is this specific word that God dropped into my heart concerning this topic and to add to this unusual subject He also directed my attention to discipleship after salvation.

After the woman had completed this procedure she is rested for a while, vitals taken, asked about how she is feeling, given a once over and then is allowed to walk out the doors of the clinic.  With modern pharmaceutical advances, she is now able to skip this specific process and go to the pharmacy and obtain a morning-after pill in order to complete the process in her own timeframe and manner.  All of these measures are legal and available to women across western societies without objection to the outside world, but what occurs to these precious women after the process has been completed?  Who counsels them for the emotional rollercoaster ride that they are about to face?  Who is going to be with them in the quiet moments when their hearts and consciences come back online?  There is one consistent answer to these questions for right at this moment there is one being that will be right there with them afterward but it will not be one with a sound, kind, and loving voice.  That voice of “reason” after the fact is Satan and he will “comfort” these women in a way that only he can while others are separating themselves from the ladies who have had these procedures.  It is this portion of the setting that irks me the most for it is this portion that will affect and then haunt the lady for decades to come if it is not taken care of properly and properly I mean through discipleship.

It is here that the place for discipleship comes into play for the only discipleship these women are receiving is from Satan, you know, the one who put it into our hearts that an abortion is nothing more than an outpatient throwaway procedure.  It is at this junction that Christians should be right there to disciple these ladies for what they are about to go through will harden their hearts if not told correctly of how to handle the aching and emotional distress that will arrive.  How is this discipleship you ask?  It falls into this category for one reason alone and that is for spiritual educational reasons for when any worldly procedure becomes a routine then it is no longer an important issue to deal with, thus no longer deemed ugly or any need to hesitate to be placed into the same situation down the road.

This type of attitude was brought to my attention many years ago when I was in college for it involved the mother of the girl that I was dating at the time.  I knew about abortions and what they meant and dealt with but I had never been placed into a situation of that magnitude before and while it did not directly affect me it did change the atmosphere of my girlfriend’s house.  I was told that my girlfriend’s mother was going to Houston on Friday and would return on Sunday evening, no big worry I thought for my thoughts were that she was visiting some of her family.  It was not until after she left that my girlfriend told me about what was going to occur, my heart dropped for I knew what was going to occur and that things might not be the same afterward.  Furthermore, the man that she was living with at the time, who really treated the mother quite well, was not told of the procedure which I found so devastating because he, first of all, did not know that she was pregnant and then did not know about the abortion.

After a few moments, I asked my girlfriend if her mother would be okay to drive back alone, and without any hesitation, her answer floored me.  She stated that her mother would have no problem at all driving back because she had had this procedure done four times previously and had no complications before.  Now, at that time I had no clue about what type of emotions or feelings that a woman would go through after the abortion procedure occurred and I did not even ask my girlfriend about such a feeling either, for my mind did not think about it.  It was not until later in my life that I had a clue as to what occurs in the heart and mind of a woman who has had an abortion.  Not understanding the emotional side of things but already familiar with the physical procedure itself I watched my girlfriend’s mother quietly to see if any visible changes occurred, but none to my visual contact could I make out.  How 50% of me I now look back and think about, and to not have noticed the inner pain and hurt that she must have felt.  But honestly, with this being her 5^th abortion she had already fallen into the hardened heart state category for as the days rolled by all seemed normal in their house.

Do most people understand what the word discipleship means or can they quote the definition of the word?  I know most people know what the word is and use it on a regular basis but do we actually follow it on a continual basis? Knowing about a word and following its meaning are two different areas and truths which is why Jesus addressed it to His disciples when He asked them about who they believed He was.  Some of them referred to John and others to Him as a prophet but that was not the question He really asked because He used the specific word “you” which placed the definition on a personal level, not a general plain.  According to the Webster dictionary, a disciple is defined as one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another.  When we take a closer look at this definition it says “of another” which provides a great deal of information about how we perceive such a doctrine.  It most importantly forces us to proclaim another’s position that we have adopted in our lives, so Jesus was getting His point across when He asked such a question to His disciples.  He is still asking this question to His disciples today and many of them are falling away or not even reaching the point of calling themselves true disciples; remember, discipleship is a kingdom word and is alive and moving.

This brings us to the other area of discussion, the Church and how all of this relates to abortion but is plain and simple, to be honest, and one that most have missed including me.  It is a common and exciting time when a person goes to church and sincerely gives their heart to Christ.  It does not matter if that person gives their heart to Christ at the end of the service or after the service is over but we know that when they do many people are rejoicing including all of heaven.  But the Christian walk is just beginning and not reached its end but for the majority of churches that is all that they believe they are responsible for, that they have fulfilled their purpose so to speak and then allow those people to leave the church building saved but uneducated or in other words having the knowledge of discipleship.  Yes, it is a joyous time when a person truly commits their lives to Christ but it does not end there and their lives are not going to magically turn around and become immaculate.  There is a process to which we need to take them under our wings and teach them God’s Word and what to expect from the enemy.  These people have no clue about what they are going to face and now that they have eternally turned against what they have been living within up until that point in time, our enemy is not going to be happy about things.  Here is the problem that we all are facing and that is we have lost the truth about who our enemy is and what he stands for.  Why?  Because we have accepted his standards into our own lives and now promote such standards, which is the number one reason Jesus asked His disciples about who He was for He knew that they had lost sight of the truths that He was teaching as well.

The Church has dropped the ball in so many ways and areas concerning discipleship that it has effectively destroyed the functionality and foundation of the Church herself.  If we stand alone on a salvation foundation that is all we will have to defend ourselves with, a foundation with no permanent and holy structure.  While salvation is our foundation we cannot afford to stand on it alone, we must incorporate God’s Word into our existence to have any fighting chance against our enemy.  How many church denominations have such a program to teach new followers of Christ?  Honestly, how many?  I am not talking about Sunday School classes or further weekly prepared sermons, but true and specific discipleship classes.  There are not many who do have such provisions and it is a major reason why many of those who really want a change in their lives and who come to Christ are not provided such direction and end up falling away from Christ because of their frustration with so much inner turmoil that they do not understand.  Does this sound familiar to anyone about a certain area that was discussed above?  This common point does not seem so drastic now does it?

When an abortion is completed there is a drastic change inside the mother because a natural result of a sexual setting has done what it was supposed to do.  It does not matter what type of setting the conception has taken place since it has occurred and an inner change has taken place.  While the change is not identical in nature the same type of inner change occurs inside a person when they accept change and it is at this time to when discipleship needs to be given for both areas of this topic will produce the same type of inner and eternal division if not conducted and instructed in the correct manner.  The pain, anger and continual frustration buildup of not knowing how to deal with what they are facing will produce a hardening of the heart and will eventually result in a complete downfall of that person.  In the area of abortion, the intimate relationship with another will be forever changed and looked upon as a service instead of a desire which is exactly what will occur in the person who has come to Christ if discipleship has not been provided as well.  Returning to the old ways is another habitual step that will take place if discipleship is not given and this is exactly what occurs in both areas that we are discussing here.  How many ladies end up having another abortion and how many people end up leaving God after both settings have been present in their lives?  The answer to that question is heart-breaking.

What is worse is that when these people do not receive the godly information about their lives, they will become witnesses to themselves, a grotesque form of discipleship which serves to destroy another when handed out.  This is not what the definition of discipleship or being a disciple means but it what the world preaches and teaches and is bought by countless of individuals on every aspect of life.  Look t the people who have been hurt by the Church in some way or fashion, most of the time it is by humans and not God yet they carry out their anger towards God.  The same is true about ladies who have destroyed their babies because of other people’s decisions or from their own yet it always comes back to God and His Ways at some point down the road.  How important is discipleship again?  What an eternal sham on both accounts!

Do you wonder why abortion is one of the common practices in western society but are highly contested yet growing on a continual basis?  Ever wonder why the Church promotes such ridiculous beliefs and promotes worldly practices from within their own building doors and ever wonder why the church is fading away and is now irrelevant with no spiritual backbone?  The answer to these questions and numerous others that can be presented here is the lack of discipleship.  The ones who do not receive proper teaching after their abortion process is complete are subject and prone to return for another and those who receive Christ yet receive no teaching about what they are going to face will soon leave and become angry without understanding why they have become that way.  Both areas once again prove that with no discipleship a common point will be made and when this occurs further division from others who differ in opinions will arise and a more serious issue shall occur as well and that is the deepening and further division from God will ensue as well.

If we are so concerned about ladies who are readily accepting and then having abortions why are we not getting out there and providing proper counseling to them?  I address this issue not only to the Church bit to the society which promotes such procedures as well.  You are promoting the murder of children and then expecting the lady to just walk away from that setting with no further concerns about her or her inner health.  The act of an abortion is bad enough but what you are NOT providing for these hurting ladies is beyond devastating, think about this local, state and federal government. You are doing your people wrong by just promoting 50% of a process and then leaving them to rot from the inside out, oh and by the way, if you actually believe that sending them to or suggesting that they go to a psychiatrist will change them concerning their feelings you are drastically mistaken for that institution also just wants to drag out and bleed them for their money as well.  So, Church, what do you have to say for yourself on this matter?  There is NOTHING you can honestly say because you have fallen into the exact same lie that the world promotes.  Salvation is the key to a person changing their life but afterward, you let them dangle with no defensive information about what is going to occur.  You are as guilty as the world is when they promote abortions when you do not provide new Christians with no process of discipleship.

Here is the important detail God wants u to understand about this topic and it goes like this.  The world is not going to change their perception about the abortion process nor will they ever provide the ladies who have such a procedure any type of discipleship for if they did it would open them up to a huge liability that would undermine that procedural institution.  However, the Church is in another position to do some good here not only in the area of salvation but in the area of abortion as well.  But first, we must return to the truth concerning discipleship for if those who are following us in the faith do not know about this word and its importance the presence of the Church will be gone in a few generations, if not less.  No longer can we afford to sit back in our pews and listen to feel good, coffee filled sermons, look at where that has gotten us.  This type of service and sermons have produced angry and hurt people who shy away from God and tend to end up accepting the world as their savior instead and it is through this pain and anger that will not only justify a lady having another abortion but also the new Christian and a seasoned one as well to fall away from God.

Both of these areas represent a protected yet vile act and at the same time both provide nothing after the change in people’s lives to help them in their way.  You know, God provided the perfect act of discipleship to Adam and Eve while they were in the Garden of Eden yet they strayed.  Jesus’ ministry was completely based on discipleship yet the ones closest to Him on a daily basis missed it.  How important is it that we teach the truth and concepts to people?  I believe that the examples in this paragraph alone show us that answer.  It is a disgrace that the world has accepted abortion as an accepted procedure without any reprimand given afterward, but at the same time, you would not expect anything else from a ruler who only promotes death, devastation, and total destruction to those who follow him.  Which brings us to a question of who is actually representing a divided kingdom here?

But there is NO excuse that the Church does not provide discipleship, true and holy discipleship to those who come to Christ.  I understand the fact that people have the ability to read and to comprehend God’s Word on their own but when a person has just come to Christ they need our help more than ever in this matter.  Satan has done a wonderful job in only promoting a 50% agenda for abortions and at the same time has done the EXACT same percentage point salvation plan for the Church.  I can guarantee that if churches begin to have discipleship classes on a regular basis that many more people who have recently accepted Christ will stay in church, plus it will place the excitement of being a Christian back into the ones who doubt God and His will for their lives.  And most importantly, it will restore the advancement of God’s Kingdom into a dying world that desperately needs God.

The discipleship concept has a twofold benefit, which is like the parable of the talent that we just read about previously.  If we bury this truth that has been given to us we can expect nothing in return but a more serious problem and issue down the road.  Plus, at some point in time, we will stand before God and take account as to why we have buried discipleship for discipleship is completing what Jesus commanded His Church to do.  Furthermore, when the Church becomes active in advancing God’s Kingdom then it shall automatically be present to those who are hurting and need help.  God will somehow bring those people into our lives so that we can direct them to the holy wisdom that they need.  But as of now, we see that the Church is silent on discipleship and the world is gaining its territory as each second passes.  Until the Church wakes up and figures out it has done people wrong, repents of her sins, and then begins to advance God again, the numbers of hurting people shall continue to rise.

There is no further ability to define a spectrum’s endpoints than this topic and the Church is the only entity that has the ability to change the course we have set.  The lack of discipleship is not a new concept but it is one that needs to be fully addressed by the Church right now!  It is through this word alone that proves that God does not care about anyone’s political status or stance, but that He only cares about one of His Children being healed completely and returning to His presence.  God entire Word does its best to teach us about this truth, for God does not wish to see any of His children fall away from Him and have to spend eternity from His sight.  It is up to us Church to make sure that as many people possible come to Christ, but when they do we cannot afford to stop there, we must be grounded in the Bible and in the TRUTH of the Bible, not of our own will, in order for us to understand the importance of discipleship.  I love the way God brings two completely opposite positions together through His Word for that is the exact reason why He gave us His Word in the first place. 

God encourages you to seriously consider starting a discipleship class for those who are struggling with everything that is going on around their lives and to help those who have recently come to Christ as well.  Discipleship is Kingdom and the advancement of God’s Kingdom is what Jesus commanded us to do.  Church, it is time to really change!  You really want the number of abortions to dramatically drop in western societies and in all parts of the world?  Start a discipleship class!  You really desire your church to become a spiritual temple again?  Start a discipleship class.  It does not matter if you have one inside the church or in your home, just do it.  Oh, isn’t God good!!

DLB

Be Like a Sponge to the Word of God

Be Like a Sponge to the Word of God

1/8/18

One of the common questions that people have concerning the Bible is about its content and what it means to the people of the world and more specifically you’re (my) life.  These types of questions should be a snap for Christians to answer yet for many the questions being asked cannot be answered, thus proving to the unbeliever that the Word of God is not worth fighting for or dying for either.  It is continually being proven each day that just reading the Bible is not enough for reading it does not provide the knowledge to defend against the wiles of the Devil.  Only when we study the entire Word of God and absorb every word can we then live through its content as it was supposed to be lived, then God can use our lives for such the mission that Jesus commanded us to take.

What does a sponge do?  I mean, what is the job of a sponge?  First of all, do you know that sponges are actually alive when they are in their natural state?  I have to be honest and say that until I took a class in Zoology I had no idea that sponges were alive and that they are classified as an animal.  They have a circulatory system and have a specific function just like a sponge that you and I use inside our homes or when we wash our cars, the concepts are the same.  They absorb water and through this absorption process, they obtain the food and nutrients that they need to survive.  Also, when they are in our hands they are used to hold in water to help rinse something off or to provide a soapy surface so that the surface can be cleaned.  This also means that since they have all of these systems that are active, they filter nutrients and other needed particles through their circulatory system, so the next time you squeeze a sponge, you might want to thank it for allowing our hands to complete a job that would be difficult to complete if it was not present.

I have found it amusing at times when I watch a sponge “do its work”.  I can place the sponge into a bucket of water and let it sit in there for a few minutes and then pull it out and it will be so full of water that the water cannot be held any longer by the sponge and it just begins to pour out of the sponge.  I used to continue to do this dipping and pulling sequence over and over when I was a kid; then mom or dad would get on to me because I was playing more than I was working, oh to be back in those times again.  At that time I had no idea of what kind of concept I was creating for myself and that one day decades later that I would use that play time as an example of how we are supposed to study God’s word and how this soaking up actually would eternally feed people.  But are we supposed to rely on a bunch of parables and old stories about a people who lived so long ago?  Yes, for those people did live just like you and I do today and no matter what it takes to reach the lost it is our job to ensure that everyone around understands the importance of this truth.

When one stops and thinks about things that we come into contact with, they should represent a pattern of life that we can relate to in some way when applied.  Some people like to read fiction books while others stick to nonfiction categories.  Manual labor is a common thread in our society but without certain helping mechanisms that process can become almost impossible to complete thoroughly and satisfactorily.  Anyone who is reading this article can think of a helping agent in their line of work that they need in order to complete their duties, so in other words, these helping agents can also serve as a sponge in like manner for without its experience and expertise the human cannot adequately fulfill their commitment to others.

Any topic at hand can be used in such a manner and these helping sponges do not need to be just in the physical.  How many have heard someone speak at a conference or in an interview that said something that really meant a great deal to you?  I have attended lectures, conferences, demonstrations, and all sorts of informational meetings that I have either received a great deal of information that will help me, or they have hindered me by not providing the adequate information that suited my needs at that time.  Either way, the people giving these talks believed that once I sat down in their presence that the information they had for the participants would be helpful.  Even if I did not personally receive any helpful information it does not mean that the person sitting next to me didn’t either and it is this principle we must consider even when we are presenting the Word of God to others.  Here are no flops in sermons that God has given to ministers, musicians, or writers for each one of us has a certain mechanism that we understand while others do not, which serves as the foundation of this topic for when the entire subject is absorbed and then given out for a purpose something shall benefit and this case that information is needed for a person’s eternal placement.

I have run across many people who claim to be a Christian yet knows absolutely nothing about the Word of God and what it stands for in our lives.  I am not talking about those who have just accepted Jesus as the Lord and Savior but those people who have been born and raised in the church and have sat and listened to sermon after sermon and have not applied anything of what they have heard to those who are spiritually dying.  There are many examples that can be used as illustrations here but the best one comes to us in Matthew 25: 14-30 which many know as the Parable of the Talents.  I do not believe I have ever heard of this passage being used for such a topic, many times heard for other settings but not for soaking up the Word of God so that we may use its contents for others.  But stick with me for god has a great lesson for us to understand about how important it is that we do not hide His Word in our heart and do nothing with it or not to use it properly as He designed it to be used.

In the first portion of this parable, we find a man who is willing to share a portion of his wealth with a few others but had one condition and that was for the ones who he gave the money to for them to invest it and do not let the gift just lay idle.  We come to the first man who was given some money and we find that he understood his commission and was given five talents to invest to which he doubled his investment to ten talents.  The second man understanding his commission from the lender was given two talents in which he too doubled his money to four talents within the allotted time that the lender stated.  Lastly, the third man was given just one talent and knowing the commission that was before he changed course and hid the talents in the ground and did nothing to increase his lending.  When the allotted time was up, the third man dug up his single talent and gave to back to the lender without any increase.  Now, stop and ponder on this story for a bit, for it brings into great detail of how the Church is functioning today and has functioned for as long as many of us can remember.

Each one of us represents the Church and none of us represent ANY church building or even denomination for that matter.  For so long we have included ourselves and prioritized ourselves for a specific pew inside the comfortable space we call church and it is this action that places us as the person who was given a single talent for we have buried the truth of God’s Word into our hearts and have sat on it on the pews.  How can I say this?  Well, first off, I am not saying this God is and it hits us square in the chest because when we look at the church today we have become so concerned with not offending anyone by accepting people in their sins and then NOT doing anything thing about it.  We do not have the guts enough to get off of our seats and teach the truth to those that are lost and if they die today would face God in their sins with no blood covering at all.  Why?  Because we have intentionally buried God’s Word in our own hearts and not gone out and invested His Word into the world.  This is a gross distortion of what Jesus meant by going into the entire world and preaching the Gospel.  That is only absorbing the content and then letting it dry up within us, that is NOT what a sponge is to be used for.  In this example, the sponge has done only ½ its job and the portion of the job that it has done means absolutely nothing.

When we look into the portions of this parable that deal with the people who went and used their talents we see a complete picture here of a sponge being given the adequate information and then using it to ensure a reward afterward.  These two people did exactly what the lender wanted them to do, they took a risk and knowingly invested the money as they should have and their work was returned doubled.  It is this concept that the sponge should operate as well for if we place the sponge into a bucket of water and it soaks up the water it has been given the talents but cannot be useful until fully squeezed.  These two people had the full sponge and then grabbed it from the bucket and properly squeezed its contents out into the arena that was available to them and through their actions reaped a great reward.  The people literally shared the talents with others in order to obtain the invested rewards, a concept that should be practiced by EVERY person who considers themselves to be a Christian.

There is no question that the three men who were given money knew what to do with it for the person giving them the money told them exactly what to do with it.  But did all of them comply with the wishes of the lender?  When a bank gives out a loan it believes that the person or group being given the money shall do a fair amount of improvement to the project at hand for it would not make too much sense to hand out a great deal of money for it to sit in another bank and reap no tangible growth.  Many of us who sit in the pews of a church building and do not have the guts and faith enough to go out and shout at the world about Christ is doing the exact same process as the man who received a talent and buried it.  I find it quite intriguing that he buried the talent in the ground for all of us originally came from the ground.  We bury the truth about God and His Word in our hearts and keep it there when we perform such a vile act of sitting in the pews.

When asked about why the man with one talent did nothing with it, his response was priceless because it is the exact same excuse that we give when asked about why we are not out on the streets telling others about God and His Son Jesus.  Matthew 25:25 states: “ I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.”  Big whoop!!  Hello!! The lender already had this talent, it was his, to begin with and the Bible is the exact same talent setting for God already has His Word but He has given it to us to tell others about Him, the lost and dying, you know, the ones who shall spend eternity away from God are the potential investments!  God has given His Word to us to invest in others, not through sneaky deals or through spiritual Ponzi schemes in order to post gross earnings, but that is what we have done.  How can we deny this?  Look at the Church and what she is preaching today.  All three men who received talents understood their commission, the Bible tells us this yet not everyone who was given talents did what was asked of them.  It is our love for God and the witnessing to those who are lost that demonstrates our acceptance of being a sponge to the Word of God for when we have this burden for the lost we shall share God’s talents with those who are in need.  We will know who is seeking and who is truly searching for help and we will give His talents to them and we shall see the rewards that they bring.  Receiving in of God’s Word and then squeezing its contents out is what it means to be a sponge for God’s Word and how to use it as well.

Do you want to know why the lord in Matthew 25:26 said to this one man that he was a wicked servant?  If you do not understand why the lord said such harsh words then please read Matthew 25:25 again, and again, and again, and again, until you fully understand why the lord said it to this man.  Keeping God’s Word from people is a lie against the very nature and breath of God and it is a direct result of a Church who is weak and scared of what the world shall counter with.  More importantly, it defines the faith of those who call themselves Christians who sit and do nothing with what they have heard over their entire lives, they have none!  Look at what rewards that the two who invested their talents as they were told, for they were given a few but were rewarded with many things.  This is a Kingdom principle that we need to understand and follow for it defines our role in spreading the truth about God and what is at stake for those who need His Word in their lives.

In this parable, there was no questioning that the talents came from the lord who possessed the talents.  The money was his and he was doing what he wanted to be done with it as well.  God’s eternal truth operates in the same motion for God has given us the talents of God (eternal life) and it is our job to spread this truth to those who do not know this truth.  Our finite minds shall always come up with excuses not to witness to other and when these thoughts flash through our minds we should quickly recall this parable for at that very moment we have the Lord handing out His talents to us to invest, and this is the call for our hearts today.  It is this purpose for which we are called to do and from that point of others’ salvation then it is our responsibility to show them the entire Word of God which means discipleship.  Salvation alone shall grab a person into a church pew but it shall not lead them out into the world of the unsaved, for it took a person who was living in discipleship to know how to witness to that person in the first place.  A lead pastor should not be the person leading the congregation in the number of people coming to Christ that is supposed to be our job.

There is none more precious to God than a child that He created that chooses Him as their Savior.  As my life has unfolded in church, I have chosen to accept Christ as my Lord and Savior and as I have watched many others make that same decision over the past decades, most of the time I have heard the minister state that heaven was rejoicing because another person has come home and is now washed in the blood of the lamb.  That is not a simple phrase to be taken lightly for the battle for that person’s eternity just became real and intense.  The reason heaven rejoices at this time is because every being that is in heaven understands that God’s talents have just returned to the Lord and the rewards are eternally sound.  Are we investing God’s talents correctly?  God’s talents are present for everyone but it seems like everyone is not getting the message for some reason, do you have any reasons why this is not being completed?  We cannot get out the talents of God unless we recognize what information we have absorbed for so long and then squeeze the truth out so the children of God can be washed completely and thoroughly as a sponge is designed to do.  Soak up every single word of the Word of God and go with assurance into the world so that others can know the truth.

DLB