Okie-Dokies

Why is hyper-fundamentalism unprofitable?

2009-01-12T08:37:00.007-06:00

First some definitions. These came from dictionary.com, I think they will work.

Hyper:
1.
overexcited; overstimulated; keyed up.
2.
seriously or obsessively concerned; fanatical; rabid

Fundamentalism
1.
(sometimes initial capital letter) a movement in American Protestantism that arose in the early part of the 20th century in reaction to modernism and that stresses the infallibility of the Bible not only in matters of faith and morals but also as a literal historical record, holding as essential to Christian faith belief in such doctrines as the creation of the world, the virgin birth, physical resurrection, atonement by the sacrificial death of Christ, and the Second Coming.
2.
the beliefs held by those in this movement.
3.
strict adherence to any set of basic ideas or principles: the fundamentalism of the extreme conservatives.

I think using definition #2 on hyper & #3 on fundamentalism is fairly close to what hyper-fundamentalism should mean.

I think most people are fundamental in one way or another. I have basic fundamental beliefs & being fundamental in itself is not bad, I think it is probably good. In order have or know truth don't you have to be just a tad bit fundamental?

When we become hyper in our fundamentalism then most of the time we lose a little bit of respect because who ever we are talking to feels degraded by our conversation with them. If that happens how are you ever going to convince someone of what you believe is the truth about an issue?

1 Cor. 13:2
If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

I get from this that I can know all the answers to Lordship, Free Grace, theology but not have love then what I am saying is nothing to whoever is listening. I may get by with one maybe two or three conversations but sooner or later the person who is listening is going to realize there is no real concern by me for them as a person. IOW what I am saying is more important than who I am saying it to. Thats messed up!

How do I know if I have love? Well the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul to the Corinthians seems pretty clear on what love is.

1 Cor. 13:4-7
4Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

So if your not seeking your own and are not provoked or you don't take into account a wrong suffered and are kind and patient then you have love.

This brings me to a basic question:

If you are in a discussion about theology and are not seeking your own or can't be provoked or your not taking into account a wrong suffered then where in the name of love can you find reason to practice separation? You may call it biblical but is it really biblical after knowing what love is?
Come on, separating over theological disagreements? It's not like separating from someone who is sleeping with their stepmother and knows better is it? Of course not!

If your a hyper-fundamentalist, your hyperness is a clue you don't have the love God is talking about in the passage above.

How do we get that love? We love because He first loved us.(1 John 4:19) Or is 1 John 4:18 speaking to you? If it is lay down the conditions you have set up for yourself in order for God to love you. Maybe it will be the first time you experience God's love. Maybe you have experienced God's love before but you have been the victim of hyper-legalistic-fundamentalism yourself. If its the latter I know what you are going thru and brother there is hope. Let the conditions go and the unconditional will take over.

Lou Martuneac & Hyper-fundamentalism!

2009-01-02T10:13:00.004-06:00

Lou Martuneac has fallen victim to Hyper-fundamentalism. I feel sorry for him and all those who are being poisoned by this ISM.

Lou, Hyper-fundamentalism is dangerous! It is rooted in legalism and those who depend on their "perfect" lifestyle and "perfect" reading of scripture to be acceptable to God.

The biggest problem with this legalistic approach to relating to God is other relationships are void of love. Relationships are superficial to the hyper-legalistic-fundamentalist and most are void of emotional contact. It is so deceptive that the person thinks that admonishing others on fundamental grounds is actually loving them. Jesus got on the Pharisees case about not caring for their parents with their money. Why did they not do such a basic act of human love? Because they actually thought God wanted their money and would be upset if their parents got it before Him. How messed up is that?

But the person caught up in this poisonous ISM is trapped. They may sense that something is wrong but if you can only relate to God in this way then change is as fearful as going to the lake of fire. Because if you think God is this stern and without mercy then your trapped with no way out, you must keep tearing down others on the alter of fundamentalism that has been erected in your fleshly mind.

Final words:

Run, run as fast as you can away from a hyper-legalist-fundamentalist! It is poison and in the case of those who are not born again this can make you twice as much a son of hell.

I was going to post a sarcastic caricature of Lou's comments to me on another blog. But somehow when I went to do it I was lead into something I had never thought of before.

God is love and in Him there is no darkness.

God IS love, He not only loves He IS love.

Grace & Peace
Kris

Shameless plug

2007-12-28T21:56:00.000-06:00

http://www.fishingtheabyss.com/?p=165

Of the .0023 vistors per year that stop by(I don't blame you, I never write anything) I found this article interesting.

Each one WILL bear his own load ?

2007-09-06T11:27:00.000-05:00

Trevor has made a comment and asked a question on the "Do not be decieved" post.

He has really got me to thinking about the verses that proceed Galatians 6:7. Is Paul contradictng himself in about bearing one anothers burdens and then saying we will bear our own load? It seems that way but I have never really devoted much time trying to figure out exactly what Paul is saying. I think I know what he is saying, but its hard to put in words to communicate it.

I want to start with Gal. 5:25 and end with Gal. 6:5 to make sense of the context within the main subject of context which I believe is not using our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. By the way Trevor has some excellent thoughts on the reason Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians, you can find it here, I agree it was written/inspired to keep us from the fatal mistake of trying live the Christian life by law instead of faith. Its dangerous to fall from grace, Jesus said apart from me you can do nothing, His teaching after the last supper but before the garden in John 15 is the same as what Paul is trying to get through to the believers in Galatia. Not in that believers will end up in the lake of fire but that we will live fruitless lives here on earth. Anyway, I digress, once again I really like Trevors thoughts on the actual reason Paul wrote Galatians to begin with.

Gal. 5:25,26 to Gal. 6:1-5

25If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
26Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another

1Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
2Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
3For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.
5For each one will bear his own load.

Ok, I think Paul is saying that if we live by the Spirit we need to watch out and also walk by the Spirit. Paul seems to be implying that we can in our mind live by grace but also not walk in it(grace) toward others everyday. We can become boastful and challenging if we don't watch out and actually walk by the same standards before others that we know in our minds are true.

In fact in verse 1 Paul is saying not only should you not become boastful of victory over sin in your own life(verse 4), you should help others who have been caught in a sin they can't seem to shake. But spiritual believers should only be the ones that help bear the burdens, why? Well it seems to me that those who walk by the spirit will showing the fruit of Christ which is patient and kind and understanding what the person caught is going through.
Those who are "spiritual" understand this. Verse 3 is the big one here for someone who might think they are spiritual but in actuality they have deceived themselves.

Wow, now re-reading verse 2 was an eye opener for me. Did you just "hear" what the Holy Spirit just said? He said bearing one anothers burdens, which is "even if anyone is caught in a trespass" WILL fullfill the law of Christ. In other words getting down and dirty and helping those who are caught in sin by helping bear the burdens the sin is putting on the person IS fullfilling the law of Christ. Is this not what Isaiah was saying about what Jesus was going to do for us in Isaiah 53?

Have you ever heard another believer say; "yeah they did it to themselves, they should know better, God says He won't be mocked there are consequences to sin", or "they are just lazy and cons living off everyone else", I have said the latter myself about others, gee I am deceiving myself by thinking I am something because I am not conning someone because I have a job. You know what, that person IS the person in verse 3, I am that person alot of times. When that comes out of my mouth because it is in my heart, I am no more spiritual than the one I am talking about, much less the one that God wants someone to help bear their burdens.

Ok, I know this post is getting long, but verses 4 & 5 and the seeming contradiction from verse 5 compared to verse 2.

I think verse 4 is tied right to verse 3. Paul says "But" each one must examine himself, just like this two-edged sword has done to me today in verse 3. But if we see where we have improved within ourselves in showing fruit from the heart and not compared to another then praise God I can boast to myself about it.

Here now is what I see verse 5 saying:

We WILL bear our own load, notice it did not say burden, but what is this load? I think it is the "load" within our hearts that causes us to ache within our hearts when we are honest with oursleves that we lack so much of actually walking by the same Spirit that we set our mind to live by. Remember verse 25? But praise God there is no condemnation for those of us "in Christ".

Thanks Trevor

Grace & Peace

Busy Body!

2007-08-31T12:50:00.000-05:00

The picture on the left is a sign as you leave a small southeastern Okla. town.
179 people.....that is more than most churches have attending. I have an aunt that has always been a "busy body" and she has been going to church off and on all her life. I think she should just stay home and everyone should boycott her constant phone calls pretending to be concerned for others. She is a gossip and hardly anything good comes from her tongue.

Am I wrong for thinking she should be told to stay home unless she repents of her whoremongering with words that do not build up the body of Christ?

He was loyal.

2007-08-20T14:05:00.000-05:00

I buried my dog Luke last Friday afternoon. He was born in August 1992, the picture was taken Christmas 06. I had to put him to sleep Friday. Luke was 15 years old and spent all 15 years of his life with me. He was the most loyal dog a man could have ever hoped to have.

I know he was only just a dog, but my heart aches so much. I loved that dog so much...........Thank you God my Father for giving him to me.

If I could only be as loyal to You as he was to me.

Do not be deceived? re-post

2007-05-31T23:03:00.000-05:00

I have decided to repost this for another look. I want the emphasis this time to be on giving to those who have taught us. As you re-read this think not only on how this verse has been misused but to actually understand what the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul is trying to teach us in regards to giving to those who have given up everything for the sake of Christ, the Gospel of God
Thank you

Galatians 6:7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
The more I study God’s word the more I see how man has perverted His word and therefore painted & proclaimed a God that is not our true Creator. Although I think for the most part many have done this unintentionally. I have done this in the past and I am sure there are many things I believe now that is not true to who our Creator is.

How many times have you heard a teacher/pastor/preacher or a “loving” brother use Gal. 6:7 to try to scare a believer to repentance? If I really believed that I would reap corruption from everything I have done or will do that is bad, I would be scared to leave the house, because I make mistakes everyday, much less say and do things at times that I know are wrong.Have any of us really reaped everything we deserve from everything we have sown or done?I don’t think so; if we had we would be nothing but a smear on the floor if God gave us everything our sin and mistakes should have reaped.But the passage is clearly saying that WHATEVER a man sows. This means everything we have sown, even mistakes that we make; we WILL reap because God is NOT mocked. I believe with all my heart that God is not nor will ever be mocked. I also believe that there are consequences for most sin that we commit, but that is not what this verse is saying. Consequences for most sin does not even come close to what this verse is saying.

Lets say I get a speeding ticket and you get a warning and our friend doesn't even get stopped. Both of us getting stopped is a consequence of our speeding, but did we both reap what we sowed by speeding, did our friend reap what he sowed, not even close.This verse can’t be talking about eternal punishment for sin because God clearly has laid on Christ the sin of us all. This verse can’t be talking to unbelievers because Paul is clearly talking to believers. If God is not mocked and we will reap what we sow then I conclude that the sowing and reaping here must be a specific act and does not pertain to every thing we sow whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Context, context, context lets look at the context and see if many people take this verse out of context to portray a God that is determined to give us what we deserve for every mistake, bad choices and intentional sowing of things we know we shouldn’t here on earth.

Galatians 6:6-10 6The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. 7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

It is very clear from verse 6 what the sowing is in the context of this often misused verse 7. Paul is telling the Galatians and us that we are to share all good things with those who teach us God’s word. I posit this sharing is support, such as money, food, clothing, and encouragement to those who teach us.I believe God is telling us if we spend our money on things that our flesh loves, the things of this world, while letting those who teach and preach the gospel of God struggle to make a living, then we will from the flesh reap corruption for everything or whatsoever we sow to the flesh that should have went to our pastors and anyone who teaches us that are depending on God’s people for support.

Notice Paul said “from the flesh” we will reap corruption, he did not say from God we will reap corruption. However we should not deceive ourselves and think God will overlook this. This would be same as mocking God and I think God is saying in this passage that He will not be mocked, especially when it comes to not taking care of those who have given their lives up here on earth for the sake of Christ & the gospel while we have been taught the word while sowing our money, material goods, etc on things to gratify fleshly desires. So let us take this verse as a warning from God when it comes to taking care of His ministers and teachers that teach us and let us also take this verse as a promise that in due time we will reap eternal things from what we sow to the Spirit out of love in giving to those who teach us.Let us not take this verse out of context and use it in attempting to motivate believers by fear to repentance and therefore portray our Creator has a God that is determined to make sure He gets even with us for everything we do. It is God’s kindness that leads us to true repentance.I think it grieves the heart of God for us to listen to the enemy of our souls and believe that the same God, who loves us enough to humble Himself and come to earth and pay our sin debt while we were yet sinners, would be so set on making sure we reaped everything or whatsoever we sowed. I think it is the grace of God that keeps us from reaping everything we sow. I think it is the same grace that lets people take a verse like this out of context without letting them reap what they have sown.

I know its been awhile, but please if you read this comment if you have time so that we can all learn, all of us have insights and abilities that will help each other.

Love & Grace
Kris

Merry Christmas

2006-12-15T09:42:00.000-06:00

I am not Catholic, so going to Christ Mass is not something I am accustomed to.
Regardless, Merry Christmas to all and praise God He sent His Son to save His people from their sins. Truly, truly, Good News.

Useful Information

2006-12-06T14:38:00.000-06:00

I love reading the Bible and I thought I would pass on a bit of information to others who love reading it to.

In the four gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke & John write about some of the same things, especially Matthew, Mark & Luke there are many of the same accounts in all three. I would notice that some of these same things would be in different order depending on which gospel I was reading.

Now I believe the content in each book is true but the stories in Matthew and Mark's accounts are not neccesarly in the actual order that they happened. This could lead to error in keeping things in context if a person thinks that they were writing their gospels in the actual order that they occured.

So when diligently trying to understand what the Holy Spirit is saying to us by reading these gospels and trying to keep things in context remember what the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to write in 1:1-3. Luke's gospel account is the only one the states that he(Luke) wrote his gospel in the consecutive order that they actually occured.

Just some thoughts. I know I don't blog here alot anymore, but I found this interesting information while studying the Bible.

Eternal Changes

2006-10-18T16:46:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't posted in, in, in, a long time. If anyone does come by read anymore I have an announcement:

I am getting married this Saturday Oct. 21st 2006. I am going from a single man(never been married) with a 14 year old dog to a husband and daddy to 4 girls and 1 boy and 3 more dogs. 3 girls still at home, a 17, 16,& 10 year old. Please pray for me and my new family, God is so good, give Him thanks for bringing us together and laying this awesome responsibility on me.

I will be gone until the 30th.

Hebrews 6:4 Why is it impossible to repent?

2006-06-13T14:53:00.000-05:00

I can't think of anything more painful and tragic than a believer who is confused and out of fellowship with God because he has been deceived and caught up in false teaching that creates doubt in his mind that God might not accept him again or that he must be saved again or that he might not be elect.

Many keep coming down at alter calls to be "saved again" because of false teaching. I believe Hebrews 6 teaches that this is impossible; a person who has been saved, been partakers of the Spirit(born again) cannot repent of unbelief or dead works again for salvation. That foundation cannot be layed again, its there. A foundation is the beginning of something, no one keeps laying foundation on foundation, especially not the Creator of the universe. Some who are coming to the alter may be getting back into fellowship if they are confessing sin, but if they think they are being saved again or are being told they must be saved again, they will find no relief or peace, they are falling away from grace, it is impossible to renew them to repentance of unbelief again, you cannot believe in Christ for salvation again, they are crucifying the Son of God again to themselves and putting Him to open shame. False teaching’s take this very same passage to prove a believer is not eternally secure, when it actually says the opposite. In fact if losing your salvation is true, then this passage says you cannot be saved again.

This is a great trouble to many. I don't think God will permit a person to continue to call Him a liar by not believing His promise that he was saved when he believed in Christ alone the first time. He will end up like the children in the wilderness who through unbelief refused to go into the land promised to them. He will wander in the wilderness and bear thorns and thistles instead of entering God’s rest that Christ provided. He has everlasting life but his life on earth will not be abundant because he did not continue in His word and believe that Christ has set him free from the penalty of hell forever and therefore free to live an abundant fruit bearing life. His continuing unbelief in the promises of God has angered God and has set his soul to wander here on earth until his death separates his soul from his body. That’s why the writer says in Hebrews 6:3 “if God permits”. We cannot go on to maturity if we fail to believe God’s promised foundation in Christ.

Hebrews 10: 26-29 expounds on this. If we keep on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth of Christ by not believing God’s promise that our sin is forgiven at the cross, then all that remains is a fearful expectation of judgement. There is no remedy for sin other than Christ. The believer is trampling underfoot the Son of God and insulting the spirit of grace. I believe this angers God more than the vilest sin of the flesh a person can participate in. God will do to the believer, His child, the same has He did to His children He saved out of Eygpt and let them wander & die in the wilderness never knowing a life or land of milk and honey in the presence of God here on earth. God still loved the children of Israel, he continued to feed and care for them for forty years, but they didn’t inherit the promised land because of their unbelief.

These passages in Hebrews are a serious and grave warning from God. It is so sad that some miss-interpret these passages to destroy the foundation of Christ in the life of a confused believer while failing to warn them of the consequences of not believing the promises of God. In fact their mis-interpretation and false teaching is, in a way, the result of not believing God themselves. Many men who mis-interpret tough passages in Hebrews and other scripture are just repeating what someone else has put in a commentary. They should study more, get more opinions and commentaries, and then trust the Spirit who is in them to guide them to all truth.

If you are a believer, be assured that God will keep His promise of everlasting life to in Christ. But because He is one that will not lie, I believe He will not stand for anyone to call Him a liar by not believing His promises.
I would encourage anyone to read and re-read the book of Hebrews. It is one of the most re-assuring, and at the same time, rebuking, books inspired by the Holy Spirit there is for a believer.

Why do we renew our mind?

2006-06-06T11:54:00.001-05:00

Romans 12

2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

How many of us have been taught to renew our minds to know what the will of God is for each us? This is true! We must renew our minds to know what is good and acceptable and perfect.

But I think we have missed something here. I was taught this and read these verses myself. What I am proposing here is that most of us stop here in verse 2 and not continue on with Pauls intended context here to understand what the renewing our mind reveals to us and what we should look out for.

3For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
4For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,
5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

I think the Holy Spirit here is telling us that when our minds are renewed to know what is good and acceptable then we may have a problem. What is that problem? Well if we read on further it seems that the proper renewing of our minds will let us know what our part in the body of Christ is. That is our gift or gifts that God has given us to minister to each other. Once we know this we may fall into thinking that we are better than others with "lesser" gifts.

So some of us may have a gift or gifts that is "greater" than anothers gift. But this understanding of a "greater" gift is only according to our evil human understanding based on this world system. Remember Paul said don't be conformed to this world. This world system rewards and recognizes the most talented the most successful, the ones with the biggest churches, the ones who have great oral skills, the ones who give large sums of money. We belong to each other and each of us is no is less important in the body to minister in Jesus Name.

6Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;
7if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;
8or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

One of the things I have been missing here; is that one of the reasons and results of renewing our mind is to prove what the will of God is. If I read this correctly in context, part of the will of God is using the gift or gifts that He has given me. I think the church, at least the church and churches I have attended have missed the boat on this. Some us don't even know what our gifts are much less use them in the church we are a member of. To me knowing and using our gifts are one of the foundations of purpose in this life here on earth for every believer.

Would not it be great as a Christian to hear teaching of equality within the church according to our gifts and be taught to just relax by not being conformed to this world of performance for self-worth? Would it not be great to not feel pressured by guilt to do something in the church that is someone elses gift and not yours? Would it not be great to realize our purpose and worth serving others according our gifts?

I am a Southern Baptist and proud of our heritage as a bible believing church of Jesus Christ. But I think we are missing sound teaching that helps all believers who are members of His body in this denomination.

One of the biggest failures, if not the biggest, is constant preaching to all believers the command to witness by being involved in visitation or outreach programs. Don't get me wrong these things are good, I love to go on visitation and share the good news, but not all members of the Body are gifted or have a desire for this. And those who are not gifted this way are dying to be fed teaching on what their gift is and encouragement to use those gifts. Some if not many leave a SBC church for other churches because of discouragement and starvation by a constant battering from the pulpit to "witness" by whatever church "program" is in place. I've even heard messages that they should question their salvation if they don't want to or have desire to participate in visitation or witnessing programs. Hogwash!

It is just as important for some to encourage others, for some to serve others, for some to teach others, etc. Some share the good news, but others disciple and encourage and others desire to give recources because their gift of giving has given them this desire. Some have the gift of mercy to extend mercy to those who are the vilest of sinners. So those who don't have this gift should not look down with contempt on those who do and those who have the gift of mercy should not think themselves more righteous than those who don't. It's only the Jesus in each of us that is giving us different desires and gifts for different ministries for the body of Christ to function properly.

My point is that renewing the mind is not just knowing what is morally right according to God's word. Romans 12 teaches that not all have the same gifts and all are important. Important enough to realize PREACHER/PASTOR/SBC-LEADERS that the same ole baptist message of persuasion by guilt by assuming that every member's mind is renewed to the same gift you have is wrong. Preaching the same message is starving the different members of the same body. There are some believers out there who have a sense of what their gift is, but are not encouraged or even given the chance to use it because the only gift our leaders are concerned with are the gifts that they have and understand.

In my opinion we should preach and teach the great commission, but remember the body has many members with different functions. Preaching and teaching this is important for the church to be healthy, the church is not just a place for unbelievers to be saved only to become totally confused with guilt and lack of purpose for their new lives in Christ.

Why do we renew our mind?
To not be conformed this world system of accepting others and basing our self-worth according to what this world says is important. But it is also to know God's will for each one of us according to the gifts He has given us as members of Christ body. We need sound biblical leadership and teaching in our denomination that recognizes this and leaves the "man-made" traditions, church "programs" and teaching that has infected our leadership all the way to the local body. Many leaders may have renewed their minds to their opinion of moral goodness and certain doctrines, but are still trying conform our denomination by sending out teaching material and programs according this world system.

STOP TRYING TO BE GOOD

2006-05-26T13:45:00.001-05:00

This is a long post. It is written by Malcom Smith, Bandera, Texas.
His teaching has helped bring sanity to my life the last few years and I wanted to post this letter of his(Malcom's) on my site in case there are others who have struggled with living the Christian life like I did few years after being born again and still do at times. I believe very much that we are responsible to God but the devil is a murderer and seeks to kill and destroy, but he does not have an answer to God's grace through His Son Jesus, all he can do is tear us down by accusations if we let him.
While I agree with alot of what Malcom teaches, there are some things that I don't agree with or understand. I'm sure thats true of everyone who is a student of God's word about anyone else who teaches also.
So please read it when you have time, give your comments if you want. You can get a copy of this from his website if you want.
Let us not forget what Memorial Day stands for and have a great weekend.

STOP TRYING TO BE GOOD
In the last years people of all denominations and faiths have experienced a meeting with God in a personal and life-changing fashion. However, what has followed in the wake of that renewal is disturbing. As I travel the land talking to these people, I hear the low cry of despair. At times, I feel I am in a spiritual Egypt listening to the cry of God’s people in slavery, crying under the whips of the taskmasters.

The situation today is much the same as among the Galatian Christians prior to Paul writing his letter to them. Having been born again by helpless trust in the finished work of Christ and the activity of the Holy Spirit, they had been seduced to live in a constant struggle to please God by keeping the Law. Their definition of abundant life had withered to a despair struggle in which they sought to do something that would please God. In this effort they were helped by religious dictators who imposed rules and regulations on them that allegedly guaranteed spiritual maturity.

Do not get a distorted picture! Multiplied thousands are rejoicing in the freedom and liberty that is in Christ. My concern here is for the others who are presently struggling under the Law that they might come to the freedom and spontaneous life that is theirs in Christ.

In many hundreds of hours of talking with the dear people who have placed themselves under the Law there has emerged a predictable profile. We will call him ‘Floyd.’ Floyd thought little of the things relating to God and His kingdom before he came to a very real meeting with Jesus as his Lord and Savior when life took on a totally new meaning and purpose. He lived in a state of constant rejoicing as he discovered the promises of God and all that was his in union with Christ.

Gradually the euphoria passed and he began to think in terms of doing something for the God who had given him so much, so freely. Although he had received of salvation without cost or merit, surely to show God his appreciation, there must be something he could do in return. There must be some way to give special pleasure to the One who had been gracious enough to bring him into the Kingdom.

Floyd was not alone in his feelings. His prayer group or church was quick to back up this kind of thinking. In fact, they praised God that he was now moving to a deeper spiritual walk. They encouraged him to improve himself so that he might become worthy of the salvation God had given him.

Floyd had come under the Law. This is the power that gives strength to every spiritual problem we have. Thinking that by keeping the Law one can please God is the fundamental misunderstanding of God’s ways. The road to God and the only way of walking in His pleasure has been established from the beginning of the Bible. The way of salvation outlined in Scriptures finds its origin with God alone. All man can do is respond to His announced salvation with repentance, praise and thanks.

One of the earliest descriptions of a man becoming right with God is Abraham in Genesis 15: 6, “Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” It was not his meritorious works that made him right with God, but his abandonment to God’s character and offered gift. The word ‘believe’ in this Scripture means to commit oneself, to rest in. In that act of committal to who God was and what He would do, Abraham was accepted as righteous.

It seems strange that some hundreds of years later God appeared to change His mind concerning the way man would approach Him. At Mt. Sinai He gave the Law summarized in the Ten Commandments. Reading through the law expounded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, it seems that the way to God and living in His pleasure is no longer faith responding to His grace gift, but rather the self-effort of responding to the ten rules that must be kept in order to live in harmony with God. Even though it certainly appears like that, it cannot be, for God is the Unchangeable One.

The Law was not given as a new or alternate way to God, but to show man the depth of his sinfulness and selfishness, and to bring him to despair of his ability to change his condition. In the hour of helplessness he is driven to receive of God’s grace.

By nature man hates the God who will only deal with him in grace. Romans 8:7 describes man as being hostile to God. The reason for his antagonism is that the grace of God faces man with the fact that he can do nothing to merit God’s gifts. Man is the helpless receiver of all God’s blessings, not because of who he is or what he may have done, but because of who God is. This brings everyone to the same level with none being able to boast that he deserves the gifts of God.

When this man saw the Law, he grasped at it as an opportunity to get out of the humiliating position grace had placed him in. Looking at the Ten Commandments his attitude is that now the rules have been clearly spelled out! Now he can keep the rules and show God that he is not as bad as He says he is! By keeping the rules he can prove to God that he is capable of improvement and of pleasing Him.

Floyd has fallen into the error that has plagued man through the ages. He sincerely believes that although he entered God’s Kingdom by grace alone, he will now show he is worthy of such a gift by keeping the Law. Reading through the commandments, Floyd’s first thought was that they were relatively easy to keep, a marvelous way to please the God he so badly wanted to prove his love to. The first two commands were a little confusing because they were so open ended. How does one know when one has loved God enough to have obeyed the great command to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 5:6)?” How much love must be showered upon a neighbor before one can feel God is pleased?

Pondering it, Floyd decided that the fact he had quit gambling, smoking and drinking and was faithful in church attendance proved that he loved God! For the present he decided to work on more involvement in the church and prayer groups. He joined witnessing teams and committed himself to read through the bible in three months. Surely that would be evidence of love to God and man?

The other commands fell into place rather easily. He had never worshipped idols, treated his parents badly, killed anyone, nor had he been unfaithful to his wife. Everyone at work knew that he would not tell a lie. He sat back feeling smug. He kept this Law a lot better than most folks he knew!

Then he became aware of the last commandment, “Thou shall not covet.” He found out that the word ‘covet’ means to desire, to want to do something. This brought the Ten Commandments into a new perspective. The tenth commandment was saying that a man must not even want to break the other nine!

He then saw that the Law spoke to desire, attitude and motive. He remembered the times when he did what looked right while his thoughts were very far from wanting to do it: he did what he did to appear good. It occurred to him that it was possible to appear to be keeping the Law while actually breaking the tenth commandment. This last rule meant that anger, hatred and bitterness were murder begun. 1 John 3:15a took on new meaning to him: “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him,” as did Matthew 5:28, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

It was not a matter of what he did, but of what he really wanted to do in his heart. We would expect that anyone considering this would be devastated, but not Floyd! He is undaunted. The project has certainly become more complicated, but according to his logic that will only make his efforts to please God more outstanding.

For a God who has done so much for him, the least he can do is love Him with all his strength. He gave himself to the task and the following Sunday he walked forward to the altar dedicating himself to pleasing God.

Floyd had missed the whole point of the Law! God gave the commandments to show up mans’ guilt and clearly define to him the extent of his wrongness. As Floyd worked hard to make himself loveable to God, he was like a man who looked in the mirror and upon seeing how dirty he was, took the mirror off the wall and tried to use it to remove the dirt! The mirror was only to show how badly he needed a wash – the remedy was in the soap and water. Tragically, Floyd was trying to use the Law to make himself presentable to God.

Now that he had dedicated himself to pleasing God, things got worse. The more Floyd tried to be better, the worse he got. It seemed that his anger, pride, lust and impatience all received new strength! He had never noticed these negative characteristics before. His cry is beginning to move into despair. I heard him say so many times, “I don’t know what has come over me. Why doesn’t God help me?
The more I try to please Him the less He cares to help me!

He did not realize it, but the Law was doing the work God intended. God gave it to show up man’s sins and helplessness. Romans 7:13 puts it succinctly, “…that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” Imagine a crystal clear pool with inches of fine mud at its bottom. You take a stick and stir the bottom filling the pool with its mud. Given personality, the pool might shout at you, “Stop it, you are making me muddy.” No! The pool was muddy all the time, your stirring only showed just how muddy the pool was! So the Law stirs our helpless selves, showing us just how helpless we are to please God.

Floyd tried to encourage himself by comparison. He looked around the prayer group and realized that he was better than most, more devoted to pleasing God, more spiritual in his outlook. He became smug, forgetting his despair by dwelling on the fact that he was holier than most. He despised those who did not see life as he did. It wasn’t long before even members of his prayer group did not want to be around him. They were tired of being despised in the name of God! Floyd interpreted his rejection as being persecuted for righteousness sake! But the Law continued its relentless work. The despair returned again and again reminding him that in his heart he did not love God and certainly did not enjoy keeping His commands. At times he wondered if he was demon possessed. All the time he hated himself for not being able to do the simple things to please the God who had done so much for him.

It is at this point of total despair of the ability of self that the Holy Spirit turned on the lights and showed him that Christ was the whole and only answer – not only to the past, but also to the present struggling self. Salvation is not merely Christ dying to save us from our past guilt, but Christ alive and by His Spirit actually living within us. This coming within of the Spirit of Christ occurs at the new birth. Romans 8:9 points out that if we do not have His Spirit we do not belong to Him. However, most of us are like Floyd and go through endless miseries, drawing upon our self-strength before we realize that the whole of the Christian life is not us struggling, but Christ simply living His life in us and as us.

For a man like Floyd this comes as a staggering fact that throws apart everything he has ever believed. The question, “What shall a man do to please God?” is now answered, not with rules and neat formulas, but with the amazing words, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! He is to reject all his efforts to improve and make himself respectable before God and rest in the One who is the life within. Such a revelation is devastating because it shows that all that Floyd called spiritual life was in actual fact spiritual death, the dead struggles of self proving again and again its inability to live a life pleasing to God. True spiritual life is not what I am doing for God, but Christ being Himself in me.

The revelation of God’s grace demands a renewal of mind, a new way of looking and thinking about life. The Law-way is a life of promises, calling upon self to do and be better, a way characterized by formula, methods and the how to’s of cold principles, all working to achieve a lifestyle that will allegedly please God. Grace shows us that Christ has done all and is the all of life. It leaves man to accept the fact he is helpless.

There are no more ridiculous promises to God that vow more determined efforts to be like Jesus; no more searching after methods that depend on self-effort and self-discipline to achieve the Christian life. The helpless cannot draw from their own resources for they have none! The Christian life, step by step, is seen as Christ living within us by His Spirit. When describing the believer’s lifestyle, Paul describes it as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). It is the believer living, but the Spirit of Christ living within his life as his true new life.

Thousands of Floyds have come to see the despair and death of the Law-way, and the total rest that grace brings showing us our life is Christ in us. In the seeing of the way of rest in Christ many need to commit themselves to the revelation with a simple prayer. “I recognize you to be my everything; that we are joined in one Spirit, a perfect unit; that for me to live is simply You living in me. You are my life, my all. I recognize and rest in this fact now. Amen.”

It takes time for Floyd to live in the fact that he is a weak human and Christ is his only strength. At first he will probably be shocked that he does not feel any different. Don’t worry, we are not supposed to! It is not a wiping out of all feeling and negative emotion, but a new attitude toward them. When life pressures him he will feel the rising within of anger, jealousy, unlove, lust and all the rest. All his life Floyd has been told that such feelings are sin, and he must fight such feelings by trying to be loving. Now he must learn that those feelings are not sin, only the fact of human weakness making itself known. If he chooses to follow through with those feelings, it will result in sin.

As he is tempted to follow a certain line of sin, his feelings urging him on, he hears the Law speaking within him: “You ought to try harder to overcome…” or “You should do thus and so as a good Christian.” That is where the real temptation is joined: to try in his own ability to follow the ‘oughts’ and ‘shoulds’ of the Law and overcome his feelings. The temptation has strong appeal because he is usually surrounded by fellow Christians who demand that he produce a better self by his self-energies. If he yields to this he will undoubtedly sin. What should Floyd do? Remember the message of God’s grace, that he is helpless, Christ is his life and the Gospel is not helplessness trying to be like Christ, but Christ living in his helplessness His own life.

In that moment of temptation and pressure, he must realize that Christ is his true life and deliberately replace the weakness of helpless self with the reality of Christ his life. When he feels the risings within of unlove, he recognizes that Christ is his love. Faced with the fear of indecision, he recognizes that Christ is his wisdom. Having recognized the truth, he must speak and act on it. In so doing, he will discover rivers of life flowing through him.

When this has been grasped, Floyd will have a new outlook on trouble and pressures. All the pressures of life will be seen as an opportunity to let Christ be and live Himself through the human. To see this fact is to actually welcome trials and pressures (James 1:2). Paul stated plainly in II Corinthians 12:9-10, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” We will never get away from the Law, but now we know its purpose, we can rejoice in it.

The Law continually defines sin. As we hear its condemning voice, we cringe in guilt. If we dwell on the condemnation and remember all our past sins, we will soon end in despair. Stop! Thank God for the Law that so clearly shows up sin and go on to praise Him for the death of Christ that has satisfied all the just demands of the Law. Revel in the fact that the blood of Jesus has cleansed you from all sin. The Law will constantly confront you saying its ‘oughts’ and ‘shoulds.’ Before you would have responded with, “I will try harder,” but now you smile and thank God that you have come to death concerning your natural ability. Your life is no longer a straight jacket of rules, but the life of Christ lived through your weakness.

Recognize who you are and walk away from your bondage to the Law, to the freedom of Christ living His life in you.
By Malcom Smith

Do not be deceived?

2006-04-18T19:23:00.000-05:00

Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

The more I study God’s word the more I see how man has perverted His word and therefore painted & proclaimed a God that is not our true Creator. Although I think for the most part many have done this unintentionally. I have done this in the past and I am sure there are many things I believe now that is not true to who our Creator is.

How many times have you heard a teacher/pastor/preacher or a “loving” brother use Gal. 6:7 to try to scare a believer to repentance? If I really believed that I would reap corruption from everything I have done or will do that is bad, I would be scared to leave the house, because I make mistakes everyday, much less say and do things at times that I know are wrong.

Have any of us really reaped everything we deserve from everything we have sown or done?
I don’t think so; if we had we would be nothing but a smear on the floor if God gave us everything our sin and mistakes should have reaped.
But the passage is clearly saying that WHATEVER a man sows. This means everything we have sown, even mistakes that we make; we WILL reap because God is NOT mocked. I believe with all my heart that God is not nor will ever be mocked. I also believe that there are consequences for most sin that we commit, but that is not what this verse is saying. Consequences for most sin does not even come close to what this verse is saying. Lets say I get a speeding ticket and you get a warning and our friend doesn't even get stopped. Both of us getting stopped is a consequence of our speeding, but did we both reap what we sowed by speeding, did our friend reap what he sowed, not even close.

This verse can’t be talking about eternal punishment for sin because God clearly has laid on Christ the sin of us all. This verse can’t be talking to unbelievers because Paul is clearly talking to believers. If God is not mocked and we will reap what we sow then I conclude that the sowing and reaping here must be a specific act and does not pertain to every thing we sow whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Context, context, context lets look at the context and see if many people take this verse out of context to portray a God that is determined to give us what we deserve for every mistake, bad choices and intentional sowing of things we know we shouldn’t here on earth.

Galatians 6:6-10
6The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. 7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

It is very clear from verse 6 what the sowing is in the context of this often misused verse 7. Paul is telling the Galatians and us that we are to share all good things with those who teach us God’s word. I posit this sharing is support, such as money, food, clothing, and encouragement to those who teach us.

I believe God is telling us if we spend our money on things that our flesh loves, the things of this world, while letting those who teach and preach the gospel of God struggle to make a living, then we will from the flesh reap corruption for everything or whatsoever we sow to the flesh that should have went to our pastors and anyone who teaches us that are depending on God’s people for support. Notice Paul said “from the flesh” we will reap corruption, he did not say from God we will reap corruption. However we should not deceive ourselves and think God will overlook this. This would be same as mocking God and I think God saying in this passage that He will not be mocked, especially when it comes to taking care of those who have given their lives up here on earth for the sake of Christ & the gospel.

So let us take this verse as a warning from God when it comes to taking care of His ministers and teachers that teach us and let us also take this verse as a promise that in due time we will reap eternal things from what we sow to the Spirit out of love in giving to those who teach us.

Let us not take this verse out of context and use it in attempting to motivate believers by fear to repentance and therefore portray our Creator has a God that is determined to make sure He gets even with us for everything we do. It is God’s kindness that leads us to true repentance.

I think it grieves the heart of God for us to listen to the enemy of our souls and believe that the same God, who loves us enough to humble Himself and come to earth and pay our sin debt while we were yet sinners, would be so set on making sure we reaped everything or whatsoever we sowed. I think it is the grace of God that keeps us from reaping everything we sow. I think it is the same grace that lets people take a verse like this out of context without letting them reap what they have sown.

Follow up to... Following Jesus?

2006-04-13T12:18:00.000-05:00

I wanted to answer Adam's last response on another post here and give his forum a plug. Maybe someone else may want to add something to this discussion that might not be reading the comments on the last post.

Adams last response:
Making the message clear does not necessarily mean making it simple. I could say that Kris went to Starbucks and ordered a venti soy chai latte. This is a clear message. I could also say that Kris went. This is the same message, but simpler. Both express the exact same idea, that Kris went, however the first explains fully and with more clarity exactly what happened.

Perhaps the same is true with the gospel message. We could give the simple version: 'believe and receive'. And then we would have the countless walk the aisle and 'believe'.OR we could give the more clear message: 'believe in the LORD, the Savior of humanity, and He will give you eternal life and will come into your life and forever make you other.' This is the clearer message of what truly transpires.

We LORDship are asking for a clearer message. We understand that we can abbreviate the message and make is simple. 'Turn or burn'. But with such confusion that is associated with the abbreviated and simple version, we would opt for the more clearer message so that we can assure that people are not 'believing' and yet having no clue as to what this belief entails.Does that make sense?I think I have an entry idea. Keep up the good work. So far you have given me two ideas. :)

My response:
Adam, I can understand YOU asking for a clearer message and I agree that making it clearer does not necessarily make it simple, BUT the clear message is simple, the clear message is so simple that Jesus said unless we become like children we won't see how simple it is.
What I am talking about are those who ADD to the clear message qualifiers such as "follow Jesus", "if He is not Lord of all then He is not Lord at all", "be willing to give up all", and etc in order to be saved. My whole point in the clear message of believing in the Christ alone is for the person hearing it along with Holy Spirit convicting them of the fact that ours/their God/Creator is the one offering it to them without any conditions whatsoever other than coming to Him as a sinner. That is what changed yours and my heart and will change whosoever hears who also has ears to hear it.

In fact alot of preachers seem bent on adding qualifiers to those after having believed to confuse and make them stumble over the assurance that God so clearly gives us.
I love John Piper, but I have to disagree with some of the things he has been preaching along these lines for last few years. We should very much preach fear of the Lords discipline to believers but not fear being cast into hell, that would be calling what God said in John 3:16 a lie. Why? Because if we believe in the Son for everlasting life and then perish, then God was not telling us the truth.

I am in no way advocating making a believer comfortable in their sin, but we should not make them uncomfortable about their assurance of everlasting life after having believed God for it. If we do this then we are suggesting that their eternal life depends on faith plus works and not the free gift of God.

And if those who are comfortable depending on their works for assurance, then maybe they have missed the Good News all together. If I depend on looking at my works and my heart then I am most miserable in my assurance, if I look to my Lord Jesus alone for everlasting life then I am free from doubt and am free to produce good works for Him (John 15:4)Does that make sense?

I would much rather discuss issues like this in your forum at http://protestantpub.com/forum/ it is much easier a format especially if we can have some one on one like you suggested.

besides I can make fun of your hair there. LOLOLOL

Follow Jesus?

2006-04-10T16:13:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for your prayers for me. God has been faithful to answer and give me relief.

Does Jesus call people to follow Him as a condition to have eternal life or is the call to follow Him made after a person is converted? I think a close look at what happened to Peter will make this clear to everyone who has an open mind to biblical truth.

First, the account of Jesus telling Peter to “follow Him” must include all the statements made to this fact by Luke and Mark and Matthew and John. If we only read Matthew and Mark then it seems that Jesus clearly said to follow Him when He first met Peter, but that is not what happened, even though many evangelistic calls to have eternal life give this message. Let’s look at what Luke has to say and then Matthew’s and Mark’s account is made clearer.

After Peter had learned of Jesus from his brother Andrew, Andrew brought Peter to Jesus and Jesus told Peter that he would be called Peter instead of Simon (John 1:40-42). Then after a few days with Jesus, Peter had seen the Lord heal his mother-in-law (Luke 4:38,39).
Then they apparently left Jesus and went back to work and Jesus came to where they were coming in from fishing one morning (they had caught nothing) and asked them to put one of the boats out in the water to give Him room to give a speech to those who were crowding around Him. (Luke 5:1-11)
After He finished teaching He said to Peter, put out your nets again for a catch. After Peter saw the nets breaking because of all the fish, he, Peter saw Jesus for the first time as God and was converted. It was after this revelation and their conversion that Jesus then said I will make you fishers of men or follow Me and they, Peter, James, and John and probably Andrew & Philip followed Him.

The lordship group should look at this aspect of the actual account of the first disciples calling instead of saying that Jesus said to follow Him as a condition to have eternal life before a person sees who He is and is converted by convicting faith... which I think is proof that Jesus never asked anyone to follow Him without them first being converted or born again to everlasting life.

The bottom line is that simply telling someone to follow Jesus does not save them, also telling them they must follow Him as a condition to be saved is not biblical either and is a false gospel. Many so-called Christian religions preach and teach this or some other works implied gospel, but heresy abounds in such organizations. John 3:16, John 5:24, John 6:27-29, John 6:47, John 11:25,26 are clear truths to what God has said in His word is required for everlasting life.

So if this is clear biblical truth doesn’t this relieve the tension between the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke against John’s account of a person simply believing in Jesus to have everlasting life apart from discipleship calling? I think it does.

Prayer

2006-04-03T17:25:00.000-05:00

I need prayer. I have been going thru the valley lately and things in my past life are starting to be attractive to me again. Idolatry is a bummer. I really want to serve my Lord and love Him, I don't know what is going on though. I know one thing when this happened to me before I didn't say anything and fell away. I don't want this to happen again PLEASE PRAY for me, pray that I will not be overcome by pride in not confessing my needs and if you don't mind tell me that you did pray and will pray. I know that will be an encouragement to me and I need it.

Thanks

Lark News Dot Com

2006-03-28T23:41:00.001-06:00

I was surfing and ran across these "news stories" at Lark News
It was hilarious and thought I would post them here. I hope I don't get thrown in copyright court. At least i did link to them, surely they would appreciate the dozen or so readers i may reach for advertisment.

Teens ditch inauthentic friend

LEXINGTON — Three college-age friends have stopped hanging out with a fourth friend who quit relating to them in a genuine way, they say. "He wasn't letting his heart out," says one friend. "He was obviously going through stuff he wasn't sharing with us." But the banished friend, Tommy, remains clueless why his friends suddenly withdrew from him. "I didn't quit being real with them," he says. "I just wanted space to process some things going on in my life. I didn't realize they'd ditch me for it."

The foursome has been inseparable since high school, and even attended the same Christian college together. Their relationship is based on complete honesty, they say. "Sharing your personal garbage is part of the deal," says one friend. "That's what friendship is about. Apparently Tommy didn't value that as much as we do."

Tommy now bums around the dorms alone, hoping to strike up conversations. The other three have agreed to meet with him to determine if Tommy has "quit wearing a mask." If Tommy gets the nod, they plan to spend five or more hours talking about how they all felt during the recent schism. "I hope they let me back into their lives," Tommy says. "I feel authentically lousy." •

Weaker brother asked to leave men's group

ATHENS, Ga. — Tired of accommodating their legalistic friend, members of a men's group have asked Harold Beihn to loosen up or move on. "His standard of personal holiness fits us a little too tight," says one member. But Beihn says he just "wanted my guys to be holy as the Lord is holy. I think God put me in their lives to remind them of the rules."

By all accounts, Beihn's lifestyle was out of synch with the others'. He vetoed most activities the other guys wanted to do because they "didn't accord with righteous living." This ruled out movies, sporting events, even bowling because the atmosphere at the lanes is "too loose," says Beihn. Beihn also took accountability so seriously that he often called the other men at 7:30 a.m. and asked, "Did you kiss your wife yet?" If the answer was no, he'd report them to the men's ministry pastor.

The situation recently came to a head when everyone but Beihn wanted to play darts and drink beer every Monday night in their garages, creating a casual venue for inviting unsaved friends. But Beihn had a major hang-up with it. "He kept saying, 'Darts, I can handle, but beer — I can't go there, guys,'" says one member. Subsequently, the other members asked Beihn to leave the group, saying they were "moving in different directions." Beihn joined another group, which he enjoys and whose members "run a tighter ship, morally speaking." "They have respect for the rules I live by," says Beihn. "We get along great."•

short of the glory of God!

2006-03-22T13:02:00.000-06:00

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

This verse has been used endless times by Christians in the presenting the gospel message to unbelievers using the "Roman Road" method.

We always put the emphasis on 'all have sinned,' and rightly so in trying to persuade the person that no one is without need for believing on Jesus as their Saviour.

But I have some questions and would like the input of all who happen to read this.

1) What is the glory of God in regards to us His creation?
2) If we had not of sinned what would we be like if we hadn't fallen short?
3) Does our falling short imply that there is some of God's glory still there within us whether we are born again or not?

This is just something that has been on my mind today.

Is this news?

2006-03-21T21:29:00.000-06:00

Is the news we get, getting more mean or is it just me thinking this?

Has anyone noticed that most all of the news we see is just people on different sides of issues being mean to the other side? There is absolutely no content, only the debate of issues by the same blow hard "political anal-ist" on every network. I know its been bad for some time, but it just seems to me that its gotten worse in the last 3 to 4 months. Why do we have to constantly find fault and blame for everything? Why does all the news out of Washington have to be anal-ized to see if one side or the other will have the upper hand during election time? WHY? WHY? Is this what Paul was talking about when he said the love of most will grow cold?

Theology and mind masturbation

2006-03-14T20:49:00.000-06:00

Theology-Sometimes it’s really only mind masturbation

I love theology, I like to learn & figure out what God has said in His word to us about Him and who He really is. But sometimes I just get burned out on it. I end up deceiving myself thinking I know more of God when in reality I just know more ABOUT Him.

I love to fill my mind with knowledge about the bible and spiritual things. This is not all wrong, but when it turns into puffing myself up, it ends up being mind masturbation. I believe that I have a gift of understanding of the knowledge of God’s word. But this gift is a gift that Jesus gave me when He called me to Himself, it is nothing in me in case some were to think it was (LOL), no… I have a pretty strong feeling I was the only one thinking this. Of course some think I don’t have this gift at all.

When I fall into the trap and deceive myself thinking it is me then I end up forcing what I think is the truth on people and arguing needlessly over theology. This leaves me dry & empty because I have set my mind on the flesh and deceived myself instead of setting my mind on the Spirit. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:2 if I have the gift of teaching and knowledge but do not have love then I am nothing. Wow that hurts. If my mind is not set on Spirit, if I am not walking by the Spirit then it is not love. If I am masturbating my fleshly mind with knowledge then I am so caught up on myself that I can’t see, I can’t see that I am only loving myself instead of others. This gift is for others, not only me, and the Lord can’t use me to help others because I am not listening to Him I am too busy turning the gift given to me into an idol in place of Him. I have turned to knowing ABOUT God instead of simply just knowing Him.

Just knowing more ABOUT God leaves me empty, aggravated and burned out in my soul and spirit. I am not posting here to say theology is wrong or not needed, it is needed very much, but the danger is simply knowing ABOUT the One who created me and thinking all is well in la la land and not really knowing Him as He relates to me personally in my life. John 17:3 and 1 John 5:20 clearly states that eternal life is knowing Jesus Christ. It is not just knowing ABOUT Him.

But even after being the stupid sheep that I am, my God and my Lord still loves me just as I am, He still wants me, He still desires that I really, really know Him. Is that just awesome or what? This makes me so grateful that His ways are not our ways, His ways are higher than our ways, His ways are dying for me instead of casting me away in my sin.

So by the grace of God I will just back off awhile and spend more time being a doer of the word instead of a just wind bag talker. I will post more on my site here and less on other sites. I know God loves me and I know I love God. I just want out of this body so I can love Him like I should. But that is up to God not me, right now I am what I am in this body so please pray for me when you can.

Anyway this is just a confession I needed make. I don't mean any dis-respect by the title of this post, I titled this way so maybe some would be enticed to go ahead and read it.

Grace & Peace
Kris

Grace Conference: Dallas

2006-03-06T13:07:00.000-06:00

At the urging of some friends that blog I will give my experience on the conference at Dallas last week.

First of all there is no doubt of the spirit of grace evident on the faces and actions of most all that were there.
Of all the speakers there I have to say that Mr. Ryrie touched my heart most of all. His ability to bring events in the bible home to 2006 is tremendous. What I really liked was his message from Acts as a call to all of us who are saved by the simple of message of faith in Christ alone for salvation to walk clean or blameless before God, so that God can use us in a dying world to show His grace to them.

Mr. Hodges is such a gifted speaker and communicator. I like his examples and the style he uses. I have not read much of what Mr. Hodges has written, but what I heard from him down there really interest me.

I also enjoyed Richard Seymour's & Freddie Coile's workshops. They stressed the need to proclaim a clear gospel that is so much needed in churches and evanglistic preaching today.

I have some critique's though.
I did not agree with one of the plenary speakers message that if a person does not believe in eternal security at the time he believes in Christ for salvation, then that person does not have everlasting life. I think it is a stretch to put a burden on person to know that God has saved them forever at the time they first believe. When we are lost we are part of this world system of performance or doing something for self-worth. After a person believes, this does not just go away over night. In fact Paul stressed walking by the same faith as when we first believed. The world system of doing in order to get (anti-grace) is deeply ingrained in the flesh, it is impossible to bring this under control, in fact Paul says our flesh is corrupted and being corrupted. We still live in this fleshly body with all its desires. I troubles me that those who mature in the faith forget what it is like to be a new Christian and try to burden down requirements on people, truth that they themselves did not know until months or years of understanding what had happened to them at the time of their conversion. Trying to say that a person HAS to believe in eternal security at the time of conversion is really no different then those who try to add works as a condition.

All in all I really enjoyed my time there and will take time reading the books and pondering what I heard for the next few months and decide if I accept every part of it. Ever since I came back to the Lord in 2004 I have this mantra that I proclaim. Its Colossians 2:8 we all would do well not to let any teaching or doctrine set itself up above Christ Himself, Who is eternal life.
Following philosophy and traditions is what led to my fall from grace early in my Christian life. By God's grace and the Holy Spirit I determine not to let that happen again, it has no power over the flesh and it leads to pride of which we all know that pride goest before the fall.

Grace & Peace
Kris

Bono....He is my brother.

2006-02-10T19:39:00.000-06:00

I wish I knew more about posting stuff. I mean I wish I had the time and patience to learn how to post pictures and links to improve the look of my blog page and posts.

Anyway I just wanted to copy my comments here I made on a great post on this blog about Bono. I have noticed that many bloggers who are Christian leaders and some who are teaching in seminary schools just can't seem to let people like Bono who follow Christ off the hook without tearing down something they have said that they think don't line up with what they think he should say.

Its a shame there are many Christian leaders that have to nitpick things Bono says publicly. Are they so scared that the will of God will be thwarted if Bono doesn't "say" something exactly "right" and its up to them(being they know the law) to correct it so that the will of God is saved from being thwarted?

I'm not sure but doesn't it say somewhere about they will know us by our love for one another? Does love do this to a brother, especially one that they only see & read about and don't know personally?

Of course the scribes nitpicked Jesus also. I am in no way saying Bono is Jesus, God forbid, but a casual reading of John chapter 7 looks an awful lot like there is nothing new under the sun.

I would name the blogs or articles I am referring to. But anyone who wants to find this out can. I don't want to be unloving toward them by posting their names here and thereby continuing in their same folly.

Feeding the sheep?

2006-01-19T12:16:00.001-06:00

I made a post sometime back about why I believe there are so many "new" churches being started and men trying to preach from human wisdom to save souls. At the end of the post I said I would comment on why so many believers never reach maturity.
Well the following is my take on it:

Alot of people are leaving the church and giving up following Christ because most of the teaching in the churches are not feeding the sheep.

How often do we here preaching or teaching that is all about reaching the lost? I bet its at least 75% of the time. How many of these messages attempt to use guilt as a motivator to get people to share their faith? Now don't get me wrong I believe in the great commission of going into the world and making disciples. But we emphasize this part of the commission and rarely do the second part which is; teaching all the things which He has commanded us.
We are very good at proclaiming that we are saved by grace through faith but, how often to we proclaim that we should live by grace through faith? How often are we taught the unconditional love of God for those who have believed upon Jesus Christ for the remmission of sins? Do we really know what the grace of God really is? Do we really know that God is love? God does not have love HE IS LOVE.

Unconditional love, grace, living by the Spirit are rarely heard much less taught with passion in alot of churches. What did the Lord say to Peter when He asked Peter if he loved his fishing more than Him? Peter said; you know that I love you and Jesus said then feed my sheep. Peter had experienced the unconditional love of God when Jesus told him that. Peter had denied Christ, he had failed, he had sinned, he thought he had dissappointed the Lord and was resolved to go back to his "old life" of fishing, because how could God love him now. Peter had been with Jesus around 3 years before he really, really knew that God loved him unconditionally. How much more time for those who are new believers to come to a true knowledge of the truth and yet thats not what they hear?
Jesus didn't say; I'm really dissappointed in you Peter or look at what I have done for you and you did this to Me, if you feed my sheep then you will feel better about yourself. No, Gods ways are not our ways, His ways are higher than our ways...Praise God!

Is feeding the sheep proclaiming guilt laden messages to new believers, (who are no different spiritually than a newborn child or a preschooler), about a dying world that needs Christ and its all on your shoulders to save them? Or how about this one; "He died for you the least you can do is live for Him"...sounds good but its..guilt, condemnation, guilt to those who have not been built up in Christ with a firm foundation by the renewing of the mind, by being properly fed grace & truth. Is that what you hear in your head or tell yourself when you sin? Isn't that a miserable feeling knowing everytime you sin that "voice" is saying the least you could do is NOT sin because I died for you. Well its not God the Father that Jesus showed us, its some imaginary god you have created for yourself with the help of some legalistic preacher, teacher, or 'friend'.

No wonder people leave our churches, they are starving to death for Gods love and are only getting a false God who demands repayment for saving their soul by going out and saving or telling someone else the same message to subject them to the same false God who demands the same payback from them. What a cycle of death and misery. The true God wants to feed you not starve you from His love. The true God wants you to know that HE loves you.
If you are fine with this and think that paying God back is what God's salvation is all about then you have missed the Gospel message, you either have fallen from grace or you really never knew it. You may be in danger to what Jesus told the pharisees about going out after a proselyte and making him twice as much a son of hell.
If you have seen the Lord and have found yourself falling from grace then God wrote the book of Galations for you. If you have never experienced the grace of God then He wrote the gospel of John and Romans for you. If you are a pastor or teacher that has been caught up in this, I was to my friend and God still loves us. Change your mind and remember God's power to change people is not condemnation, it is His love & kindness.

What in the world did Jesus mean when He said come unto me all you who are weak and heavy laden and I WILL GIVE YOU REST? What did Jesus mean when He said I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will NEVER hunger, and he who believes in Me will NEVER thirst? What was Jesus talking about when he said the work of God is to BELIEVE on the one He has sent?

Believing in Christ is not just fire insurance, He is life itself, its learning to quit living a life by performance or the elementary principles of this world for self-worth and resting in the unconditional love of God and being set free. Lets get back to teaching this and learning what gifts have been given each of us. Then our lives will cause those without hope to ask us about the hope within us. We will be living it from within and not faking it from without. Those who have the gift of evangelism will satisfiy their God given desire to tell the good news by telling it. Then those who don't have the gift of evangelism will not be abused by guilt laden messages in attempts to force them to use a gift they never had to begin with.

How do we get so far from what is actually bibical teaching and still call it biblical? I hate to be harsh but it may just be what Jesus said about the false teachers and that we would know them by their fruit. What is their fruit? It has to be what they are teaching does it not?

So thats my take on things in alot of churches today and why so many quit and "go back to fishing"; They are fed too much meat before they even get a chance to drink the milk. If you feed a baby meat he will choke on it and die. Lets find out for sure why some have left, before we have a self-righteous attitude and assume they really never were saved to begin with. It may just be our legalism disguised as meat was too much for them to chew.

Stay away from those how to books!

2005-12-07T18:42:00.000-06:00

Colossians 2:8-10
8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

Have you noticed all the "Christian" books that have been written to "help" us know God and "help" us stop sinning? The book stores are full of them! I have bought my share of them myself.
Steps to peace with God, ways to make your relationship with God grow or get better, and knowing the will of God are what most of these books are written about.
Why do these books sell? How come so many are bought with good intentions and are put up in a bookshelf after reading and then another and another is bought only to end up in the same bookshelf?

I'll tell you why, they do nothing for us! What can happen is we become captive through the philosophy of some well intentioned person who has made up his/her own tradition that helps them satifisfy their own soul. This may "work" for them but anyone else ends up frustated that they can't "go through the steps" or can't seem to muster up the will power to stop whatever the author of the book has said is wrong and is keeping the reader from God's "power" in their lives.

We end up with a conscience trained by human philosophy and the traditions of men rather than according to Christ. This is what happened to the pharisees and scribes. The elementary principles of this world are performance or if I do this then God will be pleased with me. Which in all honesty is only self-righteousness.

We are made complete in Him. Nothing else can or will make us more acceptable to Him. Jesus said it is finished on the cross, sin does not keep God from loving us. In fact God is love and it pleased Him to put our sin upon Himself because He is love and doesn't want our sin to separate Him from us. Our sin separates us from God not God from us.

So stay away from most of the books! At worst they will only cause us to rely more on the flesh instead of our God for life and at best they are a source of undue guilt and condemnation of trying please God according to traditions of the well intentioned men who write them. Christ has set us free from doing in order to be, we would do well to mix this with faith and believe it instead of trying harder to make ourselves acceptable to God who already gave Himself for us to make us acceptable to Him. I think Paul called this frustating the grace of God.

One last note. Read chapter 2 of Colossians from start to finish, read it several times. If you want it to and God willing, it will open your eyes to alot of things that we do and let be done to us by well intentioned teachers that actually keep us from living in freedom and knowing the true God.

One more thing. There are some good books written by men, just be careful that what you read isn't adding something that our great and loving God has not required of us to be complete in Him. We received Christ by faith not by works and God says to walk or live your life by the same faith not by works(Colossians 2:6). If we remain in Him by faith and not effort or performance then we will bear fruit or works(John 15:5)

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men!

2005-11-17T20:38:00.000-06:00

I don’t know what to say about why I am writing about this, but these scriptures have been on my mind for some time. I believe they have some answers to why there are so many new church movements and churches that keep trying to find new ways to try to convert those who are ‘lost’ and why the church in some ways seems to have this idea that we need worldly wisdom and dynamic preaching to keep those who are professed believers from falling away.
Please read the following verses and I will comment further below.

1 Corinthians 1:25-31, 2:1-8
25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29so that no man may boast before God. 30But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD." 1And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 6Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;(NASB)

I believe the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul is telling us that using persuasive words of wisdom by 'trained' superior speakers can lead most to a faith based on mans ability and not the power of God by the Spirit. Faith based on persuasive words of wisdom is most likely why we have churches that have to keep coming up with something new to keep the fold interested and why those that attend are really not concerned about sin in their lives and how it effects their relationship to God, they haven’t seen or experienced the power of God in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. A faith based on mans ability will always depend on mans ability to keep it. True faith does “not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”.

Why do we think we have to add to the gospel words of wisdom from man? I believe it’s because of the age old problem since we discovered that we were naked after the fall. We ‘worked’ and sewed fig leaves together thinking that we could make ourselves presentable to God and He removed them and put skins on us from an animal that He ‘worked’ to make. We think we can or have to do something on our own to get the God of Glory to accept us, we couldn’t then and we can’t now. We try to use our persuasive words of wisdom to tell people about the gospel thinking God will really be pleased with us because we brought someone into the Kingdom by OUR wise counsel.

I think God is telling us in these scriptures that if we get rid of the wisdom that comes from self and determine to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified then His Spirit and power will draw people to Jesus and we can then boast in the Lord for being a part of it. True faith that rest on the power of God doesn’t need the latest program created from mans wisdom to keep us serving the LORD. A person with true faith only needs his/her heart strengthen by grace(Hebrews 13:9)to keep serving the LORD.

I will comment another time on why I think many who are true believers never reach maturity in today’s church.
I would like for all who read this to leave your comments and let me know what you think good or bad.
Grace & Peace

"you better not mess with God!"?

2005-11-03T15:20:00.000-06:00

How many times have you heard a person say “you better not mess with God”?
I have heard this many times from others and preachers and most likely I said it when I was too stupid to know better.
How can we “mess” with God? Is God so weak that He can be “messed” with? I hope not! If He is then we are in bad shape. To say that God can be “messed” with implies that we can upset set His sovereignty and cause Him to “slap His knee” or lose control of His emotions in frustration at us because we have caused something to happen to cause Him to lose control of something.

We should always reverently fear Him in the sense that we are the creatures and He is the Creator. We can do this by humbling ourselves to the fact that we are created by Him and have absolutely no control over our lives other than what He has granted us.

For someone to say “don’t mess with God” is very disrespectful to our sovereign Creator.
People say this thinking they are warning or scaring someone out of it, when in reality the person they are warning is trying to do something that is impossible to do, which is "mess with God".
You may be thinking you are “messing” with God, but you are only messing with yourself.

Just an answer to a friend.

2005-10-10T13:59:00.000-05:00

This post is in response to some questions that a Adamhttp://sofyst.blogspot.com/ King directed toward me on kc'shttp://justsoyouallknow.blogspot.com/ blog. I didn't want to take up alot of KCs space on his blog site to answer the questions. Here is the passage that we were talking about:

47Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.48But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?49And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!50For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.Matthew 12 (KJV)

The statement was made that this was not very nice of Jesus. I used to think that is was very rude and cruel myself and didn't like what Jesus said until I looked at it more closely. I did wonder what made me think it was rude to start with and what within me took it that way without any further thought to it being any different.

I told Adam that I used to read it the way he read it and he asked me what changed my mind. So Adam, here is summary of why I changed my mind about this and alot of things I read in the bible.

I used to get so angry at God about election and thinking that I wasn't elected and why would He do this to me when I wanted to love Him but always failed. I thought who would want to serve a God who would be so demanding and cruel and rude to those who loved Him and wanted to follow Him. I had to rethink what I was believing. I did not want to go to hell, I wanted to believe God, but this idea of Him was driving me further away in my mind and something had to be wrong. Something had to be wrong because when I first believed I was liberated and had a desire to serve God who loved me and had mercy on me and I saw His unconditional love for me by going to the cross to pay for my debt of sin against Him. I saw that He wasn't mad at me. In fact the bible said that while I was "yet" a sinner He died for me.
But why did this change after a few years and why couldn't I believe what I believed at first? Well I know now that
God was driving me to take look at how I perceived Him and others. I used to get offended easily at people and the things in Gods word and still do at times. God in His mercy has shown me that alot of times I am not realizing or understanding what He or another person is telling me because I am processing things that I hear through the filters in my mind that are based on false beliefs (lies). He is showing me that our belief system has been put in place by those around me when I was a child. You know the lies like "Gods gonna get you for that" and "God only likes "good" people" and "God helps those who help themselves". We learn to relate to others and God by what we are taught when we are children by our family and others, wether verbally taught by intention or learned by what we see and hear unintentionally. This doesn't go away at salvation. In fact some are saved while young and still develop these wrong beliefs.

I will give you some personal testimony here. My dad left my mom and three kids, of which I am the oldest, for another woman and her family when I was 8 years old. For what ever reason I could not accept the fact that my dad would be so selfish and blamed myself and brother and sister for this. I reasoned that if we would have been good enough then dad would not have left. Which by the grace of God I know now is a lie that I believed. But I took this experience into my relationship with God when He called me to salvation. Therefore when I would "mess up" then I feared that God my heavenly Father would abandon me just like my dad did, I thought God was demanding I be perfect or else He would not like me and withhold His love. Thats the way my stepfather would treat us. So believing this caused fear and then anger toward God. I have some interesting thoughts here about predestination and calling but that is for another time.

I know this is long and I hope I am writing this where it is understandable. What I am trying to say is that I and we relate to others and read things in the bible and understand them through the filter of our fallen belief system until God renews our mind which changes our belief about what we think of Him and certain situations and this is an ongoing process which could be called santicfication. So the verse about Jesus asking those around Him "who are my mother and brothers" sounds not very nice, until I stop and think, do I know what tone of voice the Lord was speaking in when He ask this question. Does He come out and say that Mary and His brothers are "not" His mother and brothers and those around Him are, of course not. Would Jesus reject His mother and brothers like that. No I don't think He would, He was still concerned about His mother after going through all the beatings and mockings and while hanging and suffering on the cross He showed that He was a God of love and made sure to tell John to take care of her. I do believe that Jesus was saying that whoever does the will of God are His mothers and brothers which is implying that those who don't are not.

The Bible is full of stories about men and their families and we can see how certain things follow down through generations. Look at Abraham for instance. He was deceptive to those he was dealing with by telling them that Sarah was his sister and not telling them she was his wife also. Then Issac used deception to gain a large herd of goats from his father in-law. Then Jacob and his mother deceived Issac out of giving his blessing to Essau and giving it to Jacob. Our flesh and our thinking comes from our families and we are responsible to change it or rather God is responsible for changing it. We are responsible for confessing our own sins and taking ownership of them and working out our salvation.

So my point is, that when something is causing me pain or I fear rejection by certain words in the bible, I need to stop and look again with Gods help and see if its just my rebellious heart and I don't want to submit to it or could it be that I am not reading through my spiritual eyes given to me when I was born again and thereby causing rebellion against what I am reading because I don't fully understand it? The Holy Spirit through Paul says in Romans to believers that the mind set on the flesh(which I believe is where our false belief system is) is hostile to God and cannot submit itself to the things of God, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. So if I am not having life and peace about what God is saying to me in His word and can't submit myself to it, then I have to realize that I have set my mind on the flesh and that is why I am hostile to things that God is trying to tell me. I need to repent or change my mind and set it on the Spirit which Jesus called the Comforter in Johns gospel in order to understand it. Therefore if I think God is being rude it may just be the way I am understanding it. Because if God is love and 1 corinthians 13 gives the definition of love then how can Jesus do anything that is contrary to that definition?

That is the way I came to what I believe about that passage of scripture, sorry for long explaination but some us aren't as gifted as others in writing skills. :)

You also asked if your interpretation could be right also. I guess it can for you. But as you can see it can't for me at this time in my life as I understand it.

Where do you get your praise?

2005-09-23T13:14:00.000-05:00

Romans 2:29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and HIS PRAISE IS NOT FROM MEN, BUT FROM GOD.

I think the verse above with the main point in large caps describes what is going on with those who don't understand how God relates to man. In the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector, the pharisee is looking to his good works as compared with the tax collector's, to basically praise himself instead of getting his praise from God.

If the pharisee in the parable or a lost person today understood that God loved him just because God is God(God is Love) and we are His creation, then he could be honest with God about his sin and his praise would be coming from God instead of himself or other men. He is stumbling over the stumbling stone of the unconditional love in Christ.

John 3:21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be revealed as having been wrought(worked) in God."

The pharisee was not practicing the truth that he was a depraved man on the inside and only God can make his deeds good. Jesus said our good deeds only come thru Him; John 15:4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me."

The bottom line is, when we don't believe God loves us unconditionally then we have to find something in ourselves to justify being loved by God or anyone else. This was Cains downfall. Cain didn't believe God loved him just as he was, mistakes and all. So Cain who was a tiller of the ground brought an offering that he himself helped create thinking that God would owe him His love because of his "work" or performance. God had no regard for this. Cain was not getting his praise from God, he was proud of his own work to God and stumbled over Gods grace and sins desire for him caused jelousy toward Abel and he killed him.

I believe all the things that we call sin are the result of not believing God loves each of us unconditionally. When we don't believe this in our heart, then the other sins are the results our flesh. This is what Paul is talking about in Romans when he says walk by the Spirit(unconditional love of God) and you won't satisfy the desires of the flesh.

Adam & Eve didn't believe God and ATE from the tree of knowledge. Today we don't believe God and refuse to DRINK from the spiritual rock of Christ.
Why doesn't everyone drink? Because this rock is a rock of offense, a stumbling stone to those like Cain who cannot lay down their pride of good works to gain Gods love unconditionally.

So where do you get your praise?

I have to say that I still want and do get my praise from men more than I do from God most of the time. Help me Lord Jesus and change this in my life, because this will truly set me free.

Thank You

2005-09-17T00:49:00.000-05:00

I just feel like telling the Lord thank you.
Thank you God for giving me life. Thank you for my parents and family. Thank you for a wonderful country to live in and be birthed in. Thank you for our forefathers who gave so much to found this country and gave their lives so others might live here. Thank you for a wonderful job and wonderful people to work with. Thank you for choosing me to be Your child by a new birth. Thank you for loving me in my sin. Thank you for not letting me go my own way and stay there. Thank you for not letting me go my own way in the future and stay there (there is no place I can go that Your not there). Thank you for loving me even when my mind is confused because of sin and I think you have had enough of me. Thank you for drawing me to Yourself. Thank you for just being my Lord and Creator. Thank you for your grace and mercy. I need You Jesus more everyday. I need You period.

What is the answer?

2005-09-02T17:15:00.000-05:00

What is the answer to the chaos going on in New Orleans?
The answer is perfection isn't it?
If we were perfect then we would not have a problem rescuing those who need rescued and organizing the relief so desperately needed.
But we are not perfect are we? So lets at least quit being so critical of each other and work together to get the job done. I'm not sure what I have to do just yet, other than donations, but I want and intend to do something besides give money.
I do know one thing I am going to do, I am not going to be critical of my fellow Americans. That means all of them, from the looters all the way to my Fed. Gov. Its not the time or the place, its time to pray and help.

fever!

2005-08-25T18:51:00.000-05:00

It has taken alot longer this year to get the fever I usually get just after July the 4th every year. I don't know what is wrong, maybe my body is changing or maybe our Oklahoma climate is changing.

This week is the first time this year I have felt the effects of this fever I always get. I remember the first time it effected me. It was in 1972, I was 12 years old and have come down with this every year since then... 33 years to be exact. So please don't get near me if you don't want to catch this. If you get near me you may be infected for life or you may get deathly sick of it for a moment. I don't know the medical term for this but I do know the remedy. My first relief and freedom comes when I see those Boomer Sooners play their first game. Come on fever!

Higher learning or spiritual training?

2005-08-22T17:15:00.000-05:00

I will use the following scriptures below as a reference to the title of this blog.

Matthew 11: 25,26
25At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.
26"Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

I think alot of the Pharisees and scribes during Jesus ministry couldn't believe who He was and what He was trying to teach them because their "higher learning" had blinded them. It is hilarious and sad at the same time how the Lord has to straighten us out when we give more devotion to the law and what not to do than to the God who wrote the law and loves us more than we can ever comprehend. I think about the scribes who were trying to figure out a way to discredit Christ when He healed the man on the Sabbath that was born blind. After all their questioning and disproving, even bringing his parents in, the man said: I don't know if He (Jesus) is a sinner or not, all I know is that I was blind and now I see. What a simple answer to those who thought they knew it all.
Let me say this. Higher education and seminary schools are great and useful to those who can learn with humility and know that all men, even teachers, are still human and have a bent to stray away from the grace of God. But I think some have fallen into the trap of knowing in their mind all about the scriptures, doctrines, church history, calvinism, arminiaism, etc.. and have forgotten about living life by faith in God Himself and living in the presence of the unconditional love of God in Christ. Its easy to do, I have done it myself.
I think I can help a person figure out if they have fallen or are falling into this trap: If you want to constantly pick apart things that people write or their opinions or are looking at different ministries to find something "unscriptural" to debate over because you think you know the truth because of your learning then lookout you may be in danger, like I said I was trapped in this and still find myself straying away from grace all the time, but God still loves me and He loves you to, just admit (confess) it and start living under grace again. There are several preachers and ministries out there that I think are wrong in their teachings about eternal security and spiritual gifts and some have wrong motives for preaching, but you know what, most keep the weighter matters of the law by loving one another and helping the poor and needy. But like Paul said, at least Christ is being preached and Jesus told the disciples to leave those alone who were casting out demons in His name because those that are for us will not easily be against us. God knows more about whats going on and who is going to be saved than I do. Now if I come across someone who is trying to add to the gospel or preach another gospel then my weakness will show and I will end up doing some ranting about it.

Higher learning or spiritual training? Higher education and knowing all the doctrines of the Bible is just a sounding gong or cymbal without love and God is love. I think we get spiritual training by letting the love of God be poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and this only happens when we come as children not as wise & learned to listen to our God. I don't think the 12 apostles had alot of higher education, maybe thats why Jesus chose fishermen over the many scribes around.

Anyway go to kc's blog and read about his salvation. Matt said it was so simple even an average joe may understand it. Its what inspired me to go ahead and post whats been on my mind here. here is the link http://justsoyouallknow.blogspot.com/

What do you think?

2005-08-17T11:00:00.000-05:00

I have a question that I need an answer or opinion on. This not some trick I really want to know. Ok here it is.

How can you tell what is coming from a persons conscience or the Holy Spirit?

still here

2005-08-08T17:05:00.000-05:00

I am still around. I have had a full month of travel although one week of vacation taking the youth in our church to camp. Not alot of "rest" but a nice vacation away from the world of tv's, radios and bad news reports. Just being around other Christians and away from the world system for a full week is a great blessing. Hopefully I can spend more time in few weeks blogging.

What are you trying to show me Lord?

2005-07-14T23:31:00.000-05:00

I am in Birmingham Al. this week. I arrived Tues. night and will leave Sat. morning. Our company bought a milling plant down here and I am going to have to spend some time here of and on for the next few months. This plant is just east of the airport in a very very poor part of the city.

I see people every day that pick up cans, junk iron or anything else to make a living.
My eyes have been opened up and my heart sees this part of society in a way I never had before.
What are you showing me Lord and what am I suppose to do? My life back in Oklahoma is far removed from this and I am having new questions on what is just? I don't deserve one solitary thing that I have in my life and see now how unfair life on this fallen planet really is. God have mercy on me for ever complaining about anything. The plight for the people in this part of town is tragic, but its not as tragic as those in other parts of the world, but it is still all the more tragic. I need help! What have I done with my life? What do I need to do with it now? Guilt is creeping in and I need to deal with it. Lord have mercy on me and don't let me deal with it by hardning my heart though.

I will post more on this issue as my time down here increases.

What is a Pharisee?

2005-07-11T13:30:00.000-05:00

What is a Pharisee?
I would like to define what a modern day Pharisee is, but can I truly define or judge a person to be a Pharisse without being of the same spirit as one myself?
A little history here before I continue. The Lord opened the eyes of my heart to the Gospel in 1988 & I was a changed man. I attended The 1st Baptist Church in my hometown and was living by grace for about a year. During that time I attended about every conference and activity that our county and state assoc. had and listened to bible teachers on the radio. Slowly my happiness and joy left me has I tried to live by the teaching I was listening to. I was slowing turning from living by grace to living by the law or so called traditions or law invented by the flesh by "learned" teachers out of seminary schools. Now I'm not saying all the teachings I was listening to was wrong but a little leaven infects the whole lump. I'm also not trying to put all the blame on the teachers, it was my fault to for not seeing if what I was learning was what the bible really taught. I finally quit going to church in 1995 and didn't return till 2004. I am the one responsible for my sins not these teachers.
Ok now back to the reason I started this semi rant. It seems when anyone writes a new book that has some popularity to it, several people usually from southern baptist schools try to pick apart every detail of the book and discredit it. Some times their right but most of the time I think they are being like the pharisees were in early church times and think they are doing God a service thinking they know more than others especially those who have not been to school and feel the need to tear down everything that doesn't match up to their interpretation. These are the same people who most likely would say that those who have fallen back into sin were never really converted to start with. They could have said that about me when I became frustrated with giving in to temptations and looked for help from these same people that I think satan uses to confuse true believers and drive them away from a law demanding God without making sure no one misses grace of God (Hebrews 12:15). I was totally living a life apart from Christ but something was different living this life after I had experienced the grace of God. I was not liking it, I knew what I had before and wanted it back but I couldn't get it back as long has I was looking for my performance according to the law to get me there. So needless to say I hate legalism and need grace to keep me from becoming more bitter toward those who, out of ignorance or not, spread this teaching thinking they know God. I have one scripture that stands out in my mind that has helped me get back on track and might help those who are legalist to get honest with themselves. Its John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; Salvation and living the Christian life is not about law. Its about God Himself revealed through Jesus Christ His Son and the law is what points us to Him.

Mother Land!

2005-07-07T19:27:00.000-05:00

May the God of all comfort give you peace during this time. The barbaric acts of terrorist that has made it to your homeland has changed your lives for awhile. What can we do? If I knew I would not be a creature but the Creator. But thankfully our lives are in our Creators hands and all we can do is lend support and let you know we are with you in spirit.

Its time for even the pacifist to humble themselves and keep quiet to see if our Lord will avenge these acts in part now or after the end of this age. But be certain they will be avenged because vengence does belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and that is a most certain promise. If the terrorist humble themselves before the Lord then God will put His vengence on His Son. If they don't then vengence will come upon them with no hope. My flesh wants the latter to happen. Grace is needed for my spirit to want these lost souls to humble themselves. Are any of us that far from the way Jonah felt?

Tagged?

2005-07-07T18:07:00.000-05:00

kc tagged me on 5 questions about books. I hope this wasn't started by someone way down the line to violate our privacy. LOL Anyway I will go along.............

1. How many books have I owned?

Not sure my guess would be around 300

2. What was the last book you bought?

I think it was Counerfeit Revival by Hanagraff.

3. What was the last book you read?

Counterfeit Revival but I am currently listening to one of my favorites on cd, Mere Christianty

4. What are FIVE books that have meant a lot to you

Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchman Nee
Mere Christianty by Lewis
Desiring God by Piper
Combat Faith by Hal Lindsay
Bible...... I know but it really is one of my top 5.

Does the Bargain Post or Auto Trader count?

5. Sorry I don't really know five bloggers that haven't already been tagged well enough to "tag"

I travel alot and audio books have become my main source of new material to read with my ears going down the road. I don't really read fiction. I figure I get enough of that on TV and movies.

Not in control

2005-06-22T10:03:00.000-05:00

My body is not cooperating with me right now. Sunday after church I passed out while driving and ran off the road. The Lord blessed me and made sure that I didn't hurt anyone else or myself. I spent Sunday night in the hospital for observation and came home Monday. I have more test to be run Thur and Fri to try to find out what happened.

I have lost alot of energy and the doctor will not let me drive alone till he figures out what is happening. Its very humbling to come to reality that I'm really not in control of anything in my life. I may think I am and go through day to day activities thinking I have control of what I want to do next but unless my Creator allows me to do anything it just will not happen. Thank you Father and my Lord Jesus for letting me do the things I do. I will make every effort from now on to be more aware of Your control and try to be grateful for everything, not somethings, not "important" things, but everything in my life.

If I don't blog or answer blogs for awhile its because I'm not at work and able to find time to do so. So those who read this please pray for me. Do not pray that my life will return to "normal" but pray that our God will give me faith to trust Him and do what He says and have an attititude of humility about life. Apart from Him I can do nothing.

to kc a friend in LA Lower Alabama

2005-06-17T17:32:00.000-05:00

If I had my way I would just read other blogs and take up space on them making comments.
But you seem to be nudging me to take the time and blog for myself. Its not easy to try to put in words my ideas and thoughts and write them down, but like the proverb says about iron sharpening iron you seem to be trying encourage me to blog things for myself. (thank you I hope LOL).

I may be asking for your help in trying to make my blog page more presentable and how to establish links to other blogs I like, so get ready I may be asking more questions than you would like. So don't blame me, its you thats driving this!

My short blog here for today is:

We had a storm come through last night and it broke alot of limbs out of my two maple trees in the front yard. I will be busy all weekend cleaning up. My first thought was...Lord I understand you may be pruning the trees here, but don't you think you went a little to far on mine. Of course who am I as the creature to say to my creator that He may have messed up.
So this blog is short..........but it is a blog casey and Lord willing and your persistance they will get more interesting.

Have a blessed day and weekend.

Is he in Heaven?

2005-06-07T13:36:00.000-05:00

My third or fourth (it doesn't really matter) cousin who was 33 years young died early Sat. morning, his name is Walter. No results from the autopsy yet, but we suspect a drug overdose.
He grew up in a home that was awful. His parents took drugs and dealed drugs all their life. He probably has used drugs since he was 8 years old. He was married when he was 18 and had 5 girls ages 15 down to 6. He came to a turning point in his life about 4 months ago. My first cousin (Ricky) went by his house at that time and found him in despair and shared the gospel with him. Walter accepted Christ and shared his new faith with his whole family and they all (7) were baptized at our church a week later.
Walter stayed sober from drugs for the next 30 days and passed a drug test to go to work for the company I work for. He worked 3 days and couldn't handle it. He went back home and progressively started back into drugs. He told several lies to Ricky and I to make up excuses for not trying to find a job. His mind was really messed up, I understand why, he has been on some kind of drug since he was 8 years old.
When Walter was "saved" he clearly had the joy of Lord in his heart and was changed, in fact he lead his brother to Christ and his family was baptized a couple of months ago.
My question, is Walter in Heaven? Was his mind so messed up and his body so addicted that he couldn't stand the pain of freedom after being in prison so long? I want to believe this, but I am too close to the situation. I would welcome any comments pro or con, this question is not to start a debate, just to hear others opinions and experiences.

I need more time.

2005-06-01T23:05:00.000-05:00

I want to share more of my life and thoughts NOW! but I haven't the time this time of the year to blog as much as I want to.
I have been traveling to Birmingham AL lately and will be most of the summer. Its hard to find time to "think out my thoughts" in writing. So when "I have time to find time" I will write some more. What time I do have for internet I usually spend reading other blogs. I would hate to give up that blessing just to blog right now.

I sit in a Hampton Inn at this moment in Birmingham typing this almost worthless information of what is going on right now in my life. I very much like the people here I have met, except for those that drive cars and put others in danger just to get somewhere minutes, even seconds faster, by cutting someone off [Lord please have mercy on me in relation to my thought life when I see these drivers]. So I will close this blog with the thought of coming back here in the next couple of weeks with a banjo on my knee but always looking both ways.

May God in Christ bless you all who read this.............. even if you are one of those drivers.

Till next TIME

why am I here?

2005-05-06T14:03:00.000-05:00

I have been wondering sometimes about why I am here on earth.
What is the meaning of my life is another question I have at times.
I know that I am a sinner and that Jesus Christ has paid my way for a relationship with Him. But sometimes I feel something is still missing. I don't feel this way all the time but sometimes I do. God has blessed me with a wonderful family, a great job and a church home. I know our church is still inmature to some extent (problably because I am there LOL) but I see the Lord doing things in our church and community that could only be done by Him. You see we are not always well organized and we are without a pastor at this time, in fact there hasn't been a full time pastor there since Dec. 2003, but God is sending new believers to our church fairly often. When I first started there (First Baptist Cement) in August of 2004 there were around 35 attending Sunday Schoool and church. Now there are around 65 attending. Our town has a population of around 550 and has 5 churches. On Wednsday nights we have around 75 youth, some from other churches and some that do not attend any church. Why do we have so many youth? I know some attend for social reasons and thats ok, they won't hear much about repentance of unbelief in Christ anywhere else and some attend because they truly love God and want to be around others that do.
The only thing I can relate to about why I am here is my family and church and maybe the job I have. I get restless and sometimes apathetic about my life, but I guess thats just being a part of a fallen world. I wish Christ would come soon, I know I am going to be ashamed of alot of what I've done with my life, but I hope thats the reason God says that He will wipe every tear away, He's talking about us weeping over what we are ashamed of and being in His presence will make all that disappear from our memories. Thats all I have to say at this time, if anyone would, please comment so I know I am not just typing to myself.

Truly Good News

2005-02-23T13:14:00.000-06:00

The Gospel of God in Jesus Christ is truly good news.
How do we really know its good news?
First we have to know, really know the bad news before we truly know what the good news really means.
We have all sinned and according to God, He has to punish sin, His character will not let Him do other wise.
The bible says our sin separates us from God. But God who is also merciful, not willing that any should perish provided the way to keep our sin from separating us from Him. Jesus a real person that lived 2000 years ago is the the Son of God who died on a cross to take our place of punishment for our own sins against God and literally rose again to life to prove that death had no hold on Him to prove to us that His death was acceptable to God. What does God require of us? He said if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. There is not anything we can do of our own to be saved.
What keeps you from believing God? Is anything more important than believing God and trusting Him to save you? You have to decide no one can do that for you. He loves you, believe Him and call on His name while you still can.

Oklahoma's cancer

2005-02-08T17:56:00.000-06:00

What is Oklahoma's cancer?
Its the Indian casinos that take money out of our economy by using the poor people in this state and their false beliefs that winning the big one will solve all their needs. Its sad and there is no way to go but down hill untill the disease finally makes us a welfare state. Our GDP will end at the casinos with out anyway for our tax system to sift what it needs to run our education system and gov. needs. The only thing then will be to raise sales and income taxes even more to take care of our state needs.
Wake up Okies and stop wanting something for nothing and giving what money you have to an impossible answer to your needs. Quit feeding this cancer and maybe it spread a little slower.

How Come?

2005-01-18T13:36:00.001-06:00

Just some things I ask how come about.

How come 'Christians' go to different churches in small towns?

How come people read the same Bible and not see same teachings?

How come some people think that God hates them?

How come some people think that God will let them off the hook, even if they don't change their mind about Him?

How come I wonder how come?

How come the Sooners had a bad game on Jan. 4th?

Who do I think I am........................?

2004-12-29T15:15:00.000-06:00

I am guilty totally guilty:
of thinking that because I am a believer and reared here in the "heartland" and live in a "red state" that I know what is right for our nation and all those "ungodly" liberals in the blue states don't have a clue!
Ya know this self-rightious crap is nothing more than the guy thanking the Lord that he is not like the other guy (in the blue state).
Have mercy on me, you guy-gal in the blue state and forgive me for my attitude toward you. I am sorry.
I may not agree with you, but I have no right to sit myself above you and say in my heart that you have no clue and I do. We both have "clues"

===================

This is my first ever blog and hopefully the start of many more from Sooner Land. (sorry Stillwater I am still glad I'm not like you)

Kris

and stillwater cowboys your invited to my house anytime.......just refrain from wearing ORANGE when you come over.