Tag Archives: Apostle Paul

America’s Future

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Riot part 2

Riot part 2 (Photo credit: interrobang)

Considering how great the threats are which present themselves against the people of America, I have tried to give account of how involved with the things of God I am to another.  One does a task for the Lord.  Another does another task for the Lord.  One is given to provide for certain aspects in the family of God.  While another one is given to war in the realm of the spiritual, unable to deal with the issues of the other.  The Apostle Paul speaks of the “gifts of the Spirit.”

With this in mind, there are certain things we are all required to accomplish for the sake of God’s will for America.  God’s people in Jesus, who are named by God as His people, are the key to what happens next.  And this is summed up with the following Scripture.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

It is appropriate to warn my brothers and sisters that there are two plans available in the hand of our God.  There is blessing for this land of America.  And there is horror to inhabit if we fail to heed this warning.  This is all I will say in regard to this.  May God bless our hearts to understand these things.

By His Grace.

Restraint for the Sake of Christ is Better.

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Saint Paul with a Scroll and a Sword.

Saint Paul with a Scroll and a Sword. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Traveling around last night I got to listen to a Christian AM station for a while.  It was a “Bible answer man” show.  They were talking about two men who had married each other and had two children in their house.  These two men attended a Methodist Church in which the caller also was a member.  And the question was, “What should we do  with these men?”  Their presence among the congregation was beginning to cause some serious divisions.  And something was about to be brought up regarding them.

The host bantered the Scriptures which dealt with the issue of homosexuality.  And settled on the remembrance that we are commanded to love without judging.  In the end, the caller was quite sure this situation wasn’t going to end well for the congregation.  It seems that these men are quite likeable.  So there was certainly going to be a split in the congregation as the problem was dealt with.  The host mentioned that “likeable” has nothing to do with salvation from sin.

I drove for the next hour talking the issue over out loud.  And fell on the following:

One sin is not any worse than another.  Though there are severities of involvement to be considered.  A man might fall into a sin once in a while (that besetting sin).  But another might be completely immersed in that same sin.  Now there is a difference in that, obviously.  The deeper we are caught in a sin the harder it will be to wrench ourselves from it.

These men are so immersed in their sin that they have chosen to make it entirely public, even to the point of raising two boys.  Now their sin is marked on absolutely everything they are.  To break with this is going to be a horrendous problem.

That said, I came to the conclusion that these men were doing something rather different from most who practise homosexuality.  They had come to present themselves to the body of Christ as if there were nothing wrong with their chosen sin.  They expected full acceptance regardless their standing with Christ.  Everyone in the congregation would surely know that they were having sexual intercourse together.  After all, isn’t that what homosexuality means?

Now I set their situation against another sin to see what people would do.  What if I were completely immersed in porn?  What if I decided that the Church had to accept me like that and not require that I lay that sin away from me?  What if I, like those men, paraded my sin before them?  Suppose I wore a t-shirt to Church which had the faces of a number of my favorite pornstars on it.  Do you think I would be asked to cover it up, or go home and change it?  Why?  If those two men can appear in person and flaunt their sin before the entire congregation, why can’t I go there and flaunt porn?  And if I were a “likeable” sort, do you think it would make a difference?

There is a distinct difference between being caught in a sin and flaunting it.  If those men really served Christ they would at least be aware of offending others with their sins.  As it is they are a division as they walk into the midst of these people.  How is that Christ like?  It would be better for them to remain separate as they worship God.  Then they would not be the cause of such a difficult choice, as the Church comes to the point where they need to make some decision regarding their presence.

I won’t go into the Church leader’s failure to preach a fine enough line to have hindered this problem in the first place.  Now that it is a problem among them, they’re going to have to deal with it.  I conclude that the congregation will experience a horrible split as they deal with these men.

It would be better for all of them (provided the men really want to worship the Living and Holy God) if these men would stay home and study the Bible, pray, and seek the face of God.  As it is they are also guilty now of causing division in the Body of Christ.  I remembered that the Apostle Paul said that if eating meat offended his brother he would eat meat no more.  If that is how crucial Paul saw an individual’s responsibility toward unity in Christ, what of these men?

I don’t condemn them for their sins.  I simply point out that flaunting our sins in the Body of Christ is the worst thing we can do.  Obviously, these men don’t consider their “brothers” in Christ to be more important than their flaunting of sin in their faces.  Along with the aboration of homosexuality, they now count to themselves the destruction of unity in the Body of Christ.  And all this for the sake of selfish gain.

A Song of Truth to Martin Bashir

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MSNBC NJ HQ

MSNBC NJ HQ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I saw a quote from a “news guy” (Martin Bashir) regarding the Catholic leader’s denial of a law which forces them to aid their workers in gaining birth control.  The statement he made was something like this, “That’s not being very Christian.”  There are no more stupid words a man might string together.  And this article is presented to show why his words are abject stupidity.

The man showed his complete lack of understanding regarding Christianity.  And he opened his heart to show us how rebellious he is toward the Holy God of Israel in Jesus the Christ.  And he displayed his choice to obey man rather than God.  What makes his statement stupid are the things he knows nothing about.  Maybe someone will make sure a copy of this reaches him so that he might give account of himself.

To this man, being Christian means we must give regardless of God’s commands to respect what He has given us.  To this man, Christians are hypocrites because they won’t help a woman to regulate the outcomes of sexual intercourse.  In short, this man thinks Christians should allow all women to play God when it comes to the function of their bodies.  And he is mystified that we should stand against the sins of this wicked day in the world’s history.  He might as well have said this:  “How dare you tell us we can’t use you to complete our desires!”  Well, we DARE!

There has been enough compromise from Christianity!  The Gospel has been watered down enough!  It is time to either, take a stand and begin to speak out loudly against this wicked age, or it is time to get up from your seat before Jesus, close the doors of your worship centers, and walk away from the truth He calls us all to embody.  I choose to remain with our Lord and God Jesus.  I will gladly take a strong stand and say the following.

Such women tell God that they are the ones in charge.  They say to Him that they will have sex any time they please.  And it is none of His business what happens as a result.  careers are to be made, sex is to be had, drinking is to be indulged, drugs, prostitution, gambling, greed, pride, and every wickedness abounds.  And I will take a stand against them all.

This man thinks we should aid them in this rebellion?  Was this the way of women from ages past?  Before birth control was available, did the women stab themselves in the stomach to abort their children?  When they were born did they throw them into the fire or water?  No, they had much more respect for what their bodies were capable of doing.  And if one did such things she was not glorified in society.   And unlike this man, the men of all other ages had more respect for their women.  Restraint was used instead of drugs.  Self discipline, an all but forgotten tool, was used with respect for the obvious outcome.

It is this age of abject rebellion which men and women take their stand against the Most High God.  They continue to contrive every possible means to gain what they want without regard to what God has commanded.  They consider that they live to please themselves, even at the expense of souls given to them in their womb.  They have thrown away self-control for the sake of pleasure. And they have come to expect that this seeking of pleasure will be allowed them regardless who is bold enough to stand in their way.  They do not consider that God gives life (a soul) at the union of sperm and egg.  The conception of life within them is simply a bother.  And they will not have it.

Even now there will be people read this and think I am being too harsh.  It is you who are being too harsh!  You are the ones killing the will of God among you so that you can do as you please!  You are the ones who are misusing the gifts of your bodies for the sake of your own gain.  I cannot be harsh enough about this topic.  God Himself will testify strongly about this on the day we all stand before Him.  And my words can never match the authority of the Most High God.

If that man who said, “That’s not being very Christian” would lower himself to read this message he would see that we have no intention of being the kind of Christians he thinks we should be.  To be as he suggests is to be no Christian at all!  We are saved by the ultimate authority in the ways of men and Angels.  Our obedience and allegiance is to God in Jesus, the creator of all that is, alone.  But then this man does not respect the authority of God, does he?  To him, Christianity is simply a religion which tells its followers to “be nice”.   What he doesn’t realize, and neither do those who rally with him, is that this message I’ve just presented is being nice.  I was nice enough to tell the truth.  I am being bold enough to incur the wrath of every rebellious man and woman.

I too walked as these people are doing.  I chased after every pleasure without thought to the consequences.  At some point the Gospel was presented to me, and I believed what it said.  With trembling heart I approached the Lord to confess what I was doing.  He has responded with a great mercy to lift me from those things.  He is quite willing and able to do the same for all who call out to him with a truthful heart.  I do not condemn you for what you are doing.  You are condemning yourself.  The judgment is already passed on all who chase after rebellion.  A second death awaits you after you die in this body.  And the judgment has already been rendered carte blanc.

This letter is a warning of two things:  The first warning is that all rebellion will bring swift destruction on anyone who embraces it.  And the second warning is that Christianity is not a “be nice” religion.  Regardless how you perceive the authority of Christians to tell you what is true, God remains King of all Truth and Righteousness.  He will judge us all according to our willingness to obey His commands.

You think because He is silent for now that He does not see what you do.  You purposely dismiss the fact that you will give account of yourself to Him.  And you believe all the lies of your brothers and sisters of sin to chase after every pleasure.  For now you take your side against the Living God.  But that need not remain the case for you.

The Apostle Paul said that “In Him we live and move and have our being.”  Consider this truth:  Allow someone to put an ant on your skin as your eyes are closed.  You will certainly feel what is foreign to your body.  It is the same with sin to God.  Every act of disobedience is felt and observed.  Nothing is hidden before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Turn to Him with earnest and fearful heart.  Confess what you have allowed yourself to become.  I assure you, He will lift you from all this rebellion in due time.  When He sees how we push away from sin to seek His ways, He responds with the gift He has promised.  This is the Gospel, my friend who thinks we should give in to every whim of sin you can imagine.  It is a message of hope to those who are already counted as dead before the Holy Throne of God.  It is not a license to continue in rebellion and every possible sin.  He will teach you to refrain from chasing after the things you now do which will cause your destruction.  And Jesus is able to teach you how to become clean, without fault, and holy.  He is able to turn you from an enemy of God to that which pleases His Father.

Eternal life is given to those who overcome.  What is it that we overcome which pleases God the Father through Jesus?  It is a life lived sinless that pleases God.  And Jesus is quite able to guide you into that very life.  I have spoken to the truth to all men and women.  This is the truth He has given to man in the Gospel of Christianity.  Make no mistake, It is “being very nice” to warn others of what is certainly going to come about by rebellious behavior.  It is to be eternally violent toward you to keep this message to ourselves!  So by asking us to help you remain in rebellion, you are actually asking us to be violent to you.  This is why that man’s statement is so incredibly stupid.

If you heard of a plot to murder a friend of yours wouldn’t you try to warn him?  If you knew that men were waiting to kill him as he went to his favorite bar, wouldn’t you try to keep him from going?  This is what I am doing for you.  I consider you my friends.  Because we are in the same position in this place of testing (the place God has made to create men and test their hearts to see if they will obey Him even without proof of His existence; do we love what is true or allow ourselves to misuse what He has provided).

And I am telling you that God has plotted against all wickedness, rebellion, selfishness, and sin.  God has sworn by Himself that nothing unclean will ever enter His presence.  He will catch you as you leave this body you now inhabit.  And you will be utterly destroyed!   The Holy Spirit of God, which helps me write this to you, will not contend with the wickedness of man forever.  There is a place where separation will be made.

Now what if your friend is so dead set on going to the bar that he pushes you away and rails on you for keeping him from his pleasure? With hatred for you in his heart he slams the door as he leaves.  What will you do next?  Do you still think I hate you because I try to keep you from death?  Do you really think I am being too harsh?  Think about it.

More and More!

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A Stream

I have written many things in this place.  And many have read them, according to the grace of God to me as His servant.  There are those who respond with admiration for the words He has given me.  And I am encouraged by my brothers and sisters who encourage me.  All Glory belongs to the Father through Jesus.  And His people praise what is good among us as He blesses us according to His eternal wisdom.

And now He is giving me a word which we have known yet not embraced fully.  It is a word of maturity which goes out to the unbeliever, the babe in Christ, and those who are running the race with a steady and vigorous pace.  I encourage all who read this to consider the importance of the day.  Night is nearing its end and the DAY is nearly upon us.

If you have accepted what faith He has laid within you, He is encouraging all of us to run all the harder.  There is Glory to be gained for our Heavenly Father.  There is a Bride which will be married to His Holy Son.  It is not fitting that Jesus’ bride arrive tainted by the things of this world.  With the strongest of intent I say this:  Clean your house (that tent of flesh in which we all abide, according to the will of God) of all things unholy.  Present yourself more and more before the Living God to receive that which He is willing and waiting to give.

Know that no sin will ever arrive in the presence of the Most High God.  And do not consider the teachings of liars which tell us to simply love one another, as if that were enough.  There is a purity to be gained from He who is Eternally Pure.  Gain that with all good speed.  Mend your pace as you have already been doing, yet do it all the more.  Closer is the moment of capture by the Holy One of God.  Closer now than ever before.  The entire creation will endure a reaping.  And that reaping is sure.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Thessalonia just this message.  Though his adoration for their dedication to God was a joy to him, we see him urging them to do all the things of Christ among them “more and more”.  If that was so 2000 years ago, how much more is it upon us to do the same?

What man among us would prefer to drink from a muddy stream?  What groom desires to marry a woman who mixes her body to other men?  What purity does the God of all heaven and creation deserve from the work of His Holy hand?  As you have already obeyed, do so more and more.  “To the Walls” my brothers and sisters.  Watch as guards of your own will.  Self control, prayer, knowledge of what is pure, and a violent desire to purify yourselves is what is called for here.  As we have done so, let us do so more and more.

By His Grace.