Tag Archives: mislead

Positive Thinking

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I just read that stuff about Olsteen.  I don’t follow the news anymore,  so I didn’t even know there was a problem.

In a way he’s right.  But only in a small way.  A very very small way.

Our Lord didn’t say, “Come be happy”.  He said “Come and suffer and die with me”.  And he made that point lot more often than he talked about happiness.

When he met with his disciples again, he didn’t chide them for their grief.  Before he was crucified, he warned his disciples that they would have grief.  But he assured them it would turn to joy.  He urged them to have faith. 

Remember how he told them the horrible things they would endure for his namesake.  Does that sound like today’s teaching about joyous positive thinking?

Olsteen, you forgot about the brotherhood of suffering for the name of your Lord. 

Hoorah for the broken hearts!   Shame for the hearts who binge themselves on joy. 

Integrity of faith is tested in the crucible of suffering.  How some people miss that is beyond my understanding. 

Research the English saying, “Stiff upper lip”.  You’ll find it reflects an honor even a godless man can respect.  How much more the servants of Christ?

Rule of thumb:
If a Christian teaching gathers a vast multitude of followers, be suspicious.

Are You Aware?

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This note is not to those who are not under the leadership of Jesus.  This is put to those who have recognized the rule of Christ Jesus in their lives. 

Are you aware of the war that goes on all around you?  Do you hear everything through the strainer of truth?  When your friends mention the name of Jesus as if it were a word equal to surprise, do you hear it as they meant it?  When you see a yellow light, do you listen to the flesh and speed up?  Or are you listening to the truth of God to obey authority and make plans to stop?  When there is something you know needs doing and you’ve acknowledged it in your heart, do you respond by the flesh and say to yourself, “Oh I got my priorities mixed up.  I’ll do such and such first”?  Or do you listen to what is true and go get it done?

When you feel that urge, that familiar urge toward that sin which debases you before the Most High God, do you realize that you’re being urged by both your flesh and the enemy whispering behind your head?  You strive to become holy and devoted to God, but when you’re tempted you give in.  Why?  Hasn’t Jesus set us free from the law of sin and death?  So, where is that devotion to Him?  How has He asked us to suffer beyond what the world encounters?  There are millions who run into the same problems you have, yet they seem to be able to handle the situation pretty well.  What is it about believers that we stumble so?  Where is our strength to defend and create a worthy testimony to the Lord of Life?

There is a war.  Those under the control of  the lord of flies are rarely hit as hard with “whispering temptation” as the believer.  The reason is that they pose no threat to his kingdom.  We, on the other hand, do pose a great threat if we ever get wind of being manipulated.  We are the players in this war who receive the greatest blows.  And this is as it should be. 

I became aware of his whispering one day.  I can’t remember how I knew it wasn’t me.  But I clearly recognized how out of place the thought was.  It was then and there that I started to listen carefully to my thought patterns.  I began to pay careful attention to what entered and what was produced by that entrance. 

Ponder what I’ve brought to the table here and consider His demand for Holiness on our part.  “Be Holy, even as your Father in Heaven is Holy”.  What cha gonna do bud?  grovel like a little child all your life?  You gonna let him bully you around?  Or are you gonna take charge with the power of the Holy Spirit God gave you?

By His Grace.