02/12/24 COMPLIMENTARY, NOT CONTRADICTORY
Being a Christian is being alive and being dead at the same time.
The Bible tells us that we must be alive to God (born again, born of God, born of the Spirit), and we must be dead to sin (crucified with Christ).
Neither one is optional, both are obligatory.
Both are liberating.
Alive to God and dead to sin, are the two sides to the same coin (salvation).
If you are born of God, you keep His commandments.
If you are dead to sin, you resist temptation.
02/10/24 THE WOKIES BETTER WAKE UP
In case you have been, "out of town" (euphemism for, "out of your mind"), there has been an insurrection, but it WAS NOT January 6.
There has already been a revolution, but it was not waged by anything that is RIGHT.
America has already been Fundamentally Transformed and Changed, but it did not bring Hope or Build Back Better.
Attacking freedom, family and faith is not going to start, it has already started, but it is going to get worse, even if we have a brief respite.
Reinforcements for the Fifth Column are coming across the border by the millions.
The Disunited States of America is failing to follow Christ and falling farther and faster into chaos.
God guides men, even lost men to do the right thing from time to time. But God also allows evil men to fill their cup of iniquity before He sends swift and certain judgment. It appears we are watching the rising tide of God's wrath against a world, which looks and acts like the antediluvian world and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
People have played with God too long. There comes a time of accountability. It is one thing to live in a wicked world and interact with an evil system, it is another thing to walk with, and align with an evil party whose platform is anti-Biblical and whose open agenda is to destroy freedom, family and faith.
We will not be saved by economics, politics, academics, religion or any other man made institution. The only hope for individuals and for societies is faith in, and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We see that American society has been willing to give up eternal treasures for momentary pleasures. As loving and gracious and merciful as God is, it is still a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
02/09/24 WALKING IS DAILY LIVING
As has been said, "An immoral man is dangerous, whether he carries a gun or a Bible."
Salvation does not come from simply knowing Bible facts or understanding Biblical doctrine or conforming to Biblical ethics. Salvation comes from trusting the word of God to be true, trusting in the sacrificial death and physical resurrection of Christ, which results in God's miraculous regenerating, justifying, cleansing, transforming and enabling power.
If preaching and teaching does not proclaim, promote, provide salvation from sin, conformity to the likeness of Christ, perfection in love, in this present evil world, then you are listening to the wrong teachers and preachers.
Biblical salvation is evidenced by clean hands and a pure heart, which is more than just a form of godliness. It is Christ in us, the hope of glory, it is worshiping God in the beauty of holiness, it is worshiping and serving God in spirit and in truth, it is presenting ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable, walking in the light as He is in the light.
It is not about us doing the best we can, it is about the power of God enabling us to live, follow, walk the Christian life.
I walk daily for my physical well being. My walk yesterday does not exempt me from walking today. My thirty miles of walking last week does not exempt me from walking this week.
The same is true concerning our spiritual life. We must walk if we are going to be with Jesus, if we are going to continue with Jesus, if we are going to finish our course and reach our goal.
Here are some checkpoints along the path of salvation. Make your journey certain.
*walk in newness of life (Ro. 6:4)
*walk in the light, even as Christ is in the light (1 Jn. 1:7)
*walk in the steps of Jesus (1 Pe. 2:21-22)
*walk as Christ walked (1 Jn. 2:6)
*walk in truth (3 Jn. 1:4)
*walk in love (Ep. 5:2)
*walk in faith (2 Co. 5:7)
*walk in good works (Ep. 2:10)
*walk worthy of our calling (Ep. 4:1)
*walk worthy of the Lord (Co. 1:10)
*walk worthy of God (1 Th. 2:12)
*walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh (Ro. 8:4; Ga. 5:16, 25)
*walk after God's commandments (2 Jn. 1:6)
*walk uprightly (Ps. 84:11)
*walk in paths of the righteous (Pr. 2:20)
*walk in the ways of the LORD (Ps. 18:21)
*walk honestly (Ro. 13:13)
*walk as children of light (Ep. 5:8)
*walk circumspectly, carefully, wisely (Ep. 5:15)
02/09/24 STUPIDITY IS A MORAL CHOICE
As I have shared before, "stupid" is a moral state, not simply an intellectual or academic condition.
Stupidity is knowing the right from wrong, but deliberately choosing that which is wrong.
You can't fix (educate or coerce) stupid, but you can pray for those who are willfully blind.
02/09/24 BIBLICAL TRUTHS RESTATED
Points to ponder.
These truths are Biblical. Search the Scriptures.
We have as much of God as we want, that's why we have as little of Him as we do.
We open and close the door of our own heart.
When we seek the Lord we find Him.
When we hunger and thirst for God, He fills us.
What we ask aright, we receive.
We determine what treasure we want.
When our "want-er" is right we will not have double vision.
When our eye is single we will serve only God.
Our possession of God's grace is determined by our surrender to God's will.
Our surrender to God is determined by our faith in God.
Our faith in God is demonstrated by love.
Our love of God is proved by our obedience to God.
Love, Faith and Hope are Cristian basics.
Hope sees the unsee-able.
Faith secures the unsee-able.
Love shows the unsee-able.
Walking in His light leads to more of His light.
Turning from light is turning to darkness.
We cannot walk in light and darkness at the same time.
Trusting and Obeying are the flip side of the same coin.
Either God is our Master or He is not.
Jesus is our Lord and our Savior or He is neither.
02/08/24 KNOW YOUR ENEMY
As humans, we are born with a human nature (body, soul, spirit), which has been affected by the fall of Adam in the garden; as children of Adam we are also conceived and born with a carnal (corrupt or sinful) nature.
Though the carnal mind is enmity with God, pre-born, new born and infant children are covered by the sacrificial death of Christ and because of His saving grace, they are not cut off from God. Remember, we are not cut off from God because of another person's sins, even if that other person is our own father. This is why it is correct to say that Jesus is the Savior of all men (people). When a person willfully rebels against God, then that person becomes accountable for his own sins. Again, God has made provision for those people, which is why the Bible also says that He is the Savior of all men, especially those who believe.
We are born into a world that is under the domain of the Prince of Darkness. Our worldview is formed by our culture, education, family and friends and our religious training. Sadly, most of those sources are aligned more with the god of this world rather that with the True and Living God.
At the time of our salvation, our sins are forgiven, our lives and minds are cleansed, our inner man is regenerated. But we still have the present, evil world system (economic, political, academic, religious, cultural influences), the devil and our carnal nature, with which to deal.
The world system is not going away during this lifetime and Jesus said His people still live in this world, but we are not of this world, which verifies that Christians have an ongoing conflict with this present evil world.
The devil is still a present enemy to our souls, which substantiates the need for us to fight the good fight of faith.
God has made provision for deliverance from all sin in this present evil world, including sins committed, victory over temptations, and deliverance from our inherited carnal nature. God calls believers to total commitment, God calls believers (those who have cleansed their hands through justification) to purify their hearts (through entire sanctification), which takes place when we are filled with God's Holly Spirit. God's plan to cleanse us from ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS is accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ, through the fullness of the Holy Spirit and through the power of His word.
God makes us more than conquerors over the world, the flesh and the devil.
However, the battle for the mind is an ongoing reality. The devil seeks to control our thinking. The devil works through our present evil world system (including politics, academics, economics, secular and humanistic ethics, false doctrines taught by errant religions).
Being conformed to the image of Jesus is a lifetime development for the believer. We must continue to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Being conformed to Christ and His will includes a "negative" and a "positive." By "negative," I mean the putting-away or putting-off that which is contrary to godliness. This is where many believers lose the spiritual battle. They do not want to turn from the carnal worldview, in which they have been raised. But God requires a total renouncement of all that is contrary to godliness.
We are living at a time when people are holding to their education, their politics, their false doctrines, their temporality at the cost of their souls. Wake up, Jesus said our enemies will be those closest to us.
It looks like "crunch time" for the whole world. There is no time left to cling to the the evil heart of unbelief and the weights that are hindering you from following Jesus fully, every day, all the way.
Sadly, folks love their politics, their heritage, their culture more than they love God. We are called to love God with our whole heart, we are enabled to love God with our whole heart, we are required to love God with our whole heart, and our neighbor as ourselves.
When you find that your education, your spiritual beliefs, your politics, your human attachments are in conflict with God, His word and His way, it is time to abandon the garbage scow of worldliness and allow God to totally deliver you, in your attitude, thoughts, words, deeds, and alignments.
Folks have given God their mite, but have kept their might for themselves. People have chosen to skim by instead of dive into the depths of God's grace, power, truth and deliverance from sin.
Beware of supposed Bible teaching that does not reject evil platforms. If your Bible teaching is not conforming you to the image of Jesus and if it is not setting you apart from the devil and his agenda, then you need to repent, turn, sell out to God and follow fully.
1 John 2:15-17
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
02/02/24 SOME "ISSUES" MATTER
I remember when society said that no one should talk about "religion" or politics in normal conversation, and most folks followed that advice.
Boy, were those people deceived.
I remember when the government and the church community said that preachers should not preach on "political" subjects (unlike Biblical messengers who dealt with morality, social and civil order, salvation, which were very political) from the pulpit, and most pastors followed that directive.
Boy, were those preachers gullible.
I remember when people referred to my preaching, as "issues" preaching. I was preaching about the Lordship of Christ over His people and His Church, the murder of the unborn, the "sterilizing" of the Church, the brainwashing of our children by Humanistic Secularism, the abandoning of Biblical order (for family, church, society and nation), the overthrowing of freedom (among other "ISSUES"). God's word and God's salvation are specifically aimed at the moral issues of society that destroy individuals, families and nations.
Obviously I was preaching Biblical truth, while so many others were stroking the enemies of the cross (political, academic, and religious), in order to get public, government, congregational approval and financial support for their gutless message.
So, how did the watered down, castrated, twisted preaching of a corrupted ministry turn out for America?
Good preaching is not determined by oratoracle prowess, charismatic appeal, academic accomplishment, wild eyed rhetoric. Good preaching is the loving, uncompromising, sincere proclamation of God's eternal, unchanging, Christ honoring, Spirit led, Biblically sound, sin hating, soul saving, life transforming message of God.
We could sing, "where have all the preachers gone?"
We can also sing, "where are the preachers going to come from?"
There might not be much time left to reach this Noahic society (including our own young people).
Who will do the Lord's work?
Who will lift the banner?
Who is raising up an army?
Who is leading and training the next generation of spiritual warriors?
Who will say, "Here am I Lord, send me?"
