Thursday, July 31

Buried secrets.....ohhh I'm shaken

The Bible's Buried Secrets, a 'new' documentary by William G. Dever, an American archaeologist, specializing in the history of Israel and the Near East in Biblical times, claims that the Bible is nothing more than a collaboration of mythical proportions, a story littered with historical facts embellished beyond reality. "It challenges the Bible's stories if you want to read them literally, and that will disturb many people," says Dever, "But it explains how and why these stories ever came to be told in the first place, and how and why they were written down."

Carol Meyers, a professor at Duke University who specializes in Biblical archaeology, and who contributes to the documentary, supports Dever's position "...Those [stories] were ways to communicate power, to communicate control, to communicate sovereignty. So as the Israelites are struggling with their own lives and with the sense that they have a God among other gods -- there are other gods out there, but they think their God is the best God. And one of the ways to prove that my God is better than your God is to show that my God is more powerful than your God.

"I understand that some believers won’t like what the PBS program has to say and I can even understand that they would rather not be presented with any evidence that might shake their faith." Daniel DiRito opinions in his blog, PBS, Politics, Patriotism, & The Primordial Patriarch ,", "However, I’ve always understood that true faith should be able to withstand challenge."

Such a statement is devastating in its accuracy. The True faith has withstood challenge for centuries. And only those who don't know how to articulate their faith stand shaken by such outrageous claims as those by Dever and Meyers.

The PBS special explores, through archaeological and biblical scholarship of such worthies as Dever, provocative declarations concerning the ancient Israelites’ adoption of monotheism and seeks to explain who wrote the Hebrew Bible and what influenced them. Dever and his colleagues make claims to Israelite beliefs; God had a wife, and the Bible cannot be literally read.

"I am not reading the Bible as Scripture… I am in fact not even a theist. My view all along—and especially in the recent books," Dever offers,"—is first that the biblical narratives are indeed 'stories,' often fictional and almost always propagandistic, but that here and there they contain some valid historical information."

"The Bible is essentially a religious history. Even those who wrote the Bible made it clear it was not a secular history, even though secular events are referred to." is most biblical theologians' view on the text. "It is a book about God and his relationship with man."

In the post-Reformation era, when the Bible began to be translated into several languages, erasing the illiteracy common in the Middle Ages and bringing individual ability to read and ponder the Scriptural texts, it became the one and only textbook on ancient history. It was regarded as the unerring Word of God.

The great 'sagas' of the Bible were approved as true and accurate, beyond any doubt, until the 'Enlightenment' of the 17th and 18th centuries, when human reason and scientific exploration were placed in the forefront and a frontal attack began on the Scriptural text of the Christian movement.

Professor Dever holds that the bible is a product of the Persian or even Hellenistic periods, composed at the very earliest after 500 BC, and therefore unreliable as a record of earlier periods.

It is not what is not already found in both the archaeological and historical arenas that such 'noted' personages claim are at the heart of a 'historical and scientific' reasoning behind the 'mythical fiction' of the Biblical text that frightens those who would disprove such as a reliable source of ancient histories, it is what is unknown. That uncertainty, coupled with the historically provable facts and archaeological discoveries of the last century, would cause those who seek truth to draw on startling conclusion:

We are the product of a God to whom we owe every fiber of our being, allegiance, and loyalty.

Gone are the superiority of the human species above all other things. Gone is the ability of mankind to make their own way in the universe, shaping and discarding as they march resolutely through the cosmos. Gone is the shady reasoning behind the universal question as to WHY?

Even if we isolate the attempt to show the validity and authority of the Biblical text to just the archaeological discoveries, ignoring the historical weaving of mankind throughout the text and the accuracy of the historical proofs of such items as prophecies and worldviews that were against the commonly held views of the time, we find startling logic staring us in the face.

Of some 5,000 known sites of archaeological significance in Palestine alone, only about 350 have been excavated. Furthermore, only about 2 percent of these sites have been extensively excavated. At that level of excavation, the entire Bible hold a remarkable accuracy compared to the unearthed finds.

The biblical accounts of locations, events, and other archeologically proven facts often is accurately pinpointed in the modern landscape.

Not even secular archaeology can boast such accuracy in human story of events we traditionally view as cultural history, events known through eyewitness accounts to have happened.

Whereas the scholars born of the 'Enlightenment" period doubted the existence of empires, population groups, and even the central characters portrayed in the Biblical text, the mounting evidence is forcing more and more skeptics to recant earlier positions.

Many archaeologists because of a scarcity of evidence, outside of the biblical record, even doubted the Israelites were ever captives in the land of Egypt. "Not one historical reference to the presence of the Israelites has yet been found there" (Magnus Magnusson, Archaeology of the Bible, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1977, p. 43). Thirteen years later, proof forced a recanting.

Proof such as that found at Karnak, site of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes; depicting the pharaoh Merenptah warring with Israel, "the oldest known visual portrayal of Israelites" (Frank Yurco, "3,200-Year-Old Picture of Israelites Found in Egypt," Biblical Archaeology Review, September-October 1990, p. 22).

The "Israel Stele", discovered in 1896 by Sir Flinders Petrie, contains "the earliest known mention of Israel…" intertwines biblical and Egyptian history with boastful inscriptions of battles with Israel and other nations. It dates from 1207 B.C.

Dibon, mentioned in Numbers 33:45, has been claimed by some 'noted' experts to have nothing beyond the ninth century B.C. in the archaeological remains and thus throw into doubt the entire biblical journey of Israel's departure from Egypt. Now, in light of recent discoveries, such 'firmly committed' scholarship has been forced to reevaluate their positions, with the discovery of Ramesses II itinerary confirmed with Egyptian evidence that shows he "sacked the city in the course of a military campaign in Moab" during the time of the Exodus. (Charles R. Krahmalkov, "Exodus Itinerary Confirmed by Egyptian Evidence," Biblical Archaeology Review, September-October 1994, p. 58).

Another such impossible existence, the city of Hebron, mentioned in Joshua 10:36 as a major point in the conquest of Canaan, has been since recanted with newly discovered and documented archaeological finds. An Egyptian map lists, ordered by Ramesses II, shows a list of cities carved on a temple wall in Amon, listing Hebron as a city in the Egyptian world. (Biblical Archaeology Review, September-October 1994, p. 60).

Not only such finds support various 'non-existent' cities, but places named in the account of the Exodus are found in Egyptian records, such as the river Kishon where the Israelite army under Deborah and Barak defeated a superior force.(Judges 5:19-21).

Historically proven people, such as Ponitius Pilate, Herod the Great, Augustus, Sergius, Paullus, Gallio, Felix, Festus, and even Herod Agrippa I and II, mentioned in the biblical accounts, such as the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, are written to a degree that shows the accuracy and knowledge of the author that scholars once used to cast doubt upon the historicity.

"One of the most remarkable tokens of (Luke's) accuracy is his sure familiarity with the proper titles of all the notable persons who are mentioned..," F.F. Bruce shows such examples," . . . Cyprus, for example, which was an imperial province until 22 BC, became a senatorial province in that year, and was therefore governed no longer by an imperial legate but by a proconsul. And so, when Paul and Barnabas arrived in Cyprus about AD 47, it was the proconsul Sergius Paullus whom they met . . ." (F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 1973, p. 82).

The inscription on the Moabite Stone provides nonbiblical confirmation that king Mesha of the Moabites, mentioned in 2 Kings 3:4-27, as an actual historical character.

The Black Obelisk provides a record of the payment of tribute to the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III by Jehu, king of the Israelites (2 Kings 9-10; 2 Chron. 22:7-9).

The Babylonian Chronicle attests to the historicity of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his conquest of Jerusalem as recorded in 2 Kings 25.

Over 100 ostraca (inscribed potsherds) inscribed in paleo-Hebrew script were found in the citadel of Arad, the largest collection of inscriptions from biblical times, contain dates and several names of places in the Negev, including Be'er Sheva and the priestly families Pashur and Meremoth, both mentioned in the Bible. (Jeremiah 20:1; Ezra 8:33)

Even U.S. News has summarized exciting new archeological evidence that confirms the historicity of the Bible.

Kenneth Kitchen, University of London Egyptologist points to documents discovered in Syria that confirm the amount of money Joseph's brothers received when they sold him into slavery. The rate at the 'liberal' declaration of the time of the writing was far more and Kitchen points out that the writers would have logically used the standard of the day. This allows that the timeline written in the Bible is accurate, for the rate was much less than it was at the proported time of writing.

Archeologists have discovered the remains of a crucified man, a contemporary of Jesus, buried in a family grave, as described in the gospels, which disproves declarations of historical inaccuracy that the Romans historically didn't allow such burials. It also confirms the style of crucifixtion.

There are a number of other ancient inscriptions that have provided valuable insights into biblical history, among these the Gezar Calendar, the Samaria Ostraca, the Siloam Inscription, the Lachish Letters, and numerous Phoenician and Aramaic inscriptions, that show non-biblical proof of events and people written in the text. (Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, ed. James B. Pritchard, 2nd ed., Princeton: Princeton University, 1955, pp. 320-24; 3rd ed., 1969, pp. 653-62.)

Time after time scholars have had to backtrack from earlier statements as additional archaeological evidence came to light. Yet, the noted scholar and expert in Israel, Dever, has committed much the same proof of unreliability of the current non-biblical bias with this latest 'series' of NOVA 'documentaries' which are nothing more than speculations of those who seek to disprove the proven.

"Archaeological silence is [a] problem." Noted skeptic Farrell Till claims. Yet, much of what Till claims shows the ability to cast doubt upon the accuracy and authority of the Biblical accounts is proven time and time again to be a failing of the human experience to expand beyond what is immediately known and reach for the unknown, to stretch beyond the 'known'.

But absence of proof is not proof of absence, only a lack of time to find such proof. Until 1993 there was no proof of the existence of King David or even of Israel as a nation prior to Solomon, and then in 1993 proof of King David's existence outside the Bible in an ancient mound called Tel Dan, where words carved into a chunk of basalt were translated as "House of David" and "King of Israel."
Even Hershel Shanks, the editor of the magazine Biblical Archaeology Review is critical of "belief in the inerrancy of the Bible."

These 'new' biblical archaeologists come to the digs with "geologists, paleobotanists, zoologists, anthropologists, soil scientists, climatologists, etc." and apparently evolutionists. (Hamid Abu Duruk, "Archaeology Thriving in Saudi Arabia," Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol. 21, No. 2, March/April 1995, p. 73.)
And together, it is less understanding what the evidence presents as rendering interpretations of what is to be told.

These interpretations, much like their counterparts in evolutionary theory, are flawed by the natural subjection of whatever presuppositions they have in regards to what is found and it is less archaeology than humanistic depiciton of man's past, present and future.

James K. Hoffmier, a professor at Wheaton College, claims that, in truth, most biblical archaeologists are enemies of the bible, "The result of their scholarly investigations has been that virtually all that the Bible has to say about the early history of Israel has been rejected . . . Gone are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua and now even David. The Egyptian sojourn and exodus stories, along with Sinai wanderings and Joshua's military entry into Canaan, have been reduced to retrojections or inventions by later Biblical writers." (James K. Hoffmier, "Of Minimalists and Maximalists," Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol. 21, No. 2, March/April 1995, p. 22.)

Abraham didn't exist, according to the new biblical archaeologists and historians, and even if he did, he didn't live in Palestine but in Arabia. But finds in the field of archaeology have Abraham's name in Babylonia as a personal name at the very period of the patriarchs of the Old Testament. This wouldn't exist if he was a fictitious character who was redacted back by the later Israelites. The field of Abram in Hebron, mentioned in the Bible, is mentioned in 918 B.C., by the Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt (possibly actually Ramases II).

The temple at Karnak has Abraham's name in the accounts of Ramases II's battles and this squarely places such a patriarch in Palestine, where the Bible places him, not Arabia as is contended by Muslims. The Beni Hasan Tomb from the Abrahamic period, depicts Asiatics coming to Egypt during a famine, corresponding with the Biblical account we often refer to as "Joseph's story".

The Smithsonian Department of Anthropology remarks, "Much of the Bible, in particular the historical books of the old testament, are as accurate historical documents as any that we have from antiquity and are in fact more accurate than many of the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, or Greek histories."

Frank E. Gaebelein, author and general editor of The Expositor's Bible Commentary, made a comment in 1979 that remains true in the 'search for archaeological proofs' in that "the attitude of suspended judgment toward Bible difficulties . . . is constantly being vindicated, as archaeology has solved one Biblical problem after another, and as painstaking re-examination of discrepancies has finally led to answers" (The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1979, Vol. 1. p. 31).

Nelson Glueck, a Jewish Reformed scholar and archaeologist, has concluded, "No archaeological discovery has ever been made that contradicts or controverts historical statements in Scripture".

So what is the link between new archaeology and new hermeneutics? It exists only to promote the liberal theology, as expressed by James A. Sanders;

I think that it is time for us to stop fooling the people, making them think that there is just one Bible and that our Bible committee got closer to it than their committee did. . . . Must we continue to pretend that only our group is right denominationally and others are not right, and it is just too bad about others? . . . The Hebrew text is still in the process of standardization, but I wonder if it would not be proper for there to be an effort afoot to provide our people with the differences where they exist and let them see that there have been differences all along. I have been told by some that that would just destroy the Bible because lay folk still want to think of the Bible as somehow "inerrant." (James A. Sanders, "Understanding the Development of the Biblical Text," The Dead Sea Scrolls After Forty Years, pp. 70-71.)

Much like the evolutionary cause, this is just another attempt to reclaim man's pursuit of Godhood, by any means possible. And it can only be done if we, as a species, prove that there is no God.

The river in Egypt just isn't a river......it's a state.

of De-Nile.

A season ending

Therefore, I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other's faults because of your love. Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

Judgment comes in many forms; some correctly given and some applied with a vigor that defies Christian thought. Vengeance is vengeance, regardless of the intentions behind it. I knew that there were some that would read my blog yesterday and the day prior and take offense. As I had discussed with Cherie before I posted it, there will be two responses from it; silence from those who feel slighted –especially from those who know that they were behaving incorrectly or, those who came up to me to discuss the cause behind my feelings.

Silence reigned last night. Even from two I would've not expected such behavior; two that claim that the teachings of Henry Wright have freed them from so much of the demonic spirit activity that he points to as the cause of illness. Of course, I am sure that they feel that I am stirred up by the teachings I've been attending on Wednesday nights at SQ. I'm sure that they feel the principalities of Bitterness and Accusation are playing the tune that resounds in my blog and I bet that they are simply waiting on the power of this ministry to free me from the demonic influences that plague my soul.


All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Proverbs 16:2


It is sad.

Another season ending, yet another valley descended into. Yet I can see the summit of the mountain and upon its shining crown lies......

A cross of wood.

And a god-man who died to be my savior and lives to be my King.

Wednesday, July 30

Higher standard...

"Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?" Genesis 18:25 (NASB)

Abraham's pleading with God concerning the judgment placed upon the wicked city of Sodom teaches us how we should approach our brethren and even those still lost in the darkness if we feel that there is immoral, unscriptural, or unethical behavior happening in their lives. "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." Matthew Henry reflects in his Concise Commentary regarding this section of verse (23-33).

I am grieved by the actions I felt took place within the gathering of the brethren this Sunday past, not for myself, for I am unfortunately very familiar and very 'comfortable' with the judgment cast upon me by people who are uninvolved and uninterested in my life and the trials, tribulations, and disasters that have been part of the landscape. But for those who came and were told they could enjoy some respite from the toils of the world within the safe environment of Christ's body. I was surprised, upon arriving there, to find two of my invited guests sitting out from the gathered members of the church; told that those gathered didn't know my name. They weren't taken in, sat down, and fellowshipped with until my arrival. Just a image of what was to come, I guess.

I am not interested in exacting 'payment' for incorrect judgments or even been 'avenged' by some calamity befalling my accusers. Whether they accuse me to my face or behind my back. Rather, I trust in the Judge of the Earth, who will call me and all others who claim the name of Christ as the head of their lives and will set forth a righteous flame as a measure against the works that we preform within the body and within the culture of society in which we are supposed to 'be separate from.'

I know that God is powerful enough, adept enough, and loving enough to call me to 'task' for sins I commit, whether consciously or unconsciously, and to bring me back to a place of restoration and purpose. I cannot derail His purpose for me, nor ignore it, and in the time and place of His choosing I will find myself equipped to meet the standards and the abilities such purpose will need; not to enable myself to gain glory or even fame, but to bring about that which God Himself has declared such purposing would bring.

God brings all of His servants; whether called to ministry to the flock or to another God-designed, God-inspired purpose, to a place where they are made weak and timid so that His power and glory is evident in the defeating of the enemy's designs upon those still lost in the darkness, those straying from the light, or those embattled upon the front lines of this war. He doesn't call the equipped, for there lies within those so set an ability to become proud instead of meek, and selfish instead of servant-seeking.

"Do Moses' Teachings enable us to judge a person without first hearing that person's side of the story? We can't judge a person without finding out what that person has done." John 7:51 (GWT)

We are too often swayed by outward appearances, motives, or desires that have nothing to do with the truth of the situation or the circumstances to which we've judged another. We cannot, within or without, the body of Christ bring a blanket judgment against those who we haven't taken the time to be in relationship with. We should always look to the eternal perspective of our decisions, rather than be embroiled in the passions and the 'fashion' of the moment.

I have come to a place where it doesn't matter if I ever come to what I know was God's purpose for me; the call to minister not only to those of the body but to serve those who wander in the darkness of an evil-inspired nightmare; locked within themselves, devalued by society, by the world, and by those who decide they have the power to judge where only God can. To teach those who are so wounded that there is One who don't look at their wounds, scars, and tormented minds with discust but with an understanding that can bring them to a place where salvation isn't just a word, and hope isn't just a feeling but a reality established upon the blood of the Holy and Righteous Jesus Christ.

But I will continue to work towards that realization, and perform the tasks to which He has set before me to do......

Until He calls me home or I stand with the rest of the faithful in joyful triumph on the day He travels across the sky in victory!

Tuesday, July 29

Self-righteous, condemning, uninformed gossip....

Maybe I was mistaken four years ago when I thought I heard God speak my purpose into my ear, which exlicted a sharp, loud laugh from my lips and an hour of walking and pacing in discussion with the Father about such silliness. Maybe I was just wishful thinking and talking to God while He was thinking, 'What is this boy talking about? What Call?'.

Let me tell you a story.

Two men come to church, every Sunday. Both are Christians.

One walks with the swagger of a righteous man, speaking loudly in Christian-ez, always raising his hands in worship, and booming a loud "Amen" when the Preacher makes a biblical point. He is well-liked and respected within the church. Whenever there is a financial need, his flourishing signature is a welcomed site on the large donations he gives. He proudly proclaims the things he is involved in, his work within the church, and his ministries that he belongs to outside of the church. He calls church his second home. His wife is involved with ministries within the church, is in the choir, and they sit in the front row each and every event at the church. You know alot about this guy and his wife, because he is one of the more vocal members of the church and you can always find out about someone else from him; he seems to know everything.

The other man walks as if under a heavy burden. You know through the grapevine that he struggles with financial, health, and drugs. He always sits in the back of the church, praying fervently that God will help him overcome, that he knows he is unworthy of the love of God, and solely relies on the mercy of God's grace to redeem him. He can't tithe because he is constantly struggling to maintain home, food, and his vehicle. He scraps together what few dollars he can and gives as he can. He doesn't proclaim himself, but is always there when there is a dirty and heavy project to do. Then he silently drifts away. He is in a divorce, his wife and he have separated..for what reasons you haven't asked. He starts bringing a friend to church, her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend, the latter two who have accepted Christ as a matter of being involved with the church. It appears there is something going on between the two but you aren't certain. Beyond that, you don't know much about him.

Who do you think goes home restored? Who do you think you should be involved with? Who would Jesus sit with in the walls of the church? Who would Jesus condemn as self-righteous? Who would you gossip about with your friends and the leadership?


During our last 'coffee shop chat', the Pastor of the church I attend discussed with me some concerns he had regarding my friendship with a woman attending church with me. We discussed the relationship, its possible future, and the dangers that lie within. His parting words were, "A minister's reputation is golden. You need to be above board if that is where you want to go."

Who's testimony in the story above is more damaging to those either saved or unsaved that view these two? The sinner, saved, but struggling to overcome deep seated tendencies ---who shows a constant and continual reliance upon God or the one who seems to have it all together and let's everyone know it?

We have watched over the past few years many evangelical leaders fall and fall hard from the hidden lives they have lived outside the church walls, many catholic leaders condemned and imprisoned due to sexual sin that was covered up by the high leadership, and many Christians within the walls of our church leave, misaligned because we don't know them that well and make judgments between the whispered comments of our friends as we decide what the appearance of is.

"And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”” Luke 18:9-17 (NASB)

Pastor John Piper, author of "Desiring God", posted an article on Crosswalk.com entitled Talking to People. "Jesus was looking the Pharisees in the eye and telling them a parable that implied that they were self-righteous," Pastor Piper says about this parable in Luke, "He was not talking about them but to them."

No matter where you go, be it in the church, at a picnic, or at your job, there is someone always 'talking' about someone else. My friend Cherie made the comment, "If they are talking about you, at least that means they aren't talking about someone else."

It is often about some aspect of their lives, either a situation that they or a loved one is going through or a circumstance that they are enduring. And too often, even within the body of Christ, gossip abounds as people talk about what they see rather than what they know, with decisions being made without full information and cobbled together whispers of 'friends'. It is a mean, vicious thing that too many times we forget can hurt and damage someone's walk with God; regardless of the fact it hurts the person themselves.

Jesus, as Piper said, talked to the Pharisees and not about them. He spoke to them about their self-righteousness and not behind their backs about apparent sin in their lives. Jesus became involved, weaving Himself into the lives of the Pharisees and gently pryed their hands away from their protected hearts with a parable.

Sometimes He was gentle and other times, the love He had for those He spoke to had the edge of conviction in it...much like Nathaniel did with David in 2 Samuel 12:1-4
(BBE) "Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said, “There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb which he bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him." Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. “He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.” Nathan then said to David, “You are the man!

There isn't a place within the body of Christ for gossip. Gossip will destroy the very thing that God calls us to be within the body; in relationship with each other. Calling each other to a higher standard, edifying what is right and instructing in love what is wrong.

Laziness, not being involved with another in this journey home that we all are engaged in, is what gossip is. When there is no involvement with another person, you cannot point and say, "Hey, look at that! A sinner!" But we don't want to be involved because that would mean we cannot pride ourselves on getting it right, expressing our opinions and not have them snap back in our face, or be involved in the messy process of restoration. The result....

"...................they will learn to be lazy and will spend their time gossiping from house to house, meddling in other people’s business and talking about things they shouldn’t." 1 Timothy 5:13 (NLT)


To be able to come to a brother or a sister with a burden of a 'apparent' sin, you need to be involved with that person ---walk a mile in their shoes, and see what the circumstances, situation, or even the motivation is that has caused this doubt to speak to your heart. And, to be involved means you are responsible to be trustworthy with another's heart, and not whisper your rumors to those who you know will support your opinion.

Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart. Proverbs 18:8 (NLT)

The Life of Freedom course, Henry Wright's healing prosperity gospel, that I am attending at Soul Quest, along with Cherie, Holly, and Hayden, was like an old family reunion visit; many 'friends' that I had at what was once my Home Church are attending the class.

Apparently, because they feel they know the situation that exist, they feel compelled to bring their thoughts to the attention of their friends who invited them to attend the study.

I have not corrected their impressions of what has happened between me and Kristy. I have not gone out of my way to inform them what happened, what was involved, what was done, what wasn't done, and anything specific to the situation. They haven't asked. They've accepted Kristy's explaination that "she's helping a friend get their life together, and I am the one who has caused the rift."

And the gossip at the church is why I decided to leave so long ago.

Now the 'gossip' has come to the current church and it has altered many within the 'family' in regards to me and those associated with me. Whereas before the first night of class began, people within the family at the current church were coming up to myself, Cherie, Holly, and Hayden and speaking with us on a regular basis, very few will come around now.

Even the ones who spoke to me on a regular basis have been silent.

Even though God is visible in Holly's life as she hungers for His word.

Apparently, though, the gossip mill didn't stop there within the realm of the class or the environment of the church walls. It was evident at the church's annual picinic, too, that there were those, totally uninvolved in my life, that decided that they know what is going on.

I brought my ex-wife, Carol; her sister, Betty Jo; Betty Jo's kids; my children, Casey and Sara; Cherie, Holly, and Hayden; and Cherie's sister and her husband, Brenda and Tony to the picinic which was open to the congregation and their family and friends.

I brought those important to me to what I believed would be a pleasant afternoon.

We set up near the pavilion and did what most people do....gathered together to enjoy the meal. Holly, Hayden, and my son Casey were going to be baptized in the Pontiac Lake after dinner.

The picinic lasted four hours. It could've been a century with what I shamefully endured, and what my guests were exposed to; Glances under covered eyes, whispers that would end when someone with my party would come near. Yet no one, not one of the brothers and sisters gathered came over to speak about what they thought was going on. No one came over and fellowshipped with two new people that were coming to a picinic of believers for the first time. No one.

I remarked to Cherie, as we discussed this away from the pavilion, having a cigarette at my car how the people who are 'christian' are acting about her and I. Yes, I am struggling with my smoking habit again, after a year and a half of successful restraint. No one, except the Pastor, has engaged us to any degree to make a determination of whether there is a need for accountability or even if sin exists. Appearances are deceiving, but no one wants to engage me on a personal level to find out if what they believe is true is true.

Love is more often a painful exercise in relating because there are sinful, broken human beings involved and people hurt people, unintentionally and with malice. But Jesus doesn't call us to live pain-free lives, but to go boldly into those painful potentials with love and grace. The opposite of our human self-protecting conflict avoiding natures. Our consciences, when tuned in to God's call, don't allow us to be comfortable with the easy path because we know we are not loving those we encounter. We gossip about others to make ourselves seem more righteous, more holy, and fail to realize we are being pharisical in our dealings.

We should gather those in our family together, encouraging them with the evidence of grace we see within their lives and speaking boldly of the power of the Spirit which resides in the heart of every Christian, backsliding or not, with words of caution, warning, correction, or even rebuking.

" We encourage you, brothers and sisters, to instruct those who are not living right, cheer up those who are discouraged, help the weak, and be patient with everyone. (1 Thessalonians 5:14 GWT)

"[Jesus] died for us so that all the logs and specks in our eyes may be forgiven. That should give us both courage and care in dealing with others," Pastor Piper concludes his article, "Especially when we realize that the faults of our brothers and sisters have also been forgiven by Jesus."

I am accountable to God and He convicts me of sin, of wayward wandering, and of purpose. He has admonished me several times for sins I've committed, struggle with and fight against with a win and lose record.

Regardless of whether I become a pastor or never grace the stage in front of bible believing family, I am not concerned with the apparent reputation that others label me with, based on what they think they know and what they see, piecing together a list of lynching crimes that will keep me from fulfilling a call from God. They don't have the grace to find out the story and commit to a biblical perspective in its handling, so why would I?

I don't feel the need to 'correct' the story that is out there, either given by Kristy or 'pieced together' by those who feel they know the situation. I don't feel the desire to correct those 'opinions' formed on the basis of what those people think they know. I have spoken with those who have asked me for clarification, what precious few there are, and I have engaged with those who actively seek to engage me. And I always will.

There is no purpose in engaging those who think they know and have formed an opinion based on what their eyes can see, the wounds they have experienced in their own lives, and the gossip they've heard from others.

Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down. Proverbs 26:20 (NIV)

My testimony is this; untarnished no matter how many times I fail, commit a sin/am broken/ and restored, I have only one person I want to impress. He will command a righteous fire to burn whatever I have built on this earth and what remains, what is built of materials worthy of His salvation, will remain as the impurities and sinful material is burned away. I will be content with His decisions, because:

I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. Psalm 116:1-2

That is where my reputation is the most important and most protected; because He knows my heart. But, what of the reputations of those who judge without knowledge? Those who gossip and put on a 'club' image that outsiders cannot belong to?

Who is the one who goes home redeemed?

A sinner who knows without God there is no hope; who confesses and repents their sins.

Or a righteous self-denying Christian who decides they know what sins are committed by others and refusing to see the lumber in their own eyes?

Monday, July 28

Tides of Good and Evil......

“In the day of wealth have joy, but in the day of evil take thought: God has put the one against the other, so that man may not be certain what will be after him. These two have I seen in my life which is to no purpose: a good man coming to his end in his righteousness, and an evil man whose days are long in his evil-doing. Be not given overmuch to righteousness and be not over-wise. Why let destruction come on you? Be not evil overmuch, and be not foolish. Why come to your end before your time? It is good to take this in your hand and not to keep your hand from that; he who has the fear of God will be free of the two. Wisdom makes a wise man stronger than ten rulers in a town. There is no man on earth of such righteousness that he does good and is free from sin all his days.”(Ecc 7:14-20 BBE)

God creates both good and evil (rather, the potential for evil)? Dangerous theology to be preaching in the days of the emergent church or a loving God who wants nothing more than to have you totally healthy and totally rich, or even the God of Total Love (the best, never the worse).

Gone are the words Christ spoke of a rich man’s difficulties to get into Heaven. Gone are the thoughts that God wants us to be His, totally and without blemish, and brings that about through testing, trials, and tribulations. God only wants to love us our way, to be rich, to heal the world, and to be totally healthy, or even.....never sick.

A lot is said about Jesus’ words to his disciples, of bringing us life, life in abundance. Many pastors point to this as proof of the desire of the Almighty to give us health untold and riches beyond our dreams.

The properity gospel. The name-it-and-claim it doctrine. The emergent movement. The list goes on and on about the doctrinal teachings of an All-powerful vending machine God that only takes special tokens given to Christians "in the know", a God who doesn't want anyone to perish so we've nothing to worry about regardless of our "sinful lifestyles, rotten fruits, or self-serving natures"...God is hog-tied and cannot let us go or a God that is solely love that doesn't "use" evil to the means only He knows.

Job admonished his friends and family for such views that God only gives or allows good for us, even in his trials;

“Job replied, "Don't talk like a fool! If we accept blessings from God, we must accept trouble as well." In all that happened, Job never once said anything against God.” (Job 2:10 CEV)

Did God then create man to be evil? Is this just some cosmic bet that God seems to have lost in the domination battle that wages between the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with the "Lord of the Air" (i.e. the fallen one, the usurper, Satan)? Or is it more of a cosmic roll of the dice, where God created and then got bored?

Why, if God is for us, do babies die within hours of their birth while their parents desperately pray for a miraculous healing? Why do adult Christians, spiritually strong in mighty proportions, die at 32 with a wife and three children left behind to carry on? Why do evil men, like the Iranian President, live freely without compulsion or fear? If God indeed uses His powerful righteousness not to spare evilness from entering a righteous man's life, why does He do it? Does He love us or just don't care, allowing the lucky to gain while the unfortunates wither from lack of nutrious food?

No, we were created perfectly by a righteous and holy God, in His Image, and we are living in the sin of Adam and Eve, who would be god. Though our creation was in perfection, a image of the Holy and Righteous God I AM, our minds became corrupted by the introduction of sin into the Garden.

That is why we struggle against our old nature even when the new has been born through the baptizmal of the Holy Spirit. That is why some succumb to the call of their old selves, still clawing for life within the unfruitful soil of the righteously redeemed. That is why some never achieve the peace that Christ left before His ascension to Heaven, His perfect peace. That is even why we, as did the great apostle Paul, "do what I know not to do and don't do what I know to do."

"I did learn one thing: We were completely honest when God created us, but now we have twisted minds." (Ecc 7:29 CEV)

One thing that Solomon consider one of the most important things he ever discovered was very simple and basic. So far a cry from the doctrine that is plying complexity within the humanistic and universalism view of who this God is. Either He is beyond comprehension or He is untrue.

The first family, Adam and Eve were made in perfection, in the image of God Himself, Genesis 1:27. They were made to be 'upright', to be "right and innocent before Him" in their soul, by which they were given knowledge, righteousness, and holiness to be children of God as Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4:24. We were created in original form, to be knowledgable of the Godhead, Three in One, to understand righteousness, to live in holiness because of a God-given knowledge of His mind and will, the manner of worship He desired, and perfect without defect.

We were created to have "understanding clear of all errors and mistakes, either about divine or human things; [our] affections regular and ordinate, no unruly passion in [us], no sinful affection, lust, and desire; [we] loved God with [our] his heart and soul, and delighted in him, and communion with him; the bias of his will was to that which is good; the law of God was written on his heart, and [we] had both power and will to keep it; and, during [our] state of integrity, was pure and sinless." (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament)

Sin didn't always exist. Even Solomon, the wisest person in all the world, could not find such timelessness but rather "the fountain of all sin, the origin of moral evil; namely, the corruption of human nature through the fall of Adam." (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament)

It is not God who created sin or evil, rather it is the design that man was created with 'free will' and who fell into our own sin and folly through the originial sin of desiring more knowledge and happiness through unapproved methods to ultimately become as wise as God Himself, against the desires of God's design and through such action, against God Himself, as well.

And we have sought out theologies and doctrines that better give us an 'excuse' to give us gratification to the unending question as to 'why'? From Adam's blaming Eve for sin's introduction, Eve's throwing the blame upon the serpent, and our loss of that knowledge of righteousness, holiness, power to know good and do it, and even the prescense of God.

The original sin has been perfected through the ages as man sought out new ways of having the happiness that is genetically and spiritually written within ourselves. Decay of the moral standards to suit the living of sinfulness, pursuit of riches, self-value, decadent pleasures of the flesh, humanistic scientific knowledge in which to manpulate our world, or even doing good works for our own acolodaes.

But this generational knowledge, this 'measure of faith' that God implanted within His creation, has not been lost totally, which is why some have answered the cry of the heart and heard God's voice. A remenant of the image of God, the law that He wrote upon our hearts, and the cry in our souls that this is not right; we were born for greatness that we cannot achieve within the confines of our broken, sinful nature shows us that we were made for something other than what we are now.

It is those who find themselves discontented with the explainations of the world, who stand against the manipulation of the worldly knowledge to once again 'rediscover' that generational desire within us to be 'as knowledgable as the Creator' or to be 'god', and find themselves struggling in peace and mercy through the trials of this world that realize the wisdom that Solomon himself found;

“I know that God is testing us to show us that we are merely animals. Like animals we breathe and die, and we are no better off than they are. It just doesn't make sense. All living creatures go to the same place. We are made from earth, and we return to the earth. Who really knows if our spirits go up and the spirits of animals go down into the earth? We were meant to enjoy our work, and that's the best thing we can do. We can never know the future.” (Ecc 3:18-22 CEV)

By chosing our 'portion' in this world and its pleasures of self-indulgence and self-protection, we have declared ourselves to be nothing more than a random chance coupling of amno-acids and primordial soup bringing ourselves level with the beasts of Creation. And, by denying God, we have not only denied our salvational gifting but we have denied our spirit, that very thing that separates us from the beasts of this world.

We spend our limited knowledge and earthly wisdom in the pursuit of filling that empty space we've created by such denial. Like the beasts of the earth, if we seek only self-fulfillment, self-perservation, and self-contentment, we shall die like those beasts returning both in body and spirit into the dust from whence we were formed.

Such is why God is delaying His interference within the matter of mankind's redemption until the appointed time He has set and allows such trials, temptations, and tribulations to exists in the world of the righteous as well as allow good to come to the wicked.

Under the 'free will' development of man, with the introduction of sin and its progetity, the distinction of those of the world and those of the spirit will become manifest to the degree that man's sinfulness is visible under the condemnation and oppression of the faithful through so-called human justice, which is nothing more than human brutishness based upon the linear human process of thought.

"If one disregards the idea of God's interfering at a future time with the discordant human history, and, in general, if one loses sight of God, the distinction between the life of man and of beast disappears." (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament)

Those who raise themselves beyond the level of the beasts of the earth develop a sense of eternity based upon the revealed act of Jesus Christ, and through Him the desires and reality of God, His Father. In God's desire to perfect us and make us holy and blameless in His sight, His plan has developed to bring us to that place, in the course of His timing, in perfect condition whereas the imperfections born of sin are lanced from our souls.

German Biblical Critic Ferdinand Hitzig speaks of this mingling of good and evil in the life of men, “Because God wills it that man shall be rid of all things after his death, He puts evil into the period of his life and lets it alternate with good, instead of visiting him therewith after his death.”

In other words, “God causes man to experience good and evil that he may pass through the whole school of life, and when he departs hence that nothing may be outstanding (in arrears) which he has not experienced.” (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament)

As Matthew Henry speaks of in his commentary, "How an eternity of existence may be to us an eternity of enjoyment?" is the question that we find the answer to in this journey home. This revelation of God's plan, design, and purpose is shown in the physical manifestation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the only Hope for all sinners, of which mankind is solely existent as.

This learning in the 'school of hard knocks' or the 'school of life' creates, in the words of John Wesley, a position where we “therefore might live in a constant dependence upon God, and neither despair in trouble, nor be secure or presumptuous in prosperity.” (John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes)

"Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange (unusual and alien to you and your position) were befalling you. But insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, rejoice, so that when His glory [full of radiance and splendor] is revealed, you may also rejoice with triumph [exultantly]." 1 Peter 4:12-13 (AMP)

"Someone once said, "A faith that can't be tested isn't a faith worth having!" Trials are meant to increase our faith in God – the greater our needs, the greater our trials – then the greater our dependence on Him," George of Worthy News writes in his devotional for today, "and usually its in this state of utter dependence upon Him that we enjoy the deepest, most intimate times with our God."

Carolyn Baker, devotional writer for AllAboutGod.com, said in her submission today, "The adventure of a lifetime begins with one surrendered step." We know not where we will be called to go, as children in the body of Christ and we cannot number our days with certainity and rigidiousness.

We can step out in faith, accept a gift that we are unworthy of obtaining, and submit ourselves in willing obedience to the One who purchased it with His own blood for our benefit. Enduring the process of becoming what we were intended to be, facing the persecution of those who would die like the beasts of the earth, and even facing those who would redefine Christianity into a non-threatening entity, we cast off the power of this world, its current lord, and find ourselves prepared for a life spent in eternal life with our Creator.

We discover, in the face of the trials that sorrow our hearts, challenge our faith, and manifest our weaknesses, that there is a hope that springs eternal. And as that wisdom and knowledge settles upon our very hearts, we show others the testimony and good news of our God, Abba Father.

We live a life without fear, for we know that if we seek to do what God calls us to do, He will either reveal our faithfulness or redeem our foolishness. And it will show when those who are of the world look at us, in our familiar sinful, broken body that is so like theirs, and ask, "Why are they peaceful and content in this?"

"As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the person." Proverbs 27:19

If we see the design God intended for us, writing His commandments and Word upon our hearts, we will reflect it to the world and snatch those from the fire of the enemy's design.

Thursday, July 24

Be a true unsuspecting hero: Be a godly father

Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done? Proverbs 24:11-12 (NIV)

HonorBound Devotional says this about the Proverb above, "Some of our world’s heroes are unsuspecting people. They are not much different from most of us; they just refuse to stand by and let others be humiliated, harmed or persecuted. These heroes will jump into raging waters at the risk of their own life to save someone they do not know. What is in their heart is a quality that will enable them to confront adversity or misfortune. May God give us all the insight to know what is right, and the courage to live by it."

Our world today is ripe with heroes of this 'unsuspecting' type, even in the highly visible professions of a Fire Fighter, Police, Nurse, and Doctor. We look to those visible heroes as if they harbor some secret gene, a gene we wish ourselves to have, that makes them do crazy and impossible things like rescue a family from a structure engulfed in flames and smoke, take a highly dangerous criminal off the public streets, or rescue someone from a deadly accident by their skill and devotion to healing. We do not believe that such heroics lie within our capabilities; we aren't smart enough, strong enough, or brave enough.

So we yearn for what we believe we do not have and never realize the abundance of power, strength, and courage we gain from our relationship with our Heavenly Father and our Kinsman Jesus Christ.

"He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though He Himself is surrounded by light." Daniel 2:22 (NLT)

God knows what He has designed and created each of us for; beyond the simplistic purpose of being in relationship with Him. We each have been called; some to ministry, some to business, some to missions, and some to what we believe aren't very 'prosperous' positions....a mother in the home, a brother in a large family, or even a friend to another. Simple seeming 'positions' in life that we miss the vital importance of, the very purposeful need to excel at.

We cheer the heroes of 9-11, as I believe we should; as a nation, as a people, and as individuals. We should cheer those who have stepped into harm's way at the drop of a hat, voluntarily and without hesistation, to go to the aid of a nation so devastated and torn by the eviliness of a religion and a man. As the quote I've placed under the picture to the left from Marian Anderson says, "There are many persons ready to do what is right because in their hearts they know it is right. But they hesitate, waiting for the other fellow to make the first move. ... The minute a person whose word means a great deal dares to take the openhearted and courageous way, many others follow," these are the heroes who have stepped out to honor the word of a nation and its desire for democracy for a people ravaged by dictators and false doctrines.

Those are right and honorable recognitions.

But what about the mothers of this nation; nuturing and providing comfort to those they have been blessed to parent, to love, and to devote their lives to.....the Proverbs 31 woman? What about the fathers, who discipline, train, protect, and provide a foundation of belief to those who they have been called to serve as servants? What about those who have only themselves; the single parent who continues to love, to struggle, to achieve; not only to give their children what they need but to show them, through their life, that there IS a God and He is the Truth?

Heroes.

Who can also be villians, if they follow the wiles of the world and live a life separated from their Creator God.

Last night, at Soul Quest, was the second of seven classes in the teaching of the "Life of Freedom". Although I have some reservations about Henry Wright's theology of 'abundant healing', there are some kernels of Truth that he seems to fall into; like a blind man stumbling in the dark. Last night's class was about God's love, a Abba's love for His children. With the disappointments of the day still weighing heavily on my mind, and knowing that the warriors in my life wouldn't let me escape for too long from being AWOL from attending, I dragged myself into the session.....though I must admit, God's fatherly love felt as comforting as the wind on a cold winter day, more painful than useful. More a burden than a blessing.

Familiar verses of God's love, touching on the depth, width, height, and even length of His loving desires for His created children; Luke 15:1-7, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Matthew 7:21 and more. John 8:38 struck me more than any other, though I had heard it spoken, read it myself, many times. Jesus says, "I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father."(NASB)

The Father wound.

We are raising children who reflect who we, as fathers, have done our jobs...either with godly insight or worldly rejection. They speak what we've told them.

Have you told them that they are loved, valued, special, someone to be proud of, and desired???

Or have you told them something more destructive and evil, even if you didn't intend to?

I know about this father wound from my teaching with the Awakened Hearts Ministry's M3 program. If you are in the area of Troy, Michigan; I would highly recommend you come to a meeting (the next is Aug 16th) and explore this valuable garnering of the Scriptures in relation to men. There is a wealth of realization and releasing of the bondage men have placed themselves under since the time of Adam. But, I digress a bit.

One of the teachings of the Wright 'theology' which stumbles into Truth is the importance of a Father; not only to live a Godly design and purposed life, but to represent the Father to his children, to his wife, and to those in his community. Fathers, the earthly ones, have neglected that truth and have wounded their children who wound their children. The epidemic that started towards the end of the World Wars is seemingly suddenly appearing on the societal viewscreens, but this is a generational neglect that has eroded our cultural identity and our families; creating a generation that is incapable of realizing a heavenly Father's love because of the distortions caused by their earthly father's neglect to live GODLY fatherhood.

I volunteered to participate in an exercise last night, seemingly simple in its steps but powerful in its impact. I stood in front of a dear sister in Christ, M....., who had never heard her father say he was proud of her, loved her, or cherished her. It was a definate God-moment, as her name was the name of my mother (the one who raised me). Standing in her earthly father's stead, I expressed to her the things he had failed to say; either due to his own wounding or misunderstanding of what impact he had upon this dear soul. It was a powerful moment, and deeply affected all those who participated or sat silently in their seats.

My new sister in Christ, Holly, came up too and I was honored to step into that role that has been so abused in her life. To tell her how valuable she was, how loved she was, how special she was....things she should have heard in the days of her growing up....the younger years.....

Two women, two different lives, and at two different spots in their christian walk......

Wounded by the cupability of their fathers in surrendering their God-instilled purpose to cherish, love, and express pride in the precious life of their daughters and their sons, creating a generational disconnect with God's design.

And the world is reeling now from that neglect and disconnection. In a society that values what you have, how much of it you collect, and the 'boys and their toys' mentality, this is the pinpoint cause of the failing morality of America and its youth. This is why children, for too long told that they are lucky to have been given birth, are carrying guns to school. This is why, shown that they aren't uniquely created and preciously valued, that the society is into 'free-love' that isn't free and babies are being born to babies.......this is why; men since the time of Adam have given away their God-purposed design to protect and defend beauty and order......that beauty and order that is manifested in their daughters. They have neglected to raise their sons to take their role in society as future warriors to protect and defend.

Pastor Henry Varley once say that, "The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him."

Last night was a turning point for two women. And I was honored to be able to be a part of that realization that God's perfect love is something each man is called to show; reflecting his Heavenly Father in the raising of His children, gifted to us men for such a short time. To rescue from a life distorted and to open their eyes to a Father's true love. Deep, abiding, and unconditional.

"As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain." 2 Corinthians 6:1

Instead, let us take heart to the promise given and reach out to those who have a wound that has festered within for too long and grown so deep. Let us realize that Heavenly Father's heart of love, grace, and mercy and extend it into the lives of our children, our wives, and our society.

Let us stand as men and reclaim the honor, glory, and purpose to which we were designed.......reflections of a true father's heart to the generations to come.

Ms Baker remarks in the AllAboutGod.com devotional today, ".....As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonment's and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine yet regarded as imposters; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."

Fathers, your children need you to be a reflection of God's fathership.

TIME TO MAN UP.

Time to stand firm and reclaim those lost daughters' and sons' hearts.

Tuesday, July 22

My "Life Abundant"

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose You and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my Name. This is My command: Love each other. John 15:15-17

I woke up in a all-too familiar state of mind; the peace of God far from my heart. If not far, then the drone of the world drowning it out to where it wasn't evident. I've been truly burdened with all of the things going on in my life; the kids, the church, the call, the 'image' that people have of me with the divorce situation and the financial situation that is so grim that the Grim Reaper has taken a holiday.
'Feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders', as the saying goes.

A few days ago, coming back from the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, my friend thanked me for driving her out there and waiting for her MRI procedure to be done. It was late at night, which I guess is typical for the UofM hospital, when we were heading back from Ann Arbor.

I love going to the campus, though I was no where near the Big House this time around. Any Wolverine fan will swear by the mythical draw of the Big House, where the battle between the Wolverines and their opponents take on epic portions on Saturdays during football season.

But I digress.

I feel embarrassed when people do that, thank me for something that is really nothing (at least to me). I would give the shirt off my back if it would help someone else, I truly don't need the shirt that badly for me to deny it to someone's need.

A wise person once said, "I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I do not mean by humility, doubt of his own power, or hesitation in speaking his opinion. But really great men have a ... feeling that the greatness is not in them but through them; that they could not do or be anything else than God made them."

I expressed it to her this way, "God requires it of me, to serve those I love and care for regardless of their status or position in my life. If someone I didn't know all that well called me and said they were broke down in Detroit and needed help, I would come. To serve is what I've been called to do."

The other night, a new friend of mine spoke of her fears of dating, because of radical changes in her physical appearance and the 'side-effects' of the surgeries. I spent some time online with her, she lives in an East-side state, talking about it with her. She expressed being hurt before and how she'd like to avoid that if at all possible. The gentleman who had asked her 'out' is a proclaiming Christian. She feared rejection, and worried that she'd never find that 'godly man' that God has provided for her. She asked me if I believed in "Mr. Right" or "Mrs. Right".

Four hours later, her outlook very much changed and a peace about the pending future as far as a date with this gentleman, I logged off from the internet and crawled to bed.

She said that I was born to minister and she could see that God had indeed called me to ministry. She was appreciative and thankful for the few words I said, the few points I made that contrasted the secular view with God's view on the subjects she sought understanding of.

Not to diminish the recognition of the act of providing my rather 'exceptional' driving skills (just kidding) and companionship to someone who asked for it or even my rather 'brilliant' counseling ability (again, they aren't so wonderful), I find myself wondering why people say nice things to me about anything I've done, for it was something, to me, that I could give. Nothing really newsworthy, just small (to me) things that ease their journey in this world.

I cannot be who I am without God, I cannot be who I want to be without Christ, and I cannot live without doing what the Spirit prompts me to do.

In my pursuit of God, I find myself trying to be more and more like His Son, who set the example for us all.

In the study that I am attending at my church, the verse where Jesus spoke of coming to bring life--- not just life, but abundant life (or life in abundance, depending on the translation) is referenced to support the theory that God's will is to heal us, or in other 'prosperity' gospels of the Osteens, Meyers, and Copelands of the movement to give us wealth.

I have oft thought of that; what is abundant life?

If it is what the Copelands and the Wrights of this world say it is, then there is something wrong either with the God I serve or myself. I have neither wealth nor health in abundance.

I have my obvious financial problems and struggles; neither do I have a totally healthy constitution.

Christ Himself had no place in which to rest His head and told the rich man to give away all of His wealth to follow Christ. Christ suffered stress, evidenced by Luke's account of sweating blood in the Garden prior to His arrest, and knew of temptation's touch, though He Himself never sinned.

Paul spoke of the trials and tribulations that he faced in his service to God and how he considered anything gained loss for the cause of the Gospel. He walked away from fame and position to serve humbly his Lord and Savior.

Somehow I don't think that Paul would consider his life anything but abundant. But it doesn't fit the 'prosperity' formula. Paul worked his trade as a tent maker to support himself and the ministry to which he provided the churches planted during his journeys.

William Wilberforce, the subject of the movie Amazing Grace. Somehow, in the heaviness of his sickness, I don't think he ever considered his life unfulfilled, unpurposed, or anything less than abundant.

I look at my life; ripe with financial woes, professional roadblocks, and man-made denials and find it lacking so much in terms of what the 'prosperity' gospel would have me name and claim. One would point to my life and say that I am failing to grasp the blessings upon which the Lord has an overwhelming desire to confer upon me.

When I look to that definition of an abundant life; I am failing miserably to meet such high and lofty goals.

What if, this abundant life that Christ came to give us is nothing more than living life in the struggles; peace, contentment, and joy within the rage of the storm tossed seas and ice-cold waves that crash over the bow of our vessel as we head dead on into the wind. What if our cry isn't of despair but "Damn the torpedoes! Full Steam Ahead!"? What if this abundant life we are conferred upon by the blessings of Christ and our Heavenly Father....what if it is living the purpose to which God set aside for us, individually, before we were even born?

What if this abundant life is feeling the presence of God each and every day of our life; His touch, His voice, His love, and His grace? Would the enticements of this world matter all that much in light of those blessings? Would even the ravaging of cancer bear strength against such things? To me, the hope that's given that I will never EVER be alone regardless of how many times I fail to win the fight against the sinful flesh or fail to hear my Savior's voice within my ears is more precious than the gold within the walls of Fort Knox or the accolades of my peers.

My abundant life lies within the abilities and opportunities that God blesses me with day in and day out; to be a servant to those who cross my path and be an example to those I hold near and dear to my heart. It is the peace that defies the storm, the mercy that confounds reason, and the blood of my Savior shed for the payment of my sins upon a cross of wood so many years ago.

It is the opportunity to honor that memory with the communion, to remember the sacrifice given for a sinner undeserving, so that I might have abundant life…..fully. It is why I bring the wafer to my mouth; to remember the body broken for me, and the little cup of grape juice to my lips to swallow; to remember the blood shed so I could be heir to a life abundant.

And when my life on this earth is finished, either before the coming of my King or after, I will know if I have lived my life abundantly in the eyes of my Lord and Savior if I hear those sweet and precious words come from His lips as I stand before the throne, my works and deed upon the foundation of Christ set fire to by righteous flame……

"Well done, good and faithful servant……….You have loved and loved well, my friend!"

Monday, July 21

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28-29

I have been told, why worry over the various doctrines that are purporting Christian values. Why fight and argue against false, misleading doctrines? Why worry about the continued and baseless attack on Christian values, morales, and desires for this once great nation called America. After all, if God is big enough to overcome (as I believe He is), then all we really have to do is sit back and focus on the basics.

I am faced with a dilemna, whereas I know there is a doctrine that is being preached without a sound biblical basis, althought there are biblical truths scattered within the pages, and the charge of two newly redeemed souls that are thirsty for knowledge. Knowing the brother in charge of the teaching is seeking after God, desiring to know and pass on the knowledge of what he has found but who is possibly blinded by that very same desire to see hearts changed and lives rediscovered to realize the danger imposed.

Do I simply give grace, knowing that God is in charge...the souls I care for are saved through the grace and blood of Christ.....and say nothing? After all, the brother is teaching with the intention of good. He truly wants to see lives transformed and souls revealed. And I cannot blame him, after all....the experience of watching God touch a young heart was inspiring to say the least and exciting to be a part of.

But the burden of responsiblitity has not dropped away with the 'saving', rather it has increased just as a father's desire to protect his newborn child does as the baby grows. You don't hand the keys to a car to a tottler, after all.

Such schisms are dividing churches left and right in denominational circles. The inclusion of gay and lebsian pastoral staff within the Anglican church is only the biggest news item today, but thousands of congregation members are leaving their home churches, searching either for a doctrine that remains true to the Gospel or one that fits their views of the Bible; either as a book of rules or a book of principles. Breakaways from the denominational shifts in policy and biblical 'understanding' are prevailent throughout the world as decisions are made upon a 'refreshed' look at the Gospel and Scriptural documents.

The non-denominational movement of the eighties morphed into the 'seeker-friendly' and now the 'emergent' movement as people are seeking spirituality in widely differenting ways. Doctrines of 'prosperity', 'multiple methods to heaven or universalism', and even a 'spiritual humanism' dot the landscape of faith in America. Faith is less an assurance and more of a personal outlook on life, demanding that things unseen be defined in any way possible and those who seem to have the most 'philosphical' sounding explaination are flocked to by those who feel less knowledgable.

Just as the Israelites in the Old Testament broke the Abrahamic covenant, America has turned its back upon the very foundations by which this risky idea of a Republic was formed. Years of using faulty, fragile, and even inferior 'buliding materials' are creating the crisis that the Church and even its country is facing; immorality and self-perservation.

The silence of Adam in the Garden of Eden has grown to become the silence of a nation of men ill-equipped and wounded, devalued by society and cultural indoctrination and taught that they cannot live in accordance with the design they were created by. Men were to be spiritual heads of the family, with a warrior heart that causes them to go into the chaos and disruption to defend beauty and order. But it is man's own abuses and ignorance of that 'position' that has caused so much disention and disruption. Submission isn't a biological requirement, but a sign of a godly woman who lives her design (for that see Proverbs 31), helping and keeping her husband who is her partner (remember the rib-- from man's SIDE, not from the nose or from the foot!) accountable to God to live his call---- to love his wife in the way Christ loved His church, with a servant's heart....to the point of death.

But you don't hear that in the church, where it will make someone very mad to hear it. If you go back and look at the BIBLICAL language of submission, you find something other than what it is said to mean today.

In the weekly devotional from OutOfTheWild author and founder Matt Lobel, www.outofthewild.com , he speaks of this problem men have; of ceding control to others not only in their marriages and their lives but also in theircalling as spiritual leaders. Control isn't what it seems, according to Matt. And I think he has it right...........

From OutOfTheWild devotional: Fully Submitted "This struggle is central to our rebellion against being called to service by God. At the core of this battle is our willingness to trust. After all, if you trust in the goodness of God to provide all that you need, you will be able to submit yourself unconditionally to His will."
This is why there are so many men who live unbiblical lives as men, as fathers, and as husbands. We haven't surrendered our lives fully to God, developing a servant's heart and living to the model presented through Christ of a godly man in all we do.

"Seldom do we understand the full implications of truly surrendering our lives." Matt continues, "Our first surrender is usually a simple acknowledgement that we need Him in order to obtain salvation. Surrendering in this way does not necessarily change other areas of our lives."

Only through submission to God, "unconditionally and completely", does our lives become what God designed us to be. This is true for women as well as men, but men are the ones who surrendered first in the Garden, men have to take the first steps to restoration.

If I accept this 'mission' from God, to be entrusted with the hearts of two of His newest children, then I myself must make sure that I have submitted to the authority of God. Not just in the biblical doctrine issue, but in every area of my life that is either exposed or hidden from view of these two souls or even others. I must be open and honest, subjecting myself fully under the authority and power of my God, committed fully to His plan.

Living as a man in pursuit of God, neither perfect or without strongholds, but under the construction of the Spirit to demolish or destroy such impurities. This is where change will occur and God will be reflected in my life as it is displayed to others.

I will trust in God to do what God wills. In all things. If He calls me to defend the Kingdom that doesn't truly need defending, I will gear up and go to the front lines. If He calls me to defend the defended, covered in the grace of Christ's salvation, then I will plant my shield upon the dearth of the ground and defend until relieved.

I will not do what I feel is best, but rely on what God tells me Himself, verbally or in the Word. Fearfully and reverently following my God.

Prov. 3:5-6 (NKJV) Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Friday, July 18

All Hands on deck.......

"A wise man has great power and a man of knowledge increases strength" Proverbs 24:5 (NIV)

In today's cultural climate, where tolerance is rewritten as 'self-realization' and the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been mined, distorted, and rearranged into a 'prosperity' mindset, where the God of all creation is nothing more than an eternal bell-hop who serves us at our behest, it is more important than ever that Christians who have been born-again be ever on their guard against doctrinal shift where scriptures are misquoted, misinterpreted, and misused for the disillusionment of the faithful; young babies on up to mature adults.....spiritually.

Knowing your theology and doctrine is important, a definitive worldview is a sign of maturity, and the hard-line of the absolute foundational truths is vital. But even more intensely important to the future of those who have gained the saving grace of Salvation is the ability to teach and mentor:

It isn't just the Pastor's job to do so.

Those we speak the Gospel to become our charges in their spiritual growth. We cannot just pass them off upon the leadership of the church we attend, but must actively engage them in conversation, dialogue, and growth building doctrinal theologies. Not only teaching why we believe what we do, but teaching them how to define, establish, and defend their own theological world-view.

"According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." 1 Corinthians 3:10-15


The Bible is the only source of such foundational truths. Absolute authorities, standing beyond the ability of man to shape, mold, and distort to mean something they want to hear. When the scriptures are referenced in a theology, it is immediately clear whether the doctrinal stance is biblical or not. It is inerrant in its authority for reproof, truth, and the practice and life modeling for Christians, based on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

"This God does not want us to translate and theologize Him into [a formula] to just insure our own self-preservation," Rick Blinson, founder and Director of KneePrints Prayer Ministries, Inc wrote in his article Contentment: The Antithesis of Prosperity Teaching.


The first foundational brick is God. God is all; powerful, holy, righteous, good, love, just, and worthy of all praise and honor because of His infinite perfection and His involvement with His creation, humanity, in all aspects of such life: spiritually, physically, and permanently. He is Three in One; the Triune God. All Divine and separate individuals in One. The Father, who is agape love; The Son, physically fully-God, fully Man, who came to pay the price for sin for us all; The Spirit, counselor and guide who resides within the heart of the born-again to provide knowledge and wisdom to live a godly and fruitful life for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Romans 1:20-21: "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened."

Second foundational brick is Adam's original sin. All of us, Christian and unsaved alike, have fallen under the punishment of sin, due to the introduction of sin into our nature by Adam's silence and subsequent 'approval' of sin's actions. We are, as a being, unable to fulfill any pleasure, demand for blessing, resurrect truth or even approach the True God because of our sin, borne from Adam's commission. We are left without hope of obtaining life ourselves, undeserving of blessing, blinded to Truth, and bound for death—spiritually and physically, and it is only through the substitutionary death AND bodily resurrection that we can be reborn into a state of grace. This doesn't remove the sinful nature in our life, but gives us the gifting of the Holy Spirit through which we defeat our sinful nature through godly wisdom, counsel, and practice. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

Third foundational brick is Jesus Christ. . “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Believing in His death and resurrection, for which God the Father sent Him to earth on behalf of man, which fulfilled the penalty for sin, we are enabled through our belief of the Good News to come under forgiveness of all sin. This enables the born-again believer to be declared righteous by God, entering into a life-giving and affirming relationship with our Heavenly Father and a restoration of the hope lost that we will know eternal life. …believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved……And it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10

Fourth brick in the foundation upon which we are called to build our life and our relationship pursuit of God is the ultimate Return of the Savior, who after He resurrected from the dead was ascended into Heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father. The hope we have isn't solely based upon this return, for Christ left His peace with us when He ascended, but is part of our eternal outlook and is thought of with anticipation because our Savior told us we will not know the hour or day. We are called with such uncertainty to live a life accordingly holy, reflective of this knowledge. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

Fifth foundational brick, upon which all our theology should be built, is the unity of the body of Christ, regardless of denominational creed of born-again believers, that calls us to fellowship, worship, and edify each other in the struggles of this broken world. Christ is our head and we each have parts within the body to fill, in accordance with God's design and plan for His church. Because of such, we hold each other accountable for proclaiming God's truth, to press each other towards a growing, mature life of our faith through praising our God, scriptural teaching, relational edification, and representative expression of faith, hope, and love through the Great Commission, which calls us to proclaim the Good News and make disciples.

"If the main goal of the repentant sinner should be total, light-bearing and blessed communion with God, then the main hindrance to this is the existence of the passions still active and working in him the virtues being as yet unsealed in him and the unrighteousness of his powers. Therefore his main work upon conversion and repentance should be the uprooting of passions and sealing the virtues in a word, correcting himself." St. Theophan the Recluse.

If we build upon these foundational bricks, keeping true to the principles that are the rock and support of our faith, we will not stray from the path that God has set before us. We, living separate in a sinful, broken world, strive for a perfection that cannot be achieved through our own means, but through the continued counsel, discernment, and guidance of the Holy Spirit through the living Word of God and those anointed to teach. We are to hold our christian leaders and brethren to account for being accountable to the teachings they offer and the theology they teach, for in the end days, many false teachers and doctrines will plaque the Holy Church and lead some faithful astray.

"But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, so your thoughts should be corrupted from the simplicity due to Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:3 MKJV

Keep it simple stupid, the KISS principle, is the primary function of the foundation. Salvation isn't complex in its simplicity. It is simple in its complexity. There is no formula, no work, no claim to monetary or health that enables us to create this foundation.

It may look like a biblical foundation, sound like a biblical foundation, but it will crumble like the resistance of the enemy when Christ comes again to reclaim His own. If upon the Rock we build, there is nothing; no principalities, no demons, or no fight fought that can remove us from God's truth.

We will struggle, daily taking our cross to follow our Savior. We will stumble and may fall, but our brethren and our God stand ready to bring us back to grace and mercy. We live without fear, for our God has us in His powerful hands:

"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6 NASB

We are called to stand according to biblical principles, realizing that we are promised to success no matter how many times we fail, because God never does. We are promised the continued and blessed presence of our God.

"No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you." Joshua 1:5 NASB

This is what we need to teach those who flail in the winds of cultural doctrines, and secular universalism. This is what we need to build within our young Christians to enable them peace and comfort in the times ahead.

Thursday, July 17

Offerings from Steve Coffman.....

In today's world, where a democratic nominee for President refuses to wear a patriotic symbol and his wife is finally proud of a country that gave her the opportunities to be where she is, this latest offering from Steve Coffman is a valid and valuable piece concerning why we should instill patriotism into our children.
Steve Coffman is owner of Family-eStore.com:

Teaching Patriotism to Our Children


Since September 11, 2001 Independence Day for the United States on July 4th has been especially poignant. While there has been a surge in patriotism, we all need to maintain a sense of pride and love for our country whether we are at war or in peace time.

Children need to feel a sense of belonging too, in their family, their classrooms and in their country. They will thrive in an environment of respect, compassion and stability. If we as parents teach our kids to love, honor, show compassion and respect for their country as well as for their fellow man, they will not only be graced by a sense of patriotism, they will become better citizens, and in turn role models for our future generations.

One of our greatest challenges as parents is to raise our children to be honorable and respectful adults. Adopting a path of patriotism is a good reinforcement for them to show honor and a sense of ethics.

Our babies learn kindness at first from our gentle touch; they also learn self-esteem by our praise and respect. They mostly learn these living examples from their parents and at school. We are responsible for teaching them to respect and be kind to others, regardless of our differences. We are also responsible for teaching them to keep their community clean, and to trust that their country will defend and protect them as best it can. I truly believe they should be taught to revere their country’s flag and all it stands for as well.

Children should be taught that, while it might be "legal" to burn their country's flag as an expression of individual freedom, they would be hard-pressed to get this past Mom and Dad if they ever entertained the idea! This is the posture that a good parent should adopt.

Children need to know they are a very large and integral part of their country's make up. They are the future parents and government that will uphold the morals and ethics inherited from their parents and grandparents.

Is it too much to ask that our children be patriotic, actively show patriotism, honor their flag, and stand up for what’s right and good about their country? I don’t think so.

It is our job to instill a sense of honor and patriotism in their young hearts, offering them the opportunity to love and honor their country and its flag. In doing so, their actions will be seen as a good example for their country to show mankind and the world.

As much as we want our children to love their country, we also need to recognize the importance of global relationships in today’s world. Setting good examples of patriotism should, in turn, teach our kids that every person counts, no matter where they live, or who they might be, or what country they represent.

By: Steven E Coffman Family-eStore.com

Wednesday, July 16

Something's happening................

"But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, so your thoughts should be corrupted from the simplicity due to Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:3 MKJV

When I spoke to my young charge the other night, she seemed surprised that 'coming to Christ' was so simple, so easily done. Acknowledging our sinful nature, the need for a Savior, the sacrifice of Jesus upon the Cross, confession of sin and repentance of sin. Simple and direct. As I have listened to her mother talk, the growing is already taking place. A desire, a hunger, and a need to understand this God.

A new believer's actions, as well as her words, declaring the acknowledgment of Divine redemption.

Matthew Henry said, "His love appointed this method of redemption, spared not his own Son, and brought believers to hear and embrace this salvation. It was rich grace to provide such a surety as his own Son, and freely to deliver him up."

I often think of Christ and what He went through on that wooden cross of Roman cruelty and human evil. How He suffered, not only upon that Cross with His hands and feet brutally nailed into the wood, but also in the Garden before hand, when the chain of events that carried Him to that road started moving quickly to conclusion. It still brings me to tears when I imagine what my Savior and King suffered to be my Savior.

But, because of a devotional from Worthy News the other morning, I realized that Jesus wasn't the only one to suffer in the course of events that brought redemption and restoration to those who would claim it.

God, the Father, suffered as well. He sent His Son, He turned away from Him when sin stained the pure soul of His begotten, and He showed His agony and sorrow as His Son died upon a creation's brutality.

"The light of the sun went out, and the curtain in the Temple was parted in two." Luke 23:45 BEB

"According to Jewish tradition, even to this day, when a son dies, his father tears his shirt as a sign of his agony and mourning." George of Worthy News Ministry points out, "Years ago, right when His Son Jesus died, His Father tore His veil."

But, even as I reflect upon a Father's pain upon the sacrifice of His Son, I feel a strong charge coming from Him in regards to the young woman who is now part of the family.

As I had told her that night, after we had prayed and talked about my faith, and the Heavens cried out with joy with another one redeemed, now there was no fear. Although we cannot know what the morning will bring, we know that in the end there is no loss but victory as Christ either comes for His faithful or we graduate early to a life with Abba.

Until that time, we are charged with knowing our Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to whom all things that are good come from, all things that are redeemed are done through, and where peace and joy in the midst of this world can be found in abundant strength and availability. As I told her, you will never be lost again. God says so.

"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6 NASB

The times are coming when Christians will have to take a more active and definitive stance for their faith and the God they hold allegiance to. And it falls upon the fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and leaders of the Christian faith to keep everyone aware of the simplicity of Christ and the relationship with God. Not straying into false or new age thinking, but remaining true to what has come from God's own mouth.

"Every Scripture passage is inspired by God. All of them are useful for teaching, pointing out errors, correcting people, and training them for a life that has God's approval. They equip God's servants so that they are completely prepared to do good things." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 GWT

In the Lord's work, we cannot be opposed or overcome even when it seems that the world is winning in the cultural battle for the youth of our world. The McLaren's and other emergent leaders of the extreme ---where Christ is a footnote not understood instead of the only way to salvation--- are bringing the battle not to those mature enough to withstand the nuisance of words and the slippery tongue of deception, but to those who are the future of this world….our young.

Christianity is being redefined and encased within such hard theology and doctrine that even the hardiest of souls is tempted. "Well," some have told me, "There are some good things they are saying. You just have to dig and know your Bible." But how many Christians, especially the young, take that time to define themselves within the Kingdom and its knowledge before ingesting slight doctrinal shifts? Not many.

But, if the foundation is true….if the acknowledgment of Christ, as He Himself said, as the "Way, the Truth, and the Light. None can come to the Father but through Me," then there is still hope….even if it is masked and dampened by the false whispers of the postmodern universalist leaders of the popular movements.

"According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

I don't know if I have made much sense today……these verses were put into my head and the urge to speak about them into my heart. So I write. There is something here for that one who needs it and I am confident that the True God, Abba God, will take that one to where He wishes them to go for understanding and discernment.

Though one battle was won upon the desolate landscape of this broken world, there are many more to be waged and this young charge to be protected and nurtured into 'adulthood' in the faith. Time is short and the night grows longer and longer…………

Let us fight, faithful and true, for the King!