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Common Sense
"The things
we think but dare not speak..." By Ron Schwartz
NOTE: We have moved to the El Dorado / Magnolia
area of Arkansas and would like to connect with other believers in the
area. Children are a plus! Ron Schwartz
Take a minute to pray for these prayer
needs: Prayer Requests,
and if possibly consider these employment needs for these Christian brothers
and sisters: Employment Requests
My son Michael's page (he's 18): Michael's Thoughts To subscribe to these notes: SUBSCRIBE To view his Biography: Biography Copyright ©
2001-2007 Ron Schwartz I Am Man, Part 2, Who Do Men Say That I Am 7/17/2011
The tenor of this note could be construed to suggest that God is
a cowering pushover and wants the same of His people. To suggest that the
essence of God when revealed to His people was a sacrificial lamb seems to
take away from the grandeur of the King of the universe. Yes, we know this,
and this is the struggle Jesus was up against when he tried to reveal God to
the world. You see, according to the world you cannot be both. A lion
cannot be a lamb, a king a servant, or a man be
God. However Jesus broke these rules. He is a King who serves His
people and a man who is also God Eternal. Each of us have a garden, and like God
we allow others (like Adam) into it. How many times have we been hurt as a
result of sharing our gardens with other? How many countless times have
we shared our paradise with someone just to watch them destroy what we have
built? As a result, many people have been hurt so deeply that they no
longer allow others into the garden of their life. In return they no long
accept the invite from others to share theirs. So they go through life not
touching the lives of others and not being touched. They see needs all around
but shut them out. They simply can’t handle the thought of their garden being
destroyed again and again. I Am Man 1/7/2011 At
first glance, the Bible seems to be an account of how Satan outwitted God,
who was then forced to surrender His only Son just to correct His mistake.
How is it that that God could reveal the future to Daniel in such
unbelievable detail, leading many Bible scholars to insist his book to be
fraudulent, and yet not have foreseen the deception of Eve by Satan? Is it
possible that the fall of mankind was the one part of the future God simply
overlooked? If God is truly omniscient, surely He must have known that Satan
would deceive Eve, that mankind would fall into sin, and that nearly all of
His creation would be condemned. Unless you believe that God simply didn’t
care about the spiritual death of mankind and the suffering of His Son, one
can only conclude that there is more to this story than meets the eye. There
cannot be any alternative: God must have known of all these events before He
ever made Adam. He must have known that mankind would fall. Everything that
has taken place from the fall of mankind to the death of Jesus Christ on the
cross was all part of a beautiful master plan. Mankind cannot simply be an
afterthought. Surely, the suffering of mankind isn’t just the result of a
sadistic game played by bored God. Surely, there is a meaning and purpose to
our existence that transcends traditional thought. There Is Always The Stars (Doth Not Nature teach You) 1/7/2011
Imagine
for a moment that you had foreknowledge that your baby was going to be
kidnapped. You knew all of his clothes, books, and toys would be taken with
him. You also knew that when it happened, you wouldn’t be able to find him.
You agonize over this for days wondering what to do. Then, at last, you have
an idea: if you couldn’t find him, you could make it possible for him to find
you. So you stitch clues into his clothes, you underline certain words in his
books, and you draw simple designs and patterns on his toys. Even the type of
toys and color of clothes that fill his room are clues. These clues, words,
patterns, and designs are all clues as to who you are and where you live.
Your idea may be a long shot, but it’s your only chance to save him. Now
imagine that God knew all along that after He created man, mankind would be
lost to His enemy. So God determined to craft within the universe around
mankind a map that in could help mankind find his way back to his God. This
is what the series “Doth Not Nature Teach You” is all about: discovering in
nature the lessons that God, as a good parent and teacher, created for us.
Everywhere we look, we find the design God crafted into nature like a giant
textbook teaching us about the God we long to know. The Inner Star (Doth
Not Nature teach You) 10/10/2010 There
is only one explanation for why the Earth’s core is still is as hot as the
surface of the Sun after countless ages.
The Earth inner heat comes from the decay of radioactive isotopes such
as uranium, thorium and potassium. Without this radiogenic heat the Earth
would have cooled down and the core would have solidified many millennia ago.
But it hasn’t. The wonder of this
spinning molten metal deep in the bowls of the earth is that our planet has
an electro-magnetic shield surrounding it. This unseen miracle of nature is
the reason why life is sustained on this planet. It provides direction to the travelers and
protects the earth from harmful cosmic radiation. Without it, life on the Earth would have
most assuredly ended soon after it began, cooked away by cosmic storms. What we find is that Earth’s delicate balance of life is
actually dependent upon two stars – one which shines brightly in the blazing
heat of the daytime sky, and the other invisible, hidden away in the deepest
part of the heart of the earth. This is not simply coincidental but a pattern
carefully architected in nature to help us to understand how our spiritual
life is sustained. The Retrovirus (Doth Not Nature teach You) 6/31/2010
Science
has long known that, somehow, certain forms of cancer were passed down to
ensuing generations. It wasn’t until the discovery of the retrovirus that
this pattern could be explained. Foreign DNA, only appearing native, is
intrinsic in every cell. In this same manner, Christianity has changed – not
by a sovereign act of God, but by foreign invaders that have become an
integrated part of our very system of beliefs. Christians are no longer
expected to be endowed with power and authority from above, and thus are
little different from unsaved counterparts who indulge in every form of
pleasure and enjoyment this world has to offer. Christians exist to be served
by their church and pastoral communities rather than to serve. Christianity
has been reduced to little more than a religion practiced in meeting a few
times a week, and the Bride of Christ reduced to little more than a whore
committing adultery with the world. City Of Confusion (Doth Not Nature teach You) 5/13/2010
When
light is divided, it loses its ability to present color accurately. It no
longer reflects the “truth,” so to speak. Every object that a color of light
shines on becomes a shade of that particular color.
A red light will turn everything different shades of red. A blue light will
turn everything different shades of blue. The true color of an object is not
accurately reflected. Christian denominations, in the same way, have “shaded”
God’s Word (“truth”): each according to its own doctrinal distinction. Just
as light is no longer true light when it is separated into different shades
of color, Christianity, as soon as it is separated into different
denominations, ceases to be true Christianity. It is impossible for
Christians of different denominations to work together because they do not
see God, His Word, or the world “in the same light.” Denominations and
churches are not just “subsets” of Christianity; they are completely
different religions. Natural Selection (Doth Not Nature teach You) 4/3/2010
The
theory of evolution explains in grave singularity why contemporary
Christianity is so prevalent and popular. It explains how modern Christians
destitute of God’s Spirit can flourish, prosper, and excel in a world that
hates God. It explains why their camouflage allows them to blend in to the world
practically unnoticed. And it explains why more than one out of every two
Americans considers themselves Christians. Contemporary Christianity is
more popular than true Christianity. It’s like a weed: it consumes all
available resources on itself and leaves no fruit behind. It can live and
survive in almost any environment since it lives only for itself. Plants
that bear fruit are quite the opposite. All their energy is spent on the
fruit. It eventually consumes itself in its pursuit to provide fruit. Christian Politics 3/12/2010
The next time you’re in church, try to separate the pretense and
rhetoric that swallows you up as a tidal wave from the goodness of God that
comes from His invisible Spirit. God’s Spirit is all but replaced in most
churches by their programs, choreographed presentations, carefully prepared
sermons, and the plastic smiles made of artificial goodness covering every
face. That is not God at all. Do not be deceived. The leaders in your church
are almost certainly NOT God’s ambassadors. Don’t allow the politics (i.e.
doctrine and belief) that are pontificated to replace God’s “good” government
in your heart. How will you know the difference? Politics are all about the
details of what I think, feel and believe. God’s government is all about what
God originally intended and expressed through the life of the first man who
ever embodied it: Christ. Politics are teachings of belief. True government
of God is when Christ is alive within you, reigning in power and glory. So if
you feel cold and dead inside, perhaps it’s because you’ve become lost in
politics. Don’t allow your life to be wasted in the shallow and empty
acts of religious overtures like the lives of failed western Christian
leaders. Make a difference! You won’t find it or do it in the church you’re
attending, but rather in the lives of the people who work and live around
you. Blow them off their feet with your kindness. Knock them over with your
goodness. Cause them to say, “Only God could cause you to be so kind to me. I
don’t deserve this. God must be real!” Gambit 2/22/2010
Many women become jealous of the attention that beautiful sexy
women receive. So little by little, they change their appearance to match
that of the sensual women who have bewitched the world. As more and more men
take notice of their “new” seductive look (i.e. more skin exposed, tighter
fitting clothes, seductive mannerisms, etc.) they lose their shame and
embrace ignominy. Many contemporary churches follow this same behavior.
They’re tired of being overlooked, they’re tired of feeling like nothing, and
they’ve become confused in their apathy. So like a prostitute, they embrace
the values of this world, throw aside their honor, and invite the world
in. Remember that a prostitute goes through the motions of love, but
doesn’t really experience it. Likewise, many, many Christians merely go
through the motions of discipleship but never really experience it. If you
feel like a fake, perhaps you are. If you feel fraudulent in your spiritual
life, perhaps this is God’s spirit convicting you. Don’t change and adopt the
ways of this world. Repent! The Great Whore in Revelation is said to be, “the
mother of prostitutes.” In other words, just as she prostitutes
herself to the world, she teaches her children to do the same. What we find
today is generation after generation of Christians doing exactly what the
previous generation of Christians have done while the world slips deeper and
deeper into decadency. At least they are busy - busy working for the Lord.
But are they really? If John was to describe what he sees in the contemporary
church, would he describe their actions as a victorious army conquering the
world, or would he describe it as a beautiful woman having sex with a
monster?
The Assumption
of Conflict. Part 3, The keeper 12/12/2009 It
is important to realize that we - as the body of Christ - are irrevocably
connected to each other through the Holy Spirit. Unlike our career and
dining pleasures, we do not choose our affiliations in body of Christ – the
Holy Spirit does. We must comprehend that the saints whose life touch
are put there for a reason, and this reason isn’t always clear to us. We are
not allowed the freedom to decide whom we will help or pass by. We
cannot stand afar off from the parts of the body of which we are connected
and criticize and condemn their misfortune and calamity. We must not pull up
anchor and sail away from those who have fallen among thieves. Our
place in the body of Christ is settled, obligatory, permanent, and
unalterable. Deal with it! You are destined to be on your guard
continually, to hedge about your garden keeping it from the tempter.
You must take responsibility for your brother because you are your brother’s
keeper. You must strengthen the Jobs who face storms of
adversity. You must come to the aid of those who fell among thieves.
Your support, strength, wisdom, and determination are both necessary and
compulsory for their restoration. Consequently, your life will never be free
from conflict. There will always be Christian brothers and sisters who
suffer adversity. Just like Job’s friends, the Levite, and the priest,
as soon as you become aware of their misfortune you are irrevocable connected
to their trail, and are therefore a part of the test. How you respond
will determine not only their future but yours also. The Assumption of Conflict. Part 2, As Incredible As
It Seems 11/20/2009 God demonstrated His love for us through passion, zeal,
and by abandonment in regards to His own welfare. He placed Himself in harm’s
way, endured disgrace and torture, tossed aside His throne, and risked
condemnation for our salvation. The example God set for us is that He didn’t
play it safe, nor did He live in the pretense of pleasure and sophistication.
He came as servant from the obscure and sordid goat pasture known as
Nazareth. Did God entitle Himself (as the King of the universe) to live in
the lap of luxury? Did God seek protection from humiliation, disgrace,
torment, and pain? Did He expect His righteousness should earn Him the
contractual benefits of happiness, prosperity, and pleasure? Did He seek
assurance that once He set aside His heavenly robe, He would get it back
again? No. Most Christians live in the shadows of great men who came before –
men who were daring and reckless in their love for God. These men loved with
desperation, intrepid courage, and, temerity. Yet contemporary Christians
play it safe and leave it to God to take all the chances. God was radical in
His love for us, however modern Christians feel that it is perfectly
acceptable to live lives of sophistication and pretense. How can this be? How
is it that western contemporary Christianity has
digressed so far from the love which God so aptly demonstrated when He tossed
aside His kingdom and rushed to our aid? How is it that we have lost focus on
the one compelling evidence that once defined Christians: love? The Assumption of Conflict 7/25/2009. What makes
a people great is the production, invention, creativity, and industry that
emerges when they are forced to unite against a common enemy. Humanity was designed for conflict.
Fighting and subduing are when they are at their best. In the absences of a
threat from a common enemy, humanity will turn on itself and regress into
self-destruction. Christianity was
born in an environment of conflict and danger. The early founders went forth as God
charged Adam: to “subdue” and to take “dominion” of this world in the name
of Christ. Uniting through conflict, they were forged into the hardest steel
through pain and suffering. Their
weapons were “the blood
of the Lamb and… the
word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (Revelation 12:11).” The
greatest challenge that Christianity faced did not come from the edge of the
sword or the sound of a cracking whip.
Persecution, torment, suffering, and sorrow have been the friends of
Christianity. They have served to weed
out the uncommitted, the compromisers, and the apathetic. During the times of the great persecution,
the uncommitted fled quickly, leaving the ranks swelled with zealous
believers ready and willing to spill their own blood and give their own
lives. The greatest challenge for
Christianity cannot be measured in terms of pain, money, or sacrifice. That
is because the greatest challenge Christianity ever faced did not come from
oppression, persecution, or rejection; it came from its own success. Christianity and Higher Learning, Part 4. A Single Word
of Understanding 7/7/2009. If I were to tell you that the difference
between the New and Old Testament can be boiled down to a single word, what
would you consider that word? Nine out
of ten Christians would say the word is “love.” If you selected love you would be in the
majority, but you would also be wrong.
Christianity and
Higher Learning, Part 3. "Do you love me more?" 7/2/2009. Western
Christians stand in bitter contrast to the Christianity Jesus taught.
Jesus taught that our love for God cannot be a component of our lives - it
must consume our lives. And that our love for God cannot coexist with other
gods that sit on the throne of our heart – it must rule them. Western
Christianity has manufactured an understanding God that makes exceptions to
His rules. They present a God that loves them so much that He no longer cares
if He is loved. Their concept of God puts them on the throne and God in
service to them. What
we find today are Christian leaders who have become experts at pulling down
“God things” for their followers. These things look and sound like
living water but disappear almost as soon as they are received. True living
water causes you not to thirst again, but these God things only make the
parasite Christian more and more thirsty for the imitation living water that
church leaders peddle. Rather than growing up in the Spirit and
ascending up to be with God, contemporary Christians have developed a
symbiotic relationship with their Christian leaders. They slowly turn
into parasites that cannot live on their own. They maintain a pseudo-Christian
life style by nursing from the spiritual life of their pastor or church host.
This is the consequence of a Christian society that will not trade in that
which they cannot keep for that for which they cannot lose. They want the
best of both worlds and, as a result, will eventually lose both. Christianity and Higher Learning, Part 2. Barriers to
Spiritual Maturity 6/25/2009. What churches need today is to once again embrace
desperation for the Holy Spirit as opposed to desperation for church
buildings and the teachers that work there. Christians must learn to
let go of their articulate speakers and the plethora of Christian literature
they cherish. They must find the same love and passion for the Spirit
that they do for the information spilling out of Christian centers of higher
learning. There is life beyond the physical. There is a spiritual world
of unimaginable beauty and tranquility that fewer and fewer Christians are
coming to know. It is beyond the physical rainbow and through the physical
looking glass. You cannot get there by any physical means. You
must have the Spirit to guide you! Christianity and Higher Learning, Part 1. Introduction
to the University of the Holy Spirit 6/15/2009. Paul saw the “milk” or “(first)
principles (Greek: ‘the beginning’)..
of Christ” as a sort of elementary
school. He lists the elements of this education to include: “repentance (i.e. the message of salvation),” “dead works, and of faith toward God (i.e.
Christian living and character, providence, faith, etc.),” “baptisms (i.e. departing from sin, living godly,
spiritually filled, etc.),” “laying on of hands
(i.e. healing, spiritual gifts and ministry),” the “resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment (i.e.
teachings on end time, the hereafter, heavenly places and beings, demons,
etc.).” He doesn’t say that there is anything wrong with this teaching,
but that there must come a time to go beyond it into what he calls “perfection” or maturity. However, the
teaching he identifies as “milk” or “first principles” that Christians are to grow
beyond are in fact all that is taught by most all western churches and
ministries. You would be hard pressed to find something taught in our
churches that are not derived from Paul’s list of the “milk” of the Word. In contrast to Paul’s
teaching ministries of today aspire to the elementary instead of the
mature. This is
an important concept because most ministries and churches believe that by
teaching the “milk” they are providing
maturity to the saints. However, the way to true spiritual maturity is
a forgotten and shunned concept by most western ministries. Central to
their teaching is the implied notion that to be taught and grow toward
maturity requires remaining under a good ministry and church. This is
true for elementary education of Christ, but it won’t bring you to maturity.
To find maturity you must go beyond church and their ministries into a higher
education which only the Holy Ghost can teach. True spiritual maturity
can only be acquired through the University of Holy Spirit. This is a
level of education that cannot be taught by men or obtained through church
attendance.
Real Christianity. Part 3. Fixed Or Replaced? 10/5/2008. Out
of Saul’s institution arose two giants among men. Both of them
loved God, both were known for their exploits in battle, both were loved by
the people, and both considered the other as a brother. Of course, we
are referring to Jonathan and David. To say that Jonathan and David
were good friends does not begin to describe their relationship. They
loved one another. David loved Jonathan with a love that transcended
the love he had for his own natural brothers. Real
Christianity. Part 2. Brotherhood or Egocentricity? 9/15/2008. Brotherhood is a characteristic of Christianity
that is next to non-existent among Christian leaders today. Brotherhood
has become watered down to the point where it now means nothing more than
good friendship, fondness, personal accountability, and, in some cases,
subjugation to a leading human authority. Although there can be some
merit to the “brotherhood” found in these things, there remains one aspect of
true brotherhood that is never discussed or embraced by today’s Western
Christian culture. Real
Christianity. Part 1. 9/6/2008. Our practice of “going to church” (or “having church”) is the
biggest, most successful snare that Satan has set for modern Christians. Most Christians have been snared and are
choking to death in the very churches in which they expected to find life. But then, isn’t that how snares work? A hunter sets snares in well-traveled
(traditional) animal trails and sometimes sets a little food inside or on
either side of the snare. The animal,
thinking it will find life-sustaining food, walks straight into the snare and
ends up killing itself. In the same
way, Christians everywhere believe that their form of “going to church” is
life-sustaining when in reality it is killing them. It prevents them from experiencing true
Christianity. It is a poor substitute
for the genuine article. The Spirit of
Truth and Errors. Part 1. The Wisdom of Solomon. 7/24/2008. Today, lines are being drawn
in the sand. On one side are places
like Toronto and Lakeland, people like Bob Jones, Todd Bentley, Benny Hinn, and Rick Joyner, and something that calls itself the “modern prophetic movement.” On the other side are mainstream
Pentecostals and Fundamentalists who protect the status quo. What makes this battle so difficult to sort
out is that the issues in question have so little applicable scripture to aid
in discernment. Proponents of this new
movement claim that what we are seeing is nothing short of the works of
Christ, his apostles, his prophets, and a final outpouring of God’s Spirit,
while opponents claim it is unbiblical and demonic. Desperately needed is the Wisdom of Solomon
to discern and bring forth the truth. Out of the
Wilderness. Part 5 - Message To The Captives. 6/1/2008. When God’s people have had to endure captivity it was
global in scope. Both the righteous and unrighteous endured tribulation
together. If we are entering a time of captivity then tribulation will
befall us all. So don’t ask the question “why” when trouble befalls
you. Instead repent! Repent for the sin in the church, repent for
the sin of our nations, repent for the spiritual desolation that pervades our
societies, and repent for our failure to be the light of this world that our
Lord has called use to be. Out of the
Wilderness. Part 4 - "The Tares and the Wheat". 5/10/2008. Unity does not mean compromise How important was unity to
Jesus? Whoever eats my flesh
and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard
teaching. Who can accept it?" Aware that his disciples
were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? He
went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me
unless the Father has enabled him." From this time many of his
disciples turned back and no longer followed him. "You do not want to
leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Jesus always allowed His Word
to separate the tares from the wheat. He did
not dilute His Word to make it more acceptable for the sake of numbers.
Unity is important to Jesus, but His desire for unity extended only to those
who stayed with Him. There is and always has been a unity among those
who embrace the Words of Christ. Out of the
Wilderness. Part 3 - "As it was in the days of Noah.". 5/2/2008. Today, as in “the days
of Noah,”
angels are once again joining with men to produce a perversion of nature:
men/women of great power. Once again, this power is the spiritual
amalgamation of earth and hell, and once again, people are worshipped because
of their power. But even though a perversion of the supernatural is
taking place upon the earth, a turpitude of epic proportions and unparalleled
deceit, an event not witnessed by humanity in five thousand years, “people [nevertheless
go about] eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage” as though the events
of this age are commonplace. What we see taking place today is a
merging of Christianity with spiritualism, and mysticism to create a
universal Christianity. It is the “Constantinizing”
of modern Christianity all over again, only this time it is spiritually
motivated instead of politically. As such, it will be much more
powerful because these “prophets” are getting direction from beings claiming
to be angels, Jesus, and (soon to be) dead prophets. And, like
Constantine, the leaders of this movement are not limited to the boundaries
of the scripture. They are free to merge with Eastern religions like
Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, and yes, even Satanism. In fact, they
already are. This is the inception of
the rebirth of a universal religion. Out of the
Wilderness. Part 2 - "Go not forth!". 4/6/2008. Matthew 24:23-26 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo,
here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you
before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the
desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe
it not. Out of the
Wilderness. Part 1 - The Remnant and the End Time Message. 4/6/2008. Many Christians who contact us are confused and hurt that
they are all alone. They long for the encouragement of other believers
and try to make sense of their solitude. We are unable to offer these
saints help since we do not understand the work that God is doing in their
lives. If there is a remnant, they would remain aware that within them
still dwells the seed of Babylonian culture which they must continue to
purge. As a result, they would not view their lives as superior to
others. They would be only too aware of their own humanity to believe
that they are part of God’s “end-time” remnant. You see, if there is a
true remnant, it is so well hidden that those who are part of it do not
recognize that they are. Therefore, they would not be talking about the
remnant: something of which they could not possibly be a part. The true
remnant would be hidden from others who are also part of it. Joshua-gate.
Part 1 - The Great End Time Conspiracy. 3/18/2008. Do you sometimes wonder why it seems that God has
forsaken you? Then you are not alone. More and more Christians of
this generation are asking the same question. Have you ever wondered
why it seems that you just can’t seem to find a church where the power and
presence of God is “really” active (and we are not talking about pretenders
and counterfeiters with all their hype)? Once again, you are not
alone. Have you ever wondered why there is such a great migration and
exodus from traditional churches as Christians search for something
real? Yes, you are not alone. More and more, God is not just forsaking
this generation; more and more He is actively working against it. And
now, it is not just churches that are beginning to experience it.
Individual people are, too. Joshua-gate. Part 2 - The Conspiracy of
Security. 3/25/2008. Contemporary churches have backslidden, but the good news
is that God still looks at each individual heart. Therefore, you are
not without hope. If your heart is still yielding enough to receive His
conviction, you must lay down your idols before it is too late. Quit
trying to find the right church and pastor to help you. Look to
God. Most of the time, all you will receive at an institutional church
is a “fix” that numbs you against the true conviction of the Holy Spirit. Joshua-gate. Part 3 - The Jezebel Conspiracy:
the Downfall of Kings. 3/30/2008.
Ask yourself this: Are you secure
in your relationship with your spouse? Do you trust him or her?
Do you doubt whether or not s/he truly loves you? Do you feel as though
something is wrong? Do you feel like s/he is holding back
affection? How about your relationship with your parents? Do you
trust their love for you? Do you believe that they truly care about
you? Are you in the least bit concerned whether or not they will help
and support you? If you don’t trust someone, or if you feel insecure
about that relationship, then something is wrong. It should NOT be that
way. You should have absolute trust, security, and confidence in
your spouse. You should have absolute faith in your parents’ support
and love. Trust, faith, confidence, and security are all marks of
healthy relationships, and when these positive characteristics are missing,
it is symptomatic of a serious problem. Joshua-gate. Part 4 - Divestment, The
Forgotten Words Of Christ. 4/21/2008.
“Feints” are “maneuvers
designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain
maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or even none, will.” One type of feint is when an army
pretends to be attacking in one area to draw the enemy’s attention away from
the place where the true attack will occur.
That way, while the enemy is marshaling its forces in one area, the
real attack takes place in another. Joshua-gate. Part 5 - None Dare Call It
Apostasy. 4/28/2008. Most Christians believe that the word “apostasy” is
synonymous with social decadence. When we hear this word applied to the
state of the church, many Christians assume that it has to do with sin or
backsliding. But being backslidden does not really capture the meaning
of the word. In fact, Christians don’t need to be backslidden to be
apostate. There are many respected and devout Christians today filling
our churches who are actually living in apostasy. Choose Life - The Architecture of God. 3/10/2008. Church development is determined largely by
the vision and objectives of men. They develop according to the goals
and philosophies set by their leaders. But what if… What if God set
the vision? What if God guided its destiny? What would our
churches become if God were in control? Dissipation -
If Samson Could Warn Us. 2/11/2008. Every Christian has, at one time or another, asked the question, “What has happened to
Christianity?” It’s impossible to spend any length of time reading the
New Testament and not wonder why Christianity no longer resembles that which was practiced by Christ and His
followers. It’s a sad revelation that all Christians must eventually
reconcile in their own minds. Instead of rationalizing apathy,
compromise, and sin, let us ask instead, “Why is the Christianity of the past
no longer relevant today?” If the contemporary teaching that
“Christianity has changed” is actually a fabrication of modern academia, then
just where does this leave modern Christianity? It leaves Christian
leaders with no excuse for the apathetic, backslidden, carnal condition of
the churches for which they are responsible. So, then, why is modern
Christianity so different from Jesus’ teachings? The answer to this
contradiction is found in a passage from the Gospel according to Luke: Jesus
actually told us it would happen. It is interesting that caged
wild animals will often lose their instinct to mate. Then their
species simply dies out and vanishes away, with only documents left to prove
that they ever existed. Similarly, we have only ancient and few
documents to provide us with information as to what Christianity once was.
Christianity is nearly extinct. Christians have live within the cages
of institution for so long that they have lost almost every characteristic of
which they once was. Slowly Christianity is dying out and vanishing
away. Reading about Christianity, as taught and exampled by Jesus and
practiced by His disciples, is like reading about the ancient Mayan
civilization. The people who live in the territory of that
civilization today no longer resemble the greatness of that kingdom.
Compared to what they once were, the people who live there today are poor and
lowly. Who owns Your
Faith? 1/25/2008. Of all the apostles, perhaps Peter gives us
the best insight into how Jesus sought to develop faith in His
disciples. It was Peter who believed that Jesus was the Christ and
proclaimed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God (Matthew 16:16).” It was Peter who walked on
water and who boldly proclaimed the gospel message on the day of Pentecost, resulting
in the salvation of thousands. We should consider the technique Jesus
employed as we determine how to properly raise our children in faith and how
to develop faith within our own communities of believers where we fellowship.
What was Jesus’ secret? How did He develop faith amongst His
disciples? Jesus
used adversity – in particular, literal storms – to build the faith of his
disciples. Everything
Has an End - Paving the way for the Antichrist. 1/8/2008. It
is called the Transitive Property in mathematics. Briefly, it means
that if A=B and B=C then A=C. When we consider the contemporary church,
it is more like if A=B, B=C, C=D, D=E, and E=F, then A=F. By this, we
mean that we have become so far removed from the origins of what we believe
and practice that we are completely unaware of how the philosophical outlook
of contemporary Christianity and the attitude of church leaders have been
molded by previous generations. Take, for instance, the progenitor of
church leadership. How did it begin? What are its roots?
Consider the words, “It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and
serve tables.” It is said
that attitude is a reflection of leadership.
Disciples emulate the behavior of their teachers. They also emulate their perspectives and
attitude. Therefore, if the apostles
thought that it was beneath them to wait on tables, so would the rest who
follow and model their behavior after them.
If the apostles felt that it was “more important” to study the
scriptures and pray, then so would all those who follow. The apostles did get part of their
leadership responsibilities right – the part that required them to pray and
minister the word. But what about the
rest of their responsibility - the part that had to do with being an
example? You see, Jesus wasn’t just a
great teacher; He was also a great example.
And He continually demonstrated that nothing was beneath Him. He considered Himself a servant. His Generation
- Part 5, Polymorphic Christianity. 12/2/2007. “On
my way to work a few weeks ago, God began to speak to my heart about a class
system in Christianity. I began to have ideas that I couldn’t find the
words to describe. By the time I got to work, my heart was heavy.
I needed to find some way to write about these thoughts, but I couldn’t find
the words to describe them. At my desk, I bowed my head and prayed,
‘Lord, give me some real world example to explain these ideas You’ve given
me.’ Almost immediately, I heard the words, ‘poly’ and ‘morphic.’ ‘Poly morphic,’
I repeated out loud. ‘There are no such words,’ I said to myself.
So I went to the website dictionary.com and typed the words as one word,
‘polymorphic.’ I felt that perhaps it would recommend a real
word. To my surprise, it was a real word. Not only that,
but the definition was the exact description of the ideas that God was
speaking to my heart.” --Ron Schwartz, November 2007. There are many different examples of
polymorphic insects found in nature. Incredibly, each of the different
castes in each species comes from larvae laid by the same queen. Though
each larva may appear the same, the type of adult they will become is
predetermined before they came into existence as a result of environmental
factors such as the need for food, workers, or protection. In this type
of social system, the function of a particular insect is predetermined, and
they can never be anything different. Humans and other mammals are not
polymorphic and are thus not limited in their social capacity. They are
not predestined to have a single social function. Instead, humans have
the ability to grow, learn, adapt, and expand themselves to become anything
that they are physically and intellectually capable of becoming. In
keeping with the old adage, “The sky is the limit,” humans have the ability
to grow from one social function into another, even to succeed at many
different social functions. They can breed and give birth like the
Drone and Queen, they can work to provide for their families like the Worker,
and they can fight to protect the freedom of their society like the
Soldier. They are not “pre-caste” into a single immutable social
function. His Generation
- Part 4, Finishing God's Work. 11/20/2007. To
eat the meat of Jesus means to “finish his
[the Father’s] work.” This
requires that you be brave and to believe. You must be brave
enough to step out of your comfort zone and finish the work the Holy Spirit begins around you.
When a woman came to a well near where Jesus sat, He preached to her the
message of the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit began the work by drawing her
to the well and creating the encounter. Christ finished what the Holy
Spirit began by acting on God’s behalf. We also must see these chance
encounters as Jesus and His disciples did: not as a coincidence, but as
divine appointment. When Peter and John came across a crippled beggar
at the temple, they saw it as the divine appointment God meant it to
be. The Holy Ghost began the work, so they finished it! To Peter
and John, meeting the crippled beggar wasn’t about gaining another follower
or expanding the size of their church. It was about allowing a life to
be forever transformed by the power of God. It is those times when we
partner with the Holy Spirit that we grow, that we become spiritually strong,
that we eat of the meat of the Holy Spirit. As we work with the Holy
Spirit to see lives transformed, we become the rivers of living water that
the scriptures describe. So, if you are spiritually depleted, do not
look for a preacher to toss you his crumbs. Look around for the
encounters that the Holy Spirit has created and complete the work. Sadly though,
most Christians do not see divine encounters, they only see coincidences, and
those who do recognize a divine encounter unusually do not act upon it. It is
because they have been so ingrained with the idea that they are not qualified
to minister to others, it’s not their job, and neither do they have the
authority to act, that the divine encounter simply slips away. His Generation
- Part 3, The Church Of My House. 11/9/2007. If Christianity is to ever become the Bride of Christ
that it was destined to be, it will not be through today’s
institutions. It must return to its roots. It must cast aside two
thousand years of vain institution and adopt the spontaneous, adaptive, and
opportunistic methods of His generation. They must look to Christ as
their head and the Holy Spirit for answers and guidance. Christians
must be unleashed. They must be turned loose into the wild to discover
who they were prior to their domestication, to rediscover their destiny by
adapting, overcoming, and subduing this earth and the evil ingrained into
it. In order for this to happen, each home must become a church, every
parent a pastor, and every child a fiery disciple! His Generation
- Part 2, What It Means To Believe. 10/19/2007. John 3:16 is, without doubt, one of the most well-known
scriptures in the Bible. Yet for all the tens of thousands of times it
is quoted each week, it seems to find no place in today’s
Christian culture. Who today evangelizes with the message of “believing?”
Why does the context of this scripture seem to have little meaning among
Christians today? Even a cursory study of the New Testament will reveal
that this passage is far from being an anomaly. “Believing” is
the central theme of the New Testament. The word “believe” is
the Greek verb “pisteuo.” The noun version,
“pistis,” is translated as “faith.” The use of “believing” and “faith” are thus
interchangeable. They are essentially the same word. “Believing”
and “faith” were never meant to be used to exclusively describe a
process of salvation that was accomplished years ago. It was meant to
describe the everyday actions of believers as they lived their lives.
It was meant to describe how they handled adversity, sickness, and the lost
souls they encountered. It was meant to describe believing that Jesus
is the Son of God and following what He taught. It meant exercising His
faith, believing in His active power in their lives, and doing His
works. It meant to be an overcomer, a
conqueror, and kings among men. To the first believers, Christianity
was a transformation. It was not only an inward experience but also an
ongoing outward manifestation through their lives of their spiritual rebirth,
the operation of the Spirit in their lives, and the realization of Christ’s teaching in them. They were and strove
their entire lives to become all that He was, all that He promised them, and all that He taught. That is what it meant
to “believe.” His Generation
- Part 1, What Shall Become Of This Generation? 10/9/2007. The generation of Jesus began about 30AD
with a relatively young rabbi walking through the coastal cities of
Galilee. He preached a message not unlike John the Baptist’s message: a
message that would become known as the Gospel, or “Good News.” Twelve
men, varying in age within about twenty years of Jesus, joined Him as His
Apostles. We want to declare His generation and what became of
it. Jesus’ generation lasted for about 70 years (30AD to 100AD).
They were a generation of about thirteen men who changed the known
world. They never lost faith, they never lost focus, and they never
lost the passion required to spread this “good news.” They faced severe
opposition from their fellow countrymen, and they thrived during a time of
great persecution. They did not have all the answers, yet they were
able to leave some of the richest writings ever produced, and the reason why
we are able to assemble and worship God is completely the result of their
lives’ work. The men who followed Jesus were
unique. They were an anomaly for every other generation of Christian
leaders that were to follow. It is safe to say that NO other generation
of Christian leaders followed the example taught by Christ and practiced by
His original followers. These original followers did not compete for
preeminence or control. They did not split into isolated factions of
believers who went about their own business regardless of what the others
thought. In fact, thirty years after the death of Christ, we find these
men still operating as a team (rather than as individuals), burning with the
same passion of world evangelism. What was different with them?
Why were they such an anomaly? What Is A New
Testament Church - Part 4 "Within And Without". 9/19/2007. What makes up a New Testament
church is New Testament Christians.
One reason we fail to see the type of church that the First Century
Christians knew is because Christians since then have institutionalized their
faith. They are practicing
intellectually what they believe to be a New Testament faith, when it is, in
reality, little more than living an Old Testament life. The Old Testament
dealt with the outside. Consequently,
process and procedure were important (e.g., God told Moses, “See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the
pattern shewed to thee in the mount (Hebrews 8:5).”). Christian leaders and churches that focus
on process and procedure are NOT New Testament but Old. In the Old
Testament, people approached God through following the “process” of the
Tabernacle and Temple. But God is no
longer there. The process for growing
closer to God no longer works. All
that these processes can achieve now is religion. Institutionalizing faith is religion. It desires to boil everything down to a
recipe, a guideline, a process. If
this describes you, then you need to repent and do the first works
again. If your priorities seem skewed,
if understanding what the New Testament is seems cloudy, if you are burdened
by all the spiritual/religious things that you are supposed to be doing, then
you are living in the Old Testament.
You must learn again (like you did when you were first saved) what it
means to have a personal relationship with God. What Is A New
Testament Church - Part 3, Contextual Ministry. 9/4/2007. The
practice of the New Testament church was vastly different from its
contemporary counterpart. “Appointed”
church offices took a back seat to the manifestation of the Spirit, while
those who were spiritually gifted were both encouraged and allowed to express
their spiritual gifts. Today, however,
the reverse is true. In our
contemporary church model, “appointed” church offices (i.e., men who are
appointed to a position of authority) are often expected to be
plenipotentiary leaders who take precedence over the spiritually gifted. The spiritually gifted are often viewed and
treated as troublemakers and renegades. Therefore, the
contemporary church is derailed, primarily because its leaders are. They have allowed their appointed positions
to give them a place in the church that God never intended. Appointed church leaders were to have
authority over that which belongs to men, not that which belongs to God. In a
New Testament church, a believer does not need to be appointed to a church
office in order to minister. ALL
MATURE CHRISTIANS are to be regarded as elders and speak with the SAME
authority as those appointed to church offices. Why, then, have church offices at all? The practice in the New Testament church
was to appoint spiritually mature individuals to handle the business and physical
affairs of the church. That is why all
the qualifications for a church office in Titus and Timothy deal with the
honesty and integrity of a man, NOT his spiritual endowment. What Is A New
Testament Church - Part 2, Offerings Of Fire. 8/28/2007. Missing from most churches, especially those that claim
to be New Testament, is the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit. You cannot create a New Testament church by
setting in place elders and deacons, by being accountable to an apostle, by
developing ministries, by giving or listening to anointed sermons, or by
seeking spiritual gifts. If you want a
New Testament church, you must do what the first generation of Christians
did: wait for the power! Do you want to
experience a New Testament church?
Then stop trying to create one.
All we can create is an Old Testament church, a church produced out of
human will and effort. Contrary to
popular consensus, God does not need apostles and prophets, spiritual gifts,
or the New Testament church structure in order to change the world. God does not need traditional pastors or
their programs in our churches. The
form of church and the ministry structure they provide has done little to
affect the people, communities, or the nations of this world. What God needs from us is something that
church form and ministry structure cannot provide. God needs each of us to offer Him our lives
as “an
offering made by fire.” What Is A New
Testament Church - Part 1, The New And Old Testament Church. 8/14/2007. There was an Old Testament Church just as there is
a New Testament Church. Much of the
problem Christians face today comes from a misunderstanding of what structure
and obligations belong to the Old Testament Church and what to the New
Testament Church. In general,
Christians understand that they are no longer obligated to make blood
sacrifices for their sin. They clearly
see this as Old Testament obsolescence, but other things are not as
clear. What about the Jewish feasts or
abstaining from pork? Christians tend
to struggle with many of the sundry laws and ordinances. Many Christians are not clear as to how the
law applies to New Testament Christians.
The line of separation between the Old and New Testament is blurred
with Christians observing many Old Testament practices. It was a problem that was especially
difficult for first century Christianity, and a struggled they never
completely resolved. Consequently, it
is no wonder that Christians of today tend to embrace much of the Old Testament
structure when it comes to the New Testament Church. Domesticating
Christians - Part 3, Addicted To Pleasure 8/6/2007. Today’s
Christian leaders are propagating a perversion. Rather than stand in the gap, they fight to
see who can own the biggest share of it.
They have no motivation to want the gap removed since it is that gap
that gives them purpose, makes them relevant.
As they see it, God has called them to “fill the gap,” not remove
it. If there were no gap, what would
they do? As long as there exist apathetic compromising Christians, then there is
work for them to do. In addition, they need the gap to get wider in order to
have room for a new generation of Christian leaders. The gap is treated like prime real estate,
with every institutional minister attempting to get the biggest share. As a result, the gap between God and His
people gets wider as more and more Christians are turned into addicts. Christian leaders are not closing the gap;
rather, they are responsible for creating and widening it. Every time
Christian are given alternatives to seeking God themselves and seeking the
infilling of His Spirit, there is a new “spiritual gap” created. Every sermon, book, crusade, and video
teaching that does not cause Christians to abandon their pursuit of
intellectual pleasure and spend time (however long that may be) seeking God
until they are filled with His Spirit and become a river of living water is
nothing more than a spiritual gap. The
worst possible thing that could happen to the institutional church and its
leaders is for “revival” to take place and the gap between God and His people
to disappear. What would all the
Christian leaders do then? They cannot
allow that to happen, so they protect the gap by filling it with their ministries,
churches, and sermons, and in doing so, they feed the addiction of God’s
people, cleverly keeping them away from God.
God’s people today are slaves to their addictions. They are addicted to their pleasures, and
the pushers of these addictions are their Christian leaders who feed it to
them. Domesticating
Christians - Part 2, Unnatural Selection 7/23/2007. God
meant for women to marry men, not angels.
How could men possibly compete with angels for the affection of
women? For “angels, which are greater in power and might (2 Peter 2:11)”
are nearly perfect beings. They
exercise tremendous strength and miraculous power. Angels surely
used their power to captivate the attention of human women. Human men
could not contend with such powerful beings. This perversion of God’s order
created offspring who were “mighty men which were
of old, men of renown.” It
is quite possible that this is from where the legends of Hercules and the
other Greek gods came. It is easy to
understand how their offspring could be seen as gods. Nevertheless, these “mighty men”
were a perversion of God’s order. It is interesting that prior to this
event in the scripture there is no evidence of idolatry. There is no evidence that mankind
worshipped idols. We can conclude
that, up until this event, mankind recognized only a single God. They may not have acknowledged or worshipped
Him, but they still knew that He was God. The creation of these “mighty men… men of renown” could, in one sense,
be viewed as a fulfilling of the destiny of mankind. God said, “Let
us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and
over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth (Genesis 1:26).”
So when godlike beings began to emerge,
those angel beings could have claimed to be doing God’s will. But even
though their offspring appeared godlike, they only appeared that way. In reality, they were made in the image of
angels, not in the image of God. Domesticating
Christians - Part 1 7/4/2007. True Christians who desire to be
the subduer/conqueror that God destined them to be
are incompatible with institutional churches.
They are incompatible with the church setting that casts them as
spectators, like cattle in stalls.
Christians like this have sacrificed their knowledge of how to move
and operate in the Spirit for the safety of their church-farm and the
mindless duty of being fed by their pastor-farmer. They believe that only their pastor-farmer
is blessed with the gift of feeding. So
they have laid down their swords and armor and quietly conformed to becoming
livestock. They no longer know how to
survive and thrive in the environment God designed them to conquer. They are no longer God’s warriors against
the land of spiritual darkness. They
live now in the safety of their stall, and think that this is what God
destined for them. God’s people have
quite literally been “destroyed for lack of
knowledge.” Poets Of The
Spirit - Being A Doer Of The Word. 6/25/2007. The Holy Spirit works in our lives,
not through lectures and workbooks, but by leading us through the difficult
times. We learn faith by practicing
it, and God will make sure that we get ample opportunities to practice it. We learn patience, mercy, and forgiveness
from people who hurt us. Every tangible element in our Christian lives is
obtained from living/practicing our Christian faith. Sometimes we don’t know
what to do. That is not the time to
run to the Christian bookstore but to pray for the leading of the Holy
Spirit. When you allow God to handle
the circumstances in your life, you will begin to see a poet emerge in
you. You will see people being drawn
to the performance of your life. When
we allow God to write His law in our hearts (as opposed to drawing from
academia and then trying to force it to work in our lives) we will see Christ
lifted up and all men drawn to him. Spiritual
Authority - Part 1. Understanding Spiritual Authority. 5/16/2007. There is a great deal of confusion over the subject of Spiritual
Authority because people tend to confuse natural authority and spiritual
authority. This confusion is
pervasive in the teachings of well-known Christian teachers like Bill Gothard and Watchman Nee. Natural authority is
the power (or authority) people have over others. People tend to exploit the areas of their
lives that contribute to their sense of power. For instance, it is not unusual for influential
men to spend in excess of $1,000 on a name brand suit, $150 on a silk tie,
$200 on leather shoes, thousands on a Rolex watch, and tens of thousands on
classy cars. Men are not alone in
their pursuit of power. Women live in
what they consider “a man’s world.”
Therefore, in order to feel significant, women feel they need to have
some sort power over men. But since
they are far less physically intimidating than most men, women have had to
learn other ways to achieve power and control. One especially effective tool is there sex
appeal. The most common way to do this
is by accentuating their physically sensual characteristics. They tend to wear clothes that accent their
physical shape, stockings and shoes that show off their legs, make-up and
hairstyles that accent their faces, jewelry and nail polish to show off their
hands, etc. Women have come to
understand that a man’s sexual drive is his weakness, and so when they
successfully exploit this weakness, they gain power over him. Other women go to the opposite extreme and
attempt to act and dress like their male counterparts trying to fit in with
them. None of this has anything to do
with spiritual authority. It is
merely people using natural authority to have power and control. Spiritual
Authority - Part 2. The Application Of Spiritual Authority. 5/22/2007.
This note addresses the relationship of the husband
and wife as well as that of parents and children. It also addresses the
issue of submission. The following is a sample of the part on the
husband and wife relationship: We learn here that God
created Eve to be a “help meet.”
The word “help (Hebrew: help, aid, or succor)” means just as it would
seem: “to aid or assist.”
Interestingly enough, the word “meet”
means “a part opposite, specifically a counterpart, or mate. It has the idea of something being set
against (as in opposition) something else.” Eve could help
him become better by providing balance through an opposing viewpoint. Their collaboration and cooperation is
known as “synergy.” It is the friction
between these two opposites who work together for a solution that creates
synergy. The following is a sample of the part on
submission: We
must be careful not turn submission into a spiritual act. When we do that it becomes law, and women
will submit, not out of love but out of some sense of duty or threat of
sin. This tends to diminish a wife’s
effectiveness as his help meet. Christian wives submit to their husbands
because that is the natural order that God established, and it is therefore
pleasing to Him. But to make
submission exclusively a wife’s role is wrong. We are “all [to] be subject one to another, and be
clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud,
and giveth grace to the humble.”
Consequently, it should not be hard for a woman to submit to her
husband and he to her. Submission should be our lifestyle. Spiritual
Authority - Part 3. The Voice Of The Holy Spirit. 5/30/2007. We are convinced that most Christians do NOT know how to
hear the voice of the Spirit. Gleaning
truths divined from the scripture is NOT the voice of the Spirit. Basing your decision on your understanding
of biblical truths is NOT hearing the voice of the Spirit. Coming to a consensus through the counsel
of others is NOT listening to the Spirit of God. Instead of hearing the voice of the Spirit,
most Christians have come to accept their own presumptions, cultural values,
and intellectual knowledge of the scripture to dictate the answers they
desire and their spiritual direction.
Though truth can sometimes be found in this way, it is a poor
replacement for hearing what the Spirit has to say. Only by listening to the voice of the Holy
Spirit can one be fully submitted to true spiritual authority.
When you consider the
scriptures as a whole, you begin to see certain themes occurring. I believe “biblical themes” are certain
inalienable truths that the apostles embraced and were therefore reflected in
their writing. For instance, Western
civilization embraces justice and freedom.
As a result, someone who embraces these values will unknowingly
communicate these virtues in their writing and speech even though they may
not directly address the subject. That
is because these values are a part of the way we think and are therefore
reflected in how we communicate. This
is also true in the writings of the New Testament. There are certain ideological truths like
love, grace, and faith that were embraced by the authors of the New
Testament. These values were at times
subtly communicated in their writing.
They appear as themes in their writing. Therefore, when we read a statement that
seems to be in conflict with other New Testament passages, we must look
beyond the words and the Greek meaning, seeking to understand the theme of
the concept as it is expressed in the whole of the New Testament. Spiritual
Authority - Part 4. Case Studies In Spiritual Authority. 6/3/2007. Case Study 1, the First Family. What happened with
Adam and Eve is very common. Like most
wives, Eve’s opinion of Adam was colored by his natural authority over
her. She saw him not as a spiritual
being but as the “physical” man that he was.
The Serpent approached Eve not from a position of natural authority
but as a spiritual authority.
There was no way that Adam could compete with that. Even though he knew the mind of God on the
issue, Eve had more respect for someone coming from a position of spiritual
authority than one coming from a position of natural authority. Adam lost out because of his natural
authority. Consider the series of
events that took place to bring about the fall of mankind. Case Study 2, The First
Church. Many
Christians want to revert back to the spiritual authority of the Old
Testament. They liked having men
represent them to God as their priests.
If they don’t have to go to God, then their sin will not be exposed
and their conscience will be clear.
Consequently, churches everywhere put men as their priests/pastors in
a position between them and God. These
men insulate them from the prying eyes of the Holy Spirit. It is easy to sit in a church and listen to
someone preach, and it satisfies the need to submit to God even if little is
actually accomplished. The pastors/priests
have no idea the lives that their congregations lead, and this is the way
people like it. But if God stood
before them, there would be no hiding their sin. Spiritual
Authority - Part 5 Power Over Serpents And Scorpions. 6/15/2007. When you put the scripture, “we wrestle,” together with the scripture, “power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the
power of the enemy,” you begin to understand that the spiritual
authority Christians can have “against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, [and] against spiritual wickedness in
high places” is not given carte blanche to just any
Bible-toting believer. Like the Greeks
who trained their entire life for this contest, spiritual authority
over “serpents and scorpions, and over all the
power of the enemy” is for them who have conditioned and trained
their spiritual lives to be qualified for this fight. Believers do this through obeying the
discipleship described by Jesus, and through “crucifying the flesh” as
described by Paul. The measure of spiritual
authority a believer has is directly proportional to the degree that they
are submitted to the Lord. They must
set aside sin and personal ambitions and become obedient to God’s
Spirit. And like the Greek sport, this
training and discipline must be considered lifelong and life changing. Coming Out Of Egypt
- Part 1. Seven Times Worse. 3/26/2007. Repeated over and over again throughout the
scripture is the principle of being “called out.” Even the word “church” comes from the Greek
word “ecclesia” which means “the called out ones.” In this scripture, we find Abraham being
called out of Ur. Later on, the children
of Israel are called out of Egypt, and then again out of Babylon. What is important is that with each calling out there is also a
calling to. God always has a purpose for His called out ones. Christians are called out with
purpose. We tend to lose sight of the
purpose and focus our attention on the coming out part. Christianity then regresses into a list of
“do’s and don’ts,” focusing on our outward appearance and superficial
obedience, rather than the process of our transformation (what we are to
become) from the inside out. It is this fullness of the Holy Spirit in our
lives, the casting of our crowns at the feet of Christ (making Him king
instead of us or our churches), and the yielding to His control and authority
that will restore Zion. Zion will not
be rebuilt by simply coming
out of a church, it will not come by fashioning a five-fold
ministry, nor will it come by pursuing spiritual gifts. It can only come about when we come into His presence
and make Him Lord and King of His Church. Coming Out Of Egypt
- Part 2. Swept And Garnished." 4/6/2007. Each
week, churches are filled with parasitic Christians. They are like dry lifeless sponges. They soak the life out of everything around
them. They come to church after
spending a (spiritually) lifeless week in the bowels of this world. They are like batteries that have been used
up all week and barely have a spark of life.
They expect their Sunday morning will renew their spirits and
re-charge their spiritual batteries with just enough energy so that they can
make it through another week. Then the
cycle repeats itself. Is this the type
of Christianity that is described in the scriptures? Absolutely not. Today’s version of Christianity is
fundamentally flawed in that it is an exercise in futility. It is, at best, superficial. Coming Out Of Egypt
- Part 3. Yesterday's Manna." 4/11/2007. There
is nothing wrong with the bread of life.
The wrong is in our own hearts.
Is Jesus really enough?
Institutional churches have so many wonderful things. They have great praise and worship
teams. They have articulate and
educated preachers. They have
wonderful social programs for our families.
But where is the bread of life in all these things? Their programs are designed to stimulate
our senses. They captivate our
attention. They add to the boatload of
useless knowledge we already have, but they cannot transform us
spiritually. The only way for this to
happen is if we get hungry, hungry for something that institutional churches
are determined never to allow. If you
get hungry, you will soon realize that you are alone in a crowd, that the
people who surround you are shallow, and that the preachers are fake. You will find
yourself hungering for something that cannot be satisfied in their
entertainment. You need Jesus. You need the bread of life. If church
is something that you attend dutifully, then just remember your family will
feel the same way. Do they go out of
obligation? Then something is wrong. Stop looking to churches and pastors for
answers and spiritual fulfillment, because it’s waiting for you at your very
own home. Your manna, the manna that
God has designed specifically for you, is waiting for you. It is found, not in a crowd of people, but
in the intimacy of your relationship with Him. What you miss today will never be again, so
don’t let a single day escape. Look
around. It’s within reach. But grasp it quickly before it melts away. Coming Out Of Egypt
- Part 4. The Ultimate Loser." 4/19/2007. Centuries
ago, there existed a great people.
They just did not know they were great. They were the Greeks. They were a feudalistic society of
city-states each of which possessed its own army. But their constant fighting of each other
kept them from becoming the great empire that they should have been. That is, until the Persian Empire showed up
at their border. Persia had conquered
over forty nations and empires. It has an army of millions. In contrast, each Greek city-state had an
army that usually numbered in the tens of thousands. Nevertheless, the Greeks inflicted such
losses on the Persians that the Persians retreated back to their own
homeland, and the Greeks eventually took Persia’s place as the greatest
empire in the world. Just as the Greeks did in their time, today’s
Christians fight viciously against each other. They have no common enemy. Their enemy is each other. They are busy trying to turn stones into bread as
Satan sits back and laughs in satisfaction. The temptation Jesus overcame in the desert
has become the demise of His followers. Coming Out Of Egypt
- Part 5. Where Are All The Men?" 4/23/2007. In every
Christian home, the husband/father desires to be the spiritual head of his
home. As a responsible godly man, he
tries to put his family in an environment that nurtures spiritual growth. Some men control access to TV and other
media to which his children may be exposed.
Some control who their friends are, the way they dress, and even where
they get their education (home school or Christian school). Often these things are carried out properly
with admirable results in that children become mature, respectful,
well-behaved young people with a conscience for God. Most Christian parents know intuitively
what is right for their family. In addition, both
the husband and wife know they need the fellowship of like-minded Christians
both for themselves and for their children.
Eventually, they settle on a church that they feel can best support
their spiritual and social objectives for their family. It would seem on the surface that this
model would go far to strengthen the family unit, but just the reverse is
true. The Barna
Group Ltd. studies, as well as that from many other groups show that the
family unit of contemporary Christianity is NO stronger than that of its
secular counterpart. In short, the
church has had zero impact in strengthening the family unit. Some studies even suggest that it has made
matters worse. Of course, none of this
makes any sense, or does it? Let’s
consider what spiritual principles are really at work and whether these
spiritual principles do in fact strengthen the family unit. Coming Out Of Egypt
- Part 6. Dead Faith." 5/1/2007. Spoiled
and self-centered people tend to see faith as it pertains to their
needs. To them, their faith is not
considered in how it can help others but in how it can be used to help their
own income, to aid in their own good health, and to make their children
obedient. Faith is not seen in their
actions but in God’s. You might say
that they have a passive faith in an active God. With this kind of faith, God does all the
work, and they are the recipients of His loving kindness. While it is true that we are the recipients
of God’s good favor, it is only half of the equation. At least, that is how James saw it. To partake of God’s good favor and not
return it to those in need meant that their faith was dead. The Hebrew
people who came out of Egypt followed God through the Red Sea, as long as He
parted it. They ate manna, as long as
God provided it. And they drank of
water from a rock as long as God brought it forth. Their job was to believe, and God’s job was
to act. Contemporary Western evangelism is probably the best example of
dead, or institutional, faith. Rather
than evangelizing the lost in the neighborhood and the city, institutional
churches have found it much easier to “grow” by drawing Christians away from
the neighboring churches. They do this
by getting a better speaker, building a newer facility, having better
programs, and offering fun social activities.
Then, when Christians begin to arrive, they proclaim that God has
“blessed” them. But if the number
of Christians in a city remains the same, how can anyone say that God’s
kingdom is growing? Do you really
believe that God glorifies Himself by simply shuffling Christians from one
church to another within each city?
That is not “being blessed.” It
is dead faith. It is
nothing more than institutional faith, and it is a disgrace. By The Rivers Of
Babylon - Part 1, What it means to "Come out..." 2/12/2007. There is no magic in leaving an institutional church. It does not change you. In fact, the greatest danger facing people
who leave institutional churches is the very real probability that
they will inevitably reproduce the same type of institution as that from
which they came. We
cannot stress this enough. Many people
have left an institutional church and either joined or started a new one and
then watched as the new church evolved into an institutional church. Why?
It is because in their hearts they never really left Babylon. Babylon is still in their hearts. Just
because you may see the problems with an institutional church does not mean
that you now have all the answers. You
more than likely have wounds. If a
church has hurt you, it is important that the first thing you find is
healing. Quit responding to the
hurt. This means no phone calls, no
e-mail, and no sidebar conversations with your friends about what happened to
you. It will only keep the wound
open. So don’t respond to the things
you hear. Let them go. Don’t keep the cycle continuing. Find a place alone with God where you can
find healing that can only come from His Spirit. It will not happen overnight. This type of healing usually takes months. By The Rivers Of
Babylon - Part 2, Understanding Reproach 2/19/2007. Leaving
Babylon was not a magic pill they could take to make everything all
right. Instead, leaving brought them
into a state of disgrace and shame. In
reality, they were already in that state: they just didn’t recognize it. Leaving caused them to recognize where they
had been. Whether they lived in
Babylon or in Jerusalem, the city was still in ruins. It just wasn’t until they left the great
city of Babylon to live in Jerusalem that they recognized the ruination. Their geographical location did not change
their state. They were still Jews
wherever they lived. Babylon gave birth, but it gave birth to
harlots. There are many people who
have come to understand the harlot nature of Babylon. But what they fail to see is that we are
still the children of that system.
We were birthed as harlots.
This is probably the hardest thing for any Christian to accept.
Some of the harlot daughters may have left their mother, just like those
leaving the institutional church today.
But they are still harlots.
Their disassociation with the great harlot did not change who they
were. We realize that this seems
harsh, but it is crucial that we get through to the spiritual Babylonian
exiles. There is a spiritual
redemption/transformation that must accompany your exodus or all you will be
accomplishing is the enlargement the harlot’s family. By The Rivers Of
Babylon - Part 3, Learning To Love 2/28/2007. It
would be nice to believe that leaving a traditional church fixes everything,
but it does not. You will not find the
Land of Promise. Nor will you step
into the Garden of Eden. Quite often,
leaving only creates a whole new set of issues. Learning to love is not unity in our groups
and accepting those who are different.
Learning to love is forgiving those who hurt us most deeply so that
you truly can be Jesus to others.
Remember that hurt people hurt people.
It sounds cliché, but it is true.
Learning to love is being like Joseph: embracing those who hated us to
death, offering a hand of fellowship to those who despised and rejected us,
and willing to help them in their need.
Jesus described this when He said, “For if ye love them
which love you, what thanks have ye? for sinners
also love those that love them (Luke 6:32).” Learning to love is putting others
first. Learning to love is seeing
other Christians who are different as better than you. When we learn to love, we let go of self
and self’s ambitions. It is our
selfishness and hurt that prevents Jesus from shining through us. When Jesus is able to shine through us, we
discover the true peace of God.
Remember, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” By The Rivers Of
Babylon - Part 4, Half Way Up The Mountain. 3/5/2007. Mediocrity refers to “a person of second-rate ability or
value. The state of being
mediocre.” Mediocre means “barely
adequate. Rather inferior.” Mediocre comes from the Latin word mediocris that means “middle height or state,” but
more interestingly, it originally meant “halfway up the mountain.” Is
there any reason to climb halfway up a mountain? It seems so incomplete. Why take pride in failure? Yet this is exactly what some Jews did by
not returning to Zion. They were
content with their current progress and saw no need to go on. Many Christians are following the same
example. They are taking satisfaction
in their failure. The institutional
church is a failure; it is Babylon. By The Rivers Of
Babylon - Part 5, The Rise Of Aristocracy. 3/14/2007. Paul was faced with a particularly troubling
dilemma. His calling was to bring the
gospel to the Gentiles. Their culture
and society was vastly different from what we in the west have ever
experienced. Extreme poverty, as well
as social subjugation and persecution, was the rule. Personal freedom and liberty was
unknown. Therefore, people came into
Christianity with a subservient disposition.
In addition, people were coming from pagan worship, sexual perversion,
and a moral code that bore little resemblance to the Judaic morality
established by God. Therefore, each
church that Paul established required a lengthy process of deprogramming from
pagan virtues and morality to those of Christianity. He could spend years in each city building
up the people through teaching and the operation of spiritual gifts, or he
could turn them over to others to help carry on the process. What we find is a model of vanishing
leadership that diminished over time until all rule is turned over to God. By The Rivers Of
Babylon - Part 6, A Little Child Shall Lead Them. 3/19/2007. The wolf also shall
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the
calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall
lead them (Isaiah 11:1-6). This is a prophecy concerning the Christ and
His coming kingdom. Contrary to how
Christianity is often practiced it’s NOT the wise and educated who are to
lead in this kingdom, but the “little child[ren].” In many ways, Christianity would be better off
if the so-called “leaders” would go to the back of the line and let the “little child[ren]”
lead. You cannot really understand how
much your mind has been influenced by the culture of Babylon until you talk
to “a little child” in Christ.
Young Christians aren’t stupid.
They see the sin, apathy, and compromise that experienced Christians
often call maturity, so you’re only fooling yourself. We
have grown up, and in many ways, we regret it. We have one blessing, though: we are around
“little
child[ren]” in
the Lord, and you know what? They are
asking all the questions we once asked.
Only this time, they are not hearing the discouraging arrogance from
the lips of a wasted life. They are
hearing a different message: “You’re absolutely right! Lead on!” Here A Little,
And There A Little - Part 1. 1/31/2007. Unlike the Old Testament, which
was all given at one time in its entirety to a single man (Moses), God made
it clear through this prophecy that the New Testament would come in parts,
like series of building blocks. It
would come “precept upon
precept, line upon line.”
The word translated “precept” is tsav (Hebrew) meaning
“commandment,” and the word translated “line”
is qav (Hebrew) “a cord (as means of
measuring).” Thus this verse foretold
the New Covenant, its statutes and measure would come over the course of time
through many people. It would
literally be “here a little, and there a little.”
There is an inherent weakness in this form of structure: anyone can claim to
have part of that revelation and set forth statutes that are contrary to true
revelation. To counter this, God sent
two messengers, the prophet John the Baptist and His Son Jesus Christ, to
preach the message of the kingdom.
Their ministries set in place the fundamentals and foundational
doctrine of the New Testament. It was
meant that others would follow and build (“precept
upon precept, line upon line”) upon this foundation, not try to
replace it. As Paul wrote, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid,
which is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11).” Here A Little,
And There A Little - Part 2, Understanding Church
Leadership With The Gospels. 1/31/2007. The rank
of elders (which anyone can attain) is a way for mature Christians to grow
out from under the oversight of pastors/bishops without eliminating
pastors/bishops from the church. In
other words, pastors/bishops do not exercise cart blanche authority
over everyone in the church. It is interesting is that each of us knows
many people who fit this description yet hold no official church title. These people may not realize that they are,
in fact, peers of the official church government and that it is a mistake for
them not to be involved in the decisions and direction of the church they
attend. True elders are the missing
element in most churches. Most
contemporary churches seem to acknowledge only those who have official
titles, and as a result, they miss the spiritual richness they can gain from
true elders. If we could give any
advice to contemporary pastors, it would be to acknowledge the “true”
spiritual elders (as opposed to the “official” ones) of the congregation and
to treat them as peers. If they were
to do this, amazing things would begin to take place in their respective
churches. Will A Man Rob God?
1/24/2007. Will a man rob God? Yet ye
have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed
thee? In tithes and offerings ( Probably no other verse is more overused in the New Testament
then this Old Testament passage.
Why? Because many Christian
leaders feel that this scripture gives them the authority to berate
Christians into financing their ministries. But is this what God had in mind? Is this scripture really intended to
obligate New Testament believers into giving to a church organization?
What Is Truth?
1/17/2007. What Christian
does not believe that they know “the truth?”
Who among us cannot point to some scriptural foundation for his system
of beliefs? Are there any of us who
cannot point to a rich heritage of prominent Christian leaders who act as an
endorsement of our faith? Yet with all
this “proof,” each of our respective versions of the truth remains in
conflict with each other. If another
Christian’s version of the truth has scriptural support and the endorsement
of Christian leaders, how do we know our version of the truth is
correct? Peacemaker Or
Trucebreaker. 1/8/2007. While visiting some friends
not long ago, I saw that they were watching “Apprentice.” Donald Trump was explaining to someone his
perspective of doing business. He
said if people are honest with him, he tries to work with them, but if you
cross him, he said, “I’ll hate you forever.”
Such is the nature and action of a trucebreaker, not a
peacemaker. Peacemakers have an
inexplicable capacity to forgive. They
find a way to set aside the hurts they feel for the sake of the
relationship. They find a way to spin
peace in an almost poetic style to fill in the void of their pain. They overcome all things by their love. You have a choice. You can be a trucebreaker and forever hate
all those who have crossed you, or you can be a peacemaker and learn to
forgive others, to give your wounds to God.
Give Him your wounds today, forgive those who have crossed you, build
again the bridges of broken relationships, and cherish those whom God has put
into your life. God has called you, as
He called Esther, not for yourself but for others. Be a peacemaker. Practice the art of the poetry of
peace. If you are not sure how, or if
you are not sure that you can forgive, do not despair. You can learn at the feet of the Prince of
Peace. All you need to do is to let go
of your pain and reach out to Him. Pretenders. 12/20/2006.
Our English word hypocrite is a
transliteration of the noun form of this Greek word: hupokrites.
It means, “to pretend, one
who acts a part, one who wears a mask” or “acts as something one is not.” Hupokrites
was used to describe “an actor, a stage player, or a pretender.” It
interesting that the origins and idea of the word of hypocrisy originated
not from religious counterfeits, but from the description of a stage-actor. A Better
Way, Part 2 - The Butterfly Effect. 12/11/2006. Did
you ever wonder about this scripture? Have
you ever wonder how people could become so deluded that they could believe a
lie even though the truth is right in front of them? Delusions don’t sneak up on you in the
night and then pounce on you. They
come slowly over the course of time.
They come about through little ideas and compromises that build on one
another, each taking you a little further from the truth. There is a principle in our natural
universe that describes this form of behavior. It’s called The Butterfly Effect. The Butterfly Effect is also
known in mathematics as Chaos Theory, which espouses the idea that "the
flapping of a single butterfly's wings today produces a tiny change in the
state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere
actually does diverges from what it would have done. So, in a month's
time, a tornado that would have devastated the Indonesian coast doesn't
happen. Or maybe one that wasn't going to happen does happen (Ian
Stewart, Does God Play Dice? The Mathematics of Chaos, pg.
141)." The idea is that things matter, even small things, no
matter how insignificant they may seem. A Better Way, Part 1 - The Second Law Of
Thermodynamics. 12/5/2006. New Testament life is to experience conversion
and a life empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Read the red - the words of Jesus – and you will find it conspicuously
missing the teaching of doctrine and traditions like head coverings, tithing,
church membership, ordination of leaders, masses, liturgy, and other forms of
the institution we have created. His
teaching revolved around discipleship, character, and lifestyle. His teaching assumes that a convert would
tend toward spiritual maturity, which is typically not what we find
today. His teaching was all about experiencing
and living the New Testament as opposed to practicing or imitating it. Instead of understanding why elders
were appointed, most churches blindly imitate it. They ordain elders and deacons simply
because they believe that imitating first century Christianity will
provide us the same experience. But
experience must come first. These
churches in Crete faced many challenges that we do not face today. Most of these churches had little access
to scripture and about the only scripture that existed was the Old
Testament. Few people in these
churches had educational backgrounds as they came from an agrarian culture. These churches may have had to operate on
their own for years before Paul could come back through or send someone to
them. They had virtually no
communication with larger and more mature churches to ask questions or
receive advice. They were isolated,
alone, and vulnerable. In many
ways, the ordaining of elders and deacons was to shore up for the lack of New
Testament scripture. These
elders represented institution, not maturity. "Ye Ought To Be Teachers." 11/26/2006.
There comes a time when people should grow up. A cursory survey of Christianity in the
West reveals that this is not the case, at least not here. So why aren’t Christians growing up?
There are solid biblical principles that explain why people who have been
“churched” for years remain children or even babies their entire Christian
lives. These principles explain why
the contemporary Western Church remains an infant even though it has more
ministers, churches, Christian broadcasters, Christian books and Bibles,
freedom of religion, and finances for church operations than all other
nations combined. The
Post-Modern Christian Era. 11/20/2006. Our
modern age is generally viewed as beginning about two hundred years ago when
the Western nations abandoned their religious wars and began to embrace
personal religious freedom.
Throughout the modern age, religious truth was rarely questioned. The Bible was always used as the textbook
in the classroom, and “separation of Church and State” was never an
issue. Truths, whether scientific,
economic, or religious, were esteemed and valued. But all of that changed when the modern
age appeared to fail. The
perceived failure has lent justification for some Christian leaders to
embrace post-modern thinking. Spiritual
Synergy: God's Design For Man. 11/11/2006.
Synergy
comes from the Greek words “sunergiā,”
which means “cooperation,” and sunergos [strongs 4904], which means, “working
together.” The idea is that when
things work together effectively, one and one can equal three. It means that combining forces produces a
better product than that which could be produced separately. The original union of husband and wife is
the best example of synergy. Together,
they can excel at work, raise a family, mind the affairs of a home, and do
the work of the Lord. Their co-laboring
allows them to be vastly more effective than if each were to attempt it on
his own. But there is more to the
synergy that is produced by this union than mutual cooperation. They are opposites. They see and do things differently and
therefore bring into the union their own uniqueness. The
"True" Cost Of Leadership. 11/4/2006.
Jesus was destined to rule all nations, but His destiny was to come at
a cost. It would cost Him everything. Satan however saw an
advantage. Why not offer Him the same thing, but at no
cost? This same temptation is playing out today in the
contemporary church with many ignoring the cost and becoming a cheap
imitation instead. Is The
"Contemporary" Five-Fold Ministry Gods Design. 10/28/2006. Over the past three decades, I have considered carefully
the “contemporary” five-fold ministry movement. It asserts that in these last days God is
restoring His New Testament ministry.
They point to such occurrences as Elijah rebuilding the altar, Ezra rebuilding
the temple, and Peter’s teaching that Jesus would not return “until the times of restitution of all things (Acts 3:21)” as biblical patterns.
The movement teaches that God is restoring things like spiritual
gifts, ministry, and worship. The purpose
of this note is NOT to determine whether or not God is restoring or will
restore these things. If He chooses to
do so, He will. My goal is to define
biblical principles as a form of measure and to determine whether the
contemporary version of the five-fold ministry movement has fallen victim to
the pollution of western culture. To Lead Or To
Follow -My Testimony. 10/23/2006.
Just before my 16th birthday, I repented and made a decision to
serve the Lord. Through the
intervention of God, I found myself cast into a situation where I was
expected to witness to other young people.
It was during my first experience doing so that I witnessed for the
first time the manifest presence of God. ...I stood up, walked
over to their table, and began witnessing to them. I looked around and saw that all the people
at the nearby tables were listening.
God’s presence was there. So I
pulled up a chair, stood on it, and began to witness to all the people at the
surrounding tables. Soon, people from
the other side of the restaurant had gathered around. Then the waitresses and the kitchen
help. Six hours later, at 2:00am, I
finally left. I quit only because I
had lost my voice and could no longer speak for the Lord. The Shape Of Things
To Come. 10/14/2006. Everything has a shape.
Have you ever consider why some things have such peculiar shapes? It is usually because of the forces that
act upon it. For instance, an airplane
has wings to create lift so that it might overcome gravity. Both lift and gravity are forces that act
upon airplanes. The long narrow shape
of a rocket is designed to force the atmosphere around it evenly so that,
once launched, it travels in a straight direction. For rockets, atmospheric pressure is a
force. The design of a house’s roof is
to protect us from the forces of nature (weather). There are forces that act upon everything,
and everything responds to force. Even
who we are is the result of social, economic, spiritual, and cultural forces
that act upon us our entire lives. Just as their are forces that
shape our lives, there are also forces that shape the church. It's
called: The service-oriented culture. Coming Down From
The Mountain. 10/3/2006. Several
myths regarding Christian Leadership. What Children
Wish Their Parents Knew. 9/20/2006.
Children must come to see all the attributes of Christ in us that we want in
them. In other words, they must be
able to obtain forgiveness and second chances. We must demonstrate the ability to forgive
seventy times seven because our Lord is kind, forgiving, and full of love. It is through love and forgiveness that
they learn to see the Lord we serve.
We must treat our children with the same grace and mercy that we have
found. Far too often, this is not the
case. Far too often, we act as though
the Lord we serve is a taskmaster: he cannot be pleased and is never
satisfied with our best. As a result,
we treat our children the same way. The Revival
That Almost Was. 9/11/2006. There
are a lot of good men who honestly attempt to do the work of the Lord. Many have the zeal and passion of
Jehu. Many have spent their lives
coming against idolatry and the forces of evil that support it. They study hard and are dedicated to
preaching the gospel of Christ. Some
have spent their entire lives in this pursuit. They have zealously confronted evil and
have never strayed from the work of the Lord.
They work hard, pray continuously, and desire to see God’s Kingdom
come. They have seen fruit from their
labor and growth among their congregations.
But for all their labor and good intentions they still don’t see the
flames of revival they so desperately desire.
What is wrong? Why are the
heavens shut up? Why do godly men come
up “short?” Spiritual
Adultery - The Unspoken Sin. 9/3/2006. According to the letter of
the law, this scripture pertains only to physical intimacy between married
people. Jesus, however, taught us to
look beyond the letter of the law and see the heart of the God who gave it. He taught that “whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:28).” By using the word “whosoever,” Jesus
expanded it to include both married and unmarried (thus including fornication
as well as adultery). By using the
words “with her,” He also expanded the sin to include both
parties. We find that adultery can be
both physical and emotional. But what
about spiritual adultery? Why is there
so little teaching concerning it? The Old testament, Enhanced or Replaced. Part 1,
The Everlasting Law? 8/16/2006. Some Christians are
confused as to the purpose of the Judaic law and what we as Christians should
do with it. Should we ignore it? Should we keep it? Is it relevant to us, and if so, why? There is much controversy surrounding the
events and outcome of the apostolic council assembled in Acts 15. Some point to this chapter as supporting
the idea that all Christians should be keeping the law, at least portions of
it. But in the events of Acts 15, we
find deceit, compromise, and arrogance.
Men of power struggled to have their way endorsed while others found
themselves caught in the middle of one of the biggest controversies in Christianity:
should Gentiles (and Messianic Jews, for that matter) keep the law? The Old testament, Part 2, Pleasing God. 8/21/2006.
Did Jesus keep the Law? Did He endorse it? Did He instruct
us to keep it? What about pleasing God? Does it pleas God for us to keep it?
The Old testament, Part 3, Serving God In Spirit
And In Truth.
8/29/2006. Some Christians believe that observing the law
cannot hurt anything. They will still
do everything they used to do, but they will just add to it the things
contained in the law. After all, how
can abstaining from pork and observing a Saturday
Sabbath hurt anything? Additionally, one of the foremost themes of the
New Testament is that of perfection.
We must ask, “How is perfection possible?” and “How do we get there
from here?”
Cry Wolf. 8/10/2006.
Ants are a curious example of the church.
The ants are not strong but their nest is. In an ant colony, there is
the visible part above ground. It
provides no useful purpose. It can
grow to be very large but its appearance of strength is an illusion. It is actually a frail structure that is
easily swept away. Then there is the
invisible part below ground. That is
the part that provides shelter and protection. There the queen is nourished, eggs are
laid, and larva grows...
Conventional Wisdom, Part 1 - Living in the Light or
Darkness.
6/23/2006 Mankind is not designed for living in darkness. Not only do our bodies crave sleep at
night, but we have poor night vision as well.
It takes about twenty minutes for our eyes to adjust to the dark.
Exposure to a brilliant light for even a fraction of a second causes us to
lose our night vision. God designed us
this way. Just as our natural bodies
are designed to live in the light, so are our spiritual bodies.
It can be difficult to read the style of writing in the
Gospel according to John. It seems to
be intended to help future generations understand the difficulty his
countrymen had comprehending the teachings of Jesus. The opening verses of this gospel seem to
support this: “In him was life; and the life was
the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it
not (John 1:4-5).” Through each chapter of this gospel, John
demonstrates how men lived in deception.
They misunderstood and rejected Jesus because they mistook their
darkness for being light, and because they refused to leave the darkness
surrounding them. We see this same
behavior today. Men reject the wisdom
of God because of the darkness in which they live. Today this darkness is
known as “Conventional Wisdom.”
Conventional Wisdom, Part 2 - Symmetry. 7/13/2006. Something that
is asymmetrical is said to be lacking balance or a harmonious shape. In other words, it looks odd. Beauty is often associated with symmetry. It is difficult to find an asymmetrical
shape that is attractive. A human body
is a perfect example of symmetry. You
can draw a line from head to toe and easily see that each half of the human
body is more or less symmetrical to the other. Just like the symmetry of our shape we
desire to find symmetry in all aspects of our lives. It makes things neat and
predictable. This also applies to our spiritual lives. Conventional
thinking is symmetrical in that it follows a set pattern that is based upon
observation, logic, realism, and accepted standards. Therefore someone who thinks
unconventionally swims against the tides of commonly accepted beliefs and
traditions. Conventional Wisdom, Part 3 - Disciples or
Spectators. 8/1/2006. In 2001, 160 million out of the nearly 300 million
people in the USA claimed to be spiritual or Christian. If this were so, then if every Christian
would evangelize just one person, this entire nation would be won for the
Lord. So why has this nation become
ungodly rather than turned toward God?
Why is sin so pervasive? Conventional wisdom is status quo. Conventional wisdom will never change the
world. In fact, conventional wisdom
will never change anything. Its
followers are not disciples winning a lost world. They are spectators,
content to sit on the sidelines and watch a dying world slip away.
Destiny. 5/31/2006. Not all of us are born with eyes, not everyone is born
with hands or feet, and not all people are born intelligent. But there is one inescapable thing with which
each of us are born that weaves in and out of the fragments of time like a
silver thread, that pursues us like a hunter our
entire life. We can never escape it,
we can never be free from it, and only when we give into it do we truly find
peace and fulfillment. It is our
destiny!
Destiny is not something we
pursue. It pursues us. Destiny is not the simple result of chance
- that is to say, it isn’t the consequence of our decisions. Destiny is a silent pursuer. It is a lioness that patiently stalks her
prey, waiting for the opportunity to bring it under her control. We can run from our destiny, but we can
never escape it. It will find us, and
when it does, we will be forced to deal with it. Jonah And The Lost
Message Of God's Mercy. 5/20/2006. Isaac
Newton taught us that an object in motion tends to travel in a straight line
and at a steady speed unless some force stops it. This, however, does not explain diffusion -
a drop of dye in a cup of water tends to slowly diffuse until it is spread
evenly throughout the entire cup. This
is because instead of stopping when they encounter anther molecule, molecules
tend to deflect away from each other.
The characteristic of diffusion is found throughout nature. It’s also known as “browning motion.” Such is the nature of the universe. Such is the nature of man. Jonah And
The Sin Of Jeroboam. 5/10/2006. When
we consider the disobedience of Jonah, we are forced to ask, “How is it that
a man of God could act in such an openly insubordinate manner?” Tarshish wasn’t
just in the opposite direction from Nineveh.
Tarshish was quite literally on the other
side of the known world. So how is it that Jonah became such a disobedient and defiant
prophet? What’s missing from this
picture? What’s missing is a general
understanding of the spiritual and social culture in which Jonah lived. When we take into consideration the culture
in which he lived, we begin to understand how Jonah could justify his
actions. He quite possibly did not
view his actions as disobedient. 3-Dimensional
Christian Living - Living Without Limits! Going Beyond Boundaries! 4/28/2006. Our lives are
full of boundaries. We can’t fly. We can’t breath under water.
And more importantly, we can’t see into the spiritual realm. In fact, we have no access to it. There is a whole other universe to which we
as physical beings have no access. It
is a universe without limitations. But
what if… what if there were a way into this universe? What then? Hijacked - Dumbing Down The Church. 4/22/2006. In a hijacking, someone forces the “destination” of
others to change for their own benefit.
To apply this to the Body of Christ, we must ask, “Has the destination
of the Body of Christ been changed by others seeking their own benefit?” If we insert the definition of destination
into the question, we then have, “Has the ultimate purpose for which the
Church was created been changed by others who are seeking their own
advantage?” It
is easy to conform to the status quo.
It is easy to be like all the other churches. It is easy to dumb down the standards of
God and turn failure into success. But
since when has the status quo become acceptable to God? Like secular schools that pass out diplomas
to young people who cannot read, have we changed the standards so that now
spiritual immaturity is on par with our destiny?
Tipping The Scales
- Balanced Based Theology. 4/11/2006. The idea
of Balance-Based Theology is everywhere in Christianity. Once again, this is a social behavior that
has made its way into Christianity and has become a “pseudo-spiritual”
principle. What I mean by a social
behavior is this: favorable acts bring about favorable results But does this principle work in gaining
God's favor? Not when it comes to
excusing sin. No amount of good works
can excuse the most trivial sin. Balance-Based Theology is one
of the greatest delusions for any Christian leader. It misconstrues the social conditioning of
this world as a spiritual principle, thereby deceiving men into believing
that greatness somehow translates into godliness. But nothing is a replacement for true
godliness. Longitude -
Complexity and Copies. 4/3/2006. There is
something to be learned from the story of Longitude. It has to do with trying to improve on a bad designs.
Do we continue to add layers and layers of complexity to the church
thinking that the next thing will make it perfect? Or is it time
to start over - to go back to the original design? Today’s Christian leaders
have read about how church was done by the first generation of Christians and
have tried to imitate it. The result
is something that resembles it but without substance. Most
Christians have become so used to the copies that now the original looks like
a fake. Transformed or
Just Repackaged? What Happened to Ephesians 4? 3/27/2006.
Is the body of Christ incapable of taking care of itself? Or is it like a child who is confined to
bed, never allowed to walk or feed itself?
Through the years as culture has changed, so has the Church. Are these changes as a result of God’s
influence, or is the church merely been repackaged? Most preachers
compare their function to that of the Old Testament priesthood. Did you ever wonder why preachers are
selective about which Old Testament practices they bring into the New
Testament? Why not circumcision? Why not animal sacrifice? Why not construct a Tabernacle? Cause and
Effect - What The Church Has Learned From Economics 3/20/2006. Church leaders
have learned too much from the economics of the world. An economy is the “thrifty management (or
control) of resources, such as money, material, or labor.” Since churches today consist of these types
of resources (building, staff, members, money, etc.), they tend to be
influenced by the same economic principles that govern this world. Therefore, most church leaders see nothing
wrong with responding to economic pressure in the same manner that the world does. This is worldly “cause and effect.” When church leadership uses this “common
sense” approach, they lose the spiritual “cause and effect” that comes about
when people respond to the moving of the Holy Spirit. The Laws Of Big And
Little Things. 3/4/2006. I
believe that God established these seemingly contradictory
physical laws to demonstrate that, just as the physical universe has
different laws that apply depending upon your place in it, so does His
spiritual realm. There are laws that
surround and govern God’s Kingdom.
There are laws that pertain to those who are without His Kingdom and
laws pertaining to those who are within.
As in the natural universe, which laws apply depends on our spiritual
position. …It is the
Strong Force that, if allowed to work, can bring about unity. Regardless of our individual laws that
cause us to repel one another, the Spirit of God can keep us together. But we must allow the Spirit of God to
be the bond that holds us together, not our laws. I find it interesting that, just like the
example of the nucleus, our laws tend to repel each other, but God’s law, the
law of the Spirit, tends to bond His people together. When churches split, when friends divide,
it is usually because personal laws become more powerful than the operation
of God’s Spirit. We can see this in
nature, and we can see it in the Church.
Knowest Not These Things - The Value Of Education. 2/15/2006. 2/15/2006. Let’s consider for a moment the whole issue of
education as a form of certification.
Education can be a valuable tool.
But sometimes education is used in such a way that it replaces
revelation and a relationship with God.
What I’m driving at is the use of Bible colleges as a way to certify
and approve a person as a minister.
This is a sensitive issue.
There are people who will argue that there should be some form of
validation criteria or that such education better prepares a person for
ministry. I do not question their
intentions. In fact, I believe their
intentions are commendable. What I
question is whether or not this is how God would have it. Does the emphasis on education actually
distract or even create barriers in finding the course that the Spirit really
has for them? To answer this question,
we need to examine education and intellect at a deeper level. Structure Or
The Voice Of The Holy Spirit - The Operation Of The Holy Spirit In The
Church. 1/28/2006. What about
women being quiet in Church? The
writers of the New Testament knew they did not have all the answers. So at times they implemented temporary
structure to address specific problems with the intention that eventually the
structure would be replaced by the operation of the Holy Spirit.
All of our church programs, agendas, and even our most ambitious goals for
the church are but different forms of structure, and care must be taken so as
not to distract the church from hearing from the Spirit of God. How is it that
Christians and churches can be virtually in opposition to God and not know
it? The answer is simpler than it may
seem: it is called structure. When
a church uses any form of structure, they face the danger of becoming
"out of sync" with the Spirit. And nothing can replace the
voice of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
If structure must be imposed to address an issue, then it must
be only temporary until the Body of Christ matures enough so that control can
be turned over to the Holy Spirit as quickly as possible. Remember, structure is at best a crutch: it
can never work as well as the Holy Spirit, nor should it be implemented with
that intention. When Culture And The Church Collide, What
Monster Is Born - Christian Capitalists 12/30/2005.
We understand the downfall of the first century church was when
worldly cultures such as Greek philosophy and rhetoric, Roman politics,
achievement and imperialism, and pagan beliefs began fusing with the culture
of the Christian church. Over the
course of time, these cultures mixing with that of the Church to bring about
Catholicism. Today the church faces a
new cultural threat. Our capitalistic culture embraces prosperity through
competition and entrepreneurial endeavors that promote individualism. Each church
body works for its individual advantage (over others). The local churches of the same area have
become the true enemies of the other local churches. As a result,
churches no longer cooperate together but demonize one another and steal from
one another, all in the name of Christ.
Many pastors are no longer shepherds but entrepreneurs and businessmen
trying to stay ahead of their only competition: other local
churches. Suffer The Little Children 2005 There are many
young people in the Lord who have not yet been contaminated by years of
church politics or damaged by the pessimisms of closet Christians. They are full of faith, hope, and charity,
the only three eternal values of this life, but rather than be encouraged to
share their zeal and faith, these young people in the Lord are usually made
to feel insignificant and unqualified.
They are pushed away from the spotlight in favor of the seasoned
disciples of the Lord.
It's Called The Wait Theory 2005 It’s called “The Wait
Theory.” It’s been used for years in classroom settings where typically
the same few students always participate while the majority of others sit in
silence. According to the Wait Theory, you can always expect the same
few people to answer questions and fill in the silence. The same few
people comment while the others just sit silently by. Therefore,
what
would happen if instead of us being in control we would just once, just once,
just once let go and allow God to be in control? …Few people even remember
what was preached once they leave the building, but how many people remember
the day and hour that they experienced a move of the Lord? Everyone
does! And The Band Played On... 2005 No one really knows why the band [on the
Titanic] continued to play as the ship slipped beneath the water. This has been a topic of debate for
years. Was it from some displaced
notion of duty? This same tragedy is taking place in many churches
today. Preachers know that their church
have been hit by an iceberg of apathy and is sinking into the ocean of complacency,
but rather than sound the alarm they continue to preach on and on as
before. And as their church is slowly
swallowed up by the cold murky depths of indifference and lethargy they nod
their head knowing that they have done what they were called to do. So they just continue to preach on and on
and on… Perfect, Or Just Very Good 12/26/2005. When a discussion
on living free from sin arises, Christians inevitably ask, “Are you saying
that Christians can be perfect?” No,
I’m saying that Christians are not “born again” to sin. To not sin does NOT make one perfect. But nevertheless, the question of
perfection is always waiting in the wings.
Additionally, does “Covenant” based teach influence our concept our
perfection? The best condition the earth has ever known is in being “very
good,” not perfect. It says here
that “God saw every thing that he had made,”
and “it was very good.” This
included man. Therefore, even after
being fashioned by the hands of God, and even after man received the breath
of God, he was still only “very good.”
Why is that? Can God not create
perfection? Or is perfection possible
in this life?
For Unto You... 12/24/2005. Who was the angel
addressing when he said, “For unto you is born
this day…?” Was it not directed
toward the shepherds? After all, the
angel could have said, “For unto the world is born this day…”
but he didn’t. It was a personal
message, delivered not to the masses but to the few. It was an intimate message to a few
shepherds. As far as they were
concerned, the Savior of the world was born to them. God may seem to us
to be the unreachable, untouchable, un-see-able, awesome God of the universe,
but to us as individuals, He is a personal Savior. The Story of the Wise Men - For We Know In
Part. 12/21/2005. No one knows
for sure how it came about, but somehow it was revealed to these Jews in
Babylon that Messiah was born. Perhaps
they understood the chronology of divine events depicted in the creation
account (i.e. the sun of God was created on the
fourth day, and the Son of God was born 4,000 years after Adam – almost
exactly). Perhaps prophets in their
land foretold the messiah’s birth, and that the star they saw represents
this? What we do know is that they
didn’t know the full story. They knew
a part of it – their part, the part God wanted them to know. So driven by the part they knew, they went
west to Israel to find others who might know the other parts to this
mystery. Perfect, Or Just Very Good
. When a discussion on living free from sin arises,
Christians inevitably ask, “Are you saying that Christians can be
perfect?” No, I’m saying that
Christians are not “born again” to sin.
To not sin does NOT make one perfect.
But nevertheless, the question of perfection is always waiting in the
wings. Additionally, does “Covenant”
based teach influence our concept our perfection? Who Is My Neighbor ?
I’ve always considered that what Jesus was teaching us is that to be a Good
Samaritan we should demonstrate simple acts and random acts of kindness. However, consider this story again. Jesus was not describing a simple act of
kindness. He was describing a life
saving event that temporarily interrupted the Samaritans life. The Four Horseman . I believe that whatever
relevance the New Testament book of Revelation has had to saints in prior
Church ages it does not change or diminish the significance it has for us
today. I want to present a possible
message that this book speaks to us today – specifically, the four horseman. The Bag .
It’s interesting that, in the New Testament, each
time that money was collected it never went to the purchase of buildings,
pews, song books, or the like. The
collection was generally distributed to the poor and needy, with a few
scriptures suggesting that it could be used to meet the “personal” needs of
missionaries (i.e. Timothy). The idea
of financing the business and material needs of a ministry is not what is
taught. E-mail me: ron@ronschwartz.net To subscribe to these notes: SUBSCRIBE To see more of these notes: Ron's Thoughts Counter: |