A committee of ministers in a certain city was discussing the possibility of having D. L. Moody to serve as the evangelist during a city-wide evangelistic campaign.

Finally, one young minister who did not want to invite Moody stood up and said: “Why Moody? Does he have a monopoly of the Holy Spirit?”

There was silence. Then an old, godly minister spoke up: “No, he does not have a monopoly of the Holy Spirit; but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly of D.L. Moody

“With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?”

The incarnation is in theological terms expressed as “the  Hypostatic Union.”  Hypostatic Union means that two natures are in one person;  Christ cannot be seen as two persons with one nature.  Consequently, Christ must be seen as a Theanthropic Person.  What does this mean?  That there is in one person a divine nature and a human nature.  Therefore, the person of Christ is seen as a complex person, not merely made up of the divine nature, nor merely made up of the human nature.  His person is a complexity of both (though without mixture) in one person with a divine person (having  the divine nature) partaking of the human nature.  So, when it is said “God became a man,” the  meaning is that God united with man, not that God changed into a man.  With this, the Word became God-man–God and man united in one person.   He took upon Himself the human nature, but not another person or personality.  Christ is one person, but in possession of all the divine attributes and all the human attributes.

The divine nature and human nature of Christ never mix or lose their separate identity and never  transfer any part to the other.  Consequently, the divine attributes belong to the divine nature; the  human attributes belong to the human nature.  Because of this, the divine nature remains divine  always, while the human nature remains human always.  This was the doctrine of the early church.  The union of these two natures in the person of Christ is a personal union.  Yet the human nature that Christ took upon Himself is impersonal, since it has no personality.

The deity of Christ was and is the base of Christ’s person.  The deity of Christ was and is the base for the  personality of the God-man.  The personality of the God-man depends primarily not on the human  nature, but on the divine nature.  Also, it must be recognized that the deity of Christ and not His humanity is the overwhelming and controlling power of His person.  It was this that kept Christ from  sinning when He was tempted like all men are.  The human nature was added, not the divine nature.  The  human nature was something new; the divine nature in the person known as the Word had always been there.

In the incarnation, Christ is totally human (John 1:14; 13:21; Matt. 26:38; 27:50; Rom. 3:20; 1 John 4:2; 2 John 7; Luke 1:32-35; Rom. 8:3;  Gal. 4:4; Matt. 1:18; 2:11; Rom. 1:3; Luke 2:40,52; John 4:9; Luke 24:13; John 20:15; Matt. 26:12; Luke  23:46; Matt. 4:2; John. 19:28; 4:6; Matt. 8:24; Luke 19:10; Matt. 1:21; Acts 2:22; 1 Tim. 2:5; and Heb. 2:9-18).  Also, Christ is totally God (John  1:1-5; Lam. 4:20; Psa. 50:1-3; Deut. 18:15; 1 Sam. 12:3; Matt. 1:23; 1 Kings 8: 15-26; 2 Kings 19:15; 1  Chr. 16:35; 2 Chr. 20:6; Ezra 1:2; Neh. 1:5; Joel 2:28-32; Amos 4:13; 7:9; Dan. 7:9-14; John 20:28; Luke  19:34; Col. 1:16; Ex. 3:14; John 5:43; 6:35; 6:41; 6:48; 6:51; 7:28; 7:29; 7:34; 8:12; 8:16; 8:18; 8:23;  8:24; 8:28; 8:58; 9:5; 9:39; 10:7; 10:9; 10:10; 10:11; 10:14; Acts 2:36; Acts 10:36; 1 Cor. 2:8; Isa. 9:6-7;  Luke 2:26; Jer. 23:6; John 11:43-44; Rev. 1:18; Eph. 3:9; Zech. 12:10; 1 Tim. 3:16; John 14:23; 17:11  17:22; Matt. 4:3; Rev. 22:12; Acts 9:17; Luke 1:32; Mark 1:24; Rev. 19:16; 2 Pet. 3:2; Rev. 19:13; Heb.  1:1-3; 8:6; 2 Pet. 3:2; Rom. 5:12-21; Rev. 3:14; Matt. 28:19; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 1:9; Acts 20:28).

BECOMING PEOPLE OF PRAYER

In Jeremiah 5, God pleaded, “Run ye to and fro through the streets of
Jerusalem…seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be
any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it”
(Jeremiah 5:1). The Lord was saying, in essence, “I’ll be merciful, if I can
find just one person who’ll seek me.”

During the Babylonian captivity, God found such a man in Daniel. And today,
more than ever in history, the Lord is searching for the same kind of godly men
and women. He seeks faithful servants who are willing to “make up the hedge” and
“stand in the gap,” works that can only be accomplished through prayer.

Like Daniel, such a person will be found with God’s Word in his hand. When the
Holy Ghost came to Daniel, the prophet was reading the book of Jeremiah. It was
then that the Spirit revealed that God’s time of deliverance had come for
Israel. As the revelation came, Daniel was provoked to pray: “I set my face
unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and
sackcloth, and ashes: and I prayed unto the Lord my God” (Daniel 9:3–4).

Daniel knew God’s people weren’t ready to receive his restoration. Yet, did the
prophet lambaste his peers for their sins? No—Daniel identified himself with
the moral decay all around him. He declared, “We have sinned…to us belongeth
confusion of face…because we have sinned against thee” (Daniel 9:5, 8).

God strongly desires to bless his people today—but if our minds are polluted
with the spirit of this world, we are in no position to receive his blessings.
Daniel made this powerful statement: “All this evil is come upon us: yet made
we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our
iniquities, and understand the truth. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the
evil, and brought it upon us” (Daniel 9:13–14).

Would to God we would examine our own walk with the Lord and let the Holy
Spirit show us areas of compromise. We would do more than pray for a
backsliding nation. We would be crying out, “Oh, Lord, search my heart. Expose
in me all of the spirit of the world that has crept into my soul.” Like Daniel,
we could then set our faces to pray for the deliverance of our families—our
nation.

By Joseph Mattera

As a pastor for more than 26 years, I have a desire to help everyone. But, I have learned the hard way that I cannot help every person who attends our church or who comes to me for input.
The following are ten kinds of people I have identified that are so entrenched in certain habit patterns that I cannot help them advance to the next level unless they make the necessary shift in their attitude or behavior.

I. Those who do not take responsibility for themselves
The first step towards self-improvement is to remove all excuses for mediocrity or failure. Those that continually blame other people for their failures will never go to the next level. Leaders can complain about their spouses, the income level of their congregations, the lack of staff, etc. but I have learned that within every challenge is the seed of opportunity for success which requires the creativity of problem solving.

II. Those that do not have a heart to seek God
The Bible teaches us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). Those who do not respect God enough to seek Him and study His word so they can make wise decisions in life are violating Scripture (Joshua 1:8-9) and cannot be helped either by myself or any other leader or minister. Those who do not obey what God requires for success have decided to try to be successful in life without God’s blessings!

III. Those that create distance so they are not accountable
There are certain people I have met in our church who only let others get so close before cutting off the relationship. Many go from one church to the next because they fear becoming too close to a leader who will hold them accountable. Often some will attempt to attend a megachurch where they will be able to hear the word of God in the context of a large crowd so that no one will really know who they are. Whether it is fear or rebellion, those who live like this have put a low ceiling on their lives and will not grow past the infant stage concerning their potential in life.

IV. Those who insist on having a negative outlook on life
There are some people who refuse to exercise faith in God or think positively as the Word of God commands us in Philippians 4:8. This is because some have a propensity to expect the worst in life so they are never disappointed by anyone or anything! This is a weird way some folks attempt to shield their emotions from the pain of disappointment; it is a very common practice with many people.  Jesus often told people that they would receive according to how they believed (for example Matthew 8:13). Proverbs 23:7 teaches that as a person thinks in their heart so they will be. I cannot empower a person who refuses to think God’s thoughts about themselves and about life.

V. Those that refuse to have a vision for their future
There are many very talented and anointed people I have been in relationship with who live their lives without any strategic plan or vision for their future. They are just living from day-to-day to prepare for their retirement. Those who are successful have a compelling vision that drives them daily and which feeds their souls even more than the desire to make money! Inside of every believer is a God-given kingdom vision for their future. If a person refuses to tap into that as their guiding light–and value that vision as their barometer for success–then my continual pep talks will not do the trick either!

VI. Those who live in self-deception
There are many people who are living lives of denial regarding their relationships with God and their families and all things regarding their inner and outer lives. The sad thing is that denial is the first step to outright deception in which a person concocts an alternate, false reality that continually feeds their mind and emotions the things they want to hear about themselves and their key relationships. This insulates them from the word of the Lord from others and the Holy Spirit. When you confront people like this they become upset and blame you for not understanding them or for wrongfully accusing them of something. These are the people I cannot help unless God steps in and delivers them from satanic deception (read 2 Timothy 2:23-25).

VII. Those who do not want to pay the price for success
There are many in the church that want the perks of success but don’t want to pay the price for success.

When I was a teenager I had a goal of becoming a master guitar player. For seven years I practiced the guitar for 3-8 hours per day as well as playing in numerous bands. While my friends were outside playing ball or wasting time doing drugs I would shut myself up in my house and study jazz, rock, blues, classical, etc. and spend hours doing scales on my guitar (which I often did even while watching television). Because of this sacrifice I gained mastery over my instrument in various kinds of music and was in high demand as a musician.

Whatever we do in life, we are called to sacrifice our time, invest our talents, and be committed to a long, grueling process with many setbacks until we reach our peak performance. This kind of sacrifice is needed in every area we desire success in including our marriages, relationships with our children, leading a company or a church, etc.

Consequently, I have found that I am not able to empower a person to the fullness of their destiny if they don’t want to work hard at self-improvement.

VIII. Those whose primary agenda is individualistic and not kingdom-oriented
There are some people whose only agenda in life is to advance their own agenda. They don’t want to work with a team or flow in the context of a local church. They want me to pour my life into them but they are rarely ever willing to pour back into the church and serve in the Kingdom of God. I have learned that those who only want to use the church or God to advance their own agendas (even if it is ministry related) have greatly limited their own lives. Thus, I back away from these people until they change. This is because we are all called to seek first God’s kingdom in which we need to die to our individualistic sense of destiny and sacrifice and invest our time for the good of the Body of Christ. This in turn will do more to release our greatest destiny–even more than if we only concentrate on our own agendas!

IX. Those who refuse to keep covenant
I have been with very talented individuals with great calling on their lives that I had to back away from because they did not know how to remain faithful to their obligations or because they broke confidence by continually talking behind other people’s backs. God says that a person who doesn’t keep their word (whatever the cost) and who slanders their neighbor cannot dwell in His tents (Psalm 15:3-4) so who am I to think that this kind of person can dwell in my inner circle for personal development!

X. Those who lack transparency, humility, and integrity
The Bible teaches us to walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7). It also teaches us to confess our faults to one another and pray for one another that we may be healed (James 5:16). Those that do not admit their faults and confess their sins cannot have the kind of relationship with a mentor suitable for personal growth. It is important for me to have a transparent relationship with those I am mentoring since a person who conceals their sins from me is not giving me a chance to fully speak into their life and help them in their areas of weakness. Those who want to progress in their spiritual formation have to learn to practice the spiritual discipline of confession of sin (Proverbs 28:13).

By J. Lee Grady

Charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr. is considered the father of the so-called prosperity gospel. The folksy, self-trained “Dad Hagin” started a grass-roots movement in Oklahoma that produced a Bible college and a crop of famous preachers including Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, Jesse DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and dozens of others—all of whom teach that Christians who give generously should expect financial rewards on this side of heaven.

Hagin taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that preachers do not have to be poor. But before he died in 2003 and left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son, Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa to rebuke them for distorting his message. He was not happy that some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence.

Those who were close to Hagin Sr. say he was passionate about correcting these abuses before he died. In fact, he wrote a brutally honest book to address his concerns. The Midas Touch was published in 2000, a year after the infamous Tulsa meeting.

Many Word-Faith ministers ignored the book. But in light of the recent controversy over prosperity doctrines, it might be a good idea to dust it off and read it again.

Here are a few of the points Hagin made in The Midas Touch:

1. Financial prosperity is not a sign of God’s blessing. Hagin wrote: “If wealth alone were a sign of spirituality, then drug traffickers and crime bosses would be spiritual giants. Material wealth can be connected to the blessings of God or it can be totally disconnected from the blessings of God.”

2. People should never give in order to get. Hagin was critical of those who “try to make the offering plate some kind of heavenly vending machine.” He denounced those who link giving to getting, especially those who give cars to get new cars or who give suits to get new suits. He wrote: “There is no spiritual formula to sow a Ford and reap a Mercedes.”

3. It is not biblical to “name your seed” in an offering. Hagin was horrified by this practice, which was popularized in faith conferences during the 1980s. Faith preachers sometimes tell donors that when they give in an offering they should claim a specific benefit to get a blessing in return. Hagin rejected this idea and said that focusing on what you are going to receive “corrupts the very attitude of our giving nature.”

4. The “hundredfold return” is not a biblical concept. Hagin did the math and figured out that if this bizarre notion were true, “we would have Christians walking around with not billions or trillions of dollars, but quadrillions of dollars!” He rejected the popular teaching that a believer should claim a specific monetary payback rate.

5. Preachers who claim to have a “debt-breaking” anointing should not be trusted. Hagin was perplexed by ministers who promise “supernatural debt cancellation” to those who give in certain offerings. He wrote in The Midas Touch: “There is not one bit of Scripture I know about that validates such a practice. I’m afraid it is simply a scheme to raise money for the preacher, and ultimately it can turn out to be dangerous and destructive for all involved.”

(Many evangelists who appear on Christian television today use this bogus claim. Usually they insist that the miraculous debt cancellation will occur only if a person “gives right now,” as if the anointing for this miracle suddenly evaporates after the prime time viewing hour. This manipulative claim is more akin to witchcraft than Christian belief.)

Hagin condemned other hairbrained gimmicks designed to trick audiences into emptying their wallets. He was especially incensed when a preacher told his radio listeners that he would take their prayer requests to Jesus’ empty tomb in Jerusalem and pray over them there—if donors included a special love gift. “What that radio preacher really wanted was more people to send in offerings,” Hagin wrote.

Thanks to the recent resurgence in bizarre donation schemes promoted by American charismatics, the prosperity gospel is back under the nation’s microscope. It’s time to revisit Hagin’s concerns and find a biblical balance.

Hagin told his followers: “Overemphasizing or adding to what the Bible actually teaches invariably does more harm than good.” If the man who pioneered the modern concept of biblical prosperity blew the whistle on his own movement, wouldn’t it make sense for us to listen to his admonition?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian, pictured the Christian
like someone trying to cross a sea of floating pieces of ice. The
Christian cannot rest anywhere while crossing, except in his faith
that God will see him through. He cannot stand anywhere too long,
otherwise he sinks. After taking a step, he must watch out for the
next. Beneath him is the abyss and before him is uncertainty – but
always ahead is the Lord – firm and sure! He doesn’t see the land
yet, but it is there – a promise in his heart. So the Christian traveler
keeps his eyes fixed upon his final place!

I prefer to think of life as a wilderness journey – like that of the
children of Israel. And King Jehoshaphat’s battle, along with all
the children of Judah, is also our battle (see 2 Chronicles 20).
Sure, it’s a wilderness; yes, there are snakes, dry water holes,
valleys of tears, enemy armies, hot sands, drought, impassable
mountains. But when the children of the Lord stood still to see
his salvation, he spread a table in that wilderness, rained manna
from above, destroyed enemy armies by his power alone, brought
water out of rocks, took poison out of the snakebites, led them
by pillar and cloud, gave them milk and honey, and brought them
into the Promised Land with a high and mighty hand. And God
warned them to tell every following generation: “Not by might, nor
by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

Stop looking in the wrong direction for help. Get alone with Jesus
in a secret place; tell him all about your confusion. Tell him you
have no other place to go. Tell him you trust him alone to see you
through. You will be tempted to take matters into your own hand.
You will want to figure things out on your own. You will wonder if
God is working at all – there is nothing to lose. Peter summed it
all up: “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for
I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22).

“Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my
salvation: my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7).

WELLS Without WATER
-by Darren Smith.

Western Christianity has become a well with no water!  What could
be worse to someone dying of thirst, than to finally come upon a
well and then discover that it has no water.  I think this is a good
example of what modern religion does. It puts up a front that looks
like it has the answer to life’s problems and even offers that to the
people. Yet in reality, what they get is a show designed to entertain
and get their money.  The shame is that the world is thirsty and
we are supposed to have Living Water, but when they come to
drink they find only an empty well leaving them worse off than before. 

2 Peter 2:15-18 addresses this very issue.  By abandoning the
straight path, they have gone the way of Balaam. Is not the same
true today?   The way of Balaam is the wide path.  Not speaking
the Word of God but rather speaking words that profit themselves,
not giving the Living Water, but giving out something that tastes
good to the carnal Adam.

On a recent preaching trip every church I ministered at people
came forward confessing sexual sin, and not just a few but many. 
Some were even in leadership positions and were counseling
people with the very same issues.  The thing that brought this
out was the Word of God preached without fear and the fact that I
am very transparent about the struggles in my own life.  This
happens every time that I minister, even though I don’t go out
with the intent – it is just God opening up the chance for Living
Water to come and fill the people once they confess their sins
and repent. 

We have a myth that’s been put before the church for so long that
people are numb to the Spirit.  We have been told that we can
make revival happen and that’s not true.  Revival only comes when
the people are broken and they get clean before God.  This means
exposing the hidden sin in their life and being willing to suffer the
consequences of that sin. You can pray for revival for years, but
unless the people are willing to get clean it will not come. 

So why is this such a problem?  For one thing, many of the people
in leadership are bound up in this very sin.  It’s estimated that 70%
of pastors struggle with Pornography and the sad thing is they feel
like they can never confess, therefore, they never come clean and
Living Water cannot flow from the well that they tend. This must
be exposed so people can get free. This sin is so easy to conceal
that before long the person that is bound up in it can justify their
bad behavior.  I know I have been bound by this sin and only found
freedom with deep repentance and confession. 

It is the same in marriage.  Many have sin in their marriage and
will not come clean so grace can heal.  Instead they move into
coexistence that brings no glory to God and eventually they end
up in affairs and broken marriages are the result. The divorce rate
is the same in the church as it is in the world for this very reason.
Trust me, sexual sin is just as bad in the church as it is in the
world.  Everywhere I go, this is a huge problem and I get many
emails dealing with the same thing from all over the world. 

We must address this now and very publicly so people can get
free and we can see God move in His Body.  2 Peter 2:17 says
these people are springs without water. It’s time we become a
well of Living Water for a thirsty world to drink from to become
whole.  To do this we need to go through a purification process
by the Holy Spirit!! 

Can you think of anything worse than dying of thirst and coming
upon a well and finding out that even though it looks like a well
and has the bucket to draw with, there is no water there to drink. 

If you are clean, start praying that a wave of repentance comes
upon the church.  If you are not clean, repent and confess and
get clean.  We need the Living Water to flow through this world
and it is not God who is holding it back, it is us.

The Holy Spirit is not strange, weird or mystical. He is the third part of the Trinity. He is a gentleman, statesman and a loving God that lifts up Christ the only begotten son of God. He is not a female presence, an it, a thing, a midst, a feeling or some orphic force.

*There are many people interested in prophetic ministry and there’s much confusion about it. *

Throughout your ministry you will be faced with many odd, even strange things that will require much spiritual discernment. Spiritual discernment will come from the Holy Spirit and be verified by many Scriptures throughout the written Word of God. History has introduced many divagating prophets with strange manifestations. Your advantage is four thousand years of * written* biblical history to use as your guide for accuracy from Adam to Christ. One corner stone for staying biblical is using that written history as your foundation for measuring truth. When strange things happen look to the Word for biblical examples. If you can’t find any then something is terribly wrong.

Experiences, even vivid, powerful, and supernatural ones are not measurements for truth. In my generation some have gold dust, feathers, gems, and people barking and roaring like lions in their meetings. A search through the Scriptures gives no evidence that the Holy Spirit used any of these things to confirm Christ’s Word. Others say female angels are healing people. There is no evidence of the existence of female angels in the Word. These are only a few examples of strange fire. Someone may tell you that the things of the Spirit can’t be understood by the natural man. That’s not true at all because the  Holy Spirit can be understood. He never violates the written Word. The things of the Spirit are understood by the logos, the Bible
(Hebrews 4:12). The Holy Spirit is not strange, weird or mystical. He is the third part of the Trinity. He is a gentleman, statesman and a loving God that lifts up Christ the only begotten son of God. He is not a female presence, an it, a thing, a midst, a feeling or some orphic force.

*PROPHETS OF DECEPTION*

In my generation Jezebel and Baalim prophets are the prevailing enemies of true prophetic ministry. In the last twenty years these spirits have become sophisticated, built their own network of churches, followers, training schools, written many books and produced many training videos. These spirits intend to hijack the prophetic ministry and hold themselves out to be the experts in the field. They condemn any criticism by outsiders as irrelevant, unloving, ignorant and judgmental. Hopefully by the time you read this material their folly will be known to all and your generation will escape their deceptions. More than likely things are much worse. If so, you will find them as your strongest opponents.

Both these prophetic groups and others you will encounter have all types of strange signs and wonders in their meetings. Just remember not all wonders, no matter how mystical and exciting are from the Holy Ghost (1 John 4:1). Even legitimate miracles in meetings do not confirm these ministers are flowing right. Scripture says, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22-23).

One particular trait among them is the love of money that finances extravagant lifestyles. Those that embrace these spirits are merchandisers. A merchandiser sells prophecies, healings, religious oils, potions and various products that reinforce their beliefs. Typically they work within their own
networks focusing on getting as much money from people as possible. They have all kinds of gimmick offerings that manipulate people. They are always recruiting followers to join their groups. I have seen them work every kind of evil when it comes to stealing from God’s people.

One young man met with me that hooked up with one of these merchandising networks. He gave me his ordination papers from the various ministers within the network and renounced his involvement. He said the purpose of their many conferences is to raise money, not to advance the ministry of Christ. After services they divide the offerings among themselves. He shocked me when he said the  amount of money one raises confirms the level of their prophetic anointing. For several hours he spoke of many individuals, some well known and others obscure, gave their names and explained numerous evil strategies for meetings across our nation. They even merchandise one another. They look for young naïve upstarts to turn into devils like themselves. There is every sort of evil working behind the scenes among these people. These are “professional prophets” that watch videos and listen to audios to learn the sayings and particular mannerisms of true ministers of the Gospel and from their own they think are effective deceivers (Jeremiah 23:30).  Avoid them and don’t do any meetings with them or for them and don’t attend them. Beware their accolades, flatteries
and smiles toward you. At first they will flatter you. If that works then they will merchandise you. If that doesn’t work they will blackball you. Just remember, if you can be flattered, you can be bought. Christ’s servants are not prostitutes.

A spirit of rejection may attack you if these leaders shun you. If you feel that way just think of it like this, rejection is protection. You don’t need anybodies approval save Christ’s.  God’s servants can’t be bought at any price! Don’t try to learn anything from them. You are not a psychic, mystic, spiritist or soothsayer. You are a minister of Christ. You have a responsibility to use your gift as a faithful steward to serve the body of Christ. The purpose of the anointing is to establish and advance the Kingdom of God, give witness to the love of God and confirm to the world the resurrection of Christ our Savior. You will also be called to turn the heart of people toward God, walk in holiness, confront sin and build the Church of Christ. Avoid fame, accolades from men and vain glory, and mind your motives in all things (Proverbs 4:23)…

Article from excerpts by Chip Brogden.

Dear Friend,
It is with a certain fearfulness that I respond to your inquiry, for I
am not an authority on such things. I can certainly relate to your
reluctance at being identified among the company of the prophets
when so many false apostles, prophets, and teachers abound. I
wish I could point you in a proper direction, but I can only point
you towards the Lord. It is He who selects His messengers, and
I have nothing to offer you by way of what to do.

At most, perhaps you can look upon me as an example of what
NOT to do, and take some word of counsel from a weak brother
who has made many mistakes and endured many failures along
the way. Perhaps you too will have to make even the same
mistakes in order to learn, yet following my advice could perhaps
help you to avoid the unnecessary heartache and cruelty inflicted
upon yourself and others when thinking that you are doing God a
service. I would counsel you, first of all, to be a Christian. Do not
spend too much time focused on that which is prophetic. Do not
come to others as a prophet, but as a child. Let Christ be your
obsession, not the prophetic word. For “the testimony of Jesus is
the spirit of prophecy.” There need not be turmoil in your heart
about your calling; it is clear that you are among those that are
“the Called, according to His purpose.” And what is His purpose?
That you be “conformed to the image of His dear Son.” That,
above all, is your first calling. Many are eager to wear the Prophet’s
mantle, but are reluctant to bear the Christian’s cross. This cannot
be. Given the choice between Christian or Prophet, choose Christian.
Serve God as the earthen vessel you are, in the place you find
yourself to be.

Perhaps the Lord will indeed use you in some prophetic way, but
if not then at least you have been faithful with the “one talent” you
have been given. God will not give five talents to those who cannot
be faithful with one, and will not give ten to those who cannot be
faithful with five. If you are a Christian first you will remember that
you should walk softly, with meekness and humility, while
esteeming others as better than yourself. Then the prophetic word,
when and if it comes, will be seasoned with the appropriate amounts
of mercy and grace.

Remember that without love you will inevitably become as
sounding brass – all judgment. If we cannot or will not stay in Love,
God will set out to humble us shamefully before our brothers and
sisters that we may know the depths of our hypocrisy and
self-righteousness. That is evidence of HIS great love for all of us.

Now, concerning the prophetic word itself. God will give you the
“what”, but the “when” and the “how” are left up to you. “The
spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” You can be
right on target with the “what”, but if you screw up the “when”,
and especially the “how”, you do yourself and others unnecessary
harm…

Let us not only be familiar with His Word, but let us become
acquainted with His Ways. It is not enough to memorize what
He said, we must take His yoke upon us and walk in tandem
with Him. Since Christ bids us to “learn of ME”, beware of those
who will try to gain access into your life with an inordinate desire
to mentor or shepherd you. We may certainly seek the advice,
prayers, and counsel of other mature believers. Even the little
children in the Kingdom of God can teach us much. But people
can only carry us so far… Do you see dear friend, that God
is more concerned with the messenger than the message? Do
you see that the minister is more important than the ministry?

If the messenger is wrong, the message will be wrong too. If the
minister is wrong, the ministry will be wrong. And do you see that
the Lord of the work is more important than the work of the Lord?
Meditate on these things. There really is no famine of the Word
of God. If God is able to find the right vessel the Word will come
forth in abundance. Therefore, He takes much time to mold,
fashion, train, refine, purge, break down, build up, discipline and
create His prophets. Yield to that process. It cannot be rushed,
but it may certainly be hindered. We cannot force the Spirit, but
we may certainly quench Him. Ah, your gifts are given to you in a
moment’s time, but your fruit, your character, YOU, develops
over many seasons of God’s dealings. Do not be thrilled with
your gifts, only observe if you are fruitful in Spirit, bearing much
fruit, abounding in love, joy, peace, faithfulness, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, meekness, and self-control.You can be
sure that there are more gifted people in the world than you, yet
the fruit is what will remain when the gifts pass away. Never
neglect the place of abiding in Him, and you will remain a fruitful
branch in the Vine. Expect misunderstanding. Expect persecution.
Expect ridicule. Expect mistreatment. Expect suffering. Expect
rejection. Then, you won’t be surprised when it comes. And when
it comes, shut your mouth, go to the cross, and die so you can
live. Learn to kiss the hands that nail you to the cross, for as you
are decreased, He is increased. It is not a better living we need,
but a better dying. We cannot reach Pentecost but by way of
Passover. There can be no resurrection without a crucifixion…

Be afraid of the praise and acceptance of others, for they are the
fertilizer for the self-important and grandiose thoughts that are
yours by nature anyway, which spring up in the shallow ground
of your carnal mind. Carry about the Death of the Lord so you
may have the Life of the Lord. Be ready to suffer with Him, that
you may reign with Him. And now, some practical advice: As
much as possible, stay away from money…

Be slow to anger and quick to forgive. Before, you would never
apologize even when you knew you were wrong. Now, be willing
to apologize even when you know you are right.

This is my counsel, dear friend, and perhaps something I have
said in this brief letter will bear witness with you. With these
words then, I commit you to the care of the  Lord Jesus Christ,
Who is able to complete the work which He has begun in you
and see you through to maturity, as you are rooted and grounded
in Him, being thoroughly equipped and strengthened by His
Might which works in those who have taken up the cross to
find power in weakness…  –Chip Brogden.

“Continue in the faith.”

Perseverance is the badge of true saints. The Christian life is not a beginning only in the ways of God, but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts. It is with a Christian as it was with the great Napoleon: he said, “Conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me.” So, under God, dear brother in the Lord, conquest has made you what you are, and conquest must sustain you. Your motto must be, “Excelsior.” He only is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continueth till war’s trumpet is blown no more. Perseverance is, therefore, the target of all our spiritual enemies. The world does not object to your being a Christian for a time, if she can but tempt you to cease your pilgrimage, and settle down to buy and sell with her in Vanity Fair. The flesh will seek to ensnare you, and to prevent your pressing on to glory. “It is weary work being a pilgrim; come, give it up. Am I always to be mortified? Am I never to be indulged? Give me at least a furlough from this constant warfare.” Satan will make many a fierce attack on your perseverance; it will be the mark for all his arrows. He will strive to hinder you in service: he will insinuate that you are doing no good; and that you want rest. He will endeavour to make you weary of suffering, he will whisper, “Curse God, and die.” Or he will attack your steadfastness: “What is the good of being so zealous? Be quiet like the rest; sleep as do others, and let your lamp go out as the other virgins do.” Or he will assail your doctrinal sentiments: “Why do you hold to these denominational creeds? Sensible men are getting more liberal; they are removing the old landmarks: fall in with the times.” Wear your shield, Christian, therefore, close upon your armour, and cry mightily unto God, that by His Spirit you may endure to the end.

THE HOLY SPIRIT is NOT AN “IT”
-by J. Lee Grady.

We charismatics celebrate the Holy Spirit, yet our theology of the
Spirit is often off balance.

Two popular charismatic speakers stood on a stage two years ago
and decided they should demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit.
One guy pretended to throw an imaginary “fireball” at his friend,
who promptly fell over as if he had been zapped by the divine power.
Then, feeling equally playful, the guy on the floor stood to his feet
and threw the “fireball” back at his friend—who fell after the “blob”
of God hit him.

Everybody laughed and had a hilarious time at this outrageous
party. There was just one problem. The Holy Spirit is not a blob,
a fireball or any other form of divine energy that can be thrown,
manipulated, maneuvered or controlled.

This scenario happened in a charismatic church—a place
where the ministry of the Holy Spirit is presumably honored
and understood. It’s incredibly sad that many of us who wear
the charismatic label have forgotten what the Scriptures teach
about the third person of the Trinity. At the risk of sounding way
too elementary, I’d like to offer this basic layman’s guide to
pneumatology—the study of the Holy Spirit and how He works:

1. He is the Spirit of the Lord. He is not a force (as in Star Wars),
a magical power or an “it.” The Holy Spirit is God, and we should
revere Him as God. The concept of the Trinity doesn’t make sense
to the human mind. Yet Scripture reveals God as a triune being.
As theologian Norman Geisler writes: “God is one what (nature)
with three whos (persons). This is a mystery but not a
contradiction.”

2. He is our Regenerator. Jesus told Nicodemus that we are
born again by the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). True conversion is the
most supernatural thing we will ever experience! When a person
puts his faith in Christ for salvation, it is the Spirit who opens the
heart and quickens divine life. He then indwells us. While this is
an invisible process, it is no less miraculous. When we are
converted our hearts cry out, “Abba! Father” because the Holy
Spirit is “the Spirit of adoption” (Romans 8:15); He gives us
confidence that we are now children of God.

3. He is our Empowerer. When we are baptized in the Holy
Spirit we are “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49,
NASB). The Spirit who already indwells us fills us to the point
of overflowing. Jesus said the Holy Spirit’s power would flow
out of us like “rivers of living water” from our innermost being
(John 7:38). This overflow releases supernatural boldness
(Acts 4:31) as well as the anointing for various gifts of the
Spirit including prophecy, speaking in tongues and healing.

4. He is the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit has access to all the
wisdom and knowledge of God. When we abide in Him, He
leads us continually into truth—causing us to grow and
mature spiritually. He wants to fill us with the treasures of
heavenly revelation. We can fully trust Him because He never
does anything to violate the Word of God. As our teacher
(1 John 2:27), He knows the difference between truth and error,
and those who depend on Him will walk in discernment and
avoid deception, pride and carnality.

5. He is our Counselor. This word is also translated “Advocate,”
“Comforter” or “Helper.” The Greek word, parakletos, means “one
called alongside to help.” It implies that the Spirit comes to our
legal defense when we are accused or troubled; it also means
He is a close friend who offers encouragement, consolation and
direction when we face any difficulty. He is truly a friend who
“sticks closer than a brother” (Prov. 18:24).

6. He is our Intercessor. This is probably one of the greatest
miracles of grace. The Spirit who lives inside of us “intercedes
for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26). Even
when we don’t know how to pray, the Spirit prays the perfect
will of God. No matter what kind of dark difficulty we face, the
Spirit travails for us until we emerge on the other side.

7. He is our Unifier. Like the master conductor of an orchestra,
the Holy Spirit pulls together each individual Christian—with all
of our diverse gifts—and causes us to flow in synchronization as
one body. The Spirit distributes His gifts to individuals (1 Cor. 12:11)
and He brings about the “fellowship of the Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:14)—
a supernatural, loving harmony among believers that overcomes
jealousy, envy, strife and bitterness.

8. He is our Refiner. The Spirit took the form of a dove at Christ’s
baptism, but He is often portrayed in Scripture as a fire. He is
the “refiner’s fire” (Mal. 3:2-3) who purifies us of selfishness, pride
and wrong motives. The Holy Spirit is indeed the fire of blazing
holiness, and He can be both grieved (Eph. 4:30) and quenched
(1 Thess. 5:19) when we disobey His promptings.

As we prepare to celebrate the day of Pentecost in less than a
month (it’s on May 23), let’s meditate on all aspects of the Spirit’s
work in our lives—and invite Him to fill us in a fresh way.

The corrupted church had so many saints and gods to be prayed to and worshiped, and so many monasteries, pilgrimages, lifeless churches, relics manufactured and invented for the sake of formalism, ritualism, and legalism, and lying miracles that only by the grace of God did any foundation or remnant of believers so remain. The church worshiped dead stocks and stones; it gave adoration to a piece of bread rather than to Christ; it gloried works instead of the blood of the lamb; it recognized the word of man as that which is the final authority rather than the Word of God; it confused the Law of God and the Gospel into the same thing of understanding the law and the gospel and their differences; its leaders committed adultery and fornication simultaneously following a vow of celibacy; it invoked a vow of poverty, but possessed great wealth; it petitioned itself to be separate from the world, but tried and did rule over the world; it took a reign of incorruption and immortality, and made it into a reign of corruption and mortality; it replaced the grace of Christ with that of worldly, carnal, and exterior fixtures that constitute formalism, legalism, and ritualism such as the mass, hours-singing-service, Lent-fast,  jubilees,  the advocation of saints, the advocation of angels, praying to images, pilgrimages, vows of chastity (or celibacy), wilful  poverty, pardons, indulgences, penance, buildings of chapels, and other things.

In this church, the ritual, rites, and ceremonies became the central theme and the central essence of worship rather than the grace of God without any such thing as this.  If all this is necessary, then, the death of Christ is in vain and grace is dethroned!

Matthew 5:28 seems to indicate that even seeing a woman and having the slightest thought of her attractiveness could equal the actual carrying out of sexual sin. Because of this, too many times we have been confronted with Matthew 5:28 and this type of interpretation that leads us into condemnation. It has time and time again been said that there is no difference between the thinking of Adultery (sexual sin) and committing it. All of this type of thinking is based upon Matthew 5:28, but Paul correctly defines that there are levels of sins and that the acts of sexual sin–indeed the acts of sexual perversion– are far greater sins than the mere thinking of sinful thoughts in the realm of sexual activity (1 Cor. 5-8). To Paul, the very acts of sexual sin are not the same thing as the thinking of any sinful act.

How many times have I personally been brought into a situation where the man and  woman are condemned, believing that they have already committed a physical sexual sin because of sexual thoughts coming into their mind. Their thinking, if not checked I agree, will lead them into the very acts of physical sexual sins. Yes! Sinful sexual thought is wrong. The thoughts come from Satan as an impulse to cause us to truly commit physical sexual sin (some type of fornication). If we dwell on that thought, then it does become sin. If we rebuke it, there is no sin committed at all. The point is that the thought itself, if rebuked, is not sin, and even if we dwell upon it, it is not the same as the sins of the flesh, real physical sexual acts done with another person. The statement, therefore, refers to intentional and conscious desire, not to unintentional desire. Even the later is sin; but a sinful thought, without the consent of the mind and the carrying out of that desire in the physical realm, is not of the same level of sin as the physical act of fornication, murder, and other types of sins of the flesh. Nevertheless, it is sin, but included in the general forgiveness.

Greek Scholars have seen a difference here meant in Matthew 5:28 between the physical sexual sins and those evil sexual thoughts dwelt upon in our minds. According to the Greek New Testament, the precise meaning should in this verse be kept in mind, as the neglect of it, may lead into the error mentioned above. Our Lord is speaking of the sin of adultery (sexual sin), and therefore, however the saying may undoubtedly apply by implication to cases where this sin is out of the question—for example, to the impure beholding of a married or unmarried woman with a view of fornication, it being borne in mind that spiritually, and before God, all fornication is adultery, inasmuch as the unmarried person is bound in loyalty and chastity to Him. In other words, according to Matthew 5, all men and women who are unmarried are truly married to God regardless of who is saved and unsaved only in the sense as already mentioned—loyalty and chastity. The direct assertion of Matthew 5:28 must be understood as applying to the cases where this sin is in question—the sin of Adultery (Sexual Sin). The Greek text where we have “gazing to lust” must not be interpreted of the casual evil thought which is checked by holy watchfulness, but the gazing with a view to feed that desire, committing in your heart already the sin, and with the focus on bringing that lust into the physical realm—actually committing that sinful and sexual act. The Greek text states quite clearly that the man who can do this—with a view to feed unlawful desire—has already in his heart passed the barrier of criminal intention, made up his mind to commit this act of sexual sin, stifled his conscience, and will finally commit the act itself. It is more than the mere thought of sin; it is the very process of carrying it out. Jesus locates adultery (sexual sin) in the eye and heart before the outward act.. We must remember that the eye and the heart are the two brokers of sin.

Process of Sin.
From Satan to Lust.
From Lust to thought.
From thought to choice.
From choice to habit.
From habit to loss of control.
From loss of control to bondage.
From bondage to almost total demonic control.
From almost total demonic control to total demonic control.

Further, the desire here mentioned is such a desire (lust) as gains the full consent of the will, and will finally terminate in the action of the deed thought of, desired, and lusted after. The desire is an unrestricted desire for a forbidden person or thing. The desire is not mere desire, coming and going, being sent by Satan and later rebuked. It is a desire that consumes the person so much so that he acts upon it and was and becomes even more an adulterer and fornicator.

The very look is supposed to be not casual but persistent, the desire not involuntary or momentary, but cherished with longing. It is an intensification of lust, more than mere sinful thinking. While wrongful and sinful thinking is absolutely sin, it is not the same as here mentioned, nor the same as the physically committing adultery or fornication. It is the focus on an object to lust after in order to push forth the final act. We must remember James 1:15 and what it truly means. James 1:14-15 reads, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” For lust to be sin, lust must conceive to bring forth its sin.

In Greek, the present participle characterizes the man by his act of continued looking, not the causal looking, but looking continually to feed that lust and finally to satisfy that lust by committing sexual sin. The construction with the infinitive denotes purpose, not result; it is somewhat like our phrase, ‘with a view to.” Jesus does not say that by the accomplished lusting or by and during the act of looking at the woman the man in question commit adultery. The aorist, emphasizing the feature of the time, precedes these acts. Therefore, the aorist sees the man who casts lustful looks is already an adulterer to begin with physically before his thoughts and lusts. The sin is already in his heart and has already been acted upon. In other words, he is someone who has already physically fallen into such sin, and continues to follow his sinful career. If the heart were pure, without adultery, no lustful look would be possible. According to Jesus all sins begin on the inside.

The occurrence of a true Great Awakening requires judgment from God upon the lukewarm, worldly, and backslidden churches.  There is no escaping this fact. A study of past Great Awakenings and major revivals across the world reveals that for a true Great Awakening to take place, God’s judgment upon the church and upon the nations must also occur.

God’s sequence for revival is clearly revealed in studying the past. We must know and respect His divine sequence. The common sequence of the Great Awakenings is as follows:

1. Powerful Prayer.
2. Powerful singing of songs or hymns (occasionally this was omitted).
3. A kind of preaching where the power of God was released throughout the congregation as the minister spoke. The focus of the sermons was always Jesus; He was their center.  Everything is about Jesus from the beginning to the end.  A few times, preaching in a service was omitted or shortened, but this was not the rule.
4. People experienced the power of God through the preaching especially.
5. The power brought on hard conviction, repentance, healings, miracles, and other godly manifestations.
6. Salvation was not easy; the people experienced salvation in a groaning, agonizing way so that they would keep it; and most did keep it.
7. If there was no preaching like this, there was very little moving of God.
8. When the people focused on signs and wonders, the revivals fell into trouble.

I agree that we are ripe for another Great Awakening. But what concerns me is that our desperation for the moving of the Lord has left us even riper for the Last Days’ deceptions. Yes, we are apt for deception.  To prevent this, we must have discernment to see through the lies and craftiness of our adversary; and a mature saint will be able to do this. God has His own pace, and if we move ahead of God, we will pay dearly.  Therefore, we must be able to discern between good and evil—between the profane and the holy. If good things or benefits alone are the very criterion by which something is judged to be of God, we may have already fallen into the arms of deception. There is something more important than benefits, something more important than being released from depression, sickness, or addictions—that “something” is the holiness of God, His name, His honor; it is God Himself.

Receiving benefits of a dubious kind is too high a price to pay if it is going to throw any shadow upon God’s great Name. We have lost everything for the sake of benefit when the desire for benefit is, in itself, suspect.

It is remarkable that, though we are explicitly warned about End-Time lying signs and wonders (2 Thess. 2:9; Matthew 24:24), we somehow imagine that it is future, and mindlessly trust ourselves in our greed for experiences, empowerments, or releases, to dubious personalities who have caught the public fancy in incredible overnight popularity. I profoundly respect God’s use of the weak and the foolish thing, but I cannot, for that reason, endorse what is garish, cheap and coarse as being that weak and foolish thing of which Paul speaks. “Holiness unto the Lord” is still the standard of God’s House, even when it is unspectacular and unassuming in the eyes of the world, and even in our own eyes.

Waiting is a priestly function. We need to wait to see if our spirits are hospitable to what is being mediated from church platforms. Is it compatible with our existing knowledge of God? If it is not compatible, those involved can stand on their heads, run all over the platform, and display every other kind of madness, and we should be grounded in the Word enough to know that not everything is the genuine moving of the Lord. There is a counterfeit! We are not to mindlessly give ourselves to every manifestation we see. Our integrity in God needs to be guarded, and we should not allow ourselves to be influenced, taken up and affected by church trends, or else we will never have anything significant to give of ourselves to our Lord.

The teaching of the Scripture is to seek out, through the Word and prayer, the roots of the problems that come in life. One will usually find that unacknowledged disobediences are at the root of nearly every problem we face in this life. Absolution of our problems is accomplished primarily through that part of the Body to whom one is accountable and authentically joined.

But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Eph. 4:15 -16).

Once more, we are shown fanataicsm, hysteria, and satanic devices all working  together to undo, corrupt, or hinder the moving of the Holy Spirit.  We are in a mess spiritually.  We have become blinded or deceived into believing that all manifestations are of God, or none are from God.  We cannot afford to be ignorant of the devices of Satan.  We cannot afford accepting all manifestations or denying all manifestations either.  We must judge all manifestations by Scripture.  We must never accept experience over the Word of God.

If this is not all, the church has accepted almost completely Seeker Friendliness.  The church has become disarmed, and if the power of God does not come back to the church, America will fall.  A repentant church is the hope of America.  A repentant church will revive America.  We should be searching our hearts, asking forgiveness, standing upon the Word, exalting Jesus, repenting of our sins, and believing that God will move for us.

Every war or battle that has been or will be fought has a connection to the supernatural realm.  They are fought there first.  The direction of America has slowly but surely moved toward a socialist, communistic, or statist country far from the founders’  view.  We have sown into the wind, and now we are reaping the whirlwind.

Going to the source will only save the church and only save America.

In these days of widespread debauchery, concupiscence and uncleanness, married Christian couples are being bombarded with messages about sex from the church pulpit and various forms of Christian and secular media. Amidst these messages is the constant reassurance that the marriage bed is undefiled. Hebrews 13:4 is usually cited to “prove” the marriage bed is automatically and unconditionally undefiled in the sight of God:

Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Hebrews 13:4 does not make the case that the marriage bed is incapable of ever becoming defiled. Rather, it contrasts the purity of the marriage bed with the impure behavior of debauched individuals–whoremongers and adulterers.

Could it be that only the marriage bed as God intended it is undefiled? Has God placed any restrictions regarding sexual expression in marriage? Does God have a specific plan for the practical physical outworking of the marriage bed?

The Natural Use Vs That Which is Against Nature

Romans 1:18-32 is addressed to people who knew God but refused to glorify him as God. Consequently they were unthankful and became vain in their imaginations and their foolish hearts were darkened. They actually changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped the creature more than the Creator. In response to their wicked idolatry, God “gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves.”

These verses should be instructive to the Christian. Those who hold the truth that is revealed in the Holy Bible while continuing to engage in unrighteous behavior are in danger of the judgment of God. God judges idolatry by giving idolaters over to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts. If you are committed to certain forms of sexual pleasure over and above your commitment to the revealed will of God then you are setting yourself up to be given up to uncleanness as well.

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Romans 1:25

Do you serve the creature (including yourself) more than the Creator? If so, you are also in danger of being given over to vile affections (degrading, shameful passions).

Romans 1:26 reveals that God makes a clear cut distinction between natural sexual union and that which is against nature. God places intimate coupling that is against nature in the category of vile affections. Male and female homosexuals reject the God-designed natural use of the woman and dishonor their own bodies between themselves.

Women who are physically intimate with other women change “the natural use of the woman” because they reject God-ordained male with female coupling:

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: Romans 1:26

In like manner, men who reject the natural use of the woman work that which is unseemly in the sight of God:

And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. Romans 1:27

Here again we see God’s division between the “natural use” and that which is not natural (unseemly). Like the women who rejected the natural use, the men also left the natural use of the woman because they rejected God’s natural order of things. In Romans 1:26 the women changed the natural use into that which is against nature and in this verse the men left the “natural use” of the woman and burned in their lust toward one another.

The Bible is clear that God has determined the sexual use of the woman. It is the natural use.

Adulterers and whoremongers often have relations confined to the natural use of the woman but that does not sanctify their actions in the sight of God:

Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Hebrews 13:4

God ordained one place for the “natural use” of the woman: the marriage bed. The marriage bed in which “the natural use of the woman” is not changed or abandoned is undefiled. What about Christian married couples who engage in not only “natural use” coupling as God intended but also engage in oral and/or anal practices inspired by the perverse spirits who work in those who reject the natural use of the woman? Does God condemn those of the same sex who go “against nature” while sanctioning the same behavior as long as it is performed in the marriage bed?

God cannot condemn the one while sanctioning the other.  Both are the same behavior.  Therefore,   Sodomy and other types of unlawful (ungodly) sexual behavior cannot be brought into the marriage bed and it remain undefiled.  There is nothing, absolutely, nothing that brings forth demon activity (demon possession) faster than unlawful (ungodly) sexual behavior.   There is no way that Christ will continue to be joined to a saint if that saint practices such acts of depravity.  I Corinthians 5 through 8 speak of fornication as having to do with two persons or more.  Paul also says that such acts separate us from Christ absolutely.  Repentance can come and people can be forgiven and Christ be joined again with us, but that does not mean that any can go back into such activity.

Nothing is more vile than acts of perversion.  All forms of fornication are the worst type of sins that there are, except blaspheming the Holy Spirit.  Further, even regular sexual acts outside of marriage are still acts of perversion because these acts are done outside of God’s will and what God has setup as normal and moral.

Paul makes it clear in 1 Cor. 5 through 8 that Christ cannot be joined to us if we commit such acts.  At the moment of that act, Christ removes Himself and the person backslides.  Only an unholy Christ could be united with us.  And that Christ would not be the true and real Christ.  The person is opened up to demonic possession in particular by the incubi or succubi. I cannot believe the tongues of that person nor anything about that person to be of God.  Personally, I have dealt with women and men who have these spirits in them.

Paul in 1 Cor. 5 deals with a saint, part of the community of saints, who has committed fornication.  Paul sees him as backslidden.  Paul does not see him as saved any longer.  Paul ex-communicates him from the community and then throws a curse (or judgment) upon him.  The curse is that his body will be turned over to destruction so that his soul can be saved.

From that point on, Paul deals with marriage and fornication.  Paul re-interprets Jesus’ saying about adultery and fornication and concludes for there to be real fornication, there must be two subjects, man and man, woman and woman, man and woman, man or woman with an animal.  Fornication to Paul cannot be committed by one person, that is you can do it upon yourself.

Sin and wickedness have levels to them.  Some sins will be destroy your relationship with Lord at the time of committing while others will not.

The easiest  way to be possessed is through ungodly sexual behavior.  The person opens himself or herself up completely to another emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically.  Such a union must be sanctioned by God to prevent such negative results from occurring.

To restate what has already been said:

Let us suffice to say, then, that the theme of a “natural function versus the unnatural function” of men permeate both the Old Testament and the New Testament in support of the principle that vaginal intercourse alone is God’s prescription for healthy sexual activity.

It follows that sexual practices such as oral sex (or “falatio”) or anal sex must be considered perversion (sodomy) since, in these instances, as well as other instances such as bestiality or incest, the sexual organs are being used for that which is unnatural in the eyes of God and for which they were neither intended, designed, nor ordained.

Peter warned of this, stating that many people followed their own sensuality and maligned the way of truth by indulging their own flesh (2 Peter 2:2,9,10,18,19,20,21).  And again, Paul admonished a church not to make any provision for the flesh and it’s  lusts (Romans 13:14), noting that the Body is not for immorality but for the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:13).

And we may conclude from Romans chapter 1 that God’s stance and support of the “natural function” of male and the female coming together to utilize that function, is the only righteous and holy doctrinal position of scripture. Indeed, Paul goes on to say that because of the use of “unnatural functions”, those who partook in such sinful acts, using the sexual organs for functions for which they were not intended, were given over to a STRONG DELUSION.

The foolishness of mankind usually exalts the actions of violence, conquest, war, and bloodshed as their subjects of their highest esteem.  It is quite true that in a righteous cause of defending a man’s country or his life, all actions of valor are just.  But in other cases, these actions are no more than murder and rapine.  And thus those who practice such are the scourges of God and the greatest plagues and calamities that occur to the world!

Nothing will cause God’s anger to come forth worse than forceful and prideful sinners.  In truth, defiant sinners, blaspheming God day in and day out, will cause a nation to be under the wrath of God faster and greater than anything else.  Therefore, they become a worse danger to a nation than any other.  In fact, defiant sinners may be seen as a plague upon a nation.  Sinners time and again have been the cause of a righteous God pouring His vengeance against a whole nation or an empire.  Remember Sodom, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Rome, Persia, and other such examples.

The Bible speaks of righteousness as exalting a nation, and sin as a reproach (Pro 14:34 KJV). The Bible also speaks of a sinner destroying much good (Ecc 9:18 KJV). Therefore, the sins and wickedness of people are in fact the cause of a just God bringing judgment, and all those who are defiant in their sins and wickedness become even more the trigger or the main cause for God actions. Those who walk in righteousness can only intercede for so long before God moves.

If only ten righteous would have been found in Sodom, this city would have been saved. Pray that America has at least ten righteous left!

In the years that I have done marriage counseling, I have found that many do not know the definition of Sodomy. They do not know that, according to the Greek New Testament and even backed up by Webster’s, that a man and a woman married can commit Sodomy.

Marriage must be a place for natural use of sex, not unnatural.

Just look at the definitions.

Sodomy: [Webster's 1913 Edition]

Sodomy (Page: 1366)

Sod”om*y (?), n. [From Sodom. a country mentioned in the Bible: cf. F. sodomite.] Carnal copulation in a manner against nature; buggery. Gen. xix. 5.

From the Webster’s 1828 edition:

SOD”OMY, n. A crime against nature.

From Merriam Webster Online:

Main Entry: sod·omy
Anal or oral copulation with a member of the same or opposite sex; also : copulation with an animal http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sodomy

Sodomy \sa-de-me\ n 1 : sexual intercourse with a member of the same sex or with an animal 2 : noncoital and esp. anal or oral sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex. sodomize \sa-de-mz\ vb (C) 1995 Zane Publishing, Inc. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (C) 1994 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

Sodomy = unnatural carnal intercourse between man and woman (New Lexicon Webster’s Encyclopeic Dictionary, and Dictionary of English Synonyms, Checkerbooks)

Sodomy..1: anal copulation of one male with another. 2: anal or oral copulation with a member of the opposite sex. 3: Copulation with an animal. Reader’s Digest Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary.

Prophetic ministry is not something that you can take up. It is

something that you are. No academy can make you a prophet.

Samuel instituted the schools of the prophets… But there is a

great deal of difference between those academic prophets and the

living, anointed prophets. The academic prophets became members

of a profession and swiftly degenerated into something unworthy.

All the false prophets came from schools of prophets, and were

accepted publicly on that ground. They had been to college and

were accepted. But they were false prophets. Going to a religious

college does not of itself make you a prophet of God.

My point is this – the identity of the vessel with its ministry is the

very heart of Divine thought. A man is called to represent the

thoughts of God, to represent them in what he is, not in something

that he takes up as a form or line of ministry, not in something

that he does. The vessel itself is the ministry and you cannot

divide between the two.

THE NECESSITY for SELF-EMPTYING

That explains everything in the life of the great prophets. It explains

the life of Moses, the prophet whom the Lord God raised up from

among his brethren (Deut. 18:15,18). Moses essayed to take up

his life-work. He was a man of tremendous abilities, “learned in all

the wisdom of the Egyptians ” (Acts 7:22), with great natural

qualifications and gifts, and then somehow he got some conception

of a life-work for God. It was quite true; it was a true conception, a

right idea; he was  very honest, there was no question at all about

his motives; but he essayed to take up that work on the basis of

what he was naturally, with his own ability, qualifications and zeal,

and on that basis disaster was allowed to come upon the whole

thing.

Not so are prophets made; not so can the prophetic office be

exercised. Moses must go into the wilderness and for forty years

be emptied out, until there is nothing left of all that as a basis upon

which he can have confidence to do the work of God or fulfil any

Divine commission. He was by nature a man “mighty in his words

and works”; and yet now he says, “I am not eloquent… I am slow

of speech…” (Exodus 4:10). There has been a tremendous

undercutting of all natural facility and resource…

We go through times of trial and test under the hand of God, and it

is so easy to get into that frame of mind which says in effect, ‘The

Lord does not want us, He need not have us!’ We let everything go,

we do not care about anything; we have gone down under our trials

and we are rendered useless. I do not believe the Lord ever comes

to a person like that to take them up. Elijah, dispirited, fled to the

wilderness, and to a cave in the mountains; but he had to get

somewhere else before the Lord could do anything with him. “What

doest thou here, Elijah?” (I Kings 19:9). The Lord never comes to

a man and recommissions him when he is in despair. ‘God shall

forgive thee all but thy despair’ (F. W. H. Myers, ‘St. Paul’) -

because despair is lost faith in God, and God can never do

anything with one who has lost faith.

Moses was emptied to the last drop, and yet he was not angry or

disagreeable with God. What was the Lord doing? He was making

a prophet. Beforehand, the man would have taken up an office, he

would have made the prophetic function serve him, he would have

used it. There was no inward, vital relationship between the man

and the work that he was to do; they were two separate things; the

work was objective to the man. At the end of forty years in the

wilderness he is in a state for this to become subjective; something

has been done. There has been brought about a state which

makes the man fit to be a living expression of the Divine thought.

He has been emptied of his own thoughts to make room for

God’s thoughts; he has been emptied of his own strength, that all

the energy should be of God… That was the great lesson this

prophet had to learn. ‘I cannot!’ ‘All right’, said the Lord, ‘but I AM.’

A great deal is made of the natural side of many of the Lord’s

servants, and usually with tragic results. A lot is made of Paul. ‘

What a great man Paul was naturally, what intellect he had, what

training, what tremendous abilities!’ That may all be true, but ask

Paul what value it was to him when he was right up against a

spiritual situation. He will cry, “Who is sufficient for these things?

… Our sufficiency is from God” (II Cor. 2:16; 3:5). Paul was taken

through experiences where he, like Moses, despaired of life. He

said, “We… had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we

should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead”

(II Cor. 1:9).

MESSAGE INWROUGHT by ACTUAL EXPERIENCE

You see, the principle is at work all the time, that God is going to

make the ministry and the minister identical. You see it in all the

prophets. The Lord stood at nothing. He took infinite pains. He

worked even through domestic life, the closest relationships of life.

Think of the tragedy of Hosea’s domestic life. Think of Ezekiel,

whose wife the Lord took away in death at a stroke. The Lord said,

‘Get up in the morning, anoint your face, allow not the slightest

suggestion of mourning or tragedy to be detected; go out as

always before, as though nothing had happened; show yourself to

the people, go about with a bright countenance, provoke them to

enquire what you mean by such outrageous behaviour.’ The Lord

brought this heartbreak upon him and then required him to act

thus. Why? Ezekiel was a prophet; he had got to embody his

message, and the message was this: ‘Israel, God’s wife, has

become lost to God, dead to God, and Israel takes no notice of it;

she goes on the same as ever, as though nothing had happened.’

The prophet must bring it home by his own experience. God is

working the thing right in. He works it in in deep and terrible ways

in the life of His servant to produce ministry.

God is not allowing us to take up things and subjects. If we are

under the Holy Ghost, He is going to make us prophets; that is,

He is going to make the prophecy a thing that has taken place in

us, so that what we say is only making vocal something that has

been going on, that has been done in us. God has been doing it

through years in strange, deep, terrible ways in some lives,

standing at nothing, touching everything; and the vessel, thus

wrought upon, is the message. People do not come to hear what

you have to teach. They have come to see what you are, to see

that thing which has been wrought by God. What a price the

prophetic instrument has to pay!

So Moses went into the wilderness, to the awful undoing of his

natural life, his natural mentality; to be brought to zero; to have

the thing wrought in him. And was God justified? – for after all it

was a question of resource for the future. Oh, the strain that was

going to bear down upon that life! Sometimes Moses well-nigh

broke; at times he did crack under the strain. “I am not able to

bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me”

(Num. 11:14)…  A terrific strain was going to bear down upon him,

and only a deep inwrought thing, something that had been done

inside, would be enough to carry through…

With us, too, the strain may be terrific; oft-times there will come

the very strong temptation – ‘Let go a little, compromise a little, do

not be so utter; you will get more open doors if you will only

broaden out a bit; you can have a lot  more if you ease up!’ What

is going to save you in that hour of temptation? The only thing is

that God has done this thing in you. It is part of your very being -

not something you can give up; it is you, your very life. That is

the only thing. God knew what He was doing with Moses. The

thing had got to be so much one with the man that there was no

dividing between them. The man was the prophetic ministry.

He was rejected by his brethren; they would not have him. “Who

made thee a prince and a judge over us?” (Ex. 2:14). That is the

human side of it. But there was the Divine side. It was of God that

he went into the wilderness for forty years. It had to be, from God’s

side. It looked as though it was man’s doing. But it was not so.

These two things went together. Rejection by his brethren was all

in line with the sovereign purpose of God. It was the only way in

which God got the opportunity He needed to reconstitute this

man. The real preparation of this prophet took place during the

time that his brethren repudiated him. Oh, the sovereignty of God,

the wonderful sovereignty of God! A dark time, a deep time; a

breaking, crushing, grinding time; emptied out. It seems as if

everything is going, that nothing will be left. Yet all that is God’s

way of making prophetic ministry.

“Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him” (1Sam 18:12). Satan envies and fears most those who have been with God in prayer and are determined to stand up and fight in faith. Satan fears even a small army of those who are girded up in faith for a fight.

He cowers before those who are up on their feet and ready to resist. And because he fears you, his design is to neutralize your fighting spirit. The devil does this by trying to flood your mind with defeating, distracting, hellish thoughts that breed mistrust and questions about God’s power. He’ll scream into your mind and spirit, “It’s no use fighting any more. You are too weak from your personal struggles. You’re never going to be an overcomer.

The powers of hell are just too big to overcome. So, you might as well relax. You don’t need to be so intense about the battle anymore.” This is all a distraction! Satan’s entire strategy is to get you to take your eyes off the victory of the Cross. He wants to turn your focus onto your weaknesses, your sins, your shortcomings – and that’s why he turns up the heat of your present problems and sufferings. He wants to make you believe you aren’t strong enough to go on. But your strength is not the point: Jesus’ strength is!

The fact is, we’re all going to be in a fight until we either die or Jesus comes back. We may be given seasons of calm, times of reprieve. But as long as we are on this earth, we are engaged in spiritual warfare. And there is simply no end to these battles.

That’s why Paul says Jesus has given us weapons that are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds. We have been equipped with weapons that Satan cannot withstand: prayer, fasting and faith. The time has come for us to get our focus unstuck from our current afflictions. We must take our eyes off our trials and fix them on the Captain of this war.

Jesus holds the key to all victory and he has promised us: “I have supplied you with every weapon needed for battle. And I am ready and willing to give you strength in times of weakness.”

(AFP) – Feb 10, 2010

JERUSALEM — Archaeologists said on Wednesday they have found a 1,500-year-old Jerusalem road that was once a bustling throughfare used by throngs of Christian pilgrims and which is depicted on a famed mosaic map of the Holy Land.

The small segment of road was found in a dig conducted before Jerusalem authorities carry out infrastructure rehabilitation just inside the Old City’s Jaffa Gate.

“After removing a number of archaeological strata, at a depth of 4.5 metres (14.80 feet) below today’s street level, much to our excitement, we discovered the large flagstones that paved the street,” said excavation director Ofer Sion.

The single, central thoroughfare is clearly visible on the Madaba Map, a floor mosaic in the Byzantine church of Saint George in Jordan which is the oldest surviving map of the Holy Land, said Sion, standing on scaffolding above the cracked flagstones.

“In those days, thousands of pilgrims from across the Christian world would be using that road,” he said.

Sion recounted that an eminent scholar of the Byzantine period, whom he wouldn’t name, was close to tears when he saw the flagstones, which are over one metre- (3.2-foot) long.

But, because it is below a busy street, the dig will have to be covered up again in a few weeks, Sion told journalists.

The excavation led by the Israel Antiquities Authority also uncovered remains of buildings from later periods as well as a a water cistern measuring eight by 12 metres and five metres deep (26 X 39 x 16 feet.)

In addition, the archaeologists found numerous pottery vessels and coins and five small square bronze weights.

Christ’s church has never been approved or accepted by the world. And it never will be. If you live for Jesus, you won’t have to separate yourself from other’s company; they’ll do it for you. All you have to do is live for him. Suddenly, you’ll find yourself reproached, rejected, called evil: “Men shall hate you, and…they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake” (Luke 6:22).

Yet, Jesus adds, this is the path to true fulfillment. “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25). In other words: “The only way you find meaning in life is by selling out your all for me. Then you’ll find true joy, peace and satisfaction.” Christ tells us, “My church is without spot or wrinkle. So, when you come to me, you must be willing to lay down all sins. You must surrender all to me, die completely to self, ungodly ambition and ego. By faith, you’ll be buried with me. But I will raise you up into new life.”

Think about what it means to be without spot or wrinkle. We know a spot is a stain. But what about a wrinkle? Have you ever heard the phrase, “a new wrinkle”? It means adding a new idea to an existing concept. A wrinkle, in that sense, applies to those who try to improve on the gospel. It suggests an easy way to attain heaven, without full surrender to Christ.

That’s the kind of gospel that’s being preached in many churches today. The sermons are aimed only at meeting people’s needs. As I read Jesus’ words, I see that this kind of preaching will not work. It doesn’t accomplish the true work of the gospel.

Don’t misunderstand: I’m not against preaching comfort and strength to
God’s people. As a shepherd of the Lord, I’m called to do exactly that. But if I preach only to people’s needs, and ignore Christ’s call to lay down our lives, then true needs will never be met. Jesus’ words are clear: Our needs are met by dying to ourselves and taking up his cross

by Maayana Miskin(IsraelNN.com)

Even as Muslim spokesmen try to deny Jewish claims to the

Holy Land, archaeological discoveries have recently been coming in fast and furious proving the veracity of the Biblical account of history.

Hebrew University archaeologists have revealed an ancient path in

Jerusalem believed to date back to the time of King Solomon, along with structures including a gateway and the foundation of a building. Dr. Eilat Mazar, the leader of the archaeological dig, said the findings match finds from the time of the

First Temple.

Arutz Sheva TV’s Yoni Kempinski visited the archaeological dig where the ancient wall was revealed and heard from Dr. Mazar about the importance of the find and its connection to the Biblical description about the time of King Solomon.The latest find includes a 70-meter long and six-meter-high stone wall, a small house adjacent to a gateway leading to what was once the royal courtyard, a building that served city officials, and a tower that overlooked the Kidron river.According to Mazar, the wall is likely to be the wall built by King Solomon. “This is the first time a building has been found that matches descriptions of the building carried out by King Solomon in

Jerusalem,” she said.The third chapter of the Biblical book of Kings describes King Solomon building “his own house, and the house of the L-rd, and the wall of

Jerusalem round about.” The wall testifies to relatively advanced engineering capabilities, archaeologists said. It runs through historic Jerusalem, between the City of David and the

Temple Mount.The remnants of a public building discovered along the wall contained shards of pottery that allowed researchers to estimate the date at which the building was in use – the 10th century BCE. One of the shards was engraved with Hebrew writing saying “For the chief…” Mazar believes the shard, part of a jug, belonged to the royal baker.Other jugs bore a seal saying “For the king” in Hebrew. Dozens of seals were discovered using a water sifting technique. The building was ravaged by fire, researchers said, but the jugs that were found at the site were the largest discovered in

Jerusalem to date.

The discoveries were made during a months-long dig run by

Hebrew University in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority, East Jerusalem Development Ltd, and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. The dig is sponsored by Daniel Mintz and Meredith Berkman of

New York.

The church of Jesus Christ lacks spiritual authority in society because it lacks spirituality.

Why are our government leaders and the media so condescending to Christians?
Why has the church lost all meaning and purpose in the world’s eyes?
Why have young people written off Christianity as totally irrelevant to their lives?

It’s because, for the most part, the church is no longer a light. Christ isn’t ruling in our society because he doesn’t reign in our lives. As I look around today, I see few in God’s house who are truly in union with Christ. There is so little fellowship with heaven. And few ministers refuse worldly methods to trust God for their direction. We have lost our light because we have lost Christ’s life. For God’s authority to have any impact, it must be lived out in yielded, obedient vessels.

Consider the kingdom of Babylon during the time of Nebuchadnezzar. This was the mightiest empire on earth. Daniel prophesied that every succeeding king would be inferior, less powerful, less influential. Why? Because Nebuchadnezzar was not the real ruler in Babylon. The power behind the empire wasn’t in the golden statue he erected. No, Babylon’s authority rested in the hands of a small group of God-possessed men. The Lord had set up a secret, heavenly government and it was ruled by Daniel and the three Hebrew children. These men were God’s governing instruments, because they operated in the heavenly realm.

They refused to have anything to do with the world system. Instead, they shut themselves in with God.

As a result, these holy men knew the times. They could tell the people what God was up to at any given time. They were bright, shining lights to the whole nation, because they had the life of God within them.

In 2 Kings 6, we read of Syria making war against Israel. During this conflict, the prophet Elisha sat at home communing with the Lord. This man was God’s secret government, and he ruled with authority. Elisha heard from the Lord, and sent messages to Israel’s king, warning him of every move the Syrian army made.

When the Syrian king found out about Elisha’s thwarting messages, he surrounded the prophet’s hometown with a battalion of troops. But God blinded the Syrians, and Elisha ended up leading them captive into the Israelites’ camp. Elisha had the light—and he knew Satan’s every move—because he had the life.

Something beautiful happens when an individual surrenders his will to Jesus Christ. Our Creator has a sovereign plan for each of our total lives, and that design is so spectacular and heavenly that nothing can compare. He has predestined us from the foundation of the world to His glory. His Word declares that He alone is the foundation on which we must build. After we surrender to this single foundation, then He begins the beautiful process of revealing the rest of His story plan to us. The Spirit said to the Ephesus church family, “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself” (Ephesians 1:9). He cannot, and will not, reveal His will until we surrender our will to Him.

Jesus Christ was our perfect example. The Gospel of John reveals His absolute subordination to His Father. He never spoke of His own ideas or plans. In fact, He had no other plan but His Father’s. “Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:16-17). I love this divine statement. First, He said, “I have no will but the Father’s.” Then, He said, “If you will surrender to His will, then you will have the enlightenment of knowing in your heart that My doctrines are pure and divine.” Something supernatural happens in our very spirit and mind once we surrender our will to the Heavenly Father. The Son of God was plain-spoken. “If any man will do his will he shall ‘know’…”

This is divine revelation. Multitudes are asking, “How can I know the will of God?” Multiple books are being written on “finding God’s Will.” All of the searching and hand wringing could end quickly if each person would totally surrender their will to Him. No book but the Holy Bible can reveal the will of God for you. But the one addition to that Book is God’s readiness to apply the truth of that Book when you give up your own will. Only the Spirit of God can reveal in your heart all the plans for your life. Your profession, your partner of a wife or a husband, your time, and every aspect must be discerned as you are totally yielded and free of all your preconceived plans.

We live in a religious world that says you can bring all your talents, plans, decisions, etc., into your Christian walk. Some would even suggest that there are many different paths to serving God and God wants you to just be yourself. This concept is not only wrong, it is terrible. The eternal God knows your name, your abilities, your sins, and your thoughts. He has the perfect solution for all your needs and the perfect plan for all your life. He wants you to surrender your will totally and submit to His revelations for your life.

Our nature is depraved. The most eloquent and cultured person among us has a wicked heart that must be washed in the Blood. This is the greatest struggle in the present church world. Multitudes are willing to profess Jesus Christ as long as it is on their own terms. Salvation is not just the redeeming of the old nature but the renewing and transformation of that nature. It is the miracle of being “born again.” He does not sanctify my will but totally changes my will to His will at my surrender.

A man, who was born blind, was seated by the path where Jesus and His disciples ministered. His disciples ask Jesus, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:2-3) Every situation of every individual soul on this earth has been allowed or designed for God to reveal Himself in that life. Your worst nightmare is an ordained opportunity for God to change your life. He is sovereign over His universe. Nothing that happens is meaningless. Whatever your situation or heartbreak, surrender your will to Him and He will begin the process of miracles.

When you give up all your will and great plans to the “Master Designer of Human Lives,” He will reveal His design and you will discover a glorious life. He awaits somewhere beside the path you are struggling to navigate. His plans may not always take you through a flower garden, but it will always end in one.

 

“I need to talk to you about your book,” a mother of one of the young people at the youth center I was involved with told me one night when I was busy losing to one of the kids on a videogame. My book, Nobody’s Angel, chronicled my involvement in the occult world before being delivered by Jesus.
            We got into a back part of the building where it was quiet. “Fire away,” I said, not knowing what to expect. “Talk to me about Edgar Cayce,” she asked. Now, there was someone I could discuss. Along with Bishop Albert Pike, Edgar Cayce was a man whom I followed, read all of his teachings and his writings had convinced me that being a Christian and a medium were not incompatible. Only after I became a Christian, learned the scriptures, and was delivered from the demonic forces that had deceived me, did I come to know Cayce was a false prophet. Nice, yes. Sincere, yes, but nevertheless a false prophet. False prophets rarely know that is what they are.
            “Edgar Cayce was an occultist,” I told my friend’s mom. “But he taught the Bible!” she exclaimed. I paused. “But, he was an OCCULTIST.” I restated. “But he HEALED people!” she said, with a look of desperation in her eyes. I paused again. “BUT HE WAS AN OCCULTIST,” I said very deliberately. “Oh dear God,” she said as her face turned ashen white. “I’m in big trouble.”
            She proceeded to tell me about attending a ladies’ Bible study at a good, solid church whose pastor I had known for years. The study was held by the wife of one of the oldest and most solid elders in that church.
            After a number of months, the elder’s wife invited my friend and a handpicked few other ladies to a more private, “deeper life” kind of group study. They went eagerly. But within a short while, she realized something wasn’t right.
The teacher began to introduce Edgar Cayce’s teachings to them. She taught them that the Bible contained the words of God, but wasn’t perfect. Soon she was teaching reincarnation. In fact, she told them that she had been married to the High Priest Melchizidek over a million years ago on Jupiter.
            When I spoke truth to my friend, the terrifying reality of how deceived she had been hit her with full force. She immediately made plans to cut all ties with this woman and her “Bible Study” group.
            How did she end up in that place? One, her knowledge of the Bible’s clear teachings about reincarnation and the occult practices God forbids was nearly non-existent. It wasn’t really her fault; it isn’t taught in most churches, and hasn’t been for quite some time.
            But more importantly, she was ensnared because she trusted her teacher. The lady was well-respected, in her sixties, and she and her husband had a sterling reputation. And she was so sincere. And nice. Who was SHE to question someone with credentials and history, someone who had taught the Bible for decades? Maybe, she reasoned, it was just her problem, not her teacher’s. Maybe, she thought, she just wasn’t deep or mature enough to get these “greater truths.”
            This is how error and spiritual deception grows in the church unchecked.
I have a rule with the youth I teach. If I am wrong, if I misquote, or if I am teaching a half- truth or a lie, I make it clear that they are responsible to CALL ME ON IT. It is their duty to do so, not just for them, but to protect others. I will not be like some who say, “Who are you to question me? The Bible says to ‘touch not Mine Anointed.’” Truth supersedes my position, my power and my pride.
I am glad my friend woke up and left her “teacher.” But what disturbed me most was that her teacher was a woman who was well-known in church circles throughout the entire city. She was deeply involved in the intercessory prayer movement. And she had laid hands on and prayed for nearly every pastor in our city! And yet, she had not been discerned, nor discovered, nor confronted, nor stopped.
Where is our discernment? If we cannot discern and deal with such a blatant matter, how can we ever hope to deal with the little foxes, the little tampering with truth that are seeking even now to unravel the whole tapestry of truth within the church? And how then can we expose the bigger lies that even now are beginning to wrap their tendrils around the Body of Christ?
Gregory R Reid  

The Old Testament is filled with God’s miracle-working power, from the opening of the
Red Sea, to God speaking to Moses from the burning bush, to Elijah calling down fire from heaven. All these were instantaneous miracles. The people involved could see them happening, feel them and thrill to them. And they are the kinds of miracles we want to see today, causing awe and wonder. We want God to rend the heavens, come down to our situation and fix things in a burst of heavenly power.

But much of God’s wonder-working power in his people’s lives comes in what are called “progressive miracles.” These are miracles that are hardly discernable to the eye. They’re not accompanied by thunder, lightning or any visible movement or change. Rather, progressive miracles start quietly, without fanfare, and unfold slowly but surely, one step at a time.

Both kinds of miracles—instantaneous and progressive—were witnessed at Christ’s two feedings of the multitudes. The healings he performed were immediate, visible, easily discerned by those present on those days. I think of the crippled man with a gnarled body, who suddenly had an outward, physical change so that he could run and leap. Here was a miracle that had to astonish and move all who saw it.

Personally, I think all the gimmicks are a waste of time. In my opinion, God doesn’t need our help. He doesn’t need a glossy veneer or a spiffy band singing rock songs or some super cool event to prove Himself.

I think He quietly stepped out the back door when we–the church– decided that we needed to help Him out because He’s not doing a good enough job reaching these “mysterious” and “hard-to-understand” youth.

They’re just kids, people—with high school mentalities—full of insecurities, (and many of them) bad attitudes and a healthy dose of inherent rebellion.And speaking of the youth who have grown up in the church–maybe if they had better adult role models around them they would be more interested in the things of the Lord. And I’m not talking parents who are good people devoted to the latest “green” humanitarian fad—most everyone around us is a “good” person.

What kids need to see is adults they love and respect on their knees, repenting, and allowing God to change them. They need to see their alcoholic parent delivered, their foul-mouthed uncle cleaned up and burning his hidden porno mag stash.

But the majority of Christian adults don’t want to truly surrender to the Lord. It’s more comfortable to shush the promptings of the Holy Spirit because He makes us feel “bad”—send the kids down the hall for their own “private church experience” where they don’t have to witness the adults’ empty worship services, and fill the space the Holy Spirit left behind with “cool stuff.” Worthless glitz that doesn’t mean a thing in eternity’s light and that the kids see right thru as they conclude that believing in God is just another empty status symbol—another clique identifier—like the Goths and the cheerleaders and the nerds.

We’ve bumped God out of the way and I think that’s why the youth are so difficult to reach.I also believe we have spoiled rotten kids on our hands. In my opinion, they expect to be entertained wherever they go. They expect to be the center of attention and they expect the adults around them to work for their “priceless” acceptance (we can thank modern media for this conditioning—all the “because you’re worth it” ads, ad nauseum).

The modern churches have become as desperate as high-end designers lavishing gifts upon any given superstar in the hopes that she/he will wear their brand to the next big event. The church needs to stop apologizing to these endless text-messaging, “I’m my own star”—believing 16 year olds for the “boring” truth of Jesus’ gruesome death for their sins.

The power of God doesn’t need any help. Maybe what these kids need is a total stripping away of gimmicks and more preaching of the actual Word. Maybe they need less stroking of their selfish, me-centered egos and more hell, fire and brimstone sermons. Maybe they need a slap of reality across the face to remind them that if they don’t stop playing games—if they refuse to be set apart from this wicked world–they’re going to end up in the fiery pit just like the rest of us. God IS no respecter of persons and they’re going to burn if they don’t get down on their knees in total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

I shudder to think what these kids are going to do when they’re 10 or more years down the road, with a mortgage and few kids and a “normal” life that’s void of all their dreams and they have nothing left to fall back on–no God to calm the screaming emptiness in their souls at the end of every noisy fast-paced day. In my opinion…we need to reach the youth of today with reality and transparency and the example of our own repentance—and when we only get 10 kids out of a 1000 to listen and accept, we need to thank the Lord Jesus for raising up His small Gideon’s army—His remnant that is ready to fight the hoards of hell until His return.

This is a prayer guide. It is intended only as a guide and nothing more. If you so choose, use it to prompt you as you pray for our schools and schoolchildren. There is no obligation to use it. Do not let it limit your response to God’s inner promptings as you pray.

 

Putting on the Armor Prayer

 Lord God Jehovah, Captain of Lord’s Host, I come before You today to prepare for battle.  Under Your supervision I have come to put on the whole Armor of God. 

 The Belt of Truth:  Thank you, my Lord, for showing me the truth about yourself.  Thank you for reminding me that You are the only God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the King of the universe, my Father who loves me, and my Shepherd who leads me.  You are my wisdom, my counselor, my hope, and my strength.  You are everything I need each day.

 The Breastplate of Righteousness:  Thank you for showing me the truth about myself – that on my own I could never be good enough to live in your presence.  Thank you for taking my sins to the cross and offering me your righteous life.  Lord, show me any sin that I need to confess right now, so that nothing will hinder me from being filled to overflowing with your Spirit.  Thank you for forgiving me and for filling me with your righteous life.

 The Sandals of Peace:  Thank you for the peace you give me when I trust you and follow you.  Show me how to help others find that peace. 

 The Shield of Faith:  Thank you for helping me have faith in you.  I choose to count on everything you have shown me about yourself – and everything you have promised me in your Word.

 The Helmet of Salvation:  Thank you for promising me salvation both for today’s battles and for all eternity.

 The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God:  Thank you for the scriptures you have given me to memorize.  Please show me which ones(s) you want me to use to cut through deceptions and gain your victory in any battle I may face today.

 Now Lord, I am ready for battle.  You have equipped me to fully engage our enemy.  You are my Jehovah-Nissi, my banner of Victory.  You Lord, are before me, behind me, and on every side of me, to constantly remind me that the victory is the Lord’s.  I shall declare it and walk in it today.  AMEN!!

 Praying For the Teachers

SALVATION:

Father, it is our desire that every teacher in Jacksonville would come into a personal relationship with You through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We ask that You would grant every teacher of _________school, who does not know You, the gift of repentance and the faith necessary to trust in You alone for their salvation. Empower each one of them to turn to You in genuine faith, and receive the forgiveness that You offer so freely (John 3:15-18, 6:44; Acts 4:12, 17:30-31).

BOLDNESS:

Father God, bless those teachers and administrators at _________school, who do know You, the courage to fulfill their role as ambassadors to Your kingdom. Provide them the grace and power necessary to truly be the beacon of righteousness lighting a path for each student and teacher in this school.  Teach them to speak with prudent boldness as they depend on Your Spirit’s leading. (Prov. 28:1; Matt. 5:13-16; Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8, 4:31).

TRUTH:

Father of all truth, we ask that You would be known as the source of all truth throughout the schools in our city. Place your truth into the hearts of all the teachers of _________school. Give them a hunger to know and teach the truth, while empowering the students with the ability to receive it. As alternatives to your truth are presented, grant the teachers discernment as to how to properly handle any lie that comes against the knowledge of Your truth. (Prov. 22:17; John 18:38).

WISDOM:

Father, bless the teachers of _________school with the wisdom to know how to reach and teach each student.  Grant them Your insight into the individual learning needs. Open their eyes to the many different ways each student can be trained, encouraged, and taught the discipline of learning. Grant them special insight into the needs of any disruptive children, filling these teachers with the compassion to effectually deal with them. (Prov. 2:6; James 1:5; Prov. 22:15).

Praying For the Students

 SALVATION:

Lord God, We lift up every child in our Jacksonville schools who does not know you. We pray that you would reveal your love and power to each one individually at ________ school. . Invite each one to know you and grant also the power to turn to you and away from all sin and unrighteousness. Open the eyes of their heart to see you as you truly are in the fullness of Your glory. Encourage those that do know you to boldly speak the truth. (Eph. 1:18, 1Tim. 2:4)

 RELATIONSHIPS:

Father God, we ask that You would help the students of _________school to develop healthy relationships with each other.  Bless them with compassion, respect, and understanding for one another.  Set them free from any unhealthy relationships that would lead away from the knowledge of You. Empower the youths who know you to lead out by example.  (Ex. 20:12-17; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39; Eph. 4:32).

 IDENTITY:

Father, assist these children in the finding of their identity in Jesus. You knew each child before they were born, and can speak more to who they are than the world can. Help them find out who they are and discover that they are created in your image. Free them from the world’s labels and empower them to be everything you created them to be.

 PROTECTION:

Father we ask for your divine protection for each child attending ________ school. We urgently ask that you would keep them from any harm. Protect them spiritually, bodily, and emotionally as you guide them safely and cover them under the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 91:1-2; 4:8, Is. 43:2)

 DESIRE  for LEARNING:

Lord, in your Word, you said to “apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge”. Because of this we ask that you would give each student here at __________ school a real hunger to learn. Grant each child a teachable spirit and free them to exercise every ability for learning that you placed within them. Since you don’t make mistakes, help each child to walk in the confidence that they can learn anything and everything that you want them to. It is but for the asking. (Prov. 23:12; James 1:5)

 PARENTS:

Lord we pray for the parents of each student here at __________ school. We ask that you would grant them the love and wisdom that each child needs as they learn and grow in maturity. Father please help equip them with the inner strength and convictions that are needed to create and uphold healthy boundaries for these children. Grant them the vision to reach out to You and to others for refreshing and perspective. Give them peace and perseverance as they offer stability and love to their children.

Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.  –Jeremiah 6:16-17

Why wouldn’t the Israelites want the “good way” and “rest for their souls”? Why wouldn’t they “hearken to the sound of the trumpet,” i.e., want to hear what God has to say? Let me suggest one reason that could certainly apply. They were so far removed from doing things God’s way that they couldn’t relate to the “old paths.” Furthermore, their idea of “good” was not God’s good, and the “rest” they sought after was not the rest of God. Doing their own thing for their own selves for so long may have pushed God’s way well beyond their interests and comprehension. This condition was not unique to ancient Israel; we also see it in the church today.

For decades Dave Hunt and I have been addressing the detrimental influence of psychological counseling among evangelical Christians. Trying to convince believers that psychotherapy is both pseudoscience and antibiblical quite often has been like endeavoring to paddle a canoe upstream, mostly in the face of rapids and occasionally as though challenging a Niagara Falls. One reason for this is similar to what probably contributed to the rebellion documented by Jeremiah: the church has been so seduced by psychological counseling for so long that anything that seems at odds with the current counseling practices is usually considered a consequence of ignorance.

I recently received a book written by Dr. Martin and Deidre Bobgan titled Person to Person Ministry: Soul Care in the Body of Christ. It is, in part, an indictment of the unbiblical way the evangelical church has gone about counseling. It is also a call to return to the “old paths,” that is, God’s instructions for how He wants believers to minister to one another. This is not a critical treatise directed at the problems inherent within professional psychotherapy; the Bobgans have shined the light of Scripture in that dark arena in their many other books (see resource materials). Rather, Person to Person Ministry reproves those approaches that call themselves biblical counseling yet have gleaned much from the way the world counsels.

My experience has shown me that questions rush through the minds of many who take exception to our criticism of psychological counseling (although they may appreciate our addressing other things): “So what are you saying? Are you now telling us that even biblical counseling is wrong?” In a few words, yes–in most cases. The Bobgans’ book gives enough examples to make anyone who loves the Lord and His Word very cautious about recommending someone who calls himself a biblical counselor, even if he claims that he is anti-psychology. On the other hand, the greater value of what the Bobgans have written is in their “sounding the trumpet,” that is, exhorting and encouraging believers by reminding them that God has provided everything they need to deal with and benefit from the troubling issues of life “through the Word of God, the work of the Holy Spirit…[and] the fellowship of the saints….” (p.20172).

What will perhaps make Person to Person Ministry upsetting to some is not necessarily the content, which is simply and clearly biblical, but the fact that unbiblical ways and means of counseling have so permeated the church that anything that challenges them is likely to be regarded as extreme. Here are some “counseling” problems that should concern those who want to minister, and be ministered to, God’s way. As I list some of the errors they expose, see if there is either a practice or teaching found in the New Testament to support these current practices. In other words, in reference to the old hymn, was it “good for Paul and Silas”? Many “biblical” counselors mimic the way professional counselors counsel. They have a counseling office, a calendar of appointments, meet with people on an hourly basis often once a week or more, and that sometimes goes on for months or years. They charge fees or accept donations for their church (which pays their salaries). Some don’t see a problem here as long as the counselor is “using the Word of God.” Other than the fact that the methods are at odds with what Scripture teaches, I’m not sure what “using the Word of God” means, because the “biblical” concepts and methods vary from biblical counselor to biblical counselor. For example, most biblical counselors integrate psychological concepts in some fashion, often incorporating humanistic or behavioral psychology that has been spiritualized, so they sound as though they were=2 0biblically consistent.

Teachings such as Freudian psychic determinism and the unconscious or Jungian dream analysis and the collective unconscious or behaviorism or inner healing, etc. (without using those specific terms), are rampant among those who nevertheless claim to counsel sola Scriptura. Exploring the past and looking for causes for sinful decisions based upon one’s parents or one’s environment or a life trauma are also common. Some specialize in deliverance from demons while others major in the unbiblical four temperaments. Most of those who practice the healing of memories would argue that they are adhering to the Scriptures rather than psychology. However, as the Bobgans point out, “Each counselor uses the Bible according to some combination of personal experience, secular theories, biblical doctrines, and common sense….While some have attempted to control the field through certificates, diplomas, degrees, and organizations, there is no single model or method of biblical counseling” (p. 49). Yet for all the differences among biblical counselors, including those who attempt strictly to adhere to God’s Word, they all have this in common: they have set themselves up (some unwittingly) as experts in solving the problems of living that are adversely affecting Christians. This problem-solving approach is plagued with problems of its own, as the Bobgans demonstrate.

First of all, neither the God of the Bible, nor His instructions in Scripture, nor the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer is about fixing our daily mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. Every believer is a new creature in Christ, and his objective in life is to have Christ formed in him. That is the process of sanctification-being set apart from the ways, means, and lusts of the world to a life that is in submission to the Lord and in which choices are made that are pleasing to Him, the One with whom every true believer will spend eternity. It’s a growth process, which at times involves sufferings and trials that the Lord allows in our lives to help us depend upon Him and mature in our relationship with Him. Yet most biblical counseling is trapped in a “just fix the problem” or “get rid of the symptoms” mentality and mode, along with other concepts that are contrary to the biblical way. The Bobgans write,

Problem-centered counseling appeals to the flesh of both the counselor and the counselee….The counselor appears as the expert who has it all together and who is able to fix the one who does not….The appeal to the counselees’ flesh exists because the counselees can present their case usually without being contradicted, condemned, or judged, but with gaining great sympathy and support. The more directly problem-centered one becomes, the more self-centered the counseling is. Problem-centeredness and self-centeredness are linked.

[J]ust as the psychotherapists are looked up to as experts in the world, so too have their problem-centered biblical counterpart s been looked up to as experts in the church. The counselor is often regarded more highly than the pastor, and counseling is often regarded more highly than the teaching, preaching, and evangelizing. (pp. 24-25)
Preaching, teaching, and evangelizing are gifts of the Holy Spirit. Counseling, however, is noticeably absent from among the gifts. Why is counseling missing, especially since high profile counselors and others in that position are arguably the most influential people, either nationally or at the local church level, in the evangelical community today? The answer is that counseling is not a biblical ministry. Those who function as counselors (biblical or otherwise) are erroneously involved in an activity that is primarily a function of the Spirit of Christ. He is our Counselor. More often than not, counselors supplant the Spirit of Christ as they try to do in the life of a believer what only God can do. They attempt to peer into the heart of the counselee, grasping for motivations, connections, sin inducements, and other insights, in order to remedy troubling conditions. They are grasping at straws because such an activity can only result in man’s speculations at least, and, even more important, it displaces the convicting, correcting, and comforting ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God as the only true “discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

So, if psychological counseling is out, and biblical counsel ing is rarely–if ever–biblical, what are believers left with? The “old paths”! The old paths, as applied in this article, are simply the way God wants us to minister to one another. One third of the Bobgans’ book is titled “What Can Be Done: Christ-centered Ministry.” What they supply from the Word of God is so simple and true that it no doubt will seem alien, even incredulous, to multitudes of believers conditioned by psychology’s pervasive influence on the church. That, sadly, is not a wild guess. I’ve experienced such a reaction for years when I’ve voiced my concerns about the unbiblical nature of psychological counseling.

Let me give you a current situation, which I believe is analogous to what the Bobgans are encouraging in the Body of Christ. I hope that it will help some to better understand. The American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association have spent billions of dollars, over decades of years, searching for the cure for cancer and heart disease respectively. At some point, both organizations recognized that a better strategy would be to promote a program of prevention rather than putting all their time, energy, and funding into curing the illnesses themselves. Today, they are mostly committed to recommending changes in a person’s lifestyle that would help to prevent cancer and heart disease, particularly through health-sustaining diet and exercise. It’s a secular “old path” plan, and it has produced “good” results for those who have followed their advice. As Benjamin Franklin noted, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Yet many have decided, “We will not walk [or run or bicycle] therein.” The discipline necessary for a lifestyle involving a beneficial diet and reasonable exercise is not high on their agenda, preferring (wishfully) a quick fix or cure of the disease, should it show up in their bodies.

God’s “old paths” are primarily preventive. The emphasis is on the growth and maturity of the believer. Again, the Bobgans point the reader to the Scriptures: “‘The just shall live by faith’ (Habbakuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38). Therefore faith in all that Christ has done (to overcome sin, secure salvation, provide new life and power through the process of sanctification, and give believers the solid hope of eternity with Him) constitutes the primary emphasis of all New Testament ministry” (p. 171). A believer’s life in Christ is to be led of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within every believer, enables him to make righteous choices, helps him to be fruitful, to understand and know better the Word and the Word made flesh, to love Jesus more, and thus to do what pleases Him. Such an approach is not a method or technique or program or anything else conjured up by man but rather a miraculous life superintended by God. It is a life of faith, without which it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Problem-centered counseling is tragic by comparison. The Bobgans write,

Becoming mature in the faith far surpasses any change in circumstances or immediate solutions to temporal problems, though temporal change does accompany spiritual growth. What we are talking about here has eternal consequences, not just solutions that make people feel better for the time being. (pp. 171-72)

Those who have concluded that what the Bobgans are urging is impractical for dealing with life’s problems need to consider this: which troubling issues can you think of that do not involve “the lust of the flesh,” i.e., sin? They need to take that up with the Apostle Paul, who, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would….If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-17, 25). These are God’s instructions, His “old paths,” which the church has followed successfully for two millennia. Nothing could be more practical. Furthermore, His words are for every believer, every one of whom He has equipped to minister to fellow believers. That is the clarion call of Person to Person Ministry:

By God’s grace and enabling, believers in the Lord Jesus C hrist who are walking daily with Him and maturing in the faith through the trials of life are already equipped to minister to fellow believers who are suffering from the same kinds of problems generally addressed by trained counselors. These believers are equipped to do this by what Christ has already done in them through the Word of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, the trials of life, the fellowship of the saints, and opportunities to serve.

Paul wrote the following for every one of us who desires to follow the Lord and minister in His truth: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-2).

This should be the heart’s cry of each of us: Lord, concerning the “old paths”–Your ways–help Your Body of believers “to walk therein.”  TBC

Quotable

In a world of constant flux, it is assuring to find something that is unchanging, namely, the love of Christ. Our love moves in cycles. It is an emotional roller coaster. Not so with our Lord. His love never tires or varies.

And it is a pure love, utterly free from selfishness, unrighteous compromise, or unworthy motive. It is untainted and without a breath of defilement.

Like His grace, His love is free. For this we can be everlastingly thankful because we are paupers, beggars, and bankrupt sinners. And even if we owned all the wealth in the world, we still could never put even a down payment on a love so priceless.

William MacDonald
The Disciples Manual

Q&A

From the TBC archives:

Question: Where do you get the courage to expose what you believe are false teachings of some of the best-known and most popular Christian leaders? Have you gone to each of them privately first, as the Scripture says we should? Can’t correction be accomplished simply by referring to the false teachings without bringing in personalities? Is it really productive to identify by name those who teach these things? Wouldn’t that instead be counterproductive by offending them and their admirers? And isn’t it very costly financially by causing you to lose the support of many people?

Response: This is the most frequently asked of any question and I am confronted with it everywhere. First of all, it is not a matter of courage but of obedience to our Lord and to His Word. We have no choice but to “earne stly contend for the faith” (Jude 3) and as we preach the Word to “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tm 4:2; 3:16). There is no alternative. We dare not ignore these commands–for the glory of our Lord and for the sake of those who have been deceived and whom we must do all we can to rescue.

We believe that correction must be as public and widespread as was the erroneous teaching. This is necessary both for the sake of the teacher and for his or her followers. Error which has been taught publicly must be corrected publicly. Private discussion about it does not benefit the multitudes who have been thereby deceived. We have found private discussion to be largely unproductive. Those whom we have confronted privately seem to agree with us at that time, then continue to teach the same error.

Yes, we believe that in most cases it is necessary and productive to identify false teachers by name. How else can reproof be accomplished? To identify false teaching in a general way is of little benefit. We must specifically identify not only the error taught but those who teach it because they are often so highly regarded that whatever they say is unquestioningly accepted without even noticing what is wrong with it–and thereby many are led astray.

The biblical requirement to go to someone alone is only when one has been personally “trespassed” against: “Moreover if thy brother shall tr espass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone” (Mt 18:15). Any Christian leaders we identify by name have not offended us individually but have publicly taught what we sincerely believe to be false doctrine harmful to hearers and readers by the thousands (in some cases by the millions).

Does it keep us off radio and TV shows and take away from donations we might otherwise receive by standing for the truth and identifying those more popular than we are who teach error? Yes, but that is something we leave with the Lord. God forbid that we should ever allow such concerns to influence in any way our fidelity to our Lord and to His Word! That would be as foolish as exchanging the praise of God for the praise of men and an eternal heavenly reward for a temporal earthly one.

Question: I know God’s Word is infallible and inerrant, but I can’t reconcile Jeremiah’s statement that Jerusalem would be desolate for 70 years either with history or the Bible. When did this 70year period begin and end? Nor can I get it straight concerning Darius, Cyrus, the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra’s time and the rebuilding of Jerusalem under Nehemiah.

Response: The entire subject of the 70-year desolation of Jerusalem seems to contain several apparently hopeless contradictions. I have learned that God allows seeming contradictions to force us to dig deeper and in the end to have=2 0our faith strengthened thereby.

First of all we encounter the apparent contradiction about the duration of Daniel’s time in Babylon. Daniel 1:21 says, “Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus….” But 10:1 says, “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel….” If Daniel continued only unto the first year of Cyrus, how could he still be alive and receiving revelations in Cyrus’s third year?

Obviously 1:21 can’t mean that Daniel died in the first year of Cyrus. The statement is made because it was in his first year that Cyrus allowed the Jews to return. Thus we are told that Daniel lived to see the return of the captives under Cyrus. That the first wave of captives returned in the first year of Cyrus is stated clearly in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 and Ezra 1:14, 5:13 and 6:3.

This brings us to what appears to be a hopeless contradiction due to the fact that Cyrus II, known as Cyrus the Great, ruled from about 550-529 B.C. The first year of his reign, in 550 B.C., would be much too early for a return of the captives to Jerusalem if that indeed marked the end of the 70-year desolation thereof. Even if we count from the first carrying away of captives into Babylon in 605 B.C., that gives only 55 years instead of the 70-year desolation of Jerusalem prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer 25:3-11; Dn 9:2). We could legitimately extend the period to the first year of his reign in Babylon, which he captured in 539 B.C. This is undoubtedly when the decree was given and what is meant by the first year of his reign (he had no jurisdiction over the Jewish captives until then) but that would still leave us 4 years short of the necessary 70-year desolation.

However, it seems clear that the first wave of returnees to Jerusalem by Cyrus’s decree, resulting in the commencement of temple reconstruction, did not end the 70-year desolation. Eight years after the death of Cyrus, Daniel is still praying for the restoration of Jerusalem (Dn 9:1-19) in the first year of Darius. Cyrus died in 529 B.C. and was succeeded by his son Cambyses, who in turn was succeeded by Darius in 521 B.C. (after an eight-month interlude of a usurper in 522 B.C.). So at least 18 years after the first wave of captives returned to Jerusalem and began to rebuild the temple, Daniel is still fervently praying for an end to the desolation of Jerusalem (Dn 9).
Obviously, then, the 70-year desolation of Jerusalem is not considered by Scripture to have ended with the decree of Cyrus allowing the captives to return. The unfounded belief that the desolation ended at that time creates this confusion. While we are told at least four times that this decree was given in the first year of Cyrus (the first year of his reign in Babylon), nowhere is it stated that this decree marked the end of the prophesied desolation of Jerusalem.

That the desolation did not end at that time becomes clear from a careful reading of the book of Ezra. The foundation of the temple had no sooner been laid than opposition arose. The adversaries “weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building…frustrate[d] their purpose, all the days of Cyrus…until the reign of Darius…” (Ezr 4:15). Although Cyrus no doubt had good intentions, apparently after giving the decree he was too preoccupied to make certain that it was being effected in Jerusalem. The captives had been allowed to return, and the fact that they were frustrated in building the temple was overlooked if ever reported to him. Verse 6 tells of the opposition during the reign of Ahasuerus (known as Cambyses in secular history). Verses 7-23 refer in more detail to the decree by Artaxerxes, which caused the work of the temple to cease by force and power. This Artaxerxes was also known as Smerdis, a usurper, who seized the throne in 522 B.C. and was murdered eight months later and was succeeded by Darius. The suspension of temple reconstruction held unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia (Ezr 4:23-24). Now we see the answer to Daniel’s prayer with the restoration of temple construction in 521 B.C.! The temple was then finished in the sixth year of the reign of Darius (Ezr 6:15), in 516 B.C.

Thus the 70-year desolations are actually counted from the destruction of the temple in 586 B.C. until its completion in 516 B.C., exactly 70 years. All of the apparent contradictions=2 0disappear and the biblical account perfectly fits a very complex scenario, further reason for absolute confidence in whatever else the Bible has to say.

Question: The Bible does seem to state a number of times that the Jews (the people of Israel) are God’s chosen people. They mean something special to Him. I don’t understand, however, why there even had to be a chosen people. Can you explain this?

Response: To bring the Messiah into the world is one reason for a chosen people. The Messiah had to come through a special line of descent; He couldn’t be a member of all races. One particular group of people had to be chosen, and God had to keep them isolated and identifiable in order to fulfill prophecies concerning Messiah’s coming first of all to them and their rejection of Him. Numerous prophecies were given so that there would be no doubt as to the identity of the Messiah and His mission. His genealogy was an important factor in His identity.

Another reason for a chosen people is that God needed a special people through whom He could reveal Himself and also to show, in them, the relationship He wanted with all nations. Yes, He wanted to bless all nations, but in order to do so He must start with a particular people.

The Jews were also chosen to receive and preserve God’s laws. They were chosen to be a holy people. They were chosen to be an example of both God’s discipline and His grac e. By their history of continued rebellion and God’s patience with them, the Jews have provided assurance that God does not go back on His promises and is infinite in grace and mercy.

Another major reason God chose a special people was to prove His existence to the world by foretelling through His prophets centuries and even thousands of years beforehand exactly what was going to happen to them. We have gone into this in detail biblically and historically in several books, among them A Woman Rides the Beast and Judgment Day!

To summarize briefly, God promised the people of Israel the land of Canaan; when He brought them into the land He warned them that if they disobeyed Him they would be cast out and scattered everywhere. They would be hated, persecuted, and killed as no other people (anti-Semitism is a phenomenon unparalleled in history), but God would not let them be totally destroyed. After hailing the Messiah as He rode into Jerusalem on the colt of an ass, bringing salvation, Israel would reject Him; He would be crucified, and Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed once again and the Jews scattered to every nation in the final diaspora. Nevertheless, they would be amazingly preserved as an identifiable, ethnic group of people and brought back into their land in the last days. At that time, as God foretold 2,500 years ago, He would make Jerusalem a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone around the necks=2 0of the nations of the world. Jesus foretold that Jerusalem would be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

We have seen in our generation, exactly as prophesied, Israel’s restoration as a nation to her own land (actually a small part of it thus far), the determination of the world not to let Israel have sovereignty over Jerusalem, the repeated attacks against her by her Muslim neighbors, and Israel’s triumph each time through God’s preservation. Today Jerusalem (and especially the Temple Mount) is a burdensome stone around the necks of all the nations of the world, as the news continually reports. The Bible tells how it will all end, but the world is unwilling to believe and to submit to God’s plan.

None of these proofs would have been possible without there having been a chosen people. There is much more in Scripture, but space limitations govern.

News Alert

The Denver Post, 08/09/2009:BUDDHISM STRENGTHENS TIES TO CHURCH [Excerpts]–
What in the recent past seemed exotic and foreign is now almost routinely folded into “the fold.” Buddhism is not only accepted as a mainstream American religion, it is a path increasingly trod by faithful Christians and Jews who infuse Eastern spiritual insights and practices such as meditation into their own religions.

When John Weber became a=2 0Buddhist at age 19, his devout Methodist parents were not particularly pleased. In recent years, however, they’ve invited their son, a religious studies expert…to speak at their church about Buddhism. “That never would have happened before,” Weber said. “They would have been embarrassed.”

The Pew Forum’s Religious Landscape Survey in 2007 found that seven in 10 Americans who have a religion believe there is more than one path to salvation. A growing number of people are contemplating more than one each. And they are contemplating contemplation itself.

There are Jubus–Jews who bring Buddhism into their practice of Judaism–and Bujus, who are Buddhists with Jewish parents. Then there are UUbus, or Unitarian Universalist Buddhists, and Ebus, or Episcopalian Buddhists. There are Zen Catholics.

“There is a definite trend and movement that will not be reversed,” said Ruben Habito, a laicized Jesuit priest, Zen master and professor of world religions at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “We are in a new spiritual age, an interreligious age.”
People are hungry for a deeper spiritual experience–meditation, mindfulness, personal transformation, deep insight, union with God or the universe….For many Christians cut off from the past, or alienated from the faith of their upbringing, Buddhism has served as the bridge to ancient wisdom.

“The problem is the contemplative tradition in the Christian Church has had its ups and downs over the centuries,” said Father Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk and leader i n the Centering Prayer movement, a modern revival of Christian contemplative practice. “We sensed that the Eastern religions, with their highly developed spirituality, had something we didn’t have….It’s important to recover the mystical aspects of the gospel.”

[TBC: No. "It's important to" understand and believe the simple gospel, which is mankind's only way to be reconciled to God. Buddhism is "a bridge to ancient" paganism, and as a "path increasingly trod by [un]faithful Christians,” it is a highway that leads to eternal separation from God.]

Letters

Dear Tom,
Thanks so much for the comments on The Shack in the August issue. We know many “Christians” who relish the book. I know the material you offer will help us defend the truth. F&MM (TX)

TBC,
Thank you for your faithful work each month.  My only hope, as I open my Berean Call email, is that you might make it twice as long as it was the previous month! God certainly blessed me when I started receiving your newsletter. May God continually bless your work. SK (email)

Dear TBC,
[Thank you for] seventeen years of blessing and information I could get nowhere else. I wish you could do two newsletters a month, as I devour it the day it arrives. You are blessed by the Lord, and I so thank you for sharing what you have been given by Him with others. JW (OK)

Dear Dave and Staff,
I, along with doubtless thousands of us, am much relieved to hear you are on the mend. You and your staff are in my daily prayers and I am thrilled to hear how God is answering. I am so grateful for your love for and commitment to Israel. As we read of their superiority in military and intellectual arenas, it would be hard not to recognize God’s special influence on this people. Thank you for your biblical perspective and love for the Truth. May the Lord be pleased to keep you around for many more fruitful years. PB (MN)

Dear Brothers Dave & T. A.,
Before anything else, I want to thank you both for your ministry and your faithfulness in serving God and His people. I have been a Christian since shortly after my original arrest some 16 years ago, having been born again by the free, sovereign grace of God. During the course of those years, I have had the opportunity to have read a number of your books and have been blessed, encouraged, and challenged in the doing. I am also a regular reader of The Berean Call, which also has been a blessing. Thank you, and may our great God and Savior strengthen20and encourage you both as you continue to walk in His love. MF (prisoner, AZ)

Dave Hunt,
I just rec’d an e-mail from a customer, and she sent me info from your critical web-site. I asked her a question. Where do these guy’s make up this stuff? Then I mentioned, perhaps Mr. Dave Hunt and his friends were standing outside my window when I was worshiping Yahweh, while blending our Third Heaven Vision anointing oil. Thanks for the article, Dave Hunt [see TBC Extra, 5/06, "'New Reformation' Prophets Peddle Products With Promise Of Power"]. I made a copy of it years ago. I’ll be glad to send you a bottle of our Third Heaven Vision anointing oil, perhaps you would enjoy it. You’ve cursed us, for that I forgive you in Jesus’ name. Please consider taking those logs out of your eyes. TP (email)

Hi Dave,
I appreciated the many insights in your book, What Love Is This? [see Resource Pages] in regards to the false teaching of Calvinism. I totally related to the ficticious “Al” in your book. That really mirrored what I have gone through and at times am still going through. I was gloriously saved and believed Christ died for my sins, and with that came all the new desires and affections and changed actions. About four years after I got saved, I started to see election and=2 0predestination and started searching into that. Well, I became a “Calvinist.” The only problem with that was that doubts and fears started to arise [as to] whether I was one of the elect….It seems the Calvinists, or at least a lot I have read (Puritans, Pink, MacArthur, Shelton, Piper), always address the assurance of salvation and that examination is imperative, and yet they never really say (other than MacArthur) that you can be absolutely sure of your salvation. They stress this idea that those with a false faith can act very close to those who have a true faith (that’s a great shot in the arm!) and that our heart is so deceitful that we can really deceive ourselves, and that it seems to please God to bring people close to salvation, with apparent evidences of a new life, but actually still not be saved. That has been the hardest for me to overcome. It seems clear from Scripture that those who have trusted Christ and have been born again are clearly evidenced from those who haven’t (1 John 3:10). Anyway, thank you for the book. It has been a blessing. I’m sure I will refer to it several more times. From a recovering ex-Calvinist. JL (email)

Dear Dave,
Your TBC for July, “Stars and Stripes Forever?” was power-packed, timely, anointed! I’ve read it (every word) three times [and] will no doubt read it again. If only every=2 0″Christian” in America were sincere enough to take it to heart and pray God’s will for Israel and America in the days ahead. I am so glad (and know it’s no coincidence) that Benjamin Netanyahu leads Israel now. Clinton treated him shamefully! God bless, keep, and supply all of you with your needs to accomplish His will in the days ahead. JH (WV)

Hello Dave,
Just a short note to let you know that I thank our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for the ministry he has entrusted you and Tom with. I have been blessed with all of the learning materials I have, by the grace of God, been able to purchase during such a famine for the Word of God in the nation where I currently reside. I have listened to the Gospel of John discussions and expositions on mp3 and I have read many of your books from Beyond Seduction to In Defense of the Faith….Thank you for being faithful to the Word of God and for sharing what God has taught you. AD (Australia)

TBC Notes
“Old Paths” Instructions

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall20be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

T. A. McMahon
Executive Director

TBC Extra

The “Suitable Helper”
Ruth Hunt

It’s an awesome responsibility for a man to take on the role of husband. Let’s consider some ways that a wife can help her husband to be a good one. In Genesis 2:18 we read that God provided Adam with a helper suited to his needs. Today’s “suitable helper” will desire to do her husband “good and not evil all the days of her life.” That’s Proverbs 31:12.

One: The suitable helper will make home a place of shelter and refuge. When the door is closed, the world’s turmoil is left outside. I like to think of the Christian home as a temporary abode where husband and children are sheltered and cared for on the way to their heavenly home.

Two: She will communicate wisely. I believe a wife should be her husband’s chief counselor, but in dispe nsing wisdom, “Let your speech always be with grace,” we’re told in Colossians 4:6. An alternative to discussing an issue verbally is to write it down. You’ll have no interruptions. You won’t get off track. Your emotions won’t spill over, and you can think as you write and revise. Your husband can then read, re-read, ponder, and respond by whatever means he chooses.

Three: She will have a genuine interest in her husband’s problems and concerns. Six PM is the danger hour of the day in many homes. Our husband comes through the door, and we can be so hung up on our horrible day that we can hardly wait to unload. The solution has something to do with Philippians 2:3: “Let each esteem others better [more important] than themselves.” Then there’s Galatians 6:2, where we’re told to “Bear one another’s burdens.” Best of all, we’d be following Christ’s example. He gave His very life for us, and He gives us His full attention when we pour out our hearts to Him in prayer.

Four: She will be trustworthy when he shares confidences. They are for her ears only. He doesn’t want his poorer moments advertised with the girls over coffee, or his confidences given away, even to her best friend, or her mother.

&n bsp;    Five: She will be courteous. The sweet, gracious ways that won his heart during courtship are sometimes left behind at the altar. Consistent courtesy smooths the path in every situation.

Six: She is submissive to her husband. In God’s wisdom, it’s a command: “Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands,” we’re told in 1 Peter 3:1. Way back there, Satan wanted to be “like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14). But how many “most Highs” can there be in any relationship? Satan was cast out of heaven for demanding equal rights with God. God commands wives to obey their husbands (in the Lord). He commands husbands to love their wives “even as Christ loved the church [His bride].” That’s Ephesians 5:25. It shouldn’t be difficult to decide which is the greater challenge.

Seven: She is a good manager, a good executive over her little kingdom. “She looketh well to the ways of her household,” says Proverbs 31:27. The whole chapter is a recital of all that this amazing woman accomplishes. She had to be organized. And the result? Her husband could relax and do his job more efficiently because she was doing hers.

Eight: She will be contented with her lot. “Godliness with contentment is great gain,” says 1 Timothy 6:6. How can we be godly and not contented, when our Lord “daily loadeth us with benefits,” as Psalm 68:19 reminds us. Try thanking God for things you never dreamed of being thankful for before: the wildflowers growing among the weeds in your yard, the sun that’s drying your clothes because you don’t have an electric dryer, the coupons that have come just in time to buy the groceries you need. Practice being thankful for all those little things, which aren’t really little because they’re also God’s gifts.

Nine: A gracious wife accepts his love, however offered. Husbands are not all poets and romantics. They may work hard, be loyal, faithful, helpful, but have a problem saying the words she longs to hear. Love can be unspoken and just as real. Accept it.

Ten: Most important of all, the wise woman attends to her inner beauty because “Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who feareth the Lord will be praised,” Proverbs 31:30 tells us. Those many virtues listed throughout chapter 31 add up to a zero if her relationship with the Lord is not the priority. So–number ten is really number one.

A final thought from an unknown author: “Who are better suited to wedlock than men and women who have already died to self? Already they have learned to serve and
please Another [our Lord Jesus Christ].”.

Happily, in this way, our relationship with our Heavenly Bridegroom can be the pattern for our earthly marriages.