Jesus

Do not seek after that which you have not earned.

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Why this title? Because too many have become poor stewards to their own lives. In Luke 16 Jesus discusses poor stewardship.
In Luke 16: 11 Jesus makes this statement.
“If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”
Jesus makes it clear that if you cannot faithful manage mammon (money) which is also “unrighteous” then who could trust you with the true riches of salvation. In actuality it appears the word “riches” was added for there is no listing of a word after “true” which in this context means that which is of God’s and thus the implication of salvation or God’s rewards.
Now people will say how do you earn salvation? You do not. It is freely given, but it is not something that stays with you it is something that must be worked upon and nourished to grow.
True salvation is not a onetime event and you are done with it. It is something that must be nurtured and grown for if you do not it will fall away from you and you will return to the world.
As Jesus was trying to show in his parable it is something that must be managed and one way of doing this is to be a good steward of the gifts that have been given unto which includes money. It must be earned as will and not give unto us as a hand out to a beggar. Yet too many today are beggars, taking that which they have not earned and as a result squander and waste it.
God looks upon them as poor stewards of the “unrighteous mammon.”
Jesus made it clear that if they are such poor stewards to this then how can He trust them to manage that which He will give unto them?

A Purging

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In John 15 Jesus teaches the disciples about those that are within the body of Christ. Now I have mentioned other parts of this in other postings, but now I wish to discuss the “taking away” or “purging” that God will put us through time to time.
In this discussion of Jesus the Vine He mentions that His Father is the caretaker of the vine and that he will prune the branches time to time so as to allow them to bear more fruit.
It is the pruning that this posting is about. When you prune a plant. You do not just do it once. It is a continual and ongoing task, especially during the growing season. What God wishes to prune or purge is our sins. Even though we have asked Christ into our hearts these verses within John 15 shows all that even though we are saved we continue to sin. Any and all can agree upon this as they should. If they do not agree then they have a misunderstanding of the Bible and need to be corrected and shown these verses and have them explained to them. Anyway, back on topic.
So this purging that we must continue to go through throughout our entire temporal life is something we all must endure. Sometimes it will be easy. Other times we may have to go through a terrible event to cause us to awaken and allow God to clean us and make us better for Him. The death of someone you love, your home being burned down, floods, tornadoes. These are all examples of extreme events and they all place a strain upon us and in most times a strain in our believes. It is through such things as well as the easier things like a simple argument can be things that make us change our ways in a manner that is a bless unto us and ultimately God. What is the final goal in all this is to be a better servant to God and unto all of God’s creation. We are being taught to be the co-rulers of this earth during the Thousand Year Reign of Christ, which is just another step in our eternal service to God.
It is through this purging of this sin and then that sin that God places these burdens upon us. How else could he cause us to truly learn and change? As I mentioned before it is like growing up all over again just spiritually instead of physically. Is this not why Jesus stated we must be born-again in the spirit? We come into our salivation as new-born babes that need to be nurtured and supported. So we must seek out a good church home. My personal recommendation is a small church not a large one, for it is too easy to get lost in the crowd in a large one. Then when you are a spiritual teen you start to do things on your own, but still God tests and cleans you. Then one day you can be a spiritual adult. Someone that has the knowledge and the wisdom to offer up nuggets of insight into the wonders of God’s glory until it is time that he either calls you into heaven for a short time or the Rapture itself occurs. Only time will tell whichever is to be first.

Confessions of a screwed up Middle-aged man: I was in a discussion

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So the other day I was in a discussion and someone made this statement:
“I’m pretty sure Jesus would be happy to bake a cake for a gay wedding”
My reply:

“… I am sure he would as well. Then talk to them and before it was over the wedding would be cancelled and a year later both would be married to someone of the opposite sex.”

In the Bible it is made clear that Jesus dined with sinners. It is also clear as in the example of the adulteress that Jesus stated he that is without sin cast the first stone and then walked over to the woman and stated that she is to sin no more.
So I fully support my reply. I can see Jesus actually presenting a cake at a gay wedding but I can also see Him talking to all present and upon that day everyone in the room would turn from their sins and become Christian. I know with all my heart that Christ would give an interesting parable and look to the couple that were about to wed and they would see Jesus in all his glory and they would turn from their sin and would in fact call off the wedding.
For Christ said to honor all the commandments, which is not just the ten most heard, but it is every law in the book of Exodus and Leviticus presented after Moses descended from Mt. Sinai.
In this commandments it clearly states that man shall not lie with man and so is called a sin. Since the two grooms will have their eyes opened to this they will turn from their sin and live a life that will be seen as righteous in the eyes of the Christ the one that had given them their cake and told them that they cannot eat it too.

Either or?

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The other day my pastor posted this question on facebook:
“Should the word of God influence people’s lives or should the lives of people influence the word of God?”
This is a straight forward question and most answered correctly, which is the word of God influences people’s lives. Unfortunately not all answered this way. The answer they presented was this convoluted response that ended equally saying it was actually both.
Here is what Jesus says on this question:
Revelation 3:15-16 – I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
These are verses I keep coming to time and again as I type out my posting. Why? Because this is something not being taught within many churches today. They teach you that God and Jesus loves you and wants you, but they do not emphasize the need to grow in your faith.
Now why do I say grow in your faith? Because it is an ongoing ever changing process. Do you go from a newborn babe to an adult in one day? No you do not. It takes years. I know men that are in their fifties that still behave like they are in their early teens. It is this believe that once you reach a certain point you do not need to do anymore.
This is the furthest thing from the truth. A truth I had to learn the hard way. A truth that cost me all my personal possessions and the disillusion of my second marriage.
God makes it perfectly clear it is either black or white. There is no grey area. You follow His word and you are changed or you are not and you stay the same which is of the world.
You cannot be both of God and of the world. You cannot serve two masters.
Jesus makes it very clear the result. He would rather you be cold or black for Him then to be a grey a lukewarm. Now really try and think upon this. Jesus would rather you deny Him then to have asked Him into your life and you choose to live in the grey areas of your relationship with Him.
Here is an extreme example just to get the point across. Say someone is a striper, female or male, and becomes saved. They must now make an extremely hard choice. They must now decide to follow the entire Bible or to ignore this verse or that verse. This is equal to the adulteress which was going to be stoned and Jesus stepped in and stopped it. He then turned to the woman and said “Now go and sin no more.”
The striper who makes thousands of dollars in a week must now give up this job for a minimum salary job, because they did not bother to improve their minds to get a better paying job. Following the Bible cost them in the world, but the hardship that is to follow strengthens them and makes them ready for the next struggle. For if God wishes to use us He will place us through many trails. Each one tearing away a sin that is within us. Ever striving to become as pure as possible even though we shall fall short. It is when we live our life’s like this is when we are seen with favor form Him, for He sees that we are moving up the narrow and winding road, filled with its rocks and nails toward Him and our final reward which is an eternal life. A life that will last billions of years and all for His glory.
So to reaffirm the answer to the question my pastor posted you must be white and hot for God by letting the word of God influence how we are to live our life for Him as is prescribed for us within the word of God… the Bible.

The Pharisees dilemma

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Jesus’ greatest adversary was not Rome nor was it the violent radicals that sought the removal of Rome by force. In actuality his greatest adversary was those in control of the Jewish Religion. Why? Because Christ threatened their income. Not their believes even though many of these were not as God ordained or their faith, but their greed for they had turned their back upon God to become rich.
This is still true today, but it is no longer just the high priest of the Jewish religion that are an issue, but those of the Christian faith as well. No matter the church within Christendom it is all governed by greed and money for the most part even though they may say otherwise and profess against this statement. A church organization is a business period. Of course there are a few exception as it was in the time of Christ. There are those that buck the system and do not follow the doctrines established by this group or that group.
What they do follow is the very Word of God. Too many times if you challenge the system you become a target, something to be looked down upon. Your believes are challenged and called wanting. You are even accused of judging because you stand upon the foundation of the Bible even though you know that what you say is right and true yet they try and make you stagger and fall because you words were too harsh to follow, to narrow, they want it all be on the wide path to God. A path that actually goes nowhere, because having it so wide allows more cash to flow into the business.
Yet this is the path the modern Pharisees wish all to follow for it keeps their coffers full and their months fed. They teach you the kindness of God the niceness of Jesus, but they refuse to tell of the verses that condemn and require change within a person’s soul. A change that separates you from the world. A world they wish you to stay within. A world full of lies and corruption. Not telling you that you must live a life that gives glory to God. A life in which you try not to sin and in time stop that sin then you must face a new sin that was already there but not addressed and so your journey toward Christ continues. Ever changing ever growing, having bad fruit removed with good fruit that is pleasing to God.
Yet this is not the fruit they wish you to bear. They wish you to bear the fruit of indulgence and equality for all that live in sin. Yet we are told that we must separate ourselves from it. They say our numbers must grow so that more will be saved, but it is not the people that are wishing to save but the cash. Something they can horde for themselves and live a luxurious life while those that need it most look on in suffering and sorrow. We are told we cannot serve two masters, yet many within the hierarchy of most of today’s churches have become Pharisees.
It is time for a new grassroots movement. A movement that was like that of Jesus Christ’s, for His followers were thousands of everyday people and only a couple of the Pharisees. It was a true grassroots movement. Does this mean to leave your church of your choice? By all means no, but it does mean become an active member within it. Bringing about change when it is needed and removing the chaff so that the purity of God can be seen within it.
For far too long the churches of God have been silent as those that wish to remove God from the world have been shouting, deriding and attacking not only God but Christendom as a whole. For far too long there have been no true voices shouting in our defense and it is sorely needed, especially in times when thousands of Christians are being murdered throughout the world. If today’s Pharisees will not do it then the masses must do so.

A key element that must change in the Christian faith: “Creationism”

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This key element is those that stick steadfastly to the believe that this planet is only a few thousand years old. This is believed by those that strictly follow what is called “Creationism.”
Now I want to make this perfectly clear. I still believe and adhere to that fact that God did create this planet and all that is upon it as well as the entire universe. I wholeheartedly agree with the creation story listed in Genesis.
Adhering to strict creationism those that follow it, in my eyes, actually limit God. Now how would I make such a statement?
First and foremost creationist state fervently that only this planet is the only thing in the universe, they have since expanded it to this solar system. The mere fact that they must keep expanding it proves it is a man-made doctrine and does not agree with the Bible and is designed to fit the needs of the people purporting it.
I am one that does believe in a Pre-Adamic race and there have been discoveries of humanoid bones that support this. It is this refusal to accept hard evidence that hurts creationist and in turn hurts all Christians everywhere. They call science evil and something to be ignored as coming from those that wish to discredit and remove the reality of God and to some degree that is a true statement. Here is the kicker though, when science is done correctly and sticks to the facts, as it should be done, it actually supports that there is a God.
Simply mathematical science. When you take a look at the odds that this planet would cause not only life but intelligent life throughout the entire huge universe is astronomical, which as I stated above confirms God is real. The Big Bang theory again confirms God for it is exactly how He did it in that moment and as a result 98% of the entire mass of the universe was created in the few moments.
Does this make me a Theist? Yes it does for I believe that limiting God to one tiny speck of a planet throughout the entire universe makes Him as insignificant as a bed bug.
God created the heavens and the stars this means he created galaxies and within them are solar systems and within them are planets, as science has documented. So why limit God to this planet. Why limit God to a few thousand years when there are bones of ancient animals and people found buried deep within the surface of this planet. Do I think the planet is billions of years old? I honestly do not believe so, for I think there is errors in the methods of carbon dating for they are originally based in comparison to the layers of the planet they had to go through and they theorize it is a set amount of time. Yet it has since been document that some layers that can been up to several feet deep happened in a few days due to a volcanic eruption and also due to meteors hitting the earth. Have they then adjusted the carbon dating scale? No they have not. Do they need to do so? Yes they do.
One of the main reasons I feel that carbon dating needs to be revisited is actually found within the Bible in the book of Job 40: 15-19 whose very description is now full confirmed though science to be an Apatosaurus. So if it is walking in biblical times how can carbon dating be accurate?
It is when people challenge the norm is when there is growth in people, in society, in religion. Did not Martin Luther challenge the norm and did not Christian go through a great growth due to it? Yes it did. Did not Galileo challenge the norm and so we went from thinking the earth was the center of the universe to being just one planet within a solar system. Well it is time again for the norm to be challenged and for there to be growth. Why? Because those that oppose God and wish to remove Him from the minds of all humanity are winning at this time. Only through a willingness to challenge what is thought to be normal will we ever grow. Not only in our believes but in our faith in God and for God. For when doing so we will be able to embarrass the fact that this mere speck of a planet is nothing in comparison to God and that very fact that it is so unimportant and yet He took time to place life upon it of all types speaks of how great and glorious He is.
Yet even to contemplate this causes many to run and hide to what is normal, but as they do so we are losing several generations of humankind to those that wish to say there is no God. This to me is acts of selfishness for when you think only of yourself and not of others and of their salvation and of their ability to share in an eternal life that will allow them to explore all of God’s creation which is the entire universe you not only harm them but yourself.
Yet what was normal? A flat planet. Earth is the center of everything. Buying your way into heaven with Indulgences. This solar system was the only one in the entire universe. The universe has always existed exactly the same, forever. Animal sacrifice.
Are they normal now? No they are not. Why is that? Because they were all formed by humans, not God. What has not changed and is continually reinforced? The Bible and in so doing GOD is proven constant and true and real.

The “Gimme Gimme” crowd

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Due to many “ministries” out there those that think they are “Christian” are told to just pray for it and God will give it to you, oh for a little money they will pray it for you are well.
This is not how God works.
God wants all to share in Him. Many are taught to ask of God and they shall receive, which is partly true, we should also be teaching not to keep that which is given and to share it to all the world, to show that it is God’s.
Jesus said we are to spread the Gospel to all the world. To share God and Jesus throughout all of humanity, yet most keep God and Christ closed up behind closed door. This is not what we are commanded to do.
Yes God wishes to inspire us, but to what end? To keep it all to ourselves? By all mean no. He wishes us to share to our friends to our neighbors, to strangers, to sinners. Yet most just go to church on Sunday or watch a broadcast on TV and say to themselves: “I am filled.” Well I say you are truly empty and void of any true glory that may have been given unto you.
How do I share you may ask? You are reading this are you not? This is how I share God. This is how I share Jesus Christ.
Do you honestly think he suffered being wiped and then hung bloody upon a cross, which is considered the worst way to die just so you can keep Him to yourself???

::I hit the save button and finish typing unable to continue out of shear sorrow for those that selfishly keep God as their personal slave.::

Where does the “world” begin?

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That an interesting and complicated question. Many think it is any other nation then the one they live in. While correct it is not the full answer. When someone becomes a “Christian” we are instructed within the Bible to separate ourselves from the world yet to still be a part of it. Why? So we can be an example to all others within the world of what believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of God really means. So the real answer to that question is anything around you is the “world.” That includes what and who you invite into your home. “Why that wording of the sentence?” you ask.
Every television, radio and computer is an entrance into your home. What you place upon the screen or station is something from the world in most cases. Due to computers most cable companies and networks know how popular a show is, which constitutes them continuing to produce them. I actually have several channels blocked on my TV because I feel they do not promote what I feel is the correct message for my family to see or hear. I will not bother telling you which one, but I will tell you that it boils down to what is taught within the Bible. I do not care how “wholesome” a show may appear if it has elements that are not seen as correct within the Bible it is not allowed. Now if enough people followed this practice you would see how shows start to change for the better. This is just a little example, so I will expand into what is the “world.”
The world is everything outside your home as well. Again your actions and behavior are themselves a witness to God if you call yourself a “Christian,” yet many that do call themselves this live their life’s like they are of the world. Well here is some news for you. It is because they are of the world. People live what they truly believe. If they truly followed God they would do things like vote, write their government representative, help those in need; talk to those that sin and help them understand that their life is not on the right track to an eternal life in all of God’s creation.
In reality extremely few do this. My statement to this is that “few” are the real “Christians” for they are living what they believe and ARE being a shining light of God unto the world about them. If any calls themselves “Christian” this is what we are told and taught we must do. We must through our deeds, action and words be a shining light unto the world about us daily. Showing that through our life choices that there really is something called a “God” and His Son is the Lord our Savior Jesus Christ.

A false salvation

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One of the issues in today’s churches throughout the United States is a believe that you are saved just by showing up at church either weekly or time to time. Many go about professing to be one with God yet their actions and lifestyle say the complete opposite.
In Revelation chapter three God address the church in Laodicea. Here many within the church behaved exactly like most within today’s churches in the United States. In revelation they are called the “lukewarm” I call them the “grey.”
Many say that the lines have been blurred within Christianity and I would agree to that in this nation. Most walk in the grey, sinning and even knowing they are sinning but not caring that they do so. In verse seventeen it is spelled out in detail their sins:
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”
Many in most churches say the exact same thing. They seek after the materialistic life of the world not truly caring for their spiritual wellbeing. Yet that is exact what they should be working upon, for as the verse continues:
“and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
This is the false salvation of which I am referring too. It is important that you open your heart and hear these words. It is imperative that you think hard upon them. For before this verse Jesus made it clear of your standing with Him in verses fifteen and sixteen:
“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
Jesus makes it clear that He would rather you be either Hot for Him or Even cold for Him. Do you truly understand that meaning. He would rather you live in sin then to be a grey (lukewarm). He makes it all very clear that you will not be welcome into this His house by stating He will “spue thee out of my mouth.”
To have Jesus spit you out!! Do you truly understand the concepts of that?
Think upon it, do what is right in the eyes of God.

The curse of the “Megachruch”

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There have been many of these churches that have sprung up and then fallen away since the 1950s. Many have make it all the way to television while others were situated to the city they were founded in.
One of the main flaws within them was a lack of personal relationships. People could become lost in the crowd and in many cases think they were saved or on the right path to God when in fact they were not. In time either through scandal or simply a parting of the ways in philosophies would result in the church either downsizing or ceasing to exist all together.
In most cases the leader of the megachurch led a wealthy lifestyle like those of the Pharisees in the time of Christ. If you looked closely you would see that they suffered from the same sin. Placing the rituals of man over the teaches of God. They would have seminars about the “self” this or the “self” that. Leaving the word of God behind but instead turning to that which they truly sought after.
Now they are going with what is politically correct, but not Biblically correct and yet many still believe they are pursuing God when in reality they are pursuing the world. We are called to be separate from the world. A living example of what is good and righteous unto God through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
If it is called a sin in the Bible then it is a sin. If we are called to repent and turn from this sin then that is what we must do. Yet the megachruches now say “come to us has you are. You can keep you sin, because we will love you exactly as you are.”
It is true that Jesus will take you at this moment as you are, BUT you must come to Him with a repentant heart feeling shame and sorrow over where you now at this moment standing in the sin of the moment. This repentance never ends until the day we leave this temporal life. If you were repentant once and then never again, they I say you were never truly repentant that one time, for you have returned to your sin or new ones turning your back upon God. Through this ongoing repentance you chip away at this big sin and then this little sin and the process repeats itself on and on, for that is how TRUE repentance works. It is a never ending task that wears upon each and every person that truly goes through it. How do I know this? Because I go through it every single day.
We are told to place God first and then to be humble and place all others before ourselves. When doing this you place yourself last. Caring for all about you, wanting them to seek out and be with God. Can a megachruch provide this? No it can’t because those that go to these huge buildings are all strangers to one another in most cases. If you cannot even seek out a personal relationship with a person in one of these places then how are you expected to have a personal relationship with God? You can’t. You may think you do, but when you get right down to it are you still living in a sinful life? Are you heartbroken over it? If you say yes to the first and no to the second then you are a “lukewarm” and Jesus has said you will be cast away from Him. (Revelation 3: 14-22)
This is the curse of the megachruches, look closely and you will come to realize it.