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A child of God is immature, but sons are responsible and inherit the kingdom.
Why There is Evil
“If God is good, why is there evil in the world?” Frankly, I have never heard a good answer. But the answer is basic and foundational to our lives in Christ. First, let me reaffirm that God does not create evil, nor does He do any evil (James 1:13). Yet He takes full responsibility for the existence of evil. He fulfilled His responsibility for allowing evil into His creation on Calvary.
Evil was a calculated consequence of giving life free will, and specifically mankind. He counted the cost (Luke 14:28) of this calculation which is why He was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8).
Evil can be summed up in one word: selfishness. The essence of godly love (agape) is selflessness: i.e., other centered. Whereas the essence of worldly love is self centered; i.e., what’s in it for me?
Jer 1:9-10
9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. (KJV)
The Didache is receiving renewed interest. I had it brought to my attention again by Brother Maynard who shared on a new issue of the document in a book by Tony Jones.
This document has been available for years online, and I have provided my own PDF version of it in my own website. I agree that this document has a timely application today. With so many people forsaking the clergy system they are looking for alternatives to Christian living either in house church gatherings or else where. The Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles is an early church document that gives practical advice on following Christ before the clergy system developed. Read the rest of this entry →
Danny DeVito defines character as actually caring about people, instead of selling Jesus to people.
I have posted this video of Danny DeVito in the “Big Kahuna” because he provides a rough illustration of organic pastoring. In a previous article I made the case that we all have only one Pastor, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus referred to all His help as “hirelings“ who care not for the sheep, but will flee when wolves arrive (John 10:12-13). I stand by this still. Only Jesus knows everything about us and cares about all the details of our lives. It is impossible for another human being to do so.
Later on I wrote another article on the organic functions of the “5 fold ministries” in which I explained the temporary nature of ministry. God brings people into our lives from the body of Christ to meet needs temporarily in those seasons of our lives when we have such needs. Pastoring is one such ministry, even though we are all hirelings while we are in His service. Read the rest of this entry →
The blood of Jesus has been transfused into our system.
I asked Christ into my heart in the bedroom of a Messianic Jew on a Friday, then on the following Sunday morning I made a public confession of Christ at an Assemblies of God congregation in front of 500 people.
So the AOG has had an early influence upon my understanding of salvation. One of the songs that was frequently sung in that congregation was a song written in 1878 by Elisha Hoffman called, “Are You Washed in the Blood?“ The lyrics to the chorus are as such:
Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
The song draws its inspiration from the book of Revelations:
Rev 1:5
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (KJV)
Rev 7:14
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (KJV)
These verses address two different aspects of the cleansing of the blood. The first is internal and the second is external. The first deals with our sin nature and the second deals with our works of righteousness. Let’s consider the first verse. Read the rest of this entry →
Two books were sent for me to read. The first book I struggled to read and gave up on it. The second book, Not the Religious Type has caught my attention and I am currently enjoying my read of it.
The book is a semi autobiography of Dave Schmelzer coming to Christ and his discovering the differences between religion and spirituality.
In his third chapter, “How M Scott Peck Saved My Life” he shares Peck’s theory of psychological/spiritual growth. He lists four stages of growth. Read the rest of this entry →
I coach acrobatic gymnastics for my living. Most of the time my students are little children. Years ago I would give the kids coins as motivation to perform the skills. But with inflation they were not motivated by coins and I had to give them bills. That became too expensive very quickly. So I got the idea of giving them sticks of sugarless gum. I found I could buy it by the case in a variety of flavors. Each individual stick is only about a nickle which puts me back into a reasonable amount.
I believe that children should learn the meaning of reward. So those who try harder and succeed get rewarded. Those who do not succeed do not get a stick of gum. At the end of the class, I always double check to see if someone did not get a stick of gum. I explain to the kids that I am giving everyone a consolation piece. Even though only one child did not get a stick of gum, everyone gets one more stick of gum so the value of the gum that they earned is not undermined. So those who work hard keep the gum they earned and get another stick of consolation gum. The child who did not earn a stick, still gets a stick of gum. I want them to learn the value of work and reward, but they are still children, and I want them all to go home happy.
Recently one of the consolation kids asked me to give her a different flavor since she did not like spearmint. I said that everyone got the same consolation, and that I would not change it because she doesn’t like it. She is a child with low self esteem who gets easily frustrated when she does not get what she wants and resorts to crying to get her way. I do not let children manipulate me with tears, so I told her that I did not have to give her the gum at all. Read the rest of this entry →
The “Armour of God,” as described in Ephesians 6:11-17, is known by every Pentecostal Christian, and, I believe, every Evangelical Christian. It is often used in a superstitious way of chanting in prayer that one is putting on the whole armor of God. There have been many who point out that it is not a superstition, but a representation of how we live our lives.
The breastplate of righteousness is stated in verse 14. It provides a glimpse in understanding what godly righteousness really is. But to catch that glimpse we need to jump to Thessalonians. Read the rest of this entry →
This is the creative order of regeneration. We forget it because we are aware of our responsibilities. Our awareness that we have a part to play in our discipleship is important. For when all is said and done, we are accountable to God for our choices. Nevertheless, Jesus made several statements regarding the work of God in our lives.
Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:21 KJV)
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. (Matt 23:25-26 KJV)
Every born again believer knows this reality. And we all know that we have a responsibility to attend to the outside of the cup. But how easy it is for us to forget that the work of discipleship still belongs to God, and not us. A knot in the rope will get tighter if one pulls the outside ends. The knot has to be loosened from the middle, or the inside, in order for the knot to become undone. Sometimes we try to clean our insides from the outside and the dirt merely becomes trapped within. It is for the Lord to loosen the knot from the inside and make the hole for the dirt to come out so that it does not remain within. Read the rest of this entry →
It has been said by many radio preachers and pulpiteers that happiness is based upon what happens whereas joy comes from the Lord. What they say is true but insufficient. We do not want our moods based upon what what happens for sure. We do have happiness when good things occur. When the Ark of the Covenant was brought into Jerusalem, David danced with joy before the Lord (2 Sam 6:14) because he was happy, not because of the “mystical” joy of the Lord. His persecution by Saul was over and he was entering his reign as the King of Israel. Read the rest of this entry →
This week I spoke to a cheer leading squad that I coach in tumbling regarding how the body grows. Growth is regeneration. The body grows through exercise, diet and rest. When we move we are exercising whether it is at weight machines or walking to your car to go to the store. All exercise causes cells to die. Cells die daily. When we eat food the body breaks down the food into usable material for creating new cells to replace those that have died. This work of replacement, called regeneration, happens while we rest, and mostly when we sleep. It is common knowledge that healthy bodies need these three things – exercise, diet and rest – to stay healthy. Read the rest of this entry →
