Real Relationships (Part 2) 

Continued from the Front Page of  www.Do-you-see-Him.com

This page is super charged with heaven’s perspective. (And it is still undergoing the editing process. Read at your own risk :))

God’s law is a double edge sword.

It has divine protection on one side, and devastating punishment on the other.

Sooner or later the enemy will find our weak point: if we remain unprotected. He will find it, twist it, pervert it, and corrupt it in us, in order to destroy us. (See *Solution…) That is the entire purpose of his Life. That is the stated goal of his. “The thief comes but to kill steal and destroy.” So if the enemy is coming to you, if he is approaching you, coming near to your house, trying to enter your family, what is his end game? What is his purpose? What can you predict will be the end result for you, your spouse, your children or anyone connected to your family? He is going to steal everything that God wants you to have. The end result being, he will destroy you and your family, for all of eternity. 

The enemy begins his attack while we are still vulnerable children. The enemy will come to us through his servants  (his servants could be your parents, your teachers, your siblings, your peers in school or in the neighborhood, your cousins, aunts, uncles, and even strangers).

The devil’s servant will teach you how to lie, cheat, steal, be lustful, be greedy, be rebellious, and disobedient to your parents and to God. His servants will teach you how to drink, smoke, tell dirty stories, chase after sexual encounters, catch STD’s, and lie, cheat, steal, have abortions, how to mock God, and just be generally evil. And it all comes natural to the child who is unprotected from the enemy, because he has no connection to the LAW of God.

If you are anything like me, you can picture in your memory, the first time you took a smoke, got drunk, looked at porn, went to a party, got sexually involved, told your first dirty joke, told your first lie, stole your first candy bar, and plenty of other times that you were following the examples of those around you (who were trained in the ways of Satan from their own youth).

Satan’s servants will teach you how make excuses, how to self justify your sin, how to harm others, and do all kinds of evil, even just for the fun of it. I know you know what I am talking about.

The devil will come to us and gladly help us to first, pervert our thoughts, then our feelings, then our actions, and finally our total lifestyle. Even to change our sex to fit his perverted vision for our lives.

He starts with one individual, like Cain, and then progresses throughout the whole community.

Death reproducing Death, until ever soul is infected with his disease of unclean affections, living against the Commandments of God.

Satan works hard around the clock, until his leaven of Sin has infected the Whole Loaf of Bread.

(*) Our solution is simple: We turn to God and do what he says. We defy what Satan says. Simple right? Yes, if we are in a Blood Covenant, and we are diligent in knowing God’s Counsel … Diligently seeking God at every turn and twist, then (and only then) there will be no problem, and no offense that cannot to be handled with God’s righteousness, nothing will be too difficult for us.

 

Satan’s end game is to destroy us 

John 10:10 (KJV) The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy …

One thing I can say for sure: Satan’s Temptations are effective.

He took out men, who should have known better. People who had plenty of exposure to the True Character and Nature of God. People who should have been easily able to stand up against his lies. Some of his favorite targets are godly pastor’s sons, and preacher’s kids (PK’s), missionary’s kids (mk’s). Satan loves to steal the family inheritance from the next generation of children, of those who followed the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, before them, of those who would be likely to do the most damage to his worldly, dark, and unclean kingdom.

Just like he did to Cain (Genesis 4), to Amnon (2 Samuel 13), and to Judas Iscariot (Luke 22:3-6). These men were very close to men who knew God personally, but they dove into darkness at the devil’s first beck and call. 

They turned their backs on God, His Word and His Ways.

There is no evidence that they ever truly repented of their sin, or that they ever broke their agreements with Satan. That leaves one to believe that the fruit of their lives will be judged, on the appointed day of Judgment. And if their sins were not washed white as snow, they will be eternally separated from the children of God, who have been cleansed, and set free from their demonic and evil thoughts, ways and deeds. It will be exactly the same for us.

Therefore, If we remain unprotected from God’s Law, it is a forgone conclusion that we will all become like chicken feed for the hoards of hell. They will pounce upon us, and devour us.

Sadly, We will suffer the destruction God payed a high price to set us free from. That will be the Eternally Sick and Demented Tragedy of the human race, for all who did not learn how to get their sins to become white as snow.

 

Are you like me?

More than likely, if you are like me, you have already suffered some of your own destruction, because you listened to, followed, and obeyed the voice of the enemy. (Maybe even several separate personal destructions: broken relationships, a broken family, unwanted children, aborted babies, broken businesses, shattered dreams, etc. If that is the case, there is a Great Hope waiting for you!

The alternative solution
to Satan’s Darkness
is God’s Light:

The Holy Spirit begins transforming one person who has opened his heart, mind, soul and strength to God. This Transformation happens in this one person’s life–but it doesn’t stop there. It begins to multiply, as one man gets his sins washed white as snow, this creates a big stir in his community (especially if he was an notrorious sinner, which is sometimes the case, like Paul the Apostle).

Typically, most, (if not all) in the “unsaved” community prefer the old sinner, over the new saint. Some are condemning. They want nothing to do with this transformed person. They will mock him, and scoff at his new found faith, showing that they are actually threatened by him and his faith, and fearful of his presence.

 

The reason for the Mocking Spirit

What is the reason people mock the new believer’s salvation experience? Why do they mock and ridicule instead of rejoicing with him and his salvation?

The reason is because they are saturated with a culture of darkness and all their relationships are based on rejecting the Law of God, and the Light of God.

When we reject the Light of God, it is an exceptionally serious matter with God.

John 3:19-21 (KJV) 19 And this is the condemnation,

that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved [exposed and judged as evil].

21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest

[He that doeth the truth freely exposes his own deeds as evil, he judges his deeds according to the Light in the Word of God, he realizes how offensive his sins are before a Holy God, and he seeks God forgiveness. He is accepted by God for leaving his life of Sin and Rebellion to God’s Law. He accepts God’s New Life Living in the Spirit, and He seeks to be pleasing to God in all of his ways],

that they [their deeds] are wrought [done] in God.

 

 

How dark is your soul?

How dark is your soul or the soul of the group you most closely identify with?

Matthew 6:22-23 (KJV) 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

You can quickly determine how dark a person’s soul is by how they respond to the salvation of a new believer:

• Do they mock and shun? Do they ridicule, verbally abuse, and even threaten, or pose sanctions on the new believer? Do they seek to do harm? They are deep into the darkness.
• Do they lightly scoff, use derogatory names, and basically ignore the new believer’s faith? They are less deep into the darkness?
• Do they allow the new believer to share his testimony? Listen respectfully? Even investigate and seek to learn the new language he is using? They are not far from the Kingdom of Light!

It is often all about personal identity and which clique a person chooses to identify with … It would seem most people tend to follow the herd instinct.

They get their cues from the leaders in their group, and tend to allow others to make up their minds for them. In this circumstance peer pressure is the power that runs the group.

Many may not know it at the time, but social identity cliques are actually associated with the spiritual entities which rule over them. Whatever and whoever holds the sway over the spiritual atmosphere of the group also will quickly display the spiritual reaction to any spiritual changes or shifts in the group, and seek to control it.

When you read the Book of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:1), you will quickly identify the different spiritual identities and authorities and how strong and how active they are by the reactions of the peoples and their leaders in the places and  cities that the Apostles (Peter, Stephen, Philip, Paul and Barnabus, and Silas, and others) preached the Gospel in for the first time. It is a fascinating study in the effects of Spiritual forces upon human behavior.

 

Darkness is either a friend or a foe

One of the favorite tools of the enemy is the movie industry, another is the music industry. The enemy loves to use unclean entertainment to pollute and corrupt large masses of people.

People love to be entertained.

Satan loves to anoint singers, musicians, actors, actresses, writers, cartoonists, graphic artists, with amazing technical skills in order to serve in his kingdom. And christians (so called) regularly buy into Satan’s Kingdom products, watching evil movies, listening to evil songs, becoming addicted to evil comic strips, becoming infatuated with Hollywood filth, money, dreams, visions, lusts, luxury, and sexual perversion–being sold on a daily, hourly, minute to minute basis. 

If every person in the church would begin a personal revolution to boycott all evil entertainment industries, and all carnal sports competitions, and all wicked self-focused, self-centered, lifestyle choices, and instead devote all their free time to preaching the Gospel, seeking the Kingdom of God, doing the Work of Christ, gathering children and youth to know the Lord, and to serve him with all their heart, and to make mighty and sacred young men and young women of God, teaching them how to be pure and free from all lies, all impurity, all defilement of body, soul, and spirit, how to purify their lives and overcome all wicked, perverted, and evil infectious perversions in the world, the wicked entertainment industry would be emptied of its attractiveness, and would be exposed for what it is: a Behemoth of Spiritual Sickness, Disease, and viral destruction, that is something to be avoided like the plague.

 

Is your social group open to the Gospel of Christ?

Are any of your social relationships built around the permanent, never ending, never changing Kingdom of God?

Some groups will actually be curious, though often Skeptical at first, in the change of someone’s spiritual life in their community.

To be honest, I feel that a healthy dose of skepticism is a good sign (and so did Paul the Apostle, he complimented the Bereans for being skeptical and for researching for themselves, whether the things Paul was preaching were true or false.

Acts 17:10-11 (KJV) 10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

In fact, I believe a strong case can be made that initial skeptics make some of the best and most dynamic converts to the faith.

If you ever meet a genuine skeptic (not a plain mocker or scoffer, that is high on himself), you are blessed with a chance to demonstrate and defend the Faith once handed down to the saints.

Jude 1:3 (KJV) 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

A good skeptic will be looking for fruit. Don’t ever criticize the skeptic for being skeptical, encourage his righteous skepticism. It often is a healthy pathway to the truth.

Usually, when a healthy skeptic sees the genuine fruits of  transformation, certain ones are convicted to investigate The Reason for the Transformation. Then “they” have a sit down session with God, and reason together with Him, and they get their own sins washed as white as snow.

Pretty soon the Work of God multiplies exponentially, as it did through the Early church, which  transformed western culture powerfully in just one generation. Because they did not mix Christianity and perverse entertainment. The followed Christ in purity of soul, strength, and spirit. The apostles were hated by local authorities because their message robbed the merchants of to their trades. The people of these trades literally rioted in the streets. They wanted the peaceful loving, sin defying preachers, mocked, scourged, whipped, beaten, imprisoned, tortured, and even stoned to death.

When people received Christ as their Savior, they stopped going to the temples, stopped buying temple idols, stopped going to perverted entertainment, and stopped paying to have sex with the temple prostitutes. They stopped paying to attend Greek theatres, to watch perverted Greek plays, poetry readings, and carnal sports entertainment competitions. They stopped listening to Greek philosophers. They stopped supporting greek priests, and prophets, and prophetesses. They stopped paying to have their horoscope read, their palms read, their tarot cards read. They stopped going to see and hear “Simon the Sorcerer” “The Great One” to perform his magic tricks. Even Simon, stopped going to his own performances, and became captivated by the Gospel and the Power of God to cast out demons, cleanse lepers, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, purity to the impure, holiness to the unclean, hope to the lost, faith to the unbelieving, joy to the sorrowful, healing to the sick, righteousness to the unrighteous. These things really hurt Satan’s industries.

The Work of the Apostles of Christ radically changed the Spiritual Atmosphere over the geopolitical as well as the social cultural and spiritual landscape every where they went. They transformed the people’s minds, hearts, souls and spirits, giving them a hunger for the Light and Life of God, everywhere they took the Gospel of Christ.

Revival Fire spread like a wild fire across the Roman Empire, and even into other empires, in Europe, Asia, and Africa even in one generation.

 

 

Two Kinds of Revival:
Man led vs. Spirit Led

You may be familiar with a Church having a “Revival Week” at their specific designated area. This really often has little to do with a Spirit Led revival–when it is man centered, man programmed, man scheduled, and man controlled. You cannot put God’s Holy Spirit on man’s calendar. You cannot call him to come and work for you one week of the years, while you ignore him the rest of the year. It doesn’t work that way.

When it comes to ministering in the Power of God through the Power and Testimony of the Holy Spirit of God, it is an ALL or Nothing deal.

Men can put together prayerless meetings, and prayerless speakers who can enrich a community (or not), but this is not a Revival Led by the Spirit of God. When God leads a Revival by the Spirit of God, He changes the Very Fabric of a community, Nation or Society. When people come to be blessed for one week out of the year, that is exactly what they will get. The meetings and teachings of men for one week out of the year, but their is a reason why the power of God is regularly absent from such gatherings, and from normal Sunday gatherings, because the Spirit of God is ignored throughout the weak.

 

Two Great American Revivals

Two powerful spiritual revivals have swept across America that the majority of spiritually uneducated people are fully unaware of.

 

 

The First Great Awakening

The first one began shortly before the Revolutionary War.

Prominent leaders in this revival were both American and English Ministers of the Gospel. Jonathon Edwards, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and others. The story of these men’s lives read like the Book of Acts of the Apostles.

This time in American History is called “The First Great Awakening.”

[A good book on this subject: The Light and the Glory]

Previous, to this powerful outpouring of conviction on the people of God across America, there was little trust or identity, or concern, for others all across of the original 13 colonies.  Though the original immigrants came to America to escape religious persecution in Europe, their descendants became prosperous, wealthy, and materialistic, forsaking the faith and religion of their fathers, and religion in the churches became corrupted, through the Halfway Covenant. The majority were selfish, Mammon ruled worshippers.

“Many of the early colonists had come to the new world to enjoy religious freedom, but as the land became tamed and prosperous they no longer relied on God for their daily bread. Wealth brought complacency toward God. As a result, church membership dropped. Wishing to make it easier to increase church attendance, the religious leaders had instituted the Halfway Covenant, which allowed membership without a public testimony of conversion. The churches were now attended largely by people who lacked a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Sadly, many of the ministers themselves did not know Christ and therefore could not lead their flocks to the true Shepherd.” [source]

In fact, it could be said, that much deep suspicion and even hatred existed (political, economic, and religious hatred), but after the First Great Awakening, the people began to be concerned for one another. They began to live out the precepts of the Gospel: Love your Neighbor. Love your Enemies. Do Good to those who hate and abuse you.

This was a large part of the impetus for wanting to separate from the Powers of England, who had a long history of persecution of believers that were not a part of the official, government religion  sponsored by man made official religious leaders of England.

To understand this political landscape and the tension between true believers and the State sponsored Religion, one must do some reading and study of European State Run Religions (circa Martin Luther, before and after), when it was illegal to even have a Bible in ones own language.

That will be a real eye opener. One can start by reading the writings of John Bunyan, the author of “Pilgrim’s Progress.” 

Also highly recommended is John Foxe’s History: “Foxes Book of Martyrs” which can be read for free here. These two books were some of the most read books along side the Bible for several centuries.

By the way, another good read by Bunyan is “The Life and Death of Mr. Badman.”

 

The Second Great Awakening

This revival began somewhere after the Revolutionary War and preceding the Civil War, and lingered for quite awhile. (In the 1820s to the 1860s, and further.)

I am most familiar with the Work and Writings of Charles Finney on this Subject of revival during this time. An amazing Autobiography of his is available here, and elsewhere online for free. It also reads like a modern Book of Acts, giving the Testimony of God reaching a new generation in his day.

Finney’s revival lectures have spread revival across Europe, being translated into several languages. His teachings are direct, common sense and practically based, with the art of a keen legal mind doing the presenting. They are very much worth the time to read, and put into practice.

As this revival swept through our nation, it touched many lives of both the poor and the rich, the uneducated and the highly educated, the deep sinner, and the many self righteous, yet spiritually dead, saw their spiritual state before God and were “hopefully converted.”

This Revival is now called the Second Great Awakening in America. It prospered during the Time of Abraham Lincoln. Whole individuals, villages, towns, cities, and counties were swept up in the experience of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God, upon the People of God.

This revival was reaching people of all sorts (doctors, lawyers, law makers, politicians, business men, even pastors, preachers, farmers, tradesmen, factory workers, and missionaries were transformed by the Gospel. People fell under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and became ardent believers and followers of Christ.

Life reproducing Life. Reaching one soul at a time.

 

 

When did the first Revival begin?

Revival was God’s Idea from the very beginning. It was God’s Express purpose to pour out His Holy Spirit upon all men who would believe and receive His Messenger and Son, Jesus Christ.

In God’s Eternal Calendar He had already scheduled the day and time of His Heaven Sent Revival that would change the Entire World, forever. Every person in every nation would eventually be touched, and many transformed, having their sins turn white as snow. During this season, more than 300 prophecies, about his son–starting with the first one, in Genesis 3:15, would be fulfilled.

The Original Outpouring of the Holy Spirit happened circa AD 33, on the day of Pentecost (in Hebrew, the Feast of Shavuot), exactly fifty days (49, plus 1, or 7×7+1) after the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

This was originally a memorial ceremony required for every male Israelite man to attend in perpetuity.  It began and was dedicated to honor the receiving the Laws of God (The 10 Commandments) written by the finger of God, on Mt. Sinai, after the entire Israelite community had been delivered from slavery in Egypt.

This day was designated by God to be a perpetual ongoing feast for all the people of God. The fulfillment of this day of celebration, came down from heaven, when the Holy Spirit filled the Hearts and Lives of those who would receive Him. No longer was it the law coming down from Heaven, but now it was the Very Spirit and Presence of God filling all who would receive Him.

 

 

The Counter Attack: Fake Religion

Of course, the enemy tried to crush the Transforming Power of God in the budding Congregations of new believers in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and across Roman Empire, by arresting, incarcerating, threatening, torturing, murdering, and finally mass murdering those who were being transformed by God’s Glorious Relationship building Gospel.

But … Every time the enemy tried to kill a new believer, it only resulted in making more converts. When they saw how noble, free, and true, and powerful in face of Death these believers were, it cut many to the very heart.

This resulted in making stronger, more faithful, more dedicated servants of God.

 

 

The Devil infiltrates the Church

The kingdom of Darkness was hemorrhaging. Satan needed to act, and act fast.

Satan saw first hand that once the Spirit of God entered in the soul of a man, that one was forever changed by the Power of God.

Of course, this infuriated Satan all the more. So he came up with his best alternative plan. To infiltrate the church, corrupt the teachings of the Word, and stop people from receiving the Holy Spirit of God.

Satan gave the human race his fake version of religion, that would supplant the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and true Christian fellowship. The Evil One has been pushing his own false religion upon both Catholics and Protestants, Baptists, and Pentecostals from the very beginning.

That is Satan’s plan in a nutshell, and sadly it is very popular.

I am sorry to be the bearer of the above bad news. (I take no delight is saying the modern church has been breached, compromised, corrupted, and defiled by the enemy, but we must see exactly what God sees, and take warning.

 

 

What was the reason for the big change in Satan’s tactics?

Since God was changing men and women from the inside out, Satan was cut off from being able to access true Believers in Christ. The Holy Spirit was not only the Head of the Church, He was the head of every individual inside the Church. The whole Body of Christ worked together in unison with the Spirit of God directing them in supernatural leadership and supernatural signs, wonders, powers, healings, and miracles. And His work was crushing Satan, and destroying his strongholds one after the other.

The saints of God were entering the houses of Satan, binding the strongman, and plundering his house, and setting his captives free. It was a powerful and unstoppable Spiritual Work ordained by God from the beginning to the End.

And Satan was being butchered on his own turf.

 

 

Satan loved to Kill, Steal, and Destroy

But this strategy did not work at all well in the early church. They were ready for his tactics and ready to die for the testimony of God, because this world was not their home. And the people of the world were not their friends. And they were eager to go and be with Jesus, and death did not detour them one bit. They were willing to obey the Holy Spirit no matter what he said to do, or where he said to go, or what he said to speak. The Church was ever present and ever faithful in the heart of obedience to Him (the Holy Spirit).

Satan tried killing one saint after another, but every time he did, 100 more would step up and take his place, and be even more diligent in their pursuit of the destruction of Satan’s Kingdom.

So Satan had no choice but to infiltrate and corrupt the church from the inside out.

His new motto became:  “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” This was devastating to the false church. Millions and billions of people have been led astray, and have believed a lie, by joining themselves to fellowships that are not established by the Holy Spirit of God.

 

 

The True Church vs. the False Church

Creating long term real relationships in the Body of Christ, Building Loyal Followers that will continue to walk faithfully in the Blood Covenant of God permanently and into Eternity is the Work of Heaven.

When Heaven does the Work, it outlasts time, and outlasts the trials, tribulations, persecutions, and all evil of this world’s evil governments and people. His Work outlasts the false doctrines of men, their false philosophies, and all their false religions.

The True Work of Heaven is nothing short of Miraculous Life being poured out on a dry and thirsty soil.

But many have chosen to be deceived by a false, fake, and a demonically deceptive false gospel that has no teeth to truly change a man from the inside out, and completely wash him from his sins.

1 John 3:5-6 (KJV) 5 And ye know that he [Jesus] was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

 

What happens when preachers preach on “The Good Life”?

 

The False Church replaces Holiness
with Happiness, Hipness, and even Hypnosis

Modern  churches continually keep up with the fashions and fads of modern society. Modern preachers call it “being relevant.”  

The Word of God calls it what it is: being worldly, and chasing after Mammon, buying into all the hip fashions and clothing lines of Hollywood and Rodeo Drive, that are ever changing and supported by the ever popular Hollywood jet set.

The pulpit is not the place to practice fashions, nor promote one’s own popularity, nor to preach: “Living life to the fullest.” 

Living Life to the Fullest by God’s definition is dying to self, dying to the world, dying to the old man, dying to carnal lusts, dying to selfish vanity, and dying to every materialistic drive to keep up with the Jones’s, and then allowing the Fullness of God through the Holy Spirit, to Live His Life through you, doing His work that is beyond anything man can do. That would be Living Life to the Fullest in the Sight of God.

If that is not what is meant by Living Life to the Fullest, (which it honestly never is), then to hear that from the pulpit would be a disgraceful, dishonest, defiling, and demonic teaching, that has no grip on the Word of God, nor the Kingdom of God, nor any understanding, nor comprehension of the Blood Covenant of God.

The Fullness of the Christian’s Life were it to be living to the Hilt in God’s calling, expressly states that it means to give your life away, to lay down your life for the gospel, to become the servant of all, to take the most humble and lowliest state, to glorify God by becoming an eternal witness of His Heavenly Calling, to live by His Power, His Purpose, His Plans, and the result will be the world’s hatred and disgust of your message resulting in Tribulations and Persecutions. 

Matthew 5:11-12 (KJV)
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
          12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

When “Living your life to the fullest” means: getting everything you can out of this life, and more specifically–good food, good wine, good beer, good times, and the money to pay for it, (including by extension: fancy cars, fancy homes, immoral sex, popularity, exotic vacations, parties, and toys)–the preacher has become a mouthpiece of the Devil. And many many are.

In other words, if the message is to fill your plate with pleasures, and fancies, and good times–demons are speaking through the church!

Where in the Gospel did Jesus teach his disciples about “Living the Good Life!” I can tell you. There is one place and it is very significant to grasp this message.

Ever hear of the testimony of Lazarus and the rich man? The rich man was living the good life. He was filling his plate with fancies and pleasures, he was going for the gusto, he was living his life to the fullest, but in the end of the matter, things didn’t turn out like he expected. In fact, he was totally surprised and more. (See Luke 16:19).

Luke 16:19-31 (KJV)
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

[He was “living the good life.”  He was “living life to the fullest.” He was enjoying his stuff to the full.]

20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
          22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
          23 And in hell [the rich man] he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
          25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
          27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

5 Simple Take Aways:

1. Living Life to the Fullest, really doesn’t live up to its name.
2. We need to preach the gospel to the lost, to reach them before they die an eternal death, not to do so is unconscionable. 
3. We need to preach from Moses and the Prophets, as well as the New Testament, teaching the whole Counsel of God, and teach the fullness of the Blood Covenant of God, so that men and women will have a thorough (instead of a shallow) grasp on the Kingdom of God and all it requires, and all it promises.
4. If we can’t persuade our family members, friends, and neighbors before they die, we will lose them for all of eternity. They could have been part of the treasure we could have taken from this Life, into the Life to Come. But if we didn’t make the most of every opportunity we had, shame on us!
5. If we didn’t do everything in our power, in our wisdom, in our resources, when we had the chance to be obedient to God, woe unto us, for it is strongly possible that we could become unprofitable servants. (See Matthew 25:24-30; especially Matthew 25:30:  “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”)

 

Why attend a Trendy Church?

I have a question: how does Hollywood spikey hair, tight jeans, short sleeve shirts, sporting toned and tanned biceps, help a pastor preach the gospel and bring conviction to sinners, and faith to believers?

How does mesmerizing music draw people to God? 

How does the Happiness Message, compare to the original message of carrying your Cross for Christ, and dying to yourself and your carnal and selfish appetites?

The problems with fads is they come and go, they are popular for a minute and then they are despised. How does this contribute to a stable, healthy, kind and generous community of faith?

Yes. I would have to agree. It doesn’t.

Building relationships around ever changing fads is like trying to get direction from the waves being blow around in the ocean.

What’s the solution? 

• Rebel against fashion and fads, hipness and hypnosis.
• Don’t play the game, and don’t support churches that do.
• Exit Churches that dull your senses to God and His Kingdom, that don’t preach repentance and eternal death to self and carnal living.
• Create a mass exodus and flee from false churches, and run from false preaching.
• Your eternal soul with be forever grateful that you did.

You cannot serve God and Mammon.

1 Timothy 6:11 (KJV) 11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness …

When your read the above verse in its full context it is an eye opener.

 

 

Identify and Reject Humanism

If you want to truly walk with God, you must identify false humanistic teachings, values, lifestyles, and preaching. Then reject them.

The false church tries to influence people temporarily using humanistic principles based on programs written by men, sustained by man’s effort of improving their outward appearance to other men.

Some of the principles work to a certain degree because they are based on some the Principles in the Bible (but not all). They never take the believer the whole way into the Kingdom of God.

They don’t create a God ordained, heavenly submitted,  Holy Spirit empowered, supernatural, obedient believer in God, who bears the marks and the Image of Christ.

Why Not? Here’s why:

1. Because man centered churches teach and preach on topics related to man centered religion;
2. They water down (or completely avoid, or humanistically twist) the message of full, complete, immediate, absolute, and irreversible repentance.
3. They avoid the topic of dying to yourself, your flesh, your carnal man, putting to death the old man, burying him in the grave, and never digging him up again.
4. Because there is no full biblical repentance taught or understood, there is not full, genuine, real Biblical and Eternal Salvation.
5. Men and Women are told they are free from their sins, and forgiven in Christ, but they are far from free, because they have not ever fully repented, nor ever known the meaning of full repentance. They may not even know one person in an entire church that is a living example of Christ.
6. Very few preachers are living examples, how could their congregations, be living examples? Sadly, the true church is supposed to be filled, where every single person is a living example of true, godly, bible repentance, and they daily demonstrate that fact, by their deep humility, their biblical righteousness, and they demonstrate the character, nature, and love of God in everything they think, say, do, and plan.
7. As a result; the modern church believer is not dynamically challenged to become like Christ, therefore they are not changed, nor transformed into a totally New Creature and a Holy New Creation in Christ.
8. Therefore the modern new believer is not equipped, nor ready to take the next step which is to become a deeply disciplined, trained, and powerful witness able to give testimony about all that God has done for them. Because they lack the two most essential elements of the Salvation Experience: Repentance & Faith. Jesus said: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
9. Since, the first step of repentance, has not been completed, the second step of believing the gospel is not yet setup to succeed. If anyone builds a house on a cracked foundation, on hillside that is ready to slide, anything they attempt to build on that faulty foundation is going to end in disaster. So it is with anyone trying to build their spiritual house on the cracked foundation of shallow or fake, faulty man centered repentance. Such a person is  not ready or able to engage in the necessary dynamic spiritual warfare against the enemy that will give them daily, yea, hourly victories over the devil’s Lies, Deceptions, traps, and snares, and his peer pressure. Why?
10. Because they lack the essential deep personal, intimate, and obedient  relationship with God understanding, and therefore lack the connection that would enable them to be able to listen, hear, and obey God in critical and tight situations.
11. When they go to the word, it will often feel like an artificial duty to read God’s Word. Instead of feeling like one is going to God to get divine revelation from God everyday about their own personal walk and life in partnering with God to Destroy the Devil’s works (first internally and second externally) every single day of their Holy Spirit Filled lives.
12. And Finally, one cannot be fully connected, nor fully engaged, nor fully empowered, nor fully enabled in the Holy Spirit, if one has not fully repented, fully submitted, and fully died to ones own selfish, worldly, fleshy, carnal nature, and will. If one has any open and standing agreements with the devil, with sin, with the world, with the flesh, which are all rulers, and masters in the spiritual realm, one will not be able to make powerful forward progress in the Gospel. It will be a distant and foreign topic. It will be hazy, confusing, often causing offenses, making excuses, being self righteous, 

 

Study the Word Repentance 

Repentance in Hebrew is a dynamic Word Picture made from two Hebrew Letters:

• Sheen = means to cut into, to crush, to tear down, or even to burn to the groud
• Beth = means, a house or a home. Beth-El, means the House of God. Bethlehem, means the House of Bread.

When you combine these two dynamic letters you get the meaning of the verb to Repent, Sheen-Beth, is to tear down the old house, and crush it, burning it to the ground. Then never returning to that old house ever again.

When a man or woman fully repents before the Lord, the King of the Universe, the Holy One of Israel, The High and Pure and Perfect One, the Sinless, Guileless, Clean One–they enter into an ancient covenant relationship that is Holy, Pure, Clean, free from Sin, Free from all Evil, and will supply every need to the new believer. It is the blood covenant of God.

The end result is the Believer becomes a new covenant Partner in this life, and the life to Come with God Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth and everything in it. Who is also the owner and sole rightful Ruler of All Creation.

When you or I fully repent and fully believe and begin to live by the ancient code of faith once handed down the the saints (both Jewish and Gentile), we enter into the most holy, radical, life changing covenant experience that any can have in the history of the World.

Nothing compares to it, because nothing compares to Him. And He has invited you and I into His intimate, holy, and pure fellowship, to be partakers of His Kingdom, His Rulership, His Government, His Power, and His Might, which also includes his miracles, signs, wonders, and his supernatural healing.

Supernatural simply means  = Above the Natural; superseding or overriding the natural with the supernatural. These things are easy for him to do, impossible for you (or I) to do, unless you (or I) are abiding and living in Him, and He in YOU!

When that happens you and I will become a totally new, completely whole, 100% transformed believers in Christ, where absolutely everything has changed, and nothing is the same.

 

 

The Problem with the unrepentant believer is this:

The modern church tries to present the message that a man can come to church, and god will accept him, if he only believes.

Yet many churches, if not the majority, never labor to biblically define what the word (or verb) “to believe” requires.

“Easy Believe-ism” is taught throughout Christendom, but it is a complete and utter lie. There is no such thing in the Word of God as “Easy-Believe-ism.” 

Western Greek philosophy defines “belief” as ‘mental ascent.’ If you agree mentally to a belief, you believe. No lifestyle change is required, no deep thorough going repentance is required, no complete transformation of mind, soul, body, spirit, and life, is required to believe according to the Greek Model.

But the Greek model is not at all true to the Biblical Definition of the Word, “to Believe.” 

First of all, you cannot “believe” until you have first repented of your sins.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ has to major steps:

1. Repent
2. Believe

Mark 1:14-15 (KJV)
4 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 And saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand:

1. 1. 1. repent ye, and
      2. believe the gospel.”

 

The first step is to repent

If you never complete the first step, you can never rightfully lay claim to the second step. The one who does so, or tries to do so, is a “False Convert”.

There are many false converts preaching from the pulpit who have never repented of their sins.

So how could they ever claim that Jesus was their Lord and Saviour, because he has never saved them from their sins.

If Jesus has not saved a man from his sins, how can he save a man from going to hell.

The truth is, he cannot. The whole reason a man will be sent to hell, is because he never truly repented from his own sins.

You cannot take your sins to heaven, no matter what any false preacher has said.

A false convert may make a good show of religion, like Judas Iscariot, but in the end, if he never truly repented, he never truly believed. You cannot have one without the other. The two must go hand in hand.

Sadly, this most likely describes the majority of people who go to church on a weekly basis, and even those who attend a bible study on a weekly basis.

Many church led discussions regularly give the impression that the sinner can have his cake and eat it too.

The Truth is: The sinner cannot have his cake and eat it too. He cannot serve two masters. He cannot love Mammon and God. He cannot be set free from his sins, if he chooses to retain them, and continue practicing them.

One cannot claim to know and love God and at the same time know and love his sins, his selfishness, and self-righteousness, and all of his idolatry, and love his for Mammon too.

One cannot continue to hold on to his old sins, his old way of life, his old man centered idols, and his old man centered ideas: his plans of a man centered worldly career (progressing up the social, economic, career ladder) and serve Christ with his whole heart. These two life plans are in complete conflict and direct competition with one another.

Man centered ideas of prosperity, man centered pursuits of financial and material blessings, (buying the biggest nicest house, and the best car he can afford, going into debt), becoming a financial slave to this world system, while completely ignoring the actual call of God, and the purpose of the Church, and his duty to walk with God free from the love of self, the love of vanity, the love of mammon and materialism. This keeps a man in bondage and slavery to the world. When walking in agreement with the world, one cannot speak out against it, unless he is a hypocrite. So in this way the enemy traps and ensnares men, and families, and whole generations of believers, and causes them to create a fake gospel message that doesn’t include immediate, complete, and permanent repentance.

 

 

What is the purpose of the Church?

What is her calling? What is her bread and butter core purpose?

Is it not: to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, and suffer whatever inconvenience (or horrific trial) that may come along, or die trying.

 

What is the purpose of the gospel?

Is it not to restore the lost souls to Christ? So that they may become like the Son of God, to bring glory to the Father, to walk daily with the Holy Spirit of Truth, our spiritual teacher.

But what if the preacher is not a good example of the product he is selling. What if, in fact, his life declares the very opposite of the Life of Christ? How can he himself expect to receive any rewards from Christ if he does not faithfully present Christ by personal example?

If a preacher has laid down his life for the Gospel of Christ, why is he still sporting trendy clothes, trendy fashions, flashy cars, staying in expensive hotels, going out on the town, taking in worldly entertainments, (watching demonically inspired movies) all the while being supported by tithes and offerings of others.

How can he be faithfully following the Biblical commandments to love not the world?

1 John 2:15-17 (KJV) 15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Does not the Gospel convict the sinner of his sins, causing him to reject his sins, (and his love for all things sinful, and carnal, and worldly)?

Does not the Gospel demand that the believer break any and all agreements he has made with the devil?

Is this not being preached from the pulpit? If not, why not?

Is it because the preacher in the pulpit has not yet cut off his love for the world? Bingo!

Then isn’t it time to exist the church that doesn’t thoroughly and completely, and compellingly, teach the two most important steps a man can make in his Life?

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand:

1. 1. 1. repent ye, and
      2. believe the gospel.”

 

We Need the Big Picture

If we know the Big Picture and can see it accurately and clearly we can see God’s Plan, Purpose, and Power, and walk in it accurately, clearly, and powerfully.

We need to see the Big Picture that runs the True Church, and we need to see the Big Picture that runs the False Church, as well. 

We need to identify the True Walk of the Believer in Fellowship with the Church to walk in it, and simultaneously we need to identify the False Walk, of the fake convert, in order to identify it, and completely avoid it.

• One way will lead us into life eternal. 
• The other way into eternal damnation and destruction.

 

The Comfy Church

Of course the worldly sinner needs to feel good about himself. He also feels the need to stay connected to all his worldly endeavors.  He feels his hobbies and his sports are sacred, and are a deeply involved part of his worship. So too is his luxury lifestyle, nothing can interfere with his meals out on the town, and his favorite foods, and beverages, and desserts. All his emphasis is on outward appearance, and outward success, and those things that make him feel good about himself.

And so, he chooses a church that will best suit his personal goals, and help him achieve his lifestyle choices. He looks for a church that can feed and enhance all his pleasures and his dreams. What kind of church will he attend? One that preaches repentance and believing in the Gospel. Not likely. 

He will look for one that does not judge him, that does not convict him, does not condemn his carnal appetites. He will go to a Modern Comfy Church where all one must do is “believe, and he will be saved.”

And all those who attend believe they are saved, because they believe, but do they really?

 

The Gospel requires Faith

Just like the Gospel takes the topic of love to a whole new level, beyond anything man has ever known (loving your enemies), so the Gospel takes believing to a whole new level, beyond even our wildest imagination: 

Matthew 21:21-22 (KJV) 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. 22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

How many people do you know who walk around daily living this example of faith and believing?

I would have to say, Jesus sets the bar high when it comes to believing according to God’s heavenly perspective.

 

 

The carnal christian (or false convert) feels the need to remain emotionally connected to his car, his house, his gym membership, his name brand: shoes, shirts, and pants, and suits, phones, computers, video games, hot rod magazines, and all of his worldly conversation, but he also wants to be comfortable in his religion, and be honored as an upright member in his Church. He feels the need to be respected and appreciated by men, even those who are in the church.

How does he do all that? Especially when the Gospel tells us to to do the opposite?

Matthew 10:32-39 (KJV) Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

[How often to you hear this message preached in your church? And even more importantly, how often do you see it being lived out in the life of every member in the Church?]

Therefore the worldly believer must create a new church [that doesn’t preach, teach, or proclaim that the body of Christ must obey and follow the Words of the Master (or else it is not the body of Christ). The worldly believer must attend a church that has no Gospel light, that denies the LORDSHIP of Jesus Christ, and denies the mandate to be 100% completely submitted to the Word of God and to the Spirit of God. If he does this, and only if he does this: can he have his cake and eat it too. 

 

 

Does your church teach Jesus?

Does your church truly believe, teach, and practice the doctrines of Jesus? I would have to say according to my own personal experience the answer would be many times, “no.”

The next question I must ask is why or why not?

The simple answer is because the church has never truly repented from her since sins, as a result, she has never truly believed the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Faith without heavenly repentance
is no true heavenly faith at all.

How can I say that? Because this is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

in John chapter 14 Jesus said if you believe in me you can ask the father for the Holy Spirit, and he will give you the ability to do greater works even then but I do.

John 14:12-14 (KJV)
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

 

What does the True Church
Teach and Do?

The true church of the living God, and every member in its family is responsible to reach every person within their sphere of influence with the message of the gospel. That is the sacred Great Commission given to the Church and every true Living Stone in her Spiritual House, that makes up the Glorious Temple of God.

When everyone in the church, (every living stone), does its part, everyone participates in Building up the Body of Christ, the whole body grows together, become strong, and overcomes evil one.

But, when individuals, and groups decide to shun their duties to make disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples, and to shun their duty to become fruitful workers in the Lord’s Vineyard, then the whole Body suffers.

And we do not become the agent of change in society that God has ordained us to be.

 

Being Salt and Light (in a dark world)

By not being salt, we don’t preserve the precious and holy things God has given us to share. By not being light we allow the darkness to come in and take the place God had given and prepared for us to take, bringing salt and light to the darkest places on our planet.

The first and most important guiding rule everyone born of God needs to secure in their own mind, is that they need to be free from sin and every agreement made with the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. And check in their heart that they do not love the world or the things in the World.

1 John 2:15-17 (KJV) 15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Secondly, they need to repent immediately when they fall short of God’s Mark. (Which if you are like me, you fall short often and regularly, so you repent often and regularly.) Missing God’s Highest Plan and Purpose for your life, can quickly lead to  missing God all together. (Remember the 5 foolish virgins, Matthew 25:1-13.)

Thirdly, we need to build our lives around heavenly appointed divine relationships with other solid people in the Body of Christ.

We need intimate relationships. God made us that way. We need people we can trust. People we don’t have to impress. People who are not our friends, because we are cool, smart, popular, rich and famous, etc. We need people we can unburden our souls with. Lay out our weaknesses, share our struggles, encourage one another in prayer, and confession, and even accountability.

Fourthly, we need to commit to the great commission. Make his plan–our plan. His Work, our work. His Life, our Life. When we do, we will surely see the difference between, heaven’s fruitfulness, and man’s fruitless waywardness.

In this way was can become salt and light to ourselves, our friends, our family, and our enemies: namely, everyone we meet.

 

False Churches Produce False Fruit

False Churches are a dime a dozen, but true churches are actually quite rare and hard to find.

The true church never did buy into Satan’s fake religion, but the false church was swept away into his arms, producing fake leadership, fake apostles, fake prophets, fake discipleship, doing fake studies, getting fake degrees (that have no value in the Kingdom of Heaven: Did any of the original apostles have a degree from Jesus?), with fake certificates that men give out, that honor the words and studies of men, over the Word of God, and the calling to bring the Power of God’s Word unto Repentance to every living soul, on the face of the earth.

All fake church activity produces fake selfish “puffed-up” converts with degrees and a lot of puffed-up knowledge, and little true dedication to the original Call and Purpose of the Church.

All this man made fake religious studies and activities sideline the whole purpose and calling of the Gospel.

These men do not walk in the Power of God, and have next to zero influence outside the front doors of their church, so they are living in and modeling, a fake gospel life, that looks nothing like the True Life of Christ handed down to the Apostles.

This fake christian life of the flesh, is not obedient to the Spirit of God. “It does not submit to God’s Laws, neither can it do so.” (Romans 8:7)

 

 

False Church ministry

Today, fake modern churches run their churches like a business. They believe the idea of being successful in ministry, is to get as many people as possible to come to their church. And they try to get as much money as possible from everyone who comes. They use the guilt method (you have sinned so give to soothe your conscience), and they play the greed card as well (giving to get so god will bless you). And they sell special merchandise every Easter, and Christmas, Thanksgiving, and for other holidays.

Many churches have coffee bars, and little cafes, to buy donuts, pastries, and even lunch sandwiches.

The modern fake church take the Holy things of God, like FORGIVENESS and FREEDOM FROM GUILT, and uses them as marketing tools to get more people. Which brings more money into their church business. They sell “Christian” Bibles, christian “T-Shirts,” christian Hoodies, christian jewelry, christian stationary, christian greeting cards, and they have the latest prophecy,  and the latest self-help books on sale (even at a discount), with all the other religious trinkets that people like to buy, to feel more religious.

Many have fancy gardens and fancy parking lots guarded and directed by paid and/or volunteer parking attendants.

Many use worldly methods, and worldly messages, and worldly entertainments to draw a large crowd. They employ church growth experts, marketing analysts, advertising agencies, professional artists, professional hot and famous musicians, professional hot and famous speakers, professional branding and logo experts, to create their own unique sales pitch, to entice large groups of worldly people to come to their church. They advertise sending out marketing literature that costs a small fortune, but will yield an even larger fortune, so they justify it and believe God is blessing their mindset, work, and marketing strategies.

I have been to a number of these churches, may be you have too.

This is not how
the early church did ministry

The early church trusted in the Holy Spirit to bring the right people at the right time. And they sent out the right people at the   right time to do the Work of the Ministry. And I guarantee you, it had nothing to do with worldly marketing analysts, advertising agencies, or selling T-shirt or concert tickets or any kind of merchandise.

The early church was equipped with the Word of God and the Spirit of God, and the will to obey God in joyful obedience to do His Will.

Their marketing plan was to make disciples, who would make disciples, who would make disciples, that would make disciples, being led and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so. Simple.

Everywhere Paul the Apostle preached the Gospel he laid a foundation upon which the local church of God could build up the Body of Christ. This foundation had nothing to do with mass marketing and mass religious salesmanship, often prompted by false promises and claiming short cuts to heaven.

 

 

No other Foundation

1 Corinthians 3:9-17 (KJV) 9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry [husbandry is the care, cultivation, and breeding of crops and animals, for example: the shepherd of the sheep in God’s Flock, and the harvesting laborers in God’s Vineyard], ye are God’s building [we are the temple of God, both individually and corporately, designed to bring glory to God].

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For [no] other foundation can no man [or any man] lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide [survives the fire] which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The early church did not sell the gospel, they gave it away freely. They gave away the gifts of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit away freely, not charging anything for their services. It was all perfectly free.

The message and the ministry of the early church was simple.

What right do I have to receive a free gift and then charge money for it when presenting it to another person. Would I not condemn myself for doing so?

 

Freely ye have received, freely give

Matthew 10:7-11 (KJV) And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand [Repent and Believe the Good News]. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, 10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. 

 

 

Meet the Modern Day Church Marketeer in the early church

Acts 8:9-25 (KJV) But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: 10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. 11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given,

he offered them money,

19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. 23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. 

[Note: There is no evidence that Simon repented. The same can be said for many modern preachers, many ancient preachers. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing, devouring the flock, without ever feeding them the True Food of Heaven.]

 

 

Mammon worshippers are always
going to get the message wrong

They may use many of the same bible words, but for the wrong reason, and the wrong motivation. Because they haven’t been pierced, they are running on their own energy, their own vision, their own dream. Which is typically based on giving to get, which is the Monetary Mammon system … 

Matthew 23:16-17 (KJV) 16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

The Mammon worshippers in Jesus day, filled the temple, the temple grounds, leading the synagogue services, and were the politically involved ones enforcing laws of their own choosing, but it is easy to see how far off the mark they are.

When they make their disciples, they make them, twice as much the sons of hell as they are. They produce selfish, self-centered, self oriented, self directed, and self interested people who are full of themselves. Does this sound like the modern preacher who is high on himself, high on his blessings, high of his church revenue? Making a show of loud prayers to cover up his greed and avarice? And holding to man made traditions, and man made appearances that make him look exceptionally holy.

Matthew 23:14-15 (KJV) 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte [false convert], and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

 

 

Worshipers of God the Father
get the message right

Because they serve God for the right reasons, they do the right things.

Heavenly Father worshippers produce disciples that are like Him. Humble, servant oriented, giving, and living according to the nature and character of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  They keep the commandments of God and become daily doers of God’s Word. Not out of a spirit of obligation (or legalism), but from a joyful, willing, and privileged opportunity, making the most of their time because the days are evil. They have need of nothing, because God supplies all their needs according to his riches and mercy, so they are constantly giving to others. They don’t give to get. They seek every opportunity to bring glory to God, doing the will of God from the heart in every situation..

Ephesians 5:15-21 (KJV) 15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

 

 

If you follow Christ he will lay down your life for him. There’s no way to get around that.

Here’s our example:

John 10:15-18 (KJV) 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Jesus lived the teaching and the commandment, being our example, then He called us to follow Him in his footsteps.

Matthew 16:24-25 (KJV) If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

John 15:13 (KJV) 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

The early apostles didn’t get this teaching immediately. Before they were filled to overflowing in the outpouring of the Spirit of God, they did not have the power or resources to live out this teaching.

John 13:37-38 (KJV) Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. 38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

It is often costly and it often takes great faith to believe in God and lay down your life for others. (What about your own needs?)

1 John 3:16-17 (KJV) 16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

The fake church does not  teach the believer to lay down his life, for others, nor for God, they teach their sheep to lay down their lives for the ministry in the Church. Give all your tithes, all your offerings, all your time, and resources to the church, and you will grow into greater and greater levels of church leadership. Many are hoping to have a ministry of their own some day, where others with be climbing the church ladder to be a part of their ministry.

Just like the climbing the corporate ladder, churches are filled with people vying for positions in the Churches ladder. You may have experienced this. 

The truth be told the fake church focuses on opportuinities to serve in the four walls of the church, where their are limited opportunities. The Real Church focuses on opportunities outside the four walls of the church where the opportunities to serve are infinite. 

The church of Mammon, is constantly seeking for people to sign up for child care ministry, youth ministry volunteers, audio visual volunteers, music and musician volunteers, singers, volunteers to clean the sanctuary after service? To count the money, to do a head count of how many attend each week. Volunteers for parking, bathroom cleaning, vacuuming, with perfect lines in the front of the sanctuary. You get the idea.

Can you imagine the apostles walking around with clip boards getting volunteers for “The Ministry?”

 

in order to bring the lost into the Kingdom of God, but instead, it focuses on becoming popular, have your own ministry, write your own books, make money, draw more people, grow your church, become famous and get rich off the gospel, build a bigger building, get everyone to tithe to your ministry.

It seems every church leader wants to: Begin a teaching ministry “tickling the ears” of those who hear, but not convicting them of their sins, nor of their rebellion to God. For who would read such a book, or listen to such a message learning how to rid oneself of their sins? I would.

But if the preacher teaches the body of Christ how to quickly and sharply discern the sins in their own lives and the sins in the community, and the sins of the pastor, that would be a double edged, because then the Body of Christ when quickly discern the sins of the pastor and the sins of the church leadership and would begin to see the hypocrisy, and the fake religion running the church government and ministry.

 

The false Church Teaches “Everyone is a somebody.” No child left behind.

(Today’s high school grads, cannot pass a former fifth grade reading or history comprehension exam, but they can tell you which pronoun they want to be called.)

I was watching a video recently, where people were asked this question: Can you tell me who was Adolf Hilter? The majority had no idea. This tells me: There is a deliberate dumbing down of Americans and the people worldwide. They don’t know the truth about history, the truth about life,  and the truth about the gospel has almost been erased from the mindset of the average modern man.

Check this out if you want a shocking eye opening experience: [ https://youtu.be/JNflQsUpL0U ]

 

 

Today’s Churches teach
the Prosperity Doctrine.

Learn the 7 ways to Prosper. 7 ways to get Healing. 7 ways to become popular. 7 ways to date, 7 ways to attract a good mate. (You get the picture.) Get as much as he can in this life.

“Live Life to the Fullest!”

Come to Church … Get: Good jobs. Great Promotions. Good Reputations. Great Business connections.

“Dress the Part.”

 The clothes make the man.
Dress for Success. 
Fake it until you make it.” 

I have heard these things taught from preachers who speak spiritual non-sense, in seminars and even from the pulpit.

In Afrikaans (South Africa) there is a saying: “Even if a Baboon wears a “golden ring”, he will still stay an “ugly thing.”

 

 

If the Devil can not make you sin,
He will make you busy

Some churches may not outwardly teach the Prosperity Doctrine as such, but they live the material lifestyle just the same (they put all their TIME and MONEY (THEIR TWO MOST RECOGNIZED RESOURCES) into their cars, their homes, their things, their sports, hobbies, parties, social events, and entertainment schedules. This leaves them hardly any (time, money, resources, efforts, works, or genuine labor) into giving and serving God to reach the lost, and make disciples from people of all backgrounds.

Here’s a simple formula: the more you become engrossed in your own career, business, work, schooling (advanced degrees), hobbies, games, movies, parties, pleasures, and fancies, the less you will serve God. Right? Just crunch the numbers. They will speak for themselves.

You can tell how much a man loves God by looking at his budget, his checkbook, his credit card expenses, and his schedule.

If I pour the bulk of my expendable money, and time, and relationships, into my selfish toys, pleasures, fancies, sports, and entertainment schedule, and not into sharing the Gospel with the Lost, who am I fooling? 

 

Is your Church leadership raising up pew sitters?
Or harvest workers?

As the leaders of the church go, so go the pew sitters.

Are your leaders in your church going out of the church? Doing open air evangelism in the streets? Doing individual evangelism in the market place? Are they going into the schools? Into the universities, sharing the Gospel, challenging their culture to repent of their sins, and put their faith in Christ, and not in Evolution, not in atheist science that is full of lies, half truths, and false data, deceptively presented?  

Are your leaders in your church taking disciples with less experience men and women with them, and teaching them the ropes of evangelism, witnessing, preaching and teaching, and small group leadership, when they go out?

Do they put on their weekly schedule the two most important mandates given to the church:

1. to preach the gospel to the lost, and
2. make disciples of those who receive God, and
3. lead them through the waters of Baptism, and
4. pray for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit with the sign of speaking in tongues?

That was the early church model. That was the model given to the church in perpetuity. Should that also not be the model that we should be expecting, believing and following today?  

So tell me, how many churches do you know that are leading their congregations to do the work of evangelism together, do the work of discipleship together, and doing the preaching of the gospel (in large groups and small) reaching the lost together?

• How often do they do this?
• Do they ever even do this?

If my church is not following the model of Jesus’s ministry, and the model of the early church ministry, what are they doing?

Jesus left us with a testimony of four books, dedicated to teaching the model of his ministry, preaching the Gospel of Repentance and Faith, and making disciples, and healing the sick, and serving the communities in which he visited.

Is a follower of Jesus to ignore the Model Jesus presented to his Body? Are men and women truly called to hide themselves inside church buildings, were it is safe, and there is very little challenge, very little disturbance compared to out on the street.

Should they not face the challenges of preaching the gospel to the lost in the public areas in their community? Should they simply reject the work of evangelism and discipleship, because they didn’t go to seminary?

Personally, I don’t believe this is honoring to Christ. I don’t believe that is what Jesus taught his disciples when he told them plainly if they don’t pick up their cross and follow him, they are not worthy of Him.

They were commanded to Go, and Preach the Gospel, to Make Disciples, and teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded them.

And they did so on regular basis, because that is the model Jesus left the church. That is the model the Apostles left the church. That is the model whereby people have been receiving Jesus for the last 2,000 years, yet is your church and the leadership of your church dedicating themselves to the work by the same model of ministry as did Christ and the Apostles?  Chances are high that they are not.

What are they doing instead? Going to church. Having safe bible studies. Going to sporting events together? Going to the beach together? Organizing a church baseball team, basketball team, a yoga class, etc? 

Let me say this: Once we drop the model of the New Testament church, we create a church that looks nothing like the one God created and obviously confirmed through his signs, wonders, miracles and healings, as his disciples preached the Gospel and made disciples.

 

What if your church has forsaken God’s Model?

What will happen in you church if it has forsaken the model of God and supplanted it with a model of its own? 

If going to church has supplanted being a church that goes out to enter the harvest of souls what will be the result?

The church will create a bunch of pew sitting believers. They will not be storming the gates of hell, therefore they will not need the gifts of the spirit, they will not need to know how to preach the gospel (that’s only for the professional pastor that went to seminary), they will not need to be diligent and fervent in prayer, and they will not be bold to ask God to pour out his spirit to transform lives, because pew sitters don’t need much to sit in a pew.

In other words, all the activity, force, power, drive, and impetus of the early church will be lost and be foreign to this new generation of pew sitting christians.

• The True Gospel of Repentance and Faith, (won’t make sense)
• The Deep need to be baptized in water, to die to self and die to this world and die to the flesh, (won’t make sense) 
• The absolute need to Filled with the Holy Spirit and to be exalted and catapulted into the Grace of God (won’t make sense)
• And the personal and corporate work of evangelism and discipleship: will be like an alien world to them.

 

How can you tell if your church has forsaken God’s Model?

Have they: Abandoned God’s Priorities? Succumbed to the ministry, doctrines, and the deeds of the Nicolaitans? (Revelation 2:6, 15) 

The division between the clergy and the laity, is a human construct, designed by the Nicolaitans. (more on this later)

The original church, the Body of Christ was a family of believers serving, loving, forgiving, and training one another to grow up into the Headship of Christ. Men and women were led by the Holy Spirit to join the church, offer their services, and become a part of a heavenly family, with Christ as the Head, and the Holy Spirit as the Guide.

The Early Church was called to build permanent, blessed, eternal family relationships in Christ. The were called to love their enemies, their neighbors, and believed every single person they met was a possible (if not probable) eternal relationship that could be quickly founded and fastened to the foundation of Christ. And then could easily and quickly become an effective and disciplined disciple in Christ sharing in the work of evangelism, and discipleship in the midst of the growing church.

The Nicolaitans corrupted the family model. They turned the church into a business. It followed the Model of Mammon, with hired professional pastors, hired professional speakers, hired professional musicians, hired professional religious people to run the whole show they called Christianity in a church building that often looked nothing like a family dwelling, but more like the stage of a theatre, designed to pack the maximum number of people into the show. The clergy took control of the leadership and management of the church, replacing the Leadership of the Holy Spirit. The church became a profitable business that made lots of money, gained lots of land, and controlled many rich and wealthy people and families. They all cared more for the show, than for the sheep.

They cared much for the money, but little for the people, and cared almost nothing about making disciples. (Clergy disciples were made in professionally clergy paid institutions. The clergy was thus separated from the laity by an invisible barrier and layer of money and certification, based on human institutional traditions, and thus barring the Holy Spirit from accessing both the leadership of the Church, and the Body of believers in the Church ).

The church sold church positions to the highest bidder. The church sold “indulgences” for sinners to be forgiven for their sins. The church sold prayers for the rich widows to get their heathen husbands into heaven after they died. The church sold “church authenticated” religious trinkets, the bones of Jesus, of John the Baptist, of Peter, and Paul, the nails of the cross, the sandal straps of JESUS, and official splinters of the cross, all which had supernatural powers of blessings, healings, and many other superstitious religious non-sense.

The modern church is still running the Church as a business. They are still making all kinds of money off of religious gimmicks, tax write offs, donations, books, speaking engagements, and church paraphernalia, selling songs, selling music, selling sermons, selling seminars, selling conferences, selling classes, selling Bible study manuals, selling teaching videos, selling modern pagan anti-biblical bible translations, selling trips to Israel, Egypt, Europe, the Caribbean, and more. You name it, they might sell it. It is a little more subtle than selling indulgences and the bones of Peter, but the goal is the same: to make money, get rich, live in luxury, live a life of ease, with low risk, and many perks while getting away with doing as little work as humanly possible, yet still maintaining a position of power, influence, and respect.

This was never the pattern of the Early Church, the Body of Christ, that Jesus and the Apostles Established in the Word of God. Not even close.

 

So who is Leading the Nicolaitan Church?

Not God. Not the Holy Spirit. Not Jesus. Not the judge who will judge my works on the day of reckoning.

By definition the Nicolaitan church is run by men seeking to “control men.” Nico = control (the professional christians; aka, the clergy). Laitan = people (the non professional christians; aka, the laity.)

You can tell if one is servant of Mammon, or of the Holy Spirit of God simply by looking at how one spends his time and his money, and what are their activities and relationships are centered around.

How many appointments did the leaders of the church schedule this week to share the Gospel with a friend, workmate, employer, employee, neighbor, or stranger? To train one on one another person to be disciple of Christ?

How many times did they personally share how to get ones sins white as snow– in the last month? How many souls did they individually bring into repentance and faith in the Son of God, this quarter? How many did they teach to get their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life–in the last year?

Because of their efforts how many know how to enter into the Eternal Gates of Heaven when they die–in the last decade? How many times did they even make the effort to try?

How many leaders have shared the full gospel with one person in the last month? In the last year? In the last decade?
How many attempts were successful?

I hesitate to say this following: Because I too and not fulfilling or fully following the model of the early church, I too and a product of the modern church, I too have lived through decades of negligible bible studies, negligible church services (pew sitting), negligible missions enterprises, negligible youth group ministry activities, and attempts at evangelsim, one on one witnessing, open air preaching, and negligible discipleship training. I would be a hypocrite if I said I was living the very model I am presenting. I am not. I am preparing for it, first by repenting, then by diligent study and writing, then by stepping out and doing all that is being biblically suggested with others who have the same heart to obey the scriptures and the Holy Spirit, who want his perfect and powerful leadership in our lives. 

Today, right Now, to me … It is a clear there is a divine plan and purpose being led and directed by the ministry of the Holy Spirit to build the Church up around His Leadership and anointing. I believe, this is the key to all righteous success and effectiveness in the Church of the Living God.

Yes, I agree with many that the spiritual climate in our country is very dark, very much geared towards sin and towards rebellion, and towards incredible evil, but all those elements were just as active in the time the early church was birthed, and it even could have been more evil than today, if that is possible to imagine.

Yes, I agree that not many churches have built their ministry around the Early Church Heavenly Family Supernatural Model of Christ in Us. And that the great majority are following the Nicolaitan/Mammon model which I believe will cave to the anti-christ one world religion, or just be dissolved, so what I am suggesting is that there be a mass exodus from the Nicolaitan/Mammon model of church, and a staunch revolution against anything thing would hinder the Holy Spirit from becoming the True and Unchallenged leader of the Living Church of the Living God, the Body of Christ.

Those few who truly value the early Church model will build holy, pure, clean, righteous, lasting, enduring, committed, persevering, eternal relationships in Christ and will overcome every attack, lies, deception, and sin, the enemy throws at us.

 

 

 

To the Church and to the Community in which they live, God promises, that those who will abide in him will bear much fruit. If they let the Holy Spirit to do his works among them, there will never be a dull moment for those truly and fully, faithfully and diligently pursuing the Kingdom of God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

 

 

 

 

Do I have a white linen robe
to wear in God’s Heavenly presence?

Revelation 19:7-8 (KJV) for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

The fine linen, white and clean stands for the works and character of the saints. Both the internal work of God in lives, and the external work of God in their deeds. Bearing much fruit is the normal christian life. Gathering much fruit in the harvest of souls, in the work of the Lord, is a big part of the righteousness of the saints.

 

Are You competing on a
Winning or Losing Team?

Let’s see? Check this out:

How many players does it take to win a soccer game?

Of course 11 players are allowed on the field for each team.

But what if your team had only 7 players, and 2 of the them are not really interested in the game, and 4 are unskilled, and lack training, dedication, and discipline, and they don’t even comprehend the basics of offensive and defensive playing? 

The chances are slim your team will succeed at anything.

But the funny thing is, if the other team only has 7 players, and six of them have broken toes, your team may look like an all-star team in comparison. 

This is how modern churches like to compare themselves to other modern churches.

But, put either of these two teams on the field, with a truly disciplined 22 member team, with 11, first class trained and coached soccer players on the field, and you may wish you were not on the field with them.

This analogy relates the modern church to the early church, and their success in defeating the devil.

The soccer field represents the battlefield in the world.

The scoring card, is those who were being won into the Kingdom of God, and those being lost to an eternity in hell.

The true enemy team we face on a daily basis is run by the devil himself, and his team is highly skilled, thoroughly trained, and seemingly invincible.

And yet, the early church trounced, the most professional team in the history of the world. They conquered the Evil One day and night, week in and week out, over and over again, on a daily, weekly, yearly basis.

What did they know that we don’t know today? And what did they do, that we are not doing today?

[Those are very good questions … may be we can just so happen to answer them as we go forward. Are you getting bored yet? Is this webpage too long for your attention span? If you were an average person, you would abandoned reading this page long ago. 

That says something special about you. You have an ability, and an interest in really checking out the Kingdom of God and how it was originally designed to work in conjunction with the ever living, ever breathing, ever growing powerful True Body of Christ, through the Powerful Gospel of Christ. (Could the True Body of Christ be anything less?)

Just a word of encouragement: Thank you for coming this far in the journey. I pray you will continue your investigation as you have the courage and as you make the time. Shalom, and God bless!]

 

Well, first off, the Early Church knew the difference between defense and offense. They knew that the winning team would constantly be pummeling the opposing team with a superior offense. They kept up a continual barrage of strikes at the goal, until they kept scoring over and over again. They pounded the gates of hell until they broke them down.

Our fire power by the way, is the Proclamation of the Gospel of Salvation to the Lost.

And they put that strategy into action, by simply preaching the Word and following the direction and activity the Holy Spirit was leading.

They also knew about the absolute necessity of having an unbreakable defensive team strategy that would block all of the enemy attacks and overcome them. (They loved not their lives unto death.) And they put that work into practice on a daily basis. They dedicated themselves to prayer and obedience to the Holy Spirit of God. They fortified their minds by the study and teaching of the word of God. They put on the full armor of God. They armed themselves with the weapons of heaven, both offensive and defensive weapons.

By doing this they became conquerors of Darkness. Preaching to those in Darkness by the Power of God’s Light.

Romans 8:31-39 (KJV) 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

 

Is your Team suited up?

Are they ready to confront the enemy? Are they ready to overcome the evil one, first in their internal personal lives, and then next in their external social world?

How many believers in your fellowship are suited up, trained, and ready to take the field and to defeat our enemy on a daily basis? 

How many are equipped with the Gospel, have a sharp and ready sword, to cut down the enemy lies, schemes, traps, and snares?

Now this may be a stretch, but I believe this is the reason the modern church is defeated on every front. Why? Because they have not been trained to do warfare, to be a soldier in God’s Army, to be the one who goes into the enemy’s stronghold, binds up the enemy and then plunders his house.

How many of your friends in fellowship know how to do this? How many leaders in your church know how to do this? How many have been discipled one on one and trained in how to do this? How many have be so confidently trained that they can do this on a daily basis all on their own without any outside influence or encouragement from others?

How many are functionally disciplined and know the offensive and defensive strategies of the Kingdom of God, and apply them to their own fellowship in Christ in a tightly knit group of fellow believers who will take the field together and dominate the play and trounce on the enemy so badly that he flees from the battlefield?

As your team plunders his whole house?

Such a work is easily orchestrated by the Head of the Church, The Holy Spirit of God, in collaboration with Jesus, the Son of God, and the Father who loves us, and sends us into his harvest fields.

What is not so easy is finding faithful, loyal, truthful, honest, devoted, pure, holy, righteous, unselfish, and generous, serving, humble volunteers. These are hard to come by … know anyone who is a candidate?

 

 

This ends

Real Relationships (Part 2) 

If you would like to continue reading part three click here.