Dogs, Crumbs, and a Faith to Emulate(Jeff Noblit)
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For more videos like this, go here, and subscribe if you like.
True Security
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from Truth For Life
“While the stock market continues to plummet and banks are like houses made from cards, is there a sure place to stand? If your hope is pinned on your wealth, then you may feel quite unstable at the moment. Hear where true security must lie in this recent message from Alistair Begg.”
Listen to this timely message here.
Update: Prayer and Help For My Mother, Carol
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I have received a number of emails asking how my mom is doing so I thought I would post an update. My mom has been running a fever the past week with pain and discomfort in her chest. She went to the doctor on Monday where they removed a significant amount of fluid from her chest. They sent the fluid out for testing which came back “positive” for infection. She must go back to the doctor for a re-evaluation and take antibiotics. Through this she remains very faithful and is in good spirits. We are all very humbled by all the support and love you have shown through your many emails, letters, prayers and generosity. As you can see from the thermometer we are making progress. We started at 84 months of chemotherapy and we are now at 70 months! It may appear to be a large mountain to climb but we know the Lord will provide and no matter what happens, good or bad, all glory to Him.
He is worthy! He is precious!
For those of you who are reading this for the first time and would like to know the details of the trial we are facing, please click the banner below.
Blessings,
Josh
End of post.
Dallas Willard: “Which Spiritual Disciplines?”
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Apprising Minstries with a short piece quoting Bob DeWaay concerning The Spirit of the Disciplines by Southern Baptist minister Dallas Willard.
See also:
THE CULT OF GURU RICHARD FOSTER
DALLAS WILLARD: “WHICH SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES?”
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As it concerns The Spirit of the Disciplines by Southern Baptist minister Dallas Willard:
The spiritual disciplines that are supposedly necessary for spiritual formation are not defined in the Bible. If they were, there would be a clear description of them and concrete list. But since spiritual disciplines vary, and have been invented by spiritual pioneers in church history, no one can be sure which ones are valid. Willard says, [W]e need not try to come up with a complete list of disciplines. Nor should we assume that our particular list will be right for others.” The practices are gleaned from various sources and the individual has to decide which ones work the best. Willard lists the following: voluntary exile, night vigil of rejecting sleep, journaling, OT Sabbath keeping, physical labor, solitude, fasting, study, and prayer. Willard then lists “disciplines of abstinence” (solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, secrecy, sacrifice) and “disciplines of engagement” (study, worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship, confession, submission).
Willard offers a discussion of each of these, citing people like Thomas Merton, Thomas a Kempis, Henri Nouwen, and other mystics. We are told that practices like solitude and silence are going to change us, even though the Bible does not prescribe them. Willard writes, “This factual priority of solitude is, I believe, a sound element in monastic asceticism. Locked into interaction with the human beings that make up our fallen world, it is all but impossible to grow in grace as one should.” So if we cannot grow in grace without solitude, how come the Bible never commands us to practice solitude? The same goes for many other items on Willard’s list.
Willard tells us that the list of disciplines he provides is not exhaustive. Others can be pragmatically determined. He says, “As we have indicated, there are many other activities that could, for the right person and upon the right occasion, be counted as spiritual disciplines in the strict sense stated of our previous chapter. The walk with Christ certainly is one that leaves room for and even calls for individual creativity and an experimental attitude in such matters.” However, there is a serious problem with Willard’s logic here. Earlier he rejected such practices as self-flagellation, exposing the body to severities including being eaten by beetles, being suspended by iron shackles, and other means of severely treating the body in order to become more holy. Willard rejects these on the following grounds: “Here it is matter of taking pains about taking pains. It is in fact a variety of self-obsession—narcissism—a thing farthest removed from the worship and service of God.”
Willard had admitted that there is no clear list of the disciplines and that each person might choose different practices through pragmatic means. This does not give sufficient ground for rejecting such practices as self-flagellation. So Willard resorts to arguing that those who do such things have bad motives. But he cannot really know their motives, perhaps they determined that these practices “worked” using the same means Willard offered. If pragmatic tests are the means of determining which practices are valid, and if these people feel closer to God and more like Christ through their practices, then Willard has no valid way of rejecting their practices. Having no valid argument, he resorts to an invalid ad hominem argument.
He cannot have it both ways. Either God’s Word determines both how we come to God and how we grow in grace, or humans determine these things by pragmatic means. Willard has chosen the later. But then he steps in and tells us that some practices are wrong, even though they fit his own criteria for validity. If a person feels that sleeping in a tiny stone crevice with all the heat being sucked out of his body makes him more spiritually disciplined, then who is to say that is wrong? Had he been willing to submit to the authority of Scripture, Willard could have refuted these practices based on Colossians 2:21-23.
Pastor Bob DeWaay, The Dangers of Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines: A Critique of Dallas Willard and The Spirit of the Disciplines
See also:
THE CULT OF GURU RICHARD FOSTER
“CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE” BY RICHARD FOSTER AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THEOLOGICAL ERROR
SPIRITUAL FORMATION: JUST SAY NO
SPIRITUAL FORMATION IS PIETISM REIMAGINED
Dogs, Crumbs, and a Faith to Emulate (Jeff Noblit)
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This video is posted with permission from Anchored in Truth Ministries. Take time to visit Anchored in Truth for more videos and other resources by following this link:
http://www.anchoredintruth.org/
Author: LaneCh
Keywords: jeff noblit paul washer repentance faith election predestination calvinism
Added: October 9, 2008
Hyper-Calvinism
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At a former church in Oklahoma in 1997 I donated a great deal of my free time to rewire the office areas for network access, configured the networking gear they had and helped them get their peer-to-peer network operational. Not long after that, the church staff had the pastor’s secretary call me to come up to the church after work, which I did. When I got there, they presented me with a gift in gratitude. It was a John MacArthur Study Bible, which had just been released on the market. I still have it. One Sunday not long after this, I was talking with some fellow deacons in between services. One noticed my new Bible and told me that John MacArthur was a Hyper-Calvinist. That was actually the first time I had ever heard that term so I was not sure what he meant. I was not even sure what Calvinism was. I had never heard of the term Arminianism either.
(click here to read this post)
Context Is The Key To Bible Interpretation
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End of post.
Fisher-Price Doll Spouting Hate Toward God?
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Fox News is reporting:
A doll some are claiming utters pro-Islam and even satanic messages has outraged parents in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. People insist they can hear Fisher-Price’s “Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo” mumbling “Islam is the light” and “Satan is king,” according to KJRH.com and MyFOXKC.com…
O, But Baptist State Convention Of North Carolina (SBC) Wanted You To Know…
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A new post over at Apprising Ministries is presented as further evidence of this Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) becoming a growing menace within the “Protestant” evangelical community. Wendy Minton Edwards is “Spiritual Formation Coach” from the Office of Prayer for Evangelization & Spiritual Awakening of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (SBC) and our SF Swami encourages, while *wink* not recommending, her CSM devotees to attend a recent conference which featured Roshi Richard Foster along with SBC minister Dallas Willard and their reimagined pietism aka “spiritual disciplines.”
O sure, makes perfect sense to me; for a proper Christian spirituality ”Protestant” Southern Baptists are taught to turn to a Quaker mystic (and since when were Quakers evangelicals?) who is steeped in the mysticism of apostate Roman Catholicism—and specifically messed up mystics like Teresa of Avila and seducing spirits like Ignatius of Loyola (not the Church Father Ignatius) originator of the slavish Ignatian Examen, currently a rage in the postliberal Emerging Church rebellion against Sola Scriptura.
Foxes Book of Emergents with Hurt Feelings (Part 3)
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From The Bottom Line With Cameron Beuttel concerning Emerging Church pastor Rob Bell:
On Monday I posted the letter I sent to the innapropriately named fellowship Rob Bell pastors (Mars Hill Bible Church). The response was disappointing to say the least. In fairness to them they probably get a lot of questions and may be short on time. But the following response seems like a fairly standard response that ignores the reason for the questions that I asked…
A basic grasp of the biblical text shows Rob Bell to be heretical. It is a scary inditement on biblical literacy among church goers that Rob Bell gains wide acceptance and Christian bookstores are willing to stock his material.
O, BUT BAPTIST STATE CONVENTION OF NORTH CAROLINA (SBC) WANTED YOU TO KNOW…
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It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
Circle Up The Wagons Evangelicalism Is Heading Back To The Bondage Of The Dark Ages
The following is presented as further evidence of this Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) becoming a growing menace within the “Protestant” evangelical community. Here I remind you of something called SpiritLines Newsletter (SLN), which is written by Wendy Minton Edwards, “Spiritual Formation Coach” from the Office of Prayer for Evangelization & Spiritual Awakening of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (SBC).
As Apprising Ministries has previously pointed out this is the official SBC state convention of affiliated churches in North Carolina. For those who may not know, the Southern Baptist Convention itself being the largest Protestant (well, allegedly anyway) denomination in America. However, the spurious Spiritual Formation (SF) straight out of The Cult of Guru Richard Foster and his twisted twin Dallas Willard quite literally dominates the SBC SLN Archive.
I find it interesting that under ”Upcoming Events” over at the Spiritlines blog overseen by SF Coach Edwards the disclaimer reads: Retreat information is provided for informational purposes only. It does not include endorsements or recommendations. Uh-huh, right; then why does Guru Edwards of BCSNC feel she even needs to publicize the anti-Protestant garbage which follows below in the first place? What’s next supplying, “for information purposes only” of course, the latest schedules for Mass in area Roman Catholic Churches?
Ok, so first up our SF Swami encouraged, while *wink* not recommending, her CSM students to attend a recent conference which featured Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic “Roshi” Richard Foster along with SBC minister Dallas Willard and their reimagined pietism aka “spiritual disciplines”:
Renovare, Life with God: Celebrating Lifelong Discipleship
October 2-4, 2008Renovare, in conjunction with Houston-area ministries and churches, will hold a conference celebrating the 30th anniversary of Richard Foster’s marker book, Celebration of Discipline. This special symposium will look at exploring what discipleship is all about in the 21st Century. We will look at where we have been, where we are, and where we are going in terms of growing lifelong disciples of Christ.
Keynote Speakers: Dallas Willard, John Ortberg, Lauren Winner, Ron Sider, and Richard Foster (Online source)
O sure, makes perfect sense to me; for a proper Christian spirituality “Protestant” Southern Baptists are taught to turn to a Quaker mystic (and since when were Quakers evangelicals?) who is steeped in the mysticism of apostate Roman Catholicism—and specifically messed up mystics like Teresa of Avila and seducing spirits like Ignatius of Loyola (not the Church Father Ignatius) originator of the slavish Ignatian Examen, currently a rage in the postliberal Emerging Church rebellion against Sola Scriptura.
Ignatius of Loyola was also the founder of The Society of Jesus, “Contemplatives In Action,” better known at the Jesuits who were kind of like the spiritual Gestapo in the Counter Reformation of the Church of Rome. So let’s stop and contemplate a little something; as we meditate upon the following idea perhaps some of the murky mystic mist might drift back over the brain bog of a slumbering Protestant evangelical or two caught up in today’s relentless indoctrination into spurious CSM within the leadership of so many evangelical circles today.
Now, using the verse from our opening as a backdrop; if the Roman Catholic Church was deemed apostate during the Protestant Reformation, and it was; and if it hasn’t changed one iota in any of the dogma deemed unBiblical by the Reformers, and it hasn’t; do you suppose it makes any sense whatsoever for Protestant evangelical Christians to now return to practices taught by apostate Roman Catholic monks and monkettes who vigorously and quite specifically opposed the very doctrines you profess to believe?
I’m telling you, as a former Roman Catholic graciously delivered by God into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, the more I study this CSM and evangelicalism’s sordid romance with Rome the more I can see why postevangelicalism pushes for postmodernism. With an idea which will probably bring a smile to the gelatinous Emergent Guru Brian McLaren; “Yeah, if I’m pomo I can now be an evangelical/liberal, Protestant/Catholic.” Nah, here’s what Jesus says you are —“lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16).
O, and here’s a link to show you some of the wonderful disciplines of religious bondsage loyal to Rome Ignatius of Loyola placed upon his disciples. I’ll list just a few of the eighteen ”Rules” but anyone who really thinks Jesus Christ wants His Church to return to this kind of religious slavery already has some very serious spiritual problems. And for Southern Baptists in North Carolina it’s time to ditch that Spiritual Formation Coach and get back on the Lord’s team:
TO HAVE THE TRUE SENTIMENT WHICH WE OUGHT TO HAVE IN THE CHURCH MILITANT
Let the following Rules be observed.
First Rule. The first: All judgment laid aside, we ought to have our mind ready and prompt to obey, in all, the true Spouse of Christ our Lord, which is our holy Mother the Church Hierarchical.
Second Rule. The second: To praise confession to a Priest, and the reception of the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar once in the year, and much more each month, and much better from week to week, with the conditions required and due.
Third Rule. The third: To praise the hearing of Mass often, likewise[40] hymns, psalms, and long prayers, in the church and out of it; likewise the hours set at the time fixed for each Divine Office and for all prayer and all Canonical Hours…
Thirteenth Rule. To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it, believing that between Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride, there is the same Spirit which governs and directs us for the salvation of our souls. Because by the same Spirit and our Lord Who gave the ten Commandments, our holy Mother the Church is directed and governed… (Online source, emphasis mine)
See also:
“CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE” BY RICHARD FOSTER AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THEOLOGICAL ERROR
PRAYER: JESUS VS. RICHARD FOSTER
SPIRITUAL FORMATION IS PIETISM REIMAGINED
HAS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH REALLY CHANGED?
ROMAN CATHOLICISM: ANOTHER GOSPEL OF BAPTISM AND SACRAMENTS
BUT BAPTIST STATE CONVENTION OF NORTH CAROLINA (SBC) WANTS YOU TO KNOW…
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It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
Circle Up The Wagons Evangelicalism Is Heading Back To The Bondage Of The Dark Ages
The following is presented as further evidence of this Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) becoming a growing menace within the “Protestant” evangelical community. Here I remind you of something called SpiritLines Newsletter (SLN), which is written by Wendy Minton Edwards, “Spiritual Formation Coach” from the Office of Prayer for Evangelization & Spiritual Awakening of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (SBC).
As Apprising Ministries has previously pointed out this is the official SBC state convention of affiliated churches in North Carolina. For those who may not know, the Southern Baptist Convention itself being the largest Protestant (well, allegedly anyway) denomination in America. However, the spurious Spiritual Formation (SF) straight out of The Cult of Guru Richard Foster and his twisted twin Dallas Willard quite literally dominates the SBC SLN Archive.
I find it interesting that under ”Upcoming Events” over at the Spiritlines blog run overseen by SF Coach Edwards the disclaimer reads: Retreat information is provided for informational purposes only. It does not include endorsements or recommendations. Uh-huh, right; then why does Guru Edwards of BCSNC feel she even needs to publicize the anti-Protestant garbage which follows below in the first place? What’s next supplying, “for information purposes only” of course, the latest schedules for Mass in area Roman Catholic Churches?
Ok, so first up our SF Swami encourages, while *wink* not recommending, her CSM students to attend an upcoming conference featuring Roshi Richard Foster along with SBC minister Dallas Willard and their reimagined pietism aka “spiritual disciplines”:
Renovare, Life with God: Celebrating Lifelong Discipleship
October 2-4, 2008Renovare, in conjunction with Houston-area ministries and churches, will hold a conference celebrating the 30th anniversary of Richard Foster’s marker book, Celebration of Discipline. This special symposium will look at exploring what discipleship is all about in the 21st Century. We will look at where we have been, where we are, and where we are going in terms of growing lifelong disciples of Christ.
Keynote Speakers: Dallas Willard, John Ortberg, Lauren Winner, Ron Sider, and Richard Foster (Online source)
O sure, makes perfect sense to me; for a proper Christian spirituality ”Protestant” Southern Baptists are taught to turn to a Quaker mystic (and since when were Quakers evangelicals?) who is steeped in the mysticism of apostate Roman Catholicism—and specifically messed up mystics like Teresa of Avila and seducing spirits like Ignatius of Loyola (not the Church Father Ignatius) originator slavish Ignatian Examen, currently a rage in the postliberal Emerging Church rebellion against Sola Scriptura.
Ignatius of Loyola was also the founder of The Society of Jesus, “Contemplatives In Action,” better known at the Jesuits who were kind of like the spiritual Gestapo in the Counter Reformation of the Church of Rome. So let’s stop and contemplate a little something; as we meditate upon the following idea perhaps some of the murky mystic mist might drift back over the brain bog of a slumbering Protestant evangelical or two caught up in today’s relentless indoctrination into spurious CSM within the leadership of so many evangelical circles today.
Now, using the verse from our opening as a backdrop; if the Roman Catholic Church was deemed apostate during the Protestant Reformation, and it was; and if it hasn’t changed one iota in any of the dogma deemed unBiblical by the Reformers, and it hasn’t; do you suppose it makes any sense whatsoever for Protestant evangelical Christians to now return to practices taught by apostate Roman Catholic monks and monkettes who vigorously and quite specifically opposed the very doctrines you profess to believe?
I’m telling you, as a former Roman Catholic graciously delivered by God into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, the more I study this CSM and evangelicalism’s sordid romance with Rome the more I can see why postevangelicalism pushes for postmodernism. With an idea which will probably bring a smile to the gelatinous Emergent Guru Brian McLaren; “Yeah, if I’m pomo I can now be an evangelical/liberal, Protestant/Catholic.” Nah, here’s what Jesus says you are —“lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16).
O, and here’s a link to show you some of the wonderful disciplines of religious bondsage loyal to Rome Ignatius of Loyola placed upon his disciples. I’ll list just a few of the eighteen ”Rules” but anyone who really thinks Jesus Christ wants His Church to return to this kind of religious slavery already has some very serious spiritual problems. And for Southern Baptists in North Carolina it’s time to ditch that Spiritual Formation Coach and get back on the Lord’s team:
TO HAVE THE TRUE SENTIMENT WHICH WE OUGHT TO HAVE IN THE CHURCH MILITANT
Let the following Rules be observed.
First Rule. The first: All judgment laid aside, we ought to have our mind ready and prompt to obey, in all, the true Spouse of Christ our Lord, which is our holy Mother the Church Hierarchical.
Second Rule. The second: To praise confession to a Priest, and the reception of the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar once in the year, and much more each month, and much better from week to week, with the conditions required and due.
Third Rule. The third: To praise the hearing of Mass often, likewise[40] hymns, psalms, and long prayers, in the church and out of it; likewise the hours set at the time fixed for each Divine Office and for all prayer and all Canonical Hours…
Thirteenth Rule. To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it, believing that between Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride, there is the same Spirit which governs and directs us for the salvation of our souls. Because by the same Spirit and our Lord Who gave the ten Commandments, our holy Mother the Church is directed and governed… (Online source, emphasis mine)
See also:
“CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE” BY RICHARD FOSTER AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THEOLOGICAL ERROR
PRAYER: JESUS VS. RICHARD FOSTER
The Truth War: Loving Dead People Back To Life
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I never cease to be amazed at how the Lord works. This post builds upon the earlier CRN piece The Afflictions of the Righteous by my friend and brother Christ Daniel Chew, author of the fine book Driven Away by Purpose refuting false teachings from Rick Warren.
A new missive over at Apprising Ministries with a perspective you may not have considered concerning the Truth and why believers in Christ so often endure afflictions and tough trials.
THE TRUTH WAR: LOVING DEAD PEOPLE BACK TO LIFE
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Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
(1 John 3:6-8, KJV)
Satan’s Work Has Been Destroyed And Is Still Being Destroyed
Although there is a price to pay for it, for Jesus’ sake I want you to see from God’s Word what the enemy’s troops desperately want to hide from the Body of Christ today. And so we zero in on verse 8 from our text above — The reason [Jesus] the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. The Greek word translated destroy here is luo; and it means, “to loosen, undo, break up, destroy, dissolve.”
If you were to read this verse in the original Greek you would understand it to mean that by His coming to earth as both God and Man, Christ Jesus broke up and destroyed the Devil’s work. Also, because the construction of this sentence is actually in present tense, you’d then understand that even now the Lord is continuing to undo everything that Satan is trying to do now. This verse is teaching us the great truth about what Jesus did on the Cross, as well as, what He continues to do right now by the power of His Resurrection from the dead!
As the great scholar of Greek Dr. A.T. Robertson has written about this verse — “There is eternal conflict, with victory over Satan certain.” Fellow soldiers, let us take heart from this and fight on for the Kingdom of our precious Lord even through this growing apostasy in the Christian Church world-wide. Although we will lose some of the individual battles along the way in this Truth War—the Lord be praised—our great God and Savior Jesus Christ has already won the war!
We need to understand that we’ll stumble on occasion, which is why we must also be patient with one another. And that’s yet another reason why our Sovereign Commander tells us — Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day — [of Christ’s return] — approaching (Hebrews 10:25). Men and women, we need to meet together in our local churches with likeminded believers to learn the ways of God; to draw strength and encouragement from each other, to plan strategy, and for our nurses to tend to the wounded.
Some of you who have been Christians for a while have no doubt had people ask you: How do you keep going with all the setbacks you’ve had? I know I’ve certainly had a few. The only answer is because of our relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Somehow He just won’t let these helpless little “swallows” fall to the ground. And what is more, we take courage from our Lord’s great love for His precious Church. He always protects us, even though without question some of us have not always been all that we should have been having made some mistakes along the way, which ended up wounding other Christians.
But what you need to always remember is that once you have confessed your sin, and done what you can to move forward, God is faithful to forgive you. No, you don’t need to let a past that no longer exists deter you beloved of God. So rather than letting some old mistake hinder you, today we encourage you to forgive yourself—just as the Lord already has—and get yourself back up into the glorious battle for the glory of our great God and Savior!
Sin Is Missing In The Message Of Today’s Man-Centered Myths
Here is 1 John 1:7 — But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. This verse itself is also written in the present tense and is showing us that the blood of Christ’s sacrifice continues to cleanse us of all our sin as we repent. Now let me clear up a huge misconception, which is at the root of why the evangelical camp today is currently following myriad satanic deceptions; and, why the average person who would call themselves “evangelical” is no more Christian than Pontius Pilate.
The reason why secular America is now courting so-called evangelicals such as Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren is that the Cross and sin have been surgically removed from the presentation of the semi-pelagian seeker sensitive non-gospel. And as such, the evangelical Christianity they would speak of is truly no different than the sappy self-help rubbish spewed by Joel Osteen, who—like publicity seeking Warren—is only echoing the pathetically shallow psycho-philosophical and vain babblings of the ultimate lover of the self Robert Schuller.
How many of you reading this are old enough to remember having to study Schuller’s “theology” in Bible college, seminary and/or Sunday School at your local church? Then why don’t you stand up; and why don’t you begin to speak out as Schuller’s cynanide recycles into evangelicalism from the ever pragmatic Warren or into the Emergent Church through Rob Bell albeit with a repainted version of the old social gospel? Some of us are crying out to those of you still sitting on the sidelines: “Stand up for Jesus!” Do you really think this comes without a price for us?
And A.W. Tozer was dead on target with his words of insightful judgement—yes, I meant judgment—when he wrote:
If this is a fairly accurate view of things, what can we say then when Christian men vie with one another for place and position? What can we answer when we see them hungrily seeking for praise and honor? How can we excuse that passion for publicity which is so glaringly evident among Christian leaders? What about political ambition in Church circles?
What about the fevered palm that is stretched out for more and bigger “love offerings”? What about the shameless egotism among Christians? How can we explain the gross man-worship that habitually blows up one and another popular leader to the size of a colossus? What about the obsequious hand kissing of moneyed men by those purporting to be sound preachers of the gospel? (The Pursuit of Man, 126)
For us to understand what God the Holy Spirit is saying through His Apostle John in our opening text you must define sin properly according to Scripture; and not according to the Devil’s multitudinous man-pleasers of today’s tepid and timid generation! Sin in the Bible is the breaking of any of God’s law, and all unrighteousness is sin. Now to actually see what Scripture means by righteousness you must understand that anytime we do anything that falls short of what Jesus Christ—the perfect righteousness of God in human flesh—would do we, in very fact, sin. So how self-righteous do you feel now; and now how quick will you be to look down upon genuine brothers and sisters as they struggle and grow in Christ?
So, based on this proper understanding of what John means when he speaks of sin, to truly appreciate the amazing grace of the LORD God Almighty you must understand that Satan does not want Christians to know. Here it is, although the regenerated believers will still sin at times—Christ Jesus died for all of our sins—past, present, and future. And on the Cross the Lord knew you personally, and everything you would ever do. Yet His great sacrifice has cancelled the debt of all of your sin! This is absolutely no excuse to sin; but, as it was well-said elsewhere, when you teach the Gospel of God’s grace correctly it does almost sound that way.
On The Cross Christ Paid The Price—Period; End Of Story
My main point is here is that in John 19:30 — Jesus said, “It is finished.” As I have mentioned on other occasions, the Greek word here is tetelestai, and is what Roman tax collectors would stamp on your receipt after you paid your taxes. It means “paid in full.” So when you put this together with 1 John 3:8, which we looked at above, now you’ll understand what the whole host of Hell really doesn’t want you to know.
You see, by sacrificing Himself on the Cross, and with His literal bodily Resurrection from the dead, our Sovereign Commander, the Lord Jesus, gained a complete and total victory for us over Satan which “paid in full” our debt of sin to a holy and righteous God. And further, our Lord is continuing to “loosen, undo, break up, dissolve, and destroy” the Devil’s work—every time without fail—whenever Satan’s demented forces are able to get a hold of something around us.
May you understand by living out these truths, our faith that the Bible is reliable; that it is indeed the Word of the one true and living God, will cause our trust in Jesus to just continue to grow stronger. As His Christians, the literal fact that we have lived through God’s undoing of Satan’s work time after time—sometimes even in spite of ourselves—gives us the courage to go back in and fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). O, how I pray that this part of the Body of Christ will get “fired up”; will fully arise—will be inspired to go on the offensive and begin to attack the Devil for a change. Beloved, hasn’t the thief had his way in our churches and in our communities long enough!
Christians; let’s be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:10-11). Soldiers of the Cross, let us take up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit as the time has come for us to go to our knees for Jesus because the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
Men and women, let each of us make it our goal to start setting some time aside each day to specifically pray for our communities, we are not living where we are by accident (see—Acts 17:26). And let us pray for our leaders in the Body of Christ; for they are primary targets of the powers of this dark world. No doubt you have heard the old saying: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I say the following with a spiritual smile. Certainly a woman’s wrath can get quite rugged, as most of us fellas can testify; but those who face the wrath of God and a literal place of eternal conscious torment of the wicked dead that Jesus Himself referred to as Hell—then it is as the song goes, “you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!”
I will share something that actually seemed as if the Lord spoke deep inside of me one day years ago while I was out walking alone. It was if He said to me, “Ken, I don’t like it that you have to suffer sometimes. But if I just ‘zapped’ you full of faith, you wouldn’t be able to look back to see all that I have taken you through.” Now more than ever, I know this principle is true because God has caused me to survive—and if He grants me strength I will continue to survive—situations that were simply impossible for me to have gotten through on my own. Ah, but here’s the truth of God’s Word again; where we read — Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27).
Stay The Course Because 1 Peter 4:17 Judgments Are Going To Continue To Fall
So troops, why must a Christian soldier be willing to follow Jesus, even if it means we have to endure hardship on occasion? Well, let me quote one of the greatest generals of Christ’s Army; the Apostle Paul, who was literally blown off his horse by the Risen Lord Himself when he tried to oppose God’s Church. Do you remember Jesus asked Saul, “Why do you persecute Me?” And the reason we must trust Jesus is because the good soldier needs to obey his orders immediately; and without question, for his commander to accomplish the objective which has been laid out.
Brothers and sisters, if we are not spending time with God each day, then how will we even be able to receive our orders? No, the Lord doesn’t need us asking Him “why” we are to do something because God is already fully aware that on our own we’d be too frightened to even attempt what He wants us to do. Remember, these things are impossible for us, but not for the Lord. Think about it; if the Lord had first told you where you’d be going, and then asked if you wanted to go there, how many things in your life, now blessings, would you actually have been willing to go through?
This is illustrated for me on almost a daily basis when I run into young men whom I coached in football. What a blessing it is as they now see how the hard training for success on the football field has prepared them for their off-field careers today. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, beginning with verse 8, the Lord’s Apostle Paul put it this way — We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure to endure, that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
When non-Christians see your life rebound from a situation which is humanly impossible, in effect to see your life “rise from the dead,” you are then an instrument that God the Father is using to show the world His reality. And since our world puts so much faith in the power of human reason, by bringing His soldiers who are really willing to live out their faith in the Lord through “impossible” situations, God gives unbelievers an opportunity to come to Jesus by faith, when there is simply no other rational explanation why many who are Christians actually rejoice in—and through—unbelievable trials.
It’s a most powerful testimony to this skeptical pagan “postmodern” culture in which God has chosen to place us, when His true children faithfully serve Him in gratitude, even if we must endure hardships. Your life as a Christian just might be the only way for a loved one to see Jesus. Then dear one, I exhort you let them see Him in you! As one famous preacher was fond of saying — “The Christian is the world’s Bible. What is it they read when they see you?” Now do you see why you are so very precious to God? And if the Lord cares for even the tiniest of creatures in this vast universe, then how much more, as His dear child, will He delight in you, beloved of God?
For in Christ you are God the Father’s specially chosen vessel to share His love with those He’s placed around you. Not only does the God forgive us of our sins, but as His Christians, the Lord’s given us the unique joy of serving right along with Him as soldiers in this spiritual war where we get to share God’s joy as He loves another dead person back to life! And if you’ve never let the Lord use you to lead someone to Jesus, then you’ve missed out on one of the greatest feelings we human beings can have this side of Heaven. Guess what; the great news is that this feeling is highly addictive, it is non-fattening, and will even last throughout all eternity. So my brothers and sisters—just go for it!
THE TRUTH WAR: LOVING DEAD PEOPLE BACK TO LIFE
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Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
(1 John 3:6-8, KJV)
Satan’s Work Has Been Destroyed And Is Still Being Destroyed
Although there is a price to pay for it, for Jesus’ sake I want you to see from God’s Word what the enemy’s troops desperately want to hide from the Body of Christ today. And so we zero in on verse 8 from our text above — The reason [Jesus] the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. The Greek word translated destroy here is luo; and it means, “to loosen, undo, break up, destroy, dissolve.”
If you were to read this verse in the original Greek you would understand it to mean that by His coming to earth as both God and Man, Christ Jesus broke up and destroyed the Devil’s work. Also, because the construction of this sentence is actually in present tense, you’d then understand that even now the Lord is continuing to undo everything that Satan is trying to do now. This verse is teaching us the great truth about what Jesus did on the Cross, as well as, what He continues to do right now by the power of His Resurrection from the dead!
As the great scholar of Greek Dr. A.T. Robertson has written about this verse — “There is eternal conflict, with victory over Satan certain.” Fellow soldiers, let us take heart from this and fight on for the Kingdom of our precious Lord even through this growing apostasy in the Christian Church world-wide. Although we will lose some of the individual battles along the way in this Truth War—the Lord be praised—our great God and Savior Jesus Christ has already won the war!
We need to understand that we’ll stumble on occasion, which is why we must also be patient with one another. And that’s yet another reason why our Sovereign Commander tells us — Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day — [of Christ’s return] — approaching (Hebrews 10:25). Men and women, we need to meet together in our local churches with likeminded believers to learn the ways of God; to draw strength and encouragement from each other, to plan strategy, and for our nurses to tend to the wounded.
Some of you who have been Christians for a while have no doubt had people ask you: How do you keep going with all the setbacks you’ve had? I know I’ve certainly had a few. The only answer is because of our relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Somehow He just won’t let these helpless little “swallows” fall to the ground. And what is more, we take courage from our Lord’s great love for His precious Church. He always protects us, even though without question some of us have not always been all that we should have been having made some mistakes along the way, which ended up wounding other Christians.
But what you need to always remember is that once you have confessed your sin, and done what you can to move forward, God is faithful to forgive you. No, you don’t need to let a past that no longer exists deter you beloved of God. So rather than letting some old mistake hinder you, today we encourage you to forgive yourself—just as the Lord already has—and get yourself back up into the glorious battle for the glory of our great God and Savior!
Sin Is Missing In The Message Of Today’s Man-Centered Myths
Here is 1 John 1:7 — But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. This verse itself is also written in the present tense and is showing us that the blood of Christ’s sacrifice continues to cleanse us of all our sin as we repent. Now let me clear up a huge misconception, which is at the root of why the evangelical camp today is currently following myriad satanic deceptions; and, why the average person who would call themselves “evangelical” is no more Christian than Pontius Pilate.
The reason why secular America is now courting so-called evangelicals such as Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren is that the Cross and sin have been surgically removed from the presentation of the semi-pelagian seeker sensitive non-gospel. And as such, the evangelical Christianity they would speak of is truly no different than the sappy self-help rubbish spewed by Joel Osteen, who—like publicity seeking Warren—is only echoing the pathetically shallow psycho-philosophical and vain babblings of the ultimate lover of the self Robert Schuller.
How many of you reading this are old enough to remember having to study Schuller’s “theology” in Bible college, seminary and/or Sunday School at your local church? Then why don’t you stand up; and why don’t you begin to speak out as Schuller’s cynanide recycles into evangelicalism from the ever pragmatic Warren or into the Emergent Church through Rob Bell albeit with a repainted version of the old social gospel? Some of us are crying out to those of you still sitting on the sidelines: “Stand up for Jesus!” Do you really think this comes without a price for us?
And A.W. Tozer was dead on target with his words of insightful judgement—yes, I meant judgment—when he wrote:
If this is a fairly accurate view of things, what can we say then when Christian men vie with one another for place and position? What can we answer when we see them hungrily seeking for praise and honor? How can we excuse that passion for publicity which is so glaringly evident among Christian leaders? What about political ambition in Church circles?
What about the fevered palm that is stretched out for more and bigger “love offerings”? What about the shameless egotism among Christians? How can we explain the gross man-worship that habitually blows up one and another popular leader to the size of a colossus? What about the obsequious hand kissing of moneyed men by those purporting to be sound preachers of the gospel? (The Pursuit of Man, 126)
For us to understand what God the Holy Spirit is saying through His Apostle John in our opening text you must define sin properly according to Scripture; and not according to the Devil’s multitudinous man-pleasers of today’s tepid and timid generation! Sin in the Bible is the breaking of any of God’s law, and all unrighteousness is sin. Now to actually see what Scripture means by righteousness you must understand that anytime we do anything that falls short of what Jesus Christ—the perfect righteousness of God in human flesh—would do we, in very fact, sin. So how self-righteous do you feel now; and now how quick will you be to look down upon genuine brothers and sisters as they struggle and grow in Christ?
So, based on this proper understanding of what John means when he speaks of sin, to truly appreciate the amazing grace of the LORD God Almighty you must understand that Satan does not want Christians to know. Here it is, although the regenerated believers will still sin at times—Christ Jesus died for all of our sins—past, present, and future. And on the Cross the Lord knew you personally, and everything you would ever do. Yet His great sacrifice has cancelled the debt of all of your sin! This is absolutely no excuse to sin; but, as it was well-said elsewhere, when you teach the Gospel of God’s grace correctly it does almost sound that way.
On The Cross Christ Paid The Price—Period; End Of Story
My main point is here is that in John 19:30 — Jesus said, “It is finished.” As I have mentioned on other occasions, the Greek word here is tetelestai, and is what Roman tax collectors would stamp on your receipt after you paid your taxes. It means “paid in full.” So when you put this together with 1 John 3:8, which we looked at above, now you’ll understand what the whole host of Hell really doesn’t want you to know.
You see, by sacrificing Himself on the Cross, and with His literal bodily Resurrection from the dead, our Sovereign Commander, the Lord Jesus, gained a complete and total victory for us over Satan which “paid in full” our debt of sin to a holy and righteous God. And further, our Lord is continuing to “loosen, undo, break up, dissolve, and destroy” the Devil’s work—every time without fail—whenever Satan’s demented forces are able to get a hold of something around us.
May you understand by living out these truths, our faith that the Bible is reliable; that it is indeed the Word of the one true and living God, will cause our trust in Jesus to just continue to grow stronger. As His Christians, the literal fact that we have lived through God’s undoing of Satan’s work time after time—sometimes even in spite of ourselves—gives us the courage to go back in and fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). O, how I pray that this part of the Body of Christ will get “fired up”; will fully arise—will be inspired to go on the offensive and begin to attack the Devil for a change. Beloved, hasn’t the thief had his way in our churches and in our communities long enough!
Christians; let’s be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:10-11). Soldiers of the Cross, let us take up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit as the time has come for us to go to our knees for Jesus because the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
Men and women, let each of us make it our goal to start setting some time aside each day to specifically pray for our communities, we are not living where we are by accident (see—Acts 17:26). And let us pray for our leaders in the Body of Christ; for they are primary targets of the powers of this dark world. No doubt you have heard the old saying: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I say the following with a spiritual smile. Certainly a woman’s wrath can get quite rugged, as most of us fellas can testify; but those who face the wrath of God and a literal place of eternal conscious torment of the wicked dead that Jesus Himself referred to as Hell—then it is as the song goes, “you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!”
I will share something that actually seemed as if the Lord spoke deep inside of me one day years ago while I was out walking alone. It was if He said to me, “Ken, I don’t like it that you have to suffer sometimes. But if I just ‘zapped’ you full of faith, you wouldn’t be able to look back to see all that I have taken you through.” Now more than ever, I know this principle is true because God has caused me to survive—and if He grants me strength I will continue to survive—situations that were simply impossible for me to have gotten through on my own. Ah, but here’s the truth of God’s Word again; where we read — Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27).
Stay The Course Because 1 Peter 4:17 Judgments Are Going To Continue To Fall
So troops, why must a Christian soldier be willing to follow Jesus, even if it means we have to endure hardship on occasion? Well, let me quote one of the greatest generals of Christ’s Army; the Apostle Paul, who was literally blown off his horse by the Risen Lord Himself when he tried to oppose God’s Church. Do you remember Jesus asked Saul, “Why do you persecute Me?” And the reason we must trust Jesus is because the good soldier needs to obey his orders immediately; and without question, for his commander to accomplish the objective which has been laid out.
Brothers and sisters, if we are not spending time with God each day, then how will we even be able to receive our orders? No, the Lord doesn’t need us asking Him “why” we are to do something because God is already fully aware that on our own we’d be too frightened to even attempt what He wants us to do. Remember, these things are impossible for us, but not for the Lord. Think about it; if the Lord had first told you where you’d be going, and then asked if you wanted to go there, how many things in your life, now blessings, would you actually have been willing to go through?
This is illustrated for me on almost a daily basis when I run into young men whom I coached in football. What a blessing it is as they now see how the hard training for success on the football field has prepared them for their off-field careers today. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, beginning with verse 8, the Lord’s Apostle Paul put it this way — We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure to endure, that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
When non-Christians see your life rebound from a situation which is humanly impossible, in effect to see your life “rise from the dead,” you are then an instrument that God the Father is using to show the world His reality. And since our world puts so much faith in the power of human reason, by bringing His soldiers who are really willing to live out their faith in the Lord through “impossible” situations, God gives unbelievers an opportunity to come to Jesus by faith, when there is simply no other rational explanation why many who are Christians actually rejoice in—and through—unbelievable trials.
It’s a most powerful testimony to this skeptical pagan “postmodern” culture in which God has chosen to place us, when His true children faithfully serve Him in gratitude, even if we must endure hardships. Your life as a Christian just might be the only way for a loved one to see Jesus. Then dear one, I exhort you let them see Him in you! As one famous preacher was fond of saying — “The Christian is the world’s Bible. What is it they read when they see you?” Now do you see why you are so very precious to God? And if the Lord cares for even the tiniest of creatures in this vast universe, then how much more, as His dear child, will He delight in you, beloved of God?
For in Christ you are God the Father’s specially chosen vessel to share His love with those He’s placed around you. Not only does the God forgive us of our sins, but as His Christians, the Lord’s given us the unique joy of serving right along with Him as soldiers in this spiritual war where we get to share God’s joy as He loves another dead person back to life! And if you’ve never let the Lord use you to lead someone to Jesus, then you’ve missed out on one of the greatest feelings we human beings can have this side of Heaven. Guess what; the great news is that this feeling is highly addictive, it is non-fattening, and will even last throughout all eternity. So my brothers and sisters—just go for it!
Abortion and Black Genocide(Barack Obama and the Negro Project)
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For more of this type of video, go here.
Above all Earthly Powers: Addressing the Seeker-sensitivity Zeitgeist
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Here is a good excerpt from David Well’s book Above all Earthly Powers: Christ in a Postmodern World which describes the error of the entire seeker-sensitivity philosophy and methodology and also “seeker-sensitivity version 2″, as seen by some in the rush to “contextualize” the Christian faith and to be “missional”.
Many in the new seeker-sensitive experiment in “doing church” have seen only the surface habits of this postmodern world and have not really understood its Eros spirituality. Theirs is an experiment in tactics in which innumerable questions have been asked about the ways the Church can become successful in this culture and they are all prefaced by the word how. How do we get on the wavelength of Generation Xers? How do we do worship so that the transition from home to church, from mall to church, and from unbelief into a context of belief, is seamless and even unnoticed? How do we speak about Christian faith to those who only want techniques for survival in life? How can we be motivational for those who need a lift without burdening them? How can we say what we want to say in church when the audience will give us only a small slice of their attention, especially if we are not amusing? And what is emerging, as the evangelical Church continues to empty itself of theology, is that it now find that it is tapping, wittingly or not, into this broad cultural yearning for spirituality, and capitalizing on that disposition’s inclination not to be religious. Evangelical spirituality without theology, that even sometimes despises theology, parallels almost exactly the broader cultural spirituality that is without religion. Evangelical faith without theology, without the structure and discipline of truth, is not Agape faith but it is much close to Eros spirituality.
This, however, is not understood. Church talks about “reaching” the culture turns, almost inevitably, into a discussion about tactics and methodology, not about worldviews. It is only about tactics and not about strategy. It is about seduction and not about truth, about success and not about confrontation. However, without strategy, the tactics inevitably fail; without truth, all of the arts of seduction which the churches are practicing sooner or later are seen to be the empty charade that they are; and because the emerging worldview is not being engaged, the Church has little it can really say. Indeed, one has to ask how much it actually wants to say. Biblical truth contradicts this cultural spirituality, and that contradiction is hard to bear. Biblical truth displaces it, refuses to allow it its operating assumptions, declares to it its bankruptcy. Here, indeed, is an anti-god, dressed up in the garb of authenticity, but whose world is a world of fiction. Is the evangelical Church faithful enough to explode the worldview of this new spiritual search? Is it brave enough to contradict what has wide cultural approval? The verdict may not finally be in but it seems quite apparent that while the culture is burning, the evangelical Church is fiddling precisely because it has decided it must be so like the culture to be successful.
[David F. Well, Above all Earthly Powers: Christ in a Postmodern World (Eerdmans, Grand Rapid, MI, USA, 2005), 162-163]
The Afflictions of the Righteous
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It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. (Ps. 119:71)
A few days back, I had the privilege of meeting a friend over dinner, a brother who truly is passionate about the things of God. Anyway, one of the thoughts that came to me as we talked and shared with each other was the idea of the affliction of the righteous. A common theme in our lives was the hand of God in using various trials and tribulations in our personal lives to mold us into what we now are. Whereas we were once carnal and proud, the Lord saw fit to crush us and bring us to even to the breaking point. He does this in order to wean us off the things of the world, and for His ultimate design — our sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3a).
Meditating on this, although the experiences most definitely were not nice, but truly through adversity the Lord used them to bring us closer to Him and His Word. Through afflicting us, He drove us to cling to Him and Him alone as we draw closer to Him in His Word, so that we can claim the truth of Ps. 119:71 as realities in our lives.
When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14: 21-22)
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12)
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you (1 Peter 4:12)
Suffering, trails and tribulations are indeed normal for those who truly desire to follow Christ. The Apostles themselves not only proclaim that it is normative for those who desire to enter the Kingdom of God, but that we as Christians should not find it strange to encounter trials and tribulations. The Christian life was never meant to be a life of roses, or health and wealth and kingdom-now dominion, and those who say or teach otherwise are liars.
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons … For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Heb. 12:7-8; 11)
The affliction of the righteous is the hallmark of their status as children of God. God as our heavenly Father disciplines us children for our own good. Those who have not partaken of the Lord’s discipline are not truly Christians, being illegitimate children not true sons and daughters of the King. This discipline will obviously be painful, but it would produce in us the peaceful fruit of righteousness as stated in Heb. 12:11.
As stated, God’s goal in our lives has always been our sanctification, NOT how much we can do for Him in ministry, how many people we have reached for Christ, whether we have reached set ministry goals etc, much less how much money we can give to God for His work. After all, God IS the Sovereign One who does not need our help to do His work; our ministry unto Him is our privilege but we are not necessary and indispensable. The LORD who is able to raise up children of Abraham from inanimate stones (Mt. 3:9; Lk. 3:8) can raise up evangelists from anywhere and use anyone and anything He pleases to accomplish His will and does not need us to do His work, yet is is our humble privilege to join Him in His work. Similarly, the whole earth is owned by the Lord, so it is pathetically laughable to hear prosperity advocates talk about how we need to focus on money because then we can give more to God’s work, as if God needs your money otherwise His plan will fail! Why should God need your puny $1 million donation when He owns all the wealth of the entire world and more?
We can see that God sends trials and tribulations to us who are His children. In fact, if God desires to use you as His instrument in ministry, the trials and tribulations you will experience would probably increase. God is pleased to use clean vessels (cf 2 Tim. 2:21) and to prepare the vessel, God may subject the vessel to severe trials and testing by fire. (Anybody interested in ministry now? You can start to experience more trials and persecution for starters)
In conclusion, therefore, let us not find it strange to face trials and tribulations when (not if) they come. As long as you are truly a Christian, the world will hate you (Jn. 15:18-19), and even professing Christians in the visible Church (not excluding pastors, elders and seminary professors) may attack you in the name of God (Jn. 16:2). Nevertheless, rejoice in your afflictions, for this is how you will be sanctified by God and to know Him more through His Word. God will be with you and strengthen you in your time of need. Truly there is no place more blessed than to be with the Savior even amidst severe trials than to be without God in the midst of prosperity and popular acclaim. May we lean to rest in Him, knowing that in all things He will work them for our good (cf Rom. 8:28). Amen.
