but he that seeks his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. John 7:18
Seeking one’s own glory : being self-aggrandizing and self-congratulatory : this is what now defines Christian ‘ministry’. It’s become so much the definition of ‘ministry’ that Christians can no longer recognize a ministry if it is not self-glorifying.
God is not mocked.
Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. John 7:20
People can try to do things against us, but it’s the sovereignty of God which will be the determiner. If God does not permit them to act then they can do nothing, even if they want to.
It always has been a secular nation, since Abraham. The nation of Israel today is the same nation our LORD Jesus Christ was born into, as an Israelite, and He is still an Israelite, a Jew. He is bodily returning as a Jewish Man (who is God) to the physical land of Israel, to the secular nation of Israel.
Christians are grafted into this nation, so we are together one holy nation.
no matter how arrogantly it’s spoken. That’s the genius of the eternal God in making His Words the incorruptible seed. Even an atheist farmer, if he sows wheat seed will get wheat, bcos the life is in the seed. The gospel of Christ itself is the power of God unto salvation, and even if a charlatan preaches Jesus words, it’s still the incorruptible seed by which we are born again. Jesus said His words are spirit and life.
We do right and speak rightly bcos we are worshipers of God. It’s His honor we have in mind, not pragmatic thinking, or positive thinking, like how a salesman will craft his message.
This was my comment from here:
But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. Acts 6:4
Wonderful! Give yourself continually to prayer. Give yourself.
He said to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me? He said unto him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said unto him, Feed my sheep. John 21:16
http://www.noahsarksearch.net/
Two thoughts: There is much detail in the Bible given to the Ark: it’s size, materials, construction. Why? Could the details have been given in order to prove the Ark is the Ark and positively identify it when it is discovered in the last days? When the site is thoroughly excavated it will become obvious whether it is the Ark or not, by whether it has the same dimensions and materials as the Bible describes.
As with the Shroud of Turin gaining increasing scientific support, it appears that the discovery of the Ark could contribute to a false revival in the world.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come the falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 2 Thess 2:3-4
The final kingdom before Jesus comes will be of a false religious/spiritual nature. False believers base their ‘faith’ on signs and evidences, and not on the only sign given by God, the sign of Jonah, that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead.
The high-priest of pseudo science, Stephen Hawking, has now made it official: Aliens do exist. A whole generation of impressionable young people will now believe this fantasy to be true, bcos their high-priest says so, but they are still not able to acknowledge their Creator.
Hawking, the great scientific mind, believes in aliens but he doesn’t believe in the Creator. Why is it that having faith that aliens exist is easier than having faith that God exists? Believing in aliens is scientific, but believing in God is not? Superstition is now the realm of science, while God remains in the nebulous realm of religion?
It is conditioning people to accept demonic manifestations as alien encounters. There are no aliens, but there is a devil who deceives the whole world.
In your estimation, whom do you consider to be your brothers and sisters in Christ? In your mind you must have a circle of brotherhood, a boundary, and some are inside your circle and some outside.
My question is, Is your circle accurate? Are you sure that all of the one’s you excluded from your circle are indeed not your brothers and sisters in Christ? It would be better to err on the side of grace.
It’s a very serious matter. Many of us make our circle too small, whilst others make it too large, embracing those who profane Jesus Holy name and His gospel.
What comes to mind first, a red Ferrari? A nice home by the seaside?
When Jesus says ask for anything, perhaps He means and includes the things which we may not normally think of asking God for? Like, Help me to pray. Help me to tame my tongue. Help me to be a witness for you. Help me to understand your will. Help me to use the time wisely.
Things which some may think are too insignificant to ask God for.
What they did was to take a small group of pentecostal Christians and a matched group of non-believers. Both were chosen so as to represent the extreme ends of the belief scale.
They were asked to listen to prayers being read by three different people who, they were told, were a non-Christian, an ordinary Christian, and a Christian ‘known for his healing powers’. In fact, they were all ordinary Christians…
So there was no real difference between the prayers (the speakers were mixed up to make sure differences in speaking style could not affect the experiment). The only difference was what the listener was told, but what a dramatic effect it had!
When asked, the pentecostalists rated the one they were told was a healer as the most charismatic, and the person they thought was non-religious as much less charismatic (see the graph). For the non-believers, there was a slight trend in the same direction, but it was small and insignificant. Basically, they weren’t taken in by the deception.
But the pentecostalists were. Just telling a pentecostalist that someone has healing powers makes them think that they are highly charismatic. What’s more, they didn’t feel God’s presence in the prayers read by the person they were told was a non-Christian.
For full article: http://epiphenom.fieldofscience.com/2010/04/hypnotic-power-of-charismatic-religion.html
Whatever God does for us and in us, and with us, whether big or small, we must attribute it ALL to His grace in Christ Jesus, and never attribute it to ourselves, our own effort or resources. Never ever take credit for anything.
…The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach… Romans 10:8
The things of the Kingdom are sometimes so near us, and His reality so close to us, that we don’t see them or Him straight away.
Pray. Wait on the LORD. Just bcos you love Him.
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God. Hebrews 10:7, Psalm 40:7-8
It’s worth being reminded that to singularly seek and do the Father’s will is to go right against the spirit of this world and also against our own natural leanings. False teachers say, in essence, It’s not a big deal, just do whatever is good for you, look out for yourself, and then you will have done the will of God. Don’t fuss yourself over it, it will just happen.
Our flesh likes to hear that. Just dream up any scheme which is good for us and anoint it as divinely sanctioned. Or just meander along aimlessly and surely God will have His way, right?
We can do better than that. Our LORD taught us to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, which means DON’T seek anything else, or anything less. The things, which we need, are for God to give, not for us to seek after.
One thing which marks and distinguishes a disciple of Christ from a nominal Christian is that they MUST find the will of God and do it, at any cost.
Lately, during conversations with different people concerning certain prominent leaders, both in the IC and in house churches, one thing that has really become clearer to me is that nearly every prominent leader acts like he’s the pope in the church where he’s at. I can’t think of one famous or notable name today who doesn’t act like he’s the pope among the brethren he’s in fellowship with. Even amongst groups which pride themselves as having “come out of Babylon” and who have quite good teaching. To truly come out of Babylon one must also repent of popery.
For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, by which we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, so that we may be also glorified together. Romans 8:13-17
Father! is the birth-cry from our spirit, by the Spirit. Like a baby learns it’s first words, mummy and daddy, and knows whose name to cry out to with all it’s heart; we learn, by the Holy Spirit, instinctively whom to call: Father! Just as a baby is reassured by the presence of it’s loving mother, so we are reassured by the ever-presence of our loving Father.
Oh the preciousness of knowing who our true Father is.
America was from the start a nation built loosely on protestant Christian values. Germany, the birthplace of the reformation and protestantism, and therefore by many standards a Christian nation, eventually gave birth to the most hideous evil ever committed under the sun, the Holocaust. It goes to show that just bcos a nation is christianized, it doesn’t mean that it’s not capable of manifesting evil, and therefore showing that the christianization is mostly a veneer.
Looking at these facts, Revelation 17 becomes clearer, and Jesus words, that His Kingdom is not of this world, bring us back to reality.
Is right and wrong a religious concept? If Obama, or anyone, wanted to sit down with the power-brokers on Wall St and discuss the possible rights or wrongs of their actions, would that be a religious debate?
If morality is the realm of religion, why would a politician cross the line and dabble in religion by preaching on morality? By who’s authority would he be able to preach morality? Which moral absolutes do his terms of reference consist of, and from where do they come?
Ian Vincent 