Reminiscing

When i get the time i sometimes reminisce and i’m staggered by God’s goodness and faithfulness to me all my life.

The greatest thing man can do

If i understand the Bible correctly and know the heart of God i would say that praying for someone’s salvation and sharing Jesus with them is perhaps the greatest thing a human being can ever do.

Curtains

One thing about an idol of any description is that the day you die it will no longer exist.

Grounds for separation

Here are the grounds for separation from certain professing Christians:

I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a RAILER, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
(I Corinthians 5:9-13)

These are the grounds for separation, and there are others as well, but note, that the way you conduct meetings is not included as grounds for separation.

A RAILER is one who makes false accusations. So. Ironically, it’s the ones who say that all pastors are evil, all churches are evil etc. who are the ones who need to be disfellowshipped, for they make false, slanderous accusations against many of the body of Christ.

The fail to “discern the Lord’s body”, Paul said in 1 Cor. 11:29, and they fall under judgment and can get sick and die before their time.

 

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. (I John 3:14)

Not very strong

Very strong on assumptions is not very strong…..

Refined as pure gold

On the issue of our faith being tried, what precisely is it about our faith in God which is tried when we have to endure pain? It’s the conviction that no matter how bad it gets it does not change His love for us or His faithfulness. This is the thing in us all which needs refining and purifying by fire if necessary.

 

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (I Peter 1:7)

Souls are at stake

Souls are at stake. See into eternity today.

In the middle of the night

I got this word in the middle of the night: If God’s people love each other (as they should) then they should just love to spend time together regardless of whether there is any meeting or program arranged. This is what true love looks like, it’s more than “meetings”. If we have this love then the meetings will be glorious.

Greater glory

“For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” (2 Corinthians 3:9)

a) Imputed righteousness by faith produces true practical righteousness – Christ-likeness. And this glory of the Son of God exceeds all others.

b) God never changes in nature. Because of the Cross He does not condemn the one who truly repents and believes. The “no condemnation” of the New Covenant does not mean God has become softer or more lenient toward sin, or is prepared to bend the rules for folks.

Coming together of these two

We want to see the coming together of these two: The rushing, mighty wind of the Spirit, and weak, pure, holy, yielded vessels fit for the Master’s use.

Legitimate Christians in illegitimate churches

 

 

There are many legitimate believers in illegitimate churches simply because they don’t yet know what a legitimate church is, which is nothing surprising. They’ve not seen it yet, they’ve never been to one.

 

The Lord saved me on January 15, 1987, and looking back I now know that the first two churches I was involved with were definitely illegitimate, though I was blissfully ignorant of that fact at the time. Both pastors of those churches have since fallen away from the faith, and thousands shipwrecked and backslidden in their faith.

 

And there were many others just like me. Actually, most of the body of Christ today is temporarily parked in illegitimate churches, in a cul-de-sac and don’t know the way out. They have a nagging feeling that some thing’s very wrong but can’t put their finger on it.

 

This causes huge damage to people’s ability to think and discern. They are conditioned into thinking that speaking the truth frankly is not loving, therefore they can’t seem to get a handle on the fact that we can love all the church universal, the body of Christ, and extend fellowship to all the faithful in Christ Jesus, maintaining the unity of the Spirit, while at the same time boldly declaring the absolute, immutable plumb line of God’s word: how it was always supposed to be.

 

We tend to forget that the church is simply people, people just like us. We want to relate to them as the people that they are in Christ, not relate to them conditionally on the basis of where they go to church, as more and more fringe Christians are doing, they cannot accept that the unity of the body of Christ is already established by Him regardless of where people go to church.

 

We can call out a church as illegitimate, according to the standard of God’s word, and yet be totally FOR the saints who currently attend it. If we can’t do that we are very immature, and so immature we should not be teaching God’s word.

Two kinds of love

“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (John 14:23)

 

In chapter three John records that God loves the whole world, and in chapter fourteen, that God loves those who obey His Son, Jesus Christ. How do we understand this? People seem to vacillate between the two, but both are, obviously, true.

 

If we look at our own lives we have, basically, two kinds of love: relational and non-relational. We love our spouses, our children, our close friends in a deeper way than people we don’t know or hardly know, and that is only natural. According to God’s word there should not be one person on the planet we don’t love, as this is true with our Father. This is non-relational love. And with those close to us, it’s relational love.

 

So, God loves the whole world, but it’s a one-way street, the love is not requited. So, this fact brings the wrath of God upon these very same ones He loves.

 

So God’s relational love is wonderful, and His non-relational love, demonstrated in Christ dying for a world which did not love Him, is the basis for man’s condemnation when He refuses to obey this same Son of God who was crucified for them.

Significance of a nudge

Did you know that a little nudge from the Holy Spirit could be so significant it could save your life?

Significance of light

You really see the value and significance of a light when it’s dark – the darker it gets the brighter it shines.

Tougher than a flower

As a Christian you don’t have to be too tough, but ya gotta be tougher than a flower, tougher than the neurotic, hyper-sensitive crowd.

Delusional “house church”

I know some whose idea of the unity of the body of Christ excludes anyone who goes to a traditional church. They are DELUSIONAL. America is full of it now.

The glorious reality of meeting with the Father

The Father CALLS us to spend time with Him, and the glorious REALITY of actually meeting with Him should motivate us to do just that.

A rocky ride ahead

I think regardless of who wins the election, America and the world is in for a rocky ride, it’s a lose-lose scenario.

When you get let down

When people let you down or disappoint you remember that …”cursed is the man who trusts in man”… but …”blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord”… (see Jeremiah 17:5-8)

Religion takes the place of Jesus

The thing I hate about religion is it takes the place of Jesus in people’s lives.