Big name

There’s only one “big name” preacher, His name is JESUS.

No secret formula

(Deuteronomy 28:1-2) “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and TO DO all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.”

Notice, there’s no secret formula for “getting God to bless you” (as they say) simply DO what He says and HE SAYS His blessings will overtake you (read the full list).

I just saved you a lot of money in worthless “word of Faith” books.

The big assumption

This comes up in discussions, that people often seem to assume that what they know of church today is how it’s always been, from the beginning. But you would think that even a cursory reading of the New Testament would tell you that church today is so very much different than it was in the first century. The essential difference is that church was birthed by Christ Himself to be relational: in relation to Him, then, through Him to each other. If you entered a first century church there would be almost nothing you could relate from the modern concept of it, all you would find is a group of people, probably sitting in a circle, talking, sometimes singing, sometimes praying. The location could be anywhere. We are talking about a very different spiritual reality. Relationship was everything, now, don’t think this strange, because relationship to Jesus Christ is indeed everything, so it’s impossible to have such a genuine relationship with Him and not with His people.

A precarious position

People put themselves in direct opposition to the Person of Jesus Christ. If you are in that precarious position please consider changing it.

 

The person in opposition to Jesus Christ is in the unenviable position of being under His feet, ready to be squashed like an ant (grapes of wrath, more accurately).

You can argue about this with Him then.

Leaders?

A comment i made on FB: The word “leader” is not in the New Testament. It springs from a man-made paradigm. Okay, here’s an example, let’s play a little game, I will be your leader and you will be my follower, okay? But you don’t go along with the game, so i say, Don’t you respect the leadership? Why can’t you submit to leaders? Many good believers “struggle to lead” because they are trying to be a square peg in a round hole, trying to function within a man-made paradigm.

 

Here’s another thing to consider, if “leader” is a legitimate term in the church then call the person you think is your leader, “leader”. Use the term liberally, openly and freely, talk about “my leader”, or “our leader” and so forth. Tell him, “you are my leader!” Why wouldn’t you do that if it were true? You don’t talk like that because deep in your heart you know it is not true, he is not your leader. He may be an elder to you, a shepherd to you, and many things, but he is not your leader.

Not such a good idea

If the church system is such a good idea God would have thought of it first.

Trusting God

Trusting God only has significance when you are in a position where you have to trust Him.

An abstract “Jesus”

(2 Corinthians 11:4) “For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him.”

You know it’s “another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel” when you know that Jesus of Nazareth would not agree or have anything to do with it.

Could you imagine, a Liberal theologian meets Jesus of Nazareth and tries to convince him of his views, tries to tell Jesus that homosexuality is normal and okay, that killing babies in the womb is fine, or that all religions worship the same God?

Of course, such a scenario would be bizarre, right?

But many Christians don’t find such views bizarre.

So, what is happening is that Christendom creates an abstract view of Jesus, what Paul calls “another Jesus”, where who Jesus Christ is is so abstracted from reality that all kinds of evil can be practiced and justified by simply sticking the “Jesus label” on it.

And yet if you compare it with Jesus of Nazareth it doesn’t even begin to qualify as being Christian.

Sufficient explanation

Jesus Christ gave sufficient explanation of Himself.

Becoming garbage

The Christian who fills their mind with garbage risks becoming garbage and spending eternity in the garbage can, where God discards the refuse of humanity.

It’s only the world against you

Disciple of Jesus, God is not against you, it’s only the world which is against you, so that’s okay.

“If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Wise to pray for whom you’re discussing with

It’s wise not to discuss scriptural issues with a person unless you’re praying for them.

Important road sign on the narrow way, “Proceed with prayer”.

It’s true, regardless

The word of God remains true whether people believe it or not, its validity never rests upon man’s approval or belief.

Brain freeze

(Matthew 7:22-23) “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. “

Another major concern with the “Bethel Movement” (or Toronto Blessing etc) is they do not accept Jesus’ warning here.

They cannot accept what Jesus said, that people can do great miracles and wonders and casting out demons in His name and not even know Him, or even be truly born again.

This is a major red flag. When they go blank after being presented with such truths then we need to think why they go blank, why they can’t begin to grasp it, or even feel threatened by what Jesus said.

The “brain freeze” which occurs is a sure sign of demonic deception having made deep inroads into their psyche.

X – Are you saying that all who do supernatural things are deceived?

Y – No. Are you saying that it’s not possible for what Jesus warned to happen?

X – (mind goes blank, then thinks he better switch the subject)

No one has put a strain on God’s resources

No one has yet put a strain on God’s resources by asking for too much.

Deconstructing hero worship

I think he got that from the Bible.

(deconstructing Christian hero worship)

The rest is not

The things he got from the Bible are true, and the rest, not.

It’s all about JESUS!

“It’s all about JESUS!” May not be. Could be “another Jesus” (not the Jesus of the Bible) Could be using Jesus to escape facing reality. Could be reductionism to avoid truths we don’t like to face.

Amplified

The prophetic in real life is the word spoken by anyone, even casually, which the Spirit amplifies  to the attention of your spirit.

They help keep us real

Real Christian friends keep you real.