Throwing Stones

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Character, Christians, church, Election, Politics, President, Social Media

The funny thing about character is that it is an inside job, but it is evident on the outside when something does not go someone’s way. We call it the fires of adversity, that brings the dross to the surface. Fire not only reveals the impurities in a person’s life, it also reveals that which has been hidden. In a very public world with social media, people can no longer just have opinions over coffee, they feel the need to go public with their thoughts. Jesus never had a problem with people’s opinions, Peter rebuked Him in public, the sons of Zebedee called fire down from heaven, and Thomas said, if I don’t see I won’t believe. So, going public is not the issue, the issue is what you are revealing about yourself by going public. One of the many things God is doing right now is exposing people for who they really are.

There are many things being exposed right now in a very public way and I think many more things will be exposed, but this is not a license to start throwing stones. When the disciples were publically discussing who was the greatest among them, Jesus did not say, how dare you want to be great, but tweaked their understanding of what greatness is by bringing a little child near and saying, if you want to be great, be like a child. I am thankful the church is speaking out, I am glad people have a platform to share their ideas, thoughts and opinions about a variety of subjects. Religion and political correctness seeks to silence people, but Jesus liberates them and the first sign of freedom is getting your voice back. So, speak, share, disagree, promote, but in doing these things, don’t forget Luke 6:45 that says, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

This election process for the President of the United States has brought out some things that give me grave concern for us a church. One, there is much evidence to the fact that we as Christians believe in selective righteousness. When we can assault someone with our words because of how many times they’ve been married, but have the same level of divorce in the church, this is stone throwing. When we can measure a candidate by their morality, when we have rampant sex before marriage among believers, this is selective righteousness. When we think their attitude and views on people is crass, rude and dishonoring, but we slam them with our words, this is selective righteousness. Many Christians are against someone more than they are for someone and it is evidenced in our Facebook posts, blogs, radio interviews, conversations and sermons.

People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. – Author Unknown

He that is without sin among you, let him cast a stone… – Jesus (John 8:7)

Humility is not passivity, rather it is teachability. When we measure our level of righteousness, purity, or holiness against someone else, we are using false weights. The only person we are to compare ourselves to in these areas is Jesus Himself and He was without sin, so we ALL fall short (Romans 3:23). What I see happening is Christians wanting to take a place above others in order to look down on them. This is called self-righteousness and was the very thing Jesus dealt with when He walked the earth. If Christians are not careful, we are going to miss the next move of God, because Jesus never came the way the religious people thought He would come. They wanted a conquering king and He came as a humble servant. He came to lift people up and the religious leaders wanted Him to tear people down.

As Christians we have enough of our own issues to deal with both internally and externally. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this ALL men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). The litmus test for discipleship is love and I Corinthians 13:4-8 gives you practical evidence of a lover. Love is fierce, but it is not mean! God so loved the world…(John 3:16). Unbelievers are not going to become believers because we throw another stone at them, nor are believers who are acting like unbelievers going to return if we continue to throw stones. Love is the answer! Shawn Bolz in his book Translating God says, “You can only influence that which you love.” If we are going to be world changers, we must become lovers of God and lovers of people, for last time I checked God’s kindness led people to repentance (Romans 2:4). I came to Christ in January 1989 not because someone threw a stone at me, but because someone showed me the love and kindness of God. Stone throwing isn’t a kingdom concept, so please, stop throwing stones and start sharing the good news, that once I was lost, but now I am found!

Discipleship Training Camp

Tags

Character, Discipleship, Growth, life, maturity, Perserverance, spiritual growth, Training

Job 5:17 “Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all. Blessed is the person God corrects. So don’t hate the Mighty One’s training.”

When I was a teenager, I watched a movie called The Karate Kid. This was the original version, with Ralph Macchio, 1984. During that movie, Mr. Miagi was an older man who was a master teacher of karate. And Ralph Macchio was this young kid who thought he knew more than he really did. In the movie, Mr. Miagi had Ralph doing some chores, but Ralph had signed up to be trained in karate, so his attitude was sour at times and his understanding was limited. Little did the Karate Kid know that painting the fence and waxing the car was training for being a national and international karate champion.

God is a lot like Mr. Miagi, He doesn’t always explain to you why He is training you the way He is, but when we are faced with a fight that is going to require specific skills, we are going to see that He trained us for such a time as this.

Maybe it is just me, but I have been in training for over 15 years now. The training has brought me into a church that taught me how to die to myself and have no opinion; into a country that advanced my training to the back side of the desert, where I learned that God alone is the one I can depend on; and it has brought me through the narrow gate by which I have experienced the reality of the kingdom of God and the love of the Father. But I am still in training and sometimes, I have no idea what all the training is for. Some of the things He has had me do, like write books that no publisher wants, or love people that don’t know how to love back, has been like painting the fence or waxing the car. What is it all for?

Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”

When you are in training and it takes longer than you thought, it can cause hope to be deferred, but the thing about hope is that it keeps rising up in your spirit, keeps pushing you to not give up, to never quit, for you know, that a longing fulfilled is coming. Training is never fun, sometimes it is painful and there are even times when you may ask, what is this all for anyway? But one thing I have learned through all this training, is that I have gotten stronger and stronger on the inside. Circumstances don’t move me, people can’t detour me, and the presence of God is more real to me than ever before.

I know there is a championship fight coming very soon and just like David who had to beat the lion and the bear so he had confidence to take on Goliath, we have been in God’s discipleship training camp. It has built confidence in us that God is a good Father; it has taught us self-control; it has trained our ear to hear His voice; and has taught us what is truly valuable. Wax on, wax off, because we are about to defeat the giant and liberate all the people of God. God is a master teacher and we are in discipleship training camp.

The Exchange

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Believe, Believers, bible, Blessings, Change, Character, Christianity, church, Cuba, Obedience, President Obama

The Exchange 12.23.14

Mark 8:36-37 says, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Earlier this month the President of the United States exchanged some Cuban prisoners for some American prisoners with the President of Cuba. This exchange came as a result of a reconciliation between Cuba and the United States. Some people that commentate on the President of the United States decisions, said this was a terrible exchange, they even went on to say, we got the short end of the stick. A couple weeks later my mom told me that she went and exchanged her old pair of shoes that were falling apart for a brand new pair of shoes, at a very small cost to her. In America we understand the idea of being able to make an exchange. If you get a Christmas gift you don’t like this week, you can exchange it for something else, with usually very little hassle.

Other countries do not understand exchange in the sense of being able to return something to a store for a similar product or a cash refund. While I was in Malaysia, they would not return anything, once you bought it, it was yours, there is no return, nor exchange policy in that country. As an American who is used to being able to make a mistake and have it corrected by the store, I had to learn to think clearly before I bought anything, for there was no making an exchange, once I handed that money over to the clerk.

As Christians, we have been taught that the greatest exchange the world has ever known is the exchange of Jesus’ life for our sins. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God gave His life in exchange for our sins, this is the greatest exchange that was made for us and we have been taught this from before we were saved. However, there is another exchange, that is very rarely talked about, but needs to be addressed, it is the worst exchange.

As Christians, who are recipients of the greatest exchange, we make some of the worst exchanges. We exchange the kingdom of God for our religious traditions; we exchange our family members for our ministries or jobs; we exchange our health for food that tastes good; we exchange God’s thoughts for our thoughts; we exchange trust for independence; we exchange the glory of God for the approval of men; we exchange the love of God for immorality. The list could go on and on, but the reality is, we make exchanges that are costing us the very life Jesus gave us.

During this Christmas holiday and New Year, I pray you would begin to think about what you are exchanging for life. People exchange death for life everyday, because they do not want to listen, learn, obey, change. It is not always comfortable nor convenient to live, that is why most people choose chocolate over chick peas; or religion over relationship. Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is here!” Repent is a call to change the way you think, it is an invitation to exchange your ways for His ways.
My prayer is that we together, would stop exchanging death for life, so we could embrace the kingdom of God that is here. It takes changing the way you think and that can only happen, by spending time in the word of God and spending time with the God of the word. Merry Christmas my friends!

Subtle But Significant Difference

Tags

Character, dispose, expose, kingdom of God, miracles, motives, spiritual growth, Spiritual Maturity

Jesus did not do miracles, signs and wonders to be validated by people, He was not seeking to have a large ministry or become popular/famous. He actually did the miracles, signs and wonders to be obedient. John 5:19 says, “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”

One of the lessons I have learned is the importance of asking questions of the Holy Spirit while reading my Bible if there is something I do not understand. For many years I would just read my Bible like any other book, just one story after the other. But the longer I am in this, the slower I read in order to hear more about what a story is saying. So, while reading this week, I noticed on more than one occasion Jesus would do a miracle and then tell the person healed to not tell anyone. At first I just took it at face value, but today I asked the Holy Spirit why Jesus said that. The answer I got has changed my life forever.

Jesus knew His Father validated Him as a Son, so He was not doing ministry or miracles to be validated. The miracles were not a source of validation for Jesus, they were a sign that He was already validated. If the ministry ended, the miracles ceased, the money ran out, it would not change Jesus’ understanding that He is validated by His Father in heaven.

I was convicted today about some prayers I have been praying, for they came out of a need to be validated. The Lord revealed to me the subtle deception of wanting something for validation vs. receiving something from validation. They can sound and look strikingly similar, but the difference is worlds apart.

The Lord is going to do jaw dropping miracles on earth, we are going to see debt cancellation, we will hear the voice of the mature sons and daughters of God, and the kingdom of God will be preached in truth. However, the Lord is going to expose faslse motives in order to dispose of them, so we do not make the miracles our source of validation, but rather they will be signs of our validation. It is a subtle but significant difference.

Getting a PhD. In the Character of God

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Believe, Character, Christianity, church, Doctorate Level, Trainining

Many people, myself included, have been in training for the next move of God for a long time. Some just started and they are being given opportunities before me, as I inquired about this, the Lord said, some positions, only need a High School diploma, while others need a Bachelors, Masters or even a PhD. Depending on the level of leadership the Lord is going to have you be involved in is determined by the amount of schooling you need for that position. I have been in this training period for 14 years. 4 years in revival training, 9 years in desert training in Malaysia and now going on 2 years in more training.

At times it can feel like God has forgotten you, or that you have missed the mark, some may even think they have sinned, or been passed over, but the Lord told me that it is training for the position He has prepared for you. God knows how much we can handle, He knows what we will steward well without falling out of love with Him, He knows us so well, so He is training us based on His knowledge of us. But, what are we being trained in. Most people that go to school are looking for a position, more money, a title, upon their completion of school, but with God and His kingdom, that is not what He is after.

Completion on whatever level in the kingdom of God is going to have you coming out with an understanding of the character of God. We are not being trained how to plant a church, run great board meetings, or even how to write and present a sermon, rather the training we are in is for the understanding of the character, the unchanging nature of God. Many people are trained in programs, we are being trained in the character of a person, Yahweh, Jehovah, Elohim, the I AM.

I just had a class with God on the subject of His goodness. He told me that He can only be good. I said, how is that possible, He said, I have no other option but to be good, I have given myself no other choice. He went on to say, Satan can only be bad, he can only do evil, he was created this way, he has no other choice, but to do evil. I said, then how am I created in Your image if you don’t have a choice, but I do. The Lord said, I had to create you with a choice between believing Me or believing Satan, because if I did not give you a choice, but just made you like me, then it is not love.

The Lord went on to explain to me that we are the most powerful creation He made, because we are the only ones who have a choice. We do not have a lot of choices, we have 1 of 2 choices. We can choose God or Satan, good or evil, blessings or curses, life or death, love or hate. (Deuteronomy 28). He gave us the power of choice, because love demands we choose. I was blown away by this revelation. God can only do good, He only thinks good things about me, He only has good things planned for me. (Jeremiah 29:11). This understanding of God has revolutionized my life, because now I know the source of thoughts and realize more clearly the enemies goal is to get me to doubt the goodness of God. Oh the lessons being learned as I am getting a PhD. In the character of God.