Dalunara

The Hale Law Firm provides services to a wide range of businesses and individuals based out of our offices in Waxahachie, Texas, Duncanville Law Firm The Hale Law Firm enjoy working with all of our clients clients throughout Ellis and Dallas County, including but not limited to: Red Oak, Waxahachie, Midlothian, Ovilla, Ferris, Glenn Heights, DeSoto, Ennis, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Lancaster, Grand Prairie, Dallas, Mansfield.
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Reverse Craigstlist software is an incredible software development. The ability to literally draw thousands and thousands of qualified leads in as little as a few minutes by searching for data from advertisements on craigslist. This easy reverse craigslist software can offer a chance to literally take you business to the limit. You can pick what industry you are aiming at and which specific geo areas, then push a button, wait, and watch the leads come in. Then you are able to mail a sales letter directly to these leads or save, manage them, export,, and more.

Church on mission is definitely a buzz-phrase that is everywhere these days. the idea that we are required to title churches, missional, has forever been a tiny bit strange to me. I mean, shouldnt all places of worship be missional in their very nature? why cant a church, at its very core, desire to engage their culture and area with the gospel as a missionary would in a another country? Isnt that what the church buildings is instructed to do in the last challenge from Jesus in Matthew 28:19? Our own hometown requires this style of church. Churches in Austin is slowly transitioning to what Christ instructed in the Gospels.

The Son of God gives the command in Acts 1:8 saying, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 exemplifies this topic as, right before Jesus Christ goes up to Heaven, He commissions the disciples on a story that would start right in their individual community. He begins with their area of Jerusalem, and then expands the call to the far parts of the globe.

As disciples of Jesus, we are not called to social clubs, but to be missional people who are passionately going out and going to areas right where they are with the message of Jesus. We have gazed at this throughout history: God moved Abraham on a mission to leave his country and his people and go to the city that God would show him (Gen. 12:1), God sends Moses on a mission to rescue an enslaved people and lead them to joy (Exodus 3:8-10), God urges Jesus on a exploration to earth to reconcile all things to Himself through the death of Jesus (Colossians 1:20). And now God is sending believers on a mission to engage areas, cities, peoples, and even nations with the story of Christ(Matt. 28:19 Mark 6:7 Luke 10:1 John 20:21 Acts 1:8). If we resist this motivation and continue to treat the bodies of Christ like a invite only country club ” demanding that people fix their talents, pay their deposit, and visit to our church God will continue His journey without us.

The Trinity of Scripture is a controversial subject among many in the Christian Community. I would estimate that (90% of the Christian Community believes in the Trinity.)

What is the Trinity? The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost(Spirit). We all know about the Father and The Son. So lets look at The Holy Ghost. The Bible calls Him by many different names,

1. The Holy Ghost. The Bible in the New Testament, list the Name of Holy Ghost 89 times, starting with, Matthew 1:18 and ending with, Jude 1:20
2. The Holy Spirit. 10 times beginning with, Luke 11:13 and ending with, 1Thessalonians 4:8.
3. The Spirit of truth. 4 times, John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13 and 1John 4:6.

4. The Comforter. 3 Times John 14:26, 15:26 and 16:7.

This is not to say that other examples are not listed but these others are spiritually discerned. The Most controversial scripture in the Bible concerning the Trinity is found in, Matthew 28:19, Jesus commanded the disciples to; “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

In this verse above all others, are the four words that has brought about this controversy; ” in the name of ” Many teach that there is not a Trinity because of these four words. They believe that these words signify a separation of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

I reject this teaching because of the multitudes of other verses that concur with the Trinity. What many don’t understand is that The Holy Ghost(i.e. Spirit) is the Spirit of God. So how can God be separate from His own Spirit. Jesus gave us the answer to this when He stated in Matthew 10:20, “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” This spirit that He spoke of was the Holy Spirit, “The Spirit of your Father.”

1Th 4:8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his “Holy Spirit.” Jesus stated that He was in the Father and the Father was in Him and He and the Father were one, so How being that Jesus and the Father being one disavows the Holy Spirit being one also with Jesus and the Father, making up the Trinity?
We as human beings cannot separate our spirit from ourselves for the spirit within us is who we are. The Body is dead without the spirit. So there fore, God cannot be without His spirit, for God is spirit.
Lets look at Numbers 6:26, The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Countenance is; to give assurance or courage to; to support; to aid by favor; to prevent from shame or dismay, to support; to encourage; to abet; to vindicate; by any means. Literally, the contents of a body; the outline and extent which constitutes the whole figure or external appearance. Appropriately, the human face; the whole form of the face, or system of features; visage. This is only done thru the Baptism in The Holy Ghost. As Jesus promised in,
1. John 14:16 Tells us that the Comforter, “abides with you for ever.”Denoting the Holy Ghost.
2. John 14:26 Tells us that the Comforter, “which is the Holy Ghost” Replaced Jesus as the director of all truths in Scripture and in life., Who reminds us of all things Jesus taught.
3. John 15:26 Tells us that the Comforter proceeds (Comes From) from the Father(God), he(A Person) shall testify(To affirm or declare solemnly for the purpose of establishing a fact. To bear witness to; to support the truth of by testimony.) of me(Jesus):
4. Acts 8:15-17 Tells us how the Spirit of God is Received by the laying on of Hands. Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
(Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.)

5. Gal 3:1-4 Tells us that the Spirit of God is received by Faith and not works. “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
Acts 8:15-17 is showing us that the third part of the Trinity is vital to the salvation of man after the Baptism. We are indowed with three diferent spirits,
1. Our Soul Spirit.(Who we are.)
2. The Spirit of Christ(We have the Mind of Christ.) and
3. The Holy Spirit.(Ghost.Who takes controll of our Physical man and keeps him under bonds to Christ.)

Act 1:2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: Act 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. So as far as an excuse to use Matthew 28:19, to say that there is no trinity, we see by compareing scripture with scripture we can prove that there is and always was and will be a Holy Trinity.

(Refs. Mat-3:16, Mat-3:17; Gen-1:26; Num-6:24-27; Isa-48:16; 1Co-12:4-6; 2Co-13:14; Eph-2:18; 1Jo-5:7; Rev-1:4-6. end part 1. Part 2 will deal with, ” The Unholy Trinity.”

Temple of Spirit & Truth Ministries
http://www.ourchurch.com/member/a/arsmithsermons/

Some might get the mistaken notion that I’m blind to the sins of Israel, but I’m not and call upon Israelis to lead holy lives in the Holy Land and speak out against their various sins as strongly as I do against the sins of our American and British-Israelite peoples, hoping to help avert divine judgment and national disaster, defeat and deportation. This TOUGH LOVE article is one example of pleading with Judah for Zion’s sake:

What Jew isn’t familiar with the Talmudic saying: “Whoever saves a single life, saves a whole world?” What Jew can’t empathize with those who have no voice, who are considered less than human, and, through no fault of their own, are marked for liquidation? Yet the Gentilized “Jewish” State of Israel has permitted the “whole world” to be destroyed almost TWO MILLION times!

Apparently, too many Israelis have forgotten these things. Efrat, a pro-life organization, testifies that close to TWO MILLION innocent children have lost their lives in Israel since 1948!

Evil can harden a heart. The big bucks that the abortion industry grinds out can cause some to put cash before conscience. Whereas some may be unaware of how truly abhorrent abortions are, an abortionist sees the child sacrifices offered to the bloodthirsty god called “Choice.”

An abortionist is without excuse. They’ve repeatedly taken innocent Jewish life with premeditation. Abortionists have purposely stopped the heartbeat and brainwaves of countless victims of Choice. They’ve cruelly extinguished the light of Jewish stars (that our father Avraham hoped for) in the evil spirit of pharaoh, Haman and Hitler.

The cult of Choice is the worst symptom evident in society of the Hellenist disease. It sacrifices children upon the hedonistic altars of convenience and irresponsibility in an immoral and idolatrous way. It disguises itself as progressive and enlightened, but it is actually a dark throwback to the pagan rituals performed in the Valley of Hinnom: the holocaust of children that the prophet Jeremiah condemned (Jeremiah 7:31).

They have acted shamefully. They have done abhorrent things – Yet they do not feel shame, and they cannot be made to blush. Assuredly, they shall fall among the falling” (Jeremiah 6:15). Where is a Jewish leader like King Josiah who recognized the seriousness of his nation’s deadly sins and did all that he could to avert divine judgment?

Will Israel repent of despising their inheritance by surrendering it to sworn enemies? Will Israel act now to stop the pagan practice of aborting their future? Or must Israel fall before Germany and Jerusalem suffer EU occupation?

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer in Ohio and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe’s Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out Beyond Babylon.

Question:
Should the book of Revelation actually be taken literally?

Answer:
Yes, but this might seem a bit clearer by posing another question. If Revelation is as some say only a book of symbols, allegories, metaphors and myths then why is it preceded with one of the most powerful promises of blessing for those who read it and hear it, Rev. 1:3 And secondly why would such a fairy tale be appendaged with what is probably the most grave warning in the entire Bible…For I testify unto every man that heareth the prophecy of this book. if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the hook of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Revelation 22: 18-19.

We are not talking here about some failure of our crops or the coming of blight, but rather the complete removal of our lives, our names and our future with God. That is some serious punishment for fooling with a book of myths and symbols. This would he about the equivalent of being condemned to hell for leaving out or altering a verse from The Rhyme of The Ancient Mariner.

Question:
Would God give a message or an entire book of the Bible that had no readily discernable meaning until a later time, or the very end of the world as we know it?

Answer:
Yes. In fact God has in many cases told the writers of the Bible to expose their messages for a specific time. Rev. 22:10. At other times he told them to conceal their message because it was meant for a later time. Daniel 12:4. 12:9 Revelation 10:4. One thing that jangles up believers quickly is their inability to cope with the fact that God sees past, present and future as one single continuum. This is child’s play for the creator, but it is a wrestling match for us and that is exactly why God has chosen to make these various dispensations. They are effectively Gods way of helping us win the wrestling match.

Jesus said the Pharisees couldn’t discern the times they were living in, even worse he said they wouldn’t understand much of anything he was saying regardless of what time it was for. Jesus spoke using examples from nature, the elements and common everyday life. But these learned men couldn’t grasp the spiritual content of his words, how could they be expected to understand the timing of the events or the place in history that his words would be more fully realized?

How could anyone understand unless they had Gods help and were actually entering a time when the message was pertinent? Any one who has ever taken a self improvement course, or a business management course, or had training in any level of sociology knows that there is timing in all communication that is second only to the content of that communication. Modern advertising executives can bet their success or failure on their ability to accurately note that timing. Why then, would we expect an omniscient God to be so careless as to leave timing out of his messages?

Rev Bresciani has written many articles over the past thirty years in such periodicals as Guideposts and Catholic Digest. He is the author of two books available on Amazon.com, Alibris, Barnes and Noble and many other places. Rev Bresciani wrote “Hook Line and Sinker or what has Your Church Been Teaching You,” publisher, PublishAmerica of Baltimore MD. He also wrote a book published by Xulon Press entitled “An American Prophet and His Message, Questions and Answers on the Second Coming of Christ.” His book is now being heralded as the clearest book on the subject of the second coming of Christ since Hal Lindsey’s “Late Great Planet Earth” Rev Bresciani’s website is,
http://americanprophet.org.

This message is not intended to downgrade anyone but rather to show that we are in the end times. Lets look at a commentary from The Washington Post, by Mary Jordan.”Butcher those who mock Islam,” and “Be Prepared for the Real Holocaust,” read other signs.

Many moderate Muslims denounced the extremists in the demonstrations. They noted that only a small number carried hateful signs such as “Europe, your 9/11 will come.” Some protesters also chanted “Bomb USA, Bomb UK” and “We want Danish blood.” “Of course there is a double standard,” said Phil Edwards, a spokesman for the anti-immigration British National Party, whose leader was put on trial and acquitted of charges of inciting racial hatred for calling Islam a “wicked, vicious faith.” Edwards said while its people were prosecuted for saying such words, the Muslim protesters “say they are going to kill us all and the police do nothing. It’s pathetic.” end.

This changing world comes with added violence by those that say there are religious but are not. Many are being led astray from the truth and others refuse to hear it. Jesus told us of these end days when there will be many gods and mockers. From town to town, city to city, country to country, the spirit of anti-Christ is starting to take over the minds and souls of millions, deluding them in believing that they are doing God service but are in essence, serving the spirit of error and the commands of the spirit of anti-Christ.

Now we all can understand the way that the anti-Christ will be able to overcome and control all the ten kingdoms, as mentioned in Daniel, and The Book of Revelations. The goal of Islam is a way of a Kingdom on Earth, not taking into account the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were would I my Disciples Fight.” Do you remember this verse?”Shall we call down fire from Heaven and have God to consume them?”

Luke 9:53-56; And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven (Here we see that Jesus had given the disciples power to call down fire.), and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. (The spirit spoken of here is hatred, vengeance and error.) For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.

In the Quran, Mohamid commands His followers to only kill the guilty and not the innocent. But the Muslim Religion has gone past of any reasoning, and have been consumed by hatred and the spirit of error. Lets read from their own word;

The Words of The Quran, Love or Hate?

Quran; 84.20-24; But what is the matter with them that they do not believe, And when the Quran is recited to them they do not make obeisance?Nay! those who disbelieve give the lie to the truth. And Allah knows best what they hide,So announce to them a painful punishment~

Quran; 85.7-10; And they were witnesses of what they did with the believers. And they did not take vengeance on them for aught except that they believed in Allah, the Mighty, the Praised,Whose is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is a Witness of all things.
Surely (as for) those who persecute the believing men and the believing women, then do not repent, they shall have the chastisement of hell, and they shall have the chastisement of burning.

Quran; 17.16; And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction.(In Quran; 17.16, We see a unforgiving religion. Hate Violence and Destruction that do not believe in their religion.)

Quran; 17.33; And do not kill any one whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause (What cause does God give for murder? None. Christ said to leave the chaff and wheat grow together and they will be separated at the Judgment.)( This verse shows a contradiction of their word.), and whoever is slain unjustly, We have indeed given to his heir authority, so let him not exceed the just limits in slaying; surely he is aided.(When a man kills does he stop and ask if they are guilty or innocent? No. They kill for the sake of killing.)

Quran; 33.57 Surely (as for) those who speak evil things of Allah and His Apostle, Allah has cursed them in this world and the here after, and He has prepared for them a chastisement bringing disgrace.
(God states that all sin will be forgiven except the blaspheme of the Holy Ghost. When Did God change His word?)

Quran; 33.60-61; If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease and the agitators in the city do not desist, We shall most certainly set you over them, then they shall not be your neighbors in it but for a little while; Cursed: wherever they are found they shall be seized and murdered, a (horrible) murdering.(There way or death.)
End, Quran.

As you can see, with just a few words from the Quran, Killing and murder are justified by their religion, for those that do not believe in their religion. Their eyes are blinded to the truth and have rejected Jesus as Christ and Lord.We do not hate these people, but rather, we feel sorry for them, without Christ, they cannot know the Father.

We see in James 3:14-16, the result of hate and violence upon mankind. ;But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. This evil comes not from God but from man and his acceptance of evil spirits.

2nd Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.(Those that seek a kingdom on this earth, world domination at any cost.)
1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Dan 11:35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
The Spirit and Person of Anti-Christ;
Daniel 11:36-38; And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. ars.

(References; 1st Titus 4:1-2, 2nd Titus 3:1, 1st John 2:18 Judges 1:18, Proverbs 1:22,14:6, Isaiah 5:19, 29:20, Hosea 7:5, 2nd Peter 2:10, 2nd Corinthians 4:2, Judges 1:16-18.) (doctrines: Dan_11:35-38; 1Co_8:5, 1Co_8:6, 1Co_10:20; Col_2:18; Act_17:18; Rev_9:20)

Temple of Spirit & Truth Ministries
A.R.Smith Ministries
http://www.ourchurch.com/member/a/arsmithsermons/

Jesus wasn’t the first person ever to be crucified. That form of torture was being used by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Carthaginians, Persians, and others long before He was ever born. But of the multitudes who’ve suffered and died on the cross, something very unique happened when Christ was crucified. Something the Church as a whole rarely acknowledges.

We know about the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus in AD 33. We forget there was a FOURTH person crucified there, too.

It was YOU!

And me.

Literally crucified with Christ? Yes! Read Romans 6:2-13 and Galatians 2:20 and notice all the PAST-TENSE VERBS. God sees you as if you had been literally crucified with Christ. This isn’t a figurative, symbolic, poetic statement, nor can it be explained away by theologians as “positional truth.” Either you were crucified on that hill with Jesus or God’s a liar (Numbers 23:19;Romans 3:4).

If this statement is treated as anything other than 100% Gospel truth, then we must all wait till we die to receive any benefit from being a Christian. Folks, we won’t need these benefits in the sweet by ‘n by; we need them in the here ‘n now. Don’t live for the promises of Heaven after death, or rapture, when Jesus said He came to bring us abundant life here, while we are inhabiting planet Earth (Jn 10:10).

Well, how’s the abundant life coming along so far? Life IS a bed of roses… but roses consist mostly of THORNS! The abundant life of an overcomer is a life where troubles roll off us like water off a duck. Grace under fire, that’s what onlookers will see manifesting in your trials! Though we cry, though we hurt, God’s grace empowers us to do the job we’ve been placed here to do, i.e., the making of disciples. Though you won’t be all that comfortable down here (why should you? You’re not FROM around here; you’re a citizen of Heaven), you WILL find unspeakable joy and a peace that passes all understanding ONLY as you do what you were created to do: make disciples.

Most Christians never realize Jesus is all we really need until Jesus is all we got left. Every so often, we find ourselves with nothing, our focus off all the previously important stuff, so that nothing obscures our line of sight from Him, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Then we can finally hear that still small voice of the Spirit, “May I have your attention, PLEASE?!” As we regain our focus on Jesus, peace is restored in the midst of life’s storms.

There’s a popular poem called “Footprints in the Sand” in which a Christian looks back at his life, sees the footprints of Christ alongside his own, and notices that sometimes there are only one set of tracks. Jesus informs him that those are the times He carried him. It’s warm and fuzzy, but it’s really BAD theology, implying that the better we live INDEPENDENTLY of Christ, the less we’ll rely on Him for help moment to moment. “Just be there to get me to Heaven and get me an occasional good parking spot, Lord. I’ll take care of the rest. Call ya if I need ya!” We even joke about calling 911 when we need help from God. Folks, independence is not a virtue, it’s a sin.

Go ask Adam.

“They will be held guilty, they whose strength is their god”(Hab 1:11).

Satan and God have this in common: they’re both trying to kill us. Like I always say, the only good Christian is a DEAD Christian! However, God wants to re-create us with an overcoming, obedient life…the life of Christ. His #1 goal for us is to conform us to the image of His son. He’s more concerned
with Christlike character than creature comforts. When trouble comes, embrace it; the Refiner’s fire may have just been turned up to burn away our imperfections and kill some more carnality. This is in order to manifest Christ within us by the Spirit. We must decrease so that He might increase (Jn 3:30).

Two days ago, I became a grandfather for the third time. Consider the example of that baby in my daughter’s womb: the child, Alora, was IN my daughter, Devin, but Devin was the source of life IN baby Alora by way of the umbilical cord; Alora was an expression of Devin (see Acts 17:28).

My wife is downstairs blow drying her hair…even a blow dryer has no life outside of its source, the electrical outlet. Likewise, when we allow Jesus to live THROUGH us, we experience our true identity. Furthermore, we’ll never experience any REAL joy UNTIL we do so.

Yep, God sees Christ when He looks at you because you ARE the Righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21).

A declaration of independence is a manifestation of a false identity. A British friend who loves America once said that about his American cousins. A Christian who does this spends his life posing as someone he is not.

There was once a large, loud, overbearing Christian bodybuilder I knew. This brute was pitiful and without a clue. His bulky bod was the most ornate, attention-getting costume at the masquerade… I mean, in the congregation, as he hid behind those rippling muscles and his macho persona.

There are many such Christians hiding behind all kinds of “masks”… musical instruments, choir robes, pulpits, ministry, bibles, careers, wealth, tough exteriors, hurt, guilt, shame, and even spiritual auras. None of us is immune. This Christian identity crisis is rampant in the Church.

Do you believe that 2000 years ago Jesus became sin for your sake and you became righteous (2 Cor 5:17,21)? Even though you wouldn’t commit a single sin for centuries to come, they were washed away at the cross. If so, then you must believe that, as a Christian, you were crucified with Him, your old Adamic identity destroyed, and you were reborn with a new life, the life of Christ. You were buried and, since only one life emerged from the tomb, you were reborn WITH Him (Rom 6:4), even ascending to Heaven in Christ (Eph 2:6). Receive this truth by faith, just as you received your forgiveness, once for all times.

You did do that, didn’t you?

The problem? These earthsuits, these human bodies that are dying a little more every day. They come across as the center of the universe. They loom so large and are so self-absorbed, it’s nearly impossible to see ourselves as brand new spirit-beings equipped with the life of Christ.

But we ARE brand new! We are holy and acceptable to God which means we’re wholly accepted by the One who matters MOST in the entire universe! Through Jesus Christ, the separation has forever been bridged between Creator and created. Praise-allujah!

At the cross, God had to kill every unholy thing about us that He could not tolerate in His holy presence. He re-created us, sweeping out our filthy selves so that He could cohabit in our spirit WITH us once we became His holy people (“saints,’ the Bible calls us) upon rebirth. Refusing to accept this is to allow Satan to deceive us. We must cease to live in our Adamic selves, understanding that the “old man” has been obliterated. Otherwise, we’d all have an evil twin, two spirit natures. We’d be spiritual Schizo’s, houses divided against ourselves (Matt 12:25). Such two-headed freaks can be found all over the Church today, perpetuated by many well-intentioned leaders.

Abundant living? We feel pretty tough as we sing and dance and shout in our congregations, punching holes in the demonic principalities over our churches and cities. But like a finger in a bowl of soup, once that finger is removed, the hole disappears. We get picked off by demonic snipers before we even reach our cars after Sunday services. Friends, we can BELIEVE this Bible stuff (head knowledge) or we can WALK in it by FAITH (heart knowledge), becoming dead to the sinful agendas of the past, even when we don’t FEEL like it. The Christian life is not about feelings, with our thoughts being the controlling factors in our lives. It’s about faith, believing the facts about ourselves as declared BY God in Scripture. It’s His inspired Word (2 Tim 3:16), not some spiritual thought for the day.

Thoughts! Church, our battle is on three fronts: the world, our flesh and the devil, each one battling for control of our minds! Just as Christ was crucified at Golgotha (the “Place of the Skull), so we must crucify those thoughts that enter our minds that cannot be supported by God’s Word (2 Cor 10:5).

We who call ourselves “practicing Christians” must never miss a practice. For us to develop a moment-to-moment dependence upon Christ is a learned behavior. Cast your cares on the world’s only overcomer. Let Him care FOR you(1 Peter 5:7)!

His Name is Jesus, the One who knows firsthand that life can be tough as nails. He alone has made the way for us to emerge victorious on a daily basis.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pastor Michael is founder of t.e.a.m. ministries (team1min@aol.com). His eMail broadcasts, known as “Your Town for Jesus” (SEARCH it!) are reaching tens of thousands WEEKLY. Log on at http://www.PlanetaryMinistry.org
Michael’s mission is to bring Discipleship and Encouragement to the Body of Christ. Michael is the author of numerous booklets on a subjects that will interest the thinking Christian. Since 1999, he has written and broadcast hundreds of inspirational articles and a dozen booklets, all designed to accelerate the process of spiritual development in God’s people.

The gospel is the revelation of God, and his finished work on the earth. One of the greatest revelations in the gospel is that God is in love with us. I know Jesus says the greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and then love others as ourselves. But when he said this, the Bible tells us he was responding to a trick question from a lawyer about the law. The lawyer was not sincerely seeking truth.

If the lawyer had been seeking truth, Jesus would have told him real love is not about us loving God, but it’s about God loving us (I John 4:10, 19). God loves us as much as he does Jesus (John 17:23). The Bible says God is love — and he loves us because of Jesus, not because of what we do or don’t do. The way love is preached today, we’re told WE have to show we’re good Christians by being loving.

But if love isn’t received, and then shared by us, it isn’t the love of God. All that any of us have, that is worth anything at all, is God within us.

Ephesians says we are holy, blameless, and stand before God in love — that we are ‘rooted and grounded in God’s love.’ Ephesians 3:16, this takes place in our ‘inner man’ — our soul, not our spirit. It’s our feelings and emotions. Thus, we are meant to personally experience God’s love, not just accept it as a theory. It’s God’s love that impacts us to live a powerful life (II Cor 5:14).

Paul says faith works through love. But faith is more than just simply believing God loves us, and then trying to love other people. This is why we must know God’s love personally and intimately. When we know something, in an intimate sense, then we receive it as ours. It is RECEIVING God’s love fresh every day — and then sharing what we have received with others.

There is a big difference between trying to love God — and knowing that God is in love with YOU! If you are sitting at a banquet table full to overflowing, you want to share it with others. But if you only have a piece of bread to eat, your willingness to share is diminished. If we know we are loved, it is then easy to share the love we have.

Love becomes practical if we truly embrace the gospel, and come to know God’s love experientially– each and every day. His love is a gift of the cross of Christ — a gift that allows John to say, “As Jesus is, so are WE in this world” (I John 4:17). As you continue to read Gospel Snapshots, they will progressively reveal and impart the power of the love of God into your life.

Last week I received a phone call from someone whose father had died. The mom had died not too long ago, after several years of struggling with cancer. She used to be a “regular” shul attendee, but had stopped coming because she was angry at God. She felt God had deserted her, had stopped taking care of her, and so she was going to stop visiting God in shul. The son and I had a long and very fruitful chat about all this. When I suggested to him that her anger at God was a perfectly normal reaction, he was surprised. He thought that most folks maintain their faith in God, no matter what. I believe that is not the case, but rather that most of us have a rather fluid faith system-when things are good, we believe; and when things are not so good, we do not.

When we were infants, everyone else took care of us-our parents, our older siblings, our family members and our doctors. We had to make no decisions on our own, our lives were in the capable hands of others. It was only as we grew up and older that we realized that we ourselves had to take on the responsibility for living our own lives and making our own decisions. No longer could we depend on others to keep us safe. Now, we were the main actors in our lives.

All that is fine and normal, until death or illness enters our life. When that happens, we find ourselves wanting to return to the years of our childhood, we want to again rely on others to make us well, to return us to life. When our doctors and caregivers, in whom we place so much hope, do help, we feel safe again; but when they cannot turn away illness and sickness, we become angry. We know that they are but mortal human beings, doing the best they can. And we know that sometimes the human body has its own agenda, which no one can change. Still, we are angry. Sometimes the anger is directed at God, whom we would like to believe can “do anything,” even cure diseases which have no cure. Our heads know the truth, it is our hearts which break when pain overwhelms us.

The anger is normal, but it is not truly anger. It is fear that we feel. When we have to change the way we have lived for so many years; when we become homebound or when we need our bedpans and walkers, when we have to depend on dialysis and adult diapers; when we spend too much time on the ICU floors and we begin to realize with certainty that our lives are coming to their end, we are scared. That fear comes out as anger, but the anger we feel is the fear that we will not be able to enjoy life as we used to. We are afraid that death is coming closer which each passing day.

I would claim theologically (and you are certainly entitled to disagree) that it is only when we are fearful that God can come into our lives. From joy we might gain happiness and satisfaction, but from pain we can glimpse more closely the values toward which we can reach. God is the force in the Universe that gives us hope, that allows us to move forward when we feel like giving up. No matter how many or how few days and weeks and months are left to us, we have the ability to make decisions about how we live, how our lives will look, and what we want to happen before we die. The ability to look beyond pain is one of those precious gifts God gives to us. Even when we are filled with fear, or perhaps especially when we are filled with fear, God walks with us, just as God did when we were infants and young babes in our parents’ arms.

God will be with us always. All we have to do is believe.

http://www.yourgriefmatters.com

There’s an old Vaudevillian expression that refers to what has become known as the litmus test for determining the success of a musical or theatrical show. Though I have no idea who it was that made it the standard that would forever be used for determining the potential success of a thing…ANY thing…this expression, a question so often asked in order to monitor public acceptance is, “Will it play in Peoria?” The reference there is that Peoria, Illinois is the run-of-the-mill, All-American place situated in America’s heartland and, if the folks there approve of your show, the rest of the nation would generally follow.

True or not, that’s the expression and it’s often used in many other instances having nothing to do with show business.

That being said, let’s apply it to Christianity. More specifically, let’s apply it to YOUR church.

HOW THE WEST WAS DUPED

As Christian people, affiliated with the Western Church, our tendancy is to think that we have the corner on truth; that we are fortunate enough to be “sitting under the spout where God’s glory pours out.” The fact is…and it IS a fact – 80% of Christendom is NOT of the Western variety. It is CERTAINLY not of the American variety. No, we are a mere 20% of everything that’s referred to as being “Christian” on all of planet Earth. Yet, we persist in believing that we – specifically, our particular Christian group – is making the greatest impact on the planet as we sit there in our pews, downright professional in our ability to sing the songs, pray the prayers, and locate the verses in record time, just as we have been trained. All the while, our Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are in danger of losing their lives, literally dying to serve Jesus, while we pass the plate to raise money for new playground equipment or buy another gargoyle for the cathedral.

I remember the first time I ever gave our 3rd world brethren a second thought. It happened when I was reading an old issue of Voice of the Martyrs magazine. As I thumbed through its pages, it hit me that the modes of baptism we Westerners have the time to argue about did not seem to matter to the pastor whose congregation lined up at his jail cell so that he could make a small cross on the foreheads with his own saliva through his cell bars. I recall asking myself how long we American Christains would argue about whether or not it was acceptable that the Saints behind the Iron Curtain were practicing “self-baptism” so as not to incriminate their church leaders. “That’s not Scriptural!” some Americans might be heard to holler in protest.

Give me a break, brothers.

Many years ago, as I warmed the pew of a Word of Faith church, I asked myself if the “blab it and grab it gospel” we were being taught would be acceptable in, let’s say, Sudan. I can hear the dialogue now between the preacher and a frail Sudanese Christian man:

Preacher: “March around that Caddy seven times, brothers and God will bless…”

Sudanese Chrsitian: “Excuse me, please…what’s a Caddy? By the way, can I grab a handful of that communion bread there? My family is starving. And that baptismal pool there…when you’re through with it, may I have the water?”

THE CHURCH…OR SOMETHING ELSE?

How about YOUR particular church? There are three types of doctrine referred to in Scripture – that of man, that of devils and that of Christ. Which is it that YOUR denomination is feeding you each week that others could not possibly fathom in some far away land? Are those who make up your “tribe” being taught the doctrine of Christ at all, or are they learning nothing more than the doctrine of man or of demons? Are the things they’re being taught actually distancing them FROM Jesus in an effort for the denomination to pad its Annual Report? Do the guys at headquarters really seem to care about the making of disciples?

I once heard a very wise old Church of Christ preacher, while speaking at something called a Unity Conference which I was privileged to speak at, who said, in essence: “Pastors, don’t assume that everyone who attends your church has embraced the doctrine of the denomination or thinks just like you do about everything in Scripture. With that in mind, why not encourage your people to fellowship with others outside of your denomination? What are you afraid of anyway? The world will look on in wonder.”

While we imperialistic Americans sit smuggly in our air-conditioned church buildings thinking ourselves to be the epitome of Christianity, we are but the very model of a modern major catastrophe. With so many American churches closing their doors annually (3800+), with so many Christian soldiers going AWOL weekly in the West (53,000), with church scandals making headlines almost nightly, our denominations are little more than the laughing stock of Hell as we bicker like Cain and Abel, striving to prove to ourselves that WE are God’s favored sons.

In most cases, we’ve learned to do little more than to sit and listen to sermons for long periods of time without resting.

We’ve mastered religiosity and failed at genuine relationship with God.

We’ve got lifeless ceremonialism down to an art while we ignore the the One who is Life itself.

We pay far more attention to the Institution than we do to the Incarnation.

What we have established, far and wide and with too few exceptions, is little more than Christless Christianity.

Friends, we must ask ourselves if what we’re calling “church” these days bears any semblance at all to the stuff of Acts 16:40, Romans 16:5, Colossians 4:15, etc., the only examples that anybody on the face of the planet – any untrained follower and lover of Jesus – can easily duplicate from person to person, house to house, and if that which IS being taught in your neck of the woods bears any semblance to that which was taught by the Teacher Himself.

In short, if it won’t play in Peoria, it may have been fashioned in Hell.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael’s mission is to bring Discipleship and Encouragement to the Body of Christ. Since 1999, he has broadcast over 300 hundred inspirational articles and a dozen booklets on subjects that will interest the thinking Christian, all designed to accelerate the process of spiritual development in God’s people.

He is the founder of t.e.a.m. ministries (team1min@aol.com). An Author, Pastoral Counselor and Teacher, his eMail broadcasts, known as “Your Town for Jesus” are reaching millions around the globe WEEKLY. Write team1min@aol.com if you’d like to SUBSCRIBE.

A licensed/ordained minister, a Certified Workplace Chaplain, and a Professional Member of NIBIC, he has ministered in Methodist, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Baptist, Disciples of Christ, College and Cowboy churches. He is also a Speaker on the Christian Speaker Network and may be available to speak to your church or Christian group.