After I finally sent my first book to an editor, I decided to celebrate by treating myself to a North Georgia Mountain getaway. After three long years of working on my first book and studying under the tutelage of seasoned writers and editors, my hard work had paid off.
Acquisition of knowledge should always result in the application of knowledge. I had a lot to think about on my getaway. It’s not just about what you know, but Who you know. I spent four days by myself hiking, biking and talking to GOD ALMIGHTY.
I remember the last morning hiking down Black Rck Mountain. As I meandered through the woods, I was mesmerized by the exploding fall colors. As I sat on a bench overlooking the Chattahoochee National Forest, I began thanking God for all He had blessed me with: good health, food, etc.
In that quiet moment, I heard Him say I AM blessed. And that is what this special Christmas blog will be about, the good news. Because, I realized that I had missed it.
EMMANUEL?
About a thousand years before Matthew wrote of the birth of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah prophesied about the birth of Emmanuel (God with us). For centuries this was the good news—God is coming back down to earth to be with His people, to save them.
When God sent His angel to Mary that OH HOLY NIGHT, she was told to name her baby, Jesus (savior) (Luke 1:26–31). The Angels were God’s original MESSENGERS; they were the first evangelists in a way. Perhaps this is why we sing ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH this time of year.
The psalmist declared that God created man a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5). Yet, God’s people were given the same task as the Angels—to bring the good news of Jesus.
Unfortunately, the Jewish people missed this and the Savior they had been waiting for as well. Instead, they sought earthly power, riches and success. The temporary pleasures of this world blinded them from the true good news of the gospel. They thought the gift of God was earthly prosperity.
Jerry B. Jenkins writes in his book I Saul, “Father pointed out various carvings and statues to the city’s(Antioch) deity, the goddess Tyche. ‘It means luck in Greek,’ he said, ‘Fortuna in Latin. It seems all anyone here cares about is prosperity. The God of our fathers has no place here.” John warned us not to love the things of this world (1 John 2:15–17).
GIFTS?
While I was on my getaway I attended a church that had a visiting evangelist for their speaker. After sharing an emotional story about the death of a close friend years earlier, he smiled.
“But I know I haven’t seen my brother for the last time. One day we’ll meet again. And that gives me all the hope I need. It’s not the hope of temporary material blessings or great fame.” I couldn’t help but say “amen.”
The evangelist continued, “The church has become lazy. They want everything easy and feel good. They’ve lost their hunger for the Word and the things of God. Instead they want a feel-good feeling from Dr. Phil or Oprah.”
There is a clear difference between a motivational speaker and an evangelist, a motivational speaker brings a word, but an evangelist brings “the” word. Motivational speakers tell people what they want to hear. Evangelists tell people what God wants them to know, so they can be good.
Today, there are many false teachers twisting the gospel to make people happy. They teach the good news is more about having HOUSES AND CARS and the FINER THINGS in life or a big paycheck. If you believe God for it, He will make a way for you to get whatever you want. This mentality broke Paul’s heart (Philippians 3:18-21).
This prosperity gospel isn’t the gospel of the Christian faith. The apostle Paul warned the church of Corinth about where this other “gospel” comes from (2 Corinthians 11:3–4). These teachers have studied the Scripture only to twist it to justify their worldly lifestyle. Jerry B. Jenkins continues in his book I Saul, “Our job is to learn and to know the truth of the law and to practice it daily.”
Two thousand fourteen has been called the year of the Bible in the film industry with dozens of Christian themed films released. Most have taken sacred Scripture and rearranged it to be more entertaining or feel-good. There have also been closet Christian actors coming out of the woodwork professing a Christian faith.
Some believe because God has blessed them with material wealth or phenomenal fame they are God’s V.I.Ps. Quite a few have joined the flocks of prosperity teachers who teach worldly success equates to the favor of God.
It’s EASY TO LOVE a God who always gives you what you want. But these false teachers aren’t the only ones who believe God will PAY FOR IT when we want SOMETHING NEW. Many well-meaning Christians suffer from INSOMNIA in pursuit of a new and better life—they SELL OUT to the gods of this life.
WE?
In closing this blog I want to be clear it isn’t just the prosperity teachers who have twisted the gospel. Traditional, conservative, and modern churches have let false teachings BLUR the gospel message, some have straight lost it. They sound like the church the John describes in his vision (Revelation 3:17).
I don't believe God will pour out money like ash from an erupting volcano. Brothers and sisters, we must remember gifts from God include the good, the bad, and ugly moments (Romans 8:28).
We have shifted from a sound theology to a selfish “we” ology. Yes we are blessed and highly favored sons and daughters, kings and queens and DESTINED for greatness—but that isn’t the good news. The good news is that Jesus saves us from ourselves and eternity in hell. The best gift of all is Emmanuel. So even if we are disabled and have NUTHIN’ we are still blessed (Matthew 5:2–8)!
Thanks-A-Lot!
In a recent episode of The Goldbergs, the mother Beverly wanted to renew her wedding vows for her anniversary. She asked her husband to write his own VOW to express his love and feelings.
After wasting time, he plagiarized the lyrics to the theme song of the Family Ties T.V. series. At first Beverly was SPEECHLESS, until a friend told her the truth. Beverly was furious with her husband and demanded he come up with something original to show his love and thanks for all she had done for him over the years. Sadly, this is how the world and most people view a THING CALLED LOVE.
But, real love always gives and never expects anything in return, not even a THANK YOU! And that is what this Thanksgiving blog will be about. One of the most DANGEROUS twisted Gospels.
Philanthropy?
Philanthropy or humanism comes from the same Greek word used in the New Testament to describe a brotherly, affectionate love and desire for each other to be happy, kind of like Beverly, phileo. Compared to the ultimate love, agape, it is weak and fickle—because it is based on feelings. And like feelings, this love can fade. These kinds of lovers are only part-time lovers.
Whereas agape love is more trustworthy—it is not based on feelings, but the one giving the love. This is the type of love God has for us and we should have for others, it expects nothing in return. The apostle Paul refers to it in his letter to the church of Corinth (1 Corinthians 13:3–7). It isn’t boastful or showy.
That is where Philanthropy becomes TWISTED, it’s showy—it says, “DO THIS and you’ll be good with God.” There is not enough WORK on earth to get you into heaven. The late MICHAEL JACKSON is listed in the Guinness book of world records for the most money given to charities by a pop star ($350,000,000) and not a dime of it will get him into heaven. Yes, for a time he was KING OF THE WORLD, and he did a lot of good. But his works count for nothing in the long run. Christ’s blood is the BEST IN ME, not my works.
For the last few months I’ve had something ON MY MIND and it’s time for me to be honest and LET IT OUT. A few months ago there is a big trend in social media with the A. L. S. Ice bucket challenge. It’s time for the whole truth.
I prayed that no one would challenge me, because I wanted no part of that showy works-based belief, I was ashamed to see as many Christians posting videos on social media. That is the way the world, not the church. Everyone went berzerk posting videos.
I know that many had good intentions. But the proverb is true, “The path to hell is paved with good intentions.” Charity originally started in the Jewish culture as Tzedakah or acts of righteousness and giving the poor their due. Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias notes, “The most dangerous temptation is to do the right thing in the wrong way.”
In Jesus’ day it was common for the elite and religious to do their acts of righteousness in grandeur ways for everyone to see. They could live however they chose and then put on a GAMEFACE when in public to look more spiritual. They aired their deeds like a HOT AIR BALLOON.
However, Jesus taught His disciples not even let their left hands know what the right hands are doing. For those who announce their deeds with trumpets already have their reward (Matthew 6:1–4). But we have hope! First, we must STOP PLAYING GAMES before we stand before God.
GOOD NEWS 2. 0?
Interestingly, in the previous chapter Jesus told the disciples to let their light shine before men (Matthew 5:15–17). Then He says to do them in secret? When Jesus taught His disciples the golden rule (Matthew 7:12) the point wasn’t to get anything back, but the LOVE WE SHARE, LOVE NEVER LEAVES.
Of course, we all know God is omnipotent and HE KNOWS everything we are doing, there are no closed doors to Him. This is why it’s important that our worship is an ALL DAY, EVERYDAY act—it’s ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL. Those who wait for the weekend or special occasions to worship God haven't fully grasped biblical worship.
It’s not just when people are watching us. It’s not just when there is a good cause to promote. It’s not just when we meet together for corporate worship. True worship is lived out in every detail of every day of our lives—in both the big and small events. This is why there’s no need to put on a show or try to earn salvation. Hallelujah for the cross!
The truth and good news of the gospel is that Jesus won the SWEET VICTORY on the cross to REDEEM all who believe. It is an UNBELIEVABLE free gift for which we should at least say thanks-a-lot.
After wasting time, he plagiarized the lyrics to the theme song of the Family Ties T.V. series. At first Beverly was SPEECHLESS, until a friend told her the truth. Beverly was furious with her husband and demanded he come up with something original to show his love and thanks for all she had done for him over the years. Sadly, this is how the world and most people view a THING CALLED LOVE.
But, real love always gives and never expects anything in return, not even a THANK YOU! And that is what this Thanksgiving blog will be about. One of the most DANGEROUS twisted Gospels.
Philanthropy?
Philanthropy or humanism comes from the same Greek word used in the New Testament to describe a brotherly, affectionate love and desire for each other to be happy, kind of like Beverly, phileo. Compared to the ultimate love, agape, it is weak and fickle—because it is based on feelings. And like feelings, this love can fade. These kinds of lovers are only part-time lovers.
Whereas agape love is more trustworthy—it is not based on feelings, but the one giving the love. This is the type of love God has for us and we should have for others, it expects nothing in return. The apostle Paul refers to it in his letter to the church of Corinth (1 Corinthians 13:3–7). It isn’t boastful or showy.
That is where Philanthropy becomes TWISTED, it’s showy—it says, “DO THIS and you’ll be good with God.” There is not enough WORK on earth to get you into heaven. The late MICHAEL JACKSON is listed in the Guinness book of world records for the most money given to charities by a pop star ($350,000,000) and not a dime of it will get him into heaven. Yes, for a time he was KING OF THE WORLD, and he did a lot of good. But his works count for nothing in the long run. Christ’s blood is the BEST IN ME, not my works.
For the last few months I’ve had something ON MY MIND and it’s time for me to be honest and LET IT OUT. A few months ago there is a big trend in social media with the A. L. S. Ice bucket challenge. It’s time for the whole truth.
I prayed that no one would challenge me, because I wanted no part of that showy works-based belief, I was ashamed to see as many Christians posting videos on social media. That is the way the world, not the church. Everyone went berzerk posting videos.
I know that many had good intentions. But the proverb is true, “The path to hell is paved with good intentions.” Charity originally started in the Jewish culture as Tzedakah or acts of righteousness and giving the poor their due. Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias notes, “The most dangerous temptation is to do the right thing in the wrong way.”
In Jesus’ day it was common for the elite and religious to do their acts of righteousness in grandeur ways for everyone to see. They could live however they chose and then put on a GAMEFACE when in public to look more spiritual. They aired their deeds like a HOT AIR BALLOON.
However, Jesus taught His disciples not even let their left hands know what the right hands are doing. For those who announce their deeds with trumpets already have their reward (Matthew 6:1–4). But we have hope! First, we must STOP PLAYING GAMES before we stand before God.
GOOD NEWS 2. 0?
Interestingly, in the previous chapter Jesus told the disciples to let their light shine before men (Matthew 5:15–17). Then He says to do them in secret? When Jesus taught His disciples the golden rule (Matthew 7:12) the point wasn’t to get anything back, but the LOVE WE SHARE, LOVE NEVER LEAVES.
Of course, we all know God is omnipotent and HE KNOWS everything we are doing, there are no closed doors to Him. This is why it’s important that our worship is an ALL DAY, EVERYDAY act—it’s ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL. Those who wait for the weekend or special occasions to worship God haven't fully grasped biblical worship.
It’s not just when people are watching us. It’s not just when there is a good cause to promote. It’s not just when we meet together for corporate worship. True worship is lived out in every detail of every day of our lives—in both the big and small events. This is why there’s no need to put on a show or try to earn salvation. Hallelujah for the cross!
The truth and good news of the gospel is that Jesus won the SWEET VICTORY on the cross to REDEEM all who believe. It is an UNBELIEVABLE free gift for which we should at least say thanks-a-lot.
Blind Spots
Every year I attend a Christian music festival in Atlanta on Labor Day weekend, it’s a free event I enjoy going to each year to close out summer. This year was super fun, I was TRIPPEN.
The concerts were amazing and I acted like a child riding back-and-forth on the lift over the fairgrounds, I’m always a thrill seeker. I even had the opportunity to head downtown for dinner at my favorite place to eat in Atlanta. By the time I headed home, it was nearly midnight and thunderstorms were moving in with severe lightning.
The drive home would be a long and scary one, because I am statutorily (legally) blind. Although I have better than 20/20 vision, my peripheral vision is full of blind spots. Israeli American psychologist Daniel Kahneman noted, “We’re blind to our blindness. We have very little idea of how little we know. We’re not designed to know how little we know.” Yes, it’s possible to have vision and still be blind, which is pretty scary. That’s what this special Halloween blog will be about.
BLIND?
On one occasion Jesus’ disciples asked Him why He spoke in parables and Jesus replied that the people see, but don’t see (Matthew 13:13–14). Thus, it’s possible to know the gospel and still be blind. It’s kind of like being a zombie after the lights come on; we just keep following the crowd.
It’s possible to be FIREBLAZING a path to share the gospel Like Saul—to be God’s MESSENGERS or evangelists, from the Greek word euangelion—and still be blind and our lives spiral downwards.
Saul was so zealous for God that he actually thought he was doing God’s will by killing Christians. In his autobiography evangelist and author Sammy Tippit shares, “It was hard for Tex (his wife) to have me gone every evening and most of every night. She tried to tell me in many gentle ways that I was neglecting her and Davey (his son), and when I didn’t pick up on it, she grew irritable. I was blind and self-righteous enough to consider her mood an attack of Satan to which she had fallen prey.”
It’s possible to GLOW IN THE DARK for Christ and get caught in the lights of a fallen world, because of sin. While Jesus hung on the cross to rescue us from ourselves, He prayed for God to forgive the people, because they didn’t know what they were doing—sin blinds and we all have sinned (Romans 3:23). We are all born this way, BROKEN and sinful. The psalmist declared we have sinned before we even start breathing (Psalm 51:5).
Perhaps this is why Jesus warned us about the planks in our eyes (Luke 6:42). At one point in His ministry, some Pharisees questioned Jesus about a blind man’s sin and their own blindness (John 9:39–41). They thought their knowledge could save them, which is another blind spot. Instead of talking about change like some politicians, we need to wake up and BE THE CHANGE.
Hell will be full of people who thought they were smart enough to go to heaven. The Church of Scientology was founded on a body of knowledge about four principles. Man is: immortal, has life after death, unlimited POWER and is good. Billions of lost souls are desperately searching for HOPE in knowledge. Most people believe that knowledge is power, this is the twisted gospel.
HEAD KNOWLEDGE?
Paul explains that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (1 Corinthians 8:1–2). The greater one thinks they are, the more likely they are to have blind spots. We all need accountability. Some evangelicals handle the gospel like a CHAINSAW that is out of control. They get COCKY and forget that meekness (humility) is THE FRUIT of the spirit.
I saw this firsthand at the Christian festival. After a younger artist decided to speak after her performance, an older artist came out and lovingly corrected her. Likewise, I’ve sinned without even knowing what I was DOIN’. This is why I thank God that JESUS LOVE’S ME, INSPITE OF ME and my blind spots!
The Twisted Gospels
Recently, while I was eating my mid-ride snack at the lake, there was a family enjoying a picnic in the same shelter; we were all seeking relief from the summer heat and humidity of the South. I’m actually glad that fall starts in a few weeks. I think my sheltermates feel the same as I do.
Unfortunately, fall in the South typically has a mixture of hot days and cool days TWISTED together and you never know what you may get from day-to-day. And that’s what this new blog will be about, WHEN EVERYTHING IS CHANGING, it can be confusing. CAN YOU FEEL IT?
Back at the lake, the men in the group began to drink beer and laugh obnoxiously. Two little boys in the family decided to come and sit with me at a picnic table. As the little boys and I shared biking stories, one of the men walked off through the park drinking a beer and soon one of the boys followed him.
It wasn’t long before the little boy came running back to the shelter screaming, “Poppa needs help, he fell and can’t get up!” Immediately all of the women in the family began running up the road following the little boy.
The other men stayed back and continued drinking, one of them told me not to worry about, “Poppa”, he just wants some attention. They assured me that everything would be alright. I hung my head in shame and admitted that I too had experienced the PSYCHOSOCIAL tendencies of alchohol and loneliness (Romans 1:18–2:4).
They didn’t realize Poppa was crying for help because like me—all of us, he needs a savior. As the days grow darker and the Curse wreaks havoc on all of humanity, we’re all in need of a superhero to save the day and give us peace from our problems. Now that I’m a BIG BOY, I know no man is an island.
Martin Luther King Jr. noted, “We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.” Unfortunately, most people look for hope and comfort in temporary things that don’t satisfy—they offer a glimmer of hope, but fail to deliver any lasting value. The world has really gotten it all twisted (1 Peter 1:1–4)!
GOSPEL?
For the first time in seven years my focus in writing will be on evangelism and not discipleship. As I watch the news and see the sad stories of young Michael Brown and actor Robin Williams, I can’t help but want to share the gospel, the “good news” of Jesus. This is the mission of the church, to spread the gospel and SHOW LOVE to the lost—not to be haters.
The word gospel is found about 100 times in the New Testament. It is derived from the Greek noun euangelion and the Greek verb euangelizo, the combined meaning is to bring forth or proclaim good news—in its most excellent form the Greek word euangelizomai (active voice) means to bring news of a great victory!
I can’t think of a better way to describe the message of Jesus. However, over the millennia, the secular world has taken bits of the gospel and fashioned it to fit their desires. . . financial blessings and materialism have become signs of God’s favor—while the only joy many people ever get is a PAYCHECK and they are just getting by trying to be somebody.
The Philanthropy movement has become a way of getting into HEAVEN. As the days grow darker FASTER than ever, more people believe that they can earn God’s favor and have favor because of their works instead of Jesus’ work on the cross, He’s a SUPERHERO that will fight for you!
The list of word crimes goes on and on, it will take some time to unravel the SCHWEET lies from the truth of the gospel (2 Peter 3:16–18). But I AM convinced that the message of Jesus is needed by the multitudes of lost souls who are overcome and overwhelmed by the pressures of a dying world.
Perhaps if the church wasn’t so preoccupied with seeking greatness and trying to WALK ON WATER, we’d see the LONELY PEOPLE who are sinking deep in twisted Gospels.
Snapshots?
A good friend and brother in the faith suffered a broken heart after ending a relationship with his girlfriend and mother of his son. It pained me more to watch him struggle to keep the relationship going. AFTER ALL, I knew the mother of his new son had failed in other relationships and I feared he’d get hurt. In my opinion she wasn’t fully committed to him, He got CAUGHT DREAMING.
It hurt me to see him suffer, all in the name of HOPE. Hope that he could change her, hope she would love him no matter what. Listening to him brought back memories of my first broken heart when my high school sweetheart and I broke up in 1994, I was sure I’d never love again.
After three years of getting to know each other and growing together in love, it ended—not because of us, but because of her family. For months we snuck around and saw each other every chance we could. In my heart I still cared about her deeply and I cried out to God LET IT BE LOVE. But in my soul, in my gut—I knew that I couldn’t love her as much she deserved and I knew that I needed to move on and LET IT GO. I knew that it wasn’t God’s time for me to get married and Igave up. However, I knew there was hope in front of me.
As a young Christian, I was well aware of the wisdom of King Solomon. But God had to teach me that there really is a time for everything under the sun (Ecclesiastes 3:1–27). Notice Solomon doesn’t say that there is a time for only fun and happy things (hedonism), but also the bad things (reality). Just ask Job.
The things in life that we wish we could avoid: pain, death, war, crying and even hate also have a specific place and purpose in our lives (Ecc. 3:8)—the purest gold only comes from the hottest fires. As summer draws to a close, I’m sure that as you look back there will be both good times and bad times, each are snapshots of what make up this thing we call life, some good and some bad. And that is what this final blog of the summer and my series The Curse will be about.
BALANCE?
To be completely honest, I wish that life was one big party where everything always worked out how I wanted it to, LET’S PARTY. TRUST me I wish that I didn’t have to experience all of the BAD times in my life. Like the painful breakups, my accident and having seizures. Or being fired from my job of fifteen years and having to trust God to make ends meet. Or watching my DREAMS slowly fade away IN TIME.
Like watching my father waste away from lung cancer and die a horrible painful death; which is appropriate seeing how this month marks ten years since he died. After my accident, he told me that parents should never see their child die. No, I wouldn’t wish a brain injury on my worst enemy. But these are all effects of the curse, that’s life on this side of death.
Even Christians mistakenly think that we are called to love everything and life is always some peaceful utopia—but the Bible also says there are times of war and we should hate the evil things in this life. Look at the nation of Israel today; it seems as if there will never be peace between it and Palestine.
Even if you were the only person on an island, you would have problems. The Bible is clear that the curse affects everything in creation. King Solomon was right though; there is a time for everything good or bad, it’s wisdom that teaches us when to HOLD ON or when to let go.
It’s when God seems silent, we need to listen more—it’s the same letters, just rearranged. Change your perspective. Are we as a body so DEAF that we only hear half of the gospel? If so, we are LOSIN’ IT—even L.S.D. trips eventually crash.
No matter how hard we try to make life an feel good all the time PRAISE, PARTY ROCK—there will be bumps in the road, whether disappointments or whatever. The apostle Paul told the young church in Corinth that while they were free, not everything was good for them (1 Corinthians 10:2)—we are not free to sin. This is where hedonism fails us; the pleasure principle isn’t the point to life. There will be good and bad times, which balances us out.
Let me be LOUD AND CLEAR, I’m not referring to the new age doctrine of balance. This balance teaching has caused many Christians to stumble, believing it is okay to enjoy a little bit of everything as long as you don’t go too far. Many actually believe the Bible teaches, “Everything in moderation.”
When actually, it was Aristotle who said that and he was a Greek philosopher. We are called to be different from the world, an ANOMALY. Everything about Christianity demands that we are fully committed to Christ alone. This means you forsake all and go all in. It’s like the classic church sign wisdom, “Our Heavenly Father wants full custody, not just weekend visits.”
This was the Apostle Paul’s plea with the church at Ephesus, they thought they could balance their faith with wine and debauchery (hedonism) (Ephesians 5:15–18). I know because I’m an alcoholic and addict in recovery. Jesus’ command is it’s all or NUTHIN’ (Luke 14:33)! The early disciples knew that Jesus is the only real hope of a LIMITLESS LIFE any of us have. Hold on to hope, Jesus—let go of this world. A full life has both good times and bad times—hedonism is just a half-life of fleeting pleasures. God takes our mistakes and pain, and then gives us beauty for ashes.
HOPE?
A few weeks ago my pastor’s nephew gave his life to Christ. As he stood before the congregation, I could see the FEAR on his face. I decided to walk down with some other men and pray over him. Afterwards, I pulled him to the side and told him that he just declared war against the devil.
My pastor and I both warned him that the enemy would attack him even more, it will seem like someone hit the crazy button and there will be more temptation and possibly more pain (1 Peter 4:12). But, we’re NOT AFRAID OF THE PAIN, God uses both the good and bad things for our good, He doesn’t ZONE OUT the bad—He uses it (Romans 8:28). Hedonism is a weak because there is no need to be brave when everything is going how we want—there is no need for hope and we’re left hopeless.
Job cried out, “Though you slay me, yet I will hope in Him (Job 13:15 –16).” Not in the blessings or things. Most false teachers and prophets today raise a BIBLE IN THE AIR and say I KNOW God wants to give you HOUSES AND CARS. They’ve TWISTED the truth to simply make people happy, not holy. They are just blowing smoke like chimneys. You can live like a CELEBRITY and HAVE IT ALL and still have no eternal hope.
However, the good news about the Curse is that Jesus SHUT IT DOWN for Christians on the cross, in the scope of eternity these temporary pleasures, trials and tribulations become only brief snapshots.
The Curse!: Battles?
After I finished writing my last blog, I decided to take a trip up to North Georgia to visit my mentor for the holiday weekend. I had a lot on my TORTURED MIND and needed to get away and FORGET ABOUT THE WORLD. During that weekend, I had time to go up to Amiccola Falls to SIT AND LISTEN to what God had to say to me. I had some crazy thoughts going in my head and I just wanted to escape or lie down and give up.
I don’t BELIEVE it was any coincidence that the next day my mentor asked me to participate in a Memorial Day parade. Never in my life had I heard of a Memorial Day parade. That morning I saw hundreds of current and former soldiers who courageously fought in wars from the Korean War all the way up to the current WAR in Iraq. The LEGACY of these brave men goes all the way back to the Revolutionary War of the eighteenth century, which is appropriate since we celebrate Independence Day in a couple of days to celebrate the victory our brave forefathers fought so valiantly for.
I come from a proud line of soldiers; both my father and brother have served this country in the U.S. Army. As well as my mentor who gave thirty-one years of his life fighting for the cause of America. These men unselfishly put their lives on the line to fight for this country; many of them faced traumatic battles that we can’t comprehend. Although the wars may be over, there are still battles that need to be fought. And that is what this new blog will be about.
DA WAR?
On October 21, 2011 Pres. Obama announced his plans to have all U.S. troops and trainers leave Iraq by the end of that year, this was to bring the mission to Iraq to an end. About two months later the secretary of defense declared the Iraq war was over on December 15, 2011.
Never before in the history of this country has there been a sitting president so DISCONNECTED from the Armed Forces and its missions. Clearly the president and his administration have their own agendas and aren’t concerned about the US citizens and the country’s interests. His tenure as president has been more of a war of change. Because of their mishandling of the war in Iraq, Iraq is back in turmoil and thousands of U.S. soldiers who lost their lives have been disgraced. I’m SORRY; I just had to get that out before I continue with this blog.
You see, likewise, never before in my life have so many churches been so disconnected from God and pursuing His kingdom. There must be something in the water. When Christianity becomes about God blessing us and fulfilling our dreams, the church loses its focus. The PEOPLE OF GOD have forgotten the mission of the church.
When church teachers and preachers are more concerned about Christians being worldly successful, we are heading down the same path as the Jewish nation when hedonism began to creep into Jewish teachings. Christian apologist Timothy Keller notes, “If you seek righteousness first, you get happiness. If you seek happiness first, you get neither.”
When churches teach their members to chase their VERSACE DREAMS and believe God for them. They are sending them back to the worldly lives Jesus died to deliver them from. There was a time this meant someone was a HYPOCRITE. Let me be LOUD AND CLEAR, Jesus conquered Satan and his followers when He became our curse on the cross (Galatians 3:13), we serve a truly strong God and He won the war!
But, it is our responsibility to go against the ways of the world like a chainsaw... to die to self, daily... to fight the cravings of our flesh and then God will BE GLORIFIED (John 5:30)! Then the world will know that we are different and set apart for God’s purposes (Psalm 4:3; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Peter 2:9)—not ours. God is not glorified when His children look more like the world than Him.
When the church refuses to die to self by battling their selfish desires in pursuit of greatness, we commit TREASON. Treason is defined as, “1. A violation of allegiance to one's sovereign or to one's state. 2. The betrayal of a trust or confidence; breach of faith, treachery.” And that is what most churches teach when they teach a feel-good, warm fuzzy and selfish DREAM TEAM gospel. They SELL OUT for the pleasures of this world.
I can’t help but wonder what happened to the brave and courageous MARTYRS of the early church? The ones who would follow Jesus wherever He went, withholding nothing... the ones who didn’t even have homes to return to... the ones who didn’t feel worthy enough to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus.
The apostle Paul was a FIGHTER and he was well aware of the spiritual warfare going on around the early church and him. This is why he wrote so much to the early churches and his young protégé Timothy about completing the mission and fighting the good fight (1 Corinthians 9:25; Ephesians 6:12; Philippians 1:30; 1 Timothy 4:7)
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As a church, WE ARE BRAVE when we feel our biblical principles are violated by the world and we claim that we are NOT FOR SALE. But, we aren't brave when it costs us our happiness and comfort. We’ve forgotten that the love of money is the ROOT OF ALL EVIL (Proverbs 15:27; 1 Timothy 6:10). We can point our fingers and blame it on the world, but they aren’t the real enemy—just pawns is this war.
THE ENEMY?
Again, the apostle Paul makes it clear that this war is not against this world, but spiritual forces that fell from heaven when God shook Heaven like an EARTHQUAKE when Satan rebelled, it’s a long way down from the mountaintop of pride and happiness. That’s how the curse started in the PARADISE garden. Man was always BORN TO LOVE something or someone. Originally it was God, but the curse caused man to love himself more than God. More often than not our battles aren’t even against ANGELS AND DEMONS, but ourselves and our selfish desires: dreams, Colorado, London, Italy, money, fame, power, a new house, new car, new spouse or sex. Take your pick, which do you pray for the most? Are you a LOVE ADDICT? Is more of God GETTING INTO YOU or MORE OF YOU?
I’ve learned over the years that one way you can tell what matters most people is to listen to their prayers. Because they’ve been taught that, “Prayer changes everything.” Unfortunately, most people fail to realize that prayer is meant to change us—not God. One seminary professor observed, “Witchcraft is the effort to get spiritual powers to do what we want them to do whether it is a good desire or an evil desire. When I thought of my prayer life, this statement made me think about what are my prayers?” Thus we must make war against our flesh.
Prayer is not meant to be a means to worldly success—it’s meant to help us successfully follow God’s will. In his letter to the church in Rome the apostle Paul battled his own desires constantly (Romans 7:7–25). He later prayed for God to remove a thorn from his flesh and God refused (2 Corinthians 12:7–9). Jesus taught His disciples to pray for God’s will to be done, not theirs. There is much wisdom in this, because God is all-knowing and knows what’s best for us.
Jesus taught His disciples that in this world they would have trouble (John 16:32– 33). This is why I am READY FOR HOME and I refuse to listen to the enemy’s lies about happiness anymore. Every time THE SAINTS compromise their faith in the name of happiness and comfort, they lose another battle and prove to be their own worst enemy.
Before anyone says or thinks, “Martin, who are you to judege me?” Over the last eight years I’ve tried to be as TRANSPARENT as possible in my writing and I’ve shared many of my own battles and failures. Yes, for years compromise was the story of my life as I chased the things of this broken world. Yes, I’m human and I’ve made many mistakes.
Even before I started college in 1994, I was LIVING FOR THE OTHER SIDE. I chose to fight for my right to enjoy life—until God had to UNDO ME by showing me mercy and allowing me to die. And ever since life has been one big SHOOT OUT as the enemy has tried to shoot me down.
There have been times I’ve felt like giving up on the fight. But it is God’s love that has carried me in the good and bad times. God has used both to REFINE ME (Romans 8:28) and prepare me for the battles.
The Curse!: Happy Campers
After I posted my last blog, I had a teleconference with my instructor about a new plan of action for my writing due to the dramatic shift in the Christian publishing industry. Those of you who know me, know that I was hoping to move back to Colorado by the end of spring. Due to my focus shifting from working on my book back to writing articles—it’s needless to say, “I wasn’t a happy camper!” And that is what this special blog will be about, being a happy camper.
The term happy camper implies that a person or people have all they need while out in the wilderness, not want. The basic idea of camping is getting away from the hustle and bustle of life and spending some simple time in nature where things are less COMPLICATED. A happy camper doesn’t have all the luxuries of life, but is content to make do with life’s basic necessities of shelter, food and water, and warmth.
I can still remember going camping in Colorado with my father when I was little; it was his favorite time to get away from the strict and routine demands of the Army life. Our weekend getaways served a dual purpose, my father got away from work and he got me away from playing video games on my Atari 2600, playing with my G.I. Joes and TRANSFORMERS.
Those childhood memories were so special that not even a traumatic brain injury could erase them from my memory. I can still remember getting up early on those Saturday mornings and creeping of out the house with my father, which is appropriate since we will celebrate Father’s Day in a couple of weeks. Those weekends were the times my father didn’t have to fuss or fight with me, we fished and explored, talked and laughed, ate MREs and drank Shasta Cola together. But they weren’t the norm, just an escape from reality that my father and I looked forward to. He taught me many things about life on those weekend escapades.
The Jewish community turned to the writings of King Solomon for wisdom about life in the Kohelet. King Solomon had everything one could want and he still wasn’t a happy camper—his conclusion was pleasures are MEANINGLESS (Ecclesiastes 2:1–26). This too would become the theme for the early disciples and church and even Jesus (Matthew 6:25–32).
Life isn’t about the temporary pleasures of this world; life’s purpose is about glorifying God only. The early church knew that without Jesus one could never be completely satisfied and happy. Today, most want to double dip by having Jesus plus things to be happy. This tells me they really aren’t content with having Jesus as their Lord.
Let me be clear here, it is not that God doesn’t want to bless us; He just doesn’t want us to worship the blessings. Many in the church today want to BE A KING more than they want to be the King’s. Go GET YO BIG on, AM I TRENDING? Theologian and author John Piper said it best, “God is most glorified when we are satisfied in Him.”
The truth is God wants to give us heaven more than He wants to give us this world. DON’T WORRY BABY God will give you whatever you want, please. Honestly, it’s incredible how fast many Christians will compromise their beliefs to live their dreams. . . to be loved. . . to be happy (Philippians 3:17–21). But there is a better way.
GODS AT WAR?
This was the good news that the apostle Paul and the disciples were to take to the ends of the world, this meant they had to CHANGE THE WORLD. To do this they had to make many missionary trips through Asia Minor to get to Rome. Problem is hedonism had spread from Greece throughout the region from Asia Minor to Rome. This is where Greek mythology originated. For hundreds of years the Greeks had a God for everything from sex to power, nature and even alcohol and wine. Hedonism says don't worry, be happy at all costs. Enjoy everything you can.
It didn’t take long for the Roman Empire to establish the Roman equivalents of each God. I remember studying them when I started school in Vicenza, Italy. There are still many statues of these gods on display in Rome today, even though the Roman Emperor Constantine attempted to convert the Roman Empire over Christianity about A. D. 312.
Along the missionary routes from Jerusalem to Greece were cities like Ephesus and the Galatian provinces, these were on the frontline of the battle between Christianity and hedonism. This is why the apostle Paul talked about spiritual warfare so much in his letters to Galatia (Galatians 4:8, 6:7–9) and Ephesus (Ephesians 6:10–20). Because of our new nature in Christ, we are called as a church to war against the sinful nature that resulted from the curse in THE GARDEN, not indulge it!
Most of the New Testament writers wrote about this battle between secular hedonism and Christianity. In case you’re wondering where hedonism is discussed in the Bible, it is not described by that word—instead the New Testament writers use the word debauchery. Over and over we are told do not give into it (Matthew 7:13; Ephesians 5:11, 18; Romans 1:18, 13:13–14; 1 John 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3), Jesus even talked about it in His famous parable about the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32)
I am simply amazed by how many Christians have given up on fighting the good fight against their own desires. Instead they choose to use their faith to satisfy their fleshly desires and glorify nobody but themselves HOPING FOR TOMORROW. Over the last twenty-five years instead of changing the world most churches have allowed the world to change them.
Most false teachers and false prophets teach that because we are children of the light we deserve the best of this world, Christianity teaches me to FIX MY EYES on things above and that’s the CONSTANT battle that rages in every Christian’s heart. I’ve seen good Christian friends go berzerk chasing worldly treasures all in the pursuit of happiness. The current trend of taking selfies is proof our society and culture has become self-absorbed with ourselves.
THE GOOD FIGHT?
Most Christians would believe that the good fight is against the world. However, the apostle Paul makes it clear that our fight is not just against people but against spiritual forces, spiritual forces that entered this world through the curse and the fall. Every human has a sin nature as part of the human side of them. This is why every parent has to teach their babies to do what is right, not what’s wrong. We are selfish by nature and easily distracted by temporary desires.
When I played T-ball in Italy as a youth my nickname was Dirt Dauber because when I played shortstop I was often CAUGHT DREAMING while playing in the dirt, instead of focusing on the game. The author of Hebrews describes some early Christians as immature babes because they couldn’t STAY focused on the mission and had to keep relearning elementary truths of the faith (Hebrews 5:12–14). They failed to realize that the Christian life is about more than words, its action—change!
Like little babies they cry OOH AH every time they see something they want. Instead of being TRANSFORMED by the word they keep chasing the SAME OLE useless junk. To be honest it’s our own fault, from the time children are little we teach them songs like if you're happy and you know it and their lives are wasted temporary things that aren’t WORTH IT like HOUSES AND CARS, in THE END it ALL BURNS DOWN or shatters.
It has been calculated that a child will be told “No” about forty thousand times before the first day of kindergarten. To children the word no is bad; to mature Christians it is something good. Our heavenly father knows what is best for us and sometimes it’s bittersweet that we don’t get what we hope for. He wants us to be holy and He knows our sin nature yearns for temporary pleasures that can never make us happy campers.
The Curse: Slice Of Heaven?
In his book Lost Paradise John Milton states, “You can make a hell out of heaven or a heaven of hell depending on your state of mind.” It all depends on what makes you happy at the time. When I was growing up my mother’s favorite saying was, “If mama ain’t happy, nobody is”; which is appropriate seeing how we will celebrate Mother’s Day in a little over a week and today would’ve been my parents’ forty-ninth wedding anniversary if they were alive. But I’m confident that they are better off now and happier since they are both in heaven. Earlier this year I wrote a blog about heaven and how God is going to restore everything back to its original state.
A few months back I was fortunate enough to go back to Colorado for a couple of weeks and God gave me a wake-up call. I began to see how bad the curse has distorted our view of heaven. You see, from the moment I stepped out of the airport on my way to pick up the rental car, I felt like I was home. Even at night with the mountains outlined in light I had so much peace that it felt like heaven on earth for me.
I’m sure that many reading this can understand what I was feeling. For some it might be the taste of chocolate that they’ve been dreaming of all week, for some it may be a chocolate waterfall. For others it may be like wine after a hard day’s work. And for many it’s the simple touch of a lover they long for. But, for me it was simply being back in Colorado and knowing the adventures and sights that awaited me.
If you’ve never been to Colorado, especially the “Springs” area, there is a plethora of things to do and for an outdoor enthusiast like myself, it can be overwhelming. Garden of the Gods is a beautiful red rock garden with miles of paths and trails on the perimeter of the city; the U.S. Olympic training Center is located downtown. To the west in the foothills is Manitou Springs with the cog railroad, Manitou incline and the Indian cliff dwellings. A little north of the city is one of my favorite places to visit, Seven Falls.
Unfortunately, the mudslides a few years back have ruined this magnificent WATERFALL. The curse has affected more than just mankind, nature and all creation have been impacted by sin (Romans 8:19–20). This is why even our favorite pets will SUFFER a painful death one day. But then again what does it matter? Even our pets go to heaven, right? And that’s what this new blog will be about, how the curse has impacted our view of heaven.
HEAVEN 2.0?
I’m pretty sure that each of us has a different perspective of what heaven will be like. But I stand with Dr. David Platt—the Bible is clear that not only can we not imagine how glorious and beautiful heaven will be—no one has ever gone there and come back except Jesus to pay the debt for our sin and defeat the curse at CALVARY. Not to be COCKY, but I’m Heaven knows I'm ready to go. ARE YOU READY? Say Amen.
The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus that God raised us up with Christ so that in the coming age (heaven) He will show us incomparable riches of His grace that we have received BY THE FAITH (Ephesians 2:3-7). Pastor John Piper recently tweeted, “Grace is power, not just pardon.” If you think the grace of God in this life is awesome, just wait to you get to heaven!
This is why I’m not bothered by the thought of dying; I know that the moment after I breathe my last breath, I will stand before the Almighty God. The bright lights from being in His presence will leave me SPEECHLESS as I try to say something when I look upon the Lord. But I’m confident that words will escape me as I take in the beautiful things of heaven. Personally, I don’t believe that this world can even give us a glimpse of heaven, because this world is tainted with sin and under the curse. This world is all about being selfish and pursuing temporary pleasures.
HEDONISM?
According to Webster’s dictionary hedonism is, “The doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life.” This belief places the emphasis on us and our happiness and pleasure. While there are obvious cults that teach this, I’m more concerned about pastors and mainline churches that have let this teaching slip in to biblical doctrine. Let me be LOUD AND CLEAR, Redemption is the HEARTBEAT of the gospel, not self-gratification or good fortune. OUR GOD IS GREATER than any petty riches of this world. Hedonists believe they have a piece of heaven, when it’s really hell. Hedonists live for the moment, Christians live for eternity.
If you refuse to be denied the pleasures of this world you’re likely a hedonist disguised as a Christian. This is why I am personally turned off when I see Christian women that I’m interested in posting pictures of themselves out partying or drinking, I’ve seen my share of WILDTHINGS and I see this more and more as I get older. They keep playing the SAME OLE, SAME OLE games. The apostle Paul warned his protégé Timothy that in the last days of this world many in the church will turn away from biblical teaching (2 Timothy 4:3).
Hedonism is the opposite of Christianity. Christian life can be a happy one but that’s not the focus of the Christian life, Jesus and the good news is; sharing the love of God is, not the love of this world. Hedonism says you don’t have to suffer in life; it’s a bed of roses and live it to the fullest. Christianity says, “In this world YOU WILL have trials” (John 16:33). In this life you will have DARK DAYS AND DARKER NIGHTS. And I personally DON’T WANT TO STAY another night. Hedonism says you deserve the best of this world. Christianity says, “We all deserve hell” (Isaiah 59:2).
Hedonism says give me everything, I deserve it. Christianity says, “Take my life, it’s yours.” Hedonism says, "Do life big.” Christianity says, “He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:30). Hedonism says, “Get whatever you can.” Christianity says, “Give everything you’ve got away and then you will have treasures in heaven” (Matthew 19:21). Hedonism says, “Speak life and make everyone happy.” Christianity says, “SPEAK the truth always” (Matthew 5:33–37; 23:16–22; Ephesians 4:15). Hedonism says, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Christianity says, “He who dies with the most toys, still dies.”
That was the greatest lesson I learned in college when I had my accident, none of us are bulletproof. No matter how happy we may be, the day will come when we all will die (Ecclesiastes 3:2; Hebrews 9:27). It’s the same lesson my parents learned a decade ago. Their PRAYER for a MIRACLE wasn’t answered how they wanted. They were both chain smokers and believed that if smoking was going to kill them, they would die happy.
I was there and I saw each of them waste away, neither were really happy when they died. And this is what John Milton failed to realize—God is in control and we’re not, it’s a basic doctrine of Christianity—God created everything including heaven and hell. I remember seeing the look in my mother’s eyes when she neared the end of her life and realized she was CLOSE to meeting Jesus, oh yeah. Was it a curse or a blessing? My mother couldn’t even hold down liquids without throwing up because her stomach was eaten up with cancer. Together we learned just how brief this life is and how eternal eternity is (Job 7:7; Psalm 78:39; James 4:14). Brief it may be, somewhat like this blog and it is no slice of heaven.
The Curse: WTH?
A couple of months ago while I was in Colorado I logged onto my Facebook account and had a good laugh. While I was in Colorado enjoying the warm spring-like weather and low humidity, my friends back in Georgia were caught in an ice storm and even an earthquake and aftershocks. Yes, things got pretty crazy. I can honestly say that there are no DOUBTS in my mind about making a move back to Colorado.
Although I enjoyed the irony of me being warm and comfortable in Colorado and my friends being cold and miserable in Georgia, I was disturbed by the comments many of them posted on Facebook: “It’s cold as Hell”, “All Hell is breaking loose in the South?”, “Who ticked mother nature off, she’s mad as Hell?” As I sat in my hotel room reading the posts, I had a sinking feeling in my heart. We really don’t get it, most people have no idea how bad and miserable Hell is. And that is what this Easter blog will be about, Hell.
SERIOUSLY?
I’m sure many of you are thinking, “It’s just a figure of speech.” Let me be LOUD AND CLEAR, no it’s not! Hell is a very real place, just like heaven. However, as I’ve stated before we really don’t take heaven serious either! Our language and figures of speech reveal much about our hearts (Matthew 15:18), this is why I’m terrified when I hear Christians say things like, “OMG!” Do they not take God SERIOUSLY? I think somebody hit the CRAY BUTTON.
Not only did the early disciples and Jesus take God seriously enough to die for Him. The Master and His students took the subject of Hell or Hades very seriously because they knew that it is every bit as real and eternal as heaven. In our finite minds we think of Hell as something like getting stranded on a desert isle for a little while. Or perhaps you may feel that the recent climate change is a picture of Hell, we could only wish.
Now that WINTER is over and spring has arrived, many Southerners believe it gets hot as Hell. Perhaps this is why Charlie Daniels sang, “THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA.” We do this, because we know it’s a place no one wants to ever be, perhaps this is why I’ve often said, “I feel like I’m in Hell when I come back to Georgia.” Now I understand better, Georgia isn’t a photograph of Hell, not even with all of the painful memories here. Most of us can’t imagine how bad or hot Hell will really be. Hell is so much more than just being uncomfortable.
In his new book Jesus In the 9 to 5 Dennis Hensley writes, “The worker lifted his hand to his face, then smiled. ‘Much obliged. It hurt like h–‘ ‘No,’ Jesus quickly interrupted. ‘it didn’t. But I know it was uncomfortable. Wear your protective eye wear from now on.” Again, Hell isn’t like being stuck in Hell’s Kitchen cooking with Gordon Ramsay for an hour—it’s for the rest of eternity—that’s pretty serious. Perhaps we believe that if we survive trials in this life, Hell won’t be so bad —what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger! However, being strong in this life doesn’t mean you escape God’s judgment.
JUDGEMENT?
It’s an eternal place of judgment originally created for God’s once greatest creation, the bright morning star—Lucifer (a.k.a. Satan) and his rebellious followers. It’s a place where the wicked go when God gets sick of it all. Most people think of hell being at the center of the earth. Temperatures there can reach 11,000°F—which makes Georgia, Death Valley, California and ARGENTINA seem like a winter wonderland. We can’t start a fire hot enough in our lives to compare to the horror of Hell. It’s highly possible that the earth’s core is radioactive.
With that in mind, we can understand how human bodies can remain in hell and never burn up, yet be ON FIRE. It’s like a microwave that heats up every ounce of moisture to cook you for all eternity. Definitely a place of eternal torment like Jesus described in His parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31). Here we see that the rich man is in agony while in hell and he cries out to Abraham in heaven for help, he requests one drop of water to quench his thirst.
This implies that the man has a body and is not just a spirit or soul that is in hell, it’s not some spiritual NEVERLAND. Abraham replies that there is a great chasm between heaven and Hell, it’s deeper than the deepest ocean and no one can cross back over this barrier, there’s no lighthouse in Hell. This was part of God casting the devil and his demons out of heaven for good.
If Hell was originally created for Satan and his demons, then we can safely say that Hell was originally good for the universe, until the curse and sin resulted in the human race being condemned to hell. Mark Galli explains in his book God Wins, “The idea of God as ‘Judge of all the earth’ appears early in the Bible (Genesis 18:25). God ‘will judge the world with justice and rule the nations with fairness’ (Psalm 9:8). His judgment includes both punishment for the wicked and reward for the faithful (Isaiah 61:8).”
Hence, the importance of the good news—you can’t justify how good heaven is without explaining how bad hell is. In a recent episode of Grey’s Anatomy, a Christian character was confronted by her pro-choice mother-n-law about Hell. The Christian character replied that it’s not up to her to decide who is going to Hell. The majority believes that Christians should keep the peace and make everyone feel good. AFTER ALL, God is a God of love, a God who gives us all we want. Please hear my heart, if you really love somebody, you’ll tell them the truth and not just blow smoke in their face, that’s not how to save a life.
The truth is we’re all BORN BAD with a sin nature and if left just the way we are, we’re destined for Hell. Even if we give it ALL WE GOT, we can’t earn our way to Heaven. As the curse continues to wreak havoc on this world, everyone has high hopes of going to heaven. Recently, one of the major networks launched a new series about life after death and the possibility of second chances. Without Jesus and the good news, billions of people will be CAUGHT DREAMING in hell for all eternity Rev. Billy Graham once stated, "When we are called before God and His throne of judgment, it will be too late to reverse our decision. It is during our lifetime here on earth that we decide our eternal destiny." We don’t get to start over after death, but Christiansaren’t going to die.
This is why the fleeting moments of pleasure in this life aren’t worth the eternal consequences of hell. This is why the apostle Paul warned the church of Corinth that “It is better to marry than to burn (1 Corinthians 7:9).” If you’ve ever had someone tell you, “I BURN FOR YOU,” you know how tempting the momentary pleasure can be—while sex is a good thing within the confines of marriage, outside of marriage it burns everything in its path like a raging fire—another consequence of the curse.
The poet Alexander Pope wisely wrote, “Pleasure is our greatest evil or our greatest good.” As I close his blog, I hope you can see the importance of the Easter season, when Jesus conquered death and rose from the grave overcoming Hell in the process, what SACRED LOVE it is, it’s amazing grace that we’ve been redeemed and have become the UNDEFEATED. The world has never known love like this.
Although Jesus bearing the cross and the curse was bad and painful for Him, it became a blessing for all who would believe and follow Him—that’s the only DIFFERENCE MAKER between the church and the world. C. S. Lewis notes in his book The Great Divorce, “If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.”
Although I enjoyed the irony of me being warm and comfortable in Colorado and my friends being cold and miserable in Georgia, I was disturbed by the comments many of them posted on Facebook: “It’s cold as Hell”, “All Hell is breaking loose in the South?”, “Who ticked mother nature off, she’s mad as Hell?” As I sat in my hotel room reading the posts, I had a sinking feeling in my heart. We really don’t get it, most people have no idea how bad and miserable Hell is. And that is what this Easter blog will be about, Hell.
SERIOUSLY?
I’m sure many of you are thinking, “It’s just a figure of speech.” Let me be LOUD AND CLEAR, no it’s not! Hell is a very real place, just like heaven. However, as I’ve stated before we really don’t take heaven serious either! Our language and figures of speech reveal much about our hearts (Matthew 15:18), this is why I’m terrified when I hear Christians say things like, “OMG!” Do they not take God SERIOUSLY? I think somebody hit the CRAY BUTTON.
Not only did the early disciples and Jesus take God seriously enough to die for Him. The Master and His students took the subject of Hell or Hades very seriously because they knew that it is every bit as real and eternal as heaven. In our finite minds we think of Hell as something like getting stranded on a desert isle for a little while. Or perhaps you may feel that the recent climate change is a picture of Hell, we could only wish.
Now that WINTER is over and spring has arrived, many Southerners believe it gets hot as Hell. Perhaps this is why Charlie Daniels sang, “THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA.” We do this, because we know it’s a place no one wants to ever be, perhaps this is why I’ve often said, “I feel like I’m in Hell when I come back to Georgia.” Now I understand better, Georgia isn’t a photograph of Hell, not even with all of the painful memories here. Most of us can’t imagine how bad or hot Hell will really be. Hell is so much more than just being uncomfortable.
In his new book Jesus In the 9 to 5 Dennis Hensley writes, “The worker lifted his hand to his face, then smiled. ‘Much obliged. It hurt like h–‘ ‘No,’ Jesus quickly interrupted. ‘it didn’t. But I know it was uncomfortable. Wear your protective eye wear from now on.” Again, Hell isn’t like being stuck in Hell’s Kitchen cooking with Gordon Ramsay for an hour—it’s for the rest of eternity—that’s pretty serious. Perhaps we believe that if we survive trials in this life, Hell won’t be so bad —what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger! However, being strong in this life doesn’t mean you escape God’s judgment.
JUDGEMENT?
It’s an eternal place of judgment originally created for God’s once greatest creation, the bright morning star—Lucifer (a.k.a. Satan) and his rebellious followers. It’s a place where the wicked go when God gets sick of it all. Most people think of hell being at the center of the earth. Temperatures there can reach 11,000°F—which makes Georgia, Death Valley, California and ARGENTINA seem like a winter wonderland. We can’t start a fire hot enough in our lives to compare to the horror of Hell. It’s highly possible that the earth’s core is radioactive.
With that in mind, we can understand how human bodies can remain in hell and never burn up, yet be ON FIRE. It’s like a microwave that heats up every ounce of moisture to cook you for all eternity. Definitely a place of eternal torment like Jesus described in His parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31). Here we see that the rich man is in agony while in hell and he cries out to Abraham in heaven for help, he requests one drop of water to quench his thirst.
This implies that the man has a body and is not just a spirit or soul that is in hell, it’s not some spiritual NEVERLAND. Abraham replies that there is a great chasm between heaven and Hell, it’s deeper than the deepest ocean and no one can cross back over this barrier, there’s no lighthouse in Hell. This was part of God casting the devil and his demons out of heaven for good.
If Hell was originally created for Satan and his demons, then we can safely say that Hell was originally good for the universe, until the curse and sin resulted in the human race being condemned to hell. Mark Galli explains in his book God Wins, “The idea of God as ‘Judge of all the earth’ appears early in the Bible (Genesis 18:25). God ‘will judge the world with justice and rule the nations with fairness’ (Psalm 9:8). His judgment includes both punishment for the wicked and reward for the faithful (Isaiah 61:8).”
Hence, the importance of the good news—you can’t justify how good heaven is without explaining how bad hell is. In a recent episode of Grey’s Anatomy, a Christian character was confronted by her pro-choice mother-n-law about Hell. The Christian character replied that it’s not up to her to decide who is going to Hell. The majority believes that Christians should keep the peace and make everyone feel good. AFTER ALL, God is a God of love, a God who gives us all we want. Please hear my heart, if you really love somebody, you’ll tell them the truth and not just blow smoke in their face, that’s not how to save a life.
The truth is we’re all BORN BAD with a sin nature and if left just the way we are, we’re destined for Hell. Even if we give it ALL WE GOT, we can’t earn our way to Heaven. As the curse continues to wreak havoc on this world, everyone has high hopes of going to heaven. Recently, one of the major networks launched a new series about life after death and the possibility of second chances. Without Jesus and the good news, billions of people will be CAUGHT DREAMING in hell for all eternity Rev. Billy Graham once stated, "When we are called before God and His throne of judgment, it will be too late to reverse our decision. It is during our lifetime here on earth that we decide our eternal destiny." We don’t get to start over after death, but Christiansaren’t going to die.
This is why the fleeting moments of pleasure in this life aren’t worth the eternal consequences of hell. This is why the apostle Paul warned the church of Corinth that “It is better to marry than to burn (1 Corinthians 7:9).” If you’ve ever had someone tell you, “I BURN FOR YOU,” you know how tempting the momentary pleasure can be—while sex is a good thing within the confines of marriage, outside of marriage it burns everything in its path like a raging fire—another consequence of the curse.
The poet Alexander Pope wisely wrote, “Pleasure is our greatest evil or our greatest good.” As I close his blog, I hope you can see the importance of the Easter season, when Jesus conquered death and rose from the grave overcoming Hell in the process, what SACRED LOVE it is, it’s amazing grace that we’ve been redeemed and have become the UNDEFEATED. The world has never known love like this.
Although Jesus bearing the cross and the curse was bad and painful for Him, it became a blessing for all who would believe and follow Him—that’s the only DIFFERENCE MAKER between the church and the world. C. S. Lewis notes in his book The Great Divorce, “If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.”
The Curse!
While I was working on my blog last month a critter chewed through the ground on my power line and I was left without electricity for a few days. Although it was a minor inconvenience, I hoped to use my time more productively by getting some writing and reading done. Soon, I found myself coming up with ways to get electricity back into my home.
My landlord ran a drop cord from another apartment and I quickly realized how dependent I was on the convenience of electricity. What many of us consider a “blessing” had become a curse to me. And that is what this new blog will focus on, the Curse (Genesis 3:17; Isaiah 24:5).
The Hebrew word for bless in the Old Testament is Barak; I’ll try not to go off on a political tangent with this. Barak is a rather tricky word, for it is also translated as to kneel down or to curse. Its usage is dependent upon the context of the phrase it is being used in. To put this in perspective , let’s look at the biblical story of a Noah. God’s judgment fell upon the land because of man’s sin that resulted from the curse of the GARDEN OF EDEN.
While the great FLOOD was a catastrophe and it devastated mankind, it cleansed the earth of unrighteousness—it was also a sign of God’s grace by purifying the land and giving mankind a second chance. It’s no wonder that curses are often mentioned with blessings in the Bible, in both the old and new Testaments respectively. Don’t forget God’s promise to Noah through the sign of RAINBOWS—which is appropriate since we will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in a couple of weeks.
Ever since rainbows have been symbols of HOPE, grace and peace—but there first must be rain and even storms before a rainbow can appear. Unfortunately, most people don’t want to go through the storms of life. Everyone wants this feel-good false lovey-dovey feeling. Even in the church, most would rather stay on the MOUNTAIN TOP and pray they DON’T FALL. They fail to realize that nothing grows on the mountaintop; all the spiritual growth takes place in the valleys of life.
Earlier this season on American Idol judge Keith Urban responded to a contestant’s disapproval of his rejection, “My comments and opinions aren’t meant to hurt people, but to help them to grow as artists. Nothing frustrates me more than when people don’t listen to my advice because they don’t like it.”
And this is how most people view God and Christianity; they reject it/Him because they don’t agree with what the Bible says. They want to believe that they are good enough, loving enough and strong enough to go to heaven—they’re simply living on a prayer and counting stars. People want to believe that God is so loving that He sends everyone to heaven regardless of who they are. While God does love us like crazy, He doesn’t force it on us—we can refuse His gift. ChristianityToday Magazine editor and author Mark Galli notes, “Often we’re merely using Jesus to justify ourselves or to make ourselves feel better about rejecting him.”
It’s an incomplete theology to think of the afterlife as a never-ending city of love where everyone gets their deepest desire and justice is never served. This is the error of universalism, justice is never served—it neglects God’s sovereignty and righteous wrath against the evil that resulted from the curse placed upon this world in the garden, welcome to the jungle—ITS A WAR.
Whether you see it on the news or it creeps into your personal social circle, you can’t deny that this EMPTY WORLD is passing away (1 John 2:17). Injustice and corruption are rampant in today’s society. The American dream has made a nightmare out of the AMERICAN CHURCH—we’re a materialistic culture, do whatever makes you happy—that’s God’s plan for you. God’s sovereignty and righteousness have become mere ideals or just fairy tells of days gone by, even in Mother Nature anyone can see how the curse continues to affect this fallen world.
Last month I had the opportunity to go back to Colorado for a couple weeks to attend The Christian Writers Guild’s annual conference and to visit some old and new friends. Before I left Georgia most of my friends here thought I was crazy for going to Colorado during the winter, in an ironic turn of events I enjoyed mild temperatures in the 50s and 60s while most of my friends back in Georgia were frozen in the icecolypse of 2014.
At the conference I had the opportunity to take classes almost 12 hours a day and hear some of the best Christian speakers and authors share their stories. One of my favorite sessions was with Christian author Brandilyn Collins as she shared her heart, “I’m in the wilderness of life, and my life isn’t going as I had planned it—but as God has directed it. We are all in the wilderness.”
Her vulnerability was the evidence she was learning to TRUST MORE in God during the storms of life than in herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t face the storms of life, but that they were strengthening her for the journey of climbing the mountain. The storms of life will come, no one is immune to them—certainly not Christians. During the closing devotional of the conference evangelist and author Sammy Tippit shared, “Moses went to God’s school and he took three basic courses: humility, timing and patience. God used the trials and storms in Moses’ life to humble him and prepare him for God’s work. It wasn’t an overnight transformation, but a forty year journey in which Moses went from a privileged life to a Shepard. God is working in you at His pace.”
In this wild world of a jungle, we must first be followers before we can be leaders, we are called to follow Jesus—the LION LEADS THE WAY back to the garden—to God. And this is my dilemma, is the Curse really a curse for Christians—for those who profess I BELIEVE in Jesus and live for Him? Or is it the evidence of something much BETTER?
THE PROMISE?
I hope that after my last two series its clear how much God loves us. Jesus is the church’s ultimate lover and He promises that nothing in the UNIVERSE will ever separate us from His love: no angel or demon, no height or deepest ocean can take us from His presence—not even death can hold us (Romans 8:36–38), because we’re His MASTERPIECE. I’m PERSUADED life after death will be more WONDERFUL than all of our BIG DREAMS here in this fallen world.
There is no need to go looking for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. We don’t need a lucky leprechaun—we’ve got Jesus. The great British preacher and teacher Charles Spurgeon once noted, “We who have believed in Jesus enter into rest even now. Why should we not do so? Our salvation is complete.” Although the curse has suffocated this world like the THORNS AND THISTLES in that first garden, MY GOD WON’T LET GO of His KINGDOM FIGURES, because true LOVE DON’T DIE and trials are only a chance to LOVE MORE.
We are forever sealed in His love (John 3:33; Romans 4:11; 1 Corinthians 9:2;2 Timothy 2:19; Revelation 7:3). Mark Galli continues in his book God Wins, “He has forgiven us. He has given us eternal life, which can be enjoyed even today, as well as the promise of heaven that is even more real than we can imagine. In short as the book (Love Wins) says over and over, he has given us the possibility of experiencing peace, joy, and love forever.” Indeed, our God is FAITHFUL—still there will be trials.
Our lives may not always be a serene beach with glistening waters. More often it’s like a terrible hurricane powered by TROUBLED WATERS that seem to overtake us at times. But for the redeemed, these are only momentary tribulations that are preparing us for our journey HOME (2 Corinthians 4:17). As we know Jesus PAID IT ALL for us when He became our curse on the cross (Galatians 3:13–14).
Christian author and pastor John MacArthur notes, “God's grace is his unmerited favor toward the wicked, unworthy sinners, by which he delivers them from condemnation and death.” God is a god of MERCY, MERCY that is given freely to those who choose to follow Him. Yet, He is a jealous God, HE IS GOD of everything under the sun.
And like any caring parent, passionate lover or righteous and just god—God promises to fight for His beloved and bring justice for them, in fact Scripture is quite clear that vengeance is God’s alone (Deuteronomy 32:35;1 Samuel 26:10; Romans 12:19). God will judge this world one last time. Ironically most people already know this and claim, “ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME.” This world is more concerned about making people happy than making God happy. Comedian Bill Cosby wisely says “I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” This world’s status quo is LIVE AND LET LIVE—tolerance has replaced love, common sense has been TWISTED into acceptance and justice is nothing more than just FEELING GOOD about yourself.
God has been left out of the equation in most circumstances of society today: marriage, the sanctity of life and sometimes, even in the church. I’m no Bible scholar, but I am only aware of one place that God isn’t present—Hell and once we get there, it’s it’s too late to pray, “LORD HELP ME. YOU WON’T LET GO of me.” While this world is growing darker and DOOMSDAY seems eminent, the end of the world will only bring the church closer to God as WE SING HALLELUJAH and say GOODBYE to this world—for us the Curse is more of a blessing.
In closing this blog, I have a confession to make and it breaks MY HEART to admit this. Although going back to Colorado was a blessing and tremendous opportunity for me, I realized afterwards that I neglected to do my daily devotionals each morning and it’s hard to believe, but I didn’t even miss them. It’s such a shame that I FINALLY got to go back to Colorado and I forgot to run to God each morning, I felt like a PHARISEE. For the women reading this, I guess it’s like meeting your Mr. Right only to soon realize he’s more like a curse.
My landlord ran a drop cord from another apartment and I quickly realized how dependent I was on the convenience of electricity. What many of us consider a “blessing” had become a curse to me. And that is what this new blog will focus on, the Curse (Genesis 3:17; Isaiah 24:5).
The Hebrew word for bless in the Old Testament is Barak; I’ll try not to go off on a political tangent with this. Barak is a rather tricky word, for it is also translated as to kneel down or to curse. Its usage is dependent upon the context of the phrase it is being used in. To put this in perspective , let’s look at the biblical story of a Noah. God’s judgment fell upon the land because of man’s sin that resulted from the curse of the GARDEN OF EDEN.
While the great FLOOD was a catastrophe and it devastated mankind, it cleansed the earth of unrighteousness—it was also a sign of God’s grace by purifying the land and giving mankind a second chance. It’s no wonder that curses are often mentioned with blessings in the Bible, in both the old and new Testaments respectively. Don’t forget God’s promise to Noah through the sign of RAINBOWS—which is appropriate since we will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in a couple of weeks.
Ever since rainbows have been symbols of HOPE, grace and peace—but there first must be rain and even storms before a rainbow can appear. Unfortunately, most people don’t want to go through the storms of life. Everyone wants this feel-good false lovey-dovey feeling. Even in the church, most would rather stay on the MOUNTAIN TOP and pray they DON’T FALL. They fail to realize that nothing grows on the mountaintop; all the spiritual growth takes place in the valleys of life.
Earlier this season on American Idol judge Keith Urban responded to a contestant’s disapproval of his rejection, “My comments and opinions aren’t meant to hurt people, but to help them to grow as artists. Nothing frustrates me more than when people don’t listen to my advice because they don’t like it.”
And this is how most people view God and Christianity; they reject it/Him because they don’t agree with what the Bible says. They want to believe that they are good enough, loving enough and strong enough to go to heaven—they’re simply living on a prayer and counting stars. People want to believe that God is so loving that He sends everyone to heaven regardless of who they are. While God does love us like crazy, He doesn’t force it on us—we can refuse His gift. ChristianityToday Magazine editor and author Mark Galli notes, “Often we’re merely using Jesus to justify ourselves or to make ourselves feel better about rejecting him.”
It’s an incomplete theology to think of the afterlife as a never-ending city of love where everyone gets their deepest desire and justice is never served. This is the error of universalism, justice is never served—it neglects God’s sovereignty and righteous wrath against the evil that resulted from the curse placed upon this world in the garden, welcome to the jungle—ITS A WAR.
Whether you see it on the news or it creeps into your personal social circle, you can’t deny that this EMPTY WORLD is passing away (1 John 2:17). Injustice and corruption are rampant in today’s society. The American dream has made a nightmare out of the AMERICAN CHURCH—we’re a materialistic culture, do whatever makes you happy—that’s God’s plan for you. God’s sovereignty and righteousness have become mere ideals or just fairy tells of days gone by, even in Mother Nature anyone can see how the curse continues to affect this fallen world.
Last month I had the opportunity to go back to Colorado for a couple weeks to attend The Christian Writers Guild’s annual conference and to visit some old and new friends. Before I left Georgia most of my friends here thought I was crazy for going to Colorado during the winter, in an ironic turn of events I enjoyed mild temperatures in the 50s and 60s while most of my friends back in Georgia were frozen in the icecolypse of 2014.
At the conference I had the opportunity to take classes almost 12 hours a day and hear some of the best Christian speakers and authors share their stories. One of my favorite sessions was with Christian author Brandilyn Collins as she shared her heart, “I’m in the wilderness of life, and my life isn’t going as I had planned it—but as God has directed it. We are all in the wilderness.”
Her vulnerability was the evidence she was learning to TRUST MORE in God during the storms of life than in herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t face the storms of life, but that they were strengthening her for the journey of climbing the mountain. The storms of life will come, no one is immune to them—certainly not Christians. During the closing devotional of the conference evangelist and author Sammy Tippit shared, “Moses went to God’s school and he took three basic courses: humility, timing and patience. God used the trials and storms in Moses’ life to humble him and prepare him for God’s work. It wasn’t an overnight transformation, but a forty year journey in which Moses went from a privileged life to a Shepard. God is working in you at His pace.”
In this wild world of a jungle, we must first be followers before we can be leaders, we are called to follow Jesus—the LION LEADS THE WAY back to the garden—to God. And this is my dilemma, is the Curse really a curse for Christians—for those who profess I BELIEVE in Jesus and live for Him? Or is it the evidence of something much BETTER?
THE PROMISE?
I hope that after my last two series its clear how much God loves us. Jesus is the church’s ultimate lover and He promises that nothing in the UNIVERSE will ever separate us from His love: no angel or demon, no height or deepest ocean can take us from His presence—not even death can hold us (Romans 8:36–38), because we’re His MASTERPIECE. I’m PERSUADED life after death will be more WONDERFUL than all of our BIG DREAMS here in this fallen world.
There is no need to go looking for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. We don’t need a lucky leprechaun—we’ve got Jesus. The great British preacher and teacher Charles Spurgeon once noted, “We who have believed in Jesus enter into rest even now. Why should we not do so? Our salvation is complete.” Although the curse has suffocated this world like the THORNS AND THISTLES in that first garden, MY GOD WON’T LET GO of His KINGDOM FIGURES, because true LOVE DON’T DIE and trials are only a chance to LOVE MORE.
We are forever sealed in His love (John 3:33; Romans 4:11; 1 Corinthians 9:2;2 Timothy 2:19; Revelation 7:3). Mark Galli continues in his book God Wins, “He has forgiven us. He has given us eternal life, which can be enjoyed even today, as well as the promise of heaven that is even more real than we can imagine. In short as the book (Love Wins) says over and over, he has given us the possibility of experiencing peace, joy, and love forever.” Indeed, our God is FAITHFUL—still there will be trials.
Our lives may not always be a serene beach with glistening waters. More often it’s like a terrible hurricane powered by TROUBLED WATERS that seem to overtake us at times. But for the redeemed, these are only momentary tribulations that are preparing us for our journey HOME (2 Corinthians 4:17). As we know Jesus PAID IT ALL for us when He became our curse on the cross (Galatians 3:13–14).
Christian author and pastor John MacArthur notes, “God's grace is his unmerited favor toward the wicked, unworthy sinners, by which he delivers them from condemnation and death.” God is a god of MERCY, MERCY that is given freely to those who choose to follow Him. Yet, He is a jealous God, HE IS GOD of everything under the sun.
And like any caring parent, passionate lover or righteous and just god—God promises to fight for His beloved and bring justice for them, in fact Scripture is quite clear that vengeance is God’s alone (Deuteronomy 32:35;1 Samuel 26:10; Romans 12:19). God will judge this world one last time. Ironically most people already know this and claim, “ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME.” This world is more concerned about making people happy than making God happy. Comedian Bill Cosby wisely says “I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” This world’s status quo is LIVE AND LET LIVE—tolerance has replaced love, common sense has been TWISTED into acceptance and justice is nothing more than just FEELING GOOD about yourself.
God has been left out of the equation in most circumstances of society today: marriage, the sanctity of life and sometimes, even in the church. I’m no Bible scholar, but I am only aware of one place that God isn’t present—Hell and once we get there, it’s it’s too late to pray, “LORD HELP ME. YOU WON’T LET GO of me.” While this world is growing darker and DOOMSDAY seems eminent, the end of the world will only bring the church closer to God as WE SING HALLELUJAH and say GOODBYE to this world—for us the Curse is more of a blessing.
In closing this blog, I have a confession to make and it breaks MY HEART to admit this. Although going back to Colorado was a blessing and tremendous opportunity for me, I realized afterwards that I neglected to do my daily devotionals each morning and it’s hard to believe, but I didn’t even miss them. It’s such a shame that I FINALLY got to go back to Colorado and I forgot to run to God each morning, I felt like a PHARISEE. For the women reading this, I guess it’s like meeting your Mr. Right only to soon realize he’s more like a curse.
Peace?
In the first Seed from the Sower segment I saw this year, Michael Guido shared a story about love, actually it was two stories—one a lost love and the other an ill-placed love. And that is what this final blog of my series The Lady (2 John 1:1) will be about, what or who we love and where we find our peace; which is appropriate seeing how we will celebrate Valentine’s Day in less than two weeks.
Michael Guido shared, “A woman had choice tickets for the Super Bowl. A stranger asked, ‘Is this seat next to you taken?’ ‘No,’ she answered. ‘It’s my husband’s, but he died.’ Couldn’t you get someone else to come with you?’ ‘No’, she replied, ‘They’re all at his funeral.’ You can tell what has first place in her life. What has first place in your life, someone or something? Whatever it is, that’s your God. If you turn from the God of the Bible, you’ll find yourself serving an idol. You must have something to believe in. The Bible says, ‘Keep yourself from idols.”
When I began this series last year, I explained how all adultery begins harmlessly and unintentionally. Idolatry begins in a similar way, it creeps up into our lives without us knowing and before long we find ourselves serving other gods, “loves” and purposes. This is what happened in THE GARDEN, Adam and Eve walked with God and everything was perfect—it was complete.
Then, the crafty serpent slipped into the garden and tempted Adam and Eve with more, with greatness and equality with God. EVERYTHING GOES BLACK when we take our eyes off God and get CAUGHT IN THE LIGHTS, notice how Adam and Eve were content with God and what they had until the serpent promised more and they took of the “fruit” from the tree of life. What promises to satisfy or to give life, takes it. And that’s where everything went downhill; the Bible calls it, “the fall” for a reason. And God tells Adam that he will return to the dirty ground that he came from (Genesis 3:1–20). More than God, tell me THE DEVIL AIN’T A LIE!
Former Lakota Indian chief Red Cloud once stated, “I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of the nation. We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We cannot take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love.”
Jesus taught His disciples to give up their desires and SURRENDER in order to follow Him because they were part of an adulterous and sinful generation (Mark 8:34–38). The truth is most people love God and Jesus in their minds, but in their lives they want more than Jesus and that is the definition of a HYPOCRITE! Preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards once noted, “Spiritual delight in God arises chiefly from his beauty and perfection, not from the blessings he gives us.”
In a recent message by Bill Purvis he shared a story about desire. “A little boy saw a big cookie in a cookie jar on the kitchen counter and reached in to only learn that he couldn’t get his hand out of the cookie jar. For an hour the boy wrestled to get his hand out. His father came along and asked, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Trying to get a cookie,’ whined the little boy!’ ‘Looks like the cookie has got you! Let me show you a secret. Let go of the cookie and pull your hand out, then you can turn the jar over and have all you want.’ explained the father. It’s like that in life, when we want God to bless us—but we HOLD ON to what we want. We have to open our hands to receive what God wants to give us.”
Sometimes we hold on to things and other people in this life so much because that’s where we get our satisfaction, joy and peace from. The Bible calls that idolatry and it’s only a matter of time before we walk away from OUR GOD completely. Just like our forefathers did. Just like the Sadducees and Pharisees did in Jesus’ day.
Fruit?
Now, JUMP into the New Testament and the writings of a former Jewish Pharisee named Paul, Paul wrote to the church in Galatia about the fruits of the flesh: Sexual adultery, idolatry and selfish ambitions (Galatians 5:19–21). How often have we made idols out of God’s blessings? Theologian and writer R.C. Sproul writes, “[Hope] is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made.”
Mark Driscoll notes in his book Who Do You Think You Are, “Often, this God-given passion to worship is misdirected towards idolatry and the worship of created things, like sex, fame, and food, rather than God.” Sadly WE BLIND—we never realize until it’s too late, these things don’t give us true peace or joy and we’re left feeling UNLOVED. Pastor Timothy Keller recently tweeted, “I’m so bad Jesus had to die for me, yet I'm so loved that Jesus was glad to die for me.”
Listen as the apostle Paul explained to the church in Galatia about the fruit of the spirit—he begins with love, joy and peace (Galatians 5:22). Although the greatest is love, joy and peace are typically byproducts of love. Isn’t that why most of us want to fall in love? Isn’t that the lure of love—to be complete and at peace? The late Jimi Hendrix once said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of POWER the world will know peace.”
The psalmist repeatedly sang about peace (Psalm 29:11; 34:14; 32:17; 37:37; 85:8; 119:165) and this idea of peace continues throughout the Old Testament prophets, John Lennon wasn’t the first and won’t be the last to sing about peace. To the Jewish community peace is a big deal. The Hebrew word often used in the Old Testament is shalom and it can be translated as peace, to make good, prosper, to restore and whole or complete. This is a promise of God to His people, to restore what was lost in the garden through the first Adam.
Andrew Murray explains in his book Humility, "When the Lamb of God has brought forth a real birth of His own meekness, humility, and full resignation to God in our souls, then it is the birthday of the Spirit of love in our souls, which, whenever we attain, will feast our souls with such peace and joy in God as will blot out the remembrance of everything that we called peace or joy before.”
Shalom is often used as a greeting or a salutation, because in the beginning God walked with man and there was peace and in the end God will be with man again and there will be peace. Even now in this evil world amongst our trials and tribulations it is the love of God that gives us peace that transcends all understanding through the second Adam—through His promise that we’re not alone, we know He is NEVER GONE. But it is through His second coming that He will usher in the ultimate and eternal peace when we hear that TRUMPET BLOW.
Gan Eden?
The Jewish word for the AFTERLIFE is Gan Eden and it is a RETURN TO INNOCENCE. Abraham Cohen explains in his book Everyman’s Talmud, “Whereas other peoples of antiquity placed their Golden Age in the dim and the remote past, the Jews regulated it to the future. . . They who are admitted into Gan Eden are adjudged so they may be accommodated in the division to which they are entitled. . . The happiness which is in store for those who merit Gan Eden is symbolized as a wonderful banquet. . . The chief joy they will experience is being in the actual presence of God.”
For Bible-believing Christians we call this place heaven and it will be on the new earth and there will be peace again, ABOUT TIME. This will be the NEW SHALOM and we’ll finally be complete, whole and we’ll fully realize the depth of God’s love for us. This is what Angel longed for in Francine Rivers’ Redeeming Love, “I love you.’ When she turned away, he (Michael Hosea) yanked her back, pulling her into his arms. ‘I love you.’ He kissed her and felt the way she melted into him, clinging to him so desperately. ‘Michael, I wish I was whole. I wish I was whole for you.’ God, why? John and Elizabeth have six children. Will I ever beget even one on my wife? Why did you allow it to happen this way?”
It’s human nature to long for love, but we can’t become love addicts loving everyone and everything except the one we should be committed to. A true lady can only be satisfied by the one she has committed her life to. She knows that his love is greater than all others. Pope Francis recently stated, "Peace calls for daily commitment." Our Lord Jesus promised that one day He will return and there will be peace. The first time He came wasn’t for peace on this earth, but to make war (Matthew 10:34), He was a KING WITHOUT A CROWN. But next time He will be like a bridegroom coming for His bride on their wedding day.
.
Despite what many well-meaning teachers and prophets would have us believe, I seriously doubt that we can imagine on this side of heaven, how wonderful the new earth and new heaven will be. Randy Alcorn explains in his book Heaven, “Aquinas was absolutely correct that God is the cosmic center. But his faulty logic reshaped our understanding of heaven by undercutting the biblical doctrines of physical resurrection, paradise restored on the New Earth, and the redeemed culture and community of the new earth’s holy city and nations.” It’s one we don’t deserve.
.
Let me CLEAR THE AIR, Jesus isn’t coming back to save this world, just His bride! And He will establish a new kingdom, one where His people will live like royals. In this life, we’re not promised to be earthly kings of anything; we’re called to be humble servants of our Lord. The apostle Paul explained to the church in Ephesus that being completely humble will help us love one another and allow us to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1–3).
We get our word humility from the Latin word humilitas which means abasement and unimportant. It is the same word that we get the word humus from which is basically earth, it’s the part of the dirt that is made up of dead plants and decaying animals. Remember what God told the first Adam in the garden? From the ground you came and to it you shall return (Genesis 3:19).
However, if YOU ARE a true BELEEVUH and you’ve turned to Him completely and He is STILL WITH YOU, you’re promised a new and perfected home with God, one without any blemishes, pain or sorrow and absolutely no sin! God hates sin so much that He shook heaven and cast His once anointed Angel Lucifer and a third of the Angels in heaven out to get rid of it. Then God sent His Son to the cross to deal with it once and for all. Because heaven will be perfect and free of impurities. There will be no broken hallelujahs as we sing holy is the Lord with the angels.
Like most people ALL OF MY LIFE I’ve dreamed of one day building a new house just the way I like it. IF I were to ever get married, it’s MY DESIRE for my wife and I to start our new life together in a BRAND NEW house that no one has ever lived in, a place that was built just for us, one that is free of defect— a sanctuary of sorts. It will be a home free of any negative history, because the very foundation was laid out of love for our future family to enjoy both good times and bad.
Likewise, that was God’s plan in the beginning, until the fall and sin entered the world and corrupted everything. That’s the effect of the curse on this world, it’s BROKEN and we can fill it in the pits of our stomach. God has been reconciling it every sense, out of His love for the bride. Like any other man, in God’s LOVE PURSUIT of His bride there will be a judgment before we go BACK TO THE BEGINNING.
I’m not talking about THE DIVINE INDICTMENT OF EVIL WORKERS who sought their own selfish desires and didn’t make God their NUMBER 1 priority (Jude 12 – 13), but the judgment seat of Christ (Revelation 22:12) when the bridegroom rewards His bride by what she has done while waiting for Him and at this point He won’t accept an APOLOGY or profession YOU KNOW thou art the Christ. This is when Jesus confronts those playing games with His heart, those who thought they could fool God by saying the right things (Matthew 7:21-23). They failed to store up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19–20) and chose to spend this life GOING PLACES. When this world falls apart after heaven and earth COLLIDE with each other, those who don’t believe or simply thought that heaven is a STATE OF THE MIND—will only wish for peace.
Michael Guido shared, “A woman had choice tickets for the Super Bowl. A stranger asked, ‘Is this seat next to you taken?’ ‘No,’ she answered. ‘It’s my husband’s, but he died.’ Couldn’t you get someone else to come with you?’ ‘No’, she replied, ‘They’re all at his funeral.’ You can tell what has first place in her life. What has first place in your life, someone or something? Whatever it is, that’s your God. If you turn from the God of the Bible, you’ll find yourself serving an idol. You must have something to believe in. The Bible says, ‘Keep yourself from idols.”
When I began this series last year, I explained how all adultery begins harmlessly and unintentionally. Idolatry begins in a similar way, it creeps up into our lives without us knowing and before long we find ourselves serving other gods, “loves” and purposes. This is what happened in THE GARDEN, Adam and Eve walked with God and everything was perfect—it was complete.
Then, the crafty serpent slipped into the garden and tempted Adam and Eve with more, with greatness and equality with God. EVERYTHING GOES BLACK when we take our eyes off God and get CAUGHT IN THE LIGHTS, notice how Adam and Eve were content with God and what they had until the serpent promised more and they took of the “fruit” from the tree of life. What promises to satisfy or to give life, takes it. And that’s where everything went downhill; the Bible calls it, “the fall” for a reason. And God tells Adam that he will return to the dirty ground that he came from (Genesis 3:1–20). More than God, tell me THE DEVIL AIN’T A LIE!
Former Lakota Indian chief Red Cloud once stated, “I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of the nation. We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We cannot take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love.”
Jesus taught His disciples to give up their desires and SURRENDER in order to follow Him because they were part of an adulterous and sinful generation (Mark 8:34–38). The truth is most people love God and Jesus in their minds, but in their lives they want more than Jesus and that is the definition of a HYPOCRITE! Preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards once noted, “Spiritual delight in God arises chiefly from his beauty and perfection, not from the blessings he gives us.”
In a recent message by Bill Purvis he shared a story about desire. “A little boy saw a big cookie in a cookie jar on the kitchen counter and reached in to only learn that he couldn’t get his hand out of the cookie jar. For an hour the boy wrestled to get his hand out. His father came along and asked, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Trying to get a cookie,’ whined the little boy!’ ‘Looks like the cookie has got you! Let me show you a secret. Let go of the cookie and pull your hand out, then you can turn the jar over and have all you want.’ explained the father. It’s like that in life, when we want God to bless us—but we HOLD ON to what we want. We have to open our hands to receive what God wants to give us.”
Sometimes we hold on to things and other people in this life so much because that’s where we get our satisfaction, joy and peace from. The Bible calls that idolatry and it’s only a matter of time before we walk away from OUR GOD completely. Just like our forefathers did. Just like the Sadducees and Pharisees did in Jesus’ day.
Fruit?
Now, JUMP into the New Testament and the writings of a former Jewish Pharisee named Paul, Paul wrote to the church in Galatia about the fruits of the flesh: Sexual adultery, idolatry and selfish ambitions (Galatians 5:19–21). How often have we made idols out of God’s blessings? Theologian and writer R.C. Sproul writes, “[Hope] is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made.”
Mark Driscoll notes in his book Who Do You Think You Are, “Often, this God-given passion to worship is misdirected towards idolatry and the worship of created things, like sex, fame, and food, rather than God.” Sadly WE BLIND—we never realize until it’s too late, these things don’t give us true peace or joy and we’re left feeling UNLOVED. Pastor Timothy Keller recently tweeted, “I’m so bad Jesus had to die for me, yet I'm so loved that Jesus was glad to die for me.”
Listen as the apostle Paul explained to the church in Galatia about the fruit of the spirit—he begins with love, joy and peace (Galatians 5:22). Although the greatest is love, joy and peace are typically byproducts of love. Isn’t that why most of us want to fall in love? Isn’t that the lure of love—to be complete and at peace? The late Jimi Hendrix once said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of POWER the world will know peace.”
The psalmist repeatedly sang about peace (Psalm 29:11; 34:14; 32:17; 37:37; 85:8; 119:165) and this idea of peace continues throughout the Old Testament prophets, John Lennon wasn’t the first and won’t be the last to sing about peace. To the Jewish community peace is a big deal. The Hebrew word often used in the Old Testament is shalom and it can be translated as peace, to make good, prosper, to restore and whole or complete. This is a promise of God to His people, to restore what was lost in the garden through the first Adam.
Andrew Murray explains in his book Humility, "When the Lamb of God has brought forth a real birth of His own meekness, humility, and full resignation to God in our souls, then it is the birthday of the Spirit of love in our souls, which, whenever we attain, will feast our souls with such peace and joy in God as will blot out the remembrance of everything that we called peace or joy before.”
Shalom is often used as a greeting or a salutation, because in the beginning God walked with man and there was peace and in the end God will be with man again and there will be peace. Even now in this evil world amongst our trials and tribulations it is the love of God that gives us peace that transcends all understanding through the second Adam—through His promise that we’re not alone, we know He is NEVER GONE. But it is through His second coming that He will usher in the ultimate and eternal peace when we hear that TRUMPET BLOW.
Gan Eden?
The Jewish word for the AFTERLIFE is Gan Eden and it is a RETURN TO INNOCENCE. Abraham Cohen explains in his book Everyman’s Talmud, “Whereas other peoples of antiquity placed their Golden Age in the dim and the remote past, the Jews regulated it to the future. . . They who are admitted into Gan Eden are adjudged so they may be accommodated in the division to which they are entitled. . . The happiness which is in store for those who merit Gan Eden is symbolized as a wonderful banquet. . . The chief joy they will experience is being in the actual presence of God.”
For Bible-believing Christians we call this place heaven and it will be on the new earth and there will be peace again, ABOUT TIME. This will be the NEW SHALOM and we’ll finally be complete, whole and we’ll fully realize the depth of God’s love for us. This is what Angel longed for in Francine Rivers’ Redeeming Love, “I love you.’ When she turned away, he (Michael Hosea) yanked her back, pulling her into his arms. ‘I love you.’ He kissed her and felt the way she melted into him, clinging to him so desperately. ‘Michael, I wish I was whole. I wish I was whole for you.’ God, why? John and Elizabeth have six children. Will I ever beget even one on my wife? Why did you allow it to happen this way?”
It’s human nature to long for love, but we can’t become love addicts loving everyone and everything except the one we should be committed to. A true lady can only be satisfied by the one she has committed her life to. She knows that his love is greater than all others. Pope Francis recently stated, "Peace calls for daily commitment." Our Lord Jesus promised that one day He will return and there will be peace. The first time He came wasn’t for peace on this earth, but to make war (Matthew 10:34), He was a KING WITHOUT A CROWN. But next time He will be like a bridegroom coming for His bride on their wedding day.
.
Despite what many well-meaning teachers and prophets would have us believe, I seriously doubt that we can imagine on this side of heaven, how wonderful the new earth and new heaven will be. Randy Alcorn explains in his book Heaven, “Aquinas was absolutely correct that God is the cosmic center. But his faulty logic reshaped our understanding of heaven by undercutting the biblical doctrines of physical resurrection, paradise restored on the New Earth, and the redeemed culture and community of the new earth’s holy city and nations.” It’s one we don’t deserve.
.
Let me CLEAR THE AIR, Jesus isn’t coming back to save this world, just His bride! And He will establish a new kingdom, one where His people will live like royals. In this life, we’re not promised to be earthly kings of anything; we’re called to be humble servants of our Lord. The apostle Paul explained to the church in Ephesus that being completely humble will help us love one another and allow us to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1–3).
We get our word humility from the Latin word humilitas which means abasement and unimportant. It is the same word that we get the word humus from which is basically earth, it’s the part of the dirt that is made up of dead plants and decaying animals. Remember what God told the first Adam in the garden? From the ground you came and to it you shall return (Genesis 3:19).
However, if YOU ARE a true BELEEVUH and you’ve turned to Him completely and He is STILL WITH YOU, you’re promised a new and perfected home with God, one without any blemishes, pain or sorrow and absolutely no sin! God hates sin so much that He shook heaven and cast His once anointed Angel Lucifer and a third of the Angels in heaven out to get rid of it. Then God sent His Son to the cross to deal with it once and for all. Because heaven will be perfect and free of impurities. There will be no broken hallelujahs as we sing holy is the Lord with the angels.
Like most people ALL OF MY LIFE I’ve dreamed of one day building a new house just the way I like it. IF I were to ever get married, it’s MY DESIRE for my wife and I to start our new life together in a BRAND NEW house that no one has ever lived in, a place that was built just for us, one that is free of defect— a sanctuary of sorts. It will be a home free of any negative history, because the very foundation was laid out of love for our future family to enjoy both good times and bad.
Likewise, that was God’s plan in the beginning, until the fall and sin entered the world and corrupted everything. That’s the effect of the curse on this world, it’s BROKEN and we can fill it in the pits of our stomach. God has been reconciling it every sense, out of His love for the bride. Like any other man, in God’s LOVE PURSUIT of His bride there will be a judgment before we go BACK TO THE BEGINNING.
I’m not talking about THE DIVINE INDICTMENT OF EVIL WORKERS who sought their own selfish desires and didn’t make God their NUMBER 1 priority (Jude 12 – 13), but the judgment seat of Christ (Revelation 22:12) when the bridegroom rewards His bride by what she has done while waiting for Him and at this point He won’t accept an APOLOGY or profession YOU KNOW thou art the Christ. This is when Jesus confronts those playing games with His heart, those who thought they could fool God by saying the right things (Matthew 7:21-23). They failed to store up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19–20) and chose to spend this life GOING PLACES. When this world falls apart after heaven and earth COLLIDE with each other, those who don’t believe or simply thought that heaven is a STATE OF THE MIND—will only wish for peace.
New?
A few months ago author Jerry Jenkins asked on his Facebook page, “What is your favorite holiday and why?” After I commented, he agreed with me—we both look forward to New Year’s Day because it’s a chance for a fresh and new start. It’s a chance to leave all the mistakes and painful moments of the previous year behind. Singer Taylor Swift once noted, “This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change.” And then she would share her dreams how to begin again in a song. And that’s what this first all new blog in two years will be about, what’s new!
This is a timely and appropriate blog for many of us, since today is the first day of the new year and it holds the promise of 365 days of change. There will be countless opportunities to experience new things and meet new people. And there will be many opportunities to see if we really learned anything from the mistakes we made last year. Unfortunately, many people overlook the tremendous potential that comes with a new year and instead choose to keep doing business as usual. King Solomon wrote a whole PROVERB about this and called it FOOLISHNESS (Proverbs 26:1–28). Most people, even Christians have adopted a flawed mentality of keep trying, believing and reaching for the stars, and one day you’ll HAVE IT ALL.
I confess I used to believe this as well. I used to BELIEVE that I can be strong enough, attractive enough, brave enough and good enough to do anything; to make my dreams come true. The great Albert Einstein wisely stated, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I must admit, insane is the perfect word to describe how I used to feel while chasing after the temporary crap of this world that can never SATISFY my longing for peace.
But, then I came to the cross of Jesus—which demands that I surrender everything to Jesus, most of us have no problem letting go of the bad things in our lives, we want Jesus to help us with our obvious problems with sex, drugs, alcohol and gambling; the things we call sin. But we’re scared to death to let go of our dreams, heart’s desires or anything that isn’t inherently bad. And so we use the cross to justify our selfish desires and we keep holding on to our pasts. Yet we pray, “THY KINGDOM COME, thy will be done?”
We keep trying to hold on to our lives instead of actually surrendering everything to Jesus. This means HOLDING NOTHING BACK. C. S. Lewis once wrote, “Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different...” This time a year many people SPIT CHANGE. Unless we’re open to change, we’ll never experience anything new. The apostle Peter experienced this change firsthand and encouraged the early church to as well (1 Peter 1:3–4). Mahatma Gandhi wisely stated, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
CHANGE?
For nearly 5 years the current administration in Washington has promised change, yet has done nothing of any good. President Obama once declared, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Most Christians hope to change the world for God; we want to make a difference in this fallen world. But we can never be world changers unless we let Jesus change us. And that entails letting go of our plans, desires and dreams. Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy once wrote, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
It’s integral to the Christian faith that we must change after we come to the cross—the “churchy” word is repentance. Author Timothy Keller says, "Repentance is not just the way into salvation, it is the way of salvation." We must change because we are broken, flawed, sinful people born into sin. In his book Who Do You Think You Are? Mark Driscoll writes, “We are brought back from spiritual death resulting from our sin to new life in Christ. Regeneration brings us new desires, thoughts, and hopes to do the things of God rather than the ‘Lusts of our flesh’ Ephesians 2:3).”
Our original sin nature and selfishness disqualifies us from everything that is truly good, every promise of God. Hence the need for grace and redemption—our rebel hearts and dreams are tainted by sin. How can we pursue the same things as the world and expect to change it? The world is all about chasing dreams, being famous and having the latest and greatest toys. We’re supposed to be different and set apart from a a world that doesn’t know God. Christian singer Rebecca St. James once wrote, “We must let our lives be more impacted by the ‘True Influencer’ than by those around us. Only then will we be influencers rather than the influenced.”
The apostle Paul explained to the church in Rome that everything in their lives had to change, even their minds needed to be BRAINWASHED of their way of thinking (Romans 12:2). Again, we typically want to trim off the bad parts of our lives that we don’t want; but deep down inside there are certain things we still want to hold on to, like a dream—when the cross demands all of us. Maybe it’s a family tradition, or perhaps that family name. This is why the prophet Moses explained the first step in marriage is leaving our parents before cleaving to a spouse and starting a new life together (Genesis 2:24), it’s a a whole new world living as one voice and ONE LOVE.
And this is the first hurdle many newlyweds face, one or the other refuses to let go of their single life and their old ways because THEY AIN’T READY for true commitment. Some are so blinded by their desires that their spouse’s are irrelevant. Somebody I used to know once told me, “Marriage is the perfect place to see how imperfect you are, change often brings LOVE AND PAIN. ” That’s something to think about before we say, “I do” and our lives change forever.
THE OLD?
Christian rapper Lacrae recently tweeted, “You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.” Most of you who keep in touch with me know that I started working with a new instructor through the Christian Writers Guild back in November. I was so nervous about working with a professional writer for the first time. Over the Thanksgiving holidays I shared with my mentor about the changes occurring in my life and how my priorities were changing; none of it made any sense to me, I thought I was LOSIN’ IT. But I knew that I had to trust God. I knew there were some things I had to let go of.
Coming to Christ doesn’t mean that you PUT YOU ON again, it means putting on a new self (Colossians 3:5) and living life differently. Thus, I must WALK IT LIKE I’M CHANGED. This is why so many have a hard time keeping New Year’s resolutions, they have trouble fighting their old ways. This is our (the church) first fight, it’s the spiritual warfare the apostle Paul explained to the church at Ephesus (Ephesians 6:10–20). Imagine WARRING ANGELS battling for our souls in heavenly places. This is why we need God’s love and power to BREAK EVERY CHAIN, because our flesh doesn’t want to do what is good and it resists change. However, we serve a strong God and He will help us fight for change.
As I was growing up there was a saying in my family about this time of year, “Out with the old and in with the new.” Sometimes it meant cleaning house, sometimes it meant having a yard sale, while other times it meant my family being transferred to another Army base. To be honest it could be scary at times, change often is. Inspirational writer and speaker Eckhart Tolle states, “Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.”
It was hard for the apostle Paul as Jesus changed him from being the old Saul. Paul was FORMERLY KNOWN as Saul, the greatest persecutor of the church. Saul was raised in the Jewish teachings; he was one of the brightest students taught by the most renowned teachers of his day.
Then God humbled him on a road to Damascus and the change was immediate, he was blind for three days until the scales fell from his eyes (Acts 9:9–18). Humility is an awesome agent of change. Andrew Murray explains in his book Humility:
“Until a humility which will rest in nothing less than THE END and death of self; which gives up all the honor of men as Jesus did, to seek the honor that comes from God alone; which actually makes and counts itself nothing, that God may be all, that the Lord alone may be exalted—until such a humility be what we seek in Christ above our chief joy, and welcome at any price, there is very little hope of a religion that will conquer the world.”
It’s when we die to self that we COME ALIVE. Scripture is clear that we must change from our old ways (Job 11:13 –9, John 14:27–28, Ephesians 4:17–24). Scripture is also clear that we’ve always had a problem of letting go, I know it’s been THE HARDEST THING for me to let go of many of my own dreams, but they were just dreams— not love, not life. But I have no fear, just faith. Faith that God’s will, God’s plans are better than mine and that gives me peace (Jeremiah 29:11)—not a guarantee that God will bow down to me, but that I bow down to Him.
Although the Hebrew people wanted to be the people of God, they constantly found themselves being unfaithful and worshiping other gods in a LAND OF CONFUSION. I’ve always known about the Babylonian exile from 607-586 B.C., but what I didn’t realize was that the Hebrews were exiled four times to Babylon during this time. They obviously didn’t learn their lesson the first time and a new geration grew up ALONG THE WAY who refused to change also.
Three times they promised to change, they promised to love God, they promised to be faithful, in their hearts they wanted to repent—but their lives showed otherwise. Each time they failed, they believed they could GET IN to the Promise land and act like their old selves. But the good news is that God was faithful and He never gave up on them, He welcomed them back with OPEN ARMS. And that’s the good news for you and me. And this should comfort us, this should give us hope. God can change us, He is patient with us. He is our peace. God’s love is an UNSTOPPABLE LOVE and I know He will TAKE ME BACK when I make a mistake.
This is what Angel experienced in Francine Rivers’ Redeeming Love, “Angel sat for a long time thinking after he left (Michael Hosea). The sun went down, and she didn’t need the lamp. She remembered sitting on the hill a mile from the farmhouse and Michael saying, “This is the life I want to give you.” And he had. How could he know what he had done for her? How could he even guess that her life was new because he had shown her the way to live?”
A real lady is open to change. She doesn’t make a SPECTACLE when she doesn’t get her way. A real lady is willing to LET IT GO, of everything—even when it gets scary. Because then God can create a new creation. It’s like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. It’s some kind of beautiful when love changes people. No wonder the apostle Paul called marriage a mystery (Ephesians 5:31–33). Oh, where are you Christmas—when Jesus changed the world?
Notice how the apostle Paul goes back to the marriage analogy between Christ’s love for the church and a husband’s love for his wife. God has always been in the business of creating, He’s been creating since the beginning of time. As we Christians believe in THE STORY of creation. He planned out the ARCHITECTURE of THE UNIVERSE and formed all of the elements to bring everything together. So how can we tell God how to use us? How can we manipulate Him into doing our wills instead of His?
It’s because of our thirst for knowledge and power that sin entered the world shattering perfection like a wrecking ball, one day God will again RESTORE everything back with FIRE AND FURY to how He originally planned it and everything will be new again (Psalm 71:20)—THE BEST EVER when His kingdom comes. Randy Alcorn explains in his book Heaven, “See, I (Jesus) am making everything new’….What creative possibilities await us in the unfolding of the eternal ages no present imagination can begin to unravel.” It’s sort of like how we buy things at thrift shops that have already had one life, but to us it’s NEW.
This is a timely and appropriate blog for many of us, since today is the first day of the new year and it holds the promise of 365 days of change. There will be countless opportunities to experience new things and meet new people. And there will be many opportunities to see if we really learned anything from the mistakes we made last year. Unfortunately, many people overlook the tremendous potential that comes with a new year and instead choose to keep doing business as usual. King Solomon wrote a whole PROVERB about this and called it FOOLISHNESS (Proverbs 26:1–28). Most people, even Christians have adopted a flawed mentality of keep trying, believing and reaching for the stars, and one day you’ll HAVE IT ALL.
I confess I used to believe this as well. I used to BELIEVE that I can be strong enough, attractive enough, brave enough and good enough to do anything; to make my dreams come true. The great Albert Einstein wisely stated, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I must admit, insane is the perfect word to describe how I used to feel while chasing after the temporary crap of this world that can never SATISFY my longing for peace.
But, then I came to the cross of Jesus—which demands that I surrender everything to Jesus, most of us have no problem letting go of the bad things in our lives, we want Jesus to help us with our obvious problems with sex, drugs, alcohol and gambling; the things we call sin. But we’re scared to death to let go of our dreams, heart’s desires or anything that isn’t inherently bad. And so we use the cross to justify our selfish desires and we keep holding on to our pasts. Yet we pray, “THY KINGDOM COME, thy will be done?”
We keep trying to hold on to our lives instead of actually surrendering everything to Jesus. This means HOLDING NOTHING BACK. C. S. Lewis once wrote, “Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different...” This time a year many people SPIT CHANGE. Unless we’re open to change, we’ll never experience anything new. The apostle Peter experienced this change firsthand and encouraged the early church to as well (1 Peter 1:3–4). Mahatma Gandhi wisely stated, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
CHANGE?
For nearly 5 years the current administration in Washington has promised change, yet has done nothing of any good. President Obama once declared, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Most Christians hope to change the world for God; we want to make a difference in this fallen world. But we can never be world changers unless we let Jesus change us. And that entails letting go of our plans, desires and dreams. Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy once wrote, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
It’s integral to the Christian faith that we must change after we come to the cross—the “churchy” word is repentance. Author Timothy Keller says, "Repentance is not just the way into salvation, it is the way of salvation." We must change because we are broken, flawed, sinful people born into sin. In his book Who Do You Think You Are? Mark Driscoll writes, “We are brought back from spiritual death resulting from our sin to new life in Christ. Regeneration brings us new desires, thoughts, and hopes to do the things of God rather than the ‘Lusts of our flesh’ Ephesians 2:3).”
Our original sin nature and selfishness disqualifies us from everything that is truly good, every promise of God. Hence the need for grace and redemption—our rebel hearts and dreams are tainted by sin. How can we pursue the same things as the world and expect to change it? The world is all about chasing dreams, being famous and having the latest and greatest toys. We’re supposed to be different and set apart from a a world that doesn’t know God. Christian singer Rebecca St. James once wrote, “We must let our lives be more impacted by the ‘True Influencer’ than by those around us. Only then will we be influencers rather than the influenced.”
The apostle Paul explained to the church in Rome that everything in their lives had to change, even their minds needed to be BRAINWASHED of their way of thinking (Romans 12:2). Again, we typically want to trim off the bad parts of our lives that we don’t want; but deep down inside there are certain things we still want to hold on to, like a dream—when the cross demands all of us. Maybe it’s a family tradition, or perhaps that family name. This is why the prophet Moses explained the first step in marriage is leaving our parents before cleaving to a spouse and starting a new life together (Genesis 2:24), it’s a a whole new world living as one voice and ONE LOVE.
And this is the first hurdle many newlyweds face, one or the other refuses to let go of their single life and their old ways because THEY AIN’T READY for true commitment. Some are so blinded by their desires that their spouse’s are irrelevant. Somebody I used to know once told me, “Marriage is the perfect place to see how imperfect you are, change often brings LOVE AND PAIN. ” That’s something to think about before we say, “I do” and our lives change forever.
THE OLD?
Christian rapper Lacrae recently tweeted, “You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.” Most of you who keep in touch with me know that I started working with a new instructor through the Christian Writers Guild back in November. I was so nervous about working with a professional writer for the first time. Over the Thanksgiving holidays I shared with my mentor about the changes occurring in my life and how my priorities were changing; none of it made any sense to me, I thought I was LOSIN’ IT. But I knew that I had to trust God. I knew there were some things I had to let go of.
Coming to Christ doesn’t mean that you PUT YOU ON again, it means putting on a new self (Colossians 3:5) and living life differently. Thus, I must WALK IT LIKE I’M CHANGED. This is why so many have a hard time keeping New Year’s resolutions, they have trouble fighting their old ways. This is our (the church) first fight, it’s the spiritual warfare the apostle Paul explained to the church at Ephesus (Ephesians 6:10–20). Imagine WARRING ANGELS battling for our souls in heavenly places. This is why we need God’s love and power to BREAK EVERY CHAIN, because our flesh doesn’t want to do what is good and it resists change. However, we serve a strong God and He will help us fight for change.
As I was growing up there was a saying in my family about this time of year, “Out with the old and in with the new.” Sometimes it meant cleaning house, sometimes it meant having a yard sale, while other times it meant my family being transferred to another Army base. To be honest it could be scary at times, change often is. Inspirational writer and speaker Eckhart Tolle states, “Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.”
It was hard for the apostle Paul as Jesus changed him from being the old Saul. Paul was FORMERLY KNOWN as Saul, the greatest persecutor of the church. Saul was raised in the Jewish teachings; he was one of the brightest students taught by the most renowned teachers of his day.
Then God humbled him on a road to Damascus and the change was immediate, he was blind for three days until the scales fell from his eyes (Acts 9:9–18). Humility is an awesome agent of change. Andrew Murray explains in his book Humility:
“Until a humility which will rest in nothing less than THE END and death of self; which gives up all the honor of men as Jesus did, to seek the honor that comes from God alone; which actually makes and counts itself nothing, that God may be all, that the Lord alone may be exalted—until such a humility be what we seek in Christ above our chief joy, and welcome at any price, there is very little hope of a religion that will conquer the world.”
It’s when we die to self that we COME ALIVE. Scripture is clear that we must change from our old ways (Job 11:13 –9, John 14:27–28, Ephesians 4:17–24). Scripture is also clear that we’ve always had a problem of letting go, I know it’s been THE HARDEST THING for me to let go of many of my own dreams, but they were just dreams— not love, not life. But I have no fear, just faith. Faith that God’s will, God’s plans are better than mine and that gives me peace (Jeremiah 29:11)—not a guarantee that God will bow down to me, but that I bow down to Him.
Although the Hebrew people wanted to be the people of God, they constantly found themselves being unfaithful and worshiping other gods in a LAND OF CONFUSION. I’ve always known about the Babylonian exile from 607-586 B.C., but what I didn’t realize was that the Hebrews were exiled four times to Babylon during this time. They obviously didn’t learn their lesson the first time and a new geration grew up ALONG THE WAY who refused to change also.
Three times they promised to change, they promised to love God, they promised to be faithful, in their hearts they wanted to repent—but their lives showed otherwise. Each time they failed, they believed they could GET IN to the Promise land and act like their old selves. But the good news is that God was faithful and He never gave up on them, He welcomed them back with OPEN ARMS. And that’s the good news for you and me. And this should comfort us, this should give us hope. God can change us, He is patient with us. He is our peace. God’s love is an UNSTOPPABLE LOVE and I know He will TAKE ME BACK when I make a mistake.
This is what Angel experienced in Francine Rivers’ Redeeming Love, “Angel sat for a long time thinking after he left (Michael Hosea). The sun went down, and she didn’t need the lamp. She remembered sitting on the hill a mile from the farmhouse and Michael saying, “This is the life I want to give you.” And he had. How could he know what he had done for her? How could he even guess that her life was new because he had shown her the way to live?”
A real lady is open to change. She doesn’t make a SPECTACLE when she doesn’t get her way. A real lady is willing to LET IT GO, of everything—even when it gets scary. Because then God can create a new creation. It’s like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. It’s some kind of beautiful when love changes people. No wonder the apostle Paul called marriage a mystery (Ephesians 5:31–33). Oh, where are you Christmas—when Jesus changed the world?
Notice how the apostle Paul goes back to the marriage analogy between Christ’s love for the church and a husband’s love for his wife. God has always been in the business of creating, He’s been creating since the beginning of time. As we Christians believe in THE STORY of creation. He planned out the ARCHITECTURE of THE UNIVERSE and formed all of the elements to bring everything together. So how can we tell God how to use us? How can we manipulate Him into doing our wills instead of His?
It’s because of our thirst for knowledge and power that sin entered the world shattering perfection like a wrecking ball, one day God will again RESTORE everything back with FIRE AND FURY to how He originally planned it and everything will be new again (Psalm 71:20)—THE BEST EVER when His kingdom comes. Randy Alcorn explains in his book Heaven, “See, I (Jesus) am making everything new’….What creative possibilities await us in the unfolding of the eternal ages no present imagination can begin to unravel.” It’s sort of like how we buy things at thrift shops that have already had one life, but to us it’s NEW.
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