Our family was terribly frustrated with church, especially generational church as we have found here in Tennessee. What we have now found seems to be what God designed the Church to be, a gathering of believers for the purpose of fellowship, discipleship and evangelism. Please take the time to watch the video linked below to see how church is supposed to function. We had been praying about what God has for us as we have found ourselves churchless once again. What God revealed to us is that church is not the building or the corporation but the people of God, coming together to fulfill the great commission. Church is about community and going out into the community and demonstrating the love of Christ in that community. Church is about loving people as Jesus loved them when He walked the earth. We are the body of Christ and are to do the work of Christ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWco957omMY
Here is a website about a group of people who are living intentionally for Christ in daily life, gathering together, eating together, sharing together and inviting others to come and hear about Jesus. http://overflowcollective.org/#/home
I am excited to see what God is doing in the lives of these brothers and sisters in the Lord and what God is doing in our family. I encourage everyone to rethink what church is supposed to be according to the scriptures versus what the church has become.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
BOY SCOUTS LIFT THE BAN AND LOWER THE LID
This week, the Boy Scouts of America voted to lift the ban on openly gay scouts. This move to placate a very vocal minority has effectively spit in the face of all Bible believing families who participate in Scouting. A recent poll on the Blaze.com website shows that 95% of respondents do not approve of the lifting of the ban. I believe that lifting the ban on gay scouts will ultimately lead to lowering the lid of a coffin on scouting once and for all. If you are a person of Christian morals you will agree but if you are a supporter of lifting the ban, there are some things you may have not considered.
Many charter organizations will be forced to expel scouts from their facilities as homosexuality is not compatible with their beliefs and practices. Let's define what openly gay really means. It does not mean a person who may be conflicted in their identity, it does not mean a person who is simply attracted to the same sex, it is a person who has made a decision to be identified with a certain behavior. Being openly gay is a lifestyle choice which tells everyone, in this case particularly, "I desire to have sex with other boys." It may seem harsh to phrase this in such a way, and it may seem insensitive, but the truth is sometimes blunt and unfriendly.
If you support lifting of the ban, would you be comfortable with the idea of allowing your 14 year old daughter to share a tent with a 16 year old boy. If you are then you are an idiot. What is the difference if a 16 year old gay boy shares a tent with a 14 year old boy for instance? Would you really allow your young boy to share a tent with the gay kid. I believe that many people did not think this through. You cannot deny that homosexual males are the most promiscuous segment of our society. A recent study that can be seen here http://humbumbershoot.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/are-gay-men-more-promiscuous-than-straight-men-analyzing-research-results/ demonstrates that while 13.8% of heterosexual men have had 11 or more partners, a whopping 32.8% of gay men have had 11 or more partners, a whole 4% of gay men admitted to 100 or more partners as compared to less than a half of a percent of heterosexual men admitting to 100 or more sexual partners. Before you accuse me of using a poll that makes my point and ignoring others, you may be interested to know that the poll cited and the link provided is gay friendly and tries to make the case the gays are only slightly more promiscuous than straight men.
It will be interesting to see if in January the gay community tries to make a statement by sending an influx of gay youth, who would otherwise not be interested in joining, into the BSA. If this happens, it will drive out the conservatives and people of Biblical faith, the very backbone of scouting, and when those who came to make a statement leave, scouting will no longer be viable and will just go away.
It is a sad day in America, when an organization as fine and upstanding as the BSA is willing to compromise it's tradition of morality and give in to a minor segment of society because of political and financial pressure. It is time for people of faith in this country to take a stand and vote with our feet to protect our children. The gay community may be celebrating this victory, but you can be assured that they will not rest until openly gay scout leaders are allowed into the organization as well. Who would consider allowing a young single man to be a girl scout leader and having him chaperon a girl scout camp. Common sense tells us that this is wrong. Unfortunately at the altar of political correctness and "tolerance" common sense gets sacrificed.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
IS THE NEW POPE A UNIVERSALIST
Yesterday, the Pope shocked the Christian world by declaring all people of all faiths, even atheists are redeemed if they do good. You can read the article on the link below.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/pope-francis-good-atheists_n_3320757.html
This is a very troubling thing for the leader of any church, especially one so influential, to say on a number of levels. The Pope is supposedly the "vicar of Christ" meaning that he is here in place of Christ to lead the church. Let's look at how the Pope's announcement lines up with the words of the real Christ. John 3:3 "Truly I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven." John 3:18 "whoever believes in Him(Jesus) is not condemned but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." (emphasis added) How about John 14:6 "I am the Way the Truth and the Life and no man comes to the Father but by Me." (emphasis added). Unless God is no longer the same "today yesterday and forever" the Pope is contradicting the words of Jesus, the very One he claims to speak for. This would make the Pope a false prophet and instead of being the so called vicar of Christ, he would seem to be against Christ and His message.
The Pope also claims to sit in the seat of the apostle Peter. How do the word's of Peter compare to Pope Francis' message on redemption? 1Peter 1:25 " but the word of the Lord remains forever." And this word is the good news that was preached to you." It would appear that Pope Francis is at odds with the Apostle Peter as well when it comes to the subject of salvation through faith in Christ alone.
Interestingly enough, Pope Frances also contradicts Pope Benedict on atheists, Pope Benedict compared atheists to Nazis in a speech given in 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11332515
Unfortunately, the Pope is not some nut sitting on a mountain top somewhere, he sits in, arguably, the most influential seat of modern Christiandom. No other figure in Christian authority commands the attention and press that the Pope receives. Pope Francis chose to sit in the papal seat, he chose to be identified with the risen Christ and he chose to be considered the successor of the Apostle Peter. (I personally dispute these assertions made by the Vatican concerning the role of the Pope, but Francis, and Catholics world wide believe that he is precisely these things.) Pope Francis also chose to blaspheme the Gospel of Christ to a worldwide audience.
As believers, we must always represent the Gospel of Christ in an accurate manner, by our words and actions. I pray that as true believers worldwide see these false teachings, and undoubtedly more to come, it inspires us to live and proclaim the truth - that Christ died for sinners and all who believe will be saved. I am convinced that Pope Francis will say and do plenty to expose him as a fraud, a false prophet who speaks lies disguised as truth. Now, more than ever, believers worldwide must cling to the truth and cling to Christ and His teachings.
If you are reading this and do not know Christ, please do not be deceived by so called religious leaders who teach that God can accept you according to your being good, the Bible says "there is none righteous, no not one." It also says, "all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God." Either God has changed His mind and the Bible is no longer relevant or true, or the Pope is a liar and a false teacher. You decide.
/\
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/pope-francis-good-atheists_n_3320757.html
This is a very troubling thing for the leader of any church, especially one so influential, to say on a number of levels. The Pope is supposedly the "vicar of Christ" meaning that he is here in place of Christ to lead the church. Let's look at how the Pope's announcement lines up with the words of the real Christ. John 3:3 "Truly I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven." John 3:18 "whoever believes in Him(Jesus) is not condemned but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." (emphasis added) How about John 14:6 "I am the Way the Truth and the Life and no man comes to the Father but by Me." (emphasis added). Unless God is no longer the same "today yesterday and forever" the Pope is contradicting the words of Jesus, the very One he claims to speak for. This would make the Pope a false prophet and instead of being the so called vicar of Christ, he would seem to be against Christ and His message.
The Pope also claims to sit in the seat of the apostle Peter. How do the word's of Peter compare to Pope Francis' message on redemption? 1Peter 1:25 " but the word of the Lord remains forever." And this word is the good news that was preached to you." It would appear that Pope Francis is at odds with the Apostle Peter as well when it comes to the subject of salvation through faith in Christ alone.
Interestingly enough, Pope Frances also contradicts Pope Benedict on atheists, Pope Benedict compared atheists to Nazis in a speech given in 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11332515
Unfortunately, the Pope is not some nut sitting on a mountain top somewhere, he sits in, arguably, the most influential seat of modern Christiandom. No other figure in Christian authority commands the attention and press that the Pope receives. Pope Francis chose to sit in the papal seat, he chose to be identified with the risen Christ and he chose to be considered the successor of the Apostle Peter. (I personally dispute these assertions made by the Vatican concerning the role of the Pope, but Francis, and Catholics world wide believe that he is precisely these things.) Pope Francis also chose to blaspheme the Gospel of Christ to a worldwide audience.
As believers, we must always represent the Gospel of Christ in an accurate manner, by our words and actions. I pray that as true believers worldwide see these false teachings, and undoubtedly more to come, it inspires us to live and proclaim the truth - that Christ died for sinners and all who believe will be saved. I am convinced that Pope Francis will say and do plenty to expose him as a fraud, a false prophet who speaks lies disguised as truth. Now, more than ever, believers worldwide must cling to the truth and cling to Christ and His teachings.
If you are reading this and do not know Christ, please do not be deceived by so called religious leaders who teach that God can accept you according to your being good, the Bible says "there is none righteous, no not one." It also says, "all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God." Either God has changed His mind and the Bible is no longer relevant or true, or the Pope is a liar and a false teacher. You decide.
/\
Friday, May 17, 2013
IS GOD IN MY MINISTRY
One of the biggest questions that often goes unasked in modern ministry is, "is this of God?" So often, we run ahead of God and miss His leadership. One of the biggest pitfalls to effective ministry is attempting to minister in one's own strength. "Not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit says the LORD" is much more than a nice saying, it must be our motto. Here in East Tennessee, there is seemingly a church on every corner, yet our culture is in a disarray. There is a form of godliness, but underlying that is an ingrained worldliness that permeates much of our society and sadly, the organized church. How many people attend or even serve churches and have no discernible fruit in their lives? This is counterproductive to the great commission. Church leadership seems all too often to go to the available rather than the devout, robbing the service of the power of God.
God has caused me to look hard at my own life and analyze what parts are of Him and what parts are of my own flesh. What am I doing in my strength rather than by His Spirit. This is an introspection of all aspects of my life. My prayer is that God will circumcise that which is of my flesh and magnify that which is of His power and might. This is not an easy endeavor. Looking at one's reflection in the light of God's Word is many times a difficult thing to bear. The only grace in this is that God can transform the ugly duckling into a swan.
There are times in life when the rod and staff that David spoke of in the 23rd Psalm are beloved tools of God used to bring us back onto the right path. First God will use the staff to try to guide us back into the right place in His will but often times, the stubborn, like me, must experience the rod of encouragement to do the right thing or at least stop and analyze the direction being traveled. Praise God for His ever loving guidance and grace.
It is a very good thing for every believer to stop and take a spiritual assessment periodically to see if our ministry and life are of the power of God's Spirit or of the flesh. One day all believers will stand before the Bema seat of Christ and be tested for our works. What a sad day that would be if all my works burned up because they were done according to the motivation and strength of my heart, which God has already told me is desperately wicked above all things. Serving God is the purpose of our existence, but without the calling, leading and power of the Holy Spirit it is all for naught.
If ministry leaders took assessment of their ministries and co laborers, the church would be far more effective in carrying out the great commission. Instead, those with ambition and impure motive, or just no qualifications whatsoever find their way into positions of leadership and authority, and become agents of resistance to God's will. Stop, study, pray and assess... where do you stand with God today?
God has caused me to look hard at my own life and analyze what parts are of Him and what parts are of my own flesh. What am I doing in my strength rather than by His Spirit. This is an introspection of all aspects of my life. My prayer is that God will circumcise that which is of my flesh and magnify that which is of His power and might. This is not an easy endeavor. Looking at one's reflection in the light of God's Word is many times a difficult thing to bear. The only grace in this is that God can transform the ugly duckling into a swan.
There are times in life when the rod and staff that David spoke of in the 23rd Psalm are beloved tools of God used to bring us back onto the right path. First God will use the staff to try to guide us back into the right place in His will but often times, the stubborn, like me, must experience the rod of encouragement to do the right thing or at least stop and analyze the direction being traveled. Praise God for His ever loving guidance and grace.
It is a very good thing for every believer to stop and take a spiritual assessment periodically to see if our ministry and life are of the power of God's Spirit or of the flesh. One day all believers will stand before the Bema seat of Christ and be tested for our works. What a sad day that would be if all my works burned up because they were done according to the motivation and strength of my heart, which God has already told me is desperately wicked above all things. Serving God is the purpose of our existence, but without the calling, leading and power of the Holy Spirit it is all for naught.
If ministry leaders took assessment of their ministries and co laborers, the church would be far more effective in carrying out the great commission. Instead, those with ambition and impure motive, or just no qualifications whatsoever find their way into positions of leadership and authority, and become agents of resistance to God's will. Stop, study, pray and assess... where do you stand with God today?
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