Uncategorized

  • Embracing Grace and Stiff-Arming Church-ianity

    Haven't posted lately.  Busy turning 65 years old and all which is involved in that.  But also really absorbing the book I've been reading.

    The actual title is Rejecting Religion, Embracing Grace.  And it's written by Greg Albrecht of Plain Truth Ministries, Pasadena California.  Half-way through it, I wish I could just post the whole thing here, chapter by chapter; for clearly the Holy Spirit has led Greg to many of the same conclusions about the present day apostate church as He did me.  See www.ptm.org.

    ...

  • Pentecost, More Than Just A Bath!

    Jesus had been beaten, crucified, dead and buried.  He had risen from the dead, spent forty days meeting with His disciples and then ascended bodily into the heavens in view of everyone there.

    Then, only a week or so later, “when the day of Pentecost had fully come,” God’s Spirit was poured out upon all mankind with a confounding roar!  Read all about it in Acts 2:

    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202&version=AMP

    And when you have read it all,  when you have tried to take it all in, consider the greatest and fullest meaning of what I consider the most profound invitation in all of scripture: Acts 2:  37Now when they heard this they were stung (cut) to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles (special messengers), Brethren, what shall we do?    38And Peter answered them, Repent (change your views and purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it) and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of and release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

    What does it mean to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ?  Well, baptized means to be immersed in.  And here we are not told to simply take a bath in water!  Water baptism is only a symbol that we have decided to do what Peter here invited us to do!

    Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was then and is now fully revealed as God Incarnate. And, therefore, being told to immerse ourselves in the name of Jesus means to immerse ourselves in all the many names of God!

    To begin or to deepen your own, personal Pentecost, here is a link to a wonderful listing of the names of God:

    http://ldolphin.org/Names.html

    Immerse yourself for the rest of your life.  You'll not regret it.

    ...


     

  • The Day The World Changed Big Time!

    Acts 2!

    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2&version=AMP

    Read it for yourself.

  • How Bad Is Hell?

    I posted the following as a comment on another Xanga blog, false teachings regarding Hell; however it stands on its own as a blog entry:

    Unfortunately, some of the greatest "false teachings regarding Hell" have become the traditional understanding of Hell in the contemporary church!  These teach that an angry God sends people who will not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior to suffer eternally in burning sulpher.  They actually teach that God has no choice in this matter.   But "God has not given us a spirit of fear." And no one should be motivated to receive Christ or to seek the lost for Christ by the false teaching of eternal torment at the hands of an angry God.

    Are there many who will never enter into the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven?  The Bible teaches a yes answer. "Many are called, but few are chosen."   Will those whose names are never entered into the Lamb's Book of Life suffer literally forever in flames, sent there by an angry God?  The answer is NO!  That is a metaphor for something far worse, the continuation of the confusion and unfulfilled longings of spiritual death which is suffered by the whosoever won'ts, those who refuse to recognize, acknowledge and obey their loving Creator by trusting Him and loving Him and other human beings as themselves. These will eventually "perish" when this present world is destroyed, giving way to "new heavens and new earth."  In other words, hell is something like being on death row, restrained and knowing the end is coming but not when.  The New Testament describes this as the second death, one worse than the first one.  Jesus' description using the burning dump heap (Gehenna) of Jerusalem is by far more miserable than our modern-day prison death rows here in the USA!

    OK, so go ahead and be fearful of that if you are wise enough.  At least now you know the truth we all are facing.

    ...

  • Joseph, Son of Israel

    It’s Wednesday and I have a standing date with my mom, now86 years old, to drive her and me to the Wednesday Night Bible Study at FirstAssembly Evangelistic Center here in Rockville Indiana.  (As the name implies, this group is notcontent to be known simply as the church. It wants everyone to know it is on a mission.)

    My mom loves these Wednesday nights.  Her eldest son is known to be aknowledgeable Bible student out at the FAEC. He is always asked to read the chapter at hand out loud so that everyonecan hear it clearly.  (In other wordseveryone knows I have a loud and articulate voice!)  She is truly and openly proud of her son’s progress in “coming toknow the Lord.”  But she secretly smilesto herself as she watches him fight to keep his mouth shut when he hearsignorance being taught and approved of by all at the table and the Lord hasn’tgiven him leave to dispute it; not just yet, not in this setting.  She can still laugh at how her son hasslowly come to accept the fact that “her church,” First Assembly of Rockvillemay not get everything perfectly right; but it’s still more right thanmost.  (After all, no one could haveconvinced me that ecstatic utterance of gibberish is a truly wonderful giftfrom the very Spirit of God until I heard my own mother tell me she hadreceived that gift and was blessed by it!  So many years ago now……..)

    Tonight is even more special for me than usual.  We have been studying the patriarchs ofIsrael in Genesis; and tonight we will begin to read and study about Joseph,the son of Israel formerly called Jacob. (Genesis 37)  Now Joseph is veryspecial to me indeed because he is the first and one of the greatest Biblical examplesof a man sent to prison for a crime he did not commit to achieve God’s very ownpurposes.  I am inwardly rubbing myhands together in anticipation of watching that truth settle into the minds ofsome at that table who have believed the malicious slanders about me being achild molester and deserving every minute I spent in prison for that.  BUT this anticipation is tempered by therealization God will very likely impress upon me once again that I should keepmy mouth shut about that!

    I can already hear Him in my head: “My grace is sufficientfor you!  Rejoice in the fact I sent youto the same perfect Bible college where I sent Peter, and Paul, and many otherof my finest servants. Yes, even where I sent Joseph son of Jacob, son ofIsaac, son of Abraham!  Don’t try toexplain that to those who can’t possibly, humanly-speaking, understand it. Soshut up!  Leave it to me.”

     

    Sighs.

     

    …

  • The Essential Relationship For Eternal Life

    “Search me, O God, and know my heart;  Try me, and know my anxieties;  And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”

    “O Lord, God of second chances and new beginnings, it’s me again."

    These two verses exemplify the heart-cry of one who lives in relationship with God the Creator of All Things and who clearly recognizes that his/her imperfection remains.

    This one judges and condemns no one.  This one accepts judgement from no one other than God the Creator of All Things.

    I am such a one. And I recognize Jesus is Christ the Lord Who took my sins -- even the sins of all mankind --  upon Himself and gave to me -- to anyone who will accept His offer -- everlasting life in return.

    I recognize that He summed up all the law of God into His “new” commandment:“Love one another as I love you.”

    Obeying His “new” commandment – in each and every instance as He leads me by His Spirit to understand it – is my religion; this is my only religion.
    ... 

  • Foundation Truths of My Faith

    I find myself in discussion on this Xanga site with people of many backgrounds and beliefs.  So today I post a link to the foundation truths of my faith, which are also those of the Assemblies of God denomination of the worldwide Christian Church:  
     
    http://www.ag.org/top/beliefs/statement_of_fundamental_truths/sft_short.cfm

    I have personal experiences to back up my agreement with these truths; so I don't need to rely upon "blind faith."  Also, my interpretation and understanding of some of these differs from that of some, perhaps many, other sincere and devoted Christians, even within the A of G denomination.

    Which of these do you have most difficulty with, if any?
    ...

  • Hey God, What's the Hold Up!

    My Friend Lance Ponder answers perfectly:
    Why might you sometimes not receive wisdom or something else you thought God should give?

    Posted on May 27, 2011 by Lance Ponder

    http://divinelogos.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/why-might-you-sometimes-not-receive-wisdom-or-something-else-you-thought-god-should-give/

    ...

  • God Still Speaks With His Believers

    What, exactly, is The Word of God?

    According to the Holy Bible, God has spoken, revealing Himself and His will, not only to the patriarchs of old but also to later prophets, evangelists, apostles and other persons in a number of different ways, some listed here in no particular order:

    1. By a personal appearance of Jesus or The Angel of the Lord, He Who entered time and space as the Son of God and Son of Man, both before and since His incarnation for the salvation of mankind.

    2. By an audible voice, sometimes accompanied with emblematic appearances.

    3. By visions or dreams, which took place either during ordinary sleep or when the persons were awake, daydreaming or just going about their ordinary business.

    4. By the ministry of angels, sometimes appearing as in ordinary human bodies, and sometimes performing certain miracles to accredit their mission.

    5. By the powerful agency of the Spirit of God upon the mind, giving it a strong conception and supernatural persuasion of the truth of the things perceived by the understanding.  (My personal favorite, BTW, because this is the manner I most often hear from God.)

    Notice that anyone of these can and has sometimes happened as the persons were reading, studying or contemplating scripture; but scripture isn’t a necessary element.

    When Jesus was facing His death, knowing all about His coming resurrection from death and ascension into heaven, He promised His disciples (including all who would later believe in Him according to John 17.): “ … I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever–The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, desolate, bereaved, forlorn, helpless]; I will come [back] to you. … the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.” John 14:16-27 (Amplified Bible)

    In the books of Acts and 1st Corinthians at least, we can find many recorded actions, revelations and manifestations of the Holy Spirit Whom Jesus promised to us during the beginnings of the church.  We can find these in all of church history; and, if we expect and look for them, we find them today, everyday.

    Now I ask where is it recorded that God ever said He would restrict Himself to the written words of scripture in His further communications with His servants!?

    ...

  • Finale, sometimerainbow's last questions for Christians

    5. Do you think there are any common features of all religious worship?Beyond the obvious parallels between Islam, Christianity and Judaism, do you see any similarities between, for instance, Christianity and Buddhist worship?

    The New Testament prescribes Christian worship in Romans 12 1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  I don’t see this practiced very well in any religion; and it’s practiced too infrequently among Christians.

    6. Do you think that your belief is empirically reasonable - i.e. inference from the best available evidence - or is it a matter of faith that can't be expressed in entirely logical terms?

     My belief in the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ is supported by great gobs of evidence, most of it first-person eyewitness reports.

    7. Do you believe that your own denomination of your religion is superior to other branches of your own religion?    YES!   Click on the statement of beliefs:

    http://www.ag.org/top/beliefs/statement_of_fundamental_truths/sft_short.cfm 

     What is thereto say that one branch is superior to another, when both stem from different readings of the same text.  CONFIRMATION BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!