Let me confess upfront I'm not much of a novel reader anymore, if I ever was.  And my most recent exposure to Sherlock Holmes was thanks to a terrific action-packed movie starring Robert Downey Jr. though I usually think of the old, black and white films with Basil Rathbone, which I personally thought were actually better than the novels.  I purchased The Detective and the Woman and downloaded it to my Kindle Fire because the author is my Xanga/Revelife friend Amy, @Pickwick12, and I have long respected and enjoyed her writing, especially about living real life as a young but thoughtful Christian.  I have lots of other books already downloaded onto my relatively-new Kindle Fire in the Bible Commentary genre, usually at 99 cents a pop, which I'm dying to read or reread.  But I purchased and downloaded Amy's book just to show my support for her.

BUT WOW!  I started reading her novel because the power went off at my house and now I almost can't set it down to take care of anything else!  She really knows how to tell a story!  The story itself just keeps getting more and more interesting.   And I just wanted all my readers to know they're missing out on a really good read if they don't purchase The Detective and the Woman by Amy Thomas, and read it!

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I haven't posted here for awhile.  Or anywhere else, for that matter.  It's because my mind is in a whirlwind since I began to see that the Pharisees-among-us-Christians problem has its root, at least partially, in the New Testament Epistles attributed to Paul the Apostle!   It is clear to me that Paul, even as he himself matured in Christ, progressively becoming more-and-more led by the Holy Spirit and writing astounding truth upon truth inspired by the Spirit of God, remained very much a carnal Pharisee during much of his ministry!  And it is very clear to me now that not everything Paul wrote to the churches he planted in the first century is intended by God as instructions in right Christian living to us today! 

This is a dilemma for me because I am a believer whose belief is deeply rooted in the power of God's inspired and written words in scripture.  But, as I ponder and pray through these recent realizations, the Lord assures me that He is continuing to teach me how to "rightly divide" His Scriptures.  And He has, for the present, suspended His mandate to me to teach more specifically regarding the victorious life in the Spirit.  He is teaching me more now day after day.

"Lord, I hate to take Your time, 'cause You've heard it all before;

There are questions on my mind I can't find the answers for.

In spite of how it may appear, You know that my heart is true,

And I find the Truth I'm searching for in You;

"Cause Everything You Are, Is All I'll Ever Need!

There Is Not A Path I Take, Where You Cannot Lead!

How Can I Be Less Than What You Ask Of Me,

When Everything You Are Is All I'll Ever Need!"                                        (Song recorded by Larnelle Harris)

However, I can at least reaffirm what I've posted here earlier:  We Christians are guided by no law other than the Laws of Christ: 1.  Do Not Judge One Another!  Even as Leaders and Teachers in the church!  The Spirit of Christ IS Our Judge!   2.  Love God with all our hearts, souls and physical strength.  3.  Love One Another as we would have others love us.  And 4.  Love One Another As Christ Himself Loved Us, putting the needs of others ahead of our own.

Keeping the Laws of Christ as we are led by the Holy Spirit of God will inevitably get us into trouble with the  Pharisees and other "still carnal" believers surrounding us, not to mention the critics of Christ and His elect.  They will inevitably stumble over our lives in Christ  even as they stumble over the completed work of Christ.  This is the cross we are called to take up daily. 

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Why do I celebrate Easter every single day?   “For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died; And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake.”    2 Corinthians 5:14-15 AMP

  "...there is One Who has come down from heaven--the Son of Man [Himself], Who is (dwells, has His home) in heaven.   And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert [on a pole], so must [so it is necessary that] the Son of Man be lifted up [on the cross],  In order that everyone who believes in Him [who cleaves to Him, trusts Him, and relies on Him] maynot perish, but have eternal life and [actually] live forever!

    For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

    For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.

    He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation--he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ's name.]

    The [basis of the] judgment (indictment, the test by which men are judged, the ground for the sentence) lies in this: the Light has come into the world, and people have loved the darkness rather than and more than the Light, for their works (deeds) were evil.  ...

   But he who practices truth [who does what is right] comes out into the Light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are--wrought with God [divinely prompted, done with God's help, in dependence upon Him]."  John 3: 13 - 21 AMP

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"How many of us live as if salvation is by grace, but sanctification is by works? It is an easy trap to fall into...!"
http://www.revelife.com/755622482/if-they-only-knew-sin-and-forgiveness/

In my experience, this is a widespread problem in the body of Christ today!

Salvation, eternal and everlasting life, is a gift from God to those who have faith in Him, who have believed upon the Name of His Son, Our Messiah!  Once belief has happened, most Christians agree, that gift is a done deal!

Sanctification, however, is an ongoing process during every believer's entire lifetime.  It is the process of growing up spiritually; and it includes all the stumbles, mistakes and failures we all typically experience as we grow up physically, mentally and emotionally.  However, sanctification is only completed in the moment of the believer's physical death and entrance into God's Presence in heaven.  While we remain alive in our earthly bodies, the believer's responsibility in sanctification is to repeatedly look to, agree with and cooperate with "the Author and Finisher of our faith."  But far too many believers fall into -- and many are led into -- the devil's trap of trying to accomplish sanctification by their own works of righteousness.  When they experience inevitable failures, the devil and his agents are right there accusing them and making them to feel guilty and unworthy and hypocritical, perhaps even questioning the reality of their salvation.

Often these agents of the devil are skeptics, scoffers and other unbelievers who have bought into the lie that Christians should actually, somehow automatically walk and talk and act as if they were perfected in the likeness of Jesus Christ.  But, unfortunately, sometimes these agents of the devil are well- meaning but misguided leaders within the church, over-zealously exhorting other believers toward holiness.

I like the bumper sticker: "Christians Aren't Perfect; But They Are Forgiven."  Even better, I like to say Christians are in God's process of being perfected, even as they are forgiven again, and again, and again......  As I have written here often before, I begin every and frequent prayer like this:  "O Lord Jesus, God of second chances and new beginnings, it's me, again."

So now I come to the reason I have sprung up off the springboard of someone else's excellent blog on Revelife to challenge some of my readers:  Which kind of devil's agent are you lately?  Or are you instead one of Christ's ministers of reconciliation?
...

I'm under instructions of the Holy Spirit of God to share my story and experiences with Him.  But I'm also restricted as to where I may be present on the web due to my legal status, even though it is bogus.  However, I serve a God of Peace.

Xanga is one of several blogging communities I live and work in.  However, I am read here and receive more feedback here, which encourages me.  Also, I've met many like- minded Christian believers here who are now my friends.  My Xanga site now doubles as my ministry webpage.

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

I wanted to write and post about the Christian pursuit of holiness and right living.  In particular, I have had very limited success helping my friends in Christ understand the three facets of sanctification as they pertain to the spirit, soul and body; in other words the positional, the progressive and then the ultimate sanctification.  This evening I discovered the piece I wanted to write, already written and posted.  Here's the link:

http://www.gotquestions.org/sanctification.html

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Sanctification: The process of transformation toward Christ- likeness and holiness during the physical lifetime of a Christian Believer.

It is a process!  This doesn’t happen suddenly and all at once in the same way Justification happens when a believer believes and confesses his belief.  Instead, it happens one deliverance from sin at a time, often multiple deliverances from the same sin, while the body has breath, and only reaches perfection at the moment the soul leaves the dead body and enters the Presence of the Lord.

The believer can – and too often does -- sabotage this process by trying to accomplish it in his own strength.  Jesus said: “Apart from Me, you can DO nothing.”  So, the believer can best enhance the accomplishment of his sanctification by yielding to the Holy Spirit and depending ENTIRELY upon Jesus to save him and deliver him from whatever it is the Holy Spirit has convinced him about.

“Not by might; not by power; but by My Spirit says the Lord!”

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,  that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

The Apostle Paul best describes the process of sanctification as it occurred in his own life in Romans 7 & 8, and in Philippians 3.

As the Lord has called me to Parke County and its surroundings, He has sent me to deal with the “spirits of religion.”  You can recognize these spirits behind believers’ inability to grasp the truths of sanctification as a process accomplished by the Spirit of God in the believer who has yielded to the process and fully expects God to complete the work He has begun.  But its understandable.

All our lives we are taught that we must strive to accomplish everything, that nothing is given to us unless we work for it.  But the very essence of the Good News of Jesus Christ is that we receive salvation, which we absolutely do not and cannot deserve by works, by the grace -- that is the UNMERITED FAVOR of God—through faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ!  And it seems accepting this truth as it pertains to our sanctification is the most difficult.  We see that it is difficult even among the most religious and zealous believers all around us.

Now, who will engage me in a conversation about sanctification?  Tell me about putting off the old and putting on the new.  Tell me about cooperating with God's plan for our sanctification.  Let's chat and praise the Lord together!

I thoroughly enjoyed Lanney's post:  http://lanney.xanga.com/760403311/moral-overhaul/  

Wrote a blog post of my own in commenting there. 

And now it's a good time to refer folks who have been turned off their belief in Christ Jesus by the moralism of His church to another site:

http://www.ptm.org/cwr/cwrMediaChoices.asp?program=CWR308

Have fun, Y'all

Occasionally I have introduced myself to strangers as “the greatest untapped source of natural gas in West Central Indiana.”  It’s a joke so old I can’t even remember whom I stole it from.  But lately, after beginning some posts about my calling to be a “foreign missionary” in my own hometown, I’ve been feeling like a pompous gas bag; and that feeling has stopped me from writing and posting.  And the deeper reason for that, I realize, is that for awhile now I haven’t been much of a missionary at all, much less a “foreign” one.

Near the end of Mark’s gospel, Chapter 16, and beginning in verse 17 we read that Jesus said: “And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up serpents; and even if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick,  and they will get well.”  The words which Jesus used here, translated “those who believe,” more literally mean “those who follow Me closely, even walking side-by-side with Me.”  Sometimes I am that kind of believer, and when I am the “attesting signs” do accompany me.  But lately not so much.

I am being refreshed though.  Faith comes and is built up hearing the Word of God speak.  And lately He is speaking to me through my old teachers and some who are new to me.  My Kindle Fire is getting loaded with old books by my teachers which I had lost, and only costing me 99 cents apiece.  And I am reading them, soaking in their content like a dry towel thrown into water.  By God’s grace I am driving out demons who’ve attached themselves to me.  By His grace I’m speaking new languages in the spirit again and interpreting His words into English my own mind can understand.  I am picking up serpents, the hissing causes of my diabetes, and beheading them.  Right now this is just personal stuff and only affects the loved ones who are closest to me.  But the “foreign missionary” is beginning to feel himself coming back to life.

Thank you, those of you who have asked and encouraged.  And all glory be to Our King of kings and Lord of lords!

Here’s more about when the Lord spoke to me saying: “I’m sending you home to Parke County and you shall be my foreign missionary there.”  I feel I should emphasize that I heard these very words very clearly; so there was never any doubt in my mind about what He said to me.  My only question was what did He mean by that!

I am still learning more of what The Lord meant saying I would be His “foreign missionary” here in my home county of  Parke County Indiana.  But today I’ll post my first, and still the most prominent,  impressions of what He meant.

Earlier I posted that particular parts of one New Testament passage kept playing in my mind in the first weeks and months after I received this commission:  :  2^nd Timothy 3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

Now this description fits the culture just about anywhere I have been in the world; but I found my spiritual senses were especially keen to spot it as I became acquainted with Parke County people again.  At this point in my life I had become very knowledgeable about the Bible overall and the New Testament particularly.  I believed the Bible reveals and expresses God’s Truth; and I was believing more and more of that Truth.   Also, I was receiving and trying my best to obey directions and promptings from The Holy Spirit Himself, often times supported by deeper revelation of scripture, teaching me to “rightly divide” it.  It wasn’t long before I realized just these three facts made me a foreigner in the county where I had spent my childhood and adolescence.  It surprised me, frankly, to realize my new neighbors were, for the most part, ignorant and unbelieving of the Bible.  I did not remember the county of my youth being like that.

Even more surprising I found the professing Christians here “having a form of godliness but denying its power!”  Almost every Christian I met, including pastors of churches, believed their salvation (justification) was the gift of God by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  BUT nearly all of them believed their salvation (sanctification) was mostly if not entirely  their own work to accomplish!   Each of the local churches I visited had its own particular set of rules to emphasize, but all of them taught rules of conduct for the Christians to follow in order to prove themselves “really saved.”  Anyone who doesn’t try to keep each and all the rules is not really welcome in their fellowship.  As a result, some of the Christians with the strongest faith I have met here don't attend much less participate in any local church.  The spirits of legalism and false religion were powerfully evident in the churches of Parke County, even among the most zealous leaders of the churches!   Much of the “Christian religion” here was (and unfortunately still is) absolutely foreign to me.

Some good news though: I soon discovered other “foreign missionaries” here.  Most had not heard God call them that; but they know they were called to serve because they are different.  Some were homegrown like me; but most not.  Do you feel like a foreign missionary in your own hometown?