Long Term Solutions

In my note on Short Term Solutions I spoke about the attack on Christianity from Secular Humanism and the proponents of Darwinism. The Church has also been severely undermined by Ecumenism and a multi-pronged attack through the Charismatic Movement and adoption of the Seeker Gospel. Need we add the Prosperity Gospel Movement and the Televangelist Crowd. If the Jesuits are reading this piece they’ll be high fiving and grinning from ear to ear by now. Who could have believed how successful the destruction of the Protestant Church has been.

 

As an immediate solution I spoke of the need for the Church to follow Revelation 3:18 “I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment..” To return to the serious minded Christianity of the Vaudoir Church who were persecuted by Rome for hundreds of years and paid the ultimate price for adhering to bible based doctrine and to salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ.

 

So, that would be a very good start in the short term but what would long term solutions look like. Probably if you’re a follower of bible prophecy you are looking at world events and thinking the Lord will return soon. I’ll just remind you that the Church has been looking for Christ’s return for 2000 years. Our Lord Jesus Christ has not returned and the Church has waited patiently for the fulfillment of all that must happen before he comes again. 

 

What then, does the Protestant Church need to do to prepare for what is soon to come. Firstly, what that needs to happen is for the Church to turn back to God and call for all to repent. Secondly, those repentant believers to get on their knees and to beseech God to raise up genuine Christian leaders to guide the Church back to the righteous path. We need Elijah’s, Daniel’s, Isaiah’s and Jonah’s to take the gospel to the world. Thirdly, there needs to be a call to true believers who find themselves in the apostate church to come out an join with the true body of Christ. 

 

Lastly, solutions that are long term often relate to the believer and what he or she must do to prepare for this time at the end of the Church age. As Christians we follow Paul’s directions for personal Christian success. We meditate on the word of God and pray. We seek God’s will for our lives. We commune with God and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as he reveals Christ in us. We surrender our will and seek to be in submission to the will of God. We purpose to make our every action bear fruit and to achieve the outcomes that are God’s designs. We strive to make ourselves temples of holiness to the living God. We slave to produce the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as shown in Galatians 5:22-23. We struggle to guard against the flesh taking care to keep the lid on the box that contains the old carnal nature at all costs.

 

If the Church can produce believers of this caliber then things will be in good heart for future generations. In the Western World where all is run amok this will be a hard task to complete. It will fall to the remnant of true believers to seek the will of God to either start new churches where the truth is taught in humility and faith or, to bring the truth back into existing Protestant assemblies. There remains no doubt that God has a plan to achieve this and that we are called to ensure that this begins to take place. The Bible tells us that their is to be a great harvest in the last days and this can only happen if true believers are sowing the seed.

 

Revelation 7:9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

 

So what can we conclude from this discussion? Well one thing is for sure the Church is in a pretty pickle here in the Western World. We think we have so much and that we know so much. We definitely have too much. In reality though, we have so much to learn and the only way we can learn it is to buy gold refined in fire as our precious Lord Jesus Christ said in the book of Revelation. Less is more and humility in a humble spirit is far superior to the arrogance of the proud and the vain. Lets us hope on Jesus of Nazareth for the way to our Salvation and on the path to help deliver many more across the river in to the City of the living God, Jehovah.

 

The Seeker Church and Apostasy

I have grave reservations about the path the Church is taking today under the premise of making itself more relevant to the contemporary world in which we all live. You will have noticed that the World is full of music and bands and that now almost every Church has a band as well. Christian music sounds like rock anthems of the past. Many churches now have worship teams, music directors and various other offices borrowed from the world.

 

The modern world has a theme of corporate identification. Management teams, Human Resources, Chief Executive Officer, CFO, CIO, COO etc.. Church groups are following this worldly trend and adopting similar leadership structures. In fact many church organisations are inviting corporate leaders to speak to them about how to organise their church businesses. They are being advised to set up in similar fashion to equivalent size corporate businesses.

 

Now this should be ringing alarm bells in the minds of bible believing Christians. We need nothing from the world but we have much to bring to the world from God, Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Not to mention the from the Word of God which is the Sword of the Holy Spirit. When the Church consults the world it can only signal that there has been infiltration by the enemy. It can only mean that Satan has broken into the Church and there is now apostasy!

 

So with this in mind I would like to ask you, the reader, a question. What does the bible say about Jesus in the book of Hebrews? Well Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.” NASB. Keeping this in mind may I ask you another question? If Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Has he changed what he expects from new converts and nothing has changed then why has the Church decided to make itself more like the world to attract new converts. Why are they including worldly music and worldly practices in their church services?

 

But if God hasn’t changed and the bible hasn’t changed and the gospel hasn’t changed. Then what is going on? Can I show you something by asking another question? Which church organisation has never expected it’s converts to change? You see there is a church you see that says that in order to be saved you need only believe that, that Church can save you. In fact when you believe in Jesus this church says God makes you good.

 

So now that you are good, if 

you show that you are doing good works and confess your sins to the priests then that church will forgive yours sins and you will eventually, even, make it to heaven. No real change of nature or character required. You can even buy your way through mythical purgatory to get yourself or others into heaven. It still happens today. I could tell you of and instance that I know of in the area of Reporoa in New Zealand.

 

So, how did the Evangelical Church get pulled into adopting Roman Catholic practices by allowing new converts to simply join the Church. No genuine salvation or sanctification needed. Just have shared experiences and a belief that the Church can save you and you’re in. Well I guess it shows how far the tentacles of Rome have gotten into the Protestant Church. With the new ecumenism and the return on mass of the Protestant Churches to Rome. It makes sense that Catholic practices are making a return to those Churches that were, until recent years, free of them.

 

I think those of us who are bible believing Christians, and still Protestant, need to be aware that the Church conforming to the World is apostasy. We need to be aware that that Rome is gaining strength once again. We need to know that this will likely mean that to believe any thing other than what the Catholic Church believes could well mean persecution against bible believing Christians again. A brief return to the dark ages before the Lord returns? Quite possibly. It would appear that the Day of Jacob’s Trouble is at Hand. The battle is on once more and we have the wonderful opportunity to fight the good fight in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. The Son of Man, the only begotten Son of God.

Keeping the Sabbath and the Law...

For many years now I have felt envy toward the Old Testament Saints.... They had a complete, laid out plan of how to live a holy life and what to do to make atonement for their sins.

Christians on the other hand have a verbose outline which vaguely lays out a guideline of what we need to do as believers. Which generally ind icates that we are free of the law and that relationship with God through the Holy Spirit makes obedience to God possible. 

Please bare with me. I know that I am being marginally sacrilegious in stating this. However, I have increasingly felt that something is missing in the way we are interpreting the scripture and in what Christians are choosing to believe about the law.

Jesus said in “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill...” NASB So we may be set free from the law but that freedom comes through fulfillment of the tenants of the law. Through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of God. We are empowered to live according to the law, in success and triumph and victory. In the power of the Holy Spirit the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, is revealed in us and we are sanctified to holiness to the Lord our God.

Romans 8: 3-5 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

 

Therefore it is necessary for every Christian to know and understand the law for if we know it not how can we know what our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has set us free from. How can we be sure that we are walking in the right direction.

Have you read the Ten Commandments lately? Below is a short form version.

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.

https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/10-commandments/the-ten-commandments/10-commandments-list/

Is there a commandment in that list that any Christian would have a problem admitting that they should be following? So when the apostle Paul says “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death...” Romans 8:21 NASB http://biblehub.com/romans/8-2.htm

 

What does he mean? He means we are free from the law of sin and death because in the power of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Christ our sin is wiped away. That through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we can overcome sin and fulfill the requirements of the law. Thus the law is fulfilled not abolished as the Lord Jesus said it would be.

Now I want to turn to the fourth commandment, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. I want to point out that no where in scripture does it say that this commandment has been changed from the last day of the week, to the first day of the week. Yet today most churches keep the first day of the week. 

Now there are various arguments for this. For example, Jesus was raised on the first day and in so doing changed the Sabbath for Christians to the first day or Sunday. But it doesn’t say that in scripture. Another argument is that the early Christians changed the day to establish a difference between Judaism and Christianity. This may be the case but they did this themselves and scripture again is silent except to chronicle that this may have happened. 

The reality is that the early Roman Catholic Church changed the day of worship to Sunday (The day of worship of the Sun) at the Council of Laodicea in AD 364. My understanding is that: (1) the true scripture following and teaching Church stayed true to the fourth commandment and (2) kept the seventh day Sabbath through the centuries and were persecuted for holding to these articles of faith in particular.

So am I saying we should abandon Sunday Worship and revert to keeping the Seventh Day Sabbath? Honestly I believe we could do worse. However, the apostle Paul says “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God” NASB http://biblehub.com/romans/14-4.htm

Personally, I prefer to let Joshua the Son of Nun have the last say on this one. "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

See you next week. Love and God Bless B.

Short Term Solutions...

We live in a strange time. Technology is every where and knowledge is increasing at an incredible rate. Half the World is physically starving and the other half is spiritually starving. The spiritually malnourished church of the developed world has real physical wealth but as Jesus Christ the Nazerine said to the Laodicean church in Revelation 3:17-18 “Verse 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” NIV 

 

 

In the developed world the Church has money and all of the people have technology but the people are lost. Lost in digital games, social media and held captive in and imaginary world oblivious to the truth. Programmed to think only certain thoughts through a media controlled by world rulers of spiritual darkness. Deprived of the very thing that can set them free. Encouraged to do what ever they set their minds too, regardless of the consequences to themselves or others. Curriculum in schools and the laws have been rewritten to enshrine that very demonic principal. “Do what you will.”

 

 

In the recent past a great deal of effort has gone into educating the people in what should or should not be said and by individual citizens. This is done by categorising some free speech as hate speech with the result that the voice of reason has been silenced. It is now dangerous for a Christian teacher, or leader, to share the gospel in school setting or, even in a public setting. It would be dangerous for a member of the public to share the gospel with an atheist or member of another religion, such as, Islam. In some countries you could be arrested or charged for doing just that.

This attack on the Culture of Christ has used atheism and secular socialism to take control of the education system. Over time it has elicited continual compromise from the Church over the teaching of Evolution and Secular Humanism. The intention is to wipe Christianity from the people by showing them that it is proven to be scientifically, and philosophically, unsound and and to ultimately leave them defenseless against the institution of a new World Order and ultimately a New World Religion. A religion that will supersede all of the current religions and lead to the worship of the Antichrist.

 

 

Which leaves us as believers in Jesus Christ with the question “What can we do about it?” Which brings me back to Revelation 3:18 Verse 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” NIV I would advise you revisit the history of the Church since the time of the apostles. Perform and Internet search on the Church of the Apostles, the Vaudois , the Waldensian and the Albigensian Churches and the Anabaptist Church. Get yourself a copy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and get a feel for what it means to be a Christian under persecution. 

 

 

When our Lord Jesus says “... Buy from me gold refined in fire.” He means for us to undergo persecution and in the process become perfected. It means that as this New World Order is ushered in that the secular world will turn on the Christian Church. Once again to follow Jesus may well mean to pick up your cross and to die for your beliefs. Once more the Church of this World will persecute the Bride of Christ. The true Christian Church. We who believe that “All who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13. That “God so loved the World that he gave his only son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes on him shall not perish but will inherit eternal life.” John 3:16. That as Martin Luther said we are saved by faith alone.

 

 

What can we do? Get ready, for the Day of the Lord is at hand.

My Spiriual Gift

When we become Christians and the Holy Spirit moves into our heart. God imparts spiritual gifts to us to empower our work on his behalf. The bible expresses it like this.

1 Corinthians 12: 4 - 11

 

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

 

One of my gifts is the gift of knowledge. I have to say it is a poison chalice at times. I’ve been a Christian for a long time and when I was a child this gift helped to to understand scriptures and the ways of God beyond my ability to read. It helped me to comprehend God in ways that were years beyond my age and level of maturity. Which was awesome actually.

 

However as I grew up God employed this gift in a different way with me. I remember walking out of school one day and looking at a young man walking beside me and knowing our life paths were intertwined. Don’t ask me how I knew. I just knew with certainty we had a connection in the future. I won’t tell you that story but I can state to you categorically that it was truly a word of knowledge.

 

From time to time God uses the gift of knowledge to show me someone that is about to pass away. There are signs in the gift and I don’t always recognise them straight away. Sometimes a person will seem really at peace with themselves and they will seem radiantly happy and content with life. Being a migraine sufferer I understand the importance of recognising the symptoms quickly to take medication in time to stop the headache before it’s too late. 

 

So when I see a person looking like peaceful and radiantly happy in the way I described above I seek the Lord to see if he is showing me what I think he might be. (I might add that I get a feeling in this situation that God is bringing this situation to my attention.) I don’t usually talk to them. My way is to pray fervently that God will spare them for their families sakes and that he will save them from their sins in Jesus Christ.

 

In almost every case, and fortunately there have been few of these instances, the person has passed on soon afterwards. I can only hope that God answered my prayer and acted to save their souls. In a couple of instances a person has shared their current experiences with me and the spirit has laid a great concern for them upon my heart. This is usually about something that the bible warns against or something very reckless that they are doing in their lives. This feeling of concern for them has caused me to warn them of the danger and to pray for them as well. 

 

I have prayed for God not to give me this type of knowledge and to take that part of the gift away but he still brings it to me occasionally. I’ve asked him not to tell me about family and people who are close to me. It is too hard to bare.

 

So, other than to share with you the somewhat onerous burden of this type of gift of knowledge and to share my personal testimony of having received a spiritual gift from the Holy Spirit. The purpose of this message is to show that God is active and living in the life of his saints. If you’re Christian then God is helping you to participate in the victorious walk of the Christian faith and charging you with real responsibility on his behalf. We are involved in spiritual warfare and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are weapons in this battle for the souls of the lost.

 

God bless you all and have a great week.

You won't believe it...

This week I’ve seen a really good video on what happened to the cities on the plain above the Dead Sea in the ancient land of Canaan. Most of us would know them as Sodom and Gomorrah but there were actually five cities in total. The video was awesome and I recommend that you have a look at it too. I’ll include a link at the end of this note.

 

However, there is a scripture that I want you to have a look at with me. Let take you back to 1900 BC. Two Angels of the Lord have arrived at the Gate of Sodom and are met by Abraham’s nephew Lot. He takes them into his home and prepares a meal for them. After they eat and as they are about to retire the men of the city surround his house and order Lot to give them the Angels to have their way with. The angels blind the men and pull Lot back into the house. 

 

What happens next is in the bible at Genesis 19 verses 12-14. Verse “12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

 

Look at the response from his sons-in-law. They thought he was joking! God was about to destroy the city with fire and brimstone. He actually rained elemental sulfur on cities which reacted fiercely with the limestone of the walls and dwellings releasing energy and a fervent heat which consumed everyone and everything in the city. But these men were so deluded by the wickedness of their hearts that they laughed at Lot and thought he was joking. They went merrily to their deaths.

 

You know I can believe that this could happen today. I work with youngsters every day in my work as a relief teacher and I watch with concern as they more and more frequently make choices to follow the path of darkness. I don’t know if you have listened to the lyrics of many of the modern hip hop songs but I will give you an example of the type of thing these children are being exposed too. 

 

Ayy, b.... I been goin' and goin' like the Energizer Yeah, I'm supplyin' the wood like Elijah Indica, smokin' on indica Might f... around and compartmentalize ya They say, they say life is a b..... and if that is the case then I'm finna surprise it No, I am not an adviser, but I do advise you to pay attention Never need to mention, I'm that motherf...er bustin' heads Finna push it to the ledge Yeah, I've been smokin' my meds Ain't got no love for the feds Can't let fame go to your head F... with me, watch where you tread

 

The excerpt above is from http://www.metrolyrics.com/44-more-lyrics-logic.html and is pa for the course on the type song that our kids are listening too. Given that music goes into the brain via the thalamus it is able to be processed into the brain unconsciously and is able to have a powerful influence on mood and can even change the brain. “Music is a transformative technology,” according to Aniruddh Patel of The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego. 

 

So what our kids are listening to is changing their moods and their brains. I’m seeing youngsters from good backgrounds with real ability behaving in much the same ways that only at risk children were behaving five years ago. Society is changing in front of our eyes. Darkness is spreading throughout the Western World. 

 

It concerns me that what happened in Lot’s time could happen again today. So, if we tried to sound the alarm to the young folk of this era that they would not listen and in fact think we are joking. I’ve said some of this to some of these dear young people with mixed results. One youngster said “I hadn’t really thought about that Sir. That I’m putting bad things in my mind.” She really heard what I was saying but others simply told me to “Stop being a buzz kill.” 

 

My solemn warning to all is simply this. “What you put in front of your eyes or in through your ears changes your brain. Where your treasure is is where your heart is. Conversely, what you watch or listen to is what you become.

 

If you want to be a fine Christian stop watching and listening to non Christian content. I’ve made a conscious effort to do this in my own life and found that is beginning to make a profound difference. Study the history of Christianity, watch and listen to the saints of our era. Even if you don’t agree with all that they say and do then, at least you are thinking about the things of Jesus Christ and not being distracted by the things of this world.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBCs4wexgRk Sodom and Gomorrah - Ross Patterson.

http://www.metrolyrics.com/44-more-lyrics-logic.html 44 More Lyrics - Excerpt.

http://www.musicworksforyou.com/news-and-charts/news/177-how-our-brains-process-music How Our Brains Process Music.