This Means war!

If you ever have those days, weeks, maybe years where you feel like there is a war going on for your life; you are not wrong. Your feelings, I assure you, are correct. I feel like I have currently been in a spiritual battle where the enemy was in my face. I don’t laugh about it anymore. It is no joke Christian Warrior! Prepare yourself for opposition when you attempt to spread the Gospel and find personal spiritual growth. Peter speaks of the spiritual war very pointedly. In 1 Peter 5:8-10 He says, “Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your brothers in the world. Now the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.” There are times when I find myself thinking I, in my opinion, have suffered enough. When I wake from my delusion of great persecution I remember the level of suffering Jesus went through. That usually shuts my ungrateful attitude down. My point is that there is spiritual warfare going on, your part of it, your fellow Christians share your struggles, you would be blessed to suffer like Jesus did, and you will enjoy a great victory with Christ as long as you stand firm in your faith. Let us pray daily that we never forget that we are perfectly perfected in our Savior Jesus Christ.

Who Are You Trying To Impress?

The downfall of many Christians as well as non-Christians has to do with who they are trying to please. I have heard heart wrenching stories of faith lost because the Church in it’s infinite wisdom didn’t realize the harm it was causing, and the Christian didn’t see their misplaced faith. I like to say that I am not a Christian because I go to Church, but that I go to Church because I am a Christian. Not for a single moment in any day do I seek the approval of another human for their own sake, but for Jesus Christ’s sake. The ultimate approval of my savior is my goal in life. If you see me trying to please another human you can bet that I have the ulterior motive of pleasing God. (see Romans 15:1-7) Christians can’t have soft shells. I assure you that if you feel life is getting to easy then you’re probably in enemy territory. If you are constantly seeking to please God then you will also please the people that he wants you to please. Often people lose their faith when the Church wrongly labels them and makes them feel outcast. Well, there are millions of Church congregations. Find the one that suits you. We also have to realize as Christians that we are all imperfect and our brothers and sisters are called upon to help us grow through fellowship. This fellowship would likely include candid conversation about our behavior. Don’t get all offended because someone else noticed that you are a sinner. You are! If you opened up you may realize that they have or had the same problem and want to help. Paul tells us in Galatians 1:10 For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ. The point I am trying to make is that I find it personally frustrating that people allow their faith to be controlled by the opinions and actions of others. Our Savior very clearly tells us that his opinion is the only one that matters and the only wisdom that we can safely put our faith in. Please God by going to Church because you are a Christian. Don’t put your faith in the human element of the Church.

Grace and Faith

Grace is a gift of unmeasured value and like any other priceless treasure people have been fighting about it for centuries. Many Christians, bless their hearts, walk around in deep boundless faith simply accepting what they are told rather than investigating. In many cases the arguments are actually started by individuals who are looking at things through a narrow window of perspective. Our Heavenly Father is a being of infinite knowledge. How could we possibly think that his wisdom could be discerned in a quick and thoughtless fashion? I have realized as I grew spiritually that in todays world of deceit I needed to have a more thorough view of Christianity. I needed to be able to defend my faith for my family, myself, and my fellow Christians. I would beg of you as a Christian or as someone examining the faith to not do God’s word the dishonor of a light hearted inspection. We must look at the history surrounding the authors of the canonized Bible, the early church, and the church councils. Every piece of information ever reviewed eventually finds itself supporting the Grace of God. It is only when you try to take fragments that you get confusion and misdirection. The controversy of Grace is in my sights at this immediate moment. I prayed and researched to come to my conclusions and I hope that you will appreciate them. Is your salvation secure? There are many different arguments about our salvation. Some think that we can never lose our salvation once it is obtained, some think you can lose it. Some think you can lose your salvation and obtain it again. The list of human ideas just goes on and on. Well, it is my practice to look to the past to see if a problem or argument has happened before. Because I believe that no problem should be revisited unless there is new evidence to be examined. Something resolved should stay resolved. The most noted argument in the early church about salvation starts with a difference of opinion between John Calvin and Jacob Arminius. Of course neither of them was alive to disagree face to face. Their theologies differed and their followers warred about those differences. The lines were drawn and sides were chosen and the argument nearly caused a civil war in the Netherlands. A council was held to decide the correctness of the two theological views. The council, called the Synod of Dordrecht, decided in favor of the Calvinist view and wrote and ratified the Canons of Dordt. The Canons contained the five points of the Arminian view as stated in the Remonstrance of 1610, as well as, the five counterpoints that are now called, “the Five Points of Calvinism”. Let’s see what we can learn from this encounter and the supporting scripture. I have often found that in order to fully understand something you must know what raw materials formed it and how it was put together. Man is from his birth depraved. He is incapable of living up to the moral standard that tugs at his soul. He is incomplete. take a moment and think about the many different passions that men have embraced in order to fulfill a void that many of us admit to having. Some say they are fine and aren’t missing anything and I say if they are not Christ seeking individuals they are liars.

1 Timothy 1:15 

This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" —and I am the worst of them.

The Apostles knew our hopeless state and they did not waste time philosophizing about it. They called us sinners unworthy of the face of God.

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Some Christians would like to empower themselves by believing their free will allowed them to choose God. Our will is not equal to or greater than God’s. In our original condition we are unable to select or deny something we can’t even grasp. Without the GRACE of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice you cannot even know God. This is an invitation only party. Just as the author of 1 John tells us, “ we love, because he first loved us.” Then there is the ever famous John 3:16 telling us how the Father loved us enough to sacrifice the Son. If you believe you are great enough to have chosen Jesus then you might want to fall on your knees and get a different perspective.

John 10:26-28

26 But you don't believe because you are not My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish —ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand.

I know of no instance in the world’s existence where man chose God. Only Jesus Christ is doing the choosing. So open your eyes, ears and heart and pray that you are one of his sheep. In Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus tries to explain that no man can reach heaven without being born again of water and the spirit. Jesus was pointing out that with his gift of grace we are saved and that no amount of groveling or works could change us. Salvation is a work done in us by God. So we seek Jesus Christ, publicly proclaim our faith in Jesus through baptism, and the Holy Spirit enters us. We as saved Christians can resist at that point if we choose. However our bad choices will distress the Holy Spirit in turn causing painful guilt in ourselves. Through these labor pains the Holy Spirit reforms the Christian into a regenerated, sanctified child of God. When someone says that you can lose your salvation they are implying that God’s grace is not sufficient. The work is done by God. He knows that we are weak and gives us the strength to persevere so that we can overcome temptation. I really believe that there are too many interpretations of the scripture. Read Romans chapter 8 and think about it. Read several different translations if that helps and don’t interpret it, rather, take it at face value.

Why We Need The Church

The church, over the many centuries of it’s existence, as an institution has done nearly as many bad things as it has good. So I know that some of you won’t want to hear what I have to say, because I am now one of them. However, for many of my Christian years I was an expert church hopper. I never committed my name to their books for fear that I would get trapped in the evil institution of organized religion. I fell into the enemies trap. As Christians we need other Christians. (Hebrews 10:24-26) Of course Satan wants you to believe you don’t need church! If you go to church you may get the advantage of learning something from a more experienced Christian. It’s called being discipled, and it is the training model given by Jesus and (Matthew 28:19) you can’t get it without gathering with other Christians. Jesus commanded us to partake in communion when we gather. (1Corinthians 11:23-25) God commanded his people to raise up their children in the way. (Deuteronomy 6:5-7) We were also instructed to gather in fellowship so that we might encourage each other.     (1John 1:6-8) The world is very obviously not a Christian place and if you are in the world you are not in Christ. I was a hard person to convince myself. Common sense should tell anyone that your not going to grow spiritually if you don’t participate in church. To put it simply; you are not obeying God.

Dust Off That Bible

Christians often wonder why they get to a certain point and start finding their spiritual growth has nearly stopped. What do we do? What has happened? The key item in our Christianity must be either missing or unused. The scriptures fuel our spiritual growth like no other item. As Christians in a hostile environment we are surrounded by numerous opposing views. We must retrain our minds in order to maintain our ongoing regeneration. Now, I am not going to throw scripture at you to implore you to believe that the Bible tells you that you need the Bible. You can use almost anything without an instruction manual given enough time and or injuries. Just reminding you that some things are more dangerous than others. I can tell you that I am an incorrigible corrupt reject of society. It is by grace that I am even believed to be a decent person. You could find hundreds who I have scarred and done wrong to. Those people would tell you a story of a despicable person. The people who have known me for most of my life and still speak with me say something different. What makes me a new man? God’s word makes me a new man. Right at this moment I feel angry, alone, and faithless. Perhaps, I should dust off my Bible like I have in every trial in the past. I see it on the shelf. It has sat there for over a month while I shook my fist at God. My anger keeps me from the Word. Go and pick it up is what the Spirit tells me. Knock the dust off of it and find your healing.

The Discipleship Model

Somehow in the life and lessons of Jesus the model that he portrays gets lost. I am not saying all Christians have missed this concept. I am just saying that; myself and many others could have greatly benefited from a genuine discipleship. Not only is this modeled by Jesus Christ, but it is fairly common throughout society where the passing of knowledge is needed. The protege, apprentice, trainee, learner, cadet, pupil, or disciple is nothing new. In this modern information age people have stopped teaching each other in informal settings. Humans believe in the search for self awareness. The kind that you can find without being forced to have a meaningful relationship with others. What good could happen in this world if we could not just share our goods; but our knowledge, time, and emotional support? The first thing Jesus did upon finishing the Father’s training was to seek a specific group of men to train as well. (Matthew 4:17-22) The exact circumstances of the first calling of disciples varies from source to source, however all agree that upon Jesus return from the desert he began preaching and gathering disciples. Jesus did not announce his greatness and then tell everyone what was right according to him. This is unfortunately what happened to the Medieval Church. When the Roman Empire fell the public centers of learning it funded fell as well. Literacy was only for the wealthy and devout clergyman. The Church saw the power they held and it took many years and much bloodshed before Martin Luther was able to present a printed Bible in a common language. While the knowledge is accessible for self examination it does not mean the model Jesus gave us is no longer needed. He did not just give knowledge; He gave an example to follow. Any mature Christian watching a young Christian floundering in despair should be ashamed of themselves. Where is your example? Jesus didn’t pick twelve men and hope they noticed how he dealt with things. He said, “follow me.” Of course then you have to decide who to disciple. Our instinct would lead us to the easy ones to disciple. “I could be friends with that person,” is what we say to ourselves. (Matthew 9:9-13) The Priests were puzzled by Jesus choice of disciples. From their viewpoint it would make more sense for him to be hanging around them. Jesus chose his disciples by need not want or comfort. In his own words, “the sick need a doctor, not the healthy. I came here for the sinners not the righteous.” Some will say, “ I’m not against this discipleship thing. Anyone who wants to be discipled is welcome to come to me.” Well, here is the truth as I see it in the Word of God. In the parable of the sower Jesus spoke of the man who grasped the message and the harvest from his one seed brought forth a multitude of fruit. How do you think that happens? (Matthew 13:23) In Jesus’ ministry he allowed anyone who wanted to learn from him to follow him. They came to be disciples and Jesus was more than happy to share what he knew. (John 6:66-70) He spoke openly with the Twelve He chose and when the lessons he taught got too hard for the others he turned to the Twelve and said, “Don’t you want to leave?”  When they said no, Jesus replied, “That’s why I chose you twelve.....” It’s time for more guidance from our elders. With the exception of God’s own hand I have had a pilgrimage devoid of guidance. How many have we lost because we didn’t follow them through maturity as a follower of Christ? 

The Truly Fearless Ones

In the book of Acts we are given a vision of men who were divinely driven, because who could explain such bold and fearless behavior? Some would say that there are men who face discouragement and death all the time. For these men it was everyday and then to be happy about it on top of everything. Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin and refused an order to stop speaking the name of Jesus Christ. Stephen rebuked the Pharisees and praised God as they stoned him to death. Paul and Barnabas were beaten and jailed and when the Lord released them they chose to stay and minister the Grace of Jesus to the jailer and his family. But, what was there for them to really fear? Not death! I am sure that Paul would have welcomed death after being stoned and thrown from a cliff. God wasn’t done with him. The Apostles had an intimate knowledge of what their purpose really was. They sought the return of Jesus. They worked to prepare for the coming kingdom of the Lord. They all knew that there was no place for fear in the heart of a Christian. It would have been devastating for them if they had not pushed the boundaries and been put to a martyrs death. Step forward today and you find those who are afraid to wake the bear crying out for the new kingdom. If we do not regain our hope and our fearlessness I would imagine it won’t come until a more devoted generation comes to put in the work.