03/11/25 ORIGIN AND ASSIGNMENT OF HUMAN GOVERNMENT

03/11/25 ORIGIN AND ASSIGNMENT OF HUMAN GOVERNMENT

The New Testament...
DOES NOT Command Christian violence,
DOES NOT Commend Christian violence,
DOES NOT Condone Christian violence.

The New Testament DOES Condemn Christian violence.

According to the Bible, God initiated and authorized Human Government and empowered The State with the sword of steel to protect the law abiding and punish the law breakers (domestic and foreign). This is the primary function of The State, and The State is answerable to the rule of God.

According to the Bible, God created and instituted The Church and has given Christians the sword of the Spirit (The Holy Bible) to instruct, empower and fight against spiritual forces.
Our fight is not against men, but against spiritual powers.
Our weapons are not carnal (physical, material) but spiritual.

The Old Testament cannot be appealed as justification for believers using violence. The Old Testament imposes laws, rituals, practices, and standards on Israel, which do not apply to The Church (Christians), such as dietary, sacrificial, civil and religious laws, and the New Testament specifically directs Christians to move from Jewish kingdom alignment into a heavenly kingdom model, which is spiritual, rather than an earthly kingdom.
However, modern, western Christians have been misled to believe that violently taking life is acceptable for follower of Christ.

At the same time, we are seeing less and less commitment to The Great Commission, and spiritual unity with the local body of Christ, and submission to the authority of God's word and Biblical leadership, which results in church people being spectators, rather than active soldiers of the cross.

The world does not lack for warriors of carnal purposes, but the Church cannot drive back darkness because the people choose to be bench warmers instead of being witnesses, ambassadors, torch bearers, fishers of men, seekers of lost souls, faithful servants of God.

This temporal world has plenty of people serving the present time, but the Church has become an entertainment venue, an amusement park, a hideaway, a clubhouse, a social center.

Where are the soldiers of the cross, the fishers of men, the ambassadors of God?
Some folks,"Go to church."
Some folks, "Play church."
Few folks are willing, "To Be The Church."

Jesus said that He is the foundation of the Church and upon this truth He would build His Church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. The Church is the Army of God, driving back darkness, defeating sin and Satan, setting the prisoner free.

When it comes to rescuing the perishing from sin, from bondage, from oppression, from worldliness, Christians have orders to go, we do not have orders to get back.
Remember, the New Testament word, "Witness," comes from the Greek word, which means, "martyr."
Being a witness for Christ means offering up our lives in service to God.
We are to present our bodies and our lives, as a living sacrifice.
We are not our own, we are bought with a price.

03/10/25 LORD HELP ME

03/10/25 LORD HELP ME

Here are a couple of things we can mean when we pray, "Lord help me."
It can be said when asking for Divine assistance, aide, support.
Lord, lead me.
Lord, enable me.
Lord, enlighten me
Lord, encourage me.
Lord, strengthen me.
It can also be said when asking for Divine and miraculous intervention.
Lord, preserve me
Lord, protect me.
Lord, rescue me.
Lord, deliver me.
Lord, save me.
Lord, keep me.

Both forms are valid and available.
We all need God's help continuously, and God gives us everything necessary for life and godliness.
2 Peter 2:2-4
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: note
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

03/08/25 SIMPLE BUT TRUE

03/08/25 SIMPLE BUT TRUE

Walk in victory. It is an opportunity, not an obligation.

03/08/25 CONTRADICTIONS IN COMMITTMENT

03/08/25 CONTRADICTIONS IN COMMITTMENT

There are some people who call themselves Christian...

They will die for their country, but they will not die or live for Jesus.

They will kill for country, money, politics, temporal benefits, but they will not dedicate themselves to seek the lost, love their enemies, set the spiritual prisoner free, rescue the perishing, or sacrifice in order to take news of salvation to a world bound for hell.

They will spend their time, their earthly treasures, their opportunities and abilities and skills and talents, for fame and fortune, but they will neglect or reject the need of their local church to fulfill The Great Commission in their own community.

They will volunteer and obey and serve and sacrifice, to men and movements and missions that are secular, but will not submit and follow Jesus in sacrificial work through the local body of believers.

03/08/25 RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE

03/08/25 RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE

Commitment to responsibility and giving account for our time and focus is a standard requirement throughout life.

I spent 16 years in the academic world, giving account daily, weekly, every six weeks, suddenly and without warning (pop tests), half semester, end of year testing.

I also worked in the work-a-day world (restaurant, fishing boats, newspaper distribution, funeral home and ambulance service, landscaping) during those years, and I had to give account for my time on the job.

Since graduating from Bible College, I have had various "tent maker" jobs as well as being Pastor of various local churches. All of those situations carried responsibility and accountability.

Being part of an athletic team requires performance, which is also true if you are part of a band or part of a debate team or part of a business, or part of the military, "and the beat goes on."

What about our responsibilities, performance, accountability as servants of God?

I am not only referring to personal activities as a follower of Christ. We are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, and God will judge us according to our works in the flesh (thoughts, words and deeds). This includes both our personal actions and public (body life) ministries. What services and ministries do we render in conjunction with the local body of believers?

As a pastor, I don't ask my parishioners for a written or verbal report on their body-life ministry and service. However, God has called us to be active in the building up of the body and in the evangelizing of the lost. The serious Christian knows what God requires, and the sincere Christian serves God because of love for God, love for other believers and love for the lost. We don't have to be pressured or hounded or constantly reminded. We have the Divine nature and therefore we want to do that which is pleasing in God's sight.

On a military model, (remember, we are Soldiers of the Lord and of the Cross), worldly military personnel (Army, Navy, Marine Corp, Air Force) must take care of their post, camp, fort, station, or ship, and they must maintain their equipment, train for action, deploy when directed, sacrifice, and obey their orders. The Army of God should do the same. Even if there is no E-Mail sent, asking for a 5 Point report concerning the previous week, each part of the each local body should be able to name specific duties they have fulfilled in service in their local ministry and their world-wide outreach (beginning in Jerusalem).

How would you like it if academics, athletes, musicians, businesses, health and medical workers, military or law enforcement gave only the same level of dedication as believers render to their local churches? More specifically, how would those other programs and services function if the workers were no more dedicated to their jobs as you are in serving your local church?

Obviously there are protocols in the marketplaces of life, "to make" people do what they are supposed to be doing. The church does not operate that way. There are also rewards that are provided for secular performances, such as financial, positional, power, fame, peer recognition, which are not connected to believer's ministry in local churches.

Obviously there are time requirements for most responsibilities in the secular world, which are not attached to Christian service in the local church. But the question needs to be considered, "how much of my time do I give to the actual work of God in my local church?"

This may include your time and effort in ministries such as music, grounds keeping, housekeeping, teaching, hospitality, administration. But there are other forms of Christian ministry that require "ground forces." But don't confuse church ministry with your own personal submission to God. The walk and warfare of a believer is both personal and corporate.

If we view church as simply a religious gathering, or a Christian entertainment venue, or a social setting, or a self-improvement club or a spiritually oriented group of cultural Christians, or even a warm Christian community for Biblical encouragement and training, then we really don't understand New Testament Christianity.

The Church is universal in the sense that it includes all redeemed believers, from the birth of the Church until the rapture of the Church, and the Church is also a localized gathering of believers with pastor, leadership, gifts, ministry, unity, accountability, and standing orders from God.
Remember...
God instituted the Church.
Christ gave His life for the Church.
Christ is the foundation of the Church.
The Church is the Body of Christ.
The Church is the Bride of Christ.
The Church is the Building or Christ.
Christ baptized, filled and purified His Chuch with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The Church was the recipient of Divine revelation.
Christ is coming back for His Church.
The Church is the pillar and support of the truth.
The Church is the recipient of the gifts of the Spirit, for the building up of the body and the reaching of a lost society.
The Church is the family of God, into which sinners are born again and nurtured and instructed and sent out as messengers, ambassadors, and soldiers.

We are the presence of Jesus reaching out to a wicked world: we are His hands, feet, voice, and heart, doing His work, serving tables, seeking the lost, setting the captive free, lighting the path of the sinner, calling people to repentance, proclaiming the salvation of God, reconciling the rebellious to Jesus.

Yet the local church is given more grief by its attenders, rather than self-denying service.

There are some who give no dedicated service to God and others.
There are some who give spare time to eternal purposes.
There are very few who live the life of a Christian soldier, and ambassador of Christ.

What could the church accomplish if Christian service was the driving force of even a few of those who call themselves Christian?

The church is not a failure because of the world, but the world is left in darkness because of a failed church.

Rise up O men of God.

03/06/25 SYSTEMIC HATRED

03/06/25 SYSTEMIC HATRED

Recently, in my teaching/preaching, I addressed the reality that people have extreme hatred, to the extent that it robs them of reason and civility. This has become obvious with the fact of "Trump Derangement Syndrome." Whether you are a Trump fan or not, it is evident that people lose contact with reality because of their hatred for President Trump (actually his conservative political views). In another sense, Trump Derangement Syndrome can be the condition of people who idolize Trump. Donald Trump should not be demonized of deified. A person's worth is determined by his or her faith relationship with Jesus Christ.

Don't forget the number of times that people have been irate concerning words and actions attributed to Trump, while actually those ideas came from either Biden or Obama, which demonstrates that the anger and disagreement is against Trump, rather than his supposed position.

Though this extreme hatred raised against Donald Trump is aimed at one person, it is seen in other areas of life. This kind of insanity is aimed at Jesus, though He was a man without sin or fault. The prejudice against Jesus is based on a rejection of His Divine authority. Likewise, there is an insane hatred and anger against Bible believing (Christ following) Christians.

You may be wondering why I referenced Donald Trump in this post. It is not because I put him the same category with Jesus (Who is unique among all men), and Donald Trump does not display the evidence of salvation, either in his beliefs, words or deeds. However, the resistance and rejection of him as a man (primarily because he is promoting a Conservative rather than Liberal agenda), is so extreme and unfounded that the term, "Trump Derangement Syndrome," (TDS) is an apt description for such anger.

More importantly and more disturbingly, the term, "Derangement Syndrome," can be used in conjunction with the Jesus (JDS), with the Bible (BDS), with Christian (CDS), with Salvation (SDS).

The hatred for the God of the Bible (and the other entities associated with Him) are falsely based, and the purpose of God has become the target of libel, blasphemy, and even violence.

This is not a new phenomena. It is as old as the Old Testament, and Antisemitism is still with us, even when the accusations against the Jews is baseless. Jesus and the writers of the New Testament told us that Christians would be persecuted because they were His followers. I have used the term, "Sinsanity," instead of Derangement.

Remember, this anti-God, anti-Bible, anti- believer position is "Derangement" is because the anger, hatred, resistance and rejection are all groundless, destructive and all consuming.

Let me mention something else, which is related.

People who hold to a more Conservative view of life (including Christians) are held in disdain and rejected by Liberal society, with the same insane anger and malice as they hold President Trump. They want to say that the people who voted for him willfully voted for a person to do evil things. As a result, they falsely label those who voted against the Liberal, Woke machine of the Burro-Cratz, as being enemies of America and Freedom and Justice and human dignity. This is also insanity or derangement.

There are those who demonize Trump and there are those who Deify Trump. Both positions are in error (though Trump has done some obviously and overtly wicked things, and he is capable of becoming a tool of Satan in the futue to usher in greater evil than has been seen in this present time), at this present time he has not done any worse (and sometimes he has not done as wickedly) as other leaders of our country.

I disagree with some of Trump's views and decisions. I did not vote for him to take aberrant political steps. However, he did not politic on a wicked platform. A vote for the Liberal agenda was a vote for authorized chaos, fraud, oppression, perversion. A vote for Trump was a vote to stop the madness in U.S. Government.

If, or when, Trump goes beyond his stated goals or turns to an aberrant agenda, then he is no longer the man, for whom I voted. It is Satan's hidden desire to lump Bible believers into the same group as Trump. In fact, they are compelled to lump us all together. But pay attention. There is a violence against Trump and the Conservative Right that has become permissible. When Trump is gone in the days ahead, there will be a continued attack on Conservatives, including Bible believing Christians.

God sometimes uses overtly wicked men who are antagonistic to His purposes.
God sometimes uses unregenerate men to provide and promote righteous principles.
God also uses godly believers to accomplish His will.

When a person chooses to do that which is evil, God is not the source of that evil and He should not be blamed for that evil. We are to be supportive and obedient to legitimate authority. BUT, when leaders lead against the written and revealed word of God, then believers must choose to obey God, rather than men.

Make your choices on eternal truths, not on pop-culture or peer pressure. Choose Jesus as Lord and Savior. If He is not Lord of all in your life, He is not your Lord at all in your life.

03/01/25 SEEK GOD FOR YOUR LEADING

03/01/25 SEEK GOD FOR YOUR LEADING

What were those parents thinking? They gave us jabs to keep us from getting Smallpox, Polio, Measles, Chickenpox, Mumps, Lock Jaw, Diphtheria. Oh, that's right. They were thinking that a jab was better than a lethal disease. They were thinking about the other boys and girls in our society who had died or been crippled by sickness. They were thinking about entire regions being decimated by plagues.

I realize that some medications have been harmful (at least to some people). I realize that we have ailments today that we did not use to have (and may be the result of medical mistakes). I realize that the COVID thing was a catastrophe in so many ways, and the love of money will lead people to do things that are harmful to other people.

I realize that is sometimes a mistake and a danger to blindly follow the experts though they may be trained in medicine. I also realize that some people are so convinced that they know more about health and healing than anyone else and they know more about everyone else's physical condition and health needs than those who are actually dealing with sickness or disabilities.

I don't always know what is the best thing for myself (and sometimes I do). I don't presume to have all of the answers for other people or for the children of other people.

I have yet to meet anyone that I would want to make all of my personal health choices (doctors or self appointed health gurus). Sometimes people suffer with issues that are a total mystery to other people. Some people think they are smart enough or wise enough or educated enough to make health decisions for everyone else.

However, I have noticed that those same people (as well-intentioned as they may be), have made some decisions (or they are making decisions), which are obviously wrong.

We should all be as well informed as possible, about the essential issues of life. And we should consider good counsel, given by responsible people. But we all must make our own decisions about various issues of life. Don't let others shame you or intimidate you into doing something you believe is the wrong choice.

Seek God. Don't fear what other people say or think. It is possible to make honest mistakes, while trying to do that which we believe God wants us to do. We are not all-wise or all-knowing. It is wrong to presume on God, but it is also wrong to be intimidated by popular trends. Remember, faith is not to be confused with presumption, and "one size does not fit all," even when it comes to medicine or diet.

Medicine is not an exact science, either for the well trained or the strong willed, opinionated, lay person. Be as faithful to God's word and sensitive to His leading as you can be. Be humble and open to instruction. But don't let someone else usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit in your life.