i find it interesting how contradictory AND selective the understanding of liberal theology is in regards to its philosophy. on one hand, it states that man doesnt need a god to define it, that man is perfectly capable of forming his own destiny, establishing his own righteousness all by his lonesome. on the other hand, however, he never accepts responsibility for his own shortcomings or for his own misdeeds. he didnt have the right upbringing, if only he had had the privileges that others more fortunate than someone else may have had, etc maybe he would have turned out different, maybe he wouldnt have gone on a shooting spree and killed X amount of people. liberal theology, .......which is almost always rooted primarily in secular humansim,even when it does throw the word God in there every once in awhile........shows at the heart of it an utter rebellion against ANYTHING demanding from it individual accountability for ANYTHING it does. it wants freedom from the autonomy of an all-powerful God but not having to accept responsibility for their own choices. this is at the heart of all new age. I BELIEVE IN ALL PATHS TO GOD.I PICK AND CHOOSE THE IDEA OF GOD THAT I LIKE!!!!! I CAN DO ANYTHING I WANT WITHOUT HAVING TO ANSWER TO ANYONE NOT EVEN MYSELF! AND NOTHING IS EVER MY FAULT!!
the problem with that sort of thinking is i have as of yet to find ANYWHERE in the Word of God that states that its daddys or mommys fault that i turned out the way that i did. over and over, it states that, ultimately, each and everyone of us, is responsibile and accountable for his or her choices.
ezekiel 18:2-5 "what do you mean by the proverb concerning the land of Israel saying 'the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the childrens teeth are set on edge? as i live saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. behold all souls are MINE!!!!! AS THE SOUL OF THE FATHER SO IS THE SOUL OF THE SON MINE!!!! the soul that sins, it shall die. but if a man be just and do which is lawful and right it shall live."
what we see here in these verses perfectly embodies the sin nature..... which is at the heart of ANYONE trying to approach God in ANYWAY outside of the way of JOHN 14:6 THE WAY!!!....versus the first thing that one learns when they approach God with a TRULY repentant heart.
the sin nature-its never my fault. its all about passing the buck.
repentance-THE BUCK STOPS RIGHT HERE!!!!!!
its is and never will be within man to try to find his or her own way. this means that if i refuse to submit to God in the plan of salvation and with the blueprint He clearly provides for me, that i cannot hold anyone but myself accountable for it. this means, i cannot hold accountable anyone elses misdeeds NOR can i expect to fall back on the righteousness of another person ,even my own father and mother, and say its enough. i cannot blame anothers sins or live off the annointing of another person. my soul is GODS ALONE. I ULTIMATELY WILL ANSWER TO HIM
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
SPECIAL AND SET APART:NOT JUST ANY OLD THING
ezekiel 15:3-5 "shall wood be taken to do just ANY work???"
"behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel, the fire devours both ends of
and the midst of it is burned. is it meet for ANY work?"
"behold, when it was whole, it was meet for NO work!!!!! how
much less shall it be meet for ANY work when the fire has devoured
it and it is burned?"
first lets look at when god talks about whether or not a piece of wood was meet for any work, and when it was whole it was meet or fit for no work at all. the WHOLE piece of wood is a reference to those who are unsaved. obviously UNSAVED means UNPREPARED for ANYTHING!!! our own works attempoting to establish our own righteousness will never be anything more than filthy rags to be discarded by Him
god has created each of us for a special purpose. FIRST we have to be cast into the fire.
this is a reference to our SALVATION. its a no brainer that i had to be born again before god could proceed any further. being devoured at both ends is God getting rid of all the garbage that is holding me back from moving into what God has planned for me. too allow that, the middle, the very heart of me had to be burned to get rid of all the inner motives or whatever that wants me to hang onto all that crap.without first being thrown into the fire i couldnt have been saved. once there i had to dig that i couldnt just continue to be the same old gal i once was. and once there what god had for someone else may be very different than what He had for me.
you see, theres not only conformity from the WORLD but also from BELIEVERS who often make the mistake of thinking that each individual has to conform to what i call a cookie cutter type of mentality. god has a unique plan for each of us as to how he wants to use us.
the revelant thing is................God didnt save any of us to continue doing the same old thing we used to do. a SAFE church presents the message of grace and reconciliation as incomplete or watered down. itll tell you GOD LOVES YOU JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.......BUTTTTT itll conveniently will lop off the part....BUT HE LOVES YOU ARE TOO MUCH TO LET YOU STAY THAT WAY. HOWEVER, a DANGEROUS church is going to present the whole message, and make it very plain that if you honestly DO look upon the message of grace as merely a license to overlook, or excuse whatever it is that you dont want to give up in your life, then its time to seriously rethink and wonder about your true relationship with God.
the bottom line is line...if one has had a TRUE encounter with the Living God, then their lives will start to line up with the Word of God. i heard an awesome teaching by a guy named micheal
yusef who presented His word as a love letter to all believers. how can i honestly say im in love with someone if first off i dont READ any of their letters,and if i dont seek TO DO what their letters ask of me?
"behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel, the fire devours both ends of
and the midst of it is burned. is it meet for ANY work?"
"behold, when it was whole, it was meet for NO work!!!!! how
much less shall it be meet for ANY work when the fire has devoured
it and it is burned?"
first lets look at when god talks about whether or not a piece of wood was meet for any work, and when it was whole it was meet or fit for no work at all. the WHOLE piece of wood is a reference to those who are unsaved. obviously UNSAVED means UNPREPARED for ANYTHING!!! our own works attempoting to establish our own righteousness will never be anything more than filthy rags to be discarded by Him
god has created each of us for a special purpose. FIRST we have to be cast into the fire.
this is a reference to our SALVATION. its a no brainer that i had to be born again before god could proceed any further. being devoured at both ends is God getting rid of all the garbage that is holding me back from moving into what God has planned for me. too allow that, the middle, the very heart of me had to be burned to get rid of all the inner motives or whatever that wants me to hang onto all that crap.without first being thrown into the fire i couldnt have been saved. once there i had to dig that i couldnt just continue to be the same old gal i once was. and once there what god had for someone else may be very different than what He had for me.
you see, theres not only conformity from the WORLD but also from BELIEVERS who often make the mistake of thinking that each individual has to conform to what i call a cookie cutter type of mentality. god has a unique plan for each of us as to how he wants to use us.
the revelant thing is................God didnt save any of us to continue doing the same old thing we used to do. a SAFE church presents the message of grace and reconciliation as incomplete or watered down. itll tell you GOD LOVES YOU JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.......BUTTTTT itll conveniently will lop off the part....BUT HE LOVES YOU ARE TOO MUCH TO LET YOU STAY THAT WAY. HOWEVER, a DANGEROUS church is going to present the whole message, and make it very plain that if you honestly DO look upon the message of grace as merely a license to overlook, or excuse whatever it is that you dont want to give up in your life, then its time to seriously rethink and wonder about your true relationship with God.
the bottom line is line...if one has had a TRUE encounter with the Living God, then their lives will start to line up with the Word of God. i heard an awesome teaching by a guy named micheal
yusef who presented His word as a love letter to all believers. how can i honestly say im in love with someone if first off i dont READ any of their letters,and if i dont seek TO DO what their letters ask of me?
Thursday, January 28, 2010
a dangerous church:PUMPIN UP THE VOLUME
i well remember the day when i first decided to start working out at the gym. i had just gotten my rowdy english bull terrier whom those who have been so kind as to tolerate me blathering about like any lovesick parent will. i couldn even handle the little bugger for a simple walk around the block. when people as i was attempting to manage him around the block were standing there laughing at me saying things like"the dog taking YOU for a walk"i was like thinking to myself"this is pretty sad when you cant manage your dog for a simple walk around the block without getting out of breath" thats when the lights came on to start taking advantage of my free membership with pro-health fitness.
so i started, and for a while i was rocking along, lost over 20 pounds, then lo and behold, one day i was told "your stomach is getting bloated again" and i realized sure enough it was. at first i didnt understand why it was happening. then i remember what one of the trainers at the gym told another client, about after a time ones body starts to adjust to the workout regime to the point that it actually begins to lose some of its effectiveness. also, i had began to neglect other parts of my regime, in the way of diet. id almost completely stopped drinking water. also in an attempt to save a few bucks had opted for buying a cheap generic fiber supplement as opposed to the herbal coloncleanz that i had been taking. i realized i had to start doing two things....i had to start making water part of my regime again and i had to pump up the volume in my workout. go back to daily maintenence in diet plus in my workout up the ante.
that was kinda how it was when i rededicated my life to god id reached a watershed point where i realized it wasnt in me to find my own way. for awhile i was rocking along going great guns doing great. then i hit a snag. all of a sudden i was angry all the time at people close to me in my life. i was angry all the time PERIOD felt like i was stuck not going anywhere. THEN TWO THINGS HAPPENED. first God revealed to me on an individual level that i was falling back into an old trap. i was making other people my god..which was IDOLATRY. i already knew that was a road doomed to failure. i was going back to making THINGS and PEOPLE more important than GOD. time to going back to some basic principles in spiritual maintenance.
then pastor gary started teaching the congregation on a new series.....A DANGEROUS CHURCH. God deals with believers both on an individual level and on a collective level. which means when He starts addressing the congregation on something speaking to each of its members individually that many of its members are going thru the same thing as you.
often at the same time when God is telling you to go back to some basic maintenence on some basics with your walk with Him, hes also upping the ante to bring you to a new level. some of the rpoblems i was having was indeed due to starting to become complacent and lazy..self absorbed. it was also due to the fact id reached a plateau and was starting to stagnate. i remember reading a book by a poet sylvia plath called the bell jar which described a state of sour depression where one stews in their own sour air. that was where i was at. GOD LOVES ME THE WAY I AM TRUE. BUTTTTTTTTTTT HE LASO LOVES ME FAR TOO MUCH TO LET ME STAY THAT WAY. theres no middle ground here..its forward or its going back GOD WILL NOT EVER LET ME BECOME COMPLACENT. not on HIS watch.
A DANGEROUS CHURCH is speaking to His church...INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY.going back to daily maintenence and upping the ante as He moves us to a new level
so i started, and for a while i was rocking along, lost over 20 pounds, then lo and behold, one day i was told "your stomach is getting bloated again" and i realized sure enough it was. at first i didnt understand why it was happening. then i remember what one of the trainers at the gym told another client, about after a time ones body starts to adjust to the workout regime to the point that it actually begins to lose some of its effectiveness. also, i had began to neglect other parts of my regime, in the way of diet. id almost completely stopped drinking water. also in an attempt to save a few bucks had opted for buying a cheap generic fiber supplement as opposed to the herbal coloncleanz that i had been taking. i realized i had to start doing two things....i had to start making water part of my regime again and i had to pump up the volume in my workout. go back to daily maintenence in diet plus in my workout up the ante.
that was kinda how it was when i rededicated my life to god id reached a watershed point where i realized it wasnt in me to find my own way. for awhile i was rocking along going great guns doing great. then i hit a snag. all of a sudden i was angry all the time at people close to me in my life. i was angry all the time PERIOD felt like i was stuck not going anywhere. THEN TWO THINGS HAPPENED. first God revealed to me on an individual level that i was falling back into an old trap. i was making other people my god..which was IDOLATRY. i already knew that was a road doomed to failure. i was going back to making THINGS and PEOPLE more important than GOD. time to going back to some basic principles in spiritual maintenance.
then pastor gary started teaching the congregation on a new series.....A DANGEROUS CHURCH. God deals with believers both on an individual level and on a collective level. which means when He starts addressing the congregation on something speaking to each of its members individually that many of its members are going thru the same thing as you.
often at the same time when God is telling you to go back to some basic maintenence on some basics with your walk with Him, hes also upping the ante to bring you to a new level. some of the rpoblems i was having was indeed due to starting to become complacent and lazy..self absorbed. it was also due to the fact id reached a plateau and was starting to stagnate. i remember reading a book by a poet sylvia plath called the bell jar which described a state of sour depression where one stews in their own sour air. that was where i was at. GOD LOVES ME THE WAY I AM TRUE. BUTTTTTTTTTTT HE LASO LOVES ME FAR TOO MUCH TO LET ME STAY THAT WAY. theres no middle ground here..its forward or its going back GOD WILL NOT EVER LET ME BECOME COMPLACENT. not on HIS watch.
A DANGEROUS CHURCH is speaking to His church...INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY.going back to daily maintenence and upping the ante as He moves us to a new level
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
FELLOWSHIP VS PACK MENTALITY
im really glad ive chosen to take up pastor garys challenge on really getting serious about studying, chewing on, and reflecting on Gods Word. its really neat the way God works! im really seeing how all my innate passions and interests are really coming full circle as He goes into my personal world and really becomes RHEMA and not just dry boring LOGO Word. as i said before im really seeing how,... in their proper context in relation to how my priorities are ordered,...my personal passions and interests were put there by Him. His MESSAGE OF SALVATION never changes. HIS WORD never changes. HOWEVER, our INDIVIDUAL TESTIMONIES differ from person to person. the testimony of a housewife may not be the same as that of a doctor, a nurse, a criminology buff, and so forth. if someone doesnt relate to how god works in MY life, but they get it thru talking to someone else, it wasnt the MESSAGE that failed. with me, they just didnt click. the same also goes vica versa. lets say, for example, at work, a combative resident wont listen to one caregiver, but they follow me like a little puppy dog. sometimes, a different voice, a different approach, makes all the difference in the world
im having a ball with ezekiel. all my natural inner drivings that spawned my fascination with the world of criminolgy.( i have a strong feeling in my spirit that Hes going to pull me into prison ministry at some point, just not yet.)..ESPECIALLY that burning desire to find out how things happen and why...all those hours i spent under the tutelege of my psychology of abnormal behavior professor...are really coming back. walking with God isnt an easy road all the time. but its never boring. all i can say for anyone whos either never walked with Him, or just starting to get serious about it, sit back....youre in for one heck of a ride. theres NO WAY
you can spend an hour with Him...and leave the same as when you came.
i just got thru reading ezekiel chapter 14. two verses really grabbed my attention. i take that back. make it THREE. ezekiel 14:4,7-8. to me, they crystalize two very important aspects of
what God wants us to imcorporate into our collective AND individual walks with Him.
ACCOUNTABILITY and EXAMPLE. let me break it down just a wee tad.
ezekiel 14:4"...every man of the house of Israel that sets up his idols in his heart and puts the stumblingblock of iniquity before his face,....I, the Lord, will answer Him according to the multitude of His idols." INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILITY is very clear here. each one of us is responsible, when push comes to shove, for our own individual walks with God. blaming our pastors, or even each other, when we slip and fall is like blaming mummy and daddy for what happened to us way back when, for the fact, one day, we decided it ws ok for us to do something we KNEW was wrong, and we did it anyway. it just doesnt cut it. for one, and this passage really drives this home. HOW can i POSSIBLY blame another person for my own individual sin and iniquity, which ive allowed to to become MY OWN personal idol, when they may not even be struggling with the same thing that i am? that doesnt make a whole heap of sense. one of the things that make our individual walks with God different is the reason that our individual testimonies are different is the reason that the sins each of us struggle with are different. what i see here is when He talks about working out our own salvations with fear and trembling. its all about our inventories, and everytimne we take our eyes off of our own plates, sand look at someone elses, our just keeps getting bigger. ultimately, it all falls back on us.
ezekiel 14:7"for everyone who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face....I, the Lord, will answer him by Myself" verses 4 and 7 both, once gain being ACCOUNTABLE. i remember, not too long ago renting
a 2 part cd series from netflix that they got from a special that was done on the discovery channel on female killers. there was a particular segment on teen killers who engaged in what is called thrill killing. one notable charactersitic of this particular crime is that it is rarely ever done alone. it is almost always done in pairs, or even more often in packs. the propensity that thrill killers have towards working in packs makes it a prime crime to be committed by teens. because of their natural pull towards solidarity-confirming ones identity in a group. this type of thinking was rife in the backslidden condition of Israel in ezekiels day. fellowshipping with God, and the pack mentality im referring to here, are flips sides of a coin. when we felloship with other believers around the things of god, yes, we do, operate in one mind, one spirit towards a comon objective. however, we also understand, that we are still ultimately the ones, who are accountable before God for each of our individual actions. the pack mentality, on the other hand, often makes it very easy to stay in iniquity......THEYRE DOING IT TOO. its not just a matter of taking the path of least resistance, its also a way of sharing the blame when anything goes wrong.
ezekiel 14:8"and i will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and i will cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know i am the Lord." God uses the falings of others, sometimes especially those He initially called for His purposes, as an example of what NOT to do as well as what TO DO. often, we dont see ourselves the way others see us. one of the primary reasons God uses others as an example of what not to do is often its a mirror we can hold up to ourselves so we can see we are doing the exact same thing.
im having a ball with ezekiel. all my natural inner drivings that spawned my fascination with the world of criminolgy.( i have a strong feeling in my spirit that Hes going to pull me into prison ministry at some point, just not yet.)..ESPECIALLY that burning desire to find out how things happen and why...all those hours i spent under the tutelege of my psychology of abnormal behavior professor...are really coming back. walking with God isnt an easy road all the time. but its never boring. all i can say for anyone whos either never walked with Him, or just starting to get serious about it, sit back....youre in for one heck of a ride. theres NO WAY
you can spend an hour with Him...and leave the same as when you came.
i just got thru reading ezekiel chapter 14. two verses really grabbed my attention. i take that back. make it THREE. ezekiel 14:4,7-8. to me, they crystalize two very important aspects of
what God wants us to imcorporate into our collective AND individual walks with Him.
ACCOUNTABILITY and EXAMPLE. let me break it down just a wee tad.
ezekiel 14:4"...every man of the house of Israel that sets up his idols in his heart and puts the stumblingblock of iniquity before his face,....I, the Lord, will answer Him according to the multitude of His idols." INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILITY is very clear here. each one of us is responsible, when push comes to shove, for our own individual walks with God. blaming our pastors, or even each other, when we slip and fall is like blaming mummy and daddy for what happened to us way back when, for the fact, one day, we decided it ws ok for us to do something we KNEW was wrong, and we did it anyway. it just doesnt cut it. for one, and this passage really drives this home. HOW can i POSSIBLY blame another person for my own individual sin and iniquity, which ive allowed to to become MY OWN personal idol, when they may not even be struggling with the same thing that i am? that doesnt make a whole heap of sense. one of the things that make our individual walks with God different is the reason that our individual testimonies are different is the reason that the sins each of us struggle with are different. what i see here is when He talks about working out our own salvations with fear and trembling. its all about our inventories, and everytimne we take our eyes off of our own plates, sand look at someone elses, our just keeps getting bigger. ultimately, it all falls back on us.
ezekiel 14:7"for everyone who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face....I, the Lord, will answer him by Myself" verses 4 and 7 both, once gain being ACCOUNTABLE. i remember, not too long ago renting
a 2 part cd series from netflix that they got from a special that was done on the discovery channel on female killers. there was a particular segment on teen killers who engaged in what is called thrill killing. one notable charactersitic of this particular crime is that it is rarely ever done alone. it is almost always done in pairs, or even more often in packs. the propensity that thrill killers have towards working in packs makes it a prime crime to be committed by teens. because of their natural pull towards solidarity-confirming ones identity in a group. this type of thinking was rife in the backslidden condition of Israel in ezekiels day. fellowshipping with God, and the pack mentality im referring to here, are flips sides of a coin. when we felloship with other believers around the things of god, yes, we do, operate in one mind, one spirit towards a comon objective. however, we also understand, that we are still ultimately the ones, who are accountable before God for each of our individual actions. the pack mentality, on the other hand, often makes it very easy to stay in iniquity......THEYRE DOING IT TOO. its not just a matter of taking the path of least resistance, its also a way of sharing the blame when anything goes wrong.
ezekiel 14:8"and i will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and i will cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know i am the Lord." God uses the falings of others, sometimes especially those He initially called for His purposes, as an example of what NOT to do as well as what TO DO. often, we dont see ourselves the way others see us. one of the primary reasons God uses others as an example of what not to do is often its a mirror we can hold up to ourselves so we can see we are doing the exact same thing.
Monday, January 25, 2010
HAITI:IS IT GOD?
i cant get out of my mind when pastor tony posed the question about what has happened in haiti: IS IT GOD???????? i touched upon this in my last post, and i pointed out about what haiti has done by dedicating its nation to satan. i HAD to do some surfing on the web to research that one, because when pastor tony brought it to our attention, my first thought was ur joking, right mate?? but i looked it up under more than one source, and,yep, they sure did. i had to research it because, one of the reasons i became so disillusioned with evangelical christianity some years back was seeing all too often how too many of us were themselves not above using propaganda
to promote their own agendas, usually finacnially related. one thing i have to credit this congregation on, especially under the tutelage of such men as pastor gary, is, and much more rapidly than id ever thought, to eliminate that patina of cynicsim that had formed such a hard crust around my heart for so long. once i verified this, my next thought was, DOES THIS NATION HAVE A DEATH WISH????? to me, it seemed almost surreal that any nation would so brazenly and recklessly leave themselves open to the forces of evil like this. heck, stan doesnt
even have to disguise themselves as an angel of light, or as being someone else. they KNOW who he is, and they did it anyway.
ive struggled, for many years myself, to comprehend the eternal question... HOW COULD A LOVING FATHER DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO HIS CHILDREN OR HOW COULD HE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN? once again, i think back to my days in early recovery when i was in AA, and this is a very harsh, but necessary truth. no matter how much you may love a son or a daughter you have that is in the throes of addiction, and you see that they dont WANT to break free of it, NO MATTER HOW HARD IT MAY BE to see your child
going through what theyre going through without you, there comes a point and time where you HAVE to let that child go. they may be homeless, going through the pain of withdrawal because theyre in agony with their bodies screaming for a shot. YOU HAVE TO LET THEM GO!!!!!!
were dealing with a nation that has openly rejected God and embrace satan. i dont think God has brought the devastation were seeing here. however, there comes a point where, like any loving father, where what 1 corinthians 5:5 speaks of when it refers to "turning one over to satan for the destruction of the flesh so that in the day of the Lord, they may be saved." life is all about choices. people rarely get saved until they come to the absolute end of themselves. God really didnt have to do anything here. when you dedicate yourself to satan, as i said before, thats like waving a red flag in front of a bull, or befriending a poisonous spider, and not expecting to get bit. ive heard of people who called upon satan and asked them to be their lord and master, and they felt the temperature drop 30 degrees in the room. GO FIGURE!!!!
one of the most dangerous messages were hearing in safe religion is that there are no consequences to ANYTHING!!!!! no one will turn away from anything destructive as long as
its allowed to be a pleasant experience for them. we are to be intercessors for others, and our prayers form protective barriers around others. but, there comes a point, when we see that someone doesnt want to stop doing what theyre doing, to keep rpaying for their protection isnt LOVE its ENABLING!! TURN ONE OVER TO SATAN FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FLESH SO THAT IN THE DAY OF THE LORD THEY MIGHT BE SAVED very simply means
there comes a point where you quit praying for them. not quit praying for their redemption, but it means quit praying for their protection. before anyone repents, they almost always have to hit rock bottom. if an eartly parent has the right to decide when they must let their child go, how can we say our HEAVENLY Father doesnt have the right to do the same?
HOW CAN A LOVING FATHER ALLOW HIS CHILDREN TO SUFFER AND BE IN PAIN???? i remember,back in the 90s, in leonardo decaprios early days, i remember one of his first movies the basketball diaries, this story about a heroin addict, who later recovered and became a street poet,...there was this one scene where he was going thru withdrawal, and he was banging on his mothers door, about to break it down, screaming at her, IM YOUR SON!!!!! HOW CAN YOU BE SO CRUEL???? CANT YOU SEE IM IN PAIN????!!!!
and you can see the uter devastation on her face as she was witnessing this, wanting so badly to give him that 20 dollars, knowing that 20 dollars would be the shot to give him relief, but also knowing, if she did that, she was helping to kill him. how do you think God feels, right now. witnessing the utter devastation in haiti, watching 1 14 year old girl wail in anguish as she pulls her little brother out of the rubble? and couldnt He stop it at anytime? yes, He could. but God gave us free will. He WANTS haiti to return to him, and many, many of them will come to Him. but it has to be an act of the free will. in order for anything to be rebuilt, it first has to be utterly broken.
one day, things far worse than this will happen, and it WILL be God. ezekiel 12:27..."the vision he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of times far off." and vs 28 "...there shall none of my words be prolonged anymore, but the word i have spoken shall be done" my big problem for many years was i thought i was immortal. one day i was no longer 18, i was 47. the fact that God IS so loving and merciful makes it all the more frightening to imagine of what it will be like one day when His mercy WILL run out, and He means what He says and itsnt saying these things, that Hes been saying for thousands of years just to hear himself talk. nothing we see on earth will even remotely compare to the horrors of hell. hebrews 10:31 "it is dreadful to fall into the hands of the Living God"
but i also know today, it doesnt have to be that way. Jesus gave us the way out
to promote their own agendas, usually finacnially related. one thing i have to credit this congregation on, especially under the tutelage of such men as pastor gary, is, and much more rapidly than id ever thought, to eliminate that patina of cynicsim that had formed such a hard crust around my heart for so long. once i verified this, my next thought was, DOES THIS NATION HAVE A DEATH WISH????? to me, it seemed almost surreal that any nation would so brazenly and recklessly leave themselves open to the forces of evil like this. heck, stan doesnt
even have to disguise themselves as an angel of light, or as being someone else. they KNOW who he is, and they did it anyway.
ive struggled, for many years myself, to comprehend the eternal question... HOW COULD A LOVING FATHER DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO HIS CHILDREN OR HOW COULD HE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN? once again, i think back to my days in early recovery when i was in AA, and this is a very harsh, but necessary truth. no matter how much you may love a son or a daughter you have that is in the throes of addiction, and you see that they dont WANT to break free of it, NO MATTER HOW HARD IT MAY BE to see your child
going through what theyre going through without you, there comes a point and time where you HAVE to let that child go. they may be homeless, going through the pain of withdrawal because theyre in agony with their bodies screaming for a shot. YOU HAVE TO LET THEM GO!!!!!!
were dealing with a nation that has openly rejected God and embrace satan. i dont think God has brought the devastation were seeing here. however, there comes a point where, like any loving father, where what 1 corinthians 5:5 speaks of when it refers to "turning one over to satan for the destruction of the flesh so that in the day of the Lord, they may be saved." life is all about choices. people rarely get saved until they come to the absolute end of themselves. God really didnt have to do anything here. when you dedicate yourself to satan, as i said before, thats like waving a red flag in front of a bull, or befriending a poisonous spider, and not expecting to get bit. ive heard of people who called upon satan and asked them to be their lord and master, and they felt the temperature drop 30 degrees in the room. GO FIGURE!!!!
one of the most dangerous messages were hearing in safe religion is that there are no consequences to ANYTHING!!!!! no one will turn away from anything destructive as long as
its allowed to be a pleasant experience for them. we are to be intercessors for others, and our prayers form protective barriers around others. but, there comes a point, when we see that someone doesnt want to stop doing what theyre doing, to keep rpaying for their protection isnt LOVE its ENABLING!! TURN ONE OVER TO SATAN FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FLESH SO THAT IN THE DAY OF THE LORD THEY MIGHT BE SAVED very simply means
there comes a point where you quit praying for them. not quit praying for their redemption, but it means quit praying for their protection. before anyone repents, they almost always have to hit rock bottom. if an eartly parent has the right to decide when they must let their child go, how can we say our HEAVENLY Father doesnt have the right to do the same?
HOW CAN A LOVING FATHER ALLOW HIS CHILDREN TO SUFFER AND BE IN PAIN???? i remember,back in the 90s, in leonardo decaprios early days, i remember one of his first movies the basketball diaries, this story about a heroin addict, who later recovered and became a street poet,...there was this one scene where he was going thru withdrawal, and he was banging on his mothers door, about to break it down, screaming at her, IM YOUR SON!!!!! HOW CAN YOU BE SO CRUEL???? CANT YOU SEE IM IN PAIN????!!!!
and you can see the uter devastation on her face as she was witnessing this, wanting so badly to give him that 20 dollars, knowing that 20 dollars would be the shot to give him relief, but also knowing, if she did that, she was helping to kill him. how do you think God feels, right now. witnessing the utter devastation in haiti, watching 1 14 year old girl wail in anguish as she pulls her little brother out of the rubble? and couldnt He stop it at anytime? yes, He could. but God gave us free will. He WANTS haiti to return to him, and many, many of them will come to Him. but it has to be an act of the free will. in order for anything to be rebuilt, it first has to be utterly broken.
one day, things far worse than this will happen, and it WILL be God. ezekiel 12:27..."the vision he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of times far off." and vs 28 "...there shall none of my words be prolonged anymore, but the word i have spoken shall be done" my big problem for many years was i thought i was immortal. one day i was no longer 18, i was 47. the fact that God IS so loving and merciful makes it all the more frightening to imagine of what it will be like one day when His mercy WILL run out, and He means what He says and itsnt saying these things, that Hes been saying for thousands of years just to hear himself talk. nothing we see on earth will even remotely compare to the horrors of hell. hebrews 10:31 "it is dreadful to fall into the hands of the Living God"
but i also know today, it doesnt have to be that way. Jesus gave us the way out
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
more on reprobate mentality;reprobate versus character.
after i posted my blog yesterday, i realized how much more i had left to write, SOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!... let her rip! getting into the books in the Word, such as isaiah, jeremiah, and ezekiel, has, like i was saying yesterday, incorporated aspects of my personal world that i hadnt thought about THIS actively in a very long time. reading ezekiel takes me back to 1997, to my sociology class, to my instructor dr. hitchcock, when he used to love to show us such documentary videos, such as "the iceman", which was all about a hitman for the mob who specialized in various poisons, and who took special pleasure in watching the effects of the poisons, ESPECIALLY the slow acting ones, on his hits. a textbook case of, what i also learned that same semester in pyschology of abnormal behavior, of a sadistic psaychopath.as ive seen reading, studying, meditating, and blogging on the book of ezekiel, ive been finally come to terms with, and accept, that (and THIS is what REALLY explained to me just what REPROBATE really is in the spiritual realm). that it is entirely possible to KNOW His truth, to hear the Spirit convict you on it, to KNOW the difference between right and wrong, and STILL CHOOSE to do wrong. ezekiel is a frightening picture of just what can happen and DOES INDEED happen when the mind of a sociopath becomes the NORM, rather than an ABERRATION.
i remember hearing pastor tony last sunday, talking about what has happened in haiti, and whether or not, it is indeed a judgement from God. and i was like, when i found out that this was a nation who had actually dedicated itself to satan, DOES IT REALLLY HAVE TO BE A JUDGEMENT OF GOD??? the very fact that this is a nation which has deidicated itself to the devil, is like waving a red flag in front of a bull, and wondering why it comes charging straight at you. OR, befriending, taking in, and feeding a brazillian wandering spider (like i saw this total
idiot do on youtube)and then wondering why you get bit. but i cant even begin to put whats happening here in haiti with what was happening in israel in ezekiels day.when a leader dedicates its nation to satan, its evident youre dealing with a person who is lost. being unsaved isnt the same as being reprobate. being LOST is when you just dont get it, and you keep going back to the same jive over and over because you just dont get it. being REPROBATE is when you know, but you dont care.
God puts in His Word examples of bad as well as good as just that- examples of what to do, but also what not to do. over and over, as ive been studying isaiah, jeremiah, and ezekiel, what has repeatedly come to mind, when pastor gary was talking about the earmarks of false teachers.
what he was saying about CHARACTER has stuck with me. ANNOINTING isnt enough. KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WORD isnt enough. even CONVICTION isnt enough. His Word ABSOLUTELY MUST be the code we live by, that our values must be based on. if our CHARACTER does not line up with what is in this Book, then we are all nothing more than wolves crept in to decieve the flock. reading ezekiel and what God was talking about in dealing with a people who had turned their backs on Him, and still thought they were a people who were special, and set apart, gives the definition of the criteria for a narcissistic personality a whole new meaning. and often, when people develop the belief that due to special gifts that God has given them,(forgetting they are to be used for HIS glory, not THEIRS), that, somehow, because of the grace freely given to all men thru Jesus Christ.who want it, that, somehow, the rules just dont apply to them. somehow His WORD doesnt apply to them. or, that, due to great works, they may have done in the past, before they turned their backs on Him, that they could just go on living off of yesterdays annointing and works. His Word is crystal clear EZEKIEL 3:20"when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and goes into iniquity(this means returning to a LIFETSYLE of sin), HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL NOT BE REMEMBERED" do i dare think i can live off of yesterdays annointing? THINK AGAIN.
i fully believe many false teachers arent born- they are MADE. and all too often, those cloest to them who recognize early, their special gifts and callings are to blame. many cults are born from these teachers being told over and over YOURE SPECIAL, YOURE ABOVE THE LAW, EVEN HIS LAW, THERES A SPECIAL GRACE EVEN BEYOND THE GRACE ALREADY GIVEN TO YOU, THE RULES JUST DONT APPLY TO YOU. to me, this is really scary. that someone can, for a very long time continue to operate in an incredible annointing, bfore the plug gets pulled on it, even actually being used to bring many into the Kingdom, and all the while lead countless people astray. being reprobate is like having a brilliant mind with no conscience to guide it. when i read ezekiel, and fully understand what a reprobate mind is, and understand what a false teacher is as well, i see, all too often what this is is simply an unchecked version of what God wants me to be. salvation is immediate. character, in line with His Word takes a heck of a long time to build. i dont get right standing or saved by living by His Word, but its expected to follow, and if it doesnt, then i have to begin to wonder about my true relationship with God. books like ezekiel, isaiah, and jeremiah, are examples of what
i can easily become if i DONT regard His Word as my personal code.
i remember hearing pastor tony last sunday, talking about what has happened in haiti, and whether or not, it is indeed a judgement from God. and i was like, when i found out that this was a nation who had actually dedicated itself to satan, DOES IT REALLLY HAVE TO BE A JUDGEMENT OF GOD??? the very fact that this is a nation which has deidicated itself to the devil, is like waving a red flag in front of a bull, and wondering why it comes charging straight at you. OR, befriending, taking in, and feeding a brazillian wandering spider (like i saw this total
idiot do on youtube)and then wondering why you get bit. but i cant even begin to put whats happening here in haiti with what was happening in israel in ezekiels day.when a leader dedicates its nation to satan, its evident youre dealing with a person who is lost. being unsaved isnt the same as being reprobate. being LOST is when you just dont get it, and you keep going back to the same jive over and over because you just dont get it. being REPROBATE is when you know, but you dont care.
God puts in His Word examples of bad as well as good as just that- examples of what to do, but also what not to do. over and over, as ive been studying isaiah, jeremiah, and ezekiel, what has repeatedly come to mind, when pastor gary was talking about the earmarks of false teachers.
what he was saying about CHARACTER has stuck with me. ANNOINTING isnt enough. KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WORD isnt enough. even CONVICTION isnt enough. His Word ABSOLUTELY MUST be the code we live by, that our values must be based on. if our CHARACTER does not line up with what is in this Book, then we are all nothing more than wolves crept in to decieve the flock. reading ezekiel and what God was talking about in dealing with a people who had turned their backs on Him, and still thought they were a people who were special, and set apart, gives the definition of the criteria for a narcissistic personality a whole new meaning. and often, when people develop the belief that due to special gifts that God has given them,(forgetting they are to be used for HIS glory, not THEIRS), that, somehow, because of the grace freely given to all men thru Jesus Christ.who want it, that, somehow, the rules just dont apply to them. somehow His WORD doesnt apply to them. or, that, due to great works, they may have done in the past, before they turned their backs on Him, that they could just go on living off of yesterdays annointing and works. His Word is crystal clear EZEKIEL 3:20"when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and goes into iniquity(this means returning to a LIFETSYLE of sin), HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL NOT BE REMEMBERED" do i dare think i can live off of yesterdays annointing? THINK AGAIN.
i fully believe many false teachers arent born- they are MADE. and all too often, those cloest to them who recognize early, their special gifts and callings are to blame. many cults are born from these teachers being told over and over YOURE SPECIAL, YOURE ABOVE THE LAW, EVEN HIS LAW, THERES A SPECIAL GRACE EVEN BEYOND THE GRACE ALREADY GIVEN TO YOU, THE RULES JUST DONT APPLY TO YOU. to me, this is really scary. that someone can, for a very long time continue to operate in an incredible annointing, bfore the plug gets pulled on it, even actually being used to bring many into the Kingdom, and all the while lead countless people astray. being reprobate is like having a brilliant mind with no conscience to guide it. when i read ezekiel, and fully understand what a reprobate mind is, and understand what a false teacher is as well, i see, all too often what this is is simply an unchecked version of what God wants me to be. salvation is immediate. character, in line with His Word takes a heck of a long time to build. i dont get right standing or saved by living by His Word, but its expected to follow, and if it doesnt, then i have to begin to wonder about my true relationship with God. books like ezekiel, isaiah, and jeremiah, are examples of what
i can easily become if i DONT regard His Word as my personal code.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
REPROBATE:WHEN ABNORMAL BECOMES THE NEW NORMAL
over the past 13 years when i FIRST came to know Jesus as Lord and savior, i often wondered just what exactly REPROBATE MENTALITY was. over this past year, the connection finally
began to click into my mind, just as to what it really was. and i have my years-long fascination
with anything involving criminolgy..particularly the areas of forensic psychology and criminal
profiling..to thank for this. its really amazing just as to how God will go into our individual worlds, and make His truths revelant by revealing anaolgies that make all the difference in taking his LOGO WORD, and the lights suddenly kick on,and it becomes RHEMA. to me, this shows that all of our deep seated interests and passions are those that God has instilled in us, as He uses each one of His children in different ways.
well, anyway, ive done alot of studying and research on the antisocial, or sociopathic mentality. one of the most frightening charactersistics is that they are fully able to distinguish right from wrong, but they just dont care. if they are given the choice between right and wrong, and it is within their best interests to do wrong...according to a prominant FBI profiler.......they will ALWAYS choose to do wrong. they also fully expect to get away with what are often atrocities
totally foreign to that of a normal person. they fully comprehend the legal sanctions and cultural mores/social norms of the world we live in, but they feel that they dont apply to them. theyre special, unique, and the ordinary person is "stupid" i did alot of things over and over before i got saved because i just didnt get it..thats the area of strongholds. this type of person just doesnt care,theyre like SO WHAT????AND YOUR POINT IS??? and, theyre often stunned when they sit in a courtroom, and hear the sentence over their horrific crimes, never, ever expecting theyd ever be held accountable
its really laughable when we pride ourselves, in our human arrogance, in discovering what we feel is "new" knowledge. reading in the Epistles..romans 1:28, when they talk about being turned over to a reprobate mind, because they dont like entertaining God in their thoughts, we see the truth of what was spoken of in ecclesiasted "there is nothing new under the sun" reprobate is just a less cosmopolitan term for a sociopath. even worse, because with the reprobate mind,were actually dealing in an area where ones eternity is at stake, they KNOW it, and, somehow feel that the rules just dont apply to them. they KNOW His words, His ways, but, being one of HIS people, theyre speical, His grace has them covered, so the rules are for other people. having the annointing of God in your life, without also having the character built around building ones life on His Word, is like what ive read all too often about the antisocial personality, who often possesses a brilliant mind, with no conscience or scruples to guide it. and often, that annointing is tremendous.and the reprobate mind may move and operate in it for awhile. God is merciful. for those who dont see how a LOVING God can wipe our a nation, critters and babies included...need to ask themselves a very important question...how many of us would have given nations such as assyria 400 YEARS to repent. God will often wait a long time before He pulls the annointing off of us, because He loves us, and wants us back?
the antisocial personality, thank God, makes up only 1-4% of the american population. right now, im in the book of ezekiel, and the picture that it paints of a backslidden Israel, is downright scary. imagine how frightening it is knowing we have that 1-4% running loose in our country.
NOW, THINK OF AN ENTIRE NATION BEING LIKE THAT!!!!!! matthew 6:23 "when the light in you be darkness, HOW GREAT IS THAT DARKNESS?" the sociopath is unable to exist within the norms of society, and one of its trademarks is a pattern of behavior which is grounds for arrest. well, in the case of the israel that men like jeremiah, isaiah, and ezekiel lived in, THE ABBERANT BEHAVIOR of Israel was what was normal. anyone who chose to be obedient to the Word of God were the ones viewed to be abnormal. ive read alot about murders being commited in packs. think of an entire nation wanting to gang up on you and killing you because you dared to stand behind His truth even when it goes against the norm.
there were two verses in ezekiel that i feel perfectly captured the collective, dangerously reprobate mind of a nation, who, when confronted with right and wrong would consistently choose wrong, KNOWING IT TO BE WRONG. it just didnt matter to them
ezekiel 8"then said he unto me, son of man, see what the ancients in the house of israel do in thr dark of the chambers of his imagination? they think the Lord doesnt see them, for He has forsaken the earth." i see alot of this thinking TODAY in the mentality of people, who believe they can use the grace of God to excuse themselves, especially, when they have a special annointing, because the honestly beleive the rules just dont apply to them. i fully believe many false teachers arent born, they are MADE!!!!! all too often, theyve been surrounded by others, from very early in life, who keep telling them "youre special..the rules just dont apply to you....God will overlook whatever it is in your life that doesnt line up."a prime example are spoiled, narcissistic brats like samson. and he grew up believing it. i can only imagine the rude awakening he got when he got his eyes dug out after delilah whacked off his hair. STUNNED
was an understatement
ezekiel 5 16" moreover i will make you a waste, and a reproach amonst the nations" Israel
was raised as a people who WERE special , SET APART. they were the ones, in ezekiels day who carried the evangelism of the coming Messiah to the rest of the world. guess what, whoever God raises up as an EXAMPLE of what He wants us to be, as well as to speak to others of His grace and mercy. when we fall, especially if we take others with us, we will also be held as an example
of His sanctions. this especially applies to those who think His grace as a license to excuse whatever they were doing. THINK AGAIN!!!! leaders always get held to a higher, often harsher set of standards than those who arent. to whom much is given, much is required. law enforcement rarely goes after the individual users, they want the dealers.
reading books like ezekiel make me realize two things. how unbelievable Gods mercy really IS..AND HOW FRIGHTENING IT ALSO IT IS WHEN IT RUNS OUT
began to click into my mind, just as to what it really was. and i have my years-long fascination
with anything involving criminolgy..particularly the areas of forensic psychology and criminal
profiling..to thank for this. its really amazing just as to how God will go into our individual worlds, and make His truths revelant by revealing anaolgies that make all the difference in taking his LOGO WORD, and the lights suddenly kick on,and it becomes RHEMA. to me, this shows that all of our deep seated interests and passions are those that God has instilled in us, as He uses each one of His children in different ways.
well, anyway, ive done alot of studying and research on the antisocial, or sociopathic mentality. one of the most frightening charactersistics is that they are fully able to distinguish right from wrong, but they just dont care. if they are given the choice between right and wrong, and it is within their best interests to do wrong...according to a prominant FBI profiler.......they will ALWAYS choose to do wrong. they also fully expect to get away with what are often atrocities
totally foreign to that of a normal person. they fully comprehend the legal sanctions and cultural mores/social norms of the world we live in, but they feel that they dont apply to them. theyre special, unique, and the ordinary person is "stupid" i did alot of things over and over before i got saved because i just didnt get it..thats the area of strongholds. this type of person just doesnt care,theyre like SO WHAT????AND YOUR POINT IS??? and, theyre often stunned when they sit in a courtroom, and hear the sentence over their horrific crimes, never, ever expecting theyd ever be held accountable
its really laughable when we pride ourselves, in our human arrogance, in discovering what we feel is "new" knowledge. reading in the Epistles..romans 1:28, when they talk about being turned over to a reprobate mind, because they dont like entertaining God in their thoughts, we see the truth of what was spoken of in ecclesiasted "there is nothing new under the sun" reprobate is just a less cosmopolitan term for a sociopath. even worse, because with the reprobate mind,were actually dealing in an area where ones eternity is at stake, they KNOW it, and, somehow feel that the rules just dont apply to them. they KNOW His words, His ways, but, being one of HIS people, theyre speical, His grace has them covered, so the rules are for other people. having the annointing of God in your life, without also having the character built around building ones life on His Word, is like what ive read all too often about the antisocial personality, who often possesses a brilliant mind, with no conscience or scruples to guide it. and often, that annointing is tremendous.and the reprobate mind may move and operate in it for awhile. God is merciful. for those who dont see how a LOVING God can wipe our a nation, critters and babies included...need to ask themselves a very important question...how many of us would have given nations such as assyria 400 YEARS to repent. God will often wait a long time before He pulls the annointing off of us, because He loves us, and wants us back?
the antisocial personality, thank God, makes up only 1-4% of the american population. right now, im in the book of ezekiel, and the picture that it paints of a backslidden Israel, is downright scary. imagine how frightening it is knowing we have that 1-4% running loose in our country.
NOW, THINK OF AN ENTIRE NATION BEING LIKE THAT!!!!!! matthew 6:23 "when the light in you be darkness, HOW GREAT IS THAT DARKNESS?" the sociopath is unable to exist within the norms of society, and one of its trademarks is a pattern of behavior which is grounds for arrest. well, in the case of the israel that men like jeremiah, isaiah, and ezekiel lived in, THE ABBERANT BEHAVIOR of Israel was what was normal. anyone who chose to be obedient to the Word of God were the ones viewed to be abnormal. ive read alot about murders being commited in packs. think of an entire nation wanting to gang up on you and killing you because you dared to stand behind His truth even when it goes against the norm.
there were two verses in ezekiel that i feel perfectly captured the collective, dangerously reprobate mind of a nation, who, when confronted with right and wrong would consistently choose wrong, KNOWING IT TO BE WRONG. it just didnt matter to them
ezekiel 8"then said he unto me, son of man, see what the ancients in the house of israel do in thr dark of the chambers of his imagination? they think the Lord doesnt see them, for He has forsaken the earth." i see alot of this thinking TODAY in the mentality of people, who believe they can use the grace of God to excuse themselves, especially, when they have a special annointing, because the honestly beleive the rules just dont apply to them. i fully believe many false teachers arent born, they are MADE!!!!! all too often, theyve been surrounded by others, from very early in life, who keep telling them "youre special..the rules just dont apply to you....God will overlook whatever it is in your life that doesnt line up."a prime example are spoiled, narcissistic brats like samson. and he grew up believing it. i can only imagine the rude awakening he got when he got his eyes dug out after delilah whacked off his hair. STUNNED
was an understatement
ezekiel 5 16" moreover i will make you a waste, and a reproach amonst the nations" Israel
was raised as a people who WERE special , SET APART. they were the ones, in ezekiels day who carried the evangelism of the coming Messiah to the rest of the world. guess what, whoever God raises up as an EXAMPLE of what He wants us to be, as well as to speak to others of His grace and mercy. when we fall, especially if we take others with us, we will also be held as an example
of His sanctions. this especially applies to those who think His grace as a license to excuse whatever they were doing. THINK AGAIN!!!! leaders always get held to a higher, often harsher set of standards than those who arent. to whom much is given, much is required. law enforcement rarely goes after the individual users, they want the dealers.
reading books like ezekiel make me realize two things. how unbelievable Gods mercy really IS..AND HOW FRIGHTENING IT ALSO IT IS WHEN IT RUNS OUT
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