Jesus Christ did not start a Religion

I realize I am writing on an issue that today has become controversial
Yes, perhaps there is not an issue which has divided the Church as this has

In my many travels I have witnessed how beliefs in the Holy Ghost separate the Body of Christ; even though divisions in the body are not of Christ. As I have experienced, not many argue the three parts of God: Father, Son and Holy Ghost; but the living workings of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Living God, is debated as it has been throughout the centuries. Many have even formed their own Non-Biblical opinions about the Holy Spirit and have gone on to teach them, misleading the generations.

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It is a careful work to point people back to the Scriptures
Be even cautious when giving the pearls of God out to the world

Go and teach the Truth of God in all love and humility

Remember, we are told that the world will reject the Truth of God
And they will hate righteousness and hold to lies, deception and folly
But the children of God will inherit the Kingdom!

It creates an environment of unrest and strife to argue through Scripture
So avoid these kinds of vain and prideful conquests, even flee from evil
But blessed are the peacemakers! For they shall be called children of God

Be ever patient when giving correction to your brothers and sisters
Pray for them and wait for the season to sow into them

Before all else love is patient

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My heart has been aching these days
For many of those proclaiming the name of Christ
Deny the Holy power sent from God
They blaspheme His Holy Ghost
And do a great and terrible sin before heaven

The Scriptures speak to these clearly
Giving warnings of their harsh speech and dangerous deception

To all who go on believing not in the Holy Ghost
Who believe not in His Spiritual gifts and the speaking in other tongues
I give unto you this day a reminder of Scripture
That you may save yourselves from hell fire

Blaspheme not the Holy Spirit sent from our Lord Jesus Christ!

If you have not hope
Pray unto the Lord your Savior
And He will give it to you exceedingly

If you lack faith
Pray unto your Father in heaven
For every child of God is given a measure
And to those who are faithful with little
More will be entrusted to them

Even though your minds comprehend not
And even though you can not understand the mysteries of God
Still rest in Him

For we serve a God of many wonders
And it is right to humble yourselves before the Lord your God
Admitting your weakness and your limitation

For what man knows the ways of God?
I can assure you there is none

For the proud will surely be made low
And the meek will be exalted
Even on that day

Take heed all unbelievers to this warning from Christ (Mark 3:23-35)

24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.

Feeling my grieving heart, I cry out to the Lord,

“Save us Father from ourselves! For in our pride we reject you. And how many times do I reject your Word? I stumble but you pick me up. I forsake your Way and Truth but you do not turn away from me. O Lord Jesus, save us from ourselves for we have lost our way. In our fears we run away from you and mislead many. In our distrust we create forth great deception from our lips, speaking as if you are not alive and reigning from heaven each day. Save us Father from our foolishness and bring unto us good correction that we would find the Way.”

And the Lord our God understands our fear
For we fear greatest the things we do not understand
And a great many go forth and deceive
In their lack of faith they create a false gospel and speak lies
These even make an attempt to throw away the Holy things of God
And remove the power (that is God) from our lives

They contain a certain knowledge
And even a form of godliness
But they know not Jesus the Lord
For trusting in themselves they violate the Law of God
And they cause great wickedness and error to the Body of Christ
Great darkness is their habitation
And should they not repent
Damnation shall be their eternal home

Pray for them you Saints of God!

Pray for the unbelieving and the deceived
Pray for the false teachers and false prophets
Pray for the Pharisee and false religious leader
Pray for your elders and deacons and bishops

Dear young ones in the faith in Jesus Christ
Look again to Jesus’ rebuke to the Pharisee,
“I speak to you of earthly things and yet you believe not
How shall you believe when I speak of heavenly things?”

Men will continue to look upon the mighty and proud for direction
Because it seems safe and right to follow the strength of man
But looking to man we will only find incompleteness, imperfection and darkness

Remember you this day
The Lord came not to be ministered unto but to minister
He came not to be served but to serve

The haughty in their arrogance will be humbled
And on that day, every knee shall bow
And every tongue will confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord!

Then we will be revealed the mysterious workings of His Holy Spirit
We will know the eternal wonders of heaven
And we will behold His Truth

But think not that the Lord would take vengeance on those of little faith
For unto everyone who would come unto Him
A certain measure of faith is given
And the Lord will judge according to that measure

Look again to the parable of talents

Unto those of small and little faith I pray
That you would take not aim against the Holy things of God
Those mysteries which you understand not
For in doing so you commit an unpardonable sin!

Or have you forgotten that your tongue is wicked and used as a rudder?
One day it leads you unto everlasting salvation
And the next unto hell fire and eternal suffering

Even so, take heed of that which you would create forth with your words
For life and death is in the power of the tongue

In your blaspheme of His Holy Ghost you work in violation against the move of God
In your evil foolishness you labor against the power of the Living God

Look again to the Scripture (Mark 6:1-6)
In His home town even Jesus the Messiah was kept from performing signs and wonders
The Spirit of the Living God was kept away by their unbelief

And unto all who would ask of the Lord, NO gift would He withhold. But He gives in abundance to all who would diligently seek Him. To those who have, more will be given but unto those who have not, even that which they have will be taken away (Matthew 25:14-29). So use the faith given to you and believe God in all things. Come to know His voice and listen to His Holy Spirit. Be humble in all things and wait on the Lord for your season. Walk in His Spirit and do not depart.

Remember ye saints
The Lord comes ever quickly
And with Him, His reward!

Take heed that you would cause not divisions
And come not near anyone who would divide
Separate yourselves not from the Body of Christ
And be ye separate from the world
Then will your God make His habitation in your temple

Unto all who ask
The Lord would withhold no god spiritual gift
For they are ours for the edification of the Body

And then, when the Holy Ghost comes upon you
He will dwell within your temple
And you shall be given power from heaven
Endued with the very power of creation!

Read again the Book of Acts

See Peter, Paul, John, Stephen and others move powerfully
As the Holy Ghost comes to dwell within them
See that only days after Peter cowardly denies the Lord
He was filled with the power of the Hold Ghost
And He went out and performed great and many wonders
Healing a man of his paralysis and leading thousands unto Salvation!

For in His Spirit we are given power over darkness
Power to cast out demons and bind up strong holds
To heal the sick and raise the dead
We are even promised by the Lord
“Greater works than these shall you do!”

So hold your tongues, you simple men of weak faith!
You are lukewarm and are headed for an eternal suffering
Take head of this warning and you shall live!
Judge not the innocent children of God in your midst
Judge not those who yearn to know Him more
And show His everlasting love to the world

Think not of this Word as mystery
For unto those who seek, they will find
And unto those children of the Light
The Lord would open to them His wonders!

But unto the unbelieving and the fearful
Unto the doubters and hateful and the proud
To them the Lord does withhold His Truth
And He will even one day make for the unbelieving a great delusion
And it will deceive many

But unto all who would humble themselves and trust in the Lord and His Word
Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

And His Truth will be made known to you
He will open your eyes and the eyes of your heart
Then shall you stand in awe, for the glory of the Lord has been made known to you!
He has revealed to you the mystery of the ages

Remain then as little children
Trusting not in yourselves or the foolish ways of man
But rest in the Spirit of the Living God and depart not from it
Listen to His beaconing and follow that voice

Come to know His Word
And you shall be saved!

Stand on this
Your hope

Rest in Him
The only hope for the world

Speak not evil of that which you do not understand
Yes, hold your tongue! Unless it would bring Light to the world!
But cry out all your days from wisdom
And the Lord will give unto you
Exceedingly and abundantly beyond
All you can ask, think, or even imagine!
(Ephesians 3:20)

Depart from the sins of your fathers
And partake not in their judgment

Know ye this day
Your Lord returns ever quickly!

Remain in His Spirit
Always

Amen

(a little something I was thinking about)

Growing Up -

Such a tough time to be walking the earth: maybe it is not all too physically demanding: we never have to walk really, we don’t have to work the soil to get our food, and we can live an entire life should we choose never leaving our computers. It is such a strange and deceivingly difficult time to be alive.

Throughout my life I have heard it discussed, ‘how advanced our society has become’. I have heard them say, “What are we unable to accomplish? Now nothing will be restrained from [us], which [we] have imagined to do.” (Gen. 11:6) And so the world turns, with little or no regard for what we create.

As a child I can remember being in awe of such things as “Having the Right Stuff to go to the moon” and “Diving 10,000 leagues under the sea” and “Experiencing a Close Encounter with an Extra Terrestrial.” But then I would go to church and read my Bible and find that none of these things were found there.

I would go to school and learn about: the dinosaurs who roamed the earth millions of years ago, and how man has evolved over billions of years not from God but from this indistinct and unknown universe, I would learn about history but most of the history of the Bible would be omitted. Such confusing years were those. Mom and Dad, and pastor, telling me the “B.I.B.L.E.” was the book for me: yet the school I was obligated to attend stood in direct protest against everything Bible.

Such a terrifying and horribly confusing time is it to grow up.

Don’t even get me started about girls. From the age I can remember I was told not to have sex outside of marriage, yet everyday everywhere around me I would see images of woman, subtle reminders of sex and overt scenes made to arose the sensuality of a man. Then, to make matters only worse, I would feel guilty and ashamed for my highly active sexuality.

It all started around eleven or twelve years old, this sexual awakening. Yet I would not be allowed to marry (by law of state government) until I was eighteen. So for many years I would be made to suffer urges that felt uncontrollable. Then finally I was eighteen, but even then I would be lead to believe I was too young to make a commitment such as marriage: even though the (state) laws say it is allowed, my peers and church influences say to abstain and wait until ‘you are old enough’.

So my twenties rolled on and a new problem emerged: now many of these young women I would meet were already wounded, hurt or destroyed from…well…this thing called worldly life. Trying to work out a relationship as a confused young man with a hurt young woman is practically impossible. But we (as a society) go on teaching this to be ‘the way’. And divorce rates continue to climb, children suffer, and the world (arguably) spirals apart.

I am sorry to be so dark and glib, but this seems to be more of America’s reality then that good ‘ole “Leave it to Beaver” story. I wish I could say I have seen much of that “Life Abundant” promised by Christ Jesus the Lord, but it seems we have chosen another ‘way’. So our Bible’s continue to mound up dust and our churches continue to become self-help groups: and little Light shows through the crowd.

Dear friend, if you have seen another America,
Please tell me the name of that town!

I am packed up and ready to go…

Oddly enough, my heart goes out to everyone with the courage to read this far into my essay. For once we open our eyes and decide to really look, it is hard…no…near impossible to shut them again. And then we start to talk about ‘the problems’: and Woe unto any of you who would dare talk about the problems! I am serious. It seems better to sleepwalk through this worldly life, at first glance it would seem right to never take “the pill” and awaken.

My early twenties were overwhelming, not because I was aware of the mounting problems of the world, but rather because I saw no one with solutions to these problems or answers to my questions. Mostly they are good at discussing the problem. In fact there are countless volumes of books written about the problem(s), and the one book with some real answers…it remains on the shelf collecting dust. Or if the Bible is read, they would have it to be more of a self-help manual for worldly living: still, few know it to be God’s answer for all the generations of the world!

In a book I recently wrote I encourage the reader to look beyond this world, as Christ nearly commands us, and seek His Kingdom of Heaven. Well, let me tell you, after around thirty years of living I have just realized He is right! (You can laugh along with me). Growing up for me, has all been to discover but one thing: “God is called God because He is God and we are not.” Seems simplistic, yes, but my willful self had to suffer some thirty years to surrender to that fact: hopefully you will choose another Way!

So now what?

That’s the question! I can’t change the world, but I can influence change. I can't right what has gone wrong, but I can help some wrongs become right. I can’t remove the darkness from the world, but my Light can shine and the darkness will flee!

I think we have done ourselves, as “Believer’s” in Christ Jesus the Lord, a TERRIBLE disservice; in that we have stopped talking about and longing for the day of His return. I can think of many reasons why. Many have printed books saying ‘they’ know the year (or day) of His return. Many have preached harsh and rough speeches about the “terrible and coming day of the Lord.” Many have manipulated and coerced others into believing as they believe, and coercion is not love. No wonder this message of hope has become muddled.

While the coming day of the Lord will certainly be terrible and the world will perish in flame: how are we to act believing ourselves to be of Christ? The obvious answer is of course, loving. Trust me, I have not cornered the market on the patience that is love: although it seems at times unattainable still we must strive! And I can add to that, I feel as though I have failed more than I have succeeded. But, by the grace of God, I am not the man I used to be! And the days carry on as I continue growing up.

And just as a tree grows up
One day, I too will produce fruit!

For the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord assures me

Look at him
See how sun shines down
And how he receives the rain in season
But slowly does the tree grow

Even under the best of seasons
When the sun shines brightly
And the rain is plentiful
Still the tree grows but slowly

Thus it is so with His Kingdom

And the Kingdom of Heaven is within you
And just as the seed grows up into a tree, even patiently

So it is with His Kingdom

To say growing up has been trying is an understatement, and perspective is a wonderful thing. Every time I think of myself as having suffered tribulations beyond the rest, I think of Him who was given as an innocent lamb unto the slaughter. Every time I forget just how blessed I am, I think of God’s gift to us in Jesus Christ and immediately I am humbled. For if my Lord was given unto such terrible suffering, who am I not to endure hardship?

And such is this worldly life: hardship, tribulation and suffering.

But then, to truly enter into His Kingdom, to finally live each day born unto eternity: such a life can only be described as “Abundant” and such an existence can only be defined as “Complete”.

And onward the theologian’s debate whether or not it is possible, Perfection.

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live”

          The Torah in the Old Testament of Holy Scripture,
          The Book of Deuteronomy Chapter 30 verse 19

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

          Jesus the Messiah of Nazareth,
          The Book of John Chapter 10 verse 10