Prophetic or not?

I’ve been part of prayer groups that asked for God’s judgment on their life and have heard so called prophetic speakers talk of God’s judgment on America and other countries. My question to that mindset is; do you really know what you’re asking for and understand what you’re saying? Not only that, but do you know that God’s judgment is final? The church is not dealt with as Israel was dealt with in the sense of a “group of people”, the nation would pay for the sins of one man. The destiny of the nation was hinged on the obedience of one person.

When Jesus came and gave himself for us He changed the way God dealt with man. We must also understand the difference between a consequence to an action and God’s judgment. Although in many places in scripture we see “judged or judgment” which means to discern or discipline. Though the intent of many of these so called prophets is a literal judgment, however the Lords “JUDGMENT” is referring to his final judgment on mankind. We are not talking about the way God dealt with the Israelites back in the day. We are in the age of Grace and we are judged as individuals and by our actions.

Can we not accept the fact that there are natural phenomenons that take place and wreak havoc on this earth? Everything that happens always has to be someone’s fault. Certainly I could be wrong and am willing to accept that, but based on scripture I simply don’t see what these super spirituals see. I say super spirituals admittedly with some sarcasm however sadly with seriousness. Maybe it’s just based on my past experiences but I’ve seen very, very few in my life that deserve such credence. When you read scripture there wasn’t a prophet in every town. Paul said to test the spirits, so I choose to wait with skepticism and see what happens before I give totally to someone’s prophetic ability. I’ve certainly learned not to follow just because someone I know followed. I know too many that follow just about anyone that calls themselves a prophet and can use scripture skillfully enough to be persuasive.

I’ve had many lately talk about a guy who prophesied about a California earthquake. Do you know how many predicted such a thing? Literally hundreds! Not only that, but the guy the people I know spoke of was not the actual guy that prophesied it but it turned out to be a guy he knew and simply shared the story. If you’re going to prophecy there should be some detail to the prophecy and not only that, and earthquake is going to shake the west coast! That’s a given with all the fault lines in that area.

Here’s where I am with all this. We see in the NT in many cases prophecy in scripture is to teach the word, to tell of Jesus. Almost every Christian I know when they hear “prophecy” automatically equates it with telling of future events. Christians should already know where they stand. Mature Christians should know what the will of God is for their life. I don’t believe it’s as complicated as we and the church have made it. I don’t want to sound like a know-it-all because I don’t, but this is just simple truth. I believe that the church as a whole generally speaking has fallen into many of the traps as the Israelites did. We have to be told things, we have to be given signs. If you read scripture everything has been foretold. We need no more signs of his coming; it can happen at any moment.

Let me make an observation now with the Earthquake and Tsunami that has devastated Japan and left them in a very dire situation.  We see what an impact it can have not only on those in Japan who are still in tremendous need even a month later, but what an impact it has on America. If you were one of those that had heard a prophecy regarding this event; what did you do to prepare for it? Most likely you would have heard it was going to happen but probably had no idea of when it would happen. I find it interesting that people make these prophecies with no dates or time frames but some will try to give date on the Lord’s return when scripture is very clear that nobody will know the day.

We already know that the Lords return could be at any moment so why do we need prophecies of tragic events to motivate us to share our knowledge and assurance of the Lord’s salvation? Many believers are doing some extreme things to prepare for the return, but Jesus said when you hear these things “do not be alarmed”. This is where I am. I’m not going to be alarmed and I’m not going to do anything out of fear. I believe in preparing but will do so with intentional purpose because of the convictions I have based on how the Lord has dealt with and spoken to me. I don’t have the need to buy someone’s books or DVD’s to hear an extremely elaborate and in very convincing manor what I already know based on scripture.

Win or Lose?

Recent comment by a professional football player: “"I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!!" AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO..." (copied from internet article) If you haven't seen this, a receiver dropped the game winning touchdown pass in the end zone. He lashed out at God for it, as you can see.

Think about it for a few minutes, does God really concern himself with whether we win or lose as much as we do? I know you can reference some of the Old Testament battles regarding Israel but they didn’t win every one of those and were still His people. If you have Christians on both teams, well somebody has to lose. Wow! How does He choose? How can He choose if He shows no favoritism?

Maybe it has more to do with our attitude while competing. I really do appreciate the desire some athletes, actors, singers, contestants and even co-workers have to recognize God in front of other people. But how do you compete, or work? What is your attitude like in the process? Are you giving Him glory and praise by your efforts or simply by gestures and speech? Do you compete with integrity (being honest and fair) and modestly (in attire or in having to be recognized continually)?

I’m not going to argue whether someone is a “true” Christian or not, frankly that’s between them and God. We all do things at some point that’s not pleasing to God, but do we stand up and point to the sky when those things happen? No! I thank God it’s not up to me to determine if someone’s saved. I worked with a guy that I would tell him, “I’m glad my salvation isn’t in your hands”.  Point being, we make too big a deal out of the external things. Its dangerous focusing on outward expression because we begin thinking God owes us something! Hence the opening comments of this article. If you think God owes you anything you couldn’t be any more wrong!

I’m not saying this because I do so well at it; quite frankly I still struggle through. But I’m quite sure my co-workers don’t mind working with me and my customers like doing business with me. It’s not because I scream “praise God” when I get an order or kneel down and pray when I get an order. I believe it’s because I do my best to work with integrity.

Though I fail, I’m His

When I lose, I’m His

When I lose it’s my fault, not His

It’s not always about the result, it’s about the process

Col 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men

Question: Did God call us to be Successful or Faithful?

Are Our Days Literally Numbered?

I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s heard this type of comment from people on occasion, “well I guess it was just there time” or “there number was up". Have you ever wondered how true this is? Does God literally have us on a timetable? Well I think it’s a misunderstanding, and below is my view.

Surely it doesn’t mean that on your 37^th birthday at twelve hours, thirty-seven minutes and ten seconds he directs your steps into the lane of an oncoming vehicle. In our present state as human beings we will not live forever. We are promised eternity but in the spiritual state, not now. There are those who believe that God has predetermined your life’s end, at least the life on this earth. The question that comes to my mind immediately is; where do they get this idea? Is the scripture being accurately interpreted? Well we’re going to look at this. But if determined that God does not have your days literally numbered, does it in turn mean He is not in control? I don’t believe it does. God is always in control!

Job 14:5 "Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed." Meaning we simply will not live forever. This scripture in no way implies a literal timetable of life.Obviously if we won't live forever then we only have a limited time, its just not a specific amount of time.

Ps 39:4 "Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. 5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath." This is simply a perspective of God and His supremacy, His past is infinite as is His future; He always was and will be. Our lives are literally as a breath when compared to God.                                                          

1)      At the fall of Adam as it would be determined by God, man would now not live forever since he ate from the Tree of Knowledge and did not eat from the Tree of Life. Read the following:

Gen 3:17-19 "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

2) God never stated that it was a predetermined amount of time but simply due to the ability of the body in a fallen world (non-perfect environment) we will age, get sick, etc., our decisions, decisions of others and uncontrollable circumstances that could come about would be the determining factors of our life span. Look at what He said in Gen 3:22-2 "He (man) must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever." The man had already eaten from the Tree of knowledge and now was denied the opportunity to eat from the Tree of Life.

 In closing, the scriptures that is typically used in supporting the idea of a specific timetable for each person’s life, from the book of Job and the Psalms simply do not imply what people are teaching. In my opinion it goes to prove yet again the lack of understanding and those who read meaning into scripture that just isn’t there. The fact is none of us are promised tomorrow on this earth, believers and non-believers alike. However, God is Sovereign.

Prayer

I once taught a class on prayer. It was probably the most frustrating experience I’ve ever had. Not only was it enlightening from the standpoint of the class’ understanding but of mine as well. I was in a strange situation, I had to use a syllabus packet provided by the church which I was not used to and I was with many people that expected me to give them a formula for prayer. I still struggle through but I have seen some things that I just want to bring to the forefront.

Prayer in school or anywhere in public:

We hear this argument almost constantly don’t we? I’ve heard people say that they were told they couldn’t pray over there lunch, children couldn’t pray at school during their moment of silence. Who knew they were praying? I struggle with getting an answer to that question. Were they standing with their hands raised and calling in a loud voice? Did they go and ask if they could pray during “their” time? If the answers to these are “no”, then what’s the problem? There’s no reason you can’t pray anywhere, ANYWHERE, unless you’re making a spectacle of yourself. Jesus said in Matt 6:5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. NIV

I think one of the great things about prayer is the fact you can pray in silent. You can pray standing, kneeling, sitting, lying on your bed or on the floor. You can pray in a building, on top of the building, outside the building. You can pray with your head down, looking up, looking forward. The point is God hears you regardless of your physical position, geographical location, or whether you’re talking loud or not speaking at all. Jesus also said: Matt 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. NIV

Prayer is a fantastic tool to understanding as well as a fantastic opportunity to get to know the Father more intimately. That’s truly the main purpose of prayer. It’s great to be able to ask God to do things for us, for finances or physical healing and I’m not suggesting that you don’t ask for those things. But if those are the only reasons we pray then we are missing it. Of course we could make it much more difficult and pious sounding than this but is that simple. We could get our seven theological points of prayer, or the many books regarding the secrets of prayer. It’s simply not about the systemic way we pray. It’s about being real when we pray.

Having someone else pray with us or for us:

I it’s great to be in agreement with others whether in a personal prayer or in public prayer. Something Jesus said, I would encourage you to keep in mind: John 16:26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. NIV

It gives me great comfort to know that I can go directly to the Father and He will hear me! I don’t have to go through a Pastor, Priest, Prophet, Bishop or Elder but I can go to the Father myself. 

There are also other aspects of Prayer such as fasting, deliverance and so on. I would encourage you to study on these areas but don't be consumed by it. It can be made to be much more difficult than necessary.

I could go on about prayer and I could make it very complex but the bottom line is; your prayer is your communion with the Father, the Creator of all things. What of this world or any man can prepare you for that?

The Sabbath Day

It’s easy to see in our Western Culture here in the United States that much of how we conduct business among other things has its roots in the Christian faith. Whether you want to face it or not, it’s true although these days we see it becoming more secular. We still see many businesses closed on Sunday, some still close early on Wednesdays. We then have the days we acknowledge such as Easter, Christmas, and Lent and so on. The reason for this is the organized Church as we know it still believes and follows (basically) the Ten Commandments; Exodus 20:

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. NIV

You see this was a firm command that was not to be taken lightly. Understand also the position that I am taking is not done so lightly either.  However, we are living in the spirit not according to the letter of the law. With that in mind let’s look specifically at the Sabbath Day.

What is the Sabbath?  Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word Shabbath meaning “to cease from exertion”. We first see the Sabbath Day being commanded to Moses in Exodus 16:23-29. Most Christians are taught that it is initiated from the Genesis 2:3, which most likely is the case since this is the day God blessed and declared as holy. However, it was not specifically set at this time. In any case, it was clearly and undeniably commanded in Exodus 16.  In Exodus 20:8 we have the Sabbath Day set and the other laws established in the Mosaic Law, and for centuries these laws were painfully followed. Throughout scripture we see time and again how God’s people were reminded of the Sabbath and they would obey, for the most part.

Here are a few passages regarding the seriousness of keeping the Sabbath:

Jeremiah 17: ²⁷ But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.”

Exodus 16: ²⁷ Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. ²⁸ Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you^[c] refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? ²⁹ Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

Now let’s move to the New Testament. You can look throughout the New Testament or the entire bible for that matter and you will not find another word used for Sabbath until Hebrews 4. Once you arrive at Hebrews 4:9 the word used here is “sabbatismos” which is a derivative of the other word shabbath however the meaning is quite different. “Sabbatismos” in the Greek means figuratively, a “type of heaven”. Think about that! What does this mean in contrast to the way it has been taught for so many years?

Let’s look at Hebrews for a moment and see what it’s telling us;

Heb 4:7, Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today,

Heb 4:8 “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest (Sabbatismos) for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”  NIV

The question now will be, how do we enter that rest? It’s in Christ, look at this;

Matt 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Now there’s much more that goes with this verse, continue to read through Matt. 12:8. But here Jesus is establishing that He is our rest, He is the Lord of the Sabbath. The confusion I believe comes when we either can’t rightly divide the word, or the leaders are concerned about having people show up to pay their tithes, which is another issue to deal with although we won’t do that here. But I have found it very interesting how we pick and choose what parts of the Law will be followed and what won’t be followed because according to;

 Gal 3:10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."   11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." NIV          (Note: curse = judgment)

I don’t see where anything was excluded from the Law according to these verses. So what do we do? We have to look at what the scripture tells us and that is, Jesus came to redeem us from ALL of the Law that we might live by faith because we could not work/earn our way into heaven. Remember the Law was a shadow of what was to come?

Col 2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. NIV

Heb 10:1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves.  NIV

I spoke with a Pastor that teaches his congregation to strictly live by the Ten Commandments. I’m not saying they are bad, they’re not! However, we cannot continue any longer in having people measure themselves according to their own works. At what point then will they rely on the work of the Holy Spirit to transform them. “As long as I pay my Tithes and honor the Sabbath Day, then I’m in good shape, at least I’m not as bad as people who don’t”. That’s the mentality and then the church uses them (the big 10) to measure the spirituality of those in the congregation, but if that would have been enough then Jesus would not have had to come. Can it be any clearer?

In closing look at these scriptures:

Romans 9:31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. NIV

Galatians: 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"   NIV

Its about our personal relationship with Christ not about our ability to keep laws. Look the fact is Israel could never keep them that was the purpose of Christ's coming. When will we begin to rely on the work of Christ and not our own? Every day is the Lord's Day!

Another View of Christmas

Over the years I’ve watched as people get prepared for the Christmas Celebration, believers and unbelievers alike. Not much difference in most cases, that is of the people I know. Parents get a wish list from their children, spouses or significant others do the same (I don’t agree with wish list). The squirming and sighing of not being able to afford what everyone wants. We also have our preparing of lights, trees, the various ornaments and decorations being placed or hung around our homes and businesses. We have the Church services and plays. Oh, and the parties! Everyone has to have a get together. From the office vendors who want to come by and take you out to eat, various co-workers may have their own separate party. If you’re part of a church typically instead of having only one celebration you have your Study Group party, Youth party, Young Adult party, Senior get-together, various people of the church have their own thing, then you have the different staff dinners, and so on. It’s almost as if it will never end.

All the while you have the unbelievers screaming you can say Happy Holiday but you can’t say Merry Christmas. You have the zealous Christians saying I’m going to say Merry Christmas and put Christ back in Christmas. Before I get going on my point; I understand but I still think we miss it, as Christians that is.

If you know the history of what we know as Christmas initially was not a “Christian” celebration to begin with. It was a secular celebration that the Pope adopted with hopes to change it to a church celebration in memory of the birth of our Savior. To that point His birth had not been celebrated although His death and resurrection had, which of course is what we know as Easter. The original celebration was much like Mardi-Gras and the Pope saw the adoption as a means to get people out of the Mardi-Gras party into a more controlled celebration since some of them were church people. And so, Christmas has evolved into what we westerners now know. By the way this is an extreme abbreviation of this history so you may want to read more about it elsewhere.

Later in years the Puritans wanted Christmas abolished from being a church celebration. I don’t want it abolished but I do want us as Christians to keep it in perspective. Paul said not to judge someone based on their feast or celebrations. Jesus said that when we come together to take the wine and bread, wine representing His blood, bread representing His broken body, and when we drink the wine and eat the bread do that in remembrance of Him. I love the communion service because of this, if it happened at every service it would be appropriate I believe. It brings our compete attention to Jesus, who He is and what He has done. But as many say, “put Christ back in Christmas”, I agree with what Jesus said about the money and I think we can apply the same principal here, “give to Caesar what is Caesars”.  

I say, enjoy the celebration! In most cases those that scream about it on either side simply just don’t have enough to do. I do know from the Church side those that scream the loudest are usually the ones that only go to church once or twice a year anyway and this is simply a tradition for them they don’t want changed, or their so steep in legalism they choke the life out of everything.

I’m a bit cynical these days anyway and somewhat skeptical of those that want everything religious because it’s usually just that “religious”. I think we can participate in Christmas without losing our salvation and nonbelievers should be able to participate without getting religion shoved down there throat. Forcing people to accept Jesus usually don’t work anyway not to mention that’s not that way it should work anyway. Celebrate it and simply be a witness and living testimony of what Jesus has done and can do.

Using Fear for Salvation

I’ve heard it said that the way to reach people in these days of the 21^st Century is to teach “Fire and Brimstone” so as to instill fear. If you make people fear the last days enough they will turn to God and be saved. I understand the desire to see people receive the salvation that God would have them to but I’m not so certain that it would be by manipulation. Our responsibility as son’s and daughters of God is to simply testify of God’s goodness and grace, to love and show kindness. Certainly they need to hear the reality of being separated from God and the dangers of falling into the temptations of sin, though it should be of a willful decision, not something because of fear.

I once read a book that spoke of how manipulative some churches had become to increase giving, to see souls saved, and to make children behave. Let’s look at the difference between influence and manipulation.

We’ll first define the two:

Influence: ability to make change or have an effect on others.

Manipulate: to change by artful or unfair means so as to serve one’s purpose.

As you can see these are very different. But as you can also see, to influence someone is certainly a more positive means not by unfair or artful means. When influencing you are gaining the ability by gaining trust and you gain trust by, telling the truth as it is, not embellishing. Embellishing the truth is turning the truth into a lie. You begin the process of manipulation when you begin forcing the change by means of fear, not allowing them to willfully make up there own mind based on the truth, based on the facts. In one book the writer said manipulation is no more than witchcraft since it is basically an illegitimate means of authority or self imposed power.

See, people have freewill. I believe to use scare tactics as a means to have someone receive Jesus is simply undermining the power of the Holy Spirit to draw people to Himself. If fear is the means then obviously in this context love is not. Jesus said in Luke 12:5; 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  NKJV (please keep in context)

 1 John 4:18-1918 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. NKJV

As you should know, in the teachings of Jesus, He never attempted to scare people into believing but simply stated the facts. He befriended those that the religious group stayed away from and condemned. It was because of His compassion and ability to have relationships with those those others would not, but did not compromise principle. The people that heard His teaching either followed or they did not. That’s the way it should be in these days of the 21^st Century as well. A problem I see in our Christian society and churches today is you have to be the biggest, the best, the most holy, and the more spiritual than any of the others. It is actually those very attitudes in and among the church that discredit it in the community. The fact of the matter is none of that count for anything.

It’s typically those very churches that scream we’re not a “traditional (whatever denomination) church”, they brag about how they’re not legalistic and then they lead you right back under the law of bondage, the very thing Jesus died to keep us from. Jesus not one time led a Gentile to the law so He could explain grace.

But see it’s this mentality of trying to be good enough or thinking that we’ve arrived that brings about the use of manipulation. It works hand-n-hand you see. If you don’t sing like we do, if you don’t’ dress like we do, or use hymnals as we do then your not a true Christian. And nothing could be further from the truth!

You simply cannot control the decisions that others make and if you are controlling them or even trying, then you are operating with manipulative means and not out of love and compassion.Keep in mind; it is not our responsibility to save others, that’s Gods. Ours is to simply testify about God.

1 Cor 3:6-8

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. NKJV